#but also i want to play a straight up paladin because i want to explore with being a character who has a connection to a god

[b1gwings]

swashbuckler rogue my beloved

[precambrian-sea-pancake]

Gonna infodump about my D&D character

(Sadly forced to keep things confidential because my party members follow me on tumblr…you know who you are 👁️👁️)

I’ve only had Gawain for a short time but OH MY GOODNESS I FUCKING ADORE THIS SILLY GUY!!

Also kinda shocked that the moodboard I made for him got that many notes. That’s a first…

Also please enjoy the drawing @hootbon made for me. I will never shut up about their art.

So…for what CAN post publicly…

Gawain is your token Lawful Good Paladin TM. Bonus points for being a protector aasimar I guess. (Though I might multiclass into a bard depending on how things go. It would fit him well. They’re my favorite spell caster.)

His personality is gonna be SO fun to play. Before I explain that, I should mention that he’s actually the youngest of the group at 24. The second youngest is the Kobold (Maran) who’s 37. So he’s a lot more naive and still understanding himself and the world around him. People often dismiss him due to that unfortunately. But, you know, imagine a dumb collage age boy and you get somewhat of an idea.

He’s a very sweet and compassionate guy, extremely extroverted and fun loving…maybe a bit flirty at times. Definitely cracks witty comments and one liners in battles ranging from something clever to “suck my dick” or something dumb like that. That doesn’t mean he can’t be serious, he absolutely knows when he should. Ironically he’s the most “normal” of the group, often being the straight man. Overall heart of gold and just wants to help people.

He has a bit of a rebellious and impulsiveness to him. As clever as he is, he’s mostly driven by his emotions. It’s always a “do what feels right in the moment” rather than logic. In general he’s just very emotional and struggles with hyper empathy. This also causes him to question a lot of the authority around him.

I’d also say he has that Disney Princess syndrome. Gawain is convinced that he has some grand destiny and is meant for more. He’s always wanted to explore and learn more about the world, meet new people and cultures, live a life of glory and adventure. Maybe he’s in over his head or maybe he’s not…we’ll see.

However, another big reason for doing all this is that he wants to understand who he is…more accurately WHAT he is. He was born to humans, raised by humans, and grew up in a mostly all human kingdom. So he grew up thinking he was one despite some strong differences between him and the others. Aasimar are VERY rare, and more like myths to most people, and others don’t even know they exist. So people either assumed he was blessed or cursed, some treated him like the messiah, and others thought he was a freak and dangerous. So yeah, he never felt like he belonged and wants to learn about himself.

Somewhere in his life he ended up becoming a squire and completed his training just before the start of the campaign…

And that’s all the backstory information I can post because my friends will see this.

I guess I can do a bit of trivia:

It’s still D&D lore, but the world itself is homebrew. Humans are actually not the majority race, far from it. Most humans live in a large archipelago with various human nations. I remember the DM said the estimated population of humans was 20,000 to 30,000. The two mainland continents are one dominated by dwarves and the other by elves, along with other races being far more common on the mainland. Not really about my character but I LOVE that detail. It’s somewhat relevant I guess since I said Gawain grew up in a human society.

The god he venerates most is Ilmatar.

His eyes reflect his emotions and power. When using any of his abilities or when under intense emotions (both positive and negative), his eyes will turn a solid gold color.

Prior to his training, he was a courier. His parents ran his town’s postal service and that’s one of the things that got him into the idea of adventuring.

He’s more of a cat person than a dog person. He likes both, but I feel like he’d go for the cat.

The first weapon he ever used was a bow rather than a sword. The specific sword he uses is an arming sword.

He is a wonderful singer, his voice is almost ethereal in when he sings (little aasimar headcanon of mine).

His favorite study is anthropology, but also really likes history and geography. He’s always collecting little souvenirs and trinkets from everywhere he visits.

He keeps a diary and loves to write stories and sketch things. A lot of story inspiration comes from his dreams, which are often very vivid…and he remembers them super well.

Neither of his parents have blonde hair, nor is it a recessive trait they had. It’s actually part of his aasimar traits.

He talks in his sleep because I think it’s funny.

If this wasn’t a medieval fantasy world, he’d definitely use Gen Z slang. Maybe even tell someone “L + Ratio” or “Skill issue” after besting them in battle. In that same hypothetical reality, his favorite band would be Starset and The Score.

He takes good care of his appearance and health, so he does enjoy certain beauty products. A spa day is his ideal day off.

He hates salmon. He thinks it tastes bad and prefers catfish. I don’t know why I even thought of that fact but it’s there.

[nelithic]

　toa annifoursary (hehe) munday.

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

---

Name: rai

Pronouns: anything

Birthday (no year): may 17

Where are you from? What is your time zone? us east coast, so est

Roleplay experience: .................. i have to count every time. i think around 18 years now?

Got any pets? nope

Favorite time of year: autumn! november especially

Some interests and things you like: rping is 75% of my life so it embodies most of my free time. otherwise, running and playing ttrpgs, playing games, reading

Some funfacts & trivia about you: i can shake my eyeballs

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? genshin impact, pokemon, i might sign myself away to hsr tomorrow. i'll give just about any good old turn-based jrpg a try when it comes out

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: flying & raichu ---

How did you get into Fire Emblem? had to have been right before graduation from undergrad, i walked into gamestop and saw fire emblem: fates had just released. decided to give it a shot on a whim. my best friend at the time had played awakening, so i decided to get into the series. binged the rest of it just about straight through from there, starting with fe6

What Fire Emblem games have you played? all except ( ree forgets this every time ) the jugdral games HAHA also still halfway through new mystery

First Fire Emblem game: fe fates: birthright

Favorite Fire Emblem game: fe6: binding blade

Any Fire Emblem crushes? probably endless ksjnglskg. nishiki is maybe the closest i think. oh and lucina.

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? - Awakening: lucina. i don't think i ever s-supported anyone elSE - Fates: nishiki - Three Houses: uhhhhh was it felix? or was it dimitri idr. i think it was felix - Engage: gregory

Favorite Fire Emblem class: NOMAAAAAAAAD

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? i've been told mage > dark knight which seems to check out with the fact that my boss insists that my d&d class would be warlock with eldritch being as my patron

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? probably black eagles tbh

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? i'm not sure what qualifier this is based on ksjlskgml i'd like to believe leif? but probably closer to veronica or soren ---

How did you find TOA? well.

Current TOA muses: caeldori, nel, rosado

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? felix. for a while after i dropped him i thought i had run the gambit with him in terms of narrative i wanted to explore and figured he was going on the top shelf. but the last half year or so he's been wanting to come back...

Have you had any other TOA muses? YIKES, have i. felix, sety, idunn, volug, leif, yuri, kurthnaga, ephraim, lucius, etzel

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? most common ones are probably the Sad Sack Sages ( hi etzel, sety ), fiery boys with hearts of gold ( felix, leif ), and dark paladins ( nel, felix ). i also really like chaotic neutral trickster types, but aren't usually confident enough in my ability to write for them haha

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? action scenes for sure. any scene where there's external momentum driving things forward and giving a sense of momentum and urgency. also just anything that lets me worldbuild or exploring facets of worldbuilding hehe

Favorite TOA-related memory: that's a hard one. probably the final week of arcadia, our first lore event. all the teams ended up in boss battles, but they weren't the guaranteed staple of lore event endings like they are now. it just kind of happened because that's where the stories ended up. the collaborative scene-building and sense of camaraderie in the fights against gricenchos and gofannon are still unmatched for me to this day. they felt like dynamic scenes right out of a lord of the rings movie

How do you pronounce TOA? as the letters haha tee-oh-ay

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? i have constant delusions. i've been saying since ferp that i want to play eltshan someday and never have LOL. bringing lester into toa. bringing zeiss to toa. i have a url saved for lyre. it kind of feels wrong not having a single muse from either jugdral or tellius HAHA

[grayintogreen]

LitMoR Original Character Guide

FINALLY a guide to the massive amount of OCs featured in LitMoR. Despite how big this is, this doesn't contain every goddamn character in my expanded universe, just the ones that have appeared multiple times, have a significant impact on the narrative/world, or because I just wanted to throw them in because you've probably seen them in OTHER works of mine and maybe you'd like to know a bit more about them.

This list doesn't include characters like Ishel, Nima, the Jagentoths, and any other character I took straight from the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. Those are Canon OC's and while I have thoughts on all of them that goes beyond little blurbs in a book that doesn't make them mine.

I have also avoided MOST spoilers for the entirety of LitMoR but there still are some.

SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO: THE LIST.

Sharna Abegno Female shadow elf, Paladin (Oathbreaker)

A member of the Seven, a cult dedicated to Tharizdun, descended from its original priests in the Calamity, she left the cult at a young age to become a Raven Queen paladin. After an incident at sea, she was keelhauled and left to die in the waters of Lucidian Ocean, eventually washing up on Rumblecusp where she took the name Rosaline after her memory was taken. Close to a fragment of Tharizdun, she returned to her family's old god due to the influence of the corruption once she could recall her origins.

Narcissa “Agee” Ageratum Female firbolg, Rogue (Thief) After exhibiting a series of troubling unchildlike behaviors when she was six that she can’t fully remember but were considered ill omens by her tribe, Agee was left in the care of a shopkeeper in Nogvurot and was “communally raised” by various locals who looked after her for ten years before she began to have strange dreams that exacerbated a sense of anxiety around the Righteous Brand. Fighting off her own growing anxiety with kleptomania, she began to alienate her adopted family and when she was all set to run away, she was approached by members of a Kryn party looking for their own people in the Empire. Believing that she might finally understand her strange dreams, she went with them but panicked and robbed them in the night.

Ashley Allard Male human, Paladin (Oath of Treachery) The youngest child of Yves Allard of Nicodranas and his late wife, Ashley was born into privilege and immediately found it to be a complete bore. Through a series of cutthroat victories, he stole the Blade of Broken Mirrors and the title of Champion of Tharizdun from his uncle Alder. As a paladin, Ashley has a strong personal code, despite the atrocities he’s willing to commit to get what he wants, and believes very strongly in his objectives to the point of playing long games for years to reach what he believes to be his magnum opus.

Yves Allard Male human, noble Ashley’s father and a founding member of the Court of Nightmares, alongside Rinna Pathan and her patron. As the eldest member of the Allard family, he maintains the family’s massive shrine to Tharizdun in the basement of his manor in Nicodranas, though he has no particular interest in the Epoch of the Ends and prefers to use his family’s old money to feed his obsession with the Calamity and indulge his own cruelty. He uses his considerable connections to gather members of the Court for Rinna.

Calpurnius Amabilia Male aasimar, Bard (College of Whispers) Cal is an immigrant into Aeor from the floating island of Zemniaz, who managed to excel quickly through the ranks in Cognouza by being extremely good at finding and keeping secrets. Using his quick wit and charm, he maintained personal relations between Cognouza and the other wards as “Cognouza’s voice,” but when Cognouza was shut out, he turned his attentions to spycraft, instead. Cal is known more for his compassionate nature and easy-going charisma more than anything, but he is absolutely ruthless when that which he loves is threatened.

Levitica Arrenhall Female elf, Cleric (Twilight Domain) The High Priestess of the Midnight Vertex and one of the Dawn Marshalls of Vasselheim. It is said she saw the construction of the first Moonweaver temple in Vasselheim and will not die until it crumbles to dust. She considers herself a mother to all those who find themselves in her temple and guides them like a shepherd as an extension of Sehanine’s will.

Seneca Candidus Male elf, Wizard (Order of Scribes) A vocal philosopher who developed a reputation among the wards of Aeor for outlandish ideas on the belief of manifestation and higher achievement through dreams, which were considered particularly backwards in a city on the cutting age of advancements in arcane sciences. After becoming the head of Cognouza, he gathered like-minded debaters and scholars and scientists who were outcasts in their own right and formed the Somnovem.

Tacitus Camillus Male human, Wizard (School of Enchantment) Before coming to Aeor, Tacitus was lord over a small community on an island in the Lucidian Ocean that he attempted to manipulate into a perfect society where everyone lives up to their exact potential, after becoming disillusioned with the majority of societies within Domunas. When his attempts to mind control the masses led to a series of misfortunes, he covered up his mistake and fled to Aeor where he was readily accepted into Cognouza as a Lorekeeper, leaving nothing behind but his guilt. Calculated and manipulative as well as charming, Tacitus often assuages his own guilt by placing the blame on others, instead. It’s often said that he cares more about preserving history and leaving something behind that future generations will find pleasing than he cares about the present.

Gertrude Blakenship Female aasimar, Bloodhunter (Order of the Mutant) The current head of the Order of the Mutant in Wildemount. Gertrude is an anxious, spacey woman who compensates for her shortcomings by crafting elaborate mutagens, preferring ones that increase her strength and make her a menace in hand to hand combat.

June Blessedthane Female dwarf, Bloodhunter (Order of the Lycan) A boisterous werewolf who runs the Order of the Lycan compound in Trostenwald. Primarily jovial and easy to get along with she has no patience for any lycanthrope who gives her Orders a bad name and has mercilessly killed her own students for even showing the potential to go rogue.

Melancholia Cheveron Female human, Druid (Circle of Spores) Huron Stahlmast’s childhood friend and eventual lover. Despite coming from two entirely different worlds, Melancholia’s devotion to Stahlmast allowed her to overlook his obsession with industrializing Wildemount, which he often promised her would be used towards reclaiming the land for her and her people, long wiped out by Hupperdook’s advancement and constant encroaching upon the mountain. Whether or not it was true, Melancholia believed it wholeheartedly and therefore supported him in everything he chose to do, often defending him publicly when the rest of Hupperdook shunned his ideas, which further othered her as an outsider and left her with no one else but her long time friend.

Wake Dashwood Female dwarf, Ranger (Horizon Walker) A follower of Sehanine and friend/daughter figure to Levitica, Wake acts as a go-between for the Midnight Vertex and the rest of Vasselheim as the clergy rarely, if ever, come down off the mountain. She knows the Vesper Timberlands like the back of her hand and runs with a group of rangers called the Riftkeepers who keep an eye out for extraplanar threats to Vasselheim.

Balbus Delphina Male human, Wizard (School of Divination) A former member of the Hall of Prophecy in Avalir, Balbus washed out when his visions became too much for him to handle and he no longer wished to serve as an oracle. Knowing this would bring shame to his family, he fled to Aeor where he studied under Seneca in dream-based magic, at first, and then eventually turning to astronomy after discovering a love of the stars, though he could never properly escape his visions.

Antioch Dodger Male elf/halfling, Bard (College of Glamour) The “Beggar Lord” of Shadycreek Run, Dodger developed a reputation among the Tribes when he created his own tribe consisting of the cast-off children of the working girls, which he eventually expanded into various other orphans that the slavers couldn’t catch. Thanks to his skill with illusions, he managed to obtain enough blackmail material on the tribes to keep himself in enough standing to provide his own form of service, until he was as much a staple in the Run as anything else. It’s said that he makes deals with things far more dangerous than simple crime lords.

Heather Dougal Female human, commoner A staple of Shadycreek Run, Heather Dougal has been surviving on sheer grit and kindness for sixty years, despite the town trying to drag her down. She saved Ophelia Khar from succumbing to injuries and illness when she first came to the Run and helped her eventually become Jack Mardoon’s heir. In return, Ophelia left her infant son Lucien in her care.

Fergus Dougal Male human, commoner Heather’s deaf-mute husband and a talented fisherman and woodcarver.

Eda Female human, Artificer (Artillerist) No one in Hupperdook can exactly tell you where Eda came from, only that she turned up as Nima Cinnarid’s protege some years ago and has been building more and more terrifying cannons ever since. When Lance, Fayne, and Obsidian settled in town, she declared herself a member of their group. The trio have accepted her over time, even going as far as to call themselves the Clockwork Hounds after her automaton dog, Auto.

Faint Chance Male tabaxi, Bard (College of Eloquence)/Rogue (Thief) A member of the Rifenmist Jungle-based Briskmist Clan, Chance believed he was born for more than simply languishing in the trees and spent considerable amounts of time taking risks by engaging travelers who came through the jungle for stories- risks that earned him his name. His love of a good gamble and a better yarn led him to Byroden where he developed a lust for both card games and music. A wandering bard trained him up enough that he felt capable of taking his skills on the road and he left his home to see the world and seek out more stories.

Gabriel Ferreira Male black dragonborn, Warlock (Pact of the Talisman) A member of the mysterious "Seven" along with Ashley Allard and Jayne Merriweather and captain of the Feywild Delight. Gabriel originally hailed from the Rifenmist Peninsula to a nomadic tribe until his pirate father returned to claim the son that one of the women had borne, slaughtering them all when she refused to give him up. His father taught him piracy, which he continued long after his father died, eventually taking on a ship staffed entirely by fey after an encounter in the Feywild no one really knows the truth about.

Augusta Felice Trans female half-elf, Wizard (School of Conjuration) A former Genesis Ward arcane scientist, Augusta became the Architect Arcane of Cognouza after being humiliated at a conference by Laerryn Corramar-Seelie who held many of the same theories as she did about extraplanar travel. Unable to prove whether or not her work came first, Augusta was laughed out of the Genesis Ward and taken in by Seneca Candidas where he allowed her room to build a machine capable of transporting Cognouza to the Astral Sea.

Claudia Felice Female half-elf, Artificer (Armorer) Augusta’s twin sister and the meeker of the two Felice twins, Claudia prefers to exist in her sister’s shadow, though she is a considerable scientist in her own right, having been responsible for the Aeormaton sleeper assassins that the Genesis Ward took full credit for after she was banished to Cognouza with her sister because she refused to denounce her. Claudia is one of the only Somnovem who is well-liked by nearly every single one of her peers due to her lack of guile and ambition, though her inability to ever see when Augusta might be wrong about something has led her to butt heads with Balbus, specifically, quite often. She prefers the company of her Aeormaton “babies” more than she does other people besides Augusta.

Fayne Hart Female elf, fighter (gunslinger) Born in Syngorn, Fayne left after robbing the home of a minor lord and spent the next several years of her life as a casual cat burglar. She met Lance and Obsidian in Kymal by insisting they help her with a casino heist that would mutually benefit all three of them, but when the plan went sour and not a one of them got what they wanted, she tagged along with them, much to their immediate disdain.

Stasya Hydriss Female tiefling, Druid (Circle of the Moon) Daughter of Kashaw Vesh and Zahra Hydriss. Stasya acts as an acolyte and “assistant” for the Voice of the Tempest of the Air Ashari in Zephrah, offsetting Keyleth’s kindness with her bossy, brash nature. She is her father’s favorite even if he insists he doesn’t pick favorites.

Tasya Hydriss Female tiefling, Monk (Way of the Cobalt Soul) Daughter of Kashaw Vesh and Zahra Hydriss and younger twin of Stasya. Despite having a vested interest in the arcane, Tasya has no inherent magical talent nor any real knack for picking it up and therefore has devoted her life to the study of it. Her ability to see through deceptions and understand magic has made her an asset in detaining illegal arcane magic users in Vasselheim and because of this, she was made the personal warden of Gulliver Thurston. Unlike her grumpier sister, she is bubbly and excitable, which comes as a surprise to anyone who knows her solely by reputation.

Spurius Juventus Male elf, Artificer (Alchemist) As an alchemy savant, Spurius was one of the first to be picked as a member of the Somnovem with Seneca Candidas citing his skill with potions as a necessary part of his plans to achieve power through manifestation and dreams. On top of numerous other advancements in alchemy, Spurius created a potion that helped promote lucid dreaming that helped the Somnovem learn to harness the aether of the Astral Sea long before they ever planned to set foot there. Despite his skills, Spurius is considered off-putting to anyone outside of the Somnovem due to his poor social skills and intensity about his work.

Tyne Kerthis Female dragonborn, cleric (Knowledge Domain) The High Curator of the Cobalt Vault in Vasselheim. Tyne runs a tight ship despite her gregarious and jovial nature, though some question her desire to rehabilitate criminals such as Gulliver Thurston out of a desire to not waste their knowledge. On top of being a dedicated to the preservation of knowledge, she is a loving wife and aunt to her sister-in-law’s multiple children.

Bastian Klinger Male human, Wizard (School of Necromancy) A nobleman from Nogvurot, Bastian Klinger attended the Academy while Delilah Briarwood was still Archmage of Antiquity and became one of her star pupils. Delilah’s casual interest in necromancy inspired him and after she was cast out, he left the Academy and began to pursue his own necromancy experiments, which eventually attracted the attention of Rinna Pathan who was building up the Court of Nightmares. At the suggestion of her patron Ira Wendagoth, Rinna encouraged Klinger to create creatures that were a fusion of living and dead flesh that could withstand divine magic. The task became his obsession, squandering a chunk of his fortune in the pursuit of it.

Cassia Livio Female human, Wizard (School of Necromancy) An arcane scientist of considerable clout and even more considerable attitude, Cassia was shunned in her home ward for her violent outbursts and extremely outspoken beliefs in the science of divinity and how precisely one could extract essence of Fate from those who were said to be Fate-Touched. Her cruel methods and outlandish theories and philosophies led her to be scouted by Seneca Candidas to become one of the Somnovem, though she admits to only being part of the cabal out of a lack of any choice, as Seneca is more than willing to support her extremely brutal experiments.

Lydas Male halfling, Warlock After being shipwrecked on the island of Rumblecusp as a teenager, Lydas quickly rose to the ranks of leadership through cuttthroat ambition and a not insignificant amount of prodding from the corrupting forces of the island.

Miriam Marchen Female human, Wizard (School of Divination) Trent Ikithon’s annex and one of the first Volstrucker and the longest surviving member of Trent’s original experiments, Miriam earned the nickname Dornroschen after she killed her parents in her sleep as part of her initiation. She is considered an “imperfect” experiment due to lacking some of the refinement of the later Volstruckter, though she makes up for it in sheer loyalty and tenacity.

Joni Mennolly Female tiefling, Bard (College of Lore) An archivist for the Cobalt Soul in Vasselheim who performs in the Lady Luck tavern. Her interests lie primarily in Betrayer god and Calamity mythology.

Sparrow Mistral Female air genasi, Wizard (School of Illusion) Vess DeRogna’s annex. Initially stoic and serious, after Vess took the Somnovem tome, she became increasingly nervous about her superior’s behavior and threatened to take the matter to Ludinus. When Vess attempted to modify her memory, she resisted it, resulting in a fight leading to Vess using her newly acquired Somnovem gifts on her. Sparrow survived the attack, but between the Rend Mind and the successful Modify Memory, she was left mentally shattered leaving her unable to regulate her emotions to the point of seeming vapid and empty.

Obsidian Noire Male dwarf, fighter (gunslinger) A former member of the Public Defense in Kymal, Obsidian’s entire life was destroyed when he began to suspect a member of his team was acting against the margrave by feeding information to Clasp and Myriad members. In an attempt to expose them, he teamed up with Lance Veidrodis and Fayne Hart to uncover the truth, but the resulting catastrophe left him exiled from Kymal as a wanted man- his arrest ordered by the very margrave he sought to protect. Disillusioned, he now works as a bounty hunter as the de facto leader of the Clockwork Hounds.

Gorazm Pathan Male human, noble Gorazm Pathan rose to power in Marquet as a drug lord, running one of the most successful residuum smuggling empires in Exandria and using it to manufacture suude, which he then smuggled back into Tal’Dorei to be sold at high prices by the Clasp. After the Clasp began to fall apart, he began to expand his business by selling to the Myriad, the tribes of Shadycreek Run, and even to the margrave of Kymal to be distributed in her casinos. On top of being a successful businessman, he dotes and fawns over his only child Rinna, though due to his lifestyle he remains professionally paranoid of losing her, keeping her under tight scrutiny to make sure nothing ever happens to her. When his daughter was five, he purchased a tabaxi kitten from the Jagentoths to raise alongside her as a companion and protector- a kitten he named Creek, eventually shortened to Cree.

Rinna Pathan Female human, Warlock (Pact of the Chain) As Gorazm Pathan’s only child, Rinna was raised like a hothouse flower, kept in a gilded cage with only her tabaxi servant Cree for company. Over the years, Rinna became resentful of her father’s overprotective nature and took her anger out on Cree by bullying her. After Cree fled, she became extremely lonely and desperate, eventually attracting the attention of Ira Wendagoth who made a pact with her- power in exchange for helping him sow chaos and gather fodder for his experiments. Together, they formed the Court of Nightmares, a group of like-minded individuals who sow discord and cause harm for the sake of it.

Phaedra Quavein Female drow, Rogue (Thief) The head of den Quavein, nearing status as a Umavi, Phaedra gained a reputation in the Dynasty by being their most dedicated and talented spy- earning her the title of Queen's Blade- before eventually settling into a life of running her den and training up the next generation of spies and rogues for the Bright Queen. Despite the Bright Queen’s protests, she demanded to be sent out to seek the lost beacons sixteen years ago and was captured by the Righteous Brand near Pride’s Call. To avoid interrogation, she slit her own throat knowing that a beacon was nearby and would eventually be reborn as Narcissa Ageratum.

Valerius Severna Male human, Sorcerer (Draconic Bloodline) The latest in the long line of Cognouza wardens from the Severna family, Valerius is unique in being the first of his family line to have inherited magic (which gained him a position as a member of the Somnovem), but with the cost of some of his humanity, due to his red dragon blood. Though he tries to be tolerant and kind, the dragon blood leaves him with a nasty temper, which is exacerbated by his fellow Somnovem not quite jiving with his particular morals.

Beagan Starhollow, the Luna Moth Non-binary archfey The former Solstice Sentinel of Sehanine Moonbow's court before she ascended into godhood. After the dissolution of the Moonweaver's court, Beagan fell into a deep melancholy and decided to shirk any and all responsibilities going forward by taking the form of a child (calling themself Luna) and running wild through the Feywild. This behavior allowed them to be geased by the hag Granny Nightshade, who was then captured and brought to the Material Plane by Isharnai. From there, they remained bound to the woods surrounding Mount Mentiri, desperate to get someone to destroy the hags and break their geas so that they can finally be free again .

Malachi “Doc” Stursk Male human, Cleric (Tempest Domain) A surgeon who served under Vandran while he was in the Revelry with an incurable genetic lung disorder that left his faith in the Wildmother wavering. When Avantika and Vandran agreed they needed a third person to help them release Uk’otoa from his prison and divide the seals up evenly, they went to Malachi, appealing to his waning faith and his desire to be strong enough to fight off the disease claiming him. When Vandran left, he and Avantika disagreed on how best to proceed (Avantika wanting to continue and Malachi wanting to take Uk’otoa’s granted power and simply leave him be) and split ways shortly after, with the two of them both ending up captaining their own ships.

Sabrina Superno Female human, sorcerer (aberrant mind)

An Aeoran Ruidusborn sorcerer from the Viventum Ward, who was once the lover of Athodan, who, upon discovering her Ruidusborn powers brought her before the Octovirate and had her imprisoned. During the fall of Aeor, she was freed by her childhood best friend Beatrice, who gave up the ring that would save her life when the city fell and sacrificed herself so that Sabrina (and a group of Aeoran childre

Maira Thistleeyes Female halfling, Cleric (Blood Domain) The High Priestess of the Wildemount Claret Orders and Cree’s previous mentor. She and Derrin Zacrux have been friends for years and, as such, have a similar mindset about the Orders and the necessity of them. She was extremely dedicated to Cree’s tutelage and was the first to point out her prodigal gifts with blood and had attempted to groom her to become the next High Priestess before she abandoned the Orders entirely.

Sir Gulliver Thurston Male human, Druid (Circle of the Land)/Wizard (School of Transmutation) Thurston started out as minor nobility from a druid clan from deep within the wilds of Issylra and left that life to come to Vasselheim, changing his name (the “Sir” he tacked on to make himself noble without being overblown about it) and most of his nature, preferring books to the land he’d once been raised to tend. He spent a great deal of time in the Slayer’s Take where he developed an interest in arcane pursuits and developed himself as a powerful transmutation wizard up until he was caught for trafficking in illegal transmutation potions by the Cobalt Soul. He was able to plead a case for himself to become an asset rather than face the Dawn Marshalls and the Soul have kept him on ice ever since.

Lance Veidrodis Male human, Bard (College of Whispers)/Monk (Way of the Drunken Master) A former member of Thordak’s Tongue, an order of spies that began to operate out of Emon following the Clasp falling apart, Lance left the order after being betrayed by his partner and turned to alcohol and pit fighting to ease the sting. After discovering his partner and his ex were both in Kymal, he teamed up with a guardsman trying to find evidence that the guards in Kymal were corrupt and a thief trying to rob the place in the hopes of settling the score. When the plan went tits up, however, the three of them fled Tal’Dorei together.

Victoria Female human, shopkeeper The daughter of Victor the Black Powder Merchant from Vasselheim. She built her father’s business into a franchise by expanding into Wildemount and opening a shop in Nogvurot. Her intention was to open several others, but her lack of ambition hasn’t allowed her to progress very far.

Werner Vogel Male human, noble After meeting a beautiful tiefling woman in his home of Odessloe named Ophelia, freshly released from a Dawnfather chantry, he pursued a meaningless relationship with her to balance the boredom of his nobleman’s life, finding her to be both naive and exotic. Knowing that his indiscretion would soon be found out, he tricked her by offering her some of his wife’s jewelry and asked her to come by his home and they would run away together. When she arrived, he summoned the Crownsguard, labeling her a thief and had her chased out of town. This would have been enough to cover his tracks had Ophelia not been inclined to vengeance and carrying his child. He allegedly has sired two other children with tiefling lovers.

Derrin Zacrux Male human, Bloodhunter (Order of the Ghostslayer) A no-nonsense Bloodhunter who was chosen to head the Ghostslayers in Wildemount by Elias de Corvo, himself. After gaining horrific scars and losing his eye in a fiend attack some years prior to his promotion, he’s developed a completely intolerant few of anything that comes from the Hells, including tieflings, which led him to often push his tiefling acolytes much harder and much more unfairly than the rest.

[comicaurora]

People have asked you what D&D alignment/class your characters are. But I want to know something slightly different. If your cast sat down and made D&D characters what do you think they would each make? Or would any of them want to be the DM?

That……… is a much more interesting question.

Erin would enthusiastically volunteer to be the DM. He’d start off by researching existing modules, planning everything from the ground up. He’d then write a custom module that’d be divisible into three sub-modules for practicality’s sake, each one taking his characters through five character levels (with room to grow for sequels, of course). He’d design NPCs, settings, draw maps, get really into it, and then nearly have a breakdown the first time one of his players goes off-script and pokes a hole in his story where he didn’t plan everything out. After a three-day caffeine bender, he’d emerge with a reworked plan that ties this new angle back to his original idea, then repeat this process every time someone goes off the tracks again.

Kendal would flip idly through the rulebook, find the entry for the Warforged race, stare at it for an uninterrupted five minutes, then create a Warforged monk seeking to explore his own improbable existence by finding his place in a peaceful world that crafted him only for war. This is all the backstory he gets - every other question is answered either with “I was in the monastery” or “that was during The War.” Kendal always prefaces his actions with “<Character> does-” and “<Character> says-” instead of acting directly in character.

Alinua is intrigued by the edgy, emotional possibilities of roleplaying, and would design a character to explore this space. This character has a tragic past, one they aren’t proud of; haunted by shades of their dark history, figures from their past can emerge at any time to plothook the party into a new story. Erin is delighted by this opportunity and builds a whole suite of NPCs with all kinds of complex connections to this character, who’s most likely a rogue or ranger or something.

If The Collector is allowed to play, she’d metagame the shit out of this. She’s slapping templates on top of more templates to create the perfect engine of destruction. She’s trying to convince the DM she should be allowed to play a lich as long as she takes the ritual costs out of her starting equipment. She gives her character a specific personal goal and refuses to participate in anything that doesn’t directly lead to that goal. She’ll also absolutely use player knowledge to inform character choices even when there’s zero justification.

Metal-lady has simple tastes. She’d want to play the designated brick, but she’d have an absolute ball making a Problem Character, so she’d build the most stuffy hard-assed paladin she could think of who can make Problems magically appear from thin air. This character would be incredibly motivated at all times to do something that’d totally derail Erin’s plans. NPC’s trying to give us a quest objective? But I heard them say an unkind word to their stableboy on the way in! WE MUST SETTLE THIS THROUGH TRIAL BY COMBAT

Lion-dude hammers out a tiefling warlock in five minutes and refuses to give him any more detail or background than the most generic option on the page, but then at random intervals in the game he’ll bust out an incredible bit of RP that comes out of fuckin nowhere and completely reframes his entire dynamic with the party and any NPCs that might be involved. Erin yes-ands like a champ, but it’s always a scramble to rework this one-shot NPC to have actually been this character’s long-lost foster sibling who turned to piracy after they escaped The Pit together (and what the fuck is The Pit? Erin doesn’t know yet, and Lion-Dude is being ominously vague in-character and won’t give anyone a straight answer other than It’s Bad, but he’s going to have to come up with something to flesh out this wild improv narrative they’re forging because neither of them wants to be the first one to break the yes-and chain because that would be losing and I don’t lose dammit)

The Dragon doesn’t play. He just sits in the back of Erin’s mind and shit-talks his improv choices. It’s more fun that way.

[creacherkeeper]

LOVR ur aelwyn and the bad kids series and can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned for the other three bad kids!! got any headcanons in general about them?

thank you so much!!!! <3 <3 ive REALLY enjoyed writing the series so far, and the comments and encouragement has been so lovely ;; fantasy high fandom my beloved <3

*slaps head* this babey can fit so much headcanons in it

okay ive talked about this with a few people but i totally think season 3 will have a siblings motif. we already know a few characters who are NOT only children (fabian, ayda) which hasn’t been explored, and have some characters who also have the potential to not be only children (they called fig ‘first born daughter’ in hell?? weird choice of wording for an only child) (also either set of gorgug’s parents could have more kids - adopted or bio). and i’d just really like to see more of kristen’s brothers and OF COURSE adaine and aelwyn. riz just has such strong only child vibes im sorry i dont see that changing

i REALLY HOPE we meet fabian’s siblings but my PERSONAL headcanon for them is that he has an older sister who is like. SUPER COOL and badass and can kick his ass in a second flat and literally everyone is in love with her. and also an older brother who lives in bastion city who is a completely normal and extremely boring accountant

(also fabian’s cool older sister and aelwyn become friends ok thx)

so adaine definitely has the potential to be a very physical person (like even early early s1 she’s throwing spells, punching, The Ladle) but obviously was raised in an environment where she was expected to be very self contained. i think as she gets used to mordred manor and living with jawbone and tracker and ragh especially, she gets VERY about physical affection. like, okay, one, the child is touch starved we all know this. but i think she goes from awkward fistbumps and pats on the shoulder to like. BIG bear hugs, hair ruffling, people sitting on her lap, etc etc pretty quickly. like just embracing that physicality she has in a positive way

also jawbone and tracker (in a safe way, we know they take measures to not spread lycanthropy) totally bite as affection. and adaine picks up on it and one day just sort of chomps aelwyn’s arm a little bit and aelwyn is like. hey. so what the hell was that. and adaine was like it was affection it means i love you. and aelwyn is just like. literally what the fuck is up with this house.

ALL the bad kids have trauma For Sure but (as i hinted at in the first fic) fabian definitely has ptsd from leviathan. i think his presents as less emotional stuff and more as like. a ton of hypervigilance and irritability/snappishness when he’s triggered

okay i could literally write an essay on all the bad kids mental stuff and neurodivergence and everything but 1) kristen is just a unit of cPTSD with freckles 2) adaine and aelwyn have the SUPER WEIRD combo of adaine being the externalizer and aelwyn being an internalizer and i think that’s the thing that like. yes DID fuck up aelwyn for a long time but ultimately is what saved both of them. like i believe very strongly that if this tendency had been flipped they’d both be completely screwed

okay speaking of aelwyn 1) claustrophobia now right?? like we can all agree on that ?? 2) this is NOT just me projecting (yes it is) but i think aelwyn has chronic pain/fatigue for a good while after s2. like you cant spend almost a YEAR at five levels of exhaustion doing one extremely restricted repetitive motion and not like ???? completely fuck up your body??? like yes she and fabian totally swordfight and duel and stuff but also i think it takes a WHILE before she can do any physical activity without getting completely wiped out. because spells do seem to take SOME level of energy or whatever from you (spell slots, otherwise you could just do them all the time) i think this probably includes spells

gorgug is like. extremely good with kids. toddlers especially. he talks to them like they can totally understand everything (great for development!) and is just very patient and kind and good but also does not mind being used as a jungle gym and WILL throw a child into a beanbag chair for two hours straight (ALSO great for development!). fabian also thinks babies are the cutest things on the planet but will NOT admit that so he mostly tags along when gorgug babysits because he’s “just SO bored he CANT find anything better to do UGH” and secretly is like. babies <3

let aelwyn MULTICLASS!!!! paladin and barbarian are my faves for her

i know this is a common hc but like. all the bad kids share clothes. for sure. literally the bugs bunny OUR closet meme

kristen has a total green thumb she’s GREAT with plants and tracker is just like <3 its because youre a lesbian <3 even though tracker will totally kill any plant she comes in contact with by accident

kristen and tracker are the academy’s GSA moms. theyll be like “hello my child” and the other kid will be like im four months older than you??? and theyre like “that does not matter <3″

adaine and aelwyn were DEF forced into like. piano and violin lessons growing up but when fig finds out shes VERY EXCITED they can play together and like. does piano and violin and bass sound good together?? dont worry about it. its the first time playing music is actually fun for the two of them

ayda, after more research and understanding, is totally the type of person who’d walk up to someone in the grocery store and be like “hello i believe you are autistic like me let me explain what that is” and fig is like. babe. babe. we were just here for fruit snacks. babe.

okay i will stop here for now because i super need to shower but also if people wanted more/specific headcanons i might be .....,, persuaded ...

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: My Top Ten Muppets

Listeners of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour recently cast their votes to rank the best Muppets – an impossible decision, really. And yet, once the top ten list was read aloud on the podcast, I found myself completely unsurprised. It’s a list that made sense, a list of safe bets. It’s also an incredibly Muppet Show-heavy list, even though the competition was open to Muppets of all properties, including Sesame Street and my beloved Dark Crystal. The full top 25 list, available here, reveals that a few Sesame Street Muppets ranked in the teens, but still. We all know the top ten is where it’s at, and this top ten was neither creative nor representative. It struck me as a list of popular Muppets, not a list of the best Muppets. Most of my favorites weren’t on that list at all!

So, here’s my take on the ten best Muppets – and because I don’t believe in objective Muppet rankings, I want YOU to reblog this post and tell me your favorites!

10. Swedish Chef              

The Chef came in ninth on NPR’s rankings, and I gotta be honest, I’m on the same page with them on this one. Maybe it’s the fact that when he comes onscreen, there’s no way to predict how the sketch will end. Maybe it’s the bizarreness of human fingers on Muppet arms – and knowing that those arms indicate a frankly superhuman feat of teamwork going on under the table. Maybe it’s just the Popcorn video, which always brightens my mood. Whatever it is, the Swedish Chef is definitely tenth best.

9. Fozzie Bear

I like Fozzie. He’s an underdog, never giving up in his pursuit of fame and audience acclaim. And even though his whole shtick is that he can’t succeed – Statler and Waldorf always get bigger laughs during his bits – he objectively has succeeded, because he’s still around and making us laugh after all these years.

What puts Fozzie in the top ten for me, though, is that I genuinely find his jokes funny. Honestly. I really do. So maybe Fozzie Bear sketches don’t really work for me, but Fozzie Bear himself does.

8. Rosita

I mentioned my disappointment before in the “official” ranking’s lack of Sesame Street characters. Sure, the cast of The Muppet Show has had a notable cultural impact, but it would be a disservice to Muppetkind if we ignored the impact of their friends on Sesame Street.

I could never forget Rosita. She’s not the most popular Muppet; she’s never had a super catchy song or a roll-on-the-floor-laughing one-liner to rival the others’ success. But her “Spanish Word of the Day” segments have a permanent spot in my memory. She’s sweet, she’s sincere, and she’s an excellent friend to her more famous fellow Muppets. (And as a bilingual Muppet, she’s really hecking important – there’s an episode where she deals with some kids making fun of her accent, and it’s equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming!)

7. Rowlf

While other Muppets have one-note personalities – see number 10 on this list above, and number 5 below – there’s also Muppets like Rowlf. He’s not an “Anything Muppet,” by any means – he’s a character in his own right – but Rowlf is a dog who rises to any occasion. He sits at the piano to bring both beautiful classical pieces and hilarious parodies to life, and it’s all music to my ears. He can be the Straight Man to more chaotic Muppets’ antics, but just one clip of “Veterinarian’s Hospital” proves that he’s got enough silliness in him to take center stage.

And all the while, no matter what role he’s playing, he’s still that chill dog I adore – calm and adorable, with that round black nose, those big fluffy paws, and those floppy ears just begging to be scratched.

6. Deethra

As much as I love the original Dark Crystal film, the Netflix prequel series Age of Resistance has one big thing going for it: its characters. The protagonists of this show draw me in and make me care, quickly and continually. And best among them all is Deet. Deethra the Gelfling – small and beautiful, kind and powerful. She cares wholeheartedly about the world around her, and that care begets a wisdom that balances out her naivete in fascinating ways.

Muppets are so often silly, and we love them for it. But Deet embodies the Muppets’ potential to tell a serious story, a potential we would be remiss to ignore.

5. Animal

Oh my god, Animal. If you want to talk about the sheer silliness of Muppets, you need to talk about Animal. There’s just no way around it. He’s loud – in both sound and color scheme. And he’s absolutely bonkers. I know every drummer has an Animal in them, and it’s likely that all humans do. We’re just not all comfortable with letting him out to play.

That’s what’s so great about watching Animal do his thing. He has no inhibitions; he is freedom, he is chaos. And he lets me feel a little freer by association.

4. Hup

I talked a bit about underdogs in the Fozzie Bear section above. There’s an essay to be written about the Muppet as underdog; it’s an essential Muppet quality. Muppets are characters you logically wouldn’t expect to succeed, but they persevere, nonetheless.

Hup is the underdog of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. He’s the Podling who wants to be a paladin. Dear god he’s adorable, dear god he’s funny, and dear god do you root for him (and his spoon) to save the day! Of all the characters in this show, he feels the most Muppety – and that’s why he’s higher on the list than Deet. He’s still a serious character in a serious story (when he cries… my goodness), but he’s got that classic Muppet spirit to him.

3. Elmo

You know, I just don’t get why Elmo gets such a bad rap. Is it that people think he’s annoying? Sure, he is! Muppets are objectively annoying characters – they all are. Yes, even the one you’re thinking of right now. But I fricking love Elmo. He’s joyful, he’s spirited, and he’s exploring the world around him in that carefree way only a child can – and he brings you along on that adventure! “Elmo’s World” is your world. “Elmo’s Song” is your song. Elmo’s laugh is fricking infectious. And yeah, I’m probably biased by nostalgia (my dad’s Elmo impression cracks me up to this day), but Elmo is a darn good Muppet and he deserves our respect and admiration.

2. SkekSil

On a completely different note… let’s talk about the Chamberlain. There aren’t really that many Muppet villains. There are plenty of Muppet henchmen, providing comic relief for a human actor who isn’t supposed to be seen as that much of a threat anyway. The Skeksis of Dark Crystal are a notable exception, and SkekSil, better known as the Chamberlain, stands out among them. He is evil and he is smart. I hate him, and at the same time, I am fascinated by him. He knows what he wants and how to get it, even though he’s nowhere near as strong as the other Skeksis. He is, in his own way, an underdog. He believes in himself, and he wields that confidence as a weapon, calmly explaining to his enemies why they should do what he wants. You just can’t look away. He’s an amazing character, embodying the dark side of Muppethood.

1. Cookie Monster

When my mom first shared that episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour with me, in which the hosts talked about their favorite Muppets, I first thought, “How could you decide?” And then Stephen Thompson said his favorite was Cookie Monster, and I shouted “YES!!!” out loud. Because he’s right – Cookie’s the best.

Cookie Monster is eternally funny, whether you’re five or fifty-five. Everything that comes out of his mouth is pure gold (“Why me not get royalties?”) He’s got the best songs – not only the classic “C is for Cookie,” but also “Me Want It (But Me Wait),” “Me Am What Me Am,” and the “Healthy Foods” rap. All the stuff I love about other Muppets on this list – the unpredictability, the ability to fit into any role a sketch requires, the lack of inhibitions, the confidence, the chaos, the unexpected moments of wisdom – he’s got it all. He’s irreplaceable, he’s lovable, and he’s the top of my Top Ten Muppets list.

[ravenbell-exchange]

Here come the prompts!

These are for all of us to use, so please feel free to peruse, reblog, explore, comment, and be generally delightful. Everyone will be receiving their assigned prompts later today, but remember that we are writing two stories each: one from the assigned prompts, and one from this list. You are free to pick anything apart from stuff you yourself prompted. There haven’t been any Dear Author letters I’ve spotted so far, so I’ve included some additional crossover prompts from people here, just for ease of reference. You absolutely don’t have to pick them - there’s just there in case you want them!

If you didn’t sign up for this challenge, but want to use any of the prompts below to write a fic – go for it! As long as you make sure to credit where you got the prompt from, you are very welcome to play with us.

Now, without further ado:

1.

Url: @autobot

Prompt 1: Sports AU: Bellamy and Raven flirt while their respective teams yell at them to get their head in the game.

Prompt 2: Delinquent Winter: It's snowing, so the delinquents decide to start a snowball fight. Raven and Bellamy really go at each other. Bellamy ends up getting a cut on his lip from an icy snowball, and Raven decides to remedy that with a kiss.

Prompt 3: Season 7: This is pretty vague but just anything with the relationship Bellamy/Raven/Doucette, with Bellamy having had separate relationships with the other two in the past.

Prompt 4 (optional variation on 1): HP AU: Bellamy and Raven flirt while their respective Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams yell at them to get their head in the game.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Momma didn't raise no wussy "N/A"

Also: Have seen all 7 seasons.

2.

Url: @growlereish

Prompt 1: post mount weather road trip. monty, miller, lincoln, gina, octavia, harper welcome to come too. maybe they find a bunch of cars and the delinquents take off into the sunset together. maybe it's just bellamy and raven exploring the world together.

Prompt 2: au where they're on a sports team together. any sport, the sport is not important, it's about the Team As Family and the Narratives

Prompt 3: fantasy au or canon + fantasy elements

Prompt 4: relationship negotiation / exploration

Prompt 5: anything from the expansive list of likes on my dear creator letter: https://growlery.dreamwidth.org/11097.html

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: somnophilia; humiliation, especially as a kink; d/s that's about punishment; discussion of diets/nutrition plans/exercise regimens/body maintenance/weight management/etc

Also: Have seen up to + including 3x08

3.

Url: @kinetic-elaboration​

Prompt 1: High school AU: Bellamy and Raven are exes, but Raven is still good friends with Octavia, so they still see each other all the time

Prompt 2: Bellamy/Raven/Gina negotiating/figuring out a poly relationship in Arkadia pre-S3

Prompt 3: Braven + First real, heavy snow on the ground (canon or canon-divergent AU)

Prompt 4: Librarian!Bellamy and Mechanic!Raven

Prompt 5: Modern AU: Bellamy, Raven, and author's choice other delinquents living in a cramped apartment together; Raven and Bellamy are either struggling with UST or in a secret relationship or FWB arrangement

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: pregnancy/kid fic of any sort; side/background Minty, Marper, or Clexa; explicit sex (implied/fade to black/generically described is ok); character bashing of any kind

Also: Have seen season 1-4 (really do not want to write/read anything related to the timeskip on, please!).  I'm not really into the Grounders generally; I love the delinquents; I headcanon Raven as bisexual but Bellamy as straight.

4.

Url: @justbecauseyoubelievesomething​

Prompt 1: Sci-fi/Space AU where Bellamy and Raven serve on the same ship; (fr)enemies to lovers with lots of angst along the way! Time loop/travel or interdimensional travel shenanigans would be appreciated as well!

Prompt 2: Dark Fairytale/Fantasy AU; very dark, stormy, foresty vibes; one of them is some sort of mythical creature, maybe even ruler of other mythical creatures; dark forbidden romance; for lots of bonus angst, one of them can be a magical creature hunter and reveal themselves at the end!

Prompt 3: Canonverse Ark AU; Bellamy and Raven meet as adults on the Ark because they both join the same secret revolutionary group planning to overthrow Alpha Station; other Delinquents can definitely make appearances!

Prompt 4: Modern AU; one of the two is driving through a small town trying to get home for Christmas when their car breaks down and they are forced to take it to the town's only mechanic; they snark at each other before the mechanic invites the stranded party to Christmas dinner; found family; fluff; basically you're typical Hallmark-esque set-up.

Prompt 5: Any setting! Bellamy and Raven are rivals in some sort of extreme sport (or if set in canonverse can be something like spacewalking). They're constantly pushing each other to their limits trying to beat each other, until Raven permanently injures her leg. She becomes very bitter during her recovery until she realizes that Bellamy isn't competing anymore and confronts him. Maybe feelings come out right away or maybe it takes them a while to get around to realizing it, but lots of angst and hurt/comfort during the build-up!

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Explicit smut; pregnancy/kid fic; incest; student/teacher; character bashing of any other characters

Also: Have seen seasons 1-6 and the first half of season 7.

5.

Url: @ravenbells

Prompt 1: Raven discovering and enjoying the fact that Bellamy is a huge history nerd (can be canon, modern or some kind of fantasy/sci-fi setting).

Prompt 2: Modern AU. Raven is sharing a flat with friends, but one of them has to move out because of Reasons, and Bellamy rents the freed up room. Doesn’t have to be set in the US if you don’t want to, I don’t care that it’s an American show.

Prompt 3: Grounder AU, but set in the past. Bellamy and Raven were children when the nukes that caused the Ark to stay in space for generations went off. Now they are they first generation of survivors who have to build a life in a world without technology.

Prompt 4: Steampunk AU. Can be traditional Victorian-aesthetic steampunk, but if you want to lift your visuals from any other time period, be my guest. I’m going to love anything you do.

Prompt 5: Bellamy and Raven are exes who get back together (can be canon or any AU setting you can imagine).

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Graphic violence

Also: Have only seen the first 2 seasons, please have mercy. If you want to incorporate the characters playing DnD into any of the stories, be my guest - just putting this in here because I know some people in the group love it (Bellamy would play a paladin, fight me), but if you’re not into this stuff, absolutely don’t feel obliged.

6.

Url: shortitude @ AO3

Prompt 1: Modern coffee-shop AU where they meet because both of them has a Specific Table they like to sit at and usually their schedules do not coincide, but then because of fate (someone's wi-fi broke, there's plumbing work happening at home, etc) they have to go to the coffee shop and their table is taken, as are all the others. Luckily, the traitor who took their Specific Table is willing to share it, just for today. (And then every day after.) Friends to Lovers is preferred over Instant Attraction in this one. Even open-ended works. (Please, no pandemic.)

Prompt 2: Canon-based AU: Give me cottagecore survival to replace the weird plots that happened to this show after s2. The idea of the Delinquents settling in a village, life moving on, peace being brokered, etc etc. In the middle of it all, Bellamy and Raven rely on each other to rebuild, and fall in love. A lot.

Prompt 3: Five times Bellamy tried to show his love for Raven and failed, and one time she finally got the point. Oblivious That People Might Love Her!Raven is my tragic and problematic fave. A bonus: competence kink. Acceptable: any form of AU; I am not a stickler for canon.

Prompt 4 (optional): Pacific Rim AU; veteran Jaeger pilot gets pulled back into action because of a need to pull off a last fight against the apocalypse/alien invasion, drifts unexpectedly with the supermouthy, supersmart, very capable engineer/mechanic. Add as many characters from The 100 as you'd like into this, but I am very much more into the wholesome survival of all of them than I am about everyone except Braven dying.

Things they don’t want to find in the fic you write for them: Bellarke content if the Braven content is just a way for Bellamy to "get over" Clarke, be it failed relationship or unrequited one.

Also: Have seen season 1 and Season 2 in full; vaguely familiar with STUFF about how they ended up in space, and nothing beyond that because I literally don't care.

[selemina]

Oh yeah mun, I was wondering if you could share some more DND stories? Even if you don't draw anything to go with them its fun to see the stuff you get upto! Can you maybe talk a bit more about your Vault Girl? I'm really curious about her story!

Oh no, you want lore?? You crazy son of a b*tch, I’m in! XD

The Fallout Campaign (Dm’d by my friend @techpirate1) Takes place... I’m not too sure where in the timeline, and I blank out on the location. XD I am NOT a fallout fan, so I do my best! But essentially we’re looking at a not-destroyed-hopeville.

This is my character : Vesper Reynauld the artificer. Last in date overseer of vault 11 (aka that one vault where the overseer was sacrificed ever year, so there were elections to chose who to kill every year), she chose exile at the end of her term instead of a quick execution. Sh expected the world to still be radioactive as shit and to kill her in a matter of seconds... so finding actual living people outside was a shock! She made her way to Hopeville, where she encountered a merry bunch of misfits : an albino talking deathclaw and history nerd, Achii. a talking dog, member of the followers of the apocalypse (and best girl), River. her companion ghoul, that saw it all go down, Dusty. a delivery girl with a BIG GUN, Vicky. (and her future crush, Enclave lieutenant Reginald Brownings (I believe is his last name, we call him Reggie. XD) as our companion NPC)

So first they band together to hunt down a guy that has been harrassing Hopeville’s guards. Upon finding his camp and killing everybody inside, they notice manage to get him, but not before he triggers a beacon. Since he’s associated with the brotherhood of steel, nobody is happy about this... Still, we raid the camp, and this happens :

And THIS is the moment everybody decided Vesper was probably the protagonist, despite her knowing NOTHING about the wastelands. XD

After that, We had a paladin come down to our neighborhood, and unfortunately trace Vesper’s pipboy... she didn’t react well to being blocked, and put a bounty on Vesper’s head. Though at the current time if I remember right, the Brotherhood got their ass handed to them already, so this type of bounty doesn’t carry as much weight as one might think.

Vicky received a package not long after to deliver to said paladin. Apprehensive we open it up... to find a missile launcher remote. (detonator?) with hopeville’s coordinates already plugged in. Reginald begrudgingly informs us we’re sitting on a few functional missile silos... So we all agree to hide the thing, and entrust it over to him.

We get the opportunity to go explore the wasteland, so we do! :D We jump over to the next town, meeting on the way a robot fan of Buddy Holy music but struggling to find a disk, L3wis (Lew1s? Lew15? Lewis! XD). Bringing him along, we get a job for vicky to deliver more stuff, after having a very “protagonist Vesper” moment in the casino, of Vesper playing blackjack for the first time and getting a blackjack immediately. XD

During the delivery, we set up camp, go hunt for food on the territory of a radioactive, invisible deathclaw, and also Vesper gets shot in the neck from nowhere, going straight to 1 HP. :D As the team immediately gets the assassin, Reginald gives her a shot of pretty intense stimulants, getting her pumped up... for a fight that never happens because the guy gets destroyed before she can get there. XD

Apparently he was after the bounty, but instead, Vesper loots his armor, and Vicky speeds up the mountain to go finish her delivery... findinga creative way to go back down. ;)

Once reunited, we all sleep... to wake up to glowing deathclaw footprints around the camp. Needless to say, Dusty who was in charge of the watch and fell asleep at the time, did NOT like that! We pack up and leave QUICKLY! We reach a big city juuust before there is a prison outbreak nearby, and go about our business : starting to research a way to synthesize anti-addictive medicine for River, wondering around for Visky and Lewis, Reginald and Achii went shopping (for their girlfriends), and Vesper just, you know... found a junk pile and made her own power armor frame. :) Armorer artificer, lads! XD (new guns were also aquired!)

We then went on a side quest for Reginald, to help him find notes on an experiment he was a part of back in the days, and after a LOT of unpleasant hallucinations that almost cost us some party members, we managed to secure everything we needed (insert delighted Dusty noises when he found a few redacted documents... and then documents that didn’t have the time to be redacted. ;) ).

AND THEN WE HAD A BEACH EPISODE! :D And for the moment, that’s it! :)

Congratulations on reading the whole thing, you get one more Vesper for your trouble. XD

[kaoru-takaida]

LONG Character Survey: Tius Mason

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Tius Mason

NICKNAME: N/A

AGE: 25

BIRTHDAY: 20th Sun of the First Astral Moon (January 20th)

ETHNIC GROUP: Miqo'te (Seeker of the Sun)

NATIONALITY: Eorzean

LANGUAGE(S): Eorzean

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: ?

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Taken

CLASS: All Rounder

• Specializes in defensive and illusion arts

• Also skilled Paladin, and studying healing arts

HOMETOWN / AREA: NA

CURRENT HOMETOWN/ AREA: Mor Dhona

PROFESSION: Scion

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: White, silver/black

EYES: Blue

NOSE: Sharp

FACE: Pointed

LIPS: Full and plump

COMPLEXION: Natural

BLEMISHES: None

SCARS: Various battle scars and burns

TATTOOS: Regular Miqo markings (blue and bkack)

HEIGHT: 5'9"

WEIGHT: 140 lbs

BUILD: Toned, fit, athletic

FEATURES: Beauty mark left corner of his mouth, and cat feet *new* scar on right cheek,

ALLERGIES: N/A

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Usually tussled and with a stray bit of hair sticking out and fluffed upward in the back or pulled back in a messy ponytail/bun

USUAL FACE LOOK: No makeup, clean, tired at times

USUAL CLOTHING: Usually short to no sleeves, a few necklaces and something "to show off my nice abs and arms. Because they deserve it. ;3"

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR(S): Closed spaces, bugs that crawl, heights, losing loved ones, being weak, captivity

ASPIRATION(S): To support Kaoru and his sister and someday have a family

POSITIVE TRAITS: Energetic, strong willed, straight forward, funny, caring, no nonsense, calculating, stealthy, confident

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Gets jealous easily, blunt, stubborn, acts on emotions, no hesitation to start arguments, cocky at times

ZODIAC: Capricorn

TEMPERAMENT: Hyper comic relief

SOUL TYPE(S): Rogue, Jack of all trades

ANIMALS: White Lion

VICE HABIT(S): Squats, lounging, fishing, sparring

FAITH: The Twelve

GHOSTS?: I guess

AFTERLIFE?: maybe

REINCARNATION?: Probably

ALIENS?: Dude, there are other worlds that we know of. So duh.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: What the what?

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: Um...

SOCIO POLITICAL POSITION: I think you should leave the political questions for Alphinaud...

EDUCATION LEVEL: Basic education, extensive training in illusionary and defensive arts, some training with Arenvald as a Paladin, *new* minimal training in healing arts

FAMILY.

FATHER: Ebinger Mason= adoptive (deceased)

MOTHER: Nanci Heartilind= adoptive (deceased)

SIBLINGS: A'mandi Heartilind (alive)

EXTENDED FAMILY: Scions of the Seventh Dawn

NAME MEANING(S): NA

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?:  N/A

FAVORITES.

BOOK:

MOVIE PLAY:

5 SONGS:

• "Deeper" by Valerie Broussard, Lindsey Sterling

• "Darkside" by Alan Walker

• "Silver Lining" by Hurts

• "Alligator Sky" Owl City

• "Lights" by BTS

DEITY: Azeyma, Nymeia

HOLIDAY: Little Lady's Day

MONTH: January/ First Astral Moon

SEASON: Spring

PLACE: Costa Del Sol

WEATHER: Bright and sunny, warm with cool breeze, clear

SOUND: Waves crashing in the beach, gentle wind, chocobo carriage

SCENT(S): Spice, ocean smells

TASTE(S): Sea salt ice cream, dango, cafe de Leche

FEEL(S): Cotton, soft leather sofa, warm cuddles, cat paw pads

ANIMAL(S): chocobo

NUMBER: 3

COLORS: Light blue, grey, white, black

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Athletic, fast learner, has many tricks up his sleeve, can detect lies without fail, master of illusionary defense

BAD AT: Controlling his feelings, cleaning, minding his own business

TURN ONS: Smart, can enjoy little things and let loose, laughs at his jokes, nice, compassionate, selfless

TURN OFFS: Selfishness, ignorance, pettiness, laziness

HOBBIES: Training, fishing, exploring, playing

TROPES: Sexy comic relief

AESTHETIC TAGS: Pastel blues with white or black, outdoor fitness, ocean skies

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC(S): Nada

ALT FC(S): Nope

OLDER FC(S): Nunka

YOUNGER  FC(S): <sigh>

VOICE CLAIM(S): Bryce Papenbrook voices him?

GENDERBENT FC(S): Pffft.

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1: IF YOU COULD WRITE YOUR CHARACTER YOUR WAY IN THEIR OWN MOVIE, WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED, WHAT STYLE WOULD IT BE FILMED IN, AND WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?:

• I guess Tius would fit perfectly in an action comedy. With a but of mystery.

Q2: WHAT WOULD THEIR SOUNDTRACK / SCORE SOUND LIKE?:

• Tius would definitely be into epic trailer music covers.

Q3: WHY DID YOU START WRITING THIS CHARACTER?:

• I wanted to create a character like Chat Noir from Miraculous Ladybug but for my own.

Q4: WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS CHARACTER?:

• At first I had planned on making a fanfic featuring him and another person as the main characters, but he eventually was put on the back burner til I needed a romantic interest for Kaoru in the main narrative. He's essentially a catboi who is the culmination of what I find attractive in FFXIV paired with the voice and attitude of Chat Noir from Miraculous Ladybug.

Q5: DESCRIBE THE BIGGEST THING YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR MUSE:

• That I don't really have much of a feel for him 100% yet. He's still in the creation process and has been developing as I go, much like my main Kaoru has.

Q6: WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN COMMON WITH YOUR MUSE?:

• I guess the sarcasm. And the humor. The jokes he uses generally are all my own comedic tastes. So I guess I'm secretly a funny person.

Q7: HOW DOES YOUR MUSE FEEL ABOUT YOU?:

• I think Tius and I would be great friends.

Q8: WHAT CHARACTERS DOES YOUR MUSE HAVE INTERESTING INTERACTIONS WITH?

- Kaoru Takaida: His loving girlfriend

- Hope Gallant: His girlfriend's best friend (@louderthanthedj)

- Alphinaud Leveilleur: Always had a rivalry with for Kaoru's attention which they eventually worked out

- G'raha Tia as The Crystal Exarch: Immediately suspected his feelings for Kaoru and saw past the lies he spun, still a sore topic

- Thancred Waters: Thancred was always a mentor to Tius and teaches him everything he wants to learn

Q9: WHAT GIVES YOU INSPIRATION TO WRITE YOUR MUSE?

• I basically wanted Kaoru to have a romantic interest in her adventures with @louderthanthedj and he became such a great character

Q10: HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE YOU TO COMPLETE?:

A couple of days since I work a crap ton and my internet is poopy.

[c-is-for-circinate]

I wasn’t expecting it, but I think one of the most fascinating things to watch in Campaign 1 of CritRole (and increasingly interesting in Campaign 2!) are the different interactions characters have around gods and religion, and I’m so excited for more.

Pike loves her quiet, distant god of healing and second chances in such an easy, sure-footed way, with bright faith and service.  It’s so simple for her, in the middle of all the chaos and muddle and ethical doubt in the hearts of everyone else she loves, and it’s exactly the bright contrast the whole group needs, without being cheap.  Faith and sureness in a god doesn’t actually make Pike less confused about everything all the time either.  Piety doesn’t make her less fierce.  Pike’s fascinating, because she’s sweet and she’s good, deep to her bones, she heals and cares and builds temples and gives council, and she’s also a dragon-slaying monstah who’ll charge out of her room in a midnight assassination attempt naked in her gauntlets, shield in one hand and mace in the other, bleeding from everywhere and ready to fight.  And those things don’t conflict for her, because sometimes goodness is fierce, and the pieces that wouldn’t fit together for someone else do for her, and damnit I miss Pike again already.

Percy will make a deal with any god or demon who’ll offer him a good enough bargain.  That’s who he is, Percy the Negotiator (do we have official alignments on Vox Machina?  Is Percy actually Lawful Neutral or does he just really, really feel like it?).   It’s selfish and arrogant and full of a very deep respect for the gods all at the same time.   Percy in the Raven Queen’s temple is as humble and honest and bare as he ever gets, stripped down and vulnerable, and even then he’s controlled and deliberate in offering his own vulnerability, like it’s a gift, like it’s something she might want, like a price he’s willingly choosing to pay in hopes of getting the thing he desperately needs in return.  He respects gods, and gives them his humility, but he doesn’t have faith, not really, not the soul-deep belief that some other power would do anything for him that he didn’t pay for himself.  And meanwhile he reveres people--not person, but people, the work of human lifetimes, the metaphysical enormity of cities, of countries, of history, of concepts and beliefs and things built that become more than the sum of their parts, for good or for ill.  The sacred glory of Westrun and Whitestone.  The near-divine horror of evil for the firearms he made with his own two hands and then released into the world to become a force, and a terror, and perhaps very soon a power beyond any mortal’s control ever again.  Any real reverence Percy has for gods as more than ultra-powerful allies, to be courted and implored and bargained with, comes down to the power he sees in belief and religion and the things people do in their name.

Keyleth never wanted or expected to have anything to do with gods until they decided they wanted something to do with her and hers, and it’s freaking her out so bad.  Gods are people, to Keyleth, an there’s nothing sacred about divinity.  They have powers and they do things, and that’s all--and in this world of Exandria where gods walk and want and war between each other, and distribute curses and favor at their own whims, who’s to say she’s wrong?  A god is just a person with a whole lot of power, and she doesn’t understand reverence, and it scares her.  The idea of a being with that much power over her and her loved ones scares her, when there’s so much she doesn’t have power over already.  The idea that her family-friends-team doesn’t stand with her in that fear, that they’ll kneel and pray instead of standing themselves, that scares her so, so much.  Keyleth believes in what she sees and touches and experiences, sun and seasons and living people, and gods have no place in her world, but they keep inviting themselves in anyway and she doesn’t know how to block them back out.

Vax breaks my fucking heart.  We spend a lot of time in fandom talking about sex and love and BDSM-done-like-religion, but the only metaphor I’ve got is that Vax just straight-up does religion like BDSM--not the penance and self-flagellation and humiliation and punishment, but.  The submission.  The boy is so desperate for solid ground to stand on.  Long before the Raven Queen, he’s looking up at Sarenrae and praying and hoping for a gentle hand.  For someone to tell him what he’s meant to be doing with himself, with his time, with his life.  Someone to promise that he’s done right, someone he can trust to know all the things about the wild, terrible, chaotic world that he doesn’t.  He wants a god so badly, to help him be good, to make him good, to give him a purpose and a guide and a promise for tomorrow that he actually trusts, and he wanted it to be Sarenrae but it’s the Raven Queen now, and he’s given himself to her body and soul with all the hope and terror in his heart.  He didn’t want this master, but he wanted a master.  He’s living right on the push-pull edge of trapped vs secure.  Fear and faith and peace are combining into the resigned horror-hope of something that’s been rattling loose for so long now clicking unbreakably into place, and it’s delicious to watch.

I know Vex falls into company with Pelor eventually, and I am so very on edge to see it, to see what it means to her.  Vex doesn’t blink at gods, except to nod to Sarenrae in passing on Pike’s behalf, to reread the Raven Queen book a dozen times inside of a month on her brother’s, a bit of a nod to Pelor for the sake of Whitestone.  Vex spectates everybody else’s drama and meltdowns, for all she plays selfish and vain and pushy and gossip-hungry, and tries to help, and tries not to control, and tries, and tries.  Vex watches her brother and her friends and her someday-husband slip and trip and bruise themselves stumbling through life, and walks the line between keeping an eye on everything she can and keeping out of the way.  Vex hasn’t even looked at the gods for herself, not really, not yet.  I cannot fucking wait.

There’s Grog and Scanlan, who don’t seem to have any particular relationship to gods so far, and that’s real too, the down-to-earth contrast for everybody else’s drama, and even they’re not bereft of their own little interactions with the divine.  There’s the horror of Kashaw and Vesh, there’s Zarah and Lilith and their not-a-god moon patron, there’s Kerr the paladin of no-apparent-god-in-particular.  There’s Thorbir and Lyra and Gern who don’t appear to have gods at all.  There’s a million NPC’s and there’s Kima’s faith in Bahamut and Allura’s faith in her, and there’s the whole city of Vasselheim, and Whitestone’s once-desecrated temple to Pelor, and its temple to Arathis where people prayed for hope and began a rebellion, and its temple to Vecna deep below ground.  There’s the shrine to the Raven Queen in the Whitestone graveyard and the shrine to the soul of Westrun in an underground bunker, and people will find them and see them and react to them in their own ways for as long as they stand.  There are so many different angles!

(There’s Jester and her very best friend and the favors she does him in exchange for affection.  There’s Caduceus and his Mother and his fears and doubts in himself that never extend to doubting her.  There’s Fjord with a dead god’s half-divine offcast in the back of his head, scared enough that he’d make a new deal if he could find a god to back him.  There’s Yasha, who follows devotion and worship as a matter of gratitude and honor and not-like-she-has-anything-else-left-either.  There’s Caleb and Nott and Imperial state-sponsored religion that they grew up with and don’t even notice, not really; there’s Molly covering himself in the symbols of all those state-sanctioned gods entirely for display and then praying to Moonweaver in some chaotic mix of secret and sincerity and show; there’s Beau praying to Ioun without being told to for the very first time in her life, just in case.  There’s the Krynn and the Luxan and so much more to come.)

Fantasy-fiction doesn’t always get a lot of deep exploration of religion and faith and what it means to have actual gods, whose presence can be known and measured and felt, marked down as an objective fact of history.  I love that we’re legitimately getting that in these campaigns, and I love that we’re getting it in a D&D format, where it’s so different for each different character, and so valid for each and every one.  I can’t fucking wait to see the rest of Campaign 1.  I can’t wait to see where Campaign 2 goes next.

[puppetmaster55]

Thoughts on VLD

What is there to say about this series? How does one encapsulate in one sentence all that this was, all that it ultimately came down to be?

You can’t.

But, in this essay, I will try.

So, let’s start with the simplistics.

The first two seasons are the strongest of the series, with the tightest storytelling and does so much to convey things about the plot and characters to the viewing audience at a pretty fast pace, one that makes you want to keep watching.

The characters, all of them, throughout the series, are memorable. They are unique personalities and are pretty decently individualized in design. They’re great, and I love them. The lore, too, I love.

...I came into this series with about as much understanding of what voltron is, as any new viewer. The most I could say about it is what Deadpool described it: five mini lion bots come together to make one giant megabot.

I thought it was gonna be a lot like power rangers. But, like, in space (no, not like that one iteration of power rangers literally called Power Rangers In Space).

Instead, the series looked gorgeous, the animation from beginning to end is stunning, the music incredible, the voice acting stellar.

And the writing?

The writing had so much potential, the kind of potential that you can physically see on the screen.

But getting back to the point. The first two seasons are the strongest, and for one simple reason.

The protagonists had a clearly defined end goal: to defeat the antagonist.

Voltron must defeat Zarkon.

And they do! In the incredible finale, Voltron defeats Zarkon at the end of the second season, culminating the end of the first arc.

Which makes everything that happens afterward hurt so much more.

Because what happens next? What happens when you have the protagonists defeat the antagonist one-third of the way through the series?

A mess, apparently.

Lotor comes into the scene, and is framed as an antagonist, until he isn’t, until he is, until he isn’t. Shiro returns, but not even the writing can decide if this is Shiro But Brainwashed or Clone Shiro. And then he is a clone, but he’s brainwashed, but he’s evil, but he’s not, and also the Shiro from before is dead, and…

Yeah, they needed better writing.

The clone storyline was something that, done well, I would have accepted wholesale. As it stands, it was drawn out for far too long, criminally underexplained, and had an ending that I am still upset about.

The Galra Empire was the enemy, with the Galra being the enemy, until they weren’t, and then they were, and then they weren’t again. And while I love the Blade of Marmora, and I love the idea they presented of things being murkier as the dismantling of the empire happened, and while “what do we do with the Galra afterward” is a great question… we didn’t get that.

The Galra Empire effectively was reformed under the Blade, in the end.

And Allura died.

Every character deserved better. No one had any real development after the second season, since they didn’t have a goal anymore to grow towards, no end villain that the series was building up to.

And no, Honerva doesn’t count at this point. She could, but with what her final endgame was… no. Her endgame is not what the series was building up toward.

Frankly, there’s only tenuous connections between the starting point and the end point of the series, and while protagonists evolve (I guess we can count what happens as character evolution) and new antagonists appear, where a series like this ends should be the rightful culmination of where it began.

Which isn’t to say that it couldn’t have had a better ending, that we couldn’t have kept Zarkon’s defeat at the end of s2 and still had a great ending without him. It was there, for sure (yes I know, this is getting into my fix-it territory).

But with season 3, with the dogged determination to put Keith in the leadership spot, came the dismantling of what could have been a great series. Allura’s leadership was undercut, and everything she tried to do she somehow got punished for (connecting to Altean culture? Oh, her new love has been hiding a secret Altean colony whose members worship him and whom have had a number of their people straight-up die/get siphoned for quintessence. Build the coalition? Oh, it’ll fall apart as the war starts back up. Make a new Voltron? Oh, it’s gonna be used for Eeeevil).

Allura sacrifices and sacrifices and loses more and more until all she has left to give is her own life.

I have never read The Giving Tree, but at this point I don’t think I have to. Is it at all like Allura’s treatment? Yes? Okay, I don’t need to read or know anything more.

Pidge finds her family, after a pair of fake-outs that, while yes one of them does provoke a lot of emotion, amount to nothing that really challenges her. She’s never presented with a situation where she has to choose between helping her team or finding her family, not intensely.

Lance constantly worries about his place on the team, and it’s never addressed or resolved and in the end he comes across as depressed and sad and deciding that his only worth is loving Allura. He’s never given support by his team, instead they end up mocking him or making fun of him or not standing up for him when a literal god-like entity does the same.

Shiro dies and dies again and again, losing more and more with each death, until he ends up losing even the most basic of story points afforded to him (defeating Sendak) or even being a main character.

Hunk… gets one arc, in the first season, and then gets the arc steal from Lance on Earth. He doesn’t get anything else. Once upon a time he was an engineer, a brilliant one, and in the end… he wasn’t. Yes, he was also always something of a gourmand and a chef and he ended up being a chef.

Which… yes, that’s nice and fits what he liked to do, but not at the expense of the series completely forgetting that he was a brilliant engineer.

Keith… honestly? He was better in the Red Lion, as the red paladin. He took too much spotlight away from the others, the story twisting itself to make him out as the better person even when he was shoving his way out of Voltron. The narrative forcing him to combat Shiro for a spot that he shouldn’t have: the central protagonist. There’s even an entire episode about it, where they literally fight and in the end the Black Lion flies to save Keith, the Black Bayard appears for Keith, and much later on the original black paladin gives his approval to Keith.  

He comes out of the series with a magical dog, a magical sword, an alive parent, the status of leader, and the status of main character. Of those, only one we have seen him struggle to retain (the magical sword).

Lotor was set up and played out as an antihero, someone who tried hard to do good but through evil means, someone with a terrible past that he was working hard to overcome and be better than, and… he ended up accused of something that we still don’t know if he really did, was pushed to the breaking point and then left for dead. He was accused of becoming his parents whom he didn’t want to become anything like, was forced by the plot to become that which he dearly didn’t want to become, and died horribly for it.

I could go on, could list out characters that were underutilized (Coran, Kolivan, Matt, Olia, Slav, the rebels, the blade, the coalition, the generals… basically the whole group of side characters, and half of the main characters) but instead…

Lost potential.

Wasted potential.

These are the most I can say of this series. There was potential, even to the very end there was potential. But instead there was nothing left that didn’t get explore enough, didn’t get anything enough.

The potential is there, more than enough to fuel fandom for years, but none of it got explored or developed within canon.

Lance got a sword upgrade, and did nothing with it.

Hunk got a turret upgrade, and nothing came of it.

Keith got a teleporting cosmic dog, and… honestly? When it went off was so strangely placed that it didn’t feel like a payoff. That whole fight with the druid felt so strangely done, that I didn’t feel as engaged as I should have been.

They could track the comet in s3? Well then why did Voltron stop tracking the comet entirely.

Pidge and Hunk were combining Galra and Altean tech and using it to improve the Castle? Well then why was it someone who didn’t do exactly that to build the Atlas. Why was it Sam Holt and not Coran, Hunk, and Pidge leading the construction?

Why, then, did we have to have that weird backdoor pilot to the MFEs in the middle of season 7? Well because they’re a better found family than our Paladins, apparently.

Seriously, they are. The MFEs are a group of people all brought together and become more like a found family than our Paladins, simply because we see them all dining together, and hanging out when they’re off-duty. They come across as actual friends, having actual conversations with each other instead of grouping off and low-key antagonizing one another when they have half a chance.

Our Paladins are not a found family. I hesitate to say that they’re even friends. At best they’re close workplace colleagues. The Paladins we assume would be friends (Lance and Hunk, the Garrison Trio) are not, and we’re heavily lacking in seeing them together in groups. Shiro and Hunk don’t share a conversation, nor do Keith and Pidge, and Lance is just… again, I use the term “workplace colleague” to describe his relationship with anyone on team Voltron.

I’m biased toward Lance, I admit that, but even then I still wanted more. Not just for him, but for everyone. They are all fantastic characters in an incredible world and they deserved better writing than they got.

Entire elements are missing from the story, to the point where having transcripts of showrunner interviews is required to understand what’s happening.

And that’s not good.

Shiro is revealed as gay in the same scene where he’s revealed to be slowly dying of an unnamed illness. It’s not explained in the series that he was ever cured, or that his clone was ever cured.

Shiro is brought back to life, is saved from a permanent death by the Black Lion, and what comes from it is… he’s suddenly not a part of Voltron anymore.

No, really. Discount anyone who heard from that interview, and just from the text of the show nothing about Shiro has said that he was unable to fly the Black Lion, or is no longer the Black Paladin. Nowhere in the text of the show does it say that, only that for some unknown reason Shiro just isn’t a part of the team anymore.

The mark of a good story is that you can create meta connecting the lore and everything tracks perfectly. You’re as much filling in the blanks as you are discovering that there are no holes in the story. It’s not necessary to understand the story, but the meta uncovers new depth and puts to words why and how the story comes together.

The mark of a poorly done story is that you have no choice but to create headcanons and fanon to get everything to track. The more you’re filling in the blanks the more you’re discovering that the holes get bigger and bigger, and there are more and more of them. Eventually you’re not doing meta, you’re doing fix-it fic. The difference is that meta helps understand the story, while fix-it fic makes the story make sense.

In an earlier point I said that the first two seasons are the tightest and the best of the series, and I meant it. I still mean it, even in light of the series itself.

To make a good series, or to make a story, means that there needs to be an end goal, something for the plot to have a climax toward, and all the development to build up toward.

Fitting that, is the first two seasons. And only the first two seasons.

Everything that happens after the first two seasons, lacks something that it was all building up toward. The series lacks something that it was all building up toward. From the start, the thing that it was building up toward was the defeat of Zarkon. Which was what we had happen one-third of the way through the series.

If Zarkon was not the end goal for the series, then the tilt-shift should have been better done.

If the clone storyline was meant to exist within the series, then it should have been better done.

There is a way to have kept a solid track, where Haggar/Honerva was the Final Villain, that could have had good buildup. There was a way to have the clone storyline, and to have the Lotor storyline, and not have it all feel like set dressing to the Next Big Battle.

Everything from season three onward is a series of events with little connection or bearing beyond “here’s a set of character names and putting them into different events with different accessories that have no bearing beyond the episode they appear in” and even then it’s a stretch.

Oriande meant nothing. The White Lion meant nothing. Atlas meant nothing. Sincline meant nothing.

Kuron meant nothing.

Lotor meant nothing.

They were all pretty set dressing on the way to the Next Big Battle.

All of it was either buildup with no payoff, or payoff with no buildup.

VLD, in the end, was like a flat painting that tried to play at being a sculpture without any of the necessary work. It looks pretty, and has great individual parts, but the depth is fake and only gets even more fake when more fake depth is piled on top of it to distract from all the depth that isn’t there.

And eventually, it got to the point where you can see the seams.

The final two seasons were written with certain things in place, and then the final season was rewritten, supposedly because Keith was most desired in the Black Lion. And then that gave us most of what we got for the final season (subtracting the late-stage additions).

But those certain things that the final two season were written with?

Shiro’s return to the Black Lion.

Keith’s return to the Red Lion.

Lance’s return to the Blue Lion.

Allura taking up the helm of the Atlas.

But season eight was rewritten, late in the game, so season seven was altered into what we got, removing all of that.

Removing Shiro entirely.

At least until he was put back in.

Others have said it better, the copy-paste theory. They’ve also said it better about the morals and lessons the latter part of the series meant viewers to take away compared to the early part of the series.

But honestly? Whatever better version there ever was, it’s long gone. All we can do is see in the final two seasons the ghosts of that better version, in the dialogue (Shiro’s lines are now Keith’s, Keith’s are now Lance’s, and Lance’s are now merged into Allura’s and Shiro gets the scraps) and in the visuals. The furthest that better story ever got was into the storyboards, working with those scripts, and other than that it is long gone. There’s no getting it back.

So… what do I have to say, in the end?

We got so close to a perfect iteration. By hook and by crook, we got close to something great. 

Maybe next time we can actually have it within our grasp.

[pixelgrotto]

A look at D&D’s Curse of Strahd

From about October 2018 to August 2019, I led a group of four friends through Curse of Strahd, the latest campaign book featuring a dive into the realm of Dungeon & Dragon’s most famous vampire, Strahd von Zarovich. It went well, and it was an interesting experience for me as a Dungeon Master, since this was my first time using one of Wizards of the Coast’s official modules. In the past I’ve always come up with my own homebrew adventures, and I still homebrewed a good chunk of Curse of Strahd, remixing characters and formulating story twists on the fly once I learned the ebb and flow of my group.

One of the things I love most about D&D, however, is that such behavior is encouraged, and pretty much all of the major 5th Edition releases outright tell DMs that they shouldn’t hesitate to make a campaign “their own” by only following the book when necessary. Thus, the version of Curse of Strahd that my players ran through was an experience specifically tailored to them - one where a motley crew known as the “Well-Doners” (like a well done steak...or a stake to the heart of a vampire!) were sucked into Strahd’s strange valley of Barovia and forced to ally together for the sake of survival...aided by a few key comrades, including a funny gnome mage who’d lost his magical mojo, the reincarnation of Strahd’s lost love, a grumpy monster hunter and a massive ranger and his dwarf wife. If I ever run Curse of Strahd again for another group, it’s very likely that many of these key comrades - as well as the general crux of the adventure - will turn out completely different.

To all enterprising DMs who might wish to run Curse of Strahd for their own groups, it’s worth first noting that this is very much a Ravenloft campaign. Ravenloft is the setting that sprouted from the 1983 module of the same name, originally devised by Tracy and Laura Hickman and then expanded upon during the heyday of D&D 2nd Edition. In a nutshell, it’s D&D’s horror setting, and the horror is very much steeped in the gothic tradition, with a heavy dollop of foes inspired by the Universal Monster Movies of the 1920s to 50s, sprinkles of Eastern European creepiness and a dash or two of dark romance to complete the mix. I quite like this combination because it reminds me of the melancholy yet deeply beautiful world of Mordavia in Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness, one of the formative experiences of my youth and a game that has a great soundtrack for the backdrop of any Ravenloft campaign. (Interestingly, Quest for Glory creators Lori and Corey Cole were D&D players before they went on to design computer games, which means that the gothic realm of Mordavia surely is a clear descendant of Ravenloft.)

But horror of any variety isn’t necessarily everyone’s cup of tea, and certain parts of Curse of Strahd - if run straight from the book - can veer quite sinister, because Barovia is ultimately a crappy place presided over by a crappy undead warlord. The introductory adventure of the module, dubbed “Death House,” actually deals with ghostly children who’ve died of starvation in a haunted manor due to the cultist ways of their mad parents. It’s entirely possible to make these kids untrustworthy antagonists in order to emphasize that the Ravenloft setting simply does not mess around, but since I was running this campaign for a group of four new players whose prior experience with D&D ran the gamut from limited to absolutely zero, I decided to make them into a spooky but still likable duo who could “possess” the players’ characters and offer sassy running commentary on the monsters infiltrating the manor. Like Casper but with a tad more snark, in other words - and the endearing nature of the children made the moment where my players had to lay their corpses to rest and confront their sad origins all the more compelling.

This act of balance - between ensuring that players recognize this as a dark adventure but also making sure that just enough light and humor alleviates the depression - is one that I tried to perform during every session of our game, and I’d encourage future Curse of Strahd DMs to do the same. I’d also encourage enterprising Dungeon Masters to perform a similar balancing act on the monsters and scenarios that permeate the adventure - specifically on the ones in the Death House opener as well as Strahd himself.

Death House, more specifically, is described in the book as a means to help the party quickly progress from levels 1 to 3, but played as is, it’s quite possible for players to get absolutely curb-stomped by everything within the manor - particularly a “final boss” that they’re technically not supposed to engage with, at least in a fair manner. Veteran RPG fans might relish the challenge, which is more reminiscent of Call of Cthulhu than D&D, but newbies might not like having to re-roll a character because their first one got wrecked by a Shambling Mound after only a few hours of play. So, retool Death House to suit the needs of your party - in my case, I limited the encounters somewhat to prevent a steady drip of HP and also gave my players a few tips on how to beat tricky baddies via those aforementioned ghost kids.

The opposite strategy goes for Strahd von Zarovich himself, who might be the big bad of Barovia but is surprisingly squishy when confronted by a hardy group of level 8 or 9 players, especially if they’ve found all the fancy sunlight-shooting artifacts of the adventure that can limit his powers. I can’t count the number of posts I’ve seen on the D&D Reddit or a Curse of Strahd Facebook group I’m in where frustrated DMs have written something like “Strahd was killed by my players within two rounds, where did I go wrong” - and in order to circumvent this from happening in the last session of a shared storytelling experience that had nearly spanned a year, I took a heavy pair of tweezers to Strahd’s stats and gave him three forms, each with their own HP. The first was his regular vampiric self, the second was him riding on his Misty Steed-summoned horse Bucephalus, and the third was basically Strahd going into berserker mode with black angel wings bursting from his back. (I stole the concept art of Satan from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 for that. Worked perfectly!)

Speaking of Castlevania, I drew inspiration from the recent Netflix series - which I’ve written about here and here - when it came to developing Strahd’s actual personality, because even though the book updated his original Bela Lugosi-esque appearance into something more regal and fantasy-inspired, his essence is still something of a two dimensional bad guy, and the fact that one of his eternal missions in undeath is to make the reincarnation of his original lover fall for him is a problematic pill to swallow in 2019, even if it is meant as an ode to Dracula’s obsession with Mina Harker in Bram Stoker’s original novel. And so I decided to make my version of Strahd similar to the depressed, weary-of-life Dracula in Netflix Castlevania, turning him into a vampire of complexities - a guy who’s been immortal for so long that he almost wants the players to kill him, a man who believes he’s entitled to the love of a woman yet somewhere deep down realizes the inherent selfishness of that belief, and a lord who’s grown bored with his kingdom yet can’t quite relinquish the power he’s held over it for centuries. My Strahd, in other words, was still a bad dude, but at least a somewhat deeper bad dude that the cardboard cutout as presented in the book, and one of my players even described him as “a little like Kylo Ren,” which I took as a compliment.

Before I wrap this up, I’d like to return to the concept of the balancing act with regards to the structure and scope of Curse of Strahd, which is a true sandbox adventure. Players are not required to visit half of the locations outlined in the book, and the replayability factor is high, because the various artifacts that you need to defeat Strahd, as well as the specific non-player characters likely to assist you along the way, are dependent on a tarot card reading that occurs near the start of the adventure. The locations that I found the most important for my players were the towns of Barovia and Vallaki, the Wizard of Wines Winery, Yester Hill, Van Richten’s Tower, the Ruins of Berez, and Castle Ravenloft itself. Other groups online swear by Krezk, a third town that my players never bothered to visit (though I would have urged them to go there if we’d had any clerics or paladins in the party, since Krezk is a town with a giant church), and the Amber Temple, the lair where Strahd obtained his undead powers (a place I feel is best suited for players of neutral or evil-leaning alignments). Your mileage may vary, but if you’re going to DM this module, one of the best bits of advice I can give would be to see which locations your players are naturally inquisitive about, and then focus on those. Exploring every nook and cranny of Barovia can quickly turn into a slog otherwise.

With all this in mind, I think it’s time for the so-called “Well-Doners” to leave the world of gothic horror behind for a bit. They’ve somehow managed to find their way back to their home plane and the city of Waterdeep, and only one of the party was infected with a seemingly fatal curse after their stay in Ravenloft. What further quests await, I wonder, and what new campaign book will I hack apart to suit my players’ tastes? That’s for me to know, for them to find out, and for another long blog post examination...sometime in 2020, hopefully!

All photographs taken by me.

[ptw30]

as someone who's only been watching this sh-t show from a distance (and don't actively follow the twitter/social media besides what I see cross-posted here, so who knows maybe they actually /did/ already) can I say how at this point it's completely plausible to me for a fan to say how harmful it is to constantly yell how you hate and want to (and HAVE) kill the single canonically queer character in the entire canon, and have the lovely duo of VLD snap back (1/2)

how not only are they exempt from the Bury Your Gays trope and completely immune to any effects or consequences of it, but that “we’re actually TOTALLY EVEN MORE SUPER PROGRESSIVE becuz gay kuron being totally 120% evil shows that gays can be villains too uwu u just dont understand it duh get on our level sweetie!” (2/2)

I had the privilege to attend the “The Future is LGBTQ” panel at NYCC.*  Marguerite Bennett, a queer comic book writer, spoke about issues she had when writing DC Bombshells. She was accused of having written harmful queer tropes by a few fans, to which she replied, “The majority of the cast was queer. Angst is going to happen to queer characters with a queer cast.” (I’m paraphrasing.)

Contrarily, the majority of Voltron: Legendary Defender’s characters is not queer. And many of the terrible events in the script were reserved for the queer characters. 

Below the cut, an exploration into the BYG trope and how Kuron being evil feeds into it. 

Canonically - there are four queer characters. Shiro is the only main cast queer character, but Zethrid, Ezor, and Adam are also queer. If you listen to the EP interviews, then you also know Blatyz is queer. 

Every canonical queer character has been killed. 

Out of all the deaths in VLD, Adam’s was truly horrific. He screamed out in pain as he was killed, compared to Thace, who closed his eyes and surrendered to the blast; compared to Antok who accepted a blast, groaned, and fell to the side; compared to the Druid, who received a sword in the chest, muttered, and disappeared; compared to Zarkon, the Evil Emperor of the Universe, whose labored breathing ended and his bayard stopped glowing; compared to Trugg and Ladnok, whom we actually didn’t see die; compared to Keith’s dad, whose tombstone symbolized his death.  

Adam’s death deserved a trigger warning. While I do not agree with Hypable’s most recent season review, I am grateful to Donya for spoiling his death. On August 10th, I was anxious about Adam’s impeding demise, but even knowing - I was horrified when it came. 

The EPs are not exempt from the BYG trope or the consequences of its use. 

The issue with VLD is its treatment of its gay characters. All Lotor’s disabled and queer generals were killed. The only general to survive and turn “good”? The straight, non-disabled one. The only paladin to return home to absolutely no family? The queer paladin. Keith found his family in space. Hunk, Lance and Pidge had family. Even Allura is shown with Romelle and Coran. 

Shiro? Absolutely no family. 

I don’t even believe Adam and Shiro should be together - 

(Tangent - as a former caretaker of someone with degenerative disease, I can tell you that most people who say they will stick around to the end, don’t, and if Adam wasn’t willing to wait for Shiro to return, then he wouldn’t have stuck around to take care of Shiro. Furthermore, Adam and Shiro made the decisions that was best for them, which is mature and thoughtful. Even if we disagree with Adam, he broke up with Shiro, and Shiro, by choosing to go to Kerberos, broke up with Adam. But that doesn’t mean Adam deserved to die.)

- but I’m not going to argue whether Shiro and Adam fulfilled the BYG trope. Each person can decide for himself/herself how they feel about Adam’s demise - but Zethrid and Ezor are unequivocally the BYG trope. A touching moment, a promise for them to be together, and then they die. 

There’s no way for the EPs to escape that, technicality or not. (Another point - I don’t care for technicalities. The spirit of Adam and Shiro’s relationship wasn’t written in good faith, especially since the EPs wanted to kill Shiro - so they don’t win any points here.)

Now, I will give the EPs credit that Kuron is not your traditional “queer-coded” villain, but Kuron being evil doesn’t make them or the story progressive. In fact, it makes them either woefully ignorant or actively offensive. 

In “The Strange, Difficult History of Queer-Coding,” Tricia Ennis writes how during the 1950s and ‘60s, conservative groups in America discouraged queer characters in films. These characters were still written but in subtext, and actors were told to play these characters as gay. 

Even dangerous LGBTQ tropes rose out of this time period as the depictions of pulp noir femme fatales and other deadly women rose in popularity. These women were usually written as promiscuous and sexually devious, both with men and sometimes with women. They were also evil and usually met their end as a result of their sins. While depictions of LGBTQ characters were frowned upon, depictions of them in this specifically negative light were not. You were not endorsing an “alternative lifestyle” if your gay characters always met an untimely demise. Instead, they were merely paying for their poor choices. This trope would eventually give way to what we now refer to as “Bury Your Gays.”

Thus, Shiro/Kuron being the only queer paladin, the only paladin to have his bond with his lion broken, the only paladin to turn “evil” and to be killed twice - Shiro’s body and Kuron’s soul - the EPs are not progressive. In fact, they fed the trope they so adamantly denied using. 

Coupled with Shiro being announced as no longer being a paladin in the same season that he was revealed to be queer, in the same season it’s revealed he has/had a degenerative disease, in the same season his one-time partner was killed - one can even make the assumption all this happened to Shiro because the EPs and DreamWorks do not support LGBTQIA+ rights.  

Rounding back - the EPs aren’t exempt from repercussions. 

Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery came from DC Comics as directors, became showrunners at DreamWorks, and went onto Marvel, back to the director chair. That is a demotion. DreamWorks cleaned house - even before Season 8 premiered - and though I think the messages were offensively underwhelming, JDS apologized on Twitter the Monday after Season 7 was released, and LM expanded upon that apology at NYCC. 

The damage is done, though, as many people found Season 7 so harmful that they will not watch more DreamWorks’ show and definitely not projects with JDS and LM. The best thing DreamWorks can do is to apologize (an exec this time), admit there were issues with Season 7 - including the BYG trope, plus the racist, sexist, and ableist themes, as well - and promise to do better in a Voltron sequel and in all their shows by creating diverse teams and an inclusive environment in which to create inclusive shows. 

DreamWorks hasn’t completed that final step yet, but the fact that the EPs are no longer a part of DreamWorks and are not working on a VLD sequel, despite the show being “popular” and what I would say, an overall “success,” says DreamWorks did take notice. Now it’s up to us, as fans, to continue the conversation and not to stop discussing. We need to keep telling DreamWorks and others content creators to create inclusive stories until we get shows with true and empowering representation. 

* I highly recommend any fan of any fandom to attend a few educational panels at each con. They’re included in the price, and they are welcoming and informative for writing true representation in your stories. 

[grayisholi]

@ the DND ask game: ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS, I CAN'T CHOOSE!! XD (or if not that, the ones you rlly wanna do!!

BOY OH BOY OH BOYIve been answering these throughout the day and I’m too lazy to reread the full document so sorry if I’ve left gaps or whatever but here it is! All 35 questions about dnd! Matt you unstoppable Madman.

1. A favorite character you have played.

You can’t just make me pick between my children!!! I think I might have to say Atticus Sallow, my faeborn bloodhunter, partially because he’s like 100% homebrew content which I LIVE for, but also because he’s probably the most kinda self-insert character I’ve ever played? Almost became the kinda angsty, brooding asshole character before he was like “get your shit together” and learned that loving people isn’t so bad.

2. Your favorite character that someone else has played.

I almost, ALMOST had the pleasure of DMing for @no-more-good-omens and their character was gonna be SO RAD and I’m a little heartbroken he never came to be. A half-drow paladin of Vecna, pretending to be your typical good and wholesome paladin? Dude, I love that kinda two faced backstabbing in a player. It’s such a shame it never came to anything (although if yall still wanna play hmu ;))

3. Your favorite side quest.

Ooh, there’s been so many good ones. Probably when i was playing as Adrian Smirks and went off on a tangent to rescue his brother ? That was the first time I ever got to see Adrian’s more raw and emotional side beneath the suave mask he wears and it was fun to explore his character in that way ^.^

4. Your current campaign.

That I’m DMing? It started inspired by Guy Fawkes and was gonna be “your party blows up parliament” but I got bored of following historical accuracy so it ended up being “blow up the palace in a magical city that just happens to be called London”. I accidentally wrote myself into a hole with this campaign tho, so once they’ve finished this arc I’m handing over the DM hat to my sister @philosophical-wanton because she seems to love it and I kinda miss being a player lmao. I can’t wait for it.

5. Favorite NPC.That I’ve written? Probably Hai Shen, the youngest son of a group of circus performers who were killed and the party got blamed for their murder. He had such a great attitude and his dynamics with the party kicked ass. And the twist that he was actually dead the whole time and it was his soul that had stayed behind to help solve his family’s murder? ICONIC.

6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc).

NPC death would probably be Hai Shen, actually. After the party had brought the real killers (A cult to the demon Prince Orcus) to justice, Hai’s time on earth had come to an end. He had really beautiful moment with the party before being reunited with his family. Alternatively, the time I broke my entire party’s hearts? “Artagan’s staff comes cracking into Ellios’ chest, forcing him onto the ground. Artagan raises his sceptre in hand, pointing it menacingly at the young prince. And for the first time, you see him. Like, REALLY see him. He’s not the strong and powerful leader you’ve all come to know him as, he’s not Prince Ellios of the Four Realms. He’s just a boy. A boy who is much too young to be involved in such a grand scheme. And the fear in his eyes. You see the fear he’s managed to keep buried for so long, finally coming to the surface. And then? You don’t see anything, aside from his cold body hitting the ground.” I got punched three times for that moment, but GOD was it worth it.

7. Your favorite downtime activity.

Like in game? A healthy lil bit of vandalising the local law enforcement buildings is always a good time.

8. Your favorite fight/encounter.

Aw man, how can I pick ? I gotta say, that one time we, a level 6 party, managed to take down two earth elementals was pretty rad. The DM kind of expected it to be one of those encounters that we saw and immediately tried to run from, but what she didn’t take into account was that ALL of us had chaotic alignments so we just went crazy. The DM was rolling really badly (thank God) and we were getting really creative (“I use the produce flame centripetal to light my bottle of ale on fire and create a molotov cocktail” “you do WHAT”) and after like an HOUR we won and it was amazing. The rush I got from that victory was better than any drug my dood.

9. Your favorite thing about D&D.

I know I say it a lot, but I legit can’t choose. There’s so many great things about ttrpgs that a lot of people don’t really think of. The creative fulfilment I get from a session is incomparable, the friendships you can build that you couldn’t form in any other way. And like, not to get too real for a sec here, but I grew up with undiagnosed autism and didn’t understand how a lot of social situations worked, and DnD was such a good mechanic for me to try communicating with people without many real world consequences, and I appreciate that experience so much. It’s just such a great thing my dood.

10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most.

Can they be the same thing lmao? I mean, I’m obviously partial to Count Cassius, the vampire lord that Adrian slept with lmao. I also always appreciate a good beholder, until I get hit with three disintegration rays IN A ROW.

11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play?

We’ve got kind of a monthly schedule with my main campaign, and I manage to get a couple online games in-between them, but honestly I’d kill to be the kind of group that got together every weekend.

12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from.

Oh MAN. “I say we do this.” “Yeah, but that’s coming from the guy who decided to tie 3 50ft ropes together to escape the palace.” “iT wOrKeD dIdN’t iT ???” i.e that time I forgot I gave the gnome rogue flying boots so when I planned for them to get arrested at the palace, they managed to escape by tying their ropes together, sending the gnome with it to the top and climbing the wall. I had to improvise the rest of the session. Also “FLINTON BELINDA SKINTON” bc as a role-play exercise I got my party to come up with rumours about their characters and the gnome rogue called Flint AKA Flinton B Skinton decided that one of their rumours was that the B stood for Belinda, and it was GLORIOUS.

13. Introduce your current party.

My current group consists of Flinton B Skinton, gnome rogue. He’s a quick-fingered, silver-tongued gay disaster who can sell anything to anyone. He’s a charming flirt, and a veritable genius in his own right. Kava Daardendrian, dragonborn ranger who loves nothing in life more than her animal companion - her pig Snortin Norton. She’s fun and sassy and shameless, she’s great. There’s Sparks, the fire Genasi Monk, and full embodiment of a disaster lesbian. She drinks, fights, and gets laid, and doesn’t deal with her problems in healthy ways. An icon. And finally Milo, the halfling Bard who falls in love at the drop of a hat and just wants everyone to get along. I call them “The Shenanigang” and I love them.

14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed.

A party I joined late? We had Sylvia Moondrop, the half elf sorcerer who was just trying to get along with everyone despite what the world seemed to want. Orland the half orc bard who was just trying to shake off the Barbarian stereotype his family left him with. Rose Morleen, air Genasi fighter who was literally born to kick ass and take names. I joined as Mason Terrai, the Earth Genasi Alchemist with a perchance for explosives. The very definition of chaotic neutral.

15. Do you have snacks during game times?

Of COURSE. What manic wouldn’t ?

16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer?

I used to play online a LOT back before I had friends who were into dnd, but I VASTLY prefer playing in person. The chemistry that’s built not only amongst the players, but also the actual characters themselves is unparalleled. It’s just such a great experience.

17. What are some house rules that your group has?

Anyone can attempt anything, the only restriction is the dice. Don’t question the DM unless it’s out of session, then bully the dm on the groupchat until he’s so pissed off he gives you inspiration just to get you to shut up. And also canon lore and canon rules are bullshit when it’s convenient. That’s about it

18. Does your party keep any pets?

Our ranger, God bless her, has her pack pig Snortin Norton, sold to her by one Flinton B Skinton. And Flint really wants a monkey, he’s been trying to find one for ages.

19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions?

Not really ? I’m the kind guy that if my dice rolls a 1 I will bench it for a bit, but tbh all my dice are cursed af and I’ve kinda just learned to roll with it by making my characters canonically terrible at everything lmao.

20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing?

Aw man I can’t remember when or how, it’s been so long. I had a couple friends who were kinda into it, but all the games they tried to run were complete disasters. I only really started playing I’m the past year or so? Maybe a little more ? Adrian was my first character, and he was a very RP heavy character in a party of tanks and they all hated him but MAN was it fun.

21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done?

Oh all the time. One time my character was careless and didn’t check for traps on a legendary artefact and it lead to the death of a party member. One time my character got angry at his party and walked out. My characters don’t make good decisions, but that’s part of the fun.

22. What color was your first dragon?

White! I thought it was silver at first and went to go say hi, and it clawed me within half my HP straight away lmao.

23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns?

Oh dude, original all the way. I live for that shit.

24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game?

Depends on the session, but usually a good few hours, couple of days if I’m DMing.

25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for?

“You wake up in a mysterious forest. The strained autumn sun shines through the trees. The only thing you can see it each other, the trees, and an old sign post leading to a path that says "Myrrill” on it. What do you do?“ "We walk in the opposite direction of the sign deeper into the forest.” “…of course you do.”

26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters.

I wrote a full carnival show one time for them to watch, and then it got derailed when a horrific monster attacked. But writing all the characters and their acts, and watching my players get entranced as I described it ? Magical, my dood.

27. Do you allow homebrew content?

I live and breathe homebrew content. I don’t know what my games would be without it. I LOVE homebrew.

28. How often do you use NPCs in a party?

I make some pretty sick characters if I do say so myself, so I throw them in a LOT.

29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions?

Oh dude, role play all the way. Fighting and killing stuff is great, but role-play is just so good. We can go from laughing with a bartender to crying over a backstory reveal and it’s just beautiful.

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?

Depends on the party, but i find the best players are a little bit of both XD

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?

Official ? I’m a fan of the hexblade warlock? Bards are always a good call, and to be real playing monks make me feel like an absolute badass. Race wise, there are just so many. If we’re only talking players handbook stuff, half elf is always rad. Outside of that? I’ve been researching the Shadar-Kai lately and I’m LIVING. They’re so rad.

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)

What would you call the disaster gay? I don’t really gear my characters towards usefulness in combat, so it’s just whatever the class happens to lend itself to.

33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory?

I usually write my character, personality, backstory, alignment etc, before I even pick a class or even a race. I basically just make OCs and apply them to dnd rules, and it’s SO much fun. 10/10, would recommend.34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor?

FLAVOUR. My party usually hates me, but what I lack in combat utility I more than make up for in creative out of combat skill checks XD.

35. How much roleplay do you like to do?

Boi, I even RP my combat, and the great thing is it rubs off on my party too. I’ll have a really low initiative and everyone else will be like “I attack and do 10 points of damage” but then on my round I’m like “I use my staff to leap across the battlefield towards the opponent and launch out with a spinning kick to their jaw” and everyone else is like “oh, okay, that’s what we’re doing.” and the battle becomes so much more dynamic and cinematic, it’s amazing !

[whorepheus]

about the requests could you write shiro confronting Lance after s6 and him apologizing and being filled with guilt etc

*oops i did it again plays in the background* I don’t have any excuses. This had the most simply, sweetest little outline and then i thought up the extra langst and now the first chapter is almost 4k words.

i refuse to apologize.

~Tay

Shifting Rock  [Ao3] [Part 2!]

Life without the castle was strange, but, looking around their little campsite, Shiro realized that they were finally settling into a routine. The planet they were stationed on had a longer day than Earth or the artificial days they’d set on the castle, but the extra hours felt like the middle of summer, and made their campfires seem all the more homey. Nevertheless, life without the castle also meant he had twice as much to get used to.

Coming back to his body had been weird enough— he was still sifting through the years worth of memories that, even though he’d known them partially while in the astral plane, he still couldn’t seem to made sense of. But the team had been a big help. Keith was hovering, of course, but he and Krolia were eager ears and hands when he needed assistance. Pidge and Hunk were already designing a new prosthetic for him, and everyone seemed willing to lend a hand when he was short one. It made things easier; though that didn’t mean they weren’t still hard.

He didn’t really know what to do with himself as a member of the team. Sometimes he felt awkward talking to them. He could feel his present aligning with past conversations someone else had had in his body. It was jarring and, two weeks back with himself, it still threw him for a loop. The others kept telling him to take his time, but his time being taken was the problem in the first place.

Nevertheless, he tried to slow down. He trained with Keith and the others in the mornings, gentle sparring sessions, and made it to communal meals, but other than that, he let his time be empty. He floated around the campsite, visiting with the others. He wandered  around, exploring the planet and bringing things back for Coran, who had started cataloging the wildlife in the places they stopped. One day he found a small river and just skipped rocks for an hour. And the weirdest thing was, it seemed to work. The more time he spent with himself, the more he started to feel like himself. The more he used his legs, his hand, the more they felt like his.

Which is probably why he finally noticed the things that were off.

At first glance, looking around the campfire, it seemed like the team was as they always were: Shiro was sharing a log with Krolia and Keith was on the ground in front of them feeding scraps to his wolf. Allura and Coran were talking with Romelle on another log, and the Garrison trio was on the last one, Hunk and Pidge leaning together while Lance sat on the ground, leaning against their legs. But, unlike meals on the castle, meals around the fire had been quiet, and it seemed to boil down to the standing Red Paladin’s sudden lack of verve. Even looking across the fire at Lance, he seemed withdrawn. He was curled in on himself, legs pulled up to his chest. Shiro watched for a moment, startling when Lance looked in his direction. The other boy’s eyes went wide, before he stiffened, turning away and tucking his face into his knees.

Shiro couldn’t help a frown. He couldn’t say he and Lance had ever been close, and definitely didn’t know where they stood after his year away from himself, but he couldn’t remember a time when Lance hadn’t been friendly if not exuberant. It was… unsettling to see him so unlike himself.

Shiro found himself stealing glances over the course of the meal and figured he should just check in. He was still technically their leader; it was a part of his job to make sure that everyone was doing okay.

Everyone rose to clear plates and wash up but, by the time Shiro was finished with his mess kit, Lance had already disappeared. He frowned, then decided he could talk to him at breakfast. But, when breakfast rolled around, Shiro realized Lance had somehow perfected his disappearing act. Whether he was volunteering to help Coran go catalog plants and leaving camp or just slipping away unannounced, it seemed like there was nothing Shiro could do to get ahold of Lance. He soon realized that, even with communal meals and group training, he hadn’t spoken to Lance in over a week, maybe even longer.

After three more days of chasing Lance back and forth around camp, Shiro finally managed to get a one on one with him by following Lance on his way out of the clearing to wash his face in the stream nearby. He waited a good distance away beside the black lion, suddenly grateful that Keith had parked her so close to Red. He could pretend he was there on accident and definitely not stalking his teammate.

“Lance,” he called, watching the other boy walk back with his arms laden with bottles and a washcloth. Lance stopped on a dime, all but flinching when his name hit his ears. He turned towards Shiro slowly, mustering a smile.

“Shiro,” he said, the word forced. “What’s up?”

Shiro wandered forward, closing the distance between the two of them. “I just realized we hadn’t checked in in a while. How are you doing?” he said with a smile.

“I’m fine. You?”

Shiro fought to hide a frown, but soldiered on. “I’m doing fine. Actually, I was about to go for a walk. Do you want to come? It’s been a while since we just talked—”

“Sorry, Shiro,” Lance said, taking a step back. “I’ve gotta milk Kaltenecker this morning and I promised I’d show Romelle how it’s done. Another time.” And with that he slipped away, heading straight into Red.

Shiro tried again, multiple times that day to get a moment with Lance, but the other boy was suddenly busy. He was always finishing something or heading to something else. And that went on for three days. Even when they left that planet to continue on to another, Lance was quiet on the comms (which never happened) and, when they landed a star system over, was the first one out his lion to set up camp, working right up to dinner and falling dead asleep afterwards.

In a way, the entire thing made Shiro grateful for the mission.

The next planet they stopped on next was inhabited. The King of Juloke had hailed them  on a coalition communicator as they neared and offered them safe harbor in exchange for a rescue mission on a planet in their galaxy. They were welcomed to the palace, which was subdued, a cloud of melancholy hanging over the entire palace. When they made it to the throne room, they found the king inconsolable. With the help of the queen and the royal advisor, Team Voltron learned that the crowned prince had been stranded a planet away on Humal during a ritual hunt. Because of continued storms on that planet, they hadn’t heard from him in days. It would be their job to go to Humal and find him.

They spent the evening planning and, in a probably unfair gesture, Shiro sat directly beside Lance, putting himself in the other boy’s space for the first time in weeks. It was probably this that made Lance jump up and volunteer to go down onto the planet with Pidge. He would help her set up a beacon to cut through the interference from the storm and help them track down the prince’s ship. The rest of the team would comb the planet for the prince, using whatever information the beacon let them receive to find him. When everything was settled, Lance dismissed himself, going to his guest room to get some ‘beauty sleep’ before the big mission.

In the morning, Shiro walked through the palace courtyard to where Lance was loading equipment into Red with Coran.

“Good morning!” Coran called, turning to wave. Lance walked out of Red, his face obscured by the boxes of supplies he was carrying.

“Morning Pidge,” he yelled. “I think me and Coran got everything you need on board. I just have a few more boxes to get out of the way—” he set his cargo down with a thud “— and then we’ll head out to—” he cut off as he turned around. “Shiro. Good morning.” He said, hesitance in his voice and confusion in his eyes.

“I asked Pidge if I could ride along instead,” Shiro explained. “I hope that’s alright.”

“Oh. But doesn’t the beacon— I mean, Pidge showed me, but it looks pretty complicated to set up. I don’t know if—”

“No worries about that, Number 3,” Coran said, coming to clasp Lance on the shoulder. “We updated the system to run off a combination of gravitational and electromagnetic energy. As long as it’s touching the ground, the modem will run. Besides, it’d be best if Pidge could be here with me to help coordinate. Everything will be fine. Besides, the rest of us are only a call away if there are complications.” Before Lance could even respond, Coran was bustling back into the Red Lion. “Now I’ll just grab the last of the old supplies, and you two can get going,” he called.

Lance and Shiro stood across from each other in awkward silence.

“Sorry to intrude, I just thought it’d be best to have as many lions in the air for a mission like this and, since Keith is flying black—”

“No, I get it. It’s fine. Let’s just… let’s get going.”

They boarded Red, passing Coran on his way out. He wished the two of them good luck as Red’s mouth closed. Lance took his seat in the cockpit and Red rumbled to life, but, even with her steady hum and the roar of her thrusters as they took off, the silence seemed unyielding.

Shiro watched from behind the pilot’s chair as they approached Humal. He’d forgotten how fast the red lion was, and had hoped to talk to Lance on the flight down, but it seemed like he was going as fast as Red could.

“Lance, are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Shiro said, leaning in.

“Fine,” Lance said. “Hold on.” Lance sent Red into a dive as they approached Humal’s atmosphere. Shiro clenched his hands on the back of the chair, crouching low to steady himself as Lance tore through the clouds.

“Lance,” Shiro said, “You don’t have to—”

“You know, Shiro. A storm like this isn’t easy to fly.”

“Right… Shutting up.” Shiro said, simply watching as Lance began the difficult descent onto Humal. Even inside Red, the rain felt powerful, drops impacting like bullets as Lance flew them through the storm. According to the map they’d been shown, there were forest covered mountains that they should be looking for, but they could barely see out Red’s windows, much less find their way.

“Pidge, I need a topographical map,” Lance said into the comms. “Visibility’s shot. I don’t know where to put her down.”

“Sending it now,” Pidge said. “Go for whatever’s tallest without being too dangerous. It’ll give the beacon a greater reach.”

“I’ll try,” Lance said, overlaying the map Pidge had sent with the view out the main window. The vague shapes below gained numerical labels, telling them how high or low certain areas were.

“Head east,” Shiro said, pointing to a corner of the map. “There’s a clearing or something pretty high up.” Shiro held on as Lance turned, pushing Red against the wind. They flew close, looking down at the area, which was surrounded by dense trees leading all the way up.

“Shiro, I don’t know if—” Lance cut off, leaning over the controls as they were buffeted by a gust of wind. “—if this is gonna work. Either the trees will be too thick to land, or we’ll be too exposed with all this wind!”

“We have to at least try,” Shiro said.

“But what if this is our only shot?” Lance said, looking around wildly in the storm.

“Then we take it. That’s the highest point we’ve got big enough to land on in wind like this.” Lance clenched his jaw but nodded, leaning back as he pulled up on the controls. Leveling Red out as they started their descent. They shook and rattled in the wind, working against the huge gusts to approach the tree line. As they drew closer, Lance saw a gap in the trees and aimed for it, sending them down. The wind made it nearly impossible for Red to hover, and Lance was sweating the the effort of keeping her steady as they approached the trees. One wrong move and they’d get caught in a draft, sending them into the trees and down the mountain; and who knew if they would make it back up?

A gust hid Red straight on, shooting them back. They jolted as her legs hit against the tops of Humal’s huge trees.

“Shiro—” Lance said, panic in his voice.

“You’ve got this. You’re almost there. Nose down, head on in.” Lance re-angled Red, sending her down between the trees. As they lowered into the clearing, the wind quieted, blocked by the huge circle of trees. Even the rain sounded less, intercepted by the leaves.

Lance set them down at one edge of the ring of trees, taking a deep breath in his chair as he unclenched his fingers from around the controls.

“You did great, Lance,” Shiro said, patting him on the shoulder. Lance curled away from the touched, pushing himself out of his seat.

“You should hail Pidge. Let her know we’re setting up,” he said, going and starting to undo the restraints holding the beacon in place. Shiro watched him work, calling Pidge and the others quickly to give their location and an estimate for when the beacon would be up.

Shiro saw Lance head down the ramp out of Blue. “Lance,” he called, trotting after him. Lance stood just inside Blue’s mouth staring out at where they’d landed.

The circle in the trees suddenly made sense. Red was perched on the edge of a crater, the bowl of which was filled with water. Something at the bottom of the pool was creating heat, and thick steam rose off the water. Instead of banks, there were just thick, jagged outcroppings of stone hanging over the bowl of steaming rain. It truly looked like a meteor had blown a hole in the mountain or the the spot had been a volcano long ago.

“That was a close landing,” Lance said, walking the few yards through the rain to the edge of the rock they were on. Red was tucked against the trees, so their spot really was safe, but looking out around the area, they could have been in real trouble if Lance had put her down any further in. Not all of the rock looked stable, especially not for something as heavy as Red.

“We can set up the beacon over there,” Lance said, pointing to an outcropping of stone near Red. He turned and went back into the lion, heaving the beacon precariously into his arms. Shiro ran up, taking half the beacons weight and helping Lance carry it out. They set up in silence, Lance hailing Pidge when it was ready. They watched with bated breath as she activated the beacon remotely, listening as it hummed to life and she cheered on the other side of the comms. A few tense minutes passed as she searched the new, clear data for signs of the prince of Julocke.

“We have a hit!” Pidge said. “It’s weak, but it’s a starting point. Hunk, Keith, Allura— sending coordinates now.”

“Good work Pidge,” Shiro said into the comms.

“Lets just hope he’s near his ship.”

“Entering Humal airspace now,” Keith reported.

“Careful in the storm,” Lance warned. “Visibility is low and the wind is a problem. We had some trouble landing.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Hunk answered. “We’ll check back in when we land.”

“Now that the beacon’s set up, they’ll have extra data, so navigation should get easier.” Pidge said.

“Shiro, Lance, are you two set to guard the beacon?” Coran asked. “If that goes out, we lose all our data.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to it,” Lance promised.

“There’s a good lad,” Coran said. “Hail us if anything goes wrong.”

After that they settled in, sitting on the ground near the beacon and listening to make sure its steady hum stayed uninterrupted.

The search party checked in every fifteen minutes, giving status updates. Things had gotten harder because the signal from the lost ship was going in and out and, even though they were at its coordinates within the first half hour, they couldn’t find it through the foliage. Their third check in, they found what seemed to be a crash site, trees fallen into each other. At the end of the first hour, they were still trying to move the trees and get to whatever lied at the center.

“Looks like we’ll be here a while,” Lance said, tugging off his helmet and letting the stray rain soak his hair. He closed his eyes smiling up at the sky for just a moment as the drops hit his face. Lance opened his eyes, glancing to the left at Shiro, only to tense when he noticed the other paladin watching him.

“Lance—”

“We should do this in shifts,” he said suddenly, jumping to his feet. He grabbed his helmet and headed towards Red. “You, uh, you can start, while the rain is still light and we can switch out every two check ins. No point in both us sitting in the wet to watch some buzzing cylinder.” And then he disappeared into Red’s mouth.

“Lance,” Shiro called, scrambling after him. He ducked into Red and, when he couldn’t find Lance on sight, walked to the pilot’s chair. Lance was curled up on the seat, knees pulled to his chest and head tucked against his legs. He was taking shuddering breaths as if fighting off tears. “Lance,” Shiro said again, quietly this time. He rounded the chair in time to see Lance tug harshly on his own hair before sitting up to look at him.

“Did-Did you want me to take first shift? I guess it’s the least I could do—” he began to unfold, setting his feet on the ground and rising halfway out of the chair “—my idea after all—”

“Why are you avoiding me?” Shiro asked. Lance flinched, looking away.

“I’m not, I just think one of us should be with the beacon at all times—”

“Not just today. The past few weeks. You’ve been all but running away from me. I can’t get near you during meals, I can’t get near you during missions, you’ll barely even look at me!” Outside, thunder rumbled overhead and the hits of raindrops on Red’s exterior sped up. “What did I do wrong? Why don’t you want me around?”

“What? Shiro, how can you even look at me after what I did?” Lance said, anguish filling his eyes.

“What?” Shiro said, brows drawing together.

“Shiro, I abandoned you,” Lance whispered, clenching his fists in his lap and looking away as he felt tears well in his eyes. “You called out to me and I knew— I knew something was wrong, I just wasn’t smart enough to figure it out. You were dead, and you reached out to me for help and  I—” he sobbed once, burying his face in his hands. “All the while I was befriending your clone. I can’t even tell what of that was real— And even if any of it was, knowing I abandoned you to that? Left you in the astral plane when you tried to reach me? When you were begging for help? I wouldn’t want to be friends with me after that either.” He collapsed in on himself.

Shiro was agog. “Lance, none of that— none of that is true! None of what happened was remotely your fault. What happened… none of us could have controlled that. None of us could have stopped that. You can’t pin any of this on yourself—”

He cut off as light flooded the windows behind him. Lance’s face lit blue and a crack rent the air. Not a second later, thunder shook the air around them, so close that even Red lurched. Shiro leapt forward on instinct, bracing himself over Lance as Red shook, staying over him until the rumbling stopped. He drew back a few inches, not moving his arms as the lion stilled. He looked down at Lance and their eyes met. Outside there was a loud crunch of rock shifting.

“The beacon,” Lance gasped, pushing away from Shiro and running outside. Shiro took off after him calling his name. Outside, the rain was so heavy he could barely spot Lance, the young paladin a blur in the thick sheets of water.

“The ground is cracked!” Lance yelled, heaving against the beacon. Shiro ran over, taking part of the beacon in hand and lifting. He and Lance shuffled away from the lengthening cracks in the ground. If they could just get closer to Red they’d be on stable ground. They could wait out the worst of the storm. And there was no way they could take off in weather like this. If they did, they’d have to deactivate the beacon, and who knew what the weather was like where the others were. They could all end up stranded.

They were halfway to safety when there was another loud crack and the rock under Shiro’s feet shifted, opening a hole to the boiling water below.

“Shiro!” Lance cried. He acted on instinct, tightening his grip on the beacon and whipping around in a circle. Shiro and the beacon went spinning towards Red, falling just beyond the cracks in the rock—

And then he felt himself begin to fall as rock crumbled away beneath his feet.

Shiro landed hard a few feet away, shaking off the blow and looking up in time to see Lance start to fall through the rock.