#but he still puts everything he has into saving his friend from sentinel (in multiple ways)

[sunsetzer]

Good morning everyone I'm currently thinking about how Orion was the first person Megatron killed and crying into my cereal :')

[nibeul]

Please I want to know more about your clones 🤔🤔

I am so late to responding to this but GLADLY!! I love gushing about them though I have so many (like 50 I think) so I will try to stick to my main group ahh :)

Cross (he/him): Cross was my first clone OC ever, so he holds a very special place in my heart even if I do not draw him often enough. He’s a commander (CC-0044) and was present on Geonosis, though later returned to Kamino to help Alpha with the CC training program.

He got his scar in 21BBY and it’s actually not from the battlefield (none of his scars are actually from the battlefield). The scar comes from being whipped by a lightsaber hilt, which sounds funny out of context, but it wasn’t an accident.

He’s batchmates with @katanrocksketches ‘s OC Asch! The two were pretty close when they were in training, and Cross got his name before leaving Kamino. It was given to him because of his kind of uhhh, “cross nature” or disposition pfft. He softens up a bit between 22BBY-20BBY though the walls go up again after that :’)

Coming off Kamino, he was a stickler for rules and was not a big fan of clones tattooing themselves/dying their hair and whatnot (he didn’t even like having a name at first though his batchmates used it enough that it begrudgingly stuck). After meeting Sunny though, he lets him do one tattoo and ends up getting his number underneath his left eye. It is like, staying to how he believes they should be while also accepting that it’s ok to be individual.

Cross’s favorite color is red because for him, red represents Ando (my Padawan OC) and they are very close (NOT IN A ROMANTIC WAY. He sees Ando as his little brother or kih’vod to protect).

Cross actually does not know a lot of Mando’a because of his belief that they should not try to be seen as individuals. He distanced himself from anything that he considered “individualization”, and Mando’a was included in that. Sunny teaches him a little bit later down the line, and Ando also teaches him and Ten (another clone OC of mine) some Togruti, too

Part of Cross’s strict disposition comes from being subject to Priest’s death circles on more than one occasion (I might retcon that to Adral—a mando OC of mine—because I hate KT Ugh).

By the end of the war, he carries a lot of guilt. He loses a lot of the people he’s closest to because of his actions/orders, and he uh. Doesn’t live past O66 :’) he does get a very quick.. redemption.. arc.. kinda..

Sunny (he/him): Sunny was my second clone OC made around the same time as Cross, and he also holds a very special place in my heart :) I really love clone medics, there is just something about them that makes my brain go brrrr. I also think the irony of his name is great

Sunny’s name was originally Sers, but after writing him for a few weeks, I changed it because I thought Sunny fit better. His name was given to him by his batchmate, Aran, and while he vehemently protested against it, the name ended up sticking. He won’t admit that he actually likes it (though the tattoo and painting of his armor say otherwise anyway)

Sunny is the CMO of the 409th Corps (my OC military group basically). He’s a Lieutenant (or at a rank around there, definitely a CO at the least) and he does not back down. Ever. Even the people who outrank him will fall into line if he tells them to, Jedi included. He is not afraid to pull rank as a Medic, and his resting bitch face can be very scary

On the same line of thought as the rbf, he is basically perpetually scowling. He does not look approachable at all

Sunny loses the entirety of his batch on Geonosis, including Aran who he holds onto while he is dying. The Jedi leading Sunny’s company was.. not accustomed to war and failed to adapt when it was needed. Because of this, Sunny doesn’t necessarily harbor a dislike of Jedi, though he does not really trust many of them in leading positions. He also does not like that there are kids being put in the role of commander, he does see many Padawan deaths (he later comforts a dying Padawan that he was close to, I think I wrote part of that scene for myself and it was kinda upsetting oof) —> he gets his tattoo/paints his armor in order to honor his dead batchmates

Throughout the war, Sunny gets seriously injured only once after going down in an LAAT (where he nearly ends up dying too). Boost finds him, though he’s kinda accepted that he’s not gonna make it (I mean he does but it doesn’t look like he will for a bit). After Flip (younger clone OC) dies, he doesn’t really care if he kicks the bucket either :’)

Sunny is the only one out of my main gang to make it past O66. His chip doesn’t work at all, though he has to fight through his brothers (aha, the only ones who are still alive that he is close with) in order to save a Jedi youngling that was in the medbay at the time. After that, he goes on the run with the kid (clone dad clone dad) and offers his services as a doctor in the outer rim in order to keep them afloat

Boost (he/him) (she/her) [either or, there is no real preference]: Boost has gone through a lot of changes design wise. He started out as Dax, but then Dax became another OC, then she was Boost, though she had kinda short hair that was pushed back by a headband, then his hair was buzzed, and now we are finally at long hair Boost. Idk how to describe, but she is very shaped I think

Boost for his nickname from bear hugging his batchmates and lifting them off the ground when doing so. Also from fucking around in training where he threw another one of his batchmates in order to get from one ledge to another. All around just a name with silly origins that she liked and decided to keep

Boost and Sol are batchmates!

Boost is very tactically intelligent. She’s good at thinking on her feet, sees the bigger picture before focusing on details, good problem solver, etc. He is an ARC after all, there is good reason for his status and rank as a Lieutenant. That being said, he can also be very very stupid in the sense that off the battlefield, he’s oblivious. He does enjoy being the jokester of the group, and he sometimes plays up his dumbassery for jest, though yeah, a lot of people assume that he is not smart because of his demeanor which is very wrong

Boost is terrible. Terrible at braiding her hair. Sol is the best at braiding it, though she would never admit that even if everyone knows it. He started growing his hair out once they were off Kamino and hasn’t stopped since despite the fact that is technically not within regulations. Cross turns a blind eye and Ko (Jedi General) could not care less for inconsequential regulations like that

Boost is really good with kids, but good in the way a uhh.. chaotic uncle/auntie is. He’s a lot of fun to be around with, and being around kids makes him even more rambunctious than usual. He can be what is considered “childish”, pulling pranks and everything but like, he is very emotionally mature and knows when to be serious. Again, a lot of people kinda just boil her down to “dumb” which is really wrong, though it doesn’t bug him a lot.

Boost has a big sweet tooth!! He loves getting sweets when they’re on Coruscant, which they actually tend to visit frequently enough because of Ko’s status as a Sentinel (and also because Ko benefits what the Republic sees as the “propaganda machine” as a prominent General with a good track record).

Boost is romantically involved with @buttsalsa ‘s civilian OC Esta. I reblogged some art of them the other day, they are very cute :D

Boost doesn’t make it to Order 66 :’) I actually wrote out his death and cried after going back to read it LMAO It was rough

Sol (he/him): Sol was made as a package deal with Boost, and I feel bad because I think he gets overshadowed a lot but he is kinda like the rock for the group. When he dies, things really start to crumble but uh!! That is a sad thought for another time. Anyways, like I said, he is basically the rock and also a voice of reason for Boost’s shenanigans

Sol got his nickname after reading through some flimsi that their trainer had given him. He didn’t know if it had any meaning, but he liked the way it sounded and immediately began using it. Boost quickly picked up on it and the rest of their batch was very supportive

Sol loves reading. He specifically likes reading history, and Ando slips him what he can (fun fact, when Sol dies, Boost returns to their bunk to find a couple of holobooks that Ando had left and breaks down aha.. pain). Whenever he doesn’t feel like keeping Boost from causing trouble, he just sits in a quiet corner and reads his books while everything erupts in chaos around him

Sol’s favorite beverage is tea which Ko introduced him to. He has a few boxes he keeps with him when he can, and he shares them with Boost sometimes though he has to add a lot of sugar/honey in order to do that. If he could drink tea all the time, he could. On the flipside, he absolutely loathes coffee and doesn’t understand how Sunny can drink multiple cups on a day

Sol is kinda like the person that everyone is friends with even if they don’t realize it. He’s like.. the perfect emotional pillar, kinda the therapist friend in a group that desperately needs therapy. He’s more of a listener than a talker which is why it’s easy to overlook him, but he insists that he doesn’t mind much. That being said, it’s only once he’s gone that people start to realize just how much he did (aside from Boost who already thought the world of him)

Sol is also an ARC trooper, having gone through the training program together with Boost. He doesn’t have the same tactical knowledge that Boost does, but he’s good at mediating, long range combat, and also working through plans (he’s pretty meticulous). He and Boost balance each other out well, since he is like the “slow and steady” one out of them.

Sol is the first to go out of the main four (second out of my bigger group of six). He and his entire platoon are wiped out in a massacre as a result of false intel.. man :’)

Anyways, thank you for enabling to ramble about my ocs ToT I honestly just needed to infodump shdjf

[lossknown]

𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏:   multiple  places  in  /  surrounding  tera. 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐:   closed,  self - para. 𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒄:   gracie’s  death.

          sude  fills  his  lungs  almost  as  easily  as  a  scream  rips  through  the  air  while  he’s  lounging  by  the  watering  hole.   this  wasn’t  a  rare  occasion  —  sneaking  out  past  curfew  with  his  friends  to  get  high  away  from  the  bustling  atmosphere  of  tera.   the  group  of  five  spent  a  countless  number  of  nights  out  with  each  other,  each  one  as  happy  as  the  next  to  be  able  to  escape,  if  only  for  a  few  hours.   their  nights  out  worked  like  clockwork  most  times.   lukas,  bazz,  and  kyra  would  get  high  by  the  water,  gracie  and  vince  would  wander  off  to  make  friends  with  the  creatures  of  the  night  (  most  were  harmless  little  things  ).   on  this  night,  though,  there  was  nothing  insinuating  harmlessness  in  the  way  the  shriek  pierced  his  ears.  there  was  a  brief  moment  of  exchanged  looks  between  the  trio,  but  then  lukas  was  running.   he  wasn’t  sure  where  his  legs  were  taking  him,  but  it  was  a  miracle  he  hadn’t  tripped  over  anything  on  his  way  to  the  source  of  the  sound.   a  branch  is  snapped  as  he  runs  through  it,  the  bush  revealing  a  panicked  vince  kneeling  over  gracie  —  shirt  stained  red,  puncture  in  her  side,  tears  streaming  down  her  face.     “   what  the  fuck  happened  ?   “     frozen,  shocked,  and  unable  to  process  the  situation,  lukas  felt  panic  build  beneath  his  chest.     “   vince,  what  the  fuck  happened  ?   “     the  repeated  question  is  accompanied  by  his  hand  yanking  the  other  male’s  body  back  to  force  him  to  snap  back  into  reality.   it  didn’t  work  because  he  didn’t  get  a  response.     “   gra—  gracie.   “     a  hushed  plea  of  a  response  fell  from  his  lips  as  he  knelt  beside  the  girl,  one  hand  instantly  moving  to  inspect  the  wounded  area.

          gracie,  unlike  most  things  in  his  life,  had  been  consistent.   she  was  there  when  he  stepped  foot  into  tera,  she  was  there  every  morning  from  then  on.   the  two  were  practically  attached  at  the  hip.  if  someone  didn’t  know  better,  they  could  come  off  as  two  kids  in  puppy  love,  but  nothing  romantic  ever  happened  between  them.   on  any  given  day,  you’d  find  gracie  hanging  off  of  lukas’  back,  barking  orders  in  his  ear  and  he  obeyed  every  single  one.   out  of  the  five  of  them,  those  two  were  the  closest.   in  fact,  there  was  rarely  a  night  that  went  by  when  one  wasn’t  staying  at  the  other’s  place.   it  was  mostly  due  to  how  late  they  stayed  out.  they  were  just  too  tired  to  split  up.  their  friendship  was  different  than  all  his  other  ones.

          “   we  gotta  get  her  to  the  infirmary.   “     it  wasn’t  a  suggestion  so  much  as  it  was  a  demand.  careful  not  to  disturb  the  injured  area  too  much,  lukas  stepped  over  gracie  to  make  an  attempt  at  picking  her  up.  the  groans  and  whines  of  pain  made  him  hesitate,  but  they  couldn’t  leave  her  there.     “   no...  no  infirmary.   “     the  next  demand  came  from  the  blonde  in  his  arms,  a  single  hand  just  barely  reaching  up  to  pull  at  lukas’  shirt.   one  look  in  those  hazel  hues  and  lukas  couldn’t  pull  himself  to  disagree  with  her,  but  he  knew  she  wouldn’t  live  without  some  kind  of  medicine.  defeat  riddled  already  tired  features,  a  nod  soon  following  her  words.  he  wasn’t  about  to  start  an  argument.     “   bazz,  take  her  to  my  place.  i’m  gonna  go  get  stuff.   “     the  handoff  was  messy  and  probably  uncomfortable  for  gracie.  it  physically  pained  lukas  to  see  her  in  such  a  helpless  state.     “   they’re  gonna  see  us  if  we  go  ba—   “     bazz  started,  but  the  look  on  lukas’   face  was  enough  for  him  to  dismiss  his  last  hesitations.  he’d  do  what  he  had  to.     “   i’ll  be  back,  okay  ?  do  not  let  her  die.  i  swear  to  god...  i’m  gonna  take  twenty  minutes,  max.   “     there  was  one  last  look  at  gracie,  one  last  glance  at  the  wound,  and  then  lukas  was  off.

          in  all  honesty,  he  wasn’t  sure  how  he  ended  up  back  within  the  walls  of  tera.  sneaking  out  had  happened  so  many  times  that  he  had  a  route  memorized  like  the  back  of  his  hand.  it’s  not  even  that  they  were  really  out  when  the  gates  were  closed.  they  did  cut  it  pretty  close,  though,  and  the  sentinels  knew  that.  before  he  knew  it,  lukas  was  approaching  the  infirmary  —  one  of  the  many  places  he  generally  wasn’t  allowed  to  be  simply  because  he  was  a  nuisance.  still,  that  didn’t  stop  him  from  swiping  an  access  card  from  one  of  the  doctors  leaving  as  he  was  going  in.  it  gave  him  easy  access  to  places  he  needed  to  be  in  order  to  get  some  supplies.  careful  to  avoid  the  sight  of  guards,  lukas  remained  calm  as  he  maneuvered  through  the  halls.  and  when  he  found  the  room  he  was  looking  for,  one  final  glance  down  the  nearly  empty  hall  gave  him  a  clear  coast  to  slip  inside.

          it  wasn’t  until  his  hands  were  grazing  the  shelves  that  he  noticed  the  blood  on  his  fingers,  the  trembling  of  usually  still  limbs.  it  made  him  hesitate,  if  only  momentarily,  before  grabbing  a  few  different  vials,  along  with  other  meds  that  he  knew  might  have  a  chance  at  working.  in  all  honesty,  he  wasn’t  sure  what  attacked  gracie,  how  her  side  got  punctured  the  way  it  did.  he  had  no  idea  what    he  was  dealing  with.  and  once  he’d  finished  tucking  the  items  in  his  pocket,  he  left  the  room.  while  looking  over  his  shoulder,  he  nearly  ran  into  a  body  that  was  waiting  right  in  front  of  him  near  the  end  of  the  hall.  looking  down  at  the  other  male,  lukas  just  removed  his  hands  from  his  pockets  and  tried  to  brush  by  him  with  a  nearly  inaudible  apology.  that’s  when  he  felt  the  other’s  hand  press  against  his  chest  to  stop  him  from  continuing,  eyes  glancing  down  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  name  ‘  preston  ‘  plastered  on  the  uniform.     “   you’re  not  supposed  to  be  back  here.   “   oliver  observed,  but  it  was  something  they  both  already  knew.  and  lukas  really  didn’t  have  time  to  be  dealing  with  a  sentinel  right  now.     “   i  was  looking  for  my  mom,  but  she’s  not  here.   “     a  lie  that  was  almost  too  easy  to  tell  slipped  through  the  younger  male’s  lips  as  he  kept  his  demeanor  calm.  his  gaze  met  oliver’s  briefly,  but  they  both  knew  lukas  was  full  of  it.   a  pause  that  felt  like  forever  was  taken,  but  then  the  silence  was  broken  by  oliver  once  more.     “   empty  your  pockets.   “

          man,  if  looks  could  kill,  lukas  might  as  well  have  been  medusa  in  that  moment.     “   i  don’t  know  what  you’re  talking  about.   “     lukas  responded,  not  an  ounce  of  his  tone  faltering  as  he  took  a  step  back  to  show  he  wasn’t  in  a  rush.  but  he  was  —    gracie  was  dying  for  all  he  knew.  and  oliver  wasn’t  buying  his  story.  then  the  sentinel  was  one  step  closer,  speaking  at  a  much  lower  volume  than  before.     “   now.   “     and  lukas  wasn’t  really  in  much  of  a  place  to  be  fighting  back.  a  cold  glare  is  what  he  got  in  return,  jaw  tightening  as  lukas  refused  to  move.  the  only  thing  that  made  him  give  in  was  the  fact  that  attention  was  being  drawn  to  them.  he  could  see  a  nurse’s  head  turn  in  his  peripheral,  to  which  his  chin  dipped  slightly,  but  he  didn’t  let  up.     “   please,  just...   “     lukas  started,  but  it  appeared  oliver  wasn’t  having  any  of  it.     “   just  what  ?   “     his  head  was  pounding,  different  scenarios  reeling  in  his  mind  as  the  male  tried  to  figure  out  his  options.  after  a  quick  glance  at  the  clock,  he  decided  he  needed  to  go.  and  that’s  what  he  did.

          lukas  took  a  few  steps  back  before  turning  around  and  running  towards  the  other  end  of  the  hall.  the  hands  that  trembled  before  were  the  same  ones  that  crashed  through  the  door  before  the  rest  of  his  body,  feet  carrying  him  down  the  stairs  and  out  another  door  on  the  lower  level  before  he  was  looking  for  the  fastest  exit.   he  seemed  to  be  in  the  clear  until  he  collided  with  a  nurse  who  wasn’t  paying  attention.   neither  of  them  fell,  but  it  was  enough  to  make  him  mutter  a  string  of  apologies.   the  look  on  her  face  was  enough  for  him  to  realize  that  she  knew  he  wasn’t  supposed  to  be  there.   he’d  lost  track  of  time,  so  much  so  that  he  only  stopped  rambling  when  someone  else  grabbed  his  arm,  but  before  he  knew  it,  he  was  being  shoved  into  one  of  the  empty  rooms  with  the  door  slamming  shut  behind  them.     “   hey,  man.   what  the  fuck  ?   ”     lukas  nearly  spat,  venom  threatening  to  surface  as  he  finally  put  together  just  who  was  standing  in  front  of  him :  oliver  fucking  preston.   jaw  tightened,  one  step  taken  back  as  he  tried  to  think  of  a  way  to  get  himself  out  of  this  one.   his  options  were  limited.   preston  went  on  a  spew  about  how  much  trouble  lukas  could  be  in,  about  how  he  was  disturbing  the  peace  of  the  entire  infirmary,  about  how  his  recklessness  was  going  to  get  people  upset.     “   i’m  not  asking  again.   empty  your  pockets.   ”     the  male  stated  calmly,  palm  extended  towards  lukas  as  the  youngest  wayne  just  let  his  gaze  lock  onto  oliver’s.   if  he  gave  anything  up,  gracie  would  die.

          “   if  you  don’t  let  me  leave,  grace  duval  is  gonna  die,  okay  ?   it’s  your  job  to  protect  people,  isn’t  it  ?   if  you  let  me  go,  i  can  save  her.   ”     he’d  lied  enough  times  for  the  sentinels  to  take  everything  he  said  with  a  grain  of  salt.   it  looked  like  oliver  was  the  same,  because  his  demeanor  hadn’t  shifted,  he  hadn’t  moved  –––  just  waited.     “   oliver,  please.   i’m  not  feeding  you  bullshit.   she’s  dying.   ”     for  all  he  knew  she  could  be  dead  by  then.   he  was  already  five  minutes  late,  already  past  the  time  he’d  promised  he’d  get  back  in.     “   then  why  didn’t  you  bring  her  here  ?   ”     the  question  made  him  sick.   it  was  one  he  knew  he  couldn’t  answer  without  getting  himself  and  his  friends  in  trouble.   his  moment  of  hesitation  was  enough  of  an  answer  for  oliver,  because  lukas  found  himself  being  slammed  back  against  the  cabinet  behind  him.   a  grunt  fell  from  his  lips  has  oliver’s  hand  retrieved  the  medical  supplies  from  both  of  his  pockets.   the  sentinel  took  a  moment  to  inspect  what  he’d  taken,  a  quick  analysis  of  what  could  have  possibly  been  going  on.     “   don’t  let  me  catch  you  in  here  again.   ”     the  words  fell  from  the  other’s  mouth  with  ease  as  he  began  departing,  leaving  lukas  just  as  empty - handed  as  he  was  when  he’d  first  arrived.

          he  had  no  other  choice :  he  had  to  go  back.   so  he  left  the  infirmary,  anger  boiling  his  blood  as  he  broke  into  a  sprint  to  get  back  to  his  place.   it  didn’t  take  more  than  a  few  more  minutes  for  him  to  arrive,  hands  shoving  the  front  door  open  to  find  gracie  on  the  couch  with  their  friends  surrounding  her.   she  wasn’t  awake,  but  she  was  breathing.   the  sight  made  him  freeze  and  he  stayed  that  way  until  vince  nearly  dragged  him  to  the  kitchen,  questioning  him  about  if  he  got  what  they  needed,  about  what  took  him  so  long.   lukas  didn’t  answer,  just  kept  his  gaze  on  the  ground  for  a  moment  before  he  finally  looked  up  at  the  other  male.     “   preston  took  all  the  fuckin’  meds  i  had.   i  got  nothing.   ”     before  he  could  face  any  backlash,  lukas  pushed  past  vince  and  made  his  way  back  to  gracie’s  side,  taking  a  seat  on  the  ground  beside  the  couch  as  kyra  joined  him.   with  how  calm  lukas  was  and  how  he  hadn’t  whipped  out  whatever  medical  supplies  they  expected  him  to  return  with,  everybody  knew  he  came  back  with  nothing.   thank  god  nobody  else  blew  up  at  him  for  it.   he  took  a  moment  to  observe  the  blonde’s  exterior  for  a  moment :  discomfort  permanent  on  usually  light  features,  shaky  breathing  here  and  there,  a  decent  bandage  plastered  over  the  wound,  and  blood  staining  both  her  clothes  and  his  furniture.   one  hand  lifted  slowly,  wrapping  around  gracie’s  carefully.   her  body’s  reaction  was  to  flinch,  but  it  made  her  eyes  open  slowly.     “   hey,  luke.   ”     the  nickname  just  barely  made  it  beyond  her  lips  before  she  was  coughing,  something  violent  that  made  his  body  tense.   still,  he  forced  a  smile  and  let  his  thumb  graze  the  back  of  her  hand  to  show  that  he  was  still  there.   from  how  devastated  everyone  looked,  from  the  lack  of  movement  in  the  room,  even  gracie  could  tell  lukas  didn’t  get  what  he  said  he  would.   of  course,  she  knew  him  well  enough  to  know  that  he  tried.     “   i’m  sorry.   ”     the  male  murmured,  an  uncomfortable  heaviness  pressing  down  on  his  chest  as  he  tried  not  to  break.   he  was  the  strong  one  in  their  group  if  gracie  couldn’t  be.     “   i’m  so  sorry.   ”     lukas  repeated,  head  dipping  to  shield  her  from  the  view  of  tears  brimming.   he  rarely  cried  and  certainly  wouldn’t  let  other  people  see  him  cry.   still,  kyra  pressed  her  head  against  his  shoulder  in  an  attempt  at  comfort  and  gracie  had  failed  to  show  even  an  ounce  of  disappointment.   instead,  she  just  squeezed  his  hand  gently  and  offered  a  smile,  something  weak  but  not  quite  forced.

          another  moment  passed  before  he  finally  looked  back  up  at  gracie.   the  only  thing  that  made  him  do  so  was  the  release  of  pressure  from  her  grip,  panic  churning  somewhere  deep  in  his  ribs.     “   gracie  ?   ”   her  eyes  were  closed,  the  wincing  stopped,  and  her  chest  seemed  to  remain  still  with  each  second  he  watched  it.   his  hand  squeezed  hers  now,  but  it  felt  different  ––  felt  more  limp  than  before.     “   hey.   ”     lukas  murmured,  eyebrows  furrowing  as  he  sat  up  more  and  reached  out  to  shake  her  shoulder  only  gently.   no  response.   the  head  on  his  shoulder  was  now  buried  in  vince’s  shoulder,  kyra’s  sobbing  only  causing  a  chain  reaction  within  the  group  as  the  realization  of  what  was  happening  hit  hard.   lukas,  himself,  even  found  himself  nearly  choking  back  a  sob.     “   gracie.   fuck,  grace.   hey,  c’mon.   ”     his  efforts  at  waking  her  up  were  useless.   it  wasn’t  until  there  was  another  hand  on  his  shoulder  that  lukas  fell  apart.   his  head  dropped,  forehead  pressed  against  gracie’s  shoulder  as  he  cried.   uncontrollable,  staggered,  and  silenced  sobs  echoed  within  the  walls  of  the  room.   the  amount  of  times  apologies  fell  from  his  mouth  couldn’t  be  counted  on  just  two  hands  as  the  three  others  moved  to  wrap  themselves  in  one  big  hug.   they  didn’t  pull  him  away  from  gracie,  didn’t  say  anything  as  they  just  comforted  each  other.   grief  could  sneak  up  on  people,  but  not  them.   it  hit  harder  than  anything  lukas  had  ever  experienced  before,  making  him  feel  completely  useless  and  weak  as  he  cried.   and  they  stayed  like  that  for  hours,  crying  over  gracie’s  lifeless  body  on  his  couch,  crying  over  the  loss  of  such  an  important  person  in  all  of  their  lives.   and  lukas  thought  he’d  never  feel  fully  happy  again,  never  feel  complete  without  his  best  friend.   and  he  was  right.

[jq37]

i know you posted your thoughts on the big arguing scene in “we need to talk about pete” but i was wondering if you were going to post a full breakdown? that episode was a lot and i love hearing your thoughts on eps. ignore this if you have done a breakdown and i’m dumb and just missed it lol

**spoilers for the war of bugs and rats and we need to talk about pete**

What’s up denizens of Magic NYC? Now, I unfortunately live in normal NYC where I have to pay bills and stuff so I’ve been MIA with recaps for the past few eps but, no sweat. We’re gonna do a double feature of the above two eps and then I’ll group in the last battle episode with the upcoming episode. So lets catch up on what’s been going on in The Unsleeping City There’s a LOT to get through so vámanos y'all.

First up, we have our big bug fight in Queens, which Sophie enters with a camelback full of box wine because Emily is Emily.

“I’ve heard of gentrification but this is crazy!”

Brennan enjoys making those gross, chittering, bug noises way too much.

Have we talked about Pete’s cowboy hat? Because, for real, what is up with Pete’s cowboy hat? It seems absolutely apropos of nothing. Was he just like, “Sick,” and he decided to wear it everywhere? That seems to be how he makes all of his decisions.

“Butthole 2: Electric Boogaloo.”

Emily clocks the cat *immediately*. Like to the point where I’m almost thinking, “Did this cat exist before Emily mentioned looking for one?” And I want to say yes because La Gran Gata seems very fleshed out, specific, and intentional. But folks, we are living in a post-Avanash world so idk what to think. (Edit: The cat does have a mini now that I’ve gotten to that but idk, that insert shot could have been shot post ep so like, who knows?)

Anyway, Emily’s entire mission objective immediately becomes saving this cat she’s vaguely aware of.  

“5E you crazy.”

The Cast, Knowing Emily just rolled a 25 and still has a 1d8 Bless in Her Back Pocket if She Needs It: Brennan, Just Ask.

The horror on Emily’s face when she realizes that she just called an attack on the cat cocoon.

So Emily goes off on a very Emily side quest to rescue a random cat but happens to unlock a very cool NPC–La Gran Gata–who is like the spirit of all the bodega cats out there. Sophie immediately calls upon the entirety of her limited Spanish skills to try and make friends with the cat, and succeeds.

The, “To arms, to arms my brothers!” thing kills me every time. Are all rats just Like That? Is that what they’re like when they’re out and about too?

Kingston rolling a nat 20 to literally walk across the store is wild.

Oh also, Pete failed a wild magic surge roll which just lets him fly. So far, those wild magic surges have really been working out for him.

Anyway, Bug Boss Becky turns Ricky into a “buff-ass” dog.

Zac playing dog-Ricky with almost exactly the same self-awareness (or lack thereof) as normal-Ricky is so funny. He’s an Akita and I was expecting Dalmatian but that makes sense too. Ricky, the very good boy, attacks Becky and–as a Sentinel–stops her in her tracks.

Emily does a ton of damage and Brennan, about to describe her attack, is like, “Are you still drunk?” Emily shuts down the opportunity to look cooler and is like, “I am a messy, drunk bitch. Describe that.” Emily isn’t here to be cool. Emily is here to roleplay.

I had never heard the word brindled before now and Brennan uses it to describe two separate animals in this ep.

Siobhan rolls a nat 20 to dispel magic on Ricky which is objectively good but also I would have loved for him to be a dog a little longer. Also, this moment makes me really, really want to get some backstory on Misty. Like, clearly there are some serious Fae Shenanigans going on with her and I need specifics yesterday.

Also, Ricky comes back with pointier ears and wolfier senses and I’m just picturing Channing Tatum in Jupiter Ascending.

Before I forget, Sophie, Pete, and Misty yoink magical items from the magic bodega within the bodega La Gran Gata opened up. Sophie’s is a magic ring that amps up her punches. Misty took a mirror and Pete took a grill (like for your teeth). Not sure what those do yet.

The fact that this whole fight wasn’t under the Umbral Arcana and there are people out there that remember is a little concerning for me. I can’t quite tell if it’s the sort of thing that will come back or more of a warning of what can happen if the U.A. goes down again.

Post-fight, Sophie asks La Gran Gata for mismatched David Bowie eyes like the cat has. Siobahn goes, “That’s what you’re gonna ask? You drunk bitch.” But Sophie has her wish granted. I’m sure that won’t raise any questions with people who have known her her entire life. 

“She’s gonna fuck that cat.”

So the fight’s over and they realize that the Key to the City is missing which I can’t imagine is a good thing.

This brings us to the RP ep, We Need to Talk About Pete, which picks up directly where the previous ep ended.

Ally and Emily go for the exact same joke of getting Guinness’s post-fight. Kingston–as a medical professional, Vox Populi, and sanest adult of this troupe–loudly objects (smacking the beers out of Pete’s hands multiple times) and wants to know what the hell is going on with the bugs they just fought.

Sidenote: Sophie took a level in Warlock with La Gran Gata as her patron because of *course* she did. I wonder if this was the plan from the beginning or if Emily was watching all her friends spellcasting and started getting the jitters from magic user withdrawal.

Murph’s “What?” face when Emily says, “I’ll be waiting, but not in an impatient, desperate way,” is gold.

They search the bodega and find a thing of 1000 Hour Energy and Kugrash gives it to Ricky over Pete’s objections. They also find Holy Grail Laundry Detergent (Kingston pays for it), The Grill I mentioned earlier (Kingston hates this), and this bagel. 

All the magic users show up. Alejandro wants an explanation pronto and everyone points a finger at Pete who explains everything in his typical, nonchalant, vague, kinda spaced out way which Alejandro is not digging at all. He starts to go off on the enormity of the situation and Pete starts dropping acid.

I’m gonna stop here for a sec to talk about how Ally is playing Pete. There are moments when I feel like Ally is doing something as a comedian for a bit. And there’s kind of a sense of, is this funny? Obviously. But what are the in game implications of this move? Like the running joke of Pete constantly being high on something is funny, out of game. But,  in game, it’s massively concerning. And I’m really curious about where Ally is choosing to draw the line between doing the funny thing and doing the prudent thing. I almost said the in-character thing but Ally made a character so consistently bonkers that whatever he does could plausibly be the in-character thing. Pete is kind of a massive disaster.

Anyway, Alejandro drives home the point that Pete’s actions have consequences and have caused actual deaths at this point. Pete’s magic is internally going wonky as he gets more distressed (I really wanted to see a wild magic surge fail here but alas). But he’s still outwardly like a 4 on the giving a damn scale when the situation is a 13 out of 10. Pete is only half listening to this because he’s halfway out the door, smoking. Alejandro plans with Kingston to discuss Pete later.

Misty, always sowing seeds of chaos, suggests Alejandro stock up on Juul pods before they stop selling them completely. Kingston hates this (this is basically his mood for the episode).  

Outside, Pete gets a text from Priya which ends with them planning a meet up for later after leaving her on read for a while. Pete dips without saying anything to anyone but Kingston who ignores him (and also Sophie who Emily hilariously guilts Ally into including out of character). Dipping on the conversation about how to fix YOUR mess isn’t the wisest move but Pete isn’t the wisest guy.  

In the meantime, Ricky does the Twilight Bark to summon a dalmatian (yes!) to help him find the stolen key to the city. Kugrash turns into a busted ass dalmatian who has trouble keeping up.

Ricky doesn’t have the plate mail armor that usually makes a Paladin so unstealthy but he is so hot as to have the same lack of stealthiness which is one of my favorite adaptations of the game for this setting. Anyway, Ricky does the superhero thing of running through the city, helping everyone with a problem along the way, and loses the key in the Financial District which smells like death (feels about right).

Siobahn playing Misty as, “Oh, I can’t believe I didn’t realize it was Emma Lazarus,” when, in reality, she was the first person who made the connection was great. S/o to ppl who separate player and character knowledge. Misty partied w/ Emma of course because she partied with every historical figure that’s passed through NYC since she showed up.

Post adventure, people need to go to their day jobs. Misty has a +10 to performance but rolling a 3 is rolling a 3. It’s not her best work. Later, her assistant brings her holly, silver, and assorted other stuff which sounds like Fae BS if I’ve ever heard it. Misty cuts her off before she can elaborate more. I know we’re getting a secret spilling episode next time so I’m really hoping we get some Misty lore because she is being frustratingly cagey. She talks so much but says so little that means anything.

Kugrash sneaks into his son David’s house (while Emily learns a rat fact she clearly didn’t want to know) and Murph  and Brennan tag team go for the proverbial emotional jugular.

Murph rolls a nat 20 on his investigate and so he gets a lot of his old files and puts together that Robert is Robert Moses–a famous historical figure in NY who I actually heard about for the first time very recently. Or maybe I should say infamous. He did a lot with NY infrastructure–especially highways–(Emily connects this to the Highway Hex immediately) and he wasn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type. His bread and butter was working the system. There’s a Pulitzer winning book called The Power Broker about how he was able to amass power and influence. I don’t know enough about NY history to run my mouth off about the guy but the little I do know is in character with his T.U.S. incarnation. Also, just FYI, irl this dude died in the 80s. So, you know. That’s interesting.

Brennan, I guess: Why invent new bad guys when history is full of terrible people I just have to give magic to?

Brennan, continuing his tradition of letting people get emotionally destroyed by nat 20s, has Murph find a crushing letter from David to Kug which was never mailed.

Note: So, as I was writing this, my video timed out right at the line, “I don’t expect this letter to find you before my funeral,” which is kinda good bc idk if this is what I need at 1 AM. Anyway, back to the pain.

The letter reveals that David has devoted his life to stopping crooks like him (Kug) and that he’s mostly upset about how his leaving has affected the younger, more fragile Wally.

“I leave the letter because I’ll remember it.” Yeah I bet you will.

It looks like Kug is gonna confront Wally next ep which I am now even more excited to see.

So let’s move onto the SECOND big gut-punch of the episode. Kingston goes down to the station to give a statement about the Santa Incident. He sees a shit elemental in a lineup which isn’t super relevant to the main events but I can’t not mention something like that.

Anyway, guess what? Kingston’s ex (Liz) isn’t dead! She’s an attorney for the justice system of The Unsleeping City and she’s pissed the hell off. During their interview, he stops the tape recorder to cuss out Kingston for going on a “date” with Misty and for getting her involved in all the magical junk which means she has to do things like fingerprint shit elementals instead of being on track to be D.A. like she originally was. The way she described it made it sound like she was press ganged into it which seems like it shouldn’t be how this works, you know? Is there no blue pill option here? Also, not to be all grass is greener but I actually am a lawyer in NY (closer to Kug’s job, minus the crime) and I would swap with Liz in a heartbeat.

The fact that anything Kingston says as Vox is per se admissible is a cool detail. 

Sophie fights an old man (Jackson) in a CVS and joins a monastery which sounds like a shitpost but it isn’t. With La Gran Gata’s blessing she is now a member of the Order of the Concrete Fist.

I saw the Staten Island joke coming the second Brennan started talking but it was still hysterical when it landed.

At the same time, Pete is getting knuckle tats because, sure. And he also goes to see Priya who I am baffled was with him for any length of time. Maybe it’s the artist thing?

Also, Sophie keeps postponing her meeting with Mario which is concerning to me. The story is still happening when you’re not interacting with it. Brennan specifically said when she texted him that she got no response which doesn’t make me feel good about what’s going on with him.

Ricky has three super jacked, fratty firefighter bros, all named John who are like woke as hell. I wish I could follow the dude around for a day because every single facet of his life is wild.

Well, this episode promised we were gonna talk about Pete so let’s talk about Pete.

The gang, sans Pete, meet up with the magical powers that be to discus the destruction the newest Vox his leaving in his wake.

Sidenote, wild that Sophie has been magic for like 15 minutes and got to go to this meeting.

Alejandro wants to know what the plan is for if Pete’s powers go off the rails again. Kingston, who has clearly seen Old Yeller, offers the most drastic solution immediately: if it comes to it, we take him out. (Cut to Ally’s “Yikes” face). Kug, Sophie, and Ricky push back on that.

Misty, hilariously (and also suspiciously), is mainly concerned about NY because she needs theater to keep happening. This woman is chaotic something and I’m not convinced it’s chaotic good yet.

Anyway, I already did my big write-up on this part of the episode, but I’ll say it again: Kingston is right. He’s harsh but he’s right. This is some Phoenix Force BS that’s happening and do you know how that arc ends (the OG one, not the million other Phoenix Sagas that have happened since)? It ends with Jean Grey killing herself so she doesn’t lose control and eat another planet. Ricky is too dangerous for his own good and he doesn’t seem to have the emotional maturity to care (or at least to care at the correct level). Like, he was a drug dealer when this started which is already not ideal. He caused a huge mess and then just bounced without trying to help fix it. He thought that a week was enough time for human casualties to be water under the bridge. Frankly, not considering the nuclear option and just having to figure out if killing him is something the group is willing to do on the fly would be the more irresponsible option.

And not including Pete in the discussion would bother me more if he hadn’t openly blown off every serious discussion people have tried to have with him so far. If he’s not going to take things seriously, it makes sense they don’t invite him to the serious discussions.

The version of this story where Pete accidentally gets a bunch of people killed, finds out what he did, cries about it for a full day, and then finds out they’re talking about possibly killing him is a story where Pete is more sympathetic imo. But still, finding out that people talked about killing you under any circumstances has got to be rough.

IMO, the order of things that should be done right now are (1) putting magical training wheels on Pete, (2a) getting Pete trained or his powers transferred if it’s possible/he wants out, (2b) either way, getting Pete into therapy (like, he needed therapy before he got magic. now it’s just a matter of life and death–besides just his own), (3) talking to Pete again about the stakes and telling him point blank but not in while heated that there’s the possibility of a scenario where his powers go out of control and you have to understand that at that point it’s a matter of saving as many lives as possible. Like, Kingston can say, with conviction, “If I go rogue, you should do the same to me.” They’re in the same boat. Kingston’s just been rowing longer. Well, similar boats anyway. I imagine the Vox Populi powers are less inherently chaotic. And maybe the knowledge that a nuclear option is on the table would make Pete not want the job or want him to have his powers muted or something. Cool. Then you have that discussion at that point. Just, these are the conversations that need to happen. And maybe his own mortality will be the thing that helps get Pete’s head in the game. 

What jewel did Ale take out of his pocket during this conversation? Taking note of that. (Juul, not jewel. Duh. Thx thethief )

Pete gets in touch w/ Alejandro’s granddaughters who tell him that Alejandro’s still pretty pissed (which is surprising to Pete but like, bro. People died). Then, Robert shows up to sweet talk Pete and show him the video (that he somehow has) of Kingston talking at the Pete Meeting. When I was watching this the first time I was like, “How long before this blows up in their face–oh, almost immediately. Cool.”

He takes Pete to his vampire nightclub and hits him with Pete’s own “I didn’t create the demand” line that you just know Brennan put a pin in to hit Pete with that Uno Reverse card.

Robert tries to get Pete to summon Nod and then just does it forcibly with some kind of blood magic when Pete is hesitant. Pete wild magic surges, kills a bunch of vamps, and Nod (super injured by being in the waking world) teleports them both to the subway.

The group (including Alejandro) meets them there so they can catch the L train to Nod but Epona shows up. And you already know from Fantasy High that Brennan is on the ACAB train (or is that AFCAB?). Epona is now wearing a crooked badge–crooked badge for a crooked cop. She wants Nod. No can do. The gang gets ready to–to quote Mr. Cubby-make some bacon while Alejandro tries to cast a spell to summon a train to Nod (the place not the person).

So I’ll see y’all next time (whenever that is) for some subway fighting and some backstory unlocking! 

[battlersexual]

Board Game Showcase #3: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Introduction:

I mentioned in my introduction post for this series that my love of board games only really blossomed when I joined my college’s board game club. This game in particular was actually one of the major reasons why.

Sentinels of the Multiverse is a game about superheroes, but it’s not like any of the multitude of superhero-based board games on the market. Most of those just license actual Marvel or DC superheroes and put them on some other game, like Monopoly or a generic deckbuilder skeleton. Sentinels is something very different: It’s a totally original superhero game, (admittedly very much based on the Marvel-DC characters in a lot of ways) and it’s incredibly fun. Let’s talk about it!

Story:

I’m going to give you the broad strokes here, because trying to tell you the full story of Sentinels would be kind of like trying to summarize the plot of Magic: The Gathering in a single text post. Even with that, this will probably be the longest story segment I write.

In an alternate universe, instead of the Marvel and DC we’re familiar with, the comics publisher that came out on top was Sentinel Comics. Within the world of Sentinel Comics, the stories followed a similar trajectory to ours: the Golden Age where superheroes fought ordinary criminals and nazis, the Silver age with its wacky space shenanigans and superscience nonsense, the more restrained Bronze age where comics started to tackle more serious issues, a brief Dark age where everything was gritty and EXTREEEEEME, and the Modern age, where writers tried to take the best of everything that came before and just tell good stories (perhaps with mixed results, but I’m not a comic critic, so I’ll leave it at that.) The actual card game can best be described as a licensed game set in the Modern age of Sentinel Comics, which just so happens to have fallen through a time portal to our universe.

Overall, the story follows the Freedom Five, an Avengers-esque superhero team working together against all manner of villains, from the moustache-twirling to the downright terrifying. The villains in the game are all structured like crisis crossovers, with a team of supers going up against them. Each expansion to the game introduced part of the ongoing struggle as the comics progressed, culminating in the OblivAeon crisis and the end of the multiverse as we know it.

Obviously there’s more to it, but I want to move on and talk about individual characters later.

Mechanics and more under the cut.

Mechanics:

Sentinels is, technically speaking, a card game instead of a board game. That said, it still falls into the nebulous category of “Tabletop game” and most board game fans consider them board games anyway.

The game is technically 3-5 players, but can easily support 1 and 2 player games by having each player control multiple characters. Each player will pick a hero from the box, along with their deck. For example...

(Legacy is in some ways the most basic hero, so I’ll be using him as an example often.)

Each hero has a character card that gives them an HP value and a base power (In this case, Galvanize). This means the hero always has something they can do no matter which cards they get. Each hero has a unique deck of cards that focuses on their particular niche, Legacy’s being buffing the team and tanking damage.

Heroes generally work on their own, but often excel by teaming up with other heroes and complementing their own powers. Each turn, a player does three things: Play, Power, Draw, in that order. Play a card from their hand, use a power (either their innate power or one listed on an ongoing card) and draw a card. You can skip both play and power to draw two cards instead. If a hero is reduced to 0 HP, they’re not out of the fight yet: the flip side of their card has “Incapacitated abilities” that help the other team members.

(I couldn’t find a good image of Legacy’s incap side, this is from one of the other characters, Fanatic).

Sentinels is a cooperative game: the heroes work together to defeat a villain.

Each villain has their own deck, which acts as a rudimentary AI. Before the heroes get their turn, they flip over the top card of the villain deck and do whatever the card says. Villain cards are often extremely powerful, and can seriously screw over the heroes’ efforts.

In addition to heroes and villains, each game of Sentinels has an Environment. This is a third type of deck that works similarly to the villain deck, but tends to be neutral: I.E. it helps or hurts both the heroes and the villain. The environments range from the city of Megalopolis to the far-off planet Dok’Thorath to the town of Silver Gulch in the year 1883 to a far-future post-apocalyptic earth, each with unique mechanics. The turn order goes villain, heroes, environment before repeating until either the villain or all the heroes are defeated.

Flavor:

An AMAZING amount. You might have noticed that Legacy’s cards have quotes on the bottom referencing a comic he was in. Every card in the game has this, and it’s a joy to piece it all together and figure out what happened in the extensive storyline of Sentinel Comics. The game itself also presents an exciting puzzle where you try to figure out how to get past the villain’s defenses before they kill you. Each hero feels unique and interesting, and once you find your favorite, you’re all set. (Mine is Chrono-Ranger, the time-traveling cowboy).

I do have another particular favorite in terms of flavor, but I... don’t want to mention him. (Too late.) He might show up, and that’s not going to be good for anyone (Hey!) so let’s just move on.

Expansions:

The base game includes ten heroes, four villains, and four environments. This is a pretty good number, but honestly a lot of the most fun heroes arrived in the expansions. I find every new deck to be fun and interesting, so I can blanket-recommend all the expansions, but there’s a lot of them, both big boxes and mini-expansions consisting of a single deck (Like me!), so I’m not going to talk about them individually like before (WHAT?), so let’s just move on to-

No no no no NO! What kind of cop-out is that? You’re just going to tell people that expansions exist and then not explain anything? You make me SICK.

Oh no.

Oh YEAH! That’s right, I’m here to take over this showcase, so why don’t you just sit down in that corner and watch a REAL pro do his job?

Get off my post, Guise.

Not gonna happen! Take this! And this! And some a THESE!

...There we go. Hello, reader! Yep, I’m talking to you, the one reading this now. My name’s Guise, and I’m the best hero in the whole game!

Ha, I love that picture. ANYWAY, since that idiot couldn’t be bothered to cover the expansions properly, I’ll be doing that for him, just for all of you! Aren’t I the greatest? Well, let’s hop to it!

Ahhh, good old Rook City. Nice place, if you like giant mutant rats and government corruption. Which I do, because that stuff is totally X-TREEEEEEEEME!!!

Rook City was originally its own expansion, but the developers released a box that combined it with the next expansion, Infernal Relics! What nice people. Rook City includes two heroes who are almost as X-TREEEEEEEEME!!! as me, as well as two environments and four, count ‘em, FOUR dastardly villains!

Infernal Relics has plenty of spooooooky magic at play, and features another four villains, two environments, and two heroes, one of which is my good friend the Argent Adept! Here, look at this picture of us!

Ha ha, good times.

They did it again! Shattered Timelines and Wrath of the Cosmos, all in one box. How can you turn that down? If you like time travel and space adventures, these are gonna be your jam, with a total of four heroes, eight villains, and four environments, two of which are IN SPACE! Everything’s better in SPACE! Here’s a picture of me, IIIIIIINNNNNNNN SPAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

Oh, and the Shattered Timelines expansion is where that cowboy that the dumb nerd who started this post likes comes from. You know, if you cared. Which you don’t, because you’re cool! Like me! I can tell.

Vengeance added five new heroes, and introduced the TOTALLY AWESOME team villain variant, where instead of fighting one strong villain, you fight a team of weaker villains! This one can get pretty crazy. The set includes the VENGEFUL FIVE, who you can see on the box, and their decks come with all sorts of bit villains and lackeys to torment the heroes! I took a picture with my nemesis, Argentium!

Whooo, that was one tough customer! Luckily, I got him to chill out. Get it? Chill out? Because I froze him, ha ha! I’m hilarious. And awesome!

And then they did more team villains! Villains of the Multiverse has ten new villains for the team mode, four environments, and NO HEROES AT ALL! Well, lucky thing you can still use the ones from the other expansions, hey? I took a picture with a villain to commemorate this one too, but I can’t seem to find it...

Oh, there it is!

And the last major expansion is... OblivAeon! (Dun dun DUUUUUUUUN!) This one adds five heroes (formerly villains! Oooh, exciting!), five environments, and OBLIVAEON himself, with a new game mode centered around fighting him! Not to mention, you get to see ME take center stage as the big hero that saves the multiverse!

(Uh, not really, it was mostly Luminary who-)

Hey, quiet! Don’t go badmouthing me in front of my adoring fans!

Anyway, I’d love to show you my cool new form in this expansion, but that might be a liiiiitle spoiler-y, so I’ll just say I look like THIS, but WAY sexier!

Well, those are all the big expansions, but we’re not done yet! There’s a bunch of mini-expansions, little individual decks you can buy to add one hero, villain, or environment to the game. I’d cover them all, but there’s really only one you need...

That’s right, ME! Hell, you don’t even need the other big expansions when I’m so much better! Not only do you get my awesome character card, you get all the cards I’ve shown you from my deck, as well as the best card ever! No, really, that’s what it’s called!

I mean, come on! You don’t even need the base game! Just buy me, and you’ll have the best part of Sentinels of the Multiverse, all for the low low price of- hey, get off me! Ow! Stop that! HEY!

All right, that’s ENOUGH. Get OUT of my house.

...Whew, he’s finally gone. All right, let’s get on with things.

Replayability:

Sentinels is pretty darn replayable. You’re almost never going to get the same experience, even if you pick the exact same heroes, environment, and villain. If you have all the expansions, you not only get over 60 heroes and 45 villains, but you can get Variants, which replace all the hero cards (and some villains!) with new versions of the characters that have different powers. I’ve never played a game of Sentinels and felt like I’d seen it before. In addition, you can play it alone, so if you can’t have friends over regularly it’s still a good purchase.

Criticisms:

It runs into a similar problem to Cosmic Encounter where the game is SO spread out over so many expansions that the full experience ends up being an expensive and space-consuming prospect. It’s also a very fiddly game, with tons of counters and cards, so it can be a chore to play some of the more complicated characters. Both of these problems have solutions, however.

Availability:

Sentinels is still being sold, as far as I’m aware. It’s also totally available as a mod on Tabletop Sim, although this doesn’t fix the problem with fiddly counters and running out of space for cards, and in fact makes it worse. But there’s another option.

Sentinels of the Multiverse: The Video Game is an official online version of the card game. It includes every expansion as dlc, heavily marked down from its price as a physical item, and takes care of all the tedious bookkeeping for you. It also lets you earn the variant cards by doing challenges in-game, which is super fun, although you don’t HAVE to to unlock them that way. There are weekly challenge games that pit a certain team against a specific villain and environment, which often act as a cool little puzzle, (and you get to hear my amazing voice!) Shut up, Guise. I very occasionally stream games of SotM on my twitch channel, so if there’s enough interest I can show off more of the game. In general, I recommend the video game even if you already own the board game: it’s really well-done and fun to play.

Creators:

This is kind of a special segment. I normally don’t talk about the creators of these games, because they’re usually irrelevant to the final product. However, artist Adam Rebottaro and writer Christopher Badell are incredibly active in the community around their own game, and they have a podcast where they talk about the lore of the game and answer viewer questions about the characters and universe.

It’s a ton of fun, they’re really engaging and you can feel their creativity and love for comics radiating from their voices whenever they talk. They’re super funny, too.

(And if you want more of ME- ah, what am I saying, of course you do! - you can tune in to this episode right here, where I make a special guest appearance to talk about myself!)

Get OUT, Guise!

Ugh, what a pain. Anyway...

Conclusion:

I know superhero stuff is kind of over-saturated right now, but even if you’re sick of superheroes - give Sentinels a try. It’s a celebration of comics more than superheroes in particular, and despite taking a lot of cues from existing superheroes, everything about Sentinels is fresh and fun. It’s one of my favorite co-op games ever, and its story is so well-told that I genuinely feel like I need to go read the comics, which I remind you don’t exist. Sentinels of the Multiverse is brilliant and just plain FUN.

Seriously, go play it, and make sure to use all my cards!

Didn’t I tell you to get out of my house?

[wo-the-wolf]

The Revenant’s Shield and Sword, Part 3

“When they burned my world. . . I looked up at the stars that night from the ship we lay imprisoned in. Shackled like a beast and gripping the hand of my beloved as we mourned our little one. . . They told us we were at fault for hiding insurgents, yet across our now ashen home laid the propaganda they fed us, the drink we so greedily swallowed. I served time and time again in doing the unthinkable for my people. For every great leader preaches what they do, for every organization preaches that they give justice, for every great person preaches they are moral and wise, yet they all have hands that do their dirty work. It’s easy, to watch as atrocities are committed and say they shouldn’t, yet I responded to them. I saved lives just as I took them, I built homes and tore them apart, I created a family and have sundered others. Throughout it I claimed to my old Gods that I was honor-bound, that I served with conviction and was a tool of justice and hope. Yet when I slept that night behind cell bars with my wife, when I looked out the glass at my stars leaving me . . . I felt cold. An illusion of a man stared back at me, but his eyes were that of a Demon seeing itself for the first time. My eyes watched the fires of the planet continue, and they have not stopped seeing that again every night. They burned my world. . . They burned my home. Now that our enemies are gone . . . I will simply travel.” -Journal entry Dated 2268, August 12th. Taken from Derrick Jormun Ishmael’s personal logs. Regarding the beginning of his transfer to Project Black Monarch.

Investigation status: ...... Pending.

Status of Witnesses: ....... Unknwon

Status of Criminal in question: ..... Deceased 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Emma’s breathing was shallow, her armor breached as multiple bullet holes were showing themselves from her legs to her torso, and even a few on her arms. There she lay against a cave wall, surrounded by near total darkness. Derrick hastily caught his breath as he shifted through their supplies and attempted to patch her wounds. “I suppose,” he coughed before breaking out the medical kit, “That now is a bad time to say I was right?” 

Emma glared and gritted her teeth, “You . . . You shot Kyle you bastard.”

“Yes, yes, I shot Kyle, let’s ignore the fact he shot you and then shot me first. After of course the fact that he brutally killed his Monarch who tried to defend us. Silvia was such a beauty too, oh,” he looked off to the side and clicked his tongue in disappointment, “Such a terrible way to go.”He continued to tend to her wounds, getting the bullets out and stopping the bleeding. After an hour or so of work, she was finally stabilized, but in oh such terrible condition. “There we are, see? Good as new!” She glared at him. “Well.... New in the sense of it was only manhandled by a toddler with a machine gun.”

“You . . . Why do they want you?” She struggled to sit up and gasped for breathe, struggling still as he gave her his canteen. “Why,” she grumbled as she took the water. 

“Because of my dashing good looks and hidden vault of virgins and riches,” he waved his hand about as he spoke sarcastically.

“Answer me,” she growled, “Or I’ll put you in a shallow grave.”

“I stole something from Director Wolf.”

“What could be so important it was worth our lives?!” She growled louder. 

“Calm yourself. . . Speak any louder and they’ll surely find us. . . I stole everything. His plans for the future, his records of every bad deal, the war crimes he had us commit in our own personal lives before this program. I stole everything . . . With this,” he tapped his head. “Project Monarch . . . Surgically implanted AI into our heads. If anything, we are AI’s ourselves now, still ourselves. We were made to be the perfect killing think tank. The morality of man, mixed with the processing power of AI. It has it’s own little personality we were. . . Matched with you could say. We became one being, and were field tested here and anywhere else to slaughter, steal, and now assist our partnered Sentinels in their own wars. Who do you think he tested us on? Every other species. . . Everyone else. He tore our minds apart and forced us to fight. But if you don’t believe me,” he handed her helmet back to her, “See for yourself.”

Emma was distrustful, she spat at his feet before taking his helmet, “You’ve got nothing. . . You can try to prove your point,” he scoffed as she put her helmet back on. What transpired next took her breathe away. The Director and her Sargent, watching the torture of the candidates for Black Monarch. Forcing them to execute prisoners, forcing them to fight each other, forcing them to solve complex puzzles and algorithms or face more torture. Documents, security cam footage, everything was there. “What . . . What is this?” She stuttered as she saw the next file. Project Horsemen. 

“Project Horsemen. . . You Sentinels and us Monarchs would be forced to fight to the death, the last standing of us would further be twisted and made monsters. Monsters shackled in the mind and given no free will. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, his Apocalypse. It’s all there.” Derrick gestured as all was shown in her HUD. “It’s all there. . . If you don’t believe me then so be it. I’ll patch you up and head off on my own. They’ve no reason to think you’ve done anything than be taken my prisoner.” He shrugged. 

“This,” Emma took it all in. The experiments, the footage, the plans and written documents from the Director’s inner circle. Everything pointed towards the most vile of intentions. “This could cripple any diplomacy we have with any other race in the galaxy. The Venra alone would love to use this as an excuse to start yet another war.” She was stricken, utterly baffled at the sheer ferocity of these experiments. “I guess I see why other races fear us . . . We disregard even our own people by claiming it’s for our version of the greater good.” She blinked, still processing everything before something glowed on her HUD. “How did you get into Black Monarch?” She asked as her eyes caught sight of files named after all of the Monarchs and Sentinels. 

“The file says it all, I’m a walking document of how best to be branded a monster in the Terran Republic.” He folded his arms as he leaned back.

“So it’s true?”

“No. . . No,” he closed his eyes, the screams he had always heard softened for but a moment. “A long time ago I was a solider, an infiltrator if you will. I wanted to be an actor, but I got the calling. My people needed me, and I enlisted. Rose up through the ranks and the special units all over. Finally when I had returned for some much needed rest and connect with my beloved wife again . . . The Republic came in private military ships, and scorched my home world. They took the survivors hostage, but not before gunning down my little one.” There was age in his voice. As if a thousand years of pain had settled not hundreds of years past. Now it was only an echo. A memory. His eyes become foggy as his mind filled with the sound of children laughing, the warmth of his beloved near him as he remembered the feeling of holding her. “They took everything . . . I was so lost I simply wandered. Black Monarch gave me a chance to start over. When it was done I searched everywhere, only to discover she died in their torture solely to feed this research. My friends, my family, all but burned so they could make things like you and I, Emma.” He looked up at her. There was no mischief in his eyes. No lying, no tales spooling in his head like fine thread. There was only memory.

“All those people they had us kill during Operations . . . Terrorists . . . Smugglers, arms dealers, drug lords, rebels. . . They were just,” she felt sick to her stomach reading the reports. 

“Director Wolf’s rivals for his own arms dealings. The peace protesters who stood against him . . . Against the war. Everyone that stood in their way has burned by our hands.”

“You . . . You tried to warn us,” she stared down at her hand again. In her eyes there was so much blood. . . So much blood that she felt the weight of it crushing her lungs. She butchered innocents. Their screams were not that of traitors. . . They were people. Her mind became sickened. “What. . . What have I done?” She stuttered. 

Derrick went and sat next to her, reaching up to place a hand on her shoulder, “Hush . . . You’ve done nothing. You followed your path and went the wrong way, no matter how far your walk or run or crawl, it’s never too late to break off and make a new trail.” He gazed outside the cave mouth at the beautiful sky before them on this xeno-world. “My path branches towards killing Director Wolf, and letting my beloved rest easy. . . Then . . . Then I’m not sure.”

“I . . . I want to leave.” She stated as she gripped her head safely tucked in her helmet. “I don’t want to kill anymore . . . Please, help me.”

“Help? Ha,” he chuckled weakly, “No one in their right mind would dare try to stop you if they saw you. You can easily leave this world, steal our old comrade’s ship and go far, far, far away.”

“No, no more killing. . . Director Wolf did terrible things. . . But for now I don’t want to kill him . . . I want you to come with me . . . Help me do good in the galaxy. Help me, and I will help you.”

“Oh? Help me?” He raised his brow tiredly.

“I . . . I mean,” she sighed as she collected her thoughts, “Just . . . No more needless violence, please,” she shook her head in her hands, terrified of what she had done.

Derrick was about to speak, when something flicked in his head. ‘Your days as a killer are finally over?’ asked a sweet and warm voice. The smell of Mint filled the air as he saw the fiery red hair flash in his mind. He promised. He swore, that his days of going out of his way for bloodshed was over. No more gang violence as a teenager, no more executions as a soldier, no more assassinations of innocents as a Special Operations unit, no more needless killing. Only when needed, to protect people. He swore, swore to her when he came home, and swore to her as he held her corpse for three days and three nights. For once, he was unable to speak. Emma looked down towards him, as even sitting she was still much larger. “I,” he paused. The eyes of the Demon looked back at him through her reflective visor. They were eyes of hunger, they begged for more carnage, as it was all he knew. 

“Derrick?” Emma inquired curiously, as she was so use to his quick tongue.

Derrick sighed, “You . . . Reminded me of some words I need to follow. . . Very well. I cannot stop killing, but I can at least only kill when we need to protect ourselves or others. Agreed?”

Emma thought for a minute and nodded, “I guess that’s ok . . . But I don’t want to kill anymore. . . I can’t do it anymore,” she shook her head. 

“Good. . . Now when you hear the sound of gunfire and screaming get up and move down the mountain to that clearing below us.” Derrick smiled as he rose to his feet. 

“What now?” She shook her head and looked slightly up at him. 

“I’m gonna go steal their shuttle and get us the hell out of here.” He grinned. 

“Are you mad?! They’ll kill you!”

“I was an infiltrator remember? Best on the job, I can sneak by anyone and anything, but once I get moving they’ll open fire for sure. So be ready.” He grinned before heading off. 

“H-Hey! Wait!” Emma gripped her side painfully as it was still quite soar. “Damn it,” she grumbled. 

It was several hours, but soon the shuttle did come. They escaped, true to his word none of her squad had perished. Together Derrick and Emma went into hiding all across the galaxy, traveling and using their respective skills to earn a living. Derrick never knew if vengeance would come his way, but he thought that maybe his new promise was misplaced. Perhaps his ghosts were laying at rest, and he was the only one digging them back up. Who knows? Maybe Director Wolf would face justice at the end of a gun barrel. 

But that . . . Is a story for another time.  END --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEY YOU! How’s it going? It was a pleasure to work on this arch of the short stories I’m doing this to pass time during my last year of university. Once again don’t forget, if you have any prompts you want me to work on just send me them, tag me in them, anything at all! I will put them in the que if I like em! All my stories are connected so never fear, old characters will always come back! Until next time, Fly safe fellow Explorer’s of the unknown. On an extra note, your comments, messages, and asks are always appreciated and read, plus almost always answered ^w^ thanks again!

[dunamanticarchivist]

The Munchkin Nein - Condor Widogast Part 2

Welcome back everyone, to tonight’s episode of how to murder hobo, by our resident hobo wizard, Caleb Widogast. We last left off having reviewed his FIREpower and now, onto the greater subtleties of magic that showcase the versatility of the wizard, and how well it can sync up with the rest of the Mighty Nein.

And off we go again, my labels for each spell in square brackets [buff, debuff etc]

Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp (level 2, concentration 1 minute) 

[Crowd control]

Target must make a STR save or suffer 2d6 bludgeoning DMG and is restrained.

A crowd favourite that came in clutch against the gelatinous cube in ep15.

It is the only source of non-magical damage in Caleb’s arsenal, aside from physically fighting. Restrained is a powerful condition, reducing speed to absolute zero regardless of modifiers. It also gives DISAV (disadvantage) to the target’s attack rolls, as well as ADV (advantage) to ALL attack rolls on the target. Finally, the target has DISAD on DEX saves. While Caleb can use an action to force a separate STR save on subsequent turns to deal 2d6 bludgeoning DMG, it’s probably not very efficient. The firebolt cantrip does 2d10, with advantage due to restrained (so roll that nat 20). Burning hands does 3d6 or more, and the target’s DEX save gets DISAD

On the downsides, it only has 30 feet of range, takes an action and requires concentration. The target can use its action to have another go at the STR save, which frees it if passed. However, even if the target breaks free, at the cost of Caleb’s action, that cat’s paw can still try to restrain the target again if they remain within 5 feet of it. Alternatively, it can re-position itself within a 30 foot radius of Caleb. 

Enlarge (level 2, concentration, 1 minute)

[Buff]

Another crowd favourite, especially given the targets Caleb has not very subtly chosen (Caleb is most definitely a Beauyasha shipper). Mechanically, the doubling in size gives ADV on STR checks and saves. If the target is holding weapons, they deal d4 extra DMG.

So, a straight up damage boost, especially helpful for characters with multiple attacks (Beau can go up to 5 attacks, with Sentinel reaction and flurry of blows, Molly and Yasha tie at 3 for 2nd place). And the improvement on the STR checks help with things like grappling or shoving which Beau has shown to be rather fond of (0 STR mod, but proficiency in athletics), and the STR save is good for getting out of said situations. 

Once again, its a spell that needs concentration, reinforcing the need for Caleb to hang back, which he has been doing so far. Of note is that the target and everything it bears multiplies by 8 in weight, which might cause some floors to give way. I recommend watching out for potential environmental hazards.

Reduce (level 2 transmutation, concentration, 1 minute)

[Debuff]

The flip side of the coin with Enlarge, its actually in the same spell entry, which is an advantage since Caleb can prepare both without being 2 spells (which will be increasingly important as Caleb can only prep 10 spells a day + 1 for every new level, but learns at least 2 more every new level aside from copying spells). If used on an unwilling creature, it must make a CON save, or else it gets DISAD on STR checks and saves, and gets a 1d4 DMG penalty to its weapon attacks, though it cannot reduce the DMG below 1.

So pretty much the flipped application of enlarge, making foes vulnerable  and weaker. In this case the reduction in weight might be helpful in setting off less traps, not that anyone seems particularly weighty in the Nein atm.

Haste (level 3, concentration, 30 feet, 1 minute)

[Buff]

Gotta go fast! Double speed, +2 AC, ADV on DEX saves, and an additional option: one weapon attack, dash, disengage, hide, or use an object.

Highly versatile spell for positioning, defense and offence. Double speed benefits characters with high base speed (Beau, Yasha at 40 ft) more so than others. +2 AC and ADV to DEX saves makes the target a slick dodgy fellow in combat, as well as the additional movement options. And finally, the extra attack is a simple boost while the additional interaction is up to roleplay ingenuity. 

Slow (level 3, concentration, 120 feet, 1 minute)

[Debuff]

The sister spell to Haste, but mechanically somewhat different. AoE 40 foot cube, affects up to 6 creatures. The target must make a WIS save or suffer the following effects: half speed, -2 AC, DISAD on DEX saves, cannot take reactions. Only action OR bonus action. Limited to one attack. Also, if casting a spell that costs 1 action, it has a 50% chance of being unable to complete the spell this turn and must use its action the following turn to do so. If unable to, the spell is wasted. 

As we can see, its a pretty nasty debuff to the capacity of the poor targets to achieve much on its turns. Also makes it less dodgy and more sitting ducky. 

Mage Armor (level 1, 1 action, 8 hours)

[Buff]

Rather straight forward AC buff on unarmored targets: 13 + DEX mod.

This gives Caleb AC 14, which is a +3 compare to his default AC 11. Alternatively, it can give Nott AC 17 which is a +1. Or Yasha AC 15, which is also +1. The other characters at the moment will not benefit or are worse off.

Arguably it is a viable buff for Yasha who is more likely to use that AC in melee, but we have definitely seen that the encounters have a tendency to target the fire spitting wizard. Also, that 8 hour duration allows it to be cast before combat is all but certain. 

Shield (reaction, until start of character’s next turn)

[Buff]

A temporary increase to Caleb’s AC by 5. Can come in very clutch as we saw in the Victory Pit. Negates magic missile as mentioned in the previous post. Arguably, mage armor isn’t as necessary with this around, but having AC 19 as a squishy wizard feels delicious. 

Blur (level 2 illusion, concentration, 1 minute)

[Debuff technically]

We actually haven’t seen this, but it’s listed on critrolestats. Gives any attack rolls on Caleb DISAD, unless the attacker doesn’t rely on sight or sees through illusions. 

Another spell for Caleb to evasion tank, but I don’t really foresee Caleb liking to be the center of focus fire, unless for RP reasons, in which case, yep its totally going to be effective. 

Sleep (level 1 enchantment, 1 minute, 90 feet range, 20 feet radius from point)

[Crowd Control]

This entry is missing from critrole stats as of posting, but we definitely saw this in the Victory Pit. Complicated spell, which is why i saved it for nearly the last. 

To begin, roll 5d8 and addtional 2d8 for each spell level above 1. (So 22.5 is the mean, +7 each additional spell level). In the affected 20 foot radius sphere, rank the creatures from lowest HP to highest. Starting from the lowest, if their current HP is less than the rolled number, they fall asleep. Subtract the HP of the affected creature and move to the next lowest HP. If a creature’s HP is greater than the remaining pool of HP rolled, it is unaffected and the spell stops propagating. 

Once again, we’ve seen this spell do some work. Although its mechanics seem to favour putting multiple weaker creatures to sleep to avoid being overwhelmed. Also, Caleb has been mindful that it doesn’t discriminate between friendly and hostiles, which also means he could actually replicate Modern Literature without overt friendly fire. 

Finally I’ll list some non-combat spells for completion, since these do not have direct damage, unikely to have straightforward effects on hostile creatures or are too unwieldy to cast in combat. They do of course open up a whole vista of opportunity for creative roleplay and ingenuity with sufficient planning. 

Dancing Lights

Simple light sources could be crucial in setting ambushes on dark vision incapable foes, sadly, Caleb himself would be one of them. Also, it can be debated if Matt allows the combination of the light to blind foes (most likely Drow?)

Find Familiar

Good old Frumpkin everyone’s favourite therapy animal. Sick of getting kicked. Or eaten by cubes. Or poofed. Also can’t see in the dark. However, can serve as a conduit for touch based spells, extending them by a range of up to 100 feet. Can also interact with objects (as much as a cat is able to). Matt has allowed Frumpkin to make an attack, but that’s really more for roleplay. Has lots of fun potential. 

Unseen servant

Schimdt has proven pretty useful as a scroll case opener. In combat, he acts as an extra interaction with objects, at the cost of a bonus action. So theoretically, he could trigger traps that the Mighty Nein set for their enemies that require remote activation (up to 60 feet)

Friends

Generally used to avoid combat, but one could easily disguise as your enemy and then use the spell, possibly gaining an ally. Idk, once again, imagination is the limit. 

And there my friends, is Caleb Widogast in combat. Pasting my work onto Word, holy crap 3 pages worth of text? Where was this loquaciousness when I was rushing my assignment on the deadline? Thank you all for reading this far if you’ve made it. Short summary and wrapping thoughts below. 

A solid roster of spells, with a lovely amount of variation. Let it never be said that the Mighty Nein cannot work together; this wizard is able to support his newfound friends, lay on the pain to those who would hurt them and prevent that from happening to begin with. To do so to the utmost, they just need to have a bird brain or two *hrroo hrroo sneak attack*

If I had to nitpick, all these spells take up an action (aside from Shield being reaction). So only one, of all the above effects in this part and the previous, will be available for casting each turn. Spells with persistence ameliorate this to a certain extent, but in most such cases, there are opportunities for foes to counter the spell. Which of course, adds to the fun and challenge. If I had to make a recommendation, I would suggest something that makes use of only a bonus action (like Unseen Servant), to expand the capabilities of this dirty wizard. For the sake of demonstration, Melf’s Minute Meteor’s allows you to throw 2x 2d6 fire DMG meteors, subject to DEX saves (which a target has been restrained by Earthen Grasp has disadvantage on). But this is purely an indulgence on my part for theorycrafting possibilities that do not exist. 

I will be looking into the combinations with other characters shy of straight buffs. Because we need good RP reasons to get the characters to use them, cos this is Critical Role. Send me your headcannons on what scenarios could utilize the capabilities of Caleb in conjunction with the others, which I will be writing at length on in the coming days. 

“I was so sure, until I wasn’t” 

                                                  - Caleb Widogast

Also me trying to find good RP reasons for Caleb to act optimally To be fair, Caleb isn’t my character so I wouldn’t know the slightest thing about his internal thoughts, nor should I pretend to, since that’s Liam O’Brien’s job, and he does it so fucking well (except when he almost killed Beau with Caleb by accident in ep 21) But that’s a whole other can of worms that I am so not opening. Yet.

It’s almost Tuesday, FAN ARTISTS AND GIF MAKERS remember to SUBMIT!

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Hi! I want to 1st say that I love this tumblr! Thank you for your hard work. You guys are awesome! Now, having sat in traffic for 4+ hours, braving flood waters and having those same waters claim a piece of my car:( I'm wondering if you all can rec some natural disaster fics?Stiles and Scott are my faves. I'm not partial to any paring but if you've got any Sciles or Sterek fic where Scott and Stiles friendship is awesome I'd appreciate it. Thank you!

I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I hope everything’s better now. - Anastasia

channel five evening news by spiekiel

(1/1 I 6,301 I Teen I Sterek)

It’s a weird camera angle, over Derek’s shoulder from the phone still clutched in Stiles’ hand like a lifeline - just the shell of Derek’s ear and the dark shock of his messy hair, and Stiles’ face hidden mostly by the line of his neck, but both of them are crying, laughing -

Scream by Heather_Night

(1/1 I 7,067 I Teen I No Pairing)

The floor shifted without warning and Scott threw an arm out to the side to catch his balance on the wall and steady himself. Was this an earthquake? They were more prevalent in the southern half of the state but everyone knew about the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

“Um, guys?” Scott called urgently.

The guys in question ignored him.

Stutter and Shake by zosofi

(1/1 I 9,166 I Teen I Scallison)

The likelihood of a major quake of magnitude 7.5 or greater hitting California in the next thirty years is 46 percent.

Jackson’s Surprise by Uthizaar

(6/6 I 11,594 I Explicit I Stackson)

magine if Jackson had never left when he had turned into a werewolf? If he had buckled down and got serious about things; school, friends, pack, Stiles. Because it was Stiles that took him back from the edge, Stiles that refused to give up on him once he had turned into a blue-eyed werewolf. As the years rolled by and Jackson became a strong, dependable member of the pack, it was apparent to everyone but the two of them that they should be together. After a little persuading and a lot of awkward conversation, Stiles and Jackson finally started dating…and other things! Jackson knew that Stiles was worried about the future, about them all splitting up and going to different colleges, different cities. His plans for their final Christmas together was to spend it away, but then a snow storm blew those plans awry…

On Anchors and Rudders by Unloyal_Olio

(3/3 I 15,135 I Mature I Sterek)

Stiles might be a sentinel, but Derek is a werewolf. Derek is not and never will be a guide.

W-e-r-e-w-o-l-f.

There is no way in hell he’ll be a guide. No. Way. In. Hell.

Head Full Of Doubt / Road Full Of Promise by Vague_Shadows

(4/? I 16,829 I Explicit I Sterek)

The Pack survived til graduation, and now they’re figuring out what the hell to do with their lives. Special guest appearances by the Winchesters.

Aftershocked by pyes

(2/2 I 21,560 I Explicit I Sterek)

The first time that Derek kisses Stiles, they’re in the Jeep—which is sideways—while they’re trapped in an overpass collapse.

It’s the second time when things really get scary.

Howls & Arrows by howl-to-the-wind (greenleaf)

(5/? I 27,767 I Teen I Sterek)

Stiles could barely breathe as he read through the contents of the notebook, his eyes scanning the design of a device, a seismic device. Someone wanted to replicate the earthquake that hit Starling City two years ago. Someone wanted to destroy Beacon Hills the same way it leveled the Glades and killed hundreds of lives.

The Pack won’t be able to handle this alone. They needed to call in some help.

Just the Same by ericaismeg

(7/7 I 68,066 I General I Sterek)

Something is seriously up with the captain of the lacrosse team. There’s just no way Derek Hale is human.***“I was wondering if you’re even human. You move so quickly. I mean, it’s ridiculously fast. No human should be able to move that fast, y'know? It’s unfair for us. I mean, it’s obvious you work out, and I don’t, so that could be why, but like…I was just wondering if you were human, that’s all.”

“Stop talking, Stilinski, or I'll—”

“Put me on the bench all season?” Stiles asks knowing full well that Derek Hale can’t threaten him with shit.

When the Storm Blows In by Niecy8

(26/28 I 84,447 I Mature I Sterek)

Derek and Stiles have just moved into a new house together to finally start a life together. They barely get settled when a hurricane threatens to roll into town for the first time in a hundred years. With the storm blowing in so does two men looking for shelter from the storm. What happens when Stiles opens the door to the familiar face - something worse then the hurricane itself and it will change Derek and Stiles lives forever.

Seeds of Paradise by AzulMountain

(20/20 I 99,396 I Mature I Sterek)

Peter Hale brings chaos to the world by initiating an ancient ceremony to create a flower maiden in order to open Paradise. Humans will once again know their place, under the blessed wolves, and Peter will rule them all as King Alpha. One wolf and one flower maiden, a spellbound Stiles Stilinski, are the keys to opening this heavenly gate and Derek Hale will not allow his mate to whither and die before his Paradise is realized.

As if the possible world ending pressure isn’t difficult enough for the McCall pack to manage, a conspiracy to bury the Argents, High Druid Deaton, and Sheriff Stilinski is in the works. A deranged Gerard Argent, multiple natural disasters, a nosy FBI agent, and new little charges keep the pack frantic as they try to assist Stiles and Derek to Paradise, so he won’t become a weeping willow.

The Elements of Chaos by Litcraz

(21/21 I 171,170 I Teen I No Pairing)

Stiles is an Elemental. He has fire at his fingertips, the earth is pliable under his touch, controlling the air comes as easily as the flick of a wrist. But Stiles is more than that - he has a future that neither he nor anyone around him could have imagined. But there are those who can, and they have plans for Stiles all their own.

When Stiles and Scott are lured into the Colorado mountains, they find that a great evil has been waiting for them. Unwittingly releasing the nightmare from its cage, the boys soon find themselves in a race to save not only themselves, but those they love and everyone in Beacon Hills. To make matters worse, Stiles’ powers are starting to slip from his control and take a life of their own. If he is to save not only his friends’ lives, but also their souls, then Stiles must take back control and master the forces of nature. But it won’t come easy.

[sweetcerac]

Team Urban: Why I Love Urban Fantasy!

Hear from the authors of Entangled Teen Publishing why they love Urban Fantasy!

Brenda Drake - Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2):

I’m such a fan of Urban Fantasy for many reasons, but mostly because writers can take our normal world and, either secret or not, add a dash of the fantastical to it. With mystical creatures hiding from humans or living side by side with them, deliciously nefarious things can happen. There’s just something extraordinary about urban fantasy. It’s the ability of the writer to look at something normal in the human world and mix it up. Changing a simple book into something that can transport someone from library to library or hiding a zoo of magical beasts in a common suitcase.

Book Description:

Being a Sentinel isn’t all fairytales and secret gardens. Sure, jumping through books into the world’s most beautiful libraries to protect humans from mystical creatures is awesome. No one knows that better than Gia Kearns, but she could do without the part where people are always trying to kill her. Oh, and the fact that Pop and her had to move away from her friends and life as she knew it.

And if that isn’t enough, her boyfriend, Arik, is acting strangely. Like, maybe she should be calling him “ex,” since he’s so into another girl. But she doesn’t have time to be mad or even jealous, because someone has to save the world from the upcoming apocalypse, and it looks like that’s going to be Gia.

Buy Guardian of Secrets

  Chris Cannon - Fanning the Flames (Going Down in Flames, #4):

There are no maidens that need to be rescued in urban fantasy. More than likely the females are the ones kicking ass.

I love the snarky banter that occurs when you throw modern day characters into strange/magical/supernatural circumstances.

Anything is possible in urban fantasy. There are no rules about what types of paranormal creatures you can have. If you want to create dragons that breathe fire, ice, wind, sonic waves, and lightning, you can, just like I did in Going Down In Flames *cough cough shameless self promotion

Book Description:

She isn't afraid of anything...except losing the knight she loves. Bryn McKenna has it all, including her smoking-hot knight turned live-in boyfriend, Valmont. Even though she’s a hybrid dragon, she’s finally fitting into the new shape-shifting dragon world that’s become her own. But her grandparents want to ruin everything by making Bryn’s nightmare of an arranged marriage to Jaxon Westgate a reality. It doesn’t help that Jaxon’s father is on a witch hunt for Rebel sympathizers and Bryn finds herself in his line of fire.

If she doesn’t say, “I do,” she’ll lose everything. Good-bye flying. Good-bye best friends. Good-bye magic. But if she bends to her grandparents’ will and agrees to marry Jaxon, she’ll lose the love of her life—her knight.

Buy Fanning the Flames

  Shonna Slayton - Spindle:

Urban fantasy reminds me that our own world is magical. We are so used to the way our world works that we take for granted how incredible it is that our heart beats, our brain imagines, that our eyes see color.

As a writer, urban fantasy allows me to open up my imagination on multiple planes. I still work with the real world, but I get to add layers onto that. It’s like going from black and white TV to color. Like Dorothy in dusty old Kansas stepping into the colorful land of Oz.

 Book Description:

In a world where fairies lurk and curses linger, love can bleed like the prick of a finger…

Briar Rose knows her life will never be a fairy tale. She’s raising her siblings on her own, her wages at the spinning mill have been cut, and the boy she thought she had a future with has eyes for someone else. Most days it feels like her best friend, Henry Prince, is the only one in her corner…though with his endless flirty jokes, how can she ever take him seriously?

When a mysterious peddler offers her a “magic” spindle that could make her more money, sneaking it into the mill seems worth the risk. But then one by one, her fellow spinner girls come down with the mysterious sleeping sickness…and Briar’s not immune.

If Briar wants to save the girls—and herself—she’ll have to start believing in fairy tales…and in the power of a prince’s kiss.

Buy Spindle

  Tara Fuller - Inbetween (Kissed by Death, #1):

Book Description:

Death doesn’t fall in love. Usually. Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky—and unending—lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left…his soul.

Buy Inbetween

Danielle Ellison - Salt (Salt, #1):

Whether it's witches, demons, ghosts or other types monsters, there's nothing like escaping the sometimes mundane reality of our world, or giving what we know every day a spice of fantasy.  Filled with kick-ass heroines who aren't afraid to fight for what they believe in (and hot, just-as-fierce love interests) Urban Fantasy inspires you look beyond what you see and be more than you think you can be. Plus, life is more with some magic: more dangerous, more unpredictable, more chaotic, more fun.  

Book Description:

Penelope is a witch, part of a secret society protecting humans from demon attacks. But when she was a child, a demon killed her parents—and stole her magic. Since then, she’s been pretending to be something she’s not, using her sister’s magic to hide her own loss, to prevent being sent away. When she’s finally given the chance to join the elite demon-hunting force, Penelope thinks that will finally change. With her sister’s help, she can squeeze through the tests and get access to the information she needs to find “her” demon. To take back what was stolen. Then she meets Carter. He’s cute, smart, and she can borrow his magic, too. He knows her secret—but he also has one of his own. Suddenly, Penelope’s impossible quest becomes far more complicated. Because Carter’s not telling her everything, and it’s starting to seem like the demons have their own agenda…and they’re far too interested in her.

Buy Salt 

Rachel Harris - My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, #1): 

Book Description:

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits…right into Renaissance Firenze.Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore. Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?

Buy My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century  

Gloria Craw - Atlantis Rising (Atlantis Rising, #1):

I love Urban Fantasy because it infuses normal life with myth and magic. It’s so exciting to have something in common with a character who finds a magic object, special ability or a secret origin. The possible ways her courage and passion might be tested are endless. When she does triumph against fantastic odds, I’m left feeling inspired and reassured that I can overcome great obstacles in my everyday life too. Urban Fantasy reminds me that the ordinary in us can sometimes be…extraordinary. 

Book Description:

We’ve stayed hidden too long… I am different. I have always been different, but no one can know or my life will be in danger. So I hide in plain sight, wearing drab clothes and thick glasses and trying to be invisible. I’m so good at hiding, no one has ever noticed me. Until Ian…the mysterious and oh-so-cute boy I know I need to avoid.

Now I have been seen. And more terrifying still, I am wanted—by those who would protect me and those who would destroy everything and everyone I love. But if they’re all terrified about who I am, wait until they see what I can do…

Buy Atlantis Rising

Stay tuned all week for more from Team Urban and Team Epic!

Make sure not to forget to enter this fantastic giveaway!!

Enter The Giveaway!!

[cornerofthebookstore]

Day 2 of Entangled Teens Urban vs. Epic Fantasy Week Team Urban: Why the authors love Urban Fantasy!

Brenda Drake - Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2):

I’m such a fan of Urban Fantasy for many reasons, but mostly because writers can take our normal world and, either secret or not, add a dash of the fantastical to it. With mystical creatures hiding from humans or living side by side with them, deliciously nefarious things can happen. There’s just something extraordinary about urban fantasy. It’s the ability of the writer to look at something normal in the human world and mix it up. Changing a simple book into something that can transport someone from library to library or hiding a zoo of magical beasts in a common suitcase.

Book Description:

Being a Sentinel isn’t all fairytales and secret gardens. Sure, jumping through books into the world’s most beautiful libraries to protect humans from mystical creatures is awesome. No one knows that better than Gia Kearns, but she could do without the part where people are always trying to kill her. Oh, and the fact that Pop and her had to move away from her friends and life as she knew it.

 And if that isn’t enough, her boyfriend, Arik, is acting strangely. Like, maybe she should be calling him “ex,” since he’s so into another girl. But she doesn’t have time to be mad or even jealous, because someone has to save the world from the upcoming apocalypse, and it looks like that’s going to be Gia.

 Buy Guardian of Secrets

Chris Cannon - Fanning the Flames (Going Down in Flames, #4):

1.     There are no maidens that need to be rescued in urban fantasy. More than likely the females are the ones kicking ass.

2.     I love the snarky banter that occurs when you throw modern day characters into strange/magical/supernatural circumstances.

3.     Anything is possible in urban fantasy. There are no rules about what types of paranormal creatures you can have. If you want to create dragons that breathe fire, ice, wind, sonic waves, and lightning, you can, just like I did in Going Down In Flames *cough cough shameless self-promotion

 Book Description:

She isn't afraid of anything...except losing the knight she loves. Bryn McKenna has it all, including her smoking-hot knight turned live-in boyfriend, Valmont. Even though she’s a hybrid dragon, she’s finally fitting into the new shape-shifting dragon world that’s become her own. But her grandparents want to ruin everything by making Bryn’s nightmare of an arranged marriage to Jaxon Westgate a reality. It doesn’t help that Jaxon’s father is on a witch hunt for Rebel sympathizers and Bryn finds herself in his line of fire.

 If she doesn’t say, “I do,” she’ll lose everything. Good-bye flying. Good-bye best friends. Good-bye magic. But if she bends to her grandparents’ will and agrees to marry Jaxon, she’ll lose the love of her life—her knight.

 Buy Fanning the Flames

Shonna Slayton - Spindle:

Urban fantasy reminds me that our own world is magical. We are so used to the way our world works that we take for granted how incredible it is that our heart beats, our brain imagines, that our eyes see color.

As a writer, urban fantasy allows me to open up my imagination on multiple planes. I still work with the real world, but I get to add layers onto that. It’s like going from black and white TV to color. Like Dorothy in dusty old Kansas stepping into the colorful land of Oz.

 Book Description:

In a world where fairies lurk and curses linger, love can bleed like the prick of a finger…

 Briar Rose knows her life will never be a fairy tale. She’s raising her siblings on her own, her wages at the spinning mill have been cut, and the boy she thought she had a future with has eyes for someone else. Most days it feels like her best friend, Henry Prince, is the only one in her corner…though with his endless flirty jokes, how can she ever take him seriously?

 When a mysterious peddler offers her a “magic” spindle that could make her more money, sneaking it into the mill seems worth the risk. But then one by one, her fellow spinner girls come down with the mysterious sleeping sickness…and Briar’s not immune.

 If Briar wants to save the girls—and herself—she’ll have to start believing in fairy tales…and in the power of a prince’s kiss.

 Buy Spindle

Tara Fuller - Inbetween (Kissed by Death, #1):

Book Description:

Death doesn’t fall in love. Usually. Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky—and unending—lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn’t let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left…his soul.

Buy Inbetween

Danielle Ellison - Salt (Salt, #1):

Whether it's witches, demons, ghosts or other types monsters, there's nothing like escaping the sometimes mundane reality of our world, or giving what we know every day a spice of fantasy.  Filled with kick-ass heroines who aren't afraid to fight for what they believe in (and hot, just-as-fierce love interests) Urban Fantasy inspires you look beyond what you see and be more than you think you can be. Plus, life is more with some magic: more dangerous, more unpredictable, more chaotic, more fun.

 Book Description:

Penelope is a witch, part of a secret society protecting humans from demon attacks. But when she was a child, a demon killed her parents—and stole her magic. Since then, she’s been pretending to be something she’s not, using her sister’s magic to hide her own loss, to prevent being sent away.

 When she’s finally given the chance to join the elite demon-hunting force, Penelope thinks that will finally change. With her sister’s help, she can squeeze through the tests and get access to the information she needs to find “her” demon. To take back what was stolen.

 Then she meets Carter. He’s cute, smart, and she can borrow his magic, too. He knows her secret—but he also has one of his own.

 Suddenly, Penelope’s impossible quest becomes far more complicated. Because Carter’s not telling her everything, and it’s starting to seem like the demons have their own agenda…and they’re far too interested in her.

 Buy Salt

Rachel Harris - My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, #1):

 Book Description:

On the precipice of her sixteenth birthday, the last thing lone wolf Cat Crawford wants is an extravagant gala thrown by her bubbly stepmother and well-meaning father. So even though Cat knows the family’s trip to Florence, Italy, is a peace offering, she embraces the magical city and all it offers. But when her curiosity leads her to an unusual gypsy tent, she exits…right into Renaissance Firenze.

Thrust into the sixteenth century armed with only a backpack full of contraband future items, Cat joins up with her ancestors, the sweet Alessandra and protective Cipriano, and soon falls for the gorgeous aspiring artist Lorenzo. But when the much-older Niccolo starts sniffing around, Cat realizes that an unwanted birthday party is nothing compared to an unwanted suitor full of creeptastic amore. Can she find her way back to modern times before her Italian adventure turns into an Italian forever?

Buy My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century

Gloria Craw - Atlantis Rising (Atlantis Rising, #1):

I love Urban Fantasy because it infuses normal life with myth and magic. It’s so exciting to have something in common with a character who finds a magic object, special ability or a secret origin. The possible ways her courage and passion might be tested are endless. When she does triumph against fantastic odds, I’m left feeling inspired and reassured that I can overcome great obstacles in my everyday life too. Urban Fantasy reminds me that the ordinary in us can sometimes be…extraordinary.

 Book Description:

We’ve stayed hidden too long… I am different. I have always been different, but no one can know or my life will be in danger. So I hide in plain sight, wearing drab clothes and thick glasses and trying to be invisible. I’m so good at hiding, no one has ever noticed me. Until Ian…the mysterious and oh-so-cute boy I know I need to avoid.

 Now I have been seen. And more terrifying still, I am wanted—by those who would protect me and those who would destroy everything and everyone I love. But if they’re all terrified about who I am, wait until they see what I can do…

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I hope you guys enjoyed this insight from the authors who are #TeamUrban! I’m honestly so excited about all these books! It’s going to be so hard to choose a side.