#but my main point here is just the story content that is not available to all paying subscribers

[losergames]

Chop Shop is strictly 18+ for language, themes, and potential explicit content. 

🔗 - Game Intro | Bug Report | Ko-Fi

Episode Three is now available! (+ 86,000) - PLAY HERE

Get your first taste of the underground car scene.

Meet some other players in the game.

Be made an offer.

5 achievements up for grabs!

And more!

AN: thank you so much for the patience - i've been dying to put this update out. lots of new characters and lots of variation!! there are 3 major paths to choose between in this ep, i recommend trying them all out! and thank you to my betas for keeping me sane lmao

This update comes with a patch and UI refresh (Version 1.1.2) Notes are under the cut. If preferred, you can access them in game in the start menu.

STORY

EPISODE 01:

MC should now be able to smoke! Buying cigarettes at the shop was not triggering correctly. If playing with an old save, you DO NOT have to restart as code at the beginning of EP 03 has resolved the error. Player will need to restart if they wish to read smoking related scenes in previous episodes.

Updated MC Name selection. Player can now choose from a list of names instead of having to input one to proceed.

Player can now give Taha their chocolate bar if it's in their inventory.

When asking Maz about their scars, the second choice 'You want to ask about it but you're going to keep your mouth shut.' should now take you to the correct response.

Extended and updated 'End Game' scenes.

EPISODE 02:

If MC is faint after exiting the car, but also drunk, they should now get the fainting scene, followed by Dilani helping the MC in the bathroom.

UI + TECHNICAL

SETTINGS:

Autoname Save is now defaulted to ON. This is to add ease and flow to gameplay, especially for mobile, tablet, and app users, instead of calling for an inputted saved name. If player wants to input save names, toggle Autoname Saves to OFF.

Autoname Save previously only used the forename of the MC but now includes the surname as well.

Removed the Fullscreen toggle as it is only intended for desktop use. Player can still toggle fullscreen function via the UI bar on the desktop interface.

Added a choice indicator toggle. (This probably won't come into effect until EP 04 or 05)

Changed serif font from Vollkron to EB Garamond.

OTHER:

Changing the MC's pronouns via the Dashboard has been updated. Additionally, after confirmation will take player back to the Dashboard and not close the dialog boxes entirely.

Hovering over 'Personality', 'Motives', and 'Skills' titles in the Dashboard will now display an information box with a definition. Mobile and tablet users will need to tap on the title.

'Resume Game' now only appears on the main menu when there is an autosave in the saves log.

Choices styling changes.

General UI and button style changes.

Fixed errors with the text message styling.

Added styling for reading text off of a page in game.

Darkened blue in light theme 'Skyline' to reduce eye strain.

CREATE A SAVE

Introducing Create a Save! This feature allows players to quickly manufacture a save file and start at a later point in the game.

Set your identity, appearance, history, and statistics; including personality, motives, and skills. Continue to set key decisions made in previous episodes.

Randomise options available for creating a PC and key decisions.

OTHER

Fixed gaps and spacing issues.

Minor phrasing and sentence structure changes.

Grammar and typo fixes.

whew -- that's a lot of patch notes! apologies for so much that needed to be fixed.

this update shouldn't break/ mess with saves but as a disclaimer i will say, if you spot anything funky, broken, or you don't think things are triggering correctly, try starting a new save. the new create a save feature is incredibly code heavy, and it's been tested relentlessly, but i wouldn't be surprised if something crops up.

if starting a new save doesn't resolve your issue - please submit to bug report or just send me an ask/message.

some things have been meaning to get fixed for Some Time - thank you to everyone that is using the bug report form!

apologies if there are typos and/or bugs - this was a long one to edit and my lovely betas did an OUTSTANDING job reading so much for ep 3 - thank you so much again!!! this time i am going to give it a bit more time before i put together a patch so i can grab more error responses haha.

create a save has also added a wee chunk to the word count, somewhere around 6k, but i'm not including it in the episode 03 word count as it's purely code. so, if you think the total wc is off, that's why!

if you've read this far, happy reading and thank you so much for the continued support!! :) - becky <3

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

You don't need to worry about the ATSV fandom dying. As someone whose been in the Marvel fandom over ten years - I can assure you this is natural.

The ATSV Fandom Isn't Dead: A brief look into the science of fandoms.

[me standing beside Hobie beaming my thoughts of love and adoration into his head like I'm professor x]

A lot of people are afraid of the ATSV dying - and I don't blame them.

In the era of shows releasing all in one day, or movies coming to streaming almost immediately - it's not hard to say we're in an era were content is consumed at ridiculously rapid rates.

I mean, this time last year Wednesday was breaking records on Netflix. Where's the hype now?

I know you see it too, there's less posts everyday in the Hobie tag, less screenshot breakdowns, etc etc etc.

But I'm here to tell you - The ATSV fandom is doing just fine. Better than fine. All of this is meant to happen.

Let me put it into perspective.

ATSV released on June 2nd - it's November.

ATSV released a little over six months ago.

For reference: The Avengers (2012) was released on May 4th.

The Avengers DVD wasn't available for purchase until SEPTEMBER 25th - almost SIX months later.

The time that the Hobie fandom has formed and existed - is the same amount of time people had to wait just to see The Avengers again.

Large periods of time where tags only get three posts a day TOPS was nothing to fear. xReaders and fanfics held the fandom over until the next trailer, the next sneak peek or leak.

Prior to the release of streaming, only a little more than ten years ago - it was NATURAL for a fandom to wait six months before even seeing the movie for a second time.

And mind you - streaming didn't exist. If you wanted to see The Avengers again, you had to go out and BUY it. $26.99.

If you wanted to order it online - you'd have to get it shipped to you. Before Disney plus, we watched on BlueRay Discs.

And the fandom was fine and healthy.

If a fandom that doesn't even have a DVD release can keep up content for six months, I think we'll be fine.

But I'll admit - there's still the question:

If the ATSV fandom is 'doing fine' then where is everyone going? Why are the tags getting slower?

The answer is simple:

FANDOM BIOLOGY

I LOVE social sciences and the systems people create and how they work - even unintentionally.

And I have a theory - one about the natural evolution and regeneration of fandom. Hear me out -

When it comes to ATSV:

We are leaving the Analysation Phase, the phase in which content creation is centered around deciphering and breaking down the most recent installment in the fandom.

During this phase usually see art of newer characters, new ships, meta breakdowns, easter egg point-outs.

We were in that phase.

Once the Analysation Phase dies down, usually main content creators may remain. The intermediate or liminal period.

The intermediate is usually when you'll see more x-reader art pop-up, the levels of fanart evening out as artists return to their favorite characters - usually incorporating any new ones they gained from the last installment.

Shitposts usually also become popular around this time, as the shock and weight of the story wear off, and we're more able to joke about the storyline a lot more light-heartedly.

That's why the intermediate point is often see as the passion 'dying out'.

When in fact, it is the fandom getting comfortable. Resting for the next phase.

And after a few months, the next phase comes:

The Speculation Phase:

The Speculation Phase cannot come until the Analysation Phase is over.

During the Analysation Phase the fandom begins to breakdown and digest the writers intentions. They integrate the new character into the story, and the fandom.

As the audience and fandom talk amongst each other, we get more solid ideas of who the characters are, what their motivations might be, and most important of all-

What they might do.

In the Speculation Phase we turn from the last installment - and start looking towards the future.

Let's take Hobie for example.

Looking at the timeline of the Hobie fandom, we can see a progression.

Originally taken as a punk-rockstar and little more, throughout the months the fandom began posting things about punk culture, the 70's, Hobie's motivation in the comics, and how that all correlates to him.

As the fandom analyzed, the collective zeitgeist and understanding of Hobie grew into something a lot more sound, and telling.

We looked at the parellels he provides in the story, and what kind of person he is.

And because if that we have seen a marked improvement in people's contextual understanding of Hobie - as a punk and a hero.

And now that we can understand him - we can predict him.

The same goes for Miguel - over the months, a lot of us have began to question if we know him as well as we think we do , if we really know the kinda person he is -

And if we really know what he's doing to do.

That's where the Speculation Phase comes in.

The Speculation Phase in fandom is when we see some of the most passion - and instead of tapering off overtime, it builds. More and more until the next release.

The Speculation Phase is when the fandom takes the analysis' and from there, they begin to theorize.

Now that we understand, we can begin to predict.

And this is arguably one of the most interesting parts in a fandoms natural ecosystem.

During the Speculation Phase, we can see a number of diverse opinions appear.

As more and more creators begin to gather their understanding, tips from the writers, new released news, and past comic book arcs, we start to see dozens of triguing paths the writers can take us on.

As more news releases, the more hype people get. I mean - imagine how you'll feel when they release the first new poster of Hobie, or Miles? Or when we get to see Miles.G in the trailer?

And with each new poster, or trailer, we're given clues. The theorizes develop more. And the plot thickens.

It's all natural.

So I can understand the fear. Only getting one or two new posts when you visit the Hobie tag can be a bummer. But it's natural and it's GOOD.

Y'all, we need to conserve our energy. We are in the liminal phase. And they never last long.

With the news of the voice actors back in the studio, and a cliff-hanger like we have - I can assure you, it's only a matter of time before we begin to see the theories, the trailer breakdowns, the people guessing what Miguel might do, or exactly how much tech Hobie is hiding.

And when that time comes we need to be READY. I can already feel it on the horizon.

I really wonder what they'll do with all that left over Hobie concept art.

Plus with explosion of Hobie approval, I wonder if they'll add him in even more. Hobie fan-service anyone?

Hmmm...

But chill y'all, we're on the right track -

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

If you read this far, as always THANK YOU SO MUCH!! And as a token of my appreciation, I hand you this Hobie. Hold him gently please

Bye 💗

[kitchenlittle]

I want to make a little PSA and warning about future content being posted to my page very soon. I will not stand for the slander of writers who choose to write about Miles Morales due to popularity of the movies. Let me make something clear since it seems there are many fake Marvel Fans out there who know nothing about the universes. THERE ARE UNIVERSES WHERE MILES IS ALREADY AN ADULT.

Earth-8 comes to mind where Miles is LITTERALY a full grown MAN MARRIED TO GWEN STACY and they have 2 CHILDREN TOGETHER. Their names are Charlotte and Max Morales. LOOK IT UP IF YOU DONT BELIEVE.

Every universe has a differing age/look from the Miles Morales we see in the movies and know why? BECAUSE THERE IS DARN NEAR THOUSAND IF NOT INFINITE universes of Miles. SO YES. There is a universe with events just like the movie with slight differences and Miles over the age of 18. So litteraly any story about about Miles would litteraly be cannon in someway!

Just like how we can have a Adult Peter Parkers like in the movie exist at the same time as underage Peter Parkers like Tom Holland's. Or should I say," -Dr. Strange and the little nerd on Earth 199999 (AKA Tom Holland)"~Miguel O'hara. And if you were paying attention to the movies you'd know that Miles cannonly exist in live-action human form. Uncle Aaron played by musician and actor childish gamebino mentions he has a nephew who wants to protect to Spiderman. You see that same prowler Childish Gambino Uncle Aaron captured in the new movie. He was captured by Hobie Brown and locked uo as anamoly needing to be sent back to his universe. Meaning that Adult Miles can exist at the same time as kid Miles!

NOT ONLY THAT. But here is some hyprocracy I have found. THE ANIME FANDOM. The most popular characters in the anime are 15- 16. FROM Deku and Bakugou FROM MY HERO, to Luffy FROM ONEPEICE, to Sukuna/Yuji from JUJITSU KAISEN and many many more. Most main characters are highschool age. HOW IS IT? That they can age up charecter that alot of times we will never see 18 or older and write a fanfic sometimes while the charecter in the story is still 15-16 and get a away with it. But Miles Morales authors go out their way to age him up before they even write it and litteraly aren't wrong since their are universe where he is older, are weirdos and pe***. I don't see some anime writers doing that? Make it make sense?

I PERSONALLY DONT EVEN WRITE FOR FOR CHARECTERS THAT DONT HAVE A CANON ADULT VERSION OF THEM AVAILABLE FROM THE OG CREATORS IN MEDIA. Guess who fits the criteria? MILES MORALES.

A message for my unsure authors out there.

~So for all my writers not their scared to post their fics. Label it Earth-8 Miles who is a father and husband to Gwen and say it's a headcannon of what ps happend he's 18-25 before he got married if you feel that weird about it.

Some of ya'll are fake fans who completely missed the point of the movie and it's implications. Don't come in my DMs telling me to take anything down because I'm not. You will be blocked and locked out of interacting with my page. And if you feel uncomfortable block me. Just know if you block you will be missing out of 50+ fics I've been working on 18+ characters for about a year now and will be posting starting in July. It's littersly an event I've been working on called the 'Lemon Fest', since it's my birthday month.

Once again every charcter I write about had a cannon adult version of them made by the creators or is already an adult. I was going to keep this a secret by I've gotta protect my fellow authors especially if they are being wrongly targeted. Wanna get mad? Wanna get angry at some authors? Get mad at the ones the ones that write about you favorite anime charecters that are likely 15-16 then ask them to delete it...oh wait...you won't.. because if done that would litteraly be deleting 3/4 of the fanfiction written on this site.

[jewishcissiekj]

Since Asajj Ventress appeared in recent media and is set to appear in future shows and Star Wars content, I've seen a lot of people starting to read Dark Disciple. but besides that book, there are so many stories featuring Asajj over her 22 years of existence. So if you are looking for some recommendations and entry points to Asajj outside of the TV shows, here are some recommendations to get to know her a bit better, in both the Canon and Legends timelines:

(for anyone looking for a definitive list of everything she's ever been in, I also have that)

for anyone looking for just the list of recommendations without all my babbling, scroll down to the bottom, it'll be there.

Canon

Dooku: Jedi Lost Audiodrama - Script by Cavan Scott, preformed by full cast (also available in Script format) Starting off, this masterpiece. Telling the dual story of Asajj and Dooku, Jedi Lost is genuinely some of the best Star Wars content out there, in my opinion. Taking place early in The Clone Wars, it tells Asajj's journey battling her ghosts and uncovering her Master's history. It requires only the context of the prequels and The Clone Wars, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who likes the Prequels, Dooku, or Asajj.

Brotherhood - by Mike Chen Continuing with the book that serves as an introduction to Asajj in canon (chronologically), Brotherhood presents an interesting take on her first meetings with Anakin and Obi-Wan. She's far from the main character here, only supporting the book's plot as the villain and the initiator behind some of the troubles Obi-Wan faces on Cato Neimodia. This Asajj is more calculated, working behind the scenes while still facing off face to face against Obi-Wan and Anakin, and it uniquely handles her character. The book is a Clone Wars adventure taking place before and it requires only the movies' and TCW's context, once again. *While technically taking place after Hyperspace Stories #5, it contradicts that issue's events and makes more sense if it takes place before, so I listed it first (for more info on the contradictions you can go here)*

Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #5 - Written by Amanda Deibert, with art by Riccardo Faccini (Variant cover by Cary Nord) Taking place shortly after Anakin's knighting, before The Clone Wars show, this is a short and interesting comic story for Asajj. While tying into an over-arching plot of the series, this issue stands alone well. Simply put, Asajj is sent to retrieve a mysterious item by Count Dooku and encounters Anakin and Obi-Wan in the process. It has fun art, fun dynamics, and it's really good.

Worthless - a short story from Stories of Jedi and Sith - written by Delilah S. Dawson with an illustration by Jake Bartok This one is not as set on the timeline, but we do know it takes place while Asajj is still working for Dooku. In short, without too many spoilers, Asajj falls into a pit and has to trust on a Clone Trooper's help to get out. The story is a part of an anthology, but it completely stand-alone on its own. If you can read it on its own, I recommend it, but the rest of the book is also very much worth it if you want to buy it for the story. Dawson captures a version of Asajj that rarely gets attention, before the Nightsisters, and manages to show her identity and tell a wonderful story without that tool that's often overly used (in my opinion).

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #3 - Written by Cavan Scott with art by Francesco Francavilla & Nick Brokenshire Jumping forward in the Timeline, we have another Asajj story by Cavan Scott! It has Bounty Hunting, A baby Sarlacc, pretty art, fun coloring, and Asajj. So what's not to love? Like Hyperspace Stories, Return to Vader's Castle also has an over-arching plot, but that's 4 framing pages of Vaneé being a bitch and has no effect on the rest of it. Solid stuff. (it is also the source of the first picture in this post)

Sisters - a short comic story from the Age of Republic Special - written by Jody Houser with art by Carlos Gómez Next, we have a wonderful short story taking place just before The Clone Wars episode "To Catch a Jedi". In just a few pages, Jody Houser brings conflict and personality to Asajj's time on Coruscant. And there's gorgeous art.

Legends

While Legends, and especially the comics, have some of my favorite stories with Asajj, it's hard to recommend individual issues. They can be stand-alone but still connected and ingrained in the ongoing story of the comics. But I tried to hand-pick the best for introduction and knowledge of who Asajj is a character there. So I won't recommend the 12 issues she's in, I set myself the limit of sticking with the same number of recommendations I had for canon.

Star Wars: Republic: The New Face of War - 2-issue Comic arc - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello Although I'm assuming you all have at least a passing familiarity with Asajj's character, introductions are still important. And, yes, Asajj first appeared in a different comic and after a month or so in Clone Wars (2003), but chronologically, in-universe, this is her first appearance. The Face of War is comprised of issues #51 and #52 of the Star Wars: Republic comic series, and although Asajj is only in the last page of #51, it's necessary context. This one isn't a must for me, but it sets the ground for her. And it's good. Giorello's art brings a unique perspective to Asajj's character, and by that I mean it may not be to some people's taste. So take your pick with this one.

Star Wars: Republic #53 - written by W. Haden Blackman, with art by Brian Ching If the last one isn't a must, this one is. It is a stand-alone adventure, almost feeling like a (better) TCW episode. Obi-Wan is off to infiltrate a Techno Union base with a team of all-star legendary Jedi that are introduced, and everything goes wrong when they run into the Confederacy's best, Durge and Asajj Ventress. I say it's a must because it establishes the nature of the rivalry between Obi-Wan and Asajj, and gives us such a sense of who those people are. It also lays the foundations to my next comic recommendation.

Dark Heart - short story by August and Cynthia Hahn This one, a 1784-word story, originally published on Wizards.com as a part of The Living Force roleplaying campaign, is definitely not a must, but it's barely 2k words, just read it. In all seriousness though, it captures Asajj's essence and I just. love it. You can read it right now, that's the link in the name, it's up online for free legally. While it is a part of the RPG campaign, I read it individually and had no trouble at all.

The Cestus Deception - by Steven Barnes (The Japanese cover is prettier and has Asajj, ok?) Obi-Wan Kenobi and Kit Fisto head to the planet Ord Cestus to try and convince Ord Cestus's government to ally with The Republic. But under the surface, a mysterious scheme had developed and it gets messy. Never ask me to write a publisher's summary. Asajj is the villain of this one, and I don't have much to say about it, but it is good. Fair warning: it hasn't aged the best in my opinion, and not even in a politically correct sense, some of the descriptions and relationships were questionable at best. If you like Kit Fisto and political adventuring and Clone Wars fights and a mascarade ball, if I remember correctly, this one's for you. It's not much of a story for Asajj but it is a fun read.

Star Wars: Republic #60 - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello I have never ever not once said it but this right here is my favorite Asajj story of all time ever. It does require context, though, so here's it: after the battle of Jabiim, Alpha-17 (Legends Arc Trooper, you may have heard of him) and Obi-Wan (a staple in Asajj's stories, he needs to gtfo women's business) are blown up and declared dead. Turns out Asajj Ventress has been holding them in her castle on the planet Rattatak and this is the daring story of their escape. In this issue, Asajj's origin story is revealed, before the Nightsisters had anything to do with her. More than any other Legends issue, it differentiates greatly from anything you know about Asajj in TCW/Canon. She's a warlord, with armies at her beck and call, a military commander, And it's fun. Her origin story is told in this issue, and it's such a great story that shifted my understanding of her a lot. The art, once again, is by Giorello, keep it in mind.

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous - by Sean Stewart (Japanese cover, once again) Last but certainly not least, the Legends Clone Wars book I've heard the most positive reviews of, and was not disappointed in the slightest. It is as good as they say. The story doesn't focus on Asajj, and she isn't even the main antagonist, but she gets a meaningful role in it and has her place and her arc in the story. It's also my favorite approach to how Asajj would act when she has to deal with children. Worth the hype and an excellent book to read unrelated to Asajj.

Alright, that's all! I hope you check out at least one of these, they're all great. As said before, I also have a complete list of everything Asajj in chronological order. Feel free to ask me anything about the list and the things in it. I can also give a complete comic reading list for her, since it's a bit more than just the issues she appeared in. For anyone struggling with the accessibility of these recommendations, I have a hopefully comprehensive guide in the complete appearances post. And now just this list because I promised that:

Canon 1) Dooku: Jedi Lost Audiodrama - Script by Cavan Scott, preformed by full cast (also available in Script format) 2) Brotherhood - by Mike Chen 3) Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories #5 - Written by Amanda Deibert, with art by Riccardo Faccini (Variant cover by Cary Nord) 4) Worthless - a short story from Stories of Jedi and Sith - written by Delilah S. Dawson with an illustration by Jake Bartok 5) Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader's Castle #3 - Written by Cavan Scott with art by Francesco Francavilla & Nick Brokenshire 6) Sisters - a short comic story from the Age of Republic Special - written by Jody Houser with art by Carlos Gómez

Legends 1) Star Wars: Republic: The New Face of War - 2-issue Comic arc (Star Wars: Republic #51-52) - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello 2) Star Wars: Republic #53 - written by W. Haden Blackman, with art by Brian Ching 3) Dark Heart - short story by August and Cynthia Hahn 4) The Cestus Deception - by Steven Barnes 5) Star Wars: Republic #60 - written by W. Haden Blackman with art by Tomás Giorello 6) Yoda: Dark Rendezvous - by Sean Stewart

tag list: @thechaoticfanartist @charmwasjess @metalatl @redsandspirit @slutshartsstuff @housepartyfortwo @karma-malfoy @thelivingforce

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

Mel Medarda Is Alive probable evidence megapost (cope with me)

League of Legends UK calling the gold on Mel's back "armor" and then withdrawing the post, first pointed out by @moonsdancer:

This marks an "official" source calling Mel's gold "armor." It implies that once whoever made that post realized that most of the Arcane audience is expecting Mel to be dead, they recognized that hinting that she's wearing armor is actually a spoiler. So, they deleted the post.

Mel featuring in storyboards depicting a scene that did not happen in season 1, shown by @jshepardtsoni and @mollysunder and @miraofhearts2point0:

The Riot-Fortiche workflow has been described as: extensive time and resources spent on writing up front on Riot's side, and then the scripts are sent to Fortiche and storyboarding begins. If writing and storyboarding don't happen in parallel, then that's how Fortiche was able to showcase the one-to-one relationship between storyboards and the finished animated product. There's a lot less throwaway work for the animators, which would happen with major story rewrites.

This means it is less likely that the storyboards featuring Mel in a scene that did not air in season 1 were simply cut content from season 1, and more likely that it's a canon scene that we'll see in season 2. I think relatively little ends up on Fortiche's cutting room floor. The main scene that I'm aware of that did get cut was the "boy savior" scene where young Ekko tries to save Jinx (and I have high hopes that the scene will still be used in S2).

Toks Olagundoye, Mel's VA, saying she's "not allowed to say" whether she's returning to voice Mel in S2, and saying that it would be cool to come back for flashbacks:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Toks Olagundoye (@toksolagundoye)

If she's not allowed to say anything and Riot is taking pains to hide whether Mel or Jayce or Viktor (sorta, lol) survive the attack, then of course she can't hint that she is returning. Her comment about the flashbacks definitely says to me that she was told to hide whether Mel survived the attack - she probably was not instructed to hide whether Mel gets more flashbacks in S2. She's almost certainly implying that Mel does in fact feature in more flashbacks in S2. A fan asked the question, and she wanted to give a substantial and encouraging answer other than just "I can't say anything." Her tone did not personally leave me with the feeling that her character has been killed off.

Toks saying she doesn't know much about Arcane S2 and its airdate etc. doesn't mean anything serious, considering that voice acting for the season seems to have been completed a while ago. Like most actors and especially voice actors, Toks has probably already taken on several jobs since then, so her work on Arcane isn't the project that's freshest in her mind.

The German (and Hungarian, I think) S2 trailers have Ambessa say "Half of the Council is dead" and not "Your Council is dead":

I noticed people in the comments of this trailer analysis video by Necrit talking about how the German trailer says "Half of the Council is dead." After watching the German trailer, and then poking around the other dubbed trailers, I found that the German trailer and the Hungarian trailer both seem to say "half." (I would love it if someone here fluent in Hungarian could confirm!)

From a translation standpoint, I could see this happening because some languages don't have different words for "council" and "counsel" as in "advice." Even in English, the words are homophones. So saying "your counsel is dead" would make no sense. If a translator tried to instead say "your ENTIRE council is dead" to make the meaning clearer, then if some Council members survived, the translator would have to be corrected, so we end up with "HALF of the Council is dead."

If some Council members survived, then I think it's likely that Mel is one of them, considering her armor and her several unfinished plot threads.

Please feel free to add on to this post with anything else you find!

[clericofshadows]

hope you don't mind this ask. but what are your favorite pc mods to use for the Mass Effect games?

oh man, there's so many... all my mods for sure ;)

and here's a link to the Mass Effect Modding discord!

but in all seriousness, here's a list. this isn't an install order nor does it list all requirements for mods, but it does have all the mods I can't live without or have used before and enjoy. read mod descriptions closely, watch for compatibility sections, and you'll be fine. I won't really mention cosmetics beyond listing some devs (including myself, to be transparent) who focus on that kind of thing, because this list will get even longer and cosmetics tend to be more on a case-by-case basis. I also won't list texture mods because I don't use them.

this is also not exhaustive and I will definitely forget some lol. browse nexus, there's definitely lots of things I probably looked over/missed.

also, do not use synth's guide, period. it's now unsupported and I'm tired of troubleshooting it on the main modding server.

LE1

LE1 Community Patch - Necessary for any playthrough.

Same-Gender Romances for LE1 - Makes Kaidan and Ashley available for same gendered Sheps, also functions as an optional flirting mod of sorts.

MELLO - Restores dynamic lighting for LE, makes the game closer to how it looks to OT.

Alliance Uniform Consistency - If you're like me and prefer ME3's Alliance uniform style, this mod backports them to LE1.

Skip Minigames (LE1) - Self explanatory.

Charted Worlds (LE1) - Marks more items of interest on UNC maps

Black Market License (LE1) - Gives more vanilla loot from "hidden" manufacturers, so weapons and an armor set that was previously inaccessible without console commands.

Private Message Terminal (LE1) - Adds a message terminal to the Normandy.

A Little Help From My Friends (LE1) - Requires Private message terminals, adds emails and collection assignment support from different characters.

Eclectic Emails (LE1) - Requires private message terminals, adds various emails to LE1 to flesh out the story and characters.

Galaxy Map Trackers (LE1) - Tracks discovered and undiscovered missions on the galaxy map

Pinnacle Station DLC - Brings the Pinnacle Station DLC back to LE.

Kaidan Alenko Overhaul (LE1) - Gives Kaidan a higher poly face and new hair

Casual Hubs for LE1 - Shepard and squadmates will wear casual outfits in some situations

LE1 Diversification Project - Overhauls ME1 with lots of asset diversity, cut content, and mission changes. Read the Article page for more details! (This mod has some hard requirements, read the description)

Advanced Weapon Models for LE1 - Backports ME3 weapon models to LE1.

Normandy Rapid Transit (LE1) - Adds the Normandy to the rapid transit fast travel points.

Mira Puzzle Be Gone - Tired of the Towers puzzle in Noveria? Me too.

Children of Rannoch - A Quarian Overhaul (LE1) - My personal favorite "visible Tali/visible quarian" face mod

Elements of Comparative Weaponry (LE1) - Gives better description information on weapons

No Skill Check Required for Loot (LE1) _ Take whoever you want without worrying about skillchecks.

No Armor Skill Required - Equip armor without worrying about skills

XP Rescale (LE1) - Increases XP rewards

ME3 Alliance Armor for LE1 - Backports the ME3 marine armor for marines to wear in LE1

Mako Squadmate Banter - Adds the elevator banter to the Mako (Please note this mod has a hard requirement)

Mako Infinite Boost - Self explanatory

No Sexual Harassment (LE1 and LE2) - Removes a variety of things, such as sexist dialogue and the weird Sha'ira touching. I personally just remove the Sha'ira stuff.

Virmire Savior Mod (LE1) - Lets you save both Kaidan and Ashley on Virmire (note, do disable Kaidan Alenko Overhaul if using this mod)

Hot Labs Restored (LE1) - Massive cut content restoration for Noveria

Caleston Restored (LE1 - ALPHA) - Restores the cut planet Caleston that used to be the place for Liara's recruitment mission.

Punch Charles Saracino - Why punch a reporter when you can punch Terra firma?

New Outfit for Matriarch Benezia - GIves Benezia some more practical outfits for her appearance.

LE2

Unofficial LE2 Patch - Necessary

LE2 Prologue Framework - Necessary for many mods

Early Recruitment (LE2) - Early recruitment of Tali, Samara, Thane, Legion, and access to Illium and Tuchanka pre -Horizon

EGM Weapons in Cutscenes (LE2) - Weapons you hold will properly appear in cutscenes.

Trigger Buttons (LE2) - Trigger story mission with a button press rather than forced into them

Cerberus and Alliance Uniform Consistency (LE2) - If you're like me and prefer the ME3 fatigues/uniforms

Anderson and Hackett Consistency Mod (ME2LE) - Anderson and Hackett wear their ME3 dress blues.

Risky Suicide Mission (LE2) - Makes the suicide mission in LE2 feel more like a suicide mission. Best used for a brand new playthrough

Cerberus Weapons (LE2) -Gives the game more Cerberus weapons, backported from 3

Modern Weapon Pack - Backports weapons from 3

Casual Hubs for LE2 - Shepard and squadmates will wear casuals on and off the normandy in some scenarios

Expanded Shepard Armory (ME2LE) - Large armor and casual mod, also allows you to select armor right before a mission

Virmire Savior Mod (LE2) - Continuation of Virmire Savior 1, allows one Virmire Survivor to confront you on Horizon while the other is a temp squadmate

One Probe All Resources - Use one probe to gather everything

No N7 Armor in Liaras Apartment - Removes the creepy armor in Liara's apartment.

F.I.S.H. Mod (LE2) - Kelly will feed your fish without flirting with her

Renegade Scars for All - LE2 - LE3 - If you're like me and love renegade scars and want them on always

Nos Astra Mineral Exchange - Adds a trading market to LE2 for resources and currency.

Same-Gender Romances for LE2 - Continues the same sex Kaidan and Ash romances from 1, adds Tali and Thane for same gender sheps. LE3 mod isn't out yet.

Oriana looks like Miranda's Twin (ME2LE) - Oriana's face is changed to Miranda's

Easy Armor Stats (LE2) - Armor stats are moved above descriptions

Skip Minigames for LE2 - As the title says

Bonus Bonus Powers For LE2 - Freely add or remove powers from Shep's loadout

Combat Evade Maneuvers - Adds a biotic dash for roll evade

Recovered Powers - Gives Shep 4 new powers

HD Romance Photos - Adds a larger photo for ME1 romances

Optional Flirting Mod (LE2) - Makes flirting options more clear and some actions optional via interrupts

Zaeed's Wholesome Revenge (LE2) - Save the workers AND kill Vido on Zaeed's loyalty mission if completed fast enough

Geth Pulse Rifle on Lower Difficulties - Don't want to play harder difficulties but want this gun? This mod is for you

Full Weapon Recovery - Recover all special weapons on the Collector ship

Skip Mass Effect 2 Prologue - Skips straight to character creator when starting a new game

Truly Unrestricted Weapons LE2 - Shepard and squad can equip all weapon types

Children of Rannoch - A Quarian Overhaul (LE2) - The LE2 version of the LE1 mod. Also has an optional addon for even more armors.

Extended Romance Scenes - Ports LE3 romance scenes for LE2 romances

No Shared Power Cooldowns - Removes the shared power cooldowns.

Kaidan and Ashley LE3 Armors for Horizon (MELE2) - As the name says, gives Kaidan and Ashley their ME3 armors in Horizon. Softly incompatible with Virmire Savior (the squadmate who is in your squad won't have the updated appearance)

More Gay Romances - Jack and MIranda can be romanced by Femshep

New Squadmate Casuals (LE2) - Casual outfits for various squadmates. (Note that a lot of the Squadmate armor mods have their own casuals, so choose options accordingly if you want a specific one to show up, as this mod will override most)

Platonic Post Horizon Emails - Get a new email from Kaidan/Ashley if not romanced post Horizon.

LE3

LE3 Community Patch - Necessary

Expanded Galaxy Mod (LE) - A massive overhaul of the galactic war system, Normandy, additional squadmates on some missions, and many QOL features that can be modified via settings.

Miranda Mod (LE) - Puts Miranda on the Normandy post Horizon and can bring her on missions. (Note: Some conversations do use AI voice cloning)

N7 - A Spectre's Gift - A new mission added to the game with some Andromeda references

Spectre Expansion Mod - I don't currently use it, but in the past I have. Requires EGM's Galactic War option, and provides a lot of new choices and mini missions and text based opportunities to influence war assets. Also has a small non-combat mission.

Skip Geth Consensus - As the title says.

Project Variety (LE3) - My personal preferred content overhaul for ME3, includes countless options, restore cut content, new areas to explore. Definitely a mod page to read very closely, it is a HEAVY mod.*

Virmire Savior Mod (LE3) - Continuation of Virmire Savior from previous games. One VS is chosen on Mars to be part of the story, and the other joins you post coup

Audemus' Happy Ending Mod - THE Happy end mod for ME

Kaidan Alenko's Hospital Stay - Gives Kaidan a shirt to wear while in the hospital + a new face texture.

Ashley Williams' Hospital Stay - Gives Ashley a shirt to wear while in the hospital + a new face texture.

Omega Hub - Beta - Adds Omega as a hub

Take Earth Back - Massively overhauls Priority: Earth

No Shared Power Cooldowns - Removes the shared power cooldowns

Dreams Remade - Overhauls the dream cutscenes

Kaidan Alenko Overhaul (LE3) - Gives Kaidan a higher res face and new hair, plus new armors and outfits (Also available for 2, but isn't compatible with the Prologue Framework currently.)

Padme's Cabin Additions and Memorials (LE3) - Adds some new decoration to the cabin

Apartment Additions (LE3) - Allows you to invite your LI to the Citadel Apartment

Thane Can Live (LE3) - Thane can live post coup

Optional Flirting Mod (LE3) - I don't currently use it since it's incompatible with Virmire Savior, but makes flirting options clearer

Citadel Epilogue Mod (LE3) - Play the Citadel DLC post-ending

Pinnacle Station Apartment (LE3) - Ports the Pinnacle Station apartment to LE3 and you can invite your LI.

Shut Up Leng - Removes Kai Leng as much as possible from ME3

BETA Bonus Bonus Powers for LE3 - Customize Shepard's and squadmate power loadouts

Ashley Consistency Project (MELE3) - Ports Ashley's LE1 hair and head to ME3, adds new armors and a zipped up version of her outfit.

More Gay Romances - Jack and Miranda can be romanced by Femshep

*Note that PV has a lot of mods built into it, so there's lots of mods I've likely left out because I use PV.

Cosmetics authors for various games. This includes outfits/hair for Shepard. SEARCH THE APPAREL CATEGORY ON LE NEXUS FOR BEST RESULTS. This list also isn't exhaustive, but I tried to include authors who I've used their outfit/armor/hair mods, and made notes if they also have stuff in the squadmate armor category.

If you want Squadmate Armor mods, both the APPAREL and CHARACTER category will give you results.

clericofshadows: I primarily do male shepard casuals and armors, with a handful of exceptions for femshep (Guardian Armors for Shepard, my port of the Destiny 2 x ME collab), as well as squadmate armors

MorningAngel: Both male and female shepard, does causals and hair, and I mean lots of casuals and hair. Squadmate armors as well

Munchyfly: Squadmate armors and various casual/armors for shepard

Bejeweledhanban - Squadmate armors

spiderbabes: Hair and clothing for femshep

Rngdshep: Primarily armor, casuals for femshep, some mshep mixed in the femshep mods

Beckaboo: Some causals, some armors, and squadmate armors.

zebbros: Male and femshep casuals, some squadmate armors

MentalHygiene: male and femshep casuals

Padme4000: Male and femshep casuals and armors, some hair

Poucinette: Hair mods

Horography: Casuals for both male and femshep

Marcus22Khaar: Some hair, some squadmate armor mods

mithran56 and nanuke: both authors have some armors and casuals, some squadmate armors (often collaborate on each other's projects)

Kinkojiro: Armors for both male and femshep

Mistyvail: Armors for both male and femshep

Dsetzu: Armors for both male and femshep

jasonntodd: Armors and casuals for femshep, and some for squadmates

I think that covers most things? There's a lot I most definitely left out, so browse Nexus!

[wings-of-ink]

Hi again! Now I'm done with replaying old content and with reading the new chapter!

And damn, I loved it so much!

I have to say, Duri is probably my biggest surprise here. With the character intros, I expected them to be my least favorite RO, but somehow, they "feel" quite different from what I imagined, and I ended up really adoring them! If I wasn't so in love with Oswin, I would certainly have picked them!

Also, "You just bonked a demigod on the nose and lived to tell the tale." has to be one of my favorite lines in an IF ever!

But you know what has me frustrated (not saying that in a bad way)? The fact because of everything that happened, Oswin STILL didn't tell MC what he wanted to tell them nor did he give them that famous gift! I neeeed to know so badly!

On that matter, I've been thinking a lot about what could have caused Oswin to distance himself from the MC the way he did, and so far, I have two main theories - though both may be wrong. I will share but obviously I'm not expecting you to comment on them as that would be spoilery! - First one would be that after the MC started being sick, he felt more and more helpless about that, and his frustration about not being able to help MC ended up translating as him being frustrated WITH MC. As a kid it's possible he didn't think as much on this, but the more he grew up, the more not being able to do anything could have bothered him. And then acting badly with MC could have led him to feel guilty and keep his distances even more. The thing that makes me hesitant about this one though is the fact Lakota already feels that sort of frustration too, and as a healer it makes more sense for him, so I don't know if it would be the same for Oswin. - Second one would be that as he grew up, Oswin started having romantic feelings for the MC, but since he was older than MC - even if both were teens - he felt bad about it, or simply didn't consider the MC could ever reciprocate because of the age gap, which while very small once a person is an adult is way "bigger" for teenagers. In that case, him being frustrated and angry and lashing out may have been a result of him setting himself up for rejection or considering a relationship - even in the future - would be impossible, and thus sort of putting a wall to prevent further damage, even if said wall CAUSED the damage. Though that would highly depend on Oswin canonically having feelings for MC regardless of player's choices when it comes to MC's feelings, and for the time being I really can't tell if that's the case.

Anyway, I'll stop here with the theories cause it's starting to be quite long! But I just need to ask... will we be able to cuddle with Duri again - no matter the form - even if not romancing them? My MC seems compelled to just hug people and animals!

Yay! I'm so happy you enjoyed it!

I was hoping Duri would gain a few more fans with their reveal and it seems that is happening. All the characters are layered, but Duri has some special flavors to discover. They're better experienced in story I think too; they shine a little more true.

And I am so glad you caught that bit with Oswin, my dear! You're the first so far to mention it. Your MC will get the chance to bring that up, don't you worry. He's such a tease sometimes without meaning to be, lol.

I like your take on Oswin, and all I will say (but I won't point to specifics) is that you are on one or more correct paths. Chapter 5 should yield a conversation that will help paint the picture as well. Also thinking I should do some POVs sometime soon, and Oswin has several moments that are well-suited to this.

Duri will be available for cuddles, even the platonic ones in the coming chapters. They're pretty affectionate, especially towards friends.

Thank you for the message my dear, I really enjoyed and appreciated it! ^_^

[autumnslance]

New Game+ Tutorial

"I don't remember this part of the story." "It's been so long since I played X expansion." "What happened during that raid again?" "Who was this character?" "I story skipped the MSQ/job quests so I don't know what happened and who these people are!"

There's answers to this, friends. Not only is the game's own Unending Journey (in inn rooms, or as furnishing in your FC or private rooms/homes) able to replay many cutscenes, and there's the completed quest log, but there are places online, such as Garland Tools and the FFXIV Game Script, that keep most (not all) of the quest text handy.

But if you want to relive those quests, and/or get the side dialogues and replay (or first time play!) the experiences, as of Shadowbringers 5.1 there's a feature called New Game+ to allow that.

New Game+ (or NG+) will let you replay past questlines, at your current level (which makes it go pretty fast in a lot of cases). There is No experience or rewards to gain through this feature--no using it to level alt jobs. It purely exists to allow experiencing, or re-experiencing, completed content.

Once defeating the Ultima Weapon and Lahabrea at level 50 in ARR's finale of 2.0, you can go to Vesper Bay and find the Wistful Whitebeard.

More info and images below the Keep Reading cut...

(image taken from gamesconsolewiki and their article on this feature.)

Once you've unlocked the feature by talking to him, you get a new menu option in your Duty menu (the exclamation point icon), right between Duty Recorder and Hall of the Novice.

Once you select the feature it brings up a menu of options; it usually defaults to Main Story Quests, but I also have a paused replay under "Suspend" in progress. There are also options that match other quest interfaces, like your Journal or the Unending Journey; Chronicles of a New Era for raids and trials, Side Story for quests like Hildibrand, the Scholasticate, Role Master Quests, Void Quests, and Chronicles of Light (story important side quests, like Tales of the Dragonsong War, Tales from the Shadows, Tales of Newfound Adventure). Tank, Healer, DPS, Crafting, and Gathering quests also have their own categories.

Each Expansion MSQ is broken into parts; usually 2 parts for the x.0 main expansion, and then 2 parts for the patches. They're only available after x.0 or the patch stories are complete.

Also notice the "Help" icon in the top right of the NG+ overlay; it opens a pretty comprehensive guide, divided into menu sections, about how the feature works.

ARR is split into 6 parts, and I do think 2.0 could use a rework in how they're split but for now, I'm selecting Part 6 to look for specific side dialogues that only exist in this timeframe.

Selecting Part 6 opens the description; the Crystal Braves have just been formed, to help the Scions with the turmoil still facing the realm--from refugees, to Garlemald's continuing threat, to primals and Ascians.

Once you do, the NG+ quest info shows up, usually around where ever you keep your MSQ quest marker. I hide my MSQ tracker once it's done, so NG+ fits in that same spot in the upper left for me.

It tells me to "Relive Past Adventures!", which expac and part I'm in, and which quest is my starting point in this case, "Traitor in the Midst", the start of the Ivy spy plotline in Patch 2.4.

From here it progresses as if I am back in that patch and on those quests, but without any experience or rewards. Aeryn's in her current level 90 appearance and skills, making it easy to skip past and handle level 45-50 enemies in these zones.

So long as I am in NG+, I cannot do current quests, plots, or other content; I can't complete new current level duties (duties new in NG+ itself are fine), I can't access the MB, my retainers, or the Unending Journey. I can manually Suspend my current playthrough, or performing some of these actions (like duties) will automatically suspend my NG+ playthrough. You also cannot start NG+ while doing certain things (like some quests, such as leves).

This also will not let you play through the start of other city-states, only your original starter town. Solo duties will let you choose their difficulty immediately, without having to fail them first like in normal play.

If I want to drop my NG+ save before I've finished the replay--maybe I found the info and screenshots I wanted--I can delete the save.

This is an extremely helpful feature that can be used to replay events and quests, either for the fun of it, or because you want to find specific dialogue or lore information that only exists in a specific point in game. Maybe you want to visit old friends lost along the way, or take new screenshots of your WoL as they are post-fantasia.

Maybe it's just been a few years, and you've found you've forgotten some things and want to remember how the story actually went, especially knowing what you know now.

[shuttershocky]

hi shutters. im gonna start arknights. do you have any guide/tips for new players? what to do, what to not do, what to save, what to discard, where to find community resources(if they exist). stuff like that. thanks in advance!

Most new player guides will tell you all you need to know about getting started in the game, so I'll list down 5 things about the experience of /learning/ the game instead.

You don't have to play - Before we start, it must be said that Arknights is still a gacha game, an inherently predatory monetization scheme no matter how generous the in-game system is. If you feel like you may be vulnerable to FOMO and spending real money, I don't recommend you play at all. If you're here for the world and characters, Arknights has excellent comics available for free on their website, while players upload most event stories on Youtube for you to read through without having to touch the game. With that said, let's continue.

Take your time - Raising units and generally progressing in Arknights takes a lot longer than in other mobage. Don't worry about things like "catching up". Limited time events that have already had their rerun get added as a part of the main menu permanently, and eventually they even include the free units you get per event. You're generally not going to be missing out on any content (except for 3rd party collabs like the upcoming Monster Hunter event, but that's because they don't own Monster Hunter), so don't feel like you have to rush through the game. It won't work, and you'll get easily frustrated. Think of it more like a puzzle game with updates. You don't rush through puzzle games, the point is to enjoy the puzzle.

Don't spend - This goes for all mobile games in general, but especially Arknights. The money to in-game currency conversion rate is godawful, but the actual flow of the gacha currency (called Orundrum) given to you by just playing the game normally is rather generous. Combined with a few other features that don't need to be discussed here and even a F2P player's account looks like a whale after enough time, because you eventually just get most of the units from how often you're given free rolls. Take it from me, you don't need to buy anything to get gigastacked, it will happen to you over time.

Ask for Help - Arknights is a puzzle game, and that means even with some of the best units in the game, you can find yourself stuck on stages if you have no idea how to approach strategy. If you're ever stuck, Youtube is filled with various clear guides made by the community, targeting everything from lazy clears (often called AFK) by super strong Doctors that don't want to think, to low rarity clears targeted towards new players who are mostly using the 3 star characters (as they are much quicker to raise). Just take a look at the codename of the stage you are stuck on (for example: "WD-EX-8"), and type that into the Youtube search bar. You'll find a ton of different guides from various creators. You can even shoot an Ask to this blog if you want more personalized help, though of course I can only answer those in my free time.

Take reviews with a grain of salt - Probably the biggest source of FOMO pressure in Arknights is the community itself, what with how much content creators love to use clickbait videos telling you a certain unit is a godtier must-have and if you don't have them you WILL be unable to keep up so roll for them NOW or a certain unit is fucking dogshit unusable and if you have them they're a waste of space. No in-betweens. Of course, when you actually get to try these characters for yourself you're going to realize even the absurdly powerful units aren't going to be autowinning stages by themselves (usually), nor are even the most despised, godawful units completely worthless strategically. It's a puzzle game, ultimately a lot more is going to depend on your ability to problem solve. My general rule of thumb when it comes to seeing community reactions to new operators is if everyone says they're good, they're almost certainly very good, but if everyone says a new unit is trash, it's a cointoss as to how bad they actually are. Probably the best recent example is the 6 star Mystic Caster Ebenholz, who was derided as being awkward to use and generally awful in most stages. His stock eventually rose and rose as people discovered that while Ebenholz struggled in most stages, he was incredibly good at taking on stages with very difficult, powerful enemies, flattening most of these elite enemies and bosses in an instant and trivializing the stages meant to be challenging. If you look up Ebenholz online you're mostly going to find people reacting to his initial appearance and calling him bad, but you're not going to see how he's carved out an extremely valuable strategic niche for himself. You never know who's going to end up useful, so don't be afraid to play around with your favorite units.

[marlynnofmany]

“Oh, you write books?”

Yup! And I love it.

Here’s the published list so far, with relevant tags for all the extra content and ramblings that inevitably end up here.

“If you set Dirty Jobs in outer space, mixed in some Mythbusters, and gave Buster the crash-test dummy the ability to sass back like a cross between Bender and Murderbot… you’d get something like this book.”

“Spectacular Silver Earthling” is available wherever books are sold!

Relevant tags: Hubcap the robot Hubcap the Egomaniacal Sassmaster (there’s some crossover there) Spectacular Silver Earthling

“When space poachers release Earth animals on an alien world, threatening a fragile new alliance, they anger the wrong people. A veterinarian, an accountant, and a furious sign-language-fluent gorilla are coming for them.”

“A Swift Kick to the Thorax” is also available everywhere!

This is the one I’ve been posting backstory snippets for weekly, from when the main character was traveling the galaxy working on a courier ship.

There are also comic strips, which take place between the stories and the book. I should really draw more of those. They’re fun.

Relevant tags: A Swift Kick to the Thorax The Token Human (series name; originally just the comics) Robin Bennett (the main character)

Do you long to write fascinating fiction, but struggle to find a concept that feels worthy?

Do you have piles of unfinished stories, and eagerly await the next shiny new idea?

Do you have writer friends to inflict assistance/benevolent torment on?

Good news! I have precisely one bazillion ideas for stories that someone ought to write, and I’ve selected 100 of them to collect in this book. You may recognize some from my old posts here, but not all.

"Story Seeds for Fantastical Trees" promises to grow you a forest of compelling ideas, ranging from wizards both wise and foolish, to aliens seeking dinosaurs, to a robot that lets a vampire into the house (possibly on purpose).

Relevant tag: writing prompts (buckle in; this one is A Lot)

“In science fiction, humans are usually boring compared to other races: small, weak, no claws or tentacles, and no special abilities to speak of. What if instead, we were talked about by the other aliens? 28 authors have contributed to make sure you never think of humans as boring again!”

“We’re the Weird Aliens” is the “humans are weird / humans are space orcs” collection that had everyone excited in 2020.

Relevant tags: humans are weird humans are space orcs (and a bunch of others, but mostly that first one) (and you'll find the Token Human stuff tagged here too)

“An old street sweeper takes on the shadowy invaders responsible for a plague of amnesia, while saddled with a dodgy memory, a mysterious past, and a reflection that talks back and makes fun of him.”

My first published book! I still love it. Magic, memory problems, and walloping ruffians with a broom. What’s not to love?

Relevant tags: Sweeping Changes

And that’s everything so far, as of August 2023!

Not counting the anthologies that other people put together, which I have stories in. (I’ll point you to my website for those.)

I am definitely working on more books. So many more. I write as a way of going on adventures, and I will happily take you with me.

[the-tmnt-ficfinder]

Ficfinder finds: The Lemonade Leak

Chapter 11: The Gardener

Chapter 11 Summary: No summary

The Gardener: Appraisal and Ratings

(Don't know what fanfic "Appraisal and Ratings" means? Check out my explanation on my Main Masterpost! Looking for a different fanfic to read? Head on over to my Fanfic List Masterpost!)

Disclaimer: This fanfic is only available to those who have an Ao3 profile. This fanfic is written by @turtleinsoup, so go show them some love and support!!

The fanfic ratings are not based on quality, favoritism, or how good I think it is, but rather, how intense a subject may be. Like a movie review, or the tags on Ao3, letting the readers know what to expect.

Plot: 💛💛💛💛💛

"Plot is five out of five!! The plot for this chapter is quite intense!! Things have hit a tipping point!!"

Suspense/Mystery: 💛💛💛💛💛

"Suspense/Mystery is five out of five!! The suspense levels int his chapter are insane!! Its just constant edge-of-your-seat stress!!"

Angst/Hurt: 💛💛💛💛💛

"Angst/Hurt is five out of five!! The angst in this chapter is in full force!! This chapter is chock full of emotional angsts, and even some physical angst as well."

Fluff/Comfort: 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

"Fluff/Comfort is zero out of five! Any comfort that would have been comforting is completely drowned out by Leo's guilt and what goes down."

Emotions Conveyed: 💛💛💛🖤🖤

"Emotions Conveyed is three out of five!! This chapter is full of tension, stress, and dread!! Its a very suspenseful read!!"

Drama/Tension Level: 💛💛💛💛💛

"Drama/Tension Level is five out of five!! Both the drama and tension levels for this chapter are full blast intensity!!"

Triggers: 💛💛💛🖤🖤

"Triggers for this chapter are three out of five. As put in the beginning author notes "Content Warning: Domestic Violence." I'd also say that manipulation and extreme gaslighting could be another trigger, so now you're all prepared!! Remember, stay safe!! ^^"

Legibility (Reading): 💛💛💛💛💛

"Legibility (Reading) is five out of five!! This chapter was really enjoyable to read!! Like all the chapters before hand, it was smooth, well written, and a joy to read!!"

Legibility (Audio): 💛💛💛💛💛

"Legibility (Audio) is five out of five! Absolutely wonderful to listen to in audio book format!! Especially due to how intense it is."

Length: 💛💛🖤🖤🖤

"Length is two out of five!! Chapter 11 of The lemonade Leak takes about 12-13 minutes to listen to!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next Chapter ->

<- Previous

The Lemonade Leak: Story Ratings and Chapter List

Personal thoughts on chapter below cut (Contains Spoilers)

There was a chance it had seen the light of Leo’s portal. So I need a plan that will work if it saw me, but also won’t give me away if it hasn’t. Leo needed ten seconds to come up with one. It twisted his stomach.

Leo, the wiring of the bomb, the strategist of the group. Makes a plan in ten seconds flat.

Leo checked the training room for their weapons next. A pair of chucks and sai hung bloodless on the wall of fainted graffiti. They looked at him as deadly and harmless as his brothers. Leo took in their exact positions just in case he would have to portal them. Of course, as a general rule, battle should be avoided. Yeah, Leo thought. We have survived a big number of battles by not being there.

I love the symbolism portrayed here. The weapons are laying in wait, hung up, currently not in use. They almost appear as decoration. The brothers are all like living weapons, laying in wait, still and quiet.

Leo grabbed the tracker from his bed and shoved it back inside his bandages. Then he checked on his family. Dad was a softly snoring blanket bundle in his room. Mikey had curled around Raph’s arm, his sleep-squished cheek drooling onto scaly spikes. Raph was using every other available limb to shield their youngest, his nose nestled up against Mikey’s forehead.

I like the little detail of Leo making sure to put the tracker in his bandages. It could be due to the fact that the bandages make for an inconspicuous place to hide it, or possibly he's assumed that Donnie can track it's exact location. Also, if any of his brothers ask to check on his heel, he can easily turn it on them, asking to see their injuries in return, which is something they're all reluctant to, specifically Donnie.

He was halfway through his coffee and still didn’t feel awake enough to handle what would come. He poured more of the energy drink in. Then a shot of lemonade. He hummed, searching through the kitchen and added a little maple. Cold gravy from a pot. Some black liquid that had been dripping from their dishwasher.

A shot of lemonade...

“Ah crap, sorry,” Leo said, grabbed the remote and turned down the volume until he could barely hear the movie. “Didn’t mean to wake you up,” he lied. If you’re awake, that means- “Did you sleep at all?” Raph asked. He was leaning in the entrance next to Mikey, his arms crossed and his gaze droopy and bloodshot. - I just ruined all your efforts to get Raph some rest.

I like how Leo starts off strong, pleased that his plan worked, then guilt swoops in, because he wrecked Raph's chance at a decent nights sleep. Its like his mind is warring between being a brother, and a predator.

Oh, he didn’t deserve this. This had been way too easy. It should have taken more talk, more lies, more convincing them to stay up for him.

Its interesting to think of how Mikey and Raph feel about his situation. While Leo feels like crap, coercing them into this, manipulating them into staying, Raph and Mikey probably just think that Leo is having a bought of insomnia. Late night crisis, and he's watching TV to loud to deal with it. They're being so kind, keeping him company. Leo most likely recognizes this, which is another reason for his guilt.

“I mean,” Leo said, warping their youngest into a hug, trying to give some of Mikey’s warmth back to him. “There are bigger plot holes. That game is a whole mess, hermanito,” he said unhelpfully. His ribs expected a jab of Donnie’s elbow that never came.

Hermanito means "little brother" in Spanish. I find it quite sweet that Leo calls him that specifically, rather than just hermano.

”Of course, Angelo. If you excuse me, I should shower off this stench, before someone accuses me of biological warfare.” The thing was about to walk past Raph.

Donnie uses fancy words and offhanded comments to tell the truth and lie at the same time. Because he can't bear to lie, but he can't tell the truth either. Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare or biowarfare, is the use of living organisms or replicating entities to harm or kill humans, animals, or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons are a type of unconventional weapon or weapon of mass destruction. Its interesting that he brings this up, because that's exactly what Leo thinks Donnie is doing. In a sense, he called out Leo, partially told the truth, admitted something that's bothering him, and made everything sound like a joke due to the context he said it in.

The thing’s voice was slow but sharp like a knife digging into meat. “I don’t have it, Nardo.” “It’s in your bag, right?” Leo asked. The thing’s posture stiffed slightly before it crossed its arms. It hissed softly. “Get out of my way.” “Dontron, C’mon, please,” Leo whined, soft and harmless. “I’m serious, If it’s not in there, I’ll leave you alone! I don’t even need it, I just want to know where it is so I can stop worrying. Just show me.”

The manipulation tactics used here, are absolutely stunning!!! Completely masterful!! The gaslighting, the word twisting, the innocence, this is a work of art!!

And then, everything happened too fast. The thing caught Mikey’s wrist and hurled him across the room. Mikey crashed into the cabinets. DVDs, picture frames and old childhood treasures cluttered down, shattering across the floor. “Mikey!” Raph’s head jerked around to see their youngest. Mikey sat in midst the shards, staring at Donnie. Stunned. “Donnie, what the fuck?! - Are you okay?” Raph reached Mikey’s side, almost as fast as Leo moved between his brothers and the thing in Donnie’s body. From the corner of his eye, Leo saw Mikey nod and struggle to stand up. Leo’s mind raced. Why had it attacked?! It didn’t make sense! Attacking was more suspicious than anything it could have said to explain the things in its bag! It should have been smarter than this. The Krang should be more tactical than this!

*Spoilers for future chapters!* From Leo's view, his brother is completely possessed, and is displaying violent behaviors. Leo keeps being stumped by its reactions because he's calculating for the actions a krang would take. However, in this instance, its not the krang that made Donnie attack, but Donnie who attacked. He's exhausted, and overstimulated, and he's wildly upset that Leo is fighting with him. Overstimulated and upset, he reacted violently to touch, completely panicking. His strength is enhanced, so rather than a grip and shove, he flung Mikey across the whole dang room.

[legacygirlingreen]

Christmas with the Sallow Family: Chapter 4 || Sugarplum Fairy

Authors Note:

I am back! I apologize for taking so long, school really heated up, but I graduate in about 10 days so I am finally getting free time back! Thank everyone who’s continued to support this story. I really hope this has been worth the wait, and soon should have more availability to work on future chapters! I haven’t had much time to edit, but I figured it better to post and edit later. Again, thank you all! Special thanks to @anto-pops for the advice on writing NSFW content, as this is my first attempt at it… So strap in folks because things are finally getting a tad serious.

Also, I usually go for historical accuracy, but couldn’t resist throwing in the Nutcracker during a fic set at Christmas. Historically it wouldn’t become a ballet till about a year later, but for the purposes here we can bend the rules a tad… Anyways, sending positive vibes to you all!

Warnings: NSFW content! (Finally). Minors do not interact! 18+.

Reminder: This work is part of a larger collection of work, see Masterlist (Pinned on Profile) for the rest of this fic!

Word count: 9,000 words

previous chapter: https://www.tumblr.com/legacygirlingreen/713708165693308928/christmas-with-the-sallow-family-chapter-3?source=share

After an uneventful dinner in the Sallow home, the four young adults migrated out into the center of the hamlet with the rest of residents to partake in Christmas Eve festivities. Some of the older men played enchanted instruments to the tunes of upbeat folk songs, as children ran around playfully dancing to their song. Solomon who had opted to stand guard with some of the town’s men in case of another goblin attack, left them without the looming sense of awkwardness that had existed while they ate a few hours prior.

Sebastian had opted to change back out of his father’s jumper, as it was slowly getting colder, and he didn’t want to damper the mood with its presence. She still wore the same dress as before as they watched as Anne was playfully spinning with one of the young boys in their village. Ominis had laughed as the small boy, who had grown quite smitten with Anne as she remained behind in Feldcroft, politely asked her to dance with him. Shortly there after, Ominis himself was roped into showing the younger sister of the boy dancing with Anne how he was able to use his wand to move about despite his blindness, as the girl was also heavily vision impaired. Sebastian watched as his twin had to duck quite low to move her head under the small child’s arm as the boy attempted to spin her as he saw the adults of their hamlet do for the women. At the same time, Ominis was cautiously moving the small girl about in front of him with his wand pointed out in front of the both of them. It made him smile seeing his friend and his sister engaged so sweetly with smaller children who lived next door.

Without thought, he turned himself towards the girl next to him. She sat perched on one of the low stone walls surrounding the main circle of their village’s center. Sebastian found himself standing behind her, arms coming to rest on the sides of her, as she leaned back slightly onto his chest in her seated position. She turned her head to the left, noting how Ominis was entertaining the little girl by sharing how he navigated the world with a child who shared his condition.

“I never knew Ominis was so good with children” she said as she noted the way he helped lift the girl, who was nearing the end of her toddler years, and moved them both towards Anne and the young boy with the help of his wand. The little girl shrieked in laughter at how she, like Ominis, had a vague sense of the world around them with the help of the sentient wand.

“I do believe it may just be that child in particular” Sebastian sad with a chuckle before continuing “He usually finds kids off putting and overtly loud”.

“I guess I can understand where he is coming from… it is still sweet nonetheless.” She said, words trailing off in deep thought at the sight before them both. Anne and Ominis had rejoined with the young siblings, forming a small circle where they all were slowly spinning together.

Sebastian watched for a moment longer, before allowing his eyes to wander back to the girl. He couldn’t help but notice the way the moonlight cast lovely shadows on her face, or the way the firelight danced in her eyes. Hearing the melodic laughter of the children, yet his own eyes lost as they danced over her distracted form, he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to a place they could both inhabit in the future. How he could home from work, crossing the threshold to greet her, before reaching down to observe whatever mischief some smaller version of them had created during his time away for the day.

“What are your thoughts on children?” She asked, breaking his train of thought before it could fully develop.

“In general or…?” He asked, aiming to figure out exactly what kind of answer she was desiring from him. He didn’t doubt for a second if she asked him, despite their age, he would give an honest answer. He simply wanted her to ask him without any reservations and on her own terms.

“Well I mean obviously in general, but also… having kids? Is that something you want some day?” She asked him, wavering for a moment before finding confidence to turn her body around to face him as she firmly planted her stare in his own.

“I like children. I enjoy the way their minds work, and how they are honest to a fault. I admit, I haven’t had much experience with them up close I am afraid. My parents only had Anne and I, as it was a traumatic delivery for my mother, so they decided one pair of rambunctious twins to be enough. Solomon has never even attempted to find a woman. We have no other family, so the extent of my experience has been back here during the summers with the few children in the hamlet.” He said, fingers playing with the strings of her corset unconsciously as his eyes wandered around the bustling hamlet to observe the youth spread about.

Sebastian remembered small moments where he had been asked to watch over the siblings dancing with his Twin over the past summer, and how while nerve wracking at times, he enjoyed getting the chance to entertain them. They never failed to make him laugh at their antics.

He looked back up into her pleading eyes, and he knew what she wanted to hear. “I definitely want children someday” he said confidently. Even before he had met her, he knew that at the very least he wanted to pass on his family’s namesake, as there was little chance Solomon would, and he was the only remaining Sallow who could. Although, with as much as he knew Ominis hated being a Gaunt, it wouldn’t surprise him if one day their friend took Anne’s name…

“You do?” She asked, seemingly shocked at how open he was on the topic, especially at his age. While the Twins were due for their 17th birthday shortly after Christmas, she was surprised he already had come to a conclusion on his future while still, in the eyes of the law, technically being considered a child himself. While in her muggle village he may be considered old enough to already have started that path in life, she had come to learn that in the Wizarding World, they were not quite as quick to marry off their sons and daughters…

“Of course” he said, smile beaming at her pleasant surprised expression. She briefly looked down at her lap before reaching forward to tug his jacket only slightly so he would come closer to her. He chuckled at her desire to pull him closer as he admitted he wanted children.

“Hey now, just because I desire children someday does not mean I want them now” he playfully retorted while wiggling is eyebrows at her action and he loved watching as she turned bright red at his teasing. She scoffed but didn’t push him away. She smoothed a hand over the trim of his lapel before straightening the simple “S” pin he adorned on the same side as his heart.

“What about you Missy? Do you see yourself having children?” He asked her, realizing she hadn’t commented on the matter. While her smile had told him that she most likely held the same ideas as him in the matter, he didn’t truly know.

She lifted her hand to cup Sebastian’s cheek as she carefully brushed a hand over the planes of his face. Her other hand migrated to his shoulder, fingers slowly tracing the soft hair at the back of his neck as his eyes slowly drifted shut at her soft contact. A small smile worked its way onto his face, as no matter how much she did it, he truly never got over how much he adored her gentle fingertips brushing along his skin and hair. However this was short lived, as she began speaking, his eyes snapped back open to watch her reply.

“I could see myself coming home to a little girl maybe… with a thousand freckles spilling across her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose” she said, softly tracing a path across the center of his face with her pointer finger before coming to frame his eyes as she continued “perhaps she would even have big doe eyes, full of the same mischief I see right here”. She softly traced the skin under his eyes as she gazed up at him. He felt a shudder run through him as she kept going.

“Or a young boy… with a big toothy grin” she said, fingers lightly brushing over his lips as he suddenly felt a weight drop in his stomach, but she didn’t stop there. The fingers in his hair continued as their movement went from unconscious to deliberate. “Maybe he’d have thick, unruly, brown hair that would need to be tied back while he played like his father…”

Sebastian couldn’t help but notice the way she seemed to remember what he had told her about himself as a child in the Undercroft that so long ago. The day he decided he would do anything to be able to show her his love. He loved how comfortable she felt confirming that he would in fact be the father of these idealistic children. Even more, he loved the thought of her desiring a possible daughter to have his dark eyes or a son having his thick Scottish hair.

He always had wondered what parts of his parents he inherited, as well as what one day he would pass on. While he wasn’t particularly fond of his skin’s blemishes from spending so much time in the sun, a small part of him was relieved to hear how much she seemed to adore the marks that covered his body.

If he focused hard enough, Sebastian could almost see the same image in his head. A little girl with similarly colored locks to her own, framing chubby cheeks filled with freckles. The shallow slope of his nose, but her soft smile paired with his dark eyes and her long eyelashes. He could almost cry thinking of how sweet such a child could look being perfectly comprised of both their features. He had always loved the name Estelle.

She paused for a moment, worried her words had frightened him, as he continued blinking rapidly with a far off look in his eye. He was shocked back to reality when her hand started slowly trailing off his face to return to her lap. Sebastian pushed it back up before she got very far, his fingers caressing her own as he took in a deep breath to steady himself.

“While I like your train of thought…” he started, slightly startled by how the lump in his throat made itself known as he began to speak, but he powered through as he stared in her eyes.

“I think that’s entirely too much of myself in children I one day hope, will take after their mother’s beauty”

“Yo-you want your children to…” she couldn’t find the words as she had a thousand thoughts running through her brain at his admission that one day, he wanted to share a home and children with her.

“To look as lovely as you, yes.” He said, noting the way she had a small tear leak out without realizing. Sebastian simply brushed it off her cheek without commenting on it. He understood how such words might draw such a reaction. He had felt such an odd stirring in himself at the conversation. All the sorrow he’d known for losing his parents mixed with the joy he felt knowing he was building something with this lovely girl.

“I disagree… I think their father to be quite handsome” she said, loving the way his dimples appeared at her comment.

“Then its settled. One day we will make beautiful children and people can argue which one of us contributed more to their good looks.” He responded making her laugh so hard she clutched his shoulder as he joined in her laughter.

“We should probably join in the festivities” she said, looking around to see if anyone was lingering too close to hear their conversation. He leaned in, as if he was going to tell her a secret.

“I would much rather stay here and talk about making babies with you…” he purred in her ear and she pushed him away slightly.

“Sebastian!” She exclaimed, noting the way her reaction only spurred him on further as he dipped his head back in laughter.

“I didn’t know you were such a prude” he said, drawing her to stand from her seated position on the wall. Sebastian carefully escorted her to where the hamlet were still dancing in the late hours of the evening in the grass. As he pulled her close, one hand resting on her waist, and the other holding her hand, he noticed the slight pout she had on her face.

“I am not a prude…” she mumbled as she allowed him to slowly start moving about in small circles while holding her.

“Could have fooled me” he responded, noticing the way her eyes quickly darted around to see if anyone around them was watching before she leaned closer, resting her head on his shoulder. She sighed before she tipped her chin towards his ear: “talking about your desire for future children, and discussing the act of making them are two very different conversations” she purred.

Sebastian’s hand on her waist tightened, holding her closer to his body. In fact, he was slowly beginning to feel the beat of her heart through the fabric of his undershirt, his own sweater, and jacket. Not to mention the layers she was wearing… He felt the need to pull her close despite the fact he was warming up along every inch of his body. He barely recognized that a very light snow was beginning to fall because how hot he suddenly found himself. The only reason he noticed was seeing the way small flakes began to get caught in her hair, and he imagined he looked similar.

“Could you see yourself entertaining…” he trailed off as he noticed Anne and Ominis standing a few feet away. Ominis was holding her hand as Anne was beaming at himself and the girl. He looked back down at the girl in his arms, “can we pick this conversation back up later?” he asked her. She nodded as they continued their simple dancing to the slow song of the band. Every so often Sebastian would lift her arm, twisting her gracefully, before returning her to their pose. He was by no means a wonderful dancer, but he seemed to understand a simple box step, and that’s all she needed. It however, warm her heart to be dancing again after so long. It wasn’t long however before the song came to an end.

Throughout the evening the pair had heard the almost continuous sound of instrumental music playing, so the sudden silence that permeated the air was mildly jarring. As she lifted her head to see if the band was retiring for the evening, she was surprised to meet Anne’s mischievous expression.

Ominis stood near the band, conversing with some of the men as Anne attempted to drag the girl from Sebastian’s arms. He let out a sigh as he tightened his arm around her a little confused why his twin was attempting to get the girls attention so intently.

“Anne is something wrong?” She asked, slightly concerned as to why the girl was attempting to remove her with the degree of effort she was aiming to use. Anne shook her head, finally successful in unraveling the couple.

Before Sebastian could question what was happening, Anne whisked her away and Ominis quickly came to drag Sebastian off in the opposite direction without a word. “Ominis, what the hell?” He asked annoyed as his friend simply shook his head no, a small smile stretched across his lips. Whatever Anne was planning must not be too terrible if Ominis was going along with it.

Sebastian found himself suddenly off to the side of the area everyone had been dancing, with the two young siblings from next door, as Ominis left them to join some of the adults of Feldcroft. Sebastian was extremely confused what they were doing, as many of them started talking amongst themselves and using their wands to start conjuring a small wooden platform on the ground. A proper dance space replaced the uneven ground. But why now?

It wasn’t long before he found an answer to all his questions in the form of Bernard Ndiaye coming forward. The members of the hamlet all stood to the side of the platform, allowing the shopkeeper to cross the small stage, to make an announcement.

“It appears that we had a dancer in our midst and didn’t even know it. After speaking with young Anne Sallow, this year’s newest addition has agreed to showcase a muggle tradition I hear is very popular this time of year.” Ndiaye spoke briefly before quickly standing to the side.

Sebastian recognized the sounds of Tchaikovsky, as his mother had adored the composers work. Every year around this time they would all make their way into the muggle portions of London just to watch the ballet for his mothers sake. Sebastian had almost forgotten about it, but Anne seemed to have remembered. It had been years since they had be able to watch a performance.

Looking around he was surprised to find Anne back at his side as she carefully wrapped her slender arm around his own, lightly squeezing his bicep. Sebastian looked to see if she had returned with his twin but was disappointed seeing she returned alone. Before he could question Anne as to where his love had wandered off to he immediately felt his knees almost give out.

In the corner of the small wooden platform there she stood. She must have used some sort of transfiguration charm to change her long green dress, as she now was a vision in soft lavender. Her delicate arms, exposed to the cool air, as only thin straps held up the bodice around her breasts and abdomen. At her waist soft lace and tule flared, just barely covering her most intimate areas. Sebastian couldn’t stop his wandering eyes from noticing how the thin tights she wore clung to her soft but muscular legs, especially given how much of them were displayed before him. Atop her head rested a small diadem, shining in the moonlight.

She had pulled her hair back into a small bun, leaving her nape exposed. Sebastian was struck so suddenly by how his mind l seemingly split into both thoughts of how downright ethereal she looked and how incredibly sexy she was. He was both smitten and feeling himself with growing arousals at how delicate yet strong she looked.

As the band softly played transitional music, she lifted her gaze to Anne, giving her a shy smile, before taking a deep breath. She refused to let her gaze wander to Sebastian, for fear she may loose her nerves if she saw his eyes on her. She nodded to the few men with instruments that they could begin and she closed her eyes, attempting to remember the steps she had all but memorized from her years partaking in the muggle study of ballet.

The opening notes of dance of the sugar plum fairy started and she was off. The playful melody of the Russian composer, although missing some of the instruments a full orchestra would have, filled the air. Almost as if riding a horse, the steps immediately came flooding back to her memory as she gracefully moved about the small stage on her toes, arms extended.

She tried her best to not think of how much the movements were causing her abdomen to ache with pain or her lugs burn. After mentioning to Anne in Hogsmeade that she had studied ballet for years, the girl had all but pleaded on her knees to see at least some part of The Nutcracker, as it was their mothers favorite. She conceded knowing it would lift the girls spirits, however she had not known the full extent to which she had been roped into until the girl had escorted her away from Sebastian.

Sebastian watched her earnestly as she moved about the space with the same grace she used when she dueled. He had been right in his assumption she did in fact know how to dance, as here she stood, body moving with such a lovely flow it replicated that of a stream. Her movements both soft and delicate, yet poised and full of strength. The way the stars and the falling snow framed her feminine form. The way the moonlight and firelight made the diadem and crystals on her bodice sparkle replicated that of a princess. Her soft smile at the confidence in her movements. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever laid eyes on.

He hadn’t even realized he was crying until he felt a small handkerchief being thrust into his hands. He didn’t even look down to see that Ominis’s outstretched hand had been holding his own pocket square, as he refused to tear his eyes away from her for even a second. The world could come crashing down around them and he still would not be able to look away from the delicate creature in front of him. He half wondered if she was part nymph or siren, as the way she moved her body enticed him in ways he ought not know to be possible.

It wasn’t long before the band began to quicken their pace, with her rapidly increasing her tempo as well. She began moving about in such fast twirls, constantly upon her toes, matching the musicality. She was like a flurry of snow, twisting her body with such speed and skill. As fast as the dance had started, they quickly drew their instruments to the close, as she stopped, drawing her arms into an outstretched pose to conclude the dance.

As the people of Feldcroft began to cheer for her, clapping loudly, she began searching the crowds for Sebastian. With all the townspeople and snow picking up its pace, it was difficult to see where he had gotten off to. As she drew herself into a soft bow she saw a single white rose land in front of her. She quickly drew it into her hand before slowly making her way off the wood floor.

She barely heard Bernard speaking to the hamlet as she made her way to the left side of the stage. The people around her parted, allowing a direct path towards Sebastian. As she got closer she saw the soft glistening of tears in his eyes and on his face.

Sebastian felt like he was watching an angel make its way from heaven, down to him as she took soft steps towards him. He was thankful his neighbors had respected them enough to separate, making her journey easier. He hadn’t even attempted to brush the tears from his eyes, proudly wearing them as she deserved to know what a lovely reaction her talent had brought out in him.

When she had finished, he had found himself transforming the handkerchief in his hands into a single rose, tossing it at her feet the same way that he’d seen muggles do in London. When he found her situated directly in front of him, beaming up into his eyes, he didn’t care who was around them. The young siblings next door, his own sister, the townspeople, hell even Solomon: they were all irrelevant to this beautiful angel. His beautiful angel.

She softly brushed the tears off his face as he smiled, a few more continuing to slip out. The girl laughed softly, not in jest, but in elation at how much love was pouring from his eyes.

Sebastian brought his hand up, to firmly hold hers against his face as he ground himself in the moment. A selfish part of him never wanted this wonderful day to end.

It wasn’t long before the chilling Scottish air made itself known again, as she shivered against him, given how much of her body was exposed. He quickly unwrapped her arms, sliding off his jacket, before gently laying it around her shoulders.

“You must be freezing, sorry I didn’t think of that” he whispered out. The town around them had resumed dancing, wandering off to let the young adults converse as they pleased.

She brushed off his comment, but pulled the jacket tighter around her body. She looked back up at him, eyes still shining with amazement. He took the rose that had been held in her hand, placing it behind her ear. His fingers trailed down her cheek and jaw before his hand plant itself against the side of her neck. Sebastian softly pulled her into his tall frame, as his other hand came to rest on her bent elbow. They continued to softly sway as he held her head close to his chest, and she let her arms stay wrapped around his waist.

“I don’t think I have ever been happier in my entire life” he softly hummed out. She tightened her grip on his lower back, softly inhaling his woody scent.

“Me either” she replied, unable to fill her senses with enough of Sebastian Sallow as they softly turned in the moonlight. She wanted more. She didn’t care that her legs were freezing or ballet slippers were terrible shoes to walk in. She simply wanted to bottle up this feeling and keep it close to her heart forever.

As another song started up they heard a throat being cleared not far from them. She lifted her head from its place over his heart as Sebastian noticed Solomon standing near by, his expression unreadable.

“It is getting late. I think it is time you all retire.” He spoke firmly, but didn’t comment on how they were dancing nor her costume.

Sebastian only nodded, before spinning her around to head back towards their tent. Anne and Ominis were already back inside when they arrived. Immediately upon entering Anne jumped the girl.

“Oh Merlin! That was so amazing! Thank you so much, it truly meant so much to be able to experience one of our old traditions. You are so talented.” Anne blabbered on as she continued a string of “you’re welcome” and “thank you” in response to all she kept saying.

Sebastian leaned against the support beam for the main room watching as the girl demonstrated some of the poses for Anne. She shrugged his jacket off inside the tents warmth, thanks to Ominis having started the fire. Once again he found himself staring at the lovely lines her legs were creating as she lifted her weight onto one foot, and moved her other leg to the height of her waist with ease. When she lifted her arms, the skirt also raised, giving him a very open view of her tight and bloomer clad rear. What he would give to always have her in such attire.

She turned around after demonstrating to Anne some of the basics she had come to know, and when she did she noted the down-right sinful look in Sebastian’s eyes. She moved to grab his coat off the cushions from when she had set it down, while Anne sat next to Ominis by the fire. When she approached him, she noticed a small plant extending down from the support beam, to rest just over his head. Mistletoe.

Sebastian looked up at the small plant he was conjuring with the wand at his side. He knew the tradition would make her laugh, and when she caught sight of it she grew slightly pink knowing what he wanted from her.

The boy drew her close, pulling her under the small white bulbs with him. The devilish grin upon his face making her grow even warmer. He pulled the jacket from her hands, letting it fall to the floor with no regard for how it crumpled, before wrapping his other arm around her waist.

“Your opinions on mistletoe m’lady?” He asked, staring intently into her eyes.

“I suppose it is a fun tradition, although if you wanted a kiss, you need not ask”

Sebastian needed no further encouragement, pulling her waist directly into contact with his. Her eyes grew wide at realizing his manhood was pressing into her clothed center, but as his lips made contact with hers, they fluttered shut. His other hand planted on the small of her back, and both of hers finding place on his shoulders. He playfully lowered her weight, as he dipped her forward while continued kissing her. She sighed into his mouth as when he lowered them both, his weight pressed into her most sensitive area even more than it had when he pulled her against his body.

Sebastian returned her to her feet reluctantly, pulling his mouth from hers to give a small kiss to her cheek before nuzzling his nose to the side of her face.

“Have I succeeded in sweeping you off your feet darling?” He teased and she shivered as his long eyelashes tickled her cheek. She nodded, holding him close, breathing in his scent.

“You two are appalling.” Anne said while standing, breaking up their moment as she reaching a hand out for Ominis. The pair migrated towards the boys side of the tent together.

“Where do you two think you’re going?” Sebastian asked, playfully taunting his sister.

“To sleep” she said, continuing to pull the blushing blond with her.

“Mhm… and I am the appalling one” he responded sarcastically as she rolled her eyes, sliding into the privacy of the other room. Ominis gave a shy wave before following her.

“You know if it were anyone other than Ominis I’d ring their neck” he playfully chuckled watching his best friends shy allowance of his twins rule breaking.

She scoffed “Please, as if you are much better in that arena Mr. Sallow” as she poked a finger into his chest playfully.

Sebastian stiffened at her words, grabbing her hand as he pulled her backwards into the privacy of the other room. As soon as the curtain gave way he cast a simple silencing charm, throwing his wand to the side.

He lowered his mouth to her ear, lightly nipping it. “Say that again” he all but growled against her skin.

“Say what again?” She asked playfully as his hands found their way under the many layers of tule, fingers splayed across her lower cheeks.

“You know what” he said, feeling his self control starting to waiver as the events of the last few days were building. Their stolen kisses, almost watching her die, sharing a sensual bath, waking up next to her, her body on display during the dance and their conversations on a future. It all felt too much, as if he’d wake up and it all had been a dream. Sebastian needed the chance to prove he was worthy of their lofty expectations for the future, that he was worthy of her love and adoration. That he could be the man she deserved. Someone who could take care of her, provide for her, protect her and give her the life she deserved.

“Only if you answer me this” she said, trailing off as he caressed her skin through the tights. He mumbled out what she assumed was “sure” against her neck as he continued to kiss and suck lightly on the delicate skin exposed but her bun.

They were playing with fire and she knew it. She just hoped that when it was all said and done neither of them wound up burned.

“Would you like to resume our conversation from earlier now that we are alone?” She tried to keep her voice as sultry as possible but finding it difficult with the wonderful way he mapped out the skin of her neck and shoulders with his lips while his fingers traced her lower regions.

“While I would love to have that conversation, I don’t particularly feel like talking right now, do you…” he huskily whispered into her neck making her shudder.

She shook her head at his words as he carefully walked the both of them backwards towards the bed. When her legs made contact with the edge of the mattress, he gently helped her sit at the edge before lowering himself to the floor in front of her.

She raised a tentative eyebrow at him as he sat on his knees in front of her. In his mind, she looked downright ethereal, still in the beaded costume, head covered in jewels.

Sebastian carefully brought his chin to rest just above her knee, looking up at her through his eyelashes as she curled a hand into his hair.

Lowering his hands, he slowly began to unravel her ballet slippers off each foot, carefully tracing his finger up her leg as he did so. She felt a deep warmth spread about her at his soft traces, as the tights were not thick.

He placed soft kisses on the skin of her thigh as he whispered against her skin. “My Angel… goddess divine…” she heard against her legs as she continued to pour his love into her.

Sebastian looked up into her eyes again as he tried to find an ounce of his slipping self control. Her fingers still wound in his tresses and her soft gaze upon him as he laid more gentle kisses upon her skin. “Aphrodite herself” he said with a groan.

Let me worship you.

She was caught off guard at his words but he continued to plead with her. Sebastian shook her hand from his hair, rising as much as he could while still on his knees for her. He held her hand close to his heart, eyes imploring hers as his body softly shook in anticipation. Sebastian hoped she could feel the way his heart beat against her fingers. The way it beat for her.

Let me show you all the praise you deserve, my goddess. Please I beg you.

She couldn’t help but feel herself giving in, as seeing him beg on his knees for her was something she never thought possible. What happened to the proud Slytherin boy she met her first day Hogwarts who taunted her in class? He had wound his way into her very soul, loosing the arrogance that plagued him, now ready to be whatever she needed, as she graciously returned the same sentiments. She softly nodded, bringing his face up as she tipped his chin forward to meet his lips in a soft kiss.

Every moment they spent alone plagued with teasing and playful comments built into a strong sense of longing, only being held back by external rules of propriety. As he moved his mouth against hers that first time, cracks began to form. Now in the privacy on Christmas Eve, That’s when the damn finally broke.

Sebastian carefully pulled himself from the floor, helping her rise gently to her feet as he softly turned her around. His fingers lightly brushed against her corsets strings while his lips continued to softly press kisses and sweet words of praise along her shoulders.

My beautiful angel…

Most beautiful part of this world…

His movements were careful as he slowly unraveled the soft lace from her skin. As it became loose he slowly allowed the material to fall to the floor. She remained unclothed from the waist up, only bloomers and tights covering her lower half.

She turned to face him in the dim light, seeing the adoration in his chocolate eyes as she slowly slid her hands under his sweater, pulling it up his torso. Sebastian allowed her to carefully slip it off his body before she did the same for his undershirt. When his chest finally was exposed again she couldn’t help but lightly whimper at seeing his soft flesh, and he quickly pulled her back into his towering frame.

His left hand held the juncture between her jaw and neck, fingers softly tracing the skin he found there. Sebastian carefully lifted her face up to his own as her trembling fingers wound there way into his hair once again. With her pressed into him, he could feel her hardened nipples against the planes of chest, loving the way their skin to skin contact created a fire in his stomach.

His other hand slipped lower, find purchase along her waistband, toying with it as he kissed her gently. As he did so, her fingers continued weaving in and out of his hair, and it wasn’t long before he ran a testing swipe along her bottom lip with his tongue. Sebastian couldn’t help but groan when she opened for him, letting their kisses to deepen as their tongues carefully danced together. It wasn’t long before she was pulling away, feeling breathless at their actions.

Taking the opportunity of their pause in kisses, he gripped the band of her remaining clothing, and slowly lowered himself to the floor as he slid the material from her body, undergarments coming with it. He did so carefully, afraid she would snap to her senses and stop him. Sebastian was surprised when her bloomers touched the floor, and he found himself once again on his knees, this time directly in front of her naked form. His found himself carefully helping her step out of the clothes, tossing them into the unknown as he caressed her calf as he once again lifted his gaze.

When the cool air exposed her womanhood she quickly sought to cover herself not just from the cold but his gaze, as his eyes were only a few inches away from her most sensitive area.

She should have ran, should have stopped his advances, but truly there was no reservation within her that he did not already own every fiber of her being. He had her from the moment she met his mischievous gaze, beside the fireplace that day seemingly so long ago. They were destined to remain with one another, a very conviction they both seemed to understand. These physical acts were merely a way at demonstrating their devotion to one another. Damn the rules, they both broke every rules around them always. What’s one more in the name of such a love?

He carefully laid his cheek along her stomach, her hands preventing him from closing the gap between his face and her womanhood. As he gazed up at her, eyes darker than she thought imaginable, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what he planned to do. He seemed to be allowing her to guide him to whatever boundary she desired. And while she was enticed seeing him still at her feet in such a manor, she was taking her time to become comfortable giving herself to him.

Being so close to her heat, Sebastian could smell her arousal, and it was slowly feeding his own. From the moment he’d spoken with her that evening along the wall, about a future together, he had maintained a slight strain in his briefs. When she had danced before him, that feeling grew more intense. Now having her looking down upon her, unclothed, still wearing that semi-ridiculous crown he felt the intensity of his own erection threatening to burst out. He wanted to see her, feel her, and even though it was vulgar he wanted to taste her.

Sebastian allowed her to take her time. He simply laid his head against her, continuing to breathe her in as she grew comfortable with the image of him half nude on his knees in front of her. His fingers wound around to her backside, slowly tracing patterns on her soft curves. If she was paying attention she would have realized those patterns weren’t aimless, as he traced the word “mine” into the skin of her ass.

Eventually she unwound one hand from guarding her sacredness. She carefully brought her fingers into his hair, hoping to calm the storm raging inside. He groaned against her, as her nails scraped along his scalp. Sebastian continued looking into her eyes, and without even having to say the words he felt their soft exchange through their expressions.

“Please allow me to make you feel good” his eyes plead

“I trust you” hers responded as she let go, allowing him to finally see her up close.

He nearly lost his composure seeing such forbidden fruit right before his eyes. Ever so carefully he moved a hand to lightly trace the skin of her inner thigh. Her breath caught in her throat as he continued the slow torture of quiet gasps and soft touches.

Dragging his gaze back up to her, he carefully whispered out, “so beautiful” with a choked sob before he placed his lips on her.

Her hips bucked involuntarily at the feeling of his warm mouth against her lower curls. Slowly sliding her legs apart, he shifted between them to lick a testing stripe along her slit. As he did so, her slick arousal coated his tongue and he found himself moaning into her womanhood at the taste.

While he initially was gentle, after one small sip, he dived into her, lapping as if he was a man wandering the desert. She felt herself slowly trembling at the ministrations of his tongue on her sex, legs going weak. If his strong arms weren’t holding her upright she surely would’ve fallen over.

He continued to use his mouth on her in any way possible. He licked along her entrance and tasted every drop she provided for him. When his tongue finally found her pearl he brought his lips around it, lightly sucking on her clitorus as she cried out, hands tightening into his hair, pulling his face closer to her heat.

At her involuntary reaction he groaned around her, the vibrations becoming too much for her to bear. She looked down at him one last time before falling over an edge she didn’t even know she was standing upon. As she did so, her legs buckled and he did his best to keep her upright as his tongue continued to prod her entrance through her orgasm. Her unintentional aggression towards him , paired with the sounds she made, was enough to send him barreling after her. His cock twitched inside his trousers as he coated his underwear with his own seed. When she finally came down he softly lowered her onto the bed, dropping his head to her lap as he pulled back.

When she stopped seeing the stars she looked down at him. With red cheeks and her arousal coating his mouth and chin he looked absolutely divine. He smiled at her, carefully dragging a finger around to collect her own wetness from her now swollen opening before placing it in his mouth. Licking the remains from his lips, he sighed.

“You taste heavenly” he told her as she carefully brushed a weary hand through his curls.

She blushed at his words, feeling the need to cover herself, but she restrained realizing if he was willing to do such an act there’s no reason to cover now.

“I may require guidance to return the favor” she said shyly, gesturing in the darkness towards him. Sebastian laughed against her skin enjoying the way her fingers lovingly toyed with his hair. Of all the ways he had felt her deft fingers in his locks, this moment was now his favorite.

“That won’t be necessary love” he said with a chuckle, turning his face to kiss her other wrist.

“Of course it is… I understand that there’s a give and a take to these matters…” she tried to explain but he shook his head, before slowly standing.

Ever so carefully he lifted her wrist to place a delicate hand over the wet spot on his trousers. Her face went from confusion to recognition as she felt his cum through the material. Oh.

“But… how..?” She asked, realizing she hadn’t even touched him directly. Sebastian shrugged before he leaned in closer to her.

“I really enjoyed making you feel good I suppose” he spoke as he looked into her eyes. For a brief second he swore he could see hearts in them as she sighed.

Carefully she lifted a hand to cup his cheek before she responded “you beautiful, selfless, man”

He let out a soft chuckle at her kind words, his nose carefully caressing her own lovingly as he nuzzled her soft skin. Sebastian gave her a gentle peck before pulling the both of them down to lay down on the bed. She found herself smiling at the unique lingering taste of her on his lips as he kissed her slowly.

After a few moments basking in the afterglow together, he rose to his elbow to gaze down at her. He carefully brushed a hand over the few strands of hair escaping her slowly slipping bun before sliding off the bed. He knew if he was to sleep in the same bed as her, he should have the decency to change his briefs since sleeping in the nude may be too much of a line to cross now.

Carefully he slipped out of their half of the tent, making his way over to where his belongings were on the other side. As he approached the room he knew contained his sister and his oldest friend he worried about barging in unannounced, but also felt awkward about raising his voice in case they were asleep.

When he found himself directly in front of the flap he was met with the relieving sound of their hushed whispers. Unable to prevent himself from ease dropping he listened to their quiet voices for a moment.

“I can’t believe he transformed my good pocket square into a flower” Ominis chuckled softly and Sebastian remembered that he had in fact ruined his friends possession.

“I will make sure he replaces it, I promise” he heard his sister respond with a sigh.

There was a beat of silence and Sebastian found himself almost taking that as a good opportunity to announce himself but he stopped at Ominis’s voice.

“Was Sebastian really weeping during the ballet?” He asked, no malice in his tone, merely curiousity.

“I wouldn’t call it weeping… more like tears of joy perhaps… like being moved to such extremes in the face of something beautiful. Like how a man may cry at the birth of his child.” Anne explained, and Sebastian found himself thankful his sister attempted to explain what she observed in a way that would exonerate him of being weak.

“That is surprising. I never imagined Sebastian of all people to feel such adoration for another… not that I see him as incapable of those feelings, its just…” Ominis trailed off unsure how to explain his thoughts on the matter, worried he would say something to upset Anne on the status of her Twin’s love affair.

“I think I understand what you mean… the intensity to which it is apparent they feel for each other is shocking I suppose. It reminds me of our parents in a way” Anne replied taking his hand into her own, fingers carefully tracing the callouses on his palm from constantly holding his wand to guide him.

Sebastian felt himself surprised knowing his twin saw the same love his parents held for each other in his own feelings towards the new 5th year. It made him feel as if they’d be proud of him.

“Do you think they will… move forward with things in the near future?” Ominis asked cautiously.

“Perhaps” Anne replied, pondering what Ominis was asking. They had both heard his confession the day outside with Solomon, and had witness their share of moments where even the blind boy could practically see the love rolling off the pair.

“I selfish part of me hopes they do” Anne spoke softly into her lap as Ominis raised a questioning brow at her, confused why she wanted her brother to move forward with such adult acts like engagements and marriage.

Sebastian also found himself leaning closer, curious. Anne felt her eyes blur a bit as she carefully swallowed a small lump in her throat before continuing.

“I don’t know how much time I have left… I want to…” she stopped for a moment to collect herself before she kept going. “I need to know Sebs is going to be happy. That he will have someone there for him when I am gone.”

“Don’t say that Annabel-“ Ominis found himself using her full name, not liking her train of thought. He didn’t like acknowledging her curse, same as the rest of their party, but knowing he may only have limited time with her was a painful reminder.

“I believe in their ability. I know if anyone can find a cure it is the two of them. But if they cannot… I just want the chance to see them both devote their lives to one another.” Anne said in a hushed tone. Sebastian felt a weight in his heart, having not realized that his sisters condition could lead to a place in which a vacancy existed during his important life moments.

Sebastian couldn’t stop himself from pushing back the flap of the tent, eyes glassed with tears as he startled the pair. Anne sat up, wand ready as she recognized her twin’s face in the darkness.

Sebastian rushed forward, forgetting the reason he was in there to begin with, forgetting the love of his life was waiting for him. Ignoring Ominis sitting to the right of them. As he brought Anne into his chest he heard her soft cries as she wound her arms around them. They had tried their best to ignore the direness of her illness for so long, to acknowledge it now felt frightening.

When she quickly recovered he found himself softly whispering into her hair “I promise you will be there to see that.” At his words she looked up at him, slightly grimly. For a moment she thought he was referring to his never ending search to find a cure.

“Sebs… I am not sure there is a cur-“ she began but he cut her off.

“I am not talking about finding a cure Anne.” He spoke defiantly.

Anne realized that he was confirming he would make sure to wed if she became worse off.

“You don’t have to… I don’t expect you to rush into a commitment like that on my behalf.” She worried that she may push the pair together faster at her declining health.

“Anne… I would marry her tomorrow if I could figure out the logistics. But I would do so in a heartbeat to make sure you can be there.” He said and she found herself nodding. Sebastian let his sister go, navigating towards his bag he brought back from school.

He was worried that she would begin to worry at his absence, and didn’t want his sister realizing there was still a mess in his trousers…

“It’s Christmas. Let’s just try to focus on being together, and we can figure out the rest tomorrow, a’right?” He asked, collecting some clothes, before lingering by the entrance.

Anne nodded, returning to Ominis’s side. Sebastian watched as his friend cautiously lifted a hand to place it on his sisters. He smiled, realizing they too were operating on possible limited time.

“Take care of her Ominis.” He said, giving his friend the permission the Gaunt boy had been struggling to ask for since he grew attached to the girl.

Sebastian didn’t need to hear the boys reply, so he merely stepped back and snuffed out the fire in the main room.

When he returned, he found his love laying on her side, curled up along the foot of the bed. Shrugging his pants and briefs off he carefully used a wet cloth to wash himself before sliding on fresh underclothes. Bringing the same cloth, he carefully turned her over enough to help wash away the mess on her womanhood.

As he did so, she carefully cracked an eye open. She slid her legs open more as he continued to clean her to the best of his ability before dropping the cloth to the floor. She sleepily leaned up as he undid the pins holding the diadem to her head, carefully placing it on the floor, before helping her to let down her hair.

As it tumbled free, covering her shoulders and breasts he sighed. He was always surprised how she continued to look more and more beautiful in his eyes.

Sebastian helped lift her sleepy arms up enough to work the sleep shirt he brought onto her form. He figured that she’d be comfortable in his clothes, as his size would turn a simple shirt into a dress on her small body. As he slid it over her, she smiled, feeling enveloped in his earthy smell.

Ever so carefully he helped her slide under the covers, so she would easily be able to slip back into her slumber. Joining her, he brought an arm up to pull her against his body. When she snuggled backwards into him he smiled, thinking about his conversation with Anne. That night he found sleep difficult as he pondered the logistics of addressing the topic.

As he finally drifted off to sleep, he decided his best course of action to be a lengthy conversation with Solomon, and for once he wasn’t concerned about the outcome…

To be continued…

[utilitycaster]

Bells Hells, Level 9

Disclaimers as per usual: If I said something incorrect or left out something significant, corrections are welcome and encouraged. If I simply did not expound upon every single possible choice open to a character; if my opinions on mechanics differ from yours; or if you have wild speculation, please make your own post.

Blood hunter info is taken from the D&D Beyond content, which is subject to change, so don’t @ me if it does.

Everyone's proficiency bonus is now +4, which affects skill checks, proficient saves, and attacks. Non-multiclassed full spellcasters (FCG and Imogen, assuming neither multiclass) get fifth level spells.

In general, ninth level is an important but not terribly exciting one, in that 5th level spells are a big leap up and it's a proficiency bonus increase level, but it's fairly quiet in terms of class or subclass features. The multiclassers are the most interesting part here.

Also: now that level ups are done as separate little bits rather than teasers at the end of episodes, I'm introducing a "Looking forward" note at the end to speculate on L10 and beyond, since, for example, the version of this post in my drafts had my recommended ASIs for Chet and Fearne but no one got to see them until after the fact.

Chetney: By taking a level in blood hunter - his 8th in that class - he gets an ASI, which Travis took as stat bonuses to INT and STR. This is honestly what I would have recommended; he's now got a +3 to intelligence, easily the smartest in the group; and a respectable +4 to strength, his main attack stat. Looking forward: Honestly, who knows what the story will bring narratively...but blood hunter is a really good class and higher level rogue abilities just don't do a ton for Chet. Anyway, Blood Hunter 9 gives you one of my favorite abilities ever, Grim Psychometry, in which you have advantage on knowledge checks (and possibly even cool visions) for places and objects with tragic or dark pasts.

Laudna: Laudna took a level in sorcerer, which means she gets a Hound of Ill Omen, a dire wolf-like beast of darkness she can summon to attack a particular person. She also learns 2 more spells and gains another sorcery point. I would strongly advise she take Counterspell, given that she tends to lean more towards low-level utility than Imogen's attacks (and, let's face it, eldritch blast is better than most sorcerer damage spells). Looking forward: Personally, from a purely mechanics perspective, I think leveling in warlock would be more interesting from here on out. Sorcerers just...don't get much outside of spells from levels 7-14, and Laudna's feats and existing metamagic and the fact that there's another sorcerer in the party mean some variety would be fun and welcome (and warlock levels 4-6 are really good), but I get the appeal of Hound of Ill Omen for sure.

FCG: FCG gains access to 5th level spells and can prepare one more spell! Greater Restoration and Raise Dead are now available to them, which is pretty game-changing, and I'd love to see Sam try out Commune to get some actual answers from the Changebringer. He also gets two domain spells, which are unknown since it's a homebrew class. Looking forward: Cleric's just a really solid class! I'm interested to see how divine intervention works on a cleric who is still finding their god, and please get that WIS score up to a +4 at L12.

Fearne: Fearne leveled in druid, which means she also gets an ASI and has maxed out her casting stat of wisdom - this in turn means she can prepare two more spells than before (one from the higher druid level and one from the higher casting stat). She also gets the ability to wildshape into flying creatures, up to challenge rating 1. Looking forward: I would really not pursue rogue any further; Wildfire druid is just such a great class. Things to look forward to: at L9 druid (L10 overall) she'll get 5th level spells including Mass Cure Wounds as a circle spell; at L10 druid she'll get a cool bonus to damage or healing as a class feature; and at L11? Pick a tree.

Imogen: Imogen learns one new spell, which can be up to 5th level, and gains a 5th level spell slot and a sorcery point. She gets Telekinesis and Rary's Telepathic Bond as subclass features. As for her new spells: given the loss of the skyship, teleportation circle would be a good one to have on hand. Greater Invisibility would also be a strong choice. Looking forward: As noted with Laudna, there's not a ton going on until L14, but she does get a new metamagic ability next level (subtle spell feels very thematically appropriate), and I would in fact enjoy seeing Imogen cast Chain Lightning very much when she gets 6th level spells at L11.

Orym: Orym gets Indomitable, which allows him to reroll a failed saving throw and use the new number. Looking forward: 9's a quiet level for him but the next few are big ones. He gets two more battle master moves and his superiority dice go up to d10s from their current d8s; 3rd attack is at L11; and he gets another feat at L12, and I would love to see Mage Slayer.

Ashton: Ashton gains brutal critical, meaning that they can roll an additional weapon damage die when they crit. Looking forward: level 10 is a subclass level, so who knows, but I'm excited to find out!

[sailingshellsgames]

The Revamped Demo of chapters 1-7 is up! (+ chapter 8 alpha now available on patreon/ko-fi)

You can play it here! Reminder: this is a revamp so there's no new chapter, but there is new content (see below for a list of what's been changed/added/removed)

If you're interested in chapter 8's alpha, you can find it on Patreon and Ko-fi! (along with a bunch of other content)

And as always, thank you so much for playing! If you're someone who likes hugs, then I'm sending you a big one! 💞

What's new in chapters 1-7:

Additions:

General

Introduction of auto-success more.

More weird dreams + strengthening of the subplot around what MC sees in them.

Introduction of the dream journal mechanic.

More dialogue choices throughout the entire demo.

More descriptions of environments: MC's living quarters, the Den Compound, desert terrain around Leas, and city architecture.

Rearranged the stats screen and added clarity for MC's reputation among the Fey via an opposed pair bar.

General editing (word choice, etc.)

Chapter 1

MC's favored weapon can now be a bow! 🏹

Choice added to set MC's skin color.

A few more dialogue choices around MC reacting to the vision Keo has in Chapter 1.

Clearer explanation of MC agent backgrounds. Each now comes with explicit statement of what stats will be increased upon selection.

Chapter 2

Option to specify MC's tattoos. There are 4 pre-designed options, or you can design your own! (or choose no tattoos, if that's not your cup of tea). This includes the ability to add/remove/modify tattoos via the stats screen.

Chapter 3

Define how MC and Keo became friends.

Relatedly, more content setting up the fact that MC can't remember the agent found dead in the warehouse in Chapter 2.

Virano and Adaan mini-catfight (is it me, the author? am I the drama?)

Bug fix where a character already in the room would enter that room.

Chapter 4

A new dream.

Conversation around Virano's family's role in the nobility.

A little bit of Fey-weirdness around the Ashaad.

Conversation around the campfire with the team, mentions some of why Wren came to Leas.

Chapter 5

An explanation of Chapter 4's Fey weirdness that kind of just raises more questions, but does answer at least one of them.

Chapter 6:

A new dream.

Determining which of the three paths to take in the wilds is now a skill check.

General editing.

Chapter 7:

Yet another revision of the waterfall dream/flashback scene. This one's taken so long to get right, but I'm finally happy with it. Victory screech.

Moved Wren's reason for coming to Leas into the main story, so the choice option that explored that on their date now allows MC to dig in to learn a little more.

More dialogue choices in the scene where Keo's heritage is discovered during Lasan (if it didn't happen in the wilds).

Another choice in Wren's date going into the legend behind Lasan more, and a little about Wren's family.

Removals:

Keo no longer goes into seeing the magic in a vision. Removing this was part of a consolidation effort on my part. Tldr; I had too many side plots and needed to scrap some of them. Keo still has a reason for wishing to pursue the magic, if MC tries to refuse Rin. I actually like it a lot better now, which is a happy coincidence.

In Chapter 7, going to the wilds to see Keo's mother is no longer an option. Don't worry: everything I wrote for it will be used in book 2 :) But for book 1 it created a weird imbalance where the three options were so different they didn't converge well back into the main route.

Removed the ability to give Virano a sample of the magic or not. With all the other potential endgame outcomes, this got scrapped to consolidate things. I was finding it didn't really have a meaningful impact on the larger story despite reading like a major plot point, so in the bin it goes.

[monsterkin-culture-is]

How do you know for sure if you have MD? I'm like, 99% sure I have it as I'm constantly daydreaming to the point it disrupts my life occasionally. But I'm just hesitant on that label as I don't know too much about it and don't know where to begin researching it.

Hiya Anon! I'm so sorry for the delay replying, unfortunately I only saw this whilst I was heading to college. This might end up a bit of a ramble but I'm going to at least attempt to organise it.

Diagnosis Talk:

MD is difficult in the fact that it's not a fully recognised disorder yet so there's no DSM-5 etc to use as a diagnostic guide.

Personally, I would consider it maladaptive once it's becoming a negative experience. This could look like: struggling to complete schoolwork/homework or chores because you can't stop daydreaming, losing time in your day-to-day life, losing information in class/meetings and becoming disconnected from/losing interest in your social life & family. In addition, it can also be the content of the daydreams becoming disturbing or causing you emotional distress when something negative happens in the plotline. That part isn't discussed as much but it's something I personally experience; e.g if a character dies in-story/scenario, I actually cry & genuinely grieve them for a while (sometimes a day, sometimes a fortnight for me). This isn't an exhaustive list nor is it a criteria where you need every single one, it's just what 'maladaptive' can look like.

The difference with immersive daydreaming is that it only happens when the person wants and it's purely for enjoyment.

There is an evaluative tool known as the MDS-16 (MDS meaning maladaptive daydreaming scale). I'll link this for you lower down in the research section!

When it comes to questioning, my #1 piece of advice would be don't stress. That's much easier said than done, but it's important to remember nothing will happen if you're wrong. If you mislabel it, no one is going to be upset. With maladaptive daydreaming, because it's unrecognised, there's even less pressure with self-diagnosis and there's no criteria you have to match. It's a label used to describe an experience. It's also important to remember that imposter syndrome is very common in all disorders & disabilities, physical and psychological, even after diagnosis.

Research Resources:

Eli Somer is the main researcher for Maladaptive Daydreaming and is the original creator of the term back in 2002. You can find some of his papers linked at the bottom of the Maladaptive Daydreaming Wikipedia Page as references (which I also recommend flicking through).

The MDS-16 is a self-assessment tool made by Somer & his associates. You can take it here on traumadissociation.com but other PDF versions are available on the internet. It has 16 questions and the result is the mean of your answers.

This is the official website for The International Consortium For Maladaptive Daydreaming Research. The ICMDR are an informal group of scientists conducting group research on MD. Their site hosts a lot of their research and resources to help you with MD.

The Parallel Lives Podcast is a great way to hear other people's experiences with MD (link leads to spotify).

Honestly I haven't read any papers on MD (I probably should) so don't worry about not doing enough research. I do recommend the MDS-16 especially though as it will help you reflect on the traits of MD you possess.

I hope some of this was helpful anon!! Feel free to send anymore questions you have through, hopefully I'll be able to respond a little quicker this time!! You're also welcome to talk about your experiences more. My DMs are open if you ever need to talk more privately. /gen /nf

[icejinlov3r]

ART CONTEST!!! - Frieza and Frost’s Fashion Show!!

So, I’m very much burnt out from writing (at least from my big stories, I’ll probably still drop occasional oneshots) and am taking a small hiatus. But turns hiatus can be a bit boring. So how am I gonna change that?

By hosting a random art contest for fun!!

I thought this might be a fun little thing to drop. No idea how many participants they’ll actually be, but we’ll see 😁😁.

So, here’s how it’ll work. The theme will be my two fav bois, Frieza and Frost. Specifically, with the two of them wearing cute outfits that you guys come up with! There will be a time limit of one week (meaning March 26th, 2024 is the due date). And when that day comes, I’ll share everyone’s drawings in giant post - make it a little “fashion show” for everyone to see! And then the next day, I’ll set up votes so YOU guys can vote on the winner!

I’m gonna have votes set up for different categories too, such as “cutest outfits” or “most unique outfits” that people can also vote on. But the main winner at the end will get to request a drawing from me - on any character, fandom, or ship they want!

There are gonna be a few rules, but really it’s more like a guideline on the contest:

You don’t have to draw ship art of Frieza and Frost together - just a simple piece with these two wearing an outfit of your choice will suffice, or even two separate pics of each individual character will work (that said, ship art is welcome too).

They don’t have to wear matching outfits, have them wear whatever you come up with.

You are not limited just because both characters are male - you can dress them up in either male or female outfits, but they both only require ONE outfit each.

If you want to dress them up in outfits from a crossover show (for example, dress Frieza up as Alastor from Hazbin Hotel, etc) you can absolutely do that.

You can have Frieza and Frost be in any form you want - obviously most people recognize their final forms, but I’d be delighted to see them in their first forms, or Frieza in Golden Form.

Art can be digital or on paper, you’re free to choose.

You don’t have to follow me to participate - everyone is welcome!

Okay, now for the ACTUAL rules: please keep your outfits and drawings PG-13. I don’t know how many minors actually follow me, or look at my content, but I wanna make this available to everyone.

Leave some sort of signature on your art. I know most artists do anyway, but I don’t want anyone’s art to get stolen.

No AI art. I shouldn’t have to explain why.

And finally, please show good sportsmanship. No matter what category someone wins, or who wins the contest at the end, the point of this is just to have fun and show the creativity of many artists! If I catch word any any artists harassing me or other artists for any reason related to the contest, your art will immediately be disqualified. No if, ands, or buts. Be respectful.

Okay, I think that covers everything, but if I need to, I’ll update this later. Like I said, you have one week to submit your art. You can either DM it to me in my private messaging, or send it in my inbox - just don’t do it anonymously, otherwise giving proper credit to your art will be much more difficult. In any case, good luck, and I can’t wait to see your guy’s art!

@anonymous-harpy @bluberryboom @justme068 @purrfectcellz @gojiberry-bbq @airplaneear2 @amiz06-certified-b1mb0

(These are just great artists I’m tagging to see if they’re interested 😊)