#capes are so good. nothing to make you feel like an adventurer like a cape

[bg-brainrot]

Of Bets, Bluffs, and Briefs

Featuring: Astarion x Rogue!Tav

Series: Fits into Love at First Knife, AO3 link here

Summary: It's another night at the Elfsong for your group of intrepid adventures. After a hard day of fighting evil, you find a way to sit down, unwind, and undress through a game of strip poker.

Tags: POV Second Person, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Fluff, Strip Poker, Nudity, Alcohol, Innuendos, act 3 unascended Astarion

Word count: ~3.2k

Partly inspired by this amazing piece of fanart from @krembruleed, ty to @thedomesticanthropologist for putting it on my feed!

--

It's hard work being a hero. Though you suppose one could hardly tell by the current state of your group.

What you had originally thought would be a harmless game of cards– a way to destress with your companions after yet another life-threatening situation– had turned into quite a different type of danger. Right now, you are perilously close to losing your last two items of clothing in a high stakes, winner take all, game of strip poker.

It had begun innocently enough.

"Soldier, what do you think?" Karlach had asked you, pulling you out of your thoughts. You were all sitting together playing a game of cards, drinks in hand, crowded around a circular table in your room at the Elfsong. 

You'd lifted your eyes from your hand to look at her, directly on your right, and asked, "About what?"

"About raising the stakes a bit," she'd responded with a little eyebrow wiggle.

In your defense, your hand was fantastic. Your mind was mired in all of the possibilities it could afford you. That being said, maybe you should have gotten clarification before agreeing. "That sounds like a great idea, Karlach."

So now here you are, wearing only a pair of underpants and socks, regretting the fact that a single good hand led you to this sorry state of undress. You’re no stranger to being naked, but something about being half-naked, elbow to elbow with your friends, with nothing but a few flimsy cards between you? Well, you are starting to feel a touch exposed.

The rest of your team doesn't seem to be faring much better: Wyll is down to his white briefs; Karlach has a pair of bracers and her underpants left; Lae'zel is down to just a headband she'd nearly forgotten about; Shadowheart has both a bra and underwear left; Gale is wearing his purple underpants and an amulet; Halsin is already out of the game, completely nude, sitting at the table and simply appreciating the freedom of it all. You rather suspect he wasn’t trying as hard as the rest of you to keep clothed.

There is, however, one among your crew who is nearly no worse for wear, save a pair of missing boots and a missing cape. Astarion, with all of the pride of someone who has had four winning hands in a row, smiles wickedly at the group over his latest hand of cards.

“Come on, Astarion,” Karlach whines, leaning forward on the table. “You cannot possibly have another flush or I am calling bullshit.”

“My dearest Karlach,” he starts, voice coated in only the sweetest of honey. “You wound me. I am simply playing with the hands that I’ve been dealt, same as the rest of you.”

“And your hands just happen to include a full house or two?” Shadowheart questions, raising an annoyed eyebrow at him as she crosses her bare legs.

Astarion’s fanged grin grows. “Maybe I’m just lucky?”

You have begun to strongly suspect foul play as well, given the vampire’s downright unbelievable ‘luck’ so far. “Astarion, if you are cheating, I will be incredibly cross with you,” you say as a way of warning. He doesn’t need to strip in front of the group if he doesn’t want to, of course, and he could just as easily have avoided the game altogether. No, he seems to have another motive behind his near-perfect playing.

“My darling!” he exclaims, placing a single pale hand on his chest. “The rest of these jealous dimwits I expect, but you?” He makes an exaggerated show of wiping away a fake tear with one of Gale’s many forfeited articles of clothing.

“Excuse you!” Gale cuts in. “You may have won the hand, but I expect my robe to be in perfect condition once you return it to me.”

“I thought we were playing for keeps?” you ask, turning to Karlach. Or was this not as high stakes as you’d expected?

“Of course we are!” the tiefling answers with gusto. “Otherwise where’s the fun! The fear! The excitement!” She punctuates each statement by pounding on the table, nearly jostling everyone’s flagons onto the floor. 

The point was made though and you simply hear a resigned sigh from the wizard. “I cannot lose my last pair of enchanted underwear,” he grumbles.

“Then maybe you ought to try winning,” Astarion retorts, the gleeful look never leaving his face.

You take a sip from your drink, surveying the situation. You’re playing 5-card draw, a simple version of poker, rife with opportunity for Astarion to cheat. But why cheat? It’s a game for fun, despite the silly fear it’s clearly instilled in you all. And it’s not as if he’s wearing his best gear or outfit.

You take a look at your hand, another dud– no opportunities for a straight, no pairs for a full house. Your best bet is to draw and hope for a pair, but you suspect that won’t nearly be enough to beat whatever Astarion is crooning over. With only a pair of socks and underpants to your name, you know when you’ve lost. So you know it’s time to do what you do best. “Well then,” you say, placing your cards face down on the table and leaning back. “What happens if I fold?”

“Fold?” Lae’zel asks with a glare. “Would you truly abandon your efforts this deep into the battle?”

Little does she know that you plan on losing the battle to win the war. “Yes,” you respond easily. “What does that do?”

Karlach’s face scrunches up as she considers the possibilities. No one has tried to back out yet, but surely, you need some kind of punishment for trying to avoid the ‘strip’ part of strip poker.

“How about you buy the next round?” Wyll offers, ever the gentleman. His eyes are carefully trained on yours, and you’re not sure if the blush that colors his cheeks is from the drinks he’s had or the proximity of your bare chest.

“Hells no!” Karlach answers immediately. “That’s getting off too easy– we need actual consequences here.”

Astarion, to your immense suspicion, has yet to say anything. When you look over to him, he’s inspecting you with narrowed eyes, hands folded over his facedown cards. The corner of his lip lifts as you make eye contact with him, and he asks, “What’s the matter, love? Running away from me, are you?”

It’s as you thought. He doesn’t want to strip everyone down– he wants to strip you down. “Why would you think that?” you counter, crossing your arms in challenge. “Are you so certain you’ll win again?”

“I’ve got it!” Karlach exclaims. “You need to be the one to strip someone else down. And you’ve got to go real slow.”

You’d already been staring at Astarion’s face when Karlach made the declaration, so you immediately clock the slight bit of annoyance that furrows his brow. Everyone save Lae’zel and him was down to their underwear, so it was easy enough to imagine how that particular exercise would go.

Karlach, you’re a genius, you think. Aloud, you simply say, “Sounds fair to me.”

“Ridiculous,” Astarion mutters. You strongly suspect he would rather you reserve any undressing for him, but you’ve already folded and he’s likely already cheated his hand.

Everyone completes their draws, hands are placed face up on the table, and Astarion’s ludicrous bout of good luck is staring at you all once more– this time in the form of a straight flush.

Lae’zel slams her hands on the table. “You swindler,” she growls, pointing at Astarion with an accusatory finger.

The vampire raises his hands in defense, leaning away from the table. “I am nothing of the sort!” He does shoot you a wary look before clearing his throat. “And what of our lovely leader?”

It’s time for your punishment. “Do I get to pick, Karlach?” you ask, looking between your companions in turn.

“Of course not!” she says, clapping you on the back. “Let’s draw cards for the privilege of your nimble fingers, shall we?”

Everyone agrees easily enough, and it’s not long before they’re all pulling from the stack, the highest card to be the ‘victor.’ Lae’zel draws a queen, Karlach an eight, Gale a four, Wyll a jack, and Shadowheart an ace.

You turn to the cleric, who seems entirely unaffected by the whole ordeal. “Would you prefer the top or bottom?” she asks you, with a slight purse to her lips.

Despite his earlier misgivings, Astarion’s quick with a sultry sounding retort, “Oh I think we both know which you prefer, darling?” Karlach can’t help the snort that escapes her any more than Gale can hide the startled cough.

You ignore him and the rest of your companions, getting up and walking to where Shadowheart is seated. “Let’s just do the top,” you say, moving her hair out of the way.

“Very well,” she responds, sitting up a bit straighter for you. “But be quick about it.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Karlach immediately interrupts. “Be as slow as possible, soldier. Or you’ll have to do it again!”

“Don’t worry, love! You know exactly how slow to go,” Astarion quips, looking at you through his lashes.

You ignore his quip. To appease Karlach, you make a show of it: delicately removing each strap, undoing the back latch. All the while, you hold eye contact with your vampiric lover, as if taunting him, saying ‘this is what you get for cheating.’ He watches, lips making a hard, annoyed line. Shadowheart’s top removed, you return to your seat.

Once everyone else has relinquished their articles of clothing, the game is down to you, Karlach, Shadowheart, Gale, and, of course, Astarion.

Halsin places an arm around an embarrassed Wyll’s shoulder. “Don’t you worry, my friend. Now you are free of any constraints, allowed to observe and appreciate the game as one would the natural world.”

“Sounds lovely, Halsin,” he answers, ducking his head a bit. “I think.”

Lae’zel, for her part, seems perfectly fine to have lost the headband, not any more naked than she was before. “Tchk, hurry and finish the game. Why is everyone in Faerun so interested in the nude form?” It’s a fair question, but none of you answer it as another set of hands is dealt. 

You observe Astarion the entire time, noting every subtle movement of his hands, watching as you try to pin down an extra card or a slip of his sleeve. But he’s ready for this, looking at you as he inspects each new card. “So, darling,” he drawls. “Are you planning on folding again?”

“That depends,” you reply, looking at your cards quickly. Nothing too impressive, but better than the last hand. “Are you planning on cheating again?”

“Gods above,” he mutters, fanning himself with his cards. “My poor, undead heart can’t take much more of these accusations.” Your eyes catch a slight jerk of his hand, and you know what you must do. 

“I’d like to fold again,” you say, looking back to the tiefling woman on your right.

“Alright, soldier,” she agrees with a snicker. The glimmer in her eyes is enough to show that she knows you’re up to something. 

“May I fold too?” Gale grumbles, now truly down to his last magical pair of underpants.

Karlach thinks about it for a moment, realizing the flaw in her plan. “No,” she finally states. “Only one person per round.”

Everyone finishes drawing and plays their hands. Unlike last time, everyone turns to Gale, who has won with a pair of tens. “I won?” he asks, turning toward Astarion, whose expression is quite blank. His hand had been miserable, as if he’d drawn for worse cards– which you suspect he might have.

“Let’s see who I shall strip then,” you say, laying out the stack for the remaining three. You already know who will emerge victorious, sure that there’s an ace up his sleeve at this very moment. Shadowheart draws a seven, Karlach a ten, and, low and behold, Astarion draws an ace.

“Aren’t I the luckiest vampire in Baldur’s Gate?” he says, smiling up at you as you walk around the table to him. “What will you be taking?”

You tilt your head at him, debating the possibilities. But you start simple, slowly, carefully removing the blouse from his head. The entire time, you smile with satisfaction. Because you know you’ve won.

Shadowheart and Karlach now sit there, naked as the day they entered this realm of existence. The tiefling gives you another clap on the back with a laugh, as she whispers loudly at you, “Avenge me, soldier!”

And avenge you will. 

You fold another four times. Each time, Astarion somehow, miraculously, loses. And each time he sighs deeply, dramatically as you approach him to peel off yet another piece of clothing. 

The second time, he whispers, “You cheeky thing, how could you?

On the third time, he whispers, “Don’t you want me to win?”

On the fourth time, he whispers, “Fine, but don’t think you’ll get out of this.”

That’s how he loses his greaves, his pants, his socks, and a necklace, leaving him in only his bright blue briefs.

When you go to fold for a fifth time, ready to remove Astarion from the game once and for all, the man sighs before even viewing his cards and says, “I fold.”

You look at Karlach, as if she might be able to save you, but she only shrugs at you. Her eyes seem to say, ‘It’s in the rules now!’ 

And you suppose it is. So you and Gale each discard, draw, and play your hands. Your three of a kind beats his pair, and Astarion reluctantly strips the wizard of his last, purple pair of enchanted briefs.

I’ll return it to him after the game, you think, as Astarion deposits the pair in front of you with a smirk.

“I’m a few articles of clothing poorer, but I do believe I did rather well, didn’t I?” Gale says, sitting back down, wincing slightly as his bare cheeks make contact with the wooden chair. 

“As well as you can when that one cheats,” Shadowheart says, gesturing toward Astarion with her glass of wine.

“I am innocent until proven guilty,” Astarion replies, sitting back down in his seat, ready for the final showdown.

Now it’s just you and Astarion facing off. You, with a pair of underwear and socks. Him, reduced to his underpants.

“Oh, darling,” he says, leaning back enough that his entire bare torso is on full display. “Do you really think you’ll be able to defeat me in a game like this?”

“I think I like my odds,” you say, leaning back in much the same way. “Karlach, would you do us the honor of dealing?”

“My pleasure,” she responds, cards shooting out of her hands at an alarming speed.

Everyone watches on bated breath as you both draw your hands, look over them silently. You really do like your odds now. Cheating will prove hard for Astarion to do without sleeves to hide cards, and everyone is watching him carefully, waiting to catch the pilferer in the act.

Good, you think, slipping a few cards out from under the table. Two can play at this game, and only one of us waited until the right moment to cheat.

You deposit your extra cards subtly back on the discard pile when no one is looking, and fan your remaining hand out– what stares back at you is an impeccable, unbelievable royal flush. You know you’re going to win, there’s no doubt about it, so you allow yourself a little taunt. “Now that you’re about to lose, my love… whatever compelled you to cheat? What do you gain out of this?”

Astarion looks back at you, eyes straining around the edges as he debates what to discard. “Not that I cheated,” he starts, with a smile that comes out more of a grimace. “But I thought it might be nice to rightfully win one of your undergarments. And perhaps to keep it out of the hands of these lecherous fools.” He gives everyone else at the table a glare in turn before discarding and drawing back up.

Oh, you think. That’s sweet, in a weird, slightly concerning way. Much like the man who now turns back to you, a wide, unabashed smile on his pale face. “I see,” is all that you say in response. You look down at the royal flush in your hand. You can’t lose with this, and you can’t very well try to cheat again when you’re both done drawing.

You turn to Karlach. “Can I still fold?”

“What!?” she cries, looking at you like you’re insane. “Why would you do that, soldier? You’ve nearly got ‘im!”

“Darling,” the man calls from across the table. You look into his fierce, red eyes, narrowed with determination. “Don’t you dare lose to me on purpose. Especially when I know that you’ve beaten me at my own game.”

The smirk he gives you is all the encouragement you need. “Fine,” you say, laying out your preposterous, beautiful hand. Everyone at the table gasps, save Astarion. He only looks at you warmly before laying out his sad, single pair of nines.

“Well played,” he says, standing up. A second later, his blue underwear is off, like a flag of surrender. In all of his naked glory, he walks around the table, places his briefs in front of you, and smiles. “I’ll get you next time, my sweet.”

You look up at him, aware that all of your companions are watching the exchange with rapt attention, but also finding that you can’t bring yourself to care. “You can have me now, if you’d like.”

“Lady of the Moon save me… please control yourselves,” Shadowheart says, downing the rest of her wine glass. She stands up, ignoring the dizzying display of love next to her. “That’s enough of that game, wouldn’t you all say?”

“Yes, why don’t we find something a bit… warmer to play?” Wyll suggests, standing up after Shadowheart. Halsin, Lae’zel and Gale follow, leaving you, Karlach, and Astarion behind. 

The tiefling usually knows when to leave the two of you to your own devices, but can’t resist one last comment. “Thanks for avenging me, soldier,” she says, wrapping you in a warm, bare bear hug. At Astarion’s low, annoyed groan, she releases you, laughing. “Join us again once you’re done doing whatever weird flirting you get up to!”

She leaves the two you be, and you turn toward Astarion. “So,” you say, scratching the back of your head ruefully. “Was that too much?”

He shakes his head at you, white curls bouncing lightly. “No, I’d rather say I deserved it a bit– But only a bit.”

You laugh at the admission and hold out a hand for Astarion to bring out of your chair. He takes it, pulling you up and into his arms. Your bare chests press together a moment, and the chill of his skin on yours leaves goosebumps all along your arms. “Thank you,” you murmur, realizing that your faces are too close, skin too exposed.

Astarion doesn’t seem to mind, leaning a bit further into you. “You’re quite welcome, my dear.” He drops his voice to a whisper, meant only for your ears. “What do you say we finish our ‘weird flirting’ before we rejoin the group?”

“Only if you promise to keep the sleight of hand to a minimum in our next game,” you whisper, looking between his red eyes.

He sighs, his cool breath tickling your face. “Very well.”

“And next time, just ask me for the underpants,” you grumble, before finally pressing your lips into his.

[lily-alphonse]

what if... shane and mr. qi

Bro what 😭 I know absolutely nothing about Mr. Qi. BUT I have like 2 or 3 more asks with him in it so it looks like Im gonna have to build a characterization for him real quick lol. I love him though. Love a weird little cryptid man and the fanart is so good.

What interest would he have in Shane I wonder? Maybe it's an AU where Shane is the one to take over the farm and everything so he's secretly special. OR... Mr. Qi just enjoys watching a dumpsterfire. There's no TLC in Stardew Valley so what better reality TV content than to watch the town drunk? Maybe even make things a little worse for him sometimes just for funsies.

You know how in the Sims, if you have an unlucky Sim they can cheat death because Grim either pities or is amused by their shenanigans? That's the dynamic I think. Shane is so unlucky that Qi finds him endearing over time.

Qi would start to leave notes for him, trying to send him on adventures or test him. Shane would have none of it, crumbling the weird notes and suspecting someone was playing some kind of prank on him. Qi gets annoyed about it. Enough to even reveal himself, but he picks (what may or may not be) the best time because Shane is so drunk he doesn't even care.

Mr. Qi almost blends into the darkness by the dock, except his cape shimmers with moonlight and catches Shane's eye. He approaches him when he's discovered.

"Shane," he says in greeting.

It makes Shane wonder if he knows him. Then he wonders if he should be worried about this random shady character approaching him. But he also looks kinda silly, a wide hat and sunglasses obscuring his face, and the most obvious answer is that he’s finally snapped.

Shane narrows his eyes at him, trying to decide what to name this odd figment of his imagination. "Mr..." he starts, and Mr. Qi is almost ready to be impressed until Shane settles on "Hat."

Qi isn't sure whether to laugh or disappear in a rage.

A sort of scoff comes out instead and he sits next to him on the dock. 

"Where did you come from?" Shane asks.

"I come from everywhere." 

"Figures," Shane mumbles into his beer can. He downs another drink. "You're not gonna be some kind of like... conscious that talks in riddles or something are you?"

It feels appropriate, almost making them equals, for Shane to see him as an imaginary friend. It makes up for the way Qi had started to see him as a pet. 

"Not a conscious, though I might speak in riddles occasionally."

“Dammit. Tracks I guess. Can never make sense of any of the shit up here,” he mumbles, gesturing to his head.

Qi had been planning to ask him about the notes, maybe even scare him a little. But here he was being handed the golden opportunity to see into Shane’s mind, and that was even better.

Actually, being an unknown, an enigma, had always been the goal. Short of that,he was forced to keep a carefully curated reputation of mystery, which was not at all the same. Meeting in this way turned out to be a blessing.

“Why do you think you’ve summoned me here?”

“I'm drunk.”

“I can see that.”

“I dunno, I'm pathetically lonely," he says with an exasperated sigh, "Obviously.”

Qi feels a twinge of something unnameable at that, though it's still pretty amusing. He likes the blunt way Shane speaks, especially when he puts himself down, its pure dark-comedy gold. It feels different when directed at him personally though. Like some long-dormant human urge within him makes his heart ache to match Shane’s.

“Are you?” he asks simply.

"D'you have eyes under there?" Shane slurs, looking at him more closely.

"Would you have made me without eyes?"

"Good point. The fuck are we talking about? Who are you?"

"Mr. Hat, apparently."

"Right."

Anyway, they continue to meet like this, with Mr. Qi as his supposed imaginary friend, and Mr. Qi begins to genuinely enjoy the connection they have because no one has ever treated him like this. Everyone he meets is intimidated by him, afraid of him, or looking to screw him over. And beyond that, when he was younger and more human, it was always people wanting to know him. Always so many questions.

His goal was always to be unknown.

He gets that with Shane, under the pretext that he does not exist. It’s freeing, and paradoxically allows him to open up. Any perceived oddity about him only gets turned into a reflection on the darkness in Shane’s mind. In this way, Shane might know him in a deeper sense than anyone else has in a long time. Plus, Qi doesn’t laugh this much with anyone else.  

Shane wants to be unknown too, in his own way. But he starts to hate himself a little less, after these late night talks to ‘himself’. Weirdly he starts drinking less and the hallucination stays. 

I think there would be quite a dramatic falling out when he finds out the truth, but in a way, Shane would also be relieved that this was a real person he could potentially be with.

This ask is a part of the (now closed) SDV Rarepair Challenge! Check out the other answers here, and make sure to boost your favorite so it can appear in the final fic poll! More info on that here.

[allwormdiet]

Insinuation 2.2

Time for another day of learning and adventure at Winslow High

That does have to be weird, though, right? Like "I fought a big badass villain last night and survived, my whole world has been changed by this encounter, I stared death in the face, what do you mean I still have to go to class and act like nothing changed?" Massive whiplash, I'd imagine.

Mrs. Knott gives the impression of being... better, at least, than Gladly. She's putting the effort in if nothing else, even if she has to leave the better-performing students alone in order to handle the rest of them, but that feels more like a matter of understaffing than any personal failure on her part.

God it's still messed up that Taylor has such little respite from bullying. This poor girl.

...I think this is the first time I've ever seen anything about Taylor knowing basic computer programming. Wonder if that ever comes back around.

And yeah Taylor, of course you have a geeky reputation, you're a fucking geek. Even setting aside the stuff with the bullying, like c'mon.

I saw a shitpost about how the single reason that Earth Bet is a dystopia is that Reddit is the number one news source in the world and there's something really funny about that idea.

Okay real quick the screenshot would be too small for me to add alt text, but “This article is a stub. Be a hero and help us expand it.” is an objectively hilarious line

And here we get the most information on any given Undersider, and it's immediately clear that Rachel has had a hard fucking life, like hell. Living on the streets as a teenage parahuman must be rough as hell, it's like living on the streets as a normal teenager except people want to recruit or imprison you while wearing stupid costumes instead of just police uniforms

(I would follow a Bitch fansite though, for real)

That's not how gangs work but whatever

So the ABB has a dragon man with dragon tattoos who uses the Chinese word for dragon as his cape name while being from Japan, a suicide bomber who dresses like a ninja, and a bomb Tinker. I don't know enough about Bakuda to really say but Lung and Oni Lee's gimmicks feel... mm. Lazy isn't the right word. Let's just stick with "racist" and move on so it stops bugging me

This is cute actually. She did a good job and she wants to like, celebrate that... and the only problem is that there's nobody she can celebrate with. I just made myself sad thinking about that.

And now she's basically Googling herself, which is also somehow cute.

There's something really funny about the idea that like. Taylor gets in touch with the Undersiders through a fucking Missed Connections post on a superhero message board. Like it's almost certainly the safest and most reliable way to get that message out, but that doesn't make it less comical.

And it looks like that's where we're leaving things.

Current Thoughts

Hit some highs and lows with this chapter honestly. Learning a little bit more about Taylor (swear to god I've never heard the programming thing come up before) and getting more of a breakdown on the Undersiders is all well and good, plus developments from the events of the night before, but again the whole Deal of the ABB grates pretty harshly. Like you don't need goddamn Edward Said to tell you that's all crap, it's just crap, and I don't think it reflects well on the author for putting that crap out there instead of thinking about it for maybe another thirty minutes first.

I gotta run some errands, 2.3 after that, God willing I don't have to read about the ABB for a while longer

[weirdozjunkary]

Golden heart (a SATBK AU fic) chapter 1

ive been rewatching playthroughs of SATBK and it made me kind of inspired to make a wholesome, but also kind of bittersweet au. Sonic is written so well in the game, but I wonder what would happen if sonic lived in that world and meeting merlina was a coincidence. What would happen in the aftermath of the story? And what if a different blue hero somehow made his way in?

Idk if ill continue this fic, but it was fun to do. Enjoy

Chapter 2

Chapter 1(?)- blue blood of a hero

It was morning, early in the morning. The golden light of the sun shone upon the cold castle, it’s rays bouncing off of every reflective surface. It was quiet, as it was the norm. After merlina’s defeat, things have usually been quiet. Though she had accepted that things would eventually wither and die, Merlina left in search for a new life, not tainted by any shadow. Any sound in the castle now was of rattling drapes near a gusty window, or footsteps from someone who was awake doing their duties.

A book feel from the library shelf, from the echo of the room it’s thud increased tenfold, alerting to whomever was nearby. The book jostled, jerked and writhed. It opened itself and not a moment later, exploded out a portal of bright light, outshining the suns golden rays. Through the light of the book came… screaming? A famous blue hedgehog rocketed out of the book and into the air, his face collided with the cold wooden floor, it took him out for a moment. The bright portal that released him had dissolved away, leaving no evidence of how he got here.

Sonic sat up on his hands and knees and groaned, his face hurt from the harsh fall, but it wasn’t the hardest he’s been hit. He rubbed his sore nose and cheeks, making sure his face wasn't broken or bleeding. Good, it wasn't. A figure with a slightly  familiar voice came up to him. 

He extended his hand to the blue hedgehog. “Um, are you alright?”

Sonic took the figures hand and stood up. “Heh, yeah. Not the worst that’s happened to…” he looked at the figures hand. A metal gauntlet was in its place, it was cold and sleek, decorated with gold trimmings, but somehow it didn’t feel unfriendly. 

“… Are you just gonna stand there and stare at my hand or what?” The figure said.

Sonic finally looked up at the figure. It was… him? Or we’ll, a version of him? He certainly looked like him, but a few years older. He was taller, about as tall as vanilla was. His quills were unkempt and greying. Bags accompanied his tired eyes, and a few scars adorned his body. A crown laid gently on his head. He also had a cape which was cool as hell.

Sonic’s eyes widened at him, it was him. A version of him, but still. And he looked so badass with those scars and that cool cape. Perhaps he starred a bit to long though as his older duplicate spoke again.

“…. I think you can let go of my hand now, buddy…”

“Ah! Sorry!” Sonic said as he released his grip from the other hedgehogs metal hand. “You just look really cool!”

His other self chuckled “didn’t expect to see another version of yourself, ey?”

“Wait you know that I’m a version of you?”

“Well it’s not every day you see your younger self in front of you, now is it?”

“Fair point” Sonic chuckled “you look great though! Like you’ve been in so many adrenaline making adventures!” Sonic replayed a few of his action poses to his other self, who weakly chuckled in response.

“Man, was I really like this as a kid?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. I’m glad you think I’m ‘cool’.” His older self smiled at him.

Sonic grinned in response. Though it was kind of weird, it was definitely cool to see himself from the future- well, A future. He didn’t exactly know where he was.

“So, uh, I’m guessing from the crown you’re some kind of ruler, huh?” Sonic smirked “Didn’t take myself to be the kind of guy when I was older. What? You married some kind of princess chipmunk or something?”

The older hedgehog laughed “no, nothing of the sort. I’m not really into the dating pool like that.”

Sonic raised a brow “really? So why are you standing there with a dope ass crown and cape?”

“Well, I sort of pulled a sword out of a stone and defeated an evil king. Honestly the sword is the more important thing out of that”

“ ‘pulled a sword out of a stone’?” Sonic repeated like a question. What did he mean by that? Okay, yeah he defeated an evil king, but that doesn’t usually mean you were allowed to be crowned a ruler. Plus he said that ‘pulling a sword out of a stone’ was the more important part…. Wait… 

“YOU'RE KING ARTHUR?!” Sonic exclaimed

His older self laughed at his bewilderment, a loud and guttural laugh, one that sonic himself honestly rarely ever really used. For his older self, it was amusing to see himself be so surprised by who he has become. Once a hero as free as the wind, now a king interested in taking it easy from his many years of adventures. He was King Arthur… that name never really sat well with him.

“Yep. Surprising, I know.” 

“To be honest, not really?”

The older hedgehog gave a doubletake “Wait what?”

“I mean, I know I’m awesome as heck!” Sonic stood proudly “so I’m not to surprised that I’d become king! I AM surprised that you seem to be, well, retired from the hero biz”

The king glanced away from him. He was retired, so to speak. He hasn’t had an adventure in a long time, other than the usual stoping of a runaway wagon, he hasn’t slain a dragon or stopped another evil king. Not that he’d want to do that stuff again. His drive for adventure was still there, but sealed away by a layer of taint from the years before.

But he can’t lament over it. He sighed and turned back to the short blue hero. “If you’re anything like myself, you probably have an appetite by now, right?”

“Oh, uh, yeah I guess I could eat” sonic responded 

The king walked past him, waving him over to the door. “Then come on. Maybe I can get you something that would suit your taste.”

“Got any chillidogs?” Sonic bounced over.

“What’s a chillidog?” 

Sonic blinked in surprise. “Uh… I’ll tell you later”

The royal blue hedgehog raised a brow, but decided to leave the blue hedgehogs comment. The kitchen wasn’t far from the library so it wasn’t really worth smalltalk, he wasn’t the one for smalltalk anyways. The main hall they had to traverse through felt large and hollow, despite being decorated with various tapestries and suits of armor that held the most delicate and pretty weaponry. 

Sonic looked at the armory that adorned the halls, more amazed by each one. He turned to his older self to express his admiration, but the hedgehog seemed agitated by the presence of the suits of armor. His brow furrowed as he looked straight to the end of the hall, not even glancing at the shiny sheets of metal that would catch anyone's eyes.

Sonic shut his lips, preventing any unwanted words to come out. This other older version of himself wasn’t much of a talker, huh? It was strange, he was always up to talking, why wasn’t he? The silence in Sonic's ears was deafening. He could barely hear his steps on the carpeted wood. It was, honestly, sort of awkward, to not chit chat or give small proads at someone. 

But Sonic always respected boundaries. Even if someone never explicitly said anything to him, he could tell when someone was uncomfortable. He continued to walk with his other self in silence.

To ease his mind, he continued to look around, soaking in all of the pretty decorations along with the stone walls and the wooden doors and pillars that kept this castle standing. The wood, though looked worn for wear, never was rotting, like it was being taken care of by, um, whatever they use in this timeline. 

Sonic’s eyes drifted, and he slowly came to a stop in front of two large open doors. It was the throne room, empty, despite it to, being as decorated as the hall connected to it. The throne had a cold look to it, like it hadn’t been sat upon in years. And If any had, it came with a bitter feeling. 

Sonic tilted his head up above the cold throne to a beautiful case for a blade rested atop it, empty. A sword belonged up there, but there wasn’t one.

“I thought you were hungry?” The king hedgehog said with aggression in his throat

“Oh! Uh, sorry! I’m coming!” Sonic quickly paced his way to him. “You just have, uh, a lot of cool things in here.”

His other self grunted, or maybe scoffed in response. Continuing the silence all the way to the kitchen. Sonic glanced up at himself. His face so tired and cold, like he had been fighting an eternal battle for years of his life.

“… I’ll talk to him later” sonic thought to himself. “After all, I just got here” the corners of his mouth rose slightly as he looked in front of himself. “Plus, I really want something to eat right now”

[romancomicsblog]

My Adventures with Superman brings Hope back to the Man of Steel - REVIEW Ep 1 & 2

*Spoilers for the first two episodes, now streaming on Max!*

Growing up, Superman always came off to me as a very nothing character. White bread. Good for the sake of good. Not funny like Spider-Man, not dark and cool like Batman, and too powerful to be in any real danger.

He was just there as the original cape and tights. He was important because he did it first, but that didn't make him interesting.

As I got older, and I read and saw him in more media, I realized the fun of Superman comes from the kindness. The hope he brings to those around him and that stable positive force is essential to the world and the Justice League. While he is the most powerful person in the room, because of who Clark is and his values, he's the person you fear the least.

He's gonna save your cat, he's gonna stop that burning building, and he's gonna get the bad guy, as unharmed as possible.

This is where the DCEU lost me, and where I think most Superman content does. That hope, that kindness, the gentle giant that Clark is has somehow been lost in translation.

While Henry Cavill is a great actor and can play the hopeful side, setting the tone of the movies as so dark and serious drained Superman of his charm.

Superman and Lois has done a good job bringing Clark's hopefulness back in moments, but the Zack Snyder DCEU feel coupled with the CW drama still keeps Superman and Lois pretty dark and dire.

While Hoechlin is a fantastic Superman, the world he inhabits has kept me wanting a true representation of the character I love.

Which is why My Adventures with Superman is such a breath of fresh air.

Let's start with Jack Quaid. Using such a pure sounding soul like Quaid to embody Clark was a stroke of genius. While he is known for playing good-ish characters like Hughie in The Boys and Peter Parker/ The Lizard in Across the Spider-Verse, Quaid does not coast on his past charms for Clark.

This character equally feels fresh, different from Quaid's past characters, and like a kid who is transitioning into the Man of Steel.

Whether he is struggling to flirt, scold Lois for lying, or fight a robot, Clark feels genuine, kind, and strong.

As Superman, Clark does not change into a scary, super powered god. Instead, he is trying to help the bad guy, clean up the messes, and rescue kittens from trees. While we only get a glimpse of his true Superman form at the end of episode 2, it is enough for me to get so excited that I'm typing this all out. This is the Superman I've been waiting for!

Rounding out the cast are Alice Lee and Ishmel Sahid as Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.

Lee has a quality not always perfectly emulated for Lois in my opinion, which is spunk. Moxie. She is so clearly the leader of the team for the Daily Planet. Couple that with her comedy timing and clear chemistry with Quaid, this may be the blueprint for Clark and Lois in the future.

While usually Lois is a made journalist by the time Clark shows up, starting them at equal footing is an interesting development. I'm hoping they use this to show just how quickly Lois Lane can rise the ranks against others.

While Sahid is utilized the least so far, conspiracy theorist comic relief Jimmy is equally charismatic and likable. He is a character I think the DCEU and CW didn't quite understand the value of, but this show clearly does. My hope is this character goes on to go on as wacky adventures as he does in the comics.

The chemistry between the three characters is very strong for the first couple of episodes. So much so I don't know if I'm more excited for more Lois and Clark romance, Clark and Jimmy bafoonery, or Lois and Jimmy investigating.

While the villains leave something to be desired in the first two episodes, the inclusion of overarching villains Deathstroke, Amanda Waller and General Lane lead me to believe they hope to build out this universe, at the very least into Batman.

If that is true, I am so in.

I can see a world where we have 3-4 different anime shows introducing key members of the Justice League, all leading up to an anime style movie where they fight Brainiac, with Jack Quaid's Superman at the center of it.

But perhaps I am getting way ahead of myself.

All in all, My Adventures with Superman has me excited for Fridays to come. It has heart, it has comedy, and it seems to understand the Last Son of Krypton better than most pieces of media.

This should be the blueprint for Superman Legacy.

A Superman who brings donuts for all his coworkers.

If you'd like to support me you can follow me on my socials here!

[antianakin]

What are your thoughts on the 2003 clone wars and its portrayal of the Jedi? I do think it’s a fun cartoon and does work as an episode 2.5. Anakin’s portrayal is closer to the movies than TCW which is either a positive or negative depending on whether you like him or not. We do get some badass moments from Mace Windu and Fordo but the clones are portrayed as flesh droids with only Cody and Fordo having a bit more personality. One thing I don’t like is how it’s propped up by the anti Jedi, dudebro side of the fandom and is used to claim the Jedi don’t care about the clones. It does have a great moment with Barriss and Luminara, though.

So I've only seen like 30-50% of this show because I started watching it back when it was on YouTube a few years ago and then something was weird with one of the videos and it felt like it skipped a large number of episodes or they didn't work or something and I wasn't invested enough to keep trying to find it or to go back now that I have access to D+. All of which means my opinion of this show isn't the MOST informed it could be. Please take my opinions on this show with a grain of salt if that bothers you.

I think that the 2003 Clone Wars is relatively flat as a show, it's not intended to be that deep of an exploration of any of the characters and certainly not of the Jedi or the clones, so trying to see it that way feels like an exercise in futility to begin with. TCW on the other hand, despite its terrible episodic structure, IS sometimes trying to go for deeper explorations of the characters, the Jedi, the clones, and the situation they are currently in. 2003 Clone Wars often represented the battles as fun adventures and nowhere is this easier to see than in the Mon Cala episode with Kit Fisto which was directly adapted into TCW as a full four episode arc. The 2003 version is silly, full of little explosions and Kit Fisto just throwing off his cape very dramatically. The 2008 version starts with an assassination, it introduces a more nuanced political situation between the Mon Cala and the Quarrens, it has a whole coming-of-age story with Lee Char, it gets a little darker with its shark villain and what he's willing to do, and it brings in the Gungans as a legitimate army again. And I feel like that's just a fairly good representation of how 2003 Clone Wars treated its characters and its stories in comparison to how other media has treated the same characters and stories of this time period.

I wasn't that big of a fan of how this show represented Obi-Wan and Anakin either, especially Anakin. I think they leaned REALLY hard into Anakin as the whiny teenager, to an even greater degree than AOTC did in many ways, which just continues to make it unbelievable that he gets Knighted. The entire Knighting ceremony moment was ridiculous because Obi-Wan comes up to talk to him about how he's being promoted to Knight because of his maturity and Anakin immediately refuses to let him finish because he assumes Obi-Wan is coming to criticize him for something and he just starts getting really childish and unkind about it, to the point that he literally is insulting Obi-Wan and throwing Qui-Gon in his face as a comparison. And somehow Obi-Wan STILL thinks he's ready to be a Knight after that interaction, and it's... so so bad. I genuinely really hate the way 2003 Clone Wars handled Anakin's Knighting.

I don't love the way it portrayed Obi-Wan and Anakin in the earlier episodes I saw where Anakin's still a Padawan, there's nothing positive about their relationship. Obi-Wan is just an overbearing nag and Anakin is a childish asshole and there's zero nuance to them beyond that. Even Lucas realized they needed to have some positive moments added in to ensure viewers realized that these two characters were friends who enjoyed each other's company. Just because they struggle sometimes doesn't mean they don't care about each other and the best way to make sure that gets across is to make sure they HAVE positive moments together. The episodes of 2003 Clone Wars that I saw absolutely failed at that.

And when Anakin isn't being a childish asshole, he was being portrayed as basically no better than an animal, which I assume is supposed to represent his darkness starting to grow or something. But it's not some sort of animal instinct turning him into a slobbering beast who can't really control himself, these are active choices Anakin makes out of fear that he allows to become anger. TCW focused a lot more on the anger than the fear, but what I saw of 2003 Clone Wars didn't really handle this well, either. It's a theme that a lot of people who write for Star Wars seem to miss, that Anakin is actively making these choices WHILE KNOWING THAT THEY'RE BAD CHOICES. That's honestly the whole point and trying to pretend that he isn't, that it's out of his control, or that it's some sort of destiny, misses the entire message being sent with his story.

Also whoever designed Anakin seems to have had a pretty major bias against Hayden Christensen because boy is the model for Anakin absolutely fuck ugly for no good reason.

I don't know that there was anything actively anti-Jedi in anything I saw in the 2003 Clone Wars show, but it was also just kind-of intended to be a pretty simple adventure show that didn't allow for a lot of time to explore anything with any real depth.

I don't hate it, but I don't love it, either. I know a ton of people really have a lot of nostalgia for it and I don't mind the episodes in a vacuum, they CAN be fun mindless little visual stories, but I also never think about it much and I have a lot of negative feelings about the way it handled Anakin. But again, I only saw SOME of this show and never finished it, so my opinion is based on what I DID see and doesn't take into account some of the later episodes I never got to.

[sassylittlecanary]

Ranking the Major Live-Action Superman Suits Since 1978

Because I have a lot of thoughts.

8. Superman & Lois (Tyler Hoechlin)

I adore this show, and I think Hoechlin does a fantastic job as both Superman and Clark Kent. However, I HATE this suit. SO MUCH. It just looks like a regular dude in a Halloween costume, and it keeps getting worse and worse with each season. I hate the muscle highlighting (it looks cheap and forced), the neckline needs to be lower and more square, the boots could be taller, the S shield is too small and way too dark, and the colors are too dark and faded. I genuinely cannot understand who thought this suit was ready for filming in any way. It is absolutely hideous, and I will die on that hill.

7. Superman Returns (Brandon Routh)

I like that this suit stays so close to the source material, but it’s just … off. It would be completely fine if it weren’t for several little things that combine to make it underwhelming. Firstly, the colors are off: On screen, the blue looks almost turquoise, and the red often looks brownish (just a few shades lighter and brighter would’ve been a huge improvement). The S shield is too small, and I personally don’t like how raised it is. The thing I hate the most is the neckline — it needs to be lower and more square. Show some collarbone and shoulders, you cowards.

6. Zack Snyder’s Justice League (Henry Cavill)

I know a lot of people really like this suit and its symbolism, but I have mixed feelings about Cavill’s suits in general. Personally, I prefer bright colors, and the fact that Cavill never got bright colors at all made the black suit just another dark outfit (and therefore less special, which harmed the intended symbolism). I appreciate the comic reference, but if the filmmakers really wanted to go for it, they should’ve traded the cape for a mullet (mostly kidding).

5. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (Dean Cain)

I don’t really have feelings about this one. It’s the classic Superman look, and there’s nothing really special about it, but I don’t mind that. It’s cheesy, but I don’t mind that either. The show doesn’t take itself too seriously, and neither does the suit.

4. DCEU (Henry Cavill)

I was VERY torn about how to rank this one. The love-hate relationship is strong. Cavill looks good in it, but I honestly don’t like it that much. Even at the best of times, the blue is WAY too dark (I mean, sometimes it’s more black than blue). I resent Zack Snyder’s aversion to color. I understand they wanted to modernize the suit and get rid of the trunks, but it needs something red to break up the blue. Unpopular opinion, but I also don’t like the way all of Cavill’s muscles are highlighted. However, this is my all-time favorite Superman cape. It’s floor length and billowing and amazing, and for that reason this suit is ranked this high.

3. Supergirl (Tyler Hoechlin)

Now, if you want to ditch the red trunks, this is the right way to do it. The red belt breaks up the blue similar to how the old trunks did, the colors are just right, the cape looks good (although the material isn’t my favorite), and the size and design of the S shield are perfect. If the trunks have to go, this is my favorite suit.

2. Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover (Brandon Routh)

This is perhaps the best modern Superman suit. It’s a lovely blend of tradition and modernity, and of course the Kingdom Come reference is awesome. Everything about it is perfect. I love it. It looks great on Routh, and the style and colors suit the character and context. I desperately want Routh to have his own Superman show and wear this in it.

1. Superman I-IV (Christopher Reeve)

What can I say? I’m a sucker for nostalgia. This one is definitely dated, but despite that, it remains quintessentially Superman. When I picture Superman, this is the suit I see. It’s iconic, it’s a near-perfect recreation of the comics, and Reeve wears it in a way that makes it real and authentic.

[kamenstranger]

Batman: Caped Crusader Review.

Well, I didn't expect to be reviewing another cartoon so soon but I forgot this was still happening and here we are. So much like X-men '97 I will be getting into spoilers, even some finale stuff. But it's nothing you probably wouldn't already know. Like is saying something along the lines of "Harvey becomes Two-Face" or "Selina becomes Catwoman" really a spoiler? Still, if you want to go in completely clean then I'll give short spoiler-free summary: It's fine. It's good, even very good. It has enough going on without being overly reliant on nostalgia, though a lot concepts and ideas that never made it into TAS are used; which is obvious in some episodes like 2 and 8 which honest to god feel like lost episodes (sans the obnoxious references in 8.) But even a number of other episodes feel like they could've fit right in.

Likewise, the animation is simply lovely and feels like an appropriate continuation of the DCAU while also working as a throw back to TAS with its use of shadows and art deco design. They even have a film grain effect that looks shockingly good; uplifting the show's late 30s early 40s aesthetic by adding some literal grit. I've seen numerous productions go overboard with adding grain in post, but Caped Crusader keeps it very subtle and is probably the best you're going to do with a modern production. Frederik Wiedmann's score also complements the atmosphere, adding that quintessential gothic noir vibe. The entire soundtrack is on youtube and is well worth listening in isolation.

If I had one compliant... it's that Batman is the weakest and most underwritten part of the show. Regardless, the show has enough quality elements to make it worth a watch.

However, if you're interested in leaning more about my thoughts, hit the jump.

Let's start with some background information. Contrary to how it seems, this isn't nor was it ever intended to be a prequel to TAS-- at least that's what they say. It was originally a sequel to The New Batman Adventures before transmogrifying into another 30s-ish setting and using abandoned episode concepts from TAS along with completely original works. A number of episodes at the very least feel like they were written with a prequel mindset, and the final shot of the series was absolutely conceptualized as lead-in to TAS and is begging for the Walker Theme to kick in. But despite how much this could work as a prequel with just a few tweaks, I think making it disconnected was the right call. For one thing, with Conroy gone I don't think you could ever make something that leads into that very specific version of Batman, it wouldn't feel right. Secondly, it allows the series to stand on it's own and not rely on TAS as a crutch; even if comparisons are inevitable with the period setting and Bruce Timm's designs. Additionally the tone of the series is right in line with The Animated Series, only slightly darker and never going overboard just to be considered "adult." Characters say damn, people die, sometimes there's blood, the occasional gruesome character design, some stories are super pulpy and even have a slower pace than what they would've done on network TV for Y7+. But otherwise this would've fit fine on Toonami back in the day and the option to go darker is there should the story demand it. I will admit I'm a bit of an easy mark for this, particularly the heavy pulp elements that remind of The Shadow and The Spider.

On that note, Cape Crusader is a bit more basic in terms of setting and scope. I'm using "basic" loosely because there are still some eccentricities like Gentleman Ghost showing up, but outside the one supernatural aspect-- and an umbrella cannon-- there's nothing too crazy. No Freeze guns, mutant plant ladies, robots, Lazarus pits, mind controlling cards, airships etc. Clayface might be the one other outlier, but even that's just a guy who can change his appearance, not a big clay monster who can form a mace hand. I'm perfectly fine with all of this. We've already had a vintage Batman series that did all that anyway, so why not do something a little different and keep it simple? In maintaining that simplicity, most of CC is episodic with a larger narrative sprinkled throughout: Ruport Thorne is slowly taking over Gotham and begins trying to leverage Harvey Dent who is running for Mayor. That's it, that's the main plot. The more nitty-gritty parts largely center on relatively self contained adventures around the trio of Lawyer Barbara Gordon, GCPD detective Renee Montoya, and Therapist Harleen Quinzel.

It's a decent compromise between how involved modern shows have become sprawling season long stories while still maintaining the appeal of a self contained case in any given episode.

Of the three, Barbara (Krystal Joy Brown) has the most active role throughout the entire run and is arguably the main character of the show. She's compassionate about people, her clients, criminals and their circumstances. She has a strong balance between someone who is optimistic yet not naive, although still young enough to not have the harsher experiences as her father. This allows a contrast between her and Gordon's world weary, almost Black and White POV. In fact, her willingness to hear people out and consider alternatives leads to her establishing a form of contact with Batman before her father.

Renee Montoya (Michelle C. Bonilla) is about on par with Barbara in playing an active role in the series, albeit almost always work related for obvious reasons. She's a consummate professional, brilliant detective and the only trustworthy cop outside Gordon. That last part is particularly note worthy since it actually gives Gordon a reliable subordinate and not just Bullock. She has solid chemistry with Barbara and there's a lot of untapped potential with her and Harley. And hey, nice to get little bit of the two dating and smooching. Speaking of, Harley (Jamie Chung) is surprisingly prominent in the first half and I love how they handle her. She's legit intelligent and even knows there's something up with the public perception of Bruce. She's quirky without rehashing the whole bubbly blonde routine, she's delightfully flirty with Renee and she's also fucking demented. Oh yes, Harley is already cracked, but in a curious way where she's not exactly insane but clearly has a dark side she indulges. Honestly? Really neat to see a version of a character not influenced by Joker. She's still a Harlequin, of course, but much more traditional and I love that we don't waste time going through an origin. She just uses her therapist profession as a means to hash out her idea of justice against clients she can't reach, often mind breaking rich jackasses who refuse to better themselves. Harley assigns them personalities and forces repetitive tasks or absurd tortures. In a cute little meta nod she's responsible for creating the persona of King Tut, a character originally created for the '66 show, just as she was a creation for TAS.

I also have to mention Chung's voice acting, which the VA in the show is great all around, of course. But villain roles always get to stick out, and this is a prime example. The shift between that very intelligent caring quirky woman to… what I can only call an analytical seductive manipulator and abuser, well it's just wonderful. We've had so much of bubbly Quinn and silly crass Quinn that this version is so refreshing and one of the most pleasant surprises out of the show.

There are other characters outside the trio, but I simply don't have much to say about Gordan, Flass, or Bullock. The VA is impeccable, as previously mentioned; I love Eric Morgan's Gordon, Gary Anthony Williams' Flass and John DiMaggio's Bullock. Perfect casting. But character wise they simply serve a role and I don't have much to say about them. Gordon is, well, Gordon trying his best among a corrupt department full of people like Flass and Bullock. Flass himself is brilliantly sly and Bullock is a slob who does all the dirty work. I will say that even if I don't have much to go into with them, I do appreciate how much Flass and Bullock are featured and how effectively they're utilized.

The only major reoccurring character left to go in-depth on, outside Batman, is Harvey Dent; ironically voiced by Brave and the Bold Batman, Diedrich Bader. Harvey is… odd in this series. He's a dick headed "tough on crime" sleazy DA who is self interested in becoming Mayor, no matter who he has to steamroll to get there. On one hand it is an interesting angle; a man of once upstanding morals slowing eroding them to gain political favor with the ultimate goal of proper reform-- assuming he even has any left by the end of it. There is an inkling of a great idea in the political process of Gotham grinding you down, bringing out your worst, makes you compromise too much. The system changes you, not the other way around.

The issue is the tragedy of a good if flawed man giving into his worse impulses doesn't entirely work due to the simple fact we hardly see a good side to Harvey. No signs of a different better person underneath or who he used to be before DA. The show only gives Harvey one very minor scene of empathy and moral upstanding before his disfigurement, so he kinda goes from jaded cynical asshat to homicidal asshat. To give the show credit, that is in part the intent. We don't like Harvey all that much but still feel bad when we see how sad and broken he is, all because he finally did something good and he's punished for it. The episode dealing with the aftermath of the acid attack is really solid at showcasing his slip into insanity and drawing forth pathos. In a bubble it works beautifully; A man who was already breaking, even if they didn't know, now thinks everyone is out to get him. Almost every invasive thought is acted upon. They also don't make Two-Face the default or more common of the personas, it's a lot of back and forth. Harvey is relatively calm one moment but suddenly becomes violent the next. Hell, he even has moments of clarity and great remorse not only for his actions as Two-Face but as DA. The episode is handled very well and Bader is selling the hell out of it. I just wish there was more before that change, a little more to like about Harvey Dent. Bruce was friends with this guy and from an audience perspective it's kinda hard to see why, Harvey is a shit head, an absolute knob. I dunno, Batman is kind of dick in this so maybe there's something to be said there? But even so, his dynamic with Barbara is FAR more engaging and nuanced than with Bruce because Barbara has more impactful scenes and is the direct opposite of the same coin. I kinda wonder if the stuff with Bruce was something shoved in at the last minute because they felt they had to. Which I guess that finally bring me to Batman, who you may have noticed I've talked very little about in this Batman show up until now.

Batman is a boring wet white rice motherfucker with barely a character arc and almost no connections to the main cast.

Oh sure, every episode has Batman doing things that move the plot along, provides some very minor characterization or some plain 'ol detective work which is fun to see. But even when he does investigating, finds a clue, confronts a villain etc. it feels lacking because his interactions with the rest of the cast are severely limited and sporadic.

Batman himself is integral to the show, but he's more like an anchor for the rest of the cast who have far more captivating screen time and better defined relationships. Babs is friends with Harley and Renee, Harley and Renee are dating, Renee works for Gordon, Barbara is of course Gordon's daughter, Harley has a brief stint as a consultant for the GCPD, and Harvey works opposite Barbara. These people flow into each others stories, converse, have opposing or similar ideologies to make stories around. Batman lock picks and punches things. I mean, Christ, he doesn't have a friendship with Gordon because this is long before that, he treats Alfred like a valuable tool rather than family and he has more empathy for Nocturna in a one off episode than Harvey over the entire season. I'm serious when I say I think the friendship was tacked on, because there's a line in ep 6 about Dent's biggest donors pulling out of his campaign, implying Bruce never gave any money. Maybe they could've made an entire subplot about the Batman aspect taking so much priority that he ignored Dent's troubles until it was too late. Have Batman learn a lesson about balancing the personas and how Bruce Wayne can be equally useful in aiding Gotham-- and the consequences of forgetting that. Maybe even intersperse flashbacks to a younger Bruce and more optimistic and likeable Dent to show why and how they became friends. This could've been done in a two-parter just like how Robin was handled in TAS.

For the instances the show does put a spotlight on just Batman it's simply going through the motions. The best we get is Bruce Wayne attending therapy sessions with Quinn, which is a great concept ultimately wasted on flashbacks of Bruce's childhood I've seen a dozen times over and maybe should've been used to explore his relationship with Dent.

Another reason why this Batman is so bland is because there are almost no sympathetic villains, which you've probably gathered by now. Harvey in the last episode and Nocturna in ep. 8 are the only two that fit the criteria (And frankly Barbara does more to help Harvey.) But everyone else? No tragic backstory, no victim of circumstance, no injustice, and no chance to showcase Batman's greatest attribute. On paper I understand what they were going for; this is an early Batman attempting (and sometimes failing) to be emotionally walled off. He's in the background, he needs to learn to open up and temper his anger. Midway into the season have something drastic happen to shake his resolve (endangering Alfred, of course)

By the end of the series he begins casually referring to him as Alfred rather than "Pennyworth" and he's established connections with Barbara, Jim and Renee. I don't dislike this slow burn, I enjoy seeing Batman's humanity slowly seep through. The series has a lot of great little moments where we see that happening, like Batman chastising Barbara for being reckless right after she saved his ass and a friend of hers is assumed dead. She's going through a lot and Batman clearly doesn't know how to processes the situation, he doesn't know how to be comforting.

There's also a great scene in the finale that I'm pretty sure was a giant middle finger to a certain director. The problem is the entire season is doing things like that. Sure we get growth for the character, but that's grueling for a 10 episode season. Maybe it's just me, but I'd kinda like to be more invested in the title character before the season finale. But as is so often the case with streaming we're limited to just 10 episodes per season. It's... so tiresome spending an entire run getting Batman to a state where we can actually tie him in with the rest of the ensemble cast and show some goddamn empathy. I realize rushing through this could result in the opposite problem, but this once again leads to me pointing out, as always, the stories writers want to tell are too big for these gimped 6-10 episode season the modern streaming has pushed on all of us. You know the first season of The Animated Series was a whopping 65 episodes? I probably wouldn't be talking about this problem if we even had a quarter of that.

I do want to stress this is no fault of the performance, which I know is going to be on everyone's mind. This is a problem with writing, the limited episode count, and possibly Zaslav not seeing enough blood in his stool before dumping this production onto Amazon. Conroy alone wouldn't have been enough to elevate the more shallow aspects of Batman's character, it just wouldn't. The writing for Batman specifically is very by the numbers at best. If this was material that fell flat because of Conroy's absence that would be one thing, but it's just bland characterization from the get go and no amount of nostalgia, art style, or iconic voice work will cover that up. It's kind of funny because the show is enjoyable by in large, but the title character is the weakest part. I wouldn't be surprised if a great deal of the mixed reception was because of that. "Batman is the worst part of a Batman show" is a perfectly valid and damning criticism.

That said, I do want to praise Hamish Linklater, the poor guy's got his work cut out for him, being in the Shadow of the Bat, as it were, and he does a fine job. I can tell it's not Conroy, obviously, and sometimes it sounds like a mix of Brave and the Bold with New Frontier Batman where I'm not sure if he's trying to do an impression or not. But midway through the series it starts to get really close, there are even moments that remind me of Conroy's performance in TAS' Two-Face two parter, glimpses where Linklater almost has the softer tones down pat. And his Bruce is damn near spot on. I hope he stays on as a voice for Batman and gets more opportunities as the character, he could potentially become to Conroy's Batman what Matthew Lillard is to Casey Kasem's Shaggy; It's not the same, but goddamn do they do a fine job capturing the tone and vibe while being a fine performer in their own right.

But they have GOT to give him better material because this Batman is sorely lacking in the things I love most about the character.

Speaking of, I don't want to spend too long discussing the second season (Which it is getting) but I have concerns there. The big one for me is foreshadowing that Alfred is keeping a secret about the night the Waynes were shot. I HATE when they over complicate the murder and try to make it something more like a targeted hit, or the court of owls or some other stupid shit. That's the one major thing I hate in The Batman movie is them muddying the waters with a perfectly good victim of circumstance story-- although it's kinda worse there because they wouldn't even fully commit. But I digress. I do not want the shit with the Waynes more complicated than it needs to be. If Alfred suggested a shortcut and he feels responsible for their deaths, sure, whatever. That's simple enough to add some character drama without going overboard. But it's probably gonna be the big overarching story next season with secret twists and- blegh. Honestly, I think I'd rather just have stand alone episodes without a running narrative thread; just have the characters and their dynamics developing and that be it. The show is clearly better when it's just that. But alas, modern streaming.

But with all that said, I still liked the season well enough. As I said at the beginning, the series is good to very good. I love the atmosphere, I enjoy most of the character and the cast, the self contained stories are solid and there's plenty of potential. But next season I need Batman and the villains to be more interesting, let Linklater give a sympathetic performance for fucks sake. If Season 2 is just more of the same, I'll clock out.

Still, I guess anything is better than say Harley assaulting Nightwing... Or the Killing Joke. You know what, there's a blurb of recommendation for Caped Crusader: "No weirdo awkwardly shoved their fetishes into the story." So check it out.

[hazelthevixen]

Crystella and her moth friend / Cristela y su amiga polilla

Esta es Cristela la zorra de cinco colas. Ella es amiga de Atardecer la polilla :3 Welp it's been almost a year but I finally got around to finishing that sketch of Crystella ^w^ I'm really happy with how she turned out! I'll upload the other version of this pic soon, she can be with or without her hooded cape but this is what she looks like without it :3 When I drew her without it, I thought it was a bit weird that she still had her arm (or front leg) out, so I gave her something to hold and that was when Sunset the rosy maple moth was born ^-^ Crystella is a five tailed blanford's fox, she is an assistant of the crystalness magic school. She helps the mages with their magic and makes sure that the students are behaving well. Like Alfie, she also takes care of the students and assists on adventures and potion making. Crystella first appeared in The Waffle Stars literature: The Magic School And The Haunted Castle Also, a little info on Sunset: She is a rosy maple moth who squeaks. Her mouth isn't shown on this pic but if you do draw her with one, keep in mind that her mouth looks like this emoticon ^w^ I decided to make Sunset alot bigger than your average rosy maple because tiny sizes makes it hard to show emotion on characters. Plankton in season 1 Spongebob is a good example of this, season 1 is the best season of Spongebob as it's cozy, nostalgic, and has the best art style, though I think they fixed some of their errors in the newer seasons :3 Anyways! just in time for Art Fight so I hope you like these characters ^w^ Lemme know when you want Sunset to have her own art fight profile, I think she would make a good familiar oc ^-^

Please do not steal my character(s)! They belong to me, not you. Don't add offensive tags cos ya know, it's just unnecessary.. ­ ╮(╯-╰)╭ And please do not criticise! I refuse to be criticised so please accept that. Oh and don't steal any of my artwork in any sort of way. ‾ʌ‾ Pleease be nice when commenting! Yep, fanart is welcomed as I truly appreciate gifts! ≧◡≦ Feel free to check out my other works too! I work so hard but it's always fun :3 If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all. Thanks for checking out my works! meep meep! ヽ(◕ヮ◕)ﾉ I'm on other places too! ^-^

Posted using PostyBirb

[impostorsshow]

Okay so you’re my Legend of Zelda person

How are you feeling about the Echoes of Wisdom announcement? Surprised? Excited? Eh? Did you like what you saw of the game? The art style? The Echo mechanic?

(Personally, I’m really looking forward to the game, and it’s looking like the twink will finally have to be saved this time.)

I haven't seen much of the trailer and don't know what the echo mechanic is, I only get game info through my partner that stays up until 3-4 am their time to watch the Nintendo directs and I prefer to find out about zelda games far after the community has discussed it or play it blind myself with trusty non spoiler guide site zeldadungeon.com, but I love that we're getting another game in the chibi links awakening style!! It's my favorite, and my old comfort object that I lost was an amiibo figure of links awakening link, so I really hope they make a figure of Zelda I can buy - my family pirated every amiibo for Zelda that was released up to botw and they're about the size of the first index of my thumb but having a full figure of a Zelda character would be nice again.

I am also really surprised about it, and having Zelda as a playable character is amazing again. I only know of 4 Zelda games that have had the goddess reincarnation herself be the protagonist, 3 of the games were most likely released in the OG Zelda/adventure of link titles era or around the oracle games based on the cartridge? Art I saw idk it might also be related to the PC quest games that came out around the same time which for reference is the uh. "eXCUSSEEE ME PRINCESS" one I think that's the thing it's well known for that is a whole different convo with a different blog i know nothing of the older titles except the basics. Anyway anyway I own the 4th game I know about that no one else mentions because it's technically not canon and is worse off than Hyrule warriors is but it's called cadence of Hyrule I think just search up "Crypt of the Necromancer Zelda" you'll find it and I did play through most characters campaign including Zelda's in that one, and think it's definitely worth mentioning due to how different Zeldas gameplay is to links. Uh anyway based on that game alone I have very high hopes for the gameplay of Zelda, as well as the thinks the higher ups at Nintendo said about sticking with botw/totks direction and play style.

Lastly I'll be honest with you im sleep deprived as shit cause emergency irl shit happened last night and I havent been sleeping well in general so I forgot my big thing i wanted to talk about in this segment but uh. Salvaged bits are yada yada Zelda mechanics parallels to other games more characterization more well written fanfics that aren't JUST skyward sword and botw for her etc etc based on how they handled princess peach showtimes characterization [which like. Honest to God really hard character to write in 2024 due to her roots being damsel in distress 101 and people tending to mostly correctly point at any pinky extra feminine girl and shout misogynistic] I really don't think Nintendo can fuck this up, and I am fully confident they won't fuck it up :].

ALSO CAPE CAPE ZELDA CAPE SHE HAS A CAPE ITS A CAPE ZELDAS CAPE ITS SO CUTE GOOD CHARACTER DESIGN SHE HAS A CAPE ITS SO CUTE OH MY GOD CAPE CAPE CAPE SHE HAS A CAPE

Oh yeah actually I did like the little bit of the trailer I did see that link shot her free at the last second, showing he is still in character and they didn't shoehorn in an idea to have a female protagonist like other series would do, but that every side of the triforce is equally powerful. I expect this game to be like if links awakenings dungeon puzzles were used on the overworld, and based on another Tumblr post I saw there might be some diplomatic puzzles. Or at least dual sided quest lines

Uh is there anything else I was gonna say. Oh I'm definitely going to be live posting about when I play the game since my birthday [shoutout to sans undertale] is in September so im definitely planning to ask for it or get it myself, even though I know it comes out past my birthday

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2023-07-03

There's situations but I'm handling it and everything will be fine

Listening: Missed the latest song from We Kill Cowboys, Pink Codeine. I love We Kill Cowboys but they do most of their music live and release albums almost never, and even when I still lived in South Africa they mostly play around Cape Town, so I have not heard much of their new shit barring what lands up online.

They changed labels to Mongrel Records recently. Mongrel handles a lot of the heavy rock stuff around ZA, some good bands including Acid Magus, Springbok Nude Girls, All This For Nothing, and Ruff Majik.

Reading: Kaiju Preservation Society, sci-fi fluff from Scalzi. A guy down on his luck during The COVID gets recruited to go along as grunt labour on a scientific expedition to parallel universe Greenland, where there are giant kaiju roaming around in tropical forest.

Very loose spec bio that is nonetheless fun to read about, Kaiju are giant nuclear-powered walking biomes covered in various parasites, commensalists, and mutualists that scour the nearby area for food and give some to the Kaiju in exchange for mobility and protection. Like if mycorhizzal fungi were wolves.

At its best it is a light workplace comedy on a research base, and a moderate action romp. There is a story but it's not anything special. It is fun that our Protagonist has a literature masters and is there mostly to move heavy objects. I enjoy the feeling behind scientific expedition living and I'm still a little bitter about not getting on the Antarctic expedition so I enjoy reading stories about similar environments.

Very much "I wrote this in COVID when all I could think about was COVID and I wanted to imagine a guy for whom pretty much everything goes okay." I enjoyed it enough, with modern sci-fi style snark and snappy one liners.

Watching: Nothing, fell behind on the Fast and Furious watch because it's hard to write about #4, since it's just #1 again.

Also assembling a bunch of Ikea furniture, I have a home office desk now and more than the bare minimum space to stash clothing. In a month or two I'll also have a desktop computer, but that's future me problems.

Making: Made bread as part of what will hopefully be an ongoing project to improve my breadmaking. I can almost always make something vaguely serviceable but it's always pretty random whether I can get bread to behave the way I want it to.

Playing: Also very little, did another bonus level or two in Terra Nil. The challenges are much more interesting in the bonus levels, they force you to consider some much longer view tasks like "leave enough low lying soil intact for wetlands" and "manage river access for your cleanup" but still not too challenging on normal mode.

Tools and Equipment: When I was choosing a kettle I insisted on one that had a minimum boil volume of no more than 500ml, the one my parents have has a rated minimum of 800ml which is positively wasteful when I mostly boil a single cup for tea. Anyway the one I got has a 250ml minimum boil which is so good. You can do one cup of tea and drain it basically dry. Winning. Great for my sense of accomplishment.

[bluemoonfantasiesiii]

SumeruBedo Voice Lines

(Some of these are the same as his canon voice lines)

Hello

I am Dhaval, assistant to the Forest Watcher. You carry the aura of the stars, interesting... I would like to study you, if you do not mind. I'm certain we will have many opportunities to be alone in the future.

Chat: Still Life

What a view... How about a quick break so I can sketch this beautiful scenery?

Chat: Investigation

“The truth of this world"... *sigh* What could it be?

Chat: Reminiscing

Going out into the world and investigating, turning the "unknown" into the "known." ...Ahhh, I missed this feeling.

When It Rains

Thankfully I had the foresight to waterproof both the paper and the ink I use to take notes.

When Thunder Strikes

We should seek shelter. If I recall, there’s an adequate cave system nearby.

When It Snows

Master…

When the Sun is Out

Ample light... active biological organisms... Yes, this is a good place to sketch.

When it’s Windy

Let my quickly bind my notes so they don’t blow away.

In the Desert

I’ve crafted some pendants using the stamens of mist flowers to keep us cool during the day, and flaming flowers to keep us warm at night.

Good Morning

Good morning. Are we going to search for unusual flora today?

Good Afternoon

Good afternoon. I was just about to survey the surrounding area for any abnormalities that may need to be investigated. Care to join me?

Good Evening

The sunset bathes everything in a soft, pink glow. It makes a perfect backdrop for a painting.

Good Night

The crickets and frogs have begun their nightly serenade, and the fireflies are like tiny lanterns dancing over the water. The forest truly comes alive at night.

About Dhaval: Genius

Genius? ...A number of people call me that. But I don't think I'm any "genius."

About Dhaval: Socializing

Relationships are... quite troublesome. Once you establish a relation with someone, you must continue to maintain it; if you lose contact, you must reestablish the relation. This taxing cycle requires a lot of time...

About Us: Experiments

You... want to accompany me while I experiment? I'm honored.

My experiments are sometimes dangerous, but I will do my utmost to ensure your safety. I’ve already prepared for every possible contingency.

About Us: Perennial

Although I try to be prepared for everything, there’s no secret formula for bonding with someone. You are someone I can now proudly call a friend. It is now up to us to decide whether our friendship is a delicate rose or a perennial peony.

About the Vision

My Vision? Ah, that's nothing more than a tool to aid in my experiments, no different from a beaker or crucible. The one thing about it that really intrigues me is the principle behind how it works... One day, I will uncover its secrets, it's only a matter of time.

Something to Share

There's something I've always wanted to ask you, but feared rejection and disappointment...

Eh-hem... I am very interested in your little floating companion. May I borrow her to investigate for a short while?

Interesting Things

Most of the fauna in the Avidya Forest is edible with proper preparation. Even the large spiders that live near the roots of certain trees. If you tie one up in cape jasmine and lemongrass and sprinkle on some cardamom, smoke it for a few hours — you get a fragrant taste that's simply... unforgettable.

About Family

Family? when I think of the idea of "family," my old master comes to mind first. My earliest memories in life are of going on adventures with her. She taught me the art of alchemy and much knowledge about the world. However, the bonds that I’ve forged in the Avidya Forest with the likes of Collei and Master Tighnari feel much more meaningful to me now.

About Tighnari: Assistant

As Master Tighnari’s right hand, it’s my duty to make sure he stays on track with his patrols and meets deadlines with any paperwork that lands on his desk. I certainly wouldn’t describe him as lazy, but he does tend to get swept up in the lax atmosphere of the forest sometimes. I occasionally catch him napping in a tree.

About Tighnari: Aid

Have you ever heard the phrase “doctors make the worst patients?” Master Tighnari is the perfect example. Because of his medical expertise, convincing him to let somebody else treat him when he’s the one in need of care is like pulling teeth. He puts up a bit less of a fuss when I’m the one offering aid since we know each other so well, but even then it’s still a struggle.

About Collei

I arrived in the Avidya Forest shortly after her. I quickly got a feel for her boundaries, and stopped using words like “experiment” and “test subject” around her for a while. Her aversion to physical touch was never an issue, since I’m not a very touchy person myself, but I’m glad to see she’s more comfortable with certain people now.

I sometimes take over her literacy lessons as well. She’s been making significant progress. I’m proud of her.

About Cyno

He takes his duties as General Mahamtra very seriously, and many people find him intimidating because of that. But when he’s not in work mode, he actually makes for pleasant company. His sense of humor is unique, and I find his jokes entertaining.

About Nilou

I occasionally collaborate with Zubayr Theatre to help them work on set pieces and props. Despite being a performer, Nilou always watches me with an intense fascination, as she wants to be familiar with every aspect of the stage. She’s even asked me to teach her a few things. I find such dedication to her chosen field to be very admirable. She’s a joy to work with.

About Alhaitham

Having the ability to operate without being influenced by emotion doesn’t sound entirely healthy… Even for as deadpan as I can be, I still listen to my heart every now and then. I would love an opportunity to pick his brain and figure out how he does it.

About Kaveh

I admire his work as a fellow artist, but sometimes he can get a bit too caught up in his feelings. I suppose in that regard, he’s more of a stereotypical artist than I am.

About Lesser Lord Kusanali

While I wouldn’t consider myself a man of strong faith, I can truthfully say that I respect Lesser Lord Kusanali. I’ve always found boundless intellect and boundless humility to be a commendable combination.

About Lisa

I heard her name a few times while I was enrolled in the Spantamad Darshan. As much as I would like to talk about wasted potential, I suppose I ended up doing the same thing as her…

About Faruzan

She loves bringing me complex puzzles that she designs in an attempt to stump me. I don’t have the heart to tell her that her puzzles are children’s toys compared to the labyrinths I used to explore with my master…

More About Dhaval I

Have a question for me? Go ahead, ask. It doesn't take too long to ask a single question, does it? I'm about to begin the final stage of an experiment...

More About Dhaval II

Oh, by the way. Did you know that without human manipulation, you would need to harness the power of a sun eight times the size of our own in order to naturally create gold?

More About Dhaval III

What do I do besides sketching and research...? I will often go for casual strolls around the rainforest, just to take in the different species of flora and fauna. They never fail to provide me with unexpected inspirations for my own creations, no matter how many times I see them.

More About Dhaval IV

I was originally sent to the Akademiya to see what they knew of alchemy. It quickly became apparent that the Spantamad Darshan had nothing of value to offer me. My master’s teachings were much more extensive, and I found myself growing bored there.

More About Dhaval V

Even though “Dhaval” started as an alias to better fit in with the people of Sumeru, it feels… more right than the name my master gave me. More like myself. In fact, the rainforest feels more like home than anywhere I stayed with my master. I feel like I truly have a family in Avidya.

Dhaval’s Hobbies

Hmm... Besides research and contingency planning, the activity I spend most of my time on is probably sketching. At first I saw it simply as a way to better study the structure of living things and materials so as to aid me in my experiments, but it eventually became a hobby of mine. Indeed, it is a very good way to relax.

Dhaval’s Troubles

Although I try to have a plan for everything, there are some things one simply can’t be prepared for. I have yet to encounter a setback I couldn’t recover from, but it is still obnoxious…

Favorite Food

I really do enjoy having dessert. How can I put it...? When both physical and mental capacity are spent, high-energy materials further provide a kind of primordial, highly-effective boost.

Least Favorite Food

What food do I dislike? ...Large portions of meat at restaurants. I have a rather small appetite, so a meal like that only ends up in tragedy — either I overeat and the joy of the taste is lost, or I don't finish it and the food is wasted. I decided to simply not go to restaurants, although that has also meant I must spend more time preparing my own food...

Receiving a Gift I

If flavors were colors... this one would be gold.

Receiving a Gift II

You're willing to spend so much time on improving your cooking, and that's precisely how you're able to make it taste so good.

Receiving a Gift III

This is more than I can manage... maybe we could split it between us?

Birthday

Happy birthday. You look especially happy, would you mind if I sketched you? The capacity of our brains is limited, so we are bound to forget things. But when an image is transferred onto paper or canvas, the sketch becomes an extension of our memory. We can remember that past feeling when we later look at the sketch.

Feelings About Ascension: Intro

Nigredo is the first step in alchemy, drawing from primordial forms. As beings who live in this world, we must find our own meaning.

Feelings About Ascension: Building Up

Albedo is the step in which change begins. Clearing away the excess so we can take on all the knowledge that is available. Would you like to investigate this world with me?

Feelings About Ascension: Climax

Rubedo in alchemy refers to the refining of feeling. I feel the refining of my own emotions is also thanks to you.

Feelings About Ascension: Conclusion

Citrinitas is the final stage of the alchemical transmutation process. The meaning of the object being transmuted has finally been brought to light, becoming gold and revealing its true value... I too have found my own meaning.

Elemental Skill

Blossom.

Bloom!

Come into being.

Elemental Burst

Soil, heed my call!

Feel this ancient power.

Are you prepared?

Opening Treasure Chest

Let me quickly take inventory.

Who leaves things like this out in the wilderness…?

Quite the fortunate find.

Low HP

Time for Plan B.

I wasn’t prepared for this.

A new strategy’s required.

Ally at Low HP

I’ll take over from here.

This is too dangerous for you.

Fallen

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…

The soil…is calling me…

Seems my research…is over…

Light Hit Taken

Still within my threshold.

Heavy Hit Taken

A miscalculation.

Joining Party

Ready to go.

Some in-the-field research?

Let’s investigate this further.

[omarijckson]

ꕀ ᐝ 𖠳 mason gooding, cis man, he-they 𖠳 ᐝ ꕀ ‷ heads up ; if you hear boys don't cry by anitta blaring, it’s most likely omari jackson making their way down the shore ! they’re 29 years old and celebrate their birthday on september 27 - i knew they were a/an libra ! especially since they’re very charming and lazy they are from new york city, staying in cape may point and are currently working as a/an video game designer, here at the cape. they always did remind me of seared hearts, floops thumb thumbs, dueling dragons.

NAME: Omari Jackson

AGE: 29

HOMETOWN: New York

BIRTHDAY: september 27

ZODIAC: libra

GENDER: male

PRONOUNS: he/they

SEXUALITY: click here

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single

OCCUPATION: game designer

tw: drug abuse, death.

It was just the four of you wasn't it? Your twin sister, your mom, and your grandmother. Not once did it ever bother you that you lived in a household ran by women, you learned to adore their kindness, their patience, and the way, even if for a short while, it was a home overrun by laughter and love.

But nothing good truly lasts does it? As you grew up, you were always the more reserved twin, the one that had to be protected and your sister always would. she was sunshine and joy, rampant with energy and always the most adventurous of this sibling duo. I remember watching you admire that quality, wishing you could stand up for yourself, use your own voice, but you never did.

A father figure is something you never knew, he was never in the picture, you were the only man of the house as they say. All of that was fine, but in your teen years, your sister became a bit of a rebel, she hung out with the wrong crowd, partied a bit too hard, and that's when you began to notice a few things. How the loudest and brightest people, often times carried the biggest sadness in them.

Alcohol, drugs, and every extreme you saw her took made you even more worried, and no matter who was aware or how many people voiced concerns your twin...she wouldn't listen. It wasn't until one night you stayed up playing video games that you were alerted to a knocking on your door, and a man in uniform told you, your sister wasn't coming back. From something as seemingly harmless as a joint but it had been laced with something else, something stronger.

Your home felt the shock, and you saw your own mother dig herself into a hole. Slowly you saw her crumble before your very eyes, and the loving woman you knew became nothing more than a husk of her former self. And just like your sister, one night, she too was gone in an all too similar way.

Now it's just you and your grandmother, and I can see you still carry those scars deep within you. Maybe that's why you became a spokesperson for support groups, you want to see people get help so that they don't fall prey to the same thing your family did.

You followed your passions and got a degree I see, even landed a monumentally well paying job, and you take care of your aging grandmother, the only family you have left. It's sweet, but I know you feel lonely, will you ever wipe away that fake smile, who knows? Sweet boy.

[noro-noro-noro]

oh yeah the dream i had was weird, smth like my dad remarried 2 people & then i sort of reconciled with someone i have no intention of getting along with at the mall & then there was a choose your own adventure novel

i think my dad remarried or something to another married couple. the mom was nice. the 2nd dad was weird. we had to move into their house, which was kind of like the guest room in my mom’ shouse except with like brown wood panelling & it had beams. like it was good enough. tthhe 2nd dad was an inventor of some kind? i remember weird gadgets & stuff. they also had a bunch of kids who were all fairly young, max 14. maybe 3 or 4 of them. i was thinking that i should try to make an effort if these people were supposed to be my parents too rather than treating them like strangers in my house. it’s not even my house. 

scene cut. i’m at the mall. the mall also somehow feels old-fashioned & a bit different. kinda cozier tbh rather than like all the white lights & white tiles. there was brown wood panelling again. i think christmas decorations were up. i was walking with my friends from college. my worst roommate was there but we were getting along ..? he made fun of my second worst roommate & i laughed bvc i thought it was genuinely funny! & then i heard my 2nd worst roommate behind me say “that’s not funny.” she was wearing some kind of red & green christmas themed sweater, so i guess it was christmas. & i shrugged & said “i don’t really give a shit whwat you think”. she kind of followed behind me looking mad for a while & then pulled me aside in a store & i was like 🙄what & then she like pulled a jacket over my eyes or smth started fighting me. i couldn’t see but she was like trying to hold my arms down so like i ended up biting the middle of her forehead & then going for like the eyebrow muscle. i thought i cut her but i eventualyl got the jacket like off me & onto pinning her arms instead & we both just sat down. her face wasn’t bleedng, which was kind of a relief since i didn’t want her skin in my teeth. 

then i apologized??? why the hell did i apologize to her. i did literally nothing wrong. she’s the one who was like “oh you broke up with your boyfriend? i’m gonna fuck him & lie about my whereabouts for 2 weeks.” idk why i apologized. maybe for biting her. anyway then she started crying & became nicer & was saying some stuff that was leading me to believe that she got dumped by my ex , which even though  my stupid ass dream self apologized to her for no reason i still got excited about the concept of them breaking up because they’re both horrible people & i want them to get in a car crash & then the car explodes & then they neither of htem die but just get inflicted with crippling burns & injuries & then the car explodes again & then they’re at fault so insurance takes them fore verything they have, & their parents are so embarasse dthey don’t provide any financial support (this is my way of getting them out of this fantasy since they’re all fairly decent people. i don’t know how they raised kids so stupid). 

anyway after that my ex showed up out of a fucking black hole that was tearing the mall apart but he was like in a fuckin mech suit or some shit. super powers. it wasn’t like a huge mech eh just had like his litle head on some huge body wearing some kind of superhero outfit and cape in yellow and light gray. ugly. and he was mad. he grabbed my 2nd wworst roommate & i was like “well i don’t care about that bye” & ran home to my dad & my step parents & then my ex teleported into the house. at this point it was like a paused cutscene almost - everything was still moving & the effects were looping but there were like 5 or 6 different options i could do. one of them had the stepmom do some kind of thunder cross split attack that blew him up. good end ^_^ but it wasnt’ the true ending so it looped back to the cutscene.

there was one option that like blew the house away down some kind of hyperspace tunnle but the stepdad was there with his inventions. idk

[rallis-fatalis]

The Price of Freedom - Chapter 3

New year, new chapter! I hope to do a good few this year. Please enjoy the next installment of Astrath's adventures!

“Now just open the pouch and prepare yourself.”

The black dragon took a steadying breath and gripped the edges of the tan cloth pouch. After a moment, they nearly ripped it open with such force. Out of the mouth of the pouch shot forth a golden light that landed in a writhing mass on the ground before the dragon. The pouch erupted in a golden shower of light in kind. The flailing light began to take shape, something long and noodley. Four small almost vestigial legs formed, then a mane of fur-like spines, until finally the light disappeared with a pop and what slithered before the dragon now was something long and snakelike. They had made a wyrm appear out of thin air! Its golden scales and red spines looked heavily out of place among the green grass and verdant shrubbery.

“Very good! Now try to command it,” a man standing behind the dragon directed. He was bald and sported green robes and a long white cape with a wolf stitched on the back.

The black dragon nodded and gave the wyrm a concentrated glare, attempting to assert dominance without the spoken word. The wyrm reared back its head and hissed, forked tongue flicking between long sharp fangs. Its tail flicked wildly like a rattler, and it squirmed and growled like an unholy beast.

“It will be more strong-willed than a wolf or dreadfowl,” the bald man said. “Keep at it!”

The black dragon flashed its teeth in a snarl and flared open its wings ever so slightly, starry membrane glittering ever so delicately in the sunlight. Suddenly, it felt like a large amount of their energy had drained away. The dragon struggled to maintain the glare but powered through, and after the initial draining feeling faded away, the wyrm whined and loosened its stance and bowed its head, subdued. The black dragon took a breath and smiled at the man behind him. The man gave him a nod and a smile in return.

“Very good, Astrath. You’re advancing well, especially for someone not native here.”

The dragon, Astrath, leaned down and held a hand out to the newly tamed wyrm. It slithered up their arm and coiled around their neck and shoulders with a curious flick of the tongue. Astrath gave the wyrm a gentle stroke, combing their claws through its mane of spines.

“That little one won’t last on this plane long so make your time count,” the man said.

“Thank you, Master Pikkupstix,” the dragon said with a bowed head. “When do you think I will be able to move onto the larger beasts? Minotaurs, I believe I heard you call them?”

“Whoa there, friend, let’s not get hasty. Those beasts are very difficult to handle and in untrained hands can run wild and cause great destruction. You are not quite ready yet.” 

Astrath huffed in disdain. They wanted the power this newfangled summoning skill promised! A way to take back Krawley manor, free everyone and exact revenge, was right at their fingertips and their own tutor wouldn’t let them continue. It was an outrage! Smoke rose from Astrath’s nostrils, startling the wyrm around their shoulders, but the dragon said nothing and instead spun on their heels and angrily walked through the town.

Astrath noticed no one and nothing as they stalked through town. Other summoning apprentices remarked on the job well done to summon something as surly as a desert wyrm, while other townsfolk simply admired the beautiful day with their own pets and familiars out and about. Speaking of, Rojaw the fire drake was currently chasing someone’s pet squirrel around the trunk of a tree in a dizzying game of tag. The sight sobered the black dragon back to reality.

“Hey Rojaw,” Astrath started. They held out their arm for the wyrm to coil itself around. “Look what I summoned today.”

The wyrm hissed and slithered down to the ground. Rojaw bounded over, excitedly giving the summoned wyrm a sniff. It returned the gesture in kind.

“Our friend won’t be here long. Why not show them a good time, hmm?”

Rojaw chirped and wagged his tail. He gestured the wyrm toward the squirrel and the tree so they could continue playing. Astrath chuckled as they watched the three beasts squeal and play. If the wyrm had to be summoning practice, the least the dragon could do was give it a good time while it was on this plane. They let them play and headed to the house of Silenthe, the druid kindly providing shelter during their stay in Taverley.

Astrath made their way to a two storey hut more furnished with plant life than actual lodging accommodations. Inside, Silenthe was baking a chicken for lunch and soup stock, making Astrath drool involuntarily. Silenthe gave the front door a glance and smiled to himself as Astrath walked in.

“Hungry I take it? Don’t get my nice wood floor too wet now.”

Astrath ashamedly wiped their mouth. “Do you need any assistance?”

“No, thank you. I’m nearly done. How did summoning practice go?”

“I’ve managed to summon a wyrm now.”

“That’s actually a bit impressive.” Silenthe sprinkled some spices on a tray of roasted potatoes and checked on the chicken. “You learn quickly.”

“Yet Master Pikkupstix refuses to allow me the knowledge to practice with the more difficult beasts.”

“He has a very good reason for that. The last time a student summoned a strong beast they were not ready to handle, it killed not only the student but three apprentices nearby and demolished a pair of buildings. Pikkupstix has been very cautious since.”

Astrath grumbled but understood the reasoning.

“You shouldn’t rush to that anyway. It’s time to relax and enjoy the festivities soon.”

The dragon cocked their head. “Festivities?”

“Oh, did I not tell you? In two days we will be celebrating midsummer. There are costumes and dances and delicious foods, and by the end we celebrate our surplus of herbs with a little… libation, amongst other things.”

Astrath hid a snicker at the idea of the entire town dancing around drunkenly. The people of Taverley seemed like they would be a lot more fun when they drank than the stuck-ups at the Krawley dinner table.

Silenthe hauled the roasted chicken out of the oven and sprinkled it with another round of spices. He transferred it to a large platter and brought it to the dining table alongside the roasted potatoes and pitcher of water. Even after spending a couple weeks under the same roof as the druid, Astrath was still not used to the copious amount of mouth-watering food the man just casually gave the dragon. They didn’t have to work their scales off or beg like a dog or take a beating just for a chance at scraps. All Astrath did was kill and pluck the chicken and pick the potatoes and Silenthe called that meager work more than enough help. They didn’t think they’d ever get used to such generosity.

Astrath brought Rojaw in for his share, summoned wyrm tagging along to simply enjoy living for a moment in this new world, and the quartet passed the lunchtime away in familial conversation.

__________________________________________________________________________

Music streamed throughout Taverley, sun adornments hung on every flat surface or open face, glasses of wine or other drink were clinked together in merriment. The day of the midsummer festival had arrived. A great series of tables had been put together for the whole town to come together for a great feast, and already the townsfolk were busy preparing great abundances of food. The younger members of Taverley ran about in festive attire, some alongside their animal or summoned companions, playing games and causing scenes of joy. Some of the adults were working on building an effigy of sorts atop the hill near the druidic altar for a later ceremony. It was all far too much for Astrath to take in at once. They had never seen anything like this. So many happy people and festive decor and just things and happenings in one place. It threatened to overwhelm them.

Silenthe wasn’t there to explain anything or lead the dragon around, too busy helping with the feast setup, leaving the dragon to stand awkwardly by the corner of a shaded building with an antsy Rojaw beside them. The little fire drake stamped his feet and paced as he wanted to run around and sniff and explore, but he also didn’t want to leave his friend’s side. 

Astrath didn’t miss his companion’s gestures. “Rojaw, you can go have fun if you’d like. I think I just need a few more minutes to… adjust.”

The drakeling whimpered and rubbed his face against Astrath’s leg in comfort. He wouldn’t leave just yet.

After some time of waiting and watching in the shadowed silence, Astrath took note of a trio of druids setting something up by the altar with the effigy. Whatever they were doing caught their attention, or rather their nose’s attention, and so they went to investigate. Rojaw took this as his cue to leave and hopped away to mooch at the feast table.

On the dais in the center of the altar, the three druids were setting up long, thin, flat strips of metal, nearly the size of someone’s forearm. There were holes on one end of each metal strip, and Astrath watched in curiosity as the druids placed long thin sticks inside each hole. The sticks were tipped with something that smelled confusing, sweet but smoky, good but bad, a conundrum for the nostrils.

One druid took notice of Astrath’s lingering, and after a small jolt of shock at the sudden appearance of the dragon, waved hello.

“My apologies, I did not mean to startle you,” the dragon started. “I was simply interested in this part of the festival, is all. What is it you three are doing?”

“Oh, we’re just setting up the incense burners,” one druid explained. “After the feast and dances, we light these incense sticks, say our prayers and wishes to the icon,” he motioned to the effigy, “and then burn it so our wishes may rise and hopefully the answers brought back down to us.”

Astrath hummed in understanding and sniffed one of the unlit incense sticks in the tray. “This incense stick, what is it made of? Its smell is… peculiar.”

“They’re tipped with an herb called marrentil. They’re a perfect herb to use as incense. It calms the mind and provides a feeling of comfort. If you’ve never seen it before I imagine it might smell a little odd.”

The dragon gave the stick another sniff of interest. They couldn’t seem to pull their nose away. The smell was so enticing. They made a mental note to definitely check this part of the festival out once it started.

“Anyway, we’re done setting up here,” the druid said. “Come back around sunset to see the place all lit up! Now if you’ll excuse me, I want to get to that feast!”

The druid ran off giddily toward the set up tables with his two companions in tow. Feeling a little more comfortable, Astrath decided to join them.

Every single member of Taverley was present at the table, making Astrath more nervous and uncomfortable than they’d been since leaving Ardougne. They were never the one at the table, but the one watching from afar. And this wasn’t a meeting between the Krawleys and their prospective traders, solemn and full of looks and gestures with meanings mere words could not convey. Here, the people laughed and cheered and clinked their glasses and wished each other well. Animals sat beside their human friends, not owners but friends, and had their own plateful to eat instead of the scraps left behind after their ‘betters’ had eaten, cold scraps of bone and perhaps a few crumbs of bread or vegetable. Even Rojaw got a huge plate all for himself, something the little drakeling roared about with glee.

Once the eating had mostly finished and the chatter had reached a pitch, an older druid stood with his cup raised and asked for silence. The crowd slowly petered their conversations and looked to the man.

“Thank you,” he started. “My, what a bountiful year it has been. Truly, the land has borne more boons than ever. May we pray tonight that this coming year will be just as blessed. The gift of summoning has reached farther now than it ever has, and every passing day I see more of us truly embracing Guthix’s teachings and becoming one with nature. We have lost some friends, yes, but we have also made new ones, some of which I think I can safely say none of us ever thought of making!”

Everyone glanced at Astrath for a moment at that, some chuckling a bit, and raised their glasses to the dragon. The dragon returned the gesture so as not to be rude, but the attention was unwanted. They sank a bit in their chair at the farthest corner of the table as if to shrink away and hide.

The druid continued his speech, but Astrath didn’t hear it, too focused on trying to feel more at ease around all these people, which of course did the exact opposite. They only spoke when spoken to and ate in silence, focusing on the food rather than the company. They hardly noticed the time pass as everyone ate until everyone began to rise to place their dishes in the wash bins. Astrath shot up and hurriedly rushed their and Rojaw’s empty plates over. Finally, something to take their mind off things! A chore always did the trick.

Astrath hefted up a full bin of plates, utensils, and cups, ready to take them to the lake and river for washing, but someone stopped them.

“Dear, what are you doing?” a woman placing her dishes in a bin asked.

“Helping clean,” they said matter of factly. “These are to be washed at the river, correct?”

“Well yes but please do not worry about such things right now. Now is time to socialize and have fun! The washing can wait until later.”

The dragon inwardly grimaced. “Please, as a guest in this town, I feel as though I have not done my part. Allow me.”

Without waiting to hear any argument, Astrath swiftly strode away to the river with a massive bin in hand, ready to have some alone time with the water. As soon as their hands hit the cold river water, they had already begun to zone the noise of the festival out and grow calmer. They closed their eyes, took a few deep breaths, and began to wash the dishes. The methodical scrubbing did indeed prove relaxing, quickly returning to an old routine of washing whatever needed to be at the manor. But after a while, their calm gaze twisted into one of fury. A growl rose in Astrath’s throat and they could not hide the roar and blaze that came after. The cold river water sizzled as dragonfire flared across its flowing surface.

How pathetic were they?! Finding comfort not in the company of others but instead in the solitude of chores and menial labor. This wasn’t enjoyment, this wasn’t life. This was perpetuating a standard they had sought to escape from. They were free to make their own decisions now, and their decision should not be to escape from kindness and familiality to live in the familiar norm of the past.

Astrath rose with one final spit of fire and tossed the clean dish into the clean bin. They were going to enjoy the rest of the day, damn it, even if it killed them! They started to stomp toward the altar where the others were gathering only to realize perhaps it wouldn’t be the best idea to leave the bins of dishes by the riverside. Best return those first.

___________________________________________________________________________

The sun began to set and Taverley met for the final event of the day: a ceremony of wishes and prayers by the altar. Everyone gathered around, much more subdued than before but still cheerful. Astrath missed the beginning of the event, the speech and all that, and had come right as people were making their personal silent wishes. Once everyone had finished, a druid in green robes with a heavy green cape spoke.

“And now we offer our wishes to the sky and pray they may be granted.”

Some of the townsfolk nodded, others raised their hands up, others stood motionless but thoughtful. Astrath thought of a wish as well, one not as vengeful as the wish to enact revenge on the Krawleys. They instead thought of their parents and wished to see them again, safe and sound one day.

The green caped druid turned to the effigy, lit a stick aflame, and torched the effigy atop the altar. The flame consumed the figure in a blaze of glory, and a few druids began to set the incense surrounding it alight. At once, cheering began. People shouted and frolicked and danced around the circle. As the sun fully set, torches blazed and those costumed pulled on masks in the shape of the sun. Once again, the party was at a fever pitch, possibly even louder than before. But this time Astrath wasn’t anxious from the commotion. In fact, they felt calmer than they ever had in their life. Their vision grew slightly hazy, and they found it hard to keep their eyes completely open. A lazy smile graced their face, and dare they say even a few giggles slipped out of their mouth.

Silenthe had finally found the time to see Astrath and smiled at the dragon. “You seem to be in good spirits! I’m glad you found our festival enjoyable.”

Still half-lidded and lazily grinning, Astrath gave a sloppy nod. “Yeah… This is great… I feel so good right now. I love this place.”

The man laughed. “I’m glad! Come now, come! Let’s get a drink.”

A drink? As in alcohol? But that was only for the lords and ladies, not a lowly beast! 

But instead what came out of Astrath’s mouth was an excitedly vulgar “Fuck yeah!”

Silenthe gave a shocked blink. The dragon was always so formally spoken. To hear them swear was quite a shock.

The two grabbed a glass of Astrath couldn’t begin to guess what and gave it a sniff. “Wow that smells like crap!” But they swigged it anyway. It may have smelled and tasted foul, but it made them feel warm and cozy and happy. They chugged the entire glass and grabbed another. Silenthe put a hand on the dragon’s arm.

“Whoa there, friend. Slow down. Have you ever had a drink like this before?”

Astrath shook their head. “Pssh, I’ve only ever served this stuff like a butler. You think I would ever be given something that actually cost money to drink? This foul beverage is fantastic and I would like another!”

The dragon wrenched their arm free and slammed down a second drink. Silenthe stopped them from grabbing a third. It was then the man noticed something.

“Are you alright, Astrath? Your eyes are very red.”

The dragon blinked a few times as if that would change their color. “I feel great, better than I’ve ever felt. I think I’m going to go back to those nice smelly sticks now.”

The dragon stumbled back to the rising smoke of the altar with a giddy smile. Silenthe decided it would be best to make sure Astrath would be alright and followed right behind them.

Once at the altar, Astrath flopped onto the grass and rested their head atop the dais where the incense was burning. They took a huge whiff and relaxed against the flame-heated stone. They closed their eyes with a smile, their head spinning in the best way possible.

“Oh, you must have gotten some of the smoke in your eyes,” Silenthe figured. “You probably shouldn’t stay right next to the fire then before your eyes grow irritated.”

“I couldn’t possibly leave,” the dragon mumbled. “Right here is exactly where I want to be.” Words were getting harder to say, and sounds harder to hear. All they could think about was the delicious smell of sweet smoke rising into their nostrils.

“Perhaps dragons just get drunk very quickly,” Silenthe mumbled, puzzled by their companion’s sudden change in attitude. “Come now, friend, I think you’ve indulged enough for one day. Let’s get you home.”

Astrath groaned sadly in protest but their limbs felt far too heavy to fight back. This wave of relaxation was so strong and sudden they couldn’t find the urge to move an inch, and creeping out of the depths of their mind the threat of sleep was coming. They said and did nothing more as they felt Silenthe pick them up and fell asleep in his arms.

__________________________________________________________________________

The sun shimmered through the window bright and early the next morning. The birds chirped their cheery song so sweetly outside, only broken by the soft sounds of people preparing for the day down below.

It was horrible.

Astrath groaned loudly as they woke in Silenthe’s bed, an oddity in its own right as they normally slept on the floor with blankets and a pillow. But what was just as odd was the splitting headache coursing through their head and the vilely sour feeling in their stomach. Astrath tried to sit up and immediately wished they hadn’t. The world spun and their vision swam and it was most certainly not like the pleasant feeling from last night. They held back a gag and sat at the edge of the bed with their head in their lap.

A few minutes later, Silenthe appeared with a piping hot cup of fresh tea. Astrath could smell something else inside it, but they couldn’t make out what, their senses muddled. Yet another thing to add to the odd list.

“After last night, I thought you might be needing this.” The druid rubbed the dragon’s back and held out the cup of tea. Astrath very slowly lifted their head and took the cup. The first sip already helped cut through the fog in their mind.

“I feel terrible,” they mumbled.

“Well, you did seem to have a bit of fun,” he stifled a laugh. “You drank a bit so I imagine that’s why your head and stomach may be hurting. Drink the tea and we’ll get some food in you.”

Astrath lifted the cup in thanks and took a large swig. Silenthe looked into the dragon’s eyes as they drank, unnerving them more than a bit.

“Sorry, I was just making sure your eyes weren’t still red. They seem to be fine now. It really must have just been the smoke causing irritation.”

“I would hardly call that– what was it, incense? –irritating. I’ve never felt better. It was so calming.”

“Marrentil does have that effect, yes, but not so severely. You passed out at the altar and were quite out of sorts. It was almost like you–.”

Silenthe stopped as a realization hit them. “Hold on, I would like to try something.”

He ran downstairs and returned with one of the incense sticks from last night, as well as a match. “What does this smell like to you?” he asked.

Astrath gave the stick a sniff and ever so subtly in the back of their mind, the headache began to fade. “I can’t describe it. It’s… sweet but sour but also smoky. It’s sharp but also plain. It’s like many smells put together, conflicting but they come together in the end.”

The description raised an eyebrow from the druid. “To me, it smells like almost nothing. Not until it’s burnt, anyway. Now if I set it on fire…”

He lit the match and brought the flame to the tip of the incense. Wisps of smoke wafted through the air, and immediately Astrath’s shoulders untensed and their headache was gone. They breathed in the smell with a small smile. Silenthe took the scene in and once he understood, he couldn’t help but laugh. He doused the incense as he tried and failed to cover his giggles.

Astrath pouted as the incense went out. “What is so comedic?”

“Oh, you, my friend! This little herb seems to have quite a different effect on dragons than it does humans. I wonder if any other herbs do something similar. I would love to test them.” Astrath squinted, wanting an answer. Silenthe waved the stick around excitedly. “You got high, haha! All that incense smoke, it must have overloaded your mind and senses and made you relax so much you fell asleep. It seems marrentil is to dragons as catnip is to cats. Dragon-nip if you will!”

Astrath covered their face in embarrassment. They might not have fully understood what ‘being high’ meant, but they knew from the connotation enough that they had acted foolish in public because of it.

“Your drake friend is eating in the kitchen. I wonder if he would act the same way as you.”

Silenthe deviously trotted downstairs to test his hypothesis. Astrath scrambled out of bed, headache forgotten. 

“Leave him out of this! I don’t need that rascal acting even goofier than usual!”

‘Also you should save it for me!’ their betraying brain screamed.

[wvfrugalchick]

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