#either way the Paladins are involved as students somehow

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

DICED HAM

Opening this weekend:

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves--This movie includes more than one dungeon, and more than one dragon. Thus the title is truthful, at any rate.

Once or twice back in college--twice, if memory serves--I played Dungeons & Dragons with some of my fellow theater students. It was sort of fun, as I recall. The first time, an obnoxious kid we didn't know named Dan--not a theatre major--had somehow been invited, who seemed to think himself a great ladies' man. He named his warrior character "Dahn" and spent most of the evening drinking a lot and hitting on the young women there. When we played again a week or so later, Dan was not invited, and the Dungeon Master mildly informed us that "Dahn disagreed with something that ate him."

This was in the early '80s.  I recount this story only to make it clear how limited my familiarity is with the classic role-playing fantasy game developed in the mid-'70s and now owned by Wizards of the Coast (a subsidiary of Hasbro). I've never played D&D or any similar game since, though I have friends and family who are enthusiasts. Even at the time, I didn't really grasp how the dice rolls and "damage points" and other such jargon determined the flow of the game; I just enjoyed the socializing and improvisational creativity.

So for all I know, this new movie version, directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley from a script they concocted with Michael Gilio and Chris McKay, is a rich and faithful fleshing-out of tropes from the game. Or, for all I know, it's just a sword-and-sorcery fantasy with the franchise's name hung on it. I can't say, nor need any general audience member care; either way, it's highly entertaining.

Chris Pine is a lute-strumming troubadour living in a Ren-Faire-ish realm of racial and gender diversity. A washed-up member of a heroic order, he leads a band of thieves including a warrior (Michelle Rodriguez); a sorcerer (Justice Smith) of low self-esteem and questionable prowess, and a horned and tailed elfin person (Sophia Lillis) who can shape-shift into various other creatures, including a brawny monster owl.

They're on a quest to obtain some sort of magical thingy that will allow them to enter a magic vault from which they want to steal some other magical thingy. This will allow the troubadour to resurrect his murdered wife. Along the way the band is helped by a noble but humorlessly literal paladin (Regé-Jean Page from Bridgerton).

This synopsis does the movie little justice, however. D&DHAT isn't heavy. Despite all the thundering hordes and clanking armor and clashing steel and roiling brimstone and mystical spells and hideous ogres and such, the flavor is less like a Tolkien epic than like a Hope-Crosby Road comedy. The guiding joke is that the characters, notwithstanding their fairy tale attire, speak and interact in a contemporary American idiom, like people on a sitcom. There's an extended schtick, involving questioning of the dead, that's almost worthy of the Marx Brothers.

Your own tastes will determine if this approach makes the movie a blast or an outrage. For me, it not only made it less ponderous, but more emotionally satisfying. The actors generate an ensemble playfulness and a sense of affection. Pine retains his raffish agreeability, and he and Rodriguez are particularly convincing as longtime, patiently enduring friends.

But once again, the best reason to see the film, even if this sort of fantasy isn't your usual tankard of mead, is Hugh Grant. He plays the rotten mountebank who betrayed Pine and friends back in the day. Since then, with the alliance of a sinister sorceress (Daisy Head), this fraud has ascended to the throne of the kingdom; it's his vault the gang wants to loot, and he's also, intolerably, been serving as the surrogate father to Pine's daughter (Chloe Coleman).

Between this movie, the recent Operation Fortune, and 2017's Paddington 2, Grant has quite a line these days in cheery, good-natured comic villains. The scenes he steals here are the most honorable theft in the movie.

[void-tiger]

...I’ve only watched one episode, but if I end up rambling about a Slice of Life SingleDad! Shiro...it’s totally Writer Nonnie’s fault.

[elcuervoborracho]

Ironwood as a Foil to Yang

A RWBY post. There’s this thing that’s been bugging me for a long time now:

Why did Ironwood personally request a prosthetic arm for Yang?  He didn’t even know her that well, among hundreds of students. At face value it makes no sense.

I think Ironwood must see some of himself in her. When it comes to heroes and villains, they’re very often thematically mirrored and linked.

Before I go into that, I’ll go dive a bit into Ironwood, and how he made terrible choice after terrible choice:

He’s been slowly occupying Vale, sending his troops in, selling robot soldiers in Vale territory.

He likely had Penny compete in the Vytal Festival so that when she won, Ozpin would hand her the Maiden powers, thus giving Atlas even more power. EDIT: (He's the one responsible for the aura transfer machine. He knows Ozpin is looking for a new maiden, and Pyrrha was chosen because she's the strongest Beacon student. Why else would Penny be in Vale competing in the festival, when she's from Atlas, doesn’t need to study, and Ironwood didn’t even tell Ozpin she’s a robot? Is it any surpsise that when Penny gets the winter maiden powers, Ironwood tries to have her hacked?) This makes it a literal attempt at using Penny as a Skynet Terminator, an infiltration unit with living tissue over a metal endoskeleton

He’s corrupt, holding two seats in the Atlas Council (Same council that made him responsible for the Vytal festival security)

This is just by Volume 3, the show made it painfully obvious he as never fit to lead, and is in fact a villain. Always was. It’s important to remember that throughout all of this, Ironwood doesn’t just feel justified, he feels like he’s a hero for doing it. Like he’s somehow protecting Atlas by doing all of this. This will be important later

What does this man--who made himself responsible for the festival’s security--see in Yang, the girl that as far as he knows, is just some girl that went ballistic after winning a match?

Up until this point there isn’t much to see. The most he knows is that her team was involved in Mountain Glenn and the Torchwick Paladin fight. Is it really enough reason for The Atlas General to personally request a high end prosthetic? not really.

The next part will be a little bit of a tangent, but It’l be worth it later. It’s about Semblances.

Ruby says there’s no way to know how to unlock a Semblance, but we see in the show that semblances aren’t just tied to the person, but also to the event that awakens them, like classic superpowers. And like those, they’re not just whatever, tacked on because it’s cool. If you’ve ever watched X-men evolution, Rogue’s powers are just a metaphor for intimacy. The same kind of applies to RWBY.

For example: Jaune’s Semblance is a reflection of himself. His worth is entirely connected to what he can give other people, so his semblance reflects that, and the situation it awakened in reflects that. This pattern continues with other characters. Cinder’s Semblance is the power to destroy anything she can touch, and re-create it to whatever she wants. This relates so obviously to her backstory it would be redundant to waste words there. I’ll go in-depth on semblances and how they affect other characters in another post. Maybe.

I believe Ironwood’s semblance reflects the situation that unlocked it. It basically lets him take decisions without second-guessing himself. To me this implies somewhere in his past Ironwood either failed to take an important decision, or took such a terrible decision that he awakened his semblance. Likely the same situation that cost him a limb, but not necessarily it

Losing a limb is a big deal. some people take it better than others, and while I don’t think RWBY handled Yang’s amputation that well, I do think the idea behind it is important, she was traumatized and living in pain. There’s a good chance that ironwood didn’t lose half his body at once. Even in in the world of Remnant, it’d be hard to survive that. We all know he likely lost limbs gradually, like the Tin Woodsman. Couldn’t have been nice, to say the least, and he still uses the excuse of Phantom pain to Glynda in V2, so I think it’s safe to say he likely has some of that trauma. This is something they both share too.

Recklessness is also a trait they both have, but throughout the series Yang learns to temper hers and think twice before making decisions, something Ironwood never did. He can’t, his Semblance is not thinking twice!

They’re also both very good close range fighters, When fighting Watts Ironwood even uses boxing techniques just like Yang, bobbing and weaving under attacks, delivering a flurry of hooks. He clearly prefers it too, given how most of the fight is Watts running away from him.

(As an addendum, they tend to rarely use their ranged weapons unless it’s so they can propel themselves forward, into melee range, but this is less of point because it’s a somewhat common strategy in RWBY, Ruby uses it , Nora uses it in a different way, so it’s not something exclusive to them.)

Then where does the foil part come in?

So here’s this promising, heroic Huntress. She’s a part of the team that fought against Roman and his goons multiple times, a great fighter who’s a bit of a hothead, but has a heart of gold, and in the heat of the moment took a snap decision after a match was over and hurt someone. She loses her right arm fighting a white fang leader, and after the fall of Beacon, they found out she was right, and that “student” she hurt was an infiltrator who’s directly responsible for the events that lead up to the fall. Maybe after that they find out she lost a limb while protecting Blake, not just while fighting.

Yang’s heroic sacrifices are how he sees his actions, and while it’s far, far from reality, after seeing that, how could he not send her that prosthesis? It would be like not sending one to himself when he was hurt the first time.

Or maybe not. Maybe Miles and Kerry just did their thing, and I simply stared at the inkblots long enough to see a butterfly. 

Either way, this is fun to think about, and I it may be worth sharing the thought.

[headcrossed]

A/N: no one asked for this, but I can’t stop thinking about it so here goes. Also still taking requests for these guys, if anyone’s interested!

THE RFA PLAYS DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS FOR THE FIRST TIME

SEVEN

We all know he’s the one that suggested it. Call it a team building exercise, if you will. Besides, since they’re going to be having more parties now in the future, they gotta make sure they stay strong as an organization. What better way than this?

Since no one else is experienced with this game, Seven also takes it upon himself to DM.

Even though oddly enough, he’s never really played it either... at least, not officially.

He found a rulebook when he was younger at the library, and it inspired him, but he knew he couldn’t take it home where his mom might find it.

So instead he memorized it, and when Saeran was sick he would make up a story and roleplay with him. No stats, character sheets, or anything. Just two lonely kids getting enraptured in pure imagination for a little while. It’s one of the fondest memories he has from his childhood.

I’mma be honest: Seven’s DM-ing style is basically the same as Griffin McElroy’s in TAZ.

He keeps things pretty well-balanced. Plenty of humor and shenanigans, but the more serious and emotional moments are really moving, and everyone’s surprised by this.

Zen and Yoosung and even Jaehee and V probably shed some tears over the way the story unfolds. 

He also does really good voice acting for his characters. Nowhere near on Zen’s level, like you could still kinda tell it’s him doing the voices if you couldn’t see his face, but he gets into character really easy (even Zen thinks he should audition to voice act for a game or something... ;) )

Yoosung

Aside from the obvious previous experience he might have, he probably played some one-shot campaigns with some D&D clubs on campus before. 

The first character he makes is probably a literal recreation of his LOLOL character, since it’s familiar to him, and is a good place to start with since he’s not very experienced. Besides, he’s built like a tank in LOLOL, and if he knows anything about these kinds of games, it’s that balance is key, and they need at least someone who can soak up all the damage of whatever Seven throws at them (is he afraid that he’ll make them face bosses way to big for any of them to handle and they’ll all die in the process? GOD YES)

And it turns out that concern was legit. He dies like 5 minutes in.

Scrapping that strategy, he probably will end up making a half-orc , and he ends up really enjoying this character a lot more.

Plays him... surprisingly chivalrous, probably ends up saving a princess at some point in the game.

Seven lets him romance her and... wait... HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND NOW!!!

The game doesn’t count, my sweet summer child

It’s a little awkward that she’s voiced by Seven,and even though he teases Yoosung about it (both in-game and out), quite often it’s really sweet, actually.

He really, REALLY wishes he could commission someone to do fan art of them, but he has no money T_T

Might ask V if he gets desperate enough... might

Believe it or not, Yoosung will actually ditch playing LOLOL for this.

He likes being able to see all his best friends gathered in one place, laughing and just having a good time. It warms his poor college student heart. 

ZEN

He’s not really sure how he was convinced to do this, but somehow he’s very into it 

He’s not very good at the numbers part of the game (and he usually has to ask Yoosung or Jaehee to help him with it), but he really shines in the roleplay department (I mean he’s an actor! If nothing else it’s a really good opportunity to work on his improv skills) 

Plays an high-elf bard, with a VERY high charisma stat. 

“Not very original, huh Zen? Trying to make life imitate art?” “Shut up, mistah trust-fund kid!”

AND HE PLAYS THEM EXACTLY HOW YOU WOULD EXPECT.

Flirts with EVERY ENEMY. To the point that Seven has to make his character have near-death experiences MANY TIMES to get him to stop. 

Still, somehow, by the end of the game he has amassed a harem of enemies who worship him for his god-like beauty. 

VOICE ACTS FOR HIS CHARACTER AND SINGS ACTUAL BARD SONGS HE’S MEMORIZED BEFORE-HAND (rest in peace, Jaehee)

Oh but he doesn’t stop there.

He COSPLAYS HIS CHARACTER, AND HIS WHOLE FANBASE GOES INSANE 

His bard now has a whole fandom and following irl too. He even made a separate social media account where he shares all the amazing fan art that people have drawn for his character. He even thinks that maybe they should start broadcasting their sessions or do a podcast. 

JAEHEE

Jaehee is an absolute beast at this game.

She’s read over the rulebook at least 20 times and knows it inside and out. 

Probably gets into arguments with Seven and maybe accidentally metagames once or twice. 

She should be dm-ing not seven what the hell are they all thinking? She knows the stats better, anyways 

She plays a rowdy dwarven paladin, and no one expected it.

Her logic is: it’s a fantasy-world. She can be whatever she wants, and she wants to smash things, be as rowdy as she likes, and be blunt and tell things like it is. 

Also she’s semi-intentionally trying to recreate a gimli and legolas style relationship with Zen’s character, go figure ;) it’s actually really sweet at the end of the day though they make a great fucking team.

Has her own special routine for dice-rolls that she believes will increase her odds of getting a better roll.

They all laugh at her for varying degrees for it but FOR SOME REASON IT WORKS AND SHE HAS CRAZY NAT 20 STREAKS SOMETIMES.

She ends up stealing a lot of Jumin’s kills, but she’s just roleplaying, after all. (Seven gives her bonus xp for good roleplaying too like yeah good for her for using this as an outlet) 

Frequents D&D forums a lot now. Thinking up new strategies and probably makes like a million new characters based on them that she may never play (but she hopes to, someday)

JUMIN

He’s heard of it before, and that’s no surprise with his extensive interest in small specialty businesses and the fact that the RFA has at least two members who have played it before. 

But alas, he has never played it himself.

He agrees because the level of spectacle that he’s seen around playing this game is astounding, and he’s intrigued. Thinks maybe he’ll get a new business idea out of it.

“So Jumin, what race are you going to play as?” Seven asks, innocently, as though he doesn’t know the answer.

“... you’ll see.” 

Everyone gets suspicious, but he keeps his poker-face as cool as ever. 

When they go around the table introducing their characters, he puts on his most serious face, puts his hands up in front of his face like paws, and introduces himself as his character: Elizabeth the 4th, Tabaxi Ranger

Zen has to leave the room to get over a sneezing fit, Jaehee’s glasses shatter, Seven straight up dies laughing on the floor. None of it matters to Jumin. He’s living the fucking dream.

All that being said, Jumin is definitely tries to take a more methodical approach to the game. He carefully plans out his strategies for the best strategical outcome. 

Although 

He actually ends up really enjoying it, at the end of the day.

You know he’s looking into premium gear for future sessions. Buys all the rulebooks and lorebooks, buys a bunch of really cool-looking handmade dice (that he personally tests himself for balance, to make sure they all roll true). He probably even commissions someone to make custom mini figurines for their characters. 

V

Like Zen, he’s also not quite sure how he got roped into doing this.

He’s never played, or ever really even HEARD of this game before, let alone understand how it works, but given an opportunity to hang out with the rest of the RFA and relax, he takes it. It sounds like fun to him anyway. 

He has to spend a lot of time making his character (this poor boy, he sees everyone else with their faces stuffed in the character stat books and he doesn’t wanna ask if he can borrow it ‘cause they need it to make their characters too and doesn’t want to interrupt them) 

When he finally DOES make a character, however. He goes with a Tiefling Druid. Not only do they look aesthetically pleasing and unique, but also he empathizes with how they’re treated by society as a whole. It’s kinda the perfect fit. 

He’s super clueless when they first start playing. 

Seven says “Roll for initiative” and he sits there like “wait... what do I do? ^^; ”

Jaehee, Jumin and Seven usually help him out and explain things as they go along.

As the game progresses he picks things up bit by bit. Turns out, he’s actually really good at roleplaying.

In the beginning, he plays his character as this cold and distant,  not really caring about anyone in the team, but over time that dissolves into unerring loyalty to the rest of the party. Probably created an elaborate backstory involving a long lost love, too.

Everyone gets super attached to V’s character.

But of course, OF COURSE

When they face the final boss of the arc, someone has to sacrifice themselves to defeat it.

V immediately volunteers, and is dealt a killing blow before any of the rest of them can so much as talk it through. 

As he dies, he says “My people only know hatred because they have been so hated. But... I’ve never felt that. Not with all of you. Thank you, for showing me that there’s hope for all of us!” and his character dies, with a smile on his face.

DAMNIT V NO

EVERYONE’S FUCKING CRYING NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID

All-in-all though, he had a really great time. 10/10 would play again. Maybe even starts constructing a story-based campaign in his head and wants to try DM-ing next time!

He’s always snapping super aesthetic photos of the sessions, and probably does a painting of all their characters together to commemorate their first campaign. 

SAERAN

Saeyoung invited him to play, but he says no. 

It’s childish and he has other things he wants to do.

Saeyoung doesn’t pressure him, and honestly he thought that would be the last he’d hear of it. 

However, Seven’s house is usually where they end up meeting to play (since no one else really has the room for it, and playing at Jumin’s house is ruled outright due to level of c-hair)

He’s a little annoyed, and thus stays in his room for most of the night, figuring he can wait the session out in his room.

But alas, the one thing he didn’t factor in was wanting some ice cream at 1 am.  

After a deep internal debate, he ultimately decides to leave his room to satisfy the craving, and unlocks his door. 

He wanders into the kitchen, surprisingly unnoticed, silently grabbing a spoon from the drawer and taking the carton of ice-cream out of the freezer, when he overhears something... familiar.

“BOOM! BOOM! Drums sound in the deep. A mighty roar soon follows, as the chamber rumbles with the sound, pieces of the construction tumbling to the floor of the ancient hall in its wake...” 

Seven roars, for effect. 

“Oh shit...” Zen says.

“Louder and louder, the sound draws nearer, until the sound stops at the foot of the barricaded door. Large shadows overcome what little faint light shone from beneath the door...”

*pushes up his glasses* “Roll for initiative”

“WHAT?!”, screams Yoosung, “WE JUST FOUGHT A CAVE TROLL! WE HAVEN’T EVEN HAD THE TIME TO RECOVER!”

“Shame...” Seven says, “If only there was one more party member... then you might have a chance...” 

Seven then looks over to the doorway, locking eyes with Saeran briefly.

Memories prickle at the back of his head. Memories of those same eyes lighting up as he told the same stories to him. He remembers getting lost in those stories, feeling happy deep down as he figured out what he would do next. He even remembers... smiling? 

He runs back into his room, and slams the door. 

And that’s the last the RFA sees of him...

Or so they think.

Half an hour later, he comes out of his room, pulls out one of the kitchen chairs, sits down and slams a hastily-printed character sheet. 

“Looks like you’re running into some trouble with that Balrog... tch. Amateurs.”

He made a Kenku Monk, chaotic neutral alignment.

And he completely destroys the boss that Seven had planned for them. 

DID SOMEONE SAY EDGELORD?

Probably splits from the party a bunch, but Saeyoung planned for that, so there’s usually a bunch of story-heavy side-quests waiting for him anyway, and they all eventually lead him back to the party somehow.

But truth be told, he’s not that mad about it.

Every opportunity he gets to describe exactly the kind of moves he’s exacting on the enemies they face, he takes. He explains it in creative, gory detail, and it shocks some of the other party members, but Seven seems cool with it.

That’s right kiddo, harness all that repressed rage. Let it out. 

He’s helping clean the kitchen after everyone’s gone when Seven asks,

“So? You going to play with us next session too?”

He pauses washing the snack dishes for a beat, and the corners of his lips start to twitch, just a little.

“Y-yeah, I-... I actually had a lot of fun.”

His brother pats him on the back, his hand still on his shoulder when he says “I’m glad! That’s what I was hoping to hear.”

“... Wait... you planned this from the beginning, didn’t you?”

The sly smirk on Seven’s face says it all. Bih you know he did

“... you little shit.”

[turbletoops]

Curse of Castle Halloway, Pt. 4

Our current party consists of:

Anala, Dragonborn Cleric of Pelor, from the clans to south. Bartleby, Halfling Rogue, a Halloway native Camlib, Lizardfolk Druid, from the eastern swamps. Rowan, Half-Elven Paladin, currently serving Eldath. Shade, a Tiefling Warlock of the Raven Queen.

Our adventurers are looking for answers, but find themselves embroiled in a small town's issues instead. *(This session is loosely based on The Forest of Forgotten Dragons module.)

“Dragons, you say?”

~ 28 Days Until the Dark Hunter's Moon ~

Still getting used to the whole traveling thing, our party heads to the closest settlement, Wood's End, on their way to the temple of Lathander to the north. It goes about as well as expected.

Despite being wary of a town with very little racial diversity, the party receives a neutral-to-warm reception. Not many pay them much mind, except a suspicious, corncob pipe wielding man loitering in front of the tavern. He is generally useless when it comes to information, but does tell the party that most of the Halloway refugees likely headed the other way, because only a handful of families turned up. Much to Bartleby's dismay, none of them had been halflings.

After a brief and thrilling debate on if the general store or tavern should be the first stop, the group considers splitting up for errands, but ultimately decides against it for the sake of the less... savory looking members of the party, just in case.

Shade, however, insists she's going to the tavern first. You know, for a glass of water? She's just so parched, it can't wait.

Over at the general store, Bartleby manages to the sell a chalice, but seems to be stuck with the XXL gloves. Rowan attempts to offer alcohol to the teenage store clerk, but Anala smoothly distracts from that faux pas by asking for information about the strange attacks on livestock.

The group returns to the tavern to find that Shade's already paid for their rooms. Feeling uneasy, they go to investigate, and find the door to her room left ajar, and Shade herself no where to be found. All that's left is the blue and silver circlet, left on the bed as if someone had laid down for a nap with it on, then just disappeared into thin air.

Despite their best efforts, they find no evidence or leads as to where Shade has gone. Like any sane person, their response is to go and find some alcohol, because it has been a -long- day.

The tavern owner/barkeep, Mary, has no information on the refugees either, but does somehow know Bartleby's Great-Aunt? After hearing their plight she gives them a round on the house and refers them to the mayor.

The mayor, through his third helping of roasted quail, offers them a "great reward" that will be "more than worth their time" if the group can get to the bottom of the livestock disappearances. Camlib and Rowan discuss quail hunting instead.

The group pays the Quint farm a visit, and discover some carnage from the previous night's attack; disembodied cow legs and a handful of small incinerated bodies. Anala and Bartleby deduce that the cow legs were ripped off by something with large claws, while Camlib... collects information in a more creative way? Specifically, involving the sense of taste. Our adventurers trace the clues back to the lumberyard, where there have been rumors of ghosts. They head to the lumberyard with their new information, and with Camlib's pack now heavier with disembodied hocks and charred goblin corpses.

Upon entering the guarded lumberyard, the party is reunited with suspicious corncob man, now introduced as Mr. Whitney, the owner of the logging business in town. After some niceties, they take a boat upriver to tour the logging site and investigate the "ghost" sightings.

Instead, after dealing with an enchanted river, the party observes some very strange-looking, but playful dragons. They are albino. rather small, and reminiscent of an oversized family dog in behavior. One of the cow legs was thrown to them, which they proceeded to fight over, causing a small fire. A halfling druid sprung up to prevent the quickly developing forest fire.

She introduces herself as Sable, the keeper of these abandoned dragons. Sable explains there are more, but these two are the oldest, and that she inherited the job of caring for these rejected dragons from her father. But some strange vines have been angering the dragons and forcing them closer and closer to Wood's End, which will not end well for any of the parties involved. Our heroes agree to retrieve her father's journal and an egg that was left after her cabin when she had to abandon it.

Upon finding the cabin, the party realizes how dangerous the vines are. Despite appearing as a normal, if aggressively growing, species of berryvine, these ones will chemically burn any draconic flesh they come into contact with, as Anala and Camlib narrowly avoid experiencing. The journal also reveals some implications of Sable's father and the old mayor conveniently disappearing when a sanctuary for the dragons was to be built on land Whitney wanted for logging.

They track the main vine towards a cave, and discover after sneaking inside that it is the base of operations for a small group from a dragonborn cult that desires to eradicate impurities in draconic lineage, in hopes of being accepted by their deities. Yarnim, an alchemist, and a group of underlings, have been working to alter the berries in such a way that they are extremely volatile to dragons. They are in league with Whitney, hoping to drive Sable and her dragons south until the people of Wood's End do away with the "impurities", and the land is free for development by the lumber company.

Yarnim realizes the jig is up, and offers the party a deal; let him and his students leave peacefully, and the party can use his notes to destroy the vines as they please. The party agrees, fully intending to murder them as soon as their back is turned.

And so they do! Now all that's left is the question of dealing with those highly unstable vines without blowing themselves sky high!

So! What is in store for our heroes(?) next time??? What in the nine hells happened to Shade? Will our party be able to destroy these murder-vines in a safe manner? What will the fate of Sable and the forgotten dragons be? Will Camlib and Rowan manage to get any quail hunting in?

Find out – Next session!

[somuchbetterthanthat]

What do you think the barricade boys would be like today. Like with everything going on.

I was thinking about this, and I thought “oh my god, I have zero idea, that’s why it’s so hard to really write les amis in modern AU” but, I can try to actually give the beginning of an answer (and I’m ready to hear everybody’s opinions on this, really, because I think, depending our own situations, we’re gonna imagine something different for all of them.). This turned extremely long.. sorry.

I think the easiest to pin down are Feuilly and Grantaire, to be honest. 

Grantaire, would be That Guy who never went to vote to an election because “what’s the point? They’re all the same.” Or maybe, the first time he was able to vote was for a presidential, he voted someone, they didn’t pass (or they did and disappointed him) and he was disappointed and he went “whatever, voting is not as cool as I was told it would”. Grantaire won’t say he avoids the news because the bullshit around him actually affects him, and he totally won’t ever admit how much he loves being friends with people who ARE optimist and who sees humanity’s beauty and want to make things better. Grantaire is also the guy who is Totally in Favour of Women’s Rights, Especially the Sexual Liberation Part of It *wink wink*. He… probably had unfortunate sentences like “girls don’t like the nice guys, they just want assholes” (i mean he basically already say unfortunate things like that in canon). Irma probably said once to him “Dude, you are an asshole, and I don’t see women running to your feet, so shut the hell up.” In my opinion, he’s also a white man in his twenties, with all the blind prejudice it can bring. He’s bi, but not that comfortable with it. 

Feuilly, and dear god will I fight anybody on this if I must, is a STUDENT. (Or was a student, depending on which age you give them). Feuilly still struggles with money, because he’d live in fucking Paris, but Feuilly would NOT struggle to study, because FRANCE’S UNIVERSITIES ARE CHEAP (in comparison to some other countries, I mean), and also there are different financial help for people like Feuilly who don’t have the financial means to pay everything from their pockets. It’s still highly probable Feuilly would work anyway, probably in retail or tutoring!, though. Feuilly would spend his time reading and Getting Angry or Passionate about everything that’s going on in the world, that won’t change in our modern world. It’s not about Poland anymore, but oh man Feuilly would rant hours on the situation of Syrians refugees. He probably sat in baffled, horrified silence after Trump’s election. He makes sure people know about what happens in countries the media aren’t interested in. In fact, I could see him write long articles on international problems. 

To be honest, I really don’t know If I can do this for all of les amis (perhaps not as detailed). A lot of this is only my personal opinions on how they might be in modern France. 

In a world where Law school isn’t the only available school for people who don’t want to graduate for School, what do Bossuet and Bahorel do? I can see them, of course, going to university, again and again, but? Would they really not get a diploma…? I mean, okay, poor Bossuet probably doesn’t because of Circumstances, but for Bahorel, I don’t know - he can still have gone to study Law in the first place, find it filled with Terrible Arrogant Competitive People, went “nope” and just. Tried a lot of other things, accidentally majored and got a diploma in at least two of them, and somehow ends up with the most diploma in the group???? Which is baffling because Bahorel would also clearly be a Stylist. He has a page and everything. People don’t get it. I dunno. 

Concerning politics activity, Bahorel would still be the person who Knows Everybody In Paris, which means he goes from group to group - Bahorel probably knows the most radical leftist you can find in Paris, and he has tried to infiltrate an extreme-right meeting once or twice (but that ended up badly). Bahorel probably is the Main Messenger of l’ABC. He’s also probably very good at corrupting students and making them think “maybe being Far Left is actually quite cool”

Jehan probably is vegan? I have no idea what radical art movement is actually scandalizing the Good Society, but he’s probably part of that in some way (with Bahorel). Street art..? I truly have no idea here, so I won’t embarrass myself trying to say something. He still writes a lot of poems, he’s still very erudite, and he’s probably still very rich. He probably gives a lot of money to charity - for women, children, and animals, and he’s an active participant in at least one of them. He’s very big on the “nature doesn’t belong to human and we should be respectful of it” sustainable development movements. 

… Of course les amis would probably all be for sustainable development cause they’re not idiots but. you know.

I can’t see Joly as anything else than a doctor, and I tend to think he’d go for caring for kids in particular. He’s good with them. To be honest, when it comes to politics, Joly and Bossuet are the hardest for me to pin down - I have zero doubt they’re as invested as the others, but I don’t think they’d have as much “clear” role if you know what I mean? Joly probably organizes things for the children at hospital, like having people come here to visit them and make them laugh (Bossuet would probably help with that, and, in fact, probably so would Grantaire), or making sure they can see That Movie that just got out, etc. Joly would also be highly invested in the cause of nurses, which are having a hard time in France right now. Bossuet, drawing from his own experiences, would probably help people in situation of poverty - homeless people, etc. Perhaps he’d help in Le Refuge, which is an association that helps lgbt kids in France who are homeless. 

As for Joly, I can’t see Combeferre as anything else than a doctor, apart if he’s a teacher. Combeferre could totally be a teacher. however, Combeferre would probably be a family doctor, after trying a lot of different specialization. In fact, Combeferre probably went for medicine after trying a bunch of other things, and probably did at least two years of “prépa” (I have zero idea how to explain what it is. Two years of school that prepares you to a test that will allow you to enter prestigious schools all over france?) in like, physics or something because he used to plan to become a scientist. Combeferre is fascinated by technology and how it can help; probably works on making teleportation a thing during lost hours; has contacts all over the scientist words, and spends a lot of time with Jehan speaking about how we could actually already put into place green energy all over the world. Combeferre also tutors kids, he’s involved in feminist groups, and of all his friends, he is the most socialist while everybody else is pretty far into radical left.

Would Courfeyrac be a lawyer? Honestly, I could see it! There is something about Courfeyrac that feels right about this, choosing to defend the innocent and all, he’s a paladin isn’t he - of course he would be a real life lawyer, not a fictional one, and I don’t know exactly which branches of law exists for him in modern-france, but he would be for the one who comes closest to helping either children, group of people being wronged, etc. He probably also gives free lawyer advice for those who don’t even know perhaps they hAVE rights. Courfeyrac would deal with everything social media in the group, and he would still have an uncanny eye to notice people that might fit and belong in their group. He’s charming in a less intense way that Enjolras might be, which makes him an easy “first contact”. 

 As for Enjolras, well, duh, he’d be a printer. He’d be involved in particular with everything that touches the right of workers, what the EU means for France’s companies, and what generally speaking international market do for workers that might not have a chance to fight against the competitive prices of other countries. Chances are, the printshop would also have an editorial branch to it, too. Which brings me to my point-

I think les amis de l’ABC would have a newspaper of sort: they’d started with a blog, and somehow it turned into a very political, humanist newspaper, of which Enjolras would be the principal editor: all of les amis might write articles from times to times - Bahorel, Bossuet, Courfeyrac and Jehan are the one who find other authors to fill in. Grantaire probably writes the horoscope, and it is mocking and still very PoliticalTM, but the tone is humouristic and there are a lot of puns and les amis are much too weak for puns.  

They would also have a branch dedicated to tutoring students of all ages, particularly in “difficult neighborhoods” (which would go hand in hand with Valjean’s center, which is a vague idea of mine that i like). That’s Combeferre and Feuilly’s responsibilities, though Joly chimes in when he can, as well as Courfeyrac and Enjolras. 

They would, obviously, protest - that’s a French Given. They would be, as I said, very active on social media (Courfeyrac on youtube, please and thank you, videos of Enjolras speaking, etc.). A lot of their stance might be on visibility and education: which wouldn’t stop them from direct action when it needs to happen. Les amis de l’ABC would very much be far left, though I don’t think they would like the idea of two big parties anymore, because that’s a feeling that every french people feel nowadays, i think, or so it feels anyway. 

And while I said “he” all the while in this post, because I put them all from canon to modern era, obviously not all of them would be “he”. Les amis de l’ABC would be boys, girls, trans, non-binary, they’d be white or black or brown-skinned, atheists, muslims, catholics, jewish people, etc. Les amis de l’ABC would be very diverse. Also, probably bigger than they were in canon-era - apparently there wasn’t that much of them because of political restrictions of the time-period, but nowadays they could be as much as they can freely, so, there’s that.  Of course, that doesn’t change the idea that Enjolras, Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Feuilly, Bahorel, Jehan, Bossuet, Joly and Grantaire might be the “core” of their association/group. 

I don’t… actually know if that answer your question at all? I hope so?