#funny how that works. song called red mage for character called red mage

[thesnivy123]

I'M JUST AN OVERRATED BAG OF TRICKS!

lil experiment in shading i did. NOT VENT ART don't'cha worry just some more exploration of red as their own character (and how "just being pink" would weigh on them) (yes i know that goes against canon but it is VERY fun to imagine how itd work)

[tracle0]

~ Intro page ~

Howdy! I’m Trade, a 22-year-old writer and aspiring conservationist from the UK. I can often be found hunched over my sketchbook, walking in the wilderness, or travelling to whichever county I can find volunteering opportunities in. 

This blog is primarily for any odd interest I have, although I angle it as a writerblr the most. You can find my art and occasional writing under the #trade-marked tag on this here blog. Following this are the current, past, and future WIPs I have. Please enjoy!

-

Prophet story (title pending) (in progress) - when a prophets brother is possessed by a god-killing sickness, a race begins to preserve or destroy the last relics of dead divinity, and refuse or give forgiveness for errors of the past. Featuring the complexities of brotherhood, the thin line between “prophet” and “schizophrenic”, a divine and glorious anger and a desperate attempt to reach someone who may already be lost to you. Tagged under #prophet wip

The Spiders Song (complete!) - With a devastating plague wrecking a kingdom and a city, a group of semi-experienced people try and retrieve a cure in time to save their homes - and try not to kill each other on the way. Featuring enemies-to-friends, a patron-based magic system with gods who have no problem getting involved in their servants lives, the exact lengths you would go through to save someone you love, and a funny little ghost.  Tagged under #tss 

The Crows Death (sequel to TSS) (on hold) - after retrieving the cure and escaping a cruel gods clutches, peace should be assured to our weary adventurers - until the crowned prince of Glalis is kidnapped and held as a sacrifice, leaving the rest of the team to try and track him down and save him before it’s too late. Featuring the gruelling process of confronting and recovering from trauma, a blood-feud so old that no one can remember why or how it started, intense contemplation of mortality, and a budding and doomed sapphic romance. Tagged under #tcd 

Short story collection (in progress) - a group of interlinked short stories, based in the TSS world, following the only servant to the Spider to ever escape their god, and the process they underwent as a child to adjust to the real world. Featuring adoptive parental figures, an extreme skew on how the world works, a secret our servant has to learn to keep to themselves, and a constant lure back to a manipulative and cloying god, who waits only a short walk away from this new haven. Tagged under #atlas 

Necromancer WIP (title pending) (developing) - the next generation after TCD. When the next necromancer is finally born in one of the highest and richest levels of Glalis, the kingdom seems to be fully recovering and back to normal - until a second is discovered in the lowest, poorest part. This spare servant is taken from her community to the palace, and starts to notice the discrepancies between where she was raised and what these privileged elites seem to have. Featuring strong class conflicts and ties, young children trying to make sense of a complex issue, an exploration of privilege and magic in deprived societies, and characters carried onwards from the previous stories because it’s my book and I do what I want. Untagged.

Ghost WIP (title pending) (developing) - a young girl is marked as the new bearer of the ghost crown, which is already bad news, made worse by the fact she’s still alive. Featuring a begrudgingly made father figure, a reverse heist, a race against bounty hunters to stay alive, and a corrupting and powerful heirloom, calling for one girls head. Tagged under #ghost wip 

Colour WIP (title pending) (developing) - when a rare purple mage is found living in isolation with her paranoid parents, she is taken under the wing of a blind red mage, and able to learn about her magic whilst staying connected to her roots. Featuring a magic system that merges Waterbending with the colour wheel, intense political and class divides, and an mentor/apprentice plot of some sort. Untagged. 

Death is a Silvertongue (complete!) - a mute Silvertongue tries to balance the guilt of manipulation with the responsibility of using their ability correctly - and then blows up a factory, adding a ghostly crowd to their conscious. Featuring intense platonic love, dabblings with faith, recovery, and me having a lot of fun with the extreme limitations of British Sign Language in America. Tagged under #dias 

[cherryjuicegf]

witcher fic masterlist

i probably haven't written enough fics to make a real masterlist so consider this as a medium list. a trying list. more to come. (updated 13/5/21)

one-shots

forget-me-not | geraskier, 3k, T, angst, major character death

How could I ever forget you?

Remember me, love. Jaskier’s voice was so clear in his mind it might as well be real. One last desire, one would say. But Geralt had tried to forget. Even though he said he wouldn’t.

Oh, but he didn’t ever say that, did he?

when you think that you're bereft | geraskier, 1.8k, T, emotional hurt/comfort, tw none

And so the sea asked; may I take you?

And I replied; there’s not much of me left.

Yet the sea whispered; I will love you,

Even if you think that you’re bereft.

Sometimes forgiveness is all one has left to give. Sometimes it's not.

with you all along | geraskier, 4.6k, T, hurt/comfort, tw none

"You are an idiot, Geralt of Rivia. You think that, eventually, you are all alone and will be until the end of your days. You say you don’t need anyone and yet, here I am, bandaging your wounds and singing your triumphs. You need people and you care about them more than you say you do, but refuse to admit any of it, and you harm yourself in the end. Tell me I’m wrong."

or

Jaskier has some unfortunate encounters and Geralt's potions lack any sense of timing at all.

slipping through my hands | geraskier, 7.6k, T, angst with a happy ending, warnings in the tags

One does not crave one's touch until they're deprived of it; unless it burns.

what you run for | geraskier, 6.8k, T, angst with a happy ending, warnings in the tags

Jaskier saw the mirror again. Funny, one would’ve said he’d been there just five minutes ago. A lot must have happened in those five minutes. He shivered, furrowed his brows in thought. “Did you find the mage?” The helpless look Geralt gave him made him conclude that no, probably he hadn’t. But then, how did he end up like that?

or

Jaskier gets possessed. Geralt doesn't like what follows.

breathless | geraskier, 2.1k, T, fluff, mild hurt/comfort, tw drowning, read on tumblr

It’s nothing. A brush of lips. A taste of tongues. Cheap ale that Geralt now finds he’d willingly tone out the rest of his senses to taste once more. A soft moan, but it can’t be him, he’s not breathing. And then Jaskier’s head bumps limp on his shoulder, and he hears silent snoring.

He closes his eyes. And breathes shakily.

Five breaths and a sigh.

the hands that tend to me | geraskier, 1.3k, T, hurt/comfort, tw none, read on tumblr

Was it a bad day? Jaskier couldn’t answer for sure with yes or no. It was not bad. He’d had bad days and that one definitely wasn’t one of them. Still. He felt a weight resting on his shoulders, as if all the previous hours had settled on them. He sighed, returned Geralt’s gold gaze. “A long one,” he decided to answer. He turned around before Geralt’s eyes burned him more in their insistence. “I’m having a shower and then we eat. Give me ten minutes.”

Some days you just don't know what's wrong. It will pass.

one last time love | yennskier, 1.9k, T, fluff, mild hurt/comfort, tw none, read on tumblr

"You know that if you want my clothes off, all you have to do is ask.”

Yennefer hummed. “A'ight, then. Strip.”

Jaskier’s smile faded. “What?”

She stared at him for some seconds, appreciating his shocked expression, and burst into laughter. Jaskier let out a breath and laughed with her. She wasn’t drunk enough, not yet. The way he looked at her though said that he wasn’t drunk enough either.

Not yet.

Five times Jaskier told Yennefer he would take his clothes off if she asked and one time she did.

the spaces where our garden grew wild | geraskefer, 11.3k, M, angst with a happy ending, warnings in the tags

He cuts through the branches, desperate, but they grow back, thicker and thicker and almost hiding that raven hair, that red doublet behind their leaves. He grunts and shouts and pants and his sword rips the air like paper. He sees them again. Or is he?

Black, isn’t her hair? A chain.

Red, isn’t his doublet? Blood.

Oh, he’s too busy, too focused on the thorns. Of course he would, they have hurt him too much by now not to notice them. Yet he doesn’t hear the voices anymore. He doesn’t hear the screams. He doesn’t hear his name. 

And when he does, it’s too late.

or

A study in gardening.

beside the salty water | geraskier, 836 words, T, fluff, read on tumblr

The beach is silent, except for the singing of a voice that resembles a siren’s, yet gentler, loving, warm. Like home.

Feel me falling, feel me sinking

Feel my breath foam on the waves,

For the sea’s my love, my mistress,

and my heart’s a heart that craves.

under the covers | geraskier, 584 words, G, emotional hurt/comfort, read on tumblr

Jaskier shudders. He realises, to his great surprise, that what he needs isn’t to talk or seek words of comfort. Thankfully, since he knows Geralt isn’t a master when it comes to that. What he needs, is to rest. What he needs is a break.

Comfort doesn't always come in words. But who can say no to hugs anyway?

a little favour | geraskier, 3.2k, T, fluff/light angst, tw blood and injury, read on tumblr

He hears Jaskier’s breath hitch. Slowly, terrifyingly slowly, he realizes what he’s done, and immediately looks at the bard. Blue eyes wide, lips parted. Jaskier whimpers.

“Geralt.”

Stay. For me.

No.

Geralt lets go of his hand and storms outside the room, his heart beating faster than a human’s. Before he closes the door, he smells the salty scent of tears behind him. He doesn’t look back.

Five things Jaskier asks from Geralt and one thing Geralt asks from Jaskier.

the stars bear your name | yenralt, 1.1k, G, fluff, read on tumblr

When she was still at Aretuza, she remembered how the girls looked up at the stars, amazed by a world that had yet to be cruel to them. She thought how it would feel if someone ever looked at her that way.

Looking at Yennefer, Geralt turns out to have an entirely different concept of stars than she does.

a lovestruck's letter | geraskier, 3.7k, T, fluff, epistolary, read on tumblr

The last letter wasn’t old. There, on the top of the page, Geralt could discern an erased Geralt, beloved, and the first letters of what seemed the starts of darling. Finally, Jaskier had settled. Just like he’d done then, Geralt found himself craving to actually be called what the bard first intended to call him. Instead.

Dearest Geralt,

Over the years, Jaskier filled his absence with his letters. Then there was one time that Geralt had to fill that absence himself.

series

songs for goodnight | geraskier, 7 works, T, fluff, incomplete

a reason to laugh | 1.4k, G

Jaskier knew Geralt of Rivia was capable of a lot of things but laughing was hardly one of them.

Well, until now.

for warmth | 1k, T

No, Jaskier wasn’t ordinary at all, not for Geralt, yet the warmth that burned in Geralt’s chest completely changed its source when, after a minute or two, Jaskier rolled on his left side, and having his back turned to Geralt too would be completely fine for Geralt to sleep guiltlessly, thank you very much, if only Jaskier didn’t also pull the blankets so that Geralt was, in every sense, uncovered whole.

sing me awake | 1.2k, T

"I didn't know your voice is actually magical," the witcher smiled sleepily and let out a long sigh, feeling soft fingertips trailing his face.

Jaskier chuckled. "Oh, it's not. I just love you too much."

in remembrance | 957 words, G, read on tumblr

Jaskier is the one to tell stories. As so many people do. A human need, one would say. Tell a story, even if it's the same but with a different twist, a different hint or air, still the same, and people will delight and sing and get enchanted and they will remember, they will remember.

He will make them sing. He will make them remember.

these hands of mine | 1.9k, T

"Have I told you I love your hands?"

"Yes, you have."

"Have I told you why I love them?"

"Yes. Many times."

Jaskier then hesitates, just for a second before slightly raising his head from Geralt's shoulder and gazing at him. A glint wild with tenderness sparkles in his eyes. "Mind if I tell you again?"

A sigh. Then a smile. "No. Not at all."

parent-shaped | 1.4k, G

Jaskier took both of Geralt’s hands in his, forcing him to turn around whole and face him properly. "Being a witcher is not what is going to make you a different parent. What is going to make you a different parent is the amount of love and care and protection you’re going to give to this girl, and I know pretty well you’re more than capable of those things."

these lines aren't wrinkles, dearheart | 1k, T

The one where Jaskier has self-knowledge and Geralt is too blinded with love to accept it.

tumblr ficlets/prompts

allergies | geraskier, 533 words, inspired by art

Jaskier is delighted to find out that witchers do, in fact, have allergies.

early morning kisses, geraskier, 482 words

Jaskier is not a morning person and Geralt just indulges him.

prison buds | yennskier, 376 words, inspired by art

In which Jaskier gets sick and Yennefer realizes she's scared.

Guilty/self loathing Geralt after he can’t save a child during a contract, with Jaskier comforting him and being horrified about how much emotion and hurt he hides (geraskier)

Jaskier gets cursed by a mage that puts him on a killing spree but before he can do anything Geralt shows up and grabs him except he doesn’t have any rope or anything to hold Jaskier down but himself.  (ao3) geraskier, T, 1.4k, hurt/comfort

(5+1) 5 times Geralt showed Jaskier he loves him +1 time he actually said it out loud. (ao3) geraskier, T, 2.1k, fluff

physical affection prompts (under 1k)

pats on the head (geralt & ciri)

a hug after not seeing someone for a long time (yenralt)

giggly cuddles (geraskefer)

an incredibly loud and painful high five (geralt, jaskier & ciri)

kissing someone’s forehead (geraskier)

the biggest warmest hugs (geraskier)

play wrestling (yenralt)

kissing knuckles (geraskier)

tugging on the bottom of someone’s shirt (geraskier)

kissing someone’s cuts/bruises/scratches (geraskier)

a hug that some might consider as ~too long~ (geraskier)

playfully biting someone (yenralt)

400 followers celebration prompts

There's people chasing us and I pulled you into the alley with me and wow you're close (geraskier)

I'm going to save you from the terrible date you're having (yenralt)

"Do you trust me?" (geraskefer)

"Please don't say that about yourself. Please don't believe that. You're so much more than that. You're so..." (geraskier)

I called you at 2am because I need you (geraskier)

touch prompts (under 1k)

in a moment of worry (yenralt)

on a scar (geraskier)

for luck (geraskier)

to say hello (geraskefer)

for comfort (geraskier)

for comfort (yenralt)

sensory prompts (under 1k)

orange sunsets (trissefer)

red wine stained lips (geraskier)

blood at the corner of your mouth (geraskier)

being so close that you can feel your lips brush together (geraskier)

raindrops on eyelashes (yennskier)

red wine stained lips (trissefer)

touch/kiss/hug/hand-holding prompts (under 1k)

tiny hands in big hands (geralt & ciri)

unconsciously searching out each other's hand while sleeping (yennskier)

hugging while lying down together (geraskier)

listening to the other's heartbeat (yenralt)

tummy kisses (yennskier)

holding the other's chin up (geraskier)

bandaging the other's hand and not quite letting go (yennskier)

group hugs (geraskefer)

kissing their bruises and scars (yennskier)

cold hands in warm hands (yenralt)

soothing kisses (geraskier)

made-up fic title asks

(why does it have to) feel so good

the spaces where our garden grew wild

we deserve a soft epilogue

once more

destiny called (but i forgot to pick up the line)

[vannahfanfics]

A Caring and Doting Family

Category: General Fluff

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Characters: Wendy Marvell, Mirajane Strauss

Hello, everyone! Here’s my story for the Fairy Tail Reverse Big Bang for 2020! I had the pleasure of working with @lucykirkland for this event (here is the art associated with the story) and @reachingforme as my beta. I hope you all enjoy :) Thank you @ftguildevents for hosting!

Wendy squirmed uncomfortably as her belly twisted in tight, uncomfortable knots. Whimpering quietly, she draped herself over the wood of the table and tried not to seem too conspicuous. The young dragon-slayer wasn’t sure what had aggravated her tummy so, but it was not something she wished to bother anyone else with. Thus, she suffered in silence, watching through teary eyes as the guild went about its daily business. 

It was an ordinary day in Fairy Tail, about one in the afternoon. Cana had begun her daily ritual of draining the guild of its alcohol; she eagerly gulped ale straight from the oak barrel. Loke had elected for a jaunt to the human world and was striding about with meek little Aries clinging to the hem of his waistcoat; little tufts of her fluffy fur rolled on the floor from where she had tugged it out.The guild’s Exceeds now batted it around with their little paws. Juvia and Levy avidly discussed a recent article in the weekly mages’ magazine. Natsu and Gray were embroiled in one of their daily scraps, upending tables and chairs as some of the other adults looked on with hoots and hollers. After a few punches and kicks, Erza grabbed them by the collars and hauled them off for a fierce talking-to. Mirajane meandered through the crowd, delivering platters of food and tankards of drinks. Eventually she wandered up to the table where Wendy sat alone wriggling in pain. 

“Wendy?” Mirajane inquired quietly. She set down the plates of food she was about to deliver when she noticed the young girl’s apparent distress. “Are you sick, honey?” Wendy vehemently shook her head, not wishing to bother the pretty model-slash-mage with her stomachache. However, the movement sent her stomach twisting further into pretzel knots, and she whined miserably. Mirajane eased onto the table bench beside her, looking at her with raised eyebrows. 

“... My tummy hurts,” the pigtailed girl admitted finally. Mirajane blinked puzzledly; then, her expression softened, and she reached over to rub soothing circles into the small of Wendy’s back. The blue-haired mage sniffed and buried her face into her forearm, embarrassed to be seen in such a compromised state. How weak was she, to be incapacitated by a mere stomachache? “I’m sorry…” she peeped on instinct.

“Wendy! There’s no need to be sorry,” Mirajane laughed amiably, her long white hair swishing as she rose from the seat. Wendy peered over the curve of her arm to look up at her. “Why don’t you come back to the sick bay?” Mirajane offered kindly. “I know just the treatment for a tummy ache!” Her blue eyes sparkled as she offered a hand to the younger mage. Wendy gazed at the presented hand with a small measure of hesitation. She didn’t want to burden Mirajane with her silly illness. Although, when her insides contorted into another painful position and sent ribbons of pain flaring across her abdomen, Wendy abandoned her pride.

“Okay,” she murmured and took Mirajane’s hand. She slipped off the bench, cringing as her ailing stomach protested loudly to the action. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes and she clutched at the skin of her stomach as the twisting, contorting pain clawed at her insides. Mirajane tutted soothingly and pulled her flush to her side, drawing an arm around Wendy’s slim shoulders. Simpering, Wendy pushed her forehead against the flesh of Mirajane’s side. She was soft and warm, and Wendy found herself relaxing in her soothing presence. Somehow, the roiling in her stomach settled down just a smidgeon.

Mirajane steered the ailing girl towards the back of the guild where a small room with a bed and medicine supplies lay. Despite the proclivity for Fairy Tail members to end up in all sorts of trouble that resulted in wounds, from small to grievous, it was unoccupied. When Mirajane opened the door, Wendy immediately tore from her side to scamper over to the bed and crawl in. The freshly cleaned sheets smelled of vanilla and lavender; as Wendy inhaled the calming scent, she crooned in gratification. The fabric was soft and silky on her skin, which she now realized was flushed with mild fever. Mirajane chuckled as she strode to the bedside and leaned over to tuck her in.

“Feeling better already?”

“Mhmm. I feel like a pampered princess!” Wendy laughed as Mirajane pushed the sheets and comforter under her body to envelop her in a nice, warm cocoon. Her intestines were still writhing like a beast inside of her, but the pain had lessened some. Mirajane hummed and laid the back of her hand against Wendy’s forehead.

“You have a slight fever,” the woman frowned. She retrieved a glass of water and two fever-reducers. Wendy gulped down the pills, grimacing at the uncomfortable feeling of the smooth tablets against her throat. She coughed a little before settling back down into the bed, squirming uncomfortably at the smoldering pain in her tummy. The mattress dipped as Mirajane eased down onto it; her hand reached out to stroke Wendy’s stomach over the soft down comforter. “Don’t worry, Wendy,” she smiled kindly when the girl pouted uncertainly at her. “I’ll stay with you until you feel better.”

“Are you sure?” Wendy frowned deeply. “I feel bad… You have work to do, Mira.” Mirajane chuckled warmly and shook her head.

“No work is more important than making sure our cute little Wendy is okay!” Wendy blinked, then smiled bashfully. Mirajane is so kind, she thought happily. She snuggled further into the warm, cozy bed, appreciating the way the sheets and blankets enveloped her like a hug. To occupy herself, Mirajane brought her bin of silverware and napkins into the room so she could fold them and replenish the store. The Fairy Tail guild members collectively had insatiable gullets, meaning that the kitchen was constantly under some strain or another. Wendy watched through lidded eyes as Mirajane wrapped the silken black cloths around forks, knives, and spoons and tied red ribbons around them. She dropped them into another empty bin beside her. She was meticulous yet efficient, so very soon she had filled the bin nearly halfway.

In the interim, various members of the guild meandered in and out of the sick bay to see Wendy. Lucy popped by to deliver a warm cup of chamomile tea that she had prepared using Mirajane’s bar equipment. It’s soft floral flavor melted into Wendy’s bones, pulling her into a sense of ease and tranquility. It also made her a little sleepy, so she caught a quick cat nap; when she awoke, her belly pain had dulled considerably, but was still mildly uncomfortable. 

Gajeel and Levy came by to see her. Gajeel got halfway through one of his senseless, raspy original songs before the bookish girl ushered him out bleating about how he was disturbing the sick girl. Levy hopped back in to give Wendy a plush rabbit she had bought at the local antique store. Its threads were frayed and it carried the aroma of mothballs, but it was incredibly soft.Wendy hugged it tightly to her side.

Next came Erza, who brought her a strawberry shortcake. The redhead seemed very pleased when the sugar aggravated Wendy’s upset stomach too much to finish eating it and she was given the opportunity to polish it off. Natsu and Happy stopped in too but didn’t seem to understand Mirajane’s annoyance when they insisted that a nice cut of roasted meat cured all ailments. Gray and Juvia came in also, and Wendy was very entertained by the way Juvia insisted on wrapping her head in a scarf to stave off her fever. Laxus even came to see her, though he grew very flustered about what to say and just sat uncomfortably in a chair for five minutes holding her hand. Wendy found his hesitant caring very charming.

Wendy was very grateful for all the attention she had received over the course of the day, though she was only suffering from a stomach ache. Her guildmates regaled her with silly jokes and funny faces and kind words. By the time the sun was sinking below the horizon to cast a golden glow into the room, her pain had faded into a mild dull throbbing. Mirajane had finished preparing silverware and was now polishing the glassware they used on special occasions to prevent the accumulation of dust.

“Mirajane?” Wendy asked quietly. Sapphire blue eyes locked on her, sparkling and content. Wendy blinked slowly and squirmed in the bed. She wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to ask, now that she thought about it; she had just been compelled to call out to the model. To save face, she sputtered, “Th-thank you for sitting with me.”

“It’s no problem, Wendy!” Mirajane smiled sweetly. Sensing that something troubled the younger girl, she abandoned her current work and turned to face her fully. “Is something on your mind, Wendy?” Meekly, the little girl nodded. “What is it?”

“I just… This kind of feels like how my old guild used to dote on me,” Wendy explained with a small blush. The rest of her guild was familiar now with her origins and were usually careful not to bring up her disheartening past. Though Wendy was exceptionally happy with her home in Fairy Tail, of course she still thought about her old friends- no, family- from time to time. They were the first to embrace her when she became lost in this strange and foreign world. Though they had faded from existence, Wendy still treasured them very much and sometimes descended down the bittersweet road of memory.

Her bottom lip wobbled as she fingered the stitched hem of the comforter. The tears budded again in the corners of her eyes, blooming like little dewdrops before slipping down her cheeks. “O-one time… I ate some bad meat and got food poisoning. It was so awful; I was terribly sick… The whole guild stayed up with me all night, telling me funny stories and bringing me water and medicine and just helping me through it.” Dark stains appeared in the fabric where her tears had soaked through. “I-I’m sorry, Mira. I must sound so ungrateful right now!” she fretted and rubbed at her teary eyes with the heels of her palms.

“No!” Mirajane interrupted quickly. She scooched up the bed to lay on her side beside Wendy, hugging her head and bringing it to her chest. Wendy sniffled as Mirajane tenderly embraced her. “We could never, ever ask you to forget your former family, Wendy,” the woman told her gently. “They are as much a part of you as we are.” The tears continued to roll down Wendy’s cheeks as she whimpered in relief. She wasn’t sure if telling the truth would offend Mirajane, and the last thing Wendy wanted to do was upset the motherly woman that she so looked up to. Mirajane tutted and pressed her cheeks against Wendy’s head, twirling one of her long pigtails around her hand. “We love you, Wendy, no matter what. Frankly, I’m glad that we’re able to give you feelings that remind you of your old guild.”

“Really?” Wendy asked, peering up at her with wide eyes. Mirajane smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes! That means that we’re doing our job as your new family and taking good care of you! If you feel safe and loved with us, that is all we could ever ask for.” Wendy trilled delightedly and threw her arms around Mirajane’s neck to snuggle happily into her. Mirajane beamed and embraced her tightly. “You are our guild’s treasure. Never, ever forget that.”

“Thank you, Mirajane,” Wendy giggled elatedly. Mirajane pulled back to smile happily  at her.

“Is your stomach hurting anymore?” Wendy perked up and her hands flew to her stomach. Sure enough, the dull pains in her stomach had ceased. Wendy grinned ecstatically at Mirajane.

“No! I’m cured!” she squealed. She threw the covers off herself and jumped up in the bed, flinging her arms triumphantly in the air. Mirajane chuckled good-naturedly as the blue-haired girl did a little happy dance across the mattress. “Thank you for your help, Mira!”

“Of course. Since you’re feeling better, would you like some cookies?” Wendy shrieked in delight and vaulted off the bed to dash out the door, yelling, “Yay! Cookies!” She ran out into the main guild hall and dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on her.

“Hey, everybody!” she cried, cupping her hands to her mouth. “I’m all better and Mira’s making cookies!” she shouted just as Mirajane came strolling out of the room. A chorus of excited shouts and hollers rang through the room. Mirajane clicked her tongue and teasingly leaned over to tickle Wendy’s sides.

“Hey! That was gonna be our secret!” Screaming in laughter, Wendy wriggled away from her and fled to scramble up into Gajeel’s lap. His big, strong arms wrapped around her middle and he regarded her with raised eyebrows.

“Protect me, Gajeel!”

“From Mira? You’re on your own, squirt,” the iron-eater snorted playfully. Wendy giggled and climbed up to sit on his shoulder like a parrot, heels kicking into his back as she watched Mirajane walk behind the bar to begin preparing the cookie dough. After a few seconds, she hopped down to run over.

“Can I help? Can I, Mirajane?”

“Of course. Here, can you get me the flour?” Nodding, Wendy ran to the cabinets to begin looking for the bag of flour. As she pulled it out and brought it over, she paused to look out into the guild hall, drinking in all the friendly faces.

I miss my old home sometimes, she thought, but I’m very grateful to have found such a caring, lively, and amazing new one! Wendy scampered over to Mirajane and climbed up into a chair to deliver the flour. As Mirajane handed her a whisk to stir the dry ingredients, Wendy prepared to add this moment to the plethora of happy memories she had made at Fairy Tail.  

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents.

[britishchick09]

the best and worst books i read in school!

ever since 5th grade, i’ve been reading novels in school. with the end of high school looming (and today being the last day of classes), i’ve decided to list the ultimate show stoppers and the bird droppers. let’s begin! :D

the best of 5th grade- maniac magee! i don’t remember much about it besides the twinkie things (which actually exist at walmart!) and shipping maniac and the girl character. my 5th grade teacher reading it made it so much better :D we also read ‘chains’, which is about a slave girl names isabel going to freedom. it’s a very powerful book and the sequel, ‘forge’, which is about a freed soldier boy named curzon, is just as amazing! ‘esperanza rising’, the story of a girl named esperanza who moves from mexico to california during the great depression, is pretty great too from what i remember!

the worst of 5th grade- idk what else we read in 5th grade besides those three (technically four) books. it could’ve been an iconic book year! (it was already an iconic school year)

the best of 6th grade- drums, girls and dangerous pies! it’s an interesting story of a high schooler named steve dealing with a crush and his little brother’s cancer, yet there’s actually a happy ending! the end is really iconic since steve says ‘i-’ to his brother jeff and it’s clearly ‘i love you’ but it cuts off! bonus points to ‘the cay’, a story of a boy named phillip who ends up on a raft with a man named timothy and a cat named stew cat. it’s a neat adventure and timothy saying ‘malar!’ is an earworm of a phrase

the worst of 6th grade- HOLY FRICK ‘THE HATCHET’ IS THE MOST BORING BOOK EVER WRITTEN!!! it’s about this kid who gets stranded in the forest and there’s this skunk pal, so you’d think it would be like ‘the cay’ BUT IT’S NOT IT’S SO FREAKING DULL OMG!!!! bonus points to ‘the gadget’ which starts out cool BUT THEN THE MAIN CHARACTER(also called steve!)’S FRIEND ALEXI TURNS OUT TO BE A SPY AND TRIES STABBING HIM LIKE WOAH THESE KIDS ARE ELEVEN YEARS OLD STOP DOING THAT WTF!!!! if you thought the double digit chapter was bad... oh boy! also ‘boy in the striped pajamas’ was good but very depressing! :(

the best of 7th grade- tom sawyer! this is about a boy and his southern adventures. it was a great story, but the movie is one of my fave live action movies ever!! they say the book is better than the movie but the movie is miles better and it’s so cute!!! bonus points to ‘the giver’, which is about a boy named jonas who meets an old man who shows him life in a better world (and there’s a baby). jonas and the giver were very sweet together and i love how jonas and the baby escape their dystopian society at the end!

the worst of 7th grade- call of the wild! it’s about a sled dog named buck who goes on a wild adventure in the arctic. it’s not a bad book, but the movie was so cheesy and it focused on the humans WHY THO???

the best of 8th grade- the outsiders! it’s about a greaser named ponyboy who runs away with his friend johnny after johnnycake kills a soc named bob. pb and the other greasers were such great characters and the story was so interesting! i also liked how the story is set in tulsa, where my grandpa lived. the outsiders fandom is a lot of fun and i’m so glad the story became one of my faves! :D bonus points go to ‘the diary of anne frank’, which we only read the play, so i sought out the whole book and wow anne’s story is so tragic and inspiring! more bonus points to ‘the good earth’, which is about a man in china and has an awesome movie to it (despite having white actors) and ‘twelfth night’, which is a funny shakespeare play about a girl named viola who disguses herself as a man named cesario. it’s full of romance, laughter and a hot feste singing voice (in the 1987 audiobook at least). and olivia is definitely bi ;)

the worst of 8th grade- animal farm! it’s about an orwell dystopian society (hmm...) but in a barn with animals. it’s not bad, but many of the animals were jerks except old major and the 1999 movie we watched was so cringy! (and the beasts of england song was changed which wasn’t cool)

the best of 9th grade-  the odyssey! it’s the ancient greek story of odysseus, a soldier who goes on an epic adventure to get home. the book was alright, but the movie was awesome and the movie ‘o brother where art thou’ (which is based on the story) is really great too! harrison burgeron, a dystopian society with a bad boi, was awesome too because i remember seeing the short film of it in 7th grade. ‘to kill a mockingbird’, which is about a girl named scout living in the segregated south, is really great as well! i loved how it was set in the 30s and scout was so much fun! (i’m a bit bummed at how we didn’t get to see the movie tho). ‘romeo and juliet’ is shakespeare’s most iconic work, being a tale of two star crossed lovers in fair verona. i really enjoyed the story(not the d jokes tho) and it inspired me to write a story set in 1596 (when the play was made)! i take back what i said about 5th grade being iconic 9TH GRADE WAS SO ICONIC YAS!!!!!

the worst of 9th grade- the scarlet ibis! it’s about a boy who takes care of his sick brother named doobie and tries to make him ‘normal’. it’s sweet how the iris symbolizes the brother, but how they die at the end is so sad! ‘the sniper’ wasn’t that good but the plot twist of the sniper guy shooting his brother was neat (also the ‘romeo + juliet’ movie wasn’t that good besides mercutio)

the best of 10th grade- a thousand splendid suns! the most recent book i’ve read, it’s about two women named mariam and laila who live in the afghanistan as the taliban take over. their story is so inspiring and i love how laila was able to be happy after all the horrifying things she went through with rasheed. mariam sacrificing herself for laila by killing rasheed was very powerful and i wish the stage version had her in it. bonus points go to ‘lord of the flies’! a group of boys are stranded on an island and there’s much boy chaos involved. it’s a great story and the fandom was too!

the worst of 10th grade- where are you going where have you been! this is about a girl named colleen who meets a guy named arnold friend. he’s very creepy and it’s an uncomfortable story to read (even more than rasheed!). equal bonus points to ‘the red bow’, a confusing story of a dead girl, a dog and red bows that i still don’t understand!

the best of 11th grade- the crucible! it’s about a girl named abigail who gets swept up in the salam witch trials. it’s a fascinating story with real life elements (rip giles) and the movie was pretty good. ‘the great gatsby’ was also a great story about how the roaring 20s wasn’t as fun as it seemed through the story of gatsby, all told through the eyes of nick

the worst of 11th grade- into the wild! this is a study sync thing, but we did a lot of those compared to novels. it’s about chris mccandles, a guy who tried surviving in a van in alaska and died, making a terribly tragic tale. ‘an incident at owl creek’ was ok but the best part was the plot twist of the guy running to his wife and being hung right before he can touch her (we saw the twilight zone ep instead of reading it and the twist was *chef’s kiss*)

the best of 12th grade- 1984!!! it’s the story of a dreamer named winston, who lives in the dystopian world of oceania. he meets a girl named julia and the two have a secret love affair, but they soon find out that no one is safe under the eye of bb. it’s terrifying tale that’s a bit depressing, but there are so many little moments that make me smile and the movie is even better. winston is relatable in some ways, julia is awesome and julston is a pretty great ship! it’s a big improvement over animal farm and it’s definitely my favorite adult story. bonus points go to ‘rime of the ancient mariner’, which is about an old sailor recounting his unfortunate journey at sea. the mariner telling his story to a random wedding guest was funny and it was an adventure like the odyssey! another round of bonus points to ‘beowulf’, an ancient norse tale of a warrior who fights a monster named grendel. the parts of the 2007 movie we saw sucked, but the story was really cool! wiglaf gets a shout out because he’s the best warrior :) another half bonus point to ‘hunger games’, which we saw the movie of. it’s about a girl named katniss who competes in a competition called the hunger games, which makes for a thrilling adventure!

the worst of 12th grade- hamlet! all of what we read this year was really good, but someone had to be last. this shakespearean tale is of hamlet, a prince who seeks revenge >:) it’s an ok story and i like the ghost dad!

now for my all time favorites! (and least faves)

the worst of the worst- the hatchet, the red bow, where are you going where have you been and the gadget

the best of the best!- 1984, the outsiders, a thousand splendid suns,  the diary of anne frank, the odyssey, romeo and juliet, to kill a mockingbird, twelfth night, harrison burgeron, rime of the ancient mariner and the good earth (along with the tom sawyer/1984 movies and hunger games)

good or bad, the books i read throughout school were amazing and i can’t wait to see what college brings! :D

[you-are-my-neverland]

“That’s a shame,” Professor Laurier said. “If I may give you a word of advice, Ms. Beaulieu, I would say that you need to figure out what you want, not what you think you need to.”

- F I V E 

[ a/n: and we’re officially on november 20th, 2/3rds of the way through with national novel writing month twenty twenty. this novel remains unnamed, but my word count is, as of the 20th, 43.5k, which is a bit insane. i attempted to actually make this post nice to look at. we’ll see what happens ] 

songs i one hour looped to.

sleep thru ur alarms by lontalius

it’s not love by lontalius

wings by birdy

grace by lewis capaldi

nym by phlux

praying by kesha

girls by girl in red

writing thoughts.

i’m really proud to have kept up my average so far, especially since the middle is usually really lagging. i wrote almost four more chapters and half of it is literally just like pages of prose, thoughts, character introspection, and generally filler dives into the mind, but while i am a bit frustrated that it feels like this wip is really dragging it’s feet, i have been enjoying myself immensely. right now, it’s really just setting the stage and starting to build the bones of bare character dynamics/relationships that will all develop later on - necessary (i mean probably not 40k worth, but yeah...) but lengthy.

as excited as i am to get to some action, like even just the first teeny tiny start of the mountain, i am having a lot of fun fleshing out my characters. i feel like i’m really getting to know them (and also finding out that i am projecting onto ophelia and eden hard lol, geez). of course, i have a really large cast for this wip that will be of varying importance throughout at least this book, but that also is a bit messy, because i’m trying to weave them all together and make sure they get set up for later arcs.

on that note, i still want to call this wip these violent ends, but considering it’s technically the first of a trilogy idk how that would work out...i’m really attached to that title though lol. 

anyways, here are some favorite lines - tried to pick some out, might like chapter six a bit too much..

some favorite lines. 

three.

“So I’m throwing a fucking party,” Thaleia added. “And we’re all going to have so much fucking fun.”

four.

Ophelia opened it to find Sebastian methodically lacing up his tennis shoes, which looked too ordinary to be real against the soft white of his clothing, as if a medieval peasant had walked into a Nike shop and simply selected a pair of sleek shoes that matched.

“I love your dress, by the way,” the other girl added. “Red looks good on you.” “You, too,” Ophelia said, and then flushed, correcting, “I mean your dress looks good on you. It’s very pretty.”

five.

Ophelia hadn’t thought that he was the type to like to disappear, but then she had thought about it more, at a night when she’d missed home a little too much, and realized that not everyone wanted to disappear in the same way, that not everyone was like her brother to a T.

They had been six or seven or eight when the Red Revolution had started, and like their parents remembered how it had started in waves, they had been raised in a changing world and tumultuous times. She remembered the air raids, the practice lockdowns and the sheets that had come in the mail, demonstrating what to do in an emergency, or if they had to suddenly evacuate. Wanted posters, with constantly changing pictures. Missing posters—and those had been the worst. Ophelia remembered one coming in of a little girl her age, with pigtails and gap teeth. She couldn’t recall much from that period before eight—a few scattered memories of the Revolution, Des and Tian and her, but more emotions attached to events, short in her mind—but she remembered that girl on the missing person’s poster. They’d found her body a week later.    

Ophelia blinked, at a loss for words. “I do belong with my brother,” she said, finally. “There’s no situation where I wouldn’t actively choose to be with my brother.” “And does your brother, Sebastian, was it, feel the same way?”

six.

But Vincent was dirt poor and used to empty cabinets and red numbers on unopened bills, so he had stopped worrying about why his mother had left and died in the first place—all that mattered was that he was alone, now. He couldn’t hide the aura that surrounded him, that showed itself in his old clothes and his broken shoes and his undernourished body, in the bloodshot eyes and the slight tremble of his eyes and the smell of smoke that accompanied him wherever he went.

Well, his teachers back home probably thought his life would not amount to anything more than dying early as a drug addict, and Vincent wanting to do something more than that was seen as just daydreaming. It was funny, how they told kids like him they could be anything and then turned tail and said that they were shooting too high by wanting to ever get out of that town or their poverty line lifestyles. He was getting out of that town. He would never live at the poverty line again. 

“No,” Asriel cut in. His voice was calm and smooth as glass. “What was the government doing that was so wrong that some Mages felt the need to overthrow it in the first place?”

Happiness and warmth gave Vincent as much power as the other side to the coin, the wrath and the chaos that came after the smile, or the laugh. For Asriel, he thought smiling might be a bit of a death sentence, because when Asriel smiled, it gave the impression that he had given something up, taken down a bit of his walls, in order to do so, and that was dangerous.

Even if their ghosts didn’t remain, the memories mired in the streets he walked daily held him with bony fingers, reminding him of the pasts so many people had lived. Pieces of soul left behind, ghostly forms that stayed behind on scraps of emotion: vengefulness, anger, sadness, and regret; nobody died without one of them left behind. For all the brave stories Sebastian had read about soldiers or people who had died ready for it, embraced it with open arms, he had yet to meet a ghost that had been ready to leave.

They told him to hate the ghosts, and so by sheer power of will, Sebastian loved them instead.

taglist > @semblanche

if you think this wip is cool and would like sporadic updates, express your interest explicitly, please!

[theonyxpath]

Here we are, coming to the last few days of the Creature Collection for 5e Scarred Lands Kickstarter, and the last 9 days of the Kickstarter for Deviant: The Renegade. Wow, the time sure flies with these – you can check out below in the Blurbs for details on how everyone’s pledges have added to both projects in different ways.

That’s really a huge part of the fun for us – using KS to help create more and new parts to a project! Not something you can really do with a standard pre-order.

Thanks everybody who already pledged – and if you haven’t yet, you really do owe it to yourself to take a look. Both campaigns have a huge amount of backer activity and involvement, and have great KS-runners.

Next up, we’re looking at Mummy 2nd Edition for the just inaugurated Onyx Path Kickstarter account that Creature Collection is on right now, so we’re really going to need to get our previous backers to give that a try and pop over there. Not the easiest shift to make!

Dark Eras 2 art by Luis Sanz

At the end of the week, Dixie, Eddy, and myself (and maybe a surprise Onyx Path creator or two) will be attending the Save Against Fear Convention in Harrisburg, PA, that benefits the Bodhana Group. These folks are a non-profit group that believes that tabletop gaming can have therapeutic value – and as many of them are licensed to provide therapeutic assistance, as well as being long-time table-top gamers, they know what they’re talking about.

While there are numerous therapy panels, this is very much a gaming convention with a busy gaming area and panels about making table-top games, as well. If you can stop by, it’s a lot of fun – and the proceeds go to a worthy cause!

You can check it out here: https://www.thebodhanagroup.org/about-the-convention

Eddy will be running Pirates Of Pugmire at 6pm on both Friday and Saturday nights, all three of us will be on a World-Building panel on Saturday at 1pm, and we might be able to squeeze in a recording an episode of the Onyx Pathcast at the con.

Distant Worlds art by Sam Denmark

Funny I should just mention the Onyx Pathcast, as I want to remind everybody that the first live call-in show will be Tuesday October 8th at 5pm Eastern US time! Why that’s tomorrow!

Call in and give the terrifying yet terrific trio a piece of your mind! Cause an awkward silence so Dixie can sing the Awkward Silence Song, or give the gang your opinion on something so Matthew can interrupt you mid-way! Eddy would love to debate with you about the latest wrestling special, what was that, Hell In A Cell?

We’d all love to hear from you, no matter which of our game lines you’re into, or even if you’re into all of our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Our Creature Collection Kickstarter for Scarred Lands 5e is scampering towards the next Stretch Goal to add more monsters – that the backers vote on – to the book! Over 20 pages of new monsters have been added so far, and an Encounter Pack giving players a place to use some of our collected creatures – the book is now 184 pages but we want to hit 196 at least – here in the last 4 days!

This book was designed with amazing art by our friends at Handiwork Games, and they’re running the Kickstarter for us on our brand-new Onyx Path Kickstarter page! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/scarred-lands-creature-collection-for-5th-edition-rpg

And, we’re running this Kickstarter, too!

The Deviant: The Renegades Kickstarter has a little more than a week to go and it’s vengefully slamming through Stretch Goals now! So far, we have the classic Backer T-Shirt, unlocked the Deviant Screen, added the Beast core book and Dark Eras PDFs to the CofD PDF collection, and added three sections of the Clades Companion book! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/deviant-the-renegades-a-tabletop-roleplaying-game

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features an interview with go-to editor Maria Cambone where she and Dixie will punch the hell out of some irregular verbs!

And even earlier in the week is our first Call-In Pathcast! Dixie, Eddie, and even Matthew, will be manning the phones and answering you LIVE ON THE AIR! Tuesday October 8th from 5-6pm Eastern US time. Go to https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/ or to your favorite podcast venue!

It’s character creation month on the Onyx Path Twitch channel, with every Saturday showing character creation for a different game! Saturday 5th saw character creation for the Scarred Lands, and this coming Saturday 12th will have character creation for Deviant: The Renegades, currently on Kickstarter! Follow us on www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath to ensure you don’t miss a session!

That’s not all we’re doing with Twitch, of course, as we’ve currently got ongoing games of Vampire: The Masquerade, Hunter: The Vigil, Changeling: The Lost, Mage: The Awakening, TC: Aberrant, Pugmire, and more! Check our channel out, as it’s the best place to go to see demonstrations of some of our best games.

Did you miss the Onyx Path News last week? It was on the Onyx Path Twitch channel instead of YouTube, and that’s where it’ll be living from now on. As long as you have us followed, you should receive a notification when the news is due for broadcast. As ever, you’ll be able to ask Matthew Dawkins questions about our releases during the news show.

Final pieces of Twitch news: Eric Zawadski is currently running a Deviant: The Renegades game for us on our Twitch channel, and Matthew Dawkins will be running a Scarred Lands one-shot to demo lots of the monsters from the upcoming Creature Collection! Please watch our actual play this coming Wednesday, for a meatgrinder of a session!

Remember, if you miss any content on our Twitch channel, some of it finds its way to our YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/user/theonyxpath Don’t forget though, that some of that content is Twitch exclusive or belongs to the Storytellers running their games, so don’t miss out and remember to follow us!

Have you missed any of Occultists Anonymous‘ latest Mage sessions? Here they are for you:

Episode 49: Research & Recreation Atratus and Wyrd put their heads together over the Seer’s map to determine where they should go and what they should be looking for. Later, the cabal meet with the Consilium of the Greater New York City area.https://youtu.be/wHtF5BWpRJ0

Episode 50: Alluring Scents The cabal makes plans for Peru and realize that a certain werewolf might be very helpful. Songbird has an idea to help the cabal be more… intriguing.https://youtu.be/XKa9jHqNuqo

The ENnie award winning Red Moon Roleplaying continue their excellent actual play of V5 Chicago by Night over on their site right here: www.redmoonroleplaying.co

The Story Told Podcast interviewed Eric Zawadski on their show to discuss all things great about Deviant: The Renegades, right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/website/bonus-episode-14-deviant-the-renegades-ks-interview

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re releasing the PDF of Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel for Cavaliers of Mars on DTRPG! A PoD version of this project will come out later as a combined book featuring Witch Queen and City of the Towered Tombs. ALSO, we’ll have new Cavalier of Mars journals and other fun items on our RedBubble store on Weds!

Conventions!

Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th This Week! Come see Rich, Eddy, Dixie, and maybe a couple of surprise Onyx Path crew! GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th 2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Redlines

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Post-Approval Development

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Post-Editing Development

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

W20 Art Book (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

Indexing

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution core (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle – Sending out contracts.

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e – Sam on the fulls.

Ex3 Lunars – Contracted.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Workin’ on it.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Trinity RMCs – Contracted.

Cults of the Blood God (KS) – Contracted.

Chicago Folio – Waiting to hear back from a couple of artists, then done contracting.

Mummy 2 (KS) – KS stuff in progress.

Memento Mori – Contracted.

City of the Towered Tombs – Contracted.

Let the Streets Run Red – Right after Chi Folio art is in.

In Layout

They Came from Beneath the Sea!

Dark Eras 2 – Aileen working on it.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

VtR Spilled Blood – In progress.

Geist 2e Screen – Need notes from developer.

Proofing

C20 Cup of Dreams

M20 Book of the Fallen – Josh wrapping up 2nd proof.

DRE Screen – Sent to Eschaton for approval.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – Almost ready to send to Eschaton for approval.

At Press

Trinity Core Screen – At Studio2.

TC Aeon Screen – At Studio2.

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

Trinity Core – PoD proofs ordered. At Studio2.

Trinity Aeon – PoD proofs ordered. At Studio2.

V5: Chicago – Printing.

Aeon Aexpansion – Backer PDFs out, errata coming in.

Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel – PDF on sale this week.

DR:E Jumpstart – Out to backers, gathering errata.

W20 Art Book – Backer PDFs out this week.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Not to celebrate, but to commemorate the death of the comedian who went by Charles Rocket. He was part of the awful season on Saturday Night Live (1980-1981) right after Lorne Michaels left, and we commemorate him because he was by all accounts the first person to “drop the f-bomb” clearly on American TV. He was, of course for the time, fired immediately. We here at Onyx Path, who believe in the magic of all words, not just polite ones, to tell our stories, salute this trailblazer who gave his all for the cause.

[mirage-05]

The Orphanage Mission - Stingyu

When you wanted to write a light-hearted “mission” and also promote one of your favorite Fairy Tail couples too... well this is what happens between @eleanor-devil​ and me :D Hey again guys! We hope you didn’t think you saw the last of us about Sting and Yukino ^*^ Once again, Rin is my OC. And Metra is a canon character we nicked from the manga - for anyone who is wondering who she is, here she is; https://sta.sh/0206w64lvivv Comments and feedbacks are highly appreciated people! x3

...   Yukino Aguria had many qualities to be appreciated... she was kind, she was sweet, caring, her voice soothing and calm, she was beautiful, her shining silver short hair would make the moon jealous and her hazel colored eyes would enchant anyone that looked too deep into them - not that he, Sting Eucliffe, actually stared that much at her - and she was an amazing cook, actually the best cook in all Sabertooth alongside Milady.

SMACK!

What he didn't appreciate though was getting nearly kicked out of the guild's kitchen and his hands smacked by a wooden spoon just because he had tried to taste a little bit of the sweet dough Yukino was making the moment he had come into the place to find a snack.

"Ow ow! That hurt!" Sting whined and pouted like a baby as he rubbed his injured hand, wooden spoons were no joke!

"That's the third time I warn you to not touch the dough, Sting-sama!" Yukino wasn't one to get angry at others so easily but like she had just said, the Master had attempted to touch the dough three times already despite her warnings.

"But I'm hungry!"

"There's food in the fridge."

"But they don't smell half as good as what you're cooking!" He was definitely whining now, which made Yukino roll his eyes. "Plus they are left-overs, there's no way they would taste good."

"My answer is still no." The Celestial Mage folded her arms, her look stern. "I'm not making these for the guild."

"Oh?" the master was surprised. "Who are they for then?"

Before she could answer, Orga walked into the kitchen... and the outfit he had donned made the blond start laughing his head off, dough all but forgotten. The Lightning God Slayer glared at him. "It's not funny!" and then continued tugging at the beard of his... Santa outfit. "This is so damn itchy! Are you sure I'm gonna need this for the mission, Yukino?"

"Wait... you're going on a mission with Orga?" Sting almost sounded put off... while he of course couldn't - and wouldn't - control which member goes on a mission with whom, this suddenly... made him feel a little left out.

"Oh my god, you forgot already??" Orga asked looking almost indignant and shocked. "Boy I guess Salamander's bad memory habits passed down to you after all, I know you look up to him but that makes you look dumb."

"Excuse me?!" Sting was ready to jump on the fake Santa, not only he had insulted him but he also insulted Natsu-san in the same freaking sentence, oh no you don't get a free pass on that. But before he could, Yukino had put the god damned wood spoon in between them ready to use it again if it was necessary.

"If you two are going to fight then do it out of the kitchen!" 

Just then Rufus and Rin walked in carrying bags and boxes through the back door of the kitchen, for a moment the kitchen was welcomed by the chilly winter wind, the two mages were fully dressed for the weather, Rin was even wearing a cute pink kitty eared winter hat.

"We got the extra decorations like you asked, Yukino." said the Memory-Make Mage as he set the heavy boxes on the counter.

"Is anyone going to tell me what's this all about?!" The Master was pouting... again.

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "You forgot?" 

"Will you all stop saying that?! I forgot what exactly??"

Rin sighed grandly and rolled her eyes. "I guess it's too much to expect you to have a memory like Rufus-san."

"You are one to talk!" Sting said indignantly. Rufus was so far the one male member of Sabertooth that this little monster seemed to respect. The Master was ready to go to extremes to learn from him just what he was doing different.

"That's quite enough! All of you. out. now." Yukino said in a stern tone while pointing to the door with the spoon. 

No one could - or would - dare resist her when she used a tone like that. They quietly filed out of the kitchen, and Rin took out a folded paper from her coat pocket to show it to Sting. "It's that requested mission we decided to take a while ago, dummy. The orphanage, remember?"

Sting took the paper and quickly scanned it, his mouth opening like a fish out of water when he suddenly remembered the day the head of the town's orphanage spoke directly to him about this mission. Now that he remembered, it was actually a charity mission for the young orphans who had no family of their own to spend Christmas with, so the caretaker had requested Sabertooth to take care of the entertainment.

Now he was feeling bad for having completely forgotten about it.

"So the cookies Yukino is making are for the kids?" He asked even though the answer seemed very obvious now.

Rufus adjusted his Santa hat in his head before answering, "Of course, and so are these decorations, they are extras that we have in our basement since we already decorated the guild."

"And I was chosen to be Santa!" Orga exclaimed proudly. "I'm gonna sing songs to those cute kids!"

"No!" it was a collective answer making the Lightning God Slayer pout.

"Where is Rogue then?"

"He said he had something to take care of... he's gonna meet us there." Metra said as she and Dobengal carried in a big satchel and left it at Orga's feet. "Here you go Santa. There are other ways to make these kids happy other than singing them songs." One should give the girl credit... she didn't enjoy Orga's "songs" any more than either of them, but she was actually being nice about her critiques.

"You didn't... actually buy any of those did you?" Aside from the costs, the orphanage director specifically asked them not to buy gifts.

"Nope. They are all things we handmade." their youngest mage appeared again, now completely donned in an elf outfit. She glanced up at the Lightning God Slayer, obviously trying not to giggle. "So... Orga-san... will you climb down the chimney?"

"Uuuuhh..." the green haired man scratched his cheek while he tried to picture his body fitting inside a thin chimney. "I can... try?" and it was all it took for Rin to laugh.

"Alright, alright," running a hand through his spiky blond hair, he sighed. "I'm going to get a change of clothes and then we can all start bringing the stuff to the orphanage." Yukino in the meanwhile would be working on the cookies and by the time they had carried all the decorations to the orphanage and set them up, the cookies would be done and packed.

There was already an outfit in his office waiting to be dressed by the White Dragon Slayer and while it wasn't a bad outfit, Sting was never much of a fan of the colors red and green, it didn't really go with his image. Once he was done, they started carrying the things to the orphanage as planned.

Between all of them, and knowing that what they were doing would bring smiles to little kids' faces, the time flew by as they decorated the main hall of the building. The kids were out on some Christmas shopping so the building was completely empty, and the guild members were working hard to create the impact they wanted. The sun was almost setting when the final preparations were done and Yukino entered the orphanage after Metra and Rin, all of them carrying the sweets.

"Orga-san, you better get ready - they will be here in about ten minutes."

"Uuuh... yeah, I guess so..." the huge man eyed the fireplace uncertain, as if he was going to climb up instead of coming down.

"You might wanna go outside for that." Rin added helpfully.

"I know, I know," and with that the "Santa" went through the backdoor of the orphanage with the bag of presents on his back as he tried to figure out how the frick he was going to go down that thin chimney again as he climbed the wooden stairs to reach the roof covered in snow.

In the meantime, the children started arriving with the caretakers and they were told to all sit down on the floor as they had a surprise for them; they nearly went screaming when the Sabertooth members started showing up one by one in the room.

"Look look! It's the Twin Dragons!" yelled one of them, a boy who was actually blushing as his eyes shone with admiration while eyeing the two Dragon Slayers.

"And that's Rufus-kun!"

Even those of the members who didn't think they were very popular at all were surprised to find out the kids were eager to meet them - though it should be expected that Sabertooth was a sort of celebrity in the town. For a moment they were overwhelmed with the admiration and fawning before the adults called for them to keep it down for a bit. It was followed by what the guild could coop up for entertainment - a bit of lights and illusions show - which the kids loved to bits -, some games, and of course, the food.

"Hey, is the Santa coming too?" one of the smallest orphans asked in a hopeful voice.

"Yeah, yeah he'll be coming..." Sting eyed the fireplace,with the kid that made the two of them. "...anytime now."

As if he had heard them, Lector landed on Sting's shoulder not long after he had said that and whispered something in his ear that made the blond's blood freeze and eyes widen while he mumbled a "Crap". He quickly walked towards Rogue, who was currently watching over Frosch and a group of kids that were playing with her.

"Rogue, we got a problem."

The black haired mage raised an eyebrow. "What now?" and all it took was for the blond to point to the fireplace for Rogue to understand what was going on. They quickly grabbed their winter jackets and left the orphanage through the same backdoor Orga had left a while ago, they found the wooden stairs and started climbing only to find... an amusing sight of half of Orga's body stuck inside the chimney... the thing was he was upside down so it was his butt freezing outside while he wiggled his legs trying to get free.

"Seriously Orga?!"

The buff man was trying to say something - only that it was understandably muffled through the stone chimney. The Twin Dragon Slayers could only hope that he was keeping it PG rated considering there were children inside... oh.

"Keep it down you idiot, you're gonna scare the kids!" Sting hissed as he and Rogue rushed forward to try and help the man.

"Honestly who told him it was a good idea to follow that nitwit's plan?" Rogue grumbled, for all they knew that little devil could've played with Orga on purpose. 

And so they started to tug and pull at their friend, trying to get him free. But a moment later, something none of them expected happened. Their "help" somehow managed to free Orga from wherever he was stuck but...

"Uh oh-" was all the Master could say before they started falling, all three of them, down the chimney.

The kids and everyone else in the room could hear the echoing screams and suddenly a cloud of grey ash burst through the opening of the fireplace and the three men fell, first Orga who thankfully fell on the satchel on his back and then Sting, who landed on Orga's stomach and Rogue who fell on the Master's back.

"Ugh... I'm alive..." Sting managed to mumble and when he opened his eyes, he saw many pairs of cute big eyes staring at them. "Um... we went to get the Santa kids!" he said as he and Rogue quickly crawled off the big man.

"Are you alright, Sting-sama?" Yukino asked as she helped the two Dragon Slayers standing up, they brushed the ash and dust past their clothes before nodding to the girl.

"Ho-ho-ho kids!" Orga seemed to have recovered rather quickly from the chimney fall. "Who's ready to receive some gifts?!"

The kids all squealed and rushed forward in joy, in a minute practically all over Orga. The swarm was so powerful that it knocked the Lightning God Slayer back into ash and dust, although he didn't seem to mind it at all. Indeed, he was laughing whole-heartedly, handing out the presents one by one to the expecting hands of the children.

The sight was so heart warming that Sting couldn't help but think that it was worth the fall from the chimney. Wow. He never thought he would catch himself admitting to something like that.

Everyone had pretty much settled back in their seats, the kids tearing through their presents. Smiling, Yukino handed a small gift-wrapped box to Rin too, whose eyes were widened in surprise. "Yuki-nee... what's this...?"

The girl just shrugged, still smiling. "It's the Christmas spirit after all." In truth, she didn't forget that their youngest member had lost her father and was away from her family too.

Shyly, Rin took the gift from the silver haired mage's hands and carefully, as if she didn't want to ruin the package in which the gift was wrapped into, started opening it. It revealed to be a box and on the inside there were two gifts: a snow globe which had the symbol of Sabertooth carved and put in the middle of the globe and a package of cookies.

"The cookies are strawberry flavoured," Yukino made sure to tell the girl, she knew better than anyone how that kid loved to eat strawberries or anything strawberry flavoured. "I made them myself along with the other cookies but I kept it a surprise." Just then the kid's arms wrapped around the young woman's waist tightly.

"Thank you... I love all of it...!" Yukino just smiled and patted the girl's blonde hair softly. 

As the party continued through the following hours, soon it was time for the children to head to bed and to be honest they were all getting tired too; the caretakers guided the mages to outside the orphanage, thanking them multiple times for what they did. Although he didn't say it out loud, to Sting the smiles of the children was better than any kind of payment they would receive from this job.

As the members of the guild made their way back to their respective homes, Sting noticed the smile that Yukino was sporting on her lips. "Is that smile all for the kids?" he dared to ask.

Yukino just turned to face him as she continued smiling. "Not just that but I just made a decision about my future."

"Hm?" Sting put his arms behind his head as he reached the girl's side. "What is that?"

"I would like to adopt a child in the future... I know it's a big decision and a great responsibility but..." the smile became smaller but it was still more genuine than ever. "I know how it is to live most of your life in an orphanage, no matter how good they take care of us, it just doesn't fill the emptiness that the fact we have no family leaves in our hearts... that's why I would like to fill that hole in at least one child's heart."

Sting was silent for a while, the girl wondered if she had scared him with her thoughts, she couldn't blame him, it was a big decision after all. "That's... actually really nice of you, Yukino," he admitted, showing a genuine smile to her. "Any child would love to be your kid, I'm sure of it."

Yukino blushed a little at the compliment and she didn't even speak, knowing she would probably stutter; as they continued walking they soon reached the Celestial Mage's apartment. "Um S-Sting-sama?" 

The man turned around with a curious look as she reached for the inside of her bag and took out a simple rectangular wrapped box and quickly pressed it to his chest. "M-Merry Christmas."

Before he could even react or say anything about the gift, Yukino took a few steps towards him and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. She was blushing hard but as fast as the speed of light, she entered inside her apartment, leaving the Master with a mysterious gift in his hands.

[deathgatesideblog]

Top 10 “Haplo loves Alfred” quotes, ranked

Under the read more, exactly what it says on the tin. This is obviously a non-inclusive list, and honestly there are so many quotes that I’m sure I forgot some good ones, but, y’know, here ya go. 

10. Serpent Mage, Haplo compares the color of his runes to Alfred’s eyes.

The sigla were as yet only faintly visible– a blue as pale and weak as the eyes of that fool Sartan, Alfred.

A pretty incredible quote which reminds us how much Alfred is on Haplo’s mind. There’s basically no reason for Haplo to be thinking about Alfred in this context; Haplo just sees his faded runes and the comparison he comes up with is Alfred’s eyes. This gets the tenth spot because while it IS pretty wild that Haplo would make this comparison with regards to something as important to his life and even identity, it IS with his weakened, faded runes, and he DOES still manage to do it as insultingly as possible.

9. Hand of Chaos, Haplo’s journal entry.

What do you think of your power for good now, Alfred? …As you fight for your life in the Labyrinth. I’ll tell you what I think of it. I think it’s a lot like you– weak and bumbling. Although I must admit that you came through for us in our fight against the serpents– if that was you who turned into the serpent mage, as Grundle claimed. But when it came to standing up for yourself against Samah (and I’ll lay odds that you could have taken the bastard), you ‘couldn’t remember the spell.’

Another classic “Haplo tries to insult Alfred and inadvertently reveals how much he thinks about him” line, here. Not only is there the comparison to a power for good to oppose the dragon-snakes-- sorry, a “weak and bumbling” power, my bad-- but even larger to me is Haplo’s insistence that Alfred could definitely have beaten Samah in a battle of magic. That’s SAMAH, universally considered to be THE most powerful Sartan.

8. Elven Star, Haplo feels an affinity towards Alfred.

The Patryn had met only one Sartan before—the bumbling man of Arianus who called himself Alfred Montbank. And though Haplo hadn’t recognized it at the time, he came to realize that he felt an affinity for Alfred. Deadly enemies, they were strangers to the rest of the world—but they were not strangers to each other.

It’s a bit unclear to me whether the text is saying that Haplo realized he felt this affinity during Elven Star or not until later books. He also comments in Elven Star that Alfred put him to sleep during Dragon Wing, and then is surprised when Alfred tells him this again in Into the Labyrinth, so it’s possible that some of the narration is meant to be Haplo’s point of view after the full series, rather than during Elven Star specifically.

That being said, if this is meant to be his thought process during Elven Star, it’s pretty brilliant that he already admits to feeling this affinity for Alfred already, even before their mind swap in Fire Sea. Plus, it makes his scoffing at Alfred’s line about feeling a kinship towards him even funnier.

Either way, though, it’s fantastic line about how close Haplo feels to Alfred, and in such poetic terms, too!

7. Into the Labyrinth, Haplo worries about Alfred.

“And to think I’ve been worrying about you in the Labyrinth, picturing you dead or worse. And all this time you’ve been here.” He waved his hand. “Perfectly safe.” “You were concerned about me?” Alfred asked, his wan face brightening. Haplo made an impatient gesture. “Of course I was concerned. You can’t walk across an empty room without causing some sort of catastrophe.”

Yet another “Haplo disguises how much he cares about Alfred by insulting him, and it really doesn’t work” moment, and by Into the Labyrinth the disguise really, really isn’t working anymore. Oh, of course Haplo, you were just concerned because Alfred is clumsy, that’s why you were worrying about him and picturing him dead! In the words of The Princess Bride: “[He] wasn’t nervous! ...Well, maybe [he] was a little concerned, but that’s not the same thing.”

6. Fire Sea, Haplo is entranced by Alfred’s dancing.

The feet that could not take ten steps without falling over themselves were suddenly executing intricate steps with extraordinary grace and delicacy. His face was grave and solemn, wholly absorbed in the music. He accompanied himself with a grave and solemn song. Hands wove the runes in the air, his feet replicated the pattern on the floor. Haplo watched until he discovered some wayward part of himself feeling touched and entranced by the beauty.

You know that scene in a TV show or anime where the main character is like “of course I don’t have feelings for [other character]!” and then the shot goes to said other character smiling or doing something cute with, like, the bright, glossy filter and then back to the main character staring and then embarrassedly forcing themselves to look away? This is that scene in narrative form. And I love it.

5. Fire Sea, Alfred’s yelling/swearing makes Haplo laugh.

Haplo stared at Alfred in blank astonishment. Then the Patryn’s lips started to twitch. He tried to control himself, but he, too, was tired. He began to laugh. He laughed until he was forced to lean against the rock wall to support himself, laughed until he tears crept from beneath his eyes. Dabbing at blood seeping from a cut forehead, Haplo grinned, shook his head. “That’s the first time I ever heard you swear, Sar--” He paused. “Alfred,” he amended.

What is there to say, really? Haplo finds Alfred swearing and yelling as funny as I do, and probably also just as endearing. The fact that this scene takes place in the middle of them all super stressed and trying not to die makes it even better, as does the fact that this is all spurred on by Alfred saving Haplo’s life and Haplo being irritated at the thought of owing his life to Alfred again. Seeing Haplo's sudden flip from talking to Alfred like his enemy to talking to him like his friend, and using his name sincerely for the first time since finding out he’s a Sartan is also fantastic.

4. Fire Sea, Haplo lets Alfred go.

“You know what’ll happen to you in the Nexus.” Haplo didn’t look at him when he spoke, he kept his gaze on the dog. “You know what my Lord will do to you.” “Yes,” Alfred answered. Haplo hesitated a moment, either deciding on his next words or deciding whether or not to say them. When he made his decision, his voice was hard and sharp, cutting through some barrier within himself. “Then, if I were you, I wouldn’t be around when I woke up.” Haplo closed his eyes. Alfred stared in amazement, then smiled gently. “I understand. Thank you, Haplo.”

On some level, maybe this shouldn’t be ranked as high as it is, because I highly doubt that this is exactly specific to Alfred. By this point, we know that Haplo is reluctant to see anyone else get punished, hurt, or killed that doesn’t deserve it. But it gets up to fourth because this is the scene that really hammers in just how much has changed about Haplo’s feelings, and his feelings towards Alfred specifically, in the span of just one book; he doesn’t believe Alfred deserves to be punished for being a Sartan, anymore. That’s... pretty big. And it all just goes to show how much Haplo’s character arc as a whole is connected to Alfred’s influence on him and his influence on Alfred.

3. Seventh Gate, Haplo trusts Alfred

Alfred looked pained. “You don’t trust me. I don’t blame you. I know that in the past I’ve let you down, but, truly, I’m strong now. I am–” “I know you are,” Haplo said. “I trust you. I want you to trust me.”

Just a short moment, here, but all the more impactful as the context is Alfred volunteering to possibly sacrifice himself to close Death’s Gate, trying to convince Haplo to leave him to avoid danger, and Haplo vowing to stay behind to protect Alfred, potentially risking his own life, in the process. Not only is Haplo agreeing to risk his life for Alfred’s sake, here, he’s agreeing to do it knowing Xar is literally right there with them and he WILL have to fight Xar. And, of course, he reassures Alfred that he does trust him, and that he knows that he’s become strong, now!

2. Seventh Gate, Goodbyes and the hug.

"Farewell, my friend,” he said. “Thank you for bringing me back to life. Haplo took Alfred’s hand, then embraced the startled and embarrassed Sartan. “Thank you,” Haplo said, his voice gruff, “for giving me life. Farewell, my friend.” Alfred was extremely red. He patted Haplo’s back awkwardly, then turned away, wiping his eyes and nose with his coat sleeve.

I know we’ve been talking about this quote a lot recently, but like. Just look at it. How Alfred goes for the handshake and Haplo takes it and then is like “wait a minute, heck no, we might die here and I’M GONNA HUG YOU, DAMMIT.”

And bonus points for “Thank you for giving me life,” which is not only a parallel to the thank you Alfred’s already given him, but also a HUGE fuck-you to Xar, who he KNOWS is STANDING RIGHT THERE, considering Xar’s whole “I gave you life so I can take it” mentality. We don’t talk about it enough, but. What a goddamn power move. 

1. Into the Labyrinth, Alfred brings Haplo to the Vortex

Then strong arms caught him, held him. A voice spoke to him, soothed him. All pain vanished. He rested, drifting on the water’s surface, at peace with himself. The voice called again. He opened his eyes, looked up and saw… Alfred.

This is... just. I mean, look at that. A paragraph like that wouldn’t be all that out of place in a straight up romance novel. I mean. Strong arms holding him... his voice soothing him and erasing his pain... the sense of peace... the dramatic ellipses before Alfred’s name... I honestly don’t know how to talk about this paragraph without just rewriting it, because seriously, look at it. Haplo the sentimental poet strikes again.

If there’s any reason that this shouldn’t be the number 1 quote it’s that this line of pureness finishes the chapter and then sends us back to Pryan’s heterosexual nonsense for multiple chapters, which is quite frankly an act of pure homophobia.

Just kidding, obviously, but like... wow.

Anyway thank you for reading my list, Happy Valentine’s Day y’all.

[writingreactsandwords]

Hi! Could I get DAI LIs (pre-romance) reacting to a Desire Demon taking the appearance of the half-naked (or fully naked? Demons don't play around) Inquisitor to try to seduce and possess them? (maybe the team ended up in the Fade and got separated or something). In detail, if you feel like it, and maybe also non-LI companions reacting to seeing their leader like that, if you -really- feel like it. Hope I'm not asking too much!

Jumping right to it, anon! You’re not asking too much at all, though I do deeply apologise if this bloody essay of a post pops up on your dash when you’re not interested.

But honestly, long/big requests are no trouble. Might just take a little longer! I hope you like it! (Spoilers for Inquisition and Trespasser! Not, like, too NSFW but I wouldn’t want my mom reading it. Foul language ahead, buckaroos.)

Cullen (pre-romance):

Demons he knows too well.

When he sees her standing there, something inside him cracks for a moment. Cold, polished stone floors. His heavy Templar armour, the pain and sweat. The blood on the floor, the smell of abominations and growing, pulsing, rotting flesh. Her image is blinded briefly by the white translucent walls that had caged him, had trapped him in with anything that Uldred had seen fit to punish him with.

And then, as always, the cracks melt together again. A little tighter, more strained, more fragile. But his eyes can see what’s there.

It’s wearing her skin, her voice. And Maker is she perfect, the sight of her breaks whatever convincing he’d done to persuade himself he wasn’t as besotted as he felt.

Demon, he reminds himself, and the anger comes back. That it took what he wanted and wore her like a gown, took her body and made his first sight of her like this when she was unwilling, unaware. That it would use her as a game piece to break his mind makes the rage burn red hot in his chest.

“Cullen,” she whispers, and somehow he hears it as if it’s in his ear despite the distance. “Love. Darling. Aren’t you going to touch me?”

The leather of his gloves makes a soft noise as it curls around the grip of his sword. 

“Stop,” he says, and is ashamed of how his voice is strangled and cracked. Ashamed of how he can’t look at this thing.

“She doesn’t want you, Cullen,” she said, stronger and harsher, the tone of someone doling out hard truths. “I am the only version of her you’ll get. Give in to this. I’m soft. I’m real. As real as you want me to be.”

“Try harder,” he growls out, and his eyes are shut when he strikes the killing blow. 

Solas (pre-romance):

The Fade was, undoubtedly, a place of strange beauty. With its gravity-defying topography, electric greens weaving through the air and clouding the horizon with mist. The ever-present sense of danger, of eyes and fingers creeping up spines unseen. The Black City, as they called it, hung close enough that he felt he could reach out to touch it.

Yet none of it was as strange as her.

All softness and muscle stood like some terribly lifelike, terribly beautiful sculpture. She was the opposite of the rocky pitted ground. The opposite of terror.

Her presence made everything different, but it wasn’t her.

“This won’t work,” he warned, already gliding the staff into his usual stance. The spirit looked at him with hooded, sweet eyes. She was so beautiful, though admiring her here felt like a betrayal of trust. Like he should be admonished for being a peeping tom.

“I know,” it said simply. Her voice felt like something hard and sharp in his chest. “You don’t have many weaknesses, Wolf.”

He watched her and raised a dark eyebrow.

“She is one of mine?” He admired her, yes. Despite many- despite all of his better judgements, he couldn’t help but try to charm her. Couldn’t help but take solace in her, marvel at her intelligence and empathy.

It was wrong. He had not, wouldn’t (couldn’t) allow it to go further. The spirit’s spiteful grin made him shudder.

“She will be, Wolf. As you will be hers.”

He watched her as the disguise melted away in front of his eyes, a demonic violet woman stood in the Inquisitor’s place. Curiosity burnt, but he looked at it with icy eyes.

“Stand and fight.” He had to get back to the others, to her.

Cassandra (pre-romance):

Cassandra is a practical woman. She has never stilled her sword when she knew the enemy and knew the intentions behind them.

She knows now as the Inquisitor stands in front of her, naked and smiling, that he’s not him. He looks like him, certainly. Down to every hair, every dip and curve, the face she’s committed to memory despite it being downright pathetic. And… Below. Places she’s definitely not seen are still undoubtedly him.

But she knows what it is. A desire demon. Characterised, when in it’s ‘true’ form, by purple skin and long curling horns. Often female. Certainly not female right now, she thinks. Her eyes dart down, and her shame is amplified by that subtle, smug smile.

Her shield lifts when he reaches toward her.

“I could give you what you want, Cassandra,” he says in a perfect replica of the Herald’s voice. “Love. Sex. Passion. Take my hand, love. I’ll give you what he won’t.”

I want him, the real thing, she thinks though she shames herself for how soft it is. She has been tested many times before, in more difficult situations than this. 

“Die, demon,” she hisses.

Dorian (pre-romance):

Dorian knows the tricks of demons as well as any mage. They enter his dreams, his life, wait with bated breath for the pleasure of owning a man with such power as he. Sometimes desire demons, yes, offering sex and some of his deeper wishes in trade for something harmless on the surface yet terribly wicked beneath.

He’s spent far too much time with their shadow to be scared of them.

He watches the demon taking strong, graceful steps across the ground of the Fade in the body of the Inquisitor with bored eyes. Mind games. Taking his surface attraction of the man they called a leader and standing in his naked body. Trying to tempt him.

Still, Dorian remains quiet. 

“The Herald wants you,” the demon said in his voice. “He thinks about you at night, in his more… intimate moments.”

“Does he now?” Dorian asked, bored. “Whatever you’re trying to entice me with, it won’t work.” He adjusted his staff in his hand, an eyebrow raised.

“But he doesn’t care about you,” it said, ignoring him. Dorian’s eyes narrowed. “He doesn’t love you. Won’t love you. He just wants to fuck you, like all the others.”

Demons lie and trick, and besides, why in the name of the Maker would I care? He tells himself, even as something inside him hurts and his grip on the weapon tightens so much that splinters dig into his palm.

“You’re smart, Dorian. There’s nothing out of here for you. There’s nothing you can fix or do. But I can give you everything. I know you love him. I look like him, I sound like him, I can build you a reality that loves you back.”

Every word just makes him angrier, and his resolve doesn’t falter once as the mana charges up from his fingertips.

Josephine (pre-romance):

She wasn’t even meant to be here.

Josephine’s cheeks were already dark red from panic, her breaths short and her fingers gripping the ruffled sleeves of her shirt. She thought the rifts led to the same place, yet here she was, with no Inquisitor beside her-

Until there was. She felt the presence before she saw it, turned terrified with images of demons conjured, stood weaponless against an enemy triple her size. She spun, unprepared but ready- and came face to face with a person.

“Oh, Inquisitor! I-”

The press of their lips to the edge of her jaw is… unexpected. Unpleasant, almost. It’s not that she hasn’t thought about it. About them. Of course she has, they’re… The Inquisitor. Strong, brave, intelligent. Yet the mix of terror and surprise and relief and- something just being wrong has tainted it anyway. Rotted it, soured it.

The press of them naked against her breaks whatever shock was keeping her still. She nearly fell as she stumbled away from them.

“I-Inquisitor?” She said, her fear and embarrassment amplifying tenfold. They’re stood bare, mouth curled up into a smile clearly meant to be alluring but doing nothing but setting off warning bells. “You are… Not the Herald.”

“I could be,” it says with their voice, “if that’s what you want, Josephine.”

A desire demon, then. She watches it speechless, almost admiring of how complex their disguise is. Brought from her own mind, likely- her cheeks stain darker as she realises its naked form is from her own shameful fantasies.

It’s cunning, clearly. Clever. A creature of crafted deals and words, this she knows. But so is Josephine.

Stood weaponless against an enemy. Not quite. The Inquisitor would be looking for her, she knew. All she had to do was stall.

“Let us talk about what I want, then.”

The Iron Bull (pre-romance):

Bull doesn’t like demons, though he sure as hell likes the view.

Lately, the Inquisitor has been playing on his mind pretty bad, though he’s not certain why. There are some pretty clear reasons- they’re stunning, strong, genuine. They’re funny. They think he’s funny.

So the demons picked up on that, huh? He thinks, flinching as he imagines phantom fingers digging into his mind, his thoughts, picking out his daydreams and fantasies. Until they could build up the visual that had been pacing his conscious and cover themselves with it.

He knows people are weaker than they want to be and think they are, but still. That he was so easy to figure out is humiliating in its way. Terrifying in others.

“So what are you, then?” He asks, quietly. The demon’s eyes spark, something malicious and amused that don’t fit his Inquisitor’s features. It makes their body look more like a costume. A hot costume, admittedly, but with none of the character.

“I’m yours, Bull,” they say, almost sing-song, breathy and gentle. It works its way inside his ears until he can imagine the real Inquisitor saying it. Saying it in Herald’s rest, whispering it in his ear, saying it on top of him, underneath, anywhere.

He can’t help letting his eyes drag across them as they step even closer, head tilted just a little bit, hands sliding over their own skin.

“You’re good,” he nods, “but I fucking hate demons.”

He brings down the axe as they snarl.

Sera (pre-romance):

“This isn’t fucking real!” Sera yells, her voice straining against her own pitch. There’s green fucking everywhere, and there are floating rocks and- and- there are demons and shit and it’s the Fade and you don’t piss about in the fucking Fade and you don’t see the girl you’ve been pissing fantasising about in your actual dreams all naked and shit in front of you and-

“I’m as real as you want me to be, Sera,” she says, eyes sparkling with delight and- other stuff. Sera’s been squeezing at the grip of her bow awkwardly for the last however long naked Quizzy’s been stood there.

Like, what, a minute? Too long. Too close. Demon. Solas had even gone through the types- what’s this one? Desire.

She looks so… Her. It isn’t right. It isn’t close to right. Everything’s wrong and the actual Inquisitor is off somewhere with the others, or alone, and here Sera is having a stand-off with her fantastically naked body-double.

“Nothing’s real here,” Sera says, “except me. You’re just some- some piss demon.”

“Oh, Sera…” The Inquisitor says, her voice all moan-y and it’s never like that usually however much she wishes it was. “Look at me. There’s no danger in me. I’m just what you want. What you need. I might not be real, but the real Inquisitor… She wants nothing to do with you.”

“Fuck off,” she says, shaking, even though she’s letting the Inquisitor’s hand reach towards her, sliding over the air above her hip and it would be so good.

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be, love.”

And suddenly - venemously - her mind hisses, not real though, and she’s slamming the bow into the demon’s pretty face.

Blackwall (pre-romance):

“Inquisit–” Blackwall chokes on his words when he sees her. After the destructive wake of realisation has settled - and it takes a while, embarrassingly - his first thought is, absurdly, it’s been too long. He looks at the Inquisitor’s nakedness bluntly, unable to do anything else.

The would-be Warden does take a bitter sort of comfort in his self-flagellating, denying habits. I don’t deserve it is a common thought of his, so the last time he took relief in another person was…

It’s been too long.

He watches her with a dry mouth, words clawing up but choking out somewhere between the centre of his chest and his throat. He plants his feet a little more firmly into the pockmarked ground of the Fade, don’t forget this isn’t real, and curls his finger into fists as the supposed Inquisitor makes her way towards him.

Maker, she is… He wants so many things he can’t have.

The Inquisitor did not let them step into the Fade without knowledge. They all knew of the demons. They all knew they’d be more susceptible alone. “End it quickly, firmly, and do not give them a chance,” the Commander, Cullen, had told them. An ex-Templar with experience enough to look a little haunted at the thought of demons.

Despite it all, he’s allowed her to come this close. It. It to come this close. He breathes heavy when she, it, it raises its hand. Soft and warm and it lands on his bearded face not chastely, anything but; those eyes look at him with promise. Her mouth opens, wet and shining and-

“Thom.”

The illusion breaks. He raises his sword.

[stacks-reviews]

New Releases 8/29/17

Happy New Release Day!

This is the big one folks. The one we’ve all been waiting and training for.

The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, and The Lion King 1 1/2 is finally freed from on the vault. I missed picking it up the first time it came out on DVD/Blu-Ray but I am not missing out this time. Unfortunately for our wallets, all three will have to be bought separately. Which is mildly frustrating since Pocahontas, Lilo and Stitch, Mulan, and The Fox and the Hound were all released with their sequels in a combo pack earlier this year. For the same price as what one of these alone will be. Yet I can’t blame Disney for wanting to cash in while they can though they really don’t need to. I’ll definitely be getting the first two later today. I’ve never seen the third and I don’t particularly care to.

In Books --A Song for Quiet (Persons Non Grata #2) by Cassandra Khaw “Deacon James is a wandering bluesman straight from Georgia, a black man with troubles that he can’t escape, and music that won’t let him go. On a train to Arkham, he meets trouble - visions of nightmares, gaping mouths and gasping tendrils, and a madman who calls himself John Persons. According to the stranger, Deacon is carrying a seed in his head, a thing that will destroy the world if he lets it hatch. The mad ravings chase Deacon to his next gig. His saxophone doesn’t call up his audience from their seats, it calls up monstrosities from across dimensions. As Deacon flees, chased by horrors and cultists, he stumbles upon a runaway girl, who is trying to escape her father, and the destiny he has waiting for her. Like Deacon, she carries something deep inside her, something twisted and dangerous. Together, they seek to leave Arkham, only to find the Thousand Young lurking in the woods. The song in Deacon’s head is growing stronger, and soon he won’t be able to ignore it any more.”

I have not read the first book (Hammers on Bone) in this series yet but I don’t think you will necessarily need to in order to read this one. John Persons was the main character in book one but it looks like he’ll be taking a back seat in book two. It was actually this book that made me interested in this series. I love it when music is a form of magic.

--Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor Volume 1 by Tarou Hitsuji and illustrated by Aosa Tsunemi “Lumia and Sisti are mages-in-training at a prestigious magical academy where they hope to be taught by the best of the best. However, when their favorite instructor suddenly retires, his replacement turns out to be a total jerk - he’s idle, incompetent, and always late! Can Lumia help uncover their new teacher’s true potential - and can Sisti still learn magic and unravel the secrets of the mysterious Sky Castle with such a terrible mentor as her guide?”

I watched the anime of this series on Crunchyroll, though I still need to finish the last episode or two. If you ever decide to try it out, give it two episodes. It does a complete mood change near the end of episode two and from the there the show really starts getting good. The volume showed up a little early at my work so I flipped through it at the end of my shift. The end of episode two is where the volume ends. Or maybe it was a little into episode three? 

There is some mild fan-service in this series. And the new teacher is a perv. But other than that I really enjoyed the show and I’m excited to read the manga.

--Kigurumi Guardians Volume 1 by Lily Hoshino “Hakka Sasakura’s life it about to turn upside-down. She comes home from a day of admiring her student body president to discover that a mysterious creature resembling a man in an animal suit has taken up residence in her home. What’s more, she has been chosen to work with this strange being to fight off invaders from another dimension and save the world...and she has to kiss him to do so?!”

Really drawn to this series because of the art style. Which this series is written and illustrated by the artist of Penguin Drum. Which then makes me think of Utena and Yurikuma Arashi. The first chapter is available to read on Kodansha’s website. It covers how Hakka and two other students (one girl and one boy (yay more magical boys!)) are recruited and become involved in a short fight with one of the weaker dimensional beings. Though none of them fight in the first chapter, it was set up for them to see that such beings are indeed real and threatening their world.

In Movies --A Journey Through Fairyland “Michael is a gifted oboe player, but his heart’s not in it. He ignores his musical studies to lose himself in the garden, playing for the benefit of his beloved flowers. Michael’s frustrated teacher gives him an ultimatum: Be serious, or leave the music school forever! Despondent, Michael prepares to say goodbye to the garden. But the floral fairy Florence, so bewitched by his music, bestows a powerful magic wand on Michael, and whisks him away. Will Michael’s astonishing adventure with Florence in Fairyland help him rediscover his love of music?”

Really want to see this. It was directed by Masami Hata who also directed Little Nemo Adventures in Storyland and The Sea Prince and the Fire Child. Which I have also never seen. But all three just look amazing. Especially Little Nemo.

--Marmalade Boy Collection 1 “Miki Koishikawa’s parents have always been strange. While deeply caring for their daughter, they’re prone to wasteful spending, oversleeping, and even taking extravagant trips. And their latest trip to Hawaii has brought back something truly outrageous: love. Not for each other, but for a different couple entirely! With her parents planning to divorce and swap partners with the Matsuuras, Miki’s life is turned upside down with a new, highly abnormal family all living together in one house. To top it off, Matsuuras have a son named Yuu exactly Miki’s age, and he’s too gorgeous for words. For better or worse, this is Miki’s life now, but adjusting won’t be easy when jealous rivals and old flames enter the mix!

Collection 1 includes episodes 1-38 of this classic shoujo series. I have never seen this series but two of my friends are very excited for this re-release. At first I thought this would be a more drama shoujo series but after a second thought I realized that it is more of a romantic comedy. After all, with both families under the same roof but staying with the others spouse there is sure to be a lot of funny, awkward situations.

--The Nutcracker Fantasy “After a young girl, Clara, receives a nutcracker from her enigmatic Uncle Drosselmayer, she finds that her precious present is stolen by thieving rats led by Mauslynx, the double-headed rat queen. To win it back, Clara enters a surreal land through her family’s grandfather clock. One of her stops is the Kingdom of Dolls, where she finds the king grieving over his cursed, eternally-asleep daughter, Princess Mary, a doppelganger for Clara herself. She and Franz, the captain of the guards and Mary’s suitor, infiltrate the army of rats in a desperate attempt to dethrone the despot!”

A stop-motion film from 1979 made with dolls. It reminds me of the classic Christmas films of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without Santa Claus, and so on. Which I watch every year so this title would be a nice addition to add to my yearly movies. Also, film wise, it looks very impressive. I looked up a trailer on YouTube and it has some pretty great camerawork that I don’t think I’ve seen in other stop-motion films of that era.

Those are my top picks for this week. Other great titles are also coming out today like Gotham S3 and Ushio and Tora (the new series). What is everyone most excited for?

[honeycut-a-blog]

VERY LONG CHARACTER SURVEY.

RULES. repost ------ don’t reblog. tag ten people. tag your mom. tag your wife. tag my cat, roger TAGGED BY. @persevercnce TAGGING. @mageright @hornsfirst @somnivr @sacrificedmore @emperorjade / @blackwine @blackshadowed @bladedrawn @mortedistelle @crownviper @freedomdweller

BASICS.

FULL NAME: marian elizabeth hawke. the first two spoken in unison are not unlike a horrible, unparalled, cream-of-the-crop curseword to her. you can thank leandra for it NICKNAME/S: hawke, champion, chuckles AGE: 25 (beginning of act 1) / 35 (inquisition) / 37 (trespasser). BIRTHDAY:  august 20th. ETHNIC GROUP: french-chinese. NATIONALITY: fereldan. LANGUAGE/S: common tongue, mandarin, french. SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: biromantic. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: verse dependent. single by default, though she has a sexual history with certain companions back in kirkwall. CLASS: that girl with enough riches to bless the rains down in africa but her lifestyle and personal choices say otherwise.  HOMETOWN / AREA: lothering, ferelden ------- birthplace unknown. CURRENT HOME: kirkwall. PROFESSION: a legend laid to rest. an ex-member of the red iron. before kirkwall, she and her father were travelling bards, sent on missions to spy and collect information. and sometimes kill.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: black, silken, always messy yet somehow still in place. EYES: white-blue. striking. monolids with medium-length lashes. usually clouded with dark, smoky makeup. NOSE: low nose bridge, sticking prominently from her face; rounded tip, flat nostrils. mixture of the “greek” and “mongolian” types.  FACE: sharp, square jawline, sloping gently to the chin. high cheekbones, plush cheeks. riddled with freckles. one beauty mark sitting on the curve of her upper lip. a scar also runs through her left eyebrow; bar fight, 9:32.  LIPS: thick, dark, and rounded. upper and lower lips are the same thickness. little to no cupid’s bow. always chapped, sometimes with bloody patches from where she chews the skin. a light pink in color beneath her lipstick.  COMPLEXION: very light in tone, scattered with small freckles and moles all over the body. burns easy. nose + cheeks + ears turn red in the slightest chill. itchy in winter.  BLEMISHES: what’s the occasional stress pimple at age 35? SCARS: a whole body littered with ‘em, mostly odds and ends, scratches and divots. the most prominent is the long, dipping scar along her abdomen where the arishok skewered her on his blade. some are also self-inflicted.  TATTOOS: unspecified red heraldry on her left bicep.  HEIGHT: 5′11 WEIGHT: 169 lbs. BUILD: tall and very much pear-shaped. slight shoulders that drop to a medium chest, padded ribs, plush belly, wide hips, breakneck thighs, strong calves. it becomes more noticeable in her older age (inquisition verse +). she was slimmer throughout DA2, more toned in the biceps and abdomen, though her stomach was never perfectly flat and her hips were never small.  ALLERGIES: none. she’d love to say she’s allergic to cats just so anders will leave her the fuck alone. sadly not the case. USUAL HAIRSTYLE: short, uneven and choppy throughout DA2; easy to work with on those busy days of airing out everyone’s laundry. fairly outgrown by inquisition, all the layers having grown to relatively the same length. drops to her mid-back. she’s chopped her bangs to be more straight-across, but sometimes she lets them grow out to the familiar wisps that hang in her eyes. USUAL EXPRESSION: something sardonic and roguish. a slack, cocky smirk that never quite makes a smile. catty eyes and arched brows always make for more of an intimidating look, even when she’s not being particularly harmful.  USUAL CLOTHING: rogue champion armor during excursions and other heavy quests. otherwise, usually seen in the typical assassin’s mantle on any given day in kirkwall where there’s no immediate threat to her life beyond a few bandits. skyhold was different; a cold-as-shit wakeup call to remind her of what she both missed and hated about ferelden. she arrived in a long, form-fitting, fur-hooded coat with dark pants and boots underneath, cinched at the waist with her father’s old belt and other carry-on packs.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: spiders, open waters, drowning, her own magic, her failure to protect the ones she loves.  ASPIRATION/S: to help those who need it most. to protect the little people who don’t get a say. to find balance within herself.  POSITIVE TRAITS: funny, charming, resourceful, intelligent, helpful, trustworthy, loyal/doting if in a good, committed relationship. NEGATIVE TRAITS: aggressive, undependable, irresponsible, self-hating, self-mutilating, cynical, manipulative, gossipy, has been known to make misogynistic and casually racist comments (no actual slurs, but follows stereotypes). she’s grown a bit more conscientious by end of act 3 / inquisition times, but she’s not perfectly correct just yet. MBTI: infp. ZODIAC: leo. TEMPERAMENT: choleric; aggressive, passionate, and leader-like. SOUL TYPE/S: leader ( 14 ) hunter ( 12 ) creator ( 12 ) ANIMAL: dragon. VICE/S: smoking,  excessive drinking, hypersexuality.  FAITH: it’s difficult. she denies andrastian faith for the harm that’s come of it, but believes more in ... certain forces of nature, somewhat. for instance: the wind is a woman who doesn’t like her, hence why it turns her cheeks red in the cold. it’s a bit of a joke to her either way. GHOSTS? yes. AFTERLIFE? she believes that the dead do ... something, somewhere. she believes they can be contacted through direct prayer ---- not through andraste ---- and that their spirits watch over the ones they left behind.  REINCARNATION? yes, but you don’t get a choice on what to be next. ALIENS? nah. POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: fuck the big hats, religion is used as an excuse to oppress, kill the corrupt, find justice in vengeance.  ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: all the money in the world could not make her happy. SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION: n/a. EDUCATION LEVEL:  home-schooled, as far as actual “schooling” goes; she’s multilingual and knows how to read and write, let’s put it that way. she was also trained by her father, a jack of all trades, in knife-wielding and lute-playing. 

FAMILY.

FATHER: deceased; died of a natural illness before the fifth blight. she was closer to him than anyone else and competed for his attention constantly. he taught her everything about his culture, or at least what he chose to believe in, and she held up to it more than her other two siblings.  MOTHER: deceased; killed by the blood mage quentin. their relationship was very strained. even though hawke resented her mother, she was still very struck by the grotesque manner of her death, and took it as a personal failure to protect. was more a matter of pride than heartbreak.  SIBLING/S: carver and bethany hawke; both deceased. hawke was particularly closer to carver, who was denied his father’s attention between quests with marian and training bethany, but the border between them ---- carver believing much less in their father and the culture he brought ---- consistently threw them into arguments. bethany was better about it. she got along with both her parents equally, and thus was more agreeable with her big sister. EXTENDED FAMILY: uncle gamlen, her cousin charade, and her cousin amell.  NAME MEANING/S: variant of marion, a french diminutive form of marie, which is derived from the hebrew miryām, a name of debated meaning. many believe it to mean "sea of bitterness" or "sea of sorrow." however, some sources cite the alternative definitions of "rebellion," "wished-for child," and "mistress or lady of the sea." HISTORICAL CONNECTION: n/a.

FAVORITES.

BOOK: Hard In Hightown.  MOVIE: she’ll say Wayne’s World, but in reality, it’s P.S. I Love You. 5 SONGS:  rich / the yeah yeah yeah’s, dreams so real / metric, juicebox / the strokes, elastic heart / sia, the wreckoning / boomkat DEITY:  her father. MONTH: august. SEASON: autumn. PLACE: lothering.  WEATHER: warm and red-skied. SOUND: someone talking to her while she falls asleep. SCENT/S: hickory burning in the firepit - wind in the grime of her hair - wine on her breath - smoke on her clothes.  TASTE/S: the spice of cooked meat - the sweetness of chocolate cake - peaches and cream in spring - creek water in lothering - blood on her lower lip - metal in her lungs.  FEEL/S: dirt clotting under her nails - tightness in her chest - eyes straining into the distance - sweat in her father’s boots - magic like fire under her skin - the worn grip of a reliable dagger - the silk of her sheets - a well-ridden climax. ANIMAL/S: dogs, bunnies & reptiles.  NUMBER: 1. COLOR: shades of red.

EXTRA.

TALENTS: domination, persuasion, stealth, flirtation, adaptation / singing and lute-playing / knife-wielding and trap-setting. she can master almost anything she tries; jill of all trades, just like her father. BAD AT: magic, deadlines, loyalty within contract, social correctness, self-restraint, prayer upkeep, physical upkeep, empathy for the unjust, respecting personal spaces, self-healing. TURN-ONS: strength, consensual aggression, rebellious behavior, wrists in knots, somewhere public, someone sweet, someone mean, someone who loves her, someone who hates her. TURN-OFFS: sappiness, bigotry, religion, unwanted hands, pick-up lines from gross men, condescension, ownership.  HOBBIES: eating and drinking. mostly eating. TROPES: alpha bitch, biker babe, black widow, cool big sis, daddy’s girl, dragon woman, lady in red, the lady’s favor, samus is a girl AESTHETIC TAGS: DRAMATIC TIMING & GOOD HAIR.

FC INFO.

MAIN FC/S: mylene jampanoi. ALT FC/S: chloe bennet, mostly used in something more teenagery. OLDER FC/S: none YOUNGER FC/S: none VOICE CLAIM/S: jo wyatt. GENDERBENT FC/S: fuck off with ye

[e3khatena]

Someone subjected me to it, so I'll return the favor. Do them all, yes?

*horrible but joyous raptor noise*

200: My crush’s name is: The pineapple one.199: I was born in: 1997198: I am really: Confused about things and such.197: My cellphone company is: AT&T and they kind of suck but not too much.196: My eye color is: Usually a bluish-gray, more gray in the winter and more greenish in the spring. Not vividly, still mostly gray.195: My shoe size is: 12.194: My ring size is: I think I have an Ace Ring in 13? So that, I guess.193: My height is: 6′0″-ish.192: I am allergic to: A hecking lot of types of medication.191: My 1st car was: A Hyundai that had it brakes rot out, the lower control arms snapped, and now it doesn’t have power steering. I just got my second car 2 months ago.190: My 1st job was: Alright.189: Last book you read: Legends of Localization: MOTHER 2. Super awesome.188: My bed is: A bed!187: My pet: Icha, a retired police dog. 186: My best friend: Dan. I have not talked to so many of my other friends in so long, I need to get better at that.185: My favorite shampoo is: I dunno, the stuff I use? I don’t study the bottle.184: Xbox or ps3: Wii U, to be completely honest. Hopefully the Switch is awesome.183: Piggy banks are: A typo based on a type of coin bank made of a certain type of clay.182: In my pockets: Actually nothing right now.181: On my calendar: I have class in Chicago tomorrow. :\180: Marriage is: Not something I plan to do.179: Spongebob can: Please get canned already? Fairly Oddparents, too. Actually, that one first.178: My mom: Is a mom.177: The last three songs I bought were? Two songs from the Diablo Swing Orchestra (probably the coolest hecking band ever) preceeded by Ballroom Blitz.176: Last YouTube video watched: A bunch of trash TF2 joke weapon demonstrations.175: How many cousins do you have? I dunno, like three or four immediate cousins?174: Do you have any siblings? An older and a younger brother.173: Are your parents divorced? No.172: Are you taller than your mom? Yes.171: Do you play an instrument? Nope.170: What did you do yesterday? My best.[ I Believe In ]169: Love at first sight: Nope.168: Luck: I got all the bad stuff.167: Fate: If y’had a chance t’chainge yer faet, wood yeh?166: Yourself: What a funny story, Mark!165: Aliens: I mean, somewhere out there. They’re probably, like, bacteria, but I mean whatever.164: Heaven: I like to imagine the afterlife is one giant void where you just wait to come back and you get to see all your past and future lives but forget everything immediately upon being resurrected as a new human.163: Hell: See immediately above.162: God: If you do, that’s cool. 161: Horoscopes: Read six of them. Chances are, more than one fits you well.160: Soul mates: Nope.159: Ghosts: Nope.158: Gay Marriage: I mean, do whatever. If its not immoral and illegal and everyone involved is okay with it, then cool.157: War: It never changes, but I kinda wish it would. Why is it this hard for people to support each other. 156: Orbs: They don’t exist because nobody has ever seen a perfect sphere in real life before.155: Magic: There are people who claim this is real?[ This or That ]154: Hugs or Kisses: I dunno?153: Drunk or High: Having a height advantage to your opponents makes it that much harder for them to seek adequate cover and that much easier to defeat them.152: Phone or Online: I hate the call quality in the US.151: Red heads or Black haired: You don’t see that many actual natural gingers out there.150: Blondes or Brunettes: I mean, I’m blond, so there’s some bias.149: Hot or cold: The cold. LA would kill me.148: Summer or winter: Specifically the first month of the winter. Past that its gray and sludgy and horrible.147: Autumn or Spring: Spring.146: Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate.145: Night or Day: The nighttime makes everything feel forbidden. I shouldn’t be out this late, I shouldn’t be doing this this late, etc.144: Oranges or Apples: Oranges. Citrus is awesome.143: Curly or Straight hair: I dunno.142: McDonalds or Burger King: Burger King has the better chicken nuggets, but both aren’t that great. In this town, its Culvers, Portillo’s, or you eat the DIRT you find in the GROUND.141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: Like a 60% dark chocolate. 70% tastes great at first but the aftertaste is horrible, afraid to go darker than that. Heard 100% is the worst.140: Mac or PC: PC, since I make games using software that runs on 139: Flip flops or high heals: Mages with a high heal yield are always welcome in the party.138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: I’ve kind of had it with the rich at this point.137: Coke or Pepsi: Regular coke but Cherry Pepsi. Crystal Pepsi is also back but my life was ruined when I found out its just regular Pepsi with no coloring.136: Hillary or Obama: I would gladly take either of them right now. Barack seems like he’d be a dad friend.135: Burried or cremated: I want to be burned to ashes and thrown from the mountains.134: Singing or Dancing: I dunno.133: Coach or Chanel: Coach was a playable character in L4D2 and thus is infinitely more useful.132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Who the frack are these people.131: Small town or Big city: I’ve kind of had it with the city.130: Wal-Mart or Target: Target. Or, for white people with minimal senses of humor, Targét (Tar-zhey).129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Stiller is meh but never reaches Sandler levels of awful.128: Manicure or Pedicure: [SOUNDS OF LITTLE INTEREST]127: East Coast or West Coast: The East Coast has HP Lovecraft’s home.126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Both seem to end in familial drama.125: Chocolate or Flowers: Chocolate is dang wonderful. Can’t take a handful, eat the tulips. Y’just cahn’t do theat.124: Disney or Six Flags: Six whole flags. Great America has the Viper and its the closest you will ever get to a life-changing moment. 123: Yankees or Red Sox: I am indifferent towards New York or Boston, doubly so concerning Baseball.[ Here’s What I Think About ]122: War: Like, really guys, talk out your differences and treat people with respect. Its not that hard.121: George Bush: He would have made a brilliant painter or a decent comedian, but for some reason he ended up as president. But now he’s paining portraits of veterans wounded in the wars he started, so there’s that.120: Gay Marriage: Of course.119: The presidential election: 2016 was a terrible year, can we just fast forward to an election where two decent, respectable human beings are being voted for on election day.118: Abortion: Every woman has their reason, and its not the right of men to get to decide what happens.117: MySpace: ‘sead.116: Reality TV: Ech.115: Parents: Its a toxic environment.114: Back stabbers: I get you want that double critical hit, but please don’t stab me. I just want to grab the papers. End TF2 joke.113: Ebay: I dunno?112: Facebook: I had a video of a chick being forced down a grinder suddenly load and go full screen the last time I used the app. Yeah no.111: Work: Cash money.110: My Neighbors: My next door neighbors are absolutely wonderful people. The people past there are pretty bleh.109: Gas Prices:  They’ve been higher, they’ve been lower.108: Designer Clothes: Heck.107: College: I have the presidential scholarship and have taken the maximum out on all possible loans and I cannot afford to live on-campus.106: Sports: Nah.105: My family: I am always feeling much better and more comfortable when spending time at a friend’s house than my own house.104: The future: Kinda losing hope, kinda just wish I had the skills to make great games quick and then just live in peace somewhere nice, kinda want to get struck with construction equipment, etc.[ Last time I ]103: Hugged someone: I couldn’t tell you, its been, I dunno, a decade or so?102: Last time you ate: 11:something today.101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: Spent some time at a friend’s place Friday. Haven’t gotten to speak with them in such a long time, felt nice.100: Cried in front of someone: I dunno?99: Went to a movie theater: The last film I saw in theaters was Godzilla and I lost interest when Walter White died.98: Took a vacation: Absolutely never! I was in Florida for a few weeks a few years ago (2013, I think?), but it barely counts because half of it was rainy days, Minecraft, and Nostalgia Critic.97: Swam in a pool: Couple years ago?96: Changed a diaper: If this answer becomes anything but never I will have seen too much.95: Got my nails done: Never.94: Went to a wedding: Never.93: Broke a bone: Pretty sure never?92: Got a peircing: Never.91: Broke the law: I once forgot to stop at a stop sign nobody else was at. Take me away, coppers, throw me in the slammer.90: Texted: I think Friday night?[ MISC ]89: Who makes you laugh the most: Dan.88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: Not having anywhere to be. 87: The last movie I saw: I watched The Adventures of Tintin for like the 9th time. I wonder how that film stands up in black/white. I heard really good stuff about Mad Max: Fury Road in B/W.86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: Switch Switch Switch SwiTCH SWITCH SW85: The thing im not looking forward to: The hatred spiraling around the 45th President. Actual Nazis spoke of their goals and were praised on national TV. One of them got punched and is afraid he will become a meme. What the heck is going on. How much Nyquil did I accidentally drink. Is this a dying dream. Please let it be.84: People call me: Really needy and obnoxious. Or that might just be me.83: The most difficult thing to do is: Have one good day. Friday was the first one since probably October.82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: Nope, but I did get one because my brakes went out and I hit the bumper of the car in front of me. 81: My zodiac sign is: Gemini, but it really doesn’t make a difference.80: The first person i talked to today was: Dan.79: First time you had a crush: Quite a while ago. It was the orange one and it was alright. Pineapple is the better flavor though.78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: Dan.77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: I dunno.76: Right now I am talking to: A Tumblr text post.75: What are you going to do when you grow up: Design dem vidya gaems. 74: I have/will get a job: I have a job? Its my second one, been there 3 months.73: Tomorrow: I’LL72: Today: Is almost over.71: Next Summer: I’ll be out of school until September again?70: Next Weekend: Will be practically the end of the month? What am I supposed to put do--69: I have these pets: I have one (1) dog.68: The worst sound in the world: I have been woken at 2 in the morning by someone loudly blaring “Now look at this NET!” at me as a joke. 67: The person that makes me cry the most is: I dunno, Speilberg? Because he won’t make thAT TINTIN SEQUEL--66: People that make you happy: Dan and the other ragtag band of friends I have.65: Last time I cried: Like ~a week ago?64: My friends are: @eishkrooked​ @virtifrication-order​ @ahogehope​ and my non-Tungle friends Steve, Byron, Haley and Sam.63: My computer is: More expensive than my first car.62: My School: Costs far too much.61: My Car: Is alright.60: I lose all respect for people who: Justify killing or dehumanizing a lot of people quickly.59: The movie I cried at was: Wreck-It Ralph. Because I am a loser.58: Your hair color is: Blond.57: TV shows you watch: Actually between stuff because everything is over or on hiatus.56: Favorite web site: Steam, I guess?55: Your dream vacation: As many of my friends as possible and we all go to somewhere rad, I dunno where though.54: The worst pain I was ever in was: I once had a coughing fit at 1AM that caused me to spit up some blood and it hurt so bad I collapsed on the floor and cried myself back to sleep. But Death’s gonna have to bare-knuckle box me for my life, he tried to kill me with life-threatening pneumonia twice and that did bugger all. Come at me scrublord, I’m ripped.53: How do you like your steak cooked: Medium-well.52: My room is: Barely my room.51: My favorite celebrity is: JK Simmons.50: Where would you like to be: Somewhere nice.49: Do you want children: Not really, no. Maybe adopt some? I dunno.48: Ever been in love: Nope.47: Who’s your best friend: This is like the third time this question has appeared.46: More guy friends or girl friends: More good friends.45: One thing that makes you feel great is: Ever get to steal, like, all the stars in a Chance Time? That power changes you.44: One person that you wish you could see right now: I want to know how Haley is doing. She moved off to Minnesota after graduating high school and has not been online in like have a year. 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: I barely have a five-day plan.42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: I could die at any minute, lists just leave “I could have___”s everywhere.41: Have you pre-named your children: Nope.40: Last person I got mad at: It took Arin 4 hours to make it to the end of Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door’s first major boss. FOUR HOURS.39: I would like to move to: A nice flat somewhere just outside Chicago.38: I wish I was a professional: Game dev because then, again, good things made quick.[ My Favorites ]37: Candy: York Peppermint Patties, also a fan of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.36: Vehicle: Can Tesla just do a cheap electric car already? 35: President: Obama is definitely top of the list. Amazing public speaker, total dad.34: State visited: Illinois.33: Cellphone provider: If only Metronet could do phones.32: Athlete: JK Simmons got ripped, I can include him.31: Actor: See above!30: Actress: Ashly Burch (Ms. Pauling in TF2). 29: Singer: Lynda Carter became a freaking phenominal jazz singer between the 70s and Fallout 4. Probably the best part about that game.28: Band: Diablo Swing Orchestra, hands down.27: Clothing store: The cheapest one I can get good-quality stuff at.26: Grocery store: Jewel? I dunno, don’t hassle me.25: TV show: Gravity Falls deserves all the awards.24: Movie: This might come as a surprise, but the Adventu23: Website: Steam? I dunno.22: Animal: Samoyeds and Malamutes. Japanese Akitas come in third.21: Theme park: Six Flags is pretty rad. 20: Holiday: According to the store I work at, Italian Market is a holiday and now its my favorite holiday.19: Sport to watch: Not a sportwatcher.18: Sport to play: Used to spar. That was rad.17: Magazine: Rest in peace, Nintendo Power.16: Book: Journal 3 is such a fabulous blend of so many good things.15: Day of the week: Monday, actually. I don’t need to commute, my brothers are out of the house, I can record or work on personal projects, etc.14: Beach: Not a fan of beaches.13: Concert attended: Have not attended any live whatsits.12: Thing to cook: Pasta. And then I have it all. Because its pasta.11: Food: Read above.10: Restaurant: It depends. Subway is cheap, Corner Bakery Cafe is right inside Union Station and their Mac and Chee is awesome, but if money is no object, then I’d go for Olive Garden because “endless pasta” are two words that get slung around in there.9: Radio station: I hate the FM radio.8: Yankee candle scent: Fresh-cut lawn.7: Perfume: Nah.6: Flower: I don’t have an answer.5: Color: One of those deep, vivid blues. Something like Tumblr’s but with some more saturation.4: Talk show host: Nah.3: Comedian: SungWon Cho or Barry Kramer.2: Dog breed: 22 has all the answers you need.1: Did you answer all these truthfully?  I could be a jerk and say I answered one of these incorrectly, but nah, they’re legit. Or are they? They are. Or are they?

Thanks!