#give me a monk pushed to his limits and then some give me him at his absolute worst so we can see him at his best

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Good day, it’s been a while, I am thinking about Tang Sanzang

[saika077]

Random HC:

The first years (+Ortho) playing DnD in Ramshackle Dorm

Yuu/MC is DMing of course

Player characters (I won't go too deep into their character details tho)

I feel like Ace'd be a Human Rogue, it kinda fits his personality imo. I personally don't see him as someone who uses brute force or blast magic, so Rogue it is. Specifically, I feel like he'd be an arcane trickster.

Deuce's character would be a Monk 100%. As for the race I can sorta see him being a Tiefling. Now you might be asking, "why a Monk and not a Barbarian?", While I do acknowledge his tendency to go apeshit at times, he actively tries to grow and change from his past habits. Perhaps his character could be an ex-barbarian who is training hard to be a Monk (multiclass)?

Jack's character'd be a Goliath Fighter, the only justification I have for this is that I feel like the competitive nature of a Goliath and their desire to push beyond new limits fits him like a glove, also the fighter class suits him just fine imo.

Given his background, I feel like Epel would be a Druid (they're basically magic farmers/gardeners). However, he'd give his character cantrips like Poison Spray, various spells but no healing spells (yea this party is pretty much fucked). You can fight me on this but post-character arc Epel would be a Halfling, he'd use his size as an advantage in combat.

As for Sebek, I can't see him being anything other than a Paladin. He'd most likely be an Aasimar... or maybe a half-elf? No? Too on the nose? Anyways, he'd give his character enchantment spells, and maybe some healing spells like Cure Wounds.

Ortho is the party's main support, with him being a tiny fairy bard (now you see why I had to bring Ortho in this otherwise the party won't even survive the winter). He's just a little lad who loves berries and cream :). He also provides bgm and sfx for the campaign.

I'm sorry but I have very little to no faith for this party. But I'm sure they'll somehow survive.

Together, the fate of the world somehow lies in the hands of these murder hobos.

Random shenanigans

Ace attempting to steal a treasure/sacred item from a monster's lair, only to miserably fail a stealth roll. Everyone had to haul ass out of there.

Deuce getting emotionally attached to an Npc with tragic backstories and/or noble goal, and then stubbornly tried to save that npc and getting upset at the DM for killing them.

something tragic happens and someone just says "this is so sad, Ortho play the acoustic rendition of Piece of My World"

Ace, to every barmaid bc he's broke: "hey (with rizz)" *rolls a Nat 1 Charisma*

With how hotheaded the NRC kids are it's only a matter of time until an npc taunted or look at them the wrong way and they'd be like "oh that's it, now you're gonna get it! I ROLL FOR INITIATIVE!" completely unprompted (like in the second half of the Halloween event bc I still find it insane how everyone immediately resorts to violence, even some of the more levelheaded students).

The one time Ortho and/or Sebek can't make it to a session, Jack gets knocked out by an enemy and the gang tried to heal him. Ace: "ok but can we try slapping him awake?" Deuce:"oh that's a good idea! Can we, Yuu/MC?" Yuu/MC:"...roll me a strength check" (they forgot that they have a healing potion)

The DM sitting there horrified while watching the party using the "power of friendship" on an NPC

I feel like half of them would brute force puzzles in a dungeon and it works like one out of three times or something.

"why do I hear boss music?"

Yuu, the DM, puts their hands together in front of them, a strange smile plastered on their face as they calmly said; "everyone, I want you to roll for initiative 🙂"

[iphisesque]

Sukuna, ascension and sokushinbutsu

A discussion of Sukuna's mummy in Jujutsu Kaisen: how it came to be, the specific religious practice it represents, and speculation on its potential relevance and significance within the story.

Sukuna's full-body mummy has been teased in JJK promotional material since the very beginning, but it was only in chapter 220 that we first saw it in full:

This mummy is consistent with Sukuna's appearance during the Heian era, and is notably wearing traditional Shingon monk attire, alongside the traditional headwear reserved to Shingon mummies, or sokushinbutsu:

In chapter 222, Akutami gives us specific textual confirmation that Sukuna's mummy is meant to be sokushinbutsu, and it comes from Sukuna himself, who appears mildly surprised at the gift.

The sokushinbutsu ritual stands out as one of the sole ritual mummification practices that start when the person is still alive: following in the footsteps of early Heian-era monk Kukai, founder of the Shingon esoteric sect of Buddhism, a monk of old age would choose to pursue sokushinbutsu as a means of reaching enlightenment.

For a cycle of 1000 days, the monk would retire to the mountains to meditate and follow mokujiki, a diet of foraging from trees and the forest with a complete abstention from cereal consumption; they would later undertake an even more strict 1000-day regimen of eating tree bark and roots, towards the end of which they would drink tea made of urushi tree sap, a poisonous liquid commonly used to create lacquer. This regimen was followed with the intent of systematically burning the fat in the body and forcefully expelling the water and other liquids present as well as absorbing the toxins present in the tree sap, so as to put the body in a state where it would remain preserved and be inhospitable to the bacteria and maggots that cause decomposition in a corpse.

In the monk's last days, he would climb into a pine box which would then be lowered inside a stone tomb, being given only a narrow airway and a bell to ring to signify he was still alive: when the bell had stopped ringing, the tomb would be sealed, and opened again after another cycle of 1000 days to see if the monk had achieved sokushinbutsu.

Though it was banned by emperor Meiji as a form of suicide in 1879, sokushinbutsu must not be understood as a practice of ritual suicide: the monks undertaking the path of sokushinbutsu would do so after a lifetime of seeking enlightenment according to the principles of Buddhism and Shingon, and they would understand it as another step in their journey of enlightenment, with the completion of sokushinbutsu-mummification being fundamentally understood as an ascension unto a higher plane.

If sokushinbutsu is a practice one must willingly and actively engage in, and not an ordinary mummification done by an outside agent on an already-dead body, why would Heian-era Sukuna, already the King of Curses, undertake it? Possibly, he was curious about the recently invented practice and sought to find the limits of his own body, and used this ritual as a way to push them until he died. More likely, he sought to ascend from the state of being an ordinary curse into becoming another entity altogether, similarly to Tengen, and decided to undergo sokushinbutsu as his chosen path of ascension: some more knowledgeable than me on the subject have posited Tengen, Kenjaku and Sukuna as representing the three different schools of Buddhism, and if Sukuna had indeed chosen ascension through sokushinbutsu, this would place him squarely as representing the esoteric Vajrayāna school of Buddhism, which the Shingon sect belongs to.

How Sukuna's death and sealing played out remains to be seen: that the fingers were preserved in their own grave wax, or adipocere, is not inconsistent with sokushinbutsu, as grave wax develops in anaerobic environments like a sealed tomb and does not, contrary to popular belief, require much moisture or fat to be formed.

Sources on sokushinbutsu: X X X X X

[laundrybiscuits]

(wait for the season to come back to me tag)

It takes them nearly two hours to get to Dustin’s place. Steve’s never really understood how Dustin can stand living so far out from the city, after growing up in a small town like Hawkins, but Dustin seems pretty happy with his yard and his dogs and everything.

The dogs in question start barking up a storm as they walk up to the door, Eddie trailing behind a few steps. He’s not subtle about how nervous he is, hood pulled up and hands tucked into his pockets. Steve’s sort of worried that he’s going to bolt, just disappear into the wilds of Wilmette, and Steve is never going to see him again.

Steve can hear Dustin getting closer to the door, yelling over the ruckus, “Jeez, settle down! It’s Steve, you know Steve!”

The door swings open, and Steve grabs Eddie’s sleeve to haul him inside before Dustin can get a good look, or react, or anything. Just, it’ll be better not to do this on the front lawn.

“Wow, Steve, rude. This is what you were being so mysterious about, a new girlfriend?”

“Not exactly,” says Eddie.

Dustin whirls around to look at him, really look at him beyond the mass of hair and slim build, and falls completely silent. Eddie lifts a hand in a weak little half-wave.

“It’s Eddie,” says Steve, unnecessarily.

“Steve,” says Dustin. “This isn’t funny.”

“See why I couldn’t say anything over the phone?” Steve huffs. “He’s right here and you don’t even believe it. He was—uh, actually, maybe Eddie should tell this part.” Steve hasn’t let go of Eddie’s sleeve, and he tugs at it. Eddie shuffles a little closer.

“Hey, buddy,” says Eddie. “Sorry about…leaving. Jesus, you got tall. Think you might be taller than Steve, now.”

“I’ve been trying not to take it personally,” says Steve.

“Prove it,” Dustin snaps. “If you’re really Eddie, tell me something only he would know.”

Eddie pushes a hand through his hair. “Fuck, I dunno. Um—oh, after our first Hellfire session together, you stayed behind to tell me I was running the game wrong. You had, like, an itemized list. Nearly kicked you out right then and there, but you said you'll get there in this super condescending way and I actually thought that was funny as hell."

Dustin’s eyes get wide. “What the fuck! Eddie? I mean—Eddie?”

“Yeah, man.” Eddie’s smiling; he looks like he might be tearing up.

Steve decides he probably isn’t needed for this part, and slips into the kitchen. The radio on the counter’s already playing, so he turns it up a little. He putters around, looks at the new backsplash and grabs a beer from the fridge. Dustin always has the weirdest freaking beers. The label on this one says it was made in some kind of European monastery. Steve doesn’t hate it, and he can tell it’s different from a standard-issue Heineken, but he doesn’t really get what Dustin likes about it. He thinks he might be too uncultured to appreciate the monks’ hard work, or something.

Steve’s just about finished the beer, all the way down to its funky sediment, and is trying real hard not to want to turn the radio down and eavesdrop, when he hears a crash from the living room.

He rushes in, heart racing, to see Eddie sprawled on the floor and rubbing his head. The ceiling lamp is swinging wildly.

“Guess what!” says Dustin. “Eddie can totally fly up to at least six feet if he starts from higher ground. We’re gonna try this outside next time and really figure out his upper limits.”

“Jesus, Dustin,” Steve groans, slumping in relief. “Give the guy a break. He’s been having tests run on him for the last decade, you don’t think they’ve figured out everything there is to figure out about…” he waves a hand in Eddie’s direction.

“It’s fine.” Eddie climbs to his feet. “I wasn’t the most cooperative subject for those dudes, so I don’t know how good their tests were.”

The word cooperative settles like monastic sediment in Steve’s gut. He’d been assuming that Eddie’d been at least sort of going along with the whole thing willingly, which in retrospect had been such a stupid thing to assume. He wants to set the whole fucking Hawkins Lab on fire. He wants to take a sledgehammer to every goddamn inch of the concrete that kept Eddie trapped and hurting. He—he takes a breath and unclenches his fists.

“Okay,” he says. “No more flying tests indoors, though. And, and definitely nothing else before we get some damn food in us. We having dinner tonight or what?”

[goldammerchen]

@polpruweek day 2: Medieval

For the old times

(<2k words / AO3)

It's a little after the sunrise when Gilbert gets off his gray mule while wearing monk clothes—the times of war stallions and armors behind him.

It's a little after the sunrise when Gilbert gets off his gray mule while wearing monk clothes—the times of war stallions and armors behind him. A new worker in the still not completed manor, curious about this likely not catholic monk, stops in his steps to ask to the Duchy of Prussia:

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk to people about Lutheranism!"

Before the man could reply something, Feliks, who was waiting for Gilbert to arrive, corrects him.

"You are not! You're here to take care of my horses, Duchy!"

Gilbert stuck out his tongue to Feliks, ignoring the man that laughed while resuming going in his way ("so that's Mister Prussia!"). "I need to change my clothes first!"

"What happened to your horse?" asks Feliks. He could swear last time Gilbert came to work, he came in a gray horse.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

-----

Take the horses out to the pasture, change the water, take their dump out, change the straw, keep cleaning the stable, clean the saddles and bridles, get the horses that need an iron shoe change back (the actual reason he was there), ignore Feliks with that stupid smirk that keep telling the horses to kick him in the face while he's working in the hooves.

"You want a nice done job or not?!" Gilbert shouts, making the chestnut mare flinch her hind leg. He almost loses his balance.

Feliks cackles.

"You're a terrible farrier."

"You're a terrible horse owner," snaps Gil.

"Huh?! Don't say that!" Feliks argues back, his amused face gone. "I am a great horse owner! Don't you see their shiny manes?!"

"But you don't take out their shit."

"Oh come on." Why would he if he doesn't have to.

Gilbert holds the rasp upwards. "If you're such a great owner, then let me finish this."

Feliks stops pestering him, even helping Gilbert by giving him the tools. For Gilbert's surprise, the silence soon becomes more uncomfortable than having Feliks chattering in the background.

"So, your horse..."

"No, I'm not telling you."

Feliks stays quiet the for rest of the unpleasant horseshoe change session.

-----

A lunch later, Gilbert finds himself pulling Feliks' horse (the same chestnut mare) from a reins, following the vague directions of the horse's owner ("just keep walking in that direction, yes, that one...")

"You could walk faster, y'know," suggests Feliks.

"Or you could have allowed me to take another horse." Or his mule.

Feliks simpers. "Ooooh, the fewer horses for this, the better."

Gilbert stops in his tracks, turning around with his mouth open.

"What—?"

"Just get on the horse." Feliks points with his thumb behind him. "That way you will know faster."

Even if he hardly could trust in whatever the other had in mind, Gilbert got on the horse, sitting right behind of Feliks: so awkward.

"You could have suggested that I get on the horse sooner," he said through his teeth, "instead of keep humiliating me, knowing I can't do anything without getting in trouble." He has gotten in enough troubles in a row for more, getting closer to the limit, and didn't want to find out what could happen.

"Humiliating you? Gisil, like, your sense of self-worth is so bloated that anything I ask you to do as my vassal would make you feel that way. But anyway—"

Feliks nudges the mare with his heels. The horse starting to run unexpectedly surprises Gilbert. He would've fallen into the ground if he hadn't grabbed Feliks by the shoulders.

"Argh, let go!" Feliks complains, not wanting to be pushed back while riding.

Gilbert changes his hands to Feliks' waist—He hates every second of it.

Feliks slows down once they enter the woods. After some meters, he stops the horse and tells Gilbert to get down. Feliks ties up the mare's reins in a tree, telling her they will soon be back.

"Can I know now what are you up to—?"

Gilbert is seized by the wrist. "Almost!"

They walk a certain distant before Feliks lets go of Gilbert's wrist, allowing a still confused and more and more worried Gilbert to fold his arms.

"Here they are!" Feliks announces with a bubbly voice.

From a tree's branches, Feliks unhangs a pair of ready to be used bows, and a from another a quiver with arrows.

Laughing, Gilbert's face lights up. "Now we're talking!"

"Isn't this a good surprise?" Feliks gives Gilbert a bow and just one arrow, but by looking at the German's face, he doesn't seem to mind. "For the old times."

"Yeah! I mean..." They both draw the bows at the same time, pointing at the ground. "What do we shoot?"

Feliks mouth upper corners went from pointing up to down, at the same time he undraws his bow. "I forgot to bring the target..."

"...You're were going to make me carry it, don't you?" Gilbert loosens the bowstring as well.

"Well..." Feliks titters.

Gilbert swallows, not letting go his hopes yet. "We could still hunt!"

"Oh no, this place has been hunted enough for now, the animals need to recover..." Feliks doesn't need to see the amount of hunts to know that, he just feels it.

Tilting his head, Gilbert squints. "For the old times, huh?"

Drawing the bow again, he points at Feliks' face.

"Oh you piece—!" The other responds by doing exactly the same.

They stare at each other down, for what feels minutes.

"I bet you won't do it," dares Gilbert. "You coward."

"I can do it! Of course I can shoot you in your stupid face!"

"Then do it!" All his worries about getting in new trouble were gone: Gilbert didn't care anymore, he tasted the thrill of the battle again and is going to enjoy it.

A flash later, he falls in his back, hearing Feliks fall as well.

Gilbert presses his hands on the right temple, trying in vain to ease the sharp pain on it. He still had his eye on him, but he was bleeding profusely. Hearing Feliks nearby grumbling in pain, Gil closes his eyes with a smile on his face, knowing that he should be fine after a nap...

Not far from Gilbert, Feliks just manages to remove the arrow from his shoulder. There goes those clothes, it's going to be too messy to clean up...

When Gilbert wakes up from the "nap", the first times he sees is Feliks looking in down by his right. He flinches, cursing.

"You"—says Feliks, pointing Gilbert in his chest, who's now seeing the blood stain in Feliks left shoulder—"changed your mind at the last minute."

"And you did the same. That, or you have shit aim—"

"So you admit you changed your mind!"

Gilbert opens his mouth, closes it, then blows air through his nose. The sting from Feliks touching his injured temple interrupts Gilbert's thoughts.

"Hey!" he backhands Feliks.

Leaning closer, Feliks moves his hand to Gilbert's forehead, pushing the flaxen hair backwards. "You changed your mind..." repeats, continuing to run his fingers in Gil's hair.

Unable to find what to say, not wanting to think and allow his doubts win, Gilbert's left hand trails upwards the right arm of Feliks, him tensing when touched in his in bad shape shoulder. He settles his hand on Feliks' nape, adding his right when Feliks places each of his hands in the grass at the sides of Gilbert's head.

He sees Feliks smile, before he closes the gap between each other.

-----

In a hurry, they visit a near stream of water for a quick bath: what would say other people seeing them both bloody?

Gilbert keeps his distance from Feliks, turning his back on him. Feliks prefers to not bother the monk after what they did...

"You reek of sweat, I'm glad we came here!"

...Except that.

On the way back, Gilbert embraces his hands around Feliks' waist. Not only that, he leans his chin... In the wounded shoulder.

Feliks sucks air through his teeth. "Why...?"

He gets snickering as an answer.

"Will you..." Feliks ventures. "Will you tell me what happened to your horse now?"

Gilbert grumps, sighing later. "The grandmaster—No, the duke, sold him, because he said I expend too much time with the horse instead of doing monastery duties."

"I'm really sorry about that." Of course a horse needs exercise...! Gilbert is a workaholic, is more likely they sold the animal as a punishment for something else, or the sum of different wrongdoings.

"Thanks."

Feliks thinks about adding something else to comfort Gilbert, however, he couldn't figure out anything positive of what could happen to an old horse. He chides himself internally, to say something else—he also wouldn't give him a horse if the stupid protestants are going to sell it again.

"You could expend more time here."

"Really?" There's excitement in the voice of Gilbert.

"Yes! You can get here sooner, and stay for longer!"

Gilbert hums. "You would have to tell my monastery."

Feliks can't help but groan. "I would put me through that for you."

More laughs from behind Feliks, this time more akin to giggles. Gilbert just squeezes Feliks' waist as an answer.

Once they get to the wood manor, they change their bloody clothes before anyone can see.

Back in his monk clothes, Gilbert goes to get his mule, planning to travel back immediately, before the sun starts to settle down. Feliks escorts him outside.

Following a goodbye and a see you later, Feliks shouts with his hands near to his mouth to a becoming smaller and smaller Gilbert: "Are you sure it's safe?!"

To his surprise, the mule turns and then stands on his hind legs. Gilbert, while cackling, shows a sword that Feliks didn't know the other carried in the first place.

[dastardly-ethereal-love]

So friends. I am okay but have been so very not okay in the past. I’m reading more of this wonderful ‘Oh,Maker’ world - this time from Aziraphale’s perspective and it is hard hitting for an ex Christian like me.

Here is my looooong comment to the first bloody chapter!

But this is a flaw, a weakness in me. The LORD is righteous, and a jealous God, and I must find a way to be strong enough to witness Her wrath with the same equanimity I witness Her love. I will, one day. If I remain faithful, if I try hard enough. I will be granted that strength.

Those lines. Fuck. It’s so true. It’s how I used to think there must be something wrong with me because god is perfect so why am I not okay with his judgement of gay people or his treatment of women or his killing and punishment of anyone who doesn’t fit his exacting standards. As if Jesus’ sacrifice somehow can cover over whole societies who never knew Jesus or had a chance to accept his very limited opportunity for salvation? Who can accept those terms… who can look at themselves and be okay with being on the ‘winning team’ when so many are forced to ‘lose’. My dad was in a Christian cult that refined that saved number down to some crazy number in Revelation… 144,000? Like ever? It’s arrogance in the extreme. And Aziraphale was created within it. He’s a bloody angel and has no say in it but has to enact it. He watches it unfold.

No words for that level of trauma. How you have him watching the flood and Crowley takes him away and comforts him. How you have him watching 20,000 die in wars between England and France. So much senseless loss of life. You could lose your mind thinking about it. How does any of it make sense?

Anyway… I love your writing and how it shakes out these big questions and reminds you that we as humans have choices. I absolutely choose Crowley now and his way of questioning. I grieved losing my faith but now I’m grateful to have escaped that very limiting frame of thinking. It felt like losing something precious but you said in Oh Maker that it could be the start of something else that is joyful. Maybe not in those words… but I like the honesty and the genuineness that comes with stripping back the layers of indoctrination. I am finding so much more pleasure in simple everyday things now. I’m not forcing myself to do things because they are someone else’s will be it my church minister, a Benedictine monk or my idea of who God is. Haha I’m finding out what my will is. Who I am. It’s nice to connect with myself and find that I like who I am. I am embracing my emotions - sad and hurt as much as happy and joyful and giving them more room to be heard. Not having to paint a bloody happy face on horrible stuff. That’s a relief. Also, not feeling guilty about enjoying things for their own sake. I used to be told off for wasting my time and my labour on meaningless stuff - but life and joy and being alive is not useless! I’m going to art galleries, going to plays, going on holidays to walk under trees and be in nature and connect with who I am. It’s a kind of bliss. It’s a kind of joy. It’s a recognition that I was worth love even if I didn’t earn it. The whole love is given, not earned thing. Killed me. It hit me hard. I was told salvation doesn’t come from works by one side of my faith community and the other side was all ‘cover your head to pray’ and ‘take communion’ and if you don’t do it regularly then you will have no life in you. So it was do this or be cast out but then also, faith alone! But then faith without works is dead… such a horrible tug of war and where was I in any of it?! Like when did the person who I was get a chance to speak? When did I get to move without guilt or obligation pushing me one way or the other?

Gah. Religion is not my favourite. It may work for some but i think my brand of childhood trauma and religion created a bit of a monster. I was ripe for being taken advantage of. I didn’t know what boundaries were and I was just way too ready to sacrifice my whole entire self by becoming a bloody nun. A boy ended up tempting me away from that idea… haha but I was so ready to just give my life away to some other persons idea of the right thing to do. I just so wanted to be good. To be told I was good. Ugggghhh!

/no one was prepared for that level of trauma dumping. Apologies and thanks for sharing your words with the world!

[moon-down]

Let me add to this

Spoilers for the vanilla + downpour below!

Looks to the Moon is an over a mile long supercomputer with a city on top of her superstructure.

I’ll cut to the chase here, Moon, despite everything by g she has been through, is quite nice to you and many others. She was basically put under a coma after her brother deprived her of water from trying to break the self destruction taboo. She trusted him so she only aren’t a broadcast to her local group about it two cycles later, and said she’s not use her seniority privileges unless things got bad enough. She put her trust in her little brother and when she had to force her hand he pushed her away, mainly because his experiment was now ruined and he got the rot.

Moon would continue to degrade as Five Pebbles continued to consume more water trying to get rid of his rot so he could try again. There is multiple first encounter dialog for Spearmaster depending on when you visit her [before Pebbles, after Pebbles with Pearl, without pearl], and honestly all of them are sad she she explains her situation being stationed next to her angry brother who is slowly killing her.

eventually the inevitable happens, she collapses. Another iterator, No Significant Harassment, sends a slugcat named The Hunter to revive her. She is not really dead, more in a coma. Iterators don’t die easily, after all.

She is kind to the Hunter, mentioning how little time it has left due to its own rot problems.

Monk and Survivor are the firsts campaigns played, and naturally have more dialog because of this.

moon has five neuron flies here, they are effectively her exposed braincells and keep her active, but you can eat them.

With or without mark of communication, if you grab one she will effectively tell you to stop in someway. Eating them causes her to spasm out, likely painfully, as in Rivulet she mentions how it hurts.

When you eat her neurons she refuses to speak to you until you replace the ones you have eaten, which you can easily do by going to get some from Five Pebbles.

Moon is very soft spoken and sweet, she is willing to describe items and read pearls for you as long as you sit still and are willing to listen. Of course, Moon can lose her patience, and she will ask you to settle down or straight up leave if you do bother her too much. She has her limits, so you will need to be patient and listen to what she has to say.

Between Survivor and Monk, she mentioned how Monk’s shape is familiar. She forgot about Survivor basically, as her memory is greatly degraded and she is pretty much an amnesiac. She remembers somethings like some lore in pearls that explain her and her brothers story, but other things not so much, and it appears to upset her as upon bringing a Pearl from her dead memory conflux to her, she will mention how she can’t remember, stutters a bit, then asks you to put it back where you found it.

Rivulet is the next campaign, and is basically in a nutshell, a heart transplant. You deliver Five Pebbles rarefaction cell from him to Moon upon his request, as he is a dying god and would rather die faster and give his remaining power source to his sister than live longer. Moon upon gaining this new power is booted into maintenance mode, she has more power than before, but she knows she will never be what she once was. She forces a broadcast to Pebbles, telling him he is not alone, and for the rest of their days until Pebbles collapses they play dominoes via overseer.

Moon even gives Rivulet a name! Ruffles. That is just how much she loves it, and luckily, she doesn’t forget about it.

If you bring her neurons from Pebbles she will tell you to stop bringing her more as he needs them more than her now. She mentions how she once felt anger in these and now only feels fear and sadness. Taking her neurons or throwing things at her, she comments how even if you saved her and repaired the relationship of two gods, you cannot treat her in such a way. [and I agree]

Saint.

Moon is left in a frozen wasteland with a pretty braindead brother. She continues on things like normal, though. She mentions an old friend, likely implying Rivulet has died of old age, and bringing Moon Pebbles’ music Pearl results in her telling you to give it back to him, as it is all he has left.

She likely acknowledges the echo above her can as she tells you that your and her paths will cross again, and tells you to leave until you actually speak to the echo, in which Moon will not speak to Saint.

Ascending Moon she has her own dialog, along with when you ascend her and Pebbles, but Moon tells you that this is a dream, and that she sees the repeating loop of her own existence. Then, she asks what has become of you.

When you ascend both her and Pebbles, they talk about the Great Question for a bit, and how none of this feels real.

Then Pebbles tells you to wake up.

That is where everything ends, we cannot play beyond Saint in downpour, but the implications and what is left, especially when we are talking about Saint, are very uncertain and unclear.

But I think I’ve done my job here. Moon is very much a gentle giant, but she has her limits as well, and a very tragic story.

Be nice to your Looks to the Moon.

Looks to the moon propaganda masterpost

She's a city-sized supercomputer

Round 1 battle

[house-of-mirrors]

Some deeper thoughts about Evolution and disability, from someone with a neurological disease. TW for discussion of body horror and ableism, and obligatory disclaimer I’m not a medical professional in any way and this comes from my own experience

The Naturalist had the stone-tentacle key embedded in his neck. I’m not sure if it was intentional on the writers’ part or a coincidence, but the symptoms the Naturalist displayed were very accurate for disabilities that affect the back of the brain and spine. Source: I live with Chiari Malformation (I’m private about sharing my health history but if you want to DM me I’d be more willing to talk). Dizziness, nausea, headaches, balance issues, difficulty breathing and swallowing to the point you cannot stand up or function at all (my situation very fortunately isn’t that severe, so rest assured). We see the Naturalist stumbling and leaning on the wall, struggling to breathe, refusing food, unable to even move before you give him the life potion.

My reaction was discomfort, obviously, with how personal the issue is for me lol. The process of the surgery in Part 3 was the worst, seeing someone willingly do that to themself with no way to intervene and then leaving them in pain. I just wanted to help the Naturalist more than we were able to, lend him a cane or a walking stick at the minimum. At least I was able to choose to argue with the monks that he wasn’t in a state to do physical activity. I play a disabled character because I am disabled and both of us will bite people for being ableist, so I was happy there was an option for that.

I know the weird horror at Godfall removed the key from this Naturalist and saved his life, but I’d be interested to see if he continued to have symptoms. Not a fan of the magic erasing disabilities trope. Damage to the central nervous system isn’t easily healed. In the real world, when surgery is done on the back of the head and neck, the pain is resolved, but symptoms linger where damage has already been done, and there’s a nontrivial risk factor for further complications (spinal taps, additional surgeries, infection, worsening nausea, oof). I’d be curious to see how the Naturalist copes with the fallout of this and hope the game doesn’t hand wave it away.

This also leads into the issue of how body horror often falls into ableism. What the Naturalist dealt with is near identical to my real disability, and I didn’t enjoy seeing it play out in a horror context. “Oh, isn’t it so scary that human pride in pushing the limits of science destroys the body” well, it loses its novelty when you deal with these exact issues every day of your life! This isn't scary or fantastic, it's someone's real life. What is scary is when it is your life and you have to constantly worry about paralysis or degeneration. This horror is dehumanizing. Neurological diseases are serious medical conditions, not a horror trope. The Naturalist got sick as “punishment” for going too far in his research and then is “saved” through deus ex machina by choosing a better direction in life. I’m sick because of the grievous and hubristic error of being born with this arrangement of DNA, and there’s no magical cure for me. Literally, he prayed really hard to a spooky saint and got healed. “If you have enough faith in God your disability will go away” “If you did all the ‘right’ things and just tried hard enough you wouldn’t be so sick anymore” shut up shut up shut up.

I wish we had more positive disability representation in the game.

[mahixa]

There's something very ninja monk wise man temple energy, knight master-student yoda gandalf shit about Lewis and his twinks, Charles and Lando. He kicked their ass at Silverstone and Sochi, but then he came to them, congratulated them and showed his support with a kind smile and caring energy. He managed to win both times but that's good - both Charles and Lando can learn so much from it. They will rise, just as Lewis says, and become better drivers, with very valuable experience from him. These kids tried so damn hard and pushed to their limits at that time and failed only in these two races, but in reality, it's not a failure. It's a very important lesson. A wise person grows from this and develops their skills and both Charles and Lando can do that.

One day we will see Charles overtaking some poor, young driver just 2 laps before the finish line and then he will congratulate them and say they did a good job.

One day Lando will pat some twink's shoulder and say "you almost got me! Great race." and smile and reassure them. Maybe even give some advice.

Generations come and go and they pass their knowledge to future generations. They learn and that's beautiful.

[welcome-to-my-silly-life]

Okay, since I'm bored let's do Critical Role campaign 3 predictions! Possible spoilers of the first two campaign and of Exandria Unlimited ahead.

-Liam: cleric dwarf. Liam talked about the fact that he was playing through the principal classes of dnd (he played rogue, wizard, and fighter), so if he keeps up the tradition the only one missing is cleric. And I think that he may do something similar also with races (usually when talking about the archetipical party you heard about a human, an elf (in his case half-elf but it could still work), an hafling and a dwarf). Plus we haven't still seen any player playing a dwarf in the two main campaigns!

-Sam: wild sorcerer kenku. I'm not a dnd expert but for what I know this could possibly be two good choises for Sam. Also since is Liam taking the shots for him I think that making Sam playing a kenku could be an exellent way to mess with him and a very good challenge that he would appreciate (can you imagine him trying to imitate all the other charachers' accents during the first episodes?). And I'm sure that he would be able to change in his favour the eventual limits of the choice. We also now that Sam loves to bring chaos to the table, but he's also not afraid to commit to whatever lays on his way bad or good. And it's especially for this that i think that the randomness of the wild sorcerer could be very fun for him to explore. But also. If it happens that he's a dragonborn we can probabily expect one of his mid-campaign shocking revelations in which we discover that he's like the son of J'mon Sa Ord or something like that?

-Taliesin: warforged dunamancy wizard. I know we already had a wizard studying dunamancy, and maybe if there are other classes that feature dunamancy they could also be a choices, but I don't know them. Taliesin gives me the impression of be interested in trying new stuff (like in campaign two with the bloodhunter class) so he could be the right person of group to be still looking to explore dunamancy and the new addition of the warforged could bring to life a very interesting character both for his story and philosophy and also for the construction and abilities of it. Taliesin could give him the right amount of wierd not-totally human character out of his time.

-Marisha: artificier hafling (or gnoll or loxodon). Marisha can own a crafty and inventive character, she already showed us in the Darrington Brigade oneshot, and Hafling haven't been really chosen as characters' races until now (Exu escluded). But also I'm kinda hoping for a Marquet settings for campaign three, and I always had the impression that as a place it would have more of a middle-eastern/african vibe (I don't know, maybe that's just something that I want cause I think it could be very interesting). So that's why I included loxodon and gnoll between the choices, they could have the right vibe for that possible setting (especially loxodon, that has just became canon in Exandria).

-Ashley: rogue/bard tiefling. Heavy metal vibes perfect for her. I also took in consideration air genasi (I would pay for seeing her as a air genasi assassin with Fearne's vibes) but I tought that it could have some similarities with Yasha. She also seemed pretty impressed by the monk class and would do a perfect job as a wild sorcerer (we have seen how she likes to push the red buttons, like Travis).

-Laura: Paladin/Druid drow (or gnoll). We have seen her more roguish and charismatic side with Vex, and her chaotic and playful side with Jester, now I think we need to see her go feral. That would be a gift for the gays and the lesbians.

-Travis: bloodhunter/gunslinger firegenasi. I would love to see him play both of this class and seen that one wasn't very well explored and that with the passing of time guns could become more and more common, they would be both very possible choices in my opinion. The race is the one that brought me more doubt. I also thought about about humans, minotaurs and even firbolgs. But is the esthetic that convinced me. I mean can you imagine if Travis could make true his dream? Can you imagine werewolf on fucking FIRE????

[tangledinmdzs]

i still wanna be your favorite - yi city mdzs characters

best friend/good friends headcanons with the yi city arch characters, because everyone needs love (written following inspiration from the yi city arch)

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ ᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ ᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ ᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ ᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ ᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ 

Xiao Xingchen

you’ve been using your dwindling spiritual energy for days now

running from the havoc of your old, demolished sector

keeping yourself awake enough despite the blood that was dripping down your wound

pushing away any and all thoughts of the losses that you had suffered

even though many days have passed since the attack on your sector

it still feels as if it had happened yesterday

after the thousandth step that you take, you end up slumping down at the bark of a tree off the side of the road you’re taking

you’re too far from the town that you had left to go back

and in the yawning distance before you, you don’t see any other town close enough for you to walk to

you sigh to yourself as you look up at the high mid-day sun

your skin is hot

there’s iron in your mouth, on your clothes, all around you

between everything that had went on your barely remember if it’s your blood or the blood of your comrades or your enemies

everything seems hopeless, now that you were to die in a sad, lonesome way

you shock yourself with the dark thought of

perhaps you should have just died protecting your sect

instead of running away

a tear rolls down your cheek just as your spiritual energy runs out

all the pain of the past few days wash over you like a wave

you’re pulled under 

by the aching in your bones

the gentle warmth of your blood flowing past your fingertips at your last physical attempt at saving yourself

and the notion of regret, intensifying all that your adrenaline had kept at bay these last few days 

you cry, but they are silent tears rolling down your cheeks

you don’t even have the energy to cry any harder

and as your consciousness fades into the background, you barely have enough energy to focus on the sounds of footsteps that approach

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

you wake up

you honestly didn’t think that you would

but you’re startled at the sight that you open your eyes to

there’s a man before you

you want to move back, but your first attempt makes a groan break past your lips

the sound you make causes the man before you to turn around 

and then you realize that he is blind

“please don’t move too much; you’ll loosen the bandages on your wound” the man’s gentle, deep voice tells you

you calm your breath, feeling less insecure about the indecent state that you are in, considering that he can’t see you anyways

“i’ll fetch some porridge for you,” you hear him announce before he leaves

from that moment, you feel the debt that you owe to him

for saving your life

for giving more than he had

maybe there was something akin to luck, for you to have met him so

when he returns with the bowl, he helps you sit up and feeds you 

his gentleness is something that you are not used to, and it brings tears to your eyes, after days of sadness and grief

and even though he can’t see, the man in front of you is still incredibly attentive

he stalls the spoonful of porridge when he hears the deep breath that you take in the face of your silent tears

outside the night is dark, and before you finish your food he suggests one thing

“stay as long as you would like, to rest and regain your strength”

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃ 

A-Qing

you become a staple in A-Qing’s and Xiao Xingchen’s life after your rescue

and at first, she had you fooled well by her fake blindness

but after a month you realize that she can actually see

if the way her eyes seem to skirt away whenever you look at her is anything to go by

but you don’t tell her that you know

or force her to tell you

everyone had their reasons for doing what they needed to do

she’s still a witty and energetic girl nonetheless

and you grow fond of her quickly

between the three of you, less people are able to swindle Xiao Xingchen/take advantage of his blindness 

his kindness

because there is one person that is known to be seeing and two that can actually see

the three of you form your little family, because although Xiao Xingchen can do many things, there were also other things that his blindness limited him

you end up thatching the roof and doing other nitty gritty things once your wound heals up particularly well

and with more people, there was more ways to share the work

Xiao Xingchen also feels less antsy when you accompany A-Qing to the market or other places

A-Qing finds a solace in you that’s different from Xiao Xingchen

where the Taoist monk was gentle and calm, like the breeze

you were like the heat of the sun, 

hard, bright

but ultimately needed

after you had spent half a year with them, A-Qing wonders how she and the Taoist monk had survived as long as they did without you

and when the little girl sees how Xiao Xingchen’s lips ease into a smile at the sound of your voice, she feels warmth for you too

A-Qing’s never had a mother,

or a family

but nights in the coffin home are warmer now when your soft voice is there to lull her into sleep

you don’t sing much, not really

but that had been one of the many techniques of your sector

before the incident had happened

but it’s hard to forget all you’ve learned 

and you hum a soft tune into the night when the home that you share is a little too quiet

and sometimes, before your deep late night talks with Xiao Xingchen by the fire, A-Qing joins as well

because she is an eager child

and you can’t deny her company anyways

you’ve grown used to the way that the child lays down in your lap

and how you simply throw your cape over her curled up form out of habit

and the way your hand soothes the child’s shoulders in tandem to the melody you begin

you sing a song,

it’s not really a song as much as it is just an exercise for voice cultivation

but it is nice and soft

and with each rise and fall of your voice, A-Qing imagines that perhaps, her mother would have sounded just like this

it takes only a few quick minutes for A-Qing to drift off to sleep, and another quiet minutes after for you to finish

you know the child is asleep by the soft snores that you in your lap, but you look down anyways

A-Qing’s face is cherubic when she isn’t too busy trouble-making,

“the night is cold, i’ll put the child to bed” you tell Xiao Xingchen across the fire, 

“hmm...” 

you nod at Xiao Xingchen’s hum and gather the child in your arms to put her in her room

Xiao Xingchen waits for you by the fire, as he has grown used to

you return as he expects

and when the night grows quiet again, Xiao Xingchen closes his eyes behind his eye covering and truly listens

reminisces

your voice

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

Xue Yang

you realize that Xiao Xingchen seems to have a knack for finding people in precarious situations

you’re walking along with A-Qing and the monk on one of the off roads back to town when you find him

he’s laying face down on the grass

at first sight, you had thought it too be a mere body and try to shield the child away from it

but you catch sight of the slightest rise, like a struggling breath from the back

“blood,” Xiao Xingchen comments, and you immediately tell him of the body that you see and the distance between you both 

between the three of you, you’re able to bring him back to your little coffin home just as night fall is approaching

as you and Xiao Xingchen tend to the man’s wounds, you realize that this is probably how you had looked, when Xiao Xingchen had rescued you...a year (maybe a bit more) ago

the man awakens in the midst of his wrapping and has a similar reaction to when you had first awoken, but you’re quick to explain yourself and Xiao Xingchen

“it’s okay, we’re helping you. please don’t move too much” you say quickly, as you look down at the way the bandage is already reddening from the quick movement that he had tried to do

there’s a muted sort of reaction from the man that neither you nor A-Qing quite understand 

you think that’s from the pain of his injury

it’s not

a month under yours and Xiao Xingchen’s care Xue Yang is doing much better, though he doesn’t speak much

although you don’t think much about it, A-Qing off the bat does not like him

“he’s mean to me,” A-Qing had told you while you walked with her to the market

she clung onto your arm as she walked, stick switching back and forth for people to see

the child truly got better at being blind day by day

“perhaps, his injuries make him feel unwell,” because you like to give people the benefit of the doubt

A-Qing huffs

it is not good to judge people, if Xiao Xingchen has taught you anything at all in his care, being with him

but then, the night hunt happens

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

you don’t usually follow Xiao Xingchen on his nighthunts

because you hadn’t used your sword in a while

also because he didn’t ever allow you to

but when you catch Xue Yang’s request to join Xingchen one night, long after everyone had retired to bed, you can’t help but invite yourself along

you hadn’t ever thought that Xingchen would agree

but well,

he had

and so even though the weather tonight was colder and outside seemed darker

you thought that maybe it’d be good for you to come as an extra hand

they might need your help, if neither of them ever directly asked for it

sometimes you regret that you had even followed them anyways

because if you didn’t come along

you wouldn’t have seen the extent with which Xiao Xingchen was tricked

and how evil, truly evil, Xue Yang was

you hold back your own shocked gasp, hidden in the bushes as you watch

it was a tortuous deed that Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen (unknowingly) participated in

though you muffle your ragged breathing, you couldn’t help but cry at the way the old farmers were begging and moaning, clinging to the edge soft Xiao Xingchen’s robes as the empty holes of their mouths gaped at him

only for Xingchen to slice them dead with a clean cut of his sword

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

Song Lan

the months add up, and some days,

you think to yourself, of a way to rid Xue Yang that would protect everyone, 

because the man that was currently living in your coffin home was no ordinary cultivator

perhaps he was a murder

but whatever his background,

he would not be kind

you’re out on the day’s errand, mindlessly going about the market when you bump into someone 

he is a tall man, reminds you so much of Xingchen 

yet somehow different

you both stare at each other, 

unbeknownst to the fate that you both would meet with one another

 death

it was quick,

it was a shock

but you suppose it was worth it

you didn’t think that this man would talk to A-Qing,

nor that the child would leave the man back to the Coffin Home

you didn’t think that the man would know the stranger of your home, now named Xue Yang in your mind or Xiao XIngchen as well as he did

and when the fight breaks out among everyone, 

in between the dirty tricks that Xue Yang plays

you step in front of A-Qing to shield her from a sword that is thrown her way

and it’s a quick, easy way to go,

you’ve never been a strong cultivator anyways

you’re just sorry that you had to add more pain to the child’s life

you close your eyes to the tears and wails of A-Qing, peaceful at the very least

that she is alright

[saphirered]

Could you do one with essek where S/O is a part of the M9 and is a Eldritch Knight and he is just simping over a strong + smart reader? (Maybe even S/O saving essek?) I hope you have an amazing day!

I’m sorry this took a while. Work have been hectic so I’ve hardly had time to write. I hope this is to your liking and have a great day yourself 😘

At first glance you definitely fit into the ‘heavy hitters’ category with a physique displaying your strength, on par with Yasha. And while you don’t hide the fact you could crush skulls with your fists you do not live up to the strong-as-a-giant-dumb-as-a-rock stereotype. You are what some may refer to as the perfect balance between ‘jock’ and book nerd; days off spent training during the day while studying well into the wee morning hours. You are a magnet for knowledge and your expertises far surpass the limits of trivial subjects they focus on the arcane. Your roots come from Evocation and Abjuration but you’ve been expanding your knowledge beyond those two schools. The prospect of a ninth school of magic, one you had no access or even knowledge of before brought great promise of broadening your horizons.

When you met Essek for the first time he might have been slightly dismissive. Not disrespectful in any way from first impressions you fell into the same category as Beau and Yasha, presumably just different. He was nothing but friendly and respectful towards you but the moment Caleb asked to learn some Dunamancy and when Essek agreed your request to join in on this lesson surprised him. Regardless, he happily allowed you to join. After your early morning runs you found yourself at Essek’s tower discussing books you had read, things you had encountered and even openly deliberating the ongoing conflict. 

You had lost track of time after a quick sparing session with Beau and got dragged into her next routine with Fjord. You ended up having to correct Beau’s ‘teachings’ at times to the point where you took over ending up into another round of sparring sessions with Fjord.

“Again.” Fjord comes at you again swinging his sword. While he certainly knows how to use a falchion his proper technique could use some improvement. You block, parry, turn left around him, strike with the pommel of your own sword against his back and send him stumbling. 

“Footwork. Again.” You say once he’s recovered. He makes sure his feet are in the right position, blade angled right and takes a deep breath as he swings again. This time more calculated and mindful of where he steps and which foot he moves first. You block his hit.

“Much better.” You praise as you push him back putting some distance between the two of you. This time he does not stumble but instead stays steady on his feet. This time you strike giving him the opportunity to parry. He does but comes in a little too close to properly strike and leaves his defences open, a deadly move in close quarters. You shoulder check and kick his feet from under him. Fjord falls to the ground and you hear Beau snicker from behind. You hold out your hand to help Fjord to his feet but behind you you feel a punch hit your side. Sneaky little… You take the punch and while Fjord tries to pull you down you instead pull him up, the momentum pushing him in Beauregard behind you and the both of them barely manage to catch each other. 

“This is how we’re gonna play now?” You give a ‘come at me’ motion and with a grin Beau does. Dropping your sword to the side and out of the way deciding when dealing with a monk not wearing any kind of armour or protection, you’re not intending to actually hurt it’s probably best to not use live steel. Hands up defensive you see Fjord dispel his blade into its dimension too. Game on. 

Beau strikes. You take the first hit but counter with a kick at her shins and a punch to her shoulder. Fjord moves in next you prevent him from moving to your back and manage to keep him to your side. With a high kick you kick Fjord back a few feet. Beau takes this opportunity to go for your other leg but you stand strong and turn it to your favour coming back around with a kick to her side. This goes on for a while, a back and forth of Beau and Fjord teaming up against you. They manage to land some good hit but so do you, to the point where Fjord is almost out of the fight. You notice them make eye contact. You call shenanigans. 

Fjords summons his blade swinging down so you summon yours back to your hand, side stepping and blocking the attack with a quick parry sending Fjord to the ground on his ass. This move took you into Beau’s space who took the opportunity to hit you. You could feel your limbs nearly freeze up for a moment but shrug off the stun. If they’re playing dirty so would you. With an open palm you strike against her sternum releasing a shocking grasp. For good measure you use your newly acquired sapping sting spell to knock her prone. You walk over to Fjord kicking the blade away from his grasp, a foot on his chest while you hold the tip of your blade towards Beau. 

“Cheaters don’t win against me.” You grin helping Fjord to his feet and dropping the blade out of offensive mode. You grab Fjords blade and hand it back to him with a pat on his shoulder. You notice Beau is awfully quiet after her defeat. You see her staring at the doorway with a raised eyebrow and a grin as she crosses her arms. 

“Looks like we got an audience to witness our ass whooping.” Your back still turned you expect it to be one of the others. 

“Seems like he’s been paying more attention to our champion than us, though. Let’s leave them be.” Fjord picks up his things and begins to push Beau out of the room. You finally turn around and see who witnessed your little training session and when you see the floating white-haired wizard looking at you in awe you have a minor panic attack.

“Essek, by the Storm Lord. I am so sorry. I must have lost track of time…” You begin apologising as he is taken out of his trance. 

“Give me ten minutes. I’ll get changed and freshen up a bit if you can still spare the time. I’m so sorry. I should have told Caleb to remind me of the time.” You go on and Essek floats over to you. 

“No need for apologies. You were otherwise engaged. Though I would still appreciate your presence in this endeavour.” He reminds you of your appointment later in the day, or rather now. They had caught a spy with a similar skillset to yours and Essek had asked for your expertise in their questioning. 

“Of course yes.” You take him back out of the training room and to your chambers. He waits outside your door while you get changed and make yourself look presentable washing the sweat from your skin and change into your regular clothes. 

After you’re done the two of you make your way to the prison making small talk. Essek seems a bit more awkward than usual to the point you swear you see a slight blush creep onto his cheeks at one point but that might just be the cold. 

“You have learned quickly. Clever use of your newfound spells.” Essek mentally slaps himself for the way the words came out. Meant as a compliment but sounded like a dig at you. 

“I know. I’m sorry. If anyone knows you don’t just use combat spells for fun and games it’s me. It won’t happen again. Believe me, your teachings are much more valuable than to be used for fun and games.” You really didn’t mean to slip up and use Dunamancy for something as trivial as a fun sparring match. You should have known better. 

“No. My apologies. I did not mean to say it like that. You use your spells cleverly. They compliment your skills and your skills are… exceptional.” Was that a direct compliment coming from the Shadowhand himself? You raise an eyebrow at him pretty sure he caught onto your bewildered look. You feel the blood rush to your cheeks. If you knew one thing about the man it was he did not just give compliments. Not to anyone and when he did you had not witnessed it. 

“So about this prisoner…” You change the subject as you approach the prison. There seems to be some kind of commotion going on and no guards up front. You both exchange glances before rushing inside. 

There’s a cowering guard in the front room. Essek goes over to him and seems to have some colourful words for the man while you keep an eye out around. The limited light makes it more difficult to see but you can hear just fine. After Essek finishes the guard rushes out of the prison, to get reinforcements you assume. You begin moving towards the hall that leads deeper into the Dungeon of Penance while Essek joins you. You push a finger to your lips before pointing ahead. 

Watching up ahead you see a few unmoving figures. Essek notices too but stays at your side. It’s too quiet and there’s too many hiding places. 

“Any weapons on them?” You whisper as Essek takes a look. 

“All standard equipment accounted for except for one long sword, a dagger and a crossbow.” Essek relays back to you inspecting the bodies. 

“I assume this is your prisoner’s doing.” Right as you say that someone jumps out from the shadows and makes a run for the Shadowhand. You notice before he does and grab Essek by the collar of his mantle pushing him away and to the other side of you as you summon your sword to deflect the attack. A second attack is made but you manage to prevent it from hitting Essek who’s still caught off guard. In your move to grab the blade you take out some gold dust, speak the words and the swinging blade is stuck in the air. The prisoner tries to grab it but is unable to move it, stuck mid-air. 

“That wasn’t very nice!” You retaliate with an attack. Hit. Essek manages to cast a quick magic missile striking the prisoner who puts some distance between you. He takes out a crossbow and aims it at the two of you. 

“You really prepared to die here? Put down your weapons and we can figure this out. No need for more bloodshed.” You try to persuade. From the corner of your eye you watch Essek reach for his components. The movement provokes the prisoner and he releases an arrow. You just in time manage to deflect trajectory of the arrow and prevent it from striking Essek but the second arrow scrapes your arm, the majority of the impact reduced by the edge of your bracer, it still leaves a bit of a scratch. You’ve had far worse. Essek looks at you bewildered, eyes focused only on you.

“I suggest you do what you save the staring for a later moment and help first?” You say in a half joking manner. He snaps out of it. Essek completes his spell and the prisoner is pulled backwards seemingly pulled in by some gravitational pull crushing his bones. The body falls to the ground unmoving. You go over to the body to make sure the prisoner is actually done for. 

“You are… exquisite.” You can barely hear Essek say under his breath. You freeze up for a moment not having seen that one coming. At that moment the cavalry comes in. He makes sure everything is sorted and you can go on your way, leaving them to clean up the mess, currently no use for either of you. 

“Are you hurt?” He breaks the silence while the two of you make your way back. You look at your arm. Nothing but a small scratch. But a fraction lower and it might have cut something vital but you know what you’re doing.

“No. All peachy.” The silence continues, both of you retreating into your own minds as you walk, or well, float in Essek’s case. You take a moment to look back at the past hour, his words repeating in your head and his ‘off’ behaviour. 

“‘You are… exquisite.’? That’s what you said before.” You try to mimic his voice. You may not be the best impressionist but you got the message across. Essek goes to speak but presses his lips back together swallowing whatever he was going to say. 

“Don’t tell me it’s going to take another fight with someone to get answers out of you. I might just have to show off in that case.” You wink jokingly with a half smile. 

“I wouldn’t complain.” That comment leaves your mouth agape and you stop in your tracks for a hot second to recover. 

“I don’t know if that’s sarcasm, a challenge or you actually mean it.” You fall back in line at his side nearing the tower.

“I wouldn’t complain.” Essek repeats once more.

“Well then, perhaps I should find a nice and rowdy tavern or talk to the Aurora Watch to join some training sessions to grant your wish.” You suggest only half serious with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a date.” He returns your expression as you reach his front door. 

“Though, for now I think some reading would be just fine. Would you like to join?” He opens the door and waits for you. You step inside but stop and lean in a little bit.

“It’s a date.” You say with a smug smile and kiss his cheek as you enter looking over your shoulder. You seem to have the ability to make the Shadowhand swoon and boy, could you get used to it. 

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #187

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami Munenori, living proof that you can prevent spoilers by spoiling other things. Anyways, he’s an Inquisitive Rogue to defeat his foes with facts and logic, as well as a Samurai Fighter to defeat his foes with a goddamn sword because he’s in the saber class.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Domo Arigatou, Kaa-san Roboto

Race and Background

Yagyu beef is still a Human, but he’s a Variant Human for the extra skills. This gives him +1 Wisdom and Dexterity, as well as proficiency with Investigation to put that big brain to work. That’s not enough skills though, so grab the Skill Expert feat for another +1 to Dexterity, as well as proficiency with Animal Handling for your riding skill and doubled proficiency with Perception. I know we didn’t get regular proficiency yet, but it’s happening at level one so it’s fine.

Yagyu might have been as rich as a noble, but that doesn’t mean he was one. We’ve been using Mercenary Veterans for swordsmen for a while now, and I see no reason to stop now. This background gives him proficiency with Athletics and Persuasion.

Ability Scores

First up make your Wisdom as high as possible. Yagyu’s a clever boy, and wisdom-based skills are the more applicable part of that equation for you. Secondly, your Dexterity has to be good- Yagyu is a master swordsman, and he’s not exactly swinging a greatsword around. His Intelligence is also pretty solid, but it’s just lower since it’s not quite as directly helpful for the build. Yagyu’s Constitution isn’t half bad, he’s got to be tough to survive feudal Japan. That means his Charisma is pretty low- he’s scary, but not much else. That means we’re dumping Strength. He’s an old man, and we don’t really need it for the build.

Class Levels

Rogue 1: Starting off as a rogue nets us a couple extra skills, more than we’d get from multiclassing in later. Rogues start off with proficiency in Dexterity and Intelligence saves, as well as four rogue skills, like Deception, Insight, Intimidation, and that Perception we mentioned back in the Skill Expert feat. Told you not to worry about that.

They also get Expertise in two skills for double their proficiency bonus. Double down on Insight for more logic and Intimidation to put that logic to good use scaring the crap out of people. You also get a Sneak Attack once per turn, dealing 1d6 extra damage as long as you are using a finesse or ranged weapon and either A) have an ally next to your target or B) have advantage on that attack. It’s complicated, but we’ll make it real simple soon enough.

Oh yeah, you also get Thieves’ Cant. It’s a language.

Fighter 1: Okay, the underhanded stuff is done for a while. Bouncing over to fighter gives you the Dueling, adding 2 to damage rolls with a one-handed weapon, like a short-sword, which you can now wield since you’re proficient with martial weapons. You also get a Second Wind each short rest that will heal you as a bonus action. Taking a break when you need one is smart. You’re smart, so you take breaks when you need one. That’s the transitive property.

Fighter 2: Second level fighters can use all that break-taking to push themselves once per short rest, making an Action Surge to take two actions in a single turn. Fighting your hardest can also be the smart thing to do sometimes.

Fighter 3: Third level fighters get their martial archetype, and as a Samurai you learn to unleash your Fighting Spirit, spending your bonus action to gain some temporary HP as well as advantage on all your attacks for the turn. You can do this three times per long rest.

You also get History proficiency. It’s almost cheating given that you’re a historical figure, but hey, we had to get another proficiency here.

Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Dexterity.  Your sword uses dex, your armor uses dex, it’s just a really good ability to improve upon.

Rogue 2: Going back to rogue lets you stuff even more into a single turn thanks to your Cunning Action, letting you dash, disengage, or hide as a bonus action. I’m not saying you’re faster than a monk now, but you could definitely keep up with one for a bit.

Rogue 3: Third level rogues get 2d6 in their sneak attack, and they get their roguish archetype. as an Inquisitive, you gain an Ear for Deceit, so your insight checks to determine lies always get die rolls of at least an 8. You also have an Eye for Detail now, letting you spot hidden creatures with perception or find clues with investigation as a bonus action. You’re really getting a lot out of those things, huh?

Continuing the bonus action train, you can use Insightful Fighting as a bonus action, forcing a contested insight check against a creature’s deception. If you win, you can use sneak attacks against that creature for up to a minute without needing advantage or a nearby ally. Your fighting spirit has limits, but you can use this one as many times as you need- just keep in mind you can only target one creature at a time.

Rogue 4: We’ve got more feats we want, so use this ASI to become a Defensive Duelist. Use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for one melee attack, potentially avoiding the attack entirely. You need to be holding a finesse weapon, but somehow I don’t think that’ll be an issue for you.

Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters finally get their Extra Attack, letting you attack twice per action. You can still only use your sneak attack once per turn, but now missing once isn’t the end of the world!

Fighter 6: You get another ASI now, so lets grab Keen Mind to show off how clever you really are. Your Intelligence bumps up by 1, and you’re really good at keeping track of yourself in time and space thanks to knowing which way north is and the number of hours left until sunrise or sunset. Most importantly, you have a photographic memory of the last month.

Fighter 7: Seventh level samurai are Elegant Courtiers, giving you proficiency with Wisdom saves to prevent your emotions from getting the better of you. You can also add your wisdom modifier to persuasion checks now. I’d prefer that to be intimidation, but if you can’t talk your DM into that it’s not the end of the world.

Rogue 5: Fifth level rogues get an Uncanny Dodge, using your reaction to halve damage from one attack. Defensive Duelist would reduce the damage more, but even enemies score natural 20s sometimes. Also, your sneak attack grows to 3d6. It’s been a while, just wanted to make sure you remember that.

Rogue 6: At sixth level you get another round of Expertise; double down on Investigation to be a clever boy and History to prevent your party from repeating it.

Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues can deal more damage with 4d6 sneak attack, and they can avoid consequences of using that damage thanks to Evasion. If you fail a dex save you only take half damage. If you succeed, you take 0.

Rogue 8: Use this ASI to max out your Dexterity, giving you the most accurate and deadly swordplay available to mere mortals. It also makes your AC good as a side effect.

Rogue 9: Ninth level inquisitives gain a Steady Eye, giving you advantage on perception and investigation checks as long as you move at half speed that turn. It’s not quite Reliable Talent, but it’s still pretty useful. This also means your sneak attack grows to its final size, 5d6.

Fighter 8: Use your final ASI to bump up your Wisdom for better Insightful Fighting, Wisdom saves, and perception checks.

Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed save once per long rest. Even when you fail a wisdom save you succeed it, that’s how solid your mind is.

Fighter 10: Tenth level samurai get a Tireless Spirit, so if you start a fight without any Fighting Spirit, you get one back for free. Also, your fighting spirit gets a bit better, giving you 10 temporary HP when you pop one.

Fighter 11: Your capstone level is simple, but effective. Another Extra Attack lets you attack thrice per turn, up to six times with action surge.

Pros:

With a maxed out attack stat and plenty of attacks per turn, you can dish out pretty consistent damage, especially if you use your fighting spirit to fish for critical hits. 6d6 per turn without spending any resources is nothing to sniff at.

As befitting any rogue, you’re also very skilled out of combat, lending insight and knowledge to the party.

I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating- mixing a fighter’s health pool with a rogue’s damage reduction techniques makes for a very solid combo, especially when you throw Defensive Duelist in as well for an even higher AC and Fighting Spirit for extra health to chew through.

Cons:

You have great AC and some extra health in reserve, but that doesn’t change the fact that your HP is rather low for a front-line fighter. Your damage reduction makes up for it, but it’s something it has to make up for, you get me?

You’re too focused on your sword. It makes you really good with your sword, but not very flexible in combat. If you’re playing to character, you’ll have trouble with flying creatures and those that resist or ignore nonmagical attacks. (Assuming your DM doesn’t give you a magic weapon. Hopefully your DM’s nice enough to notice you’d be hosed without one, but for a guide like this it’s best to assume the DM gives you nothing.)

You need your bonus action to activate your fighting spirit, cunning action, eye for detail, and insightful fighting. Similarly, your reaction is split between opportunity attacks (which are super useful for rogues with their sneak attack), uncanny dodges, and defensive duelist uses. Basically, your main action is too simple, but everything else is really complicated for some reason, and you’ll have to sort all these options out for yourself.

Hey, nobody said being smart was easy.

[peach-the-owl]

I think I something you might going to like. 84 but with a twist. Reader is a sorcerer and a friend of Vox Machina, the last time they seen them was battle Mind Flayer thus sacrificed themselves to froze the gate to other dimensions and stop Mind Flayer. Only see Vox Machina one final look before froze themselves. Not until Mighty Nein broke the frozen sorcerer. Only hear familiar voices, once they open their eyes they realize it's not Vox Machina, but the group who saved them.

Kinda like Avatar The Last Airbender when Aang frozen in time. Hope this is too much for you.

Some friendships transcend lifetimes… I love The Last Airbender it’s such a good show, and I’ve defiantly watched it over a dozen times, but anyways onto the story

I know I’ve called stories long before but like I thing this one takes the cake so far… here’s hoping it’s a good one

Lost Time

Vox Machina/Mighty Nein & Sorcerer!Reader (Platonic)

84- Who are you?

Spells flew left and right as you and the rest of Vox Machina faced off against a rather troublesome Mind Flayer, your ultimate goal was to destroy the gateway this aberration had opened and stop any beasts from coming through from other dimensions. Having silver dragon blood running through your veins meant you specialized in ice magic, being able to freeze just about anything with enough time and effort put in. With the rest of the team keeping the Mind Flayer distracted while you tried to use your magic to freeze and shatter the gateway, but the problem was this gate was enormous. The Mind Flayer had caught on to what was happening and attacks you causing you to lose concentration on your task, thankfully you’d managed to deal enough damage to shatter the base of the gateway causing it to crumble to the ground, falling on the Mind Flayer effectively killing it. For a moment it looked like you’d won but as the dust settled some you see the portal was still open and extremely unstable, energy crackling every which way the cavern starting to collapse around you.

"We can’t stay here the whole place is coming down on top of us." Percy calls for a retreat.

"It didn’t close, we broke it but it didn’t close!" Grog shouts still in a rage. You look over at all of them then over at the portal, you knew what had to be done so with a shaky breath you start towards the broken gateway.

"(Y/n) what are you doing? We need to leave!" Vax calls for you with a panicked tone.

"If I don’t seal this thing, it could mean more trouble then even we could handle." You continue forward against the groups protests getting close enough in range to start using your magic to freeze the opening before anymore energy can release itself. The room grew drastically colder, frost appearing along the walls as you pushed yourself past your limits.

"We can’t just leave you here!" Pike cries.

"You have to, if you don’t you’ll be buried here as well!" You yell, urging them to go without you.

"But-"

"Just go!" You scream at them, by now you could feel the cold of your magic effecting your own body. With looks of sorrow you watch as they all make their way to the exit, Keyleth looks back and calls your name one more time before being dragged off by the others. "It'll be okay." You whisper to yourself, a single tear sliding down your cheek as the gateway lets loose a pulse of energy and you unleash all your magic at once to conceal it, making your vision go white…

Everything felt cold, shadows were moved around in front of you. Were you dead? You thought you might be but then you start hearing faint voices, albeit muffled hit your ears.

"… see that?" It kinda sounded like Vex but you don’t remember her having such a high pitched, bubbly voice.

"It… dangerous." That sounded like Keyleth except much deeper and gravely.

"Wait, I think… in there." Since when did Grog become so soft spoken and educated?

"Maybe… use fire… see what’s inside." You defiantly don’t remember Scanlan sounding so shrill before.

"… not a… perhaps… could be dead." Now when did Vax get such an odd accent?

"… they're alive. We need…" Percy also sounded much calmer and relaxed then you were used to. What was going on, and why did everyone sound so different? A glowing light shines through bringing a warm feeling with it, there’s a cracking sound followed by shattering as you fall to the ground, you figured Pike must’ve used some sorta healing or restoration spell to free you. After a slight pause you gasp in actual air for the first time in you weren’t sure how long, and look up at the people in front of you. Your vision was still a little blurry trying to adjust to your surroundings and for a brief moment you thought you were staring at your friends, but when you rub your eyes to clear them you see before you a group of complete strangers making you jump back in surprise.

"Who are you?" Your voice comes out chattering both from fear and from the cold that still lingered in your body.

"Could ask you the same question." The woman who looked to be a monk shoots back.

"Well I asked first." You rebuttal attempting to stand, your legs were still shaky causing you to trip only to be caught by the firbolg on one arm and the tiefling on the other.

"Hi! I’m Jester!" The tiefling says cheerfully, holding her hand out for you to shake.

"Uhh… pleasure to meet you." You greet slowly accepting the hand shake, you then look to your other side at the firbolg.

"Hi, I’m Caduceus, how are you?" He introduces himself.

"I’m doing quite alright, thank you." You then look to the others in the group.

"Hi I’m Nott, just Nott." The goblin gives an awkward little wave, you wave back.

"Name's Fjord." There was a minor shift in his voice that made him sound more western, but only for a moment. You just nod your head in acknowledgment.

"My name's Caleb Widogast." The red head says rather stiffly, you could easily tell he was a wizard due to the large spell book stripped to his persons.

"Beauregard." The monk woman simply says.

"It’s very nice to meet you all. My name's (y/n)." You finally introduce yourself, now feeling a little more comfortable around them. "You have my thanks for freeing me of my icy prison."

"How did you end up in there anyways?" Jester asks. You explain to them everything you could clearly recall from your adventure before somehow placing yourself into some kind of frozen stasis.

"You know, now that I’ve had a better look…" You trail off slightly, taking in your surroundings once more. "This looks nothing like the cavern I sealed myself in. Where exactly are we?"

"You're in the Happy Fun Ball!" Jester happily states, you give her a confused look.

"That’s only a nickname." Caleb quickly jumps in, giving you a quick explanation of the object you were inside.

"How strange, maybe the last pulse of energy from the gateway sent me here along with most of the ruins." You look over at the broken and thankfully inactive gate that was in shambles, defiantly no way to activate that thing anymore.

"So if I may ask, why go through the trouble of coming here a second time? I mean, you know how dangerous it was the first." You question.

"Well we're looking for someone, that wasn’t you, and hopefully find a way to stop this cult for something called the Angel of Irons." Fjord gave an explanation this time. You let out a large sigh, this was a lot of new information to take in such a short time.

"That’s interesting." You say absentmindedly, still taking in this new situation you were suddenly in. You shake your head a bit and look to the group. "Well, if you need any help I'll happily oblige, it’s the least I could do for freeing me."

"Why that’s very generous of you, honestly we could probably use all the help we can get." Caduceus gives you a kind smile.

"Of course, just tell me everything I need to know about your situation." With that they all started to explain everything that’s been happening, it being a little hard to follow along sometimes with them talking over each other but you get the picture eventually. "So your friend, Yasha right? She’s under this Obann's control and they also have a creature called the Laughing Hand at their disposal. Now your here looking for the wizard Yussa because he’s been missing in here for 3 weeks and time is really strange here too, did I get all that?" You question.

"That’s the basics of it." Nott says with nod.

"Looks like we got our work cut out for us. Especially with the strange time here." You place a finger under your chin in slight thought, you had a lot of questions running through your head but had to put them aside for now, there were more pressing matters to deal with first. Finally having regained enough strength to stand on your own you set off with this new group of adventurers…

Taking down the Permaheart had been no easy feat but with Beau downing it and yours and Caleb’s combined spells it was finally reduced to frozen ashes and you’d finally located Yussa, amongst other things that happened and were ready to leave this place once and for all. Throughout all this, as helpful as you were you could tell this group still didn’t fully trust you, whispering amongst each other and defiantly not telling you everything. Who were you to blame them though, they were as much of strangers to you as you were to them, even if they did save you, so you figured it best to just keep a slight distance when they talked quietly with each other, and if you were being honest you were exhausted. Having been frozen for who knows how long didn’t cancel out the effect of having used a lot of magic, plus the magic you used to help fight off the creatures and creations that lurked in this sphere. You located the exit and the second you all arrived inside of Yussa's tower you fell to your knees panting.

"Whoa, hey are you alright?" Fjord comes over to you and helps support your weight so you could still stand.

"Sorry, I’m just a little tired is all, I suppose after everything I still haven’t fully recovered from my icy sleep." As if to exaggerate your point you let out a yawn and start leaning your full weight into the half-orc.

"Do you think it would be alright if we left (y/n) here for the time being." Caleb asks Yussa who in turn looks over at your exhausted form.

"I juss need some proper rest, I’ll be out of yer hair and rejoin with them once I dooo." You slur through your words slightly.

"Very well." He says with a soft sigh, then turns to his assistant to get a room prepared for you. When your brought in you immediately collapse on the little makeshift bed and pass out, getting some much needed rest. You awaken feeling much more refreshed and walk your way up the tower to where you hoped to find Yussa, when you enter the room you see the mage as well as the Mighty Nein and a very familiar face who stared back at you with as much of a shocked look as your own.

"Allura?" You ask almost nervously, she looked much older then when you’d last seen her. You see her eyes gloss over a little as she holds back tears.

"(Y/n)?" There’s a slight silence that fills the room before the two of you embrace each other. "I was told you sacrificed yourself to save our everyone, we all thought you were dead!" Allura practically cries, breaking away from the formal appearance she’d put on in front of everyone until now.

"I thought I was as good as dead too, but these folks here saved me, pulled me out of my frozen tomb." You say gesturing towards the Nein.

"Wait wait wait, you two know each other?" Nott looks between the two of you confused.

"Of course we do, we're friends." You simply reply.

"You haven’t changed a bit." Allura says looking you over.

"And you…" You pause slightly. "You’ve certainly gotten wiser." Allura just gives you a look that says "yes, I know I’m old". After your little reunion you refocus your attention on the task at hand, collecting information on this Angel of Irons and learning that it was in fact the Chained Oblivion, Tharizdun. You listen intently to everything being said to get a better understanding of what was going on and the more you learned the more serious and dangerous the situation grew.

"I believe it best I return to Tal'Dorei and inform the council, will you be joining me?" Allura looks over to you for confirmation.

"As much as I’d love to go home, I promised these fine people I’d help them. It’s the least I could do for what they’ve done for me." You give your friend a smile, she returns it with a worried look then sighs and nods.

"Alright, just please be careful and don’t disappear again, I don’t know how I’d handle the knowledge of seeing you alive only to learn you’ve really died this time." She places a firm yet gently grip on your shoulders, you place your hands on top of hers and give them a reassuring squeeze.

"I can’t make any big promises here but I’ll do my best. Until then it may be best if you keep my status a secret to everyone, alright? You’ll even be the first person I visit once this is all over." You look her in the eyes and slowly release your grip, once again she nods as she slowly moves her hands back to her side and teleports out of the tower.

"Aww man, I wanted to know who was on this council she mentioned." Nott looks down disappointed.

"Me too." Jester pouts. "Unless you know!" The two of them give you expectant looks making you take a step away from them.

"I can’t say I’d know for sure, a lot is different now then what I remember." You hold up your hands in defence.

After getting everything sorted out, you left Yussa's tower thinking as long as you stay with this group you should be fine. Then they split up, the girls in one direction and the boys in the other which threw you for a loop but you were able to sort yourself out and enjoy a more casual rest of the day getting to better know some of the others. The following days weren’t as you’d expect however especially when you were shopping around a little shop know as the Invulnerable Vagrant, it was no Gilmore's Glorious Goods but it still nice and you had to admit the shopkeeper, Pumat, was a charming firbolg in his own right. What was really unexpected though was the surprise attack by the Inevitable End, dealing with them was tricky when they could phase through the floor but you managed to drive them off and check in on what was happening with Yasha. Your next stop was a visit with a sorta mafia? You were really starting to question the group's moral compass, sure you have done crazy things in the past too but the Nein seemed to find a way to make things even weirder, you decided to stay out of most of it when they told you the only way to get in was to share your blood. Meeting up the next day you made your way back to Pumat's shop, being both shocked a relieved when he decided to join and help the party on this fast approaching mission…

Never in your life had you thought that the steps to a cathedral of Pelor would feel so menacing and filled with unease and yet here you were. The battle was intense, rifts opening and bringing forth creatures of the abyss, Yasha and the Laughing Hand were proving to be tough opponents and everything seemed to be going downhill. With sights set on the mind-controlled barbarian you weighed your options, you couldnt be reckless with your spells seeing as Beau had fallen unconscious so an AoE spell might end up killing her, you settle for using a Ray of Frost spell seeing as your silver dragon blood made it stronger. It works, distracting Yasha away from Beau and giving Caduceus the opportunity to dispel the control over her and spare Beau from deaths grip. With that taken care of you switch your focus to an oddly familiar situation, going to close the rifts and stopping the creatures coming through, however this time it wasn’t a large gateway at least. You were very focused on your task you didn’t notice Obann escape to the deeper chambers of the cathedral until you heard one of the Nein call to you.

"Obann's escaping we need to move!" Caleb calls, you look back and forth between them and the creatures still coming through a few of the remaining rifts, Pumat was still dealing with the the creatures as well and by the looks of things, despite his word of reassurance, he was already having a difficult time.

"You go on ahead, I’ll stay back here and help fend these creatures off!" You call back.

"Are you-"

"Just go!" You shout at them feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. You shake off the feelings, this wasn’t going to end like last time. The Nein disappear after the devil and with Pumat to aid you the two of you worked to close the few rifts and finish off the remaining cultists and creatures. It had been a long and strenuous battle but you’d done it and you were still alive, you rest yourself against one of the supporting pillars to catch your breath. After a long pause that feels like hours had passed, you feel a feathery touch against your shoulder, looking over at Caduceus who uses a quick Cure Wounds on you, Fjord also makes his way over.

"We want to thank you for everything, we may not have managed as well as we had if not for you." Fjord thanks, handing you a healing potion.

"I suppose that makes us even then." You comment with a cheeky smile happily accepting the potion and putting it to use right away.

"You know, I feel we could really use someone like you on the team, if you’re interested that is." Caduceus offers.

"I appreciate the offer, and though in reality it has been a long time since my last adventure, it still feels like it was only a short time ago to me. I really miss home, and am in dire need for a break, but if you do ever require my assistance in the future I will happily lend my aid to you again. For now I just wish to go home and familiarize myself with the changes that've taken place." You decline the offer as politely as you can, he gives you a nod of understanding. With that you get up, bid them farewell and exit the cathedral, making your way towards an area that’s out of the way before getting to work on a Teleportation Circle, as you're setting it up you think back to your time with this crazy group of adventurers, and while it was short they still made you feel welcome in their own strange ways. In some ways they reminded you of your time with Vox Machina, perhaps that’s why you were able to work with them and come to form a trust with them as quickly as you did, who knew. You finish the last symbol for your spell and the portal opens to the familiar view from inside Allura's tower, it was time to go home so with a deep breath you step through the portal.

Bonus (2 for 1 story):

Reunion

"Are you alright? You're looking quite nervous." Allura asks with slight worry as you walk through the halls of Greyskull Keep.

"I haven’t been home in so long and so much has changed, I just don’t know what to expect or how they’ll react." You admit. She places a hand on your shoulder and gives you a reassuring smile.

"Trust me I don’t think they’ll be expecting this either." You walk up to a set of large double doors.

"And from everything you told me…" You trail off a bit.

"There’s more I missed, but I’m sure they’ll be more then happy to fill you in."

"Okay…" You take a breath and reach for the knob only to pause again. "Why don’t you go in first, and I’ll follow your lead." Allura just gives a soft chuckle and nod before opening the door and heading in. You step back and try to catch your breath wondering why you still felt so nervous. You had to wonder if this was even worth it, a lot had happened and changed since you’d been gone and there was a lingering doubt that your friends might not even care anymore.

"Come in and say hello." You hear Allura's voice muffled through the door. Moment of truth, you steel your nerves and make your way through the door. When you enter you have a look around the room seeing all eyes on you, at first their expressions were blank or shocked so you decide to lighten the mood and give a small smile.

"Hello everyone, it’s been awhile." You say in almost a whisper, already feeling the tears well up in your eyes. The next thing you know your tackled into a hug by a sobbing Keyleth.

"You’re not dead! You’re not dead!" Is all you hear her say through her sobbing. You now return the hug having been able to stabilize yourself and comfort the Archdruid.

"I missed you too Kiki. I’ve missed all of you." You release one arm from her seeing as she wasn't going to let go of you just yet, and feel a slight pressure rest on your shoulder once you do. Craning your neck over you see a raven perched itself on you, you raise your hand and give him a little scratch under his beak as he leans into the touch. You look to the others seeing Vex approach.

"My word darling, you haven’t aged a day since we last saw you. What’s your secret?" She tries to add some minor humour to the situation but you could tell she was holding back some tears, being just as overjoyed as Keyleth.

"Just freeze yourself for a good 20 years or so and it’ll shave off those wrinkles in no time." You lightly chuckle, using your free arm now to offer her a hug. She accepts giving a much shorter side hug to you while the others finally came to their senses and start bombarding you with questions. You do the best you can to answer all of them as well as properly greeting everyone again and exchanging welcoming hugs from them, being lifted off the ground when Grog brought you into an almost bone crushing grip. "As much as I missed you too, I’m still fragile." You wheeze at the goliath.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just been so long." He says, trying and failing to hold back his emotions.

"Right, which reminds me, you must have stories to tell me. I’d love to hear what you’ve all done over the years."

"Oh man, where do we begin? There’s so much to tell." Pike ponders aloud.

"How about we start with what happened after my… departure." You suggest, ready for the day to be filled with stories of their adventures and exploits.

[k7l4d4]

Plane Shift: The Boiling Isles, Brief Character Portfolio

Hello all, today I am going to go into some measure of detail for the characters in this crossover between the Owl House and Dungeons and Dragons 5e. Everybody clap your hands!!

Now, to give a little heads up, the way this portfolio is set up is based on the following Format:

Character Name

Defining Quote/Motto

Alignment Inclinations

Favored Classes/Known Classes

Brief Profile

Okay, now that the format is listed, time to get into the nitty gritty!

Luz Noceda

“Limits? What are those!”

Chaotic Good/Neutral Good

Primary Class: Wizard, Subclass: Order of Scribes. Secondary Class: Artificer, Subclass: Battle Smith. Tertiary Classes: Paladin, Rogue, and Bard.

The young daughter of the famed Plane Warden and Cleric, Camila Noceda, Luz has always had her head in the clouds, longing for adventure and friendship. Upon entering the Adventurer’s Academy, she proceeded to rock the very foundation of Plana and adventuring by choosing not one, not two, but FIVE classes to train in! She would’ve tried them all, but was talked out of it when they professors made it clear it would be physically impossible for her to take them all, and that the number she had selected would push her to greatest of limits. Luz lives life without limits or regret, and while her extremely impulsive nature has resulted in a rather poor social life, she is greatly beloved among the street dwellers and lower ranks of local organizations and groups of her home.

Amity Blight

“Perfection is impossible. That’s why we seek it.”

Lawful Good/Neutral Good

Primary Class: Warlock, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Artificer.

The youngest child of the affluent Blight Family, recently displaced from her home dimension, Amity holds herself to a strict standard of decorum. Her methodical nature, dedication to study, and respect for authority has made her a divisive figure within the Adventurer’s Academy, as while her new instructors find her dedication admirable, they also worry it will disallow her from living a healthy and happy life. Amity regularly runs afoul of Luz, but the human girl’s friendly nature, genuine endearment, and appreciation for magic and learning has served as a bonding bridge between the two. Hints of something deeper within her heart grow clearer all the while.

Willow Park

“Nature is a blessing to us all. We have a duty to care for it, and each other.”

Neutral Good/Chaotic Good

Primary Class: Druid, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Barbarian.

The only child of the Park family, Willow is a quiet, gentle child all around, but within her lurks a frightening power over nature itself that constantly threatens to break free if not for her ironclad self-control, and kind nature. Once friends with Amity Blight, circumstances forced a rift between them, and she holds that pain as a torch within her heart, always wary of letting it burn her down to nothing but unwilling to let go. Willow’s incredible connection with Plants has made her a rare talent among the Druid classes, and she is constantly called to demonstrate her power before her new peers, much to her delight.

Augustus “Gus” Porter

“So much to learn! So much to experience!”

Neutral Good/Chaotic Good

Primary Class: Wizard, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Bard.

A young prodigy who skipped several grades in his home dimension, Gus is still an outstanding figure when it comes to both technical skill and application of magic. Excitable, kind if somewhat insensitive on occasion, and with a fierce need to prove himself, Gus often finds himself in difficult situations, both socially and dangerously, but he never allows it to affect his optimism. He’s rapidly built a bond with Luz over their shared passion and energy, not to mention his excitement over befriending “an actual real-life human!”

Boscha Triplet

“I saved the day! Why? Because I’m a Star of Course!”

Lawful Neutral

Primary Class: Monk, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Artificer.

An athletic star with an incredible ego, Boscha is by all accounts an unpleasant individual, yet since coming to Plana, she’s gradually shown signs of a more vulnerable personality, one she vehemently denies and buries within herself, much to the chagrin of others. While she initially chose Monk as a joke, thinking it of a blow-off course or something similar, the relentless physical training, and the brutally humiliating smackdown dealt on her first day have served to motivate her to continue and succeed in the Class she chose, if only out of pure spite. The philosophical aspects of Monk training seem to go over her head, yet her friends and foes alike have noted her occasionally seem to verge on saying something mean or crude, only to stop herself and stare off in contemplation.

Skara Levine

“Just go with the rhythm. Everything will work out, right?”

Lawful Neutral

Primary Class: Bard, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Sorcerer.

A young girl who lived at the top, Skara had many halmarks of being a potential problem child, often being easily lead and influenced by those deemed her friends, Skara is typically very sweet and outgoing, but for all her social butterfly moments, they are undercut by her poor interpersonal skills, frequently stumbling onto sensitive topics without any inclination she understood why she shouldn’t bring them up. She is a paradox, being both kind and cruel, nice and mean, in equal measures, the parallel nature of her behavior often befuddles those around her. She’s recently begun stating that she hears things suddenly when no one is around.

Emira Blight

“Don’t worry, I can handle this on my own.”

Chaotic Good/Chaotic Neutral

Primary Class: Rogue, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Fighter.

The oldest daughter of the Blight family, Emira is a mischievous girl with a fondness for mayhem. Nonetheless, she cares for her family and friends, even if her methods occasionally leave much to be desired. Of the Blight Children, Emira is the most independent, often resentful of any perceived restrictions, but calm enough to find workarounds rather than lash out. She frequently professes that looks forward to the day she can live her own life, and enjoys teasing her sister along with her brother.

Edric Blight

“We got this, we just got to stick together.”

Chaotic Good/Chaotic Neutral

Primary Class: Rogue, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Bard.

The lone son of the Blight family, Edric is Emira’s twin, and is in many ways both her equal and her mirror. While sharing her sense of mischief and love of tricks, Edric is far more flighty and whimsical, often hyper-fixating on animals and whatever shiny thing catches his eye, often projecting a childish air about him. He is the most insecure of the Blight siblings, though he hides it well, and dreads the idea of being alone, particularly from his twin.

Viney Arkswood

“Animals are our friends. They have just as much capacity for good as we do.”

Chaotic Good

Primary Class: Ranger, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Druid.

One of three students sentenced to the Detention Track for their mixing of magical disciplines, Viney has a caring heart and a love of people and animals that manifested in a rather strange way, in that she attempted, and technically succeeded, in training her pet griffin to be a nursing assistant. Viney is genuinely unsure if she wishes to return, with the lone benefit in her mind being to see her parents again.

Jerbo Underslack

“I might be nervous, but that doesn’t make me incompetent.”

Chaotic Good/Chaotic Neutral

Primary Class: Cleric, Subclass: Nature Domain. Secondary Class: Druid.

One of the three Detention Track students, Jerbo’s love of plants and his fondness for the idea of loyal aides combined in his creation of plant monsters that trashed the gardens of his school. Jerbo is the most suspicious and leery of his friends, often being slow to trust and even slower to act, he nonetheless is a kind soul, and used his admittance into the Adventurer’s Academy to try and kind some new meaning in his life.

Barcus Howsberry

“Your soul glimmers with the joy of a newfound toy in the arms of a lonely child.”

Chaotic Good

Primary Class: Wizard, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Artificer.

Last and oddest of the three Detention Track students, Barcus’ unusual body and strange speech make him truly bizarre, and his cryptic demeanor doesn’t help. Barcus enjoys both the art of Potions and Prediction, and frequently seeks to join the two. Upon arrival, and confirmation that yes he is a sapient being, Barcus was checked by Camila, and was determined to have a hereditary curse bound to his being, and when offered to have it removed, his comfort with his form initially made him refuse, only to be told that the speech impediment and oddness of his form would destroy any chance of him being able to integrate into society, causing him to compromise and have the curse suppressed instead.

Camila Noceda

“To bring goodness and love in this world means I can rest easy, knowing I left it in the hands of those I love.”

Lawful Good

Primary Class: Cleric, Subclass: Life Domain. Secondary Class: None.

Mother of Luz Noceda, Camila is the current Plane Warden of Plana, being entrusted with guarding the city from extraplanar threats and to help guide and aid those lost between realms. Camila is a loving soul, but the strain of her job has worn on her over the years, with the sole reprieve being her precious daughter. Camila often adopts a motherly role for the displaced children now in her care, offering both advice when needed, and discipline as necessary. Camila also frequently aids and offers advice to the adults now sharing her living space, hoping to help them adjust to their situation.

Edalyn Clawthorne

“I’m the most powerful witch in the Isles, but it never meant a thing until I found someone to use that power for.”

Chaotic Good

Primary Class: Sorcerer, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Wizard.

Fiercest Wild Witch to grace the Boiling Isles since Belos’ ascension, Eda marches to the beat of her own drum, no exceptions, but she still holds a beautiful heart for those she cares for, and people in general, no matter how much she denies it. Eda was genuinely shocked to learn that Camila could, and did, heal her curse, effectively if not easily, and feels a deep sense of obligation towards the woman a a result, not to mention her all around soft spot for Camila’s daughter. Eda genuinely has no desire to return to the Isles at this point, beyond maybe a chance to reconcile with her mother and retrieve Hooty and all her stuff.

Lilith Clawthorne

“I am far from perfect, and have made many mistakes. This is the least I can do.”

Lawful Good/Lawful Neutral

Primary Class: Paladin, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Wizard.

Lilith Clawthorne, elder sister to Eda, means well, but is both painfully naive and far too trusting for one her age, as well as disturbingly childish and immature. For all that though, Lilith holds a good heart and thrives in a structured and ordered environment and system. When she received the knowledge that Eda’s curse had been cured, Lilith was nearly left catatonic, as the curing of Eda rendered all her efforts meaningless and her life without true purpose. When Eda bluntly stated that even with her curse cured she will NEVER join a coven, Lilith forced herself to accept it, no matter how much it hurt. Since that day, Lilith has attempted to find a new direction in life, and to help others as best she can.

Odalia Blight

“Like it or not, one’s word is their bond.”

Lawful Neutral/Lawful Evil

Primary Class: Wizard, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Bard.

Matriarch of the Blight family, and a near-Karen level individual, Odalia is both incredibly goal-oriented and driven by a desire to succeed. Domineering and controlling, Odalia exerts a highly unhealthy and toxic level of influence over her childrens’ lives, though she does truly love them. Odalia enjoys having the upper hand, and will do anything to allow her children and family to not only survive but thrive, and is very much fond of disproportionate retribution against her enemies.

Alador Blight

“This could prove interesting.”

Lawful Neutral/Lawful Evil

Primary Class: Artificer, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: Rogue.

Patriarch of the Blight family, and all around bizarre individual, Alador cares for little in his life aside from his inventions, his wife, and his children, in that order. Often dazed and easily distracted, Alador is highly curious and constantly seeks new inspiration for his devices and creations, no matter how dangerous the circumstances. He cares little for his wife’s antics and schemes, but in no way does he find them unacceptable, he often acts as a stabilizing influence upon her, and is perfectly fine with calling her out on her behavior when she genuinely goes too far.

Hieronymus Bump

“Dedication and Focus are important, but true passion and joy for what you do makes all the difference.”

Neutral Good/Lawful Good

Primary Class: Wizard, Subclass: Undetermined. Secondary Class: None.

Principal to the famed, some would say infamous, Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, Principal Bump loves to teach and help others learn, and is perfectly willing to play the system to ensure he can do so. While he genuinely loves all his students and wishes them to succeed, he is willing to admit he is old-fashioned to a certain extent and can have trouble keeping his views on a topic unbiased, and can occasionally act in unethical ways if it means finding a solution to a problem, though he does not enjoy such measures. He aids Camila in searching for a way to return home for him and his fellows, and often acts as a reasonable authority figure for the students who came with them.

[maxwell-grant]

What would a spider man: life story look like for the shadow?

Now that I've actually read Spider-Man: Life Story I can give this one a response. I'm gonna obsess about this question for a while because man what a ride Life Story was.

To those not in the know, the premise of Spider-Man: Life Story is: "In 1962, in AMAZING FANTASY #15, 15-year-old Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and became the Amazing Spider-Man! Fifty-seven years have passed in the real world since that event — so what would have happened if the same amount of time passed for Peter as well?" and basically it tells the story of Spider-Man as one continuous narrative spanning 57 years, from his beginnings to a potential future, allowing Peter Parker and his cast and world to age in real time and factor in elements from the character's major stories over the decades.

And it's got a lot into it that the premise doesn't convey and there is no way I can even begin tackling a project like this for the 90 goddamn years of The Shadow's history without seriously just writing an entirely different fanfic continuity (and I already have 5, plus multiverses, possibly more) and tipping off way too much about my own plans for the character. Even I have my limits.

So instead, what I'm gonna do is go over the broad strokes of The Shadow's history as it would look like if you could try and condense it all under a consistent narrative, if you could focus on each decade's highs and lows, what kind of story would arise if a deranged Shadow maniac like me were to try and build a basic skeleton for a The Shadow: Life Story story.

Basic rules first: I'm sticking to the idea of Life Story and spanning every decade from the beginning of the character's life to the end of it. The aging and death parts are important so I’m sticking to those. The character's canonical birth date is 1892, so he's not making it intact to the 2000s. We're capping this off in the 90s, although it doesn't mean no further stories can be told. I will avoid mentioning specific historical events like Vietnam and 9/11 for this post to instead focus on The Shadow's trajectory. I will also not be including other characters, only somewhat referencing whatever aspects I deem relevant. I'm not sticking to any continuity, I'm pulling literally everything I can for this one

And putting this one below the cut

The 1930s: The golden years. In 1930, after a long line of life experiences in the Great War and traveling around the world under dozens of names, the man formerly known as Kent Allard has taken to fighting crime in the Great Depression. This chapter would be more of a standard narrative showcasing the trajectory of The Shadow's 30s career, how he's started off as a urban myth fighting gangsters and then progressed to urban avenger with dozens of allies fighting spies and supervillains. Despite being in his home element, he is restless. Another war is on the horizon. We gotta know where he starts, to get a clue of where he's going.

The 1940s: Despite it being the "family friendly American hero" Shadow era, shit gets very, very chaotic in the 40s, way more so than The Shadow could have anticipated. The pulps were relatively tame for this period, by this point instead you have the radio with it's constantly rotating writers and sensibilities, and comics that had far less reservations about either being really boring or really wacky. Far more encounters with the supernatural than before and with supervillains like Devil Kyoti and Monstradamus and Solaris, plus Khan is still around. The Shadow is forced to spend a lot more time traveling the world to deal with the war, spending a prolonged period establishing headquarters in Japan to aid Japanese underground organizations opposing the military. The agents perform rescue missions on concentration camps, and this is the period where you could have the "real" Lamont Cranston start filling in for The Shadow a bit while he's overseas.

There's a particular blurb that got released during this period that explains The Shadow acquired the power to cloud men's minds not by training, but by journeying to Tibet in an unrecorded adventure that forced him to beg the monks to grant him assistance in saving the world. I have some very mixed feelings on this whole backstory but I think there's something to this idea. Some shit went down in the 40s that was way beyond what The Shadow could have anticipated, and to protect the world from it he had to tap into forces that perhaps should have been left untouched.

The 1950s: The Shadow has dissappeared from America alltogether. He gathered up his agents and announced he wouldn't return for at least a decade, and left them with enough money to last a lifetime and retire should they feel like it. Burbank and Cliff Marsland dissappeared with him, and this chapter would probably be told from the Agents's perspective as they face the 50s while we get snippets from Marsland on what The Shadow's been up to. Some of it involves The Shadow helping protect Tibet after Mao's takeover of China. The real Lamont Cranston doesn't put on the costume anymore and instead operates as a fairly regular detective, although he's training on the skills and powers he's picked up overseas. Whatever fantasy madness haunted the 1940s is all but gone.

The 50s had basically nothing in Shadow content other than the last legs of the radio show, which are 200 episodes from 1950 to 1954 that currently don't exist anymore outside of a few scripts. During this time, The Shadow's sole appearence in US content was a parody in MAD Magazine. Overseas however, there were original Shadow novels published in Norway (a story for another day), as well as a Mexican radio and film series, which also featured Cliff Marsland. I have little information on either.

The 1960s: The OG Shadow is still embroiled in conflicts overseas, but the rise of the criminal organization CYPHER forces him to mobilize Burbank and agents old and new alike to deflect CYPHER away from where he's at, although most of them have retired by now. He still cannot return, but he has been secretly instructing Lamont Cranston on furthering along his own latent abilities if he intends to take over in his stead, and Cranston's powers have grown and developed to a point that, although he is pushing 60, he is able to do things even the original Shadow could not. He also invests a lot in merchandising and costume changes, which...doesn't pan out. Nothing in this era really pans out. It's just a really, really frustrating period of bad luck and supervillains that the aging superpowered detective Cranston is able to stop. Lamont Cranston seems to die in this decade.

The 1970s: Inspired by The Shadow's DC series, and most importantly Michael Kaluta's spiffy redesign.

The original Shadow returns to a crime-torn America, intent on starting anew, and sets to rebuilding his network. But something is off about him. He's leaner, meaner, less compassionate and trusting. Just as what happened the first time he returned to America following years abroad, what happened in his sojourns overseas has fostered something inhuman in him, another sacrifice of his own identity for the sake of a world where the weed of crime has only proven more insidiuous. His powers have grown and so have his resources, but despite that, he's bordering on 80 years old by now, and cumulative trauma deep within his bones hampers his effectiveness. He's doing a lot better than he should, by any rights, but he can't keep this up and he knows it. And so, as before, he starts planning for it.

The 1980s: This was the decade where Walter Gibson died with his final Shadow story incomplete, all the movie plans from the 70s were canned, and Howard Chaykin happened, plus the other DC runs. It's the SHIT decade, basically, where everything goes to hell. Whatever plans The Shadow had blew up, dipshit copycats start ruining everything, his network crumbles, and this is probably the ideal decade to kill off Kent Allard.

But this is also the decade where something weird started happening outside of the story: The Ghost of Gay Street hauntings, where visitors on the hotel Gibson wrote the stories in repeteadly claimed to see a ghostly visitor looking exactly like Lamont Cranston, and Gibson himself claimed that to be a tulpa he created by accident.

Kent Allard may have died. But death can never claim The Shadow.

The 1990s-onwards: Somehow, The Shadow is still active. Still elderly, in a much more limited fashion, but still as sharp as ever if not more so. His powers have grown more so than ever before, even blossoming into a limited form of telekinesis. Is he a ghost? Did he somehow survive the events of the previous decade? Somehow, both Lamont Cranston and The Shadow linger on, but is it Kent Allard or Lamont Cranston? Is it someone else?

Who knows?

This is the decade in particular where he's going to be interacting with more prominently with a new generation, whether it's descendants of the original agents, or new heroes that have found themselves in his orbit. Inspired mainly by the Dark Horse Shadow comics, Ghost and The Shadow, and Peter Straub's Mystery and modern takes on the character like Batman x Shadow and the 2017 mini that play up the miserable immortal and ghost teacher aspects, also inspired by my recent realization that The Shadow's ideal future in-universe may be getting to age and mentor the next generation in some capacity.

Anything beyond that, only The Shadow Knows.