#gotta love mage classes

[angrybatart]

If/when I ever get to play Fear and Hunger, I'm probably gonna pick Enki to play as first.

I know. PROBABLY the hardest starting character, but I've played Waste of Skin class in Bloodborne.

Close-ups! (Except for the eye. I was practicing how to draw his eyes.)

[arcanaaa]

@halphcs asked: ♡

Send ♡ to see what my muse thinks of yours | Accepting!

●●●●○ | ATTRACTION ●●●●○ | AFFECTION ●●●●○ | INTEREST ●●●●● | LOYALTY ●●●●● | TRUST

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

If requests are still open could I possibly get a fic about yuu getting boyfriends. Specifically that cute octavinelle boy or Jonathan, awh just dealing with nrcs crap and then come home to 2 cuties

Yuu and their Ugly Ass NPC S/O

I made a buncha random NPCs based on random Disney characters I hope you can tell who is who. GN, 2.7k words.

****

Yuu was the school heartthrob. How could they not be? 

They were kind, considerate And confident! They always stood up for others and themselves. I mean, they even beat several people’s asses — dormleaders even!

They're attractive and talented and smart too. Always so hardworking. It's a bit intimidating how a magicless human can keep up with a bunch of unruly mages.

Even the most tsundere students admire Yuu. Despite what the students said, a simple, kind-hearted and relaxed person was stronger than the lot of them. Something the students yearn for. A nice break from everyone's dog eat dog mentality.

Their charming laughter, their smarts, their strength… The way they smile… Their gentleness… The way they hold themselves…

So many people were vying for their affections, their attention… Waiting for the perfect moment to ask you out...

Can you imagine their surprise when you found love with a nobody?

Heartslabyul

Hatter?! Really?? That absolute kook??

He's so weird! Wears way too many hats and loves making them. His infatuation with them makes Trey's dental obsession normal in comparison.

Ace would have preferred it if you dated Riddle honestly. He can at least understand that. Also can everyone stop remarking how similar they are?! They aren't! He's normal and Hatter is weird!

Your relationship is none of Riddle’s business but he hopes Hatter’s eccentricities don't rub off on you too much. He knows how to find loopholes in every rule so he can dabble in his own insanity it's infuriating. You better not follow his example! Seriously he thought half a cup of tea meant he had to saw a teacup in half!

Deuce is happy for you! I mean at least you'll never get bored with Hatter around and his usual laughter. It is like having a second Ace around though…

Cater finds all the matching accessories he makes for the two of you so cute but he loves the drama in the school even more. Perfect romance novel Yuu with the class clown troublemaker… He's surprised you didn't get with Ace…

Trey is just happy for the two of you. You want someone zany to unwind with after a long day of having your shit together. He gets it. You two are a good fit. He hopes you can both have fun. Oh and can you ask Hatter to fix up his hat? It got a little frayed… thank you…

The school is in shock, horror, watching as Hatter is giggling and hanging off Yuu as they walk down the hall totally lovestruck. He's totally mad! Yet you love him! All of the perfect straight A students fall to their knees as they realize they're too put together for you.

What Trey surmised was right however. You always have to be your very best every day. Always be the voice of reason, always fix others’ mistakes, always set an example. 

With Hatter the stress melts away, replaced by wacky activities and childish fun. It's great to be able to drop the perfect student's expectations and be a little immature…

Savanaclaw

That dumb tiger Cheren? 

I mean he's a very nice guy. Tall, muscular, sporty… but a total idiot… 

He goes on and on about The Jungle Tiger of his people and how he's gonna be just as strong as him someday and how he's gotta work harder and there you are kicking your feet for him.

Your circle already has three idiots in it and now you're dating one? Leona remarks it seems you have a type.

He's pure muscle-y sunshine, always trying to help others…

If you liked naive goody two shoes boys so much you should have gone to RSA. Still, Ruggie supposes it's cute…

Funny even, watching you lecture him after he tried to smell sand by inhaling it. Oh poor poor Yuu, Ruggie shakes his head, you always make more work for yourself.

He and Jack are pretty similar. Work out partners even. He can admit first hand that your lover is most likely the strongest physically in the dorm and he's gonna surpass him some day!

There's times where your dates with the tiger are interrupted when you bump into Jack and the two end up challenging each other, throwing off your plans.

Not that you mind though as you get to admire his body and competitive spirit as he constantly looks over for your approval doing his best to impress you.

Jack will admit… It does feel a little weird how similar they are at times… Is he your type…? Huh…

You don't care what they say though. What they don't see is how much your boyfriend helps you behind the scenes. Helping you relax after a long day or checking up on you after school drama or how he plays seems to cheer you up.

Tutoring him and making sure people don't take advantage of his kindness is not the burden people think it is. It's an act of love. And you love your dear himbo tiger boy.

All of the muscleheads in Savanaclaw seethe… They just needed to be a bit stupider.

Octavinelle 

I'm sorry you have two lovers?? Twins??? The STINGRAYS??? CLAUD AND DARREN?

That was the exact reaction of everyone in the school when they heard news but especially Azul.

Your taste in men has to be a form of self harm, Prefect they swear—

They're just so… weird…

The kind of creepy twins in every horror movie. Always together. Always seems to read each other's mind. Holding hands in hallways. Always in sync. Finishing sentences. Matching smirks with empty eyes. The whole shebang.

And there you are! So kind and cool and just… you! You can fight yes, but unlike the Leech twins rumors, everyone is in agreement that those two have killed before. Look at them!! 

Do you have any self-preservation skills, Yuu? Are you safe? Blink twice if you need help, Jade says, he'll even do it free of charge. Hell, Azul’s gonna send his own twins over for a wellness check soon.

Is the shrimpy into scary twins? This is just perfect teasing material for Floyd. If you liked scary twins you could have at least asked them out or something. Those two just seem so… boring…

So secretive and polite-acting with all their fully thought out schemes– Where's the flavor?! Jade is in agreement. At least he and Floyd have distinct personalities.

Azul is just very baffled. Good for you Prefect but have you thought this through…? It's just you're the typical perfect crush people write in their diaries about and you're with them? It's oddly intimidating. Is there more to you he doesn't know?

A total powermove to have two scary boyfriends in this damned place. Despite all the rumors though, the two love you with their full hearts and are happy sharing. They both take such good care of you and no one bothers to take the time to get to know them.

They are both so vastly different yet similar. Mischievous and kind. The rumors mean nothing to you when they've been your number one supporters through the school year. Sides, if anyone upsets you they'll take care of it…

Scarabia

Ibadat?? The total birdbrain? Okay, yeah, seems you do have a type for cocky idiots given your friend group. 

The parrot is a very confident, extroverted personality with a bit of a mischievous streak… a real chatterbox and never thinks before he does anything. 

He is a bit of a scatterbrain and tends to get wrapped in so many things at once, yet is a very good schemer…

Jamil doesn't have any strong feelings about it. You're happy. That's all that matters. However he does like that since you’ve been dating him he causes less trouble in his dorm now. He can just go to you and ask him to sort him out.

Kalim finds it sooooo cute however and seems to be more excited for your relationship than either of you. A magic carpet is one thing– but being carried and flown around??? That's so much more romantic!

Students are flabbergasted on how you would want someone so forgettable as him. He barely stands out from most of the other students here… Doesn't seem to have any major achievements either.

What they don't see is the bird that takes out some of his feathers to decorate you with when you mention not having any special clothes. They don't see the praises he gives you. The lectures you receive when you push yourself too hard. The confidence he instills in you. The way he does all he can for you, always at your beck and call.

He never lets you doubt yourself for a second and you never doubt him either. 

Pomefiore

Raven… ah…

An interesting one at least. They are always a bit of an enigma among most students. Fashionable, beautiful, confident, yet mysterious. One of the best alchemy students in the school.

It should be no surprise that two beautiful and accomplished people get together, so why was it a surprise?

Well not one person can name anything they know about Raven. They hold themselves high, yet shy away from others. They are so prominent yet elusive. You may see them roam the halls yet never know where they go. They are elegant, yet have the most animated expressions. 

Does anyone even know their favorite food? Favorite color? Has anyone even heard them speak?? Why do they have so many oddities on them at any given time?

Vil doesn't care at all about the rumors. As housewarden, he checks over all of his dormmates. The birdfolk preens themselves well. They have good hygiene, good confidence, good grasp of their identity and who they are, and they're hard working!

He's never had to lecture or guide them once. With their attention to detail they always seem to notice what he expects without him having to say it either. So what they keep to themself? Eveyones allowed their privacy.

Rook is almost jealous. You get to understand the most mysterious student on campus? The one that captured their heart? You get to see them behind closed doors and know them on a personal level. Maybe even hear them speak if they do at all? Oh, how he longs to uncover their many mysteries himself… Ah, but what a beautiful love story! The trust, the passion. He is rooting for both of you. 

Epel doesn't trust it one bit. Nope. Nuh uh. Sorry.

No one even knows what they get for lunch. They strut down hallways with all eyes on them yet are quick to flee when spoken to? They are seen all across campus yet no one knows any one place they frequent? And they alway suck up to Vil like ugh!

They're bad news Yuu! No one good has that many secrets! The campus all agrees and it's totally not ‘cause they're salty!

Fools. If only they knew how sweet they were. All those times they saw Raven ‘wandering’ was them making their way to you. All those trinkets were offerings of courtship. The place where they disappear to is your dorm.

They're confident because they know they're talented. They flaunt because they're beautiful. People just want to pick them apart and know everything about them for the sake of their curiosity and not because they care, unlike you who doesn't expect anything out of them. Why wouldn't they open up to you?

The Fair Queen was said to have a raven that accompanied her everywhere she went, staying by her side matter what. They intend to show you how deep the loyalty of a raven goes. 

Ignihyde

FEAR???

Idia never thought he'd meet anyone more socially awkward than him. Fear leaves his room less than him!

The imp-man always looks like he's on the verge of a panic attack, he shakes every step of the way, everywhere he goes, and he's known to not even get a few words out. He wasn't even on the roster, he's that distant!! He lives up to his name for sure.

Even when you walk down the hall with your boyfailure in hand no one believes for a second you're together. You're just being nice and helping him go out!

So many students refuse to believe you’re with him. They're better! They can easily impress you more than that imp! And Fear tells you they're right… Boo! Bad Fear! You're wonderful!

Seriously if Idia realized he had this much Of a chance he might have considered taking it…

Ortho as a first year has seen him a bit more since he's friends with you and likes him a lot! He and Idy would be friends!! 

Everyone doubts his capabilities and mind. Tearing down his appearance with his horns and messy clothes. 

You don't let anyone talk cruelly about him and give your group of first years THE scariest lecture of their life when they dare comment anything negative about him.

If people did pay attention they'd know that Fear would come out of his room a lot. Whether as a bird that flaps around campus or a stray that frequents the gardens.

It's not his fault he has a severe stutter. You were the only one who bothered to wait for him to finish his sentences, even when the simplest ones took minutes. You never made fun of him or even brought it up.

They don't see that he loves you to the point of invention. How he makes so many things to make your life a bit easier here. How he frets over you and listens to your worries. All the little animals he becomes to cheer you up or look out for you from afar. 

The people who put him down never had a chance with you to begin with.

Diasomnia

Griffon…? Who is that…? Wait, did that statue just move…?

It was only revealed when Malleus of all people met him first. He invited you to a late night stroll to show you some of the wonderful gargoyles his dormitory has.

He was so proud to show you this new gargoyle he only recently discovered here. As he rattled on about this interesting find you paused. “Wait, that's not just a gargoyle… Griffon???”

The gargoyle suddenly moved at the sound of your voice, yawning a bit. “Oh hey Yuu…” he said, reaching over to drape over you. 

“...a talking Gargoyle…?” Your lover? 

The school had a small storm overhead as Malleus pouted. You're telling him there was a gargoyle student here and you didn't tell him? When you know he likes gargoyles? How dare you! He's so betrayed for a bit but his attitude changes when he gets to talk to Griffon.

Not only are they a gargoyle– they're a descendant of the goon race. The very goons that worked under the thorn fairy and protected the castle with their lives! Why he's honored… he even joined his club too! And he says the other gargoyles on campus say good things about him!! He can talk to them?! Oh Yuu, he wishes nothing but the best for your relationship!!!

Lilia is surprised he didn't see them sooner! Just like the goons he knew. Honorably sticking to the shadows. They always watch over others and save their energy to put their all into whatever task they must do when needed– you are very lucky indeed.

Griffon makes Waka-sama happy so he approves fully! Furthermore, goons are very loyal to Briar Valley and he's so happy you're recognizing the glory of fae culture! He can tell you even more about it later!

Silver has a new napping buddy… Griffon’s always so tired, saving his energy for when he needs it most. When he's caught napping in the rain the gargoyle stands over him to shield him from it and get some much appreciated moisture.

Griffon guards the school. Perched high in every hallway, outside every building, every classroom he attends. He steps in when needed and that's how you both met someone who was giving you unnecessary trouble and the statue from above swooped down to intervene.

Students wonder how it even works out. He's asleep almost all the time. He doesn't do anything . Even when he's awake he's always tired. And he always gets in the way of the class fights to break them up! A real stick in the mud.

Though it is true he is always tired, he is willing to defy his own nature to stay awake enough to talk to you. He is happy to leave his perch to be with you as well. It is a goon’s job to protect what they love most dearly. You are exactly that.

[allywritesmanythings]

You're Mine (X. Riorson) 18+

Xaden Riorson x reader.

Fourth Wing

Words: 1.9K

Warnings: Minor Spoilers for Fourth Wing

Summary: Xaden gets jealous of Garrick. It's also 18+

As Xaden and Violet engaged in their sparring session, a heavy sigh escaped your lips. It was evident that their connection stemmed from Violet's vulnerability and the promise he made to her older brother. If Violet were to meet an unfortunate fate, the likelihood of Xaden suffering the same fate was high. However, despite understanding the circumstances, a tinge of jealousy crept into your heart. Xaden had been devoting most of his free time to her, and it couldn't help but stir feelings of envy within you.

Releasing yet another sigh, you decided to leave the gym behind and make your way towards the third-year rooms. The sight of Violet fawning over Xaden had become unbearable to witness. She may try to seem disinterested, but it was evident to anyone with functioning eyes that she desired him deeply.

Immersed in the comfort of your night attire, engrossed in the captivating pages of a book, the distant sound of a knock reached your ears. You knew who it was but yet an overwhelming disinterest held you back from rising to greet them. Tonight, their presence was an unwelcome intrusion you wished to evade. Effortlessly, you extinguished the mage light with a flick of your hand, allowing the room to be swallowed by darkness as you delicately set the book upon the table. Rolling onto your side, you cocooned yourself beneath the covers and went to sleep.

***

As you sat in the bustling gathering hall alongside your squad, your eyes briefly flickered towards Xaden, who was seated among the other marked individuals. Curiosity lingered in the air as your comrades wondered why, as a marked one yourself, you chose not to join them. However, you had your reasons. You simply refused to make yourself a more conspicuous target by associating closely with the others.

"I came by last night," Xaden's voice came through your head.

You didn't even bother to look up from your tray. "I went to sleep early," You lied.

"I swore I could've saw the mage light,"

"I don't know what you're talking about," You said before placing the block between you and Xaden down.

You got up from the table and headed towards the flight field.

****

"Hey Garrick," you called out to Xaden's best friend, your voice echoing through the gymnasium. It was after class, and you were wanting to spar, though Xaden was noticeably absent. Most likely, he was off assisting Violet once again. However, Garrick was present, and you knew he made for a formidable sparring partner.

"What's up, (Last Name)?" Garrick responded, making his way towards you.

"Want to spar since Xaden is too busy with Violet?" you proposed, a hint of anticipation in your voice.

"Hell yeah," Garrick exclaimed, a spark of excitement in his eyes. "I always love sparring with you."

A soft chuckle escaped your lips as you swiftly discarded your jacket, tossing it aside. You rolled your neck, popping it before standing in front of Garrick.

You knew you were going to easily be taken down by Garrick but it was still a good learning lesson.

As Garrick rushed you, he swung a powerful right. You met him halfway, and lashed out with your own right. His punch was faster, and it caught you off guard. The punch landed on your mouth, you felt blood filling your mouth as you spat it out on the ground below you. “Good one but you won’t get another chance,”

You kicked out high and hard, catching Garrick square in the breastbone which you could tell knocked the breath out of him but Garrick recovered faster than you thought he would. “You gotta try harder than that,”

With fast reflexes, you skillfully evaded Garrick's oncoming attack, sidestepping his lunging right arm. Swiftly, you ducked under his extended limb and executed a graceful spin. This dance of evasion continued, leaving Garrick visibly disoriented. Sensing an opportunity, you swiftly drove your elbow into his side, causing him to double over in pain. Capitalizing on his vulnerability, you unleashed a powerful punch, connecting with his face.

However, in a surprising turn of events, Garrick managed to grab hold of you, causing both of you to tumble to the ground. As you found yourself positioned above him, ready to take action, he reversed the situation, and now he was the one on top of you, pinning your hands above your head, asserting his dominance in the sparring match. You locked eyes with him, a mischievous glint in your gaze. "Oh, is it too much for you to handle a woman taking charge?" You taunted, playfully lifting your leg to intensify the connection between you two.

A sly smirk crept across his face, his confidence evident. "Trust me, I can handle you just fine," he retorted, his voice laced with a hint of challenge.

A daring proposition escaped your lips, testing the limits of his bravado. "Care to prove it?"

Garrick's gaze momentarily shifted from your eyes to your enticing lips, but he abruptly released your hands and rose to his feet. "I'm sorry, but I can't," he muttered, hastily gathering his belongings and exiting the gym, leaving you with a mix of curiosity and disappointment.

***

Before you could even close your door completely, Xaden appeared in the doorframe. "Xaden," you greeted, shrugging off your jacket.

"What the hell was that?" Xaden snapped, his tone laced with an unfamiliar emotion. Jealousy.

Confused, you asked, "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about," he seethed.

"Oh, you mean sparring with Garrick? I needed a partner while you were occupied with Violet," you explained casually.

Xaden's anger only intensified. "That's not what I'm talking about," he growled.

Frustrated, you turned to face him. "Then what are you talking about?"

In an instant, Xaden pressed you against the wall, his hand tightening around your throat. "You belong to me, and no one else is allowed to touch you," he snarled possessively.

Rolling your eyes at his territorial display, knowing what was going to happen, you decided to push his buttons further. "You never said we were exclusive," You taunted.

He firmly grasped your chin with his other hand, forcefully pressing his lips against yours. The intensity of his kiss was filled with a mix of possessiveness and longing, leaving no doubt that he desired you deeply. The passion between you both was so intense that you knew your lips would be swollen afterwards, but the thought didn't concern you. In fact, you reveled in the roughness of his touch, finding it incredibly arousing. The taste of him on your lips only heightened your desire for him, fueling the fire that burned between you.

You and Xaden have been close friends for many years. The bond between you two had always been platonic, until the overwhelming stress of the Rider's Quadrant pushed you both to give in to your desires during your first year here. Since then, you have being fucking.

As he gently withdrew his lips from your neck, his hand from your chin, and his touch from your neck, he traced a path with his lips along your jawline and down to your neck. Despite being aware of your sensitive spot, he teasingly licked from the nape of your neck to that sweet spot before playfully biting down. The sensation made you involuntarily press against him, feeling his presence against you. He continued to explore your neck, alternating between sucking, licking, and nibbling, leaving behind subtle marks that wouldn't draw too much attention.

With a surge of desire, you raised your hand and gradually unfastened the buttons of his leather jacket, one by one, allowing it to slide down his arms. Your fingertips trailed down his well-defined chest, and then you proceeded to unfasten his pants, eager to explore further.

You slipped your hand under his pants and started rubbing him. He moaned into your neck and let himself enjoy it for a few seconds before he pulled your hand out of his pants. He reached down and cupped your ass before walking over to the bed and laying on your back. "Sit up," He commands.

Complying with him, he proceeds to pull your shirt off and hurls it haphazardly somewhere in the room. With a forceful push, he guides you back onto the bed. In an instant, he pressed his lips against your boobz, roughly caressing your nipple with his tongue, while his hand squeezed the other harshly. This intimate exchange lasted for a fleeting moment before he switched his attention. A soft, voluntary moan escaped your lips, punctuating the shared pleasure.

You observed as he withdrew his lips from your boobs, trailing a trail of affectionate kisses along your body. His nibbles, carefully placed, left a mark of possessiveness, a silent declaration of claiming you as his, adorning your stomach. Aware of the limitations on your neck, he refrained from leaving any visible marks there. With a swift and confident motion, his fingers slipped beneath the fabric of your pants, where they snugly embraced your hips. In one fluid movement, he deftly lowered your pants and underwear. He spread your legs like butter and placed a kiss on your inner thighs before he rubbed your folds before slipping one finger in. "Who made you this wet?"

"Garrick," You teased as you threw your head back in pleasure.

He removed his fingers before placing his mouth on your core and just went to town without warning, licking your pussy in long, wet strokes. He takes one of his fingers and slides it inside of you. You gasp as pure bliss takes over. While he was curling his finger inside you, he was licking the nub of your clit. After a few seconds, he inserts another finger in you. He was hitting your g-spot every single time. As the familiar sensation was building up, so Xaden picked up his speed and roughen his touch. Once you came, he didn't stop there, he fucked you with his tongue over and over again until he knew you were thoroughly fucked.

You were left a panting mess before he finally removed his mouth, stood up and slid down his pants. He positioned himself between your legs and gave himself a few strokes to make sure he was hard enough for you before he pushed into you. Your eyes rolled back as Xaden softly said fuck. No matter how many times you and Xaden fucked, he felt just as good as the first time.

It didn't take long for him to start thrusting into you as fast as he could. He buried his cock deep inside of you as you wrapped your arms around his neck and your legs around his waist. He thrust in and out of her at the perfect pace. “Just like that, Riorson,”

You started to roll your hips, moving along with him, matching his pace. You two move perfectly in sync, your bodies aligned, even your breath in rhythm. You were breathing faster and faster as your climax was nearing. He took his hands off your thighs and flipped you over to where you were sitting on his lap for a deeper angle. He buried his face in the side of your neck and bit you gently, right in that sweet spot he found earlier. That pushes you over the edge. You grinded your body hard against him, the rhythmic contraction of your pussy squeezing his cock. "Xaden!" You yelled out as your high hits

“I'm about to cum.” He said as you rode him until he let out a deep groan.

He rolled you back over onto your back and before he pulled out he grabbed the towel he keeps on the bedside table so he could clean you up. "Don't ever think Garrick can fuck you as good as I can, babygirl. I've been fucking you for the past three years. No one knows your body like I do,"

[anim-ttrpgs]

my friends and i are making characters to play in a Eureka! campaign. the rulebook advises players to not corroborate to make characters—at least not on a mechanical level—as party balance isn't an issue

however, one of my friends brought up a concern: in a system without classes (which btw, i love the trait and skill system and how it essentially allows completely freestyle classes in a fully character driven manner), what makes one character stand out from another?

they brought up that in Eureka!, a monstrous PC could have all the skills of another player's mundane PC, as well as additional monster abilities and weaknesses. especially in a party with more than one monstrous/mage PC, the mundane PCs could have little that sets them apart mechanically if players don't discuss what stats or traits they're taking.

in a balanced class system, each PC stands out as they have a skillset different than the other PCs which forces them into the spotlight when their class features are necessary. obviously, mechanics are far from the only thing that makes a PC unique or otherwise stand out, and i think an interesting character arc or personality makes them just as interesting and unique

but if mechanics are half or even a quarter of what makes a PC stand out/unique from the rest if the party, how do you suggest making sure none of the players feel that they get lost in the shuffle of the party/plot?

There’s quite a few complex answers to this question but I’m gonna give it my best. I think your friends might be thinking of the “composition” of the Eureka party a bit too much like, say, an Overwatch team comp. gotta have tank, DPS, healing, etc., and they worry that if they don’t collaborate then they’ll end up with too many DPSs and not enough healers or whatever. That shouldn’t be a concern at all.

Firstly, at the time of writing this, Eureka has about 60 Traits, and PCs have 3-6 each. I find the likelihood of two characters in the same party having all the same Traits to be pretty low. Plus there’s 21 Skills set between -3 and +3, and a Tiers of Fear chart, and all that is before you even get to the Truth element, which is so freeform that I have a really hard time believing that two PCs in the party will have the same one. All of these mechanical elements of the PC make up their personality and background, and those are the things that make a character. So I think it’s overall really unlikely that two PCs are going to end up too similar.

Another thing is that Eureka isn’t really about archetypes, it’s about people. What makes two people in real life stand out from one another? “Everything” and “nothing” are both correct answers. The difference between two Eureka characters probably won’t be something you can tell just from the silhouette of all their signature tactical gear and weapons and clothing, they’re just guys. It’s much subtler, and Eureka gameplay is designed to bring up those subtle nuances of which makes two normal people unique from each other. And the fact that supernatural characters can also be normal people is very important. If a vampire ends up being “just like you or me,” well, that’s good!

As for “spotlight” and making sure players don’t feel like their PCs are lost in the shuffle, refer back to the Overwatch team comp. comparison. One of the reasons we made it a rule that you don’t collaborate on party composition is because we don’t want you to have a “balanced” party. We don’t want Eureka to be played with a video-game-y “party balance” mindset. People in real life aren’t balanced. Eureka parties aren’t expert teams of specialists assembled to complete a mission, they’re random guys who end up getting themselves into trouble. Grab 5 random people off the street, or grab 5 people you know personally, and you’ll find that they probably don’t make a very balanced party if you were to translate their real life skills and traits into a Eureka character sheet.

And this is good!

Let’s say you end up with a party where nobody has any good Interpersonal Skills(very common occurrence when we play Eureka), and that party comes to a situation that would be very easily handled with a very obvious solution if they had good Interpersonal Skills. Well, the “easy” course of action is blocked off to them. Now, they have to really get creative, or maybe just lose and die.

If this were a video game, this would just be a softlock or a game over, if your character doesn’t have The Skill, they can literally not complete this objective, but it’s a TTRPG, and that’s the strength of TTRPGs over video games.

In a TTRPG, the full range of human possibilities are available to the PCs, and a defeat/loss/death can be more interesting than just “Game Over.”

[sinvulkt]

List of some of webtoon and manhwa recs.

First of all I should probably say that my favorite type of stories (so the type you might find in the list bellow) is ’tragedy comedy adventure’ without any romance, but possibly a lot of bromance | tension (ok some BL slipped by me into this list). And rather self destructive mc for the sake of their goal (often to the utter despair of the people who care about them xd). Bring forth conflicts and battles of will and rising against destiny !

@blackhazefanblog I did this for you! It took a while. Even if I think you’ll find the ones in [The Fantasy Kind] are the most likely to have similar vibes to black haze. : D

All summaries are from Baka-Updates or WebtoonLine. The links are either towards WebtoonLine, or towards the original official site (or official english translation if i found it).

The Fantasy Kind

Black Haze (Ongoing)

A long time ago, a portal to another world was opened, and those who acquired special abilities along with marks began to be called mages. After the incident known as "that day", the first-class mage from Ophion, known as "Blow", has become very famous. One day, he receives a very special mission: to protect the second son of the Artian family, who suffers from being called a "monster" at the magic school "Helios"! Thus, Blow enrolls in Helios under the name "Rood Krisch" to hide his true identity...

My all time favorite. I learned english thanks to it < 3. And it just group so many of my favorite tropes in one story ☆.☆

I’m not that kind of talent (Ongoing)

A talented individual who is respected by many and welcomed anywhere? Not at all! A bloodthirsty battle fanatic who knows no defeat? Couldn’t be further from the truth! In reality, Deon Hardt is a sickly human who coughs up blood from receiving the tiniest bit of stress and gets sunburns from standing in the sun for ten minutes. But due to an unfortunate misunderstanding, he becomes “Demon Arut,” the notorious 0th corps commander of the demon army and the demon king’s joker. Caught in a war between humans and demonkind, Deon must find a way to survive!

I discovered that one this year! I love comediy and tragedy mixed together, and that one fully achieved that, from making me laugh to absolutely destroying my heart seriously i am still hurting. Well this is a tragedy. Be warned. But a delicious one. (My heart TT.TT).

The Ember Knight (Ongoing)

When Nagyunn’s twin brother, Najin, is murdered before his very eyes, he vows to avenge his brother’s death by assuming Najin’s identity. But although the two may look alike, when it comes to fighting, Nagyunn lacks the talent and skill his brother possessed. In order to successfully execute his plot for revenge, Nagyunn resolves to train himself to become the prodigious knight-in-training his brother once was. Will Nagyunn be able to keep his identity a secret before others begin to catch on to his act?

Another one I discovered ’recently’ = last year. I absolutely adore the fact that the mc rely fully on wits and bluff. He will never get a cheat skill to get as strong as others- he just has to play his card rights (which happen to be a bunch of overprotective knights wishing he stopped going in front of the blade path). So he gotta bluff. A lot. Including playing betrayal at every corner, and i sure love betrayal :3. That and it’s a revenge story ~

TAL (Complete)

They walk like ordinary people, they talk like ordinary people but in fact there is nothing ordinary about them since they can materialize an image they have on their mind... They call themselves Chachaoong which also means Shaman and they do not know how or when they came to this world. It is now a time for their current king to choose the future one and so he did by choosing Yu Jin an ordinary human...? Many of the Chachaoong can not tolerate a human ruling them and now the poor Yu Jin not knowing what suddenly hit him, is trying to avoid the Chachaoongs who are trying to kill him!

This has been my second favorite after Black Haze for a long time, because I got a soft spot for escapists xd. All the more escapists with consequences catching them back faster than they can run until they’re cornered ☆.☆ Fight until the end against a fate you are doom to surrender to ~ I love it.

Catharsis (Complete)

Fear is a powerful emotion that can end up overtaking one's life. Leon thought he knew that. But when he's thrown into the demonic realm that Catharsis governs over, he'll learn that there is more to “true” fear than he could ever have imagined... But will he learn how to face it?

That one also stayed in my mind for a long time. The ending is more ’open’ than I would have wished, but well, there is no sequel yet so let’s call that an ending. Appart from that i loved the mc, and he has synesthesis which give really cool result in webtoon format (yay colors). In a world where nightmares take physical shape, the mc get attacked by nightmares and end up being recruited by the agency fighting nightmares bcs they feel smthg off about him.

Crepuscule (Complete)

Lark is different from the rest of the kids. He has red eyes, just like Vampires do, and he is bullied by the other kids for it. One day he meets Setz, a genuine Vampire of a Noble clan who is the only one that doesn't call him a monster or bully him. Eventually they become friends, but when Lark finds out he may have to return to the orphanage, Setz decides he does not want to lose his friend, so he invites him to his home... The world of the Vampires.

Another webtoon i grew up with as a teen. It isn’t my all time fav, but i still quite enjoyed it enough to reread it a few times. Must be the blond mc that reminded me of Rood xd. Or the fact that he is super weak in a world of monsters. Or the reason he has those red eyes. (Such delicious angst amidst the comedy). Are those just a trope I enjoy? XD

Godly Bells (Complete)

Divine Bells - they choose their own masters and they determine the status, prestige, and influence of the countries their masters rule. The presence or lack of these Bells also has great consequence in the lives of each country's royalty. In particular, the personal and political futures of King Hong-Ryeong seem doomed without a Bell, but at equally great peril if he obtains one. But are the Divine Bells simple magical charms, deities of great powers, or something else altogether? And when the owner of three of the eight existing Divine Bells dies, leaving them to choose new owners, where will the resulting turmoil lead?

Another blond mc i grew up with as a teen and reread a few time. And another ’king’ who is ’weak’. It’s in a fantasy world, where divine ’bells’ give each king (and thus each country) power. The mc country hasn’t been chosen by any bells for years, so quite look down upon. Until three bells at least or smthg choose the mc. And then they become people, with their own agenda. The mc didn’t want the attention but well can’t convince the bells to drop him xd. Which is why i loved this story. Once again, can’t escape fate even when you didn’t want it ~

Aegis Orta (Complete)

Val is an ordinary high school student who dedicates his life to God. His peaceful days however have to end when he learns about who he really is..

Very much in the same vibe of Godly Bells and Crepuscule, only I discovered it later and thus have less memories of it (bcs reread it less). It’s another blond character with red eyes that get ’fate’ thrown at its face ~ well. Demon powers. Same.

---

I’m not gonna put Mxtx’s works here (Heaven Official Blessing, Mo Dao Zu Shi, Scum Villain Self Saving System), but they’re great too. If you love comedy and tragedy and don’t mind BL too much. Go for it. I usually don’t enjoy romance that much but it didn’t bother me with those works, bcs it’s presented so naturally into the story rather than harassing us every second. Phantom Paradise is also a BL, although entirely different vibe. It’s what would happen with matriarchat instead of patriarchat but all the toxicity remain - only gender roles are reversed. As for why I enjoyed it so much... I guess I am still somewhat sensitive to fan service ? XD

I also feel like I should mention UnderPrin, even if it didn’t make it all the way to my favs, kind of similar vibe to Catharsis and Aegis Orta. I’ll also mention Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist which is a manga but another blond character in the same vibe of the earlier ones, who refuse his own power XD. And Pandora Hearts because its my favorite manga ever. I even prefer it to Black Haze (but I think someone who liked one would also like the other?).

[midnight-in-town]

Ashaf as a First Class Mage

One thing I absolutely love about Ashaf's character is that it takes for the plot to move on a bit for readers to notice that, like Guideau, he's also high game.

That's done very smoothly and efficiently, because the story at first naturally tends to focus on introducing Guideau as a monstrous force to be reckoned with. So during the first arcs, Ashaf is often "reduced" as their supervision and support. But the more the plot moves on, the more we realize Ashaf is even more mysterious than Guideau and might as well be considered as dangerous.

Finally, in the on-going arc (spoilers+++), we're introduced to the summoning of Dragons (plz that scene was absolutely epic) being one of the highest feats of magic...

...and they speak of "only one person who managed to summon an entire Dragon in history".

Later, in the latest published chapters, we're also introduced to the concept of Witche's Disciples through 2 new characters...

and Ashaf is once more rudely looked down upon by another magic user (Dunward was also hella rude during Orlencia Sett), which leads him to say this :

So now I ask you : could it be that Ashaf, the first class mage with many animal familiars, is the one man who once managed to summon an entire Dragon ? Considering I also believe it's not far-fetched that Ashaf may know Angela from a time long past, I wouldn't be very surprised if it was the case (maybe he too received a Witch's favor). :D

Anyway, while we wait for the answer, I gotta show you Ashaf brilliantly beating that fake dragon's ass in a very classy and satisfying way ! :D

It was so not a challenge to him that he managed, mid-fight, to send crows to deliver Guideau's coffin (that lil exchange made me smile a lot xD)

TL;DR let's all agree to stop underestimating Ashaf. x) He's not Guideau's partner just because they randomly met 3 years ago.

[foxglovepng]

Hello! I don’t know if you write this kind of thing, but could I have a silly little crack fic about Grim sabotaging different boys’ attempts at flirting with the prefect? Little guy has gotta look out for his henchhuman, y’know?

Characters: Ace, Cater, Floyd, Rook.

CW: Ace's part mentions his ex, Bit of blood in Floyd's part, Cater's is kind of sad, Rook is Rook.

A/N: Hello Anon! I hope this is to your liking. I made Ace's part kind of long and since you didn't specify which characters I just let the wheel picker decide. I feel I may have written Grim a little OOC so apolgies for that I don't normally write for him, but I do love a challenge.

If you liked it reblogs and likes are always greatly appreciated!!

Not proofread

↠ Part 2

Ace- He nitpicks at his attempts/ruins them

After the events of Riddle, Leona’s, Azul’s, and the Jamil overblot he wasn’t present for. Ace had started taking a liking to prefect they were close after spending so much time together and he liked Yuu however a certain cat had other plans. Ace was always worried that he wouldn’t date anyone especially after what happened with his ex-girlfriend he was worried he wouldn’t be able to date the prefect, so subtle hints of flirting he gave to the prefect. However Grim started taking a notice to Ace’s behavior towards his henchman and didn’t really like that. The next time Ace would try anything Grim would try and stop it. 

“Henchman, can you get me some more Tuna?” Grim asked

“Grim I just got you some Tuna we barely have the expenses to get you more. I still need to eat as well.” Yuu spoke as Grim sighed, mumbling something. 

“Yo prefect.” Ace’s voice was heard as the Prefect turned to look at the red head who was jogging over.

“Hey Ace. What did you get on the test yesterday?” Yuu asked

“I got a 100%.” He crossed his arms proudly

“In your dreams you did.” Grim spoke 

“What! No, I totally got an A.” Ace defended himself

“It was an easy test so I would hope you get an A.” Yuu spoke giggling a bit.

“Anyways. Prefect you wanna grab some lunch? I’ll pay.” Ace offered flashing a cheeky smile.

“Yeah I.” Prefect was cut off by Grim, “Actually we were going to the library to study.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to have some lunch Grim.” Yuu spoke

“Yeah I can totally help you guys study as well.” Ace spoke

Grim gave up as Yuu started walking with Ace to the cafeteria. Grim was obviously annoyed. He needs his Henchmen to not dally off with boys that will distract them from him becoming a great mage.

“You had a basketball game recently, right? You were pretty amazing.” Yuu spoke to Ace

“I have to do well, so I won’t be benched. You should come to my games more often. It would help if you were cheering me on.” Ace nudged Yuu

“If you want a personal cheerleader you could just hire one y’know.” Grim crossed his arms

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Ace rubbed the back of his neck

“I don’t mind going to your games, in fact I really like seeing you do something you’re passionate about.” Yuu spoke which made Ace turn red a bit.

“Can we go back to studying? You two are getting off track.” Grim spat

“Jeez Grim, it was just some small conversation.” Ace spoke

It went silent as the air felt heavy. The only sounds of pencil writing and pages of textbooks flipping. Eventually it was almost time to go to class.

“We should probably get to leaving class is going to start soon.” Yuu spoke

“Yeah. I’ll meet you at class.” Ace spoke feeling defeated by Grim’s tactics who felt quite proud of himself. Maybe Ace will have another chance to tell Yuu how he feels.

Cater- Ruins photos/Justs gets in the way

Cater enjoyed hanging out with Yuu a lot and he always tried to find a way to hang out with Yuu. Taking photos while hanging out to save for memories incase Yuu ever decides to leave this world he has something to remember Yuu. Whenever Yuu needed help or needed something he was always offering just to spend time with Yuu. However as of recently due to Halloween being at the end of the month and midterms coming up Yuu hasn’t had a lot of time to spend with Cater not to mention Grim is also finding a way to try and keep Yuu busy. Grim didn’t want his Henchman to get distracted by one of the coolest and chillest third years. Cater started picking up on Grim’s behavior but just pushed it off as he just wanted the both of them to work hard so they don't get expelled.

“Hey Yuu.” Cater walked up to the Prefect.

“Hey Cay. Sorry we haven’t been hanging out a lot, just been so busy.” Yuu spoke

“It’s no biggie. We can find a way to hang out soon.” He spoke

“Do you have any unbirthday parties coming up soon? Maybe I can attend.” Yuu spoke

“We do actually I was going to see if you can come anyways. It’s on Friday at the usual time.” Cater spoke

“Yeah I’d love to come.” Yuu spoke

“Henchman.” Grim’s yell was heard as he came running up to the prefect. Jumping on them, climbing on them to their shoulder.

“Hey Grimmy.” Cater greeted Grim.

“Can we go to Sam’s please?” Grim begged, ignoring Cater.

“You aren’t going to get 20 cans of Tuna are you?” Yuu asked

“Please.” Grim started begging gripping Yuu’s shoulder.

“Okay we can go. I’ll see you later Cater.” Yuu spoke as Cater waved and they both left.

Cater felt sad. He wanted to hang out with his favorite freshman, but of course they got caught up with something. Cater would also feel upset seeing the message Yuu sent the very next day saying they can’t make it to the birthday party another hangout ruined.

Floyd- He ruins any food/gets defensive whenever Floyd gets too close

Floyd liked his shrimpy, he loved the way Shrimpy hung out with him, he loved the way he got to squeeze his shrimpy. However Floyd’s been noticing the baby seal has been passive aggressive to him recently. He’s also been noticing food he makes for Shrimpy also gets ruined. Floyd has done many checks no one in the kitchen is messing with prefects food, and it’s certainly not Jade or Azul doing it. Azul started complaining Floyd is spending resources on food that doesn’t get paid or eaten so eventually he had to stop the free food for his shrimpy. Jade has pointed out it could be the doing of Grim, but Floyd isn’t hoping Grim would go that far. Would he?

Prefect decided to pay a visit to the Octavinelle trio mainly to check up on everyone and see how they are doing. Grim was getting antsy because he wanted to go back to ramshackle to take his daily nap. Floyd was working a shift, but decided he was going to take just a small break to go see his shrimpy.

“Shrimpy.” Yuu heard Floyd’s voice as he came from behind them and squeezed them. Grim got fed up from wanting to take a nap and Floyd so he did what his instinct told him to do.

“Grim.” Yuu called as there were lines that started to bleed on Floyd’s arm. Grim had scratched Floyd and he didn’t look pleasant with that. Yuu pulled Grim away as Jade looked shocked watching the interaction.

“Brother let me go get the first aid kit.” Jade spoke walking off as Floyd exhaled and walked away. Baby seal is getting a talking to tomorrow and not a fun one.

Rook - He destroys love letters & poetry

Yuu had caught the eye of Rook. Naturally from not being from his world he took interest in the Prefect and fell for their beauty. Rook is a gentle poetic lover meaning the Prefect is his muse. Rook has definitely caught on that Grim does not like him, but would never think Grim would go as far to destroy his pieces of work to protect Yuu. Rook would send letters and Poetry to Yuu every day, and even went as far to handing the letters directly to Yuu before grim threw them away, not caring about either one’s opinions. 

Rook deemed it as a challenge and decided he would use any means necessary to make sure the prefect knows they are valued and appreciated. Rook is simply a poet and Yuu is simply his muse; he wishes to know every bit of them if they decide to leave his world.

Even if Yuu decided to leave in a poet's eyes the muse lives on forever.

-

Special mention

Malleus- …

Grim is dead before he can intervene with the courtship of him and his child of man (/hj)

[dragonagegayz]

Might've Had Your Fill, But You Feel it Still

Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Rating: Explicit

Game: Dragon Age The Veilguard

Pairing: Emmrich x Rook, Emmrook, Emmrich x Trans! Male Rook, Emmrich x Mourn Watch Rook

Word Count: 6141

Summary: A good ole drgaon fight ends up with Emmrich making a miscalculation and Oz stepping in to save him. What Emmrich does in response is go home and shove a dildo in his ass to deal with all the building tension because what else is a man to do?

This is time 3

A good ole drgaon fight ends up with Emmrich making a miscalculation and Oz stepping in to save him. What Emmrich does in response is go home and shove a dildo in his ass to deal with all the building tension because what else is a man to do?

Title: Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man

NSFW Tags: Masturbation with dildo

     Rivain was stunning, not what Emmrich was used to, per se, the beaches, the clear blue water, the wildlife. It was a wonderful bioregion and the senior mage was so curious as to the magic that lay around in pockets on the beach. When this was all over, he would have to take a class here to study, to show the differences in death magic other regions had to offer. He had even started making sure that every time Rook took him to the beachside to make a list of areas he loved to explore with students. Oz had fondly chuckled when Emmrich pulled a small notebook out from a hidden pocket in his jacket. He had hoped the pink of his ears didn’t show. And if he bent down a little further with his ass out a little more than normal well, who is to say?

     This time Oz, Taash, and Emmrich were on he coast to fight a dragon. The mage wasn’t very pleased to be the one being brought along, but when the Rivaini mentioned it was weak to poisons, he offered his expertise. Taash had scoffed at him, because of course they did, while the other qunari smiled, thanking him for the offer and asking the two to get ready for the mission. So now the group found themselves face to face with a very angry dragon, Kataranda, who had let out such a serious roar the older Mourn Watchers’ ears were still ringing even as she took flight to attack them.

      The fight was rough, electrified water and Oz was constantly getting himself caught in it much to his team's distress. “Rook! You gotta know better by now!” Taash yelled out with a bit of exasperation in their voice. From where he stood, Emmrich saw them roll their eyes much to his annoyance. “I promise I’m not trying to get caught in the water,” The warrior rolled out from the puddle he was standing in, a litany of ows muttered under his breath. Emmrich summoned a spirit to provide the qunari with a healing potion which got him a ‘Thanks Emmrich!’ in response much to his delight. He saw a smirk form on the man’s face as he began to run around the field again, trying to stay on the sandy parts just above the water. “You know Taash,” Emmrich could already tell there was going to be some flirtious drawl from the way his voice changed, the way his eyes definitely darkened even amidst the battlefield. “I always knew there was a-” He cut himself off with a giggle which earned him a confused grunt from the other qunari, who had just thrown a rather large boulder at the dragon flying around. It took a few moments for the Mourn Wach warrior to get his words straightened out past the chuckles. “I always knew there was a spark in between us,” Rook let out the loudest laugh yet when he finally managed to get the words out, and while all Taash responded was with an annoyed grunt, a glance told Emmrich that there was a blush on their cheeks. The anger he had felt even took him by surprise, making him bite down hard on his tongue, which he sliced into it with sharp canine.

      They continued to fight more, hitting the beast with everything and anything they could, it had to have been at least 30 minutes of trying to get her to ware down. The necromancer threw spells, one right after the other at the terrifying beast. It grabbed her attention a couple of times, her sole focus being targeted at the necromancer, but if anything, he took it in stride. Maybe preening under the way the qunari would look over to watch him move. Rook seemed to be having an excellent time, despite everything, if the delighted smile on the warrior was any indication. They would most definitely have to have a conversation about appropriate reactions to dangers, even the “cool” ones.

     Now the mage could easily admit that he was a bit slower than the others when it came to combat. Nothing that was so noticeable he would be causing any issues to the team, but it was enough for him to catch on, especially when it came to the 20-year-old Taash and the 23-year-old Oz. The two qunari were spry after all, fresh into their youth and with the 30 years Emmrich had on them, there was inevitably going to be some difference in their fight abilities. And while it usually didn’t affect him whatsoever, the senior necromancer couldn’t deny the way he felt just a touch behind the other two, especially as he rolled around to dodge the sparks of electric breath coming at them. It affected him much quicker than the other two and that was how the older man found himself winded for just a few moments after a particular ruthless round of sparks being thrown at him. Unfortunately, he had miscalculated when he should take a moment to try to catch his breath and realized a fast ball of sparks was heading straight his way with nowhere for him to jump to avoid it. He readied himself to take the hit, steeling his body when he heard what could only be described as a roar.

     But this wasn’t Taash as it so often was. No, this was Oz, charging towards the mage with such unweilding speed and before he knew it, large hands wrapped around Emmrich’s shoulders and he was brought flush against the other Mourn Watcher’s body. His back to the man’s chest, an arm secured around the front of his chest in a tight grip and… Sweet Maker their hips were flush against each other, the older man’s ass straight against the younger man’s crotch. They didn’t stay like that for long, not even more than a few seconds, but it felt as if Emmrich had cast a time slow spell, he could feel the shape of the other man’s bulge so unbelievably well against his rear. The damnable qunari and his insistence on wearing the skimpiest clothes imaginable. Oh, how the older man wondered what would happen were he to push back, to grind against Rook in the most filthy of ways.

     Oz pulled away from Emmrich and the mage found himself having to stifle a whine in his throat when he did so. How utterly embarrassing! They were still in a damn fight with a dragon for spirit’s sake! The qunari stepped in front of the other man, head tilted to the side with his weapons back in his hands. “Alright there Emm?” He asked, tone low and somehow cutting through the flapping wings of the Kataranda. The mage swallowed or tried to, his throat was of course, dry, uncomfortable. “Fine,” He croaked out, hands tightening on his staff out of embarrassment for his inability to speak. There was a tint in the other man’s eyes, a questioning sort of look but seeing as they had far more pressing issues at hand it seemed to be ignored, a quick nod of affirmation before Rook turned back to the dragon, axe now high in the air as he ran towards the beast, scream echoing out in the cove they were fighting in.

     They finished the fight, collected their treasure, and headed to the Hall of Valor to collect on their free drinks. Well, Oz and Taash did. Emmrich decided he was far too exhausted from the fight, wanting nothing more than to have a change from his clothes and probably head to bed. The other Mourn Watcher was upset to see the man go, but was very understanding, brushing a hand across the man’s cheekbone. ‘Checking for a bruise,’ he said with a wink, one of those winks, the one that made Emmrich’s heart beat just a little harder in his chest. The other qunari dragged him away, talking about needing a drink right now as Rook threw his head back in laughter, promising to get ‘sloshed’.

     On the walk back to the Lighthouse, Emmrich didn’t think about it. Upon returning home, he didn’t linger on the thought that popped in his head. As he went to his room, he allowed a small idea of the whole thing to sit in his head. As he changed into his night shirt and pants, he wondered what exactly Oz used to pack with, it felt very realistic against him. When he climbed into bed, he could feel his cock start to want to fill out at the thought of whatever it was, hard and ready to ram into poor ole Emmrich. But the second his head hit his pillow, sleep enveloped his body and the necromancer fell into a surprisingly deep sleep.

     Emmrich woke up an unknown amount of time later, head groggy from what he determined was not enough sleep. He heard Manfred above him on the balcony, the necromancer trusted he was being good enough to not be checked on so he went to stand. He planned to get up and dress into something more appropriate, get some tea to help lull him back to sleep, as in the fade time might not work the same, but he could tell it had to be late. His head ached a little, his stomach quesy from not eating dinner and what seemed like a lot of salt still stuck in his mouth from the coast. Footsteps from above told him that Manfred was preoccupied with something on the balcony and, he put his faith in the wisp that he still wasn’t doing anything too disruptive. He slipped out of bed, reaching over to the basin of water he had on hand to splash some water to his face to help ease the pain behind his eyes. It did help, the cool water running down his face seemed to take some of his grogginess away, as well as when he opened his eyes, his vision had cleared. The mirror that stood in front of the basin showed rumpled looking Emmrich, mussed up from sleep, and the leftover pomade, mustache turned up in ways it shouldn’t have been, bulged in his pants that strained against his loose sleep pants.

     Wait… what?

     When the necromancer looked down, he saw that yes indeed, he was hard in his pants, filled out with pre-cum even leaking through his pants. A blush came over him as a hand came up to smack himself in the face and bury itself into it. Of course he was affected by the stunt Oz had pulled earlier, and of course, sleep didn’t deter his body from the feeling. Annoyance clawed at him as a groan came out, echoing through the room. He heard a curious hiss from above him. “I’m fine, Manfred, please stay up there,” He called out, not wanting to be seen by anyone in the state he was in. He listened for footsteps coming down the stairs, but they never came, much to his relief.

     This wasn’t supposed to happen again. It should have been enough, sticking his fingers in his ass, cumming twice and so hard that his dick ached days afterwards. He wasn’t supposed to have these ideas in his head anymore, why was his brain working so hard against him? Reluctanly, Emmrich turned back to his bed, prepared to climb in and sleep the rest of the night plus his horny thoughts away but something caught his eyes before he did. A box, hidden in his shelf. A box he’d brought from home, a ‘just in case’ he always kept close when he went on extended trips. A bit to his lip and he approached it.

     It wasn’t anything too crazy, just where he kept his sex toys for personal and… relational use. Not that he had used it for anything like that for a few years, it had only been for himself in that time since. Sure he had some casual affairs here and there but nothing that ever warranted further care into sex beyond a romp in the sheets (or gardens). Everything he knew in the box, he knew well, some of the toys he’d been carrying for years, taking extra care of them to extend their use. One of the items was a phallus he had made for a old relationship where they wanted to fuck him and ever the gentlemen, Emmrich purchased a strap and a dildo as a gift to them. The rest of their time together, their sex revolved around that thing and Emmrich loved it. He was almost sad to see it go when he and that particular partner broke it off, but they were kind enough to let him keep it since he found more use out of it. It had been and still was his favorite toy to ride when the itch arose. And he felt that itch in his bones again.

     “Manfred!” Rapid steps came down the stairs and Emmrich made sure to keep his back turned as to not let him see the state he was in. “Why don’t you go trim the vines on the outside of the Lighthouse? I know you do have fun doing so,” A happy hiss came and clatter of bones rapidly heading for the door. “Close the door please!” Emmrich called out, which the wisp followed the order with a loud slam of the doors shutting back together. The mage let out a sigh, taking his shirt then pants off and this time neatly folded them aside (the wrinkles from his previous times had been far too annoying to get out, he knew better now).

     ‘It is inevitable, I would think about this,’ Emmrich reasoned to himself. ‘Oz pressed against me in such a way, I could not not think about it. He must know what he’s doing,” That felt bad to think, leaving the salt in his mouth to sour. He couldn’t blame Rook, the young man had no direct influence on his dirty, old mind beyond being the center of his attention. Yes, while everything the qunari did had an air of flirtation around it, it wasn’t any sort of welcome to this. He knew this time he had to keep his thoughts from his fellow Mourn Watcher. Be it a past fling or nothing even, if he were going to do this he absolutely could not think about Oz.

     So Emmrich reached down for the box, careful opening it as if the clattering sound would attract attention at this hour and dug around quietly until he found his prize. He undid the strap, seeing as there was no need for it now and pulled it out completely. A rush of arousal going through him at the mere sight of the toy. The last time he remembered using it was a few months before being recruited by Rook, alone in his dark apartment letting out loud moans and groans since Manfred hadn’t been home. That was going to be an issue, Emmrich knew he became very vocal when using this particular dick but seeing as he was very much not alone, there was no way he could allow those nosies out. Thankfully, he found one of his clean gloves and decided it was more than good enough to use as a gag. (He knew it worked, another thing he had used for past encounters.)

     The older man was grateful he picked some of the honey oil, this would needed seeing as the toy was a little over 7 inches and beyond the fingers he had played with, he hadn’t done anything else with his hole since. It was going to be a long stretch and while he knew he should use his fingers to at least prep himself, the blood in his cock disagreed and he was inclined to follow. Sexual pleasure dumbed down even the smartest of men, he embarrassingly mused to himself. He arranged himself on his bed, partially on his lower back with one arm holding himself up with the other free, covered the toy in the oil and with his legs out in a way that allowed for easy access to himself. He swallowed hard, the sound deafening in his very quiet room, the distant creaks and cracks of the fade the only other noises.

     He, at least, gave himself the courtesy of putting oil around his rim, biting down deep on his lip to stifle the sounds before reaching for the glove to shove in his mouth. The vaguest hint of honey was on it. A moan came from his chest and thankfully, the glove muffled it quite well so it was only a sound in his ears and nothing else. Anticipation shuddered through the senior necromancer, a warm feeling settling in his stomach. He reached for the toy to the side of him, still covered in a thick layer of oil and angled it to his hole. The man passed it back and forth a couple of times across his ring of tight muscle, a teasing motion that made his thighs shake and groans build behind the glove. He bit down on the leather as a particular pass up made the head slip into his asshole, making his back arch reflexily. Even just that was big, much bigger than the bony fingers had been when he had fingered himself, and warmer too. Emmrich was sure when he bought the toy that it was a material that retained heat, for his and his partner’s pleasure. It was warm, sturdy and he wanted so much more.

     “Well go one professor, what are you waiting for?”

Spit caught in the man’s throat and he choked slightly, not enough to start coughing but enough that the toy slipped from him, which in turn made the necromancer whine out. This wasn't supposed to go this way. He shook his head, as if he could physically shake Oz’s voice from the inner depths of his brain. Ok, so he needed to focus on something, anything other than the imaginary voice of Rook in his ears, whispering, breathing, moaning. A harder shake of his head.

     Emmrich had more than enough experiences to pull from, there was absolutely no need for the qunari to be the source of his pleasure. With a nod of affirmation (to no one) the man settled back into his previous position, legs finding a more comfortable position and toy reangled for his hole. He let the head slip in again, moaning into the glove at the feeling once more starting to fill him. There was a bit of giddiness he felt as he slowly, but surely began to sink it in deeper. He closed his eyes and pictured his apartment back home, on his bed with a previous partner looming over him.

     They were an elf, a rather large one at that, that would meet up with Emmrich to exchange pleasure. It was nothing very serious and they both approached it with the idea that all it was was fun. They had the responsibilities of being a new professor, and Emmrich had been pouring most of his attention between his professor duties and Manfred’s teachings. ‘Something to let us relax from our lives,’ They had said when they approached Emmrich for such a situation. Sexual frustration led to a yes from the necromancer, and for a few months that’s what the two did. They were happy to use the strap and toy the older man already had, and Emmrich was more than happy to be on the receiving end. By the end of their time together, they were very, very trained in giving pleasure with it.

      There was one particular time on the man’s mind as he settled a little more on his back, toy unmoving as he adjusted to the inch he had slid in. It had been a particularly rough day with students, his shoulders were practically up to his ears with tension when the two of them had met up. They had even pointed it out to him and when he snapped, a quick apology and explanation came with burning ears. He still remembers the way their eyes darkened, how they slid up next to him and leaned up to whisper in his ear. “I think I know what you need, Volkarin,” A pinch came to his ass and while he did flinch, a moan as had also come from his mouth. A rapid nod and a laugh, then the two were off to his apartment.

      It was a blur in between, Emmrich did remember their mouths meeting, tongues fight, clothes being thrown off but when he came back to his mind, he found himself on his back on his bed, legs up as the elf stuck their face down, assaulting his rim with their tongue in an expert fashion. The necromancer had been so free with his noises, they had echoed throughout his modest apartment and the returning groans he got only made him louder. He loved being appreciated like this by his partner, where their sounds mixed with his. It was wonderful. The elf had slipped three fingers in together, they were always ruthless when they gave pleasure, pushing Emmrich to go, go, go, and it had just been what the man needed at the time.

      Now too, if he was to be honest with himself (but being honest would confront some feelings he wasn’t sure he was ready to deal with, especially when it came to Oz). Thanks to the old man’s horny thoughts, he pushed the toy in further, three inches all at once which made his back arch and a much louder groan to be muffled by the glove. He felt the vibration of it in his teeth and the deep rumble it caused in his lungs. Emmrich thought back to the way they would lean down over him when they’d thrust in with the toy, practically looming over him with his legs hiked up on their hips, feeling the muscle they had. Another inch slid in, the toy widened the closer he got to the base and he could feel that stretch in his hole, pausing his movements for a minute to reach down and feel the ring stretched around it. Another muffled moan came from him as his hole twitched at the feeling of his cold fingers gently gliding across himself. The honey oil’s warmth contrasted just so compared to his cold fingertips. He couldn’t get enough of the sensation. He needed more.

      He pushed in the last two inches, the fake balls hitting right on his sensitive rim.

     Maker save him, this was divinity.

     He was so, so full. Fingers didn’t do justice to the delicious stretch of something so long and wide. Something so filling, what Emmrich wouldn’t give for someone to be attached to the toy, giving him this pleasure. He shut his eyes, trying desperately to reach for the memory he had been focusing on of the elf, their eyes on him as his back arched out and a moan echoed through his apartment again. They never talked much, but their grunts of exertion and own sweet moans were a pleasurable memory so the man focused on those, desperately trying to pull them to the forefront of his mind. Their panting in his ears, their little ‘Ahs!’ with every thrust the necromancer would meet back, that sound of flesh on flesh smacking together as their hips picked up.

     “We should bother the mage,”

     Emmrich completely and utterly froze.

     “Emmrich, Taash and no way, we’re wasted!”

     It was Taash and Oz, both of whose words slurred together, and they were right outside his door. The door, he realized, he had not locked. And the qunari were talking about coming into his room, while he was in this position.

     His heart beat loud in his chest.

     “You want to bother him,” Taash’s voice was flat as well but their words tumbled together.

     “You do too but we want to bother him in very different ways. Let’s just go back downstairs,” Oz had a giggle in his voice, as if this was the funniest situation he could be in. Emmrich begged silently that the Rivani would agree.

     “Yeah but it would be funny,”

     “He’s probably asleep, Taash, c’mon let’s play some Wicked Grace, Varric taught me all his tricks, maybe we can even do the strip version,” Emmrich could practically hear the wink he knew the man gave.

     There was a long pause as the necromancer strained to hear their footsteps walk away. For a moment he thought they weren’t going to, and waiting with teeth digging into his bottom lips for the doors to bust open and the two drunk qunari to come tumbling in. What would Oz do, if he saw him with a dick in his ass, glove in his mouth, presenting it all to the world? Thankfully though, with some drunken persuasion, the two walked away, Oz’s loud voice carrying down the stairs and away. The mage gave an audible sigh, it being muffled by the glove of course. He thought for a moment of stopping but as the thought came to him, his hole clenched around the dick and he swore out at the feeling deep within him. It would be a waste to stop now, not only of energy, but also of that honey oil he had used.

     He tried to close his eyes to regather his fantasy, but he still found himself on semi-high alert and couldn’t relax enough to get the image. Deciding that was done for, he simply focused on the feeling of the toy in him. How full it made him feel and the warmth of the oil inside him. Again, he reached down and gripped the base, swallowing as best he could against the glove before starting to move. The way his walls reacted sent sparks across his skin as he started with a slow pace, just to get himself used to the sensations and still be able to somewhat control his nosies, the glove would only do so much after all. His impatience was beginning to win out, though as he picked up his speed, relishing in the feeling as he found his hips begin to move in time with the thrusts of the toy.

     “Doesn’t that feel so good professor? Having my cock in your ass, feeling that stretch filling you out? Sluts like you need always need something for your holes, don’t you?” It was Oz’s voice, a low, deep grumble in his ear, and god Emmrich wished more than anything it was real. This wasn’t as bad, he was so close anyway, this wouldn’t be like that last time, he wasn’t fantasizing the whole time so this one didn’t count. Whatever he needed to tell himself. His pace began to pick up. “Oh Emm, so pathetic and just for me to see. Isn’t that right? Who else would get to see you like this?” Though the glove was still stuffed in the man’s mouth, the necromancer shook his head and tried to say ‘No one, just you, just you Rook!’, all that was heard was the high pitched ‘Rook’ as his back arch when cum shot from his cock and across his thigh. Disbelief hit him as he looked down at the mess he made, the older Mourn Watcher hadn’t even realized how close he had been and the particular harsh thrust against his prostate probably didn’t help.

     Yet even with his orgasm, the man’s cock remained hard with a mix of pre-cum and actual cum smeared over his head. He watched it give an angry twitch. “Well would you look at that, whorish lil Professor Volkarin is still hard,” A whimpered lodged in Emmrich’s throat as shame burned in his stomach, of course his nasty old mind knew exactly what to provide himself with. With his eyes closed he could so easily imagine the feeling of the qunari looming over him, watching closely as the older Mourn Watcher let his body fall to his back with a thump to the bed. He snaked his other hand that had been holding himself up to wrap around his cock, a pitiful cry graoned into the glove as ovestimulating sparks danced across his skin. A deep rumbling laugh echoed through his head. “Aw, is it too much for yo, Emm? We both know it isn’t, we both know you can’t get enough of it, this feeling that sets fire in your veins,”

     ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ The older man’s brain chanted, hand speeding on his dick despite the parts of his body screaming to stop, or at least slow down. His lower back ached, his shoulders creaked from where they were bunched and his hole truly stretched wide with the toy still stuffed in him, but somehow all those things just made everything that much better. Pain simply intensified the pleasure. The hand that had been gripping the end of the dick in his his had slowed over the past few minutes as focus shifted to Emmrich’s cock but he deciedely didn’t want his full ass to be so neglected so he started the pace back up. He was expecting to have to take his time, the last two times were just a coincidence for cumming so quickly one right after the other, the senior necromacer was just too old for it to happen again.

     “Oh Emmrich, we both know that’s isn’t true, just watch this,”

     “Come.”

     The man felt his balls and cock twitch as he let out a cry just barely muffled by the glove as his back arched nearly into a C and more cum coated himself and his bed. The orgasmic high was long, staying there for far longer than he should have been able to, his body growing warm and dizzy with the overwhelming feeling. He squeezed his sensitive cock head a few times just to feel those overtimulating senstatiosn of heat through his veins before finally he pulled his hand from his cock and stop his movements of the toy, letting it sit halfway out of his hole. The muscles clenched greedily which in turned cae the toy to slip out a few more inches, making him give a sad moan of lose but before his body could try to suck the dick back in, he pulled it out the rest of the way to avoid himself going another round. Two was enough for tonight.

     It took Emmrich a few minutes of slow breathing to finally remove the glove from his mouth, throwing it to the side as he took in gulps of full air now that his mouth wasn’t obstructed. His jaw ached from how it was pushed past its limits for the last however long and his throat burned with dryness. He tried to cough it better, hoping it just needed some spit to sooth itself but of course, it barely helped. Were he not careful, there would be a rasp to his voice tomorrow and while the team would probably assume sickness, he didn’t want to take any chances, he would have to go make himself some tea. He looked down at the mess he had made, a sigh being pushed out of his nose as he sat up to clean himself off.

     An hour later, Emmrich was leaving his room, careful with closing the door as he assumed the rest of the Lighthouse main inhabitants were probably asleep. His mind was a bit of a mess, not only from the shame of once again getting off to this imaginary Oz but also the burn in his ass becoming rather distracting. If Rook were to take him on the missions tomorrow, he’d feel every step, every attack move, everything. Pay back he guessed for his inappropriate thoughts of their illustrious leader. A frustrated sigh bubbled out as he began to descend the stairs to head to the kitchen. He was not expecting a voice to speak up when he made it to the final step.

     “Oh, hey professor,” Of course, it was Oz, and of course, Emmrich looked over to where the qunari was. And of course, he was draped across the couch with his jacket thrown aside so he was just in the Mourn Watch pants with a dopey smile on his face. From the way his grin was and the off look of the man’s eyes as well as the flush to his face, Emmrich deduced he was drunk. He also noticed Taash, thrown across one of the other chairs, snoring loudly away. Emmrich’s nose wrinkled at the image which made the other Mourn Watcher laugh. “Sorry if we woke you up earlier, Taash is hard to corral when they're drunk,” Rook’s smile was easy, he wasn’t mad about it, probably just found it amusing. The mage shook his head, giving his easy smile, or what he hoped to be one. “No need to worry, I was already falling asleep when you two came by, nothing would have waked me after that dragon fight,” The lie felt bitter in his mouth but anything was better than the truth. He’d rather said he was in his room juggling 12 of his books while reciting Orlisan poetry than anything near the truth. “That’s fair, it was intense wasn’t it?” Oz mused, the qunari sitting up from where he was laid out, stretching a bit. Emmrich tried desperately not to watch the muscles strain and move. “I’ll have this ache in my neck for a couple days, I think,” The qunari joked, earning a chuckle from Emmrich.

     Figuring, it was the end of the conversation, the mage started to make his way to the door, hoping the warrior wouldn’t notice his slight limp as he walked away. An awkward clearing of the other man’s throat made the older man pause for a moment. “Oh Emmrich, one last thing if you are amlicapable,” How quick the senior mage turned on his heel to look at Oz. “Whatever you need, Rook, I’m happy to provide,” He didn’t miss the once-over the qunari gave him. “Anything I need huh?” It was a tease once again that Emmrich didn’t get to linger on as the other man started to talk again. “I just wanted to apologize for grabbing you in the fight the way I did, I just sort of panicked. I probably shouldn’t have done that, especially because uh, my packer pressed against you the way it did,” Oh, if the Maker existed, now would be the moment the mage would have prayed for lighting to strike him to a crisp. He knew his smile had to be uncomfortable, especially with the way he watched Oz’s cheeks turn dark. “Oh Oz, I promise you are fine, you saved me. Consider any awkwardness forgotten,” Espically when the true awkwardness was the effect it had on Emmrich as he ended up frantically shoving a dick in his ass but he wasn’t going to say anything about that. Rook’s smile relaxed as a soft laugh came from him. “Thank you Emm, I’m just glad I didn’t have my actual packer, I feel like that would have been much worse,” The mage hummed in confusion and curiosity, it had a questioning tint to it which made the other man laugh, a hand coming up to brush the back of his neck. In all he time since being recruited, Emmrich had never seen Oz this… awkward. “I couldn’t find it this morning so I just went with some socks I found, pretty sure they’re dirty too,” His laugh was light and his smile shy.

     Emmrich, however, felt his entire face flush red. “O-oh,” He managed to get out, swallow behind the rapidly forming lump in his throat. The other, probably too drunk to notice, just shrugged and flopped back down on the couch. “Yeah, again, sorry about that. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Eyes looked over at him, a heat behind them that only made the necromancer go even more red. “Unless that’s what you want to happen again,” Shock the mage as he stared wide-eyed, mouth agape, at the qunari who didn’t even seem to realize the implication of what he said as his eyes closed and he just fell asleep. Snores already came from his mouth and Emmrich took it as his opportunity to escape, turning around and scrambling back to his room.

     He threw himself on his newly changed sheets and hid under the covers he had just put out, having to sit with the knowledge that in all technicalities, he’d come because of a pair of dirty socks.

     Perhaps this was all starting to get out of hand.

I FINALLY MET EMMRICH WITH OZ IMAGE THE SCREENSHOTS THAT'LL FINALLY MAKE SENSE IN THE FIC

i'm very tired but you know what, the old man yaoi grind rests for no one so I'll have another red bull and answer my calling

Me rapidly typing "Must make that old man blush and stick things in his ass"

Please, enjoy your morning/noon/night and know that somewhere out there, someone is writing old man smut -<3 Skunch

[niuttuc]

My Favorite Cards of 2024: Bloomburrow

The year is pretty close to over, so let’s go back over the sets released this year (with new cards at least), and go through a few of my favorite cards from that release. I’ll group together stuff released together, in this case it’ll be the main Bloomburrow set, and the commander precons. Extra reprints as courageous critters or special guests might also get a mention. I’ll probably go through one set a day for the next week, though I might skip some days for personal reasons.

I'll start with a bunch of talents that I like, a stellar second outing of the Class type in this set, outshining even their first appearance in D&D. In constructed, limited and commander, they impress and have a range of different designs, and I like them very much.

Offspring was also a very neat ability, and it's always nice when we get something to extend new abilities in a more open fashion, to older cards and sets. Of course, Zinnia goes infinite with Palinchron, but so does a worn down half-tire. Maybe someday I'll even build a deck around Zinnia, but we'll see, I tend to come back to sets a year or two down the line.

I love creative clones, and Mockingbird delivers! And a one-mana clone that can scale definitely hits the mark, a clone you never overpay for is a really good concept, and this was a good way to execute on it without shirking color.

Staying with birds for a bit, Scrap Trawler is a fun design that unfortunately breaks in half with a look. Adding colored mana certainly helps Jackdaw Savior lot, and restricting to flying creatures also narrows down what can enable it significantly. The dream of combining this with a Broodmoth or Valkyrie's Call to create oodles of value out of dying creatures is also a neat addition.

A new Wood Elves always deserves a mention, and one that can grab nonbasics definitely solidifies its role. Clifftop Lookout will stick around in commander decks of mine for years to come, at least until they print much better cards. Plus, it has sneaky reach, gotta respect the sneaky reach that will save my life at some point.

Still on frogs, Dour Port-Mage is here to exemplify the "leave the battlefield without dying" ability that was granted to frogs and was an excellent way to make an ability that's both narrow and a bit open-ended. There is some play in how to achieve that, yet it's pretty unique, and happens to play well in the colors with bouncing, which ties it well with Frogs, but also blinking, exile removal, tucking, and more. Overall, it allowed them to mostly do regular creature things, having ETBs and all, yet still feel like they belonged to the Frogs' synergies.

Gift is a fun ability that works well in both 1v1 and takes a new political dimension in multiplayer (mostly commander). Cruelclaw's Heist is a nice version of the two mana hand attack spell with upside, allowing it to be hand attack that isn't dead when the opponent is empty-handed, lowering the downside of its gift, and gift becomes even more fun in multiplayer when you can gift a separate opponent you're targeting.

Sunspine Lynx is costed fairly, punishes greedy manabases, and looks incredible in foil. Price of Progress can be a bit too brutal, but stapling half of one on the back of a creature that has a solid rate makes for a fun card in commander and constructed both. I've domed a Domain player for 13 damage with this in Standard, and I can tell you that felt very good and would have earned this cat a spot on this list by itself.

I've already said a few times in the past week that I love to have options, and Fountainport as a pseudo-trading post on a land gives me just that. For sure, I love selling my Offsprings for knowledge, my life for fish or my mana for mana. A lot more tokens around these days for this to incidentally draw cards from, and generally a useful card to spawn surprise blockers.

Catch-up cards that are good enough to be played are generally pretty neat, and Beza being a mythic legend version of that effect delivers on it. Stabilizing with life and bodies against aggressive decks, but not a dead card in grindy games, Beza does stellar work and left me trying to see if a commander deck could be viable with more opponents to compare to to make it more likely to get the full suite of effects.

Between the snazzy art and the flashy effect, Cruelclaw makes the list alongside his heist. Look at this guy/weasel! He casts spells for free! My main nitpick about the card is that given his story and flavor, I expected him to be casting those spells for free from the opponents' library, not my own. But I can forgive that, it makes the card stronger, even if slightly less fun imo.

Scavenging Ooze is an excellent design, and Keen-Eyed Curator being a variation on it plays great as well. It was neat to get it right before a delirium set, and the slight differences don't detract from its power much. It was a bit hurt by actual Scavenging Ooze being in Foundations only a couple months later, but it still manages to split the deck time with Scooze in some archetypes in Standard, and that's exactly where it should be.

That Jeskai precon was good enough to get BOTH its commanders on my list. Temporary creatures to get their etbs or other effects early is my jam, as well as attacking for value, and Arthur does both in a nice package. We were missing on neat Jeskai commanders, but with its half dozen of Jeskai precons, the year definitely delivered!

Similar to Cruelclaw's Heist, Long River's Pull makes use of the Gift mechanic. This allows a rate well above what we see in standard, a clean Counterspell, while being an interesting political tool in Commander where actual Counterspell is legal. Giving cards to people can buy an ally very quickly in commander, or make sure a player missing land drops is in the game, and this actually makes me consider this card over the classic counterspell in more than one deck.

The Calamity Beasts have a good hit rate of unique and powerful designs. The Viper has spawned a few decks around it in standard and beyond, and that's impressive considering it's a punisher effect that warps your own deckbuilding to enable. As it turns out, a 6/6 that basically wins the game if you untap with it is pretty good if you can get it for two or three mana, even if it's not on turn 2 and it dies to removal.

Making bats relevant in standard and being a pseudo-sun titan for half the cost, Zoraline handily makes it into my list. When she's around and not asleep, she's a card with a very good rate by herself that does something I like. And then she also enables the main mechanic of bats in the set enough to be one of the best card in their deck too.

Prosperous Bandit is the kind of unusual ramp I like. Creating that many treasures whenever it deals damage on a three drop captures my attention. Getting through for damage on a 3 mana 2/2 sure ain't easy, but buffing it isn't that difficult and the payoff is definitely there.

Finally, the art corner, Bloomburrow had some incredible art that struck home for me. Which isn't to say other sets in the year didn't, but these marked me a bit more, particularly as a new setting for Magic that felt richer than the other stuff we got. With art and story, Bloomburrow felt both rich and yet a small part of something bigger that could easily be expanded later on. Plus, there is a bonus category that'll be in a reblog in a few minutes, I'm running out of image slots on tumblr.

[night-raven-tattler]

A second opinion - Resorting the Night Raven College students into different dorms

Summary: Based on their personal headcanons and this post made by @thoselethalarts, Mx Tattly took it upon themselves to sort the NRC students into dorms different than their own - just for fun! She'd appreciate your feedback and opinions, as he is no Magic Mirror, so feel free to add your imput!

Characters: First year notable students (Ace, Deuce, Jack, Epel, Ortho and Sebek)

Other parts of the series: Second year notable students, Third year notable students

Warnings: none

By opening the document, you agree to Mx Tattly's terms of source confidentiality.

-ˋˏ’✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

A good fit for Heartslabyul's strict environment would be Sebek!

He is a boy with a very strong code of conduct that he follows religiously. Sebek is very strict with himself and follows his personal rules and daily routine with no exception. He puts a lot of value in the importance of rules and authority figures to maintain peace and order, since it's the only thing he knows: as a hopefully royal guard to be, Sebek believes in his liege first and in himself second. And, as a guard, he is very protective.

Sebek believes his way of thinking is the correct one and has no shame in trying to instill his views on others. He considers that he is doing what's right for his liege and the world, and no one can convince him otherwise. He'd make a good card soldier, maybe a spade suit or a heart suit.

『••✎••』

Deuce would make a good candidate for Savanaclaw.

He has an ironclad willpower and determination in spades (pun intended), which are his main driving forces in life. He is determined to become a honor student and to right all the wrongs he's ever done, a resolution he clings to harder and harder with every day.

Deuce is gutsy, and when push comes to shoves he is ready to fight back. He has a strong sense of loyalty, and he is willing to do anything for the ones he considers part of his "gang". He is a dedicated friend and family member and believes in payback, especially when he has been wronged in some way.

『••✎••』

Another good candidate for the Savanaclaw student spot is Epel!

His initial wish to be sorted in Savanaclaw was not random. Epel has the (in)famous Savanaclaw willpower and determination. Epel knows what he wants -he wants to be a strong mage who can help Harveston thrive- and his pride for his community is unwavering. He knows how hard he needs to fight and he is willing to work himself to the bone when needed.

Epel also is somewhat of an idealist, and he has big dreams for himself. From being a great mage to someone his whole hometown will be proud of, Epel strives to be this amazing, reliable figure worth of respect and who doesn't deserve belittling. He won't back down from any fight, even if he has to throw the first punch, and he gets back up even after losing.

『••✎••』

Ace would fit well in Scarabia.

He is a clever and cunning boy, who knows when to be straightfoward and when to be sneaky. From facing his own housewarden to pretending to ask Leona a smart question in order to not be used a bait, Ace is intelligent and can read situations very well, skills he uses to his advantage. He is also not above playing roles and feigning innocence if the end goal appeals to him.

Ace is resourceful, playful and knows what to say in a moment of need, making him very adaptable to any situation. Despite still getting into trouble, he insists it is part of his calculated risk. He is good at math, but sometimes you gotta make sacrifices (re: get put on cleaning duty) for a good outcome (re: a nap at the back of the class).

『••✎••』

Pomefiore is a dorm whose values Jack would resonate with.

Jack is a boy who strives to improve himself in every area he can. Academics, sports, even with his hobbies, he always strives to become smarter, faster, wiser, better. Self improvement is his main driving force, and he loves knowing that he is improving, since he knows very well just how hard he is working to achieve his best self.

Generally speaking, Jack is very self aware and knows what his skills and strong points are. He is self assured, meticulous and last but not least, aware of his potential, which he cultivates every day without fail.

『••✎••』

Another good pick for Pomefiore would be Ortho!

Ortho is, above all else, very proud of his own skills and achievements. He is the only humanoid with the ability to learn and feel, that's quite an achievement! Yet he is not satisfied, as he knows technology (him included) will always have space for improvement. From making and maintaining his gears to joining clubs to extend his knowledge on human reactions, Ortho wants to become even better, and he is an unstoppable force.

Being a Shroud, Ortho comes with his own eccenticities, like calling everyone by their full names and considering using powerful lasers as a solution for most of his problems. Maybe it's because he's an android, but Ortho can get quite reckless and engage in risky behavior.

『••✎••』

[thestalkerbunny]

Gotta say:

One of my least faveourite character archetype in anime are male Isekai protagonists with messy black hair who are always scowling and/or being snarky.

ESPECIALLY when they have a more interesting female love interest.

Wanna know what Isekai I love given it's premise? Just to like. Promote unique and cool premise Isekai mangas

It's got the best Premise.

An old Yakuza-like both in body and in how he behaves like a Yakuza, with like class and consideration-is reincarnated into the body of a princess on the run. He does little to nothing to change his behaviors to accommodate his new body and the rules of the world. His retainers who are supposed to be helping their princess on the run and don't know why the heck their princess is acting like this is literally an Old Knight and an Elven Mage

I think it's really good even though people complain about the pacing, the Yakuza Princess at one point teaches Goblins about 'KONKREET' and it's not a fanservicey manga, less tits and ass-more doing the world justice by saying 'Drug Dealers? On MY TURF? NO TODAY SATAN.'

[hoboblaidd]

the class would like to know about the evolving fighting style of solas. Other than magic is there something he will readily default to? Does he have a favourite traditional weapon? Secondary and follow question that is funny - do we think he could shoot Bianca and handle the recoil?

Bull: Not the quiet elven mage, though. No frills. Nothing to give you away. Half our targets never see you coming. Solas: I shall take that as a compliment. Bull: If you like.

Solas is scrappy, and he has a hybrid combat style. He’d follow up a mind blast with a killing blow from his dagger, fade step to an enemy and slice their Achilles tendon, or straight up punch someone to stagger them before freezing them in place. In Inquisition, he'll use his staff like a bo staff to body someone.

Solas is someone whose life was almost constant war. He’s often in the thick of fighting, especially during the rebellion. Ratdog is useful for large groups of enemies, but due to his size, it can endanger any allies fighting close by. Some spells take longer to cast. There are a few in Veilguard where it takes him a solid 3-4 seconds to weave an intricate pattern before the magic takes effect. Sometimes, a blow to the face or a dagger between the ribs is quicker and more efficient.

He prefers daggers. They don’t do as much damage as a sword, but they’re easily hidden and quick to draw. Even at his peak physicality, Solas is never going to win in a traditional 1v1 against a stronger opponent. So he relies on tricks or dirty fighting. He'll pocket sand you, kick out your knee, and even feign surrender. Anything to gain a split second advantage to take you down.

I feel comfortable with this from his canon fighting. Magic can be elegant, as some of Solas’ spellcasting in Veilguard is. But something I love about his Inquisition fight animations is that it can also be very physical. And then in the Veilguard fight ending, he was more than ready to throw down with his fists and his dagger.

As for Bianca? He’d pretend he can’t. Gotta leave Varric some dignity.

[never-wednesday]

So i did some Stupid Fuckshit this past month in final fantasy ffxiv: I wrote a character who i wanted to be a reaper through MSQ for story reasons.

This means that in order to accomplish what I want i need to be reach level 70 in a combat class, which was Paladin so I could start in Ul'dah and get fast queues.

I allowed myself some concessions: having access to the first three dungeons would grant us access to the leveling roulette, and Sylph Management will grant us a job, which makes the prospect of grinding much much more tolerable. So i allowed myself to progress the story just enough to move from Gladiator to Paladin.

It took me a total of 28 days (Oct 8th to Nov 4th), and 2 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes of playtime. Just under a month isn't bad, especially considering i spent almost a full week out of town and unable to play at all.

In that time I primarily used daily leveling roulettes, and despite unlocking PvP far earlier only used PvP for the last 5 days. Hunting logs, minimal levequests, every sidequest I could find, and pretty much any FATE I stumbled into was how I spent my time. Also, lots of Palace of the Dead. It was interesting! I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad I don't hate Reaper (I didn't have the good sense to give it a proper test on my main first) but I can solidly say I do NOT recommend this! What the fuck!

If you do want to do this though, here's my advice:

- just start doing your daily frontlines as soon as possible the exp is no joke. It's also the only other roulette you have access to besides the basic leveling roulette, and you will want that scaled exp

- pursue challenge log entries!!! I didn't realize how good these were until the LAST DAY they got me from about 1/4 of the way to level 70 to level 70 so so fast. The chocobo companion and FATE challenge entries pair very well together, so pick up some gyshal greens! It'll also make soloing those fates much faster (ask me how i know)

-rotate between activities, PotD runs, FATEs and hunting log entries are well and good, but if you don't want to feel like you're going to start fist fighting every goddamn enemy personally you also gotta spend time doing other things that are fun. That's part of why I did so many sidequests! They have lots of love and charm in them, and it's a nice break from harsh grinding. I also really spent some time learning gpose which was super fun!!

-dont divide your time between multiple classes if you can at all help it. Honestly, I'd really recommend staying away from conjurer/white mage because it's much harder to do solo potd runs with (I did lots of potd content solo out of convenience). If you are going to pick up a new class, pick up something like RDM, GNB or any other class that starts at a high level and fully commit to it till you hit your goal

-uhhh, be yourself, have fun, and test your goal class BEFORE you do this

[chuckeroo777]

Frieren Liveblog- Chapters 41-44

Last time, our heroes headed to the DMV to get their first class mage licenses, and we met half a dozen new cute mage girls, and sadly, none of them will probably be relevant past this arc.

It may seem simple, but it's actually a pretty clever strategy. Since Fern and Frieren are so skilled at hiding their true power level, they can afford to play defensively, since their opponent will assume they'll tire out much sooner than they actually will.

Sigh. I knew Ubel was too cute to last.

Whelp, so long Wirbel. This pretty much confirms you're gonna die.

Oh. Oh my. Have I mentioned how much I hate this stupid test's free for all format?

Gotta love a simulacrum.

Ah, nevermind. It was a bluff. Aaaaand now we're gonna get his tragic backstory. Lovely. Meanwhile, I bet Frieren is just using her massive pool of mana to turtle.

Whelp, looks like these jerks are gonna make it to the next test. I wonder how much downtime is between tests? These guys are running on dregs.

I'm not sure what Laufen did, but I think Frieren has her number.

Good to see I'm not the only one who thinks this test is bull-shit. Hopefully this means the second test is something more reasonable.

My opinion of Denken continues to grow.

I can't help but note Richter compare this reward to a wish. This does not make me confident in a promising outcome. That being said, Frieren would probably use this reward on something silly.

Wow. Serie must be old AF. Frieren declined the reward before. I wonder if she would do so again?

Yeah, yeah, I get it. They're working off an older meta. But what if I WANT to still play with my silly off-meta crowned clockroach deck, huh?

Nice try, but I don't think we'll be using corpse explosion today.

Ok, now I'm curious. Considering we've mostly seen Serie lounging on a throne, I wonder how her mana reserves compare to Frieren? Serie probably has the edge in terms of sheer knowledge, but Frieren might edge her out in power and practical experience.

Gramps did his best, but it wasn't enough.

Ah, well, good thing you don't need to BE a first-class mage, you just need an escort, and I'll bet Frieren would be more than happy for you to tag along.

...

Gosh darn it, all these cute mage girls, and we're picking up the old dude?

Well, that went by pretty quickly. I think I can squeeze in another session today.

[felikatze]

thinks abt my many half baked ISAT FE AU stuff again....

siffrin is a manakete that is all good night

uhhh act 5 and twohats spoilers below

joking but. also yes. i was thinking a lot abt what FE classes the cast would have recently so.

Mirabelle is a lord. HOWEVER. she gets to be a fancy lord who also gets staff access. Like Hoshido Noble. could you imagine dragging around a scrublord who only gets good on promo but they had heal utility the whole time. isn't that a dream. imagine if Roy could heal and then still rips in endgame

Odile is very obviously a Sage. Like cmon. If i had to pick any specific sage outfit it would in fact be Awakening sages. But the thought of Odile in the outfit of Engage sages is enough to kill people I think. Though the banana mage gba era would be hilarious on her.

The trifecta of magic is also a nice reflection of her being able to use all types of craft :) esp tellius mechanics are dope for that (and integrated into my silly isat emblems stuff). It could also be very thematically appropriate to make her an Omnyoji instead.

Isabeau just has massive axe bro energy. Yknow how fighters are stereotyped as stupid but then Lot FE6, generic axe bro ever, plays chess and does philosophy? Yeah. From a gameplay standpoint it would also make sense to put him in armor knight cuz he will Protect His Friends. Also he has the highest hp in the cast anyways. He would also have rally skills.

If i had to pick one guy to make a beast unit, it would be him also. Tiger isabeau.

Bonnie is the Transporter. They cannot fight. They cannot die. Bonnie is Merlinus. We are not letting the child on the battlefield. Give Bonnie a caravan and convoy access, you know they gotta.

Sif is. hm.

Like the obvious call is Thief, right? In games that have em, daggers are exclusive to thieves (unless you're fates, and have butlers and ninjas). Dagger classes can also debuff (with engage thieves poisoning, and fates daggers inflicting debuffs) which would be a nice niche. However Siffrin isn't actually a criminal.

From a story standpoint mercenary would be the most appropriate since they're not really here for any particular reason but just bcuz he happened to be in the country when the curse struck.

HOWEVER.... engage has given us a very tantalizing third option. Wolf Knight. They're not associated with crime. They are speedy, dodgy, and use daggers.

Siffrin gets a pet wolf. Do you see it.

TO ELABORATE ON THE MANAKETES THING.... So, if you've seen me talk abt my fucking, fe6 isat au, i cast Idunn as Siffrin. And the idea of someone forgetting their own species is really funny, and also kinda terrifying. And the only other person like you is the guy you have to kill.

Also I think creechur siffrin AUs are great. And dragons in FE are associated heavily with two things. a) going insane. b) amnesia (just look at corrin, and grima, and alear).

Also also dragons love to take naps. WHO ELSE LOVES TO TAKE NAPS?? That's right. Siffrin.

Oh yeah also. Dragon Loop. Wouldn't that be epic. AND. act 5 boss fight siffrin turning into a full dragon.

And the development possibilites. As siffrin learns about the island, also uncovering myths about dragons. And the new strength siffrin is able to master more and more of each loop being bcuz. well. dragon. and growing aware of the ways he's different from the others not just in the growing chasm as they veiw the party more and more as actors, but also the paranoia in physically becoming a monster.

Do you see my fucking vision, here.

SPEAKING OF ENGAGE.... i forgot who. but SOMEBODY. suggested. Emblem Loop. wrgrhr.

and i've thought abt how this would work. And i think it does work, if like... the island (and the divine dragons) all got forgotten because of the emblem's miracle. That somebody thought it was too dangerous and wanted to seal it away forever and used the power of the emblems to make them forgotten. And so Wish Craft would be the emblems' power instead, which only dragons have access to - supposedly. Hey, if a whole country tries out a prayer incantation, would it work?

And. and. this would be really easy to do by. replacing the silver coin with a ring. Siffrin just has this random ring they've had forever. So when Loop wishes to get out, they become the emblem they've been using. You get recursive timeloop questions - who was the emblem that granted Loop's wish in the first place? Was it another Siffrin? Somebody else altogether? Who knows. But isn't the asking really fun.

And like, I mean, Emblem Byleth already exists, we all know what "rerolling missed attacks to hit instead" is. Emblem Byleth is still rewinding time you just can't see that he is.

Do you see my vision. ISAT fire emblem engage AU.