#i had to get a refresher on lore but i am locked In

[dawnzeniths]

i think we should throw tomatoes at leona actually .

[drenched-in-sunlight]

Can I just say how in love I am with the way you draw Marika? Like every art you post of her has my jaw dropping…you add such a beautiful layer of humanity to her with her dynamic expressions and poses—it’s so refreshing to see especially when so many fan arts of her needlessly sexualize her or dial her down to a one-dimensional stone-faced villain (which a villain she is—but she is still complex)

And I adore how you draw her partial nudity as something natural, meaning that you don’t draw her without a top for the sake of objectifying her,

Your art is overall so pleasant and colourful and fun to look at, and your takes of Marika’s character in your fanart is literally what made me more interested in who she is in-game.

Thank you for drawing her the way you do! (And for drawing Elden Ring fanart in general💕)

i've been letting this ask stewing in my inbox for a while because it makes me so emotional 🥲

if you look at how i drew Marika before anything in the DLC was announced, it did fall into the two categories you were talking about, because despite having a little more positive view on her than the rest of the fandom at the time, i still had no idea who she was as a person. and by that time i were more interested in Malenia, so even though i did try to envision how Marika was, it's a very distant and vague image. which is what i love about Elden Ring lore in general: we see Marika via how her children see her.

it was easy back then to conclude we'd never get her, and "mother" is a distant term that will always be overshadowed by "God", so i just went along with the general haha evil sexy girlboss thing that the fandom was doing. but then the DLC teaser dropped the another elusive (possibly firstborn) child of her, with a statue of her holding a baby in his boss room, she started to get more little quirks that's so human in my work (the small smile, the little lock of hair that curls gently) because for the first time, we see her through the eye of a son that evidently adores her, so she gets a bit more human, because someone views her with emotions that are not fear nor distance.

then the DLC drops, and it's not just through Messmer's eye (or the entirety of his being that carry so much of her love it weighs him down and twist into the most horrible curse in the end), it's through the eyes of her family that were no longer there at all. it's the jar innard enemy that huddled in a jar and clutched at a piece of raw meat, it's the Grandmother's gentle smile as she rest among a sea of flowers, it's the solitary minor erdtree that bathed the whole place in the kindness of gold, it's the Fire Knights and soldiers that clearly viewed her as Mother as much as she was God, it's Miquella throwing away his love and doubt because he didn't know how to deal with the revelation that his mother was once a fallible human just like the rest of them, it's Trina's entreaty that Godhood was just a cage that would kill him slowly, it's the final boss music with the female voice belting "Hail, Marika the Eternal" - in the place where she had to wade through a sea of flesh and blood, her family included, to ascend to Godhood. it's finally understanding that to her, Eternity is to live for all her loved ones that have fallen down.

and somehow, it all comes back to this portrait at the base game, right at the Roundtable Hold, of a woman with permanently lowered eyes.

yeah i know after the DLC i've put on such a Messmer-style protective glasses for her, it shows very clearly in my art. now she could cry, looks sad, small smile, big smile, looks silly, looks cute, looks serious, her hair is pulled up in twenty different ways, she jokes and talks to animals and goes back to be just a simple young girl rolling around in the grass, blah blah... im drawing all these with eyes wide open. and i have no intention of stopping lol.

sometimes, things that already come alive will never go back to be a cardboard cutout anymore. if ppl don't like it, block me or whatever, in my space, i'll do that makes me happy. and im very glad that other ppl could find their own happiness and solace with my work too :) thank you for such a thoughtful and kind messages!

[oddie-odette]

SPOILERS(me just yapping about arcane)

I don’t know how to feel about the 2nd season to Arcane. Like I was crying for one second and then the horny mfs did it in what was JINXES JAIL CELL. I was like “WOAHHHHH OKAY-“ I had to pause to cry and then like lock in to something else.

Also I’m glad that Viktor didn’t just die without not knowing what would’ve happened, I’m glad he saw what Jayce saw so he knew what he needed before he went. I am very glad that they died together. It think the idea that they started with them and ended with them was so perfect so good.

Also- Maddie being a little two time bitch- omg. To be fair. She is a victim to manipulation as well but we can’t excuse that. But for Maddie I feel neutral- like yeah I don’t like her but I get it why she is who she is.

Seeing Jinx in the jail cell picking at her fingers till they bled made me realize I was doing it myself. Like I had never seen anyone in my real life and in tv shows go to that extent like I do. And I don’t do it for anxiety or anything, I do because it’s like something I need to pick at with my nails and when I say Jinx do it I was like… “I feel seen?” I mean not really, the situations are drastically different and way worse for Jinx.

Also MY WIFE SEVIKA???? Barely in the show and I know that she becomes counselor and shit but that doesn’t excuse the fact that she was barely there?? I mean yeah she comes for the big fight and it’s really powerful but I can’t help but feel way too neutral about it.

Ekko learning about timelines and loops was probably the only thing I had enjoyed while watching the whole thing go down. Like idk why but the fact that it was just so different was refreshing. I found it interesting and I wanted more of that without like any rushing.

I also felt rushed? Like everything was going all over the place- it was really fast and I can’t tell if I’m just a loser or I’m missing obvious lore that I can’t really get into right now. (That’s how I am with FNAF like I know the lore but idk about any of the books or the extensive lore stuff like my friends- I just don’t think I could get into like that.) I loved arcane. It made me cry, fear, laugh a bit- and we got the scene of sex we wanted. But like after watching it I felt strangely empty about it. Idk but the sex scene felt very inappropriate where it was set and I can’t help but feel that it’s kinda perfect for them. Like it seems like something exactly that Caitlyn and Vi would have but yet I felt really… uncomfortable? And that weird because like that shit don’t happen- I was very happy it was going to happen but maybe not the way that it did.

It’s not a downgrade. It’s a slight upgrade in my book on the terms of content. Don’t come at me but maybe I should give it a second watch when it’s not 3 AM.

[red-w1nged-blackbird]

After The Snow Clears...

TW: Violence, More Child Trauma, Cannibalism Mentioned

PART 1 OF THE SUBLIME EMPYREAL STORY.

(Link to part of Constance's lore!!)

This bed only gets less comfortable every night... mother's corpse is no good to me anymore. Mr. Thoughts and I have agreed that it's time for me to leave this dying place in the past. To make this world know he and I as the one called Constance.

I wonder if I'll ever forget the taste of my own kin's flesh. Mr. Thoughts has taught me what I know, what the outside world would refuse to teach me.

Bright. Bright light. The same numbness I grew up with only stronger out here. And this moment, is such that I will remember forever.

Freedom just felt like a bigger cage.

...

Here I stand, with my self and he. The numb feeling and frost coated stone walls of an alley. And yet, I feel better now. I'm able to find food easier, the wind feels... refreshing. Yes, that's the right word. I'm not good with feelings, I mostly just know how to identify sounds, sights, and smells. How am I supposed to know my own emotions, if those emotions tell me nothing?

The creatures here have learned to know me over the past... eight... years. It's been a while. I'm 18 now. Mr. Thoughts says I'm an 'adult' now. I feel no different. Yet people treat me different. Different, worse. If only they knew.

... >GAUNTLETT POV

The market was busier than usual. Talk of business amplifying off the walls of the thin area coated with snow. Due to how busy it was during the warmer times, Hawkfeather guards often patrolled the area. Theft was a serious crime in Falcontalon.

The other guards often warned me of the strange girl at the end of the market alley. Said she had a strange trigger towards wolves with similar fur to hers. People often complained about how gray furred dogs weren't allowed near the back of the alley. It's only a safety precaution. Poor girl has probably been through alot to be triggered so easily.

As close as we may be to the intelligence of earthdwellers, we are, after all, loaded with animal instincts. And with hybrids like Constance, the threat is greater.

Gauntlett's eyes snapped open, eyes locking with the beast at the end of the alley, charging after her with the rage one might see in gods, pushing past anyone in her way, angry protests against her quickly turned into horror as she tackled Gauntlett to the ground, punching the fucking shit out of her face.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FUCKING DEAD! LYING SON OF A BITCH!!"

Constance shouted, teeth bared with eyes filled with nothing but hatred for the one who wasn't Gauntlett. For the one she believed was her mother, the one she hated most in all her years of life.

I've never felt more fear than when my bright pink eyes met that of feral golden and gray. It wasn't her fault. It was just trauma acting on instinct. Watching her get kicked in the head by a fellow Hawkfeather guard to unconsciousness and muzzled like some sort of animal lower than that she is.

We will meet again, dear child. I will give you the love that was taken from you too soon. Thank you, for meeting me.

[yostresswritinggirl]

@butterfly-mochi​ Rewrote this freaking thing thrice because it keeps getting deleted wth tumblr agjvahkfajkvk- I enjoyed writing it a lot tho and since I’m too weak to the characters I ended up writing for all of them (except for Sucrose, im sorry bb huhu, I ran out of brain power). This is my first time writing for so many of them in one go so please excuse me for any mistakes or blandness ywy thank you for letting me write for my baby Ganyu too hhhhh

Universe Reversal 2

Genshin Impact Character Reader and Modern Players with Zhongli, Childe & Ganyu (how they simp for you) (event masterlist / Part 1 / Part 3)

Zhongli the F2P

The most relatable out of the bunch because this man is still broke and can only rely on the primogems he can farm. And he had a LOT. The one thing he doesn’t have a lot on, however, is his luck.

So how did he manage to pull you?: Well after exhausting all his primogem on your banner with nothing but weapons and other characters, he has lost his resolve. But by some weird luck, there was a character bug that was fixed and in his email was the almighty consolation primogem. Enough for ONE pull. And by the Gods he FINALLY got you.

He’d nonchalantly post his screenshot of pulling you using a single acquaint fate in his friend group without any words and everyone else just loses their shit. “You got them in one pull?!” “Yeah” A riot.

This was partnered with the fact that not only is Zhongli an F2P player, but also barely has any five star characters.

He looks calm and apathetic over the news, but behind the screen he’s exhausted and relieved, silently livid.

He has no primogems left to squeeze for a constellation so you’re instead pampered with the best weapon suitable for you (because that’s all he keeps getting).

Zhongles spends most of his time farming for materials to quickly level you up, unlocking all your stories and voiceline, but he fucked up on your build (his artifacts are messy).

He follows communities, forums and videos regarding your character to know all the things he needs to perfect your build. You can barely make a dent against normal mobs, so he knew he was doing something VERY wrong.

Is the type of person to keep refreshing the page for new content, very updated.

Ask him a question about your character and he’s gonna bring you the word vomit that is his research. He’s not gonna stop- probably accidentally developed a copypasta for you.

Also follows your VA in both Tiktok and Twitter to indulge in every bit of content. He also has that screenshot of his pull saved and locked.

On his birthday, a friend of his gifted him a chibi plushie of you and he has treasured it ever since, treating and handling it like its a figurine.

“It is merely pure luck and grace from the gacha gods that I got this character, and I will make sure that they know I am very grateful for this fortune.”

Favorite Voiceline: Birthday Message

Childe The Whaler

This lucky wealthy bastard with no remorse for his money whales for EVERY character. He’s making a collection, which is to get all the characters, especially the five stars. So when your banner finally popped up, he’s gonna square up and trigger a whole ass meteor shower.

How he pulled you: Money. His luck with this games are actually not the best so he always compensates with money, he got you halfway through the first failed pity, almost giving him a heart attack that he might actually break the bank just to get you.

And then he pulls more to raise your constellation lol.

The first thing he does is look over your character info and read through it all; constellation infos, your base stats, artifact compatibility.

At the end when he’s maximized everything, he would then focus on playing around with your character *coughs climbing noises coughs*

He thought you’d just be another part of his collection but playing with your character was very enjoyable and in-line with his playstyle- oops 100 screenshots with the Kamera-

Any and all merchandise that he fancies would be his, and he’s definitely flexing it to the other sweetie nerds who call themselves simps. He’s fighting for the simping title, and he’s currently neck and neck with this fanartist in Pixiv.

Speaking of that fanartist, he definitely commissioned an expensive and detailed portrait of you, full rights and everything. No one else was allowed to use it but him.

Was also the first one with the audacity to call out your VA to create an account on Tiktok to create more content with your voice. He was successful.

His obssession also comes in the form of self-indulgent contents, and had been keeping track of the ship wars happening. During conventions, he cosplays as the character shipped with you the most (or the character he thinks should end up with you).

Silently scrutinizing those who cosplay you, only ever taking pictures with/of the best looking one, sorry haha

Definitely flaunts that you are his waifu/husbando and will fight for best girl/best boy during debates or polls. Has mobilized the community to vote for you once. He’s very persuasive.

“Hm? Why I’m just the best collector in the game, and I am more than happy to let everyone know that I am their number one fan haha, everyone who claims otherwise is definitely wrong!”

Favorite Voiceline: More About (Y/N) I-IV, (Y/N)’s Hobbies...

Ganyu the Employed

Ganyu, our dearest overworker, is one of the players in the older stage who actually has a job but still plays Genshin for their past times. The gorgeous sceneries and the music is her main focus in playing the game, not much of a try-hard but still decent in the combat mechanics.

How she pulled you: You came home within 50 pulls! And you appeared again after another 10 pull! Ganyu was so SHOOKT and so distressed because oh goodness, what does she do? She doesn’t know anything much about you!

Will rewatch your three trailers to try and understand your skills better, ended up saving the soundtracks from them because that was such a nice trailer music! Tnbee gains a new follower!

Ganyu will take a while before she can properly play or build you up because she’s so busy with work, she only ever plays when she feels fully done with her work.

During her break she plays with your character while multi-tasking on eating, earphones plugged in and sight on the phone as she farms materials and artifacts for you.

The moment she gets more help from her player friends tho, holy shit, you just ended up being so OP. She had so many good artifacts and weapons for you because she didn’t know what they were for before.

She loves how you’re so easy to use and can easily solo the enemies and even the boss fights. A huge breather, because now Ganyu can cheese the battles that takes a while, to give her more time to focus on the storyline and lores.

Since Ganyu plays for the story and aesthetic, she’ll find you almost always in her team. Still very proud of her pull, she makes the best screenshots of your fights or in the best angle through exploration.

Treasures you so much she starts talking to her phone- “Ah, no, please don’t fall.” “There’s violetgrass up there, let’s try and get it”

Blushes everytime you produce a sound when climbing, doesn’t change you anyways tho

Hums to your trailer music while working, and if permitted, would have the song on repeat while she buries herself in work. She finds it really refreshing and the time she spends in work miraculously flies by fast when she gets lost in the sound.

At one point, when she was given a day-off or if the convention was on her free time, she attends to look for cosplayers of you and take a picture. No one rejects her because she’s so adorable and cute when asking shyly.

Had brought a decent amount of merchandise, preferably the functional/practical ones like a phone cover, mug or keychain. Also has an earphones clamp with your little chibi self as the holder.

When asked, she would shyly announce that she likes your character the most.

“Their character theme and music really soothes me during work, it feels nice to have them, and I have not once regretted ever pulling for them. They are the best.”

Favorite Voicelines: Good Night/Afternoon..., About Us, Something To Share..., Interesting Things...

so enjoyable...

@moaa @zelos-simp @legionqueensav @dandelion-dreams @snackgod @rxsalinee

[gameriggy]

LONG POST

Since lore has stretched out expansively, I wanted to get a good timeline of events I think are worth noting after Dreams Revival Book video released. Mostly as a refresher, but also as a connecting piece to see what may fit where.

NOTE: this isnt everything that’s happened on the server, it’s just what I could immediately find that I felt probably has some potential to be important

Jan 20: final disc confrontation, Dream is imprisoned due to his revival ability

- we now know punz was indeed in on dreams plans

- We know that dream already had a hold on enderwalk ranboo

Jan.30: Ranboo’s Prison “Nightmare”

- Referenced in the Dream Revival book video, dream and Ranboo are placed like it was the cell and the blocks confirm it. Also solidifies the implication that ranboo indeed caused the lockdown tnt explosion

February 21: Pandoras Vault is locked down due to the tnt explosion

- the eggpire (BBH and Antfrost) are hired by Awesamdude to increase security as guards while they try to find what caused the explosions

February 23: Bee n Boo

- roughly around when the bee n boo was being constructed in opposition to jack manifold hotel

- Referenced in revival book video due to bbh giving ranboo something, presumably the blueprints. The background looks like the bee n boo

- (Purely speculation but if it was blueprints to the prison, either ranboo placed them where techno later found them, or there was another plan that didn’t fall through to Ranboos ban from the prison)

March 2: ranboo mourns Tommy

- plants flowers in front of his house

- Contemplates how it could’ve been him in Tommy’s shoes if Tommy hadn’t have vouched for him

- Confronts Sams recklessness in allowing Tommy to remain in the cell with dream

March 6: Ranboo joins Syndicate

Post Tommy Revival: Ranboo ends up in the final disc confrontation room

- no immediate memory of it

- Hears voices from parts of the confrontation he hadn’t been in the room for yet

- Realizes his enderwalking is more frequent and is worried

- Realizes dream holds too much power with the revival book (I have three lives, I can afford to be reckless if it means stopping dream bit)

Sometime prior to April 23: Ranboo begins revisiting his enderwalk experiments

April 23: the Lessons Stream

- ranboo is revealed to not recall the shulker box deal he made with foolish, confirming that that was him in enderwalk

- He proceeds to continue to recall lessons in a book, getting more panicked with each one

- Begs Sam to imprison him, which sam refuses

- Returns to his home he questions “what am i” in his book, then proceeds to trigger his enderwalk.

April 25: The Red Banquet

- Warden Sam and his guards are involved

- Antfrost loses a life, BBH flees, Sam entraps the egg. No resolution as of writing this -1/14/22

- Ranboo was present in the background, presumably enderwalking. When he came out he passed by some of the survivors with noticeable fire resistance pot particles

- Ranboo is missing his memory book and his inventory spells out “I won”

April 28: Answer

- Ranboo gets an answer to “what am I” from his enderwalk self.

- "I am someone who stops conflict. I need to make sure that if any conflict arises to try and help in any way possible. MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE IS SAFE. STOP CONFLICT. MAKE THE SERVER BETTER. This is what I need to do. Trust me."

May 21-22: Stronghold

-Ranboo accidentally finds a stronghold, proceeds to convert it to a lab and admit to the particles his experiments were meant to find a solution to the enderwalk

July 18: Ranboo attempts to build an end city build despite not knowing what an end city is

July 25: Ranboo begins assisting Wilbur in the Paradise Burger Van

November 27: Ranboo is imprisoned by Awesamdude

November 28th: Dreams escape

- technoblade breaks all known prisoners out of pandoras vault

- Awesamdude reveals he has kidnapped Michael_Beloved to Ranboo to gain his compliance

- Proceeds to murder ranboo in an attempt to get Dream back into the prison

- Ranboo loses his last canon life, previous two lost presumably to the enderwalk state

- Dream reconnects with Punz, terrorizes Tommy, and gains information from Sapnap on Kinoko Kingdom

[captainaikus]

Oh thank goodness. I was so scared I’d made you uncomfortable. Glad to know that’s not the case. Also currently getting ready to watch the latest episode of Blue Lock cause watching gay soccer players is the perfect way to distract myself from crying because of gay delinquents aka Tokyo Revengers 😌✨. I swear the number of edits I’ve saved to my phone these last two weeks is insane. You should totally pick it up again whenever you have the time (and ofc only if you want to) 👀. Izana brainrot has escalated to reading the fanfics under the character x reader tag. That’s when I know I’m down bad 💀💀💀. Anywho. You should absolutely catch up on Lore Olympus I just caught up yesterday and uhhhhh a lot has happened 👀. And everyone needs themselves a man like Hades like SIR IM- . Oh man I love yoo takes me back. I stopped reading it awhile ago cause I think it was being dragged out and I kinda lost the plot somewhere. I don’t like when the story keeps continuing when it’s just for the sake of it and it doesn’t work with the plot. There are very few exceptions to this. Tokyo Revengers obv being one of them cause I would seriously be so happy if it went on forever and I got to see what the daily lives of all my beloved characters were like. I have a love hate relationship with Ken Wakui 😤🤧😭. OH ALSO as sad as I am abt the ending I’m so excited for the second season in January (Black Dragons arc is my favorite). Have you seen the trailer? ALSO there was an announcement right after the release of the final chapter saying that Wakui was gonna be doing a special arc abt the Toman founders and I really hope it’s in the reset timeline with Takemitchy cause I need to see how him and Mikey did it all and just their relationship with everyone (adding childhood-friends trope to the number of reasons why this ship has everything). And it also included the announcement of Wakui saying he’s working on multiple spin-offs and I was like AFJBGFDJKHHHGGHGGG YES GIMME *ahem* also I haven’t read the Bajifuyu Letter from Baji Keisuke spin off yet but I was gonna wait until after the manga ended as a source of comfort yknow so I gotta do that eventually. EGGNOID MY DEAR COLD-BLOODED KING SIRENS LAMENTS LETS PLAY. I LOVE ALL OF THESE SO MUCH. Haven’t read them in a while tho 😅 (besides Lore Olympus atm). I recommend Brimstone and Roses, Unlovable Replacement, Midnight Poppy Land, SubZero, Down to Earth, and The Kiss Bet. They’re all on webtoons. OH and i heard that Nagi makes an appearance in the latest ep so I’m excited not cause I’m falling for him or anything ofc. How’s life? Good I hope? And I’m happy that my description was somewhat on point and that it didn’t make you uncomfortable. Oh and also love your sketches so much they look so good 🤩!!! Uh question. Just to double check. The constant asks aren’t a bother are they? I know you said you like interacting but I just wanna make sure it’s not annoying having to respond to constant asks from the same person all the time. If that makes sense? Anyways I hope you sleep well/wake up refreshed!! It’s night time here atm. As always take care of yourself! *sends virtual hugs*

- ✨ anon

Starry!!

I finished reading the latest chapters of the manga (and I'm amazed at the fact that I've managed to keep up with it so far; are we ever gonna get shirtless aiku and i wanna see him with the italian team)

my only motive in life atp (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

I love yoo does make me feel nostalgic; but yeah as much as I love the whole story, the plot did get dragged out. So like here's the thing, I've watched a lot of k dramas and some of them are really lengthy. Like whats wrong with secretary kim had a good plot and everything, so did suspicious partners but this new one I watched (the penthouse) it got dragged out for so long that I didn't even want to watch season 3; even if it was interesting i'm being pushed to watch hospital playlist even with let's play when Sam and Charles were being dragged with Marshall in the bg i... dropped it. No ill will intended against the author and their artwork; cause they are amazing, but i lose interest with complicated plots. me watching he is a psychometric

The coincidence! I was literally asking abt the black dragons today (wanted to know if Shinichiro is there or not and turns out he is!) I wanna see the whole thing with Mitsuya, Hakkai and Taiju - me having a tr brainrot and thinking if i should work on it or will people get annoyed with me ⁽⁽ଘ( ˊᵕˋ )ଓ⁾⁾ I like manga omakes- they can even be turned into mini eps cause of it - esp with the trio and their pet shop business! (Me thinking of the moment when Baji's handwriting is so bad that Chifuyu had to show him how to write and teach him- he really thought wearing glasses would make him smart smh) and if i do read tr I'm gonna start uploading manga panels on my blog as well- so be prepared to be annoyed ig ⁽⁽ଘ( ˊᵕˋ )ଓ⁾⁾

I'll definitely check out the webtoons you sent me (kiss the bet seems interesting and midnight poppy land has popped into my recs a couple of times). I have to watch the next ep of blue lock - curious to know if Nagi's voice is how I pictured it.

I'm doing alright! Working on wips and clearing them, studying, watching shows *sips coke* and listening to music; we hit another mini milestone - 1.2k (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و so I'm working on two fics; angst comfort

istg the way you guys might come at me for this ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ

I just wanted to do something fun on the blog hehe- responding to comments with art. It's not very well done, yea but i'm not used to drawing digitally nor anime that often since I sketch paintings and statues... but its just to good around with my followers and to let people know that i do read their comments (๑•͈ᴗ•͈)

Honestly? I don't get interaction on my blog apart from you, 💙 anon and a few more - and - I like talking to you; esp when you mentioned abt having consistency while having to talk to someone? cause that's how it should be- and i don't regret saying this but the number of times i have unfollowed moots cause of this (big author or not; I'm not gonna engage in conversations if i'm going one sided abt this). So now I just prefer to chat with my followers and anyone who wants to drop in my inbox. And no, I don't find you annoying bb; you're very fun to talk to and I look forward to your visits- no matter how many times! This is probably the most interaction I've received in my entire writing experience and actually being treated like a person on the other side of the screen rather than being asked to write a part two (after its already been discussed many times) or asking to be tagged without my work being interacted with- and by interaction i mean telling me and describing to me what you liked about the fic and all that yk. And there used to be some days when I had my askbox closed so this is a pleasant change from that

૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡

so yeah feel free to send as many asks as you want - i'd be happy to see them ( ˊᵕˋ )♡

*sending back warm hugs*

[holylulusworld]

Congratulations on 8000 followers. For your celebration drabble request, I suggest: Dean X Y/N quarantined from a witch's spell. I'll leave it up to you if you want fluff, angst, smut. You get the idea. This prompt is starting to give me ideas.

F*cking Witches

8000 Followers Drabbles Masterlist

Prompt: None provided so I chose one. “Fucking witches!”

Warnings: language, angst, fun, fluff, cocky Dean, being quarantined due to an odd spell, Dean being a tease, tension, implied smut

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Characters: Sam Winchester

Word count:  1223 (it got a bit longer)

“Fucking witches” Dean growls struggling against his brother's strength. “I can beat her! Let me just...” Sam pushes his brother into the bunker, almost causing Dean to fall down the stairs.

“Wait! Let us help!” Squeaking you end up pushed into Dean’s arms before the heavy door of the bunker locks behind you. “Hey! You can’t just lock us in!”

“We need to get out of here, Y/N! I will not survive for two weeks in this cage! I am not a good roommate while being a caged animal, sweetheart.” Dean pants heavily, not liking the idea of being locked in again.

“Dean, what if Rowena is right? What if we are toxic?” The hunter blinks a few times before he pokes your shoulder. “DEAN!”

“There, I am still alive. Cursed to kill my ass!” Eyes narrowed you poke Dean’s cheek only to giggle lightly at his pissed expression.

“Maybe we are only toxic to other people?” Not liking the idea Dean nods. “I’ll check on the lore. I bet I can find a way to get us out of here, Dean. I don’t want to be stuck with you either.”

“Hey, I am an awesome and great roommate,” Dean smirks, giving you one of his charming smiles followed by a wink. “Just push the right buttons, sweetheart.”

“I will not push anything, Winchester. Now, let's make a plan...”

Day 1

You gave up on reading more books last night. Sam said they are getting closer to solving the case. Hopefully, Rowena can reverse the spell and free the grumpy hunter and you.

“I am bored,” Dean whines while you make a list of your supplies. “Play with me…”

“Dude, I am not going to play any games with you. I have to check on the supplies or do you want to starve for the next two weeks?”

“Starve?” Suddenly interested in whatever you started, Dean dips his head to glance at the list your prepared.

“We’ve got three six-packs of beer, which means you’ll only drink one bottle per day from now on. Good thing I hate that crap.” Dean gulps hard, glancing at your list.

“We’ve got enough water, though. Let’s check. Sam bought enough food for three weeks but, we need to prevent food craving attacks, Dean. No midnight snack for you, big boy.” Grinning you pat Dean’s belly.

“As if you never ate anything in the middle of the night. Damn, I am hungry now…”

Day 3

“Can I not have one more beer and a slice of pie?” Dean whines, looking at you with big eyes, imitating his brother's puppy dog eyes. “Please?”

“Dean, if you drink more beer today, there will be nothing left at the end of the week. You have to choose…”

“I’ll choose to have one more tonight. Snacks are out soon…”

Day 5

“Hmm…that’s a nice outfit, sweetheart. How do you call it?” Watching you walk around in hello kitty sweatpants and a crop top Dean ogles you shamelessly. “I bet; you’d like to lose it…”

“Winchester, I am warning you.” Poking your finger into Dean’s chest you narrow your eyes. “It’s only five days, Dean. I don’t think your balls are blue…”

“Wanna check?” Dean cocks his head when you glance at his crotch.

Day 7

Another day in hell. The bunker is too cold today. Literally freezing your ass off you run around the large building to find the reason for the failure of the heating. “Damnit, Dean. Where is the heat gone?”

Dean smirks, stepping closer to open his coat. “Could warm you up, Y/N.” Debating to take Dean’s offer or to freeze to death you nod, letting Dean wrap you in his coat.

Head resting against his chest, you try to warm up. “I know a way to get you all hot and bothered, sweetheart.”

“Dean, what the fuck!” His swelling dick presses against your thigh. “That’s the problem. No fuck…”

Day 9

Crawling up the walls you try to find anything useful to do but you end up rolling around your bed, staring at the wall. “Watcha doing, sweetheart?”

“I try to bore myself to death, Dean. And you?”

“Same. You know, we could do something useful.” Dean snickers, pointing toward your bed. “Just saying.”

Your pillow ends up in his face and you groan, hoping Sam will free you soon.

Day 11

“For all that’s holy Dean, wear a fucking shirt and pants. You can’t just run around in boxers and socks!” Whining you glance at Dean’s ass when he bends over to grasp for the last beer.

“It’s unbearable hot today.” Huffing you wipe off some sweat. “I don’t know what’s wrong with the bunker. Days ago we almost froze off our asses and today I feel like getting roasted.”

“I had a shower and it was too warm. Not refreshing at all…”

Day 12

“No, no! That’s not true! They both would’ve died if she shared the door with him.” Bickering about Titanic, Jack’s death, and the door you stuff the last popcorn into your mouth.

“I believe they could’ve been saved, both.” Dean pokes your side, smirking as you pat his chest.

“Fine, Dean. If we ever end up in the middle of the ocean, freezing our asses off I’ll share the door with you.”

Day 13

“I am going to find you, sweetheart…” Dean yells through the bunker. Today you decided to play hide and seek, much to Dean’s amusement as he won all rounds so far. “There she is…”

Squeaking you try to outrun Dean, but he grasps for you, throwing you over his shoulder.

“I want my prize now, sweetheart. No chicken out. I am going to lay claim on this cute ass.”

Day 16

The bedframe slams into the wall one last time.

Dean barely can roll off your body, not after non-stop fucking for three days.

“That was awesome, but I need a break.”

“Same, Dean.” Laughing you pat his head. “I mean, at least we released the tension. It was overdue we fucked.”

“You know, this means your ass is mine. No discussion.” Nodding you close your eyes to calm your racing heart. “Did Sammy call? It’s fifteen days today.”

“Sixteen, Dean…”

“Son of a bitch!”

Day 21

“What the fuck, Sammy! What took you so long?” Cocking his head Dean glares at his brother.

“Three weeks, brother. You left us roast in this hell for three weeks while we had nothing else to do than…”

Sam’s eyes wander from you, wearing his brother’s plaid, to the hickey at Dean’s neck, back toward the handcuffs around your wrist Dean forgot to remove hearing the door of the bunker open.

“I think we are all happy Dean and I can leave the bunker again. Thanks to all of you, but Dean and I got a business to do. He owes me something and I want it now…”

Grabbing Dean’s hand you drag him toward his bedroom. “I want that orgasm, even if it kills us…”

“What the…?” Sam swallows thickly watching you ogle his brother shamelessly.

“Yeah, we ganked the witch, reversed the spell, got captured by a coven and almost tortured but it’s great you two found the time to…connect…”

“Fucking witches Sammy…” Dean snickers running off with you.

SPN Forever Tags

@donnaintx

@screechingartisancashbailiff

@fallen-wolf22

@sister-winchesters99

@mogaruke

@the-is13

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@homeorbust

@emoryhemsworth

@lunaticgurly

@sofiiamdeansgirl

@xxlikeheavenxx

@spnbaby-67

--------------------------------------

Dean/Jensen Forever Tags   

@spnfamily-j2

@supernatural-bellawinchester

@negans-lucille-tblr

@deans-baby-momma

@thefaithfulwriter

@squirrelnotsam

@roonyxx

@underthewrap

@deansgirl-1968

@spn-dean-and-sam-winchester

@butifulsoul125

@lyinginthegingerlocks

@neen-illustrates

@janicho88

@woodworthti666

@thevelvetseries

@dreaminemz

@akshi8278

@midnightsilver16830

@mrspeacem1nusone

@ria132love

@caligraphee

@the-witch-in-silence

@justanotherwinchester

@multisuperfandom

@jason-todd-squad

@jadesupernatural

@psychicforest

@luciathewinchestergirl

@magssteenkamp

@palefiregiver

@tranquility-or-chaos

@jxackles

@michellemxndes

@addictedtofictionalcharacters

@gabifernandessn

 @waywardrose13

@team-free-will-you-idjiot

@myopiamystical

@rintheemolion

@isthatabutterfly

@bluecornflowers

@rosalynshields

A/N: If your name is crossed out Tumblr won’t let me tag you.

--------------------------------------

[ladynightmare913]

Secrets of the Darkened Seas

Welcome to Chapter 2! I would like to say thank you to Olivia (@asunshinepuff​), for inviting me to work on this story with her. 

As always there is mermaid lore hidden with in the story. The included lore on different types of merfolk will be taken from the book “The Secret World of Mermaids” by Francine Rose. We are taking no credit for her work. 

Now without further ado,    

Chapter 2: The Dragon’s Pearl

The man and the young boy made their way to the far side of the docks, the sun was beginning to make it’s descent to the sea. The water rippled below the hull of ships, anchors being lowered or weighing anchors to begin their sails back at sea. Some of the townspeople were making their trek home. Quinn and Remus approach the ship that Remus had seen earlier in the day from a distance. But up close, it was truly a sight to behold. The masts that were open, were a starking white, wooden haul, a rich brown mahogany, spotless with not a barnacle in sight. The railings were painted gold like the sun, freshly polished and not a splinter out of place. The bow had a golden nautical figurehead of a creature that Remus had never seen before. With a long serpentine body fully covered in scaled, and large horns protruding from it’s head. A white spherical object clutched in one of it’s clawed hands. It’s jaws open as if to strike.

Remus’ eyes widened as he gazed upon the ship he had studied earlier. Glancing to Quinn, he couldn’t help but ask, “How has no one tried to steal this ship?”

Quinn chuckles, “Oh they’ve tried, but never got very far. My brother, the captain, is a force of his own that is not to be reckoned with.” He says with a smile. At Remus’ growing concerned face he quickly adds on, “Don’t worry. He might seem a bit… well, rather cold at first. To put it lightly. But he’s not a bad man.”

“How far have they gotten?”

Quinn muses for a moment in silence, as they make their way up the loading dock to the ship’s deck, thinking of the many times pirates - including the Blacks - have tried to take over the ship. “Never past deck.” He smiles at the crewmen preparing to sail as he stands in the middle of all their work. “Anyone seen the Captain?” 

“Last we saw him, he threw Ethan overboard.” A sailor responded courtly. He was dressed in black pants and boots, a white shirt and a gold sash around his waist. 

Quinn looks to the sailor in bewilderment, “Again? What is that, the fifth time now?”

“Seventh actually, Ethan told the joke about the donkey.” 

“I told him not to do that.” He shakes his head with an exasperated sigh. “Never learns does he?”

A young man with short curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, tanned skin was soaked to the bone in water as he marched back up to the ship. He looks to Quinn.   

“Don’t look at me like that, I told you not to tell that joke. You’ve brought this upon yourself.” The young man rubs his necks as he walks below deck to change. Quinn shakes his head before he turns to Remus as he claps his hands and rubs them together. “It’s harmless really.” The man groans in pain, as if to contradict Quinn. “Eh, mostly.” 

Remus watches the man in pain walk below the deck with widened eyes. He looks back to Quinn and the sailor, “Does that happen often?”

Quinn tilts his head back and forth with his arms crossed, “I’d like to tell you no, to ease you, but that’d be a lie. It happens on more than one occasion, though less often than you’d think.” He chuckles under his breath, “Now come along. I think it’s time to introduce you.” He then turns behind him and just smiles. “Hello Min-Jun.”

Remus turns to follow, and nearly jumps in surprise. Lo and behold, said Captain was standing right behind them. The Captain was a tall young asian man, around the age of twenty-one, with an expressionless face, he had short straight black hair with part bangs, fair skin, and dark eyes. He was dressed in a well-tailored black coat with a dark forest green vest on top of a white shirt, black pants and boots. At his hip was a wide sword with a dark forest green sheath with gold accents. But no captain’s hat was anywhere in sight. 

“Quinn.” He says in a deep monotone. His posture was as straight at a board, his hand at his side, his left hand on the hilt of his sword. His gaze lowers to the boy beside Quinn, narrowing a fraction before he looks to Quinn. “You were at the Taverns again weren’t you?”  

“I will neither confirm or deny.” 

“So that’s a yes.” A brow rises ever so slightly before it’s gone in the blink of an eye. The captain turned his head lightly to look over the boy. “Apologies for any idotic schemes my First mate may have dragged you into. He is not the brightest, but his heart is in the right place. Usually. He has the unfortunate ailment of defying gravity. I once caught him upside down on the masts so there’s that.”

“And who put me there Min-Jun? Cause it certainly wasn’t me. I may do many schemes you might consider idiotic-”

“Because they are.”  His head leans to look at Quinn in a bored expression but his eyes held amusement. 

Quinn raises his eyebrows, giving a pointed look before continuing, “But I wouldn’t do that out of my own volition!’

The captain simply looks away, fully content to ignore the auburn haired man. “I am Min-Jun Hua. The crew call me Captain Hua. What is your name?” He looks back towards Remus. 

Remus was silent during the whole exchange, internally studying the interaction closely. He was uncertain whether the Captain and First Mate actually got along or if they hated each other, however, he caught the amusement in his eyes within their banter. They did get along. It was as if they were teasing each other. Maybe they actually consider each other siblings. He noted with his own amusement now that his initial caution has about this new Captain has diminished. They’re so very different. How did they become companions?

“My name is Remus Lupin, Captain.” Remus replies with a curt nod, as he was trying to contain his nerves and seem content in the situation. He was uncertain if it was effective or not, but he seemed to take comfort in the fact that Quinn was so relaxed with the man.

Captain Hua says nothing for a long while as he stares silently at Remus. Completely motionless for what seemed to Remus, eternity, before the asian finally looked like he took a breath. The Captain turned his gaze to his First mate. “He’ll be under your care for the meantime. Have him bathed, dressed, and fed before you send him to bed for the night. Tomorrow he can begin.” The captain says nothing more before he looks to Remus once again. “Welcome aboard the Dragon’s Pearl.” He gives a curt nod to Remus before he walks away to resume his duties. 

Remus lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding before looking to Quinn in surprise, “Why didn’t he ask any questions? Wouldn’t he want to know more about me before deciding to let me aboard?”

Quinn merely shakes his head before looking to Remus, “The Captain is an incredibly loyal soul, he respects privacy. If you wish to talk about your past then he will listen, and he will never mention it again without your approval.” He says with a smile. “He cares, deeply. He’d rather have you upon this ship then let you be on your own. That’s what happened to Ethan as well, he’s actually not that much older than you, Remus. He’s turning seventeen next moon.” Looking to the ship, he runs a hand upon the railing gently before continuing. “This old vessel has seen many stray boys board her, and she’s seen many of them become family. The captain only asks for loyalty, truthfulness, bravery, and devotion to family.” 

Remus smiles, comforted by his words. There was always more than meets the eye. He looks around the ship in surprise, “This ship looks brand new. How long has it been sailing waters?”

“Quite a long time. Practically hundreds of years. It’s been passed down through the generations of his family.” 

“That’s incredible.” 

“It is.” Quinn remarks with a nod in agreement, before looking back to the boy, “Now, we’ll be embarking at dusk. You want to watch the ship be put to sea?”

The two got situated at a good viewing point for the departure after taking care of duties below deck. It felt rather strange, yet refreshing to Remus to dawn a new set of clothes. Yet his scarf stayed tied around his waist as usual, at least he could take some part of familiarity with him. The Captain began to call out orders to the crew before he took his place behind the keel, the crew lowered the masts, catching the wind. The colors were hanged, where Remus could see the emblem on the masts and flag of the ship. A gold circle and in the center was the same creature that Remus had seen on the bow of the ship, but from the side. Only without the sphere. 

What sort of creature was that? Remus couldn’t help but wonder in curiosity as he watched the emblem upon the masts and flag of the ship.

“It’s a dragon. An eastern dragon.” Quinn says in reply, with a smirk upon his face as he looked to the boy. It seems Remus accidentally spoke aloud, and for once, he was alright with that. 

                A loud shout echoed from a grumbling man who was making his way to The Dragon’s Pearl  loading dock. Remus flinched as he recognized the voice of the drunken man from earlier, while Quinn moved defensively to shield the fourteen year old from sight. 

 “I know he’s up there! Where is he?!” The slurred words from the drunk captain all but screech out. The hooked nose man stumbled his way on board, his eyes locked onto the auburn haired man who stood defensively in front of the former deck boy. “You!” 

“Me.” Quinn answered easily with a faint smirk. 

“Where’s that deck boy!?” The drunk captain practically roared into Quinn’s face. To which Quinn’s nose simply twitched at the smell of alcohol that reeked off the man. “Behind me, though I doubt you’d be able to grab him.” 

“Where’s your captin’, I ought to have a word with him. You goin’ ‘round stealin’ deck boys, ought to be ‘shamed of yeself.” The man nearly tumbled over.   

“Not stealing when he willingly came aboard. If anyone’s to be ashamed it’s you for your actions.” He retorts with a roll of his eyes then simply tilts his head, “ You sure you want to have a word with my captain? You can hardly hold a proper conversation in your state. He won’t take too kindly to that factor.” 

“I wan’ see yer captin!” 

Quinn doesn’t respond for a moment, only looks behind the drunken captain with a bored look upon his face. “Turn around mate.”

“Wha’?” The drunk captain frowns with his mouth hanging open before he turns, nearly falling down when he sees someone standing behind him. Remus couldn’t help but hold a snicker back from behind Quinn as the drunk man flinched at the mere sight of the tall and sober captain. 

Captain Hua looked down at the drunk captain with an emotionless stare but his eyes held a look that screamed ‘How dare you bring your dunken arse onto my pristine and clean ship.’

“You wished to speak to me?” Was the leveled voice of Captain Hua. 

“A-aye.”

“You are not qualified to speak to me.”

The drunk captain staggered at the impassive tone. His face grew red. “Ye think you’re bet’er than me?” 

“To ask that question offends me.” Captain Hua raised a brow. 

“Where’s ye captin’s hat?”

“I don’t need one, I do not need to parade my status on my own ship, nor to ensure the respect of my own crew. They know who I am.” The Captain looked to his First mate. “Please escort this, man back to his ship.” Calling the drunk captain a man was incredibly respectful. Remus thought, truly Captain Hua had class that was unfortunately being wasted upon this drunkard. But then again, Captain Hua didn’t acknowledge him as a Captain either. 

“That’d be Captain Barclay ta ye.” He shrugs the hand that grips his arm.

“No. I think the Captain is right. Mr. Barclay.” Quinn contradicts with a smile, “Now, allow me to escort you back to your ship. I’m sure you embark soon.”

“Not without that boy.” The drunk captain glared at the boy.

Captain Hua looked at the drunkard, then at the boy. “First Mate Sandoval, please step aside.” The drunk captain’s eyes widen at the title.

Quinn ignores the surprised look upon the drunkard’s face and instead looks to Remus. Giving him a small smile of comfort and a look that says Trust us. You’ll be alright. Then looks back to his Captain, and with a nod, he steps aside. 

Captain Hua looked to the drunk man. “You can take this child to your ship, if you answer one question. If you answer correctly, you’re free to take him. If not,” His dark eyes narrowed, his left hand gripped the hilt of his sword, this sword was red compared to the first one Remus had seen. It was sheathed in a red case with gold accents. A strong pulse emitted from the sword as the pulse rippled through the ship. The ropes freed themselves from their knots, moving very much like serpents slithering up trees. The crew have stopped working and watched openly. “I will throw you overboard.”  

            The drunk man didn’t notice the pulse of gold energy, nor did he notice the ropes begin to move on their own. Remus’ young eyes watched in amazement at Captain Hua, who’s sheer presence became overpowering, his aura seeming to infect the ship. Stupidly, the drunkard agreed. 

“What is the child’s name?”

“...” The drunkard frowned, Remus could practically see the mental strain on the man’s face. His brain was too far gone from the rum. “... Bernard.” 

Captain Hua did not look impressed. Not at all. He simply raised a brow before he looked to Remus to correct the man’s answer. 

Remus simply smiles and shakes his head. “Wrong.”

What happened next happened rather quickly, it was really a blur to be completely honest. Captain Hua wordlessly grabbed the drunkard by the collar of his shirt, lifted him off the ground and proceeded to walk, not in any hurry, effortlessly to the side of the ship, and threw the man overboard with ease. Remus’ jaw dropped a bit. 

“Why didn’t you just use the ropes?” Remus couldn’t help but ask in curiosity. 

Captain Hua merrily gazed down at the swimming crew members from the drunk captain’s ship who threw themselves overboard to ensure the man didn’t drown. “And deprive myself of the pleasure of doing it myself? Never.” Captain Hua’s stoic face gave a smirk in delight. “I would never disgrace The Dragon’s Pearl to so much as even touch that drunk. It was painful to watch an alcoholic parade around with a captain’s hat and acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum.”  

“... How did you know he didn’t know my name?” 

Captain Hua looked down to Remus. “I have two answers. One; most people who make port hardly ever ask for a deck-boys name.” The captain began to walk away from the railing, Remus followed. “Two; even if by the off chance he did know your name, he would not have the sentimentality, nor the intellectual capacity to remember your name, especially while drunk.” He turned to look at Remus. “I would not have made that wager had I believed for a second he would be able to say your name. Not when he preferred to think with an organ that he did not have instead of his brain. Not to mention your name is unusual. I am not one to gamble. Especially with someone’s life.” 

Remus pauses for a moment taking in the Captain’s words, before asking the question he was truly reluctant to hear. “... What if he did say my name?”

Captain Hua looked at Remus for a long time before he looked away to the setting sun. “Then he would have won.” Captain Hua looked back to Remus. “It may seem cruel, but I will not lie to you Remus. I do not break my word.” Captain Hua looked to the sunset once more. “I would have just challenged him to a duel if that was the case. The man couldn’t even walk straight let alone hold a sword.” Without another word, he walked away.  

Remus stood silently as he watched the Captain walk away, and looked out to the sunset once he was out of view. There was no relief of tension like he had initially anticipated when he first heard the words of the wager, as if he already knew he was safe. How exactly he determined that conclusion, he had no clue. But in his heart he knew that was the case. He watched the shore line of the port town he had always known, grow smaller and smaller with every glide of the ship, until it vanished from view- it was the start of a new life. A new chapter. Like each morning rise and evening set of the sun upon the sea.

[shy-magpie]

RQG 154

Wherein red stringing occurs. Liveblog under the cut:

 Not much hype this week, just a lot of being quietly thrilled RSB got the beginning of the episode dedicated to us. I hope the rest of the fandom doesn't feel like Bryn plays favorites. Its sweet he back reads and answers questions but its nothing he wouldn't do in official. Last week was such a gift that I think it cut down on hype for this week because even if (Alex forbid) they immediately time skipped to the end of the week, quarantine still got us amazing backstory and character moments. Unless Alex gets truly desperate and has someone attack the inn or infects both the new kids, the characters are safe from physical danger so no fear hype either.

Yes I want follow up on that Hamid & Zolf conversation: I am so proud of him for calling Zolf out on being patronizing (I can't believe I didn't see earlier with his family, of course that's the aspect that got to him) and they need to figure out how to deal with the chain of command. Zolf already seems more willing to get input on his decisions so its mostly losing the attitude when things happen like Hamid casting lights. Yes I also want Cel to talk about themself more, but I am fine with waiting until they aren't locked up with no privacy. Azu's backstory is coming out at a decent pace and Helen spoils us so not even worried about not hearing more about her becoming a paladin. I am curious if Alex thinks its worth bonding with the new kids and this better not be a set up for splitting the party. So enough pre episode babbling, final bets on if they play with the brorb now or wait until they can take it to Cel's? Gotta love that music. Oh they do want to get back to things! Listen to how fast they're talking. That's nice I wouldn't have thought they'd be as excited about the pure RP backstory and character bits as they get about a boss fight. No Alex neither players nor fans want to skip anything. I will concede that further conversation was unlikely to be productive that night so the morning makes sense. There was only one corridor! Barnes is still using the stairs to get some space. Some might see it as a sign he is infected or afraid of infection but honestly not wanting to puppy pile with a group as tight knit as the party especially while they are shaking out their issues is valid. Azu checks on Carter who passed out drunk face down. Zolf is sleeping in. With Hamid's family issues, Bryn being so careful to specify he has a healthy relationship with alcohol every time makes it a lot easier to not tense up listening. Oh My God thanks Bryn! I know he said the beginning of the episode was dedicated to us but I was expecting a throw away line not a proper red stringing scene! I am grinning so big right now. Azu is watching Hamid Cel is sleeping curled up with the sealed bottle of elvish mead. Because Lydia is as much a criminal as Bryn just plays a longer game. Speaking of criminal, Ben really plays up this rivalry from Azu & Zolf covering similar roles and its a really close second to the rank thing between him & Hamid in character arcs I'm interested in. I think both are aiming towards a happy ending but no idea how the middle is going to play out. I don't think it's aiming for a "this party isn't big enough for two of us". Alex is encouraging this. This is great just going to get a clip of this rather than attempt to transcribe on first listen. Bryn/Hamid is laying this out so clearly: The knowns, assumed, and questions are being labeled nicely. (I wonder if our little discord helped him refresh his memory so he'd be able to match how much Hamid would remember in character.) Bryn also goes 3rd person? Hope it isn't a stress tell like Alex. Yes Bryn is obsessed and as a listener its is utterly charming when he shows up in RSB or Official and is unabashedly as big a fan of the show as us. Zolf wakes up to Hamid red stringing. Thank goodness he isn't letting security concerns lead him to putting the brakes on. I know there was some concern that if one of them was infected sharing they could pass on anything they talk about. As long as they don't get too specific about classified info, using the time and frankly just having a project to distract them is a good idea. Plus in my mind Hamid always looks so hurt when Zolf pulls on the reigns. Lilliana is not allowed to be the connecting thread. Oh seed is finally being addressed. Aw Hamid handed Cel a glass of water. It really is the little things I love about this show: 1)told you he has a knack for leadership: anticipating the needs of team members even as they diverge from his own 2)He does see Cel as a team member not just someone he worked with, you don't hear him cooing over Carter 3)does it quickly then moves on, because as a gentleman he thinks it's what anyone would do. 4)speaking of, I wonder that Azu & Zolf haven't done rounds. its not like they have anything to save the spells for and the field is only in the cell.

Svalbard! Do not taunt us, does Ben have any idea how much we want to see the science dwarves of the north? Um hmm, vindi-fing-cation. I know it wasn't exactly a huge insight but the mixture of science and various schools of magic is key to my theory on what “Erasing The Line” refers to. Oh Frankenstein in this world is such a concept. Plus it makes Mary Shelley canon. Aw Alex thought we'd never get to this bit of lore. Thank you Blue Veins info being given as whole instead of bits & pieces.  Ooh and Barnes is taking it. Time to get a sense of who he is when he's not swinging a sword. Navel engagement with Blue Veins? Hive mind! Minimize harm? Not dead. Paladins are complicated, maybe a rumor, maybe transfer of allegiance. Cyborg kraken Cyborg Zolf Oh splitting the kraken to make more Barnes just checks out as the conversation goes over his head Called it I told you it was a sensible test. (ETA Zolf’s fart test) (ETA: Re: people with Blue Veins) No lies, no embarrassment, very literal. Other instances? Riots London->Paris->Europe Not safe to go to London If you're in their presence you are highly likely to be infected, mass infections,  not passed by corpses? Memetic effect? Tick tock. Ben and Alex have one of their friendly tussles as Carter decides its a me may Yes he did! And Helen name dropped us! I know I'm just a little part of the brigade but I'm going to to be smug for at least a week that we are so good at what we do one of the actual players looked to us. Hey Lydia is welcome too. Paperwork time! Yeah yeah I knew security was going to be used to undermine Hamid. At least it isn't Zolf and they aren't trying to make him look rash for the whole idea. Getting new info from the paperwork is a bit different than talking about what they already know. Make the place bigger? Nice spell Zolf. If this leads to Animorphs again... Oh I was thinking more like a big horde somewhere you could check stone in & out of a stone plane of existence ties in with elemental lore right? Seriously "Cure Hangover" isn't a spell? Or do Zolf & Azu just not approve of using their magic that way? Intoxicants have to fall under mild poisoning, right? Do the studying later in the week? That's a fair compromise; even if Zolf is still presenting it as an order he is explaining instead of giving his advice or IDK putting it to a vote. I'm not positive but I think Lydia is suggesting they go over their character sheets in character. Alex is not amused. Lydia sounds pleased with herself. Perception check? Azu hears someone knocking something over upstairs. Azu tries to not wake Carter as she listens at the door. It had to be her foot in his mouth. Multiple people in the inn. Carter tries to pick the lock. Azu & Carter start bickering. Carter is perception penalty. The inn is being searched Zolf suggests they wake Wilde up by making a racket. Cel hears the door being unlocked. Voices speaking muffled Japanese. Cel just shouts "Hey what's going on?". Zolf joins in. Azu uses her armor to make noise. Thump of someone hitting the floor! Wilde's voice! Lots of feet? Yes Helen, what if it is the kobolds? Oh god what if Skraak checked on them and found out they were in cages underground? Poor guy would think Wilde is their Shoin. Bryn clarifies Hamid shouts out to Wilde Zolf forbids them leaving the basement Cel shields themself. Azu goes for her armor Barnes is keeping Carter from going for the lock again. Hamid casts Fear (!oh that’s a new one isn't it) I assume #jail is already full of angst criminals connecting Hamid's bully days and him going from S1!Hamid scared of every fight to now casting fear as a way to control his enemies). Also these better be his enemies because I still don't put it past Alex to set us up for a tragic misunderstanding. Dragon roar and dragon face is how he casts fear Ok Rusty Quill LOTR night sounds awesome Zolf helps Azu put on her armor The other feet flee Zolf cries out for Wilde as loud as he physically can but still won't let them risk infecting Japan by leaving quarantine early. Oh if that ain't a fic and a half. A set of small claws! It is a kobold End the episode with the kobolds?  

[guiltyidealist]

An In-Depth Interpretation & Analysis of the Binary Bard’s Dream on Super Villain Island

(Spoiler warning for Poptropica’s Astro Knights Island and Super Villain Island)

Also, warning... there’s a lot under the cut.

To start off, you might want to read these screenshots. We’ll use them later. However, I’m going to summarize and explain them when we get there, so you don’t have to read them. It could be helpful, is all. Screenshots taken from Dreammoods.com.

Several important symbols are present in Binary Bard’s (Mordred’s) dream, which your player is entering to obtain his “totem of evil,” in hopes that its removal will remove the evil from him. When you enter his dream, he is sitting on a tall chair beside a door that opens and shuts rapidly, blocking any access. He wails to you (something along the lines of), “I’m trapped in this room. This door seems to have a mind of its own!” When you freeze time, he exclaims that you are brilliant and yeets through the door. You then make your way through more of those doors and some floating platforms (the background is spacey here) until you reach him for the boss battle. You see him complete his transformation into the Binary Bard in the center of a large clock, and you must freeze time when the clock hands are at certain positions in order to electrocute and defeat him. He fades away and drops his astrolabe totem. 

What does this mean? Well, if you don’t know the lore and backstory behind Mordred/the Binary Bard, or need a refresher, go check it out on the Poptropica Wiki. I’ll still summarize it for you below.

♠ Mordred was a brilliant scientist and inventor in the Kingdom of Arturus. One day, he began experimenting with combining animal DNA with robotics, creating animal-robot hybrids. Most notably, he created Merlin the owl, his closest companion. The king and queen of Arturus found his work obscene and blasphemous and banned such practices, and then jailed him. Mordred escaped, however, and continued his work in secret until the royal forces discovered him. He then fled to space, leaving everything behind, and was thought dead. ♠ Flash forward several years. At some point, Mordred had attached robotic parts to himself and took on the name Binary Bard, and was universally known for attacking planets. The princess of Arturus joined a secret society of Mordred followers/worshipers who believed Mordred was still alive and had been right in his experiments. She began exchanging letters with Mordred, now known as the Binary Bard. The Binary Bard sent five space crafts to attack the kingdom and kidnap the princess, and was successful, leaving Arturus princessless, distraught, and in ruins. The king and queen sent out three knights to seek out the princess, but they never returned. ♠ Shortly after this, your player (who I will call Bronze, after my own character, Bronze Hamburger) arrived in Arturus and was tasked with bringing the princess and the knights home. Bronze found and befriended Merlin and managed to get into space. There, he met aliens who warned him of the Binary Bard and equipped him with a ship that would carry him to three particular planets. After visiting each and rescuing the knights there, Bronze discovered an asteroid that housed the key to Mordred's Fortress, a temple in another dimension. He traveled there, and the Binary Bard pretended to be the princess to steal Bronze’s weapons. Fortunately, Merlin betrayed the Bard and helped Bronze save the princess. Bronze, Merlin, the Princess, and the three knights departed from that place, locking the Binary Bard alone in his extra-dimensional prison forever.

So, using the context of Mordred’s past, we can extrapolate a meaning to his Super Villain Island dream. As a refresher: When you enter Mordred’s dream, he is sitting on a tall chair beside a door that opens and shuts rapidly, blocking any access. He wails to you (something along the lines of), “I’m trapped in this room. This door seems to have a mind of its own!” When you freeze time, he exclaims that you are brilliant and yeets through the door. You then make your way through more doors and some floating platforms (the background is spacey here) until you reach him for the boss battle. You see him complete his transformation into the Binary Bard in the center of a large clock, and you must freeze time when the clock hands are at certain positions in order to electrocute and defeat him. He fades away and drops his astrolabe totem.

► The presence of the door (I’m using the third paragraph of the door section here) very clearly symbolizes Mordred’s anger when the monarchy of Arturus banned his innovation and jailed him for carrying it out. This is the simplest of the symbols to analyze, so we started here. Get ready to dive in. ► To interpret the aspect of freezing time, I had to extract elements from the section on time and the section on “frozen” and combine them. A frozen something represents either a coldness/bitterness toward that something or the repression/denial of that something. Time represents fear of not being able to cope, aging, or anxiety [about time running out]. Everything I could think of in this regards related to him having a refusal to move forward. I have a few takes on what this could mean specifically. [1] It reflects his refusal to move on from his blasphemous experimentation in spite of the monarchy’s laws; perhaps out of some fear (fear of the unknown? Fear of letting go? I wonder where that developed, if anywhere at all...), but perhaps not. He held onto his experiments and even applied them to his own body. [2] It reflects a fear of growing old. We do not know precisely when or why the Binary Bard made himself half-cybernetic, so it’s possible that he did this to extend his lifespan. This may have been so that he could have more time enact his revenge on Arturus. [3] It reflects his grudge-holding. After being jailed, his intentions turned dark. Even after fleeing Arturus, he continued to take out his rage and terrorize other planets; the residents of Pewter Moon attribute their state of ruin to an attack from him that was made prior to the one on Arturus, and cite that he is a well-known space terrorist. All of these ultimately fall under a “refusal to move forward” umbrella. ► Okay, the clock ties in somewhat with the frozen time. It signifies anxiety about time progressing/running out, deadlines, rut, lack of progression, or -- most interestingly -- the human heart/emotional side of life. There are a lot of facets to this, so I’m gonna try to keep each one short. I already covered the anxiety about time passing in the paragraph above, and deadlines ties into that closely. The rut part is something to dive into, but I will come back to it. The human heart/emotions part is particularly noteworthy because the scene featuring the clock is the scene in which the Bard completes his transformation from human to half-human. Dreammoods.com specifically states that “clocks symbolize the ticking of the human heart and thus is indicative of the emotional side of your life.” I am lead to believe that this clock -- taking into account the fact that he transforms inside the clock and that the clock is his demise -- reflects that Mordred is repressing his true emotions (possibly hurt, betrayal, etc) and replacing them with feelings of rage and lashing out at the world.  Now, back to the rut. According to Dreammoods.com, a backwards-moving clock “parallels the way that your life is going. Instead of moving forward and progressing toward your goals, you feel that you have not made any significant accomplishments. You feel you are stuck in a rut.” Allow me to first point out that the “moving forward and progressing” aspect ties right back into my analyses of frozen time and of the clock, affirming the hypotheses. In the 10/10 segue of the century, I’m going to analyze this along with the electrocution. ► It’s when you electrocute the Bard that the clock hands reverse their direction. Electrocution represents impending disaster, fear of consequences for one’s actions, and a lack of awareness of one’s surroundings. When electrocution, reversed clock, and the circumstances are put together, this is what you’re left with: Binary Bard’s own fears, self-importance, and narrow-sightedness are getting in the way of his progression as a person (of his moving on) and will lead to his demise in the end. ► I ended up going a bit out of order, because I started to debate whether space was really relevant; it could just be a reflection of his lore in a literal sense. However, it’s worth noting that space represents independent thinking, which could tie into the narrow-sightedness/lack of awareness of his surroundings from the electrocution symbol.

Put in the context of his lore/backstory, everything within Mordred’s dream makes sense from a character standpoint. The symbols align with his position, internal conflict, and emotions. 

And this is just my take. You don’t have to believe that dreams mean any of this stuff; you don’t have to have interpreted it the same way I did (I’d love to hear y’all’s interpretations of things!). I love this character a lot. On many levels, I relate to him-- high intelligence, being repressed by others, trouble letting go of grudges, covering up own emotions, and being nonbinary (that’s canon to me. Let me have this in peace without quarreling about it). My love for both this character and psychology (the analysis of dreams especially) are what prompted me to dig deep into this topic. I’d be happy to know what you think, how you interpret it, and whatever else you have to say!

[thechoirrp]

Prompt #11 Snuff

hosted by : @sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

Verb Phrases snuff out,to extinguish:to snuff out a candle. Leandra walks in the cold corridor of the mansion, it was better than the apartment in the middle of Ul’dah, but nothing compared to her own house in the capital. It’s been around ten hours that Karaan locks itself in his study, she could hear the scribble and curses coming from it.  She had prepared a meal and two cups of tea; a soft chuckle escapes her lips. “A house wise, now…”

She pushes the door open and enters the study. The room is fill with book on the floor and on shelves, at the end of it, a massive desk made of wood, on it,  two candles light on it, Karaan’s head turns in direction of the entrance of his study and arches an eyebrow seeing Leandra entering. “Hmm?” She answers with a soft : “ the voidkins of joy are sleeping,  I brought food and refreshments.”  

 The Archivist leans back on his chair and expels a long sigh, pushing aside the pile of drawing and notes, onto the floor next to him. Hidden under some books, is a bed, Karaan seems to use often in those days, lurking into the dream state he is call to. “Any new development” she inquires after offering the warm meal to him, grabbing her own cup of tea and sipping it. 

She looks at the few notes still on the desk, about Ronka, devices and aether. He curiosity getting better of her, she returns her emerald iris on her ally, smiling to him. “Tell me, maybe it will help you clarify your mind.” She paces behind while studying.Karaan nods and finishes his meal quickly. “Well, not much to be certain, mostly rumors, legends and more weird stuff that I am not even sure if it is all real.”

 He shakes his head. “So, I did a few jumps now, was able to reach their capital, I assume.” He pulls out a piece of paper. “From that library, I was able to learn that those Ronka.” He waves the piece of paper, over his shoulder, showing it to Leandra. “Well, they were an empire spreading around their lands, for millennials, they reach peak of technology and powers…” He chuckles.” And they fall…not sure what made them fall, but they did.” He glances over at her. “A bit like the Allag Empire here.”

 She nods and continues to sip her tea, leaning near one of the massive shelf fills with books and maps.“And?”

“From Rae, our guide; I guess, in this lovely adventure, his husband had this device before they met or found it before.” He shrugs and circles one of the pieces of paper and sticks on board looming over the desk. “That device is able to heal by he is assuming, taking aether from those around itself.” A tired laugh escapes his lips. “And it seems to stop aging to anyone affected by it.” He scribbles on a second pieces of paper and puts it next to the first one on the board. “You are following me.”

She mumbles a soft yes, between two sips of her tea, looking at the young man with a wide grin.

“Well, so thing seems to have got wrong the last time they used it; so, Rae decided to store it back to where he thought it came from. The Ronka Ruin in the middle of a massive forest.” He turns his chair to look at her. “Picture the Black Forest, but…darker, I guess.” He chuckles.” In that forest, the ruins of the Ronka seems to be sacred to a people : the Vii.” He chuckles.” It seems to be their version of Viera, with the same we go murder-bunny on anyone entering our own forest.”

 Leandra frowns and nods, remembering her own encounter with them during her time active.

“So, Sacred Ruin guarded by Viis; can’t deny it is a good hiding spot for device, you don’t want anyone to play with.” He returns his gaze on the desk and pulls out a third paper. “Well, it seems the ruin decided to add a layer of security, now there is a guardian standing near the entrance of the vault. Our…little…problem.”

 He sticks the last piece of  paper near the rest on the board.Leandra laughs. “It would have been too easy with just the murder-bunny.”Karaan empties his own cup of tea and nods. “Well, here what I was able to decipher from my notes, legends and by looking at it.” He leans back on his chair, looking directly at her. “It seems to have two states:  A vigilant state, who seems to be in an immaterial shape; from Rae, this shape is immune to any effect of aetherical power.” He stops. “and since it is …. incorporeal, I assume throwing swords and arrows will be just for comedic relief moment.” He continues about the guardian

He rubs his temple.” Once he has acquired a target or something move to close to the vault, it can take a more direct approach.  In this form, he can interact with his environment and I assume pummel any dumbass to close to the vault. 

““You assume?” She inquires, a soft giggle escaping her voice. “You didn’t try yourself.”

“I didn’t find any poor sob that I would have sacrifice for testing practice….I am not able to strap Ham on a carbuncle and studies how fast a dragon can fly after it..” He waves his hand in dismissal way when he sees her confusion. “A story for another day.”  He continues about the guardian

“The Guardian seems to be made of stone or material imitating the stone, so I assume hard enough to resist blunt damage long enough to pummel anyone close to his target.” He frowns. “the shape seems to be the one of bipedal, humanoid guardian.” He searches through his notes for a moment. “It doesn’t seem to be slow, from lore and legends I have found, they weren’t known for their slow massive thing.” He closes his eyes for a moment. 

“Here the part I find it hard and complicated. Rae told me the Guardian wasn’t there before, so we can assume the device, or the vault summon, create or call him to defend the vault and the device.” He turns his eyes toward the notes on the board. “The device is known to acquire aether from people near it; we could assume it could do the same with ambient aether, feeding it to itself and to the guardian to keep this dormant state for as long as he needs it. The little problem that I have with that guardian is the device is known to mend wound and stop aging; so I have to assume that if that thing is there to protect the device, the device may be able to mend any -wounds- we will inflict, seeping the aether from the lands itself…or ourselves if we are close enough. Or even, the Guardian could do it by itself, anyone close enough, if it can mimic any of the device ability.”

Leandra blinks and finishes her own cup of tea; while looking through the hundred of books around them, she smiles back to Karaan. “I see the problem, so…if I understand, if you think that it is true, you’ll have to find a find to…cut him from the device or even from the ambient aether.” She chuckles and her fingers grazes a book, before pulling it out of the shelf. “Maybe you could snuff him out, like a candle…” She chuckles and looks at the candle near the desk, gently putting her own cup over it. “Or you could drain the aether from this place dry, forcing it to seek his own supply, maybe leaving the vault.” She offers the man a soft smile and a wink. “Your purpose is the vault, not him…Not anyone could out-run him, but a sacrifice could be the best way to divert his attention.”

 She chuckles “Or...” she shows the book she pulls out from the shelf.” See it as an Eikons, and do as we do: Remove the supply, kill the tempered and…disrupt the ritual.” She chuckles. “I don’t think a dormant device could have activated itself by itself, someone did it…” She blows the last candle away. “But for now, you are tired.”

 Karan blinks when he ends up in the dark room, a soft giggle echoing in his ears. “Leandra?” her voice answering with a soft laugh. “We are both adult…”

[unicorns-bookshelf]

Title: King of Scars

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 4/5

Beware! Spoilers to all of Grishaverse ahead!

I have to admit – I binged the whole Grisha Trilogy just so I could start reading King of Scars with a full picture. And I’m glad that I did because it made reading this book so much better. I was excited to see all the characters that accompanied Alina on her adventure. It was so refreshing to see them without being a background to her story and the relationships in the group were absolutely wholesome and made me so happy.

But off to the review we go!

King of Scars takes place three years after Alina defeated the Darkling and destroyed the Shadow Fold. Ravka, like always, is in a bad place financially and surrounded by neighbors who are ready to start a war. Not to mention the winged Shu soldiers who abduct Grisha to experiment on them with the use of parem. If that wasn’t enough bad news, Nikolai’s closest friends and guards need to make sure no one knows that the monster The Darkling had put into their king started acting up and now our favorite monarch spends his nights either sedated and in chains or relieving local farms of their livestock. 

Good time? In Ravka? Yeah, I don’t think so.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Fjerda, Nina along with two other soldiers of the Second Army is on an undercover mission to smuggle Grisha from the country to Ravka and also find a proper place to lay Matthias’ body to rest. Because we didn’t need our hearts anyway. 

I am sad to say that the one lacking star in the rating is for the plot. It was really amazing until half of the book, the political intrigue was shaping up nicely, there was the curious mystery of the miracles happening around Ravka and it was fascinating to watch how Alina’s and the Darkling’s legacy shaped up the country and what was the aftermath to the war. Zoya and Nikolai were on their way to get rid of the demon in his body and everything was shaping up so nicely. Things on Nina’s end were getting spicy too as she and her team worked to discover the mystery of a factory in a Fjerdan village and why was it poisoning the local river. At least in this end, the plot didn’t disappoint until the end.

But in Zoya’s and Nikolai’s POVs… The Saints happened. 

Oh boy. I can’t even express how random and confusing this subplot was. 

Let me get this straight - the Saints are important to the Ravkans. They’re a huge part of their beliefs and religion. Their martyrdoms and actions shaped the nation and sure, in The Grisha Trilogy we see Illya’s direct legacy have a huge part in the story, his actual descendants, the results of his experiments with merzost and it is hinted that maybe he’s even alive someone out there, kept young by his Grisha power but the whole point is that he’s not directly involved in the story. He doesn’t just appear out of nowhere in front of Alina being like “Hey girl, let me tell you about those sweet amplifiers I’ve been working on” and suddenly solving all her problems and giving her a super boost in power. He stays an element of Ravkan history and mythology, even if his past actions are crucial to the plot and behavior of certain characters. That’s what the Saints are and what they should stay. 

But no, apparently three of them picked by a random generator are locked in a pocket dimension on the fold and just chilling there until Nikolai and Zoya get somehow sucked in. Ones with the powers and knowledge that could obviously benefit the characters. It was just so… Unreal and random and we just got a half-assed explanation for it that sounds like a story made up in five minutes without any deeper consideration for the world’s lore and magic system. And I get that the Darkling’s experiment destroyed the world’s balance but this had absolutely nothing to do with anything the Darkling was trying to accomplish. It felt like something written by a completely different author with little knowledge of the source material. And if this were means to an end, I feel like it could have been accomplished in a much more plausible way.

I didn’t hate everything about the Saints subplot. I’m happy it gave us some background on how life as a Grisha was in the past, the origins of the name and some amplifier lore too. I love that Zoya got a power boost and I would love to see her change into the dragon in the second book because let’s be honest that would be absolutely awesome. I also hope that the second book will elaborate on the topic, making it more believable and incorporate it into the world’s lore in a logical way. Maybe even show more Saints so that those three wouldn’t feel like special snowflakes chosen just to achieve the ending and give the characters a power boost. I could really just roll with it if we get a more thought-out explanation in the future because as soon as they entered the Saints’ little realm I felt like I was reading about Zoya and Nikolai experiencing a mass hallucination. 

And that brings me to the ending. I know a lot of people hate it and honestly, I kind of share that sentiment. However, I must admit - it had me curious. The Darkling’s situation is completely different than it was in the Grisha Trilogy. I trust the author enough to give her a benefit of doubt in this case and see how she handles this situation in the next book. I’m curious about the Darklings interactions with other characters, as in TGT he was pretty much only focused on Alina. On one hand, I wanted a new villain or no villain at all, just a good political intrigue with some magic. On the other, I’m curious to watch the whole situation develop. 

Now it’s time to talk about the characters because they’re exactly what made this book enjoyable, even when the plot went south. 

I know most people came here for Nikolai and I have to admit that so did I. And don’t get me wrong, I absolutely wasn’t disappointed. We could finally see Nikolai outside of Alina’s POV and it was a feat. The prince seems a little more mature than in TGT but his sense of humor and charming attitude stays the same. We get to learn about his childhood, his insecurities, and concerns both regarding the monster that is inside him as well as ruling his country. His POV allows us to see him as a more wholesome character than in TGT as back then our opinion on him was influenced by Alina’s thoughts and narration. I was very happy to see more of him and I still love him to bits.

But it’s the girls that take the spotlight in this book.

When I read the Crooked Kingdom, I had a certain picture of Zoya which didn’t exactly line up with what I saw after reading The Grisha Trilogy. Of course, from the first book to the last, Zoya went thought some character development, growing out of her mean girl phase but all we’d known about it was that she lost her aunt when the Darkling used Alina to expand the Fold. King of Scars gives us an insight into her past, more information about her relationship with the Darkling and it’s all glorious and shes glorious and ruthless and I love how she’s not softened in any way as a part of some questionable character development. I want to see this girl turn into a dragon.

Nina’s POV made me love her even more than in Six of Crows. She’s still fabulous and ready to stir trouble wherever she goes. Her goodbye with Matthias was heartbreaking but I’m glad her whole storyline wasn’t based on moping after him. I loved that Matthias’ wolf was incorporated into the story and I hope we’ll see more of him. We also got a bigger display of Nina’s powers twisted by parem and I enjoyed it so much. Nina is always ready to help other girls and women and all I can say is… Icon. 

There was also a fourth POV introduced half into the book, one of a completely new character - a royal guard called Isaak. I did love him and he was shaping into a great character but the things happened and, well… We won’t be seeing any more of him and I was really looking forward to the part where he wouldn’t be playing Nikolai and we could see him as his own person. I feel like it was quite a waste but on the other hand, I didn’t grow to care enough to be bothered by it.

When it comes to relationships, both romantic subplots are a big yes in my book. When I started King of Scars I was very not on board with the whole Nikolai and Zoya thing but this book made me love it. Let’s just wish we don’t get some crappy love triangle in the second book. When it comes to Nina and Hanne, I was so excited to see Nin with a girl and Hanne is a great character who has a huge potential for development and the fact that she’s Brum’s daughter makes these dynamics even more interesting. Those two are going to conquer Fjerda together. 

Platonic relationships in the book are also delightful and heartwarming. I especially loved the Grisha Triumvirate and Nikolai acting like one big family and also Adrik being done with Nina starting drama in Fjerda and disobeying his orders like the Dreg she is and Leoni just applauding her? Absolute feast.

All in all, would I recommend King of Scars? Yes, I definitely would to all the Grishaverse fans and if you’re a new fan quickly go grab the Six of Crows duology and either The Grisha Trilogy or just a recap article on it since not everyone has enough nerves to go through books that have such annoying characters as Mal or Mal. Oh and also Mal. Sadly knowing at least basic stuff about the Grisha Trilogy is crucial for understanding this book so you can’t just avoid it like with Six of Crows. I’m eagerly awaiting the next book because I can’t wait to see where all of this goes.

[ritsykitty]

*breathes*

Alright, now that I’ve had a good night’s sleep to ruminate, I can approach last night’s FanFest opener with a more level head. There are likely hundreds of these kinds of posts going about but here’s my two cents.

Positives/Looking Forward To’s

As always, the new zones look gorgeous and I’m eager to poke about them

Lakeland is so my aesthetic!

Music is on-point, I always get hyped for the trailer music

I can learn to love the Ronso, hell, I’d probably play a female version if there was one!

I’m still on the fence about the direction for MSQ...so we will see.

The dimensional/time hop/whatever it is seems like a way for SE to draw out content longer. It leaves all the strife that’ll be ongoing in Eorzea for more content patches down the line, or hells, even another expac maybe.

However, I am a lore nut and I’m curious to experience the First

I am quite happy to have Dancer, both for PvE and RP reasons

I do have issues about the role (more later) but the class looks wonderfully animated with their abilities. I’m eager to see how they play

I am glad that it’s not gender-locked

We’d better jingle like in the trailer! \o/

Disappointments/Confusion/Discontentments

I suppose this is where I have problems understanding...SE has seen the community cry against gender-locks before and corrected it. Why now revert back to 1.0 times?

If SE is struggling to stay on schedule (which it appears to be based on this series of FanFests), why heap more issues upon yourself designing TWO new races, both with unique challenges to figure out, and rush to push them out ALONG with the whole new expac content?

To me, if they wanted two new races, it would make sense to release one on expac date with both genders and the other shortly followed up as a staggered release. This would ensure the love and detail worked out on both and sate the community’s mindset (for the most part, the community will never be 100% happy)

Caveat; of course I’m not a developer by any means, but this is just my take on it!

Also that they didn’t announce that Viera were going to be female-only in FanFest Paris right off the bat was a faux pa to me. I can understand by saying that upon Viera announcement that it would’ve opened up the theory-crafting to what the other race would have been, but at least folks wouldn’t have had to wait til now to find out any character designs they may have had have to be trashed or have to use a different gender model as I will be for my male Viera.

The lore-gating. *deep breath* If lore is being used as an excuse as to why male Viera aren’t playable, they might as well erase all Xaela outside the Steppe (posted an earlier reblog concerning the few exceptions) and erase all male miqo’te once more

If you want to keep the community on your side, stick on one side of the fence. Please don’t push aside lore in one case but then use it as an excuse for another

No new healer...here are my thoughts

Why exclude a role when you introduce a new DPS and new tank? It seems unbalanced to me.

My only reasoning to this is that the game is suffering a lack of tanks and incentive to make something new and shiny like Gunbreaker is a way to lure tanks to the role again...but why another DPS?

MCH seems to have been largely forgotten, will it now be further abandoned?

We haven’t had a new healer since Heavensward...and it looks like we won’t get another again. As a main healer, something new would be refreshing while I see the other two roles get something for this expac.

These are just my thoughts while I’m much more level-headed than I was twelve hours ago. /shrug/

[kaorei-endgame]

Tell me about Vampyr and how it SUCCs

So the idea that started crystalizing in my head yesterday on stream was this game HAD to actually be MORE like Bloodborne than it ended up. Both the “time advances (and districts destabilize) when you rest” and the persistence of resource loss (heals/bullets) through death make the most sense to me if they originally intended for a straight-up Souls-style bloodstain mechanic where you’d then have to balance how often to bank your XP with the conditions of your districts. Because otherwise, outside of the tutorial, I think I literally rested four times in the entire 20+ hour game. 

(it would also add a pressure to devour low-plot-relevance citizens to recoup lost bloodstain XP)

((that sounds like the best game ever?? talk about making the hard choices–we making the HYARD BYTING choices))

But like otherwise what the shit is the point of XP. Wow can we get a contender for “Worst Tech Trees 2018″ Damn, I can’t wait to spend all my hard-earn blood points on… …. …. +10% blood capacity… cool cool cool. 

Likewise, loot is idiotic. I don’t need 6 versions of the same club, most of which requiring murdering a specific person to get. I’ve spent all my resources upgrading this one mace, I’m not going to bother for one that takes 15% less stamina to swing that I got 5 hours after maxing the first one. I need one club that does more than a fraction of any given enemy’s grossly inflated health (you pointed out in stream that it’s rad how these regular-ass humans HP values are keeping pace at all times with my Legendary Vampire Strength). Look you can have guys with high HP or you can have guys who give negligible XP, but if every enemy in the game is both i’m going to skip every encounter possible. 

what’s up with that HYARD BYTING tho??

Too bad. There’s almost enough mechanical density there to be passable. The flow of Melee > Stun Attack > HYARD BYTING > Spell Spam > Repeat is satisfying enough; leagues ahead of against Souls clones like Lords of the Fallen/The Surge and approaching Nioh (and as bad as the loot in this game is, damn, at least it’s not Nioh). Too bad the damage values fuckin suck. Even with health increases, you go down so quick, but fodder enemies often have the health of bosses and bosses have the health of minor gods, so every boss fight in the last two-thirds was “die enough times that i get a grip on the first 2/3rds of the fight, then find an opening in the last 3rd to spam them down with pistol bullets (and suffer a 90+ second load time after every damn death :| :| :| :|)” 

Game had both way too much character writing and not nearly enough plot. Like you wanna get behind the sort of game where every Junk Vendor and Gun Seller is a named character with their own background instead of a generic NPC, but ALSO every NPC you crash into on the street could’ve had -one- “tell me more” submenu instead of 2 (or 3!! (or like literally 7 by the end game convos)). It’s remarkable that they got 50+ NPCs all with their own unlockable backstory, who can all die (or be eaten by you) and that there aren’t any generic Townspeople who just bark RPG Dialogue at you (outside of the skals in sewers; racist :

But it didn’t matter anyway, because I reset after choosing the special conversation-locked “fix his blood” option on the charitable priest skal because it got SUPER rapey–but then when I chose the “let him bee he seems like a Fine Young Cannibal) I woke up the next night to discover he’d murdered the whole district. Oh well. It seemed like he had it together………

Anyway, I felt compelled to click all this dialogue Just In Case but at the same time, I was embarrassed to be streaming it and looking like I cared when the epilogue was 2 ten minute long conversations with my quasi-girlfriend and her zombie knight from indiana jones dad when it’s more That’s Just What You Do In These Games

(technically i was more embarrassed because i thought people would notice i was refreshing Granblue battles during convos and the INTERMINABLE FUCKIN LOAD SCREENS JESUS CHRIST IF YOU’RE GONNA KILL ME IN 2 HITS MAKE THE LOADS SHORTER HAVEN’T YOU EVER HEARD OF AN ATTENTIVENESS CURVE)

Conversely, the plot was… Barely There. Barely there in the “wow there just *isn’t* a 3rd act” that you’ve just come to accept from literally all video games (so the shitty vampire lord guy I betrayed by murdering the shitty Dying Koch Brother instead of turning him has sent out Vampire Murder Lords to stalk the streets and kill me, which is cool, but EVEN SO when I need the most sacred blood relic he keeps for my vampyr cure he’s like “no you betrayed me :

And what’s really-real is: I’m completely in when people start talking about vampire societies and other Urban Fantasy Bullshit. Even when it’s CLEARLY just Vampire: The Masquerade with the serial numbers filed off that’s fine. Like hell yeah give me those proper nouns. Tell me the difference between a Skald and an Ekon (eyyyy,yyyyy) and a Vulkon. I’m fuckin *IN* this shit. Shunt me through dialogue trees I’ll say they’re bad out loud but some atavistic part of me still CRAVE that sweet, sweet lore. Putting that in a Mass Effect-style Your Choices Have Consequences, like Fuck YEAH. 🙋🙋🙋🙋🙋 

BUT…

To put it succinctly, I feel like I am always meeting Don’t Nod games halfway, and then MORE than halfway, because they’re always the seed of something cool that doesn’t measure up. Remember Me, Life is Strange. These are things I want to like more than I actually like them, and I bet in a couple months I remember the stuff I like more than the stuff I don’t. That’s how it be sometimes.

Because there’s enough in this game that man, I still feel like I kind of like it even though I know I kind of hate it. The setting’s good. Even if it feels like Bloodborne it’s like… that’s just post-war Britain, I guess. It bums me out a little, because the SIZE of the game is exactly what I want. It’s the Yakuza-Goldilocks “just right” dynamic of giving me a big-enough, but not gigantic, space to run around in–unfortunately in Vampyr’s case most of it is JUST running around. There’s barely anything to do between the checkpoints, and the sidequests aren’t bad, but by the time I started doing them in earnest I had lost my good will that would’ve let me round up those boring actions into “world building.”

What Vampyr is trying to be (Time Management RPG With Mass Effect Convos and Lite Character Action Combat) is EXACTLY my speed. Spinning plates gameplay in particular is so rarely done -at all- (let alone well) and super stokes me, and it’s not like we’ve had a Dead Rising in a while, but all that chore-based timer-management gameplay being good or bad ultimately falls on the completely arbitrary “do I like this game outside of this or not.” Nothing in Vampyr otherwise compelled me, so I treated running around giving people headache medicine as a pain in the ass, whereas that exact same mechanic in The Witcher I’d probably be like “yeah man this really puts me in the mood I really feel like i’m doing some fucking Witching here.”

Whereas Vampyr pretty rarely made me feel like a Legendary Vampire Doctor Jesus. Deep in my heart, trenchcoat and Perfect Pump-Action Shotgun all, I knew I was just some whack-ass Dr. Acula.

But how much fun was it discovering HYARD BYTING together? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

I know I gained a lot more streaming this game than I would’ve from like… an equivalent time of No Man’s Sky or Overwatch or something. I’m often at a crosspoints between wanting to stream something novel, and wanting to stream something good. Like Vaklyria Chronicles is a great game but you don’t get a lot of meat out of streaming that game. Vampyr is something our community owns, now. That makes me happy, in at least equal measure as its dumb bosses made me pissed last night. So I’m happy I got to share that with you all, and I think I would have slightly different thoughts on this game if I just blitzed through it by myself this weekend, as I initially intended to.

It’s been fun to do one of these after so long away, thanks Nick!! >:o

(also this ask reminded me to add Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines officially to the list of TCEG possibilities–which if we want to make it a yearly “season” we should get started on planning soon 🤔)

[michael-hearteyes-wheeler]

Please do Mileven with #45!! PS I love your blog

Oops this got long! Thank you for the request !

45. “You look pretty hot in plaid.”

El had developed a bad habit.

She likes to steal people’s clothes. Well not steal, but borrow. She had worn other peoples clothes for so long out of necessity, that now it just made her feel safe. She would sneak into Hoppers drawers for an oversized t-shirt, or a warm flannel, she would wear one of Mikes jackets home and then just forget to give it back at the end of the night.

It became a pattern that her friends all caught on too right away when their wardrobes were suddenly picked over. So once every couple of weeks she would have to begrudgingly return everything. Dustin’s camp sweatshirt, lucas bandana, Max’s black high tops, Hoppers various t-shirts, and all of Mike’s jackets.

El liked holding onto these items because it made her feel like her friends were always close, even when they were at school all week. It made it easier when the nightmares got bad, or when her flashbacks haunted her while she was alone all day. At first it was sweet, and kind of cute; but now it was just part of the routine. No one questioned when their clothes went missing, and El always returned them eventually.

But now it was the coldest February in Hawkins in over 15 years, and Mikes warmest jackets were all mysteriously missing. He rolled his eyes looking over his nearly empty closet and pulled on a light sweater. It wasn’t nearly enough for the bike ride he was about to endure, but it would be worth it.

Mike and El always got to spend Sundays together, not every Sunday but almost. He had woken up extra early today, before the sun even rose because he was extra excited for this Sunday meetup in particular. Because today, Hopper wasn’t going to be there.

The police chief was a few towns over at some important law enforcement conference, it was a new year and that meant new regulations. The chief had reluctantly let Mike and El keep their date, and Mike was as giddy as a school girl to have entire day alone with El. Alone time did not happen very often, and he would make good use of every second of it.

The nearly 30 minute bike ride in the bitter cold made Mike feel like his fingers and ears were going to freeze off, but as he walked his bike up the path towards the secluded cabin, he couldn’t help but feel warm inside. The sun had just started to rise, casting a golden light over the snowy forest, and shining brightly through the plume of smoke rising out of the cabins chimney. He walked up to the door and knocked the secret knock, that familiar nervous feeling filling his stomach. He wondered if that feeling would ever go away, part of him hoped it never did.

A few minutes passed and the door remained closed, not a single sound coming from inside. He knocked again, slightly louder this time and the locks clicked open one by one. He pushed the door open but found the living room empty.

“El?” He called out, setting his backpack down and closing the door behind him. He heard a faint grubbly reply coming from her room and he chuckled. She was still asleep! “Can I come in?” He asked through the small crack in the door. Another mumbled reply that sounded somewhat like a yes came from behind and he pushed the door open.

El was curled up in bed under two quilts. Her face was smashed against her pillow so that only one foggy eye could look up at Mike. She sat up slowly, stretching and rubbing her tired eyes. Her messy curls stuck up in the back, and she had a smear of dried drool on her cheek. Mike couldn’t help but smile. Even like this she was beautiful.

“Its early.” She whined, pushing the comforters off of her.

“I know, i’m sorry I woke you up. I was just excited to see you.” Mike played with the hem of his shirt nervously. He hoped she wasn’t upset, he knew how cranky she could be without enough sleep.

“S’okay.” She mumbled, standing up and walking towards the boy. Mike could now see she was in fact not only wearing his warmest plaid flannel, but she was also wearing one of his t-shirts, and a pair of his sweatpants.

“Excited to see you too.” She smiled up at him blearily, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. She jumped back, suddenly startled. “You are so cold!” Her eyes went wide.

“Well it’s freezing outside and I biked here. Plus you have my jackets.” He smiled wryly at her.

“I’m sorry, I will give them back today.” She pulled his hand and led him out to the small wood burning stove in the corner of the cabin. She forced him to sit down in Hoppers chair next to the fire and added a few logs to it. “Get warm, i’ll be right back.” She let go of his hand and made her way to the bathroom.

Mike listened to the sounds of her brushing her teeth, and he took the opportunity to toast his hands and try to get some feeling back in them. A few minutes later she walked out looking refreshed and radiant. Mike was still often shocked by how lovely she had become. She was no longer sickly thin, or pale, and her hair was getting longer every day, and her eyes seemed content whenever he looked in them.

She was still wearing his old red and black flannel, but she had changed into one of Nancy’s handed down dresses. It was light grey with shiny black buttons pinning it together from the bottom to the top. It had a thin red belt at the waist that El had tied in a bow. Her carmel curls were long enough for her to tuck behind her ears with the help of a few white hair clips, and she had washed the drool from her face leaving her skin looking refreshed and glowing. Mike marveled at how… normal she looked. Nancy and Joyce had helped her a lot with getting her clothes she actually liked, and with teaching her how to put together an outfit she felt pretty in. Mike thought she had done a damn good job.

El made her way into the kitchen and pulled out a box of Eggos from the freezer. She popped them in the toaster and clicked the gas oven on. “Are you hungry?” She asked Mike with a smile.

“Uh, yeah actually I am a little bit, but you don’t have to make me anything!” He stood up to join her in the kitchen.

“I want to! Hopper showed me how to cook eggs.” She grinned, turning a shade of pink, feeling strangely embarrassed. She got the carton of eggs from the fridge and cracked two into a cast iron pan. Mike was impressed as she scrambled them without incident. Eggs weren’t very hard, but it was still impressive to see her cook anything besides eggos and microwave dinners.

She plated up the waffles and eggs and Mike poured them both glasses of orange juice. They sat the table eating in silence for awhile before Mike finally spoke.

“So what do you want to do today?” He asked with a bit more enthusiasm then he had intended. He winced at how much a dork he sounded like. El just shrugged, seemingly unphased.

“Well… I brought over some of my D&D stuff, I thought I could finally teach you how to play!” He waited for her to turn down his offer but instead her eyes went wide.

“Yes!” She beamed, finishing off her last eggo.

“Really!? Cause we don’t have to…”

She stood up and grabbed his hand again, pulling him back into the living room. She sat expectantly on the couch, knees pulled up and smile wide. Mike couldn’t believe it. How lucky could he be? To have a beautiful girl who was actually interested in learning about nerdy board games? He fished around in his backpack, pulling out various photocopied manuals and a few hardcover books about medieval history and lore he had gotten for christmas.

They spent the next few hours going over the fantastical Dungeons and Dragons universe. Mike was more excited to share this world with her than he had realized. He went off on several dramatic tangents and reenactments. El hung onto his every word, even the ones she didn’t understand. Mike was a, what was the word max always used? A dork. And a big one. But she loved every moment of it. She liked being able to be a part of something that made him happy, and the game sounded fun, if not a little overwhelming.

Somewhere over the course of his explanation El had scooted closer to him to have a better look at the books. At this point she was leaning against his shoulder, he had one arm wrapped around her and was holding the large binder over their laps, gesturing to it with his free hand. Mike was just starting to explain to El what a mage was, and he went over the character sheet he had made for her in the year she was missing. El felt incredibly special to have been thought of as this though, brave, and heroic spellcaster that Mike had written her to be. She sighed, letting her worries flow out of her with her breath and sinking further into his embrace. She felt so safe when she was close to him, it was a feeling she never wanted to go away.

“So… what do you think?” Mike concluded, turning the last page over and closing the binder.

“It’s amazing.” She breathed. And honestly, it was. El felt her head swim with all of the new information, how anyone could remember all of it was astounding. The picture that Mike had painted seemed amazing, like a fairy tale. It was full of princesses, and fairies, and magic, and monsters too but they were not nearly as scary as the monsters they had faced together in real life.

“I’m glad you think so! I can’t wait for you to get to play with us! The campaign we are working on right now takes place in a desolate snowy tundra, and I think I know the perfect way to work you into the story.” Mike was practically jumping out of his skin.

“Tundra?” El echoed not understanding the word.

“Yeah it’s a really cold place where everything is covered in ice and snow. And there are basically no trees or plants or anything because it too cold for anything to grow.” Mike explained, flipping through his campaign notes and showing her a photocopied image of antarctica. “It’s full of snow monsters and evil ice wizards. The guys got stuck in a blizzard last time we played, but Will found some enchanted snow resistant armor in a cave and saved them. It was awesome.” Mike was excitedly rambling again.

“It sounds… awesome.” El rolled the new word around on her tongue. She had heard the boys use it before but she had never used it herself. It felt fun to say.

“I wish I had that armor now.” Mike said motioning to the window. It was snowing outside again and the sky looked chilly and blue.

El frowned, realizing that it was getting late, and that Mike would have to leave soon. Not only that, but he would have to endure the bitter cold all the way home. She shifted out of his arms and stood up, walking in her room.

She came back a few minutes later with a massive pile of laundry in her arms. It had to be at least a dozen jackets, sweaters, and shirts. She dropped them in a heap on the end of the couch and smiled shyly.

“Sorry I kept all of your clothes.” She blushed, and reached up to pull of his flannel that she was still wearing.

“Hey no, it’s okay!” Mike stood up and pushed the flannel back onto her shoulders. “I like that you take my clothes, it’s kind of cute.” He grinned at her, his eyes full of warm adoration. El felt her own heart twist, he always looked so pretty when he was embarrassed.

“Plus… You look pretty hot in plaid.” Mike added a few moments later. Then, realising what he had just said, his eye shot open wide and he looked down at his feet.

El knew what Mike looked like when he was embarrassed, but she wasn’t quite sure what he had meant by his statement. “Hot?” She questioned. His flannel did keep her warm, but that wasn’t really why she took it, and she wasn’t sure how someone could look warm.

“Uhh… yeah. Hot.” Mike shuffled awkwardly, taking a few paces backwards, his face beet red. “It’s like another word for pretty, but its… different. I shouldn’t have said it.” He cleared his throat in the tension.

Els face fell. She shifted from feeling confused to feeling hurt. Mike called her pretty all the time, and he had taught her that gorgeous, beautiful, and cute were all different words for pretty as well, so why was this word different? And why was it wrong?

“Why not?” She asked, eyebrows knitted together in concern.

“Because… because it’s not a very nice way to say pretty. It’s rude.” He played with his fingers, still looking at the ground.

“Not pretty?” El felt her gut stir. She could understand what he was trying to say.

“No! You are so pretty, El! You know that I think you are so beautiful.” He stepped forward and grabbed her by both of her shoulders so he could look into her eyes. “And I think you’re… hot too if i’m being honest. It’s just not a very nice thing to call a girl. Even if it’s true.” The blush returned to his face, he couldn’t lie to her even if it was uncomfortable to admit.

“Why is it not nice?” She felt reassured at flustered grin, but she still didn’t understand.

“Ughh…” He sighed, sitting back on the couch and pulled El down with him. Their knees touched as they faced each other. “It just is. It’s like really REALLY pretty, but in an… aggressive way, I guess.” he couldn’t figure out how else to explain it, and her certainly didn’t want to have to explain its more romantic implications.

El bit her lip. So he thought she was really pretty, but it was also aggressive? It clearly made him nervous, and something about the look in his eyes made her chest tighten. Sometimes she thought Mike was so pretty it made her feel almost unsettled too, maybe even ‘aggressive’.

“Okay. Hot.” She felt herself giggle at saying the word in this context, and she could read the underlying tension in it.

“Yeah…” Mike blushed deeper and bounced his knee the way he so often did when he was nervous.

“Mike?” El asked putting a hand on his leg to steady it. “You are… hot too.” She tried to sound confident but her stomach felt like it was full of bumblebees.

Mike chuckled, obviously startled by what she had said and he grabbed her hand in his own. “Thanks, El. but I can’t believe that you think im hot.”

“I think you are beautiful, Mike.” She said sternly, inching closer to his on the couch. “And smart, and funny, and kind. You make me happy and keep me safe.” She looked deeply into his eyes, her face completely serious.

Mikes heart soared. How had he gotten so lucky? Before El no girl would look twice at him, and the ones that did just called him names. But now he was inches away from an absolutely amazing, badass, gorgeous, and hot, superhero of a girl. And she liked him the same. He leaned forward into her and pulled her into a tender kiss. Every kiss with her felt like magic, and it always left him feeling completely breathless and giddy. He pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. Their faces were matching in a warm flushed pink.

“You are the best person I have ever met El. I am so lucky that I get to spend time with you, and be your friend and, kiss you.” He whispered to her, looking into her eyes so closely that they were blurry.

“No, Mike. I am the lucky one.” Her face was serious again, but Mike could see the pain buried deep within them, and the adoration pulling at the corner of her lips.

Mike pulled her into a warm hug. He knew that he would have to leave in a few minutes to be home in time for dinner, but for right now he only wanted to think about El. About the smell of her vanilla shampoo, and the sound of her breath as he hugged her tightly.

“El? Why don’t you keep this jacket.” He tugged at the hem of it after breaking the hug. “It looks better on you anyway.”

“Hot?” She asked with a faint smile, cracking a silly pose.

He laughed hard, her sense of humor always caught him by surprise, she was actually really funny when she wanted to be. “Yes hot.”

After a few more minutes of precious alone time, and a couple more small innocent kisses, Mike finally had to pack up his D&D stuff (and all of his jackets) and set out into the cold winter night. He braced himself for the cold, but his stomach felt content and warm. It had been a good day, and the entire bike ride home went by in a blur because his thought were racing as he replayed it over and over again.

‘I love her so much.’

He thought to himself as he pulled into his driveway. It was a thought that surprised even himself, but he knew it was true. He loved her. More than anything else. And one day he was going to tell her that, but for now he was just trying to get over the fact that he had called her hot, and that she had returned the compliment.