#if you want to better understand ashton

[myowndesertplaces]

Defending Ashton's choice and trying to make it rational, self-less, or heroic is a little like trying to argue Percy was completely in control and not at all consumed by vengeance in the Briarwood arc.

You're not supposed to agree with Ashton's choice anymore than you're supposed to agree with the hubris of Laerryn or Zerxus no matter how much you love those characters. Taliesin knew exactly what he was doing in that moment.

With that said, you are more than welcome to agree with Taliesin's choice. You can like how this decision fit perfectly with what Taliesin has been exploring with Ashton for 10 episodes. You can like the big risk/big reward mentality. You can like that this created conflict and drama. You can like how Taliesin is exploring Ashton's hypocrisy or the hypocrisy of the punk movement. You can like how Taliesin is deconstructing superheroes. You can love the terrible decision his character made for how terrible it was. But let's not try to pretend Ashton did anything sensible and trustworthy here.

[caeslxys]

Something I think is extremely interesting thematically when it comes to connecting what Downfall and the ideas it tackled to the overarching narrative of campaign three is that the things Downfall made a point to showcase of Aeor—Cassida, Hallis, the visual of an aeormaton proposing to her partner, the specific and intentional decision to shed light on a far from insignificant amount of the population being civilians or refugees—is that it plays in perfect parallel across from what is happening (and, really, has been happening) to the ruidusborn on Exandria in present.

Bear with me for a moment. Aeor is ultimately a city that was collectively punished for the decisions of its leadership. We could (and, judging by the amount of discourse around this particular topic already, probably will) argue about what the Gods’ motivation for all of this was—whether it be that they could not, in the end, bear to kill their siblings or that they were terrified at the prospect of mortality—for me it is a very healthy dose of both—but for this I am much more interested in the latter. They were scared. That, really, is the driving force behind both this arc and their role in c3 as a whole.

Why I point this out is: It is far more interesting to me, especially as we go back to Bells Hells this week, to dissect the Gods and their decisions not purely on sympathetic motivation alone but as beings in the highest seat of power in the highest social class in Exandria.

So, having established that the Gods (in relation to mortals) are more a higher social class than anything we could compare to our real life understanding of divinity and that Aeor was eviscerated largely because of their fear—what is the difference between those innocents in Aeor caught in the trappings of their autocratic government leadership and a divine war on the ground, and those of the ruidusborn being manipulated both by Ludinus and by the very thing that inspired such visceral fear in the Gods to start with. I would argue very little.

I think of Cassida, doing what she genuinely thought was right and good and would save people, her son, and the object of her worship—and how that did not matter enough to any of them to spare her because of the fear they held at the very concept of mortality. I think of Liliana and Imogen, one of which we know begged for the gods to help her or send her a sign for years on years, and how every single one of their largest struggles could have been avoided had the gods loved them, their supposed children, as much as they feared what they could be. I think of how the thing that did save Imogen, in the end, was a woman who herself existed in direct defiance of the gods will. I think of that young boy, sixteen years old, that Laudna exalted on Ruidus.

I think it’s completely fair to judge Aeor’s overall society as deeply corrupt—it was!—but its leadership and police force are not a reflection of every one of its citizens. Similarly, it is fair to judge the Ruby Vanguard as corrupt—it is!—but its multiple heads of leadership and even the god-eater further are not a reflection of every one of its members.

Notably, and what I think the Hells will latch onto, this did not matter to the Gods. It did not matter that Cassida was trying to help. She was still too much of a risk. Will it matter, what Imogen does? Will it matter, if that young boy is in the blast radius when they decide to take no further chances?

I’ve seen a lot of people say that the Hells will side with the gods and I don’t think I agree. Especially as Imogen has been scolded and villainized over and over for daring to try and save her mother—who herself has been seen by some as an irredeemable evil in spite of her drive being the exact same—her family—but when it’s the Gods it’s justified? When it’s the Gods, it’s sympathetic? Too sympathetic to criticize further than “they’re family”?

I obviously do not think the Gods should die or be eaten or what have you, and I certainly don’t agree with Ludinus (though I find him much more compelling than just a variation of hubris wizard), but when talking about the Gods in Aeor and in present it isn’t really at all about their motivation or their family. It can’t be. Too many people, including our active protagonists, lives have been effected for it to be as cut and dry as “they’re family”. These are your children. They are your family, too.

[shorthaltsjester]

taliesin and laura remain truly so fantastic at making characters who… don’t necessarily have something extremely and inherently in common but do have experiences that were caused by similar sources and that lead them to have quite different opinions/ideas about things but in ways that are typically very reconcilable? which is a lot of qualifiers but it’s a through line of vex/percy with nobility, jester & cad with loneliness (and also god stuff but in a different post maybe someday i’ll talk about how actually their god stuff is intensely related to their different experiences of loneliness), and now imogen & ashton with being left behind.

like vex was this character who technically had a claim to nobility due to her blood but at the same time was burdened because of that same claim. and percy who was born into and raised by nobility but that nobility ended up making his family the targets of a massacre. and then vex who lets down her walls and Do I Look Like I Come From Money? and percy giving her the title grand mistress of the grey hunt because it has nothing to do with blood, or his love for her, or anything aside from the fact that it’s something she can prove herself worthy of simply by virtue of who she Is, not who someone makes her. and percy and vex’s conversation about forgiveness and it’s necessity for growth as probably two of the characters most inclined to hold grudges.

and caduceus clay who gets left behind with nothing but his Belief while his family goes off into the world. and jester lavorre who gets shut inside with no company except her Belief as her mother protects her from the world. and they both get the burden of loneliness and the understanding of love’s nonmalicious imperfection. and caduceus having a panic attack on a ship and jester telling him that the world is a lot bigger than his cemetery and that means he has to break out of his comfort zone to find his path. and caduceus telling jester that he doesn’t think she gets as much credit as she ought to and she deserves more pastries. and jester thanking caduceus for showing her how cool it is to actually heal people and caduceus asking if she wants to use his shield while he doesn’t need it.

and ashton who was left broken and dying on the ground and was given inescapable pain as their means of survival. and imogen who was left behind by the only person who could provide true understanding of the pain she’d one day come to feel. and ashton who’s a barbarian, who wields their rage casually and unapologetically and who sees the Shittiness of the world but is unrelenting in his version of optimism. and imogen who is weighed down by pessimism she doesn’t Want to have but hasn’t cracked how to undo and who doesn’t admit her anger until it comes up again and again and again and carries it like a burden or like guilt, who we only see really Grasp and feel Confidence about her anger being something good in front of others when she has those conversations with ashton. and like. ashton who looks at imogen and sees a superhero. imogen venturing through ashton’s mind and holding his bleeding and exhausted head and saying i’m sorry. i’m sorry. and imogen who looks at ashton and sees someone special. and fucking “we got him killed.” and “no, we didn’t. don’t you dare. […] we are not what fucking killed that man. […] we are his eventual victory. we are his fucking revenge.” and “i’ll be his revenge.” and “i have no fucking doubt.”

and in general rp wise they both tend to make some of my favourite characters (also typically the ones i find most frustrating) because they both tend to make flaws that are easy to hate and they make those flaws very central to their characters but i think that’s also what makes their character interactions so deeply compelling because so frequently it’s like. yes yes these two characters have like. a helix of things they have in common but also things they deeply disagree on but they’re going to spider-man point at the things that are the same and they’re going to honour their differences while doing so. and it’s just. i always enjoy it so much and i was psyched when i heard about an imogen and ashton side pit stop in last nights episode and i was not let down when i watched the episode today.

[utilitycaster]

a not-as-quick-as-originally-intended clarification at least on my personal thoughts re: the Apex War, and this campaign overall:

I agree that it would have been nice for C3 to have been more rooted in Marquet; I have said this frequently and I still hope we get to see Marquet in future stories. However, while I want Apex War lore because it's interesting to me, the fact is, there's no way to fix the fact that we spent this campaign without any strong understanding of the Apex War when it is a core element of the backstory of a significant villain (Otohan) and when Matt is invoking it to underscore the show of unity.

For what it's worth, I think there's two separate "what I wish this campaign could have been" versions and I feel like a lot of people are conflating them.

One is, for lack of a better way to put it, a more Mighty Nein-style campaign that delved into the culture and place and conflicts of Marquet by focusing on the characters first and foremost, the way Campaign 2 delved into Wildemount. I would have loved this very much. This would not have supported the moon plot, however.

Another is one that honors Matt's vision of the nigh-millennium-long-plot Ludinus hatched and the secrets of Ruidus and all of Exandria coming together, and is simply...better. The Apex War should have impacted Imogen and Ashton, growing up in its aftermath, and could have been a part of their backstories. FCG's chassis being found could have been tied to it. This in turn would have set up Otohan in more depth. And that could have been handled with very little extra effort - literally just a call to Laura and Taliesin with a lore dump, and a few more hints in the Bassuras arc.

I think the fact that Bells Hells are a group from across Exandria - representation from all continents but the Shattered Teeth, multiple people with ties to several continents, and even an extraplanar member - is not a bad thing for a story about the world uniting against the threat of Predathos! It's extremely fair to be disappointed and let down (especially if you are from a culture on which Marquet is based and was hoping to see it) but actually I'm here to say the fact that C3 isn't like C2 is not bad, in this case. It's that the Apex War clearly has backstory and lore that would inform the story and certainly informs how Matt is playing it, and literally no one else has access to that information, including the players. I would love to go back and get it because I love the world of Exandria and its lore, but from a narrative perspective the ship already sailed. So my complaint isn't "why wasn't this solely about Marquet" in this case - it's "there was clear setup for this story that would have made it better, and there wasn't an effort to limit what the players played or seed it into the plot so that it would actually come up."

[bigmpregnm]

Becoming a Broodfather - Part 5

[Story Collection] | [Part 4] [●] ✅

“Hmmm. Even after all these months, your ass feels delicious. Even better now that you’re so big,” Tim said as he kneaded Ashton’s muscular ass cheeks after their first round of morning sex. “You really know how to please a man, big guy,” Tim added, slapping Ashton’s ass and sending shivers down his spine. Ashton smiled, rubbing his big belly and feeling the babies kick up a storm; they always got active after a hard fuck.

Five months had passed since the day Ashton embraced his role as a broodfather and spent his entire day fucking all the men in the house. The experience changed Ashton’s mind in many aspects, finally understanding and accepting that he was meant to become a broodfather like Tim. Many things had changed for him that day, but Ashton knew Tim was still in charge. The older man was shorter, but he still fucked Ashton whenever he wanted and in the position he wanted.

Ashton had grown a lot over the last few months. His massive frame had expanded even more after he accepted his future as a broodfather. He was taller than when he met Tim; his muscles were enormous, making him look cartoonish; his dick had grown to almost 3 feet long; and his pecs, belly, and balls were enormously full of children. Ashton was pregnant with 75 babies; most of them were Tim’s, but after his long day of fucking with the husbands, each had added a batch of kids to his massive body. 20 babies were in his pecs, 20 more in his balls, and 35 grew in his big belly. He felt gigantic, but it seemed like he wasn’t nearing the birth of the babies yet.

Ashton turned and looked at Tim, whose body had grown bigger than five months ago, even though he had given birth to the fifty babies he carried back then. Tim had been so impressed by his husbands’ and Ashton’s growth that after giving birth, he made them all fuck him hard for hours, resulting in the conception of 90 babies. He carried ten babies in each pec, 10 in each ball, and 50 in his belly, making him look gigantic even though he was only 5 months along with them.

“Well, you’ve taught me well, and I think your husbands agree that I’m a great broodfather,” Ashton said, caressing his belly with one hand while the other reached for Tim’s massive dick to rub it.

“We all agree, but never forget you’re mine to enjoy whenever I want. Even after you find your own husbands, I’ll come over and fuck you whenever I want,” Tim said, slapping Ashton’s muscular ass again.

“I’m counting on it,” Ashton responded as Tim slowly got off the bed, carefully walking toward the door to check on the husbands in the house.

Ashton sighed as he slowly turned his heavy body in bed to get in a sitting position. He rubbed the sides of his massive belly, smiling as he caressed his taut skin. He knew he should’ve given birth to the first batch of babies Tim put into him already. However, it seemed like the first batch of kids was waiting for the babies Tim and the husbands added five months ago to catch up and continue their development. The same happened with the other men in the house, resulting in a very long pregnancy for each one.

Ashton sighed and slowly stood up from the bed, heading for the door to meet with the other husbands in the house. He only wore a jockstrap, so the rest of his fertile body was on full display. Ashton caressed his pecs while walking because they didn’t let him see much past them. His body had grown so thick that his vision was limited, but he couldn’t wait to grow even more. If their estimations were correct, Ashton and the husbands still had four more months to grow before the birth of all the babies.

As Ashton was lost in his thoughts, feeling the babies moving, he saw Byron slowly walking down the hall, his breathing shallow and groans escaping his lips. Byron was very pregnant by any standard, and his balls made him move at a snail’s pace. After the intense fucking and several rounds of sex with Ashton and Tim 5 months ago, Byron carried 50 babies, and most of them were in his balls. 30 of those babies were in his balls, 10 in his belly, and 5 in each pec.

“Hey there, big guy. How are you doing?” Ashton asked, making Byron stop and turn around.

“I’m big and clumsy, but that’s not new,” Byron said, smiling at Ashton, who approached to rub his belly against Byron’s. “You look great today. You’re glowing,” Byron added, enjoying Ashton’s touch.

“No, I’m bursting; that’s different,” Ashton kidded, making Byron chuckle. “Just like you.” Ashton reached for Byron’s ass and firmly grabbed it, making him gasp and shiver.

Byron’s dick rose to full mast inside his jockstrap while Ashton moved his hands to caress his massive balls. Ashton knew Byron’s balls were sensitive, so he enjoyed teasing them before fucking him. However, Ashton only teased Byron until the big-balled man was heavily panting.

Ashton fucked all the husbands regularly, as often as Tim, enjoying each encounter and longing to knock them up even more. So with Tim and Ashton around, the husbands were in a permanent state of arousal that usually led them to long fuck sessions with the broodfathers.

Ashton smiled and leaned to kiss Byron’s cheeks while he panted. Byron stayed in the hall for a few seconds, catching his breath and rubbing his balls as the babies kicked. Ashton continued his walk to the living room to meet with the other husbands.

As he approached the living room, Ashton saw Carson struggling to reach his nipples, which looked incredibly engorged. Carson was as pregnant as Byron, but his body was very different. Carson was pregnant with 55 babies, with 15 in each pec, 15 in his belly, and five in each ball. The rest of his body was thicker, but his pecs looked enormous on his tall frame.

“Good morning, what’s up?” Ashton asked, marveling at Carson’s massive chest.

“My pecs are so full, and my nipples ache, and I need to get ready for work” Carson responded, groaning and rubbing the sides of his overpacked pecs. “These kids won’t stop moving and I’m running late.”

Ashton smiled and got his hands on Carson’s pecs to massage them. His large hands worked wonders on Carson’s enormous pecs, and when Ashton’s hands rubbed around the engorged nipples, Carson couldn’t help but moan in pure bliss. Ashton knew how to get each of the husbands going, instantly turning them on. As Ashton’s massage continued, Carson’s moans grew louder, and his nipples started leaking milk, prompting Ashton to lick them for a while to tease the big-chested man a bit more.

Ashton moved away from Carson as he panted heavily. Ashton loved to play with them like that because, when they got aroused, they always looked for him later, begging for the young broodfather to fuck them over and over again.

“See you later, big man. Come meet me after work,” Ashton said, leaving a breathless Carson behind.

Byron used to have a regular job, but his body had gotten so big that he only attended his job a few days a week. One of the biggest struggles he faced was finding clothes to wear for work, so he often worked from home, where he could stay naked or only wear a jockstrap. The same happened with Aaron, whose high fertility made him carry more babies than Byron and Carson. However, in Carson’s case, as a very important CEO, he didn’t have the option to work from home so he still had to go to the office every day.

Thinking about Aaron, Ashton finally entered the living room and saw the fertile man standing by the couch. If Byron and Carson looked ready to burst, Aaron was an impending bomb, bulging in all directions. Aaron carried 65 babies, 10 in each pec, 35 in his belly, and 5 in each ball. His body was thick all over, but his fat ass had grown so large that it rivaled the size of his pecs. If Ashton didn’t know better, he would think Aaron was also carrying babies in his ass.

Aaron was looking away from where Ashton stood, so as the young broodfather approached, Aaron only rubbed his very fertile body and groaned in discomfort. He was naked, so when Ashton got right behind him, the massive bare ass came into contact with Ashton’s belly, sending shivers down their spines. Aaron absentmindedly pushed his hips backward to tease Ashton, whose dick got immediately hard in the pouch, making the fabric tear due to its massive size.

Ashton rubbed his hard dick against Aaron’s fat ass, making the big, fertile man moan in pleasure. Ashton pushed his hips forward and buried the head of his dick into Aaron’s hole, quickly pushing more of the 3-foot-long fuck tool in. Aaron gasped as Ashton’s massive dick stretched his hole.

“This fat ass was begging for some fun,” Ashton said, slowly bucking his hips to fuck Aaron. “It feels as good as ever. So plump and delicious.”

“Yes. Fuck me hard,” Aaron cried out as Ashton pounded into him. “You and Tim did this to me, and I’ve been so horny. I need you. Fill me up with your cum.” Aaron was entranced as he leaned forward as best as he could to let Ashton fit more of his dick in.

Ashton grinned and intensified the fucking, feeling his balls churn full of cum. Moans filled the living room while Ashton continued pounding, soon releasing a long growl, announcing he was cumming buckets inside Aaron’s guts, whose eyes were blank due to pleasure. Aaron’s hands reached to rub his belly, feeling his skin tightening. He loved every time Ashton or Tim filled him up to the brim; it helped him deal with the magnitude of his pregnancy.

Ashton smiled and kept his dick inside Aaron for a few minutes, enjoying the feeling of the plump fat ass pushing tightly against him. Ashton massaged Aaron’s hips while they caught their breaths. Then, after a hard slap on Aaron’s ass, Ashton pulled his dick out and removed the remaining shredded fabric of his jockstrap.

“See you later, big guy,” Aaron said, rubbing his belly as Ashton turned around to head to the kitchen.

Ashton felt powerful when he fucked any of the husbands, but deep inside him, he desired to expand his brood even more. He’d heard Tim talking about him finding his own husbands, and he’d been thinking about it very often, and seeing the husbands enjoying the fucking so much, he couldn’t help but think that part of his responsibility as a broodfather was to make others join the fun.

As he thought about going out and finding his own husbands, Ashton entered the kitchen and found Dalton and Fallon talking by the counter. Dalton’s slimmer body contrasted with Fallon’s much thicker one, but each of their pregnancies made them look fantastic, even glowing. Both men smiled when they saw Ashton walking in, fully naked. Dalton only wore his apron as always, which barely covered his enormous belly and left everything else exposed. Fallon wore jockstraps like everybody else in the house because nothing else fit.

“Good morning, big daddy. How are you doing today?” Dalton smiled and sensually rubbed his belly when he saw Ashton’s naked form.

“I’m great. But you guys look fantastic,” Ashton replied as he approached, reaching to squeeze Fallon’s love handles.

“Well, I look like a whale. A helpless whale,” Fallon replied, rubbing his massive, somewhat squishy belly. “These kids won’t stop kicking and are making me so hungry. I eat 24/7, so I’m glad Dalton is always willing to cook for me.”

Fallon patted his belly and made it jiggle a bit. He was as pregnant as the other husbands, but his fatness made him look thicker. He carried 55 babies like Carson, but the distribution was different. Fallon carried 20 babies in his belly, 10 in each pec, 10 in one of his balls, and five on the other, which had grown even larger to balance the size. Ashton loved to rub Fallon’s balls because the sensation was incredible. One of his balls was firm and full of kids, while the other was softer and squishy.

Ashton smiled and got right by Fallon’s side, rubbing their bellies together. Ashton teased the big guy, moving his hands to his fat ass and slapping it hard to see his whole body jiggle. Ashton’s touch always left Fallon panting and gasping for air; his usually anxious thoughts faded away when the new broodfather was close.

“You’re making the babies very active,” Fallon said, groaning as large bumps formed all over his belly. “This always happens when you get this close or when Tim fucks me,” Fallon added, gasping as the babies moved even more when Ashton leaned to massage Fallon’s balls, sending shivers down his spine. Fallon started panting immediately, and the babies got even more active.

After a few seconds of teasing, Ashton grinned and moved away, approaching Dalton, who stood in front of them with one hand on the small of his back and the other on his belly. Since Dalton wasn’t as thick as Fallon, his belly looked huge on him. Dalton was carrying 45 babies—25 in his belly, 5 in each pec, and 5 in each ball. His apron didn’t cover much, so Ashton could clearly see Dalton’s huge dick fully hard beneath his belly.

Getting by Dalton’s side, Ashton reached for the guy’s dick and started gently rubbing it. Dalton smiled and moaned while Ashton continued teasing him. Ashton loved to fuck all of them, but he also loved to tease them just for fun. It was another way to show them he could do whatever he wanted with them.

“You guys look big everywhere. So fertile and so full,” Ashton said as he rubbed Dalton’s dick. “And this big dick. Seems ready to shoot a massive load,” Ashton added as Dalton’s moans grew louder.

“It is, and... you’re making it feel so good,” Dalton said, struggling to form words as his arousal took over.

Ever since all the husbands got even more pregnant, their pregnancy hormones left them in a constant state of arousal they could barely control. Ashton knew where to touch each one and what to do to each one to tease and leave them begging for a fuck. While Dalton gasped, Ashton leaned in and grabbed the cute bubble, which had grown thicker, to squeeze it hard and arouse Dalton even more.

When Ashton noticed Dalton was losing his mind in pleasure, he released his dick and moved away. Teasing all the husbands assured him that they would beg for a fuck later. Ashton loved to play with them, and he still had another big pregnant husband to see.

Winking at Fallon and patting Dalton’s belly, Ashton walked to the hall connecting the family wing and the children’s wing, leaving both men longing for a fuck. Ashton moved slowly through the hall, and even from a distance, he saw Eaton’s massive figure leaning in against a wall, leaving his bare muscular ass on display for Ashton. Eaton was the biggest of the husbands, even though he wasn’t the most pregnant. His muscles had grown so large that his massive frame made Ashton gasp. Eaton was the most muscular man Ashton had ever seen.

In addition to his enormous muscles, which would set him apart from a crowd of larger-than-life men, his massive belly, pecs, and balls made him look like a gigantic mountain of a man. With 60 babies—30 large babies in his belly, 5 in each pec, and 10 in each ball—Eaton moved slowly and groaned every time he took a step. Eaton didn’t struggle to carry the weight of his pregnancy, but his muscles were so big that they fought for space, making some movements somewhat difficult.

“Hey there, big man. How are you feeling today?” Ashton asked, approaching Eaton and playfully placing his hands on the massive man’s hips. Eaton was the only person in the house who outsized Ashton’s muscles, and the broodfather loved to tease the bigger man and dominate him.

“Tired. The babies kept me up all night, and it’s somewhat difficult to rub some spots on my belly, balls, and pecs with all these muscles on the way,” Eaton groaned and shivered, enjoying Ashton’s touch. “What about you? I bet you’ve been having fun with the others.”

“Yeah, but not as you might expect. I’ve been just... playing with their bodies and reminding them that I can do whatever I want with them... and with you,” Ashton said, feeling his dick getting harder and rubbing it against Eaton’s butt.

“Oh… You can do whatever you want. Fill me up with even more kids if you want,” Eaton said between moans as Ashton pushed the head of his dick between his ass cheeks. “Fuck me hard, big daddy. Please.”

“I love it when you beg, but I was going to do it anyway,” Ashton said, pushing more of his huge dick into Eaton’s ass and bucking his hips to fuck the massive man. “Let’s get this belly a little bit bigger,” Ashton said, smiling mischievously.

****

After fucking Eaton, making him groan and moan in pleasure, Ashton went back to fuck the other husbands, except for Carson, who was at work. Then Ashton managed to squeeze his massive body into snug, “oversized” clothes to take a walk. He couldn’t stop smiling while he walked down the streets, turning heads and enjoying the attention. People weren’t only surprised by the size of his pregnancy but by his entire massive, muscular body. Ashton loved how people stared at him with shock and respect.

His walk wasn’t long, but he stopped by a coffee shop to take a break and drink water. He sat on a bench in a corner and saw many people eating pastries and drinking different types of juices and coffee. Then, a tall, handsome man caught his attention as he walked in. The man wore a tight-fitting navy blue shirt and snug dress pants that accentuated his big bubble butt, wide hips, and narrow waist. Ashton felt his dick stirring to life in his pants as he observed the man ordering a juice.

He looked as young and tall as Ashton, but his body was very different. With broad, muscular shoulders, well-proportioned bulging pecs, narrow waist, wide hips, fat ass, and thick thighs. His handsome face and perfectly styled mid-length hair made him look like a supermodel. Ashton grinned as something in his mind clicked.

Ashton slowly stood up and went outside, calling the young man’s attention on his way out. Ashton winked at him, and the other man’s eyes widened in shock. Ashton waited outside for a few minutes until the young man walked out with a juice in hand. Ashton leaned back against a wall and rubbed his massive belly while groaning loudly.

“Man… Are you okay?” The young man approached, looking concerned and intrigued. “Do you need any help? An ambulance?”

“I’m fine, but these babies won’t stop moving and turning, and I can’t reach some parts of my belly. I’ve grown too big,” Ashton replied, groaning louder to capture the man’s attention. “The only help I need is a hand or two to rub my belly,” Ashton said, and before he managed to say anything else, the young man placed his hand on his belly and softly caressed it.

“How does that feel?” The young man continued rubbing his belly and didn’t notice Ashton turning around, away from the wall. “I... are you in labor or something?”

“No, I don’t think I’m due yet,” Ashton said, using his massive weight to push the young man’s body, sandwiching and pinning him against the wall. “Do you like how I look?” Ashton asked, keeping the young man trapped between the wall and his belly.

“I-I… yeah, I mean, you look great,” the man said, still rubbing Ashton’s belly.

“Well, I think you’d look great with a big belly full of my babies. You’re perfectly built to give me a large brood. Let’s get somewhere else, and I’ll give you a massive belly, as big or bigger than mine,” Ashton said in a dominant tone, and the young man could only respond with a nod. “I’m Ashton. What’s your name?”

“I’m Austin,” the young man responded, having already surrendered to his broodfather. He was still somewhat confused but knew he had to follow Ashton’s instructions.

Ashton grinned and pulled Austin into a kiss, also reaching back to squeeze the big bubble butt and making the young man moan. Ashton knew he was in control and could only think about filling Austin with a lot of babies. Ashton finally fully understood that, as a broodfather, he could have any man he wanted, and he was eager to find even more men to expand his brood.

The End

[samuraiko]

CRITICAL ROLE C3E77 Spoilery Opinion [SPOILERS AHOY]

YES I'M POSTING SOMETHING ELSE

SPOILERS INCOMING

LOREM IPSUM

---

I am actually copypastaing something I wrote over on the CR subreddit LATE last night, just in case you're wondering if you might have seen this elsewhere. I just want to throw it out again here just in case the mods over there nuke that entire thread because of DRAMA™.

---

This is pure speculation on my part - I make *NO* claims whatsoever into any special insight on how Taliesin plays his characters, and I fully embrace the possibility that a) I am wrong, and b) no one is obligated whatsoever to agree with me. :)

That said.

Twice before now, Ashton was granted some weird, who-knows-what-the-hell-it-is power through acts that he had NOTHING to do with.

His father screwed up a rite - BOOM, Ashton is transformed into an earth genasi.

The Jiana Hexum robbery went sideways and Milo freaked out and dumped a whatever-the-hells-this-might-be potion (yes *I* know what it is) in Ashton's skull - BOOM, Ashton gets his rage powers.

But this time, there's an incredibly dangerous power that could maybe save the world AND the gods but hopefully most of all his friends... and this IS something that Ashton can control.

This *IS* a choice he can make for himself.

HE chose to dive into the lava after this shard.

HE chose to respect Fearne's repeated denials that she didn't want it.

HE chose to take it into himself.

This was something going sideways that HE COULD CONTROL.

And don't forget - Ashton being a reckless gambler was established all the way back in the very earliest episodes of the campaign.

Do I agree with Fearne kicking him in the face afterward? ABSOLUTELY. He just scared fifty years off her life with that stunt, and as someone who has loudly proclaimed that she is DONE losing people, this must have been her second-worst nightmare (her worst being losing Orym).

So do I understand him doing this? Yes, I do. I think he could have handled it a lot better, but let's hear it for that 6 Charisma.

And I think that he's going to get an absolute EARFUL from all of the Hells (and so he should). And more than anyone else, I hope Orym is the one to really chew him out, because if Ashton seems to respect anyone as authority in the Hells, it's Orym.

[its-your-mind]

Tbh I??? Really love these Bell’s Hells Company Retreat Activities???? Bc like. It’s not like any of them have been overly cagey this whole time, or actively hiding big secrets from each other. (someone at some point mentioned how BUCKwild it would have been to watch the M9 try to play What The Fuck Is Up With That within the first ten episodes of c2, with all the shit all of them were hiding and how much their early relationships were based on a mutual understanding that no one would expect each other to bring up the past unless it became a danger - the only one who ever poked that particular bear was Beau with Caleb at the start when she traded access to the Archive for the reason why Caleb gets fucked up by fire, and that private conversation shaped their relationship for the rest of the campaign BUT I digress.)

Nothing anyone confessed during the Honesty exercise was… a surprise. The only one who hadn’t shared the entirety of his past (that he remembered) was Chetney, and his was never the past that felt like a threat - that revelation was more along the lines of FCG’s type of “tell me about your family trauma so I can fix you” line of questioning.

The truths the Hells offered up to each other… they were significant (Fearne, I was disappointed in you for being afraid of your power), and scary (deep down, both Delilah and I kind of want the shard), and hard to say out loud (even on the nights I bunk up with one of you, I feel so lonely), but critically, so little of it was surprising. No one was sharing anything earth-shattering about their pasts or previously unknown plans for future betrayal.

And during the Communication exercise - none of them - Chetney, Imogen, Ashton, or Orym - doubted that their directors were leading them the wrong way. They listened, and paid attention to instructions, and didn’t try their own path because they felt like they knew better.

And then during Trust! The part that should have been the hardest!! All of them were obviously distrustful of each other, shooting around stressed looks, sending familiars to dive-bomb to check for flesh, but like… none of them actually turned on each other. None of them ganged up, or broke off, or stood in opposition - they were wary of each other, and they got the task done.

So… it didn’t really lead to any huge shifts in the dynamic. But that was never really what they needed! The Hells have trusted each other since the beginning, and even when they’re actively having to fight each other, it’s always with a desperation born from a place of concern. They really do care for and love each other. I don’t think any of them, if they sat down to think about it, truly believed that one of them was going to betray the others.

But they haven’t had time to sit and think about it. They have been actively fighting the literal end of the world since like… ep 45 (first irl Ludinus sighting/convo). The apocalypse happened. Has been happening. For thirty episodes now. They spent a good chunk of that time apart from each other, and then the rest of it desperately reaching out to anyone with more power than themselves to beg for their help.

So yeah! It’s not a big surprise that they’re all bottling up a lot of their own shit right now! There aren’t that many personal issues that feel like they deserve more attention than the literal end of the world.

It was inevitable something was going to give. And since Ashton’s shit was up next for dissection because they had a past that brushed up against the Primordials? Of course they were the one whose internal lockdown broke first. And of course when it did, it physically shattered Ashton, too, right along those same fault lines where Milo put them back together the first time. It’s so good that they had friends who were there, past and present, to make sure none of the pieces got lost. To put them back together.

We watched Laudna break down right after, specifically because she was back home, in this place where Delilah had first tortured and killed her, where she had lived as a wraith haunting a castle. Delilah had been slowly picking the lock on the cage the Hells had forced her into, and Ashton’s “betrayal” was the last tumbler Delilah needed to snap into place to break the lock in Laudna’s mind. And her mind shattered, fragmented in the same way it had been after she was first brought back as Delilah’s vessel. How beautiful that it was Laudna’s love of children and her desire to make Ashton a gift (meant to be part insult, “because you’re a child,” and declaration of her care for him, “I like children.”)

And Fearne… Fearne almost broke down after them. Slamming the hammer down next to Ashton’s head over and over and over, screaming at him, wandering away through the city, sleeping alone in the woods… She saw the cliff’s edge coming. That’s why she asked them if they could stop at her Nana’s first.

Because she needed it. And the rest of the Hells say, “Why? Do you think Nana Morri can help us in this?” And Fearne says, “Well, I don’t know, but…” And Imogen says, “Do you need it for you?” And Fearne says, in a small and shattered voice, “…yes.”

And that’s the end of the discussion.

They go home, to a place where they are safe and have time, for the first time since Ruidus was locked in place.

And so they have time to be Honest - and they are. Fearne likes to watch them all and play with their hair while they sleep. Orym has thought through how he would neutralize them if he absolutely had to. Ashton thinks it would be better for him to be dead than for Fearne to be hurt. Imogen is scared to face her mom. Laudna dreams of leaving this behind. FCG is jealous of the people around him with a heart, because they have possibilities he doesn’t. Chetney hasn’t settled down once in 400 years because he’s scared he’s cursed to drive away any family he has.

Behind all of this - I want to know everything about you. I need to make sure you don’t hurt each other. I would sacrifice myself to keep you from pain. I don’t want to choose between my blood and this family we’ve built. I want you all to be safe. I want you to pursue happiness. I don’t want to lose you.

And then, Communication - follow along this path. Listen to my voice. Keep calm, keep quiet. Stay the course. I will keep you safe. Keep walking, keep walking, and… you’re there, honey.

And finally, Trust. Two of them are going to be replaced by fae beings bent on preventing them from completing their mission, and they have to complete this task without letting the infiltrators stop them. Okay. Let’s all stick together. Keep eyes on each other. Wait for the doppelgängers to give themselves away somehow. Do you remember these small, banal details about our mutual history? There’s a possibility that action you took was malicious, but I know you well enough to know that might have been a mistake you made on your own. Here, I’ll walk into traps to show that I’m not going to stop you. I’ll get out of your way and take out the threats. I’ll be eyes in the sky and send my familiar to poke you to test if you feel like you should. But nothing you’re doing makes me see you as a real threat - just the possibility of one. I trust you. I trust in you. I trust myself to know enough about you to identify if you’re doing something differently than normal.

And the result of those exercises? No new information, but maybe some things that we all had lost track of amongst the chaos. I am not shocked by your Honesty. I know deep down that I can rely on your Communication. I do Trust you. I know you. I care for you. I know you care for me, too. Even when I have doubts, even when you fuck up, even when things break bad and you make the wrong call…

We are a team for a reason, and no matter what we said in the beginning, it is not just out of necessity or convenience. Are we a bunch of fucked up, broken people? Absolutely. Are we going to continue to fuck up? Probably. Does that change how we feel about each other? No. Never. As long as you’ll have me, I’ll be here, fighting alongside you. Helping you up when you stumble. Offering a shoulder when you need to cry. Standing over you to protect you if you fall. Laughing with you in good times, kicking ass for you in bad. This is our family, damn it. It is strange, and broken, but it is ours, and it is good.

[sparring-spirals]

Compromise. Im not going to actually WRITE meta but i AM going to lay out a list of things I'm thinking about broadly and thematically and would probably write meta about if i were properly caught up and informed, but is instead influenced much more by early campaign F.C.G:

**edit: no this is kind of meta again. sorry.

- F.C.G grappling with the questions of: being made. purpose. whether it matters if you find your own purpose if you were made with one in mind and you "choose" something else. Can you actually? Does it matter? Is your choice a choice at all?

- Wanting so badly to heal people and help people and the unique fear of waking up and seeing damage done by your own hands. To the same people you wanted so badly to help. You extend healing and you offer comfort or kind words but all the while, in your core is a tightness. In your core is a danger. How much good do you need to do to get the blood off your chassis? Can you, at all?

- Metal body. Metal hands. A little wheel. You were a turtle once and it felt so wondrous to breathe. You try out tongues or little wooden legs or whatnot but it always comes back to an inorganic metal body and empty insides no matter if youre filling them with liquids or secret goods to smuggle or pastries (faux warmth). Maybe everything like wooden legs dangling off a metal body. All for show.

- A coin in hand. Looking for a higher power. Thinking about choice. Deferring choices.

- You love your friends, so much. You love people being kind to each other. You love your boyfriend and their wonderful way of thinking. You love being alive. Even when you doubted you were at all. You love, truly and deeply.

- Ashton raging at F.C.G for being a martyr. For aching for a good enough reason to get himself hurt or killed or blown up. Ashton looking at F.C.G knowing they're all messed up inside and trying so hard to stop them from letting it destroy them.

- Ashton always worried about how they're always trying to find a big enough cause, a good enough reason.

And so with those things, I remembered about F.C.G:

- F.C.G looking at their friends all down. Ashton laid out unmoving.

- F.C.G with something awful in their core. Ready to spill out. The same something awful they were always worried about. They were always aware of.

- F.C.G always looking for that reason. For that bigger and better cause.

- F.C.G always feeling like they didn't understand purpose, like it was so. unattainable- finally, briefly, startlingly- sure. Finally free of doubt. Their friends down and something awful and destructive in their core and one last thing they can do to maybe make things worth it, and the ability to choose it. They were made for something. They chose what to do with it.

- F.C.G finding that reason. F.C.G making that call. F.C.G thinking it was worth it.

- I think because of him, they succeeded. They won. That is certain.

- I think. "Worth it". Is always a subjective thing.

- I think. A self sacrifice is never just one person giving everything up. A self sacrifice, unfortunately- is one person making a choice.

And everyone else caught, in the blast radius.

[rebouks]

Wyatt’s home was neat, tidy and exposed very little of his true character, just as Brynn had suspected. There were no knickknacks strewn across shelves, no photographs or clutter, and certainly nothing that held much sentimental value; unless he kept such things hidden, though she figured it more likely he simply didn’t have any.

He’d caught her eye now and then but said nothing, unphased by her nosiness as she roamed freely; clearly he had nothing to hide-.. not from her, anyway. Intent on picking her apart from the inside out – much the same as she to him – he studied her relentlessly, bewildered by the fact she’d invaded his sanctuary so audaciously.

Brynn had never met anyone quite like Wyatt, a man who knew exactly what he was, yet bared absolutely no apologies for it. He was cool, collected and intelligent, he couldn’t be cajoled with false compliments or pretend beguile, he didn’t fall over himself to please anyone, didn’t tell her what to do or what to say or how to act, didn’t try to own her or parade her; a stolen prize to be pinned to one’s chest as a badge of honour, wealth or depravity-.. and for the first time in a long, long while, Brynn felt free. Free of her mask, her falsities and her scars.

Brynn: You have a lot of books. Wyatt: That’s not a lot. Brynn: Is way more than I have. Wyatt: You don’t like reading? Brynn: I do-.. is just hard work. Wyatt: Practice makes perfect. Brynn: Maybe you could teach me? Wyatt: You’re finding an awful lot of excuses to spend more time with me…

The atrocities in Wyatt’s past should’ve deterred her, but over time, she’d found herself drawn to him because of them. A shared existence in the darker realities of life, however opposite they may have been.

He could’ve continued down that path after the death of his father, could’ve picked up where Ashton left off, but he hadn’t. He’d fled to where he felt free instead; leading a simple, lonely life, searching for a soul long since forgotten. He was grey, and so was she.

Despite his outward arrogance, Brynn could feel the familiar ache of desolation within Wyatt. He wore his wretched personality like a cloak, peering out at the world as a gargoyle would, poised to deter anyone that came too close with a well-practiced, stony demeanour; but even the hardest of stones could break with the right tools and a little persistence…

Brynn: You think I came all this way for snow and rocks? Wyatt: I’m starting to doubt it. Brynn: Only now? I thought you more intelligent than that.

Brynn smirked, her piercing, lustful gaze rendering him speechless for the second time that night. She wasn’t wrong, he knew by now where this was headed, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around the why. She ought to know better given everything she’d been through, everything she knew about him-.. everything he’d put her through; directly or indirectly, it didn’t matter.

Wyatt swallowed forcefully as he felt a hot flash of guilt wash over him, trying to rid himself of the unpleasant lump stuck in his throat. He hadn’t realised it at the time, but he’d felt something toward her ever since she’d given him that stupid phone in Del Sol. She’d trusted him to do the right thing, even though she had every right to assume he wouldn’t.

Putting it down to the fact that no one had ever believed in him before, he’d brushed those thoughts aside; he was probably just desperate for some sort of approval, fairly natural for someone who was emotionally neglected as a child. It didn’t mean anything.

Brynn: You don’t understand, do you? [Wyatt squinted; he didn’t want to admit that] Brynn: Tell me why. [Wyatt hesitated, but ultimately acquiesced] Wyatt: You said you’d never forgive me… Brynn: I not use the word never, did I? Wyatt: You should’ve. Brynn: I told you; I see you.

Wyatt: What do you s-… [Wyatt promptly forgot his question as Brynn clambered on top of him, his hands reaching for her instinctively, hungrily…] Brynn: Use your heart tonight, not your head.

Previous // Next

[railroad-migraine]

Hey Poet ♥️ I had to put my bird and companion of 12 years to sleep earlier today... I was hoping it would be okay to request Molly, Kingsley, Ashton and Caduceus comforting a Ranger SO (friend in Cad’s case) who had their beast companion pass away? I hope it’s not too grim of a prompt, thanks a lot either way! And thank you for what you do, your lovely writing brings joy to many people :)

Oh darling I'm so sorry. We also recently had a family pet put to sleep and it is very hard, but know that you provided your lil friend a wonderful life and that's something to make it easier as time passes 🩶

Comforting Ranger!GN!Reader

Ashton 💚

Is the shoulder to cry on that you've always needed. They're a strong presence, someone reliable to lean on, something physical and real to keep you grounded and help you not lose yourself in feelings.

They say they have difficulty with words, but Ashton surprises even himself with the soft tone and even softer things he offers you. Little phrases of encouragement, of how things will get better, and how you're not going to carry this alone. You have him and friends who care about you - he ignores the hot feeling in his face when your teary eyes meet his upon the confession - and pulls you into their side with a soft "I got you."

-

Caduceus 💜

Arguably the best person on the list to console you after losing someone you held dear. If it's something you'd like, he'll organise a little ceremony - allow memories of the good and fun moments shared with your companion to take centre stage. It's a happy occasion, with friends in attendance, a celebration of their life, their love, and how they made a home in your heart.

Cad takes time out of his day to sit with you, share tea and treats and the quiet tranquility of his porch, content to give you silent support but even more eager to offer counsel if that's what you seek. He understands how you're feeling, and guides you through them with careful, attentive ease.

-

Molly 💜

He knows what it's like to mourn a life, be that of a friend's or the past that he will never truly know. He makes sure that as you're processing this change in your life, that you continue to look after yourself. He ensures that you eat, even if you don't feel hungry. He washes your hair and cleans your face, helps you change into fresh clothes, coaxes you outdoors to feel warm sunlight on your skin. He wants to remind you to keep living, to enjoy it just as your pet beast did.

Life moves on. It always will. Your animal came into your life unexpectedly, just as you came into Molly's life. He's there for you, to get you through the day, the week, the month, and beyond. It happens gradually, as all wounds heal, but eventually he sees you smile at him more and he knows it hurts a little less. He smiles back, all teeth and pride for you.

-

Kingsley 💜

He's still discovering the big emotions that come with experiencing life. Grief is one of them. He fumbles in the beginning, and is scared to say anything in the fear of hurting you further, but he feels more confident after you melt into his arms and let him hold you for who knows how long. He realises later that a distraction can help further along healing.

So that's what Kingsley does. He spends more time with you, takes you sailing and has you steer the ship (with his professional supervision of course). He drags you into dances along the deck and sings you songs before bed. He holds your hand as you fall asleep, and tells you how grateful he is that you're there with him. Thanks you for giving him that - just as you had given your familiar that.

[deadricslover]

Sweet nothings

a/n: Don't even know how I came up with this one tbh but I'm depressed because tour is over so I've been thinking about the guys too much.

summary: After a long day, you finally get home and spend some time with your partner and your sleep app comes in handy the next morning.

warnings: None :)

pairings: Ashton Irwin x fem!reader

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

Your ears got used to the car horns blaring and engines rumbling as you sat in traffic waiting impatiently to get home after a day that has-- for lack of better words, exhausted you. Those familiar sounds were soon interrupted by a sound that clashed with the cars and their horns. Your phone. You pick it up and glance at it quickly even though you are stuck in traffic that's not moving. You answer it and put it on speaker, dropping it onto your lap

"Hey, Ash" you say into the speaker

"Hey, you. Where are you?" he asks clearly wondering where you are as you should have been home almost an hour ago.

"Stuck in traffic." You sigh simply wanting to go home, see your partner, eat dinner whilst watching TV and go to sleep.

"Ah, I should have come to get you" he replies hearing your tone.

"That wouldn't have gotten me home any faster" you giggle

"I could have been there to keep you company at least. I've been home all day by myself" He hates being alone for too long, you knew this but needed to leave nevertheless.

"Would've could've should've" You reply not even thinking up of another answer for him.

You hear him let out a little laugh before informing you "You sound like a dad"

"Thanks, Ashton" You reply sarcastically. "I should be home in about half an hour" you let him know

"Perfect. I made dinner. I don't want it to get cold" he replies

"Ooh, what did you make?" you ask genuinely curious but also wanting to keep talking to him and not hang up

"You'll see when you get home." he tells in a sneaky tone.

"Ahh, I see" you understand "how was your day?"

"nothing out of the ordinary. Just played around with some songs for a while"

"anything good?"

"I'll ask the guys and see what they think. I'm not sure how I feel about them" he replies honestly

"they're better than you think. don't worry" you support

He thanks you and you wrap up the conversation with him nearing twenty minutes later as you were close to home. You lock your car and open the front door to your home dropping your keys inside the front door. Ashton comes around the corner when he heard the door open to greet you with that perfect, contagious smile that could brighten the gloomiest of days. You're greeted by the comforting scent of dinner wafting through the air. The soft glow of fairy lights adorned their living room, creating a warm ambiance-- one that you needed at this moment.

"you're home" he says, wrapping you in a tight embrace. The stress of the day seemed to melt away in that moment. His comfort was all you ever needed in life, his warm energy and personality.

"What's all this?" you ask, a curious smile forming on your face as you notice the carefully set table and the delicious aroma of your favorite meal.

"Just a little surprise for my hardworking girl" Ashton replied pulling away from you slightly to catch your reaction, his eyes sparkling with affection.

"Do you want to change first?" He questions letting go of you but still holding your hand in his lightly as if you were a delicate piece of art-- which to him, you were. You nod softly before leaving and changing into something a little more comfy. You take your hair down as you make your way back into the kitchen and see him dishing up two plates.

"no peeking" he says without even turning around to you, knowing you all too well. you smile and roll your eyes as if he would see and left the kitchen. he quicky follows you and being the gentleman he is, pulls out a chair for you before pushing you back in and hurrying off to get the plates.

Throughout dinner, Ashton couldn't help but constantly steal glances at you, when you weren't looking, in awe at the way your eyes lit up when you spoke your part of the conversation. As the evening went on, the atmosphere shifted to one of tranquility, the pair enjoying each other's company in the soft glow of the living room, catching up on some tv that you had missed the night before, before making your way to bed to wrap up the perfect night.

As you were exhausted from the long day you had, you slept almost instantly after finishing your night routine and got cozy in bed whilst Ashton brushed his teeth. He saw you wrapped up in the duvet all snuggled up and couldn't help but smile at you. Something about tonight was just so lovingly domestic that neither of you could help stealing glances at eachother and smiling to yourselves.

he turns off the lights and gets into bed next to you cuddling up. He couldn't help but admire you even more as the moonlight hit your sleeping face. He plants a kiss into your head and nuzzles his nose and face into you sweetly.

"I love you" he whispers. "so so much"

"I don't want to wake you, but I needed to say it" he adds

He whispers sweet nothings to you for a little while before eventually drifting to sleep.

The next morning you woke up without Ashton by your side. He had mentioned that he wouldn't be there and he would be at the studio with the guys when you woke up. You grabbed your phone as you sat down to eat breakfast and saw notifications from different apps. your sleep tracking app popped up and indicated that you had been sleep talking. Curiously you click into the app and press play on the audio and Ashton's voice reaches your ears. You hear all of the sweet nothings that he whispered to you when you were sleeping and couldn't help the formation of butterflies in your stomach. You decided to ask him about it when he came home later on that day. You got ready for work and left for the day.

Differently to yesterday, Ashton got you from work on the way home from being at the studio.

"Hey, Ash" you greet him, getting into the car.

"hi, my love" he replies placing a kiss to your face when you settle in.

after asking eachother about your days you decide to ask him about the sleep app.

"can I ask you something?" you question

"anything" he replies

you didn't know exactly how to go about it, but wanted to know that you knew so you decided to just play the audio for him. he glances over you slightly confused until he realizes what's going on. He goes red and looks away embarrassed about what's happening. he doesn't regret it, but wishes your stupid sleep app hadn't caught it.

"turn it off" he laughs gently pushing the phone out of your hands.

"you're so sweet" you tell him, placing your hand on his that's on the gearstick showing him there's nothing to be ashamed about.

"shut up" he shushes you, still smiling as he puts his hand on your thigh momentarily.

You finish the day exactly the same as the previous day, but Ashton makes sure to block the permissions from your sleep app so that it doesn't catch anything else. He isn't upset that you heard, and to be honest, he's not all that embarrassed, because he says this stuff to you all the time but it's just the fact that you caught him. He wouldn't change that you heard it though.

[caeslxys]

I am SO fascinated to get your take on BH's reaction to Ludinus and Downfall.

*****SPOILERS FOR 102 BELOW*****

As someone who left Downfall with a very negative view of the gods, it's interesting to me that BHs (in particular Imogen) kept saying "but you're just like them" about Ludinus and then not realizing that she was saying that the gods are no better than Ludinus fucking Da'Leth. Yeah, Luda is a hyprocrite. Do you realize that the gods are no better? The GODS.

And BHs comparing themselves to the primes/betrayers as this "fucked-up family" completely ignores the power differential. "They're just little guys! We all make mistakes" but you're saying that about entities that can literally sling 9th levels every 6 seconds without using any resources.

Nothing that can feel and be motivated by loss, rage, fear, and revenge should have that much power. Respectfully.

Sorry this took me so long to answer! I’ve been letting my own thoughts simmer and rewatching the episode in pieces to grasp the Many Many different things that happened on my own because it was Quite A Lot and some of it (the delilah of it all, funnily enough) left me immediately with an overall sense of disappointment that I wanted to sift through before talking Thoughts so that I could determine analysis from bias lol. BUT. I DO HAVE THOUGHTS

Long answer under the read more, but tldr: Apart from Orym, Ashton, and Dorian (simultaneously the most and least surprising!) I don’t think we’ve gotten the full breadth of BH’s opinions at all. In part because this a topic of discussion that requires them actually, well, discussing it to form fully rounded opinions on but also, crucially, because they were expressing opinions and emotions in front of Ludinus. This is important, because Orym/Ashton/Dorian make the most sense to have no reason for holding their true thoughts back in front of either him or the party (obviously in Orym and Ashton’s case, but I’ll be honest in not considering what is now obvious—Dorian has no idea who this guy actually is! Of course he wasn’t opposed to raising his perspective!), whereas other characters—namely Imogen—have many more internal steps and hurdles to actually reaching a conclusion that must happen outside of Ludinus’ eye.

Alright. Long version.

I think it truly speaks to the characters that the ones who reacted the most immediately decisive were Orym—the one whose opinions wouldn’t have changed regardless of what was held within that orb (which. sigh)—Ashton—the punk, anti-authoritarian character who has had an established perspective of the gods and their power for quite some time, perspectives that were in many ways cemented in viewing this piece of history rather than dispelled—and Dorian—someone who, as mentioned earlier, has the least amount of context for who Ludinus is, but who also himself was raised in a comparatively high position of social power so as to understand exactly what Ludinus is saying about the gods’ misusing theirs.

And, of course, Imogen. I’ll admit: I was immediately shocked at her response, but in hindsight of course she responded the way she did. I have talked and gushed and wailed before at how deeply empathetic Imogen is, and how it is also her ultimate fatal flaw (demonstrated explicitly here), so of course her first thought was how she saw the feelings and motives behind the decisions made in downfall and not how it was also an extreme over-reach of power and influence. Of course she did. I think the only person she’s incapable of empathizing with is Delilah lmao.

And to that point: A lot of that seemed, on a rewatch and to me, posturing on her part. So much of Imogen is defined by her guilt and shame and self-loathing and its especially prevalent when she is playing leader—a role she is naturally very good at, but doubts constantly because she does not consider herself “good”. So, often, she does what she thinks others perceive as “good” and “right” and keeps her more complex thoughts to herself until she is in a safe space (often with Laudna), and projects who she thinks others need her to be in the moment.

Laudna, in the same vein, also shocked me that she didn’t push the breach of power here. But, again, she is also right next to Imogen in “bells hells characters most driven by/capable of empathy” (though hers is, unlike Imogen’s, often in conflict with her desires in really compelling ways) so on further reflection—and especially taking into consideration the massive amount of shame she is feeling from swordgate—of course she focused on the empathetic side of it all.

Ultimately we didn’t get much time at all for them to actually discuss and dissect their take-aways on all of downfall in a setting and context that would be free of bias and performance. If i’m honest, I think those conversations need to happen individually instead of in a group, though maybe Dorian’s inclusion and obvious clear decision on his stance being more in line with Ludinus’ may just be enough for Orym alone not to break the conversational thread again with his personal grief (and guilt, but that’s another post lol). I think their real opinions have yet to solidify even for themselves, and we’ll see them truly form in the coming episodes. The Delilah of it all notwithstanding.

Speaking of Orym’s refusal to think about anything—I think he and Imogen both are suffering from Predathos tunnel vision. Honestly I’d argue a good portion of fandom is as well. None of that conversation is ultimately about Predathos, it was about the gods and the role they play and the power they use or over-use or deserve. By focusing so intently on what we all already agree is the wrong and bad solution to this problem, we ignore the problem entirely. It’s one of my main issues with Orym’s stance this whole campaign. If we don’t ask what is to be done with the gods, and the campaign just wraps up with “we defeated the bad guys, yay!” well. What of the ruidusborn, who we know are treated unfairly and unkindly and who suffer through no fault of their own. What of the young vanguard members—the kids—who, also, are only guilty of caving to the idea of peace. What of Aeor, what of Ludinus—what of the cycle that birthed them both. To not engage with the questions being asked for hyperfixating on the Predathos of it all is to leave this campaign, in my opinion, on both a deeply unsatisfying but also deeply hopeless note. The cycle will continue. We may not see it—it may be another thousand, two thousand years before another Ludinus rises—but another Ludinus or Aeor or both will rise, because ultimately no change will have been implemented in the problems which resulted in them.

And—final note, promise—I was talking to a friend about this yesterday but when it comes down to acknowledging the societal implications of downfall, especially in Imogen’s case, I do think it’s going to have to be pointed out first. A lot of Bells Hells are characters who have suffered at the very hands they are trying to save, but also suffered in part and specifically due to a lack of access to knowledge about it all. It does not escape me that the very first scene of campaign three is Imogen attempting to gather knowledge on powers that have made her miserable for a decade and being unable to access them in a library due to her station. That is, to me, more and more becoming the underpinning theme of this campaign—especially as all Ludinus is doing in this moment with the Occultus Thalamus is displaying it; again, obviously Ludinus is wrong in his means (and arrogant in his assumptions that just because of his failures that no one else could find a solution) but this, specifically, the spreading of knowledge—that, I 100% find myself in agreeance with. So it’s not that they won’t understand what characters like Ashton and Dorian, both hyperaware of the implications of power here, are or will be saying. It’s that they literally do not know to think about it like that. Why would they. It has been intentionally kept from them.

Anyway I have no idea if that was uh. Sufficient Enough of an answer adksfjd at some point I just started yapping but! I’m intrigued, especially because of Dorian’s adamant belief, in what conclusions they’ll draw moving forward as the discussions truly begin! Hopefully! Hopefully they will discuss it!

[harunayuuka2060]

Professor Vargas: Take off that stupid costume!

MC: I can fly in it without any problem—

Professor Vargas: TAKE IT OFF!!!

Jamil: Sir, they are cursed—

Professor Vargas: You look weak in that costume! And I can't stand that!

MC: ...

Professor Vargas: I wouldn't mind if you're wearing a warrior's armor, but that! You look like a damn overcooked marshmallow!

Ace: Hey, sir! What's wrong with that?

Professor Vargas: Everything!

MC: ...

MC: I understand. *walks a few distance away from them and starts taking it off*

Professor Vargas: See? You look normal that way!

Jamil: Sir, I think I need to remind you that the school won't be liable if you get hurt.

Professor Vargas: Huh? What are you sayin—

MC: *the grass around their feet died*

Professor Vargas: ...

Professor Vargas: Proceed to do the exercise and you're free to go.

MC: *closes their eyes* *hunching their back*

*the students started to murmur*

MC: *a pair of bony wings start to emerge from their spine* *the sound of it rattling and the tearing flesh*

*the students covered their mouth in disbelief*

MC: *extends their wings* I apologize for making you wait. I'll do the exercise now.

Professor Vargas: G-Go on.

Lilia: Ashton, I heard that you had bullied MC during your class.

Lilia: Malleus was not happy about it.

Professor Vargas: I apologize. I went too far.

Lilia: It's too late now. MC destroyed their protective suit because of your comment.

Professor Vargas: ...

Lilia: If this happens again, I'm afraid we have to take immediate action.

Jamil: I don't know why I agreed to go with you.

Ace: *searching for MC* I'm sure they'll be sulking right now.

Jamil: Ace, have you become friends with them?

Ace: Of course! We immediately clicked on their first day!

Jamil: That doesn't seem like it.

Ace: *pouts* It is!

*cold wind blows*

Ace: ...

Ace: There's my bestfriend!

Jamil: Seriously?

MC: *gripping a now dead flower in their hand*

Ace: Oi!!!! Bestfriend!!!

MC: Don't come any closer.

Jamil: Oh my. It seems you are pissed. *talking about the dead flowers scattered around them*

MC: I'm trying to calm myself.

Jamil: ...

Ace: Hey! We understand you don't like Professor Vargas! Do you want me to get back at him for you?

Ace: We can ask Deucey to drop some cauldrons on his head!

MC: *turns to look at him* He won't do that. He's an honor student.

Ace: Yeah, right. But he ain't no goody two-shoes either!

MC: ...

MC: Okay. That is way better than what I'm thinking to do.

Jamil: ...

Jamil: So we have saved Professor Vargas.

[utilitycaster]

You've mentioned a few times about Matt making this the Moon Plot Campaign and the cast not realizing it was the Moon Plot Campaign and how the characters aren't necessarily the best for a Moon Plot Campaign and I'm just curious: if you could pick what type of character build the cast played to best fit a Moon Plot how might that look?

Oh man I think I've answered this before but I will always answer it again because my answer is evolving.

The first two things are just general advice:

In retrospect I think Matt should have treated this campaign as sort of a semi-module format. If you will be playing a module (eg: Curse of Strahd, Call of the Netherdeep, etc), your DM should tell you this and essentially say "you can have your own character struggles - in fact you should - but they should be largely internal/things that can be addressed without you going on an extended quest." For example, you can (and should) play a character in Curse of Strahd who is struggling with self-esteem, or religious faith, or cowardice; but you can't have a character who, to address these things, must confront their father, because they're going to be in Barovia and he's not going to be there. I recommend checking out the rivals in Call of the Netherdeep, because their throughlines are great examples - they' develop and engage with the story, but it's very much driven by the plot of the story and not a delving into their backstory. So essentially, have simpler backstories or backstories that inherently tie into the quest, and let the players come up with that by giving them the most spoiler free outline. I think Matt tried to do all that tying up himself, and at times it made things a little too pat; or those characters who had elements that couldn't be woven in as gracefully (Chetney and the Gorgynei; Laudna with Delilah; some of Ashton's stuff) got very brief arcs so we could get back to the main moon plot.

Do not dump intelligence. DO NOT DUMP INTELLIGENCE. Have at least one PC in your party who is not just intelligent but like, educated. Percy, Beau, and Caleb all fit this. Chetney's pretty smart but not terribly educated so he's great at investigation but he's not going to do very well on religion checks. This party should have had a fucking wizard or artificer or cobalt soul monk or knowledge cleric, but also every party should unless you're going full murder hobo. I think it's valid to be into actual play (or d&d itself) for the character moments and the romance but you know what makes that possible? FIGURING OUT WHAT'S FUCKING HAPPENING INSTEAD OF DICKING AROUND CLUELESSLY. My one true house rule for myself as a DM is that one person in the party has to have high intelligence (or like, be a bard or rogue with decent intelligence but expertise/jack of all trades in everything). Play a high int character for the sake of your DM, PLEASE.

On a more specific note:

would have been good to have more Marquesian characters, but also someone from the Empire would have added a significant dimension. I do love Chetney, and I think Travis is the player who pivoted fastest to fit better within this campaign and has a good understanding of what it could have been with a bit more commitment, but yeah I think if Matt had told them a bit more of what was going on he'd have made like, a more serious werewolf member of the Gorgynei who had noticed lycanthropes becoming susceptible to Ruidus and decided to investigate, for example.

I think having more divinely aligned characters would have just made for much more fun interactions. The issue with the god debates wasn't that they were having them, for all I think that anyone who wants to kill the gods is a fucking idiot. It was that none of them knew jack shit about what they were talking about so it turned into an unending Emperor's Nose discussion. Having either someone who was actually trained (a la Braius, who is a welcome addition for this reason, among others) or again just. a person with religion proficiency and a decent INT score would have made it an actual compelling argument of different perspectives, and not a bunch of idiots yelling out nonsense.

It honestly wouldn't have looked much different. In fact, I think you could have kept the bottom table mostly as is with just tiny alterations, and done the following:

Make Chetney a Marquesian member of the Gorgynei with a mission tied to investigating what's going on with Ruidus. He could still be a weird woodworker.

Entirely rework Laudna's premise. You could have kept her creepy and undead, even, but get rid of Delilah and make her a wizard instead. Make her tied to the Grim Verity or an archaeologist who got kicked off the Tishtan site. You could even keep her aligned with Imogen although I'd have made it a more recent meet up of her being on the run and having gone through Gelvaan in trying to avoid the Grey Assassins

I like what happened with FCG ultimately but I think a different subclass would have still helped; make them a knowledge cleric and more intelligent.

Make Imogen and Ashton much more aware of the Apex War and Otohan's history from the get go. Also give Laura a heads up that her character's going to be super central and she will be in the hot seat for much of the campaign.

[takemealivelh]

heart is gonna flatline || l.h.

tour puts luke and lucy's feelings to the test. addiction to sex, alcohol and weed for when things get hard. SMUT.

this was so fun to write ! loved to participate in the @5sos-fic-fest this year. hope you enjoy this. here's the ao3 link.

7.1 k

FEEDBACK IS ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED

Prompt Au where the characters are both famous musicians with their own projects who have a well-documented public friendship. When they announce a tour together fans go crazy, as do the shippers. As the tour progresses, maybe the shippers are on to something…

Pop-rockers 5SOS and Latina indie-rocker Lucía Huerta announce tour together Last year, there were rumors about the frontman of the Australian band -Luke Hemmings, 27- and relatively new sensation Lucía "Lucy" Huerta, 28. They'd been caught leaving West Hollywood bars together, late at night, on numerous occasions. They put the speculation to a stop when in June 2023 Lucy uploaded an Instagram story of her and the blond having a drink. She tagged Hemmings and wrote "that's the homie", to which Luke replied in his own stories "that's me :)". They've been seen hanging out repeatedly since then, but it doesn't seem any more platonic than work friends. And speaking of work friends, 5 Seconds of Summer and Huerta just announced a 2024 tour that definitely excited fans, not just because of the vibrant shows they expect to see later in the year, but also because they want to see how the relationship of the two stars will develop during the four-month North American dates. Here at Music Getaway, we'll definitely keep a close eye on them.

-

"i'm not ready to tell them yet," lucy says to his boyfriend as she leaves the coffee cup on the kitchen counter next to them. they've been dating for eight months. it's been hard to hide their relationship from the press, and luke isn't too keen on the idea. he actually hates it. but he loves lucy. he loves that she's a talented musician, her laugh, her jokes and her business smarts. and he just can't enjoy this in peace, not with being so secretive.

"you've been saying that for months now. when are you gonna be okay with this? with us?" luke doesn't get it. why hide when they go out on dates and he can finally press a hand on her ass in public to stop the thirst traps people seem to tag her on. hoping to get a chance with her? fuck no. the blond wants her all to himself, he can't deny that.

lucy twists her lips, stalling. the smell of freshly brewed breakfast coffee dancing around them. "you don't understand." she finally says, reaching a hand to touch his arm for a few seconds. the thought of being out in the open with luke would change everything. "people will treat me differently. they might not respect me anymore."

"what are you talking about?"

"luke, come on. i got my own interview with kelly clarkson and then i played the iheartradio festival." they'd been incredible opportunities. "all of my hard work goes away the minute they know we're together. they'll say oh she was fucking the rockstar and he got her those big breaks. i don't want that. i don't want people to minimize my efforts."

luke sighs and shakes his head. "is that what's more important?" lucy shrugs. "okay," he finally says.

"okay?"

"yeah. it's fine. i get it. i won't bring it up again."

lucy throws her arms around his neck. "thank you," she whispers before kissing his lips softly. "i love you."

-

luke sits with ashton outside the rehearsal room. they've been playing for nearly two hours and they need a breather, especially because luke's mind is spinning. "i don't know, man. it sucks." they hear chattering on the other side of the door, a few guitar riffs and then laughter.

"of course it sucks, mate," ashton tells his friend. "she doesn't want to be in your shadow. it really fucking sucks and you better not fuck this up for her. you know how hard she's been working." he had grown fond of lucy. she was as much of a fan of drums as he was. he taught her a few fills and she invited him to do yoga and get high, ending up talking about how the unconscious force of creativity is beyond any of us. ashton doesn't want to see her heartbroken because of her boyfriend's, his best friend's inability to trust someone who really loves him.

-

luke's insecure, there's no question about that. after his marriage fell apart, he fell into a depression. and when he got better, he found this woman in the venue of the iheartradio festival, she was wearing cool sunglasses and stevie nicks-looking clothes. hippie goth he would've dared to say. they were watching the soundcheck of another band and started talking after she took out a cigarette from her backpack and asked him for a lighter.

"sorry, no. i don't smoke."

"that's okay," she smiled. 

that was all she said before looking for -and eventually finding- a lighter in the outside pocket of her small backpack.

the man looked up at the sky, the sun shining bright and the warm air of the field. he squinted one eye and turned to her. "they sound pretty good," he said of the band that was talking onstage, between songs. she nodded her head. "do you know them?"

"not personally, no," she replied and blew smoke out in a thin line. "but i've been a fan of them for a while now. they're one of my favorite indie bands."

that got them talking, eventually introducing themselves and catching up later after each other’s set. there was chemistry and flirting. luke's band immediately caught up to what was happening, when he said he was gonna congratulate lucy and be right back. but he didn't and it took them a full while to find him, thirty minutes before they went up and played.

-

"you got a lighter?"

calum nods and lights the cigarette for her. the smoking area of the building being a small parking lot.

"thanks," she breathes out. "you out here on your own?"

the bassist nods. "it's a good place to think."

lucy smiles and rolls her eyes. “cheesy,” she says with a grin.

"where's loverboy?" he asks, a cheeky smile on his face. calum was the first one to see them kissing. it was an afterparty at his band photographer's place. he'd gone to the kitchen when everyone started leaving, eight in the morning. when he went back to the living room with a cup of coffee, he saw lucy snuggled up to luke, smiling at him. luke smiled back and leaned in to kiss her. "aren't you guys glued to the hip anymore?"

lucy chuckles, "i don't know. there's... a lot happening."

"i'm listening."

"uh... okay. so... we decided to not tell everyone yet that we're dating. Not even with the tour. and i think he's mad at me."

"why do you say that?"

"he's been more... distant. and i don't know if that's what i wanted but it feels like... payback. like, you banned us and now i'm gonna make sure you feel it type of thing."

"i'm sure it's not that."

a bitter chuckle leaves her lips. "helpful as usual, cal."

-

cincinatti, first stop of the you don't go to parties tour. lucy had laughed when they first told her the name of the tour, but she eventually grew to like it and even embrace it. it's 6 pm and her soundcheck just ended. security lets fans in for a q&a with 5sos. she walks over to her boyfriend and smiles at him, wanting to kiss him good luck, or maybe just because she loves him. but luke stops her before she can even tilt her head up to reach his lips.

"we can't now. remember?"

it leaves her heart sore. she stands still as luke enters the stage and is greeted with the cheering of the fans. the rest of the guys are already seated on the small stairs of the set. she watches him ignore her and the questions about her. michael replies to one of them by saying she's our friend and we care for her and we're pretty inspired by her work as well, so it seemed like a good idea to, like, join forces and do this tour together.

lucy hopes luke will acknowledge her at some point, but he doesn't. when they start playing talk fast for the few lucky seventy fans in the audience, she twists her lips and leaves, heading backstage.

-

he doesn't see her until she's onstage again, playing her set of amazing songs for the 16,000 people attending the show. they dance and scream the lyrics back to her. she plays her guitar and sings with her raspy grunge-style voice over the indie-pop-rock arrangements her backing band provides. his heart beats faster as she approaches the microphone and starts talking.

"and thank you to my friends in 5sos who have been kind enough to invite me to co-headline this tour. the you don't go to parties tour seemed a little odd to me at first because this is definitely a party, isn't it?" she smiles as the crowd cheers. "so thank you guys," lucy turns to the left of the stage and sees luke standing next to her guitar tech. "i really fucking love you."

-

because of technical issues, the band can't perform the whole setlist. sometimes it happens. ashton is always pissed. "they're missing the whole experience!"

"yeah, well. nothing we can do. venue told us we could do the whole hour and a half but because of the issue with the speakers, they can't last that long. you have to cut two songs."

the tour manager tries to hold this thing together as ashton and michael complain. calum offers suggestions.

"i guess we could lose um... we could lose babylon, right? just this once and... flatline maybe?" the bassist looks over at luke.

flatline is the one song they had never played live before and it’d be a surprise for the audience. especially because lucy would come onstage to sing it with them. play the rhythmic guitar while luke walks around, hyping up the crowd. they'd rehearsed it several times and she was excited about it. they both were. allegedly.

"sure," luke replies as he drinks a glass of tequila, setting it down on a table and making sure his guitar is properly tuned. "let's cut them."

michael and ashton look at each other and then at luke. the frontman shrugs and his friends tell the tour manager that they will cut babylon and flatline.

-

all of the musicians have separate rooms in the hotels. even luke and lucy. she'd insisted it'd be easier. luke hated it. and he didn't expect her to show up at his room, unannounced, with a frown on her forehead and breathing hard.

"you cut our song," she steps inside the white room with the white walls, white bed and white comforter. looking at luke, the woman crosses her arms.

"we had to," he simply states. as if he wasn't the one greenlighting the whole thing.

"you could've told me, though. i was looking stupid next to the stage, waiting for you to introduce me. and it never happened."

"is that all that matters to you? how you look in front of other people? we had to cut two songs, lucy. the surprise's gonna be even bigger in the next show. fans will appreciate that."

lucy twists her lips and walks straight past him towards the door. "you're an asshole," she says before closing it behind her.

-

the beginning of the flight to boston is awkward. the whole twelve -the bands and the crew- can sense the tension inside the plane. it stems from luke and lucy, obviously. when did everything get so uneasy?

twenty minutes into the duration of the flight, though, luke slides into the seat next to his girlfriend. she doesn't look at him.

"i should've told you."

"yeah, you should've."

her heart beats faster as he places a hand on her cheek, guiding her eyes towards his own. he looks inside the brown hues and decides he can't keep hurting her. but she hurt him first. he wants to grow up and let it go. it's proving to be harder than he thought. maturity hasn't caught up to him easily yet. "i'm sorry." she closes her eyes and luke leans in to kiss her. "i'm sorry," he repeats.

a hand on his wrist, lucy is sad. looking into his eyes makes her sad. "it's okay," she finally says.

-

"and now we've got a pretty special surprise for you," michael grins into the microphone as the whole venue screams. "it's time to invite lucy huerta back on stage!" he shouts with a smile.

luke thinks lucy looks so fucking edible in those tight pants and that see-through top. her smile is big as she waves to the audience and settles on the center of the stage, where luke usually is. he gets another microphone from one of the roadies before ashton counts to four with his hi-hat.

should've seen me like a year ago, year ago/i was someone you don't even know, even know/dark times kept me all alone, all alone/you were shining like a heart of gold, heart of gold

he steals glances at her as she smiles into the crowd that’s going wild, her acoustic guitar hanging from her shoulders. 

luke was depressed after the divorce, staying home and drinking himself to sleep. then he got his shit together (half of it at least), went to the studio and worked through his issues by writing songs. when he met lucy, luke thought she was the most wonderful person on the planet. she had the kindest heart and was an overall joy to have around. he sings the pre-chorus and is taken aback by her strong voice as she takes over the song with her playing and her singing.

ooh, i'm falling for the first time/heart is gonna flatline/now i can't even look at you/you're like staring at the sunshine, burning into my mind/now i can't even look at you

and she doesn't. she doesn't look at him as she sings, unlike rehearsals when they couldn't stop singing to each other. it breaks his heart, considering it's their song. he wrote this for her.

"thank you!" lucy shouts and then leaves the stage waving everybody goodbye.

-

after the show, luke showed up to her hotel room. the bands were out clubbing and when he heard lucy wasn’t gonna join them, he immediately took an uber back to where they were staying. 

“let me in, please,” he says after knocking on her door three times. when she finally appears, she’s wearing a towel around her body and another one around her hair. she looks tired. “can i come in?”

without saying a word, lucy steps aside and luke walks into her room. she closes the door behind her and approaches him. 

“talk to me,” he basically begs. reading her mind is like an unsolvable sudoku, the man can’t get his head around it. “I love you.”

“i love you, too,” she whispers, looking down at his messy converse sneakers. 

luke quickly grabs her face and kisses her. it’s passionate and arousing and she can feel herself melting under his touch. she knows they should actually talk about it, instead of making out and falling on the bed, her towels discarded somewhere on the floor. she can’t help it. they’re both sex addicts. lucy rips his thin black shirt open and kisses down his chest, leaving his skin wet with the droplets that run down her hair. his breathing grows heavier and his pants grow tighter in the crotch area. he closes his eyes as she trails the kisses back up to his face. “take it off,” she pleads and sits next to him. luke quickly reincorporates himself to toss his shirt, his slacks and his underwear out of the way. he’s big and pulsating and lucy swallows hard, he turns her on so much. 

when the last item of clothing hits the floor, one of his shoes, the man licks his upper lip and straddles her body, hovering over her. “you really want me, huh?” his smirk is cocky, as if he’s forgotten everything about these past few days. it’s like nothing ever happened and they’re still in their love bubble. she so desperately wants to go back to it, so she nods and wraps her arms around his neck, bringing him to her lips as she parts her legs. luke hooks an elbow on her knee and spreads her wider, watching her folds throb for him. so slick and ready. he kisses her once more before carefully dropping her leg onto the bed. “condom,” he says. “i need to fuck you now.”

lucy reaches out to the bag she keeps on the nightstand. eyeliner, pills and condoms. she hands him one and it doesn’t take long before his cock is ready. luke smirks and kisses her, lining himself against her entrance with one hand, he takes a deep breath and penetrates her.

her gasp shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that it’s the same sound every time, not at all used to having him being so big and thick yet, even after all these months. she closes her eyes and bites her lower lip as luke runs a hand through his damp curls, letting her adjust to his size. he groans as he feels her walls engulfing him. “i want you so much,” he offers a low moan and starts picking up the pace of his thrusts. bringing one of her legs over his shoulder, the man reaches a deeper spot that makes her moan out. 

“fuck,” she pants as the bed bounces underneath their bodies. luke’s strength and determination to fuck her stupid works. her eyes roll to the back and she digs her short nails into his naked back. “more,” she begs and is immediately met with a hand around her throat. “more,” her plead is inaudible as she feels like she can’t breathe from the pleasure.

luke’s pupils are dilated in a way she’s never seen before. he tightens her grip around her throat and around her leg. gulping down at the sight of his girl falling apart under him, he tries to restrain louder moans but how can he? how can he fuck her quietly when she looks and feels so fucking good? “say you’re mine,” he orders. “say you’re mine.”

-

the morning sun shines through the window and rests its light on lucy’s face. She scrunches her nose and opens her eyes. she’s lying on luke’s chest, they’re both naked. he doesn’t seem to notice her shifting. the woman looks up at him, wondering when things got so complicated. she loves him. she truly loves him. he’s the first man she’s ever loved, in a real way, not a platonic crush way. the fact that he makes her laugh and his skills when making music and also in bed are extraordinary. he’s a sensitive soul and it’s such a wonder when he lowers down the walls he builds up around people. letting them in but not all the way. not in the way he does with her. or did. “why can’t you trust me with your thoughts anymore?” lucy wonders in a soft whisper before pressing a kiss to his sternum and getting up. she goes to the bathroom and takes a shower. when she opens the door that leads to the bedroom, luke is up and scrolling through his phone. “hi,” she smiles softly. her boyfriend’s hair is a mess and there’s still sleep inside his eyes. 

“hey,” the man smiles back, putting his phone away. “flight’s at 6. you wanna do something today?”

lucy leans against the frame of the bathroom door. she crosses her arms in front of her chest and thinks for a moment while twisting her lips. “what do you have in mind?”

-

they both go down in the elevator, not touching, and it’s killing them. when they reach the hotel’s diner, they find calum and ashton sitting at one of the tables, drinking orange juice and eating bagels.

“you guys had fun last night,” calum smirks as the couple sits down with a plate of waffles and two cups of coffee.

lucy blushes and luke has to stop every inch of his urgent body to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “shut up,” they both say in unison. there’s a soft smile on their faces.

after michael drops by to have a quick breakfast and then leaves to facetime his wife and his baby daughter, the rest of them decide that it would be cool to go out and explore the city. so they do that. they go to a park and sit around, smoking and drinking warm water because of the summer heat upon them. a couple of fans stumble across them and ask for pictures. they stay for around ten minutes before leaving off to continue their day, the musicians keep on enjoying the sun and the fresh air. if you ignore calum and lucy’s cigarettes, that is.

they go to lunch at a nearby restaurant and order pasta salads. lucy looks over at luke across the table, he’s laughing at one of ashton’s jokes and she sighs almost imperceptibly, looking down at her empty plate. there’s a single ravioli and two tomato slices on it. she looks up when she feels a foot against her ankle and sees luke smiling softly at her.

they can’t help but fuck in the restaurant’s bathroom. locked into a single stall, she drops to her knees and sucks him off. luke pins her against the door and buries his head on her neck to muffle the sounds when he slides into her. she’s got a leg wrapped around his waist and she swallows hard to hush the sounds she wants to make.

when they reach back the table, they find that ashton and calum have deserted them, leaving them with the bill. “assholes,” she says and luke laughs.

-

Seen out: Luke Hemmings and Lucía Huerta have an off day in Boston

The pair walked out of the Intercontinental Hotel with Ashton Irwin (5SOS’ drummer) and Calum Hood (5SOS’ bassist). They were seen by fans at Fenway Park and they took pictures with them. Luke looks tired in the photos, but he seems happy. He wears roughed-up sneakers and a white tank top. Lucy wears short denim shorts and a black top with flowy sleeves. The fans that tagged them in the Instagram posts spoke about how nice they were and how exciting it was to meet them. Hemmings and Huerta were both seen leaving Tenderoni’s Fenway restaurant and getting into an Uber. According to inside sources, the pair haven’t been able to keep their hands off each other during this tour so far. We hope it stays that way.

-

“fuck,” lucy’s frustration about the latest hollywood gossip blog post seems to go unnoticed on the plane. but luke can tell, and he wraps an arm around her the minute they both sit down. “they know. they seem to know,” she hands him her phone so he can read the writing piece. she hates it. she hates it so much. “inside sources can suck my dick.” this statement makes luke giggle. “what’s so funny?” she asks, annoyed.

“nothing.”

-

the next cities go by in a time whirlwind. lucy’s been distant since the article and it breaks luke’s heart. she refused to hold his hand and kiss him outside hotel rooms. even concerts’ backstages.

a few months after they met, they attended a house party in santa monica. the sparks between them were something everybody noticed, but they didn’t seem to think much of it. they’re rockstars, they’re the same age, of course they’re gonna flirt. luke fucked her in the spare bedroom, door locked. she gasped when she felt his cock for the first time, knowing he’d just made her addicted to it. he’d ruined every other man for her.

“we should head back downstairs.”

“i wanna stay here with you.”

“luke.” his name was rough against her lips as she hooked her bra back on.

“alright, i’m up.”

looking back, that should’ve been a red flag for him, but he chose to ignore it. because she made him feel good and he didn’t want her to leave him for somebody else. he didn’t want to be left again. he’d loved his ex-wife, and it was hard to get over her after she cheated on him. lucy had never been in a relationship, just random hookups, a friend with benefits and two weeks of winter love. she feared intimacy and luke could tell after the second time they had sex. spend the night, he’d said. lucy shook her head and told him she needed to get up early in the morning for an interview, which was a lie.

-

by the time the first month rolls around, they’re barely talking. It’s all sex and pretending onstage. pretending to have fun, pretending that they’re not hurt. their hearts break in silence. well, sort of.

“i told you not to fuck it up.”

“she won’t let me in. she won’t talk to me about it.”

“fix it.”

-

someone just like you, no one else/lights will guide you so, run like hell

the screaming fans can’t get enough of the energy onstage. michael jumping around, calum throwing his head back to expose his neck to the crowd, ashton beasting out on the drums. luke crouches in front of the crowd with a wide smile and lucy plays guitar while she sings her heart out. the lights radiate orange and red colors on the stage, the bass resonates in their bodies and there’s so much adrenaline going on that she has a moment of weakness. she looks over at luke, who has walked over to michael’s side of the stage as he sings the second verse. he wears a silver shirt that makes his shoulders look so spectacularly broad. she looks at him a little too long and when the camera pans over to her, showing her true feelings on the giant screen, fans seem to lose it even more. luke walks back to her and sings directly into her eyes, as if he can feel his way back to his girl. finally. a sad smile appears on her face for a split second before she starts dancing while playing the post-chorus instrumental outro. her long wavy hair hides her face and no one notices a single tear rolling down her cheek. when the song ends, she pretends to be emotional about the crowd, about how much they seem to love the show. which she is very grateful for. but on the other side of the coin, she just fucked up everything for herself. her career. and it’s clear when luke approaches her with a reassuring smile and one fan screams KISS! KISS! and then the whole venue is yelling the same word over and over again. michael and calum look at each other, ashton wipes off the sweat from his forehead and when the chanting doesn’t seem to stop, he grabs his mic. 

“alright, alright. calm your asses down,” the drummer laughs and the crowd follows suit. a distraction. he starts talking about how they recorded the song and thanking lucy for putting on a fantastic show with them for the beautiful souls in the audience.

lucy twists her lips, trying not to break down in front of thousands of people. so, she just waves and quickly exits the stage. luke takes a deep breath. he wants to run after her, make sure she’s okay. but she would never forgive him for giving the fans more reasons to speculate about their relationship. 

-

lucy cries backstage, alone. she takes off her makeup and sees dark circles underneath her eyes. why the fuck is she such a mess? why can’t she be in love like a normal person?

-

the show ends and the first person to knock on her dressing room is, obviously, luke. “are you okay?” he opens the door and sees his girlfriend lying on the sofa, sleeping. her makeup’s off and he can better appreciate the freckles on her nose that she gets in the summer. he stays with her, sitting on the chair in front of the mirror. the man looks at her as she wrinkles her nose in her sleep. he loves her so much. but what if this it? what if this is the end for them? 

michael opens the door, “what’s going on? is she okay?”

“she’s okay,” luke smiles weakly. “she’s sleeping.” 

lucy holds a pillow to her chest. she’s covered by luke’s jacket. michael decides he should probably leave them alone. “good luck, man,” he says as he pats luke’s shoulder, then he leaves the door closed after stepping back out.

luke could really use a joint right now. all these thoughts and feelings. wondering what she may be dreaming. or what she does with her days when they’re not together. he hates being so possessive, it makes him feel like a child. but how can you blame him?

“good luck with what?” lucy’s yawn startles him. she rubs one eye open.

michael meant well, but he also wanted to protect luke from heartbreak. lucy’s given him that for months now. all the guys -at least in the bands- knew lucy has a bit of… issues. she believes in things to be too black or white, good or bad, yes or no. no space for grey areas in her life. and that’s frustrating to deal with, but luke had fallen in love because she was so intense and so hardheaded when it came to defending her values. He admired that about her. “I honestly have no idea,” he lies behind a chuckle, playing it off as usual band nonsense. “do you wanna go back to the hotel and sleep?”

she’s too tired to get into an argument about taking separate cars, so she just nods. “Yeah.”

-

when they get to the hotel room, luke tucks her in and pours her a glass of water that he leaves on her nightstand. he looks for ibuprofen in her small bag with pills and condoms and sets two next to the water. 

“i’m sorry for being such a bitch to you,” lucy says with her eyes closed, lying on her side. 

she looks so out of it. as if she’d just drank an entire bottle of vodka and then smoked weed. he feels bad. he never meant for her to feel like this when they got into a relationship. but touring always makes things hard. especially if you’re playing shows every night with the person you love. the man sighs and sits next to her. “don’t worry about me. get some sleep,” he whispers and kisses her temple.

before he can stand up, lucy grabs his arm. “can you stay with me? please.”

a soft smile sets on his lips. “of course.”

-

after landing in the next city, lucy calls her mom.

-

there are three knocks on his hotel room door. “luke?” her voice is soft. as if she’s embarrassed. she doesn’t want her mother’s words to haunt her. the man opens the door without his shirt. just sweatpants. he was probably gonna go to bed. she might as well ruin his night too. 

“hey.” there’s a small pause. “what’s up?” he steps aside so she can come in. the tv’s on in the background and there’s a tray with an empty plate and a glass of tequila, just resting on his nightstand. 

lucy nods her head and walks inside. “i wanna talk.”

“okay…”

“about us.”

-

Love Is All Around: It’s Insta-Official

Two months ago, the You Don’t Go To Parties Tour hit the stage. And last night, Lucía Huerta and Luke Hemmings provided some much-needed proof of their romance. “Ten months with you feel like a second. Magic. I love you.”

-

lucy sighs as she reads the article.

“are you okay?” luke asks her.

“yeah,” she replies. “just… scared, i guess.”

“it’s gonna be okay, love,” he kisses the top of her head and sits next to her on the sofa. “everything’s gonna be alright.” the dressing room is big and no one else is around. it’s noon.

tons of notifications have been hitting their phones for the past fourteen hours. some are mean comments, others are encouraging words from fans. either way, it makes lucy anxious. “do you wanna get high?” she asks her boyfriend. maybe weed isn’t the solution to every problem ever, but it helps. 

the man smiles. “sure,” he says.

they go to the private parking lot of the venue. luke rolls a joint while lucy smokes a cigarette. she flicks the ashes onto the concrete, fidgeting her fingers around the cancer stick. luke isn’t the biggest fan of her smoking. and she's been smoking more as the days go by. but he understands she’s going through a lot, so he says nothing. he gets a text from calum, wondering where he and his girlfriend are. we’re gonna have lunch, join us? but the blond dismisses the message and lights the joint. he takes two hits before handing it to lucy. she brings it immediately to her lips, the slightly spicy smoke going down her throat smoothly. 

it’s so easy to talk to each other. sometimes. but their words have been stunted lately. they don’t know what the other’s thinking. and yes, last night they had a good conversation. but now what? does everything go back to normal now? how? they both feel anxious around each other, and that’s never ever happened before. they both hate it.

“what do you…”

“do you ever…”

they open their mouths simultaneously, quickly chuckling at the awkwardness of their interaction. lucy nods her head, letting him know that he can finish his thought.

luke smiles. “i was gonna ask you if you ever feel like… like things are going so good between us and suddenly we get so quiet and you worry? is that… is that something you feel?”

lucy smiles back. “yeah,” she says. “i don’t really know how to explain it. i mean, i love you. you know i really fucking love you, luke. but sometimes i worry we get too inside our heads. because i think we’re really similar like that. and i… i wanna be someone you can count on…”

“i want that too,” he replies. she hands him back the joint and he smokes some more.

“and sometimes i worry i’m not that someone you deserve,” she finally confesses.

it makes him sad to hear her say that, because there’s no better person for him than her. no one has made him feel this way before. the ups and downs seem to be heightened and it’s a beautiful way to live, he doesn’t want anyone else. there’s only room in his heart for this woman. this is the hardest he’s ever fallen in love, and he can’t imagine his life without her. a bit dramatic, but hey, that’s just who he is. “i don’t deserve anyone, lucy. i just want to be with you,” he says and takes her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers. “all the time. every single fucking day.”

the woman looks down at their hands. matching red nail polish and silver-colored rings. this is scary. it’s scary to love and need someone so much that you feel like you’d die if they ever left you. please, don’t leave me. ever. lucy sighs and squeezes his hand in hers. “right back at ya,” she smiles softly and looks up to find his baby blues staring at her with so much love in them that she can’t help the weakness she feels in her knees.

the silence is barely uncomfortable anymore. unlike the ones they’ve been experiencing for countless weeks now. it’s all out in the open. their love for each other burning brighter than ever. neither want this moment to end. and since there’s only one way to stop time, they lean into each other and kiss. it’s soft at first, like a goodnight kiss. and it escalates quickly to an i-never-wanna-be-without-you one. she grabs fistfuls of his shirt, bringing him closer to her body. luke places both hands on her face as his tongue traces her bottom lip. their eyes are red and their hunger is raw.

-

they can’t get to his hotel room fast enough. fuck having lunch with friends, they need to satiate this urge so they can go on for the rest of the day. “i want you so bad,” she whines against his throat, leaving wet and sloppy kisses along his jawline. he’s already big and leaking with precum, grinding his hips against hers. unhooking her bra, luke immediately buries his head between her breasts and she whines again. those beautiful sounds he can’t get enough of.

“ride me, babe. i wanna see these titties bounce,” he whispers against her skin. hands gripping her hips. bulge so hard he feels like he’s gonna explode. they’re naked and he already has a condom wrapping his shaft. lucy bites her lower lip and lines him against her slit. he’s throbbing in her hand and that drives her insane. the moan he drags out as she strokes him is paradise. The filthiest love they’ve ever experienced. Both always wanting to fuck each other. It’s her waist, it’s his broad shoulders. The way they move on stage, wanting to look sexy for the other. 

lucy sinks into his cock and lets out a whine, “fuuck.” his thick size feels so good. luke grabs her ass and spreads her cheeks open so he can penetrate her better. 

“you like that?”

“yes.” her mouth hangs open and her eyes roll to the back of her head. luke has always thought of her as his pretty little pornstar. even before they started dating, the way she danced with him at the club. her back pressed to his body as his hands rested on her hips and stomach. both sweaty and a bit embarrassed when they went back to the booth with their friends. 

the woman, as per requested, starts bouncing on his cock. titties moving up and down. “fuck, girl.”

-

“is it better to feel this or feel nothing at all?”

ever since the news got out about their relationship, lucy’s been a mess. interviewers can be assholes. they suddenly stopped asking about her music, her achievements. all they wanted to know about was her clothes and her boyfriend. like everything she worked for just disappeared in the blink of an eye.

she lays on her side on the hotel bed after playing a festival in latin america. luke spoons her, holding her close to his body. he doesn’t know what to say. he’s surprised by the outcome. hadn’t expected people to diminish her work, to ignore she just played the 6 pm slot, which is a hard spot to get. you need a lot of people to stay for the whole set. and she’d killed it. 

“i don’t understand what happened,” luke sighs against her neck and squeezes her tighter. “i’m really sorry.”

lucy closes her eyes, feeling a bit less anxious with him. “it’s okay. the industry’s fucked up.”

“yeah,” he chuckles weakly. “it is.”

-

“so it’s true? you and luke are engaged?”

the questions about her relationship don’t seem to cease. even a year later. they go together to events and people seem to be more excited about them together than their work. it’s annoying, but what are you gonna do? “yeah, we are,” lucy smiles. “we’re also dropping a new song together next month.”

“ooh, tell us about it.”

lucy has become good at deflecting. luke taught her that. 

-

“how was the interview?” luke asks after he greets his fianceé with a kiss and hands her a cup of coffee from her favorite shop.

“it was alright,” lucy shrugs. it’s definitely been a learning experience, dodging questions about her personal life. but luke has been so supportive and sweet throughout the whole thing. she’s grateful to marry her man in six months. “how was the recording session?” she asks as she sips the hot beverage.

the blond had written things throughout the tour. enough things to make an ep. “it was good,” he smiles softly.

-

the song luke and lucy release is a hit. a 90s-inspired track with her raspy vocals and his whiny ones make for an interesting texture that captures hearts everywhere. they play it on several shows, the crowds go insane every time.

a month later, lucy releases her second album. it's a hit. she's invited to play festivals and there are rumors of a grammy nomination.

"here's to my girl," luke smiles as he raises a glass of wine in front of her and their friends. "she showed the world she's a powerhouse, an amazing songwriter and performer. she's the best thing that's ever happened to me and i'm so proud of you." his gaze sets on lucy, who's blushing like crazy and smiling like an idiot. "i really fucking love you."

"right back at ya," the woman grins and stands up from the table to kiss her man. everyone cheers.

the night goes by fast. the celebration turns into a party in luke and lucy's new place in west hollywood. but the couple soon disappears into their shared bedroom. fucking until the sun comes up and their friends leave.

luke pants as his orgasm washes over him. "fuck," he breathes out, collapsing next to her on their bed.

"yeah," lucy chuckles. her body is sweaty and she wraps an arm around his torso as she snuggles up to him. looking up at his face, the man's glistening. he's the most beautiful man. he's got the biggest heart and he's never been jealous or threatened by her successes. she appreciates that. "wanna eat me out?" lucy smirks, her leg now over his, her wet pussy making contact with his thigh and she grinds into him.

"give me a second," luke lets out a soft laugh. "you really wore me out. my pretty slutty angel." he strokes her hair, hand soon trailing down to her ass. a small slap to it that makes her bite down on her lip. "okay, come on. legs spread, i'm diving in," he grins.

she does what she's told. opening her legs so luke can attach his lips to her swollen clit and start licking her folds. so sloppy. so fucking nasty. lucy groans as her breath hitches. "you're so good."

he smirks against her entrance before exploring her walls with his tongue. so fucking skilled.

-

grammy nominations announcement. luke and lucy's song gets one for song of the year. her album gets one for album of the year. they're ecstatic. it's all happening.

[odusseus-xvi]

Was making a huge post about the Gods, Dorian, Ashton, Orym etc because I'm sometimes very confused by some anti-god takes on here. Like I get where they are coming from and what they hope happens in the campaign but a lot of arguments are just confusing to me, but what marked me is that they are upset about the potential ending keeping the status quo about the gods. (tho you could argue, I think rightfully, that the status quo of the gods is for the most part not the source of suffering in Exandria, and in fact that a lot of it is linked to Ludinus who has been here and scheming and causing wars for more than 900 years), I admit I WOULD be disappointed in the situation just being, we kill Ludinus, everyone happy, everything fixed since the biggest Wizard jerk in history has died. (when I say jerk, I mean in Universe, the guy is almost responsible for half the non natural-deaths in Exandria. As villain of a story tho ? Amazing)

Because at that point we know the Gods ARE flawed, enough than a lot of people want them out, or want them differently. That also causes conflicts with the ones still wanting them like they are currently. Like The Gods and Ludinus scarred Exandria so much that it would make no sense that all tension would just disappear once the Wizard's gone. I don't think killing them or making them go away is a solution here, certainly not a satisfying one to me at least with what we've seen. But perhaps a change in their status, in what they do, about their current prison perhaps. I don't know, but I don't see it just, staying like it is now. (and I wouldn't be surprised if Asmodeus is planning something as well since he did everytime he was involved in a truce of some kind.) (also note that even though I don't see it staying that way etc. I do think the current Campaign's message is less about the Gods, and their situation, and everything else, and more about the Danger of people like Ludinus using real problems to feed onto their own goals, causing much more problems.)

That and also, what about the people of Ruidus ? Like there is no way they stay up there right ? They all want to descend upon Exandria, either peacefully or as warmongers, something has to happen there too right ? How will Exandria react ? How will the Gods react if they are still here when that happens ?

Now MAYBE those are questions better fit for a Campaign 4, the current one being simply, we need to stop Ludinus and Predathos. And the next one having to deal with the Aftermath.

Also

What is Vecna doing ? That's one of the things I'm VERY interested in as of late because we know most of the Betrayers are acting with the rest of the Family to live, but Vecna, unlike for example the Matron who earned her place here, isn't one of the Siblings. He is just classified as Betrayer because he wants to rule everything and kill thousands. So, is he part of the Truce ? Can he even do anything from his own prison ? Does he know about Delilah's situation or does he not care about her usefulness anymore ? That's also what intrigued me about the waves of undeads under Vasselheim where I went "MMMH ???? THE WHISPERED ONE MOVING PERHAPS ???"

I still don't know if we have to include him when Matt talks about the gods rallying their forces alltogether to save themselves and Exandria. Especially since one of his tenets dismisses ALL of the other gods including the Betrayers, so he can rule over everything

anyway just some ramblings. Tho it seems it's a real hard campaign to watch for a lot of the fandom because of it's intense moral complexity (and I'll gladly admit I don't understand even most of it obviously), I am enjoying Bells Hells' journey a LOT, this campaign is my first one live and I'm having a blast, very excited to see where this goes.