#im TRYING to do a mage build

[actual-corpse]

Y'all....

Remind me to go to the beach later. Need some pearls for alchemy

[juvenile-mudcrab]

This game is so goddamn fun that i feel actually happy that im playing it this is how i felt back in like july when i picked up skyrim again and played it nonstop for 3 months

[rivilu]

It's so funny never having played a mage in Dao because every once in a while I'll see someone in my feed talking about their own blorbos and how broken mages are in comparison to the rest of the classes , and I'm just

[danielnelsen]

wow ok i think i need to wait until patch 8 comes out before i do this bg3 run im planning because im trying to really thoroughly plan how im gonna level (doing jack-of-all-trades, so only the first level of each class), and the level 1 subclasses they're adding are actually insane

still gonna go with oathbreaker, but otherwise death domain (cleric), shadow magic (sorcerer), and hexblade (warlock) are all genuinely way more useful for the build im planning than the other subclasses, assuming they stay pretty similar to what's currently on the wiki

[a-friend-of-red-jenny]

ok i finally watched the veilguard trailer. why did varric dye his hair black

[yuuminni]

ok im done with the femblem engage game i think. (lying).

[quartztwst]

Wedding in the Clouds! (TWST Fan-Event) (CLOSED)

Happy Valentine’s Day! 💕💕 I finally finished this fan-event for my 3k followers celebration!

Summary of the event:

On one fine day, you recieve a wedding invitation from a mysterious someone named Dione. It says to be a wedding for Azul and QUARTZ?! Wait, don’t they hate eachoth- SUDDENLY, a bright light from the invitation blinds your eyes and you end up on a soft, fluffy cloud. Voices of other people groaning and waking up is heard too. It seems like other students from NRC were also transported here.. But why?

A light pink skinned lady grabs all of the students attention and announces that you all are wedding guests. She introduces herself as Dione, one of the most powerful mages in Twisted Wonderland. Dione’s attitude was very sweet yet it was very conscending like she was running some sort of workplace. Behind her was Quartz and Azul chained by vines from the cloud beneath everyone. They seemed to react accordingly as Quartz was shouting profanties and throwing a whole fit while Azul was trying to focus on the fact he was being embarrassed in front of a quarter of NRC but Quartz’s outburst was irritating him.

As they were taken away, Dione explained to everyone they were to forcibly help set the wedding up for the bride and groom with her bird minions. If anyone refuses, they will be thrown off from the clouds or forced into a prison made of vines. WIth a quick flick of her hand, everyone’s clothes were suddenly changed into wedding attire.

Once Dione left, the students started to split up and find a way to crash the wedding, but not for Quartz and Azul. The thing was…

THEY HAD A DAY OFF TODAY and who wants to spend it on a stupid wedding? They had plans!

Event Information:

There are 4 different operations going on at the same time to ruin the wedding because a lot of the students disagreed in which way to take this. You have an option to draw your OC in which ever operation!!

It looks like from the background that the place has no buildings but there are plenty made by Dione:

A building for the cake and food <- ran by geese

A place for the Bride to get ready in

A place for the Groom to get ready in

Dione’s place located on a cloud that is higher than the other clouds so she can watch over yall

A place where the decorations and necessities for the wedding are being delivered by doves, pelicans, storks <- they are also not weak, they dont play. they will fight back if disrupted)

and then the wedding atlar which is just the background it’s outside so its just the resting area

Quartz’s dress, Bride’s Tower, and delivery birds

Operation 1: Ruin the Wedding

Led by Idia. Objective is to ruin the wedding like destroying the cake, decorations, finding Dione’s weakness, ruining the whole set up, exploding shit idk

Description of the attire: Wedding outfits with a bit of technology accessories by Idia Shroud himself. (the leech twins have one ear bud in but i didn’t draw their ears in detail..) You can get creative with the tech accessories

Operation 2: Save the Bride

Led by my MC/Yuu and Grim (you can also add ur Yuus/Mcs in too!!). Objective is to sneak past the geese guards and save Quartz to stop the wedding.

Description of the attire: Wedding outfit is fine !! but you can get creative with it like “oh heh.. im the maid and uhhh quartz shat herself and i need to help her so let me in” or smth 😭😭😭

Operation 3: Do Nothing/Other

Basically you do nothing. Led by nobody lol. What’s your OC’s objective for doing nothing? Do they want to see the wedding? Do they not care enough because it might be over anyways? Is there no hope?

I didn’t draw anyone here bc it’ll be just wedding attire 😭😭

Operation 4: Steal the Groom

This is for all my Azul likers heh.

Since Azul and Quartz are being rushed to get ready, a lot of clothes are being thrown out and sent back in the boxes laying around so why not reuse them? Maybe you can use it to ruin the wedding and steal Azul’s heart awayy once they’re done dressing him up…..

Description of the Attire: Wedding Bride or Groom outfitss hehee

Rules:

NO weird outfits that sexualizes OCs

Use the tag #WedCloudEvent or tag me if you make a post of this event!!

Please be respectful to everyone’s OCs

You can also draw other TWST characters here if you want!!

Have fun!!

Here’s the background for your OCs!!

List of OCs/Characters:

Operation 1: Ruin the Wedding -

Idia Shroud

Floyd Leech

Jade Leech

Moch by @thatsadguymochi

Daphne by @pomevinelle

Yuya by @cheerleaderman

Akshara by @twistedtalestory

Alastor by @chaotic-snow

Yvonne by @juchioris

Kogane by @kogane-twst

Dimitrios by @twsted-void

Cupid by @nivvetsworld

Neuvins by @lapinhearts

Riddle (design by @lapinhearts)

Airinniz by @hanizmiyu

Kozakura Yuuka by @hanizmiyu

Nyx by @blackcat101

Viva by @evexe

Operation 2: Save the Bride -

My Yuu/MC

Grim

Silly by @sillybillymillyrilly

Silver (design by @0ann3 )

Yu (Yuri Takeba) by @0ann3

Loralyn by @chizramue

Mizuki by @sherryclover

Starr by @astral-pr0jecti0n

Xenon by @w0nd3rhoy

Yuubeni by @bunniehunn

Superstar! And Yuu By @imafrealinrainbow478484

Yukitaka by @yumaandyukitaka

Aki by @rinxleona

Rui by @rinxleona

Pluto by @teddyandmochi

Operation 3: Do Nothing/Other -

AJ by @karamatsuboy-aj

Oisín by @xen-blank

Mama Hua by @lafashionlsta

Yuuko by @silkkorchid

Soul by @twistedplayer16

Operation 4: Steal the Groom -

Rémy by @ranas-twisted-wonderland

Ayesha by @iluvmusicxoxo

Yuura by @a-z-rie-l

Alice by @sinjaangels

Djyuu by @djchik

ANYWAYS this is just an event I made out of my ass HELFP im sorry if theres a whole bunch of holes here 😭😭 and Idia and the Tweels outfits are SUPER SLOPPY so I can’t wait to see how everyone else makes their OCs’ outfits prettier also Quartz and Azul do not like each other here so be free to do anything lol

Happy Valentine’s Day! 💕💕💕🎉🎉🎉🎉

[seeker-ophelia]

Ophelia’s Review, Part Two: Thedas, The Dragon Age System

Some things I need to get off my chest.

One. This does not feel like a Dragon Age game.

Two. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.

Three. I have a lot of feelings right now but I’ll come back when my brain has re-hydrated itself.

(I finished Veilguard at 10PM on Monday, and wrote this the morning after. And its still true, 5 days later.)

TLDR at the bottom

[Read Part 1 Here]

I do miss the heady blend of power, intrigue, danger, and sex that permeates these events games.

[Photo Cred: Dumped, Drunk & Dalish]

Because Veilguard is missing all of that.

Listen, it’s good. Great even. I loved it. Cried. Laughed. Dropped my controller and paced around the room for 5 minutes in anger and angst. Drank a bottle of wine in the bathtub after Solavellan’s happy ending (and my Rooks sad one). But this is not a Dragon Age game.

It is Dragon Age ADJACENT. Similar of course. The backbone is there. The direction, the vector, is there. But the execution…

Dragon Age (Origins through Inquisition) for me, was A Song of Ice and Fire. I love that series.

It was deep. It was harsh. It was MEAN. If offered me hope and then snatched it away. The world-building, the lore crafting, was intense and deep and required attention and critical thought. The characters were nuanced and troubled and real.

Veilguard, for me, is Eragon.

I also loved that series. It is pure and good and takes me on a journey through a fantastical land of dragons and heroes, of good versus evil, of mysteries and magic. But, it is juvenile. Its simple. It doesn’t try to be anything other than it is. Veilguard, is shallow.

The essence is there, beneath the surface Veil, pressing and bursting at the seams to escape, but is being held back by a gentrification of Thedas, the Tranquility of the Dragon Age world, if you would.

The Lore

I don’t want to go into to much about it (its going to be its own post, I think), but I love the lore of Dragon Age. I love learning about it. I love the questions, the pervasive theme that history is only as true as the historians who write it; things get lost, muddled, confused through and over time. And Veilguard, kind of feels like I’m being spoonfed? Like I’m a baby.

I think EA did BioWare a disservice by making this game for new players, instead of assuming that RPG players have the intelligence and wherewithal to comprehend at least a little bit of lore and history, or at the very least, introduce a cannon world state. You can have your cake and eat it to, but, as Veilguard shows, it diminishes the quality of the cake as a whole.

This game is an Action RPG. This is a game about combat. For the record, the first, second, third, 17th time I saw my Rook in their Takedown Animation, I said, out loud, ‘Dragon Age, G.O.T.Y.’ I swore at my inability to time dodges properly, I planned and schemed with primers and detonators and damage types. This is very reminiscent of The Witcher and Assassins Creed, for me (I have not played a ton of games, im sure there are others more like it). It was fun, it was challenging. But. This is not Dragon Age. Its Something Else™.

Dragon Age: Dark Origins

When people say Dragon Age is a dark game, they’re not talking about the gameplay, or the graphics, or the art direction.

Dragon Age deals with dark subject matter. Slavery. Racism. Religion. Politics. Power dynamics. Mages versus Templars. Addiction. Death. War. An unstoppable contagion that deals death indiscriminately. THAT’S what makes Dragon Age Dark.

These stories are deep. They’re hard. And yeah, they weren’t always handled properly (lookin’ at you, Gaider), but doing something wrong… looks like it might actually be better than pretending it doesn’t exist.

As a Sollavellan, I’m unspeakably glad they didn’t yassify Solas. He is still an unlikable character who has committed unspeakable war crimes. And we got a redemption arc that did not end in death. That’s a win for me.

But they kept his darkness at the expense of lightening literally EVERYTHING ELSE in Thedas.

What the fuck happened to Zevran’s Crows? I got the Puss-in-Boots-Found-Family Assassin Agency.

Where are the slaves in Minrathous? Where’s the trip to the upper city, gilded and clean, so we can compare it to the slums of Dock Town (which was not bad at all). Where is the “Rescue the Rabbits” Quest? Tevene Politics boils down to Dorian or Mave, “bad” or “good,” change from within, or power to the people.

The whole Qunari are just Bad™ now? The Antaam warriors turned into… what the fuck is even that? You know the advertising theory where women’s bodies are shown but not their heads or faces? This feels like that. Giant Grey Muscular Powerful Bodies with NoFace. THAT’S the Antaam? The Tamassrins really eliminate every embodiment of individuality from them? They’re just Storm Troopers?

And ‘Thal’enaste, what a lost plot thread to not have Lace and Solas meet in the deep roads, or Kal-Sharok, or fucking anywhere. Instead, you give her one little blurb of “companion banter.” Weak.

Where’s the racism towards the Elves? What happened to that? What happened to Dark Thedas? Oh, its actually all in the South, and thats destroyed now (lets put a pin in that for a minute).

The Companions

I have written and re-written this section 3 times. Its too long. I don’t need to mention them all. How to summarize them.

If you read my part 1, you’ll remember how I fell in love with Dragon Age 2, years after its release (after playing Inquisition, in fact), and how I fucking hard I fell for those very real, very troubled, very nuanced characters.

Anders and his quest for freedom, Fenris and his quest for vengeance. Merrill and her quest for knowledge, Isabella and her quest for… other cultures relics, I guess?

I hated the graphics in 2. It was the characters that carried that game. I don’t know how BioWare wrote them, but they failed to do that in VG.

My favourite character in Inquisition? Surprisingly, its not Solas. Its not even Cole, or the Iron Bull, or Dorian.

Its Cassandra.

I love her. Her story is SO complex. Her devotion to the Seekers, to the Andrastian Faith, is so pure, yet it does not impede her friendship with a Dalish elf who believes in gods that she does not. It does not stop her form forming close bonds with other people from different backgrounds, and although she is fearless in calling out the darkness in her own faith, its sins and its rot, she admits to her Herald that she is envious of the Heralds conviction.

Which character in Veilguard has that nuance?

The necromancer afraid of death? The Elvhen Engineer with ADHD? The literal Demon of Vyantium Puss-In-Boots? The smirking detective? The questioning Qunari? Or the gruff monster daddy?

Listen. I read trash. Smut, romantasy... I read objectively bad literature, for fun, all the time. And, I have a fantastic imagination. It is my own personal fleshing out of theses characters that saved me in this game.

But I should not have had to do that.

The Keep

I cannot explain to you, in words, how important those one-off codices and cameos are.

(Don’tThinkAboutIsabela Don’tThinkAboutIsabela Don’tThinkAboutIsabela).

*Grimaces* Okay.

I can speak no more about this. I am already writing a “Keep” DLC for Veilguard.

I would have rather lived in your world state than this abomination. Which leads me to…

‘The Soft Reboot’

So. The South is Gone. That’s the answer. The Hero of Ferelden. Hawke and their siblings. Everything is wiped clean, just as EA asked. All of the South, turned to the Hissings Wastes and the Anderfels, because of the Blight and the hubris of the Gods. What a tragedy. DA5 looks likes its overseas. Cool.

You know what would have been a better reboot?

Spite, taking over Lucanis’ body, walking through the Ossuary, or the catacombs of Minrathous, explaining to Rook how the heavy emotions of People manifest in the fade. The birth of a spirit. Or a demon.

Taash, meeting a spirit face to face in Arlathan, recoiling in disgust, until they help the spirit on its journey, and Taash begins to question their whole worldview surrounding demons. I- I mean spirits.

Emmerich, taking Rook on a lecture-walk through the fade, meeting spirits, solving puzzles, ‘you know, its not so bad in here, what’s the big deal?’

Bellara, instead of discovering Cyrian only to lose him, meets the demon formed of his death, and how to help him back into a spirit.

Neve, following a trail of wisps in the fade, learning things, memories, feelings, songs. Neve, reveling in the pure beauty of the wisps, until they lead her to Vir Dirthara, and her eyes grow wide, what is this place?

Davrin and Assan, after hard training in the High Anderfels, take a break, and while Rook and Davrin flirt, or joke, Assan finds a long string, and begins to play, the string growing and lengthening and thickening until a soft, feminine whisper fills the air, I Am So Sorry… And Rook and Davrin meet a strange spirit, a perfect combination of protection and regret, and they help her find her way home.

Harding, palms flat on the stone, pushing, working, threading her magic into a titan, tilting her face up to Rook, eyes shining blue, speaking in a thousand voices at once, let me show you what was lost, and for a millisecond, we FEEL Isatunoll.

The Dwarvhen was tranquil’d from their Memories, but the Elvhen were tranquil’d from the Fade.

And when Solas turns from Rook in Minrathous, I am sorry for this final betrayal, he is puzzled at the lack of retaliation, and turns to see the Veilguard, standing behind Rook, eyes locked on the giant eye-shaped rift in the sky.

Why are you not stopping me? He asks the group of misfits.

And Rook answers, I can admit when I was wrong. Tear it the fuck down.

And Solas, battered, bruised, and bloody, smiles, brandishes his ritual dagger with a flashy flip, banishes the blight, and tears down the Veil.

When I learned there were only going to be 3 choices carried over from the rest of the series into Veilguard, I tagged my complaint posts with something.

#You Cannot Dangle A Carrot In Front Of Me For 10 Years And Then Not Be Surprised At My Anger In Discovering It Was A Painted Dowel

Let me reiterate. I enjoyed this game. It was fun for me. I’m in the middle of my second playthrough and am planning a third, and a fourth. But this is NOT a Dragon Age game.

This is an EA game. And its good. But it could have been everything.

Bellanaris.

TLDR;

How torn I feel; lobotomized, rendered tranquil, separated from the memories, lore, and spirits, of the old Dragon Age, while still, like the Veilguard, wanting this world to endure.

Var lath vir suledin, BioWare.

For now.

[sugaredparchment]

about me

hello! I'm ivory, any pronouns, minor! I'm (mainly) a fantasy writer, but sometimes try my hand at contemporary! I also do photography when the fancy strikes me!

I'm still somewhat new to tumblr but very new to writerblr, and honestly I'm just looking for some friends :] I really like having people to talk to writing about, so!! Im a bit shy about talking to people anywhere, and unfortunately that's carried over to online, but if you reach out I'll absolutely reach back!! come talk to me Im like a little bug I'm more afraid of you

if I remember most of my yapping will be fittingly tagged #yapping yapping weee (don't trust I'll remember)

writing

My current main wip is in its first draft phase with the working title Runes of Hyacinth! (#wip: roh) it's a fantasy quest for an item of myths, featuring fake dating and some other silly little things :> You can read the synopsis below if you'd like! otherwise I have a bunch of other minor novella wips that I may post snippets of but haven't officially introduced yet

most of my world building, including lore, magic system(s), and oc information will be under the tag #the skies archives, if you're at all interested in it! I will also eventually just link it here!!

anyways! Thank you so much for reading or just stopping by! I'd love it if you came with me on my writing journey

Runes of Hyacinth

Alchemy is a careful, capable art, yet even it has its limits. El learns that the hard way. Desperate to save her younger sister from a terminal illness, she employs help from alchemy's companion, magic. This comes in the form of the infinitely curious Mage Zircon, student to the royal family's advisor. Joining her on a trek across the continent in search of the Runes of Hyacinth, a mystical book supposedly holding the cures they're looking for, El and Zircon face the consequences of seeking out the taboo. Mortals and gods alike fear what the Runes may hold, and the two must weather what those fears wrought, fighting to face the enemies they've made in themselves. All the while, the clock ticks for those they want to save.

[sacrosanctitty]

I think its a little insane how if you're critical of anders his Fans will jump you with paragraphs of how he wasn't wrong for what he did at the end of act three.

which I can agree to an extant. I hated that he lied to hawke, manipulating them to be complacent in murder without their consent and don't like how many bystanders (because you cant convince me everyone in there was just chantry workers) got killed in the cross fire, but I agree that something drastic needed to happen to get the chantry's attention.

(do i think that was what it had to be? no, also there's a lot to be said about a white man blowing up a religious building and all of those horrible real life connotations but that's not what im posting about and also many muslim fans have already said it better and smarter than me)

thats not why I'm critical of anders.

Anders as a character in DA2 is a racist hypocrite, who will treat you like shit if you reject his advances and never gives others the same grace he expects of them. The comments he makes to Merrill that are condescending to her at best and malicious and gross to all dalish at worst are just the tip of the iceberg. Even removing blood magic from the conversation he's a complete and utter ass towards her, I don't think its a coincidence that the two characters he treats the worst are the two elves of the party.

and as for fenris theres and endless list of complaints I have for how anders treats him, more often than not, unprovoked. You can say fenris is just as bad, that the two are equally in the wrong that Fenris treats him terribly just for being a mage, then what about fenris treats Bethany and Hawke?

Then theres the fact Anders approves if you give Fenris back to his former slave master in a moment of complete betrayal, and many people try to argue that Anders would never and its completely out of character but is it? throughout the entire game Anders does nothing but dehumanize fenris, calling him nothing more than a wild animal, comparing him to a dog on several occasions, asks him why he never killed himself, and so on and so forth. Anders can be a piece of shit a lot of the time and that has nothing to do with how act 3 ends, and thats okay, im not saying you have to dislike him or stop loving him.

What i am saying is that hes deeply flawed and I need a lot of you to understand that really quickly and not be an asshole when people dislike him for those things

[dirty-bosmer]

genuine question, how do you make your oblivion playthroughs feel more unique/gratifying to play? i feel like the game is so short and there are so few quests that every run feels really similar even if im playing a different build

Oooh!!! I love this question, and I hope other Oblivion-enjoyers will feel welcome to share how they like to play in the comments :))

Let me first preface my answer by stating that Oblivion has been one of my favorite games since I first played it at 8 years old. The open-world RPG elements were unlike anything I'd experienced before, so nostalgia probably does a lot of heavy-lifting for me on replays as I have super fond memories of the game. I also play on PC and can recommend a few mods that add 'lore-friendly' items, enemies, and changes to the world that make the experience feel unique from the first playthrough while still retaining it's charm. These are: Common Oblivion (COBL) and Oscuros Oblivion Overhaul. I'm also a big fan of Basic Primary Needs, which makes it so you have to eat, sleep, and drink. I like the additional challenge, and imo all these mods make the gameplay feel more immersive. The rest of the mods I use are primarily cosmetic (texture packs, ENBs, clothes, pet and furniture stores haha).

Also Oblivion doesn't feel very short to me because I spend 80% of my time not doing the main quest XD Between the guild story-lines and the side-quests, I've never really felt like there was a shortage of things to do. Mostly I spend my time exploring, breaking into people's houses, collecting ingredients, dungeon-diving, and getting my ass-beat because my builds are never optimized lol. I turn up the difficultly and try to make things harder for myself so that I really have to grind up my skills in order to have a chance in fights, and that has provided me with a really rewarding experience and sense of accomplishment. For example, I play as a mage-thief who is physically weak af and wears no armor so I have to get really creative during combat. I end up using a lot of mysticism spells (like detection to spy on and sneak up on enemies) and buff myself with alteration spells before a fight. I also use a lot of poisons and potions to make up for being weak, which I then have to collect the ingredients for to brew more when my stocks are depleted. And since I'm still talking about magic, I'm really fond of the Illusion class, because it's ridiculous. It involves charming imps into not attacking you, commanding wild boar to help fight your battles, as well as throwing around Frenzy spells to get bandits to attack each other in a manner that is both hilarious to watch and really effective at clearing out forts in a way my combat skills are not. I'm sure I'm not playing the most efficient way, but it makes for really exciting adventures, and I also find using as many different skills as I can is more challenging and more fun.

I also like to give myself goals and chores (buy and decorate a house, make X amount of gold, collect pearls from the clams in Lake Rumare lol). Currently, I'm broke and living out of the Bravil Mages Guild Hall, making an effort to visit skill trainers and complete the five maximum lessons you can do each level. It gets really expensive the more skilled you are, so that means I have to find a way to fund my education (by stealing, brewing potions, dungeon diving). It's just nice to have something to work toward that makes my gold feel like it's worth something. Basically I try to maximize the struggle and immersive qualities of the game, and I always give my character a little backstory and ambition, which helps me figure out the play style. I like to role-play as I go. Sometimes I'll use a companion mod that lets me take NPCs on adventures with me, and then I have to worry about keeping them well-equipped and alive.

Anyway, that was a long ramble, and I hope it's helped spark some ideas for the next playthrough, but I also have to acknowledge that I'm a bit mentally ill about this game lol.

Ty for the ask <3

[frankenfran]

what is your favorite final fantasy? Plz and thanks

oh god this is such a hard question... my gut instinct is to say FFX because it loomed so unbelievably large in my childhood and still does to this day. the world building and style is still completely unprecedented and set a really high standard in my mind for what a final fantasy world should be and the characters are (mostly) all really lovable and fleshed out. typically id probably not be a big fan of a character like tidus as the mc but i think he's silly and endearing. unsurprisingly an MC with daddy issues works on me.

needless to say im obsessed with the women in FFX and to spare everyone the wall of text ill just say yuna is still like. one of the best FF characters of all time for many reasons. and do i even need to explain why i love lulu? it's a shame she canonically settled for the chaser instead of being the girl road trip mom in FFX-2 but i can almost forgive that with how wonderful the rest of X-2 is if you're a girl lover.

it's genuinely probably tied with FFIX for me in terms of like, what comes to mind when somebody says final fantasy. it's two sides of the same coin. the more sci-fi heavy fantasy and the more whimsical traditional fantasy. the style of FFIX is immaculate, the characters are all extremely lovable, and the story is genuinely really good. everything is so chunky and cute it feels like you're playing a game set in a world full of dolls. it's one of the few things that still has that childlike sense of wonder and mystery for me funnily enough. just looking at the cover reminds me of staring at it in video rental stores and trying to imagine how cool and exciting it was.

people often call it a celebration of FF's past and it feels more like an evolution to me. cute whimsical storybook world with an ensemble cast that gets plenty of love in a style unlike anything else in the series (besides maybe crystal chronicles?) that stands on its own. i wish we'd get more FF stuff in that style but having that one gem is nice too. also im obviously normal about freya and that whole plotline...

honourable mentions to the obviously unstoppable FFVII and the underrated FFVIII and the very beloved to me FFXII and unfairly maligned FFXIII series of games and even FFXI and FFXIV. XV and XVI can suck my ass and die though. for the sake of brevity (which ive already failed) i simply must stop myself before i make the longest post of all time talking about final fantasy and my opinions on each. here's me spinning in my white mage cosplay

[alienjoyer]

can yuo share more vampire mumbo-jumbo things about your oc guy

giggles hehe yeah :3

this was originally going to be part of an enormous elijah masterpost but i think dividing it into 2 posts, a later elijah-specific post (that i will hopefully remember to edit a link into here when i post it), and this speculative biology post, is a far better idea. so have my vampire biology. it’s long. the cut is needed

elijah is my canvas for this worldbuilding so when i talk about him it’s teaching by example.

vampire claws are somewhere between michael the distortion and netflix castlevania… extendo fingernails but theyre claws. evolutionary purpose: defense against other vampires. bone nestled within bone, think 3d printed collapsable swords. that scene with alucard scratching the runes into the mirror. but it’s his fingers.

shapeshifting into an animal is possible but most vampires dont know that, it doesnt come naturally. eli took 300 years to figure out he could turn into a raven/crow (uncanny valley! he turns into neither actually, but only the discerning eye can really recognise that).

sunlight feels like standing in front of an open oven. it’s not fun, but it is survivable. can be avoided with hooded cloaks, hats, long sleeves, also this effect lessens with age. by the modern era eli will still avoid the middle of the day if it’s sunny out, but it’s not the end of the world if he needs to be in it for some reason. wheras when he was younger it was a lot more of an issue. sunscreen might help in a modern era too. slip slop slap seek and slide, yknow? effects on the young: severe sunburn and some form of heatstroke. light sensitivity, especially direct lights… ambient sunlight loses potency over the years but like no vampire’s ever gonna look anywhere near the sun.

a vampire probably doesnt need to sleep unless they’ve metaphorically lost/used their spoons, by being affected by the sun or:

silver does affect vampires! touching silver burns vampires as if it’s fresh out of a forge. silver mirrors can’t reflect vampires (thus, cameras made with silver mirrors can’t take photos of vampires). in versions where werewolves are in the picture the same effects go for them. unlike the sun this effect doesn’t lessen with age.

let’s talk about garlic. if it’s a strong smell to humans, what do you expect it to be like for a vampire? and most human foods have more or less lost their taste for vampires, but not garlic or other members of the garlic family probably. it’s also one of the flavours that most clearly stays in the bloodstream. it’s not poisonous or repellant by any stretch of the imagination, but it is unexpectedly strong. it entirely depends on the vampire how much they avoid it, a matter of taste. some don’t mind it. some hate it, enough so the myth exists.

house permissions is only a problem if theres a ward on the building. these are pretty rare. i’ve made a post about wards and sacred ground already, [HERE], and though it is written pretty sarcastically and Old Man Yells At Cloud-y it does also accurately describe how wards work. im actually not sure if i described what the end product is. it’s like an invisible wall. most of the time that’s all it is, but some mages/paladins also know how to put defensive measures on it to shock whatever’s trying to get in. and it keeps out vampires and shapeshifters and we’re going into a whole NOTHER post there so put a reminder on that.

vampires dont have blood of their own theyve gotta steal it. this means they cant drink alcohol straight, or take drugs straight, because theres nothing in their veins to dilute the effects and they fucking black out or whatever effect at 100% for like 3 weeks straight. caffeine is a weird one (and by that i mean i havent made an executive decision on it yet because it would be mean to him to not let him drink coffee). i specificy ‘straight’ they can drink blood of drunk/high people and experience the effects. eli likes to experiment pairing different alcohols with different blood flavours like how you can get at fancy restaurants sometimes.

^ this is also why stakes through the heart dont work. the heart isnt actually doing anything most of the time? just for like an hour or two after feeding (cardio system isnt actually that much changed it just goes dormant most of the time). so if you stab it, that just means you have a hurting and pissed off vampire. the actual worry happens later when the vampire cant process any blood theyve drunk. so they kindof just have to starve and wait until the healing factor fixes it. but the healing factor is slowed because they cant drink blood to like,, fuel it. so for like a month this pissed off, hurting, starving vampires just gotta sit there and wait until their heart’s healed again. basically don’t do this.

iwtv and castlevania went hard with the bloody tears so im stealing that. except it’s not actually blood, it’s like how painted statues can look like theyre bleeding from iron in the pigments mixing with water… does a vampire need iron? probably not. so i guess it’s a waste product idk

vampirism is spread through venom (but not in the twilight way we made it good). in theory evolutionarily humans and vampires have a cooperative symbiotic relationship (we are talking neolithic here) but in practice the cooperative bit’s been dropped BUT the abilities are still there. so in small doses the venom heals wounds so a vampire can feed on a human without killing them. in larger doses (if the venom overpowers the bloodstream) then the transformation begins. i think. this bit’s all under construction still but i’ve yet to come up with another idea in the months-year+ ive been thinking about it.

thralls? let’s talk about thralls. it’s another venom-based thing, but it’s the consumption of venom instead of being infected(?) with it. eli avoids it, he’s a big fan of free will. if a magic user gets a hold of some venom they can cast a spell to make people obey them, but if the respective vampire is still in the picture their commands take priority on the thrall. is there a limit to what a thrall can be commanded to do? idk. i think it manifests as the thrall having unquestioning trust in the vampire. they can still think for themselves, but a direct command is just like “ha, im sure eli knows what he’s doing” *walks directly into incoming traffic*

as you can see this is a combination of like, every different vampire media plus some popular tumblr posts, plus my own thing ive got going for me. i pick and choose bits that i like and leave out bits i dont.

also i think these vampires would be more accurately classified as viruses than any living* thing and i think that’s cool.

i like speculative biology, and i don’t much care for religion, and i think handwaving “it’s just magic, it doesnt NEED to make sense” is the easy option and also short sighted. i have a very religion-like faith in science in that i believe there will always be a scientific explanation, and if there isn’t then we just havent found it yet.

[vaporgutz]

"First Blood"

A short story set in a Mage The Ascension (TTRPG)

⚠️ CW: For mature audiences. Extreme and detailed descriptions of violence and gore that may be disturbing to some audiences.⚠️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• 16 and itching for a just fight against the versions of evil, Solare finds himself facing way more than just creatures of the night in the city of Porto, Portugal •

The moon hangs, covered by a slight overcast, bathing the city in an ash grey tone; One of which Im all too familiar with.

The textured gold of my cross has grown warm from how long I’ve been tenderly rubbing the surface with my thumb and churning silent prayers.

God, may you watch over me, bless me with the divine power to bring a just fist to the wicked. Your hand is incomparable to that of man. It is pure and righteous. Use me as a conductor to carry out thyne punishment.

A special night, it is, after all.

Cold—Is the breeze. It blows through the Southeast side of Porto carrying the salt sea scent throughout the town. Enough to make the tip of my nose nip as I crouch in a darkened shadow of a high vantage point. It overlooks the series of small alleyway buildings, perfect for what Im searching for.

I suppose ‘special’ is an inappropriate term. ‘Special’ is something like Christmas, or when Richter makes dessert instead of Annabella for Thanksgiving, or perhaps a specific assignment. No, Richter didn’t assign me this. In fact, I didn’t tell him I’m doing this tonight. Though, knowing him, he’s aware. Replace ‘special’ with ‘ceremonial.’

Tucked in between two tight brick walls, the homes providing peripheral cover, Ive focused the light as the Lord reveals upon me the strands of those unseen by the naked eye, scouring for a differing flow. Just as he did to the servants of Elisha. Though cast out, somehow these blood bags—these animated corpses—they hold a pattern. Hair like strings of pulsating shimmers in those of the living, flowing like water, yet these night creatures are described to me as ‘suspended.’ What that means is something I’ve yet to truly figure out.

Tonight, it will be figured out.

Time passes. The moon drags across the sky. Patiently waiting for something to appear when—Skuddle skuddle, scratch scratch.

Heard before seen, I tweak my sense of hearing without turning around. Its getting closer, but seemingly tentatively. Steps aren’t heavy enough. Sounds like claws on the concrete.

Squeek!

With quick motion I whirl around and slam my hand on the spot where I think it may be. It connects with the ground with a harsh slap, but I can now see it.

A big bodied, black furred, rodent!

Confused for a second, I stare at it as it stares back, its red eyes gleaming. Its pattern is normal, but something feels off about it. Ive read something of vampires using animals as tools, but before I could make an assumption—Another set of sounds appear behind me. Same as this ones.

With haste I push off the ground to gain distance, but in that, a sharp pain goes through my hand. I pull and flick, fast—with force, making the rat loose grip and bang into the wall beside me. It goes limp.

…

This things feet stopped!

With another turn, I backhand whatever has lunged at me right into the adjacent wall.

Another rat?

Same as the other.

That’s when I realize, the sparks of quintessence have begun to move in the cracks of the building, up the walls, and behind whatever cover there is. How many rats, I cant get a number, but another sound, the sound of the first rat scurrying away, is audible as I watch.

It was like a sudden leak has been sprung. Red eyed furry animals began pouring out of every crevasse towards me.

Lord, guide these legs and carry me.

I attempt to make my escape but if this thing thinks I’m letting it get away with my blood, it’d be wrong. I try to follow the first rat while it limps and tries to cut corners and the sea behind me grows into a cacophony of claws.

Running and running, catching up to this rat and preventing it from ducking into cracks, I can feel the fire building inside of my stomach as I run.

This thing is playing me.

It sent rats after me instead of showing itself.

Coward.

A blood sucking—COWARD.

The flood of rats on my heel begin to break off and disperse, going into any opening they can find as I continue in hot pursuit. Somehow, this injured rat keeps the distance.

I burst into the open streets. Its close, I almost loose sight of the thing due to the busy scenery, but I catch it once more as the rat is heading right for a construction site. I see theres not anyone around, so I begin to sneak past an opening in the wired fence. Until I hear something even more dreadful than a rat.

“Excuse me sir, what do you think your doing? This is private property that you are trespassing.” An authoritarian voice said.

The light has morphed into something different. A flashlight beamed right on my huffing form as I see a night guard. Im sandwiched in between the wires as I awkwardly look around, “Um—My dog…ran into here.” I say with my most convincing half smile.

The night guard raises his brow, “Your dog?” And proceeds to move the spotlight from me to the very much empty construction sight.

Not for long.

I make a grabbing motion and wave my hand slightly, making the corner of the flashlights beam swipe with the shadowed shape of a dog while bending the sound waves to create an appropriate noise.

The guard pauses for a moment and stares at where the supposed dog ran off to. I cant exactly make out his face, but I can semi make out a suspicious air as the guard begins to point his flashlight in the direction.

Another jerk of my wrist and the light flickers. Confused, he peers at the light itself and taps it a few times. If only I had the ability to twist luck, or perhaps it was raining, making the flashlights die would work within the bounds of reality.

I begin to clutch my hand but—No. I cant risk treading with something so simple. Not when I can spare it.

Instead, I slowly bend the metal to the fence, redirecting and muffling the surround sound of the chain link, to hastily make my escape.

It takes a minute to see the beam of light shine back on the spot I was in, but I’m already yards away, behind a large cement pillar, taking a sigh of relief.

That’s when my eyes land on it.

Squeek.

A bastard rat staring up at me. The same one? I don’t know. By the way it looks at me like there’s something behind those eyes, I would assume so. Although, this one is… bigger…looking somewhat deformed with its hunched back.

I glare at it before a realization dawns. I peer from my hiding spot, trying to look for the guard.

However…

He’s gone.

As well as the flashlights beam.

Slowly turning, the rat still stands strong. Squeaking and twitching it’s nose.

Is this rat—?!

With a ringing in my ears, my heightened perception pick up the swishing of wind from above me. A thought does not need to pass for me to jump out of the way and land firmly on my feet as I see the spot I was standing in form a large crater.

My heart is beginning to pick up the pace. This is what I’ve been waiting for…yet as the smoke clears…I see it’s a cinder block…seemingly dropped o hard it created a crater and make the block itself crack in half.

Dropped—or thrown.

Quickly, I flick on a Prime lens to look up at the scaffolding. Yet, nothing is there. Not anything that makes sense anyway. What it revealed to me, is a stable flow in what seems to be nothing. Hm. Stable is an odd word for it. What it looks to be is more like still water. This is not only strange, but I feel convinced there’s absolutely nothing there as I gaze at something that is clearly there.

As I stare, almost in awe, along the sound waves I pick up quick footsteps behind me and kick off.

The Lord must’ve heard my prayers because I dodged just in time for the security guard to jump where I was and land on all fours on the ground, digging his nails into the dirt to slide to a halt.

Now with a closer look at this guard, the strands of Quintessence are what look to be—suspended. Faded even.

My eyes widen, foot plants itself, fists clench, and I get into a boxers stance. All of this—practice but not put into full effect—it’s time to put those gears into motion.

This guards appearance doesn’t set any alarm off in my head though. He looks like a regular person.

We stand off, before he breaks the silence.

“Leave.”

I perk up.

Leave?

That’s an odd request coming from a vampire. To them, I must be fresh blood. Unless something else is going on or this ones simply more sick in the head than I anticipated.

My stance stays firm, but this one on a fours slowly gets up, “Leave.” He says again, more forcefully, “Go back from where you came.”

His pattern seems to be rippling as the tension rises.

Mind control? If this vampire is trying to command me, it’s not working. Not as it should…

“Your faux power will not dominate , bloodbag.” My teeth touch when speaking, but only when I utter words do I realize my breath rides cold and I’ve been standing in place for too long.

The guards’ eye twitches, “That’s some uncreative insult. I dare you to come up with something else. Something more accurate.”

The time to think about it has run out. In an instant, I can’t breathe. My hands grasp at whatever is gripping my neck from behind with such force as I’m quickly loosing the ability to intake air. To think.

The panic doesn’t even reach me as fast as feeling the grip tighten via a few milliseconds. Not even a cry can be uttered. Desperately, I kick back with all my might, hitting something. Its enough for the grip to slip, and I dig my nails into the hands that hold, ripping them from my neck. With that, I discharge every bit of primal energy throughout my pattern into whatever is behind me.

Immediately, the thing screeches. Something between a person’s cry and a shrill howl. I keep hold for a few more moments, feeling the universes energies shock through my fingertips, before letting go and blindly driving my elbow into the creatures abdomen.

It doubles over my shoulder and I believe it’s skull cavity has had enough as I hear a—SPLAT—almost falling on me, but I quickly take the thing and hurl it over my shoulder—at the guard—using the power bestowed upon me to change the velocity of the body so it be easier to throw.

I manage to launch it how I want, like a bullet, but remarkably, the guard jumps out of the way with astonishing speed, only getting clipped by the shoulder.

Each breath is painful now. The cold air has become daggers in my throat. I feel something—TUG—at a level I can only describe as ‘my very existence’. Yet, disregarding it. To persevere. I cant loose. I can’t. There’s still one more. One more of these things.

Lord, let me smite one more.

My gut twists.

Hold it down.

If I don’t get rid of these, what would happen to those who stumbled upon them? The normal crowd wouldn’t have a chance. They are parasites waiting in the darkness for those vulnerable to pray on.

I feel a familiar presence. Warm. He’s very much welcome in this time of need as my Avatar manifests behind me. The light of The Sun contrasting the darkness.

“You push hard against the web of reality. Its pulling at us. Threatening. Stop and think for you’re next moves, or else we will face the consequences .”

I attempt to steady my breath as I watch the guard—a vampire or more likely, a ghoul—dive for the attacker I just threw.

“Hey…HEY!” The ghoul guard places his hands on the body but realizes something about it, how its head is a garbled mess of bone and flesh, “Oh shit. Oh SHIT! D-Dianne…Fuck. Fuck—fuck—!” His head whips at me, I tense, but a keener eye can spot—he’s shaking like a leaf. Eyes wide as dinner plates, full of a primal look. Then it whimpers and looks down.

Was he doing that before?

My fists begin to unwind as the warmth of my Avatar shifts to the wetness on my face. Soaking into my clothes. Splattered on my hands. I wipe my cheek and gaze down at the crimson color.

Blood.

Dark, clammy, coagulating blood.

“Its best you not leave a witness to this. You’ve already committed to the act. The best to do now, is to make it quick and pray for forgiveness.”

With that, my Avatars warmth slowly dissipates. Replacing with a chill breeze whistling through the construction site. The only sound now…are this thing trying to hold back it’s voice.

Next to me, there is what looks to be a large pipe the size of my forearm to finger. My hand drifts to it, slowly, and grip the metal.

Forgiveness? Why would I need to ask for that. For these things?

One step forward, then another.

They deserve to die.

And before I know it, I loom over the Ghouls shivering form. It doesn’t even look up at me. It keeps staring at it’s Vampire counterpart.

Maybe it’s better that way.

To look away.

Not see how I take a planted stance in preparation to swing and place both hands on the rusted parts, raising the blunt object high above my head.

“Why…” He chokes out, hanging his head in defeat, “I told you to leave.”

“…Because you’re a monster.” I forcefully say as I bring down the Lords wrath on his neck.

It’s a clean hit. It didn’t even move. Just a slight flinch as he was hit. Then his body immediately spasms and falls on the other corpse. Going stiff like someone electrocuted it. Twitching afterwards…

“Stop…” I swing the pipe up, “STOP MOVING!” Down again, right on his head, “YOU’RE NOT ALIVE!” And again, “NOT ALIVE!” And again until the body has stopped moving entirely.

One last swing of the pipe and I feel it.

Tug. Tug. Pull.

RIP.

A searing hot pain tears on the bridge of my nose, and warmth trickles down my face. It feels the same as when I received it. The mark. It has been healed for a long time… It can’t come back!

A sudden punch to my organs make me double over and fall to my knees, bringing me face to face with the corpses.

“N-No no…Merc—” And what feels to be everything inside of me… spills…all over the bodies. Chunks of myself regurgitate from my mouth, my vision smudges, and my hearing finally dies to that of being under water as my heart strains. Certainly, I’m drowning. In my own viscera and weight of reality it feels like it bares hatred.

Is this my punishment..?

I try to stand. Can’t stay. I’ll get caught.

Shaking and gagging, I reach to my small sachet on my hip and pull out a lighter.

I can’t leave these bodies either. Not with my blood on it. Magic is out of the question. One more chant against reality and I’m done for.

On my hands and knees, I crawl away and flick the lighter open. It doesn’t light. Nothing happens.

…

A new source of body fluid, not blood, begins to well up. I try to flick the lighter again and again. The flint and steel clicking tirelessly against each other. All while I can taste it. Copper. Its just the taste of copper.

Finally, the lighter springs to life. A golden light.

“…I…I need…” I drop the lighter and snuff it out with my hand. Burns can’t compare to what I’m being hit with, “Oh god, please—” I pull out my phone and dial quickly as my body sinks to the ground.

Annabella picks up, “Hello? Solare, what—”

“Help.” I cry, hearing something strange along the wind as my consciousness fades, “He-Help me.”

It’s like a vivid, yet distant memory in the distance.

A Jester’s cackle.

[velnat004]

throws a piece of kardelen's lore on you like a comically large piano <3.

have a glance at Kardelen's family though, she's the youngest among seven, there's around 20 year age gap between her and her oldest sibling. Hazan and Tayfur, Kardelen's parents, had 4 kids back-to-back and then didn't have any more kids until a decade later, and then they had a pair of twins, and at last they had Kardelen Now you might be wondering why im telling you about the birth order of Kardelen's siblings, it's because the first 4 kids in the family were raised more cut-throat than the siblings that came in the picture later. And considering their risky condition during this decade old hiatus, let it be constantly being on the move so they wouldnt get hunted down by the fellow qunari Derya happens to be one of the first four kids of the Adaar family, inhabiting her mother's magic. Though the foreigners might consider a mage healer to be the ideal, the small community her parents and the newcomer tal-vashoths were building didn't exactly see it like that. Derya always wanted to be a mage, and despite her attempts to cover up her magic, it would always get in her way of trying to be a healer. She was quite persistent and would always try to heal her own siblings' wounds after a mercenary mission despite her parents' objections. But after a while, she would just....stop pursuing her dream and decides to be a war mage like her mother it would hit the 2nd year mark of Derya's profession as a war mage during the events of the inquisition (specifically during inquisition's settling into the skyhold)

TW for descriptions of suicide

Everything seemed fine by the look at the family's letters but one day, Kardelen receives a letter from one of her siblings as usual, but upon reading it she realises that her time is limited and if she won't come home to see her sister in a week, she'll end her own life (it's written by Derya herself). But the distance from Skyhold to where her parents lived would take at least two weeks in distance so Derya's demand to see Kardelen was something impossible to comply to. So Kardelen could do nothing but wait for the week to be over and receive a new letter that hopefully wasn't so grim as the previous one. Hazan is all geared up and ready to take a mercenary job overseas, somewhere in Orlais alongside some of her children and she's waiting for Derya to leave her room to say her farewells before they take their ship to the overseas. One of her grandchildren comes out from Derya's room and tells his grandma that for some reason, aunt Derya isn't waking up despite his efforts. Deciding to wake her own daughter by herself, Hazan enters her room and peels the sheets over Derya's face to wake up. Though it doesn't take long before she realises that her daughter was....dead. From what it looked like, it was either by poison or overdose, and after getting out of her shocked state, she notices the letter on her desk and upon reading it, it confirms that Derya indeed took her own life via overdosing (idk which thedas herb would cause overdose but i'll fill this gap later) After the funeral, the family was split between sending a letter to Kardelen about Derya's death or not, and despite not having a collective decision, one of the siblings decides to send the letter anyway. Bull is informed before everyone else from the inquisition crew thanks to his connections in Ben-Hassrath as the letters would change a few hands before reaching to the inquisition, and he could do nothing but to wait quietly until Kardelen received the letters herself.

[whumpdoyoumean]

Whumptober #5

A/N: These are my OCs. Ira is a bounty hunter. Leo is a cowboy, and also a mage.

xxx healing salve

"Get down!" Leo puts his arm over Ira, shoving him to the ground and then diving to the dirt himself, just as the first shot rings out.

"Damn!" Ira hisses, reaching for his gun.

Leo would be doing the same, except that his body feels cold and strange, arms leaden, fingers shaking and unsure. His stomach sinks.

"See that big boulder just up the ridge?" Ira says, voice low. "That'll give us better cover. Be ready to move."

Leo doesn't respond. Something is wrong. He's starting to feel it.

"You listening to me, kid?" There's an edge to Ira's voice now, frustration lacing his words. "Dammit, I said--" He turns, and his eyes widen, face going pale as another shot cracks through the air. "Shit."

"I..." It's hard to speak, or think even. "I think...Think 've been..."

"Yeah," Ira says. "You hush now, save your energy. Just stay put, I'm gonna find this bastard and take 'im down. Won't take more'n a second. Hang in there. And stay down."

Leo doesn't want him to leave. Doesn't want to be left here all alone, bleeding all over the long, dried pine needles that cover the forest floor. But the pain is building in intensity, and it steals the breath from his lungs, and with it his voice. There's nothing he can do but watch as the bounty hunter disappears and leaves him.

The initial shock begins to wear off, and Leo knows he can't just lie here. He has to work up the courage to try and sit up. For someone who regularly draws his own blood for ritual spells, he's rather pain averse, and this pain is like nothing he's ever felt—deep and gnawing and relentless. It's everything he has not to cry out when he finally levers himself into a sitting position. He moves slowly, but the hole in his sides protests anyway, loudly. The bullet entered the meat above his left hip. He can't tell if it's still in there or not. He hopes not, but bullets—the kind that aren't enchanted, anyway—are unpredictable.

He'd just as soon not be hit by another one.

Which means it's not in his best interest to try and stand. His satchel is still with the horses, and he knows he's not going to be able to crawl all the way back to them. He'll have to make due with what he has. The small bag he keeps with him has clean strips of linen, and he's sure he saw yarrow growing somewhere nearby. He looks around, scanning the foliage for the familiar yellow-orange flowers.

There. A few yards away, near the treeline. He just has to get there...It's not far. He can do this. He claps a hand to his side, tight as he can stand to, and starts to crawl. A volley of shots breaks out, and he stops moving. After a moment, he realizes he can hear two distinct weapons – the rifle that had shot him, and Ira's pistols. Which means the shooter's attention is elsewhere. His vision goes dark at the edges when he starts moving again, the world tilting beneath him, but he forces himself to keep going. His breath comes in short bursts as inches his way forward.

Nearly there.

Just a little further...

His heart is hammering by the time he gets there, pounding as if he's run a mile, not crawled fifteen feet. He grabs a handful of leaves from the yarrow plants, shoving them in his mouth and chewing before he's even caught his breath. He's going to have to turn onto his back in order to get at the wound. It's gonna hurt, and he knows it.

"To hell with it," he finally murmurs around the mouthful of leaves, and he pushes himself up and to the right, landing on his back with a groan. He just lays there a second, waiting for the agony to pass and his vision to return.

There hasn't been any gunfire in a long time. The fight seems to be over which means someone has won. And someone has lost.

He hopes Ira is okay.

His fingers tremble as he tugs his shirt out of his pants and lifts it away from the bleeding, ragged hole. He's in a lot of pain already, but this next part...But it will help. He has to do it. He reaches up and takes the glob of crushed plant matter out of his mouth. And, before he can talk himself out of it, he presses it into the wound.

He barely has time to scream before he loses consciousness.

xxx