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neshtasplace · 1 year ago

Text

Cities of Steel and Blood chapter 3

is available to read for free, so I'm posting it right here.

Enjoy!

Light flashed in my vision, the dim shade broken by it. Only for a second though, and then the two of them are back in darkness. Mia leaned against the railing at some secreted corner of the Rumbler’s deck. Her gaze felt heavy, but her hands no longer ached. She was tired; but it was the normal, never-ending exhaustion she felt since leaving home. Luckily, she wasn’t subjected to the toil and labor since her and the captain worked out a deal.

Dr. Farrow took a long drag from her cigarette, freshly lit, and exhaled. The smoke mingled in the air and greeted Mia’s lungs. She breathed deep the lingering smells of home. Herbs grown in Farrow’s own garden or some hidden alcove. Grown in the soil of Forthiron city. Despite everything Mia felt about their old home, a pang of longing ran through her.

“It’s been a long time,” The doctor said finally, her eyes locked on the horizon.

Mia’s hand went for her flask before she even knew it. She took a drink and hissed from the burn. “Yeah it’s been a long, shitty trip. Hasn’t it?” She asked as she took another sip. The good doctor just tilted her head. Mia offered the flask.

“Eh, it could have gone worse. You’re partially to thank for that. The others did their jobs, but you jumped in and finished it. That’s sort of what you’re best at Mia; cutting the crap and getting things done, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m a fucking miracle worker.” She snorted and handed the flask over to Dr. Farrow. In exchange, a slender, well-rolled cigarette was given to Mia. “Still, glad it’s coming to an end. I overheard the crew talking about things; we’re arriving in a few hours.” She lit the cigarette and took a drag, welcoming the feel of smoke in her lungs. Invited it inside her. Mia only ever let things into her, not people, not now. People have roots and pasts, sticky complications just like she did.

Still, Mia did have her crew. Her people that she trusted. But that had to be held at arm’s length. She couldn't have another Adriana. She wouldn’t allow it. A puff of breath was brought from her, like a phantom hand was pressed against her stomach. Hands that were slightly cold, soft. Long fingers that wrapped around her intestines; rested in her guts. Founders, she wanted to feel them again. To take in Adriana’s scent and be lost in her presence. Mia wanted to be burned up by her fires. She wanted to have a chance to be lost to Adriana again. To mean nothing stood next to her radiance.

Mia did what she always did to banish the thoughts from her mind; she took in the closest toxic substance to distract herself. In this case, another drag from her cigarette did the trick. Not perfect, but beggars can’t be choosers. Her gaze returned to the distance, to the way back home. “Fuck you, Forthiron. I’m fucking glad I’m leaving you in the dust.” She raised her hand and flipped off in the general direction of her former home.

“Mia, you are the weirdest elf I’ve ever met.” Dr. Farrow said as she leaned against the railing. Her tail swished about lazily. “I didn’t ask you to meet me here to discuss your weirdness. I want to discuss what you’re going to do when we get to Terostav. What the hell is your plan?”

“What's yours?” Mia shot back.

“Nuh-uh, that’s not how it works, kid.” She countered, flicking off some ash. “I know you’ve had a lot of time to think, and yeah you spent a lot of it drinking, but you always have a plan Mia. So…” She took another drag “Out with it.”

Mia leaned harder against the railing and reached into her jacket pocket. She took out the journal that she’d stolen all those (weeks? What is months or days? Time just didn’t seem to matter anymore) ago. “I got a lead. On my family. Elf clan shit, the whole nine yards. They did transport routes between here and Forthiron; I figure I mean…we’re coming this way, fate fucked me over and put me on this path…might as well give it a shot, right? And besides, what’s your plan!?”

“Eh, not much. I’m no longer ‘beholden’ to the Family, and I never really had much of a life when I was scooped up.” Mia watched Dr. Farrow look down at her hands. “Being Fallen…I ain’t got anything to go back to; no one was exactly crying back home for me, you know?” She chuckled; rough tones mixed with another song that had long faded. One that used to be vibrant and sweet. Part of Mia felt a pang of something. A feeling she rarely investigated within herself. It could only be contextualized as: Anger. Fuck the world for fucking over the doctor like that. Fuck everything. She swallowed down such thoughts with smoke and a cough and motioned for Dr. Farrow to continue.

“Anyway, my plan is to just stick with who I know and settle into the new city. Everyone could use a sawbones, you know? Eislia’s god protection, she wants to have a calm life. I figure sticking near her and you is the best choice.” She looked over to Mia, her smile genuine. “Besides, I've been stitching you up since you were a kid, and I have a strong feeling I’ll be doing that alot when we get to the city.”

Mia laughed and shook her head. “You know.” She flexed her free hand, the other one still held the dangling cigarette. “I know I’m always going to be a killer. It’s what I was made to be. It’s what I shaped myself to be. I know that I was forced into this, but I made it mine, you know?” Dr. Farrow nodded, simply letting her talk. “So, I don’t really mind; it’s my life and it’s what I’m best at, you know? I think my problem isn’t really what I do: it’s who I do it to. I just gotta pick better targets.”

“Right, and who are these better targets, Mia?”

“Fuckers up top.” She said as she flicked off some ash. “They gotta pay, and we got the way to make ‘em pay.” She sucked in a breath, the ashes in her gut erupted into flame. She turned to lock eyes with Dr. Farrow. “So, after I settle my little personal mission, I’m gonna take that dagger that Adri left us and jam it into the fucking Founders’ hearts. I, me, some shitty street kid, is gonna light heaven on fire.”

As was planned and promised the Rumbler came to dock a few hours later. Dr. Farrow headed out to wrangle whatever little gear she had, leaving Mia to make sure everyone else was ready to go. She stood at the side of the deck, waiting for the gang plank to be affixed.

The dock was a series of raised platforms, each one for receiving a vehicle of the same height as the Rumbler. The platforms led by walkway into the city proper. Mia couldn’t remember how the docks looked back in Forthiron, she was too out of it to take anything in. Her mind back then was a haze; reason had left her. She was a vessel for sorrow. Not now, she had to be more like her old self. The handler, the one with the plans, the one who had her shit together.

“Mmm, odd to be leaving this machine in a way.” Eislia said as she walked up, carrying a trunk over her shoulder. Vikaros stood beside her, and with the lack of luggage on their arm, Mia could guess the chest was theirs. Cute.

“Yeah I mean, I’ll miss the stale air, the creaky under decks, the constant thudding noises…love it.” Mia fake pouted and shrugged. “I’ll miss it so much.” Eislia chuckled.

“Well, I still like to say goodbye to times that have passed; to the moments in our life that change.”

“Ugh. Anyway; you all ready to go? Doc said she’ll be a bit longer ‘cause her stuff is delicate. I’ll wait here for her, you two go ahead. ” Vikaros nodded.

“The city is unknown to this one, even if it may have been home.” They looked over the spires that rose over the near horizon. The city that awaited all of them. Mia couldn’t help but wonder what it held for them. Hopefully less bullshit than Forthiron provided; although she really wasn’t hopeful on this point. Vikaros started to walk down the walkway and towards the docks proper. This receiving area was just for unloading, but the docks further in were probably where all the various waiting areas lay.

With those two on the move, Mia turned her attention back to the deck of the Rumbler. She still didn’t trust these people and absolutely would not leave until Dr. Farrow was by her side. Mia didn’t have any luggage of her own; her jacket’s inter-dimensional pockets held all the gear she needed. Yet again it was a gift of worth she wouldn’t begin to calculate. Her heart ached for Adriana again, so much so that she pulled the collar up around her neck more.

“Alright kid, let’s go.” Mia turned to face the voice of Dr. Farrow. She stood behind three large trunks, a side bag hung on her shoulder. Again, Mia’s recollection of their departure was too fuzzy to recall any details. She had to assume this was as much stuff as she left with.

“You got enough crap, doc?”

“Hey, this crap’ll save your life. Most of it is equipment that we’re going to need in this next leg of our little shit-journey. Just make sure to be careful with them.” A scoff of protest erupted from Mia’s throat.

“What!? I’m not carrying your shit, Doc! Besides, I don’t really have the muscle for that.” She looked around. There didn’t seem to be anyone keen on helping with this dilemma. “Alright, Alright, I mean….I can carry one of these things, I guess.” She snorted, this was not what she wanted to do. “You can drag the other and uh…we’ll figure out the rest from there.”

“Eh, just get the big gal to take it from here, and we’ll get a carriage or something.”

“Oh, what are we, a bunch of royals!?” Mia scoffed.

Just as they argued over who was carrying what, Eislia and Vikaros returned unburdened by luggage. “This one sang an agreeable song; mechanized assistance will be theirs.”

“We have a car.” Eislia clarified, she walked up to grab each trunk, hauling them over a shoulder and holding another in her free hand. Mia gripped the last trunk’s handles and shrugged.

“How did you fix that? I only got mine back home from connections…well and I bit of bribery too.” Mia paused. “Alot of bribery.”

“Well, from what I can see, things are different in Terostav.” Eislia rolled her shoulders. The group walked out from the receiving area of the docks to the promenade; a massive bend along the city's walls that fed into it properly. Already, from here Mia could see what Eislia meant. Everything was more refined, shining steel and glass made up the view that stretched before them. She stopped as she took in the sight.

“Heh, now I can see why you knew you were in Forthiron; guess we got the shittier city didn’t we?” Mia had no magical talent or even a drop of it in her, but even she could feel it all throughout the city. In the air she breathed, she tasted a perfume. An arcane tinge that she’d not really experienced before. She looked up and could see the air was alive with it. “Shit.” She managed to utter.

“From what my Intel informed me; yes. I mean…” Eislia set down the trunks into the car. It was a stylish model, the chassis looked a bit more modern than Mia was used to. All curved lines and arched frame, the car looked like it was far newer than any Mia had used before. She slid into the back seat, crossed her legs and neatened her pants. The hemline was annoyingly crooked, her attention demanded to fix it. The rest of her entourage piled into the car and it set off. Mia glanced out the window and caught her reflection in the glass. She was filthy, her hair looked like shit and she had a laundry list of things to do in this city. The start of everything felt too monumental, it was like she faced an avalanche.

Vikaros shifted in their seat, Mia glanced over to them. They were the main source of information now, a reliance she did not relish. Yet again, she took in the beautiful features of the magi. They were fetching in their own way, especially how their skirts showed off their slender legs with a parting of the fabric. Smooth and soft; less to her tastes, but still aesthetically pleasing. She looked past them, where Eislia had stuffed her way into the back seat. It made for a cramped space, but Mia didn’t mind. Now this was a woman much more to her tastes: Tall, handsome, with that damned dark hair and cloak that held a dash of romance to them.

Mia shook her head and turned her gaze away from her companions and over to the cityscape again. There wasn’t much to see as they headed out of the docks and onto some elevated road. They were on the same level as some of the building’s third or fourth floors, lined with glass. A blurred reflection of Mia’s bored face stared back at her; sad frames from a sadder film. Replicated ghost images; illusions of light danced in front of her. If she bothered to observe, it would be dizzying, but it just played in front of her dead eyes. The dread, the sorrow, the anger still roiled deep inside her.

She wanted to see Adriana again.

Mia’s hands balled into fists and she fought back the tears. She’d cried so much over the course of this journey that she foolishly assumed she had no more tears left. Tears not worth shedding for a moron of a magi, a vexing handsome woman of endless miracles.

“Do you think it would be ok?” Eislia’s voice tore aside the mucous membrane of thoughts that clouded Mia’s mind. She blinked and looked at the two of her companions again. Dr. Farrow was sitting across from her, she looked about as thoughtful as Mia felt.

“A single path is spoken: This one was taken from home at a young time, but this one is still bound to the Fugue. This one should still belong there, a note in the song.” Mia noted a touch of concern on their brow. Now that her consciousness was brought back to focus, she could take in such details. Mia had gotten so sloppy with that. Her mind has been so clumsy lately.

“Hmm…so we contact them? Will they help us? Or simply take you in again?” Eislia punctuated her point with a tap of her finger. (She did make a good argument. The plan was to talk to these magi people and what? Get a free place to live?) Unlikely. Vikaros shook her head.

“The song’s rhythm is unknown to this one, the chords…alien.”

“Hmph, then we shall have to improvise, play along and see what happens.” Eislia’s smile was a sunrise after a storm. Mia hated it.

Mia leaned forward “I vote we get settled in before we hit up this conservatory, I want a hole to hide in, in case we need it.” Mia looked at the Good Doctor and gestured to her. “She needs a corner to set up shop as well. I want to see what kind of underworld we’re dealing with. We get things started, then see about your people.” It was familiar ground, it was what Mia needed; establish a base of operations and start working from that point. “I mean, we don’t really want to go back to another Nummari situation, do we?”

“Way I see it.” Dr. Farrow said, looking out the window. “We’re Probably going to be trading in one master for the next. That’s how it is. The only difference is that these new people might leave us alone long enough to do the research we need to.” She looked over to Mia at that comment, nodded to her, and then looked at the rest of them. “That’s what Adriana died for; these data rods. The best we can do to honor that is carry this through to end. We good with that?” Her tone was gruff as always, Mia barely noticed it. Hearing the name was a wound ripped open.

With everything decided on, the car took them away from the docks and into the heart of the city. Vikaros wasn’t the expert guide they could be, but they recalled enough to give the group an idea of where to start. Steel and glass, shimmering in the sunlight, gave way to dark stone. Concrete sprawling structures that felt like they were shat out by a bureaucratic ant colony.

The roads curved downwards, taking them into a partially-underground district of the city. It was grimy, stank heavily of prefabricated auto buildings and was perfect in Mia’s eyes. Down here in the shadows, she could operate best. She’d worry about securing some of the finer things in life once she knew she had some security for her and her allies.

Several dozen sets of eyes were on them as the car came to a stop. The speed at which the driver peeled off as soon as their luggage was unpacked told Mia this was the perfect kind of seedy place. Vikaros looked the most nervous in this element. Likely, the magi was raised in more luxury, with more hands attending them than picking their pockets. Still, they’d adjust. They had to. At least for now.

Eislia and Dr. Farrow probably looked similar to how Mia did; unamused and casual. Vikaros shuffled closer to Eislia, Mia couldn’t blame them, really. “Alright, who’s the talker here?” A pause. “It’s me, isn’t it?”

“Yep. Just get us a place.” Dr. Farrow had found a decently out-of-the-way place to stand with the luggage just to the side of the walkway. She guided Eislia over to also take up a guarded stance and keep watch. “Doesn’t have to be fancy or anything.” ‘No shit, doc.’ Mia thought to herself. She snorted and turned to find whoever the landlord was.

The gang stood in a courtyard of sorts; ringed with tall buildings with storefronts and stalls set up all around the perimeter. As she scanned around, Mia spotted a sectioned-off area on one building’s entrance with a sign that read ‘Management’. She shrugged and paced over to it. Mia’s movements were precise and confident, her edge felt returned to her. Her determination, even for a casual task, was Mia’s armor. Her means of protection against a random and cruel world.

She stepped into the small room that served as an office; yet she saw no desk or anywhere someone could sit. Instead, on the other side of the room stood a massive, metallic…thing. Mia wasn’t sure what it was; some kind of closet or door. As she glanced around in confusion, Mia walked up to the metallic construct. She wondered if this room was a sort of antechamber; but as she approached her question was answered. The ‘door’ opened, unfolded, sheets of precisely-smithed steel slid aside to reveal a torso of artificial design. Its head was elongated, insectoid, the limbs dangled over a device that Mia assumed was a console.

“Citizen; present Identification.” The voice was like listening to two metal discs being scrapped against each other. Mia tilted her head at the construct, she’d never seen anything as sophisticated as that back home. There were some very minor structures, some automatons that served as guards, but that was just on the upper levels of Forthiron. Not exactly commonplace. This place was the lowest of the low and here stood something that outshone everything she saw before. She shifted her stance, folded her arms across her chest, and tilted her head again at it.

“Yeah sure. I need a place. At least two rooms and three beds.” She handed over an engraved slip of metal. Fake credentials that were provided for her by the captain; another term of their agreement. The machine took this slip–grasped in a small claw��and inserted it in a slot. A few clicks and whirrs sounded and the thing cocked its head.

“Admission granted. Your room will be completed in exactly one hour. Return then. Here is your key, and terms of stay, do not lose them.” Mia barely had time to take both items before she was gestured out of the room. She was perfectly fine with that. It’s not like this cold-sterile room was her kind of hangout anyway.

She stepped back into the streets where the rest of her entourage waited. Eislia craned her neck as she looked up, a grinding sound caught Mia’s ears and she followed her gaze. At the top of the building several stories up Mia spied a most unusual vision: Pillars of steel sprung up from the building itself, growing from it, along the edges crawled a stone-like substance, the shape hard to make out at this distance. It took her a moment, but she realized she was watching their room being…grown almost. Like a cyst bursting from the flesh, so did this artifice grow from the building.

The mechanical thing asked them to wait an hour. Mia had assumed that it was just red tape, or to get the proper room requisitioned or something. She now realized that it meant their room was being built for them, actually constructed. “This place is fucking weird.” She sighed.

“So. Who wants to get drunk?” Dr. Farrow suggested, the silence broken by her well-honed verbal strike.

“I think I would actually enjoy that.” Eislia agreed. Mia looked up at her with a cock-eyed glare. She snorted out a laugh and shook her head.

“You guys go, find a place and we’ll meet back here in a little bit. I’ll make sure that I’m back in time ok?” Before Farrow could offer a witty bon mot or protest, Mia raised a hand. “I just need some air. Gotta stretch my legs.”

“Of course, kid.” She paused, then raised a brow. Dr. Farrow had known Mia for ages. They both, long ago, came to a sort of understanding: They never got in each other's way outside of their duties. Dr. Farrow’s drive was to patch Mia up and make sure she kept living. Mia’s was to serve the family. Right now, they had a slight alteration of said duties, but they remained largely similar. It seemed that the older woman had picked up on Mia’s need to process. She nodded and held out her hand. “Why don’t you hand me the key and papers; I’ll make sure all these idiots get settled in so you don’t have to worry about us for a bit, ok?”

Mia let out a soft breath, the consideration was gratefully accepted. “Sure.” She handed both objects over, then turned to leave. Mia had no idea where to go, or how to get there. She needed that though, she needed to be lost for a little while.

The foreign city stretched out before her; a threat, a challenge, a new home.

The rooftop of a nearby building provided a good place to hide. As soon as she had broken off from the group, she’d swung up and climbed the first one she could find. Standing on the roof, with cold air hitting her cheeks, Mia felt like she could finally breathe. She walked up to the edge of the building and put her hands on the roof’s side. The cold stone grounded her, bringing her senses back to the forefront. She could deal with this. She could deal with this kind of reality; problems she could grasp, hold, and solve.

Mia had never been outside of Forthiron her entire life, yet here she was in an entirely different city. Leagues away from her old life. It was a tapestry of colours foreign to her: Less dull greys and more cold azures, plum and amber mixed with ethereal lights. The buildings all seemed to catch the fading sunlight differently too. As if their very material was something alien. Terostav’s buildings were curved blades cutting into the sky, there was verticality, stacked layers of arced shapes mingled with each other. Now that Mia had a better view, she could see a few large domes that stood out from the rest of it, space cut around them that brought a sense of importance to their being.

But the main thing that caught her eyes were the manaforges. Massive structures that resembled the ribs of a great beast, a pale white that shimmered in the lights. A light-blue coloured steam flowed out from holes along the sides of the forges. Mia knew these, she recognized them from home. Although manaforges in Forthiron were few and far between. The largest one she’d ever seen was only a dozen meters tall. Still massive and cumbersome to say the least; but nothing like the ones that towered before her right now. These forges dominated the skyline, defined it, they were the pillars of the sky. Maybe that explained why this place was so weirdly soaked in magic? If their forges were this massive, that was certainly a contributing factor.

She gasped softly as she took it all in, and smiled. “I’m gonna fuck this city so hard.” Her blood sang to her, excitement buzzed through her veins. She wanted to run, leap, scream. With a step on the edge, Mia leapt off.

The wind rushed past her, she didn’t have much time, maybe a second, but she drank it in. The sensation of falling tugged at her guts, Mia loved it. The inevitable reminder of gravity’s constant. She waited for a beat. A sacred second. At the last possible moment, Mia pulled the pistol from her jacket, aimed at a rooftop and fired. She felt the exhilarating vibration in her hand, the exchange of compressed air into inertia. She braced herself for the jolt in her arm as the line went taut. The apex of the swing, the stomach-wrenching feeling, the thrill of taunting death.

Mia was in heaven.

Action and movement were her domain. The realm where death is dealt. Even if she always had to do the thinking and planning, fuck if she didn’t hate that part of things. Mia hit the ground at just the right angle, she tucked and rolled and came to a perfect stop. Flipping her hair back, Mia pocketed her grapple gun (Founders, what a fun little toy) and looked around. The rush of blood in her ears lingered for a moment, and Mia adjusted her clothes as she calmed.

In all the excitement, Mia had let her senses dull. She should have heard the footsteps approaching, yet she did not. The rhythm of the steps was not the ‘I want to talk’ kind. Mia barely had time to get her dagger out before a flicker of steel came her way. She followed through with the motion, parried the blade aside and came face to face with her attacker.

Taller than her (typical, when is she gonna find some women shorter than her, dammit) dark features: dark brown eyes that held a fire Mia recognized. Her attacker’s hair was curly, brown and lucious. It was tied back into a ponytail. It caught the light just right. Damn she has a good hair care routine. Those dark eyes stared into Mia’s. “Cease and relent, neerdowell!” She cocked her head back and looked down at Mia. Both of them saw it. A resemblance that was impossible to ignore, a pull, a familiarity: Home.

Family.

They both uttered the words, the chant pulled from their lips as if by invisible thread.

“What the fuck?”

#cities of steel and blood #creative writing #writing #writers of tumblr

3 notes · View notes

nervousgardenerkid · 2 years ago

Note

no thoughts, head empty, just being eddie’s sibling and convincing steve to come play a oneshot with hellfire (a oneshot is basically an entire ‘campaign’ that happens in one session compared to a campaign which takes multiple sessions) as a way to have eddie and steve bond in a more relaxed environment where overprotective older brother eddie is in his environment and therefore should theoretically be more chill

but no. eddie is doing whatever he can to make steve’s character suffer and/or die while steve is just flirting with you under the guise of playing his character (he’d probably play as bard because he has those vibes, probably a half elf bard or a human)

Brotherly duties

a/n: this is quite literally the shortest thing i've ever wrote and it's bc i have no clue how d&d works😭i lowkey have a deep hatred for it cause my toxic ex would always play it and he was just a piece of shit so now i hate everything that reminds me of him LMAO lowercase everything is intended i'm too faded to correct things rn i hope i did this to your liking🥺credit to the gif owner! <3

steve had no clue how you managed to drag him to your d&d....thing. he cringes internally when he realizes that he can't even remember what you called it. he remembers the laugh robin let out once you skipped away from him with a smile on your face.

"dude, you don't know a damn thing about d&d!"

"don't you think i know that?! what the hell am i gonna do?"

and now here he is. sitting in a circle with the hell fire club lost as hell as everyone is chanting at steve. he breaks free from his thoughts when eddie throws a die at him.

"you're holding up the oneshot!" he shouts at steve.

what the hell is a one shot?! steve thinks to himself. his heart skips a beat when he hears you giggle at your brother bullying him. steve would gladly take a thousands dice to the face if it meant he could hear your giggle again.

steve grabs the dice that are sitting in front of him staring at them with wide eyes.

"i thought dice only had six sides?"

the party groans and dustin gently bangs his head on the table.

"just roll it!" eddie shouts.

steve tosses the dice back into the table looking back at eddie silently asking him what the fuck do these numbers mean.

eddie let's out a hum and smiles when an idea pops into his head.

"steve's character is dead!"

"what?!" you shout while standing up from your seat.

eddie nods his head. "yup, he's dead. may we all mourn his corpse, i ask for a moment of silence."

a literal second passes and eddie claps his hands together. "moment of silence is over! your turn mike."

"hold on now." steve says while sitting up. "you guys literally get to do whatever you want in this game. lucas literally rolled so that he could push gareth's character down!"

"and i will do it again." lucas said while glaring at gareth.

"let me roll again! if i land on a seven then..." steve decided now was the time. well, not really, but he figured he'd really get under eddie's skin and ask you out on a date in front of your very protective older brother.

"i get to take y/n on a date."

eddie slams his hands on the table and stands from his throne.

"YOU DARE TO DATE MY LITTLE, BABY SISTER."

"dude, you got me beat by like two months." you mumbled while sitting back down in your seat.

steve stares at eddie with wide eyes and opens his mouth only to close it quickly.

"um, yeah? you heard what i said right?"

eddie stands up straight and crosses his arms over his chest.

"absolutely..."

you smile at eddie. "really?!"

"NOT! over my dead body you're dating her!"

you stand back up and lean over the table. "that can be arranged."

bickering starts between the three of you and the rest of the part watches like it's free entertainment, except for dustin.

"i have to deal with these bone heads on a daily basis. all i wanted to do was play d&d...why me?"

"OKAY FINE!" eddie shouts. he points at the both of you and begins to smirk.

"he can take you out IF he defeats vecna."

you gasp and place your hands over your mouth as you narrow your eyes at your older brother.

"you monster."

eddie begins to laugh evilly knowing steve would never defeat him, not even the party has done that yet!

"who the hell is vecna?"

everyone groans, including you. steve rubs his finger tips along his temples trying to play catch up.

"i thought the bad guy was that werewolf dude-"

"he's a VAMPIRE!" eddie shouts.

steve looks at him and shakes his head.

"same thing."

eddie let's out a scoff. "same thing?! THIS IS WHO YOU WANT TO DATE?!"

"YES AND YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND EDDIE!"

"is vecna the mind thingy? that's something different isn't it?"

eddie stares between you two and narrows his eyes at steve.

"steve. let's take a walk."

steve starts to follow eddie out of the theatre room when you grab his hand and hand him a bag of cheetos.

"take this with you, if he gets aggressive just hold it up like you would feed a rabid dog some steak."

you give him a small kiss on the cheek and push him out room. eddie is stood next to his van smoking a cigarette.

"listen man, i didn't mean to put you on the spot i just figured-"

"do you know why you're here, steve?"

"like...as in on this earth?"

silence is shared between the two of them before eddie take a long drag from his cigarette.

"no," he coughed out. "on oneshot night."

eddie takes his silence as a no and blows out a streak of smoke.

"she wants us to get closer. she figured since this my area of...expertise," he says with a smile. "she thought i'd be chill. laid back even!"

steve nods his head and chuckled at the fact that you think your brother would ever be calm.

"but let me be clear." eddie flicked his cigarette on the floor and stomped on it while blowing out whatever smoke he had left. "i am not calm when it comes to my sister. if i see her crying and she tells me it's because of you, i will break all of your fingers and feed you to that vicious dog."

steve gulps and looks at the dog eddie was pointing at that was sat next to his car.

"a cat could eat that dog."

"shut up!"

steve slowly takes the bag of cheetos out from behind his back and hands it to eddie with a smile on his face. eddie looks from the bag to steve's face before smiling and taking the bag of chips. he pops one into his mouth and walks back toward the building.

"i expect her home by 11! don't keep me waiting harrington, killer is a very hungry boy."

the small dog yapped at the two boys and ran in the opposite direction of them. you poked your head out once eddie was gone and stepped outside of the building.

"so, how'd it go?"

steve smiled and threw an arm around you.

"let's go hot shot, i have to have you home by eleven or your brother will feed me to the school's stray."

you let out a squeal and jumped into steve's arm laughing when he spun you around.

"HEY!"

you and steve look back at the school and see a very angry looking dustin.

"IF YOU BRING HIM BACK HERE TO PLAY AGAIN IM GOING TO KILL YOUR CHARACTER SO HARD. YOU'LL BE DEADER THAN STEVE'S DWARF!"

"I WAS A BARD!"

"do you even know what a bard is?" you asked him.

steve shook his head. "it sounded cool when your brother said it."

#stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington stranger things #stranger things fluff #stranger things blurb

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kozisjournal · 3 years ago

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𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆- 𝑘𝑎𝑡𝑠𝑢𝑘𝑖 𝑏𝑎𝑘𝑢𝑔𝑜𝑢

round two, let's go !

warnings: blood mentions, and cursing, but that's about it.

notes: this katsuki bakugou is the king of dragons, i've had the absoulte worst brainrot for this over the past couple days so, wrote this and prayed it would help... it didn't but, it was worth a shot. words: 1.5k

enjoy !

battle was always… tricky for katsuki. on one hand, he loved it. he was well trained by both parents. yet on the other, there was this feeling. he couldn’t even begin to explain it. but there it sat in the pit of his stomach once again, like an itch he couldn’t scratch. everyone told him to ignore it, push it down, use it as fuel for the fire that burned in his deep ruby eyes. he couldn’t stop the grimace that steadily built its way across his face as his falcata plunged into another torso.

he’d never get used to the sound of destruction he left in his wake, his army crying out with each savage movement. they wanted him to keep going, so he must. reclaim the lands that were once theirs, and kill anyone that stood his way. his leg raised to kick the poor bastard off his sword, the urge to gag settling on the back of his tongue. the scent of blood hung over his head as it trailed down his arm, sticky and dark, yet his eyes still moved to find the next extra to drive his sword through.

an unfamiliar wail rang in his ears. it sounded inhuman, and so angry. defeated almost. he couldn’t get distracted now, taking a few steps through the blood soaked grass under his boots, then he heard it again… what the fuck?

“this is what your king wants, isn’t it? for your useless race to die along with the rest of your villages.”

how had that elf gotten past him? his body tensed, feet stabling under him, sword raised and ready for impact. without so much as another breath, he darted through the crowd, threading between other pairs fighting, until he felt a crack. katsuki looked through his lashes, evil smirk plastered across his lips while a disheartened chuckle passed them.

“the last thing i want is for my people to die by the hands of you scum.”

by its own will, his wrist twisted, a nasty sound coming from the man he’d just impaled on his blade. a calloused hand pushed him away, then without looking, the same hand extended out to who he’d just saved. they pushed it away, and that caught his attention. his gaze moved to meet theirs, one brow raising while he looked over their smaller figure.

“i didn’t need your help. i had it under control.”

“alright, whatever. next time i won’t save your ass then.”

within a blink of bright red eyes, he was the one looking up, cold metal pressed across his neck.

“good, last thing i need is your help.”

his hands came to rest on either side of his head, palms up in surrender while he studied their face. he’d never seen them within the kingdom. maybe they were a villager? it didn’t really matter… they were beautiful. the king, of course, couldn’t believe in love at first sight. after he took home this win, he was to be married to a fae princess. everyone knew that, so why did it feel like his heart had completely stopped? clean air scrubbed away at his lungs as they drew in a deep breath.wait, did they say something…?

“ya gonna get up, king? or are you gonna keep giving me that weird look?”

shit! they were already on their feet, now extending out a hand of their own, much smaller than his. it was kinda cute… no! no, no, no. not cute.. um.. so what was it then? he brushed himself off once he was standing, his fingers twitching. is he nervous? no, he couldn’t be. the king of dragons doesn’t get nervous from a simple glance. they cleared their throat, pulling him from his internal monologue of confusion. within that moment, y/n’s own face began to heat at the feeling of king katsuki’s hand still wrapped around theirs. the skin felt soft against his own, dried blood and a lifetime of training coated his hand like a blanket. y/n could almost feel the weight of an entire kingdom within it, a sense of pride filling their chest as they examined the king again.

“thanks for saving me… i guess. don’t let that go to your already inflated ego though.”

katsuki could only laugh, shaking his head and, regretfully, pulling his hand from their grasp.

“yeah, yeah. maybe watch yourself and i won’t have to come rescue you again.”

“you make it sound like i was a damsel in distress.”

“well… ow-!”

They landed a swift hit to the crown of his head, looking up at him with a confusing expression. katsuki couldn’t read it at first, there was a mix of both anger and half of a smile written across their face.

“didn’t i tell you to not let that go to your head, you oaf.”

“yeah, you did. but last time i checked. i’m the king, and you’re the smallest warrior in this battle.”

a pair of arms moved to cross over their chest, while a pout, clear as day, sat across their lips. that was it. katsuki could feel a smile tug at the corners of his own lips, attempting to stifle a laugh, but failing miserably. they wanted to land another smack, however, if they did, that would only give the king another reason to laugh.

“what's so funny, your highness?”

the title brought him back down to earth, the light hearted expression now becoming no more than a dream to the pair.

“we gotta war to win… i’ll see you out there.”

their head turned, eyes narrowing as they scanned across the horizon, katsuki’s hand extending out to rest against their exposed shoulder.

“fight with me.”

“what?!”

with the most dumbfounded expression they could muster, their eyes moved to look over the king in front of them, instead of the dwindling battle.

“what? want me to repeat it? i don’t want anymore of my people to get hurt, and it looks like you’ve fought hard already.”

“so you want me, a complete stranger, to fight by your side?”

he only nodded, his own gaze now moving to examine the ongoing fight. maybe this was a terrible idea. the worst he’d ever come up with. but right now the only thing that mattered to him was keeping his people safe, and y/n was one of them. instead of disregarding his request, they stood beside him, readying their own weapon.

“i don’t think i ever got your name.”

“yeah, you can get it after we win. sound fair?”

he looked over them again, a sly smile sitting across his face while he gave a short nod.

“better make sure we win then. let’s go.”

he sped off without a second thought, roaring with nothing but excitement now. the itch had been scratched. he wouldn’t have to explain why battle was so tough for him anymore. he’d found his reason for fighting. a partner. y/n watched him run off with a sort of amazement coursing through them. maybe the king wasn’t as bad as everyone said he was. sure, he seemed kinda dumb but it was almost endearing.

the pair fought seamlessly, covering for each other when needed, taking turns on ending strikes. they stayed side by side until the end, and katsuki caught himself staring in awe more than once. there was something soothing about having a partner out there. someone to share a win with, someone to trust. by the gods, it’s been so long since he’s found someone he could trust in a fight. this was something he could get used to it. now. the king wasn't supposed to get attached to someone he just met, much less someone he’d most likely never see again. but they did meet again. plenty of times after that.

after a month of what seemed like endless fighting, the elfan people finally gave up, pathetically waving a white flag in figure eights. katsuki’s army stood behind him, raising their weapons in victory, jumping and dancing like the barbarians they truly were, and one again caught his attention. his shorter battle partner sprinted towards him, wrapping him in a tight hug, weapon now lying idle on the ground beside them. the two stayed like that for what seemed like years, holding each other and basking in the glory of the sucess they’ll be taking home. he felt something whispered into his skin, eyebrows knitting a story of confusion, slowly pulling away from the smaller figure in his hold.

“sorry.. what was that?”

“y/n. that’s my name.”

he stood completely dumbfounded, all this time, they’d been joined at the hip. throughout long grueling days and cold nights, they’d been at each other’s sides. and yet, king katsuki was just getting their name.

“you always have this dumb look on your face. you understand how introductions work, right?”

“yeah.. of course i do. ours was just different, that's all.”

“just don’t forget who covered you out there. i’m going back home.”

his head nodded slowly, offering them a smile in return. and that was it, they turned on their heel and walked in the opposite direction while hoards of warriors within the dragon kingdom celebrated around him. it only took a moment for that devilish smirk to spread across his lips, following behind them, and leaving his more than tired army behind...and he never met that fae princes, either, for the record.

#bakugou katsuki #bnha #mha #mha bakugou #bakugou x reader #mha x reader #bnha x reader #katsuki x reader

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purplesorcery · 3 years ago

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“ for once in your life, what is it that you want? ”

From this prompt list.

Gilmore smiled sadly. “You know, it’s funny. No one ever asks me that.”

“No shit,” Kima said. “That’s why I did. And you gotta answer. None of that vague hand-wavy shit you always do when the focus is on your needs.”

Gilmore laughed out loud. She was always so direct. “I love you.”

“Same. Now answer the question, before I kick your thicc purple ass. No more trying to change the subject.”

Gilmore took a deep breath and released it before answering. “I want…everything. I don’t necessarily want to keep it, but I want to hold it in my hands and see what it’s worth at least once. I want to be worshipped and adored, but not in a way that brings oppression or subjugation. I want to be adored in a way that makes people delight to see me, that lifts their hearts and inspires them to do what makes them happy. I want to be loved for who I am, not for my unique talents or this glorious facade. I want to be truly seen, by someone who wants to see me for me. Who can look at me with all of my flaws and imperfections and not flinch away.”

“Well give a whole lecture why don’t you.” But when Gilmore glanced up at Kima, he could see she was teasing. “Hey, I gotta give you credit. You didn’t outright say, ‘I want all the gold and gems in the world’.”

“Darling, I’m a dragon, not a monster. Just because I’m driven by my very nature to hoard precious things doesn’t mean I want to hoard everything.”

Kima grinned. “Just the stuff that’s worth the most.”

Gilmore shrugged humbly. “It’s subjective. What might appear to be trash to someone else could certainly be treasure to me.”

“You mean like a certain half elf?”

Gilmore swatted at her, playfully. “Stop. You’re so mean.”

“Hey. I’d gladly take back my title of dumpster fire for the guy if he’d ONE time treat you like a person with feelings, and not his own personal therapy rock.”

Gilmore shrugged, pretending it didn’t bother him. “He’s troubled, and he trusts me. I can’t be mad at that.”

Kima leaned forward, almost threateningly. “Yes. You. Can.” She put her hands on her hips. “That little fucker never comes around here but he wants something from you. And what do you get in return? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Not so much as a thank you.”

She clapped her hands on each of the words she said next: “Your emotional labor has value.” Kima gestured with her hands as she continued: “It’s not okay for him to demand it of you time and time again, much less for free!”

Gilmore tilted his head. “Well, isn’t that what friends are for?”

Kima got right up in his face. “Fuck no! Are you kidding me, goldie? Friends share each other’s burdens. They don’t just take take take with no thought for what the other person is going through.” She stood back and pointed at him. “Admit it. Generous as you are, even you have to admit that you deserve better.”

Gilmore let out a laugh that was half sigh. “Well of course I do.”

She clapped her hands again. “Then why do you keep letting him use you like this?”

Gilmore shrugged. “Perhaps it’s my generous nature. Or maybe…” His expression grew pensive. “Perhaps I’m afraid I wouldn’t see him at all anymore, if I ever stopped.”

“That.” Kima pointed at him and then hopped up on the couch to sit next to him. “That is the truest thing you’ve said today.”

When Gilmore opened his mouth to protest, she stopped him. “Don’t say anymore. Just think about it.”

Gilmore cradled his cup of tea, feeling somehow worse than he had in some time. “Hey.” Kima nudged him. “I love you, queen. You know I just want to see you get the appreciation you deserve.”

She was right, of course. That was the worst part. If he was honest with himself, Gilmore wasn’t sure Vax’ildan had ever truly seen him. Or that he had any desire to.

“You are…” Gilmore searched for the words. He did love her. Deeply. “...a good friend.”

“You’re damn right I am,” Kima shot back. “Now help me think of what to get Allie for our anniversary. You know I’m no good with the whole mushy gift thing.”

“Ooo.” Gilmore smiled, brightening immediately. “Can it involve shopping?”

Kima grimaced. “Oh, fuck me.”

His smile widened. “You asked.”

#prompts #fanfiction #long post cw #gilmore & kima #best friends forever #dragon!gilmore #on vaxilmore #intervention #mlm wlw solidarity #feelin good as hell

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rainydaymiddleearthimagines · 4 years ago

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The Arrangement Pt6

Warning: mentions of blood, injuries, attempting to fix said injuries and yet another near death experience

Note: The next chapter will be the end to the story, however a new one will begin. This is where backstory begins to get a little shaky because I don’t know certain time frames but I am trying.

You sat in the window, hair braided back as you watched the leaves fall. Arwen noticed your look, your far off look. Usually when this happened you were listening to nature, hearing the trees converse. Arwen didn’t even have to tell you that Aragorn had arrived, you could feel the change of the air. You got up slowly, stretching as you did. “Hear anything of interest?” She asked. “Nothing that I didn’t already know.” You shrugged.

You walked down the stairs, seeing Aragorn with his horse. He was older now, as were you. Fifteen years had gone by, his old wounds now scars hidden by his clothes. You smiled softly, him turning to you before engulfing you into a hug. You chuckled. “You’ve been near the Shire.” you said, smelling the tobacco on his clothes. “Nothing ever gets past you.” He said with a chuckle. He brushed a loose strand aside and you blushed, chuckling. “Where are we going this time?” you asked. “I was thinking you choose the destination.” He suggested. “Any special reason as to why?” you asked. “I assume the trees could get us back if we got truly lost.” He said making you chuckle. “You do realize that would be we would just wander the woods for hours if I had my way.” you said. “Then we shall wander.” he said.

And so you did, eventually camping in a clearing that night. The fire crackled and Aragorn warmed his hands. “I love the woods.” you said softly. “I know. Your eyes seem to get brighter when we’re going through them.” He said softly. You smiled, looking down. He smiled, stepping over to the log you were sitting on and sitting next to you. Neither of you said anything. It was silence around you with the exception of the pops of the fire. The silence was one of comfort, giving you both a pleasant feeling. You looked at the flames, watching it dance for a little while. “You have something on your mind.” He noticed. You nodded without thinking. “What troubles you?” He asked.

The answer was sitting next to you on a log. Your mind was always thinking of him. Sometimes you’d sit in the woods to tell nature of your problems. Oh how tired they must be over Aragorn’s name. A light breeze swayed the direction of the fire, almost encouraging you to say something. You were actually good at keeping your feelings in on this subject, after all fifteen years of experience was tucked under your belt. He looked at you confused.

Speak to him Undomiel.

You sighed. “These royal lessons are getting more strange. Last week I had to learn the differences in... Dinner forks.” you said making Aragorn snort. He expected something more.. Profound than a complaint on your father’s insistence of you learning royal etiquette. “Then I had to learn three different forms of curtsies. Who in the hell does three different curtsies!?” You asked. Aragorn laughed at your increased frustration. “Oh laugh it up, I would threaten to stab you but I’m not entirely sure what fucking knife to use for the job.” You said with a slight laugh. Aragorn’s laughter finally subsided and he cleared his throat. "I know you better than that Y/n, what is bothering you?" He asked.

You looked at him and then back at the fire. Occasionally you'd open your mouth to speak but your anxiety was so bad that you closed your mouth. "I'm... Going to get more firewood." You said finally. He rose a brow as you walked off into the woods. You sighed, running a hand over your face. You were 2,467 years old for God's sake. S crush shouldn't be this hard to admit but when it came to Aragorn the man made you crazy. You were terrified that you would destroy the close bond by admitting your feelings. You hated this so much.

Not alone.

You looked up and frowned, reaching for your dagger by your side. "Na- -yes Aragorn? (Is it Aragorn?)" You muttered.

No. Different.

You swallowed. "Na- ha safe? (Is it safe?)" You asked.

Unsure.

You stepped back, facing the darkness when you bumped into someone. You jumped, Aragorn raising a brow. "You didn't come back, are you sure you're alright Y/?" He asked. "We're not alone." You said. He frowned, drawing his sword. You heard a twig snap and you braced yourself.

Then... A figure walked out and you readied yourself. "Wait." Aragorn halted. He recognized that armor. "you're a long ways from Rohan stranger." He said. "I've seem to be very lost. Yes." The voice said, revealing the person to be a woman.

Safe.

You sheathed your dagger and Aragorn rose a brow. He soon sheathed his sword. "Might I hear the name of the person whom I nearly skewered?" You asked making them chuckle. She stepped into view. "Liliana. And you?" She asked. "Y/n. This is Strider." You said. She nodded. "So.. where am I exactly?" She asked. "Well, you're not completely off course but you're closer to Mirkwood than Rohan." You said. "Stupid Wargs." She huffed. "I truly mean no offense, but how did you obtain the armor?" Aragorn asked. "It's my father's. I wanted to prove myself worthy for battle so I took off. Planned on hunting a bear. Instead found a very pissed off warg and it chased me until I got to the woods.

It did not leave.

You redrew your dagger. "What's wrong?" Aragorn asked. "The warg followed her." You said. "How do you--" "Do you have a weapon?" Aragorn asked. "No, it broke." She said. "Then get behind us." You said. She nodded and you all stood in silence before you saw those eyes. Those animalistic eyes. You sprinted forward, attacking the creature.

It was more of a one on one attack as you fought it, it on top of you. "STRIDER!" Was all you yelled, him running over before it bit your neck. You let out an agonized scream before Aragorn plunged his sword through the warg. Aragorn shoved the creature off of you, him kneeling. "The son of a bitch bit me." You winced, blood dripping down your neck. "I have herbs in my pack." He said softly. You sat up slowly, wincing as you did. "I am so sorry." Liliana apologized. "wasn't your fault." You assured, though your vision was hazier. Aragorn noticed your sudden stumble forward, you keeping a hand to your neck. "Y/n move your hand." He said. You slowly pulled your hand away. It was deeper and you were losing a lot of blood, very fast.

"Shit." He murmured, Liliana gaping. You stumbled again, this time seeing dark spots. Your legs felt weaker, your vision was failing and you collapsed into Aragorn's arms. He caught you, holding you close to him. Liliana pondered. "We're supposed to be near Mirkwood aren't we?" She asked. "I don't see how that's supposed to..." He paused. "I know this is a long shot but can you alert Legolas of her life being in danger!?" Aragorn asked the trees. "Who is Legolas!?" Liliana asked, very confused as a gust of wind travelled through the trees. There was a small chance this would work and that's what was keeping him somewhat calm.

Aragorn made his way back to the camp, you in his arms. The Evenstar necklace had a blood splatter on it now, your armor being coated with it. Liliana was helping in whatever way she could, actually showing an aptitude with medicinal herbs. He took a cloth, pressing it to your neck before frowning. "We need to cauterize the wound." Liliana said. "I know. It's going to be excruciating though." He muttered. "Do you have anything to help?" Liliana asked. He shook his head and she looked through your bag, finding a piece of metal that would do the job. She stuck it in the fire, waiting a few seconds before handing it to Aragorn. He took it, beginning the cauterization process. You whimpered in your sleep, breaking Aragorn's heart.

He heard rapid footsteps Liliana looking over her shoulder before an elf sprinted out of the woods, kneeling by your side. "How long has she been like this?" He asked. "A few minutes. Legolas it's bad." Aragorn said. "Our healers can fix this. You have a horse?" He asked. He nodded to his steed along with yours. "Good. Follow me, ride with your friend. We're taking her to Mirkwood." He said. Aragorn nodded, Legolas taking your horse and riding, Liliana riding with Aragorn on his horse. "come on Y/n... Stay with us." Legolas murmured, holding you close.

Arwen looked up, shocked look on her face. "FATHER." She called. Elrond looked up at his daughter, noticing the panic. "Something's wrong with Y/n. She's going to Mirkwood with a woman, Aragorn and Legolas." She said. Elrond's eyes widened. "Arwen, are you sure?" He asked. "Yes! Something happened!" She said. "Go get your horse, we'll leave for Mirkwood." Elrond said. Arwen nodded, both of them running off to prepare for the journey. Elrond was silently praying that you would make and Arwen was solely relying on that feeling of you. She ran to her horse, Elrond already mounted and ready to leave before she halted, a hand going to her mouth. "What's wrong?" Elrond asked. "She's drifting to the fade."

Legolas was wishing you had been closer to Mirkwood, seeing as you were getting colder. "We need you Y/n, don't you dare pass over." He breathed. Aragorn rode in silence, clinging to that hope that you would still make it, unaware that your sister was already alert to the danger and on her way with Elrond. Relief washed over Legolas as he entered Mirkwood. "FATHER!" He called, Thranduil turning around and seeing you. Legolas practically leapt off the horse, you in his arms. "I need healers, medicine, something." He said, handing you off to a healer. They ran off with you as Aragorn rode in. "You brought the man with you." Thranduil muttered. "I don't have time for your dislike towards others father, my best friend's life is in danger." Legolas snapped. Thranduil gave his son a disapproving look but said nothing. "How did this happen?" Thranduil asked. "It was my fault, I accidentally--" "It was not your fault. I should have been more alert and gave her my sword when she sensed danger." Aragorn halted. "It was a warg attack." He said. "wargs can be ruthless creatures." Thranduil said before halting. "Elrond and her sister have left Rivendell." He said.

Aragorn frowned. "She's passing over." Thranduil said, filling Aragorn with anxiety. “Is there a way to ensure she survives?” Aragorn asked. “If there is one, it’s not coming to mind. I should tend to her myself.” Thranduil said before leaving. “I’m so sorry.” Liliana mumbled, looking at the ground. “It was not your fault. That warg was going to find us eventually.” Aragorn assured. “Though you should probably return to Rohan.” He added. “I don’t know the way back.” She said. “Aerin can show you.” Legolas said, halting a man from walking. “Show her the way back to Rohan.” He said. “Yes your hign--” “Ah. We talked about this.” Legolas halted. “...Yes... Sir.” The man nodded before walking away with Liliana. Aragorn sat on a nearby bench, putting his face in his hands.

Legolas sat down next to him and breathed. “She’s strong. She will make it.” Legolas said. “I can’t let her die.” Aragorn muttered. “Y/n has survived much worse Aragorn.” Legolas assured. He sighed. “Is this what it’s going to take every time? A near death experience to have a shocking revelation?” Aragorn asked. “What shocking revelation have you had?” Legolas asked. “That I need to tell her that I love her.” He said. Legolas nodded, looking at the ground. “It’s about time.” He said. “What-- You knew?” Aragorn asked. “It’s not hard to see. You look at her like she’s the light of your life, you always do things to make her smile, you’re more affectionate with her than anyone else, you give her small pet names in her native language, it’s amazing she hasn’t figured this out yet.” Legolas said. Aragorn said nothing and Legolas stood up. “Have you eaten?” He asked. “No.” Aragorn said. “Come on. Someone will come to us if something happens.” Legolas said.

It felt like deja vu for Legolas, him having to take care of Aragorn this time rather than you. Hours passed, eventually Aragorn sleeping on the ground against a wall near where they took you. His cloak kept him warm, Legolas occasionally walking by to make sure Aragorn was fine. The sounds of horses riding in though, eventually woke him up, Arwen running over to the room you were in. By the time Aragorn had woken up it was morning. He noticed a strange tension, elves standing with sad looks. That immediately rose alarms as he ran into the room. Arwen was weeping over a body.

Your body.

You were gone. This was confirmed by the unmoving chest, the paleness of you and worst of all, the state of everyone around you. Healers had their heads bowed, Legolas was frozen, unmoving with a blank expression as tears ran down his face and worst was your family. Your brothers joined your sister and father after they heard talk of something being wrong and they all stood in the room. Elrond was sobbing, holding your small hand in his as your brothers didn’t say a word. Arwen though, was inconsolable. She was broken down and sobbing.

Sound drowned out of Aragorn’s ears, him slowly walking towards you. Arwen looked up and she watched as he moved hair from your face. His fingers barely touched your skin but he could feel it. You were cold. You were dead. He shook slightly, looking at your face. “There... Has to be something we can do.” He muttered. “She’s gone Aragorn, what more can we do?” Elrohir asked. Legolas finally spoke. “P..Perhaps Gandalf would have an answer to why this happened.” He said. “She died. There’s your answer.” Elrohir muttered. “Elrohir.” Arwen snapped. “What? She is lying there and she’s...” He saw his baby sister’s face. “...She’s gone.” He muttered. “I agree... Something about this was too quick.” Thranduil said. “What should we do?” Elrond asked. “Call upon the council. And find the girl who was with you when you entered.” Thranduil said. Elrond nodded and Arwen looked down, closing her eyes with some sort of focus. “There was a woman?” Elrohir asked. “From Rohan. Are you sure she didn’t do this on purpose?” Legolas said. “Yes, I’m sure. If I was unsure, I wouldn’t have even let her come with us.” Aragorn said. “Are we even sure we can trust his judgement?” Thranduil asked. Elrond opened his mouth “She trusts him with her life, that says something about his character, does it not?” Arwen said. “You speak as if there is a chance of life.” Thranduil. “There is.” She said.

Elrond looked over. “Y/n has not passed over, not completely. She is very close but she’s clinging to a point that she couldn’t physically handle.” Arwen said, her eyes closed. “Can you feel her presence?” Elrond asked. “Galadriel has greeted her. She knows.” Arwen muttered. “Is there anything we can do Arwen?” Legolas asked. She shook her head. “It is strictly up to Y/n.” She said.

Aragorn’s gaze went back to you. This was happening again. Is this how helpless you felt when he almost died? He at least was breathing the whole time but you... You were clinically dead. It all was up to you and your choice. You were going to stay though... Right?

#aragorn x reader #aragorn imagine #aragorn

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bronte-deserves-better · 4 years ago

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Hey @stars-and-splendors! I was your secret santa for the kotlc fandom gift exchange. Sorry this is a little late- I meant to give it to you Christmas day or the day after, but the fic got away from me a little...I hope the wait will have been worth it!

Without further ado, I present to you: 4.5k words of Keefe and Fitz trying to dance around their feelings for each other, feat. a few moments of shitty parents and some very tired friends/sisters.

Title: to find what you’re looking for

Summary:

The war is over. The Neverseen is defeated.

In the new, peaceful world, Keefe and Fitz are attending the Elite Towers, soon to graduate. Yet both of them feel like they're missing something. When Keefe comes up with a scheme to prank their parents, both of their worlds may change forever- with the help of a few exasperated friends and supportive elder gays, of course.

Wordcount: 4514

Warnings: homophobia, internalized homophobia, swearing.

AO3 Link

(Actual fic under the cut)

“Hey. Psst. Fitz.”

Fitz jumped, startled at the voice. “Keefe? Where are you?”

“Over here. Ditching class. Like usual.”

He followed Keefe’s voice to the secluded little hallway that the other boy used for ditching, finding Keefe sprawled out on the bench as usual. “What are you doing here?”

“Ditching class, like I said. What about you, handsome?” Keefe flashed a smirk, which Fitz knew meant he meant that in a joking way. Or, figured, at least.

“Also ditching class.”

“Seriously? That’s not like you, Fitzy.”

Fitz shrugged. “I’m feeling rebellious lately, I guess. It just seems like we’ve all been through so much and yet adults are still trying to tell us what’s good for us, like we weren’t the ones who defeated the Neverseen.”

“Fuck, yeah. That’s definitely. Yeah.” Keefe stared at the ground, suddenly serious. “Everyone’s been like that, huh?”

“Well, not everyone, I guess. Sir Tiergan’s not bad about it, but he fusses so much about me and Sophie.”

“Oh, right, you’re supposed to be in telepathy. Won’t Sophie notice you’re gone?”

“Yeah, but that’s why I’m out here. No one will find me.”

Keefe nodded and patted the bench next to him, straightening up a little. “Come on, there’s room for two.”

“Thanks.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, staring at the white walls of the Level Six wing.

“So,” Keefe said eventually.

“So.”

“You wanna spill about what’s bugging you so much?”

Fitz could feel himself tense, but he forced his muscles to relax a little. Keefe just cared about him because they were friends. Yeah. “I don’t know. I just feel directionless. Like, we defeated the Neverseen and did this whole big thing, and now it’s over. It feels like- no, it is like- I’ve been fighting this war my whole life, Keefe.”

“Cause your dad-“

“Sent me to the Forbidden Cities when I was a child to search for Sophie.”

“Kinda a dick move of him, really.”

“N- Yeah. Yeah, it was a dick move of him.”

Keefe scooted a little closer, and Fitz’s breath caught just a tiny bit. “Hey, I know what it’s like. I mean, my dad never sent me to do illegal shit for him when I was a kid, yeah, but I mean….yeah. Mommy dearest and all. My parents are shit in a different way than your dad, but I get it. So I guess what I’m trying to say is…I’m here for you, and I know that sounds 100% cheesy but I really do mean it.”

“Oh. I mean, thank you. I should probably tell you I’m here for you too, since that really is true as well.” Fitz’s brain was not functioning, he decided.

“Ah, I knew that. You all told me so much back when mommy dearest was fucking up my life. Still, I appreciate it.”

“It’s always been true. Even when we were fighting over Sophie.”

Keefe snorted. “That was weird, honestly. Like, it was so obvious from the start that she wasn’t straight. Must’ve been pretty wild for you when she ended up with your sister, though.”

Fitz shrugged. “I had been over her for a while.” And questioning his sexuality, but he wasn’t going to tell Keefe that. Backers didn’t do that. Vackers weren’t gay- well, except Biana. But that was okay, Fitz knew she wasn’t any worse for it. Still, it wasn’t like he was gay.

“Fitzy boi, you with me?”

“Yeah sorry. Got lost in thought. What were you saying?”

Keefe grinned. “Well, I was saying that on the topic of shitty parents and gayness, I have an excellent way to piss off both our parents.”

“Go on?” Fitz was pretty sure Keefe’s plan would be ridiculously over the top and hilarious, but he was pretty ready to go along with whatever.

“Right, so, you know how there’s an end of year ball for Elite Tower students? Cause we have to be ready for the nobility and all? What if we went together?”

“Are you asking me out?” Fitz blurted.

“Ah, I wish. Nah, I’m asking if you’ll be my fake date to a ball so my dad will have a heart attack. If you’re okay with that, that is. Like, no pressure.” Keefe suddenly looked shy, and Fitz could hardly refuse that look. Besides, it would be fun to give his and Keefe’s dads a collective heart attack.

“Okay, I’m in.”

The next two weeks were spent plotting and planning as to how they would pull this off, with Sophie and Biana as their enthusiastic wingwomen.

“Okay, so, Biana’s already planning you guys’ outfits,” Sophie told Keefe as she walked back into her room at Havenfield, where Keefe was currently visiting.

“Tell her to make me look fabulous,” Keefe declared with a great deal of drama, doing his best to flop back onto the bed.

“I will, trust me. But I wanted to ask you about some other stuff related to this, since the Vackers are outfit shopping and you know I don’t do that.”

“Ok, fire away.”

“One, are you asking Fitz to this thing to piss off your dad or because you have a crush on him? Two, how dramatic should your prom-posal be?”

“As dramatic as possible.” Keefe hoped against hope Sophie would forget about her first question. “Like, we’ve got to be extra about it.”

“Ok. And about my first question?”

“I....I’m doing this for a lot of reasons. One, Fitzy boi needs to lighten up a bit. Two, I love him. Three, I would kill to see my dads expression when he finds out.”

“I kinda figured.”

“I’m that obvious? Guess I’ve upped my flirting game.” He shot a wink to Sophie, who just sighed.

“Keefe, you’re never as subtle as you think you are.”

“Damnit.”

“Yeah. Apparently your lack of subtly is only matched by my obliviousness.”

“Well, thankfully for me, Fitz is just as oblivious as you.”

Sophie sighed. “He’s going to find out someday. I did, you know.”

“Well I’ll make sure that day is far away, because he’s way out of my league.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Nopity nope nope. You two deserve each other, and I mean that in a good way.”

“Stop being so nice,” Keefe whined.

“No can do. Now let’s plan how you’re going to dramatically ask him to elf prom.”

The ‘promposal’, as Sophie had deemed it, took place in the atrium of the Gold Tower. They had agreed that Keefe would do the asking, since Sophie was far more interested in arranging a dramatic proposition, and Biana was far more interested in making sure that the two boys would look fantastic for the party. So all Fitz had to do was hang around and wait for his best friend to show up.

Thankfully, Keefe didn’t keep him waiting long, sweeping into the room like he owned the place. Maybe he did own Foxfire, really, the gorgeous boy who could charm people with a wink. He was certainly charming Fitz, not that Fitz was going to tell him that.

“Hello, my dearest Fitz!”

“Hey, Keefe.”

“I have a question of utmost importance for you.” By now, Keefe had come close enough that Fitz could see a hint of a blush staining the other’s pale cheeks.

“Oh, go on?”

“Wellllll.” Keefe dragged out the word, fidgeting with something behind his back, which he whipped out to reveal a gorgeous bouquet with flowers of silver, gold, and elegant teal. “Will you be my date to the end of year ball?”

This is staged. This is all staged. He’s not really interested in you, Fitz reminded himself. Still, he must have sounded a little breathless when he replied. “Yes, I would love to.”

“Well then I shall await you at the bottom of the staircase two weeks from now!” Keefe bowed dramatically and handed him the flower arrangement.

“I’ll be there,” Fitz promised quietly, flowers tickling his chin and Keefe’s grin making his cheeks heat.

“Oh, wonderful.” Keefe smirked again and practically danced away as the rest of the prodigies stared at the two of them.

“I hear you caused quite the scene today.”

Keefe jumped, looking around and then finally down to see who had said that. “Oh, hi, Councillor Grumpypants. What are you doing here?”

Bronte glared at him without much real anger. “Sophie and I’s session is in this tower, remember? I’m just waiting on this landing because someone’s using our classroom right now.”

“Right, gotcha.” Keefe fiddled with the hem of his tunic, trying not to seem too nervous. “Do you disapprove of scene-causing? Seems like a pretty old and grumpy thing to do.”

“Ha ha. I might have few qualms about distracting other prodigies, but I see no harm in you asking Fitz to the end of year ball. Honestly, it doesn’t seem all that surprising that you did.”

“Do I vibe as that gay?”

“I have no idea what you mean by vibe, but yes, I assumed you were queer.”

Keefe snorted. “Okay, so even the old people think I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend.”

“Well, not exactly all that,” Bronte said dryly, “But as the…how did Zarina put it? ‘Gayest motherfucker on the Council’, I know a baby queer when I see one.”

“Gayest motherfucker on the Council…that’s fabulous.”

“Indeed. Now I have a session to get to, and I’m sure you do too, but…good luck with your date.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m sure it will go well, and trust me, Leto will shut down anyone who tries to give you shit for it pretty damn quickly.”

“Good to know.” Keefe watched the older elf hurry away and up the stairs, muttering under his breath about ‘need to get an actual timepiece one of these days’. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all…

Fitz was pretty sure both Sophie and Sir Tiergan could tell he wasn’t actually concentrating that day in telepathy, too busy thinking about teal-and-silver flowers and Keefe’s little blush. Could Keefe really like him like that? Why did he even want Keefe to like him like that?

Sophie didn’t seem to mind, just sending him a few knowing looks, although Tiergan seemed vaguely worried. “Fitz, are you with us?”

“Oh, yeah! Sorry, Sir Tiergan.”

“There’s really no need to call me sir,” Tiergan sighed, for about the thousandth time since Sophie and Fitz had started telepathy sessions together. “Really. And no need to apologize either, you just seem a little distant today.”

“Probably got a lot on his mind,” Sophie spoke up, nudging Fitz gently. “I know I’d have a lot on my mind if someone brought me flowers and asked me to a ball.”

“Ah, yes. Do try to concentrate on your telepathy, but I can understand that.” Tiergan shot Fitz a gentle smile, and Fitz ducked his head and nodded.

The session went by fast enough, and before Fitz knew it, the session was over and Tiergan was asking him to stay back. “Not for long, I don’t want to make you later, but I figured I’d check in.”

“O- okay.”

“See you, Fitz!” Sophie called. “I’m going to go tease our lovely friend about how blushy he gets around you!”

“Bye,” Fitz called, and Tiergan smiled again.

“I was actually going to talk to you about that ‘lovely friend’, assuming that’s Keefe?”

Fitz stared at the slightly shorter elf, debating what to say. “Yeah- yeah, that’s him.”

“I guessed so.” Tiergan fiddled with his sleeves for a moment, seeming uncharacteristically hesitant. “I wanted to tell you that you two are very brave for this- it’s not unheard of, but it will be a shock. That, and I hope it will be somewhat easier for you than it was for me when I was your age.”

“You’re-“

“Have you seen the way I look at Leto?”

Fitz had to admit that was a fair point. “I guess I should have known earlier, but I didn’t want to assume.”

“Very polite of you, but I would find it more than fair to assume my queerness based off my general demeanor,” Tiergan said wryly. “Anyways, to bring us back around to our original topic of conversation, I also wanted to let you know that you have Leto and I’s full support. If anyone gives you shit for this, I want you to tell me and I will ensure they don’t get away with it.”

“Benefits of having the principal for a boyfriend,” Fitz muttered before he could think to stop himself, and then clapped a hand over his mouth. “I’m so sorry, I’ve been hanging out with Keefe too much.”

Tiergan flushed lightly. “No, no, you’re right. Though I will say, Leto has spent a long time trying to protect students who are cast out or fall through the cracks. Now that he’s in a position of power, neither of us have qualms about using it to help any student who could use it. So please, come to me or Leto if you need anything, or anyone bothers you. And I’m not saying that because I pity you or anything of the sort, but because I wish some adult had told me this when I was your age.”

“Oh.”

The older elf smiled sadly. “Indeed. But now I get to make sure the next generation has it better than I did, and that’s something.”

Fitz nodded. “I think that’s a really kind thing.”

“Thank you. It’s really the bare minimum of what I could do, but…somehow I never find the time to help out as much as I would like.” Tiergan glanced at the clock. “Anyways, I’m making you late for your next session, so hurry on your way. You can tell your mentor I kept you late and to take it up with me if they’ve got a problem.”

“Okay!” Maybe this wasn’t such a terrible plan after all…

The end-of-year-ball was approaching quickly, and Keefe’s nerves grew as quickly as the days between now and then passed. Which was very quickly, what with finals coming up. Fitz and Keefe were studying for them together, of course, which made for a lot of late nights in each of their rooms in the Silver Tower, laughing, talking, and pretending to quiz each other on the material but not getting far without getting distracted. Fitz was always beautiful, Keefe thought, but perhaps the most lovely when he was sitting in the cozy room, laughing at some silly thing Keefe had said or brandishing flashcards mock-sternly. His eyes shone a little in the silvery lighting, and his hair fell across his face cutely, and Keefe might have been a tiny bit in love. Just a bit.

So they kept hanging out together, one night after another. Sometimes they talked about fun things like baking or pranking, sometimes they talked about serious things like the past or the Black Swan, and (rarely) they studied. And before they knew it, they had passed all their finals and it was time for a ball.

Fitz fiddled with the clasp of his cape one last time as Biana put the final touches on his hairstyle. “Are you sure this is good enough?”

“Please, I know good fashion when I see it.” His sister flipped her hair, and then shot him a reassuring smile. “Keefe will pass the fuck out, in a good way. And all the stuffy nobles will think you look fabulous right before you dance with one of their sons.”

“How do you pass out in a good way?”

“I mean that you’ll knock everyone dead. Boys. Honestly.”

Biana turned him around to look at himself in the mirror, and Fitz did have to admit that she’d done a good job. He was wearing an elegant tunic in a shade of medium blue, nearly cobalt, and a much darker jerkin over that which faded from green to blue with elegant silver embroidery over it. His cape followed a similar color scheme, and it fit perfectly, falling around his shoulders and down to the ground, where the hem was also embroidered with silver and tiny flecks of lumenite. Biana had styled his hair slightly asymmetrical, more so than he would usually wear it, and sprinkled tiny bits of silver across that too. He didn’t know if he was drop-dead gorgeous per se, but it was an outfit he could feel confident in.

“Okay, you did a good job,” Fitz admitted.

“Of course I did. Now get on down there and knock them dead.”

His nerves only increased as he descended the staircase, despite his endless repetitions of ‘it’s not a real date’. It didn’t matter how much he said that, the fluttery feeling in his stomach about Keefe seeing him all dressed up was not going away.

When he reached the bottom, Keefe was already standing there, and Fitz momentarily forgot how to breathe. The other boy’s equally intricate ice blue jerkin matched his eyes perfectly, and his blonde hair had little bits of pure gold braided into the parts that were long enough to do small braids on. The rest was artfully messed as ever, but in the sort of way that made you think Keefe had spent a long time getting it perfect. His silvery boots made a click click noise on the silver floor as he stepped to greet Fitz, and Fitz had to blink a few times to get his mouth to work again.

“Hey there, Fitzy boi.”

“Hey.” It was a pitiful greeting, but it was the best he could really manage at the particular moment. “You look…really incredible.”

“And you’re as stunning as ever.” Keefe’s grin seemed less confident than usual, a hint of genuine shyness behind it as Keefe ducked his head a little.

“Flatterer.”

“Only the right level of flattery for you.” Keefe extended his arm. “Shall we go?”

Still barely breathing, Fitz took his arm as they headed for the Leapmaster.

Fitz was stunning. Beyond stunning. He was some entirely new level of gorgeous that Keefe would have to invent a word for when his brain started working again, which he doubted would be anytime soon given Fitz’s close proximity to him. Standing at the bottom of that staircase, all dressed up in his finery, he had truly looked like an heir to the Vacker Legacy, but he was so much more than that. Whether he’d been born a Vacker or into the least-well off Talentless family, Fitz would always have been kind, unique, handsome Fitz, and Keefe would have loved him just the same. Keefe doubted the courage and strength that Fitz always carried with him would be any different had he been born to a different family, doubted there was any universe in which Fitz wasn’t his gorgeous, fierce self.

He managed to concentrate enough to get them safely to the ballroom, although if he hadn’t, he had no doubt Fitz would have more than made up for it with his ridiculously strong concentration. Speaking of strength, Fitz was gripping Keefe’s hand tightly as they arrived, and Keefe squeezed back gently, staring over the crowded ballroom.

Tonight, nobles, parents, and Elite Tower students all mingled, a preparation for balls and parties that the Elite Tower students would likely attend later in life. It was a much looked-forward-to event. And Keefe and Fitz, two male prodigies, would be attending it together, which was an extremely rare occurrence. In fact, Keefe could already see people staring at them in their position on the landing.

He squeezed Fitz’s hand again. “Let’s go down to the dance floor, shall we?”

Fitz nodded shakily, and they descended the staircase arm in arm. The staring only increased, but if Keefe pretended that it was just girls staring at him in Level Four because they thought he was hot again, he could mostly ignore it.

What was harder to ignore were the furious parents sweeping over to them.

“Keefe, I can’t believe you would disgrace the family like this-“

“So good to see you with your friend, Fitz.” Alden looked like he was speaking through gritted teeth. Keefe would have liked to punch those teeth right out of his mouth.

“I know, Keefe is a wonderful boyfriend.” Fitz’s voice was calm, but electric blue spirals of fear drifted through Keefe’s emotional ‘vision’.

Before Alden had a chance to say anything further, Della lightly tugged his arm. “Let’s go say hi to the Glixina family, darling.” She shot them a tiny smile, prompting a wave of soft purple relief from Fitz as Alden allow himself to be dragged off.

Unfortunately for Keefe, Cassius was not so easily dissuaded. “Really, Keefe. Parading around with boys on your arm-“

“I make my own choices,” Keefe muttered.

“And is one of them this?”

Keefe forced himself to look up and smirk. “Nah, I didn’t choose to fall in love with him. Just to ask him out.”

Cassius sputtered more, but before he could gather the coherence to say anything, Tiergan had come sweeping over with all the frozen grace of a swan. “Excuse me, Lord Sencen. My dear friend Leto would like a word with you about your son. I’m sure you understand that some matters are very important.”

“Well, Sir Tiergan, I’m in the middle of speaking to said son currently.”

“This truly cannot wait. Please, follow me.” Tiergan swept away again, practically dragging Cassius in his wake.

Sorry about that, Tiergan’s voice echoed in Keefe’s head. Leto will thoroughly lecture him about all this, I promise. And you don’t have to talk to him anymore tonight if you don’t want to, we arranged the ball and we can keep him away from you.

Keefe startled, squeezing Fitz’s hand. “Fitz-“

“Yeah?”

“Can you transmit something to Tiergan? He just told me that he’d keep my dad away from us, I want to thank him.”

Fitz flashed a tiny, hesitant smile. “As you wish.” He closed his (stunning, lovely) eyes briefly, and then blinked them open again. “Sent. He says ‘of course, let me know if you need anything else’.”

“Thanks, Fitzy boi.” Keefe offered a grin of his own. “Now that the parents are out of the way…may I have this dance?”

“Of course.”

The dance steps were familiar, and that was lucky, since Keefe wasn’t exactly paying good attention to what he was doing. Not after everything that had just happened- and not when Fitz had a hand on his waist. Elven music wasn’t as good to lose yourself in as the human music Sophie had showed him, but Keefe found it pretty easy to get lost just focusing on Fitz. The music swirled around them, and the floor was steady under their feet, and even the stares of others weren’t so noticeable when it was just the two of them dancing together. One step. Another. Always in rhythm. Keefe wondered a little if this was what it was like for Cognates, if their minds synced the way dance partners who knew each other well did. He had to admit to a little jealousy that he would never know what the kind of bond felt like, but…hey. It was pretty okay to be an empath, especially since he could see Fitz’s bubbling pink-and-blue happiness float through the air. It might have been a difficult, nerve-wracking entrance, but Fitz was happy to be dancing with Keefe and that was all Keefe could really ask for. Although…Keefe frowned at the slight mist of green sorrow hanging around the other, tempering his joy and keeping the bubbles from floating as far as they should have.

“Hey, Fitz.”

“Yeah?”

“You good?”

“Yeah- yeah, I am.”

They took another few steps in silence.

“Hey, Keefe?”

“Yeah?”

Fitz sucked in a slow breath, and a few lines of tension pulled around his form. “When you told your dad that you had fallen in love with me…”

Shit. “Yeah?”

“Your heart didn’t skip any beats.”

It was Keefe’s turn to suck in a breath and try to find something, anything to say in reply to that. “Maybe- I mean, I was mostly trying to piss him off.” He could feel his treacherous heart skip one-two-three this time.

“I felt your heart skip that time.”

“Okay, so….maybe I liked you. A little. Or a lot. And maybe I think you’re handsome and brave and kind and all that, and maybe I asked you to the ball partially because my dad would be mad but partially because I just wanted to be with you but you’re Fitz fucking Vacker and I’ve never had a chance-“ Keefe forced himself to take a breath and a step back from Fitz, unable to bear feeling the other’s emotions as well as his own right now.

“Keefe, wait, I-“ Fitz reached out a hand, and then pulled it back. “I love you too. And I think you should know that because no matter how much better you think I am than you, or whatever, you’re always going to be the guy who pulled me out of my shy little shell as a kid and then kept doing it, over and over and over. You’re always going to be the guy who stuck with me even when I was a major jerk, the guy who helped pull me out of my shell again and realize I wasn’t as straight as everyone thought. And more than that, you’re Keefe. I know you think that’s a bad thing, but it’s not. It’s the highest compliment I could give.”

People were staring at them again.

Keefe barely noticed. “Give me your hand.”

“As you wish.” Fitz held out his hand, and Keefe pushed his empathy out to the other. A little hint of fear, of nervousness… lingering joy from the moments before, and beneath that, glowing golden hope. No guilt, no shame. Nothing to make him think Fitz was in any way lying even if what the other boy had just said seemed too good to be true.

“You really- you really love me like that?”

“Yeah.” Fitz laughed, a little sadly. “It took me forever to notice, but I should have known the day you asked if we could go to the ball together. Or before that, even.”

“Well I fucking love you too. Have since we were young, really, but Sophie fucked with my brain and I didn’t see it until you and Sophie broke up. I thought I was jealous of you, but...all this time, I’ve been jealous of her.”

Fitz’s smile was so, so gentle. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize.”

“And I’m sorry I didn’t just ask you out the day I suggested this whole fake dating,” Keefe joked. “Seriously, you took your time, but…that’s okay. I was willing to wait.”

And the gorgeous teal-eyed boy who Keefe was starting to realize might be his reached out a hand to cup Keefe’s cheek. “Do you mind if I kiss you?”

“What a scandal it’ll be.” Keefe wasn’t sure he was actually breathing. “But no, I don’t mind.”

So Fitz kissed him in front of the entire goddamn ballroom, and Keefe couldn’t have been happier.

#fitz vacker #Keefe Sencen #keefitz #semp writes #this took forever skjhfshjkf #im so sorry im late

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pikapeppa · 4 years ago

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FenHawke &Varric friendship fluff: History

I was casually playing DA:I the other day and wandering around in the Hissing Wastes, and I got inspired to write some friendship fluff between Fenris, Rynne Hawke and their beloved BFF Varric. Set in my Fenris the Inquisitor universe.

~1700 words; read on AO3 instead.

************************

Fenris trudged over to the fire and sat next to Hawke with a groan. “I have finally succeeded in beating the sand out the creases in my clothes,” he announced. “For now, at least.”

Varric huffed. “At least you didn’t wear boots. I’m pretty sure I had enough sand in mine to build a castle.” He eyed his own bare feet in disgruntlement, and Fenris smirked; seeing Varric without boots on was a very rare occurrence.

“Told you to wear sandals,” Hawke said without looking up from the tattered book in her lap.

Varric gave her a long-suffering look. “When have you ever seen me in sandals?”

“There’s no better time to start,” Hawke said. “Bare chest, bare feet — it’s a natural pairing, like peas and carrots.”

Despite her jocular tone, she didn’t lift her eyes from her book. Fenris eyed her curiously. “What are you reading that has you so preoccupied?”

She finally looked up, and her amber eyes were wide and bright with interest. “It’s the journal we found on that poor dwarven fellow who got bitten by a spider. It’s pretty incredible, actually. I mean, sad because he died, poor sod,” she said quickly, “but incredible what he was figuring out.” She turned to Varric. “Did you know there was an entire dwarven house that purposely left the deep roads to set up here on the surface?”

He shot her a chiding look. “Have you ever seen me write anything much about the Orzammar dwarves?”

Her smile became sheepish. “Er, no.”

“Then that’s how much I know about a dwarven house leaving the deep roads to set up on the surface,” he said dryly.

“All right, fine, it was a stupid question,” she admitted. “But listen to this: this Paragon Fairel fellow took his house out of the deep roads before the First Blight to hide some incredible weapon he invented, so the rest of the dwarves would stop using it against each other. Before the First Blight! That’s how many years ago now?” She frowned. “Wait, when was the First Blight again?”

Amused, Fenris answered her question. “In -395 Ancient.”

She batted her eyelashes. “Maker’s balls, you’re so smart. No wonder I married you.”

Varric rolled his eyes. “All right, so some dwarves settled on the surface over a thousand years ago.”

“Yes, but that’s not all,” Hawke said. “It sounds like they were prepared to fight a dragon even before they left the deep roads. The fellow who wrote this journal found an inscription and translated it like this:

From the Stone, have no fear of anything,

But the stone-less sky betrays with wings of flame.

If the surface must be breached, if there is no other way,

Bring weapons against the urtok, and heed their screams.

She looked at Fenris and Varric with wide eyes. “Urtok means ‘dragon’, according to this. And ‘wings of flame’? That can only mean a dragon too, right? They knew before they breached the surface that there would be a dragon to contend with. How did they know that?”

“A good guess, maybe?” Varric said.

Hawke lifted an eyebrow. “But if they had never left the deep roads before, how could they even guess at what they’d find on the surface — and with enough accuracy to know they’d find a fire-breathing dragon?”

Fenris tapped her knee. “Perhaps they knew already of the archdemons, even if the First Blight had not yet happened.”

Her eyes grew even wider. “Shit. You’re right. Maker’s balls, I didn’t even — I never thought about the archdemons breathing fire underground. Do you think they breathe fire underground?”

“Probably,” Varric said.

She stared at him incredulously. “That’s insane.”

Fenris scoffed. “After everything we’ve seen, with the Titans and those ancient Sentinels at Mythal’s Temple and falling into the Fade, you think that a dragon breathing fire underground is insane?”

“I have to agree with the elf on this one,” Varric said.

Hawke burst out a laugh. “Listen to the two of you! Such grizzled and jaded men of the world! Maybe I’ve just retained my sense of childlike wonder.” Her smile widened. “Or maybe I’m just an idiot.”

Fenris tsked. “A very beautiful idiot,” he said, and he pinched her waist.

She squeaked in amusement and smacked his hand. “You certainly know how to flatter a girl. But really though, think about it: the entire history of this thaig, lost until now. And the Shaperate doesn’t know about it, or covered it up on purpose.”

Varric gave her a funny look. “Since when are you so preoccupied with dwarven history?”

“It’s not just dwarven history,” she said. “It’s… I don’t know.” She twisted her lips ruefully. “It’s rather fucked up how many people have lost such huge chunks of history, isn’t it? The dwarves, the elves… everyone who isn’t Chantry, really.”

“The Chantry is also unreliable with their history,” Fenris said. “They struck Shartan from the official Chant.”

She pulled a face. “Ugh, you’re right. That’s so fucked up, though. Everyone is so bloody casual with their histories. It’s so…” She trailed off with a frown, and Fenris eyed her with a pang of affection. Hawke was by no means the idiot she said herself to be, but it was unusual for her to get this pensive about history in particular. She tended to favour a happy-go-lucky focus on the present or the future, preferring to reserve her mental energy for discussions of magical theory instead of history.

She looked up at them with a little frown. “Even family histories or personal histories. There’s so much shit we can forget. I was named after a great-aunt or a grand-aunt or something, for example, but fuck knows who she even was anymore. Not that that’s any great loss of information, I don’t really care who I was named after. But at the same time, how can we say now what’s going to be important or not a hundred years from now?”

A rather melancholy silence ensued, which Fenris wasn’t sure how to break. He was starting to feel a bit melancholy and pensive himself. Hawke was right, after all; he, for instance, knew nothing more of his own family history than what Varania had told him at the Hanged Man several years ago. As he and Varania had never again contacted each other, it seemed that that was all Fenris would be fated to know.

“Oh balls,” Hawke said suddenly.

Fenris looked up to find her face crumpled in apology. She sidled closer to him and took his hand. “Oh, Fenris, I’m sorry. I’m being an ass, aren’t I, talking about this family history shit?”

“No, it’s…” He trailed off before he could say it was all right. His lost memories would never really be all right, but they were also no longer the gaping wound that they once were. “I’ve made my peace with my lack of history,” he said instead. “You know this.”

She winced. “I know, I just… ugh, I’m sorry.” She looped her hand through his elbow and hugged his arm. “I’m being so boring and mopey.”

Varric chuckled. “You really are. You and the elf here trading roles for a while?”

“I’m not sure that’s possible,” Fenris said dryly.

“It really isn’t,” Hawke chirped. “No one but Fenris can fill the role of ‘most gorgeous elf in Thedas’.”

Fenris eyed her chidingly. “It is impossible for you to fill that role. You’re not an elf.”

She widened her eyes playfully. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”

Fenris huffed in amusement, and Varric chuckled as well before speaking. “Well, I can cheer things up a little. At least we don’t have to worry about losing any of our history.”

“What do you mean?” Hawke asked.

“I mean that we have a perfectly accurate and compelling historian right here.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Fenris chuckled, and Hawke barked out a bright little laugh. “You’re talking about yourself. Of course you are.”

Varric did a little bow from his seated position. “You can both thank me anytime.”

Fenris raised an eyebrow. “For what? Making Hawke a notorious Thedas-wide celebrity?”

“No!” Hawke retorted. “For painting me as a charming hero and not the complete fool that I am, of course!” She shifted over and hugged Varric around the neck.

He patted her back and smirked at Fenris. “Don’t worry, buddy, I’ll make you look good too in all of this Inquisition shit.”

Fenris sighed. “I appreciate the sentiment, I suppose.”

Hawke smiled sweetly at Varric. “When you write about the Inquisition, can you put in the story about how Fenris and Sera almost knocked Krem out with a stale cookie when they were on the roof that one time?”

“No,” Fenris said hastily. “Absolutely not. That was an accident!”

Varric ignored him. “It’s already written down, don’t worry,” he said to Hawke.

Fenris grunted. “Then you ought to include the time that Hawke asked Bull to teach her to throw a proper punch and nearly sprained her wrist on his unarmoured chest.”

She laughed and poked his thigh. “Hey, that’s unfair! Bull’s tits are so hard they might as well be armour. Dorian should have warned me!”

Varric snickered. “Don’t worry, I’ve got that one written down as well.”

Hawke clicked her tongue. “Well, in that case, you have to include that time that you tried to gamble against Solas and lost so badly that he took mercy on you by not taking your coat and your boots.”

Fenris snorted, and Varric pulled a face. “Aw, now that’s just mean to bring that up,” he complained.

Hawke giggled. They continued to tease each other with favourite stories of the past, both recent and remote, and Fenris smiled to himself as he listened to their laughter and their tales. In the grand scheme of things, the ties between a human mage, a Tevinter elf and a surface dwarf were too humble to survive the fickle nature of history and time. Not all histories were important enough to be written in the pages of a Chantry tome or carved in lyrium into the walls of Orzammar, after all.

But as Fenris listened to Hawke and Varric laughing and exchanging tales and playful jabs just as they used to do ten years ago, he realized that even the most humble of histories could be infinitely precious.

#fenris #fenris fic #fenhawke #fenris/hawke #fenris x hawke #fenris/femhawke #fenris x femhawke #fenris/f!hawke #fenris x f!hawke #fhawris #f!hawris #varric tethras #fenrynne #pikapeppa writes

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aros001 · 3 years ago

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Read through light novel vol. 2. Random thoughts.

Man. Bilbo became an asshole after he left the shire.

Again, I really like how these books give more insights into the goblins as well as the other characters. The Goblin Champion runs away, not just because he's in pain, but because he's still a goblin and every goblin cares about their own safety before anything else, no matter how powerful it gets or how much authority it commands. Add that into that they view themselves as victims when it comes to, well, anything and that it's always everyone else's fault when they do bad things to them and they feel less like mindless monsters and more like actual characters...that you really want to see die. They're worse than pests in that way. It's not just about survival. They are active and deliberate in their cruelty and selfishness.

It's a small thing but I do like the little shows of respect and understanding between Lizard Priest, Sword Maiden, and Priestess when it comes to their religions. They all worship different gods and have different beliefs but what seems to matter most is the intent. Priestess and Lizard Priest have completely different prayers they say upon the dead but there is no conflict between them because both are still wishing for a peaceful rest for the departed.

Funny thing, back when I first saw the scene of Goblin Slayer waking up naked in a bed with Priestess, I actually didn't think it was anything inappropriate (probably partly being so focused on being glad they were alive and out of the goblin nest). Before Sword Maiden had come in to explain things, I had thought Priestess simply crawled into bed with Goblin Slayer because it was the only way she could feel safe enough to sleep after what they'd been through.

And the reason she was naked was because...! ...People sleep naked in this world, I don't know. We had that one very loving shot of Cow Girl waking up naked the first time we saw her in the present.

Also...the anime implied Sword Maiden's blindness was because of the goblins. I didn't put it together that it was because they burned her eyes. Rewatching the arc, I can see where I missed the big clue but her actual eyes whenever she took off the blindfold just looked kind of foggy, so I guess them being burned wasn't an idea I had in my head and I just kind of didn't notice that part.

“They’ve even got flails.” These consisted of two sticks with heavy metal fasteners connected by a chain; they were said to have evolved from a threshing tool. Clergy of the Earth Mother had been known to use them, and Priestess puffed out her little chest proudly at her modicum of knowledge.

What the f**k kind of church did she grow up in?

It was the same in the anime and I'm not surprised it's even better here, but I really like whenever Goblin Slayer and Priestess are together. It's one of my favorite things in the series. They're about as opposite as you can get and yet I never question how well they're able to bond and get along, with Priestess slowly but surely getting him to open up a little more as time goes on. I am hoping we'll get to see more of what Goblin Slayer thinks of her as the series goes on. We know her thoughts on him pretty well but he spent five years being trained by Burglar and then at least five years after fighting goblins by himself, so what's the draw to this random priestess he saved? Is it just because she's the only one to make the active effort to be with him, both on quests and outside of it?

"No fire. No water. No poison." In the anime it wasn't entirely clear why Goblin Slayer was forbidden to use such things and one of the reasons given here, that High Elf Archer thinks it takes the fun out of an adventure, is a little foolish when a quest is just about exterminating goblins, something she knows how dangerous they can be. But the other reason, that they don't want him to damage the surroundings or environment, I think is a bit more fair. He apparently burned down an entire goblin headquarters and admitted to redirecting a river to destroy a nest. I can see how there'd be a lot of unintended consequences to extremes like that.

“Even... Even in my...my dreams?”

“Yes.”

“You...will... You will come...?”

“Yes.”

He is going to Freddy Kruger the shit out of those dream goblins.

A good rule of thumb I've heard for dark stories is that having mature content does not automatically make the story mature. Rather, it's how the story handles that content that makes it mature. While GS doesn't handle the subject of rape perfectly, the story is still using that concept well enough to be considered actually mature and not just edgy. It's not fetishized and it's not just "something bad that happens to women". Sword Maiden I think was a very good example of this. A woman powerful enough to take on the Demon King and his forces but will freeze up at the idea of fighting mere goblins because of what they did to her in the past. It's not treated like she's weak or cowardly or that she needs to just get over it. She was traumatized by a completely horrific experience, one which the audience knows not to take lightly because of what happened to Priestess' first party. Priestess herself thankfully didn't share the exact same fate but it did still almost happen to her like it did to Fighter, and what both of them have in common is that killing the goblins didn't make the trauma just go away. They were saved from the the goblins but not really "saved". It's staying with them and they're trying to deal with it as best they can. Even High Elf Archer has a moment when having to face the goblins again she's having to fight through the reminders of what they almost did to her in those same catacombs. There is weight to the fact that this stuff is happening to people. It takes it seriously and not in the "Oh! GRR! We're so adult! Look how dark and f**k up we are! GRR!" way but rather by dealing with the fact such experiences would really mess a person up and how they may and may not act because of it.

Another good detail is that Goblin Slayer, despite being traumatized himself by the goblins, admits he can't fully understand Sword Maiden's pain, because they experienced different things. He had to watch the goblins do their business from start to finish on his sister and his entire village while she was someone they did their business on. Both are horrible, serious, and have goblins as the common link but they are not the same, meaning he can't give her the help and understanding she wants so badly. But he understands enough that he'll still do what he can to help.

And just what a great note to end off on. The party in a wagon heading back home, Goblin Slayer talking about wanting to try his hand at making ice cream and his companions getting excited about having some. You get through the darkness so that the light feels even brighter.

I have not seen the Goblin Crown movie yet (no idea where I'd even watch it until it gets on DVD), so I genuinely have no idea what happens next, as I've read through everything anime covered. I am cautiously looking forward to vol. 3.

God count: Earth Mother, Supreme God, Deity of the Basin. Please feel free to point out any I missed.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/GoblinSlayer/comments/frj2rz/read_through_light_novel_vol_2_random_thoughts/

#goblin slayer #random thoughts #reddit repost

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thelittletrinethatcould · 4 years ago

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I dreamt that I was at this weird art/nerd con (I think that was what it was?) and that I ran into Taylor Swift (!). We became best friends for some reason, and went to this overnight party thing, AND THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, and we smooched. She wanted to come home with me to meet the llama (!!), and we had to take a bus. On the bus there was a terrorist (!!!), who tried to shoot me with a missile launcher (!!!!). Inside the bus. He missed, twice. I'm really good at dodging missiles, apparently. Taylor and I made it home safely, and snuggled a llama that looked like an oversized toy (and definitely nothing like a llama). We had to pretend that we were just gal pals, for some strange reason, because why not. I introduced Taylor to dnd, and we rolled up a character for her. A half-elf bard, because she loved the idea of rewriting her own lysics to make inspiration songs (like how Sam Riegel does it in the first campaign of Critical Role). She was really looking forward to playing, but at this point I was too busy looking for two dice that I had lost to join in.

Then the dream started over, from the beginning. Everything happened the same way, and I was freaking out as I got on the bus, because holy shit I couldn't figure out how the hell I had dodged those missiles the first time, and it seemed impossible that I would be able to do it again. The terrorist took his shot, and I managed to dodge out of the first one. The second I failed, sort of. He walked over to me and fired from within just a couple of meters. I ducked, and the missile hit the wall just above my head,... and I could both feel and hear it buzzing against my scalp. My hair got caught up in it. But it didn't go off. Everybody was pointing and laughing at the poor terrorist. And the not-really-a-llama was even cuter the second time.

Sometimes I worry about the things my brain comes up with. Today I'm just impressed at my own missile-dodging skills, and frustrated because I can't remember the name of the llama.

#weird dreams

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asgardian--angels · 4 years ago

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Recommend some good folk metal music please

:D i never thought i’d see the day when someone actually wants to know more about the music i listen to *cracks knuckles* my time has come

I apologize in advance for this novel. Feel free to skip to the recommended tracks lol.

Most folk metal comes out of northern Europe (Finland, heavily) though you can find it all over the world (Hu Band comes to mind but I mean, it’s on every continent). I am one of those people with like, a small handful of favorite bands that I listen to mercilessly so I am sure that I am only representing a miniscule percentage of what’s available out there. What’s great is that folk metal is much more versatile than many other genres in its sound; the essence of folk metal is simply to 1) utilize traditional (or rather, in the sense of a metal band, non-traditional) instruments such as violin, accordion, brass ensemble, bagpipes, what have you, and 2) have lyrical themes which revolve around regional folklore, mythology, cultural heritage, or place (what I particularly like is a frequent reverence and respect for nature). Other genres of metal (death, black) have the second element but not the first, and tend to incorporate darker overall tones and consistently harsher or lo-fi vocal styles and sounds. Folk metal can be a gateway genre into metal and can often be quite hopepunk (if you will). Because of these criteria, the actual sound of folk metal can range from sea shanties to ‘spooky walk in the midnight woods’ to scathing social commentary to SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SH

Basically you can find a range of styles within the genre that fit what you’re looking for, from those that have an orchestral, ballad feel, to things that border on death metal but have a hurdy-gurdy in there. There’s also a much higher percentage of female-led folk metal bands than other metal genres.

I’ll go through my top picks.

Turisas. These motherfuckers. My boys.

Turisas is based in Finland, but sing primarily in English (with occasional Finnish, a smidge of Greek and Swedish too). Four albums out to date, fifth in progress. Sound is absolutely fucking bonkers god tier shit, if I may say so myself. Every single song sounds like you’ve been transported into an Iliad metal musical. Heavy use of a full orchestra and choir, along with sick violin and accordion solos. Their lyrical themes focus heavily on ancient Greco-Roman and Viking military history - but before you raise any red flags, rest assured they’re liberal as fuck and trust me the tea is scalding when Mathias feels like making a Point about Then and Now. No seriously, I don’t know how to express the beauty and depth of his songwriting - Mathias Nygård is an incredibly talented composer, musician, and songwriter (nay, POET), and an extremely intelligent and down to earth guy. There are plenty of bands that are happy to write Viking songs about pillaging and glorious death in battle and all that (Alestorm comes to mind), those are a dime a dozen. Turisas makes history come to life in a way that transports you back in time and thrusts you into the living breathing world of the past. They deal with the horrors and tragedy of war from both sides, consequences and motivations, fears and pride and loss, home and family, despair and hope. They write songs about people, big and small, and their role in weaving the great tapestry of history. And the best part is that it’s informed - Mathias does his damn research and the tales he tells are rooted in fact. He brings them to life so we can experience what it must have been like for those real living people, with the goal of forcing us to confront our own selves in them. He’s a modern Homer, I shit you not.

Did I mention there’s a song about pirates that’s actually really complex and nuanced, about how the hypocrisy and vile colonialist deeds of emperors makes them no different than the criminals they persecute?

Or that they do a badass cover of Rasputin?? yeah?????

Anyway enough gushing. Their second and third albums (The Varangian Way, Stand Up And Fight) are consecutive concept albums that follow the story of the Varangian Guard (the legendary Viking battalion that defended Alexander the Great) so the songs are actually chronologically linked to tell this epic tale. It’s a fucking listen, lads. The Varangian Way is probably my favorite album. But all their albums are top notch.

My favorite songs: End of An Empire (this one comes for 2020 hard), Piece by Piece (AKA die fascists 2k20), Cursed Be Iron, Among Ancestors, Greek Fire, Miklagard Overture (you gotta earn this song tho, it’s the finale)

Good first listen picks/hits: Battle Metal, To Holmgard and Beyond, March of the Varangian Guard, Ten More Miles, One More

Finntroll. These other motherfuckers. My other boys.

Another big name in the Finnish folk metal scene. As you can see, their band revolves both aesthetically and musically around Scandinavian troll folklore. Yall weird elf-fuckers who like the really big ears? Here you go. Look at those ears. They’re good friends with Turisas. Both love their facepaint.

Musical style leans much more towards black and death metal influenced, with a heavier, fuller sound and growling vocals. But it’s an incredibly rich and creative aural tapestry, with layers of masterfully executed sound that’s a real delight to lose yourself in. Use of fiddle, brass, keyboard, accordion, and banjo, and strong folk melodies make their sound unmistakable and unique. They are known for their ‘black humppa’ beat, which basically gives the effect of feeling the primal need to stomp around loudly to their music. It’s great cardio. They also utilize orchestra in some great intro tracks. They know their stuff.

The majority of their songs are sung in Swedish (they do some English cover songs which are FANTASTIC holy SHIT), but don’t let that stop you. The mood and power and emotion of their music transcend language, and you can be sure the lyrics are about either trolls, witches, the dark woods, spirits, or something of that ilk. I think Swedish as a language works very well with this kind of music, and honestly having it in English would lose something.

They have been around a long time and so have many albums, but I personally have only listened to the last three which feature their current singer, Mathias Lillmåns, whom I adore. Those albums are Nifelvind, Blodsvept, and their recent release Vredesvävd (that i’ve had on repeat since I got it three weeks ago). I’m sure their other ones are great too, I just can’t make a personal recommendation since I haven’t heard them.

My favorite songs: Galgasång, Tiden Utan Tid, Ylaren, Skogsdotter, Två Ormar, Ett Norrskensdåd, Skövlarens Död

Good first listen picks/hits: Forsen, Under Bergets Rot, Häxbrygd, Trollhammaren (older song), Solsagan

I’ll go through these other ones a little faster, I haven’t heard quite as much from them but I do love them.

Korpiklaani.

Great, full folk sound, utilizes a lot of folk instruments including some less commonly seen ones like hurdy gurdy. Songs are mostly in Finnish but plenty in English too. Jonne Järvelä has a really unique voice that grows on you, but it’s not for everyone. The band started as Sami folk, and Jonne is trained in Sami yoik singing, which makes an appearance in a few songs. I prefer the Finnish tracks, as a lot of the English ones are drinking songs lmao. But again, really well-executed music with layers of sound that keeps you hooked. I haven’t heard enough of their discography to really recommend enough to cover everything.

Song picks: Minä Näin Vedessä Neidon, Metsälle, Ämmänhauta, Lempo

Moonsorrow.

Definitely a darker, black-folk band. Probably not a great pick if you aren’t accustomed to black metal - very long tracks (8-15 mins is standard), growling/shrieking vocals, a ‘thinner’ but encompassing wall of sound usual of black metal, but with the benefit of wonderfully entrancing dark folk elements and chants. It’s done really really well. Sung almost entirely in Finnish (apart from cover tracks). Lyrically, focuses on themes of Norse mythology, man vs nature and similar elements. Definitely one of those bands whose music gets you into a zone. I can lose serious time just putting a whole album on and letting my mind wander elsewhere. My favorite album is Jumalten Aika.

Song picks: Ruttolehto Sis. Päivättömän Päivän Kansa (my fucking FAVORITE), Suden Tunti (well known hit), and also uhh check out their cover of Non Serviam cause it’s a fucking banger

Other bands that I like what I’ve heard but really can’t say much about them, whoops - Tyr (from the Faroe Islands, great stuff, Faroese is a baller language), Ensiferum, Nightwish (female-led).... I’m open to suggestions. Like I said, there are folk metal bands all over the world, and each is intrinsically linked to a sense of place and cultural identity that makes them unique. I’d love to hear about more tbh.

#koschei-the-ginger #folk metal

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idjitlili · 5 years ago

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Legolas x reader

I am so tired I stayed up till 5 am last night reading so sorry if this shit. It is shit, Idont know what happened

Imagine somehow being teleported into Tolkien’s ,the hobbit, and you end up meeting legolas and Thranduil. In which you insult thranduil, Thorin is sorta your daddy.

You have been travelling with the company since the trolls tried to eat everyone. You had quite literally came out of a floating , flame coloured line. Only to walk into the tree. A troll had picked you up and attempted to eat you as-well , but you really didn’t care, as you was focusing how your head hurt from the tree.

After explaining your situation to Gandalf , which he ended up believing that you weren’t from here, due to your clothing, and strange sayings. Plus the evidence that all the dwarves and a Hobbit had seen you magically appear.

Thorin didn’t like having a teenage girl , with barely any self defence skills , to come with on their adventure, mission, thing. Yet he felt like he had to protect you from harm, surprisingly since you saw how he treated Bilbo. Uh basically he’s your dad.

The first night with the company , they had all offered you blankets , food (lucky Bombur makes a lot.) , the princes had given you some of their extra tunics. Which they had a lot because dwarves likes to wear layers. Too bad they weren’t green.

Dori acted like a mother to you , he would make sure you ate , and even got Ori to make you knitted goods. The dwarves thought you you would freeze to death , as dwarves didn’t get as cold as humans. Something to do with their build or something, you recall Balin telling you.

You became quick friends with Bilbo, he was interested in where you were from, and what it was like there.

Kili and fili teased you for your weird obsession with potatoes, as you mostly ate them, and you even had gone far enough to make a potato ring. (I actually did)

Now you and the company are In Mirkwood forest , unaware to what is going to strike, soon.

Kili and fili ,stood either side of you in a protective manner. For hours the company had been walking through Mirkwood, Thorin denying any assumptions that they were lost.

You grunt , at the blisters that are forming on your feet , that are sweating in your trainers.

“My legs hurt.” You moan , quietly dragging out hurt.

Kili scoffs at you , “your legs are longer , imagine how mine feel.”

You look at Bilbo who is lagging behind,

“Well you can’t say anything , Bilbos legs are as long as my dick.”

“OI y/n, i dont have no legs.”

“I never said that , my dick is hugeeeeee.”

“You don’t have a dick .” Bofur responds loudly , with annoyed tone.

“How would you know if she had a dick. You haven’t seen it.” Kili responds sending you a wink.

“Yeah thank you , my dick is in my head.”

“How would it fit though?” Fili inquires , with a confused facial expression.

“I meant my personality you jensen Ackles , and John travolta blend!” You reply smirking to yourself .’Boom roasted’ not that he would get the joke.

Unknown the rest of the company Bilbo had climbed up a tree to look for a way out of mirkwood. The air felt limited in the poisoned forest , you felt chills go up your back, shivering slightly.

“Thorin...” you speak slowly, as you spot a eight legged spider, approach in the distance. It was bigger than a sheep, teeth like knives, beads for eyes.

Thorin grabs you and makes sure you are behind him, before you know it , all the dwarves plus you are surrounded. You unarmed, stay close with thorin , so you don’t die.

Suddenly the spiders are everything, no escape, the spiders are travelling down by webs and pulling up the dwarves , who don’t see it coming because they are too busy fighting the ones on the ground. When they are pulled up , they are wrapped into a webbed cocoon.

Thorin grabs a hold of you and pulls you into his jacket , then you are both slung up into the air, you become dizzy from being wrapped up in the webbing. Then you and thorin are in just stuck. For what it seems like forever.

Until , you feel yourself falling down slowly from the trees, the cocoon is ripped open by thorin. You get up looking around there are several, other cocoons with dwarves crawling out of them. You look around to see there are still spiders everywhere, you look to the floor and see thorins swords , picking up quickly you pass it to him. he nods with appreciation and passes you a dagger.

I guess you have no chance but try to help , otherwise the others will die because you were too scared to take a chance.

‘You miss 100% the shots you don’t take -Wayne Gretzky-Michael Scott -y/n l/n’

Before you can even look around for a target , you are rugby tackled to the ground, by a disgusting excuse of one of Morgan freeman’s creations.(I think he’s god uh)

You pull your arm out of its grasp, with your ,sorry thorins dagger in hand , before the poison from the spider can be injected. You stab it the face , its body goes stiff around you curling. You push it off gagging at its texture, you pull yourself off the floor only to be tackled again.

This time the dagger had been knocked out of your gasp , desperately you try to reach it buts in use, the creature pushes you down hard. You pull up your leg and kick as hard as you can, it lands on the left of you. You finally able to grab the dagger going to kill the spider, but someone beats you to it , FIring an arrow through its head.

You look up to see a blonde dude, why is he wearing leggings. Weirdo, your brother accidentally put your leggings on ,once and ripped the crotch how he didn’t notice

he doesn’t own leggings. I do not know.

Snapping you out of your thoughts , you are dragged up, dagger snatched out of your hand, and you are roughly pushed towards the group.

“Don’t you touch her again , or I’ll make sure your everlasting life does t last.” Thorin snaps at the ginger elf that had man handled you. What a bitch.

“Oh is this human your girlfriend?awwe.” The blond elf snickers at Thorin, kili and fili gag at the thought of their uncle being in a relationship.

“Uh princess , yeah you with the dance pants. Treat the king of erebor with a little respect. Assbutt.” You glare at the blond, who tended at your words. Haha loser.

“There is no king under the mountain not will there ever be.” He replies , scowling at you.

“Yes , there will be , princess.” He scoffs.

———————————————————

The blonde elf that you soon discover his name is legolas ,and he is the kings sOn.

Bilbo was missing , aand the company were led to the woodland realm. You could only hope that he would find a way for us to escape.

You and Thorin were spilt from the other dwarves, we were brought to the king. He stuck a deal with Thorin who declined. This king was as dickhead , and narcissistic. Legolas is stood next to you just in case you tried anything .

“Take him alway, ill take to his girlfriend now.” The woodland king states to his guard smoothly.

You scoff.

“ I am literally 18, you perv.”

You feel his ice eyes , stare at you , judging , your whole life, your clothing.

“You are not from here are you,child?” He must of noticed your keanu reeves shirt.

“No”

“tell me why you travel with these dwarves.”

“Why, I like them.”

He scoffs “they are scum, pigs , thieves.” He growls at you , circling you.

“Oi princess , this is your daddy?” You ask legolas who refuses to meet your eye.

“ all I can say is, at least thorin actually loves me and he’s not even my real dad.” Thranduils jaw clenched so hard that he probably could bite your head off.

“We are NOT talking about my son we are talking a bout you.”

“ okay listen here you self obsessed prick, I don’t give a shit about what you want, so cut the shit and get to the point.”

“ I want you to get my the gems of starlight,Thorin won’t expect it from you, I’ll let you all go.”

You feel bad for legolas his dad is soulless, makes him do everything while , he sits on his throne , acting like Gaston.

“No, I am not doing that to my friends, If you wasnt such an asshole and helped Thorin when Azog attacked them he probably would’ve given them to you. But you didn’t. So you suck”

Thranduils faces fled with red , he was angry he whipped his head to towards you.

“Get her to her cell now, legolas.”

“Just saying who risks their own sons life on a forest that clearly can’t be saved,”

“My sons well being doesn’t concern you. Human.”

“You clearly haven’t got love with son. You need to get yourself a girl mat-“

you are interrupted by a slap in the face.

“Well that was a girly move, who slaps , go punch me instead.”

Legolas pulls you out of the rooms quickly, not allowing things to worsen, walking you towards the cells.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why?”

He stops and looks at you,” because he will probably execute your friends.”

“Doubt it , he wants them gems , then he needs someone to kill the dragon.” You speak carefully walking down the stairs.

He hummed in response.

After you walked into your cell,you turned and smiled at him. You knew he wasn’t as mean as he portrayed himself as.

“Uh sorry for making fun of your trousers ,” you whispered so thorin didn’t hear , he would skin him.

He smiled lightly “sorry my Ada slapped you.”

“It was a bitch move not going to lie. “ you reach up to my face that still stung, You grin.

“I have no doubt you are going to escape.” He whispers.

“Yes sir. Stay safe princess,savvy?”

———————————————————

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh” you let out , as the water in the river splashed you hard in the face.

“Why is this so fun, yet we are still being hunted.” You throw up arms like you are on a ride in a theme park, until an arrow flies at yodu and almost hits you.

You turn to see legolas , you wave to him. He just keeps running after you and the dwarves , saying our butts , see he was a good dude.

Because of you distracting legolas , he couldn’t see an orc going to hit Tauriel. She got punched square in the nose , falling into legolas , whodidn’t see it coming and fell in the water.

For elves being graceful, that wasn’t ,but fortunately he landing in the water right near you. You reach in the water and some how pull him up so he’s holding onto the barrel. You lean back so it doesn’t tip his way. Still does. He’s stuck in the water with you. You offer him a smile.

“How was your fall?” You ask him.

“Into the water ? Amazing.” He replies grunting.

‘No falling from heaven”

“Oh.” He blushes

#legolas #legolas x reader #the hobbit imagine #lotr x reader #lotr imagine #the hobbit x reader #legolas imagine

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w-h-4-t · 4 years ago

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Oh Sweet Maker, there’s two of them

Basically @mfmoonbear has an OC (an elf mage named Yelisavita Lavellan) and so do I (an Qunari elf mage named Fen’Harel Adaar). Now they’re here together in a story. A n g e r y co-Inquisitor AU here. Rivalry +100.

They get along. Sometimes.

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

***

Due to its Andrastian nature, Skyhold was more than just a battle fortress. It was also a tribute to the Maker; the garden was often peaceful as the Chantry mothers swung censures while muttering the Chant of Light. However, Skyhold was also a refuge for all kind of people, including the polytheists of the Dales.

“DIRTHAMEN’S SHADOWY NUTSACK WHAT THE FUCK”

One such example rang through the courtyard as four pairs of feet kicked up dust mid-run. There was a race happening, as usual, between two very competitive people, both dubbed Inquisitor. Yelisavita and Fen’Harel got along well enough at first. Though their time together in Haven was drought with cat fighting they grew to mutually respect each other.

That, however, did nothing to stop their competitive nature.

It all started as a simple ‘race you to the War Room’ which was turning into an all-out mage battle royale. Both Harel and Yel made their way up the steps leading to the Main Hall, shoving each other before Harel caught the small elf in a headlock.

“YOU CHEATING BASTARD!” she screamed, making her face as red as her Valaslin, “LET ME GO!!!”

Harel switched her tactic, looping her arms around Yel before throwing her from the steps, “Make a barrier this time else you’ll get some bad bruises!”

Giggling like an ass, Harel continued up the stairs, hopping over several steps at a time before she felt something cold take hold of her legs. At once, the Qunari elf listed forward before catching herself, attempting to yank her legs from its new icy prison.

“You little fuckin-” Harel started.

“Fucking what? Cheater? I didn’t cheat first, remember?” Yel interjected with a smile as she jogged back up the steps, taking her time before stopping by Harel, “Aw is the Dread Wolf stuck? Do you need help puppy?”

A menacing stare shot from the half-Qunari as her body began shaking. Soon enough, the ice began hissing as little wisps of flames licked out from Harel’s skin, eating away the ice.

“I’m a mage too, you fuck,” Harel growled

Yel simply smiled, coating her hand in a slick sheet of ice before reaching up to pat the angry co-Inquisitor’s cheek, “Uh-huh, I see that. Have fun with that ice, it’s extra reinforced for shitheads like you.”

Flinching at the cold touch, Harel pulled back before focusing to burn the ice away; Yel jogged up the stairs, only turning around for one second to mouth I win.

Oh that fucking does it.

Summoning every drop of magic in her bones, Harel blasted the ice chunks away, scaring quite a few people and earning a far away cheer from someone in particular.

“BEAT HER ASS!!!!” Sera yelled from the tavern rooftop, “SORRY YEL BUT I’M ROOTIN’ FER THE TALL ONE!!!”

Hearing the aftermath, Yel turned around slowly, green eyes shining with surprise. Harel shook the chips of ice from her feet before giving her signature wide-eyed, wide grin.

“You heard her,” Harel said as she began clomping up the stairs, “I’m gonna beat YOUR ASSSSSSSS!!!!”

Now, Yelisavita was a powerful and highly dangerous mage. She survived a great deal of trauma and death. Crawling out of Haven’s ruins, she proved she was indeed walking in the Maker’s Light despite being an Alienage elf.

In that moment, however, Yel was a fennec in the eyes of a hyena. One would think she’d be careful now that she’d angered the other mage.

“Says the idiot caught in a simple ice spell.” Yel antagonized before leaping away, breaking into a sprint.

Summoning another bout of magic, Harel brought forth ice, Faade Stepping in a blue blur past the stairs and into the Main Hall. Unfortunately for Harel’s dumbass, Yel had caught on, Fade Stepping in tandem past her.

Varric had to hold down his many Merchant’ Guild letters as the two flew past, his hands gripping the many pages tightly, “HEY! Can’t a dwarf do some paper mache in peace?”

Back to shoving each other, Harel and Yel scrapped with Yel’s hands around Harel’s horns and Harel’s own trying to push the elf away.

“NO!” they shouted together at Varric, on the same page for once.

The black bones of Harel’s horns began to smoke as Yel funnelled fire into her hands.

‘YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Harel said before finally pushing her off, “Did you just try to burn off my fucking horns??!!!”

Harel in turn pushed the office doors open, noticing the absence at the desk before breaking into a sprint. Kicking in the office exit, Harel opened the door just in time to see Yel cracking the War Room entry open.

Using the opportunity, Yel took off once more, diving through the Ambassador’s office towards the War Room.

“GET BACK HERE!!!!”

Instead of saying some crude quip, Harel continued running, pulling magic from her body once more to Fade Step, meeting Yel halfway as she flew forward in a blue streak. The Alienage elf turned back at the last second, her green eyes once again wide in surprise as Harel leapt forward, grabbing Yel and sending them both tumbling through the door. They rolled, pulling each other’s hair and scrabbling like wet cats before someone cleared their throat.

“Good day, Inquisitors,” Cullen said, raising his voice to cut off the tail end of their argument, “I see everyone is in high spirits.”

For a moment, the two stayed the way they were with Yel’s hands around Harel’s throat and Harel’s hand pushing Yel’s face back.

Releasing her grip, Yel pushed Harel’s face back, shoving her into the ground before getting up. She gave a great smile as she dusted herself off, moving to take her place at the War Table.

“Good day, Commander,” she said with a smile, a light blush painting pink shades around her Valaslin.

Cullen smiled back, gripping the pommel of his sword before looking away, also blushing just a bit.

“FUCKIN-” Harel shouted as she moved off the ground, interrupting what was supposed to be a lovely moment, “I will put my foot so far up your a-”

Another throat cleared, this time, from the very end of the War Table.

“Harel,” Josephine assuaged, “I will kindly ask that you show a modicum of decorum. Thank you.”

Scrunching up her face, Harel looked between Yel and Josephine, at first settling on the elf’s smug grin before staring at the lovely Antivan.

“Lucky little fuck,” Harel muttered as she took her place next to Yel, “Damn fuckin lucky that Josie’s here or else I’d-”

“You’d what? Cry at me, wolf?” Yel replied, her smug grin only growing wider.

And once again, the flames of rivalry grew, fanning into an inferno as static crackled in Harel’s palms and fire spun around Yel’s body.

“YOU ARE NOT CHILDREN” Leliana shouted, clapping her hands, her eyes glistening like vicious sapphires, “So for Andraste’s sake, stop fighting like infants! Behave yourself!”

Yel and Harel differed in many ways but there was one thing they agreed on. Leliana was scary and when that Orlesian had enough of their shit, it was time to stand straight, shut up and do their job.

“E-emerald Graves,” Harel stuttered, looking at Yel, “Thinking we could go to the Graves to do...do that thing…”

Yel nodded before staring at the map, trying her best not to look up at Leliana, “We should go to the Hissing Waste’s actually but sure….sure….The Graves sounds...important too.”

At the opposite end of the table, Josephine sidled up to Cullen, finishing the last flourish of her letter before whispering, “ Our paramours continue to be interesting, do they not?” she dips the quill in ink, writing another line, “However, it would be preferable if they did not fight so much. It is indeed troubling for our reputation when they scrap in the public eye.”

Cullen sighs as he looks at Yel, watching her brush back a strand of strawberry blonde hair before pushing a map marker away from Harel’s hand, “ They’re not so bad, Ambassador. My sisters and I fought in a similar way, but because we hated each other. I think they’ll be fine.”

Turning away from her clipboard, Josephine looked at Harel who continued trying to pick up the map marker, only to have it shoved away, “Perhaps you are correct. Maybe they are growing to be friends.”

“IF YOU PUSH THAT MARKER ONE MORE TIME I SWEAR ON ANDRUIL’S SWEATY TIT’S I’LL SKIN YOU ALIVE!!!!”

“Oh, you want to lose again, pup? Don’t go crying to your prissy little bedbuddy -I mean no disrespect Ambassador- ” Yel stops for a moment, looking at Josephine before turning to Harel once more, “when I tan your hide faster than you can say Mythal.”

“Inquisitor-” Cullen starts before Harel shoots a glare at him.

“Don’t even try it, Curly!”

“DON’T TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT!” Yel shouts back, giving the taller half-elf a shove.

And once more, a fight broke out in the War Room as all three Advisors watched the pair roll around on the floor. One would say they were akin to a wolf and a lioness fighting when in fact they were just two aggressive nugs duking it out.

Today was just one of those days where they didn’t get along more than usual. Hopefully, soon they’d be back to some kind of mutual idiocy with Yel on Harel’s shoulders, steering the half-Qunari around by the horns before they’d both fall down some hill.

Josephine and Cullen, though different in many aspects both thought the same thing as they watched their other halves fight.

Maker help me and my competitive girlfriend.

#Harel: *breathes* Yel: (+999 Rivalry)#birds of a feather fight forever #dragon age ocs #Yelisavita Lavellan #Fen'Harel Adaar #dragon age fic #dragon ag drabble #dai fanfic #da:i fanfic #mage inquisitor #inquisitors #Qunari elf #elf inquisitor #qunari inquisitor

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itsbenedict · 3 years ago

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Two-Faced Jewel: Session 9

The Slaying of the Bobbledragon

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Since slaying a serial-killer dragon is a little outside the party's expertise, they're off to Cauterdale to enlist the aid of the Deathseekers' Guild! Having gotten a good night's sleep at a druid village, and not eaten, they're ready to take on, uh...

Well, some sort of very large monster that Zero kindly drew for me.

In the morning, they rather uneventfully get up and get back on the road, thanking the villagers for their hospitality. And the remainder of the trip to Cauterdale is likewise brief and uneventful, right up until the fire.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: the what Benedict I. (GM): The fire.

Yeah, the forest and the road up ahead are ablaze, sort of blocking passage. The dirt road isn't actively on fire, but the trees on both sides are, making it pretty risky to proceed. The team opts to send Oyobi up ahead to scout the situation- and pretty soon she comes back with a report. Apparently, just past the visible fireline, the forest is totally burned down- just charred stumps as far as she could see, right up to the city walls. The fire itself is just, like, 10 meters wide or so, so it's totally something they could just dash through.

It takes some Animal Handling checks to coax the giraffes through, and the ones that balk get them and their riders a little bit of chip damage from heat and smoke inhalation, but the party is pretty much able to push through to the blasted wasteland of charred tree stumps surrounding Cauterdale.

They notice a few people in strange armor in the distance, doing something near the fire- from the seemingly controlled nature of this burn and the name of the town, they conclude that those are fire squads doing this deliberately, and don't get involved. It's a fine conclusion, and the party begins walking the remaining mile to the city.

As they approach, they notice... a little ways off from the main gates, something is attacking the city walls. Guards atop the walls are manning some sort of huge harpoon guns, and they seem to have already slain several of the... whatever these things are. The remaining one, though, seems larger and more resilient than the others, continuing its assault despite the several harpoons already lodged in its flesh.

What they see is a huge reptilian monster. It's probably not a dragon- no wings, and it doesn't appear to be using a breath weapon- but it's the size of a dragon, with tiny arms, headbutting the metal walls of the town repeatedly.

Orluthe makes his Nature roll to recognize this thing- he's heard of them before. They're called "bobbledragons"- some sort of deformed mutant offshoot of true dragons, incapable of speech or flight or magic but still possessed of monstrous strength and durability.

Luckily, the bobbledragon doesn't seem to be in between them and the main gate- the fight is far enough away that they could potentially just walk up and head into town, assuming they'll open the gates during a situation like this. Hell, they don't even need to open the gates- if the guards just drop a rope, they should be able to just climb over. That seems like a decent plan, so Saelhen and Looseleaf begin working together to draft a use of the Message spell to ask the guards to help them inside.

Then they notice that I've been moving Oyobi's token on the map in the direction of the fight.

Oyobi, blinded by bloodlust and/or extra-credit-in-Severe-Zoology-lust, is determined to help fell the bobbledragon. Their attempts at persuasion fail, and Oyobi, undeterred, continues to charge the giant fucking T-rex that is making huge dents in the walls of a city.

As Oyobi runs for it, and as the party follows behind in hopes of stopping her from making a terrible mistake, the bobbledragon jumps and seizes one of the guards on the wall in its jaws, demonstrating its +10 4d12+7 bite attack by immediately oneshotting its victim.

Looseleaf: oh god we're all going to die. you're using the real t-rex statblock. that thing is challenge eight. it is made for a party of four level eight adventurers, so either we are all going to die here, or the guards are going to show us why they are professional fighters and we are students. Benedict I. (GM): "Shit! It can jump!" "No!" The guards seem upset.

Not promising.

Looseleaf: This thing does sufficient damage to oneshot any of us with a perfectly mediocre hit. Looseleaf right now is kind of thoroughly convinced that Oyobi is actually literally about to die. In that light, Looseleaf is going to message Oyobi again. And she is not going to get any closer. Actually, she's going to back off, put distance between herself and the monster. [Oyobi that thing is going to bite you in half get back here you are going to die.] Benedict I. (GM): Roll Persuasion! DC 20 again. -Looseleaf: 17 / PERSUASION (1)- Oyobi Yamatake: [I'M GONNA LIVE FOREVER!!!]

So... that's a bust, and Oyobi finally reaches the dragon and begins her assault. Miraculously, her flying leap hits, and she digs her sword in... for thirteen damage.

The guards return fire against the bobbledragon, and one of the harpoons catches it in the chest- but it doesn't go down, and the second harpoon- manned by just one guard, after his partner got crunched- misses. Another guard, without a cannon, throws a spear- and gets not only a critical hit, but a max damage critical hit, spearing the thing right in the eye.

youtube

...for eleven damage, because these are ordinary CR 1/8 Guards, but still!

Saelhen tries to distract the bobbledragon so Oyobi can run and hide, but... her arrow goes wide, and Oyobi isn't interested in running and hiding anyway. The bobbledragon, targeting whatever did the most damage to it recently with its bite attack, jumps and bites the whole damn harpoon gun out of the guard tower, leaving the guards without heavy weaponry.

And then with its tail, it tries to slap the insect that just stung it in the rear.

...and rolls a 3, meaning Oyobi gracefully backflips over the attack and strikes a dramatic pose.

Looseleaf: God, she did not deserve that dodge. She got so fucking lucky there. Saelhen du Fishercrown: she really didn't Oyobi Yamatake: "When you get to Dragon Hell, tell them Oyobi Yamatake sent you!!"

Looseleaf, in the interest of communicating to Oyobi how much danger she's in, makes use of an upgrade to her Rend Spirit attack she learned while studying Lumiere's notes on pain. With Painread, she can get some feedback back from something whose spirit she disrupts, and figure out exactly how bad a shape it's in. She does so (dealing a cool 16 damage as she does), and learns how huge this thing's remaining hit point pool is, so she can tell Oyobi how unlikely she is to survive long enough to take it down.

...It, uh, it was already pretty hurt when they arrived, and it, um, has nine hit points left. And it's Oyobi's turn.

Oyobi Yamatake: Oyobi dashes forwards, Naruto-runs up to the T-rex's throat, and does a spinning leap that slashes open its jugular. It roars, and the roar swiftly fades off as its breath escapes. Saelhen du Fishercrown: God dammit, Oyobi. Oyobi Yamatake: "YES! YES! B-S-U! B-S-U! B-S-U!" "THAT is how it's DONE!" She is jumping up and down, doing a celebratory dance, the works. "Flawlessed the boss! Hell yeah!"

Yeah, so... I had kind of been planning on her getting oneshot and laid up in the hospital, as a sort of character growth thing and also keeping her out of the way of certain events in town, but, uh... the dice... didn't exactly... share my priorities.

With the bobbledragon slain, and Oyobi doing an extremely obnoxious victory dance, the rest of the party springs into action to stabilize the guard who was used as a chew toy. Thanks to his plate armor, he hasn't lost much blood, but he's got more broken bones than not, and his prognosis wouldn't be good... if it weren't for the healer's kits Looseleaf had the foresight to buy for everyone. Saelhen stabilizes him, and Orluthe calls on his goddess to Lay On Hands to save the guard's life.

Then there's this guy- the captain of the guard, who fought in the battle with a fancy crossbow that shot flaming bolts. He demands to know who the party is, seeming kind of annoyed that they rewarded weakness by saving the guard's life.

Benedict I. (GM): He looks down at your medical kit. "Y'know, all of my men are prepared to fight and die for our home. You really want to take away this man's glory?" The injured guard looks up. "Uh, sir, I- it's fine, actually..." "Feh." Looseleaf: This guy immediately seems like a bad boss. Saelhen du Fishercrown: Oh, he's ridiculous. Okay, that changes the tenor of this conversation somewhat! "...I apologize, sir," says Saelhen, bowing to the guard on his stretcher, "if I have diminished your victory with my carelessness."

And rather than give this guy any more of the time of day, Saelhen asks the random guard his name. (And then I have to give him one and make him a character, whoops.)

Medd Cutter here is thankful for Saelhen's assistance saving his life, and Saelhen pledges to remember his heroism. The commander feels- by design- somewhat left out of the heroism-remembering, and declares that he is REX SCAR, and Saelhen kind of blows him off. He's not happy, but...

Captain Scar is still the sort of person who is very impressed with anyone who rolls up and kills a bobbledragon just because they felt like it, and despite Saelhen's calculated snub, tries to get buddy-buddy with the group of obviously very powerful people who just arrived. He decides to help them through customs without going through the usual processes, much to the chagrin of...

...Long-Tongue, Cauterdale Customs and Border Inspection Officer of Cauterdale, who's very loquacious and wordy and redundantly repeats what she says in different words to phrase things differently in a somewhat unnecessary fashion for no real reason. Rex bullies his way past her, but Saelhen- as another snub, and just to be... nice? (What's her game...?), hands her the 300-page history of the de la Surplus family as collateral for a deferred border inspection.

Inside the walls, Cauterdale is a very crowded place. It's like 80% slum, choked with buildings constructed of a patchwork of scrap metal and discarded siding, without much wood to speak of. The streets are narrow and bustling, and the general vibe around the place is impatient.

The remaining guards escorting them (Rex went off someplace) inform them, when questioned, that the town indeed burns down the forest around them- since they're near the jungle, horrible dangerous things tend to come out of the trees to attack them, and their harpoon defenses are most effective when they can see their attackers coming from a mile away, with no obstructions. Looseleaf asks if bobbledragon attacks are common.

Benedict I. (GM): Another guard shakes his head. "No, that one was pretty crazy. Usually it's just the giant spiders, or the giant mosquitoes, or the mushroom demons." "We've had a few bobbledragons before, but that was like, four at once." Looseleaf: "Oh gods there's already giant spiders?!" "We're not even at- I thought this was a pine forest still!" Benedict I. (GM): "No, that's usually after it rains," Medd says. Looseleaf: Looseleaf casts Druidcraft. Please tell me it's not going to rain. Benedict I. (GM): Nope! Clear skies for now. "Whoa, cool." Looseleaf:"Thank the gods of sea and sky and weather and everything even tangentially related to weather," she says. "No rain." "I hope it never rains, ever again." Benedict I. (GM): "Haha, better stay away from..." "Wait, where are you headed?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "The rainforest," adds Saelhen, mildly. Looseleaf: "Ttttthunderbrush, and yes I know that place is crawling with spiders NOERU SHUT UP,"

Then Looseleaf asks about what they're there for- the Deathseekers' Guild. Unfortunately, the guards tell them that the Deathseekers... probably still exist, but they're like, a weird secret club of old people who think they're too cool to join the guard. They give them a couple leads- apparently the Temple of Andra keeps tabs on them, and also a guard by the name of Mags was the last to see them as they were recently seen leaving the city.

The team splits up- Looseleaf and Orluthe head for the temple, and Oyobi and Saelhen head for the guardhouse to talk to Mags. (Vayen... is still gone, after vanishing as soon as the bobbledragon fight started.) The latter group does their thing next session, so...

After dropping off their rental giraffes, they head inside to meet...

This guy, working the reception desk. He seems to be made of rock, and when he talks he rumbles.

As Looseleaf explains their dilemma and their need for Deathseekers, this guy takes a keen interest in their plight. He's very "hmmmm, iiiiiinteresting, oh i see, you don't say?" about the whole thing, making a very normal interaction seem as ominous as possible.

He tells her that the Deathseekers, to his knowledge, should be back in the city from their unspecified errand inside two days, and offers to take a message.

Looseleaf: "I don't suppose they're looking for a green dragon, are they?" Benedict I. (GM): This guy's smile keeps getting wider. It's kind of creepy. "Hm? What makes you say that?"

As she explains about the dragon, he offers her and Orluthe a candy from a bowl on the desk. After some hemming and hawing out-of-character because the creepy rock man is offering you suspicious candy, they eventually opt to have some, because really, Looseleaf isn't suspicious of this guy. Hers is lemon-flavored. It's tasty.

Then, as she describes the empty tower with the corpse of the torture wizard in it, this guy's demeanor changes suddenly from "creepy wry amusement" to "genuine concern". He tries to put on a poker face, but him having a poker face when he's until now been all creepy-friendly chewing the scenery... stands out. He gives her a strong assurance that the Deathseekers will handle this problem for her.

Benedict I. (GM): "I... thank you, for this information." Looseleaf: "You're welcome. Please, uh, make sure that the Deathseekers get this information as quickly as possible. The dragon eats a corpse a week and there's only three corpses left in the tower, there's a very real deadline on this." Benedict I. (GM): [rolling 1d20+4] (Insight) 17+4 = 21 Looseleaf: Belatedly, Looseleaf realizes she's made a mistake. Benedict I. (GM): "You say... the dragon eats three corpses a week?" "Only three corpses left in the tower?" Looseleaf: Namely: Looseleaf has no good reason to know the fact that the dragon eats a corpse a week. Since she's never met the dragon. Benedict I. (GM): "Curious information." "How did you come across it?" Looseleaf: "Uh, erm, uh." Shit.

Looseleaf opts to tell the truth about Arnie, to avoid spinning a dangerous web of lies for herself- after all, Arnie's not worth lying for. She does describe him in as sympathetic terms as she can, though, and asks this guy not to harm him if possible- she doesn't want to break her word to Arnie if she can help it.

Benedict I. (GM): He takes a moment to process this. "...Very well." "My people will be the soul of discretion." "I thank you very much for your generous contribution to the Ecumene of Understanding."

Looseleaf notices that something is wrong.

This guy is the receptionist. He's not a bishop or anything. He's not even wearing priestly vestments- just a nice suit. And he's speaking as though he's in a position of power- "my people", he says.

And after considering various possibilities, she tries something. A shot in the dark, but...

And the way Looseleaf plays this, is... "quit acting like you don't know what I'm talking about, c'mon, the jig is up". She takes out the letter she found in Lumiere's tower and shows it off, as proof!

And this guy keeps denying it, and getting increasingly more panicked, and looking nervously over at Orluthe, and asking her to please stop, shh shh shh shh, and it's when he begs her to have a conversation with him in private please that she makes the connection. If this guy is affiliated with Lumiere, who's apparently affiliated with some sort of secret conspiracy that's affiliated with some sort of deific usurpation... he maybe doesn't want to have that conversation in front of a cleric.

Looseleaf:"Okay, Orluthe, uhm. Sorry, so," Looseleaf whispers into Orluthe's ear. "Long story short, turns out my sister, who left my village way before I did, ended up falling into some kind of magical secret society. The kind of secret society with Hal Lumiere, i.e. 'the torture wizard who came up with all those pain knives that we all got stabbed a lot with', was apparently a very active member of." Benedict I. (GM):Oh my god, um. Looseleaf: "So, uh, I'm kinda freaking out about that, right now, but if my hunches are right then I'm the sister of someone important in their organization?" Benedict I. (GM): As you start whispering, he tries to interrupt. "Please do not say things to him!" "Please let us speak in private!!" Looseleaf: Oh he's freaked out now huh. "Anyways that's why I am actually indeed going to speak, with this guy, in private," Looseleaf finishes. "And if I don't show up in a half-hour or so, then things have probably gone lopsided." "In which case you should find everyone else and tell them to, I dunno, come save me or whatever." "You got all that?" Benedict I. (GM): The rock man looks distraught. Orluthe Chokorov: "I, uh... think so? This is really... I'm not sure it's safe..."

With a good Persuasion roll, Orluthe agrees to stay behind, and the rock man leads Looseleaf into a backroom whose doors and walls seem warded heavily with some sort of abjuration magic. A secret saferoom.

The man describes the problem: the gods don't know that they exist, or didn't until Looseleaf went and told a cleric of Diamode that they existed. Clerics, in this setting, channel divinity literally- their gods come into their heads to do magic for them, meaning anything a cleric knows is something a god can know, if they care to check.

Benedict I. (GM): "Because if the next time Diamode is in that kid, if she goes looking for that memory..." "I mean, she might not. And you didn't mention anything about our aims, so she might consider it beneath her notice." "But that, right there? That was nearly game over." "And I can't just kill you, because if I did, Yomi would end me." Looseleaf: "Yeah, I'm not incredibly foolish, I haven't actually shown anybody else Yomi's letter." "Nobody knows that Lumiere was involved with... deicidal blasphemy." "That's what this is about, right? Thereabouts, in terms of sheer magnitude and hubris?" Benedict I. (GM): He sighs. "It's not like that." "At least, it's not all like that." "The Project is... fractious." "The less you know about the project, the less you're able to carelessly blurt out about the project your cleric friends, or to anyone who tries reading your mind or tricks you into a Zone of Truth..." "The safer we all are." "With as much as you know, you're already dangerous. It'd be best for us- and you- if you dropped this. Never spoke of it to anyone."

Looseleaf points out that it's good that she found the letter, because that tower was sitting abandoned for a year- anyone could've walked in and read it, since it was lying on a bookcase in the open.

This is somehow not taken as good news- when he finds out that the letter could've potentially been read by anyone, that there was a security breach for a year...

Looseleaf: "Look, my man, next time you want to send a letter, by the way, use... use some encoding." "Don't just write things in plaintext like a chump, by the gods." Benedict I. (GM): "He was supposed to burn after reading." Saelhen du Fishercrown: he's too dead for that! Benedict I. (GM): "Wait, you said it was... out in the open?" "But he's dead?" "Either he was an idiot, or... someone else opened his mail." "Except... Yomi should've hand-delivered it, so..." "...well. We'll definitely look into it."

He brings up sending for someone to do memory magic to handle the breach- but he realizes he can't have that done to Looseleaf, because Diamode would notice if someone tampered with her cleric's memories, and someone needs to still know what's up so they can keep Orluthe away from the truth. (Plus, she figures she'd notice the inconsistencies and end up sleuthing it out again.)

Looseleaf asks if Yomi is doing well, and gets... that she's intense, and powerful, and she probably thinks she's "doing well", but... he doesn't know about happy.

Lastly, he shows Looseleaf a symbol- a blank circle, with the elvish character 人 drawn underneath. The symbols of gods are typically circles with a design inside- so the meaning of this and its relationship to the nature of the Project is fairly easy to infer.

Benedict I. (GM): "If you need to prove to someone you're in the know, without blurting out a bunch of dangerous details, this is the mark." He then eats the paper and the graphite stick he used to draw it.

Next time: Saelhen and Oyobi grill the guard Mags for information on the Deathseekers, and connections are made with powerful individuals.

#tfj log #twofaced jewel

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bluejaytaco · 4 years ago

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(We returned to the session with all party members floating in the waters of Fransland. The bar has “Welcome to my realm” written on it in blood. Outside of it there are strange, humanoid creatures walking around. We're in the water, Theodora had a young elf boy knocked out on her back and Art has Reita clinging to him because she doesn't know how to swim.

The water is, however, strangely buoyant.)

Theodora:(immediately swims over and hugs Koejin) I'm never letting you go again.

Koejin: (hugs back) yeah... uh, no more jumping through strange portals for a while.

Alabaster:(casts waterwalking and walks over to Art) Hello, my friend!

Art: (jumps at the sight) Holy Jesus! Hi, hello!

(We all end up swimming to shore and catching up a little bit. The creatures were something Team A was dealing with while we were in the separate universe. From the distance, some of us can see that the creatures are all attached to one cloaked figure sitting off to the side.)

Koejin: (shoots an arrow at the figure and hits it right in the head. The head pops off and rolls closer. It's Skelly)

Skelly: What the Hell?! What just happened?! Who shot me?!(all his minions just kinda stand around his head) Don't just stand there! Reattach me!

Theodora: Skelly?

Skelly: (After his head's back on, he notices us) Oh, hey guys!

Hennessy: What're you doing here?

Skelly: I don't know. Just one minute I'm minding my own business, the next I'm here with these guys (gestures to the shambling forms) Just making friends and hanging out.

Theodora: Are they.... friends by choice? (stares pointedly at the tethers)

Skelly: They're friends by MY choice!

Theodora: How long have you been here?

Skelly: A day... A week... two years and five minutes? Ehhhh....

Art: (moves to explore the tavern)

(As he moves closer, a giant red claw comes up and climbs onto the roof. Mrs. Red glares at the party. Koejin also notices humanoid Mrs. Red is on her back. Dragon Mrs. Red rears back and uses her fire breath on everyone, successfully melting Skelly into a pile of ash.

We also have a new party member, Jaquine. She is not as high of a level as us, so the blast would kill her.

But then a large tiefling woman jumps in and takes the brunt of the burn for Jaquine. She looks.... very familiar. Despite the fact that we've only really met like two tieflings.)

Tiefling woman: Everyone, inside! Now! (Jumps up on Dragon Red's face and they fly away.)

Koejin: Uh, yeah! Let's go!

Alabaster: (moving over to bring Skelly back to life)

(Skelly is now a strange pile of moving ash. He hasn't regained his original form.)

Vincent: Yesss.... burn.... (This is like... the third time he's gotten excited about some violence.)

Hennessy: Alright! You and me! We gotta talk!

(We go inside the bar to see a scawny looking white dragonborn behind the bar, cleaning a glass. Aside from him, there's only one other patron; a woman passed out in a puddle of her own drool with long, rainbow hair.)

Art: (eyes the bartender) Hey there... I'm Art... and you are? (he already knew the answer)

Dragonborn: (smiles creepily) Oh, hi! I'm Eltbalm.

Art: Right, right. (looks over at the passed out woman and frowns as he realizes it's Thia. He walks over to her)

Reita: (runs to Wreybar and points at a hole in the wall. She then dives for it and pulls out a rat. She tears the rat in half and hands part of it to Wreybar.)

Wreybar: Is it a gift or food?

Reita: (nods and bites into her half)

Wreybar, grinning: Thank you!

(Me: I'm a good big brother for letting this happen.)

(For a moment, we cut to Hennessy and Vincent talking to each other about the way he's been acting. Vincent, after being kidnapped and just all around having a shitty time, has adopted the whole idea of killing in order to make the world better. But, after a bit of talk, he's feeling a little better. Hennessy talks about how Theodora, Koejin, and Alabaster would be able to help him with whatever he needs to feel safe again. That seems to help.)

(Meanwhile, Art is gently shaking Thia awake. He gets her to snap her head up but that's about it. He gestures to Eltbalm to get them some water for her.

We all try to get her to wake up and talk with us, but to no avail. However, all of us agree that this might be the best time for a long rest. But before that)

Hennessy: Art, can I speak to you?

Art: Uh... yeah. What's up?

Hennessy: Your sister. She's still got that pink stone embedded in her back, right?

Art: Yeah... we haven't been able to remove it... why do you ask?

Hennessy: Well, while we were all superpowered by the gods, I came across a spell that might be helpful. We could create a clone copy of Reita and remove the stone from her original body. Then, if anything were to go haywire, then we can put her essence into the clone.

Art:.... I want you to think about this for a second.. Put yourself in my shoes and Vincent in Reita's.... would you still trust it?

Hennessy: If it means saving his very life and the lives of millions, then of course!

Art: Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying no. It's just... a lot. And, I mean, it's not like we can do it right now anyway, right?

Hennessy, seeing that Art doesn't fully trust the idea: Yes, but... to ease your worries... it might help to keep in mind we have a genuine necromancer on our side. (Gestures to Alabaster)

Alabaster, seeing that gesture and looks over to find out whats going on: Hello, yes!

Art: You're a necromancer now?!

Alabaster: Why yes. It's an interesting tale but yes. And I would be able to help your sister, given the situation!

Art: (looks at the Skelly blob then up at Alabaster tensely. He then turns back to Hennessy.) It's not something we can do now anyway so....

(Everyone took a look at the stone. Hennessy discovered it was an ancient magic while Art recognized it as tiefling magic. Theodora offered to cut the magic and see what might come of it, but Art was afraid it might hurt Reita. He might be a little over protective.

This is around where we took our rest. As we're rested and trying to figure out our next move, the tiefling woman steps in through the door. She has in her hands the fifteen foot battle axe and is covered in blood. She walks up, demands a beer from Eltbalm, and walks back over to the table where Thia is still passed out. As she takes a sip, she gestures to all of us to gather around.)

Tiefling Woman: Must be pretty confusing for all of you.

Art: That's putting it lightly.

Tiefling Woman: So, let's start with an introduction; I'm Elsie. Elsie Red. I'm the only form of Mrs. Red here that's a tiefling.

Art: ...yeah, why are you a tiefling?

Elsie, shrugging: Don't know. Don't have any memories of anything outside of here. But, hey! I gotta gift for you (looks over at Eltbalm) Hey, you! Go get her. And you better not have touched her!

Eltbalm: Aww, but- (interrupted by the battle axe embedding itself in the wall next to him) coming up!

(Eltbalm disappears for a moment and returns with a bound Mrs. Red. It's our Red; missing tongue and all. He sits her down next to Elsie.)

Hennessy: Elsie, is your story anything like our Red's? It's quite the tragic tale.

Elsie: I don't know. I dont remember. That smiling bastard sent me and all these reds here. It's like we're some kind of experiment or something.

Theodora, nodding: Sounds like Ticket Master, alright. He is quite an asshole.

Hennessy, turning to Red: Do you still have the diary I returned to you?

Red: (nodding in her condescending, mean girl way)

(Art tries to reach into her satchel in order to show Elsie only to get bitten for the trouble.)

Art: Ow, hey! You bitch!

Red: (glaring at him)

(Art gives Elsie a rundown of what they know about Red's backstory. It sums up to Red ending the war and starting her reign of terror after the death of Eltbalm. At that, he points to the scrawny dragonborn at the bar.)

Elsie: Uhhh, no. I remember being married to a tiefling woman. He's not really my type....

Art: Our Eltbalms haven't looked like that. They're more....uh... Koejin, describe Eltbalm.

Koejin: Oh... He's just so hunky and buff. He's covered in shiny white scales. Like, a beautiful man just... (chef's kiss)

Elsie: Yeah, still no.

(We eventually decide that our Red's inability to speak was making this hard. So, we ask Vincent if there's anything he can do.

Turns out, DM rolls high enough to where Vincent pulls out a mechanical tongue.)

Vincent: Now, you gonna go and bite me the moment I go to put this in your mouth?

Red: (nods with a 'Well, duh' look on her face)

Vncent, putting the tongue on the table: Then you can do it yourself.

(Elsie undoes Red's hands and Red immediately dives to put the tongue in her mouth. She doesn't take long to secure it.)

Red, pointing to all of us: Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, fuuuck you. And a special 'fuck you' to you! (points at Elsie)

Alabaster: Charming.

Red: You took away everything from me and expect me to do anything for you?!

Art: Oh, you mean like what you've been doing to us?

Red: Oh, you fucking little shit. Why the fuck would I care?! You interrupted everything and stopped my ascent to finally killing that smiling asshole you call Ticket Master.

Art: Please, you went toe to toe with him and couldn't take him down.

(We ended up arguing with Red for a while and trying to get her to help us and figure out the parts missing that kept her from doing it. Then...)

Thia: (grabs the empty beer bottle and smashes it against the table. Holds it out to Red) put that to your neck.

Red: (loses control of herself and immediately follows the order) Wha-?

Thia: How do we get out of here?

Red: I- (is comanded to press in deeper. Starts to cry.) I... I don't know. I don't know. I can't remember!

Thia: Then remember.

Red, freezes for a second: I... remember everything...I... (turns to Art) I'm your mother.

Art: I... Wh-wait.... what?

Red: It happened so long ago now. I... Eltbalm and I... were tieflings. We were very much in love. We were happy... Eventually, we were blessed with a beautiful baby. A little girl... but, the land told us, no. Our girl would become a charming handsome boy. Not too long after, we were granted our beautiful, sweet Reita... but... but the war came to our land. They killed Eltbalm, my love. Right in front of me... So I prayed to the land for a way. To stop the war. To protect my children. I was turned into a dragon and given the power to end it all, so I did. And I prayed for a way to bring my husband back. And the land granted me the stones. All parts of Eltbalm.

I didn't know I would be worshipped by our people. I just wanted you to be safe... so, I prayed for a way to the land. And then.... he appeared.

I was so full of rage, but Ticket Master offered me a way. I sold him my soul and I asked that you and your sister were raised by tieflings. To be sure you were kept safe. And he did...

I tried to make it so Reita could be strong like me. Even in my rage and my forgotten memories, I wanted to keep her safe. She was so... helpless. Art, I am so sorry it turned out this way. I lo-

Thia, interrupting the last part: slit your throat.

(Red follows the order and immediately starts bleeding out. Her body collapses on the ground.)

Art: (immediately moves to save her)

Thia: Stop.

Art: (Fails a Con save and is forced to stop)

Theodora: (moves in to heal Red)

Thia: Sit down.

Theodora: (Fails a Con save and follows the order)

Hennessy: Now, wait ju-

Thia: Cover your mouth.

Hennessy: (Fails a Con save and follows the order) Mmmph Rmph!

Koejin: Thia, why're you doing this?

Thia: It's what you guys taught me. you have to kill in order to get to the top. In order to get anyone to listen. To get any type of power.

Koejin:...I thought you just wanted to do drugs and run your bar.

Thia: I did. But then this shit started happening. And you guys started killing generals. And you guided me here. That's when I realized that yes, this is the only way.

Theodora: (trying to do Lay On Hands to Red as Thia's distracted.)

Thia, noticing: Go lay down in that corner, far away from her and don't move.

Theodora:(fails the Con save and does that.)

Art: The leader shouldn't be influenced by their followers.

Thia: I wasn't your leader. Cloak was. And look how much you cared about her death. (glares at Art) not that you're one to talk about not killing. You signed a contract for the God of Death and Deceit.

Art, glaring back: To save my sister.

Thia: still.

Hennessy: (still screaming behind his muffled hands)

Art, casting Sending to get what he was trying to say: Hennessy says "we have been nothing but merciful as instructed." He also said other things, but it got caught off.

Thia: Fine. Remove your hands and speak.

Hennessy: We have been more merciful to everyone of these generals. Green, your own father, was spared and look now! He's one of our strongest allies! Purple returned to their gem under our influence!

Thia: And what about Orange? And Blue? And Yellow?!

Hennessy: Orange was.... an unfortunate circumstance. And Blue gave us no choice. But Yellow; if I recall he willingly died.

Art, tenses: Uhhh, Hennessy...? Yellow was Thia's mother. And she didn't.

Thia, clearly even more angered: I'm starting to think this world needs to be wiped clean so we can begin again.

Art:.... Please don't think that.

(As if hearing her, the roof of the tavern is torn off and there stands Shmoogie. He's staring down at us.)

Shmoogie: Pelor knew you would see the light. (puts his hand down to her) Come now. There's much work to be done.

Thia: (climbs onto the hand)

(Everyone scrambles to look for a way to stop her from leaving with him. In his panic to keep her there, Art uses Black Tentacles to try and pull her out of his hands before she goes out of reach. Thia sees it and tries to order him to stop, but gets smacked in the face by one of them and is now sporting a huge mark near her eye. She disappears through a white portal in the sky with Shmoogie.

But the spell is then released and they can move.)

Art, rushes over to Red, torn in what he's about to do: Okay, I kinda shouldn't care but after all that now I don't want you to die. There's waaaay too many questions to be answered, but you're still an insane bitch. Okay, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna save the life of my...mother...mortal enemy... fuck.... How the fuck did Alabaster do this? Here we go. (casts spare the dying on Red)

Red: (Alive and no longer bleeding out, but out cold)

Reita: (watching her brother in confusion)

Art, noticing this: Uhhh... hey, uhhh... There's a lot to explain but.... once I understand what's going on, I'll explain it all. Okay?

Reita: (lifts some of her half-eaten rat to her mouth)

Art: (pushes it back down slowly)

(As Art is healing Mrs. Red and talking to Rieta, everyone is discussing the best way to get out of here. Theodora and Koejin have some private talks with the DM and come back, but seem reluctant to do the things they were talking about.)

Theodora, to Elsie: You think you can turn into a dragon and help us out?

Elsie: You're asking this from the only Mrs. Red that can't.

Koejin:... I think I have an idea. (digs through her bag for a gem she had.)

(She summons a carriage labelled Koejin's Brews and it's pulled by a horse with sunglasses.)

Horse: Heeey there, Koejin! Ready to ascend to your position?

Art:... Koejin's a god... I mean, why not? Why the fuck not? (heads to the carriage to immediately drink his face off.)

(We all pile on the carriage to find a fully stocked tavern with plenty of room. Like a bar version of a Tardis. "A Bardis" as Theodora's player starts calling it. And, as we ascend, the bar shakes a little as if experiencing turbulence, but then we end up in a world of light.

It's bright and white. Everything is white. Including the people.

Me: Sooo, Racism?

DM: It's Pelor's realm.

Theodora's Player: So, yeah, racism.)

(As we step off the carriage, we pass by people and see a letter hanging from the gate. On it is written "To Alabaster.")

Alabaster: (takes the letter)

Letter: Alabaster, you used to be so devout and loyal, but seem to have been corrupted by the influences around you. I will cleanse this world of all that is dark. Come see me and will do the same for you. It isn't too late. Not for you and not for your daughter. Come see me, my boy.

Pelor

(Attached to the letter is a picture of Eris, Alabaster's daughter. Pelor is holding her by the head.)

((DM wasn't kidding when he said this would be pretty intense.))

((Koejin's Player: So... I've been hitting on Art's dad...))

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incomprehensiblelentils · 4 years ago

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@dollsome-does-tumblr does this and opened it up to anyone and I am feeling chatty today SO!

Because I co-write a lot with my lovely wife, I might answer some questions including those co-written stories, or I might not, depends on how I feel when I get there.

name:

Megan but I go by Lentils most places on the internet, Shadowcrawler over on AO3

fandoms:

at the moment: MCU, especially Agents of SHIELD and Daredevil; Terminator: Dark Fate; Halt and Catch Fire. Oh and I wrote Dollhouse fanfics a thousand years ago. Sometimes I will watch a movie/show and think “those two girls should be gay” and bang out 2k of fic about it and then never write for that fandom again. (I THOUGHT this was going to be HACF but as it turns out, no, it’s not done with me yet.)

where you post:

AO3, at Shadowcrawler. I also have a tumblr @lentils-writes where theoretically I post links to fics/advertise them in the tags, because I used to be real precious about not putting porn on this blog, but fuck it.