#its miss Riz!!

[ribbittrobbit]

oh also the scene with riz’s dad makes me weep every time and murph’s gleeful expression when he say “you’re an undercover angel” and when his voice cracks a little when he talks to him and the awkward conversations i just

[bacchuschucklefuck]

riz gukgak is SO distressing to have as a favourite character I can never funckign rest out here

[nerdyspies]

every time quangle has at least one bad kid having beef with some pc from another universe and i think thats beautiful

[fauvester]

ballister blackheart would have beat the shit out of ballister boldheart

[meteortrails]

god I love the way that riz’s very open and honest emotionality is, for all its honesty, still very much a smokescreen for his deepest and most strongly held vulnerabilities. like he's so obvious about the way he loves his friends and family and what he'd do for them but the level of 'and here's the semi private stuff i share with those who are close to me' is just. missing. what do you have going on in there INDEED jawbone!

[professorfcknmoriarty]

OKAY, MAYBE ITS THAT I HAVE A HEADCOLD BUT HEAR ME OUT

transmasc Riz

Think about a little Goblin that always wore his dad's stuff things and styled himself after his dad, but his mom thought that was because he missed him initially and didn't think much of it. Never questioned it or wanted him to stop, because she missed him too.

And think about how maybe it was actually Penny that helped him realize that he might not be a lil goblin girl. How she was this older girl that he thought he should be trying to emulate some, but it just wasn't happening. She was pretty, sure, and real nice. But she was like a sister, not a role model. And she sits him down one day and says, "Hey, you know it's okay, don't you? If you don't like these things? If you like different things. If you're different than the body you're born into."

And maybe she was there with him when he told his mom, holding his hand for the whole thing. And ofc Sklonda was like, "Oh shit of course. Why didn't I realize? That makes perfect sense."

She probably threw him the silliest, lamest, three person birthday party for her son.

"Mom! It's not my birthday!"

"Yes, it is. You came out of me for your other birthday, and this is the one you came out to me. It's your birthday. It's funny, you know? Your dad always swore we were going to have a boy. He loved you so much when you were born, but we were both surprised. I guess he had it right from the start."

One of the reasons he was so excited about starting at Aguefort was that he wasn't gonna have all the same classmates as he grew up with, so they were gonna know him as just Riz the Detective and not as who he had been half heartedly trying to be before. Whatever the name his teachers had insisted on calling him.

And he wasn't gonna have to explain, "Yeah, I was that, but I am Riz. Just Riz. Not short for anything."

[madelynejpryor]

This season of Fantasy High seems to be dealing a lot with perception. The Bad Kids are perceived negatively by the Rat Grinders for some reason or another, and they seem hellbent on vindicating that. Adaine is being perceived as someone in a position of financial comfort that shouldn't be struggling to fund her own wizard classes and thus shouldn't need help where up until this last episode she really did. Riz's conversation with his mom seems to be about his perception amongst his friends; how it doesn't sit right with her that they call him "The Ball" and take advantage of his desire to succeed so much that he will often help them get work done... "Riz is the only person who can take stress tokens for someone else." Fabian is being perceived as the "Maximum Legend", party house extraordinaire and Owlbears star who is coasting along without any worries; when in actuality he is deeply lonely in his mansion by himself day in and day out, struggling to meet his needs, and clearly missing his father and fearful of what his mother's relationship with Gilear is going to mean for him.

Gorgug is literally being forced to fight against Porter because of how the man sees him; demanding for so long that he be allowed to pursue what makes him happy, but being countered by someone who perceives him a certain way, who thinks they know what's best for him. Fig... Fig is going through an entire identity crisis. Her perception of herself is in shambles and she seems to be hitting roadblocks just like Gorgug in how she wants to be seen and what she wants to try versus what the adults in her life think she should try. And then there's Kristen. Kristen is fucking going through it. In large part she's being treated the way she is because so many people seem to see her as flippant with her faith because Cassandra is her latest god in a line of many; and it feels like her self-perception is also struggling to be defined.

Baron was destined to come back this season somehow, someway, as Brennan has explained in Adventuring Party -- and Baron's whole thing is literally mirrors. The surfaces we use to perceive ourselves.

Gods can be altered due to how they are perceived. Bakur seems to outright address this; asking if Adaine was talking about Sol himself corrupting Ankarna, or his followers. Gods are bureaucratic, Gods can be standoffish to those they share domains with-- and followers, it seems, can change the course of a God's perception, can shape how they are remembered and corrupt them through denying what they are: like calling a Goddess of Conviction a Goddess of Conquest.

And if the responsibility for a God's perception can fall onto its followers? If you want to keep that God centered around rage, burning fires, horrible conquests? ...Then maybe that's why it's a bad look for one of your friends to go back out into the woods to resurrect rats after you've killed them. It can't be a conquest over helpless forest critters if someone is bringing them back, is holding to their personal convictions and showing them mercy.

Convictions don't have to be driven by greed or pride. Your convictions are your morals, are what defines you. And maybe whoever killed Lucy Frostblade didn't like what she stood for.

[dullgecko]

Fabian Kristen and Fig think it’s funny to pick Riz up by the scruff of his neck, which turns really bad really quickly after sophomore year spring break when he almost takes out Fabian’s good eye in a panic and then disappears for like a week afterwards

When he finally reappears everyone decides to make a list of boundaries for the group (Kristen bans people sneaking up on her, Fabian bans anyone doing anything to him that can unexpectedly put him in water, Riz bans touching his neck, etc) that they pin to the fridge of Mordred (concerning the shit out of Jawbone who was not told about half of this shit but Adaine and Fig refuse to tell him because it’s not their stories to tell)

Riz panics EVERY time someone picks him up without giving him a heads up. It worse when he's scruffed but his body's automatic reaction is to partially paralyse him and by the time he's put down again he's not likely to lash out at anyone. The only problem is you have to grab a very SPECIFIC spot to cause the paralysis and if you miss its actually pretty painful.

Thankfully his friends had stopped playing their game of pick-up-the-goblin since before their spring break. Riz was already pretty tightly wound and jumpy normally but after that whole experience it was on a whole new level. He hadn't told his friends about what Baron and the demons in the hotel had done to him and he didn't particularly want to either. Preferring to bury the memory of icy hands around his throat and getting hauled around like luggage by the back of his neck in the back of his mind where he didn't have to think about it.

He'd been looking for a specific bit of information in a book in the library when the incident happened, the goblins focus completely locked in on the page he was reading as he stood next to one of massive bookshelves in the Auguefort library. His awareness of what was going on around him non-existent as he tried to memorise what he was reading meaning that he didn't notice Fabian sneaking up behind him.

The half elf shot a hand forwards and grabbed the goblin by the back of the neck but his aim was a little bit off. Paralysis not setting in and pain shooting down Rizs spine as he was hauled into the air with the sound of quiet laughter, the book he was holding falling to the floor with a thud. He wasn't even thinking about it, mind immediately flashing back to a demon dragging him out of the mirror with the same painful grip, and he lashed out. Claws raking across Fabians stunned face and making him drop the rogue into a heap on the floor so he could cradle the massive gash he'd made next to his good eye.

Riz didn't land well, one leg twisting underneath his body at a bad angle when he fell but he didn't feel it yet. Adrenaline coursing through him as his mind kept him trapped in the flashback and he tried to bolt. He needed to get away from his attackers, hide, go to ground and lick his wounds, so he did. He was a good rogue, no one would find him, and they didnt see hide or hair of him for a week.

When they did see him he was still limping around with a crutch, the goblin having had to go to the free clinic after school when he finally calmed down and found his ankle swollen and purple. He didn't want to go to his party since he was convinced they hated him now and he couldn't afford magical healing otherwise. Instead choosing to suffer with the torn ligament and let it heal naturally. It made him a lot easier to catch when Fabian finally spotted him.

[utilitycaster]

Hope I can phrase this in a way that makes sense but—

What well-known actual-play cast member is your favorite for each of the core D&D class? Not necessarily a specific characters, but I’m interested in which players you think brings the most to each class.

This is a very interesting question! It's a hard one to answer for some classes and very easy for others so bear with me; also there are a couple where I could not pick just one.

I'm sticking to the PHB 12 for, as you said, core classes:

Barbarian: While Travis did give us "I would like to rage," I think Ashley and Taliesin get to share this one for me. I think they both really explore what rage means to someone and while I love a good "I'm a tank because I can take the hits and that's what I do and what I'm good at" story, I also think Yasha's messy relationship with her feelings of guilt and grief, and Ashton's chronic pain, are both incredible ways to play with the barbarian archetype.

Bard: much easier. Sam Riegel and Krystina Arielle. I'm a sucker for someone who actually sings even as I don't think you have to (and have played bard without doing so). It's both clearly a class they each love dearly and it shows, and they're incredibly musically talented performers to boot.

Cleric: Lou Wilson. Especially since I didn't like Fantasy High season 1 Fabian until the end of the season Kingston blew me away. I would love to see him explore cleric again, though it's exciting to see him as a paladin on WBN.

Druid: Emily Axford as Moonshine. Emily as a rule understands D&D classes very well anyway, but I think the culture of the crick and the ways that Moonshine must grow as a character while being a druid take it to the next level. (Also I prefer a caster-heavy druid to a shapechanger-heavy one; that's just me).

Fighter: Back to NADDPod because literally who could I say other than Jake Hurwitz, the man who only plays fighters. People who are new to D&D when they start actual play can be hit or miss imo; some pick it up and some lean harder on being showy to make up for it and it doesn't play well for me personally, but Jake is the greatest hit.

Monk: Marisha Ray; Beau is just generally a great character, and I think Marisha's own experience with martial arts informs the way she plays her; monks can be kind of repetitive in combat even with strong players and she manages to avoid this through her description.

Paladin: This is actually super hard because people don't play straight paladin a lot. This is incorrect of them, but it is an intense class. I think Luis Carazo and Zac Oyama are like...the duality of paladin (and indeed, redemption paladin). The tragedy and the comedy.

Ranger: Laura Bailey, natch; it's funny because Vex is in many ways not the archetypal ranger due to having high charisma, but she is simply my favorite and that's that on that. Sorry the mechanics were so bad; I would love to see more rangers in D&D even though Vex will be hard to dethrone. I promise Tasha's fixed them!

Rogue: I think I'm actually going Murph on this one. I like when rogues are more of the detective/spy type than the assassin/criminal type [obligatory "of course that's what you'd say you stupid paladin stan"] and inquisitive and arcane trickster are probably my two top rogue classes so Riz it is.

Sorcerer: I do consider PF1e cheating here because it's technically a different system that also imo addresses a lot of the weaknesses of sorcerer/makes it way better, but Bryn Monroe of RQG did play a great sorcerer. In D&D? Giving Emily Axford a second spot here for Saccharina. I'm going to talk about this for warlock, but I think sorcerer is a class you don't have to justify but if you don't it's a little unsatisfying. Sorcerer really shines in the Crown of Candy setting, and metamagic often doesn't live up to its reputation but Emily makes it work for her.

Warlock: Travis Willingham. I think there are classes that are kind of self-explanatory, for lack of a better term; you can play a fighter or rogue or even a bard or druid without going super deep into why the character is this class and still be an incredible character (though a good backstory never hurts). But there are others where you really need to be engaging with the class at all times to make it work, and warlock is one of them, and Fjord explores the warlock pact and what it means like few others.

Wizard: Aabria Iyengar. NO ONE gets wizard hubris as a player like Aabria. Knowledge is power and boy do wizards love knowledge. I especially like that most people in 5e play wizards as genuine adventurers because it feels very easy to play them as old guy in robes swept up in events beyond them; Aabria plays wizards who are combat ready with the humanity and backstory to make the difficult decisions sympathetic and meaningful, and I think that's how you have to play it.

Note: I want to specifically call out Liam O'Brien and Siobhan Thompson as "people I trust in basically any class or system and just didn't happen to hit a favorite here due to sky-high competition/personal preferences". They are both very close seconds for wizard.

[bugboys-art]

junior year i will miss you

this was lots of fun to make and i really like how my riz and gorgug designs ended up

i timed the music wrong but its close enough

[the-greatest-magic-of-all]

:3

Riz’s fever broke the night after Fabian left but he still felt awful. Goblins generally didn’t get sick very often but when they did their immune systems tended to go for a scorched earth policy when it came to ridding their bodies of any invaders. Most of the time they didn’t survive the onslaught but thankfully the healers in the palace infirmary were very good at their jobs.

He levered himself into a more upright position after a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, muscles still aching and thirsty from the prolonged fever. Nurse Mistgift spotted him gulping down the glass of water left next to his bed when she came by to check on him and proceeded to give him the scolding of his life while he had to sit there and take it. He was too exhausted to make his escape, simply nodding along with drooping ears as she told him off for pushing himself too hard while injured and especially for not keeping his wound properly cleaned while he did so. The infection he gave himself had made him so ill that he’d been delirious for nearly three days until she managed to get in under control.

She at least let him leave the infirmary after checking him over again, banning him from his duties for the rest of the week and making him promise to get more rest in his quarters. Now that he was more awake she was aware he wouldn’t be able to relax in the infirmary, the space far too open and noisy for him to be anything other than stressed out. He agreed readily to her conditions, too exhausted to argue and with plans of a hot shower in his quarters to make himself fell less gross before trying to get some more sleep. That seemed to calm her ire somewhat, the head nurse promising to get the kitchens to send him something he’d be able to keep down around dinner time as he thanked her and left.  

He'd managed to get back to his quarters without much issue, tiredly waving at the guards as he disappeared inside and beelined straight for the attached bathroom to get himself cleaned up. Fabian had these quarters prepared for him even before he took his oath, his friend getting his entire office back home transported over to the palace and set up directly next to the Kings study so the goblin could work and watch after Fabian at the same time. He didn’t often use the attached bedroom for sleeping, preferring to get his four hours in the official nohecharei quarters next to the Kings where he could be close by if Fabian needed him, but the bed here was soft and comfortable and he found himself falling asleep fairly quickly despite how much he’d already gotten recently.

Thankfully his dreams this time were less confusing and certainly less upsetting. His memories of returning to the palace after closing Fabians case after so many years of having basically no leads, the reason he’d even met Fabian in the first place, had blended together with his fever delirium into a confusing mess. It was to the point that he couldn’t even quite remember with certainty what had happened beyond giving his King the good news and stumbling his way down to the infirmary afterwards. At least he was sure he’d found out who tried to kill Fabian all those years ago, that part certainly hadn’t been imagined.

He heard the servants knock on his door at some point in his doze, ear swivelling towards the sound to check who it was (Miss Silvergrove, vetted and safe enough to let her near Fabians quarters) before speaking up to let them inside. The tray with what smelled like a chicken soup getting left by the door when she entered, spotted the goblin still curled up half-asleep on his bed, and exited again as quickly and quietly as possible. He still wasn’t hungry. He should probably eat. He was just so tired.

Riz let himself drift back to sleep as the soup slowly became cold on its tray near the door, deeply enough that he completely missed the quiet, whispered conversation in the Kings study two rooms away despite his sensitive hearing. None of the wards in his office were tripped to wake him up either so he flinched rather hard at the gentle hand laid on his back to wake him up. The goblin rolling over to blink groggily at the intruder before sucking in a sharp intake of breath as he woke up properly.

“Adaine?”

“Hey~ Gods you must have been worse than Fabian said if I was able to catch you asleep.”

Riz was sure he looked incredibly confused as he pushed himself to sit up, still not quite awake enough to mask his emotions as he rubbed his hands over his face trying to dispel the rest of his sleepiness.

“Mmmm, pretty bad. I already got yelled at by the healers if that’s what you came to visit for.” Riz gave her an amused look, taking one of her hands to give it a fond squeeze. The goblin making a small chirping noise when she flattened her other hand into a blade to thwack him lightly on the forehead with it.

“Good to know you haven’t changed much, still almost working yourself to death.” Adaine grinned, shifting her hand to scratch the top of his head instead which he leaned into happily. The rogues eyes squinting shut as he allowed his friend to pat him as she liked.

“Can’t help it. My excuse is I FINALLY got a good lead on an old case.”

“Yeah I heard. You finally closed Fabians case huh?”

“Yes. Umberlee below that was so much work. I even found the enchanter that was making those weapons and sabotaged as much shit as I could before leaving.” Riz grinned wide enough to show off his canines, tail swishing audibly against the blankets behind him. He was CLEARLY very pleased with himself.

“And then you kissed Fabian.”

The goblins tail went completely still behind him, his eyes snapping open as he reached up to snatch Adaines wrist and make her stop petting him. “No? I…. no?”

//No? What? He… Did I imagine it?// Fabian sounded so utterly perplexed, listening in on their conversation from his office so as to not crowd Riz too much. He wasn’t even sure Riz realised he was there, though he was probably still at quite a disadvantage on his perception if Adaine had to get as close as she did to wake him up.

//Hush, stay there and let me sort this out properly.// Adaine shushed him over their psychic bond, giving Riz’s hand that was still holding hers a light squeeze and trying to put on a sympathetic expression.

“Yes. You did.”

“Fuuuuuck. I thought I dreamed that.” He moved his hands to cover his face, dropping onto the bed heavily to lie on his back as the realisation set in. “Gods… I’m an idiot… Do you think I could play it off as fever delirium?”

“Probably? Why would you want to though?”

“Because the implications suck too hard for me to want to think about?” Riz peeked through his fingers at Adaines confused face, tail giving a little flick as he sucked in a calming breath. “He didn’t kiss me back Addy. I have a crush on him for years that I can’t act on and the instant I can I’m too feverish to think things through and just go for it and…. Gods it was such a non-reaction…”

The rogue pressed his palms hard against his eyes, trying to push the horrible feeling down because it was threatening to come out as tears. He’d kissed his friend. He’d kissed his King. Then been rejected by Fabian pretending it never happened.

“If I’d finished that fucking contract sooner it would have been fine. I could have told him earlier and been shot down and that would be it but now I’m bound here and I’ll have to spend every day pretending its fine so I’m better off just laughing it off as a fever fueled mistake so we can at least be friends without all the weirdness.”

Adaine frowned, plopping Boggy on Riz’s chest where the familiar settled as a cool, comfortable weight to help him calm down. The oracle waiting until his breathing had evened out a bit from the panic attack he’d been working himself up to before speaking again. “Wait, what does the contract have to do with it?”

Riz lifted his hands away from his eyes, shifting to hold Boggy as he sat up and scooted towards the edge of the bed. Standing up made the floor feel like it was dropping out from under him but he recovered after a couple seconds. The familiar getting plopped on top of his head as he wandered into his office to dig through his files to find exactly what he was looking for. It wasn’t Fabians contract, that he kept sealed away in a secret compartment in case he wanted to collect on the payment later, but he did still have the standard form he used to make his clients sign.

There was a long standing rumour floating around the court about the Kings strange goblin guard. The one that commanded shadows and could move about so unseen that it was almost like he wasn’t there. Why would an Elven King keep a goblin as his nohecharei anyway? Surely there had to be a reason such a creature was granted the privilege. The general consensus had been that Riz was some sort of Fae the King had bound to his service during his travels and forced to be his protector. They’d only been partially correct, Riz was never bound to Fabian until he took the oath himself, and he was only sort of Fae. His family had left the Fae wilds nearly three generations back, the magic wasn’t as strong any more but contracts still held sway over them if worded correctly.

 Riz scanned his eyes over the form quickly before heading back over to Adaine, sitting on the edge of his bed and holding it out for her to take. “This is the same form I had Fabian sign when he hired me. Clause fifteen.”

Adain took the form gingerly, the rogue hugging Boggy to his chest as he flopped onto his back on the bed again. The elf scanning down the page until she found the section Riz had pointed out and trying very hard not to sound too amused by it.

“Why… Why did you have a clause forbidding romantic or sexual relations with your clients baked into your contracts?”

“Look, in my defence, I was seventeen and pretending to be older so people would take me seriously and so many of my clients were hiring me to get proof of cheating spouses. Some of them GET that proof then immediately try to hit on the closest warm body as a way to process those feelings and I needed some way to turn them down more efficiently.” He frowned, giving Boggy a little squeeze which made the frog croak soothingly. “It wasn’t a problem until I found myself wanting to but stuck with a case that was FRUSTRATINGLY hard to solve. That combined with fae ancestry bullshit means I effectively cockblocked myself.”

Adaine tried very hard not to laugh at his wording, she knew he had some issues with things like this since it had come up in their adventures before and he’d always been fastidious about his wording when it came to promises. “Oh. Damn… Cockblocked is an interesting way to phrase it though… for you anyway. Sure you kissed him but that certainly has a different connotation. You’re usually so… offput by sex stuff. I thought you’d call it kissblocked or something.”

“I’m aware. My choice of wording was entirely deliberate.”

>:3

Fabian had never been so appreciative of the distance between himself and his knight than in this moment, as Riz’s last words sank into his very being. There was no way he could hide how wide his eye got and how low his mouth dropped.

Cockblocked.

But that would mean… No!

Riz had mentioned years ago, back during their time in the Feywild when he’d accidentally become the Goblin King (long story, another time.), he didn’t do relationships and definitely not sex. In turn, Fabian had squashed down the beginnings of his crush on him.

Obviously, it was an unsuccessful attempt, but it had certainly been made. And he’d kept making it throughout all of their adventures together and right up to this very moment. Even on the way back from the Oracle’s Summit, with Adaine constantly reinforcing that Riz had feelings for him, Fabian had been tempering his expectations. Because, sure, feelings did have the ability morph, shift, and change. It’s simply that…

Fabian just had never thought that Riz’s could or would.

Certainly not for him.

Taking several steps back away from the door that he’d been practically stuck to for the past handful of moments, Fabian felt the back of his legs bump into his desk chair and took the liberty of collapsing back into it. Long, slender fingers raked through his dreads as his hands soon found their way to his head. A head that was attempting to wrap itself around the last ten years of his life.

Umberlee below, he was more than thankful that Sir Durden wasn’t in the room for any of this either. He’d been a bit on edge ever since they’d arrived back at the palace. Sir Durden’s usual charming, laissez-faire smile had been replaced by lips pressed into a thin line and set jaw. His wrinkled brows were settled over narrowed, darting eyes. Fabian had almost asked him what was on his mind, but he’d gotten distracted by Riz and Adaine’s conversation.

Only a few moments later, Sir Durden had requested the ability to check on something for a moment. Giving a nod toward Riz’s office as if to say that Fabian wouldn’t be in danger if he left. After getting the okay from Fabian, Durden bowed and quickly left the room, muttering to himself about something regarding empty guard stations and sun cultists as he went. Now that he thought about it, perhaps he should’ve asked what that was all about…

It seemed like the longer he spent as King, the more oddities his “model” servants and subjects had. A comforting notion, at the very least. Like, Zayn! On his first day as Fabian’s secretary, he’d seemed as stuffy and distant as his advisors, but now, almost a year in? Apparently, the all-black, mourning chic ensemble he’d worn on the first day was his preferred aesthetic. As was the black eyeliner he forgot to take off one morning after his day off.

Now that he thought about it, he’d been gone for a day or two, Zayn surely had things for him to look over and/or sign. Glancing over his desks, Fabian found a, thankfully, small stack of papers and parchments neatly placed to one side. Along with a short note from Zayn, giving him context for each thing.

Something was wrong, though.

Not with anything on the desk, no. Everything looked exactly how it should. The problem was what wasn’t on his desk. The original list of potential brides and his list of his top three picks were missing. Fabian’s heart picked up speed as he rifled through all of the papers on his desk once, twice, thrice. Drawers were yanked open and dug through. He dropped to the floor to search underneath the damn thing.

Shit, shit, shit!

Of course, Zayn had found it!

In his haste to find a way to reach Adaine, he’d left it on his desk (where Zayn would obviously find it) and hadn’t thought about it since. This is just what he needed at the same time that he found out that his best friend, whom he’s been in love with for almost a decade, does, in fact, want him.

Alright, okay, Fabian could still fix this. Zayn most likely hadn’t notified the potential brides’ families yet. He still had time before he’d technically gotten anyone’s hopes up. All he had to do was find Zayn, get the list from him, rip it up, and then maybe make out with Riz a little bit… Maybe a lot. If he’s into that.

“That does sound like a solid plan. One of your firsts.”

Fabian jolted at the sudden appearance of Riz’s familiar timbre, causing his head to smack up against the heavy oak desk he was under and all of the papers on top of it to scatter.

“FUCK!” Fabian hissed at the spike of pain on the back of his head, one hand coming up to hold it while he shuffled out from under the desk. Coming face to face with still semi-unwell looking Riz, who stood there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his lips. Through the pain, Fabian recognized the insult Riz just paid him and scowled. “One of my—I’ll have you know that my plan to kill all those giant centipedes would have worked.”

Riz couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Yeah, if it weren’t for the fact that you hated the crunch that happened whenever we hit them.”

“Utterly disgusting,” Fabian muttered, nose wrinkled in disgust at the memory of his blade and Riz’s bullets crunching through all those exoskeletons. And all of those spindly legs all over him? They would’ve uprooted anyone’s plan. Ugh. With a shake of his head, Fabian tried to rid himself of those memories to focus on more important things. Like the fact that, while on his hands and knees such as he is now, he and Riz were of comparable height. A lovely sight, if he did say so himself. Words filled with warmth, Fabian softly said, “Hello there.”

“Hi,” Riz said just as softly back. “So, what’s this about kissing a little bit or maybe a lot?”

Shit! Fabian reared back until he was sat upright. Holding up a finger, he clarified, “I don’t—you kissed me.”

“Yeah, I did didn’t I? Wasn’t sure at first. You know, because of the fever and everything,” Riz said as a flush crept across his cheeks. Turning his head away, perhaps in an attempt to hide it, he muttered, “Certainly not the first time, though.”

Fabian’s eye narrowed and brows furrowed as he leaned closer. “Not the first time? When else have you tried to—?”

“On your cheek, while you were sleeping. Remember a couple days into your reign, you rushed me to the infirmary in the middle of the night beacause I had a horrible migraine?” Riz asked, staring off and wincing at the memory of the attempted kiss, most likely.

Fabian did remember that night, though. He’d only woke up because Riz had, in his pain, fallen off the bed and made a loud enough thump to rouse him. The rest of the night had been a blur. Rushing through the stark and empty halls of the palace, running into Sir Durden on the way and having him race after him. Waiting at Riz’s bedside as Nurse Mistgift did a routine check up before having Riz shoo him back to bed.

Horrible time, really.

And all because Riz had tried to kiss him? But that would mean—

Fabian’s lapse of judgement all those years ago, after an adventure in Seawatch when they were curled up for warmth and he’d leaned in for a kiss… He hadn’t slammed into a wall put up by Riz. Well, at least not to purposefully reject Fabian’s feelings. The heartbroken, embarrassment-fueled bender he went on Leviathan was for nothing.

Huh.

“Cockblocked by arcana, that’s a new one, ” Fabian murmured, revelation still plain on his face.

Riz chuckled, his head still lowered, unable to look at Fabian yet. Though, soon his brows were furrowed as well as he finally remembered the scene Adaine had shoved him out into. Crouching down, he picked up a stray paper and asked, “What were you looking for?”

“Nothing!” Fabian squeaked, snatching the paper out of Riz’s hand just in case there was anything incriminating on it. The last thing Riz needed to know about right now was this fucking marriage thing. “Zayn took some important paperwork that I was still working on. Need it back.”

“Oh,” Riz said, a little startled by Fabian’s sudden mood shift. Pursing his lips, he frowned a bit. Feigning being in thought as he reached for another paper. “Was it about that the twin bridge project that the artificers guild petitioned about?”

Fabian surged forward and slapped his hand on the page before Riz could touch it. Smiling up at Riz’s slight frown. “Yeah, there was a few things that I wanted to —”

“Hmm, strange. Seeing as I just made that up,” Riz said with no real anger or indignation in his voice. Only apprehension as he looked down at Fabian blinked dumbly up at him. “Can you answer my first question, my King?”

Part of Fabian wanted to scramble to his feet just to get out from underneath Riz’s disquieted gaze. Raising himself high enough above his knight to avoid the question by sheer disinterest. Kings don’t need to answer any question they didn’t want to. But he couldn’t bring himself to.

No. In this moment, he needed to be honest.

If not, Riz might not trust him to be ever again.

So, on his hands and knees, Fabian ignored the thumping in his chest and the tightness in his throat, wet his lips and took a steadying breath.

“Zayn had held off on discussions and the ultimate decision of my future Queen as long as he could. He came by the other day with a list of all the eligible ladies of the Court. I picked three,” Fabian said before cutting himself off at the sight of Riz taking a step away from him and lifting his chin. As if defiantly facing down an execution. No, no, no! Before he could take another step, Fabian grabbed Riz’s wrist. Keeping him in place as he frantically said, “Don’t! I’d only picked the ones I did because I was trying to…“ He trailed off, hesitating in the face of actually admitting his feelings to his best friend. Which only lead to Riz yanking on the hold Fabian had on him and letting out a small warning hiss. Dammit. Full honesty, right? “I was trying to make myself forget about that kiss and how much I was—am in love with you.”

Riz’s tail went limp behind him as all the fight in him that was ramping up was gone in a single moment. Lips slightly parted as he raised his eyebrows, his question clear as he echoed, “… In love?”

Fabian’s heart leapt.

“Desperately,” He said, a silly, sappy grin growing on his softening face. Squeezing Riz’s hand, he sat back on his knees once more and tried to gently pull him closer as he went on, “You’re not the only one that cringes whenever the topic of Queens and heirs comes up.”

Allowing himself to be pulled closer until he stood straddling Fabian’s legs, almost chest to chest with him, Riz said, “I don’t—I know it’s unavoidable. Zayn’s asked me about it before. Asked if I knew any of your… preferences. Suppose he got tired of waiting on me to write down my answers.” Riz lowered his head, keeping his eyes away from where his and Fabian’s hands were intwined. “In the end, I couldn’t decide if… if I loved you so much that I wanted to pick someone who’d make you happy or,” He winced. “Someone who’d make you miserable.”

Using his other hand to lift Riz’s chin to catch his gaze once more, Fabian softly asked, “So that I’d run from her bed to yours?”

“Awful, aren’t I?” Riz asked back with a half-hearted, wavering smile and a shrug. “Could work, though. Kings take mistresses—”

“What is with you you and Adaine?”

“—all the time. I could…”

“Could what? Be my mistress?” Fabian asked with a little more heat than he orginally wanted to, yet he committed to it regardless. Riz needed to know how much he hated this idea. Hated the idea of the Court—of the country—thinking that the feelings that he held for Riz were trivial and frivolous compared to what he felt for a Queen. “Live with me being married to someone else and being with you on the side? You’d be happy with that?”

“If it means that your position as King is safe? Yes!” Riz said, matching his aggravation beat for beat as he yanked his hand out of Fabian’s hold and stepped away. Running a hand through his hair as his tail jerkily flicked from side to side, he huffed, “I don’t want to make your life harder than it already is!”

“You’ve never made my life harder, Riz. Not once,” Fabian pleaded, reaching a hand out to take Riz’s again.

Only for Riz to snatch it away, keeping it close to his chest as he shot back, “An heir will make your life easier, though, and to have one you’ll need—”

“You!” Fabian said, a notch away from shouting. He couldn’t help it. How could Riz ever think—he was always so damn pragmatic! Putting his feelings and his wants away to get a job done. But Fabian didn’t want to be a job. Didn’t want to just be a client. Didn’t want to just be his King. Umberlee below! He wanted to be his.So, Fabian didn’t let up, even as Riz stared at him in silent shock. “I need you, Riz. Nothing else. Just you. We’ll figure out the heir problem. Together. I know we can find a way through this but I don’t want the solution to be to keeping you as a dirty little secret. Or as second best.” Even the thought of it turned his stomach. Lip curling as he spat out, “Never.”

Fabian let his words hang in the air for a moment. Hoping beyond hope that Riz would let them fully sink into his very being.

It looked like, for a moment, he was fighting it. Riz’s eyes darted around, refusing to settle anywhere near Fabian. His brows pulled in and his nose wrinkled as the cogs in his brain whirred to find a weakness in Fabian’s plan that was dangerous enough for him to disregard both of their feelings to keep Fabian safe. He’d die a thousand times over before he’d let the wants of his heart lead Fabian to ruin. So, his mind searched. And searched. But, after a handful of moments, it came up short.

Fabian could see it do so.

Riz’s expression finally softened as he let out a shaky laugh, his eyes finally landing on Fabian with a spark of hope within them.

Fabian couldn’t help the wide grin that tugged on his lips as he offered Riz his hand, “What do you say, Detective? I think your star client has another case for you.”

And with only a moment’s hesitation, Riz reached a trembling hand out and wrapped it around Fabian’s. The difference in sizes made Fabian’s heart leap.

“How could I refuse such a loyal patron?” Riz said with a shy smirk. No pulling neccessary this time, he moved closer to Fabian, situating a leg on either side of his hips until they were chest to chest again. His keen eyes flicked from Fabian’s lone silver one down to his lips and back. “And I think I’ll leave fraternizing clause out this time.”

“Excellent,” Fabian whispered. Placing a hand at the small of Riz’s back, he shifted just a bit closer to Riz. So that their faces were perhaps an inch apart. There was nothing in the world Fabian wanted to do more than to kiss him right now. Yet he waited. Wanting for the feeling to be mutual. Wanting to be wanted just as badly. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait more than a second.

A clawed hand clutched his robes as Riz closed the gap.

Fabian’s heart wouldn’t stop racing as his mind emptied of every other thing that wasn’t kissing Sir Riz Gukgak. And while it didn’t feel neccessarily like bursting fireworks, a swelling orchestra, or a gilded happily ever after, their first kiss did feel like the only thing that really mattered in the end.

It felt right.

Not fairytale perfect; it took a bit of adjusting for their differing sizes, and noses got in the way and—Hold on, Fabian. He needed to take a breath. Okay, where were they?—Not perfect, but pretty damn close, in Fabian’s opinion.

Especially since there was this strange squeaking noise in the room that wouldn’t stop. From the way Fabian’s hand had moved to cup Riz’s cheek, he could tell that Riz was hearing it too. His ear flicked about and bumped into his hand as it tried to get more information.

Oh, no.

Wait!

“Riz—”

“What is that?” Riz asked, his eyes narrowed as he fully pulled away from the embrace he’d been locked in for the last minute or two.

Fabian quickly tried to pull him back into it and away from a clue (something he suspects he might be doing for the rest of his life). Pressing a kiss to his cheek as he murmured against it, “Probably nothing.”

Rolling his eyes, Riz gave Fabian one last kiss before investigating the source of the squeaking. “Sit tight, my King. I’ll be only a second.”

Slumping into a crosslegged sit, the King of Falinel crossed his arms and pouted like a child as his Knight left him behind to go follow a strange occurrence. One of his favourite things.

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t even get to wallow in his self-pity for a minute before Adaine’s voice cheekly chimed in over their telepathic bond, “That’s rough, your Majesty,”

By Wren’s Blade, did she hear all of that?

“Astute observation, Oracle,” Fabian grimly shot back at her. “Get out here and say it to my face!”

Two doors opened simutaneously. As Adaine burst through the door that led to Riz’s office, eyes alight with mischief, ready to lay into Fabian, the squeaking had led Riz to open the door to Fabian’s bed chambers. Revealing tiny, spotted rat squeaking as it dashed over to Riz’s boot to scratch at it furiously.

Without hesitation, Riz crouched down to pick it up and struggled to keep it in his hands as it refused to calm down. “Whoa, hang on a second, Edgar!”

“Oh, you know the rat?” Fabian asked, slightly concerned at the ease with which Riz had picked the rat up. In his opinion, it should’ve taken at least a minute. He has no idea where its been!

“He’s—”

“Zayn Darkshadow’s familiar,” Adaine answered for Riz as she fully stepped into the room and made her way over to Riz to see Edgar better. Rubbing two of her fingers over Edgar’s head in an attempt to soothe the poor thing. Shrugging at Riz and Fabian’s questioning looks, she explained further, “What? He apprenticed under Runestaff once upon a time.”

“Well, that’s just perfect,” Fabian mumbled as he finally got to his feet, dusting himself off before joining the other two. Once he peered over Riz’s shoulder, he did have to admit that the rat did look familiar. Hard not to remember his little face when it had always accompanied Zayn’s. Speaking of, “Where’s your master, little one?”

That seemed to reignite the fire inside the little rat.

Minding his teeth, Edgar squirmed out from under Adaine’s pets and took her fingers in his mouth and tugged them in the direction of the bed chamber. A deliberate action that was underscored by his panic-stricken squeaking. Exchanging glances, the trio allow themselves to be led by Edgar into Fabian’s bed chamber. It took them a moment to figure out where to go next seeing as nothing seemed out of place. Not until Edgar finally broke free of Riz’s hands and scurried as fast as he could over to a slightly ajar door to the offical Nohecharei Quarters.

Strange.

Riz stuck out an arm, as if to shield both Fabian and Adaine from harm, signalling them to stay put as he crept over to the door. Snagging a dagger he’d hidden underneath a coffee table long ago as he went. With his back pressed against the wall next to the door, he took a breath, still a bit out of it, before peering into the darkened chamber.

A beat.

Riz’s tail stilled.

He whipped around, eyes wide with panic as he shouted, “Call Silvergrove and tell her to get a healer!”, before darting into his quarters.

Adaine immediately raced after Riz while Fabian obeyed his command. Casting Prestidigitation to alight a signal candle (connected to its twin down in the servant’s hall) with a silver flame before running in after both of them.

Standing in the doorway, Fabian was greeted by Riz, Adaine, and Edgar, huddled over (or on top of) the tensed form of Zayn Darkshadow. His pale skin turned awfully sallow as he shuddered and grimaced through not only the pain of a dagger to chest but also the focus of non-stop spellcasting on said injury.

As Fabian slid to kneel by his side, it took a moment for Zayn to realize he was also there, but when he did, he shakily began to talk, “Your Majesty, apologies—”

“None of that now, there’s nothing to apologize for,” Fabian said, hushing him as he took in the severity of the stab wound from a closer angle. Umberlee below. With a smiliar feeling of fury he’d had when Riz took that dagger for him all those weeks ago, he asked through gritted teeth, “Who did this to you?”

“Human mercenary, I-I think. Not too sure. Even with my darkvision, it was hard to make them out,” Zayn said as he took another deep yet shuddery breath. His magic, dark yet glittery as it swirled around his slim fingers and his wound, stuttered as well before settling once more.

Riz’s scowl deepened, and he bared more of his fang as he muttered, “Must be one of Blayde’s men then.”

“Makes sense—Don’t!” Zayn yelped as he saw Fabian move to cast Cure Wounds. “The blade’s the same one that got your nohecharei, sire.”

Fabian’s head whipped around to catch Riz’s equally shocked eyes. “I thought you ruined the supply?”

“They must still have a few left over from before.”

“Necromancy?” Adaine asked after observing Zayn’s spellcasting for a few moments and flipping through her spellbook.

Zayn nodded, and even through the pain, his voice held a bit of a wizardly pride as he said, “Not necessarily healing in the same way as a Cure Wounds. Can’t stop, though.”

“For a moment, you can,” Adaine said as she shook her head. Making sure to place Boggy on Zayn’s lap next to Edgar, she moved her hand directly over his and began her casting. Giving him a firm nod once her magic, bright and slivery, took over. “I’ve got you.”

“Thank you,” Zayn said, letting his hand drop to his lap so that both Edgar and Boggy could nuzzle it. Giving him advantage on the Constitution saving throws he was no doubt making right now. Hopefully Miss Silvergrove was on her way. Though, she really should’ve been here by now. Hmm. No matter, with a significant portion of his mind freed up thanks to Adaine, he turned to Riz and said, “I know what you’re thinking and this wasn’t another failed attempt on the King’s life. It was an attempt on yours. I’d heard that you’d left the infirmary and came to speak with you about—” His eyes darted from Riz to Fabian and then back. “—certain matters.”

“No need,” Riz said, wrapping his hand around Fabian’s without even looking, just by feel. And Fabian couldn’t hide how his face brightened just a smidge.

Without a single hint of judgment, Zayn blinked a couple of times as he looked between the two of them in surprise. “Huh. Well, I suppose you wouldn’t be the first, but never mind that,” Zayn murmured before waving the thought away. “I think the assassin had the same idea. We both came to your official nohecharei quarters—”

“Instead of my office quarters,” “Riz said, his mind whirling a million miles an hour as he tried to piece together the reasoning behind this assassination attempt. “Guess they saw how badly the last dagger fucked me up. Wanted a second shot at it.”

Fabian nodded. “They wanted me without my nohecharei and the best time to do it would be when you were still recovering your strength,” He said, giving Riz’s hand a steadying squeeze at the mere thought of losing him.

“The thing is, if they had succeeded, what would’ve been the next step?” Riz asked out loud, though it was obvious he was having a smiliar conversation with just himself in his head.

SLAM!

All four of their heads whipped toward the clamorous sound of a door bursting open and hurried feet approaching them. Fabian and Riz’s hands went to their weapons as Adaine moved to shield Zayn from whatever was coming.

Luckily for them, the thundering footsteps belonged to an out of breath Sir Durden, who almost missed the open door in his haste.

“SIRE!” Sir Durden eeked out between heavy, heaving breaths. Fabian rose and took the handful of steps between Zayn and the door to meet Durden where he was. Before he could ask what in Spyre was the matter, Sir Duden grabbed his shoulder tight and lowered his voice to a grave whisper. “Sire, it’s Everpetal. She’s rallied a force of royal guards and soldiers allying with Helioic cultists to take over the castle.”

It was like all of the air in Fabian’s lungs was siphoned out in a split second. His stomach roiled as a chill moved down his spine… There just simply was no way. Whispering back, Fabian said, “She wouldn’t.”

Sir Durden looked like he didn’t want to believe it either, but he persisted. “She’s holding the Court and servants hostage and demanding you face her in the throne room or else…” He trailed off, his hold on Fabian’s shoulder soon becoming a death grip as he lowered his head and tried to steady himself. Gulping down as much of his fear as he could, Durden lifted his eyes and said with more seriousness than Fabian ever thought was possible for him, “Or else she’ll start picking off anyone still loyal to you until she has full the Court’s full allegiance.”

A tidal wave of dread threatened to wipe Fabian off of his feet.

This is it.

Months and months of work, court politics, snide comments about his Human half, and getting used to a life that was no longer fully his. Enduring all of it with a charming smile, only to have it all be violently taken away at a moment’s notice. On the whim of a noble who saw anybody that stood in the way of a crown as only another body to drop. His most of all.

Umberlee below, a part of him just wanted to run.

Wouldn’t it be easier?

Abandon the crown and the sword, take Riz, leave this island, and never look back. Let Penelope do whatever she wanted with it. It’s not like he was a good person. He’d been told countless times before of his arrogance and selfishness. Who would truly blame the stupid, spoiled rich man for grasping at power and getting in over his head before fucking off completely. If he’s lucky, his short reign would be a footnote in Falinel’s history.

“Fabian?” Riz’s voice broke through his doom-filled thoughts like a lighthouse’s blindingly bright beam. Glancing over his shoulder, Fabian found the concerned faces of Adaine and Zayn staring back at him. And then there was Riz. Whose jaw was set, chin lifted, and eyes lit with pure determination as he placed a hand over his heart where Fabian’s emblem would’ve been. Voice low and steady, he said, “Whatever you do, my King. We’re with you.”

I’m with you.

It went unspoken, but Fabian felt it all the same.

What was he even thinking?

He’s a Seacaster.

He’s the goddamn King!

Time to actually fucking act like it.

Squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin, Fabian unsheathed Fandrangour, turned to Sir Durden with a gaze of unbreakable steel, and started giving orders.

“Find the Captain and tell him to rally every guard and soldier we have left to defend against whatever bullshit forces Everpetal and her allies have gathered. They’re trying to take over the palace? Don’t give them an inch,” Fabian said, his voice firm but not cruel. As soon as he began, Durden stood straight, mirroring Fabian’s stance as he took in his every word. “Once you’re finished, take a handful of the guards best at crowd control and find me outside the throne room. You’ll be focusing on getting as many people out of there as quickly as possible and protecting the ones you can’t. Penelope is a sorcereress and will be flinging spells around trying to kill me, I don’t want anyone caught in the crossfire. Got it?”

Sir Durden raised his hand in salute. “Copy that, Sire.” And just like that, he was gone and out of the room as quickly as he’d entered it.

“Adaine,” Fabian said, turning to face her. “Teleport Riz and Zayn to the infirmary and then find Aelwen as quickly as possible. I know she’s an abjurer, but she’s also damn good at conjuring. I’m going to need as many elementals as she can summon and for you two to get the palace’s Oak Warrior defences up and running. Send most of them to help the Captain and the rest to me. Sound good?”

“NO!” A wide-eyed Riz said as he scrambled to his feet. Still a bit sluggish, Fabian noted as Riz rushed over to grab his arm in a death grip. Shaking his head with a frantic fire in his eyes, he repeated himself. “No. I am going with you. I took an oath to protect you.”

Fabian kneeled to Riz’s eye level, clasping his hand over where Riz’s claws dug into his arm as he softly said, “You just got out of the infirmary. I’m not going to throw you to the wolves and let you die because of a fucking oath. That’s an order, Nohecharei.” At the sight of Riz’s unconvinced shaking of his head, Fabian brought him closer and pleaded with him, “I can handle this.”

“I-I… I feel like I failed you,” Riz said, his voice cracking as visions of all the ways Fabian could die today flashed before his eyes. “I said I’d squash the embers of a coup, and yet here we are. Fabian, I’ll be fine, just let me—”

“You haven’t me failed yet. I’m yet still the King, am I not?” Fabian joked, bumping his forehead into Riz’s with a small smirk. “Besides, you’ll be there with me, in a way,” He took a moment to reach into his pocket and pulled out Riz’s fang. Holding it from top to tip between his two fingers as he pantomimed a wink. “I still have your good luck charm.”

Riz’s gaze lingered on the intricately carved fang. A rueful smile tugged at his lips as his big, amber eyes grew glassy. Taking a deep breath, he slowly nodded and whispered, “Okay. Just… don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

Fabian smirked and pressed a kiss to Riz’s cheek, “No promises, darling.”

[thenerdyindividual]

Want stories featuring queer characters in fantasy, science fiction, or horror settings, where being queer is central to the character but not the only thing they have going on? Let me introduce you to my list of podcasts!

To start we have Welcome to Night Vale. You’ve likely heard of it thanks to the tumblr sexy man poll, or if you’re old school tumblr like I am. It’s a classic for a reason, it kicked off the fiction podcast renaissance and was queer from the jump.

Welcome to Night Vale is an episodic podcast taking the form of radio broadcasts from a strange desert town called Night Vale that appears to be in a parallel universe to ours. It follows the bizarre occurrences within the town and the oppressive government’s clumsy attempts to cover them up.

How is it queer? The show also follows the personal life of radio show host Cecil Palmer who met new-to-town scientist Carlos, and “fell in love instantly”. Not only are they now married, they’ve adopted a child together.

Alice Isn’t Dead

From the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, Alice Isn’t Dead is a horror fiction podcast that follows Keisha, a woman who became a long haul truck driver to go in search of the wife (Alice) she thought was dead, but discovered was alive. In the process she uncovers monsters lurking among us and a massive government conspiracy trying to hide the truth.

How is it queer? As stated, the inciting incident is that Keisha discovers that her wife is secretly alive.

Dimension 20: Fantasy High

A dungeons and dragons actual play show. This season is set in a 1980s John Hughes-esque fantasy high school called the Arthur Aguefort Adventuring Academy. It follows six high schoolers starting their first day of freshman year as they form their adventuring party and try to uncover the mystery of why girls at their school keep going missing.

How is it queer? Kristen Applebees is the cleric of the party, and most of her arc in the first season is based in the struggle between honoring her religious upbringing and the god that gave her her magic, and realizing she’s a lesbian. Fig Faeth (the bard of the group) does not have a romance arc in this season, however in season 2 she does end up in a romantic relationship with another woman, and much of her arc in that relationship is based around the insecurities hidden behind her rock and roll persona. Riz Gukgak (the rogue of the group) does not use the term asexual on screen, however it is clear in a conversation in season 2 where he discusses feeling awkward about not being horny when all his other friends are. He was later confirmed as asexual by dungeon master Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City

Another story with the same players as Fantasy High. This story takes place in a fantastical New York City where the waking world intersects with the world of dream and magic. The story follows six adventurers as they struggle to keep the two worlds in balance with each other, and prevent the big bad from ruining the world of dreams forever. It’s Brennan’s love letter to New York.

How is it queer? Pete Conlan (the sorcerer of the group) is a bit of a dirt bag drug dealer who is struggling to learn to take on the responsibility of being the voice for the dreams. He is also a trans man. His awakening into the magical New York occurs because his dad attempts to deadname him, and he uses his magic powers to fill his dad’s mouth with bubbles and blast him away.

Not Another D&D Podcast Campaign 1

This is another dungeons and dragons actual play set in a more traditional D&D world. It follows the story of three adventurers living in the shadows of the saviors of Bahumia that came before them. Only to realize one of those saviors might not have retired, and is up to no good. They will have to save Bahumia from one of its saviors.

How is it queer? Beverly Toegold The Fifth (Paladin of the group) is the fantasy equivalent of a Boy Scout and ends up in a romantic relationship with another boy from his troop. (They’re both meant to be 16 by the end of the campaign I believe.) Moonshine Cybin (the Druid of the group) is just generally horny for everyone and anyone that impresses her, but she does also spend her last night before the final battle hooking up with Hardwon’s (the third party member) sister in law.

Not Another D&D Podcast Campaign 2

This story is set in the world of Eldermourne which delves heavily into the aesthetic of gothic horror. It follows three adventurers as they go in search of a missing witch that will help them protect Eldermourne from the conflicting factions of gods and religious extremists each trying to take the world and remake it in the way that suits them.

How is it queer? A major thrust of the story is that Fia Boginya (the wizard and cleric multiclass of the group) once saved her dear friend Irina from execution, but they end up needing Irina’s magic to protect the world. The party goes in search of her, and Fia admits to having always been in love with Irina, even when they were just children.

The Adventure Zone: Balance

Another D&D actual play. This one is set in a fantasy world that draws heavily on both fantasy and other aesthetics. The three adventurers encounter an extremely powerful and destructive magical object, and manage to capture it. In doing so they are inducted into the organization called the Bureau of Balance, and are sent on missions to recover the other objects of power that have been scattered across the land. There is more to the characters than even they know.

How is it queer? Taako the Wizard (one of the adventurers) ends up in a romantic relationship with the Grim Reaper who in this world is a man. There is also a romantic relationship between two women who are also members of the Bureau of Balance that hangs out in the background of the story. A trans woman is also prevalent in the story, but explaining anything else about her reveals major spoilers for the campaign, but trust me she is narratively important.

The Adventure Zone: Amnesty

This is another actual play show, but it uses the Monster of the Week system that was created using shows like Scooby Doo, X-Files, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is set in the fictional town of Kepler, West Virginia and the Monongahela National Forest. Cryptids are real and they all hang out in Kepler. Three friends band together to stop monsters with ill intent from destroying the town, and learn more about the world that parallels theirs. It is Dungeon Master Griffin McElroy’s love letter to the West Virginia town he and his brothers grew up in.

How is it queer? Aubrey Little is the magic user of the group and identifies as bisexual. She ends up in a romantic relationship with a vampire girl in town.

Campaign Skyjacks

It is another role playing game actual play. I’m not entirely clear on what system they are using, as a lot of it is the creation of the game master. It is set in a fantasy world where crossing the oceans has become too treacherous, so pirates, privateers, and sailors alike have all taken to the sky in airships. The story follows four crew members of the ship the Uhuru as they try to make the ship profitable all while trying to hide from the rest of the crew that the captain has long since died and the doctor has been puppet-ing his corpse for weeks now.

How is it queer? I am still in the early stages of the podcast so there may be more queer characters later, but off the bat there is Gable who is the quarter master of the ship. Gable is non-binary.

These are not the only podcasts that fit the bill, but these are the ones I listen to. I’d also like to give a special mention to most other seasons of Dimension 20. There are a ton more, and you’re likely to get at least one queer character per season. However, I wanted to keep it to things you could find for free. Fantasy High and The Unsleeping City are both free on YouTube, but all other Dimension 20 seasons are on the streaming service dropout tv (which I do recommend getting because they do a lot of other good shows too.)

Feel free to add more shows in your reblogs!

[18catsreading]

Brennan: Riz, let me know what you get on your Investigation as you're looking at the Ragh stuff

Murph: nat 20

Suobhan: fuck yes

Emily: Yes!

Lou: can't be stopped

Ally: making cheering crowd noises "aaah"

Emily: honor the cock

Brennan: today --

Murph: there was no cock on this one. We don't have to honor the cock. There was no cock on it.

Today and every day, we honor the cock.and in no moment more --

Murph: no reason to honor the cock. We're missing the meaning of it. It's if its cocked, you have to reroll it. This is not one of those situations. It's a natural 20. It was regular.

[whirlwindsworld]

Fantasy junior year finale thoughts

SPOILERS!! And long post ahead

First thought: The pacing. I know there were good reasons for things ending up being rushed. But I can still be sad that they were rushed.

A bunch of stuff was kind of forgotten or left on the cutting floor. Bucky, Fabian and his mom and her broken promise to be better, the full timeline of the Ratgrinders, Jace and whether he was potentially resurrected, and finally, Jawbone trying to talk to Riz!!

Even if this’ll all be further explored in senior year, I believe most if not all deserved some lip service be paid so we know these plot threads didn’t just buried.

Second thought: Fabian. This boy’s entire situation all season had me so sad. It’s so deeply fucked up.

We laugh at the baby nemesis thing, but with how much time Hallariel dedicates to Fabian, its not too far fetched to liken Fabian to a practice kid for her. Her new kid will be a full elf. Able to live for hundreds of years. Fabian’s life span is like the blink of an eye for her. She’s barely emotionally invested in Fabian as it is.

From Fabian’s perspective, he might really be thinking, “How invested will she actually be when her “real kid” is born?”

She straight up broke the promise she made in sophomore year to be better. I am deeply surprised that was not a detail to have come up when Ankarna asked him about injustice.

Third thought: I hope we either get poly Kristen and trackerbeeshield, or that trackerbees don’t get back together. Its not that deep a thought. I think its a big swing to revive a relationship that was genuinely a good bit codependent.

Fourth thought: I’m gonna miss fig so much. I know she’s dropping out so emily can give her a happy retirement, but I swear there’s more story to tell here still. I don’t just want to see her admit she struggled asking for help I wanna see her try her ass off to ask for help when she needs it. It’s a skill you gotta practice. And she is absolutely still her own worse critic. She sets these crazy high standards for herself and beats herself up when she fails to reach them.

And thats it for now!

[dragonmuse]

WIP Updated: You Can Come of Age at Any Time and That’s a Threat (3/4)

Dimension 20: Fantasy High. Riz Gukgak/Fabian Seacaster.

In which Riz visits Kristin, finally loses his temper, has a birthday, and discovers the real reason for Fabian's residency.

Excerpt:

A text from Fabian.  You killed a hydra without me? I’m offended.  

How’d you know? 

Four Voices’ Instagram feed.  

It took him a second to locate the app, but when he did, it was the first photo. From that perspective, Willow must have shot it. The battle was nearly over and Riz stood on top of the beast, gun aimed down at its last head while Bucky readied his flaming blade to cauterize one of the neck stumps. The Four Voices marketing team had captioned it  ‘The Green label hiking trail will be available again tomorrow! Thanks to some of #thebadkids #blessings’ 

You didn’t miss anything. It went down fast and hard. 

Looks like you had fun though.

It had been fun, even when he got blood in his eye.  

There’s plenty of bullshit in the woods here. If you want to go monster hunting some weekend, Four Voices would probably thank us.  

Considering what Fabian saw on a day-to-day basis on the Hangout, Riz couldn’t imagine he’d care about taking on lonely monsters in the woods. It was practically shooting fish in a barrel. 

Sounds like a party. 

[ratgrinders]

hello tumblr user ratgrinders... appreciate the work you do even in these trying times (post onscreen homicide). i think the fact that kipperlilly is like, annoying and reminds people of girls they didnt like in high school ppl miss out on a lot of interesting stuff going on w her!

like, the "power hungry teen girl who is just evil and tbk kill her" thing has already been done in fhfy with penelope, & its much more interesting to think about how & why the ratgrinders are doing all this suspicious stuff tbk are noticing-- like the fact that they have been very cagey about showing their combat abilities, the weird stuff going on with various deities, and even kipperlilly's stolen therapy files (lol) are very intriguing!! and imo writing that off as assuming they'll be straightforward, incompetent villians (popular assumption due to their lack of friendship, even though it's famously the weakest magic) is far less interesting. like... they got into this situation for a reason and got involved w all this stuff somehow, & i don't think all of this would happen if they were a normal adv party, even a shitty one. how did they get here! why!! thx

thank you so much, its getting hard out here but nothing can stop the rat grinders stan grind!!!!! (<- is coping. im coping)

yeah but fr, kipperlily is FASCINATING to me. i truly believe that she thinks everything she does is justified in service of her larger goal, whatever that may be. yeah, stone cold murder really isn't the fairest thing you can do to your academic rivals, but writing all of that off as "oh she's just always been a jealous hypocrite who never believed in what she was spouting" i think is an inaccurate interpretation of her own motivations. she clearly believes in something.

cuz the thing is, we're still not really sure was kipperlily wants? ("egg on my face for wanting something"). sure, she's trying to run for student body president, but what exact rules is she hoping to implement, and how does that relate to trying to resurrect a rage god? plus, grix attacked ruben because he/his ritual were a direct threat to the existence of the school, which seems counter productive if you're trying to become president of it.

and what cause would kipperlily specifically have to be tied up with a rage god anyway? there's nothing that clearly on the surface ties a little type A halfling rogue to a fiendish god of rage and conquest, hell some of the other members in her party seem like on the surface they would have a closer tie to it (like both of their now dead clerics, mary ann who literally harnesses rage, ruben who is full of teen angst). kipperlily's apparently been filled with rage since freshman year, but why? (is she like riz, who spent his whole life infected with an aspect of the nightmare king and literally grew up with this seed of doubt inside him? did something similar happen to kipperlily?)

ankarna is the goddess of justice and the conviction to act when they see something unfair. no matter what, i think kipperlily truly believes that she's witnessed something unfair. and it feels significant to mention that this last murder is an escalation on the rat grinders' part. the other people who have ended up dead around them (lucy, yolanda, the original hosts of frosty faire) all seemed to have died indirectly as a result of the rage crystals and the uncontrollable rage it inspires. this is the first time we're seen stone cold premeditated murder, done with simply a blade and betrayal.

honestly, this transition seems to mirror what ankarna herself went through, starting off as the goddess of conviction and justice but slowly transitioning to one of conquest and war. brennan said something about ankarna, "yeah its nice to have someone like that on your side who will stand up for you, but you better hope that person is always right". i think what we're seeing now is someone with that same conviction, but with a misguided cause.

kipperlily's crossed a line now and i wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't end up redeemed by the end of the season, but i'm still interested in how she and her party were motivated to do this in the first place, because like you said i don't think a normal adventuring party would've ended up here. it takes a lot to transition to multiple murders!