#my favorite asshole; Cassius

[dandydiary]

🤍 🐚 🛁

i'll answer these with john and ash cause they're on my mind ❤

🤍: how did you first meet your f/o? what made you realize you were falling in love with them? what made them realize they were falling in love with you?

cassius knew of john because her dad knew a friend of his friend, and she recognised the name going around shortly after she encountered the occult for the first time. she sought him out for those reasons and tried hard to impress him, which clearly didn't work because he's used to fresh-faces getting hit with reality at mach speed. 🥴

cassius fell for john pretty fast because quite frankly he's a foul-mouthed older man with dry whit and carefully cultivated charisma. she thinks he's an asshole, and he is, and is fine with it being just a crush... until she sees how he acts when he needs something and THEN she's set on getting his attention.

john falling for her... is a bit trickier. i can't see them being much more than a fling due to pure physical attraction, but if he DID let himself get close to her i think it's her ability to come back at him twice as hard, her symbiosis with the entity haunting her and her quite frankly suicidal determination to live that attracts him to her. if it's love, he doesn't stay long enough to get attached. such is the nature of constantine 😔

🐚 : do you give each other gifts often? what's your favorite thing they've given you? what's their favorite thing you've given them?

cassius is a gift-giver and john isn't, but when she figures that out she starts matching him so their gifts become acts of service. bringing eachother brews when it's cold and they're working into the night, picking up takeaway on the way back, replacing something that got torn on a mission, locating a book at a local library... not so much physical as filling a need that makes the process of their jobs a little bit easier.

that being said i think cassius' most cherished item john ever gave her is a toothbrush. to explain, her ability to track things or cleanse curses are connected to her mouth due to the entity being linked to gluttony. so him buying her that is very tongue-in-cheek (lol), earns him a thump but she always keeps it with her because... idk. it's stupid, but it's special because like i said; john ISN'T a gift-giver to me.

i do think it'd be cute if john had maybe a pin or something she gave him, so even when they part ways there's always something to remember her by

🛁 : what are some nonsexual forms of intimacy that you & your f/o enjoy? what's your favorite? what's their's?

when they're in the 'lovebirds' part of their relationship lets say, i can see them showering together after messy jobs. just to get the dirt and various arcane stink off them efficiantly - saves water and let's them both get a cheeky grope in if they so desire.

cassius loves wrapping herself up in john's clothes and taking naps in them, or wearing his shirts and going about her day when they're apart, anything really linked to his scent or that stimulates her senses (again, motions to the entity haunting her). sharing is an intimate act to her.

i think john would like dozing off against her. she can be up all night typing away or gaming in their downtime, so he sort of does the middle-aged man slump-and-snore and if she's there her shoulder becomes free real estate. he'd NEVER admit it but he likes when she starts playing with his hair when he does this as well, though it does make him feel a bit like a dog when she starts scritching him. pros and cons

[whumpiary]

7, 24 and 25 from the Edgy OC Ask Game for Cass?

7 - What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

24 - What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

25- What is your favorite thing about your OC?

-sara / @justplainwhump

7 - What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

Oh man this is a tough one actually. I think the kernels of Cass were always sort of there but there were subtle changes across the way that have made the whole more interesting and quite different.

One thing that comes to mind is that when I originally started writing it, I didn't know why Cass could do mind control or how the fuck that worked. It was mostly plot convenience for intrigue and angst. I'm not sure when the thought of him reading and twisting other people's desires came about or where it developed from but it's now something that feels near inseparable from the character.

24 - What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

Dark timeline is probably my most interesting spin of this idea. This is the path of "what if Cass had never left Christopher". This is something that's had a lot more development behind closed doors and in DMs than will ever end up on the blog but the answer is: Cassius Bergen is richer, and better dressed but more cynical and bitter than Cass Drake ever became. Someone who is very, very starved of care and will do dangerous things to feel like he has it.

He becomes someone deeply deeply starved of care and desperately afraid of losing the care he does find.

25- What is your favorite thing about your OC?

I answered this one here already but as a number two: I do love Cass' bitchiness. It's always fun to write someone being an asshole. And self sabotaging in the process

[brimstone-brat]

❝ Up til now I’ve pulled my punches.❞ @askprinceofthedead

Harley raised an eyebrow, sighing. "Is this about the girl that beat up your little princess, again? Don't you think you're fixating on it a little too much? I mean, she hasn't tried anything else. Maybe you scared her off already."

@askprinceofthedead

[brimstone-brat]

Harley was not having a good time. Not at all.

Why? Because during the flight, Harley discovered that she was afraid of heights. It was not a good day.

This bad day was only worsened by the crowd she saw upon stumbling out of the chariot. She felt like she was going to be sick. This was not good, not good at all. The demigoddess barely managed to steady herself so she could follow her family, but she had completely lost control of the inferno on top of her head.

She wanted to reach out to calm Chiara, but then her already sour mood turned for the worse when Zoe glared at her. Thankfully her brother had stepped in before she could, because if he hadn't Zoe would be walking home with a broken nose.

"Cassius," Harley said weakly, "just don't. She's not worth the fight."

Closed starter:Surprise

..@askprinceofthedead​ @brimstone-brat

Zoe wasn’t super happy about the foster program. She wasn’t in the mood to babysit students that she knew were dangerous  and that were only going to attract unwanted attention from the people of Thebes.

For the sake of her sanity, she hasn’t spoken to them besides a a quick introduction. She was going to start sooner or later, but for now she was enjoying the ride in the chariot pulled by Pegasi while she could.

The chariot  landed swiftly in the Greek city and the demigoddess stepped down to take her luggage and walk the few meters left to the big villa that she called home. After thanking the animals for their service she turned to the others and motioned for them to follow her.

That’s when chaos began. The usual welcoming committee formed by the the crowds of the people of the city swamped their hero’s daughter in cheers, applause and unwanted hugs that upset her even more. 

She was this close to forming a force field around her when Chiara’s hair caught fire next to her.

“Enough,” the goddess said as the crowds took a few steps back, staring at them. They started whispering, wondering who they were and the daughter of Hades knew that it wasn’t the best beginning.

Zoe sighed, thinking what to say next. After throwing Chiara a glare, she started a formal attempt to remove the tension, knowing that they would listen to her.

“These..are dear cousins of mine from far away. They’re gonna stay with us during this summer. Thank you for your understanding, now we’re going to rest,” , she stated before turning to whisper to the others.

“Now, don’t do anything stupid, ok? Otherwise they’re gonna run to me or my father and it won’t be nice.”

[silverhandsamurai]

Chaos ♦ Johnny Silverhand/Fem!V ♦ Part I

Summary - AU; In a future where both Johnny and V manage to survive. Each with their own body. Just when things are finally hopeful fate throws them both back into hell and while this is happening the two of them are struggling to figure out their ever-changing relationship. In Night City things are always chaotic.

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

This is a multi chapter long story so hope everyone enjoys the ride ♥

chapter warnings; swearing & minor spoilers

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I didn't think it would be possible, but it happened...

A future where both Johnny and I lived - in separate bodies.

No one dying.

Just hope and a fresh start.

A few days before my set meeting with Hanako I got a random call. The name was unknown and the voice was even disguised all of it just screamed- suspicious, but I still answered. Johnny wasn't too happy about it and started going on a tirade.

Something along the lines of we haven't the time for dumb side bullshit and I was wasting my breath on it. Also that corporats were just scheming again.

Blah blah corpo hate crap blah blah big boy rocker bullshit...

Since that call Johnny didn't say anything anymore. Guess the asshole just couldn't admit I was actually right and he was wrong. His poor pride....

One thing lead to another and the mysterious caller was able to lead us to this ripperdoc from out of the country. This guy was all kinds of weird, but he was able to fix ol' Johnny boy and me up easy.

It...almost felt like a slap in the face how quickly the problem was resolved.

All that hell and trouble was just gone in an instant...

The biochip was taken out of my head without me dying and then placed into a perfect replica of Johnny's body. Only a few things were missing like his cybernetics and his tattoos.

The body was a soulless sleeve cloned from Johnny's DNA in a lab.

Yeah....and I thought shit couldn't get weirder and I still don't have any real answers for why Johnny's body was being cloned.

Don't know if I do want the answers honestly...

Once Johnny's biochip was jammed into his new body he and I were placed in a medical ward at a private location under watch by the weird ripperdoc and a few unseemly nurses.

It took Johnny a few days to get used to his body. He couldn’t walk properly or even talk. He was like a toddler stumbling around only able to communicate through throwing things and punching shit.

I learned true bliss during this time.

Johnny Silverhand, rendered completely silent. Sure it was against his will since he was just a bumbling babe that couldn’t talk yet. But after having said rockerboy in my head for weeks I appreciated the unintended mute button that was placed on him- yup that was true bliss. 

Watching him glare at me from across the room was enjoyable. The occasion middle fingers sent in my direction became a ritual greeting among us. I gladly returned each time to him.

While Johnny was in his training wheels stage with his new body. I on the other hand was literally going through my body becoming my own again. The ripperdoc didn't go into details only said my body was removing all traces of biochip's influence.

Mostly it meant I spent days in bed popping pills like candy as Johnny's tantrums lured me to sleep.

After a few weeks Johnny was fully transformed from an angry man toddler to his final true form - raging dickhead.

After his metamorphosis in true Silverhand fashion a few events occurred.

First - he decked the weird ripperdoc in his face and then marched off to Cassius to get his old tattoos again.

Second - went to the shadiest back alley ripper and had his arm cut off and replaced into his signature arm cybernetic.

He could have easily let Cassius fix his arm, but Johnny ranted about how overcharged the price was so of course, he sought out the cheapest unsafe option.

Third - he got piss ass drunk at Afterlife then got thrown out onto the streets shouting for a cigarette.

It was two in the morning when I got a message from Rogue to come and pick up my stray cat ...

While Johnny was off storming the streets in a blaze of hell after leaving the medical ward I was the opposite. Once I was freed to go I paid for the nicest hotel in the city and then I relaxed in a nice warm jacuzzi with a glass of my favorite booze.

After the chaos I had lived I deserved to pamper myself. I was free of my rockerboy brain tumor and life was looking bright again.

But I was naive to think I could go a day without hearing his name for even a few hours.

Once Johnny Silverhand pulls you into his orbit there is no escaping even if you wanted to.

Getting out of the car I felt my jaw lock anger slowly rising up into my veins as I made my way over to Johnny spread out on the ground waving his hand in the air and shouting for the bouncer at the back of Afterlife to get him a beer.

"What the fuck Johnny?"

Lifting himself slightly to glance at me the instant his eyes locked with mine that damn smirk of his danced across his face.

" So Rogue finally decided to call my babysitter shoulda fuckin' figured. Well since you are already here mind making yourself useful and getting me a smoke."

I took two deep breaths to calm myself and ran my hands down my face. Without a word, I spun on my heel and headed back to my car and I pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the glove box. I glared at the pack knowing that it was only there because Johnny snuck it in at some point in the past when he was in control of my body.

" Sneaky asshole. "

Closing the car door I marched over to Johnny and then threw the pack at his face making it smack hard into his head.

" Christ V, watch where you are aimin'!"

Nudging my boot into his side I crossed my arms and glared at him on the ground.

"Who says I didn't hit my target?"

Muttering curses as he set up Johnny took a cigarette out of the pack and then lit it before slowly standing up to full height. Closing the distance between us Johnny stopped just a few inches from me before leaning down to my level and blowing a long puff of smoke into my face.

" Real-fucking-charmer you are, V."

Not even coughing as the smoke dissipated my gaze remained locked with his as he stepped closer the burnt tip of the cigarette a hair away from my lips. I could feel the heat rolling off at it, but the only thing my attention was drawn to was the swirling emotions in Johnny's eyes as he glared back at me with full force.

" I aim to please, Johnny . "

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I've been binge playing Cyberpunk since release and I've been wanting to write a story with Johnny since I started.

Finally got a plot worked out and will be updating this when I can.

[3mmafr0st]

Hard to Hate Chapter 2

Fred Weasley x Reader

Word Count: 1678 Warnings: Swearing, angst, enemies to lovers, eventual smut? Taglist: @intpeach​ @aria-dne​ @allthebestmenarefictional​ Ask me if you want to get added to the list! Chapter 1, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15,

Read the Russian translation Here

The smell of cut grass permeated the air as I took a deep breath in. The moments before practice were always the best, the still static feeling in the air. Quidditch was my only escape from what plagued my mind. Suddenly I was jostled out of my state of calm by a rough hit to the shoulder by Marcus Flint. 

“Get your head in the game, Lestrange, we’re gonna need it for the match against Gryffindor.”

“Like I’m the one whose going to need it, Flint.” Everyone knew that I was the best chaser on the team, but Snape, as much as he loved me for being a Slytherin who was good at potions, he was a raging sexist. He probably had some trauma or something, but that was no excuse, and for that reason, Flint was captain. Sadly, I had to take orders from this absolute asshole. We ran drills for about an hour. I was just getting into my groove. Every drill was executed perfectly. We were going through drill number twenty-eight again, which was my favorite, as it meant Flint had to relinquish the quaffle for the first time in a while. Warrington passed it to me, and I quickly zoomed down the pitch towards the goal posts, faking twice and then throwing it right through the hoop as Flint caught the rebound. Everything was perfect and I gave Warrington a quick high five. I celebrated a little as we set ourselves up for the next drill, when all of a sudden, something struck my chest. 

The force of the bole made me lose my grip on my broom for a split second and I tilted over, plummeting out of the sky. Panic began to set in as I reached out for my broom, quickly grabbing it and flying back down to the ground, back to safety. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins, and I finally looked down at my chest to process what had happened. A splattering of red and gold paint littered the front of my uniform. I turned around to see Cassius hitting the ground, hard, and I ran over to him. He groaned, turning towards me, the same red and gold patterning splayed over his uniform. Marcus flew to the ground, being covered with paint as well. I knew immediately who it was. 

“You absolute dicks!” I screamed, looking around frantically. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as my top two suspects, along with a few others, ran towards the exit that headed to Gryffindor tower. I looked to Flint to make sure that he had Warrington, and then ran after them, abandoning my broom, wand in hand.

I was already so far behind them, but I knew exactly where they were going to be. I stormed my way up to Gryffindor tower, but came to a problem getting in, the painting that guards the entrance of their common room. It took me a minute to figure out exactly how to get her to let me in. Her singing could be heard all the way down the hall, and everyone in Hogwarts knew that flattery would get you everywhere with the Fat Lady. I walked up to the portrait and began the compliments, telling her all about how amazing her voice is, how good she sounded. 

“Well, clearly you aren’t Gryffindor but I like you, come in,” She told me. The minute I passed the portrait, the facade fell, and my fury settled. 

“Weasley, get your ass down here this instant!” I yelled, making one of the younger kids, Creevey I think, stick his fingers in his ears. I hear shuffling upstairs and it didn’t take long to see Percy Weasley, Head Boy of Gryffindor, dragging his two younger brothers down the stairs. It amazes me that the two of them are somehow related. 

“I know they did something obviously, but what happened?” 

“These two almost killed Warrington with their stupid prank!” 

“Oh come on, Lestrange, he wasn’t that high up,” Percy smacked Fred in the back of the head and looked back to me.

“I’ll be taking them back to McGonagall right away, thank you for letting me know.”

“That is not what’s going to happen here, locomota wibbly!” All three of the Weasley boys fell to the ground, as their legs failed underneath them.

“That’s it Lestrange, you’re in for it!” Percy exclaimed, his voice cracking from the sheer anger halfway through the sentence. 

“No, Weasley, I don’t think I am,” I mused, as I left the common room, shutting the door behind me. I said goodbye to the Fat Lady, before hurrying off to my own common room. 

Once I made it back, I shut the door behind me quickly, and leaned my back up against the door, just a little out of breath from sprinting down that many stairs. 

“What the hell happened to you?” Melody was sitting in the common room as always, waiting for me to come back from practice so we could study and get our homework finished. “You’re early, and a mess, so something must have happened.”

“The Weasley twins decided to grace us with their presence during practice, took Warrington right out of the sky,” Mel’s hand immediately goes to cover her mouth in shock.

“They really did that, that’s a lot coming from them.”

“Not really, it’s only a step further than what they normally do. It was only a matter of time before they pulled something as stupid as this.” The two of us laughed and talked for a little while, just like normal, with dumb contemplative questions and talking about muggle stuff. Ever since the third year, Mel has been teaching me all about the muggle world, everything out there is just so interesting and amazing. Strange, if you think about it, the daughter of the two most prolific Death Eaters known and a muggle born witch being best friends. The two of us jumped out of our seats as loud knocking and banging could be heard from the outside of the Slytherin common room. I looked around for a minute, my eyes wide. 

“Ms Lestrange, you are to come out here this instant!” The shrill, angry voice of Professor McGonagall was muffled by the stone walls. 

“What the hell did you do?” Mel’s voice was in that whisper yell that kinda made you panic a little more than you should. 

“I may have made a stop at Gryffindor tower before I came back here.” Mel smacked me in the back of the head and I couldn’t help but whisper yell a little “Ow!”

“You’re an idiot sometimes, you know that? Go and answer McGonagall, running and hiding is only going to prolong the inevitable, hell, it’ll probably make it worse.” I rolled my eyes at her, even though I knew she was right. I sighed and got up to open the door. 

“Good evening, Professor, what can I do for you?”

“My office, Ms Lestrange, immediately.”  And with that, she turned around and began to walk towards her office. I followed behind, internally panicking about the inevitable punishment that I would be getting because of what I did, not that I regretted a thing, it was totally worth it. 

The minute I stepped into the office, the fog of tension was so thick that if it was real, I wouldn’t be able to see three feet in front of me. Percy, Fred, and George all sat on the other side of McGonagall’s desk, each with their own brand of scowl. I walked over to them, but just far enough away from the brothers to feel comfortable. McGonagall walked behind the desk and sat in her chair, the same color of green velvet as her robes. 

“So does anyone want to explain to me why we’re here, or do I have to do that as well?” Her eyes were accusing, making me yearn to just walk out that door. Of course, Percy spoke up. 

“Earlier this evening, Ms Lestrange stormed into the Gryffindor common room yelling for quote “Weasley.” So by default, I thought of the twins, who are known for causing general trouble and mischief. When I came downstairs with the two, she informed me that the two knocked Cassius Warrington off his broom during a prank the twins pulled at their quidditch practice. When I told her that I would turn the two of them into you, Professor, she proceeded to hex all three of us and leave us in the common room.”

“Thank you. Mr Weasley, now, does anyone else wish to add to the information being presented?” I tried to hold my tongue, but.I couldn’t help it.

“Professor, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but with how high up Cassius was, combined with the paint filled balloons being launched at us, the two of us both fell off of our brooms. I was quick enough to get back on and land safely, but if Cassius hadn’t landed like he did, he could have been seriously injured or worse.” Once I started the sentence, I just couldn’t stop. Fred looked as if he was going to try and say something but George gave him a look that said,’don’t you dare,’ and he stopped in his tracks. 

“Mr’s Fred and George Weasley will both be getting two weeks detention for this, and Ms Lestrange, one week, is that clear?” McGonagall said, clearly not wanting to deal with this any longer. I wanted to argue that two weeks detention was not an equal or fair punishment for near murder but I held my tongue, just wanting to leave. 

“After classes, you will all be reporting to the Transfiguration room, is that clear:” I nodded and so did the twins. The professor dismissed all of us, and I left as fast as I could, not wanting to be near them for longer than I had to. 

I guess I had five hours of the Weasley twins to look forward to tomorrow, absolutely bloody brilliant.

[kawaiijohn]

1, 7 for the fic meme?

1. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

If it doesn't have ironic comedy or is littered with slow-build horror elements is it really one of my fics?

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Honestly? The entire 3rd chapter of Lethean, Lost is my favorite writing I have ever done- the entire motif with the slowly filling answering machine and Jazz's desperation was honest-to-god heart wrenching for me to write and apparently it fucked a lot of people up.

Here's a snippet!

'Hey it's Danny!  Sorry I'm not able to answer right now, but I'll call back or text ya as soon as possible!  If it's an emergency call Jazz!' BEEP 'Danny I promise I'm not mad, please just let us know you're safe.  It's starting to worry us...even the ghosts are starting to worry.'

Jazz just wanted him home safe.  She knew it was asking for a miracle at this point- the statistics of coming back unharmed after 48 hours were not on her side, but she tried not to think about it too much. Instead her mind was trying to focus on another very important problem.  Her brother, whether she liked it or not, was Phantom.  He kept ghosts from causing chaos in town on a near daily basis, and he'd gone missing too. If none of the ghosts knew where he was?  That meant he was truly missing in action. And that was an invitation to cause chaos uninhibited.

Would you believe that I added that while writing notes at work?

Other than that I wanna say this bit from Rewind, Rinse, Repeat was the most fun thing I've ever written.

The small guy just scoffed, grin sharp and eyes wildly staring up at his assailant. “What am I doin’? You should have asked what I’ve already done, asshole!” “Excuse me?” The victim laughed harder, pushing wild white bangs from his forehead. “Well... last night I did your mom, and this morning I did your dad. Tonight I think I might even do your girlfriend. Someone’s gotta make sure she gets pleasured by someone, y’know?” … ‘What did this guy just say? Tell me he didn’t just say what I heard him say…’ The click of a pistol being cocked was the only answer Cassius got to the question. The leader was red, nearly purple in the face. Cassius gasped softly when the barrel of a gun was pushed against the victim’s temple. “What did you fuckin’ say you little twink?” The victim only smiled nervously, putting a hand up in mock surrender. “Woah there, buddy. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here- All I said was that I had sexual relations with your parents last night- and then said I was gonna do the same to your girl. It’s nothin’ to get all heated over, I'm doin' 'em all a favor if you think about it, knowing you would probably be just so stressful!” he laughed, putting his hands in his pockets. “I mean, unless you're stung because you don’t have a girl. How insensitive of me!! Well, if that’s the case I should apologize- sorry, it’s real uncool of me to assume a girl would ever wanna slob on that knob-” He was speaking a mile a minute, panic well-hidden in his eyes; radioactive green eyes that seemed to lock with Cassius’s for a moment, even though they were well-hidden. The guy even sent a grin their way, peace sign and all; not that the thugs noticed. Okay. This couldn’t be real. Cassius pinched their brow in absolute resignation- this was possibly the dumbest thing they’d ever seen, even if their memory only went as far back as a week and a half. If this guy wanted to die, it was his funeral.

[ultimatetrashgoblin]

My thoughts on Immortal Heart Society

DISCLAIMER: These are my OPINIONS. I do not claim any of this as fact, you are allowed to disagree with me. (Spoilers for Cassius and Alanna season 1)

First impressions for this series could have been better. There are plenty of problems with this series so far that I will address, but for now, let’s focus on the positives.

The writing is beautiful. As an avid reader and writer, one of my biggest pet peeves is lazy and unimaginative writing. IHS had some incredibly written lines, and I was immediately hooked even if I hated the love interests.

(I don’t have many screenshots but here are a few I did take)

The plot is interesting. While the pacing is a bit off at times, I found the concept of a corrupt secret society intriguing, and the mysteries surrounding the father was enough to get me invested.

The Inner Circle is (mostly) likable. I’m a sucker for found family, and my favorite series on this app (EAA, QoT, GIL, etc.) will usually have plenty of group banter, and the Inner Circle is no exception. One of my favorite scenes in Alanna’s route was in Richard’s office when everyone realized Alanna and FMC were exes.

Kiran. No further explanation. Lovestruck let me date her please.

For the most part, IHS seems like a promising series. But of course, when you have plenty of amazing side characters who would make wonderful LIs, you decide to premiere your series with the arrogant asshole and the compulsive liar.

Cassius Tarkhan

I should probably begin by saying I’m usually not a fan of the “rude, snarky, arrogant” LIs and read Cassius’s route solely because I was excited for the new series. So please take what you’re about to read with a grain of salt, since I am probably extremely biased against him.

This is a direct quote from me reading Cassius’s first few episodes: “I want to punch this man in his stupid fucking face.” I said this out loud, which should give you an indication of what’s to come.

As far as first meetings go, Cassius was probably one of the worst. At first it was all “fun banter oh look at the chemistry” until he sees the invitation and becomes the most insufferable pricks I have ever seen. (I’m sorry, but was that supposed to be romantic?! If I were in FMC’s position, I would be terrified!)

Most of the season went by with Cassius being infuriating and not telling FMC anything, and me questioning if I was actually supposed to like the guy I was supposed to be romancing. The villain dude (I don’t care enough about him to try to remember his name) was boring and creepy. I also had a strong desire to punch him in the face, but I’ll settle for him turning to stone.

It wasn’t until the season finale that I actually started to like Cassius. He started to open up more to FMC, he showed vulnerability, and was generally more tolerable. Hopefully we’ll be able to see more of this Cassius in later seasons, because I believe that it might save his route and maybe I won’t want to punch him in the face as badly.

As for the ending, I’ve read the final episode multiple times and I’m still not exactly sure what happened in that final scene. Cassius tells FMC that he won’t let her meet with the Society on her own and then... is he about to kiss her? This is a genuine question I’m asking I honestly couldn’t tell. It seemed like he was going to but it was very unclear to me.

If I was going to rate this season as a whole, I’d give it a 3 out of 10. Hope to see better next season, because he does have the potential to be better, but that wasn’t shown until the end of the season.

Alanna McKenna

At first, I liked Alanna’s route. I was excited about have an LI who was an ex, she was attractive (except for that weird smirk expression what was that???), she was funny, and I’ve already talked about how much I love the writing.

Then the lying started. I’ve had the misfortune of dealing with my family, many of which are narcissistic pathological liars, so I consider myself pretty decent at figuring out patterns in their behavior. And Alanna fits them to a T.

Please note that I am in no way educated on this topic and do not have the authority to state anything as fact. I am making observations based on personal experience dealing with people like this, and I encourage you to view Alanna’s behavior for yourself and come up with your own conclusions.

My first red flag was the emotional manipulation. Near the beginning, this was in the form of flattery. If FMC started asking questions, Alanna would flirt with her, which would cause FMC to either become flustered or flirt back, both outcomes momentarily distracting her from the original topic.

To FMC’s credit, she does notice when Alanna starts deflecting (she mentions recognizing certain behaviors from when they were together), but she backs down. As someone who hates confrontation, I can understand FMC’s reasoning for this. I find trying to communicate certain issues with these people exhausting. It tends to feel like speaking to a broken record, and can become emotionally draining. However, this is the exact outcome that these people want. They hate being called out on their lies, and when pushed further (in my experience), they tend to result to guilt tripping.

The flirting I could ignore. When I first read it, I thought that was just her personality (which is partially true). But then FMC stood her ground more, and Alanna fell apart. She started crying, talking about how much pressure she was under, making up excuses (a prime example of this was her saying that she thought ghosting FMC would make it easier, which I’ll touch on later), and causing FMC to doubt her (valid) reasons for being angry with Alanna.

I feel like it’s also necessary to talk about Alanna interacting with the other society members. FMC was noticeably uncomfortable with how genuine Alanna seemed to be, and I understand the feeling of betrayal of thinking you know a person, only to see them act like a complete stranger at the drop of a hat. The mental turmoil of wondering which version of this person is the real them, and whether your entire relationship was all a lie.

That part was way longer than I expected, so let’s talk about the “villain”. I’m glad that Arabella isn’t the big bad even if she tried to kill FMC, because she seems like such a genuine person and I’m tired of season WOC be villainized in visual novels (I’m not naming names but you know what apps I’m talking about Choices). I hope that FMC and Alanna will be able to help her and her sister, and that Arabella will get a redemption arc in the future and maybe a route.

The cliffhanger was actually sort of unexpected. FMC finally called Alanna out on her bs (GOOD👏FOR👏HER👏) and tried to leave the Society. Lowkey kind of scared to see how they follow this up in season 2, because it seems like they’re ready to murder FMC.

If we ignore the LIs themselves, I did prefer Alanna’s route to Cassius’s. I feel like we got to see more of the other characters, and I thought the pacing was better. But I don’t like either of them. As I’ve said Cassius seems like he’s improving, but Alanna? Nope. I’m staying for the plot and Arabella, but I’m more than willing to drop her route if this pattern continues (especially if I decide it’s too triggering for me, my mental health is more important).

Rating: 2/10

Final thoughts

As I stated previously, while IHS’s initial premiere wasn’t the best, I believe this series has the potential to be good. My main issues are with the pacing, and above all, the LIs (which isn’t good for a visual novel story centered around romancing the LIs).

Overall rating: 3/10

This is my first time doing something like this so any feedback would be very appreciated. Feel free to offer any criticisms, and let me know if I should make a series out of this! (This did take me a while so if I decide to continue doing this it might not be posted until a day or two later)

[writersstareoutwindows]

The degree to which my own ttrpg games have come to occupy the place in my brain that fandom did in high school is at this point staggering, and I intend to make it everyone’s problem.

So *cracks knuckles* at long last, here’s a few of the thousands of words I’ve written for Carella Maginus, my dearest bard (affectionate, derogatory). She is the daughter of an ambitious elven noble and a human founder of Crux, a travelling interplanar city. Due to fantasy Punnett squares (and Carella being the revival of an old character, whom I didn’t want to change into a half elf), Carella skews much more human, while her older brother Cassius is much more elven.

Siblings is hard, when your dad sucks and only one of you remembers Mom. When one of you is heir, and one of you is—well, hardly even spare.

-

(The first few paragraphs were a prompt written by my partner.)

“Hey, Cassius?”

Carella’s brother unfocused his eyes and rubbed a stray hand against them, the other holding his page on the dusty tome before him. It was late in the library, and Carella was getting tired of kicking her feet under the table and listening to Cassius, in his boring blue academy robes, turning pages, endlessly studying.

“What?” He sounded tired. Too tired to be annoyed at the interruption, hopefully.

Carella voiced the question that had been nagging at the back of her head for some time. She was a little nervous to ask, but not enough to defeat a curiosity that felt strong enough to swallow her whole.

“What was Mom like?”

Cassius paused, surprised. He marked his place in the book by inserting a smaller booker. 

‘You sure you want to ask about that, Ellie?’

‘Don’t call me that—Cass.’

Her retort made him laugh. Leaning back, he said, ‘All right. You know how Dad is an asshole who tells us how to spend every minute of every day?’

‘Cassius!’

‘Well, Mom was nothing like that. Try not to yell, Carella, we’re in a library.’

She squeezed her fists beneath the table and fumed. But then her brother did something she’d never seen him do before: he softened. The furrowed lines between his brows went away, and as he pushed his hair out of his face, she saw him smile for the first time in days.

‘Mom wouldn’t even give me a bedtime. She argued with Dad that I’d tire myself out eventually. I thought she didn’t know that I was staying up to read even when he did put me to bed, but I never seemed to run out of candles…’

His gaze had drifted. He was looking over Carella’s head as his fingers traced a pattern on the tabletop. She had leaned in to listen, desperate not to miss anything.

‘She used to tell me bedtime stories. Both of us, actually. You were too young to remember.’

‘What kind of stories?’

Carella whispered, because she was afraid of scaring him off. When they were younger, he had been easier to talk to. They would play together, even when he was twelve and she was just six; they hadn’t really had anyone else. These days he was always busy, with heavy shadows under his eyes, and he was more likely to snap at her than talk to her. She didn’t want to break whatever spell was making him talk like this.

Cassius grinned. ‘Adventure stories, when we were lucky. My favorite was about the dragon in Pyre. Well, it’s everyone’s favorite, that story is famous.’

Carella didn’t know it, but she didn’t want to look silly by asking. Dad had said that she asked too many questions; it was better to keep her mouth closed until she had figured things out by herself. Looking at his sister, Cassius tapped his fingers on the table, then pushed himself to his feet.

‘The bestiaries are around here somewhere. Hold on just a second.’

He returned in a moment holding a thick book bound with bright painted wood. Plopping it in front of Carella, he leaned over her shoulder to turn the pages until he came to the section on dragons. A hand-painted illustration of a red dragon, its neck gracefully arched, its raised wings transparent as glass, covered two full pages.

‘This is what she fought.’

Carella had gone wide-eyed. She pulled her feet up onto the chair so she could crouch over the book, the better to see every fine detail: the sharp ridge of each scale, the talons at each wing-tip, the yellow-orange glow of fire in its throat.

‘By herself?’ she whispered.

‘I’m sure the other Founders helped. But she was the one who survived the full brunt of its firebreath in her face, she was the one who got up on its back with all the fires of a volcano raging around them, and she was the one who planted her halberd in its spine and drove it like a ship, all the way down a river of lava to the bottom of Pyre.’

Carella had gone from staring at the dragon to staring up at her brother, whose face had lit up as if he were looking into that bright volcano.

‘At least, that’s how she used to tell it.’

And Carella thought she had heard that, even if for just a moment: her mom’s words, her mom’s voice in Cassius’. At least, she let herself believe.

‘That’s amazing,’ she whispered.

‘She was amazing.’

If Carella didn’t know her brother better than that, she would have said that a bit of his kid self was showing through in that smile. He sat back in his chair, but he’d pushed the magic books, or whatever they were, away by now.

‘She was nothing like Dad. I don’t know why she married him. She never so much as yelled at me, even when she was furious.’

‘Dad doesn’t yell.’

‘Not at you.’

Cassius shrugged, irritated. Carella was holding her hands in fists beneath the table again, this time nervously. Before she could think of something to say, Cassius went on.

‘Whatever. This isn’t about him. He just has a habit of getting into everything and screwing it up.’ He sounded like he was talking more to himself now. ‘It’s what he must have done to her.’

When he glanced up, he blinked as if only just remembering Carella was there. She was sitting very still, watching him with wide and careful eyes—the same way she watched their father, when she was trying to read what he wanted. Cassius swore quietly in Luthién.

He said, ‘She was a really good singer’ as if he were apologising.

And it worked. A soft feeling pricked Carella’s chest. In a warble, she said, ‘She was?’

Carella loved music. She sang and played piano, and was falling fast and hard for the violin. Cassius knew it all too well; more than once, he’d told her somewhat unkindly to be quiet while he was studying. But he’d also accompanied her on the piano a hundred times. Making music was like making her own little world, and she was good at it, too. She knew she was good at it.

‘She really was,’ Cassius said. Now would have been the moment to give his sister a reassuring touch, but he hesitated. ‘She could sing these long, epic story ballads without stumbling once. And she was the best for lullabies. Like I said, she didn’t put me to bed very often, but when she wanted to, she’d just have to start singing, and,’ he snapped his fingers, ‘out like a light, every time.’

‘Did she—?’ Carella paused. It was a stupid question, an obvious one, but still, she wasn’t sure of the answer. She pushed it out of her mouth: ‘Did she sing to me?’

Softly, Cassius said, ‘Of course.’ He only had half a memory, but he shared it anyway, making up what he couldn’t recall. ‘There was one night, you were sick, I remember because you would not shut up. But Mom held you the whole time, just, rocking you, you know. And she sang to you. I could hear her singing all night.’

Cassius hummed a little melody, something simple that Carella didn’t recognise.

‘Mom was...she was a good mom. She was brave. And funny—her stories could make me laugh for ages. And she was strong...I thought she was strong.’

Cassius closed his eyes. Something painful moved across his face, flickering in the low lamplight.

‘Cass…?’

He shrugged. ‘Guess I was wrong. Even she wasn’t strong enough to put up with Dad.’

Carella flinched.

‘What does that mean? Why do you keep saying stuff like that?’

‘Because it’s true? Because if she were still around, maybe we’d be a little less fucked up?’

‘Stop it!’

Cassius raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. It made her want to scream.

‘Well excuse me, Ellie. I assumed you’d finally worked out that our other parent is a bastard, in all but blood. Why else would you ask about Mom?’

Carella looked down, at her fists held tight and small in her lap. She was so sick of Cassius always acting like he knew more than she did. She’d asked about Mom because there was a portrait that hung in their manor, of a woman with soft wavy hair and a clever half-smile, deep laughter lines and Carella’s nose. A woman their father never talked about. She just hung about the fireplace, looking down over her daughter, saying nothing.

‘Maybe I just wanted to know, for once! Did you think of that in your big stupid wizard brain?’

Cassius rubbed his temple. ‘We’re in a library…’

‘I don’t care!’ Carella stood up, slamming her fists on the table. ‘You fight with Dad, and you make fun of him, but then you turn around and act just like him! You think you’re so special, you think you know everything and I’m just some dumb kid, but all you really are is an ass!’

‘Carella! People are going to hear you.’

‘You couldn’t even stay nice for five minutes! Maybe I just don’t think it’s fair that you get to know about her and I don’t. You get to know everything!’

Carella slammed her palms into the bestiary, sending it flying across the table at Cassius.

‘What makes you so special?’

Cassius looked almost silly, holding the book awkwardly, spread-eagled against his chest where it had hit him. But then he glanced over her shoulder, and his eyes went wide. ‘Carella,’ he hissed.

She followed his gaze to see a frowning librarian standing between the shelves behind her. Everything inside Carella shrank into a very small knot.

‘Shouting is not permitted in the library. And there is absolutely no rough handling of books.’ They spoke severely, addressing Cassius but glowering at Carella. ‘I trust, young lord Maginus, that you will be leaving shortly.’

‘We will indeed. Thank you for your concern,’ Carella could hear him rapidly stacking books, ‘we were just heading out.’

Carella was paralysed in that angry gaze until Cassius took her hand. She startled, then hurried after him with her head down. She’d caught a glimpse of his expression, pleasant and calm, but that was the face he always wore in public. He had to be furious that she’d gotten him kicked out.

It was late evening in Crux, and the city was in Prime. Everything was cool and blue, the lapping of the canal waters a gentle rhythm. The city was only rarely so calm.

‘I’m sorry,’ Cassius said as they walked beside the water. He was still holding her hand.

‘But it was my fault.’

‘Not that. The librarians are assholes.’ Cassius raised his free hand to hail a gondola. ‘Sorry I set you off.’ He sighed, then showed her an apologetic grin. ‘I probably deserved it.’

Looking down, Carella just shrugged. This version of Cassius was a rarity, and she didn’t want to get used to it.

She knew more than he thought she did. As he hopped into the gondola and turned to help her, she watched his hair fall back from his pointed ears. In her portrait above the fireplace, their mom had round human ears like Carella.

Carella was good at noticing things. She spent a lot of time watching quietly, waiting to find the unspoken answers to her questions. Cassius was special because he was like Dad. Carella wasn’t, because she was like Mom. And she knew that that was why Dad treated her differently.

She’d just wanted to know if there was something about Mom worth being. Maybe something Dad had overlooked—even though she knew that Dad noticed everything.

Cassius was whistling. It took her a moment to recognise the same lullaby he’d hummed at the library.

As the gabled, gilded roofs of home began gliding into view, he said, ‘I didn’t mean it, you know.’

Carella looked up from where she’d been skimming her hand in the water.

‘What I said about Mom. At the end.’ He wasn’t looking his sister quite in the eye. ‘She was stronger than anything. I wish you’d gotten to know her.’

The gondola had bobbed to a halt, absolving Carella of a response as they clambered out. She wanted to keep her thoughts to herself, without having to pick one out and polish it down and share it out loud. In her head she could hold two images at once, without having to guess which one was right: the silent portrait above the fireplace, cold, remote, and unspecial; or the warm and lively, but faceless woman who sang in a voice deeper and fuller and yet still so like Carella’s own.

[spectrehqs]

congratulations ! welcome to spectrehqs ashcroft university. under the cut is a list of acceptances. thank you so much for applying & i’m so excited to start writing with you. please take a look at our checklist and send your account within the next twenty-four hours.

in addition to welcoming you, i’ll take this moment to point out that we are in the midst of a plot drop. you’re welcome to lay low and simply plot and join in on honesty weekend and pick up when the school-wide lockdown ends, but it also might be fun to get tossed into the thick of it ! up to you, we’ll catch you up to speed if you have any questions. 

cassius: ilana martin-king written by jessie. 

i don’t know if i’ve cried so fucking much reading any of these applications thus far, but holy fucking shit. ilana’s story is not really a roller coaster, but more of a downward spiral, huh ? you breathed such life into not only her character, but into the characters of her mothers that god, my heart broke every painful step of the way for them. you said it best: this is not a villain origin story. but even if it were, i still would’ve been rooting for ilana every step of the way, she’s just that fucking compelling, and i could feel her attitude, her personality, her ambition, and her resentment shine through with all of your writing. her voice seemed to flow so naturally in the letter and i loved the details of each individually headcanon that seemed to connect so well to the story itself ! ilana is just so fucking INSPIRED, i think, and i feel like you took this basic skeleton and you just...you turned it into an entire story of its own that i just genuinely enjoyed reading, i’m literally so excited for the rest of the group to get their hands on your intro...they’re going to be just as pumped as i am, i’m sure. 

hamlet: talbot griffith written by colleen.

what you brought to hamlet was something totally different and totally unexpected. i think it’ll be a shock to our dash, since most of our hamlets have been quite similar, but i am fond of the newness of your portrayal ! i was so drawn in by your ideas, that talbot didn’t and doesn’t resent octavia, he adores/d her, and that he actually has an amicable, healing relationship with his father ( well, even if there’s something in it for t, of course. ) essentially, talbot, just like lysander, is different than the media’s portrayal – and everyone’s perceptions. i love your juxtaposition – talbot has the rage, the lack of control, while lysander was calm and controlled in comparison. i think this in itself will cause interesting conflicts within the group and it begs so many more questions. your character pretty much makes me wish that we did have a playable lysander because i would just die to see their dynamic and the family drama between them come to life on the dash. we’ll find ways to do this still, of course. don’t worry. 

horatio: mara kim written by danny.

i don’t know how many apps it’s been, but this one’s the charm, and trust me, it didn’t come easy !! mara is definitely a whirlwind of drama and trauma, i almost don’t know where to start. i think my favorite thing was the way you weaved in the connections so seamlessly and how you really capitalized on what her time was like being sent overseas to an american school and...alongside that, mara’s lifelong search to BELONG, to find a kindred spirit, to feel understood. mara is a hybrid in the society, coming from poverty and a broken home, but...also coming from new privilege and money. in a way, she can relate to everyone, which is so dangerous because she’s wicked smart. i love her attitude mixed with her dreamy mentality and love of classics, which i guess is what dark academia is all about. but god, what a fucking mess this one is, truly. 

mercutio: alexandre preston written by olivia.

oh, holy shit ! you had me hooked right from the aesthetic and name analysis, god i’m weak and desperate to learn more about this fucking asshole. not to mention, before i get into anything else, you have such a way with words, i love the way your descriptions just painted pictures for me, it was hard not to get swept up in the entire concept. i felt like i got such an understanding of the sibling bond with the prestons – it really broke my heart when xandre found out about tavi’s baby, and how hurt he was that she didn’t tell him – because she should know that he, of all people, would understand. not to mention his understanding and admiration for her ( and the acknowledgement that maybe, she should’ve been the preston heir ? and i oop – ) can’t stop thinking about your letter: I’ll watch over Wolfie. Of course I will.  I’ll get him piss drunk at that club you mentioned last time we talked, bring a few lines and a bottle of dom all just for you, gorgeous. gonna love this asshole on the dash, too. let’s fuckin go. 

[girlablaze]

1-5 for the multiple muse prompts !!! heheh

multiple muse prompts.     /    ACCEPTING !

1.  is there a muse that you wish gets more attention ?

lately i only ever rp one muse at a time  ,  and i don’t have an indie  (  .  .  .  YET .  )  so like  .  .  .  it’s hard to judge fchdkjjkgkj BUT i remember feeling disheartened when i had avery in a rp ! he was called ansel at the time  &  i felt like i struggled to get him off the ground .  which SUCKED because avery has to be one of my fav male oc’s ?? 

2.  if you had to choose, who’s your favorite muse ?

this would probably be a toss up between briar or odelia ???  but ━ i’ll lean more towards odelia because i’m feeling SUPER musey w/ her  &  just generally having a ton of fun writing her atm hjdfgjkkljk but both hold a special place in my heart !  briar was my first tumblr rp muse  &  i wrote her continuously for 3+ years  ,  and then odelia was a muse i had when i was like  .  .  .  14 in the fb rp community . yike !

3.  which muse is the trickiest to get into character for ?

ok in general ? i have a hard time writing assholes .  i find them FUN but i  .  .  .  hate hurtin’ other muse’s feelings and it SHOWS .  my trickiest one would be cassius  ,  just because he’s so DARK  &  ruthless that i find it hard  .  .  .  to write him without feeling uncomfortable ASDFBGNJJ. i love him ! he just carries so much grief  &  pent - up aggression that i find it tricky to accurately represent it ?? ig ?? 

4.  is there a muse not a lot of people rp with ?

again  ,  probably my boi’s !  i’m  .  .  .  just Not lucky when it comes to male oc’s  ,  which could be because i’m not as confident with them  &  it shows ?  idk !  i love my sons .  i know a lot of ppl say their males get more attention than their females  ,  but for me i always find that i can get plots / interaction going quicker with my gals than my guys sO ? 

5.  if you had to choose, who’s your least favorite muse ?

me  :  i love all my children EQUALLY.also me  :  i don’t care much for danneel. 

it’s not that i hate her but  .  .  .  she’s got the emotional range of a teaspoon  &  she really can only can be played in an apocalyptic or horror verse otherwise she’s  .  .  boring  ,  there i SAID IT . 

[brimstone-brat]

How do you feel about your siblings?

"Eh."

"I love them with everything I am. They're all I have."

[grayisholi]

@ the DND ask game: ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS, I CAN'T CHOOSE!! XD (or if not that, the ones you rlly wanna do!!

BOY OH BOY OH BOYIve been answering these throughout the day and I’m too lazy to reread the full document so sorry if I’ve left gaps or whatever but here it is! All 35 questions about dnd! Matt you unstoppable Madman.

1. A favorite character you have played.

You can’t just make me pick between my children!!! I think I might have to say Atticus Sallow, my faeborn bloodhunter, partially because he’s like 100% homebrew content which I LIVE for, but also because he’s probably the most kinda self-insert character I’ve ever played? Almost became the kinda angsty, brooding asshole character before he was like “get your shit together” and learned that loving people isn’t so bad.

2. Your favorite character that someone else has played.

I almost, ALMOST had the pleasure of DMing for @no-more-good-omens and their character was gonna be SO RAD and I’m a little heartbroken he never came to be. A half-drow paladin of Vecna, pretending to be your typical good and wholesome paladin? Dude, I love that kinda two faced backstabbing in a player. It’s such a shame it never came to anything (although if yall still wanna play hmu ;))

3. Your favorite side quest.

Ooh, there’s been so many good ones. Probably when i was playing as Adrian Smirks and went off on a tangent to rescue his brother ? That was the first time I ever got to see Adrian’s more raw and emotional side beneath the suave mask he wears and it was fun to explore his character in that way ^.^

4. Your current campaign.

That I’m DMing? It started inspired by Guy Fawkes and was gonna be “your party blows up parliament” but I got bored of following historical accuracy so it ended up being “blow up the palace in a magical city that just happens to be called London”. I accidentally wrote myself into a hole with this campaign tho, so once they’ve finished this arc I’m handing over the DM hat to my sister @philosophical-wanton because she seems to love it and I kinda miss being a player lmao. I can’t wait for it.

5. Favorite NPC.That I’ve written? Probably Hai Shen, the youngest son of a group of circus performers who were killed and the party got blamed for their murder. He had such a great attitude and his dynamics with the party kicked ass. And the twist that he was actually dead the whole time and it was his soul that had stayed behind to help solve his family’s murder? ICONIC.

6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc).

NPC death would probably be Hai Shen, actually. After the party had brought the real killers (A cult to the demon Prince Orcus) to justice, Hai’s time on earth had come to an end. He had really beautiful moment with the party before being reunited with his family. Alternatively, the time I broke my entire party’s hearts? “Artagan’s staff comes cracking into Ellios’ chest, forcing him onto the ground. Artagan raises his sceptre in hand, pointing it menacingly at the young prince. And for the first time, you see him. Like, REALLY see him. He’s not the strong and powerful leader you’ve all come to know him as, he’s not Prince Ellios of the Four Realms. He’s just a boy. A boy who is much too young to be involved in such a grand scheme. And the fear in his eyes. You see the fear he’s managed to keep buried for so long, finally coming to the surface. And then? You don’t see anything, aside from his cold body hitting the ground.” I got punched three times for that moment, but GOD was it worth it.

7. Your favorite downtime activity.

Like in game? A healthy lil bit of vandalising the local law enforcement buildings is always a good time.

8. Your favorite fight/encounter.

Aw man, how can I pick ? I gotta say, that one time we, a level 6 party, managed to take down two earth elementals was pretty rad. The DM kind of expected it to be one of those encounters that we saw and immediately tried to run from, but what she didn’t take into account was that ALL of us had chaotic alignments so we just went crazy. The DM was rolling really badly (thank God) and we were getting really creative (“I use the produce flame centripetal to light my bottle of ale on fire and create a molotov cocktail” “you do WHAT”) and after like an HOUR we won and it was amazing. The rush I got from that victory was better than any drug my dood.

9. Your favorite thing about D&D.

I know I say it a lot, but I legit can’t choose. There’s so many great things about ttrpgs that a lot of people don’t really think of. The creative fulfilment I get from a session is incomparable, the friendships you can build that you couldn’t form in any other way. And like, not to get too real for a sec here, but I grew up with undiagnosed autism and didn’t understand how a lot of social situations worked, and DnD was such a good mechanic for me to try communicating with people without many real world consequences, and I appreciate that experience so much. It’s just such a great thing my dood.

10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most.

Can they be the same thing lmao? I mean, I’m obviously partial to Count Cassius, the vampire lord that Adrian slept with lmao. I also always appreciate a good beholder, until I get hit with three disintegration rays IN A ROW.

11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play?

We’ve got kind of a monthly schedule with my main campaign, and I manage to get a couple online games in-between them, but honestly I’d kill to be the kind of group that got together every weekend.

12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from.

Oh MAN. “I say we do this.” “Yeah, but that’s coming from the guy who decided to tie 3 50ft ropes together to escape the palace.” “iT wOrKeD dIdN’t iT ???” i.e that time I forgot I gave the gnome rogue flying boots so when I planned for them to get arrested at the palace, they managed to escape by tying their ropes together, sending the gnome with it to the top and climbing the wall. I had to improvise the rest of the session. Also “FLINTON BELINDA SKINTON” bc as a role-play exercise I got my party to come up with rumours about their characters and the gnome rogue called Flint AKA Flinton B Skinton decided that one of their rumours was that the B stood for Belinda, and it was GLORIOUS.

13. Introduce your current party.

My current group consists of Flinton B Skinton, gnome rogue. He’s a quick-fingered, silver-tongued gay disaster who can sell anything to anyone. He’s a charming flirt, and a veritable genius in his own right. Kava Daardendrian, dragonborn ranger who loves nothing in life more than her animal companion - her pig Snortin Norton. She’s fun and sassy and shameless, she’s great. There’s Sparks, the fire Genasi Monk, and full embodiment of a disaster lesbian. She drinks, fights, and gets laid, and doesn’t deal with her problems in healthy ways. An icon. And finally Milo, the halfling Bard who falls in love at the drop of a hat and just wants everyone to get along. I call them “The Shenanigang” and I love them.

14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed.

A party I joined late? We had Sylvia Moondrop, the half elf sorcerer who was just trying to get along with everyone despite what the world seemed to want. Orland the half orc bard who was just trying to shake off the Barbarian stereotype his family left him with. Rose Morleen, air Genasi fighter who was literally born to kick ass and take names. I joined as Mason Terrai, the Earth Genasi Alchemist with a perchance for explosives. The very definition of chaotic neutral.

15. Do you have snacks during game times?

Of COURSE. What manic wouldn’t ?

16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer?

I used to play online a LOT back before I had friends who were into dnd, but I VASTLY prefer playing in person. The chemistry that’s built not only amongst the players, but also the actual characters themselves is unparalleled. It’s just such a great experience.

17. What are some house rules that your group has?

Anyone can attempt anything, the only restriction is the dice. Don’t question the DM unless it’s out of session, then bully the dm on the groupchat until he’s so pissed off he gives you inspiration just to get you to shut up. And also canon lore and canon rules are bullshit when it’s convenient. That’s about it

18. Does your party keep any pets?

Our ranger, God bless her, has her pack pig Snortin Norton, sold to her by one Flinton B Skinton. And Flint really wants a monkey, he’s been trying to find one for ages.

19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions?

Not really ? I’m the kind guy that if my dice rolls a 1 I will bench it for a bit, but tbh all my dice are cursed af and I’ve kinda just learned to roll with it by making my characters canonically terrible at everything lmao.

20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing?

Aw man I can’t remember when or how, it’s been so long. I had a couple friends who were kinda into it, but all the games they tried to run were complete disasters. I only really started playing I’m the past year or so? Maybe a little more ? Adrian was my first character, and he was a very RP heavy character in a party of tanks and they all hated him but MAN was it fun.

21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done?

Oh all the time. One time my character was careless and didn’t check for traps on a legendary artefact and it lead to the death of a party member. One time my character got angry at his party and walked out. My characters don’t make good decisions, but that’s part of the fun.

22. What color was your first dragon?

White! I thought it was silver at first and went to go say hi, and it clawed me within half my HP straight away lmao.

23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns?

Oh dude, original all the way. I live for that shit.

24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game?

Depends on the session, but usually a good few hours, couple of days if I’m DMing.

25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for?

“You wake up in a mysterious forest. The strained autumn sun shines through the trees. The only thing you can see it each other, the trees, and an old sign post leading to a path that says "Myrrill” on it. What do you do?“ "We walk in the opposite direction of the sign deeper into the forest.” “…of course you do.”

26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters.

I wrote a full carnival show one time for them to watch, and then it got derailed when a horrific monster attacked. But writing all the characters and their acts, and watching my players get entranced as I described it ? Magical, my dood.

27. Do you allow homebrew content?

I live and breathe homebrew content. I don’t know what my games would be without it. I LOVE homebrew.

28. How often do you use NPCs in a party?

I make some pretty sick characters if I do say so myself, so I throw them in a LOT.

29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions?

Oh dude, role play all the way. Fighting and killing stuff is great, but role-play is just so good. We can go from laughing with a bartender to crying over a backstory reveal and it’s just beautiful.

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?

Depends on the party, but i find the best players are a little bit of both XD

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?

Official ? I’m a fan of the hexblade warlock? Bards are always a good call, and to be real playing monks make me feel like an absolute badass. Race wise, there are just so many. If we’re only talking players handbook stuff, half elf is always rad. Outside of that? I’ve been researching the Shadar-Kai lately and I’m LIVING. They’re so rad.

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)

What would you call the disaster gay? I don’t really gear my characters towards usefulness in combat, so it’s just whatever the class happens to lend itself to.

33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory?

I usually write my character, personality, backstory, alignment etc, before I even pick a class or even a race. I basically just make OCs and apply them to dnd rules, and it’s SO much fun. 10/10, would recommend.34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor?

FLAVOUR. My party usually hates me, but what I lack in combat utility I more than make up for in creative out of combat skill checks XD.

35. How much roleplay do you like to do?

Boi, I even RP my combat, and the great thing is it rubs off on my party too. I’ll have a really low initiative and everyone else will be like “I attack and do 10 points of damage” but then on my round I’m like “I use my staff to leap across the battlefield towards the opponent and launch out with a spinning kick to their jaw” and everyone else is like “oh, okay, that’s what we’re doing.” and the battle becomes so much more dynamic and cinematic, it’s amazing !

[ao3feed-snape]

lonely as a cloud

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/37s3m7N

by SpiritGold3761

On November 2nd, 1981, Archibald Harrison Potter was declared the Boy-Who-Lived. He grows up with anything he can ask for handed to him at the drop of a knut. But the real Savior of the Wizarding World lives in the cupboard under the stairs in Surrey, oblivious to magic. Until one day, she isn't. She is not the girl her parents and Dumbledore expect her to be.

This is basically all of my favorite tropes condensed. I'm working very hard to making ideas I love into my own. Features a Fem!Harry GWL who the country has forgotten, Slytherins being incredible, said GWL's twin being an absolute prat and a Dark Lord who's honestly not all that bad.

This is a rewrite of all of the books (eventually, this is just the first) and is MASSIVELY canon divergent. Updates will probably be irregular.

Words: 1013, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/F, Multi

Characters: Female Harry Potter - Character, Archie Potter (OC), Lily Evans Potter, James Potter, Vernon Dursley, Petunia Evans Dursley, Dudley Dursley, Severus Snape, Daphne Greengrass, Greengrass Family (Harry Potter), Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Black Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Parkinson Family (Harry Potter), Millicent Bulstrode, Millicent Bulstrode's Father, Blaise Zabini, Mrs Zabini (Harry Potter), Theodore Nott, Nott Sr. (Harry Potter), Gemma Farley, Marcus Flint, Cassius Warrington, Graham Montague, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Death Eater Characters, Slytherin Students, A whole lot of others

Relationships: Daphne Greengrass/Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Severus Snape

Additional Tags: let's rewrite this whole thing, Female Harry Potter, Harry Potter Has a Twin, Harry Potter is Skylar Potter, Harry Potter's twin is a prat, Archie Potter is a prat, Archie Potter is not the BWL, Skylar is, you fucking dingbats, Slytherin Harry Potter, Good Slytherins, Slytherin Politics, Powerful Skylar Potter, she's so awesome, but also so flawed, The Dursleys (Harry Potter) are assholes, Child Abuse, Bad Parenting, really aren't the dursleys their own warning, Wrong Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), (if that wasn't obvious), Albus Dumbledore Bashing, James Potter Bashing, Lily Evans Potter Bashing, they live and they suck, Ron Weasley Bashing, sorry - Freeform, i love him but he has to suck, Neville Longbottom is amazing, so are the twins, i may redeem Hermione but i'm not sure yet, Hogwarts Inter-House Unity, Slytherin Book Club, because muggle awareness matters, Severitus, eventually, femslash!, in fourth year, because before that they're little adorable beans, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Pureblood Politics (Harry Potter), Smart Harry Potter, Self-Indulgent, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, because im putting all the books in this one, WOO

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/37s3m7N

[mjwhom]

Tag game!!

I was tagged by @hawkeyescoffee 

Rules: Answer the 20 questions and tag some amazing followers/people you’d like to get know better

I tag: @alishathehuman @freyasgayplace @transpideyman @bluberrylimeade @shesprettyinpunk @steveplustony @horaetio @cassius-warrinqton @ anyone else??? just go for it

Name: Maya

Nicknames: asshole, my, gender-neutral bitch

Zodiac: pisces (i’m a messy, emotional bitch)

Height: like 5′6″

Orientation: trans and queer

Nationality: american

Favorite Fruit: strawberry

Favorite Season: fall

Favorite Book: probs hp and the prisoner of askaban

Favorite Flower: yellow rose

Favorite Scent: sawdust

Favorite Color: black

Favorite Animal: cats 4 lyfe

Coffee | Tea | Hot cocoa: coffee always

Average sleep hours: 5 and a half or 6??? i lvoe the education system

Cat or dog person: cat!!!!

Favorite fictional character: sirius black, tony stark, peter parker, leo valdez, i’m gonna stop before this list gets any longer

Number of blankets you sleep with: 3 full size comforters

Dream trip: probs like a european roadtrip?? that sounds super fun

Blog created: i think 2013??? it was on new years eve tho i know that for certain

Number of followers: 722

Random fact: i would rather loose the ability to talk than any other sense

[ultimatetrashgoblin]

Blaire Reviews: Emilio Season 1

Disclaimer: This is all my opinion, you are allowed to disagree with me. I encourage you to read this route and form your own opinions.

First Impressions

The first episode begins with the plot already in motion, the MCs having just arrived at the Society meeting. Emilio makes his enthusiasm about the Society well known almost immediately.

FMC is wary of getting involved with the Society and tells MMC he should stay away from them. Which is why when they receive an invitation for brunch, she sends him alone. 10/10 logic on her part.

MMC talks about using the Society's funding to do good for the world and notes that the reactions of the other members seem to be more making fun of him than agreeing with him. Emilio interjects and tells MMC that they should go for a walk. He takes him to the clock tower, where he and the inner circle tell him about time travel.

MMC takes this surprisingly well, seeing as most people would probably freak out or be skeptical upon being told that time travel was real. At least, that's what FMC did when she found out in her routes.

Speaking of FMC, she is left completely in the dark about the inner circle and time travel throughout the entire season and only makes a few appearances. It's almost ironic, considering that she's left her brother in the dark about Richard for basically his entire life. I can't say that I mind FMC's absence, since I personally don't like her that much. She constantly coddles her younger brother, despite him being a grown adult (I think they said he was 27), and was generally annoying. But back to Emilio.

MMC goes back to the clock tower, where the group (to the protests of Emilio) decides that he would be joining Emilio to a couple's retreat to prevent the exchange of power stones. (Also, power stones? Did 12 year old me come up with that name?) Of course, this means that Emilio and MMC have to pretend to be in a relationship. How hard can it be?

Considering that they failed on their first try, very hard. Rafe and Alanna decide to give our lovers some advice on making their relationship seem legit, and Rafe very subtly flirts with MMC.

I think it's safe to assume that we can expect a Rafe route for MMC sometime in the future (my condolences to those who shipped him with FMC, the wlm players are being starved).

Most of the time spent at the party can be summed up to Emilio being a major tease and the Marquess being super creepy. Then there's MMC friend Robert, who looks nothing like any other character we've seen in this series.

MMC is able to help Robert win a power stone, which infuriates the Marquess, who's been rigging the games the entire time. So he kills Robert and takes the power stone back.

Emilio and MMC go back to the present, and the inner circle tells a horrified MMC that such things happen and that they have to act like nothing happened. What I don't like is how harsh the inner circle was to MMC when he doubted Richard being a bad person. While it's true that he needs to learn to accept that fact, there's a difference between tough love and just being an asshole. Thankfully, Emilio steps in and tells them off for it.

When Emilio and MMC go back to the party, the Marquess has the stone he took from Robert, claiming that he won it from Robert in a private game. During the evening, the Marquess shows interest in MMC's ring and offers to bet him for it in a private game, which MMC accepts.

MMC ends up winning the game, which infuriates the Marquess, and he attempts to kill MMC. Emilio steps in, followed by other guests, and the Marquess claims that MMC tried to seduce him. Emilio and MMC convince the other guests that they should perform a ritual to reveal if the Marquess killed Robert for the stone.

The ritual is performed, the Marquess is revealed to have murdered Robert, and the other society members strip him of his title. The inner circle celebrates the victory, and Emilio opens up a little more.

When MMC returns to the clock tower the next day, he finds out that he and Emilio will be going to the 1900s (I'm assuming since films grew in popularity around the mid-1900s), and MMC will have to seduce Emilio. (Fake relationship; the sequel)

Final Thoughts

After the wonderful premiere of IHS with Cassius and Alanna, (see my review here) I didn't have the best expectations for the series. But the little we saw of Emilio in those routes made him seem likable, which made me hopeful that his route would be better. Emilio surpassed all of my expectations.

We got the same incredible writing from the other routes, with much better chemistry between the MC and LI. Hopefully, future seasons of IHS will be more like this one. Now, I'm not saying that Alanna and Cassius's seasons were horrible (definitely a lot of room for improvement), but IHS might have made a better impression if it premiered with Emilio.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Favorite CG: