#oh brennan... never change

[bonescaps]

[autopsytableromance]

Evan kelmp man that you are ……………..

[the-2nd-random-kid]

Im literally on episode 13 of a crown of candy how the FUCK can i FUCKING COPE WITH THIS

[unsteady-calcium]

Booth and Brennan (pre)relationship phases that we were robbed of:

- yes we do fall asleep on sofas a lot, essentially snuggling. It is purely random though. What do you mean, why don’t we just go to bed?

- listen, sharing a bed stops the nightmares. It’s a purely practical solution.

- hm we sure do kiss more than average people who are definitely not in a relationship. But it doesn’t matter for two important reasons: 1) it only happens during Intense Emotional Moments^tm and 2) we literally never ever talk about it afterwards. So it’s like it never happened

- ok so maybe our definition of Intense Emotional Moments^tm is getting a little. Loose. But this sushi was so nice and you looked very cute

- alright fine we’re gonna do it. We’re giving this whole relationship thing a go. But if the FBI knew they’d split us up so ssssssssh

Tree options for what happens next:

a) every single person at the Jeffersonian figures it out the second they step through the door

b) there’s a new intern who keeps coming across them making out in broom closets. “Dr. Saroyan, Dr. Hodgins, I didn’t realise the two of them were a couple”, “oh they’re not. But I understand the confusion.” And the intern is like really????

c) no one at the Jeffersonian suspects a damn thing, because honestly? This intense eye contact and all that forehead touching is completely on par for those two. Nothing appears to have changed. At least until Angela gets back from her vacation a week later and only makes it a step inside the door before she starts squealing

[callsign-rogueone]

not alone - r.g.

Ridoc Gamlyn x reader part three of Ridoc and Sweetheart’s story. words: 1.8k 🏷: Iron Flame spoilers in a vague sense, reader experiencing the joys of RSC, implications of torture but it’s not shown, mild panic attack / anxiety spiral / self-deprecating thoughts, bring tissues maybe, “happy” ending, Ridoc (and Sawyer) to the rescue! I am so stuck on the first-date scene that I just skipped it for now but it will happen eventually, I promise!!

This has to be a dream. It feels like something out of an adventure novel — waking up in a literal dungeon, chained to the wall. 

“Rhith?”

You wait a few seconds, but she doesn’t respond. Oh, gods, what if she… no, she’s okay. She has to be okay, because you’re okay. Maybe she’s asleep or off hunting or something.

But she’s never not responded to you before. She’s always replied, always been there to assuage your worries and remind you that it’ll be okay, just breathe. 

Breathe. Deep breaths, think about the butterflies… You look up, seeing no trace of them, no flutter of blue wings in the dim mage light of the room that you can’t seem to brighten, either.

You try it again, picturing them more clearly, thinking about the patterns on their wings and the colors… Nothing.

Something is definitely wrong. 

Why can’t you make a simple illusion? Is your signet broken? Is that why you’re down here? Is this some kind of reconditioning? A punishment? Or are you here to be executed for being defective?

“Rhith?” you try again, still working to steady your breathing, but every second that passes without a response only tightens the knot around your heart.

There’s no use. She’s not going to respond, because she’s given up on you, finally realized she’d chosen poorly, that you aren’t fit to be a rider after all, and decided to do away with you before the next Threshing, where she could choose a better rider, one who doesn’t need constant reassurance and hand-holding like a child.

The door swings open, a uniformed infantry officer stepping inside, here to decide your fate. He’s fully armed, a short blade in his hand, ready to carve into your skin or to pierce your heart, put you out of your misery — to thin the herd, to separate the wheat from the chaff. 

“I’m sorry,” you plead, as if that will change her mind. “I’m so sorry, I promise I’ll try harder, I’ll prove to you that I can handle it, just please don’t give up on me, don’t leave me here to die, please…”

He scoffs at you. “Crying already? This is going to be easier than I thought.”

You can’t dry your tears with your hands tied behind your back, so you settle for blinking them away and willing them to stop — you need to be strong if you want to get out of this room alive and see your brother and sister and the rest of your family again.

Family. That’s it — to convince them you’re worth it, you need to be someone else, someone who is worth it, like your brothers. 

You’re going to get through this. You’re going to endure whatever they put you through like Garrick would, and do it all with a straight face like Xaden, and be brave like Liam and smart like Brennan, and then Rhith will take you back, and everything will be okay again; you just need to stay strong.

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

Ridoc can’t find you at breakfast— you aren’t sitting with Bodhi and Imogen and the other marked ones like you always do. Maybe you’re sleeping in, he decides. The thought is a small comfort to him, but he can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong.

He hadn’t seen you all weekend, but that much is normal — he’d spent Saturday afternoon with his friends at the tavern in town, and you aren’t the going-out type; you’d rather curl up with a book to distract yourself from the rest of the world and it’s cruelty.

You hadn’t answered your door when he’d come to extend you the invitation, but he’d just assumed you were elsewhere. And your relationship is new, anyway, new enough that the word relationship probably isn’t the best to describe what the two of you have — you’ve been on two dates. You aren’t going to be spending every hour of your spare time together. 

But you aren’t at morning formation either, and as he settles into his usual seat at Battle Brief, you’re still nowhere to be found. There’s no denying it now; this isn’t a series of coincidences, this is a pattern, and something is definitely wrong.

Second squad seems to all realize what’s happening at once.

“I’m sure she’s okay,” Sawyer tries, but Ridoc seems unconvinced, bouncing his leg under the table nervously. His eyes snap toward the door as it creaks open, one person walking through.

You make it up to the back of the lecture hall, settling into the open chair beside Ridoc, your usual spot these days.

Everyone’s eyes widen at the cuts and bruises across your arms and face, knowing there’s likely even more covered by your clothes.

“Are you okay?” Violet asks in a whisper, knowing it’s a stupid question, but wanting to say something anyway.

You nod, chewing your lip. “I’m fine, but I can’t feel Rhith. I don’t know what happened.”

You’ve been trying all morning, had tried all night when they’d finally left you to sleep… you haven’t heard anything from her in two full days, but the infantry officer had let you go free, so you must have passed whatever test they’d given you, decided you were worthy of being a rider after all.

Guilt flickers in Ridoc’s chest - he should have told you, given you some kind of warning. “They did the same thing to us last week. It was something in the water. It’ll wear off soon, I promise.” He holds a hand out, a small icicle forming in his palm that he wraps in a piece of soft fabric. “Here.”

You take it from him, holding it to the killer bruise forming on your jaw from where the officer’s fist had nearly broken it. “Thank you.”

You’re exhausted. You’d barely had enough time to shower before class started, and you’re pretty sure you’re concussed; it’s hard to think, and everything is too bright in here, too loud…

You turn your gaze back to the professor, but don’t take any notes, don’t make any move to take a pen and paper from your bag, letting your eyes fall shut as Devera continues her analysis. It goes in one ear, out the other, but you know none of it is true anyway, or if it is, it’s only half the story.

The ice is starting to melt against the warmth of your skin, dripping down your wrist. He takes it back, letting it disappear into thin air and pocketing the wet handkerchief silently, resting an arm on the back of your chair and pressing a soft kiss to your bruised temple.

You blink awake at the sound of everyone getting up to leave — you must have gotten almost an hour of sleep. It’s taken some of the edge off, but your entire body still aches as you rise from your seat.

“Aotrom says she’s on the flight field,” Ridoc says, shouldering your bag before you can protest. “Do you wanna go see her?”

You just nod in response, your jaw still aching too much to speak. You make the walk up in silence, your heart clenching when you see Rhith standing there, waiting for you.

The comforting voice is finally back in your head. “Hello, sweet one.”

“Hi,” you say aloud, voice wavering. 

She lowers her head to you, letting you stroke a hand over the dark green scales of her nose. “I would never want to replace you, sweet one. You are just as strong and just as valuable as your brothers, and I chose you for a reason.”

You realize that she’d heard it all, your desperate pleas for her to spare your life, the promises that you’d be better, thinking she’d abandoned you…

“I’m sorry for thinking that, I just… my signet stopped working, and I couldn’t hear you…” you’re going to cry just thinking about it. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she soothes. “Try it again.” 

You take a breath and close your eyes, picturing a butterfly. When you open them, you can see one floating through the gentle afternoon breeze. You add another, just to be sure that it wasn’t a fluke, and another… three of them now, content to flutter around in front of you.

Ridoc is still watching you, silent. The look of relief on your face breaks his heart.

He realizes that by separating you from Rhith, they’d taken away your only friend in that room. He’d had Rhiannon and Violet and Sawyer by his side the whole time, but you’d been entirely alone; no marked ones, nobody from your squad — you’re the only second-year left. They’d taken your best coping mechanism as well, your ability to self-soothe with your gentle projections. 

Rhith looks up at Ridoc, who stands a respectful distance away, your bookbag slung over his shoulder. “She says thank you,” you relay for her, “for taking care of me.”

Ridoc smiles. “Always, sweetheart. Now let's get you to the healers, hm?”

He holds out a hand, and you hesitate a moment before you take it, intertwining your fingers loosely. His skin is warm against yours, soft, gentle, safe. When you make it down the hill and across the bridge to the infirmary, you almost don’t want to let go.

You stay as close to Ridoc as you can for the rest of the day. He treats you incredibly carefully, even after you’ve been mended back to normal, the cuts healed and bruises faded completely.

You’re grateful to wake up in your own bed the next morning, silently getting ready for the day and falling into your place at morning formation.

“Atken,” Dain calls, gesturing for you to come see him. “You’re being transferred.”

What? Why? Your heart races, but you follow him silently, stopping in front of a different squad, in Fourth Wing.

“I think you already know most of your squadmates,” he prompts.

You take a good look at them — nearly all of your friends; Imogen and Sloane and Violet, and now Ridoc and his friends too. You might cry. “Thank you,” you say quietly.

“Don’t thank me, thank those two. They made quite the argument for transferring you.” He nods toward Ridoc and Sawyer — they both smile at you, Ridoc grinning from ear to ear, Sawyer looking rather bashful.

“So you won’t have to be alone anymore,” Ridoc answers before you can ask. 

You fall into the formation beside him, reaching over to hook your pinky around his in a tiny show of appreciation. “Thank you.”

He smiles at you, warm and bright, keeping your fingers interlocked through the morning roll and announcements.

Maybe your second year won’t be so bad anymore.

[fillingthescrapbook]

Let's Talk About: A Change of Plan

Not episode-related but… is anyone else seeing the yellow oval shape on the bottom right corner of their screen when they watch anything on Dropout's website?

That out of the way--

Brennan making Evan a long-backer was not on my bingo card… but it makes sense. Regardless of how Erika, Danielle, and Aabria feel about it. Evan's energy from the very beginning was giving plank-body.

And since we're on the subject of Evan-- I am definitely vibing more with this aggressive and allowed-to-be-angry side of Evan more than the poor little meow meow we used to get before. Like, sure, I get that he wasn't sad all the time during the first season, but the energy was there. He was a sad boy. And I am learning now that I really really do not like sad boys.

Last episode, I mentioned Erika as being exceptionally great at shrinking. I did say that Lou and Danielle were doing amazing jobs as well (although not with those words exactly), but this week's MVP is Danielle Radford. Those lines of improvised dialogue that were a mile-a-minute long were simply incredible. Impeccable. And that's not to mention how she had Sam react to Evan freaking out about the discovery of how he died. "Together. Alone. Not us." Indeed.

Oh and that small reveal about Sam's family life? I want to hug Sam (to)B(decided).

And then we get to Cocaine Sam. And having her be the one to greet Boudy-boots. Amazing. Exceptional. No notes. (Also: Cocaine has to be an integral part of the Never Stop system mechanics now, right?)

Now, I'm not gonna go through everything that happened one by one. I never do. But here are the things that really stood out to me this episode, and why Misfits and Magic Season 2 is winning me over from my…lack of enthusiasm for the first season.

Number one: The breaking of wands. Erika's was sort of an accident. As explained in the Adventuring Academy, Erika saw that a tiny score was made on her wand. To allow it to break more easily. This discovery helped inform her decision to break it "accidentally" in the previous episode. The other players then realized that all their wands had been scored. And that a mechanic has been put in place for when said wands were broken. A mechanic that has now been fully explained in this episode.

I love this mechanic. I love that it--whether intentional or not--is a symbol for breaking Misfits and Magic off from "the franchise." Because the wands have become so intrinsically linked to said franchise. Although, I must admit--from a sentimental point of view--it hurts to see them break the wand. Although, at the same time, I guess that's why it's so powerful. It's their link to the magical world. It's one of the first things that showed them their potential. Much like the franchise was for many of us. And it's become very important for us to break off that connection to see that there's more magic to explore. That we are not limited to the wands. And the brooms. And the familiars.

And oof. The familiars. Aabria caught me off guard with that reveal. Like the road we were walking on were paved with figurative bones but the confirmation still took me aback. Because funny season, ha ha! We killed a player's character. We killed a major NPC. And we're killing familiars. Funny!

That's not a dig at Aabria. I love what she did. One of the most affecting episodes of television I've seen in recent memory is from How I Met Your Mother. It had a visual gag of a countdown. And the whole episode was filled with mishaps that were propelled by humor and love. And then when the countdown reaches 1--it punches you in the gut. And you were warned. But you still didn't expect it. And it feels so bad--but it's done so well. That's what Aabria did.

And that brings me to my second reason why Misfits and Magic is beginning to win me over.

Aabria is handing us character progression that is steeped in gray morality. Characters who rubbed us the wrong way are learning to be better people, while still being their snotty selves. Characters we liked have found themselves getting lost not because they're inherently evil but because of inaction, because of self-preservation coupled with their avoidance to step out of their comfort zone. There's grace in the way Aabria shows the players how their friends have fallen. And I think it's beautiful.

So, yeah, I am coming around to Misfits and Magic. Will it beat both Burrow's End or A Court of Fey and Flowers as a better Aabria season? I don't know. ACoFaF is one of my favorite Dimension 20 seasons ever and Burrow's End is also pretty high up. So probably not. But will I look back on Season 1 more kindly now? Definitely yes.

Last two things I wanted to mention:

First, the sudden volume drop when Evan stopped yelling-- I can't imagine what the poor sound guy who got the full burst of Brennan's highest vocal had gone through. Thankfully, Sam Reich takes care of the Dropout crew well.

And last, when K responds with "maybe the Tumblr users are gonna help?" to Evan's diatribe? Oh, K. Most of us are already struggling with one thing or another and are paralyzed by bigger things. If we had wonky magic to deal with on top of that? Oh ho ho, K. Oh ho ho.

[adamsmasher]

Okay it's after 1am and I've had a lot of wine so obviously it's time for a late night wall-of-text post, but this time it's less likely to piss off your weird uncle or whatever because once again, I gotta talk about the best $4.99 a month I've ever spent.

Please, if you haven't yet, I'm begging you to look into all of the incredible content available on the Dropout.tv streaming service (formerly known as College Humor) . Not only did Whose Line Is It Anyway's Wayne Brady say that the Dropout crew are the only ones doing improv comedy on the same level as Whose Line, but they were also one of the only studios/streaming services allowed to work during the writers' strike because their contracts went above and beyond industry standards. (And, from my own observations, Dropout LOVES hiring queer, trans/nonbinary, and BIPOC performers + crew. Obviously I don't know much about the industry, but they seem like one of the most inclusive companies in Hollywood.)

"Alex, thanks for the recommendation! What shows do they have that you think I'll like?" Oh, you're asking me to gush about my favorite tv shows? Don't mind if I do!!!

Are you D&D curious, but took one look at actual play shows like Critical Role and thought "6 hours an episode? and there's like 750 episodes or whatever? oh baby not my adhd ass..." Don't worry, me too (sorry CR I love you I promise). But Dropout has a show called "Dimension 20" where comedians play Dungeons and Dragons with emotional, immersive storytelling, gut-busting laughs, and spectacular set design that makes you forget it's a fully improvised series controlled by the roll of the dice. They even did a miniseries perfect for D&D beginners called "Dungeons and Drag Queens" where absolute novices and Drag Race royalty Jujubee, Monet X Change, Alaska Thunderfuck, and Bob the Drag Queen embark on an adventure full of mystery, intrigue, and stupidity. I mean, Alaska plays a muscle-bound, axe-wielding, caveman-grunting Orc named Princess, what more could you want? Plus, the primary game master Brennan Lee Mulligan is so easy on the eyes. Oh, you're not into dorky ginger dudes? How about Aabria Iyengar, a 6 foot tall goddess who's equally as nerdy as Brennan but loves basketball. that's right, if nothing else, there's eye candy for every person in every season.

"Oh, why aren't there any good game shows on TV?" you wonder, wishing that the Game Show Network could come up with something that isn't a lame remake of a free-to-play phone game. Well how about Game Changer, "the only game show where the game changes every show (except for [...] Game of Games, Taskmaster, and a few others that have come to light AFTER [Game Changer first aired]. That's right, [the] players have no idea what game it is they're about to play. The only way to learn is by playing, the only way to win is by learning, and the only way to begin is by beginning." And yes, I did sit there and watch the beginning of an episode to make sure I was accurately quoting Game Changer host (and Dropout CEO) Sam Reich's description of his flaghship game show that has THREE separate spin-offs. (for context, he only mentions the other shows that copied his in the one episode I pulled up to get an accurate quote. could you imagine how uncomfortable it would be if he said that every episode? hah!)

Are you more of a traditional Whose Line fan? Look no further than Game Changer spin-off Make Some Noise, where contestants act out "improvisational prompts that [they have] never seen before, isn't that right contestants?" ("We won't know if we've seen them before or not until we see them!" Brennan insists every time he's on...)

You like musicals but wish they were less... ya know, scripted? Check out "Play It By Ear", a fully improvised musical! (you may be familiar with its primary cast members Jess McKenna and Zach Reino from the podcast that inspired it all, "Off Book: the Improvised Musical Podcast with Zach and Jess")

Or maybe you're more into trivia, cuz you're a total nerd like me (and every single performer that's ever appeared on dropout.tv). How about "Umm, Actually" where contestants are given an incorrect statement and have to buzz in to correct it - but you have to say "Umm, Actually" first!

Straight up, you can't go wrong on Dropout. Please, check it out. They're nearly doubling the amount of original shows they have in 2024, and no other streaming service is doing it like them. If I haven't convinced you yet, get the 7 day trial and give em a chance. There's no referral code I can give you that gives me some sort of kickback or whatever, I genuinely wrote what looks like a thousand word essay about Dropout at 1am just because I love them so much.

[velvetvexations]

The thing about comparing Kipperlilly's grudge to hating DEI and affirmative action is that those things are exactly what she's advocating for. The Bad Kids are not receiving accommodation for anything - and in fact Aguefort seems like the type to despise things like accommodations and would tell disabled people to pick themselves up by their bootstraps, but I digress -rather, they have direct connections to massive save-the-world plots three years in a row now that puts them way ahead of everyone else. Though they put in hard work, that doesn't change the fact that no one else working as hard as they can will ever equal being told to go stop a god from coming back and coincidentally your dad (a) worked directly with that dead god's primary agent in the past and (b) is now a super cool angel secret agent who will directly assist you in the task. Oh, and also, your teammate's parents are the dead god's primary mortal agents. And also they kidnapped your other teammate's dad because he's a powerful demon lord so now she's involved too. And you all happen to end up on Leviathan, where Fabian is an instant celebrity who immediately gets a cult worshiping the planks he walks on because they all work for his rich undead infernal dad.

The issue is that people keep mapping it to the real world and seeing "tragic backstory" like it would be IRL, which is a mistake. It's not a disability. They don't go to normal school to become accountants or NASA engineers, they are there to be doing exactly that shit that their backstories rope them into. Like, this isn't Buffy, they aren't saving the world incidentally, this is school for saving the world to pursue a career in saving the world. Spyre functions so differently from IRL that everyone is dramatically failing to comprehend the actual situation everyone is in.

And the thing about hating affirmative action is that it presumes someone only got into whatever not because they have skill, but because of their race or something like that. That's manifestly different from what's going on here. Kipperlilly has no doubt the Bad Kids are incredibly powerful and skilled - but their backstories gave them opportunities to use that power and skill that no one else will ever have regardless of effort or even luck. The Bad Kids can't go five seconds without tripping over the revelation that the BBEG for the year is one of their second cousins. That just doesn't happen to other people, period. The world revolves around the BK's in ways it will never revolve around anyone else so the Bad Kids will always get the massive adventures to save the world and be the top of their class because they're personally connected to the narrative.

Remember, Brennan has confirmed that other AA students do not do shit like that. They do exactly the sort of missions you'd expect them to - go in dungeon, fight monsters, come back. It's not "uh, the Rat Grinders should have just gone out and saved the world too", that's not how it works. AA students are not usually expected to, their rat grinding is just a more tedious and efficient version of what they would be doing otherwise. The BK's don't get involved with these plots simply because they're the most heroic heroes ever who seek wrongs to right, they do it because every single time everyone but Gorgug (who is for the most part absent major narrative stakes) was born someone that would get those in's, feats reproducible by no one else.

"Ah, but the Seven-"

The Seven prove the tragedy of it. Because Kipperlilly is right, but she's also wrong. The brilliance of BLeeM this season is that he's crafted a narrative inseparable from the meta of how the game works. In a very real way this is like the Dungeons & Dragons versions of Tron. The fact that it's a series of fictional TTRPG sessions is essential to the universe and it's story, in a Twin Peaks-ian way.

Because, see, it's not actually, technically magical trauma that gives out those narrative advantages. Magical trauma is just the most obviously visible side-effect. What the issue actually is is that, as everyone has noted over and over again, the Rat Grinders are NPCs, and it is therefore impossible for the world to ever bend itself around them the way it does for the PCs. Except, most are just saying that as a funny haha joke.

No, like, literally, that's the issue. They will always be in the shadow of the handful of people that the people constructing their world, their timeline, their very existence, has decided matter. They are doomed by narrative causality to be "boring". And I'm going to take a moment to say here, isn't it crazy no one is talking about this when we just got done with Neverafter which was all about this exact thing????? Like, literally the BBEG was the Authors. That is the situation here, more or less.

Anyway, there will never be a demon attacking that due to a curse is only vulnerable to hot licks from Ruben's guitar passed down from the first gnomish rocker. Mary Ann will never be the prophesized liberator of kobolds enslaved in dragon dens. Ivy will never find out her father was secretly a super-soldier for the Council of Chosen who before he was assassinated left her notes detailing a sinister plot within the government of Solace.

People keep having a hard time with this because it intuitively doesn't feel right to ever classify something like losing a father in any context to have some kind of bright side. But if you take nothing else away from this post, let it be this: Adventuring as it's done in Spyre is not something done in the real world. Adventuring is something everyone chose to go to AA to learn and put into practice as their long-term career. And in that, absolutely these things give the PCs a completely one hundred percent insurmountable leg-up on the thing they're all in competition for.

And it being completely insurmountable in that way further goes to show the difference between hating that situation and hating affirmative action. Even AA is not a guarantee that a specific member of the majority will lose out on something and a specific member of the minority will get it instead. As soon as the character sheets were rolled everyone else at Aguefort may as well have just gone home and started studying to be accountants because the main characters had been chosen. Or they could keep going and hope they get a spin-off, I guess.

But Kipperlilly does keep trying, for she doesn't really comprehend the true eldritch horror beyond her existence shackled to the bits of a bunch of comedians, and her solution is to adjust for those unfair advantages.

Which is affirmative action.

How is that not obvious.

[haydenthewitch]

"dude, pepercorn was a fucking maniac, man."

"yeah and i'm fabian fucking secaster."

"oh shit."

"yeah, thats right."

"oh shit."

"yes!"

"whats this?"

"it's this energy now."

dear god lou and brennan NEVER CHANGE this IS THE ENGRGY NOW

[skyfallscotland]

Fics:

Fear & Flame (Xaden/OC, 266k words)

Dangerous Devotion (44k words)

Truth & Talon (WIP, >100k words)

Ficlets:

Remi at 14; a Fear & Flame coda, (1k words)

Infantry Xaden & Remi AU (1.5k words)

intertwining souls (we were never strangers) - part one & part two— time travel AU snippets (2.7k & 4k words)

In-depth summaries, tags & FAQ below the cut ⤸

Fics:

Fear & Flame

Xaden Riorson/Original Female Character ✧ 266k words, complete

Remi Sorrengail is the antithesis of her sister. Snarky, depressed and quick to anger, she’s a realist. She’s well aware she probably won’t be making it out of the Riders Quadrant alive and she’s made peace with that. There’s just one thing she’d like to do there before she goes…climb Xaden Riorson like a tree.

Dangerous Devotion

Xaden's POV ✧ 44k words, complete ✧ (Note: this contains new content and is not just the same scenes from Fear & Flame, rehashed)

Xaden Riorson spends a year trying not to fall in love with Remi Sorrengail—and fails miserably.

Truth & Talon

Sequel to Fear & Flame ✧ 140k words, WIP

Remi Sorrengail’s life has been completely upended. The monsters that gave her nightmares as a child are real, her dead brother has been secretly alive this entire time and never once contacted her, and her partner has been lying about all of it. Oh and he’s also royalty. Throw in a bunch of assassins, a psychotic vice-commandant and a war on the horizon, and she truly has her work cut out for her—and that’s not even taking into account matters of the heart.

Ficlets:

Remi at 14; a Fear & Flame coda

1k words, complete

For a long minute, my heart thunders, but then I think at least it would have been over. Over. I don’t know if I believe in Malek, but if the world holds any kindness and the gods are real, I’d hope they would reunite me with Brennan in the afterlife.

Infantry Xaden & Remi AU

1.5k words, complete for now—potential series

I am not ashamed to admit that smirk does something to me. My lips part in surprise. “You…” I suppose there’s not much to say—of course he knows who I am. Everyone in Navarre probably knows by now about the Sorrengail twins and how they both bonded two dragons. “Who are you?” I ask instead, my brow furrowing.  He steps closer, a small smile playing on his lips, like I should already know the answer. “Xaden Riorson.” He murmurs.

intertwining souls (we were never strangers) - part one & part two

2.7k & 4k words, respectively—complete for now

“I’m sorry.” I whisper, climbing to my feet. “I know this isn’t—that you don’t know me.” I choke out. “But I don’t know what happened and I can’t feel my dragon and I’m scared, Xade.” Slowly, he climbs to his feet and takes a step toward me, closing the gap again.  A hand reaches out to brush my hair behind my ear and a wet chuckle escapes me. I guess some things really don’t change. “Where—when are you from?” He finally asks, his eyes glued to my face.

You can find the Basgiath: Remi's Version playlist here 🥰

Series tags: Asks / Quotes / Polls

✧ FAQ

Will you be killing Liam? Will Xaden turn venin? Will Remi turn venin?

Wouldn't you like to know 😌

[halevren]

Never Stop Blowing Up Spoilers || my live thoughts as I watch episode 2

I'm so ready for this chat

The intro is so so cool I love it

HELLO ONE AND ALLL

oh Brennan you are rocking that leather jacket

HELLOOO NOBODY'S HOME

The turbo tokens kind of look like pomegranate seeds. Man now I'm craving pomegranate

HEY WE NEED SOME FREAKIN RULES AROUND HERE

The decor....

"Wow so we're like a sandwich...." "Yeah! And we're the bread"

"I'm just being... Funny today..."

"Don't worry boss, we killed them."

Kingskin's so hit

I am eating watermelon rn so I won't be doing every single reaction

"You threw that punch like 6 feet away from me"

"You're not mad at me?" I resonate with you liv

The empresario is kinda hot... Even though he's got purple man fnaf vibes

DILLY OH MY GOD

I LOVE ALEX

WRITING THE CRIMES DOWN

YOU DEFINITELY HAVE TEETH

DETECTIVE JACK MANHATTAN BUSINESS CARD

WHY DID THE LIGHT CHANGE WHY DID THE BUTTON CHANGE WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY

I love Izzy she's so much in her element

A GUY JUST JUMPED OFF A BUILDING?

"My pepper spray is black...."

"IS THIS A GUN?"

I LOVE IZZY SO KUCH

"Did I love him?"

we're on a train building helicopter

OVERPLAYED BROOKLYN ACCENT

DOES THE GREEN LIGHT MEAN THEY HAVE A PHYSICAL ITEM????? WHY DID ANOTHER BUTTON THEN RED

THE BULLET ANIMATION ON THE BACKBOARD

"I'VE BEEN SHOT"

SHE MAKES OUT WITH THE MIRROR

it's so hot

NOT AGAIN WITH THE DIVORCE PAPERS

DOUBLE EXPLOSION FOR ALLY LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO

ANOTHER EXPLOSION FOR ALLY

TURNS YOU INTO THE MASK (SMOKIN')

I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND THE BUTTONS AND THE LIGHTS I FEEL DUMB

shout out to Russel for immediately playing as Ms. Drips

He's thinking about Dang 😢😢

JUDE? LIKE SAINT JUDE? DANG AND RUSSEL WILL MEET UP

DANG SELF DISCOVERY MOMENT 🎉🎉🎉

THE STATES HAVE GOTTEN INTO YOU 😭😭😭

IT EXPLODES

HIS BUDDY WENDELL

Kirk Blade is kinda...... 👀

YOU'VE GOT THIS WENDELLL

oh no he's rolling the car

if Wendell's character doesn't make it..... Does that mean he dies in real life

KIRK BLADE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WHAT'S THE BLUE BOOK

I should listen to Blink-182 again. It's been a bit since I've listened to any of their songs because I'm super into like sigilkore and stuff rn

Wendell channeling his inner vin diesel

IS WENDELL ABOUT TO MEET LIV

THAT'S 3 EXPLOSIONS...

I feel so stupid I just unstood why his name is Vic Ethanol. I forgot Ethanol gas is a thing

he's cool, leave it

usha might be dead

YELLINGGGGG

I HATE NEW TECHNOLOGY

usha my beloved I love you

doin a lil jig

THE COMPUTER ISN'T WORKINGGG

whirrrred

CAN I GET A SECOND ONE 😭😭😭😭😭😭

OH SHITTTTT THEY'RE IN GROUPS OF 3 THEY'RE ON DIFFERENT TEAMS USHA, WENDELL AND LIV VS RUSSELL, PAULA AND DANG

cocked

ZCRABBLE

That was so sick I love you rekha

CLOSES IT. SMASHES ON THE GROUND

HAVEN'T BEEN CALLED KID IN 78 YEARS

Saint Jude is kinda...... 🫦

TRAILER BIENELLE

St. Francis.... Hm

CAT BURGLAR MEOW MEOW

EMPEROR PENGUIN SARIO

"Don't tell me that again." "Don't tell me what to do"

I LOVE MY SLUT DAD

I wanna shoot a car

"I'm going to leave this interaction"

I have a gun and I have a penis

Computer blizzard wizard

"What Brennan?" (Hostile)

MY LITTLE USHIE OH MY GOODNESS 😭😭😭

"You doin okay?" "No." "Oh." "It just feels good to be touched." 😭😭😭

DOUG MEAT I LOVE YOU

DOUGLAS MEAT

FULL INJURY LEVEL

YOU PUNCHED PAULA

NOOOOO JACK MANHATTAN

[eddiediazismyhusband]

What do you think the song for Buddie’s first dance should be? What would they walk down the aisle to if you had your way?

I personally love the idea of a piano version of Made by Spencer Crandall. The whole premise of the song is “soulmates aren’t found they’re made” and I feel like that fits very well.

What about even their first ever kiss?

I would love You Make Me Think Of Fire by Elina. There’s a line in there about “the leaves they are changing/and it feels like I’m changing too.” Every time I hear the song, it’s like a Buddie montage in my head leading up to that OH realization moment.

Anyways, I love your blog. Keeps me sane and has brought me much joy these days. So thank you for existing in such a lovely and king way in this community ❤️

I’m so sorry it took me so long to get to this but i wanted to sit and brainstorm songs bc i’ve answered a similar ask before but tbh i kinda can’t recall what i said so…. here we are!

i will always maintain that i want tracie thoms to sing “at last” during the procession… i think in my mind it would be reminiscent of the booth/brennan wedding on Bones where we get a montage of one of them walking down the aisle interspersed with other couples before we get the actual ceremony, and it also gives the show an excuse to feature tracie’s vocals bc HOW HAS SHE BEEN THERE 7 SEASONS AND WE’VE NEVER GOTTEN KAREN SINGING???

as far as their first dance song, there are so many, but i really love the idea of Love Me Tender by Norah Jones or an instrumental version of You Are the Reason by Calum Scott.

i have to listen to “made” bc i don’t think i’ve heard it before but i trust your judgment!

as far as their first kiss, i kinda love the idea of them having the show’s underscoring…. idk i just love the thought of it almost being a very smooth (and to use tim minear’s own words) natural moment, and i think using a moment of underscoring could really make that moment beautiful… but idk that’s kinda where my head’s been leaning more and more lately, idk!

Thank you for the ask, and once again i am SO so so sorry it took me so long to reply 😭💕💕

[cooliogirl101]

Okay I realize absolutely no one asked for this but here are some of the changes I would make to Fourth Wing:

*Spoilers below and warning, this is gonna be a very long post with more or less coherent rambling*

To start with, Violet's mother's motivations for suddenly demanding Violet become a Rider 6 months prior to Conscription never made sense to me and that's something I'd definitely want to flesh out more. She fell in love with and married a Scribe, and was apparently fine with Violet training to become a Scribe up until then-- so what the hell changed, made her suddenly decide to throw her youngest daughter into a death college where she'll start off at a major disadvantage? I think it makes more sense if her decision coincided with the death of Violet's father or something. The pain of losing him, of wanting to avoid all reminders of him, led her to demand Violet become a Rider rather than a Scribe. It's also stated in the book that in the last few months of his life, Violet's father became more withdrawn and was likely looking into venin/wyvern-- she could've forbidden Violet from becoming a Scribe in order to get her away from all that and the possibility of discovering the truth (although granted, sending her away to the same College the Rebellion Kids-- who are very much aware of the truth-- are forced to attend may not be the best way of going about it).

For that matter, I'd stop giving Violet so many opportunities to leave. I know it's supposed to show off her determination or whatever, but it makes her motivations and characterization super inconsistent if she's constantly going on about how her dream in life is to become a scribe and she turns down literally every opportunity for her to go and do that. It's also a more compelling story for me if she literally had no choice but to become a Rider but managed to succeed anyway-- and it mirrors the rebellion kids' story as well.

The hair. There's no logical reason for Violet to have natural balayage, the fuck. It's stated in the book that even if she was to cut her hair, it would just turn silver again at the ends after it reaches a certain length, which...?? And there's zero explanation for this. Like, if you're gonna give the MC special hair, at least provide a good story behind it. For example: after Brennan's death 6 years ago, Violet shut down completely. She couldn't stand being around her mother's rage and her father's devastating grief and Mira's absence, so she just picked a direction and...kept going. It took them 3 days to find her and by that time, she was half-frozen and on the verge of death. Borrowing a trope from Chinese dramas, by the time they found her, her hair had turned completely white from stress. Her brown hair grew back in as she recovered but she keeps the white as a reminder to herself to never let herself get to that point again-- to never let herself shut down the same way again.

(To emphasize-- if she cuts it, it doesn't magically turn white again after growing out, that was just a one-time thing. She's not magically gifted with special hair "just because", that's stupid).

Violet's potential as a Scribe. The book continuously emphasizes how smart Violet is supposed to be, how she would've made the Perfect Scribe, and other than her tendency to conveniently regurgitate facts the author wants us to know about the world, we...don't really see much evidence of that. If anything, the book makes the argument that oh actually, deep down inside Violet had always been more suited to be a Rider rather than a Scribe, yadda yadda yadda. Which is just boring to me-- the most interesting thing about her character is the fact that she was never supposed to be a Rider, was never suited for it, and having her turn out to actually have "the soul of a Rider" all along or some bullshit takes away from that. I would much rather have her start off the book with a scribe's skill and mindset and gradually add the traits of a Rider as well for a merging of the two, rather than have her 'outgrow' being a Scribe.

Continuing on that theme, Violet is clearly a very emotion-driven character, which doesn't quite make sense to me given that she was trained to be the Quintessential Scribe. Scribes, after all, are taught to be logical, rational, to always control/hide their emotions: to fundamentally be a "blank slate", without biases or preconceptions, solely dedicated to the preservation of knowledge (emotions only get in the way of that). If anything, it'd make more sense to me if Violet was a little too good at hiding and compartmentalizing her emotions (especially after the deaths of her father and brother), to the point that she was nearly impossible to read and came across as a bit eerie to her peers. This is not to say that she wouldn't feel as strongly or have that same capacity for kindness-- just that she'd become very good at using intellectualization as a defense mechanism ("I'm not helping them because I care, it's because I'm already at a disadvantage and need all the allies I get. It's only logical." "It's only natural to feel a bit anxious watching them fight...they're giving me lessons and it'd be inconvenient if they died. I'd have to find another person to fill their place, which would be...well, it'd be better if they lived. I'm going to make sure they live.")

(The "woman is the openly emotional one and the man is the openly logical one" is also one of the tropes that annoys me the most, so...goodbye to that).

You also cannot convince me this girl was well-socialized growing up, which would cause her to value her relationship with Dain that much more. If he was her only friend growing up, the only person she was close to outside her family, it provides a huge opportunity for character growth as she struggles to learn how to trust, open up to, and rely on other people. It bothered me a little how in the book, several characters (Ridoc, Sawyer) were just suddenly on Violet's side without any actual scenes between them showing how they became friends.

(Ridoc is the first person to make Violet Sorrengail laugh at Basgiath. It wasn't even anything special, just a sarcastic-- but uncannily accurate-- impression of Professor Devera, and he glanced at her just in time to see her hastily turn away, covering her face. Her shaking shoulders gave her away, however.

Hah, he thought, smug satisfaction curling in his chest. So you can laugh. I knew you had a sense of humor hidden away somewhere deep down.

Deep, deep down.

The next second, Violet had managed to compose herself, face as blank and unreadable as ever, save for perhaps the slightly narrowed gaze she aimed at his direction, as if willing him to forget her momentary lapse in Not Being a Robot. He just winked at her, grin widening for the briefest moment before turning back to Sawyer.

Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me.)

Also why is this girl starting her training off making enemies left and right? First off, instead of futilely trying to avoid every rebellion kid out there, it'd be more practical for her to just try and distance herself from her mother as much as possible. That relationship is definitely doing her no favors. And with Xaden/the other rebellion kids-- she, of all people, knows what it's like to be judged for who her parents are. She knows they know what it's like too. It's an angle that she can use to at least try to keep a hundred targets off her back.

("You're Lilith Sorrengail's daughter," Xaden said, studying her through narrowed eyes. It was impossible to pinpoint the emotion in his voice-- but well, she could take a solid guess.

"Yes," Violet replied, just as evenly. "And you're Fen Riorson's son, if we're doing introductions based on our parents now." She gave him a polite nod. "Best of luck on the Parapet today, although from what I've heard about your skills, I don't imagine you'll need it."

When in doubt, there was never any harm in falling back on manners and flattery. That was what Dain had told her, and she tended to trust his advice when it came to dealing with people. He'd always been more likeable than her.

His jaw tightened.

"Your mother killed my father," he said, expression cracking open the slightest bit to reveal something raw and wounded underneath.

And your father killed my brother, she didn't say. It was something they both knew, after all, and she didn't see the point in reciting facts back and forth for no reason.

Violet resisted the urge to sigh. So much for manners and flattery-- it looked like she was going to have to address this now. Directness it was then.

"Yes," she admitted, voice going even more flat. "And I understand you have every reason to hate me for what my mother did. But if you're going to try and kill me, at least have it be for something that I did." She started walking forward-- either he was going to kill her, or he wasn't. Either way, there wasn't much she could do about it. "Everything in my life has been influenced by who my mother is. At the very least, do me the courtesy of allowing my death to occur independently of her."

A pause. She'd caught him off guard.

"So just to be clear, you're not asking me to spare you. Just for some agency in your own death," he said finally. Was that a trace of humor in his voice?

"What I'm asking is for you to stop seeing my mother when you look at me," Violet said, causing Xaden's face to go blank again. "But that's easier said than done. I'm sure you would know, wouldn't you?")

For that matter, I'm also putting Violet on the aro/ace spectrum here (probably demisexual). Not out of any plot-related reason. Just because it was incredibly annoying reading all those descriptions of how inhumanly beautiful Xaden was every 3 pages. 'Lust at first sight' is also one of my least favorite tropes, so. Goodbye to that. (Side note though, I think it would be really funny for Violet 'never-felt-sexual-attraction-to-any-significant-degree' Sorrengail to go find Xaden while their dragons are fucking, completely freaked out about what the fuck is happening, while Xaden (after registering that she genuinely has no idea that the emotion she's feeling is Dragon-Induced Horniness, she legit thinks their dragons might be dying) has a mini panic attack thinking 'fuck am I really going to have to give the dragon sex talk to the girl I'm Definitely Not Crushing On'

One of the things that frustrated me the most about the book was how convinced Violet was that Xaden was out to kill her, despite all of his actions showing he was very much not going to kill her. This from a girl whose defining trait is supposed to be her intelligence. Now I'm all for characters being very smart in one way and dumb in another. But the essence of intelligence is the ability to gather facts and put them together to form a logical conclusion. To have multiple occurrences of Xaden helping her out/saving her life/turning down the perfect opportunity to kill her, and still reaching the conclusion that he wants her dead is...not intelligent.

("What are you doing?" Dain hissed. "I told you to keep your head down and to do everything you could to avoid Riorson's notice!"

That was rather unfair of him, Violet thought to herself. She was keeping her head down, she was trying her best to avoid him, Xaden Riorson just seemed to be annoyingly adept at seeking her out. She couldn't understand why he kept doing so. Surely he wasn't still trying to make sure she wasn't going to spill his secrets?

She felt rather offended at that. Did Xaden really think that lowly of her intelligence? If she reported him, he'd find a way to kill her, simple as that, and she rather enjoyed living. Reporting him would be against her self-interest. At the very least, if he couldn't trust in her word, he should be able to trust in her self-preservation.

She ignored the tiny voice in her head saying that if she was to report him, Xaden Riorson and the other rebellion kids would be dead before they could so much as register the word 'betrayal', much less be in any state to exact vengeance against her.

"If it helps, I really don't think he's going to try and kill me," Violet said honestly. Not as long as she didn't give him a reason to.

"Oh? And why's that?" Dain asked sarcastically. She'd never seen him so discomfited. It was rather...sweet, actually.

"Because it wouldn't suit his interests," Violet stated. "He wouldn't gain anything from killing me, but he does stand to lose a whole lot. It's true that killing me wouldn't be against the Codex-- he wouldn't be formally punished-- but targeting me for nothing else but the crime of being General Sorrengail's daughter...well, it lets everyone know where his loyalties lie, doesn't it? It sends a clear signal to all the higher ups that he hasn't forgiven his father's execution, and he's already on thin enough ice as it is. It would be impractical for him to kill me, and Xaden Riorson may be a lot of things, but he's never struck me as stupid."

Dain stared at her for a while.

"What?" Violet blinked, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He was the one who'd told her that it was rude to stare too long, so why was he doing it now?

"Nothing," he chuckled, shaking his head. "You're just something special, Violet."

"'Special' isn't always a compliment," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly at him. He'd taught her that as well.

"It is when it comes to you," he said, smiling. "Now come on, you have class soon."

"I'll be there in a moment. I just need to head back to my room to grab something." The moment she turned the corner, she paused as she heard footsteps appear at her back.

"Xaden," she greeted, without turning around. "You were listening." It wasn't a question.

"You don't seem surprised," he commented, easily stepping in place next to her as if he'd always been there.

"I've come to the conclusion it's easier to just assume you're there anytime there are shadows present," Violet responded, voice a touch dry.

"It's flattering to know you think I'm so omnipresent," Xaden replied, a touch of smugness in his voice. "You gave a very convincing argument to Aetos about all the reasons why I shouldn't kill you. You had a lot of faith in my...practicality." He seemed amused, although his expression didn't change. "Has it ever occurred to you that not everyone is as rational about these things as you are?"

"Of course. That's why I figure it never hurts to provide a reminder that it costs you more to kill me than to keep me around." Violet glanced down at her planner. "I figure I'll schedule the next one in another two weeks or so."

"No need. You remind me every day." He grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to a halt. "Kairi Stevenson. You helped her before her match yesterday. Why?"

Violet looked down at his hand pointedly. He ignored her. "If you're asking how I learn about the match lineups beforehand, I'm not going to--"

"I don't care about that," Xaden interrupted. "You helped her, even though her father--"

"Even though her father participated in the rebellion, yes," Violet finished. "I've asked you-- all of you-- to judge me on my own merits, rather than my parentage. It would be rather hypocritical of me to not do the same for you."

His grip on her shoulder tightened.

"There's a difference between that and going out of your way to help us," he said, voice low.

"Is there? All I've done is treat her the same way I did the rest of my squad," Violet replied. "She's part of my squad, so I helped her. End of story."

It had been the first thing she'd done since arriving, work on establishing herself as an asset to her squad, rather than a liability. She'd known from the beginning that she would need to build allies in order to survive, given her physical limitations, and her squad, the only people bound by Codex to not kill her, seemed like a good place to start. It started with secret notes passed around in Battle Brief containing hastily scrawled answers. It continued with tutoring sessions and, after discovering Brennan's gift, hushed whispers regarding the next week's sparring lineup. Anything to establish herself as someone who was worth more alive than dead.

She'd spent her entire life under the disapproving eyes of her mother attempting to justify her existence, that she had a right to exist. This was no different.

Xaden's mouth curved up in a sardonic smile.

"So what, are you saying you helped her out of the goodness of your heart? How very...altruistic of you."

"Hardly," Violet said dismissively. Xaden blinked, sneer fading. "It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. She's been offering me help on improving my accuracy with my daggers, did you know? Like Sawyer helping me with weight training and Rhiannon with sparring. It's not like I don't get anything out of it."

"And Anderson?" Xaden questioned. "He's not even in our wing; yet I hear you helped bind his ankle after he twisted it last week. What benefit did you get out of helping him?" The corner of his lips twitched. "Or is he helping you with weight training too?"

"Well," Violet hesitated, unexpectedly flustered. Eli Anderson was a scrawny, hopelessly awkward boy who was quite possibly the clumsiest person she'd ever met. How he made it across the Parapet without tripping over the edge was beyond her. "It's always good to have allies outside of your own wing. It just means one less potential knife in the back some day."

Xaden hummed, studying her for a moment. "I'd worry about yourself first, Violet, before spending your time nursing other students back to health. Someone like Anderson won't make it in the long run anyway. It's better that someone take him out now before he gets someone else killed on the battlefield in the future."

Violet's eyes flashed, lips twisting into a scowl despite herself. Xaden's gaze sharpened and he leaned in, something almost hungry in his eyes. "Something the matter, Sorrengail?"

"I'm fine. I disagree with your argument, that's all," she said stiffly. "How do you know that Eli won't one day become an amazing dragon rider with the proper training? All this focus on 'weeding out the weak' and 'killing off the weaklings' with absolutely no emphasis on actually helping people become strong-- how does that make sense? We live in a world where the war is getting more dangerous by the day, where more people are dying by the day, and what are we doing here? Learning how to kill each other off," she scoffed. "What's the point in waging a war to keep our home safe, and then turning around and tearing ourselves apart inside it? The biggest threat here at Basgiath isn't the gryphons or Pomoriel-- it's each other. How sad is that?"

"All day, every day, encouraged to attack each other, to kill each other. I understand that killing is a necessity on the battlefield, but here?" she continued, tone scathing. "That's not training. That's not learning. That's just...that's just senseless cruelty and it serves no purpose. All you end up with then are people who won't think twice about stabbing a comrade in the back if it serves their own self-interest. It's meaningless, it's illogical, and it's...it's stupid."

Violet said the last word with a particular viciousness, as if it was the most scathing indictment she could imagine. Despite himself, Xaden found himself fighting a grin.

"It's better to get used to killing here, where you're in a relatively controlled environment, than it is on the battlefield," Xaden murmured. Violet shot him an unimpressed look and he had to press his lips together to keep the corners from twitching upwards.

"Are you volunteering yourself as a subject?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"As entertaining as it would be to see you try to murder me, I'll have to decline," Xaden replied, flicking her on the forehead just to see her scowl deepen. He coughed to hide a laugh as she reached up to swat his hand away. "Try not to die coddling some random stranger, Sorrengail. It would be a horribly anticlimatic end to your life."

"I'll try not to disappoint," Violet said, voice dry as the desert. She'd never coddled anyone in her life; at most it could be said she lent the occasional helping hand. And as she'd already established earlier, that was hardly altruistic in nature. The nature of things as they were was hardly conducive to her continued survival-- the current system was designed to swallow people like her whole. Obviously then, she needed to act differently from the established social order.

A favor given meant a favor received. Helping someone else now meant potentially being helped in the future.

That wasn't kindness. That was just common sense.

(Rhiannon, at some point in the future, after seeing Xaden and Violet interact:

"Oh my god," she said, mouth dropping open. "I thought he hated you because of your mother and that's why he wouldn't leave you alone, but...holy shit, he's just been pulling your pigtails this entire time, hasn't he?"

"I don't have pigtails," Violet frowned, even as Riorson shot her a warning glare. Rhiannon had to admit it was a fairly menacing one.

"Fine, tugging on your braid, whatever," Rhiannon waved her off, fighting a grin. Since discovering he was likely crushing on her best friend, the Wingleader suddenly seemed much less intimidating. "The point is, he li--"

"Matthias, I can and will give you double chore duty for attempting to spread untoward rumors about your Wingleader," Riorson growled.

He didn't say inaccurate, Rhiannon couldn't help but notice.

Violet tugged at Riorson's sleeve, brow furrowing slightly. Riorson's expression instantly softened a fraction and Rhiannon had to suppress a snort.

"What was that about?" Violet asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he replied. "Let's get back to practice, shall we?")

This post is getting wayyyy too long so I'll stop but one last point: not gonna lie, I was pretty disappointed by Violet's signet power in the book. It seemed to signify that deep down, she was the quintessential rider all along-- it's not a power that honors her intelligence or scribe background at all. Not to mention the whole her wielding lightning seemed to be a pretty deliberate counterpoint to Xaden wielding shadows, like come on, you couldn't come up with a less obvious metaphor to state they represent light and shadow? If I were to give her a power, it'd be something like probability manipulation or hyperintuition-- both abilities that compliment and highlight her intelligence.

[verosvault]

🚨SPOILERS FOR FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR EPISODE 7🚨

Dimension20 "Fantasy High Junior Year"

Episode 7 "Stress Tested"

Timestamp: 2:04:46

Video Length: 4min. & 30sec.

Discovering clues about Lucy Frostblade & Principal Grix (Pt. 1 | ‣Pt. 2)

Emily: "As their Paladin, for potentially Paladin, can I give them a Bardic? I know that that sentence makes no sense."

Brennan: "You can give a Bardic if you want."

Ally: "Yeah?"

Emily: "I think it's like corrupted, but like maybe it won't be bad."

Ally: "I don't ****ing care."

Brennan: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go roll me a corrupted Bardic."

Ally: "It's an eight?"

Emily: "It's a d8."

Ally: "Eight, an eight on the die."

Brennan: "Okay."

Ally: "Okay, so that's a 27."

Brennan: "Yolanda says,"

Yolanda: "Lucy was a wonderful, wonderful student. It's been very hard these last few months."

Kristen: "What was her domain again or who was she following?"

Yolanda: "She worshipped a goddess of giants and giantkin named Ruvina, who was a goddess of winter and sorrow."

Kristen: "Whoa."

Yolanda: "Lucy was not a very happy soul, but was a very kind soul. And her interpretation of that goddess was, 'the winds are cold and we are made to warm each other. And the night is long and that is why we keep the fire lit.'

Kristen: "Wow, that's beautiful. Hard."

Brennan: "Yolanda sheds a tear."

Yolanda: "She[Lucy] was very special. Very, very special."

Ally: "Would Riz have told me already that she tried to put in the-"

Brennan: "We can allow that. Yeah."

Ally: "Okay."

Kristen: "Wasn't she hoping to switch from that though? Was it to something more positive?"

Yolanda: "Lucy would never have switched. No, I don't think so."

Kristen: "Oh, she was really committed to that?"

Yolanda: "Oh, undoubtedly. Her conviction was profound. I mean, it's an ancestral goddess of her people going back a long, long time."

Kristen: "Yeah, I thought so, too."

Brennan: "I'm sorry, she actually says,"

Yolanda: "From the Mountains of Chaos."

Brennan: "She's like,"

Yolanda: "Yeah from the Mountains of Chaos for a long, long time."

Kristen: "Oh, my- I have a friend who's in the office with paperwork and they just said they were sure that they saw a request form going in her record. I don't know."

Yolanda: "Does your friend have something I could see that would confirm that? Nothing ever made its way to me that-"

Kristen: "Oh, it's not in her file or in any of your info on her?"

Yolanda: "Well, it would've needed my approval. When was it submitted?"

Ally: "I give the time."

Brennan: "She looks and says,"

Yolanda: "Well, after that time period, I mean, most of us, we've already submitted our final grades. I just wasn't at school during those two weeks. This is... I need to talk to Principal Grix. This is-"

Kristen: "So she tried to switch her god, but you don't think she would ever do that, and then she died?"

Yolanda: "Kristen, I wanna thank you very much for bringing this to me."

Kristen: "Yeah."

Yolanda: "I wanna thank you very much for bringing this to me."

Ally: "Oh, can I do an insight check and see if she's real?"

Brennan: "Yeah. Yeah."

Ally: "Or if she feels like found out or something? I don't know."

Brennan: "Yeah."

Ally: *rolls dice* "Okay. Insight is, oh, that's a 27."

Brennan: "She[Yolanda] looks upset and frightened."

Kristen: "I don't know much about Principal Grix, but is that someone...?"

Yolanda: *shakes her head*

Kristen: "Or- Up to you, yeah. I just have gotten a weird, he shot a net at multiple students, and then rode out of the room leaving them in the nets. I don't know. I'm just kind of wondering if he has, like, the care capacity for something this big."

Yolanda: "You're right. I won't go to Grix, but I need to find out what is known about this. There should have been a document attached to this that would've said the deity she was changing to. Was that... is that... ?"

Kristen: "They said it was blank, or that they couldn't find that information anywhere."

Yolanda: "Okay. I won't talk to Grix. I'm gonna go talk to Vice Principal Stardiamond, see what we can find out. Thank you for bringing this to me."

Kristen: "Of course. Anything you need help with, I would love- if you need more eyes on the ground or something like that."

Yolanda: "Please keep your eyes open, Kristen."

Brennan: "She leans over and hands you a little token. And you see that there's a small little emblem that just says, 'When the only thing you can believe in is believing' and hands it to you."

Kristen: "What's this?"

Yolanda: "Hold onto it. Hold onto it."

Ally: "Is there a little picture of Bruce Springsteen?"

Brennan: "Yes, you see there is a- tight jeans, bandana. It's the Boss, baby. You head out from there."

[asexual-disaster]

‼️FHJY EP 2 SPOILERS ‼️

all my thoughts about episode two of junior year !! it’s a long one :)

The little scenes when they describe their attacks and moves where the minis are acting it out is so cute

‘A mega version of Riz’s mage hand’

They all look so good. But especially Ally and Murph omg

Adaine’s first turn was actually pretty sick

And Gorgugs wtf

AND KRISTENS TO MAKE IT BLOODED PLS

‘Do you have mass healing word? Would you be interested in doing that?’

‘Brennan you’re literally bullying us’

‘You can try, oh it does hit’

ARMOUR OF AYDA crying

These beans are DUE

Murph starting to roll like shit again

Fabian flirting with efac again

‘I punch the mirror’ ‘I punch Kristen twice’

Lou Nat one again to get out the van ‘I’m going to throw up’

In two turns Lou only needs a 2 to not get crushed by the van, and twice he rolls a nat one

‘For you to half or third or whatever you do since it has multiple attacks’

Adaine death fail instead of taking a Dex save wtf

‘You don’t have it written down! I thought you read the book’

ECAF NOOOO

‘Look somewhere else’

I need a full story of Balthazar and Duggan, THEY WERE LOVERS

Murphs sleeves being short enough to show off his tattoos, I might disintegrate

What is with these kids and crashing vehicles

Ally throwing their dice

‘With my wizarding powers and my absolutely fucked van’

‘Just don’t roll a one and this is over.’ ‘NAT 20’

Gorgug IS the greatest wizard of our time

DUGGAN NO. At least he’s with Balthazar now :(

Moggy the doggy crit <3

‘Can I get under that hood a lil bit’

‘Give me a tinkerers room check’ ‘I don’t have that’

‘It’s limp silk’

‘Fabian, photosynthesis is back!!’

It just ain’t the same

‘I don’t even cutting words. I just take it’

‘I’m feeling a little unhinged’

‘Love is love’

Gorgug double crit, my boy <3

The enemy rolling two Nat ones and shooting himself in the eye

Murph dying of laughter of these guys showing up late

‘Nat 20’ ‘are you serious?’ Balthazar is everywhere

Adaine would’ve got a job, Fabian would’ve gone to dance camp, Gorgug would’ve worked on his van ; THEYRE JUST KIDS

But Riz is just happy they got to spend the summer together STOP MY SON

‘I do a half hearted prayer of healing just because I don’t trust you’

‘This was supposed to be an in and out deal but I got involved and I regret it’

‘Hey girlie,,, heyyy girlieee’

HALLARIEL ART, UGH SHES SO HOT

Gilear x Hallerial wedding WHEN

There’s something so sad about Fabian, who’s been coddled his whole life, being abandoned and left to fend for himself in a massive house

SKLONDA MY FIRST AND ONLY LOVE

Sklonda talking to Riz about college and how she doesn’t know if she can afford it for him

Riz just wants to go to college with everyone stop :(( him and adaine are fine there grades are good, but he needs to make sure he finds a place that suits the others please!!!!

WILMA AND DIGBY I LOVE U !! THEYRE SO CUTE

WAIT DID GORGUG AND ZELDA BREAK UP?? THEY ARE NOT THE COUPLE THAT WAS MEANT TO SPLIT !! Although calling it rn they’re getting back together

‘The elven oracle, the Saint of mystery and doubt, and the archdevil of rebellion’ THATS MY GIRLS!!!

RAGH AND LYDIA ART I MIGHT SOB

Kristen never told anyone she changed gods (I guess twice now?), Fig still hasn’t been to a bard class. They’re so funny

WE GOT AYDA ART!!!!

Ayda leaving Fig fossils to say she loves her her!!

Aelwyn putting protective wards on adaines bedroom to keep adaine safe :((

Cassandra my love,, but also it should not be up to a literal child who has just came out a religious cult to keep you alive and all that.

[sea-buns]

i wanna say it was in episode 3 after the boxing match when i was struck with the intense need to savor every second of mentopolis.

the mental image of a conrad driving with so much reckless abandon that the car is like half off the ground as it speeds away, hunch and dan bumping around in the backseat on either side of ivana who in comparison looks bolted down to the seats, money flying out and trailing behind them as justin hangs his head out the window...

all i could think was "oh this is the best." like the best. and while i do agree that 6 episodes is a perfect length for the season, what with them running at the speed of thought and all, i could also fully see them working with a 15-20 ep season just as smoothly.

and i don't just mean that as "this season would have been better with more eps" cuz tbh i don't think it would have been better, so much as it just would have been different. they could never make anything more and i'd still be satisfied. what i'm saying is that i think it'd make a great length as a second season.

which would be a great opportunity for brennan to flesh out the world elias lives in, while also allowing for more in-depth character development from the pcs.

this first season could act as a prologue to the world of mentopolis. and then the second season immediately kicks off with elias dealing with the aftermath in some way. maybe witness protection wasn't enough and now he's on the run from gobstopper industries. or maybe it was but now he has to learn how to adjust to living as a person with needs again after being alone and overworked for so long.

and as he navigates this new relationship, the attention from the press, the looming question of what now what next— we get to see how our prefrontal pis are doing as their lives were also flipped upside-down by this change in elias' life. cuz regardless of how positive and welcome a change may be, there is still a rather difficult adjustment period as you attempt to decipher where your place is in this new-normal.