#sldkfjsdf

[nightmanatee]

every time max wrote to chloe in her diary after chloe left her:

she did NOT let her go😭😭😭

[balfeys]

#they been knew

[hobipowers]

"Stunning style, stunning energy — very contagious positive energy. You're very special."

[thedoubteriswise]

in this case the thrill of the chase was us more or less literally running to apple tree yard

[veliseraptor]

Top 5 villainesses

oooh let's see here

1. Morgana Pendragon (Merlin BBC). Deserved better than the show she was stuck in. I think perhaps I am different from some Morgana fans in that I actually am about her villain turn, I just think it could've been handled better - but still. I love her and not just because she has Katie McGrath's face, though that doesn't hurt.

2. Clytemnestra (Greek Mythology). #wasright but she's a villain if you ask the Greeks, so. Specifically as represented in Aeschylus's Agamemnon, where I'm not sure she's meant to be sympathetic but she is to me.

3. Catra (She-Ra). I mean, she doesn't stay a villain forever but I fell in love with her as one. She's perfectly engineered for me, tbh. Tragic backstory, motivated by fear, has an intimately close relationship to the protagonist that's part of her motivation as well...I only cosplay characters I really bond with and she qualified.

4. Lucille Sharpe (Crimson Peak). I love her! She's vicious and vengeful and traumatized and hurting. Hurt people hurt people embodied. The incest just adds spice. Still stand by Lucille/Edith as shoulda been canon, also, just by the by.

5. Nebula (MCU). Another "doesn't stay a villain but I actually loved her most when she was" one. Look, insecure/neglected younger sibling acting out their anguish with rage is a thing for me and that's where Nebula was at as a villain. Absolute me-bait. I might have fallen out with the MCU but there are still some characters I love a lot and Nebula remains one of them.

I'm not totally sure she counts but since she definitely starts out as one and for some people that's where she says I'm going to go with Minthara Baenre as my bonus round. she's just great and I love her soooo much.

Honorable mentions also to Medea, Semirhage, and Astrid Beck. I guess maybe also Alicent Hightower if we count her as a villainess.

[lichfucker]

everyone on hinge is named sophie or sam. and I'd rather not date anyone with either of those names

[fishandships]

What fictional crushes would Rosario have? I kneo that’s a dumb question since theyre a self-insert (?), but like think about ittt. Like Alistair would have totally crushed on Mater from Cars when they were younger and in that time period—

WAIT THAT'S REALLY META HOW INTRIGUIING

(i guess i would call Rosario an OC with copious SI qualities??? like not SI as in they're straight-up me but i did model their color palette and base personality on myself so??? SI-coded OC???)

i feel like this is HUGE "cheating" bc ofc they have the same taste in fictional characters as i do but Thoma from Genshin Impact for SURE. and NOT just because he has the same VA as Luchino asldkfjasdf. they'd just melt over any character who really loves animals. if i'm being more creative and trying to come up with a character that i myself don't already have as a FO, then Wilson from Don't Starve. Rosario loves them a high-INT low-WIS disheveled scientist alsdkfjasdf AND, probably most of all, Dr. Ellie Sattler from Jurassic Park 😍😍😍

[lgceunwoo]

@hyunsoolgc submitted: 

The party is a perfect place to hand Eunwoo his gift in person this year. He did work rather hard at using several channels and connections to acquire one part of his gift, and he would rather like to see his reaction face to face. He presents him with a gift bag that has a bit of weight to it, waiting for him to take it to speak. He clears his throat. “Happy birthday, Jo Eunwoo,” his hands place themselves on his hips. “May you have many, many more. We need to play soccer together again sometime, hm?” Inside the bag is a rather expensive looking bag of coffee beans and a stoneware coffee mug with a hand painted cat on the front of it. Beneath it is a signed Son Heungmin soccer jersey by the man himself. 

eunwoo had been tempted to avoid anyone who seemed to have a birthday gift to give him, but considering the location (his own apartment) and the limited space, he dropped said plan. this is why when hyunsoo approaches him with a gift bag, he doesn’t attempt to avoid him. though anyone who knows his tells would immediately see that he’s getting shy. “ah... why do you sound so formal.” he says with a small chuckle, attempting to dispel his embarrassment. “thanks man... oh and speaking of! i should show you hayoung’s gift.’ he wiggles his eyebrows conspiratorially. nothing like talking about soccer to make him come out of his shell. at least briefly, because he has yet to open the gift.

he places the bag on a nearby table, first fetching the coffee beans bag. he whistles appreciatively. no one can survive being a trainee while studying without becoming addicted to coffee. the coffee mug doesn’t get the same reaction though. as soon as he sees the cat, he gives hyunsoo a deadpan look. truth be told, eunwoo actually liked having his little signature image (a cat), but what he likes even more is pretending that he doesn’t just for the fun of it.

however, there’s no bluffing with the next gift. “holy fuck.” he whispers, recognizing right away that it’s the real deal, not something bought from a merchandise store. 

only true soccer fans can understand the wave of emotion and awe that overcomes him at this moment. “wow...” he’s speechless, his hands trembling. he locks wide eyes with hyunsoo, looking like the puss in boot. he’s not a big fan of skinship, reserving this side of him for his little brother and girlfriend only. but at this moment, there’s no other way to express his gratitude than to give hyunsoo a one-arm hug, his other hand holding onto the jersey. “i don’t even know what to say. thanks doesn’t cut it. damn.” 

[trinityssantos]

kristen schaal on the latest the bald and the beautiful ep 😭 how am i supposed to Not hear louise

[haxorus612]

actually i'm going to list it here too sdlkfjsd

How i would personally "fix" the arknights "meta" *meta defined here as operators whose kits i personally find unbalanced or too powerful in a way that's unhealthy for the game. i will give no opinion on operators who are strong but i like sdklfjs

Eyjafjalla: she just does the entire job of splash casters while half the cost, either with her s2 or s3. unfortunately, that is also her entire identity as a unit. the real solution wouldn't be to change eyja, it'd be to make splash casters stronger as an archetype. barring that: s3: instead of hitting up to 6 enemies, it only hits 1 enemy at random, but it also deals a bit of splash damage, (1/2 or less) like her s2. to compensate for reducing dps by approximately 83%, the sp cost should be lowered and the duration increased to put it on equal footing with more modern skills. typhon deals >120k with her s3 at a 40 sp cost...

Silverash: he just does (did) way too much damage with his s3. like, did you watch how everyone dropped him nearly immediately after ch'alter's release? what about mlynar? he has more things he can do, technically, but the damage was always the main draw. take it away and those other niches become more interesting s3: halve the attack buff and drop the defense reduction. ideally, it would turn entirely into a support skill: instead of dealing huge damage himself, he'd apply a small fragile against all enemies that he's hit, then a much larger fragile to all invisible enemies within range. i'd even make it explicitly not buff his own damage

Thorns: same as silverash, except instead of just raw damage, he's just too dang convenient. range + damage + regen? the damage is the biggest draw, and the main way he stays alive: the enemies can't hurt you if they're dead. s3: does not double stats, doesn't last forever. instead, it'd be sick if it worked like blaze's module. first activation, it just gives the normal stats, second, it gives him a large defense boost, third, he gets resistance, fourth, his regen lasts even while attacking, etc etc. maybe it still does last forever, but you have to activate it 4 or 5 times first. thus killing the damage and convenience, but making him a very interesting pure laneholder

Skadi the Corrupting Heart: kills the entire bard class, and most of the medic class. her s2 combining healing, attack boost, and a defense boost is ridiculous role compression and convenience compared to the inconvenience of using sora, aak, or warfarin's comparable skills. s2: literally all you have to change is give it a limited duration. lower the SP cost a lot, give it a pretty long duration, maybe buff it a bit, and it'd still be useful.

Surtr: i've talked a lot (not here?) about how removing any piece of surtr's kit would instantly make her pretty reasonable. it's a combination of so many powerful abilities all on one skill that add together into a monster. s3: halve the attack buff, but add a stronger version of her s2's condition that deals bonus damage to singular targets. reduce target count, and raise the speed of HP loss. instead of capping at 60 seconds, 40-50 would be more reasonable. between the slow start HP drain and her invulnerability talent, she actually gets ~34 seconds with no healing support at all, which is quite good even on such a long timer. she'd still be fantastic between her res ignore and invulnerability talent, and she could still kill bosses (as long as you clear out the vicinity) she'd just be a bit harder to use.

Ch'en the Holungday: extremely boring kit. she gets ammo, the best mechanic, and all her skills do the exact same thing. if it were up to me i'd just remove her from the game sdlkfjs, or replace her with a more thematic ch'en alter. something to do with liberation and respect rather than. waterguns. ch'en defender alter that mirrors hoshiguma, ch'en caster or medic that forces her to really approach fighting from a different angle. as it stands though, fixing her is stupid easy s3: remove "attacks deal two hits". also, lower the ammo and ammo consumption respectively. she'd still be a monster, true AOE crowd control + defense ignore + massive damage is a great combination, but that sheer damage is the reason people build her.

Młynar: i fucking hate this guy so much. great character. he's an excellent shithead foil to nearl's impossible heroics, but as a kit he's atrocious. he outclasses his own skills for no reason. there are 3 skill slots, but for some reason the 3rd skill always gets a dozen extra lines s3: literally just remove the line "increase trait effect to 2x" and it's fine. very, very strong, but much more fine. personally, i would also change his extra damage from true to arts to be more consistent with tequila. no i do not think the thematic synergy with nearlter is worth it. she shouldn't have true damage either. blemishine made do with arts damage and you can too.

Texas the Omertosa: in contrast, an interesting and cool kit that you can really tell they tried to balance. her s2 isn't totally outclassed by her s3, they both have different, interesting roles to play. the numbers are also deceptively small. i would suggest only removing her "texas tradition" talent. it's just so impossibly versatile. you can use it as a bomb by dropping her on a weak enemy next to a strong enemy, you can nearly double her skill timer by dropping her on an elite while another important enemy is walking into range, you can even use it as a pseudo-revive. she'd still be absolutely busted without it, but you'd need to play a little more carefully.

Kirin R Yato: honestly i don't think she's that bad. i know she's like, busted, but she's got plenty of weaknesses. if i was going to nerf her, though? s2: lower the attack buff from 150% to 120%. when the skill level is less than 7, it reduces her attack instead of increasing it. s3: lower the attack buff a little. the amount of enemies that it's stupid strong against is so low that it isn't a huge problem.

Typhon: the fact that her kit has a lot of self-nerfing features is a really good sign. she's still very strong, but there's enough situations where she sucks that you can't throw her into every team composition. s3: increase SP cost. ammo + low SP cost is unreasonably versatile. give us one or another trade-off, please

Myrtle: look, it's kind of their fault. vanguards are barely necessary in the game modes that all but force you to use them. she's "strong", but only because vanguards are a weird bit of half-baked game design. to fix vanguards, you need to rebalance the entire game. let me propose two off-the-cuff solutions - make natural DP gen go down instead of up, you lose the map/lose HP seals if it hits zero. vanguards can be deployed for free (limited # of times?), generate passive DP and also generate heaps more DP. - DP does not generate naturally without a vanguard on the field, once they all die or leave the field it resets to zero. vanguards don't cost deployment limit, and can be repositioned for "free" once or twice per deployment. both of these add severe punishments for not having and not protecting your vanguards, which would fix the problem, but make the game way less fun. honestly, i think it's fine the way it is. i mostly use vanguards to open on certain maps before the enemies have time to move, therefore making it less "you need vanguards to play" and more "you can use vanguards to do very specific strategies"

anyway here are some of my meta thoughts. if you work for hypergryph just leave this on the CEO's desk and i'm sure they'll all be implemented by tomorrow. tysm.

[nightmanatee]

so... if you can't say someone's pretty who's same gender does that mean that kate is... you know

[nonbinarynightcrawler]

okok omg it's been a minute lets see if I can remember everything without having my notes in front of me (This post is going to be SO long bc I am going to attempt to include relevant art I am so sorry. There are also quite a few Fortune Looks in here since he pretty frequently switched up his disguise during this arc. Also sorry) [I reached an image limit LMAO. I will be doing a second part to this post]

You said the last time I updated properly was about him dealing with family/patron-related drama - that was back when he was about to die, panicked and used an item the Traveler gave him, and said item bamfed him directly in front of his mother. Which would be the first time he'd seen her since he ran away seven whole years ago

He was in a magical disguise, but he said exactly one word and his mother definitely recognized his voice. He bolted, because that's the only way he knows how to deal with things, and did not stop until he was off his family's estate and found a place to hide away in his hometown.

The party was still roughly a full day's ride away, and he didn't know exactly what to do. The cleric, Adelaide, called him twice while he was running. The exchange basically went.

"Fortune. Where the hell are you. I know you're not inside the big purple worm anymore because I specifically use magic to make sure I know where you're at when we're fighting but it doesn't work when we're far enough away. Are you alive." "UHHHHHH I'm home now. Please hurry. I can't be alone here."

So the party wraps up the quest the were on (killing some purple worms in a quarry) and heads off with the intent to get to Fortune's hometown as soon as possible.

Fortune holes up in his favorite old cafe for a while, but he's nervous and antsy and his thoughts are going a mile a minute, so he only sits still for about 45 minutes before taking off again. He has time, and he needs to do something before he reached full panic attack mode.

So he goes to his old best friend/arranged fiancé's family estate. He's been thinking about his friend, Kel, basically since he knew they were going to be passing through the city. He sent Kel a letter that essentially said "hey uhhhh I'm gonna be in town. can we talk? also my name is Fortune now xoxo" He has no idea if it has gotten to him yet.

So he ends up at the estate. He finds one of Kel's little sisters, and asks if Kel is home. He's not, but she goes to get her other older brother, Nasar. Fortune claims to be an old family friend, and makes sure the two of them are alone before dropping his magical disguise and going "haha uh... surprise?"

Nasar, bless him, took things pretty in stride. Even as Fortune was all fucked up and covered in worm guts and trying very hard to explain himself. He asks if Nasar can hide him from his parents, since he can't exactly go home right now. Since he ran away and everything.

Apparently, Fortune's family said he had been sent to a convent as an explanation for his disappearance - because he was so against the idea of getting married.

Nasar kind of shrugs and said that all "worked out" in the end. Because the engagement agreement wasn't fully broken off, but just shifted - the Sabets promised a daughter to the Summercrowns, and they had a whole other daughter to promise. They had to extend the engagement since Fortune's younger sister (Bless) just very recently turned 18 etc etc.

Fortune tries to explain a little more, Nasar still takes it very in stride.

King shit.

There's some more back and forth. It is determined that Kel is not actually at home today, Fortune cleans up a little, gets some more info, and leaves another little letter with Nasar to give to Kel when he comes back. Some of the info includes - The Sabets are throwing a party soon. Fortune could just talk to him then - Bless has been given a lot of control recently, and she seems to be the one in charge of her social calendar/party planning etc. - There is also a chance that Fortune's parents will not make an appearance at said party. That's odd.

As he is heading back to the cafe, he catches somebody tracking him. It's been a long day, he's not happy. It is determined this person has been hired by his family. Several years of pent up paranoia come crashing into place as he realizes that yes, his family has definitely been having him tracked since the second he left home. (He's the one on the right here)

Back at his little cafe spot, Fortune tries to hold it together.

It's fine. He's fine.

The Traveler pops in, says some cryptic shit as they do, and bamfs back out. They finally confirm that Fortune's mother is the one that originally invoked the rite that has caused them to watch over Fortune, but doesn't elaborate at all. Fortune, already mid-crisis, tries to compartmentalize the idea that the ONE thing he thought he did for himself was actually STILL caused by his family's influence. He's doing great.

Which is DEFINITELY helped when his sister straight up just sits down in front of him and starts talking.

She throws a lot of information at him. The biggest one being "I don't really mind being married to Kel, but it's not my first choice. I won't be crushed if it happens, but it doesn't seem fair to him. Break up my engagement for me so that you take all the heat for it k bye~"

The party finally gets to town, Fortune tries his best to get them up to speed, and he buys them some fancy outfits for the party the next day. They take a lot of what he says in stride, but also don't seem to fully grasp the gravity of anything. (Fair)

As they approach the party the next day, the group finally starts to realize exactly how much money Fortune comes from. We're talking "most influential family in the province, name recognition in most circles" levels of money.

He tells them who they're looking for, briefs them on the protocol for a Fancy Fantasy Regency Party, and they all go off to enjoy themselves.

By "enjoy themselves" I mean, Hazel and Blue (the druid and the wizard) sneak into the house and start snoopin' on Fortune's sister. God bless them. They manage to break into her room, and then break into a secondary secret room hidden behind her wardrobe.

Inside, they find a MASSIVE crystal ball, a book of notes, and a bundle of Fortune's hair. She has very clearly been spying on him, and has been using a WICKED powerful magical artifact to do so. A magic item that belongs to the cleric's church, and might actually be a relic that has been missing for several hundred years.

They grab the relic, Fortune's hair, and Hazel also digs out a bundle of what appears to be secret love letters from one of Bless's drawers. Hazel thinks blackmail might be needed in the near future.

While all this is going on, Fortune has manage to locate Kel. Parties aren't really his scene, so he's hanging out at the stables behind the estate. Nice and quiet, probably even a little bit of privacy. Fortune is excited and terrified. It is nice to see him enjoying himself out with the horses, though. Kel always liked horses.

Also it uh. Turns out the sickly lil firbolg kid he knew got very tall and very hot.

Fortune takes that well.

They have a very long talk. Fortune apologizes a lot, and tries to explain that he didn't leave entirely because of his arrangement to Kel. It did factor into things, but it was less that it was Kel and more that Fortune hadn't figured out his identity yet and the thought of being someone's wife made him feel sick. The chat is awkward, but they seem to work most things out, and Kel says he's just happy to have his friend back.

They hug, I scream, Fortune tries his best to NOT be his weird gay self about it because their regency-ass hometown has a lot of rules about public displays of affection. Fortune introduces Kel to the party, and they're all as normal as they can be about it. Adelaide gives him some knowing eyebrow wiggles, Blue climbs up onto his shoulders to get his vibe. Fortune continues to be extremely gay.

Kel informs them that he can't hang out to get to know them better because the Sabets have invited him to dinner. Fortune decides to crash said dinner. Kel is visibly excited that he gets to spend more time with Fortune. After Adelaide sends a message to Fortune's dad about them attending (not asking), they all regroup and kill time before then.

Dinner is. Tense. The party gets to learn just what Fortune's family is like. And that Fortune is visibly afraid of his father. Bless spends a lot of time being weirdly touchy-feely with Kel and trying to one-up Fortune's friends. His mother is quiet and makes a few jabs about him leaving, and his father is openly hostile, interrogating him about what he's been up to and how any of it has been helpful to the family. Even so, it's pretty clear the only reason he is there is because his wife asked him to behave. After a particularly terrible jab about Fortune always dragging the family name through the mud, Fortune stands up and has to step away for a minute to avoid getting them all thrown out.

Hazel tries to probe into Bless's mind while they're chatting, and immediately gets slapped back out. She hears a little chastisement from the Traveler (Fortune's patron) and has her passive mind link ability temporarily severed for the first time in her life. Understandably, she freaks out.

Meanwhile, Fortune's mom has gone after him. Her demeanor has changed completely, and she shares a very sweet moment with him. She uses his chosen name, and says she was hoping his scars were part of the disguise he's still wearing. (This entire time, he's been in that purple look, which makes him look much more like his sister. He refuses to unpack that at all.)

Fortune takes a moment to regroup as his mom goes back to dinner, and Hazel sprints out to find him and let him know there's something weird going on with the Traveler and his sister. Fortune is hanging on by less than a thread at this point, and takes it as much in stride as he can. He's basically reached emotional capacity.

After dinner, Blue convinces Fortune's dad to chat with them about their mission into the desert. They learned Fortune's family has been sending expeditions out there to retrieve magical artifacts, and Blue figures they could at least get some idea of what they're getting into. For Regency Reasons, the men go to talk business and the women split off to go chat. Fortune is, to his dad's credit, allowed to join in on the business talks.

The ladies (Hazel, Adelaide, Bless, and Fortune's mom) have a very tense conversation. Adelaide very pointedly praises Fortune as much as she can. After she mentions that Fortune is very good at protecting her and the party, Bless suddenly stands up and walks out. We file that information away.

The guys hammer out an agreement to get in contact with the Sabet's guide. Fortune isn't... really in a place to talk much in front of his dad, so he slips out and goes to see what state his old room is in. Everything is under a dust cover but basically untouched. He pokes around, picks up his old favorite book, and is about to leave when a letter falls out.

Said letter is from uh. One of the BBEGs of the campaign. The Shadow, specifically, who is kind of half posessing the wizard. Said letter is dated about five years back (well within the memories that we know Blue is missing, it's a whole thing) and is extremely manipulative. Even Fortune can kind of see it, but he gets a little distracted.

A little spooky shard of black glass falls out too. Fortune takes a deep breath and quietly compartmentalizes, like a lot of things that have happened in the last 24 hours.

The party manages to convince Kel to meet up with them after dinner. They have to kinda do it secretly because of more Regency Rules, and they'd like to chat with him without a chaperone there.

For the first time, Fortune drops his magical disguise around Kel. He seems pretty relieved. He missed his friend.

This does not last long. Remember that relic that Blue and Hazel snagged after breaking into Bless's room? And Fortune's hair? And how she was spying on them? And that Kel is engaged to Bless? Well. They immediately start sharing this information in front of Kel, leading to a lot of confused and alarmed nodding.

And Adelaide is furious. That a teenager had a relic of her church. That she was able to use it. That Blue and Hazel kept this information from her. She and Blue have a shouting match out on the balcony while Fortune tries to do damage control, which doesn't go great because Atlas and Hazel start telling Kel about Fortune's magic and his link to the Traveler.

Adelaide storms back into the room, pushes her face against the giant crystal ball (known as the Eye of Darya, rumored to be her actual third eye that she dropped onto the material plane before leaving it) and immediately passes out and starts bleeding from her eyes.

A mortal wasn't meant to use the item like that. Adelaide basically saw all of time and space condensed into one second. It ripped up her mind pretty badly, to the point that she got some stat debuffs she's STILL trying to figure out how to fix. She gets a vision about the temple we're going to, and then gets zapped. It is also implied that every time she uses her divination magic, she will be open to entities other than her god influencing her. Remember this.

The party revive her after some panic (Kel tries to help, despite almost passing out at seeing the blood, bless him) and Fortune tries to get Kel away from the party once it's clear Adelaide is not dead. He tries to do more damage control while walking Kel down to the stables, but things seem off. Kel says he's going to ask Bless about some of the stuff the party said, insisting that she's his fiancée and even if he's not thrilled about the arrangement, she still should share with him.

While Fortune has a mini breakdown while Kel rides off, the party sees a little raven perched on the balcony. It looks suspiciously similar to the bird we saw hanging around the Sabet estate, and because we were still under the impression she's a warlock of the Traveler at this point, we do not like that. Hazel blasts the sucker out of the sky. She gets some psychic damage, but thing is gone for now. HOWEVER... by the time Fortune makes it up to the room, the party has been kicked out. It seems like Bless bought out basically... every free room in the city to displace them and be petty.

The party packs up and goes to find a camping spot outside the city. Fortune, still deeply fucked up by the events of the last 48 hours, says he'll catch up with everyone because he needs to go get drunk for just a little bit. Everyone is understandably preoccupied with Adelaide, who looks like death, and they wave him off to go do that. Atlas sends his familiar off to keep an eye on Fortune, but isn't clear enough with his instructions. We will get back to that.

While the party settles in for bed, Fortune is approached by someone at the bar. His mother, deeply upset and disappointed, tells him to follow her. And when he doesn't listen, she casts Command on him. My poor low wisdom boy doesn't have a choice, and climbs into her carriage with her. While on the way to the estate, they have a couple very odd conversations.

Fortune is drunk and fed up with everything, and keeps just. Saying things. He ends up learning that his mother doesn't actually seem to be in direct contact with the Traveler, and that his fancy magic sword is apparently a lost family heirloom. His mother seems... sad. She asks for his help, admitting that neither of her children seem happy. Ever. Fortune, being a drunk asshole, just kinda shrugs and says "yeah, we're fucked. if Bless is anything like me I think we're just like this. Shit, that." He also lets slip that maybe he does not always enjoy being alive. This seems to upset her even more, understandably.

His mother has essentially placed him under house arrest. He's lead to his room and locked inside, where he has a sad little drunk tantrum before passing out.

He doesn't get to sleep for very long. His sister wakes him up, slaps him across the face with a glove, and demands a duel. She's furious for a lot of reasons, but the only reason she'll own up to is Fortune running around her fiancé without supervision. Sure, Bless. Fortune is still drunk and absolutely close to a meltdown and almost immediately agrees.

They've dueled before. Their father would regularly pit them against one another as children. Bless is pretty convinced she's a much better fighter than Fortune, but he also absolutely was never fighting her for real. At the oldest, she was ten during their duels. He wasn't about to really fight someone in the single digits when he was almost a legal adult. He probes a bit as they prepare for the fight, and learns that she has no idea who the Traveler is. She is able to summon a sword just like he does, but the magic feels... spooky and wrong.

He doesn't get to think about that very long. He's drunk, exhausted, pulled his first strike out of habit, and she gets multiple attacks per round. Two rounds in and he's almost down. And the whole time, Bless is berating him (honestly, rightfully) about how he left and how he was a terrible older brother. Their parents have apparently been fighting about him since the moment he ran away. When she nearly breaks down and tells him that she was there the night he left, waiting for him to come back and take her with him, he fully stops fighting.

He apologizes for not protecting her from their parents, but undercuts the whole thing by being VERY dramatic and shitty about things. He tells her to kill him. Actively guides the sword to where she should hit him. She implies he won't be the first man she's killed before, but hesitates while he keeps talking. It's a lot of dramatic, self hating bullshit, and after a point she just... kinda sneers at him and walks away.

She leaves him bleeding out on the ballroom floor. He drags himself back to bed, has a nice cry about it, and falls asleep.

Atlas tries to check in with his familiar, Luka. She kept an eye on all this going on, and catches him up on the situation. He takes a moment, kind of sighs, and says as long as Fortune isn't in immediate danger, they can figure out what to do tomorrow when Adelaide isn't actively dying. He catches Hazel up before swapping the watch out and heading to bed.

On her watch, Hazel tries to contact the Traveler. They show up, and she kinda tears into them. They more or less throw their hands up and say that it isn't their job to keep Fortune SAFE, just to watch him, and anyway he's home now which is what his mom wanted in the first place.

After some more back and forth, Hazel trades a bit of gossip for a lore drop. She learns that there is a connection between druid magic and the divine gate. That druids are part of the balance between the material and the divine planes, and the reason they were systematically hunted down a century ago in an attempt to break the gate down. Poor Hazel has a lot to take in about her heritage, and the Traveler refuses to elaborate further.

The next morning, the party makes Plans. Atlas is on edge about Fortune being stuck at home. He sends a message through his familiar, but Fortune is essentially... broken at this point. He's tired. He's stuck at home. He hasn't had a long rest and is functionally a light slap away from death. He doesn't believe his family will let him leave. He insists that the party doesn't need to save him. Again. Like they always do. Atlas does not listen.

While the party groups up, Fortune is taken to breakfast with his mother. He is not given a choice. Exhausted but still kind of angry and attempting to be rebellious, he rejects the outfit she picked out for him and puts on his old pirate getup, open shirt and all. When he gets to breakfast, he sees that his sister and Kel are there as well.

Fortune immediately rats his sister out for the duel, and his mother says they'll deal with that later. She seems to be trying to pretend that nothing has happened, and even that Fortune never left. She has the day planned for them, and has decided Fortune is going to help her plan Bless's wedding. He sasses her as much as he's able, but is also reminded that he is, in fact, still scared of his parents.

[I HAVE REACHED THE IMAGE LIMIT PLS HOLD]

[galaeus]

@entrpz / continued from this.

At least Echo isn't the only one. Although many would consider her standoffish, the tactical officer can't help but curl the corner of her lip at Uhura's assessment of several colleagues. Her eyes observe those in question in the midst of their shore leave, taking a small sip of her drink absently.

"I don't think anyone is meant to understand those four. From what I've seen, Smith and Jones are invested in their work, but..." She trails off, clipping the amusement in her tone before it can bubble through. "Spock, I believe, can be cracked -- as you say, if given ample amount of time and patience. The Captain, however, is an anomaly no equation will ever solve."

[spunkyspy]

u accidentally put strange instead of strangle and while typos don't matter I want to make sure everybody who also wants to strangle him to have the opportunity to see your relatable post queen

omg so real of u

[sapphiredhearts-a]

i'm not sure this will work out the way you think it will. (to elena)

the brunette cannot help the ripple of defiance that seems to pour through her belly . when would everyone around here stop deciding what was good or not good for her life ? just because she was basically the last human left in this god - forsaken town didn't mean they got to make all of the decisions . ' well ,  I guess I'll just have to find out won't I ? ' she snorts , crossing her arms over her chest like a petulant child .

[askthewhiterocket]

Kyo stared at Aya in disbelief for a moment. Surely, she had not heard the little gijinka correctly. Surely, Meowstic had translated this message wrong and she had not just heard Aya openly admit to sneaking off without notifying her fathers.

And yet, Meowstic's equal look of disbelief and concern told all.

"Little one," Kyo said in a calm but stern voice, "I do not be the one to put a damper on your fun, but I fear your dads likely will notice you're missing. Do you have any means by which we can contact them so we can let them know you're safe and not in any danger?"

(askthewhiterocket) Wandering near the beach with her Meowstic on her shoulder, Kyo spotted Aya in the process of making her sandcastle and drew her brows together in confusion. She looked around frantically for a moment before drawing closer and bending down near Aya. "Excuse me, little one, but... where are your parents? Are you here by yourself?"

“My dads always say I should be carful and I can’t go down into the villages, but I’ve met so many people and they’ve all been so nice! And there was this fun festival that wasn’t even in a village on the island- so, I went by myself!” Aya explains with pride. “I’m sure they’ll be fine, they won’t even notice I’m gone!”

Meanwhile, back in the mountains….

“KENJI!!”

“I checked Aya’s playhouse!! She’s not there!”

“Wh-what about the rest of the house??? Your workshop?? The garden???” Tomo asks. The Monkedori curled his hands into fists, trying to keep them from shaking.

“Y-yes, and she’s not there!” Kenji sputtered, sweat beading on his forehead and slipping down his cheeks. “I-I’ll go double check- I-“

“I’ll fly around,” Miu spoke up, tone stern. “I’ll ask Ichigo and check all the other places she likes. Don’t worry, she- or whoever is behind this- can’t have gone too far.”

- - -

Featuring Kyo and her Meowstic from @askthewhiterocket!