#sldkfjsdf

[nightmanatee]

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

she did NOT let her go😭😭😭

[thefrsers]

#they been knew

[secretmellowblog]

#the bishop is 15 whole chapters?? i dont remember it being that long damn#les mis

@myriels I think it's because the "chapters" in Les Mis are usually very short-- only a few paragraphs each? So while it's fifteen chapters long that's not really a lot, because the chapters are all so bite-sized.

Also @brotherdusk's tags: #javert showing up just in time to be weird and offputting on valentine's day <3#WAIT IS THE CART INCIDENT ON FEB 14TH... AGH#fauchelevent's idea of a meet cute is getting your ribs crushed while two old men bicker beside you <3

I love the @lesmisletters email subscription thing, so I decided to track when major characters will appear for the first time! : D If I did my math right— feel free to correct me— the dates should be:

January 1st: Bishop Myriel

January 15th: Jean Valjean

January 29th: Fantine

February 6th: Cosette, Madame Thenardier, Monsieur Thenardier, Eponine, and Azelma

February 13th: Inspector Javert

February 14th: Pere Fauchelevent

April 3rd: Gavroche

June 9th: Gillenormand

June 14th: the Momes

June 16th: Marius Pontmercy, Mademoiselle Gillenormand, Theodule Gillenormand, Georges Pontmercy (by implication—he is mentioned in more detail in the following chapter)

June 18th: Father Mabeuf

June 25th: Enjolras, Grantaire, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Bahorel, Feuilly, Bossuet, Joly, Jehan Prouvaire (yeah it’s That Chapter(tm))

One interesting thing I noticed is that— I’d always felt that Les Mis kept introducing major characters all the way through the novel, but that’s not true? All the major players have been introduced by the midpoint of the book (with Les Amis’s intro chapter coming as chapter 176 out of 365). From that point on many bit characters are introduced, but the primary drama of the story is the complex changing relationships between the core cast introduced in the first half.

[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.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

2022 TAZ Fic Recs!!

There has been so many bangers I've read this year, oh my goddd. This list is mainly just me going through my bookmarks to share everything that's on them, because other people deserve to see them. I will not be @-ing every author, because honestly, I don't know if all of them have Tumblrs or what their usernames are if they do sldfsdf. But they'll be linked with the story!

Fics with a black heart emoji (🖤) in front of them have content warnings that really need to be adhered. I'm taking warnings from what I remember and what is in the tags of the story already. If I need to add anything else, let me know.

On the Deck of the Starblaster by papergardener - The Starblaster crew takes a well-deserved break in the sun. It's so soft that it makes my heart kinda ache, tbh! Could not recommend more.

parlay, as a gamble by anistarrose - Lucretia doesn't erase the concept of Parley as well as she meant to and Merle reaches out to the Red Robe. This one is beautifully heartbreaking and hilarious, I'm in love with it.

🖤 Symptoms by The_Fanfic_Train - The crew has defeated the Hunger and now they must through the mortifying ordeal of healing. This one got me real good, ngl. It shows so much growth and strength and adds a very realistic side to the characters that I very much enjoyed reading.

Warning for suicidal tendencies, negative thoughts, and self-destructive behaviors, and mentions of blood.

Who Have You Become In The Wake of All That's Happened? by ArtsyRiv - Magnus and his experiences with his hair and the styling of those around him. As someone who has also written an entire fic about hair, this is so beautiful. It captures the feelings connected to hair presentation so, so well and, to top it all off, T4T Magnulia, hell yeah.

🖤 I Tried To Do The Best That I Could by ArtsyRiv - Lucretia's been having nightmares in the wake of the Redaction. She's not coping with it well. This story is so beautifully written and pulls you along with all the feelings and emotions mixed in. It's soul-destroying but in a beautiful way.

Warning for self-harm, EDNOS/Eating disorders, some suicidal ideation, and an emetophobia warning.

Caves and Cypress by crowsong - In the simplest of terms, a character study of Barry between the end of Stolen Century and the beginning of Here There Be Gerblins. It's amazingly complex and so well thought out. It tossed me between angst and yearning so quickly that all my emotions jumbled up and came out as tears. There are some fun Barry and Lucretia interactions in here, as well as some very fun Barry and Kravitz interactions.

it's my party and I'll mope if I want to by Grabbingatpowerandkissingit - Angus and Lucretia make Taako a birthday cake. It's fun and funky and fresh, with a very nice little dash of angst sprinkled in. I adore it in every way.

Someone I Have Loved, But Never Known by anistarrose - A fucking fantastic AU of Barry and Lup also being voidfished and remembering their married but don't remember it's too each other. It's hilarious and so in character, I could not recommend it more.

I Saw Seven Bounties by umbraastaff (jothending) - Kravitz took all seven bounties because things like this usually come as package deals. He soon realizes he's sorely mistaken. This one is so fun. I have so many thoughts about Barry and Kravitz's interactions between Stolen Century and HTBG's and this fulfills like, half of them at least. The writing style is so charming and nice, I very highly suggest you read it.

leaving, as an injustice by anistarrose - Another absolute banger by Rose. Sort of a spiritual successor to "parley, as a gamble" further up the list, this is another fantastic Merle fic. With Mavis as the main character, we get to see Merle in a light that not a lot of people choose to write about. It's fantastic and deep and beautiful, an amazing read.

Some of my best friends are liches by Grabbingatpowerandkissingit - So, so, so good. What if Lup had gotten out of the umbrastaff really early? What if they had to deal with two Red Robes instead of one? Everything Reese writes is delightful and zesty, but I have a special place in my heart for this one.

if the grim reaper takes your professor before class starts then you're legally allowed to leave

if the grim reaper takes your professor before class starts then you're legally allowed to leave by anistarrose - Such a good take on another Barry lives after the Redaction AU. It's so funny and so good.

Scamming me, scamming you by Noodyl - Taako thinks he's flirting with Kravitz. Kravitz thinks he's being scammed (and he's kinda loving it?). This is so hilarious and I love the way Noodyl writes Kravitz, it's so very good. A perfect fun fic to wipe away all your sorrows.

🖤 Immortal Mortality by vacuumfluorescentdisplay - I just discovered this author and I'm going wild about them, just a little. This is such a good take on various deaths throughout the Stolen Century. It's so lived-in and refreshing to read and it brings a lot of humanity to the Starblaster crew, dealing with the most living-being-oriented problem: Death. Fantastic read and fantastic writing.

Warning for character death, including drowning and extreme hypothermia. There are also blood mentions and injury descriptions.

unreliable narrator by owlinaminor - An older fic but such a powerful one. It shares Lucretia's POV throughout her entire life up until just after Story and Song. It has given me a new way to view Lucretia and the way I write her and is such an impactful story. The writing style is fantastic and beautiful, I cannot recommend this more.

but the strange lights in the sky were shining by anistarrose - Barry knows things are off but he can't pinpoint why. This one so perfectly captures the feeling of offness from being in a new world but not being able to remember how or why you got there. It's very quick-paced and really captures you in the moment of it all. So good.

Live Like This by Grabbingatpowerandkissingit - Reese has once again taken an already brilliant AU idea (Tuck Everlasting-based AU, my beloved) and made it amazing. Barry's reoccurring encounters at the Fair and his life in between. It's an amazing story and so lived-in and thought-out. It's so very good.

Offworld by vacuumfluorescentdisplay - Last but certainly not least, this masterpiece. I just finished reading this the day I'm writing this and it's incredible. Barry is trying to escape his (criminal) pass and Taako and Lup are just trying to stay alive. This story follows their trip and their slow fall into trust. Tom is so good at world-building and making the characters feel multi-dimensional. The world(s) here are fantastically built and the storyline is even better. Again, I would very highly recommend it.

And that's it!! This got a little long but I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anyone on my list sldkfsdf. Shout out to all these amazing authors and all the ficlets I've been seeing all over my dash. There's so much life and love in this fandom and I adore reading every single thing I come across.

[vigilantdesert]

“Clothes are a social construct-icus. I’m stripping naked and prowling the streets like the gremlin I am.”

"GAZE UPON ME MORTALS!"

Looks like he's the one who had too much to drink this time, Urbosa.

"Ohhhhh, by the Seven and the Stars in Heaven,' she muttered, making sure he kept his clothes firmly on and wrapping one of her belts around him for good measure.

"We will not be doing that... You're never allowed to tease me for my drunken antics again, at least I don't wrap up public indecency charges..." She muttered to him as she wrapped an arm firmly around him to escort him from the tavern to their camp.

As she half-dragged, half-carried him along, she felt his forehead with the back of her hand and tried to study his pupils to determine just how much she had when she was flirting with the barmaid.

"I knew you drank my wassan, and I told you this is what would happen!"

Some of the strongest drink in the known world, brewed from coconut water and cactus juice, and generally assumed to only be potable to Gerudo, one glass was enough to knock a Hylian back on their feet - and could even put a Gerudo under, if she hit it too hard.

[hotgirlmeg]

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.

[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]

[sibillascribbles08]

Archie; How can I help you

Cry; Can you get me out of my 162 speeding tickets

Archie: 🧍‍♂️

I have been misleading, Archie is not my OC

But I'm sure @grumpy-zane will have something hilarious to add to this later

[outerspacebun]

The mighty need to write a 100k+ word chaptered fic of Ivy and Diamant in an arranged marriage is strong.

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

*Homer Simpson voice* Stupid sexy Roadhog... Stupid sexy Junkrat...

just embrace it (???)

[philtstone]

my beloved @firstelevens tagged me to talk about five things you might find in a story of mine and tag five writers to answer the same question:

1. there will always be at least one scene taking place in a kitchen

2. using colour to anchor a scene, character, or emotion

3. family dynamics! regardless of what the fic is about, what the genre is, what the tone is, i love families and familial thematics

4. at some point in every fandom ive ever written for there will be a child pov story and it will be an ardent passion project that comes to me in a dream and is finished within a fevered week of writing and longer than it has any right to be

5. characters watching, talking about, or associating with music, tv or film as a way of building either those characters, their relationships, or their world. notable recurring examples of this in philstory include spy kids, star wars, and, more recently, bollywood movies

tagging @foolgobi65 @ewoktreehouse @sennenrose @ygrittebardots and @flyinghome-againstthewind and it doesnt just have to be about fic, looking at u most talented besties who are on their way to publishing for real, xxo

[barry-j-blupjeans]

I posted 2,741 times in 2022

487 posts created (18%)

2,254 posts reblogged (82%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@/barry-j-blupjeans

@/liltaz-asatreat

@/holdmecloser-gandydancer

@/terezis

@/herbgerblin

I tagged 2,681 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#srb - 325 posts

#mine - 257 posts

#fav - 252 posts

#asks - 245 posts

#i am speaking - 239 posts

#ise cube writing - 224 posts

#taz - 192 posts

#taz balance - 154 posts

#not taz - 143 posts

#lup - 127 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#i like to think barry and melre have a grudge *before* s&s start and that's just it rearing its head bc they didn't know they've made up

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

"Can I be honest for a second?" Magnus asked, which was always a good way to start a conversation. Lucretia paused, her hand stalling over the drawing she had been doing of him. Magnus was sitting cross-legged on her bed, trying to figure out the Fantasy Rubik's Cube that Taako had given him earlier. Lucretia had no plans of telling him it was enchanted to never be able to solve.

"If you want to be?" Lucretia said.

"I'm..." Magnus glanced over his shoulder as if someone would be listening in on them. Lucretia was pretty sure that if anyone wanted to do that, they would have given up fifteen minutes ago when Magnus started yelling at the Rubik's Cube. "I lied. On my application."

Not so subtly, Lucretia opened to a new page in her journal.

"Oh?" she said.

"Not like, a big lie," Magnus said. "In fact, it probably doesn't even matter anymore, because technically it's not a lie anymore. But I feel bad about it. And I figured that no one can really kick me off the ship anymore, with the resets and everything, so!"

"You've intrigued me," Lucretia said. "Go on."

"I'm not actually twenty-two," Magnus said. "Or, I wasn't. I'm twenty-one."

"I already knew that," Lucretia said, slightly disappointed. She was hoping for something like "I killed Greg Grimaldis before Lup got the chance to" or "last cycle when I said I didn't steal your hair conditioner, I actually did, I'm so sorry, I'll buy you some more" or even something like "It's actually me that's been eating all the dirt from Merle's greenhouse, I'm just letting Merle take the blame."

Maybe the lack of drama is something she should be thankful for what with the yearly apocalypse.

"What!?" Magnus said, dropping the Rubik's Cube. "How??"

"Davenport had me do background checks on everyone before we left," Lucretia said. "You lying about your age is not the worst thing I found on you, Magnus."

"Well now I wanna know what was the worst thing you found," Magnus said, leaning forward.

"You got kicked out of your middle school football team because you punched your teammate. That also got you suspended."

"Darwin deserved it and I stand by that," Magnus said, lifting his nose into his air. Lucretia chuckled. "What else you got? Anyone else get suspended? Ooh, ooh! How old are Taako and Lup actually? Because they said they were four-twenty but I think they're just fucking with me."

"I can't disclose that information," Lucretia said. Magnus groaned, rolling his eyes. "But one time Barry got detention for throwing a pickle in someone's face and hitting them in the eye."

"Oh hell yes," Magnus said. "Give me more."

"Merle's got a criminal credit on the account that he has repeatedly tried to steal various plants from different areas, including the IPRE's director's office."

"Sounds about right!"

"Taako was one admitted to a hospital for severe burns on the same day Lup conveniently nearly got arrested for setting a store on fire," Lucretia said, getting into it now. "Davenport's got six older siblings and four younger ones. Merle got caught eating mulch from Fantasy Home Depot's garden department. I'm actually nineteen. Barry is banned from a Fantasy Party City in a town called Redwater because-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Magnus said. "Repeat that again."

"Barry got banned from-"

"No, the one before that," Magnus said. "You're nineteen?"

"You just told me you lied about your age too!" Lucretia said. "If anything, I was just following your lead."

"I added six months to my age!" Magnus said. "Not- not-"

"Four years," Lucretia said before she could stop herself. Damn. She needed to stop talking.

"How the hell did I think you were twenty-three," Magnus said, staring at her. "You look so young!"

"You told me literally yesterday I looked like I could be thirty," Lucretia said drily.

"That was a joke," Magnus dismissed. "Luce. Lucretia. Oh my gods."

"Magnus, please-"

See the full post

775 notes - Posted July 2, 2022

#4

"Dude, your top surgery is choice," Carey says the moment Magnus's shirt is over his head and off. He preens a little because he deserved to. And because it was choice. He's very happy with the results. But then Carey adds, "Who'd you get it done by?"

"Oh! Uh," and here's where the problem lies. "I... don't remember."

"You don't remember," Carey repeats, sounding a little disbelieving. Killian looks over to them now and squints at Magnus's chest.

"Uhhh," Magnus says. "Nope."

"Did you get like, black market top surgery, or?"

"I... don't think so," Magnus says.

"Magnus," Killian says, "if you hadn't left your packer in the middle of our goddamn bathroom-" Magnus grins a little sheepishly and Carey laughs. "-I would literally not know you were trans. I don't even see any scars."

"It's been a while since I got it done," Magnus says.

"Which was when?" Carey prompts. At Magnus's face, she throws her hands up. "You don't remember!"

"It was a while ago!" Magnus says. "I was like- I don't know, twenty-one? Ish? Twenty-two?"

"Magnus," Carey says. She puts her foam sparring halberd down and comes over to him. "Magnus, did you just wake up one morning with them gone? This-" she looks on the verge of laughter. "This is serious."

"If I tell you the truth, you're gonna laugh," Magnus says.

"Magnus," Carey says, laughing anyway. "How do you forget a whole fucking surgery?"

"It wasn't a surgery, it was a spell," Magnus says, because he knows that much.

"Pretty sure that's not a thing," Killian says.

"Why else do they call it transmutation, then, huh?" Carey buries her head into Magnus's side, snorting with laughter. "Look, I know it was a spell. I know it. Do I know who did it? N-"

"Was it Taako?" Carey interrupts, full of giggles. Magnus pauses.

...Was it Taako?

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I met Taako like, last year. I'm pretty sure I would remember if he did my top surgery. Top spellery? Is that anything?"

"It's nothing," Carey says. "I'm-" she wipes her eye, clearing her throat. "Maybe it's like, a voidfish thing. Like, maybe the Director fucked up-"

"And specifically erased Magnus's top surgery?" Killian asks doubtfully.

"It's a big fish," Carey says, which just seems to make Killian more confused, but Magnus nods in understanding.

"It's a big fish, Killian," he says.

"Are we gonna fucking spar or not?" Killian asks. "I came here to beat ass not uncover Magnus's whole backstory."

"My backstory is actually pretty simple," Magnus says and Carey groans, retracting herself from him. "I was born in Raven's Roost on a swelteringly hot day-"

Killian hits him over the head with her foam halberd.

1,152 notes - Posted August 15, 2022

#3

When Barry is twenty-two, he picks up a heart-shaped locket in a thrift store and decides to buy it for his mom. The only issue is that he can't see the get the damn thing open. He tries, quite literally, everything he can think of. He tries messing with the catch, tries soaking it in hot water to get it easier to open, tries getting a pair of tweezers between the front and back, but it won't budge. For all intents and purposes, the locket is stuck shut and will remain so.

Barry... doesn't give it to his mom. It would feel kind of disingenuous if he can't even put a picture inside it. But he doesn't take it back either. He meant to, for sure, but instead, it sits in the second cup holder of his car for years until he finally has someone riding with him and they try to put their cup down. Then, it stays in his pocket.

Barry is fifty-two and the locket is now a keepsake, a good luck charm, a fidget toy, whatever he needs. He wears it around his neck unless he's in the lab, then he puts it in his pocket. Years ago, when his mom had died, he had held onto it until he couldn't feel his hands anymore and it had left a heart-shaped imprint on his skin. It means something now, even if he can't open it.

He doesn't want to open it anymore. At least, he didn't think he did.

Barry is fifty-two and a half when he's sitting on the steps leading up to the lab, head in his hands. His car had broken down on the way over here and he really didn't have the means to fix it anymore, which meant he was either going to have to ride the bus (a bad idea, seeing as the nearest bus stop was two and a half miles away and Barry's body already had aches and pains) or find someone to carpool with.

Barry is fifty-two and a half when someone comes to sit next to him on the steps.

"Hey," she says. Barry looks up and is confronted with perhaps the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life. "I like your locket."

"Oh, uhm, this?" Barry holds the locket up by the chain. He had been messing with it because that's what he does when he's nervous now. "Thanks, but it's not much."

"Where'd you get it?" she asks. The locket glints a little in the morning light.

"A thrift store that, heh, that they tore down years ago. Sorry to disappoint."

"It's cool," she says. "Does it have a picture inside of it?"

"Maybe?" Barry says, scratching the back of his head. "I don't really know, I've never been able to open it."

"Want me to take a stab at it?" she asks. Barry would usually say no here. After the first dozen people had asked him that, he started to get a little worn out of the question. Really, he has no reason to trust that this woman would be any different. Or that she wouldn't just run off with it. But...

"Sure," he says, handing it to her.

Barry is fifty-two and a half when the woman takes the locket from him and rubs her thumb over the top of it gently. There's a very, very small click! and she pops it open.

"How- how in the world did you do that?" Barry asks, amazed. The woman presses her thumb to the picture inside, smiling affectionately. When she passes it back over to him, she says,

"It used to belong to my husband."

The picture inside is definitely her, at least on one side of the locket. On the other side, there's room for a second photo. It's in black and white, but the faces that look up at him are very familiar. The woman, on the left, with her hair pinned back. She has her arm around a man and they're both smiling like there was no one in the world they could love more than each other.

But Barry's hands are shaking. Because the man next to the woman isn't just anybody.

It's him.

"I think we have a lot of catching up to do," the woman says.

"Who are you?" Barry breathes, clutching the locket to his chest.

"Lup," she says with a smile that sends Barry's heart over the moon, even if his head has no idea what's happening. She offers her hand and Barry takes it, breathless. "I was beginning to think I missed you this time around, babe."

1,824 notes - Posted April 3, 2022

#2

i fucking love merle. he's old. he incorrectly uses slang terms. he's my grandpa. he's the most annoying person I know. he can say the dirtiest thing imaginable and not understand why you reacted so horribly. he flirts with plants. he befriended the man behind the apocalypse. he's got two kids and he doesn't know how old they are. he fucked an onion. he chooses joy.

2,248 notes - Posted September 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

anyone wanna hear my theory on who's the older twin between taako and lup

2,530 notes - Posted February 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[amrv-5]

hi parker i would like to know ur beejhawk/mash song associations pls and ty :)

ouuuughhhhhhh. HELLO THIS ONE WAS SO FUN THANK YOU!!!!! I'm notoriously just awful at curated playlists so like, a few Beejhawk songs from extremely disparate genres and time periods that come to mind with explanations below the cut:

— "Our House" (CSNY).

To me a lot of songs that make me think of Beejhawk are the ones that are deceptively simple, but carry a big emotional punch. "Our House" makes the list because it's like, obviously about soft domesticity, but something about that domesticity feels hard-won to me. "Life used to be so hard / now everything is easy 'cause of you" gets that sternum-breaking feeling of wanting something, anything comforting and easy and simple and right in the world, and finding it with somebody else, and that's very Beejhawk to me.

— "Nightswimming" (R.E.M)

Another deceptively simple / big punch song, this time because it's got so much painful nostalgia attached to it. It's like, how painful and lovely is it that the past is gone and all we've got are photographs and memories? Beejhawk have this massive, painful past together, and beyond that there's this sneaking suspicion that, well, they're only together because of something really terrible happening to them. It's reflective and heartbreaking and very, very beautiful, so it makes the list to me.

— "Hate it Here" (Wilco)

Sorry for Wilcoposting. But anyway, this one to me is bigtime BJ suffering in suburbia, missing Hawkeye and not quite knowing why. "I'll check the phone / I'll check the mail / I'll check the phone again ... you're not there" + "What am I gonna do when I run out of shirts to fold? / What am I gonna do when I run out of lawn to mow? / What am I gonna do if you never come home?"

— "oh baby" (LCD Soundsystem)

I am transparently suffering from "every song makes me think of my blorbos" disease, but, anyway, this one really stands out to me as about Hawkeye in S2G2 (sorry). It's dreamy, sad, sort of fractured: "You're having a bad dream / here in my arms ... love, you came to me / are you having a bad time / there in your home? ... you're just having a bad dream / of raining lungs ... you're already gone / we're already home / my love life stumbles on" actually fuck I can't post the whole entire set of lyrics here it's so Hawkeye to me though.

These would collectively sound so awful in a playlist one after the other but they ARE all songs that make me think of Beejhawk for various reasons so!!!!!!!!

[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."