#spoilers for one of the vaults contents below cut

[sl33py-g4m3r]

ranch update~~ and an interesting thing that I didn't realize was a thing~~

main ranch: 2 corrals of rock pink largos fed heart beets, heart beet farm, prickle pear farm, 2 silos, teleporter for fast access to the back of the ancient ruins, one for the center of the glass desert, and viktor's workshop, refinery link for resources, drone for putting plorts from collectors into silo

forest area: 1 silo, dervish tangle largos, mint mango farm, honey crystal largos, refinery link, market link, drone for emptying plort collectors into silos

docks: incinerator (rip fire slimes I need to get more of you, stop hopping out of the ash trough~~~~), puddle slimes in pond, market link, refinery link, mosaic hunter largos, silver parsnip farm, drone that collects free range plorts

grotto: cube berry farm, oca oca farm, rad boom largos, phosphor tabby largos, market link, refinery link, 1 silo

lab: phase lemon farm, quantum sabers, 2 silos, a drone for plort collection, market link, and pond (because you can draw water from there and the slimeulation gets rid of all your water...)

viktor's workshop: (didn't know what to do here at first) 1 silo, silver parsnip farm, 2 corrals of mosaic tangle largos, teleport back to main ranch, advanced drone that puts food into feeders and plorts into a silo. the only place I have an advanced drone currently

I still don't know what to do with many of the gadget slots~~~

apparently golden sureshot is active even if you didn't shoot the slime~~~ I was placing apiaries in the moss blanket, heard a gold slime spawn, watched it from afar so it didn't notice me, it found food and gave me the "hat trick" achievement~~~

I was under the impression that as it was called "golden sureshot" that you'd need to actually shoot the gold slime some food~~~ guess I was incorrect~~

neat~~~

spoilers for the forest vault~~

now I wonder if I can pull that off in the forest vault? or will they notice you there? do they spawn in such a way in the vault that they'll always notice you and run? cause if they only spawn that close and notice the player immediately, I can't hide and wait for them to get food themselves......

so how would I go about doing this? or just bring a tank of food and shoot for my life?

haven't gone in there yet and won't until I figure out what the best course of action for it is to try to make as many gold plorts off the gold slimes as possible without losing too many~~

sucks there's water everywhere in the back of it~~~

I spoiled myself on it with youtube videos~~~ rip surprise I guess~~~

[doesnotloveyou]

Tri-Vault Musings/Headcanons

Analyzing the conspiracies, experiments, and a possible plot-hole in how the vaults are portrayed in the Fallout show.

Major spoilers below cut!

Vault 31 manages (or rather supplies the managers of) the experiment taking place in Vault 32. Vault 33 is the breeding stock and control group that keeps 32 populated and the experiment ongoing. Since the proposed theory is that time is the ultimate weapon, this experiment was designed to last and last. Therefore, they need a constant stock of compliant subjects (we see what happens when the subjects are not "compliant"). And who is more compliant than content members of a meritocracy? Trained from birth to do as they're told because it's morally correct to obey, they will happily comply with whatever is expected of them in 32 (this is paralleled by the local chapter of the BoS who are taught it is spiritually correct to obey, morals notwithstanding).

The events that take place in 33 are suspiciously staged and seem, in part, to be an inside job. Hank was unaware of 32's compromised state, otherwise he would have been wary of allowing them into 33, let alone marrying his prized pupil to one of them. But Betty...she may have known. She is older than him, was Overseer before him, and curiously has no lineage to speak of. She was either strictly management, or already traded her children into 32 decades ago.

Based on her motives and that she is the first to say how awful it is that the prisoners died, we know Stephanie poisoned them on Betty's orders. This implies Stephanie helped Betty clean up Vault 32 along with any other plants from 31 that we are currently unaware of. It took a big effort to clean all of that in the limited time they had before Norman spilled the beans.

I'm curious why the morbidly grinning Overseer of 32, whose death at least Hank is aware of and who he would've known pre-war, is a) tied down, b) his door propped open, and c) three empty bottles of glue are on his desk. Fair to assume he locked himself in there when his residents rebelled, and fair also to assume he tried to warn his cohorts in 33 (unless failure is too much for a "manager" to admit even in those circumstances). The residents jammed the door open anyhow and tied him to his chair, but did they force feed him glue? Was he high on the glue? Did they glue him to the seat? Typical Fallout environmental storytelling, very open-ended.

Since the propaganda playing on the TV in 32 is about the exact phenomenon Robert House brings up, overpopulation leading to a violent culling, was that the experiment? Did House inspire the very experiment that would take place there? Would a meritocracy still eat itself even if managed properly?

The first corpse we see in 32 is the most likely cannibalized remains of an adult in the nursery. This may symbolize that overpopulation was indeed their downfall, and imply that the children were killed first. Previous to this we see the tossed classroom, also symbolic of trouble for the children. The corpse in the nursery seems to have died where they sat, either from their lost limb or a shot to the head. We see multiple suicides as well as homicides, proving that some residents intentionally removed themselves either from the chaos or to reduce the drain on resources.

Regardless, many corpses are strewn outside the seal to Vault 31. How they died is not clear, but if there was overpopulation and cannibalism it is safe to assume the food supply was gone and some simply starved to death.

The messages they left behind are easily the scrawlings of people who "went bananas" as Chet puts it, but who was meant to read them? Who else would read these messages but residents from Vault 33 and 31? The messages make it clear that the residents of 32 were onto their purpose as breeders for the managerial race, and whatever happened it's possible this is why the children might have been killed first, as a flipped bird to management for trying to create a superior race of *checks notes* managers.

The experiment in 32 failed. Even compliant subjects when deprived of resources and threatened with overpopulation turned on themselves. But they were not all so delirious as to question the authority that deprived them. It's even possible the chain reaction started when someone like Norman asked "Why are all leaders from 31?" They raided the Overseer's office, killed him, read his computer, learned what 31 is for, and spent their dying moments attempting to break into 31 and kill every manager in there.

Had they tried to contact 33 and warn them, it would have done no good because a manager would have intercepted and killed that message.

This, if it happened, would have to have been Betty. She is unfazed by what exists in 32. When messages to 32 requesting a breeder were answered, she should've been suspicious. We have to conclude that if she did know, she hid it from Hank.

Why breed with 32 anyway? Shouldn't all outside genetics be from 31? Wouldn't breeding the offspring of one manager with another manager be more efficient? If 32 was simply a copy of 33 and meant to also provide breeding stock for 31 to "outlive" the "competition," then WHAT happened other than Robert House being the smartest jackass of all time, as usual?

[(FNV spoilers for noobs) Tbf, House took the idea of outliving the competition to heart and did that himself. The show confirms he was in the know and implies Vault 21 was his project.]

POSSIBLE PLOT-HOLE:

If Moldaver could open the exterior door and get into 32, why not also get into 33 or directly access 31? If 32 was somehow easy because it was compromised, how long did she have to wait for 33 to contact 32? Utilizing raiders instead of her own ppl was smart, but raiders are notoriously unruly. How did she keep them in line long enough to infiltrate 33? (raiders do have some superstitious boundaries so them not disturbing the evidence in 32 feels accurate)

And why did some residents of 32 not flee to the surface? If it was simple enough to get in, shouldn't it have been simple to get out? We know they didn't because otherwise the exterior door would be recorded as having been opened from the inside as well.

ALSO, if 32 had a record of the exterior door being opened by "Rose" why didn't 33? Again, was this information only Betty was privy to? Or was only the manager in 32 allowed to monitor the exterior door and pass it on if needed? Are the vaults really allowed to access the exterior door without alerting each other (Vault-Tec is riddled with design flaws so this is probably a "yes")?

[tavyliasin]

ATG Side Story - Villain? Saviour.

Pairing: Tav/Raphael SPICE Rating: 4/5 Content Warnings: Sex, hurt/comfort, minor peril, injury detail, some medical treatment (non-sexual context),  willpower bondage (mild)   

Spoilers Act 3 House of Hope, Steel Watch Canon Compliance Barely. There's an element of the canon in how the Steel Watch are dealt with, but that's about it. Other Notes This one might well end up moved into proper ATG continuity at a later date I'm just not sure when. I was inspired to write some soft Raphael so that's exactly what I did, imagining exactly the kind of scenario that might force the devil to show some care, because all nine hells know he's not doing that by choice. 

Mood/Song Firedancer by Poets of the Fall "Sage advice or sensory overload Whatever the pressure However your pleasure holds you captive to the treasure No matter how the earth reverberates You're dancing with the greats With the fools and their fates For time, it never waits. (Crash the gates) Firedancer, flame of life (What remains) Is a gamble, fall or fly (Play your ace) and remember there's a why You should always question the answer."

----- FULL CHAPTER BELOW THE CUT -----

The building had already begun to shake. Oil slicked the floor and broken machine parts made an obstacle course of their escape. Of course there had been not a second to spare to try and clear a sensible path, and several times curses were muttered as feet skidded in bloodied mess, boots desperate to find purchase on metal and stone to propel them as far away from the impending explosion as possible. The Steel Watch were about to fall, the Gondians all but safe, save for one. Tav stopped, putting her arm around the injured man to help get him to safety, but she had fallen behind. The others were still sprinting ahead as she summoned every bit of strength in her body to carry him and get them out. The doors were wide open onto sunlit streets, where hundreds cowered in the shadow of brutal machines. Perhaps some could be saved, maybe they weren’t too late- “KARLACH!” Tav yelled, using the last of her adrenaline to bodily hurl the injured gnome towards her, trusting the tiefling to catch him. Unfortunately, her boots were still coated in gore and lubricant. While the Gondian flew to apparent safety, Tav fell forwards, landing hard. The next second, the bomb went off. The ground shook and the Foundry went up in a huge explosion. The amount of incendiary within the building was more than enough to send the masonry flying. Tav’s ears rang, barely able to hear the sound of her friends crying out, her lovers reaching towards her with fear on their faces seeing it was already too late. She felt the door itself, half splintered but still heavy enough to break bone, crash into her hip. Wood pierced her skin, the impact shattering her thigh. White hot pain coursed through her entire body, more stone hitting her, the smell of burning and explosive and…sulphur? She barely held on to the edge of her consciousness, vision blurry, as she saw something… someone , appear before her in a brief flash of light. Then everything went dark. — Raphael paced the room back and forth restlessly. Occasionally his hand raked through his usually perfect hair, other times it tapped against his chin in the brief moments he stopped walking. No, not now. How utterly ridiculous a notion. Far too much planning- His mind raced, emotions that were little understood fighting for dominance in his consciousness. “That vicious little shit.” He voiced his complaints aloud at last, earning a slight huff from his slightly-too-perfect mirror on the bed. “I told you he would be trouble when you let him go,” Haarlep couldn’t resist pointing out the harsh truth, “but you insisted.”

“It was meant to play out perfectly. All he had to do was get the crown, then I could wrest it from his grimy little fingers, and the Hells would be MINE. There was no chance that I could steal it from the vault myself, bastard would’ve sensed me a mile away. But a former cobbler’s son bound in service? He’d pay no mind to that.” Raphael stopped. This wasn’t the issue at hand. “How is it that he built such ridiculous machines? And why did she feel the need to play hero?” “Oh I think you well know the answer to that one, Archduke.” The insulting nickname stung far sharper this time, that same pawn that could have crowned himself King took the very title that Raphael coveted for so long. “You’ve said it yourself before. She’s unpredictable .” “She’s a liability, Harlot.” Raphael shot back with a weaker venom. “How can something so fragile hold the key to everything we need- everything I need.” He corrected himself. “Why don’t you stop your complaining and check on her already?” Haarlep sighed, tired of hearing the same conversation repeat on a loop. It had been hours already and the fool still had no clue why he fretted so much over a simple rodent. “Fine.” The cambion huffed, smoothing down his hair and checking his reflection. The healing waters in his room could only do so much, they would not treat a more severe or lasting injury, and he had little trust in the ridiculous concoctions of mortal mages. It had taken an embarrassing amount of strings pulled and favours called, quite a few pawns he’d held in reserve were used up to make the arrangement so swiftly. But they were the best healer in the city, and he would have no less for his most important client.

— Tav groaned. Despite all the potions and balms, having multiple chunks of wood and masonry pulled from your muscle was never going to be a pleasant experience. Every time she thought the pain might make her pass out, it kept her vividly conscious. The older elf passed her another small potion, keeping her constitution temporarily stronger to help the healing. “Quite the predicament you ended up in, Little Mouse. Taking the cheese from within the trap and getting your tail caught? I thought you were smarter than that.” His words carried condescension, but the tone and the glimpse of the wrinkles on his brow spoke of concern, only lightly tinged with disappointment. “Luckily, it seems the cat came to the rescue just in time.” She smiled, teasing a little, but genuinely grateful. Gratitude, it seemed, was not something he knew how to handle. Not the sincere kind, anyway. Tav reasoned his discomfort must be because he was expecting something. “There’s a price to pay for your help, isn’t there?” She shrugged. “No need to explain, I know how the world works, Raphael, especially with demons and deals. But if you want my eternal servitude, I’m afraid you should’ve left me to a quicker burial back there.”

“What?” He sounded genuinely taken aback, offended perhaps by the suggestion, or by the implication the moment he denied it. “If I wanted your servitude, the contract and pen would be in your hand already. No, that achieves nothing.” He pulled up a chair taking a seat beside where she lay face down, devoid of most dignity as the cleric yanked another large chunk of mahogany from her rear. “FUCK could you at least warn me a little next time?” The elf shrugged. “The pain would be no different either way. Kinder if you don’t know it’s coming, really.” They pulled another piece midway through the sentence as if to prove a point. “Are you almost finished?” Raphael hissed a little too impatiently, brown eyes flicking across Tav’s face briefly again as she winced in pain. He should be used to people suffering, he was certainly good enough at arranging it, but there was something in the way his face twitched, as if his expressions were beginning to slip. “Not much left. Only half a door in her, not a whole one, and the bones will need longer to set.” They gestured to the splint and bandages down Tav’s leg and on one of her wrists. “Only a few days, especially if you use everything you have at your disposal, but the bone still needs to knit together properly or her dreams of joining the circus will be completely gone.” “The circus?” The cambion looked at her, perplexed.

“In my defence, those potions are really strong. And so is the pain. I was barely conscious.” She shrugged. “Besides, I used to enjoy Dribbles performing when I was young. Who didn’t?” She tried to push aside the memory of the clown’s dismembered body parts they kept finding in the city. That could wait. “Little Mouse, you’re not a performer. Even if you do like to dance with danger for no reason.” He sighed, almost reaching out to her but stopping short, putting his hand instead on the edge of the table and standing up.  “The damage shouldn’t be permanent. But you will be staying here for the duration of your recovery.” “Excuse me?” She tried to raise herself up more on her arms to see his face where he stood above her, but shuddered as the pain pulled at the nerves in her shoulder. “Stop trying so hard, Little Mouse, you are quite safe. I will not have any further harm come to my favourite client.” He gently pressed her shoulder back down, hand remaining there for far longer than either of them expected. “Ah. There it is. Client. You still have use for me, that’s why you’re going so far for my sake.” She hadn’t expected anything more, but it stung nonetheless. Raphael faltered, the warmth of his fingers still refusing to leave her. “You are not just any client, Mouse. I have told you before, I have no desire to turn you into just some pitiful debtor, nor do I wish to chain you to any contract beyond what I offered before.” He continued to justify his actions, denying his motivations to himself as much as to anyone else. “You and your friends are uniquely positioned to get what I want, and I can provide you with the means to keep your lovely face tentacle free.” Lovely? She turned the word over in her mind. No, another trick to loosen her grip on her sanity and make her sign. She hadn’t decided yet...and they had time still. She was certain that if it came down to it, she could make that deal at the very last possible moment, if she had to. Although, that would give him a lot more power… Tav groaned. Why is nothing ever simple, and why do I have to be the one to decide all of this? And why is he still being so nice? It’s easier when it’s just unhinged sex, or the usual mind games, the back and forth of Cat and Mouse…

“Get some rest, Little Mouse. You will need it. Our foes will not wait forever.” The cambion’s hand caressed her hair gently, a move that surprised them both again. He withdrew, as if he had touched the very edge of a hot stove. Although, who had ever heard of a devil getting burned? —

Haarlep smiled far too sweetly as the master of the house re-entered the room. “Well?” “Well what?” Raphael snapped. “Was she pleased to see you? Were you pleased to see your precious Little Mouse?” They smirked, tail swishing mischievously behind them. “Shut up, Harlot.” He paused, glancing back at the door. “...She’s fine. Injured, but fine.” He glared back at the incubus, fire rising behind brown eyes. “And you are not to lay a single infernal finger on her without my approval.” Haarlep stood, taking languid steps towards their conflicted master. “This room, the rules are mine.” Their voice was on the edge of a snarl, the hint of threat creeping in. “But as long as she does not enter, there will be no cause for you to worry about losing your favourite little toy to me.” Raphael laughed. “Really? You think you are all she could desire? That sex alone is enough to satisfy a sharp mind and a sharper wit?” The incubus glared back, the heat from their body rising to a palpable level even within Avernus. “And you assume that you are enough that she would turn down my offer? You shouldn’t be so greedy, Raphael, someone might get the impression that you actually care.” “Don’t be absurd.” The cambion spat, ignoring even that his name had been spoken so easily. Haarlep smirked. The test proved it. He was completely distracted, but that was also an insult in itself. “I’m not the one losing his cool over a wounded rodent.”  “I’ve lost nothing but time. She’s a tool, and a broken hammer can hardly forge my crown.” He lied, fooling nobody but himself, and even that deception was on shaky ground. “But time we shall have… If anyone in this house so much as-” “Yes, yes, fire and brimstone, every dreadful torture you can think of~” They smirked again, clawed fingers gripping his chin as blazing eyes gave their challenge. “How about we work out some of that tension, Archduke, before you set something aflame.” For a moment, Raphael faltered. Their breath hot against his lips, the enticing thought of everything they could do- “No.” He pulled their hand away from his face, turning to walk away. “I have work to do. If that brat thinks he will get away with this…”

Haarlep watched him walk away, unsure whether the feeling stirring within them was frustration, jealousy, or perhaps they were simple impressed that their Rat was slowly taking everything she wanted so easily. They wondered if she even knew what she wanted, the kind of fire she was playing with… It didn’t matter. One way or another they would get what they wanted, too.

--- Tav rolled over, mumbling in her sleep again, hair clinging to the thin sheen of sweat on her forehead. Unfortunately, the movement caught the splint on her leg in the sheets, pulling it at just the wrong angle and waking her with a hiss of pain. It took a moment to get her bearings again. These soft silks were a far cry from the rough blankets of the Elfsong, or the worn bedrolls they’d used camping rough across the Sword Coast. The heat and slight reddened hue of the surroundings reminded her where she was. Avernus. The House of Hope. The pieces of reality slid back into place one by one, the puzzle making sense for the most part. Other than the image of Raphael’s human form, sat at a small desk to one side, shuffling through papers and marking them with a quill. Strange, she thought as she peered over at him, surely this isn’t his usual office? “Good morning, Little Mouse.” Raphael didn’t even look up, simply adjusting the small glasses balanced on his nose as he continued to mark and sign the parchment. “Rest well?” “I…about as well as possible, I guess.” Tav rubbed the remnants of sleep from dry eyes, feeling her parched lips on the verge of splitting. “There’s water next to you.” Again, without so much as a glance in her direction, but he seemed to know exactly what she needed. “Thanks, Raphael.” She reached over and filled the glass from the condensation-coated jug, the slight clink of ice promising a more refreshing drink than expected. She wondered for a moment how often the ice was being remade for her benefit, but chose to pay it no mind. Questioning these comforts might lead them to end, after all. “Gratitude, is it now?” Finally, he looked up over the rims of his glasses. “Not looking the gift horse in the mouth?” “Well you made it clear last time, I know where I stand- Where I lay.” She corrected herself, allowing herself a slight smile as she took another sip of cold water. “Anything interesting?” She nodded at the stack of papers. “Only boring contracts, Mouse, there is still so much to do.” He moved from one to the next, frowning and rubbing his brow. “If you really wish to be bored back to sleep, I can read them to you.” “Why don’t you take a break? I’ve slept enough for one day, I think.” Tav moved herself carefully over to the side, smoothing down the covers to make a seat. “I suppose I could indulge you for a moment, if you insist.” He laid his glasses on the stack of papers, sauntering across the room with the scent of his usual perfumes arriving a few steps ahead.

Warm, sweet, spiced… Tav quietly savoured the strange and familiar comfort that it brought, as he sat beside her, reaching towards her still bandaged arm. “It’s doing better.” She reassured him, but he gave her a pointed look instead. “I will be the judge of that, Little Mouse.” He took hold of her wrist, but removed the dressing with a surprising amount of gentle care. “Better indeed. Move it.” The command was simple, and hardly unexpected, but it was delivered with a cold bedside manner that stung. “Ah!” She winced as she flexed the joint. “Fuck…” “Don’t be absurd, you mustn’t shy away from such a small pain.” Despite his words, he wrapped his hands around the joint, applying a little soft heat from his palms and rubbing soothingly. “You think that any of your foes will let you falter? Keep it moving. The bones are set, but you mustn’t lose motion or strength.” “Well I’m not fighting right now…” She grumbled, but gradually moved it further, pushing the limits of the motion as the warmth of his hands sank deeper into the bones. She began to feel a hint of a different heat from his touch, from how close he was… She bit it back. Not the time, don’t even think of how he’s next to you in bed while you’re only wearing a nightgown.

—

Raphael held longer than was necessary, eyes lingering on the scars that were still fresh along her forearm. “Another potion. It will do no harm, and speed your recovery further. Then we will check on your leg.” His bedside manner still lacked the soft care of an experienced nurse, but by the standards of a fiend it was positively overbearing with affection. He grimaced internally. He was slipping. But no, it was all a part of the manipulation, to ensure his knight - no, his pawn - continued to play her role well. The consideration of how a pawn can become a Queen should it reach the other side of the board completely escaped his notice too. “This one.” He handed Tav the glass bottle, pulling out the stopper to save her the hassle of using her wrist. “It isn’t poisonous then?” Her voice was playful, but she barely even took a moment to sniff or examine the potion before drinking it in one go. “Well, if it is, then it’s the nicest flavour of poison I’ve had in a while.” “Do you make it a habit to drink toxic substances?” His eyebrow raised, but he relaxed more as he saw the relief wash over her face with the effects of the brew. “Only the fun ones.” She laughed now, the soft music strange to his ears, but not distasteful. Perhaps he might like to hear more- No. Focus. He chided himself. What foolish thoughts… “I wouldn’t recommend it, Little Mouse, you are not immortal.” Yet, his subconscious whispered, even as his conscious mind threatened to silence the thought for good. “Now. Your leg. The splint can likely come off now.” Business was easier, he decided, though he hadn’t entirely thought it through. “Right… Well I suppose you’ve seen everything before.” Despite her bravado, a light blush began to appear on Tav’s cheeks as she lifted back the covers and moved to sit atop them. The nightdress reached to just below her knees, though the splint on her leg went from her shin to the middle of her thigh. Raphael swallowed, his mouth feeling excessively dry. He cursed Haarlep under his breath, swearing the bitch must be up to something with the way he felt as he pushed the fabric up to reveal her still-healing wounds. “I will apply some pressure, you must tell me immediately if there is any pain. If the healer has not done proper duties, I shall have them flayed.”

—

“That’s a bit excessive.” She frowned a little, but didn’t really judge him. Expecting a fiend to be kind was more than foolish, his very nature would not allow it. And yet… Tav winced, the bandage holding the splints in place unwinding slowly. She felt the warmth of his fingers every time they touched her skin, trying in vain not to think about how low he was, how close to her body, how they were already on a bed… “Fuck-” She bit her lip, the pressure on the side of her knee still too much. “Then you will still be unable to bear weight…” Raphael idly rubbed his chin in thought. “A balm, perhaps? Something more direct. Wait here.” Tav watched as he stood and left the room, a swiftness in his step as he went. Is he always in such a hurry? Her pondering was disrupted by a fresh shot of agony as she tried to bend her leg. Right, right…probably better that he’s quicker. I won’t complain. And yet…the space next to her felt like a cold void, now the cambion’s weight was not pressing a divot into the mattress. Only a lingering hint of his scent remained, and the slight heat upon the sheets. A sigh escaped her, there was a quiet need lingering in the back of her mind, compounded by the sudden longing from being left alone. She wondered if she might ever understand him. His intentions, his motivations… Every time she thought she knew what he was doing, what he wanted, everything changed again. Haarlep clearly wasn’t helping either. She wondered if they might be around, if perhaps they would be willing to keep her company when Raphael became inevitably busy once more. If anyone knew what was going through the devil’s mind, it would be them. Her hand rested on the remnants of the warmth where he had been sat, eyes not leaving the door until it opened again. —

Raphael’s feet carried him swiftly down hallways until he reached the cupboards he needed. It was pointless to waste energy on teleporting himself, but still he felt the need to hurry. If the incubus had tainted the potion… He would return to resolve that little problem before it could go further. He blinked away the image of her blushing body dressed in dark satin laying on the bed, and checked the labels of each jar carefully. The waters of the bathing pool could help, but if her leg could not take her weight… Carrying her was not an option, she deserved her dignit- He deserved his dignity to not have to act like a servant to her whims. His brow creased with frustration. Thoughts like unwelcome guests finding themselves swiftly evicted, yet returning through a back door before he could turn the key in the lock. This is all the harlot again, he reasoned, they have poisoned her and continue to toy with me without permission. He grumbled, turning quickly on his heel to go back to the room where she was waiting, laying on the bed- I’m going to make them regret this. — Meanwhile, in the boudoir, a completely serene Haarlep was reclined on the bed simply reading a book. They turned the page, wondering what adventures the struggling heroes might find in the next paragraphs. They had absolutely no intention of interfering with whatever nonsense Raphael was engaging in, nor of playing with their favourite toy until she was healed. They knew better than that, they could be patient. Besides, they considered their complete lack of engagement to be a fitting punishment for the scorn of being turned down by their “Master”.  Ridiculous thought, that he would brush aside the advances of an incubus, refuse the touch that could have him whining in pleasure for hours on end. No matter. They turned the next page, stubbornly ignoring the tell-tale footsteps in the corridor passing by their door without so much as a “hello”. They’ll both be back, in time. They hummed a little tune to themselves, pointedly rejecting any further thoughts of the room down the hallway.

---

The heavy door swung open swiftly on creaking hinges, closing just as quickly behind Raphael as he moved towards the bed. She was laying where he left her, cheeks flush, lips slightly parted, hair still in disarray from sleep. Even the gown remained pushed up to her upper thigh, revealing her legs, the remnants of technicolour bruising beneath her pale skin. 

Tav was an invitation like this, one he was loathe to accept for now…but clearly she could not be left unsated. Incubus saliva could be unbearable without a resolution to that painful arousal. It might even slow her recovery, which he would not allow. The cambion approached the bedside, already removing the lid from the salve’s jar. He sat lower down beside her, body turned to face her. “Your permission, Mouse, I would like to hear it.” “O-oh.” She stuttered for a moment, the tips of her pointed ears beginning to match the redness in her cheeks. ���Of course. Do what you need to do, I trust you.” His brow furrowed at those last three words. Of course that’s what he wanted, her trust, he was not in a habit of lying least of all to his favourite client. But hearing it? That was different. “Should you wish me to stop, you need only say the word. You understand?” —

It was Tav’s turn to frown now. What was there to understand? It was a simple healing balm, nothing she hadn’t used before. She could easily apply it herself, but she was also loathe to argue with Raphael when he looked this serious. What she was not hearing, however, was the undercurrent to his words. She didn’t see the way his eyes travelled her body, gauging her reaction as he began to massage the balm over her wounds. Not a drop of incubus saliva had passed her lips, by potion or otherwise, so she was blissfully oblivious to the cambion’s present concerns. Though, decidedly, the feel of his hands moving further up her leg had a very similar effect.  

Feeling the soothing effects of the salve sinking in to her wounds brought a soft sigh from within her, the deeper massage of tender fingers colouring the sound with the hint of a moan. Seeing his eyes flash with a momentary flame was certainly not helping. It would be hard to deny her own desire either, the thoughts that had passed through her mind in the few minutes he had been gone… Of course, some of those were remarkably close to the sight of brown hair descending towards her thighs- —

Raphael could feel her melting beneath his hands, and his clothing felt tighter by the moment. He imagined the ghost of Haarlep’s fingers, gripping, teasing… He cursed their name under his breath, completely unaware that this was all entirely in his own mind. As was the concern that the potion had been tainted, though it was quite obvious that Tav was feeling as aroused as him. Her skin tinted pink, warming more as he allowed his hands to wander, lowered his head towards her shin, lifted her leg and kissed below her knee. “Does it hurt here?” She had gasped, but the noise was not one of discomfort, as she quickly confirmed. “N- no, it’s fine.” Next he lifted her leg slowly, kissing around and under the joint now, right where her thigh began. “Here?” Her head laid back on the pillows. “No pain…” 

“Good, Little Mouse. Then let me continue, if I may?” “Please-”  Her voice was little more than a gasp, the heat rising from her body in a way that he could feel as he moved further up. It was becoming more difficult to hold back. The cambion could almost taste her on the air already, the heady scent of arousal mingling with her usual perfume and the thicker scent of the salve that still lingered on his hands. He laid her leg back down on the sheets, moving now on to his hands and knees after a quick gesture transported his boots over to the side of the room. But he could not afford to be greedy, rough… He must protect his asset. A means to an end. A very attractive means, dark hair splayed across the pillows, breasts straining the fabric just slightly as her breath quickened, deepened, chest rising and falling with increasing anticipation… —

Tav felt the silk slip easily across her skin, shivering slightly though not from any chill. Raphael was…not how she remembered. The times they’d been together before now were hot, feverish, filled with a sense of desperate urgency that made pulse soar and her head light. This…was almost a different man. Though at the same time, not at all. The same chestnut hair neatly swept back, the same scents of cherry, black pepper, palmarosa…a strong and spiced mix that didn’t lack sweetness. The same intense look in his eyes, as if a fire burned silently behind his pupils even in this human form. The cambion was being careful. That was obvious. And a part of her wished he wouldn’t, that instead of sliding her nightdress up slowly, heated fingers brushing lightly against her skin, that he would rip it from her, or burn it up with a wave of magic from his hands. Most of all, she simply, silently, desperately pleaded for him not to stop. He did not. Wordlessly he curled a finger around her underwear, the smallest flame burning away the seam so the garment could be removed without needing to pass sore joints and bruised muscles. Soft eyes looked up at her again, a question in a single raised brow, one she answered with a simple motion to pull her nightdress further up her body to reveal her waist fully. Raphael smiled, looking pleased with her response, before dipping his head lower to kiss along her stomach, lips pressing on her soft body with delicate affection. Tav bit down on her lip as those same hands began to tease her. This was a different game to him, she realised, as he merely stroked his fingertips with the lightest pressure. It might have felt ticklish, but it built the heat and tension within her, muscles tightening in anticipation. —

Raphael could feel her arousal easily. His fingers already slick and hot, her body shivering beneath his lips as he continued to kiss softly along her waist. Maybe he might’ve preferred her quivering with fear beneath him, perhaps a shot of liquor in her naval, savouring the mixture of terror and arousal he could raise within her… But she was not scared. Neither was she courageous. She was simply accepting of his touch, inviting more with the sweet little moans from her lips, telling him without words that she wanted more, needed more, by pressing her body towards him every time he tried to move away. “So greedy, Little Mouse, and I thought you were supposed to be recovering your strength?” He raised his eyebrow, peering up once more at her face and trying to work out exactly what it was he was seeing. Prey? A pawn? …a lover? Ha! Ridiculous. But she plays the part well… So if it is theatre she wants, then the show must go on. “I have enough strength-” she replied, or at least tried to when her voice was cut short with a gasp. Raphael smiled, it had only taken a single finger to steal her words from that pretty little throat. The second brought a prettier sound, barely a syllable drawn out in a prolonged moan. “You were saying?” His smile widened. Had it always been so easy to bring out the desire in her? Or was this just the potion, and Haarlep’s influence… His ego bristled. It wasn’t Haarlep here now, curling fingers inside her, feeling her muscles tighten and quiver every time his lips pressed to her body. This was no incubus sweetening the noise lingering in the air with slow thrusts in and out, the mere mimicry of what he could offer later… “Please-” She gasped above him, the sound of desperation only adding to his own arousal. “Please, more…” Turning the offer down was unthinkable. It might’ve been better had she begged for something else, but his own lust was thrumming through the pulse in his eardrums, and he had his pride of course. What kind of devil couldn’t even satisfy one mere mortal? Naturally, it would always be harder to satisfy Haarlep, the bitch was practically made for sex and pleasure, but Tav…her body was easier to manipulate, seeing her melt into his hands was simple. Besides, wasn’t her first encounter with Haarlep in the hopes it was him all along?... —

Tav hadn’t expected to be doted on, far less to have the devil himself kissing soft lines along the ridge of  her hip towards where his fingers were already working her into a frenzy. She bit her lip, trying in vain to steady her breath, but already losing herself to the sensations before his tongue flickered across her nerves. “Fuck-” She hissed out a single word as her head pressed back into the pillows, gripping the sheets as he increased the intensity of his motions. His tongue moved in the shape of infernal runes, drawing out a false contract of her pleasure, pulling every sane thought from her head and replacing it with a white hot rush that coursed through her veins. As she tipped over the edge of pleasure’s precipice, her moan was tainted by a cry of pain as her shaking body twisted her still-healing joints. The cambion’s free hand moved to hold her still as he continued to draw out the stimulation, dragging out the afterglow relentlessly, though ensuring the warmth on his palm was soothing the pain. By the time she was able to breathe more evenly, she realised he had simply sat back, caressing her leg once more, adding a little more balm over the worst parts. He was even still fully dressed, making her feel all the more exposed. “Aren’t you too warm?” She asked, already realising how ridiculous the question was as it floated out into the air between them. She cursed her orgasm-fogged mind for the betrayal.   “Have you truly forgotten where you are, Mouse? Who you are addressing?” He shifted a little, kneeling upright above her. “I only look like a human when I wish to, you are well aware of my true nature.” The brief scent of burning sulphur flashed in the air with the infernal fire that swirled around him for a split second, revealing a larger body, red skin, a crown of horns rising above his head almost as high as the wings that splayed out behind him. He remained, as he was before, fully dressed in his silks. His tail twitched in irritation, tapping on the sheets. —

“Whatever shall we do with you? You seem to have lost your mind entirely.” Raphael smiled sweetly, a complete façade as he took up his role as the saviour to relieve his poor little prey of the problem that Haarlep had created. “Would you feel more comfortable if I were less dressed, Little Mouse?” Her eyes widened just slightly, stoking his ego. “Maybe you’d feel more comfortable? Those look…tight…” Her eyes drifted down, his clothes tightened further as it wasn’t just his ego expanding. His wings stretched up further, the pride swelling in his chest. “What kind of host would I be to deny my guest a proper view?” The magic worked in a matter of moments, layers of finery dissolving like smoke, reappearing neatly folded on a chair near his boots. The cambion felt every part the saviour he intended to be, even as he loomed over her like a predator about to swoop down upon his prey. His fiendish form was larger, taller, and more intimidating… He often chose to remain in human shape around mortals, lulling them in to a false sense of security before revealing his more devilish nature for dramatic effect. There was nothing he loved more than feeling the swell of fear within a mortal heart when he grew above them, surrounded by hellfire. But there was no such trepidation from his Little Mouse… He could almost see why Haarlep called her Rat, now, the way her eyes took in all of his form, her body carefully moving to make more space for him. Bold. Too bold, perhaps. It was an invitation. The part of the gentleman saviour was one of pageantry, of etiquette, so the dance must continue now that he was dressed the part. Although… A wave of his hand and her nightdress was upon the same chair as his own clothes. An observer who wasn’t clouded by lust or shielded from the view by large red wings might recognise the subconscious choice to put their clothes together to be entirely too intimate for a devil and his client, but the two upon the bed had no such awareness now. —

Raphael’s body cast a looming shadow over Tav, the light filtering through the thinner skin over his wings in a way that made the almost look as if they were glowing. His eyes were aflame, the full blaze within them clear and glowing as they swept across her body. She shivered involuntarily as he lowered towards her, hands finding purchase either side of her shoulders. “What do you long for, Little Mouse? Tell me.” His lips were close to her ear now, his voice sending shivers down her spine, stomach tying itself in swift knots from the feel of his body so close to hers yet not touching. “I didn’t think you to be so slow in taking what you wanted, Raphael.” A little more of her boldness was returning, the itch to rile him up, to push him into acting how she wanted…but he wasn’t taking the bait. “Now, now, what kind of hero would I be to break you before you’ve even healed? No, that would not do at all. Do not think me a brute purely because of the actions of an unruly incubus, they will be punished for their indiscretion in due course.” Somewhere in another room, a red tail twitched with irritation it didn’t understand the cause of, while clawed hands turned the page of their book. Tav didn’t understand either, why he was bringing up Haarlep when they were alone. “I remember,” she whispered into his ear, “the first time you visited me. In what I thought was just a dream… You danced like a prince.” “And you, Mouse, spoke with no such grace or respect for one you would crown with such a title.” The choice of words was very deliberate, alluding to a contract yet to be agreed upon. “You’re right…Prince doesn’t quite suit you.” She reached up to caress his horns, her other hand running along the top edge of his wing, watching the lines in his face soften unexpectedly at the care. “You already have a crown, a cloak, and a great deal of power. It’s…impressive.” She brought down the hand that had been running over the ridges of his horns, instead tracing along his jaw to bring his lips to hers. “Flattery, Little Mouse, might get you somewhere, but I still want my real crown.” His voice was quieter, softer, lips a hair’s breadth away almost tickling her as he spoke. “Later…we can discuss that later.” She slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him in to a deep and passionate kiss. She didn’t want to think about contracts, or crowns, or tadpoles in her head. All she wanted was to feel , and there was no better way to lose yourself in sensation than to pull a fiend into your bed. —

Tav had once again thrown the proud demon off his balance, making moves on the board with rules he had never considered. The game was not his to outmanoeuvre her if she continued to nudge the table. He should really lay down the rules properly, enforce them, remind her who had the upper hand…but the taste of her lips…the feel of her tongue trying to devour her own essence that lingered on his own… Now he was in his fiendish form her body seemed even smaller, softer. She didn’t lack strength of course, even now as one of his hands traversed the length of her arm from the shoulder down to her delicate wrist, the lines of well honed muscles lay just beneath pale skin. His wings spread above her even as he avoided the deeper bruising, guiding her hands above her head. It was like a shield, a protective canopy, she was beneath him and only him. He would fill her vision, fill her mind, fill her- “I will not hold you here,” he pressed a light kiss to her wrist before guiding it back above her head, laying her hands together, “it’s too soon, and healers are expensive for complex injuries. So you will have to obey me instead. You say I have power? Then prove it, show how much power I have over you, and keep your hands right there.” He looked down, expecting to see her eyes defiance glaring back at him, but instead they were half closed, lips parted, breathing just two words. “Yes, Raphael.” Simple. It’s what he demanded of her, it��s what he wanted to hear, but hearing it? That hit a different chord. His tail shivered behind him, the feeling foreign but arousing. Did he want her to fight? Would he prefer it? Or was this deep trust unnerving again?... She knows she is mine, he reasoned, it’s about time, too. Leaving her arms unbound above her head, he moved his hand back down her body - his other arm still supporting his body easily, holding himself above her where she could see him but not yet feel him. He guided her thigh up a little, shifting lower as the greed within him rose. The need to have her, to feel her, to take her… —

Raphael’s teasing had built the lust in her body to a fever pitch. Tav could feel her body burning with longing, desperate for him to finally make his move. And yet, he remained slow, gentle. Caring , in such a way as a devil could be if he so wished. She realised he was different on his own, without Haarlep baiting him, pushing him. She bit her lip as he began to enter her, slowly, taking his time. Her breath left her in a slow exhale, feeling the stretch and heat building with every deliciously agonising second, the ridges adding friction to the equation, the sum total being a deeply satisfying feeling of being completely filled. Tav wanted to speak, to spur him on to move, to reach down and pull his body closer…but that command echoed in her ears. His blazing eyes, the way his horns and wings loomed above her - there was a power there. It hadn’t all been mindless ego-stroking. She groaned with the sensation as he pulled back slowly, ridges catching on muscles that strained to pull him in, her voice only raising louder as he thrust back into her. The pace he kept, it was maddening…the intensity of every motion, the way he moved his hips and watched her every reaction. If he didn’t care for her pleasure, it would be simple to thrust in and out at his own pace until he was done, but he was more than just attentive. Every single movement was lighting her on fire from the inside. The sound of the cambion’s own deep and seductive voice escaping as he felt her tightening, pulsing- It was getting harder and harder to keep her arms where he put them. She wanted to touch him, to feel his body above her instead of just watching… She imagined an invisible force holding her, focused more on the gathering rush building deeper inside as he began to let his avarice take over. —

Raphael felt every wave of her pleasure, and had long since forgotten to realise that Haarlep had not done a single thing to influence him. Everything he felt was entirely from within this room, from within her . Another time he might have preferred more, to go further, to tease her and draw it out, to mix in some pain and power-  She had enough pain, and watching her face flush pink and wanting, hearing her gasps and moans from undiluted pleasure… It was a wine he was willing to sip today. She was allowing him power, giving herself over to him completely, and everything he drew from her was his alone. He tried to hold back a little, but the feeling of her around him was intoxicating. The scent of her skin, the way she bit her lip, the tightening as he hit just the right places- His voice caught between a moan and a growl as the rush overtook him. The cambion pulsed inside her, continuing to thrust as her own climax had her crying out into the otherwise quiet room. Perhaps the incubus even heard them now, and the thought of the Harlot being jealous sweetened the waves of aftershock as he rode them out with her, relishing the ragged gasps as her mind and body were filled only with what he gave her. Tav was shaking as he finally withdrew. Her hair even more of a mess beneath her head, and her hands still exactly where he told her to keep them. “Good, Little Mouse, good~” his voice rumbled through his chest with a pleased purr, “you may move now, when you are ready.” She relaxed her arms a little, her uninjured hand moving a single stray lock of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes and tucking it gently behind his horns. “Why are you really taking such care of me?” “I told you before,” he sighed, wondering how she still did not understand. “You are my favourite client, my path to what I need…” He paused. That wasn’t all. “And in my own way, I enjoy our time together.” —

Tav blinked. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly, and the blindly logical part of her brain quickly rationalised the honesty away. Ah, enjoyed, as in pleasure. The sex is good. That makes sense. Her body still felt a weak and limp as he moved from above her, wrapping the silk sheets around her naked body and lifting her up in his arms, holding her close against his chest as if she were a bride about to be carried across the threshold. “Raphael?” She peered up into his fiery eyes, confused again. “We must get you clean, Mouse, and I will not have sullied eyes gaze upon you. Until you are able to walk on your own, I will indulge you…but I expect you to try after you have bathed in the healing pool.” He was trying to sound stern, but it came across as a better bedside manner than the expensive healer he had hired. —

Haarlep looked up over the top of their novel, raising an eyebrow at the master of the house carrying his charge into the room wrapped in sullied sheets, whilst the devil himself remained completely naked. “Finally, you’ve decided to come and play-” they began, but were quickly cut off. “No, you’ve done quite enough for one day Harlot. She needs to recover, and I shall accept no more interference from you. I suggest you sit quietly and contemplate the punishment you have earned.” His voice was stern, dripping with venom, but quiet. Tav was already half asleep, exhausted already. Haarlep took the hint and kept their reply barely above a whisper. “What I’ve done? I haven’t done a single thing, Archduke , in fact I had considered the very fact that I’ve kept entirely to myself as my punishment to you for denying me.” They gave him an even more pointed look, sitting back and going back to their book. “But it hardly seems like you even need me, you have your prize, now leave me to my story. They’re just getting to the good bit.” Raphael paused. He stood dumbfounded, completely at a loss for words. If there had been no tainted potion, no influence on his own body- It would take days for the effects of those realisations to truly sink in, longer than it took Tav to fully recover. He didn’t even notice the longing when she waved goodbye and stepped through the portal back to the material realm… Avernus felt colder than it should, the halls of the House of Hope suddenly larger and emptier than they had been before.

----------- ----------- ENDING NOTES ----------- ----------- This one will fit very nicely into the ATG storyline I just need to work out where, either that or it'll hint towards a potential alternate ending path instead. Either way I very much enjoy toying with a softer side to Raphael, exploring his reluctance and denial in greater depth, along with the ways that both Haarlep and Tav can push him out of his comfort zone.

[pyrettawychwiggin]

Master List - Writing

I've been writing fanfictions and original work for.... a while. So I thought it was time to make a proper list with links for it all. I've put up a general glossary below, but all the links and details are below the cut. Enjoy! ♡

Disclaimer: all NSFW/18+ content is linked below, but they are only available to read for members on our Ko-Fi/Patreon pages, mainly for age restriction purposes.

Mini Glossary (Fanfictions)

• The Arcana

• Destiny/Destiny 2

• Fallout

• Jujutsu Kaisen

• Skyrim (The Elder Scrolls)

Mini Glossary (Original Work)

• The Rantings of a Chairside Tooth Fairy

If you want to support us further, consider becoming a supporter on our Ko-Fi or Patreon pages, and be sure to check out our Linktree for a full list of everything PSH.

Links to all of my work is below the cut.

The Arcana

• You can find my playable games on the Dorian.live app ♡ This includes games like 'In Medias Res' and 'The Fool's Journey.'

• Character Sheets - Anya Strekoza - some character sheets for my MC done in the style of the original character sheets from The Arcana. No content warnings.

• Anya's Backstory, Notes - Spoiler Alert for the the main storyline of The Arcana.

• April Asks - a list of 20 questions about my MC - Anya Strekoza. No content warnings.

Destiny/Destiny 2

• 'Come With Me' - Crow x Guardian (Vera, the Female Void Hunter) - SFW, fluff, semi-platonic. Oneshot.

• 'No Harm Done' - Crow x Guardian (Vera, the Female Void Hunter) - SFW, fluff, semi-platonic. Oneshot.

• NSFW Alphabet - Crow (Gender-Neutral Guardian) - NSFW, 18+, exclusive on Ko-Fi/Patreon only.

• SFW Romantic Alphabet - Crow (Gender-Neutral Guardian) - SFW, fluffy.

Fallout

• 'The Iron Angel: The Tale of Maria Röentgen' (Fallout 3) - follows a female Lone Wanderer on her journey beyond her tiny world in Vault 101. Saga.

Jujutsu Kaisen

• 'Wishful Thinking' - a mini-series following Himawari Sasaki, a sorcerer-turned-civilian, during the tail-end of the events of the Shibuya Incident. Not recommended if you haven't at least watched season 2 due to spoilers. (Nanami Kento x OC/Himawari Sasaki, SFW, slow burn, fluff)

• 'Nanami Kento Relationship Headcanons' - a post just talking about how a relationship with Nanami would evolve. (Nanami Kento x You, SFW, Fluffy, Point-Form)

• SFW Alphabet (Nanami Kento) - (Gender-Neutral) - SFW, fluffy, mild suggestive themes.

• Random Nanami Kento Headcanons (Post-Shibuya-Incident) - (Gender-Neutral) - SFW, fluffy, mentions of trauma and injury, the teeny-tiniest hint of angst but only if you squint.

• JJK Characters Surprise You By Singing/Playing An Instrument - a multiple-part series with Spotify Links! Each entry has one or two short stories as well.

- Part 1 - Gojo, Megumi, Nanami, Suguru, Choso - Part 2 - Coming Soon...

Skyrim (The Elder Scrolls)

• 'Songstress of Skyrim' - follow the story of a Breton woman named Mhari Freysri as she navigates the dangerous and wonderful land of Skyrim. This story follows her from her arrival in Solitude and through basically every quest I could find (mostly SFW with some fade-to-black moments; NSFW content will be available to read on Patreon/Ko-Fi)

Rantings of a Chairside Tooth Fairy

• This story starts with a rough re-telling of my decision to become a dental assistant, then leads into a series of blog posts talking/ranting about the job, the industry, the people, etc (SFW, non-fiction, starts out story-style for the prologue, the rest is written is more of a blog-like format)

[anamelessfool]

So I'm inching into another fandom space now, and would like to make this clear. I'm personally not a huge fan of Cooper x Lucy content. But fandom is about Don't Like Don't Read so I'm blocking tags and just vibing elsewhere. Live and let live y'all. This flagpole got enough space for all the freak flags.

Reader in my fic is late 30s, early 40s, due to a lot of factors one of which is that 35-45 seems to be the most likely age of a Vault Overseer. So big age gap between Lucy and Cooper is something I'm not comfy with personally. (But again, you do you in your own little part of the internet)

Series spoilers below the cut while I continue to explain my reasoning

I really want Lucy and Cooper's relationship to be platonic father/daughter sort of thing. A mentorship. They both were betrayed by those they love. Spouse, father, basically shattered their reality for some "greater good". I want Lucy to experience a father figure that's not a middle manager secret asshole, that encourages her to take up space and live by principles. I want Lucy to teach Cooper that there's good things in life as well as cruelty.

I feel like they can heal each other without getting romantic. Platonic relationships are important. If you're a writer, try some out!

[rottenbrainstuff]

BG3 playthrough - chugging through Baldur’s Gate

Mild spoilers below the cut

A million side quests in my journal, slowly chugging through them all… Act 3 is huge and the random little quests all over the place are kind of… like… look it’s a huge amount of content, it’s amazing, but I do prefer act 1, where yes we had less things, but those less things were all integrated better and flowed together. That being said, what’s neat about act 3 is that there’s so many little surprises here and there that I’m finding things I didn’t manage to spoil for myself: like the identity of the Stone Lord, and finding Ethel again.

So first of all… I seem to be having a RANDOM BLOODSTAIN CURSE???

A little while ago I found a large random bloodstain on the ground in town and I was trying to figure out what happened. I assumed maybe it tied back in with the murder trail I was following. When that didn’t seem to be it, I thought maybe I had missed an important event, so I backtracked through my save files and pinpointed when the bloodstain appeared. I still don’t know what happened here though. So I found the spot… in one of my save files in between me talking to the book seller in Sorcerous Sundries, and me going through the portal up to Rolan’s tower, a non-interacting NPC (a refugee) about a block away was standing over the bloodstain with one missing hit point. There’s nothing there in the area that should have caused that. There’s no event, no fight, no interaction, no dangerous thing, it’s so weird.

Then more recently, the very first night I went to sleep in my brand new room at the Elfsong, I woke up to a massive bloodstain all over one of the beds!! Before bed - nothing. Morning - massive bloodstain. What in the heck is going on?

Gale can now summon a deva courtesy of the amazing books in Ramezith’s vault. I like having it out the same time as Wyll’s cambian: my devil dude and his angel pal. Or maybe they hate each other. They were both summoned here while they were trying to eat their lunch and now they’re wordlessly glaring at each other, like two siblings who don’t get along. I love it.

I love all the cats in this game, someone on the dev team loves cats - but also remember to sometimes try interacting with them without using “speak with animals”. I tried petting Malta without it and got kind of a funny narration where they said the cat was pretending to act like they didn’t care, and failing. I have read online that if Baelen isn’t with Derryth in act 3 - either because you didn’t save him from the bibberbang field, or because you gave him the noblestalk mushroom and Derryth left him - you are able to get Derryth to take Malta to live with her??? Between this and finding the letter in her house about how much Derryth wished she married this other guy, I’m feeling pretty sad about saving him, wish instead I had either left him in the bibberbang field or gave Derryth a push to finally leave him. Oh well.

Got to the infamous squiddy romance. Nope, not for me in the end. I mean obviously I TRIED it, just to SEE, of COURSE I did, and got the achievement of shame lmao, but in my actual save game I am not having that. First of all: vanilla and garlic? Uff no thanks. It’s interesting, isn’t it, how the game has described the specific smells of a few different characters (Astarion, Raphael, Mizora, now this), and how every description includes some unpleasant undertone. (well maybe not Mizora who just sounds all around unpleasant lol) But second of all…. My specific tav just is not buying any of this. I’ve been very very wary ever since the big reveal, and this whole little side event just feels to me like more Emperor manipulation bullshit. Oh let’s go to my old room because there’s some equipment there that can help you. Oh wait would you look at that… it’s my old doggy’s collar. And a recipe for my favourite soup. And a present from my mommy. See look at all these things, look at how much humanity I have, oh yeah I guess there’s a weapon and some armor there too. Phew what a great chat, now we trust each other COMPLETELY, right? Oh hey btw I’m totally sexually attracted to you - see just another way we can be intimate, right? What great sex! You trust me completely now right? Ok back to business.

No thanks, not for my tav.

You have the option to ask the Emperor to change back into the old Guardian form… it was nice to see mine one last time, he’s so pretty! If you go this route, the next morning is pretty hilarious. You wake up next to the untransformed mindflayer Emperor with an “ew gross what did I do” face, I took screenshots, I was laughing so hard.

The face of regret.

I tried going to get Minsc last night but I wasn’t expecting how big the counting house was going to be… I’m leaving it for now and I’ll take a crack at it later. Instead I went and found the hag support group. KLED. Augh Kled, what a sweetheart, why is no one talking about him and why is there no fan art??? I gave Mayrina the wand to resurrect her husband’s corpse way back in act 1 and now I’m wondering if that was a mistake as well… she’s still dragging the body around with her, and poor old Kled says Mayrina is too kind and too pretty for the likes of him. AUGH BABE. I wonder, after I fight Ethel and finish the quest, if Mayrina and Kled might have a chance? Mayrina mentioned that lately she feels like she doesn’t see that little spark of what used to be her husband there in the corpse anymore… I think eventually she’s going to move on and hopefully appreciate this lovely lovely guy who’s there for her without any expectation and things will be great and amazing. Yep, that’s what I’m going with.

I really like the personality the game has put into the “monster” races, the goblins, the bugbears, the hobgoblins. I love how they’re more than just “rarg ebbil”, they’re fun to talk to, they have their own cultures, it makes me sad to kill them quite honestly because under different circumstances I think we could have had fun hanging out.

I love Kled, big and handsome and kind, and the fact that I don’t seem to be able to find a single thing with him on AO3 is a crime and you should all be ashamed.

I've been thinking a lot about post-Cazador Astarion. He's changed so much. Like. Yes ok he's still kind of a loveable bastard, he's still grumbling at me when I give beggars money, wouldn't want it any other way, but he's so honest now, he can be sweet, he can be soft. His pre-spawn backstory is not currently fleshed out. I know there were development ideas that he used to be a corrupt magistrate, and I am honestly ok with that, in fact perhaps I even prefer it. But the actual canon is a blank slate and I find myself wondering about Astarion's softness and honesty, if this is his old personality that Cazador couldn't torture away, growing back like the first hints of green after a forest fire... or if this is something totally new for him, not just healing from Cazador, but that all of the suffering he's overcome and this adventure he's been somewhat unwillingly dragged through have made him a better person than he ever was. Either possibility is neat, I think. I like to think about it. Man I really... I mean I've had this game so thoroughly spoiled for me, and yet I still find things that surprise me - I was really unprepared for act 3 Astarion and what a beautiful personality he has. Man I am so proud of him. My Star. Makes me wanna cry. This game.

Patch 6 still hasn’t been released for Mac… *whine* come on Larian, I want all my fancy kisses before I get to the end of the game…

EDIT: omg I think it was literally JUST RELEASED??? Aaah when’s my next work break, I wanna check it out…

[joiedecombat]

Thinking a lot about your unravel fic and what those kind of scenes might have looked like earlier in their relationship. Since Aymeric's interrogation by the Heavens Ward happened before they were together, how and when did the subject of his nightmares arise? How much detail has he shared with Raine? Has the Echo shown her anything and how does she feel about seeing/not seeing his trauma?

It took quite a while before they could have that conversation, for sure.

I've talked before about how Aymeric is accustomed to not really being able to show weakness. Raine always had a very general idea of what he went through at the Vault between going in to speak to Thordan and when they rescued him, but especially with everything else that overshadowed that whole sequence of events, they didn't talk about the specifics or the lingering effect the experience had on him. Even if he'd been inclined to talk through it with her - or anyone, to be honest - there were simply too many other things to focus on.

(Shadowbringers and oblique Endwalker spoilers and some tldr below the cut.)

Raine's Echo primarily shows her scenes that were/are heavily charged with either aether (use of magic or other forms of strong aetheric activity) or dynamis (strong emotion). His interrogation at the hands of Ser Charibert and the Ward definitely falls into the latter category, so yes, at some point not all that long after the Vault she undoubtedly had an Echo vision of some part of that experience. She wasn't in the best emotional state herself at that time, and her response was essentially to pretend that particular vision never happened. I imagine Aymeric at least suspected, but it was pretty much a "let's never speak of this" situation for both of them as they channeled their coping mechanisms into dealing with the crises in front of them.

The two of them didn't begin sharing a bed until after Raine returned from the First, which was over a solid year and a half at the absolute minimum from the Vault.* By that time, Raine was dealing with some recurring nightmares of her own, mostly dealing with Sin Eaters and her experiences with Light aether corruption nearly turning her into a monster, with some Final Days soul flashbacks for extra flavor. She spent at least six months in Ishgard after wrapping things up in the First, so once they started sleeping together it became inevitable that one of them was going to disturb the other's sleep… and Raine's nightmares were considerably fresher than Aymeric's.

That's what finally opened the door for Aymeric to admit to having nightmares about his time at the Vault. Talking about it was a way for him to let Raine know he understood something of what she was going through, encouraging her to let herself be vulnerable with him by allowing himself the same. Broaching the subject opened the door for some heart-to-heart conversations that both of them, and especially Raine at that time, badly needed.

He's still never gone into detail about the content of those dreams - except to explain that it's not always the interrogation; sometimes it's centered on Haurchefant's death, which he will always carry a sense of personal responsibility for - but he doesn't have to. Raine was extremely uncomfortable at the time to have experienced his trauma through the Echo, but with the distance of the intervening time to dull the edge of the experience, she's kind of grateful that it allows for that kind of understanding between them without forcing Aymeric to verbally relive the whole thing to her.

*(My personal rule of thumb is that each expansion takes about a year of in-game time, but I haven't quite worked out how the time differential between the Source and the First affects the timeline.)

[thepringlesofblood]

it's 3 days after the suffering game released and only now have i realized I can just borrow the dang 11th hour from the library on Libby

so! a continuation of specifics from Chapter 3 on! the suffering game GN list of bonus content may kill me, so if you never heard from me again, that's why.

overall stuff

The boys are way more map-based in the pod, a lot of their decisions being based on ‘we haven’t gone there yet’

see: paloma's place, which was labeled 'witch's hut' on the map. griffin mentions that he put her there to act as a sort of guidance system for if they got stuck or didn't know what to do next.

the rest of ch. 3

Paloma’s crystals were growing from the ceiling in the podcast. or maybe that's just how I imagined them lol

Taako & magnus meet Paloma the first time while Merle goes all Book of Mormon on Cassidy - in the gn Taako does eventually get there but way after Magnus who follows her in by tracking her. In the pod they just want to check out the witch’s hut. She also talks a lot more about istus in the GN

paloma's voice is griffin's best Bjork impression, which is to say, hilarious.

one of her more important prophecies gets kind of shifted to when they see istus. it reads: "In the future, you will be offered a terrible choice between two options that will determine the fate of reality itself. In this moment of crisis, remember: there is always a third option." and shows two potential apocalypses - a world of darkness and a world of ash. for more podcast prophecy stuff go to the wiki page

Lucretia doesn’t throw the mud at merle in the podcast but honestly I like it.

Merle is also a lot more jokey and pessimistic about Pan

good quote from merle after Lucretia's verbatim little speech about taking the direction of her life in her own hands. ‘You gotta stand for something or you’ll fall for anything. I tell you what, you have faith! It’s faith in you”

Chapter 4

in the podcast before they use the holethrower they find a bunch of stuff (bombs, a pickaxe, a headlamp) buried in dirt near a bush in the quarry and take it with them. not super plot-relevant but justin does make a joke about it being "Chekov's Bush"

the puzzles are different - there's a cameo on pg 137 where the lockers say 'explosively out of order do not open!' and have letters on them, which is a nod to the locker puzzle from the podcast (they had to open them in a certain order that spelled out words), plus there's the meat and the bugs, and then to get through to the chalice room/mineshafts they have to enter the right keycard and magnus keeps trying to cut the right wires and killing them all. here's the episode it's too much to go into. (transcript)

Ch 5-108 [it makes sense when you read the book]

pg 150 these carnivorous bugs are the only 'trap' that were in the pod (the trick is that light wards them off, hence the fire. in the pod, merle cast Light on a minecart which they took to the bottom) if you want more puzzle content, it's ep. 44 (11th hour ch 4) (transcript)

the layout of the room at the bottom of the mines is different in the GN. there's one room with one bubbled-over mineshaft - in the the podcast there's two rooms, the purple worm'd mineshaft (which the boys encounter first) which is otherwise empty, and then a bubbled door leading into a second mineshaft room which is where isaak and june are. so, The Boys don't meet Isaak until the last loop.

isaak is considerably different. in the podcast Griffin would have The Boys occasionally make perception checks throughout the loops to notice shadows they couldn't quite focus on, including a shadow that looked like a person wearing a Stetson hat [cowboy hat]. the implication is that Isaak has been watching them through these shadows this whole time.

Isaak is considerably more of a mystery in the podcast, which makes finding his journal in the vault our first real introduction to him as a character, whereas in the GN he's introduced halfway through. I'll talk more about the final confrontation with him in the podcast when we get there.

Ch. 109

Bc of Ren taking on the role of bank robber, this whole chunk goes extremely differently. in the podcast, the way they get to 'we need to rob the bank' is by first finding Luca (a skeleton but don't worry he gets better) who tells them to go get his brother Redman so together they can restore the temple of istus, as the two brothers were the head priests back when it was more of a temple and less of a ruin. Redman is the head of the purple-kerchief bank-robbing squad, and he's like 'look I'll come help w the temple thing for sure but I just gotta rob this bank first we have like a timed bomb so we gotta do that first' and The Boys are extremely hesitant given the many times they've seen the bank burn down with the vault very much intact and not robbed. however, they decide to do it anyway.

in the GN, taako strolls into the davy lamp like IT'S BANK ROBBIN' TIME!

even though it's a different person, the motivation for robbing the bank is essentially the same. Refuge is cut off from the world, and they need to get out. main difference is that Redman is following a feeling sent by Istus that they need whatever's in the vault, and Ren's operating off some intel from Brogden.

also merle trying to divert roswell as a goblin doesn't happen in the podcast - The Boys fully forget that in the "save point" they made of talking to Roswell to get into Refuge, they told them that the bank was going to be robbed. So they literally get to the bank and Griffin says (direct quote) "as you start to approach the bank you see Roswell standing in front of it, because that’s where you told Roswell to fucking be." they're just like 'hey roswell go find isaak' to get rid of them in the podcast which makes it 100% possible for roswell to hear the bank stuff and go 'yeah, something's not right'

the bank robbery is extremely different. it spans the back half of ep. 46 and the front 15 min or so of ep. 47. (transcript 46) (transcript 47) I would highly recommend listening to it. highlights include:

taako using mockingbird gum to imitate Roswell's voice and confuse the guards

merle accidentally Commanding (the spell) the wrong guard to flee, causing the other guard to run after him and them both to run into roswell

the aforementioned bit where ren comes in and says her signature 'oh my god taako! what are you doing here?!' and taako tries to banish her

magnus throwing taako through the hole in the teller window where they take your money from, perfect landing, taako gets the gold.

magnus de-arming roswell then taking a torch and like. burning their clay stump arm? all while shouting "I'm really really sorry!"

taako actually does use the hole-thrower on the vault door

merle tries to cast dispel magic on roswell, and it works for a second, then they just kind of reboot, bc roswell is above your puny mortal magics

taako scoops up some of the apparently many gems just sort of strewn around the vault to use as material components to cast "Planar Binding" on Roswell and Griffin excitedly describes it as 'almost like a computer error, like two things are running simultaneously that should not be running simultaneously" and roswell fucking explodes and fills the bank up with clay and taako's about to drown in clay when he finally reads the last entry in sheriff isaak's journal and says 'junebug' and roswell is able to reform. it's fucking e p i c and the music (aptly named 'the diary of sheriff isaak') is one of my favorite pieces of all time.

'fuck your door!' is 100% podcast accurate

in the podcast there's no key, they just have to get Redman up to his brother so they can raise the temple. this also means that all 3 boys get into the temple at the same time, not just magnus.

Ch 110

by god istus is beautiful. in the podcast her hair is described as silvery and infinitely long, and when one of the boys is like 'I like your hair!' she says 'thanks. I've had it for a while.' I love her gn hair though

in the podcast, she gives merle something that will let him go 9 seconds into the past when he uses it (once), then gives all of them the gift of time itself. merle calls it '9 seconds in heaven' and completely forgets to use it until the finale, maybe the very last episode, for essentially a one-off goof. it's a good goof, but I like the GN change of him getting the gift of time itself.

the rest of the interaction with istus is beautifully, wonderfully accurate.

Ch 111

as mentioned, the emancipation of roswell does not take place in the podcast - they sacrifice themselves and then come back in their little bird form, in which they are assumed to be uncommandable. while The Boys do order roswell to do things in the fight, they take back the sheriff badge and tell off isaak on their own, which is very important to me personally. I am a big fan of the GN decision for them to just give roswell command of themselves.

while in the GN they just take the elevator, in the podcast the elevator was part of the gauntlet-of-traps. they climb down a well in the middle of town that leads straight to the bubble room

this is when they have the big confrontation with isaak (ep 47 linked above), and in the podcast, it's the first time we actually meet isaak as a character. he is described as idly spinning a Maddock (pickaxe) and smoking a cigarrette (magnus: 'only losers smoke, Isaak!'). they have the same conversation essentially as in the GN, though taako (badly) tries to bluff that he's also a sheriff using his plastic sheriff's badge (isaak doesn't fall for it). that distraction lets magnus try to pop the bubble, but a quick-draw contest between magnus and isaak goes to isaak, who draws his wand from its holster (!! cool!!) and shoots lightning at magnus, but taako is able to cast bigby's hand & sneak the chance lance into popping the bubble while roswell tackles isaak. it's extremely cool. they don't go to initiative, it's resolved in a series of contests - in order to do anything, you have to win a quick-draw with the sheriff, and he's mighty quick. understandably this does not translate to the GN but it's an incredibly cool mechanic.

some of the conversation they have before popping the bubble in the GN happens post-bubble in the podcast but who cares lets get to the good stuff

Ch. 112

the format of the flashbacks in the podcast is a bit different - the boys hadn't really established a lot of backstory for their characters at this point in the podcast, or hadn't solidified it (magnus is a notable exception, but they still hadn't gone into a lot of detail with him). griffin spends each section with just that player - for merle's section, it's just clint and griffin, etc.

they talk about the character's life as a whole, as june/the cup goes through their memories, searching for the one thing that they would most like to change. needless to say, much longer and more detailed than they had time to put in the GN. here's the episode and transcript if you wanna see more.

in all three scenes (with all three players), june notices a huge chunk of static in their memories, as well as bits and pieces static throughout their lives, especially earlier times. she remarks on the oddness of it, that all three of them are missing a big length of time from their memories. that's what the static in the background of the memories in the GN represents (I assume). taako especially has a lot of static in his childhood.

there's several easter eggs in these memories, all of them very spoilery - I'll put them at the bottom with other spoiler-y bits

merle's scene is completely different, as noted in the beginning. I really like how they re-contextualized merle leaving his family. in the podcast it was kind of a running joke that turned serious later on (this show has a lot of those iykyk)

taako's roadside assistant assassin is called "Sazed" in the podcast. apparently they changed it to "Phillipe" bc justin named him after a character called Sazed from the Mistborn series, and they didn't want to chomp Mistborn's flavor in their published novel.

fun little fact: taako had been under the impression that the elderberries he used as a garnish got confused with deadly nightshade and that's how the poisoning happened. like we know in the GN that he's finding out about Sazed Phillipe's betrayal and the real source of the poison for the first time now but I don't think we know about the berries. it also recontextualizes the elderflower macarons from first ep of CK

magnus' scene is as heartwrenching as ever. the only big change is that in the pod, magnus isn't leaving to go to a meeting, he's leaving to go to the "Continental Craftsman Showcase" to enter his gorgeous black oak lavender smelling chair for consideration to win the title "Master Craftsman". he takes the chair with him of course so in the podcast it survived. i wonder if he still has it?

ch. 113

this sort of conversation with the cup happens before the individual scenes in the podcast. there's also the aforementioned extended-old-lady-de-aging which they very understandably cut. the cup promises to let june go and go quietly as long as it can be allowed to make its pitch to each of them, and it does.

fun fact: in a TTAZZ, griffin mentioned that he fully expected magnus to take the cup, and had a whole side-arc planned for if he did.

also look. this isn't technically canon, but I know in my heart that podcast taako did not have a therapist at this point in time. mostly based on vibes but also based on Events that happen later.

taako also takes his offer in a much more 'humor to cope with life-changing news' way - "as it turns out, remember the thing that I've spent so long feeling kind of bad about? Not super bad but, like, pretty darn bad? Get this - not my fault!"

magnus also starts off the discussion with a 'I'm not going to judge either of you for taking the cup if you do' which is excellent but I understand and agree with the way it goes in the GN. both travis and magnus were Crying (understandable)

bc of the whole HTBG plot change where Kurtz doesn't exist, the phandalin haverdale offer is done a bit differently - in the podcast, it offers to let them kill Kurtz, in the GN it offers to let them keep the phoenix fire gauntlet away from gundren bogard. also, the boys continue to lean hard into 'humor to cope with terrifying situation' in the podcast, and the cup is Not into it - as revenge for how unseriously they seem to be taking its offer, it shows them a bunch of scenes of the people of phandalin haverdale just going about their lives, and then being incinerated. she does also show them barry bluejeans, who in the podcast is just trying to get people to safety.

ch 114 (worm time)

one kinda rough thing is that june doesn't really get any lines in the GN. in the podcast she talks about how the worm situation happened, and makes magnus promise not to kill the purple worm since she's just a mama protecting her babies. well, they sure don't kill the purple worm!

she also has an interaction with isaak where he's like whispering to the boys "i don't think i can get her to come with me i mean i killed her dad" (the boys suggest ice cream) and june just goes [direct quote] "alright, come on. let's go, dummy."

roswell literally just goes over to the minecarts on their own and says [direct quote] "I'm gonna lead the worm away from the city. You three are more than welcome to join me if you want." an icon and a legend

in the podcast taako casts 'shatter' to get the worms attention, and merle ALMOST casts what might have been his most competent spell in the campaign, Geas, but the fucking worm rolled a nat 20 wisdom save. i'm never forgetting this, and now neither will you.

the GN worm fight goes about the same as the podcast, with aforementioned junebug differences, and also in the podcast magnus throws his collection of arms at the worm to try to slow it down. it helps a little but not much. also they probably want him to still have his collection of arms for the future, and they haven't emphasized it as much in the GN.

Ch 115

so the order of things is switched in the podcast vs GN. in the GN, we have the fast-forwarding of Refuge and all the lovely goodbyes first, and then the red robe shows up. in the podcast, immediately after they exit the bubble, the red robe freezes time to have a conversation with them. their conversation with the red robe is actually almost completely different, up until the red robe breaks down. in the podcast they're less antagonistic and don't really mention the connection with refuge - they mostly just respond to the questions the red robe asks. in the GN, they go on the offensive almost immediately, and do some interrogation of their own.

idk if 'deus ex nasty boys' is supposed to replace 'tres horny boys' but i can't help but notice the latter hasn't appeared yet.

in the podcast, paloma's final prophecy says "man wreathed in flames" instead of "hero wreathed in flames" I have a suspicion as to why this was changed and I am excited and terrified.

as mentioned before, in the podcast june gives magnus a scroll with old blueprints for the statue in the center of town where you can see everyone's face instead of jack's sketchbook. the red robe does speak in magnus' head when he gets the scroll, but doesn't actually appear. also magnus looks at the scroll immediately after the red robe tells him not to (of course), and griffin literally says "uh we'll unpack what you see later we got more scenes to do before then". personally I'm excited to see where they go with this, the blueprints were basically just one mind-bending image, but a sketchbook can really tell a story.

there's not a lot of mention of isaak after the 7 years. he's a bit more of a heel in the podcast, like he wants to be a better person but he's also done a bunch of bad shit, and we focus more on June than on any redemption arc of his.

in the podcast, before leaving, the boys go to visit the temple of istus. not much occurs, they get to see Redman and Luca (no longer a skeleton), some candles are blown out ominously, but one of my favorite audio goofs happens. merle offers the root beer barrels cassidy gave him to istus, leaving them on her altar, and on the wind an ethereal voice says "yuck". merle goes to take them back and she goes, in the same whisper "no, leave them. maybe I can clean them off"

the same kids who made the clay statues at the edge of town are making one of roswell in the center and they (as just a bird now) show back up to be nice and alive and free and ready to go fly around and see the world. magnus mentions the moonbase as a potential place to visit and taako's like yeah cause birds regularly fly to the moon and magnus is like it's not the REAL moon and I mention this because of this wonderful line roswell says "So maybe one day I'll try to fly to the moon, and I'll see you there."

in giving ren the diploma from taako's amazing school of magic, taako also gives her the gustmaster 5000 (which I don't think he has in the GN bc it doesn't really do much), which creates a minor plot hole bc he sells it back to garfield in a later episode. i guarantee this will never come up in the GN.

in the podcast, the red robe conversation starts with them asking 'did you get the cup? what did you change?' and they're like nothing and the red robe is like 'i'm so proud of you i was worried this one would go sideways' and they are very confused and are like 'tf? you're the bad guy?' and red robe is like 'what? who told you that?' and they're like 'literally everyone' and the red robe is like 'anyway do you trust me?' and they're like fuck no and then the red robe breaks down

the main difference is that in the podcast it's described as red lightning crackling out from the red robe as they lose composure. merle has to dodge one of these lightning bolts. in the GN it's more like they're glitching out. their voice also changes in the pod - griffin describes it as "it doesn't sound like it's sounded every other time that he's spoken to you. Like, it sounds like a guy's voice." the voice griffin does for The Red Robe is very spooky hissy whispery, but the voice he does here sounds like a slightly gravelly middle-aged man from NYC. it says "Lup. They don't trust me. I can't do it anymore, Lup. I'm sorry."

the red robe is able to get it together though, and leaves the boys with the message ' The next time we meet, I will need you to trust me, completely and absolutely. Otherwise, all of this will have been for nothing. The Hunger is almost here. And when it arrives, this world will be lost.'

we don't have time to unpack all of that bc then time unfreezes and the red robe is gone.

in the podcast justin/taako doesn't (verbally) recognize the red robe saying "Lup" [pronounced 'loop'] as being connected to the letters L U P getting blasted into the wall. meanwhile in the GN, we the audience can easily recognize the red robe's "Lup" as being connected to the (properly capitalized) "Lup" burned into the wall, bc it's the same letters and we're reading them, not listening to them. no pronunciation = no room for miscommunication. audio medium vs visual medium make for fascinating differences in the Lup mystery.

ch 116

merle writing the letter to his kids is new (in this scene) originally he was just stargazing when the stars wink out.

taako cooking for Kravitz in this scene is new and very welcome. originally the scene ended after taako responding to "you've added quite a bit to your death count" with "that one's on me"

I want to add some of the descriptions of these scenes since they're just so iconic. (transcript) (episode)

Griffin describing Magnus seeing himself in the sketchbook/scroll

"And there’s something strange about the parchment inside of this tube, which is that you can see it. You can see what’s on it. But when you try to draw conclusions based on what you see, when you try to understand what it is you’re seeing, your mind turns to static. And it’s an incredibly uncomfortable sensation."

"...in this sketch, in this earlier sketch, Jack and June look exactly the same, but the Red Robe’s hood is pulled down. And you can see his face. And… it’s an incredibly familiar face, Magnus. Because it’s your face. This figure in this red robe, is you."

Griffin describing the stars winking out

"...you’re laying on the grass and there’s a small bed of flowers actually growing up where your soulwood arm is laying on the grass. Um, and you’re looking up at the stars, which you’re known to do sometimes, and the elevation of the headquarters gives you sort of an unparalleled view of. So you often look up at the stars, but tonight as you are laying out and looking upward, you feel like there are fewer stars in the sky, than there usually are when you do your stargazing. And as you just sort of intently watch the sky to try to confirm that, to try to count them, you see it, undeniably: a star winks out, right in front of your eyes."

just for funsies: the original map of Refuge griffin made for fans and players alike to reference!

SPOILERS BELOW SPOILER-Y SPECULATION ALERT

pg 137 way in the back - is that Good Ice?

171 'a community can't survive in isolation like this' yup just like a plane can't survive cut off from the bonds of all the other planes 0.0

237 BATTLEAXE PROFICIENCY sorry im still not over it. also merle studying plants to be botanist and healer in the ipre! and also to be nasty

238 the memory of him on a beach alone just staring at the sand carrying huge backpack - is that how lucretia left him?

239 i love how they handled this, because there is something huge missing from his life, even if he doesn't know what it is. he's missing a century of memories and a core aspect of his identity. along with the self-loathing remark, it really contextualizes merle leaving his wife & kids in a more serious and complicated way

243 heartbreaking static aside, I think we have an appearance of the famous Taako's Aunt Who Taught Him Cooking! hell yeah! it looks like she's teaching them magic too, and all the stuff he's shown doing is right next to something fiery - he puts out a fire with water, he creates a flower while his aunt is creating fire, he's sitting around a campfire. they put a lil lup in each memory without putting lup in the memory girl im sobbing

bonus content for those who read the taz: the 11th hour graphic novel and haven’t listened to the podcast arc

disclaimer: so. I lost my book about ¼ of the way into this post. so the rest of it is just from memory (I did finish reading it several times, I just no longer have it to refer to). I wanted to post this before the next one comes out though, so here we are. If I find my book, I will attempt to finish up the details for the rest of the book. I cover some basic big things from memory, but nowhere near as detailed as the stuff I wrote down when I had the book to refer to. but in the meantime…let’s go!

by god they’ve done it again. 11th hr is a Lot and definitely the most plot-heavy book so far, PLUS they had to include the first lunar interlude where the boys had individual scenes. the result is frankly beautiful. we’re really hitting critical mass now.

as a result a lot more stuff got compressed, cut, changed, or skipped. i’m going to try to at least point out each difference, though there’s no way I could summarize EVERYTHING that got cut in one post. I’m going to be linking relevant episodes (& transcripts thank u tazscripts) instead, for things that are Just Too Much to include.

as always, this post is intended to be Fun and Cool Bonus Content for people who haven’t listened to the podcast, not a manifesto of stuff they “should have” included or a list of flaws. they had 11+ hours of content to squish into one graphic novel, that happened over a period of months. of course stuff got cut. and it’s stuff that was recorded in 2016. that’s eight years ago. of course some things are going to change.

tl;dr - I liked the dang book. you can be sad something wasn’t in the novel while still understanding why it isn’t. here is a list of the stuff that was changed, skipped, compressed, or cut, presented as cool facts & extra info for gn fans who haven’t listened to the podcast.

spoilers ahoy for the 11th hour, but I’ll try to keep spoilers for the rest of the series to a minimum or at least mark them clearly. At the very end I’m going to put a section of series-spoiler theories and observations, very clearly marked

Keep reading

[beacon-lamp]

with hermitcraft season 7 slowly coming to an end, i figured it was time to consolidate all of the Informative Posts about hermitcraft that i and some of the other members of hermitblr have made over the last several months.

if you enjoy:

minecraft youtube content, but want to see more traditional vanilla minecraft gameplay like building and redstone

fun, lighthearted interactions between genuine friends including Elaborate pranks, collaborating on massive projects, light roleplay, proximity voice chat mod

weekly 20 - 40 minute long youtube videos and consistent upload schedules

chill grind stream weekends where CCs interact with chat and each other

an entire youtube channel dedicated to weekly 20-minute recap videos on what all the hermits have been up to so you don’t have to piece it together from the posts on your dash/timeline

insanely talented people who have been doing mcyt for nearly, if not more than, a decade and essentially built minecraft youtube from the ground up

give hermitcraft a try!  

you will find all of the information you will Ever Need below the cut.  it’s Very Long so view it on desktop.

and if you ever have any more questions, just shoot me an ask :)

what is hermitcraft?

the Basics: what, who, where, how

more details on the Basics

bonus: the historical impact many hermitcraft members have had on mcyt

where do i even start watching?

start with grian.

good mix of Incredible builds and fun server shenanigans.  instigator of many server-wide events.  interacts with many other hermits.  generally entertaining to watch.  but zero redstone knowledge.

check out hermitcraft recap.

great way to be introduced to other hermits and learn what everyone’s up to.  if you find what a hermit’s been working on interesting, go watch their video and maybe give them a like and subscribe.

official hermitcraft website with links to every member’s channel

more information on every hermit’s attributes and general vibes

do hermits every stream?

short answer: yes, most do!  but these streams are mostly chill grinding or buildling streams.  and you don’t have to watch the streams to be caught up on content.  check the official hermitcraft website for each member’s twitch links.

long answer that covers most of the hermits

what do they do on hermitcraft?

let’s start with some examples of their incredible builds.

hermit cribs: some of the megabases in s7

goodtimeswithscar’s s7 magical village with shaders

stressmonster’s bakery and ren’s star wars world

Capitalism

they have a shopping district where hermits can set up shops and sell items and resources that other hermits can buy with diamonds.  here’s season 7 shopping district set on a mooshroom island:

some of the most advanced redstone you’ve ever seen

if you’re more into the technical side of minecraft, you can be rest assured that hermitcraft has some of the Biggest Brains in redstone.

tangotek: a fucking madlad.  Singled-handedly created the minigame Decked Out.  im Begging you to watch his tutorial video on how to play.  currently finishing up his Among Us but in minecraft minigame. all of this was built Entirely in survival vanilla minecraft.  get this man to 1M subscribers.

mumbo jumbo: the man himself.  built a 128 x 128 block industrial district in both season 6 and 7 packed to the Brim with mechanical farms.  half the brain behind the masterpiece of engineering that was Sahara in season 6.  currently working on Pacific, the sequel to Sahara, in season 7.

iskall85: the other half of the brain behind Sahara and working on Pacific with mumbo in season 7.  also has an industrial district like mumbo’s in season 7.

xisuma: built an automatic potion brewer in the second half of season 7.  this thing churns out potions by the Shulker Box.  can also turn a shulker box full of potions into splash potions and extend duration all with a press of a button.

impulseSV: incredible example of form + function.  farms are scattered throughout his base.  he has a farm for nearly every farmable resource in vanilla minecraft.

etho: the pioneer of some of the most widely used redstone mechanisms to date.  content isn’t super redstone-focused.  mostly does compact modules that serve a specific function.

zedaph: makes strange contraptions.  he’s basically if grian knew how to redstone.  impeccable vibes and fairly underrated.

bdoubleo100: he occassionally does this segment called “redstone with bdubs” and it’s the only redstone i understand so that’s why he’s here.

what about roleplay?  and lore?  

yeah they have Plenty of that too.  

it generally comes in the form of self-contained storylines that involve most members on the server and take place over the course of several weeks in multiple videos.  it’s fairly light roleplay, if that’s not your thing.  but the plotlines also have a Massive Potential to be angsty and whatnot if you really look into it, which a lot of people also do.

here’s a more in-depth look into the Major Plotlines over the last 2 seasons (season 6 and 7).  huge spoiler warning though.

um also there’s this post that highlights how truly cursed hermitcraft can be if you dig deep enough hahaha.

so do the hermits only make hermitcraft content?

nope!!  many of them are involved in other mcyt content as well and are friends with other prominent members of the mcyt community!!  

MCC

mcc9 blue bats video essay: the time the hermit team won the whole damn competition.  a wonderfully made video worth Every second of your time.  especially if you don’t typically watch the hermit teams.

falsesymmetry: mcc10 ace and mcc’s First Back-to-Back Winner

lord grian dreamslayer: that time grian Popped Off, killing dream, tubbo, and fundy in mcc9 survival games

Vault Hunters

a modded minecraft server coded entirely by iskall85′s team.  all the content is streamed live on twitch.  

current members are: Iskall85, AntonioAsh, Stressmonster101, HBomb94, CaptainSparklez, Fundy, CaptainPuffy, 5UP and Tubbo

more info on the series 

3rd Life SMP

hardcore minecraft server with a twist that started on 4/20/21.  all content is posted to each member’s respective youtube channels.

every member has 3 lives, as indicated by the color of their name: green for 3 lives left, yellow for 2, red for 1.  if they lose all three lives, they can only spectate the world (like in hardcore mode).  the series ends when all members have lost all three lives.

the twist: once a member is on their 3rd and final life, as indicated by a red name, they are Hostile and their goal is to take the lives of the remaining players.

the members (hermits are italicized): BdoubleO100, bigbst4tz2, Etho, GoodTimesWithScar, Grian, impulseSV, InTheLittleWood, Renthedog, Skizzleman, Smajor1995, Smallishbeans, SolidarityGaming, Tango, ZombieCleo

the tumblr tag for 3rd Life is “#3rdLife”, “#3rdLifeSMP” and “#3LSMP” if you wanna see more content, as it’s Not supposed to be cross-tagged with “#hermitcraft”.

do you have any free serotonin to spare?

here’s a bunch of posts that’ll make you smile

scar’s friendship with a bunch of the hermits

grian, false, cleo, bdubs, iskall: why they deserve so much respect

same post as above but with an addition about ren

small hermit things that give you serotonin

why you should watch tfc

if you’ve made it this far you are Contractually Obligated* to watch one (1) hermitcraft episode and reblog this post.

*for legal reason, this is a joke.  you’re not contractually obligated but consider this: Please. i spent way too much time on this.

shoutout to everyone who’s posts i’ve linked and anyone who has helped answer a question about hermitcraft.  this all started because i was frustrated that people were writing the hermits off as cannon fodder in mcc and im genuinely so glad that many of you have given hermitcraft a shot.

[ettawritesnstudies]

The Avian City

[Image ID: An aesthetic photo of a walkway on the second floor of an open-air ampetheter of some sort. The building is made of stone, on the left is the interior wall, lined with windows, on the right is a low wall/rail with pillars that connect in a vaulted ceiling. The path curves around the building and sunlight streams through. Photo from unsplash. End ID.]

This is just a shameless scenery infodump from Chapter 7 I couldn’t fit into the main recap post. In-story this is broken up by a scene where the kids visit Acheran’s home, but I wanted to feature all of my cool worldbuilding in one post, and the other scene contains spoilers anyhow, so I’m just sharing the cuts here!

The ground smoothly fell out from underneath their feet as they swept higher into the sky at a diagonal, the cords carrying them over the docks, the river, and the cavern dropping under the floor of the gently rocking gondola. Grace practically hung over the edge to watch, but Acheran gently pulled her back to kneel on the benches and dangle her arms over the side. Luca gawked at the scale of it all.

In minutes, they were carried a dozen stories high. The boats became like bath toys, and their cart glided around a pillar and started up, higher again. Columns held up vaulted rooves and pediments, then other buildings rested on top of their neighbors, all carved from the walls of the canyon itself. Natural strata lines of silt deposits, hardened over time, made up the structure of the city and the colorful bands were reflected in the architecture. Browns and reds, oranges and reds, blacks and greys and whites, the sparkle of magic where the residual minerals had been left unmined when the light caught it just right, reflected against the pale blue of the sky and the indigo blue of the river below...

They rose higher, to the top of the cable cars. Even that didn’t reach the very top of the city, where ongoing construction raked the lowest of the clouds and threatened to tear a seam in the Cloak of Daza itself.

The city was made of art as much as it was made of stone. Intricate latticework took the place of whole walls, strategically placed to let in light and cool air. Where there wasn’t enough space for another building to be carved, relief sculptures cut into the stone and made the creatures look alive as the light and shadow danced over the striped and swirled pattern. Equally colorful fabrics fluttered in the breeze as they served as drapes and doors, a pinwheel of richly dyed colors. Flags and banners marked with the city’s official turquoise blue snapped to attention in the wind.

Vaulted ceilings in open forums were painted in fresco, chronicling the history of the people who debated there years before. Acheran pointed out his favorites as they passed. Even after years of living among and touring these spaces with his sister, they still amazed him every time. Luca listened, enraptured as he told the stories, both of the epic myths that were pictured, and the hilarity of the school trips gone wrong.

The engineering was an art of itself. As they rose above the natural cavern walls, the buildings continued higher, built out of the mountain’s material that had been mined to carve out the city below. Block by block, they towered higher than gravity should allow as magical devices reduced the earth’s pull enough for them to stand erect. Tangent to the cable system they rode was another system fitted with buckets and used to haul water from the river to irrigation channels at the top of the city. The buckets dumped out, and water flowed down through a series of waterfalls, filters, troughs, and pipes. They passed around a spigot as the breeze picked up, and the refreshing cool mist clung to Luca’s hair.

They reached the end of the rails and started to climb, hand over foot on the remnants of scaffolding. Once, Acheran even picked Luca up and flew him across a gap. Intense vertigo hit as the flight propelled them even higher. Finally, they reached a platform, and panting, Luca pulled himself up and laid down flat on his back to catch his breath. Acheran unfairly alighted with nary a feather out of place, and Luca gave him an exhausted eye roll before sitting up.

When he looked again, the view stole the air out of his lungs. The whole city stretched out beneath them, like a living sculpture, and the human city beyond that, sprawling into the river valley. He could see the arena, the temples, the Atilan place. He traced along the streets but lost the route to his old home in the grand scale of it all. The sun dipped dangerously close to the horizon, lighting the sky on fire and reflecting off the sparkling surface of the ocean. He could see the activity, the milling people and flocking avians going about their business-like ants, but the madness didn’t reach them up here. The sounds were muffled by the whistle of the wind and distance.

The glorious distance.

So, this is what it felt like to be free. Untouched by the stress, unscarred by the past, unseen from his hunters. Above it all, the weights dropped from his shoulders, and he could breathe for the first time he could remember. The air here was actually cold, this high and with the coming night. It pierced at his nose and sent a shock down his spine, shivers sent the hair on his neck and arms stand on end. His magic did not surge or crash or fight to escape, it just pulsed through his veins, warming him again, an unfamiliar but welcome content settling in his stomach.

If only he could stay like this forever.

[indigobackfire]

HPHM April Prompt: Day 7

Prompt # 7 - MC's first kiss

@stupendousbookworm | Uuuhhh, I might have to cheat on this one, because my MC's first kiss was not with her #endgame love interest — spoiler alert, it was with Ben, — but I had written some of this already and it's WAY more exciting. So Barnaby's and Indigo's first kiss together. One day late but I had to do it ;P

An arrogant Gryffindor challenges Barnaby Lee to a fight the old way, and when defending Indigo's honour is more important than keeping himself out of trouble, he can't help himself but accept.

And when amends have to be made, their feelings might come into the light.

Characters: Indigo×Barnaby, Chiara chameo.

Timeline: End of year five-ish — I haven't even got half way through year five so if anything sounds out of place I just haven't been there yet.

Content Warning: Violence, blood.

///

"What did you say about her?" Barnaby asked the cocky Gryffindor one year below them, Derek Vonner. Impressively snob for a muggleborn and infamous for his arrogant attitude.

Indigo and Chiara who were having a chat in the courtyard with Barnaby, and who also overheard the insults shared a look, but before they could say anything, the boy smirked and continued. "I said she's a lunatic and an imbecile." He looked straight at Indigo. "Your cursed vault insanity is bringing all of Gryffindor down, just like your brother did."

Indigo couldn't be bothered, it had been a while since someone had made this big of a fuss about the vaults and her brother, but then again, it wasn't the first time. She was somewhat hurt but not much fazed by it.

Barnaby standed like a wall between them. "Now, you offend her, you offend me."

"Is this a threat?"

"If you want it to be."

Indigo stepped beside the two who were standing face to face. "Guys, please, he might've offended me, but dueling is still prohibited out of the club."

"Please, Barney," Chiara pleaded with her soft voice.

"And I'm still Gryffindor's prefect so-"

"Silencio," Vonner casted nonchalantly with a flick of his wand towards Indigo. "Just shut up, wil you?"

Barnaby became livid in a way nobody, not even the Slytherins, have ever seem him like, gripping the cocky Gryffindor's cardigan by the collar.

While that happened, and more people surrounded them, Chiara undid the silencing charm and made sure she was okay.

"Hey, I still mean it, no dueling!" Indigo shouted once she had her voice back.

"Why don't we resolve this the muggle way then?" Vonner suggested with a smirk.

Not Indigo nor Barnaby had much muggle blood in them, but they both knew what that meant. Chiara scooped closer to Indigo, afraid the boy might pull out a knife or something of sorts, but it was simpler and safer than that.

"Barney, please," Indigo said when she saw the shine in Barnaby's eyes — they were much alike in this aspect, always hungry for a fight.

He handed her his wand. "Hold this for me."

And Vonner imitated the move offering his wand to one of his friends who were laughing excitedly at the scene. He also took off his cardigan and cracked his knuckles to set the mood. Vonner, at least by the looks of it, seemed like he could stand against Barnaby in a fight — reasonably strong and tall.

But too much of a show off or perhaps watched too many fighting movies, as while he bounced around and mumbled threats under his breath, Barnaby punched him cut and clean.

Chiara gasped, but Indigo had to hold back a laugh from how funny and gracious it looked.

But the Gryffindor wouldn't stay down for long, swinging for the first time which Barnaby swerved, then again hitting him on the side of his face making a loud sound when his fist meets his jaw. But it's when Barnaby moved his mandible with a loud crack to get it back in place that everyone cringed.

The Slytherin then smiled in a way that would've fooled even Indigo into thinking he's a wicked boy, raised his eyebrows and while Vonner stepped forward for another punch, Barnaby swerved again, hitting him right on the stomach in a way it pulled sounds of wincing from the small crowd. Vonner curled to his knees with the pain.

"Seems I'm quite good at the muggle wa—"

Vonner thought quick and while Barnaby was distracted, swiped a leg behind his feet and pulled him to fall on his back. Vonner straddles him and begins a punching fest that makes even Indigo's stomach turn.

Barnaby's face became as red as Godric Gryffindor's soul. Covered in blood.

"Is the Silverwood bitch worth the beating, you himbo!?" He shouted at Barnaby's face nearly spitting.

But Lee is stronger and in a single blind punch makes Vonner draw back. With a swift move of his leg, Barnaby inverted the scene and pushed the boy to the ground and punched his ear with force.

Vonner stopped for a moment, holding his ear and writhing in pain and dizziness. Beside Indigo, Chiara moans in agony.

"Make them stop, Indigo. He could've damageed his ear!"

While Chiara's speaking, Vonner reacted and started trying to retaliate without much success. With his face pressed down to the ground, one foot awkwardly kicking Barnaby's leg, there isn't a chance for him. And Indigo knew that Barnaby had the strength to knock him out cold if he wished to — if he loses his control.

"Barnaby!" She shouted.

He looked at her with sweat dripping down his forehead, those tiny green eyes still sparkling. He stepped back leaving room for the boy to sit up, letting down his guns, to which Vonner responds by punching Barnaby straight on the mouth.

And before either of them can do something about it a shout cuts through. "The cat's out of the box!" Which every Gryffindor knows, McGonagall is making her way there.

And while most rush to get themselves as far away from the confusion as possible, the three friends stand there frozen. Vonner stumbles his way out of the courtyard followed by his friends, and despite his terrible attitude, Chiara can't shut down the healer inside her.

"You mind if I go check on the boy?" She asks Indigo hastly. "I know you can take care of Barnaby but those idiots... I wanna check if his hearing is okay, he could've hurt his eardrum."

"No problem and don't worry about us, if needs to see Madam Pomfrey, make sure he does."

Indigo kneels by Barnaby's side while Chiara runs after the others. He's still taking the blow from the punch, his torn lip bleeding — besides his nose and eyebrow.

She runs a thumb over his bruised cheekbone making it dissapear with some magical focus. "You are such an idiot, Barney."

"I've been told that before."

In the low murmur of the courtyard in which people are still watching the two of them from the outskirts, they can hear the tap of McGonagall's heels on the stones getting louder, his eyes widen.

"You are so screw—" she began saying.

But with a single pull, gripping her loose tie, their lips met and with all the adrenaline overflowing in his bloodstream, he couldn't feel a drop of pain, just the ecstasy of finally kissing her. A built up of years, months in which every second counts, but now meant nothing, because he was kissing Indigo bloody Silverwood.

In her stomach, the flutter of wings made her nearly dizzy as his lips move ever so softly over hers, the taste of his blood seeping through when she corresponded, taking the collar of his shirt in a fistfull, a low hum coming from her throat.

It's the third time McGonagall called their names when they finally attended to her angry reprimand. "What on Merlin's name is going on here? And what happened to you, Mr Lee?"

They both raised to their feet.

"I punched him," Indigo spits out.

Minerva's eyes widen. "Wha— Punched him? What for?"

"Because—"

Barnaby wiped the blood off his chin only to create a smear. "I asked her. To punch me. I did. I wanted to see what it felt like. The first times were too weak then I asked her to do it again. She just went a little too hard on the last one, but it's okay," he spoke nearly without a pause.

She looks at Indigo flabbergasted. "Is that it, Miss Silverwood?"

"I didn't mean to hurt him, professor. We're friends after all. We were being idiots to say the least."

"Mr Lee is then sweating like that because?"

They share a look. He shrugged. "Because I'm hot?"

She looked at them more confused than ever before, wondering at what to make out of the scene and their explanation. She scanned the courtyard but everyone was making a not so good job of pretending to mind their own business. Yet people all around watched perplexed, some laughing, some anxious to see what Minerva would do to them.

"And the... public display of... affection? Right here on the open of the courtyard?"

"That's my fault," Barnaby promptly said. "Couldn't help myself."

"Right… I'm not punishing you for the punch as it was… consensual, nor for the kissing as it isn't technically prohibited in school grounds, but for the scene you cause. This is no behavior for a prefect. Specially Gryffindor's prefect."

"I'm sorry, professor. I promise none of the sort will ever happen again."

"I do hope so. Detention tonight for both, I'll send an owl with your due obligations."

"Sorry, professor," Barnaby said, looking down at his feet.

"Sure, Mr Lee, just… clean yourselves up. There's blood all over your faces."

Barnaby raises his head and looked at Indigo's face, his blood on her lips like smudged lipstick, a deep shade of red burning on her cheeks.

***

"Why did you kiss me, Barnaby?"

They had moved away from the crowds, by the edge of the forest, sitting side by side on a stone bigger than an Acromantula. She hadn't gotten news from Chiara, but hoped she had the situation handled or else it would blow on their faces sooner than later.

"So professor McGonagall would think that was what we were doing before," he said proud of himself. "I saw it in a... what did she call? A film Penny showed me over the last school break when I visited London."

She would've been a tad jealous of that if she didn't know Penny's obsession over Skye Parkin which was a bit too intense for just some regular Quidditch supporting.

"Well, that I was kinda aware of, but com'on, Barney. Come clean, what did you really do it for?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"I'm not mad, I just wanna know why."

He looks her in the eyes. "Because I wanted to. I've been meaning to do that for a while. Because I really really like you. For the longest time."

"Me?" He nodded, confused at her confusion. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I tried to show you but you never seemed to notice. Also cause I remember you saying you liked Charlie last year and then you helped Ismelda try to get to me."

She sighed. "I had a crush on Charlie but I kinda gave up on it, everybody knows he only cares about dragons and will probably marry one." He laughs softly. "As for the Ismelda situation… I felt bad for her and she seemed to like you a lot, and maybe on the right occasion you would have liked her too."

"I couldn't like her, not because of anything she is or is not, but cause I liked you."

She stared at him for a moment, her heart racing in her chest making all that silence very loud. She had closed his cuts with her wand, the little crust of dried blood over them as the last sign not to mention the bruise on his jaw, legs and clavicle she wasn't able to vanish entirely due to her nervousness. Still, he continued to look as breathtaking as always.

"If only you had told me," she said finally looking away.

"I was convinced you wanted someone smarter. I'm not the brightest, you know that."

"Since when do you like me?"

He smiles, a faint blush to his cheeks. "Uh… I always had my eye on you. But I guess when you stood up for Ben against Merula our first year. It was so brave. But then she convinced us to hate you, to fight for those stupid vaults. I turned my admiration into anger."

First year, they were kids and she didn't remember much of him from that time except from the sorting hat ceremony and the lake crossing. And the fact that with one look she knew, at that tender age, that he would break many hearts. Sure enough, she was right — didn't expect, though, one of those to be hers.

"Must've been fun to spy on me then," she laughed, nudging his shoulder, "back in the third year. Well, up into the point you straight up told me."

"It was worth it. I did memorize your schedule after a while, better than anything from any class. It was a good excuse for my fixation." He laughed a bit louder. "And when you tried to fool me with your clones?"

She laughed too. "We spent so long on that Polyjuice potion, only for you to ruin it all this quick."

"I could still tell which one was you because… I just knew you." He took her hand in his, much bigger and both warm. "I would still know you with my eyes closed."

She rested her head on his shoulder, solid like bedrock, and held back his hand.

"But then you tried to convince me to leave Merula's side," he continued, "I was the happiest I could've been. I was just playing hard, y'know? You could've convinced me with way less."

"You did tell me your life's story in one sitting over a glass of butterbeer."

"I wanted you to know me. The whole school knew Indigo Silverwood the Hogwarts curse-breaker and how her brother did this and that, and I was so jealous cause I wanted you for myself, to know your secrets and your dreams. When I couldn't have that I chose to give what I wanted from you."

She was one breath away from breaking into tears. "Sometimes I wonder if they love me or hate me."

"Who cares? You know, I was completely fallen when we duelled for the first time. You were so fierce and talented and cunning. I swear I would've won if you hadn't mesmerized me."

And with that she breaks down, she could take the love confession but the correct use of big words to describe how he felt, made her heart go into a pace so fast, her chest was hurting. "This isn't fair!"

"What?" He asked embracing and comforting her.

"That you look so dreamy and that you're telling me all these wonderful things while the only thing I can tell is that I never even tried to approach you that way because I never thought I'd have the chance."

"Why wouldn't you have a chance with me? We've been friends for ages."

"Because you're the most handsome guy in all of Slytherin, not to say the sweetest, most caring, most loyal, the strongest, the kindest, and half the school is in love with you and I'm by far not the best looking one of them nor the most considerate, dragging you all into this cursed vault and R dangers."

Barnaby's stomach is flooded with butterflies at her words, wanting more than anything to melt in her arms.

"I'd go anywhere, fight anything for you. I think you're the prettiest and smartest and my favorite person, I don't know how you didn't see that." He took a deep breath. "Didn't see that... I love you, Indigo."

She looked up at him, his eyes glowing green and wild like the Scottish highlands, cheeks a shade of pink, lips wet and red. She brushes her thumb over them. "Barnaby," she whispered getting closer.

"That's me."

She rested a hand on his shoulder and pulled him nearer until their lips are touching softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. The taste of yearning came clear to her as he pulled her even closer to him, parting his lips, seeping his fingers into her hair, holding her face as if she was water about spill from his palms.

When they parted, both pulling for air, he looked at her like he discovered the answer to a charade, like a niffler before a pot of gold, the way he looked whenever she complimented him. Indigo felt like she did flying on the back of a hippogriff when she looked at Barnaby. That boy, buckwild, alive, beautiful, and in love.

"I love you too," she said without having to think much, because it was true. And one doesn't have to think much to state the skies are blue or the grass is green. She loved him before she could call this love romantic.

He smiled and hugged her to the point of nearly crushing her in his strong arms.

"Oh, okay. Barney, you're stronger than you think, love."

He let her go. "Oh, sorry."

Without thinking much, she ran a hand down his biceps which gave him tingles in his stomach. "Poor Vonner to be on the other side of your fist."

He crossed his arms. "Pfft. I don't like hurting people, but I was over my head and he deserved it."

"Let's leave him behind us." She took his hand and uncrossed his arm. "Perhaps we should go out some time."

"Tonight," he responds automatically with a smile.

"We have detention tonight, B."

"Oh, yeah. We can have a detention date then. A datention."

She snickered. "Alright. Anywhere we're together is the best place I could ever be."

[briarlovesclara]

Dream SMP Canonical Lives

A guide by... me!

Spoilers below the cut!

Please note that some of these are contested or unknown. If you have new information please let me know. All information is from my knowledge and the Dream SMP Wiki. The below is sorted via how many lives a character have.

THIS IS ALL /RP.

3 LIVES:

George

Callahan

Sapnap

Alyssa [presumed, inactive]

Sam 

Punz

Purpled

Eret

Niki

HBomb

Technoblade [used a Totem of Undying during the Butcher Army execution]

Puffy

Vikkstar [inactive]

LazarBeam [inactive]

Ranboo

Hannah

Charlie [somewhat inactive]

Michael

2 LIVES:

Fundy [killed by George in the Final Control Room]

Skeppy [killed by BadBoyHalo in the Egg Room]

Quackity [killed by Technoblade during the aftermath of the Butcher Army execution. Though accounts varied at first, was not killed by Technoblade at the Manberg Festival.]

Karl [died during a planned explosion to frame Eret and start a war between the Dream SMP and Mexican L’manberg. Has ‘died’ multiple times during Tales from the SMP, but not in his canonical timeline.]

Antfrost [killed by Puffy at the Red Banquet]

Foolish [killed by Antfrost at the Red Banquet. Semi-immortal.]

1 LIFE: 

Dream [killed twice by Tommy during the Final Disc Confrontation]

Tubbo [killed in the Final Control Room by Sapnap and the at the Manberg Festival by Technoblade]

Philza

Connor [unknown death, killed by Foolish and Ranboo. Whether these are truly canon is unclear.]

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES/DEAD:

Sam Nook [mortality unconfirmed]

BadBoyHalo [lives connected to Skeppy. Unclear whether he lost one when Skeppy died.]

Tommy [killed in the Final Control Room, in the Duel for L’manberg’s Independence, and in Pandora’s Vault, all three times as a result of Dream. Revived by Dream. Canon lives unknown.]

Wilbur [killed in the Final Control Room and during the escape from L’manberg by Punz and after the Manberg vs. Pogtopia War by Philza. Revived by Dream. Canon lives unknown.]

Ghostbur [ghost; however, is in Wilbur’s limbo and was transported there by Dream, though whether the method involves ‘killing’ him is unknown.]

JSchlatt [killed by Technoblade during the Manberg Festival, Quackity during his presidency, and a heart attack during the Manberg vs. Pogtopia War. Considered canonically dead, though Glatt (a ghost version of him) hangs around and whether some of his deaths count as canon have been debated before.]

Jack Manifold [killed by Wilbur during the Manberg vs. Pogtopia War, Tommy during Exile, and Technoblade during the Doomsday War. The validity of these in canon is somewhat shaky, but the content creator has based a large portion of his character arc on these occurring and around the fact that the game glitched him ‘into hell’ after his third death. Both the creator and character claim that he crawled out of hell.]

Mexican Dream [killed by a zombie, by being shot, and by Dream during Exile.]

[histrionic-dragon]

End of Leverage Season Four

The Radio Job

Parker, then Eliot, stepping up to talk through the plan when Nate’s gone.  :)  They’re all comfortable leading the room now and I love it.

Eliot lecturing the goons! He really compulsively complain-teaches to everyone, doesn’t he.

Hardison is having fun with all the random stuff in the patent warehouse. (LATER: So is Parker! And not Hardison’s not. But cool stuff.)

...Is Eliot mostly letting these guys beat him up? He didn’t know they were loose. On the other hand, it really sells it to the FBI guy.  --Oh, he totally was. Heh.

Exploding Christmas lights! So “radio play” is exactly what it sounds like, but given that Nate assigned it to Hardison and Parker, it’s also got elements of Home Alone in it. Got it.  -- Aw, why did they kill the robot butler? Boo.

FBI guy is having fun with this role.

Oh, Nate’s dad. He summoned people! With talk radio!

Doctor Who music! “Bowties are cool!” Ahahaha. I see you, Hardison. Also, I would love a time travel episode of this show.  --Given that he got that bowtie from somewhere in the patent warehouse, I’m assuming it’s some kind of device. What kind of device is it?

More explicit spoilers and bad news below the cut.

Oh no! The barrels will explode, right?  ....*Sniff* Being melodramatic to the extreme is clearly a Ford family trait. Right to the end.  No.  :(

Oooh, and Nate’s hurt, but he’s mad.

~~~

(I guess the bow tie was just a bow tie.)

The Last Dam Job

In which Nate basically says, “Hello. My name is Nathan Ford. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

“My team! I know who they are!” --No, he knows who they were. They have all changed. And I don’t just mean that Parker can grift now, although that matters too--I mean they are different people because of each other, and they will make different choices and act differently under pressure, and he does not know them that way.

Parker in a short dark wig! Huh. That really changes her look a lot. (Clearly I’d be an easy mark.)

Oh crap. Latimer’s trying to get them all. But Parker brought a rig, because she’s the best. “Whee hee hee heeeee!” “Where’s Parker?” (Parker, on top of the van) “You heard the man! GO!”

“He upped the crazy. I didn’t think he could do that.”

Dubenich--how will they hurt him? He’s in prison. --Oh. He’s out again.

“Someone we don’t trust.” I thought Sterling, but Quinn--huh. Oh, Eliot’s having fun with this “job offer” negotiation/beating people up thing.

Parker and Archie! “This is my daughter.” Aww! <3  (Also, I can just imagine later: “Dad, did you have an affair? Do you have a secret other family?”  “Oh, no. I simply have a secret life. You see, I am a thief, and she’s my protege.”  “OK, early stages of dementia, you should really consider that assisted living place.”)

Aaaand Chaos. Asshole.

“This is it,” he says like a cheerful tourist to the squad of armed goons.

They left whatever’s on the board on purpose, right.

BATCAVE! And they still have the portrait!

Let Archie fuck Chaos up.

“Can I hit him?” “Which one?” “Either one.” “See, it’s not just me.”

Eliot and Hardison are a distraction. I see. Nice.

“I don’t know how Eliot does this.” (i.e., not kill the annoying hacker)

Are those those balls that absorb water? Are they--are they toilet clogging  the dam?   --Oh no! Spreading invasive species! That’s bad, guys. Yes, screw Dubenich, but not the planet.

“At least your muscle guy had an exit”--yeah, because Eliot is better!

Hardison calling Archie “sir”--being nice to his girlfriend’s dad. :) And Chaos is being an ass about it.  TASE HIM! WHOO!

“This must be how Eliot feels all the time. I just wanna hit something.”

He didn’t blow up the real sword--he’s using it to cut cake instead. Archie, you mad goof. Definitely see how he and Parker are family. (She was probably always like that, but he’s the type who appreciates that.)

Lovely moment with Eliot and Nate. I...I have thoughts about this, about how Eliot sees his role on the team and the scope of what protecting people means, that I will probably put in a separate, much  shorter post.

“Who are you?”  “Well, I’m definitely not Eliot.”  --And Eliot tackles Dubenich.

Oh, Quinn tossed Eliot the gun to do his thing! --Wait. Whoa, oh, Eliot. You don’t have to protect your people this much. Poor man.

If Dubenich has any brains, he understands now that they’re not ‘his’ team. That Eliot wouldn’t consider shooting someone to save someone on his team from doing that themselves. They matter to each other and it has changed them.

Eliot and Quinn are friends. That surprises me, but it’s fun. It also explains all the Eliot/Quinn fanfics I’ve been seeing that I assumed were written directly after the Season One finale, when a new character was introduced and then there was no new content, so people just went nuts shipping Eliot with the one dude who almost beat him up. This makes more sense.

...So, either Dubenich genuinely surprised Sophie, or she was expecting him and planted something on him and/or Latimer and that was the whole point.  Maggie! OK, that’s even better than planning to get caught. I love that she and Sophie are friends. Nate clearly doesn’t....heh heh heh. They can roast him even more now.

No one noticed that all the stuff Parker took wasn’t in the vault when they went and stuck the (fake) sword in there? Hmm. Well, they were in an awful hurry.

“I do care.” “How does that feel?” “Weird. But I’m getting used to it.” <3 <3 <3

And right after that, Parker is the one who tells Nate that they have each other’s backs. Not Sophie, not Hardison--not Eliot, he’s already said his piece--Parker. They. change. each. other.

Is the dam going to collapse?

Where’d Latimer come from? Was he ever really in the Cayman Islands?

What’s Nate trying to do? I am not sure he’s really planning to kill either of them. Is he trying to get them to confess and record it? Or does he also really not know what he’s going to do?

“My son would be ashamed of me if I killed anyone.  --My father, on the other hand, would buy me an ice cream.” And then he looks over and--his family, the one he has now, they wouldn’t want him to kill anyone. They’re watching.

They both fall. Not too surprised.

“Two words. Eliot signal.”

[nobodywritesthings]

Some more random bits of trivia about With Great Power

Part 1

Might as well just… put this here.  Spoilers below!  I ended up talking a lot about the villain side of things.

All for One uses a quirk he refers to as “Clothing Swap” to replace Izuku’s hero gear in Chapter 1.  For some random reason, I made a description of the quirk that ended up in my notes, though it never became relevant again.  Here it is: Clothing Swap: The target may have any article(s) considered to be “worn” swapped with any other article(s) the user has seen them wear previously. The user may choose themselves as a target. The swap may be uneven - a hat can be swapped for a full outfit, leading to someone really overdressed, or a full outfit for a hat, leading to the opposite - but “nothing” is not an option for either side of the swap. Objects in pockets or similar places of holding may be transferred into similar places in the new outfit, if available; otherwise they will stay with the clothing they were originally in. See that part about the user needing to see the target wearing the clothes previously?  All for One’s been stalking, and Izuku would’ve been able to guess almost immediately if he heard the details of that quirk.

Speaking of my notes, I tend to name the random fic ideas I write down in order to keep them easy to reference in my notes (or head).  I don’t always use those names for the finished product.  I liked the reference to the quote, “With great power comes great responsibility”, that I ended up going with for WGP’s story/chapter titles; but I actually came up with that theme after the majority of the fic was done.  For most of the writing process, I kept it filed under “Kingmaker AU”.

All for One’s threats to Izuku in the first chapter were something of a bluff.  If Izuku refused to listen, All for One would’ve been in quite a pinch - he certainly didn’t want to kill or Noumufy Izuku, and he had the feeling that “lock him in a vault and make him listen” wouldn’t work any better here than it did with his brother.  He did have other plans in case getting Izuku to agree to parley failed, but he was massively relieved when it worked.  (Izuku’s threat in Chapter 10, on the other hand, was definitely not a bluff.)

Gigantomachia saw the resemblance between Izuku and All for One the moment Izuku opened his mouth - not just in the contents of Izuku’s self-introduction, but Izuku’s voice itself.  As seen in canon, he has a very dramatic emotional reaction to hearing All for One’s voice; and while Izuku’s isn’t an obvious match, he could hear similar notes.  This was helped by the fact that Izuku was very tired and decided to start making threats, and was consciously using All for One as a model for those.  Gigantomachia’s easy initial acceptance of Izuku was mostly down to this (”He speaks with the voice of my Master”).  Of course, Izuku’s speech about not proving himself to everyone who asked did make something of an impression on its own merits.

As for the rest of the villains, Shigaraki and Kurogiri were the only ones close enough to All for One to notice Izuku’s resemblance to him (or care; if Dabi had any suspicions, he kept them to himself).  It took a few days after Izuku was left with the dictatorship for Shigaraki.  Kurogiri, on the other hand, noticed years ago - but decided it wasn’t his place to wonder about it, so he didn’t.

None of the villains guessed that Izuku was a close relative of All for One’s.  They all thought, at best, that he was some distant relative who All for One had taken an interest in and who happened to suit his plans.  They were immensely surprised by All for One’s choice of successor.

Shigaraki and Kurogiri got emails after All for One disappeared, too, not just Izuku.  All for One drafted them beforehand, as well as a few alternate versions for theoretical scenarios that didn’t happen.  Shigaraki’s gave him some sarcastic advice on how to make nice with the new Overlord, which worked surprisingly well.  Kurogiri’s included advice on Izuku’s preferred coffee brands, which also worked surprisingly well.

All for One had discussed a few things with Gigantomachia beforehand and so didn’t bother with an email - namely along the lines of, “I’m planning to make someone else the Supreme Overlord in my place.  Do what you want, but your life will be short and painful if he doesn’t stay in one piece.”

Shigaraki and Kurogiri spent most of their free time after All for One disappeared trying to track him down.  Izuku won their loyalty over time - or more accurately, having gainful employment and being surrounded by decent people while trying his best to behave himself helped Shigaraki feel less inclined toward villainy, and Kurogiri appreciated being given a fair chance at all.  However, Shigaraki in particular had many questions for All for One, and Kurogiri followed his lead.  Gigantomachia them helped out for a while, until…

Gigantomachia saw Izuku’s “father’s” signature, and realized he might’ve accidentally stumbled upon a secret that All for One would be happy to kill half of Japan over.  He smartly refrained from telling the other two, and pulled back somewhat on his assistance in their search.

When Gigantomachia met “Hisashi” in person for that trip to America, he sent a panicked text to Shigaraki that he wasn’t offering any more help and that they should stop going behind Izuku’s back if they truly valued their lives and limbs intact.  This sparked their decision to bring their research to Aizawa while Izuku was away.  Yagi’s assumption that they were afraid of Izuku’s reaction was entirely legitimate, but that wasn’t the full reason for their choice of timing.

One more note about Gigantomachia: When Izuku had his panic attack in Chapter 5, the reason Yagi showed up was because Gigantomachia made a beeline for his office and told him that the Supreme Overlord needed his help.  Yagi ran.

I honestly didn’t expect for the villains to take up so much of the fic (or this trivia).  I also was hoping to have more of Aizawa and Class 1-A in the story.  But since criminal rehabilitation ended up being such a focus, the villains ended up being particularly relevant.  I’m still a tiny bit annoyed about it.

How much did Inko know about Hisashi?  He tried to give her a similar story to the one he gave Izuku once he returned.  However, she knew him and his views well enough that she managed to get out of him that he wasn’t “working with villains” entirely under duress, and that he had done a few things to earn the enmity of “people who were after him”.  She was surprised when Izuku made All for One tell her the truth about his villain identity, but less than Izuku expected.

I don’t usually have soundtracks for my writing - I’ll put on whatever music I feel like listening to, or even nothing, depending on my mood.  However, for Chapter 10, I wrote most of it while listening to “Devastation and Reform” by Relient K on repeat.  I think it fits the self-inflicted tragedy that is All for One’s existence pretty well, and helped me capture the right tone for his side of the story.

Alright, a cheerier note is in order.  Originally, Chapter 6 (now the Social Media Chapter) was an utter slog of exposition that made me despair.  I ended up scrapping it and rewriting it as a social media interlude that communicated the stuff I wanted it to communicate, but I ended up cutting along with it a draft of the scene Hatsume’s video refers to.  Y’know, the one where Izuku sets an attempted assassin on fire.  It was indeed accidental - she was hounding Izuku to let her make the perfect Supreme Overlord outfit, and had shoved an ordinary-looking watch at him when the assassins showed up.  He threw the watch at one of them and it exploded.  Hatsume got yelled at by a tired Izuku afterward for endangering the paperwork he’d have to fill out all over again.

In the Discord conversation where I mentioned the initial concept of this fic, someone proposed a scenario in which Izuku starts crying in the middle of the UN because some representative was being an asshole about how Japan was being handled, and then everyone else would jump in to go, “Nice going, Rick, you ruined a perfectly good Supreme Overlord, now he has anxiety.”  I therefore decided that I would indeed make Izuku cry at the UN.  This was how the UN chapter came to exist.  Of course, in my version, the tears were because of the support Izuku got, and the good guy was named Rick.

Izuku setting someone on fire was also a concept I got from my favorite Discord server.  Several other people had Izuku setting people on fire in their stories.  I decided to join them.

Finally… you know how I abbreviated “Supreme Overlord” to “S.O.”?  Yes, I’m aware that the abbreviation usually stands for “Significant Other”, and I decided to go with it because I thought it was funny.  And a good way to embarrass Izuku even further.

I think that got all the major trivia and a few minor bits too.  Though I probably can dig out other things from my brain if people have questions; my askbox is open.  Otherwise, I’ve got a new prospective writing project in the concept stage, so I’ll switching mental gears off of WGP, I think.

[pyrettawychwiggin]

'The Iron Angel: The Tale of Maria Røntgen'

(A Fallout 3 Fanfiction)

- Table of Contents -

Please be advised: the following story is based around my own playthrough of Fallout 3, and is basically one loooooonnnnnnngggggg spoiler. So, obviously, SPOILER ALERT. Maria Røntgen is my own original character I've created for this story, but all other assets are the intellectual of Bethesda Softworks. Please support the official release.

Remember - every new chapter is uploaded at least a week early on my Ko-Fi and Patreon for members to read, so consider being an Honourary Strude for that sweet, sweet early access!

The list of content/chapters is below the cut ♡ I will continue to update this as new content comes out.

Table of Contents:

Character Sheet - Maria Røntgen - the initial Picrew image for Maria as well as some character-building details about her.

Prologue/Escape From the Vault - we follow a small series of flashbacks of Maria's life from her birth right up until she leaves Vault 101 in search of her father.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Megaton - Maria arrives in the settlement of Megaton, taking her first step toward finding her father, meeting Lucas Simms, Gob and Nova for the first time.

Chapter 2: Into the Wasteland - Coming Soon...

Other 'The Iron Angel' Content:

Initial Announcement Post - this was one of the first things I'd posted about the project before I officially started releasing chapters. I went over some general plans (both short-term and long-term) for the series, and included some future details for any potential readers.

Vintage Western Maria - using a Dollmaker game from Doll Divine, I created a vintage/western version of Maria ♡

[stillness-in-green]

A God Damn Sight to See

Summary: Spinner’s got it bad, but at least he’s not alone.  

Or:  Nine was in Ujiko's care for months and you expect me to believe that Ujiko didn't take the opportunity to make a copy of his godlike weather control quirk to give to Shigaraki later? Come on.

Post-Heroes Rising movie, post-Deika manga spoilers.  Not calling it canon divergent because, hey, it could still happen.  

---  ---  ---------  ---  --- 

The airstreams at the top of the Detnerat building whip through Shigaraki’s hair, making his red coat billow out behind him.  He stands poised beside the metal and glass guard rail, looking out over the city, the gray palm of his one remaining costume hand obscuring his expression save for the curl of smile tugging at one side of his mouth and the glinting red of his eyes.

The wind changes directions abruptly, blowing Spinner’s scarves back across his field of vision again and tearing his attention away from Shigaraki.  He catches a glance from Re-Destro, the amused twitch of his lips, and glowers at him silently.  I don’t want to hear a word out of you, he tries to communicate with the glare, wrestling the cloth back into place over his shoulder.  I bet Stain never had to fight his costume.

“Everyone’s clear on the plan, right?”

A little out-of-nowhere shiver crawls up the back of Spinner’s neck and he looks up to find Shigaraki’s gaze on them.  He and Re-Destro both nod and Shigaraki hums in satisfaction, plucking the preserved hand loose and tucking it into his pocket.  His smirk pulls all the way into a grin, the same one he’d faced the Doc with back in November, six months—a lifetime—a loooong tutorial—ago.

“Cool.  Then I’ll get us started.”

And with that, he vaults himself over the barrier and takes a last step off the edge, plunging instantly out of sight.

Spinner’s heart seizes in his chest involuntarily and he rushes up to the spot where Shigaraki stood, wrapping his claws around the railing and peering over.  Far below, and getting farther every fraction of a second, Shigaraki tumbles in free fall, arms spread, a thin figure in flapping black and red.  The distance to the ground yawns beneath him, leaving Spinner’s stomach flipping with vertigo.

“Pull up,” Spinner mumbles.  “Come on, pull up.  Pull up.  Goddammit, pull up!”  Movements rapidly being lost to the distance, Shigaraki extends a hand up like someone like someone reaching for help.  Spinner’s mind goes blank with terror, and it takes Re-Destro’s hand landing on his shoulder for him to realize he’s got one boot on the lower rail beam and arms flexed to hoist himself over.

“Have faith,” Re-Destro says, voice smooth and cool, but he too draws up to the edge, his grip on Spinner’s shoulder just tense enough to be painful, the craning of his neck visible out of the corner of Spinner’s eye.

The wind changes again, a sharp, hard buffet that physically pushes Spinner a step back.  Unmoved by the gusts, Re-Destro’s hold shifts downward, laying flat behind Spinner’s shoulder-blades to steady him.  Spinner’s eyes water with the effort of staying open in the kicked-up dust, but he redoubles his staring, frantically scanning the air, heartbeat jackhammering in his throat like he’s got a rabbit quirk instead of a reptile one.

A flash of familiar colors, and the breath leaves Spinner’s lungs in a shuddering wheeze as Shigaraki rockets back past them, shooting upwards into rapidly darkening skies.  The clouds roll and tumble over each other, a storm brewing in real-life time-lapse.  For just a few seconds, Shigaraki stands out against a bare circle of blue sky, then the circle closes above him with a muffled bass-thrum boom, leaving him a thumb-smear of blood against the sickly green-gray expanse.

Light flickers, dispersed into flashes that make whole banks of the clouds gleam briefly white, and the thunder that rolls out after it rattles Spinner’s teeth.  Beside him, Re-Destro sighs—contented, noticeably breathy in a way that warms the back of Spinner’s neck, because, well, he gets it too, but not in public.

As the first cold drop of rain lands on Spinner’s beak, the figure above reaches out one arm.  A spear of lightning answers, a forking, branching bolt of incandescent white, and strikes a skyscraper with the crack of thunder riding so hard and so loud on its heels that Spinner doesn’t even hear the explosion of masonry to accompany the burst of smoke and dust, the rising flickers of fire.

Weather like that, it makes a guy understand why people used to believe in storm gods, and Spinner’s throat goes dry as the ringing in his ears dies down enough to hear the sound of distant laughter carrying on the gale.

The rain begins in earnest.  Hard, drumming on his shoulders, and with clouds that color it’ll be hail before long.  The sky shrieks like something bereaved and somewhere far distant, the direction hopelessly obscured, something big and glass shatters in echo.

They are in public, but not, like, public-public, and so Spinner lets himself whisper the words out loud, staring up at Shigaraki’s wind-swept figure.

“God damn.”

“I agree,” Re-Destro says in wistful accord, then straightens up minutely and pats Spinner’s shoulder.  “It may get dangerous out here, Spinner, and we have our own tasks to attend.  We should get inside.”

“R-right.”  Spinner shakes his head, still feeling a bit dazed. He lets Re-Destro steer the both of them to the access door, though the whole way there, Spinner’s not the only one who keeps looking back.

---  ---  ---------  ---  ---

Written for the “God Damn” square of my Banned Together Bingo card, but also  because it always seemed to me that Shigaraki would have a lot more fun cutting loose with a weather control quirk than Nine ever did, and that watching Shigaraki float in the eye of a storm would evoke feelings of religious awe and/or terror in pretty much anyone, but especially Spinner and RD.