#the wizards conglomerate

[kras-art-archive]

Sneak peek at some cool comic pages! (For my upcoming tmnt au/expanded universe)

Hehe y’all are cool and a smaller audience :)

[dawnleaf37]

dathings rubs off on my brain so much i hear someone say wizard and i have to repeat "the prizzard!"

[fangswbenefits]

Backfire

(amazing art by @dopepoisonivyoncrack 🥺🩷 thank you so much!)

Summary: You should have known better than to make Astarion jealous, and now you are left to deal with the consequences.

Pairing: Astarion x female!Tav

Warnings: 18+. Jealous/Possessive Astarion. Orgasm denial. Fingering. Edging. PiV. Creampie. Knife (dagger) play. Body worship. Innuendo.

Word count: 3.4k

You vaguely wondered how long it would take to set Astarion off.

He was glancing at you from across the camp, leaning against an oak tree as he twirled a dagger in between his masterful fingers.

The fluid motion broke your concentration for a moment.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and you quickly realised he was aware of your attempts.

Shit.

So much for subtlety.

Maybe you should have picked Wyll to test his jealousy as you reckoned it would have been more effective.

But now it was too late.

You feigned innocence as you patted Gale's arm, mindlessly nodding as he happily explained the intricacies of a chicken broth that he was preparing for later.

“See, the essence of this dish lies in getting the proper ingredients,” he went on, dipping the ladle into the steaming pot and stirring it gently before bringing it to his lips. “Hmm. Definitely lacking something, as I suspected.”

“Really? It smells very pleasant,” you said truthfully as the soft breeze wafted the delectable fragrance your way.

Gale raised one finger. “Mushrooms.”

“What?”

He nodded. “It requires a touch of mushrooms to fully bring out its flavour.”

You patted his shoulder with a warm smile. “I’m sure we can do without it.”

But Gale’s enthusiasm immediately wavered, his brows sinking. “Absolutely not. We require a proper meal and a proper meal is what I shall provide.”

Oh.

He stirred the broth again before rummaging through a satchel at his feet. “Well, I don’t suppose you could fetch me a few?”

Glancing over your shoulder, you found that Astarion had vanished.

Shit.

Your plan shattered into pieces as the object of your teasing was nowhere to be seen.

“Could you?”

Gale’s voice snapped you out of your frustration and you found yourself frowning slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I need some mushrooms, my friend.”

Your frown deepened, but you really had no choice now and a refusal would most likely break his heart.

“Where can I find them?”

Gale beamed with a wide grin. “I spotted a few on the side of the road and near some trees as we were setting up camp. I was foolish enough not to pick them and now I’m burdening you.”

You shrugged with a sigh. “It’s no bother. I was the one who asked you to teach me some of your cooking tricks.

“Ah! You should have trained to become a wizard,” he said with an approving nod. “A hungry stomach and an equally hungry mind.”

As much as you wished to return his enthusiasm, you couldn’t help but to feel annoyed at yourself for the appalling attempt at riling Astarion up.

Maybe he had seen right through it and merely walked off, probably chuckling.

But maybe you had stirred something inside him that ultimately caused him to leave.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

You followed Gale’s instructions, nearing a forest area, shaded from the sun as the canopies of the surrounding trees grew denser and branches intertwined with each other above you.

It didn’t take you long to spot a conglomerate of a few rounded caps by the protruding roots of a large and thick oak tree.

Unsheathing your dagger, you squatted down and began dicing through the spongy stalks.

You were halfway through your task, when you felt the cold press of metal resting on the side of your neck, freezing you in place.

A smile crept across your face.

“I don’t suppose you value your life enough if it’s this easy to sneak up on you.” The blade moved upwards and along your jaw, causing you to turn your head. “Darling.”

You flinched away from Astarion’s grasp and both of you rose to your feet in an instant.

“I doubt any foe would be as delicate as you should they intend to truly harm me.”

He twirled his dagger, offering a devious smile. “Point taken.”

As expected, praising him always did wonders. 

And it was absolutely true and equally expected that a skilled rogue could move in the shadows with unmatched prowess. 

But then, the mood shifted as he deepened his smile. “What were you doing back there with Gale?”

Oh?

You cleared your throat, sheathing your blade once again at your hip. “I was merely observing his cooking skills.”

He took a step in your direction.

“Were you, now?”

“Yes.”

He scoffed. “You’re not as subtle as you think you are, darling.”

You allowed yourself to move back with each step he took. “And you’re not as perceptive as you think you are.”

“You weren’t trying to deliberately make me jealous, were you?”

You shook your head, feeling your heart drumming hastily in your chest.

Astarion’s feet only came to a brief halt once your back hit the rough surface of the tree trunk behind you, effectively rendering you immobile.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

A shameless lie that he immediately tackled. “A lousy liar who’s even worse at vexing me,” he tutted before pressing one knee right in between your legs. “I taught you better than this.”

The air in your lungs stilled momentarily as his arms were now on either side of your head, caging you. 

“Gale was the one offering his teachings.”

He dropped one hand below your chin, tapping it teasingly with the side of his blade and tilting your head back. “Please. I highly doubt that dullard could offer anything of value where it really counts.”

“Astarion…” you drawled in delight. “Are you actually jealous?”

His brows furrowed together. “Obviously not.”

Inside, you were thoroughly enjoying how your fleeting attempt had indeed been successful, despite Astarion’s denial.

You could see it in his narrowed crimson eyes and how the faintest of scowls deepened the lines on his handsome face.

That stroked your ego in a way that almost made you shudder.

You tried to ignore how he was now pressing his knee harder.

His lips almost brushed against your and, for a split second, you thought he was going to kiss you, but he tipped his head to the side and you felt his cold touch on your cheek.

A shiver ran down your spine and you gripped his arms.

“What are you doing?”

He chuckled. “Showing you what really counts.”

“And what is that?” you asked, words coming out shaky.

Astarion adored taunting you with words, but he excelled at rendering you speechless with his skilled touch. 

So it came as no surprise when eventually sheathed his blade and had his hand tug your shirt free from the waistband of your trousers, sliding his hand underneath.

This was bad for you.

Terrible, in fact.

He had the upper hand.

And he fucking knew it.

His fingers brushed along your lower abdomen and his voice was raspy in your ear. “If I slide my hand inside… what will I find?”

Your body was too used to him by now to the point that he could have you throbbing for him with little effort.

The knee dropped and you almost whined at the loss of friction against your swelling clit.

“Answer me,” he said, tugging at the waistband.

You swallowed. “Nothing much…”

Was there even a point in deceiving him now? 

Expert fingers tugged at the lacings, loosening the fabric just enough for him to be able to slip underneath, his fingertips gently gliding in between your folds, avoiding your clit altogether. 

But you were wet enough to draw a pleased grunt from him.“What is this, then?”

You gasped, involuntarily clenching around nothing and feeling a gush of wetness spilling as your body reacted in anticipation.

“Use your fingers properly and find out.”

Your taunt didn’t go amiss. “Maybe an apology is in order,” he said, arrogance dripping from each word. “It seems that your foolish attempt at making me jealous has backfired.”

Much to your frustration, your hips rolled into his touch, silently wishing he would stop avoiding your swell.

“How has it backfired?” you managed to say as one finger teased your entrance.

He ignored your question and began trailing kisses along your jawline, his other hand working hurriedly at the front of your shirt.

Of course.

You knew all too well that you’d feel his cock hard enough if he was already this eager to expose your breasts.

One by one, he undid each lacing, and he pulled back just enough for his gaze to drop as the fabric parted and he gently pulled down the binding that held your chest in place.

Your nipples quickly hardened and you rolled your hips once more, causing one of his fingers to slide inside.

He hadn’t intended for that to happen, but he was so transfixed with your breasts that he was caught off guard.

It was the vicious clenches around his finger that snapped him out of it and his lustful eyes met yours. “Give me one reason not to slide out of you.”

You smiled in between gasps as he sank deep inside. “Should I ask Gale what he’d do in your position, then?”

And just like that, Astarion snapped.

A second finger slithered past your tightness and he brought his lips to your ear. “Careful, darling. Choose your words wisely or you’ll be riding your own mage hand instead.”

Oh, this was delicious.

Astarion was visibly annoyed and it did wonders to your confidence. 

It wasn’t easy to get him all worked up, but it only fueled your ego and made you quicken the pace.

Your whimpers increased in intensity and you looped your arms around his neck for added support, lifting one leg to wrap around his waist. The new angle allowed him to go knuckle-deep and you shuddered as his strained erection pressed against his hand nudged him even deeper.

He groaned first, clearly enjoying the newfound friction, and you clenched hard at how his face twisted in pleasure.

“Look over my shoulder,” he suddenly said, his half-hooded eyes finding yours.

Somehow, and in between each roll of your hips, you complied, realising just how close to camp you truly were. Close enough to make out the silhouette of Shadowheart who was now at Gale’s side as he worked on his broth, probably wondering what was taking you so long to bring him some mushrooms.

“What about it?” you asked, a bit louder than intended when he sank all the way in once more.

His lips brushed against yours this time, dragging his fingers back as you clenched desperately around him. “You either keep it down or we’ll have an audience soon enough.”

“Would you mind?”

He stilled abruptly. 

“What? Having Gale hear you coming undone for me?” he taunted as you tried to have him back inside, your hips following his retreating hand. “That he would soon realise he could never provide such bliss to his lover?”

You whined in responde, frustrated that you were now faced with an agonising emptiness.

“See, darling,” he continued, sliding one finger back inside, but not quite deep enough to fully satisfy you. “I can be quite generous when I want to.”

“But what?” you groaned, trying to have him sink deeper to no avail.

There was always a ‘but’.

He placed a kiss to the corner of your mouth before pulling back. “But I am not willing to share your cries of pleasure with anyone else.”

“Then silence me.”

The most devious grin settled on his face and you knew you had just offered a challenge he would gladly take.

And with his other hand, you watched as he brought the handle of his dagger close to your lips.

“Open.”

Your eyes widened and your heart immediately skipped a beat. “Astarion…”

“As much as I’d love to have your lips wrapped around my cock,” he said with a click of his tongue, parting your lips for him. “I am more interested in finding out how quiet my dagger can make you.”

You clenched around him so fiercely he actually growled.

Your teeth sank into the handle and you readied yourself for what was to come.

Astarion trailed your lower lip affectionately as it wrapped around the leather wrappings and a second finger joined the first, the heel of his palm rubbing against your clit as he pumped in and out, never breaking eye contact with you.

The moans and whimpers and gasps that slipped from you were being effectively muffled and you were thankful he had decided to silence you this way, because when the third finger nudged at your entrance, you could only roll your eyes shut as your bit hard around his dagger.

“Surely you can take one more,” he teased, his voice low.

You eagerly nodded, rolling your hips into him, knowing you were more than ready for the added thickness.

It slid inside painfully slowly and the stretch had you gasping and nearly dropping his dagger, which he promptly secured in place.

“Now, I know it’s not as thick as my cock, but I am sure you can keep those pretty lips wrapped around it,” he taunted.

You groaned with a nod eager to please.

Eager to come undone for him.

The combination of being so full of him and how he allowed you to rub your clit on his palm was too much. The lewd sounds were almost too obscene and you gripped both hands together, holding onto the remainder of the sanity you had left.

For a brief moment, he allowed you to ride three of his fingers, giving you the illusion that you’d reach your peak easily and rather quickly.

But Astarion wasn’t forgiving even if he had been rather generous thus far. 

And you should have known that your actions would have consequences.

His generosity came to an abrupt halt just as you felt the familiar coil down below becoming more and more overwhelming, your body quickly reaching the point of no return.

Your gasps were now becoming more erratic and you were visibly struggling to keep a hold of the dagger in your mouth.

And then you felt a painful emptiness as he pulled out from you at once.

He chuckled when you groaned in sheer frustration, not allowing you to spit the dagger out and curse him to the Nine Hells.

You felt the urge to cry as he denied you from reaching your high, your hips still moving on their own accord in the hopes of finding his fingers again.

“Now, now,” he tutted, caressing your flushed cheek with his thumb, a single tear streaming down your face. “You didn’t think I would be that generous, did you?” 

Fuck you!

Your words came out muffled, but he understood enough to continue his taunt. “I know you want to, but not before I have some assurances first.”

Impatience took over you, but you managed to arch an inquisitive brow at him.

He pressed his lips where his thumb had been, kissing your tear away. “Tell me no one can make you feel like this.”

Your eyes widened once more as he pulled the dagger from your teetering teeth.

“I’m all pointy ears, love,” he urged, meeting your eyes. “Go on.”

Astarion adored being praised, but this was just cruel.

Your teasing hadn’t been solid enough to warrant such punishment. You had been so close to your peak… 

“Astarion…”

He shook his head with a frown. “No, no, no. You do not get ‘cuddly and sweet Astarion’ after what you’ve pulled, sweetheart.”

Your hands came to grip his shoulders almost pleadingly, but you knew you had no other choice if you were to reach your climax anytime soon.

“No one can… no one…” you whispered, your voice cracking.

But he wasn’t satisfied.

Of course he wasn’t.

It took more than that to fill his ego.

“I’ve ruined you for anyone else,” he said with an intense smile. “You know that, don’t you?”

You immediately nodded, fully agreeing and not out of despair.

“Can you be good for me, then?”

Another nod as you tried to nudge him closer with the leg wrapped around his waist just to prove your point.

“Your pleasure is mine,” he said, bringing the handle of his dagger back to your lips and, this time, you quickly wrapped them around it. “My pleasure is yours.”

He removed his hand from inside your trousers and he pushed your leg down so he could tug them down your legs to give him better access.

Once you had slipped out of them, he eagerly wrapped you around his waist as he tugged at the front of his own trousers, until he freed his cock.

You gave it a quick glance, pleased to find the tip glistening with precum.

“Bite down hard, darling,” he warned, aligning you with him. “I know you adore how my cock stretches you.”

You did as you were told and he sank into you in one swift thrust of his hips.

He was all the way in and your back arched as he steadied you with both hands.

The first clenches around his cock made him mumble a string of curses as he tried to adjust to your tightness.

It didn’t take long for him to set the pace, slowly fucking you against the oak tree.

You weren’t going to last long from this new angle, and neither was he. It would be rather easy to get him to lose all control if you lost yours first. Astarion was rarely able to withstand your contractions as you rode out your climax.

His eyes were locked on yours, but something caught your attention.

Suddenly, your hazy eyes managed to focus on the camp nearby and you watched as someone seemed to be approaching in the distance.

Oh… fuck…

Was it Gale?

No.

It was Wyll.

You clenched around him almost panicking, until you realised he wasn’t coming any closer and had simply taken a turn down the hill, waving at Gale.

Your mind was too overtaken by how his cock felt inside you to care about the context of that exchange. 

Having Astarion being so eager to prove you that no one else could fuck you this way, had you undulating your body against his, always making sure he could bure himself fully inside you with each thrust.

Oh.

You were too close.

“Eyes on me,” he hissed, punctuating each word with a snap of his hips.

Dangerously close.

Especially when you met his crimson eyes again.

And you almost topped over the edge at once when you saw him doing something you had never witnessed before.

He finally broke eye contact and his gaze was once again on your breasts and hardened nipples.

And then…

With his free hand, he pulled his own shirt up the length of his body, securing the hem in between his own teeth, fangs digging into the fabric.

What…

He wrapped his arm around your torso and pulled you into him, your breasts pressed against him. The sight was breathtaking as you felt your nipples rub briefly against his, earning a guttural groan from him.

Astarion allowed you to sink all the way down his cock and you could no longer hold back the intense wave of pleasure that came crashing down as you felt his balls pressed against you.

You were biting down so fiercely on the handle of his dagger, you feared youd snap it in half as your first contractions tore through your body.

He pressed your back hard against the tree, and with a final grunt into the crook of your neck, he began spilling inside you, allowing you to squeeze his cum with each of your rhythmic clenches.

You clawed at the back of his shirt, feeling your mind blank as you came down from the overwhelming height of your pleasure mixed with his.

It was hard to steady your breaths and you weren’t sure you had ever come this hard in your life, but it felt like a shared sentiment as Astarion remained buried inside you even when his cum began to spill and drip.

The dagger fell to the ground and you gasped for air, wrapping your arms around his neck and pressing a soft kiss to the side of his head through his messy curls.

“Gods…” he eventually groaned, showing no intention of pulling out. 

You grunted in agreement, caressing his damp hair.

“Should I tease you again?” you almost chuckled in between heated pants. “Wyll next?”

He pulled back and shot you a murderous glare. “Don’t you dare…”

Masterlist

[prokopetz]

If WotC were to hire you to design or advise on D&D 6e-if you accepted-what design decisions would you make?

A serious and a silly answer would be appreciated.

Serious answer: the only suggestions I'd give are ones that would never be accepted due to corporate mandates.

To provide some context, it's often been observed that D&D in its present incarnation talks a big game about modularity, but its mechanical structure doesn't seem to understand what the word means. What's less talked about is that this is by design.

Like, I was there during 5E's playtesting phase, and it's clear that its designers had a fairly good idea of what true modular design looks like. The trouble is, Hasbro corporate didn't like that: a truly modular design approach would mean that each group would only be interested in a particular subset of the game's supplements and sourcebooks, and that won't do at all – Hasbro wants every group to buy every sourcebook.

(Remember, for all that Wizards of the Coast cultivates an atmosphere of local-hobby-store charm, D&D is ultimately owned by the same multinational conglomerate that owns Monopoly and My Little Pony. This arrangement has certain effects that one should bear in mind.)

The upshot is that D&D's present incarnation has a design mandate handed down by Hasbro to produce an "evergreen" game that caters equally to fans of every previous edition and every style of play not via a modular design approach, but simultaneously. It's supposed to be everything to every player all at once, so that Hasbro can sell every sourcebook to every group.

My advice would be to knock that shit off, and I'm sure you can imagine how well that would go over!

Silly answer: more robots.

[jojo-0-o]

POV you walk in on a conglomeration of Wizards

[saltineofswing]

SHUFFLING DESTINY ENEMY GIMMICKS LIKE A DECK OF CARDS

Here’s a fun thought exercise for the discerning Destiny Lore Enjoyer™: What if you took the gimmicks of each enemy race and swapped them?

Here are the rules by which I loosely operated, in the sixty-ish seconds I spent thinking all this up:

The enemy race should remain broadly identifiable at a glance.

‘Gimmick’ herein references the aspect of the subject’s lore that dictates how they relate to themselves and wider universe (For example, the Cabal is a conquering empire that folds defeated client species into its dominion; the Fallen are desperate, disorganized scavengers; etc.), or maybe certain thematic elements.

Don’t think about it too hard.

Get weird with it.

And without further ado:

THE HIVE <--> THE CABAL: THE DOMINION OF THE WORM.

The Dominion are a vast assimilationist conglomerate of hundreds of different species the Hive have conquered and consumed. They are bonded not by common Krill ancestry, but by forced worm conversion; the bodies may appear different, sourced from different homeworlds, but the truth is that they are puppets for the Dominion’s true citizenry. Dominion morphs are based not on the instar system of an arthropod experiencing ecdysis, but on the life cycle of a parasitoid – they are alike to one another only in that there is a worm implanted where their brain should be, and it is slowly terramorphing their body into something more suitable to the Great Work, also known as the Sword Logic. At a certain threshold of age, the chitin-mold and fungal outgrowth has changed the host body dramatically enough to classify them as Knights or Wizards based on the worm that has infested them.

Different branches of the Dominion organize themselves into Courts; over centuries, worms of each Court have developed unique genetic tells in how they warp their hosts – patterns of color or chitin-mold, or predispositions to certain morphs. Acolytes still make up the bulk of the species’ fighting and civilian forces. After the implantation process (typically performed within two years of the birth of the host body) and lasting until approximate adolescence, Hive are wobbling, nascent, clumsy Thrall, still acclimating to the nervous system and motor functions of a still-growing host body. The oldest Dominion Knights and Wizards in existence, the pantheon of Gods that preserve the Wormlore and have transcended mortality by way of the Sword Logic, are the closest that the Dominion gets to ‘true’ expressions of the parasitoid race… and even then, each is unique unto themselves.

Don’t worry! By the time you would have been old enough to object to having a boring worm threaded into a trepanned hole in the back of your head, ‘you’ will have been the worm for a long time. It typically doesn’t grow big enough to burst through and replace the host’s cranium (If an endo- or exoskeleton is present) for six to eight years, but you wouldn’t mistake a Thrall for an un-infested counterpart of the same race. Think Cordyceps, or that old familiar snail parasite Broodsac. It is not infectious, as the ritual insertion of a wormling requires a sterile and calm environment as well as an actual staff of competent handlers… but it pays to be dead when the Hive are victorious over your poor, doomed race. They don’t want your secrets, they don’t need your intelligence or your memories, and they don’t need you to infiltrate and betray your people. They just want your brain. Or, rather, the real estate your brain occupies.

A Purist faction of Dominionists claim to be descendants of the original Krill, the long-extinct first peoples of the Dominion, and seek a way to purge the Worm-taint from their bloodline. The Purists are supposedly lead by one of the many Dominionist Gods, though which one and whether or not this is even true are subject to disparate rumor.

THE CABAL <--> THE HIVE: THE UNDYING EMPIRE.

Calus’s obsession with death and immortality has created a legion of the undead. The dead world of Torobatl is a planet of necropolises, stacked down to the core of the planet and then up to the stratosphere, their charnel war fleets staffed by psionic Liches mounted into powerful and gaudily gilded combat exoskeletons. Stasis was granted as a gift by the Darkness long ago; it allows the denizens of Torobatl to tether their souls to massive crystals – Phylacteries, in their buildings, their mausoleums, and their warships. And these Phylacteries are, in turn, tethered to the oversoul of God-King Calus, tithing him the experiences of his entire empire… the violence and the pleasure, and everything in between. When Cabal loves, Calus loves, and savors it. When Cabal hurts, Calus dies, and savors it. When Cabal dies, Calus devours – and your soul is folded wholly into his own. At the end of the universe, when there is nothing else, there will be Calus, and Calus will be everyone.

Warships and Seeder-Ziggurats, built around a Phylactery that serves as generator and Cryostasis and life support all in one, send a tide of undead out into any world that Calus desires for his Empire. The only way to kill them, of course, is to destroy the Phylactery in the warship. Or, cause fatal mental feedback by destroying the physical brain. Every Torobatlaan that has died since Calus instituted mandatory mummification rites is part of Calus’s devouring horde, representing a fighting force of at least several-trillion strong. Each Lich represents a soldier that can be sent into combat multiple times: first, in the hulking, bulbous, resplendent frames of Cabal Übercorpse legionnaires. Then, if the exoskeleton is damaged beyond repair, the Wight within may emerge, held aloft by its own Psionic might and wielding the death-cold touch of Stasis. Spare bodies, or bodies looted from the enemy, may afford a defeated Wight a second chance at corporeal un-life… assuming Calus values you more as servant than snack. The crème de la créme a la Calus, the Demiliches, are given their own discreet Phylacteries. Oftentimes these undying kings and queens of the Torobatlaan Necroworld have pared away the unnecessary portions of their bodies and reside in a crystal-encrusted skull – The rest of it is tithed lovingly to Calus. Let it never be said he does not reward dedication. All hail the new flesh.

Calus’s own daughter, by all rights a demigod, heads an underground insurgency within the Empire. The Living Resistance is small, scrappy, and fighting a losing battle – but they are always on the lookout for allies, and will take any advantage they can get.

THE FALLEN <--> THE VEX: THE ASCENDED.

When the Eliksni arrived in Sol, simultaneously chasing the Traveler and fleeing the Whirlwind, most of them first stopped at Neptune. They burned that world to the ground and ravenously devoured every scrap of technology they could get their hands on. And so, while the human race was wallowing in the mud during the Dark Age and their unlucky brethren were – also wallowing in that same mud, or pressed under the thumb of the Awoken – the Eliksni of once-Neomuna were… rapidly evolving. Achieving singularity, becoming one with their Servitors and Shanks and so much more. You know how those Eliksni enjoy their nanotechnology. By the time of the City Age, non-augmented Fallen are a rarity… but there is no shortage of Ascended, a collective consciousness dispensing sleek and sophisticated quick-fab machine bodies, controlled by telepresence, to every corner of the system. And where they go, infectious nanomachinery goes with them. Everything must Ascend. And so, everything must die.

Individuality is a dirty word to the Ascended, but it is not a cold, unfeeling machine-mind. It remembers its origins as an organic race. Remembers everything that was assimilated into it, really, with perfect computer clarity. It’s still young for a god-consciousness – far, far younger than the ancient Torobatlaan First Disciple or the Hive Conqueror-Pantheon. It relates to the natives of Sol; pities them, mostly. It is confused by the Exo, curious about the Awoken, and deeply embarrassed by the soft, squishy existence of humankind. It feels most strongly about its non-uplifted cousins: it loathes them. Despises them. The day when the last Eliksni hatchling is scanned and uploaded to the System, and its useless corporeal existence is squashed, can’t come too soon. Imagine the horror that the Iron Lords must have felt when the Fallen had finally been wiped out, and it turned out they were just running from something worse. A clean, smooth, white-paneled and gloss-coated mirror. The Ascended exists in networked systems across Sol, representing a cyber-threat that must continuously be monitored and combatted by technicians in the Last City and the Reef; when it has determined, via algorithm, an appropriate dispersal site, it sends a foundry through NLS – within hours of impact, an Ascended Nanofoundry can output a square quarter mile of nanite terraformer lattice and an army’s worth of construction, telecommunications, and servitor frames. These frames are not made for war! War is a consequence of the simplistic fear of a lesser entity. Of course, the equipment these frames use to perform their actual tasks are effective at discorporating non-augs. Sad, what is necessary in the pursuit of perfect oneness.

The remaining ‘Non-Aug’ Fallen of House Light live as Luddite ascetics, sheltering from the Ascended in the underground metro system beneath a run-down quarter of the Last City that was bombed out during the Undying Empire’s assault. They eschew all technology and networked communication as much as is possible – the more tech they use, the more likely it is that the Ascended will find them.

In the Reef, Eliksni augment themselves with crystal prosthetics. Better to submit themselves to the Queen’s will, and remain individuals, than be subsumed by the Ascended and lose themselves.

THE VEX <--> THE FALLEN.

Every encounter you have with the so-called ‘Fomorians’ is technically an encounter with the exact same crew of the exact same ship of scurrilous pirates, cast back through the Chronal Bleed from several hundred thousand years in the future. Or, a future, at least. The Foul Ship Gigantes has been making dives into the past for centuries. Or, well, actually, the ship has been making a single dive into the past, and arriving at disparate points in realspace nominal-present-time backwards along the timeline, scattered across the centuries. An unfortunate consequence of a bootleg of a stolen prototype of Braytech chronoaugural technology. Sometimes, even for Braytech, an idea is so half-cocked that it just can’t work. Imagine for a moment that you are Marcholles Antione Braythek IV (Pronounced ‘Marcus Anthony Braytech’), (in)famous pirate and disgraced son of the mighty Braythek Interstellar Dominion, and the weight of your family name inspires you to do reckless things in the pursuit of adding legends to your name. Imagine that you and your crew are maybe a little too desperate to become the first time-travelers in history. So, you use a bootleg of a stolen prototype and you don’t so much ‘travel’ through time as you do ‘smear’ through it. Look on the bright side: not only did you become the first successful time-travelers in existence, you also fuck up the laws of reality so bad that scientists in the past will designate the extradimensional skid-mark you leave through space-time as a ‘fundamental force in the cosmology of the universe.’ They call it ‘The Bleed,’ and researching it allows for the development of NLS travel. That first jump went extremely well! At least, it did from the perspective of the one version of Marcholles Antione Braythek IV that successfully made it to his destination – Humanity’s Golden Age, a couple decades before anybody had even heard the name ‘Bray’.

Funny, isn’t it? Marcholles Braythek thought he was a descendent of the most amazing tech empire in history. In actuality, he was his own great-great-great (repeating) grandfather. Another unfortunate consequence of bootleg Braytech chronoaugural technology.

I said something about ‘the one version’ of Marcholles Antione Braythek IV, didn’t I? Right. Well, when you travel through time, you leave from a single point in time and space, and arrive at a single point in time and space. But when you smear through time, you leave from a single point in time and space and you arrive at many points in time and space. Simultaneously and discretely, paradoxically existing in many places at once. And time isn’t the only thing that winds up getting smeared.

The crew of the Foul Ship Gigantes enters the Bleed intact, and emerges quite insane. The ‘Fomorians’, as they are called in the City Age, are warped, imperfect, and most of all completely unintelligible. Whatever happened to them on their journey through the Bleed has made them hyperviolent to the point that if two crews encounter one another, they’ll tear each other apart. Often, a single crew will turn on itself if nothing else is nearby to descend upon. It’s estimated that at any given time there are dozens of Gigantes in Sol, landing in random locales and then going beast mode, destroying everything around them and eventually themselves. Fomorian emergences come in semi-predictable waves, and the City has an algorithm that they can use to guess when and where a new wave will pop up. Each Gigantes ship crews several hundred time-warped post-human pirates, outfitted with mind-boggling far-future weapons tech. If they didn’t tear themselves apart within a few days of arriving in our present, they would be a massive problem! Thankfully, Light-wavelength radiation from the Traveler, specifically its effect on causal systems, prevents Fomorians from popping up anywhere on Earth or in near-Earth orbit.

Telling Clovis that his grandfather is his own great-great-great (repeating) grandson makes him experience a critical systems failure and forces him to restore from backup. Gives you a solid thirty minutes to do whatever you want in the Braytech systems around Eventide.

[ultimatefartwizard]

Conglomerate of nightshade doodles, from both Cupid aka @robotlcangel and me (Wizard)

Bonus version where they are wet cat... LIFE OR BAFF FOR DRY NIGHTSHADE

[be-cat-do-crime]

Alex Strider.

This is a character bio for Alex Strider.

Alex Strider is a human street-kid, born to Benjamin Strider and Abigail Strider. She was born in the Free City of Rooksbury, a city with no formal government, ruled mostly by gangs and plagued by roaming monsters and random violence. She had always been a smart child, and she was smart enough to notice her family’s financial struggles. But it didn’t matter, or so she thought, for they would be just fine, as long as they had each other.

Alex was only 11 years old when it happened. The Jackals, the gang that lorded over their part of the city, increased the rate of tribute again. They wanted 20% of all coin made by the little potion shop her parents ran. If they paid all that, they wouldn’t have enough to eat, thought Benjamin. He decided to hide some of the money, as to evade the hefty tax. The week after tribute was charged, his undead corpse was found aimlessly roaming the streets, the skin on its face removed, and a snarling jackal branded on its chest.

She had, as many broken children do, blamed herself. If they just had more money, if they had just paid their tribute, none of this would’ve happened. But she did not sit still, wallowing in guilt. Instead, she picked up the skills and mind of a thief; pick-pocketing strangers, pilfering from the city’s many markets... Over the course of a year, she stole her way through the city.

Alex was only 12 years old when it happened. She had come back home, pockets full of what did not belong to her, a particularly good haul, she thought. She noticed the smell of alcohol, and paid no mind to it-- she had become all too used to the scent of her mother’s drinking. She left what she had stolen at the door, and went to look for her mother. It was strange-- she had yet to receive her mother’s greeting, the one she always received. It didn’t take long for her to find her mother on the ground, surrounded by bottles and empty syringes. Alex would never find out if it was an accident or suicide.

Alex was now an orphan. She had no one nor where to turn to. She roamed the streets, living off of anything she could steal, never spending more than a night at the same place. She had seen the city inside and out; the siren-infested docks, the underground wizard colleges, the dwarven-elven race wars… She had also profited from it all; the city’s chaos was something that could be exploited for gain, she learned. This lasted for a little over a year. Eventually, she had a run-in with a newly formed “gang”: The Outlawz. In reality, it totaled to little more than a group of teenagers, desperate for some form of stability. Though hesitant, she joined the group. Together, they formed a new family, composed of bonds forged in crime. Now, she had moved from petty theft to something akin to grand larceny (though, there was no jurisdiction to define it as such; Rooksbury is a “free” city, after all). Drugs, jewelry, gold, and many other goods were acquired during the many heists of the Outlawz. After the hefty cut taken by the fence, the gang’s fees for operating on their turf, and the split between the 6 of them, they were left with very little. But it was enough. Alex found herself thinking something she didn’t expect to ever think again: they would be just fine, as long as they had each other.

Alex was only 15 when it happened. The Outlawz had decided it; they would find a way to leave this city, and they would do it together. To accomplish that goal, they planned a heist, one more ambitious than any that came before. Tantalus Inc., a megacorporation, part of the Demilian Conglomerate that controlled a nation’s worth of land, had its headquarters in Rooksbury. A shipment of arcane components worth more than all of their previous earnings combined had recently arrived, and if all went well, would “disappear” just as quickly. Six people walked into that tower. One, the traitor among them, stayed at that tower, taken in by the corporation he’d sold his family out to. One, Alex, left that tower, with scars both internally and externally. The other four were never seen again.

Alex was done being naïve. She was done trusting in others. She was done with this city, this gods-forsaken city… She was done with stealing. She made a choice. One she never thought she’d make. She fashioned a weapon out of a baseball bat and a piece of steel sharpened and shaped to become an axehead. She took all the money she had left and had it enchanted. And then, she signed a contract. A contract with Skulltrader. For 6 months, they provided her with shelter, food, clean water, and training. After that, she was officiated; as the youngest mercenary in Skulltrader’s ranks.

A 16-year-old murderer for hire. No one in their right mind would hire her on her own; she would almost exclusively get ride-along gigs, providing backup for other mercs. She sometimes talked to them. They sometimes even let her come along on the post-job tavern crawls. But even then, it was business. Just. Business.

She got her first kill when she was 17. She couldn’t sleep for weeks after the fact. The second was easier. She can barely remember the fourth or fifth. Eventually, she started getting solo gigs; private security, gang warfare, shake-downs… She even managed to buy a glyph implant, that was installed into her spine, allowing her superhuman speed. That kind of bio-enchant was expensive, but worth every coin. Killing became second nature to her. She was good at it. She didn’t enjoy it, but she didn’t care. It was them or her, after all.

4 years passed. This time, there was no “each other”. There was her, her bat, and the mana flowing through her spine. This city wasn’t going to get the best of her. She wouldn’t fall into its traps again. She wouldn’t let Rooksbury defeat her. She would survive, no matter what.

Alex Strider: Orphan, stone-cold killer, former sucker and merc extraordinaire. She knew better than most: This was No City for Heroes.

[smokesandsonatas]

Theory and Analysis

The Legacy of the Shroud and Draconia Families: The Prodigy and the Miracle

I haven't posted anything in ages, but in the span of a day, I have caught up to everything happening in TWST. All I could say is -

Wow.

Should I miss or incorrectly put the lore, feel free to correct me.

Warning: Spoilers, long post, language, and crude humour.

Without further ado, let's get into the post. All credits belong to their owners.

+++

The Shroud clan

The Shrouds have been in existence for a really long time. Their ancestor was "appointed a Gatekeeper back in the age of gods and goddesses." Let's assume that was thousands of years ago. Due to this task of essentially keeping the balance in TWST World, Tartarus was built, and henceforth S.T.Y.X was 'formed' about 100 years ago.

Due to their long history, the Shrouds are rich, rivaling the Al-Asims in terms of wealth. According to Vil, they are a branch of Jupiter Enterprises. An influential conglomerate that essentially built Google Chrome, or maybe Facebook, and Amazon of TWST.

The Shrouds reside on the Island of Woe. It is not on any map, therefore it is completely hidden from the public due to the fact it is literally built under the sea.

For the secret organization, Lillia said that a legend goes like this, "When a wizard forgets themselves and succumbs to their own power, punishment from the Island of Woe shall befall them."

The Shrouds are tasked with such a heavy job that about a hundred years ago, they were cursed, preventing them from escaping their duties. This curse manifested in their flaming blue hair, burning off accumulated blot. But if there's no blot to burn, the curse instead eats their magical energy. That's why the Shrouds, especially Idia having inherited the curse from his father, must now be in constant close state of OB to survive.

Idia's grandmother, Aidne/Idone Shroud, is known to have this curse. Both her and her son, Mr. Shroud are using magical devices to combat it.

The Shroud Prodigy and Tragedy

Idia is a prodigy. Born a genius in the Island of Woe. As a child his intellect far surpasses the adult researchers at S.T.Y.X. With this impressive show of his potential, his fate is sealed: Idia will become the next head of the Shroud family.

Ortho's life is a tragedy. He was born, and then he died. Then he was reborn again as a humanoid robot that Idia created while in complete isolation for 2 years. Complete with the 'real' Ortho's memories, personality, and appearance.

This is Idia's way of coping with the guilt that consumes him. Blaming himself for his only brother's death.

Why wouldn't Mama and Papa Shroud do something about this?

I like to think that they did try to console Idia. From the looks of it, they do love their children equally. But they also have to grieve too. They also suffer the same guilt Idia feels because suddenly the portal that they're supposed to monitor as the Director and Chief Engineer of S.T.Y.X breaks open, resulting in the death of their younger son. [But I think Idia's unique magic has something to do with the incident.]

It is important to note that Mama and Papa Shroud treat 'Ortho' as their real child, not a replacement of their dead son. With the events ending in Ignihyde chapter, Ortho is on his way to becoming his own person.

Combining his brother's 'death', the responsibility of running S.T.Y.X in the future, the constant state of near OB just to stay alive, and the isolation made Idia the genius, foul-mouthed, introvert prodigy dorm leader of Ignihyde.

As of Diasomnia chapter, Papa and Mama Shroud, the Director and Chief Engineer of S.T.Y.X respectively, are trying to get in touch, or are now in touch, with Queen Maleficia, Malleus' grandmother.

The Draconia family

The Draconias are nocturnal fae, tracing back their long lineage to dragons. They all possibly have horns protruding from their heads. Their lifespans can go on for centuries. A Draconia will reach adulthood at the age of 1,000 years old. That lifespan is longer than the kind of fae like Lilia.

Simplified:

If Malleus reach 1,000 years old, he'll be only known as an adult Draconia, but for Lilia, 1,000 years is his whole lifespan.

In the current events of TWST, we only know 3 Draconias so far.

Queen Maleficia, Princess Mallenoire/Malenoa, and the only known male heir, Malleus.

Not much is known about them, except the current queen (has been for a long time) is Queen Malefecia, the grandmother. She adopted Lilia and Levan, the father of Malleus and Princess Malenoa's husband. The royalty in Briary Valley is complete with senators, dukes, royal guards, and is just basically a monarchy of faes.

The Draconias, and most fae creatures, reside in Briar Valley. There are forests that are pitch black, giving an advantage to nocturnal faes, like Lilia. It is also rich in magical minerals.

In Diasomnia chapter, Malleus put up a barrier of thorns that is going around or extending throughout Sage Island, essentially marking it as his domain, and everyone in this domain will remain asleep, dreaming. It is worth noting that Malleus is said to be one of the top strongest mages, as evidenced by this:

"S.T.Y.X. together with the Magical Force, and the Briar Valley’s royal family attempted to break into Malleus Draconia’s domain, but… "

"Neither physical nor magical attacks could make a dent."

"The thorns do not discriminate between humans and fae, and anyone attempting to enter just get sucked into the field."

Because he's a fae, he gets energy from his surroundings. Therefore if Malleus' keeps extending his barrier, he will get stronger. Heed that not even Queen Maleficia can get through the barrier her grandson had created. With this scenario, it effectively puts Malleus, a little bit stronger than her.

The Draconia Miracle

I contemplated saying the Draconian Miracle but either way is fine.

If we are to consider Malleus as a miracle manifest in itself, let's first look at the way he was born.

The prelude of Malleus' birth is chaos.

During or even before he emerged from his shell, Briar Valley is going through a fae-human war. Starting when the humans started populating and abusing the place. Note that their population started with only a small sailing ship, and throughout the years they multiplied.

Princess Mallenoire/Malenoa/Mallenoa is the mother of Malleus, and she, by far is the strongest defense of the land, as said by Lillia.

But before Malleus can even crack the shell, his mother is already gone. Going by the angst route, let's assume she died protecting her egg that houses her son.

Makes you wonder how brutal the fight must be to 'kill' a mother dragon protecting her only child.

Levan/Revern, a raven fae or a dragon duke in some sources, is his father. He is a diplomat of Briar Valley, therefore his task falls into making allies, not enemies.

Yet, he did not return.

It is presumed that he died in an ambush, or possibly has a new identity. If he is alive it is cruel for him to not come back to his unhatched son. I am not saying Crowley is Malleus' father but there's a chance that Crowley is related to the Draconias, in one way or another.

Now, why is Malleus considered a miracle?

Because he was born against all odds. His birth is a highly impossible event, yet it did happen.

Due to his parents' absence, this effectively made the hatching of Malleus uncertain. Dragon eggs can hatch within 2-3 years of laying if showered with love and cared for.

[ This part is taken from the accounts of Lilia's dream in the Diasomnia chapter, where Silver is also surprised by the huge gap of the war and the dragon heir's birth.]

Malleus' birth is delayed by 200 years, because he has no one to care for him. It is truly pitiful that even before his birth, Malleus is abandoned.

Why wouldn't Queen Maleficia love her unhatched grandson? Is her love and power not enough to hatch Malleus?

I bet she did, but she also has grieve the death of her only child. On top of that, she has to be strong because she's a queen of a country. Any sign of weakness can mean the humans threatening her or even one of the faes betraying them, putting her family and the nation in danger.

The thought of the Draconia bloodline ending with her likely filled her with depression. Also, Queen Maleficia is not Malleus birth mother, only his grandmother. So that is not enough for a dragon egg to hatch, since it needed the love from his birth parents. I like to think that this part is where Lilia, as his caretaker will come in. Lilia's loyalty to Draconias extended to Malleus, softening the heart of the war-torn general, enough that he had the sympathy to adopt a human child.

It took 200 long years for Malleus to emerge from his egg shell and when he did, Briar Valley celebrated his birth. Matter of fact, his birthday is a public holiday.

Defying the odds is another powerful instance why Malleus is born to be a king faes, the valley and the abyss.

The parallels between Idia (the prodigy) and Malleus (the miracle)

[Is it me or they both look good?!]

Both Malleus and Idia grew up in isolation.

Literally.

[Island of Woe and Briary Valley are two places in the middle of seven-knows-what. Anyway...!]

With Malleus as the only heir, and Idia as the first born, they both have huge responsibilities on their shoulders. We're talking about responsibilities scaling nations and the safety of huge populations.

Idia's childhood is tragic with the death of his brother. But we can argue that Malleus' childhood is tragic too, with the disappearance of his parents.

Malleus grew up isolated and protected in the castle. His only confidant for decades is Lilia, his caretaker. And even then, Malleus said that Lilia is prone to going away for long periods of time.

For Idia, his only companion for the 2 years he locked himself in his room is the prototype of Ortho that he's building.

Idia represents the uncanny future, and Malleus represents the eerie past.

Think of it this way, if you put Malleus in Island of Woe where everything is about technology, I bet he will say something about the importanc of the past and teleport back to his place.

If you put Idia in Briar Valley... man's not even going to survive the night. He will lament his poor WiFi connection.

They compliment each other well: One doesn't want to be approached and the other is unapproachable.

Both Idia and Malleus are some of the loneliest students in NRC. Idia doesn't have social cues, and Malleus... doesn't have good social cues either.

They're both so awkward when interacting with others it becomes endearing.

As awkward as they are, both are arrogant too. Every time Idia regards himself as the acting leader of S.T.Y.X and Malleus as the future king, sends a thrill or.pride to whoever can hear them. [Go forth children! Be the leaders of the TWST world.]

And they will be leaders. As heavy as the mantle of Shroud and Draconia is, Idia and Malleus will have no choose but to shoulder on. That's why I think the battle between (yuu), Idia along with NRC against Malleus will be tragically beautiful.

+++

Fun fact: Hades tried to ask Maleficent out in a date once, lol.

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There's a reason why all of a sudden the story of TWST started to become more serious in the Ignihyde chapter and just hit the fan in Diasomnia. Soon, were about to find out why.

Idia and Malleus are the complete opposite yet their existence compliments each other so well.

One is a keeper of the underworld, and the other the blessing of maleficence.

And then there's Yuu, trying to uncover the secrets of Twisted Wonderland.

[fierymiasma]

✽ Five Times....// Sebastian x f!MC ✽

Summary: Five times Sebastian Sallow Was Jealous and One Time He Didn't Have to Be (Part 2)

Words: 2.7k

Part 1 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Full Fic

|| Masterlist || AO3 || Upcoming ||

Chapter 2: Girls

"So…how did it go?"  Sebastian asked in his most causal voice.

The hero of Hogwarts pointedly ignored him, focused on the transfiguration before her.

Sebastian pouted, resting his cheek on his hand.  She had been avoiding Sebastian ever since he interrupted her date at Hogsmeade.  He tried to respect her need for space.  After all, how many times did Sebastian need to pout and be alone with his thoughts in their 5th year?

But it's been two whole days since they talked.  Practically eons.  Surely, she didn't expect to starve Sebastian of her companionship?  For the past two nights, he barely had any sleep, tossing and turning, dying to learn of the outcome of the date.  If she and Ben Harrrington had decided to go steady, Sebastian wouldn't know what to do with himself.

Pouting silently next to her, he watched her transform her teacup into a gerbil.  Transfiguration was one of those fields that was just as much of an art than science.  Sure, any ordinary witch or wizard could brute force solid masses and conglomerate it into its final product but…she…?

She made it look so easy, fluid lines and masses moving like water, shifting beautifully amongst itself to transform into her desires.  The hero of Hogwarts was always naturally gifted at magic.  Sebastian always took pleasure in just watching her in her element. 

Still, he had to wonder.  He gazed at her with his undivided attention.  His own gerbil had long wandered off having been entirely forgotten.  "How did it go?" 

 "How did what go?" she feigned ignorance.

He huffed.  She was smart enough to know exactly what Sebastian was referring to.  "Your…date," he hissed through gritted teeth.  "with Benjamin Cushings-

"Ben Carrow."  She corrected, still not looking up at Sebastian. 

Sebastian resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the mention at the other boy's name.

She chewed on her bottom lip.  With a swish of her wand, the gerbil turned back into a teacup.  In all honesty, the date hadn't gone as well as she had hoped.  Maybe it was Sebastian's interruption complicating her already confusing feelings, or maybe she was really not compatible with the 7th year.  She had been so sure Sebastian was about to confess his feelings towards her.  Everyone had told her that the other Slytherin boy harbored a crush on her.

They were wrong.  She was wrong.  It was clear that Sebastian didn't think of her as anything more than a friend.

The better she came to terms with it, the better. 

Sebastian shifted nervously at her lack of response.  She didn't understand.  Sebastian needed to know.  He needed to know if all of his chances with her were completely dashed.  Using his signature Sebastian Sallow charm, he angled his body towards her, fluffing his hair a bit, sitting exactly right.

"I assume it didn't go all too well?"  Sebastian pouted dramatically,  "It's a shame.  I rather liked him.  Seemed like a right chap."  He stretched his arms over his head languidly, knowing full well that the muscles in his arms would shift ever so slightly against his tight school outfit.  "Don't worry your head about it.  Plenty of blokes in the sea."

Finally, she slammed her fist on the desk in anger, her first real reaction during this whole conversation.  There was an ugly twist to her mouth as she glared at Sebastian with utter contempt.

"Actually, Sallow, the date went fantastic!"  She hissed through gritted teeth.  "It was just grand, thankyouverymuch.  In fact, Ben and I are going to go off an elope to London right after his graduation, and our wedding will be attended by a herd of magical unicorns, and we'll skip into the sunset." 

Abruptly, she stood up from her seat, her chair screeching backwards noisily.  "I have to talk to Natty about something."

With a swish of her hair, she turned away, stomping rather dramatically towards Natty's desk, no doubt trying to find herself a new Transfiguration partner.

Sebastian was again left alone at their desk, with only her hairy gerbil sized teacup for company.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Dismissed from Transfiguration class, Sebastian shouldered past the rest of his classmates. "Natty!"  The Gryffindor alone.  It was the perfect time for Sebastian to do snooping.  "Natsai!"

"Sebastian!"  Natty turned around. "How was your weekend?"

"Good," Sebastian rushed, sparing the details.  The rest of the students walked around them, no doubt annoyed that they were blocking their path.  "And yours?"

"Great!  I got to spend some time with friends by the Black Lake-"

"-Oh?  Was the new Crossed Wand Champion there?"  Sebastian feigned ignorance, as if he wasn't stalking her the whole weekend.

Natty's eyes twinkled with mirth.  They were too knowing.  Still, she was kind enough to not point out how desperate he appeared.  "Oh, no, actually I believe she was on a date."

"Oh?  A date?  That's fantastic." Sebastian's smile was far too wide and far too fake.  "And how did it go… the date?"  Sebastian asked in a light airy tone, as if he wasn't dying to know every single detail.

Natty mimicked zipping her lips.  "My lips are solemnly sealed under the oath I have taken upon joining Girl Talk."

Sebastian's brows knitted in confusion.  "Girl Talk?"

She beamed; her teeth dazzling. "Our weekly afternoon tea sessions with Imelda, Poppy, your crush, and myself."

"I don't have a crush on her."  Sebastian mumbled darkly underneath his breath.  

Natty ignored his comments.  "My friend, I am sorry, but I cannot share anything with you.  If you really want to know, perhaps you should ask her yourself."

He huffed.  Well, he just tried that, and for some reason, it didn't go as well as he expected.  Sebastian's eyes widened innocently.  "Really, not even for me, your old dueling partner?"

Natty was impervious.  She shook her head resolutely.  "I am afraid not.  It is just as grave as an unbreakable vow.  Breathe a word from girl talk, and I am effectively banished from Hogwarts for Life."

He rolled his eyes.  Getting Natty to ever change her mind was like getting Headmaster Black to suddenly become tolerant of Muggles: impossible. 

"Sebastian, I sense the feeling that my weekend is not at the forefront of your mind,"  The corner of Natty's lips ticked upwards, "What is it that is troubling you?"

Sebastian sighed.  Natty was perceptive as ever.  Always able to pinpoint what was truly bothering people.  "Nothing.  Our vertically challenged friend is just avoiding me is all.  She hasn't even invited me on her outings outside Hogwarts in weeks."  He crossed his arms.  "I should be so lucky it's mostly you and Poppy that she goes on her adventures with.  I wouldn't know what I would do if she chose some troll-headed boy like Benjamin Cushings to tag along with her misadventures."

Natty frowned, confused.  "Why does it matter?  Girl or Boy?  The possibility of her developing feelings for either Poppy or myself is still present, yes?"

Warning bells rang in Sebastian's head.  Her first date with Ben What's-his-face now entirely forgotten.  "Wait, what are you saying?  Does she like…"

Natty giggled, mischief in her eye.  "Whether or not 'your crush' likes girls, boys, or both, is not for me to answer.  That is something you must ask her yourself. But…." she sang in a teasing voice.  "I have noticed how quickly her eyes look at my backside when she thinks no one is watching her."

The ground was spinning.  Sebastian fought to steady himself.  Now, no one was safe.  Not only did he have to worry about the male students that she interacted with, but the female students as well.  It instantly doubled the number of people he now had to keep his eyes on.  Natty, Poppy, Imelda, Anne. 

…Anne….

Oh Merlin, Anne.  He's left her alone with Anne many times.  How naïve he's been thinking his lonely sister could use some female company, a new friend in the lonely cottage in Feldcroft.  How positively elated he'd been when his new best friend and sister became thick as thieves.  Sebastian's heart would skip a beat whenever the hero of Hogwarts would go out of her way to stop by Feldcroft and drop off freshly made scones.

Oh Merlin the scones…what if…there were never any scones…what they've been secretly snogging this whole time?

After all, she's never made him scones before.

"If I could offer some advice, my old Cross Wands partner," Natty interrupted his thoughts.  "My father has always told me sharing my feelings is better than holding them in.  Perhaps, if you told our friend your concerns, you'll find them much more manageable than you anticipate." 

Sebastian wrinkled his nose.  Tell his crush friend how he felt?  No thanks.  He'd rather be trapped in the Scriptorium.  Biding Natty a very hasty goodbye, Sebastian sprinted to the hero of Hogwarts's favorite hiding spot in the Transfiguration courtyard. 

Curled in the shade of the biggest tree in the courtyard, she had books spread around her, jotting down notes on parchment.  Without so much as a hello, Sebastian grabbed her by the arm (strangely she did not protest at this), dragging her to a secluded corner of the courtyard by her sleeve.  He waited until the coast was clear.

"Sebastian!  What is all the fuse about?  I have a 14 inch paper due for Professor Binns!"

He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening to their conversation.  He turned back to hiss quietly.  "Are you interested in girls?"

She scrunched her nose in confusion, essay forgotten.  "Come again?"

Sebastian paced back and forth, rubbing the back of his neck.  Every fiber in his body wanted to wrap her closer, shake an answer out of her.  "Some people, rumors really, around the school say that you prefer girls as well as guys."

He did not get the reaction he wanted.  She folded her arms, leaning away from him.  "And, since when did you care for school gossip?"  She asked coldly.  "Why does it matter to you if I like girls or if I like guys?"

He felt like pulling his hair.  What did it matter?  It was only the most important question in all of Hogwarts!  What if she wasn't interested in boys at all?  What if her date with Whats-his-name was just a cover?  Oh Merlin, was Sebastian doomed from the very start?

"Of course it matters!  I need to know!"  Her disgusted expression made him backtrack.  "As your friend of course.  I'm not…I'm not…a hateful git or anything."  She scoffed, walking away.  "Oh don't be like that.  You know I'm not against the idea of two woman or two men being together.  Merlin, Sirona is one of the best people I know…and….and Professor Garlick!  I'm pretty sure she fancies a lady!  Not sure who..but…you know she looks the type!" 

His friend stopped walking away from him.  Her body was stiff.  Her voice was low and dangerous.  "She looks the type?"

Sebastian could sense he was about to walk into a trap he didn't know he sprung.  "Well, I mean the general…aura.  But it doesn't matter!  Point is, I will always be your friend.  Regardless of who-I mean, what type of person you like!"

Her eyes narrowed, Sebastian was getting on her last fucking nerve.  First the date, then the incessant nagging during Transfiguration, now this.  What had gotten in Sebastian recently? 

Spinning around, she marched back to Sebastian.  She was going to give him a piece of her mind.  Before she could spew her angry tirade, the words were caught in her throat.

Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, Sebastian had a soft expression on his face.  He was shuffling his feet nervously in the courtyard.  His hair had fallen from its normally perfect coif, tumbling over his brow.  No doubt, he had been grabbing at its roots, in frustration.  He gazed at her through its strands with wide bright eyes.

And just as suddenly as it came, her anger deflated.  This was Sebastian, her closest friend in Hogwarts.  No matter what awful thing he did, she could never be too angry at him.  "You wouldn't reveal this secret of mine to everyone in Hogwarts?"

"Never."   Sebastian answered automatically.  "Every secret you tell me, I guard with my life.  I would never betray you like that.  And, no matter who you like, you'll always be one of my closest friends.  That I can promise."  He was alarmed at his own sincerity.  Sebastian would never stop caring for her, even if she didn't reciprocate his feelings, though…he'd much rather prefer if she did feel the same way. 

Her shoulders relaxed.  "Even if I was only attracted to nasally annoying gits named Leander Prewitt?"

"Prewitt???  Blasted Prewitt??" he sputtered at her laughter.  "Now, hold on a minute.  Your preferences don't mean you have to lack taste!  Like any gender you want, but Leander Prewitt?  Leander?  What?  Too many troll attacks knock your head a bit lose?  Prewitt?"

She tried to stifle her laughter behind her robe sleeves.  She looked more relax, all the tension disappearing from her shoulders.  She knew Sebastian was an stand up gentleman deep down, but she couldn't help but be a bit nervous talking about a subject as sensitive as this.  She could never knew how people would react in this day and age.  She wouldn't want to lose her best friend.  "Alright, alright, Sebastian.  Don't bully the poor boy.  I get it.  You're not an ignorant prude." 

"Only when it comes to Prewitt."  Sebastian muttered underneath his breath.

Her expression softened, overwhelmingly relieved that Sebastian was an ally (abetted an awkward one at that).  She pulled Sebastian into an unexpected hug, tucking her face into the crook of his neck.  Her hands gripped on his robes hard.  It was silly that she was so worried talking to Sebastian about something like this.  It was Sebastian, the boy who always stood by her side.  She should have known from the very first moment Sebastian took the fall for their adventure in the restricted section that he would do anything for her.

Sebastian was thrown off, instantly overwhelmed.  He didn't know what prompted the hug, but the Slytherin wasn't going to ever let opportunities like this pass over him.  Quickly seizing his moment, he wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her tightly.  He never wanted to let her go.  He basked in her scent, surrounded by the intoxicating scent of her flowery perfume.  Honeysuckle, lavender, and her favorite apple tarts from the kitchen.  Soft strands of her hair tickled his cheek.  Her arms were so sure and comforting around him. 

Merlin, this feeling was dangerous.  In her arms, everything felt so right.  The world was at peace and every insurmountable problem in Sebastian's life had entirely slipped his mind.  He couldn't pinpoint exactly what he was feeling, but whatever it was, it was far more dangerous than any dark arts that he had ever dabbled in.  Before he could take it in any more, the hug was over.  Just as quickly it started, it was gone.

He missed her warmth.

The transfer stood in front of him, awkwardly fidgety as if she was surprised by her own reactions.  She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  "Um, good talk Sebastian.  I…I have to go finish my History of Magic Essay before Binns gives me detention.  Um, see you at dinner!"  With that rushed goodbye, she scurried out of the corridor.

Sebastian stood there lamely still trying to memorize the scent of her shampoo.  His heart was pounding as though he just fought off a troll and won.  He folded his arms.  "She never did answer my question, did she?" 

Part 3

------

A/N: MC is bisexual af.  Sebastian's just too stupid to read between the lines.

[mastercrownmonday]

Without further ado (Kirby reference?!): new Mistilteinn pfp!!! Magolor Soul banner is still on the way.

If you don't remember (and I wouldn't blame you), the subject of this pfp was decided in March with a poll. I haven't really commented on the results yet—so if you want to see my thoughts and ALSO discover the lore behind my love for the Master Crown, read on, because it has a whole lot to do with this titanic and terrible tree!!!

Here are the results for your reference. There were 48 votes:

I guess I was slightly? ish? surprised Mistilteinn won; I had my not-so-strong bets on Magolor Soul, which came in second. But hey! The ranking was a nice surprise, because clearly the BEST Master Crown is the Master Crown, pure and simple—without some... begrudgingly hijacked, weak-willed catboy wizard in the mix.

I didn't vote officially, but I did ask myself the question: which Master Crown is best!? And I think, if I had voted... I might have gone with the tiny, classic version. (I guess that's why I had to sneak it into the pfp anyway.) I mean, it's so cute! I am sure it would never become a literal accessory to any sort of evil!

If I remember correctly, @katlynthecat bravely arrived on the last day of voting to represent the OG MC. I was happy it got at least one vote, so special thanks to you :)

I was also pleasantly surprised that every form got a vote. Even the cutscene-exclusive Crown shards (which is actually a really cool form imo. it's ominous: inexplicably moving and spitting out a magic aura but showing no other signs of life. spooky)!

With all that in mind, I still don't know if I could pick any one of the Crown's forms as the true overlord. The tree has the most historical significance, though, because the Kirby buzz that RTDLDX caused is what got me seriously invested in the series again (I've been a longtime fan off and on).

Clearly, I was a weakling in terms of Kirby extended lore expertise, because at that point I knew nothing about RTDL and I had never heard of this Magolor character. He seemed popular though. Wonder what his deal is.

...OH! So that's why everyone jokes about the fandom having trust issues from multiple adorable offenders. (I did already know all about Marx. Gotta love that guy.)

Hey... wait a minute. Is the boss of Magolor's game mode... the very artifact that consumed his soul? That's pretty metal. I guess it's sapient? A living little conglomerate of hatred, back after over a decade to torment the fandom darling? Though it would earn no thanks... no acknowledgement... it crafted a perfect, Bible-referencing hellscape for Magolor's torment, returning long after time had forgotten its days as the big bad to prove to theorists once and for all that it was alive, it was autonomous, and it was angry!?

...I had to respect that. I respected that a lot, actually. I liked Magolor but I liked the Crown even more. (That renewed passion for the Kirby series is actually what brought me here to Tumblr!)

For a little comparison, here are some of my first drawings of the Master Crown (circa June last year?) compared to this most recent one:

In the left image, you can actually see the first inklings of Master Crown Soul! 😳 It didn't take me long to start cooking up some ideas to flesh out its backstory, and I think the design and themes have come a long way since then. (some of which anyone interested will eventually get to experience in all their glory via my fic. prommies)

In summary: thanks for growing on me, Mistilteinn, and congratulations! It's a great day to be a tree-hugger :)

[pascaloverx]

To Begin Again

THREE

Summary: You're a new teacher at a large and influential school. It's a risky step for you, as you've been running from your ex for almost two years. But when Dumbledore asks you to take on a class at the renowned Hogwarts, you can't refuse. However, your life as a newly arrived teacher won't be easy. Especially when the other teachers don't seem eager to make friends. Or rather, two teachers in particular: Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Author's Note: Welcome, dear readers. Please leave your comments if you enjoy fanfiction. This fanfic takes place almost in the real world (with the addition of werewolves) and is not a wizarding fanfic. There will be some differences and changes in things from the Harry Potter story or other fanfics in the HP universe, but I promise to do my best writing this fanfic. There will be a love triangle coming in this fanfic.

TWO FOUR

One week since your arrival at Hogwarts has passed faster than you imagined. During this time, you discovered some things: single teachers tend to live in a building exclusive to Hogwarts, with one floor designated for each pair of teachers. Each floor is divided into two large rooms on the right and two on the left. These rooms, almost like suites, have a shared entrance between the two rooms leading to a bathroom. Meals are taken at the same time as the students but in a specific staff wing.

Before your arrival, there was a draw to determine who would share the floor and bathroom with you. To your "luck" (with irony), your floor mate is none other than Sirius Black. On the same floor as you, there are also Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange. Other married teachers or staff members of Hogwarts live in houses or mansions in the nearest village to Hogwarts. Students spend most of the school year residing at Hogwarts, being released only on festive dates and weekends if they want to spend time with their families. Not all families reside near Hogwarts or in London, so many students spend the year at Hogwarts. Harry Potter's parents, Lily and James, work at the school and live in the village. Therefore, Harry spends weekends with them. Draco Malfoy isn't as lucky. Lucius Malfoy, from what you've been told, prefers a luxurious life as CEO of a conglomerate over coming to London to visit his son. He apparently has a house in the village where he sends Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy, when he's tired of marital life. She seems to be Draco's parental support. According to Remus, Narcissa volunteers frequently to help with school matters. Lucius Malfoy is a major donor of money to assist with the school's financial issues. Hermione Granger's parents are also known to make generous donations to Hogwarts, but as they are not wealthy, this means they spend more time working than being able to care for her. Therefore, she only visits them on festive dates. They apparently live in London, so it's a long train journey to get there. Just thinking about the poor girl spending much of her holidays on a train for hours makes you feel a bit exhausted. Ron Weasley is the son of two Hogwarts employees. Molly Weasley works in the school's administration, while Arthur Weasley works as a librarian. They live in a large house in the village, from what you've heard. 

And those were some of the pieces of information you managed to gather during this week. McGonagall assigned you to assist two teachers in their classes on your only day off, which happens to be today. Something tells you she might not have liked you much, but perhaps she just wants you to integrate into the team. And once again, by irony of fate, you will be assisting precisely the teachers you already know: Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. A curious fact is that you couldn't find out the reason why Lupin has a separate room from all the other teachers and it's so close to the school entrance.

"Excuse me, professor. May I come in to assist you on this fine morning?" You say as you enter Remus Lupin's classroom. His class takes place in an auditorium. Your voice echoes throughout the entire auditorium, and you feel embarrassed.

"Of course, please come in." Lupin replies, smiling warmly as he gestures for you to enter the classroom. The students look at you curiously, especially those who are not already your fans, like Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. You must have been the first one to, instead of fueling their rivalry, bring them together.

"Today, my dear actors, we will be doing some exercises that will prepare you for any theater play. Our first exercise and main lesson is improvisation. Professor Y/L/N and I will demonstrate it for you, and then you will practice with each other." Lupin says, gesturing for you to step onto the stage. As the students step down from the auditorium stage and take their seats as if they were spectators, you climb up, feeling uncertain if you are the best person to assist Lupin.

"Professor, who will tell you what to improvise?" Hermione Granger asks, all smart and eager. The smile she opens for being the first to ask is encouraging. You notice out of the corner of your eye Draco Malfoy sticking his tongue out towards Hermione. Harry looks at him and makes a gesture as if he's going to attack.

"I think it could be Mr. Potter. He seems eager to help us. Don't you think so, Remus?" You say, trying to attract the attention of the three students and observing them focus their attention on you. And then, when Malfoy was about to laugh at Potter, you put two fingers pointed at your eyes and then pointed them at Malfoy, as if to say, "I've got my eye on you."

"Indeed. Potter will tell us where the improvisation takes place, Granger will tell us who we are to each other, and Malfoy will tell us what we're doing. Learn that a good improvisation requires the factors: Where, Who, and What. Now let's see what my future actors have for this improvisation." Lupin seems to have noticed the same thing as you. In the end, it seems like you two make a good teaching duo.

"You're in a pub." Potter says quickly. It seems like he already had that answer ready to go. You and Remus exchange a glance and almost laugh, thinking that you'll probably have to pretend to be drunk. And the worst part, in front of the students.

"You guys are friends who have feelings for each other." Granger says after thinking for a moment. Something tells you she wants to see some good drama unfold.

"And you guys are arguing. About these feelings that Granger made up." Malfoy finishes the plot of the performance you and Lupin will have to do. You feel nervous. It's strange to do this kind of thing with someone you've known for a short time.

"You always act like this when we go out drinking. Flirting with anyone without remembering that we're together." Lupin starts the scene, giving you a slight wink while trying to pretend to be drunk and annoyed.

"That's rich coming from you. You're always out and about with a different person, like some big Casanova. Just to be clear, in a friendship, you have permission to flirt with other people." You act, portraying a sense of indignation.

"Our... our moments together should be just ours. But of course, you don't understand, how could you? You only think of yourself." Lupin says, and it's so funny the way he says it that you laugh, breaking character, but you quickly try to recover and finish the performance.

"You're mistaken, you stubborn man. I think of you. Night and day, all the time if it matters." You say, being overly dramatic, but it seems like the students and Lupin found it amusing. Your finger is pointed at the middle of Lupin's chest as if accusing him.

"Know that I think of you too. More than necessary, more than anyone would like to admit." Lupin says, holding your finger and looking deeply into your eyes. It's almost enchanting to gaze into his eyes. You both lean in closer, without breaking eye contact. Until you hear a noise like two bodies hitting the ground and immediately look down. Malfoy and Potter are fighting clumsily. You and Lupin rush down to intervene, with you holding onto Malfoy, who was pulling Potter's hair this time, and Lupin, who takes the task of lifting Potter off the ground and holding him back. No real harm came to either of them. After a stern talking-to from Lupin, both of them apologized, even Malfoy. It might have been the fear of facing McGonagall or missing the rest of the week's classes, or perhaps the prospect of their parents having to come in. You're not entirely sure what brought about the reconciliation, but it worked.

"Everyone else is dismissed. Except for Malfoy and Potter. As punishment, you'll accompany Professor Y/L/N to her next class as assistants and participate in the lesson. I'll inform the teacher of your scheduled class that you'll be otherwise occupied. When Professor Y/L/N authorizes it, you'll be released from punishment." Remus says, and you look at him in confusion. Is the punishment for them or for you?

"But Professor..." Draco and Harry speak in unison, looking at each other in surprise. You and Lupin laugh, and then you gently touch their shoulders. Then you point to the exit of the auditorium.

"Follow me, boys. Professor Black must be waiting for us." You say, leading them out. Before leaving, you wave gently to Remus, who waves back. The moments of improvisation between you are playing in your head like a movie trailer. The three of you take a long route, with Malfoy and Potter arguing about who is to blame for their punishment and which way to go. It feels like an eternity until you arrive at the hall where Sirius's class takes place.

"Got lost on the way and needed the help of two troublemakers to get to me, Y/N?" Sirius asks, looking at you with a hint of mockery. You take a deep breath because you know you can't curse him. At least not right now.

"No, Black. The two troublemakers are accompanying me as punishment, and I came to assist you in the dance class. I never imagined you'd teach this kind of class." You say, teasing Sirius, who continues with a charming crooked smile on his face.

"So, I have to inform you both that you'll be partners. We're practicing ballroom dancing today, which gives me the unique opportunity to teach this class with a partner. I'm sure Harry and Draco will manage each other just fine. In fact, I'll let you decide who will lead and who will follow." Sirius says, turning on the music for you to dance and extending his hand towards you. You smile, realizing it might be easier to handle the Potter/Malfoy rivalry than you thought.

"You handle them well. Better than I imagined. At least you know how to do that." You say as you feel Sirius' hand firmly hold your waist and guide you. One, two, three, one, two, three. You're being led by him across the dance floor, reaching certain realizations you'd rather not admit. The main one being that you're attracted to Sirius Black. The second major realization is that he's an excellent teacher.

"I know how to do many things well. I hope I can show you all of them someday. But it's easy to get them to focus in class when your lesson requires meticulous concentration. Not to mention, the music and the steps help scatter conversations." Sirius says with a playful tone, leading you through the dance with confidence.

"I find you handsome, and it makes me uncomfortable." Slips out of your mouth accidentally, and you silently thank the gods that apparently no one else heard you. Well, no one else except the idiot in front of you. 

"Let me see if I got this right. Are you uncomfortable because of my beauty or because you find me handsome?" Sirius teases, poking fun at you. You're not sure how to respond, pretending to observe the students. You actually check on Malfoy and Potter, and it seems that besides finding their rhythm, they found a bit of harmony. Malfoy even let Potter lead him in the dance.

"I think it's the second option. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I didn't come here for this. I don't even know why I said that. Just pretend you didn't hear it." You deflect, stepping back a bit from Sirius. As soon as he senses your retreat, he twirls you around and steps closer to you.

"Go out with me. We can go to a bar nearby. If you want, I can invite Lupin. Maybe then you'll feel more comfortable talking about how you want..." Sirius starts to say, but you purposefully step on his foot.

"Watch what you say. The next place I hit won't be your feet." You try to sound threatening, but it doesn't seem to work. Sirius bites his lip and pulls your body close to his, making a strangely sexy dance move.

"I'm looking forward to our date tonight." Sirius says to you, then stops the dance. "Students, congratulations, you managed to concentrate enough for no one to get hurt in this class. Special congratulations to you, Potter." Sirius says, looking in the direction of Malfoy and Potter.

"And congratulations to you too, Malfoy. You two are excused from accompanying me. But no fights on the way out." You say, looking at the two of them, who nod almost in unison and quickly leave the class with the other students. 

"How will we handle the bathroom schedule  of the bathroom that we share, since we're going out together tonight?" You ask as you feel Sirius getting close behind you. You hear his muffled laughter near your ear and shiver all over.

"Not to be obvious, but I think we're grown-ups. We can use the same bathroom without any major issues." Sirius says, trying to sound charming, and you look at him seriously. Then you lightly slap his arm and leave the hall. After all, now you have a date, not only with one, but with two men. If that can be considered a date, after all.

[rpgsandbox]

5th-level Banish Rumour (Abjuration). Casting time: 1 Action. Components: Verbal, Material (A single public statement).

Dungeons & Dragons is in a bizarre place right now—it's on the verge of the totally-not-a-new-edition ruleset revamp and an in-development virtual tabletop project, riding high off the back of Baldur's Gate 3. But Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has also suffered from a massive round of layoffs, and the bruises of the catastrophic OGL fiasco a year ago are still smarting.   This has laid the groundwork for a swarm of rumours regarding a potential sale to Tencent—a massive conglomerate and holding company with its fingers in dozens of different pies including Remedy Entertainment, Paradox Interactive, FromSoftware, Epic Games and (most importantly to the matter at hand) Larian Studios. Said whispers began when the Chinese news outlet Speed Daily (as translated by Pan Daily) reported that WotC parent company Hasbro was "seeking to sell its well-known IP 'Dungeons & Dragons'", citing Hasbro's "financial crisis" as a reason for the speculation. That's despite D&D being a huge earner for Hasbro, achieving record years (as per a financial report last October) for the company. 

Shucking D&D as a property entirely would be like throwing a crate of diamonds overboard to stop your ship from sinking—not something you'd do unless you were definitely about to drown. Which isn't completely out of the question. That same report noted Hasbro's total revenue was down "13-15%", and repeatedly cites a difficult situation for toys across the board. Still, I'm not sure if things are dire enough for a spontaneous bout of violin-playing. That's been confirmed in a comment provided to Dicebreaker, where Wizards of the Coast writes the following: "We regularly talk to Tencent and enjoy multiple partnerships with them across a number of our IPs. We don’t make a habit of commenting on internet rumours, but to be clear: we are not looking to sell our D&D IP. We will keep talking to partners about how we bring the best digital experiences to our fans. We won't comment any further on speculation or rumours about potential [mergers and acquisitions] or licensing deals." So there you have it: D&D isn't being sold to anyone. What's more likely is that Tencent—which owns a 30% stake in Larian Studios—might be thinking about pouring money into another D&D game. That should surprise nobody, considering the meteoric success of Baldur's Gate 3. Another licensing deal isn't just 'not out of the question', it's a plain good idea. Under any other circumstances I'm not sure any of this would've made waves in forums and headlines. But the environment surrounding D&D at the moment is, understandably, one of fear. Hasbro's layoffs included several senior members of staff. Game designers, art directors, and Liz Schuch—the company's former Head of Publishing and Licensing, who was with Wizards of the Coast for 28 whole years.  There's a bordering-on-zero percent chance something like this would actually happen, but the background radiation of 'strange times' has a lot of TTRPG fans without a fuller scope of the situation willing to buy into speculative panic, and I can't say I necessarily blame them.

[anulithots]

Am I back?

Nope. Still banned. (At home. Long story. I can access at school for a couple of minutes monday-thursday) This is a loophole, since I think the school forgot tumblr exists.

That being said, hello! Missed you all, and I love everything you all have been sending me.

(@sm-writes-chaos, thank you soooo much for the fanart)

Feel free to keep sending me things! I can see everything that I'm tagged in and asks and comments. (They get sent to my email.)

I may not be able to respond, but I always appreciate it! See me as benevolent internet being. Send me your stories, link click things, anime recs, anything and everything!

Current hyperfixations I'd love to ramble about:

Nightcord at 25 (the mizuki event I sob),

Kasane Teto (still new to vocaloid but she's my favorite),

Link Click (I have yet to rewatch the first season this month),

and silly horror things (I had a quick phase of watching video essays talk to me about horror/phycological exploration things)

and I"m always open to seeing things/talking about things in cellular biology <3

(Not so quick, sorry I ramble) Quick info:

Hello hello, my name's Noor, (they/them, fae/faer, it/its).

I have some semblance of a human-like flesh, but in reality I'm a conglomerate of stories and shadows, which I hoard like a dragon

I'm aspec and genderfluid. Where on the aroace spectrum? Yes. (Basically, I'm a queer platonic sap, hi)

Fandoms: Link Click, Kasane Teto, Nightcord at 25 and Project Sekai, Qualia the purple, Jujutsu Kaisen, Alien stage, the Girl from the Other Side, the Little Prince, Autodale/the dead sound short films.

Song artists: Eve, BaishaJAWS, Waisa Project, Marina and the Diamonds, Mitski, Yaelkore, Kasane teto, Ado, 告五天, Vaundy

I will ship queer platonically, fandoms are missing out on queer platonic ships THEY ARE SO WONDEROUS AKJDFKLSDLKFj

I favor themes and character development and overanalyze everything, to the point where my thoughts contain more of my existence than existence itself.

my responsibility avoidance has caught up to me yet I'm still here

Things I have a strange amount of information on: Biology (particularly apoptosis and caspases), the mycorrhizal system and trees, rhetorical devices and storytelling, marketing, editing, quantum physics, character analysis, random theoretical and phycological musings, spirituality but we don't talk about that, basically nothing practical whatsoever.

Least favorite things: chairs, shoes, grocery stores, the looming doom of being independent, grass lawns, the school system, apathy, being told to 'go to sleep at a reasonable time', executive dysfunction

Fun fact: My life's purpose is to turn the subjects I like (like biology) into stories (an episodic narrative about a caspase trying to find meaning in life before they destroy the cell and end it all).

Writing book recommendations: Story genius and word painting

I also make dolls

In other news, since large Anuli doll has been... ruined. I make a tiny one, I'll upload picutures on youtube at somepoint. NIce to see you all! If you wish to respond, feel free to tag me in a reblog!

@osbob-the-existent @starryeyeddarlings @sleepy-vix @sea-dwelling-wizard

Original is here <-- intro post. It's older.

Thank you to everyone who reads my ramblings and likes my stories, you all mean the world to me and I can't thank you enough. <3

The dearest, most wonderous people, otherwise known as the lotff tag list:

@waitingforthesunrise @sm-writes-chaos @holdmyteaplease @full-on-sam

@osbob-the-existent @awleeofficial

@clearcloudlesssky @gummybugg @sleepy-vix @starryeyeddarlings

@sea-dwelling-wizard @snowpoet123 @ashirisu 

lmk if you'd like to be added or removed <3 🌿

Link Click Hyperfixation

Otherwise known as Cheng Xiaoshi, his sister, and his queer platonic bf all get traumatized as they break the space time continuum.

GIF by bishonenlover

What shall I say? The subtle buildup of Cheng Xiaoshi's backstory, the way it gets more and more tragic and nuanced as it parallels with those he possesses? The way he can adapt and strategize for the given situation (despite the fact that everyone sees him as just a silly), how he continues to wait for his parents, how he loves Lu Guang so much he would lose him just to respect his wishes, how his emotional connection with those he possesses overwhelms him and it's. so. tragic.

Lu Guang's adherence to the rules to the point where he's ripping at the seams, how he teases Cheng Xiaoshi even more than Cheng XIaoshi does to him (yes even with his stoic character. He's so silly... also season two), how he has the most queer platonic coded relationship with Cheng Xiaoshi ever?

Qiao Ling and her avoidance of uncomfortable feelings, the way she canonically called Cheng Xiaoshi her brother and is the only one able to connect with Xixi, how she's actually the only levelheaded character here? (Shee'sss sooo prettyyy I lovvee herrr)

Jujutsu Kaisen Hyperfixation

GIF by heycaz

As the name suggests, I am hyperfixated. I have also written essays analyzing these characters. Be very afraid. And/or come suffer with me /pos

Also also, for those who don't want to see any JJK smut, this blog should be safe for you! <3 I ship Satosugu but in a... transcend labels, queer platonic flavor sort of way. And I flipflop on itafushi. Either way they are soul mates and labels are just extra. Found family dynamics and everlasting friendships/comfort people are peak fiction for me.

Anuli's favorite stories

Favorite writeblrs and stories from tumblr

The Land of the Fallen Fairies

A character-centric commentary on the pursuit of happiness, told by tree fairies.

zine

Which one my characters are you? Uquiz (Includes Anuli, Kamari, and two other characters not mentioned.)

This has changed a lot. I'll write something here eventually.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Wyrdwood Wand

Wyrdwood Wand is another 4e-like! get used to it indie devs really like the demonized child of the D&D conglomerate. Wyrdwood Wand is extremely fun, its a wizard school game, set in an interesting world with moon colonies, goblins that can turn anything into a gun, and completely indestructible harmless lizards that are used as soccer balls. Character creation is fun, fairly simple, and extremely customizable, leading to characters having many different tactical niches

[hyukassubi]

🪡15 | Smoked Grapes With a Wizard/ Don’t Let Me Succumb To My Shrimp Cravings

♡𓂃 Pairing -> (Former) Knight! Huening Kai x Seamstress! Reader

♡𓂃 Synopsis -> Growing up, you never believed in purpose, nor destiny. Simply following the path of life, becoming a royal seamstress didn't at all seem like a bad idea. Only thing is, it wasn't your idea.

Your best friend who just so happens to be the crowned prince knows what it's like to grow up having limited choices, and Prince Kang Taehyun doesn't want the same happening to you. The commander knight, in turn, has other plans for the future. After Huening Kai closes a profound chapter of his life, he seeks refuge from the chaos of his past, opting for a cozier lifestyle instead.

... And it just so seems that those plans wouldn't be fulfilled without you.

♡𓂃 Wc -> 2,475

The wizard has been quiet as of late.

You wondered how he was doing up in his laboratory in the far off corner of the castle, high up in that single-windowed turret…

The wooden door creeks open… and on top of a vintage old cabinet the size of a grandfather clock sat a creature on all fours, hissing at your presence. “Who dares enter these sacred grounds— ???”

You removed the black-red cloak from your head medusa-style, “Beomgyu, get down here.”

And so the wizard floats down, giving you the tightest squeeze. “Y/N !!!”

It didn’t matter that you were eighteen and a legal adult, let alone Beomgyu being a year away from twenty, sometimes, some things are unchanging…

"So, how may I help you?"

Beomgyu sits on a round wooden table covered in fuzzy-furry periwinkle fabric, assortments of magic crystals and test tubes and other witchy stuff you’d expect from a wizard. Books that look like they’ve been used before, read over, but not bookmarked in the slightest. Scrolls of ineligible notes and cutesy little doodles scattered on another table…

The whole place was so overwhelmingly witch-coded you seriously can’t put your attention on one thing without taking a second glance before realizing you’re eyeing a rabbit’s foot on a necklace or a jar full of shark teeth, following one bizare thing after the other.

And the little witch must’ve noticed how off-putting you were so he turns his back around to pluck out the nearest object around him— smoked grapes. “Want some? They’re good, like, really good.” Beomgyu raises his arms defensively. “No weird magic stuff going on with these grapes! They’re simply a sign of hospitality—”

“Then why the smoking incense and white stones?”

There was indeed an assembly of white pebbles leaning against a glass jar of burning incense under the hanging grapes.

“To keep them clean, duh. Don’t wanna attract any nasty spirits chewing on the souls of my fresh grapes.” Beomgyu munches on a bloated grape. “Selenite should do.”

You cast him the most sceptical side eye you could muster, eerily similar to that of Taehyun’s, “Mhm, yeah no, totally fresh, mhm.”

Beomgyu does the same before lightly slamming his fist down on the table. “I’m not joking! I bought these yesterday—”

“The only thing you’ll be attracting are fruit flies and Hazelnut—”

“— From Choi Soobin—!”

“— Don’t get me started with the ants— Wait, Soobin? I’ve heard of that guy before...”

“His father is a farmer.” Beomgyu rests back on his chair, as if disclosing that information would regain your memory. “Like, the rich conglomerate kind.”

Choi Soobin… Choi Beomgyu…

“Is he your brother?”

Beomgyu looks as if his soul left his body. “Don’t ever say that sentence ever again.”

“Question, not sentence, but okay—” Realization hits you like a truck, remembering that one kid from your twelfth birthday party, “OHHHH, THE BEBE REXHA FANBOY?”

And here Beomgyu thought this interaction couldn’t turn any less South. “YEAH—?”

“OHHH ONE OF HUENING KAI’S OLD CLASSMATES…” Silence. Followed by a shallow sigh and a pair of arms crossed over your chest as projections of past memories began seeping in. “Ah… gone were the good old days.”

Right.

That was what you came here for.

You never thought you’d see the day where you borderline ramble to a wizard on top of his magical lopsided coffee table, but here you are, looking elsewhere, leaving Beomgyu in uncomfortable silences, the elephant in the room so huge, so obvious and so clearly there.

And all Beomgyu could do was sit and watch.

It was the same with the prince.

Though Beomgyu wasn’t technically under Taehyun’s reign, he still had some significance to Taehyun in some way, didn’t he? Like you and him, they were roughly the same age, knew each other since the very beginnings of their teen years.

They are freinds.

“Hey, Taehyun.” Beomgyu would call out. “Is everything alright?”

Taehyun could tell Beomgyu’s question was more directed towards the external happenings of the castle, but he knew, deep down, he also meant to ask regarding the prince’s state in it of itself.

And so the prince would say ‘It’s alright, I’m alright.’ or ‘Huening Kai will come home, he’ll come home and be alright.’ or both.

And Taehyun himself seemed… alright, as he stated. Pensive, a little, his thoughts ended as soon as they’ve began. But at least he was hopeful, perhaps even genuine.

It wasn’t quite the same for you now was it?

The moment you saw glimpses of him in your head… distant memories of that crying little knight on the moor… you couldn’t possibly force that thought aside now, could you?

Beomgyu gazes upon you once more.

Yearning.

You reeked of it.

Beomgyu passes you more grapes while popping more of those delectables into his mouth, sticking it to the inner part of his cheek. “You alright? You don't look alright...”

You nod while your head hangs low.

Beomgyu smiles, and not the bad kind where you wish to chew his face up and spit it back out on the top of his neck. “Tell me now, what’s on your mind? I’ll do anything to help.” And that was the sound of someone who cares, like, really cares. He moves forward, in a whisper-shout, “Because I’m a wizard, and that’s what I do.”

… It took you a while to speak, but that was okay.

It took you a while to look at him completely in the eyes, vulnerable and scavanging for the truths hidden inside of you because honestly speaking you were so clueless and could be doing better at the moment and that is completely okay.

"I've... been hitting roadblocks recently." You voice out.

It was a good start.

Vague, but for what it's worth, it’s the truth.

Beomgyu has no intentions of disregarding what the Royal Seamstress has to say. "Figuratively, I'm guessing."

"Well… yeah..."

"Hmm. This is about Huening Kai, isn’t it?"

"What-? I mean…” Your thoughts fumble against one another. “…no? Well— kinda??? but, how did you know?"

"I'm a wizard, Harry!" Beomgyu thinks he got the quote right. He deludes himself to think he got the quote right.

"Being a wizard and mind reader are two completely different things."

"And I don't have to be either to tell that everything has been a little shifty recently!"

"Hm. Touché. Alright, Beomgyu, yeah, this is about Kai.”

“Did you guys have a fight?” Odd how the words came out soft over that smug smirk.

“Not really. I mean, we talked. Before he left, we talked a lot. A whole lot. And… it didn’t feel...”

“You wished he was here right now?”

“Hell yeah I do! I practically grew up with that guy and now he’s on leave for who knows how long? How am I supposed to be okay with that? How the hell am I supposed to be okay with any of that?” You didn’t snap, not quite. If you did, this whole turret would be turned upside down and Beomgyu would have to live in the horse barn outside of the palace walls which he was absolutely not looking forward to due to past circumstances. This was more of a… ‘I’m so so very stuck I can’t find my ways around this dead end’ type of moment.

And Beomgyu wouldn’t admit how entertaining it was watching the castle crumble over an ending he knew would play out just fine.

He’s fifty-four percent sure of his predictions, anyway.

“No one told you to feel okay with Huening Kai leaving.” A short pause. “But… the Universe surely expects you to, one day, be okay with his departure. Accept the fate the Universe has laid upon you, even if you don’t agree with their terms and conditions.”

You sat on your seat, mouth agape. “Whoa.”

“Yeah, whoa.”

“To say I’m impressed is an understatement. Is ‘post-philosophical rambling’ a side effect of eating these grapes?”

Beomgyu seemed mildly offended by that remark, nonetheless, he knew you meant no harm. “No, it isn’t. I’m just built like that. Most stereotypical wizards are.”

“Does this imply that you truly believe you fit the ‘ordinary wizard’ category? Come on, I thought you were cooler than that, Beomgyu.”

“No, I’m hot and young and single, unlike any other wizard you’ve seen before!”

“Why did I even ask.”

Beomgyu leaned in all of the sudden, elbows on the table, butt in the air, like an elementary school kid getting you in on a little secret. “Okay, if you want to see him again, I can do that. Well, kind of, anyway.”

Now you’re getting somewhere.

You leaned forward, elbows on the table, butt floating and all, too. “Tell me you have a teleportation spell.”

Beomgyu furrowed his brows, almost ridiculed at your idea that a wizard can do something as simple as a teleportation spell. “What? No, and even if I did, I wouldn’t give you that… unless getting eaten up by dragons is your sort of thing, I don’t judge.”

“That’s not—”

Beomgyu sat back down, wooshing his arm against the table in one swift motion like a matchstick against a clean surface and in display was a translucent crystal ball standing over a black standee you would’ve easily mistaken as a mini stove top for mice. “I have a crystal ball, and we can see what Kai’s up to.”

“… Like, right now?”

“Yeah, right now. Or look at his past, or future possibilities, that’s my favourite.”

You began to wonder if Beomgyu used his crystal ball for other purposes that weren’t very necessary and borderline illegal. “Anything. Just show me anything.”

“Alright! Stare into the ball and tell me when an image starts forming.”

“… Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be doing?”

“Oh yeah no it is! It just takes a little while to smoke up and it’s much easier to have someone watch over the ball for me—” Beomgyu almost sprung out of his seat. “AHA! WE GOT SOMETHING!!”

And something we’ve gotten indeed…

☁︎⋅

A tent. Multiple yellow tents, around twelve of them. All over a flat hillside was a glamping area full of knights in silver armour, carbon copies of each other, all gathered around with assortments of fire wood, banjos, sauce bottles, harmonicas and premium wagyu beef.

Huening Kai was one of the few who carried firewood, his campmate and school friend had on a saxophone and a pair of hand fans that said ‘I put the ‘Slay’ in ‘Dragon Slayer’’.

“Take one, you might need it later.” Yeonjun said, hand extended to pass on the offer to the Commander Knight.

Huening Kai shook his head. “No, thank you.”

“No Kai, hear me out. We’re out here in the middle of nowhere, the option of being buttass naked completely thrown out the window because ‘oh dear what if a dragon attacks us out of nowhere?’ right?“

”…Mhmmm…”

”And that means we’re expected to be in armour pretty much all the time, right?”

”Well, yeah…”

”So we’re going to be in full metal armour while conducting a barbeque where there’s a huge open fire."

Huening Kai blinked thrice.

He wordlessly snatched a fan from Yeonjun. ”Remind me not to succumb to my shrimp cravings after this. Or don’t. I don’t know.”

Yeonjun smacked his tongue like a disappointed Asian mother. “We’re going to end up losing half of our dispatch team over a barbeque instead of unexpected dragon attacks at this point.” His hand fan swings from side to side, allowing his fresh thick black hair to sway in the breeze. “Should we make an announcement to the ‘general public’?”

Huening Kai’s wrist lazily rotated the half opened hand fan, chuckling, ”...nahh.”

Yeonjun chuckled, too. “Eh, I’m not feeling it either.”

”Mhm.”

”Commander?”

That got Huening Kai out of a daze he didn’t even know he was in to begin with.

”Oh. Uhh… what?” A forced cough. “What is it, hyung?”

”Cheer up, man, we don’t have to barbeque if you don’t feel like it. I have jenga back in my tent, brought it all the way from home, 'cause I know you’re good at it. Sometimes.”

Perhaps a proper Commander Knight would kick Yeonjun back into his senses and go, ‘Jenga?Seriously? On a dragon slaying mission?’ And Yeonjun would retort with, ‘If we’re expected to spend the next couple of years of our lives like this then we better give in to our guilty pleasures while we’re at it.’ And Huening Kai should’ve went, ‘Jenga?!’

But… Huening Kai was just Huening Kai, so all he said was, ”Oh… yeah, I guess. Thank you. Thank you for giving me company throughout all of this.”

And Yeonjun, being one of Kai’s closest friends that still stuck with him even when he dropped out half of junior high for knight-in-training practice, goes, ”You know this isn’t the last time you’ll see my pretty face but, sure. Anytime~”

☁︎⋅

A thick cloud varnishes Yeonjun’s compassionate charming face.

The ball was empty.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“… Okay see now I’m kinda jealous.” Beomgyu helplessly tosses himself on his seat, merely laying on its non-existent arm rests. “A barbeque? Without me? Heh, okay, I’ll just have to come up with a fool-proof hypnosis potion on the king, maybe sneak it in his morning coffee brew, and then repeat the words ‘send the wizard to the knight camp, send the wizard to the knight camp’ over and over again until he’s fully hypnotized and before you know it, I’m on a pegasi carriage going for the dragon hunting site!!”

Your blank face musters up a weak smile, arms crossed, hunched forward. “Or, you could just work on a teleportation spell instead of going through all of that.”

“… And this is why we are best friends.”

“You were literally so opposed to that idea seconds ago.”

“Well, Y/n, as you can see, times have changed and people change.”

It was insistent.

It tugged your gut and spoke repeatedly, in the most respectful ways possible, ‘get out of here, you must go, now, get out of here’ , “Thank you, Beomgyu. I think… I think I know what to do now.”

The only thing the wizard could do was smirk, seizing over the lopsided coffee table. “Where’s my pay check?”

“It’ll come in the form of a silk blazer.”

“Haha, you’re too funny…" A pause. "HAH?! You’re serious?!”

“Mhm, figured that cloaks were too stereotypical for wizards.” You slammed the table, anything but angry.

So very far from being angry. “Thank you so much, again, I mean it, I really do. Thank you thank you thank you sooo much.”

Beomgyu swipes with a swish of his arm, and the crystal ball was gone. “It’s a pleasure to serve you, Seamstress.”

And when you exited his lab, door fully shut behind you, Beomgyu whispers to himself…

“Love... a whole lot of it.”

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♡𓂃A/n: bonus quotes that didn't make it into the final cut bcuz I can't get over this dynamic!! ->

Wizard! Beomgyu: “I kinda wanna turn you into a fruit fly now.”

Seamstress! Reader: “I kinda wanna sew your mouth shut now.”

“Why do you have to hang out with Taehyun so often?”

“We’re besties. Also, these grapes are genuinely really good.”

“Awww, thanks!”

“Choi Soobin knows what he’s doing.”

“…”

“And so do you, Gyu. Can I call you that?”

“Yes, you may, stinky.”

“What was that?”

“Seamstress. I said seamstress.”

“Mhm… I’ll let that one slide… for now… because my head is actually buzzing.”

“Oh no! She’s becoming a fruit fly! The horror!”

♡𓂃Tags: @sweetheartsaku @imcringebutimfree @i-like-to-read-at-4am @pengningie @marloree @stormy1408 @blossommi

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