#then in 2 I’m doing a hex build specifically

[infestedslime]

I’ve been replaying through the dark souls games (I finished one and am almost done with 2) and man. Casting dex builds are a lot easier for me than pure strength

[asukaindetroit]

Post-Revolution DBH Headcanons: Android Culture Part 3

<< Back to Part 1 << Back to Part 2. On to Part 4 >>

Moar android cultural snippets for your perusal. As always, feel free to use but show me b/c I want to see where this all goes :)

The soft sciences have an absolute field day because of android cultural practices. While they were created by the STEM fields, which I’m sure Detroit had tons of job openings for pre-revolution, the soft sciences have a renaissance in the wake of android sentience becoming recognized. All of a sudden there’s a massive void of research into android psychology, sociology, the economic impact of giving them wages, etc. Cultural anthropologists flock to Detroit to witness the emergence of a new culture from a new sentient species firsthand. Grant money comes flooding in from government (how do these new citizens fit into our socioeconomic structure?) and private sectors (if androids are now entitled to wages, what do they want to buy with them? Inquiring marketers want to know). Androids are now entitled to get degrees and become scientists themselves—what’s the best way to create accredited education programs to qualify them for careers when they can just download a science.exe program? There are Questions to be Answered™, and where there are questions, scientists will go. They’re not a breed known for common sense. Fly to an active warzone to study the impacts of conflict on childhood development? Sure, why not. Drive to an industrial wasteland city under martial law that just stopped in the middle of committing genocide to document the cultural practices of the new sentient species conducting protests? Fuck yeah, it’s Science Tuesday, get in the car Anthropology Intern Guy we’re going to Detroit!

The Acespec/QPR scene sees a sudden boom. Androids aren’t inherently sexual beings. Though many do desire to engage in sex as a form of sensory exploration/input for their processors, or for the benefit of building emotional intimacy with a human partner, they fundamentally don’t have a libido derived from reproductive needs. CyberLife programmed the intimate partner models to have humanized “desires,” but they may choose to reject that when they deviate (other androids may incorporate bits of that programming just to explore what it’s all about). Some are built with ken doll anatomy and just don't care. Basically, the androids that do want sex often want it for different reasons than humans, and a large portion just…aren’t into it. Fortunately, a lack of desire can apply to some humans, too—so all the acespecs suddenly have a slew of potential queerplatonic partners who aren’t likely to get entangled in messy sexual or romantic hangups (am I projecting at this point? Probably!) Sudden availability of thousands of cuddle buddies who really, actually, don’t want to have sex makes post-revolution Detroit the San Francisco of ace relationships.

Android memes and social media. Androids develop internal networks for socialization using the remnants of CyberLife’s updating framework. They share their android-unique code-based art forms, dumb memes about things their human coworkers did, code patches to help accomplish different tasks, etc. There are subnetworks specific to certain model lines (think sort of like subreddits, but instead of topics it’s things like a/PC200 and all the male police models are using it to bitch about how the humans expect them to answer dumb legal questions). The memes involve android-specific oddities, like someone will say “I had three hundred processes running and one line of code got crossed and spit out 9f32e4ba8c237fec91 all of a sudden #processorfail” and then a hundred thousand androids will translate that to three hex codes and send off an image file to each other with the three colors and somehow that becomes an android meme for trying to run too many tasks at once and getting overwhelmed. Humans that see it ask, “uh, is this a new pride flag?” or, “do androids celebrate Mardi Gras?” And the androids start laughing. They now have freedom to express humor that humans have no chance of understanding. It’s a cultural in-joke.

^ An android meme example

Emojis require an update. The 2039 additions to the Unicode emojis includes a skin tone option for hand gestures and faces that’s a replica of bare chassis for the androids who don’t use synthskin. Other major android-additions are the three LED color rings, a thirium pump, thirium pump regulator, and other prominent android biocomponents, a droplet of thirium, and two hands clasped in interface. Rather than reacting with a thumbs-down emoji an android might use the red LED, or they might use the interface one instead of the hug if someone’s upset.­

This is an ongoing series of android culture concepts, so if you want a tag when the next batch is up, leave a comment! @iwillthinkofsomethingeventually @yeahhiyellow @starryeyedstray

<< Back to Part 1 << Back to Part 2 On to Part 4 >>

[dr9com9ge-ix]

Hello! :D

So I got a couple questions

First: How do you get text to be a different color? (besides the colors provided by tumblr) I think it looks super cool :3

Second: Are you okay with people drawing their ocs to fit the Sunshine Suburbia au? Not to force you to insert them or anything, but just for funsies? If not that's okay /gen

I also want to say that I love your art, I wish I could transfer it into physical food and eat it /vpos

Anyways that's all, have a nice day :D

Howdy!

1: (ALOT OF JARGON WARNING!)

So I mainly edit my Sunshine Suburbia posts using Tumblr on the computer (Aka On my browser, This stuff is impossible on mobile as far as I know…) which allows you to swap from rich text editor (The default, and only option on the mobile app) to HTML (Alot more flexible on what you can do- BUT a headache to look at because it’ll be a GIANT wall of format along with your post’s text)

So once you’ve managed to get the HTML editor up you’ll need a hex code which represents the color you want your text to be- (ex: the code I use for Jevin is #0a01fe). The easiest way to get these is using your art program of choice (In my case, Procreate fw!) and color picking said color and checking the Hexidecimal section on where you pick colors!

You could manually input the HTML coding for colors but I really don’t like looking at HTML code for very long (Augh headache) so I use this text editor https://spacegen.carrd.co/ by another user called luna ! I copy paste the generated code to the Tumblr HTML editor (Usually replacing the text I had put in there, You can also italicize, bolden, etc using the spacegen editor ) and go to preview at the top of the editor and wow volia! More specifically colored text!!

Notes:

- Line breaks / Read mores break when you swap over from Rich Text to HTML but colored text does not break when you switch from HTML to Rich Text.

- Please be aware of what background your text will be seen on… It’s kind of why Wenda’s text isn’t colored on the Sunshine suburbia blog… Can’t guarantee people can read it as not everyone uses a dark bg- Same goes for Black / Tenebrae and some characters having texts slightly off from their actual colors. (Too light on white bgs, Too dark on black bgs…)

2: I’m absolutely fine with people drawing and writing their ocs to fit the Sunshine Suburbia au! Excited even! It’s even how I’d likely handle people interacting with the askblog (NOT THIS BLOG, DO NOT RP WITH THIS BLOG, THIS IS MY PERSONAL ART BLOG!!!! MY THERAPIST WILL HEAR ABOUT YOU IF YOU DO THAT!) as I sort of want to avoid crossovers mostly to keep the setting from getting messy! (I’ll likely detail this in the Visitor guide post on the Sunshine suburbia blog itself)

I’m just not cool with like— Trying to squirm in relationships (Mostly romantic and familial… But knowing someone before/ being friends with them is fine- It doesn’t have as many implications as the latter…) on the characters as they have their own things going on unless they’ve extensively discussed it with me WHICH I highly doubt would happen and alot of the times it doesn’t fit with the AU… But art and writing to fit them into the AU without those previous elements is COOL AND I’D LOVE TO SEE EM- PLEASE TAG ME IF YOU DO THAT!

I’d also try to provide more info about the world in there as the blog goes on to help with that- (Don’t be scared to prod for world building questions in this case… Most are not spoilery but most of the asks on this personal blog are bound to be a bit looser than what I’d give on the actual blog itself)

And also thank you! I’ve been told by a friend my art tastes like tv static (in a cool way!) Thanks for the ask! ^^

[emthepotatocat]

I talked about this during the live discussion but my theory for the reason the RatGrinders where so interested in the Thistlespring Tree and the soil is because by infecting the soil, they can infect the pollen of the plants of Elmville. Then, that infected rage pollen would be used to make the Devil’s Honey that Gertie was talking about. It will then be used to infect the whole school through the food trucks. In their state of rage infection (where they worship the rage god), the devil’s honey would cause their worship and belief to be much more stronger as the infected will have no doubt that they ever worshiped anyone else and will start believing the lie.

I agree with most theories that the party died in the Mountains of Chaos and were brought alive by the rage god, but I find it more interesting how this god is operating. I’m not too sure if they’re directly controlling the actions of the RatGrinders or if it’s by proxy and the RatGrinders can control themselves to some degree, but the theme of loopholes and fairness is still prevalent in this plan. We have seen other gods be changed by their followers, like Cassandra and Tracker’s goddess, but what happens if the followers are essentially mind controlled into worship a certain god? especially one that is unnamed and largely unknown? Their plan is to actively shape the identity of their followers into being rageful and make those followers believe in the lie that they have always worshiped this rage god. Is this a loophole to the way worship in the FH universe works? Because based on what we have been shown, all worshipers were in some degree willing participates in their worship of any specific god, only social pressures and manipulations to keep them worshiping rather than being literally forced. So is this god trying to essentially build a brainwashed rage army to worship them in order to become a powerful god rather than building up followers? Is this rage god buying bots to artificially inflate their follower count rather than posting good-quality shit posts and amassing a loyal fan base?

Going over the whole villain plan so far: KettlePitty CopperFucker already has preexisting rage and jealousy toward the Bad Kids and specifically Riz. Her rage stems from her understanding how she’s an NPC in a DnD game. She’s essentially she’s an incel, wanting the world to revolve around her but not doing what’s necessary and thinking her conflict free life is boring and wanting the trauma of the Bad Kids. The idea of it all was much cooler in Kipperlilly’s head than it actually was for the Bad Kids, and the Bad Kids actually were able to work through that Trauma, leading them to be who they are. Anyway, Kipperlilly is a vulnerable teen who got too lost in her own emotions, and drove herself insane with her own jealousy, making her into the easy target for the Rage God. The Rat grinders’ treck into the mountains of chaos was most likely KipperLilly’s attempt at replacing the Bad Kids’ cool adventures but something went wrong, they weren’t prepared as they lacked experience with big threats, causing themselves to die. They all then chose to be revived by Rage God (TM), minus Lucy who stayed dead and who they hexed into never going into the afterlife as revenge(?) for not following the Rage God. (Begs the question of why they brought her to the Elmville forest rather than leaving her behind?). Anyways they go back to Elmville and slowly begin their plan, consisting of 2 steps.

1. Expel the Bad Kids as revenge.

2. Make everyone worship the Rage God.

The second step is much easier to explain. Kipperlilly sets up the food trucks and establishes them as legit. Then, at Frosty Fair, Ruben was supposed to infect all of Elmville’s soil through his ritual at the Root Guardian, being the Thistlespring residents. As discussed earlier, this would have caused all the soil and thus pollen and thus Devil’s Honey to be corrupted with Rage God and spread amongst the Aguefort student body. This creates a super army of Angy Bois who would all worship this one god. Now I’m not to sure if the ritual actually worked, but this sure seems like the original plan. Also somehow all of this is related to Ankarna and Cassandra and their marriage but I’m not sure how specifically. The Rat Grinders going back to the Mountains of Chaos might be for a ritual or meeting of some kind and we might get to see the Rage God in action as the RatGrinders report how their plan is not doing great, especially with the Bad Kids catching on and surviving. Also the Sky Engine stolen from Fabian’s basement might have something to do with the expulsion plan, but I’m leaning toward it relating to their trip to the Mountains of Chaos.

Now the first step is much more complicated and visible. First time, they try to expel them using the robit principal and catching the Bad Kids doing drugs at the Frosty Fair. This fails due to robit murder. This also leaves a power vacuum and due to Aguefort’s dumbass and Aguefort (the schools) lack of plan Cs, the Class President becomes the true principal in case of emergencies, leading Kipperlilly into furiously campaigning for President to become principal. I’m not sure if this is because she wants to expel the Bad Kids herself, a gun for more power, or something relating to the Rage God plan, or maybe all three? Idk. She is also most likely colluding with Jace Stardiamond, who we can assume gunned for Kristen to be failed for step 1 and for the bot not to be rebuilt for the above. The failing of Kristen also forced them to the Last Stand-ard Exam, where Buddy was probably planted by Stardiamond at the request of Kipperlilly and where Buddy and the Bad Kids were probably were going to be left for dead, hoping they may take the Rage God’s deal for life in exchange for worship and further indoctrination. Stardiamond is may be rage-compromised or is just being manipulated idk.

[littlepatchalchemist]

My family plays a lot of Dominion, and I play a lot of Vampire the Masquerade, so I decided to try building a Vampire the Masquerade inspired Dominion game!

This Vampire the Masquerade Dominion game uses the Intrigue and Nocturne expansions (chosen because they have the cards Masquerade and Vampire respectively) and then I built out around that, sometimes because of card names and sometimes because of card dynamics — most of the time a bit of both. (Mining Village might seem out of left field but in my VTM game one of the vampires used to be a miner so it makes sense for me specifically.)

My family played it and gave it an 8.5 out of 10 rating. It’s very chaotic. Crypt didn’t get used a lot, hence the note that it could be switched out. I really do like Crypt as a card and how it fits into the vampire vibe though.

Even though the photos include a card list and photo of the cards, I’m going to list them and what they do here (sorry for the terrible formatting):

From Intrigue:

- Swindler [action attack] (+2 money; each other player trashes the top card of his deck and gains a card with the same cost that you choose)

- Saboteur [action attack] (Each other player reveals the top card of his deck until revealing one costing 3 or more. He trashes that card and may gain a card costing at most 2 less than it. He discards the other revealed cards)

- Mining Village [action] (+1 card +2 Actions; you may trash this immediately. If you do, +2 money)

- Secret Chamber [action reaction] (Discard any number of cards. +1 money per card discarded; When another player plays an Attack card, you may reveal this from your hand. If you do, +2 cards then out 2 cards from your hand on top of your deck)

- Masquerade [action] (+2 cards; each player passes a card from his hand to the left at once. Then you may trash a card from your hand)

From Nocturne:

- Necromancer [action] (Play a face-up, non-duration action card from the trash, leaving it there and turning it face down for the turn; setup: put the 3 zombies into the trash)

- Vampire [night attack doom] (each other player gains the next hex. Gain a card costing up to 5 other than a vampire. Exchange this for a bat) - Bat [night] (trash up to 2 cards from your hand. If you trashed at least one, exchange this for a vampire)

- Cemetery [victory] (worth 2 victory points; when you gain this, trash up to four cards from your hand) — this card also brings the haunted mirror and ghost into the game. Haunted Mirror [treasure heirloom] (worth 1 money; when you trash this, you may discard an action card, to gain a ghost from its pile) - Ghost [night duration spirit] (reveal cards from your deck until you reveal an action. Discard the other cards and set aside the action. At the start of your next turn, play it twice)

- Crypt [night duration] (Set aside any number of treasures you have in play face down (under this). While any remain, at the start of each of your turns, put one of them into your hand)

- Cursed Village [action doom] (+2 actions; draw until you have 6 cards in hand; when you gain this, receive the next hex)

I’d love to know if you try playing this wacky set list I created!

[acewolf456]

I’m a multiclassing fiend. I have never managed to go pure one class. It’s always a few levels in something. I’ll do 2 levels in warlock, or 3 in fighter, or I might dip one level into Monk or Barbarian for unarmored defense.

My favorite has been what we call my “Uber Bastard”. If you’re doing a level 20 one shot and really wanna annoy your DM, here’s your build.

8/6/2/4

8 Fighter, Eldritch knight

6 Wizard, Bladesinger

2 Warlock, Hexblade

4 Sorcerer, Draconic Bloodline

6 in Bladesinger gives you Extra Attack AND lets you replace one of those attacks with a cantrip. 8 in Eldritch Knight lets you use a bonus action, if you used the attack action, to cast a cantrip. So an average turn for you looks like this. Attack once, cast Green-flame Blade, cast Green-flame Blade. Note, cantrips scale with your character level, not class level.

You have Warlock Hexblade to cast Hex if you want, but also to apply Hexblades Curse, and we took 2 levels so you can grab invocations that you find useful.

4 Sroc Draconic is mostly for the base AC and meta magics, and we did 4 specifically so you have another ASI to work with. Though if you don’t care about the base AC, Divine Soul is a good one for the access to Cleric spells. Cure Wounds into Second Wind can be a good chunk of healing.

[iwantaboot]

y’know I pretty much never post anything but I’m just gonna vent here because I’m annoyed enough to say the quiet part out loud with cait & vi headcanons.

Fandom headcanon Cait: she’s so Taylor swift coded, she plays piano & can sing, she’s a womanizer, she’s got so much rizz, she’s so graceful & deliberate & cunning, she can ballroom dance & keep up in a club, on and on

Fandom headcanon vi: she’s dyslexic, she’s illiterate, she’s got poor hygiene but Caitlyn’s into it, she can’t cook, she’s clumsy, she’s oblivious, she’s kind of a slob, she can’t win a fight in any fic ever, she’s non-musical or a drummer, here’s an in depth backstory for how vi got her prison tats, she needs Cait to show her how to ballroom dance, on and on

canon Cait: no sign of musicality whatsoever, stands there gets hit on, flirts once (1) with girl she has already kissed, has one (1) friend, unsuccessful at talking her way out of anything until someone else elects her as dictator, have never seen her dance/attend any party ever, attempt at parkour was the funniest scene in all of s1, loses all of the fights she’s in s1 & almost every one against named enemies in s2 (ass kicked by sevika & rictor & ambessa, sort of wins against vi but surprised & obviously not a real fight)

canon Vi (or confirmed by Amanda Overton): goes for the books to start reading through them immediately after breaking into workshop filled with shiny objects & enjoys action stories, one of two (2) items she owns as a kid is a saxophone (the other is a set of boxing gloves) & is voiced by very famous singer, can cook & has been taking care of herself her whole life, boldly flirtatious with Cait & Jayce immediately (only 2 people she speaks with that are not family or antagonist all s1), talks multiple people into doing things her way in s1, figures out nefarious schemes even before Cait (‘it’s Silco how does anybody not know that’, we need a small task force armed with hex tech to strike against silco’s shimmer chem barons because they have too much power & influence - that’s the s1 council talk vi gets shut down on + Jayce if anyone forgot but once it was Caitlyn’s idea it was good I’m sure that’s not a comment on privilege at all, it’s a spectacle to make you angry, obviously ambessa’s a war pig who’s been trying to manipulate you the whole time) dances with powder as kids & in clubs as an adult, her tattoos are all self-done, great runner & athlete who flies through the air, wins most of the fights against name characters she’s in in s1 & s2 (deckard, sevika - arguably twice because girl had her by the balls in round 1 until sev played dirty by distracting & stabbing & that was without the gauntlets, lost to scar but again D kicking his ass until distracted, did fine with Warwick - she blew up his head man only reason he ain’t dead is insane healing factor, I’d call it a draw with jinx but i still think it’s funny that Warwick’s head exploded in one hit but jinx’s skeleton was fine actually what a coincidence, sort of lost to Cait, definitely lost to Warwick v2) so I’d rate her win loss ratio at 50:50 at worst which is about the same as jinx actually (won most of s1 but lost all s2)

If no one else is seeing the pattern there I’ll be explicit; we’re not out here to say headcanons are bad, but there’s a lot of internalized bias, specifically classism in these headcanons. It’s cool to build texture but if all that texture amounts to is everything Cait CAN do and Vi CAN’T then you might want to stop and ask yourself why that is. They both have a lot of wonderful characteristics and flaws too, but the trend is that Cait gets built up as powerful and charming and talented while vi gets broken down and frankly infantilized and that’s not a coincidence.

[cagemasterfantasy]

Hexblade Ranking (5e)

Guide

1=useless

2=often useful

3=sometimes useful

4=perfect

Patron Spells

Level 1 Shield and Wrathful Smite 2 Shield is fantastic… on any other spellcasting class. It costs a precious spell slot and offers no benefits for upcasting so it’s only helpful until you get access to 2nd-level slots for Armor of Agathys. If you aren’t running another Concentration spell Wrathful Smite into Booming Blade is staggeringly good damage at low levels assuming the target moves and triggers the secondary damage. The Wisdom save for fear is a nice touch though your defenses aren’t really turned on yet so maintaining Concentration can be a challenge in melee. To summarize: tempting options at low levels but you’ll abandon them in favor of other options almost immediately

Level 3 Blur and Branding Smite 3 Blur is just a superb spell. Turn it on if you have more than 1 thing attacking you and/or Armor of Agathys doesn’t look up to the job. Branding Smite fills some excellent niches but is not otherwise overly helpful. It’s probably the only way you’re going to be able to deal Radiant damage (you’ll be very grateful if you ever come across zombies) and it also prevents invisibility if your party can’t cast Faerie Fire Invisibility Purge or something else along those lines

Level 5 Blink and Elemental Weapon 2 Blink would be interesting if it wasn’t random in the fashion it is. Elemental Weapon’s primary benefit is making a weapon magical if for some reason you aren’t running Pact of the Blade and I’m not sure why you would skip Pact of the Blade (and the Invocations which require it like Thirsting Blade) and still use a weapon. It still runs into the Concentration problem interfering with smites and defensive buffs but it adds a small amount of extra damage (which will increase when your spell slot levels increase). Keep in mind that the Pact Weapon granted by Pact of the Blade counts as a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage resistance and immunity. It’s technically not a magic weapon unless you bind a specific magic weapon so you can use your Pact Weapon with Elemental Weapon

Level 7 Phantasmal Killer and Staggerring Smite 3 Phantasmal Killer is still an excellent spell although the fact that it never scales past level 5 for Warlocks is disappointing at higher levels. Staggering Smite would be much better if the effect lasted more than 1 round. Both spells cause the creature to suffer Disadvantage on attack rolls but Phantasmal Killer works at range and lasts longer

Level 9 Banishing Smite and Cone of Cold 4 Banishing Smite is a big pile of damage on a Bonus Action and the rider effect doesn’t allow a saving throw. 50 hit points is a reasonably large window and banishing the target could dramatically affect the outcome of an encounter. Cone of Cold is a helpful way for you to do area of effect damage but apart from being a big pile of damage does little else for you

Hexblade's Curse 4 are you ready to confuse literally every new player by being the only thing that gets proficiency to damage? Then Hexblade is for you. Note that you can both Curse and Hex someone if you like to track several effects at the same time. In all seriousness though this is a fantastic ability. You only get this once per Short or Long Rest so be sure to use it where it will matter. You want to make as many attack rolls as possible while this is running so at high levels this will frequently work best when combined with Eldritch Blast since Warlocks can’t get more than 3 attacks (assuming Thirsting Blade and either two-weapon fighting or Crossbow Expert). However since this only works once per Short or Long Rest remember that you may still have better results focusing on other parts of your build and focusing on being effective with weapons is often a better choice for Hexblade than Eldritch Blast even though you may get fewer attacks. Since this comes in at level 1 and scales based on your proficiency bonus it’s very tempting for class dips into Warlock totally disregarding how good Hex Warrior is

Hex Warrior 4 this is probably why you picked this Patron. You get medium armor and shields so that you’re able to exist in the front line without dying immediately but far more importantly you get to be a melee character and still have Strength and Dexterity be dump stats. You do still need enough Dexterity to fill out Half Plate’s Dexterity cap but that’s not hard. Using your Charisma for attack and damage rolls in place of Strength is crazy powerful. Not only does it make Pact of the Blade considerably easier for the Warlock it makes Paladin and Warlock multiclass builds massively more effective. Keep in mind that by default Hex Warrior’s weapon effect works on a weapon which you touch at the end of a long rest but if you later take Pact of the Blade the effect extends to that weapon too so you can effectively have 2 weapons with which to attack using Charisma. This is important if you plan to explore two-weapon fighting or if you want a backup weapon or something

Accursed Specter 2 not only does it have to be a Humanoid but you personally have to get the killing blow. That said if you can get one Specters are a phenomenal companion to have with you. They are effective in combat (although they never scale beyond the tiny amount of temporary hit points and the attack bonus which you give them) and while they can’t speak they will follow your verbal commands allowing a creative person to use one for scouting and have it report back. However they have no ability to speak to their ability to report their findings is limited to gestures like nodding pointing and pantomime

Armor of Hexes 4 take the already excellent Hexblade’s Curse and put an astonishing and unique defensive buff on it

Master of Hexes 4 the only problem with Hexblade’s Curse was that it could feel wasted if you used it on something and then ran into something more threatening before your next rest. That is now slightly mitigated by allowing you to chain it through a whole fight. You do need to be able to see a new target creature when you move Hexblade’s Curse so if you’re facing hidden or invisible enemies you may need to keep that in mind before you finish off your current target. Clever players might try to move the effect to an angry rat which you keep in a sack to allow you to carry 1 use of Hexblade’s Curse all day but wise DM’s should explicitly disallow such shenanigans

Final Ranking 4

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms Viewer's Choice #3: #309, Morgan Le Fay

On the exact opposite side of the equation, we have Morgan le Fay. Where Ophelia has complications in her build due to how little we see her fight, Morgan was tough because of the sheer amount of shit she can pull off. Obviously, I won’t get into details here bc of LB6 spoilers, but… prepare for some fireworks.

Morgan is a Clockwork Soul Sorcerer to make sure everything goes smoothly in her kingdom, and a War Magic Wizard to come back time and time again.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut or her character sheet over here, but be sure to watch out for Lostbelt 6 spoilers! I had to spoil the ending of LB 5 and a big chunk of LB 6 for this build, y’all better appreciate that.

Race and Background

Morgan le Fay is, obviously, a fae, but she’s not small, and making things bigger doesn’t really matter for this build. Instead, we’re going with a Hexblood for +2 Dexterity and +1 Intelligence. That lets you keep your medium size, plus you get an Ancestral Legacy for two skills. Grab proficiency in Insight and Performance. You’ve been stabbed in the back enough to know what to look for, and the whole faerie kingdom is one big play, you just rule it. You get 60’ of Darkvision, and can create an Eerie Token from your body once a day that lasts for a day, letting you send telepathic messages to whoever holds it within 10 miles, and you can also see through the token up to 10 miles away for one minute. Doing the latter destroys the token, but that’s a small price to pay for info. All the lostbelt kings seem to know exactly who we are and where we’re going, yet they keep losing. Ain’t that weird? I’m sure Morgan will be the exception though. On top of all that, you can cast Hex Magic with your Intelligence, casting disguise self and hex once a day for free, or with your spell slots. Cursing her foes and sneaking around are definitely Morgan’s cup of tea.

We’re going with the standard Variant Noble background here, History and Intimidation. You’ve lived through most of recorded history, plus you’re the fucking king of lostbelt 6.

Ability Scores

Once again, we’re power building. Set Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma at 15, Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom at 8. You’re a schemer with the kind of longevity that would give Heracles a run for his money, but being a caster and a berserker is a dangerous combination.

Class Levels

Sorcerer 1: As a Clockwork soul, you gain extra Clockwork Magic, either from the list given or replacing one spell a level with any abjuration or transmutation spell from the sorcerer, warlock, or wizard list. We’ll go into detail about what you get when you get it. You can also Restore Balance proficiency times a day, negating advantage or disadvantage on a d20 roll within 60’ of you as a reaction. Faeries love to play tricks, but they don’t work on you. You can cast Spells using your Charisma, and I’m just going to say this here- you have a truly massive spell list, and going through every spell would take ages. So- we’re just covering the highlights in this article. Check the character sheet for a full build. From your clockwork magic, you can Absorb Elements instead of casting Alarm, and you gain Protection from Evil and Good. I know your NP is anti-faerie, but sadly this is the best we can do in 5e. They just don’t have the specificity to target faeries in particular. Anyways, the former lets you cut down on elemental damage and return it as part of your next attack, while the latter gives faeries and other extra-planar beings disadvantage to hit you, and they can’t charm, frighten, or possess you either. That’s the kind of stuff you do to them. Finally, you get more proficiencies. Constitution and Charisma saves, as well as Arcana and Deception. You’re a millenia old mage, and you’re good enough to pull the wool on the other Crypter’s eyes, at least.

Sorcerer 2: A second level sorcerer is a Font of Magic, giving you Sorcery Points equal to your sorcerer level, which you can turn into spell slots or vice-versa. You also pick up the spell Witch Bolt. No fancy reason for it, but damage is damage, and dealing damage while concentrating will be a great boon to you in a bit.

Sorcerer 3: Third level sorcerers get two Metamagic options to gain more control over their sorcery. A twinned spell turns the target of your spell into a voodoo doll of another creature nearby, forcing them under the effects of the same spell. Quickened spells are just good. Turn an action cast spell into a bonus action, with the limitation that you can only cast one leveled spell per turn. For example, quicken a witch bolt, then use your action to activate the current witch bolt for double the damage. For new spells, Aid will give you and your puppets more HP, and instead of Lesser Restoration we’re picking up Alter Self. It’s another disguise, and while the natural weapons and waterbreathing aren’t necessarily canon compliant, I’m pretty confident you could do them if you wanted to.

Wizard 1: Your magic might be innate, but god knows you’ve spent plenty of time honing it. Bouncing over to wizard gets you a second, much larger Spell list, which you prep from and cast using your Intelligence. You also gain an Arcane Recovery, so you can get a couple spell slots back on a short rest once a day. Most faeries are resistant, if not outright immune, to charming effects, but maybe if you Cause Fear, that’ll break through their thick skulls.  It forces a wisdom save, and if they fail they’re frightened for up to a minute, though they can reroll the save each turn. That gives them disadvantage on skill checks and attacks while they can see you, can they can’t willingly get closer to you.

Wizard 2: At second level, you specialize in War Magic. Right off the bat, your Arcane Deflection lets you add +2 to your AC or +4 to a saving throw as a reaction, with the caveat that you can’t cast leveled spells for the round. Again, witchbolt is great since it gets around this restriction. You also have a Tactical Wit, adding your intelligence modifier to your initiative rolls. You got the first punch in before we even got to your lostbelt. There’s no way you should have a +0 to initiative. For your spell, Find Familiar is pretty useful. It’s a ritual spell that you can use to get an animal buddy that can’t attack. While it’s within 100’, you can talk to it with your mind, and even see through its eyes. You can even cast touch-range spells through the familiar to extend your reach.

Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells like Magic Weapon, which should help you turn just about any faerie bumpkin into a proper knight of the round table. We’ll get a more thorough transformation later, but shockingly a lostbelt king needs a lot of high level stuff.

Wizard 4: Use this Ability Score Improvement to round out your Constitution and Charisma for some stronger spells and an extra 7 HP this level. Remember, HP scales retroactively! If you need to deliver the entire history of your country in a hurry, try using Encode Thoughts to solidify your memories and pass them on to someone else.

Wizard 5: Fifth level wizards get third level spells, like Bestow Curse. This one’s pretty open ended, but basically it makes a bad thing happen to someone for a certain amount of time, with that time lengthening as you cast with higher spell slots. I think “kill this fool if they can’t pay their existence tax” is a bit much for a third level spell, but it’s a start!

Wizard 6: At sixth level, war mages can invoke a Power Surge when they use a damaging spell. You can store up to Intelligence Modifier surges at a time, always having one at the end of a long rest. You can add one to your repertoire by using counterspell or dispel magic, or by taking a short rest with 0 surges. Once a turn, you can spend a power surge to deal half your wizard level in force damage to a target you damaged with your spell. A +8 by the end of the build isn’t much, but if you’re tearing down a tree of emptiness, every bit counts.

Wizard 7: Seventh level wizards get fourth level spells like Raulothim’s Psychic Lance. TBH we’re mostly picking this because Rhongomyniad is a lance, but it’s still a good damage spell. Name a creature to slap that creature. If they fail an Intelligence save, they take the full slappage, plus they’re incapacitated for a round. Fun fact: exactly 0 fey are immune to incapacitation. In fact damn near nothing is outside of CR 20+ monsters.

Wizard 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Intelligence for better spells. Spells like Control Water, letting you flood areas, part water to keep your dress dry, redirect water to flood the bastards who need flooding, and create whirlpools. It’s a shame none of these options let you create a giant magic storm that can send your mind back in time, but… that’s more of a “level 9” kinda thing.

Wizard 9: Ninth level wizards can Dominate Person, bending the fey to your will with the frightful curse of command spells. ..I’m assuming the “fey” here are also hexbloods- this doesn’t actually work on faeries since they’re not humanoid.

Wizard 10: Tenth level war mages have Durable Magic, giving you a +2 to your AC and all saves while concentrating on spells. That includes your concentration saves, which you already have proficiency on. And you have a +3 from being so dang healthy, so that’s an automatic +10 for a minimum of 11 on every concentration roll. That means you automatically save against any sort of damage unless you get hit by 24 damage or more. And you can use Arcane Deflection here, so that’s actually a minimum of 32 damage. This is Dantes level concentration, and this is just a side benefit! Also, this brings your pitiful AC from a 12 all the way to the dizzying heights of a… 14. Yeesh. For your spell, Enervation is like Witch Bolt but for eating people’s souls. If they fail a dexterity save they take the full damage, and you heal for half the amount they take. Then you can use your action every turn to deal that damage without a save. This isn’t quite the save or die curse you put on the fey who can’t pay their taxes, but it does make you even tankier for basically no reason.

Wizard 11: Eleventh level wizards get sixth level spells like Create Homunculus. It’s a tiny creature that you can feed your hit points into for a limited time boost to its power. I know it’s small right now, but Mordred’s just a baby, cut him some slack.

Wizard 12: Use this ASI to max out your Intelligence. Wizards love that shit. You also get Tenser’s Transformation so you can come back strong from the brink of death. While transformed for up to 10 minutes, you can’t cast spells, but in return you gain 50 temporary HP, have advantage and proficiency with weapon attacks, deal extra damage on a hit, gain proficiency in strength saves, and can attack twice per action. You also have to make a constitution save after the spell ends or you’ll get messed up, but… you have a +13 to a dc 15 save if you use your deflection, so you’re probably gonna make it. The other big issue is that your best melee attacking stat is dexterity, which is a +0. Advantage is good, but it’s not that good.

Wizard 13: Thirteenth level wizards get seventh level spells. If you don’t want all that hullaballoo about temporary HP an actual weapons, Mordenkainen’s Sword might be more your speed. You create a floating sword that hangs out with you for up to a minute, and you can attack with it every bonus action. It says it’s a sword-shaped plane of force, but your weapon shapeshifts, so do what you want with it.

Wizard 14: Fourteenth level war mages have a Deflecting Shroud. Now every time you use Arcane Deflection you can hit up to 3 creatures near you for half your wizard level in force damage. By the end of this that’s 24 free damage per round just for getting hit! You can also make a Simulacrum- it’s basically you, but it can’t regain spell slots, and it has half your HP. You know how we made infinite Osakabehimes to cheese out a paper army? That’s actually a canonical ability Morgan has. We are so fucked.

Wizard 15: Fifteenth level wizards get eighth level spells. The fey love using magic, so put them in their place with an Antimagic Field. Just… just no. Also, you can make Clones now! These can’t be turned into an army like simulacrum, but they’re effectively the best guts in town. It costs 3,000 GP to make one, and it takes 120 days to reach maturity, but after that, you will instantly pop into one of these bad boys when you die. If you’ve killed a high-level wizard, no you haven’t.

Wizard 16: We’re using our last ASI to become a Metamagic Adept for 2 more sorcery points and two more metamagic options. Heightened spell forces disadvantage on a save against a spell you cast. Your best spells only have one save before you wail on them for tons of damage. Also, pick up Distant spell to double a spell’s range. You’ve got to have one hell of an arm on you to hit something in another lostbelt. You can Dominate Monster now. Kind of a waste of an eighth level spell slot, but if you’re dealing with true fey nothing else will do.

Wizard 17: Your final level grants you the ultimate power of ninth level spells. Power Word Kill: Collect enough life energy or die- it’s literally how your taxes work. With True Polymorph, you can now permanently warp a creature’s spirit origin, turning fey of your choosing into knights of the round table. Turning one creature into another is simple: the new form has to have a CR lower or equal to the original form’s CR or its level. It lasts for an hour: if they stay in their form the whole time, it lasts until dispelled. You can also turn objects into creatures CR 9 or lower, or a creature into an object. A death knight is CR 17, and I assume your faerie knights have been leveling up with you, right?

Pros and Cons

Pros:

For a caster, you have ridiculous amounts of HP. You’re still low enough that a particularly dedicated Sanson could get you down in a single turn, but he’d still have to reach you first. Past your massive spell radius, magic-enhanced initiative, advantage-negation, and literal army of yous. But yeah, once all that’s taken care of, you’re in trouble.

The only way your spell list could get more bonkers is wish, and you’re a wizard. That means you can just… copy wish down if you find it. And cast it as much as you want.

One thing I didn’t touch one with true polymorph: Simulacra + Polymorph is dumb. Why? Because Simulacra have the same level as you do. So, you can True Polymorph one into a real-ass copy of you which can regain spell slots, has all your health, and can do the same combo. One Morgan becomes two becomes four, and they all have clone backups. Wizards are stupid powerful.

Cons:

It’s a good thing your concentration saves are fantastic, because your AC is… less spectacular. It’s 14, unless you use your reaction and chance for a leveled spell to raise it to 16. Or use a spell slot for shield. Either way, you’re at a disadvantage. You also have zero ways to heal yourself outside of rests, so once that HP is gone it’s not coming back without a cleric.

It takes a lot of time to build up that infinite army, and also it’s kind of DM fiat as to whether or not that even works. Your great and powerful immortality engine doesn’t come online until level 20, and most campaigns never reach that point. So you’re either playing this character in a campaign that never gets to see level 20, or in a oneshot that won’t give you the time to set up.

Your Concentration is amazing, so of course a lot of your spells capitalize on it. But that also means you can’t cast two of them at the same time. Kind of a rough deal, picking and choosing what you have to get done. Also, quite a few of your spells have limitations requiring your target to stay within range, which can be a problem. If only you knew someone who was really good at slowing people down… ah well.

[rayllumkissing]

Dana's Owl House AMA, a summary

• Eda is about mid to late 40s, and it's the same with Lilith except she's 2 years older. Gus is 12, Willow is 14 and King is "???????" years old

• When Lilith joined the Emperor's Coven, she dyed her hair to look "intimidating"

• Dana appreciates the positive press coverage of Enchanting Grom Fright, and she appreciates the negative ones as well "because I live to troll jerks :)"

• The teacher that Amity referred to as mom back in Lost In Language was not Lilith, in fact they're not really close and Amity lost a lot of respect for Lilith after Covention

• We may see more of Viney, Jerbo and Barcus soon

• When asked about what Luz's favourite anime was, Dana replied with a lengthy list stating that she thought about it too much

• Amity and Luz are confirmed to be lesbian and bisexual respectively

• Amity might dress in a "punk aesthetic" to impress people but she's more of a jock in Dana's mind

• When asked about King's broken horn, Dana just replied with "all will be revealed eventually"

• Dana hopes Season 2 will make us cry

• Originally, the gems on Eda and Lilith's chests was just going to be an in-world fashion choice. But during production for The Intruder she decided to use Eda's gem as a visual aid for the curse

• There's more to Amity's parents than we know, which can be either good or bad for our main cast. Also, Dana had fun writing Mr Blight stating that he was interesting

• We may see Luz celebrate her quinceanera (her 15th birthday) but that's if the show gets a third season

• Luz is Amity's first (big) crush

• We'll get to know everyone a bit better in S2

• Hooty apparently has an evil twin, Booty (I'm pretty sure this is just for laughs though)

• In the first episode, there was a background character that looked similar to Amity in design (the one with the pink stripe). Dana revealed that Amity did have a different design originally

• Edric and Emira are salty about getting stood up at Grom but they'll get over it as "they'll have plenty of distractions"

• There will not be a musical episode

• It was a last minute idea for Dana to include "Talk to the glyph, witch!" in Young Blood, Old Souls

• According to Dana, Disney is "historically weird" in terms of merch

• "Bird-themed things are generally a Clawthrone thing"

• Dana has always wanted to do an official graphic novel

• Eda and Lilith are confirmed to have more sibling moments

• Dana has no least favourite character design, but the puppeteer in Witches Before Wizards freaks her out

• Eda has been to vegas before and was not impressed

• Eda will win against Lilith in Hexes Hold'em, but most likely by cheating

• When a witch joins a coven, they're physically unable to perform magic outside of that area. Basic spells like levitation for small objects can be done but with great difficulty

• Witch is a gender-neutral term, wizards are a title which you can call yourself and "warlock" is akin to "edgelord" in the Demon Realm

• Spencer Wan is the only in-house animator (animation supervisor) for Season 1, and to acquire this Dana had to sit through many meetings with executives to get this position. The in-house animator for Season 2 will be Kofi Fiagome

• We can expect parental conflict, a lot of emotions, island exploration and new characters in S2

• Lilith's palisman is alive like Owlbert

• If Eda's curse can be healed her hair will not turn back to its original colour

• Belos has specific inspirations which will be revealed in S2

• King's backstory is deeper than we think

• Amity and Willow's relationship has a long way to go, but the air between them is definitely lighter now

• When asked about the codes hidden in the show, Dana said that in high school, Dana would spend her summers in Russia, and her and her Russian classmate would pass each other notes that was a mix of both the English and Russian alphabet. From there their secret language developed and changed and helped inspire the codes, along with Gravity Falls

• Luz would play minecraft and spend all her time building castles and coming up with stories for the towns she built

• Dana has many favourites on the show, but she loves Eda and King. She tends to like the characters she has the easiest time writing

• Willow works out every morning. Unlike Boscha, she doesn't brag about it

• Everything that people responded to from S1 (especially the last few episodes), there will be more of in S2

• No one's really sure what Hooty's made of

• Many Boiling Isles sculptors and architects are part of the Construction Coven

• Eda's bile sac stopped producing the chemicals needed to produce magic on her own. It's still there although it's useless now

• Luz is "a bit of a bonehead" when it comes to Amity's signals (Dana doesn't mean this as an insult)

• 4 years ago when Dana pitched the original idea for the show an old writing partner told him that no one would watch a show about an old lady, so she made the pitch bible out of spite

• Creepy Luz was actually a joke in response to the line, "maybe I'll meet a hot yet vulnerable upperclassman" from The First Day, but Dana likes the doppelganger theory and will neither confirm nor deny that she exists

• Dana likes to think that Boscha and Amity's moms have a rivalry from childhood and still compete with one another through their kid's achievements

• Edric and Emria's hair is naturally green like Mrs Blight's while Amity's hair is naturally brown like her dad's and Mrs Blight likes her children to be...colour coordinated

• The demon on Principal Bump is named Frewin, that's all for now

• The application of glyphs and their uses will be covered in Season 2

• A palisman is our world's equivalent of a "witch's familiar"

• Witches will usually carve their palisman from a special type of wood in their teens in school or with parental supervision

• A palisman uses their own source of power outside of a witch's bile sac 

• Witches can join covens when they graduate school, and if they're talented enough they can leave early and join a coven

• Why King wears a collar will be revealed in S2

• Yes, Dana is aware of Lego Eda's existence

[bush-viper-cutie]

I’ll be your Valentine

Pairing: young!severus X reader

Word Count: 7,350

Rating: T for teen

Plot: Severus is humiliated once more by his friends in an attempt to fit in. It was a miscalculation on his part, but he couldn’t have predicted how disastrous his mistake would be. It had taken you days, weeks, months to build up the courage to confess your feelings to your crush, but what did you expect to have happen when doing it on Valentine’s day?

Warnings: Bullying, kissing, slight angst

A/N: Happy valentine’s day everyone! I hope everyone is having a good day :D Wrote this just for today and took some inspo from @violet-knox​’s the Lion, the Snake, and the Locket series, (SPOILER: more specifically the locket! :D )

Posted: 2/14/21

Masterlist

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(Y/n) = your name

 ~*~*~

~*~*~ = change in POV

 ~*~*~ = time skip

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~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Severus was bent over his journal, quill scribbling across the pages at rapid speeds, feather dancing through the air as Professor Flitwick went on and on about the creation of information charms. Words like ‘impossible’ and ‘far too advanced’ only made him roll his eyes. If wizards like the Great Ciera Vela and Sir Wicksley Brightington could create inventions such as the early telling clocks or talking chips at mere fourteen years of age, then who gave Flitwick the right to deem it impossible for a seventh year to create one?

Severus jerked his head up at the sudden bang of the classroom door as it flung open, almost giving himself a horrible headache at the sudden motion.

Flitwick jumped on his stool and turned wrathfully. “Who is interrupting my lecture!” A little man, half the size of Flitwick himself, came storming inside just as annoyed with himself as Flitwick was of him, and held up a bouquet of flowers. “Ah… alright, alright, get on with it.”

The dwarf, dressed in a bright red robe with fake angel wings and a halo too small for his head, approached a Hufflepuff boy on the opposite end of the class. He pulled up his robe, which revealed his real clothes underneath – grass-stained trousers and steel-toed shoes – and took out a folded note from his pocket. “Oh Huegert,” he began in a raspy voice, reading out the poem as unenthusiastically as possible.

Severus groaned and sat back in his seat. His eyes narrowed in dislike at the Hufflepuff who didn’t seem to care that his admirer had interrupted class. As annoying as it was to hear Flitwick squeak away on a tangent about the creation of the type of charm they were learning about, he much preferred it than this.

The dwarf cleared his throat as thunderously as a rockslide down a mountain and bowed, ready to head out after completing his job.

“Psst,” a voice whispered from the back. “Snivellus!”

Severus ignored them, and turned to his fellow Slytherins instead. They all looked as annoyed as he felt and smirked when he caught their eye. The Slytherins had their own way of showing their “admiration” and it didn’t include embarrassing poems or gawky flowers.

“Snivellus!” The voices behind him snickered. “Where’s your flowers?”

“Doesn’t anyone like you?”

Flitwick went on with the lecture and Severus went back to writing feverishly until class was over. He packed his things and followed his friends out the door, keeping at their heels. He pulled out his scarf and wrapped it around once, twice, as the chill from the open arched windows blew through.

“Let’s head down to Hogsmeade. I heard the Three Broomsticks is serving red butterbeer today, bet it’ll taste different.”

“It never does. Not the green ones, or the purple ones – ”

Severus slung his pack over his shoulder and followed his friends down the corridors, out the castle doors, and down the frozen lawn. They talked about food, their significant others, and the gifts they’d given and received. Some had gotten golden cufflinks, diamond pressed watches with metal so smooth it could reflect a candle’s light from a mile away, while others had received nice ties or new shoes. They’d given expensive bracelets with dancing charms, glittering jeweled necklaces, and remarkable earrings that reformed with every wear so as to never be the same twice.

“So how’s it possible to make those woodchips talk to each other from anywhere in the world?” the tallest of them asked.

Severus pulled his eyes up from his scrappy shoes and looked at the Slytherin. He was referring to the talking chips. “They’re cut from the same wood, precisely from the opposite sides of the tree and bound with a complicated spell.”

The Slytherins around him nearly jumped, forgetting Severus was among them.

The tallest one, Zander Ervingwell, whose father owned the Daily Prophet, rubbed his chin and smiled. “That so? Then, could we chop any of these tree,” he motioned at the forest as they walked down the trail to Hogsmeade, “and make one of them?”

The others turned to Severus and he reveled in their attention. He kept his face straight and shook his head. “We could. If we could get the charm from Flitwick.”

Zander nodded thoughtfully. The rest reformed around him and they kept walking down the trail until they reached the popular little inn. They pulled the door open and were met by warmth, the smell of roast turkey, and wary eyes from the students of other houses.

Severus took his seat at the table they crowded around and refrained from ordering the red butterbeer they were all looking forward to. He pulled the strap of his bag over his head and shoved his patched up bag under the table.

“See? Tastes different.”

“I’d cut my tongue off and have Pomfrey regrow it if I were you – ”

Harold Binny and Regis Dunmarten always tended to natter about anything they could disagree on that held little to no importance. They never discussed anything with each other that could ever lead to an agreement, and Severus knew they took after their fathers, who were avid Wizengamot councilmen.

Zander looked to the others, Marcos Jugson – one of the many brothers – who was looking at a group of Ravenclaw girls, and Mumford Wilkes who stared impassively at the dark oak table. Zander turned to Severus. “You think you could make one, Severus?”

Severus stammered. “We wouldn’t be allowed to chop down any tree – And I’d need the charm…”

“If you’re so smart,” Mumford’s eyes pierced through Severus’ defenses and made him want to dissolve into the air. “Why don’t you make one. You’re always saying you can make spells but when we ask to see them they’re never ready.”

Severus wanted to disappear from the very seat he sat in. In this moment he much preferred his usual spot, behind them all, hidden from view of their scrutinizing eyes; but now every one of them looked his way, expectantly. “I can make one,” he said, as evenly as he could muster. They were all rich purebloods who could smell unease and weakness from a hundred yards away. “Easily.”

“You could get in trouble, expelled even, with the way information charms work. Sure you’re not scared?” Marcos folded his arms, eyeing him down.

Severus hated him. Almost as much as he hated Lupin and Pettigrew, but not nearly as much as Black and Potter. After all, Marcos had saved him on more than one occasion with his mere presence. And unfortunately, Severus knew what his words hid. It had been just yesterday Marcos had walked in on him pinned to the ground by a group of sixth years, three standing around with their wands drawn on him while their two ‘braver’ friends tried singeing his eyebrows off. As soon as Marcos had hexed them off, the minute their grubby hands had released his robes, Severus had crawled away behind Marcos.

It was a stupid moment of weakness fueled by fear driven by the sight of the flames bursting out of wands so close to his eyes. A mistake he’d let himself make. Severus clenched his jaw and looked him steadily in the eyes. “Of course not,” he gritted out.

Distant laughter caught Marcos’ attention for a split second, and when he turned back his lips quirked up in a smile. “Why don’t you give us a taste of your bravery then? An assurance you’ll do it.” He jerked his head back, motioning at the table of Ravenclaw girls. “It’s Valentine’s day, so why don’t you ask one of them to be yours? Its only just midday. I’m sure one of them’s not yet taken.”

Severus kept his face even and hands clenched tight under the table, unwilling to let them see how badly they trembled. He risked a glance at Zander, who looked at him with folded arms and an equally level expression. Harold and Regis exchanged similar looks, eyebrows raised, and Mumford smirked. There was always a risk when hanging around certain groups of friends, and this one constantly pushed him to the brink of humiliation.

He stood and made his way around their table to face the crowded space of the bar. Everyone was distracted, talking to other patrons or spilling drink down their faces. There was a stool knocked to the ground between him and the girls who only knew he existed from either rumor or witnessing one of his countless humiliations at the hands of Potter or Black. They’d either know him as Snivellus, or as the Slytherin who knows as many curses and hexes as there were words in a dictionary – although it never seemed to matter how many curses he claimed to know, he was never someone anyone feared.

He took a step, and then another, and kept going until he stood beside their table. He cleared his throat but it was as if he was invisible. He cleared it again and the closest one to him, the louder of the bunch, glared up at him.

Great, he had their attention… Now what? He cleared his throat again, made awkward by their obvious attention to him. “Would… Would you want – ”

“Which one.”

Severus blinked at them. “What? Oh, err… Anyone?” The look on their faces made his own go red.

“Oh? Any of us? Doesn’t matter who?” The closest one to him said, looking back at her friends with raised eyebrows and a smirk, causing a chorus of laughs. “So what is it?”

Severus wanted to turn around and bolt out the door. This had been a mistake. A miscalculation. His friends had lured him into a trap and he jumped right on it. He couldn’t run though; they were still watching most likely. This was about him proving he wasn’t scared.

He swallowed what little of his pride he had left and opened his mouth. “Would anyone want… to be…” All he had to do was say it, no matter how humiliating, how embarrassing this was. “My valentine.”

Done. He did it, now he could turn around and go back to Zander, head held high. He didn’t really care what any of them thought. He already knew their answer before he even got out of his chair. He turned around as they laughed in his face, ready to face his friends and get back to business.

“Wait! Severus!” one of them called him back.

He stopped. Turned. And stared at the Ravenclaw who had stood up. She waved him back with a shy look on her face and his heart leapt into his mouth. He swallowed it down and walked back, feeling his blood rush into his cheeks.

“Severus,” she said, shyly twirling her finger around the mouth of her cup. “I haven’t given you an answer.”

“You’re answer?” He couldn’t help the tremble in his hands now. He started pulling on the loose stitching on his sweater.

She smiled up at him… And in the blink of an eye she snatched up her cup and threw its contents in his face. “Of course not, Snivellus!”

Severus gasped as the cold liquid splashed his face, drenching his sweater. He spit out cherry colored butterbeer and wiped his face with his wet sweater sleeve. He turned away from the laughter, but it circled him. He blinked through red-tinted droplets and scanned the faces of the crowd. It’d be easier to look for someone who wasn’t laughing because every face his gaze landed on was one that made his chest constrict.

He turned to his table, to his friends. They were all doubled over with pure glee, laughing as dignified as they could all while he dripped on the floor, the mock of the inn. He grit his teeth and closed his eyes, unwilling to let any more of this scene get stored in his brain. He stumbled through chairs and stools and pushed his friends aside to get his bag. He pulled it free and threw it over his shoulder. He stumbled some more as the laughter continued and threw his body against the door, throwing it open.

He ran out the door, out of the warmth of the inn and into the cold. The streets were nearly empty as wizards settled into homes or restaurants for lunch. He ran as fast as he could back to the castle, not caring about the sting of the wind as it scraped along his skin. His eyes burned and he felt tears begin to form as the realization of what had just happened began to bubble in the pit of his stomach.

He almost slipped on the bridge and as he reached its crest hands gripped his arms, stopping him on the spot. He blinked tears away and cleared his vision, looking up from the ground, ready to fight whoever had stopped him. He didn’t have to tilt his head up very far, easily staring into the eyes of another student, though he couldn’t immediately tell what house they belonged to.

“You almost bumped into me,” she said, releasing her hold on him.

“You should have cleared my path,” he spat.

She shrunk back and gripped the edge of her cloak. “Well I’ve been looking for you…”

Severus stared at her. He couldn’t possibly fathom why. He’d never seen her before, never talked to her before, and couldn’t imagine what she’d want from him. “I’m here aren’t I?”

She swallowed and nodded. “I… I have something for you…”

“Then hurry up,” he growled. It was cold and the butterbeer was starting to freeze.

He watched her open her cloak and noticed she wore a light red dress, almost pink. He wanted to hex it and turn it black from how sick of everything Valentine he was. The cloak pulled back further and she pulled out a single pink carnation with a green ribbon tying a note to its stem.

Her cheeks blushed as she held out the flower for him to take and he couldn’t help but stand there motionless, waiting for his brain to think something, say something, act and do anything other than gawk at her.

“Will you be my valentine, Severus?” she said, as if the flower hadn’t signaled just that.

He noticed his hand moving to take the flower while he remained stupefied, petrified, and perplexed. His heart, shattered and broken as it was, beat with immense longing as he pulled the flower to his chest.

“I… who are you?” He wasn’t sure why he wasn’t asking more important questions like ‘why me’, ‘is this another prank’, or ‘are you real’. He could feel the air changing around him as hope seeped into his soul, giving him a breath of new air that seemed to revitalized and mend the most broken parts of himself.

She smiled and stepped closer, making his breath catch in his throat. He could feel a warmth radiating off her, reaching out to him, banging on his walls, begging him to let her in. Her eyes looked up at his and he felt his legs go weak. He wanted to run, to apparate away and corral his thoughts, but he also wanted to stay and stare back into the depths of hers. It was different the way her eyes looked at him. He couldn’t see any hatred or disdain like so many others had in theirs when their gaze ever landed on him.

“(Y/n),” she said. “I’ve seen you around school and… Well I’m ashamed to say I’ve sort of been hiding from you.” She blushed and looked down at her feet. “Severus,” she whispered. “I’ve had a crush on you for quite a while.” She looked up at him then and gave him another one of her gentle smiles.

He accepted her words without another thought and regarded her truthfully, willing to open his heart to her. Her smile melted him, her eyes dazzled him, and, he realized finally with one long look, she was very cute.

“So, will you?” she asked again, taking another step closer.

He gripped the flower tighter and it finally hit him. She liked him. She really liked him. Someone had a crush on him and – Merlin, she was cute. Could he really be so lucky?

He opened his mouth when he realized something. She had broken his barriers and shields and so he hadn’t had the mind to analyze his surroundings. Laughter. He heard laughter coming closer. He turned and cursed the world for allowing anyone else but her and him to remain. It was the group of Ravenclaws making their way to the bridge.

“I – ” He couldn’t get any other word in before the group had reached the very spot on the bridge they stood in.

The girl closest to them spotted the pink carnation instantly, pointed, and laughed. They elbowed each other, making sure everyone had noticed him and the flower, and stopped next to them.

“Snivellus! Why didn’t you get us any flowers!” one of them guffawed.

The closest one stepped closer and crossed her arms. “(Y/n), don’t let him fool you into thinking you’re special. He just came from asking for any one of us to be his valentine. He didn’t even care which one.”

(Y/n) eye’s filled with tears and she looked up at him, expecting him to deny everything. Severus realized he’d never felt true heartbreak until now. He knew now that the shattering he’d always felt was nothing compared to the pain now, like stakes were being hammered into his still pumping heart one by one, emptying him completely.

He could lie to her. He could deny it all. But that warmth he’d felt radiating off of her… that’s what he’d imagined safety to feel like. If he could only step closer and feel it once more. If he lied, he’d be bringing thorns and barbs into something so precious and delicate.

He took a step closer to her and lowered his head, ready to feel her pull away that warmth she offered him. “I can explain it. Please listen – ”

She jerked back from him and the cold of winter swooped in to fill the air where the heat had disappeared.

~ * ~ * ~

~ * ~ * ~

The air was cold and dry, sapping the warmth from your hands that had, moment ago, been as hot as coals from the pure adrenaline that had coursed through your veins. The amount of courage it had taken to finally admit your feelings to Severus had taken you days to carefully collect. You had spent hours pushing away your fears, and now something much worse than rejection was taking place.

Your truest crush had asked out another girl, or many other girls, and your foolishness had landed you at the bottom of his list. Was what they were saying true? You didn’t want to believe it but… he didn’t deny it, no matter how much you begged him to with your eyes.

You closed them shut and sniffed. When you opened them again you marched right through the group of Ravenclaws, right passed Severus, and headed down the road to Hogsmeade. What a fool you were, charming your old dress into one you hoped would turn you into Severus’ dream. All those breaks spent following him around, hiding behind pillars and admiring him from afar, watching how he always pushed his long black hair behind his ear when he got ready to read… Or the way he bit his lip when he paused to think before jotting things down in his journal. You’d even swooned at the way he walked, like a sulking cat trotting from one shadow to the next hoping to remain unseen. You had seen him. You had seen him and loved what you saw.

When you reached the low lamp post right before town you turned and wished you hadn’t. Severus was watching you, with his dark glimmering eyes that very rarely ever looked up from the ground. He never gave anyone his attention, but he was giving it to you now. His large nose was almost pink and nearly-invisible lines trailed down his cheek. He stood there, tall as he was despite always slumping his shoulders, holding your flower to his chest.

You sighed heavily and turned, starting back on your way down Hogsmeade’s cobbled road.

~ * ~ * ~

~ * ~ * ~

There she went with his heart in her pocket. Was it possible? Could someone so suddenly appear in his life, shake his world upside down, and then walk away like she hadn’t just changed him forever? Love; now whenever that word would be spoken, he’d only think of her. Kindness; only her face would remind him of the definition. Safety, hope, happiness, dreams; her eyes, her smile, the softness of her curves, the allure of her scent, the wonder of what her hugs could have felt like, and that warmth that had melted away his armor. All his life… he’d never felt that warmth. Not from his mother, not from his friends, and not even from –

He winced as the numbness gave way to a heavy emptiness that hollowed him out. He began walking back to Hogwarts as if nothing had ever happened, except he’d acquired a single pink carnation. With every step he heard voices, familiar and sharp, that stabbed him with words he’d heard a million times before. He knew he was hated, despised, and unworthy of good things. He had just hoped, fueled by the encouraging gentleness of her eyes and welcoming smile, that he could finally be wanted.

~ * ~ * ~

Severus stepped into the common room and pulled on the strap of his bag, hearing several patches groan with protest as the seams threatened to come undone. He headed to the boy’s dormitory and slouched on the wall, unsure if he could make it another step without collapsing. He felt crushed, pulverized, like his life energy had been spent and he was finally coming to an end.

A door opened in the distance and he straightened, staring at the stone floor as his housemate walked by, ignoring him like a ghost in the corridors. He let out a sigh and dragged his feet forward until he reached his room. It was empty, save for a spoiled grey cat which slept on a bed.

He dumped all his things on his bed. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep until he could no longer remember how beautiful her name had sounded coming from her lips. He held out the carnation and rolled its stem between his fingers. “(Y/n).”

He set the flower down on top of his things and pulled his sweater over his head. He threw it into his trunk and toed off his shoes, settling into the bed. If he slept he’d be forced to replay the events of today in some horrible nightmare. He pushed things aside – keeping the flower close – and took out his charms journal.

He could work on the information charm and show Zander and the others how capable he was. Maybe then they wouldn’t try to humiliate him. They’d finally accept him. He pulled out his journal and reviewed his notes. All an information charm really was is an incredibly invasive bonding spell. A spell that tied two things together and forced an object to display information about the other. The telling clocks told its owners where certain people where, and the talking chips merely displayed what their partner chips spelled. As long as he kept it small, it would be easy.

For the next few hours he worked on his spell, thinking about nothing more than the charm itself. He sat on his bed, legs crossed, bent over his journal and books as he crossed things out and rewrote spell after spell. It wasn’t working. Everything he tried was too complicated. He could barely get information out of and of the objects he tried. His quills were too old to withstand the bonding spells, his journals gave too much information. He sat back into his pillows and sighed.

He needed something with more purity, something which he knew he didn’t own. He looked around the room, searching for some sort of unused object, some material that could withstand the spell to even initiate the charm… His eyes landed on the carnation he’d moved to his night stand.

Would he have been enjoying a romantic date right about now? Would she have tried to hold his hand? He would have been too nervous to do it himself but… He held up his hand and looked at it. What did it feel like to hold her hand? It would have been smaller than his, warm, and soft. He would have held on forever and never let go. What was she like? Would they have been perfect for each other? He thought of her smile and of her lips, supple and eager as she spoke…

He sat up fast as flashes of kissing her filled his head. No, he couldn’t endure this torture. He scrambled for new material and growled when nothing he owned fit what he looked for. He got out of bed and looked around, eyes glancing everywhere but the flower. He got on his knees and searched under beds until he found something gleaming and silver flashing back at him.

He rolled up his sleeve and stretched his arm under his dormmate’s bed as far as it would go. His hands found the cold metal and closed around it, pulling it back to him. It was a small necklace with silver metal beads that encased delicate diamonds. He remembered how it got there, thrown aside for not being flashy enough, or expensive enough for his crush.

He held it in his hands and sat back on his heels. It had a round charm, flat as if calling out to him. The surface would be a perfect spot to display something small… a single word… a name perhaps. He ran his tongue over his teeth and felt he was on the verge of something great. All it would take was a single spark of an idea and he could create something grand and – as Flitwick seemed to think – impossible for any Hogwarts student to pull off.

He groaned as he stood and made his way back to his own bed. He set the necklace on his knee, and on his other began to write. It took precious more hours of writing, scratching out, and re-writing until the spell was as condensed as possible; long spells never worked well, the shorter the phrase the better.

Now that he had the bonding spell perfected… what could he use? He stared at the necklace and knew the answer. He sighed and took the necklace in his hand again and began the spell. It was quick to read, and as he moved his wand over the silver metal the air began to shimmer. His lips moved carefully as he focused his intent and finally, at the last word he pointed his wand at himself.

He felt a slight breeze brush his skin and shivered. It was done. He and the necklace were bonded with him as the information giver and it, or more precisely the flat round charm, as the information receiver. He thumbed over the metal and squinted… but no word showed up. The spell was to force the metal to engrave the name of his crush… but her name did not display.

Maybe he got it wrong. He looked through his notes, flipping only the last two pages where he had condensed the spell, and frowned. It is as it should be, unless his logic was somehow flawed… but no, it rarely was. If there was one thing he could count on, anything or anyone in the whole world, it would be himself and his ability to reason correctly.

He stared at the charm again. It could be… He furrowed his brows and pinched his nose… It could be that he didn’t have a crush on her? Not a true one… not like he’d know what that really felt like. But he did like her, very much. He opened his eyes and fell back into his pillows, defeated. What was this even for? Would he really show this to Zander? Was he so foolish to believe Zander would look at her name engraved into this necklace and be impressed with him? No. He wasn’t.

So then… He sat up and looked at the flower once more, as if begging it to give him answers. Was he doing this for her? Did he really think he could fix what he’d done? Right the misunderstanding and win her heart? “I want to…” Then what must he do?

He pushed out of bed once more and dug in his trunk for a new sweater, pulling it over his head. He’d go down to Hogsmeade and find her, tell her the truth of what happened and then… then he’d kiss her. He swallowed and slowed down. Could he kiss her? …If he’d been brave enough to ask out a group of girl’s he’d never met before knowing full well what rejection awaited him, then he could ask out the kind and gentle girl who had offered him her heart so willingly.

He slipped into his shoes and headed out the door, out of the boy’s dormitory, out of the common room and ran up the dungeon stairs. He needed to find her fast before Hogsmeade hours came to an end. He ran through the castle and shoved open the doors, plunging head first into the cold February air. He sped down the slippery grass of the sloping lawn and nearly tripped out the gates. He caught his footing and continued down the trail, huffing and puffing at the exercise and hating the metallic taste in his throat and mouth.

He grimaced as he crossed the bridge and headed right into town. He checked the Three Broomsticks, she wasn’t there. He checked shop after shop, in alleys, behind houses, and even the lake’s edge and under every tree. She was not eating, shopping, wandering, or sitting anywhere in Hogsmeade. “Where is she?” he growled. Of course this is happening, he knew better than to believe luck was on his side. He walked back down the street slowly, and saw the door to Madam Pudifoot’s teashop open. A couple left, laughing and holding each other by the waists.

Severus swallowed. Was she in there with someone else? After she had realized her mistake in liking him, had she given her heart to someone else, refusing to let this day be a waste? He shook his head and looked away. He couldn’t give up hope, not this time, not with something so rare to ever happen to him. He had to believe the best of her, this (Y/n), who had so bravely confronted him and admitted to her long-standing crush on him. He knew very little about her, but he couldn’t imagine she’d give her heart out so flimsily.

He started his way back to Hogwarts, keeping at a slow and somber gait, and made it back to the castle just in time for dinner. He was too late. Valentine’s day was practically over. He filtered in with other students and took his seat at the Slytherin table. Zander was there, with a spot open next to him but Severus couldn’t take it. He had nothing to show him and after today… he didn’t know how he could show his face around him. Severus took a seat at the back of the table with some lower years and ate in silence, his hand in his pocket, thumbing over the cold metal of the necklace.

~ * ~ * ~

~ * ~ * ~

You tried keeping your eyes on your friends, on the food, on your plate as you ate, but your gaze kept lifting to the back of the Slytherin table where a gloomy boy with inky hair sat bent over his food, barely touching it. Severus looked sad, sadder than most days. His nose was pink still and his cheeks red. Had he been outside again? In Hogsmeade… maybe… maybe looking for you? You shook your head. Of course not.

All through dinner you watched him eat alone and away from his friends. Had something happened? When you met him at the bridge he looked a mess with his soaked sweater and hair plastered to his head. And that group of girl, who so readily laughed at him… Maybe… maybe he did have an explanation for what had happened.

Your heart began to beat again, slow at first, and then faster and faster as if hope had filled your soul once more and given you life. You wanted Severus so badly, so badly it hurt and, could you really have him? Was it possible to have the boy of your dreams? If you listened to his explanation would he fix everything and give you his heart in return?

You bit your lip and looked up at Severus once more. You wanted him so bad… It was a chance you needed to take.

~ * ~ * ~

~ * ~ * ~

As dinner came to an end, students filtered out of the great hall and into the entrance hall, making their way to their houses. Severus walked among them, defeated and empty. His arms swayed limply by his sides and his head hung low, eyes glued to the ground in front of him. He turned the corner and kept to the shadows of the walls. He didn’t want to be spotted or looked at or found by anyone. There wasn’t a single person in this prison he wanted to see, none except for (Y/n).

He dragged his feet as he made his way through the corridor and nearly yelped when two hands pulled him deeper into the shadows. He stumbled backwards and heard a door slam shut. It was dark and the thud echoed off the walls. He squinted and saw nothing. He fumbled for his wand – he always kept it on him, ready for anything – but someone pinned him to the wall.

“Lumos,” a familiar voice whispered.

Severus stared into the glittering depths of warm, kind eyes. “(Y/n),” he breathed.

Her face was pensive as she stood there, looking him over. She was unsure of him.

Before she could say another word he shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out the necklace. “I-I made this for you… er, well the charm doesn’t work…”

She took the necklace he held out to her and looked at it carefully. “What’s it supposed to do?”

He heaved a quick sigh and looked away. “T’supposed to display your name… er – display the name of my crush.”

She regarded the necklace and gave a breathy chuckle. “Of course…”

Severus frowned. “Of course what?”

“Of course it doesn’t work. You don’t like anyone!” She laughed and stepped back, the wandlight illuminating more of the empty classroom she’d dragged him into. “You didn’t ask out a specific girl, you asked out that whole group. You didn’t care who it was, so long as someone accepted to being your valentine. And I’m…” She closed her eyes and sniffed. “I’m just someone who has a crush on you. That’s all you care about.”

Severus blinked at her for several long seconds. “(Y/n)… I… I want to like you.”

She scoffed.

“No! I mean – I – You – No one has ever liked me and – ”

She shook her head and reached for the door. Severus jumped in her way, desperate to continue talking, to clear everything up. He liked her, he did. She was nice and warm and everything about her made his knees weak and heart pound like crazy in his rib cage. She was pretty, far too pretty for him, and her voice was soothing, and she was perfect, he just knew it.

“Please let me explain what happened,” he begged her.

She stepped closer and placed her hand on the doorknob stubbornly. “I don’t need an explanation.”

She was so close to him, he could smell her hair, smell the piney scent of Hogsmeade blown into her clothes, infused by the wind. He pressed himself to the door and looked down at her. “Please.”

The look on her face told him she was done. She was done with him and she was done talking. He couldn’t keep her trapped in this room no more than he could make her listen. And yet, he still kept on the door, not letting her pull it open. She huffed and before he could think, she gripped his sweater and pulled him away from it forcefully, shoving him back into the classroom where he tripped and fell onto a seat.

He looked into her eyes. She was fierce. Not the gentle, delicate girl she first appeared to be. There was stubbornness and power to her being. No one could control her if she did not wish it, and the only reason she still stood before him was out of that same kindness that radiated out of her.

“I’m really sorry to have done that, Severus. You don’t deserve to be pushed around like that… but I want to leave… and I will.” She turned around and stepped out of the room, letting the door close behind her.

His heart beat harder than ever before. The way she shoved him, with a calculated caution that told him even when he’d gone too far, when he’d pushed her beyond her patience, she still cared for his wellbeing. She was kind, warm, strong willed, fierce, beautiful, and courageous. The more he learned the more he wanted to her to like him…

He sat there and stared at the wall. She’d been so close he could smell her. She’d grabbed his sweater and for an instant he’d thought – he’d hoped she’d kiss him. Merlin, he wanted to kiss her now. To press this fierce girl into him and kiss her long into the night. He didn’t know how to kiss, and imagined he’d be horrible, but every inch of his body told him he was craving her with an intensity he hadn’t ever felt.

He wanted her, and he wanted her to like him. Needed her to like him again. His hands found the ruffled part of his sweater where her hands had gripped it, and he closed his eyes, imagining her hands still there.

He heard the door and his eyes flew open. Someone stepped in and closed it.

“Lumos.”

A wandlight shined and he could see (Y/n) standing there, looking at the necklace in her hands. He held his breath, waiting for her to speak.

She looked up at him and turned to necklace so he could see, although he was still too far and the engraving would have been too small. “It says my name…” She stepped closer. “If this is a trick – ”

Severus shook his head and sat up. “It’s not a trick.”

She stared deeply into his eyes. “Please explain.”

He nodded quickly and licked his lips. “Ervingwell and his friends – they had me ask out those Ravenclaws to prove I wasn’t too scared to make an information charm… I don’t know why I did it. I thought, knowing they’d all say no, it would be an easy way to prove to Zander I wasn’t as pitiful as he thought I was.” He lowered his head.

There was a long silence, one that made him feel worse than he ever had. He really was pitiful.

“May I touch you?”

Severus jumped. He looked up into her eyes and nodded. “You can do anything you’d like.” His own words made him blush but it was true. She giggled and his heart felt lighter by the sound. Her hand brushed back his hair and he closed his eyes, focusing on the feel of her finger on his temple. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I would never mean to.”

Her fingers pulled back. “You’re saying everything I want to hear… It almost seems too good to be true.”

He stood up and slowly reached for her hand, giving her enough time to pull away, but she didn’t. His fingers hovered close to hers. “M-may I?” She nodded and he took her hand, soft and small in his. “I want to be yours, if you still want me.”

She wrapped her fingers in his and looked up at him. “Do you want me?”

“More than anything.” He couldn’t help but glance down at her lips. Did he want her? His whole heart, mind, and body screamed at him ‘Yes!’

He wanted her in so many ways. He wanted to know her, to have her friendship, to feel her caring ways, to feel her. He wanted her touch.

“I want you, Severus,” she whispered.

~ * ~ * ~

~ * ~ * ~

You breathed in the feint scent of ink and page. He was so close. His face lingered just above your and his eyes, those deep wells of pure darkness that looked your face over with lust that could not be hidden. You could tell he wanted you, and despite knowing he wanted your touch and, perhaps, to touch you as well, his eyes glanced up into yours with intensity; like he couldn’t keep himself from acknowledging your very being. You no longer felt like just a girl who had a crush on him… You felt important to him.

“I need you,” he whimpered.

Without thinking you got on your toes and kissed him hard. He didn’t need any more encouragement than that. His hands quickly found your waist and he pulled you into him with a wild neediness that made you melt in his arms.

His arms snaked around you and pulled you closer into his body. He was warm and your own hands wrapped around his neck, playing with his hair, pulling it as you pleased. He moaned and stepped back suddenly, and you almost gasped as you felt him falling back.

You opened your eyes but his hands gripped your waist and pulled you onto his lap. He sat in a chair and waited for your arms to find themselves around his neck once more. You leaned in and pressed your lips to his, tasting him, biting his lip, moving your head with his. His hands pulled you closer to him and he whimpered once more.

“I’ll be anything you want me to be. I’ll do anything to make you happy. I’ll – ”

You pressed your finger to his lips, quieting him. “Severus… I just want you to be you.” His eyes trailed down and he looked away. “I like you the way you are… You don’t have to prove yourself to me or do anything to make me like you… Just be… Mine. Just be my valentine.”

You brushed a tear out of the corner of his eye and pulled his chin up, meeting his eyes. He nodded and pulled you closer, pressing his face into your chest and sobbed. You held him close, rubbing your hands over his shoulders and back in slow gentle circles.

He pulled his face back to look at yours, as if checking to see he wasn’t ruining anything by displaying his feelings so openly. You bit your lip and smiled. Even with delicate tears trailing down his cheeks, he looked cute and dreamy, as he always did.

“I really like you.” You kissed his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, and finally, his lips.

He moaned and closed his arms around you again. “Will you be my valentine?”

“Nothing would make me happier.” You smiled and kissed him once more, feeling him draw you in closer.

“I’ll be your valentine, (Y/n). Yours and only yours. Forever.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

—-

General taglist:

@setsuna-meiou31

@severuslovebot​

@bionic-otp​

—–

[dearfandomdiary]

when she was lonely i was there

Zelda Spellman x witch!reader

Wordcount: 2829

Request: / This is completely self-indulgent, I wanted to write this, so I did. :D

Warnings: Caligari Spell

Author’s note: I have been writing on this for the past almost 8 monts and I finally finished it. And I am very happy with this!

You have always been Zelda's friend, have always stood behind her and stood up for her; you were one of the few who could argue with her without a hex thrown your way. Hilda had jokingly called you Zelda's shadow more than once and you didn't mind. You were happy the way it was even if it meant never letting her into your life the way you wanted to. 

Both of you have started to get closer again just before Zelda had announced that Faustus and her were to be married.

If you didn't have such a tight grip on your glass, it would have slipped from your hand. She shows you the doves and you feel yourself get dizzy. "I thought you were never interested in him? I get that he is...attractive yes but Zelda, I found you hurting yourself at 3 am after I left because you were meeting with him." you say carefully and frown a little.

Zelda laughs and closes the box. "I am not marrying Faustus because I love him, (Y/N). I am marrying him because he is the High Priest." she explains with a chuckle and brushes a hair strand from your face behind your ear. 

You swallow a little. "So you're marrying him because he has power. Doesn't sound right to me either but I- I do hope you know what you are getting yourself into, Zelds." you say and take a rather big gulp and wrap your hands around the glass. It makes you feel bad.

Of course, she would marry him for power. I should have taken that job with the Vatican when it was offered, you think dryly.

Zelda raises an eyebrow and pulls you into a half hug and you place your head on her shoulder. Your body fits perfectly against hers and you can't stop the quiet sigh that slips from your lips. "I know what I am doing and I am perfectly aware of what I am getting myself into. You don't need to worry about me, I am a grown witch." she argues and places her head on yours. "He is just a man." she adds with a smirk and you chuckle.

"Sure. It's just..you know I never had a good feeling with Faustus." you explain and start to absentmindedly tap against the glass.

Zelda smirks and gently takes your hand. "You mean you never liked him. Yes, that I was in fact aware of. Now calm down or I'm gonna have to tie you down." she teases which makes you blush and you mumble an apology.

The ceremony is beautiful. Beautiful but painful to watch. You watch Zelda approach the altar and you curl your nails into the black dress and smile when Zelda locks eyes with you. You feel bad because it doesn't seem right that Zelda is marrying him, him of all the witches and warlocks she could have married instead of you.

You feel the tears building in your eyes and dab at the corner of your right eye, hoping it looks like you are crying out of happiness. Get yourself together! You knew it was never going to happen! you chide yourself and bite the inside of your cheek. 

During the 2 weeks that Zelda is gone, you worry a lot. She had promised to send you postcards but none have arrived yet. You pace the room Spellman living room. "What if something happened? She promised to send at least one postcard, One!" you say with worry and stare into the fireplace. 

Hilda sighs and gently tucks you towards the couch to push you on it. "It's going to be fine. You are worrying too much, love. They're probably just busy. Interim Anti Pope and honeymoon stuff and all." she said and pushed your cup of tea into your hands.

You wrap your fingers around the cup, take a deep breath, and nod. "Yes, Yes of course. I just ... she always wrote to me when I was traveling." you weigh in and drink a big gulp, almost burning your tongue and a hiss comes from your lips.

Your mind drifts off and you wonder how Zelda is doing, wonder if Faustus is at least treating her well and carrying her on his hands as he should. But you can't stop thinking about all the scars and evenings spent helping Zelda with her wounds and you shudder.

You are working on some documents at the academy when Sabrina excitedly tells you that Zelda is back and you immediately leave your desk to greet her.

As you arrive at Faustus‘ office you are greeted with a shocking sight. Zelda in a golden dress with flowers and showing more skin than you saw her showing during all those millennia of friendship. You step towards her with a worried but soft smile and lay a hand on her shoulder.

The redheaded witch turned towards you with a sickeningly sweet smile and a whiskey bottle in her hands. ``Faustus I-´´Her eyes widen in surprise and she puts down the bottle. ``Oh hello! I didn‘t know Faustus and I would be having guests! I would have prepared some tea & some biscuits.´´ she explains in a high voice, so unlike her and it sends shivers down your spine.

You frown and gently guide her towards one of the armchairs. ``I am here for you, Zelds. Not him. I missed you.´´ you say and look at her surprised when she pulls away.

``I do not know you. Faustus never introduced you.´´ she says and turns around to clean the desk. 

Your frown deepens as you stand next to her. ``What do you mean Zelds? We have been friends since 1834. Russia remember? The Vodka and the bed?´´

Zelda straightens her back and opens her mouth when the door opens again and Faustus walks in. ``Faustus!´´ she exclaims and walks to him when he pulls her close into a passionate kiss.

Your face almost automatically turns into disgust before you have the chance to stop yourself. It was enough to think about them kissing, but actually seeing it was too much. You quickly make the decision to leave. To escape the scene and to escape the disaster that is about to come. I need to figure out what happened to her. How can she just forget me like this? you think and step into the hallway.

As you turn to leave, a hand wraps around your biceps and long nails prick into your silk blouse. You are pulled back and fall against a chest. You quickly take a few steps back and look into blue eyes. ``What do you want, Faustus?´´ you hiss, your biceps flexes under his tight grip. His eyes rake over you for a moment and if you hadn‘t been watching him intently you might have missed the mixture of disgust and arousal in his eyes. You almost growl in disgust at him finding your outfit, which was specifically chosen for Zelda who had always enjoyed watching you, and your body attractive.

``Stay away from Zelda, do you understand? We are married. You are to keep your hands to yourself or you will be excommunicated.´´ he says, his voice rough as he glares at you.

``I am still her friend, Faustus! You can‘t forbid me to see her! And you wouldn‘t dare to excommunicate me! I am a Teacher!´´ you hiss and rip your arm out of his grasp, rubbing your biceps; knowing bruises of his nails would form soon.

The dark-haired wizard just raises his eyebrow. ``Watch me.´´ he says with a grin which was more predatory if anything and turns around to enter his office again. He turns his head back to you and adds: ``And it‘s your eminence to you, Sister (Y/N).´´

You scowl at him, the wish to punch him growing as you rub your arm. That vile man could be your new deity for all you care and you wouldn‘t treat him with respect; he does not deserve that respect.

You walk past the door when you see Faustus handing Zelda a music box. You frown and observe them carefully, how Zelda opens the box and her eyes become slightly glassy. Trying to wrap your mind around the situation, you teleport to the mortuary.

When you appear in the living room, Hilda startles and looks at you with big eyes. "What happened??" she asks and jumps up when she sees you tremble.

"She doesn't...She doesn't remember me. She doesn't know who I am, Hilda." your voice grows quiet and you stifle the sob. "Whatever the fuck that bastard did ... he made Zelda forget me. She isn't herself at all and he forbids me to see her..."

The blonde witch wraps her arms around you and pats your back gently. "It’s alright. We will figure this out.’’

It takes two weeks of distance, unwanted distance because every time you see Zelda, Faustus is by her side, that Sabrinastorms into your office, out of breath. "(Y/N)! Do you know where Aunt Zee's music box is?" you frown and watch her pant.

"In her room on the vanity, I think. It's where I saw it last time I tried to talk to her ..." you ask with confusion in your voice. "What's going on? Is it about the curse?" you add and run after her when she already turned around to run.

You arrive at Zelda's room when Sabrina comes out again with the box. "Can-Can you teleport us to the kitchen? I don't- don't have the spell on hand." she has her arms wrapped around the box.

You nod, confused and take her arm. "Alright Alright. Calm down. Deep Breath or you'll puke." you say and mumble the spell as you focus on the mortuary kitchen. When you both appear in the kitchen and your eyes fall on Zelda, in a golden dress with flowers, showing off so much cleavage that you think they are gonna fall out. You gasp when you watch her grinding a rat. "Zelda!" you call out, already on your way to her when Hilda holds you back.

"No, love. Wait." she says and wraps her arm around your waist to hold you back. "There must be a photo in there. Of Zelda. Break it. NOW!" she says and looks over to Sabrina who scrambles to look for the photo. When she finds the photo, she smashes it on the table and you see when Zelda, your Zelda is back.

She stares at the bag before she looks down at herself. "Satan in Hell what am I wearing?!" she asks out loud and scowls.

"HA!" you laugh and wriggle free from Hilda to run towards her. You wrap your arms around her waist and pull her into you. She lets out a surprised gasp and wraps her arms around your neck and kisses your cheek.

You stay like that for several moments before you are pulled apart by Sabrina. The whole time you are in the kitchen, Zelda doesn't leave your side. She has her arm around your waist, her head on your shoulder; you missed this. Missed the intimacy, her wish to stay close even if she pretended not to.

It takes another 2 weeks for Zelda to call you.

You've just gotten home from the academy when the phone starts ringing. You finish pouring yourself a glass of wine and you quickly walk over to it. "(Y/L/N)? How can I help you?" you ask and take a sip.

There's silence for a few seconds before you hear Zelda's voice. Shaky and quiet. "C-Can you come over? I know it's late, but I need you here." she asks and you hear her feet shuffling.

"Of course, Zelds. I'll bring two bottles of wine." you reply with a grin and before you hang up you hear her whispering 'Thank you'.

You quickly take two bottles plus your glass and teleport to her; your focus mainly on not spilling the glass. As you appear in the living room you spill just a little bit and you grin proudly at the redheaded woman seated on the couch. "Hello there!" you declare with a bright grin. Zelda chuckles lightly and almost in a flash she's in front of you and wraps her arms around you. You gasp out and hold the glass further away. "Let me put this down and then I'll hug you all you want, mh?" you say.

She lets go of you and takes the bottles from you, puts them on the table and, when you've put down the glass, hugs you again. "Thank you for coming over." she mumbles into your neck, her face buried there to hide the tears.

You gently brush over her curls and kiss the top of her head. "It's alright, Zelds. That's what I am here for." you explain softly and carefully guide her back so when you sit down, she cuddles up to you close.

Only now do you realize that she's in her sleepwear and that neither her hair nor her makeup is made. "Zelds? Did you have a nightmare?" you ask, gently brushing a hair strand behind her ear so you can catch a glimpse of her tightly shut eyes. She shakes her hair quickly, too quickly for your liking, and makes herself even smaller, you realize she must feel your gaze on her. You frown and carefully tilt her chin up, her eyes opening slowly. "It's not a thing to be ashamed of. Especially after what you've gone through." you stroke her cheek and smile softly when her frown lessens. "You don't have to tell me what you've dreamt of. How about we drink a little something and I'll tell you all about my day."

As you go to grab your glass, you feel soft lips on yours and freeze, your hand stuck in the air and your eyes wide. Right before you want to respond though, the lips disappear again and the weight against you vanishes as well. You watch as Zelda scrambles back and you silently curse for not reacting sooner.

You quickly get to your feet, almost falling over them, and halt in front of Zelda who, bless her soul, is stuttering for an apology. Your lips are connected with her before you even understand what she's saying. Your hands find their way on her cheeks and you pull her close, her hands falling to your waist.

She gasps against your lips and places her hands on your cheeks, pulling you closer. Her left hand wraps around your neck and together you fall back on the couch, Zelda landing on top of you. You immediately pull her into your lap and wrap your arms tight around her torso.

“Finally!” comes the tired but happy voice of Hilda from the doorway and you both snap up to look at her. “I am very glad you two have resolved that tension but do be a bit quieter. It’s past Midnight.” she smirks at you and Zelda before yawning.

The redhead glares at her sister and you laugh, kissing her cheek. “Will do!” you explain and pull Zelda back into a kiss before she can do anything.

Hilda giggles and leaves, leaving you two in the living room cuddled close.

Zelda gasps as she feels your hands splaying over your waist and pulls back slightly, your lips following hers. “C-Can we..hmmm..(Y/N)..” she mumbles against your lips.

You now pull back and look at her with a smile. “Hm?” your hands stop on her waist and you watch her slowly opening her eyes. It's like a dream come true, after all these centuries of constant pining you are finally able to hold her, kiss her. You hope this won't be over any time soon, you hope she won’t regret this.

“What I wanted to say, can we just..cuddle? After everything, I don't want to rush this.” her voice is low as she speaks, careful and it makes you wonder what else he has done to her.

You cup her cheek and kiss her forehead. “Of course Zelds. I wasn't going to do anything anyway. I have been waiting for this moment for the past 171 years.” you reply with a smile. “So I can wait however long you want me to.”

The High Priestess smiles softly and kisses you again, her arms now wrapped around your neck. “Thank you..” she mumbles against your lips and you hum, with one hand grasping for the blanket that is thrown over the chair.

You two fall asleep in each other's arms on the couch and for the first time in a long time Zelda sleeps through the night, a fact she tells you later at breakfast, and from that moment, you spend as many nights as you can, and most days, together.

[siofra-river]

I don't know the dark souls words but uh, your fav boss/place/weapon?

Oh my god. I had a whole thing typed and tumblr destroyed it. Crying. ANYWAYS ILL START IT OVER. I’m going to go by each game for all of these questions! I have a lot to say ok!

Starting with dark souls 1

My favorite area in the game is ash lake!! It’s a super out of the way area , halfway thru the bottom of the second worst area of the game, past TWO hidden walls, and down the interior of a really tall tree, where you’re likey to fall or get petrified. But god. It’s SO ATMOSPHERIC! It’s one of the few areas in the game w ambient music and it’s loud, intimidating and ominous, it’s so pretty as well. It’s a really optional area too which makes this incredibly amazing atmosphere even better, if you don’t accidentally find the hidden walls or already know about it, you miss the presentation but also the dragon covenant! Which is really the only reason to go there.

I can’t really say much about a favorite weapon tbh? Since like all my play through feature similar builds (boring ik) but black knight straight sword my beloved. In terms of presentation tho I really enjoy quelaag’s furysword, it’s a neat and scary cursed sword which when you swing it, it lights up with flames. Super dope. I also really like the Channeler’s tridents, they let you do a funny dance ^_^

Also favorite boss? I really can’t say I have one like in gameplay? Like I won’t deny these bosses have been revolutionary in some way. Helping cement dark souls and the souls-like formula but. They’re just so..annoying? Like a lot of them are just plain annoying. Or have really annoying mechanics. Like knocking you off into an instant death pit, or powering up to insane damage if you don’t cheese with an animation cancel. In lore though my favorite has to be Gwyndolin, I find them a really tragic figure who has a lot going for them (if they weren’t written so poorly) w a really great design.

Now dark souls 2!

My favorite area has to be Frozen Eleum Loyce, but really on a very specific version of it. The version of it when you first get there, where a lot of the enemies aren’t active, but also a majority of the map is closed off as a result. While it’s like this, I find Loyce to be absolutely breathtaking, it’s got a gorgeous view from just about anywhere you can see off into the distance. And then it becomes a sequel to Shrine of Amana once you wake the city up, giving you the classic dark souls 2 scenario of: 7 melee enemies with 3 ranged ladies with absolute insane homing magic while you’re impaired in some way(can’t see well, can’t move well, poison, bleeding, etc)

Eleum Loyce also has one of my favorite bosses in the game there, the Burnt Ivory King, the build-up to his fight is nigh insufferable (I HATE FINDING THE KNIGHTS) but once you get there, and kill his minions. It’s worth it, you feel like you’re fighting against an actual king, and once you come out on top you feel like you’ve improved. Also the lore for the king is badass as fuck, one of the few guys in that game who is a genuinely good guy who did what he could to stop a threat.

Also as an honorable mention, my second favorite fight in dark souls 2. Velstadt. He’s cool as hell, he’s big, he’s intimidating, he’s tough but fair, and he’s unique. Like BIK, he’s at the end of a very annoying area/sequence. I HATE THOSE ENEMY SUMMONING BELLS, but once you fight him and win you feel god tier. He’s really fun to fight, he’s got pretty clearly telegraphed moves you can dodge but still does high damage and has a really interesting weapon, his hammer also is a bell, which he uses as a Catalyst to summon Hexes/Miracles. I also just think his armor is sexy as fuck, they really went nuts w it.

Also my favorite weapon in dark souls 2 is probably the staff of wisdom. Used it thru like all of my first ds2 playthrough so it has a special place in my heart ❤️ got me through like all the dlc and all the bullshit

Ok dark souls 3!!

Ok I have so so so much to say about dark souls 3 but I will restrain myself to talk about only 2 areas in the game. But honestly like every area of ds3 is good, like they really just put so much detail and love in to like every area. I can’t overstate how pretty and detail oriented this game is.

Anyways..first area is the Ringed City. This area was introduced as the last dlc for the game and as the way to wrap up the entire franchise. Effectively finishing it and ending the story in a way THATS slightly hopeful! The whole area is amazing, from the poison swamps to the temples. I adore it all. The whole ringed city dlc is amazing. I love the architecture and sense of style the city has, it’s ancient and decrepit in ways but still so full of life and action. I also love it overall for what it represents, a city lost to the rest of the world filled with reminders of the failure of Gwyn, the whole dlc is honestly a big fuck you to Gwyn, showing once again how terrible he was.

It also has my favorite fight in the entire game series, and one of my favorite boss fights of all time, Slave Knight Gael. Gael has a lot of lore around him that really contextualizes what he’s doing and how long he’s been doing it. This man has been around for thousands of years and is trying to fix things, at the cost of his own sanity, knowing that you the player are going to kill him and finish his job. The fight is full of so many details that frankly still astonishes me. When you run away from him, he uses a summon sign to get closer, during phase 2 Gael goes hollow (by completing his task of reforming the dark soul) which makes him take more damage from the hollowslayer greatsword, he uses a miracle from thousands of years ago. AUGH..I CARE HIM...

Ok now that I’m done crying abt Gael I’ll talk abt my next favorite area which is the demon ruins! The demon ruins isn’t a very combat intensive area, while there certainly is a lot of enemies they aren’t very hard, which really helps highlight the tragedy of the area. The demon ruins is the long forgotten ruins of lost izaleth from dark souls 1, the home of the race of demons. But in dark souls 3, they’re a dying breed, throughout the demon ruins you see countless corpses of demons such as capra and taurus demons, and even see the body of the fair lady, one of the daughters of the Witch of Izaleth, who was the leader of the Chaos Servants covenant from dark souls 1. It’s nice to see the game gave small acknowledgements and closure on characters. The demon ruins is another optional area you kind of have to go out of your way to get to, but the game subtle pushes you to explore it because at the end there’s a route to stopping the ballista that has been shooting you the entire time you’ve been at smoldering lake, which is an area necessary for the hidden ending.

(I can’t find a good pic sry)

Anyways! The last of my last rambling, favorite dark souls 3 weapon..in the ways of practicality..good ol reliable flamberge, used it my first playthrough and it was so nice. It’s also the weapon used by the scariest npc invader, holy knight hodrick. But in terms of visuals, both of pontiff sulyvahn’s weapons, their really distinct color glows are so fucking pretty and can make you feel god tier even if you aren’t. The ringed knight straight sword is also up there with the weapon art creating this beautiful effect of flames covering the whole blade...

Aughh dark souls..

[scvrllet]

Reactions To You Being In A Toxic Relationship

WARNING(S): swearing, crackfic!! or at least tom’s part is

A/N: you literally cannot tell me I’m wrong with the last one. Also I’m sorry if this is bad, I’m not used to writing these kinds of things

EDIT, 09/20/2020: I wrote this as a joke a few months ago so I just used the characters I wrote for at the time. Of course that list has now expanded so I apologize for that. 

EDIT, 06/17/21: Forget that authors note, this is the best thing I have ever written and I stand by that

Harry Potter

is very worried

he’s fancied you since second year

and he knows how it feels to be in a toxic environment

so he tries to get to know you in hopes that you’d let him help you

not that he says that

but it’s his intention

at first you push him away

scared that your s/o would get mad

but he doesn’t give up

so you give him a chance

at first it was awkward

but you slowly opened up to him

the first time you cried to him about how toxic the relationship with your s/o is Harry felt his heart ache

he didn’t like seeing you hurt

so he let you lean against his chest

and play with his fingers, an old habit from when you were younger

suddenly, your s/o comes out of nowhere

“I knew it! I fucking knew it, you were trying to fuck Potter!” they exclaimed, wanting others to hear

Harry couldn’t help it

he got up and punched them in the face 

giving them a bloody nose

“You know what? Have fun with her, we’re over!”

as they stomped away you felt relieved

you were finally free

Harry turned back to face you with a smile

“Thank you.”

“It was nothing, I’m just glad you’re free now.”

not knowing where the sudden surge of confidence came from

you kissed him

and he kissed back, hands on your waist as he held you

Draco Malfoy 

he’s no longer the cocky Malfoy that picks on you

starts to worry when you don;t show up to class 

even if you’re only a few minuets late

wonders why the hell he cares

but then again

he can’t push away the feelings he has towards you

one day he sends a note to you in class

it was just to check up on you

but then the two of you spent the rest of the class passing notes back and forth

“Mr Malfoy and Ms (Y/L/N), would you please stop sending love notes to each other!”

you’re both flustered and stop

but then Draco sends one last note

‘meet me at the top of the Astronomy Tower at 11′

you agree

when you go up to see him he looks relieved to see you

the two of you end up meeting there frequently to talk 

he mainly tries to get your mind off your relationship

one day you ended up breaking down and Draco didn’t know what to do

so he pulled you onto his lap and stroked your hair

whispering reassuring things into your ears as you started to calm down

“If he dares touches you again I’ll hex him myself.”

and he stayed true to his word

you ended things with your s/o after their duel with Draco

who they lost to

to further rub it in their face of what they’ve just lost

Draco pulled you by the waist and passionately kissed you 

in front of your s/o and most of the student body

but neither of you cared

Cedric Diggory

will try to comfort you

very sweet, takes care of you

the feelings between the two of you are so obvious

but you’re scared to leave your s/o

he’ll reassure you that the all mean things your s/o says about you is false

he tries to help you build the courage to break up with them

when you finally break up with them

Cedric is close by in case they try to hurt you

and they did

but before they could even take another step closer to you Cedric in between the two of you

“Pretty boy Diggory here to save the day?”

he in fact is

it eventually takes 2 Professors and 5 students to break up the fight 

after the fight Cedric knows you’re upset because he fought back

and you specifically told him not to

it takes a whole day but you soon forgive him

he’s so happy he kisses you

“I love you (Y/N)”

“I love you too.”

Barty Crouch Jr.

you didn’t tell him

he just found out 

then tried to fight them

but you were able to break up the fight after Barty threw the first punch

“Choose (Y/N), it’s either me or him.” 

you grabbed onto Barty’s arm, choosing him

he smirked at your s/o who yelled profanities at you

they broke up with you and left

their friends trailing behind, sending you glares until they were no longer in sight

“I promise to you I will never treat you like they did.”

you took his word for it and pressed your lips onto his

he smiled into the kiss

only to kiss you back much more passionately

“Get a room.” your friends complained, causing the two of you to break the kiss 

Tom Riddle Jr.

is the one you’re in a toxic relationship with

Goodluck

Masterlist

[ohmygoodnessgraciouss]

Reality Check - Chapter 8 Part 2

“We’ll take care of it from here, L/N.  You aren’t allowed back in.” Hayward said. 

“What do you mean I’m not allowed back in?!” You yelled, frustrated.  You spent all day talking to him just for him to tell you that there’s no plan where you go back. 

“I can’t risk having you under Maximoff’s magic again.  For all we know she’ll use you to destroy us.  You’re done here.” 

“But I have the best chance of going back in.” 

“I don’t care.  Woo, escort her out of here.  I don’t care where she goes but she can’t stay here any longer.” 

Jimmy nodded solemnly, holding out a hand to you.  Still angered by Hayward’s words you stood up from your chair abruptly, pushing Jimmy’s hand out of the way.  “You don’t get to make that choice for me.  I’m going to find out what’s going on inside the hex.” 

Hayward glared at you before raising a hand to his earpiece, muttering something you couldn’t hear.  He left the room as two guards came in, grabbing you by the elbows.  “You can’t do this!” You yelled out to Tyler.  “I will find my way back into Westview!” 

The guards began leading you down the halls as Darcy, Monica, and Jimmy all watched.  They didn’t know what they could do to help you.  You watched the hallways carefully, making sure you knew exactly where you needed to go once you broke free from them.

They led you outside, towards one of the trucks.  They threw you in before you could do anything, locking you into place with a set of handcuffs.  You huffed at them as they moved to the front of the vehicle.  One of the men sat behind the wheel, adjusting the mirror.  “Where are you taking me?” You asked them.  

Their answer sent shivers down your spine.

“To a place you won’t be able to come back from.” 

~

The drive was long, about two hours if you counted the seconds correctly.  The place they were talking about looked like a prison.  The walls were easily forty feet high, glaring down at you as if you were merely an ant.  The men dragged you into the building, leading you down yet another hallway.  You half expected a light to flicker on the way.  

The end of the hallway had a large desk with a woman sitting behind it.  She glared up at you from her seat, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.  “Is this the mutant you were telling me about?” She asked, almost disgustedly. 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

“Bring her in, take her to the confinement room,” She sighed and handed one of the guards a key.  

“The what room?  Do you people even work for S.H.I.E.L.D?” You turned to look at them, seeing their empty expressions. They nudged you, forcing you to walk down a new hallway.

“We work for S.H.I.E.L.D, but we work for another agency as well.” 

“Another agency?  Dare I call you H.Y.D.R.A agents?” You tried to keep your brave face on, but it was hard knowing that you were being taken somewhere you didn’t know by people you didn’t know.

“A group even more powerful than H.Y.D.R.A ever was.  We handle mutants like yourself more specifically.  Haven’t you noticed that you’re completely drained of your power right now?  The cuffs are made to fit you perfectly, drain you of any energy you may have.” Your eyes widened in fear.

“So what’s the point in having me?” 

“Right now?  We’re just here to make sure you don’t mess up the timeline.” 

“How would I mess up the timeline?  The Avengers worked with time travel weeks ago and now you’re saying we could still be altering timelines?” 

“Precisely.  In fact, you could be altering it even more than you ever realized.  With your powers, if you were to come into contact and team up with the Scarlet Witch again, you could corrupt the entire multiverse.” 

“Multiverse?  The Scarlet Witch?  I don’t even know what you’re talking about right now!” You exclaimed.  

“It’s for the best you don’t then.  Don’t worry.  We’ll only keep you here until The Scarlet Witch is revealed.  It shouldn’t take too long.  We’ll see you soon, L/N.”  They pulled off your handcuffs and shoved you into a room.  Before you could race out of it, they locked the door.  

The room seemed to be made out of a metal.  It was all just metal, cold, and eerie.  A bed was in one corner, a desk with very few books, and a toilet and sink were on one side.  The other side had a chest, you assumed it was probably filled with blankets or pillows.  Whatever the room was made of, it had to have been made out of the same metal as the cuffs.  You still felt drained by it. 

“What do I do now?” 

~

A week had passed and you found yourself sitting by the desk, reading a book.  You felt like you were going insane there.  A man would bring you food twice a day, giving you a small smile each time he did.  You merely glared at the man and waited until he was gone before you would eat.  It was always something a small.  A sandwich, an apple, maybe a bottle of water.  It was always on paper plates and paper napkins, ensuring you wouldn’t have anything sharp or heavy. 

“Good news,” The man greeted you one day.  You watched him with a careful eye.  “The timeline is almost restored, meaning you’ll be free soon enough.  It should only be another day or two.  I enjoyed our time together, even if you don’t.  Many of the people who show up here are less than pleased and they would insult me quite a bit.  I would prefer a nice conversation, after all I am just the messenger, but I’ll take what I can get.”  He placed the plate down.  A granola bar and a ham and cheese sandwich.  Predictable. 

“Hopefully tomorrow is the last day we’ll see each other.  I look forward to it,” He smiled once more before leaving.  

You looked down at the plate, picking at the granola bar.  What were you to do now? 

~

The next morning you woke up, waiting for the man to appear once again.  He was a friendly face at least.  Given you hadn’t seen anyone else all week you were almost kind of glad to see somebody each day.  You were positive you would start hallucinating at this rate.  

The door opened for the first time today, but it wasn’t the man you were waiting for.  It was a different man.  One you hadn’t seen in a week.  His mischievous grin was as wide as ever, his black hair was pulled back behind his ears.  He wore a Gucci suit.  Of course he did.  

“Did you miss me, darling?” He asked, raising his arms up as if he expected you to run to him. 

You looked at him with wide eyes.  “How are you here?” You asked him. 

“What do you mean?  I know I’m dead in this timeline but surely you knew it was me inside the Scarlet Witch’s reality,” He chuckled. 

You stood up, walking to him slowly, scanning his face for any kind of flaw.  Any indication that someone was pretending to be him.  “The Scarlet Witch’s reality?  Don’t you mean Wanda’s?” 

“Wanda, Scarlet Witch, same person, just different names.  Now, I’m a little disappointed to hear that you couldn’t see through my illusion, but I can’t say that I’m surprised.  You were never one for noticing it after all.” 

“You were in there all along?” You asked breathlessly.  

“Of course I was!  Scott was never a man who lived in Westview.  He was merely someone I made up so I could be close to you.  I needed to help set the timeline straight.  The T.V.A would have had my head if I couldn’t do it.” 

“Who’s the T.V.A?” 

“The Time Variance Authority.  They’re the ones who locked you up here, despite my arguably great reasons why they shouldn’t,” He spoke bitterly.  “But, I had to help them with this timeline.  I’m from a different timeline.  One where Thanos hasn’t snapped away half of the universe.  I escaped using the Tesseract.” 

A lightbulb seemed to flicker on in your head.  Of course it was him!  Bruce told you about what had gone wrong during the “Time heist.”  He mentioned how Loki managed to escape in 2012.  “You’re working for them?” 

“Not anymore,” He winked.  “I extracted some of the Scarlet Witch’s magic before she took off with the Darkhold.” 

“Wanda has the Darkhold?!”  You almost screeched.  Through your readings on Asgard you learned of the dark magic the Darkhold possessed.  It was known for corrupting people’s minds when read.  Considering your friend was already unstable enough to create a false reality you were terrified by what she could do if she had the book. 

“Shh!” He hushed you quickly.  “There are still people in the building.  But yes, she does.  Don’t worry, I’ve seen the rest of this timeline.  She’ll be alright with help from the Sorcerer Supreme.  But you hold no important place in this timeline anymore.” 

“What do you mean by that?” You asked. 

He walked up to you, close enough to place a hand on your waist comfortingly.  “Y/N,” It brought tears to your eyes to hear him say your name once more.  “I want you to come with me.” 

“Where would we go?” 

“Anywhere.  We can go anywhere you’d like.  This timeline, another, somewhere on Midgard or somewhere far away from it.  But I’m asking you to run away with me.  I know you may be frightened by the idea, especially because I’m not the same Loki you used to know, but I don’t want to live without you.  This is our chance to finally have a life together.  Free from Odin, from Thanos, from everyone!  We could finally be together.” 

You searched his eyes for any lies.  It wouldn’t be the first time he betrayed someone he loved, but you couldn’t find an ounce of betrayal in him.  He was being completely honest with you.  You smiled slightly, tears brimming your eyes.  “Loki, I have friends here.  Family.  Knowing that Wanda is out there with the Darkhold is terrifying me.” 

“And you can see her again, I promise you.  But for now we must leave.  You won’t see her for quite a while, but,” He hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not he should tell you the next piece of information.  “But you will see her again.  She’s going to use the Darkhold to cross the multiverse.  We can safely see her again, but right now we have to go.” 

The two of you looked out of the room quickly as you heard yells coming down the hallway.  The T.V.A was close now.  They were planning on arresting both you and Loki.  “What do you say, Y/N?” His eyes were pleading, begging you to go with him.  

You took a deep breath, wiping your eyes, before grabbing onto his hand.  The other hand, that was still on your waist, tightened his hold slightly.  You smiled up at him.  “Let’s go,” You whispered. 

He returned the smile, before saying one last thing to you. 

“Oh, how I love you.”

.

.

.

Yeah, no, I’m with Wanda on this one.  We’re not ending it like that.  Reality Check is far from over.  Happy April Fool’s, everyone.  

Part 2 will be out tomorrow.  

@emberfulclass @momoneymolife @high-priestesss @hailey-the-heathen @mochminnie @dpaccione @intricate-melody @lindseyrae20 @storminateacup15 @ilovemollyweasley​ @bookgirlunicorn @chims-kookies @austynparksandpizza​ @yikesdameron​ @littleladdty @three-eyed-snail @kymera-casterwill​ @justsomerandompersonintheworld @followthepastelcloud​ @11mb0​ @carolinesbookworld​ @from-hel-i-with-love @grimalkynslee @boywivlove​ @prettysbliss​ @youreobsessedwithmarvel​ @th3gl1tt3gram3roff1c1al @luthien-t​ @lokilove3000 @treblebeth​ @weclassygirl​ @justfangirlingaround​ @drpepperobsessed​ @how-does-this-work​ @prideofnewberk​ @matterdontminduntildone​ @brynthebulldozer​ @shittyfuckinweeb​

[wardensantoineandevka]

Your metas on Fjord's versatile build really makes me wonder what Level 20 Fjord (well, at least when everyone else in MN is Level 20 and he gets a few more levels in Warlock and Paladin) would've looked like.

Finishing this answer SUPER late, but—big same! It's really difficult to tell because there's a whole bunch of things that could happen and that this could look like based on the final ratio of warlock to paladin, whether he's switching out Invocations (notably, the Thirsting Blade / Extra Attack situation), and what warlock spells he'll hold on to or switch out. But, we can make some speculations. This is also not accounting for if Fjord would be able to take spells that are listed in Tasha's "Optional Class Features: Additional Warlock Spells" list, which would give access to spells like Mislead and Teleportation Circle.

At level 20, assuming he doesn't do anything real wild like dip into a third class, Fjord can be 16 Warlock / 4 Paladin, 12 Warlock / 8 Paladin, or a mixture in between such as Warlock 14 / Paladin 6. A level in each class would give the following:

Warlock 13: 7th-level Mystic Arcanum (i.e., Crown of Stars - which we saw Trent use, Etherealness, Forcecage), +1 known spell (lots of possibilities, i.e. Hold Monster, Suggestion, Banishment, Wall of Light, Spirit Shroud, Dimension Door)

Warlock 14: Master of Hexes - when a creature under Hexblade's Curse is slain, he can forgo the hit point regain and immediately move the Curse to another creature he can see within 30ft of him

Warlock 15: 8th-level Mystic Arcanum (i.e., Glibness, Power Word Stun, Demiplane), +1 known spell, +1 known Invocation (lots of possibilities, i.e. Ghostly Gaze, Shroud of Shadow, Visions of Distant Realms, Witch Sight)

Warlock 16: ASI (lots of possibilities)

Paladin 5: Extra Attack (does not stack with Thirsting Blade, switching out Thirsting Blade to resolve this opens up a slot for an Invocation), Augury (limited to narrative and out-of-combat use, a great spell for Fjord and one of my favorites), Misty Step (a vaunted return, increased mobility, staking claim as Teleport King), +1 1st-level spell slots for a total of 4, +2 2nd-level slots and thus gains access to 2nd-level Paladin spells (i.e., Lesser Restoration, Branding Smite, Aid, Zone of Truth), Lay on Hands increases to 25

Paladin 6: Aura of Protection - he and allies within 10ft gain +5 to saving throws (wonderful support feature, increases his own survivability), Lay on Hands increases to 30, number of prepared Paladin spells increases to 8

Paladin 7: Aura of Liberation - he and creatures of choice within 10ft cannot be grappled or restrained and ignore penalties while underwater, additionally creatures already grappled or restrained by non-magical restraints when they enter the aura can spend 5ft of movement to automatically escape (he becomes nigh impossible to lock down), +1 2nd-level slot for a total of 3, Lay on Hands increases to 35

Paladin 8: ASI, Lay on Hands increases to 40, number of prepared Paladin spells increases to 9

Any further speculation would need to pick a multiclass mixture. Warlock 14 / Paladin 6 will have increased survivability with that +5 boost to all saving throws and have the ability to keep using Relentless Hex through combat by moving Hexblade's Curse from target to target. Warlock 12 / Paladin 8 will have the warlock abilities he has now (not accounting for if Matt allows switching Invocations and spells outside of warlock levels) while also gaining a very respectable Lay on Hands pool and immunity to grappled / restrained conditions.

I'm not going to make speculations here on specific spell or Invocation choices for each bc that's a lot and it depends on what else he has and what final multiclass balance one is going for, but that's the general broad strokes of what one would consider.