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soleilnewspaper · 11 months ago

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First tattoo

Synopsis: You’ve always wanted to get a tattoo but you are absolutely terrified of needles. Luckily you have not one but two boyfriends to talk you through it.

Pairing: poly!wolfstar x reader

Warnings: fear of needles, crying, comfort, suggestive themes (nothing is explicitly stated.)

Word count: 1.6k

AN: I’m still quite ill but I do plan to release more parts of my poly!Wolfstar series once I’m better. If you enjoy this, please do all the tumblr things; reblog, like and comment.

Dividers: @Strangergraphics

It’s a little embarrassing to be honest, how you, a grown adult still have a fear of needles. An intense one at that.

Most people grow out of their childhood fears. They’re replaced by the demands of adulthood instead. Bills, taxes, rent, food and countless other things that you have to deal with as an adult.

You still share all these concerns yourself, every other adult would. However, you unlike every other adult does not almost throw a tantrum at the doctor’s office you get blood tests.

Luckily in the wizardly world, a verse majority the medical field is built on magic. Something which could be viewed as both an advantage and disadvantage depending on who you ask.

Despite being in this world for over a decade and having attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Your muggle mother still feels more at ease when you have checkups at the family doctor.

Your intense fear hadn’t affected you greatly in your life, not untill recently anyway.

Sirius, one of your boyfriends officially got his tattoo license a few months back and the desire for him to give you one is growing by the day.

Remus, your other boyfriend, too has a few tattoos here and there. Not nearly as many as Sirius, and his are often hidden under sweaters and long pants.

Currently, he was in the process of acquiring a new tattoo. Remus lay back down on the leather seat, with his lower abdomen exposed. One of his trusty sweaters lifted to give Sirius the access he needs to work.

The cold air nips at his skin, and he arches his back slightly to make himself more comfortable. A task seemly easy, yet difficult for the tall lanky werewolf in such a small chair.

Straddling his hips, your other boyfriend smirks down at him as he works. His long black hair pulled into a makeshift ponytail in an attempt to be professional. You hardly see how keeping a level of professionesness is needed when he’s already straddling Remus as is.

You’ve been watching the interaction for a while now, sat in the same spot on the leather couch since they started. Happily multitasking between reading the book Remus burrowed you and watching the two while Sirius tattoos him. The only sounds leaving your lips for a while were a few giggles and smiles at the notes Remus had left in the margins for you.

Feeling a sudden sense of boldness, you put down the book on the table next to you. Neither one of the boys look up, far too engrossed in their own business.

Your shared doc martens press against the floor as you walk over to the two. Pulling up the closest available chair in order to sit next to Sirius who is still focused on Remus.

Upon seeing you, a warm smile immediately finds Remus’s face. “Did you already finish the book, dove?” He asked while stretching his arms above his head leaving more of his torso exposed. The mere act sends chills through your body.

“Or maybe you just wanted to watch.” Sirius’s eyes remained on Remus’s lower torso to avoid messing up. “Hmm, dollface.” He mumbled with a tone that made you practically hear the smirk you knew was on his face.

“Well, nothin’ wrong with that.” Remus extended his arm towards you, his fingers finding your smaller one’s.

“I want one.” You stated in a high pitched sound. Causing both boys to look at you.

“Hmm, what’s that, darling?” Remus hummed his eyes closed as he felt Sirius lit the needle from his skin to stop and look at you.

“A tattoo.” Once the words left your mouth, both your boyfriends turned to fully face you. Trying to see if you were just pulling their leg or not. After they had deduced that you were serious about this, they finally spoke.

“You sure you’re up for it, bunny?” Remus cooed, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear. Both of them knowing how much you hate needles or sharp objects in general.

A few moments of thinking, and you promptly nodded your head to indicate your answer.

“Come on, Rem, she’s tougher than she looks.” The dark haired boy exchanged a look with the sandy brunette one.

“Fine, but only if you are completely sure. I don’t want you to do something your regret or that will make you feel uncomfortable or worse, scared.” Remus sat up to get a better look at you, resting on his elbows.

For months now, you’d watched Sirius tattoo people in this chair. Hell, you’d even seen your shared boyfriend be given a few by Sirius. Yet, you couldn’t stop the nerves pulsing through your veins when Sirius cleaned the needle.

On your left side, sat on a very uncomfortable bar stool was your second boyfriend. Remus rubbed small circles on the palms of your hands with his fingers in soothing motions.

Sirius walked over to the two of you, and took a seat in front of you. The needle right there in his hands. Staring at you. You tried to be brave, really you did.

Only a mere few minutes into the tattoo session and you broke. The second you felt the needle dig deeper into your skin, it was over.

Tears pulled in your irises and you dug your nails deep within Remus’s palms. You tried to keep the tears at bay, but when your boyfriend pressed the needle a little more. You became a flood gate.

Your tears quickly turned into sobs, and your breath began to hitch. Hearing you, Sirius immediately took away the needle laying it down on the nearby table.

Remus stood up from his stool to get a better look at you. Towering over you, he lifted your chin with the tip of his index finger. His beautiful honey brown staring down at you.

“Hey, hey, hey, dove, talk to us.” He cooed, his heart breaking at the sight of your tears. Sirius exchanging a look with him.

Sirius sat down on the chair next to squishing you slightly until he found a comfortable position. Once he did, he began to lightly stroke your check. “Why didn’t you say something, darling?”

“I-I-I-did-didn’t-wa-want-“ Before you could manage to get out your sentence already feeling like a child and hating it.

“Shh, deep breathes, baby.” Remus cooed once again. Pulling you to his chest. Your tears began to flow into his sweater.

Sirius moved to hug you from behind, the boys finding a way to sandwich you into a hug. Despite their awkward positions. With Remus standing and Sirius squished into the chair next to you.

“I want this.” You lay your head on Remus’s torso, looking up at him. Finding nothing but love in his eyes.

“You sure, dove, because it-“

“I do, really, I do.”

“Dollface, you know you don’t have to do it just because we have them.” Sirius stroked the back of your hair in an attempt to soothe you.

“That’s not why I’m doing this.”

A long sigh escaped Remus’s lips before he cupped your face with his large hands. “Well, then we’re goin’ need to find a way to make this work, huh?”

You simply hooded in return, your tears beginning to dry up replaced by a smile.

Remus and Sirius continued to console you untill you had reached a sense of relief. Which didn’t take long with both boys by your side.

Later, clearing the place out. You finally got your tattoo.

The city lights of London shone through the thin blinds of Sirius’s tattoo shop. He had sent the rest of his clients and staff home. Leaving only the three of you. It made it easier for you, when there weren’t too many people surrounding you.

Towards the back of the shop, the three of you found your way to Sirius’s office. The place was organised chaos as he liked to call it.

You lay back on the red leather couch, with your chosen tattoo area exposed. Remus sat right next to you. His arm draped around your shoulder, pulling you closer to squeeze you every now and then. Sirius remained focused the entire time but he exchanged looks with Moony as a silent ask for how you were doing. Stopping a few times when you had given him any kind of indication that you were in pain.

“Sorry for being a big baby, earlier.” Your voice was muffed in Remus’s sweater.

“Pardon?” Remus smirked, leaning closer to you knowing full well he heard you.

“Don’t you dare make me repeat it.” You sent death daggers at him. Which only caused him to pull you closer.

“Alright, love, I’d say you’re good to go.” Sirius turned off the tattoo machine and placed it back in its home. Removing the gloves from his hands and letting his hair loose.

“Wait, what, just like that?” You were shocked that hours had gone by and you hadn’t even noticed.

“Guess you just needed the right setting.” Remus spoke gently tucking a stray piece of hair away from your face.

“More like I needed your undivided attention.” You snickered.

“Please, we all know you have us wrapped around your fingers.” Sirius fell back onto the leather couch with a this. “Beautiful. Gorgeous. Hot.” He said in between kisses.

“Please tell me you aren’t still talking about my fingers.”

“What do you think?” Sirius smirked down at you. Whilst Remus threw his head back against the couch.

“I think you’re both going have to call in sick to work tomorrow.” You said in a low seductive tone while dragging your fingers up Sirius’s neck.

“What will you have us do, love?” Remus breath was felt against your ear.

“I think you know.”

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honourablejester · 2 days ago

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Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, Dragon Hoards, and Storytelling

Apparently it’s dragon week on D&D youtube? Unfortunately I wasn’t aware of this until today, so I’m not really in time to do anything, but just as a small gesture towards the event, I wanted to talk about something from my favourite 5e published book: Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons. Because dragons make everything better, but also this was a genuinely fun and fascinating book, and it gave a lot of tiny story hooks and worldbuilding suggestions involving dragons. Including, among other things, what sort of bric-a-brac you might find in the hoards of various dragons.

Now. I love objects in games. I love archaeology, I love the stories inherent in objects. I don’t just meant magic items, useful objects, but any object. Things you can put into your world to tell stories. And in the Draconomicon section of Fizban’s, along with suggestions for creatures the various dragons might interact with, they also provide a section on what types of treasures each type of dragon might stereotypically enjoy, including some specific examples.

So. Squeezing this in on the last day of dragon week, I’m just going to mention my favourite suggested object from each type of dragon’s hoard? As well as some of the storytelling potential of same:

Amethyst Dragon

A two-foot-long rod of pale crystal that gives off eerie sounds when touched, with the tone varying up and down the length of the rod.

Amethyst dragons apparently favour scholarly or philosophical treasures, so honestly the interiors of their lairs sort of sound like university lumber rooms or the contents of a wizardly magpie’s nest. It’s all books and scrolls and orreries and weird gadgets. And, apparently, magical theremins? Because this very much is, in essence, a magical theremin. That you play, uh, rather suggestively? Let me sing you the song of my people while stroking my magical rod. I don’t know if that was intentional, but … I mean. If you want to add levity to your game, feel free to put this item in? I do wonder if the amethyst dragon themselves are aware of the suggestiveness. It might certainly be interesting to find out.

Black Dragon

A beautifully enameled urn holding the desiccated heart of the dragon's former green dragon rival.

The thing about black dragons is, regardless of their alignment, they’re spiteful. They like getting the last word. They also like collecting the last of things in general, which on the beneficial side often means their lairs function as essentially mini-museums of lost cultures, civilisations, artists and craftspeople, and on the more malevolent side means that they hoard those mementos to themselves and deny them to whoever of that culture might be left (to say nothing of what killed that culture or civilisation, and whether or not the black dragon had anything to do with it).

But. All of that aside. The reason I picked this object is because black dragons are spiteful, and I kind of love that about them? A black dragon will go out of their way to beautifully present a grisly reminder of what happens to their enemies, because they’re just bitchy that way, and I love that.

Blue Dragon

A glass bell that creates the sound of rainstorms and thunder for 1 hour when struck.

Blue dragons are just incredibly snobby about their hoards. They’re obsessed with provenance and standards and quality of craftsmanship, as well as symbols of their own power and status, and symbols of the power and status of mortals or kingdoms they have sponsored. They’re, honestly, very nouveau riche about it? Which you probably shouldn’t say to a blue’s face, because you will get smote for it.

But they also, on something of a more whimsical note, love objects that evoke the weather, by sound or scent or scene. And that’s why I picked this one. It’s something less … artificial, ‘put on’, something the dragon wanted for its own sake, not for the prestige of it. A little bit of something whimsical and real in the middle of a power display.

Brass Dragon

A finely carved bust of a long-dead human ruler, which the dragon has named Cornelius and argues with incessantly.

The thing with brass dragons is, they thrive on interaction. On gossip, spycraft, debate, conversation. So a somewhat whimsical and somewhat sad detail about their hoards is that the dragons often ‘invest them with imagined personality’. They want objects they can talk to. They tend to favour things that depict beings, portraits, statues, little toy creatures, etc. So, you know. If you wanted to make friends with a brass dragon? A gift for their hoard that they can actually talk to, such as a sentient magic item, would probably work quite well.

Bronze Dragon

Framed blueprints of a siege engine called the Moonhammer.

Okay. So a thing you may or may not find charming about bronzes is, they’re essentially military historians? Varying from ‘hobbyist’ to ‘various historical generals were actually this dragon in disguise’ levels. Though admirals are more likely than generals, since bronzes are also rather coastal. So their hoards tend to be … well. Full of military memorabilia, for a start, along with more genuine mementos of the dragon’s own career, and then some more dangerous bits and bobs. A bronze dragon hoard is very much where you’re going to stumble across powerful weapons, for example. But the reason I picked this one is … it’s not just magical weapons and ancient superweapons. Bronze hoards are where you can also find much more mundane type superweapons, products of ingenuity and bloodshed, like the above blueprints. So they’re a great place to put plot relevant items.

Copper Dragon

A smooth piece of amber with what appears to be a tiny sprite frozen inside it.

Copper dragons are fey. They’re tricksters. They’re the dragons folk stories are told about. So their hoards are where you’re going to find just … weird and wonderful things. Puzzle boxes, things they stole from people (well, not stole, but tricked them out of), the odd doomsday weapon shoved down the back of a couch, a random collection of musical instruments, a full set of crockery, you name it. Any random object you can think of, put it in there. A singing teacup? A copper dragon would love it. I only picked this one because it’s indicative of the overall whimsy and randomness you’ll find with coppers. Did the dragon somehow manage to snare that sprite itself? Quite likely. Will they tell you how they did so? Eh. Depends how entertaining you are.

Crystal Dragon

A vast number of colored glass bottles collected from dozens of cultures and historical periods.

Crystal dragons are sweethearts, and they like pretty sparkly things. The relative value of those pretty sparkly things is irrelevant, what matters is how cool and shiny and interesting they are. So their hoards will range from fascinating things like a crystal armillary sphere showing unknown planets, to a children’s coin bank shaped like an owlbear, to a collection of historical glasswork, to a series of really pretty windchimes that catch the sunlight. And. To be perfectly honest? The reason I picked the glass collection to highlight is because I myself also adore glass, and I would have that hoard myself. If I met a dragon with a collection of historical glassware, arranged by colour and presented so they’d catch the light, you would lose me for a full half-session because I am grilling that dragon about the details of that collection. We are going to be best friends.

Deep Dragon

A magic chandelier that projects images of the most inaccessible places in the world on the wall, changing the images each time the chandelier is relit.

Deep dragons are scholars, and also somewhat orientalists, or kind of fantasy equivalents, in that they most enjoy objects from far away lands and areas that they, in their subterranean lairs, won’t often get to see. They like to explore mentally in a way they usually can’t physically, and enjoy the strange and exotic. So you descend to a fungal lair deep in the stone beneath the earth, and then find vistas of and items from all sorts of other environments. I like the chandelier in particular just for the … the exploration of it, and also there’s a fair bit of plot relevance too, because how did the creator of the chandelier get images of some of the most inaccessible (and well defended?) places in the world?

Dragon Turtle

A pipe organ that the dragon turtle refers to as "Bubbles," which works underwater.

Pirate hoards. A dragon turtle’s hoard and a fantasy pirate’s hoard will have a lot in common, because there’s a similar theme going on. And that theme is, shipwrecks. Also the ocean. Coral and pearls, yes, strange nautical magic items, and then dozens of bizarre odds and ends that they salvaged from various surface ships that met misfortune. Often in the form of the dragon turtle themselves.

This one, though, is absolutely fascinating to me, because who made it? Who made a pipe organ that you can play underwater? Was this actually an intentional gift to the dragon turtle? And likely one from the surface, for them to come up with a pipe organ of all things, but one intended to grace an underwater lair. So that’s immediately a whole bundle of worldbuilding thrown in, a hint towards a relationship between this dragon and some surface power capable (and whimsical) enough to commission a quite involved item for a dragon.

Emerald Dragon

A trophy cup engraved with a pumpkin, awarded each year at the harvest festival of Riksdell before that settlement fell to a plague.

It deeply amuses me that emerald dragons are the coin collectors of the dragon world. Not in terms of the value of the metal, but literally in terms of rare and historical coins: “Emerald dragons are unusual among gem dragons in their preference for coinage over gemstones when amassing treasure. They are fascinated by the various designs of coinage and often strive to collect rare mintages.” They are … very nerdy. They also have a lot in common with bronze dragons, in terms of … not necessarily military memorabilia, but historical memorabilia. (Also black dragons, but emeralds don’t require the cultures to be dead before they start collecting them). So you will find stuff in an emerald dragon’s hoard that is not necessarily monetarily valuable, but is usually historically or culturally priceless. Or at least interesting.

And, occasionally, bizarre. As with the above. Small histories are just as interesting to emeralds as the big stuff. And that’s honestly very sweet, in its way?

Faerie Dragon

A tiny scale model of a castle that opens like a dollhouse to reveal the chambers and secret passages within.

Faerie dragons are copper dragons’ cat-sized little cousins. They are tiny tricksy little bastards, with tiny attention spans, and they like to be entertained. So, again, they like things that they can play with, that intrigue them, or things that come from their own tricks and adventures. Or just random things that they took a shine to. Think ‘cat’, think ‘magpie’, think ‘fey’. But also … think of the fantasy you read as a kid. Think of the key from ‘The Secret Garden’, think of the bedroom in ‘The Secret of Moonacre’. A faerie dragon’s lair should feel like the most magical playroom you’ve ever encountered. A theatre’s prop room, a elder relative’s mysterious attic, the workshop of a fairy tale toymaker. It’s not about value, necessarily, although some of the things in here could be stupendously valuable, it’s about the whimsy and the playfulness and the fantasy.

Which is why I went with the dollhouse castle full of secret passages. It hits exactly the right notes.

Gold Dragon

A black dragon skull with a crack down the middle and gems fixed in its eye sockets; a plaque along the bottom reads, "So too shall ye be".

An elaborately decorated tea set, each of its cups themed after a different plane of existence.

I’m going to cheat with gold dragons and put two objects, just because … When people picture gold dragons, they tend to picture them as the most paladin-like dragons, pure forces of law and order, rigid and unbending. And they are that, they can be that, they’re wonderful weary and slightly grim champions of good. But that’s not all that they are. They can be spiteful as well as wise. They can be whimsical as well as wise. They are sagacious and proud and dignified, and they can also collect teacups. Educational teacups, mystical teacups, but still teacups. They can have grim trophies of fallen foes just like black dragons themselves, and have a bit of grim humour about it, a reminder deliberately placed beneath it of memento mori, remember you too shall die. Golds are grim and weary and dignified, but they have layers. And their hoards can show that.

Green Dragon

The polished skull of a unicorn, latticed with luminescent blooms.

Quartz terrariums carried on the backs of tourmaline jaguars, overgrown with misshapen cacti.

Greens, on the other hand, I’m going to put two because I basically want to put the entire suggested list of green treasure items on here, because green treasure hoards as suggested by this book enchant me. Because green dragons weave their hoards into the landscape around them. They interweave nature and treasure, often in darkly beautiful and even somewhat sadistic ways. Hence the unicorn skull woven with beautiful luminescent flowers, two gorgeous things arranged gorgeously together, so beautiful that you might miss that that’s a dead unicorn there. That’s the corpse of a sentient creature arranged so artistically into a dragon’s hoard. But even on the less sadistic end, green dragons enjoy treasures that emphasise the natural, making their hoards as much art installation and garden as treasure trove. Which is just fascinating. This description caught my imagination so hard and skyrocketed green dragons, already one of my favourite types, to possibly the top of the list.

Moonstone Dragon

A vast bookshelf full of dream journals written by creatures the dragon has befriended over the years; the dragon has each entry illustrated by a different celebrated artist, making the library one of the largest art collections in the world.

Moonstone dragons are feywild dragons, but they’re less trickstery than copper or faerie dragons, and more dreamlike. Quite literally, they hang around in the land of dreams a lot. So they tend to be on the more … wispy, ethereal, fantastical end of both dragons and dragon hoards. You’re looking for elegance, mystery, silver-and-moonstone, and more fairy tale type objects. (They also violently dislike gold and copper and other yellowy metals, because they’re not elegant like platinum and silver and mithral and other white metals, and yes, they will take issue if you try to offer them the wrong metal). They are very much about the aestheticTM, and that aesthetic is very much ‘ballet version of Midsummer’s Night’s Dream’. But if you want to get embroiled in the Feywild, in dreams, in a more ethereal sort of fantasy, they’re great dragons to interact with. And their hoards can have some very interesting items. Such as entire library of dream journals for all your ‘questing in the dream lands’ needs?

Red Dragon

A beautifully inlaid mosaic map of the region within a 100-mile radius of the dragon's lair.

In some ways, red dragon hoards are some of the most basic hoards, because they really just like money. They like gold, they like wealth, they like raw monetary value. They are, in a lot of ways, the quintessential dragon hoard. If you need enough money to set you up for several lifetimes, this is where you find it. But they do also have their quirks. And two of them are somewhat exemplified in this item here. Firstly, red dragons like ruling things, so they enjoy objects that essentially display or enumerate their territory. And secondly, they tend to pick objects that aren’t easily burned. Meaning, essentially, that they don’t like books or paper. (Or leather, or other generally flimsy materials). So while you can find books and maps and other information in a red dragon’s lair, the form it takes might be … interesting. Books written on metal. Maps in the form of mosaics. If you want to put a book in a red dragon’s hoard, it better be fireproof. Which I enjoy.

Sapphire Dragon

A music box that plays a haunting song; the dragon claims the music is very popular on another world.

Sapphires, like bronzes, tend to be military collectors. They’re very martial dragons, they are actively involved in war efforts, they tend to collect military memorabilia and weaponry and things of that nature. The difference between them and bronzes is the type of military conflict they tend to engage in. Sapphire dragons, as subterranean dragons, tend to war with aberrations. Extra-planar threats. Mind-flayers and other, weirder entities. So some of their hoards tend to be a bit more … bizarre. If you wanted your players to find a lament configuration and wind up fighting cenobites, for a random example, a sapphire dragon’s hoard is a good place to stumble across one. There’s a lot of focus on psychic damage, protection from psychic damage, and otherworldly objects.

Like beautiful and melancholy little music boxes that play songs from another world. For a less deadly and more beautiful example.

Shadow Dragon

A seemingly plain gray tapestry; close inspection reveals a tableau in shades of dove, ash, and slate.

An ornate scepter marred by soot and grime.

I deeply love shadow dragon hoards, because they’re such an excellent story-telling tool. They set the atmosphere so well.

Shadow dragons are afflicted by the despair of the Shadowfell, to the point where beauty becomes painful to them, a reminder of everything they’ve lost to the corruption of that dark realm. So while they have treasures, they’re still dragons and no amount of corrupting shadow realm can change that, they’ve been rendered unable to enjoy them. So they try to make them less painful to look upon. They blacken them, they tarnish them, they leave them to rot and moulder. Or, sometimes, they commission or choose objects that are more subtle, that show skill and artistry and value in more muted ways. Shadow dragon hoards are so melancholy. Tattered and tarnished, hidden and muted. They’re such a fabulous gothic, dark fantasy sort of vibe, the tragic lair of a corrupted creature, a pained homage to lost beauty and joy.

They also make an excellent ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ sort of testing ground, in that the party might have the opportunity to attempt to identify the true value among the tarnished and crumbled remnants arrayed around them.

Silver Dragon

A pearl-handled switchblade, its blade eaten away by salt water and its handle emblazoned with a crest.

The thing with silver dragons is that they love people. They get attached to people. They’re the single most likely dragon to find knocking about in mortal form, pretending to be just another adventurer or sage or even farmer. They’re the single most likely dragon to find getting married, having families, keeping family trees and the fantasy equivalent of photograph albums in their lair. They keep keepsakes. A silver dragon’s hoard, while it likely will have beautiful art and gorgeous silver objects in it, will also look a lot like your grandma’s sideboard where they keep all the photographs of their grandkids and weird tchotchkes and letters and mementos from distant friends. They’re sentimental. They have stuff like their three-hundred-years-dead best friend’s salt-eaten pocket knife, a set of portraits showing their mortal child in several stages of life, a preserved rose given to them by an old lover, a twisted chestplate from a fallen champion that they carried from the battlefield. They’re … They’re romantic. They’re tender and sentimental and romantic. You will find so many stories in a silver dragon’s hoard. I love them.

Topaz Dragon

A set of seven levered brass mirrors that can be adjusted to direct light in different directions.

A large, shallow dish filled with water on which floats a set of delicate wooden ships; speaking different command words creates waves and whirlpools in the bowl.

Topaz dragons, a little like crystal dragons, are obsessed with light, and also the water. Their perfect fantasy lair is a beautiful beachside resort, one with no people in it, where they can lie back and chill and bask in the sunshine and look at the water. So their hoards tend to focus on things that enhance or play with light, and things that recall the beauty of the ocean. Which, excellent aesthetic, do approve. I also love that, like green dragons, they like to enhance their hoard via arrangement, and they deeply enjoy using tricks of the light to bring out beauty. This is why the mirror device is one of my favourite suggested items from the hoard. A topaz dragon’s hoard is as much art installation as collection of valuable objects, and I adore that.

White Dragon

A mammoth tusk engraved with images depicting the history of a nomadic tribe; the dragon uses the tusk to mark the spot where it has buried its pile of gold.

A huge wooden door carved and painted to depict a monarch enthroned with sword and scepter; the dragon occasionally raps the door with its knuckles, pauses, and then chortles, "Nobody home".

The prow of a ship carved to look like a pouncing lion; the dragon occasionally roars at the lion.

A bell engraved with images of an angelic host, still attached to its splintered belfry; the dragon tolls the bell with its tail, growling the name of one of its defeated foes with each ring.

… I’m not going to put the whole damn list of white dragon hoards, I’m not. I just. I love white dragons. I love their emphasis, again, like green dragons, on natural materials. They love whalebone and mammoth ivory and furs, they love their icy environments, they love the materials found there. They also love trophies, things like ship’s figureheads and castle doors and bells with the whole damn belfry still attached. They’re environmental. They’re part of their environment, part of the history of their environment. You can read the dragon’s whole history from their hoard, and they’re tell you their whole damn history by their hoard, knowing the origin of every coin and every object within it to minute detail. And they can tell other people’s history too. White dragons are so embedded in their environment, emblematic of it. A white dragon’s hoard immediately evokes the perils of winter, ships crushed by icebergs, villages and settlements buried under the snow. But there’s also room for something more communal. Mammoth tusks engraved with the history of a tribe. White dragons as the memory of a people. I just. I love them a lot?

End Thoughts

And the thing I love about all of these, about Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons as a whole, is the emphasis on storytelling. These are not dragons as pure monsters, not dragon hoards as a pile of money and magic items for adventurers to pocket after they’ve slain them, these are dragons as characters, the hoards as illustrations of their characters. These are objects that give the dragon personality and tastes and connections to things.

And they suggest … They suggest different ways to interact with dragons. Because to interact with these objects for the full, in a lot of cases you’d need the dragon to still be alive. What are the chances of someone seeing a still-living dragon’s hoard? Honestly, it depends on the dragon. Maybe some bronze dragons genuinely do operate their hoards almost as a museum, with a much more terrifying night guard than many you’d find.

But even if you don’t get to see the main hoard, there’s also …

Dragons can shapeshift. And maybe their non-dragon guise might have partial or mini-hoards attached to them. Maybe that’s a clue. If you’re invited up to a fine woodland manor, or even a city manor, and it has an absolutely stunning Victorian-style greenhouse conservatory attached, with art and statues woven in among the plants, maybe don’t rob that house? Because that could be a green dragon. Or maybe that weird-ass wizard in his tower with the collection of magical knick-knacks fully is an amethyst dragon in disguise. That ‘agent’ for a wealthy buyer arguing ferociously with a merchant about the quality of a piece? Blue dragon. That mysterious gothic manor full of broken and tarnished remnants of old glory? Could be a vampire, could be a shadow dragon.

Just. Interact with them more. Put plot-significant items in dragon hoards. Not just magic items, not just world ending stuff, but clues. Send the party to ask a moonstone dragon for help tracking the activities of a coven of night hags. Send them to a sapphire dragon for information on a mind flayer plot three centuries ago that might suddenly be relevant again. Have your party of rogues try to stealth into a deep dragon’s lair because the only information on the location of a lost treasure is contained on a tapestry they’re rumoured to have acquired.

There’s stories there. Dragons are not just bags of hitpoints and gold, they’re fascinating characters in their own rights, and amazing plot devices to strew around your world for your players to interact with in so many more ways than just combat.

I do love Fizban’s Treasury. Easily my favourite book 5e ever published.

#d&d #fantasy #dragon week #dragons #fizban's treasury of dragons #storytelling #worldbuilding #archaeology #the stories inherent in objects

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triscribe · 6 months ago

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Trials of Youth Ch1

(...so. So far my attempts to get in a good headspace to finish this book's second draft have not gone well, which means it's time to take drastic action. Hence, sharing the first handful of chapters here, and seeing if my friends having someplace to screech and ask what's next will help)

Dawn bloomed.

In the southern plains, sitting near the very top of a cottonwood tree, a girl admired how light spread across the land, transforming everything by simple use of illumination. When enough time had passed that she could see her surroundings clearly, the fourteen year old turned and looked down.

“Fren! Time to get up, lazy-bones!” A muffled grunt was the only response. Rolling her eyes, the girl started to climb downward, swiftly passing her own hammock to crouch beside the one below. With a teasing grin, she started to push at it, swinging the cloth and its inhabitant from side to side. “Frennnn.”

“Mm’up.” A hand and arm were stretched up out of the mess of blankets, before flopping back over.

“Freniden Brusan, if you don’t wake up in the next thirty seconds, I’m tipping this thing over and dumping you out of it.”

Bunched-up cloth and curly black hair were pushed aside so that her friend could direct his glare towards the girl. “You wouldn’t.”

“I most certainly would.”

“We’re twenty feet in the air, Tali!”

“Then you’ll just have to use your all-powerful wizardly talents to keep from getting injured.” She released her hold on the hammock and stood. “Now come on!”

“Alright, alright, I’m getting up,” the younger boy grumbled, kicking his blankets off and reaching for his bag, hanging from a nearby branch. “I swear, everyone in your family is a lunatic, rising at dawn and ordering other people to do the same...”

“I’m sorry, does this come as a surprise to you?” Laughing, Tali climbed back up to avoid the smelly sock Fren threw in her direction. Within a few minutes, both children had donned their outer traveling clothes and rolled up their hammocks, stuffing the bulky bundles into Fren’s enchanted satchel. Once they’d clambered back down to the ground, the wizardling pulled out some hard biscuits and dried meat for their breakfast.

“So,” he asked around a mouthful of food. “Now that we’ve successfully gotten too far from the city for your father’s search parties to find, do we have a destination in mind to start looking for this missing sister of yours?”

Tali frowned thoughtfully. “Well, much as I want to find Lillia, we could stop by your old home first, visit your family-” She stopped when Fren snorted.

“Bad idea. My relatives wouldn’t let us leave for at least the better part of a month, which I know would drive you insane.”

“It would?”

“Oh, yes. Nothing interesting ever happens in Fammon.”

“Well, fine then, if you don’t want to see your uncle and aunt and cousins, we’ll just go straight north.”

Fren raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? That’s all the great Petalia Crant can come up with?”

“That’s all we need,” Tali argued, looking ahead with a fierce expression. “We go north.”

“I’m starting to have second thoughts about running off with you...”

“Too late to change your mind now!” Tali playfully punched her friend’s shoulder, and giggled when the chubby boy pretended to stagger.

“Hey! Easy with those muscles of yours! I may have extra padding, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get bruised!”

“Oh, quit being such a whiner.”

“Bully.”

“Wimp!”

“Aquimbe!” Before Tali could blink, a spray of water caught her in the face. She spluttered, ducking away as Fren cackled. The spell ended after a moment, water spout fading back into nothing, though the girl remained very much wet.

“That,” she declared, wiping at her face with the edge of her cape, “Was so not fair.”

“Forgive me for wanting to get the upper hand just once,” Fren grinned.

The pair continued to banter as they walked on, eventually finding a road heading in the right direction. Tali checked it over for recent tracks while Fren whispered a quick scanning spell for nearby people. Neither of them found any signs of fellow travelers.

“Should we risk it?” The wizardling asked. His friend shrugged.

“May as well.”

Winding as it may have been, the road nonetheless took them north, and the pair made good time. By mid-morning, they’d covered several miles, and stopped for a water break on top of a shallow hill. When she handed back the water skin, Tali decided to climb another tree, to get a look at their new surroundings.

The girl had only gotten part way up the trunk, though, when something not too far away caught her eye.

Fren flinched as she suddenly landed beside him, fumbling the water skin and nearly dropping it. He didn’t have any time to ask what she’d seen before Tali was dashing off down the hill. Scrambling, Fren hurried after. A few minutes later, they rounded a bend in the road, and he too saw what had grabbed his friend’s attention.

A small, weather-beaten wagon was stuck, one of its front wheels trapped by a deep crack in the earth. The driver, a wrinkled old goblin, strained as she tried to pull it free without much success. Harnessed to the front of the wagon, her horse saw the two human youths first, and whinnied.

“Hello there!” Tali called, slowing her steps as she approached. “Could we offer you a hand?”

The goblin, who’d paused at her horse’s sudden warning, looked over in surprise. “I wouldn’t mind a bit if you did! I just need a tad more oomph to lift it free, I think.”

Tali immediately stepped to her side, crouching in order to get a good grip on the frame of the wagon before glancing over her shoulder. “C’mon, Fren, hurry up.”

He rolled his eyes. “Wizard student, remember? Elvitaere.” A soft yellow light sprang from the pendant tied around his left wrist, enveloping the wagon and causing it to slowly float into the air.

“Oh my,” the goblin gaped.

Huffing at her friend’s dramatics, Tali nonetheless pushed the wagon’s side, nudging it away from the hole. As soon as all four wheels were over even ground again, Fren ended the spell, letting the wagon gently set back down. The old goblin clapped her hands in delight.

“That was wonderful!” She gushed. “Saved my poor back and everything! Thank you so much, dearies.”

“You’re very welcome,” Tali said. “Is there anything else we could help you with?”

“Well, now I feel silly, but I’d emptied out everything I could to make this old hunk lighter - I don’t suppose the two of you would mind giving me a hand putting it all back, would you?”

Blinking, Fren leaned over to look at the other side of the road. Sure enough, several blankets were spread across the ground, dozens upon dozens of books and knick-knacks and other peddler’s goods piled atop them. He gave Tali a side-eyed glance, and sighed when she glared back.

“Happy to be of assistance, ma’am.”

#novelvember #original writing #turning point trilogy #trials of youth #petalia crant #freniden brusan #shan the fateweaver

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jbaileyfansite · 6 months ago

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Jeff Goldblum is handing off the dinosaur-sized torch to “Wicked” co-star Jonathan Bailey.

Bailey is taking on the role of paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis in the latest “Jurassic Park” film, “Jurassic World Rebirth” – and nobody’s more excited to see it than Goldblum.

“The hope of the world resides, and I can think of no better baton receiver to carry on the ‘da da da da da,'” Goldblum tells Variety, singing the iconic “Jurassic Park” theme by John Williams. “It’s Jonathan Bailey! It’s like no other!”

Bailey shares that he and Goldblum chatted about the role for the first time while they were en route to CinemaCon earlier this year. “I had the invitation to join the ‘Jurassic’ world, to join the conga line led by Jeff,” Bailey said. “The original film was a seminal cinematic moment, purely because of Jeff, but also, I went with my family, and the multi-sensory experience of going to see a film so perfectly realized.”

Bailey adds, “There’s so much that I am so proud to join. But obviously, much like with ‘Wicked,’ there is a sense of responsibility. And if I can match half of what Jeff and Sam Neill and Laura Dern achieved, I’ll be very lucky.”

Goldblum starred as the beloved chaos theory mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm in 1993’s “Jurassic Park,” reprising the role for the 1997 sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and again in 2018’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion.”

Bailey will star alongside Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali in the 31-year-old “Jurassic” franchise’s seventh film. “Five years after the events of ‘Jurassic World Dominion,’ the planet’s ecology has proven largely inhospitable to dinosaurs,” an official summary reads. “Those remaining exist in isolated equatorial environments with climates resembling the one in which they once thrived. The three most colossal creatures within that tropical biosphere hold the key to a drug that will bring miraculous life-saving benefits to humankind.”

Bailey and Goldblum don’t actually share the screen in “Wicked, out Nov. 22, as Bailey’s Fiyero is charming the pants off every student at Shiz University while Goldblum’s Wizard of Oz is busy running the show in the Emerald City.

“At the beginning, you want to just relish the full essence of his charm and easy flow, as it were,” Bailey says, adding that Fiyero’s proclivity to flirt with men and women alike was just another way to bring nuance to the Winkie prince. “As a character, I ascertained that he’s confident and in himself, and he’s kind enough to invite anyone to Winkie town.”

“Heart-throbby! Heart-throbby!” Goldblum excitedly adds. But Bailey argues that the Wizard is actually the real charmer of the film. “He’s the OG rizz king,” Bailey says with a laugh, prompting Goldblum to burst into song again: this time, it’s “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” which Bailey enthusiastically joins him in.

As for his wizardly inspiration, Goldblum says he didn’t take any cues from modern day leaders in crafting the great and powerful leader. “This was written and devised well before any of our current landscape, but it’s a timeless story,” he says. “It’s always fallen to individual people who seek the truth and find their power and find out that, just like ‘Horton Hears a Who,’ one person of effectiveness can move the whole ship of state and keep things going toward an ideal and perfect country and world where we have a planet that works for everyone.”

Source

#jonathan bailey #jeff goldblum #wicked #jurassic world rebirth #interviews #interviews:2024 #variety wicked interview #NEW!

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thevesuvianchronicles · 1 year ago

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Burnt Amber

I was reading something the other night about the fact that in the dark the cones in our eyes legit can't respond to light like, at all. considering my recent bg3 binge that obviously got me thinking abt a certain sassy vampire and thus... this piece. (I've also been told there's a scene that could go along with this but I legit just got to act 3) enjoy!

spoilers for vague bg3 things

If he had to explain it - which he never would- the world lost its color. Many people looked back upon childhood so happily, everything had been brighter, the world bigger, love was so easy and quickly fleeting. A babe’s eyes opened to blurry yet vivid shades, pastels, and tints. Yet the first thing Astarion’s crimson eyes had seen was only the darkness of his own coffin. Color meant nothing to a vampire who’s first vivid memories consisted of clawing his way through six feet of funerary dirt.

Though his vampiric vision allowed him to make out the different threads on a rich man’s lapel, he only ever saw it in moonlight. Only a reflection, a fraction of the beauty the sun would give the fabric. Where there had been pastels there was now muted tones, tinted colors became gray, and shades became nothing but more inky darkness.

Centuries of this and he slowly began to forget the true colors the world had to offer. Was purple always so deep that one couldn’t discern where a sleeve ended and the night air began? Had yellow always seemed so dull? And red… had red always been so greedy? Soaking up and glaring back the same sick color he saw in Cazador’s eyes.

That’s all his vampiric life had been, that was all it ever would be.

Yet there he stood, watching the last of the sun’s rays dip below the horizon

Despite his suave demeanor and sweetened words, he knew how to woo someone, lure them into his bed with his body and honeyed words, and later back to his master. Yet no words could describe the sun now. It burned his irises, his eyes ached for him to blink, turn away, and do anything but stare into the sun. He simply couldn’t stop; it would take away his breath if he needed to breathe.

His first realization that color was far better within the sun was, rather unfortunately, Gale. Upon falling on his ass, Gale had done the wizardly thing and began rambling. However, Astarion wasn’t paying attention at all. His eyes were on Gale’s robe. He couldn’t remember a purple ever being so vibrant, so cocky almost, as if requiring you to look at it. It fit Gale as Astarion would come to learn. Then he saw purple everywhere. Balsam blooms carried but seemed a warmer tint of Gale’s robe. Shadowheart’s armor was even darker, matching that which Astarion saw late at night in the alleys of Bauldur’s Gate. He hadn’t really thought about it but he rather thought purple and red clashed. Leave it to that wizard from Waterdeep to be a walking fashion faux pas.

Yet despite the fashion error, Astarion couldn’t stop thinking about purple, the many different shades he had seen in a matter of days. The sun making the slightest variations more obvious to his crimson eyes.

He first realized that light is what made the colors so polluted, as if the colors were waiting to leach into his eyes when he couldn’t help but stare at the color yellow. It was, by far, not his favorite color, drawing too much attention of a rouge like himself.

Yet the golden glow of the divine seemed to suit Shadowheart. The brilliance of a guiding bolt whizzing past his ear, bathing a goblin in light, setting it ablaze. The disgusting color had saved his skin to many times to count by now. All thanks to the devotee’s hands.

The vampire couldn’t say he understood Shadowheart’s devotion. But the sheer power her belief brought the color yellow, made him quirk a brow. Such polluting brillance made him wonder if light was able to redeem every color.

The color followed him after that battle. Yellow licked at Karlach’s flames, light reflected off the golden threads of Halsin’s armor, it even sparked every time Lae’zel sharpened her sword.

Yet there was nothing that could redeem the color red. No amount of light or dark could make crimson look any better. In darkness it looked like a cesspool of all things evil, an open maw waiting to swallow whatever it could. In the light of day, it reminded him of nothing but lost souls, glowing red eyes, and a sickly grin.

It was the color Cazador liked most on him, both his clothes and his skin. It was the color his life had been reduced to. Living off such crimson ichor, so much so that it stained him, stained even his eyes from what he had gathered about vampiric looks. It was the only color that he would be happy to forget, but never could.

“You know if you stare at the sun long enough… you could go blind.” The voice came from behind him, his pointed ears finally picking up on the crunch of gravel beneath feet. His eyes did feel a bit dry as he blinked, black and swirling colors hindering his vision as he looked back over his shoulder.

The leader of their little group was… interesting to say the least. So focused on the tadpole and their companion's journeys that Astarion hadn’t learned much about their own personal goals, if any. He should work on that.

“I always love to look at beautiful things, not unlike yourself darling.” Astarion let the words lilt off his tongue, but didn’t turn away from the setting sun.

He heard a small hum from you as you settled beside him, standing close enough for him to tell that you had refreshed yourself from today’s adventuring.

Neither said anything for a while, the gentle rustle of trees and soft calls of animals in the underbrush the only noise. He had been so lost in his musings that he hadn’t realized how far the sun had set, a barely visible sliver of yellow still visible surrounded by orange and red.

“Well… now that the lovely colors are gone I do believe I’ll turn in for the night. A book and a glass of red do seem to be calling my name.” Astarion sighs, as if it would be a hassle to get up and walk the few steps to his tent. It is a hassle, to leave the presence of their leader has become more and more of a hassle on his heart than he’s willing to accept.

“Don’t go now, it’s just started to change.” Your voice was soft, softer than he has ever heard it and a glance tells him that your eyes are still on the setting sun.

“No thank you darling, I do think I’ve seen enough shades of red for a thousand lifetimes.” There is a twist of pain in his voice, one that makes him wrinkle his nose. He was getting too easy, a slip like that with Cazador and he would have been reminded how much he hates red.

“But the sky is beautiful-“

He cuts you off with a flippant wave of his hand and a scoff. A change of subject was all they needed, easier territory. “It’s just red. You know they say a red sky at night means-“

“It’s not just red Astarion.” You cut him short this time, tone sharp. He didn’t understand why you would defend such a color. Of all things to fight for, a color. They saw red spilled every day, every day their leader fought, for teiflings, for druids, for their companions. Each day that color ruined everything it touched.

“Oh? Do tell darling, what is oh so special about that distasteful mix of colors. A muddled mess of all things awful-“

“I rather think red is beautiful.” Astarion snaps his eyes up, disgust curling his lips, a flaunting jab just ready on the tip of his tongue when your eyes stop him.

At some point, he wasn’t sure when, you had turned to look at him. Eyes just as soft as your voice had been. There is a sweet tilt to your lips as he turns, as if finally seeing what they had been after.

He sees the minute shift of you eyes, as if darting back and forth. He can hear the uptick in your heartbeat, the tension releasing from your shoulders. As if the sight of him was what you were after, as if waiting to catch his eye.

Then he remembered. Remembered exactly what color his eyes now were.

“I happen to like that color.” You grinned, eyes steady on his. His mind was blank, no haughty taunt or seductive words. He could do nothing but blink as a grin spread wide on your lips and you turned back towards the sun.

“When the sun hits just right… it’s beautiful, a burst of burnt amber. I think it’s the prettiest color I’ve ever seen.” Astarion knew they were definitely not talking about the sunset anymore. He couldn’t help but stare at you. The curve of your nose, the way your smile seemed so giddy, the way the sun reflected in your own eyes.

Red was the color of the flowers Karlach had tried to pick for all of them. It was the color the jewels in Lae’zel’s armor, the color the hem of Gale’s awful robe. And it was the color of the blood you so willingly gave him. Had offered as soon as he had explained himself that night, without asking for anything in return. You were so different than what he expected.

He tutted, realizing he had been staring and turns back towards the sunset, listening closely as you go to sit on the ground. The bright yellow of the sun diffused into a russet orange that slowly eased into a vibrant, dazzled red. He sighed, slowly settling himself beside you, far closer than before.

“Yes darling, perhaps you’re right. Perhaps I could grow to love it.”

#bg3 astarion #bg3 #astarion x durge #astarion x reader #astarion x tav #astarion #astarion ancunin #bg3 fanfiction #baulders gate 3 #baulders gate astarion

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the-fiction-witch · 7 months ago

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Wizard

Media - The Artful Dodger Character - Jack Dawkins Couple - Jack X Reader Reader - Y/n Dawkins (Jack's Wife) Rating - 15 Gore/ blood/ medicine/Victorian medical procedures/ Word Count - 3524

I finished up starting to pack my tools away as Hetty took the patient back to bed and the crowd cleared out happy with their fill of blood from the grand display. I rubbed the sweat from my brow with the rolled sleeve of my shirt trying not to get blood on my face given my hands were coated in it.

"Knock Knock," A voice speaks up,

And Immediately I smiled and turned my attention to the door,

There Y/n stood, In her knee-high boots, stockings, petticoats, her sweet pale blue dress with off-white details long since turned grey in the wash, her little lace gloves and her Y/H/C hair in sweet beautiful curls, a small wicker basket in her hand looking sweet and huggable as ever.

"Awww, there you are." I cooed, "I was wondering where my daily kiss was?"

She rolled her sweet Y/e/C eyes and came over kissing my cheek,

"Hey! That's all I get?" I jokingly complained wrapping my arms around her and trying to pull her in for a proper kiss,

"Jack! You're getting blood all over my dress!" She complained,

"Well this wouldn't be a problem if you'd just given me a proper kiss," I joked, "Now would it?"

She rolled her eyes again and rested her hands on my shoulders pulling our lips together,

I smiled and happily kissed her back squeezing her in my arms a little until she pulled away, "That's better,"

"What on earth were you up to anyway?"

"Amputation. Some guy crushed his whole leg ankle to knee."

"Horrid." She gaged,

"I know, I know. You hate all that stuff." I cooed, "So? Why has my lovely wife come to visit me?"

"What did you forget when you left this morning?" She asked,

Immediately my heart jumped to my throat, "Uuuhh..." I grumbled as I racked my mind with what I could possibly have forgotten, "...To tell my beautiful wife I love her?" I asked carefully,

"Jack you tell me that every day," She chuckled, "But no, you told me that this morning,"

"Oh... then I have no idea,"

"You feeling hungry?"

"...Now you mention it yeah actually-" and it clicked, "I forgot my lunch didn't I?"

"Yes you did," She nodded handing over the small basket she brought with her, "Left it right on the kitchen counter again,"

"Sorry, I always forget to go in the kitchen before I leave." I sighed,

"Maybe I should start putting it by the door,"

"Wouldn't be a bad idea," I nodded,

"But as it was my day off and I had to come deliver it anyway, I made you a nice home-cooked lunch instead today,"

"Awww, you're so sweet to me," I cooed peppering her cute little freckles with kisses, "How did I get a lovely little thing like you?"

"I don't know, I'm still not completely convinced you're not an apothecary."

"There are people in town who still think I'm some kind of apothecary," I sighed,

"Well maybe stop doing wizardly things," She shrugged,

"I'm a doctor, every time I do anything people assume I'm a wizard." I sighed, "I swear one of these days I'll do surgery and people will come after me with pitchforks and torches to hang me as a witch,"

"Maybe," She laughed,

"You'd stop them wouldn't you? from dragging your husband away?"

"...I suppose I would,"

"Hey!"

"Of course I would," she cooed before we shared another soft kiss,

"Good, thank you for dropping my lunch off darling, See you when I get home?"

"I'll see you then," she agreed,

We shared a final kiss before she made her way out of the theatre, I watched her as she went noticing she was limping and slightly hobbling when she walked again. She'd been doing that for a while now, I didn't notice it at first, then began writing it off as her simply stubbing her toe or turning her ankle over... she is a rather clumsy thing, but I kept noticing it consistently. I had asked but I didn't want to push the topic, I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for her given how much I check her up for these types of things, but I want to make sure she's alright. I'll ask her when I'm home maybe she'll let me investigate.

I sat in bed with my book reading over the interesting story, just as the light grew brighter down the hallway, and Jack made his way into the bedroom keeping the door open a crack to allow the cat to come in and out as needed. He came over sitting the candle on his bedside table as usual and tossing his shirt into the laundry basket before climbing into bed beside me and immediately wrapping his arms around my waist and peppering my neck with tender kisses.

"Jack! I'm reading!" I complained,

"You can do both," He chuckled nuzzling into my neck, "I shall not interrupt your reading... but if you want to stop reading I'm not going to argue with you,"

I glared down at him a little,

"What?! I can't be blamed for being attracted to my beautiful wife." He cooed, "But... as we are not too busy?"

"Humm?" I hummed suspiciously,

"Can I have a look at your leg?" He asked,

"Nothing wrong with my leg." I snapped,

"Y/n," he sighed sitting up to meet my eyes, "We both know there is, you've been avoiding putting weight on it... so, are we going to be honest with each other?"

"It's nothing,"

"What happened?"

"Victor scratched me that's all," I lied,

"Can I look?"

"It's noth-"

"Y/n. Please. May I look?"

"Fine," I sighed,

"Thank you," He cooed kissing my cheek, then my jaw, peppering soft kisses down my nightie,

"This how you give check-ups to everyone?" I teased,

"No, just my pretty wife," He winked, as he continued down,

I held my breath as he lifted my nightie but his stunned silence spoke more than any words that could have come from his mouth,

"Y/n, what happened?"

"It's just-"

"Y/n!" He pleaded, "What happened... please."

"I told you, Victor scratched me." I lied,

"Did I miss a memo on our cat learning how to fucking sword fight!" he asked, "What happened Y/n."

"I dropped my fabric scissors." I sighed,

He sighed and began to investigate more, often making me hiss as he touched my tender skin, "Let me guess you dropped your scissors off the table and they cut the length of your shin,"

"Yes."

"When did this happen?"

"...two weeks ago,"

"Two wee-" He began, "And you didn't tell your DOCTOR husband why!?"

"Because you overreact and get like this!" I complained,

"Y/n, darling I'm not overreacting. You should have told me, this is bad!" He explained,

"I cleaned and wrapped it like I'm supposed to."

"Okay, but did you continue to clean and re-wrap it every day?"

"...Yes." I lied,

"Y/n."

"No."

"You should have told me, this is really bad Y/n. It's definitely infected."

"It's fine."

"You are going to the hospital with me first thing in the morning and we are going to sort this out."

"No!" I yelped hiding my leg away, "I'll be fine."

"Y/n," he sighed, "I know you hate this kinda thing." he says gently cradling me in his arms, "But this is bad, really bad. We need to get this sorted it won't just go away on its own. It's infected, badly infected. Do you have any idea the kind of damage this could do not just to your leg but to your whole body? Y/n an infection like this could kill you, you could develop a fever, sickness, deadly sepsis!"

"But you'll amputate," I whined nuzzling into his chest, trying to hide my tears,

"I won't amputate. Not unless I have to." He said, "I'm not a butcher Y/n I'm a doctor." He soothed me by running his hand through my hair,

"I don't want to lose my leg,"

"You might not, it might not be that bad. It could just be a flesh infection which I can fix Darling." He soothed, "But if it's bad enough-"

"NO! Jack, I said no!"

"If it's bad enough and I don't you'll die!" He told me off, "I- I can't lose you, Y/n, I love you, you know that. I want you to be healthy, I don't want to see you hurt and sick, I promise I'll do what I can to save your leg and do as minimal work as I can."

"You won't take my leg? You promise?" I begged between tears,

"...I promise I won't unless I have to. I'll do everything I can but will you let me work on it?" He asked wiping my tears away,

I nodded nuzzling back into his chest,

"Okay, we'll go first thing in the morning." He cooed, "Come on let's get some sleep darling."

I got the theatre prepped and made sure everything was clean and organized while Hetty helped Y/n get sorted, I made sure to keep the larger blades and such away knowing they would only make her more panicked and frightened.

Soon enough she arrived Hetty wheeled her in so she didn't have to walk, already she was picking at her nails, shivering and sniffling back tears.

I smiled gently and helped her up onto the table, "It's all gonna be okay, I promise." I cooed fixing her hair behind her ear, "You trust me don't you?"

"...No."

"As your doctor do you trust me?"

"No."

"As your husband do you trust me?" I rolled my eyes a little,

"...mostly,"

I tried not to laugh, "Well go with that then," I nodded, "It's all gonna be okay, I love you and I'm going to take the best care of you." I told her,

She nodded fighting back her tears,

I gave her a sweet kiss before putting the mask over her face and watching as she drifted away to sleep.

Once I knew she was asleep I got to work on her leg, revealing the true damage of the infection. It was worse than I thought it had spread far and rapidly, devouring her flesh. I cut away as much as I could cleaning up as I went but... I know I don't have a choice. I have to remove the leg, from below her knee to stop the rot and infection before it gets worse and causes her far bigger problems.

"Take her to her room..." I said,

"But she needs-" Hetty began,

"I know what she needs." I sighed, "But she won't let me I know she won't. I need to talk to her, and reason with her. If I just do it she'll never forgive me, take her to her room and let her come too. I'll talk her through what we found and give her the options. Hopefully, she'll see reason and let me do it tonight."

Hetty nodded and took Y/n away, I cleaned up and headed up to the little room we gave her taking her hand in mine as I sat on her bed.

Slowly my eyes began to clear and I felt the horrible pain in my leg, feeling the throb of it bleeding. I looked around seeing the small hospital room and I looked down at my leg seeing it bandaged and bleeding. Jack was by my side his hand in mine.

"Hey, there you are," He cooed kissing my forehead, "I was getting worried."

"How long was I out?"

"A few hours, that's all darling. I was just missing you." He smiled squeezing my hand,

"How did it go?"

His smile dropped and his tone became more serious, "Y/n..."

"Jack... please say it's good news."

"It's not Darling," he said, "The infection is worse than I thought, You need an amputation."

"No. No no no, please. Please no Jack"

"I'm sorry Y/n. I'm so so sorry. But this has to be done."

"Can't you just cut it out? like you promised!" she cried,

"I've tried, there's far too much and it's so deep, if I cut it all out now you wouldn't even be able to walk on it and we'd always risk the infection returning."

"Can't you give me any medicine? can't you rub some potion on it -"

"I'm not a wizard Y/n, in this moment I wish I was, but there isn't anything I can give you, or put on it that will stop this."

"Can't you do anything! Anything else please!" she begged,

"I'm sorry Y/n. But we don't have another option, I should have just amputated while you were out but... I wanted to tell you beforehand. Even as it is it's a ticking time bomb if it gets worse."

"Jack, Please. I can't live a life like that."

"It'll be okay, I'll only cut just below your knee." he explained, "We'll get you a lovely prosthetic made up. I'll take care of you every single moment until you're better. And you'll be up and walking again in no time I'm sure of it,"

"Please... I don't want to lose my leg. Please there must be something."

"I need to do this Y/n, the longer we wait the worse it'll get. If you don't let me do this today, it will get worse. We'll end up having to cut above your knee, or you could die." he explained, "I know you don't want this, but I can't lose the woman I love, Just please, please consent to the amputation I'm begging you."

I shook my head,

"Please, Y/n!" he begged, "I'll give you anything just please let me do this."

"No. No, I can't live like that. I won't let you."

"Darling please!"

"No!"

he sighed taking a moment to pace and rub his eyes, "As your husband I can consent for you. You know that?"

"I know." I nodded,

"As your doctor, I could have done it in the theatre, without even asking for consent." he said, "Even if I needed to ask as your husband I could have consented anyway. I didn't and let you wake up so we could discuss this, and I did that becuase I know you don't want this, and becuase I love you and I want you to be happy." he explained, "I want you to have as many years as possible, so I can share them with you." he told me taking my hand once more, "I don't want you to feel this pain any longer than is needed, I don't want to lose the woman I love, I couldn't stand to watch you die, to burry you, to go on in this world without you. I want you to be happy and healthy, I want you to enjoy every moment we have together, and I want us to have sweet little babies and watch them grow up, I want us to grow old together as I always have ever since we met." he explained "Please Y/n, Please my darling. Let me do this... I'll make it as painless and as quick as I can, just a few moments of pain and then this nightmare is over."

I shook my head unable to hide my tears,

"Please Y/n Please," he begged,

But my eyes went dark...

Just in that second, I felt her hand go clammy in mine, her pulse raced, her eyes suddenly shut and her breathing rapid.

"No. no no no." I gasped,

I immediately called for Hetty and we rushed her down to the theatre managing to stabilise her before she went too deep into shock. I knew the infection was getting worse and I knew I didn't have a choice.

"Fetch the bone saw." I said between tears, "I'm so so sorry darling. But I don't have a choice." I whispered kissing her head before I took my tools, I removed the bandages and held my breath before I quickly got to work.

I woke feeling groggy and strange, I was so confused about what had happened. As I slowly sat up I felt so much pain and instantly I knew something was wrong. I pulled back the sheets and saw the bandage around my knee, and my leg missing. Immediately I screamed and cried in hysterics grasping as my bandages as if it was some sort of hellish trick that would be revealed if I simply removed them.

"Y/n stop!" Jack rushed in having heard my screams stopping my hands as they clawed at the bandages,

"Noooooo!" I screamed, "Why would you do this to me!" I cried,

"I had to, you went into shock I didn't have a choice." He explained trying to calm me down,

"Why! I told you no! You know I never wanted this! Why would you make me into a monster!"

"You're not a monster, you're not a monster." He cooed, "You're my wife, you're still the woman I love, you're all better now I promise you."

"Get out!" I screamed,

"Y/n darling-"

"GET OUT!" I screamed, pushing him away. "I don't ever want to see you again!"

"What-" he gasped, "Y/n- Darling- you- you can't mean that-"

"GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screamed,

"You probably just-"

"OUT!" I screamed grabbing items from the table beside me and throwing them at him,

"Y/n!"

"OUT!" I cried throwing a glass which shattered on the wall inches from his head sending broken glass over his skin,

"Ahhh!" He screamed out, "Okay. Okay. I'm going." He muttered as he quietly left,

I couldn't help but stare at it crying and screaming for hours.

"Ahh... ahh... oww..." I complained as I cleaned up the couple of cuts, one on my neck, and two on my face one just on my forehead and the other across my cheek. Once they were clean I sighed giving them some air for the day. "She is a good shot," I muttered to myself, I got pretty lucky she didn't hit my head.

I made my way through the hospital and up to Y/n's room seeing her already sat up and not eating her breakfast,

"Good morning Y/n," I cooed kissing her head and sitting down beside her, "How is my lovely wife today?" I asked,

No answer,

I sighed, It had been three weeks since the amputation and still, Y/n wouldn't speak to me. Only last week she even let me in the room without immediately throwing something at me. But I understand she has every right to be angry with me.

I checked her up every day and no signs of the infection had returned which did make me feel a lot better, I know she'll come around eventually it might just take her a while.

Once I checked her over I went to the blue paper box on the side near her bed, "Have you seen it yet?"

No answer,

"I rather think it's Tim's best work." I smiled as I opened up the box, "Look at that..." I cooed, "Mahogany pieces all without knots, sterling steel so it won't rust up even in the rain, and see here there is this little slider, so you can put in fabric lined wooden slates or even ones like this see with some lovely ivy carved into it, and just slide it in the front and Boom it'll match your outfits." I explained showing off all the work that went into the prosthetic, "Spared no expense for my darling wife."

She sniffled, "You made it just for me?"

I smiled hearing her voice again and I kissed her cheek, "Just for you, not another one like it in the world." I told her, "Would you like to try it?"

She sniffled again but nodded,

"Okay." I smiled, "Even got you a little silk cushion for inside, so you're lovely and comfy," I told her as I gently slid it on for her giving it an adjustment, "How does it feel?"

"Nice." she nodded, "...I'm sorry Jack," she said running her fingers over my cut,

"It's okay." I took her hand, "I know it was a lot, emotionally for you. I'm just happy you're okay." I cooed, "You still love me?"

"I do still love you," she smiled,

"Then that's all I care about," I smiled back, "You're healthy, your happy, and you still love a dumbass like me...Maybe we should get you a psych test."

She playfully shoved my shoulder,

"I'm kidding!" I laughed, "Before you throw another glass at my head,"

"I didn't want to hurt you... I was just so angry,"

"I understand,"

"I'm sorry, can you forgive me for throwing a glass at your head?

"Of course I can Darling," I cooed, "can you forgive me for cutting your leg off?"

"I can." She nodded, "Thank you for doing it, even if I didn't want it."

"Well I couldn't let you suffer now, could I?" I chuckled, "I wish I could have saved it Y/n, But as we know I am not a wizard."

"Unfortunately,"

"Hey!" I complained, "If I was a wizard I would magic you a new leg." I joked,

"So you are a wizard." She playfully glared lifting her leg to show off her prosthetic,

"Ohh shit! I've been discovered!" I joked, "I shall have to run away to the woods before you all come to hang me,"

"No, your secret's safe with me," she cooed pulling me into a tight hug,

I smiled and hugged her back, "Thank you, Darling. Now you eat your breakfast and I'll be back with your medicine Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded,

"That's my girl," I cooed kissing her softly on the nose, but as I went to get up she pulled me back and kissed my lips,

I happily kissed her back and when we pulled away I kissed her forehead, "I love you,"

"I love you too,"

"I'll see you soon." I cooed squeezing her hand before I headed back to work.

#thomas sangster #tbs smut #thomas brodie sangster #tbs imagines #thomas brodie sangster imagine #thomas sangster imagine #thomas brodie sangster smut #tbs imagine #tbs #thomasbrodiesangster #jackdawkins #jack dawkins #jack #dr dawkins #thearttfuldodger #theartfuldogger #the artful dodger #jack imagines #jack dawkins x reader

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quirkwizard · 10 days ago

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Hi there! I’m messaging u because I need your help on a quirk of a oc of mine, this is my first time messaging someone on this app so please excuse my awkwardness😭.Ok, I have concept of a quirk but I don’t really know how to explain the functions of it or how to simplify it if that makes since😅

Her quirk is called supernova where she basically creates projectile stars that explode so kinda like bakugo and Aoyama, but I kinda wanna put a spin on it and somehow put gravity in the mix because well supernovas happen because of its core collapse, any who I stressing myself out and I need help.so pls share your wizardly wisdom🥹🙏

I honestly rather you make the attempt to explain it. Because the more information I have, the better I can help you with your idea.

So I think there is something in here, but it needs works beyond the bare bones concept. I guess the biggest question you can ask is "what is the idea or gimmick I want for this Quirk?" What is the kind of fantasy attached to your Quirk. Just try and imagine someone using your Quirk and how it'd look and act. Having a certain gimmick to go with it could help, but I don't think that you could really fit both the gravity and explosion concept into a single Quirk. You could try, but it's going to be hard to fit both of them in a single idea. The only thing I think could work is that the stars "collapse" and then they explode, working to pull someone in for the gravitational effect to deal the actual damage. Alternatively, maybe the stars are able to gravitate towards people in order to deal damage to them. Granted, you should have some issues to counter balance that. For example, maybe placing the stars requires a lot of forethought to make them work, like having them implode at the right moment to hurt someone. Or with how the stars are attracted to the targets, they are actually quite mediocre in terms of damage. Or maybe there are some physical downsides for it, like there are with Aoyama and Bakugou.

#My Hero Academia #Quirks #Quirk Reviews

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incomingalbatross · 6 months ago

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"What if Harry Dresden did a Twoflower and went touring the Disc" notes (mostly Ankh-Morpork)

Rincewind would respect his running ability and hate the way he uses it to run toward things. Harry would press him into service for whatever wizardly threat he was dealing with despite Rincewind's best efforts.

(They actually have several things in common, including "will face eldritch horrors with a half-brick in a sock," "why is this my life??" and "pawns of supernatural ladies with green eyes." Running ability is the most likely to come up, though.)

Mouse and the Luggage are Eyeing Each Other Respectfully. not starting anything.

I do not know how Harry survives a meeting with Vetinari. He is going to instantly see Marcone, and he's going to be ruder and less intimidated than anyone on the Disc thought was humanly possible.

On the other hand, I think he might approve of the Unseen University method of wizard containment, once someone explained it to him. Like, does he think they should be doing more good in the world? Probably. But keeping all these human WMDs preoccupied inside their university gates is only kind of worse than the White Council. In some ways it seems better.

He'd love the concept of L-space. Libraries are so inherently magical they create their own dimension?? He would be so into that.

He figures out Carrot's whole Deal about two-thirds of the way throgh the story, and has to be briefly sat on and explained to re: why we don't talk about that.

Angua would fascinate him because he knows a blonde lady cop and he knows a pack of werewolves but she has issues that are entirely different from either of those.

then he meets her family and gets that she's actually coming from more of a Vampire Court background

#series: he died doing the right thing

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bbcmerlinvault · 3 months ago

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[Article] "Merlin’s Colin Morgan – The Year of The Thoughtful, Intelligent Geek"

by Alison Jane Reid for The Ethical Hedonist, first published 9th March 2012

[Wayback Machine link]

Merlin’s Colin Morgan – The Year of The Thoughtful, Intelligent Geek

by Alison Jane Reid on March 9, 2012

Forget vampires! – 2012 is the year of the thoughtful, intelligent geek. And the crown princeling amongst wizardly, out of this world, thespian geeks, has to be Colin Morgan, the coruscating young actor from Armagh, Northern Ireland, best known for his starring role in Merlin. For it is Morgan who has read his Mallory and Tennyson, and reinvented Merlin for a 21st Century audience not as a knarled, white-haired prophet of ancient myths and legend, but rather as charming, gauche, accident prone underdog who must wait until the time is right to reveal his magical powers.

Up close and personal, Colin comes across as thoughtful, intelligent and engaging. Firstly, I hope I am not going to disappoint his legion of fans when I tell you that the actor who plays the gauche young wizard doesn’t look very like the dark-eyed alter ego he has so imaginatively constructed in the BBC’s hit series Merlin.

Firstly, Colin is really tall. Then comes the pleasant discovery that he is in fact far better looking than Merlin! Somehow, he just looks more chaotically boyish and masculine; like a young Gregory Peck in the film How the West Was Won. He is wearing a casual, blue and white check shirt, which just reinforces this idea, and hints at his love of being outside in nature, admiring sloths and bears. He would make a terrific cowboy. Then there are the eyes, which are very blue, lively, intelligent and inquisitive – but the hair is a revelation! Forget the glassy, smooth mop of the young wizard – Colin’s hair is thick, curly and plain unruly. In fact, he looks like he has just got out of bed! Which he probably has, as he has been up for hours, graciously conducting interviews on Skype for the world’s press, and answering such riveting questions as ‘what is his favourite pizza topping’, and ‘how would he like to spend a first date’.

Morgan is an appealing mix of raw, natural talent, and a rare maturity and thoughtfulness, perhaps fuelled by the self-knowledge that he is only too aware of the extraordinary journey it has taken him to arrive here at all.

“When I first started playing Merlin, I relied on instinct and my own experiences,” he says. “ I thought about what it must be like not to be able to show who you are and what your greatest gift is in a world that persecutes magic. I guess you can relate that to a lot of things. For me it’s about wanting to be an actor, growing up in Northern Ireland; and not being able to express that desire, because the opportunities just aren’t there.”

Colin was born in Armagh in 1986. His father is a painter decorator, and his mother works as a secretary; so far, so normal. Then he calmly proceeds to describe the not uncommon scenario of being woken up in the middle of the night, and having to evacuate the family home immediately, because there was pipe bomb in the house next door. The next day he would go into school with a note for his teacher to explain why he hadn’t done his homework. This he says was just an everyday taste of a childhood growing up in the long shadow of deep, ingrained hatred and sectarian violence. The social consequences of Northern Ireland’s problems have been well documented. Big business stayed away, and unemployment was high for generations. But for Colin the consequences ran deeper, and were far more personal. Colin wanted to explore his love of drama, but there were virtually no opportunities for a young person to nurture, let alone study acting in the Province at this time.

Fortunately, Morgan is not the type of character to admit defeat easily. “I found a way to get involved in drama in any way I could. I joined the local amateur dramatic society, and I still have such fond memories of those times. I was five years old when I first appeared in the chorus in a production of Cinderella, and then Peter Pan. People often ask me what inspired me to become an actor, and the truth is I can’t answer that. For me, it was always more like a natural instinct. Every part, every performance I have ever taken has just been about feeding that desire to act.”

The crisis came when he reached sixteen and didn’t want stop. “The next stage was choose subjects to study at technical college. I had a fall back position, which was to study English, photography and law. But I would have hated being a lawyer! There was no question; I wanted do drama. But in Northern Ireland, there are very few colleges that offer drama as a subject, and my local tech didn’t offer a course. The closest place was Belfast, which was an hour and twenty minutes away. No one could understand why I was prepared to travel back and forth on the bus every day for two years when my local college was five minutes away; but that is what I did.”

There was another reason why this was a dangerous proposition. Morgan is Catholic, and the college he wanted to attend was in a troubled, predominantly protestant area of East Belfast. In the summer before he enrolled at the college, masked paramilitaries stormed the building, looking for Catholic students by asking them to pronounce the letter H. (the reason for this being that Catholics and Protestants generally pronounce the letter differently). The students were told that any Catholics would be shot.

In the end no one was hurt, and Colin plays down this episode, and says that he didn’t experience any trouble when he was at the college, as the terrible violence which had blighted Northern Ireland for generations, was finally coming to an end with The Good Friday Agreement which came into force in 1999 and kick-started the peace process.

Three years later he graduated from The Belfast Institute of Further Education and won a coveted place at The Royal Scottish Conservatoire in Glasgow. Within a year of graduating in 2007, he was talent spotted for the lead role in Merlin.

What I remember most about my encounter with Colin Morgan is how articulate and thoughtful he is. Does his star burn brighter because it has been fashioned out of adversity? Absolutely. All I do know is that he is smart enough to know that hard work and sheer determination has catapulted him into a position of extraordinary privilege and opportunity. And if he continues to shine, all the glittering prizes. So far he’s made some very interesting choices outside Merlin, and he has deftly avoided being typecast. He won good notices for Esteban in Pedro Almodovar’s All About My Mother and took on the very challenging role of the troubled teenager in D.B.C. Pierre’s wicked black comedy in Vernon God Little at the Young Vic.

So what else can I tell you about Colin? Well girls, he can cook! Colin has a problem with lactose, so he sticks to a vegetarian diet, and says that the only way to make food taste really good, when there are so many things you can’t eat is to cook at home.

“I enjoy cooking. I think if you are vegetarian, and you can’t have dairy in your diet, like me; you have to be able to cook! You have to learn, big time! And now I am based in London, which I love, I am looking forward to exploring some local farmers markets. I’m very interested in where food comes from. I think supporting farmers, and buying real, good food from farmers markets is really important. I think a lot of the health problems people face now are as a result of what they are eating. And I don’t just mean junk food. I’m talking about eating food where you don’t know where it has come from. I am careful about what I eat, and I also like really good food.”

Colin’s other great passion is the natural world. Unlike most actors who are rather inward looking, Colin comes across as an individual who is hungry for experiences and knowledge of the world beyond his own horizons. He has been catching up with Frozen Planet on DVD, as he was away filming, when it was first shown, and he describes it as ‘stunning to watch’, and cites David Attenborough as ‘a hero of mine’.

“ It presents the facts and covers everything, without prejudice,” he suggests. ”I think it is very important to conserve and protect the natural world. I’ve just come back from Costa Rica and they are really big on eco tourism. They have lots of reserves, and they are really in to protecting wildlife. I visited a reserve called Cabo Blanco. You walk into the reserve and there are capucine monkeys swinging from the trees and sloths. I am big into nature, and seeing animals in their natural habitats; I love it.”

Given his passion and affinity with nature, I can’t help thinking he would make an extraordinary Heathcliff; and perhaps he really should play a trendy vampire, with those saturnine good looks. “Grrr, I would love to play a vampire,” he says playfully showing a great sense of fun.

So what else moves Colin? Well, being a bit of a new age man, (Merlin would approve) he’s into yoga, and declares – “Yoga is phenomenal! It’s brilliant. I like the breathing, and the focus that it brings. But I can be quite energetic if I am doing a play. You will often find me running along the corridors, to let off steam, and being quite bouncy before going on stage.”

He also tells me that he and Bradley James, his co-star in Merlin loved working with Miranda Raison, the former Spooks star, who recently played the heroine Isolde, who meets a very bloody end in Series Four. Betraying that naughty, boyish side again, he says, “We were teasing her about her Lara Croft curves, ha, ha. Miranda is great. She’s a good sport, and has a wicked sense of humour.”

What comes across quickly, is that Morgan is having a ball too. There is no doubt that he is one of the most exciting talents to emerge from Ireland since a young Richard Harris also made his name in much lauded version of Camelot, alongside a rather luminous, feisty Vanessa Redgrave. His face lights up as he delights in telling me about the award-winning film he recently made with Irish director Darragh Byrne. In Parked he plays Cathal, a dope-smoking twenty one-year-old who magically transforms the life of a lonely man with nowhere to live but his car. “I really identified with the character. I liked the script, I liked working with Darragh, and I loved everything about the story – it couldn’t been more different from Merlin – it’s good not to be typecast – I’ve been very lucky.”

There is no doubt that we are going to continue to fall in love with this vibrant actor too as he lights up the screen and stage and enthralls us with his god-given talent for rapturous, spellbinding storytelling.

I for one can’t wait for the next magical instalment.

Series 4 of Merlin is out now on DVD. Merlin will return for a 5th Series later this year.

Alison Jane Reid – Copyright February 2012

Download PDF of this Colin Morgan Interview for The Lady Magazine Published March 2012

#bbc merlin #interview: colin morgan #cast: colin morgan #year: 2012 #article

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abigailmoment · 1 year ago

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Rating: Gen / Words: 533

Every single piece of footwear that Gale owned had been taken and hidden in places where footwear should not be.

Wyll's scrollwork had been reorganized and refiled on the floor of his tent.

Barcus Wroot had been trapped inside the travelers' chest three times now. He had elected, at this point, to just stay there until all of this was over.

The sausages and salami had been stolen from the camp supplies. A picnic had been assembled for Scratch and the owlbear cub--complete with a fiddle that no one could play and a pepper grinder neither of them could use.

All sandwiches had vanished entirely.

Full text below.

Full Text On AO3

Some personal grievance was taken up with the clasps used to fasten the bedrolls. They were chronically undone and when re-latched they would not stay that way for above three minutes.

Shadowheart's incense had been replaced with Karlach's cigars. And vice versa.

All blood spattered camp clothing had been deposited in the wash basin with a bar of the new soap. That was at least marginally helpful, if wasteful.

Vases of many different shapes had been stolen from everywhere, arranged by size, and used as a cacophonous xylophone.

Having access to cutlery was a distant dream from a time that no longer existed.

Alfira and Lakrissa had briefly visited and encouraged the damn thing. Given it a flower.

Tent doors and overhangs had to be checked, because traps were being set. Karlach was initially surprised, but in the end mostly amused once they'd gotten the bucket unstuck from her horn and off of her head.

A throne had been built entirely out of pillows and blankets. Clive had been placed on top of it.

Every non-finesse weapon, excepting those belonging to Lae'zel, had been dumped in a nearby river at least once.

Lae'zel's camp had, in fact, been left mostly unmolested. However, the mindflayer training dummy was now wearing a straw hat with a bright blue ribbon.

Withers was also wearing a hat. A floppy, wizardly one. He did not seem to mind. Or possibly notice.

They had recently located the nexus of chaos. And now Gale was sitting cross-legged and barefoot in the grass, watching it take a short rest on top of a pile of books it had collected. Gale knew by now that monitoring would not prevent further anarchy, but it made him feel somewhat better to know where it was, even briefly.

It had, from somewhere, acquired a bright red bow.

Gale heard someone else approaching. With a tired sigh Wyll dropped to the ground beside him. The man was damp. Probably he'd had to fish something else important out of the river.

"How long does it take for polymorph to wear off?" Wyll asked him wearily.

"An hour," Gale said, from behind clasped hands.

Wyll almost started in surprise at the answer. "It has been far longer than..."

"There have been recorded phenomenon where it lasts longer," Gale continued. "It has to do with the transformed state being a particularly suitable shape for the soul."

They both regarded the creature in front of them.

"Honk," said Astarion.

***

This is the start of a series. The rest of the story is on AO3.

***

#honk #goostarion #astarion #cute but deadly #astarion ancunin #bg3 fanfiction #baldur's gate 3 #bg3

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friendly-books · 11 months ago

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Dresden files Brief cases and Monster live blog

A fistful of warlock

The American West was not the most miserable land I have ever traveled but it came near it.” pg. 16 Excuse me what nonsense are you talking about Luccio? The Midwest is great.

I like the nacken

“The warlock would hide in the rough part town-his kind could rarely find sanctuary among stolid, sober townsfolk” pg. 18 His kind? Kind? He’s still a person.

Cool spectacles

“The current Captain of the Wardens, a man named McCoy, a man with great deal more powerful and experience than me, had brought down three.” pg. 24 Eb mention

“Not only that, but such an action would brake one of the Council’s unspoken laws: Wizards were expected to minimize the use of their abilities in the presence of magic-ignorant mortals.” pg. 25 Harry breaking spoken and unspoken laws

“My name is Wyatt Earp” said the deputy “And I think I’m the law” pg. 29 I like Wyatt

“Thule Society” pg. 30 Isn’t that the thing Thomas and Ivy is apart of?

“He will be fairly tried, and then, I expect, beheaded for his crimes.”

Earp examined the fingers nails of his right hand. “A real fair trial?” pg. 34 Yep real fair :|

“Well Bill’s partner” pg. 38 GAY COWBOYS!

“You’re willing to challenge an entire town to a fight? For the sake of your friend’s salon?” pg. 41 Is…is Luccio type people who stand up for the right thing? Like Harry and Earp. No one wonder she and Morgan didn’t get together

“It was then that the drum began beating, a slow, steady cadence in the darkness.” pg. 42 Oh no necromancers

“Rage, pure and undiluted, rage that this man, this creature, would spurn his responsibility to humanity and distort the power that created the universe itself into something so obscene, so foul.” pg. 51 Whoa there Luccio let’s not call people ‘creatures’ that’s how dehumanizing begins at that’s bad

“Kemmler” pg. 55 Oh no him that’s not his last time around

B is for Bigfoot

“Volkswagen beetle” pg. 60 Blue Beetle!

“I’m not a moron, usually.” pg. 60 Ha

“The whole PI gig is mostly about patience.” pg. 60 It’s fun seeing Harry being a pi after several books of him not being one

“My jaw dropped open. I mean it literally dropped open.” pg. 62 Ha

Bigfoot!

I like Dr. Helena Pounder

“But how did I hookup with a BigFoot?” pg. 67 I mean we were all wondering so…

“People can overreact to things when their kids get involved.” pg. 71 Yep you’ll find out soon enough Harry

“I winced. I knew where this was going. I’d seen it before, when it had been me with the book and the lunch tray.” pg. 73 Poor Harry poor Irwin

I like Irwin

I don’t like Couch Pete

“He is a Whitestone,” he said “They sharpen their instincts upon him. He is good for them.” pg. 84 He’s a child

I like Harry’s speech to Irwin

Go Irwin!

AAAA Wizardly

“They all look so darn young.” The close second was “Myers God I’m I getting older” pg. 106 Poor Harry

“The war had simply made the penalty for not learning quite a bit steeper.” pg. 107 Poor kids

I like Harry teaching the young wardens

“Oh God” she said “I think I like you”

“Give it time” pg. 117 Ha

“I’ve never met anyone who was breathing who I thought was too far gone to help.” pg. 122 Aw Harry

Boogeyman

“Only kids can sense them” pg. 123 Oh interesting

I’m glad the family got better

I was a teenager Bigfoot

“I’m in the ninety ninth percentile for height, but this guy was tall.” pg. 144 Yep

“You have an unsophisticated sense of humor.” pg. 145 Yes he does

River Shoulders!

“He was a good-looking man” pg. 151 Bi Harry 39

I can’t believe Irwin’s already a teenager

“I can’t think of anything sexier first impression than a man quoting Yakko and Wakko Warner” pg. 154 Ha

“Optio” pg. 159 New spell

“It was beautiful magic, which was rare for me.” pg. 159 Aw

“My record for going without sleep was just under six days” pg. 168 Harry you need sleep

“Wah” I said, Bruce Lee style” pg. 172 Ha

“You used black magic. To grow hair.” pg. 178 Seriously :|

“And I had no intention of turning anyone over to the tender mercies of the Wardens if I could possibly avoid.” pg. 179 Yep

Curses

“I mean I didn’t take my feet down off my desk or anything. But I payed attention.” pg. 184 Ha

“Mr. Dovovan” I said “no one does discretion like me.” pg. 189 Ha

More lore yay!

“Weregoats” pg. 202 Ha

I like Jill

“Gwynn ap Nudd” pg. 211 Where have I heard that name before

“ruggedly handsome” pg. 211 Bi Harry 40

Since when did Harry get so many titles?

“I’d like to see them to beat out the Yankees.”

“Who wouldn’t? Bloody Yankees” pg. 213 Ha and yes beat the Yankees

I like Geynn

Yes baseball is very serious business

“I have this weird thing where I take professional ethics seriously.” pg. 219 Yep

“They’re going to fight through it eventually.” pg. 222 Yep and they did in 2016

“Gwynn ap Nupp’s handsome face broke into a smile” pg. 223 Bi Harry 41

Even Hand

EVEN HAND TIME BABY!!!

I’m so excited for this short story

“A successful murder is like a successful restaurant: Ninety percent of it is about location, location, location” pg. 226 Ha and I probably shouldn’t have laughed at that

“They knelt over a large faded stain the concrete floor, left on the floor by the hypocritical White Council of Wizardly during their last execution.” pg. 226 Is Marcone making a point by having this executive here? How does Marcone know about the execution? And yes the White Council is hypocritical. We now have three canonical warehouses in all of Chicago. They just cycle through them.

“The man was young and good looking.” pg. 226 Is…is Marcone Bi? Gay? Bi Marcone 1

Oh Marcone is doing the execution himself

Why Boston? That’s so far away

Mr. Morell is the mob boss of Chicago

“I run the whores” pg. 227 Marcone that’s rude to say. It’s either sex worker or seamstress

Marcone your putting the one alive guy in a shipping container with his dead colleagues.

“He twitched his chin in the slight motion that he used for a nod when he disproved of my actions but intended to obey be anyway.” pg.227 Marcone knows Hendricks well

“Location, location, location” pg. 228 Ha nice call back

“Obviously, I am not Harry Dresden” pg. 228 First Harry Dresden mention

“My name is something I rarely trouble to remember, but for most of my adult life, I have been called John Marcone.” pg. 228 John Marcone isn’t his actual name!?

“I’m not even possessed of the mystic abilities of a mortal wizard.” pg. 228 Not yet

Yes they broke Marcone rules about kids

“He was hunched over a laptop too small for him, plugging away at his thesis” pg. 230 Hendricks has a thesis?! Cool

“The problem was young and attractive.” pg. 230 Bi Marcone 2

Justine!

“You are a sometime associate of Harry Dresden” I said “Given his proclivities about those he considers to be under his aegis, it is sensible to identify as many of them as possible.” pg. 232 Of course Marcone keeps track of Harry and his friends. And Marcone you do the same with your employees.

I like that Marcone renovates old buildings instead of tearing them down.

Oh the Formor

“Précis please,” pg. 234 Of course Marcone know French

Hendricks knows how to use a sword!?

“I don’t grant favors” You don’t? What about helping save the thralls in White Knight? Or giving Harry info in Changes?

“He blasted the door into a cloud of flying splinters with what I presumed with magic.” pg. 235 Ha

“For God’s sake

At least the vampires would call for an appointment.” pg. 235 Ha

“After a few visits from Dresden and his ilk I’ve invested in cheap, light doors at dramatic (as opposed to tactical) entry points.” pg. 235 Ha and glad to see Harry left an impression. Has Harry noticed the flimsy doors?

“Sir. Please” pg. 236 If Harry was the one asking and saying please Marcone would cave and agree

“Is it so much to ask for civility?” pg. 236 Ha and you should be used to this with Harry

Ohhh copper circle nice

“you are property. You have no rights in the current situation” pg. 241 Marcone Justine isn’t property she’s a person

“I am not a humanitarian. When I offer charity it is for tax purposes.” pg. 241 Lying to yourself Marcone. Again what about the Raith deeps? What about the info he gave Harry in Changes? No wait this takes place before Changes. What about Amanda? What about saving Harry when Gard said he was to die?

“Hendricks looked at me sharply. He didn’t say anything he didn’t have to. I already knew the tone of whatever he would say. Are there no prisons? perhaps. Or, no man was an island, entire of itself. It tolls for thee. On and on.” pg. 243 Thank you Hendricks for being Marcone’s jimmy cricket/concussion

Yes she is a child

“It is, with the possible exception of Dresden’s home, the most secure location in the city.” pg. 245 Oh interesting that Marcone considers his safe house the second most secure place. He clearly respects Harry given his assessment of his abilities. How does Marcone know that Harry has the best? Could Gard not make the room the best?

“Honestly” pg. 246 Ha he’s so sarcastic

“They make the anti technology effect Dresden puts off looks like mild sunspot activity” pg. 248 Harry mention again that’s the fifth time and Harry isn’t even here

“I first handed in my patriotically delusional youth” pg. 250 Marcone was in the military?!

Oh no Hendricks :(

Ouch Marcone broke his arm

“Given a choice between that egocentric drivel and a broken arm, I prefer the latter.” pg. 253 Ha

Interesting armor that Gard has

“Be a dear and burn down the building” I said

She appeared by my desk looking bruised, exhausted, and functional. She lifted both eyebrows. “Was that a joke?

“Apparently,” I said “Doubtless the result of triumph and adrenaline.”

“My word” she said. She looked startled” pg. 261 Marcone’s funny and why is Gard surprised? Harry and Marcone banter all the time

“Make it look like an accident.” pg. 261 So insurance fraud. What would Harry be under acts of God?

“quarter of a million dollars” pg. 261 Marcone just has that kind of money?

“He seemed fine by the time he left, growling at Gard as she fussed over him.” pg. 262 Aw

“To say nothing of the fact that the bullets themselves are rare.” pg. 262 Interesting

“Dear child,” I said “I am a criminal. One very good way to cover up a crime is to commit an another, more obvious one.” pg. 263 Marcone is so smart

“You might consider speaking to Father Forthill at St. Mary of the Angles. The Church appears to have some sort of program to place those endangered by the supernatural into hiding.” pg. 264 Interesting

“I debated putting a bullet in her head but decided against it.” pg. 265 Marcone no and besides didn’t you just talk about Harry and those under his protection

“If she should speak of today’s events to Dresden…” pg. 265 Sixth Harry mention. Did Justine tell Harry? I do wish Harry and Justine interacted more

“They were there to kill Harry Dresden.” pg. 265 Seventh Harry mention Bit dramatic much. I don’t know if all that would kill Harry. The bombs in his office didn’t do it. The sprinkler system might work. Not sure about Gard and the magic bullets. Besides it’s so dramatic. If you want to kill Harry just do what Kincaid did. Sniper rifle but this time aim for the head. This whole plan involves Harry attacking Marcone on his home turf and using magic instead of a gun.

“I would test myself against Dresden in earnest on day” pg. 265 Eighth Harry mention. Besides if they wanted to kill each other they could have done ages ago. Harry doesn’t even threaten Marcone that badly like he did with Marva. Eight mentions of Harry Dresden in one story.

“Location location location” pg. 266 Ha

Bigfoot on campus

“It’s coffee flavored coffee,”

“No mocha?”

“Fuck mocha”

“Thank god” I said. “Black” pg. 267 Ha

“Am I under arrest?”

“That’s what we’re going to talk about” pg. 268 Ha

“you could explain why I found you in the middle of an orgy.”

“Well” I said “if you’re going to be in an orgy the middle is the best spot isn’t it?” pg. 268 Ha

“Maybe you could explain why there was a car on the fourth floor of the dorm”

“Classic college prank” I said

“Usually when that happens, it hasn’t made big holes in the exterior wall.”

“Someone was avoiding cliche?” pg. 269 Ha

“What about all the blood?”

“There were no injuries, were there?”

“No”

“Then who cares? Some film student watched Carrie too many times.” pg. 269 Ha

“Six separate calls in the past three hours with a Bigfoot sighting on campus. Bigfoot. What do you know about that?

“Well kids these days with their internets and their video games and their iPods. Who knows what they thought they saw.” pg. 269 Ha

“They almost never get violated, and when they do, it’s a big deal.” pg. 273 Yeah like starting a war

“In the Midwest, if you show up to a college town on a weekend, you risk running into a football game. In my experience, that resulted in universal problems with traffic, availability hotel rooms, and drunken football hooligans.

Or wait: Soccer is the one with hooligans. Drunken American football fans are just…drunks I guess.” pg. 277 Ha

“There was nothing in particular that should have caused my hormones to rage.” pg. 281 White court vampire calling it now

“They were becoming increasingly flecked with motes of molten silver” pg. 284 I knew it!

Wait I don’t think she knows oh no

“I couldn’t answer him for a second, the air felt so close. The last time I’d felt this much latent waiting power, I’d been standing next to my mentor Ebenezar McCoy, when he was gathering his strength for a spell.” pg. 292 Eb mention

“And this organization called the Paranet” pg. 293 Paranet! This is what I’m talking about information sharing yes

“People don’t want to know the truth. That makes it simple to hide. Wow, ten minutes? Really? I guess I’m not an Internetty person.”

“Internetty” Irwin said, seriously “I guess you aren’t” pg. 294 Ha

“So how come Kid Bigfoot wasn’t dead?” pg. 302 Interesting maybe because he’s got do much life energy Irwin didn’t die?

“The girl was in love with Irwin” pg. 302 I wonder how Connie can touch Irwin without getting burn?

“My son has joined himself to a parasite.”

“I felt a flash of milf outrage” pg. 302 RiverShoulders she’s a person

“I’ll give you till midnight to leave the state. After that you’re gone. One way or another”

“Hang on, I’m terrified let me catch my breath.”

“I react poorly to those who threaten my family’s well being, Dresden.”

“Yeah. You’re a regular Ozzie Nelson. John Walton. Ben Cartwright.

“Excuse me?”

“Mr. Drummond? Charlie…in charge? No?”

“What are you blabbing about?”

“Hells bells, man. Don’t any of you White Court bozos ever watch television? I’m giving you pop-reference golf here. Gold.” pg. 309 Ha

Wild Bill!

“Also, my pants had shrunk by several sizes.” pg. 323 What? Why?

Go Riversholders! He threw a car!

“Don’t be a moron Harry,” I said “You came for the kid. He’s safe. That’s all you were obligated to do. Let it g- Oh who am I kidding. There’s a girl.” pg. 334 Ha

“Wait. A…what? Am I going to sparkle or something?”

“God, no” said Irwin and I together” pg. 340

Bombshell

“I miss my boss” pg. 345 Poor Molly :(

“Harry wouldn’t have felt that. Harry would have saved the day. He would have smashed the Formor goons around like bowling pins, picking the kid up like some kind of serial-movie hero, and taken him to safety.” pg. 346 Hero worship

Justine!

“When you’re in magic, people always assume you do must be connected to it. Harry always thought it was funny. To him, magic was just one more set of tools that the mind could use to solve problems.” pg. 350 Interesting

“I hadn’t wanted to hurt his feelings but that kind of thing really wasn’t necessary.” pg. 354 Interesting to see how Molly used Harry’s spell and changed it

“The math wasn’t hard. I had two angles measured against the magnetic north.” pg. 355 Interesting how much math is involved in magic

“That bitch deserved to be run over by a car.” pg. 377 Poor Molly :(

“This isn’t going to work.” Justine murmured

“It’s going to work.” I told her keeping my tone confident. We’ll breeze right in. The Rack will be with us.”

Justine glanced at me with an arched brow “The Rack?”

“The Rack is more than just boobs, Justine” I told her soberly. “It’s an energy field created by all living boobs. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.”

Andi started giggling. “You’re insane.”

“But functionally so,” I said, and adjusted myself to round out a little better. “Just let go of conscious self and act on instinct.

Justine stared blankly at me for a second. Then her face lightened and she let out a little laugh. “The Rack will be with us?”

I couldn’t stop myself from cracking a smile “Always.” pg. 381 Ha

“I spotted Gentleman Jonnie Marcone, the head of Chicago’s outfit, in attendance, with his gorilla, Hendricks, and his personal attack witch, Gard, floating around near him.” pg. 385 Marcone! Again with that spelling. Why is Molly calling Hendricks a gorilla and Gard a attack witch?

“Too easy,” I whispered “This was too easy.” pg. 397 Yep something’s up

“Mortal upstart. Calling himself a baron. He will pay for what he did to my brother.” pg. 403 Marcone! This is the brother of the Formor from Even Hand

“Miss Gard freaked out about two minutes ago and all but carried out Marcone out of here. Security is mobilizing.” pg. 407 Why am I picturing Gard bride carrying or fireman carrying Marcone?

“Dammit,” I growled “What would Harry do?” pg. 409 WWHD Harry would make it up as he goes so you’re doing great at that part Molly

“Harry had once told me that when you had one problem, you had a problem. But when you had several problems, you might have several solutions.” pg. 409 Interesting

“Hey God” I whispered. “I know I haven’t been around much lately, but if you could do me a solid here, it would be really awesome for a lot of people. Please let me be right.” pg. 419 Ha

“Harry. Alive.” pg. 431 Yay!

Cold Case

“My own clothing, I knew disappointed her gravely, but I was used to doing that to mother-figures.” pg. 435 Ouch poor Molly :(

Carlos!

“Harry Dresden has had a horrible influence on far too many people, and has much to answer for.” pg. 449 Ha

“I’d had recurring nightmares about it, in fact.” pg. 450 Didn’t Harry also have nightmares about the wardens?

Elaine!

“Psychic interrogation” pg. 460 Oh no

“Warden do a lot of good.” He said quietly “It isn’t always pretty, what we do, but it needs to be done.” pg. 464 Wardens kill children Carlos

“He dealt with them on a continuous basis, after all, and in his studied opinion, if you had one problem, you had a problem. But if you had multiple problems, you might also have an opportunity. pg. 468 Call back to bombshell!

“God, I love hero work.” Carlos said as we stepped back out into the storm. “No murky gray area, no anguished questions, no conflicting mortality. Bad guys took some kids, and we’re gonna get’em out.” pg. 476 That does sound nice and I like how this shows the reader how young Carlos is

“Maybe if someone had offered a hand to the monsters, they wouldn’t have become monsters in the first place.” pg. 477 Yes!

“I was carrying pliers with me, so that I could take vampire teeth as trophies.” pg. 477 Carlos that’s not a good thing. That’s spoils of war or serial killer trophies and that’s bad.

“Mom taught me, She was scoutmaster for my brothers.” pg. 480 Cool

“Outsiders” pg. 481 Oh no

So Outsiders plus fisherman equals Call of Cthulhu

“Harry was a big believer in kicking in the teeth of whoever you planned to fight.” pg. 485 Ha and yes good tactics

“kicked the big double door off their hinges as if they’d been made of balsa and Scotch tape.

At which point I learned the real reason Harry keeps doing that.

It. Is. Awesome.” pg. 486 Ha

“And then I was sitting on the floor of the shower, shuddering, hot water pouring down around me.” pg. 499 What

“I looked down at the water. The drain stopper was down, and it was seven or eight inches deep.

And pink.” pg. 500 What happened?

Poor Carlos :(

Ok so Molly can’t have sex and the mantel will attack anyone who tries to have sex with her.

“You want me to take their children.” pg. 504 Oh no :(

Jury Duty

“Summons,” I said glowering. “It’s a freaking command. They want to see a real summoning is, I could show them.” pg. 513 Ha and I can’t believe the government got Harry a summons. He died then came back from the dead and was homeless for a bit. There’s no way bureaucracy was this fast. There has to be scheming involved. String pulling from someone. Maybe Lara or Marcone?

“More had been set aside by the new owner of my old address, formerly Mrs. Spunkelcheif’s boardinghouse, and now the Better Future Society. I hadn’t been able to stomach asking the new owner for my mail, but Butters had gotten it for me.” pg. 513 Wait does this mean that Marcone kept Harry’s mail? How long did Marcone keep Harry’s mail? Even when Harry was dead? Was Marcone hoping Harry would come get them? What was the conversation between Butters and Marcone like?

“The government isn’t the mob, Harry.”

“Aren’t they?” I asked “Pay them money every year to protect you, and God help you don’t.” pg. 514 Ha

“Then a guy in a black muumuu showed up and reconnected the plot of My cousin Vinney.

Okay, it was a robe and the guy was the judge, and he gave us a brief outline of the format of the trial system, but it’s not nearly as entertaining to say it that way.” pg. 516 Ha

“The new kid was in his late twenties” pg. 517 Who let this kid be the prosecutor? He can’t be that out of law school.

“So where was his public defender?” pg. 518 He’s got the right to a public defender so where are they? Something’s up I’m suspicious

“Everyone stood up. After a second, so did I.

I guess you could say I’m not really a joiner.” pg. 518 Ha

“He held up a glossy professional headshot of a handsome man in his thirties and showed it to us.” pg. 520 Bi Harry 42

“drag a female child, Latino, around the age of ten, into the alley.” pg. 526 Oh

“Something did not add up here.” pg. 528 Yep

So let’s review the facts

Harry who’s died and come back from the died for less than a month only a gets a jury summons despite bureaucracy being slow.

The prosecutor is a new kid and not the DA.

The defense doesn’t have an attorney.

The victim was a stock broker.

The defendant is a tough guy who’s definitely been in fights before.

There is supposedly a child that the man kidnapped.

The defendant is more beat up than seems appropriate.

In conclusion I think that the fear eating Raiths are the victim was a stockbroker and not a ghoul got the girl and the defendant killed a White Court vampire. Then either Marcone or Lara stacked the jury to have Harry involved. They made it so the prosecution was a new guy and the defense doesn’t have a lawyer.

“Nobody was going to go bat for him.

Unless I did it.” pg. 529 Yep

“I started with Johnny Cash version of “Hurt” which was pretty simple. I sang along with it. I’m not good, but I can hit the notes and keep the rhythm going” pg. 533 This is nice and I miss Harry’s guitar and I wish he’d played more

“The door was locked.

It was also made of glass.

I smiled.” pg. 537 Ha

“Tania Raith” I knew a Raith was involved

“She wielded enormous influence in Chicago, maybe as much as the head of Chicago outfit, Gentleman Johnnie Marcone, gangster lord of the mean streets.” pg. 539 Marcone mention!

“Because you know what happened the last time some vampires abducted a little girl and I decided to take her back. pg. 539 Yep scary threat

“I believe Baron Marcone has recognized claim on this city. Or am I mistaken?” pg. 540 It’s their city

“Luther was one of Marcone’s soldiers.” pg. 540 Oh

“He pulled some strings to get me on the jury.” pg. 541 I knew strings were pulled

“Dammit Marcone had put me where there’d be a guy getting fast- tracked to an unjust sentence and known damn well how I’d react. He could have asked me for help, but I’d have told him to take a flying…leap. And he’d have known that. So he set it up without me knowing.” pg. 542 Marcone knows him so well

“What does Marcone mean to you? You don’t owe him anything. Why not sit down, have a drink, help me celebrate.” pg. 543 Tania asking the real questions

Riley doesn’t get paid enough

Tania really does need a babysitter.

“Goddamn supernatural assholes” pg. 550 Does she know? Does the Judge know?

Day one

“There were a great many letters in that, and not much that I understood” pg. 558 Ha

Lamar!

“The skull is very dangerous object.” He said “It doesn’t…understand love. It doesn’t understand faith.” pg. 568 Bob!

Fear monster

Harry!

“Polka will never die” pg. 587 Yes!

“You stand up and kick it in the fucking teeth” he said and there was a quiet certain power in his voice that had nothing to do with magic. “You’ve forgotten the most important thing a Knight needs to remember, Butters.”

“What’s that?” I breathed

“Knights of the Cross aren’t afraid of monsters” he said. “Monster are afraid of you. Act like it. Commit to it, hard. And have faith.” pg. 590 Such a good speech.

“But I had faith in my friends

One friend in particular.” pg. 590 My heart :)

“ Ehyeh ašer ehyeh” pg. 594 A quick google search shows that this means I Am Who I Am

Zoo Day

“The man who mostly shaped me was a sadistic monster, and by the time my grandfather came along, Ebenezar wasn’t parenting so much as enticing psychological damage control.” pg. 599 Aw poor Harry :(

“I really really wanted to get this right.” pg. 599 Aw

Of course Maggie likes Star Wars

“She was the most beautiful child I’d ever seen, but everyone thinks that about their kid.

Maybe everyone is right.” pg. 601 Yes! and my heart :)

“What if I do it wrong?” pg. 601 My heart

“What if…I don’t know. What if I set something on fire?”

“Maybe we’ll roast some marshmallows” pg. 602 Don’t worry Maggie if anyone is going to set something on fire it’ll be Harry. And this marshmallow comment reminds be of the one in Changes

Oh a warlock

“I stared at the kid for a while.

I had been that kid for a while.” pg. 608 Poor Harry poor kid

“Then I did something I don’t do very often: I turned my back and walked away.” pg. 608 What

“She picked up a French fry and dipped it in a large mound of mustard. Not ketchup.

What?” pg. 610 What

“If someone needs your help, you help them.” Maggie said simply “Even when it’s really hard. Miss Molly told me that about you.” pg. 612 Yep

“If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I’d have been just one more warlock slain while resisting arrest.” pg. 613 Interesting

I like all the dad Harry content I’m getting to see

Ohhh we’re getting two perspectives.

Maggie!

“My dad was a pretty scary-looking guy if you didn’t know him.” pg. 621 Aw and it’s always interesting to see other characters perspective of Harry

“Sort of like how grown ups can’t see the creeps” pg. 624

“If I didn’t have to worry about turning into a complete spaz” pg. 625 Aw poor Maggie :(

“Must be because Dad was here, and he really, really liked dad.” pg. 624 Aw

“What if he thought I was, you know? Broken. What if he didn’t want a daughter who was all funny in the head?” pg. 629 Aw poor Maggie I just want to give Maggie a hug

“And then my dad’s head shot up like Mouse when he smells lighter fluid at the Carpenters house, and his eyes flicked around him like big, hungry bear looking for something to tear into.” pg. 629 Ha

“He should have had his coat. It would have been all swirly, like Batman. Jeans and an old Battlestar Galactica T-shirt just didn’t make the same impression.” pg. 633 I’m glad Maggie likes the coat.

“I interrupted it by throwing salt into its black, empty eyes.” pg. 634 Go Maggie!

“Because what if Miss Molly had told me the kid-safe version of the truth about my dad? What if he wasn’t as good as she said he was? What if he didn’t want to take care of a daughter who had issues? Who was really hard to be around.” pg. 639 Aw poor Maggie

“Hey you, Space Face” pg. 640 Ha

“Good boy, Mouse” pg. 642 Yes good boy!

Mouse looks really cool

Oh interesting that Maggie knows Spanish

Poor Maggie

Three perspectives!

Mouse yes you’re a good dog!

“My Friend was worried he could not be a good father to a little girl, which is ridiculous-but if he wasn’t worried about it, he wouldn’t be the person he is” pg. 652 Aw

“Is my Friend awesome or what?” pg. 659 Yes he is

“My Shadow, it would seem” pg. 661 Interesting

“Brother” pg. 670 Interesting

“Needs must be done?” I asked. “Who talks like that? Honestly.” pg. 673 Ha

“An acquired habit. I can’t imagine where I learned it” pg. 673 Ha

“You are like the others, after all. His slave. I don’t deal with trivial matters. I care nothing for your broken wizard.” pg. 674 No Mouse and Harry are friends and what do you mean broken wizard?

“I assume you’ve never seen The Dark Knight.” pg. 674 Ha and of course Mouse has seen it :)

“I was raised by a wizard. When it comes to fighting, I tend to cheat whenever possible.” pg. 675 Ha

“I told you, everyone says I am a Good Boy and that means treats. But perhaps I would make more time to exercise when this was settled.” pg. 676 Ha

“There was nothing more I could do to help him. I would have to trust to fortune and the Almighty and Queen Mab and Odin and whatever other friendly Powers that might be watching that My Friend would, please, please, please be all right.” pg. 681 Ha

“But what he meant was Good Dog.” pg. 686 Yes!

Dresden files live blog

Monster

“Plus, I’m never sure when she’ll try to kill me again.

It’s complicated” I’m sorry what

Marcone!

“No Valkerye girl Friday?” Ha

Oh someone broke Marcone’s rule they’re gonna die

“There’s another person I could go to.

But even if he believed me and agreed to the job, he would complicate it unbearably. We’d be at war with Canada within the week. Somehow.” Ha and I assume they’re talking about Harry

“There was angels standing guard around another house not unlike this one not three blocks away.” Michael’s house!

“Oh. Yes. People.”

“I keep forgetting them” Viti what do you mean you ‘keep forgetting them’?

“Viti had been a survivor of a training program whose members had, as the culmination of their training, been assigned to murder one another” Is Viti a red widow?

Poor kids :(

“Viti turned the gun on the kids, who flinched.” VITI NO

“Hey, you know how a nine-hundred-pound Bengal tiger gets into a locked room?

Any damned way it wants.” Ha

“The next day, Marcone, with his big dumb Einherjaren bodyguard.” Who is this bodyguard? Where’s Hendricks? Where’s Gard?

“But grapefruit juice?” Grapefruit? Really? Who willingly drinks grapefruit juice?

“Monster LLC calling for Harry Dresden,” she said “Please tell that there are children who need his help.” Of course they call Harry. This is right up his alley!

Final thoughts

I liked these stories especially Even Hand and Zoo Days. I loved all the Marcone mentions and his story. I liked the fights and thought the stories were funny. I liked the different perspectives. I want to give Maggie and Harry hugs. I loved all the Dad Harry content I got in Zoo Days. There were so many Bi Harry moments in these. We’re up to 42 moments. Molly’s stories were sad :( Cool that beings exist that only kids can see. Not a fan of some of the things Luccio and Carlos say. I loved Butters first mission. I liked the monster story. I love what Marcone says about Harry. I love that Gary calls Harry. Overall I liked it.

Even Hand

My favorite story. I love the look into Marcone. I do wonder how John Marcone not being John’s Name will play out. Could this name be used against him or used in oaths? Does ‘John Marcone’ hold more weight than his given name now? Who knows his given name? Why did he change it? This does bring interesting ideas with his alliance with Mab and Vadderung. Him being a marine is interesting. Did Marcone serve a full time in the marine? Did he get honorably discharged? Dishonored? What was his rank? I liked how sarcastic Marcone is. He really is a good foil to Harry. I like the 2 Bi Marcone moments. I love that Harry has left such an impression on Marcone with the flimsy doors and the elaborate death trap. I like how Marcone saved both Justine and the kid. I love the Hendricks and Gard moment.

Onto Peace Talk

#the dresden files #harry dresden #john marcone #wizardbaron #harry dresden is bi #brief cases #monster

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