#they're like how can you Not heal. and laura is like what do you mean caduceus is on healing duty 24/7 and is better at it

[pocketgalaxies]

laura: i'm also gonna cast a third leve–oh wait,,no i won't heal you because i don't have,,,i'm gonna healing word you because i have that prepared,,,

sam: because you don't have cure wounds prepared?

laura: Shut Up

sam: (to the camera) she didn't have cure wounds prepared.

marisha: i was a druid and i never left without it! as a druid!

[jade-bright]

In another world of my au, where Sterek find out the other is supernatural before Stiles loses his spark, his mom is adamant that he should really start learning how to mend bones and other parts of the body incase something happens to him (especially now that he's spending time with a family of mostly were's).

And you know adhd and stuff, he keeps putting it off (plus he surprisingly rarely ever breaks any of his bones,) until one day some shit happens to Derek where one of his bones break (be it from a tussle with his siblings or something else) and suddenly Stiles is like, "hey I know you got like super werewolf healing, but could I try to fix it?" and Derek kinda just let's him, I mean, it's not like he could make things worse, and even if he does, they just got to break it again so it'll heal properly.

Just like that, the Hale's often overhear things like:

Stiles: Alright, so someone can be paralyzed from the legs down if the nerves or something are like messed with in the spine

Derek: You want me laying down or sitting?

Laura, in the kitchen listening in: wtf?

-

Stiles: Mom says I should work on mending shattered bones. You think you could break just one piece of your bone to start off easy?

Derek: Mmm, maybe

Peter, passing by: Try breaking it like breaking off pieces of spaghetti

-

Peter's the only one completely unfazed by what they're doing, all the other Hale's are just still reeling that there's someone just as weird as them (Peter seems to be the only one who remembers who Stiles' mother is, "Día, why do I smell blood?" "Oh that's from the bottles of menstrual blood me and Mama have" "...why" "Mama's witch friends say you never know").

Noah, after he found out (walked into Stiles' room to see Derek laying on the bed shirtless with Stiles straddling his hips on-top of him with his hands over his ribs and a look of concentration on his face. When asked what they were doing, they just answered magic/biology homework), asked Claudia if he couldn't just practice on animal bones like Heather ("But Noah, this way he gets to familiarize himself with the anatomy of the human body" "The kid's a werewolf Clauds" "Same bone structure").

*Realized midway through how very Addams family energy I put into this, whoops.*

[dreamwritesimagines]

Laura being drawn towards gentler figures is so real... she's her father's daughter.

I can see her standing around Sunshine and Theo, not really knowing what to do but smiling shyly when they grin at her and ask her to help them with something.

She meets Jamie and though she can see he might not be as soft as Sunshine or Theo (he's a doctor, he's seen some shit) as soon as he turns on his 'dr talking to child patient voice' she's hooked. It takes her a minute because she's used to doctors that never cared about her but she learns to trust him.

Meanwhile she once stabbed Logan just because. He wasn't even doing anything, he was just there. Scott laughed for days.

This is so adorableeeee! ❤️🥺

Wait omg Theo and Laura will get along so well! ❤️ I feel like Theo would be such an older brother with her even if she can totally take care of herself ❤️ And Sunshine and Theo being all soft with her, and her being shy but trying to join whatever they're doing, so cuteeee❤️

Oh I totally agree with that, I think she will be a bit distant with Jamie because she hasn't had the best experience with doctors but Jamie knows how to put her at ease🥰 He will probably be the only doctor she trusts 🥺

Meanwhile she once stabbed Logan just because. He wasn't even doing anything, he was just there. Scott laughed for days. ASDFGHJKL I-

Scott 🤝 Me

Laughing at this for days😂

Logan of course immediately healed and Laura walked away, and Sunshine was like,

"Are you okay?!"

"Yeah. Yep, I'm fine."

"I almost forgot she can do that."

"What, that she can stab people?"

"Yeah. I mean the last time she unsheathed her claws was to cut a flower to bring it to me."

"She brought you a flower?"

"Yeah. I'm drying it, I'll put it in a frame to hang it on the wall."

[grigori77]

The Mighty Nein: Echoes of the Solstice (Live Show from Mo-fucking WEMBLEY!)

Ah, a hype man ... okay then ...

My ... he's quite salty really, isn't he?

"All the bar staff are like: What team is this? I don't know, but none of them make eye-contact."

He's got a point, we are better at swearing ...

"In this country, the sentence: I twatted the twat in the twat ... makes perfect grammatical sense!"

Ah yes, the first ĺive show since the Pandemic ...

Oh, here we go ...

Fuck me, look at that FUCKING CROWD ... O.O

Ye gods, Ashley what the fuck are you doing to us AGAIN?!!! Bloody hell ... then Liam ... and Taliesin? Look at that SWAG!!! MARISHA!!! Incredible ... Laura! Wow ... that's like ... AND Travis ... basically Jester and Fjord in the flesh ... just a shame Laura's not blue ...

And then we we have SAM FUCKING RIEGEL ... never misses an opportunity, does he?

Matt's going nuts and I don't blame him ...

Ah yes ... what fresh hell is Riegel gonna unleash upon us THIS TIME? The audience are ahead of us already ... oh gods ... no, you really AREN'T Freddie Mercury, mate ...

Bloody hell ... that actually WORKED ... I'm extremely surprised ...

Ashley has an announcement? Blimey ... no wonder she's a little nervous ... oh, but she's getting into it already ... Nice ... and yeah, Crit Role Red Nose Day, always fun ...

Cosplayer nod! Nice! Liam: "Oh man, so many Sprinkles!"

Yay! Animated intro WITH AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION!!!

Liam: "I've had this dream!" Matt: "Thank you all so much for the trauma!"

Recap! Nice!

Oh, so they WERE just Shunted, then? Okay, so what happened then?

So we're about to find out ... where are they? Shush, sound effects problems! Blightshore? Intriguing ...

Ah, so he CAN talk ... Caleb: "It's been a while." No shit, mate!

Oh, so the magical disruption has knackered the collar too ... batter that thing off, Beau! "You know, your wife has shaved me with a greatsword, this should not be too challenging for you." Oh, NOW he's rethinking this plan? Minor Alchemy?

Sam: "No, I want her to punch you!" Liam (as Caleb): "I'm sitting right next to her, it's going to happen!"

Oh crap ... Matt, what are you saying? What the fuck is THAT shit supposed to mean?

Ah, Imogen ... Beau: "She was kind of cute." Caleb: "Don't cross the streams!"

SNAP!!! Thankfully collar not neck, at least ...

Yes! Get her to Yasha! Go! With Caduceus? Awesome ...

Hey! The Blooming Grove! They made it ... oh, this is PRETTY!!! Calliope! Awwwwww ...

BABYYYYYYYYY!!! :3 Ashley: "I touch her everywhere, make sure she's fine! Well ... maybe not EVERYWHERE ..." Caleb: "I've seen them like this when they've been apart for a few hours."

CADUCEUS!!! Yeah, boy!

Ooh! Munchies!

New armour? Sweet ... the "Oh no, I have to leave in a hurry kit"? Intriguing ...

Dream Beau can be an asshole, apparently ... Beau: "But if you felt like exploring, maybe ..." Yasha: "Oh, I didn't know that was on the table!"

Oh yeah, Veth has, like, PRIORITIES now ...

Beau's accidental kleptomania ... XD

A splinter from the Nein Heroes? Intriguing ... and they're on the ship! Yay ... docked? Oh, hey, Nicodranas! Sweet!

Good lord, what are they doing? Matt: "How did we start this so horny?"

REUNION!!! Yay!

Jester's been getting headaches from her Sending ... yeah, that's right, makes sense ...

Perception check? Oh, first roll ... Travis: "Nine!" The crowd cheers! Of course they do ...

ALL of the Assembly ... yeah ... Trent Ikithon, of course, I thought so ...

Yeah, get Veth! Yay ...

Weird dead seabeast? What is that shit?

Matt: "Interrupt MY story, why don't you?"

A Message to the Ruby ... and she has to roll a D100? Nuts ... 48? 14 points of Psychic damage? Oof ...

Yes, she COULD heal herself, but it's par for thd course, really ...

Blud! Hi!

Spooked seabeasts ... hmmm ...

The Brenatto residence ... here we go ...

VETH!!! Yay!

Veth: "The world has been turned upside down!" Beau: "What's wrong?" Veth: "I HAVE A FUCKING TEENAGER!!!"

Luc wants to be an adventurer? Of course he does ... yeah ... how old IS he? Veth: "Whatever feels right!"

Veth: "To be fair, I was drunk for most of his childhood." XD

So what's the plan?

Oh, Scrying? Yeah, try it!

I love how Jester's being do sweet about Ludinus, it's hilarious ... oh, NOW she gets it? Jester: "He's a douche, I hate him!" Yeah ...

Here we go then, go Jester ... Travis: "That's right, use the 5th Level, nothing can possibly go wrong ..."

Jester has a DICK COLLECTION now? LOL

Reminding Jester who Trent is ...

Oh hey, here's Artigan! Nice! Oh ... how rude!

Caduceus: "We're not big problem people." Jester: "Are you saying we're NOT going to push the Moon back into the sky?"

Oh wait ... is Veth NOT coming?

Jester: "Um ... the Lavish Chateau is NOT a whorehouse." Veth: "A speakeasy with benefits?"

Luc? Hi! Wow ... he's an EMO TEEN now? Interesting ...

Veth making fun of Fjord being the weakest of the Nein ...

UNCLE Caleb ... :3

Jester! DO NOT give Luc a tattoo!

Wow ... Veth REALLY IS bowing out ... that's so sad ...

Veth makes Jester take another 8 points of Psychic damage ... XD

Wow ... AWKWARD goodbye ...

To the Cobalt Soul in Rexxentrum? Okay ...

Everybody runs into the circle ... wait ... WHST THE FUCK?!!!

Luc? Seriously? Wow ... he even has a Character Sheet! He's do cute ... :3

Here we are, then ... and they've just realised they're not alone ...

Sam's doing an emo teen voice now ... I love it ... this is gonna be SO MUCH FUN ...

Are we EVER gonna learn howold he is?

Yasha: "Hit me!" Seriously?

Oh, so we're doing this ... and she CATCHES his punch ... of course she does. Adorable ...

And now he's in a huff ...

And now he's gonna try and hex Beau instead ... this really is getting funny now ... Beau: "I'll cover my eyes to make it more fair." XD

Ah ... Caleb gives him THE TALKING TO ...

Wow ... he's really good at THIS ... oh, totally working the heartstrings, definitely ...

Oh wow ... they're coming around ... oh, so they're giving CAD the deciding vote? This'll be interesting ... and he makes a good point.

Ground rules from Caleb ... as it should be ...

Caduceus casts Death Ward on Luc just to be safe ... Nice one, mate.

Ovedo? Okay ... apparently things are chaotic ... oh, this doesn't sound good ...

Matt once again using the feedback constructively ...

Ah, teenage bravado ...

Volither ... hmm, nice hair.

Aggy? Who's that?

Dark tunnel? Okay ... no, DEFINITELY not Luc in the lead ... an extra luck roll for him? Nice one, Caleb!

Oh shit ... the magic seals are DEAD. Not a good sign ...

Crap ... what the hell is THIS shit? Oh, that's fucking CREEPY ... scary monster monologue ...

Beau just closes the door on whatever the fuck THAT was ...

Oh, it's still going? He does love to go on and on ...

Hello who's this?

Wait ... a guest? Oh shit! It's Daniel! You sneaky bastard ...

A dwarf? Intriguing ... a blue kilt? Even more so ... and WINE? Hmmmm ... a bit tipsy, apparently ...

Whoa ... he bested Beau? Wow ... and then he offers her a DRINK ... of course she accepts. XD

Aggy: "Is that a little boy?" Luc: "I don't trust this guy, he looks over 30."

Luc: "Hey! Don't insult me and then explain it to me!"

Yes, Matthew, what HAS HE found?

"Unattended baggage" ... SNORT ...

See Invisibility ... oh, hello, Star Razor ...

Eldritch Blast! Yay!

Aggy HEADBUTTS the wall Fjord just attacked ... wow, and he just NUTTED a dozen open. Cute ...

Constitution check? 9? Oh, and what does THIS mean? Oh dear ...

He thinks Caduceus is a horse ... I love that ...

Daniel: "I look like a very small, short John Wick, by the way." XD

Aggy just walks RIGHT IN ... and now there's more illusory nonsense ... wait ... the Shadowhand? Ooooh ...

Ah, so ... going down, then? Hmmm ...

Oh dear, this doesn't look too good ... what now, then?

Wow .. clearly Aggy is NOT particularly bright ...

Whoops? Holy shit ... Nice dodge! He's now tumbling down the stairs and FLASHING EVERYBODY ... oh dear, what now? Another dexterity roll? NAT20!!! Nice ... he is UNSCATHED ...

Daniel: "I am just sucking the Dice Gods' dick!"

He is almost ACCIDENTALLY good at this ... oh, here we go ... CRITICAL FAIL!!! Finally ...

Oh dear, what has he gotten into now? 76 points of Force Damage? Holy fuck ... is Aggy DEAD ALREADY?!!! Fuck ... a DISINTEGRATION TRAP?!!! Shit ... so that's it? Aggy is DUST ...

Farewell, Daniel ...

Oh yes, that's right, technically he IS an Admiral ... Admiral Tusktooth. Nice ...

DO NOT let Luc check for traps ... oh yeah! Mage Hand ... and Jester Guides him too ... :3

Wow ... that's a lot of traps ...

Another magic mouth ... for the gods' sake ... he's so full of himself ...

Another door? Okay ... check for traps again ... and ANOTHER mouth ... even MATT is now acknowledging that Trent is full of himself ...

Oh you ARSEHOLE ... not cool to taunt Caleb like that ...

Ah yes, the Tower? Sweet ... yes, rest.

The Aeorian Security Cannon ... and a FLUFFERNUTTER?!!! Holy fuck ...

True Seeing ... oh dear ... now Caduceus has Beau tripping balls again ... fuck, a Nat20 for a full 27 perception ... sweet fuck ...

Athtiri Menthal ... huh?

Beau has a +16 to her Arcana? Fucking hell ...

Ashley once again Stop It-ing Sam when he sneezes. VERY LOUDLY this time, too ...

They're fighting Trent AND a thing, or Trent AS a thing ... lovely ...

Okay, so rest and regrouping, then ... back to Caleb's tower, then head out in the morning ...

Mahogany? Hmmm ... certain dirty minds, I swear ...

Okay, then ... and time for a break! Well then ...

Aaaaaah ... Welcome To Wildemount returns ... always fun ...

And we're back ... Heroes' Feast! Nice ...

Caleb has a personal talk with Luc, and gives him his Luck stone? Wow ... oh fuck, WISH?!!! Seriously? 5th Level Simulacrum ... so he's now CLONED himself ...

Yasha: "Whoa! There's no riding going on! Except on me ..."

"Beth"? Hmmmm ... typical teenage boy, clearly ...

Beau and Yasha and AT IT ... of course they do. And Fjord and Jester. Liam: "No-one more competitive than Laura Bailey."

Good night's rest ...

Beau finds TWO Calebs TWICE as insufferable ...

Luc chugs the weird Potion ... oh boy, what's this shit gonna do? Oh crap ...

Whoa ... wait, what ... oh no ... extra confidence? Oh that's not good ... crap ... Luc is DEFINITELY gonna be even more reckless now ...

Death Wards on both Luc AND Fjord, then ...

Crown of Stars? Crazy ...

Caleb 2 is now a sabertooth cat ... of course ...

And so now Caleb has come home ... group stealth check! Blessing of the Trickster to Yasha? And she doesn't even need it ... but Beau TANKS it ... at least everybody else rolls spectacular ...

Now what?

Ring of Telepathy ... and Trent is still insufferable ... and fucking NASTY with it too ...

This is just gonna be a fucking RECKONING ...

No ... Caleb, DO NOT say your fucking goodbyes right now ...

Assault of memories ... ouch ... this is just CRUEL ...

Two undead presences? Oh you fucking evil bastard ...

Jester goes in with Caleb ... Beau and Yasha go round back ...

"Uncle Deuce" ... Caduceus: "Oh, I'd forgotten about that ..."

The bastard REALLY HAS brought Caleb's parents back ... that's fucking monstrous ...

Insight check ... oh yeah, they're not right, definitely ...

Jester just goes STRAIGHT to Turn Undead ... and they BOTH fail? Fuck ... that's effective, at least ...

I'm sorry ... the house just EXPLODES?!!! Fuck ...

34 points of Fire damage? Oh wait ... no, Fjord has some protection! Nice ... just 17, then. Same for Jester, too ...

Well, they're definitely NOT his parents anymore ...

BATTLEMAP!!! YAY!!! Cue Sam's plug for Wizzkids ...

And ROLL FOR INITIATIVE!!!

Jester Invokes Duplicity! :3 Awwwww ... tiny voice Laura doing the Jester voice is adorable as she directs Matt ...

She attacks Trent with her Spiritual Weapon and HITS!!! Nice ... but it just MISSES him? WHAT?!!! Meanwhile while the duplicates scatter, she bolts out the door ...

Yasha Rages and bamfs out her wings for Radiant Soul! Nice ... charging in to get ready for attack next turn ...

Beau POWERWALKS inside ... and attacks Trent from behind ... but the punch does NOTHING?!!! Seriously, what the hell?

She attacks the dad ghoul instead ... POP POP!!! But it resists the Stun ... Flurry of BLOWS, then ... and Patient Defense.

A METEOR SWARM?!!! Seriously?

And that is just OUCH all round ... crap ... thank fuck for saves for most ... Caduceus takes THE FULL DAMAGE ... and so does Luc? Crap ... but he has Evasion? Oh, so just half, then ...

Fjord casts Hexblade's Curse on Trent, then throws FOUR Eldritch Blasts ... a miss on Trent, first misses on the dead dad, but the other 2 HIT!!! Boof-boof!

The undead back off but Beau gets an Attack of Opportunity ... daddy is FUCKED UP ...

Mind of Mercury? Nice, Beau! And she gets the first HDYWTDT! On the dad ... oh dear ... well, it's a mercy, really ...

Rapid Cast of Chain Lightning from Trent ... oh no, Caleb just Counterspells ... but he can't actually see him, so it misses? Ow ...

Shit ... Caleb is DOWN ...

Caleb 2 turns into a T-Rex! Okay then!

Death Save 1 fails? Oof ...

Luc casts See Invisibility ... Trent is ACTUALLY hiding behind the tree ... Laura: "Like a little bitch!"

Caduceus casts Mass Heal ... 100 each? Holy fuck ... that is all round a SWEET FUCKING SAVE!!!

Jester runs to find Trent ... Fortune's Favour? Nice ... something that doesn't need line of sight? So she just casts Anti-Magic Field his magic! Nice ... that's it, he's now REVEALED!!!

Yasha charges in best she can ... but she can't attack now ... crap ... so she just casts Zealous Presence and YELLS in his face while flowering everybody else ...

Beau charges in too and just SWINGS for him with her staff ... and TANKS the attack roll! Okay ... second strike ... Fortune's Favour! Oof ... Flurry of Blows! FINALLY hits ... 14 damage plus Stunning Strike ... but he shrugs it off ... then 17 and another Stunning Strike ... but he uses Legendary Resistance even though he Crit Fails ... Extract Aspects ... he's resistant to ALL magic? Interesting ...

Fuck, is he running? What is this thing? An artifact ... oh shit, is he changing? What's he doing?

Sam: "Guys, we're fighting Trent Ikithon in Wembley Stadium!"

Everybody's blasted back ...

An orb of black shadow is just growing ... and now he's just a great horrible black shadow creature ...

Whoa ... a SECOND Battlemap? Fuck ...

It's the whole town ... Trent is a FUCKING KAIJU!!! He's suckimg the life out of people and stuff ...

Hexblade's Curse! Go, Fjord!

Caleb stays prone, jnstead turns into Gelidon the Nightmare in Ivory? Whoa ... and Matt has the miniature ready! Wow ...

Caleb 2 charges in with Luc still on his Dino back ... but they keep a safe enough distance ...

Luc casts Enlarge on the T-Rex! Fuck ... Matt doesn't have a larger model for THAT ... Godzilla is now loose in the streets!

It attacks Fjord with a tendril ... Liam: "Keep your hentai out of this!"

Caduceus runs to Yasha ... Holy Weapon to her, so she has boosts to all her weaponry! Nice ...

Jester casts Gate to pull Artigan through in front of the creature. SHIT!!! And he is suitably SHOCKED by what she's got him into!

Arty casts Chain Lightning on it ... 38 points of lightning damage! Nice ...

Yasha charges in and attacks! Lots of damage maths, apparently ... 101 points of damage in ONE FUCKING HIT!!! The crowd goes wild! She attacks again! Another hit! 59 points this time! Bloody hell ...

Beau rushes in znd attacks ... Nat20! Yeah! And another hit! 19 damage, then 16! Flurry of Blows ... 20 misses? Oof ... Debilitating Damage? Oh, okay ... and now it's vulnerable to Ice Damage? Nice, Beau!

Oh fuck ... EVERYBODY takes 31 points of Necrotic damage? Ouch ... now it concentrates on Yasha ... Ire of Oblivion? Oof ... a Nat20 save? So she only takes 70 damage? Oh great ...

There's a weak spot? Okay then ...

Even Sentinel with a Nat20 doesn't stop it? Crap ...

Fjord takes 2 swipes with the Star Razor ... both hit! 42 points of damage, snd a Divine Smite for an extra 16! Nice ...

It responds with a Void Claw ... Fjord just hits the brakes and it just MISSES him ... phew!

Caleb just brings his whole dragon mass down on it and vomits ice into its face! 77 points of Ice Damage! Nice ... and he has a Frightening Presence? Okay then ...

Caleb 2-zilla bites the thing's arse ... no joy! Claw strike! Hits! 21 points, then 14!

Luc looks for the egg ... he casts Brenatto's Voltaic Bolt, then shoots the gun into the egg! 26 points of damage to the artifact! Okay ... that looks to be the sweet spot!

Caduceus prays to the Wildmother, makes the creature's ichor turn into ice ... now he can see through it to find out how it works ... he pulls out Yasha's Holy Weapon and inflicts 26 points of Radiant damage on the creature! Cool ...

Jester teams up with Arty to hold her spell with him ... Guiding Bolt with his Enhancement ... balls ... shit roll spoils the shot ... crap ...

Yasha flies up and goes RIGHT for the egg ... and misses! Agh! Reckless! Go again! Another miss! FUCK!!! Oh Fortune's Favour! Okay ... balls! That was ALMOST awesome ...

Beau RUNS UP the creature! Holy shit ... she tries go reach into the chest snd tear the egg free ... strength check! Marisha: "WITNESS ME!!! NATURAL 20!!!" The crowd EXPLODES!!!

Matt: "Beauregard Lionett, how do you want do this?" AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

She tears the egg free, which pulls Trent into it, throws it into Caleb's mouth, and he BITES IT TO FUCK!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Caleb has his vengeance at long last ... the survivors of the town applaud (as does the crowd). Nice ...

Jester congratulates Arty for saving the day ... oh flattery ... he gushes in response ... then she drags him into helping with the clean-up ...

The Calebs return to normal, Caleb sends what's left of the egg into some kind of nether realm. Then they big Luc up a bit, while still zlso grounding him.

Fuck ... Fjord just PROPOSED TO JESTER!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! Matt: "You motherfucker!" Jester OF COURSE accepts ...

Caleb's cats prepare a feast for all, and there is celebration, but only a small victory against the larger backdrop of CHAOS from the Apogee Solstice ...

And that's it! Everybody takes a bow!

Well, this was a whole hell of a lot more epic than usual ... but altogether just the AWESOME reunion we wanted. I just hope it won't be the LAST time ...

[practically-an-x-man]

random question- do you headcanon any x-men characters as neurodivergent?

Oooooh man don't get me started-

The short version is, yes. I think there are a lot of characters that are coded as neurodiverse in some way or another, more characters where the manifestation of their mutations could be an allegory for neurodivergency, and even some "lighter" headcanons that I wouldn't want to see in canon but think have good storytelling potential outside of it.

It's a common headcanon that Scott is autistic, and I agree with it. I also think Hank is autistic, but it manifests differently in him than in Scott. I also headcanon that Scott gets chronic migraines, though I'm not sure whether that qualifies as neurodivergency or not.

Prodigy is AuDHD for sure, just by the nature of his powers - he collects skills, takes a new hobby and learns as much as he possibly can about it, masters it, then ends up dropping it and moving on to the next one? I know AuDHD is more than just that, but as someone who does the same thing, it definitely speaks to me and I think he's a good character to reflect that.

Peter Maximoff absolutely has ADHD, he's basically ADHD incarnate.

Erik has PTSD six ways from Sunday, I don't think that one even qualifies as a headcanon. Logan also has PTSD, along with Forge and most/all of the mutants who were drafted into the Vietnam War in DOFP (Alex Summers, Toad, etc.)

I do headcanon Dazzler as having some form, maybe multiple forms, of synesthesia. It could be comorbid with her mutation itself, given her abilities are to change one form of sensory input into a different form of sensory input, and that's effectively what synesthesia is within the brain. In general, I subscribe to the idea of superpowers that genuinely affect multiple aspects of a person's life - it's not just a press-a-button power to turn on, it's woven into their mind and body and genuinely affects how they interact with the world.

I also think any telepath would have to qualify as neurodivergent, given their view on the world is innately impacted by processing the thoughts of everyone around them. I don't know that there would be a specific "label" for what they experience, and I think it varies from person to person, but it's definitely a form of neurodivergency.

I also feel like clone characters are innately neurodivergent, especially in relation to developmental or age-related disorders. Studies of actual cloned animals tell us that they're more prone to neurological conditions and tend to develop age-related mental and physical disorders much earlier than they should, so I think there should be at least some sort of reflection in mutant clones like Laura Kinney. Healing factor of course would negate some of the effects, but I could see her with dyslexia or dyscalculia, or perhaps some form of memory disorder. And of course, in Logan (2017) she has a sort of selective mutism tied to trauma, which could be an neat thing to explore in writing her even outside the context of the movie.

I think there are a lot of characters that would be interesting to explore if they had some form of neurodivergency, even if it's not my headcanon for the canon character. These aren't necessarily what I'd want to see from canon, but I think it brings dimension to their stories and could be neat to explore how it interacts with their mutations.

I mean, it would be neat to see Husk with some form of sensory issues, since it would bind up with her mutation in an interesting way and could make for a cool plot. Take her mutation as a metaphor for dermatillomania, where picking at her skin becomes shedding her skin as her mutation manifests, which at best is unpleasant and at worst could be outright dangerous.

And it would be interesting to explore schizophrenia or psychosis in Magik, especially from a social perspective, since her manipulation of Limbo would no doubt be seen as a psychotic episode by others around her (angsty, but a strong metaphor for the hoops actual people with those conditions have to jump through to get recognized), and even from her own perspective it would be interesting to see how she learns to separate her actual, tangible mutation from the things she might experience with her neurological conditions.

[dhampiravidi]

my review of deadpool & wolverine

spoilers under the cut!

Overall, I liked it. I'll give it a 7/10.

OK so, I didn't make it through ANY of the Deadpool films w/o falling asleep & not bc I'm narcoleptic. I just got bored, which SUCKS bc Wade's my favorite Marvel character (at least in the comics/other media). I had hopes for this movie only bc of the lead actors' commitment to their characters & bc putting them in what's essentially a buddy cop movie was smart as fuck. At the same time...the MCU hasn't put out a satisfactory movie (aka 1 w/o plot holes or simply disappointing bits) since...maybe Winter Soldier? Eh, I don't remember. ANYWAY!

Considering that I didn't really see Deadpool 3, it was fairly easy for me to understand the beginning. Yes, I was a little confused at first, because I didn't know that he time-traveled & ALSO hopped universes...but I figured it out eventually. I like that they made his motivations 1) saving his found family & 2) wanting to do something worthwhile. That being said, I never wanted Deadpool to have a love interest unless it was maybe Shiklah or Lady Deadpool bc they actually DO "match his crazy" & they're interesting on their own. I also didn't know who "Pete" was until I looked him up, bc MCU!Pete isn't the same as comics!Pete. I'm used to poor fucking Bob from HYDRA 😅

Onto more plot...I knew as soon as that guy introduced himself as "Mr. Paradox", he'd be evil, bc the whole point of time is that you don't want paradoxes (if that wasn't clear). I got confused thinking that Wade was from a different universe than Logan* SO that made me think Wade was his own timeline's anchor being...yeah I realized that wouldn't make sense. The fight scene w/the TVA people was a little long but satisfying, at least in that it was as bloody & creative as a Deadpool fight scene should be.

I got worried when they mentioned The Void, bc I only made it through a few episodes of Loki before I got bored & confused. I can keep comic timelines straight if you let me read through & get to know each Earth individually, but not the way the MCU deals out timeline lore. HOWEVER, it was decent! I already knew about the Johnny cameo (stupid headline spoiler) but I was happy for Chris Evans (especially during the end credits scene) & I liked the Mad Max reference. The end credits scene was especially important bc Deadpool doesn't usually hand people over to be killed unless doing so will prevent HIM from getting into a lot of trouble. He's a merc who WILL & DOES kill, but typically he lets innocent people go.

Fuck Nicepool for being boring (but I think that was the point) & no, I did not like Channing Tatum's Gambit (I know he's from Louisiana but I HOPE that accent was bad on purpose, the headpiece was too chonky & I am loyal to the canon film Gambit *blushes*). That aside, I absolutely loved what we got of Laura, Elektra & Blade. Loved their fight scene, even though it sucked to see them go.

Cassandra Nova was appropriately sociopathic, as per the comics. I kept screaming for them to kill her, bc I KNEW she wasn't gonna turn good all of a sudden, but it made sense why she let them survive. I don't know HOW she can stick her hand into someone's head w/o killing them while they STILL feel pain (or how she didn't die after being stabbed; IDK maybe they're saying she telekinetically healed herself?). I liked how they brought back the Doctor Strange finger-thingy (wait, so does that mean the TVA has a constant problem of amateur magic-users going into different timelines on accident??).

As a comics fan, I was SO EXCITED seeing all the Deadpool variants. There were a bunch of references to Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, which is where (if you don't know) a version of Deadpool is psychically attacked. But instead of being brainwashed, his thought boxes (which act as his companions & consciences) disappear, only for him to realize that he's in a comic. Yes, he usually breaks the 4th wall. The problem is, he reasons that his friends keep suffering for the amusement of our world, so the only way to stop the cycle is to kill all the heroes, THEN kill the people who write the comic. ANYWAY! Killpool (I think that's what he's called) ends up getting confronted by mainstream/Good!Deadpool, who's assembled a Deadpool Corps of AU-Deadpools to fight all of the OTHER recruited Deadpools. Said DPs on the good side include Kidpool, Headpool (zombie head) & Lady Deadpool.

In other words, I rioted upon seeing all these versions who definitely have some cool backstories. When Logan & Wade went through them, I got pissed OFF ("wtf why didn't they heal?"). I thought they were gonna debate needing to kill Babypool (adorable), when everyone started waking up. I also liked how they showed someone growing back limbs, which is important considering the whole regenerative factor.

I do wonder how antimatter reacting w/matter didn't blow up the whole underground + 10005's version of New York or wherever, but there's always a plot hole. Besides, they've had lots of alien attacks. Maybe they build their undergrounds like nuclear bomb shelters.

All in all, 7/10.

*Is this Logan/Wade's universe the Fox movie universe? Bc we saw Captain Marvel's buddy, aka MVP of the shitty CM2, land there...so I assume the Fox universe is fine...but it CAN'T be THIS MOVIE's universe, bc their Logan wouldn't be that old! Also Logan isn't as old as Wade, but I'm pretty sure Wade shouldn't be chronologically just 30...? IDK if that was implied. TL;DR my precious Fox universe is fine. Thank you, nostalgia, The Good X-Men Casting & poor beloved misused Taylor Kitsch!Gambit + Anna Paquin!Rogue 😭

[monsieuroverlord]

Wolverine #48 Spoilers (and also heavy ranting):

It was boring.

Somehow, even LESS happened than the past two issues.

I mean, what even is the plot at this point? What are the character motivations?

Laura made her grand escape, which was nice. But also, why would Graydon or "Bad Seed" even be interested in her in the first place?

His main interest is his father, yes?

I guess he does hate mutants in general, but if I were him, I would've intentionally let her escape so she could lead me to the main fight.

Also, what was even the point of attacking the bears? Logan literally said "don't kill them" and immediately stabbed one. Master hunter-tracker wild man couldn't go around? lead them away? Bears are generally skittish and don't really go out of their way to attack people unless provoked. UNLESS they're food-conditioned by raiding dumpsters and such, but this is in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. There's no people food to eat.

Logan disabled one -- which is usually a death sentence in the wild by the way. And that's assuming it ran away after Logan did that. But usually they would fight back after fucking stabbing them.

Nekra fucking flipped one and presumably knocked it out (???) Third Eye put the third one to sleep.

Also also, grizzly bears are solitary. If that was supposed to be a mother and two cubs, the cubs are WAY too big to be with their mama still.

Those bears were depicted as well-muscled/well-fed/basically NOT starving at all. They wouldn't be that attack-happy over a fish (maybe a bit protective over a huge carcass, but my point still stands). I mean, assuming you don't walk right up to them! They'd make some bear threats first, in which an experienced hunter with keen animal-like senses *cough cough* would know to back off.

Keep your distance and you're good. They literally had to walk quite a distance further for that stupid bunker. Literally just go around. No need for this.

I'm sorry, this isn't how bears work at all. They can be territorial, but an experienced woodsman would know how to avoid the conflict. Especially since they weren't even caught unaware by said bears.

And the narrative around Logan remains redundant:

When will I be free of this?

THEY DO THIS EVERY TIME HE LOSES HIS HEALING FACTOR!

Last time he went on an introspective monologue like this, he went on a grand death tour and got got encased in molten adamantium! Then Laura became Wolverine :)

But they do this every time. Nothing about these plot choices are original, or even a fresh retelling of a Wolverine-esque story. It's not even vaguely interesting. At best, they're the safe choice, but I think its just lazy and lacks direction.

How the fuck is it a relief? How the fuck are you a "walking carcass?" You don't even have that cool eye scar anymore.

Also, your fucking son had a healing factor and STILL died. How do you think he feels about that, hm?

It irritates me especially because Aki isn't even mentioned beyond those preview pages. For all that shock value they did, and he still ends up being a passing thought.

I am repeatedly banging my head against a wall, I swear.

(Send Aurora in to smack him around a little. It's greatly needed).

Anyway, Laura made her grand escape by lowerng defenses to alert the sentinels and Bad Seed Graydon was able to hack them. X-Force was also alerted to the situation and Black Tom is using his veg powers to grow a rescue ship.

I guess this could lead up to a Graydon vs. Laura situation? Kid vs kid? But I don't know anymore. The plot is all over the place.

Creed ended up being encased in a sort of psuedo-egg as well, but burst out of it.

We don't see anything beyond that, but maybe he was transformed somehow? Maybe he's weaker? stronger? who knows.

I am disappointed. I wanted the seed to do something a bit more than this. There's still time, I guess. But I remain disappointed for now.

MAJOR MAJOR SPOILER PAGE:

The armor makes its first appearance.

And because fuck it, we're getting a muramasa blade too.

I hate it here.

Hurry up with all of the ressurections. I stand even firmer in my belief that this Sabretooth War should count as one of those "Orchis Purges" and Aki, and all the other dead mutants should be ressurected as such from the White Hot Room. Graydon was able to hijack one, its close enough! We don't need to argue semantics here, just ressurect everyone please and thank you

[snkts]

“Okay… so. I have to be more strategic?” Josh had said one late summer afternoon, squinting down at his failed tactics paper. As it turns out, “throw a wolverine at it” isn’t the solution for all x-men problems. “I mean, what am I gonna do? Heal the robots to death? How is this not a Wolverine problem.”

He sighs and flips the paper over, face pillowed in his hand as he rereads the parameters of the mission again. This time ever so slightly more focused.

“… okay. So what if… half of the team distracts them, and then the other half takes out the repair bots. No repair, no second health bar, no exhausted X-Men. We should always take out the healer. Right?”

He’d looked up then, beaming in the way only a sixteen year old without the weight of the world on his shoulders can. Easy and carefree

It’s hard to believe how different he looks now. His eyes oh so wide and full of fear as the lesson is turned against him.

They take out the healer.

the killing blow happens quick. it always does, slow enough to see but not enough to stop. in seconds Josh’s fate is sealed, his golden skin washing pale as the mutant cure finds its mark. he’s glad it’s him, he thinks. him and not laura, or rahne, or that little girl from that distant future.

but the dying is slow.

fighting tooth and nail to combat this invader, the boy persists through the fight. and onward, collapsing against proudstar’s chest and spitting blood. he lives long enough to get home, to the infirmary, yet he is dying all the same.

And even in this the focus is on his use to them — a case study on how this this so-called cure takes hold.

it’s slow.

but there’s one figure at his side. perhaps if he were of sharper mind he’d ask himself why, why he was quarantined and dying far from home, if his friends knew, if he’s contagious or a risk and if it was even safe for Logan to be this close - but in the moment all he can think is he’s glad he’s not alone.

he’s hazy most days. unable to speak in the worst of it. his unique physiology is in a stalemate, holding fast. an iron wall meeting and immovable object.

his hazy eyes meet his teacher’s. dry lips parting in a aching question.

“h-how much longer?”

@ncrosha

It was a funny paper. Not a correct one, but it was funny. He'd gotten a good chuckle out of it. Kinda flattering, too - so he'd taken a moment to enjoy that. And then he'd called Josh in to discuss it.

"Thanks, kid." He'd grinned, sitting back in his seat. "I'm flattered. And I'm not saying I couldn't handle it," he sets the papers down and taps them with his fingers. "But I'm not always gonna be around. I might be on another mission, or dealin' with another problem. You gotta think of what you'd do without me." And then he'd sat back and listened. Watched as Josh put the pieces together, and grinned and nodded at the response.

"Now you're gettin' it." He said, folding his arms on the desk as he sat forward again. "Next thing is to think about who you're gonna send on what team. So, looking at the outline again..." And they'd talked, and worked through it, and planned, until Josh had put together a good strategy. The kid had smiled so big when he'd gotten his updated grade. He'd been so proud of himself. He'd worked so hard.

And now he was here. Lying in a bed, wasting away. And all Logan can think is 'no'.

No.

No, not Elixir. Not Josh. Not like this. He'd told them not to send the kids out. He'd told them. He'd told them to keep the kids back, they're too young, they're not combat ready, send him, he'll deal with it, but not the goddamn kids-!

Because this was going to happen. He'd known this was a possibility, and he hadn't done enough to stop it. And now Josh was dying.

No, it was worse than that. He was stuck. Trapped in bed, trapped in the room, trapped in a body that was failing him, but could never let go completely. Suffering without end. A cyclical torture.

He was just a kid.

Logan sat looking at Josh again, but there was no funny essay this time. No lesson to teach, no fixing the mistake. Just a dying young man in an infirmary. The body in the bed almost didn't look like him. The gold of his skin is washed out and pale, his eyes are glazed and unfocused, his hair is limp and dry. Barely more than a corpse. His heartbeat flutters, his lungs rattle, and his voice rasps barely over a whisper. On the cusp of eternity, but his powers, his body, his 'gift' won't let him die.

...

But Logan can help him.

There's only so much Josh's gift can fight off, apparently, and Logan can help him. Josh is in agony, endless agony, and Logan can help him. Josh can't die and Logan can help him.

He's in pain, and Logan can make it stop.

"Not much, kid." He says, standing and smoothing Josh's hair back. There's a sick feeling in his gut as he makes his decision - but it's what's best for the kid. It's what will make Josh's pain end.

He turns and strides out of the room, fists clenched to gather his resolve. He can do this. He has to.

"Get me an IV." He says to whoever's in the room. They all look at him with owlish eyes.

"What?" Someone says, and he thinks it might be Hank, but his pulse is already pounding in his ears in anticipation of the NO STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING that adrenaline is preparing for him.

Needles piercing flesh. Drills, saws.

"My blood." Logan repeats, waving his hand in a circular motion to show he's looking for an explanation. "It gives people my factor, right? Temporarily?"

Sensors embedded deep.

"Well, yes, but-"

The lingering taste of stasis fluid on his tongue, coating his throat.

"And it adapts. And I already had that shit." He points back to the door he'd just come out of. "So you're gonna get me an IV, and we're gonna pump that kid full of it 'til he's back on his feet."

Give me the readings, Doctor-

Weapon X functioning at full capacity, sir.

"And you're gonna do it right fucking now."

Good. Begin injection process.

... If it's for the kid, he can handle it.

[nerd-at-sea5]

'i spent my teen in rage, spiralin' in silence' (ao3 link)

title from 'seventeen going under' by sam fender - pt 2 here, pt 3 here

van and nat grow up together, they know one another better than anyone else on the team bar maybe jackie and shauna. however as they grow up, new situations and feeling arise. they don’t want to leave each other, in fact maybe they’re terrified to do so, this isn’t a healing friendships fic. this is how even when everything is set up for them to fall apart, the strings of love that have tied them together since childhood become in unbreakable.

a myriad of snippets showing how once they bonded, there way no way they would let go. contains; shitty dads, a lot of lesbianism, natalie decks someone (twice) (van gets a good hit in as well), coach ben contemplating why he became a coach in the first place, van dosent know how to stop laughing during serious situations, tai is super confused a lot of the time, and laura lee might be the most mentally stable out of all of them (lottie has stopped disagreeing due to recent events)

van uses they/them bc i do and i say so >:) (she/they nat that may become they/them nat in later fics but who knows)

cw - drinking/drugs, suicide ideation/attempt, self harm, guns, slurs, descriptions of gore, dead body(ies), attempted sexual assault

wilderness scenes takes place somewhere in the middle of s1e7 and s1e10 (laura lee is alive i love her) pov switching more than....i can't come up with a pun here, lots of pov swaps, also. nat's jewish <3 (to me) and that shows up here, don't like it-don't read it.

they're 4 years old when they meet. just about the age where they can sit on the couch and draw while their moms get high outside (that's the real reason natalie's over, if they're being honest).

her mother knocks on the door, and a small redhead peaks out from behind their mother's legs, a small hand with an even smaller wave, but natalie scatorccio is nothing if not energetic, eager to make the friends she’s never had in preschool, "hi! i'm natalie!" she practically runs into the house, not hearing their mother's sigh, the "she's always like this, little spaztic." (after all, they've been hearing it every other day) and the redhead breaks into a grin, missing tooth from running into the doorframe on display, "nat-lee?" "that's what my daddy calls me, natty! you can do it too, i don't mind!" "i'm vanessa." their smile wavers, and natalie scrunches her face up, "can i call you van?"

and when van's face splits into a massive smile, they nod, grabbing the other's hand and racing into their room to show off their cars.

---------

they're 8 years old when van's grandpa dies. nat dosen't fully get what it means-funerals, she knows death-but she knows that van came to school with teary eyes and said that they want her to be there.

that week in sunday school, they learn the mourners kaddish (natalie finds it painfully situational).

she has to walk herself to van's house because her dad is drunk and yelling at their mom when they sneak out the front door, dressed in an old faded black t-shirt and black jeans that they hoped would be appropriate.

when they get to the palmer's house, the door is open, and there's way too many people for natalie to be comfortable with, so she shakes out her hands to get rid of the weird feeling, and runs up to van's room as fast as she can.

"van?" they're sitting on their bed, tears slipping down their face, a black lump of fabric laying on their bed. "why aren't you dressed?"

"my...my mom said i hafta-" they cough, "to wear a dress. i don’t wanna. i don’t-i dunno why, i just don’t.”

nat considers this, thinking long and hard for an eight year old, and then firmly decides that-"that's stupid. here, take my clothes, we can swap." and proceeds to pull off their shirt and pants, handing it to van, who's teary face manages a smile, "thanks natty." the two pause, holding each others clothes, before van laughs, a missing tooth grin "i like your clothes."

natalie grins back, pulling the dress over their head, "i don't like this very much, it's scratchy. i can't run." she pauses, shivers at the texture, nerves crossing over van's face, "i can suck it up. just for you."

the hug van wraps her in is worth an uncomfortable dress, "i love you." "i love you too, van."

---------

van is 12 years old when they decide to join soccer.

and since they know nat needs a reason to leave the house, they manage to convince her to join.

"i am seriously going to punch you if you make me do this."

"you'd punch me no matter what, c'mon natty, it'll be fun!"

even with the complaints, van still watches while nat-normally doing a hundred things at once-is completely focused on a single task.

they find themselves face to face with a taller girl, her curly black hair pulled back as she sprints forward, tapping the ball back and forth as she lines up a shot on goal, twenty feet away, then fifteen, then ten, then-

she kicks, and van throws their small body harder than ever before, slamming their hand into the ball and curling inward onto themself, landing on the grass with a thud.

they pop up, grinning like a madman, while nat jumps up and down, dark hair falling in her eyes as she cheers, van matches, colliding with her.

the curly haired girl sticks out a hand, "taissa turner, that was a good save."

van's to busy wondering why their mouth stopped working as they spit out, "i'm vanes-van. van palmer, thanks." to notice nat's face has dropped, fear coating her eyes as van clasps taissa's hand, smiling.

"nice to meet you," it's practiced, van notes-the way taissa turns to nat and extends the same hand, nat's bad at keeping friends, good at making them. "natalie scatorccio." the kindness in their voice is forced only to van.

van snorts as taissa's eyes widen-nat always manages to throw people off by introducing herself as 'natalie'. (something about how it sounds fancier than she is, or at least that what jackie jokes).

they elbow her, "they go by nat, she's just a dick. natty, stop being a dick." and taissa's face molds back into the smile, giggling-only van can hear nat's "never, i'm a dick expert." van's heart jumping to their throat before they pinch her. (nat seems to warm up to taissa as the days go on)

---------

nat's 14 when she gets high for the first time.

jackie taylor was having a team party, and in a moment of pure insanity, nat stole her dad's weed.

they pulled van aside a little after everyone was settled, "i might have fucked up."

"is this a 'van i need you to cover for me while i put something i stole back' or a 'van i need you to hide a body' kind of 'i fucked up'?"

nat laughs, "no, dumbass, i stole my dad's pot." van's face drops, "no fucking way."

but she pulls it out, a few joints already made that hopefully won't end that badly for her, and all it takes is a glance back at the rest of the team before the two are running out to jackie's tire swing (the one shauna shipman broke her arm on last year). and she's grabbing the lighter from her pocket.

being high is funny. everything seems a little weirder, but nat kind of likes it, it makes them feel calm-their brain constantly racing through everything, but this...natalie can hear their own thoughts for the first time in, well, ever.

she's not sure she likes it, she dosen't like a lot of things, their dad, most classes at school....natalie isn't sure she even likes most people.

van's the exception. van's always been there. van'll always be there.

they knock into van's shoulder, who's been staring at the windows for the past twenty minutes.

"dude, you good?"

"i-uh." van's voice is lodged in their throat, and natalie blinks a few times before turning over, a silent "are you ok?" written on her face.

"natty...nat. nat, i like girls."

nat blinks again, "who doesn't?"

"no-nat." and she doesn't get it, doesn't everyone like girls? like the way their smiles are always so much softer than boys? like the way on the rare occasion she lets them, they hold her so much lighter? "i like girls how you like boys."

"i don't like boys." "natalie!"

she's pissed off now, "vanessa!" and they almost fall as they clamor off the tire swing, "you fucking idiot-i'm telling you i want to kiss girls, not that i don't think boys are fun to hangout with!" van is practically tearing up, and with a start, natalie realizes exactly what they were trying to do, "oh. oh shit-"

van lets out a shaky breath, and nat's brain starts racing again, overcoming the haze from the weed.

"that's not...that's not something everyone wants?" her own voice sounds much to small in her head, muted, like she’s speaking from behind glass, and even smaller when van shakes their head.

"no. it's not."

she swallows hard, "then i guess that makes two of us."

---------

when van is 15 years old, they see a dead body for the first time.

after weeks of hyping themself up, and nat teasing them in class, they managed to get their shit together enough to ask taissa if she'd like to see a movie together (as friends. duh.)

it ends up being beetlejuice, back in theaters for some reason or another, not that van cares-nat showed up at their house earlier-walking back to her house with kevyn tan, and handed van 20$ with a shady grin that van just knows means she did not get this safely or intelligently. (nat also threw a condom at them. van threw a book in return.)

and taissa said yes, but she's choosing the movie. van could care less what they saw.

so they paied for popcorn and soda and candy, feeling all floaty-like whenever they get high with nat. granted, van didn't like being high that much, it was a once every other month kind of thing for them.

the theater is dark, and van's only half paying attention to the movie-taissa keeps jolting on all the cheep jump scares, eventually she hands van the popcorn, pushing their hair back to whisper in their ear-ignoring or just not seeing how van's entire body stilled-"please keep this i think i'll tip it over."

when not five minutes later taissa grabs van's hand, and van is silently thanking whatever god there is that this theater is dark because oh my actual fucking god.

on their way out they tease her for it, "really, the silly demon?" "shut up, he's kind of scary!" "no, tai. he's really not-" and if tai's blushing even a little...van's smiling harder than they ever thought possible.

that's when the sirens go off, the ambulance speeding down the street, past the houses and down the road to....

"fuck."

taissa looks confused, van can feel panic invading their bones, their brain jumping to the worst conclusion-it's not her. a bunch of people live there. the trailer park always has the cops there for one reason or another.

she's fine, she's fine-kevyn tan is outside the liquor store breathing like he's just run a mile, terror coating his face.

"fuck, fuck-taissa-i'm so sorry, i have to go, here-" they hand her the rest of the candy and another apology before springing as fast as they can after the ambulance, leaving taisssa confused and heartsick outside the theater.

van's heart nearly falls to their feet when they see a black tarp covering....someone. the grass is stained red when they get there, and a cop flings his arm out before van can run up the stairs.

"get off me!"

"hey, hey kid calm down-"

van wriggles until he lets go, and there's tears pouring down their face as they stare around wildly, "who-who is it? tell me, please!"

his face calms a little, "shane."

they collapse on the floor, sick relief flooding-she's ok. thank god they're ok. "where-where's nat. natalie, where is she?"

they can feel an arm pulling them up, "c'mere kiddo.”and he walks them to one of the cop cars.

van can see vera, tears steaming down her face and red on her hands, waving madly at the cops, van caught the words 'unexpected', 'spaz' and 'insane'. another cop standing next to a dark haired girl, silently staring at the black tarp with wide, shell-shocked eyes.

"NAT!" van stops themself before crashing into her, nat's touch reservations still holding prominent, before the taller collapses into van, sobbing uncontrollably into their shoulder.

the two sink to the floor, van holding onto their friend as tight as they could ever, they watch as the body is lifted to the ambulance, they don't turn away in time as the deputy or whoever the hell he is lifts the tarp and whistles.

van's eyes catch, shane's eye and half his fucking head gone, blown off, blood still dripping, flecks of brain matter. they swallow down the popcorn and fanta that threatens to arise, whispering into nat's hair, "what the fuck happened....?"

---------

nat is 16 when she starts to slip away from the person van's known basically their entire life.

they're still there when van calls them at 3am because they're shaking so hard they can't move, or when they come to school with scrapes on their face from the bottle their mom threw the night before, she still patches them up in the locker room with soft hands and a brightly colored band aid.

natalie's always there, but it's becoming less and less.....natalie.

they get into a fight, their first real one in possibly ever, and when nat goes home she nearly puts her fist through the wall because of it. it wasn't even a real fight, it was pathetic.

it's been six months-six months of ignoring the increased whispers in the halls, six months of passing her classes only because the teachers feel bad, six months of kevyn and charlie treating her like she's glass.

six months of working themself so hard at soccer that when nat gets home she doesn't even have the energy to think.

it's better than the other alternatives she's tried. the ones that leave white lines on pale skin, and make showering sting.

they liked the blonde. it changed during the first month, van helped-neither of them could smell for a week after, but she liked it. it felt safer than the others, but still stung for a little bit when it was setting.

they win their first game of the season, natalie's pass to taissa passing smoothly through the other team members legs, taissa sprinting up and tapping it to lottie who sends the ball sailing over the goalie's head and into the corner of the net.

they cheer their way back into the locker room, and a warm sense of pride spreads through nat's chest for the first time in six months.

they're so happy that everything that's been pressing down feels like it's taken a break, left her mind, let them forget. it's floating away like a balloon, up up.....gone.

lottie mathews is holding onto their shoulders and shaking them as someone slams a tape into the player, and music starts blasting and natalie's grinning harder than she knew they could, blushing unnatrually hard at the attention from the tall girl (lottie’s always loved dancing with natalie, why does it feels so weird this time?)

van's arm is looping around their shoulders, nat's hands hooking around their waist.

they feel like a kid. like when they'd climb as high as she could in the trees and it felt like no one would ever be as high, that the world was wherever she could see-nothing else mattered.

"we fuckin' did it natty, we fuckin' did it!!"

and everything comes crashing, slamming back onto her. pinning their lungs and holding them underwater, dousing the flame with gallons of water with every click of the lighter.

images flick through her head like a screwed up slide show and all natalie can see is her dad's body, her mother's hands and dress slowly overtaken.

she can't see anything else. she can smell the metallic tang and hear the ringing in their ears.

before they know what she's doing, van is pressed against a locker, natalie's hands holding down their wrists, misty's slammed a hand on the 'pause' button, laura lee's jaw wide open. shauna let’s out a soft ‘woah-’ and taissa freezes.

natalie's breathing hard, fighting to keep van's face in front of her, the echo is getting louder with each heartbeat.

"don't. call me that." they manage to force out, sounding much harder than they had wanted, it sounds mean, cold. maybe that's better.

"ever again."

and as they turn away, van's hands connecting with their back in a soft shove, not hard enough to do any damage, some hidden creature inside natalie's chest explodes out.

"what the fuck is your problem, nat?!"

"you!" she spins, stalking up to van, who's face contorts from confusion to defense, "you and that stupid fucking nickname! alright? so just shut the hell up about it!"

they stalk out of the locker room, not missing lottie's worried face or jackie's mutter of "jesus fuck, that girl's a spaz."

eventually they managed to not hit any walls, and insted found the boys at one of the football guy's houses, not that nat really enjoyed football boys, but it's free alcohol and a chance to forget everything she said, everything they didn't mean.

sitting on a windowsill with a shitty bottle of beer, their mind replaying every moment of it, the guilt coming back over and over.

she didn't know why she snapped, but they knew they had to say sorry, say sorry and fix this, somehow. van would get it, they always got it. nat rarely got mad at them, but they were always mad at someone. van was always mad at their mom. nat got it.

"hey, hey."

nat looked up, a boy in a letterman jacket with an annoyingly bright grin that made him look like the hot boy in every teen romcom movie that laura lee picked whenever it was her choice at movie night had his hand on top of the window, beer in hand. he was grinning directly down at her.

something about him made nat want to gag. it was probably his face. something else about him made nat want to run out of her own skin. also probably his face.

she nods in his direction before going back to staring out the window.

"what're you doing here all alone?"

"does it matter?"

he grinned again, and nat's hand instinctively went to her pocket, intending to close around the swiss army knife.

insted, the boys hand shot out and held her wrist in place, inches away from the knife.

"let go."

he leaned down, she could smell the beer on his breathe, could feel her own speeding up. she still had one arm.

"not until you give me a kiss."

"what the fuck, man? i don't even know you."

natalie twisted, intending to land a knee in his groin, but insted her back slammed painfully into the wall, and his entire body pressed against hers.

"i said let go, fucker!"

he laughed, and that thing that had exploded only hours before formed again, reared it's head up again-pulling out their free wrist from their back, and as the boy leaned impossibly closer, slammed into the side of his cheek.

"CRAZY FUCKING BITCH!" it came out with flecks of spit and blood, but she only pulled back again and struck him in the same place, the creature screaming in pride, again, again, again, again-

"NATALIE!"

the creature vanished, crawling back, away, hiding again inside of nat, the boy did the same, crawling to his feet and running into a new room, adjusting his pants as he did so.

nat turned, heart leaping into her throat as she saw lottie staring daggers in the direction of the boy, and then turning to give a soft smile at nat, "are you alright?"

"i-uh. mhm."

lottie gave her a funny look, and natalie had the strange feeling that her entire body was being x-rayed, lottie scanning through to see everything, read their entire person.

"you're bleeding."

she was right, nat's knuckles had split, it was barley anything, but lottie still took them by the hand and lead them into the bathroom.

"what happened?"

some part of natalie couldn't even attempt to lie to her. by the end of the story, however-lottie looked relived, "at least you're ok." she smiled, and natalie blinked.

"fuck."

lottie's smile wavered, "what?"

"nothing. why are you here?"

the taller girl shrugged, "van wanted to come but tai was busy so now i'm here."

natalie winced, weather from surprise or the soap and water lottie was gently rubbing over their knuckles, she didn't know.

"van's here?"

lottie nodded, "mhm. i can get them if you want, i think they'd like to talk to you."

nat blinked, trying to keep a straight face as her mind ran through outcome after outcome after outcome. what if van hated them? what if they never wanted to talk again?

"yeah. alright, whatever."

the other smiled, "i'm glad." and then bent down to kiss natalie's knuckles.

natalie froze, a weird sensation flooding through their entire body, landing in their chest and spreading out to her cheeks and hands, heating up her face, "it's what i always see them do in movies whenever someone's hurt." lottie pauses, considers, "the romance ones at least. i figured it couldn't hurt."

nat nodded slowly, "mhm." as lottie left with a smile, off to find van. nat slowly stood up and glances at her reflection in the mirror, her entire face was pink, "what the fuck?"

the door opens again, and van trips in backward, "lottie what the actual fu-nat?"

the door clicks shut, and the mask that nat's had up for months gets torn down in a second.

"i'm so sorry-i shouldn't have shoved you or sworn at you or-"

it all comes flooding out, and in the middle of it, natalie's hit with the realization; the only person she's ever apologized to, genuinely at least-screaming cries of 'i'm sorry' don't really count when it's aimed at natalie's parents-is van.

"nat!" she stops, as van's all too familiar smile swims back into place, "you're still going through a lot of shit. i know you don't want to admit it, or anything really, but you're a kid." natalie scoffs, and van gives her a look, "and i keep thinking you're changing and of course you are. i'm not mad at you, yeah i kinda wanted to slap you but i'm not mad. ok i'm not that mad. i'm definitely pissed, but we're cool."

natalie hesitates for a second, then smiles, "when the hell did you get so smart?"

van blushes, "hanging out with taissa is doing something fucked to my brain-she actually likes studying."

"just studying, hm?" nat's smirk is back in it's normal place, and van knocks into their shoulder, "says the flamingo after lottie was in here."

"dude. that...i think she broke me."

"really? how the every loving fuck did charlotte matthews break you?

"she's like....magic?"

"how high are you right now?

"no i'm serious it's so weird. she kissed my knuckles after bandaging them."

"nat you are a giant fucking dyke."

"says you."

[katyspersonal]

Wait why do you mean Asthon (your vicar oc) is cut content?! Bro is real? Like really real?! Wait you got me curious. (or is it just about the fact that we don't know in detail the other vicars? I personally headcanon the woman praying in the grand cathedral of the nightmare as (one) the Vicar between Laurence and Amelia)

Argh, well, it is complicated! Yes, he is very OC-ish, but the thing is, this name WAS featured in cut content:

( x )

Basically, at some point, the names were switched, and Willem was called Laurence, the scholar that detracted from him was called Ashton, when actual Willem was also 'husk of Micolash', when there was also another face featured, called Herbert (Norbert in English)! Like, I think you know most of the cut content by now, but yeah, some names are obscure.

(It is also this same site in which I've learned that Norbert's name was also mistranslated! ヘルベルト is 'Heruberuto', and Lance McDolands also noticed that before in this ( x ) Tweet!)

You might recognise the first dialogue, too! Micolash has some voice files for cut dialogue ( x ), it was a little mistranslated, hence I am using this Japanese site, but the gist is still here!

So, yeah... Ashton and Herbert are the only names mentioned across the cut content that appear to be same/close in status to what Laurence and Emilia are! That's why I just took what I could, and in my thing there were four Healing Church heads in total; Laurence, Ashton, Herbert and Emilia, in this order! And each would bring something different during their era. In fact, I did want to make a line-up explaining who did what - whereas Laurence is self-explanatory, it is worth to mention how Healing Church was living after Laurence became a beast. But like, I first want to finalize the DRIP designs for them all, and I can't even get past Laurence's one already, because I am always distracted/working/sick/dead/etc fdsjhfh

Like, yeah, basically they're 'OCs with a prompt', since I had to design and write literally everything about them, but I still consider them to be revived cut content, because I hate giving myself any credit. xd

Fun fact! Ashton can also be a female name! I really wish I learned of it before I already wrote him as a male character, because we do need more nasty, evil women. But I tend to be a little rigid when I've already written a character in a certain way. Not gonna lie though, I often consider retconing him as a female character, because explain me how, HOW you can have """too many""" female villains? For now though he just really loves feminine things. Same as Damian. Or Micolash. Or Valtr. Or Ludwig. ...damn, I like slapping feminine aesthetic like FLEX APE too much, even where it doesn't quite fit. MOTHER OF MERGO, I AM-

(It's just an inside joke. It's funny because Gehrman would've dressed every hunter into a pretty dress if he could. xd)

But yeah, basically, I took what I could from the cut content, and tried to base my ideas on what it gave us. So, if Ashton used to be someone under Laurence - then that should be the dynamic in my thing too! So, underling of him in Healing Church, and the next vicar. Herbert was also mentioned to have been a previous leader of the Church, so that was saved too!

Fun fact - because Emilia used to be named Laura in cut content, I also have a secret 5th Vicar that went unused, with Laura being Herbert's daughter that didn't get to live to be the next Vicar. Well, TECHNICALLY, she is still alive! Remember that big Celestial Emissary in orphanage, who acts like the 'leader', and also, interesingly, drops Communion rune? I headcanon that the emissaries in that Orphanage are children that were taught to Think With Cosmos by the Choir, and Laura used to be their overseer while Herbert was at the position and she had not too much to do. But more or less, she refused to abandon the children when Croir's base crumbled the hell out, and sort of ascended with them. In either case, this is not quite Laura anymore.. But, after Orphanage got nuked, Herbert was the one to take in orphans that he could take and raise them within the walls of the Healing Church! Like I mentioned, Adella was one of kids (well, teens) he basically adopted. But she had the biggest adopted daughter energy to him, hence she became a successor.

Ashton, though? Honestly, he started and is still going as my "punching bag" djfdshfd I did not want to use Laurence as obligatory 'evil cleric' at the time, since he had too much tragedy potential, and too much complexity. But yes, Ashton is more or less the combination of some traits I just looooooove. -_- Self-projecting, bullying people for what he himself has, provoking someone to feel a certain way and then blaming their reaction as them being "insane" or "irrational", fuckin'... flirting with someone and when they start returning the h0rny, blaming them for "daring" to think that he, such a HOOOOOOLY man, would EVER feel this way, and force them to apologize etc etc dshdh + Every time I reblog that video where a woman pushes a priest off the platform, I caption it as 'this is Rom when Ashton was being homophobic' and it is still canon, so that too.

Like... I can write a list that will actually make your phone lag upon scrolling so much, but you already get the idea of what type of a person he is. However yeah, jokes or not, but he managed to gain enough of reputation of a 'saint', by both appearing rather oppressive in demeanor and by secretly normalizing cannibalism (he'd sometimes feed people concerned with falling into beasthood meat or blood of enemies of the Healing Church, that they'd not know about, but they'd feel "easier' after that (of course...), and would be easily gaslit by Ashton into thinking that he had something personally to do with it, to offer remedy :') Like... It was kind of a big deal while it lasted. That you didn't have to be burnt/shot/trapped into one of those coffins if you start feeling beasthood but you could like, idk, talk with Ashton and feel better? I love to think that his beast form would reflect that, where his back would resemble a Kin way more than a beast, and you'd only see his hideous true form when he turns around! So yeah, like 'wolf in a sheep clothing' sorta!!)

______________

But yeah, these are the ideas! I really love the guy, but at the same time a lot about him comes from a couple of years ago, when my knowledge on Bloodborne lore was a bit limited, so for now I question whether Ashton "stole" too much from the thing LAURENCE should've been doing during his corruption arc. So yes, just take it as me tossing ideas around. Thank you for the ask, I really needed to revisit this stuff!

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Twenty-five things I noted about CR2E140 “Long May He Reign” :

oh buckle up kids it's going to be a long bumpy ride, but this episode deserves it

Marisha is wearing an ExU t-shirt and that makes me so happy

Yeah, ain't that the mood :

I love the transformation of Lucien the Neo-Somnovem abilities, instead of guilt, now Yasha is mind-transported into her worst nightmare : Zuala shouting "why did you leave me ??"

"Minus eyes" "Minus eyes", I love that it's becoming the phrase to shout.

CALEB IMAGINED THE GLAIVE THAT KILLED LUCIEN AND IT CAME TO LIFE. Ooooooh boy Liam is such a good player, he understood the possibility of what Matt was saying about the aether potential !

Veth screming with joy and lust when Fjord cast Marine Layer, what an episode, guys (he did warn her to "keep [her] clothes on")

Jester, using the power of imagination : "The giant pillar in front of [Lucien] turning into a giant dick covered in eggs, scrambled eggs. And I'm going to use it as a giant bludgeoning device to fall forward and smack him in the face !" Bonus Travis reaction : "That's my child's mother." Bonus Liam reaction : "I mean, in character to the end." Bonus Taliesin reaction : "This is how my parents said I'd die."

OOOOoooh interesting, the attacks on each of the eyes are useful to get rid of the eyes and : a) get rid of nasty effects (that 40+ points of necrotic damage every time Fastidan strikes is no joke !!) b) hurt Lucien in the process

you can also heal with the power of the mind !

Laura tried and tried, but alas, the dice gods were not with her. That's too bad, I would have wanted to see a Divine Intervention of the Traveler SO BAD

Travis utterly failing to sound persuasive towards Lucien with his story of the fruit basket in Zadash makes me laugh so much. Matt : "I'm on the cusp of giving you disadvantage for that one." Travis : "I'm on the cusp of agreeing !"

Ashley blowing her nose in the Socks Machina because she's crying after Jester got killed and she doesn't have any tissues around is the saddest thing I've seen on 3 campaigns of Critical Role (yet).

They were all so stressed !!! I'm appreciating Travis saying "Calm down, let's slow a few seconds" and prompting Sam to fill up the silence even more. CEO BRAIN !!

After Caduceus tried to Revivify Jester, but Matt left it in suspense, before revealing it worked... the instant relief and simultaneous freak-out of the cast, tag yourself, I'm Liam :

TWO NATURAL TWENTYS MARISHA RAY IS A GODDESS

"can we animate that ?" Travis got hit by the Appollo ball, and also no ! because he's got to know by now that everything the cast ever says will come true, right ?

Caleb got the same treatment Jester did by Lucien : unconscious, and then with one attack left he finished him on the spot.

Jester, basically : "I'm a cleric, but..." and she didn't wait for an answer before getting the HDYWTDT on Lucien !

You know it's a good D&D game when there's only silence, hysterics bouts of laughter, and then more silence, mouths open because everything that just happened was incredible.

my thoughts from this point on were... not very coherent : "Oh my god, they're doing it. They're trying to resurrect Molly (When I began this campaign, I knew that Taliesin's first character died and somehow… came back ?? The details were not was I was searching for, since I hate getting spoiled on a good story.) oH MY GOD A NATURAL ONE NOOOOOOOW ???? WHAT IS HAPPENING ? IS IT ALL A DREAM ?? ARE THEY ALL DEAD SINCE THE BEGINNING ??"

"It's just not fair" broke me

Beau : "We may be heroes that no one knows about. But we know."

the end... like, what the fuck. CADUCEUS ROLLED ANOTHER DIVINE INTERVENTION and THEY HAVE DONE IT THEY BROUGHT HIM BACK my heart was beating a hundred times a minute

"Someone call Burch, she's off the hook" I'M SCREAMING

And the Mighty were Nein

[needsmorewlw]

do you have have headcanon for the counselors keeping wolfy traits but in the myth superpower type of way 🥰🥴

I mean yes I absolutely do

I can't help sorting them into almost like...classes?(lol) like strength class, speed class and and heightened senses class.

Like they all got a bit of all three but some of their bodies naturally became more attuned to one or two abilities over the others.

Jacob, Nick and Laura got SUPER strong. Just accidentally ripping windows off hinges and door handles off doors. It's easy enough for them to get the hang of but they have to be careful with their moods so they don't go punching holes through walls when they get peeved.

Max, Emma and Ryan got super nimble and fast. The three of them have those lean muscle frames (I saw your abs halston sage) so I picture them going full on spider man, parkour style with their abilities. Just super agile lil' babes climbing and jumping over things.

Then Dylan, Kaitlyn and Abi got like mad heightened senses. They get even smarter and more strategic and also their perception heightened to like a sixth sense almost. Like to the point when it's like they can predict things but they actually just have insanely good hearing. Also just like, wild fast reflexes

I think the retain the super healing but some of them more than the others. Like the speedy characters can't take a hit as well as the others but that's why they're fast so they're harder to hit.

In addition to the strong characters, I've already made a whole post about how Dylan naturally has crazy high constitution. I think the rest of them catch up to him and meanwhile his goes even higher right through the roof. Shoot him in the chest point-blank with a shotgun and he wouldn't even budge an inch. But he WOULD complain.

I think Kaitlyn's like a super good tracker. She develops this hunter instinct. She knows where you're gonna hide before you do.

I feel like Abi gets some sort of ability where she can like almost see smells and noises. Like she can see stuff in bright colours and it helps her notice stuff others wouldn't.

Ryan's like, hella stealthy. He can basically disappear. Like he can make his footsteps his movements, his breathing silent. He can slow his heartrate so not even the other pack members can hear it (besides maybe Dyl, Kaitlyn and Abi if they're actively looking for him)

This is so self indulgent but what if Emma could like use her pheromones to charm people. She gets close enough for people to smell her and they'll do anything for her before it wears off. She's hot and I love her

I don't have any more rn but I will undoubtedly keep hyperfixating

[utilitycaster]

What about Sam's playstyle makes you think it's not suited to playing a cleric? I will admit so far for me his use of spells has been lacking, especially in the healing department, but I hadn't considered his playstyle as being a cause.

So Sam is really pessimistic about the rules. You know how like, Taliesin, Marisha, and Laura are often like "can I use this spell in a super weird way? Do I get advantage because of a bizarre circumstance?" Sam is the opposite of that. We saw this a lot with Veth - he tended to assume she couldn't get sneak attack or use evasion even when she would. So he tends to assume failure, and as a cleric you need to shoot for the fences sometimes.

He also has the following somewhat conflicting traits as a player:

He really struggles with not taking the most optimal option and tends to be indecisive about it, and he also really enjoys failure. This is just straight-up really bad for the party cleric and the subclass makes it worse.

I know this sounds harsh but a lot of it is coming from the place of like...for some reason Sam developed a reputation in the fandom as being The Mechanics One and in my opinion he is, mechanically, the weakest at the table, and it's weird that this reputation happened. There are two very specific highlights in his gameplay- and they're valid highlights! But they're both single turns from 2017 and 2018 respectively and they were also, interestingly enough, both scenarios where it was, in a way, a failure but also the optimal move (the 9th level counterspell on Vecna meaning a failure on using Wish on Vax; and the choice to not disengage from the blue dragon thus allowing Jester, who could both heal or who could pick up an unconscious Nott, to avoid an attack of opportunity at the risk of having Nott knocked unconscious).

Like...you know how Sam was often frustrated late in C2 that Veth couldn't get sneak attack in some scenarios? I don't think he ever used Versatile Trickster, which would have helped a lot! He didn't realize Imogen and Laudna were sorcerers! He does best with a consistent solid strategy and not a huge number of options and also in a scenario where suboptimal conscious decisions are ok.

The part where I do start to get more genuinely frustrated is that a few times he's made suboptimal decisions that really negatively impact the rest of the party. The ones I have in mind are him taking a really long time to summon Devossa in C1, and more recently choosing not to identify the rock for Imogen or that twice, he's been urged to heal someone immediately and has paused such that Matt has gone another round requiring the person in question to make a save, and the entire table has yelled at him. It just doesn't feel the same to me as like, debuffs people have taken upon themselves (Caleb's issues with fire, Imogen's psychic headaches, or outside of CR, Adaine's panic attacks in Fantasy High); all of those were notably something that was made clear relatively early on and that primarily disadvantaged that player, not other people.

I am particularly harsh on primary healers (as someone who has played the primary healer). You simply do not have the luxury to fuck around like this as the cleric. You don't get to do things like ignore halfling luck when you're the main healer. You just don't. You heal people RIGHT AWAY. Not to be melodramatic but you're frequently the bulwark between success and a TPK. That doesn't mean you can't mess around out of combat, but you simply do not have the luxury of fucking around or indecision, and Sam is really indecisive, and then on top of that he has a subclass that explicitly sets up decisions that would be a challenge even for an incredibly mechanically strong and decisive player.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 104

Fucking hell ... right away, then ... AmongUs has happened ... I mean I know Ahsley's gonna be one of the vices in the new show, but still ... aha ... so THAT'S what this is about ... yes, that's right ... that's not Travis ... Matt: "What is happening?" Wow ... that's a lot of impostors ... having trouble there, Liam? Oh, it's not Liam ... looks like Tal was the only real one here ... and Marisha was in on this? Hmmmm ... yeah, Matt is not amused ...

Aha, so they're all back now ... that's more like it ... and that's a NICE HAT, Robbie ...

The Healing Party? Cute ... Marisha: "What's Jester doing on there?" Ooooooooh ... do you need some ICE FOR THAT BURN, miss?

Yeah! That's right! Delilah is now OUT OF THE PICTURE!!! Yeah ... sweet! I can't wait to see how VM might react to that news ...

Oh yeah! Grog! And Pike! So cool ...

Yes ... awkward ... yeah ... hmmmm ...

Oh, here we go ... it's the general standard chaotic disorder when you bring these many disparate authorities together to try and make them PARTICIPATE for the common good ...

History check? Already? Hmmm ... Galtheid of the Ember Vigil? Right ... sounds fancy ...

Ah, bureaucracy ... even in the middle of a war is can always be relied upon to gum up the works ...

Wow ... way to drop a bombshell on the gathering there, Ashton ... O.O

Yes! Go off, Keyleth. Get these asshats into some semblance of order ... oh nice ... oooooh, that's so cool ... water magic Return of the Jedi strategy projection ... nice ...

A fortress? Seriously? That's just CHARMING ...

J'Mon Sa'Ord? Sweet!

Hey! Those people are just as cool and normal as the regular folk of Exandria! Cut 'em some slack!

Oh, here we go ... yeah, nice way to big up the Hells ...

Celestials? Really? Interesting ...

Yeah, the Blue Dream. Greenland's kind of another thing ... XD

Ah ... yeah ... here we go ... dropping the BIG bombshell ... the truth about what this is all about ... this won't go down well at all, I'm sure ...

The Holy Curator of the Lawbearer ...

Ashton! Wow ... dial it down a notch, maybe? Sugarcoat the truth a little, at least ...

Braius? Wow ... oh, shit, Persuasion check? Hmmm ... THIRTY?!!! Fuck, man ...

Evoroa! Hey! So nice to see you, little cutie! :3

Fearne's little "WHOOOO!!!" for Evoroa to perk up her spirits is adorable ... XD

Wow ... yeah, she is SOOOOO nervous ... I wanna give her a big hug SO BADLY ...

Laudna sneaks her some water ... Awwwww ... :3 Imogen (in her head): "You did so great, sweetie."

The Cerberus Assembly? BOOOOO!!! Laura: "INSIGHT CHECK!!!" No shit ...

Oh yeah, this guy is a DEUCHE ...

So ... that went well ... kind of ... in a way ... very loosely ...

REUNION!!! Yay!

Awwww ... Kima, we love you! :3

Ah, Vasselheim. So well protected it could almost be called PARANOID ...

Oh yeah ... Vecna ... oh! Hey there, Grog! XD He did that? One on one? Nice ... yeah ... I believe him, totally ...

Wow ... is Fearne actually gonna try and STEAL Grog's Titanstone Gauntlets right now? Oh, I see ... wow ... that's kinda fascinating ...

GROGORY Strongjaw? LOL

PIKE!!! HEY!!! I wanna hug her too ... :3

Vex? Cool ...

Not selling a lot of croissants after the Solstice ... oh yeah ... cute, like Corona tanking during COVID ... Liam: "We don't want your moon bread! Only FREEDOM bread!" XD

Oh wow ... I think Grog and Braius might be friends before too long ... XD

Awwww ... yeah, that's right, Vex doesn't know about FCG's sacrifice ...

That's a good point ... the wind's about to change and they need to get THAT SHIT in order before they start making some moves ... Watch out for the God Squad, definitely ...

And now Chetney's flirting with Vex again ... XD Vex: "Oh darling, even if I WAS single you couldn't afford ,e."

Yeah ... the revelation of Delilah's now permanent imprisonment in Laudna's chest ... this is gonna be SO GOOD ... oh yeah, Vex is LOVING this ... and now she's getting medieval devising PUNISHMENTS for the evil bitch ...

Laudna's looking inwards ... oh boy ... wow, she looks like SHIT ... oh, this is SO GREAT ... empty threats ... Laudna: "Unseasoned beans it is." LOL

Honestly, I think it might have more to do with THE PLACE ITSELF for Keyleth being uncomfortable right now ... given what (or more precisely WHO) she lost here ...

Evoroa's first snow? Awwwwww ... :3

The Birthheart? Wow ... this is beautiful ... and yeah, makes sense Keyleth WOULD like this place ...

Heavy theological talk ... yeah ...

And then how does all this translate to their most pressing needs and the plans they make as a result? Hmmmm ...

Keyleth saying she's been to the Hells ... oh yeah, that DEFINITELY got Braius' attention ... XD

Ashton suggests they go talk to the gods face-to-face ... wow ... THAT'S a ballsy idea ...would that even work?

Yup ... Keyleth and Vax and the Matron of Ravens ... yeah ...

Honestly? Half-cocked is very much how they do things a lot of the time, actually ...

The Vox Machina Big Action Climax! Yeah ...

It does all sound VERY COMPLICATED when Keyleth tries to describe it ... oh wow, this is getting somewhat meta now ...

No. Really, DO NOT mention that name here and now ...

The masive tree ... oh yeah, that's it ... the Birthheart itself ... beautiful ...

The dawn of Exandria ... when the gods were YOUNG ... O.O

Orym! You gonna answer that or what?

Liam: "I will touch the tip." Oh boy ... XD

Careful, gentle ... okay, then ... whoa ... and now he's being ABSORBED BY THE MASSIVE GOD TREE ... O.O

Fuck, he's GONE!!! And THIS is where Mercer decides to take a break! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Wow ... he is IN THE REALM OF THE WILDMOTHER. Like LITERALLY on some weird godly plane ... fuck ...

I'm sorry he is now A TINY MAN OF ROOTS AND LEAVES?!!! Fucking hell that is some trippy shit ...

This is suddenly all very Princess Mononoke ...

Oh hello ... is this her? The goddess herself? Fascinating ...

And here's Asha ... yeah, that makes me smile ... in a dark way ... but I just love my wild predatory lady more, even now ...

He's literally ROOTING HIMSELF intothe ground a little with each step ... it really IS a little like Princess Mononoke ...

So, is Orym, like ... PLEDGING HIMSELF to the Wildmother right now? Is that what this is?

Visions? Oh great ... just what we need ...

And here they ALL ARE now ... okay ... a fallen star? Hmmm ... two gone? What? They're AFRAID ... yeah ...

Wait ... THAT was the imprisonment of Predathos? O.O

A Wisdom save? Shit ... 13? Crap ... and the reroll is WORSE ... OH FUCK!!! Is Orym about to DIE?!!! Nooooooo ...

He's screaming ... of shit ... and the Wildmother's coming to his rescue? Wow ... oh yes, she is SO KIND ...

The Wildmother: "Protect us, for we protect you, and together we protect THIS." Whoa ... O.O

Will? Oh my gods ... oh fuck ... shit, I am not ready for this right now ... damn you both I didn't want to cry right now ...

"Don't live your live in the shadow of mine." FUCK!!!

He's back ... okay ... OF COURSE Fearne is the one to catch him ...

So basically Predathos is like King Ghidorah, then?

Oh yeah ... grab that wood, Chetney! The wee man is SO EXCITED to get his hands on some SERIOUSLY fancy holy wood ... hell yeah ... two pieces, in the Bag ... nice ...

FUCK!!! Seedling has gotten LONGER!!! And it's fancier, too! It's been EXALTED!!! Fuck! It's a VESTIGE!!! A "Relic of the Red Solstice"! SWEET!!! And he gets a card too and everything!

Chetney, you are a massive idiot ... XD

They can stay INSIDE THE TREE?!!! You're clowning me. I sense clowns ...

Oh yeah, Evoroa is just having the most FASCINATING experience here ... I love it ... :3

This place is literally a piece of LIVING ARCHITECTURE ... this place would be like a dream come true ...

Sleep would be VERY SMART ...

Yes. Alcohol. That's the ticket too ...

Chetney's carving MASTERPIECES right now with a 21 Dex check ...

Wait ... attacking from the Ruidian side as opposed to the Exandrian? That's a smart way to go ... take the back door they found in the cave ... hmmmm ...

Good point ... so locking Ruidus in place is slowly BREAKING EXANDRIA ... great ... so whatever they do they HAVE TO destroy the Bridge ...

Ashton: "I've known plenty of artists. They're all fucked up." Braius: "Ahem. I'm pretty normal." Imogen: "Your cup would disagree."

The eternal question, where do you go when you die?

A "double feint"? Orym, I am NOT CONVINCED ...

Bedtime or a quick Scry first?

Braius (to Chetney): "If you would like me to burn you with acid I could." Oh boy ...

Zone of Truth? Really? Hmmmmm ...

Okay, now this is getting saucy ...

Charisma Save or choose to fail ... and half of them CHOOSE to ... okay then ... this'll be interesting ...

Ah ... evasion ... that's one way to go, Braius ...

The bottle lands on IMOGEN ... hmmmmmm ... so she has to kiss Braius? Interesting ... Laura: "You're human faced, right?" Sam: "Yes, but I'm getting a little excited now."

Ashley's spinning ... ooooooh ... it's Chetney? Oh boy. She makes it ALL KINDS of sexy while she does it AND also tries to steal the fancy wood while she's at it ... oh yeah, he is DEFINITELY at a disadvantage ... yeah ... she EASILY beats him ... XD

Dorian's going to ask Laudna a REALLY IMPORTANT question ... hmmmm ... oh shit, that is a SERIOUS question ... I mean Imogen means more to her than ANYTHING ELSE ... and it's a VERY complicated answer ... hmmmm ...

He decides to spin the bottle instead ... and it lands on Chetney? Wow ... this'll be interesting ... that was a UNIQUE moment ...

Dorian: "I thought this was supposed to be fun and games." Laudna: "No-one ever said THIS game was supposed to be fun." Oof ...

IS HE running from his brother's death?

To Cyrus ... YES. Cheers to that indeed ...

Laudna spins the botle ... and it lands on ORYM?!!! Weird ... roll Performance, then ... they both roll REALLY BADLY ... much as I would expect ... it's just AWKWARD ... yeah ...

Ashton empties his botle, follows Fearn and points it at her ... oh, okay ... this is DEFINITELY going to be interesting ...

Oh yeah, he just GOES FOR IT ... they're BOTH going at it ... and he's picking her pockets at the same time ... and he wins ... something random? Okay ... a little spoon? Cute ... Who's "T.J."?

Now they're just MAKING OUT with no repurcussions ... and this is EXACTLY what we've been waiting on for SOOOOO FUCKING LONG ... FINALLY ...

BEDTIME ...

SAMUEL ... how could you? We're so scandalized ...

Fearne gives the wood back to Chetney while he sleeps? Awwwwww ...

Morning comes ... Chetney's still alive ...

Okay ... making their way to the Trialforge, then ...

So they were just getting started, that's good. Not really late then ...

The glass? Oh yeah ... that stuff is COOL ...

The Hallowed Cage ... hmmm ...

The Sunder KIng, Ozo Kruth ... and the Weave Mind ... yeah ...

The Globe! Yeah!

Chetney, you dumbass ... XD

Whoa ... Fearne gets SERIOUS ... you really are FEARLESS, girl ... I swear I love it ...

Yeah, the portal ... or "The Backdoor" as Chet calls it ...

"A few old legends"? Oh boy ... who else is Keyleth gonna call on? How geekgasmic is this gonna get?

Groon is so awesome ... the man is a VIBE ...

Big risk, big reward ... yeah ...

The Luxon, yeah ... of course the Bright Queen doesn't have the slightest clue what (or who) is sat a few feet away from her ... that's kind of fascinating ...

Ashton burns a Rage ... oh my ... oh yeah, that is DEFINITELY the response I expected ...

So they're committed then ... now we just have to see if everybody else goes for it too ...

Making a date to talk to a god ... hmmmm ...

Wait ... what? What the hell is THIS?!!! Imogen's back in the dream? But it's DIFFERENT ... it's her mother! Okay ... is this a good thing or REALLY BAD?!!!

THAT'S where he's gonna end it? Fuck! That's like some cliffhanger shit right there ...

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

Hello! I've been wanting to ask this for a little while, what's a good starting point to critical role? Like should I watch legend of vox machina and start from there or is there another campaing that might be better to start from zero?

Hello dear, I think it depends on what approach you want to take.

If you're new to this style - to watching people play D&D - I would recommend starting with Exandria Unlimited. They're basically "miniseries" and there are three of them: Exandria Unlimited (8 episodes), Exandria Unlimited Kybal (2 episodes), and Exandria Unlimited Calamity (4 episodes, although I warn you those episodes are extra long - one is six hours). I recommend these since they're short(er), a good introduction if you're not sure how these things work without too much time investment, and everyone is an experienced player and so it's pretty "polished" and streamlined.

There are also a lot of oneshots or mini campaigns that are just plain fun to watch. Some are tied to the main campaigns, others are not. Undeadwood is a great one - four episodes of supernatural cowboys, what is not to love? I recommend that one - or the Cthlulu one, if horror's to your tastes.

If you care about being caught up, I would start with Critical Role Campaign 3 - the current campaign, starring Bell's Hells. There are only 24 episodes so far, so you can catch up fairly quickly, and then watch live with everyone else. Campaign 3 has references to previous campaigns, but I think you're good even if you're a total newbie. No knowledge of previous campaigns is really needed. Everyone's really experienced and confident, they're daring to go balls to the wall, and they got a fantastic new studio to film in.

However, if you truly have the time, I do recommend starting with Campaign 1 with Vox Machina for one big reason: it gives a lot of context and joy to watch Critical Role develop from the beginning. You get to see these people learn how to play with cameras watching them, learn how to adjust to having an audience, and grow in skill and confidence as improv actors/D&D players.

Some people claim that Critical Role is scripted. As someone who's played D&D for a decade, I can promise it isn't. And if you watch from the beginning you'll see what I mean - you literally watch in real time as they become better and better at knowing how to use the D&D rules, at building their world and characters, at improv acting and playing off each other.

It's also really joyful to watch these people become more and more successful. They start out using a spare room in Geek & Sundry's headquarters with bookshelves and a couch in the background. Then they get their own room, then a nice studio, and now they have set up their own production company with a cool studio with lighting effects. It's just really cool to watch people get better at their art and be successful at what they love. And you get to watch things like Matt and Marisha's engagement to marriage, Liam's healing from a bad mental time, and Laura and Travis's baby be born. You get to watch a group of friends love each other and I just think that's really special.

So that's my opinion - it's what you have time for, and how you want to start. If you want to dip your toe in and get used to it, Undeadwood and similar oneshots/mini arcs are well-done and they're all pretty used to this by now so it goes smoothly. I cannot possibly recommend Exandria Unlimited: Calamity enough. But if you want to hop into the current, ongoing story, then you're at a good place to quickly catch up with Campaign 3. And if you have a lot of time on your hands, then Vox Machina/Campaign 1.

One note if you watch other stories first, and then go back to campaign one, have some patience when you do. It'll be like watching Star Trek: Discovery then going back and watching Star Trek: The Original Series. Be prepared for some bumps as they get used to being on camera, as they meander in stories because they're just fucking around, as they get confused about rules, and it really does look like they're filming this in someone's house on a tripod. Which is part of the charm! But can be a jolt if you start with the later stuff where they have a professional studio and a lot more expertise at this.

I hope this is all helpful to you! And I hope that whatever you choose, you have fun and enjoy. Stay safe nonny dear.

[beetlebumxo]

I Kind of Like Crazy (smut)

I Kind of Like Crazy (smut)

Pairing: Early 00s Damon x Reader

Word count: 3,916

Warnings: SMUT, language, the usual smut warnings... 

A/N: Based on "psycho" Damon from the Gorillaz Charts of darkness/Bananaz, also slightly inspired by the show "Ratched". Thank you to my friend Laura for this prompt/working out some of the ideas with me. As a backstory, (well, canon from CoD) Damon went "insane" as he claims he was "beaten up by cartoon characters" and ended up in a mental institution. This is the setting for the story.

--

It was his first day here, he had gotten into a fight before coming in. His face was scratched up, and a long white bandage was wrapped around his (presumably) aching head. 

"My name is Y/N, if you need anything just ask for me." I chirped while looking down at him. He was slumped in a chair, holding his head up with this hand, resting his elbow on the armrest. He was so intense, jaw clenched, staring down at the floor.

"Yea.." he said, barely raising his head to look at me. 

"Mr. Albarn.." I began as he lifted his head, barely moving his lips.

"Damon.." he mumbled in a soft, quiet voice.

"Damon… do you understand why you're here?" I questioned, trying to get a better look at him, but he only moved his head slightly towards me.

"Look, I've told you a thousand times…" His deep, tired voice was laced with frustration, I didn't want to push him anymore on the subject. 

"Listen, they're going to keep you here while the investigation is ongoing. There's a growing concern for your well-being, and I---"

"And you what?" He shot back, now looking directly at me through the long lashes that lined his blueish-green eyes. I straightened myself up as best as I could -- trying to brush off his somewhat rude response.  "And.. I believe you saw something. But right now I'm here to make sure you're ok, are you ok?" He just nodded.  “Ok, Damon, ok, just let me know if you need anything.” I said as I made my way out of the room.

------

(A week later)

Standing outside the building, leaning against the cool brick, I took a moment to take in the events that occurred over the last week.  Damon had finally taken a liking to me, or so I thought. He had this intensity about him and yet, he could be so silly and child-like. I had to admit I was very attracted to these qualities. He was so incredibly handsome, right down to the little cut on his perfect nose. The more I thought about him, the more I knew how wrong this was.

"Fuck, this is not good, Y/N, not good," I muttered as I reached for a cigarette.  

I rested my head against the wall and closed my eyes, the warm smoke filled my lungs -- I slowly exhaled trying to let my troubled thoughts go.

"You know, smoking is bad for you." There he was again, batting his box of cigarettes in his hand. Damon removed one long white stick from the box, brought it up to his lips, and began to light it. 

“Wait, how did y---” I began, but Damon interrupted.

"I like to live a little dangerously, love." He smiled, holding the cigarette between his imperfectly perfect teeth. His grin suddenly grew a little wider. “And well, maybe a little bribery goes a long way?” 

He winked and grabbed the cigarette from between his soft pink lips, to now rest between his slightly bruised fingers. I loved his hands, they were truly just as gorgeous as his face--  a little dirty, ragged, with perfectly placed veins. 

He paused, shifting his gaze from his cigarette over to me again. "Tell me, why do you always do that?" He said, cocking his head to the side.

"Do what?" I smiled softly.

"Well, the way you.. kind of, sort of -- wrap your hair around your finger when you're nervous, the way you, uh,  bite your lip when you're unsure. The way you always have to make sure your skirt is pulled down low enough, because sometimes you're just a little insecure about that scar on your leg, yeah?"  

He smiled slyly at me. I squinted my eyes at him, somewhat flattered he had been paying such close attention to me.

"I see you've been studying me, hm?"   I curled my lips into a small smile, taking another long drag of my cigarette.

"Y/N.." he exhaled as smoke covered his slightly crooked bottom row of teeth.  "You're very pretty to look at, you know?" His eyes were focused on me. I felt heat rising to my cheeks, which were probably flushed by now. 

I cleared my throat --  "Oh.. thank you. You’re pretty easy on the eyes too." was the best I could come up with. I wanted to tell him how he'd been on my mind, how I couldn't stop thinking about him--, but I couldn't bring myself to do it-- that would have been completely inappropriate. 

"Who wouldn't fancy this?" He laughed while batting his long lashes. I could tell he was only half-joking -- he knew he was absolutely gorgeous.

“You are something, Damon.” I shook my head and laughed.  “I have to head back now, ok?” I really didn’t want to break up the conversation.

“Yeah, ok.” He said.

I turned to leave when he unexpectedly grabbed my hand. My hands began to sweat, my heart began to beat fast. I looked down -- his hands were big, his fingers were so long and beautiful, I loved how his hand felt gripping mine, even for that short moment. 

"I'll be seeing you, Y/N" he said with a smile. I smiled back --  this was trouble.

---

(The next day)

I tried not to let on how much Damon had an affect on me. I had to push the feelings down and keep this professional. Damon was sitting on his bed as I approached. I took a long, deep breath--

"Ok, I need to be a real nurse today and check how you're healing." I chuckled, bringing my hand to his chin to examine him. I tried to choke down all of my feelings and simply do my job.

"So, what were you on the other days, then?" He smiled a small devious grin.

My hand just barely touched his skin, but I could start to feel a slight tightness and warmth in my stomach again. He was even more beautiful up close - those blue eyes, that perfect nose -- and a smile that just melted my heart. I must have been studying him a little too long, I could feel his eyes on me. 

Just then, Damon lifted his hand to my wrist, moving it in such a way that we were now face to face.  Everything was happening in slow motion, as I stared into his eyes. He reached out pulling me closer, leaning into me, his lips inches from mine-- his warm breath on my face 

*click* -- it was the door handle. I jumped back, breaking the tension--it was only my colleague doing rounds. 

"I, I, I should go.." I stuttered as my heart and mind were racing. Damon just smirked at me, he knew exactly what he was doing. 

"Aww..." he teased. He looked me up and down again, I shifted my eyes quickly around the room. I didn't know what to say, the whole incident had taken me by surprise.  I walked back into the hall and tried to pull myself together again. 

--

(The following day)

I had success with avoiding him for most of the day -- this gave me more time to think about how to handle whatever this was. Oh, but he was so perfect. I let out a heavy sigh -- I needed to take a break to just clear my head. I made my way to the small back stairway. The door slammed shut behind me, echoing through the empty space. As I reached the platform, I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Ahhhh what the fuck??” I yelled.

"Shh, shh, love it's only me." It was Damon reassuring me. His hair was slightly messy, poking out from the white bandage that was still wrapped tightly around his forehead. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Ugh, Damon!” I looked at him angrily, but after a few moments my face softened “Oh....... fine. I can’t stay mad at you.”

“Few people can.” he winked.

“So let me guess how you got out..hmm..let’s see...” I placed my hand on my chin --   "You know, I’m going to just take a guess that you're not used to hearing the word 'No' very often are you?" I said with a small smile, assuming that he had charmed his way out again.

"You certainly wouldn't tell me 'No' now would you?" He now made direct eye contact with me, turning more serious and intense. 

"That depends on what you're asking --- Damon."  I gave in and reached out, playfully running my finger up his arm. There I was touching him again, I couldn’t help myself. I noticed his little slightly indented tooth as he smiled at me.  He grabbed my arm and pulled me close, my breath hitched.

"What am I asking? Oh, Y/N.." his voice cracked a little bit-- his tone was so dark, deep and sexy. I could almost feel the heat radiating off of his body as he leaned in close to my ear.

 "I've seen the way you look at me, and how you shift your body.." his lips brushed my ear "..when I do this" he began to run his calloused fingers over my hand.  I felt a jolt of electricity run down my spine, these feelings were too much--  "I mean, do you really think you could tell me, 'No' now?" He smiled a smug, overconfident smile. I felt pressure building in my stomach. I pulled away and looked into his eyes again.

"Mhm, you know, this is not very….professional. “ I teased.

Damon now had a devilish smirk across his handsome face. He backed me against the railing and ran his large hand against my cheek. He slowly leaned in and kissed me. Pressing his lips to mine I opened my mouth as he pushed his tongue in. I felt a rush, and a throbbing in my core. He held his hand against my jaw and continued to explore my mouth. I brought my hands up to his jaw pulling him into me, tasting his mouth on mine. The pressure was building up inside of me but at the same time, it was a release, as if this most basic craving for him was finally being satisfied--even if only briefly. 

"Too much?" He smiled. I stood there watching him, I wanted so much more. He smirked then clicked his tongue as he walked back up the stairs. What a tease he was.  I braced myself against the railing, breathing hard. "No…. no, it wasn't too much. Oh….. shit." I muttered, unsure if he could hear me.

--

I lingered against the railing for a few minutes, taking in what had just happened.  I took a moment to catch my breath before making my way back upstairs. My entire body was aching for him. My breaths began to quicken, as I thought about his lips, his hands, his body pressing into me. 

I made my way back to the office, it was very late now, almost everyone had gone home. I went to tidy a few papers before leaving, when suddenly, as if on cue, he was at the door--

“I couldn’t stay away, and I know you didn’t want me to.” He began.

"Oh, I don't know.." I smiled.  "But, what are you bribing those nurses with, again?" I teased. 

"Well, wouldn't you like to know?" He flirted back, leaning his tall frame against the door.

"And just maybe I would....could it be you're just one of those�� naughty boys?". I didn’t care to keep this professional any longer -- he had pushed me over the edge -- 

He chuckled, closing the door behind him. He walked up to me pushing my back against the desk. As I gripped the side, he began to run his fingers along my hand and slowly up my arm. I could feel my body temperature begin to rise from his movements.

"Maybe I'll just show you what a naughty boy I really am."  Oh, the way those words rolled off of his tongue -- "Y/N…. I'm not actually crazy, but you are driving me completely insane." He said.

“I kind of like crazy, Damon. I need more." I purred. My next breath was caught somewhere in my chest, I could barely breathe feeling his body pressed tightly against mine. Pressing his long fingers to the side of my neck behind my ear, he stretched his hand out just enough to run his thumb very lightly over my bottom lip.  I closed my eyes and tried to steady my breathing.

“Are you sure?”  He tilted my head up and began to leave a trail of small fiery wet kisses on my neck. "Like that?" My body was completely on fire now. All I could mutter was a breathy "Like that....." 

He shifted just attention back to my mouth, pushing his large tongue in so deeply. My hands slowly began to roam his sturdy, strong body. I managed to squeak out a few words as he pulled away for a moment.

"Wait--” I had a moment of clarity, before I was swallowed again by his charm. “Do you know how much trouble we would be in if we were caught right here?" I asked.

“I told you, I like to live dangerously.” he replied, grabbing my face with his hand pulling me closer to him while running his thumb over my lips again, this time smearing my lipstick all over my mouth and chin. I grabbed his hand and began to kiss and suck on his beautiful, long fingers, leaving small traces of whatever lipstick was left. He began to push his fingers in and out of my mouth, slowly at first, but then a little faster.  I could tell that he liked what I was doing to him as the bulge in his pants grew.

I grabbed his face, kissing him again, pushing my tongue back in his mouth, running it over his crooked bottom row of teeth --  I sucked at his bottom lip gently taking it between my teeth. 

He grabbed my hips with his large hands and sat me on the side of the cherry wood desk, the pressure from his fingers on my hips was almost too much for me. He brought his hand back up to my face and began to kiss me harder, slowly moving his lips to my neck as I carefully ran my hands through his hair.

My body tingled with nervous excitement as he began to unbutton my uniform, starting at the top, working his way down. His lips were back on me, slowly kissing my collar bone. I threw my head back, letting out a soft moan. I wanted him to devour me whole. 

He moved down to my chest barely grazing my skin with his teeth. He made quick work of freeing my breasts from my tight bra. Cupping my left breast he began to suck and lick at my soft sensitive skin. Running his thumb over my nipple, he brought his tongue to my right breast, slowly licking while squeezing my left. It felt so good the way he was paying attention to exactly what my body needed. I could only reply with another moan as I felt a wetness pool beneath my panties. 

He sat down in the chair and pulled me to the edge of the desk. He slowly pushed my legs apart revealing my completely soaked panties, and began to slowly rub his finger up and down over and over again. 

"Why don't you let me take care of you for a change, darling?" he said. 

“Yes.. please.. please...” I panted.

I felt him press his warm tongue against the wet fabric of my panties. Feeling his warm breath on my thigh, he began to slowly lick long wet stripes up and down my underwear. With the pressure of his tongue and the tip of his nose against the thin material that was so close to my heat, I only wanted him to remove the barrier between us and push his tongue in, but he only kept teasing me.

"Oh, Fuuckkk ...." I whispered, as I watched him continue to tease me.

He stood up and finally removed his shirt and unzipped his pants. Oh, he was so big I almost gasped at finally being able to see what he had been hiding from me. He stood against the desk and ran his long index finger along my panties but this time looping them around his finger and pulling them off. I could feel the cool air hit my wet core.

"Oh, just look at you." He hissed as he licked his left index finger and pushed it deep inside of me. His words alone were enough to push me over, but I held back. My body jerked back as he began to finger me.

"So good.." He whispered in a low voice, as he pushed a second finger in and began to pump them in and out. He muffled my moans by placing the fingers from his right hand in my mouth, while the fingers from his left hand were inside of me. I began to ride his hand hard while clutching onto the side of the desk. He rubbed my clit more and more with his thumb, pushing me closer to the edge. 

His hard cock was now directly against my wet folds as he stood between my legs, I wanted him to just finish the job so badly. He looked at me in awe, watching the pleasure across my face. I leaned forward pulling his face down to me, licking his wet lips. I lightly kissed and licked the little cuts and bruises across his beautiful face. I slowly moved my hips against his hard cock. "Mmhm," he moaned, trying to control himself as he began to buck his hips against my core.

"Fuuck, I want to be inside your tight wet cunt" he moaned.

“Please..." I begged as I thought about how incredible he would feel inside of me.

"Please what, love? Tell me what you need.". He moved his ear up to my lips. Fucking tease.

"Take Me. Fuck me…..  Ruin me." I said as I grazed his ear with my teeth, lightly pulling at his little hoop earring. 

“Ruin you?” he chuckled, pretending as if I had offended him. “I don’t know if I---.” 

Before he even finished his sentence - with one quick motion, he was deep inside of my wet, aching core. I let out a gasp as he began to thrust hard and fast, hitting my spot almost every time.

"Damooonnnn.. " I moaned. He pulled me up into a sitting position on the desk, pushing harder into me. I leaned into him, wrapping my legs tightly around him-- he began to pant and breathe heavy in my ear, while every now and then, kissing and licking at my shoulder. His eyes were dark and filled with lust, his breaths were quick and ragged.  I loved the sounds he made -  small little groans of pleasure. I gripped him, digging my nails into his burning skin, hoping to leave my mark. He looked so delicious, screwing his face up whenever I would clench myself around him as he buried his face into my neck.

"You feel..so.. incredible.." he said in between heavy breaths.  I bit my lip hard as I felt my stomach tighten again.

I felt him pull away, removing himself, causing me to let out a small whimper. His strong arms flipped me over, pushing me down, bending me over the desk. My breasts were now pressed tightly against the wooden surface.

He teased me again with his tip, running it up and down my wet folds, as he leaned forward, pressing me down, his large hands directly on top of mine, I felt a slight pressure from the weight of his body -- but I wanted to feel him so badly. I wanted to feel that force on me. He slowly began to kiss and lick my ear.

"Fuuckkk ---" was all I could get out before he slammed back into me again. I could feel his hands now gripping my shoulders, I felt him push his thumbs into my back-- hoping he would leave a mark on me, too -- I wanted to be his. Reaching his left hand over, he began to rub my clit harder and faster as he thrust into me. He was so big, and I was so wet. I could feel the edge of the desk rubbing against me, which made it harder for me to maintain control, it wasn’t going to be long. 

Damon let out a few low, sexy growls as he pushed into me -- it became too much. My orgasm hit hard.  I threw my head back as my whole body clenched and tightened. My legs went weak as I finally released all tension -- I could hardly hold myself up. Damon removed his grip and I pushed myself up from the desk. He was so gorgeous, his beautiful face was just staring right at me. 

“Oh, sweetheart, that felt good, didn’t it?” He smirked, while rubbing himself. I still wanted him, even after those intense waves of pleasure washed over me, I still really wanted him. He had such an affect on me.

“You really know what you’re doing, huh?” I managed to reply.

“I’ve had some practice.” he smirked again. “Mmm..now.. how about you help me feel good?”

I nodded. I would have done anything he asked me to. I laid back down on the desk, as he stood between my legs. I let out a few moans to try and entice him. “You are so fucking beautiful, tell me, where do you want it?”

I moved my hand to my stomach, I watched it rise and fall quickly with each breath. I was still trying to recover.  Damon began to rub himself harder. I watched as he threw his head back in pleasure. “Mpphh”. He moaned. It was so hot just watching him, knowing I was the one he wanted. His breaths became ragged as he reached the edge - suddenly his whole body jerked, as he released his warm, hot liquid on my stomach. He was breathing so hard. I was sitting up on my hands, leaning towards him. He reached out and pulled me close to his face, gently kissing my salty lips.

"That was.. everything I hoped it would be, love.” He paused.  “I just can't wait until I'm out of here."

I pulled back, looking him in the eye. "Oh..?" I said, not sure what he meant by that response. Damon could tell that I was a little concerned.

"Oh..” he chuckled. “Sweetheart, so we can do this all of the time, you know..?” His face was flushed and still slightly sweaty. He was so fucking gorgeous, I still could not believe what just happened. "I really, really want to take care of you. I want to do this properly, love. You deserve that. I want to make you feel so good. You're incredible in so many ways" he continued. “I want to be with you, if you'll have me.”

I grabbed his face, slowly running my thumb over his pink-tinged lips. His eyes were soft, he looked even more handsome, if that was even possible. 

"I would love nothing more...." I closed the space between us and brought my lips back up to his; I felt him smile.