#this was a story of showing a group of redeemable villains (first step CHECK) getting DEFEATED IN BATTLE

[hella1975]

would you like to talk about how bad the mha ending was hella

as much as i would love to give like. a comprehensive response i genuinely dont think i can get my words together just yet without it being a constant unintelligble stream of 'AND ANOTHER THING-' and bc it's become quite torn in the fandom on if the chapter was good or bad i want like. an actual coherent response here. so i will reblog this if/when i can word it but know IM NOT FUCKING HAPPY

[inkweaver22-blr]

Here’s chapter ten! I do believe this is the first chapter with absolutely no dialogue! I hope you enjoy it regardless!

AO3 Link

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Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Ten: Soft Shadows

Redemption is a hard process. Yet the cycles seem to make it easy for one particular demon.

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Redemption was a tricky thing. It required so many different events to happen in a certain order that it rarely occurred.

The first step was to commit some form of wrongdoing.

This was unfortunately the easiest part to do and most people never moved on to the next.

The second step was to realize and acknowledge your actions as wrong or harmful.

Many had justified their own actions over the course of existence and never saw themselves as doing wrong. Worse, many knew their behavior to be cruel and simply did not care or relished the feelings of power it gave them.

The final step was perhaps the most difficult to achieve.

One had to feel genuine remorse for their actions and wish to change.

Very few actually made it this far in the process as it usually required a catalyst of some sort. A personal revelation after going too far or someone laying your actions out clinically so you couldn’t justify them. Even a single act of unconditional kindness and trust could make someone wish to change.

Then came the truly hard part: actively changing your actions.

The path to redemption was not a short one. It took a lifetime of pursuit and dedicated work to not slip into the temptation of reverting back to who you were before.

Closing yourself off and pretending you didn’t care was easy, after all. What was difficult was being honest with yourself and allowing yourself to feel.

It helped if you had people around you to offer support and love. If it was from the same people who you had harmed originally, all the better.

But earning forgiveness wasn’t the goal of redemption. Some would refuse to give it, and you would have to live with that as it was their right to do so. It may hurt, but you had hurt them first and have no right to demand it even if you had changed.

Being redeemed wasn’t for the benefit of one’s victims. The hope was that you could grow into being a better person. It was for your own personal peace of mind. Whether others choose to accept that you’ve changed was not up to you, but you must continue onward regardless if you were to ever live with yourself.

Tang was intimately familiar with this process. The amount of cycles where he had been some sort of villain was not small.

The first three steps came easy to him. Feeling remorse for his wrongdoings and wishing to change were simple for one stuck jumping through time.

He could even spot a suitable catalyst for his potential ‘redemption’ fairly quickly. MK’s kindness and belief of the good in most people had certainly been useful on many occasions.

Having the whole process down to a science himself, Tang was even able to pull others into changing their ways sometimes. The Demon Bull family were commonly caught in his actions whenever he was a part of it.

(Having Red Son as a younger sibling had been interesting.)

What was bemusing to the scholar was that throughout the cycles there was one person who would constantly be redeemed, even without his meddling.

The Six Eared Macaque was an interesting puzzle.

He seemed to fit into the group that knew their actions were harmful, but did not care. Yet time and time again, he would become one of their allies.

Tang hadn’t known much about the demon early on in the cycles, but the knowledge about him came inevitably.

Macaque had been a “beloved friend” of Sun Wukong in the past. At some point, they had a falling out, Macaque seeing it as being left behind by Wukong.

The scholar had actually experienced part of that tension back in that cycle with the time traveling cactus.

So it seemed feelings of betrayal, jealousy, and abandonment were Macaque’s main motivations.

That last one was eerily similar to MK’s insecurities.

Macaque was very much like both Wukong and MK when Tang stopped to think about it. All three had repressed emotional trauma and coped with them in wildly unhealthy ways. Usually by pretending they weren’t there.

Macaque channeled those repressed emotions into schemes of revenge. He used lies and illusions to get what he wanted. He was condescending and sarcastic to his enemies, seemingly cruel and uncaring.

And it was all a facade.

At least, most of the time. There were a few cycles where Macaque was genuinely a despicable person who showed no remorse.

As much as he tried to hide it, Macaque was actually a very emotional being. It was quite easy for him to get attached to one or more of their group and slowly his cruel streak would fade.

Macaque’s catalyst for change was usually a person. It differed from cycle to cycle, but someone would show him some kindness or trust and before Tang knew it they would have another sarcastic immortal monkey as a part of the team.

MK was obviously the most common person to get the demon to change. Macaque was not lying when he called him a good kid. Having four father figures in those cycles seemed to be good for MK.

Wukong, while usually not the initial catalyst, tended to play a big part in Macaque’s redemption. Being old friends, they knew each other extremely well. While that tended to lead to a lot of arguments, it also led to them picking up where they had left off their previous relationship.

It didn’t really bother Tang that said relationships were often romantic in nature. Watching the two monkeys cuddle when they thought no one was looking was just too cute.

Mei was an interesting choice for Macaque to become attached to. He often ended up becoming her mentor, teaching her how to properly wield the Dragon Blade. Both of their sarcastic natures worked surprisingly well together.

The biggest surprise had been Pigsy.

That cycle, Macaque was basically under house arrest as ordered by Heaven. Pigsy, not wanting the manipulative demon to be anywhere near MK, forced him to stay at their apartment. It was some time later when Tang had woken late in the night to some loud noises and had left his room to complain.

Only to find Macaque pressing a kiss to Pigsy’s cheek before fleeing his room, pursued by a flustered and angry pig demon soon after.

It was strange, but Pigsy’s gruff and silent compassion meshed really well with Macaque’s easy going and nonchalant attitude. The scholar found their affection towards each other endearing.

Tang supposed it was only a matter of time before he himself acted as Macaque’s catalyst.

The cycle had started early, about a year before the original events. While working at the library, Tang had been approached by what he immediately recognized as Macaque in his human disguise. He had requested help on learning more about The Journey to the West for a school assignment. Tang, deciding to play along, offered himself up as an expert on the story and they began meeting weekly to go over it.

Macaque truly did not know the full events of the Journey in this cycle and seemed upset at several points, such as learning about the fillet used to inflict pain on Wukong. Over time, the pair began to meet up more often and discuss things other than the famous book.

He really should have expected falling in love.

Macaque was still sarcastic as ever, but never malicious. He made jokes and comparisons that had Tang’s side aching from how hard he laughed. He was quick to pick up Tang’s quirks and preferences, surprising him with his favorite foods or a nice new set of bookmarks.

He was still Macaque, but this softer side of him made Tang’s chest flutter.

As he lay in bed with his partner, (who had still yet to reveal himself to Tang, but he was patient), Tang couldn’t help but feel a new place in his heart open up for the shadow demon. He had already been considering adding Macaque into his family due to the many times he had joined them, and this just solidified that decision.

Oh Tang knew the cycles where he never changed would be painful. Watching as someone he loved went down a path of self destruction wasn’t easy. But he held onto the knowledge that there would always be the cycles where Macaque did become a part of their family.

As long as the possibility existed, there was hope that the same could happen in his own timeline.

If he ever got back that is.

Tang shoved that increasingly reoccurring thought away and closed his eyes, letting the soothing sounds of Macaque’s breathing lull him to sleep.

----------

A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!

Macaque is the fandom’s darling bad boy, so of course I had to have a chapter discussing his many, MANY redemption’s over the many fics and AU’s.

In particular, (Teach Me to Be) Tougher Than Leather, Softer Than Silk by *checks notes* HOLY SHIT! I had no idea this was by @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off until just now! *ahem* Anyway it is an AMAZING fic with a practically never used pair and I highly recommend it.

Tang seems to have a type doesn’t he? Demons that seem emotionally distant, but are big softies at heart. It’s probably the purring that gets him. ;P Also does Tang/Macaque have a ship name? If not I'm dubbing it InkyPages.

Don’t worry Tang! I’m sure those intrusive thoughts will go away all on their own.

Important notice! I’m probably going to be putting this fic on the back burner for a bit because I really want to write about the cycle mentioned here. Not as part of Scattered Cicadas, but as its own thing. So keep an eye out for that!

Until next time!

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS | A MYSTERIOUS INTERLUDE

first time reader click here

This is a scrapped chapter. Originally, I was planning to 1) give Reader a longer, more intense destructive streak before her ending up with Tony. I planned three or so chapters that involved an abusive Quentin Beck, but, ultimately decided that to be too cliché. 2) I had planned to write at least 30% of the fanfic in Tony's/third person POV. This chapter would have been number 11/12 - Tony would have rejected her advances in the lab & she would have got hooked on Beck's charming facade.

Why am I publishing this? It seems like a waste if effort to shelf it, plus, it's Tony's POV. You can skip it since it has no relation/bearing on the current story. Just a tiny "what might have been" tidbit.

It was a moment's notice. One second, they're standing in a group, laughing, soaking in the warmth from the fireplace, chattering amongst themselves, telling tall tales and sipping their liquor. It all goes black briefly, and then they are surrounded by darkness - it's nearly impenetrable, so thick that their voices echo in it.

Tony's body was encompassed by the nanotech suit immediately after his eyes and his brain adjusted to the rapid change of surroundings. His teammates, too, had their skills honed on an instinctive level - the faint thump of Mjölnir in Thor's hands, the golden-green glow of his brother's magic, whirring of Barnes' prosthetic arm. Steve's shield stayed tucked behind the living room couch but his enhanced physique and readiness to fight 24/7 has him covering the unenhanced Clint and Natasha in mere seconds.

Tony was mostly angry rather than afraid. The team was having a good time at his party and the chance encounters of weird shit like this had been reduced to nearly zero percent possibility thanks to Friday's screening process: supervillains, Hydra agents and the likes strictly prohibited on Stark-owned premises.

It was a strange coincidence Banner had to take a break to check up on one of his experiments not even five minutes before the rest of the team was experiencing the strange change in scenery. Speaking of Strange, the sorcerer also was nowhere to be seen - Tony distinctively remembered seeing Stephen ten feet away from the bar, engaged in a hearty debate with the lead of SI's Medical Engineering department.

"This is not magic," Wanda piped up from behind him, confused. "I don't feel anything on the usual frequency. It sounds more like Friday humming in the walls, like electricity."

Good to know, Tony thought. It was nice having someone who was familiar with the undiscovered side of science - after all, Tony had always considered anything 'magical' to be science he had not personally understood yet. Wanda's most redeeming quality in Tony's eyes was the fact that more often than not she seemed to be as clueless as everyone else when it came to her powers and didn't act so high and mighty as some other people. Cloaked people, and horned people, for example.

"The fuck, man? I was hoping, just one evening, one normal evening with my beer and wings," Clint whined. Tony could hear Natasha huffing in annoyed agreement.

"Mr. Stark, what are we going to do?" His very own spider-child, on the other hand, sounded distraught. Peter's voice has this funny thing it does when the boy is upset but tries to hide it: it quivers on the vowels, wobbles slightly.

Tony had to blindly grope the air for a moment before his arm found Peter's shoulder. The boy was shivering and took the offered comfort eagerly, folding into the older man.

"Okay, whoever is pulling this stunt, my advice is: don't," Tony sighed, 12 000% Done With This Shit™, exclaiming loudly. "If that's a prank, stop it or speak up. If you got beef, then you got some nerve doing this in my tower. Show yourself."

He could feel the fine hairs on his neck stand up as the team tensed next to him, readily gearing up to pounce. Peter was vibrating in Tony's arms and the billionaire suddenly remembered the curious side-effects of Peter's powers, the spidey-sense. It must have been going absolutely haywire - the kid nearly hyperventilated himself into a heart attack.

"Stark, I must apologise for the uncomfortable circumstances. Believe me, it was a necessity - you always demand attention, whereas I need people to pay attention to me for a moment. Don't worry, you'll get yours when the time is due."

The voice was vaguely familiar. Male, slightly nasal but quiet and creeping. Insinuating. It lacked the usual boisterous bravado of a mid-grade bad guy, Tony had to take an educated guess that the owner of the mysterious voice was well-off, white. Privileged. No hint of desperation in it, as if the man was pitying everybody.

"The fuck? Q, is that you?"

Oh shit, Tony realized in muted horror. She must've been hanging around somewhere in their vicinity - which wasn't unusual, the girl usually orbited around Barnes, Wanda, Peter or Bruce. All of whom were present at the party. Tony had forgotten about her, to his shame, somehow having had automatically assumed she trotted out of the room on Bruce's heels. His science bro and her acted like conjoined twins when it came to their scientific ventures.

"Stop talking," The man growled, the voice suddenly coming from a very different direction. Tony heard a distinctively feminine yelp, albeit muffled. Peter violently jerked in Tony's arms. The engineer put the superstrength of his suit to use, holding the teenager down.

"Aw, hell no!" She yelled, the indignant shrieking followed by the sound of a moist palm slapping something glass...y? "What the fuck? I am asking you again. Are you... Oh my God, are you wearing a fishbowl on your head? Ow, motherfu-" The rest of the sentence is muffled, garbled. Whoever this "Q" was, she obviously knew him and he had silenced her. And, apparently, Q had an uncanny choice of headwear.

Tony was sure the rest of the team had followed his lead on doing a spit-take. They've fought enough supervillains with more than questionable fashion sense but a fishbowl? That was new.

"Be quiet, baby. It's for your own good. I don't want to hurt you if I can help it," The Fishbowl chastised her.

Tony's confusion once again returned to irritation at the frivolous way the villain addressed his science buddy. Peter's friend would have been more accurate but Tony had put her into the 'science bro' category not too long ago. They were close, as much as they could be, with the age gap and totally different interests and... The immense amount of guilt Tony felt for his attraction towards the girl. He was a dirty old man and she was barely an adult.

Every damn day Tony did his best to avoid making a shiny, big, new problem. Yet her brains and her wit and the uncanny ability to pull anybody into a conversation had a firm hold on his attention.

"Leave her alone," Stark angrily declared, powering up a repulsor. "What do you want? Party crashing isn't allowed in my tower anymore."

"What I want, Stark, is for you to give credit where it's due," The man answered simply, giving Tony just enough time to shove Peter behind him towards Natasha and take a tentative step forward.

The soft glow emanating from the repulsor illuminated barely two inches around his hand. The darkness surrounding it seemed to swallow the light. Tony moved on quiet feet towards the voice, easily avoiding furniture. His memory was good and he knew his tower, his home, better than anyone else.

"Did I hear that correctly, you're accusing me of plagiarism?" Tony tried for indignant, hoping to provoke the man into an inevitable, drawn-out speech where he lists all the wrongs Tony ever did him, giving the team precious time to regroup and form some semblance of a plan.

"Yes," Q simply answered, pausing for a second. "I hope you enjoy your next adventure. It certainly will show you the potential of my creation."

Tony shared a muted sound of confusion with the rest of the team.

"Q, I am very disappointed," To Tony's horror, th girl stared talking again. She sounded somewhat breathless, and closer to him than before. "Stop it with the dick measuring contest, you're a grown ass man. Go work for OsCorp, or Hammer, drink your sorrows away." She sounded so tired. And even closer to him.

"This is not a dick measuring contest!" Q roared suddenly and wow, that man was unstable. "This was my life's work, my creation, he insulted, berated and threw away!"

"I get it, I really get the whole 'being discarded and thrown away' thing," She replied, somewhat sarcastically. "But you know what? I'll be damned and I'll be fucked if I give some piece of shit any more of my undivided attention. They don't want me? Fine, they can fuck off and take their complaints with them." Her speech was periodically interrupted by shuffling noises.

Tony didn't dare to interrupt, seeing now the possibility of Q being actually calmed down by a teenager (probably) quoting some teen drama TV show.

"But going full Joker? You're a brilliant man, Quen, I wouldn't even look at you twice if not for your brains and your baby blues, however I don't fuck with the bad guys. That shit kills," The hand that rested on the wrist cuff of Tony's suit unmistakably belonged to her. She had the remnants of some sort of wire around it, sleek and quicksilver-shiny, irritating the tender skin under it. "And I want to live. You've gone and pissed off an entire crew of supers and I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think, Quen," There was genuine sadness in her voice.

Tony stood silent in confusion.

Whoever this Quen was, they obviously shared a close relationship. Tony's brain ran through the list of her friends, her relatives - there was nobody named Q, Quen or even remotely similar. Natasha had mentioned a possible boyfriend at some point but the man sounded too old for that, he was at least thirty. Or maybe? Tony wouldn't put it completely past the girl, if judging by the blatant way she flirted with Bruce. With himself.

"Baby, this is not about you. I don't want to hurt you," Quen replied, a hysterical edge to his voice. Something began flickering in the distance, attracting Tony's attention to the shape of a man with a round sort of helmet and a red, billowing cape (hello, 2012-Thor!).

"Too late, Quen. You've tied me up and you went on to attack my friends. I've already told you that if you yell at me one more time, I will leave you. So I guess this is it," Her voice broke at the end, pitiful sniffles following the statement.

Tony watched the exchange, mildly uncomfortable and very concerned. The man yelled at her? That was absolutely unacceptable, however, what else could one expect from a maniac with a flair for the dramatic?

The girl bodily placed herself in front of Tony, standing, doing nothing but rubbing her wrists. It was then that the engineer noticed Q nearing them, the shape becoming distinctively closer. And - yep, there it was - the fishbowl on his head. It completely obscured him, making his face invisible, unrecognisable.

The man seemed rather fixated on the girl standing in front of Tony. He floated in front of her, ignoring Tony, taking her bound hands in his own. A brief click and a hiss later, her wrists were released and the contraption fell freely to the floor where it landed with an oddly heavy thud. Tony hoped there was no lead in that thing - supervillains were dangerous but lead poisoning was cancerous and fatal.

"Baby..." Quen timidly touched her face with a leather-bound glove. "I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm sorry." Tony took the chance to examine the man's costume. If anything, it looked somewhat steampunk-y? There was a lot of bronze, and the chest brace had some sort of glowing lines on it. Power storage units?

She stared up, towards the man's hidden face. "M'sorry, Quen," She mumbled, going in for a hug. Or that's what Tony thought. The majestic cape that billowed behind Quen was unceremoniously yanked from his body as the girl ducked, covering herself with it, yelling: "TONY, NOW, SHOOT, SHOOT!"

Tony did just that, shot Quen flat in the chest and the man stumbled backwards, tripping on the cape - such a stupid, unexpected thing. But Tony knew, his girl was clever and resourceful. Pride swelled in his chest as he shot the man again, Rogers running out from behind him blindly, body-slamming Quen into the ground for good measure. Two hundred pounds of supersoldier later, the battle was over before it even started.

"No!" The villain shouted as Steve pressed and popped the hilarious glass contraption on his head. The accessory was no match for the Captain's super strength. Tony immediately recognised the man as his former employee, Quentin Beck, and it clicked for him. It was totally a personal vendetta.

"This stuff is tough, plexiglass, maybe," The Captain remarked, pointing at the scattered shards around Beck's head. "It appears to be augmented too, some kind of tech, I don't know. You're good at this, Tony," Steve chuckled humorlessly, roughly turning Beck around and securing his hands with a pair of vibranium-reinforced handcuffs. God only knew where he'd gotten those from.

"Good at what? Making enemies?" Stark couldn't resist the self-depricating joke.

"Stop it, Tony," Natasha's gently admonishing voice interrupted Steve's incoming lecture. Tony, for once, was thankful that the Widow interrupted. He was in no mood to listen to another one of Steve's speeches.

"Who do you work for?" That deadly gleam in Natasha's eyes was terrifying and Beck was only a man.

"I don't work for anyone but myself, thanks to Stark," He spat venomously.

Natasha cocked an eyebrow in Tony's direction.

"Fired him years ago, this guy was going nuts. Brilliant but crazier than a bag of cats," Tony replied, feigning nonchalance. He could feel a mild headache begin to gnaw at his skull. "We worked on a project together, he got upset that I refused to weaponize it. We had a falling out. End of story." With that, Tony stood up, retracing his suit to only leave the gauntlets on his hands, gathered the various pieces of tech the good captain had removed from Beck's persona and made way towards the nearest table.

Or where he thought it was. All of them were still surrounded by the uncanny darkness. The anxiety that Tony forcefully shut down reared it's ugly head as soon as he lost physical touch with his teammates. He stumbled, his foot catching onto something on the ground.

"Ow, motherfucker!"

"Buttercup, I haven't fucked your mother nor I plan to," He snarked back automatically, flooded with relief at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Hope so. She'd probably bite your dick off if you try," A hand was groping his calf and then she stood up in front of him, still clutching the ridiculous cape. It appeared to be a source of light, which was very strange. The girl looked positively demonic, illuminated by red light, face scrunched up, eyes puffy, and clothing in disarray.

"You good?" Tony managed to choke out, confusion and worry and anxiety making his chest tight.

"Balmy. My boyfriend is a homicidal maniac with an inferiority complex," She sassed, an edge of panic to her voice. "Oh, and he tried to kill one of my best friends. I am fine and dandy."

"Your boyfriend?" That was the only thing Tony heard. Bat-shit crazy Beck, his babygirl's boyfriend? There was no way in Hell he'd allow such a thing...

"My ex-boyfriend, I guess," She sighed, removing the cape from her persona. Refusing to meet his eyes, fiddling with the hem of her top. "Here," The girl abruptly thrust the cape at him. "This is a funny thing, it's like a hologram but you can actually touch it. You should, uh, probably disinfect it, or something. I've been on-uh, around it many times," It was so unlike her, the fumbling, the embarrassment, Tony wanted to wheel her straight to medical to check if she's gotten concussed again.

Then his brain caught up and all he saw was red. Figuratively and literally - the cape was still in his face, loosely hanging from her outstretched hand. She must've seen the look on his face.

The step she took back was quick and worrying. "Forget I said that, I don't know why I said that. Oh, god."

"What were you thinking?" Tony inhaled a solid lungful, prepared to make his opinion very clear. "Getting involved with a lunatic! For a second I actually thought you were smart, there isn't a chance you missed that the guy is short of a few marbles," His voice was quiet, the one of a calm fury. His words cut deeply and he could see the hurt, the shame in her eyes, on her face. Tony knew he'd regret it later however his brain insisted it was a necessary evil. He continued ranting until he ran out of breath. "Not to mention he's, what, twice your age? And he yells at you and tells you to shut up? It didn't ring any alarm bells in that pretty little head of yours?"

"Tony, stop," Steve's hand landed on the engineer's shoulder and he simply shrugged it off, staring at the quivering girl in front of him.

She was crying, silently, few tears pooling in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, leaving ugly streaks in her make-up. Tony expected her to sass him, to argue back, to yell obscenities like she usually did when something or someone upset her but he was met with hurt, stunned silence. His worst fear came true when she looked away, shrugging.

He'd seen this sort of dejected shrug the time her father drugged her and... She just took it. She expected it, even, his outrage, his disappointment. Being hurt and mistreated was the norm for her, Tony realized belatedly. There were too many parallels between them both that made him uncomfortable deep inside. His chest felt tight, regret washing over him like a tsunami wave.

"I'm turning on the lights, close your eyes for maximum comfort," Strange's voice announced suddenly, causing everybody to jump and shudder. Tony complied begrudgingly. The sudden influx of light was painful even from behind closed eyelids. His headache became a full-on dull throb.

"What happened?" "Are you okay?" "Is everybody alive?" Resonated across the room. Tony spied several small drones smoking and crackling next to the exit door, Stephen Strange closing a portal he must've used to evacuate the civilians.

The puddle of red holographic cape on the floor. And her hastily retreating back. Damn.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie

[sabine-leo]

Solid chaos

Note: I got a request from @drakesfiance for a fic 

Summary: Living in a world were The Avengers exist and save the world repeatedly you find yourself one morning with inhuman abilities of your own. How will your boyfriend Tom react when he get´s back from his audition?

Author: @sabine-leo 

Idea of: @drakesfiance

Part: 1 /5

Genre: Angst, Humor, Fluff, Uncertainty

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston / Reader / Loki 

Part 1 

As a passionate fiction reader yourself you haven´t had much trouble accepting that there was more to the world then “just” humans and the same old same old every day. At first it was fun to think about what could be and what was possible as the first mentioning’s on TV appeared about extra-terrestrial findings. Soon there were never ending stories about heroes who saved the world….a lot.

An organisation named SHIELD had made it their mission to release some Information they deemed fit for the people and help to get them to accept that there was more to some humans then most of the world wanted to see. Secrecy was not an option anymore, SHIELD had to accept that at first and adjust to the new world as Thor and some other heroes had called it. Working closely now with a group called The Avengers had helped putting them on the good side of the human eyes again after first being eyed suspiciously. Iron Man, Doctor Strange, The Hulk and Thor just to name a few had an ever growing fanbase.

 Finding out that there had been a heck of a lot more going on right under the normal citizens nose over a long period of time now was somewhat exciting. It was interesting to get to know the heroes and the extraordinary people who worked and fought for you in stories they wanted to share with the wider world.

 The myths your grandmother had told you as a child about North Mythologies and other realms seemed to be mostly true. She always taught you…yeah even exhorted you to keep an open mind and an open heart for everything which seemed impossible at first. You loved her dearly and were very sad as she passed into the fate (how she called it) at an age of 110 six month ago.

Your boyfriend Tom had been your rock in the last 6 months of grief. As the news of your grandmothers passing got to him on set of a film he was acting in he got the director to push his remaining scenes forward so that he could be with you just 1 day later. He was by your side through the whole process and made it as bearable as he could for you. He was the kindest human being you knew and your grandmother had loved him dearly too.

Sitting on the sofa of your Livingroom you were engulfed in a book again. Tom came out of the kitchen with a cup of tea for you and himself, smiling at you. “Sweetheart, what are you reading again?” he sat the cups down, kissed your head and sat down next to you tucking you close.

“Just a story my gran used to read to me when I was little. I can´t believe there actually IS a God of Thunder.” Tom laughed a quiet laugh and answered.

“I know how you feel, but isn´t it exciting to know that there are other realms, other realities besides ours?!” he took a breath. “I mean, all those possibilities…there are actual Gods …Odin, Thor, Loki…all that sense the most random things like thunder and lightning now have…” He played with a strand of your hair and continued “…The theory of Chaos and Order always fascinated me for example…one can´t exist without the other.”

 You smiled at him and closed the book. “You are the most ordered person I know.”

Cuddling into him you grinned.

“I´m the chaos in your live!” Tom laughed and turned you to straddle him.

“Yes darling, and I can´t exist without you!” His lips touched yours in a sweet, slow and lazy kiss.

“I´m the Loki to your Thor…as you light up my world” You giggled about your cheesiness and wiggled your eyebrows. Tom laughed his big boyish laugh that reached his eyes in an instant.

“I always had a thing for Loki…” he said grinning and kissed you again deeper and full of the love you both had nourished for the last 3 years.  

 Stroking his neck, you smiled near his lips “Yes, I know…Loki is no villain he is misunderstood! And he has redeemed himself after trying to enslave earth.” Tom and you had whole evenings of conversations about this special God. Tom had taken a liking on him, trying to solve the puzzle that the god of mischief was to everybody.

 Tom took the closed book from the sofa and put it back on the table without letting go of you.

“I love you, you know that?” he asked you softly. You smiled a very happy smile and kissed him.

“And I love you! Bring me to bed, will you?”

Tom grinned and stood up lifting you to close your legs around his hips.

“As you wish!”  

 3 weeks later Tom had persuaded you to fly with him to New York. He had to be there for an audition and wanted to show you the city as you had never been three before. After checking in at the Hotel you fell face first onto the big bed. “Ufff, I don´t know how you cope with the jet-lags all the time.” Dizziness had taken its toll on you for the last hours of the flight and your head seemed to spin the whole way to the hotel.

 Tom came over to you and stroked your back. “Rest darling, take a nap, I will wake you in an hour.” He kissed your neck and stood up again to unpack your suitcase. You didn´t need more then 2 minutes to fall asleep. Tom made good on his promise to wake you. He had ordered something to eat for the two of you and brought it to bed on a tray.

“Rise and shine darling…” he kissed you and then the two of you ate together.

Deciding to stay in this evening you choose a movie and cuddled up in bed. This weird feeling inside your head never leaving you fully. Grounding yourself with touching Tom and stroking his beautiful chiselled chest you made it through the movie without unsettling him. He truly was your anchor.

Falling asleep in his arms you hoped the next day would be a better one.

 In the morning Tom had his audition, you kissed him goodbye and wished him luck before you went into the shower.  The hot spray helped to clean your mind for a moment, but then a sharp pain brought you to your knees. Clutching your head, you felt sick for a moment. Trying to breathe through the pain you fumbled for the wall to give you footing. Ah there it was. The marble was cold to the touch at first…and then…it was gone. Losing your balance, you saw the wall coming nearer and nearer. Oh shit, this will probably give you a laceration.

 Bracing yourself for the inexorable hit you would take you closed your eyes and… with arms stretched out you landed on the floor…outside of the shower. How on earth?!

Blinking you stared at your hands for a moment before looking back. Your…your chest was INSIDE the wall. The water still hitting your rear.

Ok, that was weird.

Lifting yourself up slowly you went THROUGH the wall back inside the shower. Standing under the hot spray again you faced the wall, which apparently was a mirage? How could you otherwise explain what just had happened? Your hand lifted and tentative touched the stone in front of you. If this was a mirage it was a hell of a good one. Your fingertips felt the marble, the cold marble, the solid marble. But just seconds before there had been only air. “What the fuck…I went THROUGH it…this wasn´t solid!” you shook your head and just by thinking it your hand tingled and went through the stone again…and back.. and through again.

 You were going mad, or that was a totally weird dream. Solid stone, air, solid stone, air. It must have looked like a pantomime mimicking a wall in front of him. You turned of the water and had a little panic attack. This was impossible. You couldn´t…or could you?

Engulfing yourself in a towel you went to the wall that separated the bedroom from the bathroom. You were SURE that this one was solid. Touching it you knocked against it. Wood and stone.

The voice of your grandmother resonated inside your head. “Keep an open mind (Y/N)…the word impossible still has POSSIBLE in it. Never let someone other than yourself dictate the rules you live by.”

 Talking to yourself you faced the wall. “Ok, either I will walk right through it into the bedroom or I will hit my head trying.” You took a deep breath and looked at the wall. Your vision went blurry for a second. Taking a step, you felt a tingling sensation and stood inside the bedroom the next second.

A startled laugh escaped you. You turned to face the wall. Knocked on it again and laughed sort of hysterical.

 Could it be that you were able to walk through solid things just by thinking you could? The closed bathroom door out of glass caught your eye. You still had to finish that shower. Shrugging you took a step and…hit your head on the glass. “Ouch! Damn!” Concentrating again and narrowing your eyes you tried again…and it worked. A snort escaped you. You didn´t know how you could be so calm about what you just discovered, but you sort of still thought you were dreaming.

 Finishing your shower, you dressed and sat on the bed afterwards. With every passing hour the possibility of this being a dream seemed to get more unlikely. Three hours after your encounter with the glass door you heard the lock snap open. Looking up you saw a smiling Tom come in and you discarded of the book you had started to get your mind of what had happened.

“Hello love, feeling better?” he asked and jumped onto the bed near you, hugging you close.

“Yes, I do…but tell me…how was your audition?”

“I think it went well, we had a good talk after I showed them what I had prepared…they want to call me in the next days.”

You cuddled up to Tom and rested your head above his heart. “They will, I know they will!”

Tom smiled and kissed your head. “Ready to go on a sight seeing tour?”

You nodded but craned your neck to get a kiss from the person that held your heart in his hands.

How would he react if he knew what you did today? Would he freak out?

New York was a gorgeous city. Tom got you to do a hop on hop off Bus tour, like the ones you had in London. He had the ability to blend in to the general people so you two were mostly unrecognised by the other tourists around you. Sweet as your boyfriend was, he didn´t decline questions about an autograph or a picture when they came sporadically. Getting of the bus your hand went through the railing for a second which made you lose your footing and tumble outside. Damn, had Tom seen it?

 “Darling? Are you ok?” he came to you and touched your back.

“Yes, I was a bit clumsy…missed the last step.” Tom smiled and took your hand in his.

“I know why you hold onto me so often then…” You snorted.

“Yes, purely because of my clumsiness…not because I like to touch my hot as hell boyfriend…or because I love you…” you retorted what made Tom laugh and kiss you.

 “Plaster yourself to me anytime you want, but know that one thing can lead to another very quickly!”

His voice dropped into bedroom territory in that last sentence. You shivered and bit your lip but said:

“Keep your pants on for at least another hour… I´m starving!”  

Tom chuckled and kissed you softly. “Tonight, you are mine to do with as I please!”

 The rest of the day was fun and relaxing. The things Tom showed you in this beautiful big city were interesting and astonishing. Laying down on the grass in central park after having an ice cream you closed your eyes a moment. Tom lay down next to you breezing kisses on your eyelids, your nose and your lips.

 “Tom…?” you started after he had made himself comfortable next to you.

“Yes darling?”

“If you would develop a somewhat unusual ability…what would you like it to be?”

Tom smiled and thought about it for a moment. You loved him for giving it a real thought without discarding it as nonsense even more.

“I don´t know… reading minds seems to be a to obvious choice. I think it would get rather disturbing very quickly. Let me think about that for a while darling.”

 Wrestling with yourself for a moment you came to a conclusion. You had to tell him. He was your other half, he held your heart…having a secret as big as this wasn´t an option. You had to trust the love he had for you not to get scared or leaving you because of it. “Can we go back?” you asked him and sat up. “There is something I have to show you.”

There, out it was. Tom sat up and looked at you. “Of course, love. It´s getting dark soon anyway.”

 Back inside the hotelroom you closed the door behind the both of you and didn´t know how to start.

“Love, what´s up? You look all intense.” Tom walked you over to the bed and sat down with you.

“I…I have to show you something. It…happened this morning, I can´t explain it. Please don´t get scared!” Tom looked confused and said.

“What´s scaring me is you talking like that. You can tell me anything sweetheart!”

 You stood up and stood in front of the closed glass door. “This…” you explained how you felt sick this morning and how your vision got all blurry for a second. “…when I concentrate real hard I… can walk through that closed door.. even this wall.”

 Tom looked even more confused if that was possible. “(Y/N) are you pulling my leg?” he asked and stood up. But before he could reach you you took a step THROUGH the closed door.

“BALLS!” you heard him yell. “How is this..” his voice got closer…and he hit the door walking against it. “Bloddy hell!” If you weren’t that strained about his reaction you would have laughed at his swearing. The door opened and Tom looked at you. “How? Why? When?”

 Excellent questions…

“Do it again!” he demanded and touched the wall next to him. You took a deep breath, concentrated and walked right through the wall into the bedroom again.

“Awesome!” Tom declared. You could´ve thought about a million other things he could´ve said, but awesome was not on that list. You faced him and asked. “Awesome? Aren´t you freaked out a bit…I walked through a freakin wall in front of you…”  

 Tom grinned a bit and ruffled his hair. “Yes, No…I mean…” He took your hand in his.

“You walked through a solid wall in front of me!!!” His voice was a bit higher than usual.

“Since when?” He had so many questions but through the whole process of explaining what had happened this morning and how overwhelmed you felt at first, he held your hand. Somehow you ended up on the bed laying there cuddled up to each other talking about the whole event over and over. The more you thought about it the more you asked yourself how you could have gotten that ability. “I couldn´t do that as a child…I always wished for it because gran always beat me when we raced inside the ….house…” You sat up abruptly. “Bugger me blind! GRAN!”

Tom looked at you. “You mean…I always thought your gran was special and being as fit as she was with a 110…you think she was more than an ordinary human?”  

 The whole night went by with Tom and you trying to analyse the situation and talking about your possible partly inhuman heritage. Coming to the conclusion you wouldn´t find your answers here you decided to search further when you were home again, going threw all the stuff your gran left behind for you.  Tom reassured you time after time he loved you and that this fact wouldn´t change only because you could beat him to the shower now. He really had the ability to make you feel loved and cherished no matter what. He could bend the most absurd situation into something good.

Looking into his peaceful sleeping face in the morning hours you smiled and whispered.

“I love you Thomas William Hiddleston. More and more each second that passes..”

Finally sleep also got a hold of you.

 The next 3 days went by and with every passing day you were feeling better and better again. Tom was his normal self around you, he had not changed a bit. The love he gave you was true and unchanged. But on day 4 you felt uneasy outside the hotel. You couldn´t shake the feeling someone was watching you. Following you. Talking about it with Tom helped, but even he had a gut feeling something wasn´t quite right.

Inside a restaurant after having diner you went to the bathroom before Tom and you wanted to leave to find someone waiting for you.

“(Y/N) you need to come with me. There are things we need you to know. Things you need to do for us.” This man opposite you looked shady. His eyes unsettled you, his black clothes with a scary looking emblem made you walk backwards.

 Eying Tom as you beelined back to your table followed casually by the strange man Tom stood directly taking your hand and tucking you outside whistling for a cab. Jumping inside a free one he just shouted “Drive!” before he turned to you. “Are you ok?” he took your face into his hands and kissed you desperately. “Yes, I´m fine.” You answered between kisses.

 “Excuse me…” the driver said. “I´m driving, but where too?”

“Avengers Facility!” Tom said and your eyes went wide.

“I can´t go near there. Security is heavy.”

Tom sounded annoyed. “Just bring us as close as possible then!”

There was no way of changing Toms mind, he was hellbent on getting you to a saver place then the hotel. The drive to the facility took almost 30 minutes and the walk to the gate took another 10. Almost instantly a camera zoomed in on you. Tom looked directly into it.

“Excuse me for showing up unannounced…” Even angry and exasperated he was a gentleman.

“…My girlfriend was stalked in a restaurant and I think it´s because of her newfound abilities.”

The Camera switched to you, scanning you.

“Entrance denied.” Said a mechanical voice. Tom growled a little.

“Open that damn door or she will walk right through it!”

“Tom, love.. it´s ok.. let´s just go.. please..” You took his hand but he wouldn´t budge.

“I´m Tom Hiddleston and this is (Y/N & Y/L/N) please, open up and we will explain.”

Inside the building behind the camera sat Bruce Banner and Tony Stark.

“This is him… this is Tom fucking Hiddleston.” Tony looked at Banner.

“Are you fangirling in front of me Bruce. Keep your pants on buddy!”  

“Shut it Tony, open the door!”

Tony rolled his eyes but hit the button and the gate opened.

“What´s all that ghastly noise about?” Peter Parker came into the control room,

“Oh my god, is this Tom Hiddleston?”

“You too?” Tony asked and stood up and walked out to meet the both of you.

Tom held your hand tight as he walked with you to the entrance of a fancy looking building.

The door opened and Iron Man himself emerged, behind him Bruce Banner and Peter Parker.

“You threaten to walk THROUGH my gate?” Tony started and stood in front of you.

“Excuse him Mr. Hiddleston…welcome at our compound.” Banner shoved Tony aside and shook Toms hand. “Yeah, excuse him…Hi I´m Peter, or if we use our made-up names I´m Spiderman…it´s so good to meet you”

You watched that scene as if you weren´t involved in any kind. If you weren´t that flabbergasted yourself you´d say 2 of 3 man were fangirling over your boyfriend. Aaaand your boyfriend over meeting Spiderman, Ironman and The Hulk…

“For heavens sake, get inside I´m embarrassed for all of you!”  Tony said whilst shaking his head.

“Do I need to hold the door for you or do you walk right through?!” he challenged you.

 You eyed him a second and fixed your gaze on the door. Vison blurring you walked…right through it.

“Huh…here I was thinking it was just a made-up story to get in my house!” Tony opened the door to follow you inside.

Directing you to a conference room the 5 of you sat down and the interrogation started. Mostly it was Tony at first who asked all the questions. The other men to occupied being star struck. Some minutes into it Banner shook himself out of his inner fangirl and got interested in your story. They made you walk through various things and discussed the possibilities where the sudden change in your abilities originated from.

Talking to each other Banner said “It´s most alike to a certain person’s ability to project himself.

(Y/N) do me a favour. Concentrate real hard on your shirt…it´s red now, think about changing it´s colour.” At first you didn´t know how that fit with your ability to walk through stuff but you gave it a try. Thinking hard about another colour your left arm turned green. Shocked you lost your concentration and it was red again.

 “Thor…” Tony said into an intercom on the table “…do me a favour, get your brother and meet us in the conference room.”

 Tom looked at you and his face lit up like it was Christmas morning.

 I hope i didn´t mess up your idea so far @drakesfiance 

[dailybestiary]

Patch Has Issues: Dungeon #1

Issue: Dungeon #1

Date: September/October 1986. (I was just entering 3rd grade—a dismal year for me—and hadn’t yet discovered D&D at this point. I had just watched Optimus Prime pass away on the operating table during The Transformers: The Movie, though.)

The Cover:

(Use of cover for review purposes only and should not be taken as a challenge to status. Credit and copyright remain with their respective holders.)

One of the notable things about Dungeon was that the covers were actually commissioned for the magazine, instead of just vaguely connected to the issue’s theme like Dragon’s were. The late Keith Parkinson’s “Into the Flame” shows off the star of the issue, the red dragon Flame. Its very humanoid posture recalls Parkinson’s time doing draconians for the Dragonlance line. I’m guessing he was very proud of being picked to launch the magazine—this image is the first that comes up on his website to this day. (If you’re curious, Parkinson’s work in general is great if you like knights in bad weather and big humanoids, but he definitely leans hard into the all-women-in-fantasy-are-bikini-wearing-sorceresses trope, a habit that—like many ex-TSR artists—only got more pronounced as his career progressed. It’s no wonder he moved into video games.)

The Adventures:

“The Dark Tower of Cabilar” by Michael Ashton & Lee Sperry, AD&D, Levels 4–7

Our very first Dungeon Adventure is...*drum roll*...a converted tournament module that is pretty rudimentary: Defeat the vampire in his stalagmite tower-and-dungeon combo (I’m already thinking a stalactite would have had more cinematic appeal), and retrieve the crown that can prove your employer’s godson’s noble lineage.

Right off the bat, this adventure features encounters with fire drakes and lava children! Yep, you read that right—lava children. (Pathfinder fans will remember them from Misfit Monsters Redeemed.) Clearly Dungeon is not afraid of Fiend Folio weirdness.

Beyond that, the module screams “I was written for a tournament” with the number of traps and cursed items and red herrings involved, and not in a good way. Once we get to to the dungeon levels, as a reader I’m just listlessly going room by room till we get to the Big Bad. Overall, a disappointing start.

“Assault on Eddistone Point” by Patricia Nead Elrod, AD&D, Levels 1–3

Our first adventure by a woman author is only our second adventure out of the gate! This bodes well for the rest of the series—wait. Hold on. Is that Patricia Nead as in P. N. Elrod? I’ve never read her work, but she’s helmed some anthologies that Jim Butcher’s short stories have appeared in. I’m guessing this is an early cut from her? And frankly the hand of an experienced author is all over these pages—a vast step up from the previous article (whose authors, to be fair, seem like they were still in college, according to their bios).

So first off, this is a tidy little adventure: Check out why the team sent to repair a signal tower hasn’t reported back. (Even Bryce likes it! We’ll talk about Bryce below.) The NPCs aren’t locked to one location (except the hostages), so once PCs get to the tower, it’s up to the GM to position them and assign reactions. But the cast is small enough this doesn’t seem daunting, even for new GMs, and you could run this thing in a single night.

But where it really shines, as I said, is the deft authorship. Elrod very quickly delivers a tight sketch of the location: two city-states vying for market advantage, dwarves under the mountain range in between minting the gold that moves said markets, some signal towers that exist as a compromise to keep the peace, and what the heck, also some elves in the valley between.

Now, this is basic stuff. And not even pumpkin-spice-latte basic...this is “I’ve only read The Hobbit” basic. Dwarves minting gold and elves in the woods and most of the villains are half-orcs? Even for 1986, this ought to be chucked in the bin as trite.

And yet...it’s not, because of Elrod’s deft pen. I suddenly want to find out more about these cities in the course of play—maybe one could be a good home base for the party? The interplay of politics and markets and signal fires and dwarf relations is just specific enough to feel real, while being sketchy enough it could be dropped into most game worlds. The clever chief antagonist is distinctive enough I don’t mind her stereotypical brute sidekicks, and trying to uncover her employer could lead to the next session’s adventure. It’s basic sure, but it’s Basic Rules-red-box basic. In other words, it feels classic. I wouldn’t put this in front of my grad school gaming group, necessarily, but if I got asked to run an afterschool session for some middle-schoolers wanting to learn the game? Hell yes!

At this point, I’ve probably oversold this adventure, so forgive me if you are underwhelmed by it. But I’m willing to risk a little overhyping to celebrate what can be constructed with such simple meat-and-potatoes ingredients.

And that’s not even counting the not-meat-and-potatoes elements, like the white raven who is already one of my favorite familiars ever, and the ticking clocking scenario the weather sets up (you need to beat the mercenaries before they can mess with the signals), and the names of the other watchtower peaks, each one slyly suggesting another adventure, and…yeah, I dig this.

“Grakhirt’s Lair” by John Nephew, AD&D, Levels 1–3

John Nephew wrote one of my favorite D&D supplements of all time, Tall Tales of the Wee Folk, which I won’t shut up about—I’ve even told him so on Twitter—so I don’t feel bad in saying that this entry is a total dud for me. Pretty much the only interesting thing about this adventure is that the humanoid antagonists are the Fiend Folio’s norkers, and they get the classic 1e AD&D humanoid treatment: that is, absolutely nothing sets them apart from any other humanoid out there aside from their stat blocks. You can skip this one without guilt.

(Admittedly, Nephew was also shockingly young when he did both this and TTotWF. Looking back, I really wish I’d made some different decisions re: my writing growing up—I was disengaging with the hobby just at the age when other people were hammering down the door to get published. Sigh. But hey, none of them held a Run-DMC concert or hung out with Rahzel at age 21, right? We all have our journeys.)

“The Elven Home,” by Anne Gray McReady, D&D, Levels 1–3

Our first D&D adventure! D&D, specifically BECMI D&D, was the neglected stepchild of the late ’80s and early ’90s, despite the earnest efforts of line champion Bruce Heard, Dungeon editors Roger Moore and Barbara Young, and a lot of talented freelancers. But I was a fierce D&D partisan, because it was what I was first introduced to and what I could afford, and because I loved the variety of classes and cultures the Known World allowed. For a line that often felt overlooked in terms of marketing and support, the love and talent put into the books that did exist were evident on almost every page.

So I wish I could find more to recommend “The Elven Home,” but it’s not even really an adventure or even a side trek—instead it’s a thoroughly fleshed-out NPC encounter that should lead to combat only if the PCs are particularly boorish. Like Bryce (again, see below) I could have used more whimsy and more weirdness to make these elves stand out just a bit more, though their twee personalities (more faerie than Tolkien) at least set them apart from most elves PCs run across these days. So your mileage may vary—some of you may be utterly charmed by this (I lean at least somewhat charmed), others of you very much not.

“Into the Fire,” by Grant & David Boucher, AD&D, Levels 6–10

I was expecting a lot out of this adventure—the cover dragon, Flame, was the closest thing Dungeon had to a mascot till the Adventure Path years under Paizo, and he wound up appearing in at least one or two more sequel adventures, if I recall correctly.

While I wasn’t blown away, I can see where the fondness comes from. The adventure isn’t particularly special at first. A necklace shows up that may hint at the fate of a lost prince, but following that lead means following the trail of a recently deceased knight, and—spoilers!—that trail leads back to a dragon. But then the combat with Flame is presented, and the brothers Boucher serve up a number of round-by-round tactics and dirty tricks for Flame to employ that wouldn’t feel out of place in 3.5...and I’m guessing were thrilling in 1986.

Remember, this is before dragons had varying power levels according to age—and were often asleep in their lairs to boot—so if DMs weren’t careful high-level characters would carve through them like butter. (Seriously, it was such an issue that every June Dragon Magazine would churn out articles about how to keep your dragons alive longer. They did this for decades.) It’s easy to ding the Bouchers—Bryce (see below) certainly does—for coming up with too many reasons why Flame is immune to PC powers and abilities throughout the adventure. But to me it just feels like an experienced red wyrm doing what an experienced red wyrm who wants to live would do. Flame is smart, more interested in survival than winning, and while he plans to ruin the PCs’ lives as thoroughly as possible, he’ll run if he has to. PCs who survive will be stoked to tell the tale, and that feeling will only be magnified by a massive treasure haul with a number of flavorful items and future adventure seeds of its own.

Other things to note: There’s a slanty tower that’s okay (I’m a sucker for slanty towers), but where it’s placed in the adventure, it will likely be an anticlimax. There are also some big wandering monster encounters—a score of ogres with an ogre magi, two dozen ghouls and ghasts, etc.—that I’d be interested to see how they rebalanced for Pathfinder/5e D&D. I think shows like Game of Thrones have put the fear back into random encounters with large groups of humanoids, so it would be fun to play that out even if the math says the PCs shouldn’t break a sweat.

Is this my favorite adventure? Not by a long shot. But I can see why readers were fond of it and why Flame’s legend persisted.

“Guardians of the Tomb,” by Carl Smith, AD&D, Levels 3–5

That...is some very boring architecture for a shrine. Also, why would a master thief even have a shrine? Especially in a swamp? And while I’m vague on the relative power levels of 3rd–5th-level characters in 1e AD&D, I feel like 2(x PCs+ y retainers) shadows+1d12 even more shadows = a whole damn lot of shadows to trap the PCs with behind an 18th-level wall of stone! Apparently Smith even worked for TSR at some point—did no one pull him aside and say, “Dude! Game balance!”?

I have questions.

Not only does this seem a bit extreme, at least for an unlucky 3rd-level party, it feels personal. This feels like Carl Smith had some players he wanted to teach a lesson. The bio says Carl Smith’s first love is Westerns; I’m guessing he likes the ones about the Alamo or Butch Cassidy or Unforgiven where pretty much everyone dies at the end.

Who hurt you, Carl Smith? Who hurt you?

Best Read: “Assault on Eddistone Point.”

Best Adventure I Could Actually Run with Minimal Prep: All but “Into the Fire” could probably be run after only a second read-through. But I actually want to run “Assault on Eddistone Point.”

Best Concept: As dungeon locations go, a leaning tower that’s leaning because a dragon decided the best way to kill the wizard inside was just to land on the dang thing and knock it over is a pretty good concept.

Best Monster: You always remember your first dragon. So of course, we have to give this accolade to the always-two-steps-ahead Flame.

Best NPC: I’m a fan of the crafty Vorona in “Assault on Eddistone Point,” but the tie goes to the titular elves of “The Elven Home,” who literally want to chat so badly that the party might get attacked by stirges for lingering too long. Don’t overlook the wolfwere in “Into the Flame” though— he sounds like a real a$$#ole.

Best Map: “Into the Flame”’s Lake Haven kinda-isometric hex map, though I also do like seeing the dragon’s volcano lair map with a boat right in the middle.

Best Thing Worth Stealing: A dragon’s volcano lair with a boat right in the middle.

Worst Aged: The magazine’s first adventure hadn’t even started yet and the text was reminding us to look up climbing rules and calculate the PCs’ weights. Yikes. I don’t miss 1e AD&D. Also, the term “magic-user.” Oy. So glad that’s gone. Oh, and alignment tongues! Ye gods, remember alignment tongues? No, you don’t, because they made no sense and no one over the age of 11 ever used one in their game.

What Bryce Thinks: “Wow. I had no idea that 1e adventures sucked ass so much.”

One of the only people who has done in-depth online reviews of old Dungeon issues is a dude named Bryce Lynch over at tenfootpole.org—which is hilarious, because Bryce hates old Dungeon adventures. An OSR (old-school renaissance) fan through and through, Bryce is super particular about what he considers an acceptable adventure. To his credit, he wants adventures able to be easily run at the table, but he also loathes boxed read-aloud text, long backstory, and pretty much anything he regards as fluff. Which means Dungeon, even at this primordial stage of the game, drives him around the twist (as our Brit readers might say)—and it’s only going to get worse. Even so, I’m going to check in on his reviews as we go along, because his laser focus on the GM’s experience at the table is a good yin to my all-about-the-fluff/inspiration yang.

But for what it’s worth...we pretty much line up on our faves for this issue. Go us! Ditto Adam Perdona, whose tastes also seem to line up with mine and who also liked “The Elven Home.”

So, Is It Worth It?: Okay so let’s say you play Pathfinder, 5e D&D, or some other contemporary system. Should you run out and try to find a physical copy of Dungeon #1?

Well...aside from the collector’s value (it is a #1 after all)...probably not. There’s nothing here that screams “Pull me off the shelf”—what pleasures are inside will also be in the PDF.

What this issue does offer is a back-to-basics approach to adventure construction and worldbuilding that I think we sometimes need. Sometimes all you need is some dwarves, some elves, and a dragon. Sometimes we need to forget secret societies and trade disputes and just help a king who’s lost his prince. Think of Dungeon #1—specifically “Assault on Eddistone Point” and “Into the Flame”—like one of those articles you sometimes see in GQ or Esquire: “How to Grill a Steak. No, put down the pesto, put down the chutney, put down the coffee dry rub and remoulade. You’re going to grab some salt and pepper and maaaybe some butter and We Are Going to Grill a Goddamn STEAK.”

If you want fusion sushi, look elsewhere. Are you in the mood for steak? Look for these two adventures.

Random Thoughts:

Editor Roger Moore’s voice in the intro is so stiff—he would be way more assured and relaxed in the ’90s.

It’s a huge nostalgia trip seeing maps in “1 square = 10’” after years of 5’ squares in 3.0/3.5/Pathfinder.

Speaking of maps, they’re still pretty rudimentary here—it is 1986, after all. But I’m pleased that we are immediately getting side or isometric views of some of these locations (especially the towers) to give us a better sense of what these structures look like. I’m a big fan of that.

One of the weird things about published D&D, AD&D, and Pathfinder settings is that, for an ostensibly Middle Ages-inspired hobby, most show surprisingly little interest in the standard medieval trappings. Kings and princes are rare, city-states are the norm rather than feudal kingdoms, and even knights and castles have largely given way to mercenaries and manor houses. I think there are tons of reasons for this—questing knight tropes feeling stale or immature, the gradual shift of the hobby’s default assumptions to early Renaissance and the Mediterranean rather than medieval England, more opportunities for political conflict but with more manageable stakes... (And let’s face it: high-level PCs just love regicide. Oligarchs don’t have targets on their backs the way kings do.) Anyway, I bring all this up because early Dungeon is clearly not afraid of kings, queens, princes, or knights. If your tastes are more King Arthur & Prince Hal than Diplomats & Doges, you might want to check these early issues out.

Comfy rooms that make you sleepy are an overdone trope in this era.

Leaning/slanty towers also get a lot of love in Dungeon—perhaps too much—but I will never not love them.

If a description, even if just meant for the GM, is going to use a simile that takes me out of the game world such as “like Spanish bayonet,” I’d prefer it walled off in parentheses.

A lot of the art inside this issue (especially James Holloway’s) would be reused again and again in the pages of Dragon, including for subscription cards, the No-SASE Ogre, and even “The Voyage of the Princess Ark.”

Notable Ads: An ad for Lankhmar, City of Adventure, for you classic sword & sorcery fans, and the Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide for AD&D.

(Any fans of the DSG out there? I’ve always heard it, like, laid the groundwork for what we think of as the Underdark. But every time I’ve seen a used copy on the shelf I’ve opened to pages and pages of rules about mining and smelting and I’ve closed it in horror.)

This Month in Dragon: Dragon #113 offers a cardboard dragon (assuming you have a physical copy or can get creative with the PDF), a tour of Hades, fiction by Harry Turtledove, and some nasty Gamma World robots. Dragon #114 serves up the witch NPC, the elven cavalier class, and Marvel’s Inhumans.

[kalico-to-the-letter]

REVIEW // RWBY | 6.4 | “SO THAT’S HOW IT IS”

AKA the first time ever I wished I could be Qrow, just for a brief moment of hand-throwing.

Welcome in to my review of Volume 6, Chapter 4, entitled “So That’s How It Is”.

In this episode: A broken man gets torn to shreds. The hornets’ nest regroups.

Mention that man’s name in her presence, and be afraid.

EVERYBODY HATES OZ

How close are you to being so totally done with Oz? Is it as much as Team RWBY and Qrow in this episode, who seem like they would tie him to a snowy tree were he not inhabiting the body of an innocent kid? Or is it as much as Salem, who brutally killed him in a past life and now breaks her windows at the mention of his name?

I wrote last week that the shedding of light on Oz’s history would help his character in the long run, and that it was necessary to put the heat on him now so that we can properly invest in his redemption and invest in him as being a hero among Qrow and the RWBY girls.

The short term pain, however, is another matter. Cutting and running – pretty much slamming his bedroom door and locking it – does him no favours. Not that it’s meant to, mind you – with how Qrow and the girls react to him in this episode, the show gives us a clear direction on how we should feel about this guy, and I’d say it’s pretty spot on.

I understand it must be difficult for him, to be confronted by a past and these truths he surely expected to remain buried, but he’s not taking responsibility for anything in this situation. He’s sent our heroes on this reactionary suicide mission to gather up the Relics, without any articulable vision of the end goal. He knows he needs to take down Salem, but no vision of how to do it, beyond �� I’m guessing – appealing to the Gods once the Relics are gathered up, even though they specifically said that Salem needed to be dealt with for humanity to survive their judgement.

Just think back on all his past moments of wisdom and guidance. Now forget all of it, because Oz’s credibility is entirely shot now. A monumental effort is required to rebuild it, in the eyes of these characters and us viewers alike. In this situation, we are Yang, and we are Qrow – that is to say, we are monumentally pissed off at this guy right now, and “sympathetic” is not the first word that comes to my mind when I think of Oz. Remove the s, y, and m, and that’s more like it.

Again, this is all short-term pain. I have no doubt that he’ll redeem himself – because otherwise there’s no point to him being a protagonist – and this is a step on that journey.

It will swallow the characters around him, and that’s another double-edged issue. One thing I’ve noticed is the growing tension and disharmony surrounding Team RWBY ever since the premiere – not that they were all in sync in that episode, but there was a clear unity around them. Since getting blasted off the mountain, revolving their characters around Oz has cast a progressively negative feeling around the group – something that Maria pointed out in this episode. Remember that it’s only been two weeks since the battle at Haven – not enough time to unpack the baggage and underlying issues in these relationships. It is not inconceivable that the increasingly negative influence of Oz forces conflict among the girls individually, and we get some juicy character drama out of it – which, when you think about it, would be new for these girls. Yang is ten shades of furious right now, while Blake and Weiss are dispirited. Meanwhile Ruby, who was just starting to get her leadership feet under her, has to try to keep everyone going. Is that beef I smell in the campfire?

This is how paragons fall. A character that we initially see as cool and all-powerful and all-knowing is now broken, a puddle in the snow. And because of that, the heroes’ victory at Haven suddenly feels more like a step over the edge that can’t be walked back. Instead of emerging triumphant, it now feels more like they just kicked the hornets’ nest.

And when I think about that – this kind of semi-arc that began in the Volume 5 finale and has gotten to this point – this episode, as short and seemingly filler as it is, takes on a very real and unexpected significance.

OBSERVATIONS:

I got Volume 4 vibes from this episode, particularly with the RWBY girls. The mood and emotions here are sharper than they were back then, but the combination of the plot and setting and the overall greyness in this episode brings it back a bit – which I don’t mind, because I liked the moodiness of Volume 4.

A correction to an oversight I had last week, in regards to Salem and Ozma’s daughters. Of course I saw the Four Maidens thing, because we’ve all had that lore drummed into our heads to make it obvious enough. The direction of the scene implied that they were killed during their parents’ fight, at least to me. What I oversaw was the transference of power angle – which, I know, they used to build a lot of Seasons 3 and 4, but I didn’t make that connection in the moment. Of course, it’s entirely possible that they were killed and their Maidenhood transferred – but, given the established rules of the transference, which is not the same as reincarnation, to whom and how did it happen? It’s unclear, and it would be a shame if this thread is never resolved.

I didn’t discuss it in my main review, but I would be wrong to omit any discussion of the antagonists’ storyline in this episode. It is the first time we’ve seen anything of Salem’s crew (sans Cinder) this season, and it was smart to feature Salem immediately after last week’s story. Already, a couple of interesting things are popping up in this storyline. On the minutiae side, and I expected this, there is something markedly new about her portrayal – a greater depth, but not enough for her to seem radically different.

I despised Tyrian in Volume 4, more than any character in the history of this show. Last week, I talked about how great it was to get Salem out of the Cartoonish Villain territory. The week before, I flagged the appearance of the Miss Malachite character in Cinder’s story as a potential Cartoonish Villain and all the irritation that she might bring. And now Tyrian’s back? And intimating that he be the one to go after the heroes this time around? Hell no, fam.

It’s worth remembering just how badly Cinder messed up. She rushed headlong and arrogant into a fight with someone she completely underestimated.

The other side is that this storyline is already determined to position Emerald as its focal point. It makes sense: she looked up to Cinder, and coming to understand how Cinder failed creates a genuine conflict within her. What would happen, for instance, if she were to see Cinder again? How would that make her feel? Would it be closer to an Ilia-Blake situation, or an Adam-Blake situation? I find it personally interesting, just because I’ve always stopped short of forming a definitive idea or opinion about Emerald’s character beyond her attachment to Cinder, and this direction could be really promising for her, based on her performance in this episode.

GRADE: B+

Don’t let the short runtime fool you – “So That’s How It Is” marks a moment of reflection for RWBY’s recent and distant history. Not only does it represent the complete destruction of Ozpin’s credibility, but it also forces Team RWBY into a serious reality check – one that could lead to key fractures in their relationship as a unit. It effectively repositions Salem going forward while introducing Emerald as a focal character, and forces a shift in perspective on what last season’s Battle of Haven truly meant for this story. – KALLIE

[calliecat93]

RWBY V6 CH5 Review: The Coming Storm

It's been roughly about a month now since Volume 6 started... and ho boy, has this volume has not held back it's punches whatsoever. Within the span of four chapters we got a train wreck, long awaited questions answered, Cinder plotting her vengeance, and Salem reminding us why she is scary as Hell. We've been put through the wringer these past for weeks, and now with Chapter 5 upon us, we are all wondering how this can get anymore intense. Well delving into the horror genre seems to be a pretty good way! What do I mean? Well lets find out!

Overview

Before we check on our heroes though, lets check in on Cinder The good news for her is that Lil' Miss Malachite has gotten the information that she wanted. She informs the Fall Maiden of the good guys heading for Argus, which causes Cinder to conclude that they're heading for Atlas next. She starts to head off... until Lil' Miss refers to her by name. As it turns out, Cinder was quite the interesting figure. So much so that it brought the information broker double the business. How you may ask? Well the camera cuts to above where we see a figure standing on a  beam... and carrying with her a familiar looking parasol That's right my friends, after three volumes and a ton of teasing, Neo has made her return.

Neo wastes no time, attacking Cinder and the two villainesses begin to rumble. It's a pretty awesome hand-to-hand fight too, all as a chilling new Jeff and Casey tune plays. Did I mention that I really want the soundtrack? Between this, Lionized, Miracle, and the opening this soundtrack is gong to be morbidly awesome. Lil' Miss, while clearly enjoying the show, eventually tells the two girls to take their rumble outside. It's at this point that Cinder discovers that the Neo that she's been fighting is one of her illusions... so yeah, Neo can now cast longer, more lifelike illusions. Be afraid people. Be very afraid. But it isn't long before Cinder causes the real Neo to step forward.

Now normally, Neo has a confident, pretty cocky demeanor like her former boss, which her previous illusion also demonstrated. But here? Her clothes are slightly tattered, her expression is serious and vengeful, and most notably she is now wearing a very familiar looking hat. It takes Cinder no time to realize what the deal is: Neo wants to kill her as revenge for Torchwick's death. As they fight however, Cinder points out that they both have the same goal, which is to get revenge on Little Red Ruby. Cinder finally goes into Maiden mode, causing Neo to stop in fear, ad the Fall Maiden convinces her to knock it off and that they can work together to make Ruby pay. Neo agrees to talk... well she can't really talk, which I guess we now have conformation that Neo is indeed a mute. But you get what I mean.

Back with Team RWBY, the storm is growing worst as Ruby is confused by the state of Brunswick Farms. Most places that she's seen that were abandoned were either destroyed or unfinished, but this place is fine. The group breaks into what I assume is the mayor's house and everyone scatters to look around and find supplies. Ruby's attention goes to some portraits, showing a rather happy bunch of people. Blake goes to check on her... when the two hear Weiss scream. The gang goes to find her and Yang in a state of horror... because they just found the corpses of the home owners still int heir beds. WELL... THAT WAS SOMETHING.

A little later, Qrow confirms that all of the town is dead int he same manner. Weiss understandably doesn't want to stay there, but with the storm they have no choice. Qrow goes to see if he can find anything that can transport them out, ordering the others to go nowhere alone. Blake and Yang go to see if they can find anything in the other buildings as Ruby and Weiss look around to see if they can find any food. That leaves Oscar with Maria, who tells him to keep the fire going as she looks for a bedtime story. Did I mention that I love Abuelita Maria? Because Dear God do I love her.

Blake and Yang end up in some kind of barn/shed and look around, also wondering what it could have been that killed everyone. It's pretty clear that Yang is not handling any of the recent events well and Blake is concerned, but the blonde merely says that she's tired and wants to get out of this place. She finds a wagon that looks large enough to hold everyone, but any possible relief is killed when she has a flashback to Adam. She tells Blake of how she still flashes back to that night, her hand trembling as she asks the cat girl if she believes that Adam is still out there. Blake doesn't know, especially since despite knowing that the WF will reject him for his cowardice, he'll likely force his way anyways. She would know after all, he would use force and fear to make her feel beneath him and right into his control. But still, Blake tries to comfort Yang by assuring her that she isn't going anywhere and will be there for her. It seems to help Yang... until Blake says that if Adam comes back, she'll protect her. Yang doesn't take that comment well, heading back while saying that they'll hook the wagon to Bumblebee later. And somewhere, the Bumblebee shippers aren't sure if they should cheer, cry, or both.

Back with Ruby and Weiss, they find what looks like a bar. Ruby isn't happy with this, especially considering Qrow's current mental state, but brushes it aside as she heads for a pantry. Weiss however starts to ask Ruby if they're still heading for Atlas, much to Ruby's confusion. Weiss brings up that Salem can't be killed, so what's the point of going there now? Well that's what she claims anyways. I think that we all know the real reason why she doesn't want to go back. Ruby is clearly upset about this, but Weiss takes it back and just says that she's tired and hates this place... remember this for the review. They find more alcohol and a chained up wine cellar... and some canned shrimp flavored beans! Ugh... why would anyone make those? They take the food and leave and the episode ends with one of the cellar doors opening up...

Review

If anyone was hoping that things would get more cheery.. well sorry, you're going to be waiting awhile! Man, this episode was tense. Heck,t hat's what they should have named it! Tense: The Episode. I'm not complaining though cause man, this chapter was great! The drama continues to keep us at the edge of our sets, we got some payoffs, and plenty of nightmare fuel! Thanks for the Day 5/Until Dawn crossover CRWBY! I'll be having nightmares for weeks now!

So lets talk about the villains first! Neo is back... and I really don't care. I know that Neo is a fan favorite, and it totally baffles me as to why. Her design is cute and all, but... she hasn't done anything. I mean she's.. what? Fought Yang, broke Roman out of prison, and fought Ruby before getting Mary Poppins'd off the airship. That's it. We know nothing about her as a character and her scenes are very minor. She existed to be Roman's flunky because Monty came up with a cool design at the last possible moment. Otherwise, she could have been written out and it would have changed nothing about the series. I need more than a cool character design to care about a character, hence why I wasn't upset when Sienna got killed off, so I really wasn't all that excited to have her show up again,

That being said... this CAN turn out to be a good thing. Because with Torchwick dead, it gives Neo motivation as a character. She clearly cared about her boss and now that he's gone, all that she's left with is the desire for revenge against those who got him killed in the first place. With Cinder now wanted, it made sense to go after her first, plus it was Cinder's planning that got Torchwick put into that situation to begin with. Honestly Torchwick's death may be what allows Neo to get the character that I feel that she is lacking and while I don't expect her partnership with Cinder to stick for long, it'll be interesting to see how she operates now that she has the chance to get back at Ruby.

As for the scene itself, I loved it! The fight scene was great. Fast-paced, but not over bloated. Just a really cool hand-to-hand fight with both Cinder and Neo using their abilities to their advantage. Cinder is still a bitch, but she's showing more of the more smug persona that we're familiar with while actually being logical with her convincing Neo to work with her rather than against her. Considering her current situation and lack of any backup until she redeems herself, it makes sense for Cinder to go this route, even if her mind is still mainly on making Ruby suffer. But hey, she's not screwing up any per-conceived plans to do it this time! Oh, and Lil' Miss Malachite continues to be a delight. I freakin' love this woman.

Now onto our heroes... and boy do I worry for them. God the entire sequence from them breaking into the house to finding the bodies... it was tense. Something felt so off. Poor Weiss just seems traumatized after, and I can't blame her. I'd be traumatized too. So what was it that killed an entire town? Well I think it's pretty clearly a Grimm, but we'll go more into that in a little bit. For now, lets talk about the partner scenes.

Yang and Blake's scene just... made me sad. On the one hand, I freakin' love Blank. She's gone form my least favorite Team RWBY member and not even in my Top 5 to now being a serious contender for my second favorite alongside Weiss. Throughout this chapter, she is supportive and concerned for her teammates. She goes to see what Ruby's thinking about as she stares at the photos, gives Weiss a blanket while she's clearly still reeling from her morbid discovery, and she is trying so hard to be supportive and friendly with Yang. She tries to give Yang the chance to talk about what's bothering her, opens up about how small Adam made her feel, and tries to assure Yang that she's not going anywhere and won't let her get hurt again. It really shows how much that Blake has grown since Volume 4, an I am loving every second of it.

Sadly, Yang isn't doing that great. The recent events, from Adam to everything with her mom to the new revelations to now, have clearly weighed her down. She's downcast, bitter, and frustrated. Her PTSD is still haunting her as she still has flashback and despite being willing to face her fears, those fears still haunt her. And sadly just when it looks like Blake's making a breakthrough, Yang gets upset because Blake said that she'd protect her. It's a very sweet comment, but to Yang it make her feel like she's weak an incapable. She's supposed to be the one protecting people, not the other way around. She hates feeling weak and afraid, so while Blake's comment was nothing but well intentioned, to the blonde it felt like an insult and only reinforced all the negativity brewing inside her. Clearly she needs to let it out and she and Blake need to sort everything out, then she can start to do better. Hopefully, this arc will allow that.

Onto the Ruby and Weiss pair and... man, poor Weiss. The girl is badly shaken from finding the corpses, even as she tries to keep some kind of positive attitude after. But it's clear that both the recent events and the fear of going back to Atlas are haunting her. She's afraid to go home since it means facing her father again and the threat of once more being locked away. No one would want to go back to the place where thy were kept prisoner. But she's also concerned with the recent revelations. Salem can't be killed. Even if they lock away the Relic, all it'll do is slow her down. There seems to be no point, and Weiss is considering calling it quits even if only briefly. It shows how bad of a state shes in emotionally on top of everything else, and I really worry for her.

Then of course there's Ruby. I think that this is the most serious that we've seen her in a good while. She's very much in leader mode, and after how baldy she got the shaft last volume, this is very good to see. She's concerned about the state of the town and trying to piece it together. She tries to comfort Weiss by looking for food. When she finds the bar, she want sot immediately seal it up out of concern that Qrow will get overly drunk. Clearly a lot is weighing on Ruby, yet she still displays a helpful, positive attitude. She's really trying, and it really makes me concerned for her. IDK if all that she's holding in is going to break in this volume, but with how the other three seem ready to break, this might be the right time to do it. I do think that Ruby may have to save them all though, if my current theory about the Grimm is right.

So you may remember that both Weiss and Yang being tired, Yang even showing signs of being delirious. I don't think that's just general dialogue. Remember, they were the two who found the bodies. Bodies that were tucked in bed alongside the rest of the town. It seems that whatever the Grimm is, one that I assume the town locked up until now, it killed them in their sleep There are many different ways to interpret this, but my current thought is that this is some kind of dream walker Grimm. Think of it like Freddy Kruger form Nightmare on Elm Street. Someone who haunts and tortures you in your dreams, to the point that you end up dead in the real world. And this Grimm may cause people to feel tired in order to lull them into it' trap, hence why the entire town ended up dead.

If I had to guess, Weiss, Yang, and Qrow are going to end up asleep and end up victims of the Grimm. Maybe Blake too, but who can say? IDK about Oscar either though I think that Maria will be fine. This will probably means that while everyone is trying to fight through their nightmares. Ruby may have to go into the cellar to find and kill the Grimm, which would lead to the scene in the opening. Heck, for all I know all of them will end up in the nightmares and maybe Ruby's the first to break through or something. I'm not sure. For all I know, I'm talking completely out of my ass. What I do know however is no matter what this Grimm may be or whatever is coming next, with this episode's title being 'The Coming Storm' it's NOT gonna be pretty.

Final Thoughts

Like last week, this episode had me uncomfortable throughout, but in different ways. I am seriously worried about everyone and whatever it is that's about to happen to them. No one is in a good place right now, and that's probably about to reach a breaking point. But hey, we got a cool fight scene and a new song! That was nice of them! But yeah, really enjoyed this episode! It has plenty of character development and plenty of setup for next week. So tune in then as Nightmare Fuel Theater proudly presents RWBY: Day 5 Until Dawn!

[longlivefeedback]

“Why Can’t I Say This?” Context, Concrit, and Commitment

The current (unwritten) rule for commenting is the golden rule:

Gif of Thumper from Bambi saying if you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all.

Commenting (on AO3) is a public experience and we at LLF have openly supported this stance, urging people to praise in public and criticize in private.

Still, what about those writers who explicitly state at the end of their fic that they are open to concrit? Is that permission to take their fic apart, line by line and give them what is could very easily become the equivalent of a public flogging?

The answer, as with all things that involve more than one person, is that it depends. If you are reviewing a work and find yourself wanting to say more than just praise, here are a few questions to ask yourself that can help you determine if your feedback and criticism is actually constructive. 

1. Which party are you at?

First, let’s establish where you’re giving concrit - is it as a beta in a GoogleDoc on a first draft, is it in the public spheres of tumblr/AO3, or are you in a writing group or writing class where today’s assignment is to practice giving critique? Depending on the situation, how much and what type of concrit you give would vary.

Let’s say that instead of fic writing, we’re all chefs (or people who make food) here. We each make a dish and now we want to share it with the world. Do you (A) take it to your friend’s house where they are holding a potluck celebration; (B) set up a stall at the state fair; or (C) enter it into a cooking/baking competition ala Chopped where 5 star judges and food critics will sample your food? Depending on where you take you food, you would expect very different reactions. Generally speaking, you would probably want your friends at the potluck to thank you for bringing something and compliment you for how delicious your dish is. If you were still fine tuning your recipe, you could let them know and maybe they would be able to say one or two things they liked or didn’t like about it which you would file away for the evening, to be looked at for the next time you made something. However, if you were at a state fair, even getting your dish looked at by the crowds of people milling around would be an achievement. If someone bought some of your food, that would be fantastic! If they bought it, took a bite, and then told you how tasty it was, even better! Those people that bought your food, went away, and then came back to tell you how much they enjoyed it or came back to buy some more and brought all their friends with them are heaven sent angels. You probably wouldn’t expect anyone to say anything negative about your food because even if you were still fine tuning the recipe, a state fair is neither the time nor place where any sort of meaningful culinary discussion can really take place on a consistent basis. The situation would be different if you were at a cooking competition. There, you would expect these food experts to pick apart your food. Maybe not steamroll and chew you out à la Gordon Ramsey, unless that’s what you were expecting and the kind of feedback you respond best to (in which case, you should sign up for a competition where he is judging). Perhaps you don’t want to just be yelled at, but would actually like to be coached, then maybe enter a competition with more of a mentoring element versus cutthroat competition.

Being aware of which and what kind of party you’re at helps establish expectations and prevents you from breaking the dress code and expected rules of conduct - something that often leaves you and the host standing around in embarrassment at best and on toxic hostile terms at worst.

We’ve all heard stories about people leaving concrit on works and might have started out as a gesture of good intentions, devolves into a dumpster fire of abuse and personal attacks. If we give each party the benefit of the doubt, this kind of scenario often stems from a mismatch of expectations.

In my opinion, posting to ao3 is closest to the state fair, and is why the “positive feedback only” default is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged. If this stance annoys you, this might be an indication that there is some disconnect between what you really want as a commenter/author and where you’re going in order to get it. I think that we can all agree that going to the state fair and expecting Gordon Ramsey to show up and tell you why your dish sucks is just… not going to happen. Even more, it’s something that shouldn’t happen on the reg. What if you were at the state fair to raise money for charity? No well-meaning person there is going to tell you that your food sucks and that you should do better - and if they do, they don’t mean you well.

So how do determine which party you’re at and what sort of criticism, if any, to expect? Well, when in doubt, ask.

2. Who are you and who is your audience?

When it comes to feedback, take a step back and question your assumptions. Who is the author whose work you are commenting on? Is this an old time friend who you know has nerves of steel and likes every single typo pointed out or is this an unfamiliar username whose work you’ve just stumbled across? Or are you a regular reader who has followed this author’s works, had regular conversations about them with their story, and to whom they’ve expressed their struggles with pacing/plot/characterization?

Are you at Janet’s party, where everyone is expected to pat each other on the back and say something nice to each other, or are you at Bob’s party, where everyone has known everyone for years, has eaten every variation of Dinah’s herring pie, and knows that she’s still looking for the perfect complement to it?

Establishing your audience and writing for them is one of the fundamental rules of effective writing. Whether it’s business emails, academic essays, or love letters, the better you know the person on the other side who will be reading your words, the better you will be able to deliver your message to them.

Be conscious of the fact that people write for different reasons, and that while some may be okay with great advice being shouted at them, it is a nightmare for others. Don’t be a Gordon Ramsey walking around at the charity fair of home baked goods giving tips to the local families trying to raise funds to repair their schools. Be kind and don’t show up at the wrong party.

3. What does the author consider ‘concrit’ and how do I get them to listen to me?

Concrit is, by definition, constructive. It should help an author as well as encourage them to keep improving and to keep writing. If the author comes away feeling discouraged and like giving up on writing, you have failed in your goal of giving concrit.

It doesn’t matter if you have the best cake ever. If you package it in a moldy and dirt encrusted box, I won’t eat it. Likewise, it doesn’t matter if your criticism is pure objective truth (unlikely, since the rules of writing get broken all the time), if you give it in a way that the author is not receptive to, they will not listen.

Giving and receiving criticism is hard, even when you think you’re ready for it. Please also keep in mind that context matters. Anyone who has been a beta will tell you that giving criticism is not easy, especially when we do not have the benefit of verbal and visual cues to help us express what we really mean. How you say things is often just as important as what you say. Tone and nuance is difficult to get right in writing, particularly when two people are essentially strangers on the internet. Cases of misunderstandings and miscommunications abound (they are the villains in so many fics) and sometimes, things just get written the wrong way, or read the wrong way.

Everyone has their own personal biases, and to assume that criticism that you would find helpful and valuable would be similarly received by the author is fallacious and a dangerous assumption. What works for you may be hurtful to others, which is another reason as to why we support the “positive feedback in comments only” default. It’s harder to ruin someone’s day with only positive statements, especially when you don’t have the time or platform to really explain yourself and have a meaningful conversation with the author.

Even in the cases where the author has explicitly asked for concrit, giving it is hard. The best forms of concrit are specific, targeted, and provide a roadmap to the author on why this isn’t working and how to improve. It is not as easy as listing out all the flaws you see and letting the author figure out the rest. If you are serious about giving concrit, make sure that you’re prepared to commit to answering questions and having conversations about why you think something works or does not work. If someone asks you for your opinion on the pie filling, be clear that you think that it has too much salt and only if they ask for it do you tell them about the burnt crust since it could be the case that they are well aware that it is burnt and is why they only asked about the filling in the first place. When critiquing, make sure to establish expectations and who your audience is and commit to having those conversations.

In conclusion...

Consider the fact that feedback doesn’t have to be negative in order to be helpful. If you are able to point out the flaws — and I mean really point them out as writing flaws and not stylistic differences because you are able to pinpoint and explain why something generally does not work — then you should be able to point out the good as well. It is rare when a work has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Maybe you will have to look harder to pick out the unpolished gems, but being able to see the potential and conveying that to the author can more constructive than a hyperfocus on tearing their work apart.

In summary, when you’re tempted to leave constructive criticism:

Remember your audience;

Check your expectations;

Show up at the right party; and

Bear in mind that knowing how to say things is just as important as knowing what to say.

~ mod dragonling

[destinygoldenstar]

Azra Ayla is one of the main characters of the series Destiny’s Burden: The Choice of a Hero. She is an identity driven Dark Lord that fought in the Chosen Rebellion alongside her brothers, specifically, as a terrorist. Azra was born a Dark Lord, destined to be a villain and be defeated by a Chosen One claimed to be more valuable than her. Dark Lords never had a say in what lives they wanted, especially when society shoved them away and abused their kind simply because destiny said they were villains. Eventually the Dark Lords grew upset of the cycle and chose to try and fight against it, to claim the world as their own. One organization in this was the Chosen Rebellion, a group of Dark Lords that train their members into becoming assassins in order to slaughter those that saw them as monsters, and while it started as a peace rally organization, it only grew more violent when new leaders stepped in, as well as Azra and her older brother joining. Because Azra had her parents killed while they tried to escape, she and her brothers were captured by the Royal Flame and enslaved, and after their torture, it wasn’t until the leader of the Chosen Rebellion, Rin Klyde, rescued them to make them her troops. However, even all the way back then, Azra knew something wasn’t right about the whole thing, especially with how violent her brother had become from their situation. She went through with it though, because who was she without it?

That question became her entire motivation one day, when she and Ares raided a train to exterminate traitors. Azra was separated from her brother after they got attacked, and Azra ended up meeting a little girl, who was a Dark Lord like her, and it finally hit her how much she was worsening the situation for her kind. She was becoming exactly what destiny wanted, what she feared, what they have tried to stop society from viewing them as: Dark Lords.

So she fled, she left her brother behind, left him to think she was dead. She followed where the train went, and arrived at Moonlight Empire, a capital for Chosen Ones. Ever since she was raised by another Dark Lord in disguise, a kind hearted bookstore owner named Dusk, and he gave her the chance to join Eus Yram Academia alongside the Chosen Ones and redeem herself, get her to turn herself into a hero, just like them. So she disguised herself as like them, wearing glasses to hide the black sclera of her eyes and giving her a whole new name. If anyone found out she was a Dark Lord, let alone what she used to be, the penalty would be her execution.

Azra Ayla is named after the Islam goddess, Azrael, an angel of death that separated bodies from souls. The very concept of that goes into her entire character as a former soul trying to strip away from her own body symbolically, where literally, it’s a former terrorist seeking redemption and trying to remove her own body, especially where her soul speaks differently from it. Originally, Azra was meant to be a villain in the story, as the evil sister of two. The ‘good’ sister was removed entirely for the sake of another character, and soon enough, Azra became both younger in age, and far more sympathetic as drafts went on. She soon became a dark lord hiding in the shadows, disguised as the adoptive guardian of the main character where she faked her death and soon came back to be the ‘antagonist’ the main characters have searched her, but soon revealed to never be a villain as she was simply doing her job. In that draft, her sister there was the insane one, believing the classic trope and thinking that there was no way she could be the villain because she’s more virtuous. That sister, soon gender-flipped into a brother, would remain the same in that context but with a different origin explaining that. For Azra though, the more I’ve written her, I began to realize that there was far more potential for Azra if she was on the main character’s side, seeking redemption after once being a villain. Especially when the twist would eventually come that she is a Dark Lord, the other characters would at first assume that she’s the twist villain (this is a world that relies on Chosen One stories that rely on tropes after all) But given how audiences now are sick of twist villains being revealed at the end and how little impact they would get as threats, this twist would work with the expectation that the audience would care less that Azra is a Dark Lord, and will also be invested in her when she reveals herself as a genuine person, therefore making her scenes before in her disguise legitimate development, rather as completely fake. 

Ever since her past as a terrorist, where her brother became a monster and she trusted him the most of anyone, Azra’s first reaction to things is to lay low in the shadows, keeping her voice monotone and cold, and especially rely only on herself. She’s stuck around the very people who resented her kind, of course she wouldn’t want to hang out with them right away. This may make her appear as cold and stern, and even a grumpy emo at times, where while that is true, she acts that way to drive others away simply because she’s scared. If they knew the real her, they would probably hate her, or worse, and Azra believes that she deserves to be hated. She tried to make her schooling with the Chosen Ones a solo mission, as an introverted way to express sincerity that Dark Lords could be good, except for the school requires students to be partnered up with someone that is a foil to them, and that leaves Azra to be paired up with the main character’s sister, Cheryl. Of course, Azra tries to push her away, annoyed by Cheryl’s extroverted, energetic, open, and talkative personality. She shows respect for another introvert known as Fran, a girl also in disguise, especially when they showed a similar interest in literature. (Even if Azra is into Twilight, and also all kinds of adult sexually inappropriate books) However, Azra doesn’t do well when her buttons are pushed, and when they do, that’s when she actively speaks out and defends herself, and a slave student in the school Lulu, and it’s because of that where she actively stands up to Astrid and even become her enemy student. She tried to deny friendship being an answer to keep her redemption strategic and all-business, but that’s before she begins to see the other student’s kindness and willing to help her through her issues, and Azra begins to really like them, especially Cheryl, who she eventually develops feelings for. 

Azra has some trauma, and she has her flaws, but she is still a person like the rest of them. She is one of the only people willing to charge into a problem right away, even without a plan, as she isn’t afraid to speak her mind, scream it if she has to. She isn’t emotionless either, as she is capable of being a good listener and even be a passive help in the small tasks. Azra’s biggest conflict through most of these things, is herself. Due to her past and realizing how much of a villain she was before, Azra doesn’t see herself as a good person, and she’s quick to blame herself for things that go wrong. She would mostly think that she’s the problem in situations, and quickly resort to self loathing, thinking that she’s not worth anyone’s time and that she’s completely irredeemable. If anything, her way of seeking redemption in the form of others, would be to first redeem herself in herself, and love herself instead of hate it.

Azra is also my friend’s favorite character in this book series... so I guess that makes her a fan favorite considering nobody else had read my work 😢

Join her journey in the series Destiny’s Burden: The Choice of a Hero. Available on Wattpad under @AnalyzGolden. There are three chapters out now, I post a new chapter there every Friday, and PLEASE, CHECK IT OUT. I have been working on that for four years, and after almost two years of working on this series nonstop, it would mean so much to be if you read my work and even voted on it. I haven’t had anyone read this yet and it’s hurt my feelings, so it would mean so much to me if you checked it out. You might just love it, I’ve gotten some great praise from the two people that actually read my work.

[theragamuffininitiative]

Christian Films and Misc Rambling Thoughts on the Subject that Might or Might Not be Actually Connected

@cogentranting​ At some point, years from now, when all else is turned to dust and the sun has set for the last time, a post for this reply, stating I will reply in a longer fashion later (which would actually be now) shall appear. I will likely delete it out of pure spite. Stupid mobile app uploads.

I haven’t seen God’s Not Dead. Or God’s Not Dead 2. I should. Not because I just want to, or because It Is The Inspired Word Of Our Lord™ (hahahah it’s not guys, ok), but because of my overall interest an involvement in the world of film. I should be informed.

Also, I appreciate the sarcasm. XD I hope that was sarcasm or now I look really stupid but you’re going to get an earful either way, so it works out.

So let’s get to it:

I hate the Christian Film Industry™

Whew. There. I said it. Pray for my salvation.

Why? So, soooo many reasons.

1. The Sacrifice of Art in the Name of ‘Message.’

I, for one, want to know why the Christian church is constantly smashing down on the creative outputs of their members for not being enough about God, or published by Thomas Nelson, or advocated by Willie Roberts. Why. We would rather squelch the heartfelt, beautiful, God-given art produced by our brothers and sisters for not showing a clear Conversion Experience rather than be amazed at the ability God has allowed us to have to make such fantastic, whimsical, thought-provoking, emotionally-resonant things.

This is point number one because it. is. my. biggest. issue.

“Message films are rarely exciting. So by their very nature, most Christian films aren’t going to be very good because they have to fall within certain message-based parameters. And because the Christian audience is so glad to get a “safe, redeeming, faith-based message,” even at the expense of great art, they don’t demand higher artistic standards.” ~ Dallas Jenkins, movie reviewer and director of The Resurrection of Gavin Stone??? (Imma have to check back with you later on this, but the quote still stands on its own.)

“We have the makings of a movement that can change this culture. I honestly believe this. But I also believe the first step toward establishing the groundwork for a vibrant, relevant cultural movement based on scriptural thought is to stop producing “Christian films” or “Christian music” or “Christian art” and simply have Christ-followers who create great Art.” ~ Scott Nehring, in his book You Are What You See: Watching Movies Through a Christian Lens.

“If we are trying to evangelize, the fact that most Christian-themed movies are torn to shreds by non-Christian critics becomes an issue. If, however, we just really want to see our fantasies validated on screen, then we will write-off these poor reviews as “persecution.”” ~ Andrew Barber, in his article “The Problem with Christian Films.”

On a similar note, I want to know what the Mormon church is doing that the Christian church is not. Every time I turn around, I discover that another of my favorite artists, whether it be in film or elsewhere, is a professing Mormon:

musicians Imagine Dragons, the Killers, and Lindsey Stirling

authors Brandon Sanderson, Shannon Hale, Heather Dixon, and Brandon Mull

animator Don Bluth

actress Amy Adams and actor Will Swenson (both formerly)

etc, the list goes on

Hi, my Mormon friends. What is your secret. What ways of encouraging art and artists do you employ that my Baptist upbringing, and the Conservative Christian community in general, is so sorely lacking in?

2. The Christian Culture’s Subsequent Villainization of Hollywood.

This past Christmas, my sister gifted me a book titled Behind the Screen, “Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, and Culture.”

I sat down after all the gift-giving was done and read the first three sections before the holiday meal was served. But let me quote from the introduction which had me “Amen!”-ing and punching my fist to the sky every third word:

“We obsess about “the culture” endlessly; we analyze and criticize. But we can’t figure out anything to do but point an accusatory finger at Hollywood... Blaming Hollywood for our cultural woes has become a habit... Casting Hollywood as the enemy has only pushed Hollywood farther away. And the farther Hollywood is from us, the less influence we have on our culture. We’ve left the business of defining human experience via the mass media to people with a secular worldview.... In pushing away secular Hollywood, haven’t we turned our backs on the very people Christ called us to minister to - the searching and the desperate, those without the gospel’s saving grace and truth?”

Btw, if this subject is something you are interested in, I highly recommend this book. Written by creatives and executives in the film world (including one of the writers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the producer of Home Improvement, and even the multi-credited Ralph Winters, among others), it’s a frank, beautiful, and challenging read for artists, Christians, and film buffs.

The point here is that the church culture says if it doesn’t come from Sherwood, or have Kirk Cameron or Ducky Dynasty in it, or have a conversion sequence, it isn’t Christian and therefore Christians should not view or encourage it in any way. This. Is. Crap. Pardon my French.

Beauty can come from imperfection.  Even unregenerate hearts still bear the image of the Divine and are capable of producing so much worthwhile and significant art. Which leads to...

3. Guess What? Secular Film Companies Make Quality Faith Films Too??!

Idk what I should even say here, but I’m just going to go with the one shining example I always think of: Dreamworks’ Prince of Egypt. It is purely a work of art from any standard, and that is the epitome of what Christians should be looking for in their endeavors to create good film. PoE is gorgeously animated, seamlessly directed, well-scripted, morally driven, more Biblically and historically accurate than you would believe (and where it falls down on direct representation, it remains true to theme and character), etc. etc. etc.

I could go on for ages about how much I adore this film. (Joseph, King of Dreams, is also noteworthy, but nearly up to par with the craftsmanship of its predecessor.

I mean

just look at

the art

4. I Do Like Some Films Made By ‘Christian’ Companies

Idk, I might step on people’s toes or surprise you by which of these I actually approve of, but here we go:

I like Fireproof. I have many issues with it, but overall it is a fairly well-made, Hallmark-style emotional flick. The acting leaves much to be desired, but it’s a decent bit of showmanship, story, and truth.

I do not like Facing the Giants. Give me Blind Side any day of the week, except don’t because... sports.

However, both Courageous (some actual real life dialogue and not a completely happily ever after, whaaaat???! Oh, but token conversion experience, of course), and the early-and-forgotten Flywheel (which, although low in camera quality and acting, is actually an enjoyable story), come in as films I would sit down and watch at least a second time.

Risen is well-made and acted and has some establishment of genuine Craft. However, as far as story plots go, a lot was sacrificed. The mountain-top encounter with Christ was, while perhaps the most generally cliche piece of story, to me the most heartfelt and provocative. After that...the film kind of ended in mediocrity. Like...what did the characters do after the credits rolled.

I actually really enjoy Mom’s Night Out. The manic theme almost kills me, but the quiet and the reveal at the end is worth sitting through to see.

And I appreciate Luther. I don’t watch it often, because I personally can’t stomach the more violent aspects (the reason I haven’t/don’t watch The Passion or End of the Spear.) But Luther is a great biographical film, and I would encourage anyone studying Catholic and/or Protestant history, especially Martin Luther, to watch it. This is a Film in both art, message, and class.

Tbh, I’ve been avoiding most of the other Christian films, which is why I won’t talk about them there.

5. You Don’t Have To Slap A Jesus Fish Bumper Sticker On It To Be Christ-Honoring

Walden Media is a prime example, I believe, of what Christians in the film industry should be doing. I mean, they’re not perfect at all, but they are not sacrificing art for message - or vice versa for that matter. While not strictly a Christian Film group, Walden is founded and run by a majority of Christian Conservatives who are actively seeking to make quality and wholesome films for people of all diversities. They’ve had a few flops and several more that just didn’t quite live up to their potential, but they also brought us

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, as well as

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, and the one I will never stop talking about:

Amazing Grace.

Well-crafted films, put out by *gasp* an assortment of believers and non-believers. Art. Good films. Not Messages dressed up in makeup with a classy Instagram filter and a 30-day challange booklet to get your revival outfit on.

In looking through this stuff, I just found this article, which is a superb read and really gets at the heart of what I feel, and am very badly trying to communicate:

Why Faith-Based Films Hurt Religion

So.

When Christian Films start being an actual representation of creative community and the artistic talents God has given to us as personal and spiritual gifts, rather than a cheap way to try to force morality on Hollywood and on our neighbors without ever leaving the confines of our Bible Boxes in case we might get soiled, I may start appreciating the Christian Film Industry™. Until then??? I’ll stand behind my fellow creatives and my fellow believers and hope and work for the best.

Lastly, two things:

Christians Can Enjoy Secular Film Productions.

I would even argue that they should. We were created by a Creator God, who takes pride and joy in making beautiful things, in making each of us. And we are made in His image. We are creators as well, we make art all the time. Scripture tells us to worship God in everything we do. The movement of making “Christian Films for Christian Audiences because of Christian Reasons” is missing the point entirely. We as creatives are not here to make God Art, we are here to make art that glorifies God

Christ Does Not Need Hollywood. However, Hollywood Does Need Christ.

“While many missionaries travel to remote villages in Africa or South America to spread Christianity, [Karen] Covell believes her calling—her mission field, if you will—is right here in Los Angeles, in an industry that many of her fellow Christians find immoral or even downright sinful, both for its on-screen depictions of sex and drugs and the real-life sex, drugs, and other temptations that exist behind the scenes. Covell, who was a film producer in the early 1980s, says "the church did not get how I could justify being a Christian in Hollywood, and Hollywood did not get how I would follow God. It was a divide." It was nearly impossible to meet other Christians working in the industry, let alone ones who would express their faith openly. "I said, 'The church hates Hollywood, Hollywood hates the church. There's got to be some way to bridge that divide.'" - in an article by Jennifer Swan.

As I said in my original little “about me” tag response, I have felt called to ministry in this world. Whether it be film or live theater, that world is calling to me, both in its creative endeavors, and in its desperate need for the hope, truth, life, and light of Christ. Actors and directors in Hollywood and on Broadway are in as much need of the grace of our Lord as the starving orphans in the unreached people groups on the other side of the planet - same as your next door neighbor.

If Christians continue to tie themselves down, and group themselves together, cutting themselves off from the culture and the culture off from them, then we are doing absolutely no heavenly or earthly good to anyone.

So, you see, it’s not just the artistry (or, so often, lack thereof) in the Christian Film Industry™ that gets to me.

It’s the fact that the film media culture is a people group that the church as a whole is ignoring. We are ignoring the impact Hollywood has on the world around us and still trying to be relevant to that world, which is counter-productive and just plain silly.

It’s the fact that I see actors, actresses, producers, writers, who are obviously searching for the Something that will fill the void in their souls, and their primary exposure to Christianity and Christ - the only One who can satisfy them - is the Christian Film Industry™, which is largely full of broad and meaningless substance because heaven help us we should talk about something real, and then just plain bad art.

I believe God has called us to higher things than this.

Higher art, loving to create as he lovingly created us.

High impact, going deeper into the issues of our culture and our nature to address and satisfy problems and needs felt be every human, not just the church-goers who will show up for Sherwood’s next big thing.

So, yes, my pet peeve cracked from its proverbial nutshell:

I have issues with the Christian Film Industry