#tl;dr do more weird stuff with the mists!!!!

[sunsetconcert]

Had one of those standard “IntSys are fucking cowards and didn’t give a bunch of characters the supports they deserved” mental breakdowns, and realised that I really kind of hate Felix’s supports.

Mostly because they’re garbage.

There are two kinds of Felix Supports and both of them are terrible. There are Woman Supports where Felix is a big tsundere and has some Wacky Romcom Hijinks with a girl, and there are Faerghus Supports, where he basically screams FAERGHUS FUCKING SUCKS into the void as people from Faerghus talk about how much they like Faerghus.

What Felix ABSOLUTELY needed was actual supports outside his house, and more importantly, he needed to talk to more people who understood his point of view. Like, for example, Raphael. Which, I can already hear people saying I’m crazy. But Raph doesn’t give two shits about honour, and his reason for becoming a knight is explicitly not linked to any big huge noble goal - Raph just wants cash for his sister to live on. That’s it. Pragmatism is a huge thing with Felix, so they’d definitely have some stuff to talk about. EDIT: So while writing this, I checked, and apparently they have a 3 Hopes support, and it’s... Certainly a thing. Because another “Raph Likes Meat” support was just what he needed. Thanks, IntSys.

Then you have Ferdinand, and I legitimately think that a Felix-Ferdinand support would be the best one in the entire game. They’re both very driven individuals, but while Ferdinand is always dreaming of the future, Felix... Doesn’t have anything to be driven for - and in fact, in many endings, will simply fade into the mists of history alone, with no connection to the living people who surround him... Which essentially makes him White Clouds Byleth. The argument between the two about honour, duty, and purpose would be deeply fascinating, I feel.

Now Lysithea. I know Felix has a support with Lysithea. But it’s bad and terrible and I hate it. Maybe they could both talk about how their efforts are basically sidelined, and that everyone thinks they “work too hard” for some reason. Or that they discuss their weird workout/life balance. Or maybe they develop a fun duo technique where Lysithea uses Warp to teleport him around. Or like. Literally anything except Lysithea being a weird cake fetishist.

And Jeritza. Do I even have to EXPLAIN why Felix and Jeritza not having a support is fucking stupid?

Anyways. TL;DR - Felix deserved better than to be reduced to Rodrigue 2 Electric Boogaloo.

[praetorialreject]

Okay SO @rowlev

I went on spring break and have been adding to/editing this post daily. I did cut back on a few things but I can gladly go more in-depth about things or keep going!! You should be afraid :>

HIS PAST/FAMILY/NON-CAMP JUPITER STUFF

- Octavian grew up rich. I hc that his family was one of the founding families of New Rome, and outside the Mist has major influence in either Hollywood or California's theatre scene.

- His mother is British, daughter of Apollon, and received the blessing of the Tragedy Muse Melpomene. That's why his story ends tragically.

- His family name is either Augustus or Traianus. No clue why I settled on Traianus, but "Octavian Traianus" has been my hc for his name for YEARS

- See this post that I added to about the presentation of his gift!

- He grew up very isolated from the world before going to Camp Jupiter, mostly in his own room honestly

- He had an alt older brother named Ahkyles (pronounced Achilles), who introduced him to bands like Nirvana, MCR, etc. As a result when he isn't in Camp Jupiter attire he dresses very grunge. His parents hate this.

- His parents pushed him to perfection growing up. Anything that wasn't 100% perfect was a failure.

- He was definitely neglected (unless his gift was involved), causing him to make himself more dramatic to try and get his parents attention.

- He went to one of those fancy private college prep academies on a pre-med track. He wanted to study veterinary science at an East Coast school someday

- Vegetarian by choice. He refuses to eat anything he could've read a prophecy from. Jason once told him he can't read from fish or shellfish though, so he does love shrimp.

- He and Jason were best friends before Hera took Jason's memories. They were at camp for a long time together after all

- He's one of the few men Reyna trusts because of that friendship with Jason.

CHARACTER DEPTH STUFF

Rick wrote Octavian very one sided, very much "you're supposed to hate him". And to a normal reader, yeah, we are. HOWEVER.

My interpretation of Octavian comes from the fact that we can see his descent, if we know the signs of what we're looking for. He's barely 18, and to my eyes is experiencing the culminative psychotic break of a boy who should've been given help loooooooong before this point. He experiences delusions canonically (see his entire arc. They're just not called that). I also like to think he experiences auditory hallucinations, mostly of whispers or pained animal cries.

Octavian's canon arc can be put into perspective of "this is a mentally ill teenager who needs help just like the rest of them." Canonically he's been at camp since age 11, readers forget he was ALSO raised into the life of a soldier. I speak from a bit of personal experience having grown up doing jrotc since age 12, that can do numbers to someone's mental health.

He also has a TON of pressure on him. We forget that the position of Augur is a leadership position, and that New Rome puts a LOT of faith on their Augur to read the right prophecies and guide them to victory. Add that to the idea that he was raised in a perfectionist household, and you have a boy who's been forced to an unattainable standard for almost half his life. He's also Centurion of the First Cohort, expected to be the leader for the camp's best, on top of his role as Augur. Pressure breaks people, and I'm convinced that's what happened to him.

TL;DR Octavian was experiencing a psychotic break as a result of way too much leadership and perfectionist pressure on an 18 year old

MISCELLANEOUS

I think he's a really good vision of a few concepts. A, that Camp Jupiter isn't the perfect safe haven the Greeks originally thought it was. B, you can be raised into a rich family and still be traumatized. C, sometimes the kid with weird behavior just needs help

There's a lot of parallels between him and Luke, and I need Luke apologists to stop being Octavian haters.

He's an all-around really interesting character to think about once you set aside how canon portrays him, I'll always be a little mad we didn't get to see more of him.

Hope this helps!!! ♡♡♡

I noticed you’re an Octavian fan and I’d like to source some headcanons for a Jason fanfic I’m writing. Give me the full rant, the things you like about him, elements of depth you think people miss, theories about his time before HOO, etc

OHHH OKAY I CAN DO THIS GIVE ME A COUPLE HOURS TO COMPILE EVERYTHING IN ONE REBLOG

[callsigndreadfrost]

10 Qs!

Tagged by @lordfenric (tysm!)

1. Do you have an OC that’s basically a version of yourself?

I....do actually. I've said it a couple of times and then I get embarrassed and then delete the post. Anyway, he's a version of myself AND a version of myself I wish I was. Ya know, my ideal self. He also filled another role which I haven't had the need to put to use as hard in a very long time which is a good thing I think. He's grown, evolved, matured as I have. Any changes to him are pretty much things I've changed about myself. Basically he'll always be a WIP because I'm one too.

2. What is your favorite type of scene to write?

Ooh! Many scenes! Fight scenes are super fun! Love me a good gun fight. I think I like more dramatic and emotionally charged scenes. I think I'm pretty good at those and suspense filled scenes. Not to be mistaken for horror though.

I know it wasn't part of the question but my least favorite are sex scenes only because I am HORRIBLY TERRIBLE at them. For real. I've tried my hand at it numerous times but it sounds disingenuous and like I'm trying way too hard. I really suck at them. Got a bunch of half finished files of n///sfw stuff that I never finished because I just think I did a terrible job at it. Maybe I'll upload 'em for a laugh one of these days.

3. Do you write cliffhangers?

No. I don't like them. I think they're like jump scares in horror movies. Just cheap ways to get the reader's attention.

If I ever leave a chapter on a cliffhanger it was not intentional. Much less would I leave a story on a cliffhanger.

4. One word or phrase that you think you overuse (but probably don’t):

I overuse the word however way too much. Probably another one but can't recall at the moment.

5. Least favorite thing about writing?

Editing. Gods above I haaaaaaaate editing. Mainly for two reasons: I always think the sentence/paragraph/chapter coulda been better executed. Second reason is I waste a shit ton of time second guessing my choices in words. Listen, you don't need to tell me my vocabulary is at kindergarten level. I KNOW it is. Most times I feel like shit about it and waste even more time with the browser on dictionary.com looking for synonyms for words to replace them with so it doesn't look like a 5-year-old just tried to write a weird espionage (idk C called what I'm writing that and it's stuck ever since).

6. How much prepwork do you do before writing if any? (outline, scene breakdown etc)

Far

Too

Much

I overthink it to death.

I have my plot, characters, locations and everything that goes into it. To the point of what weapons everyone will be using and why. I take a crash course on the locations, the culture, languages, take an unnerving amount of screenshots on Google Earth. Check stores and hours of business. Traffic, population, day to day activity. Check the history of the location and a refresher on what happened in the years where the story takes place. Find ways to translate the local language. Weapons! I check their history, when they were made, if they're still in service, what ammo, they're strengths and flaws, manufacturers. Same goes for the gear they wear. Why are the antagonists there. What do they want and how do they get it and how can they succeed. Should they succeed? Should they fail? Why? What motives they have. What the history and origin of the mythological creature(s) are involved is.

Take all I just said and triple the amount of work if I make up a town or city for the sake of storytelling.

Tl;dr a lot.

7. Do you use any visuals to help you with writing? If so, what?

Nowadays I have to. I don't know, I think my brain is broken or something and I can't concentrate like I used to. I can see and hear the scene in my head like a movie and I can repeat it as many times as needed but as soon as my fingers touch the keyboard I draw a blank and lose direction. I've actually resorted to doing storyboards of scenes and rough sketches of buildings so I know where to go, why and what for. I've turned all my sketchbooks into storyboards.

If there's hand to hand fighting or with bladed weapons I watch some videos on YouTube or wherever I find them and write down what I see and later edit it well.

If I was any good at it Legion would be a comic instead but I'm no good at it. So I gotta resort to writing and even then I heavily question my ability to do so. I know I'll get something written and finished someday but boy is it frustrating.

8. Is there magic or new technology in your WIP? How did you come up with it?

Yes. Both but mostly magic. I'm kinda working on implementing more technology. I do also combine both magic and technology. One example is a small sphere made of plastic that can easily break. Place it in your mouth and bite into it. Inside is a light pink mist that feels like a warm liquid (also minty sensation) that travels through your body. It's a combination of adrenaline, pain killer and healing aid. Won't magically mend broken bones, remove bullets or revive the dead but it'll help in ugly situations. There's also laser weapons that run on crystals. So long as the crystal has energy you got ammo then just recharge the crystal and you're good to go. There's some more tech but that's for another time.

The only magic I've made up for this is Astral magic and its counterpart and it's been a bitch trying to balance it out but I've gotten there.

Portals are also a thing I added in.

Honestly I really wanted to add magic. There's supernatural stuff in it anyway so might as well go all the way. I just come up with these out of wanting it there or to fill a role.

9. What are you currently reading?

Nothing. With my attention span I'm lucky to get to the third page. Last book I bought is still in a drawer gathering dust. Was a Tom Clancy I believe.

10. What would you like to see more of in Fantasy novels?

Wouldn't be fair to make demands for a thing I don't partake in now would it. Don't read anymore honestly.

Tagging: no one but if ya wanna give this a go then go right ahead.

[malodorousmalcontent]

Stereoplasm Review: Part 2

Hi everybody.

It's been a day. And i'm trying to make this day mildly less garbage, and keep on trucking, keepin' active, treating myself to nice things. I have taken myself out to a nice lunch. I have bought a big ol' steak to make for dinner. I am doing fun stuff. I might draw today. I might play Bad Bethesda Videogames today (you know which one i'm talking about). But, what I know for sure is that i'm writing part 2 of my Stereoplasm reviews today. Right here.

Right

now

So buckle up boys n' berries, i'll be reviewing Gone Gnome, Libatious Leprechaun, Green Gremlin, Scorpling, Lights Across the Sky, Kindling, Selasphorus Calliope, and Divine.

GONE GNOME (PERFUME OIL) || Top notes of cilantro and key lime rooted in fresh garden basil, english cucumber and melon blossom.

I've talked a lot about this one since I got this order, because it's made a pretty big impression on me. To put it simply: imagine walking into your local grocer, and walking up to the produce section. You look upon the fresh herbs, which have just been misted. Ultimately, you just... Take a fistful of them, indiscriminately, and just. Shove 'em straight onto your nose.

That's what this smells like.

This is the first herbaceous perfume that hasn't smelled dry and buzzy to me, and the first green perfume that hasn't, ultimately, left me uninterested in wearing it. It's smooth and fresh, very wetly green, with a hint of pepperiness, a hint of mintiness... It's lush, and delicate, and just. Good.

Looking at the notes, the the cilantro and the basil is definitely responsible for the smooth greens, the super-subtle pepperiness, I bet the mintiness is actually just the freshness of the basil - and I bet all that WET smell is coming from the cucumber, which is lovely. The key lime and the melon blossom come out more in the drydown, but they're both very subtle: the former just adds a little touch of citrusy zinginess, while the latter give the scent a very soft, smooth floral edge. And like.. That citrus is very realistic - like smelling the outside of a lime rather than its juices.

Wears lightly on me, and lasts about 3-4 hours before disappearing.

tl;dr: fresh, smooth, wet, exceptionally green herbs that, on the dry down, are joined by the barest hints of citrus peel and a soft floral.

RATING: 4.5/5. Solidly green perfumes aren't usually my ballgame - they're not bad, i'm just don't care about 'em too much - but this is definitely the best green perfume i've smelled.

--

LIBATIOUS LEPRECHAUN (PERFUME OIL) || Aged whiskey and oak reveal prickly pear, spicy ginger and feisty bergamot.

I couldn't quite figure out what this smelled like to me at first, but now I have it: green apple candy, like a jolly rancher or something. It's a really warm, lightly spiced scent with a candy-tart edge. Dries down to a smooth, kinda tangy smell. Makes me think of citrusy tea.

And, looking at the notes... Yep! They fit, easy to peg everything to everything. The warmth comes from the whiskey, the prickly pear smells like apple candy, the ginger gives it that spiced quality, and what it's drying down to is a smooth, mellow bergamot. It's nice! Not so complex that I can't pick out notes, but it still has a little depth. And, in general, it just... Smells good.

tl;dr: Tart green apple candy with a bit of booziness that dries down to a smooth, sweet bergamot.

RATING: 4/5.

--

GREEN GREMLIN (PERFUME OIL) || Juicy bamboo, slimy lychee skins, sour green apple cores and rustling tall dry grass.

I've tried this one on several times over several days at this point, and for some reason, my brain's having a hard time with it. I just keep expecting it to smell more complex, to dry down to something different than the notes immediately at the forefront, and when it doesn't, my brain just. Short-circuits. I have no fricken' idea why.

Anyways, this smells like fruit.

Specifically, it smells like tart green apple juice with something under it that gives the scent a bit of a bright, tropical twist. And... Reviewing this on a blind sniff, that's basically all I get, from beginning to end.

Looking at the notes: lychee skins n' apple cores. That's it. That Is The Scent. Primarily apple on me, with the lychee underneath giving that kinda tropical berry smell. I'm assuming the bamboo is contributing some wetness, thus the 'juice' quality to the scent. At no point do I get the grass.

This is one of Stereoplasm's scents that goes pretty light on me - I regularly have a hard time detecting it on my skin. No sillage on me. However, what I can smell, I smell for a good handful of hours.

tl;dr: Apple juice and bright, tropical lychee.

RATING: 3/5. It smells real good, but i'm a bit disappointed that it's got no lasting power on me and that I lose half the notes.

--

SCORPLING (PERFUME OIL) || Hopeful and bright young tulip stems, green cactus, sun dried leather, burnt ironwood and tall flowering lilac grass.

So, without looking at the notes, I feel like i'm smelling aloe vera. I don't even necessarily know if this is actually what aloe vera smells like, but the smell of this makes me think of it: very green, and very wet, and a little... Not medicinal, but it has that, 'I could slather this on me to make me feel better' smell. Weird to say, but this makes me think of the smell of like, unscented skincare products. A moisturizing gel. Smooth, seriously wet I am not kidding, maybe a little eensy weensy bit sharp.

Looking at the notes... Alright, the wetness and green-ness coming from the stems and cactus, definitely. If the tulip stems are supposed to have a floral quality to them, I don't really get it, and i'm guessing cactus probably smells kinda like aloe vera, since they're kinda, y'know... *Gestures vaguely*... Similar. Succulents and cacti and cacti and succulents. Anyways.

The leather's there, but it's VERY faint, like all these greens are just piled on top of it. It's more of a new leather note than a worn leather note, but it doesn't encroach new car interior territory, thankfully. I don't particularly get anything woody, let alone burnt wood - but my skin is notorious for minimizing wood notes - and the lilac grass might be supplying a slight indolic quality to the scent, but it's not strong.

When I first tried this on it was so light I could barely smell it, and now it's decidedly detectable on my wrist, but doesn't have much sillage.

tl;dr: SUPER wet light green smell on a subtle background of new leather.

RATING: 3/5. Nice, but doesn't interest me too much.

--

LIGHTS ACROSS THE SKY (PERFUME OIL) || Circles of sun-bleached wheat, twilight musk, English lavender and upturned fennel bulbs. Shaking saucers under steaming cups of Earl Grey sink into comforting vanilla cream.

So, I refuse to look at the notes yet, because I genuinely have no fricken' idea what's in this, and i'm gonna make a guess and see how close I get. Okay. Here we go

My guess on first whiff: Anise and Lavender. It's got a soft edge of kinda more herbal lavender, and that sort of earthy, gummy quality of anise, though it's not an overpowering anise... Which is good, 'cause I don't like anise. There might be something kinda... Fruity-orangey in there, too? But then again, I just ate a blood orange, so maybe i'm smelling orange juice from my fingers. Hm. It's very light, and if I had to make ooone more guess about what's in there, i'd think maybe ozone or petrichor.

And, looking at the notes - not anise, but fennel, which I hear smells very similar, aaand lavender! Not too bad. The orangey scent is probably bergamot from the earl grey note - why do I keep going 'oh, smells like smooth citrusy tea!' and still totally fail to identify it as bergamot? Anyways. I definitely pick up some well-blended vanilla, too - smooth and a little waxy, as some vanilla notes tend to smell to me. Now that I know the wheat note is there, too, I can detect it - but it's so subtle that if I hadn't known, I don't think I would've realized it was its own note. It kinda just gives the scent this slight cozy toastiness.

The way the notes in this blend makes it smell kinda like a creamsicle with a soft lavender edge. An... Earthy creamsicle, but a creamsicle nonetheless. I really like Stereoplasm's earl grey/bergamot note, dude. It smell so good.

Dries down to more just, soft creamy sweet orangey smell. Lasts for about 3 hours before it starts to fade, and wears pretty close to the skin.

tl;dr: a slightly earthy/gummy creamsicle scent that dries down to a not earthy/gummy creamsicle scent.

RATING: 4/5, because they managed to make a scent with fennel in it and I didn't dislike it. Also because I like creamsicles.

--

KINDLING (PERFUME OIL) || Sweet jasmine incense, sunset musk, fresh sativa and strawberry wine.

Caaan-died straaawberries! They smell-a so good!

But seriously, I know I keep going 'this smells like x flavor of jolly rancher' in my various reviews but this smells like a strawberry jolly rancher. Or, like--actually--it smells more like those strawberry candies that every grandmother has that are absolutely delicious and come in the wrapping paper that looks like a strawberry.

You know the one.

This is very sweet and smooth and bright. Young, since it's a VERY candied scent, but I wouldn't mind smelling like this 'cause it just smells so good.

It's hard to distinguish the other notes in this, because ultimately I think they're just blending so well that it comes out to that one, singular scent of Strawberry Candy. The sunset musk, I think, might be responsible for the other half of the candied formula, lending a sweet, warm creaminess, and the jasmine incense... There's a little bit of a floral edge, but it's hard to detect. I definitely don't get anything that smells like sativa.

This has HELLA throw. Even dry, i'm catching whiffs of it from a foot away every now and then. Wears nice and strong on my skin.

tl;dr: STRAWWBERRY CANDY WHY YOU SMELL-A SO GOOOOOD

RATING: 4.7/5. Verging on too young for me, but I really like it regardless.

--

SELASPHORUS CALLIOPE - HUMMINGBIRD (PERFUME OIL) || Foxglove Nectar, Honeysuckle and fresh maple leaves.

So, funny story with this one.

I took a whiff of it and was immediately hit with familiarity. It's very strongly floral - a rich white floral with a bit of a hard indolic edge to it and just a hint of sweetness - and I know that I know the scent, but god help me, I couldn't say why. I didn't bother looking up the notes - I just assumed it was the one I could remember, foxglove nectar, and wondered why the heck I would recognize that. I've never smelled foxglove.

I'm mentioning this to my sister - just that it smells very familiar - and she goes, 'doesn't that have honeysuckle in it?'

And I go, 'nooo.' I was, obviously, wrong.

I grew up around honeysuckle, but never really paid attention to what they smelled like - mostly, I thought about what their nectar tasted like. But now, here I am, smelling a honeysuckle note and recognizing it without even knowing what it is. I take it that's a pretty true note.

So, starting out, as stated before, this is strong, lush, true honeysuckle with a hard indolic edge. After about 20 minutes, I start picking up a green-ness from the maple leaf note; I'm so used to smelling dry or decaying leaf notes, so it's interesting smelling one that smells fresh and green. With continued wear, that indolic edge smooths out, and the scent becomes a light white floral on a fresh green background. It's very pretty, actually. A great springtime scent. I still have no idea what foxglove nectar smells like, or if i'm detecting it here.

It's pretty strong, and I can smell it from about 4 inches off my skin.

tl;dr: A strong, realistic honeysuckle note on a background of fresh, green maple leaves that smooths out on the drydown.

RATING: 5/5 for a fantastic honeysuckle note that can trigger my memory without me even realizing what it is i'm smelling.

--

DIVINE (PERFUME OIL) || Gooey cherry cake batter, burnt marzipan, fresh cinnamon leaf, orange zest, warm chai cream and roasted hazelnut.

Mmm this is delicious. At first, I get smooth, almost creamy hazelnut, but it fades sort of quickly in favor of a dark dry cherry note - and this is on a blind sniff. Like, I know hazelnut's in there, but if there's not cherry in this bad boy, i'll--i'll eat my hat.

There's something warm and... Almost woody to this? And a muskiness? If I had to make one more guess at what's in here, i'd say a gentle creamy coffee note, but that might be because I drink coffee with hazelnut creamer so i'm getting coffee vibes from that. Overall i'd describe this as dark, smooth, lightly foody-sweet, spiced and sultry. This smells like something a busty femme fatale sort of character would wear.

Looking at the notes, not a lick of wood, but hey there cherry cake batter. Don't have to eat any hats today. I'm pretty sure what's giving me the coffee vibes is a combination of the burnt marzipan giving the scent that sorta bitterness that coffee has, the chai cream, and of course the hazelnut. I'm pretty sure what I was reading as 'musk' was the warmth coming from the chai cream note, as I tend to associate musk with giving scents a sort of humidity. The cinnamon leaf might be what i'm reading as wood - smells planty and spicy and earthy without going too green. Doesn't go red-hot.

With all these strong foody notes, you'd think this would be overpowering, but it's really not - in fact, this goes pretty damn light on me, but that might be less the scent and more my skin chem. I don't have the greatest luck with Stereoplasm's scents wearing strongly on me - about a 50/50 chance - but i've seen them work out real well on my sister.

tl;dr: Warm, creamy, sweet and spicy hazelnut tea accompanied by a dark cherry note. Smooth, spicy and sultry.

RATING: 4/5. I super like this. It made me like a cherry note, which is impressive! But, docked a point for going pretty light on me.

[moonstruck-ffxiv-blog]

LFRP - Celestin Bellerose on Mateus

the basics ––––

NAME:  Célestin Auguste Evaux Bellerose NICKNAME: Cel, Titi (he hates it), The Wilted Rose of Ishgard AGE:  46 summers old RACE:  Elezen, Duskwight GENDER:  M SEXUALITY:  Homosexual, asexual, aromatic. MARITAL STATUS:  Married SERVER:  Mateus TL;DR: The last of his bloodline, Celestin comes from a minor Ishgardian noble house. Detests politics, self-exiled from the Holy See. Loves knowledge. Hates people. Secretive and very dislikable. He is an airship engineer, serving on the Sky Fury, a pirate vessel. He is currently looking into a way to make a perpetual energy machine. Asocial, misanthropic, he is more a villain than a hero.

(Warning: long post)

physical––––

HAIR: Greasy blonde. EYES: Ruby red. SKIN: Ashy white. NAMEDAY: 15th Sun of the 6th Umbral Moon HEIGHT: 6’3’’ (193 cm) WEIGHT:  190 ponzes (Sickly frame) TATTOOS/SCARS: The scars he has around his testicles when he self-castrated himself, at the age of 19. He also has a long blemish around his stomach. It looks like a self-inflicted scalpel wound. DISTINGUISHING MARKS: He is a repulsive man. His traits seem they have melted on his face, they are sad and baggy. His skin is pallid: he has the complexion of a one-week-old cadaver that has been rotting in the Lominsa sun.  His hair is already starting to thin and that, in uneven patches. They are always greasy, limp, breaking, dull. His limbs are too long and too thin, his fingers are elongated and skeletal, his nails are yellowing. Really. A goobbue arse is more pleasant to look at than his face. COMMON ACCESSORIES: He's short-sighted so he never wanders far away without his glasses. He’s blind as a bat.

personal ––––

PROFESSION:  Engineer, alchemist, makeshift surgeon. HOBBIES:  Reading, genealogy, origami, currency collecting. LANGUAGES:  Eorzean common, Voidspeech (cannot speak but comprehend), old roegadyn, Mhachi, Allagan, some fundamental of Doman.   RESIDENCE: Mist BIRTHPLACE: Ishgard, Coerthas PATRON DEITY:  Atheist. Still, his Ishgardian upbringing could make Halone her patron deity. FEARS:  Failure, growing old especially getting senile, going blind, dying, getting irrational, falling in love. PERSONALITY: Celestin’s personality is as pleasant as rubbing sandpaper on one’s genitals. While he is polite, his tone is cold, bored and apathetic. He doesn’t care for Spokenkind interaction neither he seeks it. Every conversation serves a purpose. If he doesn’t, it is a chore and wishes to be done with it as soon as possible. OTHER: He has a permanent injury in his left leg that make him limp. He has to walk with a cane and he cannot run.

relationships ––––

SPOUSE:  Guolbryda/Guol Bryda, the captain of the pirate airship he’s serving on. While it is a sexless and loveless marriage, they did marry each other out of necessity, none of them plan to get a divorce. They are content with this union, has to present advantages. It is easier to pass the customs as a married couple. There is also the Eternal Ring, imbued with that Teleportation magic, that saved each other more than once.   CHILDREN:  None PARENTS:  Evaux Bellerose (deceased), his father. He died some years ago and with him, the noble name of Bellerose, as both of his sons are unavailable to take the mantle after he returned to the Life Stream. Celestin, in his diligence and seriousness, was his favorite child. Oh, how the Gods tormented him by making him his second born. Mariette Bellerose (71), née Sainte-Claire, his mother. The youngest of her sisters, she was from a minor noble family, with a status slightly better than her husband’s. After much cajoleries, she was married to Evaux Jr.; that was Evaux Senior last attempt to tried to salvage the Bellerose’s name. After the death of Aurèle, she sank into melancholy and depression.

SIBLINGS: Aurèle Bellerose (deceased), his older brother. Flamboyant, handsome and bold, he was everything Celestin never could be. Their fraternal love had a lot of friction, due to their parent’s pressure to “be what is asked you to be”. A harsh rivalry only kept growing with the years, fed with their conflicting personality.

Unable to bear with the politics of Ishgard and what his parents requested of him, Aurele committed suicide when Celestin was 18 summers old. He hanged himself to a spear of a Halonic statue, situated near the family’s favorite church -even in death, he kept his flair for the dramatic. The morning of that Iceday, while the community gathered to pray and praised Halone, the already cold body of Aurele was there to welcome them, slowly turning on its rope. All of his patriotic burden, the one that he needed to bring the family to great heights again, fell on his younger brother. Soon, Celestin understood what it meant to be Aurele and why he killed himself. The death of his sibling had a profound effect on him, realizing how fragile existence was. He keeps a portrait of his brother in his office, bringing the picture face down every time someone enters. GRANDPARENTS : (Father’s side) Evaux Bellerose Sr., Andrette Bellerose née Druirard. (Mother’s side) Auguste Sainte-Claire, Eldanne Sainte-Claire née Dupieu. OTHER RELATIVES:  Ashinne Berger née Ruinier, was Bellerose (43) his ex-wife. While Celestin was still in Ishgard, after the death of Aurele, one of the first things Evaux did was to find a woman to perpetuate the Bellerose’s name. The quite young Ashinne Ruinier (she was only 15 at that time), didn’t want to marry this ugly man, yet was forced to by her own family. She never bore him a child, as Celestin never slept in her bed once. After his disappearance and consequent declaration of his death by the Holy See, she remarried.

Fabienne Bellerose (29) His niece, only child of Aurele. She was only one summer old when her father died and she doesn’t remember him at all. She heard rumors her uncle could still be alive and that piqued her interest. Her only connection with the Bellerose part of herself was her mad grandmother and her brooding grandfather. At her age, she still hasn’t found a man. Nowadays, however, no one wants her. Not only she is “too old” by Ishgardian standard but she is also too weird.

PETS: B'zatr, an Ahriman. It’s more like of a minion than a pet: B'zatr takes care of all the heavy lifting, grunt work and whatever Celestin doesn’t want to do. It is also a garbage disposal, making everything compromising disappear in a jiffy. It serves him, as a slave to its master, no love or true loyalty behind its actions. One day, however, one day that Ahriman will be the master. It's only buying its time.

skills––––

IN-CHARACTER CLASS: Black Mage. READ: Yes WRITE: Yes COUNT: Yes

additional information ––––

SMOKING HABIT: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess. DRUGS: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess. ALCOHOL: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess FAVORITE COLORS: Dalamud red, royal blue, deepwood green, grey FAVORITE SMELLS: Ink, musty book, rust, motor’s grease FAVORITE TEXTURES: Metal, velvet FAVORITE FOODS: Ishgardian muffins, royal eggs, marrons glacés FAVORITE DRINKS: Black tea, red wine, hot cocoa

possible hooks ––––

“The dollmaster” Celestin does a lot of experimentation on corpses, Ashkin, Beastmen and Voidsents alike. Your OC could be the result of such scientific endeavor. The exact point of they are, is up in the air: Homonculus, golem, reanimated body, Voidsent chimera… however, now Frankenstein has a monster to call him his own. How is their relationship? Will the creature rebelled against its master?

“The teacher:” He could either be an engineering teacher, an alchemist teacher or a black mage teacher… if your character is nosy enough to find he owns a soul stone.  

“A fellow scientist”: Your character could be one of Celestin’s correspondent; he writes a lot of letters to different arcanists, biologists, surgeons,... he is interested in all types of science.

“The Void and forbidden knowledge.” Being a lore-seeker above all else, any ancient magic or musty old books will light that oh-very-rare glow of interest in his eyes.

“Oh, this is quite fascinating”: If your character has anything to do with the Void or Allagan, Celestin will want to know more about him/her.. and probably will want to perform a vivisection.

“I heard about an airship? What’s the name? The… Sky Fury?” While he is not the captain, he is still an officer aboard the airship. Trusted by Guol, he can carry on interviews and recruit new members.

ooc stuff––––

What I am looking for ✔Pre-established relationships ✔Dark, philosophical, mature plotlines. ✔Horror ✔Meeting other villains, doing character studies ✔Enigmas ✔RPing about/into the Mhach raids, Azys Lla, Alexander and Coils of Bahamut raid ✔Nerd talks. ✔IC mind games ✔Voidsent, Voidtainted, Nightkins, Black mages ✔ Having student(s) ICly

What I am not looking for ✘Godmode, metagaming I don’t have the interest to have the freedom of my character rob from me, neither I want to deal with OOC knowledge seeping ICly. ✘ Shipping & ERP Celestin is aromatic and asexual, I would appreciate if you could respect that about the character. ✘ No permanent maiming/death we didn’t first spoke and agree about it. I’m not completely closed to the option but let’s talk first. ✘OOC drama & toxicity Naturally. ✘ Grimdark for the sake of being grimdark Being dark must mean something, it must bring something on the table. I don’t want to murder thousands of children and wear their corpse as clothing, only to congratulate myself because “ Wow I’m so edgy and deep.” ✘ Fluff and slice-of-life This character is profoundly misadapted for that kind of plotlines.

Ask me about ✣ Kidnapping & long-terms imprisonments It’s a maybe. Celestin is far from being a defenseless being and taking him down, if cornered, will be a difficult task. ✣Long-term RP I don’t have much time for it, I prefer one-shot, short-termed or medium-termed. For me to want a long-term, I need a really good story and a good friend. Throw ideas at me!

☛If you are uncomfortable with body horror, gore and inhuman experimentations, Celestin is not a good match for you. ☛ The character is pretty inflexible, it’s his way or nothing. If it’s something you cannot deal with, I do have friendlier characters. (Ezrien and Ephraim are both good examples.) ☛ He is ICly a black mage, if you don’t like that, I do have more lore-abiding characters. (Narcisse, Medekhgui, Frydhaerz, Rhetizwyn.)

Disponibilities ➧EST ➧Weekday: Evenings (7h30 PM ~ 11 PM) ➧Saturday: Day & evening

I can RP... ➧In-game (favorite way to do it). ➧Discord I'm not going to display my Discord tag publicly so you will have to send me a DM to get a hold of it.

Send me a DM if interested! Thanks for reading all of this!

[bisexualdanavidan]

oh boy oh boy my friend tagged me in a WIP tag meme thing!  thank you @thepartyresponsible, you don’t even go here and you’re still my favorite 

we’re gonna go under a cut cuz i can’t ever shut the fuck up

i wanna tag uhhh @orgyforone @sweetiefiend @theseusinthemaze and whoever else that follows me that wants to do this, i don’t want to impose!! 

1. wip #1 (“and start again”) is a three-part thing about arin & co living in a little oregon town where arin is the elementary school art teacher and dan is a single dad to a seven or eight year old

The farmers’ market starts the first Saturday of September and ends the last Saturday of November.  It’s always been that way - it’s certainly been that way since he moved here, six years old and starting out the season in shorts and a t-shirt and ending it bundled up behind the little stall his mom rented to sell bread and muffins out of.  He’s made it a longstanding habit to get up early on Saturdays year-round, and it pays off by the time fall rolls around - he’s almost always the first person to get his stall set up on the town square.

It isn’t that he has anything very interesting to sell.  There are other gardeners and farmers with better tomatoes, and Mrs. Culver talks about different breeds and cross-strains of blueberries like his mom used to talk about horses, and anybody with opposable thumbs can grow herbs like he does, even if he does have twice as much mint and lemon balm as anyone else because he let it overgrow a couple summers back and never did get around to wrangling it back to a more manageable level.  He kind of likes the way it looks, more garden than yard on three sides of his little house.  

[...]

“Hey,” Ama’s dad says, “I’m sure Mr. Hanson has stuff to do,” even though Arin’s pretty visibly not doing anything other than talking to them.  Arin takes a moment to look him over while he’s distracted by his kid: they might be the same age - Arin might be a little older - but he looks harried, Arin thinks, and thin in a way that suggests he’s getting over a long illness rather than that he tries to stay that way.  He’s pretty, in a skinny sort of way, with Ama’s long face and curly dark hair.  

2. wip #2 is a record/bookstore au; dan is a former opiate addict whose grandparents/parents set him up with a small shop to run so that he would have something to occupy his time that wasn’t drugs (and set him up with an “employee” aka babysitter in the form of barry, who’s grandma probably went to shul with danny’s or something); arin moves to new jersey, which is as far away from los angeles and his cheating jerk ex-boyfriend as he can get without leaving the country, and ends up spending maybe too much time in this weird little shop; also, arin has a dog

(Part of him is aware what a romantic comedy this is - the whole post-breakup-get-a-dog thing - but there’s not a ton about his life that feels romantic <i>or</i> funny right now, so maybe that specific cliche isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.)

The guy at the front desk seems delighted that he's coming in with the express purpose of adopting a dog.  "If you don't fall in love with someone today," he says after he gets Arin's basic information, "we can get your email or your number or, like, your Facebook or whatever, we get surrenders all the time.  But we've got a really, really great group in right now."

He's short-ish, with a dense scrub of dark beard and bright, clever brown eyes, and his nametag says <i>Hi, I’m Barry</i>.  He's cute, Arin thinks, but there's no spark of legitimate interest like there might have been a couple years ago back home.  <i>Back in California</i>, he corrects himself inside his head.  He leads Arin with a surety through the shelter, past offices and vet tech rooms until they get to the actual anima holding areas.  

"Are you thinking, like," Barry says, "a puppy?  Size preference?"

"Not a puppy," Arin says immediately, because the little brown-and-white terrier puppy that's eyeing him from a couple kennels down is cute as shit, but he's never actually owned a dog by himself before.  "Do you have, like.  A beginner dog?"

3. cw for domestic abuse, skip to the next one if you aren’t cool w it; wip #3 is yet another normal-world-never-famous au where ross and arin are art students in philly and dan works a series of odd jobs in between open mic nights; arin befriends him and gradually tries to ease him away from his piece of shit boyfriend (mostly i want to write about the dynamics of a bad relationship where at least one half of the relationship cares about the other despite being able to acknowledge the toxicity/abuse and avoid the trope where there’s One Final Straw and they make a clean break the first time and live happily ever after)

There’s a chunk of hair ripped out, Arin thinks, and then realizes faintly that it’s not hair, it’s scalp, too, that there’s dried blood matted into his mess of curls, dry and flaky under his fingertips when he reaches to touch it.  Dan jerks away infinitesimally, breathes in, careful, and seems to make himself relax.  

“Sorry,” he says, and when he looks up, Arin can see the hemorrhage in his left eye, a little explosion of scarlet that makes his breath catch in his throat.  He still smiles, though, and it’s small and tight around the edges but almost believable.  “Sorry, that’s - uh - that’s pretty gross.  Sorry.”

4. wip #4 is weird and way overambitious; tl;dr egobang medieval semi-realistic fantasy where arin gets the attention of the seely court and gets arin-napped and dan, who is wildly unsuited for rescue missions, has to venture through the fae forest to get him back 

Morning comes cold and wet to the farm. Mist hangs low over the pastures and stables, clinging to the gardens like a lover; Dan wraps his cloak more snugly around himself before he steps outside, burying his fingers in the thick grey fur lining in search of the cords that lace it tighter.  It's Arin's cloak, made for someone far broader of shoulder, but there’s no one there to see how foolish he looks in a cloak twice his size. The wind from the east is brisk and cold, and it only seems to grow colder as he checks everyone over: the chickens first, who flutter their wings at him and cackle the news of the morning’s bounty - and the goats, the little doeling and her mother, who nips at his sleeve and vainly tugs him forward to her stall - and then all fourteen of the horses, the handful of colts and their nosing mothers and the three raw-boned geldings, ready to be traded.  Ice clings to the very tops of the long grass in the near pasture, and crunches under his feet as he walks the fenceline.

It seems lonely in a way that the farm rarely does.  He lingers in the barn with the hens, scatters more barley than usual so that they peck and prance around his feet, and even offers a handful to the goat doeling.  <i>It’s the cold,</i> he decides.  The doeling snuffles at his empty palm and bleats, a thin, piteous little noise.  Reflexively, he reaches into the bag for another palm’s worth.  <i>The cold has come too early, and without Arin - </i>

He stops himself there, shakes his head as if that will shake the thought away from it.  He’s given to spells of melancholy, and has been since he was young: they’re worse when Arin is gone away, but he only has only one more day to wait.  

so yes those are the myriad things i am Struggling with!!  tbh if any of those catch yr fancy send me an ask, if people seem like they’re more interested in one over the other it will probably be Much easier for me to write them lmao 

[princess-havok]

So about the Dreamcar show

Y’all, so much happened. 

In bullet form for readability/it’s 1AM and I have work in the morning because I’m an adult.

Pre-show

I got there like 45 minutes after doors opened because my days of lining up mega early for shows are over.

That’s a lie

I just had to work til 5 and it was raining all day so I didn’t wanna sit outside anyway

So I walk into the venue, and??? It’s so empty??? Like what the fuck??? I went to the bathroom, which is wayyyyyyy at the back and in the basement, I hate getting to it during packed shows because you CAN’T MOVE. That venue is not safe and there are not enough exits BUT ANYWAY.

When I got back upstairs I went to the merch table and bought a tank top

Warning if you see Dreamcar: it fits weirdly small???

But I love it

Also they didn’t do that thing I hate when bands jack up prices by like $10 because of the conversion rate.

It’s $35 online and I paid $35CAD.

Joke’s on you that’s only like $20US

Help our dollar is a fucking joke

Then I went to the stage and despite the opening band staring imminently I was only two people from the front???

Superet

I mean, I don’t know if I would go seeking out their music but they were really fun and had fantastic energy. The lead singer kept making eye contact with people in the front and it was slightly awkward but also endearing as hell. I kept getting distracted during their set because I decided most of the rest of the band looked like other people

The keyboard player looked so much like Jamison Covington from JamisonParker

Does anyone remember them? They had like one album in maybe 2005 and I loved it

But it’s so emo

Listening to it now is like??? Was my world ever that dark? Damn son.

The drummer looks just like a dude I went to high school with and played in Concert Band with

But it is not.

That dude is a DJ now though

The percussionist lowkey reminded me of what’s his face from Cabin in the Woods... the stoner one. 

Cabin in the Woods is a great movie

Dreamcar

I mean is it any surprise that they’re great live? All of them have been performing for so long so like... they know their shit. But there’s a lot happening all at once, it seems like. You’ll maybe see when I post my video of All Of The Dead Girls once it finishes uploading to YouTube. But I guess it’s partly because Tom, Adrian & Tony are so used to playing together but sometimes it’s like there’s their show happening and then there’s Davey being Davey around them and it is a lot.

Someone yelled “You’re good!” between songs and it got a good laugh out of Davey who was like, “I’m glad you think so???”

Like what an odd thing to say???

The other three have mastered the art of keeping Davey on topic

If he sounds like he’s about to go off on a tangent just start the next song it’s great

“If only that would work during interviews,” I’m sure Jade/Adam/Hunter is muttering to himself in the distance

They covered Don’t Change and it was amazing, I wanted to get a video of it but it was such a different (more upbeat) version I didn’t even clue in on time lmao

During the bridge of Kill For Candy, Davey and I shared a moment during the first “Let it dissolve on your tongue” and it was magical

Post-show

It rained literally the entire day here, so when I walked out of the venue and it wasn’t raining anymore I thought, y’know what, I’m gonna stick around for a bit, try my luck meeting these dudes. But only until 11:00. That’s my cut-off. I’m a responsible adult.

This is a lie

It’s cute that I believed it though

Also it was still raining but it was a very fine mist so it wasn’t that bad

This is also a lie it was terrible and my hair went to shit

There were like 25 people waiting, at the peak of it. After about an hour, some people had left so there were maybe 20 or so. Not bad at all, right? About half of those were No Doubt faithful, who seemed to be a very tight-knit group who all knew each other from various No Doubt events and trips and stuff. They were super nice and -- bonus! -- most of them couldn’t be fucked about Davey. But we did talk about the show, how awesome it was, and the fact that Davey is secretly jacked was mentioned -- not even by me!!! And most of them agreed that a) it should’ve been a longer set and b) they should’ve covered some No Doubt because Davey singing I’m Just A Girl would be delightful.

Somebody made the joke that the guys snuck out past all of us and were probably on the public transit bus that went by

“But then they’ll get to Sherbourne station and get shanked.”

If you know Toronto at all you know that’s probably true

If there was anywhere in this city where a repeat of “what are you gonna do about it, pink shoes?” was gonna go down it’s motherfucking Sherbourne St.

Finally at around 11:15 or so, security & tour management came out and set up a barricade by the bus, telling us all to line up in twos. Ok cool. We did. 

Tom came out first and the orderly line went to shit because he just like, walked right out to chat and take pictures and sign autographs. I was trying to stay near the barricade and missed him entirely. Oops. 

Tony came out next and did the same thing, but actually on my side. I got a picture with him and he signed my ticket.

 Adrian stayed by the barricade but was very chatty with people. I also got a picture and autograph from him.

All of them seemed to like, know some of the No Doubt die hards who were there and I think that’s so cool, they’ve always seemed like this huge, untouchable band to me but they’re so cool with their fans

All three of them got on the bus, and because of the No Doubt fans stepping back I was pretty much at the barricade. The tour manager came back and asked who we were still waiting for so of course were like, obviously Davey. So then came the new instructions:

Single file lineup please (I ended up third, so cool)

No photos

This is 900% ok I’ve seen my pictures with Adrian & Tony I know what I look like

I’ve been standing in the rain for two hours I look like I live in garbage and a family of raccoons have been living in my hair for the winter

No hugs either

Also fine because who honestly wants to hug a bunch of damp strangers???

Just a chat, an autograph, and keep the line moving

Awesome, we’re grown ups, we can do this

Oh shit now I have to think of something to say

So then Davey appears in that long hoodie/cloak... thing... which I SHOULD have asked where he got it because I love it but obviously I think of things to say after the fact, so whatever. He was really chatty and smiling at everyone and it was so nice. The first two conversations happened as I was trying not to awkwardly stare at Davey. I’m not gonna be the one who makes it weird.

This is also a lie

I don’t think I made it weird though

When it was my turn, he asked how I was and I said “amazing” because I was, and the teenage version of me fainted then and there, she was not at all prepared for this moment.

I might’ve rattled off something about how his music, whether AFI or Blaqk Audio or Dreamcar or any other project, has been such a big part of my life for almost half my life now, so thank you and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it

I don’t think that was weird

It was true, too

“Thank you, I hope that’s a good thing.”

I mean.

Obviously.

So I said it’s absolutely a good thing, thanked him again, and mentioned I would see him in like 3 weeks (!!!) for some AFI shows. 

‘Cause y’know. He’ll remember.

And then I walked back to the subway and went home, 18-year-old me screaming internally.

tl;dr I saw Dreamcar, they were amazing, I finally met Davey Havok after 15 years.

[cursewoodrecap]

The Hunt for the Teal Deer

Due to some changes in our player lineup, I figured our party’s newest member might want a tl;dr of the Campaign So Far without having to read the enormous bricks I put out on a highly irregular basis. HENCEFORTH, A SUMMARY. (Contains spoilers for stuff I haven’t properly recapped yet. I mean...I’m pretty sure this blog is mostly read by the players? But fair warning nonetheless.)

It’s still kind of a brick but here have a couple thousand words instead of fifty billion.

ARC 1: THE WITCH OF OVRUCH

Near the tiny Valdian trading village of Ovruch, four adventurers meet:

1. Kyr Valeria Argent, a paladin of the Order of the Rose, who is here to investigate a Beggar Knight going missing. Silver dragonborn Paladin, Oath of the Crown.

2. Sgt. Clementine Haxan, a former soldier of the Kevan empire turned soldier-of-fortune who is investigating a Beggar Knight going missing. Drow Fighter, Battlemaster.

3. Gral “Joybringer” Omokk’duu, an orc bard who serves Duke Shieldeater, here because he’s trying to recruit translators to help Orc/Valdia relations. Orc Bard, College of Whispers.

4. Shoshana bat Chaya, a local who’s been outcast from her village since a close run-in with the curse that left her with dark powers and a mildly inhuman appearance. Half-elf Sorcerer, Shadow Magic.

The three foreigners interrogate the young witch, who was interrogated yesterday by the Beggar Knight. They realize the Beggar Knight, Ser Balderich, went to investigate the place where Shoshana had her Curse accident. 

They are interrupted by the village being attacked by a group of bandits and wolves, led by a werewolf, who seem to want to capture Shoshana as some kind of Chosen One. They defeat the bandits and head into the woods to find Evil Wolf Guys HQ.

In the spooky dark ravine of Wolf Guys HQ, they find a) the imprisoned Ser Balderich, who they free; b) a shadowy nasty guy who has direwolves, who they beat up; and c) a trail of corpses and some diary fragments from a mysterious huntress who had been one of the evil-wolfguy leaders before she rebelled against them. The letters clearly indicate she had some kind of close relationship to Shoshana before Shit Went Down.

Shoshana is like, “alas, they shall believe I am forever tainted by evil magic and it’s only a matter of time until I turn evil, they’re probably going to execute me” and the rest of the party is like “wtf no we’re not gonna do that. Stop being emo.”

ARC 2: THE MISTS OF HOLZOG

The party heads to the town of Holzog to meet up with Ser Quentin Morozov, a Cursebreaker Knight who’s a friend of Ser Balderich’s. On the way, they meet Flynn and Fiona Fairgold, a dramatic, theatrical knight and his practical, mute sister. They also find out that in Holzog, strange mists come out of the lake every couple of weeks, filled with strange noises and creatures.

Gral recognizes that shit and tells his backstory: Duke Shieldeater’s son, Bullbreaker, led an expedition into the heart of the wood to try to defeat the Curse. Gral was part of Bullbreaker’s party. Strange, warped creatures seemed to appear out of nowhere and attack, and most of the orc battalion vanished into the mists, no bodies ever found. The takeaway: Gral believes that the Curse isn’t random; it’s coordinated and it has leaders and commanders.

Our investigations lead us to a former artists’ colony on an island in the lake. Turns out the artists had been tempted by some strange power to open a portal to a weird space between dimensions. The portal keeps closing and opening, causing the mists. Like idiots, we hurl ourselves into the portal, and find Weird Shit inside. Doors to other dimensions that are different story genres! Weird eyeballs everywhere!

We find out Gral’s old commander Bullbreaker has been lost in one of these other dimensions, and is trying to Samurai Jack his way home.

Most importantly we get some info: The Curse is caused by four entities, who are Prisoners. We’re unsure what imprisons them. We’ve figured out two so far: The Hunt, which is the werewolves and bandits and murder and stuff; and the Key, which is the pursuit of knowledge and the bending of reality. 

Anyway we escape and close the portal. Also we met some mad scientists from Sturmhearst University, which was fun.

ARC 3: THE DEAD OF MORNHEIM

Our Cursebreaker friend hires us to investigate why a squad of elven war veterans seemed to turn to the dark side while fighting the curse in Mornheim, a city which is experiencing a zombie apocalypse. Turns out the squad is Clem’s old unit! Drama!

Mornheim is really Tim Burtony. It used to be a place where undead could not rise, so everybody buried their dead there. And then the Curse happened, and now ALL the dead are rising. Welp, fuck.

We meet up with Lady Aubrey von Mornheim, Ser Balderich’s daughter (there’s family drama there), who gives us the inside scoop on the local lore.

We fight through the catacombs and investigate the old manor house. We find three important things: 1) Lady Aubrey’s mom, who’s haunting the shit out of the place; 2) a SECRET WIZARD LAB with a MYSTERIOUS SPELL SCROLL; and 3) some cultists.

The mysterious spell scroll, which is weirdly druid-y, seems to be a ritual for purifying a water source. The local lore implied that the undead curse began/stems from the source of the local river. HMM.

Meanwhile, there’s cultists, led by...A MEMBER OF CLEM’S OLD UNIT. One who she hates; she accuses him of getting their beloved Captain killed. He’s like “it’s cool we’re gonna bring her back from the dead!!! The Pale King says we will get eternal life if we serve him!!!” and Clem is like “okay that sounds terrible” and stabs him. We kick his wight ass and the ass of another of their squad, who “came back from the dead” but was actually possessed by a dybbuk, a malevolent spirit that takes over corpses and impersonates them.

Seems like this “Pale King” is Prisoner #3, in charge of Undead Shit.

We fight some other cultists and find an aaaancient corpse that indicates some kind of ancient collaboration between the old Aquilian Empire and the Valdians, which is a Fun Lore Mystery.

Clem’s old squad also has an assassination plot going against their former commander, who they hate.

Valeria the paladin really wants to do the spell scroll ritual to protect the town, but we need several rare plants as spell components. We decide to go to Bad Herzfeld, where we hear there’s lots of plants.

ARC 4: THE ROOTS OF BAD HERZFELD

Our concerns going into Bad Herzfeld:

1. We need spell component plants.

2. We know about this evil fungus that infects people and makes them into Evil Fungus Monsters.

3. We hear there’s about to be a huge gathering of trolls. Valdian trolls are generally peaceful, but, like. A fuckton of trolls + evil brain fungus that makes you evil = BAD.

We fight an evil circus, but that’s more of a side quest.

We get to Bad Herzfeld and it’s a jungle out there, folks. We manage to get all our spell components even though we have to fight various angry plantmonsters and hallucinogenic fungi. We also meet a very nice troll who is a Doctor for Trolls, he is one of our favorite NPCs.

We have a brief encounter with one of the reclusive druids who resides in the forest. The druids seem to be fighting the Curse as well, with sporadic guidance from the old gods of the Greatwood, but it turns out they don’t have many more answers than we do.

A former druid, however, has become the spiritual leader of the local farming community. Which is a problem because she has turned it into a cult that infects people with the Evil Fungus Spores. It’s a very “Insiders Good, Outsiders Evil” mindset. They are planning to wait until more trolls show up for the big troll gathering, then infect them all with fungus. This is Prisoner #4, The Growth.

We burn down their temple with extreme prejudice. Unfortunately, guarding the temple is a plantmonster that was once Valeria’s beloved mentor, Kyr Marius. We destroy him but it’s tragic.

The trolls are like, “oh evil fungus? Aight we’re out.” Also we met more of those mad science doctors, but botanist ones this time.

ARC 5: PENITENTS SUCK

On the way back to Mornheim we go through the crossroads trade stop of Three Oaks Junction, which has been taken over by Penitent Knights, who are very into inquisition, and self flagellation, and persecuting the hell out of anything that even blinks the wrong way. Sinners must be purged from among the faithful!!! Anyway they’re violent jerks and we free the town. Penitents suck.

ARC 6: THE TROLLSTONES

Back in Mornheim, we go to the source of the River Morn to do our fancy ritual. Turns out there’s an ancient troll-king buried there, who rose as an undead. His demigoddess mother blessed the waters there so that no undead would ever rise. That blessing is gone now, of course. Problem is, there’s ancient Aquilian ruins that indicate the blessing was later used as a Containment Zone for something super evil, and whatever evil thing was there has now escaped. Hella lore, though.

We do our fancy ritual, which doesn’t restore the No Undead blessing but does provide some protection for the citizens. Yaaay!

ARC 6: HOESKA

We jet off to Hoeska Castle, HQ of the Cursebreaker Knights, because we have hella knowledge about how the Curse works now and we should probably, like...let the experts know? Turns out Hoeska Castle is owned by an ancient vampire, who has teamed up with his longtime nemesis - the vampire hunter Ser Brigid Koenig, who is now trying to solve the dang curse and has founded the Cursebreakers. We share our information and also fight a big nasty wolfmonster who’s been eating the knights. There’s a professor from Sturmhearst the Mad Science University, who confides in us that the Dean keeps vanishing and leaving strange otherworldly gifts. Sounds like Key nonsense; we’d better go check it out!

Clem’s player decides to leave the campaign at this point; in-story, Clem has gone to prevent her former unit’s assassination plot while we confront threats closer to home.

~AND THAT’S WHAT YOU MISSED ON THE CURSEWOOD~