#wanna share it more and actually provide info

[hkthatgffan]

IT'S FINALLY BEEN RELEASED (sorta)!!

"Chasing Rainbows" was a fanzine project that began in October 2016. The zine was themed around celebrating the dreams and ambitions of Gravity Falls characters. The name came from the fact every piece of art was coloured in such a way that when arranged in order, the zine would be coloured like a rainbow.

This zine was in the final stages of development, with orders being made and ready to ship, when it was announced that due to the main mod and organizer of the zine, Charles, being hospitalized, the remaining mods were unable to continue it. With that, it was cancelled and all people who bought a copy were refunded. And that was where the project essentially ended.

However, in the last post on the zine's now deleted Tumblr, it was stated that they hoped to release a digital version of the zine for free, as a way to at least complete the project in some form. However, that did not happen and no traces of a digital release ever surfaced. When I began my archival project for GF fanzines, I initially assumed this zine was lost. However, with that sliver of hope per the last Tumblr post, I began looking for a copy. Unlike other fanzines, this one did not have its mod team listed, so I contacted artists who originally worked on it for info. Many of them no longer are on Tumblr, making tracking them down more difficult. 

Eventually, through a few artists, I came to the conclusion that no digital zine was ever released. However, one of the artists, @wendinella on Tumblr, still knew the contact of Charles, the zine organizer. I managed to get in touch with them and to my excitement, they still retained the zine and was more than happy to share it to be archived and preserved. 

Zine Link on Archive

Google Drive Download

This Zine here is, while not the final product, a near complete example of what it might have looked like. Charles attempted to contact old mods who worked on it for assets like the completed zine cover and merch meant to be sold with it in 2017, however none were able to respond. Therefore, this zine is released with what they had, which were a placeholder cover and thankfully, all the actual art, which is the more important aspect. 

I want to give a huge thank you to Charles aka @kaleidoreef for releasing this zine to be archived. Charles really wanted this to finally happen and I'm glad I can now provide it for all of you on their behalf. I also wanna thank wendinella for getting me in touch with Charles and all the other fan artists who worked on Chasing Rainbows who responded back to me. With this, all known Gravity Falls fanzines are now archived and accounted for. 

Tagging the remaining artists on Tumblr so that way they can also hopefully get this zine and see that their hard work has finally yielded a near completed zine.

@thisriverdraws @atlasioh @falmakez @taffybuns @embulalia @isofish-art @erikaflamand @lilkeeree @novantinuum-draws @sleuthysaturn @doberart @taccoman @yali-scribbles @artmageddonunicorn @arc-etype @almeow @tesscourtes @provider-of-art @fireflysummers @tateratots

[heilos]

Living Harmony AU relevant character sheets/info: Harmony aka the "Tree of Harmony" Shadow Lock Somnambula Starswirl the Bearded Stygian might be my favorite of the Pillars of Equestria and it's always made me sad that he wasn't used more in the show. So I decided to team up with my new friend Orin who's taken the time to make a bunch of amazing Pillar redesigns (same person I made this Starswirl animation rig for as a gift) that i'll be incorporating into my future animation project. The Pillars are very important characters to Harmony's story so I wanna do them justice. Listed below is some context for these sketches provided by my friend Orin and some written bits from myself. This is a Stygian who's been separated from the Pony of Shadows for some time, but is now dealing with the consequences of dark magic. I've had so much fun throwing ideas back and forth for this AU and I can't wait to share more in the near future.

Unicorn from a small sea side village in ancient times

Dedicated scholar and battle strategist

Special talent is writing. An incredible wordsmith in his own right

Wrote a very popular autobiography about his time possessed by the Pony of Shadows called “Me and My Shadow” (his third novel)

Name means "dark and gloomy" and also relates to the river and deity "Styx" of Greek mythology

Brought the Pillars of Equestria together in a bid to save his home town from the Sirens (the Dazzlings)

Wanted to become a hero in his own right even though he tried to convince himself otherwise

Lacks the physical strength and magical prowess of his fellow Pillars. Compared to any other run of the mill unicorn, however, Stygian is actually decently above average in terms of magical ability, though he downplays himself significantly

Ousted from the group after a misunderstanding involving him taking the other pillar’s relics to make copies of them so he too could be a hero and join them as an equal. His friends thought he was out to steal their power instead

Becomes bitter and seeks revenge afterwards when discovering the Well of Shade, which leads to the Pony of Shadows claiming him as its vessel

Banished along with the pillars to “limbo” for 1000 years through a powerful spell conceived by Starswirl and planned out by the rest of the pillars

Is freed from the Pony of Shadows' influence in modern Equestria thanks to the Mane 6 and the pillars with Twilight and Starlight being the main catalyst in helping Stygian where Starswirl had failed before

While no longer claimed by the Pony of Shadows, the consequences of using such powerful dark magic as well as being possessed by a being of pure shadow left its mark on him

Has dark magic scarring visible on his body. His eyes, inner mouth, teeth and magic color are permanently altered in appearance. It gives him a rather unsettling aura, much to his displeasure

The Pony of Shadows mark is not so easily purged, even with the combined strength of the past and present Elements of Harmony. A fragment of the shadow lives on in Stygian, inextricably bound to him, but small enough that it can no longer influence him.

Has abilities superficially similar to King Sombra's, albeit on a much smaller scale, and needs extensive practice before he can comfortably wield this new strength.

Luna becomes Stygian's second mentor, after Starswirl, to help him gain control over his new abilities. Her direct experience using dark magic to become Nightmare Moon makes her an effective teacher

As Stygian exerts better control over the shadow fragment, he eventually gains the ability to "Shadow Walk" or travel between shadows. This temporary form makes him look eerily similar to the Pony of Shadows. Pretty spooky

Can tell when the Pony of Shadows is close in proximity due to the shadow fragment, like a magic tracker

Stygian is a lucid dreamer. He appreciates dreams a lot more now that he’s sleeping on a proper schedule. Once in a while he’ll meet up with Princess Luna in the dream realm when they can’t find spare time in the waking world, outside of mentoring sessions, to enjoy each other's company as friends

Stygian redesign by Orin331

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

the pained peace treaty

fused with the foe, chapter one

a/n: oh wow, i have no idea how to introduce this beast of a story except to say hi, hello, welcome! i really hope you enjoy this story, as well as the rest of the trilogy, idk if i've ever gone as in depth and all out with any story as i have with these.

summary: “now, everything is already set into motion, so we don’t have time for any of your theatrics,” not looking you in the eye, he frostily told you, “you are to be married. A carriage has just arrived a few minutes ago to pick you up and transport you to Eflorr.”

warnings: king!steve rogers x reader, fantasy AU (monsters, but not much magic), original fantasy world, enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, slow burn, innocent!reader, abusive father (like super bad. he is a garbage person), wedding, blood, injury

word count: 4813

∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽

series masterlist | next chapter

info about the world | maps | pinterest board | playlist

masterlist | join my taglist

“Your majesty, I must warn you, if, gods forbid, our people come to discover the great lengths you’ve been willing to go in this disagreement over the past two decades, they might start an uprising. And if you keep going, then it’ll turn into a full-blown war and you know our kingdom wouldn’t be able to survive that, not with them. Our city’s walls may be high, high enough to keep out any beasts that may wander this far south, but it wouldn’t keep them out. You know better than most how people from Eflorr are. If you don’t wanna lose your crown, one way or another, then I’d strongly advise that we come up with some peace treaty.”

“I know, I know…” King Ivan leaned back in his gilded throne with a huff, the quality of his voice was as thin as his towering frame, “a trade I think should suffice.”

A different advisor then timidly pipped up, “but our mines ran cold ages ago, what could we possibly offer that would be satisfactory?”

Not lifting his cold gaze, the king stared at a fixed spot on the marble floor as he said, “I know one thing the king lacks that we may be able to provide for him… a wife.”

“A wife–,” both of the men’s eyes grew wide, “but do you mean–, your majesty, she is your only daughter, are you certain this is the fate you want her to have? Those people are barbaric! If one of the dangers that rule the north doesn’t get to her first, one of their citizens surely will. Sire, what if history repeats itself?”

“Then let it do so. In fact, perhaps this could have been her purpose all along and I just didn’t realise it. Couldn’t see past my own rage to grasp how useful she actually could be…”

Sharing a nervous glance, one of the advisors asked, “should we send for her? See if she agrees with the plans?”

“No, I’ll tell her when the time is right. Wouldn’t want her to do anything stupid and ruin the one good thing she could ever provide,” finally lifting his stony gaze, the king commanded, “make the arrangements, I’ll see to it that she doesn’t ruin it.” 

Deep within the opulent halls of the gilded palace, standing grand and safe behind Ingorn’s tall city walls, twisting up towards the clouds, up in a window in the western tower, there you sat. 

Book in your lap, you leaned back against the small pillow you’d propped behind you to make the wide windowsill more comfortable. Small paper butterflies hung from strings above and some dangled so low that the childhood craft that still decorated your window trickled the crown of your head. Flipping the page, your fingertips brushed down over the illustration that appeared in the agricultural tome you’d found in one of your brothers’ rooms. 

As long as you put it back before Angus returned then you’d probably be good. And if he were to somehow notice, then as long as he didn’t rat you out to your father then it would be alright. Both Angus and a few of the others that were closer to your age, Oliver and Francis respectively, were always a bit of a gamble whether or not they would do such a thing. They didn’t always have the same spirit as the eldest pair of your older brothers, Xavier and Callum. 

You missed them so much your heart ached. The older they got, the longer their diplomatic missions seemed to stretch out, making the quiet palace that much more lonely in your solitude. 

A knock then suddenly boomed at your door, causing you to jump edgily in your seat before you slammed the book shut and nervously stuffed it behind the firm pillow. 

“Come in!” you called out, swiftly straightening out your dress that had crumbled around your legs at the comfortable seat. As the door to your room slammed open, the figure that stood in it caught you by surprise, “Father–, oh, hello,” you straightened your posture that much further at his arrival. 

Skipping over any niceties, King Ivan simply stated, “you need to pack up your stuff.”

Your brows knitted into a fierce furrow, “what?”

“Not everything, of course,” he cast a cold glance around the room though didn’t take a step to enter it, “just the things you are particularly attached to.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” your head lightly shook from side to side, “where am I going?”

When his eyes finally gave you the time of day, it swiftly dropped to the floor as a heavy sigh flowed from his lips, “why do you have to be the spitting image of her…” the muttering was unfortunately just loud enough for your ears to catch. His disappointment was always just loud enough for your ears to catch. When he entered the room and you moved to get up, he swiftly said, “stay seated, Y/n,” before he planted himself next to you on the wide windowsill, “now, everything is already set into motion, so we don’t have time for any of your theatrics,” not looking you in the eye, he frostily told you, “you are to be married. A carriage has just arrived a few minutes ago to pick you up and transport you to Eflorr.”

“To Eflorr?” your gaze grew wide, “you wish for me to marry someone there?”

“Not just someone, you are to marry their king.”

“I–… I–…” your chest rose and fell rapidly beneath your rosy dress, “but father, you can’t–, I can’t go live with the people who killed mom.”

“We don’t know if they actually murdered her. But I do know that you did,” his glare locked upon you as he let himself seethe, “if you hadn’t been born then she’d still be alive,” the fact that the only thing he blamed more for his late wife’s untimely demise then the kingdom she’d perished in was you, remained a point that the sovereign had never been shy about sharing with you for as long as you could recall, “your duty is to protect and serve this land, this crown,” your eyes naturally fluttered up to gaze at the twisted gold balanced upon his head, “if you don’t go through with this, then those savages will come pillage and ruin your home. You are, regrettably, the very last hope this kingdom has of survival. You have no choice, Y/n. This marriage is the only thing that can stop a war we would never survive,” exhaling slowly, he then dominantly nodded in a concluding fashion, “pack your stuff, you have an hour.”

You felt tears sting your eyes as your bottom lip quivered, “an hour? But–, can’t we wait at least a few days before I leave? Can’t I get a chance to say goodbye to at least one of my brothers? None of them are home yet.”

Regret instantly washed over you as your father’s nostrils flared angrily. Seizing your arm in a bruising grip, he yanked you close as he hissed, “you listen, and you listen carefully, you little brat. You have been the bane of my existence ever since you took your first breath. You took away the love of my life. You don’t deserve a goodbye, you don’t deserve anything. Do you think I got a goodbye when your mother suddenly went into labour on that diplomatic mission? No. All I got was you. Not another son, but a living, breathing reminder of what I lost that day,” your eyes squeezed shut as your cheek tingled at the memory of his strikes, “now, be a good girl and go wet his prick, give him a few babies, do anything he’d fucking please, so that him and his barbaric army doesn’t come here and slaughter everything you know and love.”

“Your highness, are you cold?” the high-ranking warden sitting across from you in the carriage noticed the shiver that your body couldn’t seem to shake. 

Tearing your eyes off of the scenery along The Emerald Path that the narrow window granted you a view of, you glanced back at the warrior. The brown hair he had practically tied off at the base of his neck blossomed into a dark beard. A bare palm clasped over an inked one in his lap as you met his gaze and said, “no, I’m–…” in truth, you were scared, so scared that you were trembling like a leaf, but you couldn’t tell the foreign king’s advisor that, too much weighted on your shoulders, you couldn’t screw this up, “no,” glancing back out of the window, you only stared a moment at the sparse cottages that slowly came into view on the rolling hills before you turned your head again and let the nauseating nerves control your words, “pardon me, Barnes, is it?”

“Yes, your highness?”

“Sir, how much further till we get there?” your quiet voice echoed within the carriage, “it’s just–, it’s been days.”

“Oh, not long at all,” he shook his head lightly, “actually,” the knight leaned forward in his seat and cast his glance outside, “if you look out the window now, right there,” a small smile tugged at his lips as his finger shot up to point, “that river, that means we’re getting close to Borün city.”

As the river then suddenly curved before the dirt road, the clomping hooves of the horses that hauled the coach resonated as they trotted over a stone bridge. 

Twisting your head, you glanced out to your right and spotted farmlands curve over the rolling hills that swiftly blossomed into thickets and towering flora you’d only assume was the southern perimeter of The Noll Woods. Books about this kingdom had been banned in your homeland for as long as you could remember, but even though you were essentially going in blind, you still weren’t completely ignorant when it came to the dangers that called that sprawling forest its home, not that you were an expert in the slightest, but your brothers had from time to time told you tales of the monsters who dominated in this part. From giant and twisted insect-like creatures, to mischievous pixies, to even the rare dragon, those stories had always been your favourite. Apart from the rare occasion where Callum would share stories with you about your mother. Being the eldest, he was the only one who truly remembered her. 

Instinctively, your fingers fluttered up to fiddle with the opalescent stone that hung from a chain around your neck. In the middle of the milky jewel was a small rune engraved into it. You had no idea what it meant, but your fingers had still traced the carving countless of times before as it had hung from your neck for as long as you could recall. It hadn’t been till you were a ways into your teens that you’d come to discover that it had belonged to your mother. 

Casting your glance out the other side as you passed a tall watchtower, behind the wide city stables unfolded a port town so quaint that it surprised you. Over the small valley of gabled roofs towered a central tree, and beyond all of that, the sparkle of the sea caught your eye, a sight you’d never beheld before, haven not only stemmed from a landlocked metropolis, but also not haven been permitted to leave your room as much as your heart had desired. 

“This is Eflorr?” you asked as the carriage began to roll up the winding path to the stone castle that loomed on the cliff, granting you a new view of how the river that you’d crossed slid through the city and spilt into the ocean.

“This is Eflorr, your highness,” the corners of his lips twitched at the sight of how wide your curious eyes were. 

“It’s–… it’s–…” your stare danced over the lush ivy that climbed the solid towers, “not what I expected…”

“What did you expect?”

Tearing your gaze away from the window, you blinked, “oh, I didn’t mean–,” suddenly worried that your shock had come out sounding rude, “I just–… I don’t know a lot about this land,” in the few tales you’d heard about this place, there had been a running gag that the people of Eflorr had lived so close to the dangerous beasts that called this part of the continent their home that they too had turned into monsters, “it’s just different than I imagined.” 

Ascending the jagged hill and passing through the front gate, it opened up into a wide courtyard before you felt the carriage finally roll to a stop. 

The wagon creaked gently as Barnes stepped out first, though when his boots were firmly on the cobblestone, his frame twisted as he reached an outstretched hand back for you to grasp in support of your own exit. Ever so apprehensively, you slid your own palm into his as your other twisted in your long skirts before you slipped out of the carriage. 

Letting go of his gasp, the soldier's low timbre washed over you as your head tilted back to take in the vast stronghold, “his majesty, unfortunately, couldn’t be here for your arrival as there was a bit of a dryad problem further up north he had to take care of,” you gaze tore away from the fort and fell upon him, “but I assure you he should be back in time for the wedding.”

“Oh, alright,” you breathed, unsure if that fact made you feel better or worse about the entire predicament.

“If you’d like, I can give you a brief tour of the castle,” he offered as he led you towards the main entrance into the castle proper, “or if you’re exhausted after the journey, then I can just show you directly up to your chambers.”

Offering him a polite smile, you nodded, “a tour would be lovely, thank you.”

He only briefly went over the buildings surrounding the courtyard you’d entered into, as they were mainly designed as barracks and various other facilities for the local wardens, though the horses that stuck their heads out of the royal stalls in the corner did catch your eye before you moved on inside. 

Barnes’ voice echoed in most of the chambers he showed you in the castle’s western wing. The vast stained-glass windows that were in the ballroom for instance took your breath away as you saw how the light streamed through them and warmed up the room with glittering little rays of colour. 

Behind the great halls, squeezed in between and connecting the two major parts of the fort, there you crossed through a much more quiet and lush courtyard. The pebble paths that curved around the central fountain too curled around various topiary bushes that were trimmed to perfection like living sculptures. 

Though as your guide showed you the eastern wing that crested over the foaming sea below, your curiosity got the better of you. 

“Hey, Barnes?”

Slowing his leisurely stride, he tilted his head slightly, “yes, your highness?”

“What are dryads?” your brows knit lightly together, “you mentioned there was a problem with them, but what are they?”

“You don’t know?” he glanced over at you, clearly trying to mask his surprise as you shook your head, “oh, well, they are forest spirits, nymphs,” he explained as you roamed deeper down a broad hallway on the second floor, passing many private chambers both to your right and your left, “it’s not uncommon for them to wander and bother the folks who live further up the coast. Have you never encountered one? They are not as uncommon in Obelón as most of the other creatures that thrive this far north.”

“No, I’ve never seen one…” you shook your head as a low sigh flowed from your lips, “never really seen anything…”

“Not much of an outdoorsy person?” he guessed in a light-hearted tone. 

Forcing a smile, you replied, “you could say that…” as you hadn’t been allowed to be one even if you wanted to. Passing a set of double doors that stood wide open, the sight inside made you halt your steps, “is this the library?”

Shadowing you as your feet crossed the threshold, he nodded, “yes, it is,” then pointed back over his shoulder, “and your quarters are right down that hall.”

Numerous grand bookcases stood lined up all the way down to where a tall window allowed the sunlight in and let it stream through the rows. 

“Can I–… would it be alright if I read some of them?” 

“Of course, your highness.” 

“Would you mind showing me which ones I’m allowed to read?” you briefly peeked back at him as a bubble of anxiety fluttered in your belly, “I don’t wanna accidentally read something that I’m not allowed to.”

Barnes then blinked back at you a moment before he uttered, “your highness, you can read each and every one of them if you’d like. Why wouldn’t you be allowed to read whatever you wish? They are yours after all, or will be after the wedding,” the corners of your lips twitched upwards as he then asked, “would you like to peruse the titles now or do you want to see your chambers?”

“Oh, uhm,” you tore your gaze away from the tomes and turned back, “I’ll look later.”

“Alright,” he nodded, extending his inked arm to show you the way. As he pushed the heavy wooden door open to the room at the very end of the hall, his voice rang out once more, “this is the peacock suite,” following him inside, he settled to a stop near the exit for you to explore the space on your own, “you can, of course, change anything you’d like for it to match your taste.”

“Thank you,” you breathed as you slowly made your way deeper into the chamber. It was gently divided with a more formal area towards the front where both tufted couches and a crackling fireplace stood, as well as a set of doors that opened up to a quaint balcony. Towards the left, under a swirling archway, twisted a broad canopy bed up towards the tall ceilings, warm with blankets and furs, and in the corner, by a breezy partition, stood a deep cobber bathtub.

Haven not noticed that he’d moved, you then heard as Barnes creaked the doors to a close, “if you need anything, anything at all, I’ll be right outside.”

With a loud creak, the heavy double doors opened before you and revealed the grand hall. As soft music gushed out, you nearly didn’t recognise the space from your tour the other day as it was now decorated with vibrant flowers and flowing banners that dropped down from the high ceilings above, as well as being completely packed with a swarm of people. A thin path parted the giddy crowd right down the middle towards the opposing grand door that guards opened simultaneously to yours. 

A shaky breath filled your lungs as you stared at the man crossing over the threshold. The flickering candlelight caught the honeyed shine of the locks that came down to tickle the nape of his neck. A bit darker, his short beard was full and warmed up the bottom half of his gruff features. He sure looked like a man who could slay a kraken with his bare fists, as the soft fur cloak that draped over his shoulders did not conceal his bulky physic one bit. The neckline of his indigo tunic stretched low enough for you to see the concave of his fuzzy chest and the impressive battle scars that broke up the rippling flesh. 

You’d seen the portrait of the king that hung in the hallway that stretched up towards the throne room, but to see him before your very eyes, in flesh and blood and not precise paint, was something else entirely. 

The long and embroidered train of the blue silk kirtle you wore dragged across the store floor behind you as both you and the monarch slowly stepped into the chamber to join in the very middle. 

The enchanting music stopped as you reached one another and the parted paths to either exit slowly closed as the crowd gathered and enclosed around the sacred vow that was about to ensue. 

Parting the sea of people like a divine force, an elderly woman, with a braided grey mane so long that it hit the floor, stepped up beside the both of you. 

“People of Eflorr,” the crone’s calm voice boomed, “today marks a day of unity, a day of peace, and most of all a day of love. Like a seed planted in the soil, tonight we will all witness this relationship blossom and go on the journey of growing into a magnificent tree, with roots strong enough to endure any storm, to propagate new seedlings that will watch over and shade our kingdom when yours have fallen.” 

Looking to the king, she handed him a small dagger from her belt and spoke, “blade across skin,” and he reached out for your right hand, “strike out your seedling’s love line,” your breath hitched as you felt him slice the top of your palm. Crimson blood trickled down onto his own hand as yours rested atop it, “and claim it as your own,” he flipped the blade around and handed it to you, before presenting you his own palm, open in yours. He didn’t even blink as you hesitantly pierced the calloused skin and traced the line already adoring his broad palm, “weave your lines together, so they become the same,” he then moved to clasp your hands together, his wide grip engulfed yours completely. Your teeth sank into just the faintest bit of your bottom lip at the fresh sting of your wound as it bled into his, “and may this scar serve you as a reminder, of the vow you made on this momentous day.” 

And as the last of the matron's words flowed from her lips so did the roar of celebration that erupted throughout the crowd as the festivities of the night bloomed at an instant.

The feast had been nothing short of immaculate. Countless of dishes had been spread out on the crowded banquet tables ranging from the savoury braised legumes to the sweet and shiny pies. It was an impossible task to try and taste every one of them, but an excuse you still used to stay glued to your seat and not get up and mingle with the boisterous gathering of strangers. 

As a stark contrast, you thought you only noticed the king take two bites before he rose to greet some latecomers who had arrived. Laughing and chatting with the sea of people, he hadn’t offered you a single word, barely even a brief glance the whole night. Though your gaze still followed him from your seat up at the high table as he moved through the crowd like they were all his dearest friends. 

When the moon had floated up to be high in the sky, clearly visible on the other side of the stained glass, your head had dropped down into a propped-up palm as a deep yawn forced its way out of your frame. 

“Are you tired, your majesty?” a deep timbre suddenly found your ears, a specific tone that caused your spine to straighten out at once. 

Whipping your head to your right, your weary eyes grew wide as you saw the king again at his seat, “no, I’m alright,” you hastily coughed out, “I’m so sorry for behaving like that in your presence. This party is exquisite.” 

“It’s alright, you can yawn,” you suddenly felt the need to look away now that his ocean stare was finally fixed upon you, “it’s late, I was about to retire for the night as well, so I can only imagine how you must feel. If you’d like, I could escort you back to your chambers. I’m not sure how familiar you’ve become with the castle since you’ve arrived, but even I can still get lost when the corridors are this dark and I’ve indulged in perhaps one too many goblets of wine.”

A flutter of nauseating nerves rushed within your belly, but even so, you still pushed through and forced a smile, “if that’s what the king desires, then sure, you can escort me.”

It was your wedding night. You knew what was about to happen. 

Or, actually, you didn’t quite know what the marital act entailed, but you were sure a man such as Steve had enough of an understanding to take charge. All you knew was what little you’d been told. To strip down naked, not whine or scream, and do as he tells you. 

The soaring butterflies within you only grew more ferocious as you followed his long stride throughout the castle. Out of the ballroom and through a cold stone hallway, when you crossed the bridge that linked the two wings over a part of the cliff that descended dramatically, you nearly doubled over the parapet to empty your stomach over the town of Borün that blossomed below. 

But with a shaky intake of breath, your fist closed around the silk of your skirt as you settled yourself and forced your feet to keep moving. Even as you passed the threshold into the eastern part of the castle, you still shadowed the monarch up the many steps until his broad palm held the door to your chambers open for you to enter. 

The fire had been lit while you were gone, and the room was encased in the warm glow. 

“Did, uh…” you heard the door close behind you as the king attempted a bit of small talk, “did you have a nice time tonight?” 

“I did, your majesty,” you kept your answer brief out of fear that he’d hear the tremble to your tone. 

Slowly turning his back to you, his gaze washed over the room, “are you pleased with your bed chambers?” he settled to face the balcony, the door slightly ajar to let the night breeze seep through and rustle the sheer curtains, “because if you don’t like it, if you’d rather have a view of the town then the sea, then that’s an easy problem to fix.” 

“I think the view is just fine from here, but thank you,” you answered politely as you gathered up the last bit of your courage and reached back to undo the long row of buttons that went down the spine of the light blue dress. 

When the silky garment dropped to the floor, the quiet rustle was enough to draw the king’s attention.

First offering you just a quick glance over his shoulder, he then swiftly whirled around completely, “what are you doing?”

Weaving your fingers in the thin material of your chemise, you blinked back at his stunned features, “I’m sorry, am I doing it wrong?” sure that he could already see everything through the sheer, white fabric. 

His feet didn’t move as he asked, “what are trying to do?” before he averted his gaze to the stone floor. 

“Well,” you uttered quietly, “it’s our wedding night.”

“Oh…” was all he breathed. 

“To be transparent, I’m actually not quite sure what’s to happen, but I do know it’s something,” reaching up, you took the gold and twisted circlet, that crowned your head, off and carefully sat it down on the side table to your left, “I don’t know the details, I just know that I should strip down. Do you know what we’re supposed to do?”

“Fuck,” he cursed, briefly squeezing his eyes shut, “yes I do, but, your majesty, please, keep your clothes on,” his gaze flickered back to you as you slowly began to hike up the last layer. 

“Why?” your fingers froze, “isn’t it a tradition here for us to–”

“Well, yes, but–…” he let out a strained sigh before slowly stating, “I’m gonna go.” 

A chill crawled up your skin, “…oh, I see…” you uttered quietly as he crossed the room, “did I do something wrong?”

Halting in the doorway as he ripped it open, “no, you–…” but the rest of his words crumbled as his gaze settled upon you one last time, instead letting a low sigh flow from his lungs, “sleep well,” and added nearly subconsciously just before the door slammed shut, “goodnight, dove.”

Even though a wave of relief washed over you, a sting of hurt also followed suit as the king left. 

Had you done something wrong, or did he just find you that repellent, that hideous, that he refused to perform his marital duties?

© 2024 thyme-in-a-bubble 

[anime-grimmy-art]

UPDATE: NEW DEADLINE DEC 8TH

Welcome to the Finish this in your style!

In contrast to a DTIYS, where the goal is to recreate an existing piece, the FTIYS is about making a provided sketch your own.

All necessary infos are on the slides, but here a summary:

Deadline is December 1st.

(Can be extended if asked for.)

Sketches can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10xPkvv588FX8mNj5AdNAWT8Y0TW0KRWK?usp=sharing

There’s only 2 rules:

- It has to be the same character

- It should be obvious which sketch the finished piece is based on.

Other than that, you are allowed to work as freely as you want. Just colouring the sketch, actually finishing it, or heck, even going beyond that. You also don’t have to keep true to my art style! You can totally put your own spin on it. As long as the concept is upheld, it’s viable for entry.

Entries should either be posted with the tag #grimmyftiys (and tag me), or dm-ed to me directly. You’re also allowed to work on as many sketches as your heart desires, but mind you, all of them will be counted as one entry.

Prices:

1st place - Full Body, Full Render Character Illustration (proper lineart)

2nd place - Half Body, Simple Style Character Illustration (somewhat messy lineart)

3rd place - Bust, Flat Colour Character Illustration (coloured sketch)

Depending on the amount of entries, I also might do some sketches for honorable mentions!

I made sure to put a wide variety of sketches. I have some really rough ones, some more clean ones, some borderline lineart. Some are never seen sketches, some are sketches of stuff I’ve posted. I also included a ton of different fandoms - e.g. Undertale, Genshin, Trigun or Little Nightmares, just to name a few. I’m sure there’s something for everyone!

I hope you guys have fun with this!!!!

Also, on a side note, you can freely use these sketches for practice or just for fun, even if you DONT wanna participate. But if you do end up uploading them somewhere, do please remember to credit me, thaaaanks.

[inksandpensblog]

Sebastian Solace headcanons, mantis shrimp edition:

he has a carapace covering his back, under the jacket. it rumbles at a very low frequency when he's feeling territorial, though the effect is mostly smothered when he's carrying the weight of the scrambler.

he has meral spots (eyespots) on his arms. these are covered by his jacket and bandages, but when he feels threatened he will instinctively move in ways choreographed to display them in warning.

his "ear fins" are actually malformed antennal scales, which mantis shrimp use to communicate with each other via different movements and polarization of light. they may also have fluorescent spots that glow yellow in deeper, darker water.

the "back" of his tail looks segmented because of armored plating

I try to form headcanons that can be used to explain his anatomy as depicted in-game, limitations of a Roblox model and all. for that reason I wanna say it's possible that, despite his limbs possibly having the chitinous shell of a mantis shrimp, they may not actually have the structure or musculature required for the classic mantis-shrimp-punch, since they're clearly articulated like human arms rather than raptorial mantis-shrimp limbs (even if his lower arm does seem to rest in a raptor-position, it just doesn't bend the directions an actual mantis-shrimp arm would). but if you still want that for him...

he was spliced with a "smashing" mantis-shrimp type. assuming his sheer size doesn't slow him down at all, then not only can he punch with enough speed and force that the pressure change boils the water around the area of impact, but parts of his arms are actually bladed! could be his forearms, his palms, his fingers, whatever. being spliced with a smashing type could also mean that his aim doesn't need to be completely accurate, as the shock of the water-displacement might complete the job anyway even if his strike doesn't make contact.

(this could also be used to inform his behavior, as smashing mantis-shrimp types are foragers who find sedentary prey to hunt.)

he was spliced with a "spearing" mantis-shrimp type rather than a "smashing" type, and he doesn't actually have the speed that one would typically associate with mantis shrimps. but he does have barbs. these are also the ones that like to burrow in softer substrate; so if you want to go the route of his mantis-shrimp traits manifesting more in his behavior than in his appearance, he'd probably be more comfortable with digging or with burying himself in loose easily-shifted stuff.

(this could also be used to explain why he prefers not to leave his shop, or even to explain his shop as a concept, as spearing mantis-shrimp types are ambush predators who prefer to lie in wait for their prey rather than going out and actively searching for any.)

rather than the more commonly-known "spearing" or "smashing" mantis-shrimp types, he was spliced with one of the rarer "hatchet" types.

alternatively he could've been spliced with a "primitive smashing" or "spike smashing" or "hammer" type.

It's been extremely hard to find info on either of these latter two mantis-shrimp types so if any marine biologists have cool facts to add or sources to recommend (or corrections to make, or clarifications to provide, or specifics to emphasize, or) please feel free to chime in.

Unsorted sources will be in cascading reblogs since tumblr literally won't let me put them all in one post. For now though here's a few under the readmore to get started:

[dr-spectre]

Splatoon - Callie 101!

I have gathered EVERY Callie analysis and ramble I've done and complied them together into one post for your viewing convenience! I go over all the different aspects relating to Callie's arc in Splatoon 2, diving deep into Hypno Callie and clearing up ALL of her misconceptions. Some of these posts are just me rambling and some of them do have overlapping information, but these posts still provide valuable and important information regarding Callie.

In the posts i go over the following:

Clearing up wrong info (She was kidnapped and brainwashed)

Pre-hypnosis

During hypnosis and her behaviour

Explaining hypnosis and it's differences compared to brainwashing

Her being flung out of hypnosis

How she remembers the Squid Sisters

Why she put the shades back on

I love this character to death and i only want the best for her, i hope more and more people come to learn about her true arc and i hope i can inspire some change in the community. Either via more people in the community saying the right terminology across social media and changing the wording from "brainwashing" to hypnosis.

PLEEEAASSEEE!!! reblog and share with others in the Splatoon community because I really do want some change and i want this wonderful character that i love to death to be treated with some more respect. Although she may not seem that important, Callie is one of the most important and significant characters in the franchise and i want more people to treat her as such, rather than some airheaded idiot.

Hearing people say the same stuff over and over again like "Oh she was kidnapped, overpowered and then brainwashed, losing all of her memories, etc." Genuinely gave me a lot of discomfort and i avoided consuming Splatoon 2 content because i was actually scared of seeing Hypno Callie and hearing those words.... That was until i actually did research and began making all of these posts that i shall link.

So here you go and i hope you learn something new about Callie Cuttlefish! (Press Keep reading to view the posts.) 

[returntosunder]

You know what? I'm just gonna share what I can/want on all of my AUs, one at a time. I spoke about UnderRough last time, so this time I'll share some little bits of...

(Just some of it, not ALL of it. Even then, prepare for a long rant.)

Inspiration: when I was first getting into the Undertale community, I was noticing a severe lack of AUs where Sans swaps with Asriel. Slowly, I came up with swaps for mostly the main characters (Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Napstablook, etc). After aging and getting back into the fandom, I realized quite a few flaws (seeing how young I was when first making it) and decided to redo a few things. Now let's get into the actual AU.

Basics: as previously stated, UnderTear is a swap AU with unique differences. However, before we get into those differences, let's go over the basics.

The swaps are fully roleswap, yet only 25% personality swap.

Sans swaps with Asriel, Papyrus swaps with Undyne, Napstablook swaps with Alphys who swaps with Grillby, Muffet swaps with Mettaton, and Monster Kid swaps with the Scarf Mouse. (That's not every swap, just the main characters.)

Toriel and Asgore actually keep their roles stay the same, but swap personalities. Frisk and Chara aren't swapped at all. (Neither are plenty of the "NPCs")

Okay, now for some of the unique stuff~ (again, prepare for a huge bit of ranting.)

The Skelebros: Sans and Papyrus actually had parents before the war broke out. One of which, the father, was the brother of Aster. A few weeks after the war, neither of their parents made it underground. Aster, being the royal scientist, asked the Dreemurr's if they could care for Sans and Papyrus for him. (One, because Papyrus was still an infant, and two, because a dangerous is no place to raise children.) They humbly accepted seeing how Asriel would soon be born as well.

The Spiders and the Machine: seeing how Muffet replaces Mettaton, she would become the young star of the Underground. However, hidden behind the entertainer's life was her older cousin, Lizzie. She would be the one who helped raise Muffet and provide aid in her rise to stardom. Meanwhile, Mettaton would be a robot built and discarded by Aster years ago. Napstablook's cousin would eventually find the robot body, fix it up a bit, and use as the driving force behind a heavy metal rebellion against Muffet. (Said rebellion started because of Muffet and Napstablook continuously fighting for Papyrus. I have a post on my blog that explains where that started.)

The first Amalgamate: you may remember months ago I requested art of a character named Trajan. Well, here's some more info on him. In UnderTear, Mystery Man and Gaster are two entirely different characters. Trajan is the Mystery Man and WD G Aster is the Gaster. Trajan first applied for the soul experiment when he managed to defeat a human who attacked one of his other monster friends. Once he was injected with DT however, he quickly found out how horrible of an idea it was. Somehow, he would wake up in a void like area known only as the Darkness. (That's all I got on him right now, but I do have an ask blog around him. @asktrajan)

I'm just now realizing I'm reiterating things I've already talked about on my blog. And I don't wanna have to delete all that. So here's a quick detail that I haven't discussed before now: in UnderTear, the WD in Aster's name doesn't stand for Wingdings. At least not originally. At first, the WD stood for Wadeline. After Gaster fell into his creation though, he became distorted. Thus his font would switch to Wingdings. (Not sure what the G stood for though.)

PHEW. Ok. I think that's all I can handle typing. There's still plenty of stuff I haven't shared, but I'm saving that for my blog. Hope you're intrigued! X3

Ooo role swap au! I had to make a bunch of notes to visually see who is placed in what role cause my brain needs a visualizer lol. (Side not, im absolutely LOVING Muffet taking Mettatons place in this. They are both my faves and this is a fun mix ^^)

Sans and Papyrus being raised by the Dreemers is so flippin cute omg I love that ^^ and ya I remember trajan (ive looked into your blog too, but im gonna have to look through it again so I can have a refresher on his info ^^') ooo WD becoming Wingdings is after the incident is actually interesting, him having a different name before is really neat change to his story i love that!

Thanks for sharing what you have! I understand that saving info for your blog so im glad you can still share stuff here ^^

[scared-artist]

Since I can figure out where the post cuts off now!

DSMP DREDGE AU EXPLANATION TIME

For basic info, Tommy is the fisherman, Phil is the Lighthouse keeper, Tubbo is the Shipwright, Ranboo is the dockworker, and Schlatt is the mayor, Technoblade as the fishmonger. The important one to remember is Tommy atm

Spoilers for dredge storyline below!! Please feel free to make suggestions, ask questions, anything!

This is an au of the dreamsmp characters not the CCs, if you support the CCs that are terrible people get outta here.

So for the actual storyline it will follow dredge very closely, with wilbur filling the role of the dead loved one. Tommy in his grief completely pushes all memory of him away and manages to avoid it to the point of returning to their hometown as the new fisherman. He mostly chills until the incident with the abberation happens, and I think Techno pulls out a lmanberg flag instead of a handkerchief. After this Tommy is faced with the dream smile mask as the collector, featuring the book. He’s sent to dredge up the first artifact, which I’m still figuring out.

I’m thinking the artifacts will correlate with Wilbur descending into madness, and while there isn’t an entire war in this universe I imagine a decent chunk of the events stay the same. Wilbur still runs against schlatt for mayor, and is sent to pogtopia (little marrow) under the guise of it being for a job. Tommy being the fisherman going between both lmanberg (The Marrows) and pogtopia is doing his best to support wilbur but is focused on keeping them afloat by fishing. Wilbur settles on getting schlatt back by helping Tommy fish, with the intent of essentially providing more for manberg than Schlatt can. While he and Tommy are fishing Tommy explains some superstitions and such to him, and they decide to remain the boat together since it’s now a shared job. Wilbur breaks the superstition of not keeping anything with the old name intentionally, hoping it’ll have consequences on manberg.

It doesn’t. The boat crashes on the rocks with them both on boat, and Wilbur drowns. Phil blames himself, being the lighthouse keeper on duty, but he focuses on the harm Wilbur was causing to cope. As Tommy fishes he finds notes and such from wilbur, showing his declining mental state through the whole thing.

When Tommy’s collected all the artifacts, the dream smile mask falls, revealing its Tommy’s face underneath it. In this au im leaning into the Dreamon concepts a lot of people had, and having dream exist as the monsters/supernatural effects rather than being the collector himself since I really like the reveal that the collector and fisherman are the same person.

I still need to figure out the artifacts/spots so this is stuff I gotta figure out

1) artifact by manberg and pogtopia

2) by gale cliffs, dsmp area to be determined. Notably has a sea serpent terrorizing it

3) by stellar basin (maybe snowchester? If so who replaces tubbo as shipwright), has a plant/tentacle creature you need to subdue with a machine to get the artifact

4) the mangroves (? Eggpire??) has mind suckers and an old veteran airman who helps you kill them and get the artifact

5) the volcano (Nether?) contains the blind mother fish and her little minions, fuckers. Has several cult side quests, might be better for eggpire?

Also if we wanna include pale reach and oil rig DLCs! That’s a whole can of worms.

[floral-atom-collective]

Hii! What is a system?? /genq

I've been often seeing this term but I don't fully know what it means, I suppose it has something to do with multiple personalities but I don't wanna jump to conclusions and end up accidentally making people uncomfortable, so if you could explain with details I'd appreciate it ^^

hi! Glad you asked

You're on the right track there with "multiple personalities" but it's a bit more than that.

Important note!

We are not professionals, we know little outside of our own experience. If someone sees this and knows we are sharing misinformation, please correct us!

Systems, in their simplest definition, are when someone has multiple beings [ headmates, alters, whatever they call them ] that inhabit one body.

There is a ton of variation as being plural [ being part of a system/are a system ] is a very diverse condition.

This will likely get long so more info will be put under the cut. If you need any more clarification we are more than willing to provide information.

There's a lot of different types of plurality.

While it's a bit of a controversial opinion [ even though we believe it's entirely true ] there are non-disordered, disordered, non-traumagenic/endogenic, traumagenic, and many other subcategories.

Keep in mind that our syscourse stance will change the type of info we add here. Anti-endos are allowed to use this post for information if they want to but please remember we are traumaendo. And we ask that hate isn't directed at us on this post [ or in general ].

Lets start with:

Disordered traumagenic plurality

I do not know much about this being we are not one. Disordered traumagenic plurality is something that can actually be diagnosed since it is disordered. DID, OSDD, and other disorders can be defined with these labels. Traumagenic refers to how a system has formed by trauma. Trauma is inherently a very complicated topic. Many different situations causing trauma and certain traumatizing experiences nobeing validated as trauma male it this way.

Non-disordered traumagenic plurality

This kind of plurality could be caused by healing from disordered plurality [ losing the symptoms that makes a system disordered ] or not having enough symptoms to consider themselves disordered. Despite it not being disordered it is still just as valid, as are any other types of plurality.

Non-traumagenic/Endogenic plurality

"Endogenic" is a blanket term for any system that formed without/regardless of trauma. Meaning there are many subcategories within the term. It's so diverse that I would suggest doing your own research on specific terms if you want to.

Willogenic means a person willed their headmates/system into existence. They created it intentionally rather than by chance or to cope with trauma.

Resources

-PluralPedia. Very helpful, helps with many terms!

-r/plural, r/pluralsystems, r/plural_irl (memes and community), r/pluralmemes (on Reddit), r/DIDinclusivity

-the multiplicity wiki on fandom

-simply plural resource page

[ ^ edited, from @ plural-dictionary ]

[ ^ posts/websites proving endogenic plurality if I remember correctly ]

These sources will be/lean pro endo as that is our stance. You are allowed to do whatever other research you find necessary though.

[ ^ some of our own posts explaining our experience ]

We hope this helped!

[midnight1nk]

LEVELING UP (w/ your local reporter)

It’s pretty well-known that my blog always welcomes theories and ramblings, considering that I’m both myself as well as wanting to spread a bit of positivity out there. But months ago, I decided to take on the role as SMG4 Tumblr’s unofficial reporter, perhaps you might’ve seen a report or two from me tackling serious topics. Or you've been following along the #SMG4 news tag.

However, from what I’ve been thinking over for the last few days, two things really dawned on me: (1) while I may have appointed myself to be the community’s reporter unofficially, my words matter. Ofc I’m well aware what I signed up for and have been taking the role incredibly serious. The thing is: trust, accountability, and the truth is utmost important to me. Not only to spread awareness but to enforce the connection I have with my sources bc, at the end of the day, it impacts us all. The relationship between my sources, the community, and me — an actual example to game theory (thanks MatPat, a true icon).

Then, for (2), while is important to discuss the serious stuff, it’s starting to be emotionally overwhelming in my eyes. When I first started, it was simply posting the latest teasers for the SOTC arc leading up to movie. I’ve done polls and events (the real ones remember when I did bingo). Y’know fun stuff, I wanna bring that back somehow. After all, not all news is bad news.

It needs balance, and for that, I’ve came with a plan with simply this: by the people, for the people.

[ + more info below 'read more' + ]

INVESTIGATIONS

Usually, it would be my decision on what I should cover, it being serious or not. But I’ll allow suggestions be put into consideration if it fits the following:

if there is news going around in another social, and you believe it is something of value that could potentially impact SMG4 Tumblr, it'll be put into consideration.

However, if referred above has no complete story (like it has pieces here and there) and it still holds said value, it'll be put into consideration for a full-on investigation lead by yours truly. Though, based on previous experience, do note that this would take a while to do and it might lead to a dead-end. The investigations are NOT FOR THEORIES.

Changes happen on the official SMG4 socials, ranging from a teaser for the show or a serious hack. At times, it isn’t possible for me to keep track of them all. But if you happen to come across something, you can leave a tip!

This includes: show teasers, new Steam workshop items, changes to the Puzzles/WOTFI website, mentions of SMG4 in Glitch promo/posts, hacks (for both official SMG4 and our local community creators), discourse, etc.

PROMOTIONS

As said, I would like to encourage the fun news going around in the community, just to bring some positivity and engagement. This would has it’s own list unrelated to the ‘Investigations’ section with the following:

Unlike the ‘Investigation’ related posts, these would usually be a reblog. Think of it like an ad. So, it would be up to someone to make the post itself.

They must be COMMUNITY-INVOLVED! There is a difference between self-promoting your posts for personal gain/engagement, and wanting to welcome the community to an event. So, no, zero self-promotion (I’ve seen my fair share).

This includes: polls, character tournaments, bingo nights, ship weeks, project announcements, call for collabs, events, etc.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Regardless of the type (investigation or promo), suggestions can be submitted in my askbox. To be considered, here are the rules and other things that might answer some personal questions:

Please provide the necessary information — date of occurrence, the original poster, any docs or screenshots, etc. — if possible. Anything that can be useful for me to use. All media and links must be embedded. I will not be accepting hyperlinks for safety reasons, and yes, that includes Tumblr posts. Regardless, all asks will be reviewed.

When sending an ask, please put a magnifying glass emoji [ 🔎 ] in the ask!! That way, it's be easier for me separate it from the rest of the asks. Otherwise, it'll be up to my (theorist) intuition and context clues to figure it out myself.

The sent asks WILL NOT be posted in my blog or in the SMG4 tag. (1) Simply, they are suggestions and it would feel reductant to post about it twice. (2) There’s going to be at least one person who’s gonna leave an ask for a prank or something. But let this be clear, there’s zero tolerance for this kind of behavior in this blog and in my eyes. False leads could not only waste my time but time that could’ve been used for the news that truly matters. (3) I don’t want to risk spreading a potential virus or something with a link by accident, or for it to be a nothing burger at the end. That being said…

DO NOT spam in the askbox. As I’m not posting these asks, there won’t be any indication whether I saw your ask — that’s only logical. Unless I left an announcement in my blog for an absence, it’ll be likely that I have indeed seen your ask and I would get to it as soon as I possibly can. Please do be patient with me on that front. The best compromise I could give is that every week, I would post my status of the askbox (if I read it, if doing an investigation, etc.)

Feel free to use your account or drop your username, so I would know who’s who. As always, the anon option will still be available, bc it's only understandable that not everyone would be comfortable to come out for a tip, it's within the reporter's code to not betray this trust. HOWEVER, if due to certain circumstances you would like to speak with me, state it clearly in the ask and I'll contact you in DMs. (Just in case of technical difficulties, I’ll send out a codeword for you to use in another ask, it’ll be best to look out for it. Post will later be deleted afterwards)

To my moots, you can just let me know as per usual. You guys don't really need to do all this, simply send it over to me :)

This information will also be available on my intro post for future reference. Also fyi, I'm only on Tumblr under the 'midnight1nk' username, and I'm staying for personal reasons. If you have any questions that I didn't mention here, go ahead and leave a comment here!

Just as bringing the news to SMG4 Tumblr, I wanna invite yall to be part of it. Together united. And most of all, I would like to thank the people following along, to those who gave their trust in me. It's been a privilege to be your reporter. 💙

[thelazyhermits]

Got some info about Ace's relationship with my Yuu that I wanna share underneath the cut.

Okay, so I've mentioned before that Ace has a crush on Yuu, but he's in total denial about it. Since that's all I've really said on this subject, I thought I should provide some more details.

For starters, the main reason Ace is in denial about his crush is cause when he came to NRC he was bound and determined to steer clear of girls and romantic relationships for a while cause of how things turned out with his ex.

While Ace still ends up befriending/getting close to Yuu anyway, his feelings about not wanting to have a romantic relationship anytime soon haven't changed since he really does wanna take a break from all that.

That's why he keeps telling himself that his feelings for Yuu aren't like that. After all, there's no way he could seriously fall for a delinquent tomboy like her. He just gets flustered cause Yuu is good at getting those kinds of reactions outta people.

Ironically, this is why Yuu won't ever catch onto Ace's true feelings since she truly believes that she's the exact opposite of his type.

Yuu partially believes this cause of the typical quips he makes about her being a tomboy and a delinquent, but another reason is cause, from what she has heard, she's nothing like his ex, whom she assumes is the type of girl that Ace is usually drawn to.

(This is just my personal opinion, but I consider Ace to be the most normal guy of the NRC cast cause he really is a stereotypical teenage boy as compared to all the other guys who definitely aren't what I'd consider normal lol

For that reason, I think it'd be funny if his ex was just as normal as him. Plus, it seems like a reasonable assumption based on the little info he has given us about her, such as how she loves cute things/animals and hates action/horror movies and would rather visit and take pictures with theme park mascots rather than ride thrill rides, which are common traits for a lot of girls in anime/manga.)

Yuu is well aware of the fact that she's not normal. That's why she fits in so well at NRC lol 😂

She considers herself the exact opposite of a normal girl thanks to her cage fighting background which makes her come across as a delinquent to most people.

Plus, she acts like a mother hen, which is another thing that Ace often complains about.

Yuu also loves to tease/fluster Ace cause his flustered reactions are always so cute, and considering how unaccustomed he seems to be to such treatment, that makes her assume that his ex never did that and that Ace was the one who did all the playful teasing in that relationship.

The only traits she shares with Ace's ex are a love of cute things/animals and a fear of horror, the latter of which was one of the things he complained about cause he enjoys those movies.

That's why the idea of Ace ever having a romantic interest in Yuu has never even crossed her mind, and it likely never will unless someone other than her brings up this particular topic.

(Not even the fact that Ace will check her out whenever she's wearing cute clothes or clothes that show off her skin/muscles will lead Yuu to thinking he has a serious interest in her cause Yuu is unfortunately so used to guys staring at her thanks to her time in Japan's underworld that she just thinks that's normal, although she knows Ace is nothing like those guys.

Yuu just thinks Ace is being a stereotypical teenage boy since it's not like he's the only one she'll catch staring at her lol)

What makes this so funny is that both of them are wrong cause its these unusual qualities about Yuu that leads to Ace developing a serious crush on her.

No matter what how much he implies otherwise, Ace actually loves how strong and muscular Yuu is and how she can easily kick his ass. He finds that extremely attractive, although he'll never actually admit it out loud.

(This is my HC since I just can so easily see Ace falling for a girl who can kick his ass. Like I'm not saying he's a masochist since he definitely doesn't like being in pain, but I could just easily imagine him finding a powerful woman to be extremely attractive.

He also seems like the type who lowkey likes muscles and cant stop staring at them when they belong to someone he finds attractive.

I just love the idea of Ace just totally melting after either getting bridal-carried or pulled into an embrace where he can get wrapped up into some strong muscular arms XD

Also, I think Ace would totally swoon and get extremely flustered if Yuu was ever to pull off something like crushing a watermelon with her thighs 😂)

Another thing Ace really likes about her is the fact that Yuu can give as good as she gets. Contrary to what Yuu believes, Ace loves a girl who's good at teasing, like him.

(Another HC of mine is that Ace wants the kinda treatment he dishes out, so while he'll never admit it, he loves it whenever Yuu flusters him via teasing and physical affection.

So a scenario where Yuu pulls Ace into her muscular arms and whispers praise/words of affection into his ears is basically an instant KO to his heart 😂)

Regarding Yuu's mother hen tendencies, Ace does find them exasperating at times, but he also really enjoys being doted on. This boy LOVES being spoiled and just thrives whenever he gets all of Yuu's attention in moments like that.

While Yuu's fear of horror is a bummer, Ace honestly doesn't really mind it too much, not as much as Yuu thinks. He just hates that he can't experience her clinging onto him while she's scared since he really loves when she relies on him, and he wants her to come to him for comfort, which is not something Yuu regularly would do under normal circumstances due to her independent nature.

Out of all of Yuu's distinct qualities, it's her fiercely independent nature that Ace really has the most issue with cause he dislikes when she doesn't rely on him when she should.

While he sees nothing wrong with her being independent in general since I do think he'd like that in a girl, Ace doesn't like how Yuu typically tries to do everything on her own and doesn't willingly show much weakness around him since she always tries to be tough around her sons.

My HC is that Ace's love language is acts of service cause he's the type who doesn't wanna be vocal about his affection since he can't be honest, so instead, he shows his feelings through his actions, albeit subtly since he doesn't like doing overt displays of affection either cause he finds them embarrassing.

His ideal way of showing that he cares is being there when the person he likes needs help, and he "grudgingly" lends a hand since he just can't leave them alone.

Despite the complaints he'll make to save face, Ace truly likes being relied on, so it annoys him when Yuu doesn't do that a lot during the first half of the school year since relying on others is something that takes time for her to learn how to do naturally.

He especially hates whenever it looks like Yuu is relying on someone other than him, like Jamil, who's the first person whom Yuu becomes truly comfortable relying on, so there's definitely some jealousy there on Ace's end.

Despite this, Ace still ends up crushing on Yuu anyway, although it was a gradual development that started with Book 1 events when Yuu helped him out and stood up for him during the unbirthday party and just steadily grew as the months passed.

Fortunately for Ace, this crush never really causes him any trouble since he's so good at shoving those feelings to the back of his mind and being in denial lol

Also, in the end, things end up working out rather nicely for Ace since he's able to get the best of both worlds with Yuu.

By that, I mean, Ace is able to enjoy getting lots of Yuu's love and attention without having to date her cause of her affectionate nature and the fact that he's one of her sons, making him one of the people who gets the most of her affection/attention.

This is truly an ideal arrangement for Ace since he gets all of the good parts of dating without having to worry about committing to anything lol

The only real downside is that he doesn't get Yuu all to himself like he'd prefer and has to share her attention with the rest of her sons.

At the start, when this little family was coming together, Ace was not a fan of this turn of events since he thought that all Yuu needed was him, Deuce, and Grim, but eventually, he does come to accept that Yuu has other people in her life that she also cares about.

Of course, Ace is still quite possessive of Yuu, just as much as Grim, but he's in denial about that as well, which just makes his behavior all the more exasperating to Yuu lol

In summary, Ace is a total Yuu simp and is absolutely crazy about her. This boy is down so bad lol 😂

[rainofdauwuand0w0]

@grimmsilly put this idea into my brain via bsky so…here we go

Lenvuzi/(as I will call this ship)SchoolsHottestTopic

-headcanon coming from @silentmagi that lizzy and uzi used to date before events of canon, this is fully in my head as I write this out, how would all this madness get them back together?

-easy in my mind, talking about it, talking about the things that they had to experience and such, maybe it starts out small, starting out as just v x lizzy and n x uzi but both groups eventually, maybe during a double date that v and n suggested, N and v have their bonding moment while uzi and lizzy are watching, both talking about…how crazy their lives got, uzi and lizzy throwing around lighthearted jabs at one another, uzi going “hey how come you knew how to hold my gun?” And lizzy just kinda admitting in her own words “so I maybe kinda watched you as you built it”. Because I like to imagine the railgun was a thing that was a long term development and with them being together in the past would add to it. And lizzy saw how uzi held it, despite how much it may have seemed she didn’t care much or was absorbed into her phone, she did pay attention.

-over the course of time, more double dates happen after this one goes surprisingly well for all parties involved , v and n retelling old memories, reminiscing on old moments when they were different and how much they have both changed but also stayed the same despite it all, while uzi and lizzy rebuild their bridge, as well uzi and n and lizzy and v sharing moments still as well.

-and after a LOT of time and energy into these double dates, n and v as well as Uzi and lizzy eventually realize they miss being with the other, but they also wanna keep those they have already….which ends up into a very messy and awkward but also cute moment of everyone kinda admiting to it. V’s the one that initially starts the cuddle pile, and the others follow behind like domino’s

-Nori finds them in the morning all asleep in a cute pile.

Now headcanon time for this set up.

-lizzy sets herself as the person to make or find outfits for the others, the others won’t know until it is too late and they have a good looking outfit sprung upon them

-For lizzy, she has someone she can bullshit with, she has someone who has sat in the background for years and probably has more than enough dirt on the other students that she just never used cuz despite being a edgelord, uzi is too nice to actually used the info on people. And N allows her to have someone who compliments her but does it honestly and wholesomely, no double meaning, sometimes she needs that

-For uzi it provides her two people that confirmed all that stuff happened between them, the solver, and other stuff, and Lizzy provides footage. But it also provides uzi a support network of people she can talk with, lizzy keeping her in the know of school rumors, boring or not, she’ll know and be able to keep tabs, able to join convos along side lizzy, N of course becomes the rock as usual and so does V, both do it very differently, N is a smooth marble rock while v is a sharp but climbable one, they help her calm down in their own way.

-For N, this man has someone to vent with as he remembers, especially with him being the main one primarily unlocked, V helps due to being there with him technically and unlocking memories as well, Uzi helps by reminding him that she isn’t going anywhere, and lizzy reminds him how far he has come and reaffirms him that they love him for more then just looks.

-For V, its how much she wants to be the different aspects of herself, when she feels extra bookwormy she’s smiling as N is happy to see her reading again, when she wants to rant and make fun of, when she wants to just talk about bs or rant about her colony job, lizzy helps her out, uzi gets a middle ground, she helped with her memories after all. That doesn’t mean the others won’t see the other sides, she’ll show them as they get closer over time, that was her mask she wore after all, its still apart of her.

-As my ship name idea implies, this becomes a very big topic amongst the school, the two rebel dd’s that helped save the world, the weirdo solver, and the most popular gal, all together? Especially if people still remember uzi and lizzy being an item? That is gonna be the talk of the town more then the world almost ending itself.

[lumilasi]

"Lone wolf's a Dead Wolf. Healthy Wolf protects the Pack."

Earlier this week, I reblogged a fanart piece for the Mouthwashing game, wondering why it was so popular, as while I had seen the game months earlier, seeing Tumblr get so into it was surprising as at the time, it didn't stand out to me too much when I first watched it. After being nosy and snooping around the tags, I now fully get why it has become such a phenomenon here.

Anyway, the whole thing kind of inspired me to want to make my own lil space crew. I'll be keeping their designs simple though, as I don't wanna stress myself out with this too much; its just a small side thing for funsies. I don't have full design ideas for others yet, but I figured I can at least post this guy for starters. I admittedly don't fully like the poster one, buuuut IDK how to fix it rn so I'll leave it as is.

More info about him below: (under the cut bc ONCE AGAIN my descriptions get far too long....)

The poster's Lone wolf quote is basically Stefan's mantra; it both shows how despite what he may seem like at first glance, he very much cares about the people around him, and how the whole "lone wolf" thing isn't even realistic (and in a way, harmful way of thinking), and Stefan knows that.

When I say "dad" I mean he is the responsible friend who tries to keep most shenanigans at bay - mainly from their tech assistant Mara.

The person yelling for him is in fact Mara

He's bi, tends to be oblivious to people's crushes on him because of a lot of self-loathing caused by what happened. He also learns later on he is polyamorous too.

He met pretty freaky people in prison, but NOBODY was as scary as his current captain, according to him.

His childhood friend has a crush on him, and so does the medic lady. He is aware of Matt's crush on him, but somehow completely oblivious to Cherry, even though she shows it more obviously.... (the Captain and the systems officer find it VERY fun to watch)

Those two aren't competitive or anything about their shared crush, they're both the kind of people that just want their loved ones to be happy and would be happy for either if they got lucky - provided the dumbass would notice either.....

His wolf motif is because of his surname meaning "wolf"

BG STORY STUFF: Stefan wears a gas mask, because of his sensitivity to a common gas type utilized in most spaceships' systems in this story; a special type of non-flammable gas, that unfortunately can cause hallucinations, and in his case, causes bouts of severe aggression/Lack of sense of pain.

-----> The reason why he has an odd reaction is because of some evil scientist shenanigans he had to go through as a kid, unknowingly to him and his mum, who thought the doctors were trying to cure a terrible illness he supposedly had. (They were just testing out brainwashing stuff, you know, usual evil government bullshit)

------> he ended up in prison because while working in another ship, he had a severe fit and killed a lot of his coworkers (whom he already had negative emotions towards due to their shitty behavior towards the woman staff - he was raised better by his mama)

-----> There was a massive riot in the prison he was in, hence he managed to escape.

His friend insisted on helping and got him in the ship; Stefan initially avoided everyone else like plague afraid he'd have a fit, but did grow fond of the oddball group pretty quickly.

Then, during a space-pirate raid, he learned that he can actually recognize this group even in that state, so they aren't in danger from him - plus their captain is a very prepared woman, and had already figured out his history. (She has stuff to knock him out to sleep it off)

[mylovelysweetheart]

Hey, I just came across your blog a minute ago and saw your posts about your PCOS, as well as your struggles with weight gain and birth control. I also have PCOS (as well as pre-diabetes) and I’m around the same age as you too 😊 the point is: I am familiar with your struggles. So I wanted to share my story and tell you what worked for me so you could consider it as a potential treatment option.

When I got diagnosed with PCOS several years ago, the doctors just told me the only thing you can do to treat it is birth control, dieting, and exercise, that’s it. 🙄 Which is kinda bullshit tbh and not very helpful, but there’s so little research on the subject of PCOS, so that’s probably all the info they could give me at the time. And I refused to take birth control because of my mother’s stories of the horrible side effects she experienced in it. So the doctors just gave me some medroxyprogesterone tablets every 3 months to induce my period, that’s it. But the doses weren’t often enough, I still never had a regular cycle, and my other symptoms weren’t managed either.

But then I got diagnosed with pre-diabetes a year or two ago, and my doctor recommended putting me on a medication to manage my blood sugar. I heard a lot of good things about Ozempic vs regular glucose regulating meds, so I suggested taking that. That shit changed my life for real!!! I lost 30 pounds, I got more energy, my excessive facial+body hair growth was significantly delayed, I had no more bloating, AND I finally had a regular period cycle for the first time in my entire life!!! 😱 🥳 It’s nuts to me how a drug designed for regulating blood sugar also regulates female/menstruating hormones. It’s been proven in recent studies with other women too!

I didn’t even experience any negative side effects! The only real problem is that my insurance doesn’t cover it, so it costs like $800-900 out of pocket every month 😭 but your insurance might cover it! I highly suggest checking on that and talking to your doctor about Ozempic to see if it works for you, if you’re interested in taking that route. (I also wanna clarify this is not an ad LOL 😂 I just think it’s a really effective medication and I like to spread the word to help my fellow PCOS girlies😌✨)

Sorry for yapping so much lol 😅 I hoped I provided some helpful info. Have a nice day! 💝☀️

OMGGG!!

First off thank you sooo much for sharing your story, it feels good to not feel alone!

Secondly, i totally agree! I actually went to my doctors last week and they prescribed me metformin (a diabetic pill!) so hopefully we can get some help there!!!!

I heard lots of good things about that as well, especially because a lot of people with PCOS have insulin resistance, which makes total sense as to why a diabetic medication would work!

Thanks so much my love for sharing!

MWAAAAAH🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

[hard-boiled-criminal]

Social Anxiety Really Ruins the Isekai Experience

Previously known as: Brimstone from the Throat

Chapter 4 - I May Be Stupid

< Ch 3 | Ch 5 >

>Ch 1<

Masterlist

Ao3 Mirror

From now on, the successfulness of your actions will be based on real dice rolling, brought to you by my dice collection, indicated by this: {Dice Result}

Also, every time you level up, I will link a pdf to the reader’s new character sheet (mostly to keep track of stats and spells), if you’re interested in looking at it. Instead of charisma, Astaroth’s warlock is dex based because you gotta be at least a little dexterous to play an instrument. There’s also other extraneous information and sources in the folder below if you’re interested in some lore diving.

Character sheet + ex info: brimstone from the throat

Your sleep isn’t very restful, to say the least. You’re not used to sleeping on such hard, uneven ground with rocks poking into you through the bedroll. You wake up with your body sore and aching, understandably so considering your latest experiences. You blink groggily, staring up at your tent’s ceiling.

‘Yep. Still here. On an alien planet I didn’t even think was real.’ You groan when you sit up, your back complaining at the movement. ‘Oof, fuck, and definitely not a dream.’

« Good morning. »

“Ah–!” You yelp, but quickly cut yourself off.

“(Y/n)?” You hear Tav outside your tent. “Are you alright?”

“Yep! I’m fineee–you can’t understand me… right… um…” you answer her, your ‘fine’ slurring into ‘you’ as you remember the language barrier. You stick your hand outside your tent flap and give her a thumbs up. [S’all good]! {Persuasion = 13, Success}.

“Well, when you’re ready, would you help out with breakfast?

[Okay]. You pull your hand back inside and sigh, ‘I’m still gonna have to get used to hearing your voice in my head.’

« Of course. Might I suggest preparing some charaded excuses for why you’re so jumpy in the meantime? »

‘...You just wanna laugh at my own expense, don’t you.’

« Guilty as charged. » You feel fondness through your shared mental bond. « On another note, I should let you know that I won’t be able to be as constant a presence in your mind for a while. »

‘What? Why?’

« I siphoned most of my power towards contacting you, the rest now towards channeling into you to provide you with powers and abilities– which reminds me, since you’ve become a bit more acclimated to magic, I’ve deemed it safe enough to grant you with some new spells. » 

New information seeps into your brain– more powerful spells, though limited in their uses.

« Having a constant presence across planes drains a fair bit of what little energy I have left, and my reserves have now almost been depleted. I’ll still be watching over you, but I must preserve my strength for now. In the meantime, I shall be working on more translation spellcraft for you. »

You pout.

He huffs amusedly. « Don’t worry, I will be able to consistently speak with you like this again in due time. You’ll know when my powers have sufficiently recharged. »

‘Yeah, because you’ll pop into my head out of nowhere and scare the living shit out of me.’

He laughs– a genuine, full-bodied laugh. « Can you blame me when your reactions are so entertaining? »

Your pout depends, playfully this time instead of with sadness. ‘You sound like my friends when they convince me to play a horror game.’

« You will be alright, young one. Besides, you now have quite the company around you. Some ‘snacks,’ I believe you’d call them, if my updated lexicon is to be believed? »

You blush furiously. ‘Astaroth! You can’t just hit me with that out of nowhere! God, that’s so embarrassing,’ you bury your face in your hands.

He chuckles in mirth. « I jest, I jest. Though, truly, it would not hurt to gain the trust of some capable companions. »

‘I know, I know, but talking –well, interacting, since I can’t actually talk to them –with people is scary,’ you “say” as you lift your face from your palms.

« I know, my dear. I know. I must go now, but I promise that should you call for me, I will answer. »

‘Okay… see– or uh, talk to you later, then?’

Even though you can’t see him, you can still sense his warm smile. « Yes, I’ll talk to you later. »

His presence fades, the comforting warmth you’ve already gotten used to leaving along with him. The void left by him is instead filled with the feeling of the tadpole churning in your head, more prominent now than ever. Astaroth’s presence either overrided the tadpole’s, or he was actively preventing you from feeling it. It’s uncomfortable, like the barest beginnings of a headache that won’t go away, but you can deal with it. You’ve dealt with worse pains.

Yawning, you stretch out your sore limbs before crawling out of your tent. The only ones who seem to be awake, or are outside of their tents at the very least, are Tav, Lae’zel, and Astarion. 

“Good morning, (y/n)!” Tav smiles her customer service smile at you as soon as you leave your tent.

[Morning], you wave back with your own tired customer smile on your face. Your stomach growls loudly, clearly audible as Tav giggles a bit.

“Ah, the food is in the pack next to my tent. If you want to get started on breakfast, feel free! I’ll join you after I wake and check up on the others.” She walks off in the direction of Shadowheart’s tent.

You walk over to Tav’s tent, going straight for the pack sitting outside. ‘Let’s see what we’ve got.’ Kneeling down in front of the beige pack, you first pull out a very fragrant purple pouch; you would get a headache if you tried to distinguish all the different smells. ‘Okay, herb and spice pouch. I’ll look inside that later.’ You rifle through what little variety of provisions you have. ‘Cheese, bread, meat, more cheese, apples, mint? I think? Smells like it. I’ll move that to the herb bag. Mushrooms, carrots, alcohol, more bread, more apples… wow, we are really lacking variety. I guess I’ll look through the herbs and spices. Hopefully I’ll find something that’ll go well with something we have. I’m thinking rosemary could be good.

You move your attention back towards the smaller pouch and rifle through it. You pull out a stalk of something with spiky leaves. ‘Oh hey, I know this! It’s mugwort! I think? Or a mugwort look-alike? One way to find out.’ Staying true to the stereotypical tired mind who just woke up, you don’t think before acting. You pluck a leaf off the stem and place it on your tongue…and immediately remove it, sticking out your tongue in disgust and shaking your head. ‘Blegh, ew, yuck. Yep. That’s mugwort. Bitter and gross. Not using that. Maybe I’ll put it in some tea if I feel like dreaming.’

You hear a muffled snicker come from behind you. Turning around, you see Astarion, hand over his mouth, looking very amused. Ignoring him, you turn back to the spice bag and pull out the next thing. You pause. It’s a leafy plant with drooping purple flowers. You recognize this one –how could you not? 

“...Who the fuck put belladonna in the spice bag?!” You whisper to yourself, incredulously. ‘I can’t use any of this stuff! It could all be contaminated! Shit, I gotta go wash out my mouth,’ you stand and speed walk over to the water’s edge, trying not to draw too much attention.

You kneel at the edge and scoop up some water in your hands. You bring it to your lips and fill your mouth, swishing it around before spitting it out. You repeat this a few times for good measure, rubbing at your tongue to make sure there’s no trace of anything left over.

When you walk back over, you see Tav back at her tent, looking confused at the mugwort and belladonna you pulled out. You make your way over and poke Tav in the arm. She looks at you. You pick up the belladonna and gesture to it, [why in the nine hells was there poison in the spice bag]?

“Belladonna? Were you the one who… Please don’t tell me you were planning on cooking with that,” Tav’s tone went from confused to scared and concerned.

[What? No]! You look at her weird. ‘Why would I want to do that?’ You gesture between the dangerous plant and the spice bag. [I’m asking why it was in the spice bag].

“Yeah, it belongs in the alchemy pouch,” Tav states what she knows to be obvious. “Was it mixed in with the food?” She begins to look more frightened.

[No! No]. You shake your head. ‘Wait…Alchemy pouch?’ You look at her blankly, feeling like an idiot. “...Oh.”

You hear more laughter, louder this time. Astarion wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“I believe they thought there was food in the pouch,” Astarion inputs, slightly clearing up the confusion. “You should have seen their face when they put mugwort in their mouth.”

Tav looks at you in disbelief, “Why would you look for ingredients in the alchemy pouch?”

[I thought there were spices in there]! You rub your fingers together, as if sprinkling salt on something. {Performance = 4, Failure}.

“Gods, I really wish I could understand you; I really haven’t a clue what you’re trying to say.”

You sigh. ‘This is getting us nowhere. Let’s just say I’m stupid and call it a day.’ You tap at your skull then shake your head, [I wasn’t thinking because I’m an idiot]. {Performance = natural 1, critical failure}.

Tav suddenly becomes guarded. “Are you saying your mind and thoughts are fading? That the tadpole is already influencing you?”

At the mention of the tadpole, Lae’zel’s gaze halts her sword maintenance in favor of wielding it and turns to you with a glare.

You rapidly shake your head, [No! No, that’s not it either]! You flail around with your arms a bit, trying to figure out how to better explain. You give up. You groan and drag your hand down your face. You wave her off, [Just…forget it. Doesn’t matter anymore].

Tav’s stance relaxes, “Well, I’m glad to hear you aren’t transforming already.” She turns to rifle through the provisions pack. “Hmm, we don’t have much, do we? Guess we’ll have to settle for meat and cheese sandwiches.”

You and tav work on slicing the baguettes, cheeses, and meats, assembling a sandwich for each party member. Luckily, breakfast was uneventful after your embarrassing performance. The only bad part was that the bread was tough and the sandwich was just bland in general.

‘We need to buy some spices and seasonings, especially salt, as soon as we get the chance.’

Shortly after everything gets cleaned up, courtesy of Gale’s prestidigitation, everyone begins to pack up their tents and belongings, getting ready to head out. You feel like your eyes bulge out of your head as you see things that definitely should not all fit in their packs go in one by one. Are they all bags of holding? How big are they on the inside? Could you fit a coat rack in them? Like Mary Poppins? That would be fun. Then you’d just need an umbrella enchanted with featherfall. Or fly? Would that even be possible? Probably? Maybe? Did umbrellas even exist here? As in ones for rain, not parasols for sunlight. Umbrellas don’t really scream ‘high fantasy’ so who knows if they have them here.

“Everyone ready to head out?” Tav, the de facto leader, asks everyone. 

Nods and affirmations are shared among the group, all ready to leave the campsite. With no objections, Tav leads the group back the way you came from the day before, intent on continuing up the path near where Gale and Lae’zel were found.

“It’s quite unfortunate the tadpole has robbed us of our abilities,” Gale began, breaking the silence after a few minutes since leaving camp. He turned to you, “If it hadn’t, I’d have been able to cast ‘comprehend languages’ or ‘tongues.’ Then we would be able to have a proper conversation together.”

[Yes, unfortunate indeed], you nodded. ‘Except not really because having an excuse to not talk to people is amazing.’

“I take it you’re from overseas, then?” Shadowheart asked, gesturing to your entirety.

You nod. [Sure, let’s go with that].

“Seeing as there’s not much else to do, how about we continue our guessing game?” Tav suggested. “I don’t know much about lands outside of Faerûn, so I am quite curious about yours.” 

You internally groan. ‘I thought we could finally forget about that, because I can’t-slash-won’t tell any of you the truth.’ You look at Tav, blankly. [How? We already know charades aren’t gonna get us anywhere]. ‘Nevermind the fact that this is a different planet and signs or gestures that are familiar to me can mean something entirely different to all of you.’

“Hmm…” Tav holds her chin in thought, “Since it’ll be hard to guess a specific name, we can try the cultural route, as in objects, gestures, customs and the like from your home. Based on those, one of us might be able to pinpoint where you’re from.”

[Be my guest]. ‘Good fucking luck guessing outer space, not like I was even gonna tell you that. Though, I don’t know anything about the overseas culture on Toril so oh fucking well. Guess I’ll do what I do best: bullshit my way through this. Maybe if I just confuse them they’ll drop it.’

You place your hands in front of you and mime typing on a keyboard. [Typing is an essential skill where I’m from].

“Piano?”

[Well, not what I was going for, but yes, we have pianos].

“Well, it seems our friend here is of some social importance afterall,” Astarion chimed in.

“Huh?” You tilt your head, a bit puzzled.

“Darling, everyone knows that only the rich can afford pianos.”

‘Oh shit this is like medieval time stuff. I forgot about that.’

“Oh!” Tav’s eyes light up like she just came to a realization. “Were you trying to say that you could play us something from your hometown?”

You go to refute but she doesn’t give you a chance

“You have your viol, yes? I’m sure you can use that instead of a piano.”

You deadpan. [I don’t know if you’re aware, but there’s a reason marching orchestra isn’t a thing. Also I’m clumsy and this terrain is very uneven and my music could alert any beings nearby that there’s a group of idiots dumb enough to give away their location wandering about. Also, if I was going to play a piano piece on my violin we’d be left without the entire bass section of the song, so it’ll sound sad and disappointing]. You had given up on accurately gesturing anything halfway through, settling for frustrated and exasperated hand movements. ‘Also no thanks, I hate giving solo performances in front of other people. I’m either in an orchestra or playing to myself alone in my room.’

It seems nobody understood you besides the fact that you really didn’t want to play for them.

Tav sighs, disappointed. “Fine, I’ll leave it be for now. Next time we make camp though, I’d really like to hear you play.”

You relax a bit at that. ‘Thank fuck. How the hell am I supposed to give a personal solo performance to a group of strangers I’m gonna be stuck with for who knows how long? I’ll tell you how: by not giving them one. Let’s see how long I can put it off until they completely forget about it.’

Not interested in having to converse anymore, you instead turn to admiring your surroundings. Despite the less than ideal situation you’re in, it's actually quite beautiful here. The embers from the crash have died down over the past day, the air now clear of smoke and smog. It’s refreshing. You’re not sure if you’ve ever smelled such clean air before. The flora around you is vibrant, sharing many characteristics with the greenery you’re familiar with on Earth. And then there’s the foreign species. Different colors and patterns, shapes and structures; there are similarities, but definitely different from what you know. 

‘It’s probably best to be cautious around these plants,’ you surmise. ‘Who knows which ones are dangerous, especially towards an alien human… Oh shit, am I gonna have to worry about illnesses and diseases? …Fuck it, whatever. They got magic and I have Astaroth so I’m sure it’ll be fine.’

Your group approaches some familiar scenery: it's the same area where you found Lae’zel suspended in a cage. Walking past it, you notice some stonework through the natural rock archway. The remains of some type of abandoned stone building lies past, and you can see more crumbling walls behind it, hinting at an even larger structure awaiting to be explored. 

You poke at Tav’s arm to get her attention, [Look, there’s some ruins over there].

“Hmm, interesting… I would like to check it out, but I doubt there’s a cure for the tadpoles in there. Probably best to avoid it for now, just in case.”

[Fair point].

Ignoring the ruins that your curiosity is just begging to explore, you all continue uphill, entering unexplored territory. Cresting above the top of the hill, the land flattens out, your muscles thankful for the reprieve from the uphill climbing. 

Tav halts in her tracks, all of you following suit. “I hear shouting up ahead.”

Not one to waste time, she quickly moves ahead, skirting around a large rock formation, not dissimilar to the small rocky outcrop you woke up on. She soon stops in her tracks, and as you round the edge of the formation, you see why: There are three humans standing in front of a vine-covered wooden wall built into the cliff face further ahead, shouting at a tiefling standing atop the cliff.

“Open the bloody gate!” One of the human men shouts.

“Nobody gets in. Zevlor’s orders,” the tiefling replies.

“That pack of goblins will be on us any second!”

Another tiefling, older than the other, judging by his looks, comes up next to the tiefling who shouted before, “What’s going on?”

The same human man continues to shout, getting angrier each time, “Goblins are on our tail. Open the gate, Zevlor. Now.”

“You led goblins here? Where is the Druid?”

“Please! There’s no time!”

You hear some commotion from your left and see a horde of short creatures, all with olive-green skin tones, accompanied by semi-hairless beasts. They looked almost like wolves but their faces were too… wrong. There was no distinction between the skull and the snout: It was all just one piece, rectangular in shape, almost like a bull terrier’s facial structure.

“By the Nine Hells,” the older Tiefling, Zevlor, if you heard correctly, exclaims as he sees the horde approach. “Open the gate!”

You watch the other tiefling that had first responded to the humans turn towards a contraption which had what seemed to be a ship’s wheel attached. He grabbed said wheel and began turning it, the gate, which you had just assumed to be a wall at first, started to lift from the ground. It doesn’t last long as an arrow from the creatures, goblins, flies through the air, striking the tiefling in the chest. As he falls to the ground, the gate begins to close as well.

“Kanon! No!” Zevlor cries out.

As the gate starts to fall shut, the three humans rush to grab it and keep it from closing, but it’s weight is too much, and they have no choice but to release it and watch it fall, leaving no space between it and the ground.

“Shit,” the angry human curses. “Form a line!”

The goblins rush forward to begin melee combat with the three humans. It doesn’t take long for Tav to rush forward, intent to enter the fray, the other tieflings upon the cliff also begin to ready their crossbows. A human man, not part of the three by the gate, jumps down from the cliff, landing in front of a goblin.

“Damnable roach. Provoke the blade–” he stabs the goblin through the chest with a rapier, killing it instantly, then practically flicks the now corpse off his blade “–and suffer its sting.”

You feel a an inexplicable distaste for the man who seems to be on your side, all things considered. You furrow your brows slightly in confusion.

« A fiend’s puppet. Be careful around that one. »

‘I don’t know what a fiend’s puppet is, but okay, I’ll be careful. But, please explain after this!’

Now in the throes of battle, the melee attackers in your party rush forward, following Tav’s lead. Lae’zel, the most enthusiastic, immediately swings her greatsword down on the nearest goblin as Tav runs forward to another one, delivering a series of staff strikes and unarmed blows to it. You lose sight of Astarion, but Shadowheart also moves forward, shield and healing spells at the ready. Gale stays back with you, preparing to fire spells himself.

You hold your hands out and summon your fiddle and bow, “Bamf!” They appear in your hands, and you immediately bring them to your shoulder and strings respectively. 

Stress.

So much stress.

This is your first battle where you’ll actually have to fight. 

No time to think, only do. 

So you cope the only way you know how to in high-stress situations: you make it a joke.

You whip out that song you learned years ago as a meme that will forever be ingrained into you in both regular and muscle memory. 

‘My friends would be so disappointed in me if they could see me now, but I know they’d do the same thing. I miss those dumb fucks.’

D0, D0, A3, A0.

The years it has lived as a meme have, despite its intensity, altered your brain to find the song quite amusing.

Megalo-fucking-vania.

Along with the first note flew an eldritch blast from your instrument, hitting the goblin archer that had clambered up to the top of the rock formation next to you. {Attack Roll = 20, Critical Hit}, {Force Damage = 12}.

The goblin staggers back a few steps, looking quite hurt, but still standing. Their attention now on you, they ready their bow, aiming to fire at you. You keep playing, hoping for another eldritch blast to come out, but to no avail.

‘Fuck, fucK, fuCK FUCK– quick, gazelle maneuvers, go!’ 

You try your best to zigzag about, but it is much more difficult to do while playing an instrument. Just as you take a step to the left, the goblin releases the arrow, lodging itself into the ground behind you after grazing your leg, leaving a sizable gash. You hiss at the sting, but don’t stop playing. 

‘National Geographic, you fucking liars! This doesn’t help at all! I know I’m not a gazelle but I’m just as terrified as one right now!’

Your perseverance is rewarded when but a second later you feel the familiar gathering of energy as you fling another eldritch blast at the archer, though your forced spiccato, courtesy of your graceful movements, makes your notes come out a bit wonky. This one, perhaps due to your dodgy performance, goes high, arcing over the goblin’s head. {Attack Roll = 9, Miss}.

‘Shit.’

As the goblin reaches to ready another arrow, you skirt back around the outcrop, losing sight of the archer, hoping they’ll also lose sight of you. You don’t bother trying to hide, afterall, your music would immediately give away your location. You instead switch targets to another goblin in combat with the human who had jumped down. This time, when your attack goes off, it hits the far goblin and knocks them to the ground. They don’t get back up. {Attack Roll = 17, Hit}, {Force Damage = 8}. 

The man looks at you and gives a short nod of appreciation before setting his sights on another enemy to go after. An arrow shoots into the ground in front of you from above, the shock making your bowing stutter. You look up and see the goblin archer you were aiming at before now standing on the outcrop directly above you, eyes glaring into your own. You leap away and move your bow harshly, ignoring any mistakes you make. Now’s not the time to worry about intonation. This time, your attack hits them right between the eyes. They’re flung backwards and don’t reappear. Another dead. {Attack Roll = 15, Hit}, (Force Damage = 5}.

The battlefield is a cacophony of steel meeting steel, battle cries, screams of anguish, and your frantic melody.

“Guaaagh!” 

You jump and spin around when you hear a gurgling cry behind you. You aim the scroll of your violin towards them, but quickly halt your bow when you’re met with Astarion pulling a dagger out of the neck of a goblin that had snuck up behind you.

“Careful now,” he playfully chides. “I’d hate to see you lose that darling neck of yours so soon.”

You purse your lips, but don’t say or do anything. ‘Says the man who was planning on holding a knife to said neck when we first met.’ 

The sounds of the battle around you begin to die out, the fight finally over. Muttering a small poof under your breath once you made sure all the enemies were dead, you let your violin vanish back into whatever storage dimension it now called home. 

“That was the last of them,” you hear Zevlor from atop the cliff, reaffirming the fact that the battle was over. “Inside–all of you. More may follow. Open the gate!”

This time, the gate is able to fully open. The three humans who were yelling before, all dressed in matching green outfits, are quick to get inside, followed by the darker skinned man who had nodded at you during the fight. 

Thoroughly drained, you trail after Astarion and rejoin the rest of your party in front of the gate.

“Everyone all right?” Tav checks up on everyone, handing out healing potions to everyone in your group who needs one, yourself included.

Uncorking the bottle, you take a quick whiff. It’s a sweet smell, almost fruity, but not quite. You shrug and down it. That sweet aroma is also seen in its flavor, along with an earthy bitter undertone that lingered in your mouth afterwards.

Tav starts speaking to Shadowheart about something, but you don’t hear it, busy with your own thoughts.

‘Why the fuck did I play megalovania? Why am I such a disappointment? It’s a great song, honestly, but… I could’ve saved it for a boss battle at least.’

Still wallowing in your own shame and despair, Tav turns and heads into the fort, the rest of your group following her.

Gale falls into step beside you, “Are you all right? You’re looking quite a bit more dour than before. Are you not used to combat? If this is about your performance in the fight, I can assure you, you did quite well and pulled your own weight; no need to worry.”

His words don’t do much to reassure you.

“Oh, I also noticed that song you were playing. I don’t believe I’ve heard any melodies like that before; is it a style unique to your hometown?”

“…Is there a good place to kill myself around here?”

Gale squints and tilts his head, “pardon?”

You wave him off. [Nevermind, it’s nothing].

‘C’mon me, it’s okay. Nobody here knows. You don’t have to wallow in shame,’ you think to yourself before another thought pops into your head. ‘But, If I focus on my own shame I won’t have to unpack all these distressing emotions I got from my newly found trauma of committing murder! …Both options are pretty bad, aren’t they…’

“There are children here, you fool!” A very angry voice distracts you from your thoughts.

‘Oooh, drama~ Looks like I don’t need to worry about introspection anymore! If only I had some popcorn…’

“We was running… for our lives.” 

Tav leads your entourage up to the heated argument happening between a tiefling you remember shouting from atop the gate and one of the humans who was stranded outside with all of you.

“You led them straight to us, and you let them take the druid, too. Unbelievable!” The tiefling continues to yell, paying your party no mind.

“One fight just ended, and now you’re picking another? Relax,” Tav tries to diffuse the argument.

‘Oh yeah, Tav was definitely in customer service. Looks like they also get de-escalation training here.’

“Tell that to the dead at the gate,” the tiefling responds to Tav, no longer yelling but just as upset.

“Shut it, horns,” the human leans forward, face slightly scrunched in a pseudo-snarl. “I’d be lying dead next to the goblins if you’d stalled any longer.”

“My duty is to this camp.”

“God forbid you risk your precious tail. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Foulbloods ain’t known for courage.”

You flinch away, taken aback. ‘Yo, I don’t have to be from here to recognize that was a slur. Uncloseted racists, huh…yeesh.’ 

You see the tiefling’s eyes narrow, expression going dark. He raises a fist and slugs him, hitting him directly in the temple. The human falls to the ground, unconscious.

‘Nice,’ You nod in approval at his actions. ‘Fuck racists. Or would it be specist? Speciecist? Ah, who cares. Same difference. Still, sad to know that it seems people are much the same here as they are back home: Hating those who are different from themselves.’ 

The tiefling sighs and shakes out his fist. “Enough. The goblins have found us. No doubt, the beasts will be back. We need to pack up and leave. Immediately,” these words he spoke out, more so towards the other tieflings in the camp. He crosses his arms and gives the unconscious human another look of disdain. “Seems his skull isn’t as thick as I thought,” he says to himself.

“Now that’s settled,” he looks up, locking eyes with Tav, “I wouldn’t have looked to a drow for help, but I’m grateful all the same. I’m Zevlor.”

‘Aw, come on, man! You’ve got discrimination in you too? I know that in D&D lore, drows aren’t looked upon favorably, but I was hoping for better since nobody in our party seemed to mind.’

“I’m Tav,” she replies, unfazed. You feel a bit sad, thinking that maybe Tav has had no choice but to get used to it.`

“Well met. I should warn you– visitors are no longer welcome in this grove,” Zevlor cautions. “Whatever your business, I’d see to it quickly– the druids are forcing everyone out. This attack will only strengthen their resolve.”

“Why are they forcing you out?”

“There have been several attacks by different monsters. The druids blame us ‘outsiders’ for drawing them here. Nobody’s welcome anymore. They’ve started a ritual to cut the grove off from the world outside. We can’t stay, but we’ll be slaughtered if we leave- we’re no fighters.”

“So, what even brought you all here in the first place?”

“We’re refugees from Elturel– we took shelter here after gnolls attacked us on the road. We were bound for Baldur’s Gate, and it was too late to turn back. Elturel had no place for tieflings after the Descent.”

‘I have no idea what they’re talking about now.’

“Hmm, if your people survived that, they’ll survive anything.”

‘That? What’s that? This is starting to sound like it’s about to get dark, and I already have enough shit to worry about right now. I wanna know so bad because I’m too curious for my own good, but I know that I’ve got a raging guilt complex that’ll make me worry about them way too much if I find out what happened… Step away, (y/n), just step away. You’re in a land of monsters and magic, you can’t afford to worry about others.’ 

Steeling your resolve, you step away, the group not noticing your departure as you were already lingering towards the back. Behind you and to your right, you spot a comfortable-looking shaded area across a log bridge. Devoid of any people, it looks like the perfect place for you to take a break, because now that your adrenaline rush is over, you can feel the exhaustion setting in. You quietly walk over, your years of practice of silencing your footsteps coming in handy to stay out of anyone’s notice. The large lone tree that stood near the cliff’s edge looked quite inviting, something you could lean your back against.

‘So. “Fiend’s Puppet?” What’s that?’

«Put simply, someone who’s made a pact with a fiend. That one in particular reeks of cambion.»

‘You can tell what type of devil they made a pact with just by their smell?’

«Yes? Oh, right, I had forgotten. Mortals like yourself don’t have a sense of smell as acute as demons such as myself and the like.»

‘Wait, so, since I made a pact with you, does that mean I smell like you?’

«Only when you channel my powers or cast magic. For a brief moment, you will smell of brimstone.»

‘Brimstone, huh? I thought that was more of a ‘hells and devils’ thing, not an abyssal demon thing.’

«Well… I don’t quite have a smell anymore other than brimstone, since, well, you know. In fact, if any were to notice the smell, they would probably assume you’ve made a pact with a devil rather than me. Outside of that though, no mortals should be able to tell you’ve made a pact since most gods or patrons do not actively converse as we do.»

I pursed my lips, reminded of the suffering Astaroth must be going through. ‘Well, I suppose smelling like a freshly struck match isn’t so bad. In fact, I kinda like the smell’** You feel Astaroth’s desire to fondly tussle your hair.

You’re just a few steps away from the tree now, fully ready to take a moment to rest and breathe. What you were not expecting was for a squirrel to lunge at you and bite at your toes. At least, it was biting at where it thought your toes were. Since your newly acquired boots were too big, your feet didn’t reach that far. You squeak and try to shake the creature off your foot while maintaining your balance. Thankfully, it quickly let go, so you took a step back, watching as it stanced up.

“Are even the squirrels out to kill me? Why are you like this, Faerûn?”

“I was so interested to see what our little bard-who’s-not-a-bard was up to, sneaking away like that, but I wasn’t expecting to see you in a fight with a squirrel of all things.”

You whip your head around to see Astarion. ‘I don’t think I like being the one who is getting snuck up on.’

“Oh, don’t mind me–I’d much rather see how this plays out, especially since it seems the squirrel is winning,” he crosses his arms, smirking at you.

You pout and deadpan. ‘I’m too tired to put up with this.’

“Oh, fine, fine– you’re no fun. There’s an apprentice healer in the grove and our fearless leader thinks we should go see them,” he says as he begins inspecting his nails. “Not that they’ll actually be able to do anything about these worms, but I suppose any information could be useful.” 

He turns around, a silent gesture to follow him. You do so, fully turning your back to the squirrel who thankfully doesn’t give chase. You find Tav and the rest waiting for your return, making you feel a bit bad for being the reason for the delay.

“There you are,” Tav says with that same smile on her face, “Let’s all go meet that healer, shall we?”

You passed by a group of three tieflings arguing over whether they should leave or stay. Using her expert de-escalation skills, Tav said naught but one sentence to them: “To leave is a heavy choice– it will weigh on whatever path you walk next.” And just like that, they were convinced to stay and ceased arguing. You can’t help but wonder why she stepped in– was it perhaps just an automatic response, as if out of habit? ‘Well, doesn’t matter, I guess.’

A few meters ahead was a small training ground with children wielding swords against dummies made of wood and cloth. Instructing them was the man who had jumped down from the wall during the fight with the goblins: the fiend’s puppet. You feel Astaroth’s distaste rise up in the back of your throat but don’t let it show. As the man notices you all approaching, he gives the child he’s currently helping a bit of encouragement before turning to face Tav.

“Well met. The Blade of Frontiers at your–” his introduction is cut short as you’re connected to his tadpole, much like how it was when you met Astarion.

The distaste is forgotten as you see a wasteland, ravaged by flames and countless battles. There’s yelling and the clashing of metal. All is chaos and blood, and then you see her: She’s tall and muscular–red skin, one curled horn, and lit ablaze, though the flames do not hurt her. Her black hair with streaks of red– whether it’s dyed or just an illusion from the fire, you can’t tell– is styled in a mohawk, her hair falling over the side of her head without any gel to hold it up. She turns to the side and you catch a glimpse of her face.

‘Hello, 911 emergency? There’s a handsome girl in my brain.’

And then it’s over. The connection is severed and the woman's visage is gone.

‘Wait, no, come back, I wasn’t done staring!’

“Hells’ great fires– you were on the ship,” he looked at you all in realization after the memory sharing ended.

“Yes– and we both carry parasites,” Tav replies, voice carrying a slight grim undertone.

“Mm, doomed to shed our skin and become illithid, or so the stories go, but we haven’t sprouted any tentacles– not yet, anyway. Could just be good luck. I’m not so…”

He’s cut off again as the mind link resurfaces and you see her again. ‘Whoohoo! Pretty lady! She’s back!’ This time however, it’s not as pleasant as you feel the man’s emotions towards her: she’s evil incarnate. His emotions stir the beginnings of nausea in your gut. His emotions don’t meld well within you, unlike Astaroth’s. You don’t like it. This connection is shorter than the last, and she’s gone once more, bringing relief as the man’s emotions are gone with it. ‘Yep, that checks out… another villain who’s super hot– literally this time.’

“Shit,” he blurts out, “you saw her: advocatus diaboli.

‘...why did that translate into latin?’

“Her name is Karlach. An archdevil’s soldier I swore on my good eye to kill. I tracked her through the Hells to the mind flayer ship, but the damned illithids infected me before I could end her. She’s out there now, preying on the innocent. I don't kill her, she’ll leave behind nothing but a trail of corpses.”

“Well, we’re looking for a cure to this infection. I’d imagine you’d also be interested in getting cured, so I suggest we partner up,” Tav offers.

“Chk! A worthy ally, perhaps, but I’ll waste no time chasing devils while a tadpole feasts on our skulls,” Lae’zel inputs, unclear if she’s on board with the idea of him joining the party or not.

“I’ve seen your people in battle,” the man follows up. “I reckon you are no mere warrior, but a godsdamned army. I’d be a fool to let you turn your back. Pledge me your talents, and I’ll pledge you mine.”

Lae’zel responds with another “chk.”

“I’ll presume that’s githyanki for ‘yes.’ Now let’s move.”

“Shadowheart huffs amusedly, “The famous Blade of Frontiers, in the flesh. Clever, this hero act you’ve got going.”

“Hero, blade– names strangers gave me. My friends call me Wyll.”

“Excellent. If we ever become friends, I’ll know what to call you.”

You can feel your eyes open comically wide. ‘Holy shit, Shadowheart, that was brutal.’

“I’m Tav. These are Lae’zel, Shadowheart, (y/n), Gale, and Astarion.”

You nod your head in greeting.

“Pleasure to meet you all,” Wyll smiles. Unlike Tav, his smile is genuine.

‘Holy shit, a genuine nice person. First one of those I’ve met in a while.’

“I hope you don’t mind accompanying us to see the healer first,” Tav comments. “We are already here after all.”

“By all means,” Wyll acquiesces. “I’m also not too keen on the idea of becoming a mind flayer.”

As Wyll begins to take the lead with Tav next to him, you retreat into your mind to speak with Astaroth once again.

‘So, normally, when we see a devil, your hatred kinda flows into me, right? Why didn’t it when we saw that woman in the mindlink?’

«Simply put, I could not quite tell if she truly was a devil. As it was a memory, I could not verily tell what she was. Memories cannot always be trusted.»

‘That’s true. If someone tries hard enough, they can gaslight themselves to the point of misremembering something and being convinced that the memory they altered themselves is the truth.’

«”Gaslight?” That is a term I am unfamiliar with. I must study your vernacular more.»

‘One of the three “g’s”: Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. Handy terms to know.’

The party is led down some stone steps, Tav and Wyll still heading the party: Tav for being the de facto leader and Wyll for already knowing the layout of the grove. At the bottom of the stairs is a crowd of tieflings facing off against a few steadfast druids.

“Let my daughter go right now!” One of the tieflings yells. She’s enraged and worried to the point that she sounds as if she might begin to cry.

“She’s a thief, hellspawn, and you will wait for Kagha’s judgement. Now get back.” The druid is unyielding in her reply.

‘What is up with these people and being racist towards tieflings? Typical time period racism I guess?’

“Argh, let me through, mragreshem, or I’ll rip your damned throat out!” The same tiefling as before takes a few steps closer towards the druids.

One of said druids lets out a guttural roar as they shapeshift into a bear, effectively forcing the tieflings back.

‘...I completely forgot that it’s normal for people to shapeshift here… well, turning into a bear is definitely an effective intimidation tactic. I would take notes except for the fact that I’m not a shapeshifter.’

With the tieflings no longer blocking the stairs, Tav steps down. The now-bear growls in attempts to discourage your party’s approach.

“You! Step back,” the druid who was warning the tiefling before had now turned her attention to Tav. “We’ll not tolerate drow in here.”

Tav smiles that wide smile of hers with concealed irritation. “We were told we could find a healer here. We’ll be brief, so please allow us through.”

“Keep back. Force my hand, and I’ll show you its claws.”

“A moment, Jeorna,” the last of the three druids speaks up, gesturing for Jeorna to lean down and listen as he whispers in her ear.

“What…? Why would she allow one of them? I… I suppose so, yes.” She leans back up and glares at Tav. “You– apparently Kagha wants to see you. Go ahead.” As Tav starts to walk past, Jeorna speaks again, making Tav pause briefly, “A word of warning. One wrong move and every single animal here will tear you apart.”

“I wouldn’t dream of doing you any wrong, don’t worry,” she replies, never losing her wide smile before she continues with her normal pace.

You follow Tav past the druids, looking at the strange sight of what was obviously a ritual going on in the center of the area: druids chanting and channeling their magic into a small statue on a pedestal.

‘This feels very cultish… I don’t know if I want any part in this.’ You all walk towards a patterned stone wall, which automatically lowers as you approach. ‘Huh… how uncharacteristically modern of them.’

The first thing you notice as you enter is just how much cooler it is inside, pleasantly so at that. Cool and dark, but not too humid despite the pools below: a perfect place to relax, especially if you can find a small nook to be alone in. The potential peace of this place is kept at bay by the cries of a terrified child, however.

“Please, I’m sorry!”

As you go down the stairs, you come across the sight of a woman and a man on either side of a frightened tiefling child. And on the stone table behind her is–

‘It’s a baby!’ A snake, a viper judging by its head's structure, slithers up behind the girl, silently threatening her. ‘Dangerous, yes, but gods do I want to pet it, but I know I can’t, oh, this is torture.’

“This is madness Kagha. She’s just a-” The man standing next to the child protests but is cut off.

“A what, Rath? A thief? A poison? A threat?” The woman, Kagha, you presume, stands firm, unaffected by his words. “I will imprison the devil, and I will cast out every stranger.”

“Thief? Poison? What’s this girl’s actual crime?” Tav steps forward and asks, warily eyeing the viper.

“Girl? You mean parasite,” Kagha spits out. “She eats our food, drinks our water, then steals our most holy idol in thanks!”

‘...I mean, it’s more of a competitive symbiotic relationship rather than a parasitic one, unless they need to idol to survive; if that’s the case, then yes it’d be parasitic, but seeing as they’re all still alive after the kid stole it, I doubt that’s the case.’

“Rath, lock her up,” Kagha commands. “She remains here until the rite is complete.” She leans down to eye level with the tiefling child, “And keep still, devil. Teela is restless.”

The snake hisses in response, baring its fangs.

‘Oh my god, Teela is such a cute name… I know, not the time, not the place, but come on, it’s a relatively tame venomous snake, who knows if I’ll ever get a chance to safely pet a venomous reptile other than now?’

“Come, Kagha,” Rath tries to dissuade her, “We took back the idol. Surely–”

“Do it,” she cuts him off, leaving no room for negotiation.

There’s a brief second of silence before Tav speaks again, “You’ve proven your authority. Now prove your mercy.”

Kagha looks at Tav, a thoughtful expression coating her features, considering Tav’s words. “Fair words.” She turns back to the tiefling, “Child, take to the others word of my grace.” She then glances back to Teela, “Ssifisv– Teela, to me.”

The snake obeys, slithering away from the child and towards Kagha. As soon as the snake is far enough away, the child makes a break for it, rushing past your party and out the door you had just entered. You turn your body to the side to dodge the kid as she nearly shoulder checks you in order to get out. 

Shadowheart takes a step to the side as the child passes her, then winces and looks at her hand. “Ngh… it hurts…” she mutters under her breath.

“Thank you , Kagha,” Rath says, thoroughly relieved. “Master Halsin would–”

“Halsin isn’t here. Keep his name off your tongue, lest Teela pierce it.”

Rath backs off, moving to sit down instead as Kagha approaches you all, her gaze fixed on Tav. “A deep elf in our grove, on this day. A sign, or rather, a gift.”

‘...I’m sorry, what?’ You were expecting a much harsher welcome from Kagha, considering the druid guard you had just met was so hostile to Tav for being a drow.

“Who better to understand a watchful broodmother than a beloved child of Lolth?”

Tav’s eyes narrow in distaste, her smile faltering. “I have no love for the Queen of Spiders.”

“Indeed?” Kagha takes it in stride, not bothered by the fact she may have just severely offended Tav, if you believe your own observations. “But you do exhibit a talent for self-preservation. A viper bares her fangs defending her brood. Is it not her nature to strike at invaders?” Tav doesn’t give her a response. “No matter. I took back the Idol of Silvanus and the rite has resumed. We will seal the grove. Free from harm. Free of intruders.”

“This rite must be born of powerful magic.”

“The Rite of Thorns. It is the Treefather’s gift, that none come to harm. When we speak the final prayer, the Great Vine will sprout forth. The grove will be cloaked in bramble and thorn. No one enters, no one leaves. Sanctuary. None of this can happen while outlanders inject us. Silvanus demands that we choke them out.”

‘Um, I may not know much about druidcraft, but choking people out doesn’t sound very druid-y. Aren’t they supposed to be all “one with nature” and stuff?’

Tav just gives a nod to Kagha, whether it was one of agreement or just acknowledgement, well, that’s up to interpretation… you really hope it’s the latter.

With a small but satisfied grin, Kagha walks off to one of the inner chambers, Teela in tow. Your eyes watch Teela, a bit disappointed you didn’t get a chance to pet it.

Once she’s out of earshot, Gale can no longer hold back his distaste, “That woman has more venom in her heart than a snake in its fangs, but at least the child is safe. What is youth if not a time to be forgiven for one’s transgressions?”

Tav nods, “I’m glad we intervened.”

“Couldn’t agree more. The girl wasn’t innocent, but that doesn’t mean she was guilty.”

She then looks at Shadowheart, concerned– no doubt she also heard her hiss of pain earlier.

“I know that look– you’re wondering why I was in pain before. Let’s just clear the air about that now,” Shadowheart says with a sigh. “It’s just an old wound that hurts me from time to time. Nothing to be concerned about. It’s nothing to do with the tadpoles at least, in case your imagination is in danger of getting away from you. It’s just…something I have to live with. It always passes quickly though, so I can manage.” 

“All right. Just make sure to tell us if it’s bothering you too much,” Tav says, still mildly concerned. “Nothing good comes from ignoring pain for too long.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

With no one else besides Rath around to ask for directions to the healer, Tav approaches him.

“You did well to speak up for the girl,” Rath thanks as he notices your party approaching him. “That snake is fickle. A tragedy prevented.”

“That Kagha seems dangerous,” Tav comments.

‘Oh, thank goodness. Looks like I don’t need to worry about her agreeing with what Kagha said.’

“Well seen. Well spotted. We’ve let a snake replace our leader.”

“Kagha seems happy to rule the roost. Your real leader is Halsin, I’m guessing?”

“Aye. Perhaps goblin-caught, perhaps dead now. He’d set… Mistress Kagha back in line,” his face scrunches in disdain when he used Kagha’s new title. “Hold her to task. Stop this damned ritual. More will die if the rite is finished. So many more, sent into a world gone mad…” He ends with a solemn tone and expression.

“If no one’s looking for Halsin, I could do it,” Tav offers.

‘Wait, what? I mean, yeah that’s probably what I would have done, but can’t you, oh, I don’t know, ask for our input first since your “I” definitely means “we”?’

“Would you? I would give anything to see Halsin return  home.”

“No need to fret. I’ll find him.”

“Silvanus’ blessings upon you, and my gratitude as well. Halsin is an elf with the presence of a bear. He left west, with the adventurers. You won’t mistake the First Druid for anyone else.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. In the meantime, I heard there was a healer here, Nettie, I believe. Could we meet her?”

“Ah, I see. You will find her deeper in the caves,” Rath points towards a nearby stone archway.

“Thank you,” she says, receiving a nod in response from Rath.

The archway gives way to a round chamber, where you can see a dwarf fussing over an injured bluejay. Tav walks up and pauses in front of the dwarf.

“I see you. Just give me a moment,” the dwarven woman says. Tav remains silent, waiting. “Vis medicatrix…” The dwarf chants, white strands of magic leaving her hands and surrounding the bird, which stands up. “There. It’s up to her now. Life or death. Now, what–” she cuts herself off as she sees Tav for the first time. “Drow. Last time I saw one of you folk, he tried to slit me open. I hope you’re more agreeable.”

“Where did you see another drow?” Tav asks, curious.

“That’s neither here nor there,” she brushes off the question. “Look, you obviously want something. What is it?”

“Healing. Looks like I came to the right person.”

“I do what I can. For most folks, that’s enough. Come here. Let’s have a look at you.” Tav leans down so that she’s eye-level with who you presume to be Nettie. “You seem healthy enough. A bit tired ‘round the eyes, maybe.

“More than tired. Something crawled into my eye.”

“Crawled in? Some sort of bug or–wait…” she takes a step back. “Did it look like a tadpole? But from your worst nightmare? All slime, teeth, and tentacles?”

“You know of them? Can you help me?”

“I–I’ll do what I can. Follow me. I might be able to help.” She turns around, gesturing for your party to follow. “We need to be quick. This way.”

She leads you to another stone door, which you did not realize was such until it too lowered like the one at the entrance. This chamber is smaller, with statues of wolves decorated with glowing blue markings. There are two stone tables to the left: one holds candles and what looks to be medicinal plants and substances, and the other is being used as a final resting place for a dead drow.

“Don’t worry about him on the table. I’m not in the habit of killing drow,” Nettie explains. “He attacked Master Halsin and I in the woods, leading a pack of goblins. Tadpole crawled out of his head soon after.”

“He and I have the same kind of parasite?” Tav asks, seemingly unbothered by her dead kin.

“Seems so. Gave Master Halsin a right start. It’s why he joined the adventurers on their expedition. To find out what was happening. A pity you got me instead of him. He understands these things– studied them. Still, we have two options.” She pulls out a thorny stick, holding it in her hand. Her arm is lax but her grip is tight.

“What’s that plant? Will it help?”

Nettie shifts her weight. “It might, but first things first. Tell me about your symptoms– have you noticed anything strange happening?” 

Tav’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “It ‘might’? What aren’t you telling me?”

“I’m telling you everything you need to know. Believe me on that.”

‘“Everything we need to know,” huh? That’s a red flag if I’ve ever heard one.’ You glance around you, making sure there’s nobody hiding nearby and that the stone door is still open. You go to lean against the wall, trying to stay casual. You don’t trust this, and having your back facing an open doorway is a bad idea.

“I want to help you,” Nettie continues, “but I can’t unless you work with me. So, has anything unusual happened to you?”

“I can merge my mind with anyone else that’s infected,” Tav says, ending on a downwards intonation, implying that that’s all, not about to offer up any other information.

“Victims can identify each other? Not that the others know they’re victims, of course. How’d you pick up the parasite? Halsin was desperate to find where all this was happening.”

“Look, are you going to cure me or not?”

“I’m trying to help you, but I need to be sure. So tell me, where'd you get that thing?”

“I don’t know, I just woke up with it.”

“All right. I suppose that makes things easier. Give me your arm, please.”

Tav hesitates, then slowly holds out her arm. Nettie grabs Tav’s arm and quickly pierces her with the stick’s thorns.

“There. Be careful. Your legs’ll probably give out first.”

With narrowed eyes, Tav reaches to grab the branch from her, but Nettie steps out of her immediate reach.

“It’s too late. It’s already in your system. I’m truly, truly sorry. For what it’s worth, the poison is painless. It’ll be like going to sleep.”

“You poisoned me huh?” Tav scoffed, not sounding all too surprised. “Heh, should’ve known…” Her face fell to a scowl as she gazed at her pricked arm.

“Please, try to relax. This doesn’t have to be hard.”

“Is there an antidote?” Tav flickered her eyes up to Nettie.

“You can’t have it. I can’t risk you turning– you’d kill us all.”

She turned her head to face Nettie fully. “Give. Me. The. Antidote.”

“I won’t. I can’t.”

“But I don’t have symptoms– I’m not changing.”

Nettie fidgets, her face squinched in reluctance. A few seconds of what you assume is a mental debate later, she relents. “Gods above. It’s a risk, but maybe you deserve a chance…” She sighs, “All right. Master Halsin did say the drow’s tadpole was dormant. Maybe yours is too.” She places the branch down and instead pulls out a bottle filled with a radioactive-green liquid. “Now, this is a vial of wyvern poison. It’s quick and painless. Swear to me you’ll swallow it if you feel any symptoms.”

“All right. Hand it over.”

“Swear it.”

“...I swear.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that but… thank you. Here,” she hands Tav the poison. “And here’s the antidote. Do not mix those two up.” Tav takes it and pops the cork off, wasting no time before she starts drinking. “I’ve spent my life treating folk and never once saw a mind flayer infection. Then suddenly there’s dozens of you– maybe more. Master Halsin and I were tracking them, studying them, trying to figure out what the hells was going on, because you should all be changing; there should be a small army of mind flayers out there! But you’re not. Weird powers aside, you seem perfectly normal.”

Tav wipes her mouth with her arm once she finishes off the antidote. “Cure aside, you must’ve learned something from studying them, at least.”

“For one, that thing in your head is like nothing we’ve ever seen from mind flayers. It’s one of their worms, for sure, but this one gives you powers– telepathic connections– and it doesn’t turn you into one of them. Not yet, anyhow.”

“You said you were tracking other victims. Did they change?”

“Hard to say, but there’s a lot we don’t know. Infected– folks like you– have been converging on an old temple of Selûne, and I’ve no idea why. When Master Halsin heard the adventurers were heading that way, he saw a chance to get answers. Joined on the spot. Whatever he found there, he didn’t  make it back.”

“You think he’s still alive?

“I think so. I hope so. I’ve sent birds to find him, but they can’t get close without goblins trying to shoot them down. You though? You’re one of them–technically speaking I mean; they won’t kill someone carrying their parasite. If you can find Halsin and get him out of there, we can discover what he learned, and perhaps he can save your life. How’s that sound?”

“You’re sure he can cure me?”

“I can’t make any promises. This is like nothing we’ve seen before, but I know this for sure: master Halsin is the only one close to understanding these things. He’s your best bet to survive. Otherwise, that vial’s your only option.”

“All right, I’ll find Halsin.”

“Thank you. It would mean everything to the grove. To me. I wish I could tell you what happened out there, but those adventurers were the only witnesses, and they’re long gone. All I can say for sure is they all went to the old temple of Selûne and Master Halsin didn’t make it back. Good luck out there, and if things start to go bad, remember the vial. Remember your oath.” With that, Nettie leaves the room, going back to tending to the now-healed bird.

“I can’t believe she poisoned you, tried to put you down like a dying dog without as much as a whisper of consent!” Gale exclaims after the stone door rises shut behind Nettie.

“It was one hell of a surprise, but Nettie came around.”

“Yes– against her will, without rhyme or reason! How dare she snuff out life with as much thought as snuffing out a bloody candle?”

You look at Gale, concerned. You might not have known him for long, but you’d have never expected just how livid he sounded. 

“Are you all right, Gale?” Tav asked him. Looks like she feels the same way as you.

“Yes…Yes, I am,” he tries to calm himself down, and it works for the most part, but you can still hear that underlying anger when he continues, “It’s just that– had it been me…had it been…” He trails off, and you can see a faint trace of fear in his eyes that vanishes as quickly as it appeared. “But you handled it, and you handled it well! As for myself, I could quite do with a tumbler full of Waterdeep Whiskey. Anyway, we live. For the moment. How about we go find that chap Halsin little miss Poison Ivy mentioned? With a bit of luck, he has the means to offer us a cure rather than a coffin.” And just like that, he’s back to his upbeat self. 

‘I know trauma when I see it, and that man definitely has trauma.’

“Chk, I knew this would lead to nowhere,” Lae’zel speaks up, fed up. “The only cure is to have the tadpoles removed by my people. We must find this ‘Zorru’ those ‘teeth-lings’ spoke of and get answers.”

You quickly cover your mouth and stifle yourself after you realize you let out an involuntary chuckle at hearing Lae’zel say ‘teeth-ling.’ You see Lae’zel cross her arms and roll her eyes after Tav corrects her mispronunciation.

“They saw one of my people. That means a crèche is nearby.”

“How about we split up?” Tav offers. “Three groups: one to find Zorru, one to ask around for information on Karlach, and the last for any other information on the area.”

Nobody felt any need to object so you sorted yourselves into groups: Lae’zel’s group, consisting of her and Tav, Wyll’s group consisting of him and Shadowheart, and your group of you, Astarion, and Gale. Tav would have the best chance of convincing Lae’zel if something went wrong, Shadowheart would be able to be more harsh when Wyll could not, and Gale and Astarion would probably have the best chance at communicating with you at the moment, so the groups were decided on those premises. Also because Gale is less likely to rub people the wrong way than Astarion. 

‘I’ve only known this man for one day and I can already tell he’s a bastard, in a likable sense,’ you think to yourself, grateful that you won’t have to manage Astarion by yourself, since you’re essentially mute. 

The groups split off after you get back to the surface, out in the sun. Your group stays behind in this area of the grove while the other two groups head back towards the tiefling camp.

“Ugh, this is going to be so boring,” Astarion whines.

You mime patting him on the back, not wanting to touch without permission. [There, there, I’m sure it won’t be all that bad].

“Hmm, perhaps it’ll be more entertaining if you do the talking,” he smirks at you. “Yes, I’d say that sounds quite amusing.”

“Wow, very funny– come up with that idea all by yourself? “ you deadpan. Hopefully they’ll at least understand your unamused tone. “Sure, let’s have the basically mute one do the conversing when we have to others perfectly capable of speech; I’m sure that’ll go perfectly well indeed.”

“I think I’m with them on this one, Astarion, assuming they’re saying that we should probably do the talking,” Gale says, looking to you for confirmation, smiling when you nod at him.

“Neither of you are any fun at all,” Astarion pouts.

‘Sorry man, but my social anxiety has returned now that the adrenaline is gone, so I’m back to being way too scared of people.’ [Oh well].

“Fine, fine. I guess we’ll just have to be boring for now.” His face scrunched with a pout as he crossed his arms.

“Wonderful. Let’s get started, shall we?” Gale says, looking around for someone who isn’t busy chanting.

There were really only three or so druids who were free, so you all started with them. Unfortunately, none of them had much to say besides their distaste for either outsiders or the ritual underway. Your next target was a rather eccentric man dressed in blue and talking with a bear. Normally, this wouldn’t be so odd in a druid grove, except for the fact that he looked extremely out of place.

“Oh! Why hello,” the boisterous man clad in blue exclaimed as soon as Gale walked up, not giving Gale a chance to even greet him. “You were the ones with the drow, weren’t you? I must say, I was quite surprised when I first saw them here, of all places. It’s rare to come across one of them above ground, you know. Rare and intriguing on a day already packed with intrigue!”

Gale opened his mouth to speak but the man kept talking, leaving no room for interruption. “You were at the gates just now, no? When the goblins came? You saw them up close? A few questions, if you please. There’s no overstating my interest.” 

“Would you answer some of ours in return?” Gale extends an offer.

“But of course! Now, then: How would you describe that particular batch of goblins? Size? Nature? Distinguishing qualities?”

You start to check out of the conversation as Gale begins to give an exact and detailed description of the goblins. ‘Not really much for me to do here.’ Out of habit, you reach for your phone, but catch yourself before you bring it out. ‘Ah. Right. I can’t do that here.’

“I do believe it’s our turn to ask some questions of you now, yes?” Gale asks, his answering time finished.

“Go right ahead,” Volo says, tucking away his journal and quill.

“I was hoping you could tell us a bit about the area, what to expect, places of interest, unusual occurrences, and the like.”

“Of course there’s that ship that just crashed, but I doubt you need me to tell you about that; it was practically impossible to miss. There’s also some old ruins south of here– I’m almost positive I heard a bit of a commotion coming from it when I passed by. I’m afraid I’ve not seen much else besides that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must be on my way to the goblin camp. Until we meet again!” And just like that he left, not allowing any follow up questions to be asked.

“Well, he was certainly a character,” Astarion mutters. 

You find yourself absentmindedly nodding in agreement– music. You freeze. You can faintly hear some singing and the plucking of a stringed instrument. Your head snaps to the side towards the direction it's coming from.

“(Y/n)? Is something the matter?” Gale looks at you with a mix of intrigue and concern.

You point in the direction of the music and hum the melody you’ve heard repeat a few times.

Astarion grumbles, “We are not going over there. That singing is downright awful.”

You shrug. [Up to you guys]. ‘Not like I’ll ever suggest we talk to people; my anxiety isn’t called a disorder for nothing.’

“Oh, I’m sure you’re just exaggerating,” Gale says. “The more information we have, the better, so why not at least ask?”

You follow behind Gale as he begins to head in the direction you pointed to. Astarion huffs in annoyance, but ultimately doesn’t stray from the group; he still pouts the entire way, though. Soon, you’re close enough to actually clearly make out the singing of a woman. Her singing is… admittedly not the best to your ears, but definitely not as awful as Astarion was making it out to be. Who knows, maybe it’s a stylistic thing that you’re just not used to since you’re an alien. For all you know, she could be an expert singer and that’s just how it’s supposed to sound. Plus, considering your taste in music sometimes, you’re really not in a place to judge others.

“Dance upon the stars tonight. Smile and pain will fade away. Words of mine will change–no. Become–ugh.” A blue-purple tiefling– it was hard to tell exactly what color her skin was in the spotty shade she sat beneath– was singing alongside her lute on top of a small rocky hill overlooking the grove, performing for a couple of critters. Her singing was warbly at points, as if she were trying to hold back tears.

‘Is she trying to come up with lyrics after she made the melody? No wonder it sounds like she’s struggling.’

“Change? No. Damn it!”

“Are you all right?” Gale asked her as your group of three strode up to her, understandably worried as she both looked and sounded frustrated enough to throw her lute to the ground.

“No. I’m moments away from a grisly death…at the hands of this bloody song. I can’t… nothing fits, you know?”

“Well, luckily for you, we happen to have a bard in our party. Perhaps they’ll be able to be of some help?” Gale nods towards you.

“Oh, yes, I’m sure our bard would love to help,” Astarion gives you a smirk, knowing fully well that you are, in fact, not a bard.

Your eyes dart between the two of them who oh-so-kindly just threw you under the bus. ‘...You fucking assholes.’ [Fuck you guys].

“Hm. It can’t hurt. I have her… I have an extra lute, if you want?”

You make no move to help, but Astarion oh-so-kindly nudges (Read: pushes) you forward. You give him a glare over your shoulder, to which he only smiles smugly at, his face reminding you of a satisfied cat who just pushed something off of a ledge.

She holds out the lute for you to grab, “I’m Alfira.”

“(y/n).” You awkwardly pick up the lute and hold it like a guitar. ‘I don’t know how to play the lute.’ You look over the lute you were handed. ‘Four strings, early medieval-style, huh? I wonder if–’ You pluck each open string. “G-D-A-G? Well, I suppose it’s close enough to a violin, even if some of the strings are an octave off. Guess I can shoddily transpose.’

Taking your little note test as you ready to begin, Alfira brings her own lute into ready position, “I’ll start from the beginning. We’ll take it slow.”

Dance upon the stars tonight. 

Smile and pain will fade away. 

‘Abwpfft–ah shit we’re already goin’! Well, I don’t know chords so you’re gettin’ some pizzicato!’ 

You start plucking at the strings, sticking to open notes since you don’t know how fretboards are set up for lutes. Despite your anxiety, you pluck them confidently, because if you don’t play with confidence, it’ll sound like shit no matter what.*

Alfira smiles, encouraged by your playing. She continues.

Word of mine will turn to ash. 

When you call the last light down. 

‘Why am I the only one playing? Why aren’t you playing your lute with me?!’ You continue to play, though Alfira just holds her lute while she sings, not bothering to play it. ‘I can’t just play the same four notes forever! I was planning on watching where you placed your fingers so I can mimic it but nooooo you only want to sing. Well don’t blame me if this doesn’t work,’ you place your fingers down onto the second fret of the A string and thank god it was in key.’

Moon reminds me of your grace. 

All the love I can’t repay. 

Rest and know that I will pray. 

Farewell, my dear old friend.

As Alfira trails off, so does your playing. ‘I’m free! Finally!’

Alfira places her lute to the side as she starts to cry. “Sorry.”

You see Gale begin to fret with a slight panic as she starts to cry. You flash him a grin with a hint of smugness. ‘You gotta do damage control now because I can’t talk. Serves you right for throwing me under the bus.’

“Don’t worry. Cry as much as you need,” Gale placates her, giving no sign of having noticed your self-satisfied expression.

“Heh. She’d have said the same thing,” she sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes. “That’s the first time I’ve played since Lihala died. My teacher. She was playing her lute. We…didn’t hear the gnolls coming. There was so much blood. I–I can still smell it.”

“Well, you’ve come up with a fine tribute to her.”

“Lihala said that’s why eulogies were important. They were for the living as well as the dead. I’d forgotten what it was like: that itch to perfect a song. Keep the lute. Please. You’ve earned it. The Weeping Dawn will be my gift to Lihala. I’ve a long way to go, but thank you. I…I needed this.”

‘...Guess I’ve got a lute now… where am I supposed to put this?’

“If you don’t mind my asking, where did your group run into the gnolls?” Gale asks.

“Northeast of here. If you’re going that way, be careful,” Alfira warns.

Gale thanked her for the information and turned around, nodding at Astarion to follow him back towards the way we came, leaving Alfira to her own devices.

‘I feel like we watched her go through the five stages of grief all within the span of five minutes.’

“See? Now we know there are gnolls about,” Gale says, looking satisfied that we got useful information despite Astarion’s initial reluctance to approach Alfira.

Astarion crosses his arms and looks to the side, away from Gale. “Fine, I suppose this wasn’t too useless of an endeavor.”

“And, our bard received a gift as well!” Gale looks at you with a smile.

Your face remains cold as you place your fingers at the sixth fret of the first G, the fifth fret of the D string, and fifth fret of the A string, but leave the last string open: C#-G-C#-G. You lift your right hand and strike down across all the strings. Astarion and Gale both cringe at the awful tritone you chord you made.

“Good gods, what is wrong with you?” Astarion asks incredulously, covering his ears.

You cross your arms as best you can while holding the lute and puff out your cheeks. [You made me do an impromptu duet! With an instrument I don’t even know how to play!] {Performance = 11, Success}

‘That was an awful experience, forcing me to do a public performance! The two of them deserve to be at the mercy of the diabolus in musica at the very least.’

“My apologies,” Gale sheepishly apologizes, “all the bards I’ve ever come across usually jump at the chance to perform, so I assumed you’d be the same.”

[No, I hate public performances.]{Performance = 15, Success} [Also, not a bard.] {Performance = 7, Failure}

Gale scratches his head in confusion, “Forgive me for being confused, but why go down the path of a bard if you don’t enjoy performing?”

You throw your head back with a dramatic groan. ‘How many more times am I going to have to explain this?’ Bringing your head back down, you take a breath to calm yourself before trying again. [I am not a bard.] {Performance = 5, Failure}

Gale just looks at you in confusion, not understanding.

You turn to Astarion with wide, urging eyes and jerk your head towards Gale. [Can you just tell him? I’m sick of this game.] {Persuasion = 9, Success}

“Well, it was starting to lose its amusement, so, all right,” Astarion accepts and explains to Gale, “We had a little conversation yesterday and, turns out, they’re not a bard.”

“Truly?” Gale looks at you, intrigued. “But you use an instrument as an arcane focus, do you not?”

[Well, yes, but… I don’t know. Not a bard, though. Remember that.]

“Hmm, that’s quite interesting, isn’t it? Would you mind if I asked some questions? I’m very curious,” Gale looks at you with intrigue sparkling in his eyes.

[Um, maybe later.] ‘Really don’t want to discuss it though. I need to keep Astaroth a secret.’

“Perhaps we’ll have a chance when we next make camp.”

[Yeah, sure, sounds great.] ‘Please forget by the time we set up camp.'

“There doesn’t seem to be many other people to talk to, so shall we meet up with the others and see if they’ve had any luck?”

You didn’t have any reason to object and Astarion seemed glad to get as far away from Alfira’s music as possible, readily agreeing. And so, your group of three started heading back towards the stairs leading up into the tiefling camp half of the grove.

‘…Okay, for real though, where am I gonna put this lute?’

*Best advice I’ve ever gotten from my conductor. Play with confidence. Even if you’re not, play as if you are. Someone who’s playing confidently but hitting the wrong notes will always sound better than somebody who is hitting all the correct notes but playing meekly. 

Whether it’s true confidence or false bravado, it doesn’t matter. The end result will almost always be better if you embody it. Same thing goes for art. Strong confident lines tend to look better, especially for line art.

**If you ever wondered what brimstone smells like, it that slightly sweet, smoky, and acrid smell when a match is first struck, not the eggy smell of straight up sulfur. While brimstone does mean sulfur, the smell of brimstone refers to the acrid odor of sulfur dioxide.

If you smell burnt matches in your house and you have not been constantly striking matches, there is good chance that something in your house has started to burn, such as the insulation. Please call emergency services if you smell sulfur dioxide. Don’t just go “huh. Brimstone. Neat!” 

Fun fact, when I first started writing this chapter all the way back in…*checks notes*...January… the name of this chapter was “Is this foreshadowing or a red herring?” but now, 7 months later, I cannot remember why.

Next Chapter >

[bringtheviolence]

⠀ delta, any prns.⠀ ⠀eighteen plus, mdni.⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ more info below.⠀⠀reqs: open.

⠀⠀— yo!! my name is delta, as you see above. i go by any pronouns, but if you’d like specifics, they/them is fine. as stated above, this blog is 18+, therefore, minors are not welcome here. i’m twenty this year, so the content i post here will be intended for more mature audiences. i’m a college student, and i also work five days a week, so my schedule can be a little packed at times. but, i love to write, and i love my silly little bands, so why not make the most of it?

⠀⠀this blog was started with the intentions to share whatever ideas that have been sitting in my head for the past few years. the content i write here will be primarily rpf, centered around the band bad omens (including matt dierkes + others!). i also may write for other bands, though, such as lorna shore, sleep token, etc. i may also write some wrestling focused content! it all depends on what i’m feeling.

⠀⠀ as mentioned before, my blog will feature some mature content. this includes sensitive topics and darker themes, such as mental health. i will do my best to provide adequate trigger warnings for all of my work, but this is your heads up! however, at the moment, i do not write smut. this is simply because i do not feel confident in my own abilities to do so LMFAO. that being said, if anyone out there wants to be a ‘co-author’ of sorts, and help with writing smut scenes, should they come up (with adequate credits, ofc), i’ll always be open to that. i don’t mind writing allusions to smut, but at the moment, smut is not something i am actively writing. sorry guys ):

⠀⠀ requests, messages, asks and whatnot are currently open, and likely always will be— with the knowledge that i may not always get to requests quickly. whether you wanna chat, or have a request/ides for a fic, you’re always welcome to reach out! i have the right to deny any request i want to, and i am not obligated to provide a reason as to why. you can request anything from hcs to oneshots to moodboards, or whatever the heck else! i do have many of my own ideas for full series to write, so i don’t really take requests for those, but you are always welcome to tell me your thoughts and ideas! who knows, maybe i’ll like it and turn it into a series! be as specific and detailed with your requests— trust me, the more details, the better.

⠀⠀as of right now, there isn’t a whole lot i refuse to write, save for smut. of course, there’s the basic things— like i will not write a depiction of s/a or something of the sort. but allusions or mentions of potentially triggering topics, whether in the past or present tense, may appear in my work. of course, they will be adequately tagged, and if you feel something else should be tagged, let me know! i do not write ships at the moment. i will do my best to write most of my work with a gender neutral reader— though exceptions to this will occur.

⠀⠀i will try to adequately tag my work with appropriate tags. for example, my general oneshots and whatnot should be tagged with “#bringtheviolence fics”. works that are part of a series will also be tagged with that respective series name, and requests will be specifically tagged as such as well. posts that are not specific works and are more so just me yapping will be tagged with “#delta speaks”. this may change or be added to as i actually start to write more.

⠀⠀to close this all off, i want to clarify: while i’m not necessarily new to tumblr, i am new to actually writing and properly working tumblr and its posts and whatnot. therefore, mistakes in formatting or whatever may be common. tl;dr, idfk what i’m doing! i’m just here to write and hope somebody likes it. if u have any tips or tricks, they are greatly appreciated LOL. thank u, and i hope u enjoy what i put out! again, messages are always open. take care of yourselves ♡