#you know. in the interest of transparency.

[heylittleriotact]

I've never heard this banter and I'm going to go the fuck off.

Firstly: Everything @emmg said. The whole "I want to become a lich" arc is actually incredibly contentious for my death-positive, mortality embracing Rook. Like to the point where she basically tells him at one point: "I really like you, and I really like us, and it's important to me that you're happy, so I won't try to change your mind or interfere with your plans, but I think it's only right to be transparent now about the fact that I can't see a future for us should you successfully pursue lichdom." She's very up-front about it, because she isn't at all comfortable with the radical change of the entire power dynamic of their relationship: they would no longer be equals, and she's not interested in ultimately becoming one more rag that he's dragging behind him (to quote the absolutely beautiful song by Josh Ritter called 'The Curse' which is about an Egyptologist who discovers a mummy who comes back to life and they fall in love but since he is undead and she is mortal, it ends tragically and it reminds me SO MUCH OF a Emm!Lich/Rook romance, or honestly any future romances he might find himself in as a Lich.) Here - listen to it: go. Right now. Cute af music video too:

Secondly: BULLSHIT, EMMRICH. That's such absolute fucking bullshit. "There's always something to discover in the world" and "I think I should never grow tired of that" are both such insanely pompous, self-aggrandizing statements that he flings out there in an effort to frame himself in the light he wants to be perceived in: the Quintessential Academic - forever curious and eternally learning: an inspiration to curious and inquisitive minds everywhere to be celebrated and lauded for his immeasurable services to society.

The truth is, he knows it's bullshit, and is painfully aware that lichdom - even without a partner or someone like Rook is bound to be soul-crushingly lonely. Dude is lonely af and he's still got a fucking PULSE. But he's made it this far in life shouldering the burden of feeling like he'll never find someone. Loneliness isn't new to him, and it's really easy to suggest that after a few thousand years of existence under one's belt that picking up new friends will be as easy as popping down to the pub and saying "hi" to a stranger. Pffft! Trifles!

Emmrich is smarter than that. He knows better than that, but he's trying to convince himself just as much as he's trying to convince Lucanis that having to embrace the fleeting, transitory nature of relationships as he watches the ebb and flow of life and death cycle repeatedly before his eyes is not only what he wants, but it's what will make him happy and it's such a brazen contradiction of himself that if my Rook overheard this she would be unable to keep herself from snorting and going, "... really?"

This man is trying to put himself above love and friendships and relationships in a way that makes them seem like specimens to be studied and written about, when we know that he's probably written no less than a dozen poems about how Rook's hair looks in the sunlight, and is annoying the shit out of Vorgoth and Myrna because all of his letters home since he and Rook got together are less about their progress against the gods, and more about how absolutely wonderful Rook is and how pleased he is that he decided to accompany her on this journey blah blah blah...

He's collected a little family with the Veilguard, and he makes no secret of how much he cares for all of them.

Delusional, pookie: you're fucking delusional.

Lucanis and Emmrich about immortality

[vixensdungeon]

You know what was great about 4th Edition D&D? It was the only WotC edition to do the whole designed encounter thing right.

Some of you might be surprised that the DM designing balanced encounters for the party wasn't really a thing in the TSR days. You could just run into some unfair killer bees who'd absolutely murderize your group and that was part of the game. The move to encounter balance came with 3rd Edition and the introduction of challenge ratings and encounter levels. You still had random encounters, but those were usually also roughly balanced for the average party level. 5th Edition is very much in a similar vein. And it's honestly… not that good or interesting.

But between the time when the oceans drank 3rd Edition and the rise of the sons of 5th Edition, there was an edition undreamed of.

Whereas 3e was still sort of trying to do the AD&D thing but not really, 4e was built from the ground up with the designed encounter premise in mind. And they made it easy and interesting! An important aspect of this was transparency. The classes were split into clear roles, so you could expect any given party to have certain bases covered. Monsters also had roles so you could easily mix and match them, and aside from level they also had a sort of difficulty category. Want to throw a horde of mooks at your party? Use minions! Need a boss fight? Use a solo monster! And you could mix and match these categories too. Plus the whole XP budget thing was way simpler.

4th Edition was so good. Too good for this sinful Earth, and certainly too good for your average 5e improv kid. I'm sorry 4e. We didn't deserve you, because we did not appreciate you.

[honey-milk-depresso]

The Magic Student in the Magicless College (Prologue 2)

This is the changing up of plot, with some parallels to the normal TWST story line! This is the LONG AWAITED pt. 2 prologue. I'll try to keep writing this cuz I got back to getting interested in writing for this again so yeah- <3

☘︎☘︎***TAG IS LABELLED AS TWST AU MAGICLESS NRC

☘︎Note: I will use Yuu instead of Y/N and/or MC, cussing a little-

☘︎LINKS:

Prologue 1, 3, 4, 5

Headcanons / Small thoughts: 1, 2

☘︎☘︎

Ace and Deuce, still hugging each other, immediately let go and backed away against the same pillar, yelling in shock at the same time.

"W-What the hell was all that for...?!" Ace shrieked slightly, heart still hammering in his chest as he stared in disbelief at this... robed wizard? Magician? Witch maybe??

Yuu huffed, placing a hand on their hip as they encased the sleeping Grim in a materialized, transparent box made of magical energy. "That'll do the trick..." they said to themselves before looking at the two boys.

"Don't you guys know how to encase stuff with your Magic Pens? Or are you first years?" they asked, raising an eyebrow with slight annoyance.

"We're first years, but no one on earth can pull off something like that...!" Deuce said exasperatedly, finally recovering from the adrenaline rush. "Just who the hell are you...?!"

Yuu stood back up, dusting the dust of their shoulders as they smirked. "I'm Yuu, one of the greatest wizards of Twisted Wonderland, young prodigy of the Great Sevens," they declared boldly.

Instead of getting a grand and excited of a reaction, the two boys stared at them cluelessly, blinking with confusion.

"Twisted Wonderland? You mean like... Alice in Wonderland?"

"Man! What the hell are you saying, crazy person?!"

Yuu frowned at Ace's accusation. "Crazy? Everyone uses magic! And why do you look like you've never heard of Twisted Wonderland? It's our home!"

Ace scoffed. "This is planet Earth, dumbass. Maybe you came from wherever 'Twisted Wonderland' is but this place isn't! This is Night Raven College!"

The two started bickering, unaware of the students now slowly getting out of their hiding spots and a very tall man with golden eyes and swirly black hair and a pale complexion started to walk over. Deuce widened his eyes, tugging at Ace's sleeve as he tried to get both of their attention.

"Guys! Headmaster!"

The two turn around, and only Ace's eyes widened in shock. Headmaster Crowley, a man in a suit and tie, a golden ring on his finger and polished shoes came over, looming over the three students.

"This... short-lived catastrophe was done by who, exactly?" he asked calmly.

Ace and Deuce immediately pointed at Yuu, who looked unamused. Yuu huffed.

"It was taken care of. I've captured the little rascal anyways," Yuu said, gesturing to Grim who still sleeping in his magical confines. The headmaster only looked between Yuu and Grim with a sharp curiosity, his eyes narrowing on the silvery gemstone encrusted on their pen. He sighed, tapping his foot on the floor once.

"Regardless, the school is quite in shambles, at least, the hall that is. And apparently a bathroom mirror on the same floor," Crowley explained. Yuu blinked, before scratching their head awkwardly with slight guilt. "O-Oh..."

"Hmm, well, I guess government funding would need to be drawn. The only reason why this place is still standing is because this school is quite ancient," he hummed, "unless... can your... special abilities fix this school?" Crowley entailed carefully.

Yuu blinked, sighing as they slumped their shoulders a little. "Yes... sure..." With a whirl of their pen, the rubble started to rise and glue itself back onto the cracked walls and ceilings, the crack lines disappearing as if no damage was ever done. Crowley nodded approvingly, clasping his hands together with awe and curiosity.

"Fascinating..." he muttered under his breath. Crowley cleared his throat, smiling cordially at Yuu. "Thank you for your help! Now, I would like you to follow me, please. I've just informed all the Dorm Leaders on WhatsApp to continue the Orientation as per usual," he said. Yuu blinked.

What the heck is a WhatsApp??

Before they could enquire of what it might be, Crowley gestured for the two other boys to stand up and come over. "Oh, and you two, also follow me since you've been acquainted to our peculiar fellow over here!"

Ace and Deuce stood up wearily, eyeing Yuu suspiciously and with uncertainty as the three teens followed the headmaster.

☘︎☘︎

Crowley led them up the cobblestoned spiral steps to the top of the campus building, path being blocked by a big gate. Crowley used a key card he kept in the right breast pocket of his suit jacket, tapping it against the key panel before the gate opened and eventually led them to his private room in the Headmaster's Office.

It was lined with shelves and shelves of books, taking up all the walls of the room, lit by candles on gothic-looking chandeliers and it gave a somewhat eerie yet also mystical feel to it.

"Now, you must all be wondering why you're all here," Crowley said. "You're not in trouble, don't worry, but I need to discuss with you something important, I'm sure you know what about."

He looked at Yuu. "Yuu... do you perhaps live in a world known as... Twisted Wonderland? Where mirrors can talk, books levitate off the ground and stone gargoyles can talk and fly?"

Yuu looked at him suspiciously but nodded slowly. "Yes... why?"

Ace and Deuce widened their eyes with shock. Since when would he have known a place like that??

Crowley chuckled to himself. "Well, you see, I used to study mythology and folklore when I was younger in my more... prime years," he explained. "I've been fascinated by this place that I've mentioned before, and that this college has some sort of connection to that world as a whole. Your Magic Pen, is it? Yes... it's like the very ones I see in the books about this mysterious place," he said with a fascinated grin, eyeing Yuu's pen.

Yuu's eyes widened slightly before frowning. "I don't understand... does that mean what they say is true? I'm currently not in Twisted Wonderland but in a place known as Earth??" they questioned while pointing to Ace and Deuce (who felt very awkward just standing there), becoming slightly panicky.

"Well, yes," Crowley said while clearing his throat again. "Unfortunately, I'm not so sure how to even bring you back. This world holds no form of magic. It's 'magicless', if you will."

Yuu scoffed to themselves, almost in disbelief and hysteria. "A world with no magic...? Unbelievable..." they muttered incredulously to themselves.

"Although... if you can help me decipher this, maybe... it can bring you home."

Yuu's ears perked up, looking at Crowley as he placed a thick, battered book with aged, yellowish pages. "This was said to be a spell book, a way for one world to connect with the other, that other world being Twisted Wonderland, of course."

He flipped through the pages. "I've long tried to replicate this formula but have failed many times, I've never succeeded in traveling to Twisted Wonderland no matter how hard I've tried," the headmaster sighed.

"But you," he quickly turned around, grabbing Yuu firmly by the shoulders, making the latter a bit startled, "you can be the key in making this connection!"

"Oh, and also send you home," he added.

Yuu took a good look at the book. "Even if I know what all this is... the spell itself is hard to pull off, it can result in-"

"Overblotting, yes. A condition your world of people face if they aren't careful with the amount of magic they use..." Crowley said. "But, I'm sure there's an easier way, right?"

Yuu looked at the pages wearily. "Yes... but it requires a lot more complicated sub-spells that make up one big spell. Even for a great wizard like me, this is beyond what I usually do," they muttered.

"But if it's to get back home..." Yuu looked at Crowley contemplatively before sighing. "Fine. I'll crack your spell book to satisfy your... odd curiosities but let me go back home if I succeed."

Crowley beamed, shaking their hand as to seal the deal. "Excellent!" he exclaimed, turning his head to the two boys. "In the meantime, let these two be your companions while you stay here! I'll get you a room somewhere in one of the dorms! Oh, and to avoid any public attention on this, I will need you to blend in and take part as a student in the school and refrain you from using magic outside unless you come here. Then you're free to do stuff!"

Yuu, Ace and Deuce all widened their eyes as they exclaimed:

"Refrain myself from using magic?!"

"We need to look after them?!"

The boys and Yuu looked at each other with disbelief and disdain.

The journey ahead already starting off rough...

[fairyboygenius]

ask me questions about my new wip?

working title: mastermind

plot: pop star hits rising artist kyle garrick with her car. her pr team decides that they should enter into a PR relationship because their albums are coming out the same day. in the interest of being transparent and honest, she tells kyle about the people she’s casually hooking up with- a medical student and tattoo artist named simon, a nepo baby painter who’s overstayed his visa named johnny, and an f1 driver for ferrari with multiple luxury brand campaigns named farah. soon enough, kyle’s invited over to meet simon and johnny, and the fun begins ;)

oc: think a cross between sabrina carpenter, ariana grande in her eternal sunshine era, chappell roan, and molly grace (if you don’t know her, look her up!) current name is maya finnemore, she’s fat for sure. former child star who now makes raunchy pop and is very outspoken about social issues. also she’s a terrible driver because of her disaster bisexual tendencies

[comite-de-salut-public]

but the athists and catklics will just be mad at you instead!

I dunno, maybe if we give them a common enemy they'll stop doing civil wars? Sometimes we've gotta play non-Newtonian chess with the situation.

[volfoss]

it is beyond infuriating how anne rice seems to insist on marius being a positive force in anyone's life ever. like she can't fully commit to exploring the fact he groomed armand and has repeatedly taken away his consent for what marius thinks is best (take the end of TVA as an example) and just kind of flatly puts it in the narrative. there's not really much interest in how these horrific events make marius come across as the worst because EVERYONE loves him. for gods sake, lestat learns from armand exactly what marius did to him in TVL and then proceeds to go find marius and be super friendly to him in the same fucking book. even armand and pandora, two of the people who have MORE than enough right to hate him, do not. it doesnt feel like shes trying to explore the toxicity of the abusive dynamic he traps them in, it just is there. and like yeah ofc the toxic vampire romance series but i think that this should be handled with more care. and it is not ever really framed in a way that she is interested in exploring how marius should easily be one of the most horrific characters in this series because it kind of feels like sa/rape/grooming/other things of that sort are just put there to further plot and not to really get the respect that they deserve in a medium.

[coriander-candlesticks]

I've been trying to figure out how to incorporate religious practice into my life & trying to get over the fear of being...annoying? If that's the right word? It feels a little like tugging on the gods' sleeves when I make more than one offering a day to them even though I know I'm not, like, being rude by *checks notes* giving them things or dedicating time/activities to them. Today I made a dessert in preparation for tomorrow's Pathfinder game and dedicated that time spent baking to Hestia and Aphrodite, and it was really nice! I feel like I'm starting to find my footing despite my worries. I'm also trying to make sure I take time where I'm not thinking about religion at all so that I don't start to ruminate/spiral. It's happened a few times already to varying degrees and it's! Not fun!

It's possible it's hindsight/confirmation bias, but I do think the vibes of my tarot deck changed when I started reaching out to the Greek deities. It makes sense: I was using my deck to reach out to a completely different deity/deities before I started exploring Hellenic polytheism. And it's definitely not in a bad way, just more energetic and...light? When before it was heavier (in a comforting way). I've gotten consistently coherent pulls, too, which is nice.

I've been trying to remember to pour a libation to Hermes at certain street corners when I'm out & about, but I have to make a game plan for when other people are also in the area, even if it's just psyching myself up so I don't look awkward while I do it. I have a pendant that I keep in front of his altar/shrine jar that I try to remember to take with me when I travel, and it's been cool having something in my pocket that's consistently reminding me of him because I check so often to make sure it's still there. There were some...issues with my commute on Monday (a true comedy of errors on the city's part) but the change in routine was a *lot* easier to handle in the morning. Of course, the unusually cool temperature helped, but I do accredit the smooth transition to Hermes because I wasn't stressed at *all* for the vast majority of my commute when I usually would have been wiped from the mental/sensory strain of having to pivot & kinda just hope I guessed right on what to do next. The commute home was a nightmare but I didn't have a whole-ass work day ahead of me after that so the stress didn't matter as much (and I was able to get through the last bus ride & walk from the stop which I wasn't sure I'd have the mental fortitude for).

I'm almost done with the statue of Hermes I've been working on, and I finished a set of alphabet oracle "stones" (squares made from air dry clay...would that technically be closer to potsherds?) tonight. I'll share a picture of them once I finish their bag- I have some leftover green cotton yarn from a recent project that I think will go well with them. We'll see how well they hold up, though I'm not planning on doing the "shake them until one falls out" method so hopefully they'll last a while. I worked on them in the living room this evening, instead of in my room. I'm getting more comfortable showing little elements of what I've been exploring to my housemates; it was nice to be able to sit & paint & listen to the iliad while my friend did his own thing next to me on the couch.

I'm still trying to figure out how to gauge each housemates' potential reactions. It'll probably be fine: friend 1 actively has an altar-esque space and uses tarot cards and a pendulum and friend 2 is friend 1's wife. I'm a bit worried about friend 3 being weird about it, at least at first, but considering he was experimenting with witchcraft-esque things a few years ago (I distinctly remember charms & him discussing which of the wheel of the year days he wanted to observe) I think I'm overthinking things. He's an atheist & his view of witchcraft was, at the very least, *similar* to the psych model, which I think is where the hesitation has been coming from on my end. I have therapy this weekend so I think I'll start bringing things up then. The office my therapist is in openly advertises all sorts of alt/witchcraft things so I think I'll be safe there lol

[baltears]

its truly not that i have a problem with ppl continuing to engage with a persons work after theyve been called out for being problematic or whatever but the way m//lanie m//rtinez stans literally just convinced themselves all the allegations were false, called the alleged victim a liar and then proceeded to pretend it all never even happened is frankly chilling to me

[devilsskettle]

i feel like i’ve been WAITING for the other shoe to drop wrt people’s opinions about watcher for this very reason. not that i think the reaction is completely not understandable but the greater the parasocial relationship, the greater the fallout as soon as public opinion shifts. you don’t have a relationship with these people they’re just content creators, chill

[boogiewoogieweeb]

it's all fun and games typing up a silly, rickety little au idea in the tags of someone else's post and then suddenly you find yourself expanding on the world-building and plotting out interconnected stories for characters you swore would only make background appearances and your brain is On Fire with the need to write even when you know you can't commit to yet another doomed wip

[goofyguppy]

.

[crescentfool]

i think something that is important to me to remember is that there are small ways i can do things to spark joy for myself and others without waiting for someone else to do it... (conjures up little sparklies from my hands) life is so whimsical!!!

[talentforlying]

none of the muses on my hellblazer multi are linked to the canon of my constantine portrayal, but i think that i am going to bring my ellie's canon divergence over here (summary post) in regards to hellblazer #104 & its ramifications in 125-128, bc that still does not sit well with me and i will be annoying about it forever. john constantine respects chantinelle in this house, even if they did still betray each other in the end; they simply have too much history for him to be so pointlessly goddamn cruel when he knows full well that she would probably have agreed to a trade of some kind instead.

[marrelica]

Insane how my uni friend knew me for 1 day and recommended me "Invisible Monsters" by Chuck Palahniuk because "it seems like something you would really enjoy"

[scatterpatter]

I wanted to make a video edit featuring the DLN 1 boyes and then realized I didn't have proper headshots of them so instead spent my night editing them all (plus a bonus Mega!) to be transparent headshots and since i dont have time to actually do any vid editing tonight im sharing this with youse instead XD

[senseless-blabbering]

kinda really sucks that i've been made to feel so obnoxious and wrong that i just can't really talk about anything myself unless i'm asked something