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sparring-spirals · 3 years

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The conversation happens on one of their "slumber party nights" that Yasha, Beau, Jester, and Veth like holding, whenever Jester drops back onto land and enough of them are nearby.

Veth isn't there this time- She and Caleb and Essek are on a trip to harvest some more ...volatile alchemical ingredients, with Yeza staying behind with Luc so he "doesn't fall into the volcano, or try to shoot it."

("I'm... fairly certain the volcano isn't sentient this time."

"Essek, that's what you said about the kelp last time.")

Instead, in her honor, Jester, Yasha, and Beau are doing mud masks, which mostly translates into: various buckets of mud (sourced from the backyard) scattered around a room, a full tub of mud, everyone streaked with varying levels of dirt, and a general, good hearted mess. Jester isn't sure if the clumps of plants should be mixed in or not, but she figures it can't hurt. Yasha will tell them if anything will cause a rash.

It happens in a soft lull after Jester finishes regaling a tale of Orly (unfairly) banning Jester from wagering tattoos during poker nights. Yasha is idly replanting a clump of grass in the blob of mud in front of her, Beau leaning against her while Jester carefully sculpts a mud dick.

"Hey, Jessie?"

"Hmm?" She looks up from putting the finishing touches on the balls. Beau has straightened, an uncharacteristic hesitance in her expression.

"I just wanted to uh- I wanted to thank you. For the Sendings. For always messaging us with updates and stories and keeping us connected. Keeping that the same. In the best way. Not just me and Yash, but everyone, and I have no idea how you manage to save your spells so well when you and Fjord are also battling fuck-all huge serpents all the time but I just wanted to thank you, okay? I'm so glad you do that. Even when your timing isn't uh- the best. I'm so fucking glad. Every time."

Jester's joke about her impeccable timing dies in her chest as she sees the way Beau takes a deep breath in, old aches and haunts and fears moving under her skin. Oh. Oh.

"I was worried-" Her face screws up briefly with something like a wince, like reluctance. But this Beau, who has come so far from a Beau that could barely get out an apology, soldiers through anyway.

"I was kind of worried we'd all part ways and that would be it, you know? The Mighty Nein would scatter to the four winds and we'd be like- weird, and disconnected, and gone. And then suddenly you were in my ear telling me that Fjord had tripped over a net after an inspirational speech to the crew-"

Jester can't hold back her snort, at that one. "Ohmygod, that was so funny-" and sees Yasha smile, briefly, her gaze still fixed on Beau.

"And it just- it felt good, you know? To know that. To know that we might all be physically apart but we'd still be- close. A family."

Beau frowns as she finishes, clearly already rethinking her words, "Aw man that got really-"

-only to get bowled over in a flurry of mud-streaked tiefling and enthusiasm.

"Oh- Beau!" Jester manages, pulling back from the hug and shuffling back enough to lock gazes, affection and exasperation and just a hint of sadness swirling through her tone. "Of course I was going to keep talking with you and Yasha and everyone, Beau, we're family, you all are stuck with us until we die, and then we'll all be ghosts and we can haunt each other and knock off teacups from shelves and eat ghost cupcakes and-"

For a moment, her throat closes up, looking at Beau and seeing double, seeing an angry form in front of a hag hut, yelling about not getting to keep happiness, about being left behind.

"Beau we're a family, we aren't going to leave you, we're all going to stay close forever, and ever, and ever, do you hear me? I promise that.

I'll always send you messages and updates and always keep you updated on what animal Fjord has pissed off now. I'll always save spell slots just for you, just for keeping everyone updated on each other. We're not going anywhere."

She reaches forward, squeezing Beau's hand, tight, as she swipes at her eyes with the other.

"I promise. I promise. You have to believe me."

Beau laughs, and its a cracked laugh, but a real one.

"Oh Jessie, I know better than to ever bet against you. Wouldn't want you to start a religion or anything on my behalf."

"We could." Yasha pipes up loyally, eyes twinkling, but her expression is soft. "We could start a whole religion around Beau's eyes, and her abs, and her dope monk shit and her-"

"-Excellent sexytimes?" Jester breaks across, waggling her eyebrows at Yasha, and laughs as Beau splutters out a "hey!". Yasha just smiles, knowingly, sending Jester into peals of laughter. Beau continues spluttering about betrayal, fake indignation mixing with an underbelly of vulnerability as Jester continues teasing her.

Beau's feelings aren't exactly a surprise to Yasha, having been discussed, here and there under covers in dim rooms, little words in late nights, but there had been a slow growing... melancholy, there too. Albeit, one that was lifting, bit by bit, with every unexpected sending that Beau recieved.

They warmed Yasha from the inside out as well, (even if she was still unsure of how, exactly, sending worked, like did Jester hear her thoughts like how Veth did? If Veth was connected to herself and she talked to Jester through Beau was Veth automatically looped in? Or-).

But there would always be a bone deep fear, for Beau, even one that was slowly and steadily being won over with love. With every time Caleb wanted her to come back and do some research with him. With Fjord planning excursions that could be done with the Cobalt Soul. With each of the little gifts from Caduceus that Yasha would bring back from her visits from him.

But nothing had been quite like the way she'd jolted in surprise with the first message, the way she'd mouthed Jester, its Jester, and how the shock morphed into a rising affection and wonder.

(Thoreau better be having a terrible time in prison, she decides. Maybe later she'll ask Jester to send him a super creepy message.)

(Maybe it would be nice for the rest of them to send Jester messages too. She'll ask Caleb, when she sees him next week. She would ask Veth, but sometimes it seems like Veth's messaging magic doesn't work for Yasha like how she expects. If the whole Mighty Nein are going to send Jester messages back, it shouldn't rely on Yasha's super cool telepathic link with Veth.)

But for now- Yasha feels her smile widen, as Beau, standing now, flings some mud directly at Jester's face, and Jester shrieks and uses her tail to trip her as she gets up to flee. Yasha dodges back as Beau does a half flip, to avoid falling.

"Beau." She calls sweetly, reaching behind her where she knows another tub of mud to be, and when Beau looks at her, she says, with great gravitas and weight. "I love you. We all love you."

And right as Beau's expression softens, she swings her hand around, and splats a handful of mud directly into her chest, knocking her back a full step. Beau's wordless yell of outrage is drowned out by Jester breaking down in laughter. Yasha laughs as well as she jumps to her feet, dodging an enraged monk who still can't suppress her smile. She feels Jester's hand slip into hers, sees a quick flash of canines as she grins and dodges a thrown ball bearing, magic gathering around her free hand.

"Lets go, lets GO, I know where we can get a good vantage point, and then we can draw up plans for Beau's new religion-"

"The only religion we need is me knocking both of you on your butts-"

Beau, adrenaline coursing through her veins, recognizes the familiar magic of Jester's dimension door swirling into the air. And as she grabs Yasha's hand (who doesn't really try very hard to dodge), tossing empty threats at Jester who is somehow casting and giggling at the same time, she thinks that this- this is what love looks like.

#critical role #cr spoilers #campaign wrap up #beauregard #jester lavorre #yasha #fic #fanfic #my fic #:D #spar speaks #beauyashter #of a sort #I have. for the first time in my life. written fanfic! because I just couldn't get this conversation/imagery out of my head #and I just. I wanted to see them talking about it and the love and the ease so DAMMIT I wrote it myself #anyway since beau is holding yasha jester changes the destination to a nearby pond and drops them all in #which is good because. just so we're clear. they're all coated in mud.#found family #character meta #beau meta #ot3 #beauyasha #yasha loves beau and also loves jester and loves the mighty nein and also just Does Not Get Sending and i love her for it #im rereading this and like it really ISNT meant to be romantic. but you know what if you want to read it that way all the more power to you #the mighty nein #blue gals #sentinel sisters

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bloededhoine · 3 years

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world building cause twn doesn't part 8: nonhumans

this is easily the geekiest part of the series. and it's a Very geeky series. because sapkowski's worldbuilding is waaay more extensive than i have the time, ability, or desire to convey, i'm sticking with races both sentient and important

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

series masterpost

dopplers

dopplers, also known as vexlings, shifters, mimics, doubles, imitators, or pavrats, are a nonhuman race that can take on the appearance of nearly anyone they encounter

before mass migrations of humans, dopplers primarily inhabited the forests and plateaus around the city of novigrad, where they would transform into wolves and pack animals to hunt

their abilities are pretty impressive, dopplers can not only mimic appearance but also voice, personality, skills, behaviours, and knowledge. dopplers can even turn parts of their bodies into pieces of clothing or other objects

however, there are some limitations

dopplers can't transform into someone/thing with dramatically more mass than they have, are burned by silver, and can't drop anything they created (if they did it would kind of turn into a fleshy goop)

we've already met a doppler in twn, this sexy sexy man

BUT

it is important to note that this doppler is a huge deviation from sapkowski's lore. dopplers are pretty much always exceptionally kind and gentle. a lot of times they use their abilities to appear threatening (big teeth, sharp claws etc) because they really don't want to hurt anyone.

when dopplers aren't mimicking another form, they aren't exactly pretty. they're bald, short, have beady yellow eyes, and kinda look like they're made from soft clay

here's the hexer doppler

the most notable doppler is dudu biberveldt, who i mentioned as the halfling dainty biberveldt's fake cousin. dudu's actual name is tellico lunngrevink letorte, but dainty decided to help dudu live in novigrad by adopting him as his fake cousin.

dragons

dragons are fucking awesome. you know it, i know it, and zerrikanians know it. witcher dragons are especially awesome

they are the only being, other than cats, that can naturally harness and absorb the force of chaos

there are multiple subtypes, but most dragons fall into one of four: black dragons, green dragons, red dragons, and white dragons.

black dragons are the largest, and primarily live in swamps and wetlands where they bathe in mud. they have extremely hard scales and don't breathe fire, but an acid that causes burns similar to those from mustard gas.

green dragons (right there) are the most prominent yet smallest species of dragon, mainly living in forested areas and breathe highly flammable chlorine gas.

red dragons mainly live in hills and mountain caves and can breathe fire hot enough to melt metal

white dragons are one of the rarest species and live in the far north, and can breathe frost

however, if you watched the witcher netflix as i assume you did, you may remember golden dragons. these dragons are so rare and exceptional that they are not usually included with other species. they breathe steam and fire and can shapeshift into any living being

all dragons communicate through telepathy, although golden dragons can speak when they are in the form of a species that can speak

humans are pretty divided on the topic of dragons, with zerrikanians worshiping them and nordlings hating them.

because they are incredibly intelligent and emotional, witchers (generally) refuse to hunt them

borkh three jackdaws, also known as villentrenmerth, is the only golden dragon we know. there he is right there.

ASSASSINS OF KINGS SPOILERS NEXT TWO BULLET POINTS

the other dragon from twn was a green dragon named myrgtabrakke, borkh's mate. their daughter is named saesenthessis, also known as saskia the dragonslayer (an alias she took to explain her extensive knowledge of dragons) and the virgin of aedirn

because saskia is part golden dragon, she can shapeshift, although is much more limited than her father. she can basically only be a human looking woman with blonde hair or a huge dragon.

cut because this part is getting REALLY long

godlings

ah godlings. i love them so much. they're adorable and precious. they usually look somewhat like a human child, but with blue skin and large amber or green eyes. they don't wear much clothes, their focus is in accessories like jewelry, flowers, or tattoos

that's johnny, a holding in wild hunt.

godlings are incredibly rare, and are easily confused with young goblins. they primarily live in swamps near drowners, but aren't afraid of them.

they're quite mischievous but kind hearted, many have happy go lucky personalities and love just having fun. i adore godlings. i've said it once and i'll say it again.

higher vampires

definitely the most important group on this list, higher vampires are incredibly powerful and intelligent. they can shapeshift within certain limits, generally either looking like a human or a large terrifying bat. they also have some telepathic abilities - they can basically make you fall asleep and forget stuff

scary wooo

higher vampires do not need to drink blood to survive. some don't drink blood at all. when they do, it's like a human drinking alcohol. on full moons, groups of higher vampires go out partying and get white girl wasted

although all higher vampires have the same basic abilities, each individual has one skill they are exceptional in.

most find humans harmless but annoying, like mosquitos. they don't really like interacting with humans, which works out pretty well as higher vampires can blend in very well, even a witcher's medallion can't detect one

higher vampires also have three distinct cultures, the tdet in the far east, the ammurun across the great sea, and the gharasham in the northern realms

they are really really hard (or impossible, depending on canon) to kill. based on the books, you basically need to disintegrate them. based on the games, only higher vampires can kill other higher vampires, but humans can get close

we only meet one in the books, emiel regis rohellec terzieff-godefroy. he goes by regis for short. regis was an "alcoholic" in his youth, and has since abstained from blood or any other substance. he's incredibly old, by the end of twn season 1 he'd be 425 years old. as for regis' "special ability", he's just kind. he's an incredibly gentle and loving person. that's it. i love him.

merpeople

probably one you're already familiar with! merpeople are intelligent humanoids that inhabit the great sea. mermaids are notably gorgeous, having green hair and tails, and their scales are prized alchemy ingredients

sapkowski's mermaids can breathe above water, but the sun burns their skin so they don't stay at the surface for very long.

merpeople are incredibly powerful, they can summon krakens and the sea-dragon like race of vodyanoy respect their authority

they use their own language that's quite similar to hen llinge, but more lyrical sounding.

nymphs

nymphs are a humanoid race primarily based around nature. they have 5 subspecies, dryads (including hamadryads), leimoniad, naiad, nereid, and oread.

dryads, called eerie wives by humans and aen woedbeanna by elves, are the most prevalent, primarily living in the brokilon forest. some have human skin with olive undertones, but others are green. they usually have dark brown or green hair which is usually worn in dreadlocks (breaking my promise of not being overtly and annoyingly political in this series yet again - the dryads, especially in the netflix adaptation, are classic magical n*gress stereotypes. but more on that later.)

this is a lore-accurate one that i LOVE

dryads have incredibly strong connections with nature and magic, although it is really rare for a dryad to be a source. dryads are able to draw energy from trees, but rarely do because they don't want to hurt the trees. support dryads and take the bus.

all dryads are women. all of them. they make babies by basically luring men into the forest and doing the adult hokey pokey. also why dryads aren't really a fan of witchers, who don't make the baby butter (i am so sorry)

however, dryads can also turn a girl of another race into one of their own through the use of magic. the water of brokilon has some mutating quality that makes young girls forget their human past and physically turn into dryads, although it is less effective as the girls are older. the dryads tried to do this to ciri, but given that she's a source, nothing happened. generally, this process is done to girls who wander into brokilon, but some dryads will abduct peasants from outside the forest if they need more dryads.

here's twn dryads... yikes

this is where i think the whole racism thing becomes a bit too obvious. "uncivilized" women who live in the forest and have dreadlocks and abduct young girls from "civilized" areas?? in twn they leaned even further into this, having one of the two black women they cast be a dryad and replacing the usual bows and arrows with spears, a less sophisticated weapon. again, this series is about the lore, not the political implications of it, but it is important to keep in mind

dryads are excellent at archery, shooting anyone who comes within 80 metres of the forest. through their connection with nature, they have highly advanced medicine and use glowing fungi as a source of light.

hamadryads are a specific type of dryad that is incredibly connected with her tree. because of this connection they have exceptionally strong magical and healing capabilities, but will also go insane and die if their tree dies.

like merpeople, dryads use a more melodic dialect of hen llinge

leimoniads are a type of nymph that lived exclusively in meadows, but are practically extinct due to wars with humans

naiads, also called rusalki, are nymphs that live in lakes and rivers, although a few live with the dryads in brokilon. naiads are very similar to dryads, although they tend to have very light skin with very dark hair, webbed hands, and can dry out on land

naiads rarely speak common, live in small groups, and have highly developed telepathic abilities

nereids are nymphs that inhabit the great sea, often living closely with merpeople. they usually have blueish skin with either blue or white hair and have some telepathic abilities, though not to the extent of naiads.

oreads are nymphs of the mountains, which, like leimoniads, are nearly extinct due to human conquests.

succubi/incubi

succubi (female) and incubi (male) are creatures which look like incredibly attractive humans but with horns and goat legs. they seduce humans, first in dreams and then physically, using their prey's energy to sustain themselves, often to the point of the human's exhaustion or death

our man eskel has a soft spot for them...

sylvans

sylvans, another race we already met, are exceptionally rare. like, practically extinct. they live mainly in the woodlands of the northern realms and have goat-like faces with yellow eyes, horns, cloven hooves, and tails

my man torque is quite possibly one of the last sylvans on the continent

they are distantly related to elves, and the two races tend to coexist quite well

generally quite mischievous and merry, highly enjoying pranks and parties. they can use simple spells and are mainly herbivores

sylvans live around 100 years and are highly sought after by dryads for their... ahem... reproductive capabilities

unicorns

yep, we got unicorns! i fucking love unicorns and still kinda think they're real. camels are real and those lumpy fuckers are way weirder than a horse with a spike on its head.

anyways

unicorns are highly advanced beings, they can travel between worlds and use telepathy. they don't really like the "less advanced" races, mostly staying around to observe them. they have distinct societies led by a council of elders and tend to avoid evil

these unicorns are badasses

unicorns strongly despise the use of the force but encourage the power of destiny. in the context of pavetta's betrothal feast, a unicorn would not be happy with pavetta's little source hurricane thing, but would encourage geralt to follow the law of surprise

in of the witcher, unicorns are very important because of their world-hopping capabilities. the aen elle, unfortunately, realized this and began enslaving unicorns to help them plunder other worlds. this turned into a massive conflict between the unicorns and elves.

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grailfinders · 3 years

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Fate and Phantasms #199

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're making the Jotaro Kujo of FGO, Semiramis! (Seriously, how does that cape/hair... thing work? It's wild.) The queen of poisons is a Graviturgy Wizard to make building a floating castle slightly less difficult to make and cooler to live in, plus a Witherbloom Druid for some dove friends and extra poisons. If you've seen our builds for Waver and Edison, you might know already that building things with magic is costly and time-consuming, and for once that is 100% accurate to the character. Get ready, this is gonna be a weird one.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: I'm 40% appendicitis!

Race and Background

Semiramis is technically an aasimar, but she doesn't fly around or heal people, so we can just focus on her human side. .... Oooor we can focus on those ears, because we need to nick some stuff from being an Elf. Specifically, we're going with the Vahadar Elf from Plane Shift Kaladesh, since they've got the ears, the proficiencies we'll need later, and their backstory's still about living in general society, unlike wood elves and other Kaladeshian elves. Thanks to Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, this gives her +2 Intelligence and +1 Wisdom, as well as Darkvision, Fey Ancestry against being charmed, a Trance instead of sleep so she can't be put to sleep, Keen Senses for proficiency in Perception, the Mending cantrip to piece together the castle later, and most importantly Elf Weapon Training. Normally this would give her proficiency with four weapons, but thanks to Tasha's we can swap this out with four tools instead. Carpenter's, Glassblower's, Mason's, and Smith's Tools proficiency should give us everything we need to build a castle later- we'll go into the why when we get there.

Semiramis is also a Noble- grab History, but swap out Persuasion for Deception. Yeah, not even her background can escape how weird this build is.

Ability Scores

Poisoning skills come from Intelligence (I think. WotC are really nonspecific about how to actually fucking make poison), and it's also your main casting modifier: put that first. Second should be your Charisma, nobody drinks poison on purpose, so you'd better get good at lying. After that is Wisdom. If your poisons aren't made with Intelligence it'll definitely be wisdom. That means your Dexterity isn't great- yeah, you fight in a dress, but if you're fighting and not your lackeys, something's gone wrong. We're not dumping Constitution because we're not stupid, so dump Strength instead. You've got minions to carry rocks around for you.

Class Levels

Wizard 1: Starting as a wizard nets you the weakest hit die in the game, but it also gets you proficiency in Intelligence and Wisdom saves, plus the Arcana and Medicine skills. You're half caster, and if you want to ruin someone's bodily functions you have to know what those are first. Starting as a wizard also gets you Spells that you can cast and prepare using your Intelligence. You get six at first level and two each level after. That's a lot, so we're just going to over spells that are important for the build here, though there's a full list of what we'd get in the character sheet. For cantrips, grab Infestation and Poison Spray for poison damage. For once infestation is completely kosher as is, since Semiramis can summon any creature as long as its poisonous. Also, grab Message. Castle halls are big and echo-y, and it's probably not a good idea to shout at people to find out which glass they put the poison in. Aside from that, grab Mage Armor so you die less, Magic Missile for Assassin balls, and Tenser's Floating Disk to carry all the raw materials you'll be using later. Finally, you get an Arcane Recovery once per long rest, letting you recover a couple spell slots on a short rest. The total level you recover is equal to half your wizard level, rounded up.

Wizard 2: Going into second level of wizard gives you a school of magic, and it's hard to lift several tons of stone into the air if you're not into Graviturgy. When you take the subclass, you can Adjust Density as an action, doubling or halving a large or smaller creature/object's weight for up to a minute with concentration. If you reduce a creature's weight it'll increase their speed by 10', double their jump distance, and have disadvantage on strength saves and checks, and vice versa if you increase it. I checked, and stone is roughly 1,000 times denser than air, not 2, so we'll have to do some brewing later to make this work out. Make your strong minions stronger, your fast minions faster, or do the opposite for your enemies.

Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells. You won't get any dragons in this build, sad to say, but you can use Dragon's Breath to turn just about anything into a dragon. They can even spit poison breath, which is really good with the poisoner's feat. Speaking of..

Wizard 4: First Ability Score Improvement of the build, so grab the Poisoner's Feat for more poisony goodness. All poison-based damage rolls you make ignore resistance, you can coat weapons as a bonus action, and you get proficiency in the poisoner's kit. You also learn a special poison that'll force a dc 14 constitution save on the creature you use it on, dealing 2d8 poison damage and poisoning them for a round.

Wizard 5: Fifth level wizards get third level spells. Animate Dead will help you make dragontooth warriors, a.k.a. skeletons. You can make one per casting right now, but you can recast the spell to retain control over up to three skeletons at once. Otherwise they'll be uncontrollable monsters, which is probably less of a goal.

Druid 1: Semiramis might be known for her poisons, but she's really a multifaceted person. Well, not really, but if you want poisons, you're going to get them from animals. If you want animals, you're going to get them from druids. First level druids learn Druidic- it's a language! They also get another set of Spellcasting using their Wisdom to cast and prepare spells. Check the multiclassing table to figure out your spell slots. Grab Guidance and Resistance to be a bit better than everyone else. For first level spells, look for Entangle and Snare to summon chains to slow down enemies, and Speak with Animals to make sure your dovey-woveys know their work is appreciated. We haven't gotten dovey-woveys yet? Don't worry, they're coming.

Druid 2: Second level druids join their circle, and you're so goddamn smart you just joined another school. At the college of Witherbloom, you'll learn how to turn the vitality of nature into deadly poisons. Right off the bat you get circle spells, which are always prepared for you and don't count against how many spells you can prepare. Right now you get the Spare the Dying cantrip as well as Cure and Inflict Wounds. Now you don't literally have to summon a whip every time you want to hit someone. You can also tap in creatures' essences with your Essence Tap. As a bonus action, you empower yourself for 1 minute, gaining one of two options. Overgrowth lets you heal yourself with a hit die each turn as a bonus action, adding your wisdom modifier to the amount healed. Withering Strike lets you change your damage to necrotic when you hit someone with any sort of damage, ignoring resistances to make your poisons even deadlier. You can use this proficiency times per long rest. Most importantly, you gain a Wild Shape / Wild Companion. Both features use the same two charges per short rest. You're limited to what you can turn into based on its CR and movement options, but those limits and how long you can transform/summon a creature for grows as you level up. Currently I'd stick with Wild Companion for dove familiars, but some versions of Semiramis' story include her turning into a dove herself at the end, so Wild Shape isn't out of the question. As long as we sink eight levels into druid, at least.

Druid 3: Third level druids get second level spells, like your freebies Lesser Restoration and Ray of Enfeeblement. Look, if you're going to make poisons it only makes sense that you'd have antidotes on hand. You can also grab spells like Animal Messenger to send your doves out for ingredients, and Locate Animals or Plants to find them yourself.

Wizard 6: Sixth level graviturgists can make a Gravity Well when you cast a spell, moving the target 5 feet in any direction if it is willing or you successfully hit it with the spell. Speaking of spells that push people, Pulse Wave does just that, stepping in for the big stompy dragon animation. Creatures in a 30' cone make a constitution save, and if they fail they'll take force damage and get pushed back 15', or 20' with Gravity Well. You can also pull them, but that's not really stompy at that point. You can also Summon Undead to create a stronger skeleton to lead the others.

Druid 4: At fourth level, druids can transform into swimming creatures, and you also get another ASI. Bump up your Intelligence for stronger spells. Also, grab the Control Fire cantrip, it'll be cold in your castle without it.

Druid 5: Fifth level druids get third level spells, like Revivify and Vampiric Touch. Neither of those are in character, but you can also Conjure Animals (as long as they're poisonous) and Dispel Magic to keep your throne room free of nonsense.

Wizard 7: Seventh level wizard get fourth level spells, including the one we've been working our way up to, Fabricate! As long as you have the raw materials, you can turn them into products of the same material. Since you're working with stone, you're limited to creating Medium objects this way. Just line the outside of the medium objects you make with halves of smaller objects, then mend them together, and eventually you'll have a castle. This will take a while. For a decent-sized castle of 300'x400', you'll be looking at roughly 480 medium-sized blocks per floor. At level 20 you'll have 12 spell slots of fourth level or higher, so you can knock out a floor in roughly 40 days, not including things like doors or other furniture. Also worth noting, you can't make fancy things like glass without proficiency in the tools required to make them normally, hence all the tool proficiencies from your racial bonuses.

Wizard 8: Use your next ASI to bump up your Wisdom for better healing and stronger druid spells. You also learn Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum, so you can prevent creatures from spying into your hanging gardens. Especially useful is the ability to block creatures from teleporting or plane shifting onto your grounds, as that's probably the only way to approach your gardens safely. Or at least it is after you learn Ice Storm, a long range spell that pelts enemies with ice and turns the area into difficult terrain. Of note, it doesn't say the ground, so the entire cylinder will be difficult to fly through. If you want to build giant arcane cannons instead for authenticity, I salute you. Just remember that'll have to come out of your budget.

Wizard 9: Ninth level wizards get fifth level spells, and Wall of Stone will help you speed up construction by making ten 10'x10' panels or ten 10'x20' panels. You can also use this spell to create bridges or the like, and if you hold concentration for 10 minutes the stone remains permanently. If you want to skimp on materials so you can just get this fucking thing in the air already, this'll help with that. You're also learning Geas. If you can't summon a dragon, forcibly controlling a dragon is the next best thing.

Druid 6: Did you think we were done with druid? I said we were stuck here for 8 levels, didn't I? Sixth level witherbloom druids can make a Witherbloom Brew thanks to their new proficiency with Herbalism kits. At the end of a long rest, you can use that kit to make Proficiency brews, which last for 24 hours. A Fortifying brew gives a creature resistance to a damage type chosen at brewing (cold, fire, necrotic, poison, or radiant) for an hour. A Quickening brew heals its drinker, and ends one disease or an effect of charming, frightening, paralyzation, poisoning, or stunning. Again, antidotes might be useful to have on hand, but the real reason we're here is for the Toxifying brew. You can apply the brew to a weapon, and the next time within an hour that weapon hits a creature, they take 2d6 poison damage and have to make a constituiton saving throw (DC 8 + your wisdom modifier + proficiency) or be poisoned for a minute. This is literally so much better than the poisoner feat what the hell.

Druid 7: Seventh level druids get fourth level spells, like Blight and Greater Restoration for stronger poisons and antidotes respectively. You can also Dominate Beast to hold any poisonous critters still while you milk them, or summon Giant Insects instead. They obey you and stay giant until they drop to 0 HP, dismiss the effect, the spell ends.

Druid 8: Our last level of druid finally lets you turn into a dove with a second Wild Shape Improvement. You also get another ASI, so bump up that Wisdom for stronger spells and poisons.

Wizard 10: Tenth level graviturgists can create a Violent Attraction between a creature's face and a weapon, causing a nearby weapon attack to deal an extra 1d10 damage. Alternatively, you can increase the attraction between a creature and the ground, adding 2d10. I doubt your hanging gardens need help making the fall more deadly, but now you can help out of need be. You can do this Intelligence modifier per long rest.

Wizard 11: Eleventh level wizards get sixth level spells, like Guards and Wards. This will make it so much harder for enemies to breach your castle it isn't even funny, if the "hanging out in the stratosphere" thing didn't tip them off already.

Wizard 12: By twentieth level you should have a castle set up, so grab the Lucky feat. Basically, everything that can go right for you does while you're in your castle, so now you get 3 luck points per long rest to make sure that happens, letting you re-roll your attacks, saves, and checks, as well as attacks aimed at you.

So how the fuck do I get a flying castle?

So, admittedly this is up to DM fiat, but let's be real, a flying castle sounds sick as hell and gathering resources is a great reason to go adventuring. If I was your DM, it'd go something like this; After x months of research, you find a way to prepare materials so Adjust Density is permanent on them if you concentrate for the duration. Then you make and fuse together castle chunks as described in level twelve, and eventually you lighten the load on the special rocks so much they're lighter than air. Boom, liftoff, you're fucking awesome now. If you want to go down, just make the float rocks heavier again.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Even if you don't build a giant floating castle in your adventure, that doesn't mean all this prepwork went to waste. You are a master at protecting areas from invasion, so no matter where you lay your head you know it's going to be safe. Not as safe as a floating castle, but still, safe.

By mixing together all your tool proficiencies with Fabricate, you can make pretty much whatever you need from raw materials. No more paying a smithy for fancier armor!

If you do get your castle in the air or you're near a cliff, you are incredibly deadly, with plenty of ways to shove opponents around or otherwise control movement. Slow them down, trip them up, or shove them off a cliff it's so good. Pulse people off the edge of your garden and laugh at them as they fall.

Cons:

There's literally no rules about building your own castles & poisons, so most of this build is entirely dependent on your DM. If you get a cool one, cool! If you don't, this build is pretty much a writeoff.

You need to hide away in your castle and send out minions because you're kind of pathetic in person. With only 14 AC and less than 100 HP, you'll go down faster than Medb if you don't use your Wild Shapes well.

A lot of that can be chalked up to mixing caster classes, meaning we have to spend more ASIs to make both spell modifiers good, and we miss out on higher level spells. Also, spending 8 levels in druid just to turn into a dove isn't that great unless you really want the flavor. I highly recommend skipping out after 6, the last graviturgy effect is great both to knock people out of the sky and make them bow if they get to your throne room.

But, getting to your throne room is 90% of the fight. This build is one that emphasizes patience, and that's what puts you above the common folk. Hang out in the stratosphere, attend social events in style, and let your poisons and skeleton warriors do the fighting for you. Just be glad there aren't any wacky knights riding hippogryphs around.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #Semiramis #Wizard #Druid

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freddieslater · 3 years

Text

Twelve Days of Rarepairs: Allydia | Allison Argent x Lydia Martin (Teen Wolf)

Requested by @wonderdoves

Hosting a Christmas party is not something Allison ever really planned to do. She just figured that if parties happened to be going on, and she got an invite, she'd go. But throwing one herself? Absolutely not, for many levels of reasons.

Then again, she supposes she isn't throwing it herself. Technically it's not even her party, really—Lydia wanted to throw one, but her mom said no, so she asked to borrow Allison's house. Her dad's out of town with Melissa and won't be back until Christmas day, and her aunt Kate's flight was delayed, so she's still stuck in the airport for the next twenty-four hours or so. Leaving tonight totally free.

For the best, too. Right now, Allison can't even find her way through her own house. She knew it was big, but she didn't realize just how big until nearly a hundred people were crammed inside of it. And that's just a guess.

"Oh—sorry, excuse me," Allison apologizes as she knocks into someone with her shoulder while trying to wind her way past without spilling the cup in her hand.

The person ignores her. She just hurries on, taking a drink. Honestly, she isn't that thirsty, but she needed something to do to feel less awkward and out of place. Plus, Lydia made the punch, and it's surprisingly good when it doesn't have the secret ingredient of wolfsbane.

She narrowly avoids tripping over someone else's foot, stumbling slightly. When she turns back around, she spots Lydia quickly approaching.

Allison breathes a sigh of relief and stops in front of a rather annoyed looking Lydia.

"So, I've not only lost all of our friends in here somewhere, but I'm also ninety percent sure I've lost control of this thing entirely," Lydia tells her.

"Fantastic."

Allison moves a strand of hair away from her face, blowing out a breath.

"Well," she starts, letting her hand swing back to her side, "it could be worse, right? I mean, nothing is totally out of control, and everyone's having fun?"

Lydia raises an eyebrow. "Except you. And now me."

Allison rolls her eyes. "I'm not… not having fun. It is kind of nice to be able to relax a little. At least compared to what we're usually dealing with."

Lydia just gives a little hum in agreement, still not looking entirely sure as she surveys the shouting group hovering near them in the kitchen.

"Here—" Allison holds out her cup, nodding her head at it, "—have a drink. It might help."

"I'm stressed, not dehydrated," Lydia replies, but she still accepts the offer and takes a drink. "Though maybe a little bit of that, too. Thanks. I'm just glad I found you."

A small smile curves Allison's mouth. She tries to ignore the slight flush of warmth in her face. She knows Lydia just means because she's worried about the party getting out of control and she doesn't want to be separated with strangers. But it still makes her a little bit happier to think she brings her some comfort. That feeling of safety that Allison gets every time she catches a glimpse of strawberry blond hair or that smile or their eyes lock across a room.

The eyes she quickly realizes she's been gazing at for a moment too long.

Snapping out of it, she quickly looks away, swallowing. Her heart thumps against her ribs accusingly. It's silenced when her eyes dart up.

Oh.

"What?" Lydia asks, spotting her expression, now fixed on the doorway above them. Frowning, she follows her line of sight before Allison can stop her.

She sees the sprig of mistletoe. One of many that they hung throughout the house, as insisted upon by Stiles when he and Scott came over to help them get the party ready.

"Oh," Lydia says.

Allison's gaze drops back to Lydia. She just stares up at the mistletoe with wide eyes, her lips parted as if to speak, but the words are getting lost on the way out.

"I guess we should have expected something like this," Allison jokes, giving a half shrug and a forced chuckle. Trying to disguise how pink her face must be right now and keep the butterflies in her stomach calm.

Lydia shifts her eyes from their captor to meet Allison's gaze. She presses her lips together, chewing on her lower lip. For a second, Allison thinks she's going to say how it's just some dumb, old tradition, and that she is not going to be a part of keeping something so pointless alive.

But she doesn't say that. She doesn't say anything. Doesn't make a getaway excuse. Her throat shifts as she swallows and takes a deep breath.

Then in a rushed exhale, she says, "You know, hanging mistletoe in a doorway comes from a Norse legend."

Allison's heart sinks. She nods, and smiles. She promised herself that if Lydia didn't show any sign of sharing her feeling by the end of the night, she'd let it go and move on. And reciting a Norse myth seems like a desperate attempt to get out of kissing her without just rejecting her. Even if it would be unknowingly.

"Yeah," Allison says. "The, uh… the legend of Balder. Loki tricked Balder's twin brother into murdering him with mistletoe wood."

Lydia looks startled that she already knows. But surely that gives her an easy out then, right?

"Yeah! Yeah, um…" Lydia doesn't move. She still stands there, glued to the spot, back to chewing at her bottom lip. Her face lights up, and she quickly says, "Well, uh, there are other legends, of course! People tend to mix them up with holly, because they look so similar, so people think that red berries mean mistletoe when, actually, they're quite different. And everyone knows that mistletoe is usually extremely toxic, to both humans and animals. As we know… from past experience."

Allison's just staring at Lydia, her eyebrows raised. She thought she knew where this was going. This? This is not it. Before she can say anything, Lydia's continuing her rambling, at such high speeds it's almost hard to keep up.

"It's toxicity actually varies quite a bit based on region, though, which—"

"Lydia," Allison starts. "We don't—"

"—can actually be really interesting!"

"Lydia."

"There are many different types of mistletoe, with different scientific names. Viscum album, viscum cruciatum, even Phoradendron leucarpum, which is native to North America!"

"That's—that's really interesting, but—"

"Viscum album—the European mistletoe—is more toxic than Phoradendron serotinum, which is the kind that we're most familiar with."

"Oh, that's—I mean—"

"And, despite the fact that all one-thousand-five-hundred types of mistletoe are toxic in most situations, it used to be used for medicinal purposes to treat things like arthritis, epilepsy! It's still used in parts of South Asia, because the effects aren't fatal. Disturbing and, frankly, unpleasant, but not fatal! In fact, the effects tend to be more prominent in animals. Which, wouldn't be good for any of our friends. But—"

"Lydia," Allison finally cuts her off. Her eyebrows are as far as they can be on her forehead. "You're rambling a bunch of scientific facts to me, and honestly, it's a little scary."

Lydia nods, pressing her lips together again. "Yeaaah. Sorry."

Allison pauses, thinking, this is her one opportunity, there will never be a better time, and—Lydia isn't running away. She's nervous rambling science to her. But she's not using her usual methods of getting out of something she doesn't want to do.

Shutting her brain off before she can overthink it, she goes for it.

"I want to kiss you," she tells Lydia. "If you don't want to kiss me, that's fine, we can ignore the mistletoe entirely and move on. Okay?"

The blunt confessions throws Lydia off her usually perfect guard. She blinks those wide eyes, her lips parting but nothing coming out.

"Uh, y-yeah," she fumbles out, then shakes her head, "I mean—I'm okay with it. Kissing you, I'm okay with kissing you—that sounds so lame, oh my god—I want to kiss you, too!"

"Okay," Allison laughs, and leans in.

Her skin is on fire before her lips find Lydia's, and her stomach is doing olympic style flips when she does kiss her, and Lydia's kissing back with an eagerness she definitely wasn't expecting.

If anything, she was certain it'd be a quick, funny peck on the lips, and that's it over and done with, just a fun little moment to laugh about. But Lydia doesn't pull away, and Allison is not going to be the one to pull away first.

Instead, they keep kissing. Lips moving together, Lydia's hands on the sides of Allison's neck, holding her closer.

Next second, someone bumps into them. They break apart out of surprise, Lydia trying not to spill Allison's drink. The person's already stumbled away.

They both look back at each other, Allison's heart in her throat, and Lydia's eyes widening again. She draws her tongue across her bottom lip as she clearly falters for what to say now, but it's actually incredibly distracting.

"So…" Lydia starts, uncertain. Then a small smile forms at the corners of her mouth. "You wanted to kiss me? Any particular reason? Is it because of my lipgloss? It is especially appealing tonight, extra shiny."

Allison can't help but smile at Lydia's teasing tone. It appears her nerves have fluttered off and left behind her usual cool, calm composure.

"That is one reason," Allison says, nodding, and Lydia gives a curious little hum, arching an eyebrow. "But also… because I've wanted to kiss you for a while. Because I really like you. A lot."

"Yeah, I think I got that," Lydia says, barely containing the shake of laughter in her voice and absolutely failing at disguising the sparkle of delight in her eyes. "I just cannot believe that you confessed before I did. And under the mistletoe."

Allison can't even begin to comprehend the "before I did" part. She just laughs as well, shaking her head and faking a wince.

"Wow, of all the cliches," she jokes.

"Well, personally, I don't mind a cliche here and there," Lydia says, with a smile that makes Allison's breath catch in her throat.

She pushes it out and quickly draws in another, returning her smile as she says, "Neither do I."

#teen wolf #twedit #twrarepair #allydia #allison x lydia #lydia x allison #allison argent #lydia martin #twelve days of rarepairs #rowing the rarepair rowboat #myedits*#wonderdoves #so yed they may not be the Rarest pairing #but I love them and this was such a sweet prompt so once again Thank You!!#hope you enjoy!!

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thejohnthatgotaway · 5 years

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A DIFFERENT KIND OF 'KILIG' IN JOMALIG

[Exploring Jomalig Island on a DIY Adventure]

There seems to be a special kind of fulfillment in getting a chance to set foot in a hidden paradise long before the rest of the world gets to see its wonders — something that definitely makes roughly 12 hours of travel time worth the physical fatigue.

Home to unspoiled beaches, amazing rock formations and truly beautiful people, Jomalig — an island municipality in Quezon province which gained popularity after a KMJS feature — welcomes its visitors with a kind of love that weary souls [and hearts, too] will truly appreciate.

Day 0 × Sunday

Our group's original plan was to take the Manila-Real route through an Infanta-bound bus or van at Raymond Transport in Sta. Teresita cor Legarda, Sampaloc, Manila. Due to shortage of Manila-bound buses in Lipa City because of the Holy Week, however, we decided to hire a Lucena-bound van priced at Php1500. We departed at around 8PM and arrived in Lucena City Grand Terminal at 10PM.

From Lucena, we rode an Infanta-bound van which will drop us off at Ungos Port in Real, Quezon. We were on the road for at least four hours and the bumpy slash zig-zag way gave us all some sort of a headache. Fare is at Php250.

Day 1 × Monday

We alighted at Ungos Port at around 2AM and paid for the terminal fee [Php10 per person]. Luckily, we were way early for the first trip to Jomalig [which means that there are still plenty of vacant seats] which usually departs at 5AM. Ticket is priced at Php400 each. It includes a simple meal which the crews prepare and freshly serve during the trip.

The boat ride is physically tiring as it usually lasts for four to six hours depending on the boat's speed. Those who aren't really comfortable traveling on water should take Bonamine as it can really get bumpy. Waves, you know?

Finally, we alighted at Jomalig Port at 25 minutes past 10 o'clock, paid for the environmental and tourism fees priced at Php170, and headed directly to South Pacific Island Resort [SPIR], our home away from home for three days, through a habal-habal.

Habal-habal is the main mode of transportation in the island. Every habal-habal ride will give you the 'mapapakapit ka kay kuya' feels — the kind that will make you feel like your soul is trying to leave your body and there's nothing that you can do about it. Hehe.

Please note that it's essential to make the necessary arrangements with the resort of your choice before leaving for the island adventure. It's also important to note that supply of electricity is only available from 1PM to 5AM daily.

I chose SPIR after getting several recommendations from a few Jomalig travel blogs I read some weeks before our planned escapade. Jomaligins, a term used to call the locals of the island, also say that SPIR is among the top picks when it comes to homestays. Tejada's Resort, meanwhile, comes as a good second pick.

SPIR is also a top choice because it's situated along the coast of Salibungot Beach, right in front of a vast and amazing sandbar.

We did not bring any food — yeah, not a single pack of biscuit — as the travel blogs I've read made mention of how we can count on Nanay Lota for food. She's actually the cook featured in the Jomalig episode of KMJS. During our stay, she would repeatedly recall bloopers and joke about her experiences while being interviewed for the magazine show.

"Naglapel-lapel pa ako, tapos hindi naman pala ako maririnig sa TV. Nakakangawit kaya maghawak 'nung isda at lobster doon," Nanay Lota would always recall whenever she would be identified by tourists as the cook featured in an episode of the show.

Nanay Lota will cook any dish you want as long as main ingredients for your requests are available, and just charge each person Php100 each for a truly delightful and almost unlimited serving.

You may find her and her amazing family at SPIR. Just look for the kainan tagged as "Byahe ni Lota."

After lunch, we decided to take some rest in our assigned kubo overlooking Salibungot sandbar. We paid Php750 per night for a native hut which can accommodate 5-6 people. We all fell asleep and it was past 4 o'clock when we decided to head to the beach, experienced the crystal clear waters of Salibungot and played a set of 3 on 3 Beach Volleyball to determine who will lose and pay for our first dinner. Luckily, my team won the set. Thanks to my excellent sets and pancake saves. Haha!

We slept at around 9PM to prepare for the island tour which will start at 4:30AM. The guides told us we'll have to leave as early as that if we want to make the best out of the experience.

Day 2 × Tuesday

The habal-habal adventure with Kuya Bibi [my assigned driver and guide] began at almost 5AM. We had to start early so we could catch the beautiful sunrise 'diumano' of Jomalig. The trip to the first destination was quite long that the sun started to pop while we were on our way. It was indeed beautiful. You may check photos and video clips in the album.

First stop was at Jomalig Rock Formations situated at the far end of the island municipality. The place was so quiet, so calm that it will give you some sort of Batanes feels you may have seen in travel videos online. We needed to rent a boat that will take us to the hill which would allow us to trek and see how picture-perfect the island really is. Boat ride is priced at Php600 [for a group of six] on top of an entrance fee worth Php50 per head.

Next destinations were Pamana Beach Resort and Lingayen Cove which locals call as Little Boracay and Little Batanes, respectively. These were two amazing and unspoiled beaches that will force you to have hearty eyes all along. Little Batanes will make you feel wanted so bad — by the waves. The waves were like hugging you and shouting "Akin ka na lang." Awwwww. Entrance fees are worth Php30 and Php50, respectively.

From Little Batanes, we headed to Puno ng Walang Forever. This hugot tree (Dapdap, if I heard it right) gained popularity as 'tis situated alone in the middle of the plains. Tour guides will help you climb up the tree through a wooden ladder. A container for entrance fees [usually Php5 per head] is placed not far from the place. Locals and tourists have associated the tree to 'naiwan feels' of people who visit the place. Titos and Titas can well relate to this.

From the hugot tree, we headed to Sadong Golden Sand Beach for another beach experience. Entrance fee is priced at Php20 per person. This one also features an IG-worthy golden sandbar and a truly breath-taking view.

I think Jomaligins also know what it means to save the best for last. Last stop was at the 'We ❤️ Jomalig' marker in Salibungot Golden Sand Beach. It looks surreal, like a photo with an automatic filter. It was literally jaw-dropping and even if we don't really have plans of swimming because it's nearly 12 high noon, we just couldn't resist the temptation.

We left the place just in time for a boodle fight-inspired lunch which Nanay Lota promised to prepare for us. The serving of grilled pork liempo and adobong seafood sa gata on top of steamed rice was almost unlimited, and while we were expecting it to be more pricey than our usual meals, we only paid Php100 each. And we were like: "Seryoso ka ba, 'Nay?"

Besides the beauty of the place, Jomaligins are truly beautiful people. People will greet you with smiles on their faces even when you're trying to compose yourself while on a blazing habal-habal. We also expected commodities to be a bit pricey like in other tourist destinations, but no.

We spent the last hours of our second day in the island with a two-set beach volleyball match. The revenge-seeking team who paid for our first dinner used dirty tactics to defeat my team in two sets and forced us to pay for two pitchers of iced tea. Haha.

Day 3 × Wednesday

We don't want to leave yet, but we had to leave SPIR at 4AM to make sure we'll have tickets for the first trip back to Real. We all have commitments [meetings, training and the like] and we just can't stay longer this time, but we can come back. We will come back.

Indeed, there's a kind of kilig only Jomalig can give. 😉

#WhenInJomalig #SummerInJomalig #MahumalingSaJomalig #Jomalig2019 #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines

#JomaligIsland2019 #MahumalingSaJomalig #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines #Beach #itsmorefuninthephilippines #summer

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severussnapefanfictions · 5 years

Text

Severus’ Trouble with Essays

Severus Snape had only been in Hogwarts for a few short weeks. He had already proved himself to be an excellent student, well practically at least. Professor Slughorn had been particularly impressed with his potions, almost perfect, the teacher had said. He had very little trouble with Defence Against the Dark Arts, the spells came with an ease that had other students green with envy. It really impressed his friend, Lily. Transfiguration, well it didn't maybe come quite as quickly as some of the other subjects, but he was one of the first to see a change in his toothpick! It was with pride that handed in assignments, of course, he was brilliant and would receive the exact same praise when it came to his written work also.

He and Lily were sat at the front of the potions classroom, they had already cleared away, and had got full marks for their practical element, yet again. He sat there with a smug smile on his face as he awaited his essay. Professor Slughorn pulled out a large stack of parchments and walked up to the front of the class.

"This was very well written Miss Evans, you should be proud of such an excellent essay," he smiled down at the girl that was apparently a favourite student.

Severus sat waiting, wondering how he would describe Severus' work.

"Mr Snape," he began in an altogether different tone. "I think you should see me after class."

Severus' stomach dropped, he could tell from the expression on his face this wasn't going to be what he had been expecting. Severus was not going to listen to him wax poetic about how fantastic an essay he had written. Professor Slughorn laid the parchment in front of Severus, and right on the top in red ink was a letter he had never expected to see: P. Severus gulped and hid the parchment away before anyone could see, least of all, Lily.

"How you do, Sev?" Lily asked, her bright green eyes as excited as he had been mere moments ago.

"Erm, okay."

"What mark? I got E, which is Exceeds Expectations," Lily rambled on. "I wish I had got an O, but I guess I can aim for that next time."

"Yea, I got E too," he lied. "Was just a bit embarrassed, I think with how good my potions are I expected an O."

"It's okay, I bet we can get that next time!" she gushed as she packed away her books. Severus, however, took his time. "Aren't you coming?"

"No, I just want to ask Professor Slughorn something," he tried to smile.

"Okay, well we have charms together the sixth period, save me a spot if you get there first?"

"Of course, Lil."

Severus waited for the room to empty, slowly putting his books away. When the classroom was finally deserted, he walked up to the Professors desk.

"Sir?"

"Ah, Mr Snape," he began. "You have shown remarkable promise, practically speaking, but if you are ever going to make it as a truly excellent Potions Master, you will need to grasp the theoretical side of potions too. I also think you need to brush up on your Herbology."

"But, sir I understand it. I know how it works, potions I mean, I know which ingredients to use to counteract mistakes. I can list all the side effects of the dangerous ingredients you told us about last week."

"Not according to this." Slughorn pulled the parchment from Severus' bag. "I suggest that you take a look at the notes I put in the margins, have another crack at it."

The old professor smiled, watching Severus, as he walked away. Severus had similar conversations with some teachers over the next week. More than one suggested he get help from another student. Many told of how well Lily's essays were written, and that as they were friends, they were sure she would be happy to help. That was the problem though, Lily thought he was getting E's and O's. The lie was getting harder and harder to maintain.

Severus was sat in the little nook of a tree where he and Lily often spent time studying. He was curled up looking over his notes, and reading his potions book, trying to make sure that he had the right idea. He was thoroughly absorbed in his work and planning what would obviously be a far superior essay than the one before. He didn't notice the boys from the train approaching. Potter and Black had cultivated a couple more followers since then, a puny and rather pathetic pot-bellied boy called Peter Pettigrew, and a much quieter boy called Remus Lupin.

"Oi, Snivellus!" Black shouted.

They were already too close though. Potter grabbed his bag and up-ended it. Ink bottles smashed, parchment was ruined, and his battered books were lying the in the dirt.

"James! Have you seen Snivellus' books? Where did you get them, the reject bin from the naff second-hand book stall!" Sirius laughed.

Severus clambered pulling the various bits of parchment into his bag. That was when James snagged his potions essay.

"Would you look at this, Siri?" James called Sirius over, showing him the parchment that was littered with Slughorns notes. "He's been bragging about getting an E, and the highest mark in the class, but look here," James smirked.

"You got a P! Oh man, that's pathetic Snivellus!" Sirius laughed. "The bragging was bad enough, but he can't even pass potions!"

"I can still out brew you any day of the week!" Severus finally spat back.

"See, I reckon he gets Evans to do it for him," James declared. "Oi! Evans!" he shouted at the red head that was already storming over. "Have you been covering for Snivellus?" he laughed.

"Excuse me?" she asked haughtily.

"Have you been covering for Snivellus here?" he smiled. "You know, helping him cover for the fact that he clearly doesn't know the difference between Dittany and flux weed!"

"Severus is doing better than you!" she said confidently, her arms crossed. "He's also got better manners than either of you four!"

"Is that what you think?" James smiled. "It's all right here," he showed the parchment to Lily, who glanced sympathetically to her friend, who was shoving everything hurriedly into his bag. "According to Slughorn if he keeps this up he may not even make it to second year!"

Lily snatched the essay from James and pulled Severus up, dragging him as she stormed away.

They were now sat in the library, in silence. Neither had spoken about the essay that lay between them. Severus wouldn't even look up.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked finally.

Severus shrugged, his eyes focused on the table in front of him, there was one particular knot in the wood that he seemed to find particularly fascinating.

"Did you think I would laugh like they did?" she continued tentatively.

Severus shook his head, his lank dark hair swaying as he did.

"Did you think I wouldn't help you?" she asked a little more confidently.

Again, he merely shrugged. That's when Lily noticed a single tear hit the table in front of him. She reached out and held his hand.

"You are the cleverest wizard in our year!" she began. "I mean, you helped me so much in potions; clearly you just need help showing that on paper - I mean parchment."

"What if I'm not clever?"

"Of course you are! Remember when I put too many Lionfish spines in the potion last week, you knew exactly what to do to make it right again! I didn't. You are clearly just more practically gifted, and I can help you show it in your essays!" she smiled.

"I don't get it, you just write it down, what's so hard about that? If I can't do it, I must be really thick."

"Don't you call my best friend thick!" she scolded, slapping his hand.

Severus looked up, shocked.

"Best friend?" he asked. "But you spend all your time with Mary McDonald now!" he replied snidely.

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shamelessfartturtle-blog · 7 years

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