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ventiskies · 3 years

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when he accidentally injures you | Xiao, Albedo, Bennett

a/n: hello anon!! im doing well, thank you!! hope you are too !! thank you for giving me the chance to add characters HHHH ive been DYING to write for Xiao, Albedo and Benny so i took the opportunity to! hope you like it !! also,,, this is probably my longest post !! i loved writing this <3

pairing: Xiao x gn! reader, Albedo x gn! reader Bennett x gn! reader

warnings: vague mentions of injury and blood

Xiao

★Xiao and you had been on a stroll, something you casually did together whenever Xiao was in a good mood. the adeptus wasn’t one to get out of the confines of Wangshuu Inn, so every time he does, you cherish it and spend it as if it was your last

★but this particular stroll didn’t go as planned, at all

★the two of you had left Wangshuu Inn in the morning, when the weather had seemed as if it would be sunny the whole morning, but it had betrayed you the moment you had set foot in Minlin, the skies had loomed with darkness and occasional rumbles of thunder

★Xiao could have easily teleported the two of you together, but a sudden attack with a ruin hunter had caused him to get distracted

★he could easily defeat the creation with a simple use of his elemental burst, but you were in the vicinity and he didn’t want you getting injured, despite the chances of hitting you were low, he wasn’t going to take the chance

★he had strictly told you to stay back and out of sight, making use of the terrain to jump and strike at the core with his polearm whenever the hunter was aiming to him, but he should have known you were stubborn

★the moment you had ran into the fight, arrow pointing to the ruin hunter, the said war machine had immediately turned towards you, all four of its arms aiming missiles towards you

★Xiao had been too slow, and when he had realized it was aiming towards you, you had already been sent back flying after the hit

★your name fell on his lips, his eyes widening in anger when he had seen what the creature had done, and without any hesitance Xiao summons his elemental burst and sends the creature falling to pieces

★“y/n,” Xiao mutters, worried that he would be met with the sight of you dead, “y/n, where are you?”

★you gave a weak groan, unable to raise your head after hitting it on the sharp rocks. Xiao made his way towards you, and the rain started pouting

★Xiao knelt down and cradled your head gently, seeing the gash on your head. you were most likely suffering from a concussion as well from the way you were unable to look at him in the eye, and your hands grabbing your forehead as if it had exploded

★his eyes showing evident worry, and this was the first time he had felt so scared

★he knew he was powerful, and he was beginning to regret even taking you out of the safety of the Inn. this shouldn't have happened, he was with you because he wanted to protect you,

★and here he was being the cause of your injury

★“y/n, can you hear me?” he asked, and when you hissed the moment he placed a gentle hand on your head, he curses lightly, unable to keep himself calm as he always had anymore, “hold on,”

★Xiao had lived for years and had suffered watching deaths and injuries of the people he had been close with since he had became the adeptus of Liyue, but for once, he had felt a different type of hurt when you had been injured this time

★because this was his fault; what if it had happened again?

★he had teleported the two of you back to Wangshuu Inn, and had asked Verr Goldet to help you just because he was afraid of hurting you further

★and she knew more than to question what happened, especially after Xiao had told her with the weakest voice she has ever heard him use, and pleading eyes to take care of you.

★when you had healed completely, you noticed Xiao had distanced himself from you more than when you had both met the first time, and it had worried you to no end

★it had came to a point where he would disappear whenever you tried to search for him at the balcony, and you were getting upset that he was running away from you because of the accident that was caused by your stubbornness; and the fact that you knew Xiao blamed himself had only made you more guilty

★”Xiao,” you gently said, walking outside with a bowl of his favorite almond tofu, “I miss you,”

★he had to contain himself to avoid disappearing on you again after he heard the words. Xiao wasn’t much of an emotional person, but the memories from the accident had left him afraid of getting close to you again, in fear that he would hurt you once more

★but when he had met your glossy eyes and saw the pained expression you held, he knew that it was only going to be worse is he had avoided you

★”y/n-” Xiao started, but you had only dropped the almond tofu and ran into his arms, hugging him tight as if you were afraid to let him go

★and (with reluctance), Xiao had hugged you back, twice as hard

★it would take time for him to get back to his usual self and trust himself to go out and adventure with you again, but for him, you would wait your lifetime.

Albedo

★An experiment going wrong was a part of alchemy. It was something Albedo would expect to happen fifty percent of the time he conducts something for the first time

★He has gotten a handful of injuries from it that he had sometimes forgotten that people outside of the realm of alchemy wouldn't know what it would be like to expect a burn or scars after the first test

★So of course, sometimes even the smartest people could be careless

★Albedo had brought you to his lab in Dragonspine, claiming that he had found a rare plant and wanted to see if it was able to withstand heat

★Putting it in a flask, he had placed it on a test tube holder and your curious eyes had caught sight of the glowing pink tube

★“What’s this?” you stepped closer to inspect the glowing flask, and Albedo wordlessly looks at you with a fond smile. your curious gaze at his work had always made him feel happy; you truly were endearing

★Albedo turns on the burner, and the moment the fire had hit the flask, the substance had instantly exploded, causing you to recoil back and grab at your face when the substance had burned your face

★instantly, Albedo had abandoned his failed test and attended to you, trying to pry your hands away from your face

★“My love, I’m so sorry,” he says gently, trying to see the damage that the explosion has gave you, “please look at me,”

★you felt tears well in your eyes, the burns on your cheeks combining with the coldness of the snow stinging your face

★when Albedo had successfully pried your hands away , he grabbed them gently and looked at you, “we- we need to see the deaconess,” he mutters to himself, feeling his heart ache seeing you holding back tears, never in his life had he regretted conducting an experiment so badly;

★he had wished he was able to take the pain away from you, he absolutely despised seeing you so hurt

★after you had healed, Albedo would make a rule that you weren’t ever allowed in the premises of his laboratory ever again, and that you were banned from joining him whenever he was conducting experiments

★it had hurt you when Albedo had adamantly decided on it, but you knew that it would only hurt him more if you tried to fight him about it

★he was still blaming himself for the incident; despite him knowing that errors were completely common in alchemy

★his greatest fear was hurting you, and if he was given a choice, he would rather have you far away as possible from anything that could lead to potential harm

★(and that especially meant that when the time comes and he loses control and destroys Mond, he hopes you would be far away from him as possible, too)

Bennett

★Bennett knew he was bad luck, he knew that was mostly the reason there wasn't anyone on his team. no one wanted to get hurt and gain nothing on an adventure. no one wanted to bring a bunch of medical supplies for when an accident that was bound to happen, happens

★no one but you

★you were the only member in Bennett’s team; you were a duo. you didn’t wield a vision, but that didn't make Bennett think of you any less, in fact, he thought you were the bravest person ever for being just a feet away from him outside of Mond, and now you were a team member of his

★injuries were common for you. there would always be some sort of scratch or bleeding whenever you went out on an adventure with the pyro vision holder. if there wasn’t a monster encounter, the two of you would accidentally trip and fall into a lake

★but when the latter happens, Bennett would have a fire for the two of you, and settle in an empty (at least, you hope was) hilichurl camp nearby to warm up in

★it was the norm now, and despite Bennett wanting you to just choose another team because he couldn't handle seeing you in pain from his luck, you had always reassured him that the unexpected turns of events because of his luck was just what you had loved about adventure, and you always trusted him to take care of you whenever something like that happened

★but of course, it was only a matter of time until it was Bennett himself who had hurt you

★you were both fighting a cryo abyss mage, the bastard’s protective shield already broken by Bennett’s elemental skill, causing the creature to start crawling on the ground pathetically

★you were sure its health had already decreased a significant amount that one slice could kill it off instantly, and you had wanted to give the final blow

★but Benny seemed to have a different idea

★the moment Bennett had saw you coming, it had been too late for him to stop, because the same moment you had ran towards the abyss mage, he had raised his sword and sliced the creature hard to the point that his sword had accidentally sliced your stomach as well

★thankfully, your clothes were thick enough that the cut hadn’t been deep enough to get stitches, but it still hurt so badly that you had fallen to the floor, clutching your stomach

★“y/n, what happened?!” he asked, too worried to remember that it had been him who did it, “are you okay?!- wait, no, that was a stupid question, let me see,”

★Bennett was an excellent team leader, but sometimes, he could be a little oblivious

★he gently lays you on his lap, taking out supplies from his belt. he had saw a glimpse of red, so he takes out towels to wipe the blood

★he had gently asked if he could lift your shirt, and when you had weakly nodded, he assessed the damage

★and that was when he had saw the burns by your cut

★burns. the abyss mage was a cryo one, and there wasn't any source of fire where you were but him

★Bennett felt his breath hitch, hands holding the towel clenching in fear. what had he done?

★“no, no, no,” he says in slight panic; this was exactly what he was afraid would happen, “no, no, y/n I’m so sorry. I was supposed to protect you,” his voice broke, gently pressing the towel on your wound to soak up the blood, and when he heard you hiss in pain, he felt tears well in his eyes, “I’m so sorry...”

★he knew the cut wasn’t deep, and you were going to be okay, but the mere thought that the fact you couldn't move and were in pain was because of his doing had caused Bennett to be unable to focus

★you were taken to Barbara immediately, Bennett carrying you bridal style the whole way back (he had been silent, while you had tried to start a conversation with lighthearted banter with him, he had only given you a half hearted laugh before focusing on his journey back) and was healed with a simple swish of the deaconess’ hands

★but afterwards, Bennett had started to spend less time outside of Mondstadt, saying that he had preferred to read at the library with you, and that was extremely unlike of him

★you knew it was because he was blaming himself for what had happened, so you had to let him know that you were fine, and that you knew that it was bound to happen anyways

★It would take a lot of reassurance for Benny to agree to even step a foot outside again, but in the end, it would be worth it to see his adventurer spirit once more

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lyranova · 3 years

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The Garden

Hi guys! So here’s my little entry to celebrate the beginning of Yamichar week, I once again apologize for not being able to participate in the remaining days (this might change but I’m not sure) but I do hope you all enjoy this! I chose the prompt ‘Garden’ for this one and I hope you all like it!

Taglist: @eme-eleff @flow3rbudz @ckjwnnbc

Word Count: 791

———

Charlotte paused as she rounded the Royal Garden. This secluded place had been one of her sanctuaries since she became a Captain, when she needed a break from her girls or from her Captain’s duties this would be the place she would go. Mostly because it was abandoned by others in the Castle and because it was very beautiful and relaxing. But there was another reason she liked this particular garden.

This garden had been the place she and her boyfriend, Black Bulls Captain Yami Sukehiro, shared their first kiss. It had been unintentional but neither one regretted it and it happened to give Charlotte the courage to confess her feelings for him. She’d never forget the shocked look on his face, it had been super cute, but when he had stayed quiet for a while she began to grow nervous until he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.

She brought a gentle hand up to her lips and placed it onto them softly as the memory flashed into her mind. Finally as the memory faded she turned the corner and let out a surprised gasp at what she saw.

Rose bushes of various colors everywhere, she walked a little further in and was greeted by the lovely smell. The garden didn’t have rose bushes before, she frowned in thought as she looked around the area. As far as she knew the only people who knew this garden even existed was her and Yami.

“ Oh hey Prickly Princess. I wasn’t expecting you to show up for at least another 30 minutes.” Yami said as he wiped beads of sweat off his forehead, Charlotte turned to look at him and saw he was covered in sweat and dirt, as she looked a little past him and saw another rose bush being planted as well as a shovel.

“ Did you do all of this?” Charlotte asked him softly as she gestured to the blooming flowers around her. Yami’s face turned a faint pink as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

“ Yeah, well most of it. I had a few of the other Black Bulls help me with bringing them here and getting it set up but otherwise yeah, I planted all of them.” He muttered, Charlotte had assumed he asked the Spatial Mage in his squad to help him transport it and the magicless boy to help him carry them. Charlotte couldn’t help but feel slightly bad for the boys as they seemed to act more like Yami’s errand boys then Magic Knights at times.

“ Why did you go to all the trouble of doing this?” She asked him curiously, but she had a feeling she already knew the answer, and when he blushed even more it confirmed it.

“ Well, this place looked a little dead so I thought some flowers would help bring it some new life. Besides,” he continued as he turned away. “ I know how much you love roses and I remembered how you said you wished you could plant some here.” Yami shrugged casually, Charlotte let out a soft laugh. She had a feeling he was mostly doing this because of her. She walked over to him and placed a gentle kiss onto his cheek.

“ Thank you, I love it. You’ll have to tell me some of the native flowers from your home country.” She said as she walked over to his shovel.

“ Why?” Yami asked with a frown, he felt his heart skip a beat when she turned to smile at him. Gods how he loved that smile.

“ Well, because I’m truly interested to learn about your native flowers. But also because I want to make this garden our place, not just mine. I want this to be a place where we can both retreat to and relax after a long and tiring day if we need to. So I want it to be filled with flowers we both enjoy.” She explained with a soft blush on her face, Yami smirked before walking towards her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, bent down, and placed a gentle kiss onto her lips.

“ Sounds like a good idea Princess.” Yami agreed softly before placing another kiss onto her lips, he chuckled at how red her face had become by the small action. He silently wondered if she would ever stop being embarrassed when he kissed her, he doubted it. “ C’mon, you can help me finish planting the last one.”

As the weeks went on Yami and Charlotte continued to plant flowers in their garden, both flowers from Clover and from Yami’s home country as well. When they had finally finished, the garden was covered in plant life and had become their little sanctuary.

#black clover #black clover fanfiction #black clover fanfic #yamichar #yami x charlotte #charlotte x yami #black clover charlotte #black clover yami #charlotte roselei #yami sukehiro #yamichar week 2021 #yamichar week

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lollytea · 3 years

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Hi! I love you Shageera fic! The fandom is so small and your fic is so good, I can't thank you enough! And I wanted to ask you, do you have any headcanon about their relationship outside of Talespin? In the original Jungle Book "canon" or some other AU? I'd love to hear them if you do have them, your takes are gold!

Hi! Thank you so much!!

Hmmm. All the versions of shagheera in my head follows the same basic story structure of “friends as kids, grow apart as they get older, reconnect as adults” EXCEPT for the jungle book/canon universe, where the first two DO apply to them (thank you jungle cubs for making that canon, idk where I’d be without jungle cubs canon.) but they continue to keep their distance from each other once they’re grown. I mean Khan tried to kill Bagheera’s kid AND his bear husband. I don’t think they ever can bounce back from that one. They got bad blood and they probably always will.

Unless….just kidding…..unless….

I think about the plot of this cancelled third jungle book movie very often. Yeah it would’ve been bad but….but….but adult Khan and Bagheera might have interacted. Also I wanna know how the fuck a shere khan redemption arc is written. Not very well probably but I still wanna see it. I think Disney should send me the script to this film. As a gift. I think I deserve it. It’s not like they want it. Hand it over, lads.

ANYWAY

Besides the talespin universe, I’ve got like two shagheera AUs

Treasure Planet AU — Bagheera is a scholar and astronomer who comes aboard Captain Shere Khan’s ship. The two know recognize each other as the childhood friend they used to play pirates with. So, rather ironic circumstances they’ve found themselves in. Neither know how to react to reuniting so they’re pretty awkward about it and refuse to acknowledge that they were ever close. They mostly interact with the distant politeness of people who barely know each other and strictly refer to the other Captain/Doctor (unless circumstances are dire) But they’re gonna be stuck on this ship together for the next few weeks so they better figure out what the fuck their relationship is.

Bagheera is deeply out of his element. He’s intimidated by the crew and he doesn’t know how to handle a weapon so he considers himself rather useless on this expedition. He’s never even held a pistol before and now he’s expected to know how to shoot one. He’s so frazzled that he nearly (accidentally) shoots Khan dead at one point. But he wouldn’t be Bagheera if he wasn’t stubbornly insisting that he knows what he’s doing, especially when the captain shoots some sardonic comment his way. The two get into more squabbles than he cane keep track of.

Shere Khan is exasperated with the doctor, with the boy he brought aboard, with the entire idiot crew he hired, but especially with the doctor. He attempts to keep himself composed but he keeps stooping to the most childish arguments and he feels like the presence of Bagheera is forcibly dragging him back 25 years every time they interact. Shere Khan does not know how to feel about that.

Shere Khan finds himself having to acknowledge that Bagheera is brilliant. Due to the doctor’s calculations, the ship avoided the waves of impact during a difficult path through a black hole and he’s the reason they got out alive. He never felt all that much admiration for the little brainiac when they were children but now he is absolutely blowing him away.

Bagheera starts spending more time in Shere Khan’s office because it’s the only place he feels comfortable. (The crew really creeps him out.) and they do everything from argue to discuss alternate routes to pour over the map. This evolves to Shere Khan teaching Bagheera what he knows about wielding a sword and they have many homoerotic sparring sessions. Sometimes they’ll lay out in the escape boats and Bagheera will teach Khan the names of all his favourite constellations. They have many homoerotic star gazing sessions. BASICALLY they have a gay space pirate love story but it’s behind the scenes stuff cuz Kit is the protagonist of this au and he doesn’t give a fuck what Shere Khan and Bagheera are doing.

They are forced to acknowledge that they care about each other when the stakes get more dangerous and both have their near death experiences, rattling the other considerably. At the very least they start calling each other by their first names again ❤️

Fairytale/ Dragon Princess AU — OKAY i don’t think I’ve ever publicly posted about this au so I won’t unpack all of it cuz I know y’all aren’t familiar with it. It’s mostly focused on Baloo/Rebecca and the bear family as a whole but Shagheera is involved too so I’ll focus on that part for now.

So basically Shere Khan was a kid prince and Bagheera was the son of a servant so, as the only two children in the castle, they’ve been playmates since before they could walk.

The only other children they interacted with were Bagheera’s friends (Baloo, Louie etc.) and Shere Khan’s wife-to-be, Princess Rebecca. Their parents arranged the engagement and neither Khan or Rebecca were thrilled about it. As they grow older, Bagheera leaves the palace to make his own way and he and Khan don’t keep in touch.

By the time they were young adults, mysterious circumstances paused Shere Khan and Rebecca’s upcoming marriage when word spread around that the princess had been horribly cursed and locked away in a tower. Details were sparse, even to her fiancé. All that was known was that she had last been seen talking with a man who had a reputation for being a dark mage and it can be deduced that he was the one behind the curse.

But before she disappeared, Rebecca sent Khan a letter begging him to please not retrieve her from the tower, warning him that whoever ventured out to save her would not make it back alive. Khan obliged of course, both because he respected her wishes and if she returned, he would have to marry her.

As a king, Shere Khan had excellent publicity. He was charming and charismatic in public, masking the fact that he was an absolute bitch in private. He was also obliged to act like he cared about his fiancée being returned to his side so every now and then he allowed whatever arrogant glory seeking fool who offered, to go “save” her. None of them lived.

Years later, Khan drops into an ancient, desolate library on the outskirts of town, hoping to find a particular book on plants. It’s after midnight, so he doesn’t have to deal with the scandal of the king being out and about. And who does he find between the shelves, bathed in the dim glow of oil lamps, but Bagheera, snoring on the floor in a pile of open books.

This begins a tentative acquaintanceship in which Khan escapes to the library every now and again for a change of scenery and to meet with Bagheera, who lives on the floor above.

It doesn’t take long for Shere Khan to learn Bagheera’s reputation. As it turns out, the passionate yet introverted scholar with books on the brain, is allegedly the “dark mage” that put a curse on Rebecca all those years ago. This would explain why his library is always empty. Everyone in town is petrified of him.

Rather than turn to anger or fear, Shere Khan can only feel disbelief and intrigue because whatever rumors are going around are clearly fabricated. He challenges Bagheera to perform some evil little spell for him, summon hellbeasts if he must. But Bagheera falters and it is revealed that underneath that reputation is a bit of a sham. Bagheera has been trying for years to become an adept mage but he just can’t get the hang of it. His spell-work is terrible. Always has been.

“Well surely you can’t have cursed the princess then?” Shere Khan reasons. But that’s not exactly true. Yes, Bagheera was not behind the original curse but when Rebecca came to him for help, he accidentally made it so so much worse. Bagheera is the reason shes been forced to hide herself away in a tower and he’s been spending all these years attempting to improve his magic so he can finally undo what he’s done.

And so Fairytale/Dragon Princess AU is a fantasy love story where Shere Khan attempts to help Bagheera effectively channel his magic. The fun part about it is magic is intricately tied to a persons emotional state so when you’re having homoerotic little scenes with your childhood buddy and he touches your forearm, you nearly set the whole goddamn library ablaze. Real gay shit.

I have run out of steam and cannot ramble anymore. Hope I have pleased you.

#this is very rambly and not very arresting I am sorry #I had a lot to say but not the worlds to say them

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funkypoacher · 4 years

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The Perfect Cup of Tea

some Handers fluff I finally decided to post after ... a year... of ignoring it. tagging @fandomn00blr for fluffy, sniffly, Cat Husband reasons :)

With long faces (and even longer hair), Hawke and Anders rolled into town.

Sore eyes, strained bodies: as the journey from Weisshaupt to Kirkwall entered its final days, the village was a sight for both. It’d been months since the couple, traveling exclusively by foot, had felt secure enough in their anonymity to pop into one of the hamlets they passed, but something about this place—off the beaten path; rising from the forest like a fairytale—had its allure.

It may have been pure exhaustion. It may have been cresting anticipation of impending home. Either way, the bedraggled duo dove in.

Hawke, a woman who, according to reputation, would rather be flayed than found describing anything as ‘cute’, said honestly, in a voice raw from exhaustion, “it’s cute.”

“It is cute,” Anders agreed, scratching his chin through an excessive beard. “Not a lot of industry, but I suppose they don’t need it—not this close to the highway, anyway. Must get loads of visitors.”

Inspecting a large sign around which allium was planted, Hawke read aloud, “Longerswold.” She stared, as though it held a secret.

Leaning on his staff-cum-walking stick, Anders led the way. To and fro they turned their heads, padding down an unpaved street which was lined by little houses hidden behind healthy gardens.

“Has a nice Anderfels flavor to it,” the man remarked of the name.

“And as long as it doesn’t actually taste like the Anderfels, that’s fine,” Hawke answered, allowing her slighted stomach to take charge of her mood. “If I have to eat rouladen again any time soon, I’m going to… Well, I’m just not going to eat, I guess.”

“That’s my heritage you’re insulting!” But, after a beat, Anders wrinkled his nose. “I’m pretty sick of it, too.”

The air smelled sweet with flowers and lush grass; passing people smiled, inspiring confidence in the two disheveled strangers. Clearing her throat, Hawke nervously asked of someone “is there an inn here?”, and, about to enter their front door, the local turned around, approaching cheerfully.

“Sure is! Ivah’s Inn.” Beefy hands shoved in his large pockets, the man nodded down the way, drowning in the brim of his floppy, felt hat. “A few rooms on the second level. Ivah serves dinner ‘round seven. Might be you’re a bit early.”

“That’s alright!” Anders replied brightly, looking between the man and Hawke, his face lit by a polite smile. “Charming place like this, I’m sure we’ll find a way to pass the time.”

The man looked Anders straight in the eye, a most deadly-serious expression squinting his small, brown peepers. “Now you head on to Ivah’s straight-way, friend. You ask for the perfect cup of tea. Not a cup of tea, mind. The perfect cup. You won’t regret it.”

With that, the man went back up his walk way, whistling all the way into his house.

“What a friendly man,” Anders commented, beginning to drag his bones along.

“Yeah.” Hawke frowned. “Too friendly.”

But it was impossible for his pessimistic sweetheart to rain on his parade. As they stepped into Ivah’s thatched roof cottage, two kittens, overseen by their lounging mother, were playing in a stream of sunshine, their soft joyful squeals ringing through the room.

“I’ve died and gone to the Maker’s side,” Anders gushed, crouching down and watching with rapturous delight.

A voice called, “you needing rooms?”

Leaving Anders to bask, Ann strolled towards a worn counter overlooking a small dining area. There were tiny round tables with lace doilies, colourful carved nick-nacks covering almost every wall, and what room was left was filled with plush, potted plants kept fat and happy by the multitude of windows looking out into the backyard.

Distracted by this new view, Hawke’s mouth fell ajar as she looked passed the spotted glass into a yard of chaos and beauty. Not one for the leafier side of life (she’d never been a gardener), nonetheless she noticed that not one bundle of flowers matched another. Dozens—hundreds—of blooms were planted here, some of them still vaguely familiar, and others utterly exotic, but all of them different.

“Dearie?”

Ann’s trance was broken was a going-grey matron at her side, shorter than even she, wearing a dress of colourful patchwork tied at the waist with a tasseled rope.

“Yes!” Ann gasped, startled. “Needing rooms—yes.”

“That one yours?” The woman, presumably the looked-for Ivah, jerked her thumb in Anders’ direction.

Smiling thinly, Ann affirmed, “most definitely” and followed Ivah to one of the tables. The woman hastily swiped a rag over its lace covering (to which Ann smirked), then disappeared without a word.

“We, um—” Hawke called after her, hand held aloft in a ‘hold on!’ position. “We were told to get—”

“Tea! Yeah!” Ivah was no longer visible. The clunking and thudding of pot-steel suggested she was in a kitchen. “I got yer tea...”

Tuckered from his kitten play-date, Anders slumped into the chair across from Ann, cheeks glowing, eyes hazy.

“Wow,” Ann commented wryly, having once thought that look to be reserved only for post-coitus bliss.

“I named them,” Anders informed, sitting back comfortably in his seat. “Bink-Bonk and Stinker. They’re brothers, and they go on adventures together.” He nodded towards Ivah’s ruckus. “She seemed snooty.”

It was true. Brusque and assuming, Ivah’s nature was at odds with the quaint home settled within the cute village. Her garden of colours; the charming decor: neither matched her sharp, short attitude.

“I like her,” Ann said, surprising herself. Unsure why, it was nonetheless true. For reasons beyond her, Ann thought it to do with her flowers.

Quieting, slumping, the couple cooled down, taking stock of their various pains and aches, admiring their surroundings, and silently wondering how the rest of their trip would turn out.

No other living beings were to be heard in the house, which started to rub Hawke the wrong way. She was so used to over-shoulder glancing and credence-giving to the dread settling in her gut that she no longer knew how to handle peace. Five minutes of muted nothingness meant something was coming. Her heart clawed at her chest, restless and worried.

And she was right. Something came.

“Here’s your tea!” Ivah plunked down a huge tray with two-to-three too many things. Besides the tea-pot sitting on a brazier, there were cinnamon sticks bundled with red yarn, honey, milk, brown sugar, lavender satchels, cream, mint leaves, possibly maple syrup, slices of fresh, glistening lemon…

“My,” Anders exclaimed under his breath, staring at the spread.

“Never could make the stuff just right fer every person,” Ivah lamented in that thick accent particular to the town. “Always hearin’ ‘it’s too sweet, Ivah!’, or, ‘it’s too bland, Ivah!’' She nodded towards the fixings. “So here. Can’t make it perfect to yer likin’, yer too picky.”

With a flourish of her wrist, the brazier caught fire, setting their tea to boil. Ivan went off wordlessly, and Anders’ eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

“Did you—?”

“I did,” Ann affirmed. She realized why she’d thought she liked Ivah. The plants in her backyard: they’d been the same as some grown by Merrill in a little plot of soil in the Kirkwall alienage, all of which were for the purposes of replenishing mana, or supplementing mana, or sometimes subduing it.

Those flowers out back; those colours and petals: they were mage flowers.

Anders stared at the brazier’s flames, licking and flickering, dancing free and uninhibited.

“She…”

“I know.”

Hawke watched the wonder take years off his face. The newer wrinkles at Anders’ forehead disappeared; his crows feet, there as long as she’d known him, soothed. The old-man beard he hid beneath was no help, but the boyish joy pulling his jaw into an overwhelmed ogling made him as beautiful as she’d ever seen him.

“I can’t believe it,” Anders whispered, covering his mouth with both hands. Tears began to start; he looked at her with hope she’d forgotten. “Using her gifts. In the open.”

Ann realized she had to start breathing herself, or she might pass out. Swallowing, she felt a little hiccuping, happy sob, but pushed it away, back into her chest.

“Yeah.” Hawke nodded.

“With—with the new Circle of Magi under this Divine, I never thought… But without a thought! Without fear!” Anders’ bony hands, still clasped to his lips, trembled. “Maker.”

And he broke. Bent over, his face buried in his palms, the thick, glad tears spilled down his cheeks, through his beard, to his chin and sloping jaw. He was quiet in his weeping, but now and then a startling sound burst forth before he softened once more.

They knew. The town knew. Everyone in this village, without question, understood what Ivah was, and they didn’t care. They supported her; gave her coin; purpose. They allowed her to subsist on her gifts; they promoted her inn, sending strangers her way. No doubt they vetted visitors, choosing carefully whom to allow near Ivah’s inn. They loved her. They loved her enough that she needn’t be shy or guarded. She was brash and dismissive because they allowed it with their love. They let Ivah be herself.

Thinking about it some more, Hawke had to try very hard not to cry, too.

“Eh?”

Jumping, Hawke looked to her right to see the mage in question, thick hands on her wide hips, long mouth in a frown.

“What I miss?” Ivah asked, eyeing the tray, and, from her tone, most assuredly not making a joke. “Got yer cream; yer sugar.”

“Oh, it’s—it’s not that,” Ann said with a soft laugh, the sound of her own whispering voice breaking her heart. “It’s… it’s great tea. Really. It’s the perfect cup of tea.”

Ivah gave them long looks, scrutinizing and terrible. Anders tried hard to stifle himself, but it only made things worse. Finally, Ivah placed a key on their table, mentioned off-handedly “second room on the right—no charge,” and went on her way, wiping her hands on her patchwork skirt.

Anders sniffled, finally calming. His thin, graceful hands, which had become worn with these few years’ hard living, settled on the table. Ann took them in hers, and took her turn at a good cry.

#handers #My writing

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retroateez · 4 years

Text

Prophecy - Chapter Four

okay i’m gonna leave it here for now and post the other four chapters i have in the drafts when i get home from work,,, hope u enjoy!! (pls let me know if u do)

Prophecy Masterlist

wc; 2532

He strolled through the woods calmly, as he did almost everyday. The route was so familiar to him that he could walk the grassy path with his eyes closed. Not that he would do that, of course. It would be foolish, leaving oneself so vulnerable in the open. The tide splashed angrily against the sand a handful of metres away. He sighed deeply; the recent storm had wrecked the forest surrounding his secluded home. He just hoped the natural resources he needed hadn't been destroyed by those dangerous winds. Above him, the usual canopy of green had almost all disappeared, torn away by the harsh hands of the rain. He wrinkled his nose at being so exposed to the sunlight.

Eventually he passed through the alley of trees and stepped out onto the grey beach. Despite the sun, the sand was not glittering as it usually would. The waters were murky, disgruntled from the rage of the storm. His walnut coloured eyes sparkled softly as he surveyed his surroundings. His hair, soft and daffodil hued sat both messily and neat in gentle curls. It parted in the middle, allowing his piercing eyes to glare at people he didn't like.

Which was almost everybody.

Living alone on the outskirts of the most powerful kingdom sounded better than it actually was. He preferred to be alone, that way he could do his work without being distracted. But being a mage was exhausting work, and having someone cook his dinner when he was exhausted would be quite nice. Nevertheless, the magician was disliked purely out of fear. He was powerful. All mages were.

Living inside the kingdom was too risky for both himself and the citizens of the kingdom, so the king gave him a sizable amount of land roughly a mile away from the kingdom walls. He couldn't complain really. The mage's land consisted of mainly woods, which backed out directly onto the coastline. Luckily for him it was dense in herbs and creatures he needed for his work, so it worked out well for him in the end.

That's exactly what he was doing this gloomy morning. The sun was there, but barely. Hidden behind the clouds, clearly the sun was in no mood today. The ocean wasn't particularly happy either, like it had been drinking ale for 3 days straight and was currently trying not to explode from the hangover.

The mage had no idea what that was like.

Squinting at the sand, he began his search. He hated this part of being a mage. Skills in magic often required a basic knowledge in alchemy, and collecting the ingredients was the bane of his existence. Unfortunately for him, the only local source of this particular substance could only be harvested from sand mandrakes. The most annoying little bastards he had ever had the displeasure of coming across. Typical mandrakes were easy enough to come across, as if you accidentally stepped on one during a stroll in the woods they would scream bloody murder and possibly attempt to poison you.

But these ones would bury themselves underneath the sand and wait to attack you on purpose. He hated them.

No, he loathed them.

However, he really did need that specific ingredient, so he took a deep breath, pushed his golden hair back and prepared himself.

Yet, what he discovered on the beach was not what he needed, nor what he had expected.

A body lay, face-down, flat out just beyond the reach of the tide. He could tell by the darkness of the clothing that the person was soaked to the bone. Whether or not they were alive was a different matter, though. He sighed and approached the body cautiously, in case it was some kind of dead-alive, drowned hybrid-thing that would try and bite him when he got a little too close.

"Hello?" he called out quietly. "Are you dead?"

No answer.

"Excuse me," he tried again. "are you sunbathing?"

He rolled the body over so they were laying on their back. The mage inspected the body with his eyes and internally groaned.

Great. A human. A woman too.

He had nothing against women, but it meant that he couldn't just leave her on the beach. It he had found a random man, he probably would have done exactly that. But he was a polite mage, he had manners.

He also didn't want to be charged with murder if the guard patrol found a dead woman close to the mage's home. Most authorities would use anything to throw a magic wielder in jail. The only reason he was able to walk free was that he helped the king at his request. The king had a fascination for magic. The mage felt rather uncomfortable knowing that was the only reason he was alive, but he supposed it was better than being dead.

With a groan, he scooped the woman up into his arms.

"Talk about dead weight, holy shit"

He huffed as he began his hike back to his shack. As he walked, he glanced down at the unconscious figure he was carrying.

Her hair was wild, as if she had been dragged through an entire thicket of bushes a minimum of one hundred times. Her skin was covered in dirt, dried sand and honestly only god knows what else. He could feel her breathing shallowly, so that was a relief. At least now he wouldn't be responsible for her death.

Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks and cursed.

"Fuck sake!" He shot an angry glare at the woman he was carrying. "I didn't get the fucking mandrakes!"

-----

A warm, soothing scent washes over you, and you crack your eyes open the tiniest bit. First, you notice the pounding inside your skull, reasonating like a drum in a huge, empty hall, the bass bouncing off every wall. It's a dull ache but it's there. Your sight is still blurred from sleep, but above you, you can make out something vaguely wooden. Most likely a roof.

A roof?

You're inside?

Forgetting all your pain, you bolt upright, panicked.

"Where am I?" you blurt aloud.

Surveying your surroundings, you realise you're most definitely inside somebodies house. Despite having never been here before, it has a very welcoming feel to it. A lit brick hearth was directly opposite you, exuding a comfortable warmth as the wood inside it crackled. The room you were in was fairly large, with a single window and arrays of plants adorning every surface and crawling up the walls. The room smelt earthy and fresh too, like the roots of the flowers and emerald leaves made up part of the structure of the house itself. You wouldn't be surprised if it did.

Slowly, you pull yourself up off the bed and pace over to the window. The round, oak table just below it is cluttered with petals, pencils and other various objects you couldn't even attempt to identify. Multiple pots line the windowsill, each one filled with flowers the shade of bumblebees. You run your fingers gently over the honey coloured petals, gasping quietly when they radiate a yellow shine onto your hand.

"Ficaria verna," a deep voice startles you from the threshold of the door. "pretty, aren't they?"

You nod silently in response, staring at him blankly.

"Celandine?" He tries again, approaching both you and the flowers carefully. Again, you have zero idea what he was talking about.

With a sharp sigh, he plucks one of the flowers from the cluster of plants and holds it gently underneath your chin. You couldn't see it, but you assume the skin grazing the little yellow bud was glowing gold.

"Buttercups," he murmurs. "if they shine under your chin, that means you like butter"

You nod meekly, deciding that pretending to know what this mysterious man is talking about is the best course of action. Instead, your confused brain has other plans.

"Who are you?" you burst out. "Why am I here?"

His hand falls from your face, discarding the buttercup onto the table and turning back to you with a sour scowl.

"Is that any way to address somebody who just saved your life?" He snaps at you.

"I-" He moves closer to you, forcing you to back up.

"Is that any way to address somebody who welcomed you into his house? Completely ruining his plans for the day?"

You stand frozen, back pressed against the tough wood of the wall. Why was he suddenly being cold towards you? Naturally you wouldn't expect a stranger to be warm and welcoming off the bat but inititally he had seemed quite friendly. Did you annoy him by not knowing about plants? You didn't want to be rude but the average human being didn't possess an extensive knowledge about multitudes of vegetation.

"Human being?" he mused playfully. Your eyebrows shoot up in shock.

Did you say that out loud?

He stares down at you for what seems like millenia, his sandy hair falling forward the slightest bit as he towers over you. His silence is daunting and honestly, you have no idea what to do except just stand there. After all, you're a guest in this unknown person's house. And he did save your life, so the least you could do was just be quiet.

He reclines abruptly and sticks his large, calloused hand out to shake your own. You reciprocate the greeting shyly, your much smaller hand completely engulfed in his. Much like how the ocean totally swallowed you up.

"I'm Yeosang," he smiles. "I found you knocked out on the beach this morning. Any idea how you got there?"

"The storm," you explain. "I got caught in the middle of it and it threw me about like a ragdoll"

Yeosang steps away from you, leaving his bedroom into the main room of his shack and prompting you to follow him with a nod of his head.

The central room to the house is breathtakingly beautiful. Circular in shape, a collosal maple trunk stands proudly in the center, supporting the rest of the building like a pillar. Surrounded by open space and natural light, you have a hard time believing that you hadn't stepped into another dimension. The body of the trunk run straight up through the middle of the room, leaving you wondering where both the base and peak of the maple actually were.

The sunlight filters through the windows and also beams down between the branches of viridescent leaves above you, making you feel like you were in a fairytale. You half expected a fawn to come barrelling through, tripping over his spindly little legs but still determined nonetheless.

Still stood in the threshold of the bedroom, you stand statue-like, gaping at the view.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Yeosang smirks, stirring a pot which sat above a crimson brick stove over to your right. "It requires a lot of maintanance but it's worth it."

"It's so beautiful... It doesn't look real!"

Yeosang ladles the liquid from the pot into some bowls, and walks to the opposite side of the giant maple trunk. He places your bowl on a small, rickety looking table then he sits down in an equally rickety looking chair on the other side.

You politely sit down and eye your meal. You don't want to be picky but... it doesn't look very appetising.

"What-what exactly is this?" You ask in the kindest way possible.

He raises an eyebrow at you from across the table, and you pray to the heavens you haven't royally pissed him off. In a panic, you attempt to change the subject.

"How do you keep everything from burning in here? It's literally all wood! And there's no way it can be so naturally beaut-"

"Magic." Yeosang cuts you off, his voice cold and hard. "I didn't have to bring you back here, you know. I could've left you on the beach to die. I know the mandrakes get hungry quickly this time of year"

You gulp, his gaze on you now dark and polar opposite to the welcoming demeanor he had before.

"But I helped you anyway," he continued. "Better I found you anyway than the Ateez guards, they probably would've killed you right there on the sand."

Is he really this mad over a bowl of (what looks like) soup?

"I'm sorry!" You argue back. You don't really care who this Yeosang thinks he is right now. You have no home, literally nothing to your name and he's being a dick for no reason? This isn't fair.

"I'm sorry for inconvieniencing you by washing up on that beach. Maybe you should've let me die! I don't know who you are or why you're getting angry with me so if you're quite finished, I'd like to leave!"

You glare at each other angrily over the table. The both of you stay silent for a few moments, until Yeosang suddenly starts spooning soup into his mouth. You look at him incredulously; what is with this guys mood?

Deciding to play along and also knowing that if you did leave, you'd have nowhere to go, you also begin sipping the bubbling soup. You discover it is actually very delicious, and now you feel like a fool for insulting both the food and the confusing blonde man who you technically were indebted to now.

"I don't expect anything in return for saving your life," he says matter-of-factly. "I can see that you possess nothing of value to me on your person. However I may be willing to help you out, on a few conditions"

He lays his spoon back in the bowl and folds his arms, leaning back into his chair and waiting for your reply.

"And what are these conditions?" You ask, continuing to eat.

"You help me out when I need it, and I'll let you stay with me. Because you evidently are not from around here, and frankly, going up to the Ateez territory looking like that wouldn't do you any favours"

Offended, you look down at your mud-caked clothes, stiff from being soaked and drying awkwardly on your body. You realise too your hair is a complete wreck, sticking up in so many directions a compass would have a hard time figuring it out. It's matted and clumped together and you already know it'll be painful to fix. So maybe Yeosang does have a point, albeit a rude one.

You ponder his invitation, glancing around his stunning, fairy-tale home. Really, you have no reason to decline; you have no home, no job, and it could be an opportunity for you to start fresh, forget about your past as a lonely thief on the streets.

"Okay," you nod, peering straight into Yeosang's icy blue eyes. "I do what you ask, you let me stay."

He nods back, satisfied.

You finish the remainder of your soup (pottage, he tells you) and you turn to him as he washes the bowls.

"What now?"

He turns to you with a grin, one you haven't seen from him yet and it fills you with dread immediately.

"Fancy a trip to the beach?"

He was definitely going to kill you.

Chapter Five

#ateez #ateez au #medieval!ateez #hongjoong #yeosang #yunho #seonghwa #wooyoung #san #jongho #mingi #im whipped for this yeosang help #i rlly love him

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butididnottried · 4 years

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“The Dragon Prince” season 3 thoughts. In no particular order.

- Callum is such a mood in second episode. I also totally would roll myself in those small, adorable sticky furballs.

- Viren got a (light) case of dumbass disease and he don’t really know what he is doing. Aaravos is like “so, what do you want, be king, conquer, destroy?”, and Viren was just like “idk man, i’m just improvising”, lol. Also, his queen was dying in his arms and he still have audacity to be practical dark mage and catch her last breath into jar. Wtf man. But he also beat in a fight two of the bests moonshadows assassins alone? Just like that? Sick moves dude.

- Soren got such GOOD arc this season. I really thought he was going to be the one to stick to Viren, and Claudia would have doubts and leave, but NO, surprise, he’s the one to grow moral backbone! Also, “dear moon lady”. Precious.

- I really thought better of Claudia and was disappointed in her decisions. There’s probably no coming back for her. I don’t mean that this is a bad arc, no. Also, why she order her illusion to attack Ezran? Was she testing Soren? Forcing him to change his mind and make him get beck to her and Viren? It was “kinda” extreme. And oooh, maybe it’s weird but i really want to know how many bugs and critters, and maybe something (someone?...) else, Claudia kills to bring Viren to live. Damn, girl, how far did you go for that?

- HOLY $*)%@& SOREN JUST DID THAT! ...oh, it’s just an illusion... Listen here TDP, you can’t play with my emotions like that. D:

- Sooo... Ezran really bring those dragons to the battlefield and incinerating all those people. Like, i know that he totally doesn't want that, but still. Idk what to think about that. :/

- Kill count in this season is CRAZY. It wen’t from 0 to 100 at the speed of light. So intense. In the very first scene they turn human to ash. On screen!

- So, people and elves and dragons are totally ok with each other right now. I SOOO much want, no, i NEED, to see how Mr. Sol Racist Regem is going to react to this. Immediate heart attack from anger. Good.

- They wen’t into Power of Love territory. Not cool dudes, not cool. Ugh. Me no gusta this trope.

- Ibis have such a young voice. Didn’t expecting that. Not a big fan but it’s ok i think.

- I know that almost we all are thirsting after Aaravos, but i personally do not dig this negative filter of his. Except those white eyelashes, they’re just <3.

- Monarchy is stupid and should be banned and illegal. Like, the very first thing after when Ezran got back to castle should be to choose a regent for him, seriously, this is basis. Also, anyone can just proclaim themselves to be king/queen? Yeah, i know this “must be an orphan” rule, but still. And people was totally ok with this smug asshole taking the crown???

- Apparently it is very easy to walk into Xadia. xD

- Its was sometimes too whimsical and cheesy for me. ...fart flowers, really?...

- What’s with this continent? In Xadia every creature and plant is magical, even dirt is full of magic, but on humans territory there’s no magic at all. None. Zero. Null. Absolutely nothing. Was it always divided that way, but before dark magic humans were allowed to live on the right side, and elves and dragons were - for reasons - living on the left where’s no magic? Or magic was everywhere but somehow they get rid of it from humans part? Oooor, most probably, human mages just use it all already and Bait and that giant fish from first season are just sad leftovers from better, magical times.

- Crow Master and Kazi are so awkward and adorable, protect them at all costs.

- Sunfire elves makes such pompous impression with their attire and attitude and french accent, it’s just hilarious.

- Don’t know what’s going on with wormaavos. For now i think that it really might be a star dragon, and that’s what going to hatch from this cocoon. I know that people are theorizing that it may transform into new body for Aaravos and he is going to somehow move his consciousness into it, but... idk, it’s feels out of place in this lore. But i would love to read some theories how he could do it.

- Can’t believe that this mirror was just standing there like that, almost in middle of the nest chamber. It was pretty bright in there, so we can be sure for 99,9% that Thunder wasn’t talking with Aaravos. And how Viren take it with him when there was only two of them?

- Weirdly not felt sorry for Thunder. Since childhood i hated when characters in movies and cartoons were killed like that, even when they were the biggest scums. Don’t know why, but it always felt to me like one of the most painful and awful thing in existence. Until now. Oh well.

- Hot husband revealed. Expectations satisfied. But at first i thought that his name is Atari and excuse me WOT.

- asdfghjkl when Runaan and Ethari kissed and Runaan caressed his husband face with such tenderness and delicateness and my emotiONS and ohdeargod i wish that were me love level over 9000 for everything whats good in this world BEST FEW SECONDS IN THIS ENTIRE SHOW.

#tdp #the dragon prince #tdp season 3 #se3 spoilers #tdp spoilers #thoughts #tdp theory #aravos #viren #dragon #elves #claudia #soren #xadia #ethari #wooohooo #it was a blast #so good #such a wild ride

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mllemaenad · 5 years

Note

Wizards in Harry Potter aren't liable to be possessed by literal demons from Hell regardless of their good intentions. Furthermore, non-magical people in Harry Potter also have guns, sniper rifles combat planes, tanks, heat seeking missiles, NUCLEAR BOMBS to equalize the fight if a dark wizard starts thinking that he should rule them. The two settings are completely different. Give these advantages to non-magical people in Thedas and I will agree that the Circles aren't necessary.

Hi Anonymous person!

Look. I’m a little perturbed by what you’ve got there, because you seem awfully willing to cause harm to helpless people on the basis of what they might do. But I’ll do this in chunks.

Wizards in Harry Potter aren’t liable to be possessed by literal demons from Hell regardless of their good intentions.

Well. Neither are mages in Dragon Age, largely because ‘hell’ doesn’t exist. I know that sounds flippant, but it’s important. Andrastianism isn’t Christianity, of course, but it does have a Christian aesthetic – more specifically a Catholic one – and the Chantry operates in a world reminiscent of a time when a pope could dominate kings and start holy wars.

That Christian aesthetic is also applied to spirits. Instead of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ we have Enchanter Brahm’s five demons: rage, hunger, sloth, desire and pride. It’s a useful game mechanic, absolutely; you can’t have infinite monster designs in a game, and it helps the player figure out what kind of weapons to employ in any given fight. However, as the story goes on it becomes increasingly clear that the Chantry’s view of spirits and demons is simplistic at best and outright wrong at worst.

Spirits embody something that has become important to them. There are many, many more kinds than the Chantry’s sins and virtues lists would acknowledge. There’s a spirit of Command hanging out in Crestwood in Inquisition who just really wants someone to obey its orders for a while. Solas will talk to you about a spirit who embodies an ideal people have forgotten.

Demons seem to be largely spirits who have suffered in some way. We usually don’t know why. Solas’s friend is an obvious example – a spirit who was inexpertly summoned and trapped by frightened mages. It’s also noteworthy that Merrill talks about her ‘demon’ being bound and left over from war. While of course we can’t know exactly what happened there, we can fucking guess, right?

These are all just beings – people. And they’re all from the same place. Not hell, heaven, purgatory or anything like that. They’re from The Fade, which is their home, the source of magic, and was apparently much closer to the rest of the world before Solas and the Veil.

I’ve noted repeatedly that spirit possession is an important part of several cultures, and is often a positive thing. Possessed mages serve as companion characters (Wynne, Anders) and kick some serious arse in battle, and Justice just wanders around in Awakening wearing a corpse and it’s fine.

Of course, no one is saying that possession can’t go wrong. I’ve played the games, and of course my characters have killed both ‘demons’ and ‘abominations’. But. When you say something like ‘demons from hell’ you’re imposing a particular religious view on the story – one that allows you to simply declare that these people are evil and that it’s fine to kill them. We know that it is possible to liberate a possessed mage, and to heal a spirit who has been corrupted. We have seen both those things. But why bother if they’re evil, right? Just lock them up and kill them if things get tricky.

That view is wholly wrong for the setting of Dragon Age. But it is … pretty well on par with the view the Chantry actually expresses. So when you say ‘demons from hell’ I actually think that’s an excellent reason why the Circles should be abolished, because it’s imposing ideas on this situation that are wrong, unhelpful and cruel.

Also. I mean. Also. Yes, I have fought possessed mages in Dragon Age. I have also fought possessed templars. Possessed trees. Possessed bones. Possessed rocks.

If you feel we need to lock up everything that can get possessed, you’re going to have to start with all the people and then move on to all the plants and inanimate objects. If all things can be possessed, then all things need to be locked up. And if all things are inside the prison, couldn’t we just … not have one?

Furthermore, non-magical people in Harry Potter also have guns, sniper rifles combat planes, tanks, heat seeking missiles, NUCLEAR BOMBS to equalize the fight if a dark wizard starts thinking that he should rule them.

Um. Sorry Anonymous person but … what? Have you … read those books? Now, granted I haven’t read them in a while but I have read them. And … I have no idea what you’re talking about.

‘Muggles’ in Harry Potter are usually comic relief, and even the ones that aren’t simple buffoons are depicted as largely helpless against magical attacks of any kind. The British government shows up just long enough to express a heartfelt ‘What the actual fuck?’ at the war with Voldemort before promptly vanishing from the plot again.

All of this … stuff about conventional weapons you’ve introduced has come from your imagination. It’s not how the relationship between Muggles and wizards is portrayed in the novels at all.

In fact, conceptually, I would say that the wizards of Harry Potter are much scarier than the mages of Dragon Age. Tevinter had an empire in Dragon Age, and because they value magic the magisters undoubtedly used it in the fight to obtain that empire. But they were taken down by famine and Blight, and finished off by war. In the series’ ‘present day’ Orlais has achieved the exact same thing as Tevinter with significantly less magic (not no magic, of course, since they will drag their imprisoned mages into battle), and there’s no sense that Tevinter can just zap its way back into power. They are constrained by economics, geography and politics just like everyone else. Magic is useful, but only up to a point.

Now … in Harry Potter, there’s a pretty strong sense that wizards could just take over the planet any time they felt like it. In fact, the back story contains one Grindelwald, who actually did want to take over the world and enslave Muggles. This was not a war between Muggles (who are not supposed to have been able to prevent this) and wizards, but rather an internal schism in the wizarding community. Gindelwald was not defeated by NUCLEAR BOMBS (And seriously – what the hell, is your plan to defeat wizards ‘flatten Scotland’? because that’s what would happen if you tried to bomb Hogwarts. You want to take out Diagon Alley? Congratulations, you just blew up London.), but rather in an old style man-to-man duel with another wizard. In a castle. They were ex-lovers. I’m assuming it was on the ramparts, it was raining and everyone was screaming like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith.

I haven’t kept up with it, but I am peripherally aware that J K Rowling has said … increasingly weird things over the years, and I’m not attempting to defend any of that. But there was a general … theme in the novels that … most people probably aren’t fascists, and when the fascists come from within it is the community that must take them down. So Muggles are not given much power or agency at all.

This had nothing to do with heat-seeking missiles. Just … what?

Meanwhile, over in Dragon Age the Chantry talks a lot about mages having advantages in battle, but in practice that’s not what we actually see. For a start, non-mages have plenty of weapons that work just fine against magical enemies - swords, spears, arrows, axes. Nobody in Thedas has NUCLEAR BOMBS, mage or not. It’s not setting appropriate. Anders may have been a mage, but he had to rely on explosive material (likely gunpowder) to actually get a significant bang.

Non-mages may also wield enchanted weapons, meaning that they can literally take magic into battle with them. The mage over there is shooting lightning from her fingers? Your sword shoots fireballs. What the hell are you complaining about?

Nor does simply having a weapon in your hand mean that you know how to use it. I don’t know how to use a gun. Someone could give me one, in a crisis, I suppose. But it would only be luck that allowed me to incapacitate an assailant, and I certainly couldn’t fight several. Most ‘ordinary’ people in Thedas won’t have much in the way of weaponry. But likewise, neither will mages. They have magic, but that isn’t the same thing.

How many dead bodies do you need to prove this? The mage who was apparently murdered by villagers in Crestwood, when she went in to try to help them. The mages cut down by the Qunari swords in The Demands of the Qun. The villagers who were going to fucking lynch Rhys and his friends in Asunder.

It feels like you’ve made up a story about how magic works in both of these series that isn’t true to either of them.

Give these advantages to non-magical people in Thedas and I will agree that the Circles aren’t necessary.

So … to be clear, you’re arguing for:

the abduction of and permanent separation of children from their parents

forced conversion to a religion and the suppression of alternative religious beliefs

deprivation of citizenship and the basic rights that come with that

reducing people to a permanent infantile status as wards of a religious institution

permanent surveillance of affected individuals (phylacteries)

execution without trial where deemed appropriate by religious authorities

… because people might get possessed and can sometimes make fire come out of their hands? Well. Okay then. Good to know.

#dragon age #chantry critical #Anonymous

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silverdriftdragon · 4 years

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Don’t Eat the Weeds

x - Done

o - requested

@badthingshappenbingo

First I want to say how very sorry I am that this took so dang long. For whatever reason Lin and Caspar fought me tooth and nail about getting this done and while I’m still not too happy with it... I hope its at least enjoyable for you! Again, I apologize!

The next thing I post may not be request related, just to revive my brain a bit. but I’m hoping to get these requests done soon!

You can also read this on Ao3!

It was not unusual for Caspar to find his boyfriend in the weirdest places, sound asleep. Once, he found the man asleep among the plants in the green house in the middle of the night while recording their magical properties. Another time Linhardt had been hiding from Edelgard, ended up on the roof somehow and dozed off there. So, to have found him in the library, out cold beside the shelves and books and papers scattered around him… it seemed mild. Caspar just picked him (and all his papers) up and carried him back to his bed like he usually did.

Except, when he came back to check on him several hours later… Linhardt hadn’t moved.

Though, he had been recently obsessing over whatever his current topic of research was, napping far less than usual… so Caspar just assumed he was completely wiped and needed the sleep. The question of waking him up for dinner did cross his mind, as sometimes food was the farthest thing from Lin's mind when he got like this… but eventually he decided to just bring something back for when the man awoke and set off to get his own dinner before bed.

The worry didn’t set in until the next morning. Caspar had slept in, having gone to bed late because he lost track of time sparing with Raphael, but when he went to see Linhardt… he found the scholar still in bed, seemingly asleep still and in the exact same position that he was in when Caspar laid him down the day before. The food that had been left for him was completely untouched as well, so it wasn’t like he got up, ate and went back to sleep.

“Hey. You can’t sleep all day… there’s training to do!” Caspar called loudly.

No response.

His face knitted together into a look of concern. Normally even in a dead sleep, the mere mention of training caused Linhardt to protest. Yet, not only did Caspar not receive so much as a single groan… there was no reaction to his naturally loud voice. Slowly he walked up to the bed and reached out to shake him. “H-hey, Lin you-“ He jerked his hand away almost the moment he touched him. Even though those clothes, the mage was burning up and still very unresponsive. Caspar bolted out the door in an instant, nearly tripping over himself in his rush to find Marianne or Mercedes.

Everything after that happened in such a blur, Caspar could barely keep up. He found Mercedes, but it took her AND Marianne to get the situation under any sort of control and even then, one of them almost constantly had to be casting some sort of faith magic while the other worked to find out what was wrong. They asked him so many questions he couldn’t answer… was he showing any signs of illness before? What caused him to fall unconscious? Was it sudden or gradual? Was he showing any odd symptoms before this? Each time he couldn’t answer, he felt worse and worse.

“I-I don’t know… I got up yesterday morning and he already had his nose in a book… I don’t even think had gone to sleep… but he seemed fine! I gave him a kiss and asked if he wanted breakfast, he told me he would eat soon and then I left. I got busy and didn’t see him again until I found him and he was already out…”

“Where did you find him?” Mercedes asked, just a gentle as ever, standing over Linhardt with a stead cast of magic. Marianne was just quietly testing different thing to see if she could pinpoint a cause.

“In the library. I-I didn’t know anything was wrong! He falls asleep everywhere, I-… I didn’t know…” His voice cracked at the end, tears prickling his eyes as they fell upon the unconscious form upon the bed. “I didn’t know…”

“Don’t blame yourself, Caspar.” Marianne piped up, though still very soft spoken. “do you happen to know what he was studying?”

“One of those plants in the greenhouse… said he found one hidden in the back that hadn’t been studied a lot.” He wasn’t really sure why that mattered at all, but when he saw Marianne and Mercedes look at each other so quick, the confusion only got worse. “What? What’d I say?”

“I need to know which plant. It's possible it could be the cause.” Mercedes stepped away, letting Marianne take over the steady stream of faith magic.

“He had a stack of papers scattered around him, maybe its in there sonewhere… they’re on his desk if that helps.” He offered, watching her as she hurried over to the desk. “You don’t think he ate the plant or something do you? I mean I know Lin gets a little weird when he is doing research…” he watched Mercedes stare at one particular piece of paper for a longer than she had the rest of the stack.

“Yes, I believe he did. But I think he overestimated its effects.…” she started gather up some herbs that she brought with her. “Its treatable, I just hope we aren’t starting to late…”

It didn’t take long for them to send him away. Probably because he had started pacing, hovering and just in general being in the way. So, he made his way back to his room, flopping down on his bed with a thunk and vaguely hearing Ferdinand complain about the noise from Hubert's old room. Part of him felt bad, because he knew that Ferdinand had actually lost the man he loved to the war… but it was hard for him to think about that when his own boyfriend was fighting for his life. Or at least, it would have been… if the man didn’t suddenly appear at Caspar's open door.

“Caspar,” the red head started, crossing his arms over his chest with a scowl, “Need you make such racket just lying down?”

“Sorry, Ferdinand…”

Ferdinand's expression softened in to concerned confusion. The normally boisterous man would normally apologize, but then make some excuse for his volume, as if everyone didn’t already know he was just naturally loud… but now it seemed something had his personality quite muted. “Is something the matter? You look… stressed.”

The last thing Caspar wanted to do was talk about his boyfriend to a guy that literally just came out of his deceased lover’s room. His hesitance to answer apparently was all Ferdinand needed.

“Is it about Linhardt?”

Caspar sat up onto the edge of the bed, slouched over with his arms rest on his knees. He didn’t look at the man at his door, he couldn’t, his eyes remaining fixed on the floor. “Yeah. He…” The thought trailed off as he ran a hand through his hair, not even noticing that Ferdinand had come in and sat down in his desk chair. “Apparently he was researching some stupid plant and ate it and now… now he’s with Mercie and Mari and I dunno what’s… what’s gonna happen…”

“Oh…” Ferdinand was admittedly a bit ashamed. He had been expecting to hear of a fight between the two given their vastly different personalities… not to hear that Linhardt was in a fight for his life. “I am sorry, truly… I am sure the ladies are doing everything to save him. Let us hope for the best.”

“Yeah… I just… I feel like it’s my fault! When I found him I-I should have know something was up! Instead I just took him to his room and left and it got worse! What if I basically ki-… oh..” Guilt washed over him, and he looked up just in time to see Ferdinand look away. “S-sorry Ferdinand… I didn’t mean-“

“It is fine. I know it was not your intention.” He said, taking a moment before he was able to look back at Caspar. “Please, do not blame yourself. I am sure there if there was any real indication of his condition, you would have gotten him care immediately.”

“I guess…” The response didn’t quite fit with what had been said to him, but it was what came out regardless. “I just feel like I should have known something was wrong.”

Ferdinand got to his feet moved closer to Caspar's side, placing a hand upon his shoulder when he sat next to him. “I doubt there was any way for you to have known. I know you would not have been negligent of Linhardt's life and I am sure he knows that as well. We all know that.”

Caspar was quiet for the moment. That little voice in his head was still saying he should have known… but Ferdinand was right. He did get help at the first sign of a problem after all. “Yeah… you’re right.” He went quiet, staring at his feet for a while and Ferdinand just sat there with him. It was comforting actually, not sitting there stewing and wondering all alone. At least now, even as the red head got up to leave, he would know it wasn’t his fault. He lifted his head as the other man reached the door, realizing he had yet to say thank you. “Hey Ferdinand?”

The man stopped, looking back over his shoulder. “Yes Caspar?”

“Thanks.”

“Of course. I hope he recovers.” The smile on his face was a bit sad. “I would not wish this on anyone…”

---

Caspar didn’t know when he fell asleep, but a soft knock at the door startled him awake. At first, he felt confused and a little hopeful. Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe Linhardt was ok and that was him at the door. Hurriedly, he ran to the door, hoping, praying that he would find his sleepy boyfriend thanking him for leaving food for him… but that was not the case. Instead, standing outside his door was Mercedes, looking very, very tired. Caspar visibly drooped, disappointed… but the realization that none of that was a dream crept in and he quickly went in a panic. “Mercie… Linhardt is he…”

“He is stable, but not awake.” She gave him a sweet smile, despite how exhausted she was. “Marianne and I managed to stop the reaction and get his fever broken. I am hopeful he will wake soon and it just wouldn’t be the same without you there when he does!”

Relief swept over him, almost overwhelmingly. He was so relieved in fact that he couldn’t stop himself from yanking Mercedes into a tight hug. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Ah!” She was startled at first, but it soon faded off into a soft giggle. “Don’t thank me yet Caspar! It could still be some time before he wakes up… and even then, it might be a while before he can do things normally. It was quite the traumatic event.”

“Ok, but you said he is alive, right?”

“Well yes. I do expect he will recover quite well actually, it just may be a slow process.”

“You save his life, Mercedes! I… I can’t thank you and Mari enough for that.” He gave her another squeeze before it hit him that she came to get him so he could back to Linhardt's side. So he quickly let go and took off running. “THANKS MERCIE!”

---

Four weeks went, but when Mercedes came in to do her normal check one day, she was surprised to find Linhardt awake. It had startled her, as she wasn’t expecting him to look at her when she came in, enough so that she nearly dropped the bowl of water she was carrying. “Oh! Linhardt!” She exclaimed, dropping her voice when she realized that Caspar was asleep, “I didn’t know you were awake!”

“I haven’t been long.” He slurred, not completely coherent.

“Yes… Caspar found you.” She looked at the sleeping man, exhausted from his own lack of rest and waiting. It upset her to have watched Caspar put on that enthusiastic and cheerful face, but his eyes being just so tired and lost… only for this man to be so casual about the situation. “Just what were you thinking Linhardt?? This could have killed you!”

“Calm down, Mercedes. I was never in that kind of-“

“No. You listen for a moment.” She interrupted, a mix of sadness and irritation. “You nearly died Linhardt. You underestimated the subject of your research and because of that, you’ve spent the last four weeks in a coma… You scared Caspar to death!”

Linhardt opened his mouth to speak… but closed it again. Four weeks? It was hard to believe. That plant did have some understudied effects on those with a crest, but that was certainly not what he was expecting. His eye moved to look at Caspar, who hadn’t budged once since Mercedes came in. “Has he been here the whole time?”

“Yes. He has hardly left your side in the past four weeks… it’s been a chore to get him to eat properly or sleep well because he absolutely would not leave unless he had to. Ferdinand took it upon himself to at least make sure he was brought food if he didn’t see him in the dinning hall at least once a day.”

“Ah. Do thank him for me, would you? I don’t imagine once Caspar wakes I’ll have much time to do so myself…” He sighed. To most it might have sounded like he was annoyed, and he was, but not at Caspar as it may have seemed. It was more directed at himself for having worried his boyfriend so badly over such a gross miscalculation.

“Sure. Just as long as you promise not to do something so reckless again!”

“I cannot promise that. It’s bound to happen in this particular field of research. But I will at least try to make sure I have someone present to assist immediately should things go arwy.”

“Good enough.” She giggled, knowing that was the best she was going to get. She proceeded to check him over, check reflexes and such. After she was done, she started to go get him some water and a light meal… but when she saw Caspar start to stir, she smiled and motioned for Linhardt to keep quiet for a moment. “Caspar?”

“Huh?” He responded groggily, slowly pulling himself to a sitting position. “Mercie? Yeah… sorry I’m…” a yawn interrupted his train of thought, “I’m awake.”

“Oh good. Will you please get a glass of water?”

“Yeah sure. No problem.” He drug himself to his feet and absentmindedly trudged over to retrieve the requested item. “Is everything checking out ok?”

“Oh yes. I’d say there is significant improvement!” She said cheerfully, a slight giggle towards the end as she glanced at Linhardt.

“That’s awesome! Hopefully he-“ That’s when he turned around. His whole body froze, refusing to do anything except stare at Linhardt with the most shocked expression up until the glass shattering on the floor snapped him out of it. “L-Lin…” His voice cracked.

“You know, you really shouldn’t sleep in the floor like that. You’ll hurt your neck.” Linhardt stated, giving a soft smile. It was meant to be a joke mostly, as he was aware he didn’t have any room to talk.

Caspar couldn’t even argue. He just let out a small laugh, tears running down his face as he dropped to his knees beside the bed, hugging his beloved crest scholar as tightly as possible without hurting him. He never noticed Mercedes quietly clean up the glass and slip out or Ferdinand coming by with food. He was just happy that this was over. Just happy to have his Lin back.

#fire emblem: three houses #fe3h #linspar #caspar von bergliez #linhardt von hevring #casphardt #silver writes #bad things happen bingo #yay silver wrote something

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captain-aralias · 5 years

Text

More-than-six Sentence Monday

got some unexpected last minute sunday tags from @vkelleyart and @carryonsimoncarryonbaz \o/

Rules:

Writers: post (approximately) six sentences from something you’re working on. If you aren’t ready to do that, add six sentences to your WIP.

Readers: challenge yourselves to leave a six sentence comment or give a writer a six sentence prompt. (or a total of six sentences for the day)

Fans and creators alike: reblog a fandom post and add some love in the tags. Aim for 6 posts - or 6 tags. Whatever you can manage!

I tag some people who aren’t in this fandom, which i don’t think is the point. BUT... it means maybe they haven’t seen the meme, so there we are. @agapi42 @thisbluespirit @neveralarch @shipaholic

Great! I love talking about myself,

BUT... i literally have no works in progress. NONE. i posted the thing i was working on yesterday and i haven’t started anything else/have no idea what i will write next yet. (Give me your ideas. Can we have a kink meme or something? I love kink memes.)

So - I will do the commenting one someone else’s thing for 6 lines instead, because that’s nice.

And I will also give you (should you wish to read it) the original beginning from ‘Sex and Blood’, and loads of stuff I cut out of ‘The Mages Heir’ because I found the off-cuts hanging around in my docs folder, so why not? They’re yours if you want them.

Sex and Blood

This was the original beginning. Then I added Simon’s scene because... I can’t remember ... and cut most of this for a reason i DO remember, which is that I was like ‘Baz is supposed to be so sick he can’t even think. Why is he banging on about garlic?’ You’ll see I also sort of re-used some of it in the third part where Baz is in the library.

I know fuck-all about vampires.

To begin with, it was a matter of principle. Of pride. Finding out anything about them – about the creatures who killed my mother – was as good as admitting I was one. Which, obviously, I am – but that didn’t mean I had to think about it. (Much the same approach my father wishes I’d take to my sexuality, I expect. Being gay is bad enough – I could have the decency to repress it.)

Now, I think I’m afraid of what I might find if I looked.

Everything I do know, I’ve found out by trial and error. By surviving.

I know I can eat garlic. I know I can go out in the sun, although it burns me (sun-cream doesn’t help. Not even factor 40. I’ve learned that the hard way). I know I can cross water and see myself in a mirror. I know I need to drink blood regularly, but that I don’t need to take it from other people. I also know I want to – and that for some reason, the people I want to take it from most are also the people I’m most attracted to. (Or rather, from one person in particular.) So I know that sex and blood must be linked together in my brain in some horrific way that fortunately I haven’t had to fully explore yet. (Simon Snow’s disdain for me is a blessing in some ways.)

---

Lots of stuff was cut from The Mage’s Heir:

1. I switched this scene to Simon’s POV:

I let him kiss me. Then I let him take off his shirt. He sits on the edge of the bed, golden in the candlelight, and swallows as I open my mouth to show my fangs. Maybe it’s finally hit him. Either that or he knows what that swallow does to me.

“You’re sure?” I ask around a mouth of teeth, and he nods. “Bite me.”

And so I do – right where I’ve always wanted to bite him, at the base of the throat. I can tell it hurts because he stiffens and swears. His fingernails dig into my back.

Blood, incredible, warm and rich, Simony blood is filling my mouth, but I try to pull back anyway – then Simon relaxes and I have to catch him to stop him falling.

“Oh yeah,” he croons against my ear. “I knew it would be nice.”

It’s much more than that. I feel as though I’m on fire.

Gently, I lower him backwards onto the mattress, teeth still buried in his neck. My body is humming. And my erection is back - even blissed out Simon can feel it. One of his hands gropes vaguely around my crotch for a while. I rip the zip open and press his hand against me. He let me hold it there as I fuck myself rabidly against his hip and his hand.

This is from Part 2 and is about Penny bonding with Fiona over botony - but I thought that scene was going on for too long so it’s cut

I’m looking round at the plants. I think some of these are illegal in this country – things I’ve never even seen except on the internet.

“That’s moly,” Baz’s aunt says as I lean in to take a better look at something that looks like a massive snowdrop. “Useful stuff. It––”

“It repels magic,” I say.

She looks impressed. “That’s right. And it’s good for crazy people.”

“Are you’re sure it’s OK to have it in your house? Even the pollen could be dangerous.”

“Both of Bunce’s parents are on the Coven, Fiona,” Baz says pointedly.

“So were mine,” she says, unimpressed. “Anyway, I’ve obviously got a permit. Lapsed botanist,” she explains when I look quizzically at her. “But it’s good for field work.”

That makes sense, although I didn’t know there was anyone in London with all this stuff – I thought the Watford greenhouses were the best stocked, but even they don’t have moly (because it’s really dangerous). Baz never said. I’d have come ‘round earlier. Or if he’d told me his aunt was a botanist (even if she is lapsed) – it’s a really good magickal profession.

“Are we going to use any of this tonight?” I ask.

“No idea,” Fiona says.

Part 3 - this was the original opening - again, you’ll see i re-used some of it. I cut it once I realised that characters were literally saying ‘this is boring’ to each other

I wake up and it’s dark. And I’m on the floor. And I feel like complete shit.

I think about trying to sleep it off (that works sometimes), but now I know I’m on the floor it’s hard to get comfortable, so I sit up instead.

The good news is I don’t hit my head on anything. That means that Nicky didn’t probably hasn’t pulled the ceiling down, but now my head feels a lot worse because I tried moving it, and I still can’t see anything.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

I’m not really sure what happened, if I’m honest. I remember Baz telling me he had a plan, and I remember him biting me, although I’m not sure whether that was the plan or whether he just got carried away. I think I must have passed out after that. And now I’m here – alone, on the floor, in the dark.

“Baz!” I shout stupidly.

Nobody replies to that either.

I get up and walk forward until I hit a wall (not literally. I had my hands out). That’s good, though. It means I know where the wall is. I drag my hand along it until I find a corner (that’s great! This is a room with corners, I’m making progress) and along the next wall. This time there isn’t a corner, exactly – there’s an open space. And then a metal bar. After that, another bar.

That��s not so good. It feels a lot like this is a cell. I’ve never been in a cell before (though I’ve been locked up plenty of times, mostly with magic) and I can’t say I’m enjoying it now. Especially if I’m the only one here. Maybe I’m the only one they kept alive.

“Baz?” I shout again. “Penny?” I’m really trying not to freak out. “Baz!”

“Shut up,” a girl’s voice says from somewhere I can’t see. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“Sorry,” I say. “I’m just trying to find my friends. Do you know if they’re all right? It’s a boy with soft black hair and a girl––”

“Don’t talk to me. I’m ignoring you,” the voice says.

“Yeah. But have you seen them?”

When the voice stays silent, I smash my hands against the bars. The bars rattle – loudly – and it makes me feel better, so I kick the nearest one and then slam my shoulder against them. I don’t really expect the bars to give, which is good, because they don’t, but I know I’m pissing off the owner of the voice, which is something.

Then I think, why not actually try and get out of here? And I begin the incantation for the Sword of Mages.

I don’t really expect it work now I’m actually trying, but it does. The hilt materialises in my hand and I feel the comforting weight of blade, even though I can’t see it. I know it’ll be as sharp as ever.

My magic must be coming back. It’s coming back to me, like the sword did, but this time it’s my magic, my real magic. I’ll be a magician again, like Baz and Penny. I just took a break for a while, like Nicky did.

This is amazing. It’s actually amazing. Even though I’m still locked in a cell, and I have no idea where Baz and Penny are, I feel like laughing. This is so great.

Neither of them has ever said it (Baz actively denies it), but I know that both them wish I still had magic. Any magic. They both love being magicians. And I know they both feel sorry for me – for what happened, for losing the thing that’s most important to them. And they worry about me.

Now they won’t have to.

And it’s kind of like I’m starting again, right back at the start of my magickal education. The incantation is not only the spell I always got right, it’s also the first spell I ever learnt.

The Mage felt I should be armed from the beginning.

“It will be a burden,” he said as I swung the sword around his office that first day. “A heavy one. But you must be able to protect yourself, Simon – I won’t always be there.”

At the time I didn’t understand what he meant about it being a burden (It was a magic sword, a sword I could pull from the air just by saying a few words).

I do now, though.

He meant things were going to try and kill me and that I was going to have to kill them first, even though I was only eleven. I didn’t really mind back then, I just felt I had no choice. I guess eleven-year-olds aren’t really ready for the big questions.

“Use the sword well and it will always come back to you, so long as you are my heir,” the Mage told me. He put his hand on my shoulder. “Use with courage and with wisdom. Be worthy of it.”

“I’ll try, sir.”

“I know you will, Simon.”

And I meant it. Obviously. But over the years I was at Watford, I used the Sword of Mages for all sorts of stuff I probably could have used a less-magical sword for. Things like spilling blood for my room at Mummer’s House or opening tins of beans. It’s just, it’s easy to get used to things. Take them for granted. And the sword seemed to be all right with it.

But if I’m getting my magic back, I can start over – do things right.

Starting with breaking out of here. That seems like a pretty just and courageous thing to do, as I have to be free if I’m going to rescue my friends and my boyfriend from goblins. Assuming they need to be rescued (which at the moment I think I have to). I can’t wait to tell them.

I feel for the lock. It’s right at the edge of the bars where they meet the wall (as you’d expect, basically) and it’s got a big, obvious key hole. It’s probably locked with magic as well as iron, but I don’t think that’ll be a problem.

I swing the sword up and down about where the lock is. It cuts in, though not all the way through.

“What are you doing?” the voice from next door says as I brace one of my feet against the bars and tug the sword free. “Are you breaking out?”

“That’s right.”

I swing the sword again, hitting the same point, even in the dark (eight years of almost constant practice paying off). The lock cracks and gives. And the door creeks open.

Light flares in the cell next to me as I walk out into the prison corridor.

There are quite a few other cells, but the others are all empty except the one next to mine. And in it is a girl, like I thought, holding a small light in her hand like Baz does. Except that her hand is green, because she’s a goblin.

I didn’t think goblins locked up other goblins (I thought they probably ate them, which I’m glad I never said to any of them as it sounds a bit racist now I think about it). This one looks about my age, and she’s as gorgeous as Agatha.

“Take me with you,” she says.

“I thought you were trying to sleep,” I say.

“That’s when I thought you were just a prisoner reciting the traditional first-night dialogue,” she says. “You know, where am I? Where are my friends? I’ve heard it all before.”

“But people don’t usually escape.”

“Not usually,” she says. “Because there’s a really good alarm system down here. That’s why we have to be–– Bloody Cap.”

Somewhere behind the door to this prison someone is running along a corridor – fairly fast by the sound of it, in heavy shoes.

“Forget I said anything,” the goblin girl says, extinguishing her light. “I didn’t speak to you. I’m asleep.”

I raise my sword to a fighting stance. “I think it’s just one person.”

Or I suppose, one person making a lot of noise and several other people who are aren’t. But they’ll all have to come through one door, so I should be able to take them all.

As the door opens, I shut my eyes in case they brought a bright light that’ll blind me. I hear the heavy wood of the door swing inwards and I bring the sword down and round in a wide arc. I’m just about to make it very hard for this guard to walk away from the fight (kneecap damage – I’m not going to kill him) when he says,

“Simon! It’s me – it’s Nicky.”

“Nicky?”

I pull back so fast I almost fall over. I open my eyes, and blink a few times, and he steadies me. It’s definitely him, not a goblin wearing his shape – I recognise his smell (leather jacket and strawberry vape). I don’t hug him, because I don’t like hugging most people, but I’m really pleased he’s alive.

“Is Baz OK? And Penelope?”

“Yeah,” he says. “We’re all fine. How about you? You’ve been out for three days. Healing magic’s a bit dodgy.”

I shrug this off because I don’t want to think about it right now. “Where’re are the others?”

“Upstairs.”

“Cool. Let’s go then.” I turn towards the other occupied cell. “Stand back and I’ll split the lock.”

The goblin light flares again and I see her standing at the back of the cell trying not to look excited.

“Well, hurry up about it.”

“Hang on, Lancelot,” Nicky says as I raise the sword. “I didn’t give you the message yet. You’ll want to hear it. It’s from His Nibs.”

I sheath the sword and it vanishes. “From Baz?”

That sounds good, it sounds like Baz is alive. (I am so fucking grateful Baz is alive.)

“Right. Essentially, he says, stay where you are, don’t attract any attention to yourself, and definitely don’t break out of prison. You can see why I thought it was a fairly relevant message at this particular time.”

“Baz wants me to stay here?” I say. “In a dungeon?”

“Not exactly the place to get over heavy blood loss, is it?” Nicky says. “I told you: Pitches care about magic and power and that’s it. But you can see how it would be awkward for him if you start running around the place, since he’s only king ‘cause he killed you.”

“What do you mean, he’s the king?” I say.

“Who’s the king?” the goblin girl says.

“My boyfriend,” I say. “Do you mean king of the goblins?”

Nicky scowls. “I knew you weren’t in on it, I told Fiona. Listen – if you want to start a revolution let me know. Otherwise, sit tight, eat this, and I’ll bring more news when I have it, OK?”

He’s pressed something round like a Coke can into my hand (the one that isn’t holding the sword). Now he claps me on the shoulders and shuts the door behind him.

“How can your boyfriend be the goblin king?” the girl asks. She’s close to the bars now, looking at me with undisguised scepticism.

“I don’t know,” I say. I think I’m still in shock – maybe Nicky’s right and it’s the blood loss. “He wasn’t yesterday.”

Except – shit. It wasn’t yesterday, was it? It’s been three days. (I’ve missed the start of term.)

I go back and sit in my cell. There’s nothing else really to do. In the light that’s still coming from the girl next door, I can see what Nicky’s given me is actually a tin of spinach – a tin of spinach without a ring-pull. I’m not sure how he expected me to eat it, but I guess I’ve got a magic sword I’m not using for anything else right now.

“That man called you Simon,” the girl’s voice says. “You’re the Goblinslayer.”

I didn’t know they called me that.

“No wonder you’re hiding in a dark,” she says. “I would be, if I were you.”

It’s lucky I now trust Baz absolutely, because this doesn’t feel good. It feels like one of Baz’s family’s plans to get rid of me.

And it feels like it’s working.

this is the end of part 3... i don’t really remember it very well, although i do remember that i had massive trouble with the doctor wellbelove convo, because it’s a massive info-dump disguised as a scene

“The treaty with the goblins is going very well,” he says. “As well as these things ever do, anyway. Queen Ilex and I have a meeting next week to negotiate the finer points of the treaty.”

Ilex is Holly’s royal name.

“She’s attending the Coven later this month with some of her people, to get the treaty magically ratified by both parties. I’d like you to be there, if possible.”

I swallow. “To stand trial?”

Dr Wellbelove looks surprised. “What on Earth for?”

“Because,” I say. Isn’t it obvious? “I’ve broken Mage Law, haven’t I?”

Dr Wellbelove nods. It’s definitely more than once.

“But,” he says, “you’ve also done what few others could have managed and helped reached a peaceful accord with a race of dark creatures.”

I shrug. I guess. I mean I was there, although I was unconscious for most of it. I wouldn’t say I helped.

“You may be interested to learn that one of the terms of the treaty was a complete ban on goblin consumption of humans, in exchange for animal livestock. Queen Ilex suggested it herself, although it seems the goblins have developed a taste for Scottish beef. I don’t need to tell you that will save many lives.”

“That was Baz,” I say.

“It wasn’t just Basil, though, was it?”

“Right. It was Penny’s plan that got us of there––”

“She claims it was your plan.”

“I guessed it.”

“And that it wouldn’t have been possible if you hadn’t already formed a relationship with the imprisoned queen.”

“Penny exaggerates,” I say. (Even though he said I wasn’t, I feel like I’m on trial here.) “I talked to Holly for, like, half an hour.”

“Well, how about we return to the numpties then?” Dr Wellbelove says. “You’ve already admitted you responded to a situation

“That was Nicky!” I say.

Well, I guess I shout it. Dr Wellbelove looks surprised.

But it feels wrong. He’s got it all wrong. I know what it’s like to do big, important stuff and this isn’t it. I’m not the Chosen One any more. I’m not anything. I’m just trying to clean up my own mistakes. And the Mage’s.

“Because you asked him to.”

“Yeah.” I’m getting confused here. “No. I feel like you want me to say that I did all of this stuff, but I didn’t. I didn’t do any of it. None of it was me.”

this is earlier in part three - it’s penny’s POV. i really like that bit about there being worse people to turn into. might re-use it later.

He and Baz are already all over each other, as though three days apart is unbearable. I chat to Holly the goblin while I wait. And keep waiting. (Micah and I haven’t been in the same country for three months. And it’s not as though there’s any reception down here so I can Skype him.) If you’re up for a round of snogging your boyfriend in public, you can’t be that sick.

Snakes, I think I’m turning into my mum.

I suppose there are definitely worse people I could turn into. Since Mum has almost everything she ever wanted and is pretty much always right. Just like I know I’m right now. Simon is – weirdly – OK.

and the same scene - simon’s POV

“Actually, I did tell you,” I point out.

I watch Baz mentally re-play the last twenty minutes to find out that yes, actually, I did tell him. And he was too busy fussing about his wand.

He shrugs. “Whatever.”

I don’t mind. Him not apologising means he’s not feeling stupidly guilty any more. I lean into him and he frowns.

#carry on #snowbaz #my fic #my deleted scenes #my content

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chemicalmagecraft · 4 years

Text

The Gamer Hero, Deku Chapter 17

A/N: I know I said that I probably wouldn't post for a while because finals, but then I had a flash of inspiration and my poor time management instincts took over. But seriously, now that I'm done clearing my WIPs so they don't distract me later, it'll probably be a week or so until I start working on my fanfics again. Need to do a bunch of essays, then I'm giving myself a bit of time to be lazy once break starts up. So for once, I'd like to ask you guys to not give me suggestions for a bit...

The first part of this chapter is something that I figured should happen eventually. How would magic change an already superhuman society?

Have a Little Feith: Thanks for the suggestion! I certainly don't mind using legendaries, however I already have plans for that particular one. My idea for Momo was more along the lines of manufacture.

Xekless: With the exception of elementals, humans (and some animals) are the only inherently magical beings that exist as of this point in the story. Let's just say there's a reason nobody knew of magic before Midoriya...

xoxoxo

In the weeks leading up to the sports festival, we saw a surprising amount of magical advancements in the world. Supernatural healing, which was once considered rare and often involved some sort of caveat that meant it couldn't be used freely, turned into a matter of training, skill, and mana, even if it was weaker. I actually did some volunteer work helping some local hospitals out with the spells, as well as the regular medical help I needed to do for Shuzenji-sensei's healing course.

While only lightning mana could be directly converted into electricity, special generators were built to use other kinds of mana as fuel, meaning more people could work at power plants and more clean energy. There was probably also research being done to use mana as it was. More water-users meant improved water services. Construction businesses flourished with earth mages. Apparently Uraraka's parents in particular gained some profit because she was able to use her elementals to get her parents a few interesting spells in their elements. She and Aizawa were really happy about that, actually.

Conservation only benefited from a new wave of bio-elementalists and other kinds of magic-users. In fact, I heard there was a group that was in the process of getting permits to use magic to deal with the trash in the sea and on the beaches better. Not to mention, even unaspected magic was incredibly useful in agriculture, so farms were able to produce more crops. I even heard about some experiments in infusing plants with magic, which sounded interesting.

While there was, unfortunately, a bit of a rise in villain attacks with the advent of magic, pro heroes were better able to combat it with the fact that hero agencies had more or less turned into modern-day mage guilds. I'm sure there was someone out there biding their time until they learned how to cast Ultima or Raise Greater Undead, but at the same time pro heroes were organized, well-funded, and now produced their own spells, so they could handle it. I even saw on the news that the Wild, Wild Pussycats now had a series of cat-themed spells.

There were still some limitations on dissemination of magical knowledge to the general public, but a few weak spells were made available to everyone. With the buzz about magic, I heard there were talks about reducing Quirk- and magic-usage laws, which was exciting. I mean, I may or may not have been using my magic in public a bit already, but it'd be nice to be a bit less sneaky about it...

xoxoxo

"Poor thing," I said as I looked at the small, gold-furred cat that Juniper alerted me was in a nearby alley. She was missing part of her right foreleg, and the stump was bleeding. She had a few more scrapes, and her fur was dirty. She gave me a weak meow. I'd always liked cats, so I felt a pang in my heart to see one so hurt. "What happened to you?

Stray Cat

LV 6

Kitten

I reached my hand out to her, but she shied away. I concentrated, trying to use Magycked Words to put my intention into what I was about to say. "I want to help," I murmured in a soothing tone, then closed a popup for a new skill, Animal Whisperer. She looked a little bit calmer now. "Good, now just hold... still..." I slowly reached my hand out to her, whispering affirmations to her. She let me touch her, and I activated Healing Hands. "That's a good girl. I'm healing you now."

Unfortunately Healing Hands couldn't do much for her missing limb, but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. After her wounds were dealt with, I gave her a quick rinse to clean her off, making sure to dry her off completely before she could get cold. Oddly enough, though, her temperature didn't drop at all from the water. She purred at me, now doing much better. She didn't have a collar, but... "Does she have a chip on her, Raimon?" I asked.

"I don't... think so?" he said. "I can't find anything like that on her."

I grinned. "Then I guess you're coming with me, girl." I picked her up. "A cat with golden fur... I think I have the purrfect name for you." She purred, and her fur... glowed. She got really warm. "Okay nevermind Yang it is," I said.

Stray Cat

LV 6

Yang

A cat with a Quirk... I'd heard of people having pets with Quirks before but I wasn't entirely sure what the rules were. I assumed I'd have to register her, though.

"Don't you still have school today?" Claude asked.

I bolted up. "Crap! School!" I looked at the time. Kacchan was probably looking for me. I looked around for a place to put Yang, then had an idea.

xoxoxo

"The hell were you taking so long?" Kacchan asked me when I ran up to him.

"I, uhhh... had a magic thing?" I said, then rubbed the back of my head.

Wait crud that's was the wrong hand! I quickly lowered my arm, but not before a meow escaped from my sleeve...

"Why the fuck did I just hear a cat?" Kacchan asked.

"Oh I don't know, maybe there's a cat nearby?" Kacchan looked around, then focused on my sleeve. I acted totally natural, nothing up my sleeves at all! For a second I felt like he would buy it.

He didn't buy it.

"Oi Deku, what's up your sleeve?" He grabbed my hand a bit more forcefully than I'd have liked, causing it to fall out of my sleeve. "...What the actual fuck," he said after a few moments of holding my disembodied right hand.

"Stupid Rayman limbs..." I muttered.

"Meow," Yang said as she poked her head out of my sleeve. To be honest I wasn't entirely sure how my sleeve was staying in proper shape considering most of my forearm was made out of air, but it was. Somehow.

"Did... Is your arm a cat now?" He looked between my still very much real hand and the cat's head coming from my sleeve. "You know what, I'm going to hold your hand hostage until you fucking explain."

"Not my hand!" I shouted. "I need that to not get arrested." I started trying to fly my hand out of Kacchan's grasp. Because my hand was attached to a body part I'd turned to air, it could fly. Somehow. It wasn't strong enough to escape Kacchan, though. Actually, I wondered how much of my body I had to turn into air before the rest would fly. I'd have to test that later...

"Stop muttering and answer the damn question."

"I wasn't just going to leave Yang there! She lost a leg."

Kacchan facepalmed, letting go of my hand. It floated back to Yang, and I scratched her chin with it before nudging her back so I could put my hand back in place. She was taking Air Embodiment surprisingly well. I was actually a little worried she'd activate her Quirk... "You named her already. In hindsight, though, I'm more surprised you haven't done something like this already. Actually, is it okay that the cat's breathing your arm?" He stopped walking and just rubbed his temples. "Hang... hang on, I just need a fucking moment to process how fucking absurd that last sentence was."

"I've confirmed that it's perfectly safe for both me and whatever's breathing me. Same for other elements. And I'm sure someone's said something like that before."

He started walking again. "Right. Your life is fucking weird. Not gonna give myself a headache. So how long can you do that?"

"Partial Embodiment is a lot less taxing than Full Embodiment, so it's just slightly more than what Mantra gives me back. In fact, if I get another point of INT, then it might just break even. If I use Meditate every so often, I'll be able to keep this up until we get home. Assuming we don't have practicals in Hero Studies today."

He shrugged. "Fuck it, good for you. Now we should probably hurry as fast as we can without you jostling the cat. We're already a little late."

xoxoxo

I was walking in the hallway on my own when I heard a meow. I froze and so did Aizawa-sensei, who was walking past me. I silently pleaded with Sonia to help. She gave me a grin. A grin I could almost describe as like the Cheshire Cat's...

"Meow," she said. Audibly. Even with Gamer's Mind, I could feel my heart pounding. I tried not to let it show on my face. I tensed up, though, when Yang meowed again. Though I noticed that Aizawa also grimaced. Yang pushed my hand out of the way, but at the same time a black cat with golden eyes poked her head out of Aizawa-sensei's capture weapon.

Alley Cat

LV 4

Blake

I nodded at him.

He nodded at me.

Yang and Blake meowed at each other.

I offered Aizawa-sensei my right arm in an invitation to pet Yang. He gratefully did so, then pointed to Blake. I used my floating right hand to pet her.

We nodded to each other, then gently nudged our cats back into their hiding spots and walked away. I had to Meditate in the bathroom for a bit because the stress of the moment deactivated Mantra, though.

We never talked about our encounter, though we did trade a few cat puns later in the day. I'm not an expert, but I think that makes us brothers.

xoxoxo

"Hey mom?" I said as I opened the door. "I have something I'd like to ask you about..."

"What is it, sweetie?"

I brought Yang out from behind my back. "Her name is Yang."

Mom sighed. "Honey, you know a cat is a big responsibility..."

"I promise I'll take good care of her!" I promised.

She frowned, then nodded after a moment of thought. "Alright, you can keep her."

"Thank you!" I shouted. "Oh, uh... By the way, she has a Quirk..."

"Izuku..."

xoxoxo

As it turned out, the Japanese government is very approving of Quirky animals being pets with responsible owners, though there was some red tape surrounding it. It made sense that they wouldn't want animals who had no concept of Quirk usage laws just roaming the streets... First I had to get her registered and fitted with a special chip that could withstand a lot more heat than normal chips thanks to her fire-based Quirk. Then we had to go to specialized classes for us to be able to deal with her if she activated her Quirk. I also got a good prosthetic for her with some of the money I got for various prizes related to discovering magic.

Thanks to Animal Whisperer I gained an increased understanding of all animals. After a few talks with Yang, I could pretty much speak cat, which was neat. I was hoping to get a familiar skill, though. Even if I never used Yang like a proper familiar, a familiar skill might give me access to her Quirk, I Burn, which would be nice.

For my preparation for the sports festival, I decided to focus mainly on DEX and INT. Because I was more or less indestructible due to Damage Reduction and Elemental Embodiment, I didn't need to worry about VIT at all. Because of that, I decided to focus on my original idea I'd had before Roaring Muscles to train my DEX, though with INT training as well to power up my magic. It was close, but a few days before the sports festival I got both above one hundred.

DEX gave me three skills, Light Step, Flash Step, and Weird Flex. Light Step was the next version of Fleet Foot and Flash Step was, well, a Flash Step. I could use MP to cross a few meters in the blink of an eye. Weird Flex... had a fitting name. It seemed to just make me disturbingly flexible. The flavor text implied that it was what made contortionists contortionists, and I couldn't really disagree with that. It seemed like it'd be useful, though, because it was a passive that didn't use MP.

Raising INT gave me Mana Talent, Eye for Magic, and Open Mind. Mana Talent, like Light Step, was a better Mana Affinity. Eye for Magic, which I got because I had an eye-enhancing spell, was a spell that allowed me to "see" magic, which was absurdly useful. I could probably copy spells just by looking at them, for one. It gave me really bad eye strain, though. Open Mind was also a potentially useful spell. The flavor text said it was mind magic, which was useful in and of itself because it gave me a base for mind magic, and it allowed me to hear other people's thoughts. When I used it, I was able to hear the internal monologues of everyone in the spell's radius, and could hone in on one person in particular. I wouldn't use it much because it was clearly an invasion of privacy, but I was sure I could put it to good use.

With my stats where I wanted them, I spent the rest of the time before the sports festival practicing various spells and skills. The day of the sports festival, I knew I was ready.

xoxoxo

A/N: I thought of that scene with the cats and was legally obligated to write it. This is a little shorter than my usual chapters, but I figured you guys would prefer one short one now and then a longer one in however long it'll take me to do all my school stuff and then start the sports festival arc than just an especially long one later. And now I have no excuse not to do my schoolwork. Pray for me...

#fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bnha #The Gamer Hero Deku #Gamer Hero Deku #GHD CH17

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bae-leth · 5 years

Text

Oh wow that’s a really detailed dream? I enjoyed reading about it! I’m thinking that Lorenz has more of a playful rivalry with Claude than an actual hatred, since FE Facebook talks of him, Dedue and Hubert all being loyal to their lords, but it’d be interesting if he turned on him later on in the story.

(I had only one 3H dream since that last anon, and in mine all that happened was that Claude and Dimitri had a shouting match. I don’t even remember what it was about. le sigh.)

About headcanons - I think I’ll expand a bit on the students we already know, more than the students we don’t. As much as I want to talk about Lysithea, Marianne etc, there’s literally nothing to glean tidbits from, so I’ll hold off from headcanons until we learn something, at least.

…I predict that most of these will end up being friendship-related anyway, haha. Headcanons under the read more:

Edelgard:

- A perfectionist, excelling in all her studies/training/etc from a young age.

- However this led to other people looking up to her, rather than seeing her as an equal - this led to some loneliness growing up.

- She wanted proper friends, not just people who saw her solely as a prospective ruler, but eh. What can you do when you have an certain image to cultivate?

- (spoilers: friendships attained at the monastery later on, and this secretly makes her very happy)

- Edel always looked like a hard person to approach, but really she was just a kind soul underneath

- Siblings: I keep thinking that she might have a half-sibling who tries to usurp her position as heir apparent midway through the game lmao. Other than that though, she seems like the only-child type to me.

- Kids want to BE her, because she’s super cool. This makes Edelgard super mushy inside (she’ll try to deny it), so she has a soft spot for the kids that run up to her in excitement whenever she travels around the Empire

Dimitri:

- I wonder what his tinge of darkness is? Intsys might go for the standard ‘he is forced to follow his bloodthirsty father in committing atrocities in the name of the Church’

- Or perhaps he witnesses something horrific as a child, and is powerless to stop it, leading to immense guilt up to adulthood?

- Or maybe it’s an inherent character trait. Maybe Dimitri was the villain all along 😔 and childhood circumstances exacerbated this villainy.

- Apart from theorising about his darkness, I headcanon that he was a bit of a wild child who mellowed out when he got older and attained more responsibilities. A bit like BotW Link, but more outwardly cheerful/expressive. Chivalrous from the very beginning. A good boi

- I still reeeeally want him and Ingrid to be siblings… If this is the case, then you can bet all your money that Ingrid had the best puppy face as a kid, and got away with everything. Dimitri was blamed for eeeeverything, and Ingrid still teases him about it now

- (they’re the ultimate power-siblings tho. Could kill you easily)

Claude:

- Has a few little sisters - THAT’S how he became so sneaky, lmao

- Actually listened in on the council meetings when he was younger, while pretending that he found them boring. He gained a good grasp of the politics of Fodlan from a young age as a result, and used this to his advantage to gain the upper hand in Alliance discussions (to the chagrin of his fellow nobles). He was always very sharp

- Always enjoyed winding up Dimitri as a kid, since the young prince got comically mad very easily. However, this became more difficult once Dimitri mellowed out and grew into a far milder young man. (Difficult, but not impossible…)

- Tried winding up Edelgard as a kid, too, before very quickly giving up. The heir to the Adrestian Empire knew how to use an axe VERY well from a VERY young age, and she wasn’t afraid to use it.

-Pulled a lot of pranks as a youngster, and still does now. Got away with it before because he was cute, gets away with it now because he’s charismatic (and HOt). Lorenz cries everytime, because he can’t get away with anything, apparently…

Hubert:

- Oh gosh, this man. He’s probably the first student at the monastery to go grey, he worries over Edelgard and the future of her position so much

- Has had the loyal retainer trope down to a T since, well, forever.

- He was always the best at giving Edelgard advice, making her tea, cheering her up etc, so much so that castle maids would ask him for pointers when they wanted to do the same.

Dorothea:

- We know that she’s looked up to Manuela for ages, but consider this: she has Manuela merch.

- And she isn’t afraid to show it.

- A painting of Manuela, beautiful and absolutely massive, hangs in her dorm room, and she refuses to take it down. (To be fair, it’s a beautiful painting)

- AHAHAH but honestly? We already know he accepting she is of everyone, no matter their class, so I’m certain she was the same with her fans at the opera house.

- She always treated them kindly, despite how tired she might have been after that particular performance.

- She managed to attain a stellar reputation as a result - people loooooooved her.

- So it’s a bit of a shock when she goes from the eccentric, lovable people who adore her and who she has connections with at the opera house to the snobby noble NPCs at the monastery, but she does what she’s always done, and kills them with kindness.

- And sass, accordingly.

- And her voice. (She probably has Chords of Steel ✊)

Ferdinand:

- His pride in his family's status has landed him a lot of dislike amongst the other noble families.

- Not that he ever cared, though; as long as his family were thriving, he could care less about what others say

- Diligent in his training since a young age. He has to be, in order to keep up with Edelgard

- ... even if she doesn't notice that he's trying to form a rivalry with her

- (oops)

Bernadetta:

- Spent all social occasions in her room, making no noise and pretending she didn’t exist.

- Depending on her parents’ attitudes, her shy nature either landed her sympathy or scorn. If they scorned her, this would explain why she prefers to practise her hobbies in the comfort of her own room.

- (It would also mean that I would leap into my switch to punch her parents herself)

- Felt much pressure to be conform to the typical self-assured noble role, which was a constant blow to her self esteem - especially because the ‘perfect’ noble, Edelgard, was right there, and easily comparable to her

- I’m pretty sure that she grows into her own throughout the course of the game, but since we’re talking about her past only, I can’t imagine that all the pressures of nobility would be good for her :(

Mercedes:

- MY GOOOOORL

- Why did she leave the Empire as a noble to settle as a commoner in the Kingdom?

- Methinks her family angered the nobles at court, and were forced to flee as a result. They didn’t agree with their methods/ideologies/etc, dared to speak out about it, and were threatened as a result

- It meant that Mercedes lost a lot of privilege and status as a result, but she didn’t mind. She could still heal others, and that was enough.

- She was initially lonely at the mage school before meeting Annette, although she was rather reluctant to admit it. However, the two of them soon became fast friends, and the rest is history

- (I headcanon that she only vaguely remembers Lorenz, which is a sucker punch to his ego lmao)

- Well-liked at court before her family’s fall to disgrace.

- Holds little ill-will towards those noble families that turned on her own - was only disturbed that they were that corrupt in the first place

Felix:

- He and Dimitri had a bit of a personality swap through the years.

- As children, Dimitri was the wild, reckless hooligan, while Felix was the one desperately trying to reign him in, for fear of losing the prince of Faerghus to some tragic accident (i.e. he tried taming a bear) under his watch

- As they grew older, Dimitri became more responsible. Felix, on the other hand, went 'fuck it’ and went absolutely ham. By this I mean that he starts his little challenging rituals

- which lands him in a lot of trouble, sometimes, because as it turns out, challenging a fifty year old senior knight at the tender age of fifteen doesn’t tend to turn out very well

- Dimitri ends up being the one to exasperatedly chase after him.

- Despite his 'lone wolf’ proclamations, the main reason Felix fights alone because he wants to look cool.

- The others (except Ashe) don’t buy this for a second. They haven’t done so in YEARS.

Dedue:

- Dimitri earned Dedue's respect ever since the prince defended one of his younger siblings from a drunkard in the marketplace

- As repayment, he offered to serve as a retainer for a period of time. Ended up being permanent, because his respect for Dimitri grew exponentially the more he spent time with him

- Green fingered. Probably worked wonders with the plants in his hometown.

- Dimitri once asked if he could tend to the palace gardens. Once Dedue realised that it was either him or Felix armed with a scythe, he quickly took up the offer.

- Since then, as well as being a retainer, Dedue often oversees the upkeep of the gardens. It's hard work, but he enjoys it. He makes sure to leave the plants in capable hands before the Blue Lions set off for the monastery

Ashe:

- Ok yes I know that we technically know nothing about Ashe either, but... my boy. I must headcanon him

- Ever since he joined the Blue Lions, Ashe had always been seen as the 'baby' of the group. The little brother. The one to look out for.

- It's just his face, y'know? Gotta protect that smile. Even Felix has a soft spot for him

- It exasperated Ashe to no end, because he KNEW he was capable enough to hold his own. He was just... short, okay??

- (His protests don't stop the rest of the Blue Lions affectionately doting on him. Currently, it's become a bit of a running gag between the members)

- Ashe, fists clenched: fight me!

- The rest of the Blue Lions, shaking their heads, drawing lances and mouthing softly: do not

- They all know he's capable, really, but it's always been funny to wind him up like this, so they all continue to do so.

- Everyone else knows that fighting Ashe is futile. You try and duel him, and suddenly there's a gang of 8 absolute b e a s t s tearing you to shreds. It's not fun

- Seeing as he doesn't have a crest, Ashe is probably a commoner.

- How did he end up with the Blue Lions? Either his own skill at the time, or him having a lot of potential, or both. I'm leaning towards the latter

Lorenz:

- Has horribly embarrassing anecdotes from his time at the mage school, which is why he is half thankful that Mercedes doesn't remember most of his blunders

- Annette remembers all of them, however.

- All of them.

- She uses these stories as blackmail material.

- Has always had a playful rivalry with Claude, but ultimately respects him. They play up their rivalry sometimes around the other nobles in the Alliance, just to create confusion

- Has an older sister who is infinitely more stylish and romantically successful than him. It pains him to even think about her success compared to his

- (doesn't stop him from knocking on her door for advice, though)

Hilda:

- Canonically spoilt by her father and older brother, yes. However, if you touch her family, and she will k i l l you

- s l o w l y

- so don't even think about it.

- Goes shopping and uses her poor brother as a shopping basket. The boy's groaning after five minutes. She smiles and adds more clothes onto his arm

- Her family can't resist her pleas... which caused quite a few petty squabbles. Imagine being Hilda's brother and getting a mug for Christmas, while you watch her get the cutest lil puppy, or something

- Despite this, she genuinely would do anything for her family. (even poison for them, if it came down to it...)

Raphael:

- His parents were killed in an accident, but for a long time Raphael felt guilty for not being able to do anything to save them, especially since he was so strong in the first place.

- What's the use of all his strength if he can't even protect his loved ones properly?

- Eventually, he pulls himself out of his slump. It takes a long time, but he realises that there's nothing he can do now except move forward and use his strength to protect those still living

- which is what he does! He gets Stronger, and uses his strength to protect his house.

- the others all admire how optimistic he is. His energy has always been infectious, and always draws out laughter from even the most despondent of people

- however, his constant training has always brought about shortages of training dummies for the Deer. Sometimes they go out to train, but there's just ... straw, in a heap on the floor.

- Raphael's optimism can't save him then 😤

#i'll check this tomorrow bc I'm really tired rn #but i rly hope the read more works on mobile lmao #will tag just in case #fire emblem three houses #fe16 #long post #headcanons #anon #ask

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lysiluna · 5 years

Text

@knightsdeath Support Rank || B

⋆ Oh yeah? Well, you should know that the feeling is mutual right about now! ⋆ Dainty arms hugged torso as the young girl HUFFED and PUFFED ⋆ I wouldn't be so persistant with this particular request if it was not IMPORTANT , you know this to be true. ⋆ Thin fingers coiled around the fabric of her uniform, jaw locked as her patience began to grow thin. ( don't slap him. don't slap him. he is simply ignorant. ) ⋆ You promised you would not waste my time -- so why is it that you seem incapable of comitting to this SIMPLE instruction? ⋆ His contentious scowl remained unmoving, unlifted. The swordsman's lips were sealed tight, and his chilling eyes grew still, uncaring for the precious moments passing Lysithea -- HIS EYES WERE LIKE THE FOSSIL GEMS OF AMBER . In their presence, Lysithea was powerless -- for she knew how unbending one could be against unyielding circumstances.

⋆ F I N E. You don't need to regale me with your reasoning. I don't particularly care how difficult you make your studies as long as you hold up your part of the bargain, anyways. ⋆ Somehow, she knew it would come to this. Perhaps it had been his inhospitable demeanor that set off the alarms, or the way his own callousness felt a window into her own presentation. Regardless, she accepted the terms knowing they would arrive at the foot of this insurmountable precipice. ⋆ Just know that if you continue to refute the entry of emotion into the equation of Reason, I will achieve my goal far sooner than you would yours. Beyond a doubt, I would surpass you. And I would not hesitate to leave you in the dust. ⋆ THIS WAS HIS FATAL WEAKNESS. Felix's capabilities in seeing the Weave and understanding the logic behind Reason indicated that the third, emotional aspect of this magic was to be his ultimatum. It was a common shortfall, one that has made early retirees of many mages in training. Reason magic had been titled so due it's polarizing relationship with human emotion. It's power was drawn from the same driving forces behind tears and laughter, and especially fighting spirit. Precise control over these potent forces was required to prevent meteoric catastrophy. If one was lucky, they would blow a hole in the wall of their home. At it's worst, and most common, lives would be lost. Whether it be FEAR, or DISGUST of this facet of Reason magic, Lysithea could not tell. She held no personal investment to find out, in any case. However, she swore to help him -- even if it tore at their relationship ( whatever it was ). Small, intentional strides carried the porcelain student face to chest to Felix. In defiance of stature, Lysithea's chin tilted her stern gaze to meet the man before her. ⋆ Reason does not equate to apathy. It equates to fair judgement of your own S O U L. Peel away whatever steel in your spirit you may have forged to protect yourself, or others. Uncover the conviction to TRULY grab the reigns of Felix Hugo Fraldarius, whoever he may be beneath those dead eyes. ⋆ ( do not remind me. ) Blooming pink lillies stood stagnant accross a quietly from a domant fire pit. Would it burst into blazes and consume the proud and powerful plant? Would it gently spark to a kindle, and warm the soil beneathe it? Only the future would know. ⋆ Enough time wasted, I'll grab the blindfold. ⋆

#ლ↷ there is no time like the present. no time at all. || ic ↬#ლ↷ i could be no place else v1↬#{[ hi have i ever told u how much im thankful you sent in so many training prompts ]}#{[ ty ily ]}#{[ lys voice: HERE'S -- THE MOTHA FUCKIN TEA ]}

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jutsei · 5 years

Photo

(ART NOT BY ME! Drawn, commissioned from, and uploaded with permission by @cheesecakewitch ! )

“I just kinda got really fed up with people telling me Elderbeak wasn’t real, plus doing all that work for a waking world that doesn’t care about me, I’ve got all I need right here, isn’t that right, Elderbeak?”

“Mrah! (Of course!)”

Context/Behind The Scenes: An OC concept that’s relatively new, I wanted to make an example of a Dream Mage, since I’ve only had Dream Nomads so far! Since Dream Mages are those with Dream Magic and the ability to affect the sleeping world far more than a regular dreamer, it felt like it’d be a fun concept, so I got into contact with my friend Celine... who happens to be a massive fan of Digimon, so I had the concept of a dreamer who had an Imaginary Friend to channel those vibes, in the end we decided to make her be an in-between of a Dream Mage and Nomad, not one or the other! We also decided on a D&D type theme since that’d be a lot of fun to play with in the character

The “Imaginary Friend’ ended up becoming it’s own recurring concept too, unlike Dream Creatures, which are 75% Emotion/Thoughts and 25% Imagination and made from 10-1,000,000 people’s thoughts...

Imaginary friends are more personal, made from 1-5 people’s creativity and imagination, and are far more grounded in reality and less abstract, they’re related to Dream Creatures, though! Roughly 75% Imagination, 25% Emotion.

Like Dream Creatures, they have symbols upon them! But these are golden (never blue or red), and have symbols that are far more grounded in reality, in Elderbeak’s case, they resemble the dice Phlox so loved in her youth!

Phlox, formerly Philia, is a Dream Mage that has wandered from her home Dream Plane, borne of frustration at her waking world being cruel, constantly defying her attempts to branch out, and never giving her time to pursue her true interests, and on top of that, they keep insisting her very best friend Elderbeak isn’t real! They’re very real... just in the dream planes! For that end, she has begun an extended trip away from her body. Her avatar is based upon her concept for a character in a tabletop game she never quite got to play.

However, the mists of the dream realm are slowly beginning to warp and change her, in particular, adding a tail and claws to her cloak and making it more like a cape! Should she abandon her waking body, she will fully become a dream nomad, and the draconic additions to her cloak may just become closer than she’d like...

Phlox’s dream avatar/self is specifically based off of what Philia wished to play in a Tabletop RPG that was never meant to be, specifically, she is a half-demoness Thief/Ranger with some gems embedded in her!

Elderbeak, however, is an Imaginary, a creature borne from Philia’s endless wonder and creativity towards a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game she read in her youth, constantly dreaming of playing it and going on an adventure. Due to her sheer lack of friends (And therefore no one to play the game with), Philia kept thinking about a creature with the traits of both an owl and a bear, and then, one day, was greeted by one in her dreams, who quickly became her friend and partner in her duties! The two became friends very quickly...

And every day, Elderbeak grew smarter, kinder, and cuter, until the two became inseparable. As time went on, Elderbeak began getting more draconic traits as Philia’s inspiration and muse soared, until they became a rather original creation! Gifted with the strength and endurance of a bear, the wisdom of an owl... and the sheer unmatched power of a dragon, if Phlox ever stumbles, Elderbeak is there to pick her right back up! While Elderbeak can talk, they prefer to speak in coos that only Phlox can understand!

Elderbeak is an Owlbear with the traits of a Gem Dragon mixed in together, so the technical term would be a Dragowlbear!

Synopsis: Dream Mages are those borne with a most particular ability, that of dream magic, a form of mana that only becomes nascent when the user falls asleep and enters the world of dreams, though they are charged with a most important task, their work is never acknowledged in the waking world, much to the dismay of some.

Philia, as she was known, was one of these dream mages, born to a family that was relatively well off, she was never left wanting for much... and yet, she never could quite make friends. For whatever reason, whenever she opened her mouth, she picked the wrong subject, said the wrong thing, made the wrong expression, wrong wrong wrong, she simply consistently failed to connect to people

And every day, she would return home in a frustrated mess, and retreat to the basement, for there was her source of comfort... books for playing an “Ar Pee Gee” with pen and paper from a time long before her birth, it was meant to be played with up to four people, with one “master” setting the scene... every day, Philia would come home and read every book hidden away in the basement, even asking her parents about the adventures they must’ve had before putting these Ar Pee Gees away! Their tales, as well as every book captivated her imagination, planting a deep desire to play it herself one day, and the fact her parents every so often got her new editions of the books she read certainly didn’t help either...

... And that deep seated fantasy certainly helped her when she learned that she had a sacred duty to protect a realm of sleep only deep sleepers could ever enter, for if balance were to shatter, the real world would suffer. Though she didn’t want to, Philia obliged... if only because it was the closest thing to the adventures she wished to partake in!

And yet, in the waking world, every attempt to connect or even discuss her fantasy game resulted in people mocking her or thinking that her interest in the game was “faked”, whatver that meant. And once more, she retreated to her second home of fantasies that were just out of reach. She wished with all her heart she’d have a friend to play it with... or at the least, something from the fantasy to experience herself... as her eyes turned to the book, she saw something and smiled... a strange creature, the head of an owl, the features of a bear... an owlbear! How could anyone not love something like that? Well... if Philia couldn’t have a real world friend, she’d just make one up!

Quickly thinking up the name “Elderbeak”, she would pretend to have the burly creature nearby her to protect her and support her when she needed it. Even if she never got to play this game, she’d at least carry a part of it with her.

... And imagine her surprise that when one night, when falling into the realm of sleep, she was greeted by an owlbear that matched her exact vision of Elderbeak, down to the pattern of feathers...! It introduced itself as Elderbeak, and knew instictively that they were her friend. Philia’s heart swelled, she finally made a friend... literally and figuratively, but Elderbeak was real, right there in front of her! Happily, she hugged her new friend, and began taking them with her on her adventures around the dream plane to protect it.

As the two worked to do their duties together, Philia’s imagination and passion for the “RPG” as it turned out continued to grow, why’d Elderbeak have to just be an owlbear? They could also be a dragon... and with Philia’s passion, Elderbeak too changed, becoming softer, warmer, and cuter (But no less dependable), and gaining traits and features as Philia continued brainstorming, eventually settling on an owlbear with the traits of a gem dragon..

To match her dear friend, Philia had certain traits of Elderbeak attached to her “Dream avatar” as a sign of affection! Since Elderbeak was from the fantasy game, Philia decided she would be too... she weaved an image of a kind but daring purple skinned demoness in her head, and that image became her own... it was the character she yearned to play, a half-demon adventurer named Phlox... and so, that would be Philia’s identity in the dreamplanes!

Years passed, and Philia continued (and failed) to get an adventure in the RPG going, each attempt thwarted be it by time issues, people losing interest, or again, simply thinking she was :faking” interest, and this constant neglect was causing a negative effect on her personality, making her more snippy to those who did show genuine interest, or were simply approaching her, how could she know if they were just pretending to be her friend just to betray her later?

She kept trying when there was genuine effort though... and she came close once, very very close... she begged the “Master’ to allow her to play her half-demon character Phlox with her pet Owlbear... and the Master would allow Phlox... but not the Owlbear. Philia didn’t take it well. She lashed out, yelling about how it wasn’t fair to her best friend, only for the Master to flatly say he wasn’t real.

Getting a black eye and a missing tooth for their troubles, the Master prohibited Philia from ever playing with his group. She did it again. She messed up a connection, and her unhealthy obsession with this “fantasy” as well as an imaginary friend... at age 14 was starting to give her teacher and parents some concern, there were talks of taking away the books, doing a “regiment” to break her dependence upon Elderbeak, Philia... didn’t take it well.

How dare they! How dare they insist Elderbeak wasn’t real! He was real, just not in a place they could see or reach, if she could show them, they’d believe her if she just could...

The stress very quickly became too much to bear as all manner of horrible outcomes stewed in Philia’s head, why was the waking world so cruel, so banal, so horrible!? Nothing good ever happened there, and Elderbeak wasn’t there was much as she liked... Then... a thought occurred...

“I need a break from all this!”

Philia simply flopped onto her bed, closed her eyes, and decided to stay asleep for as long as possible. She was going to stay in the Dreamplanes for a week, no...a month... no, a year! A year away from all this stress would make her parents forget about all this nonsense, and she’d miss a year of school too, win win! ... She could probably also use a break from her Dream Mage duties!

So, packing up her imaginary things and hopping onto the back of Elderbeak... Ph-... Phlox left, her waking body falling into a comatose state as her dreamself went on an adventure through the dreamplanes, going from place to place, not worrying about any duties but the thrill of adventure.

... Though, lately, dream mist has been coalescing onto Phlox’s cloak, making it appear longer, get a tail, and even golden claws... somewhat concerning, but Phlox is assured it’s probably nothing

For now, she simply wants to be away from the horrific stress of the waking world, and if the dream realm truly appears to be better than the waking world...

...

Then she’ll just decide to never wake up again, plain and simple!

#shins other ocs #shins dream worlds #commissions ive gotten

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theonyxpath · 4 years

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Tomorrow, Tuesday the 5th, at 2pm EST, we start the Kickstarter campaign for Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition! This is significant, at least to me, because Mummy: The Curse was the first Chronicles of Darkness (still New World of Darkness, then) new line we Kickstarted. We had a blast doing that back in the wild and woolly days that seem pretty long ago, and it is so amazing to be able to now present to everyone the 2nd Edition.

In fact, Mummy: The Curse was already being worked on before Onyx Path was formed, during the time that Eddy and I were creating more TTRPG projects for CCP after the success of Vampire 20th. So we’ve got a long association with the line and the concepts presented within it.

Certainly, a lot has changed with Onyx Path, the way we do Kickstarters, and with how the 2nd Editions have tightened up all of the CofD game lines. Both the systems and the setting have benefited from the years of play and thought that came after their initial releases.

M20 Book of the Fallen art by Sam Denmark

So, is this your Mummy? A fair question if your a fan of 1st Edition, and also if you weren’t sold on Mummy: The Curse the first time around. Here are a whole collection of answers to that very question by Impish Ian Watson and Matthew “The Gentleman Gamer” Dawkins, the game’s developer:

– There was a pre-Egyptian culture that spanned a large part of the world (just how big isn’t mentioned, but I think of it like Alexander the Great’s territory, or perhaps the Roman Empire). It was the first such empire in human history. It had no name, and thus is called the Nameless Empire. The center of the Empire, its Rome, was the City of Irem. – Irem was run by a collection of sorcerer-priests who wanted to turn themselves into gods of the underworld, and so they chose a number of servants to convert into Arisen in order to serve them. The gods need Sekhem, their particular flavour of spiritual juice, and they need you to provide it — mostly by retrieving Iremite artifacts and bringing them back to the underworld. – Mummies could have come from anywhere in the Empire, and their cults may have moved them from place-to-place for security or to follow an Iremite artifact. The Arisen quickly adapt to new cultures and languages when they wake up, so it’s possible to be “from” practically anywhere, even if the origin of their undead state is Irem. – Mummies are sort of anti-vampires: where vampires spend most of their time awake with shorter periods of torpor, mummies spend most of their time dead with brief periods of wakefulness. Where vampires start off weak and get stronger over time, mummies wake up at the peak of their power and slowly dwindle as their period of activity comes to an end. – If you’ve seen the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies, it’s something like that: you wake up, practically a corpse, running on instinct, but immensely powerful. As time goes on, your memory returns, life returns to your body until you appear human, and your power dwindles. – You typically wake up for one of three reasons: your cult wakes you up for a specific purpose (say, to choose a new leader from a list of candidates), because you sense the Sekhem in a nearby artifact, or because a Sothic Turn has passed since your creation. A Sothic Turn is a 1,461-year period of the star Sothis (Sirius). In the former two cases, you typically “die” again as soon as your task is finished. In the latter case, you may be up and active for years at a time. – Interestingly, you experience your periods of activity non-linearly. You might wake up in 2012, and then later wake up in 910 BCE, lamenting the lack of effective modern transport or communications.

– If you enjoyed the immortals from World of Darkness: Immortals, you’ll be happy to find yourself reunited with Blood Bathers, Body Thieves, Eternals, and more, in Mummy 2e, as they act both as antagonists and as potential allies and cultists. – There are essentially three tiers to your character’s creation, allowing for a lot of character variety: your guild, your decree, and your Judge (being like an alien deific entity). – In this edition, we provide tools for your journey and trials through Duat, the Land of the Dead, so the game doesn’t end when you sleep. You can even bring others with you on your journey. – Sekhem Sorcerers are presented in this book, expanding on how they appeared in Dark Eras Companion. Again, they might act as antagonists or followers, depending on the group of sorcerers. – Mummies are not bound to a set appearance or body, and are able to plant their “pillars” in cultists, only to take over their body as their own one receives harm. Therefore, your mummy can theoretically demonstrate any ethnic, cultural, and biological background. – I’d describe Mummy as the Chronicles of Darkness game best-suited to Dark Eras play, due to its non-linear setup. Even if you don’t want to use the characters or splats presented in a given era from Dark Eras, Dark Eras Companion, or Dark Eras 2, each book presents a host of settings and events with which your mummies can interact.

There you have it, from some fellas that know the material!

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Ready Made Characters art by Aaron Riley

A couple more notes about the Mummy: The Curse 2e Kickstarter itself: First, like most of our KSs, this is just a reminder that if you want to see for yourself how 2nd Edition has come together, backers will be getting sneak previews of the completed text all throughout the KS campaign. So you’ll be able to judge if it’s working for you before we hit the end – unlike during the 1st Edition Mummy KS.

Second, another reminder that the Mummy 2nd KS is going to be run on our Onyx Path Kickstarter account, not the RichT account that 1st Edition was run on. So keep an eye out for that, and see you at the Kickstarter!

Now, onto a different topic for a second. Last weekend, a whole bunch of Onyx Path creators descended onto Game Hole Con in Madison, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, their fearless leader, Mighty Matt McElroy was laid low by a bug right before the con – yet Monica Valentinelli, Bill Bodden, Crystal Mazur, Travis Legge, and a bunch of other folks, helped out and pitched in to cover booth time and demo-games.

A huge thank you to all you folks for coming to the aid of Matt and Onyx Path!

They Came From Beneath the Sea! art by Brian LeBlanc

They had six games of Realms of Pugmire games, as well as six Scarred Lands games, scheduled at the con, and also a bunch of pick-up games were also played. In fact, some of the adventures that were played there were actually play-tests of projects that are soon to show up on both game lines’ respective community content sites.

To be fair, non-stealth play-tests were also played. Specifically for Legendlore, our next upcoming 5e fantasy game, and all reports sound like the players had a fantastic time. Sounds like everybody really loved the main idea of playing yourself transported to the world of the Realm, and that’s just what we want to hear!

The Legendlore players also had tons of questions about the world and the rules, which we really appreciated hearing. Not only is that a great sign when folks want to hear more, but just scanning through the questions it seemed to me that most were actually already answered in the full text of the book (which the play-testers didn’t have). Which is a gratifying nod for developer Steffie de Vaan and her team, and how they set up the info in the book.

You never know if you’re not only playing a great game session, but also helping one of our creators, when you sit down to play one of our games at a con. You never know when you’ll be one of the folks giving early feedback so we can create our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

The Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition Kickstarter arises tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov 5th, at 2pm Eastern US time. Be there to witness the majesty and terror of this new version of Mummy: The Curse!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features the return of Meghan Fitzgerald in a no-holds-barred, drag-out, steel-cage match interview with one of our busiest writer/developers!

It’s a Mummy: The Curse themed week!

To start, we have an interview with Matthew Dawkins by the Story Told Podcast, where you’re likely to discover lots of revelations relating to Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/website/mummy-2nd-edition-with-matthew-dawkins

Excitingly, we also have the first episode of Red Moon Roleplaying‘s actual play of Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition right here! Please check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJiyP2UzLSc

As ever, we have a ton of excellent content on our Twitch channel, including games of Changeling, Aberrant, Scarred Lands, Vampire, Pugmire, and more! Please give us a look and a follow over on www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath

It really helps us to have subscribers on our Twitch channel, and you can do so for free and catch premieres as they go up if you have an Amazon Prime account. Just type Twitch Amazon Prime into Google and you’ll be shown how to subscribe for free.

Do you follow us on YouTube? Well, if you haven’t subscribed to us on Twitch, do not despair, as a couple of weeks after each episode on Twitch we transfer the videos over to YouTube right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN5jRB35OvnC-6gxnRY4gQ We already have episodes of Aberrant and Changeling up, with more to come!

Meanwhile, our fans keep creating excellent content, not limited to:

We’re not going to forget the ever-popular Occultists Anonymous Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition series, which continues right here:

Episode 56: Bad To The Bone Songbird has called Celestial Fire to burn the body of Supay, just as Atratus felt like she was making in-roads with the Judge! Wyrd the Seer has slowed down Supay, but is it enough? https://youtu.be/inPtPBPaNCA

Episode 57: Now & Again Atratus takes a dive into dark uncharted waters, metaphorically and metaphysically speaking. Songbird contemplates terrible things, while Wyrd stands guard… https://youtu.be/RBurUUf1kj4

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, the W20 Art of Werewolf: The Apocalypse PDF and physical book PoD versions will go live on DTRPG!

In addition, for the first time, we will be activating a PoD version of a Community Content book! In this case, it is Pugmire‘s Canis Minor project: Morty Corgi’s Scroll of Mysteries!

Conventions!

PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th, in Philadelphia, PA. 2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th, in Milwaukee, WI.

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Post-Editing Development

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle – Sent out contracts.

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Contracted.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Chicago Folio – Finals rolling in.

Mummy 2 (KS) – Ready to roll.

City of the Towered Tombs – Contracted.

Let the Streets Run Red – Figuring out probable page count.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Awaiting artnotes.

Scion Mythical Denizens – Contracted.

Deviant

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Vigil Watch

In Layout

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Knocking through chapters.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

VtR Spilled Blood

Pirates of Pugmire

Proofing

Memento Mori

Dark Eras 2 – Adding my comments to first dev pass.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

Trinity RMCs

Geist 2e Screen – At WW for final approval.

At Press

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

V5: Chicago – Printing.

Aeon Aexpansion – PoD proofs ordered.

W20 Art Book – On sale Wednesday on DTRPG.com.

W20 Auspice Gift Cards deck – PoD proofs ordered.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Getting print files ready.

DR:E – Getting print files ready.

DRE Screen – Getting print files prepped.

C20 Cup of Dreams – Proof PoD ordered.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – errata gathering.

M20 Book of the Fallen – Backer PDF going out this week.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday was the birthday of Jeremy Brett, born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, and he would have been 86 years old this year. And while I am no expert on the character, like my friend Eddy Webb is, Brett was, in my opinion, the greatest portrayer of Sherlock Holmes ever. From his bio: “Brett was obsessed with bringing more passion to the role of Holmes. He introduced Holmes’ rather eccentric hand gestures and short violent laughter. He would hurl himself on the ground just to look for a footprint, he would leap over the furniture or jump onto the parapet of a bridge with no regard for his personal safety.” I can’t to this day read the stories without hearing his voice as the voice of Holmes.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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bafflinghaze · 5 years

Text

Rosethorn’s Well (Of Affection) (...Mostly)

It’s Longnight, and most of Winding Circle was preparing for the night prayers. But Water dedicates have Rosethorn running their tasks for absurd reasons (no changes there). The last of these tasks, however, brings Rosethorn to Crane’s greenhouses and two particular people.

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1k

Contains: Lark/Rosethorn, Crane/Rosethorn, Annoying Water Dedicates

Notes: Prompted by @withrainfall/mistrali with “lark/crane/rosethorn gen”

Read on AO3 or below.

Rosethorn had the itching urge to hang someone up by their toes in her well. It was the only the thought of her plants that would be watered from that well that stayed her hand—though just barely.

No, perhaps she could build a deep hole in the ground just for that purpose…

The sunlight was rapidly fading—it was Longnight, after all—and yet the cursed Water dedicates had Rosethorn running around fetching them plants and powders for Mila-knew-what. “Can’t you wait?”she had snarled at all every single one of them. And oh did those dedicates quivered in their blue-touched robes. But yet, somehow, they had insisted and so Rosethorn had, in bad humour, completed their hare-brained tasks.

All too soon, all the fires in Winding Circle would be doused and the whole-night’s-shift of prays would begin. Rosethorn could feel it, the sun, just about to go down, in the winter and evergreen plants around her.

“I’m so sorry,” the Water dedicate cried, hands pressed together. “But please, Dedicate Rosethorn, we urgently require a rose.”

“It’s out of season!” Rosethorn growled.

The Water dedicate bit her lip. “Perhaps—Dedicate Crane?”

Rosethorn stared at her. “What? Get it yourself!”

“Oh, I could never go into Dedicate Crane’s greenhouses!”

The thought that the dedicate feared Crane more than Rosethorn twinged. Perhaps she should hang someone by their toes in her well. It had been much too long—

“Oh, please, Dedicate Rosethorn! You’re our only hope!”

Rosethorn pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine,” she bit out.

Even in the fading twilight, Rosethorn knew the way to Crane’s greenhouses—all those plants, warm and out of season.

There was light, and movement, through the fogged glass.

Rosethorn scowled. Clearly, not only had Crane decide to twist the nature of plants, he had also decided to light in Longnight. Any more, and he’d be renouncing his dedicate vows, Rosethorn thought sourly.

She entered the building, not at all quietly. The heat buffeted her immediately. But she didn’t plan to stay long at all, so did not remove her outer robe.

“Ah, Rosethorn,” came the sound of Crane’s voice. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Rosethorn stalked towards the sound of his voice. “Some cursed Water dedicate—”

The light was not from flames, but rather glowing rocks, arranged by the dozen around a large square of cloth that looked suspiciously like a picnic blanket and cushions scattered on the outer edge.. The items on top did not dissuade the notion: there were multiple plates of food, and a carafe of drink, and a woven basket.

But no, what surprised Rosethorn the most was the fact that Crane was sitting on that blanket—on the ground. What surprised Rosethorn the second most was Lark, who was rising gracefully to her feet straight from her seated position.

“Rosie,” she said warmly, nimbly stepping between stones of light. She leaned down and pressed a kiss on Rosethorn’s cheek.

“Lark,” Rosethorn said. “What is he doing here?”

Crane immediately flushed. He struggled to his feet, more like a waddling duck than a crane. “This is my greenhouse!”

Lark laughed, the sound of it easing Rosethorn. “Oh, Rosie,” she chided. “Play nice. Happy birthday.” She caressed Rosethorn’s arms, and helped Rosethorn take off her warm outer robe.

Rosethorn grimaced. “We celebrated it just six months ago—”

“Well, this is your real birthday,” Crane said with a huff. “I told you she won’t appreciate it!”

Lark clasped Rosethorn’s hand and led her onto the picnic blanket. “Sit,” she said, eyeing both Rosethorn and Crane.

Crane sat back down, muttering. Rosethorn decided to sit down with much more poise.

“What about the prayers?”

“The plants know well that the sun will rise again tomorrow,” Crane muttered.

Rosethorn shot him a look. “Why are you a Dedicate again?”

Crane glanced at her, and flushed even more.

“Don’t worry,” Lark said, patting Rosethorn on the thigh. She let her hand rest there, warm and close. “We’ll do so, together, after we celebrate your birthday. Especially due to your hard work today!”

Rosethorn stared at Lark, betrayed. “That was—a wild goose chase? A distraction?”

Crane huffed, long arms and fingers sweeping over their surroundings. “Do you think this simply fell out of the sky, ready for you?”

“So that water dedicate didn’t want a rose—”

Crane cleared his throat. He reached into the sleeve of his robes and drew out a deep red rose, complete with its thorns. “Happy birthday, Rosethorn.” With a flutter of fingers, the rose floated over to Rosethorn.

“...You’re not even the tenth person to give me rose thorns,” Rosethorn said, shaking her head. “You’ve lost your sharp mind, Crane.” Nonetheless, she took the rose. It was clearly tricked to bloom in the winter night, but it didn’t know any better, the sweet poor thing.

“I know winter’s always hard on you,” Lark said quietly. “But don’t you feel better here? And with us?”

Rosethorn stared down Crane.

Crane looked away, and then glared right back. “This is a celebration!” he scowled. “Because we’re both so happy that you were born, you prickly woman. But I’m starting to wonder why I ever liked you—” he added darkly.

“I should hang you in my well.”

Crane raised one eyebrow. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Rosie. Crane,” Lark said. “You can deal with this tension after we have Rosie’s birthday dinner.”

“Heh.” Rosethorn relaxed—or rather, gave in. “Don’t expect me to do something like this for your birthday, Crane.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Crane drawled. He clapped his hands. “Now, Dedicate Gorse has truly outdone himself when we requested this for you.”

Lark patted Rosethorn’s thigh. “Let me,” she said, preparing a plate for Rosethorn. She grinned. “The least I could do after all your hard work today.”

The food was good, of course. But Rosethorn had to laugh at Crane, prissily eating out of the plate balanced on his lap.

“How did Lark ever convince you to do this?” Rosethorn had to ask, smirking. “If would have thought that you would order your dedicates to drag a full dining table in here.”

From how Crane stiffened and reddened, he had clearly wanted to do so. Rosethorn laughed.

“She convinced me like how she convinces everyone,” Crane said. “And this is for you, unfortunately.”

Lark caressed Rosethorn’s face. “When you love someone...”

Rosethorn glanced to Crane. Crane’s face had softened, and it felt as though his eyes were caressing Rosethorn’s face too. She wouldn’t put it past Crane to somehow command the wind to do so.

Rosethorn’s heart did not swell up, and her chest did not tighten. “I see,” she said gruffly. “I can’t stop you from making this a habit, can I?”

“No, you can’t,” Crane and Lark said simultaneously.

Rosethorn sighed. It came out more fond than she wanted. “How did you ever get all those Water Dedicates into your plan?”

Lark’s eyes sparkled. “Hmm, how did we, Crane?”

Crane straightened up. “Well,” he drawled, “you see, I am Dedicate Crane, Great Mage—”

Rosethorn snorted, laughing a little, leaning back to hear their tale. The circle of lights was small and cosy, the heat welcoming, the plants soothing (not that she’d ever admit that).

But most of all, the well of affection she felt for Lark and Crane filled her with warmth.

#my writing #emelan #circle of magic #lark/rosethorn #crane/rosethorn #prompts still open

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