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afanofmanyships · 1 year

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Weird idea, but what if Billy, klarion, and Danny all decided to screw with the batfam by telling them a big lie about how Gotham came to be centuries ago only for it to be true in the end.

Batman eavesdropping around the corner: Phantom, Marvel, and Klarion 'recounting the old day’s':

P: “Ya know, Batman reminds of [insert name] when SHE was still Gotham”

C M: “I know right, she had people come all across the land to challenge her and kept the roads safer for travelers.”

K: “Then it’s a good thing she is gone.”

C M: “Says the one that dug a giant that went MILES into the ground and proceeded build a two story house on top of it.”

K: “Oh screw off!🖕”

P to M: “You’re just mad that she stated in her will to have ALL her possessions burned so that no one would be able to use them.”

C M: “If we’re talking about possessions, then who’s the one that made a tomestone that said 'Here Lies Gotham, You May Have Know her as [insert full name], a True Friend and Ally' in front of the house only for it to start trending everywhere.”

P: “In my defense that was how I honored many of my fellow ghosts. How would I supposed to know a passing traveler seeking refuge would come across the house, it was in the middle of nowhere!!”

K: “For decades, people were wondering who wrote those ‘strange symbols’ and if the land was cursed or not.”

Only for Danny retort to tease Klarion on how Gotham mothered him and taught him how to gain control of his powers that lead him to tleek, with Captain Marvel chiming in. Only to stop when they made sure that Batman was gone.

All three burst out laughing

P: “Y-you think he bought it?”

C M: “Probably with how he’s been trying to figure out my identity for years.”

K: “As entertaining as all of this is, who should we go after next?”

Danny (with hands calatps in front his face to hide his smile): “I know just the person.”

A few weeks later in JL Headquarters:

Nightwing, Phantom, and Captain Marvel walking side by side in the hallway, Nightwing does a stunt and Phantoms eyes gloss over with remembrance and a bit of sorrow. Nightwing then panics and asks if he’s okay only for him to say: “It’s okay child, you just remind me of my first student.”

Danny floats a bit ahead of them, trying and succeeding to not break character.

Marvel explains: “A decade after the passing of a dear friend, a traveler came across her tome. Enchanted by the symbols, the traveler spread the word of the symbols and became rich. With these riches came greed and with this greed came corruption that birthed Phantoms first student.”

Phantom continues: “Four decades after the passing of our dear friend, I decided to pay a visit to our friend and saw the most strangest thing. A four year old living inside the house Klarion built.”

Dick: “May I asked why that is strange?”

M: “After Phantom made the tomestone, me and Klarion created a spell that only allows people who have the same goal as [insert name] to walk past the tomestone. And if they do not, they would feel this overwhelming urge to not pass the tome when reaches a 100 feet of it.”

Dick: “Even if people couldn’t approach the tomestone or house, wouldn’t there be some kind of security?”

M: “The traveler had people build a small mansion 300 feet in front of the tome making people pay to just see the stone and cut down those who didn’t pay, foolishly believing that that would be enough to stop people from coming close to the stone and so he never bothered to check on it.”

P: “I decided to watch over the child for the day and found out something interesting. This child liked to soar through the trees at night, all though clumsy and falling off the trees she would always get back up the trees soar through the tree again with a smile on her face.”

M: “He then, almost, scared the ghost out of her by popping into existence and offering to help her perfect her soaring.”

Dick laughs

Danny starts to smile: “It was a fun time for both of us, soaring through the trees, unintentionally stopping a few robberies. The village folk even nicknamed her the Soaring Nightingale, she was so embarrassed and happy with that name that she never got the chance to change it. We were happy, until she turned 10.”

Phantom stops walking

Nightwing and Marvel also stop walking. Dick nervously asks: “What happened after Nightingale turned 10?”

M: “Children aging from 8-11 years of age started to disappear from the streets and homes. Only to reappear in random locations with no reelection of what happened and a new found fear of adults of who they know and don’t know.” Sighs “Phantom never seen anything like it before and called on me to help out.”

P: “Nightingale sacked him right into his sunshine smile face, tried to warn him not to pop out of nowhere.”

M: “Lier! You didn’t try to do anything.”

Dick trying to get them back on topic: “Did you find out who was behind the disappearances?”

P: “As it turns out, it was the traveler that was behind the kidnappings. He heard stories about 'The Soaring Nightingale' and wanted to know if she would be able to privately show him some of her 'skills'.”

Dick eyes widen: “You don’t mean…”

M(nods): “I have never seen Phantom wanting to murder a human being that badly in my life, before that day. It took both of us to convince Phantom to wait a month after we gather ALL the evidence to put the traveler and his associates down forever, for him to do anything he wanted to the traveler and those involved.”

P: “A month and three years later, we gathered all evidence and spread it as quickly and efficiently as we can.”

M: “It worked well with the combination of the traveler being a tyrant and the seeds of doubt that Phantom, pain stickily, sowed in the neighboring villages. Before we know it, their execution day was upon us.”

P: “That day was one to remember.”

M: “You possessed a skeleton, donned on a creepy black cloak, grabbed the biggest sith you can find, came to the execution sight, and pointed at them saying ‘I have come to collect your debt.’ Then you kidnapped them to do gods knows what, only to come back three hours later with them so that we could finish the execution.”

P: “Well I couldn’t let them off that easy after knowing what wanted from my student now can I.”

Dick, being so invested in the story, asks: “What happened after that day? Did she meet Klarion?”

P: “After that day, we slowly fell back into our old routine from before. Not without a few rough patches and changes along the way, of course.”

Marvel pretends to whisper to Dick: “When she turned 18, Nightingale met the love of her life and Phantom summoned an actual shovel to threaten her lover with.”

P: “Thank you, Cap! When she was 19, 'Gale married her lover. A year later she met Klarion and accidentally pied him in the face because she thought that it was her husband walking through.”

Dick winces: “Was she okay? Klarion didn’t do anything did he?”

M: “Contry to what you’re thinking. Klarion just stood there saying ‘You’re lucky that you have a little monster on the way or else you would have me to deal with.’”

Nightwing starts asking about the baby and if they were adorable only to be reminded by Barbra, over the comms, to get back on topic and gather more information: “Did anything else happen afterwards?”

P: “Over the years her family grew. When her children were old enough, Nightingale told them stories about her younger days and taught them how to soar through the trees like she did when she was a child.” A flash of happiness shows through his eyes. “By the time peace was once again restored, Nightingale was on her deathbed telling her children to go see what the world has to offer now that peace was upon them.”

M: “Me and Phantom decided to move Gothams gave deeper underground then buried Nightingale right next to her, made this small cave right above them, and wisely moved the tomestones underground so that that problem won’t happen again.”

Dick: “Did anything else happen afterwards?”

P: “Her children decided that they didn’t want any of their mothers possessions, except for the little gifts she gave them before her passing, saying that she’ll live on whenever they are flying,” smirks at Nightwing when he picked up that last word, “and requested us to burn down the mansion (the 300 feet one) as they didn’t want anything to do with it.”

M: “After they left, Klarion renovated the house and made it more spacious.”

All three decided to chat and walk down the hall to a meeting they no doubt missed or late to.

(M: “After him, how about we do two birds one stone or, in this case, three birds.”

P and K both agree

Billy starts smirking: “Alright! Here’s the plan-”)

A month later in Gotham (Billy wanted to wait at least 3 weeks but was out voted by two sadists who wanted to see the bats sworn in their seats):

Klarion is reported to be causing trouble around Gotham so the bats have to deal with him. Only to see Klarion and Marvel having tea and 'reminiscing' about the 'good old days'.

M: “The dynamic between Red Hood and Red Robin when they first met honestly reminded me of when the Scarlet Sisters reunited.”

K: “The amount of chaos those two created just by being near one another was incredible.”

M: “Only for you and Phantom who seemed to thrive on the same level as you. I had to do damage control.”

Klarion rolls his eyes: “That was exactly the reason why we went behind your back and created a makeshift portal.”

Marvel starts to smirk: “And because of that you gained a little SHADOW.”

Klarion slams his cup down: “IF I had known something like THAT would happen I-”

M: “wouldn’t have done anything because you cared about the kid.”

K:🖕

Clockwork behind the scenes decided: “Ah yes, let’s make this a reality.” And sends them back in time to make the stories believable.

#dc x dp #Danny phantom #young justice klarion #dc captain marvel

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piratemousey · 7 months

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Hymn on the Wind

Tav x Gale

Warning: bg3 act 2 spoilers, original poetry

Under the cut is a spicy ending for people who want. CW: oral sex, sexual situations, it's basically a blow job how to if you're looking for tips, I'm very good at it.

Part 3

Rythmn of Us

Tav peaked out of her tent. When she spotted Gale, she jogged over to him, then slowed down, attempting to act casual as she approached. He was looking over the map they'd been building of the cursed lands..

After Gale had created a beautiful night for Tav two nights ago, he'd confessed his love for her. She told Gale she loved him too. The next day her and Karlach decided they needed to get to the creche as Lae'zel insisted.

It was the thinnest excuse for an adventure in history. Of course, Tav wanted to go to the creche, but she also wanted to extend the time she had with Gale. The last time they'd talked about the b-o-m-b issue, he seemed resigned to his fate. But Tav had promised herself and her companions that she would save Gale, if even from his own self-hate.

Gale had smiled and nodded at the news of going to the creche as he normally did when Tav made a decision, but Gale was far too smart for Tav to imagine she'd fooled him.

"Gale, can I show you something?" Tav asked.

"If it's your own magic trick again, I'll remind you that you lost my favorite hat in a fire." Gale said. He straightened from the map to turn towards her approach. Gale smiled at seeing Tav. "Of course, I'll come, my love. Lead the way."

Tav slipped her hand in his hand as she smiled at Gale. Tav convinced Astarion, Wyll, and Lae'zel to go for supplies and do more scouting of the large temple they'd found that day.

As Tav pulled Gale into her tent, Tav was bubbling with excitement.

"I can't wait to see this, you're so excited." Gale said. Gale's eyes were bright and hopeful, just a dash of concern. He loved Tav, and she could feel it ripple through her when he spoke sweetly.

Tav had set her tent up next to a stone wall, which they'd killed some undead when they first arrived. The land against the wall was flat and slightly elevated and wide enough for a makeshift bed. It would offer them extra privacy and some comfort.

Tav had lit a few candles and borrowed an incense stick from Shadowheart that smelled of the kind of oak wood found in libraries. She wanted everything to be perfect.

Tav walked over to the music box where she had it with her lute and an unopened bottle of wine.

"I found this at the old house of healing a few days ago. It was on a hearth, it reminded me of my mother. I don't know why I took it, it's not valuable and it'll only take up space."

"You'll keep it for the same reason we keep every scrap of paper we find," Gale said.

"You've given it meaning." Gale reached his hand for the box, pausing before touching it. "May I?"

"Yes," Tav said.

Gale lifted the small box with care. He turned it in his hands, viewing the craftsmanship and the detailing. As a wizard from wealth, Gale was practiced at handling crumbling tomes and powerful artifacts. It warmed Tav's heart that he used the same care for a music box with faded paint and looked as if it was made with dull tools. All because she said it was special to her.

"When I saw it it reminded me of one she had. She said my father gave it to her, but who knows, she told so many stories."

"You don't talk much of them," Gale observed. "I imagine it's painful."

"She told me that she was everything he wanted her to be, she changed herself a thousand ways for him. Still, he hurt her. He's dead now, I don't care why."

"I asked her why she kept something that held such bad memories," Tav continued the story she'd been telling.

"And what did she say?" Gale asked. He raised a brow, aware he was being told a story. For Tav, storytelling was all around her. She brought Gale into her story. She'd introduced him to the characters, explained the jokes, and then made him a main returning lead when they'd fallen in love.

"She told me that the box didn't hold bad memories. It held music and treasures. The scars he left and his corpse, that's where the bad memories lived." Tav said. "She said, "He doesn't get the music."

"There is wisdom in her words." Gale said in his soft way. He handed Tav the music box.

"I know you've said all you will on the subject," Tav felt a tightness form in her throat at bringing up the unhappy subject. "And that's fine," she saw him take a breath as if settling himself from a surge of emotions. He watched her steadily, trusting her.

"I know Mystra is magic, but music and storytelling is my magic. And it's outside of her domain. I had trouble finding the words. I even thought of writing a song about the unethical nature of bombs, but I give Astarion and Karlach so many explosives." She said this last bit as if it was something even she found worrying.

Gale chuckled and Tav felt a warmth knowing she'd made him happy.

Tav turned the key in the music box and set it down.

"That's the song you've been playing," Gale noted.

"Yes, I've been practicing," She said proudly. She set the leather strap of her lute over her shoulder.

The soft tune that had struck her when she first heard it rose between them, surrounding them with its melody.

"Music is my domain and she can't have it. So no songs to convince, only songs about love."

Gale rested his arms across his chest, his right hand settling on his lips. He smiled amused at her words and brave defiance.

She plucked at the strings building the score she added to the music box music. They blended and created a slightly upbeat rhythm that she could shift up or down in tempo as the moods of the song shifted from romance to humor.

"Your name in the wind,

You're magic on my skin.

We both love wine and art,

You're the song inside my heart."

Gale laughed, smiling warmly.

"Each day starts anew,

With thoughts of love for you.

Scratch, Quoth, and owlbear Ol-lie,

We make a great adventuring par-ty."

She repeated the music for the verse adding some deep notes that reverberated in her lute. Then she moved to the last verse.

"The world will be scary,

We know things get hairy.

With your power, the stars we'll see,

Dancing to the rhythm of you and me.

Dancing to the rhythm of us."

She ended with a big flourish. Tav hadn't been so nervous to perform in years. Her face was hot but she smiled because she had fun singing and playing.

Gale clapped his hands laughing. "To think I once dabbled in poetry," Gale said. His eyes pools of love for Tav.

Tav set her lute down. The music box notes tinkled softly before the key wound down. She stepped closer to Gale, and he immediately pulled her into a hug.

Gale leaned back from the hug, keeping her held close. "You wrote that for me?" He set his hand on his chest.

Tav knew the orb lived there, the thing that would take him from her. But Gale was so much more than that orb. He was there first.

"I've never had anyone write something for me," he said. "The last bard I woo'd left before I'd finished pouring the wine."

"Gale, if you tell me about one more person, god, or fae who's been mean to you, I'm going to start hunting people." Tav said with fake annoyance.

"I'm sorry, my love," Gale said, earnest in his apology.

Tav hugged Gale tightly, her arms around his neck.

"You can tell me everything, Gale," Tav said. "I just get mad when I know someone's hurt you. You're so sweet."

"I've been known to be a bastard from time to time," Gale said with a wry grin.

"I don't believe it," Tav said, smiling up at Gale. She had no delusions that Gale was a saint. But she loved to joke and play with him.

"Thank you, for your gift," Gale said. He brushed Tav's cheek with the back of his fingers. "I can't imagine what I've done to deserve it."

"You've been here for me, and the others. We're in this together which means we stay together." Tav said.

Gale's eyes fell with the weight of his choice. They both knew that she was referring to what Mystra asked of him. Tav worried that if Gale thought she was just trying to manipulate him, he'd reject her gift and his chance to live.

"I know it worries you," Gale said, his eye met hers again. "I know that your gesture was made with kindness. So, I will treasure it."

"I love you, Gale," Tav said. She felt the familiar rush of love that blossomed whenever she spoke those words to him.

Gale smiled, cradling Tav's face gently. "I love you, my beautiful Tav."

Tav and Gale kissed. She expected his kiss to remain gentle but it was more passionate. She leaned into it, rubbing the back of Gale's neck with her hand. When they broke apart, Tav was breathless and her knees felt unstable.

"I'm glad you like it." Tav said. She rested her nose against his. "Astarion suggest a cross between a massage and torture I think."

"I'm glad you listened to your instincts then," Gale said with a disgruntled head shake. He leaned in to kiss Tav again. She could feel the smile on his lips.

The heat in her belly was already spreading over her body. She wanted Gale. She wanted to feel his hands on her skin, she wanted to live only in the moments where they were making each other feel good.

She could tell from how he moaned low in his throat and his hands had begun to wonder that he wanted her to.

Tav and Gale's passion grew. He kissed her neck, kissing over her ear softly. "Will you sing more for me, my love." His hand slid between her legs and Tav's breath caught.

She backed up and guided him to the bed. She gestured for him to sit on the step she'd made into the bed.

"My love, let me return the favor of your gift," he held onto her hips as she stood over him. He kissed her tummy.

"You asked me to sing," Tav knelt between Gale's knees. "I know this special bard throat technique I can show you."

Gale's face was red with a mixture of excitement and embarrassment. He was still growing used to be desired.

"I wouldn't dream of interrupting an artist during a performance," Gale said.

Tav kissed his lips softly. "You just sit back and be my muse." She had already started undoing his pants.

Gale hummed her tune absently and she could only hope her words got through.

The last time they'd made love, Gale asked Tav questions about her pleasure. He studied her body and even shared his own desires.

Tav pulled Gale from his pants. She opened her shirt, unclasping her bra the way he liked it. Gale liked when her breasts peaked out but were covered enough that he could touch and expose them when he wanted.

Tav stroked Gale with one hand while her other cradled his balls. He pulled her face to his, kissing her while she touched him. Tav started humming the tune of the bard throat trick. It was a low octave, but Tav was practiced. She separated from Gale, giving him a loving look while he gazed at her with warm brown eyes.

She slid her mouth over his sex softly caressing the head with her mouth. Tav filled her mouth with saliva then pushed down over Gale's cock taking in more than half his length. She felt him grow and throb as she hummed her song. His hand squeezed her breast while she pleasured him, his other hand touching her head.

Tav felt Gale grow big in her mouth as his pleasure built.

"My love," she heard Gale whisper close to her ear. "You're doing amazing things but I need to taste you too."

Tav stood up while Gale moved pillows around. She took off her clothes, laying them to the side. Gale laid on his back with a mischievous smile. She kneeled on either side of his head, leaning over him. She hadn't ceased her song but she'd have to rebuild the rhythm she'd been working on.

Gale pulled her against his mouth, his fingers already rubbing her clit. She felt her arousal building from his work. A warm tingling where her skin met his.

Tav used her mouth up and down his shaft again, humming around him. Gale slid his fingers into her, his tongue lapping at her sex.

With steadily increasing speed her head bobbed up and down. Her free hand massage just under his balls. Tav pushed the head of his cock deeper into her throat a few times in time with the notes which made it feel amazing. She heard Gale moan as she squeezed him with his throat, his hand grabbing her ass.

She felt Gale's pleasure building against her lips. He was pulling her clit into his mouth and she felt she wasn't far behind him. He used his hand to move her hips and she realized he wanted her to ride his face. Tav rolled her hips, arching her back. Gale's tongue wiggled against her clit and it sent her over the edge. She tried to maintain rhythm, but her orgasm crashed through her like waves during a storm. Having Gale in her mouth, pushed deep in her throat only made it more intense. He held her in place so he could continue to push her pleasure. Tav was too euphoric to do much but nurse on Gale's cock as his warm cum poured into her.

Tav's body trembled as she released Gale from her lips, aware a penis can be tender after. He licked between her legs as she laid exhausted on top of him, her head against his thigh.

When Gale was satisfied, Tav felt a last gentle kiss. "Come rest your head with me, my love."

Gale wiped his face off on a towel before discarding it. She lay next to him, her head on his chest while his arm held her close.

"The "bard throat trick", huh?" Gale said with a cheeky smile. "Never thought I'd mark that off the bucket list."

"I hope it's a long list," Tav said wistfully.

"Remember what Elminster said about fate breaking on the rocks of will," Gale said. His words were quiet, serious. "If any will were sturdy enough and full of enough love to defy what seems inevitable it would be your will, my love."

Gale softly hummed Tav's song, his fingers running over her skin. His eyes were closed, his head moving side to side at the funny bits.Tav watched him from his shoulder, wanting to remember his face, his smell, his voice. She was hopelessly in love and desperate to save Gale, but for now, she had these moments of quiet and comfort.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 gale #bg3 gale x tav #gale x tav #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 romance #fanfic #bg3 fanfic #spicy content #this man is in my brain now he's in yours #bard throat trick to drain out the soul and make it yours #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep

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irlbop · 6 days

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Welp. I’ve been wanting to post one of these for a while but I guess now’s a good a time as ever:

May I present

A List of Youtube Channels I Would Recommend (Subject to Change Seeing As Ain’t Nobody Loyal Apparently But Whatevs!!!!)

Kennie JD: A reviewer of things from dating shows a la Love is Blind to Tubi movies to Filipino movies, etc. offering some very thoughtful commentary. All while putting her makeup on 😘 Best known for her Bad Movies and a Beat series but really everything she puts out hits. Including her video on the Try Guys Incident.

Athena P: Yet another reviewer with insane makeup, but this one takes the tv shows from childhood and explores the “lore” suggested or outright shown. Absolutely hilarious in her delivery and her fans are called Butt-Lovers! 🍑💥🫲🏻

Studson Studio: A craft-tuber who makes fantastical builds ranging from a recreation of Howl’s Moving Castle from trash to a custom action-figure of Ganondorf from Tears of the Kingdom. Frankly it’s astounding how this guy can just look at a piece of supposed garbage and know exactly what to do with it! (Here’s an idea for a drinking game: Take a sip every time he uses a horseshoe! [You will die💖])

North of the Border: Another craft-tuber but with slightly more…distinct tastes… The mans be making some cursed content is what I’m saying. Creative and bold, but cursed. Beware any uploads that have “realistic” in the title.

OwONekko: An art YouTuber with brutal (and hilarious) thoughts about some of your favorite characters’ designs. She tends to veer towards redesigns like with the fusions from Steven Universe, and designing human forms for non-human characters such as the Heeler family from Bluey

Truegreen7: A popular Pokétuber with a host of playlists and prompts to choose from! Perhaps his most popular being when he invites other artists to a challenge where they are given a prompt and are meant to create a Pokémon from it. However, he also had videos where he has friends randomly pick traits and he makes a Pokémon from them, or he gives himself a prompt such as Pokémon based off his own fears. Always a pleasure when he uploads!!

Microwave Society: Three friends who get together and review…things. Usually it’s movies, especially ones from childhood. Sometimes it’s products from, like, Temu. Either way, they’re going through A Time so you can have a good time.

Razzle: Also a group of friends getting together to review movies. Sometimes they even act out entire scripts to movies. What makes them different from MS, however, is…Well, they drink while doing it. Which lends itself to sone absolute bangers of jokes and quotes.

Pidgin Doll: Admittedly I mostly just watch his Shorts. But in my defense, even those are wonderful to watch. His doll designs and paint marker drawings are gorgeous and unique with their fashions and makeup, and almost every video comes with a little tidbit about either his childhood, his art journey, or just whatever inspired him to create what he did.

Something Wicked: A craft-tuber who makes clay models based off of illustrations from old works and texts. And I mean, like, creatures from alchemical tomes; beasts from 17th century logs; face-butted devils and the sort. He doesn’t have much uploaded so far (admittedly only four at the time of this posting, but that’s because the amount of time, care, and detail he puts into each piece deserves it. Plus you get a nifty lesson in art history or just history in general as he goes into the design choices!

The Harry Gold Show: Welcome to The Harry Gold Show, hosted by the ever forthcoming Harry Gold! He’s…disturbingly good at what he does. And what does he do? Art. Of varying mediums and designs, though mostly digital. Though he has recreated the art style of a dead artist as a gift for his dad. Let me put it this way: There’s a reason some joke that he will give AI a run for its money when it comes to replicating styles (he even did a video putting that to the test!)

Dollightful: This cutesy custom doll-maker has a whole host of “dollightful” designs to observe! From a series based on dragon girls to rainbow girls to a vampire with great taste in art, you’ll always be left cooing over the cuties.

HeXtian: Where Dollightful’s dolls are cute, HeXtian’s dolls are sexy. Complete with snatched waists and (usually) red-bottomed heels, his dolls are ready to to show up and show out and make you wish you could dress like them.

#this is not a complete list obvi #but it’s most of them #youtube recommendations #YouTuber recommendations

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juiceboxman · 3 years

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NEW D&D SOURCE BOOK OUT

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft came out a few days ago. I bought it an read through it. The book expands stuff in the classic module the Curse of Strahd, a Gothic Horror centred campaign in which a party are pitted against a very powerful Vampire and other types of horrors in a cursed land.

Most of the book’s content details these things:

How to make a horror centred campaign

How to make scary encounters

How to scare your players while also not crossing personal boundaries

I have to commend the book on how informative it is on how to maintain a healthy playing environment. Such as having a thorough discussion with the players before you begin about what players are comfortable with and what they aren’t, so you have topics and themes in the story that you know not to touch upon as it may upset players and ruin the fun. The book also recommends that you avoid using players irl phobias in the game as it ruins gameplay experience as well. For more advice on how to run a healthy fun playing experience, I recommend checking out Dimension 20′s Adventuring Academy podcast. Its a great advice podcast on all things table top.

All the stuff in the Source Book is horror specific, so if you’re not into horror or any scary stuff in D&D, the book is not for you and that’s fine. For those that like horror, the book does a great job of helping set the tone for a horror game and how to build and maintain tension.

It also sets out a guide for how to adapt elements of Curse of Strahd into homebrew games. So say you love the vibe and mechanics in Curse of Strahd, but you don’t really care with the BBEG being a Vampire. The source book lists at least 16 adventures with varying genres of Horror with different creatures and encounters.

So in one adventure, you can play in this accursed desert where the BBEG is a powerful Mummy Lord. Or in another you can play in a strange carnival in which the BBEG is a Fey creature. There’s zombie outbreaks, mindflayers- everything you can imagine, you can create and play and the book will help you to do so.

The book polishes up some Unearthed Arcana stuff, namely three new playable races. Dhampir (a watered down vampire that you can play as a PC), Hexblood (a humanoid mutated by Hag magic) and Reborn (an undead or construct reincarnation) all of them are pretty interesting.

They also sort out two UA subclasses, namely College of Spirtits Bard and Warlock patron of Undead. he latter of which you can have someone like Strahd be your patron.

There’s also some new backgrounds that are interesting and a new Dark Gift feature that is also pretty cool. A character can choose to receive a Dark Gift from a Dark Lord, an example being Strahd, so that they get some benefits but also some negative impacts as well. It can make some very fun game play for those who are interested.

But, the main thing I buy source books for is the classic DM stuff. NEW MONSTERS! Here are some of my favourites.

Dullahan, a headless horseman. Very spooky and potentially lethal

Death Head, very interesting monster that can be flavoured to a DMs whims. ou can have a flying medusa head or a flying nothic head, or any type of flying head. The head is your oyster. They go well with the Dullahan and there is a specific adventure in the Source Book that includes both of them in case you wanna play a sleepy hollow esque game

Gallow Speaker. Picture a mix between an Oracle and a Spectre, you have one very creepy monster that can also make a very spooky NPC

Gremishka. A very creepy monstrous cat that is like the opposite of a familiar. In fact, its whole existence is just to be the bane of Spellcasters. Very creepy and has some interesting features, though I think you’d have to juice it up if your Wizard is higher than lvl 3.

Inquisitors. You have three separate Inquisitors whose whole lore mixes with Curse of Strahd but I won’t get into. There are; Inquisitor of the Mind Fire, Inquisitor of the Sword and Inquisitor of the Tome. If you like elements of the Githzarai but don’t know how implement them into your campaign, Inquisitors are a good alternative

Jiangshi. A very interesting undead. Basically a mix between a Ghoul and a Vampire, would make a very interesting monster for low level PCs

Loup Garou. An alpha werewolf. For werewolf fans like me, I imagine you’re disappointed that werewolves are only a CR 3. With Loup Garou though, you now have a werewolf with legendary actions. Very interesting monster and there is a very cool adventure in the source book that features the monster. It also has some very cool werefwolf mechanics if a PC gets infected with lycanthropy and also has a magic item linked to it thats pretty cool

Nechricor. Imagine if a Lich failed at Lichdom and accidentally turned themselves into an ooze; that’s Nechricor. I always love the tope of very powerful villains trapped in like a bottle or a knife or a statue, so a Nechricor is right up my alley

Nosferatu. Very much like a Vampire Spawn but a hell of a lot grosser. They have a feature where they can hurt people by projectile vomiting blood on them. Very nasty. If you wanna remove the romanticism from vampirism, Nosferatu are the way to go. Also if you wanna use vampires with lower level PCs, Nosferatu can be very good alternative

Vampire Mind Flayer. Enough said

And that’s most of my favourites. There’s plenty more, such as the Relentless Slasher- which is great if you wanna play a murder mystery campaign or a Friday the 13th one shot- very interesting monster.

There’s a lot of other monsters that are also really cool but I don’t really want to share them cause they’re so gross or creepy. There’s a monster called the Boneless which is literally just a bunch of skin that chokes people. There’s a bog star spawn monster that is just super gross and horrifying. There’s also a monster called a Carrionette, which is just a doll that can steal your soul- super creepy! The artists definitely outdid themselves on this source book.

If you wanna check the, out or get a hold of the stat block of these monsters above, check out Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft

#Dungeons and Dragons #dimension 20 #naddpod #critical role #adventure zone

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joy1579 · 3 years

Text

self indulgent

I've been sad. so i wrote a thing to make me less sad. maybe it'll make someone else less sad too or at the very least they can laugh at my “cringe” but either way it did make me less sad so goal accomplished.

Mc and jumin organize a bookshelf jumin asks what neko girls are and MC short circuits his brain for a couple of seconds. no smut just fluff

Moving hadn’t taken long. You had opted to donate your furniture to the local homeless shelter since Jumin’s penthouse was furnished with the highest quality furniture you could dream of. Honestly most of your things paled in comparison to the lavish goods Jumin considered tawdry. Still there were a quite a few boxes you had decided to save, filled mostly with sentimental keepsakes and the few odds and ends that catered to your specific tastes. You were practically finished by noon save the three or four boxes that sat in the main room next to the larger than life bookshelves. Certainly there was plenty of room on them. You never where a fan of negative space on bookshelves but if you were being completely honest that had more to do with how many books you needed to fit in such a finite space. Jumins bookshelves had plenty of room with just enough negative space to look perfectly balanced and while you knew Jumin had told you to do whatever you wished this felt intimate. Bookshelves where holy spaces after all, housing books that change hearts and minds alike that shape the soul and … okay so maybe you just really liked books and that made them seem important to you either way this was definitely something you wanted to do with Jumin. When you heard the door rattle with Jumin homecoming you bolt towards it excited to greet him after work.

“Jumin! Welcome home!” you cried bouncing in place as he made his way inside. You smiled as you saw the creases in his brown flatten and the stress slip from shoulders when he saw you. You waited all of 5 seconds for him to close the door giving you both some privacy from the bodyguards stationed outside before you pounced, leaping upon the business man wrapping your arms around his neck. You delighted in the deep honey of his laughter as he caught your waist in kind and kissed the top of your head gently.

“darling. I’m so glad to be home. How was your day? did you get settled?” Jumin asked as you pulled yourself back slightly giving him room to loosen his tie and set aside his coat.

“everything is in its place except um Jumin there is one thing I need if you don’t mind”

“name it and its yours”

“I wanted to share your bookshelves and I was hoping that maybe you could organize the books with me?” you admitted shyly. It had seemed like such a good idea in the beginning he could show you his favorite books, walk you through his favorite plots and tell you his favorite quotes and you could do the same with him. Yet now as you presented the idea to him you worried. What if he was to tired he had worked all day after all, what if he thought you too needy, or your books to childish. what if he didn’t want your books displayed in the living room because they weren’t very pretty, all of his books where gorgeous leather bound tomes or mint condition hardcovers, yours where second hand at best many where decommissioned library books or garage sale rescues, broken in battered and bruised by years of use. It would make sense to have them put away in a back room where they couldn’t tarnish the pristine collection Jumin had on display. Perhaps you where spiraling, working yourself into a nervous frenzy in the span of a few seconds.

“nothing would make me happier love. We can call the chef to start dinner and begin emptying the shelves for rearranging while he works.” You couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face or the giggle that escaped your lips. The surprise on Jumins face was evident if only for a second before it gave way to a warm sort of fondness. “had I known simple redecorating would make you this happy I would have stayed home and done it all with you” he said affectionately running his fingers through your hair.

“it’s not that I just,” you paused face flushing a bit “books are a big deal, ya know? My dad used to tell me that every book you read becomes a part of you and that you can learn more about someone by the books they love than by the words they say so I wanted to share that with you” jumins eyes where so soft and gentle in that moment you felt your breath hitch “I want to know everything about you and, and I want you to know everything about me” suddenly his lips where on yours fervent and full of passion the hand that had been in your hair now on your chin guiding you too him. The kiss was short and when you parted from him he stayed close, just a hairs breath from your face.

Jumin voice was little more than a whisper as he asked “how is it that every day I manage to fall more in love with you?” you couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss him again an all too familiar giddiness bubbling its way through your soul. You loved this man more than life itself and you knew that would never change.

“so your ‘Encyclopedia of Fairies’ should go next to the Catherynne M Valente series so we can reference it while reading agreed?” you giggled thrilled that his collection of mythological reference books slotted together with your fae fiction so perfectly. Puzzle pieces connecting to create a masterpiece.

“yes I think that’s perfect. I can’t wait to read her interpretation of such ancient mythos. I also have ‘The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves and Other Little People’ if you’d like to add it to that shelf” he said grinning like a child at show and tell.

“oh my goodness yes! That’s perfect and your book on Romanian vampires should be near my ‘Dracula’ and ‘vittorio’ that way that shelf over there can be dedicated to the occult, hauntings, and psychic reference books”

“that sound wonderful and takes care of all the written word but we still haven’t found a place for your comics” Jumin informed glancing toward the woefully large stack of manga you had brought.

“not comic Jumin manga and yeah I think we’re out of space though. I um I didn’t think I had that many books. Sorry” you admitted not meeting his eyes. He tilted your head up to look at him.

“there’s no need to apologize it simply means that tomorrow we can go shopping for another shelf and the next day we can organize those. I’m quite curious about ‘la petite cossette’ you said these where Japanese but that is most certainly a French title.”

“oh I actually think you’d like that one a lot it’s about a man who falls in love with a woman in a cursed portrait its actually pretty tragic in the end.”

“How interesting” he mused retrieving it from the pile of books and skimming through it “the art is truly enchanting and you said that manga has its own subculture?”

“yeah from neko girls to shonen action tropes it has its own vocabulary, history and groups of people its really fun”

“neko girls?” Jumin repeated and your eyes widened at his confusion. This was definitely something he of all people should know about! You jumped up and sprinted to the closet you had filled earlier that day with the few cosplay supplies you had. At the time it had taken nearly half your pay check but if Jumin liked them right now the purchase then would be completely justified. You put on your surprise as quickly as possible before rushing back out to greet Jumin who had just made it to the edge of the living room to come find where you had gone. He froze for a second processing what you were now wearing. White cat ears that moved and twitched fairly believably and just as he was able to cope with that your made paws with your hands and tried your best “nya”. For a moment you feared you may have broken him. He didn’t move his face blank, eyes fixed on you. You tried again hoping to spur some sort of reaction from him “nya?” you said turning to the side slightly to show off the other half of your surprise a white tail complete with pink bow and bell at the base where it attached to your skirt. You tilted your head to look up at him through your lashes trying every trick in your arsenal to look as cute as possible but nothing. He was completely frozen. “Jumin? Hello?” now you were getting worried “darling are you okay?” you asked placing the back of your hand on his forehead to feel for a temperature. The second your hand touched him however his face flushed.

“neko girl.” He muttered “that’s neko as in cat” you could see him trying to calm himself. Fiddling with his shirt sleeves and attempting to stay in control. You smiled standing on your tip toes to kiss his cheek and whisper in his ear.

“am I a good little kitten at least?” you couldn’t contain your giggle as you heard him choke slightly before scooping you up bridal style.

“certainly not, in fact I think you’ve been a very bad little kitten.” He said his voice deeper than normal as he carried you back towards the bedroom.

#Jumin #jumin x mc #jumin han #mm jumin #jumin fluff

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charliemotha · 3 years

Text

behold! i didn't see any otgw icebergs, so i made my own :)

if you think i should add something, lmk!!

Explanations under cut :)

First layer:

▪︎Beast!Wirt au - very popular au in which Wirt stays in the Unknown, possessed by the Beast to some extent.

▪︎Bad End Friends - Crossover AU of Beast!Wirt teaming up with Ice Finn from Adventure Time and Bipper from Gravity Falls; sometimes other 'bad end' au characters are thrown in such as a glitched Gumball from TAWOG

▪︎Irl Copies of the For Sara tape - Limited copies of the For Sara tape were sold at two points. They have yet to sell for a third time. (🤞🤞🤞)

▪︎Tome of the Unknown (pilot) - The Pilot of the series. Can be watched on YouTube.

▪︎Wirt Staying in the Unknown - In a scrapped ending, Wirt was to stay in the Unknown, saying that facing your real problems was scarier than staying there.

▪︎Mystery Kids - Crossover AU with other child-late teens aged characters from sources based on mysterious and supernatural themes such as Gravity Falls and Psychonauts.

▪︎Quincy Endicott's grave - Quincy's grave can be seen in the graveyard that Sara and the others are hanging out in.

▪︎Original Beatrice Voice Actress - Beatrice had a different VA in the pilot, Natasha Leggero. Melanie Lynskey voices her in the actual series.

▪︎The Woodsman's Daughter is Named Anna - The comics have several issues focused on his daughter, in which her name is revealed to be Anna.

▪︎Jason Funderburker's Ax Murderer Story - At the gathering in the graveyard, Funderburker is telling a story about a man with an ax; this story is believed to have influenced the existence of the Woodsman.

▪︎Full Versions of Songs in the OST - A handful of the songs are cut down for their appearances in the series and can only be heard in full on the OST. The most notable example is Old Black Train , which is actually 2 minutes and 15 seconds long, but is only in the series for about 15-20 seconds.

Second Layer:

▪︎Sara is named after the Fleetwood Mac song - Listen to it here :) it is notable that it includes lyrics about "drowning in a sea of love" and that Sara is "the poet of [the singer's] heart."

▪︎OTGW Reanimated - a reanimated project for the first episode. Got taken off of YouTube, but can be viewed on Dailymotion.

▪︎Baby Wirt Audio - In the For Sara cassette, there is a small section of audio that can be heard in about the middle of the recording of Wirt's father talking to him as a baby.

▪︎Funderburker/Funderberker - The two Jasons's surnames are spelled slightly differently to avoid confusion.

▪︎The Brothers Never Ate or Needed to Rest - Although Greg expressed being hungry, neither of the boys actually ate anything (outside of one spoonful of bland potatoes and inedible items such as dirt and leaves) and never laid down to rest, only sleeping when night came.

▪︎Book on Interior Design in Wirt's Room - In Wirt's from, a book on interior design can be seen laying on the floor, backing up the knowledge he displayed when analyzing the interconnected mansions.

▪︎Mad Love was Based on a Dream - The plot of Mad Love came from a dream that Pat McHale had about house hunting. In the dream, while exploring one of the houses being shown, he ended up wandering into someone else's home.

▪︎Beatriceoftheday - A blog dedicated to our lord and savior Beatrice, known for its strange shitposts and intense praise of the titular bird girl.

▪︎Wirt is Jealous of Greg's Popularity - Shown in the Circus Friends issue of the comics, Wirt is jealous of Greg's ability to make everyone laugh and have fun. This may factor into his dislike of his brother.

▪︎Greg was Feeding Fred at the Tavern - At first watching, one may be confused as to where all the food Greg was gathering went, why Fred was wearing lipstick and why he was refusing to talk to Beatrice. Shown in a deleted scene, this all explained, as Fred tells Beatrice that he didn't talk to her because Greg was feeding him.

▪︎Elijah Wood Voiced the Crazy Driver - Exactly what is says on the tin, the nutty driver was voiced by Wood.

▪︎Cloud City is Heaven - A popular theory that Cloud City actually represents Heaven.

▪︎Greg is Greg Universe - A headcanon/theory that has mostly died out that Greg is the same Greg in Steven Universe.

▪︎Bee Beatrice - Beatrice was originally cursed to become a bee, but was changed into a bluebird to match better with the seasonal autumn theme.

▪︎Pat McHale Voiced Wirt's Voice Crack - Wirt's voice crack when asking the Beast Are You? was actually done by McHale, not Wood.

▪︎The Other Actors Harassing Elijah Wood When Singing Wirt's Song - In order to make the performance as awkward as possible, the other actors were asked to yell and demand Wirt to sing. This can be heard in the episode.

▪︎Come Wayward Souls Has the Same Melody as O Holy Night - The song shares a cadence with "O Holy Night", and can be sung to its tune.

▪︎Black Turtles Origin/Purpose - No one knows why the black turtles exist, and McHale has said that they're just one of the unexplainable things of the Unknown.

▪︎Anna Never Left the House - In the aforementioned comics, it is shown that Anna had never left the house, living on her own until the Woodsman's return.

▪︎Sailor Suit Greg - Greg originally wore a sailor suit, but was changed later on to his current, Johnny Appleseed inspired outfit .

▪︎Beatrice Missing Being Able to Flip People Off - In the Art Book, Beatrice's introduction states that one of the reasons she hates being a bird is because she no longer has hands to flip people off with.

Third Layer

▪︎Jason Funderberker is Visually Based on a Teen Pat McHale - As seen here, Funderberker was designed after McHale.

▪︎Babes in the Wood is Based on an Old Alice in Wonderland Cartoon - You can view the original 1923 cartoon here! Starts at 4:25.

▪︎Wirt and Sara are Dipper and Mabel's Parents - A popular AU/hc where Dipper and Mabel of Gravity Falls are the future kids of Wirt and Sara.

▪︎The Tune of Wirt's Song is Improvised - In addition to the aforementioned harassment, in a further attempt to make the performance as awkward as possible, Elijah Wood was not given a tune to sing, only the lyrics.

▪︎Wirt's Costume Origin - As said in the art book and on his tumblr, Wirt's cone and cape come from an attempted rock and roll persona from McHale's teen years.

▪︎Greg is Based on Pat McHale's Son - It has been claimed that Greg is based on McHale's son, but Greg existed before him. The similarities are simply coincidental.

▪︎Old Scratch - The original name of the Beast.

▪︎The Beast Killed the Woodsman's Wife - Shown in the comics, The Woodsman's wife was mortally injured, with her attacker implied to be the Beast.

▪︎Wirt and Greg Staying in the Unknown Until Christmas - Another scrapped ending, in which the brothers stay in The Unknown until Christmas, with their absence unexplained.

▪︎Tome of the Unknown (original plot) - Early concepts had the Beast ( then known as Old Scratch as mentioned earlier ) scattering the pages of the titular book for the brothers to collect. Each page would come to life and the brothers would explore each story.

▪︎Dante's Inferno Comparisons - Check out these videos for full analysis!

▪︎Wirt Panty Shots - In the aforementioned Circus Friend comics, Wirt dons a dress as part of a disguise. Later on, he rips off the bottom half off, revealing that he is wearing bloomers.

▪︎The Beast's True Form was Inspired by Trypophobia - As stated in the art book, The Beast's hole-filled appearance was inspired by Trypophobia, the fear of many small holes.

▪︎The Fight is Over is About Drowning - Give the lyrics another read.

▪︎The Beast Last Minute Design Change - The Beast had a very different design, and it was changed into the current one at the last minute.

▪︎Gnome in Cloud City Representing Wirt - Many people believed that the Gnome with the lantern in cloud city was a parallel to Wirt, or a glimpse into his future. However, this was debunked.

▪︎Send Me a Peach - This song is included in the ost, but isn't in the actual series.

▪︎Fred and the Highwayman's Backstory - The comics expand upon the story of Fred the Horse and his involvement with the Highwayman.

Fourth Layer

▪︎Babes in the Wood Title Origin - The name of this episode comes from an old story of a pair of children getting lost in the woods, dying, and being buried in leaves by robins.

▪︎poorlydrawnotgw - This was a blog created during the poorly drawn series meme period. It consisted of poorly drawn and very strange shitposts and has since been deactivated. I was a part of it as mod Goopy Wirt and only have a handful of images saved from it.

▪︎Read and Listen Book Lost Audio - A read and listen book was created, with the book being read by Greg's Frog, who would stop every now and again to talk about being a frog. The pages can be found online, but the audio is currently lost.

▪︎Skinless Witch - A scrapped episode concept involved a skinless witch that kidnapped Greg and rode him like a horse.

▪︎Gentleman Burglar Wirt - A scrapped concept in which Wirt breaks into a woman's home, who is charmed by this young man who has come to visit her.

▪︎Animal Transformation - It was originally planned for Wirt and Greg to be turned into a bear/dog and a duck and remain that way for several episodes. This was later used in the comics.

▪︎The Unknown is influenced by Wirt's mind/interests - The Unknown is influenced by those who walk in it, in this case, Wirt. This includes the old timey mystical nature of it, as Wirt has been stated to have an interest in old folk tales.

▪︎Good Guy Beast/Black Train Scrapped Concept - In an earlier draft, the brothers were on a train, heading to what they assumed was death. They jump off, ending up in the Unknown. The Beast tries to get them back on the train, which turns out to be heading back to life.

▪︎Evil Woodsman - At one point, the Woodsman was intended to be under the influence of the Beast and tried to sabotage the brothers's attempts to return home.

▪︎Lorna Reading the Tome of the Unknown in the Epilogue - In the epilogue, Lorna can be seen reading the titular book from the aforementioned scrapped plot.

▪︎The Beast was Originally the Devil Himself - The Beast was first designed as a devil-like character, the aforementioned Old Scratch.

▪︎The Brothers Never Went Home/The Hospital is Part of The Unknown - a theory based on the fact that the edges of the screen are still blurred at the end of chapter 10, the rushed narration, and the lack of consequences of nearly drowning.

▪︎Beatrice Seeing Wirt Nude - In one of the comics, Beatrice accidentally sees Wirt while he is washing his clothes in the river.

▪︎Sara is a Descendant of Lorna - A theory that Sara is a distant relative of Lorna.

▪︎Exists in the Same Universe as Clarence and Home Movies - The most well known piece of evidence is the overhead shot of the town matching the town that Clarence is set in. Wirt and Greg also have a cameo in another episode, and one of the final episodes shows Brendon Small of Home Movies runs a movie rental store in the town, connecting all three series together.

Final Layer

▪︎Beast x Wirt - Also known as Poetree.

▪︎Candycone - Greg x Wirt.

#otgw #over the garden wall #iceberg #iceberg meme #iceberg image #otgw iceberg

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i-call-me-clarence · 3 years

Text

Life’s a Cemetery (Dig It)

Kevin and Jack get their hands dirty on grave duty.

Rated G

Suptober Day 6: Cemetery Boys

Fic below the cut

----

“You sure you’re good?” Dean asks for the third time.

“Kevin is here, and if anything happens we have angel blades and silver bullets,” Jack answers, making a little wave motion at Kevin who’s silently asking him how much longer he’s going to be on the phone. Kevin rolls his eyes and goes back to leaning on his shovel, refusing to start digging until Jack joins him. Jack doesn’t want to keep him waiting any longer, “Dean, I’m sorry, but I have to--”

“And you’ve got the iron poker, right? And the holy water?”

“We still have everything in the pack you left us.”

“But did you double-check? A real hunter always double checks, triple even--”

Before Jack can respond Kevin is taking the phone from Jack’s hands, “Believe it or not the ex-god and current prophet know what they’re doing. Bye.” and he hangs up the phone.

Jack gives Kevin an apologetic shrug of his mouth as Kevin hands back the phone, slapping it into Jack’s hand. “He’s protective.”

“He’s turned into a helicopter parent. If I wanted that I’d just go back home.”

“But that would put your mother at risk.” Jack tilts his head in confusion.

Kevin rolls his eyes and tosses Jack a shovel, “Come on. Let’s get this done before the sun goes down.”

---

Three hours after sunset and they’re still digging. Jack started feeling lightheaded thirty minutes ago, and it’s gotten to the point where he needs to sit down.

“I’m sorry, I have to--” Jack ends up thunking down on his butt before he can finish.

“Hey, are you okay?” Kevin asks warily, stopping his digging and leaning against his shovel, “Is the talisman wearing off or something?”

“I--I don’t have a talisman,” Jack’s body is shaking and he’s starting to feel nauseous. Perhaps he should have listened to his body hours ago when it screamed at him to rest. But Kevin had kept going and he’d said he wouldn’t dig alone so…

“You don’t have an energy talisman?!” Kevin gaps at him and drops his shovel, “Are you kidding me?! You do realize you’re basically human now?”

How could Jack forget? Being human was so difficult that it was impossible not to be reminded of it constantly. Even when he slept. He didn’t use to sleep as a Nephilim...or as God. But Amara’s taking care of that now. Letting Jack have a ‘normal childhood’ as she’d said. Something she was envious of and didn’t want Jack to miss. ‘Even Chuck let himself have one. After he invented the concept.’ when she’d told him that it was clear she was hiding a deep sadness. Jack had decided after his childhood was over, he’d take over as God again so she could have one too.

“How are you even standing?!”

“I’m...not.”

Kevin looks at Jack, taking notice of the way he was starting to sway a little. Before cursing and getting down on his knees next to Jack.

He grabs a hold of both sides of the necklace his talisman was supposedly attached to, “I’m going to regret this,” Kevin groans, before taking off the necklace and holding it out to Jack. A green light pulses from Kevin’s chest, swirling around his arm, before being sucked into the little medallion hanging from the golden chain in Kevin’s outstretched hand.

Jack quickly takes the necklace, seeing the sudden strain in Kevin. As soon as he has it, Kevin lays back with a dull thud as his body hits the earth.

“Oh my god,” he gasps, suddenly breathing very heavily. “Worst part about that talisman,” he pants, “After you take it off, you feel every bit of exertion. All at once. Oh, I’m gonna die.”

Jack puts on the talisman and instantly feels better. Better than he’d felt since turning human. He wonders what would happen if you kept the necklace on all the time--

“And if you’re tingling from the charm and wondering ‘why can’t I wear this all the time,’” Kevin says in a deep mocking voice that sounded suspiciously like Dean, “Just look at me after five hours. Imagine a week, or even just a whole day.”

“It kills you?”

“It kills you.”

“I can finish this alone.”

“Yeah, but first,” Kevin tried to sit up, grunting in pain, “Help me out of this damn hole.”

---

It had been an hour since Jack started digging by himself, making a grand total of eight hours. Just a constant monotony of stab scrape shovel. At least Jack felt pretty good with this talisman, and at least they were almost done.

Stab, scrape, shovel. Stab scrape shovel. Stab--THUD!

Jack gasps in surprise, and Kevin leans over the opening of the hole to look down at Jack equally surprised, and elated.

“Oh my god,” he laughs, falling back on the grass, “We finally did it,” Jack hears him say. And then he groans, “But now I have to move.”

“If I were still God I could read this. Or create new eyes that could,” Jack notes, scrapes the remaining dirt off the coffin with his hands.

“If you were still God we probably wouldn’t even need this spell. And if we did, you could just teleport the tome out without all this bullshit.”

A reneged sector of angels, lead by the angel Inias, had decided to declare war on all remaining prophets. They thought they could use them to find a way to spy on Amara and overthrow her from, well, Goddesshood. This was the grave of a prophet, and inside was a tome they were buried with that held a spell to make prophets invisible to angels and demons. Probably how she lived long enough to die of old age. At first Jack had been sad, thinking this would mean he wouldn’t get to see Kevin anymore. But Sam said he was pretty sure that he could rework the spell so any angels or demons that gave of their blood in the ceremony would be able to still see prophets.

Jack hopes so.

Kevin leans his head over the grave again, wincing. “Wow, now that you’ve uncovered it, those sigils are really bright.”

Jack agrees, though what seemed like blue glowing sigils to them wouldn’t appear at all to normal humans.

Jack opens his mouth to say so but is cut off by his phone ringing in his pocket.

“Is that Dean again?” Kevin asks tersely.

Jack checks the caller ID and nods.

“Hand it here,” Kevin says, lunging his arm forward and down.

Jack hands over the phone and Kevin rolls back over with it, out of sight.

“Dean?” Jack hears him say. “Bring burgers and water.” A pause where Kevin must have been about to hang up because he says, “Oh, and get your asses over here.” and Jack hears a beep from the call ending.

“Here you go,” Kevin dangles his arm over into the grave, phone in hand.

-----

They eat inside the impala--Kevin mostly chugs water at first--with the engine idling and cabin lights on. Kevin and Jack are both filthy, but Dean doesn’t mind. ‘Part of bein’ a Hunter’ he’d said. Back in the old times, Cas or Jack would clean everybody up. But seeing as they were both human now, he and Kevin were doomed to be dirt-covered.

“How did it go?” Castiel asks from the front seat, mouth half full of burger, “You didn’t run into any problems?” Castiel had been wearing his regular suit before he’d left but was now wearing a space cats hoodie he’d gotten for himself when he took Jack to Hot Topic. He must have brought it with him in the car.

Kevin stops chugging water to answer, “No ghouls, no cops, no cemetery keepers or grieving loved ones, though that last one would be unlikely seeing as she was buried three hundred years ago. Where’s my burger?”

“Got you four,” Dean grins and waggles his eyebrows.

“I may just be able to eat that many.”

“Yeah and I’ll finish whatever you don’t. That goes for everybody.” Dean continues.

“Didn’t you just get back from a dinner date?” Kevin asks suspiciously, “Actually, if you didn’t, don’t answer, I don’t wanna know.”

“We did just get back from dinner…” Cas starts slowly. “It was, uh...fancy.”

“Too fancy,” Dean grumbles.

“Ah. Small portion sizes.” Kevin nods, but then pauses, “Aren’t you supposed to have fifteen courses or something?”

“Yeah well, we got a call three courses in to deliver some emergency burgers.” Dean shrugs, “Prefer the burgers anyway.”

“Jack, are you wearing an amulet?”

Jack jerks as he realizes he forgot to take it off, “Uh oh,” he says, setting down his burger. “I think I’ve made a mistake.”

“What’s happening?” Dean asks looking around the cabin, panicked.

“Jack left an energy talisman on too long.” Cas sighs, looking sorry.

“Ohoho buddy,” Dean says into the air, smiling but also looking kind of sorry too, and even more so when he meets Jack’s eyes. He pauses. “Yeah bud, uh, that’s gonna be a bitch to take off.” He frowns.

Jack grabs the golden chain--

“Woah, man, what are you doing?” Kevin gasps after having grabbed Jack’s arm and stopping him from taking off the talisman.

“Will it kill me?” Jack asks everybody, suddenly nervous.

“Well, no,” Dean begins, winces, “It’s just gonna hurt like a bitch.”

“Then shouldn’t I get it over with?” Jack asks, confused.

“You might pass out,” Castiel warns gently.

“You’re probably gonna wanna go with the passing out,” Kevin says, putting a bracing arm on Jack’s shoulder “It’ll suck less.”

Kevin nods at him and Jack takes that as a sign it’s time to take the talisman off. He lifts the chain up and off, and then something strange happens.

A green light swirls from both Jack and Kevin’s chests and swirls into the amulet.

Both of them double over.

“Woah! You kids alright?” Dean asks, lunging a hand over the backseat to touch Jack’s back, as Castiel quickly spins out of the car and back in at Kevin’s door, holding him up, checking his eyes and tongue, he goes to stick his finger in Kevin’s ear to take his temperature before remembering he can’t do that anymore.

“Kevin? Are you okay? Jack! Jack, are you okay?” Castiel asks urgently.

“Goddammit,” Kevin sighs, “Twice in one night, oh man I’m really gonna die.” then he looks at Castiel before reassuring, “Really, it wasn’t that bad.” Kevin turns to Jack, “How do you feel?”

“...Not that bad,” he answers truthfully.

“Hot damn.” Dean is smiling, leaning back into his seat, “Well now we know that’s a thing!”

“It could potentially save lives,” Castiel agreed. “I’ll have Sam tell the other hunters...though this may just be a situational occurrence between a prophet and a Nephilim. Who knows really.”

“It was still pretty cool,” Dean defends.

Castiel gets back into the car.

“And I’m not denying that. Why do you always jump to conclusions?”

“What are you talking about ‘always?’” Dean grunts back and starts up the car, pulling out of the cemetery parking lot.

Kevin and Jack tune Dean and Cas out.

“That was pretty cool,” Kevin says.

“Yeah,” Jack frowns, looking at his friend. “We’re going to perform the ceremony when we get back.” This may be one of the last times he ever sees or hears him again.

Kevin puts a hand on Jack’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay. Even if we have to do it by proxy for a little while, I won’t stop being your friend. Okay?”

Jack smiled, putting a hand on Kevin’s shoulder too, which may have been weird or awkward but seemed like the thing to do.

Kevin smiles at Jack before patting his shoulder and saying “I’m going to pass out now.”

Jack nods and Kevin immediately drops his head back onto his seat and starts snoring.

Jack leans back in his own seat, feeling exhausted as well. Dean and Cas have stopped arguing and put the radio on low, laughing at j=okes here and there as they talk softly.

The running engine and metronome light of street lamps going by, and the familiar classic rock playing all seemed to be in some sort of competition with who could lull Jack to sleep first. The sound of the impala won.

The End

#suptober21 #spn fic #kevin tran and jack kline #suptober day 6

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elsanna-shenanigans · 2 years

Text

February Contest Submission #5: Grave Digger

Words: ca. 3,500 Setting: mAU Lemon: lime Content: cursing Song: Grave Digger by Matt Maeson

“Are you sure you know where you’re going, Anna?” Kristoff asked as he ducked beneath a rock that jutted from the low ceiling of the narrow tunnel. Anna grunted in response as she trudged forward; her teal eyes locked on the age-wrinkled scrap of paper in her gloved hands. Kristoff rolled his own eyes at the response from his friend. He may be used to those types of responses but it didn’t make it any less annoying.

Usually, Anna’s mind was constantly running in many different directions but when it came to hunting, she was always laser-focused. Kristoff knew it was because of her father and his own abnormal obsession with treasure hunting. At least the dead man hadn’t gone empty-handed from his excursions. His many discoveries were now on display at different museums. Lost in his thoughts cost Kristoff as his head connected with another rock and he cursed beneath his breath.

“How much further?” he asked gruffly. Anna paused a few paces ahead of the tall man and studied the scrap of parchment in her grasp. In the low light that emanated from their lantern, Kristoff could see that they were in a small cavern. In the silence, he heard dripping water off to his left and the eerie scratching that he had come to accompany with small rodents. He watched Anna slowly spin in a circle before heading off to the farthest wall of the cavern.

“Bring the lantern over, Kristoff,” Anna said, with a hint of excitement in her voice. Kristoff raised his brows curiously and moved to Anna’s side. She shrugged off her backpack and snapped open one of the side pockets that contained a set of small cleaning tools. Kristoff held the light near the wall and saw markings that meant absolutely nothing to him, but everything to Anna. Anna set to work; carefully brushing centuries of dirt from the wall.

“You think this is it?” he asked. Anna chewed her lip as she worked; sweat trickled down her forehead, creating streaks in the dirt that covered her face.

“I’m holding high hopes for this one not being a faux. When Oaken said the chamber holding the artifacts was buried in the mountain just outside of Arendelle, it would have saved us a ton of time if he had pointed out that it was the northern mountain and not the fucking southern,” Anna mumbled with a bit of irritation. Kristoff chuckled as he leaned against the wall and watched her work.

“Could it be that your Norwegian is a bit rusty?” Anna paused long enough to glare at her friend. He threw up a hand in surrender.

“Even if there is a slim chance I didn’t properly translate, it’s not like the map was that much of a help. The mountains all look the same on that damned map! It didn't even have cardinal directions. Then again, maybe it was on the other half of the map. Who knows?” Anna ranted.

"I'm just a bit skeptical since you couldn't translate the tomes we found on our last trip," Kristoff said. Another glare in his direction.

"It's not like there's a ton of literature from Arendelle civilization lying around for me to study, Kristoff. Their written language is a bitch to learn. Why do you think there are few scholars who know anything from it?" Kristoff averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I shouldn't question your instincts. They're right most of the time, even if it does involve us getting into death-defying situations."

A few minutes passed until Anna sat back on her heels and slipped her tools back into her bag. She leaned forward and blew on the stone, releasing a cloud of dust into the air.

Kristoff coughed from the dust and waved his hands in an attempt to dissipate it. Anna gestured for him to bring the lantern closer so she could attempt to make sense of the images. Kristoff noticed there was a small piece of metal in the stone and the tiniest seam that could have been a door of some sort. Although most of the markings were small, there were larger ones carved above the seam.

“Are you getting anything?” he asked. Anna sighed and straightened.

“Honestly, it’s a mess. Aged, distorted and most of them I've never encountered before.

“Well, what about this one?” he pointed to the message above the seam. Anna tilted her head as she studied it. Her face lit up and she stepped behind Kristoff to remove the crowbar from his pack.

“Anna, what does it say?” he asked, a bit desperate as she slid the claw of the crowbar into the seam and began to pull. There was a sudden breeze in the cavern that hadn’t been there before, which Kristoff knew was impossible because they were too far in the mountain. It made him shiver.

“Stol på ingen djevel,” she muttered. “Help me, Kristoff.” He shifted nervously.

“What does it mean?” he pressed. There was a slight groaning sound as the stone shifted causing Anna’s excitement to grow.

“It says, ‘beware the devil’. Now, get over here and help me!” Kristoff swallowed heavily and stepped next to her. He took the crowbar from her grasp and began prying while Anna slipped her fingers into the widened seam.

“That’s not a good message, Anna,” he said. Anna rolled her eyes, grunting as the stone moved another inch.

“They put all kinds of eerie warnings on chambers like this to keep people away from treasures. We’ve seen them before; stop acting like a frightened child.” The stone creaked and groaned, gradually moving with their efforts.

“I’m not acting like a child! That one’s different from the others! I’m just not sure-” Suddenly the stone flew open and blasted the two friends with stagnant air that smelt of earth, decay, and… winter? Anna jumped up and down excitedly and took the lantern from where Kristoff had placed it. She slipped into the opening before he could say a word.

As soon as Anna stepped into the chamber, the groaning returned and she cried out as the stone slammed back into its proper place behind her. She set the lantern down and swept her hands over the wall, searching for the seam. She grew anxious when she realized it was gone. She pounded her fist against it, aiming to get Kristoff’s attention.

“Kristoff, can you hear me? I-I’m okay! I can’t seem to find the opening though!” Anna yelled. She was met with silence. Her heart pounded in her chest as she pressed an ear to the stone as if she could somehow hear through it.

He cannot hear you.

Anna squealed and whipped around to find the source of the voice, but was met with darkness. That was a panic-induced auditory hallucination, right? It had to be. With shaking hands, she reached for the lantern and took a few cautious steps forward. The first thing she noticed was the perfect circle carved on the floor surrounded by candles. Runes decorated the edge of the circle, but Anna couldn’t translate their meanings. She wandered around the rest of the small chamber only to find a small table containing a silver chest surrounded by small pots that held various unfamiliar herbs, and a small scroll.

Momentarily forgetting that she was sealed in an ancient chamber with no apparent exit, Anna grew excited at the sight of the chest and rushed forward. She shrugged off her pack and inspected the chest. Disappointment filled her when she realized it was locked tight. With a sigh, Anna turned her attention to the scroll. Carefully, she picked it up, gently untied the frayed ribbon that held the papyrus together and began to unfurl it. A strong gust of chilled air filled the chamber. It tussled the strands of Anna’s hair that had come loose from her messy bun and sent shivers through her body. Goosebumps appeared on her skin when a loud crack echoed behind her. Forgotten, the scroll fell from her grasp and floated to the ground. There was a soft rustle that sounded like bare feet sliding along the stone floor.

“Now, what do we have here?” A soft, yet powerful feminine voice purred. Anna’s heart went into overdrive as she swallowed with difficulty due to her suddenly dry mouth and managed the courage to slowly turn around.

The candles around the carved circle were now lit, casting an ominous glow around the small chamber and creating awful shadows that danced along the walls. A pair of delicate feet were positioned in the center of the circle. Anna’s eyes moved of their own accord as they drifted upward, over the deathly pale, toned calves and passed the bare thighs that flitted in and out of view from the fabric of the white dress that ended just above the knees. A dress that simultaneously hugged the cocked hips of the figure yet hung loosely from the upper torso. Anna felt her face heat up when she saw the neckline of the dress plunged, barely concealing the swell of the breasts beneath. Finally, her gaze landed on the figure’s face and her heart plummeted.

Tribalistic scar-like marks covered the being’s face. They glowed with an ethereal blue that matched the half-lidded eyes. Two small horns protruded from its forehead, just below a hairline of platinum hair that fell against the being’s shoulders in long strands. A fanged-grin came across its face as it seemed to pierce Anna’s very soul with its intense gaze.

“Finally finished gawking, darling?” The figure said. Anna backed away from the circle until she felt the coolness of the stone wall behind her. With shaking hands, she reached down and removed her dagger from the sheathe on her thigh. She pointed it at the figure in the circle.

“Who are you?” she asked, silently congratulating herself for managing to keep a steady voice. Her timid question was met with laughter that sent chills down Anna’s spine.

“You break into my chamber, disturb my rest, and have the audacity to demand an introduction?” The being clicked her tongue as she brushed her foot against the edge of the circle, hissing when it glowed an angry red and a tendril of flame licked at her skin. Anna tilted her head and arched her brow.

“Rest? Kinda’ seems to me like you’re trapped in that circle.” A glare was thrown at Anna and she caught movement behind the being. A long silver, pointed tail flicked behind her, seemingly in annoyance. The glare quickly melted into… intrigue?

“An attitude accompanies the decadent intruder? Interesting.” Anna shifted, trying to shake off the odd feeling that the being’s voice had invoked.

“I’ll repeat the question: who are you? What are you? How long have you been here? Why are you sealed here?” Anna couldn’t stop the string of questions. The being sighed and lifted one of her hands, inspecting her nails.

“Forward, aren’t we? You may refer to me as Elsa. The length of my imprisonment is unknown to me. Decades? Centuries? Close to forever, it seems. The inhabitants of the kingdom near this mountain deemed me responsible for the attack against their kingdom. As for what I am…” The being, “Elsa’, cocked her head to the side and gazed at Anna, studying her.

“I am a demon that one usually associates with winter.” she finally said. Anna frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Elsa chuckled and crossed her arms beneath her chest, causing the loose fabric to part, granting Anna a near unobstructed view of the full breasts beneath. Anna’s eyes darted down for a split second - she couldn’t help herself; she was only human. Even though it was literally a second (well, maybe a few seconds) it was noticed by Elsa, who gave Anna a knowing smirk.

“You know, winter. Ice, frost, snow, cold winds.” As if to demonstrate, another gust of chilled air flooded the room, and Elsa was shrouded by lightly falling snow.

“What did you do to Arendelle?" Anna asked. Elsa’s smirk turned into a scowl and a flash of anger filled her eyes.

“I'm one of two demons that control winter's bite. My counterpart was bored and decided to cast the kingdom into an endless winter," she said.

Anna frowned as she began remembering a few odd details that had occurred before her arrival in the lost kingdom. She had heard tales of the reason why the Arendelle civilization had collapsed. The tales had ranged from fantastical creatures causing utter destruction to biblically proportioned, weather-related disasters. The most circulated story did involve a ferocious winter that nearly froze the entire kingdom. She also recalled the interaction she had had with an old man that had lurked just outside of Oaken’s Trading Post.

________________________

“Are ya headin’ to the mountains, young lady?” Anna and Kristoff had just left the store and were packing their equipment into their vehicle when the frail man had approached them. She hefted the duffle bag in her hands into the vehicle before turning toward the stranger.

“Yes, we are! Just going to do some exploration, see if we can find any artifacts,” she said. The man nodded as a bony hand stroked the scraggly hairs of his chest-length beard.

“Just be careful up there. Those mountains are old; they hold many secrets, some that were never meant to see the light of day,” he said quietly. Anna was a bit taken back but managed to force a smile.

“We’ll make sure to be careful. Thanks for the warning.” The old man nodded and turned around, heading back to the snow-covered porch.

“Lotta’ lost souls in those mountains,” he muttered, so low that Anna nearly missed it. The tone of his voice was unsettling, and stuck with Anna for the entire drive up into the mountain peaks, but was instantly forgotten when they had arrived at their destination.

___________________

"Interesting that they imprisoned you and not your counterpart," Anna said after a few moments. Elsa scoffed and ran a hand through her hair.

"It's merely due to the fact that they were messy with their summoning. One wrong rune and I was suddenly trapped for something I didn't even do."

"Well, that sucks, if it's true," Anna said. While keeping the dagger aimed at Elsa, she slowly made her way around the circle and back to the front wall where she had entered the chamber. She pressed her fingers against the stone once more, searching for the seam.

“Not entirely sure why you still have that toothpick out. It wouldn’t do you any good against me. Also, I find it a tad rude that I’ve introduced myself, yet I haven’t had the favor returned,” Elsa said.

“Anna. My name is Anna,” Anna said, kneeling to check the lower wall. Elsa hummed.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Anna.” There was something about the way Elsa said her name (emphasis on the ‘ah’) that created butterflies in her stomach.

"You won't find the door. It's gone." Anna rolled her eyes even though she knew Elsa was right. The stone was smooth except for small crevices.

"Why is it gone?” Anna whined, pounding her fist against the stone.

“Because I wanted it gone. It only served to let you in.” Anna stiffly turned around.

“You…wanted me to come in?” she asked, confused. Elsa nodded, tapping a finger against her chin.

“But you said you were ‘resting.’ How did you even know I was here?”

“I sensed you the moment you delved beneath the mountain’s surface,” Elsa began, walking to the very edge of the circle, close enough for the ring to glow red but not lash out.

"S-sensed me?" Anna repeated.

“Yes. Your determination to find what has been lost for centuries. The stubbornness of your mindset. The way you seek to find adventure, unravel mysteries,” Elsa continued, her tail flicking in and out of view behind her.

“But most importantly,” Anna hadn’t even realized she had been moving closer. She suddenly found herself mere inches from the circle, seemingly drawn forward just by Elsa’s aura.

“Your passion,” Elsa purred, leaning forward just a bit more. “Passion for the unknown, the thrill.” Elsa inhaled deeply, her eyes falling shut. “Mmm yes, even now, it pulses hotly within you.” Anna leaned forward too, closer, until-

She nearly tripped herself as she jerked away and quickly stepped back. Her heart threatened to burst through her ribcage and she couldn’t quite catch her breath. Sweat was forming on her brow and she felt warm, no, hot, even though the temperature had dropped entirely, and she could see her breath spilling from her parted lips. She steadied her breathing, trying to collect herself.

“Anyway, ignoring that,” she muttered, more to herself than anything. “Are you telling me that I’m now trapped here with you? That there’s no way out?” Panic was rising again; Anna hated the conflicting emotions within her.

“I don’t recall saying that,” Elsa responded, her eyes opening again. Hope slid through the cracks of the wall of panic that had set down in Anna’s chest.

“So there’s a way out?”

“There is. For both of us.” Anna’s hope faltered. Her lips were dry and she licked them absent-mindedly.

“What is that supposed to mean?” An annoyed sigh met her question.

“I want out, Anna. You are able to help me with that, as I am with you. By working together.” Anna chewed her lip. This was a bad idea, listening to anything a demon says.

“It’s really the only option you have,” Elsa said, crossing her arms, observing Anna’s internal conflict.

“Is it?”

“Well, it’s either that or you suffocate in here. Succumb to starvation, thirst, anything else that humans need to thrive,” Elsa said casually. "I could also be of use to you. I could tell by the confused and frustrated expression as you gazed upon that scroll that you aren't familiar with the ancient dialect that Arendelle used. I, however, am."

Anna was well-read. Most of her little free time was spent with her nose in a book, journal, scripture, whatever she could get her hands on, really. She knew that deals with demons could go horrifically wrong if not done properly. On the other hand, she could really use Elsa's knowledge of Arendelle and its people for her studies. She finally sheathed her dagger and began to pace, weighing her options.

“Ah, yes. Think it through carefully. I mean, I’ve got plenty of time for you to decide,” Elsa commented. Another gust of cold air and Anna glanced over. She was slightly amused to see that Elsa had created a chair that oddly resembled a chaise. Her arm draped over the edge, one leg swung slowly beneath her while the other was bent at the knee on the chair, revealing even more of those tantalizing thighs beneath the dress. Anna tore her gaze away and continued to think. Finally, she stopped and stood before Elsa once more.

In the more rational side of Anna's mind, she knew she was being hasty with her decision. But that hadn't ever stopped her before. She was impulsive; always starting new projects and changing directions at a moment’s notice.

"There will be conditions," Anna told the demon. She approached the edge of the circle and withdrew her dagger.

"There are always conditions," Elsa said, watching as Anna removed her gloves and checked the sharpness of her blade. "What do you expect to do with that?" Anna looked at her quizzically.

"Demon deals are sealed by an exchange of blood," she said. Elsa snorted and rose from her seat, strolling to where Anna stood.

"No need for your condescending tone, love. I'm a bit impressed by your knowledge, though. Most demon deals are sealed by blood, yes," Elsa stated, her hand drifting toward the invisible barrier that kept her in the circle. Red shimmered around it and she brushed her fingers against it.

"But, I am not like most demons. No, my deals are sealed by a different act." Anna froze as Elsa’s hand quickly slid through the barrier, taking Anna's free hand within her grasp and pulling her into the circle. There was a sizzle and smoke rose from Elsa's skin as she did this. Anna squeaked as she found herself suddenly pressed flush against Elsa. Even through the fabric of Anna's clothes she could feel the cold that was Elsa's body.

"Mine are sealed with lust," Elsa murmured. She continued to grip Anna's hand while her free one rose to gently cup Anna's cheek. A protest was forming on Anna's lips as her breath misted out from between them. Elsa shook her head and pressed a finger to Anna's lips, silencing her before she could even speak.

"Anything that you say will be a denial of what you actually want. No use wasting words, Anna." There was a tightening in Anna's stomach as the hand slid down her face, tracing patterns on her neck before winding itself in the forest of Anna's hair, ridding it of the band that held it together. The confusing arousal she had felt when she first saw Elsa grew as Elsa leaned even closer, bringing her red lips to Anna's ear. Anna shuddered as Elsa's surprisingly warm breath ghosted over her sensitive skin.

"I can smell your desire, your want, your need for me," Elsa purred, yanking Anna's head back. There was a clattering sound as the forgotten dagger in Anna's hand slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor. Anna was now trembling, but not from fear. Every word Elsa said was true, and growing by the second.

"There is one more thing you should know," Elsa said, her voice low. Anna's breath hitched when she felt sharp teeth scrape against her neck. Without warning, they pierced her skin, and she cried out as a surge of energy rippled through her body. There was a burning sensation on her chest and Elsa released Anna's hand, snatching the fabric of Anna's shirt and yanking it. A ripping sound and Anna's shirt fell to the ground in shreds. Elsa's fingers drifted along the newly formed snowflake jutting from the once smooth skin of Anna's chest.

As Anna's mind grew cloudy with desire and a cool hand found its way into her pants, finding the wet heat waiting, she barely managed to hear the growled warning before she fell victim to the overwhelming sensations.

"Never make a deal with a demon."

#elsanna #february 2022 contest #prompt: never #lime

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mor-beck-more-problems · 3 years

Text

Breaking Bonds || Morgan & Bea

TIMING: Current

PARTIES: @beatrice-blaze & @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Bea invites Morgan over to share a new discovery. The world will not consent to be fixed, but somebody has to try.

CONTAINS: references to Bea’s, Morgan’s, and Adam’s deaths

There were not many people in this world who understood life and death in the same manner Bea did. They may never have been close before either of their deaths, but after, Morgan and Bea were implicitly connected. This connection made Morgan the clearest person to go to about what Bea had found through her research. The kettle let out a shrill cry for attention as the witch finished lining up the tomes she had flagged for this discussion. It was good timing that Bea’s bracelet informed her that Morgan had crossed into the Vural’s property as she began steeping the tea. She went to the porch with a smile, Dia weaving between her legs as she waited for Morgan. “The tea should be ready soon! I hope you don’t mind that I tried to find something you’d like to eat, though I wasn’t completely sure what would be palatable,” She told the zombie, thinking of the container of meat that she had waiting for Morgan, if she wanted it.

It was no small relief to visit Bea at her place. Morgan didn't know her as well as she did Luce and Nell, but she had an ease with Bea that she couldn’t have with the others either. They had died and come back around the same time, and they were both determined to have a whole life as their altered selves. As she came up to the porch to meet her friend, she sighed and let that ease pull away some of the tension her body carried.

“I don’t mind,” she said, smiling with gratitude. “I will try any and everything you have prepared. I literally can’t get food poisoning, so there’s not much to lose. And thanks for having me over. I want to hear all about New York and Felix and whatever else people who haven’t seen each other in a while swap. But uh, you said there was something you wanted to talk about, right?”

Small talk, Bea had almost forgotten that she should be engaging in small talk because she was so excited by what she had found. “Oh yes! I need to hear all about what you’ve been doing too, I’m sure things have been very exciting over here.” And she did, just like she wanted to see how Morgan was, especially since Morgan was taking care of so many people at the moment. Still, that could wait until after.

Bea invited Morgan in, before walking over to the table and lightly touching a book. “But, first, you should see what I found in here,” She couldn’t help the excited tilt her voice took. Flipping open to the first tab in the book she pointed to a line and read,“‘I have found that some of the new undead can be controlled, tamed if the right-hand guides them.’ The wording is awful, but doesn’t that read like I could help people who are struggling with this? You were the first person who seemed right to call about this.”

“Oh, you know,” Morgan said dismissively. “Been better, been worse. Still kind of a mess. But as long as we have each other, or as much of each other as we can, and if we can keep trying to make hope…” She smiled, weighed down by every terrible thing that had happened over the past month, though no less genuine for it. “We have to get to ‘okay’ eventually, right?”

She followed Bea in eagerly. Distractions were good, learning and projects were better. If she was moving toward something, she might still be able to make something better, or at least be better. She came over to the book and looked at the words. Controlled and tamed were two different things, but maybe this meant that there was an under-utilized conditioning process. Use magic at first to mitigate the damage and get them used to things, Let them choose the right thing for themselves later. “With--by ‘this’ you mean undead hunger cravings, right? Like, if I lost myself in front of a dead body, or a vampire was trying to stay off people. Do you think…” Her hand went to her lips as she thought of Ashley the zombie last year and Nico Jemisin in the thrift store. She shouldn’t get too excited, she shouldn’t brew hope over just a stray phrase and an untested experiment. She shouldn’t, she shouldn’t. And yet. “How far have you gotten on this? This could be…it could save so many people.”

A small, sad smile took Bea’s lips as Morgan spoke. She knew that hope as well as she knew her shadows. Before all of this, the necromancer had never had to worry about being okay, she had simply trusted in the universe to balance itself again. Being hit with hardship after hardship had created that doubt in the world’s ability to allow her to have a break. “We’ll be okay eventually, Morgan,” She said softly, “We’ll be able to create our own okay, you’re strong enough for that.” Anyone who had survived what Morgan had already was more than capable of bending the world to her whims.

She nodded eagerly, “That’s what I would intend to find out at the very least. I’d like to think that the word ‘tamed’ would imply that, though I do hate the implication that the undead needs to be tamed.” She had found herself drawn to the power of necromancy at the beginning, the ability to twist death itself to what she wanted. Now, though, after experiencing that power, she had found something softer, something that could change lives, save them. That part of herself she felt had left in death was returning, the part that could help and care for others without asking what they could do for her. She could grant people some form of comfort again, she could help facilitate something beautiful from a hardship. “I’ve marked every mention I’ve found of it, but there’s not much I’ve seen. I think we can write something together on this, we can find a way to get this information out there to help others.”

A piece of Morgan’s heart unclenched at Bea’s reassuring words. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding something in, but she was swallowing tears and so loose in her bones she felt like she might fall over. It had been a while since someone had tried to comfort her, and even longer when she was able to accept their gift without any guilt. Morgan smiled, lips quivering, and whispered, “thank you,” before putting her attention back on the main subject.

“What would you need? In terms of resources or experiments?” Morgan asked. She was self-conscious enough about her now-constant discoloring at all times, but as she considered the possibilities, she felt the hollowness of her stomach too. Morgan shouldn’t be this excited for Bea’s idea. Fuck Odell, and fuck her hold on this cursed town. “Would it...I mean, you’re the expert, so you would know whether it’s safe or too dangerous if you...tested it on me?” She met Bea’s eyes with trepidation. “I’m not high risk or anything, obviously, and a year does a lot for a girl’s impulse control around viscera, but...I wouldn’t say no to some extra help.”

There were many forms of strength that Bea has seen over the years, many of them represented by the women she surrounded herself with. Morgan, she found, had one of the softest forms she had seen yet, but that did not mean she didn’t respect it. If anything, it proved to Bea that she could be strong without violence and anger. Her sisters, for as strong as they were, often hurt themselves from it. Luce with her anger, an all too powerful storm that untethered her, but kept others aware of who they were dealing with. Nell with her fierce strikes, hunting beasts and controlling demons that left her all too vulnerable to the world’s evil. Bea couldn’t always be like them, but she could be softer, she could adopt some of Morgan and create her own brand of strength that did not always mean striking first.

“Well, we’d need an area far from anyone else just in case something went wrong.” Bea wouldn’t risk doing it at her home when her sisters were so close by. She looked at Morgan for a long moment, she trusted the zombie, but it put Morgan in a hard situation if something were to happen. “We can try it on you, but I would want other people there, just in case. Who would you feel comfortable with helping?” Bea had her own list of who they could call, but Morgan was the one being controlled. She was certainly in a much more vulnerable spot. “I think we should start with small portions and then work our way up.” This would be a long process, but it would be worth it to explore the possibility.

“Well, there’s plenty of spots in the woods,” Morgan sighed. “If screaming moose can hide, so can we. Especially on the outskirts, near the border, I don’t think there’ll be anyone for miles.” She wasn’t that worried. White Crest liked to keep its secrets to itself as much as possible. But Bea’s second question was another beast. Deirdre came to her mind briefly, but her love had promised to never physically harm her on purpose and refused to be released. And then, Bea wouldn’t want to endanger her sisters after all they’d been through. Who did that leave? Mina, who barely spoke to her anymore?

At last, Morgan had to admit defeat. “I...don’t know. If you know someone or have ideas, I trust your judgement. You know about discretion as much as anyone, so. But, little bits at a time! That sounds good. Reasonable. It’ll, you know, probably come in handy some time. Even with someone like me.” Or especially, with how things stood at the moment. “You’re the one channeling big magic, so you should probably set the pace. I’ve got that infinite stamina going for me. So I...I can take it. Whatever might happen, I can take it. I want to, if it means having more control over myself.”

With everything, Bea had good and bad days. With the woods, she had bad far more often. She controlled her face as well as she could, only hesitating for a moment. “Let me pick the spot in the forest? I’ll find something in the outskirts for us.” She would pick somewhere far from the place it happened, where even on her bad day she could hold herself together. Her first thought would be to ask Leah to help, but that could be very dangerous for the phoenix. Her sisters weren’t an option. Maybe this wasn’t as easy as she had originally thought it would be. “I could see if Kaden was willing to help.” She trusted him to behave with Morgan, but she had no idea if they were on good terms anymore. “If you are feeling comfortable with that.” That was a good point, Bea had no idea how much energy this was going to take. If it was anything like the other necromancy magic she had done, she was going to need to work her way up. “We’ll go slow, there’s no need to rush what’s going to happen. Especially as we need to get more people on board to help.”

“Of course,” Morgan said. To her shame, she only remembered how much the woods had taken from Bea when she saw the look on the woman’s face. Morgan, for her part, never lingered on the part of main street where she’d felt the sun on her back for the last time, and ice cream trucks made her feel sick and bitter. But these were small things, specific. As much as the spot where Bea died was cursed ground, for all Morgan knew, every dark cluster of trees held the shadow of her trauma. Too late now.

Morgan considered Kaden. She didn’t want him to know she was struggling. She didn’t know how much of his fear and disappointment she could bear. And would he feel guilty for helping? Would he doubt himself? Or feel as though he were betraying himself? But a hunter was a clear and obvious choice, for Bea’s safety as well as Morgan’s own. And the only other hunter Morgan trusted was dead. “It makes sense. If you think he would, and that he wouldn’t...feel wrong or bad about it, yeah. That sounds like a good idea. And you’re right about needing others, strong muscle-y others probably, but don’t know who else is left.” She met Bea’s eyes slowly, knowingly, and ached as Adam’s loss stung once again. She cleared her throat and let the spectre of his memory pass. “Later, when we’ve got the basics down, I’ll be of more help. I’ve got lots of fresh experience with my muscle strength, and fighting off people, living and undead. But, slow and steady first.” With difficulty, she summoned a smile. “Who’d have figured it would take two people like us to make a new magic discovery?”

Oh, Bea thought, Of course Morgan knows. A fragile, brittle smile made its way onto her face. As the days went on, as his loss compounded, the closer she felt to slipping away. She was teetering on a precipice, close to falling over the edge of understanding grief as other people had. Her understanding before had been abstracted at best, a twisted and strange version of an emotion that everyone around her seemed to understand better than she did. A necromancer who had faced death, danced with her, but did not comprehend her affects seemed like an oxymoron. The room was spinning, twisting around her as she tried to focus on Morgan’s words. “Oh, I don’t know it makes sense, doesn’t it?” She replied weakly, “We like pushing and figuring stuff out. We’re fixers.” Fixers in a world that could not be fixed, would not consent to be fixed. Adam had been a fixer too, it was why he was gone.

“Fixers, huh,” Morgan repeated, her own smile turning sad as well. She didn’t think of that word often except in terms of her own shame and desperation. She broke something, therefore she had to fix it. But to hear Bea say it, they were doing something better than hastily atoning; they were solving the world. Not all of it, because no one could do that. But little hurts, difficulties, problems. They knew how to seal cracks in people’s hearts and put in new supports where old ones had snapped. And it didn’t have to mean that any of it was their fault or their responsibility. Just that they happened to know how. They happened to have the strength to try. And when everything broke all over again, they would fix it again. On and on.

The future stretched out in her mind’s eye, a line of patch jobs into centuries. Nothing holding or staying for long. She wondered if Adam had ever seen the future that way, and if he ever let himself dream of a green field and a quiet existence where the only things that needed fixing were fence posts and kitchen appliances, as she often did. She didn’t know which answer was sadder.

“I guess we are,” she said quietly. “I guess somebody has to be.”

#wr bea #wr chatzy #wr bea chatzy #breaking bonds #sibling death tw #//short and v sweet

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ahsokasanity · 3 years

Text

Chapter Ten

A Court of Shadow & Ribbons Wanna start at Chapter One?

Mor apologised the moment they entered the sitting room.

“I’m sorry for the subterfuge, but Azriel knows about me and he…..”

Emerie had not let go of Mor’s hand and as she spoke, Mor found herself being turned toward the female who had captured her attention at the party, and even before that. Mor was staring into Emerie’s hazel green eyes and losing any capacity to finish her sentence.

Emerie said “Now, I know too” and kissed her. Not a passionate kiss, a request of a kiss. Mor sizzled and held tight to Emerie’s hand, putting her other around her waist to hold her there. She didn’t let Emerie move back from that touch, Mor licked her lower lip and went back for a more intimate meeting.

Emerie sighed and felt herself going pliant and loose. She stepped toward the lounge, pushing Mor backwards to sit facing each other, stroking her hands in Mor’s hair, around her waist and over the perfect lines of her cheek and jaw.

“Oh I’ve never known what this felt like”

Mor stopped kissing Emerie’s ear lobe

“Just you wait” she whispered, Loving the shiver that ran through the female with her

“I just want to feel you and have you here with me, but tell me what you want” She hadn’t stopped touching and feeling and kissing, and Emerie’s eyes were closed when she murmured

“More of this for now, please don’t stop”. There they stayed, on the lounge as the sun rose and they discovered each other. Mor stopped at one point to ask if they should move from the sitting room

“Nope, this is it for now, I want to fall asleep here with you Mor” Emerie answered. So they did.

The training ring was pink with the streams of sunrise when Azriel landed. He found the rose with it’s chain in his pocket and strode into the house and his room. He couldn’t believe that Nesta and Cassian had not fallen asleep yet as he heard the low murmur of Cassian’s deep voice followed by a higher demand from Nesta. Mother save him from having to hear much more of that.

The house seemed to respond with some modicum of decency and muted the increasing sounds from their room. As Azriel closed his door, the moaning was left behind altogether.

He went to his armoire and opened the furthest right bottom drawer. In to it, he placed the jewellery beside a small cedar box. The only item that he kept from his childhood – a gift from his mother created when he was discovered to be a shadowsinger. She had placed a few items in it as he grew, even when he was imprisoned and she was unable to contact him. A lock of his hair, a note she’d written and a tiny dagger that she hoped he’d be able to learn to wield as he matured.

He picked it up for a moment. Re-promising that his children would be loved in person, daily, and never would come to hurt whilst he breathed

He closed the drawer with his foot and changed into training gear. His body screamed at him for some sleep but he kicked back at the need and told himself “after training”.

Most of the girls were already at the roof by the time Azriel arrived. Emerie was of course not there, nor were Nesta and Cassian. Apparently you do not have to train the day after your mating ceremony. All of the others were there including Lorelei and Roslin who had perhaps drunk more alcohol than they should at the celebration.

Those who had not attended the festivities were happily listening to the stories from the ceremony. Many of them had heard the tale of Gwyn’s singing and were congratulating her as they warmed up.

“Gwyn”. Azriel got the attention of the entire group. He indicated that Gwyn should join him at the front and she was nervous.

“We are a little short on instructors and members today, so I thought it might be nice if Gwyn led us in a warm up”

“Phew” Gwyn sighed inwardly and took a big breath. The best moves that she and Nesta and Emerie had found to get moving everyday were easy. She felt comfortable with the trainees and not pressured by Azriel. She could see him out of the corner of her eye correcting stance and core strength movements.

Everyone was flushed and perspiring by the time Gwyn finished the last rhyme. Azriel broke the females into three groups of three and had them sparring with staves, the third person of each group was the watcher to help with their feet and defence in-case anyone was having a particular problem.

Funnily enough, that left Gwyn and Azriel. Azriel handed her a heavy shield and led her to the area with a little more room.

“Sometimes, you won’t have a weapon but you may have some protection. Learn to use it to stay alive longer against an armed opponent”

Gwyn stood awkwardly holding the wooden metal plated implement on her left arm. Azriel attacked with deliberate slowness, signalling where he was going with each strike of his staff. Gwyn dodged and held, shuffled her feet and moved her weight to take every blow. Azriel sped up and reduced his warnings until they were both running with sweat and one of the other groups had stopped to watch them.

Azriel did not yell as Cassian could sometimes drag on his General’s mask, he merely indicated with a hand and “Ladies” -for the females to gather to watch.

“You see how you can fight without fighting? Defence can be the best way to stay alive until help arrives or until you are able to locate something more like a weapon”

Gwyn stumbled as Azriel spoke, attention lost in a memory of desperately waiting for help to arrive. Too late. Help came too late, even in the form of the winged assassin standing before her now. She dropped her eyes and Azriel continued to address the others.

“Get into a line and you can each have a moment to attack me with your staff, one at a time. Let’s go.”

The Idisi formed up immediately and began an assault on Azriel, giving Gwyn space to step out of the ring to get a drink. Why couldn’t she just get over this? How could the mention of being in danger make her stop thinking? Stop fighting? It had not happened on Ramiel. She thought that she was Valkyrie and unstoppable. Breathe she told herself, just breathe.

Once her heart rate had calmed both from the exercise and the panic, she returned to the line of staff wielding priestesses. It was time to have her revenge on Azriel’s earlier attempts at her. She would not be cowered and would never again be simply left waiting for help to arrive.

Azriel looked pleased to see Gwyn reach the front of the line and the others had begun to stretch and to drink water before the cool down.

“Apologies if I triggered something there, you were doing really well”

Gwyn stepped right then left and slammed the staff toward his exposed left wing. Azriel ducked and laughed at her audacity, but got his shield up in time to block the next blow.

“Now that was serious” – he blocked a third hit, but with effort and when Gwyn spun and angled the staff at his shins, he had to jump back to protect himself.

“You’d better give Azriel, I can do this all day” She grunted as she threw another two-handed attack at his neck and shoulders. Her feet were actually getting faster as she became more comfortable with the longer weapon. Azriel knew he could out manoeuvre her without a time limit, but she was so strong, so resilient he knew working her to exhaustion today would not be helpful. She needed this confidence and she needed more training and further fitness, but Cauldron was she a warrior.

After a resounding clash of staff and shield, Gwyn aimed a particularly good weight at his upper arm and connected. It was not enough to take Azriel out of a sincere fight, but it was a move that deserved reward.

“Give. I give” Azriel admitted freely. He was not winded, while Gwyn was pink and panting slightly. She knew without commenting that Azriel had forfeited. She didn’t mind. She had hit him after all!

They both drank greedily and Gwyn wondered if she was doing anything useful toward gaining Azriel’s affection. He was just the epitome of trainer today, although he’d focused on her a bit more than normal. She looked over at him and smiled, he gave her a nod of appreciation and she lowered her eyes.

“Form up Idisi” Azriel’s voice carried easily across the rooftop.

“Gwyn, please lead the cool down?”

Gwyn stepped out of the line sideways and began the relaxation chant.

Azriel stood sentry still, but took it all in, tensing and relaxing different muscle groups as the trainees breathed steadily and stretched. He was just nodding off, his wings held slightly open and his eyes closed. A stiff breeze nearly knocked him over and he realised that he was asleep. Thankfully he had no more appointments for the day and could just wash and sleep.

The females were saying goodbye and thank you to him and Gwyn was storing the staves and shield and tidying up around the ring as Azriel went to enter the house. He called out

“And thank you Gwyn for your help. And for reminding me to protect my upper arms!” He smiled at her and she grinned.

“Anytime. You are certainly training me to keep up my guard”

He turned again to look at her and she made a face like she had not meant to say that.

“Oh. You’re doing really well, so, you ah, you should feel good about that. I’ve gotta go, I haven’t been to sleep yet. See you tomorrow”

Gwyn nodded and headed off, embarrassed that she had dragged that information out of him. Where did he go after he dropped her here? He must have been back by dawn, he had got changed for training. Did he go to the nightclub? Did he hook up with someone? Gwyn cursed herself for a fool. He’s an experienced male who is your trainer. Why would he curtail his fun just because you spent some time with him? Why indeed when she’d given the gift back?

She used the library to forget all about thinking and re-thinking through last night and her memories of Azriel. The other priestesses, especially Merrill, wondered where she got the energy to run from place to place and help others with heavy tomes.

She just wanted to be exhausted by dinner time. Just wanted to sleep with no tossing and turning.

Azriel slept. No dreams, no startling awake. He drifted off hearing Gwyn singing in his head and woke up having barely moved. It was pitch black outside so night had fallen, but it was hard for him to surface from the total relaxation that he’d found. He merely checked his windows and his connections to Rhys – no emergencies, and stretched his wings. Laying on his other side, he fell right back to sleep.

#acosf #acotar #sjm #Mormerie #Nessian #Gwynriel #Angsty #training #valkyries

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framecaught · 3 years

Text

Transmedia Storytelling: A Perspective on the Homestuck Epilogues

First of all, thank you for reading my first post! I created this blog to document some of my research for a directed study project. I’ll be looking at Homestuck from an interdisciplinary lens but focusing especially on its formal artistic qualities and place in art history. The blog will contain various points of analysis which I develop over the course of the project. For my first piece of writing, I wanted to tackle (from a new perspective) what I view as a complicating factor in the controversy surrounding the Homestuck Epilogues.

Rather than critiquing the Epilogues’ content or making a judgement about their overall quality, I want to explore a specific criticism which has been echoed time and time again by fans. In an article for the online journal WWAC, Homestuck fan-writer Masha Zhdanova sums up this criticism:

“No matter how much members of the creative team insist that their extension to the Homestuck line of work is no more official than fanwork, if it’s hosted on Homestuck.com, promoted by Homestuck’s official social media accounts, and endorsed by the original creator, I think it’s a little more official than a fanfic with thirty hits on AO3.”

Between attacks on the Epilogues’ themes, treatment of characters, and even prose-quality, fans have frequently referenced the issue of endorsement and canonicity as summarized above. Although the Epilogues and Homestuck’s other successors (including Homestuck^2 and the Friendsims) attempt to tackle themes of canonicity within their narratives, critics of the Epilogues contend that this philosophical provocation falls flat. While the creators argue that the works should form a venue for productively questioning canonicity, fans point to issues of capital and call the works disingenuous. In Episode 52 of the Perfectly Generic Podcast Andrew Hussie explains that, to him, the Epilogues are “heavily implied to be a piece of bridge-media, which is clearly detached from the previous narrative, and conceptually ‘optional’ by its presentation, which allows it to also function as an off-ramp for those inclined to believe the first seven acts of Homestuck were perfectly sufficient.” As Zhdanova paraphrases, a critical view posits that this “optional” reading is impossible. The company ethos and production of capital inherent to the Epilogue’s release—their promotion, their monetization—renders their “fanfic” backdrop completely moot, if not insulting.

Why does appropriating the “aesthetic trappings” [1] of AO3 strike such a chord with critics, though? What’s wrong with the Epilogue creators profiting from their work? Other officially endorsed “post-canon” materials, including the Paradox Space comics, Hiveswap and Friendsim games, have not inspired such virulent opposition. The issue comes down to the association between the AO3 layout and the separation from canon. The Epilogues ask us to read them as “tales of dubious authenticity,” but critics assert that this reading makes no sense in the context of their distribution. It’s not exactly the endorsement or monetization that prevents a “dubious” reading, though. After all, Hiveswap is also endorsed and monetized, yet fans have no problem labeling it as “dubiously canon.” So what is it about the Epilogues’ presentation that seems so incongruous with their premise as “dubious” texts?

I’ve come to understand this issue through the lens of transmedia storytelling. First conceptualized by Henry Jenkins, “transmedia storytelling” involves the production of distinct stories, contained within the same universe, across different media platforms. [2] This allows consumers to pick and choose stories across their favorite media outlets, since each story is self-contained, but superfans can still consume All The Content for a greater experience. The Marvel franchise with its comics, movies, TV shows, and other ephemera, is a great example of the transmedia phenomenon.

How does Homestuck fit into this theory? In an excellent article [3] for the Convergence journal, Kevin Veale lays out a taxonomy for Homestuck’s role in new media frameworks. Rather than dispersing different stories across multiple media platforms, Homestuck combines the “aesthetic trappings” of many media forms into one massive outlet: the Homestuck website [4]. It’s almost like the inverse of transmedia storytelling. Veale describes this type of storytelling as “transmodal.” He further defines Homestuck’s storytelling as “metamedia,” meaning that it manipulates the reader’s expectations of certain media forms to change the reading experience. So, despite its multimedia aspects, Homestuck structures itself around one monolith distribution channel (the website), the importance of which directly feeds into what we know as “upd8 culture.” The Homestuck website itself, as a “frame” which encapsulates Homestuck and the other MS Paint Adventures, takes on a nostalgic quality; the familiar grey background and adblocks become inextricably linked with the production of the main, “canon” narrative.

Homestuck itself—the main narrative—is a transmodal venture. However, as of writing this post, the Homestuck franchise has taken a leap into transmedia waters, starting with the Paradox Space comics and continuing with Hiveswap, the Friendsims, and Homestuck^2. All four of these examples fit the definition of transmedia ventures: they contain distinct stories still set in the Homestuck universe and are distributed through fundamentally separate media channels from the main comic. Which is to say, crucially, none of them are hosted on the Homestuck website.

This is where I think the issue arises for the Epilogues. The Epilogues, from what I can tell, aimed to present themselves as a transmedia venture rather than a transmodal one. Firstly, they try to act as a “bridge-media,” or self-contained story. They can be read as a continuation of Homestuck, but can also be separated or ignored. Secondly, they take on a distinct format (prose). Hussie notes in PGP Ep. 52 that the Epilogues were originally only meant to be published in print, functioning as a “cursed tome.” In short, they were intended as a transmedia venture: a self contained story, distributed through a separate medium (prose) and separate media channel (print), to be embraced or discarded by consumers at their whim.

Instead, when the Epilogues were released through the main Homestuck website, readers couldn’t help but interpret them as part of Homestuck’s long transmodal history. Rather than interacting with a new distribution channel, readers returned to the same nostalgic old grey website. The AO3 formatting gag makes no real difference to readers, as Homestuck patently appropriates the aesthetics of other platforms all throughout its main narrative. This issue of distribution (print versus website), which in turn produces either a transmedia or transmodal reading, is the crux of the criticism I mentioned before. Despite the creators’ protests, readers failed to see any “question” of canonicity because the Epilogues fit perfectly into the comic’s preexisting transmodal framework, supported even further by the nostalgia of the website’s very layout. The Epilogues read as a transmodal contribution to Homestuck’s main channel rather than a post-canon, transmedia narrative (like Paradox Space or the Friendsims) as they were intended. This created a profound dissonance between the fans’ experiences and the creators’ intentions.

How things might have turned out differently if the Epilogues really had been released solely as “cursed tomes,” the world will never know. In PGP, Hussie cites the importance of making content freely accessible on the website as a reason for the online release, which is certainly a valid consideration. Even though the print format offers a much clearer conceptual standpoint as a transmedia “bridge-story” [5], issues of capital and accessibility may still have come to the forefront of discussion. As it stands, though, I think the mix-up between transmedia and transmodal distribution was a key factor in the harsh criticism the Epilogues sparked.

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[1] I love this term, “aesthetic trappings”, which Masha Zhdanova uses, so I’ve overused it to some degree in my post.

[2] Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, 2007: pg. 98. You can also find a description of transmedia storytelling on his blog.

[3] Veale, Kevin. “‘Friendship Isn’t an Emotion Fucknuts’: Manipulating Affective Materiality to Shape the Experience of Homestuck’s Story.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 25, no. 5–6 (December 2019): 1027–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517714954.

[4] Although the Homestuck website shifted branding from mspaintadventures.com to homestuck.com before the Epilogues’ release and has shifted its aesthetic somewhat (re: banners and ads), I treat the core “website” as the same location in my post

[5] Hussie points to numerous fascinating experiences which might have arisen from the print distribution. He describes a tome as “something which maddeningly beckons, due to whatever insanity it surely contains, but also something which causes feelings of trepidation” and references the sheer size of the book and “stark presentation of the black and white covers” as elements which produce this trepidation. The ability to physically experience (through touch) the length of the Epilogues and the impact of the book cover were lost in the online format. Although the Epilogues have been released in their intended book format now, the printed novel still won’t be a “first reading experience” for most fans.

#essay post #homestuck analysis #homestuck epilogues #transmedia storytelling #media studies

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fallinnflower · 3 years

Text

the witch & the nine-tailed fox

young k x reader (kumiho!au, historical-fantasy!au, drama)

wc: 8k

tw: mentions of blood and illness

a/n: hi so this took forever but happy halloween! this isn’t a traditionally scary halloween fic but i did a lot of research into the kumiho (fox spirit) and early joseon korea and just really needed/wanted to get this done. i was inspired in part by the sungjin bear spirit fic “thirteen moons” by @prettywordsyouleft !!!

The first day of your twenty-first autumn dawned bitter cold, too cold for the trees and the wild grasses and the inhabitants of your village. You knew, though you tried not to admit it to yourself, that the beginning of the season held bad omens — from the moment you stepped out the threshold of your cottage, you saw the crows perched within the quickly withering trees, and you knew.

Your mentor knew too, maybe before you even had, maybe before anyone else. The greatest healer of the past century, an old woman with more magic flowing through her veins than blood, with more scraps of wisdom than there were silvery hairs on her head. On that first day of autumn, you had woken before her, and you knew something was wrong.

In your village, most people had known from your earliest years that you were born with magic. At any other time, in any other place, this may have been your downfall; had it not been for the benevolence of your mentor to them over the years, the respect you had garnered, you may have been cast into exile. Instead, your parents, uncertain of how best to raise you by the time you had turned thirteen, called upon Eunji the healer, and you had remained by her side ever since.

Eunji was small and lithe, made of little more than her muscles and bones and magic, with a curtain of silvery hair she kept in a traditional braid down her back. She taught you how to anticipate natural disasters and illnesses, imbalances of any kind within the world around you; she taught you what native plants you could eat, which would heal and which would harm; and most importantly, she taught you magic.

It was Eunji who taught you that all of the legends you had heard growing up had some seed of truth within them, no matter how deeply buried. And so it was Eunji who had told you of the kumiho living at the top of the mountain, though she could say no more than that it existed and did indeed possess the pearl of knowledge as in the legends, yeowoo guseul. The village stories of its violence, its lust for human flesh — specifically livers — and slaughtering of its adopted family, still sent chills down your spine. Despite the many fears Eunji had managed to expel from you with her wisdom over the years, the kumiho was still too mysterious for you to shake that nervous feeling.

But when the chill descended too soon on that year, you found yourself feeling a deeper fear, staring into the dying wilderness.

Eunji’s decline occurred abruptly. With the abnormal cold came an internal chill which forced your mentor to remain bedridden. You tried all the methods you knew, all the herbs you could find and all the charms and incantations you could imagine to heal your mentor, but the sickness kept her in its icy grip.

Meanwhile, the villagers in the valley became hungry and sick, unprepared for the unprecedented weather that had befallen your land. Although Eunji had trained you well, she was still the better healer by far, and you knew that without her you had no chance of saving the village — and yet to save the village, you first had to save her.

In your desperation, you read every aged tome you could find in Eunji’s library, looked over everything you had written in your journals for any possible solution you could have overlooked.

And it came to you, both a blessing and a curse, the word striking into your heart equal parts fear and hope: the yeowoo guseul.

According to legend (and Eunji), the kumiho’s power came from its yeowoo guseul, a small but powerful bead-like object which resided inside of the nine-tailed fox. If a human were to kiss a kumiho, one of two things could occur: the kumiho would reclaim the yeowoo guseul, thus taking the human’s energy and their life in the process; or, if the human managed to swallow the marble, they would gain preternatural knowledge from or about anything they laid their eyes upon afterwards.

And it was that knowledge you needed. Things that possibly even Eunji could not know, and that you certainly didn’t — the answers to all your questions about the current state of your home and mentor, and the cure you desperately sought.

So it came to be that only mere days after the beginning of that bitterly cold autumn, you packed a bag and began your trek up the unforgiving mountain, not knowing whether you would ever descend again.

The journey up the slope is lonely. All you have with you is the pack on your back, which contains a small journal, materials to start a fire, a bag of uncooked rice and a small clay pot for you to cook it in. Atop your bag is a thick blanket, rolled tightly and bound with rope to your straps. The more your climb, the less you seem to hear, the woods seeming to swallow up the sound of the animals around you. Your only company are the small animals which occasionally cross your path, but they do no more than glance at you and keep moving. You notice, heart sinking, that they’re all preparing hurriedly for the winter months, many of them without their thick winter coats fully grown to keep them properly warm.

At first, the path is clear. Journeying partially up the mountain isn’t unheard of, especially when it comes to collecting herbs — but it’s well known amongst villagers that this is the kumiho’s mountain, and you shouldn’t stray far beyond the paths, and should end your journey where they come to an end. By the end of your first day, you’ve already trekked far beyond your usual routes, gently creating your own path with the walking stick you had brought. Along the way you pluck up edible leaves to pair with your rice, occasionally even digging up the roots you know you can eat. It isn’t much, but it will have to do — the lighter you traveled, the quicker you could make it up the more precarious parts of the mountain, and the sooner you could (hopefully) return home to Eunji.

But you can’t shake the feeling that something is off. For starters, there are crows all around you, calling out to one another across the dying woods. Although you take no personal issue to crows, such a large murder of them easily classifies as a bad omen, and you find yourself walking faster the more you hear them. The further you get up the mountain, the more uneasy you feel — in fact, as night falls, you’re sure you can feel eyes on you. Once your meager dinner has been cooked and eaten, you tie your bag up into the branches of the trees, but not before fishing out the protective charm Eunji had given you. You loop the drawstring around your wrist, clutching the pouch in your hand as you lie down on your blanket.

As you stare into the dying embers, allowing yourself to feel enveloped by Eunji’s magic, you think for a moment you see a pair of glowing eyes gazing back at you.

You rise, as you have many times over your life, with the sun. For a long moment you remain in the same position you had awoken in, waiting to hear the telltale chirping of birds or other animals scampering through the brush — but there’s nothing. Your ears are met only with silence, not even the sound of wind in the trees, and you can feel the hairs rising on the back of your neck.

As you roll your blanket up and tie it onto your pack once more, you keep Eunji’s charm on your person, taking what little comfort you can from your mentor’s power.

Although the crows seem to have departed you, you still get the sense that you’re not alone. There are no sounds to indicate another living creature is anywhere near you, but you can feel eyes on you at every turn — and yet whenever you look between the trees, you see nothing. The sky above you is abnormally dark, the sun shrouded with thick clouds that seem to promise nothing but coverage. Without the sunlight shining through the canopy you feel almost claustrophobic, as if the trunks of the trees are all leaning in towards you, threatening to swallow you up into their shadows.

You set up camp for the night relatively early, having found a small clearing just before what appears to be a rather steep portion of the mountain. With the sun already beginning to dip towards the horizon and the temperature dropping steadily with it, you feel you have no choice but to leave that hike till the morning. You’ve only just untied your blanket from your pack when the first rumble of thunder arrives. Looking up into the nearby trees you feel your heart sinking — the dying leaves offer little defense from the rain, and there’s no telling whether the storm will pass by tomorrow. You have no way to keep extra wood dry or carry it practically with you for later campfires. Chewing on your lower lip, you stare into the sky, clutching Eunji’s bag as though it will deliver to you the answer you seek—

“Excuse me.”

In an instant you’re on your feet, allowing Eunji’s bag to fall back under the coverage of your sleeves as you brandish the only weapons at your disposal: your fire-starters.

A young man dressed in white stands across the clearing from you, hands raised so that you can see their emptiness. His expression is friendly but guarded, eyes wide as he regards you, and his clothes appear old. Even from a distance you can see that they’ve been repaired many times over, but they look clean, nonetheless, as does his face and hair. It’s the most basic clothing, free of dyes or embroidery; the kind of clothing worn by many of the farmers and peasants in your village.

Except this man is no villager — at least not one you’ve ever seen, and you’ve seen most of them. This man is a stranger who appeared from the trees like a falling mist, and so you maintain your guarded position as you stare him down.

“Who are you?” you ask, and then, after a moment. “What are you doing on this mountain?” He lowers his hands slowly as he replies, and you feel some of the tension slip off your shoulders as he speaks. His voice, despite being unfamiliar to you, has a soothing quality that you can’t quite place. He holds your gaze as he speaks,

“My name is Younghyun. I’m a woodcutter. I live on this mountain.” At that you narrow your eyes. You had heard of solitary woodcutters living in the mountains, but never on this particular one — hardly anyone dared to climb the kumiho’s mountain, much less live on it.

“I know this seems strange,” he says, softly. “But there’s a storm coming, and I would feel awful if I didn’t at least offer you shelter for the night. I would understand if you didn’t want to accept—”

As he speaks another rumble of thunder rolls across the sky, and you suddenly feel the air pressure around you changing. It’s clear to you that you don’t have much time left to make your decision. You look from the darkening sky back at the young man, still clutching the tools for your fire in your hands and feeling the weight of your protective pouch in your sleeve. The charm reminds you of your journey’s purpose, and after a moment of consideration you bow your head,

“I’m in your debt, Younghyun.” He looks surprised by your answer at first, but quickly nods his acknowledgement.

“Then we don’t have much time. Here, give me your bag.” He crosses the clearing and scoops your pack up from the ground as you pull your blanket into your arms. Immediately he starts off back in the direction he had come from, and so you follow him with your hands still tangled within the mass of fabric.

Younghyun moves through the woods gracefully, weaving between the trees and brush. Although you’re certain he could rush ahead, he maintains a pace that he knows you can keep, glancing back at you ever so often to be sure you’re alright.

As you ascend, you can see the species of tree changing. Up where Younghyun appears to live you’re surrounded mostly by evergreen trees, with scatterings of pine needles muffling your footsteps. It’s densely wooded, and the ground beneath you has become firmer, more rock than soil. You realize that although you aren’t quite at the highest peak of the mountain, Younghyun appears to be leading you towards one of the many cliffs surrounding it.

He slows his pace, and through the trees you can see the silhouette of a building. Younghyun’s home is smaller than the hut you and Eunji share, but not very different otherwise. If you look out the door you can see across a rocky outcropping which drops off steeply. You’re sure if you stepped onto its broad expanse, you could look up and see the peak — but the coming storm deters you from doing just that.

“I don’t have much food to offer you, but you can at least sleep somewhere dry tonight,” Younghyun says almost sheepishly as he ushers you into his home. You drop your blankets near the fire and reach for your pack, which he hands over readily.

“I brought some rice and barley with me,” you reply. “I can’t give you much of anything else to show my gratitude, really, unless you’re in need of medicine.” When you don’t receive a reply, you look back up at your host only to find him looking at you almost in a daze. Although his eyes are trained on you, he’s obviously somewhere far away in his mind, drifting, the expression on his face pinched and almost nervous. You stand slowly, cradling your bag of rice in one elbow and reaching for his shoulder with your free hand.

“Younghyun?” He startles, shaking his head as if to clear away the mental fog, and smiles apologetically. It doesn’t reach his eyes, which still seem unsettled, and you frown.

“Sorry. That’s more than enough, thank you. I think I have some things left from my summer foraging, if you’ll excuse me…”

Younghyun brushes past you to go back outside, no doubt to go around to a possible small storehouse or dig up buried goods. Once he’s left, you decide to walk the perimeter of his hut, moving quietly. You don’t yet feel ready to lower your guard, but your inspection yields no real results — Younghyun’s home is nearly empty save for his own blankets and extra clothing which were folded neatly beside the chimney.

Younghyun returns moments later, remaining in the doorway as he excitedly brandishes what he’s found.

“Matsutake?” you inquire, already making your way towards him to inspect the rare mushrooms more closely. You wonder how he managed to find them, difficult as they are to track down, without any sort of help from an animal. As he nods you notice a smudge of dirt across his cheek which distracts you, and you point to your own cheek, unable to keep from smiling as he hurriedly rubs the dirt away.

The two of you make your way outside together, and under the cover of his overhanging roof on the opposite side from the chimney you find an old, soot-covered earthenware pot suspended above the remnants of a fire. Younghyun quickly squats down at its base, starting the fire once again.

“I’ll get the water,” he says, barely glancing at you before circling round to his front door once again and disappearing inside. You carefully take a seat on the ground near the fire, the bag of rice and barley resting in your lap as you warm your hands. The air is much colder up this high, and with the coming rain it seems to seep into your bones even through your clothing, clinging to your skin like a cold sweat. For the first time in days, you allow yourself to relax a bit, feeling warm and, if you’re honest, excited at the prospect of sleeping inside. When you peer past the fire you can see that, despite the rudimentary nature of his house, Younghyun still has an ondol system below the floor. You can already imagine the warmth of it beneath you when you sleep, and it’s a welcome change from the forest floor of the previous night.

Younghyun returns with not only a small, plain earthenware onggi of what you assume is rainwater but also an oil lamp and two small bowls, and you pull the lid off of the agungi for him, already feeling the heat wafting up from within it. He pours the water in and you set the lid aside as you open your bag, pouring two scoops of your rice and barley mixture into the water before Younghyun replaces the lid himself.

For a while the two of you sit in silence, and eventually Younghyun pulls out a small knife and begins cutting up the mushrooms whilst you stare into the fire and listen to the distant rumbles of thunder as the storm creeps ever closer.

Once the food is cooked, both of you fill your plates and Younghyun lights the lantern before leading you inside the hut once again. Almost as soon as you’ve both settled on the old mats he’s laid out for you to sit on you can hear the rain start outside, not heavy but steady and relentless.

Over your shared dinner, neither of you speak much. Younghyun hardly looks up from his food, almost as though he’s forgotten he has a guest, and it gives you much-needed time to truly analyze him. He’s attractive, you’ll admit, but the sharp shape of his eyes makes you nervous. Everybody you’ve ever spoken to has claimed that kumiho are female and lure men in with their appearances, but you feel that you can’t be too careful. In the lowlight offered by the single oil lamp between you he appears even more otherworldly, his features sharp and symmetrical.

It isn’t until he’s finished his food that he finally speaks to you again, though he does so with a contented grin on his face,

“So…”

“Y/N,” you offer, and he smiles.

“Y/N, what brings you this far up the mountain?” Although it’s stated casually, you feel the hairs on the back of your neck rise. Something about his asking feels oddly territorial — though you imagine if you were in his shoes you’d also be suspicious — and his smile doesn’t entirely reach his eyes. Even the way he repeats your name makes you feel on edge, though you can’t say for certain why. For a moment you hesitate in answering, taking your time chewing your food, but the rumbling of thunder compels you to say something that will allow you to stay in this shelter.

“I’m looking for a cure for my grandmother,” you say, glancing down into your bowl to pick up another bite. You hope he doesn’t notice you avoiding his gaze, and decide before he can counter you with any more questions to bring up one of your own.

“So, Younghyun,” you start, trying to keep your tone light. While a part of you would love to truly confront him on just how and why he came to be living on this mountain alone as a young man, you don’t want to lose your shelter for the night,

“How long have you lived here?” You glance up at him through your lashes, trying to gauge his reaction as you chew your food. Although he recovers quickly, you still see the momentary slip in his demeanor, his smile fading before he obscures his mouth slightly in thought.

“My parents were woodcutters before me, so I just inherited the business,” he replies, grinning at you and shrugging almost helplessly. “I’ve never known life off the mountain, so I stayed even after they both passed away.”

Immediately you begin wracking your brain — has anyone ever spoken about a family of woodcutters on this mountain? No matter how hard you try, you can’t think of any stories but the kumiho’s associated with this slope. In fact, you can’t recall ever seeing anyone coming down the mountain with wood, despite how long you’ve lived in the valley. You attempt to shake off the sinking feeling in your chest by telling yourself he and his family must sell to another village on the other side of the slope; it doesn’t feel true even as you think it, but the storm outside has only just begun to rage.

“Are you a healer?” Younghyun asks, snapping you out of your thoughts. You lift your head, furrowing your brows.

“How did you know?”

“You mentioned medicines earlier, as payment,” he replies casually. “I assumed you weren’t carrying a variety on you, so you must know how to make them.” You relax slightly at his explanation. In truth, you’d almost forgotten you’d offered the medicines, in part because of his strange reaction at the time. You hadn’t thought he’d noticed or remembered such a thing, but more and more he’s proving his receptiveness. You remind yourself to watch your words as you open your mouth to reply.

“You’re right. My grandmother taught me,” you say. “I don’t know as much about healing as she does, which is why I need to find her a cure before it gets too cold...” Younghyun nods, frowning sympathetically as you drop your gaze into your bowl once again. The thought of Eunji lying small and weak, all alone in your little hut near the woods makes your stomach turn. Any appetite you have leaves you, but you find yourself taking another bite anyways, knowing you’ll be of no use to her without food in your belly.

“I can help you, if you’d like,” Younghyun says softly. Before you can reply, he continues, “I know this mountain better than anyone. I don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, but I can show you the best paths to the peak.”

“I wouldn’t want to trouble you,” you say, watching as Younghyun scrapes the last of his food together and eats it with a smile.

“It’s no trouble,” he assures you, “I can’t fell trees for a few days after a storm like this, in any case.” His explanation makes perfect sense to you, and so you find yourself nodding, accepting his help.

“Of course. Then I suppose I’m even further in your debt, Younghyun.” The man across the table from you laughs, and the sound eases your nerves slightly, bringing a smile to your own face.

“Sad as this may sound, you just gave me the best meal I’ve had in a long time. Consider any debts paid.” For a moment, you simply hold one another’s gaze, analyzing each other, until eventually you make the decision to put an end to the strange interaction.

“Well, we should probably get some rest. Long day tomorrow.”

“You’re right,” Younghyun says, nodding. His gaze drifts past you towards the door, and he narrows his eyes. “I think the storm should pass by morning. We can get an early start, if you’d like.”

“Sounds perfect. Thank you again, Younghyun,” you say, bowing your head. The young man only shakes his head, smiling.

“Think nothing of it,” he says. The two of you rise from your seats, and Younghyun moves the lantern between your sets of bedding as you both get settled. Once you’ve both slipped beneath your blankets, Younghyun blows out the lantern, plunging you both into darkness.

“Goodnight,” you say, eyes already slipping close. You can hear Younghyun shift in his bedding across the room from you before replying in a low voice,

“Goodnight, Y/N. Sleep well.”

You open your eyes to near darkness, the light filtering into the room grainy and gray. When you roll onto your side, you don’t see Younghyun where he had fallen asleep the night before, only his blankets in disarray on the floor. An icy cold panic stabs through your chest and you sit up, realizing the moment your hand touches the floor that the warmth you feel isn’t coming from the fire outside — it’s wet, and as you draw your hand up the dark liquid follows like a shadow.

You recognize the smell. Iron, salt — it can’t be anything but blood. Despite the many times you’ve smelled it in your days as a healer, you suddenly feel sick to your stomach as you realize the floor is covered in it. It reflects the pale light and makes you dizzy as you sit up, trying to take deep calming breaths but feeling the moisture in the air clog your throat. The scent of the blood is too heavy, and you know you have to get out before it’s too late. Your blanket slides on the blood beneath your feet and you fall, the blood soaking any cloth it comes into contact with. You squeeze your eyes shut as you peel your cheek off the floor, mouth pressed into a thin line to keep from gagging.

A growl, too low to be human, shakes the floorboards beneath you, and as you lift yourself up onto your hands and knees you can feel the eyes on you once more—

A white fox sits at the door, nine tails swishing in unison. Its fur seems to glow, and in the new light you can see the blood just barely drying on the fur of its face. It opens its mouth and lets out a sound almost like a cruel laugh, its burning eyes pinning you in place as it lowers itself to the floor. You can see the fur bristling as the muscles tense in preparation of lunging, and you suddenly realize the protective charm is no longer on you. With one last shuddering breath, you close your eyes to the sound of the fox’s claws scraping the floor and its inhuman growl—

“Y/N?”

It’s Younghyun’s eyes that meet yours, dark but unmistakably human. Your breath comes in short gasps, and he sits back, eyeing you nervously as you try to calm yourself down. After a moment you manage to sit up, swallowing hard and finding your throat terribly dry. Seemingly noticing this, Younghyun scrambles to his feet, returning to your side with an earthen vessel half-filled with water. You try not to drink too quickly, but the moment the water reaches your throat you find it difficult to keep from gulping all of it down at once. The young man waits patiently for you to finish, sitting beside your bedding and watching you with concern in his sharp eyes. When you set the water down, he finally speaks up,

“Are you alright?” You look at him, clutching your bedding to keep him from seeing the trembling in your hands. As you usually do in times of panic, you focus on the weight of Eunji’s charm still tucked into your sleeve. Looking at Younghyun, you can’t find any reason to doubt his concern for you — either he’s an incredible liar, or you’re too naive, but you choose to trust him anyways.

“Yes,” you sigh, finally, passing a hand through your hair to get it away from your face. “Yes, just a bad dream.” Younghyun nods in sympathetic understanding before rising up from his seat on the floor. He clears his throat before speaking again.

“I’ve cooked up some root vegetables for us with your rice. I hope you don’t mind.” You shake your head, pulling yourself out of your bedding.

“Not at all. Thank you for making breakfast.”

While you roll your blanket back up and replace your outerwear, Younghyun goes, you assume, to put out the fire and bring in your breakfast. The two of you eat in silence, and outside you can hear the birds beginning to chirp as the sun rises over the horizon, casting a golden glow through the open doorway. Younghyun rinses off your bowls and chopsticks before slinging his own small pack across his back and locking up his house.

“The peak is only a day or so’s journey from here. With the ground being so wet it may take us a bit longer,” he explains, leading you through the woods. From time to time he reminds you to watch your step, or holds branches out of the way for you. As you trail behind him you can’t help but notice the lightness of his footfalls, the way he seems to cause almost no damage to any of the brush underfoot. You feel far from graceful as you follow his footsteps, crushing leaves and twigs with nearly every step.

Your only conversation occurs close to midday, when the both of you pause to catch your breath and drink water.

“How far up do you think these ingredients will be?” Younghyun asks, and you bite down on your lip, weighing your options. You cast a glance at Younghyun and let out a sigh, deciding to be honest with him. After all, you feel as though it’s the least you can do after all the help he’s offered you.

“I don’t know,” you say softly. Younghyun crouches down beside you on the ground, knees nearly brushing, but you can’t bring yourself to look at him. “The truth is, I don’t know what I’m looking for. My whole village is being overrun by an illness, and even my grandmother doesn’t know how to cure it—” you pause for a moment, taking a deep breath to try and still the warble in your voice. You close your eyes to fend off the sudden tears you feel welling up,

“—I'm actually looking for the kumiho.” Both you and Younghyun sit in silence for a moment after your statement. Saying it aloud makes it feel far more real than it had before, and an icy stab of fear pierces your heart.You find yourself continuing in desperation, still fending off tears, “I need the yeowoo guseul, because I don’t have the knowledge to save my people, a-and there’s nothing more I can do until I get it.” Younghyun remains still for a moment, then shifts his weight slightly. You can feel his gaze on you as intensely as ever, but you keep your eyes on the ground, trying to will your emotions away.

“How do you know the kumiho won’t just kill you?” he asks, voice gentle. You bark out a laugh, which sounds almost like a sob.

“I don’t,” you say, finally turning to your companion. “I’m just hoping.” Younghyun’s gaze softens, and he rests a hand on your shoulder as you swipe at your eyes with the ends of your sleeves. Once you’ve pulled yourself together somewhat, he stands up and offers you a hand. You take it, allowing him to pull you to your feet. Without another word, he continues taking you up to the summit.

It’s early afternoon when the clouds begin to roll in again, although you don’t notice them immediately due to the shade already provided by the pines. It’s Younghyun that stops in his tracks, holding out an arm to signal you to a halt as well. You stand behind him, watching him with a mixture of confusion and nervousness as he signals for you to wait and disappears through the trees towards the edge of a cliff. Your heart pounds, leaping into your throat as you wait for him, and you cross your arms across your chest, subtly clutching the protective charm as you shift your weight from one foot to another. A sudden breeze weaves through the trees and sends shivers down your spine, and when you exhale you can see your breath.

No sooner do you realize that than Younghyun is coming back towards you at a quickened pace, face etched with panic,

“We have to find shelter.” You stare at him, dumbfounded, hardly realizing what he’s said until he’s taken hold of your arm and begun pulling you further into the woods.

“W-what? Younghyun, what’s wrong?” you finally manage to ask, picking up the pace so you’re no longer stumbling behind him in his determined stride.

“Snowstorm,” he says. “I didn’t see any sign of it this morning, but it’s coming fast.” He glances back at you over his shoulder, brows furrowed. “I’m so sorry.” You don’t have time to dwell on his apology as he takes a sharp turn and you struggle to follow him, even as he slows at times to pick up pieces of wood he finds along the way. Eventually, you make it to a small cave, really little more than a rock awning over a patch of ground, and Younghyun drops his small pile of wood.

“Start a fire,” he says. “Hurry.” With that he disappears into the trees once again, leaving you fumbling with your shaking hands. You do, thankfully, manage to start a fire — though you struggle to protect it from the bone-chilling wind that seems to be picking up by the second. You unroll your blanket from your pack and drape it over your shoulders, warming your hands as you watch anxiously for Younghyun’s return.

There are snowflakes in his hair when he emerges from between the trees, and his expression is so filled with fear you can’t help but feel nervous.

“It’s bad,” you say, more a statement than the question you had intended. Younghyun nods grimly, tucking the excess firewood behind you to keep it dry. He pulls his own blanket off his pack and places it atop your own, and you turn to him in confusion.

“Younghyun—”

“I don’t need it,” he interrupts. When you continue to hold his gaze with your confused, concerned expression, he continues, “Trust me. I’ll be fine.” You decide that really, you have no choice but to trust him, and so you nod slowly, inching closer to him in an attempt to share your warmth. The wind howls through the trees, and you can see the storm clouds drawing ever closer to the two of you. Despite the two blankets atop your shoulders, you begin to shiver, and Younghyun takes notice.

“Y/N,” he says, slowly, as if you’re a wild animal he’s afraid to approach. You sit up and meet his serious gaze. “Do you trust me?” You feel your heart skip a beat and accelerate, but you nod nonetheless.

“This storm, it could kill you. But I think I have a solution.” You find yourself more confused and frightened with each word that falls from his lips, but you keep your gaze steady, waiting for him to finish.

“I’m going to change forms. Don’t be afraid,” he implores, and you can see the fear in his eyes as he stares into yours. You breathe in sharply, and all you can manage to say in your panic is,

“You?” He nods slowly, still holding your gaze.

“Just, please,” he says, his expression almost sad. “I want to help you.” You nod, dumbfounded, still shivering as he stands up and walks out from beneath your shelter into the snow.

Although you see it happen, you hardly believe it. There’s a flash of light that disperses quickly into a thick fog, and you close your eyes at the suddenness of it. When you open them again, you’re met with the sight of a brilliant white fox, it’s nine tails moving in unison like a fan behind its head. Its eyes glow a brilliant gold, and despite your fear you manage to speak.

“Younghyun…?” The fox dips its head in response, and you find yourself reaching out towards the animal. Slowly, it advances towards you, taking halting steps as though it’s trying not to startle you. Eventually, the kumiho makes its way back under the cover of the rock, resting its muzzle in your outstretched palm. You let out a laugh of disbelief, and the fox spirit huffs slightly as you reach your hands up to scratch behind its ears.

When you withdraw your hand, Younghyun, the kumiho, makes his way back into the spot he had occupied in a human form only moments before, sitting down beside you and draping his nine tails over your lap and behind you, surrounding you in warmth. The glow of the fire makes his fur shine a pale yellow, and once you’ve adjusted the tails to be more comfortable you begin to pet the kumiho once again, scarcely able to believe it’s real even as you feel the fur beneath your fingers.

Before the storm worsens, you make a portion of rice and barley for yourself and Younghyun, who bows his head towards you once more as if in gratitude. Once the food is eaten and the bowls are set aside, Younghyun curls up as if to sleep. You watch as he indicates with his nose towards his back, and you slowly move around behind him, lying down and holding him as though he were a toy and not a supposedly vicious forest spirit. Watching the snow falling in a thick curtain beyond the fire still burning, you fall asleep to the rhythm of Younghyun’s breathing.

You awake in the morning to birdsong and warmth. When you open your eyes, you find Younghyun’s very human arms around you instead of the nine tails, but the strands of white fur that remain on your blankets and clothing assures you what you saw the previous evening was no dream. Slowly and gently you extricate yourself from Younghyun’s embrace, which was loose in any case, and sit up to look at the damage the storm had left behind.

You’re awestruck by the sheer amount of snow left behind, though the rising sun appears to already be melting some of the ice off of the trees as you can see it dripping. You notice the fire burning feebly and climb over Younghyun’s sleeping form to revive it, dragging some of the wood from the back of the cave. As you get it back to its former roaring, you grab the bowls and your bag of rice and barley once again, preparing breakfast whilst Younghyun continues to sleep.

Your shock over the previous night’s events slowly fades, and you’re surprised to find that you feel no fear in the aftermath. Then again, you suppose that if Younghyun had wanted to devour you, he easily could have the night before — instead, despite any tales you had heard that would contradict it, he had been unbelievably gentle with you. Rather than taking your life, he had saved it.

Now you only had to wonder whether he would willingly give up the yeowoo guseul to you. You cast a glance at his sleeping form and felt a stab of sympathy for him. To even be a kumiho he had to have lived a thousand years, and you couldn’t help but imagine how lonely his existence may have been for a large portion of that time. And considering all the legends about the kumiho you had heard were generations old at best, you imagined the answer to that would be very.

Although you had already been convinced that Younghyun was good, you still couldn’t be sure if he would give up the pearl of knowledge he held within him. From what you understood, if you managed to absorb it, he would become a human and age once more — in essence, he would have to give up his immortality to save your village. Previously you had thought you would have to fight a monster to retrieve the knowledge you sought, but watching Younghyun sleep you found that you couldn’t bring yourself to even consider hurting him. If he said no to giving you the yeowoo guseul, you wouldn’t be willing or able to force him.

You shook your head to clear it of those thoughts, turning your attention back to your meager breakfast. At the very least you had no doubt Younghyun would guide you safely back down the mountain, so you weren’t too concerned about extreme rationing any longer.

He awoke before you finished, sitting up and stretching with a sigh. Neither of you said a word as he sat up beside you, looking out over the snow covered stretch of forest. The two of you eat your breakfast in silence, sitting side by side with your shoulders touching. Once Younghyun has taken his last bite he speaks up,

“You can have it.” You nearly choke on your food, dissolving into coughs. Younghyun gently pats your back as you struggle to recover, eventually gasping out your reaction.

“What?” As you look at Younghyun he appears completely calm, shrugging slightly as he replies.

“There's really no joy in the life I'm living. I made this decision when I was young and foolish, thinking immortality would be fulfilling, but now… now, I just want to live a normal life. So, you can have the yeowoo guseul. You'll do more good with the knowledge than I ever have.” He even smiles at you, and although it appears sincere you can’t help but be absolutely baffled by how casually he drops this information.

“Are you sure?” you ask, and he nods resolutely. The information slowly sinks in, and as it does you can feel your face begin to warm. “So, then…”

“Yes,” he laughs, looking far too amused by your embarrassment. “You’ll have to kiss me.”

“Right…”

“You’ll be fine,” he says. “You trust me, right?” You nod. With that, Younghyun stands up, reaching his hand down for you to take. Just like you had the day before, you accept his help, though this time he doesn’t let go, keeping you close to him.

He hesitates for a moment as though offering you an out, and so you’re the one who finally leans in and presses your lips to his. At first, it feels completely normal, and Younghyun reaches up to cup your jaw with one hand as the other wraps around your waist. He adjusts the angle of the kiss and you feel a shiver run down your spine as his tongue gently parts your lips.

Almost immediately you feel the yeowoo guseul pass between your teeth, small and cold, terribly cold. Suddenly afraid, you press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue, squeezing your eyes shut tighter as Younghyun's lips part from yours.

"It's alright," he whispers. "You have to swallow it. It's alright."

You think of Eunji, your village, the man before you — and you try. You really, truly do.

But the moment it reaches the back of your throat it suddenly burns like no alcohol ever has, and you begin coughing, doubling over—

With the arm around your waist Younghyun turns you, pressing your back to his chest to keep you upright, and with the other he tilts your head back. He holds your mouth shut, all the while murmuring reassurances in your ear, reminding you of all the reasons you’re doing this. After a long moment you finally manage to swallow the bead, and you feel it burn down your chest, leaving you gasping for air, tears streaming from your tightly shut eyes. Younghyun rights you, turning you to face him, brushing hair away from your now-sweaty forehead.

As you open your eyes, you find nothing but white before you. Your knees give way and you reach out desperately, clawing at Younghyun's shirt even though his hands remain on you,

"My eyes!" you scream, but the trees seem to swallow your voice. "Younghyun, my eyes—!"

"Look up at the sky, Y/N, you'll be fine. Look at the sky." His voice is unwavering, the never ending calm of freshly fallen snow, and as you lift your head up you begin to see ripples within your vision.

The clouds, filled with your village’s first snowfall of the winter, suddenly appear above you.

"It's going to snow again," you say. The trembling in your voice ceases the longer you stare. "Not this week, but the next. It will be as high as my knees, and— and..." As you speak, you seem to blink the clouds away, revealing once more the morning sky you had seen before Younghyun's kiss.

When you look back to Younghyun, you no longer find a young man, but a face carved with wrinkles around the eyes and mouth. With shaking hands you reach up to touch him,

"You're old." He only stares at you, mystified. "You're going to grow old."

He smiles, breathes out a laugh, and as he does your vision restores his youth to him. You let your hands fall to his shoulders. The pure joy on his face has you entranced, and you almost want to kiss him again, overwhelmed and elated.

Then behind him, you see a glimmer. Like a golden thread which seems to weave away into the trees. You peer over his shoulder, past him, and he lowers his voice,

"Do you see what you need?" Your reply is scarcely more than a sigh,

"Yes." Your voice cracks as you break into a wide grin, laughing as you repeat your answer more confidently, “Yes!”

You take Younghyun’s warm hand in yours and set out into the snow, ignoring the cold as you follow the shimmering trail. It leads you to a small clearing nearly devoid of snow, almost a perfect circle amidst the trees within which grows a plant with leaves glowing gold. Once you drop to your knees beside it, however, it ceases glowing, becoming its normal deep green color.

“That’s it?” Younghyun asks excitedly, standing behind you. You nod, at a loss for words, and he comes to kneel beside you. There’s more than one of the plants, and so after gathering yourself you instruct Younghyun to pluck as many of them as he can, meanwhile you begin digging into the half-frozen soil, ignoring the cold and the pain as you try to reach the plant’s roots. Although it’s used to a mountain climate, you have no doubt Eunji will find a way to grow it closer to your home once she’s well again.

Carefully, you cradle the roots of the plant in your cupped hands, mud and dirt caking your palms and stuck beneath the half-moons of your nails. Younghyun returns with his shirt partially hiked up like a pouch, filled with the leaves that you need. He looks at the small plant in your hands in wonder.

“Incredible,” he says. When you glance up you find his gaze on you, and he breaks into a somewhat sheepish grin, clearing his throat.

“We should get you back to your village.”

“What about you?” you ask almost immediately. Younghyun’s expression falls slightly, and he blinks at you.

“I’m not sure,” he says. “I could leave the mountain, but I don’t know what I’d do.” Without another thought you find yourself using one of your hands to grasp one of his, holding his gaze earnestly.

“You could come with me.” Younghyun appears almost shell-shocked, and you quickly elaborate on your statement, “Eunji and I could always use extra help, and you’re stronger than either of us. You wouldn’t have to stay forever, of course, but at least until you decide what you want to do…” You trail off uncertainly, withdrawing your hand from his after a moment, feeling embarrassed by the zeal with which you’d made your offer.

Despite that, though, Younghyun’s response is in the affirmative,

“Alright.” You look up in surprise and find Younghyun smiling. “I don’t know what my future holds but… I think I’d like to take that first step with you by my side.” At his response you can’t help but smile back at him.

“I think I’d like that, too.”

And so the two of you pack your belongings and begin the long trek down the mountain, leaving the legend of the kumiho to wither away behind you like the small hut sitting alone and empty amidst the trees, little more than a memory.

#day6 scenarios #young k scenarios #kpop scenarios #kpop fanfiction #kpop writing #kpop texts #kpop reactions #My writing

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merelliahallewell · 3 years

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An Order of Embers Roleplay Primer

Hello, friends. A while back I wrote a not-so-brief guide to Order of Embers roleplay that seemed to help a few people. MG’s Kul Tiras community has been growing lately and I’ve also founded a new guild and RP project set in Drustvar, and so I figured I would update this for clarity and ease of reading. In other words? I... am back on my bullshit.

This primer will be headcanon/fanon free, and only reference quest text or other information that can be found in-game in Drustvar. If headcanons are your thing, I’ll be releasing an in-character guide to Kul Tiras’s monsters and dark magic soon. I hope. It is the endless writing project.

Drustvar’s Woes

On Kul Tiras’ western side lies the mountainous region of Drustvar. It provides most of the island kingdom’s ore, some food, and some of their strongest warriors.

In recent times, a civil war raged across Kul Tiras. A secessionist, N’zoth-aligned faction run by Lord Stormsong in the north and an attempted coup led by Lady Ashvane in Boralus itself nearly toppled the Proudmoore Admiralty, but were stopped by brave souls. Drustvar was strangely absent from these conflicts, and many refugees spilled out into the rest of Kul Tiras telling frightening tales of “wooden demons” who had driven them from their homes.

Most of the land west of the mountains had fallen to a group of terrifying magic-users who enslaved the minds of all they came into contact with... if they didn’t kill them for sport or use them as reagent for foul and perverse rituals. The land east of the mountains was on the brink, as well. Corrupted wildlife roamed the woods freely and witches practiced their dark spellcraft freely, driving the remaining desperate souls into worship of the wickermen or into frenzied attempts to prosecute innocents for the crimes of the terrifying Heartsbane Coven. All of this happens before the player even arrives in Drustvar.

The Order of Embers

During the zone’s storyline, the player and Lucille Waycrest discover that the magic being used against the people of Drustvar is that of the ancient Drust, who were defeated thousands of years earlier by a group known as the Order of Embers. The Drust were a seafaring clan of Vrykul that eventually settled on Kul Tiras sometime after the Sundering. They developed druidic ways that brought them in tune with the land and even earned them the blessing of nature spirits, but those ways were perverted by a sorcerer-king who set the Drust upon the path of death and domination.

The old Order were comprised of those who took up arms against their far more powerful foes, exploiting weaknesses in Drust magic uncovered by scholars. The Waycrests were members of the ancient order, and it was Arom Waycrest himself who led the charge to defeat the Drust king Gorak Tul. In the cavern Gol Var, once a Drust stronghold, they recover an ancient tome known as the Tome of Silver and Ash, a treatise which contained all the old Order’s knowledge on combatting their magic.

In the town of Arom’s Stand, some of the Waycrest Guard’s finest remaining soldiers were recruited to become the reborn Order’s first Inquisitors. The newly-anointed inquisitors brought the fight to the Heartsbane from there.

The Order’s battles with the Heartsbane Coven play out over the latter half of the Drustvar questing experience and also the zone’s world quests. They add new members to their ranks, create new weapons for use against the Coven, and push back against them on all sides. Eventually, they storm Waycrest Manor, cutting off the head of the snake and defeating the Coven’s leadership. Gorak Tul was forced back into the death-realm of Thros, prevented from returning for the time being. (Tul was later killed in Thros during the Pride of Kul Tiras questline.)

It’s unclear how long it took to purge the Heartsbane from Drustvar- if the task was truly completed at all. Blizzard rarely addresses zone stories after the fact, which means the plot thread has been left hanging and was not addressed in any subsequent patches in BfA. The Order of Embers also assisted with the fight against the Horde during the Drustvar invasion.

It may be a reasonable inference that Drustvar is being repaired and de-cursed in the aftermath of the war, but that is not an easy task.

Who leads the Order of Embers? Does it have a hierarchy?

Lucille Waycrest- now the ruling Lady of Drustvar, and the last of her house, is in charge of the Order. All inquisitors are raised to their stations by the authority of House Waycrest. Other important figures are the remaining original inquisitors (Sterntide, Mace, Notley, and Yorrick), the quartermaster Alcorn, and Marshal Joan Cleardawn, a former inquisitor that was given new leadership over the Waycrest Guard.

The Order seems to lack much of a formal hierarchy- most of the named NPCs are simply titled with inquisitor, working together as a team rather than issuing commands to one another. They also seem to be adept at handling missions alone and on their own or with the aid of local allies.

Can I roleplay an inquisitor or other member of the Order of Embers? Is it lore-abiding to do so?

Sure! The Order didn’t stop at five inquisitors- a world quest boss for the Horde during the invasions has them facing off against a new Inquisitor named Erik. They also have a quartermaster and a cleric, which means there may be support staff involved that do not bear the big title but are still part of the group. The Order is probably not handing out inquisitor garb like candy, but there’s no reason to assume that a worthy and trusted individual wouldn’t be made an inquisitor.

However, it is worth mentioning that the Order of Embers might not be too trusting of those wielding or even infused with darker powers, given the devastation of their homeland by spellcasters wielding terrifying magic. That is just a guess on my part, but an educated one. Drustvar as a whole has a very low-magic culture.

Could a non-human join the order?

I don’t see why not, but there are no non-human methods ingame. I would never say that it is lore-breaking to roleplay a nonhuman as an Inquisitor, just that there’s no real in-game basis to make this judgement on either way. If you want to roleplay an inquisitor that’s not human and you think you have solid IC reasoning: go for it!

Obviously, the Order of Embers may be more hesitant to accept, say, a void-infused elf with tentacle hair or a worgen warlock as an inquisitor than a race they’re more familiar with such as a sturdy dwarf or genius gnome. Ability to serve House Waycrest and being of aid against the Heartsbane are likely strong factors in joining up- they may not make a person an inquisitor if they’re a night elf sorcerer that’s been in Kul Tiras for two weeks and hasn’t ever seen a witch in his life.

Initiation Ceremony

To become a member of the Order of Embers, the initiate undergoes a short ritual where they are presented with their garb.

Brothers and Sisters, today you become the searing fire that burns away the darkness.

Today you become the shining blade that cuts through the wicked.

Today you become the beacon of hope against the endless foe.

By the authority of House Waycrest, I name you inquisitors of the Order of Embers!

Clothing and Armor

Upon being appointed to their new stations, inquisitors are offered a set of garb inspired by drawings in the Tome of Silver and Ash of what the ancient inquisitors wore. This armor seems to be dark brown leather gear and also has a feathered cap involved- though only one of the inquisitors seems to have chosen to wear that accessory. The specific in-game set is the “Armor of the Dashing Scoundrel,” which comes from Antorus. It drops from the heroic difficulty of the raid. It should be noted you don’t need the whole set- each inquisitor wears different pieces of it and matches them with other clothing or armor pieces. The hat also has a chance to drop from the Commodore Calhoun rare in Vol’dun. Not sure if it would drop for non leather users, so be careful.

Don’t feel like you have to be a rogue to play an Inquisitor- going for tones of brown with some silver or grey mixed in will likely net you a pretty good-looking set. There are Kul Tiran questing and dungeon plate sets that look fantastic and are worn by Waycrest Guard/Marshal NPCs that would work great as an inquisitor’s battle armor.

The Order also has a tabard, which is worn by the quartermaster who sells it. While no inquisitors actually seem to wear it, it’s one of the better-looking tabards added that expansion and has a distinctive look. It matches well with just about any gear that has brown or tones of silver/grey.

If you’re looking for some transmog ideas, this is a link to the Order of Embers mogs on /r/transmogrification. There is a super sweet plate set OoE set on there that actually won Best Dressed of 2018 for that armor class.

If you’re looking for a great Order of Embers-type transmog, the Leather PvP set from Shadowlands’ first season really hits those vibes. It has a very witch hunter theme to it, is colored largely brown, and the belt has fucking potions and silver spikes on it for use on... enemies. I cannot understate how badass this set is. The best part? It is not class locked, meaning that this armor is available to anybody that can wear leather gear, if you toggle the vendor pane to show “all classes.” However, it does cost Conquest points (and a lot of them), so you may want to be picky with what you grab unless you don’t intend to gear through PVP this season. We don’t know if it will be available after the season ends, so you may want to pick that up soon if it’s your thing. Also, it’s just a nice-looking coat and we don’t have a lot of those in-game.

Weaponry

The inquisitors of the Order of Embers wield a number of different weapons, taken from their prior occupation as members of the Waycrest Guard. Everything from two-handed swords to crossbows are used by them- and that’s just primary weapons. Their armor features throwing knives as well. Inquisitor Mace even carries a trio of daggers sheathed at her belt- it seems they have no shortage of tools for dispatching foes with.

Players who have completed the zone’s Bleak Hills Mine quests also have a buff called Silvered Weapons. Silver can disrupt the magics of the Drust, and stun abberations, elementals, and undead in the zone. This is an inference, but it may be because all of those monster types in Drustvar are powered by this magic. The silver recovered from one of the region’s mines was used to begin producing weapons for the Order such as the silver-plated hand cannon Witchrend, which seems to shoot silver shrapnel to great effect against the Heartsbane.

It should be pointed out that silver is a shitty metal to make a weapon out of. It is not half as strong as steel or whatever else they make weapons out of in Azeroth. The original Order of Embers got around this fact by making weapons with a steel core and covering them with a layer of pure silver- you find one of their long-abandoned knives out in the world.

Other universes have done similar things with silver weapons- D&D has a ruling about silvered weapons, and The Witcher series has a whole class of silver swords created with special forging techniques. It may be wise to take a page from the latter universe, as Witchers face the same issue regarding silver’s weakness as a weapon. They get around that by carrying two swords- one for men, the other for monsters. I’m not telling you that you should roleplay a Witcher but I am saying that’s kind of half the reason we’re here, so it might be okay to borrow that idea since they face that very legitimate problem with a smart solution.

Storm Silver is a metal found abundantly in Kul Tiras, and is used for building ships, making armor light enough to swim in, and consecrating for various uses by Tidesages. It is likely not the same as pure silver, but we don’t have explicit confirmation either way.

Alchemical fire is also a potent weapon against witches and Drust alike, crafted by Master Ashton. The original text specifically says it was used to “burn away the Drust.” This concoction is tricky to make, requiring the reagents Heartbloom, Saltpeter, volatile sap, and Sulfur. The fire is carried in a reinforced flask that is made to withstand the test of time, able to hold the volatile components without igniting. Inquisitors use alchemical fire to pour over dangerous objects or to shift into more breakable containers for throwing. This is seen in the Gorak Tul fight, when alchemical fire is put into flasks which are shattered over the corpses of his minions to prevent them from rising again.

It isn’t addressed whether magical fire has the same effect as this alchemical concoction. A fire mage, destruction warlock, or priest wielding holy fire might be a neat character concept to bring to the table for an order that doesn’t have a lot of magic.

Rowan wood is also useful against Drust magic. However, it is not specified how exactly it is helpful. Rowan trees don’t grow in Kul Tiras, so an inquisitor seeking that wood would need to travel overseas for such a reagent. It could, however, be extremely helpful and far cheaper than making a silver weapon.

Non-inquisitor Roles

If you find the Order of Embers cool, but don’t think you like the idea of hunting witches all day, they have more than just inquisitors. The witch hunters rely on specialists to help them get the tools they need to beat back the Heartsbane, and even simply through the questing experience they gather new allies. The blacksmith Angus Ballaster and the alchemist Master Ashton both are essentials. As mentioned before, they are also joined by a cleric, Loriette. A skilled smith or alchemist could find work alongside the Order of Embers, perhaps helping to craft more weapons for them or concocting potions for use in the field.

Allies

The witch hunters are not the only ones out to defend their homes- they are joined by a plethora of others trying to protect the region. Whether you believe the Coven is still an active threat or not, these are still the most common friends an Inquisitor may find in the field.

Waycrest Guard - The Waycrest Guard are Drustvar’s chief protectors, but lost many of their members to the mind-enslaving curse of the Heartsbane. They work alongside the Order of Embers in the Drustvar quests. The original inquisitors are all drawn from the Waycrest Guard, so the Order has deep ties with them. It appears largely as if the Guard protect the settlements, and the inquisitors are the ones striking deep into enemy territory. They could be called to do heavier lifting when the Order alone cannot do the job.

Town Militia - With much of the Waycrest Guard falling under the control of the Coven, the towns of Drustvar were forced to look to their own defenses, such as in Falconhurst and Fletcher’s Hollow. Ordinary citizens have bravely taken up arms in defense of their homes, and the aid of a skilled inquisitor would likely be welcomed. Even with the witches defeated, it’s likely some militia still protect their towns.

Thornspeakers - The Thornspeakers are a faction of Drust and human druids that live out in Drustvar’s woods and mountains. They are led by Ulfar, the last living Drust and the leader of the faction that sided with the humans against their own kind. The Thornspeakers seem to congregate at Ulfar’s Den along the eastern side of the mountains, but watch over all of Drustvar and Tiragarde. They work hard to maintain the balance in nature, and have allies in the mysterious pair of stags that roam the forests...

Drustvar Rangers - Though they only appeared in a few brief quests supporting the Thornspeakers, Drustvar seems to have a number of woodsmen trying to do their part to protect their home. They do not seem to be magical or anything, just some normal folks

Notes, RP hooks, Excess Lore, etc

The Order of Embers is based out of Arom’s Stand in central Drustvar. The building Lucille occupies is possibly their headquarters. They also may use Gol Koval as a base of operations.

Onions seem to be anathema to the witches and their servants.

Witches have been observed to call upon Drust magic without the Coven’s assent- once by a rejected witch in Drustvar, and again in Tiragarde at the Algerson Yard. This could open up the possibility of inquisitors venturing outside Drustvar to battle new threats. Additionally, it seems as if there may be some witches left as of the Shadowlands quests that take you back to Drustvar, so the hunt may not be over.

The Drust themselves have invaded Ardenweald from Thros. Whether it’s Drust artifacts/contraband making their way into Azeroth of the Drust themselves trying a full-on invasion through the yawning portal into Thros that was left unresolved in BfA, there’s a ton of possible plot threads that can be picked up related to them. A journey into the afterlife wouldn’t even be out of the question, since common citizens make it to Oribos and there is talk of mortals being able to join covenants. The Night Fae would be in dire need of a bold soul bearing flame and silver to drive back their foes and protect the cycle of life and death.

The Holy Light may be used by some members of the Order of Embers. Inquisitor Erik uses holy spells for his attacks when engaged by Horde players, and Cleric Loriette casts a fiery blessing on players who have unlocked her, a spell type usually reserved for priests. She’s also a cleric which usually implies the Light in this universe. A Light-wielding inquisitor is not out of the question, it seems, especially since Drustvar seems to have some ties to the Light if you look into it.

Despite the possibility of Drustvari Light-wielding inquisitors, this is not the same situation as the Scarlet Crusade. The Order of Embers is not a holy or religious order. It owes allegiance to House Waycrest. Religious zealotry is not on their menu. Per the faction description, the Order of Embers fights with knowledge guiding their blades.

It’s unlikely the Order would be suspicious of magic-users such as druids or shamans, given that they share a continent with Thornspeakers, Tidesages, and even mages (even if those are offscreen). They would have to be a pretty poor inquisitor to confuse the magics of their allies with that of Drust magic, so don’t go inquisitioning random magic users.

This isn’t really anything to do with canon, but please don’t use the Order of Embers to live out really fringe stuff with purging ‘heretics’ or being racist at elves or what have you. The community has a history with seeing that sort of stuff in inquisitor characters and it is unlikely to earn you a super great reception if you choose to roleplay that.

Further Reading (Fanon and out-of-WoW information)

This blog post goes over some potential processes for silvering and what happens when these weapons are used on creatures averse to silver.

Matt Mercer has created an interesting Dungeons & Dragons class called the Blood Hunter (which used to be called Witch Hunter.) It provides some interesting ideas that could be brought into an inquisitor character, especially one that might be interested in wielding darker magics to counter evil powers. You can view the class on D&D Beyond, or read the old Witch Hunter PDF which is a prior draft.

I recently did a huge series of writeups on the Drust, the Order of Embers’ perennial foe. If you’re wanting something to face off against or just want to know your lore, you can give these a read!

The Drust Background - - The Drust in BfA - - The Drust in Ardenweald

Night Fae Campaign (1) - - Night Fae Campaign (2)

- - - - - -

I hope this post was helpful to anybody who’s feeling like trying out this sort of roleplay! It’s terribly long-winded but I wanted to do my best to cover all of the information out there. If you’d like to reach out to me about this topic or roleplay with an inquisitor, I play the character “Inquisitrix” mainly on both Moon Guard and sometimes “Merciella” on Wyrmrest Accord.

If you’re looking for Order of Embers-themed roleplay and you play on Moon Guard, the guild <Silver and Ash> might be what you’re looking for, as they roleplay a group of inquisitors! On Wyrmrest Accord, there is a small interguild community called the Hex Hunter’s Society that I believe may be active still. If you’re looking for other Kul Tiran-type roleplay or want to put an inquisitor in a different environment, there are a few other guilds out there that utilize Kul Tiras on both Wyrmrest and Moon Guard. Happy hunting!

#Drustvar #Order of Embers #Roleplay Guide #Lore Dump #Please come roleplay in Drustvar #Join Autumnhearth too #Kul Tiras #Drust #Heartsbane Coven

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years

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5e Oleander, the Dark Unicorn build (Them’s Fightin’ Herds)

(Artwork by Mane 6)

My brain completely didn’t register that it was spooky month, even though ironically I made a build for literal Satan last week. Where do you go after making the pure embodiment of evil? …Unicorns are scary, right? I mean they’re certainly scarier than a scarecrow.

GOALS

My magic may be dark, but it will bring light to the world - It seems all you need to do to get phenomenal cosmic power is read a cursed book. We’ll need teleportation, chapter traps, and Eldritch Shadow Blasts.

Or dark; either one - Oli’s got friends on the other side... of the page. FHTNG, I summon thee!

I don't have the time or crayons to teach you how to fight! - You’re still a fighting game character so you’ve still got to be able to throw a punch. Or stab with a horn in your case.

RACE

If you want to be a unicorn the closest you’ll get is Centuar, but even if you ignore the stats Centaur isn’t that great for you. Almost all the abilities are based on keeping in melee range, and you’re mostly played as a zoner.

With that in mind you’re only half under the influence of darkness, so how about a Drow Half-Elf for all the fun of being a Drow without the penalties and lore connotations of being a female Drow? (Feel free to play a full Drow if you wish just realize that you’re getting Sunlight Sensitivity which is seriously obnoxious.) Your Charisma increases by 2 and you can increase another two abilities by 1: Dexterity and Constitution will let you dodge some hits and tank what few hits do connect. You have Darkvision up to 60 feet and your Fey Ancestry gives you advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

As a Drow Half-Elf you can pick up Drow Magic for a bit of extra spark in your shadow sparks which I’ll go over at the appropriate levels. And you get Common, Elvish, and one additional language of your choice so grab Deep Speech to talk with Fred. (Note: Depending on your DM Fred may not speak Deep Speech.)

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re as nimble as a horse, because you are a horse. (That, and I want this ability score to be even.)

14; CHARISMA - You are the prettiest unicorn with a mane as white as... well it was white.

13; CONSTITUTION - When in the business of fighting cows, ice deer, and sheep with armies of puppies you’ve gotta be able to take a hit.

12; INTELLIGENCE - Read enough books and you’re bound to get some smarts, even if that book is alive and is teaching you how to manipulate darkness.

10; WISDOM - Oli is a smart cookie. Not smart enough to realize that reading the demon book would make your coat black, but still pretty smart.

8; STRENGTH - I’d argue that a head horn is a finesse weapon, and simply put we need everything else more.

BACKGROUND

To find a forbidden shadow book you’ve gotta know your way around a library, and as a Sage you know exactly that. You get proficiency in Arcana and History along with two languages of your choice (to maximize Demonology take Infernal and Abyssal, though you may want to talk to your extended family with Sylvan or Celestial.)

Your Researcher feature will always let you know where to find a book that you may need. It may not be easy to find (if it’s back home with your old friends they probably won’t welcome you in) but you’ll know where to go to grab it.

(Artwork by Linvidia on DeviantArt)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - WARLOCK 1

Hey it’s the funny class I use too much! Jokes aside you literally get your magic from an otherworldly being so what else would you be? Regardless Warlocks get proficiency in two skills from the Warlock list: Investigation will help you search for the key and Intimidation will let you scare away anyone who’ll try to stop you.

Unlike most classes Warlocks choose their subclass at level 1, and there’s certainly a lot to pick from. But without any Shadow patron who is there to choose? Well the Archfey patron can recreate a lot of Fred’s powers. Notably Fey Presence will let Fred give your foes a jump! As an action you can cause each creature near you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Warlock save DC: the creatures that fail their saving throws are either charmed or frightened by you until the end of your next turn. Consider the charm being you and your natural unicorn beauty. Regardless you can use this action once per short or long rest.

And of course as a Warlock you get access to Pact Magic. You learn two cantrips from the Warlock list and hey look it’s Eldritch Blast: for the shadow spark in you. To rip out some pages take Create Bonfire to lay down some Chapter Traps. Now would also be a good time to mention that thanks to Drow Magic you also get access to the Dancing Lights cantrip, in case you’re in a dark cave and your Darkvision isn’t enough.

You can also learn two first level spells: Arms of Hadar will let you stick a tentacle out of your book to give yourself space to back away from your enemies. To make it easier to get past an opponent’s block Faerie Fire from the Archfey list will light up an opponent’s weak spot to give you and your allies advantage. It helps to know the hitboxes.

LEVEL 2 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get access to Eldritch Invocations and oh hello there Agonizing Blast! How did you get here? Jokes aside for your other invocation grab Armor of Shadows to keep it light and still be up for a fight!

You can also learn another spell: Sleep is also from the Archfey list and as the name implies it’ll put your enemies to sleep! No one likes late night fights, especially with net lag.

LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks can choose their Pact Boon and since your best friend lives in a book you’ve gotta take Pact of the Tome. As a Tome Warlock you get the Unicornomicon Book of Shadows, in which you can inscribe three cantrips from any class’ spell list. Guidance is never a bad thing to have so I’d start with that; get Fred to help you with your research, as he’s literally a living book! Thaumaturgy will let you channel some shadow magic to do spooky stuff like make candles flicker or create ominous whispers. And to channel some of your unicorn magic take Druidcraft to shape nature somewhat.

You can also now learn second level spells: for some short range teleportation take Misty Step to vanish in a puff of darkness. And remember that Faerie Fire spell? Thanks to Drow Magic you can cast it once per long rest without using a spell slot.

LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 4

4th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Charisma to be the prettiest unicorn of darkness.

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! For your cantrip take Prestidigitation to complete the trifecta of minor magic mastery. As for leveled spells Mirror Image will let you up your dodging game, putting you in four places at once to make it much harder for your enemy to hit you!

(Artwork by Angelzillah on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 5

5th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation and hopefully you didn’t expect Fred to do nothing but whisper sweet nothings to you, right? With Book of Ancient Secrets you can spend some time reading to cast a variety of spells! When you take this invocation you learn two 1st level spells with the Ritual tag like Detect Magic and Identify to help you find the key or anything else of importance. You can now cast those spells as Ritual spells, as well as any Warlock spells you may learn with the Ritual tag. You can also inscribe new Ritual spells into Fred your Book of Shadows at a cost of 50 gp and 2 hours per level of the spell.

And speaking of spells you can learn third level spells at this level such as Fear, which causes fear in your enemies. Funny how that works. Additionally thanks to Drow Magic you can cast the Darkness spell once per Long Rest, to turn off the lights and let Fred out to play. Sadly you don’t have Fred yet, and it should be mentioned that most people can’t see through the dark.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Archfey Warlocks get some more potent teleportation with Misty Escape. When you take damage you can use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to 60 feet. You remain invisible until the start of your next turn unless you attack or cast a spell. You can only use this super teleport once per short or long rest, but it should be enough for some mix-ups right?

Speaking of mix-ups you can put your opponents in a dizzy state with Hypnotic Pattern. Just remember that hitting them will break them out of it.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 7

7th level Warlocks can learn 4th level spells like Dimension Door for some cross-map teleports.

You can also grab another Eldritch Invocation! Trickster’s Escape will let you tech out of grabs. Is Freedom of Movement overly situational? Yes! Are there better invocations to choose? Yes! Are they in character? No! But anything can be in character if you want it to be!

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 8

8th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Improvement so cap off your Charisma to be a master of shadows.

You can also learn another spell and I think it’s about time: Dark spirits, twist the trees, foul the lake, and curse this land! FHTNG I SUMMON THEE! Summon Aberrant Spirit is an Unearthed Arcana spell likely to be in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything that lets you summon a tentacle monster from beyond! Fred can take the form of a Beholderkin, Slaadi, or Star Spawn.

Star Spawn is probably the closest to Fred, attacking a creature’s mind with his attacks and also having an aura that drains at their sanity. The Slaadi is a good tank that can also counter cheese strats by denying healing. And the Beholderkin? Well it can fly and shoot at range. Fred’s a demon of many forms, and he’s also fun at parties!

(Artwork by probablyfakeblonde on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 9

Now that we’ve got our book smarts it’s time to improve our combat smarts. If you’re going to fight predators you need to have the best combat training possible, which is why we’ll be going into the class that is the most well-known for expertise in combat...

BARD 1

The Bard class, master of close-ranged combat with expertise in every skill required to keep you in a fight. Jokes aside first level Bards get proficiency with a skill of their choice (Perception would further help with spotting danger or potential keyholders) and a musical instrument. (Pan Flutes seem in character for a forest child.) Bards also get Bardic Inspiration at first level, letting you pull out an assist to give allies a d6 to attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws.

But most notably Bards get more Spellcasting! You get two cantrips from the Bard list: to weaponize salt take Vicious Mockery, for BM so bad your opponent messes up. Psychological warfare! And since you don’t have hands of your own as a unicorn (you do as a half-elf though) grab Mage Hand to use your magic to grab things with your horn.

You can also learn 4 spells from the Bard list: for some dark powers manipulating your foes take Dissonant Whispers. For some dark powers helping you take Unseen Servant. To recover more easily from air combos take Feather Fall. And for some push-blocking take Thunderwave for more push and less block.

LEVEL 10 - BARD 2

Second level Bards get Jack of All Trades, letting you add half your proficiency bonus to any skill you aren’t already proficient in. Dark magic works in strange and mysterious ways... and Fred’s a long book. You also get Song of Rest to let your allies heal an extra d6 during short rests, which is nice because you’re going to be short resting a lot as a Warlock. I mean, you’re level 10 so a d6 of healing probably isn’t going to help much but...

You can also learn another spell like Bane, giving your opponents some input lag to open them up for attacks.

LEVEL 11 - BARD 3

Third level Bards get Expertise in two skills of their choice: Arcana will make you the master of the arcane, and Intimidation... you have a literal demon as your best friend.

But more importantly you can choose your Bard college and to actually gain some combat proficiency go into the College of Valor. Along with proficiency in medium armor, martial weapons, and shields (Oli doesn’t wear armor but Medium Armor might be nice. The only weapon you’ll really be using is a rapier but if your DM allows it there’s no reason not to equip a shield?) you also further your assists with Combat Inspiration, allowing your inspiration die to be added to damage rolls and AC; basically the only two things you couldn’t add it to before.

And you can learn second level spells such as Locate Object, because these silly ungulates keep losing their keys!

LEVEL 12 - BARD 4

4th level Bards get an Ability Score Improvement and Dexterity will make you tougher to hit while also increasing the potency of your horn stabs.

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! A lot of people say Friends is a bad cantrip because it makes the person you’re talking to hate you after using it but here’s the thing: Friends works on Intimidation checks too. Who cares if they hate you when they fear you? But a spell that people don’t say is bad is Lesser Restoration, which will help you break out of stun lock.

LEVEL 13 - BARD 5

5th level Bards see their Bardic Inspiration increase to a d8 which is great because they also get Font of Inspiration, allowing their Bardic Inspiration to come back on a short rest. Told you you’d be doing a lot of short rests!

You can also learn third level spells like Sending to challenge your friends to a duel, as long as they’re on the same plane of existence. TFH isn’t on the Epic Games Store; thank god.

LEVEL 14 - BARD 6

6th level Valor Bards get an Extra Attack, letting them attack twice with the attack action; it’s really that simple. Well you do also get another spell, and I have no doubt that Oleander’s used to speaking in Tongues... Oh and you get Contercharm which is godawful poop-garbage, letting you spend your action to give your allies advantage against Charms and Fears. Maybe this is why TFH is a 1v1 game; no need to use Countercharm?

(Artwork by SinniePony on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 15 - WARLOCK 9

5th level spell time! For a massive single target Shadow Blast grab Negative Energy Flood! Look, just because we’ve never seen Oleander turn someone into a zombie...

You can also grab another invocation and while we’ve never seen Oleander fly Ascendant Step is an insane utility that I’m sure Oli would’ve learnt to reach the high book shelves.

LEVEL 16 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fey Warlocks have Beguiling Defenses for immunity against charms, and if someone attempts you charm you you can spend your reaction to instead charm them! You can also learn another cantrip like Minor Illusion to manipulate the shadows around you.

LEVEL 17 - WARLOCK 11

11th level Warlocks get a 6th level Mystic Arcanum, which is a 6th level spell that uses a 6th level slot that comes back after a long rest. There are a lot of nice options at 6th level but if Fred is getting grabby he might send them to a Mental Prison. If they succeed against the spell they take a bunch of psychic damage but if they fail they are surrounded by an illusion which only they can see which has “hideous maws filled with dripping teeth” as one of the available options. Basically Fred sends them to a hellscape and they can either sit there in horror or try to break out, taking 10d10 psychic damage in the process.

You can also learn another regular Warlock spell from the regular Warlock spell list: Dream will let you reach your foes even in their dreams (duh) and let Fred give them a spook to stop them from sleeping! Or you can use it for some otherworldly messaging. Maybe use it to call a smug reindeer a pompous princess?

LEVEL 18 - WARLOCK 12

12th level means an Ability Score Improvement: time to cap off that Dexterity modifier to be quick on your feet and sharp with your horn!

Additionally you get your last Eldritch Invocation at this level: there are a lot of options but none that really feel in-character, so pick whatever you want.

LEVEL 19 - WARLOCK 13

13th level Warlocks get their 7th level Mystic Arcanum: while there are a lot of good options Crown of Stars will let you charge up some powerful shadow blasts, creating 7 stars that float around you and shed light. You can shoot one out as a bonus action to do 4d12 Radiant damage. While you have a star floating above you it also creates light, which might be useful.

And you additionally get another regular Warlock spell: since it’s my build take Synaptic Static, because I like this spell. Have Fred assault your foes minds to make them easier to read!

LEVEL 20 - WARLOCK 14

As a 14th level Archfey you can finally pull your foes into Fred’s realm! Dark Delirium gives you a new not-quite-spell: Take an action to choose a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you. It must make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, it is charmed or frightened by you for 1 minute or until your concentration is broken, though the effect ends early if the creature takes any damage.

Until this illusion ends, the creature thinks it is lost in a misty realm, the appearance of which you choose. The creature can see and hear only itself, you, and the illusion. You must finish a short or long rest before you can use this again, but your time in the pixel lobby to do as you please. Maybe just teabag to taunt them with a unicorn shuffle.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

So naïve trying to beat me - Maxed out Charisma means the best spells you can get. Maxed out Dexterity with Mage Armor means 18 AC (up to 20 if your DM lets you slap a shield on!) And a +2 CON mod means your health isn’t bad either!

Fine, but let's make it quick - A lot of your better features come back on short rests. Both Bardic Inspiration and your 5th level Pact slots are easily refreshable, allowing you to always be ready for a fight.

I have trained years for this; you will not dissuade me - Despite coming from a game without assists you are a master of helping your friends. Jack of All Trades in all skills, Bardic Inspiration for all rolls, plenty of utility spells (including an ungodly amount of cantrips and Book of Ancient Secrets to handle any ritual spells) and plenty of languages to top it off.

CONS

I am no weakling! - Big investment in AC... not so much in saving throws. Your Intelligence, Constitution, and notably Strength all have very low saving throws.

Itty-bitty living space - Low Constitution saves mean a frequent drop of concentration. And speaking of concentration you’ve got a lot of them but can only have one up at a time. Can’t have Fred around if you want to float too.

Need... more... power... - Truthfully there’s a lot I didn’t take from Warlock. I didn’t take any of the better spells from Archfey like Blink, Greater Invisibility, or Dominate Person. You could’ve gotten level 15 Eldritch Invocations like Witch Sight and Shroud of Shadows, but I wanted Extra Attack. Truthfully if you know your campaign will be going to level 20 then Warlock 15 / Bard 5 might be a better build, and nothing is forcing you to take the spell I did.

But you’re used to being underestimated. When it comes to matters of life-and-death any advantage is necessary. So go all out with your friend on the other side! Fight with spell and horn sword to prove that all magic can save the world. Well, perhaps not salt magic...

(Animation by Szafir87 on DeviantArt. Original artwork by OgaraOrCynder on DeviantArt.)

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