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crimsonophelia · 3 years

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holidays and festivals with genshin characters ||

many thanks to my bestie hani for giving me inspiration for many of these~

featuring: zhongli, venti, childe, razor

warnings: none

published: april 14 2021

form: headcanons

zhongli - lantern rite festival

okay but i’m genuinely upset at how they barely featured zhongli in the lantern rite quest unless you actually played as him :c

but anyways! the liyue lantern rite festival is heavily inspired by the traditional chinese holiday called the lantern festival (元宵节), so i think a lot of the things that you would typically do to celebrate lantern festival would apply to lantern rite as well

i think zhongli would take lantern rite quite seriously, as most chinese do, and he would make sure to plan weeks in advance his days off from work and what he will need to do to prepare to celebrate lantern rite with his friends

when the morning of the festival arrives, he makes sure to come visit you bright and early, much to your dismay

he bids you a good morning, helps you get dressed, and takes you into town to run errands. and, as expected, zhongli has once again forgotten that mora is a key element in financial transactions and requires your monetary assistance unsurprisingly

liyue is donned in bright shades of red and jewel, and families are out and about viewing the beautiful decorations, reminded of their beautiful and prosperous land and of those who protect it

zhongli would take you around, asking you to buy buying little trinkets for you and for you to gift to others as a sign of well-wishing for the holiday season. you and zhongli also purchase heaps of street food, exclusively available around lantern rite week, and zhongli probably eats more than you’ve ever seen him eat.

once the sun sets later in the day, you two watch the lanterns and lightshow, in awe of its beauty. you turn to see zhongli’s reaction, and as the stars and lights cast a magical glow upon his face, he seems more content than you’ve ever seen him before. perhaps spending lantern rite with a beloved companion has done something for the old man’s weary heart.

venti - windblume festival

all i have to say is that venti is a drunk mess the entire time the festival is in mondstadt

he’s on a drinking spree trying to taste test all the different new cocktails and wines that the angel’s share is selling exclusively during the festival season, and is not apologetic whatsoever that you have to deal with his obnoxious drinking habits

in addition to his little side hustle going on, scamming innocent people of their money by teaching them how to write “love poems”, i also feel like he would make some extra cash for booze by reselling random flowers, claiming that they are actually real windblumes or something like that

but i do think he would have the decency to save some of the mora he makes to spend on you during the festival season. venti isn’t stupid and it’s a little bit concerning how smooth and tactful he actually is when he chooses to be so, hence i do think that he would actually treat you to some nice things ;)

however, he isn’t as big on buying gifts as zhongli is (ironically, considering zhongli is probably more broke than the traveling drunkard) so i think he would make a lot more homemade gifts for you, like a hand-picked flower bouquet and a self-brewed dandelion wine drink

if venti hasn’t officially confessed his love before windblume, i think he would take this opportunity to make it official and take things a bit more seriously.

venti walked over to you after his poem masterclass with a sheet of paper in his hand, a little sheepishly, which was unusual for the cheeky little bastard

he says the class went well, and he hands you the paper he was holding.

“i showed them this example i wrote. give it a read. pretty good, isn’t it?”

neither the lampgrass, nor the dandelion, or the delicate cecilia, nor the vibrant aster, could ever compare to the way my heart beats faster, when you spare an ounce of your beauty, spending your love on a poor, old, drunkard like me.

impressed, you lift your gaze, and to your surprise, the little bard looks more genuine than you’ve probably ever seen before.

“keep it. i wrote it for you.”

childe - maslenitsa

okay so my good friend, who is russian, gave me the idea to write about childe celebrating maslenitsa (an eastern orthodox holiday that is related to easter), and i am by no means orthodox nor eastern european (so please forgive any cultural misdescriptions), but i do think this is a super cute idea

i think childe would get some time off from being a harbinger to celebrate with his family, which is a rare treat for the fine-tuned warrior whittled down to little more than a hedonistic machine by the tsaritsa

like truly, i feel so sad when thinking about childe sometimes because he’s so kind to his family, especially his brothers, and the fact that he’s away on missions for so long must make him miss his family a lot

that’s why during the holidays, he really treasures every second he gets to be back home, and now that he gets the chance to take you to meet his family, he’s even more overjoyed

there is still a thin layer of snow on the ground, but there is a slight scent of spring making its way back into the household as ajax and his brothers help their mother prepare ingredients to bake bliny, the buttery smell wafting through the kitchen

the boys are a mess as ajax is particularly clumsy with tasks that require dexterity of the fingers, and he ends up getting flour all over his clothes as well as his shorter brothers, and thus receiving a scolding from their mother

being the teasing little brat he is, he smears some of the flour onto your nose when you aren’t paying attention, which calls for even more chastising coming from his mother while she mixes all the ingredients together.

the total domesticity of the scene melts your heart, and seeing ajax laugh with such tenderness and without any barriers obstructing his heart might be one of the most bittersweet things you’ve ever witnessed, knowing he inevitably will have to return to a life of danger and uncertainty

bonus: razor - windblume

i literally don’t have any fleshed out ideas for this but my friend and i were talking about how he would try and pick wolfhook berries for you during windblume, because he thinks that’s what the windblume flower is and he wants to express his care for you by giving you the most special flower he can find :’)

like he would ask to take you to wolvendom on a walk, and you acquiesce because who could ever refuse razor

whenever you two are alone together, razor tries his best to talk and form the most proper and eloquent sentences that he is able to, and he does try very hard, really, but often to no avail

but you reassure him, “razor, baby, it’s okay, i can understand you without words just fine” and he blushes because nobody has ever called him “baby” before T_T

when you’re in wolvendom with him, he holds your hand in order to not lose you, and his grip is a little nervous at first but gradually gets more confident and his fingers fit more comfortably between yours. he will walk ahead of you, creating an easy pathway through the dense flora, and will pull you up by your waist in case the terrain becomes difficult

once he finds the biggest and plumpest wolfhook berry, he gives it to you with both hands outstretched, gaze averted out of timidness

you accept his lovely gift and ruffle his hair a little bit and the boy melts T_T and from then onwards he gives you a ton of gifts in the form of random little flowers or berries he finds because that’s how he shows his care for you

can you tell i started listening to mitski halfway through writing this

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radramblog · 2 years

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Some thoughts on RotMG

Halo Infinite seems to be continuing its efforts to refuse to let me play it, so I suppose I’m going to have to talk about something else. Cringe, not based, etc.

Let’s instead talk about a different game that was a long hyperfixation, and yet one that I’m fairly certain I never actually got gud at. Let’s talk about Realm of the Mad God.

what the fuck, that’s not the title plage i remember, show me the fuckin real one

Realm of the Mad God (RotMG) is an MMORPG that arguably has more genres than the average rateyourmusic page, and but unlike those it actually manages to fit into most of them. Originally a jam game, it takes the form of a free-to-play top-down co-op retro roguelike bullet hell MMORPG, which is a long list of words that probably doesn’t make sense to a lot of people.

The most important part, though, is that it has the unique quality of being an MMO where everyone is on “hardcore mode”- as in, your character dies, they’re gone for good. No reverts, no saving graces (except for something we’ll get to), dead. However, like most roguelikes, you can carry some things through- unlock progress for the various classes, as well as an item reserve (in the Vault) and the game’s two main currencies. In fact, Fame (the “free” currency) is only added to an account on a character’s death, and is done so based on the exploits (and gear) of that particular character.

This may sound a little miserable, and in some ways it is, but there’s a lot done to make this mishmash work. For starters, the maximum level is a mere 20, and can be achieved in less than an hour- and a fresh 20 character, assuming they’ve picked up some half-decent equipment on the way (and they should), can compete with the mid-to-high tier bosses provided there’s a group around- and there will be, unless the server’s real dead. Most high-level characters are going to be doing three things- running around the highest level areas (the “godlands”), hunting the highest level bosses (the “event bosses”) or plundering the dungeons that those things spawn (as well as the “final boss”, the titular Oryx, or his bonus areas), all in search of the rarest loot (gimme them fuckin white bags baby) or the Stat potions that are the game’s pseudo-levelling system post-20.

I think what made me like RotMG the most was its use of bullet hell and roguelike mechanics to make an MMO where success is more based around player skill than time investment- a fresh 20 Rogue can solo a Skull Shrine just as well as any 8/8 Maxed, fully Petted out one, it’ll just take longer and be a bit riskier. The game does well to teach you how to play this weirdo combination too- though with that said, I do recall the Hobbit Mage, a level 1-3ish quest boss that is around to explicitly teach you that hugging enemies is bad with its slow ring of shots, had one of the highest kill counts among all the enemies in the game at some point.

I played RotMG through most of high school, from memory. And in that time, it really went through some ups and downs. I’m sure every long-running MMO’s history is full of twists and turns like this, but Realm is my only real experience with anything like it (it is literally the only MMO I’ve ever played, save like. Pokemon Crater?), so it all stands out to me.

(ah...the original website)

As an example, originally the game had an item called the Amulet of Resurrection. It was only purchasable with Fame, didn’t drop from enemies, and cost a lot- to the point where it was used as a form of currency alongside the usual variety of stat potions and incs (Wine Cellar Incantations, the item that unlocked Oryx’s bonus area/boss that dropped the highest tier weapons in the game). When equipped, however, it provided a modest stat buff- with the additional benefit of, on the character’s death, instead teleporting them back to the Nexus (the safe zone) and breaking the amulet in the process. These were huge, and basically essential on any heavily invested character- because, you know, it broke rule one of the game- death is permanent, but not with an Ammy.

Eventually, when the game changed ownership to a company named Kabam, they started making changes to better monetize this free game. One of the first things they realised, I suppose, was that high-level players weren’t really putting money into it- the premium currency was basically only for dungeon keys and cosmetic items before they came along, and one of the first things they did was add the ability to purchase actual high-tiered loot with said currency. But of course, high-tiered, invested players aren’t going to buy new loot if their characters can’t die!

So they got rid of them. The Amulet of Resurrection was replaced by the Amulet of Zombification, and while it had the same shitty stat buff, instead of saving your character from death, it would turn them into an enemy that would attack nearby players (I don’t think the dead characters stats/equips made any difference to the enemy). Instantly stocks plummeted (the Realm economy is so fascinating, I swear) and characters started actually hitting the floor…and all the players who were rich in loot and Ammys still didn’t, you know, buy anything, because they had all the loot they wanted in storage or on mule accounts or invested in Life pots. Oops.

All of that was written from memory, so details might be wrong. Actually, all of this was written from memory, because I haven’t played the game in a hot fucking second- though my brief re-entry into it…last? Year? Was probably some of the best time I had with it.

I could probably go on for a long time about this game’s storied history. How Pets completely snapped the game’s balance in two and basically forced monetization for top-tier success, or the waves of item duping and the fallout that had on the economy, not to mention the hackers. I think fundamentally the game is in a good place by now- the third owners, Deca, have actually put a lot of work into it, up to completely rebuilding the game from the ground up in Unity since Flash is dead (and it looks great). This is all stuff I played through, I sat through, I ground through, and I never was very good at it but I had a good time, so who cares.

There’s a lot of reasons to not like Realm of the Mad God. It’s a bullet hell game that used to have really bad lag, which is not something you want in permadeath. It’s kind of a money and time pit still if you want to be “optimal” (assuming Deca didn’t completely rework Pets, which I doubt), though I’d like to reiterate that that’s completely unnecessary. And its combination of genres is definitely not for everybody- if nothing else, I’ve seen the best and the worst of the community, and it’s a real fucking society they live in. But, it’s also really fun, and it would be remiss of me not to bring it up at some point, because it was a huge part of my teenage years. Plus, you know, free to play game.

#ramble #realm of the mad god #rotmg #video games

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falsegoodnight · 3 years

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a new header??? it matches better <3 these are the fics I read or reread and enjoyed this month! like last time, i’m separating it into different sections: main list, wips, and non-1d. rereads will be included in the main list and marked with a star (*).

*note: this list encompasses the fics i’ve read from the 1st to the 28th only

—

main list ~

✰ Don’t Wait Up by reliablyimperfect | NR | 1k

Without Harry’s warmth next to him, he felt the chill of the air creep over his skin. He tugged the blanket down from where Harry kept one draped over the back of the couch for him, grateful. With the blanket, he instantly felt warmer, but it backfired when his eyes began to droop again. Trying to keep his eyes open was impossible, and he was consciously aware of how long his blinks were becoming. They stay closed longer and longer until, eventually, they didn’t open again.

so soft and sweet and lovely! made my heart feel so warm <3 will return to this for some quick comfort in the future!

✰ my ugly mouth kept running by @hadestyles | E | 4k

Sometimes second chances are more important than the first.

rori’s lush writing + abo + exes to lovers = absolute perfection. my fic cameo gives it a bonus too :’) definitely one of my rori favs

✰ i’ve loved you three summers now honey, i want them all by @softloubabie | M | 4k

The restaurant was small and bright, soft colors filled the walls and tables and fairy lights hung from everywhere. From what Harry had read, the food wasn’t overly expensive but it was still comparable to what you would get at one of the more expensive places. If Harry could he would take Louis to the biggest most expensive and extravagant restaurants to do what he planned to tonight, but this would do.

After being led to their table Harry nervously tapped his jacket pocket, sighing in relief when he felt the small box still there. Tonight was the night. He couldn’t wait till it was time to surprise Louis with all the gifts he got for him. Then finally the big surprise.

so cute and sweet! their kids were so adorable and the proposal so lovely!! they love each other so much <3

✰ love me in between the future and the past by navigator & quitter | E | 11k

Harry's scared of history repeating itself.

this honestly hurt to read but in such a raw and emotional way?? was mad at harry and then sad for him :( this writer duo’s fics never fail to amaze me!

✰ sunshine on my mind by @raspberryoatss | E | 13k

Louis visits Harry in Portland

this was so sweet and lovely! the perfect addition to this wonderful universe! pip’s characterizations and fluff never fails to make my heart feel warm <3

✰ rapture in the dark by @stylinsonsupporter | T | 13k

Harry Styles is a breakout musician who has shed his boyband label in favor of embracing his inner brooding rockstar. His PR team think that his rebrand is the perfect time for Harry to come out of the closet and have devised the perfect plan for doing so. Enter Louis Tomlinson, up and coming (and very openly homosexual) model whose public image as America's Sweetheart is the perfect foil for Harry's new edge. From a PR standpoint, it's a dream come true - a power couple that can slowly coax the public into accepting Harry's altered image. The only problem? They hate each other.

always love a good fake dating au and this is no exception! and model louis >> really enjoyed this!

✰ Maybe, Baby* by thoughtsickles | M | 16k | mpreg

It all feels too easy, too good to be true. It all feels like a scene from Louis' daydreams, the kind of life he'd always imagined he'd have when he was younger and bored at his momma's work, sneaking around the hallways of the maternity ward until the nurses let him in to hold the babies. He'd felt so important being allowed to touch them. He'd told them stories of the lives they were going to have, houses with nice wallpaper that wasn't peeling, yards filled with sunshine and flowers and grass that never went yellow. A hammock to nap in, cuddled up with his husband.

You can't stay here, he tells himself, but Baby doesn't want to listen.

have reread this one quite a bit of times now and it still makes me so happy <3 this Louis and Harry deserve the world <333

✰ Let Me Inside by reliablyimperfect | E | 18k

Louis is Harry’s boss, but Harry is the boss of Louis.

loved this one! really enjoyed the balance between h&l and how they maintained their dynamic in subtle ways outside of the bedroom while also keeping it separate. very much enjoyed the jealousy as well <3

✰ a scintilla of predilection by @dehydratedpoolfics | T | 20k

There, in the far back of the room, next to the only available seat left, is none other than Harry Styles. Harry, who grew up next door to him, who knew all his secrets as a child and played FIFA with him on Saturday mornings after he would spend the night Friday evenings every week, whose curly hair would tickle his nose as they held each other during bitter cold nights that made his room glow a haunting blue.

love ex-childhood friends with misunderstandings!! louis was so cute and i loved his poetry <3 harry too was so stupid but so smitten and lovely :’) really enjoyed this!

✰ Keeping The Flame Alive by @crazyupsetter | E | 20k

Recording with One Direction never felt like this. There’s a couple reasons for that, Harry thinks. One is that they did most of their recording on the road, rushed and in busses and hotel rooms, never in one place long enough to really get an argument going. The other, larger and more important one, is that back then he had the sweetest, meanest little omega around to distract him from all of that frustration.

The first time around, when he’d been recording his debut solo album, it hit him pretty hard. He likes to think he’s better adjusted to it now, but frustration is warring under his skin nonetheless. He doesn’t want to be told what to do most of the time, and he especially doesn’t want to be told what to do when it comes to his music.

What he does want right now is that sweet, mean little omega right in front of him with his mouth on Harry’s cock. Unfortunately, the best he’s got is his own hand and a shared toilet. So. That’s really not going to work.

✰ like it’s a game* by @soldouthaz | E | 32k

There is little Harry hates more than truth or dare.

And Louis.

queen of enemies to lovers! it’s been a while since i’ve reread this but too absolutely no surprise, it’s just as amazing as always <3 sarah never misses!

✰ Too Young To Know by @2tiedships2 | M | 35k

Harry doesn’t present as an alpha… until he does.

really enjoyed this as per usual! exes to lovers is my jam and the added angst of Louis dating someone else at the beginning... love <3

✰ Some Things Take Root* by navigator & quitter | E | 50k

Louis' ex doesn't get jealous of anyone besides Harry. Harry helps Louis use that to his advantage.

stumbled upon this randomly and decided to reread on a whim... ended up staying up to read it in one sitting! so good!

✰ Safe and Sound (You’ll Always Be) by @all-these-larrythings | E | 58k

When a failed case and a guilty conscience leaves Harry more than a little lost, his boss presents him with a new, less taxing assignment to help him cope. An escape from all the madness is just what Harry needs to get his life back on track. It's just too bad his new client has a grin like the devil, a pair of electric eyes that Harry simply can't get over, and no intention whatsoever of letting him catch a break.

i don’t know how i’ve never read this before??? it was absolutely amazing though! perfect blend of humor and fluff and tension and angst <3

✰ Mind Over Matter (You Under Me) by @youreyesonlarry | E | 74k

It’s dark outside when Harry finishes practice for the day.

the slow burn in this fic killed me - which is to say, it was perfect! loved how they progressed from working together to being friends to something more and how much they genuinely cared for each other! the hockey was so fun too!

✰ Call Out My Name by frenchkiss | E | 102k

Apparently, it's bad PR to fall in love with the omega you hired to help you through your rut.

Harry Styles begs to differ.

ellen truly knocked it out of the park with this one!! had everything i could ever want: abo, famous/non-famous, fluff, humor, angst, drama, and more! i loved it from beginning to end!

wips ~

✰ ‘cause all our tomorrows lead the way by @loubellies | E | 64k | 7/11

So maybe Louis’ in over his head.

He had signed up for the Bachelor on a whim after his second bottle of wine and well, here he is. He’s just been announced as the twenty-sixth Bachelor and his ass is sweating. Like, literally sweating. He’s positive that if he was to turn around, the entirety of Bachelor Nation would get a nice peek of his ass sweat.

am thoroughly enjoying each chapter!! it’s been a wild ride so far and although things are currently calm, i am still on edge!! but i trust mar with my life <3

✰ Truth Behind Golden Eyes by @lwtisloved | E | 83k | 8/16

Louis is a royal servant born with magic in a kingdom where his sole existence is outlawed with a war he has no idea he has a part in upon him. Harry is the prince on whom the burden of mending a broken kingdom falls upon and he might be willing to risk it all for a simple servant if only he admitted it to himself.

caught up last night! still really enjoying every chapter and can’t wait to see what happens next!! things are *happening* with h&l and answers are being given!! (love the jealousy too!)

non-1d ~

✰ Keep Me Close (I Need Your Faith) by @princelouisau | E | 23k

Somewhere along the way he had fallen in love and in doing so, had broken the one rule he knew he couldn’t come back from. As quickly as he realised, he decided that he must never dare speak it. He resigned himself to loving Draco in silence.

first foray into reading drarry... and, to no one’s surprise, i loved it! beautiful writing as always and beautiful atmosphere! it’s really not a shock that i fell for these characters and their story when danielle is behind it <3 it had me entranced from beginning to end!!

finally, i myself actually posted a fic this month:

my fics ~

✰ yesterday came suddenly by me | E | 49k | mpreg

Harry the deadliest member of the NYC assassins’ guild, is forced to face a seemingly impossible task in hopes of finally leaving the underground behind for good, but when ghosts from the past come back to haunt him, escaping the darkness becomes that much harder.

If you read any of these beautiful works of art, remember to leave kudos and comment to show your appreciation!

*if i made any errors, please let me know :)

enjoy!

#my fic recs #fic recs #28th appreciation #march recs #2021 recs #march 2021 recs #scheduled

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caffeinatedrogue · 4 years

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@captainsaku since you so dearly asked I’ve made a bit of a Noam Adaar, lord of the dumbasses, masterpost because I am weeeak it’s long and has pictures so I’m putting a / read more

Noam Adaar

Age during Inquisition: 30 Gender&Sexual Orientation: male, bi - mostly into men tho Class - mage (preferred- fire, sigils, battle magic /specs as knight enchanter) Traits: charismatic, witty, open-minded, hedonistic, sassy, free-spirited, good-hearted, extravagant, dramatic. Weaknesses: elusive, feels veeeeeery intensely but hides his feelings behind the mask of the charmer, because he’s convinced everyone he cares about will leave him at some point. Tendency to self-destruction and addiction. Mood swings, impulsive. Will punch a dickhead if he has to. Star Sign - Acquarius sun, Leo Rising Likes - overly obsessed with his hair, likes fancy clothes and expensive goods, antivan leather, ancient history, everything about sailing and the sea, white wine, cocoa, sunny weather. Values loyalty (he will respect someone who stands by their word, even if it’s an opposite faction that clashes with his interests), cleverness and people who live according to their own moral code. Likes intensity, in people and situations. Dislikes - Southern weather, orlesian cuisine, a lack of sense of humor, unopinionated people, moderation / lukewarm stances on problems. Is used to low-key casual racism but hates being overtly fetishized or dehumanized, like getting called ‘exotic’. Keepsakes: wears his first coin earned as a mercenary, one of Vic’s rings and a golden bauble on a string around his neck. Wears a white sort of Vitaar although mostly for aesthetic reasons, when he feels like it

Main Party in game - Dorian/Iron Bull/Sera -- alternative either Cass or Varric

Early life - Parents - Sylas /formerly Beresaad; Lumen / formerly Tallis (not that one of course, just a qunari assassin) - Tallis/lumen is tasked with a mission in the south alongside Sylas/Beresaad - but they fall in love full southerner way, with the addition that Sylas has been pulling an Iron Bull and eventually decides to leave the Qun, while Lumen’s feelings for him make her question but ultimately decide to remain loyal. However she’s preggo and thus our boy Noam is born under the Qun. After being assigned to Seheron and burning out, she is reassigned as a Tamassran and among the kids she’s overseeing, she recognizes him straight away and they share a special bond. At just 4 Noam shows signs of magic and she knows that there’s no way she’ll let him end up a Saarebas. She smuggles him out back to Sylas (congrats on being a single dad, Syl), now a mercenary, before turning herself into re-education as a last attempt to staying loyal. After years she realized that her faith is compromised beyond repair and finally escapes to the south, looking for them. Bonus pic of squishy cheeks baby qunari

Little Adaar grows up among mercenaries, living an adventurous, albeit tough, life. Sylas does a stellar job as a father figure, but never reveals to Noam that he is his actual father, thinking it will make it easier on him when they eventually have to part (narrator: it did not). As Noam’s magic keeps developing, Sylas knows he’s not equipped for it and has to leave him with a group of hedge mages in the Marches that accept to train him. He eventually goes off on his own as a mercenary, joining groups or ...freelancing. After a disastrous time in post-blight Ferelden, he decides to move his ass up to Antiva, looking for a sweeter life- and better weather. (bonus glow up pic)

The antivan days: And off to Antiva Noam goes, where he falls in love with the place - his favourite place in Thedas and where he hopes to return someday - and with Ludovico ‘Vic’ of the Malaspina, crimelord and leader of a special ‘family’ that runs shady business for the Crows in the Market district. Think Peaky Blinders, make it Antivan, and you get the picture. Noam walks his drunk ass into one of their operations, risks getting killed, ends up working for them and finding his ragtag niche in the chaotic antivan society. I was writing a fic about all this that I’ll never finish because a. I’m not a native speaker b. I can’t write for shit, but maybe someday.

Anyway, much pining, much love, much wine, much crime. Noam is living his best life, until something happens that I won’t tell because of the aforementioned fic that I’ll never finish and Vic vanishes into thin air, leaving him severely heartbroken and depressed, and leading him to return to the Marches where he eventually finds a good time and good coin with the Valo-Kas. Until the Conclave blows up, of course.

Inquisitor Adaar, or ‘what the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here - oh wait there’s wine over there, I’ll be fine’

Noam resents the title of Herald of Andraste until he realizes how fun it is to make everyone in the Chantry clutch their pearls, though he’s clear with his inner circle that he doesn’t believe he is, or in the Maker and all that jazz. However he finds out he has a knack for politics, and after a life spent dodging responsibilities and generally feeling like a stray dog, he loves having agency over himself and the world around him and works hard for it. And for the perks, like the fancy dresses, and the comfy humongous bed. Sides with the Mages and allies with them, manages to outsmart the orlesian smartasses, prefers Leliana-style subterfuge to displays of power to solidify the Inquisition’s power.

He’s very much a people person that can easily find something to relate to,and a charming man at that, so he get along well with most of the companions. While he likes the company of the more down-to-earth/outcast types and getting shitfaced at the tavern, he will not miss a wine night of reminiscing of Antiva and gossiping with Josephine.

As for Vic, he was supposed to be a backstory character but I just fell in love with his grumpy Scorpio ass so he makes a comeback after being Through A Lot ™ , and Noam is so Not Over It ™ - hence there’s more pining and fluff until they ride off into the sunset (well no, because Noam doesn’t disband the inquisition, but they’re pretty much joined at the hip). Will Noam punch Solas? So many questions!

(AREN’T THEY CUTE THO)

#adaar tag #this is LONG #ocs #dragon age #inquisitor adaar

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dancingamongstdust · 3 years

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I always love to read headcanons from others, so how about some about Kagekao and Bloody Painter? ^^

Of course! I've done some fairly general ones about the characters so I hope you enjoy.

(Also, I'm trying out banners - I wanna see how they look)

* Helen really doesn’t like animals. He considers them messy and doesn’t see the purpose in keeping them.

* Helen often uses his own blood in his art. It’s strongly due to his arrogance – he believes that few have blood of a high enough quality. If it was sustainable, he would use his own exclusively.

* Attics are Helen’s comfort spaces. There’s something about the dusty air and the general quietness that relaxes him.

* He doesn’t like areas that are too open, it makes him feel like something’s watching him or something bad is coming.

* Helen’s never minded discussing the past. He speaks about it as though it’s a scene from a movie with complete detachment. If he’s pushed about how he feels about the events, he tends to just shrug. They’re not something he considers important enough to waste thought or energy on.

* He destroys a surprising amount of his own art. While he’s working, he’ll just space out and badly damage the canvas. Or he’ll decide that he hates how it’s looking and just break it in half, throwing the remains in a corner.

* Surprisingly, his favourite colour is blue. He’s surrounded by bright and warm tones for the majority of the day so cooler hues are a nice break.

* He doesn’t sketch out his paintings before he works on them. Often, he doesn’t even plan out what he wants to paint.

* The idea of a muse annoys him. He deserves credit for his work, not some other entity.

* His favourite part of the human body is the jaw. He loves painting it and running his fingers along the bone that’s there.

* He does enjoy painting on skin. It’s not a sexual interest (although it could probably develop into something along those lines) but rather an appreciation of the human body as a medium.

* Though anti-social, he doesn’t hate people. He actually enjoys talking to them though he doesn’t develop attachments.

* He doesn’t sign his artwork but his style is distinct enough to identify his work.

* The more supernatural entities of the world aren’t of interest to him. He knows that they exist and has encountered them before but he prefers to just ignore them. They’re dangerous enough to meet casually and he finds minimal benefit in attempting to get involved with their world.

* Helen likes classical music. There’s not too much of a surprise there.

* If he could, he would live in a very modern home with large windows. He really loves the style and he often thinks that in another life, his main goal would be to get one.

* Helen is the kind of guy that can survive off like two hours of sleep a night. He goes several days without eating sometimes and it never seems to have a negative effect on his mood or health.

* He doesn’t sleep well when he does get around to it. This is mainly due to him almost never bothering to sleep on a bed or a mattress. He has a couch that’s covered in blood and paint stains and that’s good enough for getting some rest.

* Helen is comfortable in solitude but sometimes thoughts of his mind drifts to wistful daydreams of company.

* Despite a love for wine, Kagekao doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth. Desserts hold little appeal to him and too much sugar in his food can quickly bring about a pretty bad headache.

* Kagekao understands that without a mask on, he looks quite unnerving. He often considers using this disturbing appearance when he’s tormenting people but often can’t bring himself to do it. He brushes it off as being boring, even in his own head, and will boast that he has no problems with his own appearance.

* If he has time, he’ll often break into clothing stores to just try things on and leave a mess strewn about for whoever finds it next.

* His laughter is actually very unintimidating, being almost cute when heard by itself. He’s taken great efforts to ‘fix’ this problem and now only laughs like that when something genuinely catches him off guard.

* He laughs when he gets badly hurt. It’s his reflex reaction even if the injury is bad enough that he can see the bone sticking out.

* He’s always curious to see how far he can push normal people before they get hurt.

* He struggles to read in English. Like he can speak and understand the language just fine but for some reason, his brain hiccups when it comes to reading it.

* He’s very clumsy. It’s part of his act now but bumping into things and breaking them was originally accidental. He would bump his head on doors while he was crawling around and fall through windows. These incidents have permanently marked his body in scars.

* Despite being a demon, he doesn’t have rapid healing or anything like that.

* Kagekao doesn’t know much about his life-state. He understands that he’s a demon but exactly what that entails is beyond his knowledge. His suspicion is that he’s immortal, able to get damaged but not die, but he can’t bring himself to try this.

* He’s faster than most people, especially if running normally. The scurrying actually slows him down but it is creepier.

* Getting him properly annoyed is difficult. You would have to be trying very hard to accomplish it.

* He has many fond memories of his parents and can’t remember their deaths. He tries not to think about it – avoiding the knowledge that he was responsible.

* Being tied down to one location is his worst nightmare. He enjoys moving about and having his freedom too much.

* He really loves going to the cinema and watching movies. It's got an additional bonus of allowing him to freak out other patrons who spot him sitting on the ceiling.

* It took him a while to learn how to eat upside down.

* Once, Kagekao found himself wondering if his demonic nature would benefit from attempting to eat human flesh. This didn't go well at all and he was badly ill for weeks. He likes to pretend that the entire situation was a bad dream.

* He often wonders (occasionally, hopes) if his entire situation is a bad dream.

#creepypasta #creepypasta headcanon #bloody painter #kagekao #bloody painter headcanons #kagekao headcanons

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joshslater · 3 years

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Christmas Dream

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Andrew knew right away it was a dream. That in itself was weird. He had read about lucid dreaming, but never experienced it himself. Normally when he dreamt everything made sense, no matter how impossible or out of place the elements of the dream were, until he woke up. While the memory of the dream rapidly disintegrated from his short term memory without bogging down his long term memory, he could recognize the ridiculousness of the fragments of the dream he could grasp before they too slipped through his conscious inspection. But standing in the snow outside an impossible castle, wearing only his pajamas it was clear he was in a dream.

He hadn't attempted any of the tricks given in any of the lucid dreams texts he'd read, but perhaps just knowing about them made them work, eventually. Like learning about the FedEx arrow, if you hadn't noticed it before. Once you see it you can never not see it. He tried to remember any of the practical tips. One was to push a finger through the opposite palm to prove you are in a dream. He held out his arms in front of him and slowly moved his right hand's pointing finger towards his left-hand palm. They connected as you would expect if you were not dreaming. Well, absence of proof isn't proof of absence. Parts of the castle were levitating after all.

He walked closer to the castle, walked through a big archway, and into a large courtyard. Everything looked serious but cute at the same time. Like the castle in Austria or Switzerland or wherever that the Disney Land castle was modeled after. At one point there must have been a hanging or beheading there, but still it had a feeling of being friendly. No angry French gargoyles or winged stone grotesques looking down at you. No drawbridge to keep you out, or in.

But no people. There were fires lit everywhere in those metal basket fire things placed on the cobbled courtyard floor. Everything was dusted with snow, but there were steps and trodden paths all over the place. He stood still to take it all in. There were quite a few large doors leading out from the courtyard, most of them open and with welcoming light flickering from inside. He raised his gaze up the walls and saw row after row of windows, each one with a lit candle inside. Above that were the towers, reaching high above where he stood. Some of them were clearly floating in the air, with bridges leading to them from other towers. It felt like the first level of a game. Was this where got his first weapon and gear?

There was something else also. A noise like a constant sea, or a wind sweeping through the castle. He couldn't feel any breeze, but then he was standing barefoot on snow on cobblestones and didn't feel a thing. There was also.... like a faint pink mist around him, around the entire courtyard. It was thicker closer to the doors, like it was flowing out of the castle, or into it. And smack in the middle of the square was a small hearth with a black cauldron hanging over a lit fire on a tripod, looking suspiciously like Halloween props. He moved closer.

It looked out of place in the large courtyard. Next to the fire stood a little tray with small metal steins. There was a smell of autumn spices and fruit wine as he moved close to the small cauldron and its dark contents. The setup was obvious, mulled wine and mugs, but would he dare Alice in Wonderland the situation? It was his dream, he decided, and picked up one of the steins. It was warm from the nearby fire, but not hot. He dunked it into the cauldron to scoop up some of the liquid. He hesitated again. You are not supposed to smell anything in dreams, are you? Perhaps if you lucid dream you get to do whatever. It was already clear he was dreaming in color.

The hot liquid was sweet, boozy, and well-spiced, but as soon as he'd swallowed his first sip the world began to slow down. To his horror he could see the licks of the flames in the fire move slower and slower, like one of the drugged-up addicts in the Judge Dredd movie. The good one. He put down the mug on the ground, afraid he would spill the hot liquid on himself if he collapsed. He moved as fast as before, but the flames were just getting slower. As he looked up he realized that the pink mist wasn't mist anymore. It was people dressed up in white hemmed red Santa clothes moving around him like flash. DC, not Gordon. But they were all also getting slower and slower. They all looked like they moved with a purpose, and none of them gave him even a glance as far as he could see, though at the speed they were moving he could absolutely miss it.

Although they were of all different ethnicities they all looked remarkably similar. All boys similar in age to him, all of them of similar height, slim, athletic build, cute faces with an overall clean look. This part of the dream he recognized from before. He had struggled with his sexuality, desperately trying to like girls, but somehow he always dreamt about boys before waking up sticky. Always cute, slender boys that were totally out of his league. That's another big reason why he hadn't come out yet. He felt coming out as a pudgy teenager would just bring forth the full brunt of bullying with no upside.

Now he was surrounded by a flurry of handsome boys, all dressed up as small Santas in tight, red pants, loose-fitting white hemmed red jacket, and a red hat with a white, fluffy ball at the tip. Peaking out below the pants were black shoes or boots that looked far more rugged than the rest of the outfit. Amazed he was looking around him at the slowly slowing traffic that he almost jumped of surprise when he found someone pacing right next to him that appeared to be observing him. So he wasn't invisible to them after all. "You can see me?"

"Of course I can," he said in a high pitched voice. "Drink more so we can have this over with." The observer looked like all the other boys rushing past him, lean, pretty, and clad in Santa clothes. In addition he looked bored bordering on annoyed. That did nothing to make him less attractive to Andrew. Fair skin, chiseled features, and tufts of blonde hair was peaking out from under his Santa hat. This was clearly some sort of Christmas fantasy so Andrew decided to call these boys elves. "Ok," he answered, grabbed his half-filled stein from the ground, and drank the rest. Everything around him rapidly came down to normal speed, or something close to it. It still looked like everyone was in a hurry, but their movements didn't look unnatural anymore.

"Come with me, he is ready to receive you," the elf next to him said. "Who is?" "Santa. It's my job to bring you up to speed. Follow me," and he dashed towards one of the open doors without checking Andrew was following him. Andrew was caught off guard and took a moment to start following him, so he had to sprint to catch up. "What about?" "Be quiet unless spoken to. This is a place of efficiency." "What about getting me up to speed?" "I did. You are."

They reached a set of grand stairs. Five people could easily walk next to each other up or down the stairs, and indeed they met several other elves rushing down the stairs and a few passing them running up. The stairs were a consistent marble staircase but the flights looked very different from each other. He could only see doors or hallways around the stairs, but the floors were made of different materials and architecture. Even the ceiling height differed. The first few floors looked like what you would expect from a castle, but then they passed floors looking like modern offices, like concrete factory or warehouses, even one floor appeared to be wood, like a barn or a stable. He wished he had counted properly from the ground floor, because he soon lost track of how many flights they ascended. He was astonished he'd manage without running out of breath.

Finally his guide turned in a different direction, not following the impossibly long stairs up another flight, but instead turned left down a hallway, and then left again into the belly of the building. This floor looked a bit like a castle again. Everything was tall and wide and big, and hefty lit torches lined the walls, sitting in ornate brass holders. Suddenly they came to a stop in front of two massive, white, ornate doors. Andrew's guide turned to him and looked him over. Andrew suddenly felt self-conscious again, having forgotten about himself while taking in the strangeness of the sprint. His hair was damp with sweat, his checkered pajama shirt was stretched around his body, and his jammie pants clearly showed his erection. Andrew thought he could detect a flash of a sneer or smirk in the face of the elf. "Good enough," he said and opened the door for Andrew.

Inside was a grand waiting room with marble floor, high white walls, and several sets of comfortable looking armchairs, and a large desk next to another set of doors. Behind the desk sat another handsome elf who looked up at them as they entered. He had a more tanned skin than the first elf, and black hair. "He'll soon be ready for you," he told them unprompted. "Have a seat." Andrew tentatively moved to one of the armchairs, while his guide just stood there motionless and looked bored. The other elf had returned his focus to a book that he appeared to study carefully. As soon as Andrew sat down in the armchair the elf behind the desk looked up and announced "He will see you now." Andrew's guide elf motioned impatiently towards the inner set of doors. Andrew jumped up, and quickly joined him as he opened the doors.

The room revealed as the doors opened was nothing like what Andrew had imagined. Instead of an impressive office in the style of the waiting room preceding it, the room was styled like the inside of a forest cabin. In fact, looking out the windows it looked like a snowy forest landscape dimly lit by stars. In a corner of the room a fire was crackling, and right next to it was a small desk with a man sitting behind it. Compared to the man the simple wooden desk was hilariously undersized. Although sitting down he could tell the man would rise to a sizeable height standing up. He had black boots on that, unlike what the elves wore, were polished into a reflective pitch surface, reflecting the fire. His red woolen trousers were tucked into the shin high boots. Around his waist Andrew could hint a black belt in the same shiny black leather as the boots, but only because the desk was so small and the belt was massive, 4-6 inches wide. But above that his body was naked.

A massive upper body, while not as defined as a bodybuilder sure had at least as much muscle on it. He was strongman competition ready. Even though he probably looked more muscled hunching forward over the desk, making his shoulder and traps pop into big hunks of ham, there was no denying this man could deck most people. His skin complexion was slightly darker, like Mediterranean, and his body hair most certainly was. He was covered in black hair. Arms, chest, shoulders, all of it. And looking at his face he sported a thick but neatly trimmed, black beard, black eye brows, and black hair, topped with a red and white Santa hat. In this case Andrew was pretty sure it was THE Santa hat.

He looked a bit lost and pushed some papers around until he found a book on his disk. He scratched his chin through the beard while opening it. "Let me see... Let me see... Andrew was it?" his voice boomed in the room. "Yes, Sir!" Andrew responded, quick as he could. While the man acted gentle enough, he didn't look like he would respond well to fools.

"So, what do you wish for?" he said, looking up from the book, haven’t barely looked at the first page. "Eh... The new PlayStation." "That's just something you want, not a wish," the man said, almost with disdain before going back to the book. Andrew felt stupid. Was there a difference between wanting something and wishing something? Should he have wished for an end to all wars and global warming?

The man silently flipped through the book, sometimes going back and reference something from an earlier page. "So you stole a wallet at Walmart in second grade?" Andrew felt a chill and a panic as he was racking his brain for any time he had been at Walmart in second grade. He knew he hadn't stolen any wallet, but was there another wallet incident he could think of? "The wallet I found at the parking lot? I handed that in to a cashier," he answered, still not sure if that was it. The man flicked forward a few pages. "Ah! And then the cashier kept it. I see... I see..."

He then continued to skim forward in the book, occasionally looking up at Andrew. Minutes felt like hours. Andrew didn't even know what this was all about. Was this some sort of sentencing? Was this the actual afterlife? Had he died? Somehow his heart kept racing. "Tell me about miss Sullivan, your neighbor up the street. Why did you mow her lawn?"

"I've done it many times. She talked to mum about it and offered me a job, so I went there sometimes during the summer and mowed her lawn and got $10 for doing it." Words just poured out of Andrew without him even breathing. He was sweating and not sure what the man was after.

"What about last summer?" he asked. "She got ill, not sure what. She didn't want anyone to see her in case it was contagious. But I thought I should just continue as before." "And you got paid to do that?" "No, I'm not even sure she knew I did it." "Did that make you disappointed. Not getting paid?" "No" Andrew knew immediately that that was a lie. "I mean, yeah, I would have liked to be paid. But at least I got a workout." "You work out a lot?" "No. No, I don't." "And yet you'd like to look like you did?"

Damn, he kept making everything look bad. Andrew wanted to shout "Yeah, I wish I looked like the guys on the football team or the basket team or the swim team or any other fucking sports team, but I don't because I'm a loser that isn't good at any of that or good enough in school to not spend all my free time to catch up with everyone else so it's not going to fucking happen!"

"I just don't have time." "Time for miss Sullivan's lawn apparently."

With a loud thud he closed the book, making Andrew jump. He looked straight at Andrew. "I think you need some time as a proper helper." Then he shifted his gaze towards the elf Andrew was surprised to realize was still behind him. "Make it so"

"Yes," the elf responded and ushered Andrew out of the room.

Back in the waiting room the elf behind the desk looked up at them exiting the cabin room. "What's the verdict? Naughty or nice?" he asked. "Helper duty," Andrews guide responded. Andrew felt that things were happening outside of his control that he needed to be more aware of. "Wait. What's happening? Helper duty?" "Don't worry. It'll be fine," the guide elf responded. "Don't say don't worry. Tell me what's going on." "Ok, then. Do worry. You are going to become a helper. Just follow me." and he started to walk out of the waiting room back out into the corridor outside. The receptionist elf had stood up, walked around the desk, and patted Andrew in the back to motion him to start walking. Reluctantly Andrew started to walk, following the first elf. To his surprise the other elf followed him.

All three of them turned down the corridor in the opposite direction of the stairs and walked further into the building. Andrew was thinking about the encounter he just had. Somehow he wasn't sure if it had been a good or a bad one. He clearly wasn't getting any useful answers from his guide. The way they were walking, one in front and one behind, was kind of telling. Like he had just been sentenced and was on his way to receive his punishment. As if there was anywhere he could run. And he was still hard. Big fucking oblivious dick just happy to see everyone. Like a stupid puppy not understanding the situation. But did he?

After some twists and turns they stopped in front of a much more mundane door. One of many they had passed, and there were many more ahead of them in the corridor. The first elf opened the door and they all stepped inside.

This room was reminiscent of a locker room. Well lit, white walls, green plastic floor, a shelf system along one wall with rows after rows with labeled boxes, and in the middle of the room, a knee-high, sturdy bench with something akin to a gym mattress as a top.

No sooner had the door shut behind Andrew before the guide elf jumped him and started kissing him. Andrew's brain just went completely blank at first, not knowing what to do. He'd never kissed a handsome dude before, or any dude, and the kiss with Sophie didn't really count as a kiss really. They were just practicing. A few seconds in he realized he should perhaps do something too and grabbed hold of the elf. He started to actively kiss him back, or tried at least. He wasn't quite sure all the parts of his body were doing what he wanted them to, but holy fuck what was going on? Then he felt the other elf behind him, breathing at his neck. He could feel him kissing his neck while his hands went up inside his T-shirt. He was almost out of air and begun to feel light-headed when the first elf pulled away from their kiss. His vision came into focus again and he looked straight into the steel blue eyes of the boy. He was smiling for the first time Andrew had seen. Crisp white teeth, pinkish lips, and smooth skin. This was as up close as you could get and he was still gorgeous. They were both panting. "I need you... to take off... your clothes," the elf managed.

Andrew was happy to oblige, and the other elf behind him helped him out of his T-shirt. Andrew untied the drawstring on his pajama pants and stepped out of them while the first elf came back from the wall of boxes with some items, the first of which was a pair of grey socks. "Here, put these on." Andrew sat down on the bench and put on the socks, where we was joined by the receptionist elf. He kept rubbing Andrew's shoulders and back, and gave another kiss on his neck as he reached down to put a sock on his second foot. "You've never slept with anyone before, have you?"

Andrew turned to look at him directly. He hadn't really given him a proper look, as the elf had walked behind him all the way. He looked like a Brazilian photo model with tanned skin, hazel eyes, and pitch-black hair. His flimsy Santa jacket was opened and revealed a magazine cover perfect view of pecs and abs, and below that a bulge in his pants straining to be released. Andrew, naked except for the socks, was already showing his willingness with an almost painfully erect penis. "No..." It was like Andrew's brain was shortcircuiting next to this beautiful boy and couldn't come up with proper sentences.

The elf guided him to a bridge position. "Here, roll over." He kissed his way down Andrew's spine down to his butt. Then he dabbed his finger in Andrew's precum and started to slowly massage Andrew's butt hole. Then gently going in and out, then using two fingers, then three. Andrew thought he would explode with cum right then and there, but somehow that didn't happen. He kept his eyes closed and thought of the handsome boy behind him that was loosening his asshole.

When he opened his eyes he saw something sliding in below him. The other elf, the blonde guide elf was on his back in front of him on the bench, completely naked. Andrew was staring down at the elf’s balls and erect dick just below his face. He looked up over the body, the same perfect abs and pecs as the other elf, and all the way up to his handsome, chiseled face. He saw that the Santa hat was still on, so not completely naked after all. He looked down at the dick on offer in front of him again. He realized he was salivating. Tentatively he lowered himself and began to lick the tip of the penis a few times. Then he did a quick attempt at putting it in his mouth. Then he started to suck it in earnest. At the same time he could feel the reception elf entering his butt.

Andrew tried to keep the same pace with his sucking as with the penis going in and out of his butt. That way he felt like he could just zone out into bliss and not think of anything but pleasure. When he eventually did orgasm all three came at the same time. Andrew wasn’t prepared for any cum, and more as a panic reflex swallowed everything that got pumped into his mouth, just as he came on the bench and the second elf in his ass.

"Now these." Andrew realized he had been standing there on all four, frozen just trying to process what had just happened. "What?"

"Put these on," the but for his hat naked elf repeated, holding out a pair of red trousers of the same kind as they wore. As he put his feet down from the bench Andrew realized his legs looked different. Then he realized that his upper body looked different too. It was the same lean abs and pecs as all the other elves. Almost dazed he took the trousers, stepped into them, and slid them up his legs. Were his dick and balls any different than before? Perhaps. Hard to tell.

"These should be your size now," the other elf said, and placed a pair of black boots in front of him. Sturdy, no-nonsense, military style black leather boots. "I..." Andrew began, but couldn't really verbalize what he felt. There were a faint trail of hair from his pubs to his belly button, flanked by the most pronounced V he had ever seen in real life. It was one thing to see the bodies of all the elves, but on himself was another thing all together. He pushed one then two feet into the boots, tied them, and let the trousers hide them.

"Almost done. Just these two left," the guide elf said, handing him a jacket and a hat. Andrew grabbed both and quickly put them on. "Now what?"

"Now you look like a helper. Always were one."

The room is black save for the faint blue light from the alarm clock on the nightstand. Andrew stared into the black ceiling wide awake. He glances over at the clock. 05:16. A bit too early to run downstairs and check the Christmas stocking. He's supposed to be almost grown up after all. What a weird dream. Hot, but weird. He sticks his hand down the pajama pants. Sticky, but not bad enough to not sleep a few hours more. As he turns to the side he feels the boots on his feet.

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sanstropfremir · 3 years

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episode 9 baby!!! dear lord that was a lot!!

frankly, i'm still in shock that i full on manifested an opera stage, AND it was a rock opera stage at that! plus i got a jazz stage AND a taemin stage??? if they’re pulling out all my favourites now then what on earth are they gonna do in the finale??? this was a very overwhelming crop of stages, i thought i was going to be prepared, but oh no i was not prepared. i'm just going to get right into it because this one is gonna be long and i have many words. i'll discuss in airing order first, and then put my personal rankings for this round at the end.

btob

costume

changsub, you absolute king. spectacular. stunning. incredible. zoot suit riot playing in my brain on repeat. will i finally get the zoot suit revival of my fucking dreams instead of this current drab ill-fitting suit trend? for those who are wondering why in the fuck changsub is dressed like that and what on earth i’m talking about, the specific cut of suit that he’s wearing is called a zoot suit, which were popular in mexican, black and italian american communities in the 30s and 40s, until they were outlawed by the united states war production board as a fabric rationing method as part of the war effort in 1942. there was a huge amount of mob violence surrrounding the wearing of them (there were actual zoot suit riots) as they were direct counter culture fashion to the predominant drab trends of white americans at the time. i'm actually very impressed they got a proper (modernized) cut of zoot suit instead of just putting him in an oversized one; there are actually specific structural differences. the pegged trouser legs, large should pads, and knee length single breasted jacket are key features, and they were often in much more flashy fabrics than a pinstripe, but they get points for effort. i wish they had put all of them in zoot suits but he’s playing the ‘lead’ actor so i will begrudgingly forgive them.

eunkwang those are the stupidest sleeve garters ive ever seen i love them never take them off. they’re like someone decided to repurpose a suspender in the worst way. excellent. i do love that they’ve got three of them in oxford saddle shoes, another great touch.

love the three piece and the fedora* on peniel. it's also in a relatively close period cut; waistcoasts (vests) were generally cut much higher in the neck pre-war, we only start seeing the neckline slide down in the 60s (i think? i don’t remember when exactly). also love to see a proper sleeve and jacket length, it's good practice to have at least a finger’s width of sleeve cuff visible ahead of the jacket sleeve when hanging at rest. also looks like there’s french cuffs on everyone, which is also great.

minhyuk in his slutty lowneck shirt....thank you. in addition to the zoot suit revival i would also like a revival of those ultra low necklines on mens’ shirts from like 2010-2011. i don’t think those are the same boots from the backdoor stage but those are some beautifully cut boots. i also loved the little details of his crewmember look, especially the chunky watch and the string bracelets; those are super realistic, i know so many crew with them and i had several for many years. and who doesn’t love a visible button fly?

none of any of the other costumes are period in any way shape or form but i’m forgiving it because there’s several layers of meta in this stage, and they explicitly based it on la la land, even though we don’t respect la la land in this house. do i wish they had gone more strictly period with at least the jazz club ‘actors’ a little more? absolutely, but i'm not mad about it.

set

again we’ve got a good delineation of the two different ‘stages,’ there’s the club itself in the smaller stage and the soundstage set in the larger space. you can pretty clearly see all the ‘pieces’ of the set on the soundstage, especially the obvious set painting techniques on false prosc frame and the window facade from that first little scene. also the you can see the castors (wheels) on all the setpieces too, which is another nice little versimilitudinous** (triple word score!) touch, as old hollywood movies were made still using theatre stagecraft techniques.

i love how the visual shorthand for ‘this is a set wink wonk’ is just...leaving a ladder on stage. i see it all the time and it's so funny. it doesn’t always make sense because as soon as there’s actors on set the ladders are the first thing cleared because actors cannot be trusted, but yes there are always ladders, so. also psa ladder safety is no joke, please be careful on ladders.

nice streamline of the mnet deco into the club. i’m consistently surprised at how well the designers have been able to mask it or use it to their advantage, because in the normal kingdom stage lighting it is SO obvious and stylistic that it always sticks out.

i'm going to ignore the fact that they implied changsub and miyeon were drinking wine out of martini glasses.

lighting

no complaints, it does its job. everything is visible and super clear. love that the ‘scene’ changes are made through the lighting, it's a really simple and effective device to change atmosphere. purple/blue/amber are the most flattering colours on human skin and that’s why you see it so commonly in stage lighting. also blue/lavendar is the best way to show nighttime/moonlight.

really nice and subtle projection work, especially with the billboard bit and the blue moon sign in the club. despite being obviously meta/’world breaking’ it’s actually very seamless and fits well into the flow of the stage.

sound

i love love love the big band feel in the intro, combined with the piano lead. very duke ellington, as all things should be.

no complaints. i love big band. i love eunkwang’s voice. i have nothing else to say.

staging

i LOVE this movie within a movie within a performance meta nonsense! it's such a fun concept and it is exactly what i wanted ikon’s first round stage to be! i also love to see btob consistently coming up with concepts that are inventive and fun and allow them to showcase their technical performance skills without the aerobics the younger groups are putting themselves through. it provides a really lovely variety and it just goes to show that you can make impressive, dramatic stages without having to be serious or ‘dark.’

i do wish they had leaned into the band director/lead singer with eunkwang a bit more; this could have been a really excellent place for a tap number a la the nicholas brothers or an homage to cab calloway. i know i know this was meant to be la la land themed but la la land is a cheap and whitewashed version of jazz and look me right in the eyes and tell me this isn’t the greatest tap routine of all time. i know i’ve typed this out somewhere before but la la land is just a conglomeration of old hollywood tropes and so stylistically cheap that this would have such a better visual core if they had actually looked back at the real old hollywood musicals like stormy weather. even singing in the rain and an american in paris have such phenomenal visuals and are really beautiful examples of the scope you can pull off with a limited technical capacity and sticking to these old techniques.

now that i'm thinking about it, oh my GOD i would DIE for a lindy hop routine in kpop PLEASE. i know it would never happen because kpop doesn’t like partner dancing and not a single kpop boy has the chops but oh you think fourth gen has too many acrobatics?

this got off track but i think you see my point.

---

ateez

costume

these are really sharply cut suits. and the detail work on the beading??? so beautiful. i'm disappointed that they gave me a rock opera stage without the true ridiculousness of rock opera costuming, because they could have pushed this a lot farther if they really wanted. a tragic lack of gay little outfits, seonghwa’s lace choker is just not enough! two favourite suits: hongjoong’s and yunho’s.

that being said i do actually really like these. this stage is actually very modern opera with a kpop twist and i'm a little surprised by that? i continue to be impressed by the ateez team who are clearly doing their research.

i'm absolutely not going back through their stages to check all the choreography but i wonder if you can track all the ‘wound’ placements to places they’ve been ‘hit.’ i wouldn’t put it past them to have put that thought in but also i’m not expecting that much either.

who is this white grim reaper bdsm executioner chain arm man. where did he come from. i have no idea and i love it.

why is honjoong blindfolded. it was such a fast beat, if youre gonna blindfold someone give it a little longer and some more obvious narrative weight!

seonghwa does that quickchange, runs across that massive stage to the smaller set, and gets into places in like 45 seconds. it's not the hardest quickchange in the world but still, under a minute is fast for any quickchange, especially when there’s travel time involved. i think the fastest, most complex quickchange i ever did was in university which was a 50s cocktail dress into a flannel and culottes with a shoe, hair, and jewelry change in 35 seconds. and that took three dressers. quickchanges are always impressive. the added bonus of this review being later is that i can specifically reference that you can see him book it the fuck off stage in the full cam!

cute moment with the backup dancers dressed in costumes from the previous stages. i'm assuming this is a time travel reference? i'll get more into my thoughts on this in the staging section. regardless, love to see that iconic seonghwa moment again.

set

this is such a restricted space! they really pared down their dancing space with those staircases and ....arms? honestly i have NO clue what these are supposed to be. the only thing i can maybe think of is flying buttresses??? but why?? i mean, i'm 90% sure theyre just there for drama and i agree but i do still have questions.

there’s a lot of moving parts in this set? the buttresses, and the upstage centre staircase. i don’t think the staircase is totally automated because i spotted some dancers securing it in place, but it’s still a moving part. i do really like that we get that expanding upwards energy, because it's really tough to get functional level movement in this kind of a performance, mostly because of its length and because it moves so quickly. so seeing the downward vertical movement and then the upward movement was actually a really nice visual contrast that made use of how tall those fucking ceilings are, and the fact that they had less horizontal space. in sort of similar way to sf9’s jealousy stage, using long, narrow vertical lines really makes it feel like a castle space. the interiors of castles, especially the really old ones, are a lot smaller than you think they would be.

i’ve actually seen that type of small house/tent/thing several times in various types of performances before, but i think this is the first time i’ve seen it used as a time travel device (other than in the say my name mv). aesthetically it's a bit incongruent but i dont really mind because i'm used to watching rock operas that look a lot weirder than this.

lighting

there is so much happening. i have NO clue what the projections are doing. i dont hate it though, so that’s a plus? there’s a clear-ish colour arc even if it does get a bit funky in the middle, which is why the projections dont feel as insanely distracting as some of the other stages we’ve seen.

the climax is a perfect example of how to light a busy stage with primarily red but still maintain clarity on the performers. a little bit of red goes a long way; the spark stage from last week would have looked so much better if they had done what the ateez designers did here.

sound

i know it's only ode to joy, but answer already gets my motor running and then i get so gassed by the guitars and then by the time those vocals come in i'm inconsolable. i don’t know why i wasn’t expecting a rock opera stage but i'm so glad i got that surprise because i genuinely love rock operas so much. it's two of the most dramatic genres in music, what more could you possibly want?

staging

the choreo for answer is so goofy that I'm kinda glad this was mostly terrible mnet boom shots. i love it, but you can't deny that it's goofy. i spotted a couple of moves from their other choreos as well?

choreographing dance fights is just as difficult as choreographing real fights and i think they did a fairly good job here. i think it was a solid mix of dance and conflict that erred on the side of dramatic rather than accurate and i prefer that over trying to be ‘realistic.’ i’ve only ever seen one truly realistic fight scene on stage and that was for a deeply naturalist play (boring and a waste of the medium), but the best fight scene i’ve ever seen was in the prague national ballet’s adaptation of kafka’s the trial where three ballet dancers beat the absolute snot out of the main character with the most beautiful leg extensions. that whole show was probably one of the best pieces of dance i’ve ever seen, holy fuck it was so good.

despite how insane the music and the visuals were going, i actually really liked how sedate this was, on the part of ateez’s performance. there was a really sophisticated and resigned energy from them that is very different from what we’ve previously seen and i think that was a pretty admirable risk to take. reaching the top and then throwing away the crown? especially in a competition where every other stage has involved stealing crowns or royalty and there’s a group competing that got here through that very concept? that shows a real maturity, peace of mind, and foresight that i did not at all expect from a bunch of 22 year olds.

here we come to a very interesting comparison. both ateez and tbz are very heavily leaning on previously established group lore. we all know my thoughts on why it isn’t working for tbz, but here’s why i think it is working for ateez: it's because it doesn’t matter to the audience’s understanding of the stage. i had absolutely no fucking clue what was going on the first time i watched this, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the music and all the weird shit they were doing. i totally believed that they understood what was going on. there’s a loose enough established conflict right at the beginning that draws us in, and really it doesn’t matter who they're fighting because they win in the end. the key here is that they’re so earnest. they believe 100% in every move they make on that stage. there’s no winks to camera, there’s not a drop of irony. they really deeply care about the ridiculousness of it all and that’s what makes it work. i sure as fuck dont know what’s going on, but i can see that they do, and i trust that. this is what i meant when i talked about convincing the audience you belong on stage in my stage presence post. i’ve never once believed that juyeon was anything other than an idol. he’s talented and very beautiful and he may occasionally stand on that stage like he owns it but it's always as juyeon. as an idol. but when hongjoong flaps around in that gigantic fur coat i 100% believe he’s a pirate captain. I believe he’s a punk rebel leader. i believe him a resigned king. there’s always a level of irony you have to fight as a performer because we all start from a place of disbelief. acting is not just lying to the audience, it's lying to yourself too. and if you succeed in convincing yourself? well, you’re already halfway to convincing us.

i checked it out because i wanted to see if they did the blindfold how i expected them to and was genuinely surprised by hongjoong’s fancam. the boy is EMOTING even when he knew the camera wasn’t on him; that’s a real dedication to craft.

ok i'm finished talking about this stage, this is over two pages in my document, there’s so many things i have not covered here but that’s fine, i'm quite sure any further thoughts will end up out there at some point.

---

sf9

costume

let’s get it out of the way......crop top. crop top? crop top. crop top.

ok, besides the crop top, i think i might actually like the backup dancer outfits more...? i find mannequin adjacent looks really fascinating and i thought there was a lot more they could have done here in connecting the two thematically. i actually think a change of costume on the boys would have been very interesting, especially because there was a lot of inference and direct reference to changes of colour.

ALL the backup dancers are wearing the same wig and i LOVE that.

special mention zuho’s.....jacket? the right idea but it absolutely should have been one of those extreme french cut bodysuits, you COWARDS. don’t come at me with this ‘male version of venus’ if you don’t have your whole torso out! come on!

set

not sure if this is meant to be a department store, a factory, or a white cube gallery. honestly you could make the case that they’re all the same place anyways. more on this later.

i loved the movator and wish they had used it more! that sequence was so good and they could have done some more interesting repetition sequences to further highlight the ‘sameness’/the breaking of that sameness.

i feel like the set could have been used more as a whole? i would have loved to see some mannequin interactions with those boxes, because all they did was dump colour everywhere.

....why did they feel the need to include the rain bit? i know it's likely because it's in the mv and at the 2018 dream concert taemin does perform move in the rain, but with the standing still and the box walls with the words it just looks like a department store ad. which i...dont think is what they were intending?

lighting

nothing really to say here. it has a similar feel to the mayfly rap stage, which is fine because the lighting for that was good. i could tell what was going on all the time and that’s the most important part. notable standouts are the lips sequence, that's fun use of pop iconography and very effective, and the scanning lasers at the beginning.

the repeating sequence in the edm dance break is actually done pretty simply, it's just what happens when you point a camera that’s livestreaming to a monitor directly at that monitor. it's a very cool effect and it was neat to see it used intentionally, especially with the handheld leds.

actually i also really liked the lightbox tables, those were cool.

sound

the remix was fine for the most part, it was about what i expected it to sound like. i did however greatly dislike that unnecessary edm break in the middle. what was the point of that? it didn’t add anything to the overall sound or arc of the stage because it was SO out of place. there was no connective tissue around it.

oh i was also not a fan of the effect on zuho’s mic. no one else had a discernible vocal effect so it felt a little out of place. also for some reason his cadence and tone right at the end made me think of some of the voices that bo burnam uses for his vocal masque sketches/songs, especially repeat stuff, weirdly? took me right the fuck out of it. i listened to it again after i slept and i’m still getting it, so maybe i’m just going insane so best ignore this part.

staging

loved the mannequin tree, not a clue why it was there.

do actually think this is a successful cover because it does what i was hoping it would, which is take move completely out of the taemin context and put it into an entirely new one. however, i’m really struggling to figure out what exactly that new context is? and what theyre trying to say with it?

obviously they went for a ‘show your own colours/individuality’ vibe, like i said in the set section, where exactly is this supposed to be? from the start i get factory/mechanized environment, which is fine and grand because mannequins and making repetitive motions and products and all that, makes sense. but then there’s stacked shelving type units happening and curtains and that combined with the mannequins give me pretty big department store vibes, which is also fine, because that’s still a comment on commercialization and the mass production of product. but then we get to the movator and the repetitive movements of the dancers say pretty clearly factory, but the lighting and projections are very pop art referential, plus combining that with the white set, just makes me think of an art gallery. so now is this a comment on the commercialization and commidification of contemporary art? are they making a statement about being ‘real’ artists among the others who have lost the critical understanding of why pop art was even a thing in the first place? and then the rain bit at the end literally looks like a department store ad, so are they then making another statement that they still are that packaged product? maybe the episode has more clarity in it but i’m genuinely a bit baffled by what the underlying statement is here.

i suspect it is not as deep as i'm making it, but i did say that i was likely to be hyper critical of this stage AND i am a grad student, so here we are.

---

tbz

costume

ok of all the ‘fourth gen’ style costumes we’ve seen, i actually like these ones more than most. i'm not entirely clear on the theme but i'm assuming it's meant to be post apocalyptic, and i'll take that.

backup dancers in black!!! we’re beyond this!!!

this will be a running theme with this stage, but i’m disappointed these don’t have more depth.

set

compared to every other stage, the set here seems especially plain. there’s so little set dec that it's disappointing. i do like the movement of the pieces themselves combined with the blocking; that first slide underneath the arches was slick and i would have liked to have seen more of that.

yea ok the big snake was cool and also a fairly complex build, but the transitions around it were a bit awkward for my tastes. especially the turn around, why did they even show that at all? you have control over what the audience sees, you can totally not show scenic transitions. skz were super smart about hiding theirs in last week’s episode.

also if you have a bigass puppet like that, i wanna see some more movement from it! it doesn’t have to be complex, we literally just saw a kraken balloon arm wave around aimlessly, but at least there was movement! that snake had a long ass body, why didn’t they at least take a pseudo dragon dance movement with it, that would have been such fun to watch with the iridescent scales. there was a lot of opportunity here!

lighting

i don’t hate it but also.... not a lot to say about it on the whole.

there were two really smart ideas here, the first being the front projection section, which i was SO glad to see! i explained in a previous review, but the projections in kingdom are not actually projections per se, because they’re actually massive led screens. there are two common types of projections in performance, rear projection and front projection. rear projection is when the projector is behind the screen, and front projection is ‘normal’ projection. rear projection can produce a crisper image because you have full control of the light values, because the projector is in a separate room from the performance space. but the downsides are that the projector has to be in a separate room from the performance space. so if you’re short on real estate, it's not ideal. front projection is much more common, because the tech is a lot cheaper and easier to access, especially now, and it requires less real estate because you can ceiling mount about the audience (you can move a projector wherever, this is just the most common spot in commercial theatres). but! in order to get an actually crisp image, you have to be really careful with your light bounce. it’s exactly the same principle as how you kinda can't see a projected screen when you have all the lights turned on, but when you turn them off it's a lot clearer. front projection works best in pitch dark, so when you use it in a theatre you gotta be smart about it. i use front projection a lot in my personal art practice as a singular light source, and that’s what tbz did here in that traveling/snake intro sequence. it’s a really fun technique that they used as a good gimmick because it’s not something we’ve seen before, and you get some great shadow effects because the projector is throwing light directionally at the performers (they have it set up close to the floor, it’s probably on a wheeled cart of some kind). however i did not like the snake intro. a bit too cheesy and out of place, especially because the asset quality didn’t match the rest of landscapes that we have been seeing.

the second smart idea, which is partially also a set and blocking thing but whatever, was that final image of the eclipse within the circle architecture with all the members standing in front of it. it was a great shot and a great ending pose, but it felt like a concept photo. like someone had that image as the idea that they then built the stage around, instead of a narrative first and then imagery after.

sound

this remix had SO much promise! those first two minutes were SO GOOD. i love that dirty discordant strings bit, it's gross and right up my alley. but it really fell off in the back half and i'm sad about that.

staging

i'm sorry tbz but.....what did you actually do differently than exo here? with the exception of the continual game of thrones references? nothing here felt transcendentally different from the original monster. and especially coming RIGHT after sf9’s move, which did go beyond its original context. this feels more like an awards show stage cover than a stage at the level of the others we’ve seen just this episode.

again like with the skz stage, there’s no conflict here. no tension. yes they do a great job covering the dance but it just isn’t enough! this is obviously personal preference and i'm sure lots of people liked the fact that it was uncomplicated, but even just a hint of narrative tension could have pushed this into more engaging territory. and if they didn’t want to do that, i would have loved to see them make up for that with extra visual spectacle. this is the no limits round! ikon is putting a full jungle on stage and these are grey cubes!

i think this is a perfect example of what i talked about at the end of my tbz section in my episode four review; this is a good performance, there are good elements at play and good ideas at their genesis, but the core of the issue is that nothing about this is transformative. all of the ideas here are just exaggerations of the original song. fuck, the snake was even IN the mv! and they didn’t even include the best part which is the lip chains! ive said before and i'll say it again; being a good artist has two steps, the first is understanding the material and its context, and the second is elevating the material from that context and synthesizing something new. tbz are really good at the first step, but terrible at the second.

---

ranking

btob - the cleanest and the most fun of the round. everything i wanted.

sf9 - fun and a good cover, despite being conceptually baffling.

ateez - very extra dramatic nonsense with an unexpected dose of sincerity. and it’s rock opera, of course i love it.

skz - fun, with some good thematic devices but generally lacking in arc. also australian accents, that’s an automatic ding.

tbz - honestly the first two minutes of the remix and the costume are holding this above 6th. it just wasn’t fully formed.

ikon - aesthetically this is a great set design and although i do love the opening and closing moments, everything else scrapes me the wrong way. super personal preference here, i’m not expecting anyone else to agree with me.

i feel like my rankings were probably pretty easy to guess if you’ve been around reading the reviews for long enough. i do have very specific tastes after all. i know sf9 ranked first in the episode but i have no idea what the other slots are. i’ll find out when i watch the episode in a couple of days, but i think yea a first for sf9 is fair. i do think its mostly because it’s a taemin song and you have to do something horrendous in order to fuck up a taemin song, but there is a lot of thought and work that went into that stage.

ok i'm done now, sorry this was later than usual, but i was busier and there were four stages that i had to review. also technical difficulties because tumblr is a garbage platform and nothing works properly. comments/questions/opinions always welcome, i know i didn't expand on a couple of points that i could have so hopefully y'all have some thoughts too!

* the type of hat that ~society~ has told you is a fedora is actually a trilby. what peniel is wearing is a real fedora, i felt the need to correct this unjust hat malignment.

** meaning ‘the appearance of being true or real.’ you do sometimes hear it used by normal people, but it’s more commonly used as a descriptor in film and theatre. it’s also one of the five rules of neoclassical theatre, which are: versimilitude, purity of form, five act structure, decorum, and purpose. the most prominent playwrights from that era are moliere and racine if youre interested in what those look like in an actual text.

#kingdom #kingdom review #btob #ateez #stray kids #the boyz #sf9 #tumblr is so broken it would NOT let me save this as a draft #does my constant hyperlinking make you angry tumblr? too bad im gonna keep doing it #i played in a jazz band in school for seven years #which is another indicator as to why i am like this #one of the first songs i remember learning was zoot suit riot #i have very strong memories of yelling RIOT during performances #i will however forever question the logic of our band teacher making us learn a song written by 'the cherry poppin daddies'#christ on a bicycle this is TEN pages #and it took a full eight hours last night and then i did like two hours of editing after i woke up #maybe i should go back to bed #ah i forgot to tag ikon again lmao #ikon #kpop analysis #text #if there are any spelling errrors do not tell me im tired of reading this #im pretty sure this is my longest review so far i decided to hate myself and did a wordcount #its 5.2K you're welcome you better get a snack for this one #i hope this is an interesting read for people ive lost all objectivity at this point #pls enjoy my semi-comprehensible word vomit!

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petri808 · 3 years

Text

@thenaluarchive movie night. Just a quicky ficlet 🙃

Being stuck in her apartment for Christmas had to be the worst part of this whole year, and Lucy couldn’t help but log onto Zoom with a sense of longing. For the last 3 years, they’d spent the evening in a Friendsmas Eve together with good food, drinks, and a movie to celebrate the holidays. Thanks to the pandemic, it was agreed they should hold off till things were safer. So that’s when her best friend Levy suggested a zoom party where they’d all log in and could still stream a movie together.

“Lucy!!” Levy screamed. “I’m so glad you could make it!”

“Yeah, me too!” Lucy smiled back at all the familiar faces already logged on. “Hey everyone!” Ten others were already joined in, and most of them were friends from their college days. But there were a couple of faces she didn’t recognize. So she texts Levy on the side asking who they were.

‘Oh sorry lol. I’ll introduce you.’ Levy texted back.

Back on the video now, Levy spoke up, calling on the two unknown people to listen up. “Guys, I wanna introduce you to my bestie Lucy.”

“Lucy, so the guy with pink hair is Natsu, he’s Gajeels cousin. And the other one is Gray, he’s Natsus roommate and works with Gajeel at the shop. Say hi guys!”

“Nice to meet you Lucy!” They both respond.

“Nice to meet you as well!”

As the director or the nights event, Levy put a link in the chat for a survey of movies for the group to choose from and the top two choices would be streamed. The friends talk amongst each other and catch up. Some were drinking or eating, others played a holiday trivia game. It was difficult at times to keep up or figure out who was saying what, but despite the trepidation Lucy had in the beginning, it was nice to see this forum wasn’t keeping anyone down on Christmas Eve.

Lucy enjoyed seeing her friends again, especially since she hadn’t seen any of them in the flesh since March. But it was the newer addition that had her interests most peaked. She never knew Gajeel had a cousin, and why hadn’t Levy introduced them sooner?! She texts the woman to keep their messages private.

‘Omg Gajeels cousin is so cute!’

‘Really? 😂 I guess I never looked at him that way.’

‘Is he single?! 😶’

‘😶 yes. You should talk to him.’

‘But idk nothin bout him.’

‘Lemme help u with that 😛’

‘?!’

Suddenly, Lucy sees that Levy had stuck her into a break away room on Zoom.

‘Levy?!’

“Hello? How’d I get in here?” Natsu questioned.

‘😳 LEVY!’

“Hi, Natsu,” Lucy answered, “um Levy thought we might like a chance to talk... y-you know without being interrupted.”

‘😙 enjoy your chat!’ Levy teased. ‘Dw he also said he’s gonna kill me later 🙃😘 y’all will thank me someday.’

‘OMG LEVY!!!’

“Oh,” Natsu laughed nervously. “How nice of her.”

She could see the slight blush on his cheeks and that instantly alighted one on hers. Oh, boy! Awkward! “I um,” Lucy tucked her hair behind her ears, the movement caught immediately by Natsu’s eyes from what she noticed. “So, you’re Gajeel’s cousin?”

“Yeah. When I moved to this town, I stayed with them a couple months till Gray and I found an apartment.”

“What brought you to Crocus?”

“A job offer. What about you? Are you from here Lucy?”

“Actually no, I came here for college. That’s how I met Levy. Then I stayed for a job.”

“What kind of job?”

“I work for the magazine Sorcerer Weekly.”

“That’s pretty cool!”

“Your turn Natsu, what do you do for a living?”

“Firefighter. But I’m taking EMT classes too, cause that’ll give me a higher certification rating...”

The longer they talked, the easier it was for Lucy to relax. It seemed once those first-time jitters wore away, Natsu’s true personality shone through. He was quite talkative, she mused, but sweet and very passionate about his job. The man also had a silly side that was endearing. Course, the bonus from all she could see through this video, Natsu was a total hunk!

Twenty minutes into the conversation, Lucy received another message from Levy letting her know they’ll be starting the movie. But before she could reply—

“Levy said they’re starting the movie.”

“Oh, yeah, I just got the message too, I’m—.”

Natsu looked sheepishly away from the screen, “I kinda rather keep talking to you instead.”

Lucy’s cheeks flushed again. “Me too. You’re really easy to talk to.”

“Would it be too forward to say... you’re really pretty Lucy.”

“No,” her voice softened with a hint of embarrassment, and you’re not so bad yourself Natsu.”

‘Maybe we’ll catch the second one,’ Lucy replied to Levy. To which she received a wink emote in reply.

The conversation continued where it had left off before Levy’s interruption with a game of 20 Questions. They learned simple stuff about each other’s likes and dislikes, siblings or none, to bucket list dreams. It also turned out that Natsu and Grays apartment was less than three blocks away from hers.

“Being stuck on a video chat kind of sucks,” Lucy blurts out. “It would be so much nicer if this was face to face.”

“Well...” Natsu leaned in. “I could just come over. I mean, you live close by so it would only take me about 10 minutes.”

“You’d... do that?”

Natsu tapped his chin and grinned, “lemme think. Be stuck with my roommate or a cute girl on Christmas Eve? It’s a really tough choice to make.”

“Pfft,” Lucy laughed. “You’re such a weirdo.”

“Well? Do you want me to come over or not?”

“Hmm, lemme think,” she mocked and tapped her chin, “be alone or stuck with a cute guy on Christmas Eve? That’s a really tough choice to make.”

“Now who’s the weirdo?!” Natsu laughed too. “Will you just give me your address?!”

Once she gave him the information, she logged out of the break out room, and he completely out of the party. When she joined the rest of the group, they asked what happened to Natsu. “You’ll see,” Lucy smiled and turned the video off until he arrived. They could still hear her and she could still hear them.

But Gray cut in and ruined the surprise, “that dork is heading to her place.”

“What?!” Everyone immediately ignored the movie and bogged out the audio to flood Lucy with questions. But she wasn’t responding.

“Come on guys!” Levy cut them off. “Give the woman time to breathe!”

A few minutes later, Natsu arrived at her apartment with a gift of wine.

“Aww, thanks, but you didn’t have to bring anything.”

“It would be rude not to,” he smiled back.

Lucy’s heart skipped a beat. The man was even cuter in person! And such manners! Oh, yeah, she was done for. “They um,” she gestured to the living room where her laptop was still sitting, “they’re waiting for us. Gray spilled the beans.”

“Don’t worry I’ll get him back,” Natsu grinned and winked.

They sit on the couch and turn the video back on, instantly gaining a roar of whoa’s and light teasing from mostly the guys.

“Smooth move man,” Gray teased his roommate. “Couldn’t even wait till morning.”

“No need to hate on me.” Natsu quipped back and put his arm around Lucy’s shoulders. “You’re just jealous cause your girl is out of town.”

That set off laughter from all around the virtual room. Even Lucy giggled despite her body heating up from the close contact. “Omg you’re so bad,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, we do this all the time to each other.”

Things settle back down in the group once this Christmas twist had run its course. Everyone in the group was simply elated to see two of their friends happy on this Covid Christmas Eve. After the first movie, Levy streamed the second one. It was the classic Scrooged. You simply couldn’t have a Christmas without watching it at least once.

But by the time the movie was ending, Lucy had started to doze off on Natsu’s shoulder.

“If you’re tired, I can head home.”

“Stay,” she mumbled, “nice and warm.”

Natsu blushed. “Okay, I’ll stay.”

They bid their friends goodnight and merry Christmas before shutting off Zoom and closing the laptop. Natsu turned back to Lucy, but she’d fallen asleep again. He hadn’t planned on staying the night, but she seemed so content to stay cuddled up against him, that he just didn’t have the heart to leave. So, he turned off the lamp and shifted their bodies to both fit on the couch, tucking her close, and kissing her forehead before settling in too.

Lucy breathed out a soft sigh as her face burrowed against his chest. She was only pretending to be asleep to see how Natsu would react, but his response told her everything she needed to know. Covid really made their lives miserable this year, but at least it hadn’t ruined her Christmas after all.

#nalu #nalu winter wonderland #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nalu ficlet #nalu fan fiction #nalu fan fic #nalu au #Natsu x Lucy

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kerwritesthings · 4 years

Note

6. “of course I will, i’ll do anything for you” 7. “i like playing with your hair 13. “sorry I was late again, will this make up for it?”

So I’m doing two blurbs with these my dear - I hope you don’t mind! It’s grouping two prompts in one and the other as a stand alone.

Prompts: 6. “of course I will, I’ll do anything for you” AND 13. “sorry I was late again, will this make up for it?”

You know how he gets when he’s backed up against a deadline. You’ve learned quickly and carefully how to deal with his quirks and nuances when it comes to this. He’s past the point of locking himself in the studio in the condo, he’s past the point of chewing down on lollipops, which you’re grateful for because you’re not stepping on random sticky remnants or finding wrappers strewn about everywhere anymore. No, no now he’s gone full cranky pants; tired, moody and sullen. He’s taking to a studio somewhere randomly downtown for all hours of the day, and the night. He’s slipping into bed at stupid o’clock most mornings, almost close to the time your alarm was going off for the day. He’s moving into being late for things like calls with the team, lunch with his dad; all not like him whatsoever, but the stress is fully taking over. The track, a last-minute new addition and decision to drop ahead of the album as a teaser to new music to come, has been giving him utter fits. They want it, along with the whole first cut and concept of the album by the end of the month. He’s pushed back, but the label won’t budge.

Tonight, it’s another one of those nights. You haven’t heard from him since early this morning when he couldn’t find where his new journal was and that was the last from him. You came home to a hastily scribbled post-it note on the back of the door: Off to get this shit done. Back later – S

Which means you can take a pretty good bet on that he forgot about the dinner plans you made weeks ago, the reservations that took forever to get because you absolutely refused to be that person and name drop him. You should text him, but he’s a grown man. You know it’s in his phone, you’re just wondering if he’ll pay attention to it. Taking a deep breath and flicking your hand through your hair, you decide to say screw it and get ready anyway. The cute new sweater dress you bought deserves a twirl, even if it ends up being just you at dinner.

You look at your watch, dressed and ready to go, with no sign of him. You wrap yourself up in your long coat, you’re still not used to these Toronto winters, and head out. The maître d was kind, understanding that your plus one may be late, or may not be at all, giving you a lovely table tucked away near the fireplace. You refuse to spend the night on or glued to your phone, giving your attention to the wine list in front of you instead.

“Madame,” the waiter says, placing a lovely glass of what looks to be a jammy Petit Verdot in front of you. “Your date rang and requested we bring this to you as he’s been slightly delayed but wants to reassure you, he is joining you tonight.”

“Thank you,” you reply, swirling the deep berry liquid carefully in its glass.

It’s nearly 30 minutes and another glass of wine later, before he arrives. You can tell he’s been home before coming to you, freshly showered, curls a damp mess still and he’s in your favorite button down and vest of his. His eyes are less fogged, you can see that his shoulders aren’t locked up around his ears.

“Hi sweetheart,” he leans down to kiss you softly before sliding down into the chair across from you. “I know. I’m an ass and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was late. Late again. Nothing justifies how much of a mess I’ve been the last few weeks, and how I’ve been behaving, especially to you.”

You look at him carefully over the top of your wine glass as you take a small sip. He slips two small drawstring pouches out of his pocket and slides them across the table to you.

“Go ‘head,” he replies, waiting to watch your reaction.

The first pouch holds a thumb drive, but not one like you’d get at Staples or Target. This is heavy, stainless steel, etched with an intricate treble clef interwoven with leaves and vines on both sides. It looks exactly like the design you’ve talked to him about if you’d ever decide to get a tattoo. You quirk your eyebrow, twirling the drive between your fingers.

“You my dear, are the first and only one to have a complete or what I hope is complete for now, version of studio album number 4. Including thoughts on art, vibe and 16 tracks. Plus, the bonus single and a cover that I may have done to release at some point in promo, as a bit of a love letter to you, to us,” he explains, snagging your free hand to hold in his.

Your eyes grow wide, jaw dropping slightly and he nods. “No one is hearing this or getting their hands on the full thing before you do, baby. You’re my muse and she deserves to listen to this before anyone else does. Go head, open the other one.”

The other is a much lighter pouch, you carefully slide out a hand painted glass charm of the same treble clef. It’s small, delicate and exactly what you envisioned when you talked to him about it.

“Shawn,” you utter quietly. “It’s beautiful.”

“I know you’re back and forth on if you want one, but I figured, this way you’ve got it with you in some way always. It may or may not have helped inspire some of the art for this too,” he replies, stealing a sip from your wine glass.

You shift out of your seat to stand next to him, dusting your lips against his ever so carefully.

“I have one request though. Can you play this for me when we get back home? Not off the drive, just you first?” you ask. “After that I’ll listen to the production and the full version, but can I just have the you and your guitar in our bed singing to me version first?”

“Of course, I will. I’ll do anything for you.”

Prompt: 7. “I like playing with your hair

Shawn is so tactile in showing his feelings and his love for you. Holding your hand, an arm around your waist, kissing you, pulling you in for a hug. It’s always been a huge piece of his love language. What you didn’t realize until a few weeks into your relationship, is as much as he loves when you play with his curls, he absolutely loves running his fingers through yours.

“It’s so soft, like liquid silk,” he marvels one night, nudging your head into his lap as you cuddle on the couch. “And it always smells really good, like the gardens after it rains in the spring.”

He twirls strands around his fingers watching your hair slide through and around them before massaging at your scalp carefully. He’s got you practically purring.

“Like that, sweetheart?” he murmurs, drawing his fingers through in a soothing pattern.

“Mmmm,” you reply, nuzzling into his thigh. “Now I know why you like it so much. Feels good.”

He leans down to drop a kiss to the tip of your nose. “I like playing with your hair, I like making you feel good.”

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes oneshot #rainbowshawn #soft fluffy prompts

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dear-mrs-otome · 4 years

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I see that a kiss event is coming up on Eng Ikevamp - I've never seen a 'kiss event' before, is it much different from the usual events? Is it possible to f2p it if we're only interested in a couple of suitors?

Hey Nonny! The ‘kiss event’ is what is also sometimes called a ‘collection event’ in other Cybird titles or by the fandom. I’m not surprised you haven’t seen one yet because this is only the 2nd one we’ve had in English, although in the JP version they’re pretty regular and I’m guessing ours will become that way as well. Basically what it consists of is that for most of the actions you take in the game on a regular basis, you are rewarded with items that you turn into the suitors of your choice for rewards.

In the case of Ikevamp, most collection events are kiss events, where you collect ‘hearts’ to give to your boy in the form of kisses. Hearts can be accumulated one of a few different ways:

Doing love battles - these reward 3 hearts for every 5 completed (regardless of whether you win or not) on a regular basis, 6 hearts when there is a 2x lucky time, and 9 hearts when there is a 3x.

Reading the main story - you will receive 5 hearts for every five chapters you read. Same as above, this will go up to 10 or 15 given the lucky times. You’ll also receive bonus hearts when clearing avatar and love point checkpoints as well. (This is why some f2p will read suitor stories up to checkpoints and then swap to another, so that they can return during extra lucky times during events and receive additional bonus items)

Buy with gold - every day you can purchase up to 10 hearts from the shop for a cost of 2,000 gold apiece.

Purchase via diamonds or sets - hearts will be available in the shop for 90 diamonds apiece, or sometimes included in sets for sale

From your BFF Sebastian - when you enter the event he’ll usually dish out a free 10 hearts , and I believe you can get 1 or 2 extra a day for logging in regularly.

When you enter the event you’ll have the option to pick a suitor, and you can change at any time who you’re kissing without losing progress. It’s hard to say right now how the totals will go but usually in Ikevamp the kiss events are a 30 or 40 item structure - there will be 3 stages of kissing your boyo, giving him either 10/10/10 or 10/15/15 smooches. There are some nice voiced lines along the way as you tap through the kisses, or you can hit that ‘ultimate kiss’ button to give them all of a stage’s kisses all at once and hear them kiss you back.

The game will show your progress on the event home page, and as you accumulate totals you’ll receive rewards. Clearing all 3 of a boy’s stages will net you their little chibi item, and your overall total can nab you boost items (story tickets, wine, keys, elixirs, etc) and also different accumulated totals will get you stories for each suitor as you go. These are pre-set and don’t change no matter who you serve - for example: 160 total hearts will get you Shakespeare’s event story. The exact number of hearts needed and the order of/suitors available will vary from event to event. These stories are saved to your ‘Memories’ and can be re-read anytime, just like a premium or a POV or purchased story.

If you’ve gone through and completed every suitor’s 3 stages at least once, you can go back and receive duplicate chibis of them as well, by clearing another full set of stages.

As far as how easy these events are f2p - if you’re only in it for a few suitors, and only to get their chibis, it’s extremely easy. Doing the bare minimum a day (let’s say, 3 sets of 5 battles, your daily tickets, and buying 10 items from the shop with gold) would net you at least 24 hearts, without any lucky time or checkpoint boosts. That’s almost enough for one full suitor clear if it’s a 30 item event right there! The real challenge comes in collecting enough for all the stories (these usually run about 500 hearts for the final story) or making any early-clear or ranking bonuses you might want to nab.

Ranking/voting type events are run slightly differently, but I hope this gives you the gist of how the event will work tonight, and help you plan out your strategies accordingly. Good luck out there Nonny, and have fun giving your favorites some extra love in this event!

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikevamp collection event #ikevamp kiss event #mrs o talks #Anonymous

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monstersdownthepath · 5 years

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Spiritual Spotlight: Dammar the Denied

True Neutral Psychopomp Usher of Liquor, Luck, and Medicine

Domains: Healing, Luck, Protection, Repose Subdomains*: Resurrection, Curse, Purity, Psychopomp

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 8

Obedience**: Consume a full serving of alcohol and spend an hour reflecting on the intricacies of the living form. At the conclusion, pour a second serving at the base of a tree or a large stone. Benefit: Gain a +4 insight bonus on Heal checks and saving throws against the effects of alcohol and swarm attacks.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals. **ALSO SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT: Dammar’s true Obedience squicks me out something fierce, so the one provided is an alternate take with only a slight deviation from its written form. The actual Obedience will be in the link at the end of the article, as always, but be wary if you have emetophobia or are otherwise sensitive to people un-eating things)

A single bottle typically contains six servings, by the way. Gutter-quality swill will maybe run you 5cp a cask, assuring you’ll more or less always have some on you provided you aren’t robbed, set on fire, or stranded away from civilization for weeks on end, eliminating the bookkeeping nonsense that Obediences with material components usually require. It doesn’t even have to be any specific kind of alcohol! ANY old stuff will do, including any you make yourself.

The tricky part is the second portion of the Obedience, requiring you to sacrifice a serving to a tree or rock. This means one bottle will carry you through three Obediences, which doesn’t sound like much until you have to start devoting a good portion of your carrying capacity to wine casks. Get yourself a cart! As for why the rock/tree bit is tricky, well, you won’t always have access to such terrain features! Sometimes you just get stuck underground, or in a frozen tundra, or in the Plane of Air for a few days! Maybe the DM will let you substitute the symbolic offering by just pouring it on an altar you make, but that’s something to discuss with them beforehand.

The benefit is mmmmmmmmmnot great, despite being a triple threat. It’s a triple threat against threats that aren’t super threatening; unless you invest in Signature Skill, the Heal skill in general has few uses. Being more tolerant of alcohol is impressive for roleplaying but not typically useful in combat, and while bolstering yourself against a swarm’s lethal Distraction ability IS good, it’s too niche to be impressive.

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons.

Boon 1: Mixed Blessings. Gain Enhance Water 3/day, Vomit Swarm 2/day, or Neutralize Poison 1/day.

Oooh, three spells I don’t think we’ve seen in a Boon before! Exciting!

Enhance Water turns any water you touch into some form of alcoholic drink, but here’s the twist: any diseases, poisons, minerals, and other contaminants within the liquid are transmuted into seasonings/flavoring and additional alcohol. Plain old purified water will get you a passable beer, but irradiated scum-filled poisoned pond water will get you several pints of top-shelf, sealed-behind-glass-and-rigged-with-an-alarm bourbon or wine that you can potentially sell to people for outrageous prices (by that I mean about 50gp to 100gp a bottle).

The unfortunate downside is that it only affects water, meaning no cheating and dipping your finger into a glass of wine that’s been served to you to clear out the poison your gracious host slipped in... However, the spell makes no distinction between free-floating water or water in a container, only that that it cannot affect Unholy Water and has no effect on magical liquids within the water (only mundane contaminants). While your round could certainly be better spent elsewhere, there’s something funny about having the ability to turn several pints of water surrounding an underwater enemy into cloudy alcohol. Aboleths aren’t immune to poison! And god, can you imagine how agonizing it must be to have alcohol rush through your gills AND into your eyes? Even if it’s just for a few seconds--ouch!

Now, Vomit Swarm is a good combat spell for those who wish to abstain from drinking too much. Sadly, no “drop the swarm in an enemy’s pants” casting range here, but the swarm starts adjacent to you and moves in a direction of your choice once its supply of victims is exhausted. Even better, though, is that the spell’s power scales with level; by the time you get this ability you can choose to spit out a swarm of spiders OR a swarm of wasps, and on hitting 13 Hit Dice you can spew a ravenous horde of army ants instead! And army ants are nasty, let me tell you. A swarm of them moving in their slow march will disassemble anything in their path, so make sure your allies aren’t in said path.

Neutralize Poison, predictably, neutralizes poison. It’s a good spell to have on standby, because some poisons can be nasty. Especially Con-damaging ones! All three of these spells have their own uses, but unless you’re short on liquor for your Obedience, I’d stick to Vomit Swarm unless you planned on heading into the Darklands or a jungle/swamp.

Boon 2: Dammar’s Mercy. 1/day, you may cast Maximized Breath of Life as a spell-like ability.

That’s 40+Caster level (max +25; you start with +10) HP restored to a single target. Breath of Life is an... interesting, very oddly-worded spell. As written, it’s effectively worthless for anything but death through HP damage (which, don’t get me wrong, is the #1 killer for many creatures) as it does not cure ability score damage/drain or negative levels. In addition, since it instills a negative level on its--oh hold on I forgot to explain how it worked, didn’t I?

You cast Breath of Life on someone who’s already dead, you see, and it restores HP to their corpse. Lets say Mr. Squishly, the local Wizard with an impressive Constitution score of 10 and 30 HP to his name is instantaneously blended by a monster with six natural attacks which all rolled maximum damage on every dice, bringing Squishly to -54 HP! You’re unconscious at 0 HP and dead once your HP hits a negative number equal to your Con score, so -10 in Squishly’s case. That means poor Squishly just up and croaked!

But you, Helpful Proctor, have Drammar's Mercy available. With a flourish of your fingers and a reassuring pat on the back (delivered within 1 round of death!), you give Squishly 50 HP back, taking him to -4. Since -4 is within his death threshold, Squishly is brought back to life!!! Unconscious, but alive! And then he gets a negative level slapped on him, bringing him to dangerous territory and teetering on the brink at -9, a papercut from death. But alive!

However, if he got an additional bump on his way to the ground and brought himself to -55 HP, there’d be nothing your spell could do; yes he’d come back to life for one brief and stellar moment just before the negative level killed him again. And at -60? Sorry, you’ll need some stronger juice here.

Thankfully, cases where you’re overkilled by a ludicrous amount are rare, especially if you’re smarter than Squishly and get out of the Adventurer Disassembly Zones that are threatened squares. 50 HP is a lot, enough to bring most people back from death unless their bodies were torn to pieces or disintegrated... Or if they died from Con damage or, again, negative levels. Healing in combat is generally not what you want to do, but Breath of Life CAN indeed be used on targets that are still alive, instantly granting them a huge chunk of hitpoints to keep on trucking in the current battle!

The most unfortunate part about Breath of Life is that it can only work on a corpse that’s been a corpse for 1 round or less, but Dammar has forseen that issue and gives their followers a bit more wiggle room...

Boon 3: Uncertain Fates. You may keep the souls of any intelligent creature that dies within 30ft of you, which orbit you as disembodied lights. You have a cumulative +1 bonus to AC and caster level checks to overcome spell resistance and a -1 penalty to Fortitude saves for each soul you keep in this way. You may hold a number of souls equal to half your Hit Dice plus your Charisma modifier, and they are immediately released to the River of Souls if you are stunned, unconscious, or fall asleep. If you have a creature’s soul and access to their body, you may use Breath of Life on that creature as though they had died on the previous round.

yyYYYEEEAAAAH

How would YOU like to have additional AC equal to half your Hit Dice? That’s 7+Cha mod when you first get this power and it only raises as your power does. Dammar is the Usher responsible for making the trip from the Boneyard back to the land of the living as grueling as possible, but this ability allows you to briefly cheat that system by preventing the souls from reaching the Boneyard at all. You can have a halo of flickering, moaning lights dancing around you, deflecting incoming blows as well as any armor. The more people that die around you, the more difficult it is to actually hurt you--it’s like Death Knell except better! Those hovering souls don’t even get a saving throw to avoid joining your little menagerie, though your ‘hold’ on them is so tenuous that you don’t actually stop them from coming back to life if they get raised by other means.

The fact that ONLY Breath of Life actually benefits from this ability is a little disappointing, but you DO get that 1/day for free, and Clerics, Oracles, and Shamans all get it as well. and since it requires no material components, it’s rather simple to get scrolls made--it costs around 600gp to make or a little over 1100gp to buy one--for later use. You can even make the scrolls yourself, given that you have it as a spell-like! The restriction that you can’t fall asleep or otherwise go helpless without losing your collection is pretty harsh, but if your allies NEED you to make it back to town with their souls in tow, just slap yourself with Lesser Restoration and keep trucking until all of them are back safe and sound.

Every ally that falls also make it harder to fell you! ... Just uh, be real careful around poison-wielders since your Fortitude save hemorrhages as your AC is bolstered. But hey, that’s why Dammar also gives you Neutralize Poison!

You can read more about them here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Neutrality Notes #pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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cvmillesoo-blog · 5 years

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everything is still so unfinished bc making mediocre blogs are the One thing that i’m a perfectionist over.. so i’m really going through it rn KGFDJDFGS

but hey guys !! i’m kat, 21 yo humanities student from the nt and your resident somin stan ! i’ll try to keep this short since with my luck, i’ll have to log off for a few hours ( EDIT: i was right, hence why this is being posted at 1am SJGDFL ), so you can find cami’s stats HERE, pinterest HERE, plots page is tba — as is her little navigation page with a few extra insights on her — and i’ll post a couple of old playlists i made for her soon enough. if you can’t already tell, she’s a bit of an old muse with some alterations who i missed...... and who i might be using Mostly bc i’m sunmi’s bitch SGJKDF

anyways, if you’d like to plot, just like this or hmu here or on discord ! with all that being said:

- ̗̀ ❛ muse 19, lee sunmi, she/her. ❜ ̖́- did you hear about the monaco trip? it’s legendary at ucla. camille soo is going, i’m so jealous. their instagram makes it seem like they’re pretty hedonistic and they’re all about sipping moscato with glossy peach lips & light, button-down blouses. can you believe they’re only twenty-four and they’re going on a free trip to monaco for the summer? hopefully they don’t let their unyielding side show too much on the trip. ( kat, she/her, nt )

writes short stories / runs an open mic night

i’m still developing Some of her background, but from a young age, she was rather creative and energetic

with two parents working in non-stem fields, her mother especially was always enthusiastic when cami too seemed more interested in the arts

she was imaginative, so much so that her in-class journal entries mirrored her ( day ) dreams more than reality — to her teacher’s slight displeasure if it strayed from a given topic — and that she immersed herself into the worlds she would create for her dolls

one of those kids who was VERY attached to their ipod when she got one, music had always been a cherished friend yet an unexplored outlet at the time

a film junkie from a young age, she also loves being able to see the worlds other people create visually and you’ll often find her watching whichever new or old release that came to mind earlier in the day — almost totally entranced, good luck getting her undivided attention in the meantime !

wasn’t the Most outgoing kid back then, but by high school she slowly became the girl who got involved in the smaller roles of student council before moving up to vp, as well as being part of the drama club and prom committee during her senior year

basically, she was destined for a social career, especially something which let her creativity flourish.. but then she applied to ucla’s engineering faculty —

SFGLJGFD to say her parents were shocked is kind of an understatement ! no one would think that she’d pursue such a field yet here she was.. going for it !

hearing many people talk about which careers were worth it financially seemed to erase her parents’ encouragement to follow her ( core ) desires, though at the time, camille genuinely thought it was a path she’d grow to like once she began to experience it — having already envisioned the ways she’d try to work around any difficulties she’d have

but come her first year, she’d realize she played herself in more ways than one

a diligent student throughout this period, she did begin to rebel a little, socializing and partying often and basically picking up from where she left off in high school with a couple of clubs. however, she could tell that she was struggling with her stem courses, while she was performing well with her required english course — and she could tell even at that point that she Fucked Up

so when she bombed a couple of those courses for her major by the end of that first year, she took a step back for a year to reanalyze her options.. and about five years later with some additional exploration into her interests, she’s on the cusp of graduating with an english major and a minor in film !

to say that she’s scared of what’s to come is Valid; so she’s glad that she can have this vacation to just relax with her friends and let the stress roll off her shoulders for the time being. and being able to let her inner world-class traveler finally see the light of day is just a bonus !

PERSONALITY AND OTHER SHIT

she’s.. an odd one to crack, that’s for sure

she’s very much a lively person, always curious and ready for the next adventure — big or small

she’s all about going out and having a good time, drunk or sober, and allowing herself the little luxuries in her life, like walks around the city or treating herself to a sheet or cream face mask and a glass of wine on a night in

but she’s level-headed enough to know when to take the occasional step back from certain things incorporated into her lifestyle.. for the most part

she’s totally diligent in what she loves, be it running that open mic night, any writing she does, her school work, bringing people together for an event, etc. she gets quite carried away at times, even stressed over what she produces from some of these things, and

in spite of her more social and active lifestyle, she is a little more on the responsible side, not one to exceed her limits or convince someone to neglect theirs

her word isn’t gospel, but you’ll have a rough go of trying to change her mind on something ! pretty stubborn in some areas

uhh straightforward — 94% of the time, at least gfsdk — and would definitely snap back at some people if she didn’t have some solid self-restraint

needs a hug sometimes ! an indiscreetly discreet emo bitch beneath her brighter attitude !

she’s a cancer.. so that might explain That

loves the smell and sound of the rain, perhaps the most relaxing thing to her

she loves, loves r&b, but also has an appreciation for many other genres.. except country and metal/screamo/just rly loud rock music gsdjlkf

in true canadian fashion on my end, she loves garlic fingers

usually wearing fresh, monochromatic makeup.. mostly bc she can’t be bothered to think of a cool look when she’s doing it quickly eight times out of ten

i didn’t say she was an artist or anything so skgfldgsf

and when i said button-down blouses in the app, i mean it as in this bitch has her closet FULL of them LKFGSJSG

she just. likes to feel airy and put-together

idk what else to add ??

aside from the fact that she’s bi, of course fgdlkjsgdf

so let’s just end it here bc i’m Wincing at this point

#monaco:intro #╳┊: — these are stacy’s baby ! •「 ooc. 」#this is so fucking ugly JSGLKGF #also i'm slow as hell ! not surprised !#lemme go finally blowdry my half-dry hair before i Actually talk to some of y'all gdfjklgsd

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tsgaspencolorado · 5 years

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Decades of Service at the Aspen Chamber

This year marks a milestone year for Aspen. And we’re not talking about the final snow tally at the end of the most recent ski season.

The Aspen Chamber Resort Association (ACRA) celebrated not just one milestone work anniversary, but two. President and CEO Debbie Braun and Vice President of Event Marketing Jennifer Albright Carney both recently celebrated twenty years with ACRA. In a town known for distractions and in an era of job-hopping, these two are paving the way for longevity. And not just for themselves, but for Aspen.

We had a chance to ask Debbie and Jennifer some questions about ACRA and Aspen and discovered the magic is in the milestone moments. And the mountains here are the perfect backdrop.

What led you to Aspen? Why did you stay? Debbie: I followed my husband here when he joined Ski Co. as the Marketing Director. Once we got in the door, we knew there was no other place we’d rather be. Jennifer: Mine is a story you hear often in our community, I arrived in Aspen for what I thought would be a winter season and never left! They say you come for the winters and stay for the summers. So true. I love the summer here but more importantly, I fell in love with the spirit of Aspen. Not only the natural beauty that I feel so blessed to be surrounded by every day but the character and small-town charm. It just felt like home to me.

How did you start out with the Chamber? D: It was my first, and it has been my only, job in Aspen. I joined ACRA as a temporary fill-in for the then membership director, who was out on maternity leave. When she decided to not return, I stayed. J: My first experience with the chamber was as a volunteer for the Aspen Chamber’s largest and signature destination event, the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen. I enjoyed the event so much and was hired part-time to assist the events department.

Debbie, that is so rare you have only worked at the Chamber since coming to Aspen. Kudos to you! Can you both recall your first work memories? J: That events can be crazy busy, with long hours and super-intense lead-up right until go-time. But that first FOOD & WINE Classic was so much fun! D: I had to produce a Y2K seminar. Remember when all the computers were going to crash on January 1, 2000?

Ah yes, we do remember the Y2K scare! And now almost two decades later, you both recently celebrated 20 years with ACRA. Congratulations are in order! What are some of your biggest accomplishments during the past two decades? D: I’ve been a part of many magical moments in Aspen. I’m proud to have secured dedicated marketing funding through the lodging tax. Twice. I’ve also worked to add a group sales division to ACRA helping to fill hotels in need periods and recently took ACRA through national designation as a Certified Destination Management Organization (DMO).

Are many chambers designated as DMO’s? D: No, this scenario is most common in a mountain destination, due to our population size. In larger areas, there are separate DMO’s and Chamber of Commerce. Since we don’t have the population to support two different organizations doing similar work, we morph into a Chamber Resort Association, doing the work of a Chamber and a DMO.

That’s a lot of work for one organization! But it certainly shows how much effort the entire team at the Chamber puts forth. Jennifer, tell us about your milestones over the last two decades. J: I am very proud to be a member of the ACRA team and where I am today was a journey, from Special Events Manager to Director of Events and now Vice President of Event Marketing. I have loved developing business relationships, such as with FOOD & WINE, soon to celebrate its 38th year in 2020. I have had the pleasure of working with the production team from the magazine as well as local partners since my first day here and this experience has given me the opportunity to strengthen ACRA’s producing partnership of the event over the last two decades.

What has surprised you most about working with the Chamber? J: Perhaps not surprising as much as it is an observation and natural progression, but how much the Chamber has grown as an organization over the last 20 years. When I began, most departments consisted of one person. New projects have developed, the Chamber has become involved in the community in other ways, and each department’s staff has increased. Along with the addition of an entirely new department, Destination Marketing, which provides destination marketing services funded from the City of Aspen’s 2% lodging tax. D: I am constantly amazed at how dynamic this town is. The degree of passion and genuine love for our destination and the countless hours people volunteer to local causes. I had no idea when I started how instrumental a Chamber can be in addressing business and nonprofit challenges with local government.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions about Aspen and/or the Chamber? J: People think the Chamber is the City of Aspen. While ACRA works very closely and often in partnership with the City, they are separate organizations. D: Yes, there is the notion for some individuals that we just run a visitors’ center or are a department of the City. ACRA is unique in that we operate as both a DMO and a Chamber of Commerce. We are very active in both destination marketing, and business development and advocacy. Another big misconception about Aspen is that it’s uber-wealthy and aristocratic. While there is certainly a degree of that, most people I talk to that visit Aspen for the first time are pleasantly surprised to see that it is so down to earth and welcoming.

What is your vision for the future of Aspen? What trends do you foresee? D: The vision of ACRA is to create an environment for Aspen to thrive. Some future trends really center on resort sustainability and educating new visitors on recreating in the mountains. I see a shift from a destination marketing organization to a destination stewardship organization.

Can you tell us more about this? We’ve seen the “Tag Responsibly” initiative, not only with ACRA, but in other destination communities as well. D: Mature destinations like Aspen are evolving from just marketing their resorts to managing the flow of visitors to the resort. Once you begin to manage the guest experience and flow, you begin to realize the next step is Destination Stewardship. We are studying macro issues and trends that impact outdoor places and the people who recreate in them. With over 95 million images posted to Instagram each day, we are seeing a crisis of popularity. ACRA understands that we have to educate as much as we are inspiring travel which is how the Tag Responsibly initiative comes into play.

Jennifer, we've heard you described as kind, patient, and organized (and the bearer of a dreaded red-pen!). What three words would you use to describe your role? Detailed. Multi-tasker. Resourceful. And one bonus word: Adaptable.

Debbie, you've been described as authentic, competitive, and full of energy. What three words would you add to that list when describing your current role? Creative. Visionary. And apprehensive (in a good way).

Do you have a personal mantra? D: “Onward and upward.” I believe that if you are not continually growing and evolving, you will get left behind. J: I live by “be yourself.” And when things start to get really busy, especially right before an event, I try to consciously take a moment to “just breathe.”

Favorite season? A favorite hike, bike, or ski trail? D: My favorite season is fall. Hiking Hunter Creek or somewhere up Ashcroft in September is as good as it gets. J: Summer is my favorite. My daily go-to lunch break during the week is to hike Smuggler. I never tire of the view of town from the top!

Where would we find you outside of work hours? D: I’m active with my kids’ activities. You’ll often spot me in Basalt at a high school sporting event or at a local fundraiser. J: At home with my family, outdoors, reading aloud with my son on the front porch, spending time in the garden, or walking down to the Roaring Fork River.

Thank you to Debbie and Jennifer for taking the time to fill us in on what happens behind the scenes at ACRA, and around town. Stay up to date on all things Aspen via their website, blog, and events calendar. There truly is something for everyone in Aspen. And learn more about the Tag Responsibly initiative.

live. love. local.

#Aspen #aspencolorado #visitaspen #aspenchamber #meet #learn #visit #VisitColorado #exploreaspen #tagresponsibly

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joshslater · 4 years

Text

Wet Dreams

Let’s end the month weird. I’ve never done a diaper story before. Other transformation stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

The first two weeks are the most important, and the first day is crucial. While every new boy is different, I have the process pretty well down by now. The most important thing is to have his mentor at the house already when he arrives. The new arrival is usually a full week before the semester starts, so I have to arrange for the mentor to be a little early as well. The mentor is someone one or two years older that welcomes him and helps him through his first college year. It’s one of the reasons why I get so many interested in renting a room in my house. There are only seven rooms I rent out, although some are big enough to share, but I think privacy is important, at least for the first year or two. That allows for personal, one on one sessions without any interruptions.

The mentor is with the new arrival at all times during the first day. He’s fully indoctrinated by now, but in addition I give him some coaching the day before on how to build trust. Most important is to project a confident, aspirational facade, so the new arrival has someone to look up to, someone they would like to become. Someone they would like to emulate. Someone whose suggestion they would follow. Someone whose opinion matters and information they trust. There is a long list of small gimmicks, like asking to borrow something, repeat words and phrases back to him, and so on. All of them useful later in life to make anyone follow your lead and do what you tell them. But today it is all about getting the new arrival to do one specific thing.

We spend the day setting up the new room, getting to know each other, doing some sightseeing. Lots of situations with liquid in one form or another. “Would you like a soda before you unpack?” and “It’s tea break. Come down to the tea room.” and “This is the best ice cream in town. Let me buy anything you like”. Everything is high in water and low in sodium. It’s soup for dinner, lots of vegetables. High in water and slow to release it. I always insist on having a small wine tasting first evening. “There is so much more to education than what you get from your curriculum. I insist you know something about all the major wine grapes before you graduate”. It’s usually three bottles of red. That way I can pour a little in three different glasses. Then it doesn’t look that much, but still it would be rude of him to not empty it. Not that that has ever been a concern. For some it’s the first time they’ve even had alcohol. Then fruit for dessert.

This is what it has all lead up to. He has a new friend who he looks up to and trust. He’s more hydrated than ever before in his life, not just with straight-up water, but also with water-soluble vegetable fibers, and he is tipsy from the dinner beverages. This is were I ask him to get to his room and get ready.

They go to his room and his mentor tells him the secret, well-rehearsed of course. He talks about how great this place is, what a great support I am, and how every parent is proud to have their child selected. It’s just that I have a small little weird kink, the reason why I run this house to begin with. I don’t have any children so I want to treat the new arrivals as such. It’s just some harmless play.

The new arrival is anxious by this point, wondering what sick perversion I have that he is clearly getting pressured into. The mentor then reveals I want him to put on nappies and read a bedtime story for him. The new arrival sighs of relief. He was worried he would have to call home to his parents and ask them to drive back half a state and pick him up. He’s heard of much worse hazings at frat houses. “Is the bedtime story a euphemism?”, he asks. No, it isn’t. “Do I have to pee and shit the diapers?”. Only if you want to, he answers laughing.

The mentor shows him the items in his bathroom, and tells him how to put the nappy on. Once done, and the new arrival is tucked in bed, I show up with a children’s book and a pacifier. I act as if it is the most natural thing in the world to put a pacifier in the mouth of a teenager. I sit down and read a short story while he falls asleep.

The mentor wakes him up the morning after and asked how he slept. There is no way he hasn’t wet his nappy during the night, so the job of the mentor is to dismiss it as inconsequential. Of course he wet himself, he was drunk from all the wine! Some people wet themselves when they are stressed or have anxiety, like moving away from home, entering a new school. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you even had nappies on, so no damage done. Throw it in the trash, take a shower and none is the wiser.

This works as a segue for having a morning swim in the lake a short walk away. I have basic swimming as a requirement for all applications, under the guise that the house is so close to the lake, and I don’t want to have a drowned student. In practice 30 minutes of swimming is how all the boys start their mornings. It’s bonding, it’s cardio, it’s slimming, and most important of all, it is in water. It’s the only exercise they do, save for some light weights in our tiny home gym, but they do it diligently.

I welcome them back with breakfast. Tea, orange juice, oatmeal porridge, watermelon, boiled eggs, avocado. Nutritious, and rich in protein and water-soluble fibers. Then I leave them to explore the city on their own. This is more or less the template for the entire week. They start out with swimming and breakfast. Then I’m hands off until the evening, letting them visit friends, the campus, shop books and equipment, and whatever else they need to do to prepare for the new school year. Then I serve up dinner. I’m not as extreme as the first day, but I try to keep water content high and sodium low, and showcase a few new types of wine. When it’s bedtime he puts on his nappy, goes to bed. I give him the pacifier and read a little story.

I bring a freshly coated pacifier every evening. The binding agent looks and feels just like rubber, but slowly dissolves during the night, releasing the sedative and psycopharma mixed into it. First night is all about strong sedative, to fall asleep quickly, relax the muscles and not wake up to relieve the bladder. The sedative part is then slowly dialed back to low enough dose to just create an addiction, while more focus is given to the psycopharma and some of the physiological effects. The vibration sensors in the bed can roughly track what part of the sleep cycle the boy is in, so that the right track can start to play in the speaker at the right time.

I want him to feel good and safe, so that is always the first thing he hears. How he is loved by me and his brothers, how good he feels to be here with us, how nice it is to fall asleep in his bed in this house. How this is a safe place, both for him and any secrets he may have. No one will know what he does here, unless he tells them. He can relax, mind, body, and soul. Get that deep rest that lets everything that happened during the day sink in and be part of him. Let his mind relax fully and let go of all worries for the night. All brothers are loyal to each other. Let his body relax fully, let go of all stress and become rested. Listen carefully and remember everything that is being taught to him. Let his bladder relax fully and let go. He is safe and secure, wearing his nappies. No one will know.

The pacifier and nappy is completely normalized within days, and compulsively needed to even fall asleep within two weeks. He doesn’t even notice that it happens, and with all the other boys back for school it all feels normal. He doesn’t have his parents around, no other friends, no classmates yet. It’s just a bunch of well mannered, good looking, A-students that he lives with. And every morning they put on bathrobes and run to the lake, all of them wearing their night nappy. They throw it in the bin by the shore, and swim naked for half an hour.

The rest is easy. Step by step, one more once the previous is fully accepted and incorporated. I have a barber they can go to for free, but only if I chose their hairstyle. They can go somewhere else if they want to, but they all take me up on my offer. It’s free, and they’ll look like the other boys staying here. It’s not even peer pressure, but a longing to belong. I have an esthetician show up once a month helping them with pimples, skincare, and massage, if they wish. No one has ever said no to free massage, especially not if everyone else tells you how amazing it is. She’ll give them all the lotions they need to keep their skin looking prepubescent. They are eager to learn how to take care of their skin. The voices at night have made it so.

It takes them different time, but always well before Christmas break he is unable to control his bladder even awake. It’s an important milestone, and it would be such a hard transition if he didn’t have the support of his brothers. They show him how it’s not a big deal. The day nappies are slim fitting and don’t show under normal clothes. They tell him how he doesn’t have to worry about bathroom breaks. They tell him that while he won’t be partying out, they are here to study after all. They are in this together. They tell him it will all be fine.

Christmas is the real test, and the new ones are concerned about if they should tell their parents, or if they should keep it a secret. They all go for keeping it a secret, if nothing else to be loyal to their brothers. It’s such a great joy when they return, because they both feel accomplished making it through Christmas, but happy they can be themselves again. It creates a mental breaking with the past.

It’s that feeling of belonging that propels them through the final push. They get subtle hints all around to keep their body smooth. It’s what swimmers do, and you’re a swimmer aren’t you? It makes it so much hygienic when wearing nappies. I’ve made it easy for them to make the decision on their own. Just talk to their esthetician. I never raise the question of laser hair removal. It’s like a mini graduation that they have to work up the urge themselves to ask me about it. I happily pay for it, of course.

Once we reach this milestone, usually before the first summer break, but never far after, having lived through a sweaty summer with itchy stubble all over, I make no more changes. Subtle adjustments perhaps, but by large I want them to feel stability, to really make these changes their own. I don’t mean just in the psychological sense, but have their bodies adapt. Lush, youthful skin that stays that way for decades. Lean, nutritious habits that lead to lean, lithe bodies. Constantly keeping a bottle near to always hydrate, and constantly filling their nappy, until the kidneys know nothing else.

The real reward comes later, after they have graduated, whenever I see an alumnus on TV. The leader of a think tank, or the CEO of a traded company, my boys tend to do well. The reward is to see them agitate on TV or give their expert opinion, and know that below that crisp suit is a body smooth as a soap and a cute little nappy.

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