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fatefulfaerie · 4 years

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New (Part 3/3)

Part 1: https://fatefulfaerie.tumblr.com/post/621364335842820096/new-part-13

Part 2: https://fatefulfaerie.tumblr.com/post/621446432569917440/new-part-23

“And safe travels!” Zelda exclaimed as she waved to the last of the guests, them crossing the bridge and disappearing into the approaching night.

She closed the door, it latching closed as she let out a sigh.

“That wasn’t too bad,” she remarked. “Chaos, sure. But we expected that.”

The only response from Link was the sounds the dishes made beneath the running water, the scrubbing, the tiny clatter when a clean plate would be put to the side.

“I think it went well,” she continued as she headed upstairs. “And now we have a new picture to put on the wall. I’ll have to ask Purah how she printed it all that time ago.”

Zelda sat down to her diary on the table, a habit she was happy to start after a hundred years of incoherent and manic thoughts. Not to mention seventeen years before that of nearly failing at the practice.

It was freeing, the first time she opened an empty diary to the first page. Before her was a future not weighed down by her past. She could look at things like a blank page, everyday something new that proved she was moving forward. For the past couple weeks since Calamity Ganon was expelled from Hyrule, she had written everyday at least something to resolve the day.

Yet as she placed her quill down she didn’t know what words to write, the black ink smudging, splotching on the page.

She dropped the quill back into the black bottle of ink with a heavy sigh.

Her gaze went to Link, as it always does, studying him as he cleaned with her head falling to rest on her left hand.

He finished the last plate, placing it upon the others and bracing his hands on the edge of the counter with a bowed head.

“I think we need to talk,” Link said without moving.

Zelda took a deep breath before she shook her head up and down. Remembering Link couldn’t see her she replied,

“Okay.”

His hands came off the counter and he turned around, heading up the stairs without meeting her glaze. Yet, it wasn’t difficult. Zelda’s head was downcast, on that black splotch as if it were a spider she was relentlessly watching, keeping an eye on.

Link decided to plop on his bed, staring at the ceiling with one leg bent and one straight.

“Do you recall what I said?” Link started. “On the field. When you asked if I remembered you?”

Zelda nodded.

“You said yes,” she replied, turning her head.

Link nodded.

“You apologized for your honesty earlier,” he continued. “But I told you I remembered you, maybe not everything, but I remember enough. My memory is fragile but that doesn’t mean that your honesty now should be changed by that. If I’ve done something wrong--”

“Link…”

“If I’ve done something wrong,” he insisted. “I want you to be honest about it. Going forward, I...I want you to be honest. And it’s not just you either. These past couple weeks have been courteous at best, but...I didn’t realize it was because of me.”

Zelda looked from Link back to the black dot on the page, interlocking her fingers.

“I spent a hundred years waiting for something definitive,” Zelda said. “It’s only because of my impatience that I snapped today. You should take your time to think about things...process things. I’ve had a hundred years and I didn’t even lose my memory. Please take the time you need.”

Zelda picked back the quill back up and started to write of her day, of greeting the descendants and relatives of the champions and sharing a meal with them.

Link sat up and studied her as she wrote in her diary.

He pulled the Sheikah Slate from its latch on his belt, the screen chiming before opening to a gallery of pictures.

He clicked on the first one, the normal one, the perfect one, the one that would likely be hung and kept and preserved a hundred years from today. Hopefully with less tragic death, but with just as much emotional weight.

Link swiped to the next picture.

Zelda was smiling bigger, his arm around her, but not much had changed. He swiped to the next one, stopping, holding the grips of the slate with both hands.

He didn’t even remember this one being taken.

Sidon, Yunobo, Riju, and Teba were all looking at the pair of Hylians with a smile as the couple stared deeply into each others’ eyes. It really was a beautiful picture, how well the love between them was expressed in just one look, how the sunset gleamed and made them glow.

Link swiped to the next and exhaled a sigh. Their lips were connected, but their bent, unrehearsed arms showed their surprise. It looked so forced, like at any moment one would pull away from the other. It looked as if they were completely different people from the picture before.

With a couple taps, Link had the prompt before him to delete it. After all, if this picture existed a hundred years ago, he would have been decommissioned and jailed for treason, and the assault of a royal if the King wanted to avoid the ruin of Zelda’s reputation. If not, it would become a scandal that would harm her father's trust in her even more. Even now she still had eyes on her, although she had tried to avoid it. If she decided to return as Princess or even rise as Queen, she shouldn’t let some minor infatuation get in the way.

But Link thought of Kass’ words as his finger hovered over the button.

Love. The princess’ love for her fallen knight awakened her power. That was what caused all of it in the first place. That one word and Link realized that falling in love with a memory wasn’t foolish because he had fallen in love with those green eyes before, that smile. He loved her back a hundred years ago and, Princess or not, he couldn’t deny that he felt the same now.

He rescued her from Calamity Ganon and he acted like he didn’t know, to protect her, to not embarrass her, to not force anything upon her. Somewhere along the line, somewhere within these two weeks he must have forgotten that she needed him too.

And so he hurt her by doing so.

With a certain resolve, he activated the camera rune, setting it so that it faced him instead of what was behind the Slate.

He grabbed it by the handle and approached Zelda. She turned her head at the sound of footsteps just seconds before Link planted his lips on hers.

SNAP

Her lips were parted and her eyes opened wide as Link withdrew. He offered her the Slate.

“A do over,” he said with a smile. “As requested.”

Zelda took the Slate into her hands. She stared at the picture and Link sat on the near bedpost waiting for her next words.

“Do you always do as you’re requested?” She asked quietly, still looking at the picture.

“I don’t exactly have any evidence to the contrary,” Link said.

Her gaze lingered on the picture for just another moment longer before she placed it on the corner of her desk without a word or a care. She went back to her diary and began to write again.

Link considered whether he’d done something wrong as the silence fell. He looked down to his hands as he thought upon it, scratching one thumb with the other.

“But for instance,” he continued, with a courage he hoped would work in his favor. “If I was requested to jump off a cliff for no reason other than certain death, I wouldn’t do that.”

“So you only do things if they aren’t absolutely abhorrent?” Zelda asked.

“Yeah...I guess…” He replied before panic settled within him and his eyes widened. “Wait...no, no...I didn’t mean…kissing you, it…”

Link exhaled a sigh, straightening the words in his head like the offerings of apples in a line of mysterious statues.

“I do what people request of me because I like helping people,” he explained, “finding them lizards or mushrooms or whatever they can’t get themselves. But with you it’s different...it’s always been different. I saved you because I needed to see you happy and free and...I kissed you because I wanted to. It was more than not abhorrent...it was a request I was actually happy to do. In fact...I would only ever kiss you.”

From Link’s point of view, Zelda showed no change.

But she had put down her quill, her cheeks had reddened and her heart had soared and sank and burned and froze all at the same time.

“I am sorry,” Link said, thinking he needed to speak further. “So sorry that I didn’t bring this up earlier. I knew you loved me, and I’ve been spending so much time asking myself whether or not I love you like I did then or whether or not you still love me now...that I’ve been unclear with you. And to be honest I don’t know if what I feel now is what I felt then. I don’t know if it’s more or less or the same or how it was different...but I do love you.”

Still no response.

“Goddesses, Zelda,” Link implored in her silence. “Please say something. If I’ve misread things or messed it all up we can go back to how it was this morning. If that is what makes you happy, I...I’ll be your knight attendant, I’ll protect you and defend you and nothing more. I’ll be by your side until you no longer want me to be.”

Zelda stood up and faced him quickly. She stared until she started shaking her head no.

“No,” she said, her voice breaking. “No.”

She stepped forward and took his hands. Her grip on them tightened as she bowed her head.

“I want you with me,” she said. “I need you...to stay...always.”

Link nodded in understanding.

“Okay,” he said with a slight chuckle that portended a smile. “Okay.”

He brought his hand to her chin to tilt her head back up, their eyes meeting before their lips did for their third kiss of the day. Each time it had gotten deeper, at first a quick peck, than something longer and much more intentional. Now it was something they delved into, Zelda’s fantasies about making out with her knight attendant coming to fruition as she felt his hand move to cup her cheek.

“So,” she prompted after they withdrew.

“So,” he repeated, his eyes dancing in hers.

“Does this mean we’re...together?”

Link nodded.

“I think so.”

“Do Hylians still call it courting?” Zelda asked with a tip of her head.

“I think so,” Link said, his face contorting in a way that broadcasted the fact that he was thinking, searching the ceiling for answers. “Although I think some of them have coined the term ‘dating’, where marriage isn’t definite and they just kind of spend time together. And then there's this thing where they forego marriage all together and just...hook up.”

“Y-you…” Zelda stammered. Her face was beet red. “You mean people…”

Link nodded.

“Yep,” he said. “Someone actually asked me once and I told them no thanks.”

Zelda shrugged.

“I guess we’re both kind of old-fashioned for these times,” she said.

“Seems like it.”

“Would it be strange to say that we’re courting?”

“No,” Link said in reply, smiling. “Just new.”

#botw #zelda #link #zelink #breath of the wild #tloz #the legend of zelda #I would have included those pictures if I could draw #there's a reason i write

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watchtheblog · 4 years

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petty cache

thank you for coming to read my diary which masquerades as a blog but is actually just a vessel for disseminating my birthday wishlists. it’s like an event you show up to where the host tries to sell you a timeshare 25 minutes after some requisite, mindless song and dance.

welcome! if you’d like purchase a timeshare, scroll to the bottom. for the song and dance, look no further:

the other day i zoned out on zoom therapy and when my therapist asked where i “went” i had to lie because i had gone to the part of my brain that holds all the things i need to think about forever for no reason (i call it the petty cache — this is an umbrella term for the space that also houses my attitude cabinet) and dusted off a memory of a comment i saw on a stranger’s facebook three weeks ago that said “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”.

i don’t know either person, and that’s what i was thinking about. i spend $[redacted] a month on therapy and instead of focusing on one of my numerous unsolved mysteries, i was thinking about the nuances of this comment - like why they wouldn’t just share the news or message the person directly? or what losing their password had to do with anything? or why they would comment on facebook instead of texting or calling the person. did they not have their number? imagine not knowing someone well enough to have their phone number, but still wanting to share your good news with them!

all i want (for my birthday) is to know what the news is that this stranger has to share, and i’ll never know so i have to put that comment in my minutiae repository with all the other things that will plague me until i die from texting and driving, smoke inhalation as a result of purposely leaving a candle lit in my home overnight almost every night, consuming half a dozen hot dogs a week, or a now unnamed disease that will posthumously be attributed to my chronic inability to mind my own business.

i’m constantly concerning myself with things that are none of my concern - no matter how insignificant - because my brain is a commune of sentient pepperoni running instagram polls among themselves to discern if something is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about. and guess what? it turns out absolutely everything that has ever offended, confused, bothered, intrigued, slightly inconvenienced, or merely happened to me is worth spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about.

because i devote so much energy to nonsense, i can often be found persecuting strangers for insulting me on the internet (and for other miscellaneous bad behavior). the information superhighway is my home so i have to protect myself (and my friends) here, and if that means spending 45 minutes to 48 hours trying to find every misstep you’ve made in your life until i have enough ammunition to spray a dozen simulated retaliatory bullets at your virtual head because you called me a “stupid bitch” on instagram, well… so be it!

i am relentless in my pursuit of wasting time, so if that doesn’t work, i will find the cold stone creamery you frequent, seek employment there, be hired on the spot, learn the craft, be promoted to manager, poison you on your birthday, gain access to your funeral, and tarnish your reputation by reading your shitty DM in front of the few family and friends whom i haven’t already made aware of the abhorrent way you conducted yourself online!

there are so many different ways strangers will try to hurt your feelings — an interesting genre of which come from men who (like me) have definitely never had sex before, and mistakenly think i care about the ways in which my body does not make them horny.

“no tits” one will say. and i’m like, how do you want me to respond to that? my boobs are indeed small, yes. did you come here to shoot facts back and forth all day? ok: you’re going to start balding way sooner than you’re prepared for, i bet your childhood dog is dead, your time on the internet should be supervised, your closet is full of vests, and you wait on line at nightclubs… good day?!

while i will obviously engage with anyone if they want to fight, i prefer when the unsolicited criticism is personalized, and not just thoughtless, lazily devised tripe.

a year and a half ago, a man who looked like he exhales smog DMed me to let me know - among other things in a paragraph long rant - he’d “lost brain cells” watching my story. knowing he had likely never had an adequate amount to begin with, it seemed like an emergency, so i started a group DM with his wife. because his message had come just three days after a “fuckkk [heart eye emoji]” response to a photo of my ass, i included a screenshot as evidence of his devolving mental state.

being - presumably - gainfully employed, neither of them responded.

luckily, the consolation prize for insulting me is that you gain residency in my brain and stay in my thoughts and prayers for all eternity, so i checked in on them a few days ago. they’d unfollowed and wiped their feeds clean of each other!!

because i’ve never “moved on” in my entire life, i fired up our long dormant group chat, and sent my condolences: “aw. sorry your trip to positano - where you were going to attempt to repair your ramshackle marriage - got cancelled because of covid and so you just got divorced instead :(” i wrote before being blocked by both of them.

then i headed right over to my therapist’s facebook and commented “message me. i lost my password and i have good news to share”

i spent an entire therapy session detailing this monomania before my therapist thoughtfully suggested i “pick [my] battles”.

to which i thoughtfully responded: yeah, babe. i pick every single one.

***

timeshare time! it’s the same list as this post, with a few additions (at top) (and edits based on availability).

places to donate food education fund pretty brown girl the okra project

some furniture stuff a side table a pointless, laughably tiny little thing this website is calling a “drink table” a lamp one of these benches i do not want this but it’s important to me that at least 2 other people know it exists

this plant that obviously does not need to cost $165 but idk how to shop economically

air pods

gifts from the previous post - all still v much in play!

a pair of shoes (size 8 or 38) one pair, another pair, yet another, these are on sale, these are not, and a final pair

a specific clutch with three color choices they allege this color is called sand but it looks white to me, pink, green for those who do not know what malachite means (it couldn’t be me. i learned it 3 hours ago when i began compiling this cursed list)

something everyone with money to waste needs this

dresses i’ll never be able to wear until there’s a vaccine because unlike someone tacky who knows me, i won’t be having a birthday party in the middle of a global pandemic (hi, you fool) white polka dot, not white polka dot, also not polka dot, a red dress, a skirt (aka half a dress), a black dress

this sweatsuit xs in this, small in this

is sephora cancelled? i want this hair dryer which i’m sure you can buy elsewhere if sephora is cancelled, which it v well may be

this item which you may think is cheap but actually it’s not soooo a hairpin

earrings one pair, another pair, and another

this dress which i’ll never wear anywhere even when there is a vaccine because… what?! but maybe. you never know. size 34. lol when i get this far into the list i’m always blown away by how insane it is that i do this every year to no audience. so i’m just laughing alone at that. :) i am v funny to myself. another dress i’ll never wear ;)

the nicest weighted blanket you know of i’m depressed!!!!! if you can’t tell!!!!!!!

every year i have asked for a weekend bag and every year i have not received one, so alas, we try again this is not a weekend bag actually but it will do. this is!

a peloton but just venmo me the cash (@merce212) because i have a hookup

an assortment of ridiculous things a $500 body scarf a $580 beach towel with an octopus on it for no reason besides “art” i cannot tell analog time but it’s never too late to start!! how mad would you be if someone bought you a roulette table for your wrist? be honest. (THIS WATCH IS FOUR YEARS RENT!!!!!!) they won’t say how much this costs :( i’m losing my mind and must be gifted a chanel watch or else i will perish. to put my salami on when i am eating salami in my bed “24k gold crocodile [?!!) teddy bear”. the website says there’s only one left, which begs the question “why did someone buy one of these rather than buying me a chanel watch?!!” *real ‘billionaires shouldn’t exist [unless they’re buying me a watch]’ energy* to put my new watch in this is ugly but it’s on sale :) idk wtf “secret box pendant” means but i wish this necklace was also a USB with every season and spinoff of 90 day fiancé on it hi yes i’m stupid but i draw the line at $1500 connect four…

#things i want #things I want for my birthday #lists of things #lists of things i want #my birthday #birthday lists #9/26; never forget #invidious consumption

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userlarri · 4 years

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stealing @jakeperalta‘s idea of putting all of the tag games friends have shared into one post - ella, you’re a genius!! if anyone feels like doing any of these, pretend i tagged you 💕

tagged by @cheddarholt 💖

honey and lemon or milk and sugar // musicals or plays // lemonade or iced tea // strawberries or raspberries // winter or summer // beaches or forests // diners or cafés // unicorns or dragons // gemstones or crystals // hummingbirds or owls // fireworks or sparklers // brunch or happy hour // sweet or sour // Rome or Amsterdam // classic or modern art // sushi or ramen // sun or moon // polka dots or stripes // macarons or croissants // glitter or matte // degas or seurat // aquariums or planetariums // road trip or camping trip // colouring books or water color // fairy lights or candles

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tagged by @charmainediyoza 💖

Rules: put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up, then tag 10 others to do the same! (disclosure - i shuffled my liked songs on spotify)

let me get me / selena gomez

tequila makes her clothes fall off / joe nichols

time after time / quietdrive

don’t let me be the last to know / britney spears

home / sundy best

it’s nice to have a friend / taylor swift

freak / little mix

this kiss / faith hill

a.d.i.d.a.s. / little mix

you don’t do it for me any more / demi lovato

let me just say, this list is not a very good representation of my taste lol

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tagged by @smilecapsules 💖

top seven comfort movies

grease

miss congeniality

any disney tbh... but if i can only have one, mary poppins

anastasia

now and then

the princess diaries

10 things i hate about you

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tagged by @jacobperaltaz 💖

RULES ⇥ TURN YOUR URL INTO SONG TITLES (because we all need a little more music in our lives) 🎵🎧

enchanted / taylor swift

i do / cardi b ft. sza

gravity / john mayer

have i told you lately / van morrison

temproary fix / one direction

your love / the outfield

no judgement / niall horan (stream this album!! my mans doesn’t miss!!)

island in the sun / weezer

new year’s day / taylor swift

everywhere / michelle branch

somebody to love / queen

really enjoyed this one, too!! THIS is better view of my music taste, but still there’s so much more

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tagged by @smilecapsules💖

Rules: name 10 favorite characters from 10 different things and then tag 10 people

remus lupin, harry potter

amy santiago, brooklyn 99

ben wyatt, parks and rec

erin hannon, the office

mindy lahiri, the mindy project

titus andromedon, unbreakable kimmy schmidt

peter parker/spiderman, marvel

james aubrey, bones

janet, the good place

chandler bing, friends

what can i say - your girl loves some sitcoms

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tagged by @greatbigstorm 💖

🌿 favourite comfort food: chicken and dumplings

🌼 favourite alcohol (or hot drink!): margaritas! but also hot chocolate

🌷 favourite relaxing activity: giffing

🌸 favourite fluffy/feel-good fic: none come to mind. haven’t read fic in a minute

🌻 favourite calming scent: anything vanilla tbh

🌺 favourite relaxing (or uplifting) song: have i told you lately by van morrison

🌵 favourite white noise: thunderstormss

🍄 favourite book to get lost in: the outsiders by s.e. hinton

💐 favourite chill out tv show: parks and rec or friends

🌹 the best advice you’ve ever had: don’t let the bastards get you down

---

tagged by @smilecapsules 💖

top 3 ships? ugh..... ben x leslie, jake x amy, ron x hermione

last song? no judgment / niall horan

last movie? the princess diaries

food i’m craving? oh man, i’d kill for some warm cheesecake brownies right now....i gotta make some this weekend

---

tagged by @greatbigstorm 💖

Bold what applies to you

♡ appearance ♡ i am over 5’5 // i wear glasses/contacts // i have blonde hair // i prefer loose clothing over tight clothing // i have one or more piercings// i have at least one tattoo // i have blue eyes // i have dyed or highlighted my hair // i have gotten plastic surgery // i have or had braces // i sunburn easily // i have freckles // i paint my nails // i typically wear makeup // i don’t often smile // i am pleased with how i look // i prefer nike to adidas // i wear baseball caps backwards

♡ hobbies and interests ♡ i play a sport // i can play an instrument // i am artistic // i know more than one language // i have won a trophy in some sort of competition // i can cook or bake without a recipe // i know how to swim // i enjoy writing // i can do origami // i prefer movies to tv shows // i can execute a perfect somersault // i enjoy singing // i could survive in the wild on my own // i have read a new book series this year // i enjoy spending time with my friends // i travel during school or work breaks // i can do a handstand (in the pool? lol)

♡ relationships ♡ i am in a relationship // i have been single for over a year // i have a crush // i have a best friend i have known for ten years // my parents are together // i have hooked up with my best friend // i am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // i have had a long-distance relationship // i am an only child // i give advice to my friends // i have made an online friend // i met up with someone i have met online

♡ aesthetics ♡ i have heard the ocean in a conch shell // i have watched the sunrise // i enjoy rainy days // i have slept under the stars // i meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // i enjoy the smell of the beach // i know what snow tastes like // i listen to music to fall asleep // i enjoy thunderstorms //i enjoy cloud watching // i have attended a bonfire // i pay close attention to colors // i find mystery in the ocean // i enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favorite season

♡ miscellaneous ♡ i can fall asleep in moving vehicles // i am the mom friend // i live by a certain quote(s) // i like the smell of sharpies // i am involved in extracurricular activities // i enjoy mexican food // i can drive a stick-shift // i believe in true love // i make up scenarios to fall asleep // i sing in the shower // i wish i lived in a superhero movie // i have a canopy above my bed // i am multiracial // i am a redhead // i own at least 3 dogs

#this was fun!!!#kept me busy too #about me #tag games #fr if you see this and want to play tag me!!!

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roc-thoughtblog · 3 years

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IDORU READTHROUGH CHAPTER 1-21 RECAP

Transhumanist rockstar Johnny Silverhand announces his engagement to virtual idol Hatsune Miku, and everyone is upset. A fired data analyst and a teenage Silverhand stan are both sent to Japan to find out why he's gone crazy. Or has he?

I'm joking but that kind of is the story. It's great.

I haven't picked this book up in at least half a year so I can barely remember where I was at (this is more a reflection of myself than of the book). I need this recap for myself, too.

For my previous post on thoughts on the genre, click here.

CONTENTS:

Personal Context

Story So Far

General Thoughts

Predictions

PERSONAL CONTEXT: When I visited Adelaide in 2019, I found a fairly large second-hand bookstore called O'Connell's Bookshop, which I believe is family-owned. It is super cool, one of those bookstores where the shelves are overflowing and you could probably find somebody's great-grandparents' childhood diary if you looked hard enough. Also, they have a dog! And the dog's name is my name! I'm a bookstore dog! Ahem. I will never not be excited about that. Please visit if you're in Adelaide and say hi to my canine counterpart.

Anyway, I was perusing and randomly spotted a book called Idoru, and my first thought was, "huh this seems like a romanisation of idol in japanese, is this just an old book about japanese idols?" And then I saw William Gibson's name attached to the book called Idoru, and my second thought was "wait, that William Gibson? What has that William Gibson got to do with japanese idols?"

Dumb question, really. The influence of east-asia in general on the development of the cyberpunk genre is huge, so the convergence shouldn't have been surprising. Also, the book's from 1996, so it's relatively recent; I had pigeonholed Gibson to the 80s because I didn't know better, and wondered whether virtual idols were even a thing then.

Either way, the novelty of an intersection between William Gibson and Hatsune Miku was more than compelling enough for me to buy the heck outta that book, and I've been enjoying it.

STORY SO FAR: Idoru separately follows two protagonists, former data analyst Colin Laney and teenage music fan Chia McKenzie. Both have been sent to Tokyo to figure out what's going on with an old-school rockstar named Lo/Rez, and why he's become engaged to virtual idol Rei Toei.

Colin has just been fired from his job at SlitScan, some kind of pop celebrity dirt-digging company. When his metadata analysis revealed that a teen celebrity was about to commit suicide (after it helped drive her to that point to begin with), he tried to intervene. He failed, a scandal ensued, and he was fired for trying to whistleblow to a media-company-dirt-digging-company. He was dropped when they found out he was once a test subject of a questionable experimental drug, compromising the legitimacy of his story.

Out of job, he's sent to Tokyo to get picked up by Lo/Rez's loyal bodyguard, Keith Blackwell. Blackwell wants to know if his boss has gone off the deep end, and suspects foul play, manipulation or tech-mediated brainwashing. He wants Laney to figure out who's behind it. All Laney can figure out so far, however, is that Lo/Rez leaves astonishingly little metadata to analyse, but has been lying about his activities to Blackwell. Also, Laney's old boss Kathy Torrance wants to blackmail him for dirt on Lo/Rez.

Meanwhile, Chia's VR Lo/Rez fanclub is upset that Lo/Rez has made a marriage announcement, to a virtual idol of all things. The rich one in their group uses her father's credit card to sponsor Chia to go to Tokyo and meet with the fanclub's Tokyo chapter to find out what's up.

On the flight over, Chia unknowingly falls in with some kind of smuggler, Maryalice, who uses her as a patsy to smuggle something into Japan. She takes Chia to her boyfriend's place, where Maryalice and her boyfriend start having a violent argument over Chia's involvement. Chia takes the chance to flee, but unknowingly still has the mysterious smuggled item in her bag.

She meets the Tokyo chapter's representative Mitsuko, who says that nothing is wrong, but Chia is unconvinced. Mitsuko's brother Masahiko takes Chia out to help her investigate, but both their friends warn them they are being stalked by a dangerous unknown group, and the credit card Chia is using is being tracked.

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Each character in Idoru is described by Gibson with great vividness. They're also colourful to the extent that I feel like I'm experiencing the literary equivalent of the silhouette test for character identity. The descriptions are conveyed with great efficiency. At no point is the story stopping to exposit to you how a character appears, you figure out their appearance alongside their actions and personality as the scene progresses. In that sense, appearance, personality and actions are fused such that the character feels incredibly whole. It's very cool, I wanna emulate that. Also, they'd make great prompts for character design illustration exercises.

Having said that, I feel like this is another story where the supporting cast seem more interesting than the protagonists. Laney is alright; he seems to only be a creased suit-shirt, but at least he's a creased suit-shirt with a backstory. Chia suffers a little though; I can't even remember what she looks like and there wasn't terribly much going on in her life.

I really like Blackwell. Partly for Australian bias, but partly because I think he exemplifies this approach to character writing the best. His image is incredibly solid and unique among the case, he's dripping with personality, and it all works in harmony with every little action we see him take to bring his character to life. He makes a great study for close reading.

There's a very simple and predictable prose structure to the story so far; one chapter of Laney followed by one chapter of Chia, repeat. I'm not really sure how well it works; on the one hand it's nice to know exactly what's coming next, but on the other I feel like it's affecting the pacing a bit in some places. It's hard to end a chapter of Laney thinking, "I want to know what's next," and having to enter a chapter of Chia starting something entirely different.

Sometimes the writing is just unintentionally funny because I live 24 years into the future and japanese culture is now fairly mainstream. "Kelsey drew her nymph-self up with elvin dignity, batting manga-doe eyelashes in disbelief," while referring to a VR anime avatar, just makes me crack up. At the same time, props to Gibson for calling out VRchat anime avvies in 1996.

I'm not sure what's with cyberpunk and automatically taking place in an alternate world history - actually it suddenly made sense to me when I was typing; it's partly alternate to me because I live in the future, and it's partly that their setting is shaped by more extreme fictional, governments, corporations and man-made disasters. Having said, some changes still seem casually random and just thrown in to make the whole world feel different. Australia seems to have had a civil war that created a southern identity, Russia seems to be... fully controlled by the kombinat? Native American countries build laptops. Lots of strange details dotted through the setting.

PREDICTIONS: None, I'm halfway through the book but I still have no idea what's really going on or what's about to happen. Lo/Rez hasn't shown up yet outside of recordings, and people rarely even mention the idol.

If I had to guess, Chia and Laney's stories seeming to still have nothing to do with each other suggests that whatever connects them has already been revealed. I'd take that to be Chia's accidentally smuggled contraband then, or whatever group is stalking her, though I have no idea what that is yet.

#idoru #bridge trilogy #william gibson #cyberpunk #post cyberpunk #about 1300 words #took about 3 hours though #probably too long #novels

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worryinglyinnocent · 7 years

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Fic: Chance Encounter

I think my messages to the Rumbelle Showdown are being eaten and I really want to post my fics, so I’m going to reveal myself now: I was Purple Polka Dots.

This was my first round fic, for the prompts: Smuggling, Down by the sea, Interview

Summary: Belle meets a mysterious stranger whilst searching for the fabled hoard of famed smuggler Rumpelstiltskin, and a tentative friendship begins.

Rated: G

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Chance Encounter

The cold sea air whipped at Belle’s face as she struggled along the beach through the gale, the salt from the crashing waves stinging her skin. No-one in their right mind would come down to the sea in such a storm, but Belle was determined in her quest. The opportunity was just too good to pass up and she needed something extra-special to make her mark. According to the text she’d found, the cave was only accessible twice a year when the tides allowed, and she wouldn’t get another chance before the interview tomorrow. Storybrooke’s maritime history was a wonderfully rich one in all areas, but the legends surrounding Smugglers’ Cove were what really drew people to the town; either treasure seekers in search of the fabled stashes left by smugglers of yore, or cynics decrying the rumours as bunkum. A job as the chief archivist of the renowned Storybrooke Maritime Museum would be a dream come true for Belle – and all the other candidates for the position.

Hence her current expedition.

Studies of the coastline around Storybrooke had proven inconclusive as to the exact location of the smugglers’ loot, and every summer, crowds of tourists with metal detectors could be seen combing its many caves. Belle glanced down at the plastic wallet flapping about in her gloved hands; the key to it all, discovered in one of the old books in the Boston library where she used to work. An extract from the diary of Rumpelstiltskin himself, the most famed smuggler in the Storybrooke coves. If she could just find the particular cave he mentioned, then her success at the interview would be assured.

Just a few yards more. Belle switched on her flashlight and the beam bounced off the cliff face as she searched for the hidden rock seam that Rumpelstiltskin’s journal described as the entrance to his secret hideout. His real name had been, fittingly, Gold, but the nickname had sprung up from his cackling, trickster-like reputation, and his ship, the Spindle Imp, was feared by all who saw her.

Belle’s breath caught in her throat as her flashlight beam reflected oddly off the wet stone. Could this be it? This part of the cliff was usually covered by the rolling waves. She strode forward, almost slipping on the seaweed, and investigated the corner. It was an opening! Just as Rumpelstiltskin had described. A bit of a squeeze, especially with all her layers of fleece and waterproofs, but with a bit of wriggling, she was inside.

To say that Belle was disappointed would be an understatement. The cave was empty, no sign of any treasures as she swung her flashlight around its damp, dripping walls.

“It was all cleaned out long ago. Old Rumple was wily. Never kept his stash in the same place for too long.”

The voice behind her made her scream, and she jumped as a second flashlight beam came on beside her own, losing her footing on the slippery rocks underfoot. A firm arm caught her before she could land in an undignified heap on her backside, and the unseen man set her back on her feet.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Belle saw the man’s face in the dim torchlight; hair on the long side, rough shadow over his jawline and a flash of gold in his mouth. He looked like he could have been a smuggler of legend himself.

“That’s all right,” she said, realising that she was just staring at the man and hadn’t made any kind of reply to him. “No harm done.”

He smiled, but then he seemed to remember that he was still holding her tightly and jumped back as if he’d been stung.

“Ah, erm, sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair awkwardly. “So what brings you here?” he asked. “Other than the obvious search for mythical smuggled goods. I have to say that I’m impressed, not many people make it to the cave itself.”

“Research,” Belle replied. “That’s how I found the place, and what I’m doing here.”

The man nodded. “Well, that’s certainly dedication.”

“That’s a quality that archivists need.”

“You’re interviewing for the open position at the museum?” he asked with interest.

“Yes, I’ve just moved here from Boston.” Belle’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me you’re here for the same reason that I am.” It would be a dreadful shame if this new acquaintance turned out to be a potential rival.

He laughed. “Don’t worry, you’re safe. I’m not after your job.”

“That’s good to hear. So how did you come to find this place?”

“I cheated,” the stranger admitted cheerfully. “My aunts already knew about it and told me where to find it. I suppose it’s something of a family secret. I come here whenever the cave is accessible to see whether anyone else has been clever enough to work out where it is.”

“And do you usually have company?” Belle asked.

“No, you’re actually the first in all the years I’ve been coming,” the man said. He held out a hand to Belle. “Come on. I want to show you something. I’d hate for your trip to be wasted since there’s no actual treasure here.”

Belle took the offered hand, firm and warm, and she couldn’t help but give an excited squeeze as he guided her through the dim cave. After a moment, he returned the pressure.

“There.” He shone his flashlight at the far corner of the cave, where a pile of soggy driftwood had been wedged into the crevices in the rock by the tidal waves. “There’s truth in the legends, I promise.”

The light glinted off tarnished brass letters: Spindle Imp.

“Rumpelstiltskin’s ship!” Belle breathed.

“Left it as a souvenir, in case anyone did find the cave. Flipping the bird to the navy who wanted to get their hands on his gains, I think.”

Belle stayed staring at the metal name in awe for several minutes, and it was only when she felt the stranger’s fingers twitch in hers that she realised she was still holding his hand. Glancing up at his face she saw he showed no signs of wanting her to let go, so she didn’t.

“It’s amazing,” she said eventually. “All those stories were true. I wonder what he was like.”

“Too clever by half, probably,” the man said with a chuckle. “Maybe that could be your next research project.”

Belle nodded enthusiastically. “If I get the job.”

“I’m sure you won’t have anything to worry about,” the stranger said. Belle thought that the confidence in his voice was touching, if slightly premature. She heard the rumble of thunder in the distance and turned back towards the sliver of dim light that marked the cave entrance.

“I’d best be getting back,” she said, reluctant to leave a place so steeped in mystery.

“Yes. The tide will come in and all this will be underwater soon.”

They made their way back outside and Belle got her first proper look at her new friend. He was a little older than she’d guessed, with grey streaking his hair and laughter lines around his eyes, but his face was nonetheless a handsome one. She caught herself staring and looked away with a cough, embarrassed.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Mr…” she said quickly.

“Just call me Rum,” he said. “And you are?”

“My name’s Belle.”

“It was nice to meet you too, Belle. I’ll see you around, no doubt.”

“I’d like that.”

As Belle hurried off down the beach again, she realised that neither of them had a clue how to contact the other, and didn’t know anything about each other aside from first names – and what kind of a name was Rum anyway?

Still, Storybrooke was a small enough town, and she could always find him at the cave…

Belle tapped her fingers nervously against the museum reception desk as she signed in, until a sight made her freeze and track a familiar face around the foyer. He was clean-shaven today, and wearing an exquisitely cut suit rather than hiking boots and a parka, but she still recognised Rum.

“That’s Mr Gold,” the receptionist said helpfully, following her gaze. “He’s the museum director, related to the great Rumpelstiltskin himself.”

There was a pause, and she added: “He’ll be interviewing you.”

Belle blinked as everything fell into place in her mind. Presently, Mr Gold turned, giving a smile and a nod of recognition.

Belle began to feel a lot more confident about her forthcoming interview.

#rumbelle fic #rumbelle #rumbelle showdown #Purple Polka Dots

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zippdementia · 6 years

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Part 57 Alignment May Vary: White Plume Mountain and the Death of a Friendship

We should have realized something would go wrong. From the time we entered the Mountain, he wasn’t himself. Or maybe he was more of himself, everything exaggerated. But we had grown too used to that look in his eye, too used to the shrill laugh, too used to everything coming out okay in the end. ~ The journals of Nysyries

Today’s blog post is difficult to construct. As I explained last time, we are taking a break from the main campaign to do a side quest inside the classic White Plume Mountain Adventure. The players meet with the Dwarves of the Wyvernwatch Mountains, who agree to send mercenaries to help Brindol but also mention that three legendary weapons forged in the Kingdom of Rhest (and partially responsible for the Kingdom’s downfall) were given to the dwarves for safekeeping generations ago... and now have been stolen! The thief seems to want people to come find the weapons, as he left instructions in the form of a riddle for where the weapons would be kept.

Enter White Plume Mountain, an infamous and still active volcano set in the heart of the Wyvernwatch. The dwarves agree begrudgingly to give the players directions to the Mountain with the promise that they will find and not keep the legendary weapons. To sweeten the deal, they offer a Wish spell upon the return of the weapons. With this, the players make their way to White Plume, entering it only to be greeted by a mischevious and seemingly all-powerful gnome calling himself Keraptis and welcoming the players to his “playground.” His instructions are clear: there are three paths, each leading to another of the weapons. The players need only pass his devious traps and monstrous guardians in order to retrieve the weapons. He also, in response to Tyrion’s boasting that Tyrion is going to beat up the gnome, turns our Blue Bard Tyrion polka-dotted and gives him a Bob Ross afro before disappearing. Begin dungeon!

White Plume Mountain has a very good conversion in Tales of the Yawning Portal and is pretty much a straight dungeon crawl. There is no need to cover every random encounter or detail of its trap rooms here. I had planned for this to be a quick side quest to give the players some cool weapons and buff them up before facing the final rush of the horde. My blog post would have covered some of the changes I made to the dungeon and then moved us back to the main plot with minimal fuss.

As it turned out, White Mountain was a huge turning point not only for all of our characters, but even for our group as a whole. So I have some explaining to do. I’m not going to cover every moment of White Plume Mountain. Let’s start where I intended, however, and talk about some important changes.

The Big Change: Weapons

Each of the three classic weapons hidden in White Plume Mountain has problems that left me feeling unable to use them in my campaign in their original form. First of all, for every weapon I decide to use the old legacy system (from 3.5 I think?) where weapons level up with the characters. So know that these all start as +1 weapons and will eventually grow to +3, with more powerful abilities. I’ll post a link to the redesigns below.

Blackrazor is the one with the most drastic change. Unless your party is going to be going up against epic-level challenges or you are going to be basing the rest of your campaign around this weapon or you are running a solo campaign, it is too powerful to use as is. The reason is that ability to gain temporary hit points. Already innately powerful in DnD 5, most temporary hit point abilities seem to average around 10 or 15 extra hit points. I could see 25 to 50 being reasonable at higher levels. But the ability to gain temporary hit points equal to the original hit points of the monster you killed and the fact that the player gets advantage on all attacks while having these temporary hit points can quickly break a slower paced game. There are some major weaknesses to the weapon, like the inability to hit undead and its propensity to turn its users completely insane, but from a purely mechanical standpoint, my game isn’t ready to withstand its full power yet. So I nerf that for now, having it grant 10+monster’s CR temporary hitpoints upon the monster’s defeat. Again, this will level up in time. I also change the weapon to a Longsword, as this is meant for Aldric Alright.

Wave is a little easier to work with. Mostly here I’m just trying to simplify things. Force cube is one of my least favorite D&D 5 abilities just because of how complicated it is and everything you have to remember. So I pull that as one of its constant abilities and replace it with some extra damage. This weapon is meant for Nysyries.

Whelm is the sad step child of the bunch. A cool little weapon, but with an awful penalty of being at disadvantage for everything you do outside during the day. Okay, so fair enough to say that most of D&D does take place underground or inside, but I’m not quite ready to put this major restriction on my players yet. So this weapon I replace entirely with one out of a third party Legacy Weapons book, the Heartcarver. I intend it for Tyrion, who has a thing for axes. I don’t end up using the stats for Heartcarver because something happens, something we will discuss next, but I’ve provided the first level of Wave and Blackrazor here for review. Keep in mind they will power up later and at a later date I’ll post the full tiered stats, but for now I want it to be a bit of a mystery for my players.

I’ll also throw in a brief mention about one possible encounter in the dungeon, and that is Sir Bluto sans Pite. That fight against him and his knights is incredibly deadly. Like, I’m not sure what the intentions of the designer was in that fight except that players should avoid it altogether. You need to find some way to make this fight doable. Maybe Sir Bluto is willing to let the players go if they bribe him or agree to give him one of the weapons (in which case he’ll follow them with his knights to the location of the next weapon and fight the players if they get it and don’t give it to him). Maybe Sir Bluto is arrogant and has his knights fight the players two or three at a time, hanging back until the end to finish them off himself. Maybe he challenges their strongest fighter to a dual, saying if that fighter can defeat him (take him down to 20 or less hit points), he’ll let everyone go. Maybe you expand the river and turn the whole scene into a chase, where the enchanted river flows by an illusionary forest, where the knights fire arrows at the players in their boat and then Sir Bluto gets in his own boat and gives chase with two of his knights, the two teams having to face off against each other as they ride the river rapids. Do something here, because this is otherwise a very frustrating fight unless your party has five or more players in it.

My players encounter the river, but Nysyries uses her spy fly (a little drone-like device that flies up the river to see what’s over there) to spot the attackers and they avoid the whole scene altogether.

Death of a Friendship

Today, news reached me in the form of a song called the “Blue Bard’s Ballad” that my old friend and companion, Tyrion Talltame, last of his name, has perished somewhere in the far east. The song is frustratingly unclear as to the exact manner of his death, ending simply with “he strode forward into fire and smoke, his shadow stretching to the sky, and the final words he ever spoke, they’ll never catch one small as I.” ~ Diary of Karina, Mistress of the School of the Sworn

Dungeons and Dragons is a game played among friends and it moves to the mysterious tides of those friendships. Sometimes it waxes and sometimes it wanes. The bluntest way I can say this is that our friendship with Tyrion’s player has been waning for a while and it finally snapped during White Plume Mountain.

Handling the break up of a friendship without ruining your game of Dungeons and Dragons is not a subject I see talked about often. Maybe it’s somewhat superstitious, like we don’t talk about it because are afraid to invite that occurrence in. Or maybe we simply don’t like to think, or can’t think, of losing long friendships. Most likely I think it is because every situation is different, every group of friends different, and there is no advice that anyone can give that can be directly applied to this kind of situation.

For instance, in our group, I could point to certain behaviors of Tyrion’s player: a propensity to speak over the other players, ignore their ideas, become irritated if others were in the spotlight, and having extreme and borderline violent outbursts when his characters would die. I could speculate on certain things that were said recently and commitments to the game that were broken that gave us all the impression that he no longer was invested in the game. I can take responsibility myself and say that his gaming style had recently become something I wasn’t comfortable with as a GM, finding myself consistently locked into a “challenge” battle with him where his behavior would make me feel not like we were collaboratively telling a story but were instead competing to win the game, an impossible position to be in for Dungeons and Dragons where there is no such thing as winning... well, aside from everyone going home having had a good time. Maybe that was the key thing: not everyone was leaving the table anymore feeling like they were having a good time.

But the reasons go beyond this. I think the best way to explain it came from a conversation I had with another friend just last week about the incident. I am in my mid-thirties now, and the friends I have I value greatly. The people I chose to spend time with these days are people that I hope to have in my life for however long I am given to live it. At the same time, those friends are also well into or approaching their thirties and they are firming up who they are as people. Not that their situations in life will not change, or that they will not continue to grow as people and friends, but the core of who they are is now plain to see. The seed has split and we see the type of tree they are. And the person who played Tyrion, having now shown his shape, is not someone that I feel I can stay friends with. The rest of the group agreed. And so, after Tyrion died, we cut him out of the group and have continued to play with two.

These are hard words to type, made harder still by the fact that he may be reading these words. I believe he will not take them well. In his mind, he is the victim here, perhaps even a martyr for having stuck out the game until he was kicked out. He essentially told me afterwards that he doesn’t need friends who abandon him. From his own perspective, he is not incorrect. From my perspective, there are no victims or martyrs here. There are choices. The rest of the group, myself included, made the choice to remove him from our lives. We own that choice, we take responsibility for it. I only hope that he learns to take responsibility for his.

As grave as all that is, the actual death itself is almost humorous in its telling. Tyrion had been tackling White Plume Mountain like a wrecking ball. The first big trap, a hallway which heats up metal armor and weapons and requires some careful planning to make it through safely, he bolts down before the group can formulate a plan. This places him alone at its end where nearly a dozen ghasts wait to tear him to shreds before the party can catch up. No, this is not where he dies, believe it or not! This is where he gains a feather beard in a hilarious roll of his chaos armor (which, when hit, allows the player to use a reaction to activate a random wild magic). The ghasts leap at him, he unleashes the full might of his armor and... POOF! Feathers explode out of his face in a colorful beard. It’s a pretty great moment.

The actual death comes later, during the unusual Ziggarat aquarium room. For those who haven’t seen the room, it’s pictured above, a tiered step down of enclosed cages with various deadly monsters inside and a door at the bottom tier. The room is an unusual puzzle. Really, it’s about not overthinking it and removing the need to kill every monster. The real trick is getting to the bottom tier and just running through the door. It might sound stupid, but it’s a meta-challenge to gamers that challenges them to test the environment, learn that the monsters are docile as long as their area isn’t entered, and then to make the choice to skip confrontation. Skipping confrontation was a very cool and self-aware message to players back when White Plume came out. It is maybe less relevant today, but no less challenging.

Aldric and Nysyries are actually on the verge of figuring this out, using fish they got earlier in the dungeon to feed the top layer of monsters and observe their behavior, when Tyrion decides to smash the glass. The problem with this is that it then locks the bottom door behind a wall of force and now the players will have to at least fight the manticores.

I won’t go through every facet of this room. There are some very cool moments, like when Aldric makes a mighty leap into the manticore’s lair, jumping over one of the aquariums where the deadly (and literal) sea-lions live, just barely avoiding being snatched out of the air by a leaping sea-lion. Nysyries encounters a wight on the upper level, a random encounter who sneaks into the room behind her, and takes it on one-vs-one while transformed into a giant scorpion! Singlehandedly, she takes down the wight while Aldric faces off against three starved manticores by himself and actually holds his own.

Tyrion at this point is on the upper level. The manticores have had their wings clipped, so they can’t fly up to get him. Nysyries is fighting the Wight and doesn’t need help. The manticores have injured him down to three hitpoints with their tailspikes, but nothing is targeting him now that they are distracted by Aldric, a much more accessible piece of food inside their cage. Tyrion has leisure to heal himself, or to keep launching arcane bolts down into the manticore arena to support Aldric. So what he does next doesn’t make sense to us.

“I use misty step to jump inside the manticore cage!” he declares.

Well, there’s a few problems with this. First of all, the cage is actually outside of the range of misty step. He’ll land on the edge of the lowest aquarium level, and it has been well established by this point that that level has leaping sea-lions who will definitely attack anyone who goes there. Even if he survives this, there are three high-health manticores in that cage looking for an easy meal and who get three attacks a turn. Tyrion is asking to be torn to shreds by going in there with only three hit points.

Maybe he wanted to be in the spotlight. Maybe he was secretly tired of playing Tyrion, though his reaction to what happens next would suggest otherwise. Maybe he simply believed that he couldn’t die.

What happens next is Tyrion the Blue Polka-dotted Bard with a Bob Ross afro and a feather beard poofs in a cloud of smoke, appears on the edge of the aquarium, is immediately stuck from behind by a sea-lion, topples face first into the manticore’s cage, and is devoured by the nearest starved manticore who then burps up a burst of feathers.

When I tell the story to outsiders, they laugh. It’s a classic D&D style mishap, the ignominious and pointless death of a character, the sort of thing that you tell jokes about as you roll up your new character. And it is funny, I can’t help but chuckle even now as I type it. But it is also a little bitter, that it marks the death not only of a long-standing party member, but also of a friendship.

Further Changes: 2 person party

From here on out, we are a two person party. We have not added anyone else to the group, nor do we have a desire to just yet. And it turns out that a two person party is really a lot of fun!

Some benefits include being able to give each character more attention and more roleplaying moments. Challenge becomes something more interesting, too. You can highlight individual monsters more easily, since players are now more easily outclassed by the action economy, and can hand out more unique and interesting magical items, as they are less likely to break the game’s challenge completely. Combat goes faster and players are encouraged to come up with more interesting solutions to situations rather than “we run in and kill it” because that tactic is now potentially dangerous.

On the DM side, it does require a bit of tweaking to adjust fights where necessary, or to roleplay monster behavior so that they aren’t using their most deadly attacks and options each round. In White Plume Mountain, it leads to a couple of major changes in the dungeon:

The Oni Fight: The Oni who guards Blackrazor is a tough opponent and while Nysyries and Aldric could probably defeat him, it is not a sure thing. Possible death seems a harsh thing to put into the game right after such an impactful departure from Tyrion, so I mess with this encounter a lot. As written in the module, the Oni is in disguise as a Halfling, but unlike in the module he is not particularly interested in fighting the players. He despises the gnome who trapped him and has decided to take his command “guard Blackrazor and challenge those who would seek to claim it” more literally and leaves the nature of the challenge up to the players. Aldric chooses to arm wrestle and so they do. The Oni is not totally good natured though, so they do it over small orbs of annihilation which will decimate the hand of whomever loses. We drag this contest out over several Strength rolls, myself keeping track of the number of successes each party gains (big wins, like +5 or +10 over the opponent, count as multiple successes) until Aldric finally drives the Halfling’s hand down into the sphere. In this way, they win the encounter and are able to claim Blackrazor. I don’t let them linger, though: the Halfling is beginning to turn into his true form, compelled to fight them, and the players flee before he can fully transform. The Gnome congratulates them and moves them back to the start of the dungeon.

The Vampire Fight: The fight for Whelm (or in this case, Heartcarver) is against a vampire, an incredibly dangerous foe at this level and one that Aldric, weilding Blackrazor, would not be able to hurt. I just don’t feel that this fight is one that my two person party can win, so I decide to mix it up. When Tyrion dies, the Herzou demon that has lurked inside of him since Haggemoth’s Tomb finally is freed. It barely has time to gloat, however, before the Gnome appears and fascinated by the creature, decides to abscond with him. Really, he is imprisoning the demon in place of the vampire, enjoying the fact that the players will have a chance to fight against the thing that empowered their old companion. More on that later.

Encouraging them to go after all Three Weapons: One obvious question with only two party members is why even care about going for the third weapon? One could claim that they won’t receive their Wish reward unless they claim all three weapons but, really, the players don’t intend on returning these items anyway, though they are wary of the dwarves coming after them to retrieve the weapons. So I sweeten the pot. The Gnome tells them that if they get all three weapons, he will be so delighted that he will cast a massive illusion to make everyone agree that the players have always been the rightful owners of these powerful items. That’s a big incentive, but Nysyries asks for another favor on top of it: “Can you remove the curse that makes me feed on the souls of men”?

She is referring to the blood curse put on her by the Rusalka of the Wytchwood, Tywin’s wife and Jorr’s daughter, the one that forces her to feed every three days on the soul of a male humanoid or else face losing her druidic powers forever.

This is very interesting and as a GM I take it as a clear character goal for Nysyries. So I do some quick adjustments to Heart Carver and the gnome tells Nysyries that the blood bond is too strong for him to affect directly but that the third weapon they seek has the power to break such bonds.

“I can promise to transport you to where the woods wytch is once you retrieve the weapon,” he giggles. “That much I can do.”

And with that, we have our deal.

The Cream of the Crop: Key Moments in White Mountain

There are some key moments that I don’t want to skip over, things that were just too well roleplayed to not share.

Aldric’s Sacrifice: Like all of the sentient legacy weapons, Blackrazor demands something in order to be attuned to. In its case, it wants a sacrific, a show of its new owner’s devotion to it. I honestly don’t have any particular idea in mind when I ask this of Aldric. Obviously it has to be something he can do now, so he can use the awesome weapon in this dungeon. I’m thinking maybe he will offer a body part, or something metaphysical, like the memory of the names and faces of his old mercenary troop. So when he tells Nysyries he will be right back and leaves the dungeon for a moment, I am not sure what to expect. I’m trying to think what he is getting. Aldric is a Cavalier, the new fighter archetype from Xanathar’s Guide. He has some decent magical items that go along with the class and support his role as a mounted warrior. Any of these would be a big sacrifice if he were to let them go.

Then he comes back into the dungeon. And he’s carrying a bloodied saddle. What he’s done dawns on me, then. “OH SHIT,” I say out loud, genuinely heart struck. For years, Aldric has only had one companion, besides his own need for revenge, and that companion was his lovely mare, Enopi, whom he has just slain in his quest for revenge.

The Death of Knick Knack: There is a nasty puzzle in this dungeon (one of many) where a hallway heats up metal and ends in an encounter with ghouls and ghasts. The party is in the process of figuring this puzzle out when, bored and tired of puzzles, Tyrion rushes headlong into it, using dimension door to bypass most of it. That’s fine, except then he’s left alone to fight the ghouls and ghasts. The other players curse and rush into the trap to catch up. They survive the trap, but the ever talkative Knick Knack does not. Having some metal on him, he is melted into nothingness and his last words of banter are spoken as his spirit leaves the door knocker: “Make sure... you put this... in my book...”

Nysyries breaks: Speaking of demands, Wave (which goes to Nysyries) wants only one thing—devotion to the sea god, Poiseden, whose power forged it and whose divine hands once wielded it. Nysyries agrees, this seems easy enough, but she do’esnt realize how complete the devotion is. She now worships and believes ONLY in Poiseden, who claims her soul as his own. Poor Nysyries: she has had her soul bargained and affected at least three times in this adventure. This latest bargain shatters her agreement with Nazragul and in a sudden moment of sharp clarity, she is free of his influence, reverting from Lawful Evil to Lawful Neutral alignment. This will have heavy implications in the finale of the adventure as she now no longer feels compelled to retrieve and use the soul jar to decimate Brindol.

Random Encounter: I roll a few random encounters while in White Plume Mountain. It’s a dungeon from the days where this is part of the expectation of the dungeon crawl and we have some fun with bugbears, a wight, and an invisible stalker during the players’ time in the mountain. The last random I roll is a pair of gagoyles and with one casting of Blight, Nysyries shows that they are simply not a match for her and Aldric. Now, I am not against a good figbht to break up the pacing of a dungeon crawl, but fights that feel like they are cannon fodder just don’t appeal to me. Yes, yes, they use up spells so fights against bosses are harder, but anytime I feel myself getting bored as a DM I take it as a red flag that the adventure needs a twist.

Thus, the Gargoyles stop fighting and begin arguing amongst themselves:

“Hey, Bruce, these guys are pretty tough. Maybe they could help us”?

“Shut up Lenny! We agreed we’d do this on our own. It’s our home, it’s ours to defend.”

“Yeah, I know, but they are really tough. It’d be nice if they’d help us. And they do kind of owe us for attacking us like that. Look, my left wing is totally shattered Bruce!”

Yes, these are Lenny and Bruce (I know, it was the first two names that came to mind), two mated gargoyles who have lived in White Plume since before the gnome infested it with monsters and turned it into his own personal fun house. Now the two, having made a promise to each other ages ago that they would make this their home and not let anyone come between their love, are determined to take on the cosmically strong gnome and reclaim their home!

It’s a sad little hope, as the gnome will doubtless turn them into dust—or his puppets—but they make an impression on the players, who agree to have them along, thinking at the very least they can soak some damage or show them the way past any traps. I think it also goes to show that players like variety, too, and that random encounters don’t always have to end in two sides hitting each other until one dies.

Boots of Lava Walk: I think I mentioned in a previous blog post that one of Aldric’s magical items are boots of lava walk which make him resistant to fire damage and his feet immune to it? Then it also bears mentioning that the group comes across a room where they have to leap from platform to platform over a pool of bubbling lava.

Nysyries turns into a quetzalcoatl and flies over the lava, carrying another monster they won to their side: a Flesh Golem that Aldric names Brutus, and who loves Aldric like he is his creator. There isn’t much time to develop this relationship though, as Nysyries is knocked off course by an exploding geyser of lava which damages her enough to transform back into her draconic form. Lenny and Bruce save her, but Brutus tumbles to his fiery death in the lava and Aldric is left to find his own way across the lava room. This goes fairly well, as it is a series of atheltic checks he makes while the room explodes in lava geysers behind him, and Aldric is very athletic. But on the last roll, he rolls incredibily low and there is only but one situation that can arise from this (pun intended): the lava explodes underneath Aldric and he rides the lava geyser to the top of the room and leaps off to makes the final jump to the platform at the end of the room.

Laying Old Plots to Rest: the fight against the Herzou (whose health I have buffed) is just as epic as I wanted it to be. It starts with everyone expecting a vampire (I leave the coffin as it is in the original module, and Lenny and Bruce also know that a vampire usually lives in here). But when Aldric opens the coffin, he sees instead the body of Tyrion laying in the coffin. The gnome, Keraptis, appears and taunts the players with their final challenge (freezing Lenny and Bruce in place as they try to assault him). Moments later, the Herzou emerges from Tyrion’s corpse and attacks.

Fang, claw, and blade clash as Aldric and the Herzou rush at each other. The Herzou gets the best of this match up, criting on Aldric and throwing him across the room to slam into Nysyries. Lenny and Bruce leap to the rescue, each of them grabbing onto the Herzou and holding it in place while Aldric charges it again and Nysyries launches her moonbeam. But this only lasts a short time. The Herzou crushes Lenny’s head to dust in his hands and holds Bruce up to the moonbeam, using it to destroy him. Then he prepares to engage Aldric again.

This is the turning point of the battle. Nysyries casts contagion on the Herzou, inflicting it with slimy doom forcing it to be stunned after it takes damage. And between moonbeam, one critically failed roll, and Aldric still pounding on it, the Herzou remains stunned for four rounds, just taking massive damage during this time. But not enough to kill it. Now completely enraged, it shakes off the contagion and charges Nysyeries, who has retreated from the room into a small hallway. Aldric tries to leap at the Herzou to stop its approach, but it swings around and knocks him aside with another critical hit, flinging him unceremoniously across the room. Then it proceeds after the terrified Nysyries.

Nysyries uses her staff of swarming insects to create a wall of locusts, but the insects do little to hamper the Herzou, who ignores their stings and bites and comes through them like parting a curtain, his fanged mouth open wide to bite Nysyries in two. He charges, intending to knock her back into the lava room and cast her into the lava after taking a couple of bites out of her. They roll opposing strength rolls, the Herzou adding +8 to his roll for this charge and getting a total of 20...

... and Nysyries rolls a natural 20 and adds her strength, beating the Herzou by a slim margin. Against all odds, she plants herself and bears the brunt of the demon’s charge, holding it back.

As she does so, she hears a snippet of song coming down the hallway, sounding as if it emanates from the Herzou itself: “Smash the rock, crack the rock, bash the rock!”

Tyrion, She thinks, recognizing the verse and the voice. But no, Tyrion is dead. This is but the echo of him. It is enough though. It grants her bardic inspiration and she uses it to drive her trident, the powerful Wave,up through the Herzou’s mouth and into its brain, killing it.

As the demon dies, its body dissolves in a pool of hot flesh and blood, in the middle of which is the handaxe, Heartcarver. Heartcarver was once the handaxe of a young woodsman who fell in love with a dryad. His story was destined for tragedy, as his fellow woodcutters burned the dryad’s forest out of jealously. They used the young man’s own axe to fell the Dryad’s tree, inadvertently laying a terrible power upon the weapon. It eventually passed into the hands of the royal family of Rhest, who knew of its powers and how to wield them. And it, like Blackrazor and Wave, played an unknown role in the fall of that kingdom.

With this fabled axe in hand, Nysyries steps back towards Aldric, who is a little peeved that she and not he got the killing blow on the beast. But as they step towards each other, the cavern walls shift and blur and suddenly they are out in the forest, the final laughter of the gnome echoing in their ears:

“Thank you so much for playing my game! Hee hee hee!”

“Aldric.” Nysyries hissed the name through clenched teeth, trying to draw the bearded man’s attention back to her. But it was no use. He continued walking towards the woman half submerged in the water, pulling at his breeches as he moved forward, everything else forgotten. Even Blackrazor lay discarded back by the gnarled tree roots that snaked together to form a bridge extending partway into the lake.

The woman was beautiful. Never had a word more closely fit a creature, as if it had been invented for her, by her, invented for her use and traded out to others by her permission alone. The water lifted her skirts and they floated about her. Beneath them was a color that suggested pale, naked, skin and hinted at pleasures lying in wait for any who would join her in the lake.

But Nysyries knew better. This was her patron, after all, the creature she was bound to. She had tasted blood and death for her. Now she ran along the root bridge towards Aldric, who was being drawn into the woman’s embrace. She heard Aldric gasp in surprise as the woman’s lips closed over his and her long black hair rose from the water like a living thing to ensnare him and pull him under. His eyes were rolled back in his head. His lips were flecked with blood. As for her, her neck was exposed as she tilted her head to watch him sink under the water.

Nysyries brought the Heartcarver down on that uncannily perfect neck. It was smooth like sanded stone and, like stone, it did not break under the axe’s touch. Instead a fleck of blood beaded under the small cut Heartcarver had made and the woman looked up with eyes that promised death.

“Traitor,” she said, not loudly, but with all the menace of an approaching storm.

“Aim for the heart,” a voice said in her mind and without thinking on it, Nysyries adjusted the Heartcarver to her other hand and swung sideways as the woman reached for her. The axe bit into the woman’s chest and this time blood exploded out, the torrent like a wine casket split in two. Aldric began to cough and he pulled himself out to shore, scrambling away from the water that was deepening to a dark red behind him.

The woman wept. But she lived. Nysyries wanted to strike her again, to make sure this was ended, but the woman pulled away, clawing her way to shore after Aldric. Aldric grabbed Blackrazor and made to cut her down, but the sword spoke: “No!” it said. “Do not touch her. She is tainted. Tainted by my brother.” And for once, Blackrazor sounded afraid.

So it was that the woman of the lake lay herself down, her eyes wide and staring at the sunset lit canopy of trees above her. In time, Nysyries stood over her, but before she could lift Heartcarver again, the woman sighed.

“Twyin?” she said, the name a question. “I... see you. Do you see our son? He looks like you, Twyin. He looks strong.”

Nysyries waited, but the woman said no more. Nysyries felt a weight slough off of her. She knew the curse was finally ended.

“I’ve had better dates,” Aldric said.

#dungeons and dragons #Friendship #White Plume Mountain #Red Hand of Doom #Conversion

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