#its only her third time playing ever and her second time playing in the campaign

[tiddytrashcan]

fustrated

#im in a dnd campaign run by a friend #and the past few times we've played #i just straight up haven't really enjoyed it #and my bestie just joined #and now its great because we can talk about stuff together but also #its only her third time playing ever and her second time playing in the campaign #and today wasnt fun for her either #like i just find this dms style really clashes with what i normally enjoy #but also they're super sensitive to any sort of criticism since it's homebrew #but honestly shit is just like not that fun to play recently #like way too many mysteries #that just make us have to have those boring ass hour long discussions on what we want to do rather than just doing shit #like i dont particularly care that theres another mysterious murder in a town #the last one didn't really provide any meaningful and i cant see how this one will either #i just want to get home and see my wife

[mbakuetshurisprincess]

The Only Logical Thing to Do

AN: Hey y’all! This is the scandal based fic I teased in this post. This ended up actually being wayyyyy longer than I expected like offically takes the crown as the longest fic I’ve ever written so go me lol. This part I just wanted to establish a few things yk start us out slow before we get into the real scandlous events of this story. Next part will be the developing countries ball, so stay tuned. Hope you all enjoy!

Summary: Sometimes the US Constitution applies to your love life. Separation of Church and State was a good thing, right?

Pairing: Shuri x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Cursing, political talk, idk

Word count: 4,707

Suggested listening: Love and Happiness - Al Green

“Love and happiness, yeah  Something that can make you do wrong  Make you do right  Yeah, hmm  Love...  Love and happiness”

You poured over your notes for the fifth time after your press conference, looking for something that indicated the mistake had been on your part. This was your third year working for the Kane Presidency. You were originally on the President's campaign staff as a Public Opinion Specialist and upon his election, you were employed as a Data and Intel Specialist.

 Your job title was vague on purpose, it was hard to explain to the American people what exactly you did. In simplest terms, you were a girl who knew things. You read situations well and were able to predict how events were going to play out with killer accuracy. It also helped that you happened to know more ways than one to dig up dirt. This gave you access to the inner circle of the White House, becoming an integral part of everyday function with an opinion valued by the president only second to his chief of staff. 

For the past week however you had been filling a different role, one of the press secretaries. When the previous one came down with pneumonia last minute the president turned to you to fill the role. And reluctantly you did. You put on your most respectable suit, straightened your hair, and wore your highest heels; ensuring you were digestible enough for the American people. Despite not enjoying being in the public eye, you did the work well and maintained order. 

This is why when you were caught off guard by a question today, even one as nonmemorable as this; you were concerned. You replayed the moment in your head as you continued digging in your notes. 

“I’ll take one more question before I go.” You spoke from behind the podium, you had been up there for the past forty-five minutes and the questions you started getting were beginning to dwindle in relevancy. 

Hands shot up from reporters everywhere and your name was being called from all directions. You looked out into the crowd and nodded at one, Ashley Richardson. She cleared her throat before standing and speaking. 

“France’s president has reaffirmed their statement that the attacks on Wakanda’s outreach centers, where vibranium is held, were not perpetrated by them. However, he has commented and said that the country will continue its legal efforts to gain vibranium. Doubling down and saying that the US has pledged its support of France in these efforts. Are these comments true, does President Kane support France in these endeavors?” 

As her words registered in your head, you racked your brain to remember if in any of your briefings you had heard any news of this. Nope. Not a word about France or vibranium as far as you knew. This left you with two options, be on the offensive or be on the defensive. Her words caught you off guard but this is what you’d been trained for, you allowed yourself just enough time to blink to be internally baffled before turning back on your personality. 

“France is an ally of the United States, as is Wakanda. The President is committed to maintaining a peaceful relationship between the two countries.” You spoke as if your words were fact despite not knowing a thing about what she was talking about. “That’s all for today, thank you.” 

The sound of your work phone buzzing pulled you out of your trance, you flipped it over and read the caller ID. 

Unknown Caller 

The anonymity of the call didn’t surprise you, this was DC, after all, people weren’t too keen on sharing information. 

“You have two minutes before I hang up the phone, go.” You spoke coolly, you didn’t have time to waste time on your phone, especially not today. 

“You haven’t been answering my calls.” 

You threw your head back and let out a sigh, who else would be calling you? 

“I have told you a thousand times. You cannot call my work phone.” That was all you said before hanging up on the person. You reached into the back of your desk drawer and pulled out your kimoyo beads. As you got them on your wrist you scrolled through your contacts and pressed Shuri’s name. The call rang for a few seconds before Shuri picked up, her holographic body appearing in front of you. 

“Hanging up on the Queen of a nation is an interesting move on the part of the White House I must admit,” Shuri spoke with a smirk. 

You didn’t even give her the satisfaction of looking up from your notes that were spread in front of you. “Shuri, I do not have time for your games today.” 

She rolled her eyes at your words, unsatisfied with the amount of attention you were giving her. She watched you flip through your notes a few times before curiosity got the best of her and she spoke. “What are you doing?” 

Strands of your hair fell in front of your face and you tucked them behind your ear as you shook your head and laughed slightly. “My job, I’m doing my job right now. As one tends to do when they’re at their place of work. Shouldn’t you be doing the same?” 

Shuri took that as a cue to continue with what she had called you about. “Ahh yes your job right, I forgot. The same job that made you lie to me?” 

That caught your attention, momentarily bringing your focus away from your notes. “Shuri, what are you talking about?” You looked up, meeting her eyes.  

“When I called you last week and asked you if your country,” She emphasized the ‘your’ “was going to continue their support of France, knowing they’re the ones carrying out attacks on our outreach centers. You told me no.” 

You pushed your eyes back down to the papers in front of you, of course, this is what Shuri wanted to discuss. It seemed you couldn’t escape the conversation surrounding Wakanda and France. 

“That is not what I said.” 

“Really? Because that’s what I took from our conversation. And then imagine my surprise when I’m made aware that my Y/N is on American television saying the opposite!” She spoke the last part almost comically but you could hear the twinge of irritation in her voice. 

You rolled your eyes and placed your palms flat on your desk, attempting to calm yourself down. You were already stressed about this topic and her berating isn’t what you needed right now. 

“The relationship between France and the United States is one with a long history of mutual support dating back to the formation of the United States-” 

“Oh don’t give me that Y/N!” Shuri threw her hands up in protest. “Don’t give me your politically correct answer!” 

“Then don’t twist my words!” You raised your voice and mimicked her by throwing your hands up. You quickly remembered you were at work, and while yelling was commonplace in the White House, you didn't want to draw any attention to yourself while you were communicating with Shuri. Something you weren't supposed to be doing.

 “I told you last week I didn't know and that’s the truth, nothing about it has come up in my notes.” 

“But today you said-” 

You put your hand up to stop Shuri from finishing. “Church and state.” That was all you had to say and Shuri knew to stop speaking. 

A year and a half ago when you two first started the entanglement you find yourself in, the number one problem between you two was work. One of you would pry information from the other one and you two would stay up all night bickering over policy. It got to the point where you spent the very little time you two had together due to busy schedules arguing over work. Thus the Church and State policy was created. 

You two joked that it was weird that you were applying the constitution to your relationship, but it was clear it was needed. The words were intended to be a reminder to keep your personal life and work life separate. Whenever someone said it the current conversation had to be dropped, no questions asked. 

Shuri took a deep breath and nodded knowing the rule had been created for the betterment of your relationship. You returned your eyes to the notes in front of you, desperate to find your mistake. Shuri watched you, sensing something was off but not being able to put her finger on it. It only took a few moments before it dawned on her. 

“You didn’t know, did you?” 

“Gonna need a little bit more clarification than that.” You said flipping over the page that currently had your attention. 

“About Wakanda and France, you didn’t know.” Shuri continued to speak confidently, sitting up further in her chair. “When I was shown the video of your press conference today I thought when the reporter asked the question you paused. I swore to Bast that you did but Okoye said I was crazy. I told her that I saw your tell but she couldn’t see it. You really had no idea about any of this.” 

You put your head in your hands and let out a groan. You hated how Shuri was able to read you so well. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” 

Shuri once again nodded, sure in her realization that you didn’t know anything by your response. She debated hanging up and letting you continue looking at whatever had your attention but she didn’t want to end the conversation like that. The time you two had to speak was often brief, ruling a country didn’t yield much free time and your White House work always kept you busy. She wanted to at least leave you with something positive. 

Shuri watched you for a little bit longer, as you sat with your head in your hands. Deciding now was the perfect time to reveal her surprise. “I will be in your country tomorrow.”

You picked your head up out of your hands swiftly. “What did you just say?” 

“I will be in your country tomorrow,” Shuri repeated cooly as if you and her being on the same side of the world let alone in the same country was normal. 

You moved the papers that were in front of you away revealing your desk calendar, hoping you weren't too busy. You found today's date and then moved over to tomorrow where a big red X lay. That was an indicator that told you your whole day was blocked out, not free until the early hours of the next morning. You sighed knowing your chances of seeing her were slim anyway, even if you weren't busy, you had no idea what she was doing in the States.“What are you doing over here tomorrow?” 

“Good question, I should clarify when I say your country I do mean DC. I’ll be in town for the Developing Countries Ball that your boy is hosting.”

You grimaced at her nickname for the President but quickly snapped out of it. Your hands went to open your laptop and you found the file named DCB, containing all of the information about tomorrow's event.

 “I knew something was off.” You muttered to yourself checking the guest list once again. “Wakanda didn’t RSVP Shuri. We don’t have you listed as coming.” Maybe it had slipped her mind but you remembered having to break it to the President that Wakanda wouldn’t be coming. And the guest list in front of you supported it. 

Shuri just smiled her million-dollar smile at you. “Oh, I know we didn’t.” 

You blinked twice at her, willing yourself to believe what she was implying wasn’t true.

 “So you plan to just show up and what? There'll be no table, no planned greeting, it’ll be a mess!” You rambled on and Shuri sat quietly listening to you. Her silence was unnerving, so you thought about what you were saying. 

“There’ll be no table.” 

“There’ll be no table. Shuri repeated with a chuckle. 

Your eyes bore holes into Shuri’s holographic body as realization further sank in. “It’ll be a mess.” 

“Yeah won’t look too good, will it? Not being prepared in his own backyard, I don't think voters will like that so much.” 

You let out yet another groan and threw your head back against the plush office chair behind you. “You know when you do this you only make my job harder right? It only makes me have to work double time to cover his ass.” 

Shuri sat back in her chair, interlacing her fingers behind her head. “So don’t.” 

You rolled your eyes and spoke. “You forget I have a job, Shuri? The thing that pays my bills, makes sure I can eat and sleep comfortably at night. The job that practically says “cover the president's ass'' in its description.” 

“You don’t have to work for him and you know that. There's a job here for you whenever you want it.” The words flowed out of her mouth with immeasurable self-assuredness. This was a point she was familiar with making, insisting that the Kane Presidency, rather the United States, wasn't good enough for you. 

Asserting that your skills could be used for more than covering up the sins of politicians.  “And even if you didn’t want to work, I could always use a Queen to rule with.” 

“Making me a Queen before even making me your girlfriend, bold I must admit.” You retorted back quickly, immediately regretting it. You knew Shuri hated when you brought up the conversation surrounding your relationship, especially because there had always been an unspoken rule between the two of you. Titles weren’t needed, what was just what was. Simple as that.

“Y/N-” Shuri sat up out of her relaxed position as she tried to defend herself but the sound of the alarm on your phone stopped her. 

“Fuck.” You muttered under your breath, stopping the alarm. “I have my roundtable in five and I haven’t prepped my report yet.” You pulled another file up on your computer and began typing quickly. 

Shuri knew that meant her time with you was over for now. As much as she wanted to continue the conversation she respected your dedication to the job. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay sthandwa? Maybe I can come over since I’ll only be in town for a day and a half?.” 

You nodded, if you had been paying attention to what Shuri was saying you would have stopped her idea right then and there but your laptop had too much of your attention. But, “Mhm we can talk about it later.” was all you could say. 

Shuri took one last look at you before hanging up the phone, knowing you didn’t mean to be short, you were just clearly a little stressed. 

Your roundtable went well despite your lack of preparedness. Nobody spoke about the press conference from earlier and Wakanda nor France was even mentioned. Most of the evening was dedicated to talks of trade negotiations with Qatar and the developing countries ball. 

“One last thing while we’re still on the topic of the ball Mr.President?” You spoke up as the meeting was coming to a close. 

Despite the president's insistence that you call him by his first name, Jackson, you never could bring yourself to it. You liked to maintain a certain distance in your closeness with him, he was your boss after all. 

 You looked at him as he sat at The Resolute Desk, the same place every president had sat dating back to 1879, him only the second black man to sit there. He wore a black suit with a navy tie that complimented his skin tone well, with his American flag pin on his left side. He looked presidential, just as you had helped design him to be.

“You know it’s never just one last thing with Y/N.” The President said with a smile earning a laugh from the others in the Oval Office.   

“Just doing what you pay me for.” You said back with a smile and a nod.

“Always appreciated Y/N. Please let’s hear what you have to say.”

You looked around the room, generally, your opinion was trusted without question but this one was going to be a bit of a hard sell and you knew it. “We’re going to need one more table for tomorrow.” 

“And why would that be?” The president had a confused look on his face. “I thought we already finalized the guest list, who did we forget?” 

“I have reason to believe Wakanda will be in attendance tomorrow.” You said confidently. 

The president's chief of staff, Michael was the first to speak “Wakanda…Wakanda…Wakanda.” He said as he flipped through his notes. “No Wakanda is not coming, not only is Wakanda not coming they’re giving us a middle finger by not responding.” 

The president turned his attention back to you, awaiting your response. You could feel the pressure in the room as everyone else wondered where your claim was coming from. 

“Based on the intel I’ve gathered I have reason to believe that Wakanda plans to attend tomorrow. Queen Shuri and a few Dora Milaje members if I had to guess.” 

The president took a deep breath in. “Well your intel hasn’t failed us yet Y/N, no reason to believe it will now. Michael, talk to the events coordinator, and let’s set up a table with, what do you say, 8 chairs Y/N?” 

You nodded in response as you started packing your things up, not as bad as you thought it was going to be. 

“Yeah, let’s get a table with eight chairs set up for Wakanda.” He looked around the room. “Well everyone I see no need to hold you all here too late given what we’ve got in store for tomorrow. Everyone go home, I don’t want to see any of you in your office after an hour!” 

The people in the room all laughed at the president's comment, you were happy knowing you could take your work and finish it at home. Everyone slowly filed out of the room and you were one of the last, bidding your farewell to those still there as you left. You made it out of the oval and down the hallway that led to your office before you felt someone walking beside you. 

“You ever gonna tell me how you do it 007?” The voice asked, you looked up and were met with Michael’s face. He was older than you and had been in the political sphere for longer but there was mutual respect shared between the two of you. It had even developed into a friendly rivalry. 

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me 007?” You laughed before turning your face serious. “At least not in public.” 

You both paused walking and stared at each other sternly for a few seconds before cracking up in a fit of laughter. 

“I’m serious Y/N how do you do it!” Michael exclaimed when you reached the door to your office. He stood there as you unlocked it and walked in behind you once it was open. 

“If I gave you all my secrets Michael, I wouldn’t have a job would I?” You walked around to your desk and kicked off your heels, happy to be done with them for the day. 

Michael plopped down in one of the chairs opposite your desk. “Just tell me this once how you do it 007, tell me one thing and I won’t ask again!” 

Sliding the comfortable slippers on your feet you spoke. “Nobody really wants to know how the sausage is made. Just be happy I saved your ass hmm?” 

The older man rolled his eyes at your words, watching as you packed your bag up with the things you would need to work from home. “Oh, you’re actually listening to him and going home? Didn’t expect that from you, I must admit.” 

You look up from your bag. “You’re not?” 

Michael shook his head as he rose from the chair. “I live here Y/N, you know this. Someone has to be here to ensure liberty is protected and our nation is secure, blah blah blah.” By the time he had finished, he had made it to the door of your office. 

“Have a good night Michael.” You said with a chuckle, he always did have a certain determination about work that you appreciated. While you let your work dictate your life, work was his entire life. 

He put his hand up to wave goodbye and walked out of your office before turning around and poking just his head back in. “I’m gonna figure you out, I will figure out how you know these things.” 

You cocked your eyebrows at him and smiled. “Figure me out or die trying, that’s the saying right?” 

 He returned your smile and turned back around. “Night night 007.” 

You finished packing your bags and made your way out of the White House, making sure to say goodbye to Morris as you walked out of the front gates. You made your way to your car and drove the 15 minutes it took to get back to your place. 

Pulling into your garage you made a mental note to call your gardener and have them do a refresh of your small front yard, your flowers were starting to wilt. You entered your house through the garage door and kicked off your work slippers and put on your house shoes. Setting your bag down on the couch you made your way into the kitchen, stomach hungry for something to eat. 

You browsed through your fridge, there was food you could cook but that was going to require something you were running low on at the moment, energy. Moving over to your cabinet the bag of popcorn caught your eye, you had promised Shuri you would stop just eating wine and popcorn as meals but desperate times called for desperate measures. You pulled the popcorn and a bottle of red wine along with a cup down from various cabinets and laid them out on the counter, ready for you when you came back. 

You made it into your bedroom where you stripped and took a long hot shower. Allowing the steam to rinse away the stress from today. After getting out you moisturized with the shea butter Shuri had bought you and dressed in a pair of shorts and one of her sweatshirts. The smell had started to fade from this one and it made you sad to know that meant the last time you saw her was further and further away. 

You grabbed your water bottle from your nightstand and made your way back to the kitchen. As you waited for the popcorn to finish in the microwave you popped the cork on the wine bottle and poured a hefty glass for yourself. You savored the full-bodied taste of the red wine, the one you had chosen was one of your favorites, first introduced to you by your mother. 

The popcorn finished and you held the bag in one hand with the bottle of wine tucked into the crook of your arm and your glass in the other hand. You walked into your living room and sat everything in your hands on the coffee table in front of you before reaching into your bag and pulling out your laptop, kimoyo beads, and both your personal and work phone. 

Opening your laptop you threw back a couple of pieces of popcorn and got to work. While the developing countries' ball was at the forefront of most upper cabinet members' minds, you had moved past it. Knowing that Michael and the events coordinators would take care of the table and greeting, your job concerning that was now done. Now you were focused on your next big project, re-election. 

You tapped through a few files that served as decoys and entered the passcode that let you into what you were looking for. The file that held every ounce of dirt you and the US government could find on the presidential rival candidates. You reached for your glass and took a sip of wine, holding the glass in your hand as you picked up where you left off, digging through one candidate's fiscal records. That were obtained 100% legally…maybe.  

“Donated to pro-life fundraiser, not very left wing of you.” You said to yourself adding that new information into the file, sometimes it was too easy. 

Something buzzed next to you and you looked down to see a call from Shuri on your kimoyo beads. You slid them on your wrist and picked up, now that you were more calm seeing her call felt more like a relief than a stressor. 

“Hello, my love.” You said sweetly smiling at her as her holographic body popped up from your wrist. You could tell she was in her lab by the background, more specifically in her corner station. She had a turtleneck underneath her lab coat and you could see her black slacks just peeking into the frame. 

“Oh, now I am my love?” Shuri asked with a chuckle, she knew your attitude earlier wasn’t intentional but she enjoyed messing with you about it anyway. 

“I’m sorry, earlier I was just stressed with work, you know how I get.” You said apologetically. 

“I am just teasing you sthandwa, I know you didn’t mean to be rude.” Shuri smiled at you and you returned one to her before grabbing a handful of popcorn and munching on it. 

“Are you eating popcorn?” She asked as she watched you throw another handful back. 

“Mayh-be.” You responded hesitantly through a mouth of popcorn. 

“And I see that wine glass in the corner, Y/N we talked about this!” Shuri exclaimed. “Real food, you promised you would eat real food.” 

You finished chewing before speaking. “This is real food!” You held up the bag of popcorn. “Popcorn is just corn, that's a vegetable.” You put the popcorn down and picked up the glass of wine. “And wine is just grapes, that's a fruit.” You accentuated your point by taking a sip of wine. 

“HA!” Shuri let out a hearty laugh. “That’s wrong and you know it.” 

“My points would hold up in a court of law.” You said matter of factly letting a smile crack on your face. Moments like these you loved, when the both of you were just being you, making each other smile. 

“Bull shi-” Shuri went to cry out but the sound of ringing from your end stopped her. You recognized the sound of the ringing and knew it meant someone was calling your personal phone. Not many people had your personal number anymore and you didn’t use the phone for much of anything these days. Normally you would have immediately checked who it was but you didn’t move your eyes from Shuri. 

“Aren't you going to get that?” She asked. 

You shook your head no and reached down to silence your phone without looking at who was calling. “Whoever it is can wait, I’m talking to a pretty girl right now.” 

Shuri smiled again and began speaking. “Anyway so I was thinking since I’ll be in town tomorrow, maybe I could come ove-” 

The sound of your phone ringing once again cut her off. 

“Mrs.popular today aren't we,” Shuri said smartly. “You should get that, it must be important if they're calling you twice.” 

“Shuri-” You wanted to stop her but before you could she said “We’ll talk later Y/N.” and ended the call. Your phone next to you had stopped ringing and you let out a groan. Shuri being irritated with you right before she came into town was the last thing you wanted. 

Your phone beside you rang for the third time and it confirmed your suspicions. Aside from Shuri, there was only one person in your life who felt entitled enough over you to blow up your phone. You took a deep breath and flipped it over before picking it up. 

“Hello, mother.” 

Tag List: @starkdemigodninja @trixielwt @verachii @melodykisses @rxcently @iwillbiteabitch @louderfortheback @bananafishok @atssukoo

#shuri x y/n #shuri x reader #shuri black panther #shuri imagine #shuri udaku #shuri fanfiction #shuri x you #black panther #black panther fanfiction #black panther imagine #black panther fic #black panther fandom #jc writes

[antisociallilbrat]

Even When The Sun Rises, Don't Wake Me Chp. 6

Read on Ao3

Chp. 5

Chp. 7

A/N: I have such a love - hate relationship with this chapter my God. The ending almost killed me to write.

My friends I had covid, for the third time, this past week. So I'm sorry to say this is actually another small chapter because I split it. You get the fluff first and the pain in the next chapter.

“I can’t believe you would betray me like this.”

“Bill, I’m sorry but this was your own doing.”

He drops his fist to the table, “Buh-Bullshit! You’ve hhhad it out for me th-this whole time! You kuh-killed me!”

“You’re the one who charged the Kraken without waiting for your other party members!” Mike bites back, “First rule of D&D, don’t split the party!”

“He was doing it for his honor!” Max defends Bill.

Bill parrots her, “Yeah! My hhonor!”

Mike deeply regrets putting Max and Bill together in the same room. And he means deeply regrets it. No, he doesn’t. They have done nothing but antagonize him. Push his buttons on purpose. Just for the laughs. They got along quickly. Maybe it was Bill’s easygoing disposition or the fact that Max loves annoying Mike and was overjoyed when she found out Bill also enjoys that hobby.

It’s both, it’s definitely both. 

He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t nervous about how the campaign was going to go. It had been so long since he ran a campaign- the last time being the night Will went missing- he's only ever played in recent years, not dm'ed. That combined with the fact that Max was a total wild card. There was no way of telling if she was going to actually show up or not. 

After their incursion in the bathroom, they exchanged numbers before departing their separate ways. Which was a little weird because Mike doesn’t think he even had her number before. Sure at one point they must’ve all been in a group chat with the Party but he never bothered to save her number. There wasn’t a need for it. 

The Friday after classes let out for Winter break, he held their first session. Max never confirmed that she was coming when he texted her the details but she still showed up. “I’m here to play your stupid nerd game,” she satirized when he opened the door. The great thing was that she didn’t appear to be high. Now of course later that first campaign night when Bill offered weed, she took him right up on it. It looked like she was jonesing for it too, but this is progress. It has to be.

Now it’s Monday and their second night of the campaign. The first one was a success and he’s proud that everyone had fun. It was nice to see Max laugh again, he can’t remember the last time he saw her do so. He shocked himself when he realized he missed it. 

The weather outside is horrible and the wind rattles the windows. It’s below freezing and flurries of snow have started to stick to the ground. Everyone is bundled up under a blanket as they sit around the coffee table and the fireplace has a nice fire crackling in it. The light from it reflects nicely on the ornaments of the Christmas tree. Emily thought it was sad that they had a tree but no decorations so she surprised them by buying some.

It’s the perfect atmosphere for a boss fight. Cold, dark, gloomy, it couldn’t have worked better in his favor.

Emily’s, Max’s, and Bill’s characters were in a dungeon with a staircase that just kept spiraling down, leading to different levels before continuing its descent down. They’ve finally gotten to a level with a boss monster, a flooded basement with a Kraken, and Bill, like the barbarian he is, just decided to charge it.  

While it was in the water.

While he had heavy armor on. 

And his character had horrible dex. 

He drowned. 

Max and Emily’s characters were safe on the little dock but Bill has to make a new character. Max’s ‘zoomer’ has a magic board that can take her basically wherever she wants. Meaning her character could just glide over the water. Better yet, Emily’s druid could part the water with a spell. Bill just didn’t want to wait. 

He’s still grumbling about his character, his brave and noble character in his words (always the fucking writer) dying. Mike didn’t have a choice! Bill could have at the very least checked to see how deep the water is! Or just pass his dex checks! Too bad luck wasn’t in his favor tonight. 

“Can’t I revive him?” Emily asks, oh so innocently, “Surely there’s a way we can save him?”

“His body is at the bottom of the water, he’s pretty dead. Unless one of you wants to risk your lives and dive down after him to see if there’s anything you can do, go for it. But also the Kraken has noticed you and is eyeing your every move.” God, Mike missed this feeling of fucking with his friends. 

Bill juts his bottom lip out and mutters, “Poor Tibiscus,” as Max puts her hand on his shoulder. 

“Tibiscus I loved you like a brother but I’m sorry, I’m not risking my ass to save you. Find it in your heart to forgive me,” she dramatically pleads. 

Bill makes a few fake snivels but nods his head, “All is fuh-forgiven Madwonder. It was an hhhonor fuh-fighting alongside you.”

“Grah-eight! Our barbarian is dead and the Kraken has seen us!” Emily pulls at her hair, “My Aridena is not strong enough to fight him! I doubt Madwonder is too!”

“Hey now! Madwonder took out two skeletons in the last level all by herself! Don’t doubt her skills!” Max ignites.

Mike knows exactly what he’s doing when he says the next sentence, he just doesn’t care, “Yeah but this is a Kraken, Madwonder can’t take on a Kraken.”

Her head snaps towards him, a challenge in her eyes, “Madwonder can kick any ass of your dumb monsters. In fact, I charge the Kraken because I’m not afraid of it!”

Emily gasps, “No Max you can’t!” At the same time Bill whoops, “Let’s go Madwonder!” 

Max moves her piece towards the Kraken’s, “I’m powering up the thrusters on my board to hit him right in his ugly face.”

She moves her piece closer and he can’t stop the snigger escaping his lips, “Boom!” he yells, making them all jump, “Right as Madwonder approaches the sea monster one of his massive tentacles rises from the water, smacking her across the room! Crushing her against the wall!” He hits her piece across the board, sending it to the floor.

“You can’t do that!” Max retaliates but Mike isn’t done.

“It’s all over! Madwonder is dead, all that remains is a blood splatter on the wall! What a sad day for our heroes!” he chides. Emily cups her hands over her mouth horrified and Bill is trying to refrain from laughing. 

Max looks like she’s legitimately contemplating punching him, “You didn’t even let me roll for attack! Or try to dodge! Madwonder would’ve tried to dodge that!”

“Mhm,” he shakes his head, “It was a spring attack, you had no time to do anything,” he pops a piece of popcorn into his mouth from the snack bowl, smiling like the smug bastard he is, “You shouldn’t have tried to charge in, you just saw how it went for poor Tibiscus.” 

“He’s out to guh-get us MMax!” Bill accuses suddenly, slapping the table with one hand and pointing at him with the other in that melodramatic fashion of his, “We nn-need to make new character th-that’ll fuck with him! B-Better characters that’ll ruin his little schuh-schemes!” 

She agrees with him, taking Bill's diversion of her anger, “You’re right Bill. We need to make new characters that’ll ruin any storyline he has planned out. Better characters whose sole purpose is to fuck with him.”

Mike should be annoyed that these pair of fools are conspiring new, twisted, ways to get under his skin but he’s not. Max is here, with his friends, and is laughing. She’s not over at Oliver’s, getting high on heroin and doing God knows what with him. She’s safe right now. He did that.

He’s fully aware that there is a palpable chance that once she leaves here, that’s exactly where she’s heading. To snort something or shoot something into her veins. He has no idea how long she can go without doing so before the craving gets intense. In both D&D sessions, she hasn’t shown up high, probably out of not wanting to deal with the judgment she assumes she would get from him, but he’s not an idiot. 

He can’t control what she does when she’s not with him and if he was to try to, that would just result in pushback from Max and odds are he would never see her again. He doesn’t want that to be the case. Constantly he has to remind himself to only focus on keeping her safe when she’s with him. Doing baby steps, don’t make it about her drug habit but offer a distraction. Instead of having her focus on drugs, she can point that energy towards messing with him and playing D&D.

The last time they played, before Bill offered weed, Max was starting to get more restless with her movements. Jumpy at every little thing. Kinda like how she’s starting to get now towards the end of this session. If Bill or Emily noticed anything unusual about Max, they haven’t said anything to him. 

Mike’s not too worried about Bill or Emily though. Derek would’ve been the problem roommate but he’s away for the break. If Bill was to find out about Max or if he’s even guessed at anything, he’s not the type of guy to say anything about it. Bill leaves people’s business alone and he’s not one to judge. Bill just accepts people as they are. This is part of the reason why, even though he’s known Bill only for a couple of months, he enjoys being good friends with him. 

As for Emily, he knows she has an idea that something is up with Max. She was there when he first brought her back. Since that night she’s tried to get some answers out of him but Mike is stubborn when he wants to be. 

After he had come back from fall break, when he still wasn’t too sure what to do about Max, Emily broke him down a little. They had just had reunion sex, something he was really needing to relieve some stress, and she was curled up on his chest in her bed. The sheet haphazardly pulled over them. They were still naked and the position was more intimate than what was normal for them. She was tracing a vein on his chest when she asked what was eating at him, telling him that he was distracted, far away. 

“I need to help an old friend. I don’t know how to though and sometimes I’m not sure if I even want to. At the same time I do want to, I think,”  was what he told her.

She knew he was talking about Max, so there was no need to elaborate. Emily just hummed and murmured, “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” Then she slid the hand on his chest down to his naked cock, rubbing at it until he started to fill out. She kissed him and he was thankful, this meant the conversation was over. They had a great round two. He was much more present for it. 

Later in the week when he asked her if she would want to play D&D with them, she agreed. Happily too but…he’s felt a rift crack between him and Emily. She’s been distant since that last time in her bed. As to be expected, Mike always manages to fuck up his relationships and situationships. Hopefully, they can still be friends.  

“But what about Aridena?!,” Emily fake cries, pulling him out of his mind and back into the moment, “She’s just watched her two friends die and now she’s alone with the Kraken.” Her eyes are glazed over, she’s genuinely worried about the fate of her little character. 

He thinks for a moment. He could have the Kraken kill Emily’s character or he could be merciful. This is a boss that they were supposed to fight together because that was their only shot at beating it. He just didn’t take into account that Bill is stupid and Max is stubborn. A fault on Mike’s part.

It’s a good thing for Emily that he's in a good mood. “The Kraken watches Aridena but he makes no moves toward her. She gets the sense that the beast will stay where it is as long as she doesn’t do anything treacherous,” he says perilously, coughing to change his voice so that he sounds normal, “Basically the Kraken won’t attack Airdena until Bill and Max make their new characters.”

Max groans, “I have to do all that again?”

“You killed your character by being reckless, not me.”   “But you’re the one who killed her!” she cuts back. 

“Max you charged at this monster that you know nothing about, one that you were severely underprepared for! I had to kill your character! I swear you’re just as bad as Bill.” he laments. 

Bill squawks out a “Hey!” but neither of them acknowledges him. Too busy trying to glare each other down. It's easy to remember that when they were fighting real monsters, particularly, the demadogs, Max doing exaclty as she did now. Charging in, ready to protect her new friends. Maybe Max is thinking of that now too since she, surprisingly, relents first. 

“Fine! I’ll make a new stupid character but it’ll have to be next time,” her eyes dart to the door, “It’s getting late and I need to head out.” She runs her hands up and down her arms, trying to keep herself from fidgeting too obviously. She’s still wearing Mike’s sweater, one that she almost gave back the day in the bathroom. He had to plead with her just to keep it, it’s cold outside now and he doesn’t trust that she has anything else to keep her warm. 

Mike concedes, “Fine, this is a good stopping point anyways,” Emily moves to protest but he raises a hand silencing her, “Aridena will be safe until the next session because the Kraken can see that she’s not as dumb as her companions so it will leave her alone.” Emily lets out a breath in relief.

They all agree to play again on Wednesday. It’s winter break, it’s not like any of them have much to do. Max is quick to get up and start pulling on her winter boots. A pit of dread blooms in Mike’s stomach.

He knows where she’s going. She’s acting as if she’s aching for a hit of something strong. What’s the longest she’s been sober in recent times? Is it these times they've played D&D? God, he’d hate to know the real answer. 

But…at least she’s showing up here sober. She’s making an effort. Sure it may just be because of fear of ridicule but it still has to count for something. Max cares enough to make an effort to not be high around him. He can’t control what she does when she leaves here and for now, he just has to accept that. 

Carefully he puts their pieces away, picking up Max’s from the floor. Bill has already made his way to the pantry, scouring for a late-night snack and Emily starts to walk Max to the door. Those two have become fast friends which Mike wasn’t fully expecting. He appreciates it all the same. 

None of them are prepared for what happens next. 

“What the fuck is this?” Max yells from the front door.

He doesn’t have to guess what she’s yelling at, he can feel it. When she opened the front door a gust of wind came in and chilled him right down to the bone. When he stands to see the outside, it’s as he suspects. 

The snow is at least three feet high and growing. It's spilling into their doorway. The heavy wind blows more in and Mike rushes to shut the door. It’s completely dark outside and the wind is whistling, the snow coming down in heavy layers. 

It’s a snowstorm. One that snuck up on them.

Mike has his back against the front door and can feel the wind trying to blow it open. His back breaks out in goosebumps as it’s against the cold metal. Max looks at him, eyebrows drawn together as she’s probably trying to figure out how to get out of here. Emily diminishes any hope of that.

She has her phone pulled out, one step ahead, “It says here that the roads are closed and the University is telling us to shelter in place ‘till it blows over.”

“When did they announce this?! Max demands her. 

“About an hour ago,” Emily tells her, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. Max is starting to border real anger. Not the playful kind Emily has only ever seen her have during D&D, but the white-hot anger that Mike saw her display multiple times during their youth. Emily seems unsure of what to make of it. Mike's just happy that that anger is still there, it proves that Max is still there. 

Max rounds on him, fists clenched at his sides, “So it was when we were playing you’re stupid nerd game! We missed the announcement because of that!”

“Max even if we knew of the announcement when it first came out, it still would’ve been too late,” Emily tries to soothe, “It was a sudden snowstorm, it’s no one’s fault.”

Max ignores her, “You did this on purpose!” she blames him, “I know you did!” She’s shaking with anger. And with the beginnings of drug withdrawals. 

He laughs at how ridiculous she sounds, “Yes Max, I planned this snowstorm! I wanted to trap you here because you’re such a delight!” 

There’s a chance she may punch him. She’s angry enough and Max got into fights back in high school. That much he did know about her back then. And Mike has a smart mouth, a dangerous combination. 

She does shove him out of the way of the door, “God you’re such an ass! Fuck this shit, I’m leaving!” The wind makes him shiver as she throws open the door again. She takes one step out the door before she stops, starting to get unsure of the situation. The snow is now almost to here knees and its covering the front of their doorway.

Is he really just going to let her leave? He can’t, it’s well below freezing and Max could actually die. Fuck.

Thankfully Emily steps in before Mike has to swallow his pride and beg Max to stay. “Max,” she grabs her wrist and gently tugs her inside. Max’s fight is already draining out of her so she lets her, “The snowstorm can’t last forever and besides it’s not safe to go there now. We can all weather this out together, yeah?” 

It looks like a warzone is taking place in Max’s head. Trying to decide to either to stay here, safe, but be forced to go through drug withdrawals, or brave the storm just so she can get high. It doesn’t matter, Mike’s already decided she can’t leave. He’ll tie the brat up if he has to, Max is not dying on his watch. 

“Fine whatever,” Max mutters and barrels past both of them. He might be wrong, but he swears he saw tears starting to well up in her eyes. They hear a door slam from down the hall. 

This is when Bill makes his reappearance, eating away at Derek’s bag of potato chips, “D-Dude I think she just locked you out of your ruh-room,” he comments over a mouthful of chips. 

Well, this is going to be an interesting couple of days. 

“Bill?” he asks.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

This is when the power decides to go out. 

A/N: Get the fluff in while you can bc it's about to go to shit.

Full disclosure, I live in the south. Where the low of winter is 50 degrees. I've never seen snow. I am winging this snowstorm that has blown for plot convivences.

The next chapter won't be uploaded till the beginning of next week at the latest bc even more things happen. Check those tags again.

No seriously I spoon fed ya'll some fluff because shit is about to go down. The next chapter is over 3k words already and it's painful ;-;

Also one last note, and an important one, the reason why Max jumps around with her emotions is because that's what realistically drug addicts experience. Please bare with me through the ups and downs of Max's emotions.

Thank you for reading! I always appreciate you guys <3

#madwheeler #max mayfield #maxine mayfield #madmax #mike wheeler #strangers things

[fayesdiary]

Hii can I ask about your OC ideas for your fe game concept? Ooo and do you have any ideas for an overall story? 🤗

(Follow-up to this post)

First of all I AM SO SORRY ANON FOR TAKING SO LONG TO ANSWER THIS

I don't know what is it about my OCs and concepts, I want to talk about them but every time someone asks me about them I just procrastinate answering until the end of time😭

Anyway, here's all my main concepts, but they all have their posts where I go more into detail about them!

No. 1 - Gaia

The first OC I ever made is Gaia, a princess able to wield earth magic!

Her whole deal is that she constantly tries to hype herself up as this larger-than-life hero of legend (like the one she was named after) complete with theatrics... But it's all a facade to hide her massive impostor syndrome.

Basically, she'd be the comedic rival in a shonen.

But it turns out her impostor syndrom is kinda justified, since she's adopted. Which wouldn't be a problem if she didn't live in a world where the right blood gives you suoerpowers. And yes, this means she doesn't naturally have access to her earth magic and only does so temporarily because her parents secretly infused her with some of their blood without her knowing, which is not a viable solution for the future since bloodlines play a massive role in politics and basically every noble has access to some special blood. And if word got out that Gaia was adopted and her parents were infertile all along...

Gaia's whole story is about her whole world crashing down in multiple place, and finding her place in a world of demigods.

I don't have many ideas for her world yet save from being so reliant on bloodlines like Jugdral, but a few other ideas I had in mind were of it being a world where all dragons have gone long extinct but their legacy heavily influenced human culture, and the main villain trying to transfuse within himself every kind of Divine Blood in existence and using all their powers to become a new god and remake the world.

No. 2 - Sci-fi vs fantasy

The second main idea for an FE concept is one about fantasy vs sci-fi, where your typical FE world is invaded by a corporation from outer space, and the whole game would be about that dichotomy.

Two different cultures shown in a way very similar to Fates, with its separate sets of classes and weapons, two different campaign that take place in the same continuity where you play as a magic scholar trying to fight back against the invaders and a rogue engineer who becomes part of a rebellion, and a third final campaign to wrap the story up.

Basically the entire game would be about discussing the differences between the two worlds but most importantly the unlikely similarities, the fact magic and technology might secretly be connected and whenever the two can exist in symbiosis with each other.

Also a loose idea I had was of the local Divine Dragon being the descendant of a space tribe (because fuck yeah space dragons), where its monarch has been seized by the corporation and either has been turned into their ship they use to conquer planets or turned into an AI, and having the final fight be a confrontation between the two.

No.3 - Global turn count and time loop

Third and final main concept is one where you have a global turn count that affects the world and story, complete with a time rewind mechanic where the protagonist Kayla teams up with the local Dark Dragon to figure out what caused the end of the world and stop it, with a lot of context-sensitive dialogue in the style of Undertale and Hades. I went more into detail about this concept in a previous post.

And as a bonus small idea, I pictured an FE game that takes place in one of those cozy post-apocalyptic worlds where nature has taken back modern society, if only because a Fire Emblem with that setting sounds cool as shit

#ask replies #Anonymous #fire emblem #my writing #fe game concepts #gaia(oc) #kayla(oc) #will i ever make at least one of these? GOD i hope so #i'd be inclined to say never but i also said the same thing about making art so... :)

[tailsrevane]

[movie review] d&d: wrath of the dragon god (2005)

liiiiiiiiiiike. okay. here’s the thing.

this movie and the 2000 theatrically-released movie are probably not actually all that far apart in terms of quality? though, good gods, can we just stop for a minute and reflect on how genuinely pathetic it is that a theatrically-released movie is roughly comparable to its tv movie (direct-to-video in some markets) sequel?

the thing is, i remember being a kid sitting next to the kids i played d&d with just unbelievably hyped to see it brought to life in a movie. and then… not seeing that. the way i found out that wrath of the dragon god were even a thing was when i was a more active letterboxd user i was doing a cult movie challenge and there was a category for scifi original movies i was looking a list of them & came across this and said, “wait, what? there’s a sequel to the bad d&d movie? and it was a scifi original movie???”

before i continue talking about how these two, y’know, slightly different experiences impact my opinion of the respective movies attached to them, let me just pause here for a second and say… yeah, until recently d&d was an on-again/off-again thing for me. i think it’s rather decisively planted itself in the “on-again” zone over the course of the past year or so as i’ve become a more confident fan and (more importantly) player. but still. i was playing a 3.5 edition campaign when this movie came out and i had no idea it was a thing? i just think it’s worth taking a moment to recognize what a massive failure of marketing that was, even for a scifi original movie.

so, yeah, i found out about it fully a decade after the fact. so when it came time to watch a movie for the scifi original movies category in that challenge, i had to regrettably avert my attention from the bad tornado and/or werewolf movies i had imagined were gonna be the winners (wait has there ever been a movie about both tornadoes and werewolves that sounds metal as fuck), and the sheer curiosity i had about this fucking movie cannot possibly done anything but favors for it.

it still sucks ass, though. is the thing.

like, look. i don’t think it’s worth my time or yours for me to tear into this movie considering the scale (or lack thereof) of the thing. suffice it to say the script is awful and the most charitable thing i can say about any aspect of the production is “it’s possible they were genuinely doing their best with the resources they had? maybe?”

instead of getting into all of that boring shit, i want to talk about the one aspect of this movie about which i have unambiguously positive things to say. and that’s that between the two d&d movies i’ve seen as of this writing (i never got around to seeing the third one a few years ago), this one has the only good character in either one. and that’s lux, the party’s barbarian.

like, look, i don’t have any illusions about what happened with this character. they even give her one of those eyeroll-inducing “omg the party’s muscle is a girl???”-type introductions that immediately had me on high alert for Strong Female Character syndrome the first time i saw this. and i’m sure they woulda gotten around to damseling her or otherwise doing something dumb to undercut her at some point if they had had the time & resources, but the thing is they didn’t? so she’s in the movie just enough to only ever be depicted as a totally competent warrior? and it’s just glorious.

(it’s obviously entirely possible that i’m being overly pessimistic here and this woulda been the case even if they had more time to fuck it up, but idk, it just hasn’t been my experience that the same writing that gives us “omg the barbarian is a girl???” also gives us treating that character with the same respect it would treat a male character in her place.)

so, yeah. this movie has exactly one (1) thing going for it, which is one (1) more than its predecessor did. congratulations, i guess? this still seems like a lot of trouble to go to just to help your girlfriend change her character’s class from wizard to cleric, though. like, i get that it’s more rewarding to roleplay that shit out, but seriously.

d-rank

#dungeons & dragons #d&d #wrath of the dragon god #movie review #movies #reviews

[palidoozy-art]

The more I think about your recent post about the changes you made to Strahd, the more I wonder about those changes you made to the others mentioned (Rahadin, Van Richten, Ireena, etc). I'd absolutely love to hear what adjustments you made as you already shared some stellar ideas already. Like the Tome? -Chef kiss- Amazing.

Oh mannn I do love talking about my campaign. I changed a lot with them. Again, weirdly enough, I think Strahd wound up being the most like his original incarnation. I could talk forever about the changes I made so I'll try to be brief haha. IT STILL WON'T BE BRIEF.

Obvious CoS spoilers below

IREENA - I thought it was weird that the picture they gave her makes her look like such a badass, and then the module just kind of writes her as a damsel in distress to either get kidnapped or pulled into water or dumped somewhere. To me, she's like, the second most important character in CoS -- and the book literally gives you less direction to roleplay her than her brother. Furthermore, reading her ending actually legit made me mad.

So I said fuck all that. Ireena in my game was a 19-year old girl who grew and developed over the course of the campaign. Several of my players actually said they thought of her as "the main character," just because she experienced a lot of character growth and development, going from a sheltered meek teenager to someone who can fight and assert herself. The biggest change I made to her though was that I very specifically did not just want her to be "Tatyana with memory loss." Ireena is a unique individual who happens to be partially made out of Tatyana's soul. While she shares many similarities with Tatyana, they're separate people, and part of what Ireena has to grapple with is how to live up to that. She's in the post-campaign because of that distinction -- while Sergei offered her to join him, she declined, because she wants to experience life past her twenties. I didn't get to play it out because we were kind of rushing towards the end, but I honestly envisioned a scene where she talks to the portrait of Tatyana, apologizing to her because she knows she's being selfish remaining alive.

This also brings up a unique problem in the post campaign. If Ireena dies, she ceases to exist and may not be able to be resurrected. When her soul leaves her body, it's Tatyana's again. Ireena very much wants to live. Tatyana doesn't. A resurrection has to be made with the consent of the soul, and if Tatyana declines, Ireena's just... gone. Forever.

Related: because I wasn't sure what my players would ask, and Rahadin would absolutely know this information -- there have been 18 incarnations of Tatyana, including the original. I actually have a timeline of when they were all born and how they died. The curse manifests in that they always die or are killed before their 25th birthday. If Strahd attempts to marry them, they lose their minds and throw themselves off of the same balcony the original Tatyana jumped off of during the ceremony. Strahd can never have Tatyana. Vampyr will ensure of that.

But yeah, essentially: Ireena gained actual class levels; she wasn't just Tatyana with memory loss; she traveled with the party for 90% of the campaign and wasn't just a macguffin to be kidnapped/take to places; and I removed any of the "Sergei takes her into water/the sky and you never see her again" endings because I absolutely hated those.

VAN RICHTEN - Van Richten I tweaked a lot from his original incarnation. First, I started him off as Lawful Neutral. No, game, I know you tell me he's Lawful Good, but I'm gonna have to disagree with you that "training a racist tiger to genocide an ethnic camp" falls under the spectrum of Lawful Good. Second, I changed him from cleric to artificer (alchemist). I somehow just got the impression the dude was a godless man, and so he felt more fitting to be a man of science rather than a man of the church. Third, since I wasn't sure the other dread domains were ever going to be brought into 5e I moved him out of Darkon and into another world from the outside.

His backstory was also tied more into Strahd and the campaign in general, as well as the Dark Powers. About 30 years ago, he went into the mists with his own adventuring party (that included Escher) to try to rescue his kidnapped son, Erasmus. He found his son half-turned and begging him for death. Killing him, Van Richten hunted down the Vistani woman (Ezmerelda's mother) who sold the man, and in a rage strangled her to death. This gave him a curse. Ezmerelda witnessed it happen.

He went on a warpath against vampire spawn and vistani alike, until Strahd proposed a deal to Escher. Escher lured the group to a familiar dinner date with Strahd... only for Strahd to murder all of them, including Van Richten. Van Richten was approached by a dark power -- Vaund the Evasive, and given the option to return to life in exchange for the promise that Van Richten would eventually return to Amber Temple and free him. He took it, waking up outside of Barovia. From there he became famed vampire-hunter-book-author, until in his early 50's he decided it was time to seek vengeance and fulfill his promise. He brought in his hat of disguise, came up with an alibi, and headed into Barovia as Rictavio the Great.

He was absolutely played as a much more morally grey character at the start (the party's first encounter with him rather than Rictavio was him literally torturing a dude). He softened over the course of the campaign as he grew attached to the party, until finally reaching a point in the post-campaign where he's considered Lawful Good

Also: Ezmerelda was treated more or less as his adoptive daughter. She absolutely argued against this every single time, but he even slipped up and referred to her as his daughter on a few tense occasions.

RAHADIN - Rahadin I adjusted a lot, too. A LOOOOOOT. Strahd being comically evil makes sense -- the dude is a darklord, that kind of comes with the territory. With Rahadin, I wanted him to have more motivations to his actions, because the base game actually suggests that the dude is actually capable of caring. In the base game, you can find him at Amber Temple, trying to "petition the dark god into releasing his master from his torment." He screams in grief if he finds Strahd dead. Furthermore it felt like the game glosses over the fact that the dude was adopted as Barov's son. It doesn't bother addressing how Rahadin felt about Sergei, who would in theory be his other brother. I thought a number of things suggested in his backstory were interesting, but not expanded upon in the base game. So I took it upon myself to do so.

I changed how dusk elf society was built, which affected the three major dusk elf characters. It worked off of a pretty brutal caste system, with three kings at the top overseeing all of it. Rahadin was born in a lower caste, but actually brought into the warrior caste after a member of royalty was intrigued by his stature. Rahadin worked as a general, but grew frustrated by the inefficiencies of the caste system and its inequality. He started attempting to use his influence to petition other members of nobility into changing or loosening the strict system.

Patrina caught wind of this, and viewing it as a threat to her lifestyle + viewing it as an easy way to gain brownie points with those above her... tattled on him to the three kings, spinning what he was doing as treason. Rahadin was arrested and subsequently tortured. They attempted to execute him on a breaking wheel, breaking his bones against the spokes and leaving him in the town square as an example. He wound up escaping, crawling his way out of town until he was subsequently rescued by a group of human monks. The event pretty much broke him, morally. He went to Barov soon after and sold his people out, taking a personal hand in helping annihilate the dusk elves and conquering their land. Barov was so impressed by the man's loyalty that he adopted him as his son.

Part of this was done to make a connection as to why the hell Rahadin just absolutely fuckin' hates Patrina so much (since that definitely got played up during the campaign). When thinking of Rahadin's motivations, I tried to come at it from the angle that this man was evil... but legitimately cared deeply about Strahd, Sergei, and Tatyana. He was devestated from the events of the wedding, but saw Strahd's return as a second chance. As the lone surviving witness from the wedding, he desperately wanted to help the three of them. But his own blind loyalty to Strahd and his broken moral compass prevented him from doing so.

One of my favorite little additions was a sidequest I offered to the players (they wanted to redeem Rahadin). They were requested by him to retrieve (well, "not destroy or sell") one of his most precious belongings in his office. When they get there... it turns out it's a birthday card and a worn-out old amulet from Sergei and Tatyana that he's kept after all these years. They got Ireena to read the letter to him, to help him keep going after Strahd's death.

anyway i could ramble on about changes forever but i don't want this post to get too long haha. i have. many feelings. over this campaign. maybe at some point I'll do a separate post with some of the others.

i also kinda wanna do a comic of an event from Rahadin's backstory for my players but we'll see, I might deem it "too stupid."

#palidoozy rambles #curse of strahd #curse of strahd spoilers #cos #cos spoilers #WARNING IT LONG #I HAVE MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THESE THREE CHARACTERS

[gaawachan]

Discord Convo: The Cerberus Assembly and Unexplored Threads

Sibling: They went and made their own school, and lived forever in disguises to keep the scourgers coming after them. I'm sorry, it'd be weird if Astrid didn't send her scourgers after Caleb. He threatened Ludinus, someone who she seems to still remain loyal to. Whatever. They lived happily ever after in a tower that other people can't access unless they let them in and they researched spells together, and they didn't rot away in despair the way doomers want them to lol.

Me: Astrid and Wulf never really changed as characters; they were never given room to.  I don't see them trying to kill Caleb now that Trent is out of the picture, but I do see them knocking at his door and saying, "You're going too far. Stop," which is really frustrating to think about. And uh... I think you're remembering the last episode wrong?  Caleb didn't threaten Ludinus.  He said something like "see you soon," which, yeah, obviously menacing, but vague enough that it could be shrugged off.

Sibling: Were the Volstrucker created by Trent or was he just the current leader?

Me: Ah I think Trent did make them because Trent is largely responsible for the totalitarian crackdown in the Empire. His methods made him very popular with King Dwendal, even though they were, frankly, backfiring spectacularly. In fact I believe that is why Ludinus expressed distaste with Trent. It's not that he found Trent's methods repugnant; he found them counterproductive. And I bet he HATED that the king kept listening to Trent.

Sibling: I forget that Trent is a human sometimes. Lol, I imagine Ludinus didn't really enjoy Dwendal's new favorite wizard.

Me: Well what's interesting is that the crackdowns on religion were actually WORSE in the past in the Empire.

Sibling: Oh really? How would they do that without some kind of secret service though?

Me: I'd have to look it up again but one of the emperors lifted some of the restrictions; it used to be that every religion was banned. Well, you can have a secret service, but Trent's Volstrucker program involves human mutilation and brainwashing of children, and this is the key, which I haven't seen mentioned anywhere at all. The Volstrucker program is very obviously an attempt at consolidating Assembly power (for Trent in particular but for the Assembly in general). By plucking the most promising AND poor students out of the academy and then brainwashing them to be subservient agents of the heads of the assembly, they simultaneously rob the common people of power and increase their own influence in government.

Sibling: I just wonder if it's possible the Volstruckers are maybe a modified version of the secret service? Or under a new leader, things changed drastically. Because Trent is 70~ish, which means he might've started this program at most in his 20's? That's only like 50 years, and surely previous empires had other FBI's.

Me: Ah, the Crown has its own secret service of sorts in the Augen Trust, which makes it all the more baffling that he would permit the existence of a bunch of Cerberus Assembly wizard spies that just give the Cerberus Assembly more and more power... as an aside, Trent is either the second or third longest serving member of the assembly during the time of CR2. I'd have to double check. (AN: he's the third)

Sibling: People be dyin' really often in that line of work, huh?

Me: He is WELL-established in the power structure. Dwendal's crackdowns on the public come largely from Trent's advice (and of course it only increases unrest) and that increased unrest only benefits Trent and the Assembly.

Sibling: A human is one of the longest-serving members of an organization run by an ancient elf? That's a little baffling. What was he, 12, when they picked him up lol?

Me: Because they could easily survive a revolution, tbh.

Sibling: That's true.

Me: They are the aristocrats who swoop in after the king's head rolls... only they can cast meteor swarm.  Incidentally, this is why anyone who reads up on Empire lore can't help but get the impression that Dwendal is, frankly, an incompetent buffoon of a leader.  He's not properly trained up his heirs, he's sitting around stewing on his throne while things fall apart, he cedes an obscene amount of power to the Cerberus Assembly, an organization which is so obviously untrustworthy it's not even funny, and his decisions with regards to civil unrest, largely on the advice of Ikithon, are counterproductive and the mark of someone who is either very stupid, very evil, under a spell, or some combination of these three things.  It doesn't help that he looks like an absolute moron during the one scene which we saw him in.

*we then had a verbal conversation about the Augen Trust, and how the Cerberus Assembly seems to be deliberately designed to undermine the crown and how Dwendal seems content to let them do so.  This conversation was in part related to a discussion about how things might play out in a campaign of our own set after CR2*

TL;DR, Bertrand Dwendal is a very stupid man.

#critical role #critrole #critical role spoilers #critrole spoilers #caleb widogast #volstrucker #trent ikithon #ludinus da'leth #bertrand dwendal #cerberus assembly #augen trust

[star-consultant]

Bright are the stars

You need a Beatle song that perfectly encapsulates your sign? Of course you do. (Spotify playlist) 

Aries—“I Saw Her Standing There” 

One two three FOUR! An eager and intense song for an eager and intense sign. Aries falls hard and fast, with a tendency to rash vows that everyone doubts they mean—but Aries doesn’t doubt. Paul (who later styled himself as a "ram” at a key point in his creative development) makes good on the Cardinal Fire vibe with his exuberant vocals, and John of the Aries rising contributed the street-smart innuendo that utterly makes the song: And you know what I mean. Fittingly, this song kicked off the group’s first album, which itself has plenty of Aries “HELLO I AM HERE TO MAKE A MARK ON YOUR WORLD! (like me plz ok? this is my heart and i am Doing My Best??)” energy. 

Taurus—“All I’ve Got to Do"

A song that takes its sweet time but burrows deeper than the average ear-worm into your consciousness. It’s a patient song that is unassuming but knows exactly what the hell it’s doing. The intensity builds bit by bit, so that you’re unaware when the power of the bridge comes crashing down. Describes the Taurean romantic ideal: lazy, loyal, cozy, constant, tender, and ever-so-true. Also, “All I’ve Got to Do” is featured on the second album, With the Beatles, which has plenty of other Bullish touches, noticeable even with a casual glance at the tracklist: “Don’t Bother Me,” “Not a Second Time,” and “Money (That’s What I Want).” 

Gemini—“She Loves You”

Paul is a Gemini Sun, and throughout his catalogue it shows. But perhaps he never topped the Twinniness of this energetic, optimistic, breathless, gossipy classic. It was composed “eye-to-eye” with John, a truly dual-authored song, and one the rare Beatles numbers where the two lead vocalists double up on every single line, in true (Nerk) Twin fashion. Also the first but definitely not the last of their many “third-person narratives,” Paul’s novelistic instead of confessional slant being distinctly a Gemini thing. The speaker in this one couldn’t be more enthusiastic about this relationship if it were already repaired, and he couldn’t be more enthusiastic about it if it were his. Love is great! People reconciling is great! You should be glad, dumbass! But the real corker? What makes this so Gemini that it hurts? Yoko has confirmed that in the early 70s, during her separation with John, she actually had Paul play agony aunt. Then, during that meetup in L.A. where they were last photographed together, Paul urged John to “apologize to her” and get back together... which he did. That’s right. "She Loves You” is not merely a Gemini’s song: it’s a Gemini’s life. 

Cancer—“Octopus’s Garden”

Ringo the Crab’s musically-complex fantasy about an underwater sanctuary where children are “happy and safe,” he and his lover can be together, and there’s “no one there to tell us what to do.” George (a triple Water sign himself, probably not-so-incidentally) always insisted that his best mate’s song Had Depths, and he himself supplied a lot of them: check out his lead guitar lines. They function as emotional counterpoint. When Ringo’s vocal line is especially wistful, the guitar is bright; when Ringo ends on a confident note, the guitar is quirky, ironic, even stiff-upper-lip pessimistic. Result: a shifting kaleidoscope of FEELS. The Moon approves. 

Leo—“Good Day Sunshine” 

Paul perfectly expresses his own Leo moon with a sublime, vibrant ode to laughter, love, and pride on a cloudless summer day. The bit in the lyrics about she knows she’s looking fine and I’m so proud to know that she is mine? That’s not marring the high tone of the song: that is part of the tone. Hear us roar! And by “roar” I mean "laugh and canoodle, coz Leo is about living the good life, bitches.” 

Virgo—“Please Please Me” 

What’s fair is forkin’ fair, mate! A exemplary blend of Virgo’s Mutable passive-aggressive sensitivity with its Elemental directness... half-critical, half-begging... plus the very sign-typical humblebragging. About their sexual prowess. Damn, Virgo. People forget how Earthy you really are sometimes. But here we are. In very Virgo fashion, instead of ditching the girl he’s decided to harangue her. On a more meta note, the Beatles were still studio virgins when they first began crafting this song, and it took several passes and incorporation of George Martin’s feedback before it became the bursting pop hit as we know it now. There’s that Virgo work ethic paying off.

Libra—“Strawberry Fields Forever”

The imagery of the title suggests an eternal harvest. But the star sign resemblance goes deeper than that: Always, no, sometimes think it’s me, but, you know, I know when it’s a dream. I think, er, no, I mean, er, yes, but it’s all wrong... that is, I think I disagree. Did you just hear your Libra roommate rambling after a joint, or did you listen to verse three of “Strawberry Fields”? Same difference. The song is absolutely lovely, as anything associated with the child of Venus should be, and innovative, as befits a Cardinal sign. Most of all, even in all of Libra Sun John’s weighing and weed-wandering, he knows one thing: he’s got to take someone else along with him. A companion, stat! 

Scorpio—“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”

George of the Scorpio moon and Scorpio ascendant had to really lean into this side of his nature to even get this damn track properly recorded. He resorted to the social power play of inviting Eric frickin’ Clapton into the tense post-India studio just to get Lennon, McCartney, and Martin to give his song proper Beatle recording magic. Which it deserved. The dark drama of the hard-won arrangement is the perfect Scorpio accompaniment to the moody, reflective lyrics about “all the love there that’s sleeping” in this weary world. There’s tender, horrified pity here for those who are stifled into inauthenticity: I don’t know how nobody told you how to unfold your love. I don’t know how someone controlled you; they bought and sold you... Bonus points for the Watery ‘just can’t even’-ness of not being able to so much as pick up a damn broom. 

Sagittarius—“Something” 

You’re asking me, will my love grow? I don’t know, I don’t know! A deeply instinctual lover knows that Cupid has done hit a bullseye. He remains emphatically ambivalent about the future, but he knows what he feels in this moment, and in that moment is romance and wonder that is as deep as the earth is from the heavens. Sags are intense, but of all the Fire signs they are most far-seeing and detached (due to their Mutable quality, which makes them see the world a bit more like an Air sign does). “Something” keeps trying to capture that je-ne-sais-quoi, and despite the speaker’s happiness he can’t help but circle back again and again to take another shot at that the mental target. A philosopher even when in love. Ultimately, however, he doesn’t want to leave her now... which for a restless Sag is already saying a ton.

Capricorn—“Revolution”

John let his unfashionable midheaven Capricorn off the leash with this blunt, pointed savaging of radical and violent revolutions. (Given the tanks on Tiananmen Square and the millions dead on the killing fields of Cambodia, I can’t say that his cautionary note about “destruction” and “minds that hate” was unnecessary.) Few things are more Capricorn than ‘Oh, you want my money? Yeah, first show me that you’ve done your fucking homework, mate.’ Bonus Earth points for the fact that he somehow worked sex—a lot of sex—into this political track. 

Aquarius—“Come Together”

John of the Aquarius moon’s decidedly loony attempt to write a political campaign song in order to stop Reagan. (The result was too weird for Timothy Leary, whose reaction was pretty much ‘wtf? I don’t think even I have enough residual acid in my system for this one... ’) John invokes the ideal of collaboration, but his call to solidarity is built around fantastical lyrics that no one can comprehend: He wear no shoeshine, he got/Toejam football, he got/Monkey finger, he shoot/Coca-Cola, he say/I know you, you know me... Oh, right. The lyrics contain exactly one discernible message: One thing I can tell you is you got to be free. How Aqua. Also in true collaborative Water-Bearer fashion, the arrangement really makes the song (special mention to the tight, tight work of the rhythm section). Bizarre genius that attracts a true team effort—it doesn’t get much more Aquarius than that.

Pisces— “I Want to Tell You”

The wall of sound builds up thickly enough that soon the words seem to be traveling through the sea to reach you: I want to tell you my head is filled with things to say... But when you’re here, all those words, they seem to slip away. A gorgeously, emotionally tongue-tied song... about being tongue-tied. Written by George, a Pisces Sun, this absolute mystery of a lyric is all emotion and no logic. If he seems to act unkind, it’s only him, it’s not his mind. Okay, Fishboy. Good thing the track is compellingly lovely and utterly relatable. Which suits the Pisces life exactly: ‘I don’t know what I mean, but it’s exceedingly beautiful and I want you to share it with you very, very much.’ 

#zodiac #beatles

[lovesanmotion]

yandere!ateez fanboy series: seonghwa

When Seonghwa graduated high school, his parents asked him what he wanted as a graduation gift. Coming from a wealthy family, his parents could give him whatever he wanted. But he asked for a camera instead. His parents didn’t know why or what was a camera for, but they gave it to him without a doubt. 

And lo and behold, in Seonghwa’s hands, a Canon EOS 850D. 

He open his box of savings and bought more equipment such as lenses, speedlite, battery grip and ring mount adapter. Testing a couple of shots around his room, the flowers in his mother’s garden and the collection of his father’s wines before he was satisfied with his photos and he was set to set himself out. 

The night before Starlight’s debut, he opened his own website YNbyHwaLight.co.kr and made a profile tab for you provided by your company - VS Media. Ever since your reveal to the world that you are debuting in Starlight as the final member, Seonghwa couldn’t get his eyes off of you. He couldn’t wait for your debut as he camped on Youtube and Naver everyday by watching past videos of you - Introduction Video, Make Meringue Cookies with Y/N and your own choreography of Streets by Doja Cat. To which he proudly beat his cock every night to. 

When the sun came up the following day, Seonghwa adjusted his black face mask to perfectly conceal half of his face. He woke an all black clothing and had his equipment safely tucked inside his backpack. When he was done, he set off to the concert hall for your debut concert. 

Starlight kicks off 2021 US promotions 

Starlight’s Y/N tops January Brand Rankings 

Starlight’s Y/N hailed as No.1 Kpop Girl Group Member For 2021 

Jennie, Joy, Y/N and more: Korean Outlet Media Mentions Stars Who Sported Top Luxury Clothes For 2020 

Starlight’s Y/N Glowing As New Campaign Model For Nike Air Max 

Seonghwa chugged down the last of his coffee before throwing it in the bin. His third cup of coffee to be exact. 4:06 am he is still situated in his old study desk, editing your photos from yesterday’s joint concert. Adding his fansite name ‘HwaLight_Y/N’ before uploading them. 

After he graduated high school, he decluttered old items that he no longer needed and are now replaced with more equipment and the albums that Starlight released. On his walls that were once adorned with his favorite rock band posters, baseball banners and his high school basketball jersey were now replaced with your individual posters. His bookshelves before were filled with his textbooks and comic books which he gushed over with his old friend. He doesn’t have friends anymore. Now, they are filled with Starlight’s albums that comes with all the different versions, the photobooks that VS Media released, the latest 2021 Seasons Greetings and his selfmade own copy of ‘ With Love, Y/N ‘ photobook which he sold over 100,000 copies. Unusual for a fansite photobook to reach its mark compared to companies. 

Ever since the day Seonghwa stepped into the debut concert hall to see you, he made everyone turn their heads and stare at him. It was a fandom joke that Seonghwa made his own fangirls that day. Along the way, they would pluch up their courage and ask to go on a date with him, but Seonghwa would politely decline their offer. As he only has eyes for Y/N, who else? 

After Staright debuted, the fandom continued to increase. It brought irritation to Seonghwa how he felt like he had many competitors to compete for your attention. But that theory was tried and tested when Starlight was at Incheon Airport headed to Jeju. The girls were posing for the hundreds of cameras in front of them, Seonghwa positioned somewhere in the middle. 

Through his camera lens, he watched as Y/N stand in her tiptoes, looking through the crowd as if she was searching for someone. His blood began to boil on who could possibly stole your worthy attention that isn’t him. But he immediately soften when Y/N’s eyes landed on his camera, flashing a sweet smile before eagerly waving her hands at him. 

Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! 

His insides were instantly filled with warmth as Y/N had her eyes on his camera. Smiling cutely and making little hearts in his direction. From that day on, Seonghwa submitted himself to you wholeheartedly. The best part? Seonghwa is also a passenger with you to Jeju! Surely seeing Seonghwa before the gates is not the last time you’d see him. As he boarded the plane, he sat down on the seat two rows in front of you. Heart beating fast at the feeling. 

The hour flight to Jeju quickly came by and they all boarded down. Seonghwa noticed how you and the rest of the members took the back door. Two black vans parked at the back door rather than being parked at the main extrance and exit. Lifting the car he rented to place his equipment and backpack safely at the back before following the second van where you are. Heading to the same hotel your manager booked because that’s where he booked himself too. 

Sometime later after checking in to the hotel and fixing his camera, he listened to the footsteps of VS staffs and any Starlight member heading to the elevator and disappearing. Once the coast is clear, he left his room and welcomed himself to Room 1117 - the room you share with the leader of Starlight. 

With his camera in hand, he went over to the second bed as he noticed your luggage was placed on top of it. Slowly, he bent down and inhaled the mattress and cushion. Faint scent of apples and honey. Laying down on the spot whereyou layed down earlier, a soft sigh escapes his lips before turning his attention to your luggage. 

Slowly, he unzips it open and then turning it open. The first thing his eyes lands on is the red lingerie that was placed on top as if it was welcoming him. Slowly he took hold of your bra, touching and feeling the cups. Were your boobs always this big? Blood rushed into him as he brought the cups to his nose, inhaling the scent of your raw flesh. Seonghwa sets the bra down before lifting the underwear next. He closely examined the lacy underwear, grazing his fingertips before slowly bringing it to his face. Were underwears supposed to smell sweet? This was an unexplainable one before something clicked in his mind. 

You could have worn it. 

He brought your underwear more closer to his face while his free hand unzips his pants, freeing his cock and then beating it around his hand, imagining it was your sweet tight hole instead. Shamelessly, he came. 

Pocketing your underwear, he quickly set his plan. He placed small cameras inside the electricity extensions in the room and bathroom and on the lamp stands before exiting. Leaving in time before a VS staff came into the same floor they are at. Once he gets back in his hotel room, he took out your underwear in his pocket and decided to kill time by playing with this. 

“See! I told you, you must have dropped your underwear under the bed.” Yikyung, the leader of Starlight said. I brought the underwear up and noticed how it had a huge white stain. I shook my head, probably a discharge before placing it on a plastic bag filled with my other used clothes. 

“Also, Y/N please put some clothes on while you sleep! My eyes are burning everytime I see you walking around her naked!” Yikyung laughs before throwing a pillow at him. It became a habit of time to sleep and walk around the dorm naked. I felt comfortable around the other members and decided to slowly reveal my habits. As Yikyung and I cleaned up our room, I unplugged my phone from its charger. But the little red light is still beaming. 

“Is it always like this?” I asked, pointing at the socket as I faced Yikyung. 

“Well at least you know that this socket is working. C’mon, were already late. Manager Min is already expecting us.” She says, grabbing my hand as we ran out our room, ending our MV film shoot in Jeju. 

#ateez seonghwa #ateez scenarios #ateez yandere #kpop yandere

[greatbigbellies]

New commission story. This is an anonymous commission about a dysfunctional couple who wind up pregnant with sextuplets! Contains heavy multiples pregnancy, stuffing, humiliation, and discomfort.

They had been dating for three months, and living together for one, and Morgan was already at his wits end. Lilith, his girlfriend, was lovely, and sweet, and pretty, and all the things he wanted in a girl… but she was also ungodly frustrating because of one reason, and one reason only: she refused to do ANYTHING that might be considered work.

She was between jobs, hadn’t so much as taken out the trash, and still hadn’t unpacked from moving in with Morgan! Now he made good money. Morgan could support the two of them and then some, and he didn’t want a maid for a girlfriend, but what he did want was some backup. Coming home from work every day to see Lilith sitting on the couch playing videogames, with a sink full of dirty dishes, a can full of trash, and a pile of takeout containers was absolutely grating.

So finally, he hatched a plan. Something almost cartoonishly vindictive, but it had to be done, as far as Morgan was concerned. He’d ruin her. He’d knock her up, stuff her full of food, and watch her inflate like a balloon. If she wasn’t going to move, then he’d make her physically incapable of moving! Multiples ran in both of their families, so with any luck, she’d land pregnant with more than one. He also did all of the cooking. ALL of it. So sneaking fertility meds into her meals wouldn’t be too difficult either, he’d decided. And so, his campaign of corpulence began.

13 Weeks

“Nrrrrggghhh… come ON! Damnit!” Lilith swore as she attempted to button her favorite jeans. They had been holding up well through the first trimester, stretching with her skin, but that was starting to change. Of course, a lot had changed in the last 3 months… she’d found herself pregnant, with SEXTUPLETS no less, and was dealing with the ramifications poorly. She’d been stress eating a lot, something Morgan had been enabling quite a bit, and her tummy was already showing some growth. Both from food and babies, her waistline had a definite visible baby bump, and her belly button was flattened and preparing to pop.

“What’s wrong?” asked Morgan as he stepped into the room, a smile in his voice. He looked to see her wearing just jeans and a bra, fighting with the waistline of her pants. “I’m too big for my favorite pair of jeans! These have the cute patches in them!” she lamented. “Oh babe...” he trailed off, circling around to her front. He pulled something out of his pocket and knelt down. She eyed him suspiciously, not sure where he was going with this. He revealed the item to be a thin rubber band, which he stuck through the button hole and wrapped both ends around the base of the button. “Voila!” he grinned. She frowned in return. “Really? A rubber band? They’re not buttoned properly, people will judge me!” “Babe, we’re just going to the mall, it’ll be fine, now put a shirt on and do your makeup so we can get going!” he urged. “Are we going by JCPenny’s to get me a bigger wardrobe?” she asked. Morgan had turned to leave but stopped at the question. He had to think of an excuse quickly. 

“Not yet…” he said. “But I’ll get my quarterly bonus soon, then we’ll go clothes shopping then!” he lied. She crossed her arms and glared at him, somewhat temperamental from pregnancy hormones. “You’re really going to make me walk around with unbuttoned pants and a top that rides up because you want to wait for a bonus?!” he grumped. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “We can’t be all willy-nilly with money anymore, Lilith, we have six kids on the way!” he retorted. Her face tightened, then softened. He was right. She rubbed her tummy and sighed. “Yeah, okay, what’s like… one more week with tight clothes? Your bonus is coming in soon right?” He nodded, “Any day now,”

20 weeks

 7 more weeks came and went, and Lilith saw no sign of that bonus… or her feet. Now looking full term with one baby, Morgan had been doing a number on her figure. All of the weight seemed to gravitate to her midriff, and so her tummy grew both with child and with a thin layer of fat. Still despite the small wrapping of chub, her bellybutton managed to work its way into a full fledged outie, about as big around as her thumb. 

She sat on the couch in her usual spot, playing a first person shooter on the console, but it didn’t feel the same anymore. She’d gotten in an argument with Morgan before he went to work. A conversation about job prospects got ugly when Morgan pointed out she was too visibly pregnant for anyone to hire her. “Get comfy babe,” he’d said, almost mockingly, “You’re not going anywhere for a while,” There was some yelling, and swearing, and Morgan ended up stomping out the door, it was an all around rotten day.

That was, until the door opened, to reveal Morgan carrying what had to be $40+ dollars in takeout from Lilith’s favorite restaurant. “Oh my god, babe, what’s all this?” she asked, turning to watch him. “I felt bad about our fight earlier, so I bought enough food to keep you and the babies happy, as a gesture of good will,” he explained. “Oh, honey, that’s so sweet of you, but I already had dinner! I-” “All the better!” he cut her off. “You’re eating for seven now, and the doc said to let you eat as much as you could, so…” he set the bags on the coffee table beside her. Morgan smiled down at Lilith, looking at her with those cold steel blue eyes. Lilith brushed some of her bright blue hair behind her ear and broke eye contact. “I don’t know hon… that’s a lot of food there…” she trailed off.

Morgan sat next to her, between Lilith and the food, and placed a hand on her bare midriff, running a palm over her stretching skin. “I know it feels like a lot, but this is for the babies! We have to get them up to weight by the time you’re full term, and the only way to do that is to eat everything your stomach can handle,” he explained, somewhat firmly. She sighed, “Yeah, I guess you’re right, for the babies,” she took the first of three heaping takeout containers full of teriyaki chicken, chow mein, and rice, and got to work. 

Morgan kept close to make sure she ate every last bite, only getting up to bring her water when she asked for it. The first box went down pretty quickly, her pregnant appetite getting the best of her. The second was remarkably slower, and Morgan could see it filling out her tummy, causing it to push farther out, just slightly. By the time they hit the third box, she was struggling. “Babe I’m too full… I’m done,” she whined in protest. “Nope, you need to finish what you started,” Morgan said, once again rather firmly. “Morgan I’m gonna throw up if I push it any more…” He took the plastic fork and gathered a mix of rice, chicken, and noodles, and slowly delivered it to her mouth. “Just one more bite, for the babies,” he smiled coyly. She begrudgingly took the bite and began chewing, brushing her blue hair out of her sweaty face. 

She was the fullest she’d ever felt, her belly feeling overstretched from a combination of growing babies and filled stomach. The pressure radiated from her midriff to make her whole body uncomfortable. She was miserable, and Morgan knew it. He tried not to show his enjoyment, but the truth was this was going better than he could have hoped for. 6 babies would leave her massive, and his mission to stuff her with every calorie under the sun was going smoothly. At this rate, they’d need a bigger bed to both fit on, an expense he was more than willing to make happen.

33 weeks

Lilith’s flip-flops pattered against her feet as she waddled toward the mall food court, moving as quickly as she could, which admittedly wasn’t very quick at all in her state. Wearing shorts that were stretched to capacity, held up with Morgan’s rubber band trick, and a “PINK” tank top that functioned more as a bra than anything else, she blushed red as she made her way. Everyone, from the young to the elderly, stared at her, or more specifically, her massive, mountainous middle. She was rivalling octomom in size, and the bigger she got, the more Morgan found excuses to take her out. He held her hand and tugged her along, leading the charge to the burger joint. 

“Babe everyone is staring! I want to go home!” she hissed at him. He turned to give her a side-eyed look and hiss back “You’ll be fine. Now come on, the babies are hungry!” the pair rounded a corner and Lilith came face-to-face with her highschool BFF. Gwen. “Lilith?” she asked, recognizing the hair color. “Y-yeah…” stammered Lilith. Morgan beamed. “Oh my god! Girl you didn’t tell me you were preggers!?” Gwen smiled and circled around to give Lilith a genuine hug. The two girls looked to Morgan, Gwen with excitement, and Lilith with embarrassment. “And Morgan, you’re looking suave as usual,” Gwen smiled. Morgan smirked. “Why thank you,” Gwen turned her attention to Lilith’s pendulous belly, “Gosh I wondered why I haven’t heard from you in months!? When’s the baby shower? I wanna spoil this little…” she trailed off… “These little… guys?” she asked. “We don’t know the sexes yet-” Lilith was cut off “In about a month and a half, we’re going to have lots of fun little games centered about this tank right here,” Morgan gave Lilith’s belly a hearty pat, “So tell all your girlfriends they’re invited, cause it’s going to be big!” he grinned. Lilith shot him a radioactive death glare, but he ignored it, his plans already in motion. “Okay! I gotta run cause I can’t be late for an interview but I’ll catch up later! Bye hon!” she said, running off. 

“Bye… Gwen…” Lilith shot another look at Morgan. “What the hell was that?! We’re NOT having a babyshower!” “Says you,” Morgan smirked. He proceeded to pile it on, “But your friend was so excited! Are you really going to dash her hopes like that? She just wants to spend time with you,” Lilith pouted, “I… guess so…” her response was cut off by a deep rumbling from her tummy. Morgan shot her a mischievous grin and took her hand again, continuing their trek.

Seeing as she was too big to fit in the booths, Morgan sat Lilith down at one of the chairs, and went off to order. She could feel all eyes on her as she placed a hand on her tummy to try to calm the movement she felt deep inside. What was in reality only a few minutes felt like hours as she waited for Morgan to return with the food. She was happy when she heard him approach, but was upset at what she saw him carrying. “That’s six burgers!?” she whisper-yelled incredulously. “Yeah, one for each baby!” stated Morgan, matter-of-factly. “I’m not about to pig out in front of all of these people!?” 

Morgan’s smile dropped when she said that. “Are you really going to let the stares of a few strangers deny food for your babies? OUR kids?” Lilith sighed. “Well… no, but can we take this home?” her tummy rumbled again in protest. “I don’t think they can wait,” Morgan whispered. “F-fine… but when I’m full I’m stopping,” she sighed. Morgan placed both hands on the firm, warm front of her belly, feeling her popped bellybutton under his right palm. “You’ll stop when THEY’RE full, alright?” Lilith looked down at herself. Her massive, bloated, overly pregnant self, and sighed. “Yes dear,”

She picked up the first juicy, tender steakburger he’d gotten her, and took a huge bite. The food itself actually tasted great, the mustard, tomato, and pickles. She had been craving pickles today, she just didn’t want to admit it. One by one, each burger disappeared into her huge pregnant gut, eliciting happy kicks from its occupants. Morgan smiled as he watched her. These burgers would have given her trouble a month ago, but now? Her stomach was stretched, her babies were hungry, and she had the capacity to be a professional speed-eater, all thanks to him.

Lilith was enamored by the tastiness of the burgers, she was downing one after another, about 40 seconds a piece. She was starting to get embarrassed though. The way Morgan was grinning at her… the way the other mall goers were just… staring. She was a big, fat, pregnant spectacle… and she hated it. She felt a *pop* from the front of her shots and her heavy belly lurched forward slightly, and she knew what had happened. “Uh oh, babe,” Morgan said loudly. “Looks like that rubber band wasn’t strong enough against your belly. I guess you were right,” he shrugged. Lilith’s cheeks burned with bright red embarrassment, but she kept eating, pretending not to hear him.

She jumped slightly as she felt his hand touch her bare tummy, rubbing it gently. “Now isn’t this better? Eating to your stomach’s content?” she swatted at him and pointed to the nearby slushy stand. “Cherry,” she grunted through a mouthful of food. “Whatever you say,” he slipped away. In reality, she just wanted some space from him. Ever since she found out she was pregnant, he’d been so clingy, spending every spare moment with her, making her eat and drink. “For the babies” had become as commonplace as breathing, she felt like, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was doing this all on purpose.

Her thoughts were interrupted by his quick return. “They were out of cherry, so I got you tiger’s blood,” he said, handing her the 44 oz drink. She swiped it form him with one hand, and polished off the sixth and final burger with the other. She felt heavy. Well… heavier, as the six greasy sandwiches settled in her gut. 7 more weeks… then she’d be due, and this would all be over.

39 weeks

Morgan had made good of his promise. He threw a baby shower, and Lilith was the center of attention, despite her wishes. Gwen, along with four other friends of theirs, had come to the party, and despite the relatively small gathering, Lilith felt absolutely smothered. She sat in her usual spot, in the center of the couch, and she was surrounded by her physically close, if not emotionally close friends. Her tummy had absolutely ballooned, and she was so big she couldn’t reach her popped navel anymore. While she’d stayed relatively free of stretchmarks, red and purple veins made themselves known on her shiny, overstretched skin. Her underbelly hung between her legs, which were forced to spread to make room for her massive mound of a womb.

No matter what she did, how much she complained, or what she threatened, Morgan would not buy her maternity clothes. Her belly hung proudly on display for all to see, weather she liked it or not. This had become so much more apparent during the shower. While Morgan brought food and drinks for all, Lilith sat planted on the couch, cooed at and touched like a walking petting zoo. She felt like she couldn’t go 10 seconds without a hand brushing against her belly, and the visible motion from the sextuplets inside did not help. “You’re positively glowing!” They all said. “You exude motherhood!” “I hope I look as good as you when I’m pregnant!” she hated all of it.

She snapped out of her surly stupor when she heard Gwen address her by name. “Lilith, I haven’t seen you covered up once this whole pregnancy! What made you decide to go belly-out the whole time?” Lilith forced a grin, “Well, Morgan had a LOT to do with it,” she replied, mentally grinding her teeth. “You’re just so brave, like it’s such a powerful look! You’re like ‘look out world, pregnant mama coming through’!” Gwen laughed, resting a hand on the side of Lilith’s gargantuan midriff. Morgan stepped into the room with some sort of plastic box. “You girls ready for another game?” he asked. Lilith turned red, the last game had been all about guessing the measurement of her waistline. All the guests had estimated her bigger than she was, and Morgan made a big show of measuring her, having a hard time getting the tape measure all the way around. 72 inches. She was 72 inches around. She was bigger around than she was tall. She almost cried at the realization.

Morgan opened the box to reveal a rainbow of different body paints and brushes, “You all get to belly paint!” Every girl there except for Lilith beamed with excitement. The various paints and brushes were snatched up lightening fast, and before she realized fully what was happening, Lilith was surrounded by five women all kneeling around her and applying paint to her overstretched, pregnant skin. Lilith couldn’t see what was being painted on her due to her sheer size, but she could only imagine how awful and embarrassing it would all look. Morgan already had his camera out, taking pictures.

Shivers went down her spine as Lilith felt the bristles and thick paint run over her sensitive bellybutton, Gwen giggling as she ran the brush up and down. Lilith felt so embarrassed, so large was her middle that she could be used as five canvases at once! Her face turned redder and she frowned as Morgan snapped shot after shot of her massive, bare tummy.

As time passed Lilith grew increasingly agitated. The sensation of paint brushes on her belly was absolutely grating, and the feeling of dry paint caking on the skin wasn’t helping either. She realized she was getting hungry, which was only souring her mood more. She felt her stomach gurgle and saw Morgan’s eyes light up. He as attuned to the sound of her rumbling tummy like a shark to blood, Lilith could tell he had something planned for this event in particular. Her belly rumbled again, this time louder, and the girls started to notice. “Damn girl, we gotta get you fed!” said Gwen, patting the belly. “You must be dying over there!” Lilith shook her head, “No, no I’m fine, I just need-” “Some cake!” beamed Morgan as he carried in a triple layer devils food cake. Lilith gulped.

“Gosh Morgan you treat her so well!” said one of the girls. “Anything for my girl!” he replied, setting the cake on the shelf of her belly. Lilith’s pleading eyes met Morgan’s powerful gaze, and she knew he was about to make her pig out. Right here. In front of all of her friends. He took a seat next to her on the couch, grabbed a fork, and scraped off a big mouthful. “Say Ahh,” he whispered. The girls went back to talking amongst themselves and painting, and Lilith was feeling pinned down by the weight of her sextuplet belly, and triple layer cake. She winced, and took the bite. “There… for the babies,” Morgan said, getting another forkful.

Bite after bite went down and Lilith could feel the brushes on her tummy slow down until nobody was painting anymore. All eyes were on her. She chewed and swallowed bite after bite of the sickeningly sweet cake, the frosting getting on her face and the top of her belly. She felt a couple of hands start feeling up her belly again as she pushed past the halfway mark of the cake.

It was so heavy and rich, and Lilith could feel every bite of it go right to her midriff. The babies began to stir and kick, which only landed more hands on her tummy. Bite. Chew. Swallow. Bite. Chew. Swallow. It became almost rhythmic as she entered a food induced trance. She could faintly hear the girls saying things like “wow, she can really put it away,” and “Is she going to stop?” and “I think I feel her belly getting tighter!”, but she was lost to the caloric intake and sheer, painful embarrassment. 

She only came to when the cake stopped coming. When she had eaten it all. Gwen clapped for her. Morgan gave her a kiss on the cheek to congratulate her. Everyone else kept their hands on her belly. “She gets real strong cravings for chocolate sometimes,” Joked Morgan, the other girls giggling at her expense. Moran got his camera back out. “Smile!” he said, mockingly, as he snapped a photo. 

A perfect shot of Lilith, 39 weeks pregnant with six babies, her belly bare, resting between her legs. Her tummy was covered in little paint doodles of flowers, trees, landscapes, and stick figure families, except for the top shelf, which was stained brown from the smeared chocolate. Her mouth was open as she breathed heavily through it, feeling ready to burst. Morgan sat down next to her again, and showed her the picture on the camera’s display screen. “This is you babe!” he laughed. “This is what you really are!”

#writing #not bellies #commissions #anonymous

[ireadyabooks]

Books to Read in 2021

It’s a NEW YEAR, everyone! 

We made it through 2020, and whether or not you hit your reading goal this past year, don’t worry! 2021 is a new year for your TBR, and we have an AMAZING line-up of books you should add to your reading list ASAP.

THE LIFE I’M IN 

This story of the power of forgiveness and second chances presents the unflinching story of a young woman trapped in the underworld of human trafficking. In Sharon G. Flake's latest and unflinching novel, we follow Charlese Jones, who, with her raw, blistering voice speaks the truths many girls face, offering insight to some of the causes and conditions that make a bully. Turned out of the only home she has known, Char boards a bus to nowhere where she is lured into the dangerous web of human trafficking.

HOLD BACK THE TIDE

A darkly seductive story of murder, betrayal, love, and family secrets in a small town in the Scottish Highlands. Alva knows that her father killed her mother, but she can’t prove it. The more she investigates though, the more she realizes that the truth can be more monstrous than lies/ And while you might be able to outrun anything that emerges from the dark water, you can never escape your past . . .

MUTED 

Denver is more than ready on the day she and her best friends Dali and Shak sing their way into the orbit of the biggest R&B star in the world, Sean "Mercury" Ellis. Merc gives them everything: parties, perks, wild nights -- plus hours and hours in the recording studio. Even the painful sacrifices and the lies the girls have to tell are all worth it. Until they're not. Denver begins to realize that she's trapped in Merc's world, struggling to hold on to her own voice. As the dream turns into a nightmare, she must make a choice: lose her big break, or get broken.

THE POETRY OF SECRETS

A lyrical portrait of hidden identities and forbidden love set against the harrowing backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. Isabel’s dreams to pursue poetry and a partner of her own choosing are thrown into jeopardy when the Spanish Inquisition reaches her small town. 

SHURI #2: THE VANISHED 

Shuri, the Princess of Wakanda (and sister to the Black Panther), sets out to save a group of kidnapped girls in this all-new, original novel by New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone!

BRIDGE OF SOULS

Where there are ghosts, Cassidy Blake follows . . .unless it's the other way around? Cass thinks she might have this ghost-hunting thing down. But nothing can prepare Cass for New Orleans, which wears all of its hauntings on its sleeve. And the city's biggest surprise is a foe Cass never expected to face: a servant of Death itself.

FOLLOW YOUR ARROW

When bisexual influencer CeCe breaks up with her girlfriend, Silvie, she’s devastated. But then she starts falling for a new guy who has no idea she’s internet famous...and CeCe wants to keep it that way. But as her secrets catch up to her, she finds herself in the middle of an online storm, where she'll have to confront the blurriness of public vs. private life, and figure out what it really means to speak her truth.   

MIRROR’S EDGE

The danger rises and the deception grows in the heart-stopping third book in the New York Times bestselling Impostors series! Are twins Frey and Rafi on the same side . . . or are they playing to their own agendas? If their father is deposed from Shreve, who will take control? And what other forces may be waiting in the wings?

ZARA HOSSAIN IS HERE

Zara's family has waited years for their visa process to be finalized so that they can officially become US citizens. While dealing with the Islamophobia that she faces at school, Zara has to lay low. But when her tormentor vandalizes her house with racist graffiti, a violent crime puts Zara’s entire future at risk. Now she must pay the ultimate price and choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home or losing the life she loves and everyone in it.

REMEDY

It's a mystery - why is Cara so sick? It feels like she's been sick all her life . . . but she and her mom have never stayed in one place long enough for doctors to really understand what's happening to her. Now, at fourteen, Cara is tired of being tired, and sick of being sick. Unable to afford the care she needs, Cara's mom starts a Caring for Cara campaign online. The money starts pouring in. But something's not right to Cara. And the harder she looks, the less she understands.

HEARTSTOPPER VOLUME 3

The third volume in the poignant and sweet Heartstopper series, featuring beautiful two-color artwork! Charlie didn't think Nick could ever like him back, but now they're officially boyfriends. Nick has even found the courage to come out to his mom. But coming out isn't something that happens just once, and Nick and Charlie try to figure out when to tell their friends that they're dating. Not being out to their classmates gets even harder during a school trip to Paris. As Nick and Charlie's feelings get more serious, they'll need each other more than ever.

THE BLOCK

In the second book of The Loop trilogy, Luka is trapped in a fate worse than death. But now that he knows the truth about what he and his fellow inmates are being used for, it's more important than ever that he not only escapes, but that he builds an army.

ON THE HOOK

Hector has always minded his own business while he works towards a better life. Until Joey, whose older brother, Chavo, is head of the Discípulos gang, tells Hector that he's going to kill him: maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday. And Hector, frozen with fear, does nothing. From that day forward, Hector's death is hanging over his head every time he leaves the house. But when a fight between Chavo and Hector's brother escalates, Hector is left with no choice but to take a stand. It's up to Hector to choose whether he's going to lose himself to revenge or get back to the hard work of living.

MISTER IMPOSSIBLE

Do the dreamers need the ley lines to save the world . . . or will their actions end up dooming the world? As Ronan, Hennessy, and Bryde try to make dreamers more powerful, the Moderators are closing in, sure that this power will bring about disaster. In the remarkable second book of The Dreamer Trilogy, Maggie Stiefvater pushes her characters to their limits – and shows what happens to them and others when they start to break.

THE GHOSTS WE KEEP 

Everything happens for a reason.At least that's what everyone keeps telling Liam Cooper after his older brother Ethan is killed suddenly in a hit-and-run. Feeling more alone and isolated than ever, Liam has to not only learn to face the world without one of the people he loved the most, but also face the fading relationships of his two best friends in the process. Soon, Liam finds themself spending time with Ethan's best friend, Marcus, who might just be the only person that seems to know exactly what they're going through - for better and for worse.

SIMONE BREAKS ALL THE RULES

Simone is shaking things up by making a bucket list of everything she hasn’t been able to do thanks to her strict Haitian immigrant parents. But as the list takes on a life of its own, things get much more complicated than Simone expected. She'll have to discover which rules are worth breaking, and which might save her from heartbreak.

SPEAK FOR YOURSELF

Skylar is ready to show everyone that her latest app is brilliant by winning an academic competition. To do that, she's going to use it to win State at the Scholastic Exposition, the nerdiest academic competition around. But when she falls for one of her team members and things get complicated, is her path to greatness over before it begins?

THE GIRL FROM THE SEA

A graphic novel about family, romance, and first love! Morgan's biggest secret is that she has a lot of secrets, including the one about wanting to kiss another girl. Then one night, Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie. The two become friends and suddenly life on the island doesn't seem so stifling anymore. But Keltie has some secrets of her own. And as the girls start to fall in love, everything they're each trying to hide will find its way to the surface...whether Morgan is ready or not.

RISE TO THE SUN

Three days. Two girls. One life-changing music festival. Toni is reeling in the wake of the loss of her roadie father and desperate to figure out where her life will go from here. Olivia is a hopeless romantic whose heart has just taken a beating (again). When the two collide at the Farmland Music and Arts Festival, it feels like kismet. But when something goes wrong and the festival is sent into a panic, Toni and Olivia find that they need each other, and the music, more than they ever imagined.

YOU & ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Hannah Ashton wakes up to silence. The entire city around her is empty, except for one other person: Leo Sterling. Leo might be the hottest boy ever (and not just because he's the only one left), but he's also too charming, too selfish, and too devastating for his own good, let alone Hannah's. Together, they search for answers amid crushing isolation. But while their empty world may appear harmless . . . it's not. Because nothing is quite as it seems, and if Hannah and Leo don't figure out what's going on, they might just be torn apart forever.

IN THE SAME BOAT 

Sadie is ready for the race of a lifetime: The Texas River Odyssey. But then her brother ditches her and she has to pair up with her former best friend, Cully. It's irritating enough that he grew up to be so attractive, but once they're on the river it turns out he's ill-prepared for such a dangerous race. But as the miles pass, the pain of the race builds, they uncover the truth about their feuding families, and Sadie's feelings for Cully begin to shift. Could this race change her life more than she ever could have imagined?

THE GREAT DESTROYERS 

In this alternate-history novel, Jo joins the Pax Games: an Olympics-style competition that pits pilots of mechas against each other. But when fighters start dying in the arena, Jo is drawn into a deadly political plot. In a global arms race between superpowers, playing out in violent games that only humanity could create, comes a chilling story of clashing titans, ruthless competition, freedom, and the girl caught in the middle of it all.

#I read YA #books to read #booklr #2021 books #tbr #2021 tbr

[an-autistic-with-personhood]

ALRIGHT I need to throw the story about my very first D&D session into the void. Be forewarned that I, a humble ADHD, do not know how to summarize. Tagged as "Dembledee plays D&D" if you want to block or follow

Part 1/?

Some background: My oldest sister and I created our first ever characters last weekend. Extreme props to my sister's friend for helping us build our characters, independently making a third for my sister's boyfriend to occasionally join, drawing color portraits of said characters, and setting up our entire first session in the span of a week. And, as DM, also wrangling the attention of two very distractable sisters (a monumental task). Sister's character is an elf rogue named Andralia, mine is a caribou-centaur druid (with antlers) named Seren, and the boyfriend's is a goblin we knew almost nothing about.

Andralia doesn't have much backstory yet, but she's a guild mercenary doing undercover guard work, with a secondary job as a tailor. She's a bit of a misanthrope, but extremely loyal once she bonds with a person. The small caravan she is helping guard is led by a gnome known as "the Captain," and is accompanied by a second guard, a satyr named Jeshua (rhymes with Joshua). Now Jeshua was designed to be the most insufferable showoff, but too capable to be called on it (he rips his shirt off at the slightest chance he gets, and commissioned Andralia for some easy-to-tear shirts). Seren left her noble family because she's rather introverted, speaks extremely bluntly and can't read a room to save her life, and would really rather just live independently in the freedom of the outdoors. All that was known of the goblin at this time is that he has a fantastic reason for disappearing in the middle of a battle if sister's boyfriend doesn't want to play a particular session.

Seren had been out on her own for about six months, roaming the countryside, before discovering and following a set of extremely weird tracks. Scales littered the area, and upon closer examination, the prints appear to by made by something more like hands than claws or paws. Meanwhile, on the road, Andra-lia notices something emerging from the woods. It's a fox. Bursting through just behind, though, is an oarfish scuttling onto the road with enough human arms along its sides to basically classify it as a human centipede.

Andralia attempts a history check to figure out what this thing is, gaining only the knowledge that it's weird and she doesn't like it. She then ducks into the covered wagon and points out to Jeshua what she thinks might be a potential blind spot. He gives her a thumbs up and a cocky grin, rips off his tear-away shirt, flings his scabbard off his sword, and charges at the beast.

DM: It opens its mouth, revealing several rows of undeniably human teeth, and... *DM makes a sound that a creature with human vocal cords and no idea how to use them might make. The memory of this noise made me snort hours later*

Jeshua immediately misses his first swing and gets his arm broken. Rushing in, Andralia strikes with a dagger to land her first attack of the campaign, resulting in a nat20 that does a very respectable amount of damage.

After a flying scabbard nearly made a field goal between her antlers, Seren emerges onto the road and makes a history check to identify the monster. It's a fae from the dreamworld, and based on the skin tones, the human parts appear to be from quite a few different people. She charges in and strikes out with her spear, going miserably wide before an arm knocks the weapon aside. At this point, Jeshua is having just a miserable day and would like to be anywhere but here.

Having just witnessed two rather pathetic attempts to attack the fishipede, and with the thing's front pair of hands closing around her throat, Andralia slashes with a dagger and manages to slice first an arm, then neatly between neck vertebrae, and on to slash the other front arm. The creature's head, cleanly decapitated, sails through the air and into the Captain's lap before dissolving back to the dreamworld with the rest of the body.

Picking himself up, Jeshua trudges over to retrieve his scabbard, ignores the other fighters as he approaches the Captain, and delivers an irate "I quit!" With his broken arm still hanging useless, the satyr storms off down the path.

The Captain finally dismounts from his perch on the wagon's driver's bench and approaches Seren. He tells her that he seems to be down a guard, and that he'll give her a sack of howling rice as payment for her services. Seren eventually agrees, and scouts ahead of the caravan until she finds a good place to camp. Andralia is just fine with this, as she's not too impressed by (nor trusting of) this random centaur from the woods. The party settles for the night, and the Captain goes to sleep immediately, letting his guards do their jobs. Andralia's watch passes uneventfully and she passes it to Seren, sitting under the stars to trance.

#that noise the DM made for the fishipede was the most ridiculous and hilarious thing #think of a cross between Gollum snarling and someone fake gagging #Dembledee plays D&D #dnd #d&d campaign #dungeons and dragons

[blankie-greenie-anon]

Hypmic High School AU

The inspiration of this AU is the characters’ MC titles. I was wondering how much funnier Hypmic would be if the characters referred to each other by their MCs instead of their names, and then I was reminded of “Oshiete, Galko-chan!” which is a series about high schoolers who only ever refer to one another by nicknames based on their personalities, hobbies or fashions.

Anyway, in this AU, not all the characters ages will be the same as canon.

Buster Bros!!!

BB, MB, & LB: Ichiro, Jiro and Saburo are fraternal 16-year-old triplets. They run a club that does odd jobs for students. The club is unofficial but is well-loved and efficient enough that the headmistress is willing to let it exist.

Saburo is a third-year because he skipped grades. He also takes advanced computer classes outside school. This means Saburo’s days are more packed than the average student but he enjoys the challenge.

Jiro is a second-year because he’s supposed to be. Since the school allows students to participate in more than one club, he’s also a member of the soccer team and is its ace. Additionally, he has the phone numbers of nearly every student as well as is a member of almost every existing group chat in the school, so he knows all the juicy gossip.

Ichiro is a first-year because he got held back. The reason was Nemu, whom he was good friends, classmates, and fellow otakus with. During the holidays as a first-year, Ichiro invited Nemu to a convention in another town. Problems arouse—their phones broke (Ichiro’s fault) and so did the train home (not Ichiro’s fault). Because of that, the two of them had to stay at a hotel. When they finally got home, Ichiro finds out he has to retake his first year, and it was Samatoki’s fault.

MAD TRIGGER CREW

Mr.Hc: The toughest grader who writes the toughest test questions for Mathematics—that’s Samatoki. To be fair, Samatoki does make an effort to teach his students so they can answer those questions and get the best grades, resulting in his students having a love-hate relationship with him.

45 Rabbit: An alumnus of the high school, Jyuto campaigned for student council presidency as ‘a lonely, only rabbit’ who had exactly forty-five supporters. He won by blackmailing his competitors off the roster. Currently, he’s a security guard of his old high school who’s constantly on the look out for blackmail he can use to control the troublemakers in the school. The headmistress, Otome, knows and pays him well for his services, so he’s quite loaded for a high school security guard.

Crazy M: Rio’s one of the food preparators in the cafeteria and serves the craziest dishes. Only Dice and Doppo would ever eat them. Leftovers are shared with Samatoki and Jyuto, to their dismay. Rio is the reason MAD TRIGGER CREW came to be. Every night, he sleeps in a tent on the school field.

Samatoki became a teacher at that school to watch over Nemu. He is very protective of her, to the point that he forbade her from going to a convention in another town because he wasn’t free to accompany her and freaked out when she snuck away and was uncontactable for a night. Jyuto and Rio stayed with him until Nemu came back. Samatoki was going to look for her when Rio showed him a photo of Nemu and Ichiro at a hotel. Samatoki jumped to the conclusion that Ichiro led Nemu astray and ordered Jyuto to use his connections to the headmistress to hold back Ichiro so he cannot be in the same class as her. When Nemu found out what he did, she told him off for being overprotective and moved out of the house.

Fling Posse

easy R: Ramuda earned that name by having an easygoing personality. He never seems to worry or put effort in anything, yet he somehow gets incredible grades. Instead of taking notes, he sketches fashion designs in class and brings them to reality in the tailors’ club that he is the president of.

Phantom: Gentaro shows up in class so rarely, most of the staff is unsure if he actually exists. When he does show, Gentaro might attend classes that aren’t his, which frightens those who realize he shouldn’t be there. His absence is due to his novelist job, which he carries out under a pseudonym.

Dead or Alive: Dice can be absent from classes for a few weeks or a whole month. In those periods, no one knows where he is, or if he’s even alive, until he happily pops up again. He’s a big fan of strip poker, albeit a lousy player.

Ramuda and Gentaro are second-years in different classes while Dice is a first-year. In the miraculous instance that Gentaro and Dice are present at school at the same day, Ramuda invites them to have a picnic lunch on the school’s roof, everything provided by him.

Fling Posse came to be the first time Gentaro and Dice were appeared on the same day. Gentaro crashed Ramuda’s science class. Ramuda noticed him and offered to partner up for the class activity. Aware of Gentaro’s rarity, Ramuda stayed at his side for the rest of the school day, and Gentaro willingly followed Ramuda’s schedule because he felt it was good material for his novels. At one point during their time together, Ramuda caught a glimpse of Gentaro’s notes and found out he was trying to describe a character’s unique outfit, so Ramuda invited Gentaro to the tailors’ club to ‘help inspire him’ (read: show off his creations). When they arrived at the clubroom, they find Dice inside, naked. After some screaming (“Pervert!” “No, I’m not! Honest!”), Dice explains that he’d lost a game of strip poker and his opponents had added a bet that he cannot collect his uniform if he lost. Hence, he snuck into the tailors’ clubroom for extra clothes, which Ramuda happily offered once he’s heard everything. They spend the rest of the day in the club, getting to know one another and Ramuda’s clothes. In the end, they exchanged phone numbers and social media handles, although Dice could only write Ramuda and Gentaro’s numbers on his wrists because he had betted and lost his phone during one gambling game, something that happened frequently so he’s constantly getting new burner phones.

Ramuda was the one who took that photo of Ichiro and Nemu. He never meant any harm. He just happened to be in the same place (that hotel also hosted a fashion convention for up-and-coming designers and Ramuda wanted to promote his stuff). He noticed Ichiro and Nemu and kept trying to call them over but they never heard him and he was too busy to track them down. In the end, he was able to take that photo when those two happened to pass the hallway he was in. Ramuda posted that photo on his Instagram (LOLOLOL whatchu 2 doin’ here??? #[hotelname]) in hopes Ichiro and Nemu would see it, unaware that their phones were broken. Samatoki saw that post, and the rest was history.

Matenro

ill-DOC: The school nurse with delusions about being the reincarnation of a healing wolf deity whose duty is cure the world of all evil, although that side of Jakurai appears only occasionally and he’s a great doctor and counselor for the most part. Because of this, he is seen by students as ‘a doctor who’s a little ill in the head’.

GIGOLO: After starting a popular host club in the school, Hifumi was derided by jealous haters, with ‘gigolo’ being their favorite insult. However, Hifumi was able to turn the tables by happily accepting the title of ‘gigolo’ and encouraging his fans to call him so with love.

DOPPO: When coming up with his nickname, Doppo was so depressed, because of the pressure his parents put on him to be the best student he can be in school, that his suggestions were ‘zombie’, ‘corpse’, and ‘hanged man’. Hifumi convinced him to stick with his actual name because he wanted Doppo to learn to love himself.

Hifumi and Doppo are third-years and in the same class. They live apart and reach school at different times. Hifumi always arrives later because he needs time to prepare a bento for himself and another for Doppo.

Hifumi and Doppo always eat lunch in the infirmary with Jakurai, although Doppo frequently sees Jakurai during school periods besides lunch. When he’s too stressed, Doppo ditches class and runs to the infirmary to rest or vent. Sometimes, Doppo is too depressed to go to the infirmary, so Hifumi carries him there before going back to class and taking notes for him.

Once, Hifumi was chased by a lustful female teacher whom he’d rejected. In his panic, he crashed Doppo’s session with Jakurai to beg for help. When the teacher found Hifumi, Jakurai stood between him and her and fended off the teacher with an IV stand while Doppo called the police. Hifumi would experience similar situations several more times, but continued his host club because his guests always respected his boundaries as per the rules and regulations he set for his club, meaning he was safest in his host club.

Dotsuitare Honpo

Tragic Comedy: Sasara is responsible for teaching history for second-years. His teaching tactics involve making puns of historical figures and retelling historical events in a comedic manner. Tragically, the grades he gets from his students aren’t particularly amazing. If it weren’t for his popularity, Sasara would’ve been fired and there’d be more students playing hooky. Besides that, he likes performing comedy skits at the local playground for any kids to watch. If they like him enough, the kids might share sweets with Sasara.

WISDOM: Rosho teaches all supplementary classes, regardless of subject. He will tutor personally if asked politely. Many times he’s scolded Sasara for his comedic lessons, since a big portion of the students attending his supplementary lessons belong to Sasara. 

MasterMind: Rei is the school’s janitor and has been seen in every part of the school. Because he tended to be present at the scene whenever there’s an incident in the school, Rei has been joked to be the ‘mastermind’ of those incidents. In fact, the students have a meme involving editing Rei into various international incidents and claiming he’s caused them. Little did many know, Rei is responsible for some happenings in the school and outside.

During his first week of work, Rei tricked Rosho into believing the former was another supplementary teacher the school hired. Then, Rei taught the students bogus information for a week and caused them to fail an upcoming test. Those students are then forced to ‘volunteer’ to help perform some school-related activities for extra credit. When Rosho found out what happened, he tried to get Rei fired, except he couldn’t because Rei was ordered by Otome to engineer that flunking. Rei didn’t pretend to be teacher again after that.

Rei runs a side business of selling ‘caffeine pills’ that improve one’s academic skills. Those drugs are actually normal candy rewrapped so their origins are hidden, but the placebo effect does a great job of motivating students to study. When Sasara found out, he thought Rei was hilarious and befriended him.

The Samatoki-Ichiro drama was masterminded by Rei. Ichijiku found it super creepy how obsessed Samatoki was with Nemu and asked Rei to cause a rift. Thus, Rei helped plan that convention (purposefully setting it in another town, near a hotel) before talking about it in Ichiro’s vicinity. He also caused their phones to break and the train home to be out of commission. Ramuda being at the same hotel as Ichiro and Nemu was planned too, and his taking of that photo was manipulated by Rei, whether he realized it or not. When Ichiro got held back, Rei didn’t do anything to help him because he wanted the Buster Bros!!! to get used to being apart (Yeah, Saburo’s grade-skipping was subliminally encouraged by Rei, and yes, Rei is the father of the Buster Bros!!! but is in no rush to tell them).

Bad Ass Temple

Evil Monk: There’s a shrine in the same neighborhood as the high school, and Kuko works there. However, most people are too scared to visit that shrine and are often driven away by Kuko’s rough personality. He’s best friends with Ichiro, to the point of retaking his first year to stay by his side.

14th Moon: Most students mistook ‘14th Moon’ to be Jyushi’s Visual Kei alias instead of the name of the Visual Kei band he started with Amanda the pig plushie. Although younger than Kuko, Jyushi is a second-year and Jiro’s classmate. He’s had Amanda stolen from him multiple times for ransom.

Heaven & Hell: There was once a huge debate about whether Hitoya, the disciplinary supervisor, was good or bad. The school has its fair share of troublemakers who are often sent to Hitoya’s office to have their penalties determined. There, Hitoya will suggest them two ways they could be punished, and the troublemakers must decide which they prefer. The reason students doubt his badness is because he makes sure bullies pay from their actions and helps the victims achieve safety. At the same time, his goodness is doubted because not all the troublemakers were bullies or even serious problems, yet Hitoya punished them quite sternly, if not as harshly as he does with bullies. Eventually, Hitoya had to say something about how “he’s always giving [troublemakers] hell”, and what he said was “I’m giving you troublemakers hell so you’ll make it to heaven in the future!” which got butchered into “I’m heaven and hell” as it was shared amongst students.

Kuko is well-acquainted with Hitoya because the latter is well-acquainted with the former’s father. This connection doesn’t mean Kuko gets free passes though. On the contrary, his punishments are worse because Hitoya wants to help his father straighten him out. However, Hitoya also often employs Kuko when straightening out bullies. One such example was, after Hitoya managed to round up every bully who used Amanda to extort Jyushi, he made them decide between paying back the total amount they took or facing off Kuko. The bullies chose to pay up.

There was a time where the neighborhood the school was in had an influx of gang members mugging people. Due to Jyushi’s own experiences of having money forcefully taken from him, he was too scared to go home alone and kept asking Hitoya to accompany him. Hitoya assigned him Kuko for a bodyguard instead until those gang members were dealt with.

Kuko has a spare key to Hitoya’s office, which he has many uses for. One of them is a place to nap when Hitoya patrols, since no one would think to find him there. The second use is to get his hands on the confiscated electronics (game consoles, music devices, etc.) and play with them while he’s playing hooky. Third, the office is the perfect hiding place for when he brings any prohibited items, or if Ichiro brings anything he doesn’t want Samatoki to confiscate.

Jyushi likes Hitoya’s office too. When the exam season draws near, Jyushi chooses to study with Hitoya, instead of in the library. He’d have lunch there too if Hitoya didn’t eat at the cafeteria. Kuko joins occasionally, to nap.

#BGA blabs #Hypnosis Mic #Hypmic #Buster Bros #MAD TRIGGER CREW #Fling Posse #Matenro #Dotsuitare Hompo #Bad Ass Temple

[llendrinall]

Hi I have a writing promt.

A story that is written from both pov's that shows Draco and Harry falling in love with each other. Little moments together where they fall a bit more in love. Things they do that make the other thing "Wow I'm so in love with him". Ect.

Harry had always been starkly aware of Draco, but it was after the war, in the Wizengamot, when he actually noticed him for the first time.

Draco was sitting next to Pansy Parkinson, holding her hand so tight that he was leaving white marks. Harry got a glimpse of them when Pansy was called to give her testimony.

Then the unthinkable happened. Instead of demurring, which she was allowed to do –was expected by everyone to do, was what every other member of a Death Eater family had done so far– Pansy answered all the prosecutor’s questions. She gave true testimony and denied her parents the imperius defence.

Draco was waiting for her when she came down from the stand. He grabbed her hand and led her away with measured steps so it wouldn’t look like they were running.

 *

The second time Harry noticed Draco like that, as a person rather than as an opponent, was, coincidentally, the first time Draco saw Harry as Harry. Not as a school enemy or a war enemy or The Boy Who Lived or The Saviour Of The Wizarding World. Not even as Harry Potter. He saw Harry as just Harry.

It probably helped that Harry was unrecognizable under a thick layer of soot and grime so Draco didn’t know who he was calling an idiot. Draco also yelled to stop immediately and step back and, miraculously, Harry did. No hesitance.

Not all Death Eater had been arrested and not every awful individual had joined Voldemort, which meant that there were plenty of terrible people out in the world. Someone, Death Eater or not, had attacked Wisteria House. The house where rescued and freed house-elves were hosted.

Draco understood that the house-elves weren’t the goal. They were just the bait, a cheap collateral. The point of the attack was to have someone (maybe Harry, most probably Granger), cross the door quickly, without looking around them, and walk straight into a deathly trap.

Draco saw the trap, called out a warning and Harry listened. He listened to Draco.

Both of them walked away with a different opinion of the other. No one comes out the same from a burning building.

 *

 The third time went like this.

“Occupied.”

“Je- Blimey!”

“Find your own corner in the shadows to hide, Potter. This one is mine.”

“I don’t have time to find another spot.”

“Too bad. W- wait! No, quit it!”

“Scoot over! We can share.”

“No, we can’t. This is my dark spot, go away.”

“Either we share or I make sure they find you too.”

“As if I care. I’m not hiding from your devotees. Go away.”

“It’s Clay Buckthorn.”

“… be quiet, then.”

They hid in there for an hour, talking in whispers and sharing a bottle of butterbeer, while Secretary Buckthorn, the most persistent and insufferable politician to ever crawl out of the Ministry, looked around for a popular face to join his campaign. They were about to leave when in came Rita Skeeter, pressuring Percy Weasley to answer her questions. They watched from the shadows as she pressed and cajoled and he resisted. It was a bit like watching some sort of fight sport, only after ten minutes they weren’t sure who they were supporting.

 *

Harry thought Draco was dating Pansy Parkinson and maybe he still was. Evidently, it was all for show. No need to read so much into it.  

There was this old witch complaining about tradition and values. Nothing no one hadn’t heard before many times. People these days had no respect, it was disgraceful and so on. But then she turned to Dennis Creevey and his boyfriend (some Slytherin kid, Harry didn’t know him), and she asked if their families weren’t ashamed of them. Two men together. They ought to be.

Harry wasn’t sure if she knew about Dennis’ brother or not. It was hard to believe that people could be so deliberately cruel to a stranger. The question stopped him from immediately jumping to her neck. He had been accused of blowing things out or proportion before. And by before, he meant that morning when he called out that rude shopper who cut the line before a goblin.

Meanwhile, Draco rolled his eyes in that magnificent way of his. For someone who acted so proud and proper, Draco had a very expressive face and the rolling of his eyes was a spectacle to behold. He stood from his table, grabbed Theo Nott by the lapels, and kissed him on the mouth long and hard right in the middle of the crowded restaurant. Afterwards he sat down, perfectly composed, and both Theo and him turned to look at the witch like the smuggest pair of snakes in the forest.

The witch left the restaurant soon after. Dennis lost the wretched look on his face and Harry paid the bill on Draco’s table, earning a nod from him on the way out.

*

The day Draco’s heart began to beat a different rhythm was a hot Thursday in summer and someone had tried to kill him.

It wasn’t a particularly well thought attack and Draco took precautions. He wouldn’t have gotten anything worse than an intense headache and maybe some sore muscles. Still, Harry felt the need to push him to the floor and shield him with his body from the sparks and shrapnel falling over them. Harry had stopped the hex in mid-air, which was admittedly impressive. Draco watched the purple rivulets of the failed curse slowly descending around them and wondered if he was in shock. That would be embarrassing. This clumsy attack on his life didn’t deserve any shock.

Harry jumped from him (so nimble!) and chased down the would-be murdered, on foot, like a muggle. He, he just ran down the street, didn’t even cast a spell until he caught up to him and brought him to the floor. Draco was sorry to miss that part, although there were very good pictures on the newspaper the next day. Harry looked amazingly heroic. One of the pictures had him jumping in mid-air.

Draco didn’t know if this was something Harry did for everybody or if it was just for him, nor did he care. His chest and stomach and… other parts, were confused enough about how to feel, and his heart, in particular was beating to a new tune.  

*

So Draco could make moving shadows to play stories and it was amazingly beautiful and Harry loved it, he loved it, and no, it was not the potion talking, he was perfectly sound of mind. St Mungo was about to let him go! But Draco had come visit him and when Harry complained about being dreadfully bored, Draco had put on this absolutely magical spectacle (yes, Harry knew they were both wizards, it was still magical; no, no potion talking, it was an honest opinion). In the end Harry stayed the night, just like the mediwitch had begged him to, and fell asleep with the shadows performing a dance before him.

*

Draco didn’t call it love because he was quite an obstinate young man, but he was at that stage where he would easily admit that he was willing to lay down his life for Harry. He only had trouble with the word, not with the sentiment itself and its manifestation.

They were at the Ministry. It should be a pretty simple and straight-forward process. Go in, Pansy signs the documents, Draco bears witness and signs his own documents, go out. But of course it wouldn’t be so simple. A pretty pureblood witch doing anything against her family was a spectacle. The press wanted photos, people wanted to see it live, and, of course, there was the ever present mob who just wanted to shout awful things. Usually Pansy dealt with the mob by herself, swiftly and with a sting.

But today was different, hence why Draco had informed Pansy he would be accompanying her before she could ask him to. It wasn’t like the day she gave her testimony, but it was close enough. In a way, it was worse. A year ago they had her testimony to think about. Today it was just signing a document. That could hardly distract them from the crowd waiting for them.  

A push. A yelp. A crash. And Harry Potter gallantly preventing a very old wizard from having a huge flower vase fall on top of him. Somehow, Harry didn’t cast protego in time, so he avoided being brained by the vase but was splashed by the water and stood completely drenched in the middle of the Ministry main hall.

Across the mass of curious people and reporters and workers and people who had come to shout awful things, Harry looked at Draco. He gave him A Look. If he had more time, Draco would stop and think of a suitable metaphor for Harry’s eyes, their colour and intensity. But he didn’t, so he grabbed Pansy by the elbow and together they crossed the hall without the crowd noticing. Everyone’s attention was naturally fixed on the way the Saviour of the Wizarding World’s wet clothes clung to his chest.

Afterwards, once he had seen Pansy safely (and discreetly) home, Draco went to find Harry. He was perfectly dry now, but he had a faint scent of flowers around him.

“The rose garden is lovely in June,” Draco said, which should be enough but of course Harry didn’t understand him. Harry was kind, brave, handsome and clever in the most useless way so Draco had to actually explain, with words, that Weasley and Granger must have realize by now the extent of their fame and what it would mean if they married at the Burrow, where anyone could break in. Hence, why Draco mentioned his lovely rose garden where they could get married if they chose to without anyone invading their privacy.

“Hermione’s extended family is muggle.” Harry said, and dear Merlin it was even worse than Draco thought. They were going to pick a muggle place. So not only people breaking in, but a violent attack against the muggles too. Just what you want for a wedding.

“The Malfoy family marries for power, not blood purity.” Draco explained in a whisper. “There is no repello muggletum in our houses.”

“What!?” Harry cried, drawing immediate and sharp attention to them so they had to leave quickly and find a quiet place where Draco explained that Grandmother Imogen –that is, Lucius Malfoy’s mother– was a muggle but, most importantly, a peer of the Realm.

Harry stood in shocked silence for a minute, and after a lot of “whats” and “hows” and “no, really, how could you join Voldemort?” he accepted to at least extend Draco’s offer to the happy couple.  

*

Draco said he didn’t plan on attending the wedding. Just because he was offering his summer house it didn’t mean he expected an invitation. He got one anyway, because Draco had showed them his summer house and two country houses belonging to his muggle cousins and was very careful not to mention Malfoy Manor at any point. Ron appreciated it even more than Hermione.  

He rejected the invitation anyway because he said he much preferred to sit by the gates and send stinging hexes to anyone trying to intrude. It was his one chance to curse people indiscriminately and he didn’t want to waste it.

He showed up later, during the reception, looking handsome and with a pleased smile on his face. He grabbed a glass of champagne, immediately transformed it from a flute to a pompadour without wasting a drop, and sat himself next to Aunt Muriel whom he proceeded to engage in a long and acrid dispute until Ron and Hermione had left. Dear Aunt Muriel didn’t get a chance to insult the bride, or the groom, or any of their families really.

It was right then, while Draco forged a lifelong enemy (her life, not his) by insulting her garden (how did he know so much about flowers), that Harry realized he was in love. He was in love. He was in love. He wanted to be with Draco and insult people together and scandalize prejudiced old bats until they themselves were old bats.

*

Harry picked up a fight with the officiant (to be fair, that comment about the goblins was very unfortunate) and they ended up getting married at a muggle register’s office and Draco was so, so, happy. His family was obviously displeased. Cousin Nerissa said that her fiancée could officiate and was very offended when Fred Weasley said no one wanted to be married by a man named Cuthbert. It was amazing. George Weasley sat next to Cousin George, the baron. Hermione and Ginny Weasley started a fight with the most traditional-minded relatives (from every side). Cousin Audrey came out to the family when she was caught propositioning Luna Lovegood. Pansy Parkinson got engaged to no less than three lords and said they could sort between themselves who got to marry her.

Draco was so in love. It was amazing.

#asks #verse:finding common ground and falling in love #what is it with flute glasses anyway #it's impossible to find pompadours these days #harry potter #draco malfoy #Anonymous #textpost

[imaginaryelle]

Literally no one asked but I saw this excellent post and just the mention of “The Untamed Temeraire!AU” threw my brain into high gear and I was able to think of nothing else until I wrote some things down and here we are, 1.5 thousand words later. (No Temeraire knowledge required here, I’m totally ignoring like 90% of that canon and 100% of what it says about its in-universe version of China but dragons, okay. Dragons with generational bonds with human partners, I can’t help myself.)

*

Yingyue is the eldest dragon of the Five Great Sects, and she likes Jiang Cheng well enough, or at least, he’s pretty sure she likes him, and it’s admittedly nice to just lie back and bask in the river without ever wondering if he’s going to float too far away from the dock or be dragged under the surface by a water ghoul because she’s always right there, warm scales under his spine, keeping him afloat. She’s calm when he’s angry, and she’s never once failed to show up and tickle his feet with her whiskers when he’s sitting on the end of the pier alone, and she talks about his family and the river in a way that makes him feel connected to something bigger, and helps him worry a bit less about his mother’s expectations and his father’s love. Yingyue likes him, and that’s pretty much the next best thing to getting the approval of at least three of his ancestors all at once. He does sometimes wish she would leave the water more often. She’s too big for it, too big to really play, the way Mochou plays with Wei Wuxian, and too old, too.

Mochou is younger even than Jiang Cheng himself, hatched a mere eight days after his father brought Wei Wuxian home, and she makes no secret of her favoritism. She’ll take food from Jiang Yanli, and she lets Jiang Cheng oil her scales as she grows, but it’s Wei Wuxian’s shoulders she curls around while she small enough to do so, and Wei Wuxian who she carries higher than any sword could hope to fly once she’s large enough, and Wei Wuxian who knows exactly what kinds of ideas she likes best. Their partnership does nothing to dispell the rumors surrounding Wei Wuxian’s parentage, but it’s fine, it’s fine, because they’re always going to stay at Lotus Pier, and they’ll always play faithful seconds to Jiang Cheng and Yingyue, and it’s all going to be fine.

(The truth is that Yingyue loves Jiang Cheng almost as much as she loves Lotus Pier itself, has loved him ever since he wrapped his chubby toddler fingers around her whiskers and pulled when he was barely a year old, loves him more than his sister, promised away almost before she drew breath, and more than his brother, too wild and fiery to ever understand the ebb and flow of the river, and she’s the one who makes sure he’s safely in Meishan before she returns to save whatever she can from Wen blades and dragonfire. Lotus Pier will not burn, not while she or any of her line still draw breath in the world, but she is not fast enough to stop Jiang Fengmian’s death, cannot protect the heirlooms inside the walls, cannot hope to win by flood and fury against attack from so many dragons, all of them young and fast and with far less to lose. She saves what she can—the buildings, the pier, the eggs she has guarded for nearly fifty years, and she sinks deep into the river mud where none of the brash, hotblooded Wen dragons can hope to follow.

She knows the instant Jiang Cheng again steps foot in her territory, just as she knows that the Wens are still waiting for her. She knows the moment the discipline whip hits his skin.

She leaves the eggs. She fights.

When Mochou and Wei Wuxian come for Jiang Cheng, they find him without a core, and Lotus Pier without a dragon, and they know exactly what they have to do.)

*

Lan Xichen expects to form a bond with his father’s dragon, who was also his grandfather’s dragon and his great grandfather’s dragon (the line between a human sect leader and a dragon sect leader can be—blurred, sometimes), but instead he finds himself fleeing across the mountainside with as much of the Lan library as he can fit in every qiankun bag he could find and the last egg that still waited in the Cold Pond Cave wrapped in silk and tied carefully to his chest, and he’s already mourning the dragon who was almost a parent, almost a grandparent, and one of the first casualties to fall to the invading Wens. It’s not that he regrets meeting little Xinyi when she hatches, but she’s so young; he’s trying to feed a fledgling dragon on a battlefield and lead his sect without the benefit of hundreds of years experience at his back and it’s—well it’s harder than he thought it would be.

(Xinyi knows she’s not the partner Lan Xichen expected. She reads all of the books he carries, and then all the books in Meng Yao’s tiny shop, and she listens to respected cultivators and dragons alike in her quest for ever-more knowledge, as if she can replace lived experience with vicarious reports. She makes herself useful. She may not remember the battles of her ancestors, but she can still freeze men solid on a clear summer’s night and she draws better maps than any other scout in the Sunshot campaign’s assembled forces, and she guards his dreams with gentle warmth at his side and sharp teeth bared against the night.)

Lan Wangji visits his mother’s dragon once a month every month starting the day his mother dies, but they both know it’s mostly because the Elders hope she’ll choose him as a replacement. She had curled around him, after all, that cold night in the snow on the doorstep of their shared mourning, but really that’s the extent of their relationship: they both mourn the same person. There is nothing else to draw them together. Or at least, there’s nothing else until he misses a meeting, and then two, and then on the last day of the third month he climbs to her windy ridge with a splint on his leg and a Xuanwu’s blood on his robes and Nianzhen finally sees the same fierce fire in his eyes that burns under her scales, and then, then nothing can come between them.

*

Wei Wuxian emerges from the Burial Mounds with a dragon as dark as a moonless night gliding at his heels and the dead shuffling in his wake. Junshuang has a voice like no dragon ever seen before, a weapon that slips under closed doors and around reinforced fortifications like mist and that turns men and dragons alike, ally fighting ally until none are left alive and the corpses march to new rhythms. He clings to Wei Wuxian like a shadow—ever-present, and growing ever larger as the sun dips lower.

(Mochou does not like Junshuang. She doesn’t like him at all. It’s justice, the world says, that when Wei Wuxian dies under his brother’s blade, so too does his dragon—bloodied and beaten at the end of his old partner’s talons.)

*

Jin Guangyao spends years courting Jianhong’s approval, years of visits and careful speeches and the most perfect gifts he can find. He spends almost as much time seeing to the dragon’s comfort as he does seeking his father’s favor, but the great bulk of dragon scales never moves, the mouth never opens, the eyes never so much as blink in his direction. It’s only when he tells Jianhong that Jin Guangshan is dead that he finally gets a response. One amber eye opens, and silver-white teeth gleam in reflected lantern light.  “Tell me, little serpent,” the dragon hisses, all-too-knowing. “How you achieved it.”

*

The dragons of the Nie Clan are as short-lived as their partners, as a rule. They shine hot and bright, fierce and strong, and burn themselves out almost faster than the next generation can hatch. But the Nie Clan has never cultivated the same way as the other Sects, and a life lost is not the same as knowledge passed beyond reach.

It’s luck, more than anything, that Nie Huaisang is able to save the pearl between Zhihong’s antlers from the deadly sweep of his brother’s maddened blade. Luck and arrogant assumptions that keep Zhiruo from drawing attention, even with the same pearl settled on her forehead in conference after conference, meeting after meeting, where the two of them watch Jin Guangyao smile, and nod, and lie. “Patience,” she murmurs with the wisdom of unbroken generations stretching out in her memory. “Everyone makes mistakes eventually.”

*

Send me an AU and I’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it.

#mdzs fic #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #lan xichen #lan wangji #jin guangyao #nie huaisang #chenqingling #temeraire au #alex writes #aus and fusions are a weakness of mine #character death #mourning