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vaguely-concerned · 19 days

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another really interesting thing in our man bashir to me is that I think this is the point where garak finally mostly relinquishes his self-appointed role as bashir's teacher. he seems to have taken it upon himself early on, for inscrutable but probably partially horny, partially cultivating a promising (and lovely) contact reasons of his own, to imbue julian bashir with some spysmarts and basic bastard thinking literacy skills, in the hopes that he won't go get his bright beautiful excitable ass killed at the first opportunity. there's a lot of mentor/protege undertone there in the early years. (if you want to get into asit stuff, very much in the same vein as palandine and garak's relationship in the beginning.)

but in omb garak really only has one of his little lectures, and it's basically about The thing about being a spy (and a person) that has most shaped his life: That's something else you've yet to learn, Doctor. A real intelligence agent has no ego, no conscience, no remorse. Only a sense of professionalism. There is no joy, no magic, no real delight to this, no winning, no recognition, and most importantly no connection; the reward for work well done is only ever the work itself. You don’t kiss the girl, get the key — you simply get on with turning yourself into nothing as best you can. and julian, who had just been trying to momentarily imagine a world where secrets can be cool and glamorous and for good, meaningful reasons that empower him to help the world rather than shameful and isolating and alienating and like a damocles sword hanging over him and everything he cares about, shoots back with 'well, but what if not that, though? that's the whole point of this game! this is my story not yours, trust me to know it better than you do. (I have more things to teach you too, if you’d just listen. And once he gets shot a little bit, garak does listen.)'

(somewhere beneath all this is almost exactly the same debate they will have explicitly later on -- "Sentiment is the greatest weakness of all"/"If that's true, that's one lesson I never want to learn". Something something the freedom to imagine and play around with different worlds in your head, no matter how cringefail james bond LARP nonsense that world is as long as it brings you hope and joy and new perspectives, kill the part of you that cringes etc. Garak you're allowed to get out of the closet in your head now, Tain is gone, you can imagine different things than what has been and no one will turn it against you. Im… sad)

through most of this episode garak is observing, and when he's not simply bitching about everything from the sidelines (<3), he's tentatively trying to throw in comments to play along, to figure out how the flow goes like he's learning a different language, and he's BAD at it hahaha. he barged in there to put himself in a position to learn something about julian bashir's ~*hidden inner psyche*~, but UH-OH spiritual uno reverse card time he's having to face some shit about his own psyche and the immense barrenness it's been forced to operate under for so long.

The learning between them has of course always been two-way (that’s partially what the whole relationship is built on), but in giving up the more ‘formal’ role — mask — of teacher, garak is also opening up space for realer emotional intimacy, letting one layer of artificiality fall and allowing more realness to shine through. even so he doesn’t let go of control completely until he’s faced with irrefutable (horny) proof that julian’s sentiments and ideals are backed by real conviction — julian knows (possibly better than garak does) what is a game, and what is real, and where he draws the line between frivolous and deeply necessary is different from where garak would and by the end of the ep I think garak trusts julian more, enough to leave the story in julian’s hands without trying to steer or form him even indirectly/sneakily. And to top it all off, the way julian uses his last dramatic speech to signal that he did also listen to what garak told him… augh.

the teacher role, along with the lies (ever his swiss army knife god bless), has helped garak keep a sort of fine-tuned control of the level of emotional intimacy possible between them, stay in control of what narratives are even on the table. and I think finally letting that fade more into the background transforms their relationship in ways that can pay off big time down the line, for all that it leaves things a bit strange and tentative in the meantime. by garak standards he’s being positively transparent in this episode. for the first time he talks about his time in the order without any coy prevarication, he states his hunger for knowing julian better right down to his ~*hidden inner psyche*~ almost pathetically openly (<3<3<3<3). And this is just my headcanon and definitely not what was meant at the time of airing, the unplanned nature of the augment reveal being what it is, but in context of the whole show as it became it feels a lot like garak offering some of his own authenticity to signal that julian could trust him with his. It feels like garak has figured out at least the rough outlines of what julian has uh got going on and tried to make this gambit, having… perhaps underestimated the extent of the defenses julian has internally/psychologically against Being Known, quite aside from the practical real world consequences of his secret getting out. Anyway. Lots in this episode. Many thoughts.

#the our man bashir post that was promised #garashir #star trek #star trek ds9 #ds9 #elim garak #julian bashir #does this make any sense. perhaps not. but at least it's out of my head lol #ds9 meta #long post

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queenhellwitch · 1 year

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Jared Fucking Padalecki.

Re: Twitter, and the bunches of people who are criticising Jared for not being as good at acting as Jensen (misinformation about Jared's "problematic nature" aside, the intricacies of "he's not your fave but he's right there in every episode so he's not a bad actor, he just annoys you" aside, and the [probably correct] "you just hate him cuz he's not part of your ship" ideas also aside...)

It's so easy to see Sam as the boring, huffy, grumpy one who is only there to piss Dean off and to piss on Dean's always ever-so-hilarious bonfire (I've actually seen people use Sam's 'I'm so done with this shit' persona as the reason to claim Jared is a bad actor - that he's merely playing himself, just stands there and "huffs and puffs", he's booooring, wah wah. Tell me you've never seen Jared being Jared without telling me etc etc...)

And then there are people who understand and love Sam. We relate. His trauma is palpable and we see it and feel it and can't ignore it, like a lot of fans of this show seem to do.

But there's an extra nuance - and I'm gonna be extra patronising here - it's called understanding the dynamics of the game. Acting is a game of tennis. It's a call and response, a dance. J2 talk about it ALL THE TIME.

Dynamics. J2's chemistry, their brotherly relationship on and off screen and love for each other cannot be denied. But also, thanks to these TWO SKILLED ACTORS, Sam and Dean are a beautifully crafted comedy duo. The clip from "LARP and the Real Girl", where Sam suggests belladonna, and Dean and Charlie say "The pornstar?!" - that scene? There is a beat. Of perfect length.

And Sam says, "...the poison." It is a great example of masterful acting/comedy dynamics. People who clip/gif this scene after "The pornstar?!" and miss the next line absolutely suck. The reaction from Jared/Sam is what absolutely MAKES this moment as great as it is. It is absolutely, perfectly perfect, straight-man comic timing. He masters it, every time, every episode.

Then there's all the other things he does to bring the Sam I love to full, dynamic, dimensional life. Let me count the ways.

Just the other day I watched a clip of 20-year-old Jared giving an interview with the rest of the cast of "House of Wax". He talked about the lighting, the angles; he mentioned all sorts of things. Bashful, rosy-cheeked and so earnest, full of awe and respect for the art of filmmaking, even when his fellow young cast members were either jibing each other, or silently lounging, sunglasses on, like rockstars.

He's a beautiful actor because he cares so much about how a story is told.

He's a beautiful actor and one who deserves to be celebrated.

https://youtu.be/toiE_Q5S290

#sam winchester #jared padalecki #we love you jared padalecki #j2 #jarpad #sam and dean #jared and jensen

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warrior-cats-rewritten · 5 months

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Changes made to Crowfeather so far:

Deadfoot passed when he was a baby, and he feels a tad of pressure on himself. No one has put this on him.

He has a very strong bond with his mother Ashfoot, sister Downpaw, and brother Hillpaw. Eaglefoot, his older brother, was a bit busy with his own apprentice, but still obviously family.

Losing Downpaw and Eaglefoot to sickness from a poisoned rabbit is what finally makes him listen to Starclan, because he does not want other cats to feel that pain. He does it for the future of Windclan, for his grieving Clanmates.

He had a rivalry with Nightpaw (Nightcloud). She had a habit of outshining him in battle training. His jaw hit the floor when he learned she had been given her name early (and as an Honour Title no less!)

He has a "friendship" with Cranberrypaw. He likes his personal space. She also likes his personal space. He doesn't hate her, but she's so cheerful and bouncy that she is a bit tiring to watch. He is very happy she makes friends with Squirrelpaw.

He does not have a romantic bond with Feathertail. She is much more like a big sister. She cares heavily about the younger cats on the Journey, which now has more apprentices (Crowpaw, Cranberrypaw, Smokepaw, Squirrelpaw, Leafpaw and Shrewpaw).

Traveling with Leafpaw let them build a real bond, and he truly loved her. No more Leafpool hanging off a cliff larping as Feathertail. He is also a HUGE Fire Law supporter.

"The Code is old, and restricting, if the Code is meant to keep cats from LOVING one another.... Then it needs to change."

He faced off against his radicalized brother, Hillfang, during the Battle of Mudclaw. He kills his own brother. Hillfang's body rolls down the hill and his Blood begins to trickle towards the Lake.

He and Leafpool discussed names for kits. It's were they got Lionkit and Jaykit from. He always wanted a big family, and this is a huge trait of his, especially since he loses so many.

He was so prepared to go to Thunderclan to be with Leafpool, but he saw Onewhisker struggling with Mudclaw's Coup and knew he needed to once again think of the future of his own Clan. I cannot stress enough: He Does Not Want To Be In Windclan Anymore.

He and Nightcloud were BOTH in hot water after the Battle of Mudclaw. Girl is a Kitty War Criminal. She killed a guy by somewhat accident (meant to hurt him, did not mean to slit his throat. Don't think "oopsie" is gonna get you off the hook on a murder charge.) and ALL of Windclan is watching them.

"If we start a family, look like we're settling. Maybe we'll be forgiven. They still see both of us as young and irresponsible, we can win back their trust."

When Leafpool told him she was pregnant, he once again tried to leave Windclan, but she was so overwhelmed with emotion (thanks unborn Jaykit) that she ran off. He also realized that with Windclan's changing political atmosphere, if he left now, war would most likely break out. Onestar was cracking under the weight of leadership and the cats of Windclan were demanding that Thunderclan get away from them.

He only trains Heathertail officially. He gives less official training to Featherpelt when Nightcloud goes missing, but Featherpaw goes straight back to her old mentor after.

He does NOT disown the three. He actually really loves them. His relationship with Breezepelt is... strained.

He loves him. He wants to love him. But he doesn't want to be with Nightcloud. He never wanted to be with Nightcloud. Being together was a mistake on both their parts and they were better as just casual rivals when they could easily walk away from each other. He hates that he made that choice and wishes to undo it. But.... does that mean Breezepelt shouldn't exist? What about Smokekit and Dusk-kit? He wants to be close with his son, but his son a living wildfire, and he already never wanted to have kits with Nightcloud, and he still hates being in Windclan... It's hard to think about.

It's complicated. It's frustrating. He doesn't deal with it well, and neither does Breezepelt. They butt heads more than a couple of rams and it doesn't help that Breezepelt is so damn intelligent, light years ahead of "head in the clouds Crowfeather". Their personalities just don't click, and it takes The Great Battle for him to realize how isolated it made Breezepelt feel. Foresight is not this guy's specialty.

He and Nightcloud do agree on one thing though. They love that Whitetail was Breezepaw's mentor. She helped satisfy his need to test and try everything and LEARN things, and had a sarcasm level that matched little Breezey P.

A Broken Crow's Nest is one third Crowfeather's story (the other thirds obviously being Nightcloud and Breezepelt). Crowfeather's ending is that he... Leaves. He finally leaves Windclan behind and congratulates Breezepelt on being made deputy, saying sorry for being a stubborn fart of a father, and he is glad Nightcloud is such a wonderful mom.

He also tells Pickletail a lot of things Breezepelt likes and dislikes, and that Pickletail will be a better father to him than Crowfeather was, and a MUCH better mate flr Nightcloud. (Breezepelt LOVES Pickletail.)

He leaves for Thunderclan, where he finally relaxes for the first time since he ran away so long ago. He gains a lot of weight (Fat Crowfeather SWEEP), and discovers a joy in Camp Keeping and some bird hunting. He connects with his other kits, and gets the chance to mentor... Baypaw!

He is subjected to HEAVY discrimination during TBC, Baypaw is taken from him and given to another cat more loyal to Bramblestar.

"You are a Code Breaker, Lostfeather. And I'm sure Starclan doesn't need a cat like you corrupting the minds of youths."

He joins the rebellion and highly supports Hollyleaf trying to get lives from Starclan.

He is NOT a Light In The Mist. That honour goes to Breezepelt and Leaftail.

In Windclan, he was considered UGLY. Guy was a 1/10. Nightcloud is a 10. No one understood what she "saw in him" and wondered what he must have done to get her attention. In Thunderclan, now that he is fat and more well groomed, he is a more 4 or 5.

As of River, he is now chilling with Leafpool, waiting patiently with her for her other mate Mothwing (Bi Poly Leafpool SWEEP) to cross the border into Thunderclan. It sure is taking a while. Hope Frostpaw's training comes along nicely so she can leave. She's been more high strung lately, more nervous...

#warrior cats #warrior cats rewrite #wcr #warriors #important #crowfeather #a broken crow's nest #nightcloud #breezepelt #wc pickle #fat crowfeather! fatness representing recovery and hope!#leafpool #hollyleaf #lionblaze #jayfeather #crowfeather's scramble

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dailyspnpolls · 1 year

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Let's pit two random episodes against each other...

5x17 99 Problems:

8x11 LARP And The Real Girl:

Describe the best part of the episode you chose in the tags and replies!

Check out the other polls here. There's a new one every day!

#spn #supernatural #spn polls #daily spn polls #sam winchester #dean winchester #castiel #charlie bradbury #spn 5x17 #spn 8x11

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indierpgnewsletter · 4 months

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New Games From December 23 and January 24

I. Dear Reader Another regularly scheduled roundup of games that have been released on itch.io that caught my eye over the last two months. Usual disclaimer that I haven’t really read or played these games; they just seem cool based on the pitch alone. Also, most of them now come to me by people using this form.

Protect the Child: A Forged in the Dark game about monsters caring for a strange, mystical child. Playtest version. (Mintrabbit, Free)

Aftermath: A solo-friendly sci-fi about a team of first responders trying to make the world a better place after a terrible war. (Ember and Ash)

Space Aces: Voyages in Infinite Space: A comedy scifi sandbox inspired by the Hitchhikers’ Guide. (Stephen Hans)

The Connection Machine: A cerebral scifi game about exploring a dreamlike world and overcoming trauma. (Tanya Floaker & Julia Nevalainen)

Daybreak on the Battlefield: An unofficial set of extra playbooks for Girl by Moonlight, the excellent magical girls game. (Ben K Rosenbloom)

Buried in Ice: A mystery for Apocalypse Keys, the Hellboy-inspired PbtA game. Something trapped in a glacier thaws out and causes havoc. (Morgan Eilish)

Boyfriend Dungeon: Life on the Edge: The videogame gets officially adapted into a PbtA game. Explore your inner psyche, confront you fears, and also smooch swords. (Trumoi)

Like Real People Do: A two-player prompt-driven game about a mage trying to keep secrets in a vault but the vault wants to be a real person. (Meghan Cross)

The Mystery Business: Scooby Doo-inspired mystery solving game with no combat. You beat the baddies by setting traps to catch them. (Greg L)

The Flood Bell Tolls in Saint Magnus: A system-neutral campaign set in a drowning city on the verge of rebellion. (Tempest RPG, PWYW)

Also, cheeky last minute addition, the Showcase Zero bundle features games that came out of my playtest community. It’s got my scifi horror game, This Ship Is No Mother, as well as the mecha game of friendship and war, Spectres of Brocken and more.

II. Media of the Week

People Make Games take a good look at jubensha, a gaming phenomenon in China that started out just as spiffy murder mystery party games but has transformed into much more, including what sounds like scripted larps where everyone cries at the end. Really cool story.

youtube

The new season of DiceExploder is back with John Harper talking about Psi*Run, a unique game by Meguey Baker that should’ve inspired a slew of games but inexplicably didn’t.

Please consider joining 100+ other patrons and support the newsletter on patreon to help keep me going.

If you’ve released a new game on itch.io this month, let me know through this form so I can potentially include it in the end of the month round-up.

III. Links of the Week

Reviews

Indie Game Reading Club reviews Stonetop, the community-focused iron age fantasy game from Jeremy Strandberg.

It’s a solid review and also features this neat bit of analysis about how PbtA developed: “Monsterhearts spawned the branch of PbtA games that are concerned with constrained, evocative moves with a strong editorial voice. Dungeon World, conceived as a reverse-engineering of Dungeons & Dragons style play, is concerned with efficiently resolving tasks, boiling down the activity to its core essence.”

Cannibal Halfling reviews Free League’s vanilla-ish fantasy game, Dragonbane: “…when we live in the world of Old-School Essentials (also a translation, though from Gygax to English instead of Swedish to English), there’s clearly recognized value in taking an old system, cleaning it up, and sending it back out.”

Explore Beneath and Beyond has a blog series reviewing and discussing all the early adventures and scenarios published for D&D. This is part one.

Possum Creek Games publish their 2023 year in review including completing the mammoth Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast.

DIY & Dragons explains why we should all probably stick to calling it “Jaquaysing”.

A short post about the oldest ttrpg forums – usenet groups.

Misc

ZineMonth 2024 is around the corner and since the “official” site isn’t ready yet, there’s an unofficial” page listing all the projects being crowdfunded. Take a look and submit your own if you’re doing one.

There’s a game jam to create a megadungeon in honour of Jennell Jaquays.

From the archive

Skerples’ cool blog post about how to portray aliens and alien intelligences in your game, approaching it from a bunch of different angles. (Issue #8, Sep 2020)

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#gaming #rpg #ttrpgsolidarity #indie ttrpg #ttrpg community #ttrpg #ttrpg design #Youtube

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humanaaa · 5 months

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ok i'll ask. what DID vriska do

Just to start I am part of the “Vriska did some things wrongs because I don't wanna erase these cool part of her <3 and she was pretty cool doing all that”

Anyways so there's this dude right. Tavros Nitram. He and Vriska were larping one day, and she pushed him down a cliff. He became paraplegic because of that. And she always made fun of him because of that

Then bacause of that some things happen, she loses an arm, she mind controls tavros so he can mind control some animals so one of their friends get blind, and this somehow leads to a guy killing his kinda (alien romance) girlfriend (who was the one who made her lose an arm). The girl become a cool ghost later 👍

Then she forced Tavros to kiss her, and to try to kill her (so she could become a kinda god) then when he tried to fight her she killed him (and pushed him off a cliff)

She lured some kids to her house so she could feed her guardian (who is a...giant hungry spider)

The self insert of the comic did try to marry her once, but that's on him so

Vriska dies F pay your respects. But then this was reconned and now we have alive vriska and ghost Vriska.

Ghost Vriska fused with Ghost Tavros and they exploded bc of that. But they were kinda fine (although still ghosts)

Aaaand that's all I remember

She's also one of the coolest shades of blue ever I love that color 🙏

Anyways Vriska is very cool and very not real 👍 she did many wrongs and many rights and she looked really cool as she did all that

#ask #THANKS FOR EVERYONE (mostly Jade) WHO SAW ME RAMBLING ABOUT HOMESTUCK WHILE I TRIED TO ANSWER THIS ASK

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electriczayre · 7 months

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Since there doesn't seem to be anything written for your Omori AU, how do all the other ex-Headspaceians differ from canon?

first of all i want to genuinely thank you for expressing interest in my silly little swap AU hehe ^^ this is giving me a great excuse to think about ISOLI again and make a few silly little things for it!!

I had some tidbits about ISOLI's main party that I made when I first started developing the AU, I just never officially posted any information I guess... This will be long so I'll put everything under the cut!

The most obvious change from a glance is the character's names and designs. Sweetheart and Spaceboy (who don't have any human counterpart and are instead based on fictional characters within Sunny's world) are now regular humans within the real world, and within headspace as part of Isoli's party. Sweetheart's name has been changed to Stephanie, and (Captain) Spaceboy's to Charlie! The Unbread Twins and Mikal already have Faraway Town counterparts, so those are used for them. Biscuit becomes Bowen, and Mikal becomes Michael. Doughie's name stays as Doughie because of a personal headcanon of them being nonbinary, so in the AU Doughie uses they/them pronouns, and they changed their name to Doughie as part of transitioning ^^

I talked about what Stephanie is like already, so I'll move onto Charlie

Firstly, Charlie is a trans boy! He's always hated being a girl, but doesn't feel comfortable talking much about it with his parents. He's asked his friends to treat him like a boy and of course they happily did so. Charlie loves anything and everything to do with outer space, and often talks about wanting to grow up to study and explore space. He's very intense with his emotions, but his friends help him manage them. He cares a lot about everything, which can be stressful! He may also have a small crush on Stephanie, but she doesn't reciprocate those feelings. They still have a friendly relationship, though, even if they don't always see eye-to-eye!

After Bowen's death and the 4 year time skip, Charlie's found new friends to help distract him from all the Pain And Suffering. Instead of the hooligans, we have human versions of some of OMORI's space pirates! I haven't developed this much yet, but the plan is that they LARP being an evil Space Pirate crew while causing trouble around town. Charlie hides his emotions behind his fiery anger now, but it wouldn't take much to make him crack and start to cry... Stephanie doesn't really understand why Charlie's decided to be so mean all the time now, and Charlie doesn't understand how Stephanie just seemingly moved on from everything that happened so quickly.

Doughie, Bowen, Michael, and Sunny are all family - though Sunny is adopted, while the other 3 are blood related.

Doughie always wanted to pursue a medical degree growing up, but felt somewhat pressured to go into the family bread business (quite literally the opposite of Hero in OMORI!). They're a bit silly, but always seem a bit melancholy even when supposedly happy or content. They've also designated themself as the responsible one of the group, making sure that everyone stays out of trouble. After Bowen - their twin brother - died, they were extremely emotionally distraught, and abandoned their dream of becoming a doctor in order to fill the shoes of the next up in line for the bread business.

The death of Bowen also split the family apart due to stress, with the parents becoming estranged but choosing to still work together for the sake of the business. The dad lives with Doughie and Michael, while the mom took Sunny and moved into an available house in Faraway. The parents get the space they need, while also being close enough to keep the business running. This was also supposed to keep the siblings in contact, but then Sunny isolated for 4 years...

Bowen doesn't have too much information (besides being dead). He planned to go into the bread business because he genuinely loved it, and he's more of a gentle sweet soft guy type than in canon where he's sorta just a Wet Napkin in Headspace and a parrot to Daphne in Faraway. His siblings loved him, Charlie loved him, Stephanie loved him.

Which leads us to Michael... Oh, Michael. He's much more of a nervous wreck in this AU than in canon. He saw Sunny accidentally kill Bowen, recognized it as an accident, and panicked because he didn't want his brother and best friend to get in big trouble. So he helped Sunny cover it up. He feels sad and a little betrayed that his parents split apart and Sunny chose to isolate himself with his mom instead of everyone working it all out as a family. But he can't be mad, not when he feels this is all his fault. He doesn't wear a wig, but he does bleach his hair blond. In headspace, he's probably a bit of a rambunctious kid.

#OMORI #OMORI game #OMORI AU #OMORI swap AU #OMORI ISOLI AU #electricanswers

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checkoutmybookshelf · 3 months

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The One That Takes Place on an Adult Film Set

So if Grave Peril was where we really got to know the Red Court and really dig into one type of vampire, this is where we get the rest of the vampires. This book is a weird amalgamation of Harry breaking an entropy curse on a porn set and Harry LARP-ing the fast few chapters of Dracula. There is just so much weird mirroring in this book too, everything from Harry learning about the real nature of his relationship to Thomas, which mirrors Lara and Inari's relationship to Harry's "porn stars are people too" stance that gets really contradicted by the fact that the only non-Ex-Mrs.-Genosa casualty is the single mother of two who keeps a roof over their heads and food on the table by starring in porn films. Like...For all Harry's protestations of open-mindedness, the entire *premise* of the adult film chunks of this book are "we are punishing porn stars for being porn stars." So let's talk Blood Rites.

This is your SPOILER WARNING and also your CONTENT WARNING for discussions of sex, pornography, and mental assault.

There are three main thrusts to this book (pun sort of intended, but I feel bad about it). There's Harry's Family Stuff and the White Court, there is the Black Court, and there is Arturo Genosa and the adult film. Let's take those in reverse order, because that just feels easiest.

The thing that pulls Harry into this book is Thomas Wraith showing up and asking Harry to help a buddy of his who is cursed. Arturo Genosa apparently really likes sticking his dick in crazy, because he has three ex-wives who have banded together after finding out that he's planning to marry again, but the new bride does not have to sign the same prenup they did, which will screw them out of their shares of Genosa's estate when he dies. Unfortunately, because fax machines are not great, the name of the new bride is smudged to hell and back, so rather than trying to decipher it and target just one person, the ex-wife brigade adopts a spray-and-pray method (double entendre also intended, and I feel less bad about this one). So they basically curse the studio and every woman around Genosa is in the firing line, which is what Harry has been hired to stop.

This gets WEIRDLY slapstick at times, since someone tries to take Harry out with a blowgun, and a frozen turkey quite literally falls from the sky. What is decidedly not slapstick is the sheer level of catty woman-on-woman violence, pettiness, and vitriol. Like, yes, this bullying and violence dynamic exists and deserves page time, but the point is WILDLY undercut when you drop the whole conflict into a highly sexually charged environment and trip into classic horror tropes like the final girl, the brides of Dracula (which is absolutely the vibe in the Wraith Deeps), and punishing sex workers for sex work. You've just basically undercut any other point you're trying to make, because you haven't subverted jack shit and you are so buried in tropes and heteronormative sex that any sense beyond "women are literal monsters" gets completely eclipsed. Like, I'm genuinely shocked that Butcher didn't somehow work a vagina dentata or a sarlacc joke into this book.

Now, running in the background of Harry and the Porn Film is Mavra, a Black Court vampire who is full-on coming for Harry and working to rebuild her court. Harry decides that the best course of action here is to go old school: Find the nest and burn it out before the baby vamps can hurt anyone else. Which, frankly? I support. The Black Court can and should get wiped off the face of the earth. And for the most part, this section is just fun to read. Harry, Murphy, and Kincaid--with Ebenezer McCoy as their wheelman--track the scourge of vampires to their lair in a homeless shelter and proceed to wreck shop on them. Harry even manages to get a group of captured kids out of there in one piece. Well, the kids are in one piece. Harry gets his hand dry-roasted because his shields aren't designed for thermal regulation. That's going to be extremely relevant in terms of lore and character building for the next few books, until Butcher basically forgets about it. But in general, it's a kickass quest and is largely successful.

My only real beef with this scene is the five or so minutes where Murphy is traversing a set of lasers wired to claymore mines and Kincaid has to take her pants off to buy her a quarter inch of space. Which like, is fair enough in practical terms, but Kincaid, Harry, and the book itself sexualize this in a way that is just absolutely gross and unnecessary, and I'm pretty sure it was 100% just so that Harry could smirk about Murphy gunfighting in panties with a little bow on them. Which made me want to take his staff and clock him across the jaw. Multiple times. This was not required, and it just keeps adding to the pattern of sexualizing women in deadly situations...holy crap, did we accidentally wander into a Joss Whedon project?

This scene does set up Murphy and Kincaid's relationship though, which will be relevant for like...maybe one other book? So fine. It also highlights that Kincaid and the White Council DO NOT get along, since he and McCoy draw on each other on sight and Harry almost doesn't manage to talk them down. So we do get some interesting insight into who the White Council does and does not approve of.

I suppose I have to stop stalling now, and actually address the White Court and the Family Stuff.

For any of this book to make sense, we need to know a little bit of history. Mostly that Lord Wraith, Thomas, Lara, and Inari's father, had just the biggest boner for Harry's mother, Margaret Le Fay. Margaret spent a lot of time in the White Court, gave birth to Thomas, and then peaced out. On her way out the door though, she cursed Lord Wraith so that his hunger--the demon that makes him a White Court vampire--couldn't feed. So he hasn't been able to feed since before Harry was born, is dangerously weak--but somehow still strong enough to be STRONGLY implied to be grooming and assaulting his children--and is losing power internally. So yes, Daddy Wraith is a piece of utter garbage, and when we start the book, Inari and Lara are both working for Genosa. Thomas is trying to spare Inari from ever becoming a White Court vampire, while Lara is actively yeeting her AT HARRY to try to awaken her hunger. This is just a bad situation all around.

That said though, this is the book where Harry starts to really gather family--blood family--around him, because in addition to leaving a curse for Lord Wraith, Margaret left mental messages for both her sons that they unlock in this book, so they would know who and what they are to each other in case she wasn't there to connect them.

And as much as I hate to admit feels for anything in this book, the messages she left and the emotional rollercoaster of discovering that you HAVE a brother and that you actually LIKE that brother gave me feels. Harry and Thomas desperately need each other, and now they have each other, and they can trust each other. That's huge for both of them. They both have to play that information very close to the chest, but THEY know, and that's kind of the important thing.

That also makes the end of this book, in the Wraith Deeps, even more complicated because family plus politics is never NOT messy. Lara full-on stages a coup to take control of the White Court, thanks to Harry outing Lord Wraith's curse and utter disregard for any of his children to her. The way it shakes out though, is with Lara in charge, Inari free, and Thomas living with Harry because Lara banished his ass.

Again though, we have Murphy being mentally and physically assaulted in the Deeps, and no, Butcher, him being "the lord of the freaking nation of sexual predators" (p. 330) does not go any distance to excusing or defending it. Like...Perhaps we could STAHP assaulting women everywhere? For five minutes?

Overall, I think this is one of the more forgettable early Dresden Files books, and it falls into horror and vampire tropes way too easily, even when Harry himself is trying to insist that he's open-minded or chivalrous. Clearing out the Black Court hideout was fun, and Harry and Thomas knowing about each other was lovely, but honestly the rest of this book is SO WEIRD about sex and consent and lust that it really did out me off.

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT MOUSE!!! Mouse is the goodest boi, and the best thing to come out of the book. He is a Foo Dog who adopts Harry, and that's basically it in this book, but keep an eye out, because Mouse is the BEST.

#blood rites #the dresden files #harry dresden #thomas wraith #karrin murphy #the white court #the black court #vampires #urban fantasy

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gellavonhamster · 6 months

Text

monthly media recap: november 2023

read:

Women of Words in Le Morte Darthur: The Autonomy of Speech in Malory’s Female Characters by Siobhán M. Wyatt - an interesting work, even if I might disagree a bit about some things (and still don't like Elaine of Corbenic, sorry). Enjoyed all the shade thrown at Tristan, well deserved :D I've quoted some fragments here and here.

The Tale of Stone Bread (Повесть о каменном хлебе) by Yana Timkova - where do I even start. It's a short novel about the live-action RPG community in the 90s Russia, specifically about the manipulative relationship dynamics encountered in it. The first half of the book is about the protagonist - an inexperienced teenage girl who's a newcomer to that scene - being groomed by an older girl in her 20s who collects people into her clique and makes them her obedient little minions by making them believe they were lovers in the past life, and in the second part the protagonist, already older, recreates the same dynamics with younger people. It's very bleak (despite the open ending that suggests that the main character might change for the better and break the cycle) and not very well-written, but I couldn't put it down, because sometimes you just can't stop looking at some shitstorm unfolding, you know? Also, it reminded me so much of what a friend of mine told me about her teenage years in the LARPing community that it sent chills down my spine - of course, the book exaggerates a lot to make it more dramatic, but so much of all that insanity was real, and apparently still occurs, from what she's telling me. And the main characters are said to be inspired by real members of the 90s-00s Tolkien/The Witcher fandom, including some singers popular in certain circles... all in all, not much of a book, but one hell of a tea to spill

+ started King Arthur’s Enchantresses: Morgan and Her Sisters in Arthurian Tradition by Carolyne Larrington, but then stuff happened, and I put it on pause. Will definitely come back to it, though. Also, I started One Piece and I'm already on Chapter 493 🤡 the things that happen when you're stuck at home with a sprained ankle

watched:

nothing to report here, alas

#talk talk talk #monthly media recap

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watchingspnagain · 4 months

Text

Rewatching The Monster at the End of this Book

Welcome to “The One with All the Plot Holes: A Supernatural Rewatch Blog” with Lor and Mace!

Up today, s4e18: The Monster at the End of This Book

The boys discover that there’s a series of books out there that, despite being catalogued as fiction novels, are essentially a chronicle of their lives. Needless to say, it weirds them out. They find the dude who’s writing them and ask him, sort of kindly, to stop. Enter Cas, who tells them that Chuck is a prophet and to leave him be to do his thing. None of this, of course, makes any sense once Chuck is later in the show trotted back out as capital-g god. Best to just let go and let Jack with this one. Otherwise your head may asplode.

Below is a log of our real-time reactions as we watched. Remember that there may be spoilers for any part of SPN’s 15-season run here. Note also that the nature of our conversation is adult and thus it may contain adult language and themes.

[and we begin:]

Lor:

"the FBI is investigating a rodent problem?

Mace:

Lor:

oh Dean. you will learn about LARPing and you will love it

Mace:

so they know about LARPing before Charlie. interesting

Lor:

lol yeah

Lor:

kind of an underground cult following

Lor:

I LOVE IT WHEN THEY DO THIS

Lor:

omg the cover

Lor:

don't worry, boys, you are WAY hotter than that nonsense

Mace:

Lor:

omg Dean lying on the bed reading crawls in with him

Mace:

It’s sort of sad that we’ll never get that OMG WTF feeling about these kinds of episodes anymore

Lor:

RIGHT?

Lor:

this is definitely on my list of things I wish I could experience again for the first time

Mace:

don’t read the comments, boys

Lor:

NEVER

Mace:

i love them reacting to the slash fic of them

Lor:

YES

Mace:

dr sexy!

Lor:

excuse me. just smoosh the Supernatural books together with romance crap. GOLD

Lor:

YES

Lor:

THE BEST PARTS ARE WHEN THEY CRY

Mace:

“right now I’m crying on the inside"

Lor:

Sam's little snort about how often does Dean cry like that

Mace:

YES

Lor:

Sam isn't sure of his LSAT score!

Mace:

omg Dean’s smirk

Lor:

I love them

Lor:

YES

Mace:

(I love that Elle gets a higher LSAT than Sam)

Mace:

YAS SHOW THE TATS

Lor:

(YAAAAAS)

Lor:

YESYESYES

Lor:

it's a lot harder to enjoy Chuck now...

Mace:

yeah

Mace:

[my dogs] both started barking at the doorbell

Mace:

calm down, gals, it’s just the boys

Lor:

Dean's face when he rings the bell again

Lor:

LOLOLOLOL

Lor:

pups!

Mace:

so is chuck acting here or did the writers retroactively make him god?

Lor:

i think he's acting

Mace:

hmmmm

Mace:

makes me twitchy

Lor:

I mean. the writers definitely retconed it, but I think we're supposed to understand retroactively that Chuck did know he was God here

Mace:

well i mean we have to, sure, but

Lor:

yeah

Mace:

BUGS

Lor:

"did you really have to live through the bugs?" haaaahahahahahaha

Lor:

look, Chuck, the ghost ship was WAY better than the bugs

Lor:

DEAN

Mace:

yeah

Lor:

my little reader

Mace:

so then WHY is he shocked that they’ve just shown up at the door?!

Mace:

as much as I love this, it doesn’t really work

Lor:

well, he didn't think it was real

Lor:

supposedly

Mace:

I need to stop thinking about it

Lor:

just look at Sam's collar bones, Mace

Mace:

yes’m

Lor:

good girl

Mace:

yeah, okay, so no, he’s not god here or that scene wouldn’t have happened

Lor:

YEP

Mace:

i need to just stop worrying and learn to love the loopholes

Lor:

"it's just a first draft"

Mace:

yeah back off, Lilith

Mace:

omg Dean veggie tofu

Lor:

Sam. order a better salad than that

Lor:

LOL

Mace:

I happen to like cobb salad, Lor

Lor:

squints at you

Mace:

are you yucking my yum?

Lor:

I would never

Lor:

lolol Dean

Mace:

Uh huh

Mace:

not cool man

Mace:

Sam is squinting right back at you, sister

Lor:

Mace:

i can’t see whatever that is

Mace:

boys. read Oedipus Rex. you can’t fight fate

Lor:

it's me and Dean weeping

Lor:

NOPE

Mace:

am not botherèd

Lor:

sads

Mace:

well then don’t mock my salad choices next time

Lor:

sliiiiides you TWO cobb salads

Lor:

omg FRECKLES

Mace:

“you look terrible” um, no

Lor:

RIGHT?!

Mace::

also? there’s no way Cas wouldn’t recognize who chuck really is

Lor:

the only person you can push against the wall is Cas, Dean, come on you should know this

Lor:

YEP

Lor:

unless Chuck is mojoing him some how

Lor:

Cas is looking for the full frontal parts

Mace:

“you should have seen Luke” HAHAHAHA

Lor:

LOL

Mace:

Cas. Snitches get stitches

Lor:

tsk

Lor:

he's okay with it if Dean does the stitching

Mace:

that’s probably true

Mace:

Dean. you’re being unreasonable. how is Sam any more of a freak than the dude who tortured people in hell and liked it?

Mace:

glass houses and all that

Lor:

yeah

Mace:

i love that Cas is the one who answers when dean prays

Lor:

YES

Lor:

JESUS Cas with his faces

Mace:

YES

Lor:

i love that Dean tried to pep talk him first and then is like "okay, fine. threat of violence"

Mace:

yeah

Mace:

ugh this angel is a dick

Lor:

he REALLY is

#watchingspnagain #watchingspnagain 4x18 #spn #supernatural #spn meta #spn spoilers #spn 4x18 #watchingspnagain meta

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animebw · 2 years

Note

Why is it Isekai specifically that always goes like that? It does it disproportionately more that other genres.

Because it's written mostly insecure dudes who've never had a healthy relationship of any kind with a woman and hacks copying those insecure dudes because they see it's profitable? That would be my guess.

Like, okay, perfect example: in Log Horizon, a bunch of normal Japanese people are zapped into a fantasy world that's a version of this MMORPG they were all playing. Mentally, they're still the people they were in the real world, they just now look like their game avatars and have all the equipment/skills/etc their characters had. But while the guys of the main trio, Shiroe and Naotsugu, feel like (somewhat) ordinary dudes from our world, the one girl, Akatsuki, talks like she's in character. Instead of just being some person from our world, she acts like an actual fantasy assassin with her speech patterns and calling Shiroe "my lord" and all that. Is she just really into LARPing? Maybe, but we're never given any sort of explanation. She just... acts like she's part of this fantasy world instead of like someone from our world who just got airdropped into this strange and unusual place.

So why is she written this way? Well, I obviously can't read the writers' minds, but I suspect it's because they wanted an Exotic Action Babe in the party, so they wrote her that way despite it making no sense for a normal Japanese college student to talk like she's in a bad kabuki play. The guys get to be normal, relatable dudes that the presumed male audience can project onto, but the girl is othered, made into an object to be admired from outside for her attractive qualities rather than someone who's headspace we're invited to share.

Is that subtle? Maybe. But it's an example of just how ingrained this shit is in isekai. Log Horizon would literally rather break the logic of its fiction to turn a modern-day girl into a stilted fantasy roleplayer than let its most prominent female character be someone audiences can actually relate to. And it's still not even in the ten most egregiously sexist things I've seen from this genre.

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #tabw q+a #log horizon #2013 aniwatch

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coffinsister · 1 year

Note

Eeee so I can't pick a favorite between Ashley and Andrew but when I was playing it I definitely saw Ashley as sorta yandere vibes? Like yknow with the girl dying in the box was the primary example, Andrew going along with it too was like 👀 because why would he go along with killing someone unless he was either The Biggest Doormat (which i definitely understand seeing the creator's notes) or he was also vaguely yandere but not acknowledging it. There's a lot of toxicity between them obviously and a lot of trauma (not sure where from aside from whole being locked in the apartment for Hecc knows how long and maybe neglectful parents) but they seem to be reading the same book but they're not the same page if that makes sense. Andrew probably also has some Older Sibling syndrome going on there because he cares about Ashley if reluctantly sometimes and takes responsibility for things, while Ashley makes sense as the younger sibling (as an older sister myself it at least was recognizable with how Andrew was telling Ashley she had to realize what they'd done at the end of the chapter) and with the whole demon thing it made me wonder what the talisman will show Ashley or if there will be more complicated horror with the two of them encountering more cultists or if their parents had something to do with the issue because I definitely agree on the whole sus mom thing

All in all I love how the game gives us enough information to see kind of where it could go but doesn't spoil the plot and the Coffin part of the title definitely gave me 4th wall thoughts similar to Homestuck. The apartment/demon occult based horror is similar to Sally Face too so it just took the gremlins and made me super interested in the story. If i ever write anything i'll definitely send it to you!! I work as a writer off of tumblr for a larp company currently though so my brain is a bit fried but I love this game a lot and it was super interesting to see what was going on in the story 👀

Thank you !!! Don't overheat your brain anymore than necessary to survive in the techno capitalist hellscape singularity we are currently in but if you do find the time to write anything that would be amazing :D

And now to answer everything else:

I love both siblings for their own reasons I really do but I fell in love with Andrew the moment I saw him because brocon tendencies defeat all sorts of common sense immediately for me

Yeah Ashley totally fits into the yandere archetype except she's more real I would say and she's definitely more western than full on anime like

I say she's more real because she's actually shown to struggle a lot with socialization and with her parents and just seems to be rejected by the world around her because of her personality instead of just being a random girl who somehow exists with that behavior and it's okay

Yeah I actually don't really understand Andrew's motivations for going along with stuff all that deeply I always feel like there's something I'm missing with him but mostly I just see it as well he genuinely really cares for his sister and doesn't want to see her in distress and he's super codependent as well and cannot lose and he's a pushover too and finds it easier to go along and blame her for everything instead of standing up to her and risk losing her and then having to confront himself

As Ashley did say she's the only person he can be real with so he can't stand to lose her

I also totally think he's yandere on his own right like maybe yandere wouldn't be the right term for him because he definitely doesn't present himself at first as more approachable like Ashley does but he's still super overprotective of her

Like straight up one of the like 7 times the Rage sprite is used twice are just for the time where Ashley makes the comment about getting pregnant from their neighbor

So yeah they are both yanderes for each other and we love that for them

Personally I see the trauma from them steming from yeah killing that girl that's definitely not something you can just walk off but also from their parents seeming to be very detached and neglectful of them and also from Ashley specifically I see her as somebody who's never managed to have a long lasting relationship of any type with anybody other than Andrew

She expresses that just who she is and her personality makes people turn away from her and that over so much time and starting up from so young can really mess a person up

And then she starts isolating Andrew too and they wind up becoming dependant on each other and no matter what forcing one person to carry the weight that a whole entire social circle should is always going to end up turning toxic ah~ which is what I so love about them I'm just a natural sucker for toxic siblings dynamics

Actually your perspective saying that Ashley fits as a little sister is really interesting to me because I am a little sister I can't really understand how older siblings look at their younger siblings but I can see a lot of how me and my older sister are like in just how they banter and stuff

Like that bit where Andrew is like nope you go get the batteries It was like a Deja Vu for me swear to God

I definitely think the whole prophetic dreams stuff is gonna play a big role in the full game and I'm really looking forwards to the horror potential of it all

I also really enjoy the idea of Ashley being super paranoic all the time about everything she dreams because what if she interprets it wrong what if she doesn't see the right thing what if it ends up getting Andrew hurt and as much as he doesn't want him to be able to live on without her that stems from the fact that she definitely cannot live on without him

One thing I really enjoy about dystopian stories is that they tell you just enough they make you feel like the world was already here before you and you are just watching it at the moment and this game does that so well

I know nothing about Homestuck but everyday I learn something new about it as it seems

And sorry, as you can probably tell, I can talk a whole lot about my special interests jejeje (☍﹏⁰).

#the coffin of andy and leyley #personally i headcanon Ashley as ASPD and Andrew as autistic and they are my favorite codependent cannibal siblings ever #soleil asks #andrew graves #ashley graves #nemlei #this is so clogging up somebody's dash right now

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queen-of-deans-booty · 2 years

Text

Season 8

Season Summary: A new threat looms over your head when you get your hands on the Demon Tablet. It possesses the one thing that will make all your nightmares go away: shutting the Gates of Hell forever along with every black-eyed bitch there are. Along the way, you find out what it means to be the ultimate witch. What untold powers do you possess? How can you use them to protect your family? Pain, loss, and suffering comes with the job, but no mother should have to ever go through the obstacles you try and overcome. How will you come out on top?

We Need To Talk About Kevin: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Part Four // Final Part

What’s Up, Tiger Mommy?: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Part Four // Final Part

Heartache: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Final Part

Bitten: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Part Four // Final Part

Blood Brother: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

Southern Comfort: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Final Part

A Little Slice of Kevin: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

Hunteri Heroici: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Final Part

Citizen Fang: Part One // Final Part

Torn and Frayed: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

LARP and the Real Girl: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Final Part

As Time Goes By: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

Everybody Hates Hitler: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Final Part

Trial and Error: Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Final Part

Man’s Best Friend with Benefits: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

Remember the Titans: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

Goodbye Stranger: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

Freaks and Geeks: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

Taxi Driver: Part One // Final Part

Pac-Man Fever: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

The Great Escape: Part One // Final Part

Clip Show: Part One // Part Two // Final Part

Sacrifice: Part One // Final Part

#supernatural series rewrite #spn series rewrite #seaosn 8

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woods2006gal · 2 months

Text

Chapter 10 - LARP and the Real Girl

Addison yawns as she stares out at the passing scenery from where she was sitting in the backseat of the Impala. Things were still tense between the three of them. She wanted to know why Benny had called Dean in the first place, but he refused to tell her the truth. Sam was still weary of Dean and vice versa. She just wanted things to go back to normal. She still couldn’t believe that she and Dean were married. Had been married since that trip to Vegas they took nearly ten years earlier. She was still trying to wrap her head around it and the fact that Dean had kept it from her for so long. “You okay, man,” Dean asks, glancing at Sam who was intently studying a map.

“We have the most powerful weapon we’ve ever had against demons and we can’t find a way to use it,” Sam reminds.

“Yeah, well, Kevin’s on it. And when he finds something, he’ll call. So we wait. Look, we have had a rough go over the past couple of weeks. And, uh…I know what you gave up wasn’t easy. Maybe we ought to take the night off. Go see a flick, hit a bar or two, have some fun. You remember fun, don’t you, Sammy?”

A phone starts to ring. It takes Addison a moment to realize it’s her phone that’s ringing. She digs through her bag and pulls it out. Garth’s name was displayed on the screen. “Hi, Garth,” she greets.

“Hey. Why don’t you grab a piece of paper,” Garth tells her.

Addison grabs a small notebook out of her bag and writes down the details of a case. She frowns, seeing that it was near where they currently were. “Um, okay. I got everything down, but um, how exactly do you know where we are?”

“Through the GPS on your phones. I track you and a bunch of hunters to assign cases. Yeah, you’ve been Garthed,” Garth explains.

Addison hangs up and drops her phone on the seat beside her. “We need to get new phones,” she tells the boys. “Garth is tracking us and other hunters to assign cases.”

“Smart,” Dean says, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. “A total Bobby move. What’s the deal?”

“Farmington Hills, Michigan. Some guy got ripped limb from limb inside his locked apartment,” Addison replies.

“That’s not good,” Dean comments.

“Yeah. Definitely not.”

Sam reaches over the seat and grabs the small notebook out Addison’s hands. “Working a case,” he says. “As long as we’re waiting on Kevin, that’ll be our fun.” Addison sighs and turns her gaze back out of the window. She wanted things to go back to normal for them.

~*~

The trio flash the FBI badges at the officer standing outside of the apartment. “Sheriff,” Sam greets as they enter. Addison looks around the living room of the apartment. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “Special Agent Taggart. These are my partners, Special Agents Rosewood and Todd.”

“FBI,” the Sheriff replies, looking at them. He was a middle aged man with a handle bar mustache that was more grey than anything. “You guys are quick. Haven’t even got the body out yet.”

“Well, the FBI is all work, no play,” Dean replies, shooting a look at Sam.

“You know, why don’t you give me the tour while my partners look around,” Sam asks the Sheriff, clearing ignoring Dean.

“I work better on my own,” Dean states.

The Sheriff shrugs. “Your world, Agent. Follow me.”

Sam follows the agent into the bedroom while Dean moves into the kitchen. Addison stands there for a moment then follows Sam and the Sheriff into the victim’s bedroom. Blood covered the walls. A body covered by a white sheet was on the bed. Sheets covered body parts of the floor. Addison lifts up a sheet and discovers one of the victim’s arms with a tattoo of a tree on it. She doesn’t miss the dark red marks around the wrist.

“Vic's name was Ed Nelson, thirty one years old, an insurance claim adjuster. He lived alone, which was a real shocker, considering his place is full of toys,” the Sheriff states.

“So, what happened,” Sam questions.

“No sign of forced entry. Near as we can tell, he was tired up and pulled apart. Died of the shock or massive blood loss. Dealer’s choice on that one.”

Sam motions to where bag contain chains was sitting. “So what about these chains?”

“That’s actually chain mail.”

Addison raises an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

The Sheriff chuckles. “Yeah. We did find clear rope burn marks on his wrists and ankles.”

“Was anything missing from the body,” Addison questions.

“You mean aside from the arms and legs? Uh, nope. All there. Twig and berries too.”

“What about the neighbors,” Sam asks. “Did they hear anything weird?”

“Uh, neighbor downstairs said she got woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of horses stomping their feet galloping. We didn’t find any hoof prints. She probably heard a TV was having a bad dream or she was high as balls. Fortunately, we got a real lead off of his cell phone. According to the phone records, Ed’s last call was from a guy called Lance Jacobsen. An accountant, also thirties, also lives alone.”

Sam frowns. “How is he lead?”

“The two of them talked together for fifteen minutes and then Lance sent Ed here all kinds of angry texts. Some of them were you typical threat stuff, but some where a little weird,” the Sheriff explains as he leads Sam and Addison back into the living room. Dean walks over both the and subtle shakes his head, letting them know he hadn’t found anything.

“Weird how,” Dean questions.

“Like uh…‘you shall bleed for your crimes against us’ followed by the emoticon of a skull. And, uh, this beauty. ‘I am a mange. I will destroy you.’ These kids today with their texting and murder. My men just brought Lance into the station for questioning.”

“Well, we’re gonna need to take first crack the suspect,” Sam tells him.

The sheriff shrugs. “Like I said Agent, it’s your world.”

~*~

The trio walks into the interrogation room of the local police station. Lance Jacobsen was sitting at the table. Sam and Addison sit down across from him while Dean stands behind Addison, with a protective hand on the back of her chair. “Lance Jacobsen? We’re with the FBI,” Sam introduces.

“The FBI,” Lance asks, looking between the three of them. “I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe Ed's dead.”

Lance starts to cry. Addison reaches across and places a comforting hand on his arm. “Lance, just breath. Okay? You’re fine,” she softly tells him. "We just want to ask you a few questions, okay.” Lance wipes his face and takes a deep breath. He nods.

“We want to know about the, uh, texts you sent Ed last night,” Dean says.

“I told them when they brought me in those weren’t from me,” Lance replies.

“Well, your phone and Ed's phone say otherwise,” Sam counters.

“No, I mean, they were from me but they weren't me me.”

Addison stares at him. “Can you clarify what you mean?”

Lance sighs. “I’m sorry. This is all a big misunderstanding. Those text message were from Greyfox the Mystic to Thargrim the Difficult. Our characters in Moondoor. Moondoor is a game that Ed and I play. We’re LARPers.”

“Live action role playing,” Addison questions.

Lance nods. “We play Moondoor every other weekend at Heritage Park. All the info about it is on our website.”

“You guys have a website,” Dean disbelievingly asks.

“Yeah, one of the players designed it. In fact, if you log onto the site, they should have posted pictures from last night’s feast. I was there all night.”

“What does any of this have to do with the texts,” Sam questions.

“I play a character named Greyfox the Mystic. I’m a very, very powerful mage in the game.”

“Okay, uh, very powerful. Go on.”

“Ed is…Ed was Thargrim the Difficult of the Elder Forest, son of Hargrim and Bouphoin, brother to…He was the Lancelot to my Merlin.”

“What happened to cause the argument you two were clearly having,” Addison asks.

“We were named to the queen’s honor guard, in anticipation of the coming Battle of Kingdoms this weekend. I thought he broke protocol, so I called Ed after game hours and accused him cheating and then I challenged him a duel.”

“A duel,” Sam repeats.

“Wands and swords at dawn.”

Dean shifts. “Now when you say wands do you mean magic wands?”

“No. Un-magic wands, Agent. Because what I really want in a duel is an un-magic wand,” Lance sarcastically replies. “Yes! Fake wands! It’s a game! I can’t believe it. Oh, ye Gods! Thargrim the Difficult has fallen.”

Lance buries his face in his hands and lets out a sob. Sam and Addison stand up. Addison shoots him a soft smile then walks out of the with Sam. Dean awkwardly pats Lance on the shoulder. “Lance. Hang in there, champ,” Dean tells him before following Sam and Addison.

“So, either of you believe Dungeons & Dragons,” Sam questions.

“He’s not our guy,” Addison confidently says.

“He didn’t put a whammy on us,” Dean agrees. “Those weren't crocodile tears, man.”

“So, what are we looking at,” Sam asks.

“You saw the chain mail. This could be Fifty Shades of Greyfox for all we know.”

“All right, well, let’s check out the Moondoor website, see if Lance’s story checks out,” Sam replies. They walk over to a vacant desk with a computer on it and Sam sets down. It only takes him a couple of minutes to bring up the Moondoor website. “‘Welcome to Moondoor, Michigan's largest LARPing game.’”

“And I thought we needed get out more,” Dean mutters. Addison shoots him an unamused look. He smiles at her. She shakes her head and turns back to the computer as he places a hand on her lower back.

“There,” Addison says, pointing to a picture of Lance with two women. “There’s his alibi.”

“Huh. It actually looks kind of awesome,” Dean comments. Sam looks at him and Dean shifts.

“All right. There’s a video,” Sam says. He clicks on the link and brings up a video. They’re silent as they watch the video.

Dean frowns, recognizing a face. “Wait is that—”

“Charlie,” Addison interrupts. “Yeah, looks like it.”

~*~

Addison stares in disbelief as she looks around the park. Everyone was dressed in costumes. A few hours after they had talked to Lance, he had been murdered while still in the police interrogation room. He had the same tattoo on his arm that Ed had and the only other connection between the two victims was LARPing. Which is how the trio found themselves that morning at the park, surrounded by people who were all wearing renaissance costumes. Some of the people had ogre teeth or elf ears. The trio come to a stop in front of a man locked in a set of stocks with another man standing in front of him.

Addison raises an eyebrow as the man’s teeth fall out and the other man, wearing a red and white tunic, picks them up before placing them back in the man’s mouth. They finish their scene before the man wearing the tunic starts to walk away. “Excuse me,” Dean says, walking up to the man. “Hi. Uh, you are a LARPer, yeah?”

The man stares at him. “I perfect the term ‘interactive literaturist.’”

“Right. Uh, I am Special Agent Rosewood. These are Special Agents Taggart and Todd.”

“Hold,” the man shouts, pushing his hood down. “Um, guys, we’re not doing the whole genre mash up thing this weekend. We only do that every third month.”

“Come again,” Sam questions.

“Your fake badges, the cheap suits. It’s very cool. I get it. Your characters are FBI agents that somehow traveled to Moondoor, but I’m telling you it’s just — it’s straight up Moondoor this weekend.”

Sam frowns. “These aren’t fake badges.”

“Uh, yeah, they are and they’re…” the man trails off as he grabs Sam’s badge. “Very good, but, um, well, the ID number shifted to ten digits with, uh, two letters mixed in at the end of the year and the seal’s from last month. Really good work.” He hands the badge. “It’s just…it’s a tournament weekend, okay guys, so you got to follow the rules. If there’s no rule - chaos.” He pulls his hood back up. “Resume. If you would like to join the army of Moons, the queen is aways on the lookout for new squires.”

“Yes. Right,” Dean replies. “We would like to see your queen now, please.”

“Well, the queen’s calendar is booked up months in advance. But if you wish to witness what’s in store for you in her army, her highness is overseeing new squires on the pitch as we speak.”

It doesn’t take the trio long to find where Charlie was. She was in the middle of a large group wearing dark red clothing that resembled armor. “Greyfox and Thargrim are missing. We pray to the goddess they have not fallen victim of foul play. In there absence, the honor guard’s ranks are weakened. To join…” Charlie trails off when she recognizes them. “Oh, berg. Uh…The queen needs some royal ‘we’ time. Talk amongst themselves.”

Charlie walks into a large maroon tent at the back of the field. The trio follow her. Dean stops and picks up a fake sword. He examines. “Nice balance,” he says.

Sam shoots him a disbelieving look. “Dude.”

Addison shakes her head and walks with Sam into the tent with Dean following them. He was still carrying the sword. Addison raises an eyebrow seeing the elegantly decorated tent with ornate chairs.

“Charlie,” Sam begins.

“Charlie Bradbury is dead,” Charlie tells them. She unbuckles the leather arm guards she had on and shoves them into a duffle bag. “She died a year ago. You killed her. My name is Carrie Heinlein. Oh and guess what. Now you killed her too.”

Dean sighs. “Okay, listen, uh…”

“No, I buried myself. Then Dick Roman went down, his company belly up and I figure, ‘hey, it’s all good,’ and I was fine. I got my life back. Now you’re here and if you guys are here, monsters are here. Why do I have such bad luck? What am I? Some kind of monster magnet? Is there such a thing as a monster magnet? You know what? Don’t answer that. I don’t care. What I care about is not getting my other arm broken or dying So…I’m dropping my sword and walking off the stage bitches.” Charlie grabs her bag and crown off the table. She drops the crown on Dean’s head as she starts to walk out of the tent. “Have fun storming the castle.”

“Charlie,” Dean exclaims. “Greyfox and Thargrim, uh, Ed and Lance, they’re not missing. They’re dead.”

Charlie stops and stares at them. “Ed was drawn and quartered by Lance bleed out,” Addison softly explains.

Charlie doesn’t move for a moment, then sits down at the table. She motions for them to each take a seat. “Drawn and quartered and bleeding out,” she repeats. “Please stop talking again. So what do you think did this?”

“Well, aside from the, uh, mark and them both being LARPers, there’s really not much else to go on,” Dean says, pulling a photo of the tree that both Ed and Lance had on their arms.

Charlie picks up the photo. “Wait, I’ve seen this before. It’s a Celtic magic symbol. At least it was in my favorite video game. Does that help? Can I go now?”

“It’s a start, but no. Um, listen. What can you tell us about Ed and Lance,” Sam questions.

Charlie shrugs. “Good guys. Two of the best members of the queen’s ever shrinking army.”

“Ever shrinking,” Dean asks.

“My kingdom has had a lot of bad luck lately, probably cause of me, but maybe it’s tied to this,” Charlie says, motioning to the photo. “A month ago, one of my guys had both her ankles broken before battle. Before that, I had three people have hospital worthy accidents while at home. You think there’s any connection there?”

“Any common enemies,” Addison questions.

“In real life? No. Everyone gets along famously. In the game, though…” Charlie stands up and walks over to a table with a map on it. The trio follow her. There were different colored figures on the table. “They had tons on enemies. Red reps the followers of the Moon - my peeps. Green’s for the Elves, blue’s for the Warriors of Yesteryear, and black’s for Shadow Orcs. Total d-bags. This weekend is the Battle of the Kingdoms to see who wear the Forever Crown. This weekend, each faction is definitely an enemy of me and mine.”

“You know, if you, uh…” Dean begins, motioning to the red figures. “Move your arches back and your broadswords men to the west…”

“Huh.” Charlie nods. “Fight the warriors.” Dean smiles. “Hey, good call.”

“Thanks.”

“What about the southern wall?”

“Guys,” Sam says, clearly annoyed.

“Yeah,” Dean asks, looking at his younger brother. He clears his throat upon seeing Sam’s annoyed look. “Right. Sorry.”

“Maybe someone from one of the other kingdoms got ahold of something and now their using real magic to weaken your army,” Addison says.

“But why not just come after me,” Charlie argues. “And why the escalation?”

“All right, we will canvass the kingdoms. You should get out of here. We don’t want you to get hurt,” Dean says, finishing with Charlie.

“Whoa, wait,” Sam says. “Charlie knows Moondoor a lot better than we do. We need her.”

“Sam, I think we can take care of a bunch of accountants with foam swords.”

“We need all the help we can get, Dean. People are dying.”

“My point, which is usually yours, is that she should get somewhere safe and get back to a normal life.”

“Hey, I am right here and I want to leave,” Charlie interjects.

Dean smiles, triumphal. “Thank you.”

“But the queen…she has to stay. I mean, Sam is right. People are dying. That can’t happen on my watch. And you know what? I am tired of running. I like my life here. I’m gonna stay and fight for it.”

Sam’s phone rings. He pulls it out and answers. “Yeah.” Addison lightly smiles at Charlie and Dean. “Okay. Thanks. So, the toxicology report came back on Lance. Nothing. But the medical examiner said his body showed clears signs that he was killed by belladonna.”

“The porn star,” Charlie and Dean ask at the same time.

Addison raises an eyebrow. “Poison?”

“Oh,” Charlie and Dean simultaneously let out.

“However, they couldn’t find a trace of it in his system,” Sam finishes.

“Just like they couldn’t find ropes in Ed’s apartment,” Dean reasons.

“Charlie, I’m gonna need to borrow your laptop,” Sam says.

Charlie frowns. “There are no laptops in Moondoor,” she tells them and is met with three incredulous looks. “What? There are rules. But there is a tech tent four tents down.”

“Okay. How about you two go canvas and Ads and I’ll dig into these accidents and this mark,” Sam tells them before walking out of the tent.

Addison forces a smile and quickly follows Sam. She finds Sam a few feet away of her head. “Sam,” she calls out.

Sam stops and looks at her. “I’ll look into the accidents and the mark. Since you’re good at marking friends with vamps, go talk to to the other groups,” he tells her, then walks off.

Addison lets out an annoyed breath. She had hoped they were fine. But it was clear that Sam had zero desire to work alone with after everything that had occurred with Benny and Martin. She shakes her head and walks in the opposite of direction.

~*~

“Addison? Addison?”

Addison groans and opens her eyes. She was in a very nice tent laying on a very comfortable bed. And kneeing in front of her was Charlie. The last thing she remembered was walking through the woods, searching for the Shadow Orcs. It hadn’t taken her long to learn that the Shadow Orcs were using the same symbol that was found on Ed and Lance.

“Where am I,” Addison lets out, sitting up. She winces and places a hand to her forehead. “What the hell happened?”

“I was hoping you’d be able to answer that,” Charlie replies. Addison reaches into her skirt pocket and pulls out her phone. She lets out an annoyed breath upon seeing that she had no signal. “Did you see the skull figure too?”

“What skull figure,” Addison questions. Charlie motions to the figure standing by the fireplace, watching them. Addison slowly stands up. She holds up her hands. “Look, we’re unarmed. You let Charlie go. And you can keep me. We don’t want any trouble. I don’t want Sam pissed at me anymore and I want Dean and Sam to just be fine with each other again. And I’m sure that Charlie just wants to go back to being a run of the mill I.T. girl. I…I just want things to go back to normal.”

The figure pulls off the skull to reveal a beautiful woman standing in front of them. “That is all I want as well,” she tells them. She pulls off her cloak and she’s wearing a long white dress. “My name is Gilda. I’m from the Hollow Forest of Arkhmoor. I’m a fairy.”

“Swoon,” Charlie mutters.

Addison raises an eyebrow. “How did you get here,” she questions Gilda.

“I was summoned here by a spell,” Gilda answers, shooting a smile at Charlie.

“Who summoned you?”

“I don’t know his name, but I was brought here to do his bidding.”

“His bidding,” Charlie disbelievingly repeats. “That’s never good.”

“No. It’s not,” Addison agrees.

“My…master, he-he has me hurt people. He’s forcing me to. I’d never hurt anyone,” Gilda tells them. “I’m a fairy. The good kind.”

“So, why is the dick head who is controlling you forcing you to hurt people?”

“I don’t know. He started off with smaller commands, but he’s become more violent. He had me kill two men this week.”

“Man, someone is taking this game way too seriously,” Charlie says.

Gilda frowns. “Game?”

“This…my outfit, all of this…it’s just a game here.”

“Why would you play such a game?”

“This world…not so much with the awesome. The game is a way to get away.”

“It’s a lovely forest, but it’s nothing like my home.”

“And how do we get you back home?”

Gilda sighs. “I can’t break free from the spell, myself. A hero must take my master’s book of magic and destroy it, breaking the spell.”

Charlie stands up. “Gilda, my name is Charlie Bradbury and I am here to rescue you.”

Gilda smiles at Charlie and Charlie smiles back. Addison clears her throat. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it,” she says. “I’ll go find Dean and Sam. See if we can find this magic book or whatever.”

Addison turns to walk out of the tent. She stops upon seeing Dean, Sam, and one of the LARPers. “It’s him,” Gilda exclaims, staring up. “My master! Run!”

The LARPer pushes his hood down. Sam and Dean raise their guns. “No guns in Moondoor, gentlemen,” he says. “Gilda, if you please?”

A sad look crosses Gilda’s face as she waves her hand. The boys’ guns turn into feathers. “Well, now what, Gerry,” Dean asks.

“My name is Boltar the Furious,” Gerry snaps. “My plan was, after getting rid of all of my competition, to win the battle tomorrow, convincing the queen that I should be her king. But then you three idiots showed up and I was forced to improvise. Rescue the damsel in distress from the Orcs, become king, kill the three of you. That’ll work too.”

“So, why did you got from hobbling to murder,” Sam questions.

“Greyfox and Thargrim became part of the honor guard. They got close to the queen, but they did it by breaking the rules. Paying off other players with real money, rather than Moondoor currency. They were cheating.”

“And using magic isn’t,” Dean argues.

“Magic is part of Moondoor.”

“What is your problem,” Charlie questions. “Why would you hurt people? This is just a game.”

“There is no game,” Gerry shouts. Addison notices a small book hanging off his belt. “There is only Moondoor! I came here to be different, to get away from my crappy life, to be a hero, and guess what.”

“What,” Dean begins. “You were a loser in the real world and you’re a loser here? Shocker.”

“Would a loser track down a real book of spells and compel a fairy to do his bidding?”

Addison slides a under the suit jacket she was wearing. Her Colt Compact was sitting in the waist band of her skirt. “It depends,” Sam replies. He had noticed what Addison was doing. Her hand wraps around the handle of her gun. “How’d you get it?”

“eBay.”

“Look. It doesn’t have to be like this, Boltar. Just hand over the book of spells. We can work this out.”

Gerry picks up a fake sword. “This will all work out after I remove you from the playing field and wipe her memory. Gilda?”

Gilda sighs. Addison pulls out her gun and shoots the book hanging on Gerry’s belt. He lets out a shout and falls to the floor. He covers the wound on his thigh. She walks over and yanks the book off of his belt. She tosses the book to Charlie. “Save the damsel in distress,” she amusedly says.

Charlie stabs her dagger into the book. A bright light emits from it. “Are you okay,” she asks Gilda.

“I’m free of the spell,” Gilda replies. “You both saved me. The Hollow Forest is forever in your debt. I must return to those green hills now. I will take my former master with me. He must face a fairy tribunal for his sins.”

“Wait,” Charlie says. She walks over to the fairy and kisses her. Gilda smiles, then disappears with Gerry. “Call me…maybe?”

~*~

Addison sighs as she stares at the ceiling of the motel room. She had elected to stay behind while Dean and Sam went to visit Charlie. Her cell phone buzzes and she grabs it off the nightstand. “Yeah,” she answers, not taking her gaze off the ceiling.

“I need your help,” Sarah immediately greets. “Also, I’m outside of your motel room.”

Addison stands up and walks over to the door. She opens it to find Sarah, brightly grinning up at her. “What do you need help with?”

“A lead on our Rosetta Stone angel.”

#supernatural #fanfiction #dean winchester #addison sloan #sam wincester #ofc #oc

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krismasarson · 1 year

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Part 2 ot my collection of DnD characters! Today we get a lesbian trauma baby!

Tw! Child abandonment, child neglect, ptsd, trauma, slight gore(?), gruesome depictions, imprisonment

Picrew : Baby carrot character maker

Legia Hardweaver

(I have a typical medieval setting campaign that she is in but i also have one thats modern so ill just use the medieval for now)

- a cold and closed off Goliath with more than enough trauMA OH GOD PLEASE NO! SHE HAS ENOUGH ALREADY STOP-

-a draconic bloodline Sorcerer (Silver dragon) who was forced to multiclass into a path of storm Barbarian during her years of "Training"

-She is a selective Mute who only really communicates through sign language, morse, or writing. The people that have heard her voice have known her for 5+ years. And even after that she still doesn’t do it much unless absolutely necessary.

-her face is very rarely uncovered. Her right eye and mouth are practically never visible. Though there are times where she will take off the eye patch around certain people.

- Her size and strength are her key attributes. Being able to dig a tunnel through a mountain with your bare hands in under an hour is no easy feat and her party doesn't plan to forget that seeing as she had to make it big enough for herself as well. Though her party ain't complaining. They get scary dog privileges in the form of a 9'11 (kinda thinking about changing that-) Ripped Female Goliath following them around.

- But her reason and need to be so big and scary is a bit less of a fun story. Legia is a very private person due to trust issues and past traumas. Her largest scars left over are her explosion burn scars that are very close to covering the whole right side of her body. Poor girl has been injured so many times from her time as a military weapon, that she has frozen like a deer in headlights at the sound of sparks.

-She was abandoned at an extremely young age and forced to navigate the mountain tundra that her tribe resided after waking up on the forest floor. She would have not survived if not for the silver dragons that randomly found her curled up under a tree. After the first encounter, around 8 years later she was found by the militia and taken in.

-her time in the milita is very fuzzy, atleast thats what she tells people. She remembers the more gruesome bits of time. Her training regimen, her testing process, the smells and sounds of the lab, the overwhelming smells of gunpowder as well as the unnerving quiet after a battle, the sights of victory in the form of bloody corpses and broken skulls, and things of that nature.

- her time there led her to meet her first love, A young woman named Evangelica, whom was the daughter of a very prominent aristocrat in the city. Having to keep their relationship secret both for Evangelicas sake as well as Legias. They were together for around 8 years when Evangelica proposed they run away together. Legia agreed. Though that little fantasy would come to an end quickly as Evangelicas father had found out of her little escapades and lectured her. Only 12 minutes of yelling and screaming were needed before Evangelica was finally convinced that Her father's words of Legia were true. Through this experience, Legia learned trust and loyalty is never guaranteed and that years of love and admiration mean nothing in the eyes of the wealthy.

-After this she swiftly escaped the confines of her "Instructor" and ran off into the world where She was able to quickly establish herself as a mercenary. She wanders with no real purpose other than to forget.

-Her current group consists of a orc boy who has fire magic but is deathly afraid of fire, a Larping Monk who is excessively exroverted, the Larping Monks emotionally tired Paladin sidekick, and an Old War veteran Elf Fighter who was exiled from his home town.

- Her relationship with the Monk never was great. When she first saw him in a town yelling about his faith, she immediately despised him. He had then noticed her looking, approached, greeted her respectfully, tried to shake her hand, and then woke up in an infirmary with 8 broken bones , a severe concussion, and the strong will to find her again.

-The Paladin and her get along fine. They both are pretty quiet so they prefer to just talk about the little things and then get on with their day.

-The Elf however... they are actually fairly close. They met while they both were just wandering and came across each other in the woods. Upon the sight of someone dressed a kin to that of the milita, legia immediately began swinging. When he had finally got her to stop and listen, they just kinda stood there staring at each other and then as she turned around, about to walk away, he noticed her limp and offered help which she hesitantly took as she was low on supplies.

-In the beginning of their partnership, legia was doing what she normally does which is practically NEVER communicate. Alexander (the elf) was not too shaken by this as his first encounter with her told him a bit on her stance with him. Over time, they developed a very tight knit father-daughter relationship. Around the 3 year mark was when he had first heard her voice, 2 years before he saw under the eyepatch, and 5 years before he first saw under her mask. All in all, it's a very good relationship between the 2.

- The Orc, Bastion, they found when clearing out an old iron mill. He was chained to a work station and in horrible condition. Legia was the first to find him, the room was full of loose coal, lit ovens, and random fires. When she first walked in he was paniced and uneasy. While trying to conversate with him a fire burst out beside her, her reflective response was her ice magic which completely killed the flame almost instantly. This caught Bastions attention very quickly and made him feel a lot safer with the large fire killing lady.

-He was so shaken up by everything so after they had completed their mission and got him out of there, he became completely inseparable from legia. If he had lost sight of her, he would go into a panic induced rage trying to find her. Legia sees him as a baby duck that just follows her around but she doesn't mind at all. If she can be the person she always wished to have while in the milita to this young orc, then she would be happy to help him.

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