#//She has the chance to get them all back if she goes through and succeeds in the adeptal trials/reascending; but for now

[dutybcrne]

v; faded memories; new beginnings (human!guizhong)

At her death in the Archon War, Guizhong used the last of her strength to allow her part of her soul to cleave from its whole and be granted the chance for reincarnation. As much as she'd tried to make it seem as though she had made peace with her demise, in truth, she was not yet ready to leave her precious people and friends behind. This was the best, most desperate way she could ensure herself a little more time with them even if she had been unsure if it would work.

Even if it did mean forfeiting her memories. But hey, if that's what it took to have this second chance, by all means. Perhaps she may be lucky enough to meet and love them all again one day.

Her life began in the outskirts of Qingce village.

At least, that's what she could remember most clearly, her first true vivid memory as a young child wandering the area.

Named Guiying, the elderly couple who ultimately found her raised her among the other children in the village. She possessed an exceptional talent in mechanics and invention, notable even early on in her life. Thus, it became what she took up doing when she was old enough to seek work and help the others in the village with whatever fixes they needed. She spent a lot of her time at home in the workshop built for her, tinkering away and making new creations to sell or gift her fellow villagers.

Other than that, she would also make trips to the Wangshu Inn to properly sell her creations and services there ( and sometimes along the way if she happened to be lucky enough ), though never straying further than that place. When asked why, she would simply smile and say she didn't want to go too far from home.

In truth, while she genuinely did feel uneasy at the thought of parting from her family, it was mostly because the few times she dared venture into the Guili Plains, she would be plagued by visions ( or were they memories? ) and horrid headaches brought on by the ensuing surge of them. Though, admittedly, the same would sometimes happen at the Wangshu Inn, particularly at night when she would stay longer to complete repairs or finish up selling her creations and network with the merchants that showed up there. She has no idea why this happens, but for the longest time could not bear to brave it all and seek to head out for Liyue Harbor, even when she could no doubt find better opportunities there. Even when she herself felt such longing to go there, after catching glimpses of the city through paintings brought by merchants.

Eventually, after confiding the truth to them, her family would encourage her to try, anyways. That perhaps this is a sort of test she must face, perhaps due to her past life, and in enduring it, would find all the more success after surpassing it all. The thought had her growing determined to do just that, determined to brave those visions and reach the place her heart so yearned for.

Still, as Guiying had thought, the journey to Liyue Harbor was arduous, and she was indeed plagued by vision after vision along the way through the Guili plains. Of people, perhaps friends, and longing, of battles and chaos, it varied greatly whenever they struck. The merchant she tagged along with to make things easier even wound up abandoning her along the way, right near what was once the Guili Assembly. He had thought her cursed by the gods, and after she'd had a particularly harrowing glimpse at what appeared to be her own demise, even Guiying found that notion hard to deny. But even with no travel companion and protection, Guiying would continue forwards, determination to see her journey through in spite of pain what every day would bring her, in body and mind alike.

In encountering hilichurls and Treasure Hoarders along the way, in sometimes being lead astray by the visions filling her head ( why did they keep leading her back to the ruins of the Guili Assembly? ), but she strove her best to keep moving. She wasn't too much of a fighter, save what experience she'd gotten in previous journeys, but with her strategies and swiftness, she would manage. She would manage, in stealing potions and a crossbow from Treasure Hoarders, and arrows off her defeated enemies for her own benefit. Sometimes things went off without a hitch, sometimes she wound up taking a bit of a beating before having to retreat, and sometimes what visions she saw would even begin ease to things she could merely stop and let go on before continuing, rather than chase after or run from. But in any case, she would continue to survive and press onward, growing more and more eager to reach her destination.

Eventually though, even determination and her clever plans would not be enough to see her through alone. Her body would end up giving out just before reaching a village along the way, passing out as a result of many a sleepless night and everything she'd been dealt along the way. Luckily for her, the Millelith who'd seen her there were kind enough to bring her there and let the people care for her, even leaving with her all the possessions she'd managed to keep along the way, too.

Once recovered and she'd given the last of her Mora to repay the kind man who'd looked after her, Guiying would set off once more for Liyue Harbor, now closer than ever and without any dangers to slow her travels. And without the odd flashes of those visions to hinder her, as well, to her relief.

At long last, she was finally here, and she couldn't be happier. While saddened some of the things she'd brought had been taken by the merchant when he'd cast her away or had gotten lost along the way, Guiying was still determined to do her best to find success here. To live up to her family's hope and wish for her. She'd already faced her toughest trial in getting here, right? No doubt, everything would be smooth sailing for her, from here on out.

Especially with the gleaming Geo Vision she now possessed.

As for where her path may go from there...perhaps for now, she may pester the blacksmith for some work while she got her bearings in the city. A man of brawn like that could use some good, fresh ideas and she could use a guy who had the strength to help out with certain projects in mind her own couldn't handle alone. Yeah, that sounded pretty good.

Somehow, the idea seems almost wonderfully familiar to her.

[burr-ell]

Something I just noticed and really enjoy about Campaign 1 is how often their story involves becoming incredibly powerful and accomplishing so much and yet still not being able to do what's truly important to them. It's not only the gutpunch of the final episode, it's a thematic underpinning throughout the campaign.

Way back in their prestream adventures, the party was strong enough to defeat the Dread Emperor and save all the kidnapped children from Tal'Dorei—except one, a child Keyleth killed by accident, an act which haunts her through at least much of the early campaign. The party defeats the Briarwoods and reclaims Whitestone, but Ripley still escapes and 19 still misses, and the Chroma Conclave raze half the continent. Percy has great intellect and access to a powerful magical amplifier and forced out a demon through sheer force of will, but his carelessness still killed Vex and he only rolls a 6 to try to save her. The party has slain a dragon and is armed with four Vestiges of Divergence, but they couldn't save Tiberius and can't even give him the proper burial they want to. They brutally slaughter Ripley, but not before she gets the revenge she wants; she kills Percy, sending him to Orthax, and spreads guns throughout Exandria. The Conclave is slain, the whole party made it out alive, but Scanlan is forever scarred by the experience and leaves, tearing the party down as he goes. Even Vilya, prior to the campaign's beginning, was at the very end of her Aramente, likely a level 16-17 druid like Keyleth was, and still failed the trial of the Water Plane and was gone for almost 40 years.

And of course, Vox Machina became some of the most powerful people in the world, slayers of a god, legends to be immortalized for centuries...and none of their power could save their brother.

Percy points out to Bell's Hells, thirty years later, that fate isn't always kind and not everyone gets a second chance, and to me that's underscored by what we don't see. Elaina is still dead. Juniper is still dead. Percy's parents and five siblings are all still dead.

I mean, if any or all of their bodies are intact, it wouldn't even require True Resurrection to bring them back—not that Keyleth or Percy are averse to a little heresy, but hey, conserve your resources. If there are bodies, all they'd need is 7th-level Resurrection; none of those people have been dead for over a century, and if they need to find the bodies, well, Vex has Locate Object and Pike gets a Divine Intervention freebie once a week, right? Even if they did need True Resurrection, it's a heftier cost but probably not something too difficult to pay over time for one of the wealthiest families in the world.

But none of them have ever done that, nor do we get an indication that they've pursued it. Vox Machina is, probably more than any other CR party, defined by grief—how individual PCs respond to their own profound losses; how they succeed and fail to shoulder each others' burdens; and at the end of their story, how they deal with one of the most painful losses imaginable, and how they move forward and find peace in spite of it. Campaign 1 is just as much about how to deal with what you couldn't do as it is about what you now can do.

[oakparchment]

No Nut November with Itzy

Male Reader x Yuna, MR x Lia, MR x Chaeryeong, MR x Ryujin, MR x Yeji

Length: 1,479 words

Tags: cumplay, edging, blue balls, creampie, facials, NNN, cum slut

Summary: How each member of Itzy handles you going through NNN (No Nut November).

AO3

A/N: For a NNN post this story has a lot of cum.

---------------------------------------

Yuna is a cum slut. Neither of you have any chance of surviving NNN.

After just the first day or so she’s already begging for it: “I’ve been a good girl, don’t you think I deserve to be fucked by your cock? Don’t you think I deserve to be painted with your cum?”All whilst looking at you with the wildest fuck me eyes and pushing her clothed tits into you.

Your will was simply not strong enough to resist Yuna when she gets like this, and so you give her what you both want. You nut on her, in her, sometimes both in the same day. Yuna turns No Nut November into something more like Never stop Nutting November. Her day isn't finished unless she gets at least one load, and you're more than happy to give it to her.

Oh well, maybe she'll be less cum hungry this time next year?

Fail.

Lia is very subservient to you during November and goes along with your whims. If you persevere throughout the weeks then she’ll support you along the whole way, doing her best to distract you whenever you get horny. When she feels you getting hard against her ass at night, she’ll turn over and make conversation instead. Or if she can sense you’re about to boil over, she’ll make plans for you both to keep yourselves busy.

But if you instead completely give in, then in a moments notice she’s either on her knees with her tongue out, or bent over with her lips spread apart, ready to use her own body purely to give you pleasure and to extract your cum.

Even when you’re tracking well throughout the month, it’s not like you can completely keep your hands off each other. She likes to suckle on your sensitive balls, massaging them in her mouth whilst you run your fingers through her hair and scalp. 

Schrodinger's Cat. Whether you succeed or fail is completely up to you.

When you present the idea to her, Chaeryeong goes along with it initially but quickly gets impatient and horny. When you’re home she’ll try to hide the fact that she's fucking wet to help you push through, but when you’re out she’ll send you nudes. Scandalous pictures of herself bent over in front of the mirror, her ass wide on display. Or an upwards angle that shows both her dripping wet pussy and her best ‘fuck me’ face. The messages under it read "Can't wait until this month is over so you can be inside me again" or “I've been a good girl and haven’t touched myself yet, can you tell?”

It’s obvious. She wants to break your will down so that you can pound her creamy little pussy and fill her up with cum. Chaeryeong tortures herself along with you, choosing to participate in NNN together, refusing to cum unless you both do. You reply back with videos of your 

You last a week, maybe even two if you're lucky, but you can only tease each other for so long before you find yourself racing through the door, bending her over before you even reach the bedroom. Fucking her on the floor like wild animals in heat. Her body quivers, milking your cock as you dump a massive load inside her. Chaeryeong's pussy is a creamy mess, yours and her cum oozing out of her hole.

Fail.

Ryujin's favourite month of the year is November. Apart from little teases here and there, she doesn’t touch you at all. The most you get is ‘accidental’ grazes of her hand on your hard-on as she walks past. Or when she stretches in bed at night and for one fleeting moment she grinds her ass into your bulge. If you try to initiate anything, or touch yourself, dommy Ryujin comes out. She’ll clutch your balls a bit too hard, or slap you just to let you know who’s in control.

Ryujin will make you watch as she rides on her thick dildo, saying things like “I know you wish I was bouncing up and down on your cock instead. You want to feel my pussy walls suffocating that pathetic throbbing cock, hmm?” From start to end, you have to watch Ryujin fuck herself whilst she humiliates you, and you’re not allowed to do anything about it. “This dildo probably feels better than you anyway, I’m glad I don’t have to feel you inside of me.” You are both well aware this is a blatant lie, but for the course of the month you grit your teeth and go along with it.

On the last day of November you’re so sensitive that even just playing with your balls sends shocks throughout your body, which Ryujin is acutely aware of. Without ever giving attention to your cock, she sucks and plays with your balls for what feels like an hour straight. You’re so touch deprived and tender that this alone eventually makes you cum. That’s right. Ryujin went through all of that just to make you lose NNN on the last day without even touching your cock. She’s a fucking cunt and she knows it.

Fail.

Yeji edges you, using you like a sex toy to get herself off without ever letting you finish. She'll suck you off or fuck you as usual, but anytime you get even remotely close to cumming she’ll stop. If you’re in Yeji’s mouth then she’ll release you from her warmth with a loud pop and then sit on your face. If you’re pounding away at her pussy then she’ll pull you out and finish herself off with a vibrator. You can’t do anything but watch as she squirts all over you.

Your balls ache. Badly. And the further into the month you go, the shorter your edging sessions last before you’re about to nut and she switches to getting herself off. Numerous times you get so damn close to spilling over, but she knows just how to ride the edge. The last week is torturous, and it makes going about the rest of your life difficult.

At midnight of December 1st, the month rolls over (a moment that you have been waiting for since the first night she edged you). Yeji is fast asleep but not even the world ending could stop you now. With your pulsing cock in hand, you pull her silk pajama shorts to the side and thrust balls deep. Yeji’s gentle breathing turns into high pitched moans, announcing that she's awake. You fuck her pussy hard and fast. This was never going to last more than a minute or two, you’re only after one thing here; to ravage her until you came. Now it was her turn to be nothing but a slutty little sex toy.

As much as you appreciate her, this past month of torture has also built up a small amount of resentment towards her that could not be ignored. It was something that you know will wash away as soon as you finally release this load. Wanting to punish her a little, you pull out and switch holes, fucking into her tight ass instead. Yeji groans deeply, but you slap her face and spit in her mouth in response. Given that she wore no panties and her ass was prepped, she clearly knew something like this would happen. How can she be such a good yet bad girl at the same time? After another handful of thrusts, your inevitable peak arrives. A blinding orgasm follows. The only reason you don’t black out is through sheer will of not wanting to let this nut go to waste after waiting 30 days. You pump a couple loads into her ass, then pull out and thrust back into her pussy. After sufficiently painting her guts white, you find your cock still spurting, so you jerk yourself off onto her abs, her tits, her face, and finally depositing the last few drops onto her stretched out tongue. You step back and admire your masterpiece. An entire month of your built up edging load lays inside and on Yeji, who looks up at the ceiling, panting with a wide smile and fucked out exprssion on her face. Her double creampie starts to drip out of both her holes. A trail of your cum spans from her stomach to her perky tits, and of course she also has what appears to be a full load of a facial despite all the cum throughout the rest of her body. She is a cum dumpster, through and through.

Would you go through all that again next November? Almost certainly not. But in this moment would you say it was worth it? Yeji licks up the cum around her lips whilst fingering your cum deeper into her, chasing her own nut.

Absolutely it was.

NNN with Yeji. Success.

A/N: If you're one of the people who chooses to participate in NNN, I hope this smut didn't make you cum. But then again if you're doing the challenge then should you really be browsing porn?

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Furiosa viewing #3 for me last night and I figured something out. I have heard multiple people say that the pacing of the movie felt off or weird or even "slow," even though the plot consistently moves along at a brisk clip. But what people were noticing was not the speed of the story but the structure.

I realized the pacing feels weird because the movie has two third acts.

The overwhelming majority of movies released by Hollywood studios follow a very standardized three-act structure. This is certainly not the only way to structure a film story, but it's the most common one in the Anglophone film world, so common that you have probably absorbed its pattern without even thinking about it. The previous Mad Max movies do generally fit this structure, and Fury Road fits it like, down to the minute.

When we get to the big fight sequence at the Bullet Farm, where we know Jack has prepared everything for Furiosa to leave and they just have to get through this one last mission together, my gut story sense was like this feels like it should be the third act. The fight in the Bullet Farm and the chase with Dementus that ends in Jack's death feels like it should be the climax of the movie. And not just because we are around the two-hour mark at this point, although we are.

In terms of themes and plot arcs and story beats, Jack's death feels like where the movie should end. We start the story with Mary Jabassa telling Furiosa to leave her behind and make it home safe. I'm sure Mary knows she's on a suicide mission at this point, but maybe she can hold off their attackers long enough for her daughter to escape. But Furiosa can't leave her mom behind. So she goes back, and she watches her mom die brutally and gets trapped by Dementus.

Then, at the Bullet Farm, Furiosa has her best chance yet at getting home. She has a fully loaded vehicle, and she's outside the Bullet Farm gates while Jack is stuck inside. Jack, too, tells her to run and save herself. (While it's never spelled out, I'm sure we're supposed to intuit that the green flare means GO.) He probably thinks he's dead either way at this point, but maybe Furiosa can make it out. But once again, she can't do it. She goes back to defend Jack, and we have this little bit of hope of, maybe this time she'll be able to save the person she cares about from being killed by the same warlord who killed her mother. Whether she succeeds or fails, narratively, this feels like it should be the climactic action sequence of the movie.

But there's still another 30 (ish?? I need to watch with a timer) minutes to go after that, in which we have a whole other plot arc of Furiosa getting back to the Citadel, making her prosthetic arm, and going off on her quest to hunt down Dementus. And if this part all feels a bit grueling, it's because your brain expected the movie to end half an hour ago.

(I should pause here to say that you absolutely can write a movie in three-act structure that's longer than 2 hours--you just have to stretch all the pieces out equally or it starts to feel lumpy. And the place where our attention spans are going to be least forgiving of lumpiness is at the end of the movie.)

Well, you might say, maybe Furiosa was just not written with the three-act structure in mind. And that could be true! But I would argue that the oddness of the end of the movie comes primarily from the film not being clear on what narrative question it's trying to answer.

Because an ending that focuses on Furiosa's choice between finally getting home or going back to try to save Jack is addressing the question of, "Do you prioritize saving yourself, or do you fight for the people you love, even if you may end up in a worse situation because of it?"

An ending that follows Furiosa's revenge quest seems to focus more on, "What does seeking revenge do to your humanity?"

Both of these questions are rich territory to be explored in the wasteland, and the other Mad Max movies deal with both of them. But I would argue that the first question is very clearly set up in the beginning of the movie as a thing we expect to be exploring, and the second question, not so much.

I think the story would have benefitted from picking one or the other. And if they wanted to tell a story about the price of revenge, then highlighting this earlier--either by making revenge Furiosa's primary motivation from the beginning, or highlighting it thematically by showing how the quest for revenge warps other characters--would have made the last section of the movie feel more like a payoff and less like a sudden left turn into the desert.

[eggcats]

Radiostatic fic, where when Vox is watching the hotel prepare for the Extermination and is like “they're going to FIGHT?!” he (internally) freaks out and decides to use the opportunity to try to get a deal out of the princess of hell himself. After all, he has the tech to fight - Angelic Security - it'd be remiss of him to not offer it to the princess and raise his status over that old timey prick!

–

“Vox, you of all people know that Angelic Security shit is a scam. Get your ass back in the chair.”

“Nonsense, Velvette! It's simply…untested. And what better way to beta test its worth than by using it against a direct assault from heaven?”

“If you die, I'm taking your room.”

–

So he goes over to the hotel to offer his help.

(Vaggie tries to stab him when he asks for a deal in exchange, and he doesn't know why he's so desperate to help, so he decides to offer it free of charge).

Alastor tries to veto it entirely, citing how all of his technology is both flashy and useless, but he's outvoted by Charlie. (She doesn't trust Vox, nor does she believe in his tech, but she's not in any position to not accept help where she can get it - at worst, she figures it doesn't work and Vox abandons them).

Alastor and him ignore one another to the best of their abilities - they're both too busy (and stressed) to even really bother with their normal hostilities. The most they do are just a few snarky lines whenever they cross paths, but overall it's fine. (Vox will absolutely not admit to himself that it's kind of nice to not be at each other's throats, for once. They've even had to work together once or twice).

So now Vox is struggling to help the hotel with the oncoming assault, and convinces himself that he'll be long gone before any real danger arrives - he's only here on the off chance they survive to up the status of the Vees. (Totally no other reason).

Except. He doesn't leave the night before, and surprises even himself by showing up ready for the fight.

And the fight actually seems to be going really well! (Vox refuses to acknowledge being impressed by Alastor’s shield, even to himself).

But then. Not too long after the shield breaks, Adam appears. And Vox doesn't understand why he feels like his heart has stopped for the second time. He does his best to ignore it, but then Adam effortlessly kills Pentious and all he can think about is the same thing happening to Alastor.

(He can't die like that loser, I'm the only one allowed to kill him! There's no way that pretentious angelic prick took him down!)

When Lucifer finally arrives to take down Adam, Vox disappears. He will find Alastor, because no one but him is allowed to kill him. He refuses.

Vox finds where Alastor was injured, but with him not being there Vox knows there's only one place he'd go - his radio tower. And he's right! He finds Alastor, alive! (Vox does not admit, even to himself, the blatant relief that goes through him).

Alastor does his best to defend himself, assuming that Vox is there to end him. However, Alastor is barely functioning and despite his best efforts, Vox isn't deterred.

–

“I'm here to help you, asshole! Let me see that injury so we can fix it, and then we can try to kill each other!”

–

Vox refuses to take no for an answer, and does stitch up Alastor's injury. (Vox cannot believe Alastor even survived it).

He succeeds in closing his wound, and ends up looking like he's lost a fight to a badger - covered in scratch and bite wounds. Vox complains about it the entire time, but he's secretly relieved Alastor is alive enough to not take his help lying down.

Anyway, after his help, Alastor finally gets himself ready to return to the hotel. (When he first stands up, he falters and tries to catch himself with his staff - obviously it fails with it broken - and Vox catches him instead. They refuse to look at each other as Vox helps Alastor leave his radio tower and walk back to the hotel).

It's not until Alastor asks Vox how long before he can expect to be on the news that Vox realizes he has no intention of letting anyone know that Alastor is injured. (Alastor obviously doesn't believe him, but Vox does keep quiet about it. He doesn't even tell Charlie when Alastor does his best to keep it from her, as well).

It's not until they arrive with the brand new hotel, Lucifer being present, and everyone recovering after the failed Extermination, that Vox realizes he intends on staying at the hotel, even without his original excuse.

(He needs to make sure Alastor recovers, after all).

[rewrittenmha]

UA Sports Festival Arc

I've been waiting to get my hands on this arc (this is a long one so be prepared).

Despite the USJ incident, the Sports Festival is still going on. However, Aizawa, Midnight, and Present Mic vehemently protest against broadcasting it nationally. They remind Nezu that the school is very clearly being targeted and that exposing the weaknesses of their students- especially their first years- is not a good idea. Nezu acknowledges their concerns and agrees, but tells them that the HPSC has demanded that the Sports Festival goes on as planned. That the country needs to be reassured that UA- and the hero world- is as strong as ever.

(Me trying to make UA a competent school be like-)

All Might stays quiet during the discussion, but internally realizes that security concerns never even crossed his mind. He wonders why that is and why his younger colleagues seemed to recognize that while he didn't. He's starting to realize that there's a lot that goes on around him that he fails to recognize.

(Deconstructing All Might's toxic ideals around heroism is a very important part of the story as they're usually perpetuated through him. He's the poster boy of toxic hero society even if that isn't his intention and he doesn't realize it. Changing All Might's way of thinking- especially because of the affect is has on Izuku- is very crucial)

In the days preparing for the Sports Festival, Izuku notices how focused Uraraka is. She's been quiet, scribbling in her notebook and not being as talkative. When he asks about it, she admits to him and Iida that she needs to succeed at UA and feels like she's behind compared to the two of them. Her parents have struggled financially all her life and becoming a hero is her only chance to do right by them. She knows that it isn't a selfless, noble goal but it's been important to her all her life.

Iida assures her that wanting to provide for her parents is a noble end goal. Izuku agrees, but begins to think about his own mother. He had always had everything he needed, but Izuku knew they didn't have much money to spare. Inko had wanted to move to get him out of Aldera due to the bullying she knew about, but it just wasn't possible. His father refused to send more money from America and she could only do so much on a seamstress' salary.

He never wanted to be a hero for monetary gain, but he would like to make his mom's life a little easier, if he could.

Lunch with All Might goes about the same (it's so wholesome). The one difference is that All Might asks Izuku about his relationship with Bakugou. Izuku wasn't expecting that question and stumbles over his words, answering that they're childhood friends. But when All Might points out that Bakugou seems to be very aggressive towards him, Izuku replies with, "That's just how Kacchan is."

All Might's concerns are not alleviated by this.

The school day ends with 1A being confronted by the other classes. Bakugou is being his usual self, but Uraraka- who has found herself growing more and more annoyed with his attitude- tells him to stop being such a jerk. This stuns Izuku, who has never seen Bakugou being called out directly. But before he can process what's happening, Iida agrees, reprimanding him for his unsportsmanlike and pretentious behavior. Yaoyorozu chimes in that his actions reflect on the rest of the class and calling people "extras" is childish and not befitting a hero.

(Izuku.exe has stopped working)

Bakugou is about to rage at the three of them. Kirishima, however, brings up that while Bakugou's attitude sucks, it's unmanly for the other classes to gawk at and gossip about them. The kid in the front of the crowd- a general department student- scoffs and says that he has the chance to take one of their places in the hero course. He declares war on their class and tells them to watch their backs.

(Oh Shinsou, as pleasant as ever)

A class 1B student is also there, remarking on how unimpressive 1A appears to be. He warns 1A not to embarrass them during the Sports Festival since the audience is mostly going to be looking at them.

(Monoma being a bastard as usual)

The first event of the Sports Festival and everything leading up to it goes relatively the same. Todoroki confronts Izuku in the locker room and Izuku maintains that he'll try his best. Because Bakugou came in first during the Entrance Exam, he confidently and seriously declares that he'll win, which continues to make 1A a target.

Izuku wins with Todoroki and Bakugou coming in second and third. I'm keeping this because it's one of the best moments of the Sports Festival (the only thing I'm changing is Mineta on Yaoyorozu's back). And it sets up the Third Event well. I don't feel the need to change the Cavalry Battle that much either. I thought about having Monoma's team win instead of Shinsou's, but decided against it.

I'm also having Yaoyorozu confirm with Midnight before listening to Kaminari and Mineta about the cheerleading uniforms. She tells them that no, of course that's not a requirement for the female participants. Yaoyorozu, silently furious, scolds Kaminari and Mineta and tells them that she's reproting them to Aizawa.

Battle Tournament: Round 1

Round one basically goes the same. Except, I do have a few minor changes and one big change.

Izuku Midoriya vs Hitoshi Shinsou: I was going to change this fight, but then I realized that the OFA users snapping Izuku out of Shinsou's control was the first contact he made with the OFA users. And that's preeettty important. So I'm only changing it slightly.

Instead of OFA breaking Izuku's finger, a voice intervened before Izuku can snap at Shinsou. It's a woman's voice, reminding him of what Ojiro said and warning him not to lose his head.

She tells him that his quick thinking and ability to stay calm under pressure is one of his most valuable abilities. She tells him that keeping a level head in every situation is important. So Izuku, despite being upset as Shinsou's taunting of Ojiro, easily knocks him out of the ring.

(Nana gets scolded by the other users for intervening so soon. But she shrugs and defends that he was doing so well and just needed a little nudge in the right direction. Izuku reminds her so much of Toshinori- who she misses immeasurably- that it's hard not to get attached)

Izuku is snapped at by Shinsou, who accuses Izuku of having it easy because of his quirk. He assumes that Izuku had it easy his whole life and doesn't know what it's like to be outcast and labeled.

Izuku, who understands more than Shinsou could ever know, simply smiles. It's both kind and heartbreaking, which shocks Shinsou to his core. Izuku thanks Shinsou for the fight and tells him he can't wait to see him in the hero course one day.

Shinsou doesn't know why, but he gets the feeling that Midoriya does understand. But he doesn't know how that could be possible.

Momo Yaoyorozu vs Fumikage Tokoyami: This fight doesn't change much, but I thought I would get into Yaoyorozu's head a little here. Her entire life, she was the smart one. The one with the plan. She thought that she could face anything as long as she was smart and careful. It had worked all her life. It impressed her teachers, it made her parents proud. How could it not?

But for some reason, it never occurred to her that sometimes, she wouldn't have time for a plan. She was completely thrown off by Tokoyami's relentless assault. He didn't give her time to think or process, just kept dealing blow after blow that she couldn't counter in time.

Yaoyorozu was forced out of the ring. And she had never felt the sting of failure until that moment.

Ochako Uraraka vs Katsuki Bakugou: Uraraka has... a plan.

She distracts Bakugou as best she can. Using the smoke from his explosions, she attempts to attack him from all angles, diverting his attention from her real attack. She knows that it's risky and even a little foolish, but she has to try.

All this time, she's watched her classmates push themselves and give their all. That's something she's never done in her life. She can't be left behind, she has people counting on her. She has to succeed.

But much to her dismay, Bakugou figured out her plan. He blows up every bit of rock she had sent into the air, crushing any hopes of victory with it. Uraraka falls to the ground in dismay, fighting off tears. She's exhausted and hopeless and knows that she's going to lose. So why bother? She can't beat Bakugou.

She's been on the ground for too long. Midnight starts counting down.

5... 4...

Bakugou advances, telling her that she knew she would lose and that she should have quit earlier. He stands right in front of her, ready to deal the final blow and ring her out.

3... 2...

But something about his words make Uraraka angry. She's seen how he talks down to people. She's seen how he treats everyone as below him. She's seen how he targets Izuku who never fights back or defends himself. And she knows he's been looking down on her this whole fight.

And she's sick of it.

1-

In a fit of rage, Uraraka's arm shoots out and she grabs Bakugou's ankle. Making him weightless, she flips him over her shoulder and towards the edge of the ring. Bakugou, completely thrown off since he assumed she was defeated, falls to the ground.

Ochako Uraraka wins.

This was so, so satisfying to write this y'all don't even know. I told you guys that Uraraka's underdog story was coming. Idk what Aizawa's on about, but trying to say that Bakugou didn't look down on her was BULLSHIT. He literally told her she should have given up. So I thought, what better way to have her beat him than to use his own arrogance against him?

Every other round one fight stays the same.

Humiliated and angry, Bakugou confronts Izuku after the fight. He, through tears, accuses Izuku of telling Uraraka to fake him out and is upset that Izuku would use his weakness against him. But Izuku firmly tells him that Uraraka refused any help from him and that she won completely on her own. Bakugou doesn't believe him and tries to attack him, only for Iida to intervene and tell him to back off.

Izuku, who's never had someone stand up for him against Bakugou, is extremely touched, but also guilty when Bakugou runs away. He hadn't wanted to upset him, but he was telling the truth. He'd had nothing to do with Uraraka's victory.

And he wasn't going to stop himself from being happy for her.

Battle Tournament, Round 2:

Izuku Midoriya vs Shoto Todoroki: This fight goes relatively the same. The only thing I would change is that Izuku tells Shoto he's free to be his own hero and that what Endeavor wants doesn't matter. He encourages Shoto to reclaim his fire for himself. That's essentially what he does say in canon, but apparently Izuku haters need everything spelled out for them (eyeroll).

He loses this round, but he's not upset by it. He's just glad he could help Todoroki.

Toshinori is both proud and incredulous. Proud because Izuku helped his classmate. Incredulous because it had cost him his win. Nevertheless, Young Midoriya has impressed him greatly. This calls for a treat after the Sports Festival!

Ochako Uraraka vs Eijiro Kirishima: You know, at first I thought that Kirishima would be the winner of this fight. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Uraraka could easily win. Kirishima can't fight without touching her, which immediately gives her the advantage.

It's hard to touch Kirishima with all give of her fingers due to his quirk and attempts to rush her out of the ring, but Uraraka isn't giving up. She's determined to push herself as much as she can. Grabbing hold of his jagged flesh, she makes him weightless and kicks him square in his chest. This is enough to push him out of the ring.

Because she actually likes Kirishima, Uraraka apologizes profusely. But Kirishima is completely impressed and admires her manliness. Uraraka isn't sure how to take that, but thanks him anyway.

All the other fights stay the same.

Battle Tournament: Round 3

Ochako Uraraka vs Fumikage Tokoyami: Unfortunately, Uraraka is unable to effect Dark Shadow with her quirk. It's solid, but it seems to be able to regulate its own mass with negates her quirk's functionality.

However, she doesn't allow the fight to end quickly. She holds off against Tokoyami, dodging his attacks and targeting his body. She's able to kick his feet out from under him and gain the upper hand for a split second.

(Yaoyorozu watches enviously from the audience. How could Uraraka do that and not her? What was she missing?)

But while she did that, she momentarily forgot about Dark Shadow. It wraps around her and while she struggles futilely, it gently places her outside of the ring. Uraraka was disappointed to lose after coming so far, but she was met with an admiring smile from Izuku as she joins him in the audience. He commends her for getting so far and tells her she did a really good job. Uraraka blushes and compliments his performance back.

They sit back and watch together as Iida loses to Todoroki. He joins them in the stands as they offer apologies, but Iida waves them off with a smile. His phone rings and he goes to answer it.

Izuku and Uraraka don't see him again for the rest of the event.

Battle Tournament: Round 3

Shoto Todoroki vs Fumikage Tokoyami: Even though Todoroki doesn't feel the same disdain towards his left side, he still hesitates to use his fire. It still came from Endeavor, no matter how much he wishes he could reclaim it as his own like Izuku advised him to.

He thinks that maybe someday he could manage to use it without seeing it as what drove him mother away. But for now, he's unable to stand bringing the heat to his palm. It burns, even though it realistically shouldn't.

Tokoyami is thankful that Todoroki doesn't use his fire. If he had, then he might have negated Dark Shadow resulting in his victory. But because Shoto is exhausted from his earlier display of power against Sero, it gives Tokoyami the upper hand. He's able to maneuver Dark Shadow around Todoroki's defenses of ice and slam it into him.

Todoroki gets knocked away and falls outside the ring. He collapses from the emotional and physical toll and passes out.

Fumikage Tokoyami has won the Sports Festival.

FINAL RESULTS:

1st Place - Fumikage Tokoyami

2nd Place - Shoto Todoroki

3rd Place - Ochako Uraraka & Tenya Iida

All Might hands out the medals to the winners, though Iida is suspiciously absent. Izuku is happy for his friends, though he wishes he could have performed a little better. But he's cheered up by a call to his mom, who's simultaneously worried about and proud of him.

Izuku knows his mom loves him and knows that she would do anything for him. But to hear those words from her in support of his dream... It breaks something in him. He starts crying, thanking her and quickly hanging up.

He's so glad to hear those words from his mother, but he can't help but wish he had gotten those words of encouragement from her sooner.

Notes:

Of course it's right after I say I was struggling with this arc that it all comes to me. Idk, rewriting Hawks got me motivated

I seriously debated having Uraraka beat Bakugou. I wondered if it was even possible at this point. But the more I thought about it, the more I realize she didn't have to overpower him. Bakugou's biggest weakness is his ego. All she had to do was target that. My original plan was to have Bakugou lose to Todoroki but you know what? Fuck that, this is Uraraka's underdog story

So the thing with Izuku vs Shinsou. I did think that OFA breaking his fingers out of nowhere was... dumb. Like, it just came out of nowhere to get Izuku out of that situation. I think the OFA users gently guiding him throughout the story before revealing themselves makes a lot more sense. Also, I love Nana

I actually do think Tokoyami could have beaten Todoroki at this point. Tokoyami had relatively easy fights before this. He only lost to Bakugou in canon because Bakugou had an inherent advantage. Todoroki not using his fire + him using all his energy against Sero and Izuku means that the fight was in Tokoyami's favor

I intentionally didn't give Iida a lot of focus because all of his major characterization is being saved for Stain

There was no glazing from Aizawa or booing from the heroes in the Uraraka vs Bakugou fight. Both were dumb and plot manipulation in canon

[froggibus]

Hello how are you? Idk if this has been written before cause I can't find something like it but I request a simple valorant x reader where they used to have a crush on her in like highschool or whatever hehe

(maybe yoru, phoenix , jett.. if you can then gekko!!)

Reunion - Yoru, Phoenix, Jett & Gekko

Genre: fluff! :)

CW: yoru being yoru, maybe a little ooc? mostly wholesome stuff

syd? doing a request? a miracle. technically reqs are closed rn but im still gonna work through a few of them

————

YORU 

probably had a huge crush on you but would never admit it

the kind of guy that would tease you/be lowkey mean to you just cause he likes you 

tsundere ass mf

after you guys graduate, he doesn’t see much of you after that 

and even if he does have lots of one night stands, this man struggles with emotional intimacy 

whenever he gets lonely he probably entertains the idea of cute lil y/n and what could have been if he wasn’t so shy 

when you join the protocol, it’s like he’s seen a ghost 

goes right back to that tsundere teenager and probably ignores you 

all the other agents warm to you right away tho so you’re naturally annoyed why this guy can’t let go of *whatever* you did to him in high school

on a mission with just the two of you, you finally confront him about his indifference towards you

things boil over and one thing leads to another and 

he kisses you

you’re literally so shocked you don’t even close your eyes

he pulls away, cheeks BURNING and refuses to look at you

“why do you have to make everything so difficult for me y/n?”

????

FINALLY admits he likes you after all this time 

PHOENIX  

he was flirty with everyone in high school, so you never caught on when he flirted with you

but this man was DOWN BAD

he probably asked you out at least once but you thought it was a joke/more flattery and brushed him off 

rip phoenix 

he tries to connect with you after graduation but life gets in the way, and then he joins the protocol 

whenever his relationships don’t work out or he’s on his last leg on a mission, he finds your face flashing through his mind 

when he gets back from a bad mission and still sees your face, he thinks he’s losing it 

“phoenix? you okay?”

bro is not okay

spends the next three weeks doing stupid stunts to try and impress you 

only succeeds in setting multiple objects on fire, spraining his wrist and getting a lot of lectures from Brim

you end up bringing him hot chocolate & rum to lift his spirits after he’s essentially put in a time out

“so, are you gonna tell me why you had a sudden bout of pyromania?”

sighs and finally admits he has a crush on you and has for a long time

you kiss him to let him know you feel the same way

and then the two of you spend the rest of the night getting drunk and laughing about how stupid you guys were in high school

JETT 

she liked you a lot in high school and didn’t know how to express it

probably tried asking you out more than once and failed miserably

just stumbled over her words all cutely and then says “never mind” and runs away

you thought it was cute and never really thought too much of it

after high school, you think about her a lot and start to realize she probably liked you

and poor jett is so swamped with missions she barely has time to settle down

and even if she does, she can’t find someone to keep up with her 

she’s ecstatic when she sees you joined the protocol 

a second chance!!

you get a little flustered around her now that you know about her high school crush and you somewhat hope she still feels the same way

she’s surprisingly matured and isn’t nearly as flustered around you as she used to be

tries her best to make you feel included too

 it’s not long before her old feelings come bubbling to the surface tho

she’s probably the most emotionally mature of the group so she just straight up confesses to you 

both of you are tired from a mission and share a half kiss/half hug where you’re just leaning against each other 

GEKKO 

he was definitely popular in high school but it never went to his head, he just did his thing and hung out at the skatepark 

bit of a rebel 

he mostly just admired you from afar, and if you were ever together for group projects, flirted with you lowkey

never anything serious or enough to make you actually realize how he feels 

but enough to keep him infatuated 

when Brim announces that you guys have a new agent joining the protocol, you do not expect it to be Mateo 

both of you are shocked (it’s like the Spider-Man meme irl)

you do your best to make him feel welcome, taking him around and introducing him to everyone 

you decide one night to take him out for drinks with some of the other agents!! 

everyone starts to leave until it’s just you and Gekko

you’re both a little tipsy and start talking about high school

he admits he had a crush on you in high school and that he’s super happy you guys get to see each other again

kisses you & asks you if you want to go out again

[starlightshadowsworld]

I love Percy and Annabeth but they should not have been in Heroes of Olympus.

Because they overshadow everyone else.

People even say they skipped other characters povs just to read there's.

I love them but I think they shouldn't have been as prominently apart of the story.

Because yeah I love them but I've had 5 books of these guys, I'd really like to know the rest of the seven.

Hell Jason's birthday is the day they fall into Tartarus soo...tell me they aren't overshadowed..

Jason's our main character and he constantly gets pushed aside and is not written well and constantly compared to as being Percy's lesser version.

Which isn't fair.

And he's not given a chance to change that.

He's not allowed to exist outside of Percy because of course he isn't.

Percy's right there.

Also give them a break.

They just fought a war.

Personally would love if the lost hero started with a snap shot of the battle of Manhatten and zoomed out to the Roman part of the fight.

Jason leading the charge and just "Yeah.. That's me, your probably wondering how I got here."

And takes us all the way back to a mysterious woman giving Jason up and the wolves coming for him.

With us learning from kid Thalia demanding to know where Jason is that this Jason is her Jason.

Jason Grace.

We see the wolf house we watch Jason try to survive and absolutely break our hearts hearing someone so young think he's so alone and no one loves him.

Lupa becoming more motherly to him but that fear Jason has always remains that she will turn on him one day.

Jason wandering the streets to Camp Jupiter.

Jason's situation bring the reverse of Percy's.

Being out casted immediately and than put on a pedestal once he's claimed.

Jason immediately hating it.

Jason being pushed into this good soilder narrative but he doesn't fit it at all.

His upbringing has left him wild, less bothered with proper fighting techniques and more on survival.

He fights to kill.

He fights to live.

And no one else gets that.

Except one camper, Octavian, who's older than Jason abd the Augur.

Everyone after reading the Pjo series seeing Octavian...I got my eye on you Mr.

Who insults the elders and is the first to get Jason to laugh.

And encourages Jason to stand up for what he believes in.

Giving Jason the courage to deny his place in the 1st cohort and join the 5th.

This

Pisses everyone off.

Mostly the 1st.

Who are downright offended because you don't turn down the first cohort.

And Jason's like, but I just did.

The 5th have no idea what to make of Jason but in time they become friendly.

Dakota becoming a friend to him.

Jason knows this because he shares his kool aid with him sometimes.

He does get in trouble for squaring off with and scaring off some bullies of the upper cohorts.

Because Jason hates bullies and he recognises the kid, Frank being picked on.

Apparently they stole his stick and while Jason has no idea it's importance, it made Frank sad soo he goes after them.

Ends up on probatio and friends with Frank.

Who admires Jason's bravery and wishes he could be too.

So the rest of the leigion kinda miffed some 5th upstart is embarrassing them.

And so when the next quest is given its to him.

Quests are different here to Camp Half-blood.

Since they don't have a true oracle, specifics are never mentioned.

Leaving the leigion to give the prophecy to whoever they want.

And they want to knock Jason down a few pegs and so they send him.

Jason picking Frank and Dakota.

Neither of the two are hopeful because the day a 5th is sent on a quest is the day their funeral is held.

Not the case though and they do in fact succeed and do it well.

Frank even opening up about his stick and showing that he is as brave and courageous as he wants to be.

It's through that act of bravery Frank is claimed as a son of Mars.

And though he's not exactly sure he should be one, Jason and Dakota both tell him it suites him well.

They both even do the "all hail Frank Zhang, Son of Mars" speech.

Which makes him smile.

On the way back though they do find Reyna.

Jason gets the short straw and has to do the oh the Roman God's are real but she knows and that she's a daughter of Bellona.

And they all head back to camp together.

And while Reyna has her guard up she does genuinely seem to enjoy her company with the others.

She's also the only other person to truly understand how Jason fights and his instinct to survive.

Though she doesn't share why.

Octavian greets them, proud and Reyna is on probatio until they can see what cohort she fits into.

Though she remarks after seeing the egos of the 1st that the 5th might be better afterall.

Celebrations are held and Jason wonders if the quest is really over.

Also all or us wondering if Octavian was genuine about what he said to Jason to follow his dreams.

Or if he did it to take Jason's place in the 1st.

Can't tell me after Luke anyone of you guys wouldn't be mad suss of an older blonde boy befriending Jason.

Fool me once.

Shame on you.

Fool me twice...

Damn...

Also reading the series prior and than this means everyone agrees with Jason.

Like we saw Percy fight for his life over and over and are just like... Oh you bitches gonna have a rude awakening when you face real monsters 💅🏽.

I have no idea what the quest would be but I'd want them to all line up to the next big prophecy.

Instead of it coming out of nowhere.

Hazel does come around but later on because of the doors and with her so does Nico.

[boyfhee]

⌕ TAKE TWO ━━ 13 : unauthorized investigation

PRECIS. while riki constantly assured you that him being an idol under a different label wouldn't be an issue in your relationship, you start getting second thoughts when fans start shipping him with his co-mc at music bank.

w. angst, miya ( bbg deserves her own warning )

wc. 1.23k

“i didn’t expect you to actually come,” miya chuckles, a menacing grin dancing on her lips with unclear intentions masking her eyes. there’s not much you can decipher about her, except that she’s here for nothing more than your boyfriend. “do you not trust your boyfriend? do you think he’s actually hiding something from you?” 

you watch her skim through the menu as if this is supposed to be some friends’ day out, her characteristic smile never leaving her face even for a second. perhaps, it’s the smile that has people wrapped around her, or maybe more. you’re here to fight for what belongs to you in the first place, but one look at miya, and you’re thinking of all the reasons you could lose from her. you aren’t the type to think of the worst possible scenarios before trying, but something about her has you counting your other options. 

what if she actually succeeds in whatever she’s planning? 

what if riki loves her and not you?

what if. . . and what ifs are all that have been plaguing your mind ever since you received her text. her presence isn’t one to stand out but her words weigh down your shoulders. the truth about riki, you might never know. maybe, it’s part of a bigger plan, maybe she’s simply messing with you. you don’t know, you would never. miya, in herself, is sort of a mystery, and you hate how she makes you question everything you’ve been confident about. 

“no, i’m just here to see how pathetic you can get,” but you have a dignity to maintain, a look to deliver that you aren’t half bothered by her silly tricks, even if it’s a white lie. 

“you’ve really painted me as the villain in your eyes, haven’t you?” you wonder if she’s trying to incite you, to make you lose your cool. her words are of less importance, almost none, for she’s asking questions she already knows the answers too. she tried to break up your relationship with riki, took every opportunity to ruin things between the two of you and create doubts. so yes, if you consider these things, a villain is not even close to how you see her. 

“i don’t want someone who doesn’t want me, but if there’s even a little chance that he does, i’m not backing off,” it’s an apology and a challenge in the same sentence. as if, she’s sorry that you’re about to lose your relationship, but riki is worth fighting and so, she’s not going to apologise for being the reason why your relationship is falling apart. “besides, i can’t control who i fall for, now, can i?” 

“of course,” you reach the conclusion that she’s trying to buy time, to annoy you enough that it leaves you with few options, one of them being giving up. it’s smart, you would say, because throwing around the blame and playing the victim card, if done correctly, tends to turn situations in your favour. her eyes still travel back and forth between you and the menu— it doesn’t seem like she’s planning on ordering anything. and in the end, there’s no truth, all lies, and one benefit of doubt.   

“yn, i’m not an enemy,” her voice goes soft, eyes looking at you as if you’re supposed to be on her team. “i’m your friend. i’m just another person in love, just like you. i’m really hoping you’d understand,” and there’s a certain tone in her voice; pride, pity— desire.   

it’s a shame how you failed to recognise it at once. 

“understand what, that it’s okay to ruin someone’s relationship? or that, everything is fair as long as you get what you want, even if it means ruining someone’s career?” there are a thousand reasons why riki could choose her over you, and a million reasons why he wouldn’t. one could be so blindly in love to even forget what’s good and bad, or right and wrong, but god, not riki, not him. you’ve known him for over ten years, dated for three, and there’s only one thing about him that you’re sure of— music. you would find yourself wondering how life would’ve been if you had never chosen this field, but not him. riki has one dream, to make music, and his second, you, or so you believe.  

“now, when did i do that?” and miya goes again, pretending to be the innocent one in his unauthorised interrogation. you know she’s in the wrong, but the look in her eyes and the confidence dancing on the tips of her fingers push you towards fear. she isn’t half as astute as you, but she came prepared. as if she had played this conversation in her head weeks ago before fixing her target and sharpening her moves. 

“oh, i know you paid the media to post pictures of you and riki to provoke us. even his instagram, it was impossible to track it and find the pictures since it’s a private account that has been inactive for years,” you say as a matter of fact, “you think you’re the smart one here but it really doesn’t take a scientist to catch up to your cheap moves,” 

at first, you thought of it as a coincidence— the media finding riki’s account, an article about dating while referring to a picture taken months ago— but the more you think about it, the less it comes off as just a coincidence. in fact, things fell into place better when you imagined miya behind every single thing that has happened lately. it would make more sense to claim that she tipped off journalists to post articles about her and riki everytime the rumours seemed to disappear, just to make sure the fans stayed interested in whatever hypothesis she was trying to prove. she planned it out, has been doing so for months probably, and you would give her the credit of being incredibly clever and impossibly crazy; the more intelligent, the less sane. 

“oh, okay, i did that,” she shrugs nonchalantly, as if her actions don’t concern her anymore. the lack of remorse and the abundance of everything else on her face is making your palms sweat, afraid that the next moment, your boyfriend would be slipping through the cracks of your hands and you wouldn’t be able to hold him. “but yn, do you really think i’m the only one who wants this?” 

“what do you mean?” there’s a stern look in her eyes. her words are firm, she sounds a little too certain for your comfort. maybe, she’s just a really good liar, maybe you’re reading too much into her actions. maybe, it’s something you’ve created inside your head and it will go away when you wake up. just maybe, those are the words you decide to hold onto. 

“you’ve been doubting me since day one, convinced that i’m trying to steal your boyfriend, but what if it’s the other way round?” she leans on the table, you’re hoping her words won’t gesture towards what you’ve been fearing the most. “what if riki made the first move?” and miya knows it’s a blatant lie, but no amount of apologies from riki could bury her words deep enough to never unravel. 

after all, she just had to sow the seeds of doubt and let them do their job. 

PREV | NEXT | MASTERLIST

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Lorthact the Unraveler

CR 25

Lawful Evil Medium Outsider

Inner Sea Bestiary, pg. 26

Ah, Lorthact. Those who've joined in 2nd Edition and who go through a very particular high-level module have a very high chance of encountering this infernal noble, but by then the years of living among mortals and the collapse of his safety nets and plans haven't been kind to him, and he's fallen from an intimidating CR 25 all the way to CR 16. Don't feel too bad for him, though, the reason for his immense paranoid stress is entirely self-inflicted. See, in ages past, Lorthact was a beloved Duke of Hell, serving both Geryon and Mephistopheles loyally and even having the favor of Asmodeus himself for his skill in twisting mages into the service of Hell... But he made an awful mistake, one that cost him everything and continues to cost him to this day, hundreds of years later.

He tried to betray Eiseth, Queen of the Erinyes, and reduce her from demigod into a powerless consort at his side. Eiseth's temper is so legendary that even Asmodeus holds up his hands and backs away whenever she becomes enraged, her one-woman warpaths wreaking the same level of destruction that entire armies would struggle to replicate, so when she learned of the Unraveler's plot to usurp her, there was no chance in Hell for him to get out unscathed. No amount of lying and ass-kissing allowed Lorthact to appease her, and to his horror he found that his two Archdevil sponsors had turned their backs on him, neither of them wishing to risk Eiseth's apocalyptic ire. You would think a Duke of Hell would know that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but Lorthact had to learn the hard way.

He fled Hell entirely because there was no longer any safety from her wrath, and though Eiseth's minions search the globe over constantly for any sign of his presence, his cleverness has allowed him to remained undetected. Not unharmed, mind, because the constant stress does get to him, but he's thus far evaded the sight of his foes, mortal and immortal alike, and has time to regroup and begin to plot. Now living unseen on Golarion, he manipulates the population of the land of Korvosa, hoping to one day amass enough power, wealth, and minions to either slay Eiseth or convince Asmodeus to force her to stay her hand. Time will tell if he'll succeed, but for now let's see what happens when it's the players who try unraveling the Unraveler...

Now, Lorthact's ability to hide from Eiseth is no overblown background detail for the purpose of a story, this man is very hard to find, to the point that any campaign starring him will likely revolve around figuring out he's even there. He's got a constant Mind Blank to shield himself from any attempt to detect or track him, and Alter Self at will to physically transform into whoever he needs to be. In addition, he has a unique ability called Temporal Anomaly, rendering him immune to all forms of Divination regardless of their reach or power, whether it be from a spell or something more mundane. NO form of future sight or prescience works against Lorthact, and no divination effect or ability can be used to predict his movements, his actions, or what effects his actions may have. The man is a walking breach in the weave of Fate, his actions and their ripple effects all but impossible to determine without divine insight, making him a foe that goes beyond unpredictable. Not even Foresight or Moment of Prescience provide any benefit against him, and all his attacks and abilities ignore such powers outright.

So he can mundanely disguise himself and thwart all magical attempts to find him. Already good! If Lorthact were content with living a commoner's life, he'd likely be set for the rest of eternity... but no Duke of Hell would settle for anything less than total conquest. It's literally in their blood, and as such he's been able to masquerade as various masters of the arcane arts for decades, and will likely continue to do so, slowly warping the land of Korvosa to his twisted will through total control of all magic and magic users within the land. There's a reason one of his titles is "the Ur-Magus," though like every fascist Lorthact relies on others doing all the heavy lifting and actual creative effort so he can reap the rewards for himself.

Lorthact can use Dominate Person at-will and Dominate Monster 1/day, and has Mass Suggestion at-will to gently persuade everyone in a given room to ignore how suddenly dull and unresponsive his primary target has become. Once he's got someone Dominated, he exists as a parasite in their minds, able to draw upon their powers for his own benefit; he's got a Spell Reservoir of 25 levels in his body that he can fill with stolen spell energy. If he's touching a Dominated victim he can siphon a spell from their mind as a full-round action, and if they're not within reach but remain on the same plane, he can instead siphon it over the course of 1 minute via the magical connection from the Dominate spell. In either case the magic is expended as though the victim had cast the spell, and Lorthact keeps the energy within him until he sees fit to use it. As mentioned, he can only hold up to 25 levels worth of spells, and he may only drain one spell at a time from a given caster... But with unrestricted access to every student, scholar, and archmage within Korvosa's largest magical college, there's almost no spell outside his reach if the DM wills it, and though HE can't be detected via any means, he can use his 1/day Limited Wish or at-will Greater Scrying without restriction to learn the capabilities of any party mounting an attack against him and prepare himself accordingly.

There is some mercy with his Spell Reservoir: He can only drain Arcane spells. Divine and Psychic magic is beyond his reach, though he may still Dominate/Suggest to casters and command them to use the magic for him. Being able to cast seemingly any spell with a moment of meditation is already an impressive feat, but Lorthact can take faking being an omnidisciplinary mage even further with Scholastic Masquerade, an ability I originally overlooked because I had forgotten how powerful a lot of Wizard School Powers are. Just take a look for yourself! Scholastic Masquerade allows the Unraveler to drain School Powers from a Dominated victim in the same manner as his Spell Reservoir, including using up the available levels in his reservoir to power it; he can lower his reservoir by 3 to copy one of the School's 1st level powers, by 6 to copy both of them, and by 9 to copy all of them. While he's copying these powers the original host cannot use them at all, and Lorthact uses the powers with the same strength his host would; he may be a powerful archmage, but if he's parisitizing a 10th level Illusion Wizard, he can only use the School Powers as if he were 10th level.

How, exactly, this works with School Powers which grant feats is up to the DM; I believe he gains them temporarily... which means he almost always wants someone with the Counterspell school in his repertoire to make sure he's got Improved Counterspell AND a 1/day immediate action to utilize his at-will Greater Dispel Magic to thwart an enemy caster's magic. It may not sound very impressive, but never discount just how powerful an immediate action to say No to a player's entire turn can be, even at 1/day!

Other potential School Powers he may want to have in his pocket include Transmutation's passive additions to his physical ability scores (just in case), Enchantment's Enchanting Smile, and literally everything under the Divination school. Seriously, for the low cost of 3 points out of his Reservoir pool, he can remove the surprise round entirely and get anywhere from +1 to +20 to his Initiative rolls depending on the strength of the mage he parisitizes, and the Foresight Subschool's Prescience gives him a second chance at any one d20 roll he makes every round for at least 3 rounds! The initiative is pretty big, though; if Lorthact goes first, or even close to first, he's got a menagerie of annoying tricks beyond whatever he may be stealing from his victims that make fighting him a pain in the ass.

He has Greater Invisibility and Freedom of Movement both at-will and no reason to ever let either expire if he thinks he's going to enter combat, with one typically giving him the chance to use the other. I've already mentioned his Greater Dispel Magic at-will, but do you know what's better? He's got the Quickened version 3/day! He's also got two feats that play well with it: Dispel Synergy and Destructive Dispel, the former inflicting a -2 penalty on all saves for anyone he successfully shucks with any dispelling effect, the latter stunning the target for a round if they fail a second save and sickening them even if they succeed. The two effects stack, which means that even if you succeed your saving throw versus being stunned, you still effectively have a -4 penalty to all saves for a round... and since Lorthact can do a Quickened version, that means you're open to a standard action Dominate, his 3/day Polymorph Any Object or, if he's feeling nice, Empowered Horrid Wilting to blast you AND the party for 30d6 typeless damage. Fun fact: Empowered Horrid Wilting is technically a 10th level spell, and he's able to use it 3/day!

At these levels, a party is likely relying on buff spells to keep up with their higher-level foes, so suddenly having them... well, unraveled can be a bit of a downer. But do you want to know what's worse? Losing all your magic items as well. Yes, Lorthact has access to Mage's Disjunction, among the most terrifying spells that can be leveled at a player party for multiple reasons, chief among them being that Disjunction doesn't make a dispel roll, it simply ends any and all spell effects within its 40ft radius burst. This does mean Destructive Dispel doesn't trigger (no party-wide stun/sicken!), but Dispel Synergy does, and thus anyone with even a meager +1 buff to one stat gets slapped with the penalty. Secondly, and even worse, any and all magic items within the radius must make a save or be shut off for 25 minutes.

... I highly recommend making it a mass dispel only, not out of mercy to your players, but out of pragmatism. Unless you're using some automated digital sheets, having to make saving throws for every item on every player and then recalculating their stats based on which of their items shuts down is a god damn nightmare. If you want to make it less annoying, having it shut off 'active' powers like Flaming or abilities which need to be willingly activated by the user while leaving 'passive' ones like flat stat or skill bonuses in place is acceptable. But, hey, if you don't mind the 45 minute turn, then by all means go crazy with it!

And speaking of 45 minute research periods, did you know Lorthact has Greater Shadow Conjuration AND Greater Shadow Evocation at-will? That's every Conjuration spell that summons a creature or creates an object of 6th level or lower and EVERY Evocation spell of 7th level or lower entirely at his fingertips all the time, making deciding just what he's going to do on his turn require even MORE time than the average caster. Sure, summoning shadow minions to his side might not be especially powerful since players can likely kill them in a single hit, but summoning giant walls of various substances is always useful even if the illusion can be seen through. Evocation also gives him a hell of a toolbox with stars like Prismatic Spray, Sirocco, Forcecage, and Hungry Darkness which have powerful effects even IF the enemy sees through them (and relying on magical True Seeing is often difficult given how dispel-happy he is)!

Lorthact's typical battle plan is thus to stock up on whatever spells and abilities he thinks will make his time against the party easier, slap Spell Turning, Greater Invisibility, and Freedom of Movement on himself, use Limited Wish to whatever capacity he needs, throw out Disjunction or GDM a few times, and then--and only then--engage by slinging out whatever spells he's stolen or can conjure with his shadow magic from a position of relative safety. Given that he has Time Stop, all of this and more can happen in the blink of an eye even if the party does catch him off-guard, and don't you dare think that you can do the same to HIM. Remember Temporal Anomaly from a few paragraphs ago? There's an additional line of text in it: if anyone uses Time Stop while within 60ft of him, HE can also move in the stopped time. This essentially traps the poor caster in a 1v1, and if he's spiteful, he may just dash over (his movespeed says 30ft, but he comes equipped with Boots of Speed for Haste on-demand) and seal both himself and his dance partner inside his 1/day Prismatic Sphere so he can beat them to death in peace even when time resumes.

While he typically avoids melee, he's no slouch in it. He's got a pair of claw attacks for 1d6+6 damage, which is pathetic, but he's also got a god damn Staff of Power because his kit isn't loaded enough. That staff can act as a +2 quarterstaff that he can use four five (forgot his boots of speed) times a round for 1d6+11 damage each, which he's more than willing to enhance with either Power Attack (-9 accuracy for +18 damage Whoops! someone pointed out that it's actually +27!), the Staff of Power's ability to double its own damage for 1 round (to 2d6+22), or both (2d6+76), allowing him some absolutely monstrous burst damage if he manages a Full-Attack to dissuade victims from staying in his melee range. Every single attack, be it his claws or his staff, also inflicts 1 point of Intelligence drain just as a little cherry on top, and taking even 1 point of Int from his victim grants him Foresight against them. No stranger to dealing damage, he's also adept at avoiding it with 45 AC (+2 vs people he's Int drained), DR 20/Good and Silver, and 36 Spell Resistance, plus whatever insane preparations he's made with what's essentially a custom spell list.

Also, fun fact I recalled about halfway through this but forgot to find a place for, so I'm putting it here at the end: the Magus and Bloodrager are both Arcane casters, allowing Lorthact to steal spells from their list at a lower level than they would be on the Sorc/Wiz list to save him room in his Reservoir. Just one of many, many, many, many factors to take into account when engaging one of the greatest mages there ever was!

It may literally be easier to get in contact with Eiseth and let her know where he is, and deal with the fallout after.

You can read more about him here.

[toh-tagteam-au]

Tag Team AU Synopsis – Something Ventured, Something Framed + Escape of the Palisman

Synopsis Masterpost Link

Previous [Lost in Language + Once Upon a Swap]

Next Part [Sense and Insensitivity + Adventures in the Elements + The First Day]

Starting to double down way more, but we have a Luz-centric ep and a sibling ep today!

Something Ventured, Something Framed

There’s not much plot I wrote for this one. Luz goes to Hexside to tutor Amity, since she basically fired Lilith from the position in Covention. Amity gets some Luz lore, mainly that she’s the same age as her and that she was taken in by the Emperor when she lost her family. 

Eventually, Amity notices that Luz is a bit uncomfortable getting stared at by the other kids, and she pulls her to the bathroom to change her into a Hexside uniform.

(hood is up, so ears aren't showing)

On their way to a classroom, they run into Gus. Luz and Gus hit it off pretty instantly, as Luz recognizes the acronym on his HAS president crown. Luz introduces herself as a Human appreciator, and Gus gets his nickname. They get to talking about humans, but at some point Luz’s learned-bias against humans comes up.

(This isn’t stuff that Belos taught her necessarily, but it’s definitely something she picked up given how much he says she’s helpless without Hunter to protect her. It's more self-depreciation than anything she'd think about anyone else.)

Luz goes to the bathroom to angst about knowing less about her own humanity than someone who isn’t even human (cool visual of her looking at her ears in the mirror and sighing), when Amity comes in and comforts her a bit. It doesn't work super well considering she has no idea what Luz is going through and Luz can't exactly tell her.

Their goal in tutoring is to get Amity to learn the spell she learns in Adventures in the Elements, the purple fire spell. After a few failed attempts, Luz's haphazard explanations of how she thinks casting spells should feel, and generally hitting a brick wall, Luz tentatively shows Amity the fire glyph and explains some of the glyph theory behind fire spells in general – you need to know what you need in order to cast it.

While they do that, Gus goes through some stuff of his own – mainly, Mattholomule succeeds in stealing the H.A.S. presidency from him since Gus doesn't have human Luz to fall back on. He's walking outside the room Luz and Amity are training in after losing the presidency when he recognizes the glyph as something that Hunter brought up in Hooty's Moving Hassle – that if you see someone using one, chances are you can't do magic naturally. He connects the dots as Luz not being able to do magic (not necessarily that she's human), and gets some context for the whole "magic-less = useless" spiel she went on.

After they stop training, Gus approaches them and he and Luz hash it out. Luz admits that she probably doesn't know a lot about humans, and that Gus was probably right. Gus says that they can learn a lot from human ingenuity, and that the fact they do the things they do without magic is inspiring (hint hint).

Then Willow probably comes in, has tension with Amity, recognizes Luz's voice as the GG, and Gus freaks out as an ending gag.

Escape of the Palisman

Luz and Hunter are on a GG mission in the Bat Queen’s woods to gather palismen for Belos.

Eventually, they hear a screech, and all hell breaks loose as the bat queen appears. Luz is kidnapped while Hunter is fighting off the babies. He chases after them, but is quickly lost when…

Flapjack appears!

(i had this written before the name reveal, so Flapjack is Rascal in my notes occasionally).

Cut to Luz, who wakes up from being kidnapped and finds herself in the Bat Queen’s cave. They talk about the situation, mainly that Bat Queen is pissed and figures she’ll take the Emperor’s child since he keeps taking her own. Some dialogue about how Luz feels about Belos taking her in and BQ’s views on that until Hunter appears and frees Luz, and THERE’S FINALLY A TAG TEAM SIBLING FIGHT.

It’s pretty slapdash, though. Luz gets knocked out, the staff is kicked away, and Hunter is cornered by BQ.

He escapes on Flapjack with the bag of palismen, the staff, and Luz. He lands in a clearing and Luz wakes up.

They go back to the castle. There’s probably a scene where Belos chews them out, and the way he talks to them kind of hints towards him being more pissed at Hunter than Luz. 

Previous [Lost in Language + Once Upon a Swap]

Next Part [Sense and Insensitivity + Adventures in the Elements + The First Day]

Synopsis Masterpost Link

[brideofhantengu]

Hantengu goes to hell, a POV (after swordsmith village)

The demon slayer won't give up on trying to decapitate me, but I can't let him win. I submitted myself to my master when he gave me a second chance at life. He took pity on me when no one else would. I must continue to serve him. But my manipulation tactics are failing and my body is trembling like a samurai the morning of the battle. I don't know the outcome, I can only convince myself that I will succeed and complete my assignment, returning alive. My resentment can withstand the blows but I sense rage on the boy. A blind rage, one that kills and does so relentlessly. As do we. But it is our right, it is our survival.

And what about my helplessness makes humans want to torment me? ...oh...Oh, dear God.

The pain.

What am I seeing? I felt a blunt force followed by a searing slice, and... what is all of this? Is that me when I was a human? Why now after all this time? Is this my life... flashing before my eyes?

Red.

His blade has successfully slashed through the torso, in one blow, thrusting against my neck and slashing me completely through. I am powerless. The sun is burning my main form and I can feel it, I can smell it, and it is pitifu- no.

Could it really be?

The little demon girl can withstand the sunlight! SHE ISN'T BURNING? MY LORD! LOOK! A DEMON WHO CAN WITHSTAND THE SUN!

Black.

Suddenly I am falling. The burning hasn't stopped and I've lost track of time completely. Deeper and deeper into an endless abyss. The longer I go, the faster I fall. The smell of burning flesh and heat is an assault on each of my senses. Shit. I've finally hit the ground and it caused me great pain. My body is filled with all these aches and limitations, the ones I felt when I was a human. I no longer have the strength I had as a demon. I'm surrounded by darkness, my only light being the white hot flames that surround the perimeter, barricading me.

What is this place?

I am shaking as I rise to my feet, each joint popping. I look down to see my reflection from the light on the damp stone ground to see that I am human again. No horns, no fangs. I stick out my tongue to see if my kanji is still there. Nothing. I feel a sense of defeat and confinement that is immeasurable to anything I have felt before. What is that-what's that sound?

"DADDY! DADDY PLEASE, STOP!"

...

I squint my eyes and see a little boy in the distance. It seems as though he is standing under some sort of spotlight. I feel a hard push on my back, throwing me in his direction. He is standing in front of a bassinet with his arms out, almost like he is protecting it. Words come out of my mouth when I have no intention to speak, as if something is forcing me.

Little boy, where are your parents?

"GET AWAY FROM ME! I WON'T LET YOU HURT MY BROTHER!"

What the hell? My hands feel...wet. I raise them in front of me and realize I am trembling, covered in blood and holding a knife. I knife clashes to the floor as I drop to my knees, staring into the ground. A pool of blood is forming beneath me. I look up to face the little boy who has now gone silent, but he is holding the baby in his arms which are covered in dozens of lacerations. He and the baby are dead. Who were they?

"_____! What are you doing? Have you lost your mind? My baby! My baby boys! _____! You- you killed our children! You monster! What have you done?"

A woman's voice... It sounds like she is saying a name but I can't make out what it is. I can't seem to shake this awful feeling...

That the name once belonged to me.

I turn my head to see a beautiful woman in a torn kimono. She is backing away from a male figure. Wait... Who is he? Is that her husband? I whimper by mistake at the sight and scent of blood, and the man hears me. He turns around and I realize...

That man is me.

The flames begin to roar, rising and coming in closer. The figures disappear, turn to ash before me and I am alone again. I hear the sounds of demonic voices taunting me, mocking my fear. I feel like an outcast with every finger in the world being pointed at me. The kimono I was wearing was ripped off of me and I am naked. The disembodied voices laugh at my exposure. I cover myself with my hands and- my hands.

MY HANDS HAVE BEEN SEVERED.

"I'M NOT THE ONE AT FAULT HERE, IT'S THESE HANDS THAT ARE TO BLAME! THESE HANDS ACTED ON THEIR OWN!"

"Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar LIAR. LIAR. LIAR! LIAR!"

Please. Make it stop.

"It will never stop. This is your eternity, LIAR! You killed all your wives and children. YOU YOU YOU! You are accountable. No one else is to blame for your own actions."

But I am innoce-

"Take him by his ankles."

No...

No, please. I'm begging you.

"Drag him through the thorn needles."

Oh, dear God.

"Rip off his flesh and MAKE HIM WATCH AS YOU THROW IT INTO THE FIRE!"

*squelching*

"Again! Again! Do it again!"

My flesh is back on me? How could this be?

"Tear off his flesh and pour salt all over him! Throw him in the pit and step on his fingers every time he tries to climb out!"

Buddha.

God.

Anyone.

"NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU, HAHAAAAA! WE ARE GOING TO TORTURE YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN IT WILL ONLY BE A FRACTION OF THE PAIN YOU HAVE CAUSED OTHERS! CRIMINAL! LIAR!"

I... I am in Hell.

This is my eternity.

Is this what it felt like when I was a demon, breaking into all those homes and devouring those people?

Is this my punishment for being...

Pitiful...?

[stingraywipe]

Here's a piece I wrote about my PMD Explorers of Sky OCs based on a scene from the game that really stuck with me. I wanted to explore how the reveal in the dark future would play out with my renditions of the characters, and I had a lot of fun with it! I'll definitely do more stuff like this in the future.

An Untimely Reunion

“The passage of time should be just up ahead! Let’s hurry along now.”

Clay, Leo, and Grovyle followed Celebi into the clearing. Sure enough, the passage was just across the way. Grovyle took a deep breath. He was exhausted, but there was no time to rest. When Dusknior had taken him back to the dark future, he thought for sure that he had failed his mission. Now he had a second chance, and there was no way he was going to let it slip.

“So this will really send us back home?” Leo asked. “Can we finally go back to our time?”

“Yes,” Grovyle responded. “The passage of time will allow all three of us to return to the past. I used it when I came to your time originally.”

“That’s right!” Celebi added, nodding. “And I’m the only one with the power to open it! Isn’t that fun?”

Clay let out a long sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. I was worried we’d never see our friends at the guild again. They must be worried sick about us right now.”

As the group approached the passage, Grovyle took one last look around. If everything goes as planned once returning to the past, this will be the last time he sees the dark future. He turned his gaze to Celebi. He knew she could fend for herself, but he couldn’t help feeling a tinge of sadness about leaving her alone here yet again. 

“You’re sure you’ll be ok here on your own?” he asked her.

“Yes of course, Grovyle dear! How many times do I need to tell you that I can’t ever be caught?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” a familiar voice sneered.

Grovyle felt a crushing wave of dread come over him. He looked back towards the passage of time to find Dusknior waiting in front of it. He had a smug grin on his face.

“You…” Grovyle muttered.

“You’ve grown careless, Grovyle. I already knew you’d be coming here, but you were also unexpectedly easy to follow. You’re usually cautious enough to not let that happen.” He chuckled. “That sudden change will spell your demise. Now Sableye! Seize them!” 

Grovyle groaned. “Shit, we’re surrounded. Looks like we were followed. I’m sorry everyone, but we’re going to have to force our way through to get out of this.”

“That’s fine,” Clay said, readying himself. “Team Sunspark has faced far more difficult battles than this before.”

Dusknior smirked at them. “Oh, you lot won’t be going anywhere. NOW, MASTER DIALGA!”

The ground trembled beneath them. The group looked on in horror as the enraged legend slowly appeared on the mountain in front of them. Clay turned to Grovyle, who wore a distraught look on his face. “Is that-?”

“Yes. This is Primal Dialga,” Grovyle said through gritted teeth. “Dammit. It looks like this might be the end for us.”

Leo looked at him, shocked. “But we can’t give up! Not when we’re so close!”

“Don’t you get it? Primal Dialga is just far too powerful for us to face in our exhausted state. There’s simply nothing else we can do.”

“I see you finally grasp the gravity of your situation,” Dusknior sneered. “The dark future will never be changed. How does it feel knowing that you failed the one thing you devoted your entire life to?”

“I might have failed, but the cause isn’t lost. You seem to have forgotten that I didn’t go to the past alone. My partner is still there, and I have faith that he’ll succeed. I may fall here, but you haven’t won!”

“So you’re still desperately grasping to hope then. If you don’t mind, would you be so kind as to share the name of this beloved partner of yours?”

“Stop toying with me,” Grovyle growled. “You know who Clay is, and you know I’ll never forgive you for what you tried to do to him.”

Clay jerked his head towards Grovyle. Did he hear that right? “Did- did you just say his name was Clay?” he asked. “Because MY name is Clay.”

Grovyle scoffed at him. “Must be some sort of twisted coincidence. I wish you could have met my Clay. You two probably would have gotten along. Not that it matters now.”

Dusknior chuckled. “Oh, I can assure you that the similarities extend well past sharing a name. You see, our good friend Clay here used to be a human! He washed up on the beach one day as shinx with no memories of his past.”

Grovyle’s eyes widened. “Wha- What are you trying to say?”

“And it gets even better! Clay also happens to possess a very special ability. When he touches certain things, he sometimes has visions of events from the past or the future. Does a power like that sound familiar to you?” 

Grovyle’s heart dropped. “The dimensional scream? No… there’s no way. It can’t be true. You’re lying.” He turned to Clay and grabbed his sholders. “Please Clay… please tell me he’s lying.”

Clay looked back at him, terrified. “I’m so sorry Grovyle, but everything he said is true. As hard as it might be to believe, I really was a human. It’s the only thing about my past that I’m certain about. And I don’t know why, but I also can use the dimensional scream. It’s helped Leo and I complete tons of rescue and explorations. I told Dusknior about this in the past before we were taken here.”

“It’s true,” Leo added. “His dimensional scream has helped us locate main outlaws and points of interest during our guild work.”

Grovyle’s heart dropped. Tears began welling up in his eyes. He slowly turned back to Dusknior. His voice trembled as he spoke. “No… This is really?”

“Do you finally get it Grovyle? CLAY is your partner! He’s even wearing the same scarf YOU gave him; I don’t even know how someone as perceptive as you could miss that! I found him before you in the past and took advantage of his amnesia to convince him to fight against you. It made capturing you two laughably easy. The unwavering faith in him you so foolishly clung to won’t matter. The timeline will not be changed, and I’ll eliminate both of you here to guarantee it!”

Celebi went pale. “What? There’s simply no way. I could sense that the temporal distortion around you was stronger than Grovyle and Leo, but I thought nothing of it. To think you were Clay the whole time…” She trailed off.

.  

Clay didn’t know what to think or how to feel. He felt a rush of tears beginning to form. He was from the future? And Grovyle was his partner? But he had spent the past few months desperately trying to take down Grovyle! Was he really just being used all this time? The thought of it infuriated him. He glared at Dusknior through his wet eyes. “So thats it then? Was I nothing more than a pawn to you?”

Dusknior gave him a dejected look. “Trust me Clay, it wasn’t anything personal. I took no joy in this. You clearly had no knowledge of your previous mission, but I couldn’t risk your memories and motivation returning. I HAD to make sure the future remained intact. Taking advantage of your memory loss was the only way for me to guarantee that.”

“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?” Clay screamed. “None of this was personal? Bullshit! Everything you’ve ever said to me was just a lie! You turned me against my own family! You made me HATE him! You nearly made us KILL each other! And now you have the nerve to say you DIDN’T want to do it? Pfft. Yeah, sure. Ok. I hope it was worth it then. I hope your life is better once Leo and I are dead and gone, because apparently killing us is the only thing that will let you sleep at night.” He took a shaky breath before adding, “You’re the most pathetic pokemon to ever walk this earth.”

Leo thought he saw Dusknior cringe at Clay’s last comment. “What? Is he actually upset by this?” He quickly shook the thought. Right now he had to focus on finding a way out of this. Surely there was something they could do. “Wait. We just need to get past these sableye and we’d be able to make a run for it. Could Celebi send us forward in time to achieve that?”  He slightly nudged her to get her attention. “Yes dear?” she asked.

He leaned closer to her and whispered, “You can travel through time right? That’s how the passage of time works, I’m assuming. Are you able to send us slightly into the future?”

“I can, but not by much. Especially with Dialga here. His command over time is significantly stronger than mine, so he could interfere with anything I try to do.”

“That’s fine. It only needs to be a few seconds. Just enough to let us get past these sableye.”

“Oh, that’ll be quite easy. A few seconds is nothing.”

“Good. Just wait until the moment right before they attack us. I’ll let Clay and Grovyle know.”

He turned back towards Clay, who was an absolute mess. He was still sobbing, and his front paws were soaked from trying to wipe away his tears. It killed him to see Clay like this. He had never really even seen him sad before, so to see him crying this much was heartbreaking. He wasn’t sure if he would ever forgive Dusknoir for doing this to him. He kneeled down next to him .“Clay? Hey Clay listen–”

Clay looked up at him. “Leo?” he said quietly, voice breaking. “I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry. You’re here because of me and my past. It’s my fault we’re going to die. If you weren’t–”

Leo cut him off. “Look at me Clay. None of this is happening because of you. Dusknoir said it himself. But we don’t have the luxury to think about that right now. I know how difficult this is for you, but you have to keep fighting. After all, we’re both still here! Team Sunspark hasn’t been defeated yet!”

Clay’s eyes widened. He sniffled and wiped away his tears again. “You- you’re right,” he croaked. “I think I’ll manage for now. But Grovyle…”

They both looked over towards him, where he stood frozen in place.

—

Grovyle' stood frozen in place's thoughts were racing. His vision was blurred. His ears were ringing. His heart was pounding. He could barely breathe. 

“This is my fault,” he thought. “I did this to him. I’m the reason why he went to the past. I’m the reason why he lost his memory. I hurt him. I hurt his friends, and I didn’t care. I didn’t even bother to learn anything about him. And now he’s going to die because of me. The future won’t even be changed. ”

“Grovyle…” a quiet voice called out.

“Clay?” He turned his head to make out a familiar figure. A young human boy with dark, messy hair stood there. He had bright green eyes and a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. It was Clay. “What- how did–”

Clay’s voice called out again. “Grovyle!”

He blinked hard and rubbed his eyes, only to find that Clay was gone. In his place stood a shinx with the same eyes and scarf. “That’s right. This is what Clay looks like now. It’s because of me. It’s because I couldn’t–” 

“GROVYLE!!!” Clay screamed. Grovyle jolted back to reality, regaining his senses. He looked around wildly. They were still cornered by the sableye, and Dusknior remained a few meters behind them. The passage of time was still out of reach. He looked back over to Clay. His eyes were filled with tears, and his whole body was trembling. His fur was sparking with electricity. Grovyle opened his mouth to speak, but he could barely get any words out. 

“Clay,” he stammered. “I- I’m sorry. I couldn’t- this is my–”

“Grovyle please!” Clay cried, voice cracking. “I understand how you feel! This hurts for me too! More than you could imagine. But we can’t think about that right now!” He gestured towards the passage of time. “We can still escape! Despite everything, we’re all still alive! You haven’t lost me yet! So please… I’m begging you! Keep fighting! Don’t give up hope!”

“But what could we possibly do? We’re outnumbered, and we’re up against a legendary. With our injuries we don’t stand a chance.”

Leo put a hand on his shoulder. “We don’t need to win! We just need to escape. And we have a plan to do it! Just wait for my signal, and be ready to run for it.”

“Hey!” Dusknior shouted at them. “Done saying your goodbyes? Good. Now Sableye, finish them off. Be sure to kill them this time.”

“YES SIR, MASTER DUSKNIOR!” the sableye cheered. They flared their claws and leapt at the group. Just before they struck, Leo called out: “NOW CELEBI!”

Suddenly, the four of them disappeared. “WHAT?! This can’t be” Dusknior screamed. “Reveal them, Master Dialga! They cannot be allowed to escape!”

The legend let out a monstrous roar. The air began to ripple a few meters in front of the passage of time. A moment later, Clay, Leo, Grovyle and Celebi reappeared.

“SIEZE THEM SABELEYE! DO NOT LET THEM ESCAPE!” Dusknoir screamed.

Celebi winced. “I’m sorry, but it looks like this is as far as I can take you.”

“This is enough! We can make it from here!” Leo responded.

Grovyle hesitated for an instant.”But what about you, Celebi? I can’t just leave you! Not when-”

“Grovyle, we have to leave now! This is our only chance!” Clay yelled. “Celebi said she’d be fine, so we have to trust her!”

“He’s right,” she said. “Go on now dears! Change the future for all of us!”

Grovyle took one last look at her before turning towards the passage of time. With tears still in his eyes, he nodded at Clay and Leo. The three of them sprinted in, leaving the future of darkness in their past.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed :D

[wastedwastelandme]

Amongst the MANY reasons why I want a Shadow and Bone season 3, one at the top of my list is that I am fascinated with where specifically Alina’s story could be going. (Warning for heavy book spoilers going forward)

One of the things I really liked in the books was the focus on how much Alina’s role was slowly crushing her, how aside from the simple joy she got from her power itself, her title as “The Sun Summoner,” her status as a symbol caused her nothing but pain. There’s huge swaths of waiting in book 2 and the beginning of 3 where she has nothing to do but dread over all the implications of her role: the Darkling’s presence reminding her of all she fears she could become or even just seen as by the people of Ravka, ageless and without equal and consumed by her own power. The cult being built around her increasing her worry of what would happen if she fails (and, you know, the fear of being the focus of a cult). The increasing realization that even if she does succeed she doesn’t just get to walk away and will most likely have to marry Nikolai and become the Sun Queen to keep the peace in Ravka for the Grisha. How all of this pulls her further and further away from Mal, being seen as someone with a grand destiny either way that he can’t be a part of. Alina spends so long fearing this and even more that it feels like a trap closing around her that she escapes with Mal at the last moment by faking her death taking down the Fold. She’s able to get away from the trap of being a symbol and it’s why it’s such a victory that she and Mal get that small and simple life.

But here, because of the timeline moving and other changes, show!Alina hasn’t had the chance to dread all this, and Mal has been steadfast by her side the whole time so she hasn’t had it all been underlined by them being slowly pulled apart. She’s aware of these things in general, but she hasn’t had the chance to really focus on and fear them happening.

This is not a criticism, and is in fact the point of my fascination.

Because while book!Alina spent so much time dreading the trap she was falling into and was able to escape it, show!Alina does not realize that she’s been falling into a trap and is now ALREADY IN THE TRAP.

She’s standing beside Nikolai as the Sun Queen without the awareness that this might not be a temporary position. The world no longer has the Darkling and the Fold as a common enemy and all the attention will be on Alina as the representative of ravkan Grisha with a unique power that has already served its purpose. She’s now truly without equal, she used Merzost, and she used the Darkling’s shadow power itself. The Apparat is very much still around with his cult leader fixation on Alina. And now Mal has left her side so they can find each other on their own, and she doesn’t have him to fall back on during this at all.

And the cherry on top of all this is that show!Alina doesn’t have the way out of this that her book counterpart did. She doesn’t have the neat tidy story of “The Sun Summoner sacrificed her life to destroy the Fold” that people will accept, because the Fold’s already been destroyed and she’s still in the public eye! The only way the people will accept someone leaving their status as a Saint and a Symbol is through their martyrdom and she doesn’t have that anymore! And she still doesn’t realize any of this yet!

I really have no idea how she could get out of this neatly, and I really really need that next season to see how this goes pretty please.

[kingkatsuki]

Do you think Katsuki would ever get fed up? Like he’s had feelings for you for so long. He fought them for a while, fought them hard. After he’d finally accepted them, he did his best to ‘woo’ you. He gets so tongue tied and flustered around you though, that that doesn’t really go anywhere.

And it’s pissing him the fuck off. He hates that you make him like this; nothing and no one has ever caused him to be like this before. He doesn’t know how to handle it. But if there’s one thing he’s not, it’s a coward. He’ll push himself out of his comfort zone and succeed, just to prove to himself that he can do it.

Especially if someone like Kaminari’s like, “I dunno man…think you got it in you? 😏” Because oh hell no.

So cue him stomping into wherever he knows you are that time of day. Work, the park, etc. Comes crashing through with the force of an unbridled hurricane. He’s completely red, from his ears down his neck, and he looks pissed. People see the infamous Dynamight on the warpath and they’re ducking for cover. You’re frozen like a deer in headlights as he’s making a beeline straight for you.

But you’re floored at what comes out of his mouth, it was not what you expected at all. “I know you’re off tomorrow. I’m taking you out on a fucking date. Be ready by 4:30, you got that?” He essentially yells it at you, his chest heaving. He waits long enough to make sure you heard him and understood; you nod. And just as quickly as he barged in, he’s right back out again. People are staring at you. What the hell just happened?

(I dunno that part from Beauty and the Beast always makes me giggle when the Beast is like, “You will join me for dinner. THAT’S NOT A REQUEST.” I could see Bakugou pushing himself to ask you out eventually, especially if someone challenges him. You bet he’d be crowing it up in the group chat afterwards.

Then cue the panic that sets in after the adrenaline wears off. Fuck. He hasn’t been on a date in years. And he finally scored a date with you, the woman of his dreams. What does he do now?)

I love this so so much! I can literally imagine him getting frustrated because he’s complaining that he’s done all these things to try and catch your attention and “woo” you, but nothings worked.

But when Mina asks him what he’s actually done other than glare at you across the room he’s practically offended. Listing off these random things that are honestly so subtle no one would think it’s because he wants to date them— like turning the radiator beside your desk on in the morning so it’s warm when you get to work, rushing out to buy oat milk when there’s none left in the fridge, replacing the toner in the copy machine, scheduling his meetings to finish at 5.55pm so he has 5 minutes to say good evening to you before you leave the office amongst some of the things.

And she sits there and goes “So what have you actually done?” And Bakugou is so fucking offended that it somehow lights a fire under his ass and he’s just like “I’ll fuckin’ show you,” as he’s marching across the room towards you.

And the first words out of his mouth are loud when he tells you (not asks, tells) to meet him tomorrow for coffee, and he stomps off before you even have a chance to reply. So you’re sat there flabbergasted because you had absolutely no idea Bakugou liked you.

But omg him panicking after he’s done that? And suddenly he’s crawling back to Mina for help— because he’s never even been on a date before and has no clue what he’s supposed to do.

Imagine if you thought he was joking though, so when it gets to the end of you’re shift/the time of the date, you’re still sat behind the desk. And he comes out of his office dressed so nicely, and you’re like “Oh, I thought you were joking.” Because in your mind there’s no way Bakugou could ever like you.

But Bakugou takes it as you laughing at him, not taking him seriously and he gets upset too🥺

[unofficial-sean]

One thing my travelling companion asked me during last week's sessions is: Rank the origin characters.

It was tough, and it gave me pause. In order of least liked to most liked, it was: Astarion, Wyll/Karlach, Gale, and Lae'zel/Shadowheart.

But why? So many people like Astarion, Wyll and Karlach are good, fun people, and Gale is quite charming. Shadowheart isn't hard to understand regarding her place at the top, but I think Lae'zel being my favorite has surprised everyone I've talked to. In terms of divisiveness, she's on par with Astarion.

It comes down to one word: Change. Spoilers beyond this point for Baldur's Gate 3 in it's entirety.

To see why Lae'zel and SH are so high on my list, let's see what everyone else got wrong.

Astarion is the most self-centered companion among them. Throughout my entire journey with him, we desired power for himself even at other's expense. It starts with the night he tries to bite you, to his desire to control the cult of the Absolute, to his maddened craze to carve the ritual symbol on his back onto Cazador.

I cannot stand this aspect, it goes against my altruistic playstyle. I've explored most dialogue options presented to me and even explored his romance through act 1. What he's had to endure is horrifying, make no doubt. He's just been given freedom and he's figuring out who he is, now. But it does not excuse his selfishness. The only way to talk him down from becoming the vampire ascendant is to succeed an insight check. If you don't help him, he dooms the vampire spawn to captivity and leaves the party. If you help him, he changes for the worse and becomes genuinely frightening. If you convince him to back down, he goes the rest of the game sounding disappointed, and why shouldn't he be? Astarion's character is selfish and power hungry, and he hates Cazador with every fiber of his being. He might start to figure out that he doesn't like being used if you have him bite that drow cultist in Moonrise, but that's about it. I have no doubt that there's more to him than I've seen, but even as his partner, the way he approaches the evolving situation we're in turns me away.

Karlach. Karlach is a fun character. I like her personality, she's never afraid to speak her mind, and she is just pleasant to interact with. But she never really changes throughout the game and feels stale. Not bad, but not great when compared to the others.

Wyll. Wyll is a sweet and well-meaning person, but his story doesn't evolve and change, much like Karlach's. You can break his pact when you get the chance, but later, Wyll has to make a choice: save himself or save his father. Before and after this, he's the same Wyll. The worst part, though, is that when he has to choose, the decision is left to the player. Wyll doesn't make any choices for himself as far as I've seen. He's a good one to bring with you on the adventure, but he's stagnant otherwise.

Gale. Gale is a charming companion and the Netherese orb makes for a nice bit of mystery. I wanted to learn about it and him. He does go through a change throughout the game. First, he's given a divine suicide mission from Mystra, and then he becomes obsessed with the Crown of Karsus. I tried to counsel him on the former, even bringing him with me to the mind flayer colony and letting him detonate (and feeling really dissatisfied with the credit roll I got afterwards), but the latter. . . It was frightening to see Gale go power mad. I could not talk him out of it. When I defeated the elder brain, I told Gale not to go after the Crown, and despite our deep connection from the romance, he waved me away all like that. It's really dissatisfying and left a bad taste in my mouth. Gale before this point is why he's this high on the list, but Gale afterwards would be down with Astarion.

Shadowheart. SH goes through one of the most dramatic changes in the game, and you don't have to pass a single check for it to happen. It also happens in act 2, relatively early. Simply by asking questions and standing by her side, she will decide her own fate. . . And forsake Shar. It was a powerful scene when she summoned the Spear of Night, raised it, and threw it into the chasm. I was expecting her to stab Dame Aylin, but no, she listened to her instead. That took a lot of strength and courage. Past this, she must put her memories together and figure out who she is. She changes her hair in act 3, and when you confront the Shar cell in the House of Grief, she finally gets to see her parents again. Here, though, you must decide the fate of her parents. A little disappointing, but everything else about her story felt satisfying. This was all without romance, too. She felt dynamic and difficult and earning her trust was rewarding.

Lae'zel. Lae'zel goes through an even more dramatic change. Her aggressive behavior probably turned people off from her early on, which is such a shame, because once you get to know her and take her with you on your journey, you get to see her grow and change for the better.

In romance, she goes from a set of midnight rendezvous, to expressing her love and adoration openly. In act 2, she wants to fight you, and when you lose (it's difficult to win a 1v1 with a Dex fighter as a druid), she sees that she wants to protect you. To be soft, later. Don't get me wrong, I like her dominant personality and desire, but to see her also open up to love is so huge. She lived her entire life raised to be a ruthless warrior; to one day be a Kith'rak with her own dragon mount in the astral plane. If you express curiosity, you will learn this, and gain her favor.

So it's even more dramatic when you find the creche. In the infirmary, you can learn that the machine absorbs the knowledge and memories from the host and then kills them. Now, this requires many very difficult checks. Here, I admit, I am a bit hypocritical. Regardless of if you persuade her or not, though, she still accuses the doctor of tampering instead of accepting that she is disposable to Vlaakith. It isn't relevant to her change whether or not you pass that check, only how much damage the machine does to her.

Next, you meet an Inquisitor and Vlaakith herself. You enter the astral prism, and you are given a choice: kill the guardian or spare them. Afterwards, if you let Lae'zel into your mind, she will see the truth of it. But her first instinct is to report to Vlaakith, anyways. Even when she is branded as Hshar'lak--a traitor--afterwards, her devotion to the only life she's ever known or come to expect still has a hold on her. It's not until Kith'rak Voss appears in camp that she begins to understand and change. It's extremely brave of her, and more powerful even than Shadowheart's moment in the same act; because after this, her own people start hunting her. And you don't have to pass any checks to reach this evolution of her character. Past this point, other than learning to open up, her mission is no longer to serve a queen, but to liberate her people.

In act 3, Vlaakith appears and gives her a second chance, and Lae'zel spits it back into her face. The queen's wrathful fit shook even me, but Lae'zel is steeled in her new path through life. It was amazing. I must admit, I did not advance her story past this. I didn't free Orpheus. But I will in my current playthrough.

I've made my case, and I hope at least some of you agreed. If you have more insight into the origins, then I'd love to hear them. I accept that I haven't seen everything.

The strongest characters undergo the most radical changes. It's what makes them interesting. Change is growth.