#I was gonna use the cr tag but idk bc

[halcyon-writings]

(i watched tlovm, that’s my only excuse lmaooo also some wv references abound, plus it’s a bit of a doozy.)

nav.

-

if there was on thing you truly detested in this moment, was remembering that you still had sweet rolls stored away at the keep. you would have definitely preferred lounging around in your robe while eating them, not being here fighting for your life (again).

"percy, dear, you're truly one of my beloved friends and i value your companionship more than anything, but why the hell did anyone in your family not tell you about this underground shithole?" your tone is saccharine and you smile gently.

although your smile drops as you're quick to duck and roll out of the way from an incoming spell sent by delilah briarwood. the eeriness from the dark magic she utilized made a chill crawl on your skin. you could've sworn you heard screaming too.

your own spells could barely counter, but you were more focused on protecting your friends from the black magic than actually getting a hit in.

from the corner of your eye, you see scanlan running around, fuck, of course, he was silenced.

the glow of pike’s magic at least gave you the assurance that he was at least okay.

you try your best to make your way further up the stairs, bursts of red erupt from your hands, but they barely make a dent in the other's defenses. however, from what you can see, her expression unnerves you. gone is the smirk, replaced by a knowing one as she eyes your magic. she continues fighting with one hand, the other viewing a compass she had taken from a side pocket of her dress.

"welcome, herald."

you look at her confused.

"sorry lady briarwood, you must have mistook me for someone else," and you don't let her respond, gathering your magic and sending it her way in a wide wave (wincing as you feel yourself getting weak, nonstop magic use was, in fact, not the best thing to do before fighting on some temple that would summon something that could end the world).

she's disappeared from your gaze, and your eyes dart around searching for where she could have teleported herself to.

"you truly do not know of your role here?" her voice is but a whisper in your ear, and you just barely turn as her magic feels like a punch to the chest, sending you crashing to the floor some feet away. air burns your lungs as you wheeze. you just barely stand on wobbly feet, you see her dark magic headed your way, and while you brace yourself with your arms in front of you, you know you don't have enough time to cast anything.

you catch someone screaming your name. and you curse, closing your eyes.

but the pain does not come.

instead you see the magic simply stop before you. previously dark in color, you see it slowly turn into the magic you wield, the weariness that you had felt slowly fade away.

your eyes squint at the sudden brightens that comes from what you thought was nowhere, only to find keyleth standing, one hand on her staff and the other raised high- grog holding a struggling sylas and you have a feeling on what they’re going for.

only when you see the ashes of what remained of sylas briarwood, do you think that maybe you guys can win this.

-

okay... so maybe you were lying to yourself a little. with the now widowed lady briarwood locking herself away in some chamber, and nothing working so far as lock picking goes (even grog looked a little disheartened when his axe bounced off the door, sympathetic pats from you and pike helped slightly).

“alright,” you clap your hands, gathering the group’s attention, “how do we want to do this? because lockpicking, no offense vax, is not exactly working in our favor.”

“well if you all shut up and let me work-” he begins to retort, only for a sudden vacuum of air to throw the doors that had been previously impermeable shut, open. it sucks in debris of small rocks and bricks that were a result of the battle, but percy, who’s eyes you noticed were an eerie black, pushes forward.

various voices call out for him, only for the calls of worry to fall on deaf ears. you all needed to stop delilah from summoning this ‘whispered one’ anyway, but percy’s erratic behavior only served to up the ante on the pressure.

you share an uncertain look with keyleth, reaching out as you give her hand a gentle squeeze. “if you can literally become the sun,” you begin lightheartedly, “you can do anything.”

she smiled weakly, “yeah, yeah you’re right.”

there is no time for further conversation, as the glow of the altar only continues to progress and an unnatural lightning crackles around the lady.

you keep to the sides, as everyone remains in the center path, gaze strictly on what delilah focuses on, a... spinning orb? it begins to take shape of a distorted figure.

it’s familiar.

your palms sweat.

“so you have come to your senses,” delilah calls, “no matter, i will welcome the whispered one with or without your help.”

you remain silent, eyes only focused on the apparition. however you did it the first time, you pray you can absorb that magic again.

you don’t even realize that vex’ahlia shot an arrow that strikes the other woman in the back, without even looking at her direction, you continue forward.

delilah’s cries for the whispered one to reveal itself to you all go unanswered. her tone becomes desperate.

“this can’t be all there is!” she screams. you hear the shot of the pepper box.

then, you hear something calling your name.

in your trance like state, you simply, reach forward, and magic flows through you. so do visions.

destruction, emptiness, death. the whispered one is their progenitor. you see your friends, despite valiant efforts, defeated or dead. you’re nowhere to be found.

as you look around, you realize why you’re not there. because, as delilah had said, you were the herald. dutifully fulfilling your role in preventing anything from getting in it’s way. the obstacles? Vox Machina.

you could only fall to your knees in silent terror as you realize what you would do.

“-__!”

the magic continues to flow through you, until all that remains is the spinning orb. you feel something wet trickle down your mouth and towards your chin. but you cannot stop.

“____!!”

you look up, and your friends look at you concerned.

the spinning slows, runes grow surround it. you pray they hold up. you weren’t going to kill them, not your friends, your family.

delilah’s gaze is pure venom. but you don’t find it in yourself to care. the runes are done, the sphere is sealed.

you would not be the signal of the whispered one’s return, not today.

you step around the altar anyway, the unsettled feeling lingering in the back of your mind. stumbling on the last step as you fall to your hands and knees. you hear droplets onto the cobblestone, ah, it was your nose bleeding.

you’re given a hand by percy’s sister, cassandra, you nod gratefully as you wipe your nose with the back of your hand.

when you notice, you’re quick to move towards the twins and keyleth, kneeling beside them (oh your poor knees, you were truly putting them through the ringer today, huh).

your hand brushing against keyleth’s forehead as her breathes stagger. you curse yourself for getting distracted, you search your own bag for something, anything that could help your friend while pike heals her.

pike’s apparition disperses, and dread only gnaws at you all further.

you try and soothe her with your magic, only for nothing to happen, wisps of it barely touching her. even scanlan can barely conjure up the giant hand, as it seems to flicker in and out. carefully you all move away from the spinning death orb, runes still glowing brightly around it.

dark veins grow on keyleth’s skin as she’s once more laid gently on the ground.

so you try again.

to your relief it works, the veins recede for a moment, but as you pull your hands away, they quickly return as they went.

“i think i can hold off the corruption for now,” you warn, “you need to act quick.”

and with scanlan’s creative, for a lack of a better word, rhymes, what begins to heal her is a quick concoction of dirt and spit. you almost find yourself laughing again.

the respite, as short as it was, is quickly put to an end when once more, black smoke gathers around percy, his mask donned, and pepper box raised.

it’s keyleth, now conscious, who reminds everyone that percy isn’t himself.

“he’s not in control,” she murmurs weakly, repeating it for you all to hear.

“i know, i know, but right now you’re not in any condition to fight, we just have to trust them to get our percy back.”

she nods, her head droops slightly, you tilt her head back up.

“stay awake for me, kiki,” you whisper, her eyes flutter open. the two of you can only watch as a literal demon crawls from the smoke at percy’s back, taunting the group. your hands glow, ready to defend keyleth and yourself.

you make eye contact with scanlan, as the giant hand dissipates before percy can shoot at it again, delilah drops unceremoniously on the floor.

which is where you lead, using your magic to move delilah so that scanlan could aid the twins and grog.

the bard casts an illusion to hide you and keyleth while you do.

you don’t know anything about the demon that has taken the reins of your friends body, had you the energy, you’d gladly kick its ass (and possibly percy’s for worrying you all). you have no choice but to hope that he reaches his senses in time. lest he be lost to the demon forever.

-

all it took for percy was shooting himself in the foot, metaphorically of course. in a literal sense, it was his hand. the smoke dispersing in the air.

and you let the shield protecting yourself and keyleth drop, but a hand is still tentatively raised.

both briarwoods having been dealt with, whitestone was now free.

“so uh, spinning ball of death there? is that something we’re gonna talk about or what?” scanlan quickly points out, as you all prepare to go back above ground.

you let out a wheeze of laughter despite yourself, before it becomes a cough. percy reaches to grab a handkerchief or something for you, but you wave it off.

“what’s there to say?” you shrug, your voice raspy, “it’s sealed off for now, no one’s getting near it or touching it.”

“right...” scanlan looks only a little unconvinced but only just. you inhale, closing your eyes while sensing the runes still holding strong.

you open them again as scanlan tosses the pepperbox in the vat of acid, percy’s indignant squawk echoing throughout.

“do you know how long that took to make?? and the resources it took?” you could have sworn you saw a pout on his lips.

his arguments are proven naught, as the demon that had attached itself to him through that weapon quickly tries to escape the acid, only to burn away with it in the acid as well.

“well, i’ll be damned, thank you, scanlan.”

you and vax share a look, him using his hand to cover his mouth and you hiding a laugh with another cough.

while you all continued to trek to the above ground, you still couldn’t help but give the ziggurat more glances, delilah’s words echoing in your mind.

you sealed off the orb, yes. but you still felt uneasy. before you all left whitestone, you’d be sure to scour through the materials delilah had left behind. perhaps reading through them would give you the answers you needed, or at least a jumpstart.

[beca-mitchell]

Do you think the bellas would have a snowball fight, given the chance? Who would win? I know someone is gonna end up eating snow, but I can't decide who

hmm idk who would win bc i think they’d break up into teams differently a few times...here’s how i think their play styles would be though:

you know that clip of flo shoving emily’s face into the water during the retreat when they’re walking across that water thing?? that’s how i envision her during a bellas snowball fight—feisty af and willing to make anybody eat snow

chloe would also be enthusiastic, but maybe to the point where she’s flinging snow at whoever comes across her line of sight...even her own teammates (especially beca bc she likes when beca makes these lil disgruntled sounds or yells at her)

beca really wanted to stay in with her music, but she’s good at dodging

amy lifts an armful of snow and dumps it over her unsuspecting victims while cackling triumphantly

emily tries to play by the “rules” the most, making neat little snowballs. if beca’s on her team, she always tells emily she’s doing a good job even when she isn’t and she uses emily as a human shield...if chloe is on emily’s team, she usually yells at emily to arm her with more snowballs bc she likes how neat and round they are

lilly jumps out of snow banks to surprise people

cr and stacie 100% tag team people, even when they’re not on the same team

jessica is really good at throwing snowballs and ashley is really good at making them, so they’re good complements to the teams that they’re on and if a team happens to have both of them, the other team is usually at a significant disadvantage

one time, when they play with aubrey, aubrey and beca and chloe get into a big fight because their captain styles are so different and they disagree about how the game should be run. aubrey definitely brings a whistle to a snowball fight and beca brings two pairs of earmuffs

I LOVED THIS QUESTION SO MUCH WTF!! tell me your snowball headcanons :D

[causticsunshine]

i totally feel your tags on that last post. staying motivated when you're a content creator is so hard when the majority of people in a fandom straight up refuse to like or reblog shit or refrain from commenting on certain posts because it 'ruins the aesthetics' and then it gets even more disheartening when people say the fandom's dying. i've had people ghost me so bad I've literally thought they left tumblr altogether but no? they just unfollowed me bc i couldn't keep posting daily?

SORRY THIS TOOK AWHILE TO REPLY TO BABE AKJSDG I GOT REALLY CAUGHT UP IN THINKING OUT LOUD.....

but oof i’m sorry you’ve had such a tough go at it with your work 💞💞 i’ve definitely had vey similar experiences throughout several fanbases over the years and i think those issues have just gotten worse with the time, at least in my experience?

tbh i think each fan community including its smaller subsets—different pairings, single characters, etc.—has it’s own like, overarching mentality when it comes to content and creators, but what i’ve seen happening the last few years in general, is that overall there’s this obsession with aesthetics so you don’t reblog things that could ruin that—or even reblog at all!! then what’s the gd point of using this platform??—and you don’t want to be ‘annoying’ so you don’t send asks to people or talk outside your tags or tack your own ideas or a nice comment on the end of a shared post you really liked, thus there’s this overall lack of actual support for creators followed by this ironic complaining about people leaving fandom or content feeling repetitive, etc....

you’re allowed to have preferences and favorites and and things you hate or are annoyed by, whatever, so i don’t think anyone should expect you to share stuff you don’t care about or like, but like...how are you not even gonna share stuff you do like?? 

honestly lmao how is that one fanfic post gonna mess up your queue....how is that cute drawing going to fuck up your Aesthetic....like god we’re on a blogging platform built around sharing content, how do you think shit pops up on your dash in the first place? how it ends up anywhere on here? and idk how to tell y’all this but uhhh this ain’t twitter so no one’s gonna see your gd likes out of nowhere...and i know you’re not gonna go back to them later and reblog all those posts, m’kay...

tbh i just wanna scream it to people that if you want to see more content than the same three headcanon posts and one artist’s work alone and fic that’s different than the one group of writers you follow who all only write that one thing you’re not really into, then reblog more than just the singular “trending” content that you’re only sharing because a bigger blogger posted or shared it!  follow more people! hell, use the explore page! send posts to your friends that you think they’d like! 

oh, and it’s okay to add stuff onto someone’s post if you like where it’s going or even if you’ve done something similar and want people to know about your take on the idea! it’s great to send nice messages to people saying you like their work because i can guarantee it’s going to brighten their day even a little bit, maybe even motivate them to make more things you’ll enjoy!

and listen if someone thinks your addition is annoying or stupid or they don’t agree with it or even think you should’ve just kept in the tags then like....they’ll reblog a different version lmao, and that shouldn’t affect you.

it can really all be solved through us just interacting with other people and content more?? and not being so obsessed with Aesthetics + unlearning the mindset that everything we do is Annoying is definitely going to help with that  you know that one post, “everything’s cringe bitch, let’s get you some interests”...it really do be like that.

like the lovely @hartigays was saying: it’s not one singular blogger/creator/small group’s fault that something blows up and that’s all anyone talks about or supports from then on and that’s why other creators and types of content get ignored; it’s everyone that follows their lead because we haven’t exhausted the mentality that someone’s “status”—even in fandom of all places jfc—means that their likes and dislikes are God Tier and we need to follow their lead because they’re the beacon of taste...no...whatever they post or share? it just happens to sometimes reach more people directly. it doesn’t mean it’s all what’s good or all there is. 

really it’s not that hard to find more varied content, people are just....idk. like just go look through tags and peoples’ blogs and reblog shit more often and woo, problem solved if more of us do that? like algorithms be damned, there are tools on every social media platform to help you find the stuff and people you’re looking for?

and when it comes to the ghosting, anon, on a separate note....some people are just dicks, unfortunately, and i’m sorry you’ve had to go through that. having that and/or seeing esp friends or mutuals literally reblog around your content even if it’s in their realm of interests, feels like a slap to the face. tbqh i’ve really just stopped trusting when people make these grandiose promises of commitment bc most never actually follow through, or they jet the second you can’t post, want to do something different, whatever, because, what, you’re suddenly not serving them directly anymore, or they’re reminded content creation requires practice and effort and time from real people? it’s bullshit either way and if someone drops you like that, that’s on them, not on you or your work 💕

long post short: interact with people and reblog/share their content if you actually want to keep seeing content. solely leaning on bigger bloggers and creators for all your content needs is going to limit options and alienate people, so share the love, hunt for things up your alley, and curate a space specific to your tastes, not others. 

you don’t need to be devoted to someone with your heart and soul or share content you don’t like for the sake of appearances, but sharing more content and interacting with people really does benefit everyone!

[queenofthefaces]

I was tagged by @boringid !! Thank you so much friend!! (check out their art blog @bid-art also!!)

~~~~ Rules ~~~~

1) Always post the rules 2)Answer the question given to you by the person who tagged you 3) Write your own question 4) Tag 11 people

~~~~~

1) Meaning of your username?

It’s,,,,a long story. I’ve told it a few times but another won’t hurt. So when I was in middle school I went through a lot of phases in shows and things I liked, but one constant were these ocs I had. One of them was basically a really cool self insert, and they were all dimension hoppers so I could stick them into whatever show I was into. At the time, I really liked Hero 108, so I stuck in my oc. In that universe she was the “Queen of the Faces” because she had masks of basically everyone and used them to disguise herself/act as a neutral party vigilante saving orphans to raise them away from war ahdfjk. Eventually my oc developed into somewhat of her own character, and I had a whole story about how they hopped into THIS dimension and met ME, their “creator” (which is also how I got my online alias but thats another tangent), and I decided that she would give ME the name because I gave myself like,,,,a superpower that let me copy other people’s abilities.

After the 6th grade I just kept it ‘cause it was cool sounding lmao

2) What is/was your favourite computer OS?

Honestly I have no idea about any of this stuff lol I’ve just always used Windows

3) Favourite Artist?

!!!!! oooooo im gonna tag people!!!

@ayoecho @sanrxo @draweth-the-raven @spoopyshayneart @artydarling @the-snipster (Check out their webcomic A Matter of Life and Death on Webtoons it’s my favorite :0) @official-spec @iceb0x @bellanoche-u3u @sandflakedraws @pngpotpies @talentisapursuedinterest @ms1sharklee @ynna-anny @ynngaa

And many others!! I follow lots of art blogs and theyre all wonderful and unique ;;w;;

4) Favourite Author (including Fics of course!)

My favorite published author would probably be @jonathanstroud and my fave fanfic author would probably be @tswwwit !! there’s def more but that’s just off the top of my head

5) Favourite Webcomic/s?

I MENTIONEDI T IN MY ARTIST SHOUTOUT BUT A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH BY @the-snipster IS SO GOOD ahsdfjkg

I read from webtoons so some more faves are 

Big Jo (Jungle Julia), Dragon Husbands (dragonhusbands), Stakes and Stones (astroadmiral), With Great Abandon (EH Macmillan), Immortal Nerd (Hanna-Pirita Lehkonen), Larkspur (gcmulk), Melvina’s Therapy (A. Rasen), Silent Horror (darkboxcomic), Dear Boy (blauerozen), Ups and Downs (RanchingGal), Devil Spy (Jaymzeecat), Always Human (walkingnorth), Live With Yourself (shen)

6) Comics/Books/Movies/Shows/Games you always intended to read/watch/play but never got to it even if you think you would enjoy them?

Oh god I have like,,,,,actual giant stacks of books I haven’t read yet so there’s A Lot of those. I just,,,,,have a lot of things I haven’t watched or read or played ahdjfkg,,,too many to name

7) Comfort food?

idk probably fruit

8) What do you wish  you saw less of on your Dash?

s/u cr//it stresses me out so I have it blacklisted,,,,uh prob like,,,,stupid discourse,,,,when people misuse aro terms and make fun of them (like qpps and squishes) (not because I am aro just bc i have respect for the community and their experiences :///) and when ppl have “cringe culture”, and also memes that just make fun of people (like the “this post can be reblogged by anyone” one was just not cool at all :///)

9) Favourite clothing item you own?

prob uh,,,,,my high waisted shorts, the two pairs of knee highs i have (one says “fuck” the other has som aliens) and my pan pride tshirt

~~~~~~

My questions!!

1) If you could have a practical superpower, and still had to live your normal life with it, what power would you have and what would you use it for?

2) Who’s your favorite OC? If you don’t have any OCs then what about someone else’s?

3) Gardens or Beaches?

4) What would be the first thing you’d say if you met aliens/supernatural non-humans

5) What’s your favorite thing about yourself? (Don’t skip out on this one!! Answer it honestly, even if your favorite thing seems silly--it’s important because its you!! And you’re important!! <33)

6) If you could thank any person--fictional or real, alive or not--who would it be and why?

7) What was your favorite subject in school? And if you didn’t have one, what was your favorite hobby when you were in school?

8) If you could have one inhuman/magical physical feature (hair, eyes, wings, claws, etc) what would it be and what would it look like?

9) If you stim, what’s your favorite stim? And if you don’t, what’s your favorite thing to calm you down?

10) What’s the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

~~~~

Time to tag!!

@aliciasimaginaryfriends @sanrxo @spoopyshayne @gothiethefairy @iamtypinglike98madmen @onlinevalentinez @yuki-ryuuzaki @yaminerua @mostlikelytofangirl @angry-jewish-magical-girl @plumaeria

And feel free to join in if I’ve tagged you anywhere above!! Or if you just want to try on your own!!

[thatgirlwhokeepsreading]

And so we have begun our long foray into watching campaign 1, and I probably half expected my reptilian lesbian brain to fire off like it did about 2015!Marisha but also holy shit??? nothing could Ever have prepared me for the physical work she does playing Minxie if I had watched this show when I was 17 it would have one shot killed me