#also creature by half alive fits her so well

[lumienyx]

bloodless much?

I see @spacebarbarianweird's excellent point on Tav being unable to give Astarion blood that often since it would deteriorate their health.

But also listen.

One thing I love about DND sorcery is metamagic. At its most basic, it's ' twisting and adapting your spells to suit your needs.' Sure there are the canonical effects, but thinking outside game mechanics—technically as a sorcerer you can tinker with spells however you damn well please.

Which is what my Tav does when he makes a scroll that replenishes his blood faster than is humanly (or, well, half-elvenly) possible.

Astarion ends up drinking the extra blood, leaving Tav with just enough for him to function normally and go about his day as usual (something to be definitely included in touch too much ehehe)

Which means:

A totally valid canonical reason for Tav letting Astarion drink from him daily, sometimes several times a day, i.e. Astarion never has to go without a sentient creature's blood ever again and is always well fed

I'd assume the first times Tav attempts this don't go over that well and that makes his blood cells multiply a bit too fast. He ends up going over to Shadowheart, thoroughly embarrassed and asking for a complex healing session for the Serious Condition he really could not have ended up with that quickly, having to painstakingly explain to her what the hells even happened (spoiler: she is Not Impressed. “You’re seriously making me waste a day’s worth of energy fixing you up because you wanted to become an infinite blood bank for your thirsty vampire lover?”)

Alternatively, and this fits EVEN BETTER (thanks to @satanicspinosaurus for pointing it out), the excess number of red blood cells is called erythrocytosis, which is what Tav would accidentally end up with as he experiments. And one of the primary treatments for this is LITERALLY phlebotomy, i.e. removing blood. So Tav explaining the whole situation to Astarion would probably go somewhat like this...

“Uh, Astarion?” “Yes, my sweet—” Astarion frowns after taking one glance at Tav’s face. “What is it? You look a bit feverish. Is something the matter?” Tav bites his lip, feeling his cheeks grow warm as he speaks, “Well. Yes. And no? Kind of.” “Eloquent.” Tav heaves a deep sigh. “Anyway. Shadowheart sent me. She can’t heal this… disease I have—or, well, she can, but she actually said the best treatment is something you can do for me. And we need to get to it fast, otherwise I’ll die, so. Here.” Tav extends his wrist, bared and ready to be drunk from. Astarion only blinks at him, zero understanding in his eyes and now quite a bit more concern. “You’re going to have to be a bit more specific, love," he says. "Why exactly did our resident healer send you to get healed by me? Especially since this is serious? My talents lie in stealth, trickery, and necromancy as of late—and you still look very much alive.” “Blood,” Tav grits through his teeth, looking anywhere but Astarion’s face. “You need to drink my blood. A lot of it. I completely fucked up the strength of a spell.” “What spell,” Astarion demands, “would lead to you needing to lose blood?” “I wanted to create one that would increase the amount of blood I have by speeding up the body’s natural blood replenishment speed,” Tav explains to the clouds he’s distinctly observing. Anywhere but Astarion’s face. “And well. I ended up with far more of it than I need. It’s my first attempt, all right?” He forces his head to turn to look Astarion at last, who’s still staring at him blankly, with slightly parted lips. Probably thinking Tav is a massive idiot. “You can drink just about a quarter of my blood at this point," Tav offers weakly. "With no consequence.” Astarion doesn’t react at first. At all. Simply stands there before Tav, looking at him long and hard as if waiting for more words that never come, as the weight of embarrassment blocks all of Tav’s attempts at further explaining himself. “Well, darling,” Astarion finally says, taking the couple of steps that separate them—and suddenly, Tav feels Astarion’s hands on him, locking him in an embrace he’s happy to be captive in. Tav melts into it, mesmerized by the hungry look in those red eyes, as always comforted by the coolness of Astarion’s skin as he leans in to place a kiss on Tav’s neck. “How could I say no to such a delicious treat?”

Astarion gets his treat every day from now on. He is very happy with the arrangement

The result of Tav’s experiments is a Scroll of Blood Replenishment that I imagine Tav would stylize to look quite cool, red parchment and all. But since he would be making those scrolls on the daily, I guess the red would be a bit overkill to do that often and it ends up looking like any other scroll, much to Tav's dismay, but he needs to keep things efficient for his lover

In time, Tav learns to cast the spell sans scroll (does Gale help him out with it? sorcerer-wizard buddies ftw??) So, Astarion can just slide up to him, pull a Puss in Boots look, and Tav would just have to whisper a few words, his body instantly providing a filling meal for Astarion whenever and wherever they are

And I just think that’s neat, thanks for coming to my BloodTed Talk.

~~~

requests open

tag list (comment or dm to be added)

@spacebarbarianweird @satanicspinosaurus, @tallymonster, @tragedybunny

[imaloregremlin]

I Found A Shrub, What Now?

(Chapter 1)

by imaloregremlin

so remember the fanfic I said I’d post here?

———

Shelby tromped through the Evermoor, rubber boots squelching in the muddy soil. The Fog swirled around her, covering the witch in a misty veil.

She normally just patrolled the borders of the swamp, searching for lost travelers who'd stumbled in by mistake. She never expected to find the gnome.

Cowering in the shadow of a mangrove, lay a small, bruised body, shivering in the damp mist. The shivering was the only way Shelby could tell the thing was alive. The body was surrounded by wolves, most of whom were curled up protectively around it. Small pointy ears assured that yes, this...creature...was, in fact, a gnome. The kind that had thought to have been wiped out over a thousand years ago. The kind that were the original inhabitants of the withered mushroom village Shelby had found weeks ago. (Before the rift, and the wanted posters, and the skulk.) The kind that left the note for that "Shrub" person. Or possibly a sentient bush. She really wasn't sure.

In times of doubt, Shelby did what she usually did. Twirling her wand in the air semi-dramatically, she cast one of the only spells she had mastered in her time at the Academy. Messaging. A glittering swath of magical paper appeared in front of her, along with a spectral quill.

kathrine get over here now it’s urgent i found something

The words appeared on the parchment, which rolled up and zoomed off to find her monster-hunting girlfriend.

Shelby glanced down at the crumpled figure who still hadn't woken up.

They seemed to twitch and stir a bit at her presence. Their face, mostly covered by a blue and silver mask, bore many cuts and bruises-really the gnome looked like she'd been through a war. (Were the gnomes fighting a war? Would the Academy want to hear about this? She didn't know if she should even tell them--they were under new management now, but Shelby wasn't completely certain she could trust them yet.)

Well, Shelby certainly couldn't leave the poor thing here.

Squinting, she assessed the figure's condition-were they fit to travel?

Without a broomstick or elytra, it was a half-day's walk from here to the nearest empire with suitable medical care and Shelby doubted the body could use one in its current state. (Shelby's makeshift hut and potion shop didn't count-she wasn't sure about gnome physiology and what effects a healing potion would have on their body, especially if she was the one to make it.)

"So, Tortoise, what should we do?"

The toad, regrettably, (and also predictably,) had no response.

She really had to work on some spell that would allow him to talk to her.

Welp.

Shelly picked up the body and wrapped it in an extra sweater from her pack. The wolves surrounding it growled and whimpered.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, I'm just trying to help your friend...isn't that what we all want?"

The pack snarled and yipped a bit more, but backed off eventually.

Shelby started walking, adjusting the gnome in her arms every so often.

The wolves followed protectively around them.

Shelby glanced at the darkening sky, and quickened her pace. It was going to be night soon-she didn't want to stick around to tempt whatever else the Evermore might hide. The place was definitely haunted. Fireflies darted out from their hollows in the trees, swirling and mingled with the fog like will-o-the-wisps. A mysterious shushing noise sounded in the distance.

Shelby didn't want to stick around to find out what it was.

Even though it sounded hauntingly like footsteps.

Okay, time to go home.

When Shelly reached her cottage in the swamp, it was late. Stars had started to appear in the night sky, one of the first clear nights Shelby had seen from the Evermoore.

Kathrine stood in front of her door, one hand on her axe, fidgeting with the smooth ebony handle.

"What happened, Shubble? Are you okay? -who in the empires is that?"

"I dunno, I just kinda found her to be honest."

Shelby set the girl(?) down on the driest patch of earth she could find, and told Kathrine what had happened.

"I think she's a gnome."

"A… what..?"

“Think back to history. The dead ones? The ones wiped out by corruption a thousand years ago?"

"Yeah...

"Well, apparently not completely."

"Obviously. She's right there."

I know."

"What the fuck do we do with her?"

[windienine]

(inviting u in like a vampire) pspspspsps victor. talk abt loïc and ysme more. tell me howd youd build them in chuubos.

hihihi!!!

luckily there's already a really clear nobilis analogue for what's going on with loïc, and that's the cleave of the botanists, a group of mortals (largely ones already chained to the service of particular divinities) who are able to draw on divine power by harnessing the innate magic imbued within flower species using conversation.

this means that loïc is comically easy to port to a nobilis framework

if we're building on that, porting him to chuubo's means he's got several levels in the Sentimental attribute.

some deets:

he's generally using flower magic as a magical skill, but some of the big casts are miraculous-level applications (i.e. chained spells) that he's invoking The Shepherd's Gift to harness in such a way where it moves the plot and shifts reality.

ysmé and lia are both his capital-t Treasures. other Treasures include flowers that tie in closely to them and the themes of the current chapter.

ysmé is his main source of divine willpower for Miraculous Ease, he gets to access his pool of extra will by taking actions in her name.

the cloud sage gives him access to sentimental's a waking dream ability, which allows you to contact someone or something dear to you across any distance.

^ thing he does

ysmé's conditional immortality might be framed as an application of The Shepherd's Blessing as well.

the Thing He Does At The End Of The Prelude is, of course, a Wish.

I'm excited for him to get weird and violent with it.

ysmé's a little trickier because we don't have the full shape of what she can do now in her weird half-state between dead and alive, mortal and goddess, etc. so i don't honestly know what arc she's on for certain (especially bc artisanry is also probably a magical skill for her)

but i am taking a plunge and saying my bestest bet is on Creature of Delirium, that pretty little arc that lets you reshape yourself, others, and fate itself.

the thing she extracts from people to gain power is faith. appropriately, she doesn't have faith in anyone but herself. loïc, as her witness, submitted/transferred all of his faith to her by binding agreement, so he's basically her magical peon now (though since he has Sentimental and her down as a Treasure it appropriately kind of goes both ways.)

this is kind of nothing but the power to command and captivate a whole group of people at once is literally called

Command would be appropriate for that Thing She Can Do to loïc

this.

^ god i hope she can do this

using Wield would let her be able to direct Loïc's miracles in new ways and turn him into an appropriate champion for her will, i.e. siccing him on people she doesn't like

the appearance-changing powers included in the latest writeups fit her abilities to a T and give them some narrative oomph

it's posssssible she's on a dual arc and might also have something like Star Quality or Troubled but i don't know enough to be absolutely sure.

thank you for opening the floodgates, seren

[purplebass]

TLH/TDA Cover Parallels and Analysis

The TSC cover poll by @kaitcreates made me realize how the TSC covers are so well intertextually connected between each other, especially the TLH and the TDA ones. So, I analyzed them.

We have Cordelia on the cover of Chain of Gold, while Emma, who is her descendant, is on the cover of Lady Midnight. The tone of TLH is warmer autumn colors compared to the blue and green (like the sea, an important symbol of the series and LA) hues of TDA. Also, the way the characters pose is different: Cordelia is standing before a palace's gate, supposedly, the London Institute, and she's starting her new life, Cortana ready to slash whatever comes her way. Emma, on the other hand, seems like drowning and Cortana is slipping from her hands. At some point of the story, both had to give up on their precious weapon.

Chain of Iron features Lucie facing a forest at night which has colors I associate with winter, the season in which it should be set. The moths are a symbol of change, mystery of the night, and death/endings and you can understand why they were on her cover. Coi ends with Jesse's soul disappearing after Belial is cast out of his body. But it's also a beginning because Jesse comes back to life by the end. And it all matches perfectly with the cover of Lord of Shadows, with Julian on it. I think we can safely say that Julian is Lucie and Jesse's descendant. The mood is very dark and he's also underwater like Emma. Water is a symbol of life but also of chaos and healing. In Qoaad, Julian turned off his emotions in order not to fall deeper for his parabatai Emma and endanger both their lives because of the parabatai curse. He holds the Blackthorn sword which we know it's destroyed in CoT, while Lucie holds the Blackthorn locket. The LoS ending matches the CoI one because in the former Jesse comes back to life, while in the latter, Livvy dies. She was the Blackthorn character that until her death wore the Blackthorn locket, which was worn by Jesse before he gave it to Lucie. Full circle, again with the descendants!

Cordelia faces a pretty London palace on CoG. Lucie faces a dark forest full of unknown creatures. On the Chain of Thorns cover, Grace faces a place in ruins (Blackthorn Manor?). The colors of this cover give spring vibes and in fact, if we consider the epilogue, it ends in spring, the season of new beginnings and where everything blooms again. While Emma and Julian are in a place underwater where they can be saved (they aren't too deep), the last character featured on the Queen of air and darkness cover, Annabel Blackthorn, has pretty much sunk to the bottom of the ocean and she is beyond saving. We can tell from the Titanic-esque ruins behind her feet that she's hit the bottom, literally and figuratively. Annabel was angry because she was brought back against her will, and in her fit of anger, she ended up killing Livvy and she lost her life for good after. Grace has the opposite features as Annabel, and for good reason. While Annabel can only go back to the world of the dead, Grace has a change at getting her life back and start anew. We can say both Annabel and Grace shared a similar fate: their so called Blackthorn "parents" manipulated and abused them and they both lived half a life. Unlike Annabel, who, I said, is at the bottom and is hopeless and gone for good, Grace facing the ruins of the place were she used to live also means starting anew. Starting from the bottom, from the ashes, but in the hopeful way. It means finally living the life she wants to live.

I know that "the last hours" is taken from Great Expectations and is also a quote Magnus says. But this quick analysis also brings to the surface how the last hours could indeed be the last moments of sadness and desperation, before getting through and making it out alive. In comparison, TDA's tone is darker but it also shows that humans are able to survive the worst and going above water to breathe again after tragedy and tough life choices they have to face.

[mirabai0821]

WIP: Blood and Honey CH 1

Pairings: F!Tav / Astarion Tags: Mentions of pet death, blood sucking Word Count: 2.9K Summary: Tav assembles the party and will not stop lying to them. Unfortunately for her, a vampire can see right through her.

Her first lie had been her name.

“You may call me Tav,” she answered when asked. Most didn’t notice the important distinction. Karlach, Wyll, Shadowheart, and Gale accepted her evasive bit of wordplay with no problem. Astarion, however, pounced upon it immediately. 

“‘You may call me Tav,’” he repeated back to her that day on the beach. His voice dripped with suspicion, disdain, and the barely restrained glee of someone delighted that they had been clever enough to notice something others did not.  

“That is what I may call you. Well that just implies there are other things you’re called then, doesn’t it darling?” 

She did not clarify, filing the interaction right next to the moment before when he pulled a knife on her. This was someone to watch, to withhold from trust no matter their shared circumstances and entwined fates.

But, her eyes and her heart softened a bit as, even though she did not clarify, he also did not press. I know you have a secret, those red-wine eyes seemed to tell her as the wreckage of the nautiloid smoldered behind them, but I will not do you the dishonor of making you reveal it. So long as you do not make me reveal mine.

Her second lie had been her profession. 

She said she was a bard but she wasn’t very good at it. She knew some spells of a bard’s repertoire, but could barely swing simple weapons. Indeed, she even had the talent of a great singer, perhaps one of the best in the Sword Coast, but she hadn’t performed in over a decade, and wasn’t planning on taking the stage any time soon. Instead, she hummed while plucking her lute and strumming her lyre while muddling along flinging the cantrips of a sorcerer with barely enough skill to fend off the average highwayman.

Her third lie, the worst of them, was to herself.

“Are you alright Tav? I think I heard you crying last night.” Gale, the kindly wizard, asked on the morning of their second day as almost-mind flayers.

That first night at camp had been miserable. She found a Githyanki warrior, a Waterdhavian wizard, a swashbuckling warlock, a fiery barbarian, a disreputable rogue, and a cagey cleric – all saddled with the same affliction. Managing to assemble such a motley crew united in the singular purpose of saving all their lives should have given her some measure of comfort. But she felt nothing except the sucking, gasping, yawning void of emptiness. 

Tav would give anything to have him back. Wrap up all of the little gifts of her life – her voice, her uncanny talent for lyrics, her prized lute, and equally prized lyre – and return them to their various senders if it meant another lifetime with her beloved dog Kanid. But such things could never be, not even with the talent of necromancy. You’d need a corpse for that and she didn’t have one. 

His loss was still so fresh and so utterly disorienting that when she laid down at camp that first night, curling into a little ball, she made space for him to fit in the gap. Like she expected him to suddenly appear and sleep within her arms as he had done every night in his 13 years.

Oh Kanid was a precious little thing. Reaching no higher than her calves and about twice as long. He looked more like a warm loaf of bread with ears than any pet. He often resembled one too, lounging in the sun with his stubby little legs sticking straight out behind him giving his butt the distinct appearance of a heel of bread fresh-cut from the loaf. 

He was the only creature alive or even dead who knew all of what she was and loved her anyway. No other being, not her mother, father, sister, or any of her half a handful of former lovers could boast the same.

But Kanid knew her. Seen her at her very worst and her very best and somehow knew those moments were often reversed. Covered in blood or with a song on her tongue he loved her. 

And she would never be so wholly loved again.

Even if she somehow survived the parasite making a nest in her brain matter.

The realization crept up her infernally blessed body, sinking deep into her clay-red flesh until everything from the hard, bony tips of her horns or the twitchy rounded point of her tail ached with grief.

That first night she sobbed till sunrise.

“Crying? I don’t remember crying,” she lied to Gale before muddling her falsehood with a bit of truth. “Probably was just having a nightmare.”

**

As the days stretched to weeks and as her new companions fretted over goblins, druid groves, “kreshes”, bog witches, civil war between the adherents of Vlaakith and Shar, and the intangible menace of “ceremorphosis”, Tav thoughts remained firmly with Kanid. 

Then a scruffy white mutt crossed their path.

“Tav, darling, I don’t think our camp has the room or the inclination…”

Tav ignored Astarion, fussing over the ragged little four-legged thing. He was dirty and thin, the curve of his ribs not too well concealed underneath his shaggy snow-white coat. He seemed well trained though, not that it would have mattered if he wasn’t. Tav would have taken home a half-rabid owlbear if it meant soothing even a fraction of her wounded heart.

“I bet you haven’t eaten in a tenday. What have I got? What would you like, hm? A sweatmeat perhaps? A hunk of cheese? Whatever you want, name it and it’s yours.”

She went rooting in her backpack searching for an appropriate treat. Finding none she turned to Astarion and stuck out her open hand like an imperious beggar. “You’ve got meat in there.” 

It wasn’t a question, more like a command that brooked no protest. Astarion sighed and handed her a sausage as long as his forearm.

“That was dinner!” Complained Gale.

“Yes!” Tav agreed cheerfully. “Just not yours!”

Though it was barely mid-day, Tav called off the search for the goblin encampment and the druid held hostage therein. She scooped up the dog, named Scratch by his collar, and carried him all the way back to camp, cooing and humming as she went.

“My dog, so sweet, your eyes astute. You bark, you bite, I boop your snoot.” 

She giggled at her improvised couplet while Scratch permitted her intrusive fussing with blissful incoherence, his tongue lolled out in a happy pant. Tav repeated her ditty the whole way back, each time with different flourishes and flavor, sharps and flats rising and falling in concert with the gentle, rolling hills of the Sword Coast. 

Astarion watched her, the very picture of annoyance, his otherwise pristine, alabaster face beset with the soft, shallow wrinkles of his frown. It wasn’t  that her blatherings were annoying, it was the fact they were not. Her voice enticed him with an unnameable, ethereal sweetness that made even the birds stop and listen.

“My dog, so sweet, so white, so cute. You eat, you play, your poop, I scoop!”

He listened too.

**

Never one to turn down an easy meal, that night, he went looking for the mongrel, brandishing another limb-length sausage to tempt the creature.

He stalked the camp, “Here Scratch, here Scratchy boy.” 

The vampling had to be cautious. He had managed to keep his peculiar, dietary restrictions let’s call them, a secret, and knew upon (or, more likely, off with) his head be it, if anyone, especially that githyanki shrew, found out. 

He found the mutt curled contentedly at his new mistress's feet. Wiggling the cured meat in its face, Scratch’s ears perked and he gave Astarion a dopey, trusting look as if to say, “More? For me?”

“Yes, you flea-bitten pile of intestinal worms, for you, now come!” He ground out, careful not to wake Tav.

Scratch unfurled himself and followed happily before black talon tipped hand closed itself around Astarion’s wrist like a vice.

“What are you doing with my dog?”

Astarion had the measure of each member of camp ranked according to how easily he could take them in a fight. At the top of the list was Lae’zel and the barbarian. He’d rather chew his own fingers off than face either of them. In the middle sat Wyll, the charming little warlock, and the Sharran – not easy but not difficult, fights he could win at moderate cost. Near the end of the list was Gale. He could stab that man bloodless before he could get his far-too-nice-to-grace-those-feet boots on.

And at the very bottom was Tav. She was a natural leader, yes, but a capable fighter? Ha! Corpses were more threatening than her since those, at least, could still harm through disease.

But from the way she gripped his wrist, he was considering shuffling the leaderboard a bit.

“I…I was…”

Tav shifted off her bedroll, fire burning in her hell-touched eyes. “You were going to eat him weren’t you?!”

“Wh-what an absurd idea! And quite offensive at that. Do I look like the type to stalk around draining the local fauna bloodless? Really now!” He feigned ignorance, but she didn’t buy it.

Her grip tightened and though he no longer had a blood-pumping heart, he could feel his hand start to throb.

“That boar, near the swamp…that was you!”

Astarion gawped. He had been so careful. How?

Well, the game was the game and this time, at least, he had been outplayed.

Caught out figuratively and literally Astarion relented. “Alright fine, yes I wanted to eat the dog. Well, not literally anyway.”

Tav kept her grip and her gaze tightly on him. The heat of her black-sclerea’d hellfire eyes started to feel distinctly uncomfortable, like the first rays of dawnlight after a long night out hunting for Cazador’s next meal.

“Not him, never him, do you hear me?” Tav’s voice dropped low, not menacing but melancholy. Astarion was mildly shocked that she didn’t seem to mind there was a vampire in their midst, more preoccupied with what he ate and now how.

Astarion relented, giving up the night’s easy meal was an inconsequential price to pay for such uncharacteristic open-mindedness. Had it been Lae’zel who discovered him, Astarion shuddered at the thought.

“Fine, not the mutt.”

“Promise me.” Her voice took on a desperate edge that made Astarion even more uncomfortable.

“I promise, I promise! Now let me go.”

Her gaze lingered on him for a heartbeat before she released him. Astarion shook out his hand, noticing the deep imprint of her fingers in his flesh. “Good gods, all that for a dog?”

She broke her stare, casting it into the dirt. “He’s worth more.”

For a moment he wasn’t sure if she was speaking to him or to something beyond him, something that couldn’t hear her anymore. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Astarion groaned. “Whatever, see you at sunup I guess, now that you’ve ruined a quick dinner.”

“No, wait.” 

Tav shuffled her nightshirt undoing the strings at her collar. The loosened fabric revealed a tender, juicy looking neck the color of deep red clay earth kissed by a healthy rainfall. Her flesh was ridged with the tell-tale scarification marks of tieflings, up each wing of her collar bones and down the meridian of her body between the valley of her breasts. He couldn’t see beyond their first initial swell but…gods, he wanted to. 

The tadpole granted him many new things, protection from sunlight and Cazdor’s will primary among them. But he wondered if the tadpole cured afflictions psychological as well as physical. He hadn’t yet tested that hypothesis, no time and no participants. She’d be his first, he decided. Not now, he needed a plan first, but…soon.

“Nothing comes for free,” Tav said, craning her neck to reveal a delectable swath of flesh from pointed ear to rounded shoulder. “You gave me a promise, I give you a meal.”

“You’re…offering yourself?” 

Revulsion flashed across his face. More than once in his un-life he encountered vampire fetishists who were a bit too enthusiastic about the whole biting business. Cazador kept a few around the house as slaves, eager to do the most menial tasks if it meant immortality. His master never rewarded them though, stringing them bloodlessly along at the point of his canine while Astarion was, of course, never allowed to sample the goods. He was disgusted by the very idea that free mortals debased themselves for a chance at vampirism while he, the vampire, yearned every day for the freedom of his mortal life.

“Nothing more than tit for tat,” Tav answered simply. “If it keeps your fangs out of the dog, I’m more than happy to sub in.”

“Do you mean it?” This felt like a mean-spirited trick, punishment for threatening the animal. She had been so equanimous about all this vampire business already. Surely there was a limit to her tolerance?

“Of course,” she said sincerely. “Everybody eats. We didn’t hunt for our dinner tonight, why should you?”

Astarion pressed his unfathomable good fortune to the point he was sure would break it.

“Do you still mean it if I tell you I’ve never sampled a thinking creature? That I’ve only feasted on animals and then until they were drained dry and dead?”

Tav looked at him with a wide-eyed terror and swallowed thickly.

But still, she nodded.

Astarion knelt in the dirt beside her, doing his best to suppress his drool. She smelled delicious, scented with some kind of sweet vanilla fragrance he could not place. Tav stared nervously into the middle distance, tail twitching anxiously, unwilling to even look at Astarion the way a skittish patient has to look away from the doctor before a shot. 

“Will it hurt?”

Something small and precious bled inside his chest. Her question made her seem so small though her actual size engulfed his own by at least a few inches in both directions. He almost felt guilty taking from her like this, like he meant to deceive her, engaged in some artifice that he would later use to break her heart. Worryingly still, he didn’t want to…break her heart, that is. He had no qualms about drinking from her. He was hungry and it was her fault.

“Oh darling, It might sting a bit,” he admitted. “But I promise, it won’t hurt for long. Now, lean back for me.”

He was bone-meltingly tender as he took her in his arms, grave cool hands on each side of her face guiding her.

“Yes, like that,” he murmured just before the bite. 

Tav flinched and hissed and swallowed down the rising, panic-tinged urge to fight him off. She promised him. She promised him. She wrenched her eyes shut and balled her fists, breath coming in sporadic gasps until warm bliss flooded her veins.

Gods, she was glorious. Her blood burst into his mouth like a ripe berry split between his teeth at a harvestime feast. He groaned, ruined for all other sustenance. And as he supped, his mind grew cold and calculating. This would not last, her generosity, something so sweet and good never did for him. 

He would need to find a way to make it.

Astarion pushed those thoughts away for the moment, lest he get lost and take too much. Every muscle in her body relaxed and she sagged into his embrace, taking on the telltale lethargy of a vampire’s victim. It would be so easy to just keep taking. She was so good, the vanilla of her scent somehow flavored her blood. It was divine.

“P-please,” she called weakly and Astarion pulled away sharply, her sweet blood trickling down the angles of her collarbones, overwhelming him with the urge to lick.

But not the blood.

Sated by her blood, he was surprised to find he desired the taste of the flesh that housed it. He caught himself staring at her, trying to tease her apart to understand just what it was that made him forget himself so.

“All done?” she asked woozily.

“Yes, darling.”

“Get enough?”

He had an answer ready, but something from somewhere long dead beat out the lie before it could leave his mouth.

“If I didn’t, would you let me have more?”

She nodded, laying back down to her bedroll. “Mmhmm, everybody eats.”

He chuckled good-naturedly, a first of that particular flavor since the Nautiloid. “Well, I’ve eaten my fill tonight. Now rest.”

“Mm-not gonna turn am I?”

“That’s not how this works, darling. But if you did,” he felt exposed, betrayed again by errant thoughts slipping out from between the bars of his teeth before he could snap them shut. “Would it be so terrible?” 

“No,” she answered sleepily, easily, and his undead heart twisted uncomfortably in his chest. “But only if you promise to show me the ropes.” “Well, sweetheart," he cooed, biting back the discomfort with charm poisoned with insincerity. "Should you ever find yourself in that lamentable situation, I promise to teach you everything I know.”

“Promise?”

“Of course, darling.”

Her half-lidded eyes suddenly snapped open, fixing him with a fiery gaze that did not burn but warmed. “When you make a promise, you gotta keep it alright?”

Astarion nodded, but only to acknowledge the sentiment not agree to it. Though Tav, bloodless as she was, would not be able to intuit the difference. Pacified, her eyes slipped closed again.

“Not the dog.”

“Not the dog,” he affirmed. 

“Good night, Astarion.”

But he was already gone.

END

Author's Note: Hello, starving masses of the Tavalstarion fandom. I have come to feed you. A word of warning: this is a WIP and I do not mean to regularly post this fic until it is done. But! I am a kind and gentle mistress who will, during fits of pique, post a snippet of a chapter here and there in random order.

Fortunately for you, I already have! If you've enjoyed The Old Bear's Still Got It or Confession? Go See A Priest (and I know you have, I can see the notes go up) then hopefully you'll also enjoy the larger context in which those were written. Enjoy!

[blubbledia]

I read - Dungeon Meshi - 2014/2023

"To eat is to be alive."

I saw it was completed and thought, "hey I read like half of that a couple years ago and really liked it!" So I promptly didn't read it. Instead I waited until I saw too many spoiler images on my dashboard! Which didn't really hinder me, so I started at the beginning and devoured the whole thing in two sittings. Very apt for the material. Also that I got around halfway through before starting over and making my way all to the bottom. No sister death for me though. The rest of my thoughts below the line.

So many elements of this manga weave together to create the best atmosphere. Like good ingredients making a good meal. OK, I'll stop with the food comparisons.

I think the most stand out piece for me is the story's pacing. I just appreciate a goal that, initially, should be a quick adventure, twisting and turning into something more complicated, while staying relatively short. Every goal, Defeat dragon and revive Falin, defeat Falin, defeat Mad Mage, become dungeon lord, defeat demon, and finally resurrect Falin? Fit. On some occasions, writers would use these extended and adjusted goals to artificially increase length. Here it not only feels natural, but even the inciting incident is justified by the twists. They only encountered the red dragon right at the beginning because the Mad Mage was sending it to look for the king.

Characters are absolutely stunning. From design, to motivation, to their growth. Every one has realistic growth. Laios never becomes a perfect leader. Sure he becomes king, but even in the epilogue he's still a goof. He is absolutely not good with people, honestly I don't think any of the main crew really are. But they are good with the people in their party (mostly). It even touches on how a new member fits in, and the realities of your adventuring buddies kind of just being work friends. Izutsumi is baby and I love her. Falin is adorable and I want to hug her.

The art is so fun and good and excellent at setting tone. The amount of times all things in a box will be shaded with one method, even the same density, but still clearly delineated between fore and background is amazing. Ryoko Kui also did designs of the characters as various races, which works so well for identifying the key features of a design. I wouldn't know what to say about page layouts, it's just not something that registers to my brain. I will spare another sentence to commend character design. How they look just makes my brain happy. I think it's the noses.

I could not in good conscience release my thoughts on this work into the aether without touching on the titular aspect of the work.

Food

The most interesting part to the food, is that the monsters all mimic real creatures. Nightmares are the ones that come to mind; aside from a fantasy element, they are mollusks. It makes it easy to connect to the reader and show food that they would also find appetizing. I'm a vegan but don't know the morality of eating monsters. Like, do the walking mushrooms count? I don't know enough to say. More importantly, food as a thing. To live is to need to eat. Of the base level of needs to survive eating is the one we have the most leeway over. You can choose what to eat and prepare. It can be done as an act of love toward others. There is a time where Laios brings up that at times when the worries and anxieties of what needed to be done were getting to him; that food grounded him, allowed him to calm down.

I should get some friends together for a meal.

[invinciblerodent]

If you had to pick a song for Iona, Arvid, Petyr, and Mara each-what would they be? And why, if there’s a significant reason.

ooh, thank you for asking!

i was gonna say that I have pretty long playlists for each of them, but yeah, condensing it into just one song is harder than I thought...

If I can only pick ONE, right now I'd go with-

Petyr

.... which is to say, "yeah, I may have failed to live up to everyone's expectations of me, but, have you considered that maybe I'm an arrogant prick for a fucking reason."

this is one of the few non-instrumental songs on his playlist, and it just feels like his entire Thing, crystallized lol.

(.... the lyrics fit too. I mean he did also kinda cut off his family. Or at least hasn't spoken to them in a few years.)

Arvid

This one just really fits my little uncertain cleric boy, holding onto his faith with white-knuckled fists. (A lot of songs on his playlist are either in part about Gale as well, or they're kind of more vibes-based and less literally fitting, but this one has been his theme song since like... last September lol.)

I love that first line of the chorus for him, that "I am creation, both haunted and holy, made in glory".

Iona

Even just the line "this fire eats fire, and the fire is in you" hits very much like her.

Over the months I have gone so far into her that I kinda struggle to summarize her now, but this is still a very "Iona-core" song to me, specifically for those early game, reeling parts of her, when she's kind of trying to have her whole crisis of identity without anyone noticing, and while trying to keep her head straight and not get consumed by the sudden freedom she's experiencing.

My sweet little fucked up weasel-woman, oh how I love her pretty little messed up head. <3

Mara

This one was difficult to pick- her whole playlist, I kinda tried to make work by quickly switching back and forth between the "rip and tear, cult leader, blood on my hands, killing and violence" type of songs and the softer, gentler, kind of more mournful/scared songs, which kinda reflect her more as a very adamantly resisting Dark Urge character who is kind of terrified of her own urges, and actively wants to be soft and sweet, but can't fully deny her nature.

this one might still change as I get further into her playthrough, tho

..........

and though you didn't ask, my head has been chock-full of this guy lately, so fuck it,

heeeeeeeere's Raymond

It's just. Very that "noble boy was originally willing to do what was expected of him, but was painfully aware that it isn't what he wants, and that he just let himself be carried by the waves and whims of the world, right until he was forcibly made to take responsibility for his own life and grow himself a fucking spine".

This has been sort of his theme song for the past decade, ngl. I really like Radical Face either way, but I straight-up can't listen to this song without thinking about him, lol.

head in my hands I love him so much

[mdhwrites]

The Owl Curse: Or How Eda Stopped Fearing the Curse and Learned to Love the Pet It Totally Always Was.

Sometimes my Discord can trigger me to want to write something. After rambling some base thoughts, someone pretty much summed up what this blog is going to say in the best way:

Eda's Curse in S1: Bit like lycanthropy, drains bearer's magic, functions well Eda's Curse in S2: "Hey guys, remember Naruto and Kurama? That was interesting."

Which is just SUCH a perfect way to describe the difference in how the curse is treated but I want to go a step further. Let’s talk about just how bat shit crazy this curse is from a narrative perspective and how many retcons Knock Knock Knocking introduces that make ZERO sense. Before I get into this though: This all effectively nitpicking. It’s not even “Oh, all these nitpicks become a genuine problem.” No, nothing like that. The Owl Beast is very effectively used emotionally and narratively and its only real problems are in lack of exploration/use of Harpy Eda and the stupidity of the plan against the Day of Unity and that’s more a plot problem than it is specifically the curse’s. So first: What is the curse shown to us in Season 1? Well, it’s actually kept pretty consistent and does a bit of back fill for why the strongest witch in the Isles doesn’t exactly do all that much magic in the first couple episodes. It seems directly tied to your magic supply and emotions, which in TOH are one and the same regardless of jokes like magic ‘coming from the heart’. If your emotions go too high or your magic goes too low, you turn into the beast. Worse yet, it chips away at your maximum magic until eventually you are always at the minimum threshold and will permanently become the beast. (Also, yes, you could claim it as a ripoff of All Might but All Might is a REALLY good idea for a mentor figure so taking from him is not exactly a bad thing.) This also frankly explains what the elixirs do. While they can’t fix the maximum mana issue, they can be a temporary reserve of mana that satiates the curse, This allows the witch to have more tolerance on both magic and emotions that might not otherwise be available, though they won’t stop a panic attack or excessive magic use from causing a transformation, at which point the mana cap is cut even harder. It’s frankly a pretty good curse and in S1 had a lot of interesting possibilities and implications. From disability allegories to possible worldbuilding explanations for why you became any sort of beast, to even the idea of soul animals seeing as both Eda’s palisman and beastial form take elements from owls. The one thing it doesn’t feel though is alive or sentient. It is feral and seemingly designed to specifically make a powerful witch into a mindless monster. To turn the intelligence and magic required to be a powerful spellcaster in most settings into a creature of pure instinct and brute force. Anytime there is any intelligence within the creature, it is explicitly stated that that is due to Eda. And a final note on the S1 elements: We do see Eda’s nightmares. She has reoccurring, lucid nightmares where she sees Lilith but shrouded in darkness. Her actions are of aggression and demands which is very fitting for Eda. This is her way of responding to something that annoys her. Something she wants answers to. Then we get the finale and Lilith takes half of Eda’s curse. Because the final stage of the curse takes ALL of your magic away though, literally any spellcasting power is taken by the curse. A possible stretch but one that works, especially since now the curse itself is halved and its floor for their magic is effectively no longer existent. It’s something that will get them without medication and in highly emotional moments but now that they have no magic, how it functions in terms of the magic they have in them is questionable. But it works well for a finale and a theoretical resolution to the curse. Except... It’s not. I’m actually going to skip Affearances. We’ll come back to it, don’t worry, but we actually first need to discuss the creation of Harpy Eda first. After all, if it’s simply a normal curse, or even mental illness because in S1 it works well enough as a disability allegory (including in Affearances frankly) the Lilith being able to gain it as well makes sense. Knock Knock Knocking makes it a literal owl beast though. It can be reasoned with, make deals and while it looks big and scary, a minor act of aggression can have you realize in your dreamscape that it’s actually tiny and pathetic. It’s just a little guy who got trapped inside you with the power of the curse. And this fucks EVERYTHING up. If aggression can have you meet with its tiny self, because Eda only shows it kindness once it’s small and effectively a baby, then why hasn’t she met the owl baby before? We literally saw that be her reaction to the Lilith dream. Also, that entire sequence is kind of awkward because Eda goes from being ready to throw hands and beat the shit out of it to “No... No. This isn’t your fault. This can be a team effort,” effectively in the span of a screen wipe. But also how about the fact that it can be reasoned with at all? Eclipse Lake straight up shows that it can communicate with its host. That it can make deals and that Eda can even understand it. Why hasn’t this ever come into play before? If it’s an active entity instead of a passive force, why does Eda have to still take the potions instead of just changing her terms with the owl baby? It didn’t seem to actually hate her at the mental beach and that immediately created Harpy Eda once Eda was willing to give it some head pats. The fact that the full Owl Beast form exists at all post Harpy Eda makes no sense. In the finale, she warns the Collector that she won’t be able to control herself before going beast form... But why? That’s not Eda. That’s the Owl Beast. And what the fuck does the Owl Beast about Luz? Instead, it should have been a true fusion of her and the beast. Put some of Eda’s red in its fur or REALLY go monstrous on Harpy Eda’s form since it’s not even as monstrous as most werewolf forms. It’s too sleek to be that frankly. But Eda and the Owl Beast are two different beings. They are not one like they were in S1 where if a fully feral Eda had protected Luz, it actually would have made sense because of the found family aspect. It’s a momma bear protecting her cub or the like. But the owl beast has no relationship to anyone in Eda’s life. It only saves Eda’s life because of the promise of food in Eclipse Lake. And all of this brings up an additional question: WHAT THE FUCK DID LILITH SPLIT!? The Owl Beast has its full form with Eda and since it is the swapping of yourself with the literal creature inside of you, not the figurative one anymore, you can’t just cut that in half. Eda’s beastial isn’t diminished after all. It comes out in full force. Why isn’t it still consuming Eda at full speed then if it’s still entirely inside Eda instead of just being a curse? Or for that matter: Why is Lilith’s beast form different? It’s a literal creature now. People can want it like the possible archivist we see in that dream which... Not gonna touch on it. The point is that Lilith just has a new creature in her that isn’t the same owl beast. When it’s just a curse that is going to have slight variations based on the host’s magic and personality, that made sense. As literal, sentient creature you can reason, NOT SO MUCH! And all of this is without getting into the fact that the plot HINGES eventually on the curse... Still being a curse. Still acting the same way it did in S1 where it just devours magic. It’s why her bard magic now destroys everything it touches. It’s where the BRILLIANT moment of “Let’s counter this spell that kills people by draining of them with their magic with a curse that turns people into monsters, effectively killing them, BY DRAINING THEIR MAGIC” comes from. It’s not good, but it is CRUCIAL to the plot that it can still work like this when we don’t even know why this beast consumes magic at all. We know it likes eating voles. If Eda caught a few voles once a week, would she need to stop taking the potions? So with all that said, with all the questions... Why don’t I condemn this like I do a lot of other half baked elements of TOH? Well... Because it actually has payoff that’s relative to the necessary suspension of disbelief. It’s a curse and it’s magic. So long as it is a detriment to the user, it can do a lot of whatever you want it to. And for S1, its arc with Eda and Lilith is powerful. It’s a lot of what makes the last two episodes of S1 as effective as they are and kind of why Affearances being the last time the two take each other seriously (and not even really that. Eda doesn’t really have a relationship with Lilith after S1 and that just sucks and plays into the utter wasting of Lilith’s character) is such a tragedy. There’s still more there to do but it’s just kind of thrown off, but the double beast battle is GREAT and Lilith’s beast form is PHENOMENAL. Even Knock Knock Knocking and all of its retcons to one big point: Eda coming to terms with the curse. Because we as an audience know how long she’s struggled with it, how much it has hurt her, her coming to find peace with it is powerful and evocative. It’s part of why I REALLY wish Eda had just mastered there and then. They never do anything with it after all and pulling back and being like “Actually, she still has little control over it and needs the elixirs,” kind of cheapens the moment. It’s in line with TOH always not allowing the climax of an episode to be fully impactful (Reaching Out with Amity and Alador, Understanding Willow with Amity and Willow, Eclipse Lake with Amity and Hunter, though that one actually works). Which, fine, but you have to have a point to an anti-climax like that and TOH doesn’t ever plan for those. It’s just another way that the show can say it’s not as twee as other kids’ media, or media in general, when in reality it’s just wasting time. Which frankly, trying to say it isn’t a problem, especially with how the plot handles it with the Day of Unity and all the ways it makes no sense, short term or long term... Yeah. It’s just bad. But it’s indicative of a deep rot at the core of the show that’s constantly eating at it so that its highs can’t ever be as they once were and their options for how to actually fix their issues become less and less. Almost like a certain curse I know. ======== I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[dysphoriaposting]

Inscryption campaign ideas:

The Wastes:

"The heat of the day worsens as your feet sink into dry, thirsty earth. You behold the infinite sun-baked expanses of: The Wastes."

New cards:

Lioness: Defined as 5 health, 3 attack, and 4 blood, with the "Pride" sigil (For every Pride card on the board, add 1 health and 1 attack to each Pride card). "Lionesses are the true engine of any pride."

Lion King: Defined as 5 health, 2 attack, and 4 blood, with the Pride and Leader sigils. "A self-appointed leader, though he has his perks."

Hyena (Canine tribe): Defined as 1 health, One Half Bones attack (attack would be defined as half count of all the bone tokens you have), and 3 bones, and Scavenger (Kaycee's Mod; if a Scavenger card is alive on your side of the board, fallen opponent cards supply bones as well) sigil. "Ah, the cackling Hyena. He laughs, as he lusts for carnage."

Elephant (Hooved tribe): Defined as 5 health, 3 attack, 6 bones, and the "Musth" sigil (If more than one Musth card is on the board, every Musth card loses the Musth sigil and gains Rampager. The cards revert back to normal after the battle). "No beast is larger, and no beast is more impressive. The Elephant is a force of nature."

A campaign that takes place in the desert. It's basically hard mode, as there are barely any campfires, woodcarvers, mycologists, or item bags. It's just tons of battles back to back, with the only breaks being sacrificial altars and cave encounters. However midway through the map, there is an oasis...

"Not a mirage, thank whatever deity you worship. You sink to your knees and shovel water to your dying mouth before rising to your feet again."

Here is a 3-by-3 grid of nonstop helpful areas in which you can go in any way as long as you move forward. There's a column of unattended campfires, a column of mycologists, and a column of woodcarvers. With this design, you could grab one of each, go down all three of the same in a row, or otherwise mix and match as you see fit.

"Stuffed full of the oasis' boons, you now move onward to brave the heat and starvation once more."

Back to the miserable nonstop battles and sacrifices. It's strange though, you'll come across battles with wayside pieces of "Steel Wreckage" (defined as 3 health, 0 atk, Mighty Leap) that explode and kill all adjacent units when broken. This mystery appears unsolvable. That is... until you reach the boss.

"The crumbled and smoking corpse of a metal airborne beast lay before you. What seems to be the cadaver of a woman stands up at the sight of you and shambles forth, demanding food water."

The Aviator:

Leshy dawns an aviator helmet and a leathery mask.

"All she can repeat is the words: 'Water... I beg...' from her parched throat."

Specializing in flying creatures, her first wave is composed of Turkey Vultures and Sparrows, although she will also throw in Cockroaches and Porcupines to make things harder for your ground control. But when you beat this first phase...

"The machine sputters and shrieks as a few wayside shots from your creatures and hers take its toll. With a fiery crescendo, metal shrapnel flies everywhere."

All of her units are wiped out, and her front row is replaced entirely by Steel Wreckage. This of course means that you need to destroy the wreckage to move on... meaning that your own creatures will be wiped out. Even worse? This means that the board is wiped clean. So when she sends in her two Gecks now and her Lammergeier a turn later, you better be ready to play SERIOUS defense.

"As The Aviator collapses, her mangled corpse bleeding from her many steel wounds, you move on from the battlefield that nourishes the scorched earth."

The Thicket:

"A grove of gargantuan trees and oppressive foliage stretches before you. With no way around it, you must go through: The Thicket."

New cards:

Orang-Utan: Defined as 3 health, 2 attack, one blood, and the Mighty Leap and the "Climber" sigil (Any Climber card can only be placed on an obstacle card such as a Dam or Grand Elm, although their damage acts like an Airborne card's). "The enigmatic man of the jungle. The way he climbs reminds one of a bird in flight."

Spider Monkey: Defined as 1 health, 1 attack, and the Mighty Leap and Climber sigils. "Though it has half the legs, the spry Spider Monkey is just as nimble as its arachnid counterpart."

Gorilla: Defined as 4 health, 2 attack, and the Mighty Leap and Climber sigils. "A gargantuan beast with the power of ten men."

A campaign deep within a rain forest. You'll ask "What's so different between a normal forest and a jungle in this game?" and I answer... The plantlife.

"Unlike the forests with space to bob and weave trees as you've seen in the past, The Thicket has no such perks. The strangling greenery is so thick that nothing can cut through it all."

This is the only biome that the Thicket card appears. It's defined as null (impossible to destroy) health and zero damage. They randomly intersperse among normal Great Firs that you'll find, and there's one guaranteed in every battle you have. Basically, they're vile lane restrictions that can easily turn the tide of battle. However they don't have Mighty Leap like other trees, meaning that an Airborne card could easily exploit the card, giving you or... your opponent a defining edge.

Deeper in the map you go, more Thickets appear, until... The Boss.

"The fearsome noise of steel rending plant flesh rings like a scythe reaping souls. Abruptly from the greenery ahead slices through a man garbed for stealth. His eyes narrow as he sees you."

The Huntsman:

Leshy dons a pith helmet, and a mask with a monocle and brush mustache.

"You've got quite the collection... Give me a few of the buggers, will you?"

Definitely a late game boss, he is kitted out with all sorts of huntable beasts. But for this first phase, you have more pressing worries: Your entire lane is covered in Thicket, save for one space.

This unfortunately leaves your setup rather limited. As he fills his spaces with Squirrels, Raccoons, and Oppossums, you start to think you're safe as long as you keep your one space occupied.

"Rrggh, damn Thickets! I must cut it down..."

He pulls a Machete from his side and CUTS down a Thicket on your side, leaving the undefended space open for his Raccoon or Oppossum to attack before you even have a chance to place a card down on it.

As you scramble to keep up with his sudden advantage, he keeps chopping down the Thickets every turn until your spaces are empty. If you can find a way to make up for how he gained his advantage, you'll find that he's a rather quick first phase. Quick FIRST phase...

"I was hoping to bring these back home for skinning, but I suppose I'll use them here."

He then begins placing Grizzlies, Moose Bucks, and Bloodhounds down. After the prep you were allowed in the first half, you'd assume yourself safe from his assault. You'd be wrong.

"I can't lose so easily, that's why I brought Old Dodger."

He replaces his Machete with his Hunting Rifle. He kills your card with the highest health.

"This one will make an excellent stew."

As he reloads, you're given two turns of normal combat before he fires again, killing your card with the highest attack.

"And this one will look perfect on my wall."

Another two turns, more firing. It keeps going until you defeat him.

"As you finally get in close, you turn The Huntsman's own tools back on him. Leaving him wounded and defenseless to the beasts that lurk deep in The Thickets, you carry on."

The Reef:

"An expansive bay stretches before you, with low tide showing a trail of coral that leads from one shore to the other. With no choice to go around when a large bluff rises on one side and the deep blue sea sinks on the other, you find yourself hurrying through: The Reef."

New Cards:

Garden Eel (Fish tribe, which now also includes Chum Bucket, Great White, and Amalgam cards): Defined as 1 health, 0 attack, and the Burrower and Fecundity sigils. "The pathetic Garden Eel. Even I can't find a use in it."

Moray (Fish tribe): Defined as 2 health, 4 attack, 2 blood, and the Waterborne and Guardian sigils. "The vile and vicious Moray, a creature that thrives in red waters."

Barnacle (Fish tribe): Defined as 4 health, 1 attack, 1 bone, and the "Hiding Place" sigil (When a Hiding Place card is unopposed, their health and attack swap. When the space opposing them is filled, the health and attack swap back again). "The underestimated Barnacle. Take care not to make the same mistakes."

Petrel (Avian tribe): Defined as 2 health, 1 attack, 1 blood, and the Airborne and "Fisher" sigils (Fisher Cards attack Waterborne cards, even if they're under the water. Fisher overrides Airborne when the opposing card is Waterborne.) "Ah, the stormy Petrel. Their majesty is only rivaled by their resilience."

Octopus (Fish tribe): Defined as 3 health, 1 attack, 2 blood, and the Waterborne and Trifurcated Strike sigils. "An intelligent creature with slippery skin and a devious mind."

A campaign that takes place at low tide in a bay rife with coral, meaning that the murky waters work as a pathway in some spots and a deathtrap in others. The gimmick for this area is not that there are any new places to stop, or even any hazardous field cards, but Ambushes. Some "non-combat" nodes such as Sacrificial Stones and Fur Traders may instead prove to be a trap!

"One misplaced step from the unseen trail in the water and you find yourself falling into a pit of murky darkness, with unruly beasts waiting to snap you up."

Yes, sometimes after you leave a node that isn't combat, you'll come into a surprise attack against entirely Waterborne opponents!! Either you fight through these nails-hard battles or... you sacrifice a card of your own to distract the predators. (And if you're lucky, a pelt may rise to the surface...)

"Though tragedy stabs through your heart worse than any dagger, you must take what keepsake of your ally you can before moving on."

Eventually you reach the boss.

"With the opposite shore within view and sun dipping low, you feel the waters slowly rise. You hurry along, but are interrupted as a jet black creature rises from the depths, fresh water shining off of their latex skin. Holding a dagger in one hand and an unfortunate creature's shell in the other, they stand before you."

The Diver:

Leshy dons a pearl diver's mask and the air-tight headcap.

The first phase is simple, with them using several Garden Eels, and the only real threat being their Octopus. However, upon defeat...

"The waters have risen far too high. As the battlefield disappears beneath the waves, the Diver seems to vanish."

Not only do all of your cards and all of Leshy's cards become Waterborne, but the Diver also becomes a card themselves (defined as 3 health, 2 attack, Waterborne, Guardian, Burrower, and Leader sigils, basically a Deathcard but with no cost since they are on the board immediately.)

This second phase is basically a damage bonanza, both sides endeavoring to out-damage the other side (unless you have a few Petrels or other cards with the Fisher sigil, in which case it's a game of memory.) Assuming you survive...

"Rising from the waters victorious and with minimal casualties, you leave the bay tinted scarlet as you dry in the pale moonlight."

The Caverns:

"The ground below you gives way as you fall down into a patch of fungi. High stone walls meet your gaze wherever you look, with the only ways forward choked by halls of darkness and echoey rock. You find yourself in: The Caverns."

New Cards:

Cave Isopod (Insect tribe): Defined as 3 health, 1 attack, 1 bone and the Armored sigil. "Groveling in the muck and mushrooms, one would say it's a stone come to life."

Stone Viper (Reptile tribe): Defined as 2 health, 2 attack, 2 blood, and the Bifurcated Strike and Climber sigil. "A beast of twos. Two health, two attack, and two fangs to bite with."

Blind Rat: Defined as 2 health, 1 attack, and the "Blind" sigil (Blind cards are unbothered by scent, as smells are all they know.) "A blind creature with little in the way of perks."

Cavesquirrel (Squirrel tribe): Defined as 3 health, 3 attack, and 2 blood, with the Hefty sigil. "A remarkable artifact of ancient times. Brutish and violent compared to their modern relatives."

Lone Raptor (Reptile tribe): Defined as 2 health, 3 attack, and 3 blood, with the Double Strike and Sprinter sigils. "A lonely creature of a bygone era. It lashes out in loneliness."

Frozen Beast?: Defined as 10 health, 0 attack, 1 blood, and the Frozen Away sigil. (If finally broken, unfreezes into a Mammoth card). "I'm not sure what's inside this block, but it must be huge."

Mammoth (Hooved tribe): Defined as 5 health, 3 attack, 8 bones, with the Rampager and Bifurcated Strike sigils. "A truly gargantuan beast that is alarmed after thousands of years of freezing cold."

The Caverns are a cave system beneath the earth. The Mycologist and campfires are more common here where cave encounters and woodcarvers are less common. The main gimmick, however, is that you can only see one space ahead when you're on the map. Whereas in most campaigns you can see ahead and plan based on what you need and what lies ahead, The Caverns are a constant game of risk. What is after this battle? Will I finally find a Mycologist for my two Cavesquirrels? I'm nervous, if I go into this Trader, will there be a Totem Battle afterwards??

After a long, long journey through pitch black, you come across...

"You come across a vine-clung wall that reaches to the outside and hurry towards it. But before you make it, a scuttling figure tackles you and opens their massive eyes. You find yourself battling before you even realize it."

The Lonely "Hermit":

Leshy dons a pointed wizard's hat and his eyes widen.

"FINALLY, STIMULATION!!"

The "Hermit" is by far the most difficult battle, as they have no candles. Instead, they send way after wave of cave creatures, starting easy with Isopods and Bats, but getting increasingly harder until they release nothing but Lone Raptors.

You may ask, then, "How do I win?"

Well, The Lonely "Hermit" doesn't care if their scale tips over, and after their Lone Raptors and Urayulis send the scales tipping back your way, you start to wonder why and how you haven't lost either.

"STIMULATION!! MORE, MORE!!!"

What's going on? They rip into you, even when your row is empty, and they cheer and watch as you pick apart their side with your 25 25 Ouroboros. How are you supposed to win?

"STIM! STIM! STIM! I LOVE IT, GIVE ME MORE AND MORE AND MORE!!!!"

You watch as your Special and Squirrel/Bee decks fade away... Soon, you have no cards left.

"MORE! MOOOORE!!!"

Starvation sets in... to your side? Four Starvations place themselves on your side, all slowly, thoroughly cutting down the cards The Lonely "Hermit" has out.

"MOOORE!! MOOORE!!! MOOO- oh. I'm out of cards."

Starvation continues to cut into The Lonely "Hermit".

"This is... lame. I guess we're done? I'LL GO THEN!! BYE!!!!!"

You win the battle and Leshy, with some effort, removes his hat.

"I... I'm not sure what came over me. You- You saw nothing. Give me those Starvations, you're not keeping them."

You do

"Thank you. Ahem! As the hunched figure scuttles off back into the deep black halls, you climb to your freedom and escape The Caverns."

So uh... Yeah. Those were my ideas. I'm not sure what possessed me to say all this, but I'll probably never do it again.

[lockwood-fic-recs]

Do you have any recs for fics with wellbuilt AUs ?

Hi anon! Thanks for the ask :)) ooh, who doesn't love a good AU? Not sure if you're asking for AUs built over time (long multi-chapters) or well-built oneshots, so I'll provide a selection of both! There's too many good AUs to fit them all in here, so there may be a part 2 of this list coming in the future 👀 stay tuned! There's also lots of good soulmate AUs that we recommended in this post <3

I'll be your new favourite tune by barronsfever | T | 14 Chapters (In Progress) | Locklyle with Background Ships | No Warnings

Actually, Lucy hated Lockwood and Lockwood had no idea why. He finally won her over during their joint school musical, just to run away in the end. Now, they're together at the same university and working together on yet another musical. Lucy has shut herself off completely, afraid to get hurt again. Lockwood is doing his best. [Enemies-to-Lovers Fake Dating at College AU]

2. No One Cares About the Nightwatch by Nomolosk | T | 23 Chapters (In Progress) | Locklyle | No Warnings

Lucy Carlyle is a Listener, a failed agent, a runaway, and now works the nightwatch in London. One might think her life a failure from start to last- but Lucy has goals. She will get a grade four certificate, and reapply to all the best agencies, and her life will get immeasurably better. [Nightwatch!Lucy AU]

3. Sink or Swim by WaitingForMyHogwartsLetter | T | 31 Chapters (In Progress) | Cot3 | No Warnings

When a turtle washes up on the beach after being caught in an illegal net, local freedivers Lockwood and George take it upon themselves to find out who’s responsible. It turns out they’re not the only ones interested in getting justice for the sea creatures affected. Enter: Lucy Carlyle, anonymous environmental activist and local mermaid. [H2O: Just Add Water AU; Mermaid!Lucy]

4. Pros and Cons by chahakyn | T | Oneshot | Cot3 | No Warnings

George, Lockwood, and Lucy have heists to pull off. There's no time to fall in love. And yet, it still somehow happens. [Now You See Me AU]

5. Perfectly Incandescently Happy by OceanSpray5 | G | 13 Chapters | Locklyle | No Warnings

After the death of her best friend, Ms Lucy Carlyle is given the opportunity to be sponsored for the 1815 London season by Norrie's aunt. Instantly compared to the Diamond due to their astonishingly similar looks, she befriends Lord Lockwood quite unexpectedly yet is left wondering if she was a fool for believing he'd look twice at a mere country girl. [Regency/Bridgerton AU]

Bonus: the longest fic in our fandom is both a) completed and b) an AU. If you want to binge a slowburn AU, then this fic might be for you:

Renegades by WaitingForMyHogwartsLetter | T | 50 Chapters | Cot3 | Warning: Graphic Violence

When a virus kills off half of the nation’s children, the ones left alive aren’t as lucky as they thought. With powers they can’t control and fear of what will happen to them, order and danger go hand in hand as detainment camps pop up all over Britain. Lucy takes refuge in the haven known as 35 Portland Row, but safety is uncertain as long as someone else is pulling the strings. [The Darkest Minds AU]

[ducksbyday]

Empires SMP album covers

HELLO TUMBLR PEOPLE

I thought it would be fun to draw album covers of artists in the style of different empires. Kinda with the idea in mind that these bands would be from these areas. So, I looked for some songs that I thought fit and I drew them! Here are the results! (4/8, working on more :D)

Stratos: Half-alive - Not Now Not Yet

Highlighted song: Creature

I chose this song because I like the idea that the people of Stratos are very religious. The majority of their songs are about The god of the Sky. Further, They believe that the people of Stratos are perfect because they are created by Joel, who is perfect. Some might also still worship the ancient Queen of the Ocean. They see her as a fallen God from the past and also the past lover of God Joel.

Chromia: Saint Motel - Foyeur

Highlighted song: You Do it well

I will be honest, I mainly chose this album because of how it looked. But also I adore Saint Motel and I think it fits Chromia very well. Their music is quite diverse, most of the time cheery with a hint of mischief and mystery. I specifically chose the song "do it so well" because it fits the idea of Scott stealing and doing not-so-legal things, but somehow always getting away with it.

Gobland: The Dreadnoughts - Polka's not dead

Highlighted song: Polka never dies (or Goblin Humpa, simply bc of the name)

For Gobland I had a fitting band before even starting the project. I think The Dreadnoughts is a perfect fit. Their music is mainly reminiscent of drinking songs that would be played in bars and taverns. I believe that goblins would be notorious for their loud music and their ability to hold their booze. If you're looking for a good time, the bars of Gobland are the perfect place to go to. I think The Dreadnoughts perfectly reflect that idea.

And last but not least:

Tumble Town: Dan Romer - Into The Flames (Far cry 5 OST)

Highlighted songs: "Oh John" and "Build a castle"

This is the first one I drew and also one I pretty quickly had an answer for. Tumble Town is more of a country-music-type empire. I think the "Into The Flames" album fits the Empire quite well. I like the idea of the people of Tumble Town having a very big appreciation and lots of respect for the Sherrif, which they show in their music. The Sherrif is their protector and they would do anything for him. Although I don't think it's quite Far Cry 5 level (At least I hope not O.O).

[guesswho2568]

O-03-350 "The Devourer of Trauma"

"I knew the puppet she wore was fake, but by that point, I didn't really care about loved ones anymore."

"The devourer of trauma, is an unknown god. No one has ever looked at her, and no one ever will. No one is allowed to go into her "chamber" (The lower half of the facility) except me, the manager of Facility X-2568"

She first appeared a couple of weeks ago, it seemed like a normal day, until the entire bottom half of the facility went quiet, I couldn't even see anything in the cameras. I sent an employee down there, but by the time the day was done, they hadn't returned. People were wondering what was going on, so I lied and simply stated that the lower levels were lost to a strong new abnormality, and I'd send a team down there as soon as I could, why did I do it? She told me to, I could hear her beckoning me down there, so I went. I was greeted with the corpse of the employee I sent down there, I hadn't seen such an pretty way of displaying a corpse. Their blood and guts had become a spider web, with their hallow husk sitting cozily inside the web like a little blanket. What was more interesting, was who also greeted me. It was her, she took the form of a long lost loved one, or at least, put on a little sock puppet of her, I knew she was fake, by that point, I just didn't care. She spoke to me, but not with the doll, there was no mouth. She offered a deal of some kind. I would provide her with something called "liquid trauma", and in exchange the world would be kept alive for just a day longer. How could I say no? I am practically everyone's savoir now. But where would I get such a thing? No human could just be wrung of their trauma like a sponge. But the next day, an employee found this bucket, and immediately threw up in it. This strange purple liquid was exactly what I was looking for, as for the bucket, it was classified as a new abnormality. Somehow, there were dozens of buckets like this around. I guess it was a gift from our goddess, who wanted us to actually be able to provide it food.

Not only that, but employee's started showing signs large increases in mental corruption, we had to put a new tracker in the system that allowed us to track this so called "liquid trauma". It would be important to track this, as I could then use those who gained a lot and wring them like a towel. I put it all I could fit in a bucket, and went down when everyone went home. I handed the bucket over to her, and the doll simply tossed the trauma down and gave me back the bucket. She was happy, satisfied, but she wanted more, a simply bucket full would not do. Over the next couple of days, I tried to find a good way of increasing trauma in my employee's, but to no avail. Soon she started getting angry, employee's started noticing the purple substance was oozing from the walls, and were having harder times working with abnormalities. Then one day, a bunch of creatures came and took an employee and dragged them down into the lower layer. By then everyone was on to me, they knew something was up. So I came out with the "truth" to the facility, we had a new abnormality, which required this liquid trauma to produce energy. I had to write some garbage in the employee and manager manual, it was technically true, but she produced no energy. I went down to apologize to her, she was angry for sure. But a dry corpse next to me told me she at least had something to eat. But she didn't like eating from the source, so I had to do something to appease her. So I started picking random employee's and made them suffer. I'd make one watch countless videos of employee deaths in the guise of "special training" just so he could be traumatized enough, and once I even had a employee watch as all of their coworkers and friends were brutally killed and maimed in real time, just for a bucket or two. It worked well, but soon I found abnormalities that could inflict trauma onto my employee's, I had found what I was looking for.

Soon the buckets were rolling in, we had to get a feeder of some sorts since I couldn't carry them all, and I forbid anyone from going into her chamber. she was so full, and it made me so happy! Employee's were even reporting that they were getting work done faster and that the facility had this nice aura to it. But I knew one day, I'd stop being manager either through death or retirement, so I had to prepare the day I'd feed her, one last time. The facility already had a plan to bury itself, should anything occur, but I needed a better plan for this one. Then I came up with it, you can't kill a god, but you can appease it for life. So I'd save some after each day, and had it stored in a safe location. Then when it came time to destroy everything, I'd dump all of it on her. But for now, we feed her so that the world may survive, I even go down there with a bucket every now and then and feed her myself. I think sometimes about watching all of it pour down on her, and sometimes, I think about jumping in with it, just to be with her forever.

"She is the devourer of trauma, she shall consume it all, and one day, spit it all out again."

[thebramblewood]

Thank you to @venriliz for tagging me! I'll tag @thecrumblingisle, @sweetbeagaming, @cactusblossom, @simatomica, @10000dreams, @solarlemonade, @lotuso3o, @cinnamonferns but feel free to ignore! I know it's a long one.

1. What’s your favorite sims death? Oh my god, I forgot the running with scissors death in TS2 existed until @venriliz mentioned it, but that made me remember I once killed off an unwanted legacy heir using that method. :/ Don't ask me why I couldn't just move him out and leave him to his own devices. Anyway, I think death by cowplant is pretty classic.

My LEAST favorite Sims death is freezing because I had a really traumatic experience in the second generation of my legacy where my Sim Phoebe made the bright decision to host a birthday party for one of her housemates at the Bluffs in Windenburg in the dead of winter and everyone decided to start swimming and like three people froze to death, including the birthday girl. It remains a horrifically vivid memory to this day, lmao.

Putting the rest under a cut!

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? Maxis Match for the most part. I find that anything alpha just ends up looking too out of place unless it's closer to the Maxis side of the spectrum.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? If it fits their lifestyle, I'll have them work out/eat healthier, but I try not to interfere otherwise.

4. Do you use move objects? Absolutely, it's permanently activated!

5. Favorite mod? MCCC is obviously essential, as well as anything that makes CAS better looking and more efficient. I also wouldn't play without Sunblind these days! I can't get enough of those gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? I think I got City Living and Seasons at the same time. I was kind of a late adapter to TS4 but fell very quickly down the rabbit hole.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? I want to think I pronounce it like LIVing because I know that's technically correct, but I think half the time I still pronounce it like aLIVE in my head.

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? Oh, this is so hard... If we're going solely on Sims who originated in CAS, there aren't really many options! Most of my Sims have been born in-game. I am really proud of Helena, and I think everyone can tell how attached I've become to her. Hmm, I need to make more Sims, I guess.

9. Have you made a simself? Noooooooooo. The Sims for me is very much an escape from myself, so I don't think I ever will.

10. What sim traits did you give yourself? I would probably give myself music lover, perfectionist, and socially awkward.

11. What is your favorite EA hair color? The lightest blond, I think? The one that looks almost platinum and isn't quite as yellowy as some of the others.

12. Favorite EA hair? That short choppy hair from Cottage Living (the one the Creature Keeper has). For a while, I was absolutely eating up every single variation I could find.

13. Favorite life stage? If I'm being honest, young adult. I find that my gameplay is most varied and interesting when my Sims are in that stage because they're traveling, meeting a lot of people, trying new things, etc. Once my Sims settle down and start a family, it's easy for me to forget places and people outside their home lot exist and everything becomes more routine.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Me, a builder? That's a funny joke. I'm definitely more in it for gameplay and storytelling. I'll do everything I can to avoid building a lot myself. I don't mind redoing interiors, but it takes me forever, so I try to limit how often I do that, too.

15. Are you a CC creator? No. I've done a couple very basic recolors/edits for myself. We're talking kindergarten level stuff. I don't really have the willpower for learning anything more complex right now.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? Sim squad is such a weird term to me. I do still feel like a bit of an outsider in the Simblr community at times, but I also have a handful of mutuals who I've enjoyed connecting with, and it always makes me happy to see them in my notes and on my dash!

17. What’s your favorite game? The only games I've ever been heavily into are The Sims and those Nancy Drew computer games... I think you can guess which one is my favorite. But if we narrow down the franchise, The Sims 2 has a very special place in my heart.

18. Do you have any Sims merch? No.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? No, and as someone who can't stand hearing or seeing recordings of myself, it would be a nightmare.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? I've honestly wondered about this myself! I don't think it's really changed so much as become more refined. I don't make a ton of Sims, so I don't think I have an obvious aesthetic style. But my play style has definitely changed in that it's more storytelling-geared, which does mean I spend less time actually using gameplay mechanisms and more time setting up. My visual style (e.g. composition, editing, etc.) has definitely evolved a lot even over the past few months.

21. What’s your Origin ID? Going to pass on this one! My sister and I share an account, and I don't upload anything on the gallery anyway.

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? Oh, so many! I will download basically anything that sforzcc or softerhaze upload. My absolute favorite hair creators are simstrouble and okruee. And I've been using a ton of stuff from awingedllama and leaf-motif when decorating lately. But those are just a few that come to mind.

23. How long have you had a simblr? I only just started my Simblr back in January or February. But I've been on Tumblr itself way too long to admit out loud.

24. How do you edit your pictures? I try to let Reshade do the heavy lifting, but I also like using a few of these actions in Photoshop to make them pop a bit more.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? City Living because San Myshuno is one of the only worlds that really feels "alive" to me and I think it does festivals best, and Cottage Living because it's the complete opposite but the slowed down, quiet, countryside aesthetic is so serene and relaxing.

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I don't trust EA to do it right, but all I want is bands and another super dense and populated urban world and more apartments! I would also never like to see another world inspired by an American suburb again.

[aurallyaddison]

me now: i am well-adjusted and had a good childhood and i am currently working through all of my issues and have no more to uncover :)

me at 11: this is my sona she is a dragon who was born a with super rare mutation (shes like a prophetic guardian) but her aunt the queen is a racist eugenicist (because of the lingering influence of a corrupt leader a generation or so ago) so she was exiled and thrown off the cloud cover she lived on and she died FOR REAL but she came back because her soul was split into five parts from the moment she was conceived and each individual part was inside of another creature who died unfairly so they could live again

(inhale)

so the first is a cat who lives on an island which is also a warrior cats parallel universe except each of the four clans here specialize in harvesting certain resources and his clan is a miner clan where they find cool jewels and minerals but somewhat recently a new deputy has entered the clan and made it so that all miner apprentices are fitted with a band on their wrist that shocks them and makes them feel pain whenever their mentor feels like it and theyre forced to work inhumanely for so long and so badly that everyone forgets that this was never how it worked before (plus the leader is like totally hypnotized and mind controlled) and so this guy is trained by the deputy but after hes named a full miner he turns tail and runs to the closest neighboring clan because he sees the deputy is too power hungry and also the medicine cat advises him to but hes caught and killed on the spot

(inhale)

and so the next one is this wyvern whose egg gets mixed up in a landslide aboveground (wyverns live in subterranean caverns) and shes technically part of the highest and most powerful caste of her society (the moment she hatched she found an opal and hung it around her neck with her natural magic thats how it works) but she never learns this because she is raised by the most vicious group of dragons on the surface and abused and treated horribly and she can only eat because she lives in a hole in a cliff facing the sea and she teaches herself to fish and she is forced into combat training she does not want to do and is too young/small/weak/pacifistic/insecure to safely take part in and so one day she is called to do some fighting and she is deliberately matched against the biggest guy in the group who knocks her off the stump they fight on killing her instantly

(inhale)

and so also more recently i made this cat who because of the nature of her magic and an intrinsic property of her spirit her communitys corrupt leader sees her as a threat so she uses her power to send her out into the forest to fetch something after making her drink Potion Of Attacked By Incorporeal Shadow Monster and so when shes attacked it weakens her spirit enough that she is willing to drink another potion she finds without questioning it except this time the leaders assistants didnt realize that the poison they added was only deadly to non-dragons and it actually increases dragons lifespans and also if someone has a piece of a dragons soul inside them like this cat does it makes them immortal so she actually dies for like a second but then comes back and runs away to live in a cave just outside of where the leader can sense her and takes in the handful of other cats who are targeted as found family (also the other ingredients in the potion made it that so instead of being invulnerable her wounds turn into something depending on the magic they have so like hers turn into new body parts and her friend jades wounds turn into jade and emerald)

(inhale)

this one isnt as fleshed out but basically shes a fox who is killed by her brothers friends because they dont like her but the collars given to her and her brother by their mom allow them to persist after death as unique half-alive-half-dead versions of themselves and also astral project even when theyre still alive and those who possess the collars can talk to one another discreetly without others seeing either so at first she just follows him but then she decides to get revenge and kill the friends who attacked her which makes her brother scared and want nothing to do with her anymore but it was so easy she could do it again and nobody would ever know and so she becomes super corrupted by power and kills a bunch of people (including her brother i think) and she finds a friend who understands her sort of and ignores the killings at first but then she gets fed up and yells at her and cries and claws her collar off not realizing what would happen which is that the foxs wound that caused her death is exposed and she bleeds out and dies for real this time

(inhale)

and so this one was collaboratively written with a friend of mine using paper cutouts of our respective ocs and roleplaying with them and so basically theres this fennec fox whos making the trek to a sacred site to fully receive her magic and one night she digs a burrow to sleep in and when she wakes up for some reason shes in a different universe and is seen by this winged black wolf and her little sister and they speak a different language but her necklace translates it for her because it does and anyway the wolves are on the run and the fennec wants to get home and they might have a way to do both in the world's capital so she begrudgingly accepts and so they journey together through perilous conditions and the fennec starts to warm up to them and they actually connect but right at the end of their journey the little sister is killed so the fennec and the wolf return alone and the fennec gets her full magic and they bury the little sister near an oasis and mourn her and i think the fox goes off on her own and is caught off guard by an ambush and killed

(heavy panting)

me now: haha kid thats cute. :) that wasnt plasmas friend though that was her girlfriend

[spin-offsmirnoff]

Note: I listened to all of Frankenstein: A New Musical before my English class started, so these are the notes I posted in a Discord server I’m in :)

Enjoy (Apologies for the formatting, I dunno how to post stuff that isn’t art--)

"I am the innocent, I am the damned. The fount of illusion, the father of dreams." Hits SO FUCKING HARD "I can hear my name blackened by my crime. Haunting me and taunting as it echoes through all time!" FUCK /POS

 The leitmotifs in this musical make me CRY The way that Alphonse sings his leitmotif in a solo, and then at the very end, Victor echoes that melody while singing to his creation, begging for forgiveness, calling himself a "foolish father" And the fact that Victor echoes it once or twice while singing to someone he loves, just like his father sang it while talking about his pride and joy (Victor) GOD FUCKING DAMN

 The way that Elizabeth and Victor's vows are sung so desperately, and Victor sings about something dark in the future, fully believing he would die on his own wedding night, not realizing that it would be his wife who would die instead

 AND THE WAY IN "FIND YOUR WAY HOME" ELIZABETH SINGS "YOU'VE ALREADY MADE ME SO PROUD" AND VICTOR'S DYING MOTHER ECHOES IT IN THE BACK

 CRIES SO HARD

 And the fact that all of this started because his mother died before he started college

AND I wonder when Hollywood and other big-name studios will realize that the creation is fucking BEAUTIFUL. Like, Victor fully admitted that he would have adored his own creation if his eyes weren't so creepy because he used the best limbs and parts he could find as a victorian college student.

 "Life everlasting, reanimation, a flawless new design. The finest human in all creation, body, bone, and mind!" Victor loved his creation before it came to life!!! He was desperate!! He had worked hard on this project!!! He just didn't know it would actually work

Also, "Birth to My Creation" is the perfect song to describe Victor

 In "The Proposition", the way that Victor and the creature harmonize is so fucking pretty The guy who plays the creature has such an amazing voice and it fits the character so fucking good

 VICTOR CALLS HIS CREATION THE "BIRTH OF MAN'S SALVATION" He LOVED his creation before it came to life 

 The first song that Henry really has a part to play in is literally a song begging Victor to come home, praying that if he could stop the hands of time he would to save his dearest friend

And when the creature ends up giving himself a name because Victor didn't (he was scared shitless of his own work) and decides that he "ought to be thine Adam" AND WHEN WILLIAM (Victor's little brother) GETS MURDERED BY THE CREATURE, IT WAS ONLY MONTHS AFTER HE WAS BROUGHT TO LIFE

God, I fucking love this story/musical

 "The Waking Nightmare" is such a good song for the creature it shows his pain, his suffering, his outcasting and fear that Victor left him in that night "What have I done to deserve such a sentence in hell?! Born as a demon, a ghoul from a nightmare, yet one who still suffers and scars like a human as well. Now here I stand, a half of a man, wondering why I draw breath! I'm here in the waking nightmare and every moment tastes of death!" FUCK I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM

 "And I hear, like a ghost in my mind Echoes and fragments of memory, without word or a sound Was I alive once before? Was I once human like them? And could I again walk in the light and good graces of women and men?" He doesn't deserve this :(

 OH AND AND AND The way that the creature harmonizes with the blind man and Agatha is so fucking heartwrenching. He hears this man and his daughter singing to her baby, talking about how they will protect him with all their hearts, that their song will bring him peace, that they'll keep him safe and warm, and the creature so desperately wants that Being a newly made creature, cast away by his creator, he so desperately wants that safety he hadn't felt before

 And the ending notes of "The Music of Love" literally wouldn't sound right if the creature wasn't singing along with them, which makes it so much sadder when he reveals he accidentally killed the blind man

"What kind of monster kills a soul of kindness, by embracing it with love? Speak to me my only friend, do not abandon me. Don't leave me in this heartless world alone."

FUCK HE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS

 And the way that he responds to everything with violence and death is literally a learned thing. He wouldn't do all this if Victor hadn't cast him away so violently. It's nurture, not nature

 V "Why did you do it? Kill a child?" 

C "Why did you leave me there to die?!" 

V "So full of promise, full of wonder." 

C "Have you forgotten so was I?!" 

I love how, in "The Proposition", Victor was so against creating another creature for his first creation to marry because he was so damn afraid of his own work and how much power it held. But at the end he gives in because he now believes that his family and those he loves will be left alone if he does this. The creature literally promises that he and his wife will disappear if Victor does this one thing for him. Ofc, Victor decides to kill her right after she comes to life, causing the creature to swear to be with Victor on his wedding night, which is why he believed he was going to die, leaving Elizabeth alone so she wouldn't have to witness his death (leaving her completely defenseless against the creature, who, she shows sympathy for and actually begs to help him, but he refuses and kills her instead)

 The fact that Henry knows Victor so well that, even after not seeing him for months, he knows exactly what's going on in his mind

They were such good friends :(

 "Do not delay Victor... You may be my creator, but I am your master - Obey." GOD DAMN

 The panic and desperation you can hear in Victor's voice compared to Henry's is so fucking hfenfeahfha And the way the creature isn't even phased, just calm and demanding, vaguely threatening the man making his wife

 God, I love how the creature has notes that go high up when he's upset and truly in pain Also

 V "You are the children of hell!" 

C "Your children as well!" 

V "You're a fiend!" 

C "That you made!" 

V "A mistake!" 

C "That you planned!" 

V "You must die!" 

C "It is you who will feel this icy hand!"

 The fact that even if he didn't really love Elizabeth like a wife, the grief he felt when he found her dead is heartwrenching

 And when the creature sings "These Hands" shows just how much he yearns for a different life, one where he is loved and cared for. He wonders if he, when he was a human, was loved and showed affection toward others

And "The Coming of the Dawn"???? IT'S SO FUCKING GOOD It shows just how much Victor has changed from the beginning of the musical. He finds how "a man is truly created", and that the new day only brings unknown promises, and that if he continues to live in his dreams, he will never live to his fullest and this is the song where you can really feel the way he's changed (you could kinda see in in "The Workings of the Heart" when he sang with Elizabeth) AND THE KEY CHANGE AT THE END IS SO FUCKING AMAZING It really shows the hope that Victor is finally grasping, the way he's yearning to find his creation to finally end things properly "Maybe with the coming of the dawn, there comes another day." Is just so :(

 And now it's "Amen (Reprise)" which is literally the first song that the creature and Victor sang together in the beginning of the show.

V "I cannot die, and nor can you." 

C "Our time has come." 

V "One final task remains." 

C "The game is done." 

V "Yes it's true, I've hunted you, but I've come not out of vengеnce but of shame. I have followed you, to seek your grace, to fall upon your mercy and accept the blame. Damn the man who does not give his all to help his son to live. Forgive this foolish father. I can hear my name blackened by my crime, haunting me and taunting as it echoes through all time!" 

C "What have I done? How can this be? How cruel the hand of fate to take two souls too blind to see and give them sight too late. Your peace has come, you'll search no more. Soon I shall follow where you go. Go to sleep, you're safe with me. May the darkness set us free"

 I'm broken

Alright, it's class time now, hope you enjoyed my ted talk :)

[aetherive]

The Council wishes to hear about your worldbuilding.

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Hm okay so since we're like.. six people who just Appeared and we aren't 100% sure what the pre-reset3 chimerive wanted from the projects they were working we've been sort of.. lost? confused? but anyways

We're kind of working on and off on five different projects and we're just working with it as we go. One thing we're working on is a rewrite of the entire Warrior Cats series, starting from Into the Wild to A Starless Clan, skipping over Dawn of the Clans because 1, we haven't read those and 2, we don't really care of DotC that much anyways. Another one is based off of @/oldfacesnewdawn's WC rewrite, the third one is Stories of Aonara, the fourth is a WC-inspired story with anthropomorphic cats, and the fifth one is a SCP AU.

For SoA, we've been thinking about making the cities within them.. nationless? if that makes sense? like land doesn't belong to one nation or another it just Exists (like Antarctica) and we think it would give us a lot more room to focus on singular cities rather than a nation as a whole

And the brain sort of just focused on this certain group of characters. Udoka, Hope, Detri, and two unnamed characters that we can't find names for because none of the ideas we have really fit them. Now the whole deal with these five is sort of like.. Hamilton-inspired but also Les Mis-inspired with like.. found family and being a part of a revolution in their city

Udoka's whole deal is basically like Anastasia. She's the daughter of a monarch, monarch was killed and she ran off, eventually forgot who her parent was and lived with Detri for some time. I imagine that her voice claim is literally just Once Upon a December (10/10 song btw, absolutely gorgeous)

The whole of Anastasia is actually just a really nice musical. We saw it about a year ago in a theater and have enjoyed it ever since. There was this one scene where the officer aims at Anastasia and behind them is one of the first scenes where the whole family was being aimed at with guns and the lighting and everything giving the scene behind the officer and Anastasia a more eerie, ghost-like look is beautiful. We haven't seen the Disney version of it and don't plan to. Ever

And with the other four we haven't really fleshed out that much yet, we're just tossing around ideas until we get one that we like. Although Onyx designed Detri earlier and gave him these really funky-looking headphones its out of place for the vibe we're going for but man we'll keep the headphones in anyways they're very nice

Outside of the revolution, they have jobs like Unnamed C1 is a tailor, Unnamed C2 is a candlemaker, Hope is a photographer, Detri is a blacksmith, and Udoka is a fiction book writer.

The group's whole theme song would probably be Creature by Half Alive. Very nice song fits them very well

They're our brainrot

And uhhhhhh what about you? Any worldbuilding/writing things you'd like to share w/ us? :]