#and we all explore the new tower together!

[who-is-page]

I've seen (typically older) therians talking about how they feel that their subculture as animal-people and nonhumans is slowly disappearing. This is a point that, in all honesty, I'm inclined to agree with-- although I think I'd perhaps frame it less as "disappearing" and more as just "changing."

Because let's be honest with ourselves here: is the subculture actually vanishing, or is it just evolving into radical new dimensions as excited newbies join and find different focal points for their nonhumanity? As they express themselves in whole new dimensions and ways, as they explore a digital landscape that didn't exist ten, twenty years ago? As the older members lose touch with the newer members, and no one bridges that gap between the two?

I think I'm also extra frustrated because when I see these discussions go down, a lot of the time they're either 1) self-pitying, or 2) finger-pointing.

It's not bad or wrong to look around and realize that the community you found comfort in has changed in ways you could have never predicted and which leave you feeling off-kilter. But approaching these changes with a complete lack of curiosity, with an absolute woe-is-me sort of perspective, where you drag your feet and glare bitter daggers at everyone else, isn't the way to do anything.

And going around trying to pin blame on whoever happens to be at hand is an even worse way to approach it. "It's the furry fandom's faults!" "It's the alterhumans' faults!" "It's the humans' faults!" Who does this approach realistically help? What does this do, beyond ostracize people and make whoever is saying it feel temporarily vindicated in their solitude, in a vicious cycle where they never step out of their ivory tower and always use how alone they are as "proof" that they're right?

I think having discussions about the ways the subculture has changed is extremely worthwhile. But I think that they're at their best when enthusiasm over sharing takes a main, central point. When you see people excitedly telling others about Werecards for the first time, or when you get to introduce someone to the concept of personal websites and webrings, or when you link someone who's only just starting to learn that there's others like them to old and new groups and forums alike. These are the ways you keep those traditions alive, these are they ways you get people both informed of and really excited about them.

And like, maybe I'm just cheesy and optimistic, but building bridges is way more fun than building walls! And more than that, I also think it's fundamentally something that's significantly more helpful and productive. I'm always so hype when I see community projects taking off that involve connecting many different people, especially if they're centered on a specific group or identity, but I also think that those sorts of things are how we keep a community healthy and moving, how we avoid things getting stagnant and rotting away.

I've said it before in past essays I've published and I'll say it again: alterhuman communities survive through their internal momentum. We're still around and kicking because we're a bunch of opinionated, passionate animals and objects and entities and people and concepts and and and-- this is what we are! This is how we all, both together and individually as separate groups, continue to be around. We write. We argue. We dance. We leave tracks. And then others see all those things, months or years down the line, and they know they're not alone. They know that it's okay to join in around the campfire, and they end up leaving their own tracks, and the cycle repeats.

So I guess what I'm saying here is that I'm not just beseeching people to create, but I'm asking you to create with others. To extend that paw towards the people around you in your immediate community spaces and wider, and to realize that yeah, the digital grains of sand and time might erode and change the landscapes we're all in, but we can still have a damn good time exploring the new nooks and crannies around us and showing others our old hidey-holes and favorite spots to watch the sun set.

[smalltimidbean]

You should totally make an askblog for the Cheeseshop AU at some point! Not like, right now of course, since starting another Askblog right now would probably just stress you out and we don't wanna do that cus your mental health always comes first, but it could be a fun little thing you could do in the future after you're done with the main story on Pep's blog, or just at a time where you think you could do it without getting stressed.

In the meantime though, I'm just gonna go ahead and- "Hugs Cheeseshop Peppino cus he's freaking adorable"

Oh, trust me, I have considered it, and been very tempted to do so!!!

I just have not bc I am still working on a story for it, and I would feel even more guilt for not working on Pep's blog (even tho I shouldn't bc askblogs should be fun and not an obligation, but the mind is weird), and irl things etc

Also, I do not have an end story for Pep's blog right now, so that could potentially go on indefinitely if I wanted, and I am always sorta stressed, so there would probably never be a 'good' time to make another blog

Still, it is something I would like to do, but probably not right at this moment - although, do not be surprised if my impulse takes over and there is a new blog by the end of the day lkfdldgfjl;k (silly)

I suppose in the meantime, folks can ask questions to them/about them here - but that might also just tempt me more, so idk

[dailyadventureprompts]

Villain: The Knights of St. Kazvarin

There's pious and selfless devotion, and then there's whatever these weirdos have going on

Riding forth from their brooding fortress-abbey to do the will of a long dead holy man, these inscrutable warriors have long been the subject of rumour and suspicion. It's not an undeserved reputation, as apart from looting tombs for ancient relics or ominously observing the goings on of the common folk these forboding knights are most often acting as the hired muscle for unscrupulous nobles who have no regard for the legality or virtue of the orders they enforce.

Far more than mercenaries with a patina of piousness, the Knights use these contracts to fund a secret and sinister endeavour that they have undertaken for centuries.

Adventure Hooks:

While delving through a dungeon the party follow a trail of slain monsters to a gravely injured knight and his thoroughly overwhelmed young squire. The boy will introduce them as Tilaen and Ser Darrik respectively and ask for their aid in tending to his master's injuries, before the dour Knight chides him for speaking on his behalf and tells the party to be about their way. Ser Darrik wants no help from "the faithless" and is willing to use the last of his strength to get violent about it. If cooler heads prevail, the party will learn that the two were after a rare manuscript hidden somewhere within the dungeon, and the offer of collaboration might be explored. If the party don't help, they'll find the squire waiting for them at the dungeon's entrance, requesting their help to bury his master and guide him back to their order's abbey. It's only after a few days of travelling together will realize that Squire Tilaen is muchabused by his sect, and that steering the boy away or outright adopting him might be the real kindness.

Acting as a stern and imposing shadow to whatever asshole noble or callous merchant the party have recently pissed off, the towering and always helmed Ser Gelceiras has "Bossfight" written all over him. However when the adventure's final confrontation looms the party find him cleaning off his massive axe, his employer's head in a bloodsoaked bag waiting to be delivered to them. "We got what we wanted from him" he rumbles as he exits, " you can have what's left. no hard feelings."

Just a new threat encroaches on the settlement, a mace wielding bruiser in burnished armour rides up and pledges to fight alongside the party in its defence. Ser Portia's skill as a fighter is sorely needed, perhaps enough to overlook whatever agenda it is that drew her to the settlement in the first place. Shortly after the final battle is fought and the dust clears, the party will realize Portia is nowhere to be seen... having escaped sometime during the aftermath after inexplicably kidnapping one of the locals.

Background: Before he was a sacred corpse, Saint Kazvarin was a necromancer of great talent, having dedicated his life to the study of thanatology and the many loopholes around death. This earned him great renown and wealth in his day, amazing the masses with seances while charging the powerful dearly for cut-rate resurrections. He amassed generous patrons and fanatical followers, only to have it all fall apart when the Raven Queen took an interest.

Kazvarin had and constructed his own bootleg afterlife, a place where his most loyal followers would rest forever in glory before being called back in time of greatest need. Atleast that was the sales pitch, in reality the "saint" had stopped just short of lichdom delving into the shadow to create a demiplane where his own soul would reside undeminished after death, sustained by the faith of his followers as the realm hollowed them out.

Such villainy inevitably created it's own downfall in the form of a young woman who's family were taken in and exploited by Kazvarin's cult. Though her name was not recorded by history, she was marked by the Duskmaven for greatness when she swore to tear down the saint who would conquer death, years later succeeding along with some allies in not only killing the necromancer but cursing him with a most ironic fate. Denying him the afterlife he had so meticulously constructed, the raven queen cursed Kazvarin with reincarnation, forcing his soul to live out a new life where it would forget all he knew and be remade.

It would have been a perfect punishment had the Saint's followers not been so fanatical. Though their organization had been shattered by their "benevolent" leader's apparent assassination, the most loyal of his inner circle poured through his research, finding the spells nessisary to seek out his soul in its new vessel. Thereafter they engaged in a grim hunt, crossing the realms to ritually sacrifice the youth their leader had grown into and pulling free his undigested soul. This is the cycle Kazvarin's followers have been following for generations, spending decades hunting for signs of their leader's return before using murder and necromancy to forcibly deincarnate him. Thereafter Kazvarin has a few months or years to act freely before he is swallowed back up by the tide of souls and the hunt begins again

Future Adventures:

Though they begin as a comparatively minor oddity, the knights become a true threat to the campaign as soon as they figure out who Kazvarin's current incarnation is and manage to wrest his soul out. Ideally this should be someone the party knows, to make it all the more tragic that they were sacrificed to bring about the villain's return.

Though it is much deminished, Kazvarin's demiplane (called the Howling Basilica) still traps the souls of those who have sworn their lives to him, acting as a vault from which he can pull rank upon rank of shadow-maddened spirits to his bidding. His most loyal retainers are allowed to keep their skills and individuality while being deprived of their will, meaning he has a backlog of highly skilled Knights just waiting for new bodies to possess no matter how many times the party defeat them on the field. What's worse is that the saint still remembers how to manipulate people with the offer of offbrand immortality, and will likely begin reaching out to powerful individuals shorty after his return.

Art 1

Art 2

[tumbleweed-run]

A Perfect Date With Gale

@arachnethebard perhaps not what you intended but this is what happened

Since you got to Waterdeep with Gale he's been insistent that the two of you go on a 'perfect' first day... despite the fact that the two of you are already engaged.

Perfection is such a difficult thing to achieve.

1600 words because I'm physically incapable of brevity.

PG (for once)

Gale has been talking about giving you a “proper first date” for entire month you two have been in Waterdeep. Never mind the fact that you two are engaged. He’s been focusing on it near daily. Every time he brings it up you smile and nod. It’s not that you wouldn’t enjoy a nice night out exploring the city, but it’s not about that. 

“Tomorrow night,” he announces one night as he enters the study.  You’re petting Tara, tactfully ignoring a light smear of blood around her mouth… the tower is always miraculously free of rodents. 

You find new clothes draped over a bench in the bedroom the following afternoon. You admire them for a moment, almost hesitant to touch them. They’re finer than anything you’ve worn in years, possibly ever. But despite your mild apprehension over the likelihood of destroying them before you step foot out of the tower, you don them. Gale did go through the trouble, and expense, procuring them for you. 

Gale greets you outside the room, looking as though he’s been waiting the entire time you’ve been inside. You chuckle to yourself at the thought, given that it was once just his room. 

He’s wearing almost traditional wizard’s robes but these are new, a deep maroon with gold accents. He’s begun to stray from the purple he wore almost exclusively when you first met him. There might be something deeper behind that if you dared to think about it for a moment. You know there’s some meaning behind the gold and emerald earring he has in. Your hand instinctively goes to it’s other half, resting around your neck.

“Shall we?” He offers you his arm, eyes sweeping over your form. His smile tells you he’s pleased with the way you look in what he’s selected. 

You spend much of the walk taking in the city at dusk. Waterdeep is so different from Baldur’s Gate, and yet so very similar. Gale happily talks for the both of you. 

The building you stopped in front of was beautiful to say the least, all the street facing windows were stained glass in the shape of the city’s crest. The two large heavy doors were opened and a rather bored looking man in fine clothes stood just inside them. The braziers over the steps was brightly polished brass throwing the light far into the road as if beckoning people in. 

You were busy, once again, marvelling at the building you at first missed Gale’s eyebrows knitting together. He was speaking to the man in the door way, both in hushed tones. The man seemed simply uninterested in whatever Gale was telling him. 

“Now I’m positive I’ve reserved a table,” Gale’s voice had pitched upwards giving away his apparent distress. “I came down myself a tenday ago and booked it.”

You saw a light go on in the bored man’s eyes. “Ah,” he said nodding, “I see the error. The table you booked is for next year. All our bookings are.”

Gale’s mouth simply hands open, a light red brushing just above his beard on his cheeks. 

“Gale,” you say softly, hand going to his arm, “It’s fine we’ll find something else for tonight and come back… next year.”

You resolutely, do not laugh.

Gale, still flabbergasted into silence, looks between you and the other man. For a moment he looks like he wants to argue with one of you but wisely, wisely, nods to you instead. You lead this time as you turn away from the lovely building.

Gale seems over his shock sometime later and sighs heavily. “It’s unlikely we’ll find something worthy of our first date tonight.”

He sounds so put down your heart breaks for a moment. You don’t give into the feeling and instead hook your arm through his. “Whatever we find will be perfect,” you assure him.

He offers you a small, but doubtful smile. 

You two wander, arm in arm, in the cool evening air. Gale doesn’t really seem to be looking for a new option but you are. And it appears down a dirt-packed road, you grasp his arm and point. 

Gale sputters again, “The Yawning Portal?” 

He seems incredulous that you would even suggest it. 

“Well they’re not likely to turn us away,” you risk a tease, “and besides you’ve spoken if it dozens of times. Let’s go!”

Gale relents almost immediately when you turn to him with pleading eyes, and as soon as he does you nearly drag him down the road. You laugh, out loud this time, when Gale shuffles his coin purse further beneath his robes. 

The proprietor barely spares you an eye roll as you two enter in your finery, he’s too busy to care. You run directly up to the dry well first and peer down, you can’t see anything but darkness. Gale gently redirects you to a table in the corner with an exasperated smile. Once he deems you safely secured into a relatively unoccupied corner he disappears towards the bar. Immediately you love this tavern with its rowdy clientele and atmosphere similar to many you had frequented in Baldur’s Gate. 

Gale returns with two mugs full of ale. “Food will be out in a moment,” he assures you, near shouting to be heard over the noise. 

You beam at him and reluctantly, he grins widely back.

One thing for Waterdeep is even in it’s most questionable of places the food is mouthwatering, a testament to Waterdeep’s reputation for the finest food on the coast. The two of you huddle together to hear each other without yelling as you eat. Gale surreptitiously points out some of the notable patrons that are there tonight. He lets you watch in rapt interest as a few bold adventurers lower themselves into the dry well, making for the Undermountain. Only once they disappeared did he launch into an explanation of the dungeon they were entering. 

Seemingly too soon the food is gone and your mugs empty. You don’t want the evening out to end just yet, you realize you miss your own little adventure (perhaps not the constant near-death aspect) and this place helps easy some of the sadness. Besides, as Gale’s mugs drained he leaned closer to you, words breathed against your ear and neck as he filled you in on everything he knew. 

You offer to get another round, immediately missing the warmth of his body pressed to yours as you stand. 

As you return you spot him watching you. The look on his face is openly dreamy, even when he realizes your watching him. 

The widening of his eyes is the only warning you receive before you trip into a rather stout dwarf you had somehow missed in your path. Your stumble sends the ale spilling down your front and most unfortunately directly over the dwarf’s head. 

In an instant he’s got both hands wrapped around your arms, the mugs falling to the floor. “Now, what in the hell is wrong with you,” he snarls yanking you forward nearly bending you in half so you’re closer to his level. 

You haven’t even fully registered what’s happened when just as quickly as he’d grabbed you, the dwarf is gone. 

Not gone, you realize. Instead, he’s now pinned against a table by Gale. He’s got one hand on the dwarf’s collar holding him and in the other he has a small spark of flame dancing in his palm. His face is dark, both literally and figuratively. Hair loosed by his sudden movements, falling forward and shielding his eyes from you.

This…

is new.

“... made a mistake, no need to get rough,” Gale is speaking and you suddenly realize the room’s gone quiet enough that you can hear him perfectly well despite the distance between you. 

In opposition to what he’s saying, the flame grows against his palm. 

The smell of beer hits you first, your front completely soaked in it. Then the realization that the dwarf is similarly covered sinks in. Gale is more likely to accidentally set the man ablaze than he is to diffuse the situation. 

That is what he’s trying to do, you hope. 

“Gale,” you speak just above a whisper, hand coming to rest on his back gently. 

You don’t want to cause the flame to catch. 

“It’s alright,” You assure him, hand rubbing in a soothing pattern, “We’re alright. Right?” The last is aimed at the dwarf who is glancing nervously between the flame and you now.

“Yeah,” He nods almost imperceptibly, “no harm done.”

Whatever had come over him abruptly left Gale, in one movement he both released the dwarf and extinguished the flame. 

“Well then,” you nod with an over-enthusiastic smile, “a round for everyone!” The coin pouch you hold up is Gale’s. 

Everyone is instantly merry, the volume once again rising so you can no longer hear those around you. 

“That’s not how I wanted our first date to go,” Gale says much later in the evening as you two are in the bath. 

You’re seated between his legs, leaning back against his chest, hand lazily drawing patterns on his knee in the water. Your ruined clothes are discarded on the floor somewhere near. The scent of rosewater is diluted only slightly by the smell of a tavern 

The laughter that bursts out of you is unexpected but after a beat even Gale joins in, head dipping back against the edge as he does. 

“It was perfect,” you insist turning your head to look at him.

Both of his eyebrows go up. “For us,” you amend. You twist just far enough to press a kiss to his lips. 

He hums against your mouth. “You still smell like you bathed in ale,” he teases, nose wrinkling.

[fayes-fics]

When The World Is Free: Chapter 2 -  La Valse de Paris

MASTERPOST PREV | NEXT

Pairing: Benedict Bridgerton x fem!reader, WW2 AU.

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1.7k

AuthorsNote: Chapter 2 of new multi-chapter fic based on a request by the lovely @amillcitygirl! Please see the masterpost for a synopsis of this story. This details our reader settling into Paris and the outbreak of war. Benedict turns up next chapter. Thanks to @colettebronte for beta reading. Enjoy! <3

Paris, September 1939

Your first few weeks in Paris are a delightful blur. 

Spending late summer exploring the city - with Solène as your occasional guide and Eloise when she is not at work. You soak up every moment, from the windswept magnificence of standing atop the Eiffel Tower, your words being stolen by the wind, to the monastic silence of the Louvre on a quiet Monday morning. And everything in between - from Notre Dame's atmospheric incense-laden gothic darkness to the airy, resplendent glass dome of Galeries Lafayette that glitters like a prismatic jewel even on cloudy days. 

But perhaps your favourites are the little slices of city life: sitting watching the world go by at a corner cafe, the crunch and warm, pillowy softness of the first bite of freshly baked baguette as you wander back from the boulangerie, the lingering fragrance of the rose garden at the Château de Bagatelle in Bois de Boulogne... It's all pieces of a puzzle that fill your heart in ways that make your life before now seem drab, almost in black and white, like a photograph.

You have written to Stanley once since you arrived, effusive in your praise, a homily to your new home, however temporary. While proclaiming his happiness for you, his response tempered, a touch dismissive of your wonderment. I can scarcely believe any city could truly live up to the praise you so readily heap upon Paris, my love, he wrote back. That was a week ago, and your urge to reply has been muted. 

It's during an idle lunchtime by the Seine, eating a sandwich as you dangle your feet over the river wall, that you genuinely feel a local. An elderly French couple, likely visiting from the provinces, approaches you and asks you for directions to the Musée de l'Homme. Part of you aglow they think you sophisticated enough to look Parisian, and French. And you are able to help them, giving them the information in French, not fluent but sufficient that they are surprised when you confess “je suis américaine”.

In your third week, you secure the art gallery job Eloise had seen posted. An opportunity to meet many new people, primarily British and American, who share your love of art of all persuasions. You spend many a happy hour answering questions and building your knowledge of art, not just in your gallery but across the city. Part of you is wistful to study the subject in even greater depth than the books you borrow in copious quantities from the library where Eloise works.

You grow so close to Eloise so quickly that it’s as if you have known her your whole life. A sense of kinship, a near familial bond. You know, on some instinctive level, she will always be a part of your life somehow. Your evenings are often spent in lounge bars together—venues awash with art deco splendour as you listen to jazz through a cigarette haze and flirt aimlessly with a carousel of handsome men. Life seems so full of potential, a hum in your very being.

“What do you think the purpose of life is, y/n?” Eloise sighs as she flops onto your bed after returning from one such decadent night out.

“Aaaand we are done with the brandy…” you declare, taking the bottle of Martell cognac from her grip and placing it pointedly on the dresser, your high-handed point only mildly undermined by your own unsteady gait.

You collapse down next to her, the intricate ceiling rose around your light fixture swirling slightly before your very eyes.

“Love?” you hazard in answer to her question.

“Boo! Cliché!” she jeers, elbowing you good-naturedly.

“I don’t just mean romantic love,” you protest, “the love of family… friends…”

“Ah, yes, family. Endlessly large family. Don’t suppose you want an extra sibling or two, do you? I could be persuaded to let a couple go,” she squints comically.

“Depends… can I have the artist?” you jest.

“You have to stop staring at that painting; it's getting weird,” she opines with her typical bluntness, “and no, you can’t. You know he’s my favourite,” she pouts.

“I think he’s my favourite too,” you opine over a stifled yawn, any embarrassment about being called out for your unbridled admiration overridden by the sleepy state your comfortable bed lulls you into.

“If you end up being attracted to my brother, I will have to disown you, you know,” she pats your hand drowsily.

“Hmm, good thing he’s so far away…” you trail off with a lazy giggle, eyes drooping heavily.

It’s the last words you exchange before you both fall asleep on your bed.

–

Perhaps, as with all things that are too good, the idyll is temporary. It's the news you wake up to that following morning, September 4th, which throws everything into uncertainty. Solène knocks on your door early with an uncharacteristically sombre expression, wordlessly handing you the morning paper and flicking on the wireless on your mantelpiece, the fine lines on her face deeper etched, furrowed with worry.

‘La Guerre!’ the headline screams from the newspaper. And the voice on the airwaves, your ear more attuned to the language now, details how Britain and France have jointly declared war against Germany for their invasion of Poland a few days prior.

At the sound of the radio, Eloise emerges from your room, blinking and hair asunder, a little delicate from your previous night's revelry. You sip coffee at a loss for what to think or do. It’s an odd cognitive dissonance when life at once seems identical but also changed by an invisible shape - an undercurrent of fear, of the unknown, a punch to the pit of your stomach that you don’t know how to acknowledge - even as you go through the motions of your daily routine and head to work.

By the evening you are more phlegmatic about the situation. Your spirit dampened, yes, but not crushed. You feel an immense sense of privilege that conflict is not yet at your doorstep, but equally knowing being in the capital city of a nation that just declared war against a neighbouring country is not exactly safe.

You and Eloise splash out on dinner at an upscale brassiere that night, one you have both passed and commented you’d love to dine in some time. Both of you seized by the unspoken “what if”, the previous reluctance to treat yourselves entirely absent.

Talk on all the tables around you as you dine - on heavenly butter-soft steak - is about the war. What it could mean for Paris, fear of another major European conflict so soon after the last, the economic concerns - the bite of the early 30s depression just relinquishing its hostile grip on the somewhat bruised denizens.

Afterwards, you wander the cobbled streets back to your apartment, arms looped, bellies full, occasionally staring up at the starry night sky in mostly contemplative, sober silence. It’s a beautiful evening, but something in the warm breeze feels melancholic.

When you open the door to your building, Solène is waiting, rocking on her heels.

“Eloise, a telegram has come for you!” she announces, shoving a piece of paper into her hand. “And a telephone call from England earlier,” she adds, gesturing to the black rotary phone outside her place—the only one in the building.

Eloise gives you a brief glance and then opens the message. You watch her eyes ping across the text before her shoulders slump.

“My mother,” she sighs in explanation, “it appears she is summoning me back home.”

“What?!” the selfish reflex of not wanting to be left alone is the first thing flaring in you.

“It’s not fair!” she whines in a flash of child-like defiance before continuing in a more subdued tone. “She is sending my brother to come get me. She doesn’t specify which, but seeing as Anthony is a Lieutenant General in the Army and has likely been called to Churchill’s side, I'm presuming Benedict,” Eloise surmises. 

Your thoughts instantly fly to that painting hanging in your apartment upstairs. A strange flutter under your ribs at the idea you could be about to meet its creator. Quickly followed by a wash of guilt that you could even focus on such a frivolous thing.

“What will I do without you?’’ You fret aloud, grasping her arm tighter.

“There was a call for you too, y/n,” Solène pipes up. “Your father wants you to exchange your return ticket for a sailing home as soon as possible,” she relays.

“But.. I just got here!” your lament as defiant as Eloise’s. A frustrating sense you are losing a fleeting opportunity you already hold so precious - like a new toy being ripped from the meaty fist of a truculent toddler.

“Mes amis, what can I say?” that trademark Gallic shrug seizing Solène’s shoulders. “While Paris is safe for now, we do not know how much longer that will hold true… it is likely best you return home. Perhaps this will be over in weeks, and you can return?”

You know your parents have paid your rent upfront for a whole year, likely similar for Eloise, your landlady not impacted financially by your leaving, merely a wish for you to enjoy your Parisian adventures.

As you unlock the door to your apartment and wander in, both of you sigh; the illumination from the Eiffel Tower that refracts upon your window pane just adds to your melancholia, a sight that before had never failed to warm your heart.

“When will your brother get here?” your inflection dull.

“Tomorrow, most likely. It only takes a couple of hours to cross the Channel, and as you know, the train ride from the coast is just a few more. I expect he’ll be waiting for me right here when I return from work,” her tone is just as flat as yours.

You want to ask if she will pack tonight, but you stop yourself, seeing the flame that usually burns so bright behind her blue eyes dimmed. Wordlessly, you draw closer and pull her into a firm hug.

“I will miss you like a sister,” she whispers into your hair, returning the embrace just as fiercely, “maybe moreso.”

You nod and band your arms tighter briefly before letting go, bone-deep exhaustion overtaking anything else you see in her mirrored stance.

The last thing that captures your eye as Eloise turns to her room is that painting of her childhood home and, strangely, how it feels closer now than ever before.

Benedict taglist: @foreverlonginguniverse @aintnuthinbutahounddog @severewobblerlightdragon @writergirl-2001 @heeyyyou @enichole445 @enchantedbytomandhenry @ambitionspassionscoffee @chaoticcalzoneranchsports @nikaprincessofkattegat @baebee35 @crowleysqueenofhell @fiction-is-life @lilacbeesworld @broooookiecrisp @queen-of-the-misfit-toys @eleanor-bradstreet @divaanya @musicismyoxygen84 @benedictspaintbrush @miindfucked @sorryallonsy @cayt0123 @hottytoddyhistory @truly-dionysus @fictionalmenloversblog @zinzysstuff @malpalgalz @panhoeofmanyfandoms @kinokomoonshine @causeimissu @delehosies @m-rae23 @last-sheep @kmc1989 @desert-fern @starkeylover @corpseoftrees-queen @magical-spit @bunnyweasley23 @how-many-stars-in-the-sky @amygdtjhddzvb @sya-skies @balladynaaa

[lev1hei1chou]

Trip To Malaysia

Nanami x reader Genre: Fluff Words: 775 Synopsis: Nanami moves to Malaysia with you PART 1 PART 3 Masterlist

The dust settled in Shibuya, and amidst the chaos, violence and destruction, Nanami Kento stands tall, having survived the disaster in Shibuya. The battle was fierce, the losses immeasurable, but somehow, Nanami emerged as the victor. As the city slowly rebuilds in its own pace, Nanami finds himself needing a break desperately, a opportunity to breathe and heal.

You, his partner, have been a irreplaceable presence in his life. As time passes, Nanami realizes that it's about time for a change – a fresh start far away from the painful memories that that take up a huge portion of his thoughts. After thorough consideration, he proposes a trip to Malaysia, a place neither of you has ever been to before.

The plane lands in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the warm air greets both of you as you step out onto the airport. It's quite the stark contrast to the chilly aftermath of the Shibuya Incident, and Nanami seems to welcome the change with a full heart. The decision to come to Malaysia wasn't about escaping from the past. Instead it was about discovering new beginnings.

You both settle into a cozy hotel room in the the city, surrounded by the lively culture and the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur. The unfamiliar sights acts as a soothing balm for Nanami's hurt soul, and he welcomes and appreciates the chance to explore a place untouched by curses and battles.

Days turn into weeks, and you find comfort and happiness in the simplicity of daily life. Something that was not a guarantee in your world, that was filled with curses and uncertainities. Together, you walked through the bustling markets, tasted local delicacies, and learnt about the traditions of Malaysia. Nanami, known for his reserved persona, surprised you with his curiosity about the places and traditions.

One evening, as you stroll through the colorful streets of Kuala Lumpur, Nanami spoke up. "This place is quite different," he muses, scanning the vibrant lanterns hanging overhead. "It's a change I appreciate."

You smiled at him, squeezing his hand gently. "Sometimes, change is what we need the most."

The weeks turned into months, and the routine of daily life in Malaysia brought about a sense of calmness to Nanami's troubled mind. You both befriend your neighbours, then the locals, learn the language, and even learn to cook some traditional foods of the place. The days are filled with laughter, quite different from the battles you left behind in your homeland.

One afternoon, as you both relax on a beautiful beach, Nanami opens up about the past. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore was like music to your ears, as he shares the burdens he carried from Tokyo, in detail. You listen, trying your best to give him as much comfort as you could, grateful for the trust he places in you.

"I never thought I'd find peace like this," Nanami admitted, his gaze fixed sun setting in the horizon. "Malaysia has a way of healing all the wounds I never knew I had. And I'm glad I could experience this with you."

You lean onto him, resting your head on his broad shoulder and nod.

As the months pass, Nanami and you create a new life in Malaysia. The memories of Shibuya fade, replaced by the vibrant tapestry of your experiences in this foreign land. Together, you face the challenges and joys of adapting to a new culture, and the shared adventures strengthen the bond between you.

One day, as you both stand on top of the heights of the Petronas Towers, Nanami turns to you with a soft smile. "Thank you," he says, his eyes filled with a newfound sense of contentment. "For being with me, for giving me a reason to live on and appreciate new experiences."

You cup his face softly in your hands, gazing into his eyes with pure love and adoration. "Thank you for letting me be a part of your journey and for allowing yourself to heal."

The skyline of Kuala Lumpur was breathtaking to look at. As the sun sets, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink, you realize that sometimes, most of stories involving healing begin with a single step into the unknown. All one needs to do is take that step.

In Malaysia, amid the diversity and the warmth of the lovely people, Nanami and you discover a love that goes beyond the numerous hurdles of the past. Together, you build a new chapter, leaving behind the wounds and pain of the past, and welcoming a future filled with hope and endless possibilities.

[joelswritingmistress]

You Scare Me Professor (Chapter 57 - The Final Chapter)

Summary: The reader is taking graduate classes at a local university in the wooded upstate New York. She is drawn to her professor, Dr. Joel Miller, though she is also inherently aware that he has something dark about him that she can't quite put her finger on. As the reader's attraction grows deeper, she has to decide whether to endure the danger or run away as fast as possible. 

Pairing: Professor Joel Miller x f!reader 

Healing. There would be an infinite amount of healing to do; though over the next six months there were little victories that aided in the process. Will plead guilty. It was an act that everyone was shocked about and ultimately it spared Carol a lot of extra heartache that she didn’t deserve. The evidence was already stacked against him, but now that Will admitted guilt, Carol would not have to sit on a stand as a defense lawyer grilled her and tried to twist her trauma around. For that, everyone was thankful.

Upon a leave of absence for the remainder of the school year, Carol returned to her job in September. In turn, she received a standing ovation from the student body and gained the full support of the staff there. Again, another part of the healing process. I knew Carol was hurting, but she persevered and thrived in her profession. She was going to make it because that’s what women like Carol did. They rose above. They made it.

“She even started coaching volleyball,” Joel informed me. “She was all-state in her younger days.”

Joel. My Joel. I had no issue calling him that all the time now. I tried to prove him wrong every day, and after a little bit of time and a lot of convincing I think it’s clear to him now that I will forever keep his secrets.

He went into a temporary retirement, and I changed my mind and pursued the rest of my Master’s Degree online. Without having to twist my arm too much, Joel convinced me to travel a bit to get away from New York State for a short while. It was therapeutic, to say the least.

I allowed him to take me to Nashville near the end of the summer, and then over to the Grand Canyon. We spent two weeks exploring California, extending our stays from a little ranch near the Joshua Tree, up to San Diego where I unsuccessfully tried surfing and concluding in wine country as autumn really set in. We hiked Washington State, made our way to Yellowstone Park, spent a few romantic nights on Lake Michigan before making it back to the East Coast in time for Halloween, where we crashed the small city of Salem, Massachusetts. It was the perfect ending, really.

Joel found us some cheap masks, and we blended in with the crowds that literally paraded every downtown street in the area. It was welcomed chaos and we spent the day taking pictures with spooky characters, sharing laughs, having some drinks and waiting in lines to slink into shops littered with folklore and magic.

When a light rain began near nightfall, Joel towed me away to a rooftop bar at the top of our hotel where he’d made a reservation earlier in the day. A gentle pitter-patter on the roof of the outdoor patio where we sat was relaxing. It was soothing music to our ears after a day of crowds.

From where we towered above the world, we could see two lighthouses in the distance over the blackened water. Below, people still gathered by the masses for whatever attraction, bar or restaurant they were seeking - if anyone.

“Here are your drinks.” A waitress came back to our two-person, high-top table with a pair of martinis and I sighed as she walked away.

“Ready to go home?” Joel asked, smirked as he placed a hand gently on top of mine.

My fingers squeezed around his and I nodded. “This has been a wild ride.”

“Happy Halloween.”

I grinned again and raised my glass. “Happy Halloween.” Our glasses tapped together and Joel leaned two-thirds of the way across to peck my lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He kissed me another time and then settled back in his chair. At the same time, we took sips from our drinks and I felt my body relax.

“This has been great,” I told him, unable to think of another adjective. “It really revived me.” I gave a nod and looked him in the eye. “How do you feel?”

“A lot better.” He grinned and added, “Thank you for sticking by me. You had every right to run in the opposite direction. You still do.”

“Dr. Miller,” I said sternly, making him chuckle. “I’m going to need you to stop trying to convince me to leave you. Unless you’re secretly trying to get rid of me.” I sipped on my cocktail and kept my eyes on his.

Joel leaned forward, never breaking eye contact. “I would never want that.”

“Then stop saying things like that,” I ordered lightheartedly, leaning back toward him just a little bit.

“Okay,” he agreed, “I’ll work on it.”

“Thank you.” When he lingered, I leaned forward and left a long, closed-mouth kiss on his lips. When I pulled back he was grinning and I chuckled.

“I’m thinking the exact opposite of that, actually.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I want you to be with me forever.”

I felt a blush form on my cheeks and I couldn’t help but smile wider. When Joel leaned back, reaching a hand into the pocket of his khaki pants, I felt like my body went numb. And then he pulled out a small, black box and pushed it across the table. I was frozen. My eyes were glued to the box and if it was anything other than what I thought it was, I knew it would be like a kid opening an empty box on Christmas.

“What’s this?” My words barely made it out past my lips.

Joel’s eyes remained on mine as he opened the box. My eyes dropped, staring at the silver ring in the center of it. A Diamond sparkled even in the dim lighting.

“Marry me,” he said quietly, linking his hands to mine on either side of the ring.

“Marry me.” I repeated the words to myself to make sure I heard them right. “Marry me.”

“Marry me,” Joel said again.

My gaze found his again and finally the tears that welded up in my eyes were tears of joy. “Okay.” I laughed and cried at the same time, “I’ll marry you.”

“Yeah?” He kept his voice quiet as mine grew louder, drawing a few glances from other patrons in our direction.

“Yeah.” I giggled and put my face in my hands as I continued to cry at the same time. “Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Joel!” I popped my face up. “Yes! Yes!” People were staring at us now and Joel looked around the immediate area, giving a wave and a smile before returning his attention to me. He reached for the ring in the small, black box and slid the ring on my finger.

I jumped up from my seat and I couldn’t help it. I rushed around the table and threw my arms around him, pulling him in to kiss him hard.

“I thought Halloween was a fitting night for us to get engaged,” Joel admitted, holding me close as he spoke in my ear. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“It’s perfect.” I whispered back, holding him close as my fingers gripped the hair on the back of his head. “I love you.”

“Did you two just get engaged?” A female voice shouted from a few tables away.

We both pulled back, still holding onto one another and I responded by showing off my ring. “Yes.”

The costume-clad crowd in the immediate area all began to clap and I couldn’t contain my wide, beaming smile and the tears that continued to fall. When a waitress got wind of it, she brought us over a bottle of complimentary champagne.

“I know it hasn’t even been a year since we’ve known each other,” Joel said, “But life is too short to wait. You changed my life, (Y/N). I’ve never loved or trusted someone more than you. I don’t want to ever risk letting that go.”

“I know how you feel.” We shared another kiss and then took our glasses toward the edge of the balcony that overlooked Salem. I couldn’t help but smile to myself.

A breeze passed through and made me shudder, causing Joel to pull me close.

“Any regrets?” He asked.

I smiled up at him. “None, whatsoever.”

**Thank you everyone for following this story. I appreciate everyone reading, reviewing and following. It made it fun to write. This is the longest story I've ever written and it's been fun because people were interacting and guessing whole the killer was and I loved it. It made it great for me, as a writer. So THANK YOU!

@untamedheart81 @suttonspuds @cesspitoflove @michilandcof @grogusmum @morallyinept @akah565 @brittmb115 @magpiepills @poodlebae @gobaaby-blog-blog @mermaidgirl30 @mandojojo @shotgun-shelby @itscatrodriguez-thepearl @macaroni676 @smolbeanzzz @bandluvr97

[blacknedsoul-blog]

My bets on Nevermore's development

In the middle of the arc and with the White Raven divorce beginning, I think I feel comfortable betting on how all the story lines the comic has laid out so far will play out. A mixture of analysis and theories.

Duke and Montressor

I don't think Duke will die. For several reasons (one of which I'll explain below), but the main one is that Duke is a character who still has a lot to give: they've gone to the trouble of giving him a name, a past, a personality, and yet none of these things have been properly explored. The comic wouldn't really benefit from Duke dying because he still has a lot of interesting things to bring to the story.

Coupled with the fact that we're still learning how Spectres work, and with Duke unable to manifest, it's the perfect time to flesh out that part of the lore and give us a cool moment to show us his Spectre.

That said, I have a hard time seeing a way for Montressor to stay in the game once this issue is over: he's proven himself to be a menace that won't stop and an unmitigated sadist. The guy is just evil, and frankly, he didn't seem to have much more backstory or anything new to bring to the table.

My bet on him is that he'll die, maybe Lenore will go with the group in psycho-killer mode, Duke will confront him with his spectre, Morella will go against him to save Ada, Annabel will try to make merit so Lenore won't be asked for a divorce, or the Deans themselves will see him as a problem they need to take care of. If the comic thinks murder is irredeemable for its characters, maybe he'll have a Frollo-style death where it's his own ego that kills him (what if he becomes one of the creatures roaming the school?).

I think this because, besides how satisfying it would be to see him die, I think it would be a good time for the comic to show you the consequences of death within Nevermore. We know that going to the Land of the Dead is a terrible thing, but we don't know exactly what it entails. And seeing it would make any future threat seem more terrifying.

Post-Divorce

The White Raven will reconcile. This is obvious: the comic is about their relationship, the publicity for the comic has them together, and much of the appeal of the work comes from their romance. It's not a question of whether it will happen or not, but how it will happen and what the consequences will be.

Maybe some extraordinary event will happen to bring them back together, or we will have the equivalent of the Greenhouse 2.0 scene where they have a whole conversation about why, even if Lenore understands Annabel reasons, this is a situation that can never happen again.

One thing I want to point out here: I don't think Annabel did this out of jealousy. Maybe she feels it, but this story has made a consistent effort to show you that while Annabel is hypocritical, manipulative, and Machiavellian, she still has a moral compass: her reaction after when Montressor makes Ada bark and when Prospero is about to have a breakdown indicate that her limit is to hurt others gratuitously. She won't defend them if it puts her in a problematic situation, but this clearly pisses her; by that logic, it would even be out of character for her to try to hurt Duke because she's jealous, and more importantly, it would do irreparable damage to her relationship with Lenore (which is why I don't think our favorite Frenchman dies).

Understanding that, there's one thing these two haven't really talked about: for Lenore, getting her friends out of here is not something optional, she's completely determined to do it, and given this moment, it's very likely that the next step will be for Annabel to join the "save everyone" team: she thinks Lenore is capable of anything, and so she's going to put all her faith in her being able to pull this off.

Coupled with the fact that the plan to keep Lenore as a harmless figure went to hell after the incident in the tower, she's going to have to adjust things. And my theory on this is that Annabel is going to expand her rivalry plan to the group level.

I believe this because the logical conclusion after the banquet is that the Deans, for some reason, want the students to fight, to foster an atmosphere of competition among them. So far, giving them what they want has worked perfectly for them, so they would suggest that it would be helpful to pretend that things are going exactly as they think they are while they try to figure out how to get out of this place, at least until they can think of something better.

Yes, I assume Annabel will join the Misfits. She'll probably be like Zuko from Avatar, begging for forgiveness and winning them over one by one in individual arcs.

Another important development that will come out of this is that when Lenore is fed up enough with her bullshit, she will remind Annabel of her promise about how they both get their memories back: they are already right in the middle and it will be time to start putting the puzzle together.

However, I have reason to believe that Annabel will manage not to talk about the exact way they both died for a very simple reason: whether Lenore was Annabel's executioner or not, they died together. Lenore was there, and she will most likely blame herself because "if I hadn't gone looking for her, Annabel would still be alive" and for "not protecting her".

But by the time they have this conversation (or she finds out otherwise), the comic may be starting to address one of Lenore's major conflicts as a character: because of her fear of abandonment and her feeling that she is undeserving of love, she has no qualms about putting herself in danger to protect others. This is a terribly damaging perspective in the context that the Deans have created: not only is it naive to think that she can always protect her friends or Annabel from getting hurt, but Lenore unwittingly carries the feelings of the people who love her by endangering herself.

My head canon

Everything I've said so far is based on things the comic has shown and storylines that may not be explored in this specific way, but are more or less on the comic. But there's a lot of nonsense out there that I'd really like to see, even if there's little or nothing in the artwork to indicate to me that any of those things will come to fruition.

Annabel vs. Montressor

I would love to see Annabel vs. Montressor precisely because Annabel has no chance against Montressor: she has no experience in a fight, even if her spectre is a powerful one, Montressor would wipe the floor with her. But I think it would be a nice way to put a point: Annabel and Montressor are not the same.

He enjoys torturing others, she will be a villain to protect what she loves.

I can also think of two interesting things that could come out of this encounter: Lenore having her moment where she thinks Annabel is dead, parallel to the maze scene (for Lenore, Annabel is an unbeatable queen, so she could use a little reality check), and a conversation along those lines:

-L: Did you think that by putting yourself in danger like this I was going to forgive what you did?!

A: I didn't do this because I thought you would forgive me. Deep down, I know you already did, even though that doesn't mean I shouldn't face consequences for my actions.

-L: ...Then why?

-A: Because I promised you I would. I said I would distract our enemies, that I would protect you from my allies, and that's exactly what I did. I knew I couldn't handle him, but I was distracted and wounded enough to get the job done.

This would finally establish one thing that has been up in the air about Annabel: yes, she really behaves and acts like a villain. But after something like this, there would never be any doubt (for the readers or for Lenore) that she always keeps her promises.

Imagine the delicious drama that could come from establishing that so forcefully.

Eulalie is a Lennabel shipper

Come to think of it, the two of them haven't done a very good job of hiding it: we go from Lenore running all over school to take care of Annabel to watching them fight for no apparent reason.

I like to think that Eulalie seriously suspects something is going on between them, and when the Misfits inevitably find out about Annabel and Lenore's relationship, she'll be like, "Oh, you guys hadn't noticed?" while saying things like, "Oh, so you're the one who took us to the haunted mansion!"

Annabel and Berenice as unlikely friends

I love the image of Berenice physically threatening Annabel with the knife and saying something like "You're a posh bitch, but you've got style" after she doesn't react in fear. I also think Bernice would be the first to admit that while she won't easily forgive Annabel for putting Duke in danger, she wouldn't have hesitated to throw Annabel, Prospero, Ada, or Will under the bus to protect any of her group of friends if necessary.

Also, the idea of Annabel saying, "She's a violent slur. I want her around" is oddly hilarious to me.

Prospero as the ultimate "tired friend"

If Annabel takes Prospero with her, I can imagine the guy banging his head against the wall all the time because he sees all these idiots who are strangely competent when you get right down to it, but choose to spend their energy doing stupid things when no one is dying.

A terrible deal between Duke and Annabel

Remember that wonderful scene in Avatar where Katara threatens to kill Zuko if she thinks he's going to hurt Aang? I like to think that Duke and Annabel will have a scene like that:

-D: They didn't see the look on your face when they put up the wall, but I did. And I can assure you that I won't hesitate to act if I think you're going to hurt my friend or any of them, cherie.

-A: Promise?

-D: ...

-A: That you will be there to protect her no matter what, even from me. I wouldn't mind you holding the sword of Damocles over my head if it proves to me that you can protect her from any threat.

-D: You have my word.

In conclusion

So that's my bingo on how things will go in the comic from here on out. There are some things (like Morella's development, what's going to happen with Ada, or when the hell we're going to get some backstory on Will) that I don't think I have enough information on to theorize. But here it is.

[kokoenjiandco]

!SURPRISE!

Chuuya Nakahara x gn!Reader

Synopsis: When moving in together for the first time goes horribly wrong, you want to make it up to Chuuya by surprising him with a heartwarming gift.

Tags: Reader and Chuuya are dating, kissing innit, Chuuya calls reader beautiful, alcohol, rich ass apartment, sfw, fluff, romance innit, no spoilers, get me a bbg like reader, please

A/N: I wrote this after drinking a really badly made coffee so idk what went down after that. If I've missed anything in the tags please let me know!!! Also, I have not proofread it so errrrrrrrrrrrrm.

1.3k words

You let out a dramatic sigh, a chill sweeping over you as you lay your forehead on the marble countertop of your new yet empty apartment. This was not how moving in with Chuuya was supposed to go. In the vast expanse of the room, the resonating yell of your significant other echoed from his fervent conversation with the delivery person over the phone. He had received a call earlier, detailing the mishap concerning the transportation of your shared furniture to the wrong destination. This meant the arrival of your furniture and belongings was postponed until the morning of tomorrow. Which meant you found yourself devoid of your clothes, bed, toiletries, and various other essentials. 

So, within the vast penthouse perched atop a towering skyscraper in Yokohama, it was just you, Chuuya, and the echoing void of an apartment barren of its intended contents. 

You finally lifted your head, resting your chin in the palms of your hands as you stared out of the large windows across the room. The sun, with its warm orange hue, streamed into the apartment as it slowly descended across Yokohama’s skyline, casting a rich golden shine over the empty house. Despite all of the chaos and your partner's shouting, you found yourself admiring the view of the sun's beauty from your windows. 

At that moment, an idea struck you, and you sprang up from where you were leaning against the marble counter. With a grin, you approached your irritated boyfriend and planted a small peck against his cheek. “I’m gonna head out and pick up some things. Is there anything specific you need?” 

His cheeks took on a subtle rosy hue as he welcomed the unexpected kiss on the cheek, causing him to momentarily divert his attention from the person on the other end of the phone call. He shifted the phone away from his ear, a hint of softness in his expression. "Nothing in particular," he replied, shaking his head. “But, I can run out and pick up whatever we need once I'm done with this call, Love.” 

"No worries!" you exclaimed cheerfully, punctuating your words with an enthusiastic shake of your head. You continued, "I needed something to do anyway." With a lively manner, you hopped on over to the door, shouting out, "I'll be back in a bit!" As you slipped your shoes on. 

With a final wave to Chuuya, you heard him call out, "Be safe, love you." You repeated his words as you closed the door behind you. Through the shut door, you could hear his muffled shouting resume over the phone, emitting a chuckle out of you. 

…

You took a stroll through the Yokohama streets before picking up your shopping, aiming to acquaint yourself with the surrounding area before fully settling into your new apartment. Following your explorations, you eventually gathered a few essential items, and then, in a delightful twist, you collected a selection of additional things that, while not strictly necessary, promised to be a pleasant surprise for Chuuya. You smiled to yourself, two weighty shopping bags in both of your hands as you walked back to your apartment under the illuminated city of Yokohama.

…

You entered your residence with hushed steps, relieved that Chuuya seemed occupied in another room of the apartment. You could hear him in your intended bedroom, still on the phone. He had been engrossed in the lengthy phone call evening, making the surprise you had in store all the more likely to bring a smile to his face. You started by extracting a checkered picnic blanket from one of the shopping bags and proceeded to spread it out on the floor in front of the windows. It was hard to contain your excitement, mentally patting yourself on the back for the wonderful idea. You continued to set up as swiftly as possible so Chuuya wouldn’t emerge in the midst of you unpacking, ruining the whole surprise. 

A couple of minutes had passed, and you had finally finished setting up. Just in time, you could hear Chuuya call your name and his footsteps walking over to the door. 

Weariness

Chuuya, with an air of exhaustion, gently pushed open the bedroom door, his eyes momentarily shut as he removed his fedora, sweeping his gloved hand through his ginger hair with a sigh of exasperation. He began recounting, "These morons somehow managed to transport our stuff to—" His words came to an abrupt halt as he opened his eyes and his gaze met an unexpected picture. Before him, you were seated upon a picnic blanket, bathed in the soft glow of candles and the ethereal moonlight streaming through the window. A delightful array of cheese and crackers lay scattered around you. 

You grinned at him, “Surprise!” You softly cheered. With a gentle grip, you held out a bottle of red wine in your hands, acknowledging, “It’s not exactly the fanciest, but it was the best I could get at the moment.” 

Chuuya’s gaze softened, a smile gracing his lips. With a sense of curiosity, he stepped over and took a seat across from you. "What's all this for?" he inquired, gently taking the bottle of wine out of your hands to read the label. Two wine glasses, thoughtfully obtained during your shopping excursion, were presented to him. Chuuya skillfully uncorked the bottle, eliciting a gentle gasp and a chuckle from you, the harmonious sound of the cork's release echoed through the room. His experienced hand then proceeded to fill both glasses and the crimson liquid cascaded into them.

With a warm smile adorning your features, you reached for a glass of wine and held it out to Chuuya. Your eyes met his once more, "You've been so stressed today," you began, your voice filled with compassion, "and I thought it'd be fun to celebrate our first apartment together."

As you spoke, you both gently tilted your glasses in a toast, and the soft clink of the crystals colliding resonated throughout the empty room. After a few sips from your glasses, you started feeding each other crackers topped with different types of cheeses, each bite shared accompanied by soft, melodious laughter that reverberated throughout the room.

Once your shared laughter had died down, Chuuya released a heartfelt sigh, carefully placing his partially emptied glass upon the blanket. He reclined, supporting himself with one arm, and allowed his gaze to be drawn to the radiant full moon, casting its luminous embrace upon both the night sky and your shared apartment. "I'm sorry I couldn't make our first move-in together exceptionally memorable," he confessed, turning his gaze to you momentarily. However, your response was a gentle shake of your head. 

A playful grin danced upon your lips as you responded, "Are you kidding?" With a teasing lilt in your voice, you added, "This might be the most memorable move-in ever!"

He couldn’t argue with that. He shook his head, a hearty laugh escaping him as he realized just how unforgettable this move-in had turned out to be. "Yeah, you're absolutely right," A sigh escaped his lips again, but this one seemed much more pleased, “I’m so lucky to have you in my life.” 

Your gaze wandered out the window, a subtle warmth creeping onto your cheeks as you tried to evade making direct eye contact with your lover. With a touch of shyness, you remarked, "It's more like the other way around," your words carried a hint of playfulness. 

“I care to disagree.” Chuuya’s gloved hand reached out, cradling your cheek with a warm, reassuring touch as he guided you to face him. His sapphire eyes met your own, glowing in the soft candlelight. “You’re so beautiful.” He leaned in, planting a kiss on your lips.

Even if it was a disaster, you both knew that you’d never forget that night and it would always remain engraved into your memories.

Taglist: @diagonal-queen pookie

[foldingfittedsheets]

So I had a dream last night that was just. Really eerie but also super neat, I had to share. I was with a group of people, we all lived together in a tiny place and we were going for a walk. We ended up in an incredibly rich district with huge houses. There was a couple in their driveway packing when we walked up. We asked what they were doing and they said they wanted to sell their house.

They pulled out a contract and asked if we wanted to buy it. We said we were definitely too poor to afford such a house but they told us the price. I don’t know what unit or measure the price was, just that it was so low we could afford to buy it on the spot. We accepted and stepped into our new house.

It was still furnished, the first room I saw was a massive 100ft glass walled indoor pool with towering trees and plants making it feel like an indoor jungle, with sunlight pouring in. It was near the biggest kitchen I’ve ever seen with huge open counters, an island, stocked with all the most amazing smelling food we could imagine.

We just kept going deeper and deeper into this amazing house, marveling over our good fortune. Bedrooms and living spaces all had the same insanely high ceilings and lavish furnishings. We went deeper and deeper, never running out of new rooms to explore.

Eventually we decided we should go thank the previous owners. We retraced our steps and when we got outside it was like. Two weeks after we’d first entered the house. We’d never felt hungry or tired and all our needs were met but clearly the house was disconnected from time and reality. We were scared that we’d lost time but then we were like. Does it matter? If we went in together we’d have each other, and all our needs met, and the nicest space we could ever hope to own.

Some of my friends suggested the house was cursed but we could make money trying to sell it but most of us were in favor of keeping it. When I woke up I was really unsettled over this mystery house. When I told my betrothed they wrote it in their DnD ideas folder.

[turtlecleric]

@thejudiciousneurotic FOR YOU BBY

---

"So," he starts, clapping his hands together. It jolts you out of the dreamy daze you'd been in after seeing him in those sweatpants, and the knowing smile on his face has you blushing.

This fucker. He knows exactly what those sweatpants do to you.

You clear your throat and pointedly keep your eyes on his face. His face. His face, not his fucking - get it together! Jesus. Anyway. "So?"

"I've been brainstorming what we talked about," he says, as if you can possibly focus on words at a time like this.

You blink. Blink again. Try to think past the fog in your brain. "...Which is?"

"Exploring new territory! I looked into some things, and I think I found a good starting po- eyes up here, darling, come on."

Fuck. That's embarrassing. He's right though, you really need to stop staring. You're pretty sure your face is the shade of a tomato at this point.

"Sorry, Donnie, I uh." Eyes. Up. "I'm listening. New territory. Uh huh. So we're going hiking or...?"

His eyes widen, then he bursts into a fit of laughter that has your whole body flashing hot. It's not your fault the sight of those pants hanging off his hips does things to you! But then he straightens, reaching out to grab your chin and hold your face up so you're forced to keep your eyes locked on his own.

Damn it.

"Metaphorical territory." His amusement shifts into something darker, and you feel the air itself get heavy. "In the bedroom."

Oh. Oh. Right. You'd mentioned yesterday... and then he'd asked... oh.

You feel like you're breathing harder all of a sudden.

"Whuh-" You clear your throat again. "What did you have in mind?"

You see his eyes flick down to your lips and back up again. His hand moves from holding your chin to resting lightly on your throat. He lets out a short hum, stepping closer to crowd into your space and holy shit. Okay. That's... yep. You have to tilt your head back a little to hold his gaze, and you feel him tighten his grip on your throat slightly as you do so. You swallow thickly, and his smile goes a little lopsided before he opens his mouth again. "How do you feel about bondage?"

You're pretty sure your brain just... stopped. Short circuited. Fell out of your skull, maybe. Because you can't seem to make yourself speak. Not with him towering over you and holding you in place like this. Not after he said that while looking at you like that.

You manage to nod frantically.

His eyes flick down again. His grip on your neck tightens once more, just enough to have you gasp, and his smile finishes its transformation into a full-blown smirk.

"Let's get started then, shall we?"

This smug bastard. Goddamn it.

You can't wait.

[emilybeemartin]

Inktober Days 10-12

Day 10: "Fortune"

On the farthest-flung spit of the Florida Keys are a handful of islands bearing the second-oldest surviving European name in the US, recorded by Ponce de León for the abundance of sea turtles and the lack of fresh water (Florida’s name is considered the oldest). Shallow straits create a ship trap that has claimed hundreds of vessels from the age of sail, including loaded Spanish treasure galleons. Old lighthouses stand as memories to the effort to guide ships through lucrative but risky channels. Rising from Garden Key is a hexagonal fortress—Fort Jefferson, the largest all-brick fort in the US, which housed Union prisoners during the Civil War. Under the turquoise water are some of the most intact coral reefs in the continental US. The water teems with sea life, and in addition to several year-round seabird species, the islands serve as stopovers for migrating birds. It’s a treasure trove lousy with natural and historical abundance. A vast fortune of biodiversity and human history.

This message is not brought to you by Visit Dry Tortugas LLC—it’s brought to you by a too-romantic ranger who’s a sucker for lonely maritime outposts and would desperately like to visit this unusual little member of the National Park Service.

Day 11: "Wander"

Some parks more than others seem to invite visitors to wander. It’s the twists of a path, dipping in and out of the rises in a landscape. It’s the light filtering through dark forests, promising something new beyond the branches. It’s the shoulders of a massive mountain standing like a beacon, or its invisible summit covered in clouds. Mount Rainier, like so many other protected places, seems to beckon—come. Explore. Take it in.

But stay on the path—alpine habitats are fragile.

Day 12: "Spicy"

Olympic was the first park I fell in love with, and it was a twenty-year long-distance relationship. A National Geographic article I read in high school painted a picture of verdant rainforests dripping with moss, wild windy coastlines, and high snowy peaks. I desperately wanted to see these places myself, stand under the towering cedars and breathe in their spicy scent. My desire to visit was so strong that the summers I worked in Glacier and Yellowstone, I would constantly plot the drive west, hoping the travel time would somehow get shorter. It was eleven hours. I could do that in a long weekend, couldn’t I? Take one of my precious few days off and just blitz to the coast?

The plans never worked out, which is probably for the best. Instead, after two years of Covid-cancelled plans, my husband and I decided to make the trip together from the east coast. It was infinitely better than a snatched day and a half all alone. For a week, we explored the glaciated mountains, rocky beaches, and primordial rainforests. After two-thirds of my life spent pining after this park, it was everything I’d dreamed it would be and more.

[edosianorchids901]

Deferred Momentum

@flashfictionfridayofficial prompt - "out there"

“What do you ssssuppose is out there?” Crawly asked speculatively, resting his chin on Aziraphale’s knee.

Aziraphale absently petted him, then went back to peeling some sort of curved yellow fruit he’d found. He made a pleased little sound as the peel gave way, revealing a paler yellow.

“Oy.” Annoyed, Crawly nudged the angel’s arm. “Aziraphale.”

“Hmm?”

“What do you ssssuppose is out there?”

“Out where?”

Crawly sighed. He hadn’t known Aziraphale long. They’d been stuck in the Garden together for months now, watching the humans explore their new environment. Crawly had already run out of things to explore, and was bored out of his mind.

“Out there.” He flicked his tail towards Eden’s towering stone walls. “Y’know. The rest of Earth?”

“Oh yes, that.” Aziraphale, who had been occupying himself by sampling every single plant in the Garden, didn’t seem bored at all. “Well, I don’t know. I suppose I haven’t really thought about it. There’s so much to experience right here.”

“Fine. Fine.” Exasperated, Crawly piled himself into Aziraphale’s lap and flipped upside down. “But I have been thinking about it. I wanna ssssee everything else. Earth’s big, right? Right?”

“I suppose, yes.”

“Ssso, how long until we get to leave? Get to go check out the rest of the world?”

“Hmm.” Gently, Aziraphale stroked the underside of Crawly’s chin. Plump fingers traveled down his belly, another light stroke. “I don’t know. Have you tried one of these yet?”

“These?”

Aziraphale wiggled the fruit at him. “It’s called a ‘banana’. I’m very curious about it. Do you want some?”

“Not really.” Crawly wasn’t that interested in food, unlike Aziraphale. “When are the humans gonna get around to inventing alcohol?”

“Soon, I imagine.” After breaking off a piece of the banana, Aziraphale popped it in his mouth. He chewed, expression contemplative, then swallowed. “Oh, that’s lovely. Here, Crawly. You really ought to try this.”

He broke off another piece and set it on his white robe near Crawly’s head. Crawly nudged it, curious, then snapped it up and gulped it down. “Not bad.”

“I quite like it.” Aziraphale petted him again, then ate more of the banana. He put another piece down for Crawly. “Why are you so eager to go out there anyway? I thought you said you’re just happy to be out of Hell.”

“I am.” Being on Earth was a billion times better than being in Hell, even if he still felt almost as trapped here as he had in Hell’s narrow stone hallways. Everything was wider here, and so much brighter, but just as surrounded by stone.

The sensation of being trapped sent a shudder through him. He coiled up and piled himself against Aziraphale’s soft stomach. The warmth was always soothing.

Aziraphale cooed a little and stroked him. “It’s quite all right, really. I’m sure that eventually, the Great Plan will include exploring the rest of Earth.”

Crawly was pretty sure that actually, the rest of the world was waiting on him to make some trouble. But he hadn’t actually been given the go ahead to make trouble yet, only to figure out ways that he could. He had to wait.

Granted, there were worse places to have to wait. He snapped up the second banana piece that Aziraphale had left for him, then slithered up onto the angel’s solid shoulders. After piling himself comfortably, he rested his chin in Aziraphale’s white curls. “Okay. Okay. But.”

“But?”

“I sssstill wanna know what’s out there.” Crawly contemplated it. “And I bet there’s different food. New treesss with new fruit.”

Aziraphale ate the rest of his banana. “That’s quite likely true. I know there are different sorts of ‘climates’, I believe they’re called. No doubt they’re quite lovely. Although Eden, of course, is paradise.”

In Crawly’s opinion, paradise shouldn’t be surrounded by stone walls. “Don’t you wanna try new fruit?”

“Well, yes.” Chuckling, Aziraphale gently flicked the scaled coil dangling over his shoulder. “You naughty serpent, are you trying to tempt me?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, you needn’t bother. I’m an angel. I’m quite above being tempted.”

Crawly also had his doubts about that, but the warmth of his current basking position spread contentment through him. He did still want to know what was outside those walls. He wanted to know it almost more than anything.

But right now, he was comfortably full from all the bits of fruit that Aziraphale kept feeding him, and relaxed from snuggling against all that warmth. He dropped his head down to Aziraphale’s shoulder, nestled into the crook of his neck, and decided to take a nap.

Someday he, Aziraphale, and the humans would find out what was really out there, beyond Eden. For now, Crawly was content to dream about exploring the newly created world.

[raayllum]

for snake boy callum 2.0 week day 2, snakes + stars

It takes time, but eventually Callum is pieced together enough, and Ezran can't evade enough, that Soren sits them down to have a conversation on castle security. About assassinations.

One of the guards who'd stuck around through everything—had deserted Viren's army, had fought in the tower with Soren and survived the night, had sworn true service to Harrow's heir—sits with them. A familiar face as any, but Callum still eyes her warily.

She's not his family, and she's not even Soren, and...

"There are enchantments I can set around the castle," Callum says. Sky spells are sound like alarms when sound pings off. Sun spells he can craft with help from Aunt Amaya's resources for lights and morse code, shadow traps and truth crystals, just to make sure everyone is being honest.

"Won't some elves maybe know how to undo them, though?" Ezran inquires. He's sitting in a regular chair and his feet can't touch the floor.

He's so tiny, still, and while Callum has seen first hand how capable his brother is, how much he shouldn't be underestimated—He's strong and brave, he'll get it, he'll save the egg!—Callum shakes his head.

He hates the circumstances that led them here. The assassination, the murder, and there's peace now, but their family—and the silver lining of it all isn't even here, now, and—

"It's not elves we have to worry about now, Ez," Callum says darkly. "The other human kingdoms aren't happy with you or Aanya. Even our own is..."

"At least we do not have to worry about more Moonshadow elf assassins," the guard says with a tiny, joking smile, not seeing the warning signs Soren makes with his hands, and it takes all of Callum's self control not to demand she be thrown out of the room.

In the end, he sulks and studies in his new office. Viren'd had a primal stone too once upon a time. There has to be something in his notes, loathe as Callum is go through them of course, that could be a worthwhile measure to implement. Or maintain.

Not that any of them were enough to protect his father from Moonshadow assassins in the end, but... Ez will be different. He has to be different.

Eventually, he turns to a book that's propped half open in the corner of a bookshelf he hasn't really explored yet. The sketch of a soulfang serpent pokes out, and Callum goes and pulls it from the shelf, cracking the tome open.

It hits like a blow to the chest, to be reminded of the Midnight Desert after—he focuses on the eery green glow of their eyes, the shimmering grey of their scales. They look nothing like dark magic chains at least. A passage is circled about their connection to the Moon arcanum and souls (that's almost enough to make him put the book away) and Viren's cramped handwriting: Two head — switch?

I'd switch places in a second, he'd said to Claudia that day in the library, and she'd run off with an excited gleam in her eye.

It curdles his stomach now to wonder what it was, but... They'd found a basket with snake feces in it in King Harrow's room afterwards. Opeli had shown them the court records once she'd thought they could bear it.

Maybe Viren had...

But it's awful, from the sound of it. Wearing someone else's face, your soul in a stranger's body. It's not as though Katolis doesn't have surgeries—there's the baker's son who'd needed a new kidney, a few years back—but to take a wholly healthy body and... It's the worst kind of dark magic.

Ez finds him out on one of the balconies later, feet slipping just like Callum's had on the climb up. (He can't quite manage to summon his wings again, yet, but... he's working on it.) Callum grabs his hand to help haul him all the way up. It's a moonless night, clouds obscuring the slim crescent that is there. Stars twinkle in between.

"I'm not going to get assassinated, you know," Ezran says, nudging him in the shoulder.

Callum exhales. "I know," he says, because he won't let it happen. "I just..." Tears build, cold on his face in the mid-autumn air. "You're all I have left, Ez."

"She'll come back."

Callum looks away and wipes at his nose with his scarf, sighing when Ezran wraps an arm around his shoulder. He's the big brother, he's supposed to be comforting Ezran, not the other way around.

"I saw the notes you left," Ez continues quietly. "Well, the ones Viren left, I guess. About the soul fang serpent." He runs his fingers over one hand thoughtfully. "D'you think Dad...?"

"I don't know," Callum says. "But—there's no way Dad would've agreed, even if he was given that kind of deal."

The magic was awful. It wasn't precise enough. If the spell could swap souls and bodies, maybe—let the corpse fall and then put you back in, heal up the wounds—let you be yourself, and the other person's soul and body would be severed but buried, then—

Callum pushes those thoughts away. No. No, even if Harrow could've kept his body, even if he could've kept his face, it still wouldn't be fair to whosever soul died on that blade. Not fair to the family, or husk left behind, or...

Callum buries his fingers in his hair and breathes through his nose, in and out. Ezran rests his head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're High Mage now," his little brother says, stifling a yawn. "I wouldn't know how to handle all this magic stuff without you."

Someone had to make these kinds of decisions, Callum reminds himself. Or at least consider the possibilities, the paths spreading out before them, even if they weren't all going to be—shouldn't be taken.

He has to be more than Ezran's high mage. There are humans, and dark mages, and someone has to know what they might be up against from the Pentarchy. Ezran needs a shield, from whatever he can still be shielded from.

And that person is him.

"Hm." Callum kisses him on the forehead once Ezran he's asleep, then shifts and picks him up.

Ez is getting heavy for this, but—Callum manages to make his way down, carrying him all the while. He passes Ezran off to Soren in the hall, the king snoozing as the crownguard hefts him up and then heads down the hall to the king's tower.

Callum hauls tome after tome off the shelves after, full of dark magic—grotesque images and wicked spells—carrying them up to his spot on the balcony, a primal flame in his hand as he begins to read. The stars have nearly blinked out by the time he stops and goes to bed.

He had to know what his brother's enemies could be capable of if he wanted to be able to stop them, after all.

(Later, he will know what he's capable of, too.)

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

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1. Hello! Do you know any good fics (a) from the point of view of the normal disciples of any of the major clan, and (b) some good mxy fics (no modern aus, please)?

1A)

Relentless by covalentbonds (T, 1k, WangXian, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fluff, POV Outsider)

A Mother's Love by FirefliesNLightningBugs (M, 170k, WangXian, XuanLi, Canon Divergence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Mostly combo of the Untamed and MoDaoZuShi timelines, Unreliable Narrator, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Miscommunication, Family Feels, Found Family, PTSD, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Political Intrigue, Mystery, POV Multiple, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Strong Female Characters, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Good Brother In Law JZX, Genderbent WWX, Intersex WWX, not a/b/o, POV Original Character, Expanded Universe, Unplanned Pregnancy, Golden Core Reveal, WWX Has No Golden Core, Cultivation Sect Politics, Bisexual WWX, YLLZ WWX, Yunmeng Shuangjie, Pining WangXian, Parent-Child Relationship, Getting Together, Protective Yúnmèng Jiāng Sect, MXY Lives) (link in #3) does have the pov of some oc Jiang disciples, tho it's a diverging au and they're all new members to the sect post sunshot campaign

1B)

Fortune Ascending by FirefliesNLightningBugs ( T, 1k, MXY, HuaLian, TGCF Crossover, Canon Divergence, Inspired by Tumblr, MXY Lives, (sort of), MXY Deserves Happiness, god MXY, MXY ascends, Mentioned HC, Mentioned XL, Canonical Character Death, Post-Canon) is a one-shot post canon crossover with Heavenly Official's Blessing where mxy ascends. In A Mother's Love (link in #3) by the same author, there is also a recurring mxy pov that begins prior to summons to koi tower and does development on him and the whole Mo Family.

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2. Hello! Itmf wangxian being interrupted by lqr during an intimate moment, preferably during the cloud recesses study arc when they're still babies and he thinks he can do something about it lol. Never visited this blog before so apologies if this has been asked already. Thanks a lot &lt;;3 @peebls

🧡 Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark (E, 663k, WangXian, WIP, Fix-it of sorts, Talisman master WWX, Not JFM Friendly, Study Arc, Getting together, Fluff and Angst, Engagement) has a moment where LQR interrupts WangXian getting frisky during CRSA, though not sure if it's what the asker is after as his reaction is more 'guess we better get them hitched before they disgrace the sect' & less 'shut it down now!'

And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 139k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together)

i’ll take a secondhand monster by Stratisphyre (T, 24k, MXY & WWX, MXY & JGY, LSZ & LWJ, wangxian, canon divergence, child abuse, bullying, angst w happy ending, hurt/comfort, kidfic, minor canonical character death, injured WWX, earn your happy ending)

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3. itmf some fics exploring chenqing as a spiritual weapon, i know that there are a lot of fics about suibian, and how it sealed itself, and the bond between a spiritual sword and the cultivator, but are there any about how fierce the black flute is?

A Mother's Love by FirefliesNLightningBugs (M, 170k, WangXian, XuanLi, Canon Divergence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Mostly combo of the Untamed and MoDaoZuShi timelines, Unreliable Narrator, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Miscommunication, Family Feels, Found Family, PTSD, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Political Intrigue, Mystery, POV Multiple, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Strong Female Characters, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Good Brother In Law JZX, Genderbent WWX, Intersex WWX, not a/b/o, POV Original Character, Expanded Universe, Unplanned Pregnancy, Golden Core Reveal, WWX Has No Golden Core, Cultivation Sect Politics, Bisexual WWX, YLLZ WWX, Yunmeng Shuangjie, Pining WangXian, Parent-Child Relationship, Getting Together, Protective Yúnmèng Jiāng Sect, MXY Lives) the fic is planning to have spiritual weapon stuff, tho it hasn't really happened in the fic yet

there are some fics that deal with spiritual weapons, I know I've seen a few where chenqing and suibian can actually the humanish form to a certain extent as well, tho I can't recall the titles.

something wild calls you home by Fleetling (T, 8k, WangXian, Kidnapping, nhs is only there briefly, Chenqing, resentful energyt, he fic where lwj plays chenqin, gRescue, Love Confessions, First KissInjury, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Light Angst, Happy Ending) a big plot point is that chenqing dosent allow just anyone to touch it

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4. hello!! for the next itmf, some codependent wangxian? canon or modern, healthy or unhealthy, just wangxian who cannot bear to be without each other and basically knows the other so well people find it weird and borderline unhealthy? thank you!! <3

So Full Of Love (Wouldn't Know Where to Start) by witchupbitch (M, 59k, WIP, WangXian, Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Possessive LWJ, Protective LWJ, Blood and Violence, Idiots in Love, Humor, Mafia AU, Modern AU, Flirting, shameless WWX, Confident WWX, Explicit Language, Mutual Sexual Tension, dark LWJ, Dark WWX, Exhibitionism Sex, Possessive Behavior, Unhealthy Relationships, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings) has codependent WX, is a mafia AU though.

~*~

5. Hi! I was suddenly struck by a memorry of a fic where lan zhan and wei ying are getting together at burial mounds but wei ying is unable to get hard due to his emaciation. What is that fic and are there more with similar (realistic) depiction of what happens with malnutrition? @mizukibull

We can fix that by Spindoctor (E, 59k, WangXianJue, NMJ Lives, Arranged Marriage, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Cock Warming, Caretaking, Light BDSM, Thigh jobs, Everyone Loves WWX, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Frottage, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Starvation, Starvation recovery, PTSD, PTSD RECOVERY, Suicidal Ideation, Scars, Discussion of Surgery,mild body horror, discussion of starvation, body talk, cnc fantasies, Light Bondage, tender fucking, Slow Burn, JYL Lives, BAMF JYL, Erectile Dysfunction, Weight Gain, Chapter Specific Tags in Beginning Notes, WIP) has that occur towards the emd of the latest chapter

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6. Hellooooooooo! I was wondering if anyone knew of any good teacher!wwx and/or teacher!lwj fics? Canon verse or non canon verse is fine

❤️ Joy In the Midst of These Things Series by Glitterbombshell (T/G, 53k, WangXian, Angst with Happy Ending, Post-Canon, Teacher WWX, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff)

🧡 paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3 (E, 53k, WangXian, Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Everyone Is Alive, Modern AU, Dadji, Mutual Pining, Happy Ending, Brief Alcohol Mention, Masturbation, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Accidentally co-parenting with your son’s art teacher, Fatherhood) WWX is a-Yuan's art teacher

my little love by mellowflicker (T, 54k, WangXian, Modern AU, Single Parent WWX, kindergarten teacher!lwj, Kid Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Pining, Background SongXiao, background ChengQing)

Come Around and Stay by trippednfell (M, 160k, WangXian, NieLan, Slow Burn, Kid Fic, Found Family, Modern AU, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, PTSD, Blood and Injury, Dissociation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Musicals, POV Alternating, Baking, Yunmeng reconciliation (eventually), Friend Zoning, Literal Sleeping Together, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks) featuring WWX as kind of a teacher, and trauma surgeon LWJ. Whether it fits the bill depends on your flexibility in defining a teacher

looking through a window by glitteringmoonlight (T, 5k, wangxian, modern, college/universtity au, outsider pov, fluff, humor)

leave all your love and your longing behind by ScarlettStorm (E, 143k, WangXian, Modern AU, no magic, Meet-Ugly, Panic Attacks, autistic lwj, neurodivergent wwx, the neighborhood asshole dog, if you’ve met one then you know, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Minor Angst, major shenanigans, Happy Ending, for everyone including the asshole dog, Eventual Smut, switch rights, Sex Toys, horny yearning, Masturbation) LWJ is a martial arts instructor, although the fic is not focused only on teaching

Lotus Bloom by Aki_no_hikari (G, 7k, wangxian, modern cultivation, Canon Divergence, College/University au, Reincarnation, cultivation is known but not many practice it to the point of building a golden core, our beloved characters are renowed historical figures, au where wwx never comes back in mxy's body, Metafiction, Angst with a Happy Ending) LWJ doesn’t teach directly, rather he is a student who is attending a seminar where they discuss an au version HGJ’s poetry (he was a teacher)

Body Talks by lonesomewriter, SweetestCream (T, 30k, wangxian, past WWX/OMC, Modern, Dancing, dance instructor WWX, celebrity LWJ, dancing with the stars au, Past Relationship(s), Past Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Supportive LWJ, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Musician LWJ) Wei Ying teaches LWJ to dance for a reality show

Work in Tandem by MimiSpearmint (E, 23k, wangxian, LWJ & LSZ, modern cultivation, single parent LWJ, swordflight instructor WWX, fluff, protective LWJ, getting together, smut)

~*~

7. Hello, I'm in the mood for fics where Lan Wangji is very loud during sex in contrast to his usual quietness. I would like for him to be the one being fucked, thank you.

The water keeps on flowing by IsilmeLasgalen (E, 114k, wangxian, WKX/ZZS, BSSR/LY, JYL/JZX, MXY/NHS, Cultivation Sect Politics, YLLZ WWX, WWX Isn't Adopted by the Jiāngs, Gūsū Lán Sect Rules, LWJ pov, WWX pov, The mistery of Madam Lan, The Power of Communication, Soft wangxian, The Ghost Path, Yīn Iron, outsider pov, multiple pov, Protective WWX, Morally Gray WWX, Bottom LWJ, Smut, Shameless wangxian, Angst, Fluff, Everyone Lives au) has a minor plot point with bottom LWJ being loud. It's not at all what the fic is about and it's after at least 80K of fic with plot.

Respectable, Decent, and Quiet by Theotrix (E, 5k, WangXian, Porn with Feelings, Post-Canon, repressed lwj, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Loud Sex, Emotional release)

~*~

8. hi!! i’m looking for any fics that have the gusu lan arm strength. mainly just anything that talks abt how strong lwj is (smut or just plot idc!)!! thanks <3

Relentless by covalentbonds (T, 1k, WangXian, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fluff, POV Outsider)

~*~

9. Hello! Are there any mind-reader or empath WWX fics? Preferably canon era.

come to the harbor of your longing by occultings (microcomets) (E, 32k, WangXian, Cottagecore, Hauntings, Mediums, Slice of Life, Ghosts, Domestic, Modern with Magic, Dreams, No Angst, Swimming, Beaches, Getting Together, First Time, Edging, fingers! in! mouth!, brief possession, very background nielan, homoerotic fossil collection, homoerotic whale watching, homoerotic lighthouse symbolism) Wei Ying is a medium, I hope that fits? It's a very good fic at any rate

~*~

10. itmf, any fics where wei ying uses the corpses for farming/menial work? ive read Grave dirt by esama already but i would love if there was a fic that went even more into it @chellsky

Cradle by Dragonesque (T, 195k, WIP, Canon Divergenc, Adopted children, Yiling Wei Sect, BAMF WWX) there are definitely more fics out there where he uses corpses for menial labor. I think Cradle by Dragonesque may he one? I think it's the one where some of those corpses later also get consciousness returned to them like wen Ning, tho I may be getting it confused with another (regardless it is an excellent fic)

~*~

11. In the mood for some light hearted fluffy WangXian CRS romance. Bonus if it has Jiang bashing. Umm for example Stunted, Starving Juvenility? ૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა @tinyfoxpeach

~*~

12. Hi is there fics with a modern day version of the blindfold kiss or WWX realizing it was LWJ who kissed him? I remember a seven minutes in heaven scene like this in a fic and was wondering if there were more Thanks!

the breaking of your soul (upon my lips) by sunsandships (M, 40k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Mutual Pining, Golden Core Reveal, Happy Ending) Not sure from the wording if WWX realising who kissed him also has to be modern, but if not, there's this fic

The Fifth Type of Non-Contact Force by Caixx (Not Rated, 83k, WangXian, Modern AU, High School, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Fluff and Humor, Actually Somewhat Canon, Mutual Pining, Horny Teenagers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Non-Graphic Smut) there's a chapter where both of those happen here

All yours, for the low price of -! by Anonymous (T, 2k, wangxian, modern, High School au, Kissing Booths, Phoenix mountain kiss but high school, Blindfolds, Humor)

~*~

13. Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian friendship. Them being chaotic duo. Can be angsty/ funny/ sad / anything @whateverweilanlovechild

~*~

14. Helloooo!! I’m in the mood for five similar to rainfall by daltoneering where WX have some sort of 24/7 thing or honestly even just lots of soft (and not so soft) kink :) Ty! Sorry if it’s confusing lol

paired wings soaring by typefortydeductions (E, 33k, WangXian, Modern, slice of life, domestic bliss, angst, fluff, smut, hurt/Comfort, kissing, bdsm, artist WWX, poetry translator LWJ, slight somnophilia)

~*~

15. Hey! For the next ITMF I would like to see LZ being the top but WY being the one that basically commands him? Or top!LZ needing him (WY) to tell him what to do sometimes?I don’t know what that’s called but I like it. (Service top?) @desperation-is-my-middle-name

together, we’re just enough by lulu_kitty (E, 134k, WangXian, Modern AU, Bartender LWJ, single dad wwx, Kid fic (sort of), Excessive Fluff, Yearning, barely there plot, neurodivergent wangxian, canonical parental issues, lwj in jewelry, accidental sugar gege wwx, fluff and eventual smut, Bottom LWJ, Service Top WWX, Bisexual WWX, Rich WWX, a-yuan is a wei but still also a wen, wwx is a-yuan’s biological baba, Older WWX, Younger LWJ, Slow-ish burn, Light Dom/sub)

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16. i may be wrong but i don't think ive seen this on itmf before??

i'd love some fics where bb a-yuan keeps something of wwx's after lwj saves him! anything like ribbon/talisman/toy/memory, or alternatively lwj tells him stories of his dad and/or family (tho he only met them briefly) or gives him wwx's drawing/flower? thank you!!!

Retrospect by alightbuthappypen (dairyme) (G, 1k, wangxian, LSZ & LWJ, Grief/Mourning, Family Feels, Family, Reminiscing) only short but might fit the bill - a-yuan finds wwx's drawing

The Red Ribbon by sanmaci (M, 21k, wangxian, hualian, Canon Divergence, Ghost City, Immortality, Cultivation Partners, Juniors, hualian find a child who happens to be WWX, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluffy wangxian, Supreme Ghost King WWX, First Time)

Until The End by abCEE (M, 365k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, war changes people, resulting to OOC, no pinning, Established Relationship, Mpreg, Good Uncle LQR, a little grey LWJ, a bit of JC bashing from LWJ, BAMF JYL, 16 years of yearning, mainly CQL verse but has scenes from the novel as well, LSZ is WangXian’s Child, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Canon Rewrite, Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts)

Please Take This Radish by Wildcard (M, 7k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Bad Parenting, not abusive parenting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comedy, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Dysfunctional Family, demonic radishes, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, For Want of a Nail, Temporary Character Death, Mistaken Identity, musical cultivation) please take this radish on ao3 has xy also get adopted as wwx's "student" shortly before the seige. Wwx's last act is to send the kids away with a teleport talisman that lands them in wwx old shut up rm in lp as a "safe place". But 12yr old xy saw Jiangs at seige and distrust the traitors so flees (with stuff from wwx cave and old rm). Jc catches a glimpse of them and not knowing about xy desperately convinces himself wwx is deaged and still alive. Jy lives. Excellent fic, on ao3

The Murder of Crows by cerbykerby (M, 101k, wangxian, slow burn, pining, yiling wei sect au, fluff & angst, dark, romance, WIP) murder of crows by cerbykerby au where seige doesn't happen and yuan grows up on bm that's been in lockdown for 13yrs. Jy lives. They only leave cause yuan & wwx want him to go to cr to study. Yilingwei sect. Subplot in that yuan isn't allowed to sport family/sect symbols like the other kids, and is distrusted near wind instruments

Arrayed by FirefliesNLightningBugs (M, 5k, wangxian, angst w/ happy ending, LSZ found by LXC, LSZ keeps his memories, alive JYL & JZX, canon temporary character death, WIP) has a-yuan bundled up in an old lotus pier robe cluching wwx's ribbon when he's found in the dead tree.

a yuan keeping a ribbon or whatever from wwx is kinda a trope in the Fandom, but not commonly tagged. I think there's one fic where that happens where wwx hides him and a yuan snatches it as wwx is leaving and wwx let's him keep it, later jc (who only joined the seige as an excuse to try to get close to his brother to save him) smuggles out wwx but doesn't know about ayuan. By the time jc gets back yuan has been found by lz. Jc hides wwx at lp and wwx is jl nanny and xy wants wwx to adopthim

~*~

17. Hello! Itmf wangxian arrange marriage fics, preferably with some angst. :) @misanthropiczombie

囍 | a ghost wedding by sweetlolixo (E, 11k, wangxian, Arranged Marriage, Ghost wedding, Pining LWJ, Ghost Groom LWJ, Corpsefucking in the most romantic way possible, Angst with a Happy Ending, Non-Explicit Sex, Love at First Sight) just read it myself, not sure about the angst. Give it a try though, the author writes beautifully

我的皇后是農民 | sowing seeds in the cold palace by sweetlolixo (E, 78k, WangXian, Imperial Palace, Emperor LWJ, Imperial Consort WWX, Farmer WWX, Only WWX Could Have an Empress to Farmer Pipeline, Angst, Romance, Wingman LJY, Wife-chasing-LWJ, LWJ will grovel to the ends of the earth to make it up to WWX don’t worry, Arranged Marriage, Best Boy A-Yuan, not LWJ friendly)

Concord by Deastar (T, 41k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Gūsū Lán Sect Rules, Depression, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending)

🧡 a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke (M, 179k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage)

do with me what spring does with cherry trees by jalpari (E, 34k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, No War AU, Bottom LWJ/Top WWX, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sharing a Bed, Idiots in Love, Touch-Starved LWJ)

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[blackjackkent]

As with Patch 5, I have compiled my favorite Patch 6 patch notes (the exciting ones and the hilarious ones) so you don't have to.

First of all, the Highlights section has some VERY nice QoL changes:

"You can now dismiss a recruited companion from your party while speaking to the companion you want to replace them with." (Fuck yes, this is such a small annoyance but it really adds up over time.)

"When a dialogue triggers automatically, the game will now try to prioritise your avatar character as the main speaker." (I spent literally like half an hour trying to ensure Hector got the conversational lead when walking into the vault with the Stone Lord for my liveblog post, so this fills my heart with DEEP joy.)

"The Elixir of Hill Giant Strength now applies its effects when thrown." (HUGE deal for Hector's party in my liveblog, as @zenjestrr has pointed out to me - Jaheira can hurl it onto Hector, Karlach, and Minsc together!)

Some general happy-making improvements (some for things in Act 3/epilogue that I haven't gotten to yet but which sound very positive):

"Your partner now has a few different kisses! They're brand new, unique, and randomized."

"If you sit on the stool in Shadowheart's camp corner, she will now react to you with a line based on your relation with her."

"Improved the cinematic scenes in the Elfsong Tavern to feel more intimate when you and your romance partner decide your future together after defeating the Netherbrain."

"Reworked the reflection scenes that take place after wrapping up the defeat of the Netherbrain for characters without romantic partners to better match the scenes for those who do have romantic partners, and to bridge the gap into the epilogue."

"Added a new cinematic scene to support the combat encounter that occurs after you choose whether to side with Nightsong at Sorcerous Sundries or not."

"If you romanced Lae'zel, grab a red dragon and saddle up - you can now join her in the rebellion against Vlaakith, even if you are not gith yourself."

"Increased the number of valid methods of knocking Minthara out to recruit her."

"Tooltips for spells requiring concentration now more prominently display a warning if you are already using concentration to maintain another spell."

And now the bits that just made me laugh. XD

"If you Long Rest with only alcohol as camp supplies, you will now get the new Hungover condition for 10 turns."

"The Long Rest camp supply menu is now better at pulling supplies from inside containers in companion inventories. Stop hoarding the cheese, Wyll."

"The owlbear cub will no longer gobble up Auntie Ethel's Hair before you can take advantage of the bonus it grants." (???)

"Creating harmful surfaces beneath NPCs will now trigger a crime reaction."

"Scratch can no longer equip certain weapons. Like the Everburn Blade."

"Jaheira could be in bad shape by the time she arrived at Moonrise Towers since she already had to fight. Now she's smart enough to heal up before she goes there, which we're hoping lets her last at least an additional second in combat."

"Fixed dice roll sounds playing if you have the 'Hide Failed Perception Rolls' setting enabled while exploring. We asked the narrator to quieten down when rolling the dice for your immersion."

"Fixed a bug causing player characters to get deleted from the game after stealing the Blood of Lathander."

"Enemies are now less likely to summon a Skeletal Involucre in range of a Spirit Guardian that will immediately destroy it."

"Nere's Legendary Action now correctly triggers when he is attacked, rather than when he attacks. Cut him some slack - being a True Soul is a lot of pressure; we'd all get confused in his shoes."

"Told Fezzerk to stop throwing his bombs on himself and his allies."

"The Apostle of Myrkul's Finger of Death spell is now treated as a Level 7 spell instead of a cantrip."

"Fixed Steel Watchers sometimes hurting themselves with their own attacks."

"Invisible characters who have something to say in a dialogue will now remember to actually show themselves."

" Throwing NPCs into a chasm will no longer trigger their crime reaction dialogue while they're mid-flight."

"Jaheira could have access to two types of Wild Shape in certain circumstances. We've toned down her blatant disregard for D&D rules."

"Fixed NPC heads occasionally detaching in Forced Turn-Based Mode."

"You can no longer place a corpse into its own inventory."

"Items can only be sent to specific companions in camp if a party member is in camp at the time. Stop sending every +1 dagger to Gale, he's not that hungry."

"NPCs should be a lot less eager to engulf themselves (or their allies) in flames now."

"Fixed NPCs using an incorrect throw range when they can't move. This sometimes caused them to, say, throw explosives on their own heads."

"Fixed NPCs sometimes successfully landing jumps that shouldn't be possible. Like through ceilings."

"You can no longer trade with sleeping characters."

"Fixed overhead dialogues still playing above the souls of dead characters - represented as blue wisps - in the epilogue camp. Lae'zel will no longer urgently proclaim 'Repositioning!' when you make her little wisp move around."

"Killing Omeluum or Blurg of the Society of Brilliance will now break your paladin oath. Because they're nice and you're not."

"Picking up fish from the beach at the Emerald Grove is no longer a crime. They take their vegetarianism very seriously, those druids."

"You can now no longer spawn infinite fish at the Emerald Grove beach. No wonder that bear smells."

"Told Art Cullagh to please stop singing during the combat when Isobel's being abducted."

"You can no longer trade with Voss when he ambushes you at the base of High Hall."

"If you escape prison and then return to your cell and close the door without being noticed by anyone allied to the arresting guards, you will no longer be considered a fugitive."

"Fixed a bug where a status could carry over from the final battle to the beginning of the epilogue, potentially killing the players."

"You can now clean your body and clothes in a fountain in the House of Hope's boudoir. Sometimes it's nice to freshen up before a big event."

"Fixed Scratch not feeling like playing in camp beyond Act I after partying too hard at the camp celebration."

"Minthara no longer speaks more about Shadowheart than Shadowheart does about herself."

"You'll no longer see text telling you that Gale approves of something if he's not even nearby to see what happened."

"Jaheira's memory in her old age was failing her, and she could tell you about Minsc twice if you left her in camp but advanced her quest multiple steps. Now she's much better at remembering what she told you, and will only prompt it the once."

"Good boys Scratch and the owlbear cub will now play together in any camp, not just the main one in the wilderness from Act I."

"Cerys will now leave your camp after the camp celebration in Act I. We know it's sometimes hard to ask the last person to leave the party, so we've done it for you."

"Fixed Rugan being upset with you for trespassing after saving him from impending doom. You're welcome, Rugan."

"Florrick now looks appropriately grimy and sweaty after escaping Waukeen's Rest."

"Lae'zel will no longer become hostile towards you, thinking you left the inquisitor's office in Crèche Y'llek while waiting to fulfil Vlaakith's orders, when you only jumped on one of the platforms in the corner."

"Fixed Smythin in the Goblin Camp sometimes getting stuck in a cowering animation. He's a little braver now."

"Rugan is no longer 'too busy' to thank you after you free him in the Zhentarim Hideout."

"One of the teenagers in the Crèche Y'llek will now tend to his cleaning tasks. He may or may not have been chastised for shirking his duties."

"Fixed a bug with Bernard in the Arcane Tower not giving you a reward if you previously befriended the squirrel in the Emerald Grove."

"Fixed a couple of goblins in the Goblin Camp not really doing much at all if you free Sazza."

"Rotated Barth and Remira near the Emerald Grove gate so they would shout in the right direction."

"The nurses in the House of Healing have remembered that they are capable of speech and will now react to crimes properly."

"Dame Aylin now permits all players to behold her radiance in the cutscene when ascending from the Shadowfell rather than just the one who freed her."

"Isobel and Marcus will no longer stop their epic confrontation at Last Light just because someone commits a petty crime nearby."

"In rare cases, Jaheira could be Frightened in the combat with Ketheric and end up so scared she doesn't show up to resolve the conflict in the Shadow-Cursed Lands. She now overcomes her terror."

"Bards can no longer say they saved Jaheira's Harper scouts when they did no such thing."

"Fixed some guards by the fountain at Last Light who were trying to speak each other's lines."

"Now you can convince Ch'r'ai Har'rak to go away in different ways."

"Mayrina will no longer still be Bloodless in Act III if Astarion bit her in Act I."

"Wyll no longer leaves the party when you commit a crime in the High Hall. With the city in ruin, the petty crime dramatics seemed a little extreme."

"A few more people around Baldur's Gate will notice if an article has been printed about you in the newspaper."

"Lumbar will no longer react as if you didn't pay for the privilege of hitting him if the single strike had different damage types." (Ah this explains why Hector got that weird reaction. XD)

"Vicar Humbletoes will no longer do a weird shrug before praying."

"Prevented Karlach's death scene from triggering if a solo player chooses to detonate while playing as Avatar Gale."

"Fixed Lae'zel talking inaccurately about Ptaris, for example suggesting he's dead when he's... literally right there."

"Auntie Ethel will no longer send you a letter written by Zevlor in the epilogue."

"If you part ways with Shadowheart and hide in the Underdark as a mind flayer, she won't forget and think you've spent the last sixth months together in the epilogue. Classic Shadowheart, always forgetting things."

"The Emperor will no longer send you a cheerful letter in the epilogue camp if you ate his brains."

"You can no longer invite the owlbear cub to live with you and Halsin in the epilogue if you do not, in fact, live with Halsin."

"Fixed avatar characters incorrectly getting assigned the Dream Guardian's skin colour in Character Creation on controller."

"The fish barrels in the Underdark, that clearly look like they have fish in them, now actually contain fish instead of tarts."

"You can no longer casually go walkies in the middle of a chasm in the Decrepit Village in the Underdark."

"Removed a platform in Grymforge that looked like it was accessible and was tricking a few of you into trying to jump on it to access the Gauntlet of Shar."

"You can no longer disappear into a couple of rocks near the mephits in Grymforge. Sorry."

"Added a new animation for Cranium Rats. They can now stand up on their hind leggies."

"Corpses thrown from your inventory now look dead rather than alive. As is right."

"Fixed missing sounds in Active Search. (We found them hidden under some rocks in Act I.)"

"Fixed a basket of onions claiming to be a fruit basket, and other issues with lying baskets."

"Gave the dogs at the Sword Coast Couriers names. Because they're the best boys."

"Lae'zel no longer slides or teleports away during her Epilogue dialogue."

"Made general improvements to Boo's animations. The hamster is a little less jittery."

"Fixed the goblet flying out of your hand when talking to Jaheira at Last Light. We knew you were suspicious of it, but you don't have to be so dramatic."

:D

This is a tiny fraction of the full set of changes/improvements/fixes listed in the patch notes and once again I am tremendously impressed. As I said last time - this game has a breadth of scope and ambition that repeatedly takes my breath away and I am mindboggled at the amount of work being put into it.

Very excited to finish out Act 3 in the coming weeks!