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hard-boiled-criminal · 5 months

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Brimstone from the Throat

Chapter 3 - Next Stop: Miscommunication Station

< Ch 2 | Ch 4 >

>Ch 1<

Masterlist

Ao3 Mirror

If you’ve read this fic before this chapter was posted, the previous two chapters have been edited with some minor changes.

Bold is your native tongue.

[words in brackets are sign language/what you’re trying to get across with vague gestures.] This is mostly for my sanity so I don’t have to keep describing hand gestures. How your hands move is up to your interpretation when not described.

Also, have any of you heard of Tsukimichi? It’s a series I absolutely adore and this fic is going to share some elements with it.

“Once inside, do as I say,” Lae’zel’s tone left no room for argument, but that didn’t stop Shadowheart from biting back.

“Who put you in charge? I’ll trust my own judgement.”

“Kainyank.” Lae’zel scowled.

You take a step back, not wanting to be pulled into a potential argument, shifting your violin to be held under your arm.

Tav sighs, “All right, but first I think we should plan at least a little bit. We’re probably going to have to fight, so we should be ready for that.” Nobody argued with her. “Lae’zel and I will be the vanguard while Shadowheart and (y/n) bring up the rear.” Tav briefly turned to you, “I’m assuming you’re a bard, correct?”

‘I wouldn’t really call myself a bard per se, but sure? I guess?’ You just shrug at her and sign [sort of] with your free hand to get your point across.

“…I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s get moving.”

Lae’zel and Tav confidently stride through the sphincter door, the latter pulling a staff off her back, with you and shadowheart close behind. You feel very out of place with nothing but the clothes on your back and a violin to your name while the rest have actual weapons brandished. A fight had already begun on the bridge, a mini-Cthulhu fighting a devil of some sort: horns, leathery wings and all. Another one of those mini-‘thulhus is attacked by a swarm of imps, dying at their hands. When your eyes focus on the living devil once more, you are filled with an unnatural sense of hate, the overwhelming emotion not your own. You look around when you hear a low rumbling seemingly coming from all sides, but your companions don’t seem to pay it any mind. Just as quickly as they came, the hatred and rumbling left.

« I apologize for frightening you, young one. I let my emotions get the better of me and let them affect you as well. »

‘It’s okay? I’m not sure what that was about but we’re cool.’

The ‘thulhu fighting the devil turned and looked at your group. (“Thralls. Connect the nerves of the transponder. We must escape. Now.”) An odd voice echoed in your head.

Unlike Astaroth’s, this one you could physically feel in your head: an uncomfortable and unnatural throbbing sensation. The Cthulhu-like being, most likely the voice’s owner, gestures towards what you assume to be the helm, except this too is covered in squirming tentacles.

“Do it. We will deal with the ghaik after we escape,” Lae’zel commands the rest of your party, looking frustrated from agreeing with the mini Cthulhu.

« I am with you, so worry not. I will guide you and protect you through this. »

You smile slightly but quickly turn your focus towards the battle at hand. It’s nice having a supernatural benefactor. In the immediate vicinity are a few imps and a strange creature with the body of a pig and a head the shape of a bird skull. Tav rushes towards the bird-boar while Lae’zel goes for an imp. Tav hits the boar twice, darting around behind it as Shadowheart flanks it and delivers a blow to its head with her mace.

While the hostile creatures are occupied, you flee down the center stairs, violin tucked under your arm, one hand gripping its neck and the other holding your bow. You swallow the urge to scream as you run, whether it was in terror or a battle cry of sorts, no one would know except yourself… But it was definitely one from fear and panic.

« Duck! »

Either by instinct or conditioning, you drop to the ground as if you heard a gunshot, protectively cradling your violin in your arms, held tightly to your chest. Not a second later a bolt flies over your head, missing you entirely. Looking at where it came from, you see an imp pointing its crossbow at you, beginning to reload only to be stopped by a high kick from Tav.

“We’ll take care of the enemies!” Tav calls out to you over her shoulder. “Get to that transponder!”

You nod, lips pulled tight to your teeth as you try not to freak out. You scramble forwards again, almost tripping as you pick yourself up. Crossing the sunken platform you sprint up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

« Move left! Dodge! »

You sidestep to your left, narrowly avoiding the swing of a hatchet from an imp you hadn’t noticed come up from behind. A small fireball slams into the imp, killing it instantly. You see Shadowheart behind you with her arm raised up. You nod to her in thanks, wide-eyed, and she nods back.

‘Holy shit. She can shoot fire from her hands.’

You want to question everything you know, having been met with a demon lord, Cthulhu-spawn, aliens, and now magic all in the span of one day, but there will be time for that later.

Facing forward again you clamber up the rest of the stairs. Your eyes sparkle in awe at what’s in front of you. A giant red dragon soars past the windshield, majestic and uniquely graceful in its flight.

“Tsk’va!” Lae’zel curses, you assume. “Hurry! Before they strike!”

You bob and weave with Astaroth’s guidance, dodging attacks from enemies who are quickly felled by your allies. It doesn’t take long to arrive at the transponder with the help from him and your allies. You grimace in disgust at the living machinery, its writhing mass of tentacles closely resembling the one that kidnapped you.

‘So, uh, how do I use this thing?’

« Place together the ends of a tentacle from the top and one from the bottom. »

‘So make a tenta-mite and a tenta-tite hold hands, got it.’ You place your violin down and reach out with both hands, grabbing a tentacle in each. You shiver at their strange texture as you place their ends together and watch as they stick to each other like Velcro.

« Leap right! Quickly! »

You don’t get a chance to act on his command as a dragon practically crashes through what you thought was a windshield but was apparently just an empty hole, the impact shaking the ship enough to knock you off your feet. You can do nothing but watch as it opens its maw, a blast of fire leaving its mouth, coming straight at you. You bring your arms up, covering your face, expecting the searing pain of your skin being burnt away.

But it didn’t.

You slowly open your eyes and peek over your arms, seeing the fire collide with a misty blue shield that had formed around you. The shield only vanished after the flames dissipated and the dragon leapt off of the ship.

« Young one, pluck the connection you made. We must get you out of the hells. »

Your exhausted and overwhelmed mind has given up on processing the situation. You pull yourself up by the base of the transponder and reach out, plucking the connection like you would your violin. You see the space in front of the ship rip open, revealing a wormhole of sorts that you soar into. Exiting on the other side reveals a starry night sky which you might have appreciated had the ship not started to free fall, your body leaving the ground. You’ve seen this simulated zero gravity before in videos where people were having fun, but that was in a safe and controlled environment. This was decidedly not a safe and controlled environment. You can do nothing but curl into a ball and lace your fingers together behind your head to cup your neck, hopefully protecting it. You don’t float for long as you are quickly jettisoned out the empty windows, the sheer pressure exerted on you combined with the mental fatigue you’ve suffered is enough to render you unconscious for the second time that day.

…

You wake to the sun in your eyes. Groaning, you roll over to bury your face in your pillow, not ready to wake up. Instead of the soft fabric of the pillow case, you’re met with dirt, rocks, and grass pressed against your skin. You lift yourself up in a dazed panic. Where are you?

« Good morning, young one. How are you feeling? »

You sit up, startled by the unexpected voice. Then the events of yesterday come rushing back to you after hearing Astaroth’s voice. ‘A bit sore, but other than that, fine I guess. Oh, but what happened? Last I remember I was defenestrated against my will.’’

« Luckily, I was able to protect you, though there is something else you must know. »

You tilt your head. “Hmm?”

« As you were falling, I felt another presence reach out to you. One not unlike the mind flayers who abducted you. » He sounded apprehensive, some of his emotions mixing into your own. « I was able to ward it off, but I am unsure of what their intention was. We should be careful going forward. »

‘Did you say…mindflayer?’

« Yes, I believe you referred to them as ‘Cthulhus’. »

“Oh, my god.” Now sitting cross-legged, you rest your forehead against your hands. You take a deep breath. ‘Astaroth, you said this was a different world, right? Which one is it; where exactly am I?’

« Currently you are in the continent of Faerûn on the planet Toril. »

‘…We’re in the forgotten realms, aren’t we?’

« Well, yes, » He sounded surprised. « I was not aware you knew of it. »

‘It was the setting of a game I played back home called Dungeons&Dragons. Who’d’ve thought that knowledge would actually come in handy?’ You sigh. ‘Gods, I can’t believe I didn’t recognize a mindflayer right in front of me.’

« I would not have expected you to. They are quite the rarity in your realm. »

‘I’m going to need some time to really process all of this later.’ You sigh again, this one more despairing than the last. “Fuck… how am I supposed to survive here? Isn’t this realm, like, super dangerous?”

« I suppose, if you’re feeling up to it, we could speak of what I originally reached out to you for. »

‘No time like the present I guess, so please, do distract me from thoughts of my impending doom.’

« To speak plainly, I am trapped. » His demeanor became quite solemn. « A very long time ago I made a deal where if I were to ever perish, I would resurrect in the Wells of Darkness, the seventy-third layer of the Abyss. However, the same being who killed me ignited a permanent hellfire in my assigned pit. I have since been stuck in this well, forever burning and regenerating in an endless cycle, stuck between life and death. » He paused, a heavy silence lingering in your mind. « Try as I might, I am unable to escape. I am simply not powerful enough to extinguish the magic of a now god. And so, that brings us to you. The deal I offer is simple: I will grant you my powers in return for your aid in freeing me. That is all there is to it, no strings attached. I know suffering intimately, and would not wish it upon a warlock of mine. I’ve found that loyalty earned through trust is sturdier than if earned through fear. »

‘Okay, but, why me?’

« You are open-minded and have magical potential within you, which is what drew me towards you, but most importantly is that the laws of this realm do not constrain you. With you as my warlock, I may yet escape from this prison. » His tone softened, almost pleading, « So I ask you, (y/n), will you accept this deal and become my warlock? »

‘If I do accept, what happens if I fail? If I can’t free you?’

« Nothing, » he answered honestly. « I only ask that you aid me however you feel you are able to. Any headway we make is valuable, even if we cannot free me in the end. My time here has taught me patience, if nothing else. »

‘And you won’t force me to do something I don’t want?’

« I will not. If you wish, I can add that to our contract. »

‘Yes, please.’

« Very well. I propose this contract: I will grant you my powers in return for your aid in freeing me. I cannot force you to do anything against your will, nor will I withhold my powers from you to manipulate you into doing something you do not wish. And so I ask once more, will you accept this contract and form a pact with me? »

Surprised but grateful at the addendum, you agree, “I accept.”

« And so it shall be. »

You watch as a soft, blue light pulses through your veins, leaving a trail of comfortable heat in its wake. And then you know things, things you shouldn’t. Information is input into your head, information of what you are now capable of.

« As of this moment, you are my one and only warlock. I have granted you knowledge of your new abilities you are able to use as of now. I will grant you more in the future once you have gotten used to these and I have regained enough power. »

‘Cool, but, uh…how do I use it?’

« I would suggest using an arcane focus to channel your magic, » he proposed. « Once you have acclimated, I shall guide you on casting without one. »

‘So, do I need a crystal ball? A gemstone? Voodoo doll? A wand?’

« Nothing of the sort, though I am curious to learn what this ‘voodoo doll’ is. No, your instrument will work wonderfully. »

‘I can cast spells… with my violin?’

« Yes. It is something you are already familiar with and attuned to. Instruments are usually conduits for magic for bards, but I believe it will work just as well for you. »

‘Yeah, that checks out. Music is a master manipulator of emotions.’ You clap your hands once to emphasize your next point: ‘So, got any idea where my violin is?’

« It’s behind you, dear. »

You turn around and yep. There it was. Violin and bow placed neatly on the ground behind you.

‘Oh… well, I feel stupid. Thank you though.’

« Anytime. »

You grab your instrument and slowly stand up, your legs sore and most likely bruised, complaining at being used.

‘So, uh, where can I put it? I’d rather not have to run with my violin and bow in my hands. That’s just a disaster waiting to happen.’

« Hmm… With a few work-around I could probably register it as a pact-weapon of sorts, » Astaroth offered. « That way you will be able to summon and dismiss it at will. »

‘So I get to have a magic violin? Sweet.’ You smile excitedly. ‘How do we do this?’

« Currently you are not powerful enough to summon pact weapons at will, but since this is technically not a weapon, then theoretically I should be able to assign it as a pact-bound object which you can summon and dismiss. However, it may prove difficult at first, for the magic required will drain quite a bit of your energy in exchange. »

‘Yeah, that’s fine. Exhaustion is an old friend of mine, so I think I can handle it.’

You feel a flash of concern. « As you wish. »

‘Cool. Well, I’m gonna go find Tav, Shadowheart, and Lae’zel now.’

« Of course, though I must warn you: You should never mention my name amongst others, » Astaroth warned. « My name has been taken by the one responsible for my suffering. Though not the most well known, he is still famous enough as an evil entity many frown upon. »

You suck air in through your teeth. “Good to know! I’ll keep that in mind.”

No longer dedicating your entire focus to conversing, you take a look around your surroundings. You are on a small cliff of sorts. Down the cliff to your right is a small beach with a single dock, but your attention isn’t focused on that. Instead your eyes are drawn to the massive, burning wreckage of the ship you were on, its remains not even a meter away from the cliff’s base, its structure still managing to reach far above you. Yeah, you really don’t want to risk death by any of the debris crushing you. So, you turn on your heel and walk down the foot-trodden path, away from the shipwreck. It is only now that you notice someone else, partially obscured by some foliage. They’re nervously looking for something in the tall grass in front of them, like they were trying to figure out if they found a shiny Pokémon but didn’t want to scare it away. Curious, you quietly approach, keeping your footsteps light. Your stranger danger sirens are going off, but you ignore them because after the day you just had you’d feel much safer with a stranger than on your own, a thought you’d never imagine you would ever have.

“You there!”

You squeak in surprise. You’re not used to people sensing your presence. More often than not, people don’t notice you, so you end up accidentally scaring them half the time.

“Come here— I need help!”

You cautiously inch your way forward, cursing your anxiety for making you so nervous.

“Hurry! I’ve got one of those brain things cornered. Come and help me kill it.”

For the first time, he turns towards you, revealing his face. He’s as pale as a ghost, but not in a sickly way. His white curls frame his face just right, his long pointed ears only slightly obscured by his hair. An elf, you assume. He’s pretty—beautiful—gorgeous—absolutely stunning.

‘Is everyone in this world this beautiful? He’s even got that noble vampire aesthetic going on and I’m such a sucker for that, like, come on. Pretty girls and pretty boys?! Anxiety’s enough of a bitch with normal people! Gah, I’m gonna make a fool of myself aren’t I? I need an octopus pot, but for a human that I can crawl in. Astaroth? Do I have hidey-hole-making magic?’

Astaroth huffs a quiet, amused laugh. « I’m afraid not, young one. Though please, be wary of this man. He’s planning to hold a knife to your throat as soon as you lower your guard. »

Your eyes widen, ‘I’m sorry, what? What makes you say that?’

« Because I saw it, » he said, matter-of-factly. « I preside over the domains of divination and prophecies. I can easily see possible outcomes a few seconds into the future. It's the same reason why I was able to help you on the nautiloid. »

‘Huh. Neat.’ The elf’s gaze meets yours once again. ‘…Why is it always the hot ones who have problems? Or would it be why are the villains always hot? Or am I just attracted to toxic people?’

“There, in the grass,” the pale elf motioned towards the foliage with his head. “Can you see it?” Perhaps he mistook your panicked expression for fear of the ‘brain thing,’ as he put it, because it seems like he’s trying to not-so-subtly nudge you towards helping him.

You stare at him, unsure. Instead of approaching, you lift your violin up and place it under your chin. You look towards the grass, trying to see what creature he’s talking about. You remain vigilant, flickering your eyes between him and the grass, heeding your patron’s warning. You tense when the underbrush violently rustles, then jump, surprised, as a boar leaps out. Luckily, it ignores you, opting to run by you instead. It’s when you glance back at the elf that you see him pull out a dagger. You take a step back, placing your bow on your strings, ready to hopefully produce some type of magic. You’re tense, your eyes never leaving his dagger.

“I saw you on the ship, didn’t I?” He stated, question rhetorical. “Free, scuttling about.”

You hunch up your already-tense shoulders, smushing your violin against your face. You open your mouth to speak, stuttering out ‘uhs’ and ‘ums’ before you remember the language barrier.

‘What the fuck am I supposed to do? He can’t understand English!’

“You’re in league with them, aren’t you?” He continues to accuse you. “Those tentacled—argh!”

He’s cut off by a sharp pain in his mind, you assume, due to the identically painful twisting within your own. You see dark city streets, the faces of everyone you pass by. Then you see daylight accompanied by a dreadful fear, the same fear you had been feeling the entirety of the previous day. The fear of pain. The fear of dying.

“What was that?” He started to sound panicked now, the aggressive edge in his tone replaced by confusion. “What’s going on?”

You shrug as best you can, still holding your bow at the ready.

He sighs, “It’s those tentacled monsters. Whatever they did—whatever they put in us—just created a connection.They took you too. I saw it during… whatever just happened.”

He drops his stance, sheathing his dagger behind him. You mirror him, lowering your bow and violin.

“And to think I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards. Apologies.” He bows briefly, then looks to you for a response.

Out of habit, you tuck your violin under your right arm, holding it against your side, angle your right foot behind you, and bow in return in the proper style of a musician ending their performance. You see his eyes twinkle with some unknown emotion; he’s too guarded to read.

“Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name’s Astarion. I was in Baldur’s Gate when those beasts snatched me.”

You nod at him. “…(Y/n).”

“Not much of a conversationalist, are you? All right. Please tell me you at least know something about these worms.”

You shake your head. You never had the time to truly get into the deep lore of Dungeons & Dragons. You know some things from Critical Role, but that takes place on Exandria, not Toril, where you are now, so that basically makes all your knowledge worthless.

“I suppose it’s not exactly common knowledge,” his tone is light, not truly having expected you to know anything. “These worms are already affecting me. I can feel it. Now what to do about it…” He trails off in thought, looking towards you to see if you have anything to add.

You do what you do best: shrug.

“Well, getting out of here is a good place to start. Then finding anyone who might know about these worms. I need an expert. Someone who knows how to control these things…”

You motion behind you, thumb out: the classic hitchhiking sign. You nod your head in the same direction, hoping to get across the point that you’re asking him to come with you.

“You know, I was ready to go this alone, but maybe sticking with the herd isn’t such a bad idea. And you might be a useful person to know.” He looks you up and down, eyebrow raised.

Ah. That’s right. You’re wearing clothes from your world. Soft, comfy clothes that do not fit the high fantasy theme at all. But hey, they’ve got deep pockets and soft lining, which you honestly care about more than fitting in. If you’re gonna get strange looks either way, might as well wear something cozy.

“All right, I shall accompany you. Lead on.”

You stand there, blinking, not having expected him to ask you to take the lead. You glance around, looking for a way to go, eventually deciding on the path heading away from the crash site. You lead the elf, Astarion, down the path that soon curves to run along the base of the cliff, too high for you to even consider climbing.

“So, whatever happened to those other three you were running around with?” Astarion breaks the silence.

You shrug. Again.

He sighs. “You know, it’s quite difficult to hold a conversation if you continue to stay silent. I know you can speak, you were able to tell me your name, after all, so why don’t you?”

“Eh…” You make a noncommittal noise and gesture with your hands a bit. [It’s complicated], you want to say, but you can’t.

“Well, I suppose if you don’t want to talk, I can’t exactly force you to,” he huffs.

You sheepishly smile at him, [sorry].

“Seems like I’ll just have to talk enough for the both of us,” he smirked down at you, “or we find some other way to communicate.”

[Okay], you sign with a smile.

“…Three? Three what?” He asks in response to the three fingers you held up.

You shake your head and repeat the sign, [no, not three. It means okay].

“…I still don’t know what that means, so I suppose it falls on me to move this parley along.” He puts his hand to his chin in thought. “How about I ask you some questions and try to guess your answers with those weird gestures you’ve been doing?” He suggests. “A conversation through a game of charades?”

You nod back. That sounds like a fair idea.

“Let’s try to get the hard ones out of the way. Why don’t you speak?”

You scrunch your face in thought. ‘How can I explain that?’ You spend a moment thinking about it. ‘Oh!’ [I got it!] You hit your hands together like you would when playing rock-paper-scissors. ‘I’ll just try and explain it like what happened in The Little Mermaid.’

You face him and open your mouth. He looks at you strangely. You raise your hand, miming sticking your arm down your throat. You close your hand around nothing, then pull your arm away. You stick your hand out and open it, dropping something from it. You then turn around and hold both hands out, as if you were someone else ready to catch what you dropped. Then you wiggled your fingers at Astarion, [Magic]! And thus ended your performance.

He looks very confused, and for good reason. “You put something in your mouth, removed it, gave that something to someone else, and then wiggled your fingers at me.”

You nod with a smirk, proud of yourself. ‘Yeah, you got it, right?’

“Honestly, did you really expect me to get anything out of that?” He asked dryly. “And here I thought bards were supposed to be good at performance and theatrics.”

You shake your head at him. [Not a bard].

“Are you seriously trying to say that was a good performance?” He asked incredulously. “That I was actually supposed to understand that?”

You shake your head [no] again. You make circles with your free hand. [The other thing]. He raises an eyebrow. You point to your violin. [I’m a violinist, but that doesn’t mean I’m a bard].

“Yes, your fiddle, you’re a bard, I know.” He was starting to sound exasperated.

You furiously shake your head at him. [No. Not. A. Bard].

“You’re… not a bard?”

You snap your fingers and give him a single finger gun. [Bingo].

“So you’re just a regular human who, despite not being a bard, tried to threaten me by playing an instrument?”

“Mmm,” you hum thoughtfully and tilt your hand, [sort of].

“Gods this is frustrating,” he mumbles under his breath. “Don’t you have something to write on? Spare paper or a book even?”

[Nope]. Another shake of your head.

“We’re getting nowhere at this rate.”

“Mm,” you nod, agreeing with him.

At this point the two of you have come across another part of the ship’s remains, cutting off the rest of the path. You have no choice but to go through. Only a few steps in and you see a mind flayer, laying on the ground, severely injured. As you approach, you feel it connect with you, filling you with feelings of compassion, urging you to let it devour you.

‘Uh, gross. No thanks,’ you back up.

« Perhaps you could take this chance to try out your powers? »

‘Oh, yeah. Target practice. It would probably be best to try it out now instead of in the middle of a fight, wouldn’t it.’

You raise your violin and stare into the mindflayer’s eyes. You place your bow against the E string. ‘E is for eldritch blast.’ Then you pull. The open E rings loud and clear. You feel an energy pulse through you, moving through your arms up to your fingertips. You see that familiar blue light gather where your bow meets the string. When you lift the bow, the magic shoots away from you at an incredible speed, hitting the mind flayer right between the eyes, killing it instantly. In less than a second, you had both conjured magic and killed an intelligent being for the first time.

“…Holy shit,” You quietly mutter, the words coming out shakily.

“And you claim you’re not a bard.”

You don’t respond, only lower your violin, arms dangling by your side. You just killed a man. Well, not a man, per se, but still a living, breathing, thinking being. A being who is no longer living, breathing, thinking. You’re a murderer. Are you a murderer in the eyes of the law of Faerûn? Does it count if it’s a mind flayer? With what you just went through, you’d assume that this world doesn’t care if you kill a hostile mind flayer.

“Hello? Are you still there?”

You blink a couple times, seeing Astarion waving his hand in your face. You lean back and peer around his hand to make eye contact with Astarion.

“Ah, there you are,” he lowers his hand. In his eyes you find a vague sense of familiarity; of what, you don’t know. “Honestly, could you try not getting lost in your thoughts? The last thing we need is you freezing up after killing something, since I expect this is going to become a regular occurrence. Have you never killed anything before?”

You opt to just shake your head because no, you’ve never killed anyone. You never really had the means or reason to, back home.

He sighs, “I was afraid that would be the case. Well you’ll have to get used to it. We don’t have much of a choice in this situation.”

You look down at your feet. ‘Welp. Time to activate my trauma response: block it out and pretend it never happened.’ You breathe in—and breathe out.

« Are you all right, young one? »

‘Yeah, I think? I don’t know. We’ll find out once I process these emotions…eventually.’

« I see. For now though, since you have used your instrument to wield magic, it can now be considered a type of pact-weapon, so you could be able to summon and dismiss it at will. You need only channel your intentions and it shall listen. Though for now, you will only be able to do so once per day. »

‘Okay.’ You gaze at your newly-crowned weapon. “Poof.” It turns into mist, slipping through your fingers like sand.

You look up to face Astarion but are distracted by movement behind him. Leaning to the side to see around him, you spot familiar white hair and purple skin. Hiding in the shadows are Tav and Shadowheart. Tav’s eyes light up when she sees you and begins to jog over.

“(Y/n)! You’re all right!” She called out to you.

You smile and nod. Her eyes glance over at Astarion, stopping about a meter in front of you. Shadowheart didn’t bother jogging to catch up, simply walking instead.

“Who’s this?”

You step to the side and gesture between the two, “Tav, Astarion. Astarion, Tav.”

Tav rapidly blinks as she looks at you, surprised. “Oh, wow, I didn’t notice before but your accent is very thick.”

“Yes, quite,” Astarion remarks. “Is that the real reason you don’t talk? What made you think… that—“ he fumbles with his arms, vaguely mimicking your miming, “—would come across as you having an accent?” His tone was a bit harsh, but more dumbfounded than accusatory.

You open your mouth to rebuttal, but sigh instead and rub your temples. When you look up at him you rotate your hands around each other, [There’s more to it than that]. You sigh through your nose with a half-shrug. [It’s complicated].

Shadowheart finally joins the three of you, eyebrow raised, “Really? A game of charades? Now?”

“Ugh,” you groan. “I can’t speak your weird alien language! Okay?! This is the best I can do.”

“…Do any of you have a scroll of ‘detect thoughts’ or a potion of mind reading?” Tav asked, looking between the three of you.

“No, unfortunately.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Uh-uh.”

“Well then, charades it is,” Tav puts her hands on her hips. “We can make a game out of it! Whoever interprets (y/n) correctly gets a point!”

“If you want to treat it as a game, I won’t stop you,” Shadowheart says, sounding very disinterested.

“Trust me when I say they are absolutely horrid at it, so good luck with that,” Astarion says to Tav, getting a mean side-eye from you. “Now, I believe we’ve already wasted enough time here, standing around and playing games.”

You put your hands up in surrender, ‘Hey, don’t look at me, you’re the ones who decided to critique me.’

As a group of four, you make your way to the north, out of wreckage, with Tav taking the lead.

“So, this is Shadowheart,” Tav introduces her to Astarion,” and as you already know, I’m Tav, that’s (y/n), and you’re… Astarion? Did I say that right?”

“A pleasure, although I am a bit surprised you managed to understand despite their accent,” Astarion subtly jabs at your supposed ‘accent.’ “Speaking of, I don’t believe I recognize it. Pray tell, just where do you hail from?” He asks you.

You give him an unamused look. ‘My mans, how the hell am I supposed to try and tell you where I’m from? Not that I was even planning to in the first place. With their hatred towards mindflayers, not that I blame them though, I really don’t wanna know what they’d think of me if they found out I was some kind of alien.’

“Does it really matter?” Shadowheart asks. “It’s not like we’d be able to understand their answer in the first place.”

You point to Shadowheart and nod, [she’s right, you know].

“We can try and guess,” Tav suggests. “Can you try to give us any hints? Like your clothes! I’ve never seen that style before; what about you guys? Do either of you recognize it?”

“No, but they definitely look ill-suited for combat,” Shadowheart sizes you up.

Astarion just shakes his head, but his attention stays focused on you, his gaze growing ever the more suspicious.

“Hmm, what else… if I handed you a map, could you point out where you’re from?”

You vigorously shake your head, [nope. Definitely not].

“I’m out of ideas then. Do you have anything on you that can tell us where you’re from?” Tav asks.

You shake your head again. At this rate you’re going to end up rattling your brain into a vicious headache.

“Oh, well. No helping it, I guess. Hopefully we’ll find someone who has mind reading potions for sale.”

You purse your lips. ‘I really don’t wanna get my mind read. How deep does a potion let them pry? Will they find out I’m an alien? Will they find out that my patron’s Astaroth? ‘Cause that would be super bad. Okay, (y/n), you have a new objective: don’t let them read your mind. You can’t let them find out you’re an alien. No way, no how. You just gotta blend in as best you can. You’ve been bullshitting your way through life for years; getting yeeted to a different world doesn’t mean your skills have disappeared. We got this. You got this. I got this.’

Climbing out of the smoking wreckage your group emerges onto a wide dirt path, obviously well-traversed. It spits in two, one way continuing up the stairs and slopes to the left, the other veering off to the right, where you can see a very obvious magic portal on the cliff face practically screaming at you to take a look. You tug on Tav’s robe to get her attention, pointing at the portal when you do.

“Well, that is certainly strange,” she says, confused. “Let’s check it out.” She heads off, expecting the rest of you to follow, which you do.

‘So magic portals aren’t all that common. Good to know, good to know.’

You pointedly ignore the three dead goblins in the way, making sure to step around their bodies. Tav didn’t seem bothered by them, as they immediately went to loot their pockets. The portal, when you arrive in front of it, is a deep empty black, its outer rim swirling with purple magic. It’s just begging to be poked.

And so you do that.

You slowly reach out and gently poke it, recoiling when you get shocked.

‘Rude.’

And then a hand sticks out, making you jump back because you weren’t prepared for a jump scare. “A hand? Anyone?” A masculine voice calls out from the portal.

You tentatively slip your hand in theirs and shake it, then release it. ‘Is this proper etiquette? To shake someone’s hand when they stick it through a portal to greet them as they come out?’

“Perhaps I should have clarified,” the voice of the person who you assume the hand belongs to speaks again. “A helping hand, please?”

You look at Tav. You don’t know how to get people through portals. She comes up to you and grabs hold of the arm as you step aside. Then she pulls.

“That’s it! Go on, keep pulling!”

The portal suddenly dilates, a man popping out of it, him and Tav both careening onto the ground.

“Ooft,” He grunts before standing up. “Hello. I’m Gale of Waterdeep.” He reaches forward and gives Tav a firm handshake with both his hands. “Apologies, I’m usually better at this.”

“At introductions?” Tav asks.

“At magic. Say, but I know you, don’t I? In a manner of speaking. You were on the nautiloid as well.”

“I was, yes.”

“Then I can only assume you too were on the receiving end of a rather unwelcome insertion in the ocular region.”

“Yes, do you know anything about those worms?”

“The inserted we speak of, this parasite—are you aware that after a period of excruciating gestation it will turn us into mind flayers? It’s a process known as ceremorphosis—”

‘Why is his cadence so weird? Ceremor-PHO-sis? Wouldn’t you say cere-MOR-phosis? You know, like metamorpho—wait did he say “turn us into mind flayers”?’

“—and let me assure you: it is to be avoided. You don’t happen to be a cleric by any chance, do you? A doctor? Surgeon? Uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?” He mimes sewing with his last phrase and you can’t help the little huff of laughter that comes out. He glances your way with a small smile, glad someone appreciates his joke.

“You seem to know enough about our condition to realize it is beyond most clerics’ skills,” Shadowheart adds.

“Most, no doubt,” Gale confirms. “But I find myself hoping to be in the presence of the few. You don’t happen to be one of them?”

“Unfortunately, no. I was actually hoping you might know someone,” Tav replies.

“Then it looks like we’re both starved for answers. We’re most certainly going to need a healer, and soon too. How about we lend each other a helping hand once more and look for a healer together?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Tav smiles, arms akimbo. “You’re more than welcome to join us.”

“Most excellent. A parasite shared is a parasite…halved. Or something to that effect. Oh! But before you think you’re about to embark on a journey with most ill-mannered a man: thank you for pulling me out of that stone. It was an act of foresighted kindness I assure you, for I have the feeling ample opportunities will present themselves for me to return the favor.”

“Of course. Now We should probably introduce ourselves. I’m Tav, that’s Shadowheart, (y/n), and Astarion.”

“It is lovely to meet you all.”

“Likewise,” Shadowheart says, still seeming pretty disinterested.

“Hm,” Astarion hums, busy looking at his nails.

You hold out your hand for a handshake, which Gale doesn’t hesitate to take.

“Ah, so you’re the one who shook my hand. Your magic is unlike most I’ve felt before.” Looks like you just outed yourself as the person who shook his hand instead of helping him, because you’re an idiot. “I don’t believe I’ve ever come across anyone who dresses as you do. Where do you hail from, friend?”

You look to Tav with pleading eyes, [can you explain, please]?

“I should mention it will be difficult to get any answers out of them,” Tav explains. She continues when Gale looks at her questioningly. “They have a very thick accent, to the point where we can’t really understand what they’re saying. We’ve been stuck playing charades to understand them.”

“Would you try saying something? I might recognize where you’re from once I hear it,” his eyes glittered with the natural curiosity of a researcher. Whether it was for you or your magic, you weren’t sure.

“Hmm,” you tap your lips in thought. “What to say, what to say…”

Gale squints at you, deep in thought.

‘Oh. I said that out loud didn’t I? Well, problem solved, now I don’t need to say anything.’

“Well, for starters, I would say that it’s not just an accent, they’re speaking in a different language entirely.”

You give Gale the same snap with finger guns you did with Astarion, [Bingo].

“I believe that means you got it right, if I’m understanding our past “conversation” correctly,” Astarion adds, adding air quotes around ‘conversation’.

You nod.

“How curious,” Gale says, even more intrigued. “You understand us just fine, though, correct?”

Another nod.

“Hmm, perhaps the parasite somehow affected your speech,” he speculated. “I’ll have to look more into this later. For now, let’s focus on finding a healer.”

With that, you and the rest of your party turn back to go along the other direction the path took. You once again avoid looking at the goblin corpses. Gale falls into step alongside Tav at the front of the group, chatting with her about something you can’t quite make out.

“I have to admit, I’m not too fond of the idea of traveling with a wizard that traps himself in rocks with his own magic,” you hear Astarion say from your left.

You tilt your head at him, [Is that not normal]?

“Well, a wizard whose spells backfire doesn’t seem very useful in a fight. Who knows what could end up happening.”

Ah, he didn’t understand you. But it seems that this isn’t normal, so you got your answer anyway. It’s then that you hear shouting up ahead, Tav automatically changing paths to lead you towards it. Up ahead you see two tieflings, at least, you think they’re tieflings, arguing with each other. Behind them, trapped in a suspended cage, is Lae’zel, looking very upset. Tav immediately hurries, running up to the two tieflings to see what the situation is. She’s already talking by the time you catch up, glancing between the pair and Lae’zel. You casually slide your hands in your pockets; you trust her to take care of this. Besides, you’re already socially exhausted. You didn’t want to try being the negotiator when you couldn’t fucking talk.

Something smooth brushes against your fingers.

‘What the fuck?’

Your brows furrow as you reach deeper into your pocket. It’s a familiar shape, one you know from handling it everyday. How the hell did your phone end up here? You were pretty sure it wasn’t in your pocket when you were abducted.

« So you call that wonderful device a ‘phone’? »

‘Yeah, but, how did it get here?’

You hear Astaroth clear his throat, a bit bashful. « Well, it has been a long time since I’ve heard music, longer still since I’ve heard music from your world, and it’s changed quite drastically from what I can recall. So, I used the magic I was planning on using to transport you on your phone when you were abducted. I may have acted a tad selfish. »

‘Hey, it’s fine, truly, but I don’t know if we’ll ever get a chance to listen to any of the music I have.’

« Does it not work here? »

‘No it’s just—Listen, I really can’t let them know that I’m from Earth. If any of them see this they’re gonna know something’s up. Then I’ll have to explain myself and it’s gonna suck. What if I fuck up so badly and they catch me in a lie that they think I’m some evil entity who’s come to kill them or a mind flayer in disguise? If I avoid all that by admitting I’m an alien and I don’t know anything about this world, then I have to ask about things, everything really, and I hate doing that. Talking to people is really scary. This, speaking with you, is different though because I have inner-monologues all the time anyway, and you can only speak in my head, so it almost feels like I’m just talking to myself, and I’m great at that. And you already know I’m from Earth. Have you heard of social anxiety? Because I have that and it’s real bad. Honestly? Take your time with that speaking module. Having an excuse not to talk is great. I get to go non-verbal and everyone is okay with it. I could sing whatever I want and have nobody understand the lyrics! Not like I’m going to sing in front of anyone, but if I did I wouldn’t have to worry about that.. If you want, and if you’re able to, you can look into my memories and hear some Earth music, but I will not play anything on my phone unless we are very, very alone.’

« …I believe I have failed to realize how stressful these events have been for you. »

‘Sorry, when I get super stressed I tend to break down into spiraling thoughts that occupy my anxious mind and ramble on so much that I don’t even realize what I’m saying anymore because I’m on autopilot and I’m doing it again, fuck, sorry.’

« Do not apologize for that which is not your fault. »

‘Okay, I’ll try. No promises though. It’s hard to change habits, especially speech habits.’

You then feel that familiar icky squirming in your skull.

(“(Y/n), can you hear me?”)

You freeze up. Why was Tav’s voice in your head now? You snap your head to look up at Tav.

(“Oh, good! It seems like you can!”) She smiles at you. (“Lae’zel was able to talk to me via the parasite, so I thought to try this out so you don’t have to rely on gestures anymore.”)

You purse your lips, a bit panicked. You know nothing. You think nothing. No thoughts, head empty vibes only. You try to send over the uncomfortable feeling of the tadpole’s squirming.

(“Yeah, it’s a bit unpleasant, but at least now we’ll have an alternative way of communicating.”) She was much more excited about this than you were.

‘Wall.’

Tav furrows her brow, “Hmm, it seems like even with the tadpole, I still can’t hear her speak.”

‘Holy shit that fucking worked.’

“Hmm, very intriguing indeed,” Gale looked at you with the eyes of a scholar parched for knowledge, begging to look inside your head.

You try to shrug nonchalantly, [Oh well, nothing we can do about it, right]?

“You’d best hope the tadpole isn’t turning you already, istik.” Lae’zel, who had been released from her prison while you were spiraling, was very intimidating when her eyes met yours. “As soon as you show any sign of transformation I will take your head.”

As if your anxiety couldn’t get any worse, Lae’zel just has to prove you wrong.

“Don’t worry, Lae’zel, we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen to any of us,” Tav reassures her, placing a hand on her shoulder which Lae’zel immediately shrugs off. “The sun’s getting low now, so why don’t we just set up camp and get some semblance of a proper rest?”

Nobody needed any convincing, save for Lae’zel remarking that first thing in the morning we need to search for a crèche. After a little while of searching, your party comes across a cozy spot near the river, far away from the crash site and secluded enough you wouldn’t need to fear many hostile beings potentially arriving. Quickly enough, everyone finds a spot and starts putting up their tents; all except you, of course. You don’t have a tent. Because you were at home when you were kidnapped so why would you have a tent on you. So you find a lonely spot by the river, and you stand there and wait.

It doesn’t take long for Tav to notice you doing nothing after she finishes setting up her tent, “Hey, something the matter? You need help getting your tent up?”

You blandly gesture to the empty ground in front of you and look to her, [I will, but first, I don’t even have a tent to put up].

“Oh, you don’t have a tent, do you? Give me a moment, I believe I picked up a camping pack along the way; I’ll check if there’s a tent in there.” She runs off and rifles through a large chest near Shadowheart’s tent, coming back with a large pack soon afterwards. “Here we are,” she places the pack down in front of you, taking out a large bundle you assume is a tent. “Come, I’ll show you how to set it up.”

You spend a good part of the next half an hour learning how to raise your tent with Tav. When you finish you begin to smell the lovely aroma of food wafting from the center of camp. As if in a trance, you find yourself walking towards the campfire and see Gale stirring a pot above the flames.

“Dinner’s just about ready,” He says, seeing you and Tav approach.

“Smells great!” Tav happily sits near the fire, practically drooling at the aroma.

“I’m glad you think so,” he smiles at her. “Hopefully some good food in our stomachs will make our situation a bit more bearable.”

You sit down as well, hugging your knees to your chest. The fire is warm, welcoming as the sun begins to set and the world grows colder. It’s nice, albeit without the comforting feel Astaroth’s warmth brings. Glancing over you can see Lae’zel tending to her sword and Astarion lounging just outside his tent with a book. Shadowheart soon joins the three of you already at the fire, and with perfect timing too as Gale starts serving out the soup he’d been making.

Without even needing to be called over, Lae’zel comes to grab her bowl and quickly gulps down her soup, not even bothering to take a seat. She simply hands the bowl back when she’s done and returns to sharpening her weapon.

“Astarion, soup’s done!” Tav calls out. “Are you going to have some?”

He doesn’t even bother looking up from his book. “Thank you, but I’m not exactly hungry after the day I’ve had,” he waves her off.

She shrugs, “Suit yourself. More for me then,” she immediately refills her bowl as soon as she finishes her first one.

You’re slow to finish your soup, which could admittedly use more salt. D&D is technically high fantasy, right? Does that mean salts and spices are precious commodities and you’ll be stuck eating unseasoned food for the foreseeable future? This is gonna suck if that’s the case. You retreat further into your mind as you eat, taking some time to commune with your patron as a new thought comes to mind.

‘Do you need me to like, set up an altar and send you offerings and stuff? Burn some food or spill some wine?’

« No, there wouldn’t be much of a point of sending me anything if it’s just going to turn to ash within a second. »

‘Oh. Right. I don’t really know how this warlock stuff here works. My only basis is how witchcraft works back home, so you’re really going to have to lead me through this, sorry.’

« …Yes, we’ll definitely have to work on you apologizing for things out of your control. »

‘Oh, right, sorry.’

You hear a weary sigh.

‘…Yeah, that’s gonna take a lot of work to change.’

You swear you could almost feel a ghostly pat on your shoulder, but that would be impossible. Finishing your meal, you stand up and head for the river to at least rinse off your bowl—you weren’t sure if anyone had soap, let alone how to even ask for soap.

“Are you turning in for the night, (y/n)?” Tav asks, almost finished with her second helping.

You shake your head, [not yet]. You point to the river then mime scrubbing your bowl, [gotta rinse this off, first].

“You forget you have a wizard among you now,” Gale smiles.

With a flick of his fingers and a short burst of magic, your bowl is suddenly as clean as before you used it. You stare at it, wide-eyed. You don’t care what you might be able to do, that was the most impressive magic you’ve ever seen. If you could clean anything with a wiggle of your fingers, your life would have been a lot easier, being the clumsy person you are.

“A little prestidigitation is all, no need to clean by hand.”

Looking at Gale in awe, you gently hand your magically-cleaned bowl back to him. [Thank you], you sign.

You wave to the three at the campfire to bid them goodnight before you crawl into your tent. Your bedroll lies there, next to the pack Tav had given you, just inviting you to slip inside. So you do. It’s not as comfortable as your bed, but still cozier than you were expecting. You wiggle down into it, cocooning yourself until only the top half of your face is sticking out.

‘So about putting out that hellfire; we should probably start talking about that.’

« If you are not too fatigued, then yes. »

‘Soooo, what have you already tried?’

« Not much, admittedly. I can assure you that dousing or smothering the flames will not work. My own magic doesn’t seem to do much either. It has been a long time since I last had an ally, longer still since I had one who was powerful enough to aid me. Since this cycle first began, in the early days of the blood war, the number of allies I’ve had amounts to less than ten. I am mostly forgotten, and very few mortals have learned the truth of the name Astaroth, and fewer still have been able to invoke me. Most end up invoking Gargauth in my place. » His calm tone changed when he mentioned that name, a deep hatred, a grudge that has persisted for millennia, tainted that name with a deep, fearsome loathing unlike anything you could possibly imagine.

You try to mentally convey to him the feeling of you patting him on the back, “that’s rough buddy.”

He chuckled a bit, « I must say, no one has ever called me ‘buddy’ before, and yet you have already done so twice. »

You begin to feel quite embarrassed before a pleasant warmth cuts through it, emanating from your sternum. « It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed, so long that I thought I had lost the ability to do so. » You could hear the melancholy in his words, but the warmth in your chest never faded. « And yet you’ve managed to greatly amuse me more times this past day than I have in one thousand years. I look forward to seeing how often you make me laugh. »

‘I’ll try my best.’ You smile and can sense him smiling in return. ‘But that name you mentioned, Gargauth… are they the one who did this to you?’

« Yes. He is an arch-devil-turned-deity. He’s one of the main reasons my hatred for devils runs so deep. I’ve never liked any devil I’ve met, but I despise him. You felt my loathing for fiends seep into you when we saw that cambion on the nautiloid. Now you know why. »

‘Yeah, I don’t blame ya. He sounds like a dick.’

Another chuckle from him makes you smile.

« I must say, I forgot how pleasant it was to be able to talk with someone like this. »

‘Well, I’m not leaving anytime soon, so let’s hope you don’t get sick of me.’

« Impossible. »

Mentally, physically, and socially exhausted, it doesn’t take long for you to fall into a deep, dreamless slumber.

#astarion x reader #bfft #baldur's gate 3 #astarion

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closetcasefabray · 2 years

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I cried after the first season of The Owl House because I was just so happy for the queer kids growing up with these kinds of characters and showing all these kinds of love that help heal the world’s hurt. I cried because I didn’t have this growing up, but I felt like that little closeted gay kid again except it didn’t feel scary but normal and wholesome and safe.

Anyway this is what my brain has been dissociating to lately—Private/High School and College No-Magic AU:

* Because this is a kinda-real-world/no-magic au and I can imagine the Blight family in Connecticut (y’all the CHRISTMAS CARDS), all the Blights are blonde except Alador and Amity, but Amity dyes her hair blonde to look like the twins and her mother.

* Blight twins got into Yale early admission because they’re Blights and are assumed to take on Blight Industries once they complete schooling. Of course they’re both class president and vice president at Jonesborough Academy (Ed: “I’m here in case you die.” / Em: “You just don’t want to do as much work.”) and are captains of the school lacrosse, swim, and tennis teams. Ed enjoys claiming his senioritis is him “giving Em” the valedictorian spot. He’s still set to be the Salutatorian regardless of how much he actually slacks off. Em punches Ed whenever he says this though because she has a 4.2 because she filled any potential study halls with online coursework and took so many weight courses, she literally surpasses a 4.0.

* Amity doesn’t want to go to Yale but her parents went (as did her grandparents on her mother’s side—her Dad’s parents went to Columbia) and legacies are legacies.

* Odalia has a deep love for winning absolutely anything over an MIT or Harvard alum. Not to mention Odalia and Alador have donated hundreds of thousands (soon to surpass a million) to Yale’s mechanical engineering program, putting New Haven on the map for mechanical engineering and boosting their rankings—there’s a notable wing of the department named after them.

* Amity is on track for a mechanical engineering future like the rest of her family (Ed is more interested in the marketing of Blight Industries—like Odalia—so he’s likely minoring in business management/marketing or will pursue a masters), but she’s leaning toward biomechanical engineering and robotics—she wants to build things to help kids in pediatric care.

* Blight Industries however is focused on automotive and aerospace technologies and recently signed a contract with Tesla for a relatively small and very confidential project that, despite its supposed size, will bring the Blights up a tax bracket.

* Luz is a sophomore like the rest of the group and new to Jonesborough Academy. She maintains a good GPA but struggles with staying on task and tends to day dream but works really hard to keep good grades. Luz wants to study creative writing and literature and visual arts and… have fun? She just wants a good enough scholarship she can have fun for four years and hopefully find something she loves along the way.

* Willow obviously wants to study botany (archaeobotany). “Yale is my reach, but so are all the Ivy League schools.” Luz makes botany puns with Ivy League as often as possible.

* Gus loves theater and art, especially stage/set design—he also skipped a grade and was accepted into the Jonesborough Academy Arts program. His parents have already taken him for a campus tour of Carnegie Mellon. He’s also president of the D&D club.

* Eda is Luz’s Gen X auntie figure of course, and she owns the thrift shop in town. She also bartends on the side and takes the train from CT to New York regularly, where she used to live for 15 years. Lilith is of course head of the local historical society and is the history teacher at Jonesborough.

* Luz meets Eda because Eda’s vintage shop also has a weird used book selection and a section of witchy stuff she likes exploring. Also there’s a little cafe next door they both enjoy and they split the massive but delicious chocolate chunk cookie from there when Eda stays in CT on the weekend.

* Willow regularly volunteers after school to take care of the greenhouse and is part of the agricultural program at the school, and for “volunteer hours,” Luz, Boscha, Amity, and of course Gus (established friendship between Gus and Willow) show up. Boscha complains about the dirt and worms and when Willow tries to help, Boscha pretends to accidentally knock over a plant, breaking the pot. Luz stands up for Willow of course and Amity feels obligated to side with Boscha.

* Amity is Amity still so she’s furious with Luz for showing up and being all smart and charming and kind and—well, she can’t possibly risk her rightful place as Valedictorian.

* Amity briefly played rugby freshman year and made varsity, but she broke her clavicle halfway through the season and her mother made her quit the team. Odalia isn’t fond of the sport to begin with so she told Amity to find another extra curricular—Amity makes the soccer team sophomore year!

* There’s a classroom debate regarding some literary analysis and Amity is a cynic and takes a hyper-practical approach (she can’t show weakness) and Luz is the romantic and takes a more creative approach. Fists are slammed on desks. Very passionate exchange of words. Amity’s face gets red. Redder when Luz wins the debate.

* Gus, Willow, and Luz have a small slumber party and Willow explains how she used to be friends with Amity. Luz isn’t sure how to feel, but Willow just shrugs “Middle school was tough but at least I’m not afraid of my dads… Amity’s parents are… demanding.”

* Amity breaks her other clavicle in the first soccer game she plays of the season.

* Amity ends up being in a sling for 6 weeks and can’t play. Her mother makes her quit again and instead signs Amity up for debate team. Amity joins but also joins the robotics club. Her parents don’t really notice since they work so much and filled her schedule so much they assume she’s at one of several extra curriculars or getting in volunteer hours.

* Luz goes to the library after school one day and realizes Amity reads to kids there, and Luz can’t handle how cute Ami—THE KIDS are…

* Luz and Amity get paired together for a project—they meet at the library and Amity tries to say Luz doesn’t have to do anything and she’ll do the project herself, but Luz puts her foot down—“I know you don’t trust people to get things or do things as well as you, but don’t you ever get tired? Don’t you ever just… need some help? You can trust me. I wouldn’t let you down when I know how important this is to you—us, I mean.”

* Luz helps Amity carry her books while she’s got her arm in a sling between some classes, and at one point Gus and Willow join. Willow looks at the two of them talking and laughing even and then looks at Gus who can barely hide his reaction to the same realization.

* Amity has Luz over while her parents are away at a conference to work on their project. She has a tree fort (like the hideaway at the library in the series) that she can get to from the window of her bedroom—Alador made it when she was little. There Luz finds Amity’s Azura books and loses. her. shit. Amity tries to say, “I just liked them as a kid” and Ed & Em just APPEAR at the window to throw her under the bus, “So why do you read all of WarriorofReesesPieces fan fiction still???” And both Amity and Luz turn bright red. Amity mumbles something like “I thought I deleted my web history…” Amity has zero idea that Luz is her favorite fan fic writer.

* Boscha starts making fun of Willow in study hall and Amity shows up since her Anatomy and Physiology class got canceled and makes Boscha stop, deciding to sit with Luz, Gus, and Willow.

* Luz and Amity get an A on their project. There’s definitely the “WOOOO! TEAMWORK, BABY!” hug involved here.

#ccf headcanon #owl house au #lumity au #lumity #luz x amity #luz noceda #amity blight #owl house

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gameofdrarry · 3 years

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Wizards Hearts Recs: Werewolf Creature!Fic

Wizards Hearts was a four-month-long Drarry reading fest. Players were given a playing deck of 52 tropes, and were asked to find 52 different fics to read and comment on to fill their decks. To prevent the same few fics from being read, fics were restricted to only being used for the game three times before being considered ineligible for further points. The tropes and submissions list can be found here.

Check out the masterlist of fics for this trope below the cut!

📜 Embers by shiftylinguini Rated: Explicit Words: 41216 Tags: Post-Hogwarts, First Time, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Draco Malfoy, Omega Harry Potter, Werewolves, Heat Companion Harry Potter, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Masturbation, Knotting, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Scent Marking, Scent Kink, Come Marking, Dirty Talk, sexual negotiation, H/D Career Fair 2017 Summary: Werewolf Alphas aren't meant to be alone, or to suppress their ruts indefinitely like Draco has been since he was bitten eight years ago. He needs company, companionship, to knot ― he needs an Omega Heat Companion. At least, that’s what the Healers say, and even Draco can admit contacting the person they’ve referred him to might be nice. Of course it turns out to be bloody Potter. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Heart Like Neon by lq_traintracks (lumosed_quill) Rated: Explicit Words: 41103 Tags: Sex Work, Sex worker Harry Potter, Rentboys, rentboy Harry potter, Past Harry/Ginny - Freeform, past Draco/Theo, Harry/OMC - Freeform, Trans Male Character, Trans Female Character, Switching, Transphobia, Tattoos, hung harry, POV Alternating, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Rimming, Comeplay, Watersports, Duelling, Facials Summary: Bored of being The Chosen One, Harry discovers he rather likes sex and becomes a professional. He’s good at it, and part of why is that he can read people. Not minds, not Legilimens, but their whole self, and he can give them what they don’t even know they want. Enter Draco fucking Malfoy, enigma to everyone, including himself. Harry can’t help but want to break into him, to figure him out. And Draco, thinking he’ll fuck Potter on a lark, has no idea what he’s in for. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Who we are in the shadows by Quicksilvermaid Rated: Explicit Words: 99714 Tags: Dubious Consent, werewolf instincts, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, child trafficking, Brief Claustrophobia, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Past minor character death, Past Child Death, Bigotry & Prejudice, prejudice against werewolves, internalized prejudice, Murder, Stabbing, Poison, Hallucinations, Creature Fic, Werewolf Harry, Werewolves, Auror Harry Potter, Case Fic, Masturbation, wanking, werewolf attack, Aural Voyeurism, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Biting, Marking, Claiming, Scenting, Possessive Behavior, Jealousy, Rough Sex, Edging, Secrets, Lies, Hurt/Comfort, Sharing a Bed, Loyalty, Loyalty Bond, Bonding, Angst, Domestic, Falling In Love, Enemies to Lovers, Self-Acceptance, Emotional Growth, Angst with a Happy Ending, References to Auror Brutality, H/D Erised 2019, Comeplay, Wall Sex, sex without lube, Identity Porn, Secret Identity Summary: What happens when you’re forced to become the very thing you despise? Ex-Auror Harry Potter, tossed out of the Ministry for something he had no control over, has been looking for a way back to his former life. When he comes across Draco Malfoy in the criminal underbelly of Wizarding London and in need of protection, Harry figures bringing him in to face the Ministry's justice is his ticket back to everything he's lost. But nothing is exactly as it seems. Not even Harry himself. And as he gets drawn further and further into Malfoy's world of honour and deception he finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew—about his childhood nemesis, the Ministry job he misses so much, and most of all, about himself. What happens when you’re forced to see that you were wrong? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Elusive Mate by 0idontknow0 Rated: Explicit Words: 25786 Tags: Rating: NC17, Fanart, Creature Fic Summary: Harry had done it (a) to save lives and (b) because the idea of him being Malfoy’s mate was clearly ridiculous, but now he had to tell Malfoy. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Finding A Place To Call Home by marysiak Rated: Explicit Words: 54747 Tags: Alternate Universe, Creature Fic, Werewolves, Post-Hogwarts, Rough Sex, Top Draco Malfoy, Bottom Harry Summary: Feeling directionless after the war, Harry is unexpectedly torn out of his own universe and thrust into another, where he must hide out with Remus Lupin, Teddy and Draco Malfoy as Severus Snape and Hermione try to find a way to send him home and save both his and his unwitting doppelganger's lives. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 as much a light as a flame by p1013 Rated: Explicit Words: 6303 Tags: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Mating Rituals, Werewolf Draco Malfoy, POV Draco Malfoy, Knotting, Scent Kink, Mating Bond, Outdoor Sex, Anal Sex, Comeplay, Art, Claiming, H/D Sex Fair 2020 Summary: His mother paints a wolf on his chest, its eyes bracketing his heart, and its muzzle pointed towards his groin. His aunt fills in the spaces around his waist and ribs with symbols he's lost the meaning of in the wash of whatever plant had been mixed in with the steam. They move after her brush leaves his skin, turning from incomprehensible marks to his name to wolf to home to hunt and then back to misunderstanding again. His legs are painted in patterned bands, starting from his ankles and ending at his upper thighs. His groin is left unmarked, the pale and empty skin meant to leave no doubt of the Claim once he makes it. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Burning the Ground by lq_traintracks (lumosed_quill), traintracks Rated: Explicit Words: 10256 Tags: A/B/O-ish dynamic, Were-Creatures, Knotting, Rough Sex, Anal Sex, Bondage, Blow Jobs, sex on the floor, Rimming, Auror Harry Potter, Healer Draco Malfoy, Mildly Dubious Consent Summary: "Strap him down," someone said, and Harry felt the rage thicken inside him -- the viscous fear. Magical bindings pulled taut around his wrists . . . He felt a wand touch his arm and then a sharp bite as something punctured the skin, and a sweet, cool tonic rushed his veins. His breathing slowed. His eyelids drooped. The ceiling went grey and dark. And then he heard a woman's voice sigh, "Someone, get Healer Malfoy." ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Omega's Binding by Madriddler Rated: Explicit Words: 49405 Tags: Hogwarts Sixth Year, Alpha/Omega, Omega Harry, Werewolves, Knotting, Fluff and Angst, Anal Fingering, Size Kink, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Watersports, No Horcruxes Summary: After a violent encounter, Harry Potter is turned into a werewolf. An Omega Werewolf, to be exact. Now dealing with heats and the ability to get pregnant, Harry must learn to live with his new forms and life, while a desire for revenge fuels him. Will he be able to resist his heat and vengeance? Or will he fall into an instinctual lust, and look for his Alpha? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 The Light More Beautiful by firethesound Rated: Explicit Words: 81255 Tags: Hogwarts Sixth Year, Dubious Consent, Potions Accident, Post-Hogwarts, Aurors, Returning Home, Owls, Drinking, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Shower Sex, Masturbation in Shower, Knotting, Rimming, Falling In Love, Case Fic, Loss of Virginity, Acronyms, Motorcycles, Christmas, Quidditch, Pining Summary: Thirteen years after Draco accepts Potter's help escaping the horror of his sixth year, he returns to England where he makes the unfortunate discovery that Potter is still as obnoxious as ever. And worse, more than a decade overseas hasn't been enough to dim Draco's obsession with him. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Run With Me by dragontara Rated: Mature Words: 16738 Tags: Animagus, Creature Fic, Werewolf Draco, Animagus Harry, Bottom Draco, Bonding, Knotting, snarky Draco Summary: Draco and Harry meet in the Forbidden Forest in their wolf forms falling fast and hard and eventually bonding with each other. Unfortunately bonding in their animal forms doesn't mean they are happily bonded straight away in a real life too. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Taro Milk Tea with a side of Depression by VeelaWings Rated: Mature Words: 1073 Tags: Pre-Slash, Screenplay/Script Format, Conversations, Veela Draco Malfoy, Werewolf Harry Potter, Guidance Counselors, in therapy, Depression, Self-Hatred, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Morbid Humor, Inappropriate Behavior from a Professional, H/D Hurt!Fest 2020 Summary: Draco sat through twenty grievous minutes of Ministry-mandated group therapy for Newly Registered Magical Beings & Creatures — then promptly stormed out. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Blood Moon Rising by noelleification Rated: Mature Words: 38322 Tags: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Werewolf Draco Malfoy, Wolfstar is canon, Sirius Black Lives, Draco Malfoy Needs a Hug, Draco Malfoy is a Little Shit, Adoption, Slowburn Adoption, Drarry might happen at some point, idk - Freeform, Remus and Sirius adopt draco, Remus and Sirius as dads, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, So much angst, seriously get ready for angst, Abusive Lucius Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, Harry Potter but it's ridiculously gay, Gay Draco Malfoy, Gay Disaster Draco Malfoy, Trans Hermione Granger, Because we don't support TERFS in this household, Yearning, Sirius and Remus are in love but it doesn't mean they're smart enough to know it yet, so get ready for them to pine for awhile, uhhhhhh just have tissues ready I guess, I'm gonna try my hardest to make you cry, You're gonna suffer..., But you're gonna be... happy about it?, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, traumatized Draco, Draco Malfoy Has Issues, Tonks is best girl, Tonks as lesbian wine aunt, Tonks has big sister vibes, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks Never Happened, Everyone is LGBT, because fuck jk rowling, Found Family, Whump, this shit hurted, Parental Remus Lupin, Parental Sirius Black, Torture, Aftermath of Torture, this shit gets dark yall, just be prepared Summary: Draco Malfoy is cursed. Ever since Fenrir Greyback ripped him to shreds, Draco has transformed into a monster every month on the full moon. The change is painful, and living with Lucius Malfoy might be worse. But Draco is strong. He doesn’t need anyone, especially not Remus Lupin. Remus Lupin might be the only person in the world who understands what Draco is going through—but he has enough on his plate, between the still-raging wizarding war, the publicized nature of his status as a werewolf, and his best friend, Sirius Black, who Remus might think of in a more-than-friendly way. He certainly can’t take in a seventeen-year-old Death Eater—can he? ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 A Howling Good Time by FleetofShippyShips Rated: Explicit Words: 5819 Tags: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-Hogwarts, Established Relationship, Werewolf Draco Malfoy, Full Moon, werewolf/human sex, Transformed Werewolf/Human Sex, Knotting, Consent Given Prior, Multiple Orgasms, Overstimulation, Morning After, Aftercare (delayed?), Scent Kink, Fluff, (hahaha both literal and emotional), Don't copy to another site, Come Scent Kink (i.e. some post-sex bum sniffing) Summary: They’d talked about this, and Draco had agreed that he would try it for Harry, once Harry had convinced him he was utterly serious and not fucking with him. The timing, however, was entirely up to Harry, and he'd decided tonight, this full moon, was the night. ❤️ Read on AO3

📜 Am I a werewolf? by a_reader_and_writer Rated: General Words: 1230 Tags: Werewolves, Curses, Drarropoly 2.0 - A Drarry Game/Fest, Dramatic Draco Malfoy, Boyfriends, Fluff and Crack Summary: Draco is hit by the werewolf curse. The healers send him home and tell Harry and him to watch the symptoms. Of course this isn't as easy as it sounds with our drama queen Draco. ❤️ Read on AO3

#werewolves #drarry #drarry recs #game of drarry #wizards hearts #wh masterlist

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valerian-crossing · 4 years

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An ACNL/NH server for LGBT individuals! Please read below the cut for rules and more information!

Rules

No LGBT-phobia, racism, islamophobia/antisemitism, TERFs, truscum/transmeds, nazis, etc. you will be banned

No ace discourse of any kind, exclu or inclu, just dont mention it at all

If youre going to refer to yourself as a slur (f/g, d/ke, qu//r, etc) please censor it in some way

Please do not use slurs you cannot reclaim (this means non-lesbians cannot use d/ke, cis people cant use tr/nny, able bodied people cant use cr/pple, etc)

Introductions must include name, age, and pronouns. Please dont say "any pronouns are fine" if youre cis

We dont have a NSFW channel but if its requested I can make one, otherwise please no NSFW content

Keep it civil, and if arguments arise, contact an admin/mod

Censor for possibly triggering topics by adding || to each side of your text

Triggers

There is a channel for the list of trigger warnings requested by members. If something is added to the list and you want to talk about it please put it behind a spoiler wall by adding || to either side of your text (you have to add it again every time you start a new paragraph) and add a content warning before or after the spoiler in (parenthesis) or [brackets]. No making fun of anyones triggers or try to debate someones triggers, you will be banned.

To anonymously request triggers to be added to the list (as well as other accommodations) please click the google doc link in #trigger-list. Your triggers will be added as soon as a mod is able to.

Ace Discourse And Orientation Roles

This is NOT an exclusionist group, however, I will not be making aromantic or asexual roles. This server is focused on animal crossing of course, experiencing same/similar gender attraction, and/or not identifying as the gender you were assigned at birth. If your lack of attraction is more important then the same/similar gender attraction you do feel then, not to be rude, but thats your own problem. This is also an all ages over 13 server and minors do not need to know an adults specific relationship to sex, nor adults theirs.

If this deters you from joining I apologize and wish you well anyway!

New Horizons

This server was originally made with NL in mind but as NH is fast approaching we will be adding roles and making new role specific channels for everyone who starts playing NH! After March 20th you’ll be able to have the “Islanders” role where you’ll be given access to the NH specific category and channels!

The admins and mods so far are:

Admin: Kyle/Matthew/Jasper 21 years old, nonbinary/bigender trans man, bisexual

Mod: Marina 21 years old, trans woman, [???]

#acnl #animal crossing new leaf #animal crossing #acnh #animal crossing new horizons #ac #lgbt #lesbian #gay #bisexual #transgender #nonbinary

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astralore · 5 years

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I just played all the routes in Monstrata Fracture for the first time and I love it! Aside from the romances (which I ADORE - Nikolai and Vivietta are my very pretty, very mean favs), I'm really interested in the lore! Do you know what the ratio of Created to [non-Created? natural-born?] monsters is in the school/in general? A more minor question - can all alkonosts sing well, or is it just that any alkonost can make people forget the previous day regardless of singing ability?

Thank you so much!! Sorry for the delay!! Let me try to answer your questions as well as I can. Slight lore dump incoming!Okay, so, the two of us had a really long discussion the other day regarding your question about the percentage of Created that currently exist and we can’t actually agree on an answer. We looked at demographic information taken from US census data and we looked at economic bracket percentages and we looked at historical social hierarchies and we just haven’t been able to agree on a number. Vale says it’s around or below 5%, I say it’s probably closer to around 1% of the population. The numbers are higher in the school, though. There are laws that restrict the number of Created that can be hired by an employer, but they are still far cheaper to hire than natural-born creatures because there are few labor laws protecting them. The school is also in partnership with a program that rehabilitates undead creatures that are recovered from abandoned necromancy sites to get them into the normal working world– that’s how Deka ended up working for the school. This also means that a larger percentage of Created jobs at the school are filled with the undead, as indicated by Vivietta’s bitterness toward them taking up space on the payroll that she feels should be allotted to Created who need it more such as golems and homunculi. There are four types of Created beings: undead (the raised dead), golems (enchanted materials), homunculi (alchemically created), and chimeras (made by combining two or more already living creatures into one). Vivietta is a golem, and because she was never “living” and is therefore more of an “object”, this puts her socially below the undead and chimeras– though, it must be noted that the creation of undead is highly illegal, and the creation of sentient chimeras even more so. (In fact, I would argue that sentient chimeras don’t even currently exist, except for maybe in some deeply remote places of the world.) Now, onto alkonost lore, my favorite. :DThe simplest answer is yes, all alkonosts can sing well. However, it must be acknowledged that, because song is such a huge part of their cultural identity, all alkonosts are trained in singing from a young age. The memory-altering effect of their voices does not affect other alkonosts, and many of their holidays and worship practices involve singing, in groups or solo. All of their songs are performed live, because while it is possible to take a recording of alkonost song (and even listen to it without losing your memories!), they hate the sound of their voices recorded. Whatever beautiful ethereal quality their voices have when singing, the same quality that affects the memory, it is not able to be picked up by recording devices and alkonosts hate listening to their singing without it. (This applies to all alkonosts– Alkonost A doesn’t just hate her own voice recorded, she also hates Alkonost B’s voice recorded [but loves it live!], and vice-versa)All alkonosts, of course, have the ability to affect memory based on their singing ability. The average alkonost can remove memories from within the last 12-18 hours with a normal amount of training. Nikolai’s bloodline is slightly more gifted, and are able to remove memories from within the last 24-36 hours, on average. However, in both cases, the number of hours and quality and precision of memory erasure can be improved by continued training (though natural talent certainly helps!). The most gifted and highly trained alkonosts can even remove specific memories rather than blocks of time, and can have an operating range of years! (And for the record, as far as we know: those memories are not locked away. They’re permanently gone. At least, there currently is no known way to retrieve them.)So because of this, all alkonosts have copious amounts of training and practice at singing. Would they be good singers without this cultural focus? Who can say? Surely they would tell you they would be. Please let me know if you have any other questions!! I would love to answer them for you!

#monstrata fracture #monster #lore #arianlyne #visual novel

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berniesrevolution · 5 years

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) floated a 60 to 70 percent tax rate on the richest Americans in an interview with CBS News’s “60 Minutes” that was released Friday, arguing higher taxes on multimillionaires could help pay for the “Green New Deal” she and other left-wing members of the Democratic Party have proposed.

Talking to Anderson Cooper, the new House member suggested the new tax rate apply to Americans earning more than $10 million a year, noting that similar rates existed in America a few decades ago. The top tax rate was above 90 percent during the 1950s, and while it has slowly descended, it remained as high as 50 percent for much of President Ronald Reagan’s tenure in the 1980s.

American households that earn more than $600,000 annually currently pay a 37 percent tax rate, down from the 39.6 percent rate they paid before the Republican tax law passed in 2017. Conservatives have pushed for lower taxes on the rich as a spur to economic growth, while liberals see potentially untapped revenue that could fund their key social spending priorities, such as Medicare for all and free college tuition.

“There’s an element where, yeah, people are going to have to start paying their fair share in taxes,” Ocasio-Cortez told “60 Minutes.”

How much revenue could new taxes on the rich really raise? We looked at the numbers, enlisting the help of a number of tax experts, including Mark Mazur, a former Treasury Department official now at the Tax Policy Center, a centrist think tank; Joel Slemrod, a tax expert at the University of Michigan; and Ernie Tedeschi, an economist who served in President Obama’s Treasury Department.

1. $720 billion/decade: Ocasio-Cortez’s suggestion for nearly doubling taxes on people earning more than $10 million

In 2016, the latest year for which government data is available, approximately 16,000 Americans earned more than $10 million each. These are not in fact “the 1 percent” many on the left like to talk about — they are a much smaller slice, fewer than 0.05 percent of all U.S. households.

It’s difficult to estimate precisely how much more in taxes the government could wring from this ultra-elite. Collectively, their total taxable income amounted to $405 billion in 2016, and they paid about $121 billion in federal income taxes. They also face state and local taxes, which raise their overall tax burdens.

As she noted to “60 Minutes,” Ocasio-Cortez’s idea for a 70 percent tax rate on those earning more than $10 million would only kick in beyond the first $10 million in income. So, this new tax rate would do nothing to add to the amount of federal revenue on the first $160 billion (16,000 people multiplied by $10 million) in taxes this group paid.

But that leaves about $244 billion in taxable income for those earning more than $10 million a year. If this entire pool was taxed at 70 percent instead of the 39.6 percent they paid in 2016, the federal government would bring in an additional $72 billion annually — or close to $720 billion over 10 years, according to Mazur. The real number is probably smaller than that, because wealthy Americans would probably find ways around paying this much-higher tax.

“You’d certainly see some people under that system change their behavior to avoid the higher rate, which could significantly impact how much revenue it generates,” Mazur said, adding that the effect would be hard to estimate. (The exercise also assumes capital gains would be taxed at this much higher rate.)

This $720 billion in a decade is not nearly enough to fund Medicare for all, which has been estimated to increase government outlays by about $30 trillion over a decade (while also zeroing out premiums and deductibles paid by Americans).

Still, it could fund a number of other measures. It could come close to funding the entirety of Sanders’s free college tuition plan ($800 billion), fund President Barack Obama’s plan to get close to universal prekindergarten ($75 billion over a decade), forgive more than half the student debt in America ($1.4 trillion), cover Democratic leaders' plan for boosting teacher pay and school funding ($100 billion), or come close to funding a $1 trillion infrastructure plan.

And of course, higher income tax rates on the top 16,000 households is not the only way to raise taxes on rich Americans.

2. $3 trillion/decade: A wealth tax on the top 1 percent similar to those in Europe

The American government currently raises tax revenue primarily through payroll taxes and income taxes, and gets a smaller chunk from estate taxes and corporate taxes. It has not adopted a kind of tax that exists in some European countries: a wealth tax, wherein the federal government takes a chunk based on household wealth rather than income.

Norway, for instance, in 2016 taxed at a rate up to 0.70 percent for all wealth over 1.4 million kroner ($162,568). France’s wealth tax in 2017 hit assets above 1.3 million euros ($1.4 million).

Slemrod, of the University of Michigan, said in an email that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans own roughly one-third of the $107 trillion in wealth in America. This group collectively holds about $20 trillion in wealth above $10 million per household.

From there the calculation of wealth tax is simple: a 1 percent wealth tax on the wealthiest 1 percent of households above $10 million could raise about $200 billion a year, or $2 trillion over 10 years. Tedeschi, the former Obama official, found a 0.5 percent wealth tax on the top 1 percent could raise at most $3 trillion over 10 years.

But this, too, would probably change Americans' behavior and perhaps lead them to try shifting their wealth overseas, and the economists say the actual amount of revenue is likely lower than their estimates suggest. And this is assuming there are no exemptions to what is considered wealth, such as housing assets.

Plus, this approach would require Americans to give the Internal Revenue Service a full accounting of all the assets they own under law — something that could be required under law but may prove difficult to evaluate. In 1990, the federal government did try something similar by placing excise taxes on sales of yachts, expensive automobiles, jewelry and other things consumed by rich people. But that effort came right before a minor recession, leading to the repeal of the taxes.

“The difficulties of monitoring and compliance are huge,” Mazur said of the wealth tax. “But it could be done and raise a lot of money.”

3. $3 trillion/decade: Doubling income taxes on the top 1 percent

In 2012, the economists Peter Diamond of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Emmanuel Saez of the University of California at Berkeley published a paper arguing the optimal top tax rate is 73 percent. In 2018, that would raise the tax rate on income above $600,000 from 37 percent to 73 percent, but back then it meant increasing the top rate from 39.6 percent to 73 percent.

The IRS says that Americans earning more than $600,000 annually compose the richest 0.9 percent of families, so we’ll use that for shorthand for the 1 percent.

In 2016, this richest 0.9 percent earned about $1.7 trillion in taxable income and paid about $530 billion in taxes. These Americans would have to pay an additional $320 billion every year in taxes if the top tax rate went up to 70 percent, according to calculations based on IRS data. Mazur, the former Treasury official, noted this estimate was probably high because the wealthy would probably find ways to try to shelter themselves from higher taxation, such as by buying tax-exempt bonds.

Other economists found similar results. Tedeschi, the former Obama economist, put the number at about $300 billion annually. Meanwhile, raising tax rates for the top 1 percent to 57 percent would raise about $1.7 trillion over a decade, while raising it to 83 percent would raise $3.8 trillion over that period, Tedeschi found.

“You can get a hell of a lot of a money from taxing the 1 percent,” said Edward Wolff, a tax expert at New York University.

The Congressional Budget Office also recently estimated that raising taxes on the two highest income brackets by 1 percentage point would net $123 billion over 10 years. That would be for everybody who earns more than $200,000 annually.

(Continue Reading)

#politics #the left #progressive #progressive movement #alexandria ocasio-cortez #democrats #democratic party #taxes #taxation #washington post

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eretzyisrael · 5 years

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Here is a question for the Jew haters: What are you afraid of? Are you jealous of the fact that the average verbal IQ score among Jews is 120? Are you envious of the fact that Jews, at only 1.4 percent of the American population, make up 22 percent of Ivy League students and 20 percent of America’s chief executives and have earned 25 percent of the Nobel Prizes awarded to American scientists (not including Jews born outside the U.S., such as Albert Einstein) since 1950 — 32 percent worldwide in the 21st century—and 52 percent (!) of Pulitzer Prizes for nonfiction? Does it bother you that Jews give far more to charity than others in the same income bracket and make up a greatly disproportionate number of America’s leading philanthropists (19 out of the top 53 and five out of the top six in 2015 according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy)?

If you believe in G-d, then you should understand that the Jews are a gift to mankind from a beneficent Almighty. In Genesis 12:3, G-d says to the Jews: “I will bless them that bless thee and curse those that curse thee and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Historically, where the Jews have been permitted to prosper, the society in which they thrived also prospered. Where the Jews were persecuted, expelled or murdered, the society that tormented them ended up far worse. You might not like that historical fact, but fact it is and right now I am angry enough to blurt it out. If you excuse the Jew haters — if you enable them to spew their filth and do their vilest (BDS comes to mind) — then America will pay the sad price. Statistics indicate that since 2017, there has been a 70 percent increase in anti-Semitism in America. Regardless of the lies spread by Omar and Tlaib, no other minority group has endured the growth in hate crimes that have been committed against Jews.

For as long as we permit the Ihlan Omars and the Rashida Tliabs to go unchecked, for as long as we elect their like to local, state and federal office, the evil will continue to grow and the epidemic will spread until it consumes what has been the greatest nation known to mankind. For as long as we permit the James Clyburns, the Nancy Pelosis and the rest of their rotten camarilla to temporize and find excuses for the Jew haters like Omar and Tlaib and their sycophants like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes, or the detestable Louis Farrakhan and his “admirers,” America’s downward spiral will accelerate.

#jews #jew haters #united states #stuart kaufman #israel #ilhan omar #rashida tlaib

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ungodly-amounts-of-godly-trauma · 1 year

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minor bracket round 3 group d

#the sinners #limbus company #merle highchurch #the adventure zone #tournament poll #(un)godly trauma #minor bracket round 3 #minor bracket group d

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s3mag · 5 years

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A lot of us can remember those key moments that hooked us into the scene. Yeah some of you were born into it, and it’s always been a family affair. But there are still those moments. Maybe when dad finally hit the ignition, after what seemed like an eternity of silence in the garage… and the roar shocked your heart, shook the walls, and brought neighbors out. For others, it may have been a glimpse out the back window of mom’s minivan, where some tuner absolutely ripped it off a light or through a tunnel.

See, in those days when we were younger, we were intrigued & amazed when we saw something different. We didn’t scrutinize it or criticize it… we just absorbed it & delighted in it. We need to hold onto that. Because it wasn’t like like today, where keyboard-punching weenies take joy, rather than make joy. We all see it, and it’s submitting our scene to limitations that are polar opposite of what it was built on. Cameron Dawkins, owner of this Genesis Coupe, read all the comments, and fought back with the same attitude as our hot-rodding ancestors… Get out of here, kid. You got no future.

Cameron’s Genesis started much like any enthusiast noob; short ram, plasti-dip, and long nights on eBay. Sound familiar? And much like anything in Florida, the Genesis motor got too hot too fast and melted. Still under warranty, he got the engine replaced. But not another year later, Dawkins was having fun in true import fashion, when again he fried the block.

At this point, he saw three options: 1) F*ck the lemons and bail. 2) Replace the motor yet again. 3) Swap the motor with something hot.

Sure – the LS swap is more common than a teenager texting. But keep in mind… it’s only common within a minority group of people. Meaning – you and all your dweeby friends know about it… but it’s not common-talk amongst your sister and her friends, or your mom & her book club, or your neighbors and their yard sale customers. Get it?

Nevertheless – Cameron took a lot of shit from all different corners of the car scene. He got the KDM community asking, “Why you put LS in Geny Coupe?!”

And the rest of the scene asking, “Why you mod Hyundai so much?”

He’s in the grey area. Not import enough for the import crowd. And not powerful enough for the power thirsty. There’s a point of maturity/clarity we can reach in circumstances like this. Where we’re not affected by anything or anyone. Cameron hit that point 2 years ago when he decided to swap the LS1.

Much like anyone’s first big swap, it was no cake walk: and Cameron was learning as he went. With the Fuel Tech management system, he needed to get rid of his sweet drive-by-cable and find a drive-by-wire throttle body.

Using a Corvette throttle body fulfilled the requirements, but then Dawkins ran into the next issue of needing an adapter to make that work.

The Enjuku swap kit wasn’t working well with the clutch master. Through community support he found that he needed a clutch master adapter.

Additionally, Cameron was having issues with the shifter relocation for the T56 transmission, forums revealed he needed to notch and grind the shifter plate.

And here was that time when his main engine fuse box caught fire, because the headers were too close.

Little bumps can add up quick & can discourage a build. But when Cameron lost his own motivation, by George he found it in others. See – turns out he wasn’t alone. As Babe Ruth apparently said, “The loudest boos come from the cheapest seats.” But since Cameron was able to separate himself from the noise, behold he found a few people from various corners of the scene were willing to lend hands. LS guys who just wanted to help him release the eagles from under his Korean hood. Genesis guys who wanted to see success & smiles. Much respect to these little lights that shine amongst us.

As for its current state, Cameron loves all the different reactions he gets. It’s hard not to smirk at the color shifting paint job. The Art In Motion MA5 wheels chop through your vision under the sun. Every exaggerated curve on this thing makes your eyes dance. And that surprise growl of that LS1 V8 is just salt on the glass. You can hate if that’s your thing. You can put this guy’s car down, just to build your own ego up. But you got no future kid.

—–Click play to watch the video feature, hear more about the car and the a couple pulls.—–

youtube

For more on Cameron’s build, check out his instagram @ls1_bk1.

MUSCLE

Ls1 swap

T56 transmission

Custom wiring harness

853 heads

PAC 1518 springs

LS6 intake manifold

BTR Stage-3 231/242 turbo cam

Corvette crank pulley

Fuel Tech touch-screen engine management

Drive-by-wire throttle body

Corvette throttle body spacer

GTO pedal assembly

Mishimoto radiator

SPAL custom twin fan radiator shroud

Houser headers

Ls1 engine mounts

T56 Transmission mount

Canton oil pan

Oil filter relocation

1-piece aluminum driveshaft

Shifter extension

Hurst short shifter

GTO shifter cup

Custom cold air intake

Injen exhaust

S&S custom test pipes

S&S custom downpipes

resonator delete

FOOTWORK

APR extended wheel studs

Brembo brakes

EBC slotted rotors

Hawk pads

Stainless steel brake lines

Art in Motion MA5 wheels (18×11 -20 front & 18×12.5 -40 rear)

Michelin Pilot Super Sports (225/25/18 front & 235/30/18 rear)

Air Lift performance struts 3p management

ISR front control arms

Godspeed rear control arms

UNIFORM

Underbody led lighting

Alpha Pigments tsunami super flake

Custom head lights

Carbon fiber eye lids

VIS Racing carbon fiber hood

NRG carbon fiber canards

Ark cfx carbon fiber trunk

Ark cfx carbon fiber grille

Ark solus widebody kit

Street Faction chassis mount wing

Street Faction rear bash bar

Hyper G rear bumper

BK2 tail lights with Audi mod

Polyurethane Hannah bumper

APR front carbon fiber splitter

Zakustech louvers

Takata drift harnesses

Spec-D tail lights

Aero Wolf endplates

GUTS

Sparco brackets, rails, sliders

Section harness – bar powder coated & matched to wheels

Bride low max seats

Grip Royal steering wheel

NRG 3.0 quick release

NRG short hub adapter

Grip Royal rotator spacer

We Are Likewise shifter extension & knob

Text & Photos by Jesuel Rivera

You Got No Future Kid: LS1 Genesis Coupe A lot of us can remember those key moments that hooked us into the scene. Yeah some of you were born into it, and it’s always been a family affair.

#bk1 #brembo #bride #coupe #ebc #Genesis #grip #Hyundai #LS1 #nrg #racing #royal #sparco #spedc-d #takata #vis

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olko71 · 3 years

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New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on http://yaroreviews.info/2021/09/facebook-efforts-to-attract-preteens-go-beyond-instagram-documents-show

Facebook Efforts to Attract Preteens Go Beyond Instagram, Documents Show

Facebook Inc. FB -3.66% has come under increasing fire in recent days for its effect on young users and its efforts to create products for them. Inside the company, teams of employees have for years been laying plans to attract preteens that go beyond what is publicly known, spurred by fear that Facebook could lose a new generation of users critical to its future.

Internal Facebook documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show the company formed a team to study preteens, set a three-year goal to create more products for them and commissioned strategy papers about the long-term business opportunities presented by these potential users. In one presentation, it contemplated whether there might be a way to engage children during play dates.

“Why do we care about tweens?” said one document from 2020. “They are a valuable but untapped audience.”

from the files

Facebook isn’t the only technology company to court children and face scrutiny for doing so. Virtually every major social-media platform, including ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok and YouTube, has confronted legal or regulatory problems related to how children use its products. Federal privacy law forbids data collection on children under 13, and lawmakers have criticized tech companies for not doing more to protect kids online from predators and harmful content.

The Facebook documents show that competition from rivals, in particular Snap Inc.’s SNAP -7.07% Snapchat and TikTok, is a motivating factor behind its work.

The company’s approach to young users is expected to be addressed during a Senate subcommittee hearing on Thursday, which is expected to probe the effects of Facebook’s Instagram platform on mental health. In calling for the hearing, lawmakers cited Journal reporting earlier this month that Facebook’s own research has shown that Instagram can have a negative effect on teen mental health, especially among girls.

On Monday, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said the company would pause the development of a version of the app for children, often referred to as Instagram Kids. He said the company wanted time to talk to parents, experts and lawmakers before proceeding. He also contended that underage users would simply lie about their age to access Instagram if a version for children under the age of 13 wasn’t available.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn) said they want to know what research Facebook has undertaken to promote and market its products to children, among other topics.

Over the past five years, Facebook has made what it called “big bets” on designing products that would appeal to preteens across its services, according to a document from earlier this year.

from the files

In more than a dozen studies over that period, the documents show, Facebook has tried to understand which products might resonate with children and “tweens” (ages 10 through 12), how these young people view competitors’ apps and what concerns their parents.

“With the ubiquity of tablets and phones, kids are getting on the internet as young as six years old. We can’t ignore this and we have a responsibility to figure it out,” said a 2018 document labeled confidential. “Imagine a Facebook experience designed for youth.”

Earlier this year, a senior researcher at Facebook presented to colleagues a new approach to how the company should think about designing products for children. It provided a blueprint for how to introduce the company’s products to younger children. Rather than offer just two types of products—those for users 13 and older, and a messenger app for kids—Facebook should tailor its features to six age brackets, said a slide titled “where we’ve been, and where we’re going.”

The age brackets included: adults, late teens ages 16 to maturity, teens ages 13 to 15, tweens ages 10 to 12, children ages 5 to 9 and young kids ages zero to four.

In a written statement, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said the chart was a taxonomy of the stages of childhood for internal discussion.

It isn’t uncommon for companies to pursue young people as customers. Yet the work is sensitive for the social-media giant: Facebook and Instagram prohibit children from using their apps before their teenage years, but the company’s future depends on ultimately recruiting them.

“If kids are under 13, they’re not allowed on Instagram and they should not be using our service,” said Mr. Mosseri in a written statement for this article. “It’s not new and it’s not a secret that social-media companies try to understand how teens and preteens use technology. Like all technology companies, of course, we want to appeal to the next generation, but that’s entirely different from the false assertion that we knowingly attempt to recruit people who aren’t old enough to use our apps.”

He said the company had removed more than 600,000 accounts in the past three months for violating its rules on age limits.

Facebook’s first foray into child-specific products was its 2017 launch of Messenger Kids, a video-and-chat app heavy on parental controls. The app says it is designed for users ages 6 through 12 and meets legal requirements on data collection. The hope was that the family-friendly product would set the stage for the children to eventually adopt other Facebook platforms, the documents show.

“Our ultimate goal is messaging primacy with U.S. tweens, which may also lead to winning with teens,” one of the documents said.

That same year, Facebook’s market researchers uncovered a weakness in the plan. Interest in Messenger Kids tapered off after age 10 and tweens viewed Facebook as a product for old people. They also weren’t yet interested in Instagram and what the document called its focus on “self-presentation.” Instagram was vulnerable to a challenge from Snapchat, which had a growing preteen following.

from the files

Is there a way to leverage playdates to drive word of hand/growth among kids?

from the files

Is there a way to leverage playdates to drive word of hand/growth among kids?

from the files

Is there a way to leverage playdates to drive word of hand/growth among kids?

“It’s fun, funny, silly and creative—seemingly made just for them,” the 2017 presentation said of Snapchat, warning that “signing up for social media is a given” for tweens. TikTok’s rise added to the pressure, with the main Facebook product no longer a serious contender among teens.

“Global teen penetration on FB is low, and acquisition appears to be slowing down,” a March 2021 document states. In the U.S., the daily number of teens using Facebook has fallen by 19% over the past two years, another document noted, and would likely fall by an additional 45% by 2023.

A Pew Research Center survey from 2020 found that among 9-to-11-year-olds, 30% said they used TikTok, 22% said they used Snapchat, 11% said they used Instagram and 6% Facebook.

Facebook is relying on Instagram to recruit young users in the hope that they’ll age into the company’s eponymous platform over time. A November 2020 presentation cited an eventual goal of pitching Facebook as the “Life Coach for Adulting.”

A March 2021 review conducted for Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox found that Instagram still saturated the teen social-media market in developed countries. But researchers noted that posting by Instagram users had dropped significantly and that teens were spending two to three times more time on TikTok, according to one document.

Keeping kids safe on social media is an industrywide issue. TikTok and YouTube have in the past few years each reached settlements for allegedly violating federal privacy laws protecting children, and have announced tighter rules since then to further protect young users. Both companies also have launched versions of their products designed especially for kids.

Snapchat’s rules state users must be at least 13 years old, and the company has said it works to identify and terminate accounts for those under that age.

There also are risks of children being exposed to adult content. A Journal investigation earlier this year showed that TikTok’s algorithm serves videos containing sex and drugs to accounts registered as minors. Facebook in 2019 said a design flaw allowed young people using Messenger Kids to enter group chats with strangers.

Social media’s uncomfortable relationship with children was on display at a Facebook event in June, when star Instagram influencer JoJo Siwa blurted out during a question-and-answer session that she had been active on the platform for almost a decade. Ms. Siwa is 18 years old.

“I don’t want to hear it,” replied Mr. Mosseri, Instagram’s head, who was conducting the online event.

In this screengrab, Adam Mosseri and Instagram influencer JoJo Siwa speak during a Facebook event in June.

Photo: Amy Sussman/Instagram and Facebook’s Creator Week/Getty Images

Ms. Siwa said she had fans and followers under age 13 and wanted to be able to make content for them. She said young kids are drawn to the bright, quick nature of content on Instagram, and that she hoped there would be a product built for them.

“The key thing is making sure you keep kids safe,” Mr. Mosseri said. “But like you said, you can lie about your age now, so our hope is to build a version that’s designed for kids.”

Part of the broader challenge for Facebook, its researchers identified, was that while parents said they were most comfortable with their children using the company’s original Facebook product, tweens don’t view it as an app made for them.

“Facebook is for old people—old as in 40,” an 11-year-old boy told Facebook’s researchers.

One Facebook team conducted interviews with children to try to gauge whether there were opportunities to encourage them to use the Messenger Kids app when they were socializing in person, according to a 2019 internal presentation titled “Exploring playdates as a growth lever.” The document noted that parents expressed wariness about the idea.

In a study about household dynamics, a Facebook user-experience researcher found that although teens often inspired their younger relatives to join Instagram, those same teens also often counseled the tweens not to share too frequently, and not to post things they would later regret.

“I don’t know how to get a perfect picture like my sister says you need to post,” a tween told the researcher.

A photo provided by Facebook demonstrates the company’s Messenger app for kids.

Photo: Facebook/Associated Press

“We need to understand if this influence over preteen sharing holds at scale,” the researcher wrote in a document posted to Facebook’s internal message board early this year. “If it is common that teens are discouraging preteens from sharing, there are obvious implications for creation and the ecosystem both in the near and longer-term as preteens are the next generation coming onto the platform.” The presentation cited concern among teenagers about oversharing as a “myth” about Instagram.

A Facebook team studying preteens set a three-year goal to figure out how to provide young people with social-media products built just for them. They noted that figuring out how to reach them would be just half the challenge. Convincing their parents that the products are safe would be the other half.

The team focused on the benefits, mostly around connecting more easily with friends and family, that they believed social media could bring to the younger generation.

“We have a historic opportunity for youth to experience the same positive benefits we have through social media, and more,” one of the members of the youth team wrote in a document. Facebook also created a $1 million research fund to study tech’s long-term impact on children. A Facebook spokesman said the company recently announced it was supporting the creation of a “digital wellness lab” at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Other teams suggested additional products that might appeal to tweens, including quizzes and games that could help tweens connect when they struggle to initiate conversations, ways to surface unexpected content and automatic signals that indicate whether friends are available to interact. They also looked for more ways to expand Messenger Kids.

The Facebook Files

—Design by Andrew Levinson. A color filter has been used on some photos.

Write to Georgia Wells at [email protected] and Jeff Horwitz at [email protected]

#PAID

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patriotsnet · 3 years

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Which Republicans Voted Against The Tax Reform Bill

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/which-republicans-voted-against-the-tax-reform-bill/

Which Republicans Voted Against The Tax Reform Bill

An Affinity For Small Business

Petitioners ask Upton to vote against GOP tax reform bill

Passing a law that helped fuel increases in stock prices wasnt the only way Republicans enriched themselves. The new law also contained a 20 percent deduction for income from so-called pass-through businesses, a provision called the crown jewel of the act by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, a lobbying group.

Pass-throughs are single-owner businesses, partnerships, limited liability companies and special corporations called S-corps. Most real estate companies are organized as LLCs. Trump owns hundreds of them, and Public Integritys analysis found that 22 of the 47 members of the House and Senate tax-writing committees in 2017 were invested in them.

Pass-throughs can be found in any industry. They pay no corporate taxes and steer their profits as income to business owners or investors, who are taxed only once at their individual rates. Despite their favored treatment as a business vehicle, the 2017 tax act did them another favor: It allowed 20 percent to be deducted off the top of the pass-through income for tax purposes.

Our investigations. Your inbox.

No doubt. Johnson, with his wife, held interests that year in four real estate or manufacturing LLCs worth between $6.2 million and $30.5 million, from which they received income that year between $250,000 and $2.1 million, according to his financial disclosure form.

Democrats Attack Republicans For Lack Of Transparency

At the Senate floor and on social media, Democrats criticized their Republican colleagues for lack of transparency. They pointed out that there wasnt enough time for them to read 479-page legislation with unreadable handwritten amendments.

Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri tweeted, This is so bad. We have just gotten list of amendments to be included in bill NOT from our R colleagues, but from lobbyists downtown. None of us have seen this list, but lobbyists have it. Need I say more? Disgusting. And we probably will not even be given time to read them.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois also tweeted, Trying to review the #GOPTaxScam but they are making hand-written changes to brand new text as we speak can anyone else read this?

TAGS

What’s Wrong With The Status Quo

People on both sides of the political spectrum agree that the tax code should be simpler. Since 1986, the last time a major tax overhaul became law, the body of federal tax lawbroadly definedhas swollen from 26,000 to 70,000 pages, according to the House GOP’s 2016 reform proposal. American households and firms spent $409 billion and 8.9 billion hours completing their taxes in 2016, the Tax Foundation;estimates. Nearly three-quarters of respondents told Pew;four years ago, that they were bothered “some” or “a lot” by the complexity of the tax system.

The Pew Research Center reported in early April 2019 that there is a growing partisan divide over the perceived fairness of the tax system in America.

An even greater proportion;was;troubled by the feeling that some corporations and some wealthy people pay too little: 82% said so about corporations, while 79% said so about the wealthy. While the new tax law cuts a number of itemized deductions, most of the loopholes and giveaways;that were slated for repeal in earlier bills have been retained in some form.

The individual tax rate schedule, which Trump would have cut to three brackets, remains at seven. In other words, this legislation may do relatively little to simplify the tax code. The other issues that the Pew survey indicates that bother people the mosttaxes for wealthy individuals;and corporationsare likely to be exacerbated by the law.;

Don’t Miss: Who Is Better Republicans Or Democrats

Rep Elise Stefanik Of New York

She joined her New York GOP colleagues in opposing the bill due to the;changes made to the SALT deduction. The second-term congresswoman is head of recruitment for the;National Republican Congressional Committee. She is also a DCCC target. Trump;carried her upstate New York district by 14 points in 2016, and she was re-elected by 35 points. Inside Elections rates her race Solid Republican.;

Paul Ryan: ‘don’t Forget This Is A Big Tax Cut For Families As Well’

A day earlier, speaking on the House floor moments before the vote, Ryan said the legislation will “help hard-working Americans who have been left behind for too long.”

“Today, we are giving the people their money back,” he said, adding that a typical family would get a $2,059 tax cut next year.

Democrats opposed bill as a boon to the wealthy while offering little for the middle class, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., calling it “the worst bill to ever come to the floor of the House.”

There were a number of protesters in Congress on Tuesday, on both the House and Senate sides. Protesters interrupted the Senate’s final late night vote numerous times, at one point shouting, “Kill the bill. Don’t kill us.” One protester interrupted Ryan in the House when he was speaking.

The GOP bill lowers individual tax rates, including the top bracket to 37 percent from 39.6, while doubling the standard deduction and replacing personal exemptions with a $2,000 partly refundable child tax credit. It eliminates various deductions while limiting others on state and local taxes and mortgage interest. It also exempts larger inheritances from the estate tax, doubling the thresholds to $11 million for individuals and $22 million for married couples.

Congratulations to Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Kevin Brady, Steve Scalise, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and all great House Republicans who voted in favor of cutting your taxes!

Donald J. Trump

Benjy Sarlin is policy editor for NBC News.

Don’t Miss: How Many Republicans Are In The House And Senate

Rep Frank A Lobiondo Of New Jersey

A member of;the;moderate Tuesday Group, LoBiondo opposed the tax bill because of the;changes to the SALT deduction and said in a statement it would be detrimental to New Jersey residents. LoBiondo, who also opposed the GOP health care bill, recently announced he is not running for re-election, making his seat more vulnerable to a Democratic takeover. Trump;carried his 2nd District by nearly 7 points in 2016. The race is rated Leans Republican.

Rep Peter T King Of New York

King also voted no due to the SALT deduction changes, and he warned that passing the tax bill would cause Republicans to lose House seats next year. The 13-term congressman is a new DCCC target though Trump;carried his;2nd District by 9 points. One of the Democrats hoping to take on King, Tim Gomes, has loaned his campaign $1 million. Inside Elections rates the race Solid Republican.

Don’t Miss: What Republicans Are Voting Against Trump

House Passes Massive Gop Tax Cuts

Its a victory for Trump and Ryan, though getting a bill through the Senate wont be easy.

House Republicans passed a $5.5 trillion tax bill Thursday, in a major step toward rewriting the nations tax code and providing a sorely needed legislative victory for President Donald Trump.

The bill passed 227-205, with 13 Republicans breaking with leadership to vote against the legislation. Not a single Democrat backed the bill, highlighting the sharp partisan split as the tax fight moves to the narrowly-divided Senate.

“This is about giving hardworking taxpayers bigger paychecks, more take-home pay… It’s about getting this economy to grow faster, so we get bigger wages, more jobs, and we put America in the driver’s seat in the global economy one again,” said Speaker Paul Ryan.

The legislation would slash the corporate tax rate to 20 percent starting next year, down from 35 percent. It sets the top small business rate at 25 percent for pass-through entities and also includes a far lower rate of 9 percent for some types of small businesses on the first $75,000 of profits.

For individuals, it axes a number of popular deductions, including the state and local tax deduction, medical expenses deduction and student loan deductions but would double the standard deduction and condense the seven tax brackets into four.

By KAITLYN BURTON

That’s why California Republicans Darrell Issa, Tom McClintock and Dana Rohrabacher all voted against the bill.

Student Loans And Tuition

Marco Rubio to vote against GOP tax reform bill

The House bill would have repealed;the deduction for student loan interest expenses and the exclusion from gross income and wages of qualified tuition reductions. The new law;left these breaks intact and allowed 529 plans to be used to fund K to 12 private school tuitionup to $10,000 per year, per child. Under the SECURE Act of 2019, the benefits of 529 plans were expanded, allowing plan holders to also withdraw a maximum lifetime amount of $10,000 per beneficiary penalty-free to pay down qualified student debt.

Recommended Reading: How Many Electoral Votes Do Republicans Have

Republican Tax Bill Moves Closer To Passage As Key Holdouts Come On Board

Bob Corker and Marco Rubio say they will vote in favor of $1.5tn bill

Donald Trump wants sign controversial legislation before Christmas

The GOPs $1.5tn tax reform bill is heading toward a final vote and possible victory before Christmas with support from key Republican holdouts who had raised concerns about the deficit and a child tax credit.

Bob Corker of Tennessee, a frequent critic of Donald Trump and the only Republican senator who voted against the legislation in the Senate, announced Friday that he would back a final version of the bill despite his concerns about the deficit. Corker said: I believe that this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make US businesses domestically more productive and internationally more competitive is one we should not miss.

Senator Marco Rubio, of Florida, also said he would back the bill, a day after he threatened to vote against it if lawmakers did not expand access to a child tax credit for lower-income families. He tweeted that the legislation would allow a higher percent of a child tax credit to be refundable, calling it a solid step toward broader reforms which are both Pro-Growth and Pro-Worker.

For far too long, Washington has ignored and left behind the American working class. Increasing the refundability of the Child Tax Credit from 55% to 70% is a solid step toward broader reforms which are both Pro-Growth and Pro-Worker.

Marco Rubio

Gop Members Most From High

House Republican leaders cheered passage of their sweeping tax overhaul Thursday, but;13;GOP lawmakers;bucked;their party and voted against the bill.;

All but one of them hailed from New York, New Jersey and California each a high-tax state. These lawmakers largely opposed the legislation because it;curtailed the state and local tax deduction,;also known as SALT. The measure caps the;deduction for property taxes at;$10,000 while eliminating the tax break for state and local income or sales taxes.;

Six of the lawmakers are in competitive races in 2018 based on ratings by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.; Eleven of the 13 Republicans are being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Here are the Republicans who voted against the tax bill:;

Also Check: What Caused Republicans To Gain Power In Congress In 1938

Rep Dana Rohrabacher Of California

Rohrabacher told Roll Call before the vote that his vote would be determined by how his constituents would fare if the bill became law. He is one of the most vulnerable House members in 2018, in part because of his ties to Russia. He is a top DCCC target. Clinton;carried his 48th District by;2 points in 2016 while Rohrabacher won re-election to a 15th term by 17 points. Inside Elections rates the race Tilts Republican.

Sen Corker Is The Only Republican Who Voted Against The Tax Reform Bill

In the early hour on Saturday, the Senate voted 51-49 on the GOP tax reform bill. The only Republican who did not support the legislation was Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee.

On Tuesday, Sen. Corker voted yes on the tax plan, thereby passed the Senate Budget Committee. He supported it after reaching an agreement with the Senate leadership on a trigger mechanism to ensure fiscal responsibility.

However, during the final approval on the Senate floor, Sen. Corker remained concern about the deficit. He found out that the trigger he demanded would not pass Senates rules and would not be included in the legislation. He eventually voted against it.

In a statement, he explained, This is yet another tough vote. I am disappointed. I wanted to get to yes. But at the end of the day, I am not able to cast aside my fiscal concerns and vote for legislation that I believe, based on the information I currently have, could deepen the debt burden on future generations.

Sen. Corker fought to keep the tax legislation from worsening the countrys rapidly increasing $20 trillion debt.

Last month, the House of Representatives pass their version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.; The two chambers will have a conference to reconcile bot legislation.

Also Check: What Is The Principle Of Republicanism

Republicans Sprinting Toward Tax Cuts Deficits Be Damned

WASHINGTON House Republicans are moving closer to adopting the Senate budget this week, a significant step toward the GOPs ultimate goal of cutting taxes. But Republicans still havent settled many of the details in their tax proposal, even as they vote to increase the debt by $1.5 trillion.

The House is tentatively scheduled to vote Thursday on the Senates budget proposal, which is needed as a legislative vehicle to carry out tax reform by reconciliation a process that allows the Senate to pass a bill by a simple majority.

Yet the tax proposal remains in a paradoxical state: simultaneously written and unwritten. Republicans have a framework, they apparently have legislative text, but theyve left some major decisions undecided.

Weve been writing for the past year on this, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady told HuffPost on Tuesday, while noting that Republicans are still making adjustments.

The tax bill clearly has some momentum right now, after the Senate approved its budget and House conservatives agreed to simply take the Senate language instead of trying to conference differences between the House and Senate.

One conservative lawmaker told HuffPost that members of the Freedom Caucus cut a deal with leadership, exchanging their votes on the budget to speed up the tax bills release by at least two weeks, possibly three weeks;so it will have a better chance.

Claims Made By The Administration

The Administration and its Council of Economic Advisors have made several claims in advocating the Act during 2017, including:

Reduction in corporate tax rates from 35 to 20%. Also, immediate full expensing of non-structure investments will increase GDP growth rates by 3 to 5 percentage points over the current baseline projections of around 2%. This could begin as early as 35 years from the tax cuts or further out in time. This projection excludes other tax cuts in the Act, such as those for individuals and pass-through entities, which may have additional GDP impact.

The mechanism for this increased growth is at higher business investment levels due to the additional after-tax income available.

Further, this GDP growth would represent an average $4,000 annual increase in wage and salary income for households.

President Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin have stated the tax cuts would pay for themselves.

Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn stated that “The wealthy are not getting a tax cut under our plan” and that the plan would cut taxes for low- and middle-income households. Further, Trump stated that the tax plan “…was not good for .”

Don’t Miss: Are Democrats Red And Republicans Blue

State And Local Tax Deduction

The new law caps the deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000 through 2025. A number of Republican members of Congress representing high-tax states opposed;attempts to eliminate the deduction, as the Senate bill would have done.

The Senate bill was amended on Dec. 1, 2017, apparently to win Susan Collins’ support:

The Senate tax bill will include my SALT amendment to allow taxpayers to deduct up to $10,000 for state and local property taxes. Sen. Susan Collins Dec. 1, 2017

Gop Real Estate Owners Make Out Big

2 California Republicans vote no on tax reform bill | ABC7

Besides the laws benefits to real estate pass-throughs, real estate in general was hugely favored by the tax law, allowing property exchanges to avoid taxation, the deduction of new capital expenses in just one year versus longer depreciation schedules, and an exemption from limits on interest deductions.;

If you are a real estate developer, you never pay tax, said Ed Kleinbard, a former head of Congresss Joint Committee on Taxation.;

Members of Congress own a lot of real estate. Public Integritys review of financial disclosures found that 29 of the 47 GOP members of the committees responsible for the tax bill hold interests in real estate, including small rental businesses, LLCs, and massive real estate investment trusts , which pay dividends to investors. The tax bill allows REIT investors to deduct 20 percent from their dividends for tax purposes.;

Who We Are

The Center for Public Integrity is an independent, investigative newsroom that exposes betrayals of the public trust by powerful interests.

Don’t Miss: Do Any House Republicans Support Impeachment

A Major Step Forward For The Republican Tax Bill

The House on Thursday approved its legislation in a surprisingly drama-free vote. But hurdles await in the Senate.

House Republicans on Thursday approved legislation overhauling the U.S. tax code, slashing rates for corporations while more modestly cutting taxes for individuals, and scaling back a host of popular deductions and exemptions.

And they did it without so much as a hint of drama.

The party-line, 227-205 vote is a victory for President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who took a major step toward enacting their top domestic priority and salvaging what has been a lackluster first year of unified Republican power in Washington.

What was most surprising about Thursdays result, however, was how easy it was.

There was no last-minute arm-twisting or back-room buy offs, no desperate calls from the president to wavering lawmakers, no 11th-hour amendments. The vote occurred on schedule, and when Trump trekked to Capitol Hill for a final pep talk with GOP lawmakers on Thursday, his visit seemed oddly perfunctory. Just 13 Republicans voted against the measure, leaving a comfortable buffer for the party leadership even without a single vote from Democrats.

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Fast Travel In Mafia 3

Below is a list of characters found in Mafia III. 1 Mafia III 1.1 Major Characters 1.2 Minor Characters 2 Factions 3 Mentioned 4 Faster, Baby! 5 Sign of the Times 6 Stones Unturned. (.-) 4 out 5 stars. TLDR Top notch driving, yet no fast travel system which can be annoying. Drags on towards the end. Shouldn't mandatory side quests be considered mainline story quests. America wasn't/isn't great for everybody so have a blast giving it to some of your contemporaries crappy ancestors, or them directly.

Can You Fast Travel In Mafia 3

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Is There Fast Travel In Mafia 3

Here are some mods fór Mafia 3.Car Customizations.No Back View Match / Speedometer.Minimal Hud.Ragdoll.Automobile Controls.Naughty Doggie HDR Light In Tonemapping.Switch Period Of Time.Manual Law enforcement Searchlight and Sirén.ToggIe Hud.M2M3 - Máfia 2 Major Menu SongMafia 3: Contemporary Cars (mod),Modern cars can become discovered in the games documents, I merely modded them in to end up being capable to drive them. They had been clearly certainly not meant to be interacted with and likely utilized for recording cutscenes. Bugged textures, mainly no noises, barely any harm versions and no functioning doors. Pointless but fascinating to discover.' Originally submitted by:Is quite unhappy to notice that the Mafia 3 group has better tips than the designers and can be for free!Doesn't this apply to basically all games these times and not just Mafia 3?

For Mafia III on the PlayStation 4, a GameFAQs message board topic titled 'This game needs fast travel!'

Most games nowadays have a huge community producing mods either increasing or enhancing the games.Developers, I'michael quite certain, have got a lot of concepts of what they would like to place into the sport, but since this costs a great deal of cash, ultimately, some concepts possess to become remaining out.And everybody have different tips of what they would like in a game, so designers might have one idea, and some neighborhood member another. And I think it't excellent to find that games today are open plenty of for mods. Initially posted simply by:Is very unfortunate to notice that the Mafia 3 group has much better tips than the designers and is for free!Doesn'capital t this apply to fundamentally all video games these times and not simply Mafia 3? Most games nowadays possess a large community producing mods either extending or improving the video games.Designers, I'meters quite specific, have got a lot of ideas of what they want to put into the sport, but since this expenses a lot of money, eventually, some concepts have to be still left out.And everybody have got different ideas of what they want in a game, so designers might have one concept, and some neighborhood associate another.

Today I'll be showing you how to fly in Mafia 3 using this Mafia 3 mod for the PC called Noclip. Noclip allows.

The world isn't so large that it needs fast travel. I understand in games like skyrim where the world is large and horse is fastest way of travel, but in mafia where the fastest cars can go over 100 mph, it's just not needed. Also, it's not like you have to slow down near the cops, just don't hit anyone near cops.

And I believe it'beds excellent to notice that video games today are open more than enough for mods.This video game Is various since it does not have a lot of functions that everybody believed that would become in the game. Originally posted simply by:Doésn't this apply tó essentially all video games these days and not really simply Mafia 3? Many games nowadays have got a massive community making mods either increasing or improving the games.Developers, I'meters quite specific, have got a great deal of concepts of what they would like to place into the video game, but since this costs a lot of cash, ultimately, some tips have got to become left out.And everybody have different suggestions of what they wish in a video game, so developers might possess one concept, and some area associate another. Install amiga os 3 5 winuae torrent pirate bay. And I believe it's i9000 great to observe that video games today are open good enough for mods.This sport Is various since it lacks a lot of functions that everybody thought that would become in the video game.' Leave out me from thát please, I'meters not missing any features.Anyhow, the absence of features must end up being applied to all video games where people create mods, which will not make Mafia 3 any different. And ultimately the programmers are usually the types that made the choice of what features they desired to place in the sport. The absence of some function could become as simple as the programmers didn'testosterone levels need to include that function in the video game, Probably didn't match the eyesight the had for the video game. Video thumbnail maker for mac.

I performed Mafia 2 (and 1 for that matter), therefore still, make sure you wear't speak for me by saying everyone.Look up any game on youtube ánd you will find movies of glitches and bugs. 80+ hrs and I rán into one motorboat being stuck inside the drinking water which can be the just game busting glitch I got, so for me, l can't say I got the amount of problems as you will find in a youtube video.The game for me can be not anymore repitive than many other video games. The greatest problem with these open up world games is definitely that it consists of a great deal of generating back again and on, but you can say the same with games like GTA or Just Trigger.The only AI issues I've seen, is arbitrary people strolling out on the road in front of you, just to cease in the middle of the street, rather of shifting apart from your vehicle. Originally posted by:I performed Mafia 2 (and 1 for that matter), so still, make sure you wear't talk for me by saying everyone.Appear up any game on youtube ánd you will discover video clips of glitches and pests. 80+ hours and I rán into one fishing boat being trapped inside the water which is usually the only game busting glitch I got, so for me, l can't state I experienced the amount of problems as you will discover in a youtube video.The game for me is not anymore repitive than many other games. How can anyone state this is definitely as repeated as any additional game?

Take GTA V for example, those missions were fun for the many component. JC3 will be repetitive yes !, but at Ieast it's fun, it's nót repetitive in thát scale as Máfia III is: drivé a long wáy, kill a féw dudes, drive á long way báck x 100. The devs were too lazy to actually include a fast travel choice in this gamé:D Like á cab actually. That wouldn'testosterone levels take much period.And the basic functions that shuold be in this game are missing. It't not about having more functions just, it's i9000 about carrying on with the series fundamental factors that have been presently there since starting.

You can't really take miracle for example away from The Elder Scrolls collection and state:'hey, we're doing something fresh, mods/upcoming up-dates will add that back in for you men!' Mafia as a gaming series places up a several goals (as every series of video games does), this video game failed many of them. After the initial awesome take action, this game is just dull revenge story, full of copy-paste tasks, and i can'capital t even modify my t-shirt before the dIc comes:DI purchased the collectors edition, and i repent it, that has been 130 euros tossed to them. And i got a game that's Iike gta III. Simply a slightly better images.

Originally submitted by dancefly:here are some mods fór Mafia 3.Car Customizations.No Rear View Looking glass / Speedometer.Minimal Hud.Ragdoll.Automobile Controls.Mischievous Doggie HDR Lighting D Tonemapping.Transformation Time Of Day.Manual Law enforcement Searchlight and Sirén.ToggIe Hud.M2M3 - Máfia 2 Main Menu SongMafia 3: Contemporary Cars (mod),Modern vehicles can end up being discovered in the games data files, I merely modded them in to be capable to drive them. They had been clearly certainly not meant to be interacted with and most likely utilized for recording cutscenes.

Bugged textures, mainly no noises, hardly any damage models and no functioning doors. Useless but interesting to see.' ' How to set up mafia 3 scripthook? All i would like is to end up being able to make use of the 'Cash script mod' ánd the 'all weapons script mod', help me please.

Welcome toMAFIA III is certainly the most recent installing of the MAFIA collection. This Subreddit provides a place to trade about the advancement, information and media. Launch Day ReviewslGNMetacritic (PC), Critic: 55Metacritic (PS4/Xbox), Critic: 60SteamGamespot,Note: Chart may become out of day as testimonials come away.Please read through the rules and take pleasure in your keep!1. Respect other customers and their views. Racism and insults will not really end up being tolerated.2. Format the title of any write-up containing potential spoilers like this illustration.

Be certain not to place the spoiler in the name!Instance of a good Title:'SPOILER I simply learned something insane about Lincoln!' Moreover tag the post as 'NSFW' and select the 'Spoiler'-Sparkle. Failure to tag spoilers correctly will effect in a bar.Use this to hide spoilers in the remarks:If you fórmat the spoilers Iike this:Spoiler: (#t 'Lincoln is certainly a shape moving lizard')The text message in the brackets will just be visible if you shift your mouse cursór over it:SpoiIer:3. Submitted content material must end up being directly associated to the MAFIA franchise.4. No memes/rage comics or identical low high quality posts. Maintain conversations in their particular mega-threads.5. Blog/YouTube spam, or junk e-mail in general is not allowed and will be removed.6.

No posting/requesting unlawful download hyperlinks, splits, or some other repacks. Conversation is alright, links are not really.7. Follow the general!Take note that all of the over is subject to moderator acumen and may become become a huge hit by messaging us.We try to make the moderation óf this Subreddit ás clear and democratic as feasible, so feel free of charge to send out a message if you possess any recommendations or feedback.We will not eliminate unpopular remarks. This is usually a place for discussion after all. Right here and right now there you will study a evaluation complaining that the game doesn'testosterone levels have got fast travel.

Fast Travel In Mafia 3 Release

This is a fairly lazy critique imo. Not really just in the literal sense.I can know that sometimes people really have got a really busy life-style and they want to reduce down on period consuming duties in-game, and just jump between the great bits. But for a game like this l can't find why I would want to do that.The cars (and the music) are usually outstanding. New Bordeaux is usually fun to discover. Every region has a different feel.

And most importantly, it doesn't take you hours to generate from one end to the othér,merely 5 to 10 minutes. Unless you really feel appreciated to abide by every traffic regulation or you're scared to phase on the gasoline and float into the sides. I wear't thoughts the lack of fast Travel either, but I think they do a shitty thing with those various goals.

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I put on't get why everyone of those vehicles and Moonshine vehicles wants to become in the Bayou. I get why the vessels are presently there, apparent, but they could've spread those vehicles and vehicles even more around the chart. How does this relatie?

Well, sometimes when trying to maximize a racket profits I just think like fuck, ain'capital t gonna drive all the way to the base of the map for a ridiculous truck transport to generate more kickback so I can purchase more weaponry. Those several times I do believe about fast Vacation, not hoping it, but it could'vé produced inspired me even more.

Each design has special traits that create generating it a unique encounter. This indicates not really all vehicles are fit for all reasons, therefore you'll want to change cars usually, based on the landscape and the job at hands. The best models are pretty uncommon, and knowing where to find them will conserve you a great deal of time. In this guide, we're heading to show you the greatest car locations in Mafia 3.Mafia 3 Best CarStealing vehicles will be one of the fundamental activities in the sport. You'll do it all the period.

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On the downside, it attracts unwanted attention. This means you'll often wreck a vehicle obtaining rid of the wanted position you obtained by robbing it in the initial place. Messy company. If this can be a problem for you, you might want to make investments in Burke's perk that enables for stealthy car-jackings.Aside from heading fast and having tight control over your vehicle, there are usually other reasons to appear for the greatest car. Some of them are usually achievements like the following:.

-While traveling, performed a 50-meter jump and arrived on your wheels. -Made a 180 degree convert at high velocity without hitting anything. New Bordéaux Drifter -While traveling, drifted for at least 5 secondsYou gained't become capable to unlock these with yóur run-of-thé-mill station truck. You'll need a correct muscle car, something with even more power than you know how to make use of. Something like thé Samson Drifter ór Potomac GT.

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Thése are among the greatest vehicles in the video game, along with spórtscars like the Dé'Leo Capulet ór the Samson Duké.ImageNameLocationSpeedAccelerationDe'Leo CapuIetFrisco FieldsVery fastGoodSamson DukéFrisco FieldsVery fastGreatPotomac GTBarcIay MillsVery fastGreatThe greatest method to get these can be by dangling out in Frisco Fields. That's the expensive part of city, therefore that's where the flashiest cars usually spawn. There'beds furthermore a quaint little shed in the Bayóu where a solitary parked car spawns. If it's i9000 not really one of the types you'd including, you can simply eliminate yourself and anothér one will spáwn.

The Mafia series has seen multiple hiatuses between games, with eight years between the first two and six between the second and third. It has now been four years since the third entry, but 2K Games is set to remake the first game as part of a new release known as Mafia Trilogy. While that version is not out for a few more months, they recently released the remastered Mafia II along with including the already existing Mafia III that is now known in the collection as Mafia III: Definitive Edition.

When Mafia III was originally released, there was certainly some controversy about the change in setting. While the prior two games had the traditional Italian mafia akin to Scarface and The Sopranos, Mafia III was taking a different route by having an African American protagonist that is not part of the traditional mob seen in the first few games. https://loadnfc639.tumblr.com/post/655844989264412672/yanmar-portable-diesel-generator-manual. Instead, Lincoln Clay is a soldier that has just returned back to the fictional New Bordeaux that is based on New Orleans from Vietnam and agrees to help some family and friends with the Haitian mob that have come knocking. Soon after he tries to work out a debt to the Italian mafia that his surrogate father has accrued. This ends up going very poorly and leaves Lincoln wanting revenge against mob boss Sal Marcano and his mafia family. This leads Lincoln to having to gather a unique crew of different partners to help take them down, which is the central focus for most of the game.

Can You Fast Travel In Mafia 3

The story is largely carried by the incredibly captivating Lincoln Clay and the other characters around him, with a solid story surrounding them. Mafia III: Definitive Edition was not afraid to tackle much more intense and dark themes than in the past, which still holds up well now four years later from the original release. While it is definitely a different style than the first couple games, the story is very much worth experiencing here and may be the best of the trilogy in that area.

Where Mafia III suffers most though is the very unoriginal game structure as you play through Lincoln’s story in a once again large sandbox open world experience. The original city of New Bordeaux this time around is larger than both of the first two games combined, but that kind of is a hindrance in some ways as you’re consistently having to drive across the map for new missions. New Bordeaux itself is split up into nine different districts across nine chapters, each of which have a story mission that is split up for you to complete. The repetitive nature of these missions though is where the game really struggles.

Within each district, you have to take over both of the rackets that are found in that location. Once you have successfully done this, a third mission within the chapter will open where you have to take out the person in charge of that district. There is a little more to do in the later chapters, but the biggest problem is that the structure is especially tedious and will have you growing tired of everything in no time. This feels like a course correction from the emptier world found in the previous games, though they may have gone a bit too far in the other direction.

On the plus side, Mafia III does introduce side missions this time around, a major flaw of the previous game. While not available right away, you’ll eventually get access to side missions that branch off from the main story. These include things such as helping out the underbosses by completing tasks for them to gain favor. While they aren’t that most involved overall, they are better than having nothing extra to do like in Mafia II.

The gameplay itself is really nothing to write home about either, albeit a little more refined here. One of the somewhat frustrating elements of the previous game was that you had to press A to leave cover every time, but now you can move much more freely when trying to move between cover or be stealthy. You have the option to adjust aim assist to the level you prefer, which can make the game a bit too easy. There are plenty of guns to choose from here though, with the ability to set them to a wheel and choose between them.

Compared to its predecessors, Mafia III has a major edge in the visuals department. The recent Mafia II: Definitive Edition was definitely more polished visually, but there is still no real comparison between it and Mafia III. Mafia III: Definitive Edition looks great all around, with the character models and environments looking much more realistic. The performance on Xbox One was pretty solid most of the time, with some slowdown here and there when too much was happening on screen. Thankfully, the character movement in general felt much more natural than in the prior games.

While Mafia III: Definitive Edition is literally supposed to be the same game with a new name and all DLC included, somehow Hangar 13 completely messed up one aspect of this game in the included update. Mafia III was given Xbox One X and PS4 Pro support after the release of the game, which added HDR and 4K support to the game to make it look even better. In what is a baffling mistake, somehow this latest update has completely removed this support, now giving you no way to use 4K on consoles. This is something that absolutely has to be patched in, but there is no way it should have ever happened in the first place, especially when this was a free “upgrade” for those that already owned the game.

Mafia as a series has always had a great soundtrack to match the time period, but Mafia III takes this to another level entirely. With the game being set in the late ’60s, the music was ripe for the picking from the era and Hangar 13 did not disappoint. These include songs from artists such as The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Johnny Cash, as the game offers over 100 different songs in total. The stellar soundtrack will constantly have you taking longer routes in your vehicle just to finish an entire song, which at least somewhat helps the fact that the game lacks fast travel.

Mafia III: Definitive Edition somehow managed to improve in one way by including all of the prior DLC, while also taking multiple steps backwards by somehow removing support for Xbox One X, even as a mistake. The story of Lincoln Clay is still enthralling and handles some very dark themes quite well, but the lifeless open world structure found in Mafia III: Definitive Edition really hinders what could have been the best game in the trilogy.

The Verdict

While not anywhere near as glitch ridden as the Mafia II remaster, Mafia III: Definitive Edition adds nothing more than the previously released DLC along with the very strange removal of Xbox One X support that was added to the original release after launch. Lincoln Clay’s story is still well worth experiencing a first time, but there is no real reason to venture back to New Bordeaux with this latest release as part of the Mafia Trilogy.

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Can You Fast Travel In Mafia 3

Mafia III: Definitive Edition

Available On: Xbox One, PS4, PC

Published By: 2K Games

Developed By: Hangar 13

Genre: Action-adventure

US Release Date: May 19, 2020

Reviewed On: Xbox One

Quote: 'While not anywhere near as glitch ridden as the Mafia II remaster, Mafia III: Definitive Edition adds nothing more than the previously released DLC along with the very strange removal of Xbox One X support that was added to the original release after launch. Lincoln Clay's story is well worth experiencing a first time, but there is no real reason to venture back to New Bordeaux with this latest release as part of the Mafia Trilogy.'

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Is There Fast Travel In Mafia 3

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