#more specifically i like to think about how the tiefling kids would eventually have to react to it

[amatres]

do i like to think about balaerra and astar. actually managing to be lamer versions of the brairwoods for baldurs gate? yes. do i also like to imagine that they eventually get their shit wrecked? yes

[artofshinga]

A bit ago I did a whole-ass set of warlocks based on D&D 5e subclasses - mostly for fun and also because my RP group was planning a warlock game. I didn't HAVE to draw one of each but doing so DID help me decide which one I wanted to play (this is, to note, why the characters are all pretty fem-coded - because that's my favorite to RP) Anyway, after I drew them all, folks asked if I'd do other classes too. And I was like, maybe? But, sorcerer did sound fun to do this with so over the last few months I've been working on them kinda on the side while I put most my energy in, like, the commissions I need to finish lol. But here, a bunch of theoretical sorcerers I'd personally play in a game:

Let's start us off with Iris, a half-elf who'd be living a pretty normal life in a normal job (I was thinking she was probably a waitress or somethin) until she finds something weird - a piece of a meteor or something, you know how it goes. Suddenly she has powers, and that's where her adventure would begin More sorcerers under the cut!

Tally I struggled with because, as it turns out, little mechanical fairy wings are complicated to draw. BUT also fun - I liked the idea of a fairy who's lost her wings and while she's trapped in the material plane she befriends a clockmaker who builds her little wings for her and eventually her magic ends up kind of syncing up with the mechanical way he teaches her about the world

Elysia was actually the last one I drew, since I have a DIFFERENT Divine Soul sorcerer I've already designed and want to play as a priority, but then I happened to see something about Greek gods while watching TV one day and thought, oh hey, that'd be a fun way to play with a divinity-themed sorcerer - maybe a musician that caught the affections of a god who blessed her with magic

Cherish is a cheerful tiefling working at an inn with her former-adventurer mother. We can guess what sort of things her mother got up to in her adventure since she ended up raising a child with some mysteriously draconic features

NGL Aine was just a way for me to play with some of the inspirations I used to cling to as a kid. Sailor Moon and other various bits of anime and JRPGs and such that I loved in my youth and used a LOT to inspire art. I wanted to remember that - and a catgirl wearing too many belts sounded perfect for that

Leila is probably my weirdest - she's SPECIFIC, like if there's a campaign set in the Shadowfell or something, I imagined a maid working in a mansion that gets magicked away to this realm and her gaining that shadow power when it happens

One of my first 5e characters was a storm sorcerer - more focused on rain and lightning and thunder. I used the same hair color and close to the same skin color to make this new storm sorcerer as a bit of a nod to that character, and wanted this one more focused on winter storms (including making her a winter eladrin elf)

and last but certainly not least, Gemma the halfling cursed with wild magic. I think she started off her adventuring life with a thieves' group before they found the wrong magic artifact. You know how it goes

[ejoym]

Love your Durge she's fun and love the dynamic with Astarion she have. Do you plan to also draw some more durgetash with her or elaborate a bit on her relationship with Gortash?

Thank you anon! I’m so glad you asked about this. I do plan to draw more Durgetash! In the meantime, here's an elaboration on how their romance began:

(Warning: includes mentions of sex and some minor spoilers for The Dark Urge.) 

Gortash and Durge had been working together as platonic business associates for several months. Already they had made considerable progress on their plans to infiltrate the hells. Gortash had recently learned of a tiefling socialite who had valuable intel that they needed. She would be attending a prestigious gala held annually in the upper city. It was the kind of event that the elite used as a cover for bribes, lobbying, and all sorts of nefarious acts. Gortash's plan was simple: seduce the socialite while Durge provided any necessary back-up support. 

Gortash insisted that Durge needed a cover name though. He couldn’t very well call her The Dark Urge in front of high society people. Durge didn't really care and so left it for him to decide. He had affectionately started calling her a “devilish elf.” That led him to the simple portmanteau of devil and elven: 

Devlin.

At the event, Gortash saw his mark and began his elaborate courtship dance, leaving Devlin alone to entertain herself. In true goth kid form she loiters by the food and glowers at the guests. Back in those days, she viewed all mortals as mere cattle waiting to be slaughtered in her father’s name.

(A fun detail is that Cazador attends this event with a handful of his spawn including, you guessed it, Astarion! I think Devlin and Astarion share an inconsequential exchange over the buffet table.)

Gortash soon returns with his tiefling mark around his arm.

The lady asks if Devlin and Gortash are partners to which Devlin quickly answers in the affirmative. She’s unaware of the woman's more coy meaning. Gortash fears all of his hard work is lost…but the socialite propositions them both for a threeway. 

Gortash attempts to walk the offer back but to his complete and utter surprise--Devlin accepts. 

The socialite leads them through the manor to a private room. Behind her, Gortash and Devlin whisper about what a bad idea this is…but the competitive fools spur each other on. And neither of them can really resist the curiosity to see where the night will lead them. 

Gortash tries to have some tact but Devlin is not one to dawdle. She takes the lead and starts lavishing the socialite in attention. (Oral...she's giving the lady oral) Gortash is a bit off his game but does eventually join in for the sake of the mission.

But both him and Devlin can’t help but get a little lost in the fantasy. 

When their pillow princess is good and spent, Gortash notices that Devlin’s eyes glow blood red. The urges overcome her and threaten to spill the blood of the vulnerable woman beneath her. Gortash obviously can’t allow that to happen. 

He steps in. She kisses him. 

They fuck like animals.  

For the next four years they share a highly physical relationship with occasional feelings. Durge specifically requests that Gortash call her Devlin during their time together. She hides behind that name while living a double life outside of her duties as The Dark Urge. 

It's Orin who feels Durge pull away. She experiences Durge’s absence as a form of abandonment (like a best friend who starts spending more time with their new paramour). That feeling of betrayal leads Orin to tadpole Durge and cascades into the events of the main game!

[sankttealeaf]

crying my eyes out at the parents!ruetash things. it all makes so much sense!! the DRAMA. ok but i'm still curious so if you feel like talking about them some more - did they plan to have kids or was it more accidental? i know rue had some real issues re: pregnancy in the fic, how did she ultimately deal with it? and since she was afraid of hurting their kids, do you think there were ever any close calls? sorry i. love them

i am ALWAYS down to talk about parent!ruetash especially because theyve been on my mind lately!!! <3 thanks for indulging me :D

it was purely accidental, these two are NOT safe when it comes to getting it on. when rue finds out she's pissed and doesnt tell him for like a tenday while she tries to come to terms with her options. ideally she would like to remove it, but then if it were to ever get out people may try and turn it into a Big Deal and she doesnt want the hassle

she tells gortash eventually and he is both overjoyed (woo he gets to continue his legacy) and kind of concerned because rue is being Too Calm about this. he wants this, she feels trapped in it but sure, he'll indulge in his little happy families fantasies - when their kid tries to kill him one night she wont stop them. its his fault for fucking a bhaalspawn

rue, despite how against children she is, uses her pregnancy to her advantage. gets her way all the time. loves the power trip. "gortash, you have to get me the imported fruits from the south. the babe wants it. i cant help it" or "im not moving from this chair my back hurts so i need you to feed me - this is your kid, pull your fucking weight"

calls their children "his problem". he wanted them so he has to deal with them. i think the actual act of giving birth is hell for him specifically and gortash is forced out of the room because she is trying to kill him for putting her through this (sorry rue, you do it again in a few years time)

i think theres been a few close calls. some nights gortash wakes up and rue is just. standing over the crib watching their child sleep. he has to coax her back to bed and on nights she feels really bad she's locked away in one of the guest rooms. (i like to think the reason she Is That Way is she sees their kid as a threat to her position in the temple of bhaal. even tho they are tiny and cannot kill her, one day theyll grow up and maybe discover their bloodline and try and kill her and she cant have that. best rid them early on)

its also why she distances herself from them. cant harm them if she isnt around them, right? its not until they have their son does she realise that she can feel when her urges are worsening, she's able to control herself. its fine.

when their kids grow up and none of them have tried to kill her, i think she becomes a better mother to them. thinks back to her foster family and how they treated her and tries to do the same despite being in a far better position than they were.

also slight tangent but the kids are like, a spitting image of gortash. i like the idea that there's no "tiefling" traits in them (because rue isnt a tiefling) & the only trait she passes down are the odd patches of skin discolouration or the freckles or maybe little flecks of white in their hair. bhaals flesh doesnt translate well, because the whole point (to me) is to blend in with the world. so when rue is stuck looking after the children she's always remembering her own childhood and Not Having A Good Time :)

i love to make her suffer. girl i am sorry.

THANKS for the ask!!! i love rambling about these two and ive had them on the brain a lot lately!! one day ill name these kids. we'll see

[beatriceeagle]

I'm sorry for immediately ignoring the structure of the DVD extras game!! I just came here from the final chapter of THE (and what a triumph!!), and I had three questions, if you'd permit me:

1) Just something simple I was wondering - I couldn't remember if it was mentioned in the text, how old was Eccron when she abused Jasper?

2) How did you come up with/develop the side characters, like Jasper and Eccron and Ange, and their place in the plot? Was it that you first decided which parts of Caleb and Beau you wanted to poke?

3) Veth being very motherly and suggesting Bren/Luc was very funny. How well do you think Bren and Luc actually get along?

<3 <3 <3

Don't worry about it—questions in any format are appreciated! <3 Answers under the cut.

1. It was never said, but she was in her early-mid 20s. Probably 23 or 24.

2. Basically, yes! Ange actually came before Jasper—the very earliest work I did on this fic was when it was still supposed to be a fairly short one-shot, and the first three of four paragraphs are basically unchanged from that version. I basically just modeled her after the four-year-olds I've known personally, and a lot of her specific traits developed organically from the details I happened to choose for that scene. The Tiefling and the Tailor led to the bear-shaped pancake led to her massive stuffed animal collection and so on. As the fic developed, I knew I wanted her to be a mostly cheerful presence, both because Beau and Yasha deserved to have some fun parenting, and also because I wanted the eventual reveal of what Grankton did to hit hard.

In the one-shot version of the fic, Beau didn't really have a plot, but I wanted her to have kids because I wanted to tap into that idea of seeing yourself from the outside. Caleb is seeing his literal self, and Beau is seeing her teenage son, but also her teenage self. So Beau always had a teenage son named Jasper who was into the Cobalt Soul, but in my one shot draft, he and Beau got along.

Once I committed to writing the long version of the story, that changed, and Jasper's personality developed to fit. I had a few driving ideas: I wanted him to be a basically good kid, helpful and well-behaved, because that would make his antagonism towards Beau much harder for her to deal with. (Beau expects teenagers to have attitudes; she was a teenager with an attitude!) I kept the Cobalt Soul angle, because that drove the plot, but now I had to think about what kind of person Jasper would be to be drawn to monkhood: curious and thoughtful and extremely protective. Very early on, I figured out his relationship with Ange, and that fully unlocked him for me. And then, as with Ange, the more I wrote him, the more the little details accumulated.

Eccron developed as she did almost entirely to reinforce the parallels that I was building between Jasper and Bren, Jasper and Caleb, and Jasper and Beau.

3. Bren has zero feelings about Luc at the moment because they haven't interacted much. Luc, I would imagine, is extremely curious about Bren, but he has Veth's sense of social graces on top of a teenage attitude, so he probably expresses it in weird ways. I think over the course of a lot of Mighty Nein reunions, Bren would probably come to see Luc as something like a lovable, kind of funny but kind of irritating kid cousin. Veth's matchmaking dreams will be tragically thwarted.

[rubyofhouserocks]

figayda - the kids are all right (right)

(reposting for formatting reasons)

hi, this is an adorable prompt and was really fun to write. thank you!

ao3 link here

“You want me to teach you how to flirt?”

“Yes. Did you not hear me? Should I speak louder?” Ayda asks, raising her voice slightly.

“No, love, I’m just surprised is all,” Garthy says from where they’re lounging in the Gold Gardens. “After all, it’s not every day your parent-slash-child asks you for love advice. Ah,” Garthy sighs, “they raise you, die, then reincarnate and grow up so fast.”

“Please,” Ayda says, and though her level tone does not betray her, Garthy can tell that she is practically begging, “it is imperative that I learn this skill as quickly as possible.”

“Why’s that?”

“Fig will be arriving in Leviathan shortly,” she responds, hands fidgeting with the scroll that she is holding.

“Fig? The little tiefling girl who runs around with the Bad Kids?” This might be more challenging than Garthy originally assumed; if they remember correctly, Fig was pretty charismatic. She was probably rather experienced at flirting.

“Yes, she is extremely attractive, and I would like to be in a relationship with her.”

“Okay, well, you don’t wanna come on too strong, yeah?” Garthy says, gesturing vaguely with the bottle of mead in between their fingers. “Compliments are nice and all, but you don’t want to overdo it.”

“Is it weird or strange to compliment someone a lot?” Ayda looks nervous, and Garthy suddenly wishes that they could find every person who had ever made her feel bad about herself and personally kick them in the groin.

“No, no, compliments are very kind and wonderful, but flirting is about the chase, all right? It’s supposed to be a back-and-forth, like a dance. If you spend the whole time complimenting the person it’s hard to sustain any…” Garthy gestures with the bottle again, trying to convey the delicate communicative interplay of romantic repartee. It doesn’t quite come across. “Tension.”

“Duly noted. How, specifically, does one build that ‘tension’?” Ayda does not physically do air quotes around the word, but it’s evident enough in her tone.

Garthy thinks about it for a moment. The art of flirting is such a context-dependent one, but they also want to give Ayda actionable instructions. Eventually, they say, “if you can find a way to challenge her somehow, engage her in a little banter or maybe a friendly competition or some such, that can help build that tension you’re looking for.”

“And what do you do once the tension has been established?”

“Well, then you can start getting a little more physical, maybe put a hand on her arm, y’know?” Garthy says, waving the bottle rather dramatically now.

“Got it. I should keep the compliments to a minimum, challenge her to a friendly competition, and then touch her on the arm,” Ayda nods, committing the steps to memory like she’s reading an instruction manual.

“That’s about it, yeah,” Garthy replies, taking a sip of the mead to punctuate the thought.

Just then, the tiefling in question walks into the room.

“Hey Ayda, you look really nice today,” Fig says, voice bright and sincere. Garthy clears their throat. “Oh, and um, hi Garthy.”

“Hello, Fig,” Ayda says, and then opens her mouth as though to say something else. She quickly shuts it again, and Garthy imagines that she had intended to say something effusively kind back to Fig. Garthy maybe should have specified that it’s fine to return compliments, now that they think of it, but they figure that it won’t hurt her to play it cool.

“I’m really excited to visit the library,” Fig continues, not deterred in the slightest by Ayda’s terse greeting. “I can’t believe you’ve worked on it for so long. It’s really amazing.”

“You know, if we were to race to the library, I would probably get there first,” Ayda says matter-of-factly, despite it being a complete non-sequitur. Garthy’s heart clenches at how uniquely Ayda her attempt at following their advice is, all sweet and awkward and heartfelt, and they are filled with renewed affection for the girl. Sure, it might not be the smoothest flirting they’ve ever seen, but Garthy thinks teaching Ayda coy smiles and playful tones would have been above their paygrade.

The only question, then, is whether the advice that Garthy did give her is working; they watch Fig to gauge her reaction to Ayda’s challenge, and they see her frown momentarily, confused. It only lasts an instant, however, before a beaming smile graces Fig’s lips.

“I bet you would, since you’ve got those dope-ass wings and everything—you’re probably, like, built for speed. It’d be cool as hell to see you in action, too.” Then, Fig coughs and looks away nervously, “I mean, everything you do is cool, so…”

Fig’s outpouring of compliments flusters Ayda so much that she accidentally singes the edges of the scroll in her hand.

“Oh,” Ayda says, jaw clenched against some emotion, “that is really nice to hear. Especially coming from you, because…” She stops mid-sentence as she seems to remember Garthy’s advice. “I mean, yes. I am very cool and would definitely beat you in a race.”

It is clearly causing her physical pain not to return the praise.

As Fig and Ayda trail awkwardly into silence, Garthy realizes that it is possible that they have miscalculated the situation entirely. When Ayda reaches out a hand to touch Fig’s arm despite the very-much-not-romantic tension in the room, Garthy realizes that it is possible that they do not know anything about romance at all, because their advice was kind of terrible.

“Fig, darling, would you excuse us for a moment?” Garthy asks, a hand placed lightly on Ayda’s shoulder to steer her into the next room.

“What’s wrong? I was about to touch Fig on the arm.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s why I pulled you out,” Garthy says, scrubbing their palm against their forehead. “Look, forget everything I told you, all right?”

“I do not understand. I followed your advice to the letter,” Ayda frowns, brow furrowed.

“No, lovey, you did great, okay?” Garthy reassures her. “I just don’t think my advice will help you all that much. Listen,” they nod at Fig, who seems to have difficulty sitting still as she waits for Garthy and Ayda’s return. Her eyes keep not-so-surreptitiously sliding over to Ayda every couple of seconds before quickly glancing elsewhere. “I think your best bet is to tell Fig how you feel, honest and straightforward-like.”

Ayda frowns. “Garthy, I would never question the validity of your wisdom, but I do not see how that is different to my behavior in any of my interactions with Fig, save for just now.”

“Yeah, love, that’s sort of the point,” Garthy says. “Fig has said about fifty words to you, and nearly all of them have been about how wonderful you are. I think the rest might have just been prepositions.” They squeeze Ayda’s shoulder. “Frankly, I don’t think there’s anything that will make that girl like you more than you just being yourself.”

“Oh,” Ayda says. “That is…very relieving to hear.” She nods once, determined, and strides back into the room with Fig.

“Fig,” Garthy hears her say, “I think you are incredible in every conceivable way. I would like it very much if you would hold my hand as we walk to the library.”

Garthy sees a face-splitting grin form on Fig’s face as she reaches her hand toward Ayda. Fingers intertwined, the pair leave the Gold Gardens and head toward the library.

“Well then,” Garthy says to themselves, “let’s see if Ayda’s strategy works on the celestial down at the bar.”

[kaiju-z]

The adventuring party The Cultbusters has been through quite a bit.

They met through happenstance and joined forces to destroy a murder/suicide cult, bent on ending life on Seon before a worse fate befell those, living on the continent.

They transported the crystal ball that fortold of the disasters to come, from volcanic infernos, to devilish and demonic uprisings, to blood sacrifices and wars to come.

And they partook in the Spring Welcoming Festival of Crystalgate.

And all through that, they learned of each other. And got close. And got distant. And some opted to go their own way, finding their own road to walk, or their place to set roots.

But work is still to be done. And as the group begin and end one more party together, to warm their new house, they prepare for the work that is to come in the morning.

Because with one episode’s end, comes another’s beginning.

Seon Adventures Episode 30: The Lady And The Roadpath’s Man

So the party occurs. It’s hardy and wild. By the end a chandelier has gone and fallen over, surely the work of the Narahs, invited by Belli.

As things seem to begin winding down, Amelia and Nel prep to take their leave back home. One final hug is shared between the group and, having said all he could already, Luck casts Fly on Amelia, to give her a fun trip back to Nel’s mannor.

Before the ladies leave, Amelia reminds them to be sure to visit River in the morning, regarding her business offer, the reclamation of some magic item or another, as it were? River had already visited Amelia, to remind her, so she was now passing that information along to them.

With the promise of another go at T-Rex adventures, for both Amelia AND Morgan, they part ways, anew.

And in the morning assess the damage. As the tieflings’ beds have been thoroughly wrecked by the actions of Belli’s siblings. How each feels about this situation, they react in their own way, be it vocally or to themselves. But regardless. Talks are had and an agreement is made to head off for River’s office.

Arriving at the dungeons, after a good knock and re-introductions, River lets the quartet + Morgan inside, where she regails them of the work that she had in mind for them, greatful for their dilligence.

Before noting Amelia’s status of “missing among them”, River mentions the possibility of bringing along a Bounty Hunter, interested in the job as a means of changing pace and scenery.

She would be somewhere in the South-Western corner of the outside, well, side of Crystalgate. Congregating in the “Ebri’s Home” club. A den of debauchery and sick ass tunes. River had gone there, herself once before. It’s a lot for someone, not used to experiencing that much.Very intense there, lots of Ebriosius worshippers, ya know. Not that there’s anything, well, wrong with that???

The person we’re looking for goes by “June”. She has a very big... personality, as River alludes to. And many a boob jokes are made. The classics.

But back to the business at hand!

As mentioned, it was a retrieval mission, of sorts. A very hush-hush sort of, closed doors, kind of job. The particulars about it are the search, aquisition and delivery of a weapon called “The Kingsblade”. A sword of certain length, located somewhere, in a temple within Gulorum. The country Gulorum.

Somewhere, central east of the border, on Gulorum ‘s side of things, within a temple, the blade could be found.

It’s an ancient artifact for their people. The first wielder was a slain tiefling king. It drives the warrior’s spirit of kings, which… Sounds hinky. But it’s powerful and people up top would like to have it.

It’s more, what could happen if someone gets their hands on it. The war did end 5 years ago. Tippy-top secret, job, ya know. The last king was a Dragonborn, it’s hard to say what happened, it’s energy and stuff. And this is where Luck gets a little lost, not being a native to the continent, having only been around for 3 years. In a secluded town up north from the capitol.

(as the party suggests,  Luck needs a fanny pack and a Hawaiian shirt.)

For Luck’s convenience, River gives a bit of an explanation: At the end of the war there, there was an incident. The dwarven and specifically Dragonborn populace of the region took a heavy blow, which is why you don’t see many, who aren’t old.

And luck immediatelly thought of his new friend, Dragon dad, Edmond.

It’s a case of, you know, population loses and they aren’t willing to give it up. The group wonder if she, June’d be willing to accompany the Cultbusters on a de-tour beforehand. Whatever the case may be, River recommends we have her tag along.

As a reminder, which gets the rich kids’ attention, the reward for the delivery of the Kingsblade equates to 5,000 Platinum for each member of the team.

When asked about it’s appearance, the sword, River mentions that The Kingsblade is a blade made of black glass. Purple hilt with silver trim. Luck feels the temptation to keep it for himself. For the aesthetic.

One more time, River repeats the details, adding the name of the temple in question: “The Temple of the Fallen King: . It’s got a name, so people’ll know where to find it. Lots of scavengers are there, so be careful.”

If the CB bring this back, the Elder Council would like to meet the party. They’ve had their eyes oin it for a while. For cultural reasons, for a while.

“ One more thing. If you decide to give up your search, you should let me know so I could find replacements. Don’t worry if your friend stops breathing in the night.   KBYEEEEEEEEE! “ And before any answers could be brought out from River on why that was, the party were sent out.

With the mission at hand, the party now had to find the certain location.

What little knowledge the others had on the subject would be swept back as Luck would mention that he, himself, knew of the particular location. As he had been working the past couple of weeks, before the tournament, to get materials for his new armor.

So with most of the party thinking that Luck had been constantly visiting the place, as opposed to having gone past it at some point, the hidden Tiefling would lead the journey over to the Soth-Western part of Crystalgate’s outskirts. And eventually to a location, where the Silence spell appears to be in effect.

The curiosity of this effects leads the group to a pair of double doors that lead to a downward path and, without hesitation, Luck just heads on down, followed by Mournimar, Malak and Belli.

Down there, they are immediatelly able to speak again. And are met with an Ogre bouncer, who reaches a hand over, palm up.

Belli gives him the five finger clap and he exclaims in approval. As that is the secret handshake to get in.

And thus. We get in.

Bombarded by sounds and sights and smells, some of which some of the party know all too well and some that require Belli to cover her eyes as the minor of the group.

Protection circle around the youngest among them, the group walk around and search for their target, which eventually leads them through a crowd that would occasionally glance at the Keemis priest that was walking among them.

And they’d stop at the bar counter, where a dark haired woman, seemingly human, of a lighter complexion, in a dark dress, was cupping a drunk man’s face. According to the description they had received from River, she fit it well. Very well.

Turning her attention to themselves, she protests the participation of a minor, at first believing they are customers, seeking her services. Which gives the group an extra idea on what she does.

Between clarifications and gentlemanly actions from Luck, she does note that Mournimar reminds her of someone she’s met before. It’s strange, really.

She asks if he has family in Sa Doma. Which leads to a small realization for those, in the know, of where she was going with that question.

As the particular job is expanded upon, she agrees to follow them back to their mannor, where they could discuss the details of their work, without extra eyes on them, Luck offering a hand to guide her.

On the way back and to the house, June meets the party’s pets. Or some of them, in any case. Morgan ,the dog and Orion, in all his bodeness. Certainly an interesting way start off relations with her new colleagues, if one dared say so.

Once at the house, Malak asks if he could use Zone of Truth upon her, just to be sure truths are being said and nothing is being hidden, which could cause problem for the business relationship along the way. Careful man that he is.

And June accepts this.

With the spell cast, she is asked and answers questions:

June is the name she currently uses. Preferred name. Her profession is – she smiles – well, she has sex for money or bounty hunting. Or they pay her to stand there and yell at them. Just recently, in the past 4 or so years she became said bounty hunter.

It’s like she has two hit lists, the hit just depends where it goes.

When asked, on whether she’d be fine with a detour, she would say she’s fine with traveling at a different location from the mission.

Also, importantly. She currently doesn’t follow Potencia. Her favorite color is lilac. Or red is also good. She likes a lot of colors. But purple specifically.

But there is, of course, a particular thing, that the party should know of her. She points out. As her skin grays out, her hair turns white and her eyes go a deep shade of gray.

Becoming a Changeling.

Jun, as her name really is referenced. But June is one of her masks. The one she prefers currently, though she has many a more, to go about. Much more into the idea of making her own creations, than taking someone else’s identity.

Given the country’s stance on Changelings, that is to be understandable.

During the conversation, Belli notes the rings Jun has. On her neck and on her right thumb, specifically. And asks on whether she knows someone by the name of “Ficus”. She’s heard the name Ficus, but not the last name. She knows an assassin goes by that name. She’s heard of him in circles.

Bellli would message Ficus, regarding this, only for the pajamas clad half-orc to come walking down the stairs, from Luck’s room, apparently? 

Some more lore on the rings comes about, from the talk that happens next.

The rings are not a “prostitute thing”.Jun states. Though she does admit that they should figure out a way to incorporate that.

Her left mark means that she’s very good at interrogation. Which. Understandable.

Her ankle mark means stalking. And the ones on her neck mean aesthetic assassin.

In all this, Luck apologizes for the shenanigans that have just occured, noting the party being, well, strange. But Jun doesn’t seem quite as bothered, noting that she figured them strange from the moment she saw them, given that they brought a minor to Ebri’s Home.

An agreement is reached, upon elaborating on why the party would be detouring, first to Lake Stren. Luck telling the story of how the original five met, fought the cult, got their name and the ball and one of the visions including the lake, itself and something rising there, following a sacrifice by clerics, familiar and strange alike.

The meeting point? The stables. (Note to readers: Kevin and Killer had been mostly staying with the Narahs since Belli returned with her family to town. So the horses like her best).

As the group prepares themselves for the long journey, final checks for supplies and the like, Malak casts Augury at the Shrine, asking Keemis on whether what they are doing is right. If what the party is about to go for is good. And the all around vibe he gets as a reply is “yeah”. Good vibes.

On the way to the stables, Belli gets a voice in her head.

Nash, Cleric of Bellinas, checks in with the Half-Orc Bard, named after her goddess. And Nash warns Belli that Dak and the rest of the Fornas clerics had made like bananas and split from town. They were on their way to the location! SHIT!

Belli would call her in turn, asking her for details. And ultimately, to join them at Lake Stren, for whatever was to happen there.

Updating the party on what’s happened, the group take to the road with the horses, in their carriage. And dash along, exiting the city and heading on the journey back, through familiar and not so familiar paths.

The Game’s Afoot!

Through fields and flat planes, the party rides.  Quite a few farms along the way, not that very effective, but like, Skyrim farms. 2 rows of potatos, basically. Potatos for days.

On the 2nd day, the party go through a dark and gloomy looking area. An extra path, between  Gorrum and Lebovia.  It’s gloomy-ish, shaded and hard to see far into the distance of it. So, hefty foresty area.

As the party travels along, the sky darkening quicker than expected, the five swear they could hear whistling from the trees and footsteps moving along the carriage’s sides.  Trees for days. Owls and the like swooping past the transport. Until...

Nothing. A silenced area. Wide, lonely. And in the nearby. A strange waterfall, of sorts. Not so much a waterfall. But... with the water going upwards, more of a water rise???

Electing to investigate, Belli and Mournimar enter the clearing, where’s a glow comes off from said water rise. Moss is covering every rock, the water having an almost crystal like near ceiling with a chip in it and stuff.

The effects of this place, everyone, while here, benefits from a plus + 2 on Charisma. With everyone feeling safe and comforted here. Like this place is one big hug.

The fountain gives + 2 to charisma, we feel safe and the water gives poison resistence/immunity for 24 hours. Following the example of Belli and Mournimar, the rest fill their water skins and flasks with the Waterrise’s water.

Malak’s heard of certain spots on the continent, where magical plains drip over and make whole cool new things.

And wanting to waste no more time, the party goes along, for as long as they can, until a necessary rest.

On the third day, the group reach a fork in the road. With rocks rising several feet upwards, like a decoration to the split of the path

Familiar, as one path leads to Sa Doma and the other, on their preferred path for now.  It’s like this half-big walkie outcrop thing. and... This place kinda seems off.

Malak is the one, who hears them. Sounds coming from behind the stone formation. There’s chuckling and rustling. Casting Tongues, he speaks: “I know you’re there and I know you can understand me! Come out right now!”

And then. A huge hand covers the rock and a large figure jumps over it, then picks up a boulder and prepares to throw it towards the group.

We roll for initiative.

Luck reacts quickest out of everyone and charges towards the Stone Giant that had appeared. Casting a successful Guiding Bolt, the magical fighter gets between the big Dave looking rocky man and the rest of the party, giving Mournimar advantage on his first attack. Whcih succeeds on hitting the 18ft tall man. As does the second. And with that, the eyes of the Hunter mark their prey.

Belli attempts to Polymorph the bewhildered giant, but alas, she can’t turn him into something smaller. Shaking aside her frustration, the Narah inspires Malak, for whenever he attacks.

Malak casts Ray of Sickness . It’s sick. And coincidentally, so becomes the Dave giant, who can but only watch as the cleric flips him off.

Hurt and frustrated, the big guy then stomps his feet in a wild rhythm. The ground under the heroes cracks and shifts some. And small creatures pop up from different places. Moving towards the group, ready to attack in their own, dusty way.

And after he summons his dusty friends, the giant yeets the rock at Belli and Jun, since they are so close to each other. But the ladies, with cheerleader like precision dodge out of the way, only taking a small subinterest of the damage.

The dust creatures then attack and attempt to blind Belli, Jun, Malak and Mournimar with their dust attacks. But each manages to avoid that action. And only get a growl from Mournimar for their troubles.

All the while, the one near Luctan attempts to put him to sleep. But much to it’s surprise, confusion and frustration, that does not work on the newly tattooed with elven resistence tiefling.

As the poor thing tries to miserably gnaw at Luck’s armor, the fighter can all but just stare down with distaste at it.  “Pathetic.”

(And a meme has been referenced!)

Ready for action, Jun takes out her rapier, an elaborate piece and slices onto her skin with it, evoking  her Crimson Rite. Rite of the Frozen (HOLY SHIT, SHE’S A BLOOD HUNTER, SON!) , and starts a cuttin’. Slashing into one of these beings (which we later learn are Mephits, of the Dust variety) and cuts it down, causing it to explode into sand.

And then she moves closer to Mournimar’s position, slashing onto the one next to him. And with her Gambler’s blade she strikes a killing blow again! Piercing through the creature and popping it like a bag of sand.

Luck takes his action to strike and do some modicum of damage, while also uttering healing words for Jun. 

Mournimar, the ranger, moves closer to Luck’s position and fires with his bow, injuring the Mephit beside his ally. The, sadly, the second attack misses off of the cobble stone body of the giant and lands in the grass, while Belli tries and fails to polymorph the big man again.

Frustrated, she mocks him. Viciously! “The only thing that can get hard is the fact he’s made of rock. The rest of him is weak and limp.”

He is visibly upset by this, feeling fat shamed. and even Belli feels bad for her phrasing. Intending to go for a different part of his physique.

On Malak’s turn, the Holy snek makes his appearance again and goes near the biggun. Sadly, Samael can’t do much at this time. It’s ok, though, because Sam tries and that’s what matters.

With his axe, Malak makes a successful strike for the Mephit near him, though. He just axes him a question.

The fatshamed giant makes his move, then and strikes Mournimar. And clobbers him good with his big ass club, causing some bleeding on the poor digitigraded tiefling’s cranium.

A bloody Mourni spits blood “You really shouldn’t have done that, Motherfucker!” and charges up his Hellish Rebuke, burning the giant to a singed point.

Startled by this developement, the panicking big man attempts to hit Luck, but the fighter moves out of the way of the attack, his cape flowing majestically in the breeze.

While one Mephit attacks Luck impotently, another successfully blinds Malak with the sand at his disposal and attempts to run away, narrowly avoiding getting hit with Malak’s axe in the process.

Jun Hexes the giant, leaving a Profane experience as a Blood Hunter on this 18ft specimen of a man. But her distraction leaves her open to an attack from the fleeing Mephit, which bites her with all it’s tiny might! Which basically undoes Luck’s healing attempt.

Using her Gambler blade, she strikes at the Giant, opting out of attacking the small fry and does some harm on the stoney man. Confident, she attempts to pierce through his loin cloth, but... the sword gets stuck there. And they’re both kind of uncomfortable. Should she move first or should he move first?!

Still, though. Her initial attack. That Hex... It rendered the Giant at a disadvantage in the Charisma department.

And you know what that meeeeans...

Bane. Luck casts Bane on The Giant and the 2 Mephits.

And all three fail to protect themselves form the Tiefling’s own curse. With a surge of power, Luck strikes again at the giant and again at the dusty mephit. Taking note of the wobblyness of the big guy, Luctan calls out to the rest to subdue the giant, but keep him alive.

Wobbly in his own right, Mournimar puts away his bow and pulls out the enchanted All-Star Blade. And stabs a Mephit and said Mephit pops like a balloon. Attempting to follow in the ladies’ style, he attempts to stab the giant in the unmentionables as well. And fails. As well. Today just does not seem to be a good day for unmanning, it seems.

Having had enough, Belli uses her calling card, given Luck’s orders, and puts the giant to Sleep.

And while Jun helps clear Malak’s eyes from the blinding sand, the rest of the party use their ropes to tie the giant to the ground.

Very efficient with the rope work, they tie the big man down and good.

By the time Malak’s eyes are cleared, the giant wakes anew.

As Tongues does not require Concentration and goes on for a full hour, Malak still is able to understand the large highwayman.

And Malak begins questioning him. And getting answers in turn.

He wanted our money. It’s why he was there, for 3 hours, behind the rockmound.

A highwayman, indeed. Of the large variety. The irony of him being the one getting robbed now, as Belli began rifling through his stuff, was not lost that day. She would find a curious bracelet. And begin casting a spell to identify it.

When Malak asks him for his name, the giant answers that his name, is in fact, Dave. Malak asks him, with them not being his friends and all, why he should be kept alive.

Dave would not like to be dead is his reason not to die. And Belli chanting makes him nervous. Which Malak bluffs that is her putting a shrinking curse on him. The tieflings quickly join in on the charade, scaring the ever loving crap out of him as they start chanting in Infernal.

The Item Belli finds turns out to be a Bracelet of Alchemy. It raises the status of one’s Charismatic nature twofold.

And so. The giant is warned. That a curse has been put upon him. If he continues to be a shitheel, with every bad action, he will continue shrinking further and further, until he becomes a speck on the ground, easy for anyone to stomp on.

Malak would warn him to “Think long and hard about your life and all the decisions you’ve made and where they’ve lead you.”

And the panicking Dave, who was being untied in the process, would say a mighty “Ok!”, before booking to wherever his legs would lead him. As the party had. Successfully. Scared the shit out of him.

Previous Episode / Next Episode

[maydaymadier]

Twenty Playlist Breakdown

I finally made the playlist for Twenty, my air genasi wild magic sorcerer so [insert ah_shit_here_we_go_again.jpg]

Family, Mother, Mother This party was very much a found family situation, Twenty managed to develop some sort of familial bond with pretty much everyone but most notably the tiefling bard Kimiko who he straight up claimed was his daughter.  It started off as just a one-off thing to get someone to leave her alone but then they both ended up taking it to heart.  This is also probably the most earnestly he’s ever felt connected to a group of people.  He has his parents but there’s a level of dedication he has to the party that he hasn’t felt before. “The people are staring and talking in whispers/"Hey what's with the strange breed?"/They is my family, they is my family/They might be crazy, but they is my family/You can't get to them unless you get through me/You fuck with them you fuck with me”

Trouble Is A Friend, Lenka Twenty sees his wild magic as a strange companion he doesn’t want but can’t do anything about so he does his best to just accept it.  It’s a strange little imp that doesn’t leave him alone.  Befriending that trouble is how he’s gotten so powerful anyway. “Trouble is a friend but trouble is a foe, oh oh/And no matter what I feed him he always seems to grow, oh oh/He sees what I see and he knows what I know, oh oh”

The Devil Wears A Suit And Tie, Colter Wall Alluding to Twenty’s background, as essentially a magical conman, the type of man to be bargained with.  He was a diplomat of sorts, offering council to anyone willing to pay.  Though he would make a deal with anyone foolhardy enough to trust him.  It’s not a period of his life that he’s particularly proud of.  Not regrets per se, just wants to keep it in the past. “Foolish foolish was I/Damn my foolish eyes/Cause that man's lessons had a price/Oh sweet price...../ Don't you know the Devil wears a suit and tie”

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Queen I wanted a peppy, cheesy, unrepentantly head-over-heels song for Fifty (Twenty’s bf is an npc named Thirty so...well...easy math joke).  This is probably Twenty’s perspective since this is more energetic and Twenty has the force of personality and charisma of a sorcerer. “Ooh let me feel your heartbeat (grow faster, faster)/Ooh ooh can you feel my love heat, ooh/Come on and sit on my hot-seat of love/And tell me how do you feel right after-all/I'd like for you and I to go romancing/Say the word, your wish is my command”

Need The Sun To Break, James Bay Twenty is vaguely aware that his upbringing/past was strange but he isn’t quite ready to admit to it yet.  In the meantime he would appreciate a hug.  Or just someone to sit there next to him while he sits there in silence working through his shit.  So yeah, the anthem for Twenty’s Moments of Realization. “I need the sun to break, you've woken up my heart/I'm shaking, all my luck could change/Been in the dark for weeks and I've realized you're all I need/And I hope that I'm not too late,”

Put Your Head On My Shoulder, Paul Anka Local Touchstarved Gay Cuddles BF Nearly Twice His Height.  “Put your head on my shoulder/Hold me in your arms, baby/Squeeze me oh-so-tight/Show me that you love me too”

Sanremo, MIKA Okay, so, hear me out.  I have a very specific image in my head of this song.  It’s big Gentlemanly Older Gay Man In A Light Summer Suit Sitting On The Patio Of A Little Seaside Cafe Flipping Through A Newspaper Lazily And Glancing Up Over His Coffee Mug, Peoplewatching While He Waits For Him and that’s the vibe I try to give with Twenty like 85% of the time.  “To feel like this/Is one in a million/A suspended moment/Can we seal it/With a tender kiss?/Out of a movie/Made by Fellini/Love that you need me”

The Origin Of Love, Hedwig and the Angry Inch GOOOOOD this song slaps so hard, it has no right to slap so hard.  Just, being so desperately in love with someone because it makes him feel whole again.  “You had a way so familiar i could not recognize/Cause you had blood on your face/And i had blood in my eyes/But i swear by your expression/That the pain down in your soul was the same/As the one down in mine......../We wrapped our arms around each other/Tried to shove ourselves back together/We were making love, making love”

I’m Still Standing, Elton John Is Twenty occasionally caught off-guard by the fact that he’s on the whole, happy, living with someone he loves, living their best lives together?  Yeah.  But not in a bad way.  Just sort of stopping suddenly and going “Oh.  Sweet?  Yeah, sweet, I think?  That sounds right.” “Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did/Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid/I'm still standing after all this time/Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind”

Come With Me, Chxrlotte The first time Twenty met Thirty he didn’t have a great impression, he thought he was too loud and woefully lacking in self-awareness.  BUT OH BOY DID THAT CHANGE.  At this point, Twenty just shamelessly idolizes him.  He loves him and doesn’t know where he’d be without him, simple as that.  Also, Twenty literally asked Thirty to come to the Elemental Plane of Air with him and Thirty did it, the absolute mad lad.  “Hallelujah, running to you/They won't find us, you and I can watch the stars fall from the sky/All clothed in white, my shard of light/Let's go together, we'll be free/The world ends eventually, so come with me”

7 Years, Lucas Graham God, I’m gonna have to make a separate post about Twenty’s weird upbringing at some point, aren’t I?  Anyway, short version is, Twenty was trained from birth (hell, born with the express intent) to turn him into the perfect white collar criminal/politician.  He was always being told what he needed to do.  His mother taught him politicking, his father taught him magic.  “Once I was seven years old my momma told me/Go make yourself some friends or you'll be lonely/Once I was seven years old”

Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked, Cage the Elephant Twenty in the thick of backstory, the early years of being sent out on his own, pulling schemes just subtle enough to not technically be schemes.  Though he’s very much not the narrator, if anything he’s the preacher man.  “Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back/Though you know, I wish I could/Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked/Until we close our eyes for good”

Magic, Mystery Skulls He’s a ~Magic Man~, I wanted a song about magic.  You could also make the argument that it’s a Fifty song but this one doesn’t have a terribly deep explanation.  “The spell you got on me, it's like magic/Got me feeling like falling in love....../ So it took me by surprise, oh no.”

The Logical Song, Pomplamoose (cover) Okay, I was gonna use the original version of this song but I ended up preferring the vocals on this cover better.  This one better hits on Twenty’s upbringing, being trained in manipulation and magic, how to bend people in his favor, he must be perfect, must be because he’s their legacy, someone has to make sure the Bellisario family keeps its influence, who will be there to spread the family’s will if not him?  He has to be a worthy son.  “Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned/I know it sounds absurd/Please tell me who I am”

Thief, Imagine Dragons Look, I could put this on here exclusively for the fucking sweet opening riff.  But, oh boy, he’s a middle aged man suddenly having to forge an identity of his own, independent from the ideals instilled in him by his family and sometimes, wouldn’t it-?  Wouldn’t it just be easier to be that man who stumbled into the strange mansion in the mountains?  He knew what he was supposed to do.  He had a goal.  The man who left didn’t have anything like that.  “So take me back/When I believed/Back when I was unafraid.../ When the stars look down on me/What do they see”

Amsterdam, Imagine Dragons Oh look, Twenty’s mom finally made an appearance.  Twenty and his parents were under the implicit agreement/understanding that he needed to keep them up to date with his movements and schemes, his mother primarily since she was the parent living in the Prime Material Plane.  This petered off eventually (it was a long eventually but an eventually nonetheless) but he’s still glad that at least under the current circumstances he doesn’t have to deal with both of his parents.  His mother may be the one who taught him politics but she has no qualms with brutal honesty and he knows she would be vocally disappointed in him.  His father doesn’t take him all that seriously but more just finds his ‘antics’ amusing, he thinks the insistence on the name Twenty is funny.  His mother is just as passive aggressive but far more vocal, she would take the name Twenty as akin to an insult, he is Alexander Bellisario and he can’t change that.  “I'm sorry, mother... I'm sorry, I let you down/Well, these days I'm fine/No these days I tend to lie”

[the-wotog-collection]

true canon: an explanation

True Canon is set in a typical High Fantasy D&D ye olden age world, with monsters and magic and dragons galore. It started out focused entirely on Eve and Viktor and a few others’ travels through a country called Witherhurst, and as we made more characters and stories and kingdoms, we expanded the scope of WotOG (the original D&D game) to cover all of them, until we had a nice world built up around the characters. Since not all of the stories related to the events of WotOG (and WotOG part 2: Electric Boogaloo), we decided to change the name to True Canon, so we knew which universe for sure was the foundation upon which our Many AU’s Stand. Here’s a quick n dirty timeline, for reference:

(much more under the cut)

-Eve, Viktor, and a few others that aren’t relevant to the story travel around Witherhurst on a job or something from a lady who’s Definitely Not Important At All (Her name is Prenella). At some point Prenella ditches the party and they’re stuck without a cleric for a while

-They make it to a big city, and through shenanigans that include travelling the city for fun and also almost dying to a pack of rabid dogs, Eve convinces Intem to join the party.

-Eve, Vik, and now Intem (plus one more pc) unravel a cult plot, something about the end of the world, blah blah nothing really important there. They end up taking out the cult and fighting Prenella, the cult’s leader, who also happens to be a dragon. Neat.

-After that horrifying ordeal, the party reconvenes and decides, ‘fuck it, let’s go find a new place to travel together’ and thus board a ship that they then steal from the captain (after Intem’s “pet” eats said captain).

-So begins the few years the party spends as pirates.

-Things happen, they end up fighting an eldritch god for world-ending rights, and go on their merry way.

- Intem falls into the role of reluctant (but no less ruthless) pirate captain, with vik as his first mate and eve as navigator (despite the fact that she can’t read. they figure it out)

-This is around the time Intem goes from lilac-haired sunshine boy to disgruntled cynic who’s Done With Your Shit, Viktor.

-Eventually the crew docks, and picks up Therai and Pippin for a while. Eve also brings up the idea of reviving Vik’s old travelling companion, Dante (two bros, chillin in a tavern, no feet apart ‘cause they’re so gay), and Intem’s like “Sure why the fuck not” and they set off to find his grave or whatever.

-Hatch and Xander are in the area and end up getting picked up by the crew.

-Dante gets revived, and for the next year or so, everything is fine.

-Eventually the crew docks near Therai’s old home kingdom, and he dips, taking Pippin, Xander, and Hatch with him (he really only meant to take Pip). They spend a while travelling to his kingdom, Aer-Vinn, and encounter Hatch’s long time (boy)friend Aerglo. He joins the party, at Hatch’s request.

-A little while later (vague time frame I know but exact years don’t matter here), there’s some Good Therai Angst when- Shock! Horror! - they end up stumbling upon Tal, who shares ~history~ with Therai. Not the good kind, mind you. They leave soon after meeting Tal.

-There’s a few more encounters with Therai’s old companion before Tal eventually softens up and joins the party, hell yeah. Warren joins too, because he was nearby and Also shares ~history~ with Therai and Tal. (They were all in a party together before this)

-AT THE SAME TIME THIS IS GOING ON: Rain sets out on a holy mission from their church to prove themselves worthy of being a Paladin of the Church.

-They meet Rosemary along the way, and after a small adventure together, they decide to help Rose out and find Catherine with her, because a while back Rose accidentally turned Catherine into, well, a cat.

-They do find Cat, after she’d gone through some Shit in an alternate dimension featuring a Sun Goddess and her complete mental breakdown. Cat Killed A Goddess (or two, we’ll see how the campaign goes), and made friends with the cousins Mikhail and Valentine. Mikhail doesn’t matter to the timeline right now. 

-Anyway, Rain and Rose find Cat, and settle down in a little seaside village where they work together to turn Cat back into a human.

-They Succeed!!!

-Uh-oh there’s a stranger at the door- Oh! It’s just Rain’s Cleric friend from their church, Rahon! Turns out Rain kinda went MIA and everyone back home is having a Panic, so Rahon’s here to make sure Rain is alive and well, or collect their belongings if they’re not-

-But they’re alive, so Rahon calms down and decides to stay (after sending a message back home, of course), to keep an eye or two on Rain.

-Rain is Delighted :)

-The party (minus kal) were traveling somewhere, kal ended up going the same way, and they ended up in the same city for a while. rahon saw her Up To No Good, so he kept an eye on them and saw them getting stabbed, and decided to nurse her back to health, and thus Kal Joins The Party. Rahon is an absolute sweetheart to them

-Eventually Rose, Cat, and Rain head out to a nearby cave system bc of Reasons, and end up kinda sorta stumbling into a system that leads to this world’s version of the Underdark. They need help navigating, because Fuck These Tunnels Are Confusing, and come across a little hermit drow who’s living his “best” life in his underground hut with tattered clothes and ratty books and cracked glasses.

-He just wants to see the surface but is terrified of how the world will treat him if he goes up alone, so he offers to guide everyone through the Underdark in exchange for them taking him up to the surface. Everyone agrees

-Astralus, little hermit drow lad, does so, and soon finds himself stumbling out into broad daylight. He’s got light sensitivity and everything Burns, but he’s so fucking happy oh my gods. Also he’s crying but it’s okay, he’s kinda really emotional.

-Aster joins the party! And they find out he’s cousins with Rose, who practically adopted him as a brother anyway let’s be real.

-Somehow Val learns of Cat’s whereabouts, and pops by to say hi to his trauma buddy. Cue shock as he sees her as human for the first time. Aster develops an immediate crush, and takes to following Val around like a lost puppy.

-Val is having a Time because, Aster looks just like a person he knew in an alternate universe and things didn’t turn out well for them. Yikes.

-Val joins the party, if only to tease Cat and finally have a place to be for a while

-MEANWHILE: Bree finds an abomination living in the abandoned mineshafts near her village. She decides he could probably use a friend, since the entire village is pretty scared of/hostile towards him, and becomes that friend. She finds out his name is Ve, and he’s a sweetheart. She makes immediate friends and he teaches her sign language, because he Literally Doesn’t Have A Face, he can’t speak.

-A few weeks later, either Ve or Bree decide to leave bc Fuck This Town, except they don’t say Fuck because they’re both softe beans (they both legally cannot say fuck. and i actually had an idea for how they leave ovo). Either way, they leave, and through shenanigans, they pick up Three More Tieflings, what the hell, which is kinda funny because previously, Bree didn’t think tieflings existed at all. 

-Tarvaii and Trancey are travelling together as a Chaotic Mischief Duo, and end up joining the party because Bree made friends

-Same situation with Chaym, though he was alone and depressed because his entire village got massacred. Bree made friends, and Chaym joined the party

-Chaym also ended up teaching Trancey magic, specifically Necromancy, which is kinda really stupid dangerous but it’s fine, Chaym survived, why shouldn’t Trancey? (flawed logic but okay Chaym)

-Cut to a few years later, back with Eve and Co.

-They’re in a tavern, Eve sees a depressed tiefling at the bar. What does she do? Immediately go try to cheer him up.

-She finds out he’d left his pregnant girlfriend on a mission to go help out somewhere, and ended up stuck in a weird place where time passes differently for him. It’s been 26 years, though to him it felt more like a handful of weeks. He’s scared and confused and would very much like to find his family, but he has no idea where he is.

-Eve’s heart breaks bc! he’s so sad and his girlfriend is pregnant and he’s got a family and just wants to get back to them, how could she not want to help? and thus she decides to help the tiefling, Viren, find his family.

-Through a series of events, the find out Viren’s family was living in a beautiful city built into the mountains, that fell quite a few years back. Luckily, his girlfriend left beforehand, and moved to a small mining town, where she gave birth to, and briefly raised, their son. She named him Ve, after his father, who she assumed was dead.

-There was a fire at one point, and Angelica, Viren’s girlfriend, died saving Ve. Viren is absolutely devastated when he finds out, and Eve offers to resurrect Angelica, y’know, bring the family together again, even if for just a short time.

-Vi agrees, and they do so! Woo! Also Eve and co. meet up with Ve for a while so the family really is back together.

-Intem, doing a sneaky trick, makes it so Angelica’s soul keeps the body and just, lives until the body dies, be it natural or unnatural causes. He only tells Eve and Angelica about it, and waits to see how long it takes Viren to realize ‘oh shit I’m not losing my fiance so soon’

-Also Viren and Angelica get engaged! Woo!

-A little while passes, Viren and Anne join the party, and Eve gets pregnant with Intem’s kids. At this point the party’s stopped adventuring, and they all settled down somewhere nice. Anyway Eve’s pregnant and gives birth to twins, Olive and Evergreen (Evan for short), but Olive looks more like Therai than Intem and it’s kinda weird, but nobody really minds because the twins are just, so cute. Also Therai (and co) came back and built the party a nice house, so, yeah.

-Olive and Evan grow up, and Evan takes an interest in Druid Magic. Vik lets Evan access his Giant Library and teaches him general magic stuff. Olive scares her whole ass family by taking an interest in Necromancy, and eventually someone gets in contact with Chaym (and by extension Trancey), and has him come over to teach Olive.

-Olive becomes a necromancer! And then heads off with Evan in tow to start their own life of adventuring. 

-Eve has another kid, Avery, with Therai

-Olive befriends a Whole Ass Dragon, gives him the nickname Jade, and introduces him to Evan. By the time the trio make it back to Jade’s hoard, Avery’s taken on the role of Fighter and heads out into the world to do her own thing. She also meets Clover, another fighter, and they travel together for a while before joining Olive, Evan, and Jade. 

-That’s it, that’s where we stopped on the timeline of True Canon. It’ll go on, of course, but, here’s the general timeline in 4 pages

[thelastarchangelaskblog]

Session 15

Last session we left off right after Zira realized her mother has been looking for her since she was kidnapped by the Horned Crown. This one picks up immediately afterwards!

The entire party was once more present for drama and shenanigans, although @rebaobsessions was sick so Rhodey was mostly communicating through typing today.

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(Read more.)

There was some more fallout after the revelation of Zira’s ( @heliocentricgeometric) mother and what it meant for her. She was unsure if she wanted to let her mother know that she was alive and relatively all right.

Zira: I am not the best daughter or the best agent or the best anything.

But multiple people did tell her that her mother would want to know and she is good, so Zira eventually gave the go-ahead.

Zira is super hard on herself and blaming herself for having been kidnapped.

Clint: Don’t be hard on yourself. Would you go back and tell your six-year-old self that?

Helio: DID HE SAY THAT IN CHARACTER? 

DM ( @the-grey-hunt): Yes, because I think it's funny.

We make the decision to check out the abandoned temple of Erathis, since we don’t feel comfortable leaving without investigating it. Before we do so, we go return to collect our weapons. Rhodey really wants his back.

Helio: Is he really Rhodey if he's not a walking armory?

Weapons collected and fully armed, we head to the temple with Clint and Natasha in stow for their supposed lock picking and trap detecting expertise. It’s broad daylight; there are crowds around.

Bob ( @thechaoticwave) rolls high on stealth but it’s the middle of the day and we’re attracting attention. Tony picks the lock on the door in the end with double proficiency because he has tool expertise. (You have no idea how many tool sets he has, guys.)

DM: Is this the same person who gave Tony his fine clothes? He went on a Weekend at Bernie's excursion and now he has 8 tool proficiencies?

In real life, we’re RPing hardcore and having debates and this all means that it’s taking us...

DM: It's been 20 minutes in real life since I told you you were standing in front of the unlocked door that leads to where you're going.

DM: You go inside. It is a room.

We’re all super suspicious and investigating for traps and perceiving danger. To be fair, Zira perceived something super suspicious and shady in a window with a high roll.

DM: 8 people have rolled perception checks. There are only 6 players.

I don’t know what Bob is supposed to be familiar with here but it’s apparently something in the temple.

thechaoticwave: How familiar would Bob be?

DM: None.

We very slowly creep through the temple. I mean, slowly in real life. It’s relatively fast in-game but in real life it’s taking a while. One of us takes the initiative to hurry us along.

Helio: We keep going. I'm sorry to anyone who wants to explore, but if we do, I think our DM will try to kill us!

Finally we end up in the last room of the temple. There’s an altar here, and as we enter the room JARVIS gives an alert. Torches magically light up and the room gets super cold.

We don’t realize what’s happening until we notice a ghost! It’s the tiefling priest who was executed for the kidnapping of the jarl’s daughter.

Veritas is rather adamant it wasn’t their fault and that things aren’t as they seem. They’re super pissed at us disturbing them, too, since they’re stuck in the temple. But they are familiar with the Horned Crown and what happened in the past.

Only...what do we want to do with the cult?

Zira: We're hunting them down. 

Veritas: You can't. 

Zira: I know. I can either die running away or I can die giving them the middle finger.

There are several charisma checks being made since Veritas is trying something funky. JARVIS is still freaking out about the ghost and does not like them.

Zira tries talking to Veritas some more, get them to tell us what’s going on and what happened back then. Veritas is saying they didn’t have a choice, that there was a woman involved who probably threatened them. But they’re not being specific and are complaining about injustice.

And then... Clint miserably fails his charisma save and is possessed! Zira gets shot by an arrow!

We roll initiative!

Helio: For one, I call the ghost a little bitch.

Bob is in dismay by what Clint did with an arrow.

Bob: Fuck damn it, Clint, this is not what I gave them to you for.

Zira doesn’t actually do anything with the arrow for the entirety of the fight. Also we kill the ghost double dead and we don’t know where ghosts go after dying a second time? Only Veritas is super dead now.

Lucky, Clint’s bird, tried to attack us on seeing us attack Clint. JARVIS did a good and pounced on him before he could attack Zira

In the end we’re all a bit upset and pissed at the ghost and everything in Neverwinter and agree to leave as quickly as possible.

We’re given some horses by Theodora Coulson and make it out quickly. While we’re camping, Zira has a conversation with her celestial guide on what she found out.

Zaphkiel is super wise and loving and sensitive to Zira’s doubts and fears.

Zaphkiel: Sometimes the hardest lessons are the ones we need the most.

Zira: Lady Laurelin is getting three kids for the price of one. 

Zaphkiel: That sounds like a good deal to me.

Zira also finds out Zaphkiel is her father. Her biological father.

There’s a fight in Zira’s mindscape on finding this out, during which the third alter - 6 y/o Zee - comes to the front! She’s out and about freely!

Zee: IT'S ZEE TIME. It's my body now!

She’s a bit peeved at how tall the body is and keeps falling over. DJ (doxblogsstuff) finds her like this and realizes this isn’t Zira or 465 but rather someone else he hasn’t met before. Zee is super cheerful and happy to meet him.

Zee: The only reason I'm out right now is because they're fighting and being stupid. Last time I was out I was way shorter, and now I'm all the way up here.

Zee continues being precious and sweet and pronouncing words very deliberately.

DJ gets the rest of the party’s attention and Zee is introduced to Tony! And also Rhodey but reba was absent for this bit until she popped on again a little later.

Zee: That's my sci-en-tif-ic con-clu-sion.

Bob gets the chance to ask Zee what her favorite color is!

Zee: My favorite color is actually ocean color.

Zee sits by the fire and eventually notices JARVIS by Tony.

Zee: Why is your cat shiny and big?

Tony: That's just how he is. 

Zee: Well, I'm big and shiny so I can't judge.

Zee mostly talks to DJ, at least until Zira manages to front again and is absolutely dismayed at what happened. But it’s all good!

We continue traveling to Ankh and are met by a thunderstorm. We make our way indoors to S.H.I.E.L.D., meeting first Agent 13 and then taking the boats through underground rivers before we finally, finally meet...Director Fury!

Tony: He doesn't look as furious as I thought he would. 

Fury: Try me on a bad day.

We’re given some basic information on S.H.I.E.L.D. and asked about our own interest in the Horned Crown and why we want to ally.

Zira: We would get smushed like itty bitty bugs.

Zira: We want to...how do I say this? Fuck the Horned Crown up so bad that they never look at another kid again.

One by one, each of us gives our answer as to whether or not we want to join. Zira is a yes. DJ is a yes. Rhodey is a yes. Luna ( @imagine1117) has questions about what Fury knows about them but is a yes as well. Tony...does not say yes. He doesn’t say no, but he doesn’t say yes. He’s for allying, but not for joining S.H.I.E.L.D. as a lackey.

Bob declines to answer in favor of getting more information.

Fury: If I can be frank.

Bob: I thought you were Fury.

We end the session here with Fury sending us back above ground to talk about this as a group before giving a final answer.

So much happens next session. To the point our DM titled the session notes “Oh Boy Guys.”

[writers-blogck]

A New Adventure Begins ( Mollymauk x Reader ) 04

Song Warning(s): One more thing, in this story, pretend that Jester drinks alcohol and not just milk all the time. Title: A New Adventure Begins Number in Series: Four Pairing: Mollymauk Tealeaf x Reader Fandom: Critical Role Word Count: 5,302

   The group finally reached the tavern in the evening, an hour or so before the bars would be getting most of its customers. The wagon was packed and things were grabbed as you walked into the tavern. Customers were quietly chatting, most being others who were staying in the tavern. They were eating dinner, which seemed to be some sort of meat and potatoes. The smell was delicious and caused your stomach to quietly growl. The idea of a hot meal was wondering at the moment. How long had it been since you had one? The Mighty Nein had given you simple rations of bread and cheese while traveling.    You could feel a few eyes on you as you walked toward the bar. How could you blame them, you looked terrible. Twigs were in your hair and dirt on your skin. They must think you were some feral woman they picked up out in the woods, which wasn't that outlandish to believe. Subconsciously, you moved closer to Molly as he seemed to have such a confident aura. You got the feeling that he liked when people watched him. The entire party got stares but you couldn't help but feel like all of the eyes were trained on you.    "No worries, dear. We always get stares when we go anywhere." Molly's tail curled around your waist in a comforting gesture, "Guess you can't help it when you have green, blue, and purple members. You'll learn to get used to it. I'm sure that once you're cleaned up, they will skip right over you and look at me. I can make them all stare at me if you want, I have a talent for it."    "No, thank you. Just stay close, please." Your eyes looked up at Molly like a scared puppy. How could he say no when you were looking at him like that? His stomach twisted in a way he wasn't familiar with.    "I promise, I'll stay by your side as long as you want me there."    "Hello, we were hoping to rent out four rooms if we could," Fjord spoke to the woman behind the bar, placing two gold on the counter.    "Why of course you can darlin'. Here are the keys and they are up to the right, past the stairs and to the left."    "Do you also have a bath here?" Jester popped her head to the side of Fjord, pink eyes staring up at the woman.    "Of course. We can draw up the water and fill it now if you would like. It would be ready within the hour. Now, that would be one more silver."    Molly reached forward and placed the money next to Fjord's, smiling at the woman, "Here you go. Thank you for your work."    "We will come and get you when the bath is ready. Is that all?" -*-    You slowly dipped your feet in the warm water, enjoying how it heated up your body. The heat would shiver up your spine as your body was finally enveloped by the water. It wasn't hot enough to actually burn you but it was just at the point of making your skin feel almost numb. The water was deep enough to cover your chest, ending just below your collar bone. Your hair was down and rested outside of the bath, keeping the tangled knots from getting wet.    "Alright," Jester said as she sat down in the stool behind you," I'm gonna brush your hair since I can make sure to get all the knots and yucky bits out. Just tell me if I end up hurting you."    With a gentle hand, Hester parted your dirty hair as well as she could with how matted it was. She then took one part and used her comb to brush out the dirt, using her hand to pick out the larger obstacles. At times, she had to really tug to get through a bit. It hurt but you told her she didn't need to keep apologizing. The pain was there but it needed to happen. Even without getting your hair wet, the water was becoming slightly dirty due to your body as you scrubbed your down as much as you could with the tiefling brushing your hair.    "Do you remember your family at all? We could try taking you to them if you wanted."    "I actually don't remember anything from before. I feel like I should miss them but I just can't miss what I don't remember, you know?"    You stared at the water, dirt swirling like vines. Your hand gently followed it, fingers just barely touching the water. It tickled as you moved the water, eventually making tiny waves that dispersed back into the water. Should you feel bad because you didn't miss the family you had taken from you? Where were they even located? Did you have any siblings? You had all those questions with no way of getting the answers. They didn't even seem all that important to you. All you wanted to do was to be able to live a life without being a servant to someone.    "No, I guess not. We can be your family now. Just call me, Big Sister Jester! If you want, my mom can totally be your mom as well. She is called the Ruby of the Sea, but I'm sure you haven't heard of her since you were underground. She is like the most beautiful tiefling. People go to her and she entertains them. She makes a lot of money."    "But the group is really nice too! I'm sure you'll like them. Beau has a big wall around herself and has a hard time expressing her feelings unless you are Yasha. Nott is totally crazy but awesome. When you need to do something that may not be legal, she is the one to go to. She is like Caleb's mom, though he will never admit it. He is weird but he knows a lot."    "Does he know a lot about magic?" Your eyes glanced up, trying to see the girl behind you but only seeing the hint of her horns.    "Oh yeah! He knows a lot about a lot of things but he is really interested in magic stuff. I'm sure that he will be able to help you with all your magic bubbling inside of you. I can't really help but that, but I can help you with other stuff. Stuff like making you look so pretty." Jester picked up the mug she had gotten and used it to wet your hair. She then grabbed the soap, beginning to lather your hair with it.    "And what is Molly like?"    "Oh~" Jester giggled to herself. She had seen the way that Molly had been looking at you. It could be nothing but it seemed obvious that the purple tiefling had some need to protect you. You had seemed very small and scared when they first had seen you. With Jester's creative and romantic mind, she had hoped there was more. Perhaps she would play a little matchmaker if it seemed like either of you were interested in each other. Oh, who was she kidding, she would do that as long as she thought it would be cute.    "Well, Molly is very charming. He is very good in a fight and he is a very good person, even if he doesn't think he is." Jester's fingers scrubbed against your scalp, her nails giving just enough pressure to make it relaxing. Your eyes lazily shut as you enjoyed the moment. This felt like such a strange pleasure for you, as it was something you didn't know about. You could drift off to sleep here with how comfortable it all was.    "He seemed nice," You spoke as Jester poured water over your head once again. The water was beginning to cool but it still wasn't terrible. You were able to run your fingers through your hair now, all the knots and debris having been washed out of it. The color was darker due to how wet it was but it looked shiny when you looked at a piece.    Once you finish washing and drying, Jester allowed you to use one of her dresses and made up your hair. Looking in the mirror in the room that you were sharing with Beau and Jester, you felt like you were going to cry. You never thought you could look so pretty in your life. The dress was blue with a white top similar to a peasant top but a bit fancier. Your hair was in braids in sections while the rest rested down on your back. You truly looked like a princess.    "Oh, Jester. Thank you so much! I look so pretty!" You clapped your hands and spun to face the blue tiefling. There was such a large grin on your face. With all the dirt gone, your face seemed more lively and less sickly. The color was back on your cheeks, though your body was still a bit underfed, showing that you had been through some bad stuff. Jester had placed some safety pins around the waist to keep the dress from sliding down. Hopefully, with a good couple of meals, you would be on your way to beginning to have a stable weight. You were just happy to be alive, no matter how skinny or dirty you were.    "No need to thank me. You look so pretty under all that gunk and gross stuff. Now, let's go downstairs. The others just went down to get us a table for dinner," Jester spoke as she led you out of the room and down to the first floor. There was more chatter now and music from the bard that had arrived. A laugh broke through the chatter before being swallowed back up again. Dinner was now being served but there was now the people who simply wanted a drink or two. The Might Nein grabbed a table in the middle, surrounded by other tables. Some were filled with patrons and others were eating as well.    Everyone was seated with a barmaid setting down the plates with the same food from earlier. Caleb and Nott were next to each other, a free seat by Nott's side. The other free seat was next to Mollymauk on the edge, where someone wouldn't be to the left of you. It seemed as though they were talking about something but the conversation died out when they noticed the two of you coming down. Jester's hand rested on your back when you froze up at all the pair of eyes on you. You still weren't used to people looking at you. The girl gently pushed you forward to keep you moving toward the group.    "(Y/N), come sit by me." Molly smiled in your direction, red eyes brightening as he saw you. It was hard for you to tell where he was specifically was looking at his eyes didn't have any pupils. It would be scary if he wasn't always smiling or saying something funny. You had been surrounded by evil for such a long time that it was easy for you to tell that he was far from what his appearance may come off as. You knew there was a good soul held inside that body.    Whether you were going to sit next to Molly or not, Jester made the choice for you as she sat down next to Nott. As soon as the food was placed in front of you all, Nott began to dig in. The others began to eat a bit more slowly, making sure not to make a mess like the goblin. You yourself were a bit more timid, studying the food before you began to eat. It didn't matter what you were eating, you were merely curious about what was on your plate. It was spiced very well and everything was very warm.    "You look really nice," Molly's comment caused butterflies to go to your stomach, though you weren't sure why. Such a simple comment shouldn't make you feel this way. Perhaps it had something to do with the food, you had never felt like this before. You had no clue what this feeling as if it continued perhaps you would ask one of the girls. This could just be something normal that you weren't sure about because of being underground.    "Thank you. Jester is letting me war some of her stuff since I really don't have anything of my own."    "I'm sure that's no problem for her, she has so much money from her mom." Beau laughed, taking a swig from her mug.    "Well, you know, I'm super generous. She needs some stuff and if I'm gonna be her older sister, I have to help her with that stuff." Jester smiled at you and for the first time, you smiled back. With the time upstairs, you were becoming to form something of a friendship with the blue tiefling. She had been able to form a bond with you, proving that you had nothing to fear with her. You were grateful for all of them but they still made you a bit nervous. You wouldn't be comfortable with really any of them alone.    "You don't even know if she is younger than you or if she wants you to be her sister." Nott chuckled, shaking her head. In mere minutes, she had cleared her entire plate and was eating Fjord's leftovers. She ate like she wasn't sure where her next meal would be coming from. You could relate to that and wondered if perhaps the two of you were more alike than you thought.    "You act like Caleb's mom and you are younger than him! You can't go and judge me like that when you are totally like his mom!"    "Nott isn't my mom." Caleb shook his head.    "She does act like it though." Molly pipped in.    "That just means she cares. Everyone should have someone like that." You spoke up, hoping that you weren't taking it too seriously. You knew you didn't understand the difference between when something truly meant something to be taken seriously or if it was a joke. Tone and inflection was something that didn't really make that much sense to you.    "Thank you, (Y/N)."    It wasn't long until everyone had finished up their dinner and the plates were collected once again. Caleb pulled out one of his spellbooks to study once again. You hadn't really seen him without a book in his hands. Did he do anything to relax? Perhaps this was relaxing to him. You had a hard time enough when it came to reading, which meant studying was even harder. This was why you thought the activity couldn't be relaxing. While he read, Beau was flirting with one of the girls and Nott was off, explaining how she had seen something that she wanted to add to her collection. This left you with Molly, Fjord, and Jester at the table, though Caleb was there but he was too busy to give any of your attention.    "We should go get you a drink and celebrate!" Jester quickly stood up, giving you no time to answer before she was dragging you to the bar. You were able to hear Fjord sigh, obviously used to this side of the girl. She never meant any harm with her actions but she was very hyperactive. You had never seen someone act as Jester did. She did what she wanted and didn't seem to have any fear in her bones. She wore her confidence like a crown.    She had you sit down on one of the barstools and ordered two large ales. You had ale before as it was safer than water, but you never took more than a few sips. Apparently, it often was used during celebrations and to have a good time, to loosen up emotions and have fun. If Jester was saying you sh0ould drink it, then you would trust her this time, hoping it would be alright. It didn't take long until the drinks were brought to you in the biggest cups you had ever seen.    "Cheers to joining the Mighty Nein!" Jester grinned as she lifted her drink. It was obvious she had done this before with the ease that she lifted it up. You only rose yours and inch or two from the table due to your fear of spilling it everywhere. Once the mugs clinked against each other, the two of you drank. Jester chugged her drink, getting it half down before she needed to take a breath. On the other hand, you only have gotten about one fourth down before you wouldn't drink anymore. It wasn't a terrible taste, just like water with a bad aftertaste.    "I'm gonna totally be like the best sister ever!" Jester giggled, a hand hitting against your back before leaning back in her chair. It was hard for you to tell if she was having a reaction because of the drink or if she was just being herself. She was so strange to you, very outgoing when she had no alcohol in her system. You had no clue what she would be like when she did have some. You drank a bit slower when it came to your ale, casually drinking and chatting with her.    "Did you ever think you would get out of there?" She asked, her voice quicker than it was moments before. How had her mind shifted so quickly? Just seconds ago she was talking about the future happily before changing to speak of the past in hushed tones.    "I don't know. I had waited in the beginning, hoping that I would be saved by someone. I thought that it wasn't far and that this couldn't be happening to me, but as time passed, I began to lose hope. It began to become obvious that no one would come for me. I still had moments at night, or well, when I slept, where I would think it had to be possible to leave. I decided that it might not be possible for someone to save me and that I would have to get myself out. If no one was going to save me, then I had to save myself. I wanted more for my life than being used as a personal power booster."    "That is what is going to make you a great hero and adventurer with us. When we do stuff, one of the most important things is not just hoping that someone is else is going to do it."    "I just don't know how to fight Jester, I'm weak."    "Don't go and saw that now. I don't like liars. I saw you out there on the roads, you killed like all of those guys in one attack. That is not what I would call a weak person. Sure, you might not know how to control it but that can be dealt with. Caleb is so smart, if anyone can teach you to have to control your magic, it is going to be him. Your power is like so cool!"    "I just don't want to hurt someone I care about. It just happens when my emotions are so strong."    "Come on, another drink for us! No sad topics tonight, we are celebrating!" Hester shouted, startling you for a moment due to the quick change of her volume. You looked down at your cup to see it was empty just like Jester's. You hadn't even remembered drinking it but you must have been between talking. It was obvious due to the light warmness in your stomach and calmness in your head that you had drunk it. Even though you were talking about your past, it wasn't bothering you at all. It may have only been two days ago but it seemed so long ago in present your state of mind.    The mugs were filled again by the barkeep, collecting the money from Jester. She took no time in emptying her cup once again, cheeks turning a deeper blue. You decided to take more time in drinking yours as you could feel the alcohol beginning to set in. How much were you supposed to drink? You didn't want to drink too much but you didn't know what was enough. Jester obviously had enough for herself as she began to ramble about something called Tusked Love before getting distracted by the bard. She was gone before you knew it, leaving you alone at the bar with a fuzzy mind.    You placed your elbow against the bar, chin in your palm as you looked around the tavern. It was now filled with drunks and dancers. Laughter and chatter filled the air, everyone was relaxed and happy. Yet, here you were at the bar, left with your thoughts in a difficult place. Perhaps it was the beer or now that you were alone, the fear began to wash over you. Not a fear of being in danger but a fear of the unknown. From here, you weren't sure what was to come. There was so much that you didn't know or understand.    "Care for a chat?" A half-elf man spoke up, sitting down in the chair that Jester had been in just a few moments ago. The main was rather attractive with long silver hair. He definitely looked like he took after more in his elven heritage. The only way you could see any human in him was the small point of his ears, unlike your ears which were rather large and had a ended with a sharp point. He had a kind smile on his face and seemed to hold no ill will in his interaction. You merely were judging people based on what you knew from before, of how the drow acted as that was evil to you.    "I don't mind."    "What is someone as pretty as yourself doing up here all alone?" He leaned in your direction, his elbow resting on the bar just like yourself, mirroring your own action. His eyes seemed to scan every part of you as he spoke, his grin that of a rat. Slowly, his hand began to rest on your own that was resting again the bar table. A spark shot through you as soon as he made contact. Your body tensed, unsure of the situation you were in. Oh, how you wished Jester hadn't run off, you needed her help in understanding what was normal or not.    Why did she have to leave you? She said she would help...Your mind was spinning and you couldn't think straight. What did the man want again? You had forgotten what he had said moments before.    "My friend was here but I don't know where she went." You glanced around but the tavern was so crowded that you couldn't even see the blue tiefling. The lights seemed to be too fuzzy and the noises were getting muffled. The thought of how your magic may react to liqueur never came across your mind even as the visual of the world began to change. The edges of your vision were filled with different colors, just faerie lights. Yet, as you turned your head, the lights continued to stay in just the edge of your vision. Due to your magic, alcohol had a very strong effect on you. It was best for you not to drink, especially if you were left alone. Yet, that information was far from your mind as you hadn't learned it yet.    "I could be your friend for the night." It felt numb where his hand was as it slowly slid up, moving up your forearm. As he touched you, it felt as though he was freezing your body. You blinked, trying to fight through the fog in your brain to understand what was going on. Black waves came from the man's body, sending shivers down your spine. Whatever he wanted, it couldn't be good. You didn't like that he was touching you.    "What?"    Another hand rested on you, though this one on your lower back. Unlike the hand on your arm, this hand caused warm to spread over your skin. You knew this had something to do with your magic, like a warning system built in when your mind was foggy. A tail wrapped around your waist and rested on your thigh, expelling the hallucinated ice that was creeping up your body. As you glanced down, you were greeted by the color purple. You may be confused but just that color brought a feeling a safety over you.    "You know, I think she already has enough company for the night. Why don't you go off and find someone else to spend time with?" Molly grinned down at the man, making sure the light was enough to glint off his sharp teeth. He knew his appearance was frightening to some and he had learned to use this to his advantage. Red eyes narrowed, burning like the fire of the elemental plane. Molly lived long enough to know when someone was unwanted and while he wouldn't admit it, he had been watching you since you left his side. It simply was because you were a party member, right?    Yet, he couldn't ignore how his nails gently grazed against your back and how he pressed you against his side as he glared daggers at the man in front of you two.    The half-elf quickly moved his hand away from you, his eyes shifting from you to the devil that was now beside you. Blinking, you tried and failed to focus your gaze again. Why had the man left? Nothing seemed to be making sense to you. The only thing you knew for certain was the warmth that came from the man next to you. Your head flopped to the side to rest against the hard chest, eyes fluttering up to look Molly in the face. Had he always been that handsome?    "Darling, how much did you and Jester drink?"    "Two ales that were the size of your head..." Why did your voice sound so quiet?    "Oh, and you had never really drunk before. I'll have to talk to her about that later. For now, we should get you up to your room, how does that sound?" Molly's hands moved to rest just above your hips and began to help you stand. Your legs wobbled and you slumped against his side once again. As his hands helped to hold you up, his tail wrapped around to press against your back to help you keep your balance. Slowly, he began to lead you forward and up the stairs. In the muffle of voices downstairs, you could hear Jester's voice shouting for Fjord. None of that mattered as your body was brought closer and closer to a bed. The alcohol was beginning to make you feel very tired.    As the door shut, the two of you were left alone in the room. Beau and Jester must still be downstairs and would come up later. You flopped down on the bed, legs outstretched off the side while your head buried in the rather hard pillows. Molly grabbed your boots and took them off, placing them next to the bed. A quiet groan came from your mouth, a whimper following it as it finished. You rolled on your back, staring up at the ceiling, eyes fogging over as your thoughts began to run wild again.    Molly made sure to be a gentleman when he helped you undress and got you into the nightgown to sleep in. Even though in your sober state you would be nervous about this, your drunken self didn't care in the slightest. You would make sure not to drink this much again, which wasn't even when you had the hangover.    "Molly, please don't leave." You whimpered as he moved toward the door, "Don't leave me here alone. Come lay down with me please."    The tiefling bit his lip in thought as he walked over. He ended up laying down on top of the covers while you were under them. He wanted to give you some privacy so you wouldn't have to worry when you were remembering this in the morning. He knew this must be confusing and frightening to experience when you didn't understand how drinking affected people. He moved his arm to rest under your head, fingers gently running through your hair. He could see the tears beginning to form in your eyes and your bottom lip beginning to quiver. He worried, wondering if he had done something wrong when your quivering voice spoke up.    "I'm so scared."    "Of what? No one is going to hurt you here, we will make sure of that."    "No, I just don't understand what is going on with me and what I should do. My life before was to be used and it isn't like that anymore. I know it is better, but I'm still scared. I don't know who I am or what to do. I just want my brain to feel like it understands things again. At least down below it was easy to know what was going on and what I was supposed to do."    "(Y/N), can I tell you something?" Molly asked, slowly sitting up to rest on his free arm so he could look you in the eyes, "Two years ago, I woke up in the ground with not a single memory in my brain. I had no clue who I was or how this world worked at all. My life was entirely a blank slate. I know that fear that you are feeling right now because I've felt it myself."    "How did you make it go away?"    Molly's hand that rested in your hair descended so his thumb could lightly swipe against your cheek to get rid of a tear that had escaped from your eyes. His red eyes were filled with empathy and sadness as he stared down at your shaking body. He truly did understand more than others because he had been through it himself. He never thought he would be on the other side of his coin.    "I had friends and people who cared about me. They were there to help me and teach me everything that I needed to know. That was how I joined the circus, a job helped keep my mind busy and kept me from moments like this from happening. I promise that it will get better with time as you learn. But, remember that you have all of us to help you as well. You are not alone. We may have just met but none of us are planning on going anywhere. Caleb will be there to help you with your magic and Jester will be there to help you deal with emotions. Plus, I'm going to be right by your side with my sly grin, right?"    Molly felt successful when a small smile spread across your face as you sniffled. You rubbed your eyes, taking a few deep breathes to calm yourself down. The man traced designs on your shoulder as you calmed yourself down.    "Come now, close those eyes and get some sleep. I'll stay right here until you do and even after, my room is just one to the right next to yours." He whispered, allowing you to listen to his calm voice. He continued to trace patterns on your skin, your body pressed against his side like he would disappear if you didn't. His voice deepened as he quietly hummed out what seemed like some kind of comforting tune. As you fell asleep, you could feel the comforting rumble of his chest, sending you off into the darkness of your mind.

[xxdearlybeloved]

The Burgess

A John x Reader Story, set in 1960′s New York City

Summary: Based on an idea from @the-blue-tiefling, John falls in love with a girl in America who doesn’t know what a Shelby is. Let’s see how he figures this one out...

Warnings: Violence (including against reader), Smut, Language, miscommunication, difficult goodbyes, smelly men, and lots of drinking

A/N: This fic is 5300 words. I mention the song I’d Rather Go Blind by Etta James. Forgive any typos. Please for the love of John let me know what you think!!!!!

“I love you,” John said, his voice groggy and heavy as you placed the water next to the bed.

“You’re only saying that because I’m giving you water,” you laughed, moving before he could grab you.

“Hey! C’mere,” his playful eyes looked at you and you walked towards him, sitting on the bed and stroking his hair as he lay back. “I really do.”

“What?” You were confused, having gotten lost in your own thoughts. Being with John was so easy.

“Love you.” His face was unusually serious as he took your hand and kissed it before softly pulling you to lay next to him. You wrapped your arms around him, feeling secure and free at the same time.

A few months earlier

You’d had your eyes on him since he walked in. Your curls were tied up, fully exposing your cheery smile and your bright eyes. There weren’t many bars that let you work these hours, but once the owner saw how great you were with the customers – well, he wasn’t a fool.

You wiped down a section that had just cleared before going to refill the drink for a  man at the other end of the bar. You knew he was watching you – his green eyes burning into your back in a way that made you self-conscious of every movement. You knew this couldn’t go on.

Having moved to the city only a few weeks ago, you were still getting used to the attention. Back home, you knew everyone and everyone knew you. It was always the same old, same old. The same guys who had flirted with you and every other girl they could were the only thing you had known, and now you were introduced to people who knew nothing about you. It had been intriguing and exciting, but distracting all the same.

You made the man who had caught your eye his drink, blushing slightly when his hand rested on yours for a second too long, before you withdrew and slammed your hands on the bar. You had to do something or you were going to go crazy.

“Anyone want a drink?” you asked loudly to the people closest to the bar.

You poured the shots, handing one to everyone who asked before you downed one yourself – closing your eyes as the drink burned your throat. Then you heard it, the chords in the air – and you couldn’t stop yourself. Your hands were in the air and your hips were swaying. You began to lip sync to your love, Etta James.

“I would rather go blind boy. Than to see you walk away from me”. And what serenade would be complete without the choreography? You hopped onto the bar to the cheers of the patrons, swinging your legs over as you sang to them. Your hands brushing the occasional cheek as you threw a flirty glance in their direction.

As if it was pre-planned, you ended the song back on the bar, the people who had become your family clapping and cheering you on. You laughed as you hopped off, going to refill drinks and cash people out. The night was still young.

“Hey, love,” you heard a voice call in an accent that was not from the city. Not even from the country, you would bet.

“What can I do for you?” You walked over to the man, his boyish face and blue eyes making you glad you ventured out into the world.

“Whatever you like,” he said full of confidence, eyeing you in a way that told you he liked what he saw. Another newbie, you thought to yourself as you set a glass in front of him. He seemed like the whiskey type.

“Where you from, hun?” you asked as you poured his drink, smiling as you pushed it his way.

“Birmingham.”

“Alabama?” you asked, unsure. You were from the south and you had never heard anyone say it like that.

“No, love. England.” You should have known. He didn’t know any better.

“Oh, well welcome to the States” you winked, going to take care of another customer.

John couldn’t take his eyes off of you. He didn’t even want to drink. He had heard the music while he was exploring the town with Tommy and Arthur. They were exploring the city after checking out the bar they had just taken as a debt payment from some poor bloke who wagered more than he could lose. The Shelby’s had used the acquisition as an excuse to visit the states. They would stay until they had set up the business, legitimate and otherwise.

They were looking for a fun night out, taking in the sounds and sights of the biggest city in the world. John heard the music coming from inside as some people opened the door and he followed them in, surprised by the crowd but immediately taken by you. Your smile was blinding and your eyes were shining as you held him under a trance, making him wish he was the only man in the room.

He was surprised to find you behind the bar, working and flowing so easily that he knew the only way to get your attention was to order a drink. He was surprised by how quickly you walked away, being used to girls batting their lashes and giggling when he called out to him. But with you, he barely made an impression. You were already shooting the same smile to another man at the bar.

He continued to watch as you worked, genuinely impressed by how good naturedly you handled the customers seeming to all demand your attention at the same time. But everyone seemed willing to wait their turn and he knew why. When you finally got to them, you made them feel like they were the only person in the room.

He didn’t know what he was doing, nodding every time you asked if he wanted a drink. The time passed and he worked over how to ask you for dinner or to show him around. He panicked when he saw a man come behind the bar and pick you up for a hug. “Get home safe” he said, putting you down as you kissed him on the cheek.

Jimmy was the owner and he took good care of you, including letting you get home at a reasonable time after keeping his customers happy for hours. You grabbed your jacket, waving goodbye to the regulars as you made your way out of the door. You felt someone grab your arm and you turned, finding yourself staring into the eyes of the man from somewhere that wasn’t Alabama.

You didn’t say anything as you gently tugged your arm away, hoping he would get the message and not follow you out of the door. It didn’t happen often, but usually they checked themselves. Guys with a few drinks in them could be a bit bold.

“Hey love, can we talk?” His voice was almost as charming as his face, but you didn’t have time to be a one night stand or a personal tour guide.

“Sorry, I don’t know you,” you started to walk away.

“But wait -”

“The lady said she doesn’t know you, man”. It was Jimmy. He always had your back. Jimmy was an ex boxer who made his money training other boxers and he knew how to use his presence to be intimidating. You took it as your cue to leave, watching the defeated look cross the man’s face. He’d find someone to fawn over that adorable accent.

You learned a long time ago that big cities could be small. People may say they want change, but you knew there was comfort in the routine. Your surroundings became your home, the people like projections from a half remembered dream. So you weren’t surprised when you saw not-from-Alabama again.

You averted your eyes, saying a silent prayer that he would let you be. You felt his eyes on you like fingers brushing on your back and you couldn’t help but turn. His eyes pulled you but you let your feet carry you away before you said something you would regret.

He would come to the bar sometimes, not saying much when you asked him what he was drinking, and you were grateful. Maybe even slightly disappointed. As you were wrapping up a shift one night, Jimmy asked to talk. You were nervous, watching him swing a towel in his hands before eventually wrapping it around his shoulders. “Come on Jimmy, spit it out. Are you letting me go?”

“Not exactly.” Your face must have showed what you were thinking, because Jimmy moved to place a hand on your shoulder. “You’ve been… requested.”

“What?”

“Remember the fancy spot downtown… The Clifton?” You nodded. “They got some new owners, some foreigners with money who got the place from some foreigners with money. Long story short – they want you to work for them.”

That made absolutely no sense. “I don’t understand.” He told you the specifics of the offer and it was more money than you made in a month working for Jimmy and it didn’t even include tips. You were blown away. “Why would they want me?”

“You’re kidding right? You saw what you did to this place?” You smiled, thinking about the past few months you’ve spent in these walls. And the offer was unreal. You would finally be able to move to a better place. Buy a new dress. Maybe even take yourself to dinner. “They want to start you off at one night per week, see how you’ll do. But I know you’ll be great.”

You couldn’t help but hug him from the excitement. “Thanks for everything, Jimmy.” You felt yourself getting choked up. This man took a bet on you when a lot of people wouldn’t. You would never be able to repay him, and you knew it.

“Don’t mention it”.

---

The place was nicer than any establishment you had been in. The marble pillars and the plush chairs screaming luxury as you made your way to the bar. Behind it stood a man smoking a cigarette, the light reflecting off the rings that covered his hand. He looked you up and down, a soft smile playing on his face.

“Can I help you, love?” his British accent took you by surprise. The city wasn’t that small.

“I… was requested? To work the bar tonight.”

“Is that right?” he said. “Show me what you can do, then.”

You smiled, taking off your jacket and placing it on the stool before lifting yourself onto the bar. The place may be nicer than you were used to, but a bar was still a bar. You swung your legs over, bringing yourself close enough to the man to smell his cologne. As you slid off, you grabbed a glass – reaching for one of your favorite whiskeys.

“You look like a guy who can enjoy a glass of brown at the end of a long day,” you said, watching him as you topped off his glass and put the bottle back on the shelf.

“Do I?” he said, picking up the glass and bringing it to his lips.

You nodded as you looked around, taking in all of the liquors they were able to procure. “This is a fascinating establishment you have”.

“Only the best for the best, love”

“Is that right?” You said, mocking his accent as he smiled at you. You turned your attention to the footsteps approaching.

“Who’ve we got here, Arthur?”

“A lady who just got herself a job as a bartender at The Burgess,” he said, smiling at you as he took another sip.

The man nodded towards the bar, pointing to Arthur’s drink indicating he wanted one as well as he took you in. “Are you the girl John sent?”

“John?” You asked, pouring his drink. “I was told you had an opening for the night. Don’t know who asked – Jimmy just said the owners?” You placed his drink on the bar top, trying to avoid those blue eyes that felt like they were piercing your soul.

He didn’t say anything as he took a sip, making you wonder if he had heard you at all.

“You hear that Tom? John thinks he runs the place.”

“He said she was special,” Tommy said, either to you or Arthur - you couldn’t tell.  You take both their empty glasses, moving to refill them. “No need love. Come on Arthur.” He hops the bar much less gracefully than you did, following Tommy out of the door.

“So do I still have the job?” you called.

“We’ll see you tonight”

--

“How’d someone like you get to an establishment like this?”

“I walked” you said with your sweetest smile as you went to help another customer. This man had been obnoxious the entire night and you couldn’t wait for him to leave. These customers were not as fun as the one at Jimmy’s and you couldn’t wait for your shift to be over.

“Hey sweetheart, I’m not done talking to you!” The man shouted and you tried to ignore him as you poured another drink. There goes a tip. You did your best to ignore him as you tried to salvage the other customers you had, laughing as they asked you if you dealt with jerks like him often.

You heard the glass shatter behind you and you turned, taking in the man’s red face. You didn’t care if it was from anger or from being overserved, but you were pissed.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” You shouted, avoiding the glass as you stepped closer to him. You were beyond over it. Money be damned.  

“When I ask for a drink, I expect a fucking drink” The man was shouting right back at you.

You pointed towards the door, completely over this idiot making your first shift a nightmare. “Get your fat ass out of my bar!”

You should have been prepared for the man to try to grab you, but you were not prepared for how fast he moved, hopping the bar and grabbing your neck before you realized what was happening. The screams and yells were just a blur as he pushed you down, the glass shards stabbing into your back as you tried to gasp for air.

Your vision was growing blurry as you tried to get the man off of you, his body odor stronger than the alcohol that covered the floor. You lay there, water leaking from your eyes either from strain or shock.

And then it was over. The air rushed back into your lungs as you coughed, holding your throat and trying to sit up.  Arthur had pulled the man off of you, and was hitting him with what looked like a broken bottle. You heard yelling and running as you tried to put as much distance between you and the man as possible.

“I’ve got you” you heard a familiar voice say in your ear as he helped you up. You realized it was the man from the bar, and you figured he must be John. The hostess helped you get the glass out of your back and you ignored her insistence that you go to the hospital. That was the last place you wanted to be.

You were grateful the place was empty when you came from the back, going to the coat check room to grab your jacket. As you came out, you saw the man from the bar waiting, his coat in his arms and a cigarette at his lips. He put it out as you approached, moving to put on his jacket. “Can I walk you home, love?”

You just nodded, afraid to speak. Your throat was still sore and when you closed your eyes you saw the man jumping at you. The walk was silent, letting you finally put air into your lungs. You were grateful for John’s company, his presence making you feel safe. He didn’t pressure you and stayed away just enough to let you have your space.

You made it to your door, pausing for a moment as you looked at him, trying to find the words to thank him for escorting you.

“Can I do anything?” he asked, his hand behind his neck. He hated that this was how your first night went, and felt guilty for the whole thing. This was not how he wanted it to go.

“I’m okay,” you said, clearing your throat as you fiddled with your keys. John watched you, not sure what to do but wishing he could do something.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked as you both stood in front of your door. Your heart had been slowly making it’s way up your chest and on your next exhale the tears started to flow. You found yourself sobbing into his arms, the odor from the man who attacked you still filling your nose. You tried to mask it with John’s scent as you clung to him, letting your tears dampen his jacket.

His arms were strong and secure around you, and you let yourself fall into them. He was your anchor as you tried to steady yourself. You don’t know how much time passed as your breathing calmed and the tears slowed. Feeling light headed, you sighed as you let yourself step away.

He watched you, wanting to take you inside to make sure you were okay. He also didn’t want to be unwelcome, so he let you go up the stairs, waiting until you were safely inside. You turned and tried again to say thank you, but his eyes told you that you didn’t have to say anything. You nodded and went inside.

----

He waited for you every night that you worked at The Burgess. You would wipe down the bar as he smoked a cigarette by the door, waiting for you to finish. Sometimes he would roll up his shirt sleeves, helping the crew put the chairs on the tables as they started to polish the floor. You would grab your jacked or he would have it waiting for you, and you would begin the familiar journey to your house.

There was something about the stillness of the nights. The normally bustling streets would be your nightly stage as you transformed into a different girl. The walks became longer as you started to walk slower, your aching feet not enough to keep you from taking in the cool night air.

You asked the questions first, learning that the Shelby’s were a pretty wealthy self-made family. The parties John described with a faraway look in his eyes sounded like festivities in a F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. He surprised you when he told you he had read one of the books you mentioned. Your insights into the characters and the way your face lit up when you talked about them made him want to do anything to keep that smile on your face.

“So how did you end up working as a bar keep?” Usually that question was condescending, but John seemed genuinely interested.

“I don’t know, I guess… I was doing it for easy money at first. You know, work a few years, save enough to go to trade school and get a real job.” You hadn’t thought about it for a long time, you realized. It wasn’t all true. You’d had your life planned, and you were checking off the boxes when you just felt.. wrong. A trip to New York turned into a job, turned into your life. And you weren’t sure where it was going.

“What would you want to do?”

Usually, you had your spiel. You knew the plan. But with John, it didn’t feel right. So you told the truth. “I don’t know.”

You expected a reaction, more questions or ideas. When you looked to John, he just shrugged and said “Who does?”

---

You looked over the bar to see John sitting at a table and you found yourself smiling at him. The dim lighting and the glow from the lamp made him look like the angel he was. He caught your eye and smiled back, causing you to quickly look away. He was just John, you told yourself.

Going back to work, you made a few more drinks, thinking about what would happen if you invited John in tonight. What would he think you wanted? What did you want? You imagined him smiling at you, close enough to touch. You glanced at him again, hoping to catch his eye. Instead, your smile fell as you saw a girl sat on his lap, her fingers running through his hair as his lay on the small of her back.

“You okay hun?” one of the waitresses asked, brining a tray of empty glasses to you. You nodded, faking a smile as you took them from her, turning your back as you dumped the glasses in the water and tried not to let the tears spill over. Why did you even care? He was one of the owners, so it shouldn't have surprised you.

You were only a little caught off guard to see him waiting for you, thinking that he would have gone home with the little darling he was holding in his arms. The walk home was a bit more awkward than usual, your easy banter slowed by your staccato responses.

When you reached your door, there was not even a thought of asking him in. You couldn’t if you wanted to. John didn’t know what had changed between you, but he was genuinely confused. He thought it might have something to do with the girl from earlier, but you flirted with guys all the time. Either way, he didn’t want to pry.

It wasn’t until you came in for your next shift, saying hello to Tommy and Arthur as you completely ignored him that he knew something was wrong.

“Piss off the old lady, did we John boy?” Arthur teased, clapping his shoulder as he went to the bar.

John had no idea what was going on. He thought you were finally starting to like him, and he didn’t know what to do to fix something he didn’t know he had broken. He got up and went over to the bar, watching you get ready for the place to open.

“Can we talk?” you head him ask. You turned, seeing him agitated which you had never witnessed before. You nodded, going around the bar to the back and hearing him follow you. The door had barely closed before he spoke. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” you responded, keeping your face as neutral as possible. “Is something changing with the shift?”

“Cut the shit, why did you just ignore me?”

You did not expect a direct confrontation, figuring he wouldn’t even care if you acknowledged him. “I didn’t mean to offend you, John”

“Did I do something?”

“No.” This was incredibly awkward and you wanted to be anywhere but that room. You moved to leave.

John closed the door, making you turn around angrily. “I said there was nothing -” John had closed his lips to yours, cutting off your words. You pulled away in shock.

John’s heart raced as he waited for you to say something, wondering if he had completely destroyed any chance he had with you.

“You think just because you own the bar you can kiss me?” you asked, a smile playing at your face. He nodded before leaning in to kiss you again, more slowly this time. You let him.

--

You found yourself falling in love with him. It was embarrassing and easy and awkward and perfect. He was your favorite part of the day, slowly becoming your best friend. His kisses were making you want more, and you knew you weren’t alone.

You felt like a little girl sneaking him inside your place, holding his hand as you went up the stairs. Your neighbors weren’t exactly the quietest people on the planet, but that didn’t stop you from motioning for him to keep it down. As you turned on your light, you felt a little embarrassed – your humble abode no where near as nice as The Burgess.

You turned to see his reaction and found his eyes full on you, his thoughts apparent in a way that sent your heart racing. “Make yourself at home,” you said, taking off your jacket and moving further inside. John closed the door and took off his jacket, placing it on the small table as he followed you to your room.

“Can I get you a drink?” you defaulted to what you knew best. You were excited and nervous, not sure how this would go. He didn’t say anything as he closed the distance between you, gently placing his hand on your chin as he kissed you. You kissed him back, wrapping your arms around him as you moved your lips with his. You didn’t care if he would be gone tomorrow, you wanted him right now.

He placed your hands in his while he walked backwards to the bed and you followed. As he fell backwards you laughed as you went with him, feeling lighter than you had in awhile as you looked into his smiling eyes. You kissed him again, wrapping your leg around him and moaning as his hands pulled at your hair.

His mouth went to your neck and you clung to him, wanting to have him inside you. He brought his lips back to yours and you went to undo his shirt, both of you frantically undressing each other as your kisses grew needier. John’s hands explored your body, his light touches making you shiver as you explored his as well.

John climbed over you, wrapping your leg around his waist to open you wider for him. “Are you sure about this?” His head was teasing your entrance and you moved your hips to take him. You nodded and he kissed you again as he slid into you. You clenched around him, the intrusion making you slightly panic and he slowed, whispering for you to relax. You did, trusting John as he sheathed himself inside you, letting out a moan that made you wetter still.

He pulled out, making you whine before driving home again, the rhythm making you writhe beneath him to chase your own pleasure. Your pants filled the air as John’s body connected with yours. His fingers interlaced with yours as your tongue traced his ear. You moaned his name, making him lose his rhythm as he cursed before kissing you again.

You reached down, rubbing yourself as you moved your hips to meet John. “Close?” he panted in your ear and you nodded, moaning as John slammed into you harder before you came, you walls squeezing around him as he followed you. He collapsed on you – both of you catching your breath as you came down.

“Fucking hell,” John said, moving to lay next to you.

You awoke the next morning, John’s arms still around you and you couldn’t help but smile. You stretched slowly, turning to look at him in the light. He was still fast asleep, his boyish features warming your heart as you placed a kiss on his lips. You climbed over him to go to the bathroom before making some coffee and toast.

The noise told you John had woken up, so you set the table, waiting for him to join you. He smiled at you as he ran his hands through his hair.

“How’d you sleep?“ you asked, kissing him back when he pecked your lips before sitting at the table.

“Your snoring’s gonna take some getting used to” he said, smiling as he bit into his toast. Your mouth dropped in shock.

“I do not snore!”

“Yes you do, love. I thought the whole building was coming down”

-----

You walked into the Burgess, saying hello to the brothers and going to kiss John. Something was off.

“Is there a funeral that I missed,” you joked squeezing John’s hand and looking at Tommy and Arthur. They both looked at John and you knew something was wrong.

“We’ll leave you to it,” Tommy said. Arthur didn’t even crack a joke. You and John had been dating for almost a year and everything was finally perfect, or so you thought. You had moved in with him, giving up your old place and still working nights at Jimmy’s every now and again. Tommy and Arthur had become as much a part of your life as John had.

You moved to sit next to John, taking his hand in both of yours. “Babe, what’s going on?”

He leaned forward and sighed before telling you. “We have to go back.”

“What? Go back… to England?” He just nodded. “But… why?”

“We’ve been gone too long. People are beginning to… take advantage of that” John moved both his hands to cover yours, pleading you to understand.

“Why can’t you stay here?” your voice was small, scared. You didn’t know what this meant.

“My family, they need me, love.” You couldn’t stop the tears from falling from your eyes.

“But what about me?”

“Come with us.”

“To England?” you were incredulous. Moving to New York was one thing. You couldn’t imagine being so far away from your family. He nodded, squeezing your hands in his. “John, I can’t – I need to think” you pulled you hands from his, standing up from the table.

“What do you need to think about?”

“I just need time, okay?” You tried to give him a smile you were sure was far from reassuring as you went to get ready for your shift. You were more distracted than usual, mixing up a few drinks and spilling more than usual. England. Part of you was over the moon, the other part was terrified.

As usual, John was waiting for you to walk you home. The home you shared together. He didn’t ask you about England again, both of you walking in silence as you thought about leaving the home you had come to know and love. John reached out to grab your hand and you took it, moving closer to him as you put your head on his shoulder.

Then it hit you. You stopped walking, not letting go of John’s hand. He turned to look at you, his face full of worry. The whole walk, he had been waiting for you to tell him you were going to end it. He couldn’t blame you, he was asking for so much and you had only known him for a year. What right did he have?

“John,” you began, pulling him closer and wrapping your arms around his neck. “You are my home.” You were smiling, but John was still confused and it showed on his face. You didn’t want to take the chance of never seeing that face again.  “I’ll go wherever you go.”

He couldn’t believe his ears, the look of shock turning into one of pure joy before he picked you up and spun you around. That night, while you lay in his arms, your heart racing as you thought about your future together and what you were leaving behind, John asked you that question he had asked you all those nights ago.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” You didn’t know the words to tell him the mix of emotions that were flooding in your mind, so you just moved closer to him. He was still your anchor, and just like before you didn’t have to say a word.

He knew.

[emathevampire]

17, 24, 38, 50 for Eridane and Orinn

thanks for the ask!!! These two are like, polar opposites, so it was interesting to do them together like this.

017. When does your character think that violence is justified or deserved?     Eridañe is Chaotic Evil. So... any time she feels threatened, she has no qualms about lashing out physically with whatever it takes to defend herself. And being unable to communicate easily, as well as afflicted with a plethora of anxieties and paranoias encouraged by the whispers of evil that haunt her, she feels threatened by just about everything. This is partly why Victor is so well equipped to care for her: He’s just short of impossible to kill, understands what she’s going through, and has the patience and mastery over his own chaotic evil urges to help her learn to do better. And she is, slowly but surely, learning better.     Orinn meanwhile is Chaotic Good. He doesn’t necessarily like violence, and he’s not exceptionally good at it either (though he tries his best). If he were to play a video game, he’d pick something open world where he could just explore at his own pace and make friends with the bugs instead of having to smush them. He’s ultimately a very gentle soul. But he doesn’t shy away from it when it comes to protecting others, or defending what he believes in.

024. What do they consider ugly in others physically?     Eridañe... has major dysphoria/dysmorphia, no thanks to the magic mirror of dysphoria given to her by the Lord of Hate (her father), which warps your perception of your self and... yeah has led to lots of issues, because he’s literally the physical manifestation of hatred and wanted her to hate herself. She doesn’t really have much consideration for others at all, much less about their physical appearances, as she has that classic skewed perception problem of “Everyone is amazing except for me specifically.”     Orinn also has the “everyone is so much cooler than me” problem, but it’s more of a self esteem thing than any active hatred. He’s never really had many friends, being the weird nerdy kid growing up (and also being half elf, so he stayed a weird nerdy kid longer than any of the other weird nerdy kids). He grew up in the country that directly borders the Forest of Demons, and during the war that started as a result of Draconic Park, so he has some unfortunate prejudices against tieflings and similar races, as well as Kamatians. So he doesn’t consider horns and tails and other physical signs of fiendish influences, or the deathly pale skin and creepy dead eyes of his elven cousins, particularly attractive. He’s not really the judgemental type though, and even if he was, he’s dealt with enough rude remarks about his ears that he would never voice these opinions (and doesn’t even really consider them HIS opinions).

038. What bad habits do they have?     Eridañe has... so... many... i would be typing here forever. Eating things that aren’t food, refusing to eat real food, self harm, reacting with violence as a first solution, running away and hiding as a second solution, just... generally all the feral, chaotic, bastardous things you would expect from an alley cat that’s doing its best but just does not understand how human beings socialise.     Orinn’s worst habit is that he’s a people-pleaser and a harebrained-scheme-enabler. He doesn’t really know how to make friends, so he just... goes along with their crazy schemes, hoping that this makes him look cool, and that they’ll want to keep in touch after whatever job they hired him for is done. He has the good sense to know things are bad ideas, but also that good-natured chaotic dumbass spirit that makes him REALLY want to do the bad idea anyway. Because hey, supposing it goes well, against all odds, it’ll make for a really good story!

050. How does your character feel about their own mortality?     Eridañe spent her entire life in a prison tower in a layer of the Abyss that, when you die, resurrects you with corrupt energy. So she only... SORT of understands death. She understands that it hurts a lot, and that if it happens too much it’s permanent, and that she’s afraid of it because she expects to get resurrected back in the tower in the Abyss... and she’d be trapped there again, away from all the people who cared enough to rescue her. Dimas (the party’s Drow paladin) assures her that won’t happen, and Victor assures her that even if it DID happen he would not rest until he rescued her again, but she’s still afraid of dying because what if they’re wrong?     Orinn has had enough close (and closer than close) calls with death to know he doesn’t like it and it scares him. When they were in the Abyss, he died in a Dance of Ruin after the party stood their ground against three Vrocks despite his suggestion that they make a tactical retreat... and spent the next month or so trying to recover as the toll that death took on him was severe. The party eventually teamed up with Victor to find potions to cure the afflictions the corruption struck him with, but... he’s never really mentally recovered from the trauma. He doesn’t begrudge the party for their poor life choices. But he’s also a lot more stressed about hanging out with them, considering the rather cavalier way they treat death (if we can fix it, why worry right?) and grievous injury.

[twitchesandstitches]

Alt Fleet Origins

idea i wrote up during my absent spell a couple months back; alluded to a few times and decided it was time to post it:

Consider this: the core group of the Fleet and thus the characters you might consider the central characters (Sierra, Terezi, Rose Quartz, Grimlock and Undyne) are the members of the generation that made the FLeet what it is, but they’re not the FIRST generation of the Fleet

They didn’t found it, but shaped it into what it is now, making them the heroes who defined the Fleet, gave it power and brought them home after ages of suffering and nomadic flight, but there is a lot that predates them

In short, it expands on the culture of the Fleet and makes it about more than just them!

This does require tossing out a lot of my original ideas for the Fleet’s origin and the foundations of the AU (Sierra discovering the Matriatrix and finding the other founding groups during the course of several adventures, building up their collective powers and creating the basics of the Fleet), but heck with it, some of the ideas I’ve had for this are SUPER fun and make a lot of sense within the AU

The actual founding generation goes back much further, perhaps an additional several hundred years prior to the birth of Sierra, who being the least difficult to map to realistic ages, makes a good barometer. The Fleet’s core ideas (it’s codes of honor, the way they handle things, and the basic social concepts) go back to the original founders, who banded together for mutual survival in a hostile multiverse where they were outcasts.

Most of the original groups are still represented here, but their ancestors are the ones who came into the fold first, so to speak.

(Greater detail and worldbuilding below)

I’m thinking there were probably no human members of the group, and came later; possibly humans are a bit of a rarity in this AU, at least in terms of population. Elves, dwarves, tieflings, they’re more common, but bog-standard humans are simply less common than you might assume.

The Homestuck contingent is represented by the troll ancestors: Neophyte Redglare as their leader, the Dolorosa, the Disciple, maybe the Executioner and the Signless. Additionally they had a large number of trolls allied to them, effectively they’re the Beforan versions of the ancestors (though giving them different relative ages for the sake of interesting divergence, like making Porrim a primordial vampire) until Beforus fell in ancient times, and the struggles of survival shaped the Beforus characters of the dancestors into the wiser but harder characters on par with the Alternian ancestors. While likely revolutionaries, these specific trolls were mainly just trying to survive without a homeworld, and being unwilling to take Condy’s ruthless measures to claim one for their own. Redglare would be the original wielder of the Matriatrix here, eventually passing it on to Sierra.

Because the troll kids (Terezi, Vriska, Feferi and the others) come later, presumably this means that you had to have access to all the troll ancestors genetics to get them. This might mean that, for a while, ALL the ancestors were part of the Fleet or had their genetics acquired somehow; this has interesting implications for Mindfang and the Condesce.

The Gems are, quite simply, the Crystal Gems. Possibly the core group (Rose, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst, Bismuth) with additional crystal gems rounding out the population. They were also just trying to survive, and specifically avoid restarting Homeworld, the circumstances of the Crystal Gem Rebellion are way different here, and possibly unrelated to Earth, though it’s also quite possible that Homeworld was outright destroyed prior to those tensions building up into full revolution. The human characters, at the beginning of the Fleet, wouldn’t have been born yet. Lapis is off somewhere else doing her own thing, Peridot possibly hasn’t been born yet (???) and Jasper MIGHT have a servant of Rose before leaving to join the Stingers once they’re formed to amass her own glory, or else had no idea Pink Diamond survived.

The Transformers present an interesting possibility: maybe Grimlock is actually younger here? I like him having participated in the Autobot/Decepticon wars too much to have him been born recently, but if the war was more recent, that might play into things. I’ve implied that the Cybertron Civil War took place many eons ago and shaped history across the multiverse, but it’s possible that this can be fulfilled by the children of Primus carrying out the same narrative cycle repeatedly, with the Autobot uprising dating to, at most, a thousand years ago. This would make the Autobots SIGNIFICANTLY younger than usual, and also let me mess around more and make things even more AU.

An alternative possibility is having Transformers (And other long-lived beings that don’t mature physically) grow up as a response to emotional growth; they are prompted by life experiences to mature and change, but don’t do it in a vacuum. Thus, Grimlock and the other Autobots can be millions of years old but until they go through exceptional circumstances, they don’t change much over time. Leaning towards the former option of them simply being way younger than I normally do it, simply because I VERY RARELY make the Autobots younger than series average and it might be fun to mess around with that.

In any case, the founding Autobots would be a smallish group mainly led by Elita-1, Arcee, several others of note (Ultra Magnus, Jazz, ect.) and of course, Wheeljack and Ratchet, who are Grimlock’s parents. Grimlock himself may have been alive at this time, but he remained taciturn and withdrawn after the things he suffered, and doesn’t become a major player until later. The smallest in overall number, but the largest in terms of power. Most of those would, of course, be fembots.

The Undertale roster is largely unchanged, since they seem kinda long-lived anyway. They probably provide the largest initial population for the Fleet, because of the sheer diversity and monster girl possibilities they provide! Monster Musume characters would also be included in their numbers; specifically the monster moms. Toriel, as queen of the monsters and perhaps led by portents she believes the monster goddess, Mothra, has bestowed upon them, leads her people (the Undertale characters; the human ones and Deltarune characters are born later) to find a place to survive, and eventually bond with the rest of the Fleet.

Add in additional characters and groups as needed, with some provisos: no humans at all at this point, they come later. Secondly, this version of the Fleet is a large band of nomads, perhaps numbering several hundred at most for the first generation or so, traveling from continent to continent and then world to world via teleportation gates they discover, uncovering a mystery that eventually leads into the overarching conspiracy that the Fleet will later investigate.

They are thus a convoy, staying on the move from their enemies and just trying to survive. They have kids, mind their own business, but can’t help being heroes and getting a bit of a reputation; eventually they wind up being superheroes of a sort.

Redglare, as mentioned, is the first wielder of the Matriatrix for the FLeet. I dunno where SHE got it (found it? it was passed down to her by a mentor?) but she uses it in a very different way from Sierra; the modding and power-enhancing scene requires an economic base and adventuring capability the proto-Fleet does not have, at this point, but they are able to use some of its powers to begin changing themselves to stay alive and relevant. Possibly the first signs of hyper proportion power levels begins here. But no one has any idea how to use it, and as in the current time, must experiment: Redglare ultimately does not learn the specific abilities Sierra did, but combines its alchemizing abilities with her innate Mind powers to draw abilities from those around her, combined with the zeitgeist of the area around her and, in a sense, weaponize the narrative to randomly generate abilities and spell effects. She is ultimately far better at the subtle abilities and Sierra still falls short of living up to her skills. Redglare is the first champion and leader of the Fleet, the heroine they all adored, and leaves big shoes to fill. (Her fate is… open to debate.)

Eventually, there is a second phase around the third generation of children and the signs of the Matriatrix’s gifts imbuing them with hyper fertility and devouring/pregnancy powers so that the Fleet is associated with nomming themes and producing huge amounts of children. By this point they have multiplied by several hundred members, both taking in anyone who wants to join their merry band and reproducing… a LOT. Gems and Transformers have been changed to be able to have super pregnancies, but not to the one-woman population booms in the present. This significantly alters the dynamics for their people, since the difficulties of resources for making new Gems and Transformers is a major problem for reproduction; possibly something similar applies to trolls, as I imagine the mother grub not being a natural part of the reproduction, but akin to a biological cloning machine inducing inbreeding due to over reliance on it.

Around this phase, two things happen, in no particular order, but as a result, some humans enter the Fleet. Again, humans are a relatively rare and severely underpowered species, and possibly in the process of dying out. But their greatest place of utopian ideals and success is the world-nation of Wakanda, reimagined her as a massive ringworld inhabited by humans, robots and the creations of ancient humans. It is a distillation of Marvel, with the entire human population being mutants; powers are universal, and the older generation of BNHA characters also originate from here (All Might, Inko). The Fleet seeks shelter, and for some time, calls Wakanda home. This utopian wonderland becomes the Fleet’s first true stable homeland, and eventually the beginning of their spaceflights; eventually they can no longer remain after Wakanda is devastated by Evil, and the notion of Wakanda becomes a spiritual homeland they home to one day reestablish.

By this point, the clan social system that eventually replaces biological families entirely begins to manifest, growing out of the social structures of Wakanda and the factionalism present within the newborn Fleet itself.

The other thing that can happen before or after the joining with Wakanda; the discovery of ancient cloning facilities, in which humans played a part. Great mechanisms to produce vast amounts of cloned offspring lay dormant, but fully functional, and providing the Fleet with valuable lost technology that will become the basis for later bio-tech. The facility contains information on the twenty-eight hundred trillion different bloodlines of the many species recorded, among them human bloodlines that still have a claim to the last dynasties of Earth in its pre-Cataclysm hey-day, and the offspring of those bloodlines would have tremendous cultural influence due to their descent from the last great powers of their people.

The Fleet begins what will become a solemn vow to resurrect life whenever possible; eventually they will start gestating fallen species, but they begin by simply starting the machines back up and raising the resulting children on their own. Among these are the first human members to be born into the Fleet; these include the human guardians from Homestuck (Pop Egbert, Mom Lalonde, Grandpa Harley, non-abusive Bro Strider) as well as anyone explicitly confirmed to be human and born into the Fleet; of note, the human SU characters from an older generation, most prominently Greg Universe.

Additional time passes, more generations come and go, and the Fleet’s initial powers grow more advanced; rebirth via pregnancy becomes a viable technique though not as widespread as it will become, and extends life spans considerably. Hyper huge proportions and recreational modding become more common, and with Redglare’s increased control over the Matriatrix, the beginnings of the Fleet’s superpowers status beings.

Now we come to the birth of the ‘current generation’; the characters the AU focuses on. Sierra, the other TDI characters, and the Homestuck kids and trolls are born. (Analogues to the Beforan characters as they are in the dancestor bits are also born roughly around this time.) The human characters in question (mainly the TD and Homestuck humans like Jade, Roxy, Jane and John) are a mix of being born from the cloning processes and offspring of the human mutants. The trolls, though, are explicitly the biological children of the troll ancestors, even if they are not raised by them as per Fleet custom.

Thus, everyone effectively grows up as friends and have an established society that predates them, putting less of an emphasis on them as the sole heroes; they stand on the shoulders of those who came before.

Sierra winds up becoming a protege of sorts to Redglare, and Terezi, as her descendant, suffers a great deal of pressure to become as great as her, while Redglare does her best to just let her descendants have a happy, ordinary life.

At some point, though, Redglare leaves the story. However it happens, she passes the Matriatrix onto Sierra, when all expectation was that Terezi would continue her legacy. This causes a great deal of tension between the two, even though they are very close prior to this. Eventually it is repaired, but not without damage.

In her childhood, Sierra befriends Grimlock (Effectively being his human companion friend, in TF fandom terms), bringing him out of his gloomy shell and lightning him up a little bit into the hero we all know he can be.

Sierra’s discoveries, as well as those of her friends (most predominantly Feferi, who is effectively the mother of modding) and the leadership of their particular group begins to shape the Fleet into what it is, setting the stage for its current position as it grows and changes.

(This also means that Vriska, and perhaps a good chunk of the Stingers, were originally part of the Fleet, perhaps those who opted for personal gratification or glory over the Fleet’s heroic intentions.)

Some other consequences is that the Fleet initially grew gradually, slowly absorbing people into it over time and then growing just a bit faster at a time as the Matriatrix’s powers expanded into others… and relatively recently, their expansion went from a few worlds and a single fleet to multiple ones, and a MASSIVE population explosion that continues even to this day. This rapid expansion is clearly terrifying to most people and a serious threat to people who originally saw them as hedonist outcasts and rogues challenging tyrants.

The second one is a theme of building things over the course of multiple generations, but suddenly the plan is askew. Redglare, the seemingly immortal wielder of the Matriatrix, is gone. Her plans, whatever they were, are suddenly stalled and the Fleet doesn’t have a rudder; people depended on her and revered here, and Terezi and Sierra wind up having to take the reins and inspire people. Sierra the heart-felt champion and the one they adore, and Terezi winds up the one with a plan and purpose people can root for.

Things build up and expand from simpler roots, growing more complex and better than what their forerunners initially created. They might be standing on the shoulders of giants, but they’ll grow far bigger than their parents did.

(The metaphor is somewhat muddled by the fact that the Fleet’s stronger people genuinely regard ‘growing bigger than a planet and using your finger to destroy a kaiju’ as mid-tier feats, but the point still stands.)

[kleeboy]

okay im deleting and reposting this because i put a swear word in the tags and it wasnt even showing up in searches for my personal, and i don’t trust the mobile editor to fix my problems but its time 4 me to make a post

Here's what I’ve got for a Thunderbirds D&D AU! I'm not gonna get into numbers and stats and levels because I do that enough when I play normal d&d and I'm gay and tired. Also, there’s probably gonna be a touch of rule bending not only to reconcile d&d with the Thunderbirds canon but just to boost the fun factor a bit. It’s not like we’re setting up a playable campaign so it doesn’t really matter as long as we’re not making it unrecognisable as part of the d&dverse. At that point, you might as well just call it a fantasy AU (still lit tho lmao). This is mostly TOS based but I’ll add some notes on TAG stuff now and then in italics because I’m here to provide. It’s hefty, so everything's under the cut. Hopefully comprehensible.

IR (presumably going by some other name but we’ll just stick with that for sake of ease) is still a rescue organisation - it operates on a somewhat smaller scale but access to magic means it’s got a pretty big reach for typical d&d technology. It’s centred around an ancient deity that few people have heard of and even fewer worship. There’s only one known temple dedicated to said deity and it had been abandoned for a long time before they found it, so it’s currently being restored - if rather agonizingly slowly. Anyway, IR is deity-based because nothing screams “fight for a cause” like paladins! They’re paladins, mostly, is what I’m saying.

Jeff is likely an ex-adventurer, probably a paladin but I’m seriously considering cleric just for interest’s sake so sue me, I love clerics. His party did some pretty cool stuff back in the day, and adventuring pays well as long as you don’t die, so he’s pretty well off. He left the party and settled down in one place when Scott was born, and the rest of them presumably disbanded and went about their own lives eventually. Or maybe they’re still out there causing a ruckus. Who knows. Pretty easy to just say “and he’s not there anymore” for TAG, rationalise his disappearance as you please. Either way, at some point he decided to start an organisation that would make saving lives a bit more structured than the usual “Let's hope a squad of adventurers stumbles on our predicament” that people have been relying on.

Scott is a Battle Master archetype fighter who multiclassed into paladin. Battle Master provides the most appropriate mechanics for a field leader, and also seems like the sort of thing Scott would have been doing previous to IR. He’s the least proficient spellcaster of the group if only by virtue of his class, but access to paladin magic gives his fighting an extra kick which, along with the Battle Master maneuvers, makes him pretty damn dangerous with a sword. It also means he can cast Find Steed, and because said steed’s form can go beyond normal when permitted by the DM and we’re making the rules here I’m giving him a pegasus, which is about the fastest flying mount you could get as far as the monster manual goes. A roc would just be too much. Very VERY cool. But too much.

Virgil is a College of Lore bard into paladin. When it comes to support classes, nothing beats a College of Lore bard for versatility. He’s got the range, darling. Slap an arsenal of magic items on that and you’re well on your way to the d&d equivalent of Thunderbird 2. He has some good offensive spells and weapon training but mostly works to keep others from getting hurt. With a high constitution, the Tough feat, good armour and a shield he pretty much becomes a mobile wall to be put between danger and anyone who can’t take too many hits. Find Steed again lets me give him something interesting to ride, and what better than an owlbear. A big one. Not quite as appropriate stat-wise as the pegasus for Scott but when it comes to aesthetics I’m yet to find something as good as a bear-shaped and -sized owl.

John is predominantly a Divination wizard, with a low paladin level - two maximum - giving him access to a lot of powerful magic but leaving him, how do you say, squishy. Divination is gameplay-wise pretty underwhelming, with not many spells to its name, but for someone whose job is centred around keeping an eye on things, the ability to see very far away and receive premonitions is gonna be useful. The system by which distress calls are sent is giving me some concept trouble but when it comes to receiving it’s as easy as a focus with some capability to project images and sound, gear already necessary to cast Scrying. So, as in canon, rather than going out on missions (at least for the most part), it’s John’s job to keep tabs on incoming signals and active operations. This is all based in the previously mentioned temple - out of the way enough to let me call it a T5 equivalent. He also has the secondary job of making sure nothing else tries to take up residence in the decrepit building. They had to clear it of goblins the first time. As far as Eos goes I don’t have room for all my thoughts (so many) but let’s call her a sentient magic item. Additionally, TAG John probs gets a level or two in cleric.

Gordon is a paladin into druid, Circle of the Land (Coast). He and Alan didn't have any previous class levels before becoming paladins. Neither of his classes give any bonuses for it beyond proficiency for paladins but nobody can stop me from making his primary weapon a longbow, plus the Sharpshooter feat is helpful. Coast druid is the only subclass of any d&d class that has a specific focus on water and what could go wrong if we let him turn into animals? It also has some good circle spells, when he gets to that point. He’d probably have a lot of fun with Mirror Image. There was probably an incident that catalysed his becoming a druid, I'd like to think it's the equivalent of the boat crash just placed on a different point in the timeline. Might get into it at a later date.

Alan is just pure paladin, it's all he's really had time to do with his life so far beyond being a kid and growing up, y'know? I’ll get a little into the subclass here, all of IR’s 3rd level or higher paladins take Oath of Devotion. From the PHB: “These paladins meet the ideal of the knight in shining armor, acting with honor in pursuit of justice and the greater good.” Devotion’s core tenets are honesty, courage, compassion, honor, and duty. Also their Channel Divinity: Sacred Weapon is just really cool. Who doesn’t like glowing stuff, man. Alan's got some more powerful paladin abilities than any of his brothers but probably has the lowest total level regardless. Giving him the Athlete feat, which lets him jump and climb a lot easier, feels appropriate. He snuck a griffon home when it was a baby, and is trying to train it. It's not very well behaved and causes a ruckus when it gets bored but he adores it. One day it’ll make a phenomenal companion. For now, it will continue to attempt to eat his fingers.

Brains is an artificer! Love that class. Artificers, rather than casting spells (though they can do that), make magic items. The artificer class is from Unearthed Arcana and a lot of the mechanics can be hit or miss, it’s been revised many times by lots of different people. But when it comes to the basic idea, it’s the obvious choice for Brains. The less common a magic item, the longer it takes and harder it is to make. The higher level an artificer the more, and more powerful, their creations are. Pretty simple. Also pretty much every version of artificer you come across has some sort of option for a mechanical companion so there’s MAX for you.

Tin-Tin is also an artificer, with a few levels in paladin for good measure. Her time is split between making and repairing gear and going out on missions, and when on call is incredibly useful for lightning fixes and is incredibly creative when it comes to the ways magic items (and nonmagic items) can be used to get out of predicaments. This is the character who constantly has Inspiration. Kayo is an Assassin archetype rogue into paladin. Assassins do… a lot of damage. If you know much about d&d rules (I don’t expect you to), the only thing scarier than a bard, stat wise, is a rogue. +10 to stealth is pretty easy to get by 5th level, combine that with Sneak Attack and Assassinate and you can deal up to 26 damage in one hit with a dagger alone. I said I wouldn’t do any maths but I lied.

Penny doesn’t necessarily have any class levels, though rogue would be appropriate. She falls more under the NPC umbrella, somewhere between Noble and Spy, perhaps? NPCs have a lot less restrictions when it comes to what they can and can’t do laterally, but it’s harder to make them powerful without assigning a class. I also think it’d be really neat to use the fantasy setting to make her nonhuman. High elf would be fitting and cool, but she’d also make a fantastic tiefling. Though, like, call me biased, everyone would make a fantastic tiefling.

I think that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter right now. I have a lot more specific details that I’ll get to eventually but this post is more of a jumping off point listing some options for anyone else who might want to mess around with a d&d AU but doesn’t know where to start. Pick out things you like, ditch things you don’t, add whatever sounds cool, and honestly? Congratulations on getting through this whole thing. This post is kind of in shambles. And thanks! I love taking any excuse to pore over these books.

Shoot me an ask or something if anything’s too incomprehensible or there’s something up with the formatting. Later, skaters.

[a-black-pegasus]

Some Fun

Part 2

"Oy! I can't believe it's another one! The author really needs to get a move on, on all of these prompts! They're really starting to pile up back there!"

"So! How to describe this one??...

Specifically Borrower Peter and giant Deadpool at that. ENJOY!

______________________________________________

"Your just so cute! All scared, and shakey, and little! Yes you are, yes you are!" Wade cooed, wagging his finger at Peter as they walked home. It was conveniently just around the block.

"A little too convenient dont'cha think?" Deadpool mumbled.

Peter was looking terrified. Wade had stopped throwing him, but had started petting and squeezing him. Babying the teen because of his small stature.

"I... I'm not, not cute— a-and I'm not scared!" He protested.

Wade lifted Peter to press him against his cheek. "Aww, sure you aren't! You little happy meal." He walked through the building not even bothering to hide Peter.

"Mr. W-wade. Please I don't want to be seen—" Peter had stuttered, to be quickly cut off.

"It didn't matter anyways, they're all just background noise. None of them do anything! They don't even have dialogue." Wade shrugged. He opened the door, and set Peter on the coffee table.

"So what do you want to do cutie?" Wade leaned forward, and rested his head on his hand.

Peters stepped back. "Umm.... I...."

Wade waited a few moments for peter to say something. When he didn't he scooped him up suddenly, and layed back out on the couch.

"Your just so fucking small! It's great! I'm really getting into the G/T shit you know?" He set Peter on his chest, and nudged him around.

Peter tried to step away, but often found himself only falling eventually he snapped. "Stop!"

Wade lifted his face mask above his lips, and grinned. "Alright, alright...." He grabbed Peter's leg, and dangled him above his face. "You ever hear of vore?"

"Put..put me down!" Peter yelled swaying slightly.

"I could just eat you up!" He giggled at Peters face. "Aw your face! I'm just teasing." Wade reached out to pinch Peter's cheek, and sat up.

"What can I do with you?" He layed peter out in his palm. "There's just so many options!"

Peter trembled. "You-you could let m-me go..."

"Nah.." Wade shook his head. "Then there really wouldn't be a point to all of this."

"Let's go swimming!" He shouted suddenly. He ran with peter to the bathroom, and started the tub. Water gushed from the tap, Wade waited a few moments for ut to fill before turning to Peter. "Peter you can swim yeah?"

"Yeah, but...."

"Great!" Deadpool dumped Peter into the water. He screamed as he fell till he hit the water. Kicking, he broke through the surface coughing and spluttering.

"Asshole." Peter mumbled before a wave of water courtesy of Wade washed over him.

"Hey! You're too goddamn young to have mouth on you!" Wade snapped. He pulled Peter out a few minutes later. He hung limply from his soggy clothes. "Ooof. I think I made an error. Do I have any clothes you can wear?"

Peter stiffened at this. "Mr. Wade!" He squeaked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I can find something." He set Peter on the sink to drip dry as he left.

Peter sat there wet and shivering. He felt miserable. His nerves were on edge, Wade had said there were "so many possibilities.". What were those possiblitys? His mind raced with different options each more worrying than the last.

He jumped sharply when the door opened a d Wade came in with a doll sized pair of pajamas. "The neighbors kid made me pay twenty bucks gor these! Little shit." Of course I also blame the writer. He thought with a grumble. Although he griped, there was a hint of pride in his voice. "Here." Wade handed the clothes to Peter.

Peter took them and bit his lip. His face turned pink. "Um...."

"What? You want help?" He teased, raising his hand.

"No! No! I—I'm good!" Peter backed up, and slipped into the sink, banging his head.

"Peter!" Wade stepped over and plucked him out. "Ooohh that looks like it's gonna hurt like hell. Here...." He grabbed a towel and wrapped Peter up before taking him into the living room. "Let me look at that."

Peter winced as a bright light shone down on him. Shuddering, he felt Wade's fingers prod his head.

"Mmm I think your in the safe zone, but I think you'll be ok." The light turned off, the blanket rubbed up, and down carefully drying Peter.

"Your just kinda out of it aren't you? Are you ok Peter?" Wade tilted Peter's chin up to look at him. With a hum he poked Peter's stomach. "You hungry?" Setting Peter back on the table, he stood and walked to the fridge. "Stay there tyke, I'll be right back."

Peter had flinched at the touch. As soon as Deadpool turned his back, Peter crawled out if the towel and stumbled to the edge of the table. Taking a breath he jumped to land on a pillow on the ground. A quick look told Peter that the only hiding spot he could get to in time was under the couch. So under the couch he ran.

Wade grabbed some leftovers from the fridge, and shoved them into the microwave. "Well we have pancakes, Chimichangas, some old subway... Hey!" He turned his head to the table to see Peter gone!

"Kid. Come out right now. I don't want to lose sight of you." Wade spoke in a even tone. "There's rats here as big as a chihuahuas."

Peter backed up further under the couch as wade walked around.

"Shit! Where are you?!" He looked around the table, and stopped. There was a clear trail of tiny drips going under the couch. Getting to his hands and knees he looked under the couch, and saw Peter curled up in the corner.

"Ah-Ha! Peter come here!" He got to his chest and swiped at Peter, but missed as Peter darted around.

With a frustrated growl Wade stood back up, and tipped the couch over to it's back. Peter shrieked, and cowered as Deadpool dropped to his knees in front of him. He lifted Peter from the back of his shirt to his face.

"Why would you go on, and do a thing like that? That's a very stupid thing you did!" Wade scolded.

Peters legs curled underneath him like a kitten bring held by the scruff, and his eyes began to fill with tears. "I-I'm sorry, wh-what are you going, going to do t-to me?"

Wade stared at him a minute befire sighing. "Kid, I'm not gonna hurt you." He paused. "You may not have realized this but you were usually always my friend in other timelines. I'm not gonna hurt you." Wade dropped Peter into his other palm, and traced a finger over Peter's back. "Don't cry Peter. Ok?"

Peter was confused. "Timelines?"

"Yeah you don't need to worry your pretty little head about that." Wade winked, and booped Peter's face. "Now lets get you into some dry overpriced pajamas, and some food in you. How does that sound?"

Peter nodded his head and wiped his tears.

"Good." Wades finger came up to the side of Peter's face. "So do you like pancakes?"

______________________________________________

'And of course, Peter said yes.'

Thanks for reading. I'll try to get on those other prompts as well. I just haven't found the drive to write recently you know?

@sammigruber @sammie-skele-turtle @gatlily @nightmarejasmine @misfitsgalaxygt @obwjam @bee-wrecker @nerdqueenkat @tinyliltina @nini116 @queenofconspiracies @dc41016 @jasper-jazzle-zazzle @tiefling-trickery