#should Kristen and tracker get back together??? I don’t know

[frogsandmagic]

For those of us in both the trackerbees and beesbees nations, how are we feeling?

[sittinginsunflowers]

I can’t stop thinking about how every parental figure in Kristen’s life has failed her by prioritizing their other kids.

Obviously, her bio parents are racist assholes who raised her in a fundamentalist cult, and kicked out at 15, all because her parents were offended she was “taking her friends’ side over theirs.” Which she didn’t, what she did was ask for answers and tell them that Daybreak tried to kill her but they refused to believe her. Instead, they chose to make her homeless so she doesn’t spread the idea that her parents don’t know everything. Two years later, and they’re still doing the same thing at the diner.

Then there’s Jawbone and he’s Tracker’s guardian, and unlike Adaine, she didn’t get a speech about how he’d take her in, or what their relationship was, she just moved in with her girlfriend, and he was the adult of the house. And now that she and Tracker have broken up, he and Sandra Lynn don’t seem to have made the time to talk to her about what that means for her place in this family. Adaine came back from spring break to gifts for every birthday she had without Jawbone and adoption papers. Kristen’s mail from her school was going to her parents’ house when she lives with the guidance counselor.

Then, there’s the fact that when Sandra Lynn and Jawbone moved in together, she took on a role she clearly wasn’t ready for, as she was still repairing her relationship with Fig. Kristen had to be the one to finally snap her out of her self destructive spiral with Garthy and then Sandra Lynn asked her to keep it a secret. Meaning she wouldn’t be able to tell Tracker, the only person who has been meeting her emotional and physical safety needs, above just giving her a room to live in. (And we know this is true because part of the reason Nara and Tracker are together is because Nara doesn’t need those things from Tracker). And yes, Sandra Lynn apologizes to the whole group, as she should, for putting their home in jeopardy, which is a massive step. But she never talks to Kristen about putting her between the 3 people responsible for keeping her out of her parent’s house.

So Sandra Lynn calls Fig, “her only daughter in the world,” and Jawbone is only legally responsible for Adaine and Tracker, and neither of them, nor any other adult, has asked if Kristen feels safe or if she’s okay. Like I’m sorry, who the fuck is taking care of the cleric who’s god and teacher died in the same year, is going through deprogramming from a cult that wants her back, her first breakup, seeing her estranged parents and siblings again, and now being expelled on zero grounds despite working herself to the bone to make sure her party gets to go to college?

[angelwiththeblue-box]

on religion

Blood flecks off of Kristen’s bracelets, the charms that she and the other Bad Kids had picked out one day, stringing beads and thread together to create friendship bracelets. 

There’s blood on her bracelets, blood staining the colors and drying on her skin. She shakes her wrists aimlessly, trying to get the blood off but it’s dried, it’s there, it’s not her blood it’s Buddy’s. 

Her friends are asleep on the train. Fig and Gorgug are fast asleep, leaning on each other in the seats across from her. Fabian is stretched across a row of seats, snoring softly. 

Adaine sits next to her, her eyes unfocused. Kristen can’t tell if she’s trancing or not, but she doesn’t want to disturb Adaine if she is. 

Fig had texted Sandra Lynn that they won the Last Stand and that they were coming home. She didn’t say anything other than that, the six of them figured they should tell Jawbone and Sandra Lynn in person. 

Cool hands slip into hers and Kristen jolts, looking over to meet Adaine’s eyes. 

“I could feel you thinking.” Adaine whispers. Her eyes flick down to Kristen’s bracelets and she casts Prestidigitation, the blood disappearing as quickly as it appeared. 

Her bracelets look good as new, as she jangles them once to make sure they’re back to normal, it feels like shackles removed and she drops onto Adaine’s shoulder, like strings cut all the energy keeping her up since six yesterday morning gone. 

Adaine shifts, moving her arm to wrap around Kristen, stroking up and down her arm, casting Prestidigitation, removing more of the blood as she starts to sing softly, an old Elven lullaby that Kristen remembered hearing Aelwyn singing on the trip back from the Nightmare Forest, all of them exhausted and dirty, piled on top of each other in Tracker’s Moon Haven. She wondered how Tracker was, after they all left Falinell. Kristen hasn’t texted, but she wants to. She doesn’t want to bother Tracker, though, and if another cleric dies because of her- 

Kristen isn’t alone, but sometimes she feels alone, even with Adaine’s arm around her shoulder and her face in the crook of Adaine’s neck. 

Cassandra? I don’t know if you can hear me, but I wanted to let you know that we’re okay, and we’re trying to help you. We’re going to help you, and your wife, and everything will be okay, because it has to be. 

Kristen’s eyes close as Adaine continues to sing, the occasional movement of the train sending her in and out of sleep until Riz wakes them all up an hour later as they reach their stop, pulling out files from his briefcase and spreading them out on the deserted train station. Kristen’s paying attention, but just barely, the cold of her energy drink seeping into her fingers and spreading deeper. She yawns and rests her head on Gorgug’s shoulder, content to sit back and let Adaine and Riz talk it out. 

Adaine’s lullaby plays in her head and she struggles to keep her eyes open, the sky turning from a dark blue to purple as the sun rises.

taglist: @leelovessharks @disdoorted-crows @dapper-nahrwhale @blueskiesandstarrynights @starchaserbaby @thedragonemperess @depressedtransguy (lemme know if u want to be added or removed)

[creacherkeeper]

read ur pacific rim fh au and am LOSING it!! like the implications!! if you’re still doing the headcanon thing and okay w this, can i ask for more headcanons about that au? specifically are fig and kristen piloting together or doing other non combat roles? also jawbone piloting HELLO!! and god just. everything you said about the sisters.

OH I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO OBLIGE

so jawbone was actually one of the original pilots, and the only one still in commission. he's definitely getting too old for it but he trusts in his abilities and overall wants to keep his niece, tracker, as safe as he can. also he doesn't want to leave the base because he thinks of all of the young pilots as his kids and they frequently come to him when they're having problems. the moonlit werewolf is the only mark-3 still fighting

among the other original pilots was sandra lynn. she and gorthalax piloted the demon ranger. fig was much closer to her (as she found out later) step father gilear (who acted as a government liaison for the jaeger program) than she was to sandra lynn growing up, due to her always being based elsewhere or out on missions. fig's world got shaken in her high school years when it came out that sandra lynn was having a long-time affair with her co-pilot, and she and gilear divorced. sandra lynn and gorthalax were benched. sandra lynn was kept on base as a consultant, but gorthalax ended up traveling to where fig was to try and explain himself and repair their relationship. while on a music tour several years later, mostly running away from her problems more than anything else, fig witnessed first hand a kaiju attack. she realized how important the job of pilot was, and applied to the program. aguefort accepted her right away

pok was one of the original minds behind the jaeger program. together with aguefort, he created the pons system that linked pilot's minds. people speculated that pok 'disappearing' was because of this. that either his research killed him, or someone else did because of it. riz only ever wanted to figure out his father's disappearance. becoming a pilot was just the easiest way to do it (at least in his eyes). he really didn't mean to start caring about all these people along the way

aguefort was the first jaeger pilot. it was said he had a partner, but no one knows who it could've been. there are rumors he piloted the chronophoenix all by himself. but those are just rumors. his daughter, ayda, won't speak on any of them. she doesn't really like talking about her father in general. though she certainly grew up with a knowledge of combat, knowledge of tactics, knowledge of jaegers and how to pilot them, she only ever meant to be a scholar. she studied kaiju and how they worked. she studied the oceans they came from. she studied the earth and how it changed. she was a scientist. she didn't count on meeting fig

fig's relationship with sandra lynn was incredibly strained when fig first got accepted as a pilot. sandra lynn never meant for fig to follow in her footsteps. the years of combat had gotten her fucked in the head enough, she didn't need to worry about her daughter too. when fig came back injured from her very first mission, her partner, penelope everpetal, dead before their medics could reach her, two things changed:

one: sandra lynn realized her daughter wouldn't be dissuaded, and that if she couldn't be a mom, she could be a teacher

two: ayda realized there were some things worth fighting for (fig was one of them. the biggest one she could think of)

fabian piloted like he had something to prove, because he did. his papa had made a name for himself. fabian would too. and if that meant killing kaiju for his father to harvest and sell on the black market, that's what he would do. he thought he'd be paired up with a guy like gorgug, maybe ragh, not some scrawny little nerd who knew more about the mechanics of the brain than how to throw a proper punch. the first time they drifted, he got it. he got why riz was there. and riz understood him, too. that was the thing about the drift. no secrets. they vowed to keep each others. when ragh threw riz into a trashcan their first day of practice, fabian broke his nose. the two of them were pretty close after that. and they eventually got chummy with ragh, too, after dayne was expelled from the program. ragh was moved to combat trainer. fabian and riz eventually came to pilot the gilded spyglass. it took time to master the balance between grace and force, strength and dexterity, damage and speed. but they found it. and they were unstoppable. almost.

gorgug never wanted to be a pilot. his parents were mechanics. that was the whole thing, really. you grow up around jaegers, you understand them, and you're good at it. even if you don't want to be. even if you wished you could have the brains and not the brawn. or be a medic, like kristen. kristen actually helped people. gorgug was big enough to throw a mean punch. some things changed when zelda came. she needed a co-pilot. the world needed heroes. gorgug never thought of himself as one, but he knew how to fight. and he knew he wanted to protect zelda. not that she needed it. but he wanted to. he wanted to if she would let him. the enormity of his decision didn't really hit him until they were facing their first kaiju. he understood jaegers. he didn't really want to understand monsters, too

kristen wasn't a pilot, and that was fine. she patched people up. when fabian and riz came back with electrical burns, she patched them up. when metal frenzy got a building to the face and gorgug and zelda both had concussions, she patched them up. when tracker came to the clinic with yet another random, minor, 'accidental' injury, kristen patched her up

when the storm oracle was pulled to the bottom of the ocean, and both adaine and aelwyn nearly drowned, kristen sat by their bedsides and did not leave for three days

it was what she did

and that was fine, for a while. but the kaiju kept coming. and people kept getting hurt. and kristen thought, for the first time, that maybe she was very tired of cleaning up messes. maybe she wanted to go out and make some of her own

the thing was that kristen was charismatic, in that awkward, foot-in-the-mouth, guard-down-around-them kind of a way. she talked to people. and she knew things. she got along with almost everyone, except for the people that she didn't. it was just ... no one expected her to be drift compatible

no one expected her to be drift compatible with ... literally everyone

she chose tracker, though. of course she chose tracker. who else? and jawbone deserved some rest, after all this time, even if he did refuse to leave the base. leave all his kids. they gave him a trauma counselor position, and he got ... close with sandra lynn. it was a little weird at first. it made sense, though. everyone admitted it made sense. and the de facto parents of the base didn't ruin everyone's fun too much. when there was fun to have, at least

and there wasn't always. there wasn't at the end. not with how many kaiju were coming through the breach

moonlit werewolf could close it. it was mark-3, after all. nuclear. no one thought kristen should be the one to do it. she was so new. she was a medic, for whoever the fuck's sake people were praying to now. but, it was kristen. she'd make the sacrifice play, if she had to. every time

gilded spyglass, metal frenzy, storm oracle, wizard's paramour, and moonlit werewolf touched down at the breach

and kristen, with a hole in her chest, was the last one to surface

they save her, though. of course they do. this is a happy story. and because it's a happy story, eventually there are no jaeger pilots. there are no jaegers. there are scientists and medics and teachers and musicians, and there are the bad kids, which they all say ironically, because they don't really feel like they ever got to be kids at all

there's time, after. there's a lot to rebuild. to fix. to figure out, in the aftermath. but they have time

for the first time in a long, good while, for most of their short and fragile lives, they feel like they have time

[chockfullofsecrets]

D20 Fantasy High: Making Room

(Read on AO3)

Rating: Gen

Summary: She grunts, presumably shoving at him and not having much success given Fabian’s triumphant snickering. “I said make room-”

Riz pries himself up off the carpet, thinking of moving to help her, when Fabian lets out a startled squeak. Everyone goes quiet.

Fig leans off the bed with truly devilish glee in her tiefling eyes. “Guys, he’s ticklish.”

The Bad Kids try to plan a sleepover, Fabian needs to learn how to share, and Riz is maybe starting to get the hang of this whole friendship thing.

Wordcount: 2.1k

A/N: not to be entirely into D&D on main, but - hey, look, it’s another cool D&D campaign XD shoutout to @hypahticklish for expressing enough interest in this fic to make me want to write it <3

Loose spoilers for the end of Fantasy High Season 1, beware!

---

Riz thinks he’s really starting to get a handle on this whole friendship thing.

Solving a mystery and getting thrown in jail and killing a dragon together aren’t exactly reproducible results, which kind of sucks, but - hey, the six of them are friends now, and they’re hanging out in Fabian’s room on a summer evening, and it’s novel enough to feel like a solved case all on its own.

What’s less satisfying is the amount of missed work they have to catch up on if they want to start as sophomores next year; no one bothered to worry about bringing them homework while they were in actual prison, but all their professors sure seem to care about it now. He gets the feeling that at least part of it is Aguefort trying to keep some degree of respectability after everything that happened with Goldenhoard, but any attempt to reason with him thus far has gotten nowhere but wild-eyed stares and increasingly obtuse lectures on chronomancy and time management. And sure, Riz prides himself on being able to untangle obscure information, but he’s not touching that with a ten foot pole.

They’re all sprawled out on Fabian’s floor, working through assignments with varying levels of fervor ranging from Adaine - actually working with a stack of textbooks nearly up to her shoulder next to her on Fabian’s desk - to Kristen - texting Tracker with a lack of stealth that makes Riz want to grind his teeth a little, even more so than the way she goes bright red and giggles every time her crystal pings - when Fig groans and rolls onto her back.

“You know what?” she says to the room at large, throwing her arms wide. Her hand knocks into her bard notebook, somehow both dusty with disuse and covered in scribbled ballpoint pen sigils. She flips it neatly in the air and elbows it away in Adaine’s direction, earning a half-annoyed yelp. “We should have a sleepover.”

Half of them blink uncomprehendingly, but Kristen drops her crystal in a sudden rush of excitement. “YES,” she shouts. Gorgug, propped against the wall next to her and dozing off over barbarian meditation manuals, startles. “I can show you guys so many cool camp things! We just need a bunch of different colors of yarn and some sticks and - yeah, we can probably skip the holy water to keep the sinners away-”

Riz has - he’s had sleepovers before, if Penny coming over to babysit and finding him crashed out on the couch after a night of reading old case files from his mom counts. He reaches up and straightens his cap, trying to make it look smooth. “Hey, Fabian, do you have coffee here?”

“Wait, wait, hold on a minute.” Fabian, sitting against his giant bed, waves dramatically for all their attention. He looks them over once he gets it, self-importantly adjusting his eyepatch. “Yes, The Ball, we have coffee, we’re not peasants - but sleep over where? Did I miss that part?”

“Uh, here?” Fig says, flinging herself upright. “You’re mom’s super hot - uh, cool, I bet she’d let us do anything.”

“Stop calling my mom hot!” Fabian yelps, glowering for a moment before his chest puffs with familial pride. “Well, we do have at least five guest bedrooms that we could house all of you in-”

“Oh, I don’t need a bed,” Gorgug says hastily. “I’d probably break it, I can just sleep on the floor.”

“Yeah, Fabian, no,” Kristen interjects, gesturing with her staff. Gorgug scrambles to remove the cups they’ve been drinking soda out of from her path. “We’re all supposed to hang out in the same room, that’s kind of the point!” She frowns a little, zeroing in on him. “Have you. Have you never been to a sleepover before?”

Riz hasn’t quite gotten around to making a conspiracy board of how all the specific issues of their messed up childhoods overlap, but he can read the way Fabian startles indignantly loud and clear. “Of - of course I have!” he blusters. “I just - why the fuck would you share a bed if you didn’t have to?”

Adaine scoffs. “Fabian, your bed is enormous, I think we could all fit on it with room for the Hangman left over.”

“No, it’s not!” Fabian scrambles up, chin still raised haughtily, and throws himself bodily on the bed - judging from the way his ankles hang off the edge, he’s starfishing out as far as he possibly can. “I’m - see, I’m a growing boy, I need my space! Cathilda says so.”

Adaine, having claimed the only chair in the room and therefore being the only one at eye level with the mattress, cranes her neck and laughs. “Fabian, you’re covering less than half of the bed. You can just say you’ve never been to a sleepover before, you know.”

Fig stands up and launches herself onto the bed too, landing heavily with the zippers on her leather jacket clanking behind her. “Yeah, you just have to - oof - make room-”

She grunts, presumably shoving at him and not having much success given Fabian’s triumphant snickering. “I said make room-”

Riz pries himself up off the carpet, thinking of moving to help her, when Fabian lets out a startled squeak. Everyone goes quiet.

Fig leans off the bed with truly devilish glee in her tiefling eyes. “Guys, he’s ticklish.”

The room erupts into chaos - Fabian shouting denials, Fig cackling evilly, and Kristen shooting up and banging her shins against the bed before scrambling around to Fabian’s other side. Riz hops up on the desk next to Adaine just in time to watch each of the other girls seize his outstretched arms and start to mercilessly tickle his armpits.

“GAHAHA - no, no, stoHOP-” Fabian flails helplessly between the two of them, still trying to sprawl out over the bed. He manages to wrench his arm free from Fig and shove her away even as he shouts with laughter. “Seacasters are not - ahaaa, haaAA - I’m not ticklish!”

“Oh, yeah?” Kristen taunts. “Then why are you laughing, you - ohshit-”

They’re trying to wrestle him down, but he’s too strong for Fig and too dextrous for Kristen. She lunges for him, red hair flying behind her, and falls straight into his lap.

Fabian catches both of Fig’s wrists in one big hand and uses the other to poke triumphantly at Kristen’s belly, sending her into a fit of cackling giggles. “Aha!” he exclaims triumphantly, struggling into a sitting position. “A Seacaster cannot simply be rousted from his territory!”

All of them know better than to say anything about his dad by now. “Gorgug, come help us hold him down!” Fig demands instead, kicking at Fabian with her platform boots and making him yelp in pain.

Gorgug pulls his headphones all the way off his ears and straightens just enough to take in the tangle of the three of them, looking dubious. “Are you sure? That sounds kind of mean.”

“It’s not a problem if he’s not ticklish, right, Fabian?,” Fig retorts. “And he’s breaking sleepover code by hogging the bed!"

Kristen, still laughing uproariously as she fails to save herself from Fabian’s tickling fingers, somehow manages to shoot Gorgug a pair of finger guns. “Get him, Gorgug!”

Gorgug still looks a little confused - Riz can relate - but he gamely climbs to his feet. “Well, okay.”

He pauses to knock gently on the bedframe, sighing in relief at the heavy thunk that echoes back. “Oh, cool, that’s pretty strong.”

Fig yelps as Fabian lets up on Kristen and starts prodding at her belly instead. “Gorgug, come on!”

“Oh, right,” Gorgug says, and sends the mattress an entire inch to the left as he scrambles on.

“Hell yeah!” Fig cheers as Gorgug climbs on the bed and sweeps Fabian up in a restraining hug. “Sig Figs solidarity!”

Kristen squirms out from between the three of them. “Hey, I’m here too!”

She flops down with a breathy sigh and hugs herself, grinning widely as she catches sight of the identical what-the-fuck expressions that Riz is pretty sure he and Adaine are wearing. “Ugh, I haven’t been tickled in forever.”

Adaine makes a considering sound as Kristen twists back to the battle royale happening behind her. Riz looks over at her, catches one of her ears twitching under the attention before she looks back. “I don’t think I’ve ever been tickled,” she murmurs, a little shy.

Penny’s tickled him before, and maybe his mom when he was little, but yeah, it’s been a while. He shrugs. “You think you’d like it?”

There’s another cry from the bed, and both of them whip around to look. Fig’s looming over a thoroughly trapped Fabian now - just barely, even with her horns - and wriggling her fingers evilly with gleaming eyes. “Are you going to say you’re sorry for breaking sleepover code?”

“There’s - there’s no sleepover code,” Fabian sputters, but he’s grinning sheepishly even as he squirms against Gorgug’s hold. “Gorgug, man, come on, you can’t just betray a fellow member of the Bloodrush team like this!”

“Oh - uh -” Gorgug looks pleadingly at the both of them. “But I’m in the Sig Figs too - does that mean one of you guys is going to be mad at me?”

Fabian barely blinks. “Yes.”

“YES,” says Fig, even louder.

“Oh, come on, you two.” Kristen sits up between Fig and Fabian, poking at both of their sides and cutting their protests off as they suck their lower lips between their teeth with identical wide-eyed looks. Then, with a curious tilt to her head, she reaches around to tickle Gorgug’s side too, grinning as he squeaks. “There are no sides in a tickle fight, everyone knows this.”

Riz forgets that Kristen has three little brothers, sometimes. It’s easy to, until she starts playing peacekeeper between the rest of them.

“Where are all these rules coming from?” Fabian questions indignantly. Adaine makes a sound of agreement next to Riz - is she writing these down?

Oh, who’s he kidding, he’s probably going to ask her for a copy afterwards.

Fig smirks. “Well, I think the person with their hands free should get to enforce the rules. Like so.” She reaches for the thin tank top Fabian’s wearing and scribbles her fingers over his belly, crowing in delight as he shrieks. “Not ticklish, huh? Who’s ticklish now, bitch?”

“You - ahaha, haaa, fuck - anyone’s ticklish when they’re being restrained!” Fabian insists through panicked laughter, wriggling for all he’s worth. Riz squints - maybe it’s just the rogue homework he’s been doing lately, but it looks like Gorgug’s not even holding him that tight.

He shrieks again as Kristen bounces excitedly and reaches for him too. “Nonono, NOHOHO - Kristen, ahaha! You said - eheheee, stop - you said no sihihides!”

“These are your hips, Fabian. And no sides doesn’t mean you can’t gang up on people,” Kristen sticks her tongue out in concentration, squeezing at one of his hips and then the other. “Hey, say you’re ticklish.”

“What? No - hahaha - shit, shiHIHIT-” Fabian starts to really thrash under their teasing - Riz catches him elbowing Gorgug neatly in the gut, but their barbarian absorbs the blow like it’s nothing. Riz tries not to feel jealous and doesn’t entirely succeed.

Kristen smiles beatifically from cheek to freckled cheek. “The truth’ll set you free, brother.”

Fabian shakes his head frantically, catching sight of Riz and Adaine by his desk through teary eyes. “The Ball - The Ball, help me, this isn’t - ahahaha, nonoplease - it’s not fair!” he pleads through the widest smile Riz has seen on him so far, which is saying something. “Don’t you care about justice?”

Fig looks over at them too, now, hair slipping from her braid and fangs on full display as she beams. “Yeah, you two, get over here or you’re next! You’re missing out on the sleepover fun!”

“Oh,” Adaine says uncertainly. “I didn’t know this was part of it.”

She looks over at Riz - not that he knows any better, but he’s absolutely not going to cop to it. “Oh, yeah, tickle fights,” he blusters. “Definitely part of sleepovers. To, uh, tire everyone out.”

Adaine looks out of the window at blue skies just barely starting to blush pink and gets a small, quiet grin on her face that he can’t help but return. “Oh, okay,” she says. “Riz, are you ticklish?”

Oh. Oh, no.

Riz stiffens. It doesn’t seem like anyone else has heard Adaine’s question, maybe he can get under the bed before any of them notice -

He. He could, is the thing, he’s an awesome rogue, but - out here seems pretty fun too. “That’s more of a hands-on investigation thing,” he shoots back, and leaps for the bed before she can catch hold of him.

He is, after all, an investigator first and foremost, and there’s more room to be made on that mattress.

[pricemarshfield]

A quick Fabian & Adaine friendship fic for @adairable-dirks , which they requested literally months ago. (Hints of unrequited Aydaine and discussion of Fabian/Aelwyn but really not a ship fic for either.) SLIGHT season 2 spoilers Adair but nothing super plot-relevant.

They pretty much all stay at Mordred, at this point.

Obviously Fig and Kristen live here with Adaine, but it’s easier to get Riz to sleep when they can tempt him with sleepovers, and Gorgug appreciates the opportunity to stretch in his sleep every now and then, and Fabian...

Well, his thing with Aelwyn’s still going, Adaine supposes.

She doesn’t hate it as much as she used to, but she’s still not a fan. Aelwyn’s making an effort to improve herself, and Fabian’s gotten far less egocentric since Leviathan, but the two together is still...strange.

“It’s not that you’re into Fabian, are you?” Aelwyn asks, and Adaine gags so hard that Tracker laughs.

“Absolutely not,” Adaine says after she can regain her composure. “I’m not even a little interested in Fabian, what gave you that idea?”

Aelwyn looks at her, calculating and cautious in a way that’s far from the casual cruelty she used to treat Adaine with but similar enough to set Adaine on edge, just a little. “What about your other friend? The one from break? What’s her name again?”

Tracker sits up slightly from where she’s leaning against the wall, eyes flicking between the two of them.

“You saw nothing,” Adaine says to her adoptive cousin, and casts Ray of Sickness at her sister. (For old times’ sake--she’s got plenty of better spells now.)

Aelwyn manages to resist the spell, but lets the topic drop.

So she’s thinking of Fabian and Aelwyn later, is the thing, so it’s not actually indicative of what she thinks of Aelwyn later when Fabian knocks on her door, eyes red, and Adaine immediately says, “I will punch her for you.”

“What?” Fabian says, and his voice isn’t raw and scratchy, but a quiet kind of hoarse that Adaine’s familiar with.

“Oh,” Adaine says. “Nothing, never mind, what’s wrong? Aelwyn’s not here right now, you can come in.” Fabian’s shoulders drop a little. Adaine notices the bags under his eyes, the way he’s holding his arm, and asks, “Are you...okay?”

“Of course,” Fabian says, but as charismatic as he is, Adaine knows him well.

“I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong,” Adaine says, because she’s not the nice one of her friend group, and she’s not good at comforting anyone.

Fabian knows her, though. Knows what she’s like, and came here anyway. Or...wait.

“Were you here for Aelwyn?” Adaine asks, stepping aside so he can walk in. Fabian doesn’t answer, which is almost definitely a yes. “I can go get her?”

“No,” Fabian says quickly. “No, it’s--fine.”

Adaine closes the door and walks him towards their new couch. The bed is still new enough that it’s a little sawdusty, and there’s something very weird about sitting with her friend and her sister’s maybe-boyfriend on a bed her sister sleeps in, so. Couch. That’s smart, right? Get him sitting? He seems tired.

“It’s obviously not fine,” she says, too late for it to seem natural, and Fabian chuckles a little. “You don’t have to talk to me, but I’m here.”

Fabian’s quiet for a bit, leaning into the arm of the couch. It bends slightly; Adaine casts Mending and it snaps back into place. Fabian doesn’t wince in pain, so it’s probably not physical.

That’s not great. Adaine can handle physical. (She took a couple classes in medicine, after Aelwyn in the forest, after what it felt like to not be able to help, for all her magic.)

“Cathilda’s a hundred and fifteen years old,” Fabian says eventually.

“Oh,” Adaine says. “That’s still not too old, for a halfling.”

“I’m going to live until I’m 180, probably,” Fabian says, voice dull in a way it hasn’t been since right after Leviathan. Adaine forces herself to think about something other than her lifespan and how it compares to almost two centuries. “I don’t--”

He doesn’t cry. Adaine wouldn’t have told anyone if he did, but he doesn’t. He does stop talking abruptly, take a deep breath.

“I always knew I was going to outlive my father,” Fabian says. “He made sure to tell me often. But Cathilda...I never really thought about her not being in my life.”

“I’m--” Adaine says, and cuts herself off. “I won’t say I’m sorry because that just...falls flat. But if I could change it? I would.”

“That’s what I said,” Fabian says, eyes wide, sitting up suddenly enough that Adaine startles. “Kristen could revivify, and I’m sure soon enough we’ll be able to do true resurrections, and you can polymorph her younger!” (Adaine takes that idea, makes a note of it, thinking of Jawbone and Ayda and everyone, of them with her forever, for as long as she hold them closer.) “She told me she doesn’t--”

Fabian stops talking again.

“Doesn’t what?” Adaine asks after a full minute passes. (She counts, when she’s nervous. A trick Jawbone taught her.)

“I’m her boy,” Fabian says, and even though he’s clearly having a bad day, there’s an undercurrent of pride in that. “But she’s had other children. She wants to see them, one day.”

Adaine shrugs. “We can plane shift to heaven every now and then. She doesn’t have to. You know.”

Fabian nods slowly. “I...suppose I’ll ask her that.”

“I can still get Kristen or Fig if you want to talk to someone more...you know,” Adaine says.

“No,” Fabian says. “I mean, I didn’t come here for--I just wanted to be distracted.”

“Disgusting,” Adaine says. “Horrific. Never say that to me again. I should throw you out the window.”

Fabian laughs. “As if you could.”

“I am strong now,” Adaine reminds him, nudging him gently with her elbow.

“You are,” Fabian says, smiling at her. “But talking to you did help, Adaine.”

“Good,” Adaine says. “I’m glad.”

“Could I crash on this couch tonight?” Fabian asks. “I’d go home but I think Cathilda might need some space. The conversation got rather...hectic.”

“Sure,” Adaine says. “If you do anything with my sister while I’m in here, I swear to Cassandra I will use Adaine’s Furious Fists to punch you both.”

Fabian nods, and says, “A spell from Ayda, hm?”

Without any magic at all, Adaine decks him.

[grumpyhedgehogs]

tangled up in your old bedsheets

Summary:  Fabian wraps Riz in his sheet a lot, The Hangman is strangely jealous all of a sudden, and Riz figures some things out on his own.

~

It takes maybe a lot longer than it should for Fabian to understand exactly what’s happening with the whole “wrapping Riz up in his sheet all the time” thing. In his defense, there’s a lot of shit going down when it first happens. Riz has just been revivified only to be kicked off a fucking cliff by Kalina and the world is in peril and Fabian is stretching, stretching, stretching, to reach Riz before he’s lost to him forever. So when the fire elemental snags the goblin out of the air and kisses his cheek and Fabian curls his best friend into himself, swaddling him like a newborn, the half-elf doesn’t think much of it other than thank the gods you’re alright.

But then it happens again. And again. And again. And no matter what, even when Fabian doles out gifts and aggressively supports all his friends, Riz is the only one who ever seems to end up wrapped in Fabian’s sheet.

Fabian realizes this the summer after sophomore year and then aggressively stops thinking about what it could mean.

~

When the Night Yorb is defeated, Riz dies again. Thankfully Kristen is standing right next to him when he goes down so their rogue isn’t out for long but Fabian feels it deep in his bones. He sees the light go out of Riz’s eyes, watches, like he had just last spring, as his best friend falls, limp, to the ground. He sees him die and is unable to do anything about it. Again.

That evening, they have a bonfire. The final showdown had happened on the beach, where the Night Yorb had been ready to extend its power from the shores of Solace to Leviathan to Fallinel and beyond until the Bad Kids stopped it.

Now, Kristen and Fig are teaching Ayda how to shotgun a beer with mixed results. Adaine and Aelwyn are curled together, Aelwyn already trancing after using every ounce of her abjuration magic to keep her sister from being completely obliterated in the last ten minutes of the battle. Gorgug had almost immediately been mobbed with invasive, uncomfortable relationship advice from the Seven Maidens, who had come to help in the last fight after Riz had cracked the code which revealed the location of the Night Yorb’s power source with Zelda’s help. The half-orc seems fine, if a little overwhelmed by their chattering--Zelda is at least acting as something of a buffer.

Fabian and Riz had been side by side to strike the finishing blow to the Night Yorb when it went down. He’d turned and looked at Riz and had seen the bruises and the blood and the lines of pain in his face and had pulled out his sheet without hesitation. Riz hadn’t even pretended to protest.

Now, as they sit in the shadows, the fire’s light flickering over the bags under Riz’s eyes and the hollows of his cheeks, Fabian doesn’t pretend to resist the urge he has to pull the fabric tighter around Riz, tucking it between his arms and chest so it can’t pull free when the goblin shifts. He’s pressed up against Fabian’s side, half on top of him as Fabian drapes his arms around him and pulls one knee up against his back. His other leg extends out towards the fire and they’d both kicked off their shoes like everyone else had a long time ago. He digs his toes into the cold sand and lets it remind him he’s alive. They have survived.

“You know, I’m not actually that cold,” Riz mutters. His ears are drooping with exhaustion. Fabian hums and leans his chin on the crown of his head. Riz’s hair smells like seasalt. “You could take your blanket back now.”

“Battle sheet,” Fabian corrects absentmindedly. “You uncomfortable?”

“No.” His voice is so soft. He wriggles one hand out of the sheet--Fabian feels an unhappy rumble begin in his chest--and curls his clawed fingers around Fabian's hand, splayed in the sand beside Riz’s sheet-encased hip for balance. Fabian tightened his grip immediately. The rumble dies in his throat. “No, I’m not.”

“Good.” Fabian tugs the sheet just a little more, secures it, and rests.

~

It happens when they’re not in mortal danger or coming down from a battle high, too. The first time Fabian notices it--and when he notices Riz noticing it--is movie night. All the Bad Kids as well as Ragh, Tracker, Ayda and Aelwyn are gathered at Mordred Manor, sprawled over couches and armchairs and across the floor. Fabian is cuddled up to Aelwyn on the couch, Adaine on her other side, when he is chosen to be the first sacrifice in the name of snack refills. Naturally, he tells everyone goodnaturedly that he hates them, and goes.

Fabian isn’t even really thinking about it when he does it.

He comes back and sets the popcorn in Tracker’s lap and hands the sodas out and then he realizes that his spot next to Aelwyn has been filled by Fig, who is sitting with Ayda in her lap and very much not paying attention to the crystal screen. Both Abernant sisters do not look like they appreciate this development, but neither are very likely to say anything in the name of keeping the peace.

So Fabian shrugs and begrudgingly lopes over to the cushy armchair with the winged back where Riz is curled up with his knees to his chest. The Ball looks up, startled, but doesn’t make a sound when Fabian picks him right up, plops down in the armchair and then sets The Ball down beside him. Without even really looking away from the movie, the half-elf digs out his sheet and unfolds it, letting the sparks settle before he spreads it over both of them. Riz is wedged between his left thigh and the armrest, small enough that he doesn’t have to fully sit in Fabian’s lap to share the space. He does have to lean into Fabian’s side to see the screen around him though; Fabian feels more than sees The Ball glance at him out of the corner of his eye. His tail slaps once, twice against Fabian’s side, and Fabian drops his arm onto The Ball’s back in response, quelling the detective’s squirming. The Ball leans harder into his side and mutters to himself.

“What?” Fabian asks, defensive and not really understanding why.

“You know you could’ve just asked to sit down,” Riz says. What he means is, what the fuck, Fabian?

“Can we just watch the movie in peace, please?” Fabian replies. What he means is, please don’t call attention to this.

Riz shuts up. They watch the movie in peace.

Fabian catches Aelwyn looking at him that night, a strange gleam in her eye; it’s the one she gets when she’s mastered an overly complicated piece of magic that’s been elusive for a long time. Fabian shifts, but doesn’t let go of Riz, who is tucked even more tightly into his side as the night wears on, his head on Fabian’s chest and the sheet tangled up between them.

He shakes it off; there’s nothing here for Aelwyn to understand.

Nothing.

~

After that, it’s just an easy way of keeping track of Riz. The rogue has such high sleight of hand and stealth; he’s really a menace to society. Fabian is doing the authorities a favor, honestly. It also helps him get used to how to whip the sheet in a non-lethal capacity, teaches him how hard to snap the fabric around someone’s ankle to send them careening back to their spot on the couch, or how to flick it around their waist to pull them back to his side without leaving bruises. He even gets good enough to snag Riz’s tail and yank him back from the curb when he went to step into the road without looking up from his clues, which is probably the coolest thing Fabian does that week.

Riz complains and pouts and never tells him directly to stop, which he would if it were a real issue. But since he is a gentleman first Fabian asks, just to make sure.

“I don’t--really mind, actually,” Riz says haltingly. The tips of his ears are slowly turning turquoise. Fabian is extremely interested in this development. For science, of course. “It’s nice, knowing--uh, knowing you’re there to, like, catch me. If I fall. Or something. And the elemental keeps the sheet really warm, so. It’s nice. I don’t mind.”

Fabian grins, and something strange and pleasant settles in his chest.

~

The first time he really has to confront the idea that maybe it’s not just Fabian being paranoid about the amount of time he spends wrapping Riz in a sheet is when Aelwyn breaks up with him. It’s been coming for a long time, so obvious it’s like staring down an oncoming train. Aelwyn is trying to be kinder now, has been working on being gentler with people, and so of course she comes to their meeting at the ice cream shop with a delicately worded bullet point list on why they can’t be together anymore.

“And really, we did both acknowledge exactly how unhealthy for each other we are when we got into this,” she finishes, looking up at him over the rims of her new catlike glasses. She and Adaine match now. “I mean, I very explicitly stated how bad an idea this was and you agreed.”

“Yeah,” Fabian says, because he did. It still doesn’t mean it hurts any less.

“Honestly Fabian, sometimes I--I wonder why you even said yes in the first place. It’s not like you don’t have another, probably better, option hanging around all the time.”

He has no fucking idea what that’s supposed to mean. “I have no fucking idea what that’s supposed to mean.”

Aelwyn looks at him, shrewd and calculating, and then sighs. “Men. You’re all so useless.”

“Hey,” Fabian says, halfhearted. She just broke up with him; it’d be nice of her to display a little consideration.

Her mouth presses into a thin line, and even though he knows she’s not happy about this either, Fabian gets the distinct feeling she’s laughing at him. Just a little. “How come you never wrap me in your sheet?”

“Wh-what?”

“You always wrap Riz in your battle sheet. Constantly. I’ve counted three times this week, Fabian, and it’s only Thursday. How come you never wrap me in your precious battle sheet? I was your girlfriend up until this moment, wasn’t I?”

“I have no idea what The Ball has to do with you breaking up with me,” Fabian tells her honestly.

“Everything, my dear.” Aelwyn says as she stands and tosses a five dollar bill on their table in Basrar’s. “Absolutely everything. Think about it.”

~

The Ball has nothing to do with this.

“You have nothing to do with this.” Fabian tells him when Riz rushes into his room in Seacaster Manor, armed with dvds and ice cream and a grim expression Fabian recognizes from the moment before he ate Kalvaxus’s face off.

“Well if you didn’t want me here why did you call me?” Riz asks, looking affronted. He takes a step towards the door but wavers, looking back and forth between the hallway beyond and Fabian’s teary, red face. “Look, I wanna help, but if you need some time alone--”

“No! That’s not what I meant.” Fabian flaps one arm at him frantically. “I just-- it’s just stupid, never mind, just get over here, The Ball.”

Riz dumps the items in his arms and bounds over, sympathy leaking over his expression. He stops by the foot of the bed which is too far away and Fabian would roll his eyes and whip the sheet out for him if he weren’t already wrapped up in it and trying not to look like he’s been crying for the past hour and a half. He has not. He has only been crying for an hour and twenty minutes, thank you very much.

“I’m really sorry, Fabian,” Riz says, soft and kind and what Fabian needs to hear and what he wants none of at the same time. “I know you really like Aelwyn.”

Something in The Ball’s expression shifts, a little, drops down and gets even more serious and Fabian feels that instinctive, commonplace need to know more about him. Fabian fails an insight roll though, and shakes his head. He reaches out again. “Just, just come here, The Ball, gods--”

“I’m standing right next to you--” is all The Ball can get out before he lets out a high little yelp and gets lifted into the air. He’s so light Fabian can manhandle him onto the mattress and into the sheet with one arm. Fabian wonders if he’s getting enough to eat, if he’s spiraling in his office too much, if he hasn’t been sleeping lately. After the Night Yorb incident, he and The Ball had slept in the same bed on and off, on the promise to wake each other up when they had nightmares. It was a terrible few weeks.

The only thing Fabian misses, he admits to himself as he sets The Ball down on the mattress next to him and drapes half of the sheet across his shoulders, is the warmth he woke up to every morning. Riz is a familiar, reassuring weight against Fabian’s side; he didn’t realize after the nightmares went away and The Ball started sleeping over on the weekends rather than every night how much he would miss this.

Riz is, as always, game once he realizes what the plan is. He curls up under the sheet with a familiarity that makes the pressure in Fabian’s cracked chest ease just a little. He wraps his arms around Fabian’s middle and his tail flicks up to curl loosely around Fabian’s wrist where his arm is hooked around The Ball’s shoulders. The sheet is soft as cream and silvery in the low light as it folds around them both; it is on autopilot that Fabian takes the edges of the sheet and tucks them around his friend, until they are nothing more than a weirdly shaped lump of fabric.

“I’m supposed to comfort you right now, not the other way around,” The Ball points out, humor coloring his tone even as he keeps his voice low. Fabian leans harder against him and Riz grunts.

“You are,” Fabian says. “You are.”

He’s not okay, but he will be.

~

Fabian gets over Aelwyn relatively quickly, which should probably be a sign of how serious he actually was about her. But there’s still something strange in not looking forward to meeting her now, after a year of striving to get information on her, a year of striving to get her out of prison, a year of striving to come off as anything besides an awkward teenage boy when she kisses him. It leaves Fabian at a bit of a loose end.

So, naturally, he makes it The Ball’s problem. Or not-problem. It’s more like a solution. He is the solution to The Ball’s depressing self-care mystery. The Ball, it is unsurprising to note, is terrible at taking care of himself. Fabian, on the other hand, has literally trained all his life to protect and fight for others; he’s gotten very good at turning this innate urge into making sure The Ball eats enough and sleeps enough and takes a goddamn break every once in a while.

Case in point.

“Come on, The Ball,” Fabian whines. “This place is honestly so depressing, you reek, and I know for a fact you haven’t slept in three days. It is time to go home.”

“My mom asked me to help her, Fabian,” Riz says. He doesn’t turn to look at Fabian when he speaks, nimble fingers spidering across a map of Elmville he has set up on the wall. There are strings of different colors connecting seemingly random locations together, but Fabian does not doubt they make sense to The Ball. It must be a serious case, anyway; The Ball only loses his hat and tie when it’s serious business. “I can’t give up now.”

“It’s not giving up. Why do you always have to assume that stopping for a little while makes everything worse?”

“Sure feels like it.”

Okay. Time to pull out the big guns. Fabian takes a deep breath and prays Riz won’t hate him for this tomorrow. “Your mom is worried about you. Again.”

Riz’s head jerks around sharply enough that Fabian winces. There’s a sharp crack and Fabian watches as the ink from the broken pen in Riz’s clawed hand drips to the hardwood. Ah, well. That’s the least horrible thing that’s stained this floor. When the detective turns to him Fabian takes a hasty step back. The slits of his eyes dilate wildly, shrinking and growing in size rapidly.

“Did you,” Riz asks deliberately slowly, “just try to use my mom against me?”

“It’s true,” Fabian protests weakly. “She sent me here when I asked where you were. She thought you were with me anyway and she got really mad when she figured out you were still working. You gotta learn to take breaks, man.”

Just like that, Riz deflates. His shoulders relax from where they’ve been hunched around his ears since Fabian walked in and his hackles lower. He scrubs a hand through his hair, leaving trails of blue ink through the strands; Fig would probably call it a look . “I hate when I make her worry.”

“You make everyone worry,” Fabian says without thinking, before backpedaling like a champ at Riz’s scandalized look. “Wait! No! I didn’t--it’s just that you make her-- and me-- but you don’t mean to so it’s fine. Is it hot in here? I feel like it’s hot in here. We should go. Let’s go.”

“You worry about me?”

It’s the quiet way The Ball says it, quiet in the way he hasn’t heard often since the Nightmare King’s Forest, that makes Fabian square his shoulders and set his jaw in determination. He rolls initiative on a surprise round and succeeds. Nat twenty.

“Right.” Fabian declares, and reaches into his jacket. “We’re doing this.”

“What?” Riz’s eyes widen a second later, though, because his insight is crazy high and even his passive rolls are ridiculous. “Aw, no, Fabian, you don’t need to get the sheet out. I don’t need the sheet!”

“It’s too late. It’s already over.”

“Oh come on man, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“It's inescapable,” Fabian flourishes as the sheet unwinds and dances before him, obscuring The Ball’s view of him. “You’ve brought this on yourself.”

Between one blink and the next, Fabian has thrown the sheet about his best friend, movements fluid and expert from so much practice. He’s sure to leave Riz’s inky hand free, but he takes care to bundle his legs into the sheet. Fabian wraps one end of the sheet around the unoccupied arm before pulling it across his body gently and tucks the other end over his chest in the opposite direction before securing the free edge between Riz’s back and his own chest.

Riz is still so light in his arms as Fabian hoists him right off the ground and into a princess carry. Riz squawks and waves his one free hand in Fabian’s face, which makes Fabian grimace and lean back. Ink splatter across the desk.

“Spring break,” Fabian says. He meets Riz’s dark eyes, something in his gut sparking and fluttering and warming him all the way to his toes. “I believe in you.”

“Spring break, I believe in you,” Riz repeats, laughing and accepting the bardic inspiration before rolling his eyes. “It’s nearly winter, you dolt.” It makes something soft in Fabian curl up tight in his chest to hear his best friend laugh, to feel it reverberate in his own arms, in his own bones, and Fabian grins right back.

“The sentiment still stands. Just because you mess up every now and then doesn’t mean that you’re a bad son, The Ball. You’re just so passionate and conscientious and you want to make sure you do your work right the first time so no one gets hurt on your watch. That’s a noble thing to do. Your mom and me worrying about your well-being doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person; it’s just a sign of how much we love you.”

Fabian takes the stairs down to the parking lot as he speaks, focusing more on his feet than Riz’s face, because if he does focus on Riz and his wide eyes and the way his pupils are really fucking dilated right now and how his dumb hair is slicked back with ink and the way his ears are twitching and how he smells like coffee beans and old newspapers, the something in his gut will come up to his chest and constrict around his heart and then he’ll do something really stupid like lean in and--

Nope! Not dealing! Fabian gets his kisses in-- got his kisses in--enough already. No need to deal with all-- this.  

But then Fabian finishes his speech and The Ball makes a strange squeaking noise, and his hand comes to ball up under his own chin, and his eyes are still very wide and his face is so soft and he’s biting his lip, fuck.

Fabian’s hands are sweaty and he nearly fumbles his handful as he comes down hard off the last step, rolling a natural two on his athletics. He curses.

Sire! Are you alright? I will destroy the very stones which mock your footing until they are nothing but dust!

I’m fine, Hangman. Just tripped.

Shall we be escorting The Ball home, then?

“You can let me down now,” Riz says at that exact moment, just as Fabian goes to confirm with his bike. Whatever his expression meant before, the jolt seems to have knocked some sense into him before Fabian could roll insight, and the goblin shifts in his arms. Fabian tightens his grip reflexively, and Riz settles. “You don’t have to take me home.”

“Don’t have to?” Fabian repeats dumbly. Of course he has to! The Ball is his--his--The Ball is capable and brilliant, yes, but he is small and a rogue and Fabian is a martial class. He should be here, to make sure that The Ball is safe.

What do you mean we’re not taking The Ball home? The Hangman howls in the back of his mind. Fabian one hundred percent agrees with the bewildered sentiment.

“I have a bus pass now, I was going to take it home tonight anyway. You’re on the other side of town from me, so you'd just be going out of your way.”

Master! The Hangman exclaims, engines revving. The Ball must not stoop so low as to take the bus!

This is another development that Fabian didn’t really realize was happening until after the fact; The Hangman, for whatever reason, has gotten weirdly possessive of Riz. They’ve given more rides to the detective than the rest of the Bad Kids combined. The Hangvan has been the subject of more than a few arguments.

We are much more capable of protecting The Ball than this bus, Sire. With your battle sheet and my infernal soul, we will be an impenetrable defense!

Fabian isn’t sure what they’re defending Riz against, but he’s not going to disagree with The Hangman. They can protect Riz much better if he comes with them.

“The Hangman is right here, The Ball,” Fabian scoffs. “Don’t be silly. Just get on the bike.”

The Ball opens his mouth like he’s thinking of protesting but he’s also forgetting two very important facts: Fabian has eight points of Strength on him and has him wrapped in his battle sheet, effectively grappled. He hasn't got a chance unless he wants to take the fall damage from wrenching himself away from Fabian, which he would never do. Riz trusts Fabian.

A soft, golden glow starts up in Fabian’s chest at the thought. The Ball should trust Fabian. Fabian--Fabian wants to keep The Ball safe and warm and cared for, and like this, wrapped snugly in Fabian’s regard, The Ball is all of those things. It means a lot--so, so much--that The Ball trusts Fabian to provide this for him.

Okay, Fabian is getting off track again.

“You’re getting on the bike,” Fabian declares imperiously, and plops The Ball down on the seat before sliding on in front of him. He waits, The Hangman revving below them, until he feels The Ball curl up against his back. His arms worm their way around Fabian’s waist and his sharp chin digs into his shoulder; something in the half-elf loosens and expands and the warm glow gets brighter.

They’re silent on the drive home; he can feel Riz curl up tighter against the wind and the sheet flutters around the two of them. Sparks flicker across the fabric, retaining warmth against the night’s coming chill. Fabian purposefully drives slowly, lets the time tick by as Riz presses warm up against his back, safe and sound and wrapped in Fabian’s protection, with Fabian’s bardic inspiration flowing through him. He also purposefully does not consider why this is so very important to him.

It is only when they stop outside Riz’s apartment and he disembarks--The Hangman lets out a low rev of his engine, almost like a purr-- that they break the soft silence that’s descended.

“Back at my office,” Riz starts, faltering, as he hands the sheet back. “You said--you love me?”

Panic bursts like fireworks in Fabian’s chest. “Wh-uh?” He says. “Uh. Uh. You have ink in your hair.”

Then Fabian makes a tactical decision and runs the fuck away. It is not his best moment. (However, since Chungle-Down Bim isn’t there, it’s also not his worst.)

~

He is not avoiding The Ball. He is regrouping, coming up with a strategic return and possibly a retaliation for whatever weird, confusing, warm feelings Riz keeps setting fire to in his chest. This is strategy. This is war.

This, frankly, sucks. So much.

The Ball has called four times in the past week before giving up abruptly on Wednesday. It is Sunday afternoon. They usually spend Saturday night watching movies or going to Basrar’s together and then take Sunday to spar (for Fabian) and go over the latest town mystery (for Riz). They have done neither of these things; they also have not texted, spoken or passed each other on the street. Riz is supposed to come over for homework and hot chocolate on weekdays in the winter. He’s supposed to give The Ball rides home every day, to make sure he doesn’t have to walk home in the rain or snow. They’re supposed to be together--

And Fabian has no one to blame for their separation but himself. It twists his gut, seeing The Ball light up his phone so much before the calls stop and he’s left with nothing but unending silence. He can’t seem to stop trying to catch a glimpse of him in the halls at Aguefort, looking for a briefcase or a flat cap, anything, anything. But In the end, he’s the one avoiding The Ball. He’s the one not answering his phone.

He’s the one with weird feelings in his chest.

This cannot, Fabian realizes, possibly go on. He’s having trouble sleeping, and when he does he’s gone back to having nightmares about Riz falling during the Night Yorb debacle. He needs to sort this out, fast.

But Riz is a rogue and so his stealth rolls win out every damn time against Fabian’s perception, and  throughout the next week there’s no time between classes to catch him and he’s nowhere to be found at lunch.

Adaine doesn’t seem too happy with Fabian either, and hasn’t since this weekend. Riz must have said something to her about him, but she relents easily enough when she sees his frantic expression.

“He’s been skipping class to work on that case with his mom for a couple days,” she says. “He--doesn’t really want to see you that much, Fabian.”

It feels like his heart breaks at that, but Fabian smiles winningly anyway. “Who wouldn’t want to see me? I’m Fabian Aramais Seacaster.”

“Son of Bill Seacaster, yeah I know,” Adaine finishes, and at least she’s got that fond exasperation back. “Look, I don’t know what happened between you two, Fabian, but you’ve got to fix it. I can’t take Riz moping around much longer. He’s been insufferable.”

“Leave it to me,” Fabian says with more confidence than he’s feeling, and peels out of the parking lot with a roar from The Hangman.

He thinks maybe things are going to be okay, somehow; he’ll make a suitably dramatic entrance, and he’ll say all the right things to get Riz to forget that Fabian had some kind of crisis for a week and change and didn’t bother to let his best friend in on it and they’ll go back to Seacaster Manor and watch dumb B-movies and everything will be fine and Fabian won’t have to confront this weird thing growing perilously close to his heart.

And then he steps into Riz’s office and faces reality.

“What do you want?” Fabian winces at the flat tone of Riz’s voice, the way his eyes won’t meet Fabian’s, the way he’s crossed his arms over his chest and hunched in on himself.

“I--well--uh, that is--” Fabian pauses, breathes. “I just thought I’d check up on you, since last time I was here you were about to fall asleep on your feet. I heard you were working too late again.”

Riz’s mouth is a flat, thin line. “That’s what you want to talk about? My work habits?”

“Well--I--work-life balance is a very real, serious thing, The Ball. Not everyone can be as healthy and committed to self-care as I am. I thought I would help you out, like always.” This is the part where the movie hero would puff out his chest and the girl would fawn all over him and they’d live happily ever after. Fabian doesn’t really feel up to puffing out his chest when Riz’s eyes go hard and flinty like that.

“It didn’t really seem like you cared about my self-care when you were refusing to acknowledge you loved me.”

Oh. Oh.

And that’s just it, isn’t it? The last piece of the puzzle slots into place, and Fabian is absurdly glad Aelwyn isn’t here to cast Detect Thoughts and laugh at his misery as he realizes what she knew practically from the start. Because he’d said it before--toxic masculinity is over. He’s in touch with his emotions now, and he loves his friends and he’d had a hard time showing it or saying it in the beginning but these days his affirmations roll off his tongue like so much honey so why has he had such a hard time with The Ball?

Of course. Of course he loves Riz. It’s--it’s not even that much of a revelation somehow; it’s like he always knew somewhere deep in his soul that they’d end up like this, with Riz being brilliant and brave and kind and Fabian loving him and loving him and loving him. Admitting it to himself, for how hard it has been to see it clearly in the first place, is easy. It’s like saying the sky is blue or Arthur Aguefort is insane. It’s just a fact. Fabian Aramais Seacaster loves Riz Gukgak.

He’s in love with this strange little goblin man and he’s been so dumb about it.

“Okay, okay,” Fabian says, more to himself than The Ball. What happens now? What is he supposed to do? Should he just come out and say it? Or, no, Riz might think he’s joking, or trying to smooth things over. He'd hate it if Riz thought Fabian didn’t mean it the very first time Fabian says those words. Besides, they’re having an argument--a real one, which he doesn’t think they’ve ever had--and this is so not the time. No, he'll tell him after this is over, when they’ve made up and Fabian has taken care of Riz because he does really look like hell, all bags under his eyes and stiff limbs. He needs to apologize, probably, and then get The Ball somewhere safe and warm and comfortable and then he needs to do something grand and dramatic and then he can tell Riz Gukgak he’s in love with him.

“Look, I’m sorry, alright?” It comes out sharper than he intends, but he’s dealing with wave after wave of astonishment and fear and love and he could use a bit of a break, to be honest. “Can we just forget it?” He has to get this over with to get to the next step of his foolproof, ten second plan to woo The Ball in which nothing can possibly go wrong.

“Forget it?” Riz repeats, incredulous. This is not at all going the way Fabian needs it to go. “You want me to forget the time you took back saying you loved me--when you haven’t even called me your best friend, yet--and drove off and then didn’t talk to me for a week? That’s something you think can just be forgotten? You left Fabian!”

“The Ball--Riz--”

“I’m not just going to let this go, Fabian. No. But if you think that I’m just something to be so easily swept to the side and then picked up again when you feel like it, then--then--great! Great. I see clearly now where I stand with you.”

“Okay,” Fabian declares, because enough really is enough, “it’s sheet time.”

“No, Fabian!”

Riz has never raised his voice outside of crazy group antics before. Not to Fabian, at least. The sheet flutters out of his fingers as Fabian stares, open-mouthed. His chest is cracking again, like it did after Aelwyn broke up with him, but this is worse now; this crack is not just a hairline or a fissure, but a damn canyon. It feels like someone reached inside his ribcage and scooped his heart out.

Riz’s mouth twists and he hugs himself tighter, looking as miserable as Fabian feels. “I don’t want your goddamn sheet, okay? I don’t--I don’t need you to act like I’m some kind of burden or--or--”

“A burden--The Ball--”

“Or calling me The Ball all the time!” Riz’s voice rises again. His fists are clenched now. “I’m--I’m sick of you wrapping me up like a little kid. I’m not a baby, okay? I can take care of myself. I'm fine on my own.”

“Riz,” Fabian tries again, weakly. This can’t happen. Not now. Not to them.

“I think it’s best if you leave now,” Riz says grimly, and turns his back. He doesn’t look around when Fabian closes the door softly behind him.

~

“I’m sorry.”

Fabian blinks.

He and The Ball only had their fight two hours ago; he’d got on The Hangman and ignored the bike's probing questions, and gone home and cried and then he’d gotten up and done what he’d thought Riz would do in his place. He made a clue board.

First on the board is the picture of himself and Riz taken the night the Night Yorb was defeated; Fig had snapped a shot without them knowing, of the two of them talking in the firelight, Fabian craning his neck to look down at a swaddled, comfortable looking Riz who was looking up at him, mouth open seemingly in mid-sentence. His hair is in his face and Fabian always looks at it and remembers how seconds afterward he’d reached up and pushed the curls out of Riz’s eyes gently. That was the end of the summer--it’s the middle of winter now. He’s been in love with his best friend at least since then, maybe before.

Next on the board is his half of the best friend necklace; he’d actually stolen it out of Riz’s briefcase on their way to fight the Nightmare King. It was after Fallinel, when he was getting back to himself, reinventing how he saw the world. He’d wanted to know--to have something, just a small thing, that reminded Fabian who really loved him. And Riz had been there.

So. Maybe he was a little in love with Riz back then, too.

The third clue was actually absent from the board, but Fabian writes it on a post-it note and sticks that there in its place; my old letter jacket. He’d gotten a new one when he’d been on the team in the beginning of sophomore year; he’d filled out too much, built up enough muscle from practice that he hadn’t been able to keep using the one his father gave him freshman year. He’d given it to The Ball because he was complaining of the cold one day and then just. Never bothered to take it back.

Riz wears it to his games sometimes. It makes Fabian--feel. Certain things. It’s fine.

The final clue is, of course, the sheet. He almost doesn’t bother pinning that one up either, since it’s pretty fucking obvious. Aelwyn could see it all just from the way he wrapped Riz up in his sheet, after all; he really doesn't need to rest of his clues to figure this out. But there’s something soothing in this, in looking at the world the way he knows Riz looks at it.

He’s just working himself up to maybe crying again when Cathilda knocks on his door and lets Riz quietly into the room.

“What?” Fabian says, because what?

Riz is biting his lip, which is entirely too distracting, when he speaks again. “I was--unfair. And a dick. And I've been--going through some stuff and I put all that on you, and I’m sorry, man. You didn’t deserve that.”

“No, I--I mean, I’m sorry too. I mean--you don’t need to be sorry, because I should be sorry. I just left you hanging and then spaced on you and I didn’t even tell you why, I just wanted to go back to normal. So I’m the one who’s sorry and you can’t take that from me. I’ll fight you if you try, just so you know. Stop being sorry.”

And just like that, the corners of Riz’s mouth turn up which is a relief because Fabian love him and just figured out that he’s maybe been in love with him for over a year, but he also knows that even before he knew he was in love he’d have done just about anything to make sure Riz never looked as sad as he does right now. He’d kill to put a smile on Riz’s face.

“I don’t think you can just have a monopoly on apologizing, Fabian,” Riz says and the way his name sounds out of The Ball’s mouth, gods, how did Fabian not realize this sooner? “I’ve just been--I’ve been dealing with a lot and you’re my best friend, man, and I just...It sucks not talking to you.”

“Yeah,” Fabian agrees. “It really fucking does.”

And then, opening his arms tentatively, “Can I?”

Riz’s face twists horribly then, and Fabian’s heart has just enough time to sink to his stomach before Riz throws himself into Fabian’s arms. Fabian holds him and holds him and doesn’t ever want to let go now, he’s got Riz and he’s pressing his face into Riz’s hair and lifting him up and holding him close to his chest and Riz is wrapping his arms around Fabian’s shoulders, claws scratching at the back of Fabian’s neck, he’s whispering into that twitching ear, “I’ve got you, I’ve got you, I’ve got you, it’s okay, I’ve got you,” and he loves and loves and loves and he doesn’t know if it’s supposed to hurt so sweetly but it does.

“I’m sorry, gods, I’m sorry,” Riz babbles into his shoulder and Fabian wants to tell him to stop but he’d have to interrupt to do that and he can’t, not when he knows Riz has such a hard time with the idea that his friends don’t listen to him. He folds at the knees instead, takes Riz with him to the ground and cradles him like something precious because that’s what The Ball is and has always been, precious and so important and, if he has his way, Fabian’s. “I’m sorry I acted like you didn’t care, I know you do, I just don’t want to ever make you feel like you have to do everything for me, like I’m weak or less than or like I don't get that you have other things, other people to take care of--”

And then Fabian does interrupt because like hell is he letting this slide. “Stop it, stop, I know you’re strong and you’re brave and you’re so smart, Riz, gods, you’re brilliant. I just-- I wanna take care of you, I know I don’t have to but I want to, I love to, I love you, I'm in love with you and I want to take care of you, please.”

It’s only when Riz rears his head back that Fabian realizes what just came tumbling out of his mouth.

“Oh, shit. Uh--I wasn’t supposed to say that yet.”

“Yet?” Riz squeaks and fuck it, Fabian decides. Fuck it all. In for a penny, in for a dime.

“Yeah, yet,” Fabian rushes. His fingers clench and release the fabric over Riz’s spine rhythmically and he can feel the goblin shivering against his chest and without thinking Fabian pulls down his sheet and wraps them both in it. Riz’s skin stands out dark and forest green against the silvery material and he hopes he likes it, hopes it is soft and warm against the thin, fragile surface of Riz’s cheek because Riz is so good and Fabian loves him and he deserves nice things. “I--I was gonna make a plan and strategize and not tell you until I’ve done at least three heroic deeds in your name, dude. I had so many ideas.”

“Ideas?” Riz’s voice is faint.

Fabian nods solemnly. “There were also schematics for a dramatic duel on the clifftops, but we’ve already done that a couple times, so I scrapped it.”

“Too much of a Nightmare King-Night Yorb repeat.”

“Yeah,” Fabian nods. “Exactly. So uh. Just. If you could pretend I haven’t said that yet, I can get on the heroic deeds and we can revisit this. Conversation. Uh, later.”

“Right,” Riz says, nodding slowly too. “Or we could, like, do it right now. Since I'm in love with you too and everything.”

Fabian’s brain stops working.

“Oh.”

“'Oh?' That’s it?”

“I, uh, didn’t plan for this.”

“You didn’t plan for me maybe liking you back? Dude, everybody knows already.”

Fabian draws further away at that, blinking wildly. (His hands stay on Riz’s hip and back because he’s got him now, he’s got him, Riz is in his home and his arms and his heart and wrapped in Fabian’s protection and he’s never leaving if Fabian has anything to say about it.) “Everyone?”

Riz scuffs the back of his neck and his ears are turning turquoise again. “Uh, yeah, man. Adaine told me if I complain about how much I like your eyes to her one more time she’s gonna get Fig to hex me. I um, I thought maybe you were doing the whole sheet thing to, like, let me down easy. Make me see you didn’t think of me as more than like, a kid or someone who needs your help or something.”

“Oh my gods. That is so dumb,” Fabian blurts, because what the fuck, The Ball, seriously. “That is so dumb The Ball. You’re so dumb.”

“Gee, thanks. I really feel like you love me right now, just so you know. Just overwhelming amounts of love pouring out right now.”

“Oh shut up.” Fabian says, laughing. “I wrap you in my sheet because I love you, The Ball. Like, more than I think I’ve ever liked anyone. It’s how Aelwyn knew we were over.”

“Huh?”

“She broke up with me and told me I never wrapped her in my sheet because I was always doing that to you.” Fabian explains, not even bothering to be embarrassed. “Because I've been in love with you for like, forever, man. She just realized it first because I always wanted to use the sheet on you and not my own girlfriend.”

“Oh,” Riz replies, sounding breathless. All things considered, Fabian’s going to take that as a good sign. He leans in now, presses his forehead to the crook of Riz’s neck, and breathes. Riz smells like newspaper and ink and old coffee and Fabian loves him so much. He tilts his head, nosing at the detective’s collar, and slides his lips over warm skin. He lets his teeth catch there, just a hint. “Oh.”

And then, before Fabian can even move, Riz’s hand is in his hair, tangled up in the strands, and he says, very fast, “By the way I’m demisexual, it’s on the asexuality spectrum and I was also being weird because I didn’t know how to deal with how attracted I am to you!”

“Okay,” Fabian says easily, drawing back. “Do you want to have a conversation about it? Because I don’t think I’m your guy for that, but we could go to the LGBT group meeting with Kristen next week and see if they have any resources. Jawbone could probably help too.”

Riz’s pupils are dilating slowly and his mouth hangs open before he snaps out of it. He looks less miserable now but still unsure and it’s not a good look on him. Fabian desperately wants to erase it. “That’s it? You’re not--you don’t think I’m weird?”

“Of course you’re weird, The Ball, but not for that. Besides, I think starting a relationship--we are starting a relationship, right--” Riz nods frantically, the beginnings of a grin forming, and Fabian pauses to lean in and press his mouth to the corner of Riz’s, “with the only problem being you don’t know what to do with all the insanely hot attraction you have for me is, like, the opposite of a hardship, dude.”

He stops then, considers, and then something terrible occurs to Fabian. He pulls even farther back and splays his fingers across Riz’s chest, feels his heart rabbiting there under his fingertips, and says quickly, “Not that I need you to have any kind of--any of that kind of attraction to me, Riz. I’d be okay, you know, with just this. Although you may have to tell me how hot I am from time to time. For, you know, moral support.”

Tension seems to drain out of Riz, has been since Fabian first started speaking, and this time it’s his turn to lean in and brush his lips across Fabian’s mouth. Fabian lets out a breath, takes in the scent of old newsprint and coffee and realizes he could die happy here. “You are, in fact, very hot, Fabian. And--thank you. For understanding. I might--I’m not super interested in sex, but. It’s a maybe. If you’d like it to be, for the future.”

“Of course I would, you’re incredibly attractive. But it’s not that big a deal,” Fabian says, and he picks them both up off the floor.

The sheet comes with them, sparks playing along the skin of his forearms but never burning him as he sets Riz down on the mattress because Riz is good and perfect and loves Fabian and deserves better than to sit on the floor. He doesn’t hesitate like he usually would now, and curls up around Riz, pulls the sheet over them both, encases them and pulls Riz close, closer, closest. “I love you. I’m probably not going to stop saying it now, just so you know. I’m going to be very annoying about it.”

Riz reaches up and brushes his claws lightly over Fabian’s brow and his smile is so soft something in Fabian melts. “It’s a good thing I love you then, or I’d never be able to put up with it.”

[9r7g5h]

Teach to Learn, Learn to Teach

Fandom: Fantasy High

Rating: T

Genre: General/Friendship

Summary: Ragh and Tracker both have a lot to learn from each other. 

Words: 3269

AN: So, the topic of Ragh taking a level in cleric and Tracker taking a level in barbarian came up on tumblr, and I was so intrigued I had to write something for these gaybies. It will probably be three parts, one focusing on Ragh, one on Tracker, and one about them going home, or something like that. Just enjoy chapter one. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Fantasy High.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

They had both known, when Tracker first brought up her goal to Ragh, that it would be rough going. Fallinel wasn't the most welcoming of outsiders as it was, though at least High Elf decorum granted adventurers safe passage, so long as they weren't causing issues. But causing issues was the entire reason they were there, and Ragh's official adventurer certification he had received at graduation only did so much when he was helping Tracker constantly shoulder her way into temples of Galilea, trying to turn back the carefully placed lies the high priests had said to turn their goddess away from her wilder ways. 

The fact that she was actually making headway with the younger elves, the ones who saw how prim and proper their elders were and balked against that fate, only made things even worse for them. Add in the newly formed 'Pack of Galilea,' younger elves who not only wanted to worship the wild of the night but become wolves themselves, their leader constantly trying to convince Tracker to bite her so she could turn the rest of her pack and give more strength to the wild form of the goddess they loved, and, well. 

Honestly, they really should have expected something like this. Should have expected that the high priest would deem her a problem. Should have expected him to decide to end it. Should have expected him to know that only silver could hurt a werewolf, and armed the elf he had hired to do his will properly. 

Had they expected it, maybe she wouldn't be gasping in the back of their van, the silver poisoning from the arrow still stuck deep in her side seeping into her veins while Ragh tried to avoid the trees, putting distance between them and where they had been attacked. Had they expected it, maybe she would have cast Moon Haven earlier, ensuring their safety. Had they expected it, maybe they wouldn't have been goofing off, listening to music and chatting while their dinner cooked. 

Maybe, maybe, maybe she wouldn't be dying before she got to see Kristen again. 

"Ok, I think I lost them." 

She wasn't sure when Ragh finally pulled the van over, or how long it had been or how far they had gone, just that now he was besides her, talking. A knife in his hand, cutting through her second favorite shirt (damn them for that), pulling the cloth away from the wound. 

"Sorry sis, this is gonna hurt."

She barely felt him cut into her skin - the head hadn't gone all the way through, couldn't be broken off and the shaft pulled out, it had to be cut out and stitched up - but she did feel as he began to pull it out, the silver arrowhead brushing against the dying skin, making her howl in pain as everything within her wanted to flee. Flee the pain, the sheer burning agony of every single one of her cells dying, flee into the night and the moonlight until she could curl up somewhere that felt and smelt like home. 

But then it was gone. The silver was gone, she could think again, and though everything hurt, she could focus on Ragh's words. 

"Shit shit shit sorry sis, I had to get it out, shit. Fuck, god damn it, what was next? Think, Ragh, you know this." His voice fell to muttering for a bit as he pressed a cloth to the wound, looking through the medical kit. She wanted to say something, give him a hint or encouragement, but she was so tired. "Sterilize it, fuck, that's right! Where are you, you tiny little shit, you're hiding better then Riz to get out of PE... there you are!" He held up a small bottle triumphantly, used his teeth to undo the top, and splashed a generous portion directly into the wound. 

Tracker thankfully passed out immediately, her thoughts a dozen swirls of pain and Galilea thanking her for her efforts and wanting nothing more then to just sleep. 

It was morning when she next woke up. Her tank top had been replaced with a sports jersey, her side covered with enough bandages that she was almost sure she now classified as a large creature instead of medium, and the smell of burning fish covered everything else. Her stomach growled, despite the acrid smoke, and that was enough to get her moving, sluggishly kicking open the door to see what kind of trouble Ragh was in now. 

He was, surprisingly, doing well for himself. He had built a decent fire pit, had managed to grab a dozen fish or so from a nearby river, and only two of them seemed to have caught fire. The others actually looked amazing, and before she could even think the actual thought, she had grabbed one, sinking her teeth into the flesh, ravenous. 

Ragh just chuckled. "Good morning to you too, sis. I'm so glad you're ok. I was worried I was going to have to call Kristen and give her bad news, and honestly, your girlfriend scares me."

She couldn't help but laugh through her mouthful of fish, forcing it down so she could respond in a timely manner. 

"Full honestly, and I'll kill you if you ever tell her? She scares me a little bit too. Love her, but she has some weird shit going on with the gods that's just on a whole nother level."

She had been sleeping for two days. Ragh had done the best he could, keeping her comfortable and hydrated, just glad he had remembered enough from his mandatory healing class to stabilize her. He didn't know enough to actually heal, he had spent too much of the class mooning over a cute cleric guy in the front row, but cutting out arrows used knives, so he remembered that at least. 

"I just always relied on having a cleric," he admitted with a shrug. "Never thought much more about it."

"You thought enough to save me," Tracker pointed out, resting her non-cash covered hand on his shoulder. "Thank you." 

It took another day for her spells to come back, her energy finally high enough after gorging on fish and the few rabbits Ragh caught to finally cast a healing hand on herself. Ragh watched with a new found fascination as she unwrapped the wound, showing his shoddy stitches to keep her held together, only for the silvery light to flow from her hand, popping out the stitches and leaving her with healed, slightly pink skin. 

"Sis, you gotta teach me how to do that."

A raised eyebrow, a glance over at him as he half reached out, as if he wanted to touch her newly healed wound to make sure it was truly one, a tilt of her head as she waited for him to continue. He didn't, instead his skin flushing a deeper green as he shuffled his feet. 

"You want to become a healer?"

Ragh just shrugged, rubbing at the back of his head. They both needed to get haircuts soon, Tracker noticed and mentally filed away, watching as he felt the longer hair tickling the back of his neck and tried to move it away. Her own shaved side was growing out as well, much to her annoyance, though she quickly shook her head, forcing away the random thoughts as she looked back at her friend. 

"I know I'm not that smart," Ragh muttered, giving a shrug as if his lower intelligence score wasn't that big of a deal to him, "but even doing my best, there wasn't much I could do to help after, you know." He waved towards her and the pile of bloody gauze next to her. "I've never had to take care of someone before, someone else always did that, but now it's just the two of us, sis. What if it's worse next time? I don't know about all this religion stuff, but I've thought about it a lot over the last few days, and while I'm still gonna be the tank, it might help if I can also help take care of us." 

She wasn't sure what he was expecting, but Tracker could tell he wasn't expecting her to lean over and pull him into a giant bear hug, only to pull back a few moments later and punch him in the arm. 

"Don't sell yourself so short, big guy," Tracker said sternly, waggling a finger at him. "You kept me alive, which is the best thing you could have done. As for the healing, well, do you have a god in mind?"

Ragh immediately perked up, a half grin as he began to think. It would be a process, they would both soon find out - when he had come up blank, she had immediately begun with the most obvious of the gods: Cassandra and Galilea. Going over the pros, the cons, how both goddesses would easily accept him, though Cassandra might be a bit happier about it then Galilea was. But, eventually, neither of them just felt right to him, which was the most important thing. 

And so began their side quest - finding Ragh a god. 

"What about Tempus, god of war," Tracker asked one evening, gutting fish by the fireside as Ragh attempted to mend a hole in his shirt. "A neutral god, popular with a lot of fighters." 

It took him a long moment to answer, the tip of his tongue poking out from between his lips as he tried to keep his stitches straight. Tying off the line, he gave a small shrug. 

"Nah. I'm not much of a war guy. I like bashing heads, not overthrowing other governments for whatever reason I come up with, yah know?" 

“What about Gruumsh,” Ayda asked a few days later, pulling out the many goods she had brought from Riz’s borrowed suitcase of holding. She didn’t come often - Tracker had made it clear that this was her mission, and while all of their friends were ready to come the moment she said she needed help, she wanted to do this on her own first, or at least try. But every few months Ayda would show up in their camp with care packages and letters (Gorgug had made them satellite phones, but not all of them had planatar fueled vans to keep them charged with, so those were for emergencies only) and a few creature comforts they missed from home, stay for a meal, and then take back whatever they wanted to send with her, letters and keepsakes of their own to their own loved ones. 

It was always wonderful, getting the stack of letters from Kristen and Jawbone and the others, and this time she brought advice as well. 

“He is already the god of the orcs, which you are at least half of. I would need some of your blood to analyze the exact genetic makeup, and while that is a topic of conversation we will have to revisit in the future, for now I do believe Gruumsh would welcome you into his army.” 

Ragh was already shaking his head before she even finished, his nose wrinkled in distaste. “Nah sis, Gruumsh isn’t my kind of guy.” 

For a moment Ayda just stood there, watching him, her head tilted to the side. But then her eyes glowed just a bit brighter, and a look of understanding appeared. “Of course. You are neutral good. He is chaotic evil. Your alignments wouldn’t be compatible. I apologize for not thinking of this beforehand.” 

Ragh waved her off, giving her a fanged smile. “No harm, no foul, sis. I just get tired of people always thinkin orcs are evil, you know? I’m not, my mom’s not, Gorgug’s for sure not. So I really don’t want to get mixed up with an evil god if I can avoid it.” 

Ayda gave a deep nod of understanding. “On my honor as a wizard, and as both the mother and the daughter of the same quite wonderful half-orc, I swear to you, Ragh Barkrock, I shall not make that mistake again. Would you like an orange?” 

Ragh happily took the fruit from her outstretched hand, and Ayda gave a small, happy trill before returning to her unpacking, crying a few tears when he handed her a slice. 

“What about Talos, our lord of the storms and tempest that ravage our forests almost as well as you ravaged me last night?” 

Tracker could barely hide her eye roll and fake gag as she paid for their rooms at the inn, Ragh’s lately hook up hanging off his arm and batting his big elf eyes at him. She had known this was going to happen, again, and had warned him, again, that he needed better tastes in hook ups, but Ragh seemed to had a soft spot for elven twinks, and always ended up bringing one back to the inn whenever they were lucky enough to stay in one. She was just glad that they had separate rooms this time, and hadn’t had to sleep as a wolf in the nearest bush. 

“I’m not really a ravishing kind of guy,” Ragh said, trying to free his arm from the elfs’ grasp. “Sure, it’s fun to do every once in a while, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to commit to a ravishing lifestyle yet. What’s that, Tracker? We need to go?” Ragh looked at her with such desperation that she couldn’t turn her back on him like she had last time. 

“Come on Ragh, I have important things to do for Galilea.” 

“You hear the boss, important god cleric wolf stuff to do. I’ll call you, bye!” Ragh almost ran out the door past her, leaving the poor elf boy pouting at the table, wondering what Ragh meant when he said ‘call.’ 

“You need to work on your taste in guys, my dude,” Tracker said with a shake of her head as she slid into the driver’s side, glancing over her shoulder at the half-orc hiding in the back seat. “At least stop choosing the clingy ones?”

“Please, just drive.” 

In the end, it was Ragh himself who found his god, as was strangely right. 

The small town they had stopped in was, by far, their favorite stop so far. Mostly high elves, sure, but high elves strangely welcoming, much more like Adaine then the others they had met so far. A few other species were there too, half elves, a few fairies, and even a couple of gnomes that had taken residence in a nearby cave, turning it into a mix of apartment complexes and work stations. It was the most welcoming town they had been in; it almost felt like home. 

And, centered in the middle of town, were their shrines. 

It was common for towns this small, Tracker had learned, to not have a temple dedicated to every single god worshiped in the area. While for some towns that meant only one temple, maybe two if there were multiple families with influence, other towns had too many to count, each family or inhabitant following their own deity. So, instead, they had a shrine building instead, each deity with their own table and candles and cushions in front of them so those who worshiped them could pray. 

It was there, after he had gone missing for hours on end, that Tracker finally found him. He was just sitting there on one of the cushions, staring at the flickering candle, eyes both vacant and seemingly touched with a new found peace. He didn’t even notice when she sat down next to him, only starting out of whatever trance he seemed to be in when Tracker put her hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. 

“This is him,” Ragh immediately said, his face lit up with almost the same happy glow as whenever he reminded people he was gay and was met with acceptance instead of the hatred he thought he would find. “I was curious what was in here, so I walked in and thought it was some kind of weird like, massage parlor, but I found my guy, and this dude totally rocks, Tracker!  Hoot growl, up high!” 

Tracker immediately gave him his high five, giddy with excitement for her friend. And taking a look at the shrine they sat before, she couldn’t help but agree that it fit. Torm, god of courage and self-sacrifice, a provider of protection. Symbolized by a white gauntlet raised against a coming sword. For her bodyguard and best friend, yeah, it felt right. 

Of course, finding the god was only the first step in becoming a cleric. Then there was the training. 

Not all clerics were as blessed as she and Kristen were (though, of course, no one was as blessed as Saint Kristen Applebees, chosen and denier of Helios, creator of the planatar YES!/?, healer of the Goddex Cassandra). Some clerics had to work to gain their deity’s blessing, to prove that they were good enough vessels of the gods’ holy power. Some were just pains in the asses to get a hold of. 

Luckily, Torm seemed to approve of Ragh. 

It took a while, a few days after they left the town, Ragh standing between her and a weird lizard creature neither of them could remember the name of, for Torm to finally respond to the prayers Tracker had been teaching him. An almost imperceptible white light seemed to surround Ragh's hand as it came down against the lizards' jaw, just bright enough that Tracker's wolf enhanced eyes caught it as she bit deep into the creatures' tail. And each time he fulfilled his role of protector, showed courage as he walked by her side into the temples of Galilea, took up his weapon to protect her against whatever else Fallinel had to throw at them, it grew a little bit brighter. 

Until one day, without even thinking about it, he cast a Sacred Flame at an enemy on the other side of their camp site, the burning bright light zapping into the creatures' side, sending it scampering back into the wilds of the untamed woods in the far reaches of the country. Together they quickly finished off their enemies, Rahg wielding his weapon and a new found spells with an enjoyable ease, taking joy in the blessing of his god. 

She remembered that feeling, the power and joy from being blessed by one of the gods, the sudden innate knowledge of exactly what to do to make everything perfect and wonderful and right. 

The fight eventually ended, Ragh having taken the brunt of the damage, though one of them did get a slice at her flank. Before she could shift back and heal it herself, Ragh had reached out and touched her shoulder. Another burst of brilliant white light, something she would have to teach him to control later, raced through her veins and across her skin, invigorating her and closing most of the wound, leaving a scratch where before there had been a gash. All while Ragh stared in awe, eyes and smile wide, though clearly he was exhausted from the small use of magic. 

Another moment and she was back in her human form, healing him herself as he sat back, staring at his hands as his wounds closed around him. 

"Tracker..."

She raised her head from examining her work, making sure there wasn't something she had missed. 

"This fucking rules." 

An easy smile shared between them, Tracker knowing exactly what he meant. 

"Yeah it does."

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 11

The One With All the Lore (in which the Bad Kids do a Lot of Reading and we are Forcibly Reminded the Plot is Happening)

We are back in the Land of the Lomenelda where the Bad Kids and Co. are waking up (well, those who went to sleep anyway). Fig and Ayda wake from their sleepover that Fig decides to keep going into the day, confusing Ayda immensely in the process. 

Kristen decides to look at the research she found in Calethriel Tower and on a 22 religion check, she gets a lot of info which I will do my best to summarize here:

The information is older than what she read in the pirate book. It’s probably from 850-900 years ago--around the time of the last great Sylvan War.

The text is by high elven clerics of the Moon Goddess Galakaya (Tracker’s goddess).

There used to another goddess worshiped in Sylvere--a goddess of night, mystery, and magic and the younger sister of Galakaya. This goddess was worshiped by all of the races in the forest (and it sounds like this is who all the oblique references in the earlier research was pointing to). Doubt and the unknown were parts of worship to her which Kristen is very into. Religious differences between the races about how to worship the mystery goddess was part of what sparked the war.

Some high elven clerics came in to help broker a truce which ended up leading to the invention of the “Sylverian Heresy”. Basically, the Moon clerics advised the Mystery clerics to “unmake” the name of their goddess because, “Hey, she’s a mystery goddess, right? So isn’t knowing anything about her a contradiction of her whole thing?” They think that sounds legit and proceed to do that but it seems that it wasn’t actually altruistic advice as much as a ploy by the high elven clerics to weaken the mystery goddess. 

Fabian has been dancing all night and he is feeling exhausted but super good. This becomes even more of a family affair when none other than Hilariel Seacaster shows up! She joins the dance! Cathilda joins the dance! Fig plays her bass! Riz is skanking? It’s one of those classic D&D moments where the plot utterly grinds to a halt while everyone takes turns describing the ridiculous nonsense they’re doing and it’s fantastic. Once that calms down a bit, Fabian goes on a walk with his mom and Cathilda where Hilariel tells him that the grapes 1000% do not work, which honestly checks out.

Shifting to the Abernant sisters, Aelwen (this is the canon spelling and I’m gonna try to use it for these recaps but we’ll see how that goes) has just regained her pre-torture memories. To be specific, she seems to have backed them up between being broken out of jail in Solace and the torture starting. They have a little bit of a standoff, not sure whether one of them is going to attack the other. Once it becomes clear that blasting each other isn’t on the top of their respective to-do lists, they settle into a semi civilized conversation. Adaine wants Aelwen to read her thoughts so she’ll have the memories of what happened to her and the past day (at least from Adaine’s P.O.V.) and not go back to working with their parents. Aelwen seems resistant to the prospect and asks Adaine to just tell her what happened. While they’re talking, Adaine rolls an Insight check of 10 which doesn’t net her any information (we’ll come back to this).

Aelwen tells Adaine that their parents are not on the same side but refuses to elaborate, much to Adaine’s annoyance and frustration. They kind of dissolve into almost normal sibling bickering except that it’s about stuff like, “Oh come on, I only tried to kill you one time. Don’t be dramatic.” When questioned, Aelwen says that she only joined up with Goldenhoard for fun and she didn’t really think he’d win against her and her friends. The argument ends with Adaine casting Tasha’s Hideous Laughter which knocks Aelwen out in one shot because she’s still three or four levels of exhaustion deep.

Fig goes to Telemein to ask if he knows Planeshift (which she needs to get Gorthalax out of the ruby he’s trapped in). He does not and she doesn’t trust him to figure it out in a timely manner (or to even know what a timely manner is). 

Kristen goes into the Van where Aelwen is to check on her (she’s fine, just trancing). Then, she helps out while Adaine tries to rifle through Aelwen’s brain for information on their Mom. Aelwen saves from the first Detect Thoughts but she’s sleeping so Adaine just tries again. Second time’s the charm. Her sleeping brain is a little hard to read but what Adaine sees is that when she failed her Insight check with a 10, what was happening was THE SHADOWCAT WAS STANDING BEHIND HER AND TALKING TO AELWEN. And I (roughly) quote, “Don’t keep looking at me. Look at your sister. Your mom is working for me. She has the crown and she’s taking it to Sylvere. Get away from Adaine so we can talk.” On an 18 Insight check, she can tell that Aelwen and Kalina have spoken before and seem familiar with each other.

Now that Adaine has seen Kalina through Aelwen’s memories, she decides to Scry on her. Oh, and she has a Nat 1 portent roll to give her. Eat your dice Brennan! The Scry goes really weird though. Instead of just showing one person, it cycles through a bunch of people, ending with Ragh, Tracker, Sandra-Lynn, that elf Ragh slept with, and Kristen. Then, it flashes to a creepy-ass forest where she sees a wood elf covered in festering wounds and claw marks. Vines are dripping with blood. The elf stands, grabs an old spear, and scratches into the ground, “Hello Adaine. Glad you could join me.” Then, it moves back to Kristen. Um, como se dice, CONCERNING. 

Adaine gets a 27 to Detect Magic on Kristen and pings nothing that shouldn’t be there. Gorgug (who is also there btw) gets the pic and asks Ragh’s hookup if he can see the tabaxi and he can. The group gets together and they realize that everyone who can all of a sudden see the Shadowcat either had sex or exhanged blood with someone who initially could (ie: Garthy got it from Sandra-Lynn, as did Tracker when she blood healed her and Kristen got it afte she hooked up with Tracker in Leviathan). Shout out to everyone who called that. And I guess the Thistlespring STD talk at the top of the season was less of a wild detour than it seemed (I wonder if it would have transferred if said people specified that they used protection). 

Fabian and Fig are very down to drink some blood so they can also see the picture but they are warned off with the idea that it very likely means Kalina can see through their eyes or something similar. After they all exchange their info, Riz theorizes that Kalina is not just a servant of the Nightmare King and rather the Mystery Goddess herself, powered down. Adaine starts a private message (w/ magic, not on their crystals) with the non-infected people.

Kristen recently learned the spell Hallow which can basically turn the Van into a permanent Moon Haven. She tells Tracker and on a 15 Persuasion check, Tracker seems to have warmed back up to her a bit and is down to help. Telemein offers his library which has zero useful books but lots of meditation guides and essential oils which Adaine and Kristen respectively grab.    

Having learned her lesson, Kristen tells Tracker EVERYTHING she learned from the religious texts (and Tracker notices what she’s doing). She feels weird about something that bad having been done in the name of her goddess and also she’s sorry she gave Kristen a magic STD. She does the head bump thing that dogs and wolves do and says that just cause she was mad at her, it didn’t mean she didn’t love her. She goes to talk to Sandra-Lynn and it seems like they’ve patched things up. 

The Bad Kids split up again to get some stuff done before they leave (which they want to do since they are dangerously close to the elves who are probably looking for them). Adaine and Gorgug (who was also given Aelwen’s spellbook to hold) work on fixing the Hangman. Riz wants to do some research/investigating. Kristen and Tracker work on the Hallow spell. Fig guards Aelwen. Fabian hangs out with his mom.

After spilling his guts about the past week to his mom, Fabian is given an uncharacteristically lucid and touching speech from Hilariel which basically boils down to: you’re your own person and being able to get through hardship is better than never facing hardship. She also drops the information that post-yesterday’s shenanigans (grabbing the sun and all that), Aguefort has lost a LOT of funding. They won’t be able to pay their hirelings. Also, she kinda sorta wants Cathilda back because she’s out of yogurt and cannot cook. Cathilda has a little sidebar heart-to-heart with Fabian where she gives him a choice on whether she stays or goes and he decides she should go home with Hilariel. Says Cathilda, “There’s only one Seacaster left to take care of and she’s out there in a kimono.”

Oh yeah. Hilariel showed up to the woods in a black kimono. As you do. 

Cathilda asks Fabian which sword he’s going to fight with now since he has two and he chooses the elven one he got last episode over the Sword of the Seacasters.

Riz, with a crazy 28 Investigation check gets a bunch of information from the stolen research which I will summarize below:

Ragh, who is also there, reminds Riz that he saw Adaine’s mom talking to Jace post-prom and then saw the Shadowcat after on his way home.

Adaine’s mom was looking for a way to pin down the Shadowcat and also how to rename the goddess of mystery. She pulled 200-300 year old records on the execution of a wood elf named Landryn Leer in the elven secret service (called the Third Court). 

Landryn was a cleric, ostensibly of Galakaya, but she was actually a cleric of the goddess of mystery and was killed for espionage. When she was supposed to be healing, she was also infecting people with some kind of virus--probably whatever magic STD that lets you see Kalina in the picture.

Mom Abernant was also researching Abyssal demonic texts while she was working for Falinel (which I think is connected to the next bullet but my notes are a little hectic here).

After the first fall of Kalvaxus, a group of infernal warlocks came to help the good guys by making a boundary around the forest of the Nightmare King so no one could get in or out. The devils helped because devils hate demons and demons were on the other side. 

This isn’t new information but we’re reminded that the Crown of the Nightmare King can be used to anchor a being to the material plane.

Pok, Riz’s dad, also checked out the same information (about the fall of Kalvaxus and stuff) for himself and Kalina earlier. 

(Riz wonders whether the Nightmare King and the Mystery goddess are opposed rather than allies).

Anyway, the only way to pass through the barrier the devils put up is by a high ranking devil allowing passage. Mom Abernant had notes about binding a devil into a gem (Ragh recognizes that bit because of his mom’s condition) and doing a ritual to put the devil in a freshly dead body. Riz realizes that this is what was happening with him and Fig and Gorthalax in the Hotel Cavalier. 

This is actually from research that Kristen does but I’ll put it here because it’s related. Apparently, only a certain kind of dead body would give the Shadowcat the gem.

Meanwhile, Fig is watching Aelwen. She hexes Aelwen (giving her disadvantage of Strength checks), disguises herself as her (Aelwen’s) mom, and smokes cloves. Ragh’s hookup shows up, recognizes Fig because she’s still carrying her bass, and asks for the hot goss on her and Ayda. He says the elves told Ayda that she’s a rockstar and therefore probably promiscuous which made Ayda teleport away. That pisses Fig right off and she gets Gorgug to take over watching Aelwen while she goes after Ayda (with a parting, “CHOKE ON GRAPES BITCH,” to Fathethriel or whatever his name is). 

Aelwen wakes up but Gorgug realizes after about a minute that he’s not talking to the real Aelwen, it’s a water elemental like the one she made in her S1 battle episode. A decoy. At about the same time, Fig goes to where she was told Ayda left through a door but the door isn’t there. Then, she’s made to roll a Wisdom saving throw. Dirty 20 passes and whatever spell was happening doesn’t land. She rolls initiative but, even with a 5 turned to a 17 (she took the Lucky feat) she can’t beat a 19. Another Wisdom saving throw and this one she fails with a 10. She’s frozen with a Hold Person spell. Someone invisible grabs Gorthalax’s gem from her pocket.

She breaks out of the Hold Persons spell and casts Bestow Curse on the person--clearly Aelwen--to give her wicked gas (which is a hilarious on its face but smart after a second of thought Axford Gambit--Invisible Aelwen w/ gas = trackable by scent). Aelwen (who has the gem and her spellbook because she was in the Van, invisible and snagged it from Gorgug) drops invisibility, tells Fig, “Sorry but goodbye for now,” rips a huge fart, then teleports out. Adaine isn’t mad at Fig and Gorgug. She says she should have been watching Aelwen. The group tracks down Fathethriel who tells them Aelwen bribed him with the promise of 10 gold (the promise, not the actual gold) to mess with Fig. Fabian and Riz backhand him. Fabian calls him mean which is somehow the worst thing he could have said. Fig is ready to straight up kill this dude with Booming Blade but ends up just doing non-lethal damage and knocking him unconscious. But even Telemein hates that dude so it’s probably fine. 

The group discusses the hireling situation now that school is no longer paying their stipend. Sandra-Lynn and Tracker are both willing to keep on with them without being paid but the Bad Kids insist that they’ll still pay them from their own money. Riz thinks Aelwen might be the new sacrifice and Adaine is kinda like, “Sure. Of course. Why wouldn’t this be happening.”

Cathilda has a nice goodbye with everyone. Adaine gets cookies. Fig isn’t suspicious of her anymore. Fabian puts his eyepatch back on and calls her the best surrogate mother a boy could ask for (while standing like two feet away from his actual mom who, though hurt, is like, “Valid.”) 

Once they’re back in Leviathan, Sandra-Lynn gives a speech that’s half pep-talk, half apology. Then she asks Ayda to use her Sending spell and Kristen can tell even without an Insight check that she’s gonna talk to Jawbone. 

After terrifying Fabian with the idea that they might track down Chungledown-Bim, they decide to talk to Garthy instead--they being Fabian, Fig and Ragh. We’ll get back to them in a second. First, Adaine goes to the Library to read over her research. Nat 20 arcana check so here comes another info-dump:

The info she found was written by mystics and shamans of wood elves, centaurs, treents, and sprites (the forest races). 

Before the name of the goddess was destroyed, there were clerics driven out as heretics because they were having dreams sent by the mystery goddess which were ignored by the clerics in Sylvere. She was trying to tell everyone not to do the whole un-naming thing because it would destroy her. 

There were 4 miracles called the 4 transubstantiations followed by 1 bigger transubstantiation that happened before the unmaking of the goddess’s name. 

The mystery goddess was not just a goddess of magic but specifically, a witch goddess. 

Anyway, the transubstantiations were these:

Her spellbook was turned into a coin.

Her familiar was turned into a plague.

Her sanctum was turned into a curse.

Her focus (a broomstick) was turned into a tree.

Her name was turned into something unknown before it could be unmade (this was the major transubstantiation).

Riz is also doing some investigation and on a 23 check, the main piece of new info he gets is that in the original alliance of Kalvaxus and the Nightmare King, the NK gave Kal a coin for his hoard to seal their alliance. They realize that they got Kal’s hoard but they don’t know if they got the exact coins he owned or just an equivalent amount of money. Riz also sees notes from the government of Falinel saying that Mom Abernant was doing this research for them with the promise that they would release Aelwen and restore their family to some level of prestige. When the government went back on their promise, she started looking into other people that could help her, like Garthy (and the government eventually found out).  

Speaking of Garthy, back to Fig, Fabian, and Ragh. They try to persuade Garthy to come with them to help but Garthy is staying put. They do have some news though. Mom Abernant actually isn’t Falinel bound. She’s on the way to a town close to Sylvere (which the group kinda already knew but now they have confirmation and more specifics). The town is called Arborly and Fig actually knows someone who has a mansion (called Hollyhill) there who, while she was on tour, said she could stay there any time. With teleportation, they should be able to get there before her. Fabian has Garthy check their coins for anything fishy (looking at the aforementioned transubstantiated coin) but nothing seems amiss.   

As they leave, they suddenly hear a weird rumbling and then something leaps onto Fabian and starts giving him rubber burn. It’s the Hangman! Gorgug continued working on him in Leviathan and we learn that he took a level in Artificer and was able to fix him with a 22, some help from Adaine, and a little of the wax Fabian got last season. He’s back! And he wants to shit in Chungledown-Bim’s mouth! 

The next day, Kristen finishes casting Hallow with Tracker. She taps into some of the mystery goddess energy which seems like a questionable thing to do so very on brand for her. Ayda wants to come with them but she has to look after the library. However, she plans to shrink down the entire library, book by book, so she can carry it around and continue adventuring with the Bad Kids. Until then, she teleports them all to Arborly and the gates of Hollyhill.  

Detention

Fathetriel for Being an Ass

Even Telemien thinks he sucks. Choke on grapes bitch.

Honor Roll

Gorgug for Fixing the Hangman

I’m going to be less than entirely predictable here any instead of giving Adaine this spot for the objectively clutch move of scrying on the Shadowcat by forcing a Nat 1 on her save, I’m going to give it to Gorgug for taking a level of Artificer and fixing the Hangman. It’s just such a sweet move. All this insanity going on around them and he took the time to figure out how to fix his friend’s bike/dog. He didn’t have to do that but he did, and in such an understated way. Plus, it totally makes sense for him being the son of two tinkers. I wonder if he can build that cell tower for Zelda now. This also seems like a good move story-wise because I feel like having these extra skills ups Gorgug’s potential for shenanigans/helpfulness out of combat a lot.  

Random Thoughts

What did I say? What did I say at the end of last recap? I KNEW we’d gone too long without a Shadowcat sighting. I KNEW we were about to get wrecked! 

Made a couple of oblique references to this in the recap but I’ll say it outright now. The gang is all level 9 now!

There was a LOT of lore in this episode so, if I got anything wrong and you notice, please tell me and I’ll fix it when I get the chance. 

Sad to see Ayda go but happy that the Hangman’s back! I hope The Bad Kids take a page from Jester’s book and Sending her all the time.

Good on Fabian/Lou for letting Cathilda go in a move that was right for the story but objectively worse for the inevitable coming battle. 

“I couldn’t have one nice day with my sister.”/”No.” (“He’s all the bad guys,” Siobhan says in a resigned tone.)

Speaking of the Abernants, I think Arianwyn is how you spell Adaine’s mom’s name which I am going to try and get used to before she shows up again and I have to type it 47 times. Also, very funny that Ally/Kristen learned the name Adaine and was like, “She is the only valid Abernant. I refuse to learn any more names.” Anyway, this campaign needs less elves and more goblins. Riz. Pok. Sklonda. Things I can spell. 

I question whether the Mystery goddess is actually going to be an antagonist. Both because it seems like she got majorly screwed over by a bunch of uptight high-elves who have been nothing but trouble so far (sans Adaine and Hilariel to a degree) so I’m inclined to be on the side they’re not on and also because this was clearly a plot point written with Kristen in mind. So I guess the question is, is this going to be a temptation for Kristen or a safe harbor? 

Did the curse on the NK’s crown get properly dispelled by Adaine’s mom? Wondering because of the whole sanctum being turned into a curse thing. Though, I guess breaking the curse could be what turned it back into the sanctum.

Lol at all the people in the comments questioning whether Brennan ripped his lore from My Little Pony when all the Moon goddess, sister goddesses stuff was being explained. 

Did Brennan say how Hilariel knew where Cathilda was? She doesn’t have magic, she’s some kind of Fighter. Does she have Cathilda Magic Lojacked?

“Yes, The Ball! Feel it! Yes, Ball, skank!”

Hilariel, like Jareth the Goblin King, can contact juggle, which checks out. 

I’m very curious about what Brennan has planned for Aelwen because I think Adaine offering to willingly fail a save so she could read her mind was a very clutch, “I had a week to think about this and you better believe I thought about it,” move from Siobhan and I don’t know why Aelwen would be hesitant to take that opportunity (besides maybe thinking it was a trap?) except for the meta reason that a quick reality check would joss some important story beats. I could be wrong but that’s just the vibe I got. Also if any of y’all are inclined to write the alt version of this scene where Aelwen *does* do that, def tag me so I can read it. 

The vibe that was going on when Adaine and Aelwen was talking was fascinating. I kinda loved it? Like, they were still fighting and Aelwen was still being a bitch and Adaine was still super annoyed but it felt almost blunted? Like they were shooting at each other but with Nerf guns instead of AK-47s for a change. My read on Aelwen is that she enjoys having a relationship with Adaine, even if it’s antagonistic. I think that Aelwen would much rather fighting with Adaine every day than for Adaine to not care about her at all. It’s like the horseshoe thing, you know? Love and hate are much closer to each other than they are to indifference. Better to have her care about you in the wrong direction than not at all. Anyway, this is so the vibe that I was expecting from them when they linked back up post-rescue. Wish we had gotten a little more before she escaped but I’m really liking this plot thread.

Also, curious about how truthful Aelwen was being when she said she only joined up with Kalvaxus for fun and was counting on Adaine and Co. to stop them. And, while we’re wondering about things, I’m curious about what Aelwen’s previous relationship with Kalina was. Like, besides creating a diversion to steal the crown, how do the events of this season hook up with the events of last season in a way that explains the relationship? Or is it not related? What is the timeline of events here?

And was Kalina actually there talking to her do you think or was it more of a projection type deal?

Sidenote: I think Brennan is taking liberties with what Detect Thoughts can do (in this and especially last episode) but I think it’s a very good creative choice and it makes things a lot more interesting.

Also, gotta say, the way the plot ended up turning out re: Aelwen’s Escape was just *chef’s kiss*. Like, you had Fig bring up the ruby, unprompted earlier in the episode--reestablishing it as a thing that exists. Then they gave the spellbook to Gorgug. Then, Fig was the one who took up guard duty and she happened to switch up with Gorgug, giving Aelwen and, by extension, Brennan a perfect series of events to get her out of there. Wild. 

This episode explains how the Shadowcat/picture thing is spreading but not where Riz and Sandra-Lynn got it from initially. Like, I assume Sklonda got it from Pok. And it’s very plausible Riz got it from one of them somehow but when would they have shared blood? That’s not a normal family thing to do. Did his dad give him a kidney or soemthing? I’m probably overthinking this. 

Emily, I’m begging you. Please keep bringing up those rock and roll babies until Brennan is forced to make it plot relevant.

Speaking of, I was getting so many Night Yorb vibes from that mystery goddess “don’t speak her name” conversation and if the Night Yorb becomes plot relevant I swear I’m gonna personally make Brennan eat his dice.

“I mention everything to Tracker from now on.” You know what that is? Growth 

I loved Fig saying “I don’t know enough about you to know if we wanna kill you,” to the Shadowcat by directly looking at Riz and him being like, “UMMMMMMMM.”

Gilear, wildly, was not mentioned once in this episode and you think he would have been since his girlfriend showed up.  

I wonder if Fandrangool has better stats than the Sword of the Seacasters. I also wonder if I’m spelling that correctly. Doubt it.

“My vices rule.”

One thing I didn’t recap but should have were the dreams in the first episode and I feel like I should go back and watch them because they feel like they could become relevant any time now but that sounds like a lot. I’ll try and watch them before next recap though so I can connect any obvious dots.

Is there anything more pure than Murph cracking up at Emily’s shenanigans. 

I have a note in my notes that says “Fig/Virgin” but it’s like that one gif. “Why am I gasping? I already knew that.”

We originally thought the Shadowcat didn’t want people to be able to see her but now it’s seeming like the opposite is the case. It looks like this is a systematic way to *force* people to be able to see her. If that’s what’s going on then that’s a brilliant reversal from Brennan.

Aelwen, when she gets her memories back, says something like, “Since I’m in a hot tub and you found what you found, I’m assuming you’re not gonna kill me this second.” And one, funny that she can’t even directly reference the one compliment she ever gave Adaine while in her right mind but also, the implication seems to be (at least partially) that she thought, “Let me say something nice about Adaine on this charm to buy me some goodwill so she doesn’t immediately kill me once she restores me,” which is so calculated and I kinda love it.

I had a conversation with drinkingdeadpeopletea while the ep was going on that basically went like: Me: They better watching Aelwen so she doesn’t escape. Her: lol she’s def gonna. 

“Does your mom smoke cloves?”

The goddess’s familiar being turned into a plague and the thing going on with Kalina and being able to see her being like an STD and Goldenhoard presenting as a dragonborn but being an actual dragon and Kalina being a tabaxi and cats being the most classic familiar for witches and the goddess being specifically a witch goddess all feel possibly related to me, but that could just be my brain playing the association game and connecting things that don’t necessarily connect. 

The fact that other characters (read: Fathethirel) read Fig and Ayda’s relationship as possibly romantic (in an attempt to mess with her of course, but still) and Fig reacted so strongly (well strongly and in that specific way because I have no doubt she’d also beat a dude within an inch of their life for messing with, say Gorgug or Adaine) is something I’m going to star for later. [Edit: Brennan clarified on the Discord recently that Ayda (or at least this version of her. Phoenix reincarnation and all) is 17 so y’all are all good to go shipping-wise). As is Tracker, by the by, but I think we were all pretty sure Brennan was keeping that above board.] 

Siobhan’s face when Fig says that she’s “straight edge except for hallucinogens.”

“I’m gonna buy you an orange.”

This episode, Adaine, with advantage, rolled a nat 20 (the other roll being 1). Brennan got one natural 1 (though it wasn’t rolled, it was a portent roll) and Gorgug also rolled one Nat 1 but it’s important that I note it was for giving the Hangman an ass to shit in Chungledown-Bim’s mouth.

[titanias-stolen-shoes]

two bad fics in one day? it’s more likely than you think

summary: kristen talks to her parents and she still can’t stand them

read on ao3!

-

“Uh…” Kristen stood at her front door, not knowing whether she should close the door on her parents. Her immediate instinct was yes. Obviously, she didn’t care about what they had to say. On the other hand, her brothers were with them and by Cassandra she missed them.

Bucky tackled her legs and soon Bricker and Cork were on her before she could process what was happening. “Hey, hey!” She laughed as they clung to her legs and she stumbled backwards into Mordred Manor. Luckily for her there was no one else there. Sandra Lynn and Jawbone were at work, Adaine and Fig were at school, Ragh, Lydia, and Tracker were at Lydia’s doctor’s appointment, Aelwen was doing community service, and Ayda had gone back to Compass Points for a few hours. Kristen was, for the first time, home alone. She had been temporarily suspended for having “relations” in the girls’ locker room and getting caught. If she was being honest, it was kind of funny to see the teacher go so red in the face.

Sandra Lynn and Jawbone had been very disappointed which had taken all the fun away from being caught. Still, she’d been making the most of the day by communing with Cassandra who was still getting the hang of being a deity. They were great, always open to new ideas, happy to learn along with Kristen, and best of all, okay with not knowing and celebrating that they had something new to learn together. It had been a pretty good day. Until the knock at the door.

Now here she was, awkwardly sitting in the kitchen with her parents as they attempted to hide their disdain and her brothers zoomed around the house. If she was nice enough, maybe she could see her brothers more.

“What brings you here?” she said slowly. She cleared her throat, trying to be less awkward. “It’s been a while, yeah?”

Her mom looked at her, eyes filled with worry the way they used to be when she was sent off on her own. “It has, dear. We just… we just wanted to say we’re sorry.”

“Uh, I’m sorry, what?” Kristen was glad she was sitting, because she could hardly remember the last time her parents apologized for… well, anything meaningful. “What, uh, prompted this?”

“Well,” her dad, Mac, shifted in his chair, tearing his eyes away from the fridge. A quick glance let her now it was a picture of everyone who lived there, taken not long after spring break. That explained the constipated look. “We’ve been going to church and praying for you and praying for guidance and, well, we can’t really fault you for this.”

“You… can’t?”

“No, honey.” Donna reached across the table, placing her hand on Kristen’s. It was a comforting gesture that reminded her of the way her life used to be. It was less comforting after that thought. “We’ve all gone through phases. Why, I went through a phase where I wouldn’t stop cutting my hair, didn’t I, Mac?”

“Oh, yes,” Mac sat up straight, nodding sagely. “It was quite a scandal, Kristen. Women having hair that short… Oh, everyone at the church talked about it nonstop.”

Donna smiled. “It did catch your father’s attention. We— Bucky! Don’t climb on their couch like that, you’ll tear it up.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“What we really mean to say, is we forgive you, sweetie. We know you don’t mean to make us scared and worried. It’s so easy to believe phases are forever and we can’t blame you for being so young.”

Kristen sat, looking at her parents, not in disbelief, but disappointment. She wasn’t at all surprised that they were saying stuff like this. They had, after all, given her literally nothing in terms of decent parents for her whole life. She wanted to get mad—to yell and scream and tell them off—but she just didn’t have the energy to. She’d spent a year being angry, and while she was still angry, she realized there were better things to do with her energy. Like channeling it into Cassandra. Or learning how to cook things other than corn. Or having sex with Tracker.

She sighed, pulling her hand away and standing up. Bucky, Bricker, and Cork all rushed over to her and she smiled. He brothers would always be the only part that she missed about being in that house. “I don’t know how to make you believe that this isn’t a phase, so I won’t try. I will say that I’m not sorry. I’m definitely not sorry about being super gay and happy about it.”

They gasped, drawing themselves up as if they were going to say something, but she beat them to it. “The only thing I’m sorry about is that I don’t get to see my brothers.” She knelt and hugged them tight. “Is it so hard to believe I’m happier now?”

Mac was already shaking his head. “No. There’s no way you’re happy. You can’t be unless you’re following Helio—you’re his chosen one.”

Donna was nodding as she said, “That’s right dear. You belong at home with us. Not here with all of these… non-human individuals.” By the sneer on her face it was clear she meant something entirely different.

“Amazing. You aren’t hearing anything I say.” Kristen stood, herding her brothers toward the door. They were nervously bumping into her legs as they sensed the tension between Kristen and their parents.

They frantically followed, trying to convince Kristen of their love. Or at least, what they believed it to be. “We are honey. We just know that that’s what you think. We know the truth. You just need to be guided back to the light and—”

She opened the door and stopped short saying, “I punched Helio in the face.”

“What?”

“Yup. He sucks and so does his dad.” Their faces went pale and that was all the incentive she needed to continue. “I have sex with my werewolf girlfriend daily and I love her so much more than I can say. My father figure is a werewolf because my own dad is terrible and my mother figure is an elf because I respect her more than my own mom. I helped bright back a goddess of mystery and darkness and became their first follower.” She pushed them out the door, gently shooing her brothers after them. “I saved the world twice, died twice, and came back a saint the second time. There is literally nothing you can say to me right now.”

“We—”

“Nope!” She closed the door in their faces and went straight to her room, ignoring their knocking and shouts through the door.

---

“Your parents were here?” Tracker was laid next to her, playing gently with her hair. “Are you okay?”

Kristen shrugged. “I think so. It was weird, but ultimately disappointing.”

“That’s how it usually is.” Tracker’s hand stopped and the sleepiness that was claiming Kristen lessened. “Seriously, babe. Are you okay?”

“I… I really think I’m alright. I was more tired than anything else. Yes, I’m angry, but it’s not worth the effort. They’re not worth the effort.”

She chuckled and cuddled closer, running her finders through Kristen’s hair again. “I’m proud of you.”

“I’m proud of me, too,” Kristen mumbled, sinking a little further into sleep as Tracker started to talk about her day. She felt warm and content as she laid in bed with her girlfriend, drifting off knowing that she was happier now than she had ever been before.

[kristenbeeapples]

Fic idea: Kristen Applebees trying to be a good big sister after leaving her family

Allison you absolutely READ my MIND. Thank you for giving me an excuse to finally put all my (many, many) thoughts about Kristen and her siblings onto paper. Under a read more because this spun wildly out of my control!

***

“Ready?” Fig asks.

Kristen blows a loose strand of her out of her face, pockets her crystal, and nods. “Ready.”

Fig takes her hand and squeezes it, and then they appear with a burst of fire in her younger brothers’ bedroom. Adaine steps out of nothingness next to them a moment later.

“Kristen!” Cork yells, and leaps off the bed into her arms.

“Hey, buddy,” Kristen says, smiling. He smells like he hasn’t had a bath yet, he’s spilt something sticky down his t-shirt and he’s drooling a little, but she does not care one bit. She squeezes him tightly. A second later there’s another thump as Bricker runs up and hugs her from behind. With difficulty, she extracts an arm from underneath Cork so she can hug him too.

They start chattering excitedly, I missed you and Guess what I did at school today and Mom and Dad said – but Kristen interrupts, putting her finger to her lips. “We have to be quiet, okay? We don’t want Mom and Dad to hear.”

They both nod, their faces determined. It’s very, very cute.

Helio – no, not Helio, Yes – she’s missed them.

“Alright, Cork, you go with Adaine, Bricker go with Fig,” Kristen says, lifting Cork down off her hip next to Adaine. “I’m going to go get Bucky.”

“Okay,” Bricker says, and darts over to Fig.

“Hey, kid,” Fig says. “Let’s do this!”

“Yeah!” he says.

Fig holds her hand up, and Bricker jumps to give her a high-five. They both vanish.

Cork has suddenly gone shy, and hides behind Kristen’s legs. He’s met Adaine before – all her brothers have met the Bad Kids, after a weekend towing them along on investigations when she was meant to be babysitting – but it’s been a while, and it dawns on her that the last time was probably the night of prom when the house was attacked. She crouches down and gives him another hug.

“It’s okay,” she says. “Adaine’s cool. She won’t hurt you, promise.”

Adaine, who’s been hovering to the side a little awkwardly, kneels down beside them too. “Here,” she says, and hands over Boggy to Cork. “This is Boggy the Froggy. He helps me when I’m scared. Can you look after him for me?”

Cork takes Boggy, his eyes wide. “Coooooool,” he breathes.

Kristen presses a kiss onto the top of his head. “Go with Adaine and Boggy, I’ll be there in a minute, okay?”

Cork nods, focused on Boggy’s big eyes, and takes Adaine’s hand. Kristen mouths a thank you to Adaine as she misty-steps away, and then stands and sneaks out into the hallway.

Bucky’s room lies at the end of the hallway beyond the stairs, and as she creeps past, she can hear her parent’s voices from the floor below. Kristen freezes, heart rate picking up. She thought she would be okay coming here, but now all she can think about is angry voices, axes thrust in her face, get that out of our house -

A door creaks open, and Bucky pokes his head out. “Kristen?” he whispers.

Kristen steadies her breathing, using one of the tricks Adaine taught her. “Hey,” she whispers back. “Ready to go?”

He nods, shutting the door quietly, and gives her a hug. He’s so tall now, she thinks, but doesn’t say it out loud because she knows it will annoy him. Instead she takes out the Sword of Shadows, on loan from Riz, and misty-steps outside after the others.

Cork and Bricker are happily playing with Boggy on the street, but both stop and rush back over to her when she appears, so that all her brothers are gathered in her arms for the first time in months. The Applebees siblings, she thinks, and grins over the top of their heads at Adaine and Fig.

“Alright,” she says, as they break apart. “Who wants ice-cream?”

***

It’s early evening on a Saturday, so Basrar’s is fairly busy, but since he owes Adaine a favour they manage to get them two booths next to each other. She and Fig take one, and Kristen sits with her brothers in the other. She buys them as much ice-cream as she can with the last of the money she’s been saving from her old allowance, and tells them all about how the Bad Kids slayed a dragon and saved the day (the PG version, of course, and she neglects to tell them she died again.) They listen in awe as she tells the story, oooh-ing and aah-ing in the appropriate places, and then ask her lots of questions about what it was like being inside a dragon, delighting in the grossness she describes.

In return, she asks them about their lives, school and church and home, all the mundanity she’s missed, and listens contentedly as they all start talking at once. Possibly, this much sugar was a mistake, but Kristen doesn’t care. They’re here, they’re together, and that’s what matters.

As Bucky regales a story about his class trip to Bastion City, Kristen begins anxiously checking her crystal. She ignores the frantic calls from her parents (she’s sent them a text, it’s fine), and scrolls through her messages with Tracker. She said she’d be here at half seven, and it’s nearly eight – where is she? Did she bail? Does she not want to be Kristen’s girlfriend anymore?

Just as she’s about to ask her brothers to wait a sec and call her, Tracker appears at their booth. “Hi,” she says, with a nervous smile.

“Hey!” Kristen shuffles over awkwardly – Cork decided halfway through his ice cream that he wanted to sit on her lap and hasn’t moved since – so she can sit down. “Guys, this is my… friend, Tracker. Tracker, this is Bucky, Bricker and Cork.” She looks at each of her brothers, pointedly. “Say hi, and be nice, okay?”

“Hi!” they all say in unison. 

There’s a pause for a moment, all of them a bit unsure in front of a new person. Tracker, too, doesn’t seem to know what to do; when Kristen asked her to come, she admitted she hadn’t been around a lot of kids.

“Tracker’s a werewolf,” Kristen blurts out to break the silence before she can stop herself.

Tracker raises her eyebrows, and Kristen mouths sorry, but the boys all light up at once.

“How loudly can you howl?” Bricker asks.

“Can you transform right now?” Bucky says, excited.

“Do you bite people?” Cork asks, worriedly.

Tracker laughs at that last one. “Okay so – pretty loud, I could but I won’t because I don’t want to scare anybody, and no, I don’t bite, I promise.”

Cork sighs, relieved, and leans back into Kristen, whilst Bucky and Bricker look like they’re gearing up to ask more questions.

“Guys, don’t be rude,” Kristen says, vainly.

Tracker smiles at them in a way that makes Kristen melt. “No, it’s okay. Come on, what do you want to know?”

Her brothers spend the next ten minutes grilling Tracker about lycanthropy before Tracker starts telling them funny stories about her and Jawbone. Kristen can’t keep a dopey grin off her face as she watches all her brothers fall as in love with Tracker as she’s found herself falling in the past couple of weeks, and she thinks: this is what family should feel like.

When there’s a lull in the conversation, Tracker says, “I’ll be back in a bit, I’m going to go say hi to Adaine and Fig.” She stands, giving Kristen a thumbs up like they’d rehearsed, and goes to sit with the others in the booth behind them.

“So, do you guys like Tracker?” she asks, pulling Cork closer to disguise the shaking of her hands.

There’s a chorus of enthusiastic yeahs. “She’s awesome,” Bricker says fervently.

“She is.” Kristen takes a deep breath. “How would you feel,” she says, “If I told you Tracker is my girlfriend?”

Cork doesn’t seem to be listening, licking the remainder of his ice cream from his bowl, but the older two both look solemn as they process the information.

“Like, how cousin Nick has a girlfriend?” Bricker says.

Kristen nods. “Yeah, just like that.”

“But you’re a girl,” Bucky says, slowly. “And so is Tracker.”

“Yeah, we’re both girls.” Kristen says. 

“Does that mean you’re gay?” Bricker asks.

Saying it still feels a little like a confession, an admission of guilt, but she’s trying not to think of it like that. She’s trying to be proud.

She lifts her chin up, looks them directly in the eyes, and says, “Yeah, I am.”

Bucky narrows his eyes. “Mom and Dad and Pastor Amelia say that’s bad.”

Kristen’s heart sinks, though she keeps her expression neutral. She had known this was coming, had practised with Tracker to prepare, but it still aches.  “Yeah, they do,” she says. “A lot of people think that. But a lot of people, like me, and Tracker, and my friends, think it’s actually a good thing. What do you think?”

Both of them consider this. “Well,” Bucky says, eventually. “Tracker’s cool. And you’re, like, fine. So I guess it’s okay.”

“Rude,” Kristen says, but she’s smiling. They don’t hate her. They don’t hate her. There’s still hope for the Applebees. “But, thank you. And you know, if you guys have any questions about this stuff, about me being gay, or religion, or literally anything at all, you can always, always, come and ask me, okay?”

Bucky and Bricker both nod. Cork, who’s wriggled off her lap to play with the sugar packets on the counter, looks up and says, “Does that mean you guys kiss and stuff?”

Kristen grins mischievously. “We do. A lot.”

“Ewww!”

“Gross!”

“Bleugh.”

***

On the way home, Fig and Tracker race ahead with Cork and Bricker on their backs, Adaine misty-stepping ahead of them to judge the winner. It’s a warm summer evening, the setting sun bathing the neighbourhood in honey-coloured light, and a cool breeze carries her friends’ and brothers’ laughter down the street towards her. Kristen walks slowly with Bucky, swinging his hand up and down like she used to when they were younger, and thinks about how lucky she is. Her family is not broken: she is building it up again, better and stronger this time. Things are going to be okay.

As they round the corner onto the Applebees’ road, Bucky says, “You’re not coming home this time, are you?”

Kristen looks down at him, surprised. He’s a smart kid, but she forgets, sometimes. In her head he’s still just her little brother, running around causing chaos and annoying her when she’s supposed to be praying. “No,” she says. “I don’t think so.”

He nods. “I thought so. Mom and Dad wouldn’t say, but I could tell.”

“How are –” She bites her lip. “Are things okay, at home?”

Bucky shrugs. “They were better when you were here.”

“I know,” Kristen says, pushing down the guilt that overwhelms her. “I’m sorry, Buck. If I could stay, I would, but Mom and Dad are… they don’t want me around, anymore.”

“Because you have a girlfriend?” Bucky says.

“A bit because of that. A bit because of some other stuff.” Kristen says. “But even though I’m not at home anymore, I’m still your big sister, okay? If Mom and Dad ever say or do anything that upsets you or Bricker or Cork, you call me on your crystal, and no matter where I am I promise I’ll come get you.”

“Okay,” Bucky says, and squeezes her hand. She squeezes it back, and they carry on walking.

Outside the Applebees’ house, Kristen gathers her brothers to say goodbye, taking a sleepy Cork from Tracker’s arms.

“Did you guys have fun?” Kristen says, as they walk up the driveway.

Bricker nods energetically, still hopped up on sugar. “Yeah! Can we do this again?”

“Absolutely,” Kristen says, smiling. “Just don’t tell Mom and Dad where we went, okay? It’ll be our secret.”

“Okay,” Bucky says, “We pinky-promise.”

The four of them put their little fingers together, and Kristen laughs. “I love you,” she says, hugging them one by one. “I’ll see you soon.”

There’s a chorus of goodbyes as Kristen lets them go and bolts back down the driveway before her parents answer the door.

“Don’t go!” she hears Cork say from behind her as the door opens, and though her heart breaks she doesn’t look back.

She runs back to the others. “We gotta go,” she says, panicked, her parent’s yells echoing behind her.

Fig nods, grabs Kristen and dashes away on her skateboard, Adaine and Tracker chasing after them. She manages to keep the tears from falling for a bit, but by the time they’re safely back at Strongtower Luxury Apartments, she’s fully sobbing down Fig’s back. Tracker pulls her off the skateboard into a tight-armed hug, and Fig and Adaine pile on too, until they’re all in a wet, sweaty pile of limbs. She cries and cries and cries, feeling joyful and sad and terribly old all at once.

“Kristen,” Fig says, breaking away as she starts to catch her breath. “I gotta say, your little brothers are awesome. I’m gonna to teach Bricker to play bass the next time we do this.”

“You’d do this again?” Kristen says, blowing her nose on a tissue Adaine silently produces from her jacket.

“Yeah, of course, dude!” Fig slings an arm around Kristen’s shoulders. “I don’t have siblings, this is my one chance to spread anarchy to the next generation.”

Kristen laughs, wiping away her tears. “Oh, god.”

Adaine hands her another tissue. “As someone with an absolutely terrible big sister,” she says quietly, “I think you’re doing great. They love you so much.”

“Fuck, Adaine,” Kristen whines, sniffling. “I just stopped crying.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to – ” Adaine starts, hands flapping anxiously.

“No, I didn’t mean it, you don’t have to apologise,” Kristen says, taking her hand and squeezing it. “Thank you. Really.”

Adaine and Fig hug her again, and then head upstairs with a knowing glance, leaving Kristen alone with her girlfriend. The word still feels new and lovely, and she gets a little burst of happiness every time she says it. My girlfriend. My girlfriend.

Tracker loops her arms around Kristen and pulls her in close. “I really like your family,” she says softly.

Kristen gives her a watery smile. “I think they really like you, too.”

Tracker kisses her, and the sadness doesn’t go away, but it feels a little lighter. “You’ll see them again soon,” she says.

“Yeah,” Kristen says, and it’s a vow. “I will.”

[squidbatts]

your funny mouth to the clouds

Or: Fabian stresses, confesses, and gets some kisses in

((The last couple of Fantasy High episodes have been Buckwild but IN THIS HOUSE we ignore current canon happenings to write about fabian wanting to kiss ragh and then getting to kiss ragh!!! because i crave ragh/fabian content even if i have to Do Everything Myself))

{ao3}

Fabian Aramais Seacaster, son of Bill Seacaster, knows he’s hot; it’s kind of his whole thing, being a charming, roguish pirate, as dangerous as he is dashing. So, obviously, it makes complete sense that he and Gorgug would be Ragh’s dream makeout partners. They’re all hot athletes and they spend a decent amount of time together, he gets it.

It shouldn’t even be a thing.

Except that Fabian can’t stop thinking about it. When Ragh lances a demon through the eye and then turns to grin at Fabian, manic, muscles straining his letterman jacket, he thinks about it; when Fabian’s trying to teach the party literally anything about the sea and Ragh slides in right next to him, body a point of warmth on Fabian’s left side as he points at completely the wrong part of the map, he thinks about it; when Ragh tears off his shirt and leaps into the water with Fabian, throws a glistening and sea-wet arm over Fabian’s bare shoulders, tugs Fabian into his sculpted chest as he laughs-

The point is, Fabian keeps thinking about it.

Which is why he thinks he should be excused for asking Kristen for advice; she is, after all, their “token gay friend"; the rest of his close friends are straight, so she’s really the only one he can ask.

“Kristen,“ Fabian starts one afternoon when it’s just the two of them on the roof, “You know about gay stuff, right?“

Kristen lights up. “I don’t know if you know this-“

“I do, you say it all the time-“

“-but I’m gay!“ Kristen finishes like she doesn’t come out over breakfast every morning. “So yeah, I do.“

“Awesome, great, listen, I have a question. Have you ever- hm.“ Fabian cuts himself off with a hum as he attempts to word it correctly. He decides to try another route. “Do you think Ragh is attracted to me?“

“Oh, for sure,“ Kristen says and, even though he already knew that, Fabian chokes on air in surprise at her surety. “He’s really into the whole ’straight boy jock’ thing and, I’m a lesbian, but even I know that you’re objectively the hottest person in our party. You and Fig are the hot ones.“

“Obviously,“ Fabian replies, kneejerk.

“Yeah, so, duh. Why do you ask?“ Kristen asks, and Fabian-

Fabian falters because, obviously, he wants to get to the bottom of why he can’t just forget about Ragh’s proposition like Gorgug has, but the idea of talking about it, of telling Kristen makes his stomach twist. Something about it makes him feel weird, the same way he feels weird whenever he thinks about Ragh wanting to kiss him.

“He just said something and I-“ Fabian waves a hand dismissively. “Nevermind, it doesn’t matter.“

Kristen’s eyebrows furrow and she places a hand on Fabian’s arm, firm but still kind. “If you’re uncomfortable with a gay man simply being attracted to you, you’re the asshole here. But listen, Jawbone has some pamphlets about it and we can totally work this out-“

“I’m not uncomfortable, I just wanted to know if he had said anything to you,“ Fabian says, the words quick and awkward in his mouth. Maybe I am uncomfortable, He considers. Maybe the twisting how of his gut and the heating of his face are merely symptoms of his discomfort. He’s always been fine with Kristen and Tracker, he was fine with Ragh when he told them about Dane, but maybe he just thought he wasn’t homophobic until it directly affected him.

Kristen stares at him silently for a second, tilting her head as her eyebrows raise. “Huh. Never would’ve guessed that.“ She says, then, “Well, actually, I maybe would’ve because you’re like, supernaturally obsessed with your appearance, but stereotyping is bad and all that.“

“What are you talking about?“ Fabian snaps, irritated with her vagueness. He realizes that he should’ve just gone to Adaine for help, she reads books and knows about a great many things, not to mention that it certainly would’ve been less of a tax on his patience than dealing with Kristen at her… Kristen-est.

“I think… I think you should talk to Ragh,“ Kristen says, and then continues on quickly before Fabian can get the horrified Absolutely not out of his mouth. “No, listen, this is really something that would go best if you just, like, talked to Ragh about it, I think. And like, I rolled a seventeen on persuasion, so you kind of have to.”

Fabian, not blessed in wisdom, fails his saving throw and has to admit that Kristen’s point is pretty compelling. Still, “I don’t even know where Ragh is right now.”

Kristen gives him a look that clearly says We all live in the same vanboat, you have to know that he’s less than three minutes away. She leans away from Fabian and, still holding eye contact, yells into the van, "Hey, Ragh, Fabian wants to talk to you!"

"Kristen, no," Fabian hisses. Kristen just grins back at him.

"Kristen, yes!" She says, "You will so thank me for this."

Fabian is still cursing Kristen's name when Ragh climbs up to join them on the roof. He's wearing his normal jeans but has elected to leave his letterman jacket in the van. Probably a good idea, Fabian thinks, eyes involuntarily drawn to the sheen of sweat over Ragh's biceps as Ragh stretches before he sits. It's been hot all day, but Fabian would bet gold that it's gotten hotter in the past five minutes. He certainly feels rather feverish, suddenly.

"What's the problem, bro?" Ragh asks when he settles down. Kristen makes a face at him from behind Ragh's back and mouths Take my advice!!!! When he pretends not to notice and instead stares pointedly at the sea, she huffs loudly.

"Well, I'm going to go back into the van, I'm real tired," She says, obnoxiously obvious. Fabian makes a face back at her when Ragh turns towards her. "I'll, uh,see you guys later. Don't even worry about everyone else, I'll keep 'em down there."

Fabian tries to infuse enough That is absolutely not what I want! and Don't leave us alone! into a single glare to make her stay, but she just winks at him, like she's a bard or something, which of course makes Ragh turns back to Fabian, puzzled.

"What was all that about?"

"It's nothing, really," Fabian says, forcing lightness into his voice as he waves a hand, as though all this awkwardness could be as easily dispelled as Fig's cigarette smoke. "Kristen is just being dramatic."

Ragh frowns, his dark eyes are stormily serious. Fabian's heart skips a beat. "We're bros. And bros don't have to lie about their feelings, right?"

"... Right."

"Dude." Ragh says as he punches Fabian's arm, clearly about to get started on the Jawbone taught me emotional vulnerability and now I think everyone should do it spiel. Fabian's already heard it at least one time apiece from Kristen and Adaine, and he still thinks he's good on the emotions front, thank you very much. Still, his stomach flips even now with nerves, and he thinks of how Kristen thought that talking with Ragh would sort him out. As truly awful as he imagines it will be, he wonders if Kristen has a point, just this once.

"Alright, alright!" He concedes, "I suppose we can talk about my feelings."

"Awesome!" Ragh grins lopsidedly, shifting to sit lotus style, his full attention on Fabian. "Now, what's up?"

A feeling rises in Fabian's chest, like his ribcage is stuck in a vice, and he feels nearly sick with guilt. Here Ragh is, so kindly and sincerely devoting his attention to Fabian, and Fabian's body can't even relax enough to appreciate it.

"I think I owe you an apology," Fabian says, and before Ragh can respond, he rushes on with, "I think I might be homophobic, but I'm going to work on it and be a better friend for you and Kristen, and I'm very sorry."

Ragh's opens and closes his mouth wordlessly a few times, tusks catching on his upper lip. "I- what?"

Fabian sighs huffily and explains, how he's felt weird and off-kilter since Ragh's proposition and Kristen's offered explanation. Ragh listens thoughtfully, brow furrowed and a hand on his chin. He's still frowning as Fabian finishes his tale and Fabian fights the urge to fidget under the scrutiny.

"I don't think you're homophobic, dude," Ragh says, eventually. He sounds like he's choosing his words carefully, like he's walking on eggshells, and Fabian aches to think that he's made Ragh think that he has to do that.

"Of course I am, what else could it be?" Fabian asks, and Ragh screws up half of his face. "See! I made you uncomfortable with my- weirdness. I'm sorry."

"No, no, I'm not uncomfortable, I'm just trying to… Reconcile some things. Sort stuff out in the old noggin." Fabian tries not to look too doubtful but Ragh must've aced his insight check because he sighs and continues, "Listen, this has got to be weird for you too, I mean, obviously it is if you think you're a homophobe, but I think there's a pretty easy way to figure out what your discomfort means."

"And what would that be?" Fabian asks snipily, turning away. He doesn't like apologizing in the first place, much less when the other person won't just accept it.

"Feel free to say no, but I figured you could just try kissing me." Ragh says, and Fabian’s head whips back to him. Ragh lifts up his hands defensively. “Full disclosure, I think you’re super hot so I'm definitely getting something out of this, but if you can't stop thinking about it… It couldn't hurt, could it?"

Ragh shrugs as he lays his offer down and Fabian-

Fabian's heart pounds like he's in the middle of a Bloodrush play as heat pools in his face and his stomach. He hadn't ever considered actually kissing Ragh, but now that it's on the table, something deep within him twists with want.

"One kiss?" Fabian asks, trying to will away his blush, "I wouldn't be… Opposed."

"Uh-uh, none of that. I need a definite yes or no, bro," Ragh says, "I don't want to pressure you into this."

Fabian feels his flush flare hotter and squeezes his eyes shut. The deep buried part of him has rapidly expanded and spread throughout his body, leaving his fingers twitching towards Ragh and his lips tingling with anticipation. He can't imagine saying no, but to say yes also seems almost insurmountable. He opens his eyes, sees how softly Ragh smiles and the patience in his eyes, and it feels like someone's reached into Fabian's chest and twisted. Fabian nods, excessively, embarrassingly, then says, "Yes, yes, I'd like to try it-" before Ragh is upon him like the tide on a beach.

It's different from kissing Aelwyn; there's no bitter taste of alcohol or sticky-sweet lipgloss, no, Ragh's lips are chapped and he tastes of salt from days at sea, but it's still so much. Ragh cups Fabian's head, gentle, but presses his mouth insistently forward, easily leading Fabian through the sweeping movements of a makeout. Fabian's heartbeat still thuds in his ears, but he can also hear Ragh's slow and steady breaths, feel how he nips Fabian's lips and smiles against Fabian's mouth. When it's over, when Ragh pulls back and Fabian embarrassingly chases after him for half a second, Fabian is breathing like he's been near-drowned.

"Still think you're homophobic?" Ragh asks, teeth flashing in the ocean sunlight, lips slick from Fabian. Fabian burns brightly.

"I have," Fabian clears his throat awkwardly. "A few other theories now."

Ragh laughs, full and perfect, throwing his head back. Fabian looks at the vast muscled expanse of his neck, realizes that the twist of his gut just means that he wants to press a kiss to the juncture of Ragh's jawline and neck, and thinks, Huh.

"Well, that was super fun," Ragh says, clapping Fabian on the back, "Always down to help a fellow Owlbear with a sexuality crisis, dude, just let me know if you wanna do that again."

Ragh heads back into the vanboat, whistling cheerfully, and Fabian waits until he's absolutely out of sight to raise a shaking hand to his lips. He feels a smile giddily crawling over his face and he buries his face in his hands rather than risk someone seeing him like that. He wonders, in a corner of his mind that's not fully busy simply rejoicing over getting his kisses in, if having a boyfriend is much different than having a girlfriend.

[dimension20fanfiction]

Fantasy College

Written by AO3 Author outofthedormroom

Summary:

I love Dimension 20 so much. I wasn't done with the characters and wanted to write some fic. So this is the bad kids headed to college.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17365514/chapters/40862489

Chapter 1: Is it lunch time yet?

Chapter Text

Adaine clicked the locks on her suitcase into place. She looked around the small apartment she’d called home for the past two years. Since moving out of Jawbones’ place after her 16th birthday she’d made the apartment above the deli her home. Adaine was excited to go to Aguefort University of Violence; the university was only a year old. At the start of her senior year Professor Aguefort announced that since he had died, came back to life, and took back control of the Adventuring Academy he was bored and wanted to be a dean of a fancy university. Since none would take him he started his own university. Only 6 people died during the first school year so it felt like a safe choice. As Adaine finished taking her last look around Zadye floated into the room.

“God dammit Zadye, just because it is my last day here doesn’t mean you can break the not announce yourself rule.” Adaine said annoyed.

“Now that you’re leaving I need to prep this place for one hell of a haunting.” Zadye said very pleased. “What is scarier this…” The room became icey cold and sets of eyes seemed to fill every shadow “or this?” Blood starts to drip down the wall and the smell of death takes over the room.

“Still not over being kicked out of the theatre department?”

“It was a bullshit call from Ms. Jones!” Zadye took a pause. “Hey Adaine, this shithole will be my main haunt but would it be cool with you if I haunted your dorm room from time to time?”

“If you can follow the announcing yourself rule then yes. If my roommate is terrible then you only need to follow that rule if I’m home.” Adaine offered. She was going to miss Zadye not his mellow drama goth kid stuff but the person, while ghost, under that front.

“I will scare that bitch to death if she doesn’t meet your cleaning standards.” and puff Zadye was vanished.

“Zayde, just because you don’t want to confront your feelings doesn’t mean you leave the conversation.” Adaine yelled and a bloody middle finger appeared on the door. She rolled her eyes and left the first place that ever felt like her home.

As she closed the door a text came in from Fig.

---

“Fig, you haven’t packed anything! We have to move you in tomorrow!” Sandra Lynn yelled from stairs to the attic.

“Ugh Mom get off my case!” Fig yelled continuing to play her bass behind a closed door.

“Now Fig, I know I’m not your parent and it’s not my place to tell you how to live your life but it is my job to help get you college ready. And as a guidance counselor I can tell you, you have to pack your stuff before moving into your dorm room.” Jawbone offered. Fig could tell that he was standing by her mom.

“I have until 8am. I’m working on a sick song called I’m in College for a Great Time.” Little did her mom know that she wasn’t technically in college. Arthur was just letting her move into a dorm in exchange for her playing at the on campus coffee shop.

“I’m calling your father!” Fig hit a cord.

“Which one?” Sandra-Lynn didn’t answer but Fig could hear her calling someone. The crystal ran when a voicemail picked up. It was muffled but Fig’s keen ears could make it out.

“Hello you have reached Principal Gilear Faeth, I can’t come to the phone right now but….Ragh stop it! I’m not the lunch lad anymore, no need for the BBQ sauce. BEEP” Gilear had had that voicemail for nearly a year and he couldn’t figure out how to change it.

“One down, one to go! Either way, I’m not starting for a while.” Fig called out. She knew she pushed her mom too far when one of her arrows hit the door lock breaking it. Her mom pushed the door open with Jawbone behind her.

“Fig, it is 6pm the day before you start at AUV. Get it together. You don’t want to forget anything. You need to get started, I don’t know what you need.” Sandra Lynn looked ready to start a mom rant.

“Ugh, I have a plan!” Fig put her bass down and picked up her crystal. She send Adaine a text asking her to cast unseen servant to pack her bags. “I just texted Adaine to help!” A moment later Fig’s items start sort, fold, and pack themselves.

“Well you’re not always going to have a wizard around to help.” Sandra Lynn said, rolling her eyes. After they left, Jawbone and Sandra Lynn shared a laugh.

---

“I am Fabian Seacaster, Son of Hallariel Seacaster, and I am here to get my room assignment.” Fabian declared at what looked to be the weakling incharge of check in.

“Does Seacaster start with a C or an S?” The man asked. Fabian narrowed his eyes.

“Are you mocking me?” He flipped over the table and lifted the man in the air. “I can tell you right now you do not want too…” The man vanished from his hands. “Where the hell?”

“I found it by your first name, you’re the only Fabian of your class. You are living in The Hall of Our Fathers’ floor 2. And lucky you; a single!” The man had blinked a few feet away.

“Fabian, try not to kill the RAs.” Hallariel said coming up from behind. “Now my baby needs your finest suite.”

“Well, we have dorms not suite. Fabian has been asided our average-ist single.” The RA said. “I am Swaine Smyth and I will be you RA. Now I’m not going to write you up for grabbing me cause I’m cool like that but consider this an informal warning.”

“While Swaine consider yourself warn!” Fabian whipped around, paused for a moment and turned back. “Now how do I get to my dorm?” Swaine gave him direction. Fabian and his mother headed off for the dorms followed by pirates carrying all of his things.

Once they reached room D20 they were surprised to see Gilear. Hallariel greet him with a kiss. Fabian considered killing for the millionth time.

“Fig’s fake father what are you doing here?” Fabian said as he opened the door.

“Oh...well Fig and Gorthalax are running late. I think they went to hell to get some decoration for her dorm. I thought I’d said hello to you, your mother, and our future child.” Gilear said touching his mother’s stomach.

“I cannot believe you will be the father to my future awesome brother. He will have so much to overcome being half you.”

“Hurtful...well I will go see if I can find Fig. I believe she is in room D6.” Gilear left. As he turn Fabian noticed a single bean on the backside of his pants.

---

“Thank you so much for helping me move in. My parents are at a church fundraising and won’t be coming till later.” Kristen said to Tracker as she hopped onto her freshly made bed.

“No problem,” Tracker said joining Kristen on the bed “I can’t believe you got a single.”

“Perks of knowing the dean and founding a new region that is extremely popular among young people so I can afford a little upgrade.” Kristen said looking at her pride flag with YES! Printed over it.

“Hey, makes it easier to come and visit.” Tracker said as she snuggled closer. “Plus it makes it nice that you won’t freak out any roommate trying to convert them.”

“YES! Doesn’t want me to convert per say just ask people to care more.” A knock at the door or room D4. “Here come my folks, let’s be extra gay.” Kristen said getting up to greet her parents Mac and Donna as well as her brothers Bricker, Buckey, and Cork.

“Kristen; you missed a great corn cake breakfast. We raised 400 gold pieces for Sole!” Donna said excitedly.

“Mom, we both know that Sole doesn’t need money. He runs the most profitably chain of self tanning places ever. It’s the Fantasy McDonalds of sun tanning. The best thing that ever happened to him was falling from the heavens.”

“Kristen, don’t be like that Sole needs to to make sure Helio’s beer pong x-sports league gets off the ground...I see she is here.” Mac said looking at Tracker.

“Yes Dad, my girlfriend of 3 years is here to help me move in since you were raising money for beer pong sports.” Her brothers had gathered around Tracker.

“Tracker! Do the trick for us!” Cork begged. “Please!” Added Buckey.

“Okay but you guys need to make me mad.” Tracker said. The three boys started make funny faces. In response, Tracker turned her face into that of her wolf form. “Howl, howl, howl” chanted the boys. Tracker started making wolf noises to entertain them.

“I don’t love the boys playing with people like...while you know.” Her dad trailed off carefully watching Tracker.

“Gay people? Like me? I don’t know why I invited you. We can either go and have a nice meal at the family move in lunch or you can leave and keep being a homophobe.”

“Don’t call us that, we love all people but we don’t trust all people” Her mom shot back.

“Homophobes it is; hey guys” Kristen turns to her brothers who were still being entertained by Tracker. “Because mom and dad are bigots you have to leave and stop playing with Tracker.”

“Mom and Dad being bigots ruin everything!” Bickery declared as Kristen family left.

---

Riz hung up his PI license on the wall of room D8. It was truly the most beautiful thing he’d ever see.

“Ok Riz, you are unpacked. Sorry I can’t stay long but my case is taking up so much time. Here is a Baston Market gift card in case you get hungry. Gorthalax and Fig are stuck in hellish traffic but they should be here by lunch and he can help you with anything. Is there anything else I can do before I had back to HQ.” Sklonda asked.

“I get it mom. In four years I will have the same problem.” Riz said. “Plus I can text the other bad kids and see if they are free to do things on the green and other such college student fun.”

“I’m so proud of you sweetie and I know your dad would be too.”

“Thanks mom.”

---

Gorgug drove the car as his parents cried in the back seat.

“Gorgug, buddy we are so so gd proud of you! It seems like yesterday you died for the first time and now you are starting college. Before you know it Wilma” his dad started crying harder. “Wilma we will be grandparents.”

“Now Gorgug, while we are sad you are leaving the tree we are mainly proud of you for going to college and being an all around great kid.” Wilma said choking back tears.

“I know, you’ve been proudly crying all day. We missed check in.”

“Oh gosh darn it did we keep you from having an important college experience.” Digby added. His parents cried harder. Gorgug stepped on the gas. They were going to get to campus just in time for the move in family lunch.

[componentplanet]

At Last: Driver-Assist Terms Will Be Common Across All Cars

Adaptive cruise control radar illlustration (Mercedes)

Here’s a major step forward in helping car buyers understand the meaning of car technology buzzwords, especially the terms for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). This is a list of 19 terms primarily for single safety features that have described in as many as 40 different ways by various automakers. An industry-affiliated consortium has agreed on terms for 19 ADAS terms such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and automatic emergency braking.

Most terms are for single pieces of technology. Nothing stops an automaker from employing a unique, company-specific umbrella term for a collection of multiple technologies, such as Ford Co-Pilot 360 or Nissan Safety Shield, says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, one of the groups that got the effort underway. The others are AAA, JD Power & Associates, and the National Safety Council.

Same Feature, Dozens of Different Names

Say you want a car that has a basic safety package of driver assists. How can you compare features when they have different names, and a dealership sales rep might not know, or knows and doesn’t tell you, that dynamic cruise control (more below) is just as good as adaptive cruise control? Now there’s a list of common features. It’s voluntary on the part of automakers. But third parties, including data aggregation companies that provide features information, will start using similar terms.

Here are the common terms that these groups will use going forward:

Nineteen ADAS terms the auto industry should use to describe core safety technology and avoid confusion. Automakers are still free to use their own umbrella names to describe a combination of several systems.

How Bad Is the Confusion?

A year ago an AAA automotive engineering team looked at 34 car brands sold in this US. This is how many different terms were used to describe common driver-assist features.

AAA 2019 Survey of ADAS Features Feature Unique Names Automatic Emergency Braking 40 Adaptive Cruise Control 20 Surround View Camera 20 Lane Keeping Assistance 19 Blind Spot Warning 19 Automatic High Beams 18 Rear Cross Traffic Warning 15 Driver Monitoring 13 Semi-Automated Parking Assist 12 Forward Collision Warning 8 Night Vision and Pedestrian Detection 5 ADAS = Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems

“We believe a united message [on names] could propel the industry forward,” says Kristen Kolodge, executive director for driver interaction and HMI at JD Power. Power’s involvement is doubly important: It does multiple car surveys that shape buyer attitudes, and a 2019 merger with Autodata Systems and its Chrome-branded solutions provides data on individual cars to automakers and major websites that report and cars and provide buying information. Now there’s a common language to describe what’s on each of the 17 million light vehicles sold in the US each year.

Our Take: Good Start. More Needed.

At Extreme Tech, we’ve described ADAS features using terminology that maps closely to the conclusions of the ADAS-naming consortium; often in reviews, we also cite the automaker’s own term. We’ve always used adaptive cruise control, the same as the consortium recommended. We’ve used blind-spot detection and the consortium’s blind-spot warning is close enough.

There are a couple of issues. The consortium uses two terms, lane-keeping assistance and lane-departure warning, to describe three different situations, from least to most helpful driver assistance:

Lane departure warning. When your crosses over a lane marking (or just before), you’re warned. This term is clear and its functionality maps to what the consortium calls it.

Lane keep (or keeping) assist. We’d say it’s like Pong for cars. When your car reaches the boundary marker for your lane, the steering pushes you back into the lane. Most of the time. Occasionally, the car keeps edging out-of-lane on a sharply curved road.

Lane centering assist. Real simple: The car always centers itself in the lane. (Except on really curvy roads where you shouldn’t be using LCA.) As long as you keep your hands lightly on the wheel — or in some cases, an eye tracker sees that you’re looking at the road — the car stays centered. Add adaptive cruise control and you’ve got SAE Level 2 self-driving, or what the consortium calls active driving assistance.

Similarly, adaptive cruise control covers several differences in functionality. Stop-and-go or full-range ACC takes the car all the way down to 0 mph and then back up to speed. At a light, you may have to press the gas pedal or hit a resume button. That’s the best ACC. Some older cars have ACC that goes down to 20 mph and then cuts out because the radar can’t focus on cars that may be close ahead in dense traffic, and that makes partial ACC unhelpful in stop-and-go traffic. And of the cars that stop and go, including some FCA products, they disengage ACC if the car is stopped for more than three seconds.

Forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking have nuances, too: on the highway versus in-town FCW (and also emergency braking), and detection of cars versus pedestrians, versus detection of pedestrians at night.

Dynamic Cruise Control Isn’t Active Cruise Control

BMW Driving Assistance Professional Package now with ADAP and ETJA/LAH. Including ACC.

For me, the confusion hit home last year when a neighbor dropped by in a new BMW X5 with a $68,000 list price (and that’s modestly optioned, with only $7,000 worth of extras). Her adaptive cruise control almost ran her into the car in front while on the interstate, she said. I went through the owner’s manual, checked the Monroney (the window sticker listing standard and optional features), and it eventually dawned on me: While some automakers use dynamic cruise control as a synonym for adaptive cruise control, as does Wikipedia, on her Bimmer “dynamic” means conventional cruise control. So no auto-pacing behind the car in front, but the car does slow down going around curves, then speeds up again. So it’s dynamic that way.

What my friend wanted but didn’t get – and this becomes linguistically confusing – is that while our president uses the best words, Germans string together the longest words. If you want ACC on many BMWs, you don’t want BMW Dynamic Cruise Control, nor do you merely want Active Driving Assistant (six ADAS features standard on the X5 but not including ACC). Instead, you want the Driving Assistance Professional Package, which incorporates Active Driving Assistant Pro and Extended Traffic Jam Assistant for Limited Access Highways. DAPP incorporating ADA and ETJA/LAH is a $1,700 bundle of very useful technologies that lets the car change lanes automatically, avoid side collisions, and help you maneuver in low-speed traffic.

But that’s how you get adaptive cruise control in this BMW. And never mind that ACC comes standard – no extra charge – on a $20,555 Toyota Corolla L. Where the feature is called – wait for it – dynamic radar cruise control, except in this case DRCC means ACC, all part of what the company calls Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 (TSS 2.0).

And this is where the consortium-for-simplicity comes in. It wants every automaker to call ACC adaptive cruise control. It doesn’t want to tell BMW it has to make ACC standard (even though BMW really should) and it doesn’t want to stop BMW from saying DAPP, ADA or ETJA/LAH, nor to stop Toyota from using TSS. But it is suggesting Toyota should move on from dynamic radar to active cruise control.

Consumer Reports, April 2020.

Consumer Reports, the most influential voice when it comes to promoting safety or evaluating reliability, has more tricks up its sleeve. For 2020 and its annual auto issue, it is raising the bar on what a car must do to be eligible for CR‘s Top Pick designation (the best car in each of 10 segments): It must be CR-recommended, and come standard with forward collision warning (FCW), with automatic emergency braking (AEB), and for 2020 it must come with pedestrian detection be standard and tied to AEB. CR’s Fisher also says the features have to be standard across the board for a model. No fair leaving it off the entry trim line that has an attractive price and only amounts to 5 percent of the model’s sales.

CR told automakers in advance about the change in Top Pick criteria for 2020. The upshot, Fisher says: The number of models that now have pedestrian detection, standard, on all trim lines, shot up significantly. Critics have argued the accuracy of pedestrian detection technology is hit or miss – so to speak – and doesn’t always work, especially in dim light. Against that, Fisher says, most advances in car safety protect the occupants, not pedestrians, so CR wants to prod the automakers.

Now read:

Consumer Reports Picks Its Top Car Brands

EVs Finally Get Some Love from the Most Important JD Power Study

Are Auto Shows a Goner in the Wake of Coronavirus?

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/307572-at-last-driver-assist-terms-will-be-common-across-all-cars from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/03/at-last-driver-assist-terms-will-be.html

[jeantparks]

R2AK Update: Congrats, it’s all over — who’s in for next year?!

UPDATE, 7:30 p.m. 7/05/17:

R2AK teams packed in tight, ready to head back south.

The third running of the Race to Alaska is over. Done.

Janice Mason and Ian Graeme (Team Oaracle) finished late in the afternoon on Tuesday, becoming the final finishers in this year’s race. Human powered only, they rowed the 750 nautical miles in 23 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes. A heroic effort. Rumor has it, they threw logs in the water to disable the sweep boat, but whether it was due to a bent shaft, or slightly bent rules, they did not get swept. True R2AK fashion.

Thirty four teams were on the roster to start in Port Townsend, 27 finished. The first place finishers did it in a little over four days. The last three teams averaged 22 days. Which efforts were more heroic? Pick a team. Any team. Whether you value speed, strength, tenacity or any other character building attribute, you’ll find a team to admire. Each team undertook a challenge — either to win, get the steak knives, sell their boat for $10,000, test themselves, pursue adventure, raise money for a good cause, do science along the way or just have a great time while suffering. My hunch is most got what they came for and more. Much more.

R2Ak gets under your skin. Alaska has an allure in and of itself, the Inside Passage is what dreams are made of, and the race combines all that with an irresistible personal challenge.

I bumped into Colin and Jordan from team ‘Make It So’ while in Ketchikan over the weekend. They had a long journey up and finished on July 2. I asked them “are you going to do it again?” They responded they had just talked about that and think they’ll take another shot at it. Not in the same boat (they were emphatic), but securing the right crew first, then figure out the best boat. My hunch is they’ll be on the start line in PT and Victoria next year.

As for the coverage from the great folks who run R2AK. For the last two years, Jake packaged up daily written updates: Brilliant, poignant and hysterical. His use (abuse?) of the English language defied description. He has many talents aside from creating a great race, but his writing skills are at the elite level. The tracker refresh button was pushed only little more than the refresh button awaiting his recaps.

This year they switched to podcasts. At first, I wasn’t a fan. I could nitpick because I thought I wanted the written word. The clever turn of phrase. The metaphors.  But most of all, the humor. And they took too along to listen to. I wanted it all packaged up for my convenience.

Then I began to listen. We all have decisions on how to spend our time and listening to the podcasts turned out to be time well spent. Most of them were 15 minutes long. The exception was Karl Kruger’s interview which lasted 60 minutes. Well worth tuning in for. The fellow chooses his words carefully and he has a poignant view on life. He’s thought a lot about how to live fully and live well.  The two part round tables with several teams were insightful and the racers themselves voiced their perspectives, stories and advice.

Overall, I thought the Facebook feed with the tracker was a great addition. It made it easy to get the latest news and updates while seeing the positions of the competitors. There weren’t many failures with the tracker either; a few minutes here and there, but overall stable, unlike the previous two years.

The party line from R2AK HQ is that they’ll announce a decision on next year’s race at a later date. As I understand it, there’s an ongoing process to understand what went well and what didn’t go well, and once the debrief takes place, then plans are evaluated for the following year.

I have a hunch that R2AK will be back for version four.  Start getting your boats and crew ready.

UPDATE, 5:30 p.m. 6/26/17:

Since the last update, five more teams have finished, one is knocking at the door of ‘done’ and the final eight teams are strung out from Prince Rupert to Bella Bella. The mystical, mythical and perhaps metaphorical “sweep boat” started on the 25th, making 75 nautical miles a day. Meaning this race has just over a week left to go before, one way or another, it’s over for this year.

Team Sistership, once near dead last, passed much of the fleet to finish 15th, but couldn’t quite catch team Adventourists, the Australians on Gizmo. After a two day lag, the Frenchmen aboard Team Phocoena finished and minutes later Karl Kruger on his standup paddleboard finished. Each team is a story on their own, but Karl’s journey was exceptional. Seven hundred and fifty miles on a SUP. 750! After he finished, Karl seemed to say he was battling himself as much or more than the elements. That voice that says, “stop, you don’t have to do this.” But the indomitable will that over powers that voice.

Karl Kruger. Roger Mann. The boys, now men, of North2Alaska. Sistership after their setback. Broderna after their initial breakage. Global after their boom crumpled. Everyone trying to pedal, paddle and row through rain and calms. These hearty souls make up R2AK. Everyone battled the elements, fatigue, equipment and themselves. Each of the teams in the R2AK offers examples of our better selves and life lessons to follow. Oh what a race.

Ryan (Nomadica) should finish shortly. He came into Shearwater with no electronics, navigating the last few pitch black miles with a head lamp.

The other teams are still heading North. Rush Aweigh, the Montgomery 17 is just outside of Prince Rupert and three other boats, the Kayak (Matt Prius, Vis Reporter’, canoe (Rod Price Adventures) and Kristen and Elena with Team Kelp (carrying ‘flat Dan!’) are on the east side of Porcher Island. The three guys on the old pinky ‘Grace B’ are just to the south. Oaracle and team ‘Make it so’ are in Shearwater and Dan Gilbert, (Team Gar) is the southern most racer just now approaching Bella Bella.

Great stories yet to come and now the math of the Sweep Boat enters into an already complicated equation.

Rock on R2AK V 3.0!

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m. 6/22/17:

It’s the home stretch for many R2AK competitors. Click the image to follow the tracker live.

Thirteen teams have finished, 14 are left working their way north and an additional three teams have retired from the race.

Russell Brown handily beat the singlehanded record and Roger Mann finished several hours later. With a much faster boat, Russell took a more gentlemanly approach stopping every night. Roger Mann, with a slower boat, got to Ketchikan with strength, determination and sheer will.

In R2AK, it’s said that “everyone finds their race.” The four boys and a dad (North2Alaska) in the aluminum high school project sharpie were focused on beating their competitor Team Global. And beat them they did. Their bold move through Seymour Narrows in the dead of night gave them strategic advantage and they built on it with relentless effort. Eerily similar to Roger Mann, they pulled oars, all nighters and gave it everything they had. The boys became men upon their successful arrival in Ketchikan, and Henry became the youngest ever to complete the R2AK.

Just as North2Alaska pulled off an audaciously bold move, team Global thought they had their move lined up when they headed to the outside in Hecate Strait.  Their boat is the heaviest in the fleet and, in their words “sucks in light wind.” With strong southerlies they saw their chance to perhaps get in front of the coming gale and make good time. They headed outside and all was going well till it wasn’t. As they surfed a wave their boom buckled.

Again, in their words, they cursed, broke out some food and snacked. Then discussed how to fix things. Obtaining shelter in a cove, they created a splint for the boom and pushed on to Ketchikan.

The next two to land in Ketchikan will likely be Adventourists and Sistership. Adventourists has the lead, Sistership may have something to prove. Sistership has been passing teams right and left after their setback with their centerboard. Can they pass the last team between them and Ketchikan?

Karl Kruger is headed up Grenville channel. Eating three to four chewable tablets per hour, he’s been averaging about 50 miles per day on his paddleboard. Before the race, Daniel Evans explained to me that his thinking about paddleboards had evolved over the past couple of years. When it comes to being prepared to go overboard, most of us sailors wear PFDs giving the illusion we’re ready to take a dunk. But we know our chances of going over are exceedingly slim. We may or may not be wearing a dry or wet suit and wearing a PFD isn’t really an indication of preparedness for the real thing. For a paddleboarder, it’s a real risk. Karl explained as much when he took on Johnstone Strait in high winds. He was suited up and ready for a swim.

Most of the rest of the fleet is above Bella Bella with only three teams remaining south of Cape Caution.

The “Fueled on Stoke” guys have retired from the race, as has John Guider who had been battling bronchitis.

UPDATE, 7:00 a.m. 6/18/17:

The teams are spread wide. Click on the image to view the tracker.

It’s Sunday morning. Three teams are done and 10 teams are above the Bella Bella check point. All teams are preparing for strong southerlies projected for today.

Two very dissimilar teams are battling it out in the final stages. Ketch Me if You Can, on a Nacra 20 Catamaran with a team of two should out pace the West Coast Wild Ones to Ketchikan next, but given their performance, the Wild Ones are sailing their O’Day 27 exceedingly well. Reportedly, ‘Ketch Me’ is after the $10K buyback prize and will shortly be on their final approach to Ketchikan.

With a large gap between the likely 4th and 5th place boats, 3 ½ Aussies are in 6th place currently about to enter Estevan Sound.

Next are 7 boats the just above Bella Bella. The diversity of these craft, so close together, is remarkable. Tri’s, Cats, monohulls and a rowboat that has no reason – and yet every reason – to be hanging with far faster craft. The monohulls range from a mid-sixties Columbia sailboat to a state of the art planning Seascape 27. Low tech and high tech. Within that group is Roger Mann, positioned again to be the first solo finisher although it’s way premature to call it. Also within that group are the four high schoolers plus a dad rowing and sailing an aluminum replica of a sharpie. Happy Fathers Day to him!

Both the high schoolers and Roger Mann are showing what both the young, and the not-so young, are capable of. Both pulled all nighters yesterday with Roger Mann in team Discovery chugging up Fitzhugh Sound with the high schoolers right behind. With a full generation between Roger and the teenagers, it was a great sight. The spirit of R2AK is well represented between those two teams.

In a league by himself, Karl Kruger is camped after a big day near Cape Caution. Consider he’s gone the length of Vancouver Island in 6 days on a standup paddleboard. Re-read the previous sentence and let that sink in. And he just turned 45.

Adventourists, who have been posting some funny clips, had a fairly close encounter with a bear (they got a picture of it) is poised to pass Karl today as they drive Gizmo north through Queen Charlotte Sound.

The rest of the teams haven’t yet cleared the top of Vancouver Island. Sistership is on the move after rafting to former team mate Janice Mason near Helmcken Island for a reunion. Down to to three crewmembers, they’re still aiming to pick off as many teams as they can as they head north.

All but four of the teams are now above the Narrows and John Guilder, currently the southernmost boat, is battling a return of his Asthma and his posts indicate he’s struggling but at last report was still headed north. His tracker is acting up, so I don’t know his exact location.

There was a brief scare Thursday when Rod Price tried to head out into Seymour Narrows. He was seen battling large standing waves and wasn’t seen again. His batteries had given out on his Spot tracker, but he wisely returned to a cove and took shelter.  All the while he was oblivious to increasing alarm both within the R2AK organizers and his wife. The Canadian Coast Guard mounted a search, but Matt Prius, knowing what he’d do in a similar situation, followed a hunch and located Rod right where he thought he’d be. Safe and sound. All’s well that ends well, but there were about 30 increasingly nervous hours on the part of all parties, not the least of which was Rod’s wife.  In a posted video Rod was apologetic for the unintended event and he was clearly concerned about the angst he caused his wife (who likely holds the keys on future adventures!).

Strong southerlies are in the forecast today which should favor sail power. I’d look for some separation with the tri’s and the planning capable Seascape (Willpower) to rocket north.

Rock on R2AK v3.0!!

UPDATE, 5:00 p.m. 6/16/17:

Team Bad Kitty has just arrived in Ketchikan and takes third place. Huge congrats goes out to them for fighting on!

Ketch Me If You Can and West Coast Wild Ones are past Bella Bella and a host of others are north of Vancouver Island.

UPDATE, 9:45 a.m. 6/16/17:

Excellent report on yesterday’s action in Ketchikan here from R2AK HQ…

Team Pure & Wild and Big Broderna at the finish: Sean Huston, Nels Strandberg, Mars Le Baron, Lars Strandberg, Tripp Burd, Trevor Burd, Chris Burd (from left to right)

Despite the color of the flag, the feel of the money, and the sun-deprived caucasian pallor whose color falls somewhere between sidewalk stripe and salamander belly- Alaska is different. Bigger mountains, more rain, fewer people, louder jokes, thicker shirts, more xtra tuffs that serve here as the topsiders for anyone within a chew spit of the shoreline. Different as Alaska is, from the time the solstice-driven dawn began its slow yawn at 3 am, until three exhausted beers after the two teams finished, the same things were happening on the screen side of the last frontier as were happening in the rest of the R2AK nation. All of us were there: wide eyes, twitchy fingers that were alternately wearing out the tracker refresh and offering a center digit salute when it froze. All of us shared the desire to make eye contact with anyone nearby who wasn’t our boss to share just how damned exciting this all was. 750 miles and they were right on top of each other? If you had a pulse and more than two bars of cell coverage how could you not be excited? This was a race to the end. Continue reading…

Bad Kitty is on the move towards AK, as more teams head towards Bella Bella. Click the image to view the tracker.

UPDATE, 9:45 p.m. 6/15/17:

After 750 miles it boiled down to two sets of brothers from opposite coasts.

Accomplished sailors with great boats win races. But R2AK is about so much more than the top finishers. As gales rake the Inside Passage with the remaining R2AKers strung up and down the coast, there are still a couple of weeks left in this event. Consider that most teams are currently hunkered down waiting for the front to pass. Except for Karl Kruger on his paddleboard. He’s been on the move. When it was blowing 25-35 knots and prudent mariners were being prudent, he was hitting nearly 7 knots in Johnstone Strait. On a paddleboard!

And the high school kids (and one dad). They are on the move as well, but in a boat that is as uncomfortable as it can be. The dad deserves a great father’s day this weekend. But he knows he’s already got it.

After the gale lifts, though, there is still plenty of cheering left for great teams. Who will be the first solo R2Aker this year? Will Karl really make Ketchikan on his paddleboard? Who will get the $10K boat buy back? How many teams will Sistership pass?  Are there bold moves left for the high schoolers on North2Alaska? What about Rod Price and his single paddle? Will Kristen and Elena carrying ‘flat Dan’ retain their cheerfulness and get all the way to Ketchikan? Will West Coast Wild Ones in their old ODay 27 beat Ketch Me If You Can?

Everyone on the course finds their own race. Against others, against the elements, or against themselves. Find your racers. Cheer them on. And take the spirit of R2AK and make it your own.

Hit the refresh button on the tracker often. It’s all yet to unfold.

UPDATE, 2:30 p.m. 6/15/17:

The Three Sheets Northwest crew was absolutely glued to the tracker and Facebook updates as Team Pure & Wild/Freeburd and Team Big Broderna battled to the finish in Ketchikan just moments ago. A huge congratulations goes out to the Burd brothers on Pure & Wild for taking number 1 — what a race! Wow.

And our hats go off to Team Big Broderna for giving them an epic run. Enjoy those steak knives, boys. You earned ’em!

UPDATE, 8:15 a.m. 6/15/17:

Well, it looks like a two horse race at this point, folks. The question is, who will snag the 10 grand and who will take home the steak knives?

Team Pure & Wild/Freeburd and Team Big Broderna are neck and neck near the BC – Alaska border and will finish today.

It’s gonna be a tight finish in Ketchikan! Click the tracker image to follow live.

For reasons yet unknown, Team Bad Kitty is holed up and out of contention for the first two slots. And don’t expect a lot of movement from the rest of the fleet as gales will rake the Inside Passage throughout the day.

UPDATE, Noon 6/14/17:

The R2AK playing field grows. Click on the image to view the tracker live.

The course now strings along from Nanaimo to Bella Bella. As of noon on Wednesday, there’s much to report. On the northern front, the brothers Burd on Pure & Wild have cleared the Bella Bella checkpoint and were cruising at 13 knots. Big Broderna and Bad Kitty are coming up on the checkpoint at about 7 knots. Lots of twists and turns ahead, but the focus now may be more on the steak knives. Strong southerlies are in the forecast – hold on!!

On the southern front, Sistership has re-engaged the race after repairing their centerboard. They are in it and it’ll be interesting to see just how many boats they can pick off as they find their own race north.

By my count, I have 30 boats actively racing now.

Aside from the top 3, Ketch me if you can is in 4th, with Team 3 and ½ Aussies in 5th but docked at Port McNeil.

There’s quite a gap to 6th, with West Coast Wild Ones still sailing up Johnstone strait and Roger Mann in 7th doggedly following.

Having no business in 8th place, but holding it after last night’s incredibly daring move through Seymour Narrows is North2Alaska. Most of Johnstone Strait is in front of them, but early mornings, late nights, guile and skill have this aluminum sharpie moving much faster than it logically should. Despite my misgivings, the team reports the event itself was mostly uneventful. “Minimal tide rips and perfect wind.” They rushed through within 10 minutes and achieved 12 knots, the fastest the old Johnny (for Johnny Horton) has ever gone. The team went on to say it was a strategic move to get ahead of the other teams holed up in Campbell River. Well played, sirs.

About 15 nautical miles behind and closing are 6 boats in close proximity. In an order that is likely to change, in 9th to 14th place are PT Watercraft, Global, Away Team, Triceratops, Nomadica, and the SeaScape 27, Willpower.

All the above teams are past Seymour Narrows. Seymour is ebbing right now – flowing the right direction, but with strong currents. Slack is just after three this afternoon, then the window closes with peak flood at 6:31 followed by another slack at 10 p.m.

In 15th through 19th position are five teams all at the same marina in Campbell River. Sailpro Racing (after some questionable navigation approaching Cape Mudge last night), team Kelp (after what must have been an incredibly long day yesterday!), Rush Aweigh, Adventourists, and new arrival just a few minutes ago, Karl Kruger on his standup paddleboard (Heart of Gold). All these teams could avail themselves of the afternoon slack.

Speaking of Adventourists, they tried to sneak away (their own admission) in the dead of night to get the benefit of the strong ebb around midnight and just as they were about to leave a random fellow on the dock called their attention to a missing rudder pin. No steering could have been catastrophic in the strong current. It’s likely Gizmo has an angel looking over her.

Four teams are just below Campbell River. Matt Prius and Grace B are well within range of the afternoon slack and there’s an outside chance that Rod Price and Freya could make it as well.

The other 7 teams are out of the Gulf Islands but still south of Comox. It’s really great to see Sistership back in it and charging north. It’s not the situation they had hoped for, but they’re back in and it will be fun to cheer them on. Adversity can bring out the best in the best.

A final note, Kairos has turned around. The technical issues were apparently insurmountable.

UPDATE, 7 a.m. 6/14/17:

Local knowledge defined. Team North2Alaska transited Seymour Narrows at peak ebb at 0045 hours. Dudes!

They’re going to remember this night for the rest of their lives. Four guys fresh out of high school and a dad. But the dad is a commercial fisherman who has done the Inside Passage hundreds of times according to an article in the PT Leader.

Team North2Alaska at the start in Port Townsend.

At the front of the pack, the Burd Brothers (Team Pure & Wild) remain in first and are nearing the checkpoint at Bella Bella. Team Broderna jumped into second and Team Bad Kitty is clawing its way north in third. The rest of the pack can basically split into two sections, those who have transited Seymour Narrows and, well, those who have not.

Here’s a great weather brief from our friends at Sailish.com.

UPDATE, 9 p.m. 6/13/17:

Some news at the front of the pack. The Burd brothers, in the lead, left Malcolm Island to port and went up through George Passage. Bad Kitty, in second, appeared to gamble, leaving Malcolm Island to starboard and went through Broughton Strait. Big Broderna, in third, followed the Burd Brothers. As of 2100 Tuesday night, it appears the gamble didn’t work. Bad Kitty is now in third and Big Broderna is in second trying to reel in the Burd Brothers. They’re all at the top of Vancouver Island with a lot of water ahead of them, so one can’t get too confident or disappointed.

Team 3 and ½ Aussies is alone in 4th place about midway in Johnstone Strait and Ketch me if you can is in 5th starting their run at Johnstone.

Five teams above the Narrows but slack is 9:19 with six teams at Campbell River with more arriving shortly. Two of those six, Roger Mann on Discovery and West Coast Wild Ones, appear poised to take advantage of the evening slack. The others may wait until either the 3:51 a.m. slack or perhaps the 8:58 slack. Between the evening slack and the 3:51 slack the current is moving in the right direction, but with strong eddies and whirlpools. Arriving near peak current last night, the Burd brothers faced a choice. Wait and watch their lead diminish or go for it. I’m not privy to their deliberation, but their description was great:

They recalled the entry into the narrows as the “darkest of dark you can imagine and nearly max current”.  Fading wind, little steerage but they were prepared – hatch covers, Ocean Rodeo suits, headlamps, and deck vests on. As they entered “the gut of the narrows” they could hear, but not see, breaking waves. “Here we go!” they thought. Only to find that the breaking waves were really a school of 30 to 40 porpoises. I suspect they were Pacific Whitesided Dolphins, but in any case the porpoises/dolphins played with their bow and made an already memorable trip that much more memorable.

The next 10 hours or so will be great to watch on who makes what decision. I suspect the 8:58 slack will be a busy one for R2AK, although the aggressive may try earlier.

Pear Shaped Racing has formally retired and Team Kairos is having some issues with their row cruiser and trying to make repairs.

Sistership hit some rocks exiting Active Pass and has posted some heartbreaking posts. Their centerboard is jammed in the up position and they were just towed back to Nanaimo. They’ll need to be hauled out of the water and then make the decision whether or not to carry on and go for Ketchikan. It’s tough watching the live posts they’ve made — the disappointment is palpable.  I’m hoping they go for it as they can still find their race picking off the slower craft. They’ve got a good boat and a good crew.

If there’s a most improved boat, team Kelp had a good day. Would have been better had they gotten up a little earlier the past few days (ahem:).

More on the smaller human powered boats later – they are holding their own and the North2Alaska guys are really making a fine accounting of themselves.

As this missive closes, I’m thinking about Roger Mann, alone in his boat, making the 9 p.m. slack. He’s not going to get much sleep tonight.

UPDATE, 9 a.m. 6/13/17: 

Team Pure & Wild/Freeburd, Team Bad Kitty and Team Big Broderna are building a lead in Johnstone Strait. Click on the image to view tracker live.

The overall picture hasn’t changed much, but the Burd brothers didn’t wait for slack and took Seymour Narrows on shortly after midnight. Bad Kitty and Big Broderna also got through the checkpoint at Campbell River and are through the Narrows. The Burd brothers hold roughly a 15 nautical mile lead over Bad Kitty, slightly less than what they had leading up to Campbell River. The wind is blowing and they’ve got an adverse current at present.

Roger Mann was up early as were the boys in North2Alaska and Matt Prius in Viz Reporter.

A quick note on North2Alaska: When I was in Port Townsend, I looked at this boat. It’s a high school project, a home made welded aluminum sharpie. Their oars appeared to be crude affairs so heavy they were counter balanced with zincs. The unstayed masts wobbled and the thought of five souls aboard (four teenagers just graduated from high school plus one dad), made me shudder. Privately I didn’t give them much of a shot to make it to Victoria much less Ketchikan. There’s still a lot of water between them and Ketchikan, but they have put in long days and the last two mornings beat the sun up getting underway.  Ahead of some faster, more capable boats, these guys are bring their A game and then some. This morning they left Lasqueti Island and are headed north. In any case, my earlier assessment of their chances was flat wrong. And being wrong on something like this makes me very happy as it’s exactly that type of performance by young people that provides hope for the future.

Team Sistership took an odd turn last night, getting out of the strait and pulled into French Creek. No movement yet this morning. Hope all is well with them. The rest of the field is scattered throughout Georgia Strait.

It’s another day for R2AK!

Original Post, 9:30 p.m. 6/12/17:

Screen shot of the race tracker at 9:32 p.m. Click on the image to view the tracker live.

R2AK is off and running. Similar to the start at Port Townsend, the Victoria re-start was in calm weather. Unlike the Port Townsend start, the forecasted calm wind was supposed to last all day.

Unfortunately, when the racers took off from Victoria Harbour at high noon on Sunday it was marred by a collision between a powerboat and team Oaracle. The powerboat came up behind the rowers and caused some damage, but fortunately no injuries.   Clearly the overtaking and hence burdened vessel, the powerboat’s operator yelled at the rowers and reportedly took off — the equivalent of an aquatic hit and run.

Just days before, the Port Townsend to Victoria race was really two races. Or, more candidly, a race then a fight for survival. The predicted heavy wind arrive and, in the words of Jake Beattie, “went from zero to 50 as if it had something to prove.” For a full recap of that leg, Jake’s writing is well worth a read.

As of this writing, Monday afternoon, Team Pure and Wild/Freeburd, with the brothers Burd ( Tripp, Chris and Trevor) are opening up a commanding lead, charging up the Strait of Georgia despite hitting something hard last night. Overnight and earlier into the morning Pear Shaped Racing had been giving them competition, but a log strike at 8 knots sent them into Nanaimo for inspection.

The Burd brothers vessel has a nice combination of fast sailing, an effective propulsion system (Pedal powered) and three athletic young men as crew. They can deal with calms, they can deal with wind and they don’t have to stop. They were the first sailboat to arrive in Victoria, arriving just minutes before Pear Shaped Racing, PT Watercraft and Bad Kitty. All fast boats, but the log strike certainly impacted the Pear Shaped team and PT Watercraft has a crew of one, who will need to sleep. Bad Kitty and Big Broderna are sure to provide some competition, but it’s setting up to have the Burd brothers get through Seymour Narrows a slack or two before their nearest rival. They’re aiming for the slack around 2000 hours tonight.

Of the three paddleboarders, Karl Kruger is showing how it’s done. He was up early this morning and moving – currently the first of the primarily human powered craft.  Following close behind is Rod Price in his canoe (looks like a kayak with training wheels, but he’s got a single sided paddle and technically it’s a canoe) and Viz Reporter (Matt Prius). All three opted to avoid Dodd Narrows and went through False Narrows shortly after noon. The other two paddle boarders, Luke Burritt and Edrogan Kirac with ‘Stoked on Fuel” have been at Van Isle Marina all morning but got underway shortly after noon and opted to go through Sansum narrows. So far, all the other teams going up the inside opted to take Trincomali Channel.

Roger Mann opted for open water and surprisingly is ahead of larger boats with larger crews. If he slept at all last night, it wasn’t for very long.

The rest of the fleet is split between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ with the larger cats and tri’s headed outside and the primarily human powered craft going inside through the Gulf Islands. For the smaller teams unable to go 24 hours a day, the length of their day will make a difference. The Port Townsend high school boys were up and at it early this morning as were many of the teams.  Some chose to sleep in. As we’ve seen before, the cumulative effect of those different habits will string out the fleet over the next week.

Some of the teams did a hybrid approach, going up the inside, but escaping the Gulf Islands through one of the passes. Kelp and Sistership opted for Active pass, and North2Alaska and Adventourists took Porlier Pass.

Speaking of what’s coming next, it’s wind. There’s a strong wind warning in Johnstone Strait later today, tonight and tomorrow.  Thursday will be 25 – 35, but out of the southeast. From personal experience in a small boat with less than a foot of freeboard, Johnstone Strait can be brutal, but at least it’ll be a following sea on Thursday. The wind will pick up in Georgia Strait as well, making up for the earlier easy time for the human powered craft. Look for the racers to spread out. Some will take advantage of the wind and charge forward, others will try and avoid the wind respecting their vessels and perhaps their own limitations. This isn’t really a race. But then again, it is.

Read More Here ….

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source http://yachtaweigh.com/r2ak-update-congrats-its-all-over-whos-in-for-next-year/ from http://yatchaweigh.blogspot.com/2017/07/r2ak-update-congrats-its-all-over-whos.html

[janetgannon]

R2AK Update: Congrats, it’s all over — who’s in for next year?!

UPDATE, 7:30 p.m. 7/05/17:

R2AK teams packed in tight, ready to head back south.

The third running of the Race to Alaska is over. Done.

Janice Mason and Ian Graeme (Team Oaracle) finished late in the afternoon on Tuesday, becoming the final finishers in this year’s race. Human powered only, they rowed the 750 nautical miles in 23 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes. A heroic effort. Rumor has it, they threw logs in the water to disable the sweep boat, but whether it was due to a bent shaft, or slightly bent rules, they did not get swept. True R2AK fashion.

Thirty four teams were on the roster to start in Port Townsend, 27 finished. The first place finishers did it in a little over four days. The last three teams averaged 22 days. Which efforts were more heroic? Pick a team. Any team. Whether you value speed, strength, tenacity or any other character building attribute, you’ll find a team to admire. Each team undertook a challenge — either to win, get the steak knives, sell their boat for $10,000, test themselves, pursue adventure, raise money for a good cause, do science along the way or just have a great time while suffering. My hunch is most got what they came for and more. Much more.

R2Ak gets under your skin. Alaska has an allure in and of itself, the Inside Passage is what dreams are made of, and the race combines all that with an irresistible personal challenge.

I bumped into Colin and Jordan from team ‘Make It So’ while in Ketchikan over the weekend. They had a long journey up and finished on July 2. I asked them “are you going to do it again?” They responded they had just talked about that and think they’ll take another shot at it. Not in the same boat (they were emphatic), but securing the right crew first, then figure out the best boat. My hunch is they’ll be on the start line in PT and Victoria next year.

As for the coverage from the great folks who run R2AK. For the last two years, Jake packaged up daily written updates: Brilliant, poignant and hysterical. His use (abuse?) of the English language defied description. He has many talents aside from creating a great race, but his writing skills are at the elite level. The tracker refresh button was pushed only little more than the refresh button awaiting his recaps.

This year they switched to podcasts. At first, I wasn’t a fan. I could nitpick because I thought I wanted the written word. The clever turn of phrase. The metaphors.  But most of all, the humor. And they took too along to listen to. I wanted it all packaged up for my convenience.

Then I began to listen. We all have decisions on how to spend our time and listening to the podcasts turned out to be time well spent. Most of them were 15 minutes long. The exception was Karl Kruger’s interview which lasted 60 minutes. Well worth tuning in for. The fellow chooses his words carefully and he has a poignant view on life. He’s thought a lot about how to live fully and live well.  The two part round tables with several teams were insightful and the racers themselves voiced their perspectives, stories and advice.

Overall, I thought the Facebook feed with the tracker was a great addition. It made it easy to get the latest news and updates while seeing the positions of the competitors. There weren’t many failures with the tracker either; a few minutes here and there, but overall stable, unlike the previous two years.

The party line from R2AK HQ is that they’ll announce a decision on next year’s race at a later date. As I understand it, there’s an ongoing process to understand what went well and what didn’t go well, and once the debrief takes place, then plans are evaluated for the following year.

I have a hunch that R2AK will be back for version four.  Start getting your boats and crew ready.

UPDATE, 5:30 p.m. 6/26/17:

Since the last update, five more teams have finished, one is knocking at the door of ‘done’ and the final eight teams are strung out from Prince Rupert to Bella Bella. The mystical, mythical and perhaps metaphorical “sweep boat” started on the 25th, making 75 nautical miles a day. Meaning this race has just over a week left to go before, one way or another, it’s over for this year.

Team Sistership, once near dead last, passed much of the fleet to finish 15th, but couldn’t quite catch team Adventourists, the Australians on Gizmo. After a two day lag, the Frenchmen aboard Team Phocoena finished and minutes later Karl Kruger on his standup paddleboard finished. Each team is a story on their own, but Karl’s journey was exceptional. Seven hundred and fifty miles on a SUP. 750! After he finished, Karl seemed to say he was battling himself as much or more than the elements. That voice that says, “stop, you don’t have to do this.” But the indomitable will that over powers that voice.

Karl Kruger. Roger Mann. The boys, now men, of North2Alaska. Sistership after their setback. Broderna after their initial breakage. Global after their boom crumpled. Everyone trying to pedal, paddle and row through rain and calms. These hearty souls make up R2AK. Everyone battled the elements, fatigue, equipment and themselves. Each of the teams in the R2AK offers examples of our better selves and life lessons to follow. Oh what a race.

Ryan (Nomadica) should finish shortly. He came into Shearwater with no electronics, navigating the last few pitch black miles with a head lamp.

The other teams are still heading North. Rush Aweigh, the Montgomery 17 is just outside of Prince Rupert and three other boats, the Kayak (Matt Prius, Vis Reporter’, canoe (Rod Price Adventures) and Kristen and Elena with Team Kelp (carrying ‘flat Dan!’) are on the east side of Porcher Island. The three guys on the old pinky ‘Grace B’ are just to the south. Oaracle and team ‘Make it so’ are in Shearwater and Dan Gilbert, (Team Gar) is the southern most racer just now approaching Bella Bella.

Great stories yet to come and now the math of the Sweep Boat enters into an already complicated equation.

Rock on R2AK V 3.0!

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m. 6/22/17:

It’s the home stretch for many R2AK competitors. Click the image to follow the tracker live.

Thirteen teams have finished, 14 are left working their way north and an additional three teams have retired from the race.

Russell Brown handily beat the singlehanded record and Roger Mann finished several hours later. With a much faster boat, Russell took a more gentlemanly approach stopping every night. Roger Mann, with a slower boat, got to Ketchikan with strength, determination and sheer will.

In R2AK, it’s said that “everyone finds their race.” The four boys and a dad (North2Alaska) in the aluminum high school project sharpie were focused on beating their competitor Team Global. And beat them they did. Their bold move through Seymour Narrows in the dead of night gave them strategic advantage and they built on it with relentless effort. Eerily similar to Roger Mann, they pulled oars, all nighters and gave it everything they had. The boys became men upon their successful arrival in Ketchikan, and Henry became the youngest ever to complete the R2AK.

Just as North2Alaska pulled off an audaciously bold move, team Global thought they had their move lined up when they headed to the outside in Hecate Strait.  Their boat is the heaviest in the fleet and, in their words “sucks in light wind.” With strong southerlies they saw their chance to perhaps get in front of the coming gale and make good time. They headed outside and all was going well till it wasn’t. As they surfed a wave their boom buckled.

Again, in their words, they cursed, broke out some food and snacked. Then discussed how to fix things. Obtaining shelter in a cove, they created a splint for the boom and pushed on to Ketchikan.

The next two to land in Ketchikan will likely be Adventourists and Sistership. Adventourists has the lead, Sistership may have something to prove. Sistership has been passing teams right and left after their setback with their centerboard. Can they pass the last team between them and Ketchikan?

Karl Kruger is headed up Grenville channel. Eating three to four chewable tablets per hour, he’s been averaging about 50 miles per day on his paddleboard. Before the race, Daniel Evans explained to me that his thinking about paddleboards had evolved over the past couple of years. When it comes to being prepared to go overboard, most of us sailors wear PFDs giving the illusion we’re ready to take a dunk. But we know our chances of going over are exceedingly slim. We may or may not be wearing a dry or wet suit and wearing a PFD isn’t really an indication of preparedness for the real thing. For a paddleboarder, it’s a real risk. Karl explained as much when he took on Johnstone Strait in high winds. He was suited up and ready for a swim.

Most of the rest of the fleet is above Bella Bella with only three teams remaining south of Cape Caution.

The “Fueled on Stoke” guys have retired from the race, as has John Guider who had been battling bronchitis.

UPDATE, 7:00 a.m. 6/18/17:

The teams are spread wide. Click on the image to view the tracker.

It’s Sunday morning. Three teams are done and 10 teams are above the Bella Bella check point. All teams are preparing for strong southerlies projected for today.

Two very dissimilar teams are battling it out in the final stages. Ketch Me if You Can, on a Nacra 20 Catamaran with a team of two should out pace the West Coast Wild Ones to Ketchikan next, but given their performance, the Wild Ones are sailing their O’Day 27 exceedingly well. Reportedly, ‘Ketch Me’ is after the $10K buyback prize and will shortly be on their final approach to Ketchikan.

With a large gap between the likely 4th and 5th place boats, 3 ½ Aussies are in 6th place currently about to enter Estevan Sound.

Next are 7 boats the just above Bella Bella. The diversity of these craft, so close together, is remarkable. Tri’s, Cats, monohulls and a rowboat that has no reason – and yet every reason – to be hanging with far faster craft. The monohulls range from a mid-sixties Columbia sailboat to a state of the art planning Seascape 27. Low tech and high tech. Within that group is Roger Mann, positioned again to be the first solo finisher although it’s way premature to call it. Also within that group are the four high schoolers plus a dad rowing and sailing an aluminum replica of a sharpie. Happy Fathers Day to him!

Both the high schoolers and Roger Mann are showing what both the young, and the not-so young, are capable of. Both pulled all nighters yesterday with Roger Mann in team Discovery chugging up Fitzhugh Sound with the high schoolers right behind. With a full generation between Roger and the teenagers, it was a great sight. The spirit of R2AK is well represented between those two teams.

In a league by himself, Karl Kruger is camped after a big day near Cape Caution. Consider he’s gone the length of Vancouver Island in 6 days on a standup paddleboard. Re-read the previous sentence and let that sink in. And he just turned 45.

Adventourists, who have been posting some funny clips, had a fairly close encounter with a bear (they got a picture of it) is poised to pass Karl today as they drive Gizmo north through Queen Charlotte Sound.

The rest of the teams haven’t yet cleared the top of Vancouver Island. Sistership is on the move after rafting to former team mate Janice Mason near Helmcken Island for a reunion. Down to to three crewmembers, they’re still aiming to pick off as many teams as they can as they head north.

All but four of the teams are now above the Narrows and John Guilder, currently the southernmost boat, is battling a return of his Asthma and his posts indicate he’s struggling but at last report was still headed north. His tracker is acting up, so I don’t know his exact location.

There was a brief scare Thursday when Rod Price tried to head out into Seymour Narrows. He was seen battling large standing waves and wasn’t seen again. His batteries had given out on his Spot tracker, but he wisely returned to a cove and took shelter.  All the while he was oblivious to increasing alarm both within the R2AK organizers and his wife. The Canadian Coast Guard mounted a search, but Matt Prius, knowing what he’d do in a similar situation, followed a hunch and located Rod right where he thought he’d be. Safe and sound. All’s well that ends well, but there were about 30 increasingly nervous hours on the part of all parties, not the least of which was Rod’s wife.  In a posted video Rod was apologetic for the unintended event and he was clearly concerned about the angst he caused his wife (who likely holds the keys on future adventures!).

Strong southerlies are in the forecast today which should favor sail power. I’d look for some separation with the tri’s and the planning capable Seascape (Willpower) to rocket north.

Rock on R2AK v3.0!!

UPDATE, 5:00 p.m. 6/16/17:

Team Bad Kitty has just arrived in Ketchikan and takes third place. Huge congrats goes out to them for fighting on!

Ketch Me If You Can and West Coast Wild Ones are past Bella Bella and a host of others are north of Vancouver Island.

UPDATE, 9:45 a.m. 6/16/17:

Excellent report on yesterday’s action in Ketchikan here from R2AK HQ…

Team Pure & Wild and Big Broderna at the finish: Sean Huston, Nels Strandberg, Mars Le Baron, Lars Strandberg, Tripp Burd, Trevor Burd, Chris Burd (from left to right)

Despite the color of the flag, the feel of the money, and the sun-deprived caucasian pallor whose color falls somewhere between sidewalk stripe and salamander belly- Alaska is different. Bigger mountains, more rain, fewer people, louder jokes, thicker shirts, more xtra tuffs that serve here as the topsiders for anyone within a chew spit of the shoreline. Different as Alaska is, from the time the solstice-driven dawn began its slow yawn at 3 am, until three exhausted beers after the two teams finished, the same things were happening on the screen side of the last frontier as were happening in the rest of the R2AK nation. All of us were there: wide eyes, twitchy fingers that were alternately wearing out the tracker refresh and offering a center digit salute when it froze. All of us shared the desire to make eye contact with anyone nearby who wasn’t our boss to share just how damned exciting this all was. 750 miles and they were right on top of each other? If you had a pulse and more than two bars of cell coverage how could you not be excited? This was a race to the end. Continue reading…

Bad Kitty is on the move towards AK, as more teams head towards Bella Bella. Click the image to view the tracker.

UPDATE, 9:45 p.m. 6/15/17:

After 750 miles it boiled down to two sets of brothers from opposite coasts.

Accomplished sailors with great boats win races. But R2AK is about so much more than the top finishers. As gales rake the Inside Passage with the remaining R2AKers strung up and down the coast, there are still a couple of weeks left in this event. Consider that most teams are currently hunkered down waiting for the front to pass. Except for Karl Kruger on his paddleboard. He’s been on the move. When it was blowing 25-35 knots and prudent mariners were being prudent, he was hitting nearly 7 knots in Johnstone Strait. On a paddleboard!

And the high school kids (and one dad). They are on the move as well, but in a boat that is as uncomfortable as it can be. The dad deserves a great father’s day this weekend. But he knows he’s already got it.

After the gale lifts, though, there is still plenty of cheering left for great teams. Who will be the first solo R2Aker this year? Will Karl really make Ketchikan on his paddleboard? Who will get the $10K boat buy back? How many teams will Sistership pass?  Are there bold moves left for the high schoolers on North2Alaska? What about Rod Price and his single paddle? Will Kristen and Elena carrying ‘flat Dan’ retain their cheerfulness and get all the way to Ketchikan? Will West Coast Wild Ones in their old ODay 27 beat Ketch Me If You Can?

Everyone on the course finds their own race. Against others, against the elements, or against themselves. Find your racers. Cheer them on. And take the spirit of R2AK and make it your own.

Hit the refresh button on the tracker often. It’s all yet to unfold.

UPDATE, 2:30 p.m. 6/15/17:

The Three Sheets Northwest crew was absolutely glued to the tracker and Facebook updates as Team Pure & Wild/Freeburd and Team Big Broderna battled to the finish in Ketchikan just moments ago. A huge congratulations goes out to the Burd brothers on Pure & Wild for taking number 1 — what a race! Wow.

And our hats go off to Team Big Broderna for giving them an epic run. Enjoy those steak knives, boys. You earned ’em!

UPDATE, 8:15 a.m. 6/15/17:

Well, it looks like a two horse race at this point, folks. The question is, who will snag the 10 grand and who will take home the steak knives?

Team Pure & Wild/Freeburd and Team Big Broderna are neck and neck near the BC – Alaska border and will finish today.

It’s gonna be a tight finish in Ketchikan! Click the tracker image to follow live.

For reasons yet unknown, Team Bad Kitty is holed up and out of contention for the first two slots. And don’t expect a lot of movement from the rest of the fleet as gales will rake the Inside Passage throughout the day.

UPDATE, Noon 6/14/17:

The R2AK playing field grows. Click on the image to view the tracker live.

The course now strings along from Nanaimo to Bella Bella. As of noon on Wednesday, there’s much to report. On the northern front, the brothers Burd on Pure & Wild have cleared the Bella Bella checkpoint and were cruising at 13 knots. Big Broderna and Bad Kitty are coming up on the checkpoint at about 7 knots. Lots of twists and turns ahead, but the focus now may be more on the steak knives. Strong southerlies are in the forecast – hold on!!

On the southern front, Sistership has re-engaged the race after repairing their centerboard. They are in it and it’ll be interesting to see just how many boats they can pick off as they find their own race north.

By my count, I have 30 boats actively racing now.

Aside from the top 3, Ketch me if you can is in 4th, with Team 3 and ½ Aussies in 5th but docked at Port McNeil.

There’s quite a gap to 6th, with West Coast Wild Ones still sailing up Johnstone strait and Roger Mann in 7th doggedly following.

Having no business in 8th place, but holding it after last night’s incredibly daring move through Seymour Narrows is North2Alaska. Most of Johnstone Strait is in front of them, but early mornings, late nights, guile and skill have this aluminum sharpie moving much faster than it logically should. Despite my misgivings, the team reports the event itself was mostly uneventful. “Minimal tide rips and perfect wind.” They rushed through within 10 minutes and achieved 12 knots, the fastest the old Johnny (for Johnny Horton) has ever gone. The team went on to say it was a strategic move to get ahead of the other teams holed up in Campbell River. Well played, sirs.

About 15 nautical miles behind and closing are 6 boats in close proximity. In an order that is likely to change, in 9th to 14th place are PT Watercraft, Global, Away Team, Triceratops, Nomadica, and the SeaScape 27, Willpower.

All the above teams are past Seymour Narrows. Seymour is ebbing right now – flowing the right direction, but with strong currents. Slack is just after three this afternoon, then the window closes with peak flood at 6:31 followed by another slack at 10 p.m.

In 15th through 19th position are five teams all at the same marina in Campbell River. Sailpro Racing (after some questionable navigation approaching Cape Mudge last night), team Kelp (after what must have been an incredibly long day yesterday!), Rush Aweigh, Adventourists, and new arrival just a few minutes ago, Karl Kruger on his standup paddleboard (Heart of Gold). All these teams could avail themselves of the afternoon slack.

Speaking of Adventourists, they tried to sneak away (their own admission) in the dead of night to get the benefit of the strong ebb around midnight and just as they were about to leave a random fellow on the dock called their attention to a missing rudder pin. No steering could have been catastrophic in the strong current. It’s likely Gizmo has an angel looking over her.

Four teams are just below Campbell River. Matt Prius and Grace B are well within range of the afternoon slack and there’s an outside chance that Rod Price and Freya could make it as well.

The other 7 teams are out of the Gulf Islands but still south of Comox. It’s really great to see Sistership back in it and charging north. It’s not the situation they had hoped for, but they’re back in and it will be fun to cheer them on. Adversity can bring out the best in the best.

A final note, Kairos has turned around. The technical issues were apparently insurmountable.

UPDATE, 7 a.m. 6/14/17:

Local knowledge defined. Team North2Alaska transited Seymour Narrows at peak ebb at 0045 hours. Dudes!

They’re going to remember this night for the rest of their lives. Four guys fresh out of high school and a dad. But the dad is a commercial fisherman who has done the Inside Passage hundreds of times according to an article in the PT Leader.

Team North2Alaska at the start in Port Townsend.

At the front of the pack, the Burd Brothers (Team Pure & Wild) remain in first and are nearing the checkpoint at Bella Bella. Team Broderna jumped into second and Team Bad Kitty is clawing its way north in third. The rest of the pack can basically split into two sections, those who have transited Seymour Narrows and, well, those who have not.

Here’s a great weather brief from our friends at Sailish.com.

UPDATE, 9 p.m. 6/13/17:

Some news at the front of the pack. The Burd brothers, in the lead, left Malcolm Island to port and went up through George Passage. Bad Kitty, in second, appeared to gamble, leaving Malcolm Island to starboard and went through Broughton Strait. Big Broderna, in third, followed the Burd Brothers. As of 2100 Tuesday night, it appears the gamble didn’t work. Bad Kitty is now in third and Big Broderna is in second trying to reel in the Burd Brothers. They’re all at the top of Vancouver Island with a lot of water ahead of them, so one can’t get too confident or disappointed.

Team 3 and ½ Aussies is alone in 4th place about midway in Johnstone Strait and Ketch me if you can is in 5th starting their run at Johnstone.

Five teams above the Narrows but slack is 9:19 with six teams at Campbell River with more arriving shortly. Two of those six, Roger Mann on Discovery and West Coast Wild Ones, appear poised to take advantage of the evening slack. The others may wait until either the 3:51 a.m. slack or perhaps the 8:58 slack. Between the evening slack and the 3:51 slack the current is moving in the right direction, but with strong eddies and whirlpools. Arriving near peak current last night, the Burd brothers faced a choice. Wait and watch their lead diminish or go for it. I’m not privy to their deliberation, but their description was great:

They recalled the entry into the narrows as the “darkest of dark you can imagine and nearly max current”.  Fading wind, little steerage but they were prepared – hatch covers, Ocean Rodeo suits, headlamps, and deck vests on. As they entered “the gut of the narrows” they could hear, but not see, breaking waves. “Here we go!” they thought. Only to find that the breaking waves were really a school of 30 to 40 porpoises. I suspect they were Pacific Whitesided Dolphins, but in any case the porpoises/dolphins played with their bow and made an already memorable trip that much more memorable.

The next 10 hours or so will be great to watch on who makes what decision. I suspect the 8:58 slack will be a busy one for R2AK, although the aggressive may try earlier.

Pear Shaped Racing has formally retired and Team Kairos is having some issues with their row cruiser and trying to make repairs.

Sistership hit some rocks exiting Active Pass and has posted some heartbreaking posts. Their centerboard is jammed in the up position and they were just towed back to Nanaimo. They’ll need to be hauled out of the water and then make the decision whether or not to carry on and go for Ketchikan. It’s tough watching the live posts they’ve made — the disappointment is palpable.  I’m hoping they go for it as they can still find their race picking off the slower craft. They’ve got a good boat and a good crew.

If there’s a most improved boat, team Kelp had a good day. Would have been better had they gotten up a little earlier the past few days (ahem:).

More on the smaller human powered boats later – they are holding their own and the North2Alaska guys are really making a fine accounting of themselves.

As this missive closes, I’m thinking about Roger Mann, alone in his boat, making the 9 p.m. slack. He’s not going to get much sleep tonight.

UPDATE, 9 a.m. 6/13/17: 

Team Pure & Wild/Freeburd, Team Bad Kitty and Team Big Broderna are building a lead in Johnstone Strait. Click on the image to view tracker live.

The overall picture hasn’t changed much, but the Burd brothers didn’t wait for slack and took Seymour Narrows on shortly after midnight. Bad Kitty and Big Broderna also got through the checkpoint at Campbell River and are through the Narrows. The Burd brothers hold roughly a 15 nautical mile lead over Bad Kitty, slightly less than what they had leading up to Campbell River. The wind is blowing and they’ve got an adverse current at present.

Roger Mann was up early as were the boys in North2Alaska and Matt Prius in Viz Reporter.

A quick note on North2Alaska: When I was in Port Townsend, I looked at this boat. It’s a high school project, a home made welded aluminum sharpie. Their oars appeared to be crude affairs so heavy they were counter balanced with zincs. The unstayed masts wobbled and the thought of five souls aboard (four teenagers just graduated from high school plus one dad), made me shudder. Privately I didn’t give them much of a shot to make it to Victoria much less Ketchikan. There’s still a lot of water between them and Ketchikan, but they have put in long days and the last two mornings beat the sun up getting underway.  Ahead of some faster, more capable boats, these guys are bring their A game and then some. This morning they left Lasqueti Island and are headed north. In any case, my earlier assessment of their chances was flat wrong. And being wrong on something like this makes me very happy as it’s exactly that type of performance by young people that provides hope for the future.

Team Sistership took an odd turn last night, getting out of the strait and pulled into French Creek. No movement yet this morning. Hope all is well with them. The rest of the field is scattered throughout Georgia Strait.

It’s another day for R2AK!

Original Post, 9:30 p.m. 6/12/17:

Screen shot of the race tracker at 9:32 p.m. Click on the image to view the tracker live.

R2AK is off and running. Similar to the start at Port Townsend, the Victoria re-start was in calm weather. Unlike the Port Townsend start, the forecasted calm wind was supposed to last all day.

Unfortunately, when the racers took off from Victoria Harbour at high noon on Sunday it was marred by a collision between a powerboat and team Oaracle. The powerboat came up behind the rowers and caused some damage, but fortunately no injuries.   Clearly the overtaking and hence burdened vessel, the powerboat’s operator yelled at the rowers and reportedly took off — the equivalent of an aquatic hit and run.

Just days before, the Port Townsend to Victoria race was really two races. Or, more candidly, a race then a fight for survival. The predicted heavy wind arrive and, in the words of Jake Beattie, “went from zero to 50 as if it had something to prove.” For a full recap of that leg, Jake’s writing is well worth a read.

As of this writing, Monday afternoon, Team Pure and Wild/Freeburd, with the brothers Burd ( Tripp, Chris and Trevor) are opening up a commanding lead, charging up the Strait of Georgia despite hitting something hard last night. Overnight and earlier into the morning Pear Shaped Racing had been giving them competition, but a log strike at 8 knots sent them into Nanaimo for inspection.

The Burd brothers vessel has a nice combination of fast sailing, an effective propulsion system (Pedal powered) and three athletic young men as crew. They can deal with calms, they can deal with wind and they don’t have to stop. They were the first sailboat to arrive in Victoria, arriving just minutes before Pear Shaped Racing, PT Watercraft and Bad Kitty. All fast boats, but the log strike certainly impacted the Pear Shaped team and PT Watercraft has a crew of one, who will need to sleep. Bad Kitty and Big Broderna are sure to provide some competition, but it’s setting up to have the Burd brothers get through Seymour Narrows a slack or two before their nearest rival. They’re aiming for the slack around 2000 hours tonight.

Of the three paddleboarders, Karl Kruger is showing how it’s done. He was up early this morning and moving – currently the first of the primarily human powered craft.  Following close behind is Rod Price in his canoe (looks like a kayak with training wheels, but he’s got a single sided paddle and technically it’s a canoe) and Viz Reporter (Matt Prius). All three opted to avoid Dodd Narrows and went through False Narrows shortly after noon. The other two paddle boarders, Luke Burritt and Edrogan Kirac with ‘Stoked on Fuel” have been at Van Isle Marina all morning but got underway shortly after noon and opted to go through Sansum narrows. So far, all the other teams going up the inside opted to take Trincomali Channel.

Roger Mann opted for open water and surprisingly is ahead of larger boats with larger crews. If he slept at all last night, it wasn’t for very long.

The rest of the fleet is split between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ with the larger cats and tri’s headed outside and the primarily human powered craft going inside through the Gulf Islands. For the smaller teams unable to go 24 hours a day, the length of their day will make a difference. The Port Townsend high school boys were up and at it early this morning as were many of the teams.  Some chose to sleep in. As we’ve seen before, the cumulative effect of those different habits will string out the fleet over the next week.

Some of the teams did a hybrid approach, going up the inside, but escaping the Gulf Islands through one of the passes. Kelp and Sistership opted for Active pass, and North2Alaska and Adventourists took Porlier Pass.

Speaking of what’s coming next, it’s wind. There’s a strong wind warning in Johnstone Strait later today, tonight and tomorrow.  Thursday will be 25 – 35, but out of the southeast. From personal experience in a small boat with less than a foot of freeboard, Johnstone Strait can be brutal, but at least it’ll be a following sea on Thursday. The wind will pick up in Georgia Strait as well, making up for the earlier easy time for the human powered craft. Look for the racers to spread out. Some will take advantage of the wind and charge forward, others will try and avoid the wind respecting their vessels and perhaps their own limitations. This isn’t really a race. But then again, it is.

Read More Here ….

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