#the constellation thing was clever okay!!

[delirium1217]

crystal clear

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

“It’s just… not my type of scene, that’s all,”

“Your brother’s engagement party is not your type of scene?”

“Is that really surprising?”

“I guess not,”

The conversation fizzled out, as if it had any fighting chance anyway. Regulus kept staring at tiny details to keep himself steady. The lines in the brick wall in front of him. The way the wind blew away his cigarette smoke.

It’d been too overwhelming inside, filled to the brim with people he hadn’t seen in years. Hungry eyes filled with questions and inquisitions. The shimmering hue that came over everything. Like he’d wound up in an overexposed photo, flaring white and red and orange all over the dance floor.

“Look,” James started back up again. He didn’t even have the excuse of smoking to keep talking to him, “I know things have been - awkward between you and well, everyone, since uhm, uh, it all. And I don’t know if you’re here to reconnec-”

“I’m not here to make amends, James,”

That seemed to catch him off guard. Regulus wondered if James wasn’t used to him being this blunt. Ah, well. Too many things have changed for this not to change too.

He took a deep breath, “That’s fine. I just wanted to say, we all appreciate you being here,” he paused for a second. “Sirius. Even though he has odd ways of showing it, he’s glad you’re here. Remus, too, his whole ‘don’t ruin his day’ speech is just nervous jitters,” his hands were flailing along his words, like he was trying to mime them out.

Regulus looked down at the floor, fragments of silver confetti were taking the shape of real constellations over his shoes. Clever little bit of magic.

He didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t blame them for how they acted. Sirius - initial anger followed by weird sentimentality. Remus, all confrontation and ragged edges. He knew what they all went through. He knew all the betrayal that had left them this fragile.

He wasn’t here to ‘reconnect’. If he was, he’d be doing a piss-poor job at it. Was that something he wanted? He didn’t even consider it. Reconnect, and what then?

“It’s just – did you really have to crash in at 10 am after three years of refusing contact?”

It wasn’t an unfair question. Still, it prodded at something in his chest. Something that pulsated and smouldered. He instantly felt the urge to seize up, and push away. It disturbed him how easy it was crawling back into his old skin. The viscera automatically reworking itself into the shape it had once been.

This, he told himself, this is why he left. This place dragged the worst out of him.

If James was expecting an answer, he didn’t show it, leaning back on the brick wall beside him. As if the question was a mere suggestion, something to consider. He’d think it patronizing if it were anyone else.

He looked over at him. White shirt crumpled, sleeves pushed up, tie dishevelled and wonky. The hazy sheen the evening held seemed to swell as he looked at James. As if the stars had fallen and framed his face in their wake.

It was still there, he slowly realized. The tug of want. He felt his hands ache. The incessant urge to touch and feel. He’d tried so badly to bury it. It was still there, sticking its ugly head out of the sand.

Stilltherestilltherestillthere.

An awkward blob of emotion and pheromones and terrible circumstances. He couldn’t look anymore.

“I-” he heard himself start, as if he had no control over his own tongue.

“I’m not supposed to be here. The letter with the portkey was on my dresser. And I couldn’t-“He took a deep sigh, eyes flickering across the floor, “I couldn’t bear to fail him today too,”

The words hung between them. James didn’t react, only nodding slightly. He got the impression he was being treated like a skittish animal. Maybe he was.

“I get that,”

He turned his head towards him, eyebrow raised. “No you don’t,”

“Okay, maybe I don’t,”

A smile tugged on Regulus’ lips. James hadn’t changed a bit. Ever the empathetic, even when it made zero sense.

“Hey, I got you to drop the frown!”

He instantly went back to frowning again. This promptly led to James laughing, in a way that sent Regulus careening years back.

“Thank Merlin I haven’t lost the ability to do that,” James went on.

Snapshots flickered through his head. Himself, a miserable little thing, observing from across hallways and classrooms and Quidditch fields. He wanted to hate him so badly, the boy who’d stolen his brother. He never stood a chance.

The end was there as well. That year was nothing but an open wound in his mind, a festering, rotting tunnel of memories he tip-toed around. But James was there. The only person who could get anything resembling a smile out of him. The stars above the astronomy tower, brighter and brighter as winter turned into summer. Prefect rounds and silly little bickering. They were the only things he’d allowed himself to revisit.

There were so many things left unsaid. So many things Regulus abandoned when he took the Mark. That last night – the one where he pushed James away flashed across his mind. He’d taken whatever fragile relationship they’d had, and he smashed it to the ground.

They hung between them, too.

“I, uhm. I think I owe you an apology,”

James looked at him. Wide dark eyes that he knew shone startling hazel under the sunlight. It was unfair, this effect he still had on him. Turning Regulus into something soft and fragile and vulnerable, even after all this time. He thought he’d left it all behind.

“Yeah?”

“The way I left things, it wasn’t right. I don’t want it stand between us,”

“I thought you weren’t here to make amends?” The wink that followed made Regulus’ heart perform a disgustingly loud percussion routine.

“Yeah well. Some things you just can’t avoid,”

“Ah. And I’m one of those things?”

Yes. All the miles I put between us were useless. Yes. I can’t help but want to crash into you.

“No. I just can’t go back and have another thing I fucked up haunting me,”

James was suddenly somber again, as if he just remembered the grim details of everything that went down.

“Alright, that’s fair. Well, no need to apologize, after all that you did,”

This was wrong. Something was off. He was lying, all this faux tranquility was for show.

He didn’t care how long it’d been since he last saw him, James had never not demanded more. More explanation. More words and whys and hows. It was one of the reasons he’d left things so untouched in his sixth year. James Potter would’ve tore down his defenses one by one, till he had none left.

He narrowed his eyes at him. It'd gotten cold outside, or maybe the alcohol warming him had dissipated. The noise from the party inside winding down. The cigarette butts littering the coarse ground.

It was tremendously uncomfortable, yet James had stayed for about twenty minutes, while Regulus smoked, talked and…for what?

“What is this really about, James? Why are you out here?”

“I- you just looked so upset and-“

“Plenty of depressed people at a wedding,”

“Engagement,” James corrected

“Whatever, same difference,”

“It very much is not when I’m the one who planned it all,”

“You planned all of this?”

“Uh, yeah. Why did you think I froze when you showed up? Estranged younger siblings really do throw a wrench into whatever party you have planned, y’know,”

He did not think about why James froze up, because he was too busy staring at Sirius, who looked like he could kill him, “I could imagine,”

The thought of James frantically planning an engagement party was a bit absurd, like something from those muggle comedies his roommates liked to watch. Despite the mood he’d developed, the urge to laugh filled his chest. The mental image of James, his hair more of a bird’s nest than usual, turning red over the wrong type of flowers or cake was incredible.

He supposed it did make sense, James was so close to both Sirius and Remus. Of course, he’d know exactly what they’d want.

That explained all the off-beat magic and tidbits of mischief he’d seen today. Those confetti constellation charms. Whatever the dance floor had that pushed people together. The ribbon streamers flying in between dull conversations, asking people questions. The empty glasses you could mutter whatever you wanted into. It was all so well-crafted. It made him ache.

He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was a ghost floating through.

“Uh, speaking of the wedding. I’m planning that, too. Obviously. As if they could hire someone better than me. But, uh, uhm.” He took a deep breath, like he was readying himself to jump off a cliff, “I kind of told them you’d stay till the wedding,”

At first, he thought he’d misheard. “You-what?”

“Told them you’d stay till the wedding?” He hesitantly said, “Sirius was such a mess, he couldn’t deal with the fact that you were leaving afterwards and I just- I panicked,”

He stayed quiet for a second, his mind slowly processing what he’d heard. When he did, he got the sudden urge to cry.

“I just- no. That’s-“Regulus found himself fumbling. He’d left this. He’d left this all behind, he couldn’t do this again. “No. No, I’m not coming back,”

“But-“

Sadness burned into anger, a whiplash of emotions that suddenly grounded him, he moved forward off the wall and fully faced James.

“You want to know why I left, James? This is why I left!” Regulus spat out, the harsh words contrasting with all the goddamned harmony everyone was in. All the joy and exuberant youth they were bathed in. He could choke on it. “You don’t get to decide what I do, not you, not the Order, not my family, not any megalomaniac with a death-wish, okay? No one, no one but me!” The rasp in his throat caught him off guard. This – he couldn’t not have control, not after all he’d been through.

“What about the people you left behind?”

He found himself inching closer, staring into James’ eyes. “I do not owe anyone a fucking thing, Potter.”

“No.” James’ voice hardened. There. Regulus thought with sick satisfaction, there was the anger he’d so badly craved. James looked beautiful, face twisted with contempt. The anger Regulus deserved. “No. You don’t get to say that. Not after, not after what you did. Everyone was - I was fucked up for months after you left!” He paused.

“No idea of where you were or what you were doing. And then months go by - and you’ve turned sides but still refused to talk to any of us. How dare you?” 

They both stopped after that, chests rising and falling with labored breath. Grey met brown. James swallowed, Regulus’ eyes flickered down to the movement.

And that’s all it took.

It wasn’t gentle, the way the crashed into each other – how could it be? All sharp angles, teeth, and digging nails. Things said and unsaid fell to the wayside. James’ hands grabbed his temples and dragged him inward. His own hand pushed at James’ tie, twisting it around his wrist and pulling in.

It was the farthest thing away from the chaste little touches they’d shared, a lifetime ago, fumbling through newfound confusion and attraction.

This was frustration and despair and regret poured into one. James tilted his head, beckoning Regulus closer. His hands let go of the tie, slamming him into the wall. The groan the came from James’ mouth lit something inside himself aflame. All he could do was push himself further. Closer, closer, closer.

James pushed himself off. Gasping for air. Regulus’ skin burned with all the lost warmth.

His face was vehement in the dull yellow light. Glasses pushed off, lost somewhere in their collision. His lips a violent red – slightly parted. Hair pulled into tufts, sticking out. All the anger that reverberated between them had cooled down into something feverish and restrained.

None of it mattered – the regrets and who’d left and who’d stayed. Not during a war. They were both wrong for bringing this up.  

They fell into silence, shaky breaths, and piercing stares. Regulus felt his skin prickle with anxiety. His mind out of sync with his heart, he didn’t know what to think.

“I just needed to do that – at least once, if you meant it – leaving,” James muttered, words coming out in desperate breaths, eyes tracing his face.

“James, I can’t be here. Not like how you want. It hurts too much,” his voice came out pleading, a hoarse little thing.

James’ hand reached out, tucking Regulus’ hair behind his ear, the gentle touch a vivid contrast to all the desperate touches that preceded it. The urge to cry came back up again.

“That’s- it’s fine. I’m – I’m sorry I said what I did. I think I said it for my sake as much as it was for Sirius’, I thought about you – this, so many times. Even before you left, I didn’t care, I would’ve still been there,” his voice twisted with guilt at that last part, like he was confessing to a heinous crime. In Regulus’ eyes, he might as well have. He wasn’t proud of what he did – those last few months of war, hearing James say this sent a thrill of fear through his heart.

He would’ve destroyed him. He would’ve wrecked him to pieces.

He didn’t want to think about that anymore. It threatened to throw him off-balance. He looked over at James.

“I – I still want,” Regulus swallowed the rising sense of panic in his chest, he cleared his throat “I still want to be here. I just, I can’t be thrown in full throttle like today. You can’t expect me to just fold to whatever you want. But I still want to be here – when these things happen,” it was true, but he only realized it as he said it.

He still wanted the contact. The string to his past. He just couldn’t handle too much of it.

James laughed, a bright little noise that caught him off guard, “So like. Holidays and weddings? God, Regulus you are so – is that what we just had a full on screaming match about? You want to be a normal person living abroad and visit family on special occasions? I thought you wanted to disappear off the face of the earth and never be seen again,”

Regulus’ face burned with embarrassment – James was right, Regulus had blown up over the mere suggestion that someone would be in control of his life again. His therapist was going to have a field day with that one.

“You were the one that said I’d stay till the wedding,”

“Yeah, which is in twenty days?”

“Oh,” Regulus hadn’t thought about that. He should’ve realized – even after the war ended, people weren’t really keen on delaying weddings.

“Yeah, oh. What – you thought I’d keep you here for a year or something?”

Yes, that’s exactly what he thought. “No.”

James laughed again. Regulus wanted to memorize every second of it.

“Y’know it wasn’t really just a screaming match,” Regulus found himself muttering. They were still both so close. Face to face. The air had stilled around them.

“No it wasn’t,” James’ voice dropped low, his eyes finding Regulus’.

When they leaned in again, it felt inevitable.

Warmth filtered across his skin. James’ fingers gripped onto his hair, strong and unrelenting. His weight against Regulus’ own a welcome comfort. He could get lost in this. He could spend all his days here.

James broke away, yet again. Regulus felt like the rug was pulled out from under him.  

“Listen, could we… talk about what we’re doing here?”

“I – what do you mean?” he felt dazed from the lost contact.

“This,” James gestured to the space between them.

“Um, I mean,” Regulus cleared his throat. “We can figure out a portkey system? I can’t give you any promises, I just. I’m barely holding on most days, but I can – for this, I mean, unless you just want something casual, which is fine. I guess. I shouldn’t have assumed. Yeah, that’d be-”

“Reg, you idiot,”

Oh. He should’ve realized, was this just a one off thing? Had he completely misread the situation?

“Has anything about us ever been casual?”

“No. I guess not.” He found himself laughing, none of it was particularly funny, it was just – relief. Weird, the difference a few hours could make in someone’s life.

James started laughing too. Seemingly, only because Regulus was. He linked their hands together.

“And Regulus?”

“Yeah?”

“Next time we have an argument, we really should do more than angrily make out about it,”

“Are you sure?”

“Well, maybe once in a while,”

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

if you enjoyed reading, consider dropping a kudos or a comment on my ao3! it helps a lot to motivate me! thank you<3

ao3 link

[ellecdc]

a while ago someone sent me an ask/prompt/request about university professor!marauders x fem!reader who was a bit younger (not necessarily their student or even a student [but also maybe their student if I was feeling up for it]) and I had it saved and tried to play around with it a little bit but couldn't really formulate anything so scrapped it - but I thought I'd share with you what sort of brain rot I came up with:

So I imagined all four marauders working as faculty members at the same university and being friends. Prof. Moony worked in the English department (obviously), I could totally see James teaching kinesiology, and Sirius I had a hard time with because I could totally see him teaching astronomy at Hogwarts (since he knows all the constellations and stories, and the moon cycles like the back of his hand), but can't really see him doing that in a muggle setting? and then I though ~French~, working in the languages ;)

and then we have our Prof. Wormy who I see working in like, biochemistry or something of similar lines? and then we have his grad student - PhD candidate working on her thesis etc. Long hours in the labs and the boys seeing her one day when they come looking for Peter and just being entranced with her.

they think she's so smart/clever (which ticks Pete off something huge because she's working in his lab lol), she's obviously gorgeous, and just the sweetest thing

everyone finds it very odd that an English, a language, and a physical science professor keep finding their way's over to the biochem labs, and always finding excuses to be in the department of chemistry faculty room etc but no one really says anything. Peter completely makes fun of them for it and tries to ban them from his lab "she's the best sodding candidate I've had working in this lab, boys; do not ruin this for me". they obviously don't listen.

anyways that's my brain rot okay thanks byeeeeee

[amphiptere-art]

Okay boiling down the arcade Blue Moon story for simplicity.

Sun and Moon do not like humans because they are abusive

Sun and Moon get a violent bug by twister so they can attack humans without the humans blaming them.

The humans don't like this. So they make a security system and Blue Moon.

Blue Moon's job is to stop sun and moon while security systems is to punish them.

They give Blue Moon a cannibal bug just to make him more scary.

Blue Moon is made with a younger personality, and unfortunately attaches themselves to sun, moon, and security system as family.

Security system is sentient enough to know what they're doing is wrong, but can't change anything due to what he is.

Blue Moon and the security system don't correct Sun and Moon enough for the company.

Blue Moon's cannibal bug starts to get worse. Causing company damage.

Sun and Moon's violent outbursts start to get uncontrollable. It is no longer outbursts.

Blue Moon starts to get constantly damaged by Sun and Moon. Causing more company damage.

In order to have some sort of entertainment area open. They hire on another animatronic. Twister.

Twister is bad and hates humans. But she is keeping it secret.

Twister gives Blue Moon a virus that causes them to act completely fine around her. Having to follow her commands.

Twister is able to make Blue Moon Actually handle sun and moon better.

The company is happy with her progress but the revolution is starting to put pressure on them.

The revolution finally wins out. The company panics because they've done a lot of bad shit.

Twister sets up her plan to have a mass massacre by the robots.

Sun and Moon are freed to have their violent bug run rampant.

Twister tries to destroy the security system with Blue Moon. But the security system tells Blue Moon not to. Making Blue Moon freeze due to the differencing commands.

The company realizes twister was bad and forces the security system to do a lockdown.

The lockdown locks all animatronics inside the building, freezes them if possible, And returns them to their base areas.

So sun and moon get returned to daycare, All security bots freeze, Blue Moon is already frozen. And twister is trapped inside.

The company abandons the building and just tells everyone there is a systemwide glitch that killed all the animatronics.

The animatronics stuck inside are on a power crunch. The security system supplies them as much as they can except for twister.

Twister goes offline due to not having enough power.

Eventually Sky and Constellation investigate the abandoned building.

The security system explains every fucked up thing that happened in there to them.

Sky and constellation decide to try and help the animatronics inside. Constellation nearly losing an arm and sky losing an arm.

All of them still have their bugs, But Sky and consolation find clever ways to get around them.

Sun and Moon are given this sort of calming drug virus to help them.

They make a bunch of mouse spots for Blue Moon to chase.

Blue Moon does find the way out of the building due to confusion. And starts eating robots out there.

Lunar comes over and decides to use their expertise to help them more.

Status quo set.

[perspectivestarters]

Perspective's Sentence Starters; MIDNIGHTS by Taylor Swift (Part III)

HITS DIFFERENT

"You made a mess of me."

"They say that if it's right, you know."

"Each bar plays our song."

"Nothing has ever felt so wrong."

"Love is a lie."

"It hits different this time."

"Moving on was always easy for me to do."

"It hits different 'cause it's you."

"Rip the band-aid off."

"Skip town likе an asshole outlaw."

"Freedom felt like summеr then on the coast."

"The sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings."

"I never don't cry at the bar."

"My sadness is contagious."

"I slur your name 'til someone puts me in a car."

"I stopped receiving invitations."

"I find the artifacts, cried over a hat, cursed the space that I needed."

"I trace the evidence."

"Make it make some sense."

"Why the wound is still bleeding?"

"You were the one that I loved."

"It's simple enough."

"This is why they shouldn't kill off the main guy."

"Dreams of your hair and your stare and sense of belief."

"You once believed in me."

"I held you for a while."

"Bet I could still melt your world."

"I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway."

"Is that your key in the door?"

"Is it okay?"

"Is it you?"

"Have they come to take me away?"

THE GREAT WAR

"My knuckles were bruised like violets."

"Cursed you as I sleep-talked."

"Maybe it was egos swinging."

"Maybe it was her."

"Flashes of the battle come back to me in a blur."

"All that bloodshed, crimson clover."

"Sweet dream was over."

"My hand was the one you reached for all throughout the Great War."

"I vowed not to cry anymore."

"Drank my poison all alone."

"You said I have to trust more freely."

"You were playing with fire."

"Maybe it's the past that's talking."

"I justified it."

"The bombs were closer."

"I vowed not to fight anymore."

"It turned into something bigger."

"Somewhere in the haze, got a sense I'd been betrayed."

"Soldier down on that icy ground."

"That was the night I nearly lost you."

"I really thought I'd lost you."

"We can plant a memory garden."

"Say a solemn prayer."

"There's no morning glory, it was war, it wasn't fair."

"We will never go back."

"The worst was over."

"We're burned for better."

"I vow I will always be yours."

BIGGER THAN THE WHOLE SKY

"No words appear before me in the aftermath."

"Every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness."

"It's all over now."

"You were bigger than the whole sky."

"You were more than just a short time."

"I've got a lot to pine about."

"I've got a lot to live without."

"Did some force take you bеcause I didn't pray?"

"Every single thing to come has turned into ashes."

"It's not meant to be."

"I'm never gonna meet what could've been."

PARIS

"Your ex-friend's sister met someone at a club and he kissed her."

"Turns out, it was that guy you hooked up with ages ago."

"Some wannabe Z-lister."

"All the outfits were terrible."

"Did you see the photos?"

"No, I didn't, but thanks, though."

"I'm so in love that I might stop breathing."

"No, I didn't see the news."

"We were somewhere else."

"I was taken by the view."

"Privacy sign on the door and on my page and on the whole world."

"Romance is not dead if you keep it just yours."

"Levitate above all the messes made."

"Sip quiet by my side in the shade."

"Not the kind that's thrown."

"I wanna brainwash you into loving me forever."

"I wanna transport you to somewhere the culture's clever."

"Confess my truth in swooping, sloping, cursive letters."

"Let the only flashing lights be the tower at midnight."

HIGH INFIDELITY

"I didn't know you were keeping count."

"High infidelity."

"Put on your records and regret me."

"I bent the truth too far tonight."

"Your picket fence is sharp as knives."

"Do you really wanna know where I was?"

"Do I really have to chart the constellations in his eyes?"

"Dragged my feet right down the aisle."

"I'd pay if you'd just know me."

"Seemed like the right thing at the time."

"You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love."

"The slowest way is never loving them enough."

"Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?"

"It's never enough."

"You were keeping count?"

GLITCH

"We were supposed to be just friends."

"You don't live in my part of town."

"But maybe I'll see you out some weekend."

"I think there's been a glitch."

"I'm not even sorry."

"It must be counterfeit."

"I was supposed to sweat you out."

"In search of glorious happenings of happenstance on someone else's playground."

"It's been two-thousand one-hundred ninety days of our love blackout."

"Our love is blacking out."

"The system's breaking down."

"I'd go back to wanting dudes who give nothing."

"I thought we had no chance."

"That's romance."

WOULD'VE, COULD'VE, SHOULD'VE

"If you would've blinked, then I would've looked away at the first glance."

"If you tasted poison, you could've spit me out at the first chance."

"If I was some paint, did it splatter on a promising grown man?"

"If I was a child, did it matter if you got to wash your hands?"

"All I used to do was pray."

"I damn sure never would've danced with the devil at nineteen."

"The God's honest truth is that the pain was heaven."

"Now that I'm grown, I'm scared of ghosts."

"Memories feel like weapons."

"Now that I know, I wish you'd left me wondering."

"If you never touched me, I would've gone along with the righteous."

"If I never blushed, then they could've never whispered about this."

"If you never saved me from boredom, I could've gone on as I was."

"Lord, you made me feel important."

"You tried to erase us."

"You're a crisis of my faith."

"If I'd only played it safe."

"God rest my soul."

"I miss who I used to be."

"I regret you all the time."

"I can't let this go."

"I fight with you in my sleep."

"The wound won't close."

"I keep on waiting for a sign."

"If clarity's in death, then why won't this die?"

"Living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts."

"Give me back my girlhood, it was mine first."

DEAR READER

"If it feels like a trap, you're already in one."

"Pick somewhere and just run."

"Burn all the files."

"Desert all your past lives."

"If you don't recognize yourself, that means you did it right."

"Never take advice from someone who's falling apart."

"Bend when you can."

"Snap when you have to."

"You don't have to answer just 'cause they asked you."

"The greatest of luxuries is your secrets."

"When you aim at the devil, make sure you don't miss."

"I prefer hiding in plain sight."

"These desperate prayers of a cursed man."

"But darling, darling, please..."

"You wouldn't take my word for it if you knew who was talking."

I was walking to a house, not a home, all alone."

"My friends found friends who care"

"No one sees when you lose when you're playing solitaire."

"You should find another guiding light."

[brineffxiv]

Goddammit he's doing it again.

Clever. I like how the illusion is like, a little bit wavy, and implies it's a vision of the Amaurot beneath the waves. Little things like that really sell the immersion.

Who the fuck.

Aaa! They're trying to kill us!

Shit. Elidibus is in the Crystal Tower then, right? He'd have to be, if he's using the same magic the Exarch did. I hope the Exarch is okay. We'd better hurry to the Crystarium.

Damn, this dungeon was so good. It was like, the opposite theme of the solo duty that Elidibus just put me through. With all the people we'd met and befriended showing up to help! Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

My friends stay behind to hold off all the phantom Warriors of Light while I make a mad dash for the Crystarium because despite everybody else's chill, I am positive Elidibus is already at the Tower.

Oh wow, that's great you finished the thing! But quickly! Run! He's coming for you!

Aha I knew it you fucker. (Hey, uh, how exactly did you see that fight? Did Emet-Selch have security cameras or something??)

Oh thank goodness they got out. Unfortunately, Elidibus got the Exarch's spirit vessel, which is letting him control the Crystal Tower. And his overuse of the tower is exacerbating the Exarch's condition.

The Exarch is coming with me to confront Elidibus, and he's got some tricks up his sleeves.

We encounter Lyna on the way, and she and the Exarch have a conversation that breaks my heart. I dearly hope this is not the last time they see each other, but I have a terrible fear that it may be...

While on our way up the Crystal Tower, when his crystallization becomes such that he cannot keep up with me, the Exarch stays behind to hold off our pursuers. I continue alone up the tower to confront Elidibus.

Well that's interesting. With how much memory, especially of the past, mattered to Emet-Selch, I am surprised to find Elidibus considers it worthless. While they fought for the same thing, they are very different people.

But now I am here, and the time for introspection has passed.

I reflect on what Hythlodaeus said to me, and remember the people Elidibus has lost. Try to empathize with his position. I give it one last shot, and try to reason with him, but if anything my words seem to only serve to aggravate the situation further.

Elidibus summons more heroes from other shards to empower himself...

And then suddenly he got hot turned into the original Warrior of Light.

So I used the constellation crystal to summon... people? To help me?

...

This little narration feels very important. Azem.

...and then I was stuck waiting in queue forever. Long enough that I wrote out this whole post... eventually the duty will pop... eventually...

[inventors-fair]

Ya Basic - Back to Nonbasics Commentary

It's that time of the week again, folks! Here's the commentary for the remainder of the submissions. One thing I want to mention before getting into the card-by-card feedback is a few recurring themes I noticed; namely, the purpose lands serve in a game of Magic. Ultimately, big, splashy, game-changing effects should be ones that players can interact with. That's why they show up on other card types, and often cost a hefty amount of mana. Lands, on the other hand, are meant to provide you with resources in order to help you play the game. Obviously, they can do more than just tap for one mana apiece, but the line is a tricky one to draw. In the FPS analogy of magic, Torment of Hailfire is the DPS, and your lands are the support roles. Some of the submissions this week cross that line a bit, trying to make lands that are cool and flashy all on their own. And I get it! The very nature of this contest demands that you make something exciting and revolutionary so it'll stand out! But, hopefully as the winners and runners-up show, I will usually give more praise to a "boring" but well-designed card than I will to something that goes all-out on flashiness for the sake of it. Obviously that's my personal proclivity and I can't speak for the other judges, but there you have it. As always, I am available here or on Discord if you want to converse about feedback or pick my brain for reasons unrelated.

Ugh, that was a ramble. Here's the lands!

Astral Canvas by @spooky-bard

So far, we’ve only seen one enchantment land- I assume they’re a bit more dangerous than artifact lands because of the prevalence of constellation effects? Anyways, this seems like a fairly balanced one in that regard. Sure, you get an enchantment ETB, but this is a waste (heh) until you are able to play more enchantments- which are almost always colored, so this doesn’t really help you with mana fixing. I think it’s pretty solid balance-wise. The flavor is a bit generic, but I suppose that’s better than making it the billionth theros-themed enchantment effect. All in all, it’s a very solid card, and was pretty close to winning this week.

Aurora Barrows by @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes

Threshold is an old mechanic for sure, meaning that it was underutilized when it first debuted. This is a pretty simple take on it, but one that makes a lot of sense- it’s the generic rainbow land that turns itself on with the set mechanic. However, I think threshold is just a little too mid-game-y for this land to ever be useful. With conditional rainbow lands, you want to have the possibility of turning them on in the first few turns in order to really get a use out of them, but threshold is hard to hit that fast unless you’re aggressively going for a self mill strategy. Which, hey, every card has its place, but this one just doesn’t seem worth playing to me.

Breathtaking Vista by @snugz

Okay, using inspired as a mechanic to represent literal artistic inspiration is very clever, and you worked the name and flavor text in a way I can really appreciate. I do think there’s some logistical issues with the timing of the trigger and the fact that it’s on a land- this is a really easy trigger to just get absolutely buried in the flurry of actions that is your beginning phase, and I’m not sure if I see an easy way to fix that. This does put me in mind of an art-themed world, however, which is a fascinating concept to me, and one I hope you might expand on.

Cacophonous Catacomb by @izzet-always-r-versus-u

The long-lost sibling of our Threshold land above. This one fixes some of the issues I had with Aurora Barrows- namely, it helps enable itself, delirium is conditionally easier than threshold depending on deck construction, and the reward is a bit greater, with two mana instead of a single rainbow mana. However, I wonder if this might be too good? Not because of the reward, but I can think of a lot of decks that would love a free mill every turn, or four if you hit your playset of these. There is admittedly the tradeoff of not having colored mana from these, but I would like to see how this plays in a strong reanimator shell before passing any real judgement.

Collapsing Peatland by @salamileg

This is one of those cards that I thought I knew what it said, but had to come back and reread it to make sure. The addition of the word “land” here really changes this from a strong enabler card to a balanced dual land, since the opportunity cost of having to pitch another land makes it a big decision. I would personally make sure to include reminder text that it taps for black and green, but that’s a small nitpick. Also, that flavor text is really depressing. Not a criticism, but dang.

Dormant Volcano // Fields of Ash by @helloijustreadyourpost

I missed the transform clause at first and realy thought you put a repeatable board wipe on a land, and I was ready to just shake my head in disappointment. However, it’s a much cleaner design than that, and I never should have doubted you. HOWEVER, there are some logistical issues to be found here. Obviously, you want to hold the board wipe until you can be sure you’re killing as many creatures as possible, since you only have one shot to get this guy loaded with corpse counters. The issue arises when the land transforms, you go to combat, and all of a sudden you’re forgetting the delayed corpse counter triggers since you don’t have that text right in front of you. Since the land is already tapped, I think the easiest solution would be to have it transform at the beginning of the next end step. Little functional difference, but it means that it’ll be easier to remember and track the creatures that were caught in the eruption.

Forsaken Battlefield by @bergdg

Simple, classic, and... maybe not that good? Hey, it would be pretty solid in Limited, and that counts for something. Maybe Prosper EDH would like it. In a multiplayer game, you’re pretty likely to hit this at least once a round, so it’s just a matter of holding up two mana in the hopes of stockpiling more. Honestly though? I think this might play better if you up the threshold to two or three creatures dying, and then remove the mana cost and just allow it to tap. That makes it feel more like a battlefield if multiple things have to die, and removes a bit of the opportunity cost of having to hold another land in reserve alongside this one.

Harmonious Karst by @horsecrash

So, I’m honestly unsure about how to judge this one. I did ask for some consideration of Limited viability, and even if planechase could be made into a draft set (god I want it so bad Wizards please give it to me), this seems like it would be a very swingy land at uncommon, especially if it’s a cycle like the typing implies. Sure, always entering tapped is a downside, but making it so that you have two free rolls of the planar die every turn seems really good in a set built around the concept. Obviously it’s impossible to really judge this without seeing it in action, but I think I would like this better at rare, and maybe as a rainbow land instead of a dual that implies a full or half cycle of these.

Hazardous Warehouse by @0woah

Hoo boy, this land seems pretty straightforward, but I reckon the rules would get FUNKY. What happens if you reveal a Reflecting Pool or Exotic Orchard? Can those lands see the battlefield? Can the game even recognize what mana a land card in your hand is capable of producing? I would definitely have to consult with someone more experienced than me to see if this would work, and the confusion might not be worth it. It’s still an incredibly cool concept though, that’s for sure. The last ability could use some tightening up on the wording, since currently it looks like it can only exile creatures that already have that many time counters on it. Also, if you’re in even a decent shape, that’s essentially just a permanent, repeatable exile on a land, which is... a little scary. Lots of cool ideas here, but temperance is the key to making a solid design, especially a land.

Howling Cliff by @deg99

I do think we could stand to see more of the typal “if you control this creature or have one in hand” lands, like Murmuring Bosk. Wolf/ Werewolf is a dual tribe that makes a lot of sense here, and the first half of the card is great. I’m honestly not sure how to feel about that last ability- I get that you want to make allowances for old and new werewolves, but the way you balanced it, it looks like it was meant to transform a single werewolf, then you hastily added the day/night text because you realized a new werewolf wouldn’t transform- but then forgot to take into account that the ability now transforms ALL your werewolves. What’s more, at 6 functional mana, you’re likely putting most of your mana into this, meaning you won’t be casting spells, meaning the day/night becomes a bit redundant. It’s a tricky one for sure, and I don’t have a solution for you, but it does need some kind of adjustment.

Karbranth Grand Clinic by @mmmmmin

Thought you could sneak a Stormlight Archives reference by me, huh? Huh??? Jokes aside, it is important to bring up the fact that we tend to avoid Universe Beyond cards in the contests unless we explicitly ask for them, such as when we run our IP contests. That being said, I am going to assume this was an act of not knowing the rules, rather than deliberate malice, so I’m going to evaluate the card as though it was just a generic MTG land. I do like how the paying life/ lifelink abilities synergize, allowing you to hopefully regain the life you’ve lost to this land, while not making it too easy with a power boost. The third ability is where things fall apart for me a little bit, since you seem to have gone for flavor over gameplay. Citizen is a very niche creature type, so I think this could have just allowed you to sacrifice any creature. Investigate is neat, for sure- the talk of samples and death implies that killing people gives you clues- but why the coin flip? That just seems out of nowhere, and doesn’t really mesh with the design. A good question to ask yourself at this stage is “what deck does this want to be in?” At the moment, this wants to have Citizen typal, be an aristocrats deck to make the sacrifice worth it, maybe care about clues to some degree, and then also be able to manipulate coin flips. It’s pulling in a lot of different directions, which doesn’t really do it many favours, obscuring the really cool ideas you had. 

Lochthwain, Compleated by @curiooftheheart

Okay, this is definitely one of the coolest “ETB untapped” conditions I’ve seen. It makes sense that “legendary” locations should care about Legendary figures. The different take on Castle Locthwain’s card draw is also pretty sweet, still rewarding you for having a smaller hand rather than being greedy. However, I just don’t see the phyrexian flavor here? This could just be Locthwain 2.0. It has the same card draw, the same life loss, etc, so where is the Compleated part coming from? I guess that might be a little too nitpicky, and I don’t know what exactly I expected, but Compleated made me think there would be some mechanical tangent it would go on to differentiate itself from the OG design.

Marrow Dunes by @certification-wizard

One of our other Desert cards this week, and another one that cares about the graveyard- in a cool way, too. Not only does this provide prime fodder for the cards asking you to sacrifice a desert, but it then gives you more deserts to use for said abilities. It’s a nicely designed card, with one small hurdle- namely, land tokens are a pretty tough sell. The only cards that make Land tokens right now also make them creatures, because it’s all too easy to run into complicated issues with forgetting which lands are real and which are tokens, accidentally shuffling them in, etc. It’s still a very cool idea, and frankly Desert tokens probably have a lot less issues in this regard than basic land tokens would, but it’s worth pointing out.

Migrating Star Scape by @little-red-rabbit

Okay, nitpicks outta the way first- this land is technically white and blue because of the color indicator, and lands should be colorless- plus, watch the ordering of mana symbols: It should be 2WU. Apart from that, this is a really neat Treasure Planet-esque land! Ships sailing the stars, magical ocean creatures swimming in space- there’s a lot of flavor to plumb there, and this does a really good job of it. See above for my comments on enchantment lands in general. However, in a dedicated enchantment deck, that’s gonna be a LOT of unblockable fish. I think the scale needs to be brought down on that, especially since it’s a land as well, and four mana is not a particularly difficult threshold to meet.

Parotia, Wrenn’s Legacy by @marrinara-sauce

Ahh, the classic Planeswalker land. Something many a designer, including myself, have tried to make work. And frankly? You did a really good job of balancing it to make sure it wouldn’t absolutely take over the game if left unchecked. It works pretty much like a land in almost every scenario, which is something to be commended for, that kind of restraint is not usually seen in these designs. However, by their very nature, Planeswalkers warp the game around them. They change the rules, and give your opponents another “mini player” to consider. As mentioned in the intro, lands are the exact opposite of that. They should be playing a support role, not completely changing how the game is played. Combine that with the absolute feelbad of drawing into multiple of these, or losing your land drop to an aggro deck, means that Planeswalker lands are unfortunately a pretty flawed premise. 

Queiscent Summit by @grornt

Interestingly, eight or more lands was the Quandrix subtheme in strixhaven, and I kinda expected this to take on some of that flavor. Regardless, this is a fairly neat manland. It taps for mana, it filters when needed, and it can become a late game beater. I don’t have too much to say about it honestly, since it seems pretty well designed. The one minor detail that slipped by you is that it should have haste in creature form- if this is your eighth land drop, and all of a sudden you have a land you can’t tap for mana right away... it gets confusing. Haste is definitely something this design wants, in the same way that Nissa and her animation spells grant haste so you don’t have to keep track of which lands are summoning sick and which aren’t.

Stallblast Cliff by @dimestoretajic

I definitely have some mixed feelings on this one. I like the idea of a scaling reward based on when you play this, and the basic is a good rider to ensure you’re not just playing this with a bunch of fancy duals. At the same time, though, I think the two/three land threshold is a bit confusing, and this might have wanted the Dwarven Mine templating or something similar. I don’t know, maybe that’s me being too cautious. It’s entirely possible, honestly. Also, it’s worth wondering if a lightning bolt is too efficient for a land. Sure, it’s essentially a mini Valakut, but they have very different thresholds, and four copies of this can go a long way. At minimum, this probably shouldn’t be at common.

Starved Caldera by @bread-into-toast

This is a very cute way to animate a land, and I think a set of these with various “whenever you do this, it becomes a creature” would be kinda neat, especially to juxtapose the deliberate activated ability manlands that are more prevalent. I do think this wants the “triggers only once each turn” templating to make it a little cleaner, but apart from that, this looks pretty good to me. The name is just so evocative and chilling, it’s... whoof. I don’t wanna get on the bad side of whatever is hanging out there. My one other tiny nitpick is that you may wanna have your art and name agree with each other more, since there is a distinct lack of water hanging out in that art. Volcanoes are cool hot though, so I’ll let it slide.

The Font of Creation by @wolkemesser

This one is definitely tough to evaluate. The design you’re going for is a great idea, and you’ve definitely thought to account for corner cases, which is good, but I’ll be frank- this is not a land. This completely changes how the game is played, and forces your opponents to play by those rules as well, which is fine for designs! But this is a high-cost artifact or enchantment kind of design, not one that should be able to be dropped on turn 1 for free. Also with that in mind, trying to evaluate how a card can be broken, and making adjustments to reflect that, is a good way to improve a design. However, the best solution usually isn’t to just tack a new ability on there to prevent that abuse from happening, usually you want to try and reword the original ability to prevent that kind of abuse. Ultimately, this card is just trying to do way too much- the complexity and power level are more appropriate for a more mana-intensive card, and that’s after making some adjustments to clean up the various abilities on here.

Thunderstruck Starscape by @lanabutnotdelray

I really do like how creative people got with untap conditions this week, and this one is no exception. It’s clever, flavorful, and all in all just hits the mark. First things first, blah blah blah enchantment lands, I won’t get into all that again. Second- in a blue-red deck, two devotion seems laughably easy. This is saying “this enters untapped unless you’ve played a spell”, which to be fair is not nothing, but it makes the devotion aspect less necessary. This is me going off of a gut feeling, but I think 3 might be the magic number on this- keep in mind that devotion to two colors is much easier than to one, which is why the dual-color gods have to hit seven instead of five. Likewise, I could see two working for a single color of devotion, but I think for two I wanna see what a threshold of three would look like. Apart from that, love the design.

Tidal Graveyard by @azathoth-the-bored

I do love niche typal lands, they’re fun and often just make for cute designs. This one is pretty standard as far as things go- the costs seem pretty appropriate, especially since Crab is a pretty small type and it’s not known for making a ton of tokens. However, most other typal lands try to lean into the creature type’s mechanical identity. Sometimes there isn’t one, of course, but crabs do have a couple decent identities of high toughness and of milling. Leaning into one of those could have made for an even neater design, since drawing a card just seems like a bit of a generic payoff, as things go.

Undergrowth Tangle by @stupidstupidratcreatures

I am glad that you had the foresight to have the enter unconditionally tapped, since that shows you’re treating mill as the upside it is. Not an incredible upside, granted, but a playset of these will do a whole lot of work in a reanimator shell. Like the delirium design also submitted this week, I would want to see it in action to properly judge, since this could be a big power boost in the right decks.

Unending Sands by @just--a--penguin

Our final desert of the week- interestingly, most of them had to do with exiling from grave instead of sacrificing. It’s an interesting way to make sure they synergize with existing deserts rather than trying to compete in the same space as them, and invokes a really neat hypothetical draft format. Return to Amonkhet perhaps, with deserts as a proper archetype this time? Anything can happen. I don’t have much else to say here- 5 mana for a 4/4 token seems fair, especially when you have to jump through the hoop of getting this into your graveyard first. All in all, it’s a neat design for sure, though maybe the name could have been a biiit less on the nose.

Velis Vel by @sombramainexe

Hoo boy, okay. I don’t want to be too harsh on the commentary for this one, but tribal is a card type that isn’t used anymore for very good reasons. Even a single tribal card is very unlikely, and more likely to be used as a silly callback. However, this makes everything into a tribal card, and doesn’t even give most of them creature types. This would result in a lot of confusion and a LOT of memory issues, as well as some odd corner cases. For example, would Eye of the Storm gain the “Eye” creature type? Some of this could be fixed with templating, but a lot of it is just fundamentally not going to work very well. Also, Tribal lands are a whole mess on their own- even when they originally made tribal, they didn’t wanna mess with it that much. I do think this is an incredibly creative idea, and I applaud you for really pushing the boundaries- because what is this contest for if not to display creativity? However, it’s worth tempering that creativity with design principles- after all, they exist for a reason. This also serves as a great reminder that the hive mind over in our discord is always happy to discuss cards and bounce ideas off of each other if you ever want to refine your design before submission.

And that's that! You are now in the hands of the ever-capable, incorruptible @gollumni- we have five judges once again, so I will see you in five weeks! Farewell!

[jellydishes]

The first time Alistair met Bethany Hawke, she thrashed him so thoroughly that he saw enough stars to make a few new constellations.

Admittedly, he'd gone into the sparring session with a few preconceived notions. The Warden Commander had told him in confidence that Bethany was a green recruit fresh out of Kirkwall, and, well… He'd have never said so to her face, but Alistair may have pulled the first few couple blows, just to test her limits. Anyone who actually knew anything about circle mages -especially those from the Kirkwall circle- knew that they were deliberately taught weaker magic to keep them in line and under control.

In hindsight, Alistair suspected that maybe the commander was trying to get him back for something. Either that, or they had a very sick sense of humor, because that ‘green’ recruit of hers came at him like a… well, like someone who knew what she was doing. And what she was doing was handing Alistair his ass.

He began to suspect that maybe Bethany was working out some aggression the second time she twirled that imposingly bladed monstrosity of a staff and brought it down, sending out a ring of flames that forced him back on his heels. Maybe it was the battle cry, or the way she was glaring at him, or maybe it was the way she spat a few curses at him that he'd have to remember for later.

The woman was like a whirlwind. She threw out magic faster than he'd expected from a circle mage (and wouldn't he be kicking himself about that assumption later), and he had to act fast to lash out with his shield. She went skidding back, giving him some breathing room from that staff of hers. Even without her magic, Bethany was quicker with it than she had any right to be.

He'd muttered that last part to himself, resisting the urge to rub at a few sore spots as she shifted his feet wider to brace himself. He held out a hand to prep a dispel using his templar abilities, but before he had the chance to finish it she'd already closed the distance and swung the flat side of her staff at his legs, knocking his feet out from under him. Alistair yelped as he tumbled down in a flailing heap of arms and legs and clattering armor.

Maybe that's why he was breathless as he looked up into the closest thing he'd seen to golden eyes since the last time he'd locked gazes with Morrigan, and quite forgot what he'd been going to say. Something extremely suave and clever, obviously. Unfortunately, what actually came out was, “Oh, wow. Wow. Are you- wow!”

Bethany was panting as she pulled her staff back from where the pointier end had been aimed at his throat, and looked at him with a dumbfounded expression that twisted the birthmark stretching over her nose. “Did I hit your head a bit too hard?” She asked him. Now that she wasn't cursing, it was a lot easier to make out her accent. A Ferelden girl then, eh? Interesting.

He didn't realize he'd said that out loud until she started to laugh, probably at him. And he was very okay with that idea. He wouldn't mind hearing it again, actually, and again after that. Her laugh wasn't musical or like bells or however a woman's laugh was always described in the songs, he noted; Bethany Hawke possessed a deep, raspy chuckle that turned into a snort at the end, and he'd never been more enamored of a laugh in his life. He also decided it was a better and altogether wiser policy to stare admiringly at her face just now, not least because he wouldn't get beat up again. Not that he'd mind that so much. Something about being on the other side of a beautiful woman who could rip you a new one was very intriguing, and flames, had he said that last part out loud again?

She paused, making him nearly groan aloud. Then she held out her hand to him, clasping his forearm in the way of a fellow warrior as she pulled him to his feet with a strength that told him ‘apostate’ just as much as the callouses on her hands. “I don't know what I am anymore,” she said with a rueful expression that he understood very well. “I'd have said Fereldan not too long ago, but…”

He smiled at her, feeling some kind of pang in his chest that he decided not to examine too closely just now. “It's alright. You don't have to be anything but a warden, now. At least,” he added more gently, “that's what the man who recruited me probably would have said. I think he meant that you can decide who you are as you go along. The wardens are good for that, among other things.” She had a strange look on her face, one that made him feel a bit of that old self-consciousness. “Something I said?” He laughed, scratching at the back of his head.

“No, it's just… I suppose that I'm not really used to hearing that sort of thing. Everyone’s always been so certain of who they were, except maybe for my twin brother.”

“Sounds like we'd get along famously, me and this brother of yours. I hardly know who I am after breakfast, let alone in that big metaphorical scope of things. Soul searching is exhausting, and I get tired just from maintaining my train of thought!” He laughed at himself the way he always did, but she didn't match it the way he expected.

“I think you would have,” was all she said, and Alistair winced as he realized just how badly he'd put his foot in his mouth this time.

Good going, he thought sourly, but his smile was still in place as he rubbed a hand at the back of his head. Anxiety scratched, scratched, scratched between his ribs but he did his best to ignore it as he said, "I know what it's like to lose someone important to you," he said slowly. "It clings to everything you do, doesn't it? After a while though, it…" He laughed humorlessly, wishing he were anywhere half as talented at speaking his mind as somebody else he knew. "What am I talking for, you already know. Probably better than a lot of people think. The quiet types aren't underestimated at just the one thing, are they? Again, not like I would know… Can't quite manage the knack of keeping my mouth shut, can I?"

Bethany didn't answer, didn't seem to know how, and he supposed he deserved that. He gave another smile that hung at an odd angle and hoped to the Maker that it looked genuine, then made to go on his way. “Did you mean it?” She asked him just as he was turning away, and Alistair looked back with his eyebrows raised.

“Of course I did. But just in case I need to recall this for ah, posterity, what are we talking about?”

“When you called me beautiful.” That rueful look was back, and so was that twist behind his ribs. “I've been called that before, you understand, a lot. Usually when people say it they don't really mean it as a compliment. So I guess what I'm trying to say is… What did you mean when you said it?”

He hoped his expression hadn't gone as soft as it felt like it had, but his luck was predictably bad. He could physically see her drawing back from him again, and he hurried to say something, anything, to fill that gap in the conversation that somebody who was better at this than he was would have used slightly better. Slightly. As it was, he had no idea what he was going to say until he said it. “I suppose I meant that you looked like you shone brighter than that fire of yours. All passion and skill and… you know,” he added with another one of those laughs that didn't actually hold humor so much as uncertainty, “bravery.”

“Bravery?” She sounded skeptical.

“Oh, definitely. You might not know who you are in words, but you threw yourself at it anyway. That takes a lot out of a person, being angry. Not everybody's good at it.”

“And you think I am?” She asked with a twist to her mouth that could've meant a lot of things, most of which Alistair was familiar with from his own mirror.

“Wouldn't be brave if you were,” he lifted a shoulder and let it fall in a lopsided sort of shrug.

Bethany laughed, and he couldn't help watching it with a different sort of ache in his chest. “I'm trying to decide if that was a compliment or not,” she said.

“I do hope it was the first one but ah, let me know when you figure it out, will you? I'm always unintentionally insulting the wrong people and not insulting the right ones. It's a real problem.”

“And which one am I?”

“Oh, you're the right one. At least, I um… You know what?” He said instead of the words building up on the edge of his tongue, “I'm going to go be embarrassed over here for a few minutes and pretend it's official business with the warden commander.”

That earned him a startled burst of laughter. Bethany had a peculiar way of laughing behind one hand that made him nearly burst with the urge to tell her that she shouldn't have to feel like she had to hide her happiness from anybody, but i stead he swept himself away in a hurry. He was already blushing up to the tips of his pointed ears. No need to embarrass himself any more than he already had.

[princetorn]

⋆  @enreality // cont.

To be dead was to drift somewhere between memory and the waking world.

It had been the sheer weight and presence Sandra’s heartache that roused him, that dredged him out of that sleepless, shapeless, soundless plane. Hers was a sorrow that clawed at the walls, that wailed across dimensions even as she stifled the sound of her sobs, muting her grief in the manner of one who wished she could deny or override or explain it away.

Royce had never been one to express himself through tears. To weep would have been to be dubbed a sissy, or to have invited the lick of his father’s belt. For boys like him, feelings were best bottled in glass, only examined in an abstract, stoic way – to not care was to be invincible, to be cool. But he did care, he always had, and he never failed to be moved by a woman’s suffering. Shrouded in melancholy as oppressive as Sandra’s was now, his mother had retreated to her bed, often leaving spots of blood in her wake, blooming on the bathroom floor like red carnations. From beneath her blanket she whispered domestic instructions in bleak, tear-ripe monotone. There was no need for his father to know it was his son who had polished the tiles clean, who set out the cutlery, who saw dinner on the table that night. Mothers and their sons were built to bear the burden of secrets.

Caged no longer, Royce tethered himself to Sandra, anchored in a way he found strangely comforting. She was what was familiar to him now, in this place far from home, far from the glass-walled mansion that had brought them together. He haunted her, gently.

Manifesting at the foot of her bed, he flickered in an out of paltry existence. His voice had that faraway quality, as if spoken from the bottom of a well – or from beneath the fresh-tilled soil of a half-filled grave. Sandra wasn’t okay, even if she said so, even if she pawed at her face, quick to wipe away tears.

“Sure will, toots.”

Mustering his strength, threading together the tenuous fibres of his essence, Royce made a concentrated effort to materialise more solidly before making his approach, sitting weightlessly on the edge of Sandra’s bed. Time meant little to him, but given that the night pressed its dark, jealous face to her window, he guessed that it was late. Whatever constellations hung in the sky could not compare to those stars that stippled the flood of darling blue eyes. A terrible thing, to be unspeakably beautiful while heartsore and despairing.

Slumber might help, but Sandra was coiled tight, a whale-eyed hare held in a hound’s jaws. Royce reached for her, stroking skeletal fingers through her hair, tracing the helix of her ear with bony tips, in a gesture intended to soothe.

“What’re ya workin’ on?”

Industrious, restless, clever creature. Sandra devoured the printed word, always expanding the borders of her mind, always learning, always chasing the next story. Her appetite had been what brought her under that strange collector’s roof – and brought them together. An uncanny tilt of his head allowed Royce to skim the piles of paper, to catch a glimpse of his own obituary. It gave him pause. If only for a moment, if only because he saw himself intact and whole and alive. A young man with everything to play for, both on and off the baseball field.

He wished he could give her that now. Warm, intact flesh. The promise of a future, of a life well-lived. A complexion flush with blood that remained on the inside. A body to love, a body that would age. Arms that could hold her and would never waver. Ruined though he was, a shade of what he had been, fondness still radiated from Sandra, her adoration undiluted. That was enough for him. It was enough that she could look at the horror of his road-wrecked face and not flinch. It was enough that she did not recoil from the corpse-cold touch of his fingers.

[piaoza]

the invisible life of addie larue

there are just some books that remind you of why you love to read. the kind that give you a story you could get lost in, a plot so magical and enticing, a writing-style so clever and achingly beautiful. characters you grow to love endlessly, over time. and you find yourself slowly caving in, leaning into the book, not wanting it to end, hoping to hold on for longer. 

the invisible life of addie larue is one of these books. an impeccable mix of fantasy, romance, and adventure. it has thrill, it has excitement, it has twists and turns. but it also provides you with this comfort, the kind you find in the books with the most thought-provoking and eye-opening quotes. in its own subtle ways, it tells you about the beauty of life. and aren’t these novels the kind that take your breath away? the kind that can provide you with an irresistible magic so characteristic to fiction, but also ground you to a beautiful reality, that you return to feeling refreshed and joyful? 

it’s about a girl who makes a deal with the darkness, with the wrong god. the way their complex relationship unfolds is so well-put together, the way she thinks the god is human only ‘cause he poses as one, acts like one, so many times, and it feels so real, because you feel yourself slipping into the suave ways of the devil along with her, the irresistible passion almost tangible. 

and then, when she really falls in love with a human, it is held in such stark difference to her absurd story with the devil. because with him, it was all about the passion, the thrill. and with Henry, it is all about comfort, and content and surety, and the messiness in the quiet beauty of love. and what i loved best was that she acknowledges both sides of romance - the dark, dangerous, alluring one, and the subtle, content, warm one. because at the end, she accepts that love is absolutely messy, and never perfect, and that’s perhaps the best way to describe it. 

what i loved most about the book is that it shows the truth about art and artists. it unfolds the beauty of embedding yourself into art and making it a way to be remembered and leaving your mark. the author writes about the glint in an artist’s eye when inspiration strikes, and i loved those parts the best. they always made me smile, and reminded myself of the poet in me. those times, i could see myself mirrored in the pages of the book. i really fell in love with the novel a little more every time it made me relate to it, and described art in its absolutely beautiful ways.

and another thing you learn from Addie LaRue, a girl who’s lived a few centuries, is how to value life. so many quotes in the novel point to that, how she never regrets making her deal with immortality, how there’s always beauty and magic in the world that can floor you. you can always find something you’ve never seen before, and the world will never cease to take your breath away, and i think that idea was transcribed so well into the novel. 

what i can say with absolute certainty is that you will fall in love with Addie LaRue. every time the author talks about her, about her stubbornness, about her dreamer’s soul, about her ambition and her strength and her defiance and resilience, about her ability to never stop marveling at every new, little wonder the world washes up at her feet. you will love her the way everyone in the book has, she will be your muse even if you aren’t an artist. she has a way to imbibe herself into your memory. you will always remember the constellation across her cheek, you will picture her smile and her laugh and the dreamer’s defiance in her eyes like she’s right before you. you will always remember addie larue.

i cannot say this book is for everyone, because it isn’t. not everyone can stick with a 541-page long story, which can be pretty slow-paced at times as it switches between timelines. and that’s okay. it doesn’t have to be for everyone for it to be absolutely amazing. it doesn’t have to be a 5-star read for everyone - just a handful of us loving readers will do, to forever capture addie larue in the history of books. 

this novel is a lot of things at once. it can be a wonderful teacher, an eye-opener with its beautiful quotes that give you such a fresh perspective on life when you need it. it can be a friend who tells you a joke or two, or in this case, a magical story or two, when you really need to forget about your life for a minute, when you need to catch your breath. it gives you the thrill of fantasy, the cozy comfort in a gentle romance, as well as the rollercoaster ride of tales of passion and adventure. you can picture it in your head like a movie, a unique mix of genres, keeping your eyes glued to the page, to the screen. 

but most of all, ‘the invisible life of addie larue’ a story that is meant to be remembered, a life told in memories and flashbacks and works of art as well as their muses. 

it’s going on a list of my favourites right this second. because if you love it as much as i did, you’ll never forget the magic and beauty of addie larue. 

[starcrossedkaiju]

Kingslayer AU: Chapter Eight

I don’t know what to say other than I like this one. Rendog enjoyers come get your free angst!

Scott filled the pages of his sketchbook gradually at first. He sat at his window and drew what he saw, focusing on putting shapes on the paper. Many times he was unhappy with the finished product, almost ripping out and throwing away his limited space.

He had to learn to be okay with it. The next time it would be a bit better, and a bit better, until the tree he’d been slaving over didn’t look half bad.

Soon his interests turned to drawing his friends. Their faces would pop up on his pages, drowned in eraser smudges at first. Then it became easy. Like second nature, he could memorize Grian’s knowing grin, Jimmy’s downturned eyes, Martyn’s slightly crooked nose.

He drew the way he saw Ren’s piercing yellow eyes that night, the way they were shadowed by his brow.

It felt better. To have a place where his memories could stay exactly the way he saw them. Scott even pinned some up on the wall of his room.

Soon his supply of paper started dwindling, Martyn told him if he needed more drawing paper to come back and ask him for some. So he did, after Jimmy went to bed and the world was quiet under the snow.

Scott made a trip to the Renchanting base, entering through the tunnel hidden under the mountain. It took him right to the storage area. Which was dark and deserted. Only a clock ticked on the wall, everyone else must have been in the sleeping quarters or back at their bases to fend off the Phantoms.

He took a torch from the “stuff chest” and started making rounds, looking at each storage container. Food, Armor, ores, wood, stone, and redstone. Until there was a wall of chests with people’s names on them.

Everyone in the Red Army had a chest, from left to right there was Ren, Martyn, Etho, Skiz, Impulse, Tango, Joel, and then Scott.

The last chest on the right side, Scott’s name was carved on top. It hadn’t been there before. He placed his hand on the lock, wondering if he should even bother opening it. Someone had cared enough to dedicate a space for him to put things. Under the roof of Dogwarts no less.

His torch flickered and Scott decided he’d spent too long lurking around, so he flipped the lock up and quietly opened the chest. Slowly so it wouldn’t creek.

Inside there was a single stack of drawing paper. Hand-sewn like the one Martyn had given him.

Scott placed the torch down and retrieved the paper. He knew it must have been Martyn. A smile found its way onto his face, and he let it stay there. This time, when nobody was looking.

Blowing out the torch and closing the chest, Scott gathered the sketchbook and decided to just leave through the front. It was almost midnight anyways.

Up the stairs and to the double doors of the enchanting room. The book on the table rose from its position and opened towards him as he walked past. Scott still had his hand on the doorknob when he opened it and stepped out into the frigid night.

Of course he didn’t expect to see anything, so when he did see something he froze in place.

In the spot that Martyn would typically occupy, on the very top of the walls sat Ren. His grey cape was bundled around himself to keep out the cold and his pointed ears were pressed low on his head. He was facing away from Scott.

Huddled on the perch, Ren’s shoulders were shaking. Silently, he cried.

Scott stood in the doorway motionless. He couldn’t believe the scene in front of him. Ren wasn’t one to cry. He was calculating and smart, rarely loosing his temper to even the worst of setbacks. A humorous man in charge of an Army of vagabonds, he never cried. He never expressed so much as a single weakness, he couldn’t afford that.

So it really shouldn’t have been a surprise, not really, that the Red King would save his sorrow for when nobody should be looking. Under the loneliest arm of the Milky Way, coldly gazing down on him. The weight of every star in the sky on his shoulders.

It made him look small.

Scott backed away from the door and ran back to the tunnel he came from, the kind of running you do when you are convinced your worst nightmare is snapping at your heels; and maybe for Scott it was.

He sprinted home without looking back. Trying to shove the image of Ren out the back of his mind.

That night he crept quietly back into bed, doing his best not to disturb Jimmy. Who stirred momentarily before simply turning over.

Scott stared at the arm of the Milky Way through the window until he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Days pressed by, Scott slithered too and from the walls of Dogwarts under the noses of his allies and between Spy Ring meetings. The first page of his new sketchbook lay empty, because whenever his pencil hovered above that damn page all he could see was a man huddled up under a galaxy of stars that would never return his wishes.

So when he was called out on night watch to the Renchanting base, Scott snuck out with his empty sketchbook held close to his chest. He arrived to a sleeping base, aware that his shift would be over in an hour and he would get to go home when the next guard showed up.

He yawned and stared out the window, at the stars above the wall. A pencil came to his hand and he started drawing what he saw. The shape of the wall against the glowing sky. He drew it, but it wasn’t right. The image in his mind came back to the front.

A weeping man holding a million stars on his shaking shoulders, the end of his frayed cape flaring out when the breeze kicked up. Tiny compared to the infinite sky. Scott’s fingers and palm turned black with graphite as he crafted the cosmos onto that paper.

His scribbling and smudging consumed all his thoughts as he focused on making the scene perfect, the pencil dulled and threatened to snap under the pressure.

“Major,” a stern voice came from right behind him.

Scott seized up in his chair, a feeling of terror so pure exploded in his chest that his vision left him for a few seconds. He gasped and turned around with his jaw on the floor.

Behind him was Ren. Clad in his winter jacket, a hand on the back of Scott’s chair. He stared directly into the other’s eyes from behind the dark lenses of his aviators. All the color had gone from his face.

Hoping the Red King hadn’t seen what he was drawing, Scott moved his hand to close the book.

It was too late. Ren had been watching him draw for long enough to know.

“You saw me?” Ren asked, but it was phrased more like a fact. It was.

Scott’s hesitation was enough of an answer. He stared up into Ren’s glasses, reminded of a familiar time. This time was different though, and this time Scott wished he could see behind the lenses.

He nodded and tore his eyes away, it felt intrusive to be staring.

“Ren,” Scott said to the floor, but was dismissed.

“No. Just go home. Now,” the other man ordered with a wavering voice.

Scott didn’t nod, he didn’t look at Ren. He gathered the sketchbook and slammed it shut within five seconds.

He didn’t say goodbye as he fled the walls. Scott ran from Ren, and this time he felt bad about it.

Scott didn’t return to Dogwarts for a week after that. Nobody called him to the night shift, nobody asked him to run any supplies. Maybe he was grateful for that, in the sense that he wouldn’t have to look Ren in the eyes again.

Until one night he couldn’t sleep. The clouds cast a dark blanket over the sky. Scott huffed and crawled out of bed, not bothering to change out of his pajamas. He pulled his boots on and took his coat off the hanger.

A walk is what he told himself he was going on, but really he knew where he was going. He didn’t know why, but for some reason Scott had a feeling he wasn’t the only one that couldn’t sleep.

This time instead of entering Dogwarts through the underground he rounded the front, cresting the hill right in front of Big B’s house. Scott scanned the top of the wall and saw what he was looking for. He shoved his hands in his pockets and entered Dogwarts through the front door.

Scott climbed the ladder and balanced himself as he walked over to Ren, who was sitting with his legs dangling over the side of the wall. His jacket was pulled tightly around him. Scott didn’t greet him when he sat down, Ren had seen him coming a mile away.

Ren didn’t look at him, he breathed in heavily, then sighed out a burst of vapor into the cold air.

“You couldn’t sleep?” Scott started the conversation this time.

“Wouldn’t matter if I could. I’m on night watch,” Ren said after a beat of silence.

Scott nodded, turning his head to the dark sky, “it’d be nicer with some stars, hm?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Ren trailed off. He stared at his shoes.

“Okay I’m sorry, I’ll just-“ Scott made to get up and leave but Ren interrupted him.

“No, wait, you can stay,” Ren pulled on the sleeve of Scott’s elbow.

Scott nodded and pulled his knees closer to his chest. A pocket of clouds had moved, creating a window that let the moon gaze upon the Earth.

“Do you stargaze a lot?” Ren asked, this time he looked at Scott.

He wasn’t wearing his sunglasses.

“I try,” Scott replied, “there’s this huge book I found uh, In a village library a while ago. It has everything you can possibly see from down here in it,” he mused.

“Have you ever read one?” Scott asked.

“Uh, an astronomy book?” Ren’s eyes flicked to the left in thought, “I mean I’ve seen them. I haven’t read them. You like astronomy?” he asked.

Scott nodded, then pointed north, into the cloud cover, “you can’t see it now, but Ursa Major would be right over there,” he said.

Ren looked over like he was trying to imagine it, “you like Ursa Major?”

“Easiest to remember,” Scott said plainly.

“I’ll bet. S’ like a namesake,” Ren rested his chin on his palm, “I wish I had a constellation with my name,” his ear twitched on his head.

Scott’s metaphorical ears perked up, “Oh well, there’s one kind of like that,” he said. Ren’s actual ears perked up.

“It’s called Canis Major. It means Great Dog, or Big Dog,” Scott pointed south, “it will always be easy to see on a clear day. One of its stars is called Sirius,” he explained.

Ren nodded, “I’m familiar. Brightest in the sky, right?”

“Yeah. That’s right,” Scott replied.

“Canis Major huh?” Ren repeated. Scott nodded.

“Canis Major, and,” he looked over at Scott, “Scott Major,” Ren nudged the other on the shoulder.

“Right,” Scott said, and suddenly the sky didn’t feel so heavy anymore.

Not when you have a friend to share it with.

[thru-the-grapevine]

Under the Stars

Pairing: Choi San x reader

Summary: The stars decide to spell out your fate with the cute boy who took you stargazing rather clearly, for once.

Word Count: 1.6k

Tags: summer camp au, fluff to end all fluff, also idiocy

You peer up at the universe sprinkled overhead, gnawing your lower lip. “I’m not sure I see it.”

The grass of left outfield shifts beneath the blanket as San scoots a little closer to you. Despite the comfortably warm night, the feeling of his body heat mere inches from your side sends prickles across your skin.

“Okay, look,” San says, lifting his arm and pointing to a cluster of stars. “Starts right there, beneath that really bright one, and it goes down left, and then trails around that way, see?”

You force your gaze away from the contour of his arm and attempt to follow as he traces an outline in the heavens. “And you said it’s…”

“A jellyfish,” he says, and you can hear him grinning. “That spot I just traced is the bell, and then the tentacles—”

“—are just there,” you realize, suddenly seeing the constellation. You snort.

“Nice, right?” San snickers. “I actually felt clever making that one. Okay, your turn.”

“Oh, god,” you mutter, smiling and gazing all across the sky. “Okay, um…”

This is exactly what you’d expected when San asked if you wanted to sneak out to the campground’s baseball field and look at stars. Several other young camp staff you’d been sitting with watched you accept his offer with jealousy, and you knew they were picturing a far more romantic, swoonworthy scene. Something it seemed most of the young camp staff would kill for with San—at least, something they’d kill for now.

Choi San has been your camp bestie since the day you met as kids, when you accidentally spilled green Kool-Aid all over him and he retaliated on purpose with his purple Kool-Aid. He wasn’t one of the cooler kids at camp over the years—too dorky, the other kids said. But that worked out perfectly for you, because you were a dork, too.

It was shocking when he turned up one summer a few years ago when you were counselors and he was…cute. Against your better judgment, it awakened something in you—and, apparently, several other counselors, who were suddenly interested in hanging around him. You tried not to let it boost your ego when he barely noticed them, preferring to stick around you, instead. He was still just as dorky, like nothing had changed, and you wanted to keep it that way, so for the sake of your friendship you fought down any feelings that awakened.

Except they like to re-awaken all the time, as you both continue to grow up and he only gets cuter. A constant battle. You’re running out of room to bury your feelings at this point.

“Aaah, wait—um, uh, um…” you sputter, laughing as San begins humming the Jeopardy theme.

You chance a glance over at him, only to look away again sharply when you see him grinning ear-to-ear at you. Your entire face comes to a boil. Panicked, you fling your arm up and point. “There, take a guess.”

You begin scrutinizing that spot desperately for a form that makes sense as San groans. “No fair, that’s where I was going to pick next.”

“Pff, yeah, what were you gonna pick, a….coiled-up snake?” You retort, tossing the snake idea out the window.

“...Noooo,” he says, then pauses. “Okay, kind of. It was going to be one of those fuzzy worm things, so that doesn’t technically count.”

You snort. “Keep dreaming.”

“What’s yours, then, huh, if you’re so clever?”

“You mean you can’t see it?” You ask, faking offense, wracking your brains for ideas.

“Methinks thou doth protest too much,” San says, and you can hear him smirking.

You huff. “Fine, I’ll tell you, spoilsport. It’s one of those, you know…”

You can definitely hear him grinning now. “You know…?”

At last, inspiration strikes. “It’s an ammonite.”

A moment’s pause, and then San asks, “an ammonite?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what an ammonite is,” you say, injecting mock horror into your voice. “I remember your dinosaur phase from fourth grade summer too well for that.”

There’s a moment of silence as San scrutinizes the sky.

You smirk the longer he doesn’t reply. “So, you know. An ammonite. Duh.”

“That…” He says, staring at the place you’d pointed out, “…is genius…”

You grin.

“....ly stupid.”

“Hey!” You turn and smack his arm, laughing. “You were going to say it was a fuzzy worm!”

You pointedly ignore how cute his dimples are, the way his eyes crinkle when he smiles. “At least mine wasn’t a fossil.”

“You didn’t make any rules except ‘it can’t be boring like a real constellation’!”

“I’m changing the rules now, no fossils.”

You scrunch your face up into an indignant, scowling pout. “Starting now. Mine counts.”

San rolls his eyes, but a grin tugs at his lips. “So needy. Fine, my turn.”

“And you can’t start from where I just made one,” you remind him.

“Yah, who’s in charge here, anyway?” San complains.

You scoff. “Who said anything about someone being in charge? Besides, you’ve got loads of other stars to work with.”

“But I wanted to work with those stars.”

“Bo-ring.”

“Ah come on, they’re all fake constellations anyw—whoa!”

You both jolt, eyes wide, as the brightest shooting star you’ve ever seen hurtles through the sky above. It’s huge, the tail burning fire from one horizon to the other in a brilliant slash.

As quickly as it comes, it fades, but the spell it casts lingers over you both. Both of you fall quiet, staring up into the stars. Everything comes into focus that you hadn’t been aware of before—the soft chirp of crickets from the nearby woods, the barely-there breeze stirring across your legs, the earthy smell of the baseball diamond. How close Choi San is lying next to you, on this blanket, the two of you in a world all your own.

“That was…amazing,” San breathes.

Your throat is dry. All you can do is nod.

“Did you see that?”

“Yeah.”

“It was huge,” he says, shifting a little on the blanket. “I’ve…I feel like I need to make a wish. Should I make a wish?”

You wish your feelings could just go away. “Nah, not on that one. You kidding? It was way too big for just a wish. That was like…a sign, or something.”

San sounds thoughtful. “A sign of what?”

“Like, anything.” Lying here next to him feels more and more dangerous by the second. You sit up, still staring at the sky. “That’s a sign for anything. Like a big thumbs-up, you know? The universe saying, ‘time to go for it’.”

“Go for what?”

“Whatever’s right in front of you, man,” you say, just rambling at this point. “Got a dream school you’re shooting for? Send in the application. Up for that promotion? Assert yourself. Someone you want to see? Gotta shoot your shot. Life’s too short and shooting stars know about it. Like, you saw that one, it was huge and bright and beautiful and it just fizzled…out…”

You stop talking, mind going blank, when you feel San take your hand, twining your fingers together.

You look down at your hands. He really is holding yours; you aren’t just imagining it. His thumb brushes over the back of yours gently, once, twice, and your entire being feels like a live wire.

He clears his throat in the silence that follows. “I, um, then I guess this is just…me, shooting my shot, then.”

Your gaze trails from his hand up his arm, over his shoulder and neck, settling on his face. He’s staring resolutely up at the sky, like the stars have just started tap-dancing. “I mean, you know, if that’s…cool? Maybe? Since you said the star was a sign and not for wishing…maybe this was a bad idea—”

“You’re shooting your shot with me?”

“Not because I don’t like being friends or anything!” San says quickly. “Honestly I haven’t said anything for a while because I didn’t want you to…I guess I was just worried that…and like, we can totally just be friends, that’s super cool, we can just forget this happened at all—”

“Stop talking.”

He falls silent, and you take the moment to calm the veritable tornado of thoughts and feelings whipping through your head at breakneck speeds.

“I…” You trail off. Where are you even supposed to start? “I’m not…I mean, I like being your friend, too, don’t get me wrong, but like…”

You squeeze his hand. “This is cool.”

Slowly, San sits up next to you. “…It is?”

“Way better than cool,” you blurt, feeling your face start to burn again. “I’m…god, San, I’ve liked you a stupidly long time and I didn’t want to blow it and you’re telling me you’re shooting your shot because of a shooting star?”

“Hey, that thing had to be a comet or something,” San said, a slow smile growing over his face. “Like fate. Or an omen.”

“I was talking out of my ass about that earlier,” you tell him, pulse sputtering frantically at the way he’s looking at you.

“No, I think that was the first non-stupid thing you said all night,” San says decidedly. He lifts your joined hands briefly and presses a kiss to the back of yours before letting them drop to his lap.

Your head feels like it’s spinning. “The ammonite wasn’t stupid.”

“It was stupid,” he says, grinning at you.

You huff, scowl-pouting again. “You’re so mean.”

“I think you like it, though,” he says, squeezing your hand and looking back up at the sky. “Just a little.”

Your face feels like it’s in flames. “...Maybe. A very little bit.”

You both spend the next few minutes smiling rather stupidly at the stars.

[theteasetwrites]

Fifty Kisses

❧ Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader ❧ Era: Season 9/10 (post time skip) ❧ Pronouns: she/her ❧ Warnings: mild swearing, just a tad bit suggestive ❧ Word Count: 2.6k

❧ Summary: It’s your man’s birthday, fiftieth, to be exact. As such, it’s imperative to participate in a few birthday traditions, including bestowing upon him fifty kisses, one for each year he’s been alive.

❧ A/N: A little birthday oneshot for our lord and savior Norman Reedus! And also for Daryl, since in my book it is also Daryl's birthday (until we get a definitive date, he's a Capricorn, baby). Oh, and yes, I know Norman is technically 53, but I'm just gonna say Daryl's turning 50 in this oneshot universe, okay? Okay. It works better for my purposes lmao (also not me realizing that Norman Reedus is almost exactly thirty years older than me, and that my parents are only three years older than him rip).

It all started back at the prison, when you asked him what his zodiac sign was.

“What the shit are you talkin’ about?” he had replied. “The hell is a zodiac sign?”

You rolled your eyes. “You know, it’s like a personality thing. You know what your zodiac sign is based on what day you were born on. It’s what constellation the sun was in on that day. So, what day were you born on?” It was, indeed, a clever way to get him to spill the beans about his birthday, so one day, when you had the ways and means, and the ability to more precisely keep track of the days, you could celebrate it.

“Uh, January,” he said. “Let’s get back to work.” He held up his stake and plunged it into the walker’s head as it banged against the other side of the chain link fence.

“What day?” you asked as you joined him in taking out a few more walkers.

He looked at you incredulously. “You’re just tryin’ to find out my birthday. It ain’t gonna happen, (Y/N).”

You gave him an exaggerated pouty face. “Oh, come on, Daryl! What else are friends for besides getting each other birthday presents, huh? Come on, what day were you born? Besides, I have to know if you’re a Capricorn or an Aquarius. It makes all the difference, you know.”

He scoffed. “Fine, just don’t make a big deal out of it… January sixth.”

You beamed at him, trying to ignore the squelching sound of the metal stake lodging itself into the rotten flesh of a walker. “Aw, you’re a Capricorn! You know, that actually makes a lot of sense. You’re so… practical, and serious. And you work so hard.”

He rubbed his face with his gloved hand to try to hide the obvious reddening of his cheeks. “Yeah, sure,” he said.

“What month do you think we’re in? June? Whenever I get my hands on a calendar, I’m going to start keeping track of the days until January. How old are you going to be?”

He wiped the sweat off of his forehead and huffed. “Don’t ya ever stop talkin’?” Of course, he loved the sound of your voice, and didn’t want you to ever stop talking, but he also really didn’t want to think about the fact that he was going to be turning another year older in about six months. He always hated his birthdays.

“No,” you said. “How old? I won’t judge.”

He narrowed his eyes at you, though nearly broke out into a grin just from how adorable you were, with your blood-covered denim overalls and your huge, dorky safety goggles you wore to keep the walker guts out of your eyes. Maybe someday he’d work up the courage to tell you just how special he thought you were, but he couldn’t now. At least, not while you both had the rather unromantic task of caving in walkers’ heads at the fence.

“Forty,” he said.

Your eyes widened. “Oh, Daryl! That’s amazing! We have to have a celebration or something. What do you want for your birthday?”

“Want ya to focus on killin’ these walkers, (Y/N). My birthday ain’t that important.”

“Of course it is, Daryl,” you said. “Now that we’re safe here, we can appreciate all you do for us. Everyone deserves that, especially you.”

That January, however, wasn’t spent at the prison, but in a settlement called Alexandria, at war with a group called the Saviors. Nothing at that time was settled, and Daryl’s birthday went by without a second thought, though you secretly kept track, and snuck him a small note on January sixth that year.

It simply read: Happy fortieth, Daryl. I love you.

A bit blunt, but it was what you felt, and Daryl found himself pouring over that note for months afterwards, not mentioning it to you until he was alone with you, and somehow, from that moment on, it was agreed—you loved each other, and nothing was the same between you after that.

Ten years later, you still loved him, and he still loved you, and you were still trying to get him to celebrate his birthday.

This year was a big one: fifty. You couldn’t believe Daryl was turning fifty, since he hardly even looked forty, and he was so vibrant and youthful to you. At least, when he wasn’t acting so serious, which was quite rare. Though he didn’t think your little astrology book had any truth to it, you wholeheartedly believed Daryl was the epitome of a Capricorn, and this year, you were intent on making the stereotypically stoic sea-goat happy about making it another year around the sun.

The morning started with a birthday tradition—bringing Daryl breakfast in bed.

You trotted carefully across the bedroom, with a tray of pancakes drenched in syrup and butter, and a side of crispy bacon to balance out the sweetness. A glass of orange juice completed the meal, along with a small bowl of strawberries (cut meticulously into the shapes of hearts, no less).

“Wakey, wakey,” you said sweetly as you placed the tray on the nightstand, and then proceeded to brush Daryl’s hair back from his face as he lay on his side.

He let out a deep, vibrating grumble and flipped himself over so his face was immersed in his pillow. Frowning, you rubbed his bare back, patting it a few times.

“Don’t tell me the birthday boy’s grumpy,” you said, to which he made another grumble.

“Ain’t my birthday,” he said, which he said every year. The whole conversation was basically a carbon copy of last year, and the year before that, and the year before that… “No birthdays in the apocalypse.”

“Yes there are,” you said with your hands on your hips. “If you don’t turn your stubborn ass around, you’re not getting your birthday kisses.”

Another tradition, one Daryl actually looked forward to the most, besides the birthday sex, was the birthday kisses. Every year on Daryl’s birthday after you got together, you gave him as many kisses as years he was turning, usually on every square inch of his face and neck. You had heard some people did spankings instead of kisses, but you couldn’t quite see Daryl enjoying you spanking him.

He groaned and slowly flipped himself over, blinking his eyes sleepily and yawning. “Come ‘ere,” he said.

Peeling off your housecoat and kicking off your slippers, you raised yourself onto the bed and straddled his lap before leaning down to begin your pecking.

He held you there by your waist, and smiled against your first kiss. “One,” you said. “Two.” Another on his cheek. “Three,” and so on…

As usual, by the time you got to about thirty, his tough exterior began to wither away, betrayed by a wide, toothy grin and a boyish laugh, a side of Daryl seldom seen by anyone, besides you.

You took an exaggerated deep breath before bestowing the final fiftieth kiss on his lips, as usual, with this one being much longer and more intimate. He returned your kiss eagerly, running his warm hands up and down your back and attempting to pull down the straps of your nightgown, a gesture which caused you to pull away and smirk at him teasingly.

“Not yet, bad birthday boy,” you said. “You have to open your other presents first.”

He rolled his eyes. “What other presents? Can’t I just have my girl?” He ran his hands down and squeezed your butt, eliciting a half-hearted yelp from you.

“Stop it!” you cried. “This isn’t like you at all. You’re supposed to be a serious, responsible Capricorn. If you keep acting out I’ll try to figure out your birth chart again.”

“No,” he quickly said. “Jus’ get the presents.”

Daryl knew the drill by now—breakfast in bed, birthday kisses, presents, and then (usually) sex. Since it was always snowing on Daryl’s birthday, there typically wasn’t much to do around Alexandria that day, and everyone who didn’t have watch duty was expected to stay inside where it was warm. Due to your insistence that Daryl stay home on his birthdays, he never went on watch, so he was relegated to staying inside, or maybe going for a snowy stroll with you if the conditions weren’t too inclement.

The whole situation was lucky for you, since you liked to spoil him on his birthdays, trying to constantly outdo yourself each year with your presents, and Daryl didn’t mind it either, even if he pretended like he wished he could be doing something more useful (“typical Capricorn,” you’d say).

Daryl scarfed down a third of his breakfast before you brought all of his presents into the bedroom from the hall closet, where you were keeping them until he could open them.

This year, you had several medium sized boxes adorned in birthday-themed wrapping paper, and one with handmade paper with the scrawl HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE DARYL in multi-colored crayon (a present from the children of Alexandria, of course).

You set them all down at his feet on the bed as he ate. He paused mid-bite with wide eyes when he saw everything piled up. It was the biggest bunch of presents he’d ever received. “This all for me?” he asked, as if ashamed of how many things he was getting.

You laughed as you sat down next to him on the bed. “Of course!” You kissed his forehead, then took a piece of bacon from his plate for yourself. “You deserve it. Open the one from the kids first.” You handed him the clumsily wrapped box, and he ripped it open just as Dog was leaping onto the bed and trying to eat the remainder of his breakfast (another birthday tradition).

“Dog!” you yelled as you wrapped your arms around him and pulled him away before he could lick the plate clean. “Bad boy!”

Daryl shook his head with a smile as you restrained Dog, and continued opening his gift. It was a small clay sculpture of Daryl, or what could be assumed to be Daryl, holding his crossbow, with Dog by his side. It was painted crudely, presumably by several pairs of hands as they each took turns painting different parts of him. You watched his face light up as he turned the little “action figure” in his hands and laughed.

“It’s me,” he said with an amused grin. “They got Dog, too.”

“And your vest and your bow.” You pointed to the little angel-winged garment and the clay weapon in the figure’s hands. “They said they want you to put him on the mantle in our living room.”

“I will,” he said with a nod, and carefully placed the figurine on the nightstand.

You handed him the next several presents, each of which alternated between practical and personal, with a new pair of work boots and a scrapbook of photographs you’d taken with him throughout the year, to name a few.

By the time he was done, there was a look of blissful exhaustion on his face, and he shook his head at you as he pet Dog. “Why’d ya get me all that stuff?” he asked. “Don’t gotta go out on runs for me.”

Here we go, you thought. Another year, another round of Daryl worrying that you got yourself hurt going out to get things for him on secret runs. You always found it rather funny, since if the world was normal, he’d be worrying that you spent too much money on him. In this world, however, there wasn’t any money to speak of, just the risk of dying whenever you left the safety of Alexandria’s walls.

You scooted closer to him and rested your head on his shoulder, causing Dog to scurry away and lay down at the foot of the bed, where he usually slept when both of you were in bed. “Daryl, it was nothing. Besides, you deserve it, after all you’ve done for me, for everyone.”

He lowered his head in humility. “Nah,” he said. “You done a lot more for me than I could ever do.”

You brushed a few long strands of brown hair back behind his ear. “Why do you say that?”

He shrugged. “‘Cause I don’t think I’d be alive without ya.”

“Don’t say that,” you said. “You’ve saved my life plenty more times than I’ve saved yours.”

“Not like that,” he said. “You… keep me alive. Give me a reason, ya know?”

You closed your eyes and smiled as you snuggled closer to him. He always knew how to sweet talk you, even if he didn’t necessarily do it on purpose. He was just so naturally kind like that. “Oh, Daryl,” you hummed. “You keep me alive, too… you dirty old man.”

He nudged you in the side half-heartedly. “Shut up,” he said with a laugh. “I’m here barin’ my damn soul to ya and you call me a dirty old man. You’re cruel, woman.”

You raised your head and nudged your nose against his, to which he smiled sweetly at you. “I’m just teasing you. So, what was your favorite gift?”

Another tradition: you would ask what Daryl’s favorite gift was, and he’d always say the same thing.

“Your kisses.”

You rolled your eyes, as you always did. “You’re so predictable, you know that?”

In a more unpredictable move, he grabbed you by the waist and used all of his strength to move you on top of him, not without straining himself quite a bit. Maybe he really was becoming an old man, but he’d be damned if he couldn’t still at least try to sweep you off your feet.

“Ain’t that jus’ like a Capricorn, sunshine?” he asked, running his hands up to meet the straps of your nightgown and pulling them down to reveal your breasts.

You smiled and shook your head. “I suppose,” you said.

He tilted his head as he studied your face, the intricate and unique topography of which he had come to know and love so well, every pore and blemish and scar that had told the story of your life in this strange time you had spent with him. He always looked at you with nothing but love, but today he seemed to appreciate those fifty years he’d spent on Earth much more than usual, as if getting to that ripe age had been rewarded with the greatest present his experienced mind could conjure up: you.

There wasn’t any doubt in his mind then. He was very glad to be alive, to have been able to see this beautiful January morning, and to spend it with the person who cared most about him, and the person who could make him genuinely, wholeheartedly smile.

“I love you,” he said. “You make me wanna get old.”

You laughed. “Oh, really? How old?”

He closed one eye and quirked his lip as he broke into his thinking face. “Hell, till I’m a hundred. Long as I got you.”

“Whoa,” you said. “I’m not sure I can handle you at a hundred, mister. I’d have to give you fifty more kisses.”

He pulled you down by your arms and pressed his lips to yours, kissing you with a sudden passion and intimacy that surprised even himself. Truly, this year was different—Daryl was happy to be turning a year older for once, all because aging with you made it so much more tolerable.

“Better start practicin’, hon.”

~

Thanks for reading! Likes, reblogs, and comments of any kind are always appreciated!

[yuckydraws]

For the letter prompt, maybe G and/or M for your Swap or Fell boys? Also don’t forget to hydrate and stretch!! 🌻

I’ll do both letters and pairs of bros! Also thank you💞 don’t forget to do the same yourself!

Blue:

G: giggle - what is their laugh like? What makes them laugh?

His laugh is a cute, “mweh heh heh” - but don’t you dare call it cute.

M: memory - what’s their favorite memory?

After the machine was destroyed and there was no hope of getting back to their own universes, Blue was understandably upset. He missed his friends and his home… and Bee knew it was just destroying him. So Bee took him to the observatory. Blue loves space, though he tends to not talk about it much. They looked at the stars and Bee told him to pay close attention to the constellations.

Blue did, and when asked what he saw, he gave him a look and said, “NOTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY.”

“exactly.” Bee responded, making a point that, if he ever missed home, he could always look at the stars and the sky because unlike most things in this universe, it’s the same old sky.

Sure, it was cheesy, but it brought him a lot of comfort, and it’s something he still comes back to every time he’s homesick. It was a nice moment with his little brother and it’s a memory he looks back on with fondness.

Bee:

G: giggle - what is their laugh like? What makes them laugh?

“nyeh heh heh” and it’s on the quieter side. Light hearted teasing and references always have him laughing.

M: memory - what’s their favorite memory?

When Pup and Vant first came through the machine, Pup was quiet and reserved and Vant was… Vant. Bee has social anxiety, but wanted to reach out to this bigger, scarier version of him.

It’s hard, being in a universe that isn’t yours and while reaching out to Vant wasn’t really a great idea at the time, Bee found Pup and proposed a game night - holding up a controller in an offer. Pup’s usual, bored, deadpan expression instantly brightened and they played games all night. Bee got Pup to open up to him a bit and by morning, they were all buddy buddy with each other.

They’ve been best friends since, and it made being in a different universe a lot more doable.

Red:

G: giggle - what is their laugh like? What makes them laugh?

If you really get him going, you’ll hear a “mweh heh heh”, but if you point it out he will deny. His laugh is really boisterous and borderlines cackling. People falling/getting hurt minorly and creative insults get him laughing.

M: memory - what’s their favorite memory?

When Gaster was alive and before Boss was “born”, Red was often taken to the lab with him when he went to work. Both to run tests to make sure he was doing okay, and just for convenience as “babysitting” wasn’t really a thing underground.

One day Gaster was having trouble with one of his machines, cursing up a storm as he can’t get it to work. Red sat nearby fiddling with a rubix cube, not really solving it, being more interested in watching Gaster work.

It’s something he did often, there’s only so much for a kid to do in a lab not meant for children.

As he observed, he noticed something off, so he made his way over to him and pointed at it as he said. “tha’s loose.” Gesturing to a piece that was, in fact loose.

Gaster got it up and running again and studied Red with interest.

From then on, he started to let Red actually help with projects (within reason of course, seeing as he was still a kid) and it introduced Red to his love of tinkering and fixing/building things.

Red and Gaster grew a lot closer too. Gaster wasn’t “Gaster” anymore, he grew something more akin to family.

Boss:

G: giggle - what is their laugh like? What makes them laugh?

He’s got a good “NWAH HAH HAH” when he gets laughing, and he also snorts when you really have him in stitches. Clever comebacks, retorts, and banter always have him chuckling.

M: memory - what’s their favorite memory?

Boss has always loved cats. Even though there weren’t any real ones underground, there was a in-good-condition stuffed animal kitty that Red found in the dump when they were kids.

He had to bring it home for his baby bro.

So he did.

He ended up getting home with it and realizing he should clean it before he gives it to Boss, seeing as he’s a bit of a neat freak and it was in the dump so there was a bit of a smell. He undid the stitching, took out the stuffing, washed the stuffie’s fur, replaced the stuffing and did a bit of a hack up job of sewing it back up, but it was done with love.

And when Boss received it, he gave Red a big ol’ hug (not something they do often), and to this day, he still has that stuffie. His older brother doesn’t say it often, but to Boss, that cat is a reminder that Red loves him.

[katzkinder]

LMAO so that’s why Shamrock is the Devil Arcana!

Further context: I’m looking into whether there’s more connections for the known arcana of characters to help me assign further Arcana to C3 connected characters, and boy are there

MOST C3 characters with Major Arcana officially assigned to them have the relation inside their names

Jun, Yumi, Tsurugi, Shuuhei, and Touma instantly come to mind (The bolded characters are the relevant ones)

Kurumamori Junichiro, the Chariot: 車守盾一郎 with 車 meaning "car" (listen, it counts, okay. Chariots are just ancient sports cars)

Tsukimitsu Yumikage, the Moon: 月満弓景 with 月 meaning "moon"

Kamiya Tsurugi, the Hanged Man: 狼谷吊戯 with 吊 meaning "hang" (notably, this is also the kanji you'd use when talking about wearing a sword. Clever!)

Tsuyuki Shuuhei, the Hierophant: 露木修平 with 修 meaning "discipline" or "study" (I'm going to explain this one a little since it's not as direct. The Hierophant arcana is one which represents wisdom, traditional values, and guidance, and is characterized by a "mentor" or "teacher" figure)

Touma Taishi, the Tower: 塔間泰士 with 塔 meaning "tower"

Iduna is an outlier whose Arcana, the Star, doesn't appear to have any relation to her name, so I started to wonder what set her apart? And, of course, it's because she's an Eve! Realizing that allowed me to extrapolate likely arcana for some of the other Eves based off of what part of her character is star inspired: her combi with Freya

She draws the constellation Cassiopeia in the air, along with the Nighthawk’s falling star, in order to summon swords of light for her Servamp to fight with since Freya has no weapon of her own, right?

If it’s related to her attack, then, Mikuni would be the Justice, representing equality, fairness, and balance when upright, and when reversed unfairness (duh), lack of accountability (oof), and dishonesty (sounds about right). I think this suits Mikuni's character pretty well, don't you?

For Licht, the Temperance. When using his combi "Phantom of the Opera" with Lawless, Lawless proclaims for Licht to "Sing, my angel of music!" The Temperance arcana is illustrated with an angel as the focus of the card. When upright, it signifies prudence, harmony, and the merging of opposites. When reversed, it indicates excess, a need for self healing, and even a kick in the pants. Pretty perfect for our Greed pair, right?

Now, for Misono, there's only one Arcana that can suit him as needed, and hot take! It's not the Lovers (and the Lovers doesn't represent Lily, either, for reasons I will explain) It's Death! The Death arcana, while possessing a scary name, isn't really a scary card to draw at all. Well. In the grand scheme of things. Ultimately, the Death arcana represents an oncoming major change in life, regeneration, and the start of something new. It can be a shock to the system, but in the end, no matter the outcome, whether upright or reversed the Death arcana is good! Stagnation is spiritual death after all, and change leads to growth. Misono and Lily needed that big wake up and shake up the Death arcana provided for them more than any other pair!

Okay so, now for why I said the Lovers doesn't represent Lily. At first, I also thought Lovers for Lily, and Empress for Freya. However... While the Lovers does embody Lily's relevant character struggles, and the Empress does suit Freya, the Mother... They and another character knock the formula I've been seeing out of whack.

The formula goes like this. The characters with Arcana must be directly affiliated with C3 in some way. Failing that, they must be Eves. If they are affiliated with C3, their Arcana must be tied to their name if they are human.

Which brings me to Shamrock, the guy who threw a big ol wrench into everything. Neither of his names allude to the Devil. But you know what does? His attack, Die Verwandlung

And, furthermore, his literary motif, the Nighthawk Star

When he’s consumed by his wrath, the giant bird appears devilish in nature, BUT, there’s also a genus of nighthawk called the “Satanic Nightjar”

You see where I'm going with this? :3

To finish up, by removing Freya and Lily from the running and considering their Arcana to be tied to their Eve's journey as Servamp pairs are, ultimately, two characters with the same end destination by the very nature of the contract functioning like a marriage, this allowed me to place two more characters, including a rather recent one.

Mikado and Shirayuki.

Mikado represents the Emperor Arcana. While the Kanji in Mikado's name does not directly allude to this, the most common way for his name to be written is 帝, literally "emperor." The emperor represents control, stability, protection, and leadership, but reversed, means abused authoritative power and rigid thinking. For stubborn hovercopter parent Mikado, there's no Arcana that fits better! Fittingly, someone who draws the Emperor arcana can often learn a thing or two from our next character, the Empress

As for Shirayuki, her name is also the way a Japanese person would refer to Snow White. This, while kiiiind of a stretch, qualifies her for the Empress arcana, since at the end of the story, Snow White lives happily ever after after killing the evil queen, right?? |D And she IS a mother, sooo... She fits the Empress Arcana's maternal energies and symbolism, along with the connotations of creativity, abundance, and fertility. I mean, lady's got three kids that we know of AND she's the previous former Branch Manager of Tokyo C3. Statistically speaking, she would have been running Tokyo branch while lil baby Yumi was still on her hip. You gotta have some brass ones and a hell of a lot of brains to manage THAT.

Anyway, phew, that was a lot! Thanks for reading, and lemme know what y'all think! :D

[bearyoongs]

: ̗̀➛ stray kids as Greek mythological figures

A.N: please inform me if there is any misinformation here - I retrieved most of this info from the internet :)

『 chan 』

Heracles - a demi-god. 

Heracles was the greatest of the Greek heroes. He became god of heroes, sports, agriculture, trade and divine protector of mankind.

Heracles was known for his great strength, courage and cleverness. When he died, his father enveloped him in a cloud and he was taken to dwell in the stars amongst the constellations. 

This reminds me of how much Chan loves the sky and the stars :(

I see Chan as Heracles because of how talented Heracles is said to have been. A true all-rounder and a leader, too. 

‘Protector of mankind’ - I mean, if that doesn’t make you think of Chan, I don’t know what will. 

『 minho 』

Eros - the god of sexual desire and procreation.

Eros was a primordial god in some stories, the child of Aphrodite and Ares in others. 

Eros wielded incredible power, and it is said that no-one - deity or mortal - could resist his spells of enchantment, making him irresistible. 

Minho’s irresistible. 

I rest my case. 

『 changbin 』

Kratos - god of strength and power.

I think I’ve said enough. 

Kratos is a difficult figure to find out information about, because although it is widely agreed that he is the god of strength and power, there are conflicting stories about nearly everything else about him. 

Mysterious. I like it. 

Some believe he was a relative of the Olympian gods and others believe that he was one of Zeus’ children, which would make him a demi-god. 

Changbin’s recent vlog has been on my mind recently, which is why I think Kratos is fitting for Changbin. 

Workout Changbin has been implanted in my brain. 

Kratos does not appear the same way as the other gods. He usually is called upon in times of need to help other characters. 

Changbin best boy. 

『 hyunjin 』

Plutus - god of wealth. 

Plutus was originally meant to represent wealth in terms of farming, but he ended up representing wealth as a whole. 

Hyunjin rich boy. 

He was blinded by Zeus so that he would not just share wealth to the deserving, but to all. The blindness was also to explain why wealth sometimes took a long time to come. 

『 jisung 』

Chaos - the nothingness that all else sprung from. 

Okay, looking at that you might see Chan more fitting instead, but Jisung was Chan’s first stray kid and he really is such an all-rounder - literally everything springs from him. 

Chaos was the very first thing that ever existed. Chaos was a primordial void, which everything was created from, including the universe and the Greek gods. 

Jisung big bang theory? 

The far reaching idea is that Chaos is a space that separates and divides the earth and the sky.

Basically Jisung is the creator of everything. 

End of story. 

Now Google search, ‘he’s so full of love’ and cry.

『 felix 』

Apollo - god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light and more.

Felix is an amazing example of a modern-day Apollo. He can do archery (ISAC!), he’s musically talented (Surfin’!), he can dance (every Stray Kids comeback literally ever!), he’s loyal and stays true to what he believes in and he literally is the sun. 

Apollo is the ideal of the kouros - the youth. He is beardless, athletic and youthful. 

Felix is athletic. 

He also doesn’t have a beard, believe it or not. 

:)

『 seungmin 』

Aether - primordial god of the upper air, light, the atmosphere, space and heaven. 

Air on the earth was governed by Chaos, but all air above this was Aether’s domain. 

Aether was considered to literally be the air. 

Aether also served as a protector to separate humans and earthly beings from Tartarus, the god of the lowest and deepest parts of Hades - the Underworld. 

He basically saved us (the pesky humans) from great harm.

Go Seungmin. 

I think I mainly see this because his English name is ‘Sky’ and I just think that it is so fitting for Minnie. 

『 jeongin 』

Morpheus - god of dreams and sleep. 

He shaped and formed dreams, through which he could appear to mortals in any form. This talent made Morpheus a messenger for the gods, able to communicate messages to sleeping mortals. 

I wish Jeongin would visit me in my dreams. 

Morpheus slept in a cave full of poppy seeds. 

I can picture Jeongin doing that. 

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[inventors-fair]

Make the Grade: School's In Commentary

And here we are, at the end of all things. Or, you know, the end of last week's contest. Same thing, right? Anyways, here is all of your other lovely submissions that all deserved to have something said about them. Judge picks are cards that have one or more distinct qualities that I feel are worth pointing out as exemplars. Other than that, happy reading!

Syllabus Theft by @wolkemesser

Unsurprisingly, we saw a handful of Lesson/Learn cards this week. After all, what other way to represent a teaching moment than the mechanic literally designed for that explicit purpose? The Learn tribal is interesting though- being able to re-use all of that Learning is pretty clever. However, both mechanically and flavorfully, I think it would make sense if this was a bit flipped- if this was a card that allowed you to Learn, then granted all Lessons in your graveyard flashback. The first ability would have to be re-tooled, but in exchange, you get the flavor of literally re-using Lessons, plus the mechanical synergy of being able to discard a Lesson to the Learn, and then immediately grant it flashback. I just think the options open up a lot if the concept gets flipped, but the flavor is still definitely on point.

Private Tutor by @little-red-rabbit

On the contrary, I was also expecting to see a few more Tutors this week, since that’s also such a resonant MTG trope, but this is the only one. Again, the flavor-based pun here is pretty clever, of being a teacher that demands literal Blood from their students. However, the elements of the card feel a little... disconnected? Tutors in Magic are exclusively cards that allow you to search your library, since they are teaching you a very specific thing, ie the specific card you’re searching for. This does have some card advantage, but doesn’t play into expectations in quite the same way. As for the abilities themselves, I’m not quite sure why it’s both Clues and Blood. The Blood obviously plays into the design, but why tack Clues in there too? Also, it’s hard to evaluate, but the rate seems a little too good- learning off of every other spell, or just using the tokens to draw four and discard two, means that you’re gonna spend a LOT of time spinning your wheels. That’s not a bad thing necessarily, but I think the card could use some thematic and mechanical tightening to get it into a more unified design.

Dean of Irritation by @railway-covidae

Okay, so I did chuckle at the name a bit. Way to appeal to my oversized ego. Unfortunately, the joke does fall a little flat, since my name is a pun on Naban, so we’re a few too many layers deep for it to work as an actual card name. On to the effect- this is Rhystic Study, but meant to be fair, I assume? More expensive, arguably easier to remove, the whole shebang. That’s all well and good, and it might actually be balanced, but it doesn’t really show off your design abilities. This is just an existing ability with nothing added; the framework of it was changed, but not in a way that meaningfully recontextualizes it (Like, for example, putting a Constellation ability on a non-enchantment). As such, I don’t feel like there’s a lot to evaluate here. Also fun fact, this card made me look up the definition of Rhystic for the first time ever, only to discover it is a totally made-up MTG word. Neat, huh?

Dance Instructor by @spooky-bard - JUDGE PICK

Art Description: A middle-aged woman confidently strides towards the camera, leading a young noblewoman arm-in-arm in the steps of an elaborate waltz. The noblewoman is roughly a head shorter and dressed in a ballgown that looks difficult to move in. Her steps are shaky and she looks a little flustered at the contact.

This one is a neat take. Like I expected this week, the idea of teaching brings different concepts to everyone’s mind, and this is not one that would have popped into my head in a million years. I love that! I love that we all think so differently! Flavor on this is a slam dunk, and I could see this slotting into a dozen different existing MTG settings, since it fits so well with the general fantasy vibe. I think my one gripe is that the Dance Instructor can just choose to go it alone, which seems odd? Also, the way the ability is worded means that a lot of players will miss the fact that no matter what, Dance Instructor has to attack every turn. I think some minor adjustment to account for those would make this into an absolutely 10/10 card.

Scholar of Obedience by @sparkyyoungupstart

Ha, cute. I love the adorable dog-trainer card you’ve created here, and of course you motivate your Dogs with Food. The being tapped condition for the trigger is interesting, since it encapsulates both attacking and tapping for abilities. There’s a few nitpicks here- firstly, if you’re limiting a trigger to once per turn, you need to make sure it can’t trigger more than once off of the same event, because that works somewhat unintuitively. See Blood Hypnotist as an example- using “one or more” means that there’s never a situation where the game has to try and figure out which of the five Dogs being tapped at once is the one that triggers the food token creation. It’s not a big deal, but just best templating practices. Apart from that, my only other suggestion is that you could do a lot more with the flavour text. The idea is already clear from the name and the ability, and the flavour text doesn’t add anything to that. Consider how the flavour text could add a new depth to this dog-training character, or recontextualize the situation to make it funny/heartwarming/tragic, what have you.

Deeper Reading by @0woah - JUDGE PICK

Oof, this one annoys me as an English teacher. The amount of times I’ve had a conversation about why we analyze texts... anyways, that’s not relevant to the card itself. Which, by the way, is super cool! Hit yourself for a Jhoira-esque effect on your big bomb, or hit an opponent to hopefully delay their scary card and give yourself some breathing room. Considering the going rate for Duress effects, and the assumption that most players can’t recover a discarded card, this card could actually stand to have some sort of bonus. Obviously making it cheaper is tough cause this doesn’t work as a hybrid, but having it cantrip or something wouldn’t break it. Regardless, very cool card! 

Flowstone Mentor by @hypexion

That’s a lot of times to say Mentor on one card, that’s for sure. The flowstone ability on a Mentor/Training card is definitely a clever idea, and the design is pretty cohesive. Unfortunately, I’m worried it might be a bit too clever for its own good. Having this on board skyrockets the board complexity when it comes to combat math. A single creature with the flowstone ability is one thing, but taking that into account while also trying to account for other attacking creatures being spontaneously buffed... it’s quite a bit of processing power, that’s all. And as a sidebar to that, It definitely introduces some interactions that might go over the heads of most players- like the fact that the Mentor has to activate the abilities before attacking in order to choose a valid target, since the Mentored creature needs to have lesser power by the time Mentor triggers. For a rare, this level of complexity might be acceptable, but I don’t see it being particularly fun to play with or against.

Mother of the Pride by @snugz

One of the few non-human takes on teaching, and oh man, I wish there was art. The idea of having some cute, colorful art of a mother lion teaching her cubs how to attack is just a cuteness overload. What’s interesting is that the ability is one typically given to black creatures, with the exception being Predator Ooze. I’m not saying it’s a break by any means, and the flavour is great, I just wonder if there was a reason that you didn’t want the Mother to be 3BG. Also, as excellent as this design is in concept, I unfortunately have to hold it up as an example of “please double-check your cards before submitting”. It’s very difficult to evaluate a creature when there’s no power or toughness. The abilities are cool, but beyond that it’s hard to see your whole vision, especially when the power of its second ability is totally dependent on how much damage it can deal.

Morbid Critic by @bread-into-toast

Oh no, you’ve taken my worst nightmare and put it into card form. The idea of someone taking joy from someone else’s botched performance is truly morbid. It is another learn card, but you managed to recontextualize it in a nice way. Interestingly enough, we didn’t really see any repeatable learning in Strixhaven, which seems to imply something about the rate we get it at. In this case, I would either up the threshold to three or maybe even four cards, or alternatively raise the life cost. This is perfectly on rate for a simple loot, but considering the primary function of learn, and the fact that it’ll just get better when more Lessons are printed, means that a slightly steeper cost might be worth it as a valve. That aside though, this is a great card, with disturbingly good flavor, and would slot right into Strixhaven Two.

Diligent Prodigy by @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes

Welcome to the Figure of Destiny club! This one takes it in a new direction, allowing you to activate things out of order with some external support. However, logistically, this card is a tough nut to crack. It’s rare that we see a single card give itself multiple types of counters- more common with keyword counters, but only one of these is a keyword counter. How are players meant to differentiate which is which? The “activate out of order” concept, while cool, also doesn’t really help that out. It would be far too easy to forget whether the Prodigy has a study counter or a thesis counter on it, and because the abilities are so wildly different, it can change your whole turn. I just see this card leading to a lot of arguments. Finally, I get the flavor, but it’s fairly general. Why is this one student so interesting? What makes them a prodigy, if they gain their abilities through studying? A more specific name and some art direction would definitely work wonders with this card.

Zaffai’s Opus by @curiooftheheart

Okay, I know it’s an official formatting thing, but un-italicizing parts of flavor text causes me to sit here for a whole five minutes wondering what the heck kind of ability “Mercurial Ode 3” was. The card itself is pretty neat- definitely game ending if you have enough creatures,, but hey, it’s a ten mana spell, so that’s more than allowed. Considering this is up against Omniscience, power level seems fine. In fact, it could probably even drop a few mana, but I understand the urge to make it work with Zaffai. I also like that you took the idea of “how would Zaffai react to the Phyrexian invasion?” and answered it with “Blast them away with a wall of noise, duh”. Not much else to say other than its a fun card!

Culinary Science by @misterstingyjack - JUDGE PICK

Yeah, I knew someone would be clever and rework “class” into a more literal meaning. I mean hey, the mechanics still support the flavor, so it works. Culinary science is for sure an interesting topic, and not when that most people think of when they think of school. The effects scale nicely, and turning your “junk” tokens into the other types of junk tokens is clever. However, the flavour breaks down for me a little. I can totally see how a master of culinary science could make food that’s Treasured, even if it’s a bit of a stretch, but... Clues? If a food is helping you solve a murder investigation, I’m concerned about the quality of that food. Jokes aside, the scaling of the abilities is clean and straightforward, and the main ability provides you a nice source to continue fueling those new abilities.

Peer Review by @helloijustreadyourpost

I do love copying spells, and as we saw in Strixhaven, it's very easy to let them play around with the flavor of learning from or teaching others. However, I’m not fully sure of what the intent of this card is. The first part is a severely limited Twincast, so it suggests to me that the second part is upside. But here’s the thing. “Any number of target” means that you choose who gets to benefit, which is fine. That makes sense. But then the opponents get to choose if they want to copy it, and you don’t get any further benefit from them copying it. I suppose it works in a group-hug style slot? But even then, group hug cards typically give you a slightly better deal than whatever you give your opponents. I’m sure there is a situation where this becomes useful, but I think it could be a bit broader if the opponents had no choice in the matter, ie Hive Mind, or if you somehow got a benefit for each opponent that copied it. Maybe if you got to choose targets for their copies too? 

Learn the Ropes by @just--a--penguin - JUDGE PICK

Awwww... now I miss the Ixalan story. This is simple, clean, and adorable- Jace literally learning the ropes of sailing. The combat trick is neat, and the fact that you can pull it off in between attackers and blockers makes it a pretty sweet pick in Limited. The cantrip just bumps up the power just enough that it doesn’t feel like a dead draw in unfavorable circumstances. All in all, I really don’t have a lot of commentary for this card, other than it conveys its place very clearly.

Nephra, Enlightened Mentor by @hiygamer

Funny enough, this is the only legendary creature this week. I guess teachers just aren’t that important, huh 🙁. Nephra is neat, experience counters are a good way to play around with a card that is teaching you, the player. The method of gaining experience definitely encourages a unique deck- weenie tribal is something we seldom see, and even then it’s usually 2 or less, but I can see a lot of ways to play with this- especially now that we have some jeskai convoke cards. However, the payoff feels a bit odd. I can tell this is set on Tarkir, so a noncreature spell payoff makes sense, but this is the exact same as the Mizzix payoff. Considering there’s only five pre-existing experience counter cards, I would have liked to see a twist on it somehow. The core concept makes a lot of sense, but ultimately this kinda feels like a better Mizzix, albeit one that encourages a slightly different deck.

Intro to Reanimation by @real-aspen-hours

Class number two, right at the last second. This one is neat, calling directly back to Liliana’s position as a professor, and playing into it with some nice graveyard abilities. I’m not quite sure how to rate the level two ability? You do have to pay four mana for it, but it’s hard to not make the Lurrus comparison here. It’s more limited, but also free, so... hm. I’m not sure. It also makes the last ability feel a little odd, since it’s an objectively bigger and better version of level two, after which you go right back to getting the level two ability. I honestly wouldn’t mind switching them? Level two is a one-time effect that gets back something small, and then level three is bigger and also repeatable? It would also definitely help the flavor of “Hey you’re getting better at raising the dead.” Also, I try to avoid too much nitpicking whenever possible, but please make sure to review your submission for grammar and syntax errors, especially as a text submission.

Well, that's all for me! Have a fun summer vacation, kids! I'll se you back in class in the fall! (Or, you know, in like four weeks).

~judge @naban-dean-of-irritation