#very true; don't stab the little wizards

[lirotation]

I Hail From Silverymoon: The Oath

Well, we all know what this is. The scene was so powerful I was crying even when it was bugged. I was in a foul mood days after played this. There was just so little we could do for our boy.

Astarion X Amaara (my wizard Tav)

__________________________

With Cazador defeated and kneeling before them, Astarion could finally perform the ritual to ascend. His eyes pleading, and mania etched into his features. "Help me claim the power that is my right!" he implored, his voice quivering. "Don't forsake me now, not when we're so close..."

Amaara stood resolute, "If you cross this line, there is no return," she warned, her voice filled with anguish. "Seven thousand souls sacrificed…there will be no atonement."

Astarion faltered, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. But he clung stubbornly to his ambition, his voice cracking with vulnerability. "With this, I will be truly, completely free. I won't need to rely on the parasite to walk under the sun, and no one will be able to control me," he pleaded, his voice trembling with raw emotion. "I will be able to truly feel you as a man, and enjoy the taste of your favorite dish. I will have the strength to shield you from all harm, provide everything you deserve!" He grasped her hands tightly, eyes wild. " Isn't this what you want for me, for us?"

Tears welled up in Amaara's eyes, her voice breaking as she responded, "Not like this." She reached out to touch his cheek, her fingers trembling against his skin. "This will not be you, but a monster wearing your face. The Astarion I love will be lost," she whispered, her voice filled with heartbreak. "The hope of ever restoring you to life, however slim, will be gone. And I will never know the true color of your eyes."

Their gazes locked in wordless turmoil. Amaara saw the warring desperation and devastation in Astarion's eyes. A broken soul balanced on the razor edge between salvation and damnation.

"You need no dark powers. You have strength enough within. And we will walk together in the darkness if we must.” Sensing the lust for power tugging on his heart, Amaara put her fist to her heart and raised her other hand desperately,  “I, Amaara Ashvale of Silverymoon, do hereby solemnly vow, before the watching gods:

I shall not rest until a means is found to restore my beloved, Astarion Ancunín’s life. No lore shall go unread, no stone left unturned, no journey unfinished, for as long as breath and magic remain in me.

Through scorching deserts, frigid peaks, lands ravaged and lands lost shall I travel, never ceasing my quest. Across realms shall my pursuit carry me - from streets of Waterdeep to the glades of Silverymoon, from the heart of the City of Doors to the top of Mount Celestia itself.

No barrier will stand before my resolve to undo this curse you bear. By my blood, my magic, my very soul do I bind myself to deliverance of your life. This vow, more steadfast than stone or steel, I make to you freely, without reservation or regret.

So hear me now in your hour of tribulation. Take my hand, set aside primal ambition, and trust in destiny and devotion - I will help you reclaim what was so cruelly stolen. This I pledge with all that I am.” 

Astarion's body shook, overcome with emotion as Amaara's solemn vow washed over him. For endless nights, he had craved the power before him to reclaim control of his fate. Yet her words unlocked something deeper - a hope long buried under scars of trauma.

"No more looking back," he rasped, then he turned to Cazador, drawing his blade.

With each frenzied stab, Astarion felt centuries of twisted abuse and stolen innocence pouring out. Cazador would never dictate his unlife again. He was finally, agonizingly free.

The trauma of endless torture at his sire's hands now manifested in uncontrolled rage. Though Cazador lay inert, Astarion continued driving his blade down ferociously, as if trying to obliterate the memories themselves.

Cazador had sadistically stripped away his dignity, his autonomy, his very identity. The violations were endless, the pain unfathomable. No matter how many times his blade struck home, the wounds upon Astarion's soul could not be expunged.

Astarion's rage melted into racking sobs. He wailed at the enormity of what had been done to him, what had been taken that could never be reclaimed. 

He was an empty vessel, programmed only to serve his tormentor's cruel appetites. And now that purpose had been obliterated along with Cazador himself.

So Astarion wept bitterly over the broken shards of the man he might have been. His dreams, his potential, his light - all ruthlessly squandered. This hollow shell was all that remained.

The lacerations ran deeper than could ever heal. But perhaps in time, they could scar over, if never mend fully. On this ravaged ground, he might yet rebuild, slowly and agonizingly, something resembling a life of his own making. But for now, the only balm was blood, vengeance, and tears.

Amaara's heart bled seeing Astarion collapsed in anguish beside Cazador's broken body. Every sob felt like a lash upon her own soul. She ached to ease his suffering, but hesitated to intrude upon such naked vulnerability.

Slowly, giving him space, she moved to kneel on the blood-stained floor nearby. Close enough for him to sense her supportive presence, but far enough to avoid crowding his raw grief.

Silent tears ran down Amaara's own cheeks as the enormity of Astarion's trauma truly sank in. Her fury at Cazador's cruelty blazed anew. Her hand twitched instinctively, longing to soothe him, before stopping short. The touch of another might yet feel violating when emotions ran so raw. Every fiber of her being wanted to embrace Astarion fiercely, to promise him he was forever safe now.

But she remained still, letting this catharsis run its course. A light shining softly through darkness, awaiting the moment he was ready to reconnect and begin healing. And when Astarion surfaced from the storm's eye, she would be there. She would remain steadfast, for as long as it took, until he was made whole again.

[gumclones]

pondery/theoretical thoughts on the Fionna and Cake premiere under the cut

my suspicion is that the "cool ice prince" Fionna keeps seeing in her dreams isn't a version of Simon, but is rather a representation of Ice Finn, sort of like Gunter's pigeon dream avatar in Hoots. this isn't really based on anything concrete except that we see that he has blue eyes, which doesn't necessarily mean anything - mainly I just think it'd be really neat!

I'm not sure exactly who or what is responsible for the glitched-out "normal" world that Fionna Campbell is set in! right now I'm dithering between Betty, Simon, or the crown acting autonomously somehow. my spouse pointed out that the glitches are somewhat inconsistent, which leads me to believe that someone is actively maintaining the world, and that in the city gardens there don't seem to be nearly as many glitches.

I'm pretty sure that all the inhabitants of Fionna's world (I hope we get a better name for it 😅) started out as denizens of Ooo, rather than having been born human. I think that whatever force put them there wanted to preserve their personalities, so I think that most of their memories of the human world are translated versions of their actual memories rather than fully fake.

Gary's behavior and demeanor is extremely interesting to me! it's clear that he's still very himself - there's his usage of very precise measurements and his fixation on making candy-I-mean-biscuit people, but he also seems… not all there? most obvious is when Fionna rhetorically asks him how long they've known each other and he says "hmm, I don't know. I guess, like, forever?" but there's also the way he seems to be slow on the uptake at times - when Fionna eats his prototype before he can frost it he stares at where it was for two full seconds before looking up. currently I have a theory that he's acting a little weird because it's really hard to fit him into a normal human world and keep his mind intact! after all, if he's around Fionna's age then he's about 30, which represents less than 4% of his true lifespan. in addition to that, he's got a very atypical childhood and family tree and he's not in the position of authority he's spent the majority of his life in.

another thing that my spouse pointed out is that the fight with the bear comes across as extremely staged, especially in light of Finn openly referring to Simon as "bait" after he catches the mudskipper. currently our guess is that the bear was a shapeshifted Huntress Wizard, especially since Finn encouraging Simon to stab it in the heart is reminiscent of Huntress Wizard trying to get Finn over his aversion to killing in The Wild Hunt.

Finn does the Martin wink and it makes me sad! 😅

I really hope that the gum family show up, because I think they have a lot of interesting commonalities with the situations of almost every character we've been shown so far! I think that the setup of Dirt Beer Guy's tavern could very easily lead to this, since we see Punch Bowl and Crunchy spending time socially with Dirt Beer Guy in the epilogue of Come Along With Me. there's also the possibility of seeing Gary's family, which I'd be thrilled to bits by.

Ellis' expression when Fionna offered him the bagfood broke my heart a little :( on the plus side I love how he's living his purplest life!

[cainluvr69]

Surely, We Can Make Miracles Chapter 23

Previous Chapter

Cain: …kh…

Chloe: I can't…breathe…

Hwylryn: Of course not. This is the bottom of the ocean. Children of man aren't meant to live here. So can you hurry back to land already? Anyway… I guess I should be getting back to Shylock now.

Rustica: …My apologies, but… I'd like you to accompany us for just a bit longer. <Amo…> …gh!

Chloe: Rustica…!

Hwylryn: Nope, you don't get to do that. Your singing makes me start daydreaming. The next whirlpool is going to take you right up to the surface. Don't try to fight it. It's pointless. And it'll only rip you up.

Rutile: …Hwylryn…! Please, listen to what I have to say…

Hwylryn: I'll see you tomorrow. On land. Now withdraw.

Cain: …I won't…let you…! Uwaaahhh…!

Rutile: Aaahhh…!

Rustica: …Chloe…!

Chloe: Rus… Everyone…!

Natalie?: <Cure Memini>

Hwylryn: …Oh, my.

Cain: …You…you're… The lady from earlier…?!

Natalie?: … Excuse me…?

Cain: You were really a wizard?!

Natalie?: Excuse me? The fact that you can see me should give you all the answers you need.

Cain: …Huh? I mean, we got pretty touchy-feely earlier.

Natalie?: We did?

Cain: Huh?

Natalie?: Hah?

Cain: …You're Owen!

Natalie?: Sir Knight. Don't tell me you did something unbecoming of a knight to this woman.

Cain: Of course I didn't! I just didn't have a handkerchief, so…

Owen: You don't even have something like that? Chloe, can you believe this. Cain doesn't have a handkerchief.

Chloe: …sniff…Owen…

Owen: Heh. What, did this guy make you cry? What a wretched sea snake you are.

Hwylryn: Oho. Something interesting showed up.

Owen: I'm going to turn you into dog food. <Cuare Morito>

Hwylryn: I don't think that little puppy's tummy can fit me.

Owen: …kh… (This guy is…strong…!)

✦✧☾✧✦

Lennox?: …!

Faust: … (Leno's moving his arms the same way the mermaids with spears did, now that he has one at hand…)

Shino: Faust, watch out! Lennox is good with a lance!

Faust: …I know that…!

Lennox?: …!

Faust: …Waugh…!

Heathcliff: Mr. Faust…! (He forced Faust against the reef, and now he's lifting his spear…!) (He's going to stab him…!) Lennox, stop! Please, don't hurt him…!

Lennox?: …

Heathcliff: …He stopped…

Shino: Lennox…

Faust: … …Leno…

Lennox?: …… …Lord…st…

Faust: …! Leno…!

Lennox?: …!

Faust: …?!

Shino: Stop, Lennox! Don't hurt him…! You'll regret it until the day you die if you do…!

Lennox?: … ……. …

Shino: You can't! Put the lance down…!

Lennox?: …!

Faust: Leno?! Why did you stab your own leg…?! Stop! Stop, let go of it…!

Lennox: …gh…

Faust: Leno! Leno…! Stop it, your leg's already hurt enough…!

Lennox: …Fau…st… …Lord Faust…

Faust: …Leno…

Heathcliff: Mr. Faust! We finished the circle!

Shino: All we need to do is scatter the firstlight salt… Done! <Matzah Sudipas>!

Heathcliff: <Repsev Aivulp Sunos>!

Faust: … <Salliuqnart Mulcredo>!

✦✧☾✧✦

Lennox: Hah… …Haah… …

Faust: Leno…!

Lennox: …Lord Faust… Woah…!

Faust: …I'm so glad you're okay… Alec told me your unit might have been completely wiped out…

Lennox: Several others survived as well. Things seemed hopeless, but we still managed to return alive.

Faust: Thank god…

Lennox: …

Faust: …What's wrong?

Lennox: I'm just surprised.

Faust: By what?

Lennox: I didn't think that you'd jump on me the same way Lord Alec does.

Faust: Sorry. Are you hurt anywhere?

Lennox: No. …Haha…

Faust: What…? I don't hear you laugh very often…

Lennox: Haha… I could say the same to you.

Faust: I do laugh. More than you, at least.

Lennox: That's true…

Faust: …Haha…

Lennox: Ahaha!

✦✧☾✧✦

Lennox: … …That's right… …I'd forgotten… I found him, Courir. I found the person I'd been looking for. I need to go to him. I'm glad I got to see you again. You always trusted me. And you were always by my side. I never really spoiled you, but you still always slept next to me. I love you very, very much. And having to part with you hurts very, very much. But, I need to… Goodbye. I love you. Goodbye, Courir. I hope you can run freely as far as you want. Thank you.

✦✧☾✧✦

Faust: …Leno… Leno…!

Lennox: … …Lord Faust… Woah…!

Faust: …Thank goodness…

Lennox: …

Faust: …Sorry. I did that when I know you're injured…

Lennox: No… …Haha…

Faust: …Are you okay? He's not controlling you anymore?

Lennox: No… I should be fine now.

Shino: Lennox, are you okay?!

Heathcliff: Lennox! Do you know who we are?!

Lennox: Yes, I do. I do know. … I can't clearly recall what happened, but I'm sorry for putting you through so much trouble…

Faust: Don't say that… Let me look at your wounds. Give me your leg…

Lennox: …

Faust: Lennox…?!

Shino: Did he pass out?!

Faust: He must be completely exhausted. I should get him out of the ocean as soon as possible. The two of you must be at your limits, too.

Heathcliff: You're right… I still feel okay for right now, though.

Faust: Shino, Heathcliff.

Shino: What.

Heathcliff: What is it?

Faust: This was only possible because of the two of you. Thank you.

Shino & Heathcliff: …!

Shino: Heh, yeah!

Heathcliff: It's an honor!

Faust: Let's return to the water's surface. Vespa, can you show us the path up?

Vespa: …! …!

Heathcliff: Let's go, Shino!

Shino: Yeah!

✦✧☾✧✦

Owen: <Cure Memini>

Hwylryn: Ahaha! This is fun!

Owen: …tsk!

Rustica: I'll support you! <Amores Viesse>

Hwylryn: You're kind of annoying.

Rustica: …cough…!

Chloe: Rustica!

Rustica: ……!

Rutile: Rustica…!

Rustica: …

Rutile: Oh no…! Rustica isn't breathing!

Chloe: What do we do…?! Rustica! Rustica!

Rutile: We need to bring him to the surface!

Owen: Then get on with it. Or else your teacher's gonna turn to stone!

Chloe: But…!

Owen: Whatever, just go. You're at your limit.

Chloe: Owen…

Owen: Tch… Yeah, that was stupid. You're going to die here. Just like I thought you would.

Cain: Go, Chloe! I've got things covered here!

Rutile: I'll stay, too! Please look after Rustica for us!

Chloe: …Okay…! Thank you…! (I need to hurry! I need to hurry!) (I'm definitely going to save you, Rustica!)

Owen: Hmph… And what do the two of you think you can do?

Cain: Swordplay and magic.

Rutile: I can heal, and fly very, very fast.

Owen: Lame… Just so you know, if I die, the two of you have exactly zero chance of winning. So if I die, just run.

Cain: … No, I won't.

Rutile: I won't, either.

Owen: Super lame…

Hwylryn: Are you guys ready yet?

Owen: The lamest one here is you.

Hwylryn: I like your dog!

Owen: Shut up. <Cure Memini>

Hwylryn: Let's play.

✦✧☾✧✦

Torta di Cocco Shopkeeper: Here, it's finished baking.

Riquet: Wahh, it looks so tasty!

Mitile: It smelled so good while it was in the oven!

Nero: Hmm… Y'think you could teach me the recipe?

Mithra: Is it done? Can I take it to the bottom of the sea now?

Mitile: N-not yet! It needs the cream and coconut on top first.

Mithra: Then can you hurry, at least?

Mitile: If you could, please!

Torta di Cocco Shopkeeper: Yes, of course.

Claudia: My, what a delicious-looking cake.

Riquet: Yes! Thank you for being willing us to let us have your cake so we could know how it tastes. I'm incredibly grateful.

Claudia: My, what a good boy you are. I'm happy I could meet you boys again, in fact. It sounds like you've helped Dianne out a lot, too.

Riquet: How is Dianne doing…?

Nero: She's talkin' to Bradley right now.

Riquet: Did she ask Bradley to help her?

Nero: Uh, somethin' like that.

Riquet: Thank goodness. She seemed to be having a very difficult time, and Bradley can be a very helpful person.

Nero: …True that.

Claudia: Both I and my sister should have realized how much Dianne was hurting so much faster than we did… No, I'm sure my sister knew. That must be why she tried to turn that story into a heartwarming tale, to try and take her pain away. But instead, that simply made Dianne feel like no one would protect her honor…

Riquet: It's a very complicated problem. Even with so much love and kindness given to her, her pain prevented her from finding her path… Guiding people is a very difficult prospect. It's important to carefully ascertain if what lies at the end of the path you lead them down will truly be good or not… Wanting someone to walk down a path is very similar to forcing them to think and act a particular way. It's frightening. I wonder what Bradley is telling her? Do you think it'd be okay if I listened in?

Nero: Nahh, that's prob'ly not a good idea. I don't think her Lordship would wanna have anyone eavesdroppin'.

Riquet: I suppose you're right…

Mithra: Excuuuuse meeee. We don't have any time to chat like this.

Nero: I know, man. Just wait a lil' bit longer. Actually, speakin' of, Claudia. There was somethin' I wanted to ask you about the disappearances…

Claudia: Yes, I suppose I'll spill the beans. I've seen a door through which I could see the past on the island's shore. I can't help but wonder if that door isn't related to the disappearances.

Riquet: A door to the past… That story we heard was real? Did you really see the past?

Claudia: No, it was just an illusion.

Mitile: What kind of illusion did you see?

Claudia: A man I fell in love with many years ago stepped through it and told me he loved me.

Mitile: I… I see.

Claudia: But he'd never said those words to me before, not even once. It was very obvious it was just an illusion. We had a good relationship, and he was a good friend. But though I fell in love with him, his status was far too high… He already had a fiancee before we even met. And yet, here is what I thought to myself. Perhaps if I open that door, I can see him again… Were it twenty years earlier, I imagine I would've found myself drawn to that door despite myself.

Riquet: Why not now?

Claudia: Because the paint I drew up my dream with has long since dried.

Riquet: You painted your dream…?

Claudia: The things that make your heart tremble and dance are what make your dreams shine so brightly, like light on a freshly-painted canvas. He was the one who said that to me. The paint of my dream has dried, and my heart has calmed down and put itself in its place, and so… I can't go back to such fresh and youthful excitement, not when I'm so afraid of so much as brushing against it, much less taking it into my hands directly. It's like appreciating how a cake is decorated before demolishing it with your fork, to put it another way.

Riquet: I…think I understand…

Claudia: Because the paint of my dream had already dried, and left it calm and quiet, hearing him say that didn't make my heart dance. It was an odd feeling, both lonely and relieving at the same time.

Riquet: Like looking at your plate after you've finished your cake?

Claudia: Yes. It's not like being scared of destroying something, but more like having properly eaten and savored it instead. But Dianne's dreams are still bright. They're delicate, strong, and still gasping for air. Just like fresh paint on a canvas. The idea of touching them before they're ready and smudging their colors into one she doesn't want, polluting her canvas forever, is terrifying. That's how it feels, looking at the beautiful, vivid scenery she's painted. It's as if time has stopped in place.

✦✧☾✧✦

Lennox: …ah…

Faust: Leno, are you okay? I'm going to get you to the surface soon. Just hold on tight to me.

Lennox: …Yes…Lord Faust…

✦✧☾✧✦

Dianne: …What do you mean by throwing away my fear? Are you going to cast a spell on me?

Bradley: …

Dianne: Or are you planning on providing counsel? How am I meant to do this without trembling?

Bradley: What do you think? We're here to talk about you, girl.

Dianne: …What is there to talk about…? … …Things always go so well in my imagination. …I can always make the best, safest decision for everyone, without making a single mistake in the process. I've worked ever since I was a child to become that kind of person. And yet, this is what happens instead… I'm sure my grandfather would be disappointed in me. …I'm so pathetic…

Bradley: Y'don't have to change who you are. Y'don't have to be someone you aren't.

Dianne: …But if they knew about the real me, they'd all laugh… I don't want them to laugh at me…I'm weak, and pitiful…and embarrassing…

Bradley: 'Course you don't. Who wants to be turned into a laughingstock? But I won't laugh at you. You're tryin' to fulfill your responsibilities, and that's why you're standin' here.

Dianne: …

Bradley: You good? I've got something I used to say to newbies right after they joined up, to get 'em to throw away their fear.

Dianne: Newbies…? Were you the leader of some kind of organization?

Bradley: Yeah, a bandit gang. That's why I'm a prisoner now. Still wanna hear what I have to say?

Dianne: …Yes… I want to hear you out. Please, tell me.

Bradley: Alright. Everyone's experiences protect 'em, no matter what that experience is. Failures, successes, all of 'em do the same thing. But newbies like you don't have any experience to protect yourself with. And at times like that, when y'don't have any foundation to prop yourself up with, you start doin' weird shit like this. Y'start thinkin' that if you don't protect your honor all on your own, you won't have a place to belong anymore. Even though you don't know right from left yet. So, here's what I tell 'em. You ready to jot this down? I'll protect you. I'll protect your life, your honor, your perspective. So you need to protect your comrades.

Dianne: …

Bradley: Dianne. You're about to walk out that gate and talk to the crowd, yeah?

Dianne: Yes.

Bradley: If for whatever reason you can't do it, I'll talk for you. And I'll hold that position 'til you're ready to take it from me. If anyone tries to jump on you, I'll protect you from 'em. But I've got a feelin' you'll be able to do just fine without me havin' to do a damn thing.

Dianne: …

Bradley: Remember. You're the lord of this whole big-ass castle. That ain't your average job. And you were the one who made it there. Have more faith in yourself. Anythin' else you're scared of?

Dianne: … I…don't think so… Why not…? I was so scared, but now…

Bradley: Don't hold back now. If there's anythin' worryin' you, just say it.

Dianne: … You're not lying? You're not going to betray me…?

Bradley: 'Course not. Hell, if people found out I turned on a little lass like you, that'd just make me more infamous and not in a good way. I'm not gonna betray you, Dianne. On my honor, I'll protect your honor. Now step forward. The first step's always the scariest. The rest'll be a piece of cake. Don't be scared. I'm right next to you.

Dianne: …sniff…okay… …I understand. I'm going now!

Bradley: Hell yeah! You got this!

Next Chapter

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #79: Harry Potter, but make it Petunia Evans

I once asked my mother If you could travel into any fictional world, which would it be? and she unhesitatingly answered Harry Potter. While there's much to be said about the HP universe, it's not exactly a world I'd want to live in, and so I spent the last several months figuring out how, if I were to write an HP SI, would I do it, and eventually came up with this.

Or: What if the SI were to replace Petunia Evans as a young girl?

Just imagine it:

Rather than a true self-insert, I see this as more of modern muggle meets the British Wizarding World, with a middle-aged HP fan waking up in the body of 5-year-old Petunia Evans following a minor illness. The keyword here is fan - or rather, a critical fan - who enjoyed the books but is not unaware of their problems, be they with they author or the text - and particularly the way that, as one gets older, the less benevolent Dumbledore seems.

Once the SI has resigned herself to waking up in the body of Petunia Josephine Evans (two wars, puberty, and all of the 80s to live through again!), she realizes very quickly there is very little she can do to change the events of the first Wizarding War. All she can do is try to live the best life possible and provide a better life for young Harry Potter when he eventually shows up in her care.

(Starting with choosing to go by a short form of her middle name, Jo, instead of Petunia, as she thinks she might stab the next adult who tries to call her Pet after less than a week in her new life.)

Jo does this in number of ways - mainly by taking advantage of once having been a middle-aged woman with an engineering background and breezing through her education. Having been born only 18 months before Lily, Jo is 12-and-a-half when Lily gets her Hogwarts letter in January 1971 and studying for her A-levels and preparing to go to Oxford in the fall.

Unlike canon Petunia, Jo has no desire to go to Hogwarts - not only does she know exactly what the professor who comes to introduce Lily to the Wizarding World isn't telling her overawed parents, but she's never been close with her sister. Or any of her family. She's tried - she really has - but the Evans family had a clear favorite long before Lily ever learned of her magic. (Jo knows her parents' wedding date, precisely five months before she was born, and thinks that explains much of their feelings towards her; and the way her father in particular is taken with magic makes her think he might be a second-generation squib over the moon to see magic return to his line.)

While Lily is studying magic, Jo attends Oxford. By age 16 she has a BA and MA in Medieval History - specializing in the history of science (Think Diana Bishop in A Discovery of Witches). She gets herself emancipated the same year and starts in on her doctoral studies.

Once a week, she'll slip into the magical section of the university library system and pick up some back copies of The Daily Prophet, just to keep abreast of all the things Lily never tells their parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans die in a car crash in late 1977, when Jo is 19 and Lily has just started her Seventh Year. Lily doesn't come home for the funeral, which Jo is left to plan all by herself. As Lily is not yet an adult in the muggle world, her care is left to Jo for the last few months, but when she finally gets a reply to her letters it's all don't pretend you care now, you abandoned us the first chance you got and you were always jealous of my magic anyway. This is the last Jo will ever hear from her sister, not getting so much as a birth announcement for little Harry.

By Halloween 1981, Jo has earned her doctorate in Medieval History and is working as an associate professor at the university. The pay is terrible, but she has all the insurance money from the Evans and some healthy investments based off her knowledge of her original world, enough for her to buy a small house near the college.

She stays up all Halloween night, waiting.

Harry Potter never arrives.

Jo spends all of 1 November fretting over what she might have changed to change this and falls asleep early, exhausted. When she wakes on the morning of 2 November, she finds her 15-month-old nephew on her doorstep.

And here's where things truly start to change.

That first week, Jo reaches out to a friend in the muggle child welfare department she may have originally cultivated for just this reason, explaining that her estranged sister's son has just appeared on her doorstep without any documentation other than a letter saying that his family has been killed and Harry's care falls to her.

Once the emergency paperwork has been filed on the muggle side, she girds her loins and heads to Gringotts. The goblins aren't the friendliest beings around, but they are fastidious. Jo has the muggle paperwork and a mildly threatening letter from Dumbledore stating she is to be Harry Potter's guardian, and so she gains control of the Potter financials and another layer of paperwork to back up her claim.

From there, a trip to a Wizarding lawyer to 1) file everything with the Ministry and 2) keep her underage nephew's name out of the papers is all she needs to finalize things. It may be overkill, but she's taking no chances when it comes to Dumbledore and his greater good.

And then she settles down into the business of raising Harry.

Jo is not the maternal type, but she manages to be a fairly decent parent nonetheless. Besides, Harry is a happy, easygoing baby, eager to explore his new home even if he doesn't quite understand why his parents had to go away.

So it's a surprise when, nearly a year into the endeavor, an auror and a representative from Wizarding child services arrives at her door. (Apparently her paperwork was all that was needed to remind the wizarding world that they had a duty of care to a magical orphan, no matter how famous, and the last year has been spent in legal battles where Dumbledore tried to suppress all knowledge of Harry's whereabouts and various others tried to attain that knowledge for various reasons, none of which anyone bothered to inform Harry's muggle guardian about.)

Regardless of the exact reasons for the delay, the visit goes well, and Jo ends up inviting the auror - Kingsley Shaklebolt - to return and tell Harry about his parents and the Wizarding world as he grows up, as she certainly can't tell him anything.

Harry's childhood is a montage of exactly what you'd imagine growing up in the care of an Oxford don would be. Kingsley is his most regular visitor, but with a Wizarding section to the college he eventually is introduced to others and their children for the occasional playdate. He's happy and healthy and a little more bookish than canon - a Ravenclaw with Gryffindor tendencies - and never quite forgets his aunts early lessons that critical thinking should be applied to everything, be it textbooks or news reports or children's books.

Harry's Hogwarts years pass exactly as one might expect when a child with an active and motivated guardian is placed repeatedly in danger. Particularly when that guardian is close friends with an auror who continues to pay weekly visits even after her charge leaves for boarding school.

Dumbledore is placed on suspension on allegations of child endangerment following the events of First Year, meaning Lucius Malfoy never feels the need to drop the Diary into Ginny's cauldron to cause trouble for the Light. He makes it out of the legal proceedings with all his titles, but with more than a little egg on his face. Part of the settlement involves increased security at Hogwarts - and changes to the ward scheme mean both Sirius and Wormtail are found shortly after the start of Third Year, given trials, and dealt with accordingly.

Sirius tries to gain custody of Harry immediately, but Jo refuses to even let him near the boy until he's gotten some of the mental help he so clearly needs after so much time with the Dementors.

Jo absolutely puts her foot down for the Triwizard Tournament, which Harry manages to get out of with her help, but he still ends up kidnapped at the end of the year while everyone is too busy watching the Third Task to notice. Voldemort is resurrected with help of Barty Crouch Jr - but because Crouch failed to check Harry for emergency portkeys, is able to escape as soon as his bindings are cut. He's dropped, covered in blood, straight into the middle of the Auror Offices.... which helps a lot of people to believe someone at least tried to resurrect Voldy, even if very few believe he succeeded and it's not an imposter running around.

With the Wizarding World aware there's someone running around calling himself Voldemort, even if very few believe it's the original, events of Fifth Year are vastly different. Dumbledore tries to pull most of his HBP tricks - the lessons, Slughorn, Snape taking over DADA - but they fail, largely because of that critical thinking thing Jo hammered into Harry as he was growing up. He passes along everything he's learned to Jo and Kingsley - the latter who, with some nudging from Jo, puts together Horcruxes and mobilizes the parts of the Ministry he can trust.

Sixth Year is largely Kingsley and co tracking down and destroying Horcruxes while Voldemort rages war across the Wizarding World. It goes so well he makes an open play for the Ministry at the end of the year - only to be killed by Kingsley during the battle, the last of his Horcruxes having been destroyed without his knowledge not long beforehand.

Kingsley is hailed as the new savior of the Wizarding World - a position Harry gladly abdicates - and is very quickly installed as the new Minister of Magic.

Harry goes on to graduate Hogwarts, gain a Mastery in Alchemy, and make several advancements in medical fields that earn him an Order of Merlin in his own right.

As for Jo? Well, she continues teaching at Oxford, eventually gaining a full professorship and writing several well-received books popularizing the History of Science. She never marries, but by the middle of Harry's third year is more or less living openly with Kingsley. They end up having one child together - very much a surprise, as Jo was convinced it was early onset menopause until the fifth month - born May 2, 1998, whom they name Elizabeth Evans-Shaklebolt. There are many in this Ministry who take umbrage at their Minister's ongoing affair with a muggle, but oddly enough its Kingsley's openness about his relationship with leads to an easing of tensions between the purebloods and muggleborns on the theory if a muggle is good enough for the minister, there must be something to them. Things are still far from perfect in the British Wizarding World by the time he retires, but the political situation is less tense than it's been since before the First World War.

Bonuses include: 1) A slow-burn friends to lovers arc for Jo and Kingsley that surprises both of them, with their friendship developing over the years as he visits Harry and not switching gears to romance until Kingsley continues to visit Jo's little house in Oxford after Harry goes off to Hogwarts (and realizes those visits were never just about Harry.) Theirs is not a grand, fated romance, but sneaks up on them like a sunrise after a long, dark night, and settles quite quickly into domestic bliss; 2) The Evans family being portrayed as not evil or intentionally cruel so much as personal circumstances led to Mr. and Mrs. Evans playing favorites with their children, and Lily internalizing herself as the "good" child and Jo as the "bad" one, deserving of scorn, regardless of her actions. For Lily, this was helped along by her childhood friendship with Snape, where she internalized the magic good, muggles jealous of magic, and the political situation at Hogwarts, where it became Light magic good, Dark wizards bad, everyone else in need of our guidance. It's a very black-and-white view and she might possibly have grown out of it in time, but she was never given the chance. (Or she might have played favorites with her own children, as her parents had done with her). She, like James, was far from perfect; and 3) Harry portrayed as a Gryffindor-leaning Ravenclaw who is friendly across all houses but who occasionally runs into trouble for not being Gryffindor enough for those who grew up hearing his story and a bit off-putting to children his own age after spending so much time around adults growing up. He grows out of the latter in time - though, as with Hermione in canon, there are growing pains - but not the former - which leads him to go after the stone in his first year in the first place. He should always be a little disappointed there's not more to Hogwarts and should always keep one foot in the Muggle world, earning Chemistry degrees to go along with his Alchemy Mastery. This too works to popularize Wizards getting advanced muggle education, which paves the way in time for greater advancements in the Wizarding World.

And that is all I have - admittedly light on Harry's Hogwarts years, but then again my issue with HP SI is that I, personally, would not want to attend Hogwarts. As always, feel free to adopt this bun, just link back if you ever do anything with it.

Other SIs: Lysa Arryn | Petunia Evans | Princess of Dol Amroth

More Terrible Fic Ideas

[theowritesfiction]

Okay so I haven't been posting about the ATLA characters in D&D lately, but that's still on my mind and I've created the Fire Nation kids in D&D.

Let's start with Mai. Mai is obviously a rogue, I don't think this needs much explaining. Even if we mostly see her attack with throwing daggers from distance, I think she'd be just as happy stabbing people from stealth, up and personal. <3 Mai's alignment would be True Neutral, although I guess before Boiling Rock you could argue that Lawful Neutral also fits her.

Ty Lee. What's the closest D&D class to a circus performer. Obviously, a bard! Ty Lee gets to be the proverbial jack of all trades that fits her quite well. Ty Lee is the Chaotic Neutral member of the cast. :)

Azula and Zuko. I didn't want to go the obvious route and make them both wizards or sorcerers who specialize in fire spells. Also, both of them are skilled in hand to hand combat, especially Zuko, and I wanted their D&D builds to reflect that. So, I decided to do the following. Azula got to take the Court Mage build, which gives her some interesting defensive tools and basically allows her to be in the thick of the melee as she dishes out magic damage. As for Zuko, I recreated him as a Fighter, but he got to take the Spellblade subclass. I think this solves it quite nicely. Azula is better at bending/magic, and Zuko is better with swords.

As for their alignment, well, I'm sorry, but Azula is going to be Lawful Evil. As for Zuko, well I guess that depends on whether we're talking pre or post redemption. Still, it's hard for me to see even Book 1 antagonist Zuko as evil aligned, I mean he was kind of a soft villain most of the time. Post redemption I would put him as Chaotic Good because he's still kind of a mess and like he himself admits, he doesn't really know how to be good.

After I had created these characters, I decided to put them through some of the Solasta campaigns. My first group was dangerous ladies + Katara. It worked pretty well. Azula and Katara ended up holding the line, while Mai popped in and out of stealth to pick off the enemies one by one. Ty Lee just bounced around pitching in, but unlike her show counterpart, not being very effective lol.

For my next campaign, I decided to replace Ty Lee with Suki, just because I figured Suki would be both a little sturdier and also do a bit more damage than Ty Lee. It proved to be a good decision. Ty Lee could be occasionally useful, but as the characters level up and gain power, Katara can easily do all the healing by herself, and Azula is starting to dish out some insane damage, so a bard's supplementary damage/healing isn't necessary, sorry Ty Lee :( I wish the game would allow me to play with a group of five.

Lastly, I happened to find a spell scroll, but I'm still debating whether it's responsible to let Azula learn this spell. Let's make a poll:

[prince-of-khrysalis]

Hi I would like to hear abt ur ocs 👀

cracks knuckles, TYSM FOR ENABLING ME! I have a whole lotta ocs so I think for this ask I'll just pick a few so I don't write a whole novel at once! A few pirates of mine! If anyone wants a wizard post of the same nature... (;

Let's start with my love my light my darling, Desiderius Calamitas! My resident musketeer. This guy.

Desi is, in a sense, my 'main' pirate! This is The Pirate! Born and raised in Monquista, he had it pretty rough being a non-native and dealing with Monquista's... shall we say exclusionary tendencies. Being a gorgon and growing up to feel ashamed of it and hide this at ALL times, along with being treated like some dangerous feral beast, Desi left the instant he could. Which was when he turned 18 and hijacked a pirate ship, effectively coercing the crew into handing over power as a trade-off for saving them from a close call with the Armada. He's a megalomaniac, it's true. With a love for all things bright and sparkly and pink and oh, he just wants to be a pirate yk?? He takes over as Captain to a reluctant crew and ends up slowly becoming a very infamous and wanted figure. Because he's a menace to society<3! A smart chessmaster, but naive and vain and the holder of a megalomaniac complex. Lovely little man. He wants to take over Monquista someday, but for now? He will happily settle for having the highest bounty possible by the Armada (and trying to figure out how guns work haha help he's never done this before).

MOVING ON! To one of his crewmates! Marion Merripen! (Desi's boyfriend cough cough) Who is the crew "witchdoctor", though in reality? He's a necromancer with a hatred of his own magic and is far more inclined to act as the crew's medic. Having been raised for a time by a Marleybonian doctor, he has medical knowledge and is in charge of keeping everyone else in one piece... mostly. Though he's been a pirate for longer, he doesn't seem all that interested in fame or fortune. Rather it's just... what he knows, after being picked up as a younger teen for the crew to get him away from Marleybone. Why away from Marleybone, besides it being hell on earth? Marion is a fae! Specifically, the son of a faerie and a merrow, a hybrid who can't help but stand out and... does not bode well with worlds like MB who can't hide their judgements. So he became a pirate instead. It was a nice outlet for his INTENSE repressed anger! He's a very grumpy fella, but he has plenty of reason to be, even if he's a touch too rough and mean at times. So a vulgar and fairly mean goth who's also in charge of patching ya up after ya get stabbed on the job for the millionth time, good luck!! And how about the starter antagonist, General Achille, (Desi's other boyfriend cough cough) someone who Desi and co. assume is a member of Kane's court. A 7ft tall battle angel General, who, after one too many disturbances, is tasked with finding and capturing Desi and his crew. Or killin him. Whichever comes first, the Armada isn't picky. Achille opts for the second option more often than not. There's a few issues though. Issue number one is that Desi is IMMEDIATELY taken by the sight of him, falling head over heels for the person trying to murder him weekly and finding him to just be the most radiant man to ever walk the Spiral. Achille has no fucking clue what any of that means, but over time Desi's weird reactions and constant flirting strike up a bit of, gasp, fondness?? Perhaps? And he starts to look forward to their encounters a bit, perhaps. Maybe. The other issue is that Achille is... not a clockwork, not that this is common knowledge. The crew doesn't have time to think about this while he's trying to slice them in half. But raised under the 'care' of the Armada since he was terribly young (after he lost his mother, three guesses as to how), he was taken in as a pet project. His sun magic being seen as a potential weapon to be wielded. Essentially brainwashing him for his entire life to be the perfect solider and question no orders, to not think for himself. But no one knows this. Not even Achille, having fallen so deep into the trance that he truly sees himself as a machine and needs to work to regain his humanity. Woo! After all, those clockwork wings attached to his back sure speak another story, huh?

[deerydear]

....I read the story of the Death Note when I was twelve... I cherish that a lot. ...when I was fifteen, sixteen, whatever... I read one of the side-stories explaining a different case that the main detective had to work on... It's called Another Note... So, I read it, I went to sleep, I had a dream... I had a dream that I was Beyond Birthday. Except, I mean, it was an event that actually played out in my life prior, and *I* was BB, as a red-headed teenager... and I was actually seeing the dream through L's eyes, who took the place of the other person... It made sense to me, recently, why I had this dream... but like, my personal impression, interpretation, whatever... that I immediately got when I read this book for the first time is that: BB was simply parodying exactly how L acted in his youth, and that L was a huge little dick to BB, and L acted like a dickheaded older brother...... and then I guess L matured, and he regretted it, but he couldn't turn back the cogs of what he had put into motion...

"it's alive and it's inside me now, and you can't tell me what to do." "I don't care if that part of you has gone. It's mine, now. It's superior to whatever bullshit hippie love-and-peace crap you've gone and got yourself drunk on. I'll prove which one is superior, you'll fucking see..."

Like, I had this dream, and when I woke up, the opening notes to THIS SONG tinkled into my head:

"Oh yeah, it's so easy for you to say you think peace and love is the true answer, after you were so cruel to me. Fuck you. I will kill you. I will humiliate you. I will become what you were, and channel it more purely than you ever could hope to, because you are weak and soft. You've allowed yourself to dull your shine. You're a sadsack of an excuse for the man I feared. Fuck you. (...You've betrayed me...)" "I AM THE TRUE CHANNEL OF BRUTALITY" I mean, they say... L could have been the world's greatest criminal, if he had wanted to be so...

also, regarding Beyond Birthday... his natural appearance was a lot like this:

Except, in the initial dream, he was like fourteen... and HE STABBED L'S HAND WITH A FORK, and ran out of the restaurant we were sitting in.

It was a restaurant that someone took me to, when I was fourteen years old. I had been very angry towards her during that time, so I felt that I was seeing it from her eyes, in this dream...

I was so worried about him, because this child was my responsibility. I heard ambulance sirens coming from downtown. He had brought out a bow-and-quiver, and was causing mayhem in the streets.

This was supposed to be me, of course.

I saw his eyes. He was like a deer. Terrified, as he lay seige to the city.

Regarding Howl the wizard: "His heart is still the heart of a child."

Fickle, like the wind. Also, B didn't have horns... this is originally a depiction of Clavicus Vile... WHATEVER!

"At least if you stuck around and were still so awful to me, I could still strive to be just like you, and overcome you... but now you've gotten bored of your stupid little puppet play? Do you see my life as just a puppet in your play? Fuck you. You're in my play. The show goes on. You are my victim, now. " *BANGS FISTS ON DINNER TABLE REPEATEDLY* HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE!

"You said you knew what you were doing. You have an innate weakness. I am disgusted with you."

Some people were born to float. Lord knows I've forgotten how to swim........ Sinking...! Neither of us knows which direction... the air bubbles are.. going...

Everything under the Sun is in tune...

but the Sun is eclipsed by the Moon...

Whatever. I didn't really think about this, because it came to me. I just felt it.

[celest1all]

Terrifying Truths

[Not my gif, got it off Google so creds to them <3]

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x fem!Reader

Warnings: angst, heartbreak, language, dialogue heavy, just angsty.

Summary: "Draco be damned."

Authors note: This was based on this request, enjoy!!

Deep down, you knew. It was obvious, quite frankly. The facts were there in black and white, taunting you every minute of every day. And yet you refused to believe it. Blind optimism is sometimes better than facing the truth. A truth so bad and heartbreaking that the only rational -- or irrational, depends how you look at it -- thing to do is to believe that it is false.

“Hey Y/N.” You were pulled out of your thoughts by the sound of Blaise greeting you first.

“Hey Blaise. How’ve you been?” You sent him a warm smile like you always did. You were probably closer to Blaise than you were to the other two, in a platonic way anyway. If we were talking about romantically, then that would be a completely different story.

“Same old, same old.” He smiled back at you.

“I can relate to that.” You chuckled lightly before turning to Pansy. “What about you, Pans? How are you holding up?”

“Better now you’ve turned up,” she started “I’m no longer stuck with these two tosspots.”

You let out a small giggle, mainly at the look Draco gave to Pansy. “Consider me your saving grace then.”

Situating yourself next to Draco (who didn't really seem too pleased with that decision), you asked him the same question. “How are you, Draco?”

He shrugged, not bothering to answer, causing you to frown. You were going to ask him again, but he got up before you were unable to. "Oh, uh, bye. Have a good day!" You called after him, hoping that might make him feel a bit better.

"Is he alright?" You said, a worried look etched onto your featured.

Pansy and Blaise turned to eachother and shared a look. You watched them move their heads in your direction but were still looking at one another.

After a few more moments of the two looking ridiculous, you waved your hand infront of both of their faces. "Hello, Earth to Blaise and Pansy? Is Draco okay?"

Blaise started sputtering out oh's and uh's whilst Pansy just sat there, stabbing her chicken with her fork. Quite forcefully too.

Rolling your eyes, you got up from you seat. "If you two won't tell me, then I'll find out for myself."

You started to turn around when you felt a firm hand grasp your wrist, making you face the two. You then realised that it was Blaise who grabbed you.

"No!" He basically shouted. "I mean no you can't, he's gone to see Snape."

"I don't care that he's gone to see Snape. Draco's my friend and something is obviously wrong so I'm going to go see if he's okay." With that, you yanked your arm out of his grasp and walked away from the two and the Great Hall.

After a few minutes of walking aimlessly around the Castle, you finally found the blond haired wizard. He was sat on one of the stone benches, seemingly doing nothing.

You debated whether or not you should go up to him, but you then you thought I would want someone with me if I was having a bad day so you went up and sat next to him.

Thankfully, you missed the way he visibly stiffened when he noticed your presence.

"Hey." You began softly. "Are you okay?"

You were once again met with silence, but you noticed him clenching his jaw. "Draco."

"What?!" He shouted, making you flinch back in surprise.

"What's up with you?" You asked again, voice still soft, but you could hear the annoyance seeping into your tone.

"Nothing!" He got up from beside you and began walking away for the second time that day.

Not wanting him to be alone in that state -- whatever that state was -- you got up and followed him. "There obviously is."

Draco spun around, nearly causing you to bump right into him. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Huh?"

You frowned at him, "What?"

"Why do you insist on following me around like a lost fucking puppy all the time?" He ran his hand through his hair and tugged slightly. You would've probably found the action hot but you certainly didn't right now.

"I don't follow you around? You're my friend."

"That's not all you want to be though, is it." He responded dryly.

"Excuse me?"

"You didn't really hide your little crush on me very well," he sneered at you "everyone could see it."

You tried to formulate a response, but the lump in your throat caused you not to.

"Did you think that you would've had a chance with me, is that it? Is that why you were always extra nice to me? Were you trying to butter me up so that maybe, just maybe, I liked you the same way you liked me?" He narrowed his eyes at you, inching closer and closer with every passing sentence.

"No! That's not true!" You finally managed to reply whilst walking backward, not noticing that you had a reached the wall.

You knew it was true, but you were once again ignoring the truth. Because sometimes the truth hurts more than the lie.

"Don't bullshit, Y/N!" He shouted, hitting the wall next to you. Your body recoiled in surprise, or was it fear? You were unsure at this point. "If you're not as pathetic as you say you are, then you would admit it."

You looked him in the eyes and swallowed, "You know what? Fine." You mustered up the courage to place your hands on his chest and pushed him back, giving you some space finally. "I do like you, Merlin, I loved you. You were the reason I got up every morning. You made Hogwarts feel like home when I wanted nothing more than to leave. You gave me something to look forward to."

Draco widened his eyes at your tone, not expecting so much venom to be laced in your words. He carried in listening anyway.

"But now? I sure as hell don't want to love you anymore. Why would I want to love someone who doesn't even value me as a person? Why would I want to be with someone who apparently hates the fucking ground I walk on?" You waved your arms around wildly, expressing just how much emotion you were feeling. You knew that you most likely looked like a crazy woman, but you didn't care in that moment.

"So you know what? I'm done." You chuckled darkly, sniffling slightly. "I'm done with this," you waved between the two of you, "and I'm done with you."

Shaking your head, you walked away with a heavy heart and tears steaming down your face. You willed yourself not to look back because you knew it you looked back, you would go apologise to him. And you couldn't. You wouldn't do that to yourself.

At one point you would've done anything for Draco Lucius Malfoy, but now? Draco be damned.

[jamiebluewind]

Fantasy High Characters 2.8

As always, let me know if I need to edit or add anything and tag/ask/PM me about art and stories so I can check them out!

***

New Characters

Three Elves from Falinel

3 beautiful wizard elves in long flowing robes

Surrounded by motes of silvery white light

At least 1 has a will o whisp in their ear used to communicate

Serene and filled with arcane energy

One used a globe of invulnerability (probably Kear)

Unnamed Conjurer Elf Wizard

Beefer with light mage armor and thick long red braided hair

Summoned a large sized air elemental (size of a small truck) with 90 movement

Unnamed Goth Elf Wizard

Porcelain skin with jet black hair covering left eye and black robes

Uses fesh to stone (6th level spell) on Adaine

Smiles and walks away once they have Adaine back at the tower

Kear

Pronounced key-heir or khear

Name spelling unknown, but Kir was the spelling on closed captioning

Wizard

Most serene

Extremely young child-like elven maiden with long brown braided hair and a white gown

Banished Tracker, but failed to charm Adaine during the battle

"You did a very noble thing. You saved your friends' lives."

Used detect thoughts on Adaine and asked "When was the last time you saw your mother?"

***

Modified Characters (with added facts)

Aelwyn Abernant

Kept in large large beautiful elven chamber with silver and marble with ambiant light glowing from the white stone

Trapped inside a 15 foot diameter orb that's constantly turning so she can't trance

Stuck crawling on her hands and knees, shaking with the effort of it

Severely trance deprived (probably hasn't been allowed to for nearly a year) with thick bags under her eyes

5 levels of exhaustion with some kind of magic the only thing keeping her from death

(more info in 2.9)

James Wicklaw

Fought with his saber in right hand and the crown in left

Brought 8 crew plus himself to menace the party while the rest of his crew went into the row

Injures the crew with him in order to injure the party, stunning all but Cathilda, Sandra Lynn, and Riz.

Has legendary actions (attack and teleport out of initiative order), mind blast, and tried to eat Gorgug's brain

Shot by a pistol square in the stomach. After he goes prone, a horrifying blast of something in his gut goes off as he shutters and goes still. But it was a trick to get Riz close so he could shoot him point blank.

Gorgug got the killing blow on Wicklaw after Fig heavily damaged him. Wicklaw's body fell into the Row.

The other pirates killed Wicklaw's remaining crew after he died

Fabian

Lost champion subclass and lost all fighter class features while keeping proficiency bonus, base stats, and hit points

No coat and 2 levels of exhaustion

Took a single hand crossbow shot which missed and spent the rest of the fight stunned.

Was repeatedly shot by Wicklaw

Gorgug had a private talk with Fabian to try to help. So did Kristen. Then Gilear came up and threatened him Gilear for 250 gold.

Fabian's mother's family have lands near the tower Adaine is being kept.

Cathilda

Dark steal sabers (scimitar type swords)

"Time for talk's over." Then got a nat20 on Wicklaw and sliced off one of his tentacles.

Feels pure determination more powerful than James can feel hatred and protects herself from his stun

Can give allies a reroll as reaction

Kicks just... so much ass.

To Riz "Is almost died the same as having died?"

Van

Was crashed by Gilear

Loaded with provisions by Jamina, Garthy, and Ayda

***

Other Characters

Anguin Abernant

Adaine's father

4th elf in the battle that was hidden in the beginning under greater invisibility

Enchanter subclass wizard

Casts dominate person on Adaine twice (and fails)

"Adaine. This is unbecoming. You are behaving rashly and irrationally."

Adaine

Resisted charms and dominate person while also breaking stun and flesh to stone.

Agreed to go with the elves to Falenel to save her friends.

*Adaine as she is falling through motes of light in elven teleportation, using sending to reach out to Ayda* Help. My friends are being killed in the Row and the Ruction. Please help them. *as Adaine appears in a place that is filled with darkness, she hears Ayda reply* Your friends are my friends.

Tries to escape with Misty Step (dispelled by Angine), Greater Invisibility (dispelled by Kir after Kir used True Sight), and Misty Step (dispelled)

Laid down on the ground on her stomach (magicly manacled by conjurer elf and led to her tower)

Allowed to keep Boggy

Hides under her blankets when Kear and Anguin comes in

Failed on detect thoughts save

Can tell where she is by looking at the stars

Was moved to an orb room (Kear: And do you intend to cooperate or will you be as problematic as we anticipate you might? / Adaine: What possible advantage to me or my friends can helping you give me?)

Kristen

Warding bond with Fabian

Was stunned entire fight and surrounded by icecream sandwiches (which she asked for help)

Gorgug

Relentless endurance

40 movement

Nearly got his brain eaten by Wicklaw.

After killing blow on Wicklaw, "Hey... I'm actually Fabian now."

Fig

Took a level in hex blade warlock

Hex blade cursed Wicklaw

Took enemy to hell with hellish rebuke before she was knocked out. (Fig: Did you see when I dragged that guy to hell with me? / Sandra Lynn: Horrifying. You're wonderful.)

"Adaine I used my everything to try and save you!"

Got 1300 points (with no actual value) for her sick shredding with her skateboard in the Ruction.

Snatched the crown after Wicklaw was killed and skatboarded away. Wanted to take crown away from Leviathan so there will never be a king, but let Fabian put it back on the head in Gibity Square.

Captured Wicklaw's soul

Is suspicious of Cathilda because she is "too good to be true".

"Look, the nightmare king could be anyone but my six friends."

Got Wicklaw's crystal saber which is like touching a live wire, but also filled with hatred

Riz

*while hiding in the rafters* "Fabian no! Don't be a coward!"

Arquebus has 60 foot range and he has 30 speed

He was the perfect person to dodge fists in the Row (while conscious)

"I have such bad athletes. Truly, I have minus two strength."

Failed two death saves (from the pirates stomping him) when he was knocked unconscious (from a slash from Wicklaw) and fell into the Row. Called to Fabian to save him while unconscious.

Riz: Hey Fabian? I think we all saw this going a little bit more epicly, but Adaine is gone. She sacrificed herself to save us and it kninda shows that it's not the end. We gotta keep going. So, we didn't bring our A game this time, but we can still - it keeps going. You'll be the hero next time. / Fabian: Yeah the ball. Next time. Next time. / Riz: Who... Hoot Growl? Is that what we say when we get pumped?/ Fabian: Yes. We say hoot growl.

Riz to Ayda: I think I have a lot of friends sometimes but then everyone's mean to me.

Wanted to talk to Fabian in private after the battle, but didn't get a chance due to Gorgug, Kristen, and Gilear

Sandra Lynn

Battle command: let's an ally attack an enemy on her turn as a bonus action

Can heal

Shouldered Wicklaw away from Gorgug (saving him from having his brain eaten) causing them both to fall into Row.

Knocked unconscious in the Row after stabbed through chest by Wicklaw but then healed by Fig.

Tracker

Was banashed to a maze world for the whole fight

Helped heal the party then "healed" Kristen privately

Ragh

Finished 1 pirate and then stunned for part of the fight before he was able to get up and fight/help again

Gilear

Passed out in the van due to the airbag.

"Very well. I will go into the back of the van. If anyone needs me, I will be surprised."

Threatened Fabian for 250 gold after he was acosted by a man who said he would kill him unless he gave him 250 gold. ("You need to shut the fuck up because I'm a dead man unless I get 250 gold pieces. You're down here with me now all right? Your rich. I'm not. Help me. Please help me.")

Ayda

Joined party temporarily to save her friend Adaine

Offered to teleport everyone and created a firy orange rune to do it.

***

Location Info

Ka'lethriel Tower

Beautiful courtyard

Smooth rounded marble flagstones are set into the garden

Look like a very zen meditative type of place.

There are high walls around the courtyard as well as towers.

"Orb rooms" (to keep prisoners in a constant state of trance deprivation) as well as regular rooms.

Near the Lands of the Lomenelda

***

<- Previous

Next ->

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of Marvel: Week of July 31st, 2019

Best of this Week: Black Panther #14 (Legacy #186) - Ta-Nehisi Coates, Daniel Acuna and Joe Sabino

Since the beginning of this new series, we’ve been left wondering if this escaped slave, turned warrior, turned legend was the real King T’Challa. We’ve been introduced to an M’Baku, though M’Baku has been dead for years and a Nakia that isn’t an emaciated mess of a supervillain. There’s also a living N’Jadaka even though Killmonger too has been dead for a long time. We’ve gotten hints that maybe things aren’t as they seem, especially when Manifold shows up as a mind controlled slave. The last few issues had finally cleared things up and it’s official; the King i back.

The book begins with Manifold helping to evacuate the Teku-Maza, a group of alien warriors that have agreed to help the Rebel Maroons fight against the “King” N’Jadaka. In the middle of the evacuation, N’Jadaka’s forces appear from hyperspace and engage the Teku-Maza and the Maroon forces in battle. 

T’Challa, now with all of his memories back has finally contacted Wakanda Prime. Shuri, Storm and his mother all answer the call and tell T’Challa how the country has flourished despite his absence and that his request for aid in space might risk this newfound peace. Shuri even asks why should Wakanda Prime even be concerned with all of this and Nakia snaps back with the fact that N’Jadaka won’t just stop at the few galaxies that he has. Honestly, this should be a grave concern for them.

The Space Empire has managed to go unnoticed by the Black Panther and others for thousands of years. With the technology that N’Jadaka wields, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he could give Earth’s heroes a run for their money. Shuri’s dismissal of such things comes off as naive at best, but outright dangerous at worse. T’Challa is one of the smartest and most capable of Earth’s heroes and he too fell to the Empire.

The call is unfortunately cut short as the Teku-Maza’s planet of Agwe is under attack and only T’Challa and the rest of the Maroon Elite can stop the Empire. Under M’Baku’s command, T’Challa, Nakia and the Goddess Bast take the fight to the Empire.

I’ve been waiting for Acuna to come back for large scale battles such as this. His art style is absolutely perfect to capture the sense of scale, speed and harrowing nature of this kind of space fight. He also has the perfect Afro-Futurist feel to each scene with ship designs that feel, maybe West African in nature, as well as the M’Baku’s body modification and the design on his sash. The colors are heavy with striking reds, intense greens and screaming hot yellows. Some pages also have a bit of a holographic/3D effect in some panels that adds a little bit of a trippy factor, especially as Bast uses her powers.

The battle is harrowing with each side taking casualties. The Teku-Maza leader tells his men that no matter what happens, N’Jadaka must not escape and he has them arm a weapon called the “Core-Killer,” a weapon capable of destroying the planet it’s armed on as well as almost everything within close enough range. N’Jadaka tells his people to fire on the population centers of Agwe and the Teku-Maza leader tells the Maroons to retreat as the core killer has been activated. Bast chastises M’Baku as he resigns himself to ask his forces to retreat and the Maroons get away just as Agwe goes up in flames.

This war has cost so many lives and having to give up an entire planet of people is absolutely devastating. On the possible upside, a tyrant may have finally been destroyed, leaving his people able to find freedom much like the Maroons have. I think what I like best about this is the position it puts T’Challa in. He’s lost his people many times over, so either his heart is completely hardened to it, or he values absolutely every life lost that he himself was unable to save. I don’t know how he’s going to handle this stunning climax to the war, but I can’t wait to see. High Recommend.

---------------------------------------------------

Very rarely do we get to feel the cold of the hills of Cimmeria.

Runner Up: Conan the Barbarian #8 (Legacy #283) - Jason Aaron, Gerardo Zaffino, Garry Brown, Matthew Wilson and Travis Lanham

Conan doesn’t often return home as far as I know. He’s always off on an adventure in Zamora, Khitai, Stygia or any number of other places, not thinking of venturing back home. What makes this story so interesting is Conan’s sense of familiarity and how things are turned on their head when the people that he knew and trusted are suddenly against him. We see his normal rage and anger, but with a restraint that is almost never given to anyone else. It’s strange, but leave it to Gerardo Zaffino and Jason Aaron to give us another amazing tale.

The cold air wafts from Conan’s mouth, the warrior clad in a heavy pelt and a large rucksack on his back. He walks through the blizzard until he comes upon a collection of huts and a dog with piercing red eyes, the first sign that all is not as it seems. He is met by a man with two axes, likely the community butcher, named Ailill. Ailill prepares Conan some food while explaining a sickness that has infected the people of Conan’s clan and that the town shaman had run away. The sickness is one of the mind and as the panels go on, we slowly get a small twinge of dread until Ailill reveals that he himself and the rest of the villagers are infected, also with piercing red eyes.

Conan punches Ailill and tries to escape only to be cornered by the others and his Grandmother, who is drawn with a face almost as horrifying as Norton Sinclair’s from Gideon Falls. This is also one of the few times we see Conan truly afraid as he runs away into the forest to avoid killing his people. He is later found in the freezing cold, half dead, by the village Shaman. He nurses Conan back to a semblance of help and tells him that the curse upon his people was inflicted by a dark wizard by the name of Thoth-Amon, one of Conan’s arch-nemesis. The shaman asks Conan if he’s ready to kill everyone he loves and Conan replies that he had brought gifts for his people and that going South had saved him, so maybe it can do the same for them.

We see how Conan earns the name Conan the Cunning as he lays traps for his people using the gifts he had brought them. Sugar cubes for the dogs to keep them distracted, spices and grog to incapacitate some of the men and spiderweb rope from Zamora for others. Things look to be going surprisingly well until his Grandmother catches him off guard, allowing the others to catch up and corner Conan again. He fights hard, but also doesn’t want to kill them. 

Zaffino draws this scene expertly with flashes of Conan's rage juxtaposed against his feelings of live. He allows himself to be stabbed and battered while just trying to pummel strike or punch his friends. His lines are thick and he makes excellent use of hatching to shade everything. We get the sense of how strong everyone is because of their movements and how large they all are. Conan is the biggest, but his grandmother is still a wall of muscle and anger.

Faces are another thing of beauty as the madness in their eyes is clear. These people are without their faculties and act like simple hounds, hounds that can talk and use tools, but with the bloodlust of hungry animals. Thoth-Amon's hate of Conan reflects amazingly in them and their lack of restraint only makes things ever more brutal.

Garry Brown's colors also make things look so beautiful and desolate. Only a man as hard as Conan could come from a place that feels so cold and isolated. During the fight there are flashes of orange to indicate how dire the fight is becoming. There's also a deep red as Conan can see the snake coming out of the ear of the Dog Keeper, the first to be infected, showing who the true enemy is and true to form, green is a color of evil as the snake is the perfect shade of vile.

Conan's grandmother, able to break free of Thoth-Amon's control, cuts the head off of the dog keeper to keep him from hurting her boy. The rest of the villagers are saved and thank Conan for coming back to them, the good times don't last as the infected dogs return and all of the Cimmerians join together for another fight. 

I loved Jason Aaron's exploration of Conan's people. They're all the same breed of strong as Conan only they've never ventured out of their home. They're rugged, hardy and they'd have to be to survive in the wilderness as they do. It was also amazing to see Conan not kill people when usually a single swing of his sword is enough to begin a tear through armies. Truthfully, he would have done so here too if there were no other way, but he had faith that he could save them and it paid off.

Zaffino gets the most praise from me because of his art style. It rings back to the days of Marvel's 1970s-1980s Conan series with a sort of pulpy look combined with the expert techniques of the modern day. He conveys emotion, action and even tells a story through the art alone. He's got skills that makes me want to check out the other books he worked on.

Conan the Barbarian continues to excel as a fantastic story, not only through showcasing new and awesome adventures of the titular barbarian, but by continuing to remind us that by the end of all of this Conan will die. These happy times won't last and it's amazing that Aaron has managed to keep that thought looming in the back of our minds. Around every turn we get a new reminder and the dread comes right back. I can't wait for the next chapter in this story or the many others coming like Esad Ribic's story of Conan's youth. This book get another high recommend from me.