#we finished a campaign but she didn't make it out alive

[thegirltate]

no longer I defend  this staircase I descend  will lead me anywhere  but my unscripted end 

[meonlyred]

BG3 Epilogue spoilers. A very long post.

Found a work around for the Unique Tav mod problem I was having. The epilogue would not trigger if I took the mod out and when I would put it back in then I got a body texture error giving my Tavs a darken grid skin texture. So I didn't take screen shots just played to see what happens. But I got screen shots now baby!!

Something I love about this game is that it gives dates. The game begins the 20th of Eleasis (August) 1492. For this play through it was the 15th of Uktar (November) when I finished the game. Meaning its around mid Mirtul (May) 1493 when the party takes place. The dialogue tab does not reflect the time skip but easy enough to do the math.

So some highlights.

Bro I straight up cried at Shadowheart's conversation. She has a house she has been fixing up, her parents are both still alive. Her father has been helping her take care of her animals and rebuild her home. Her mother has good days and bad but they did make a pie together and Shadowheart actually remembers it from her childhood.

Lark is not a hugging person but Shadowheart and her were close friends and I feel this was appropriate

I love that you can find some Selûnite slippers that are clearly Shadowheart's since she is walking around bare foot and wading into the river.

A duck from Halsin! This fits in with headcanon/ttrpg campaign things I have for Lark. She has a carved lark and a carved sparrow, for her and her brother that she found in the remains of her childhood home. The duck with go along side those.

Karlach 😳 ma'am.

FINALLY Justice for Karlach! Please I need her to come home! Because THIS SHIP NEEDS TO SAIL PLEASE!!!

Confession: for our Descend into Avernus campaign I almost made a barbarian lady who was married to a smith with like five kids back at home. But my party ended up having two paladins so I thought we had enough melee tanks. So I made a divine soul sorcerer instead. And then I played BG3 and THIS! THIS IS MY SHIP!!!

I had been wondering about this. Because I kind of felt really sad for the original Tadfools at the end. Of the original six (seven if you count Tav) only Shadowheart and Gale remained to celebrate their victory that night because of the choices I made. Lae'zel left with the githyanki, Wyll and Karlach had to leave immediately to go to Avernus to save Karlach. And Astarion had to flee into the shadows and didn't show back until the reunion party. Sure there was Minsc, Jaheira, and Halsin. But for this play through it was just Lark, Gale, and Shadowheart sitting around a table in the Elfsong going "damn, so all that happened to us." I have thought a lot about the moment right after defeating the Elderbrain. As I said above we know the game starts in Eleasis and keeps track of how many days go by. How many long rests you take will determined how long the game takes place. So for me the party had the tadpoles and shared thoughts for exactly 80 days. To suddenly not, to sit a cross from someone who you shared something unique and terrifying and to now have the silence of your own thoughts. I find it very interesting and very sad that several of the party were not present to share and come to terms with that moment together.

This was actually a bit surprising to me. I was wondering what class Wyll would become after losing his Warlock powers. I had thought a Paladin might suit him. A couple of my play throughs I have even muiltclassed him as a Palock. Fighter would have been my second guess. If you do the other story you find out that his ranger pet is a wolf name Lily! (If you have Wyll as a Duke then he names his adopted daughter Lily. Which is the cutest thing.)

(My Wyllmancer play through Psalm is bugged right now. Wyll, Karlach, and she went to Avernus together and right now all the companions think I romanced Karlach instead of Wyll. 😭)

omg I can't believe Lark married a wizard just like her mother. 🙄

Those who might have been reading my posts on Lark will know she was an import from one of my ttrpg campaigns. She is very near and dear to me. I was please that the timeline of our campaign and the timeline of BG3 allowed me to bring her into the game as bit older and more mature woman than she was in our campaign.

Romancing Gale with her was wildly fitting. Lark is the daughter of a Silvermoon trained Wizard and an Wild Magic Sorcerer Uthgardt barbarain (the roman use of the word, not the class.) I won't go too deep into it but its very fitting considering the reason Lark's parents died, it feels like history is righting itself. As Wither might say, balance.

As for Lark's relationship with Gale, she could argue with him passionately about magic. She could make her displeasure in how the gods interfere with morals loud and clear. But most importantly turn him away from the gods influence. What I found really interesting is that for Lark's play through, Gale still has the orb.

Both Lark and Psalm told Gale to not apologize to Mystra and told him not to try and fish the crown out of the Chionthar. Apparently he didn't listen to Psalm. But for Lark the orb apparently has become inert. Which I approve of a lot, especially for Lark's play through. She would never tell him to try to become a god, nor would she tell him to seek Mystra's forgiveness and to become her chosen again.

Lark has Wyll philosophy when it comes to the gods. You can't really be agnostic or atheist in Faerûn. But she is as close as you can get without risking ending up in the Wall of Faithless.

Anyways, I think its very cute that Gale has become a professor. He had made a comment wishing to teach if you say he is an apple during the Dryad's newly wed game.

LMAO she leans in for a kiss and he leans away. Sir, she is a sorceress and kind of a mean one at that. She is going to turn you into a frog and put you in a jar.

I did take the friendly options with Tara because yeah... after talking to her, yeah Gale is right, they are a lot alike. Tara and Lark conspiring, yeah... yeah that is right.

I did reload to see what she said if you were mean with her and smifomsdfioms the fireballs about to be thrown.

Anyways this is far more than I expected. I thought at best we were going to get the same as DoS2, a slide show of nice art and the narrator telling us what happens. Most of the conversations with the companions were much longer than just a handful of lines. Some of them longer than base game conversations. I am kind of floored by this epiloge.

[bhaalsdeepbat]

Astarion's Big Day

I've been doing a multiplayer campaign with @justabiteofspite and I just. need to detail what happened across two in-game days of Astarion being the party face and fucking it all up.

So, to start it out, he NAILED his shit on the Nautiloid. He picked up Us, Spite's Tav, Catha, was able to get the flame sword (nice), and everyone escaped alive and with all the explosives I asked that we grab on the way.

Everything goes great until they hit the grove. When I say that we did NOTHING in the grove before I got us locked out. We entered, Astarion got a free ring from Mattis to remember his sin, then went to pay Kagha a visit. this is where everything immediately went sideways.

We're level 2 right? We're weak. Pathetic. We should not be doing anything but saying "Yes ma'am, no ma'am," but this is Astarion. He suddenly has freedom and he doesn't remember what consequences can be like not under Caz and unfortunately here, they're still pretty deadly.

So, Arabella didn't make it because Astarion tried to stay out of the Druid business, and that made him so mad. He tried to take the body to her parents and it caused the druids to turn. So, we killed Kagha, ran out and found the Druids just massacring the tieflings.

again, we are level 2.

Astarion tries to loot what he can and accidentally triggers the bears to see him, Lae'zel, and Catha. He sneaks the fuck off, the bears kill Catha AND Lae'zel, we do NOT have Withers yet and the game won't let me long rest without Catha being alive. So he has to sneak back into the grove, gets Catha, but leaves Lae'zel's dead body there, which meant the grove didn't close.

So they go back to revive Lae'zel, LEAVE HER THERE, make a beeline for the Goblin camp, and Astarion leads Minthara to the Druids. He steals the idol of Sylvanus, everyone gets to quickly rest so Minthara can come finish these assholes off, she does, and she wants to fuck Astarion real bad.

Catha did get a vision from selune that if Astarion didn't steal the idol of Silvanus before going to sleep, Minthara and ALL of the goblins would attack him and Lae'zel, then Catha and Shadowheart would enter initiative at a significant delay that caused this omniscient, omnipresent authority figure laugh forever before having to F8 because again...we were level 2 lol

Meanwhile, Catha and Shadowheart are making eyes at one another and Astarion is there egging on all of the Cleric of Seluna x Cleric of Shar drama. Like these two are what he watches when he's ready to wind down at night. They are his Days of Our Lives, and he sometimes will whisper shit in Catha's ear when he wants to see them go through a different storyline. She's real dumb, he will grow to love her, but he will fuck with her and give her ideas of shit to say.

Anyways we go to the goblin party and Astarion just gets BACK TO BACK sick burns. He had to gaslight Gale into staying, and the convo they had HOLY FUCK. I was speechless. Astarion was just standing there kicking rocks a little ashamed (not that he'd admit it, he was actually really angry) because that was scathing.

then he goes to talk to lae'zel who was FROTHING for him, then ends it with, "but I'M NOT GONNA FUCK YOU BC YOU IGNORED ME TOO MANY TIMES" like baby i'm so so sorry Astarion literally had her in the party instead of Gale TO talk to Zorru, but the shit with the Druids turning happened before I spoke to him and note to self do that shit first lmao

Astarion has to go spend the night with Minthy bc he needs ONE of these strong bitches to protect him, but her sex scene is. in the context of astarion's trauma, it was fucking triggering for him and so he wakes up day 3 angry, traumatized, and ready to just fucking go.

he did NOT like woodstock this year. too many bears. (i named the save file woodstock after the bear attack bc we had to pause there lmao)

they finally hit level 3 and it wasn't even by killing anyone. Idr what it was, but it was either discovering a place or just from a quest update lmao

So, level 3 made Astarion feel BALLER enough he started looking for a meal. Karlach wasn't edible, but she attacked first so they had to take her out. Astarion then led them to the Paladins of Tyr and just decided to start wiping them out. No convo. Only murder. He's feeling insecure and too vulnerable after his night with Minthy.

I have no idea who this man will end up with atp because the plan was gale, but shit went sideways real quick and i'm just going to roll with it organically.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 74

"Sweet Sam"? What is ... wait, what the bright blue FUCK is this? "Sweet Sam will FINISH HER!!! In court ..." Bloody hell ... oh gods not the teeth, please not the teeth ... and that's just destroying EVERYBODY ... dear gods Sam WHY?!!!

A human shark ... a Riegel shark ... what a horrible image ...

Awwwwww ... Bells Hells plushies! Liam: "Mine's size accurate!" XD Yeah ...

"Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match ..."

Oof ... TWO DAYS through this terrain? Ouch ...

Considering chancing teleportation? Okay ... boy it sure would be handy if THEY HAD A SPYGLASS ...

Fearne suggesting turning herself into one of those giant toads and carry them all in her mouth ... hmmmm ...

Yeah ... sounds like magic is probably OUT ...

Chetney: "I was trying to be enthusiastic." Laudna (laughing): "I can't tell with your crotchety tone."

Imogen Temult, walking bug-zapper ... XD

Turns out Fearne mostly just survives day by day by pure dumb luck ... O.O

Delilah back in Laudna's head becomes an excuse for Marisha swapping out Feats ... hmmmm ...

Translations ... creepy, somewhat haunting ones ... oof ... this can't be a good sign ...

Iffodola? Okay ...

Ah ... so it's the Oxnard of Exandria ...

Healthy volcanic jungle makes for vibrant environs ... "two layer fog"? Weird ...

Aaaaah ... Survival rolls ... 17 ... Nice ... and 24 Perception for Orym ... but of course ...

To the Beaten Path ... yeah, probably smart ... oh, trust the Changebringer? Guided Grace? Okay ... vibe check, then ... heads? Go that way then ...

Oh, a full-blown RAINFOREST ... okay then ...

Ah ... they're being followed? Big ass boars? No ... what the fuck was THAT thing? Hmmmm ...

Pass Without A Trace? But that would slow them down ... save it, we don't KNOW we're in danger ...

Roll a D6? Oh great ... what did you DO, Travis?

A river? Hmmm ... is it a problem, or ... what exactly IS going on with Chetney right now?

Stick check! Ooof ... okay, probably NOT a good idea ... oh yeah, that's right they DO have TWO Immovable Rods now ...

Chetney literally turns himself into a fishing gnome ... LOL

Ooh, a FISH!!! Nice ... is it a mutation? Seems not ...

Ashton wants Pate to do something? Interesting ... he wants him to BE BAIT?!!! Oh come on ...

Awwww ... wow, Pate's having an existential crisis right now and Laudna wants him go be tackle ... oh wow, this is gonna be interesting ... splash! Hmmm ... he's actually ENJOYING not being eaten "alive" bt piranhas ...

Wow ... is Laudna really about to do a tightrope walk right now? "Naruto RUN!!!" 7 ... oh boy ... and she's IN THE RIVER!!! That is a SHIT SHOT, Letters! Hmmm ...

Telekinetic Pull? Save your girlfriend, Imogen!

Ashton just jumps in to rescue her instead ... andhe REALLY didn't think this through, did he? Oh boy ... swim, barbarian! Swim!

Seedling to the rescue now? Oh, okay ... 21 for Dexterity? Of course he does ... meanwhile Ashton's now Raging ...

And now there's something coming out of the river after them now ... oh shit what the fuck is THIS?!!!

Some kind of freaky demon hippo? Oh for eff's sake ...

Stonky's Ring! Nice save, Fearne!

Crap ... here it comes ... and it's got YOUNG with it! Charming ...

FCG casts Speak With Animals ... "FUCK OFFFFFF!!!" Oh, that's a very unpleasant and cranky beast.

That was ... interesting ...

Oh, now Fearne is leading them? Hmmm ... is this really a good thing? Stop eating poop, Fearne ...

Matt: "Nothing is free." Yeah, clearly they're gonna pay for this somehow later ...

Night is coming ... time to find shelter ...

Fearne trying to remember how she made their little shelter last time ... oh, here we go ...

Nice cosy weird nature hovel ...

Baked fish? Hmmm ... FCG's faking it ... Imogen: "Why are you making it gross?" FCG: "Well I can just wipe it off."

Night falls and it's getting cold ...

Fish jerky, essentially ... charming ... and now his internals stink of fish ... "My hot holes are all fishy now."

Wow Sam Riegel has just made a joke that has LITERALLY made Matt Mercer WALK OUT ...

Crap ... WHY is Matt rolling?

Laudna is taking 9 points of Necrotic damage? From WHAT?!!!

Marisha: "Even though I'm a Hollow One?" Sam: "Oh, he didn't remember that."

Wait ... now LIAM is taking 3 points too?

What creepy ass fresh hell is THIS?!!!

Freaky little shadow imps? Oh that can't be good ...

Shadow Cant ... hmmmm ... oh shit, they understand that shit? That's not good ...

Oh, they want BODY heat ... great ...

Chill Touch? Okay ... 27 for an Attack Roll ... oh, she went up a level ... whoa, THREE Eldritch Blasts now, when she wants to? That should be fun ...

Okay, yes, kill the little fuckers ...

FCG calls on the Changebringer to Turn Undead ... oh yeah, that did it, looks like ...

Crap ... there's more outside? Oh, they're backing off? Hmmm ... HAVE THEY been scared off for good, or ...?

FCG suggests someone be a sacrificial lamb for the rest while they sleep ... hmmmm ...

Trying to concoct some deterrents, then ...

First watch for Laudna and FCG ... no real danger, at least ...

Next to Fearne and Imogen ... Imogen: "They're sad and cute ... I feel sorry for 'em."

Daybreak seems to have seen them off, at least ...

Now Chetney's sounding like he's writing a book ...

Another day's travel and they MIGHT make it to their destination ...

Orym is now riding on Fearne's shoulders as she leads the way. :3

I'm with all if you, what IS going on with Chetney right now?

Oh, he's being romantic? Hmmm ... she puts the flower in her hair. Cue cracks about potential brain parasites ... Ashton: "It's gonna be YOUR fault when she turns on us later."

The base of the mountain ... and there's a weird lake there ... hmmm ...

Weird ground ahead ... a trap? Hmmmm ... oh yeah, that's DEFINITELY suspicious ...

Laudna's sending Pate ... oh, the poor little bugger, not again ...

Grim Psychometry again! Okay ...

Good point, CAN THEY bypass it?

Imogen chucks a big stone in ... yup, there us DEFINITELY a trap here ... shit, it's like a big two level deadfall ... nasty ..

"Fish Cut Bass" ... oof ...

Ashley rolls a 30 on Survival ... wow ... Matt has to reveal EVERYTHING now ...

A shitload of traps, clearly ... apparently it's a reminder of Nana Mori ... O.O ... okay ...

Sam: "Matthew, is a tree an object or a creature?" Matt (with a particularly unsettling grin): "Depends on which tree." Okay then ...

Enquiring if any of this feels familiar to Ashton ...

FCG casts Find the Path using Ashton as the focus in order go find the Tree ... and it tanks. FCG: "You ruined my spell!"

Somebody's coming ...

Oh, so they have bows, and they are NOT friendly, looks like ... standoff ... hmmm ...

So, who are they? She speaks Common. Um ... yeah ... and now it's time for a break ...

Wow ... so what did they say to get THAT response out of him before we came back?

Orym very carefully shows them his satchel with the thing inside ... oh, so THIS is familiar ... Temu? Who's Temu, then?

Okay, this might be all right after all ...

Oh, they know who Jirana is, at least ... that's a good sign.

Ashton has to make a Persuasion Check with advantage ... 9? Oof ...

Oh, so they're allowed to go on at least, but without any help. Oh, they can return the rest of their stuff? Okay, that might make things easier ...

Oh, so that's it? Okay then ...

Laudna: "They seemed very done with us, thanks to Ashton." Hey, now ...

Imogen goes flying up looking for the Tree ... goes back down to fetch Orym to help her look ... much better Perception ... okay, here we go ...

Just flying about for a bit ... oh, so it's like z big fucking SINKHOLE ... yeah, looks like THAT'S a good bet for the location ... back down to the others, then.

Fearne leads the final trek ... to the hole. Cue nany cracks about moist and dark holes ... Matt: "I hate all of this." XD

Aha ... yep, looks like THIS is indeed the way to go ...

So it's a big, long, dark drop ... oh no, there's something down there, but not exactly anything they can really make out ...

The Shadow Realm? Seriously?

Testing the depth ... Laudna has to make a strength check ... Nat20? Holy crap ... wow, so that really IS deep ...

AGAIN considering sending Pate ... I'm with Imogen, they're getting really mean to him. Give the poor freaky bone rat a break, guys!

Wow ... it seems like Imogen's genuinely bonding with Pate now ...

They're genuinely considering just jumping in ...

Little carved Chetneys ... yeah, that's not weird at all ...

Asking the Changebringer if this is safe ... looks like it is ... okay ...

So YES on prepping Featherfall just in case ...

Oh, they're jumping ... yikes!

Something below ... DO IT NOW!!! AAAAAAHHH!!! Laudna casts Featherfall, Imogen flies, Fearne transforms into a shoebill ...

Leaves. Endless jet black leaves ... oh, it's the top of a massive tree. Okay then ...

Touchdown. Very roughly ...

I would feel very safe betting this is Evontravir, then ...

Ashton (to Chetney): "Don't chisel the tree."

Fearne flies down with Imogen carrying Laudna ... and they both get hit in the face by a branch on the way down, each taking THREE POINTS OF SLASHING DAMAGE?!!! Ouch ...

Just weird clutters of various objects scattered around the roots at the base ... weird ...

It is REALLY cold down here ...

Ah yes, the knotty prospect of getting the others down too ... hmmmm ...

Chetney's already climbing down, but the rest are staying put until told otherwise ... oh no, here comes Ashton too ...

Everybody starts singing "Somewhere Out There" from An American Tail ... XD

FCG's descent is ... chunky, but at least Orym makes it fairly smoothly ...

Oh, so these things are like OFFERINGS ... and from all over Exandria, too ...

Grim Psychometry on some random little carved wooden egg bear ... from a veteran soldier, left as a kind of sacrifice ... interesting ...

Detect Thoughts on the Tree ... and it's CONSCIOUS in a really ancient way ...

FCG casts Eagle's Splendour on Ashton as he goes to commune with the Tree ... and he cuts his hand snd presses it to the bark ...

Oh ... well THAT woke it up ... and now the Tree is MOVING ... snd now it has EYES for fuck's sake ... oh boy, that's actually a FACE ...

And now it's talking ...

Ashton: "I seek what is owed to me." Oh ... okay then ...

"As it was fated ..." Oh shit ... so this is all about Ashton's father ...

The Necropolis of Toramunda? A Shard of Kamort? What the fuck?

ASHTON was his destiny? But he couldn't see it because he was blinded by his own ambition? Whoa ...

So ... Ashton is offering Evontravir ... a toke from his pipe? O.O

Ashton: "Be a small man for a minute, you big fuck." LOL

Wow, they're actually doing it ...

Hundreds of people, running and caught, brought to the tree, and vanishing ... what the hell does that even mean?

Evontravir: "There are no nobodies that come this far to find me."

The strength of the Empress ... to restore the might of the Emperor? Okay then ...

It knows about the Solstice and everything it means ... whoa ... " I am the gate, and the boundary." Okay ...

Imogen: "How do we stop Predathos?"

They have to choose the fate of the gods?

Evontravir: "What do you believe in? What is right for this world?"

A shared vision ... a glow of endless red? Oh yeah, that has to be Predathos ...

Yeah, Matt is laying it on THICK with some seriously beautiful poetic metaphor ...

Ah, the Bloody Bridge, and the Moon ... "This is the path you have chosen." Ah ... yeah ...

Oh yeah, good point, Chet ... CAN Evontravir help them get where they need to be?

Damn it, what was THAT? Oh hello ... is that a portal in the tree? Oh! Yes, go, go NOW!!!

They all pile through ... freezing cold, snow ... the edge of a mountain range, mist in the distance ...

Okay, so they're still in the Shattered Teeth ... and now there's a sky whale floating by ... big cavern close by ...

And that's it for tonight ... meanwhile everybody's brains are EXPLODING wondering WHAT THE FUCK is really going on with Ashton ... yeah, same ...

[arobinwithoutbatman]

((Alright folks, under the read more is the very long tale of what's happened so far in my dnd campaign and what happened last night

SO!

I live with my DM, have done for 5 years now and we've been best friends for about 20 years. Ish. We forget how old we were when we met. It's a long story. The entire world is homebrewed; everything from maps to culture to world history to an entire fucking pantheon. Seriously. My best friend is *incredible* and when I'm not involved in a campaign, I've been their sound board.

The party composition has changed a lot since we first started February 2022 for various reasons: -Cleric switched to Bard cause he was getting a bit bored and wanted to try something different for a while. The Cleric is still alive just currently tied up with work at his temple -Original Bard switched to Rogue because she lost her character sheet and it got flavoured that she was always a Rogue and just pretending to be a Bard -Barbarian was kicked out once he finally revealed his true toxic narcisstist colours and if he comes anywhere his ex (the Rogue player) we're calling the police -One of our Sorcerers switched to Paladin because we had no melee party members and got our asses handed to us a few sessions ago. That particular fight was meant to be difficult and unwinnable but not quite as drastic as what ended up happening. Lots of unlucky dice rolls

Current Level 10 Party composition is as follows: -Luran: Half Elf Bard, not sure what college. He's an artist, his inspiration is flicks of colourful paint that twirl very prettily around us -Love: Reborn Tiefling Sorcerer. Can't remember what her source of magic is rn. She's got all of her skin and organs and everything, she's just covered in burns -Farla: Tabaxi Rogue, Assassin specifically. She's caused so many fucking issues for us -.- Oh and she's officially in trouble with her guild for lack of loyalty and therefore potentially getting the rest of us in trouble -Xiderm: Reborn Eladrin Druid/Artificer. The tech thing is recent. He's literally a skeleton. Yes his name is a taxidermy joke. He and Love bond a lot over the death thing -Cassius: Human (I think) Paladin, Oath of Conquest. He's only been with us for a few sessions and was specifically assigned to us by our mercenary Guild Master to babysit us because we keep ending up in shit -Alice (AKA me~): Human Archfey Warlock, Pact of the Tome. I went full Alice in Wonderland because autism brain a couple years back said "This is a thing you like now" so I'm running with it. Wild Beyond The Witchlight only enabled this. My Patron is the Cheshire Cat~ I'm also currently a Dhampir! I got turned a while back and only got found out last night~

I can go into the story of the whole campaign cause that'll take up it's own post tbh but last night~

We finished our journey across the lake and continued escorting a lovely dwarf named Amelia. She's taking a project back to one of the big cities in the area; she's essentially making the world's first WarForged but it's not quite there yet, it's barely even a prototype and not even sentient. We're headed to the same place so we offered to go with her. We settled into this cosy little pub in a crack in a mountain, got a brief lesson on Dwarven culture (whether you finish the drink or not, you accept the mug that is offered to you and at least try a few sips. To so anything else is highly offensive) and settled in for the night before heading off the next morning. We stopped off at a teeny tiny hamlet cause night was falling, city is still like 3 days away. And the inn didn't really have enough rooms and beds for all of us so we sort of just... grabbed whatever space we could in the area.

Which made it difficult for me to sneak off and go find some food. Cause I got turned into a vampire in a session that happened in October and I only started seriously dropping hints in... March? Because I have heard our Druid/Artificer out of character chatting to our DM that he's sure something is going on with me and just never did anything about it in character. So yeah, I've been very quietly communicating with DM for that long for whenever I'm sneaking off at night to go find an animal to suck the blood of.

As you can imagine, I got caught. Rolled a pretty decent stealth check but Xiderm saw through it and was more concerned by the fact that I, Alice, a very proper lady and courtsean who needs sleep, was sneaking out of the inn in the middle of the night. I noticed I was being followed and tried to lose him, thought I did but we're in a mountain area. There's not a lot of wildlife around that would sate me and I went hungry the night before. Xiderm ended up catching me a couple of rodents of varying sizes but it wasn't enough to fully sate me. It'll have to do though. We had a good long talk and I was given an ultimatium: Tell the party about my condition before we reach Kethador ( the city we're headed to) or he will.

Which I've agreed to purely because that city is underground. No wildlife means no blood. Which means I start getting disadvantages after 3 days, after a week I have to kill to be sated and after 12 days I will go feral and we don't know how long we'll be there.

We also had a talk about when it happened (Player actually guessed this) and why. I chose it. When the rest of the party were getting attacked by creatures in the middle of the night, I was called by an alluring voice which turned out to be a very pretty lady vampire who offered me the choice to be turned instead of being attacked by her hoardes of brothers. I had a talk with Chesh and with her and then accepted her offer.

Anyway. Next morning we start going up the mountain pass and end up in a fight with a rock dragon. Think... Gravios from Monster Hunter. And then we ended there because we play in the evenings and some of us needed sleep and had work in the morning.))

[400legends]

"Dauntari - Where Adventure Begins" (Day 175)

"That's the guy?" Requiem studied the image on my handheld.

"Garty O'Brien in the flesh," I said.

"That's a lot of flesh," added Cosmic Peanut from over my shoulder.

The captain was not wrong. The man on the screen, the manager of Dauntari's casino, was clad only in a pair of puffy pantaloons. His muscled chest, shoulders, and arms were bare and glistening.

"What are we seeing here? If I can ask that." Merrin stood beside the captain, and I turned to answer her. "I hacked into the casino's security system. Their security is sub-optimal."

"May I?" Merrin held out her hand, and I passed the device to her. After a minute's study she said, "You're being a little modest, my friend. Some of these caches.... Blueprints, wiring, cameras. You even have the plumbing schematics."

"I doubt we'll need those." I shrugged.

"I hope we don't need those," said Requiem.

"You're expecting trouble?" Esmae turned off her screen and joined the group. "I'm in."

Merrin returned my device, saying, ""Dauntari: where adventure begins.'" She made air quotes with her fingers.

"Is that their thing? Huh." The captain grinned. "It's been too long since I.... adventured."

"Captain, we are approaching Dauntari controlled airspace."

"Steady as she goes," replied Cosmic Peanut. To us she said, "We're gonna relax, eat. Requiem will sing. We'll buy some VR gear, and you know, relax."

"I have never played a game of chance though I have, oddly enough, been to two casinos in my short time alive."

Merrin grinned at me. "Blackjack. That's the game to play. It's a balance of luck and skill."

"Roulette," said Cosmic Peanut. "All luck, no skill."

EDI interrupted whatever Merrin was going to say with, “Captain, do we have reservations?” 

"Open the channel. Ah, Dauntari, this is Captain Cosmic Peanut. I'm transporting intergalactic pop star and singing sensation Requiem (she wiggled her eyebrows at Requiem) to her gig at your casino. Uh, Garry--"

"Garty," I interjected. "O'Brien."

"Garty O'Brien is expecting us."

"Roger that. I see that we have your VIN. You are cleared to land at The Spire."

As I stowed my handheld, I saw that O'Brien's previously empty office was now crowded with half a dozen people of various races. I didn't have sound, but I could see people laughing uproariously at something O'Brien had said. I was looking forward to meeting the man.

As we left Malaka, Esmae said, "Anyone else hungry?"

"I could--" Before the captain could finish her sentence a small blue light sparked to life in front of her. A holograph of a Piranthi woman swayed in front of Cosmic Peanut. "Delight in D/Lish!" the holograph whispered. "Dauntari's newest restaurant - the creation of the galaxy's most creative chef - awaits you." She waved her hand and images of food danced around her. "Only the mind of Chef Silua, Lucia's most famous castaway, could create the meals that await you." An image of a ruggedly handsome Maeshari man replaced the food. "Come, come to..... D/Lish!" With that, the holograph shimmered into nothingness.

"What the hell was that?"

Before anyone could answer Cosmic Peanut, Requiem groaned. "I just got a text from my boyfriend asking me to get tickets for Requiem's concert tomorrow. She - I - am the, quote, 'Voice of the fallen angels of Hanadaria.'"

"Is that a joke?" asked Esmae.

"Nah, it's e-ads," said Merrin. "Enhanced advertisement? I worked on some campaigns way back. Texts, holograms, you name it."

"Captain, I believe that Chef Silua is one and the same our savior Silua from Lucia. He found me in the sleet storm after our pods crashed to the planet."

"The cutie I went sea diving with? He's done well for himself." She glanced around, seeming to take in the polished marble walls with golden accents.

"Yes and in only 6 weeks' time," I said. "I would enjoy going to the restaurant, if only to renew our acquaintance."

The captain's eyes twinkled, and I knew she was about to make some suggestive comment about the man who had returned us to space after our battle with the Veeruxian scout ships. But before she could, two white robed Luonn Tua approached Requiem and bowed. "Mistress, your accommodations await."

They led us to an elevator and shepherded us inside. One bowed to the other, who then produced a black card from his sleeve. He punched in a code and swiped the card. Immediately the elevator began to move sideways before moving up at a rapid pace. The walls and floor turned translucent, and I saw that we were about 200 feet above the casino roof.

The elevator slowed, the doors opened, and a shirtless man wearing green pantaloons stepped forward. He lifted the glass he had in one hand. "Darling. Welcome. Welcome, one and all. To Requiem, our budding superstar!" He took a sip and laughed. "Come in, come in. I won't bite.... Unless you ask." He bowed. "I am your humble host, Garty O'Brien. You," he pointed at Cosmic Peanut, "can call me Gar." He winked and grinned.

Chickpea bruschetta with sun dried tomatoes

1 can (14oz/400 grams) chickpeas, rinsed and drained 1 baguette or rustic bread 2 Tbsp chopped parsley leaves, plus extra to serve 6 sun dried tomatoes, drained and chopped 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or olive oil, plus extra to serve 1 Tbsp lemon juice 2 garlic cloves, peeled 1/4 tsp fine salt, or according to taste black pepper, to taste

[capriciouswriter207]

gonna be not doing this anonymously because I wanna get the notification bwihidhoqjojfoqhoxh

Uh, heya, it's been quite awhile, hasn't it? I haven't had like any time she says as she started reading a new manga as well lots of fanfics on A03 only a few days ago. Well not enough time to actually go and catch up on this, I've decided to try and do that in my summer holidays, which take over a month to come still too, 5 weeks to be precise. 1 week of that is work experience, one day meeting someone that will tell us about how he was in the DDR prison and then getting bought out by the BRD, then also 1 day going to an art museum with my class and I think that should be all, plus period that will make me unable to attend probably like 6 days again, sighs.

Well anyways, how have you been? And all the fabulous anons? How has writing gone? Are your projects going well?

Personally I've for June done an art challenge thing, 1 drawing per week. Had to postpone the next two drawings each by 3 days though because I need to study.

But hey! I at least improved in history! I got one of the better grades in my class, it feels like everyone is failing history tho tbh. I do not want my latin exam back tho. Write physics last Monday, this will decide if I fail this school year or not I'm pretty sure. Tomorrow I'll have an English exam but that's gonna be easy ngl, just gotta finish the last 3 sides of the book we have to read. math exam is next Tuesday, the topic is kinda easy, I think. And a lot more. We also will have to do presentations now in geography, in hopes that will save my geography grade too.

I have fallen in love with the manga "Mairimashita! Iruma-kun!" in hopes I wrote that correctly lol. It's really nice. Can only recommend. Did you like Lizzie's musical? Are you excited for season 2 this Saturday?

Hope you've a nice day/night/wherever you are! Before I leave here I'll show my drawings up to now for FairyTaleJune, first one was Light second one was Darkness!

-I wish you an awesome summer, Star the anonymous (well not so much rn) witch <3

Hi! It's been a while indeed, good to see you again!

It's been a bit quiet over here, but that's mostly on me. I should've probably realized that, with the raye I wqs trying to pump out stories, it wouldn’t last. And it didn't, I got a bit of a writing burn-out that I'm still slowly trying to crawl out of. My biggest problem is that I either write 4000 words per day for three months straight or I don't write anything at all, so trying to find a balance in there has been hard. Took a bit of a writing break, during which I binged all of Critical Role campaign three and I'm now fully caught up. Been doing some crocheting as well, nothing too big, taking it easy. No good news on the job hunting front, though - but hey, what can you do when people turn you down because "you'd be perfect for the job if your verbal communicative skills were better" (bad paraphrase)? I’m just gonna keep trying to find something. 

As for the projects, I've decided that announcing what I'm gonna be working on stuff for accountability meant putting maybe a bit too much pressure on myself that resulted in stress as I progressively couldn't keep up, so I'm not doing that anymore. Wither AU is kept mostly alive by asks and I haven't updated Fear the Wither in months, and probably won't be in the near future because of empires season 2. Tabula rasa and the Caesar House are still actively being worked on, though I may not be doing tumblr posts for Caesar House anymore (should probably make that into a separate post...). I've shelved any other story ideas I've mentioned because I know me - I want to write all the stories and I simply don't have the time and I hate not being able to show you these stories, but I can't force myself to work on them. It wouldn't be fair to you to deliver a product my heart's not in anymore.

I have seen Lizzie’s musical, it was amazing, love it! Don't really have a favorite song yet, letting that simmer in the back of my mind a bit. And I'm very excited for empires season 2, I’m sure it’ll make me hyperfixate and resurrect this blog with random snippets. Can't wait to see where people will settle, with what theme they'll go and who the new twelfth member is. It's gonna be so much fun!

It’s been good talking to you, Star. good day/afternoon/night to you, too! Those drawings look great!

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E5; Chapter Five, The Flea and The Acrobat - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘔𝘳. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

His heart racing, Hopper could hear the blood pumping in his ears as he ran through the twisted corridors of the Lab. Beads of sweat dripped down his face as he swiftly maneuvered the facility be had just broken into in search of the missing boy.

"Will?" His desperate calls echoed off of the cold tile walls.

"Will?"

In the midst of his frantic haste, he had gotten turned around. The chilling corridors all seemed the same and a new wave of panic flooded him. Taking a deep breath, the chief tried his best to recompose himself. He came across a crossroads, it resembled a four-way intersection that one may find on an ominous back road in the country. He stared ahead and sighed.

Each corridor was identical to the next. Cold and unwelcoming.

"You gotta be shittin' me." He growled under his breath.

Grabbing his bearings, the man kept straight and hoped for the best.

The hallway stretched for what felt like miles, when finally, after a few turns, it came to a dead end. He looked around and noticed this was quite different than the others.

The chief's instincts that had earned him the title in the first place suggested to him that the small corner of the facility had been long forgotten. This particular area had been neglected the upkeep that was evident in the rest of the laboratory. Ahead of him lay two doors; an old broom closet, labeled as such, and a rather ominous looking door, with an accompanying window with a glimpse inside an untidy room.

This particular room piqued his interest. The door was closed, though the handle seemed to be broken, the room ajar. Hopper cautiously stepped toward the door, reaching his arm out and slowly pushed it open.

Hopper stepped inside the cluttered room, his heart racing, not knowing what to expect. It was clear that the room was designed to have a greater purpose, but had been hastily abandoned and eventually forgotten. It seemed that just about every item in the room, much like the rest of the facility, was made of steel. From the counters to the filing cabinets with half-opened drawers. His eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as he stepped inside and around the steel table to the cabinet on the opposite end of the room.

Knowing he had little time, he shone his flashlight into the drawer and he quickly rifled through the filing cabinet waiting for something that might catch his eye. Hopper sighed in disappointment when he found nothing useful. He began to shut the filing cabinet in defeat when he caught a small glimpse of a peculiar label shoved all the way to the back, almost like it was meant to be forgotten.

Tilting his head in curiosity, Hop pulled the drawer out as far as it would go and even then, the man had to reach for the file. It a wonder he caught it in the first place. He pulled it from the drawer and examined the front with haste.

The label on the edge of the manilla folder had been scratched out and written over many times that it was now indistinguishable. The front cover was all blank, except for a few words that had been scribbled in black ink.

SUBJECT 009; THE MISSING EXPERIMENT

The familiar words sparked something in Hopper. With no time to waste he shoved the file into his jacket and closed the cabinet, making a run for the door.

Fortunately, Hopper was able to retrace his steps back to the where he had gotten lost, this time making a right turn down the hallway. He continued his calls for Will when suddenly, he found himself in a room, not that different from the strange room he found himself in earlier. Only this room, contained a bed.

And a security camera, which happened to be the first thing Hopper noticed when he entered.

He stepped closer to the bed, the light of the flashlight landing on a small stuffed animal, that was placed neatly at the top of the bed near the pillow. Frowning, Hopper moved his flashlight to the wall above the bed, a small piece of printer paper had been taped to the wall.

It was a drawing, clearly done by a child.

There were two people depicted in the drawing, in the form of stick figures. What appeared to be a tall man standing next to a smaller stick figure who he could only assume to be artist. The child wore a frown, and they faced a table that appeared to have a cat on it. Hopper almost didn't notice the words above each stick figure.

Above the child, was the number eleven. And above the man, written in messy handwriting was a single word.

Papa.

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

The five of us were scattered around Mike's basement. El was curled up on the couch, most likely physically exhausted from contacting Will. Mike was sitting at the opposite end of the couch by El's feet, concentration etched in his features. Lucas occupied the lounge chair deep in thought while Dustin resides at the bottom of the stairs.

"What was Will saying?" Mike wondered.

He began reciting Will's words from earlier in an attempt to recall the only clue we might have that he might be alive.

"Like home... Like home... but dark?" He stood up from the couch, hands still in his jacket pockets as he began pacing the room.

"And empty." Lucas pressed his intertwined fingers against his forehead, his eyes closed deep in thought.

My leg bounced up and down at an alarming rate, a nervous habit I picked up at a young age as I spoke up, my eyes still focused on one random corner of the room.

"And cold."

Dustin sighed.

"Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" He looked around the room, seeming to second guess himself.

"I don't know, I think? The stupid radio kept going in and out." Lucas sighed.

"He did. He said cold." I muttered, unable to shake the haunting voice of my friend's terrified cries for help.

"Like home." Mike repeated once more. "Like his house?"

"Or maybe like Hawkins." Lucas offered eagerly.

"Upside Down." El muttered.

"What'd she say?" Lucas asked.

"Upside Down." Mike said, a hint of astonishment in his voice as something seemed to have clicked.

"What?" Lucas repeated.

Mike walked over to the table I sat at and looked at the overturned game board. It was then, I recalled what El had been telling us the other night, with Will's game piece.

My mouth fell into a silent gasp as everything began falling into place. I turned myself back around in the chair and looked at the board.

"Upside down." I breathed.

Mike had taken a seat across from me, both hands on the game board while the other boys got up and joined us at the table.

Mike began flipping the board over multiple times as he explained.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down. Dark. Empty. Cold." He finished, locking eyes with me as he said the last word.

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked me and Dustin.

We replied simultaneously.

"Yes."

"No."

We both looked at each other with confusion and a hint of annoyance for a split second before dismissing the thought.

"Come on guys, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" I offered, gesturing all around me as I spoke.

Lucas shrugged.

"Yeah. And he wasn't there."

"But what if he was there?" I offered, eyebrows raised as I looked between my brother and Lucas. "What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?"

The boys, aside from Mike, of course, seemed to consider this. Mike jumped back in as he flipped the board right side up once more.

"What if this is Hawkins and..." he flipped it back. "This is where Will is? The Upside Down."

Dustin seemed to perk up as he connected his own dots.

"Like the Vale of Shadows."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Dustin slammed Mike's collection of Dungeons and Dragons guides and spell books on the table and began flipping through the various guidebooks. After a few moments he stopped on the page he had been looking for and began to read aloud.

"The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death. A plane out of phase. A place of monsters."

As he read the next sentence, Mike, Lucas and I all shared the same, unsettled look, and a chill ran down my spine.

"It is right next to you, and you don't even see it." Dustin finished, and looked up, sharing our looks of concern.

Mike spoke up.

"An alternate dimension."

It seemed I was not the only one who was having difficulty handling the information.

"But... how... how do we get there?" Lucas asked worriedly.

"We cast Shadow Walk." Dustin said.

"In real life, dummy." Lucas deadpanned.

"We can't shadow walk, but... maybe she can." Dustin offered.

We all look to a drowsy looking El.

"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike asked her gently.

She shook her head softly and we all felt the heavy ache of disappointment. Some of us were better at hiding it.

"Oh, my God!" Lucas sighed dramatically.

I tuned out the bickering that began between the boys when I gestured for the handbook and Dustin complied, sliding it over to me.

Maybe, just maybe, there must be something in one of these books that could help us or even give us an idea. I began flipping through the spell book and found myself lingering on my characters class, the Druid. More specifically, the Druid spell pages, getting lost in thought.

My eyes scanned the pages, my hope and curiosity had bubbled down to desperation and boredom as I read the all too familiar page. This time, with a new lense.

I recognized the many spells I had used in previous campaigns; Produce Flame had gotten me out of a pinch with a mimic once, I smiled at the memory. And of course, Plant Growth - one of my personal favorites - Will would always tease me about my love for plants carried on into my character.

I soon found myself unable to tear my attention away from one of the lower class spells I always used, Cure Wounds. Something in the back of my mind kept gnawing at me. I bore my eyes into the page as I reread the words over and over again.

"You or a creature you touch regains a number of Hit Points equal to 1d8 + your Spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on Undead or constructs."

It dawned on me. That night we saw "Will". It was just moments before we heard the sirens, I realized my cut had mysteriously vanished. I had immediately gotten distracted when we heard the sirens and then everything happened one after the other that I had forgotten.

'How could I possibly have forgotten something like that?'

I thought about El. A week ago I never believed it possible to move things with your mind, but yet El could. It made me wonder.

I shook my head, clearly, I was grasping at straws.

'Remember what mom said?' I asked myself, some part of me desperate to bury the ridiculous notion growing in the back of my mind. 'My body has always been faster than most medicines.'

I broke myself out of my thoughts to see Dustin and Lucas packing up. Suddenly realizing how tired I was, I happily joined in and grabbed my jacket from the chair and we said our goodbyes.

[fulcrum-agent]

012. Promises [FFXIVwrite2021]

She seems to be packing up some things into a small pack, many different articles of light clothing.

The Bozjan enters the bedroom by passing through the curtain threshold. Upon seeing her packing something into a small pack, he'd speak up and ask, "What.. are you doing?"

"The Outlaw's got a contract from Dalmasca," she explains as she looks over her shoulder. "We're going into Golmore to rescue a bunch of Rava the Empire's been using as...living incubation chambers."

He crosses his arms over his chest and cants his head curiously. "Living.. incubation chambers..?"

There's a slight nod as she finishes packing.

"Yeah...for clones of a hypertuned sharpshooter named Novinius," she clarifies for him. "The guy we killed in Velciff. They were apparently manufacturing more of him."

"Hmph... If he is.. someone that you've killed before," he considers aloud, "then making sure that.. he doesn't come back in a sense would be.. a priority."

He's given another slight nod in response.

"He broke an oath made to the Creed, a group that some of the crew trained with," she continues as she ties the satchel closed. "Everyone was relieved when he was killed, but now..."

Frowning, the Bozjan notes as he uncrosses his arms, "Now.. you will all need to just.. prevent him from returning."

"Yeah, and kill of the bastard who's doing all this," she adds as she turns to face him. "Who also was thought to be dead. Guy called the Butcher. Friend of my Father's. That should tell you enough."

This gives her lover pause before he quietly asks, "... You have a sense of.. responsibility to this, don't you? Because of this Butcher's connection to your father."

She nods a little.

"So does Lio. The...woman who came to ask for our help was..." her voice trails off as she shivers a little, "...she was more bits and pieces than a whole. I dunno how they got her back into the shape she's in now, short of a Padjali hiding somewhere in the crew."

"I see," he intones before asking, "Will your brother.. be joining you on this mission?"

"This is a whole crew effort, yeah," she explains to him as she nods. "We're...going so far as to take the Arcadia instead of the Outlaw," she confirms for him. "It's...possibly a suicide mission if any of us fuck up."

She sets the pack down on the ground. "If this Butcher's anything like Father...the place is more well-guarded than most castrums are."

He frowns a lot when she says that this is possibly a suicide mission. "Are you... serious?"

"I am. Novinius could shoot a man down from malms away, perfect headshots," she answers quietly with a nod. "His clones may or may not be capable of the same. Variants could be even more dangerous than the original - just look at Merrick."

The Bozjan takes a few steps closer to her, staring directly into her blue eyes with his almost-luminescent green eyes.

"I did not.. ask about a dead man's clones. I asked you... if you are serious about this mission," he gently corrects before asking more questions. "A suicide mission? And Liocyon is going as well..?"

She reflexively reaches down to grasp both of his hands, nodding a little.

"Yeah, I am. So's Lio," she answers, now that he's clarified the question. "It's dangerous, but as long as everyone plays their part...we'll make it back alive...I think."

In a tone that reveals his disappointment, he asks, "... And you were not.. thinking of asking me.. to join you, were you?"

"I...don't have a choice, Leth. Locke's not against you joining the crew, but this isn't just some slaver run," she quietly explains to him. "We got the request last night, not long after getting back from Coerthas. If there were more time, he might agree to it...but..."

"You have just returned from Coerthas.. after spending a lot of your still-growing aetherpool, and now.. you are being sent on a mission.. that is highly dangerous," he shakes his head, and not realizing that his hands had been grabbed yet. "This is.. ridiculous."

She fidgets a little at that.

"I've gained most of it back, and the rest was made up for with aetherwine," she assures him softly, gently squeezing his hands. "We don't always get the luxury of a full recovery."

Sighing, the man relents a little, "No... No, we are not. Not on a battlefield and not even... at home."

Letting go of one of his hands, she reaches up to touch his cheek as she speaks, "You went off to Zadnor alone and came back. I'm sure I'll be fine in Golmore with an entire crew beside me."

He narrows his gaze and opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out besides air. She's got him there. The Hyur closes his eyes and lowers his head, slightly leaning into the touch of her hand.

"... Promise me that.. you will return." He murmurs.

"I-- at best, I can promise I'll do everything in my power to," she replies to the request, frowning, "but there's no way I can promise I will, not with how many unknown factors there are, on top of the known risks."

"... That is.. a fair point," he admits before falling silent for a long moment.

A very long moment.

"If you do come back to me..." he softly states, almost shyly, "then... then..."

Her head cants as she murmurs, "Then...what?"

The Bozjan raises his head and opens his eyes to look her directly in the eyes as he states, with conviction, "...I will promise...that we will...marry."

His declaration causes her to blink a lot. Then, her mouth falls open, and for a moment, the troubadour is quite speechless. The best she can do, at first, is nod faintly. Then, her mouth closes, and she leans her forehead against his, biting her lower lip to keep her emotions in check.

"...I'll fight like hell to come back to you, Leth. Promise."

He took one step forward before leaning in to press his forehead against hers. When they are met, Byleth closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath.

"That...is what I wanted to hear. And I promise you...as well, Quil," he states with a soft smile.

She enjoys the moment briefly, shifting to embrace him as she sighs softly.

"...that aside...why were you upset yesterday?" she asks quietly.

The Bozjan embraces her also but would hesitantly answer her question.

"...I was...upset yesterday because...you were claiming to be...a Bozjan Blade." He keeps her in his arm, but he pulls back enough to look at her. "The title of Blade is...not so easily or freely given, Quil."

"Blades are...given a badge of...honour to show that...they are indeed Blades. You...are not a Blade. You do not...have a badge. If the knight had...called you on your bluff and...you could not prove yourself, then we...might not have been able to enter the castle," he explains quietly. "Carrying Talekeeper...isn't enough to persuade others that are...not knowing of Bozjan traditions. No one but us...would understand the weight of both Talekeeper and... Crownsblade."

She blinks several times, frowning a little as she gazes at him.

"It was just a bluff, though I've always been willing to help continue Jeralt's legacy," she explains to him. "But...we really didn't have many options, and I could have glamoured something to look like the badge they carry."

"It's quite possible, with how far out Lucine was, that he doesn't have any idea what all a Blade would have," she adds as she reaches up to gently brush some of his hair out of his face. "I'm sorry if doing such upset you, but I couldn't think of another way they'd let a Garlean commanding a squad in."

"T'was...a bluff that did work in our favour in the end, but 'twas also dangerous if they did not...believe us and instead...attacked us," the Hyur sighs as the Garlean brushes some of his hair out of his face. "I know...that you wish to...honour and continue my father's legacy. I would not have...given you Talekeeper if...I thought otherwise."

"I did not...understand why I was...upset at first, but...I later realized that...I may have...developed...hm, developed...Ah, a sense of.. pride. As a... Bozjan, I suppose. The title that I now carry.. like the one that.. my father also carried..." he states, nodding here and there before adding, "I'm sorry, Quil."

"You...were made a Blade? Officially?" she asks as she blinks, confused. "When?"

He nods in confirmation before answering with, "Before the campaign in Zadnor...there were other Blades of Gunnhildr before we...had arrived to meet my father. In my father's passing...in the betrayal of a resistance member, the remaining Blades were tempered and transformed...into monsters. Or so...I have read in reports. The ranks of the Blades of Gunnhildr...were incredibly low to empty. New Blades...like myself, had to be...recruited during the...Zadnor campaign."

She just stares at him for a long moment.

"Do...they have any idea that I have Talekeeper?" she asks, rather plainly as she starts to get fidgety again. "Are they going to be okay with that?"

"They...do not know that you are in possession of Talekeeper. Talekeeper and Crownsblade were...entrusted to me after...Bozja was liberated, and...I do not know how they will react...to you having it. But...that is not for them to decide," he says with a shake of his head.

Again, she goes quiet and stares at the Bozjan for a long moment.

"...but it's a Blade's weapon...I'd think they'd have some say over it?" she asks, concerned. "I mean, if they get upset, I'm okay with giving it back. If they don't and still need help, I'm willing to do that too. I just don't want you to have this stripped from you over me."

"...Aquila, you...do make some fine points. I find it hard...to protest against what...you are saying, but...It is okay...that you keep using Talekeeper," he insists to her. "If we ever return to Bozja...and meet with the Blades, then we can discuss it with them...about this."

"When I get back from Dalmasca," she suggests to him, smiling softly. "So that no one loses their shit when I'm carrying Talekeeper down the aisle instead of flowers."

He blinks once at that last bit before canting his head slightly. "You'd carry Talekeeper.. because of Jeralt?"

In response, she nods a little. "It's not like my Father's gonna be walking me down the aisle, so Lio and your father should."

"Hmph...Not that we...would allow him to be there.. in the first place," he comments before smiling softly down at her.

There's a nod of agreement to that.

"Yeah. I doubt he'd show up anyways, even if he was invited," she agrees before deprecating, "I am the 'disappointment' after all."

He frowns for a brief moment when she self-deprecates. Then, he would raise one of his hands up to cup the side of her face, and he tells her, "That...is what he may call you... But it is not.. what I see you as. You.. are more valuable and.. precious than you could ever know, Quil."

"I know, Leth," she murmurs in reply, smiling just a little. "Just...in case...always remember that I love you..."

And with that, she gives the Bozjan the most passionate kiss she's ever given him.

"And I love you-" he started to say before he's rudely interrupted with the most passionate kiss he's received yet from the Garlean. A kiss so from out of left-field that it leaves him stunned afterwards.

She lingers in the kiss for a very long time, though there's not much time left before she needs to go - not enough to do more than kiss him. So when she finally withdraws, it's slowly and with hesitance.

He is hesitant to let go of her as well, though he has faith, trust, and her promise that she will return to him...he cannot help but feel, huh.

She's now making him feel again, as she constantly has since introducing him to the concept. Finally, after they both withdraw from the kiss, he says the signature phrase of the Bozjan Blades he's been citing lately.

"For the Queen... Return."

"For the Queen," she echoes, having cited the phrase frequently since receiving Talekeeper, "I shall."

[guigz1-coldwar]

'Truth & Lies' :New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"Truth & Lies"

Chapter Summary : Bell awake for real in the new safehouse as Sims finally started the group's moves on Duvall

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +4000

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After having a little talk with Sims himself and going back to Park, I was finally able to return back to sleep with her, getting out of my head all the negatives thoughts I had about everything on me. Just by having Park either in my arms or having me in her arms, I was feeling more peaceful and in safety, giving me a sort of protection against my bad dreams but even with her, they were still there and what happened when I woke up in the middle of the night proved that point of view : they will still continue to persist.

Nonetheless, it was the last one of the night, allowing me to have a proper sleep until I woke up. The first thing that woke me up was in fact the sound of a radio that was downstairs, it was not loud but enough to wake me as I was blinded by the sun through the window that was raising up on the city. When my eyes were fully operational, I saw that I was the only person on the bed as Park already left and there were no need to panick at all.....don't worry, Yiri ! She's just downstairs, having breakfast !......

I didn't plan to stay on the bed any further and in a second, I got up from the bed and start dressing myself up with my clothes. It was just 9:42 AM in here but since it's our first official day of work in the US, it was better for me and the others to get ready early in case. Once I was ready, I make a quick turn to my room to take the necessary : my handgun and my jacket and then I head off downstairs to join the others.

There weren't anybody in the kitchen but there were some food on the table for anyone to take and also a little coffee machine on the counter. I decided to just take an little crescent with an cup of coffee, not something too big as I was still feeling like a knot in my chest, thinking of the last bad dream I had with Zasha. I really hope that they're alive somewhere with their brother, maybe with Portnova. They has to be alive !

My coffee ready, I start to walk to the living room....well, our operations room. It was there that I could hear the source of the radio and also some people talking. When I arrived just near the door leading to that room, I could see Park and Sims, chatting while they were having their breakfast, of everything and nothing, sit on two differents couchs.

"Hey, Yirina !" Park was the first one to saw me arrive in the room as the door was just at her sight, she was holding her cup of coffee in hands, having just taken a sip from it. "Come have a sit." She tapped at her right, showing me the empty place on her couch.

"You're looking like someone who has a good night." Sims looked at me, I could hear the funny feeling in his voice, more like as a 'you slept well with Park, I seem.'

"Well, at least, I'm not looking like someone from the NVA or an viet-cong !" I joked, finally sitting on the couch, Sims laughing from it as Park, looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"There's something I'm not aware or...." She started to question, mixing between looking at me & Sims, confused. "Sims ?" She asked her, looking serious

"Let's say that I almost took Yirina for an soviet as I was dreaming of Vietnam." He replied, winking at me. "In fact, yes, she is an soviet....an old one...." He added as I was giving him a fake serious look with that statement.

"You almost shot me in the face." I pointed at him, not making him forget that he nearly took his gun that was on that table.

"You entered the kitchen without making a noise !" He exclaimed, putting his cup of coffee on the small table that was between our two couchs

"How I couldn't know that you were in that kitchen, sleeping on that chair ?" I asked him, getting further into that little fun game we just started before taking a bit of the crescent and a sip from my own coffee.

"I wasn't sleeping, I was dreaming." He tried to defend himself before I could see Park rolling her eyes, desesperated.

"Oh my god, you're sounding like two kids in my charge." She said, getting comfy in the couch as we both looked at her. "By that, if you had killed Yirina...." She started, slowly looking at Sims with an look that could kill a god......was she faking it....or not ?......"I would have become your worst nightmares." Nope, she wasn't faking it but even with that, she decided to relax him by laughing at her turn, showing that she was joking......not really.

"She meaned it." I affirmed as Sims smirked, I know that he know about us but he know that he can't talk about this....hopefully. "Anyways, how's everyone feeling ?" I asked, maybe to both.

"Doing great, just had a great night." Park was the first to reply, turning her head around to wink at me with her eye that wasn't at Sims sight but I think he saw it.

"Same for me...if we don't count your intervention." Sims finally answered, making me rolling my eyes again before I looked around, wondering of something,

"Where's Wolf ?"

"He will arrive shortly : he's training in the Bayou." Sims responded as he was to know more about Wolf. "The Bayou is like his playground, he's from Louisiana." He added, giving me more details about the man in charge of the place.

"Since when do you know him ?" Park asked

"Exactly ? I don't remember...." Sims shook his head, passing his hand through his hair, removing his cap on the way.

"Actually...." A voice was heard near the door before it could reveal Wolf himself in his casual clothes, holding an sniper rifle in his right hand. "We met when I joined the Delta Force at my 18 birthday." He added finally entering the room.

"Hi, Wolf !" I waved at him....at the same time as Park while Wolf walked through the room to get to a table where guns were posed on.

"How was the training ?" Sims asked him

"As usual." Wolf simply replied as he put his sniper rifle on the table before looking at me & Park. "You had a good night, I hope ?" We both nodded as I could see Sims having a little grin on his face...yeah,yeah, we know that you know, Sims....."So, I guess that we could finally have our briefing as we have everything now to start."

"Okay...." Sims whispered, getting up from his couch to move next to the dashboard we all saw last night, filled this time with more info than before. "Before we can strike Duvall, we have to take care of 2 persons." He moved his right hand towards a picture of a bald man with glasses "That guy is Tony Derazio, Duvall's most trusted lieutenant that is the guy making sure that the money is well used." He then moved his hand to show another picture, this one, still with glasses but with long hair. "Him....we only know him as Alvarez !"

"Alvarez is a Cuban counterfeiter that worked with Duvall as a little side business." Wolf added to Sims's briefing. "He's been very discreet and his trips is always secured, not allowing anyone to approach him."

"I'm sure that those guys are not easy to take care of, right ?" I muttered, taking that piece of intil about Alvarez.

"Duvall, Derazio & Alvarez are somehow not very public but the worst is Derazio, that guy....we only see him like one time in a week." Wolf proclaimed, showing to us some pictures from Derazio from afar during his rare times in public. "Of course, Duvall has to go to public time to time for his election campaign." He crossed his arms, looking at Duvall's election poster as my eyes....well...were focused on an picture of an light brown haired person.

"Who are they ?" I pointed to them, that picture.

"Them ?" Sims shook his head. "Frankly, we don't have any ideas. Apparently been starting to follow Duvall everywhere around when he's in public since a week."

"Maybe someone from Perseus acting like an protegee ?" Park suggested, raising an eyebrow at Sims.

"Could be..." Wolf snorted, looking at her picture. "With us now acting, we can maybe know more about that them."

"Today is going to be about scouting." Sims started, moving away from the dashboard to get to a table where some equipment were posed on. "Derazio will be the first guy to fall but we have to know more."

"Where do we start ?" I asked, having finished my coffee and crescent

"Me & Wolf will be charged to make some surveillances about Derazio's doings while you two....." Sims replied before looking at us, turning his back to us. "You maybe want to attend a political meeting from Duvall." He suggested before he showed to us a paper where we could see that Duvall was organizing a little speech today in the New Orleans.....I was a little bit taken aback to attend this kind of thing.

"He's organizing it at the Louis Armstrong Park at 2 PM, if you want to know." Wolf added.

"So, I guess that we don't have any choice...." I breathed, looking at Park who wasn't pleasant by doing this too but we have no choice and it could help us to know better about who is Duvall in person, expect of seeing his face on poster. "Well, let's not waste anything !" I got up from my couch, ready to work !

Once we cleaned up our coffee, we were really ready to go to work on Duvall's case and on his lieutenants. Wolf showed me some radios to work as Sims told him of my cryptography skills from my time in the KGB, not even mentioning one second that I was with Perseus at all. By checking the various transmissions that I worked for the next following minutes, Duvall's communications were not even using the Perseus code, I know that because I remember to be the one who created it.

Instead, they were using the american code, the same one as the CIA used back in my memories while decrypting files with Zasha and bad for Duvall, that code was a piece of cake for me. The first transmissions allowed me to discover various place where Derazio is apparently asking for sort of protection to business, like extortion & racket. It is where Duvall get a part of his money as the other part, it was Alvarez who is making it, by laundering money for him. All of this coming from the transmissions I have decrypted.

After that, there were nothing else for me as the transmissions were stopped for the day and I took more than 3 hours to do this while the others were making their moves : Park calling the MI6 to have more intels on Alvarez as he was an cuban, Sims & Wolf were planning their recon on the places I have found thanks to the transmission. It was 1:40 PM and we were finished eating as Sims & Wolf left before it was our turn as me & Park were going late to Duvall's little political speech.

We took another car that Wolf was able to get for us and then, we were in our very way to get to Louis Armstrong Park, our destination. Thanksfully, we were lucky to not have lost our way around the city while I was discovering it at the same time. It was pretty charming, very pleasant....very changing from Europe, I can say. 10 minutes after we left that we arrived at our destination. We parked the car on a parking and then, we entered the place, finding a empty bench where we could watch & hear Duvall at a safe distance.

There weren't a lot of people but there were enough for us in case we needed to hide in it. We kept our eyes on the podium where we could see 'Duvall 1984' writed a lot around it with his own slogan : 'America First'......just like the name of his party....how original ! Then, the crowd start to cheer as Duvall arrived on the podium with his escort....and the light brow haired woman at his side, dressed in casual clothes, differencing herself from Duvall's men. He then started his speech with us looking.

"So...this is Duvall...." I started, getting my arm on the bench backrest just behind Park, looking at Duvall, already annoyed by his speech.

"I understand your pain at listening to him." Park exclaimed, also annoyed by him before I could see giving me a quick look. "I see that politics isn't your thing..."

"Politicians is always making promises, are they really holding them ?" I asked a rhetoric question, not awaiting for a response. "I lived in an country where there's only one party and for that, it was already hard to keep promises up." I added, been talking about the old Soviet Union, joking about it to Park

"Thanks for reminding me how the Soviet Union politics is working, Yirina." She scoffed, making a little lovely nudge at me.

"These promises....it's all truth and lies given like that and it's more lies." I whispered, joining my hands together, thinking. "By hearing Duvall, I'm wondering how these peoples could lie as the population is going to vote for him."

"Guess that politicians aren't the people that you have in your heart." She said, putting her left hand above my heart as I looked at her "I can say that I'm sharing a little bit of that thought."

"Maybe because my heart is reserved to my friends and loved one ?" I told her, giving her a lovely look and making her blush before focusing on Duvall, visually and not by hearing him. "And to say now that we're trying to avoid an Perseus backed up politician to take control of the US by working with the same organization that wanted me dead." I added, revealing my obvious thoughts at Park.

"Can say the same for me." She exclaimed, referring to what happened to her. "You know that only the MI6 know that you're alive ?" By hearing her, I looked at her, worried.

"What ?" I snorted

"I managed to persuade Adler to not tell the CIA about you, fearing that they can try to finish what they started 3 years ago even if you're now under my responsability." She replied, giving me a little grin. "Of course, the MI6 is keeping secret your presence along with Adler and the team."

"So, I'm very lucky that you are there for me, avoiding maybe Hudson to storm in and to put a bullet himself in me." I smiled at her, relieved of her choices for me.

"With all the arguments I had with Hudson during those years and if I was given one bullet because of them, I would have been able to supply the entire British Army !" She then laugh about it, meaning that it would be a damn lot of arguments in three years. "I'm grateful to have the Crown in my back." She nudged me again like before.

"I guess I became great friends with the Crown and the MI6." I suggested to her, she nodded "God save the Queen...." I said in a low voice before making a little laugh about it and I looked at Park, having an serious look on her face.

"They are leaving the podium !" She told and I looked back at the podium to see that the ligh brown haired person was actually leaving alone the podium while Duvall was still talking. "What are we doing ?" She asked me before I had an idea and I got up,

"I'm going to follow her to see where they are going." I replied, checking if the woman was still in my sight. "Stay here to check for Duvall, we will join together back at the car when we're done."

"Ok, don't do anything stupid, we're not armed." Park exclaimed as we didn't take our guns in public, it was too risky and we weren't going to transform an public park in an warzone.

I winked at Park and then, I walked away from the bench to follow that strange person accompanying Duvall everywhere and now, they left like that without saying a thing. I could see them from afar in front of me as they left the park to cross the street. I quickly moved to allow myself to get close to them in a safe distance, fearing to lose them from my view. They wasn't suspicious of been followed and hopefully, he helped because it's not everyday that we see an redhead woman, wandering around the New Orleans with an scar on her side of the head.

After walking for minutes in the streets, they finally stopped next to a phone booth, checking if there weren't anyone inside before entering it. What they were going to do was maybe going to help us to know more about her and maybe Duvall. I found, by the odds a empty bench that was just next to the phone booth, hidden from its sight and facing the street and I decided to sit on it and again, I was able somehow to hear what they were talking about as she didn't closed the door entirely, I took a little notebook that I bring with me to take notes.

"Vikhor !" It was the first thing they said....a name that isn't american and they weren't sounding american too...."It's Sonya !" They added.....wait, are they that Sonya that had a big question mark in that memory ?

"How's life in America ?" I could hear a man's voice asking.....how I can hear it too ? At least, it's allowing me to follow the whole conversation.

"It's terrible : everything is making me sick." They replied, sounding exhausted to be there. "I have enough to act like Duvall's little puppy, following him around to protect his ass in public."

"I know, sister." The man exclaimed. "Even if Duvall is necessary for Perseus's plans, he's a very stubborn man." So.....they are from Perseus and that man too.....noted !

"Vikhor, I'm sick of been like that, I'm going back home." They told him angry, maybe homesick....

"Sonya, I can't let you do that, we need...."

"No !" They almost shouted, cuting her, what I supposed now, brother. "He can stick his own protection where I think."

"Have you always been like that ?" Their brother asked, like if it was normal for him to ask that. "Wait, don't answer. I already know."

"I just want to come back home and to be with Freya." They.....Freya ?....wait, what's the meaning of all of this ? Is this person with Freya ? "I'm taking an taxi and I'm leaving the US, Vihkor."

"Guess I can't argue with you." Their brother said in a lazy voice.

"Before you hang out, can you give Freya's number of her satellite phone ? " They asked, wanting to know it, desesperatly.....and somehow, me too. "Please.." She pleaded

"Fine, I have it, be attentive." Their brother breathed before he start to tell her the number and if I couldn't hear him saying it, they were repeating the number as they were writing it, allowing me to write it too. "Okay, now, leave the US, I have my plans soon set in motions." He finally said after finishing to tell her the number before she hang out the phone.

I was going to continue to follow them but then, they were able to get into a taxi that arrived in a instant and then, I lost track of them. They were Perseus attachée to Duvall and they weren't liking him at all, explaining why they decided to left the country. Because of their departure, they weren't a target for us....for the moment. I realized that this person was the 'Sonya' mentioned in those files with an big question marked next to her name but what is her last name and who is this Vikhor ?

Well, my job was done here....until I have a bad idea....In a second, I decided to go inside the phone booth with Freya's number in hand. Hearing her name has maked my thoughs mixed again and I don't know what I was doing now : contacting her ? It's too dangerous but somehow, I couldn't control myself to do it anyway. I started to enter the number after I put some money in the phone booth and I wasn't able to stop myself. I was trembling by a lot when I start to hear the phone ringing, biting my lips in stress.

"Freya Helvig !" I could hear Freya's voice and it put me in a big state of stress, my body wasn't responding anymore and my voice....I couldn't speak, what I was going to tell her ? "Is there anybody ?" I started to breath loudly before I took a deep breath.

"Shit, I'm sorry." I whispered in the phone before I hang it up brutally, trying to calm myself down after what I have just done, I did something stupid !

It took me minutes to calm down in that phone booth, a knot in my chest like this morning, my lungs hurting me because of my breaths and my feets feeling in fire before I could finally leave it. I wasn't feeling so well on my way back to the car, trembling a lot, hiding my head to the others with my hood as I could feel my face all white. I was still catching back my breath during the way, making it either silently or louder. I finally arrived at the car where Park was already waiting for me at the driving seat.

"Yirina, you're alright ?" She asked me as I entered the car, still in the same recovering state as before. I leaned myself on the passenger seat, my head looking on top. "Yirina, what's wrong ?" She put her hand on the top of my chest, just below my neck

"I....I did....something stupid !" I said, losing my words and struggling to have my breath back.

"Did they spot you ?" I shook my head to her.

"No, everything went okay, they were as just Perseus agent named Sonya sent to protect Duvall but...." I stopped, getting my hand on top of hers, giving me some relieving. "They weren't willing to stay any longer and they called their brother from Perseus to say that they were leaving and then, right now, they're maybe in the skies, I couldn't follow them more as they jumped into a taxi."

"They left like that ?" I nodded "But what's wrong ? You couldn't know that they were going to left and who they were ?" She added, looking worried by my state.

"They....they asked for Freya's number !" I replied, handing to her the notebook where it was written down, she took a closer look to it. "When Sonya was gone, I don't know what's got into me but....I called Freya." I sniffed, looking away in shame, trying to hold back my tears "I'm sorry."

"What did you say to her ?" She asked, not even sounding angry, pretending that I had maybe played 'Bell' with Freya again

"Nothing...." I breathed before I started to cry, letting out of all my tears I was keeping. "I.....I....I was so troubled....by her voice, by what I was going to do....that I couldn't." She then started to move to take me in her arms.

"It's okay, it's okay." She whispered to me, giving me some little kisses on the head as I was still crying. "Don't blame yourself.." She said in a low voice.

"I'm so sorry, Park." I excused myself, feeling guilty about that. "I betrayed you."

"No, you didn't." She exclaimed, making me look at her in the eyes with a smile. "You're trying to save your friends and by having her number, you can succeed to save her from Perseus."

"I don't know, can I ?" I asked, my voice cracking by saying that, thinking of Zasha, Dedov, Portnova.... "Can I ?" I repeated.

"You will and I'm always there for you." Park replied before she kissed me on the lips, giving me a little grin on my face and my state....recovering more faster even if I couldn't forgive what I have done today. "We're both on the same way, Yiri.....

.....Our way to our redemption !"

[shigarakis-fifth-hand]

Ok picture this. Thief!Uraraka x Rich!Reader. And it's as angsty as possible? Like Uraraka really out here just looking for that coin, ya know? She didn't come to play!

Warning: Cursing, smut~ish, major angst, thoughts of suicide, kissing, gayness, cuteness overload

Uraraka sat in the kitchen, eating the last Christmas cookie in the entire building. “Ugh, I don’t see why you don’t want to go to your parents for the Holidays! I love your mom! We’ve gone to my family’s house for the past three years.” Kirishima argued as he and Bakugo carried their suitcases down the stairs. “No! You’re mom makes the best food for Christmas, and we get the pool house all to ourselves! Do you realize how much fucking we can do?!” Bakugo slapped Kirishima’s ass, unaware that Ochako was in the room. 

“Plus, we agreed that your mom does Thanksgiving and Christmas with the cooking. My mom does Halloween and the fourth of July with the decorations and explosions.” Bakugo kissed Kirishima before they walked back upstairs to get more of the luggage.

“Todoroki! Say hi to my mom!” Izuku yelled, running up to him with a phone in his hand as Todoroki walked down the other hallway. “Hi Inko!” Todoroki smiled as Uraraka saw Izuku’s mom on the screen. “Oh Todo, Bora Bora is lovely! Make sure to thank your sister for allowing me to use the family vacation house!” Inko exclaimed as the two boys nodded, smiled, and then hung up the phone. “Now, Touya is going to be here soon so let’s move!” 

Todoroki grinned, taking all the luggage in his hands as they walked, not letting Deku carry any of it.

Uraraka smiled, happy for her friends who were doing things over their holiday break. Her on the other hand... would be at the dorms alone. She was the only one in 1-A who didn’t want to go home. Her parents would be working their tail off, and she would just be forced to lug around heavy boxes, sweep, and do their office management for two weeks straight like she did every year. She would never tell anyone that though... how embarrassing.

“Ochako!” She heard behind her, turning around to look at you. “You were on the phone with your parents while holding your LV purse. Your Gucci slides shined on your feet, and the diamond earrings you had been given by Todoroki glimmered in the light. You were everything Ochako wished she could be.

You were an icon for a boss bitch, a model, powerful, brilliant, gorgeous... and as rich as someone could get. Sure Uraraka had the biggest crush, but more than not she wanted to be you. The luckiest human alive.

Your father, Endeavor Todoroki, and Tensei Iida been rivals growing up, eventually becoming pro heroes and starting their own agencies. Of all of them, your father had grown to become a millionaire by going to America instead of Tokyo, and starting his agency there where the competition was pitiful.

That had led to your family becoming one of the most wealthiest in all of Tokyo, above the Yaoyorozus and Iidas. In fact, you, Iida, and Momo had been close friends since toddler age.

“Yes Y/n?” Ochako responded, coming out of her trance. “My mom says I should invite a friend to our beach house. I know you said you didn’t want to go anywhere for the Holidays, but would you? My modeling agency is sponsoring our trip so we can get massages, go snorkeling, you know. All that fun stuff.” Ochako perked up more as you explained. “W-where is it?” She asked excitingly. “Ever heard of Hawaii? My dad’s main office is there.” Ochako hopped off the barstool and smiled brightly. 

“Sure! I’d love to go!” She hugged you before running to go pack her things. “Wait, I don’t have any bathing suits!” She yelled back as you just rolled your eyes, still on the phone with your parents. “Yes Daddy, email them about my plus one. Just borrow mine, I have a few you can use. No Daddy, it’s not a boy, it’s Ururaka.” You winked at her as she ran upstairs, hurrying as fast as she could as if you would leave her.

Once her bags with packed, Ochako came back to the room to see you on the phone still. She sat down, choosing to watch you adoringly and letting you finish your call. “Yes Claire, I’m having a couples massage with my bestie on the third, and snorkeling on the thirtieth. Now don’t get that screwed up with my photoshoot the sixth, and the fireworks for New Years. Yes, the maid went to the house earlier.” 

As you continued, she stared at you. Wow, she’s so... impressive. If only I could have a sliver of that... power. Or you. Honestly, you seemed to get more attractive as Ochako stared at you. ‘If only I could use this to help my family... I’m so god damn scared of what’s going to happen. Mom isn’t working, and Dad might have cancer. What can I do? I’m a student taking classes at UA full time. There’s no time to work!’ Ochako thought deeply, stressing out.

“Phew, I’m glad that’s over! Just called my manager to schedule our break.” You grabbed her bags happily, carrying them to the car outside. “Wonderful! My sister is waiting at the airport with our jet! Then we can zip over the Hawaii and get this party started!” Ochako found herself shaking as you two entered the large black car.

...

Walking out of the airport, Ochako found herself woozy. That’s what sleeping for 15 hours straight did to you after all. Of course... you looked beautiful. You had been drinking hot water with lemon the entire time, had moisturized every half hour, and had taken only four naps, being half an hour long each.

 You were literally the perfect human being, while Ochako had helped herself to your plane’s supply of cake and soda while watching videos on her phone.

“Look! There he is!” You pointed to the boy wearing only rainbow swim trunks and sunglasses standing on top of the blue Jeep. “Andrew! Babe!” You ran and hugged him. “Chance, this is my friend Uraraka. Ochako, this is Chance, one of the models I’m working with for the company’s LGBT campaign!” Ochako perked up, staring at you. You... liked girls??? She... had a chance?

“You bet it! Hop in ladies!” With ease, you lifted Ochako into the Jeep and followed her in. While you were driving, Ochako couldn’t help but relax greatly. The sea breeze and smell of the ocean salt consumed her, almost making her forget all her problems. But she couldn’t forget all her problems... she had promised her mom that she would fix everything by the new year. 

And here she was... going to party while she ignored her family.

“Here we are!” As you pulled in, Ochako almost passed out. “You like it? Daddy got it remodeled it last Spring. It has two pools, a hot tub, an amazing view, and of course... the beach is only a few steps away!” You exclaimed, taking your bags in and upstairs to your room. Ochako had her breath taken away completely. 

“You... live here? Like... you own this place?” Ochako found herself dying over the marble everything, the flowers everywhere, the splashes of color from the expensive art, and the views outside. “Don’t be silly. This is only our vacation home! Daddy lives here sometimes while he’s recovering from injuries since he stays in America, but Mom and I stay in Japan. I obviously live at UA.” You smiled, walking out to the balcony from your bedroom. “Oh, I almost forgot! Here, you can choose whatever you want!”

You opened the closet to reveal a room the size of Ochako’s bedroom. Filled to the brim with clothes, shoes, jewelry, mirrors, and led lights. “Over the years of modeling I get a bunch of cute clothes! You should only imagine how much I have from when I did child modeling. Oh, and here! Pick out some jewelry for tonight. We can totally play dress up while we’re on vacay. We have to look famous, right?” You laughed, hugging Ochako while walking out of the closet. 

“Oh, and the purse rack is to your left! We can use that when we go shopping or out to eat! I have a bunch of LV so you can use one! I never use them anymore!” You giggled, smiling as you looked back at the view. “Pick out what you want to wear tonight, and a bathing suit for night swimming at the pool! I’ll go downstairs and give the chef recommendations! Any ideas?” You asked, sticking your head in the doorway. “N-n-nope!” Ochako called out as you ran downstairs.

Ochako’s eyes led to the big case of jewelry. It had so many gold chains, so many rings. Dozens and dozens of real pearl earrings. “I can’t... no. I have to.” She grabbed two pairs of pearl earrings, a gold chain, two rings that both had diamonds, and then a pair of heels. You were a size 8, but these were a size four. They were Ochako’s mom’s size. 

Without thinking, Ochako shoved them into her bag and zipped it back up. In the heat of the moment, Ochako looked around, desperate for more. She had found her solution! Steal from the rich and give to the poor! She easily had just taken over 5k from you, and you probably wouldn’t even blink. You would never suspect her, right? Of course you wouldn’t. You two had been flirting with each other since you met. You trusted her.

Ochako stopped herself, slapping herself in the face. “W-what are you doing? She trusts you! You fricking like her you dumb idiot!” She yelled at herself, looking around. No, she had to help her family, even a little bit. Just little things you wouldn’t even bat an eye at.

She took a ten dollar bill under your desk, stuffed the pencil pouch you had gotten from Italy, and easily slipped a Gucci perfume bottle into her bag. “Hey, Ochako!” Uraraka turned around to see you smiling ear-to-ear. “Happy early Christmas!” You held out your hand, revealing a tiny box. “H-huh?” She exclaimed, slowly taking it from you and gasping. Inside was a simple silver ring, polished and perfectly fitting for her small finger. “It’s a promise ring.” You walked closer to her. 

“As to promise that once we become heroes, we will remain friends.” Ochako stepped closer to you, staring at your lips. “And... maybe...” Ochako couldn’t finish her sentence as you two slammed your lips into each other. The kiss was hot and passionate, as if it was releasing all the thoughts you two had had for four years straight of having to resist. “God, once I found out you were gay.” You kissed Ochako’s neck as she tried to talk, moaning in between words. “Once he said LGBT, I knew I had to...” She moaned again, turning you on. You bent her on the bed, running kisses up and down her neck. 

As Ochako was about to remove her shirt, you stopped her. “Let’s save that for after dinner.” You winked, leaving her feeling teased. “So, what are we Y/n?” She asked, blushing from what you had just said. “Well it depends. I’ll be whatever you want me to be. Just say the word.” You moved closer as she sat on your bed, getting closer and closer. “Be my girlfriend Y/n.” She whispered as you smiled, slowly kissing her lips. 

“Well then I guess that ring is more than a friendship ring. What do you think it means?” You asked, kissing her neck tenderly again. “I... don’t know. Once we have so many responsibilities next year, let’s stay together. Promise to make time for each other... and one day, settle down.” You sucked her neck extra hard as she said that. “We’re getting out of UA soon Y/n. Maybe we can move in together to... try things out.” She talked as you continued to kiss her neck.

 She had to admit you turned her on like nobody else could. “Awesome. Well, dinner is about ready. How about we go down and... introduce you to my family. I’m sure they’d love to meet my new... girlfriend. First, let’s get changed.” You walked over to your closet and pulled out an outfit you had prepared beforehand. A white t-shirt and black jeans, cute and tomboyish. 

“Oh, and I promise not to peek.” You winked, before facing away with your back to Uraraka. Ochako picked out a pink sweater and black skirt, thinking as she put it on. Is this wrong? Of course it is. But wouldn’t it be worse to deny this love for her and steal from her? At least she’s happy, look at her. The poor thing will never know, and eventually... you’ll forget all about it. Just... no more stealing.

But as time went on, Ochako found herself being the happiest she had ever been. She woke up to you two full-on making out in bed for at least half an hour, then would spend the entire day watching you model, then you two would eat, swim, walk around, and vacation. Of course... the days started to end even better. Nighttime was when you two couldn’t contain yourselves. There was a hot tub on the balcony right outside of your room, so you two couldn’t help yourself. Surely, you two had found yourselves naked while kissing once or twice. Sure you two were going fast, but Hawaii set the mood so much, and you two were so excited to release all the sexual tension from the past four years

Of course, Ochako also found herself getting more greedy as she adapted to the rich lifestyle. She slipped one of the nice soap dispensers, took one of you dad’s pairs of expensive sunglasses, stole another ten dollar bill she found under your bed, and had somehow managed to slip a Gucci robe from when you were six into her bag. It was stuffed to the brim, but she needed more. Her family would die if she didn’t.

Then, things turned for the worst that one night. “Ochako, let’s go night swimming!” You called out, reaching for her hand. “But I’m not wearing a bathing suit!” She yelled out instantly, still looking at herself in the mirror. You had straighten her hair, and she liked it. “Exactly.” You whispered into her ear as she grinded into you. “Okay then.” She responded, smiling as you two began to walk to the hot tub as you removed your shirt slowly, Ochako watching your every move. That was until you tripped over Ochako’s bag, falling to the ground. Along the way, a shatter could be heard from inside the bag. 

“Ochakie, I’m so sorry. What did I break?” Ochako blushed at the nickname you had given her, before realizing what you were doing. As you opened the bag, your eyes widened. Inside was your old Gucci robe, your new perfume, your soap dispenser, your dad’s sunglasses, and your old shoes along with a bunch of jewelry. 

Immediately your face turned bright red, looking up at her. “You...” You murmured angrily, standing up as she started crying. “I fucking trust you with everything and you stole from me!?” You yelled, not feeling bad at all. “You don’t understand! My family needs the money! They’re going to die if I don’t do something!” Ochako yelled, trying to defend herself. In an instant, you took out your wallet, slipping out five hundred-dollar bills and throwing them in her face. “Here’s your money Uraraka! Now where’s my trust! I was so ready to give you my virginity, give you my life! I wanted a life with you Ochako!” You began crying as she turned silent. “So that’s why you came? I wanted you, you wanted my money? Is that why you came? Is that why you kissed me?” You asked as she stared at you, trying to find words. 

“My dad has cancer! My mom is dying! I’m terrified Y/n! Please don’t be too mad at me! I needed all the money I could get quickly!” She yelled at you, still crying as you stopped. “Ochako, I could write you a check for a fucking hundred grand as we speak! You think that I would poor out my soul to you, but not help your fucking family?! Ochako, I gave you my trust and love! Do you know how hard that was?! But no, everyone just wants me for my money! Everyone! Even you!” Ochako tried to spill out words. 

She tried to tell you that she did love you, more than anything. She tried to tell you that she was obsessed with you, and that she wanted nothing more than to have you in her life. That the past few days had been the best in her entire life because of you. 

But no, all she could do was cry. 

All it took was one look in your eyes, your heartbroken eyes, for her to run out of the house. Out of the house, down the small path, and to the beach. The sunset was shining brightly, shimmering against Ochako’s tears. She was so mad at herself, and the fact that she had messed up the one amazing thing she had with you. Sure, money was great, but ever heard of love? Ochako had felt it only with you, and she had ruined it. Why hadn’t she thought of asking for your help? You were a hero god dammit, one of the most generous and giving jobs in the world. 

“God dammit! God Dammit! God dammit!” She kicked the sand, yelling as she stomped angrily. God... she should just throw herself into the ocean. After awhile of standing there, Ochako heard a noise behind her. “Oh dear, it’s just me. Tom and I are going to the country club’s cocktail party! We will be back around midnight sweetie. Y/n said to tell you to come inside, she’s getting worried. You crazy kids have fun!” Your mom called out as Ochako smiled before running inside and up to your room where you waited on your bed, a stuffed monkey in your life. 

“You know what I love about the Indian monkeys? They’re called gibbons. Funny name right?” You asked, looking up at Ochako as she nodded. She could see the mascara streaks running down your face, and she hated herself for causing that. “See, they’re cool though. Because, even if one of the monkeys makes a mistake like getting lost or eating too much of the food, they’re with their partners for life because they trust each other.” Ochako smiled sadly, understanding what you were saying. 

“When I went to India, I saw how they wouldn’t let you get close to their partners because they were protective, but if their partners walked up to you, they would allow that. It’s because they trust each other with their lives.” You got off your bed, setting the stuffed toy behind you as you walked towards your girlfriend. 

“I need to be able to trust you Uraraka. When- I mean... if we get married, all of this is going to be yours. There’s no need to steal it, you’re welcome to anything. Shoes, you bet. Want to use my perfume, go ahead. Wear my clothes, eat my food, live in my house. It’s all yours because I trust you. Right now, I need you in my life. I need to be able to trust you.” Ochako buried her face into your chest. 

“I’m so sorry Baby! It was the worst decision I could ever make! I got desperate and I did the worst thing imaginable! I’m so sorry!” She cried as you pulled her away. “In other news, both your parents are on my dad’s insurance and are going to start receiving medication right away. Don’t worry, my mom said they won’t have to pay a thing. 

She also said they can stay in our lake house if they want, it’s only a half hour away from UA.” In an instant, Uraraka started balling, pulling you into a tight hug. “Oh my god. Oh my god.” She freaked out, holding you as tight as she could. “I owe you so much! Let me do something for you! Anything!” She begged, desperate to do something nice for you like you had done for her.

“Get on the bed Baby.”

I felt extra gay while writing this but that’s not a bad thing sooooo. Honestly I’ve never found Ochaco cute until now so dangggg, thx bby. I always love your requests they make me so happy when I get one @drbumpkin

[lilyevansreyjakku]

Love and power

Hello everyone its me again! with my reylo edits and short stories . i haven't had time to post short stories and I want to finish this reylo short story in trying my best by the way. We almost getting near to Dec which I'm very excited About! 😊😊

Here's the link down below for those that want to read from the beginning

Part one

Part two

Part three

@franpaw-reylo-creations @glitzescape @princeofdarkness15 @michellestarswept @bellaren18 @sushigirlali @grlie-girl @winglessone @bunilicious @reylocalligraphy @buffshipper8490 @iaintnosidekick @lastmouseleft @lilia-ula @atchamberlin @rakefiree @corariley @infinitelyblackrose @nancylovesreylo @magicaldogs @reyloisblessed @angelic-hellraiser @black-eyed-suzannah-q @orkindofamazing @xtaketwox @cleverpudding @pandoraspocksao3 @shaara-2 @reyloarmy @thebadjediandthegoodsith @generaloftheneworder @empressdarkren @nite0wl29 @practical-or-brave @ohsnapcrackle @leofgyth @hotty-toddy-rebel-force @emrys-girlwithasaber @antbee17

Thanks everyone for the notes and reblogs ! ✌💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love and power

Part four

A Reylo au

Empress's and emperor of the desert

Ben was so hungry from the action last night he ate like a wild beast, he forgot that the empress was there in front of him .

" Did you enjoy last night ? ", Ben put gently his hand to cover his mouth ." you know I did my empress ".

" Rey , Ben just rey , when I'm with you alone I'm rey and your my Ben ". Rey looked at Ben who was finishing chewing his food .

" as you say my love " Rey got up and sat next to Ben and grab his hand and kissed it . Ben gasp in delight and became hard again moments later his mouth was testing something sweeter than the sugar cub, her folds was sweeter than sweet candy that this world can offer .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rey had left with kaydel and Finn to the city of jakku to get preparation for a campaign war against the first order .

" here are the maps and drawings of the new projects my empress" , the young man said .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben was writing a love poem for rey when a young maid of the empress went towards Ben .

" come please ", she whispered everyone was listing to phasma sermon no one was paying any attention to him .

" for ?"

" the empress is waiting for you in the garden ". Ben got up and follow her as he was going through the palace hallway when jade appeared , His smiled fade at the sight of jade.

" had fun last night ?"

"Yes I did in fact I'm going to see her Highness right now ".

Jade smile " I see, will do take care of that beautiful face of yours " . Jade went to the direction towards lor san tekka chambers.

Ben and the maid began to walk towards the hall again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Did you hear me alderaan ? " BB said as he notice ben wasn't there or anywhere . BB got a bad feeling about this .

"Phasma ! Phasma !"

"What !"

" the alderaan slave! He's not here !"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben started to have a bad feeling , but dismissed it

" when are we going to get there , this isn't the way to the garden palace ."

The girl stoped when Ben felt something near his throat three men came out of nowhere and began to hit him . Ben felt pain everywhere his body , he couldn't do anything the pain was sharp . the man who had the knife slice through his face all the way down to his arm and chest Ben felt sinking into the darkness each second and passed out slowly Ben received multiple blows . Ben heard that serpent voice whispering to him ," that's what you get for stealiing what isn't yours alderaan slave".

Ben tried to open his eyes but couldn't , "someone like you should die by now ."

" someone is coming " ben heard one of the man say from the distance he felt pain again in his ribs .

Rey was the facec as he slowly fade it to the darkness "Rey " he whispered

~~~~~~~~~~

BB heard noises when he saw the men in black escaping through the balcony of the palace " stop ! Stop I say ! Guards !!". One of the guards caught one.

BB he could nearly keep up when he saw Ben's body lying lifeless

" for all the forces ! Ben ! Ben !".

BB ran for help .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Its very difficult to have order here in the palace, especially here in the mens chambers ". phasma told rose .

" it must be , how do you even do it phasma". Rose asked .

" I don't know really, but the force is with me so far ".

"I see the empress has taken fun of Be.."

" please don't even mention him especially ben, he is the worst one, always does what he wants doesn't get along with anyone from the men, he makes more enemies than frie.... "

BB almost slip which made phasma and rose stare in shock .

"Help ! Please help me ! I need help fast ! "

rose and phasma ran behind BB.Phasma couldn't believe it oh no , Ben ! , she ran where Ben laid lifeless , rose and BB were behind her they all gasped in shook.

"May the force be with us and help us " phasma bend down to check a pulse on Ben hand wrist and neck .

" oh my ! How did this happen ? "

rose looked at all this painc already " the question is what are we going to do ! Phasma ! we were suppose to take care of him like our lives depend on it , orders from the empress herself !".

" oh my the force forgive us for being so irresponsible!".

"Enough ! Help me carry him he's still alive ! BB ! Rose !."

" this was a trap phasma I'm sure !" Rose shouted.

Phasma knew exactly this wasn't no accident she knows and seen many things in here life . she lived in this palace for a long time and knows that men can get out of control but woman are worst during jealousy .

Phasma knew the Prince of yavin was behind this she can swear it .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please like always my darlings no drama this is a fic not real . don't like it keep scrolling I don't want no drama ✌😊💜

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[im-in-every-fandom-cuz-im-alone]

DANNY PHANTOM FAN CAST

Danny Phantom premiered on Nickelodeon in 2004 in a time when life seemed much simpler. All my seven year old self had to worry about was finishing my homework fast enough so I can spend the rest of the day watching cartoons. Now as an adult not much has really changed there's just less book reports and division. The past couple of years have been all about remakes, reboots and nostalgia ploys. It seems Hollywood has found away to make easy money by preying on our desires to relive our childhoods. Well I say if we're going to be emotionally manipulated, why not bring back a cult classic like Danny Phantom.

While coming up with a potential cast I struggled with whether or not to cast actors who actually look 14 or pull a Riverdale and cast 20 somethings who look like abercrombie models. I ultimately chose to do both where in the series would start with 14 year old danny than flashforward to modern day to an older danny and his friends in college. Alternatively we could start with an older cast and periodically flashback to their youth with both storylines coming together in the end to reveal a bigger mystery.

(also I changed the Fentons ethnicity to latinx so this is not race bending)

MAIN CAST

Danny Fenton/Phantom

Isaak Presley / David Castro

It's been a little over a decade since defeating Vlad Plasmius and saving Amity Park. Danny has become a worldwide superhero sensation while also juggling college and spending time with his girlfriend Paulina. Sam and Danny had broken up after sam notices shades of Dark Danny in his behavior. (dont worry they're endgame we just need some drama)

Sam Manson

Sadie Stanley /Kelli Berglund

After the break up Sam refocuses her efforts to converting ectoplasm into sustainable energy. She hopes that with this seemingly Infinite source of energy she can stop the effects of climate change before our Earth is damage any further. Working on her masters in bioengineering as well as providing tactical support for The Banshees, sam may have bitten of more than she can chew.

Tucker Foley

Caleel Harris / Spence Moore II

Mayor Foley when not working on his campaign for governor he is calling every political favor he can to keep Danny's increasingly aggressive tactics from creating an international incident. All while maintaining a secret relationship with his head of security Dash Baxter

Jazz Fenton

Elizabeth Elias/Marianly Tejada

After a falling out with her brother Jazz decides that the world needs a more level headed hero. She forms the Banshees with Valerie Gray, a ghost hunting super team of bad ass ladies. Members include her mother Maddie, Valerie Gray, Dani and occasionally Sam Manson.

Jack Fenton

Ricardo Chavira

Although present in flashbacks Jack Fenton has been missing for three years in present day. This is the inciting incident that leads Danny down a dark path. "Where is Jack Fenton?" would be the overarching mystery of the series.

Maddie Fenton

Felicia Day (honestly who else)

Distraught over her husband's disappearance Maddie grapples with her alchohol addiction and fear of what her son is becoming. Though battling demons of her own this doesn't stop Maddie from hunting down ghost with The Banshees.

Vlad Masters/Plasmius

Julian McMahon (again who else)

Years in the harshness of space gave Vlad plenty of time to reflect and atone for his sins. His return to earth as a pacifist rubs danny the wrong way. With good reason Vlad good guy act is all a ruse to get revenge on the Fenton family. His plans are rendered moot when he realizes that the disappearance of his old friend has already broken the family. (Possible affair with Maddie Fenton you know for the drama)

RECURRING CAST

Valerie Gray

Marsai Martin/Asha Bromfield

Leader of The Banshees shes one of the few ghost hunters who's popularity rivals that of Danny Phantom, often being seen as the batman to his superman. Haunted by the disappearance of Jack Fenton, Valerie is the last person to have seen him alive. With no recollection of what happened that night or how she ended up stranded in the ghost zone will she ever shake off the overwhelming feeling of guilt.

Dash Baxter

Christian Weissmann/Wolfgang Novogratz

Having mellowed out with age Dash now uses his skills has head of security for Amnity Park's Mayor Tucker Foley. After spending year struggling with his sexuality Dash has finally accepted his identity as a gay man, but will his relationship with his boss force him to go back in the proverbial closet.

Paulina Singh

Saara Chaudry/Soma Bhatia

Using her status as Danny Phantoms girlfriend Paulina has become one of the most followed influencers in the world and with her Bachelor's degree in marketing has made herself into a very lucrative brand. Behind the scenes Paulina's being manipulated by an unknown figure to get Intel on Danny and the other Ghost hunters.

(I changed Paulina last name from Sanchez to Singh to match my choice of actress)

As you probably may have noticed through the Snippets of each character description Danny will eventually become the villain of the series. it will be up to the rest of Team Phantom to take him down, but will they be able to save the friend they once knew and loved. If you enjoyed this article please give it a like or comment and if you didn't, comment what you didn't like. I'm also working on an all ghosts cast list as well as a Ben 10 fan cast cuz I have no life.

[bubblelliot]

Heeeeeeeey so I've been seemingly dead for a while LMAO I was just very busy as I started a new job! ✨💜

I have only 2 characters left: this one and another one, I wanna complete this series and then see what I'll do.

Eternity

This visual of Eternity was made using this picrew: https://picrew.me/image_maker/296093

Technicalities

Eternity is a tiefling Bard of the College of creation. He is registered in DND beyond as a level 14 as he was originally made for a One-shot, but we are planning to eventually make a campaign out of it so he isn't gonna stay level 14. Here are his attributes:

Equipment

He has very little equipment: a mithral scale mail, a periapt of wound closure, usual stuff like a backpack and rations, two diamonds to be able to cast resurrection twice, a lyre, a dagger and a rapier. The two first items are very important to him.

Allies

Of course, Eternity's main allies are his party: Samael, a four-claimer monk which Eternity doesn't really know, they just happened to be united by destiny, Duality, his eldest sibling, who is a 28 years old warlock and Deceit, his other older brother, a 26 years old barbarian.

His other main ally was a veteran who happens to be his father's friend. He is the one who taught Eternity how to efficiently use his magic. He also gave him his mythral scale mail.

His last, yet, most important ally is ab earth Genasi names Clay. Clay is a 19 years old cleric and traveller. He is the person Eternity trusts the most, yet they are appart for various reasons. Clay is the one who gave Eternity his periapt of wound closure.

Appearance

Eternity is a 5"10 tiefling. He is very slim and is visibly not very strong. His skin is a very pale shade of blue with patches of white. He has sky blue very long hair, which he usually wears freely with only a few braids to keep it away from his face. His eyes are pale lavander, without pupil or iris. He usually has a sweet smile. His horns are a very dark brown.

He has a few tattoos, mostly on his arms and back, representing different the different bases of being a bard and on his left arm, a very simple tattoo, all in black: "Never forget" with a series of dates.

Underneath his armor, Eternity wears a simple white shirt with knee-length sarouels and fishnets under it. He also has black boots.

Backstory and campaign

Eternity was born the youngest in a middle class family with three children.

On the left, Duality, 28, and on the right, Deceit, 26.

They lived in a temple where their mother was an acolyte while their father was a soldier. Though having a very decent childhood, Eternity soon realized two things:

1- He was definitely a suprise to his parents who probably didn't plan on having other children after Deceit.

2- He wasn't like any member of his family.

Sure, he inherited his mother's skin color rather than his father's like Deceit, or a mix like Duality, and he still had a few features, but similarities stopped there. And while Duality loved spending time being an acolyte with their mother and Deceit was a very talented fighter just like their father, Eternity loved art, nature and music.

When Eternity was a teenager, his father was killed during a mission. The day he died still stays engraved in his brain to this day as the day where everything changed. Soon after, Deceit left home and that's when something broke inside Eternity. Still a teen, he also left to find a purpose. He would later on get the dates where his father died and where his brother left tattooed on his arm.

He joined a group of different people who lived as a community near his home town. After living with them for a few months, a traveller also joined him and Eternity instantly fell in love with him. His name is Clay, he is a cleric of the domain of life, just like his father was, and he is the eldest of many children. He now travels the world to help people just like his father did with the hopes of finishing what his father started.

Clay, 19.

For a while, they were a couple and Eternity planned on following Clay, but as his mission became clearer, Eternity started thinking about his father again. They finally had to split for Eternity to seek a mentor and become more powerful, while Clay continued his journey, but they promised to settle together of they were to ever meet again. Clay left a periapt of wound closure to Eternity, hoping to be able to protect him, even from far away. The day Clay left became the third date tattooed in his arm.

Eternity then joined his late father's friend, a former Druid for the military who taught Eternity how to use his magic and helped him learn music. When his training was complete, he gave Eternity his own mythral armor, to help him and as a sign of respect as the child of a great man.

Finally feeling worth, Eternity returned home, but things had changed. Duality which was always calm but loving towards their family was now cold and distant, actively avoiding Eternity. His mother, though seemingly alive, never woke up from a constant sleep-like state where she already was when he came back. One day, after a last attempt to speak to his sibling that sadly failed, Eternity accepted his mother would never come back and went to kiss her goodbye one last time. This date is the fourth one tattooed on his arm.

Eternity realized he had troubke trusting and that he was unable to fall in love. He felt like he was a failure and that he brought bad luck. Slowly, he fell into unhealthy things like drugs and alcohol and he tried to force himself to get feelings by engaging in unhealthy sexual relationships. Eventually, he met a new person who he started having feelings for, but the person manipulated him an eventually r*ped him.

This date is the fifth and last one tattooed on his arm.

After this day, Eternity took back his life, though still broken, and travels the country to try to find Clay again.

He was kidnapped mercenaries and thus, was reunited with his siblings who were also taken and met Samael. From there, they were taken to the remains of what apparently was a temple and had to explore it for a treasure, or the mercenaries would reveal their biggest secret to the whole world, and though Eternity THINKS he has nothing to hide *wink from the DM*, Duality definitely doesn't want the world to know his biggest secret and that's a good enough reason for Eternity to do it.

And there began the campaign.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E5; Chapter Five, The Flea and The Acrobat - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘔𝘳. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

His heart racing, Hopper could hear the blood pumping in his ears as he ran through the twisted corridors of the lab. Beads of sweat dripped down his face as he swiftly maneuvered the facility be had just broken into in search of the missing boy.

"Will?" His desperate calls echoed off of the cold tile walls.

"Will?"

In the midst of his frantic haste, he had gotten turned around. The chilling corridors all seemed the same and a new wave of panic flooded him. Taking a deep breath, the chief tried his best to recompose himself. He came across a crossroads; it resembled a four-way intersection that one may find on an ominous back road in the country. He stared ahead and sighed.

Each corridor was identical to the next. Cold and unwelcoming.

"You gotta be shittin' me." He growled under his breath.

Grabbing his bearings, the man kept straight and hoped for the best.

The hallway stretched for what felt like miles, when finally, after a few turns, it came to a dead end. He looked around and noticed this was quite different than the others.

The chief's instincts that had earned him the title in the first place suggested to him that the small corner of the facility had been long forgotten. This particular area had been neglected the upkeep that was evident in the rest of the laboratory. Ahead of him lay two doors; an old broom closet, labeled as such, and a rather ominous looking door, with an accompanying window with a glimpse inside an untidy room.

This particular room piqued his interest. The door was closed, though the handle seemed to be broken, the room ajar. Hopper cautiously stepped toward the door, reaching his arm out and slowly pushed it open.

Hopper stepped inside the cluttered room, his heart racing, not knowing what to expect. It was clear that the room was designed to have a greater purpose, but had been hastily abandoned and eventually forgotten. It seemed that just about every item in the room, much like the rest of the facility, was made of steel. From the counters to the filing cabinets with half-opened drawers. His eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as he stepped inside and around the steel table to the cabinet on the opposite end of the room.

Knowing he had little time, he shone his flashlight into the drawer and he quickly rifled through the filing cabinet waiting for something that might catch his eye. Hopper sighed in disappointment when he found nothing useful. He began to shut the filing cabinet in defeat when he caught a small glimpse of a peculiar label shoved all the way to the back, almost like it was meant to be forgotten.

Tilting his head in curiosity, Hop pulled the drawer out as far as it would go and even then, the man had to reach for the file. It was a wonder he caught it in the first place. He pulled it from the drawer and examined the front with haste.

The label on the edge of the manilla folder had been scratched out and written over many times that it was now indistinguishable. The front cover was all blank, except for a few words that had been scribbled in black ink.

SUBJECT 009; THE MISSING EXPERIMENT

The familiar words sparked something in Hopper. With no time to waste he shoved the file into his jacket and closed the cabinet, making a run for the door.

Fortunately, Hopper was able to retrace his steps back to the where he had gotten lost, this time making a right turn down the hallway. He continued his calls for Will when suddenly, he found himself in a room, not that different from the strange room he found himself in earlier. Only this room, contained a bed.

And a security camera, which happened to be the first thing Hopper noticed when he entered.

He stepped closer to the bed, the light of the flashlight landing on a small stuffed animal, that was placed neatly at the top of the bed near the pillow. Frowning, Hopper moved his flashlight to the wall above the bed, a small piece of printer paper had been taped to the wall.

It was a drawing, clearly done by a child.

There were two people depicted in the drawing, in the form of stick figures. What appeared to be a tall man standing next to a smaller stick figure who he could only assume to be artist. The child wore a frown, and they faced a table that appeared to have a cat on it. Hopper almost didn't notice the words above each stick figure.

Above the child, was the number eleven. And above the man, written in messy handwriting was a single word.

Papa.

||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

The five of us were scattered around Mike's basement. El was curled up on the couch, most likely physically exhausted from contacting Will. Mike was sitting at the opposite end of the couch by El's feet, concentration etched in his features. Lucas occupied the lounge chair deep in thought while Dustin resides at the bottom of the stairs.

"What was Will saying?" Mike wondered.

He began reciting Will's words from earlier in an attempt to recall the only clue we might have that he might be alive.

"Like home... Like home... but dark?" He stood up from the couch, hands still in his jacket pockets as he began pacing the room.

"And empty." Lucas pressed his intertwined fingers against his forehead, his eyes closed deep in thought.

My leg bounced up and down at an alarming rate, a nervous habit I picked up at a young age as I spoke up, my eyes still focused on one random corner of the room.

"And cold."

Dustin sighed.

"Empty and cold. Wait, did he say cold?" He looked around the room, seeming to second guess himself.

"I don't know, I think? The stupid radio kept going in and out." Lucas sighed.

"He did. He said cold." I muttered, unable to shake the haunting voice of my friend's terrified cries for help.

"Like home." Mike repeated once more. "Like his house?"

"Or maybe like Hawkins." Lucas offered eagerly.

"Upside Down." El muttered.

"What'd she say?" Lucas asked.

"Upside Down." Mike said, a hint of astonishment in his voice as something seemed to have clicked.

"What?" Lucas repeated.

Mike walked over to the table I sat at and looked at the overturned game board. It was then I recalled what El had been telling us the other night, with Will's game piece.

My mouth fell into a silent gasp as everything began falling into place. I turned myself back around in the chair and looked at the board.

"Upside down." I breathed.

Mike had taken a seat across from me, both hands on the game board while the other boys got up and joined us at the table.

Mike began flipping the board over multiple times as he explained.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down. Dark. Empty. Cold." He finished, locking eyes with me as he said the last word.

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked me and Dustin.

We replied simultaneously.

"Yes."

"No."

We both looked at each other with confusion and a hint of annoyance for a split second before dismissing the thought.

"Come on guys, think about it. When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?" I offered, gesturing all around me as I spoke.

Lucas shrugged.

"Yeah. And he wasn't there."

"But what if he was there?" I offered, eyebrows raised as I looked between my brother and Lucas. "What if we just couldn't see him? What if he was on the other side?"

The boys, aside from Mike, of course, seemed to consider this. Mike jumped back in as he flipped the board right side up once more.

"What if this is Hawkins and..." he flipped it back. "This is where Will is? The Upside Down."

Dustin seemed to perk up as he connected his own dots.

"Like the Vale of Shadows."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Dustin slammed Mike's collection of Dungeons and Dragons guides and spell books on the table and began flipping through the various guidebooks. After a few moments he stopped on the page he had been looking for and began to read aloud.

"The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death. A plane out of phase. A place of monsters."

As he read the next sentence, Mike, Lucas and I all shared the same, unsettled look, and a chill ran down my spine.

"It is right next to you, and you don't even see it." Dustin finished, and looked up, sharing our looks of concern.

Mike spoke up.

"An alternate dimension."

It seemed I was not the only one who was having difficulty handling the information.

"But... how... how do we get there?" Lucas asked worriedly.

"We cast Shadow Walk." Dustin said.

"In real life, dummy." Lucas deadpanned.

"We can't shadow walk, but... maybe she can." Dustin offered.

We all look to a drowsy looking El.

"Do you know how we get there? To the Upside Down?" Mike asked her gently.

She shook her head softly and we all felt the heavy ache of disappointment. Some of us were better at hiding it.

"Oh, my God!" Lucas sighed dramatically.

I tuned out the bickering that began between the boys when I gestured for the handbook and Dustin complied, sliding it over to me.

Maybe, just maybe, there must be something in one of these books that could help us or even give us an idea. I began flipping through the spell book and found myself lingering on my characters class, the Druid. More specifically, the Druid spell pages, getting lost in thought.

My eyes scanned the pages, my hope and curiosity had bubbled down to desperation and boredom as I read the all too familiar page. This time, with a new lense.

I recognized the many spells I had used in previous campaigns; Produce Flame had gotten me out of a pinch with a mimic once, I smiled at the memory. And of course, Plant Growth - one of my personal favorites - Will would always tease me about my love for plants carried on into my character.

I soon found myself unable to tear my attention away from one of the lower class spells I always used, Cure Wounds. Something in the back of my mind kept gnawing at me. I bore my eyes into the page as I reread the words over and over again.

"You or a creature you touch regains a number of Hit Points equal to 1d8 + your Spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on Undead or constructs."

It dawned on me. That night we saw "Will". It was just moments before we heard the sirens, I realized my cut had mysteriously vanished. I had immediately gotten distracted when we heard the sirens and then everything happened one after the other that I had forgotten.

'How could I possibly have forgotten something like that?'

I thought about El. A week ago I never believed it possible to move things with your mind, but yet El could. It made me wonder.

I shook my head, clearly, I was grasping at straws.

'Remember what mom said?' I asked myself, some part of me desperate to bury the ridiculous notion growing in the back of my mind. 'My body has always been faster than most medicines.'

I broke myself out of my thoughts to see Dustin and Lucas packing up. Suddenly realizing how tired I was, I happily joined in and grabbed my jacket from the chair and we said our goodbyes.