#weird personalities that freak other elves out

[domxmarvel]

Hellfire club

E

Eddie munson 

Masterlist

Pairing: Eddie munson x Female!Reader

A/N:There’s a description of the reader having a bat tattoo. Also as I said before if this goes well I might add Eddie to my list permanently. (I also might have gotten an idea for a multi part series while writing this)

You were the new girl in town,apparently anyone who wasn't from Hawking was the most interesting person they had ever seen,but you weren't surprised. With how small the town was they were desperate for anyone or anything new. You instantly became the most popular and desired girl in school. You joined cheerleading in hopes of getting to know people and make some actual friends.

At lunch time You walked in alongside the other cheerleaders. As you were walking to your table someone caught your eyes with how loud they were being. A guy with long hair and a shirt that said 'Hellfire club' with a red devil face and various symbols surrounding it,most people wouldn't recognize them but you knew those symbols were,they were dnd symbols. There was something about this guy that was extremely attractive. He was talking about something but you weren't really paying attention to his words. You turned to the other cheerleader. 

"Who is that?" You asked quietly. The cheerleaders followed your gaze.

"Him? That's Eddie Munson. He's the leader of that weird club, Hellfire. Total weirdo. You should stay away from him." You were intrigued by that last part. 

"Why?" Sarah rolled her eyes. 

"Seriously? You're new here, so you probably haven't heard the rumors. Eddie Munson is the town freak. People say he's into satanic rituals and all that. And he's just weird.Only social outcasts join his club." She looked back at you, raising an eyebrow. "You're not considering actually talking to him, are you?"

"Why,not? Does he have a jealous girlfriend I need to watch my back for?" Sarah laughed incredulously. 

"Eddie? As if. The guy's a total loser. You're not gonna have to deal with any jealous girlfriends if you talk to him, that's for sure. But why would you even want to? You're the new girl and the most popular girl in school. You’re way out of his league. Talking to him would be social suicide." You walked a bit further. "Why does everyone dislike him? Did he do something or is it just because he likes dnd?" Sarah shrugged as she continued walking. 

"Bit of both, I guess. There are rumors he's involved in drug dealing and stuff. But mainly, people just think he's creepy and weird for being into DnD and all that 'occult' stuff. They think it's Satanic or something."

"What's stupid is people thinking dnd is connected to the devil" You laughed. "I played it for years and I can tell you there were no demons or devils involved" Another girl, Kate, joined as you sat down. 

"I honestly can't imagine someone like you playing a game like that. Isn't it... nerdy and stuff?"

"Everyone I knew played it back home. I'm guessing there's no other groups in this town" Sarah shook her head. 

"Not that I know of" Kate shuddered comically.

"Ugh, I wouldn't go near that club if you paid me. Bunch of losers sitting around, pretending to be elves or something." The rest of the table erupted in laughter. 

"Who's their DM?" You asked,they all gave you a confused look they probably had no idea what that meant. "The DM the dungeon master" You explained and they still looked confused,clearly that explanation didn't help much. "Clearly only one person can give me a proper answer"

"Are you saying you're gonna go talk to Eddie Munson?"

"None of you can answer this question,and I highly doubt anyone other than him can. "I'm gonna go talk to him" The cheerleaders gasped, their eyes wide with shock. Sarah looked horrified.

"What? You're seriously gonna talk to Eddie Munson? Are you insane? You're the new girl and the most popular girl in school. You can't just walk up to him." Kate chimed in.

"Yeah,He's a complete and total outcast. It would ruin your reputation!"

"We're just talking,it not that big of a deal"

"It is a big deal.Eddie Munson is a social outcast, and hanging out with him will make everyone think you're a weirdo too."

"She's right. Think of your reputation, the other people in school will make fun of you, and it will mess up your spot on the cheer team." You wouldn't mind losing out on cheer practice,it was exhausting and you'd much rather be playing dnd. You walked over to his table and directly up to him,sitting on the table with your feet hovering just above the ground. 

Eddie had been absorbed in conversation with his friends Dustin, Mike, and Lucas, completely unaware of your approach. He looked taken aback. His friends also looked baffled, their eyes darting between you and Eddie. Eddie recovered quickly, a sly smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Well, well, didn't expect to see the queen of Hawkins High here in our little corner."

"Which one of you is the DM?" Eddie chuckled.

"That would be me, sweetheart. I'm the dungeon master for Hellfire."

"Got place for one more?" Eddie raised an eyebrow.

"You want to join the Hellfire Club? Are you sure you're not lost, Princess, or walking into the wrong table by accident?"

"I know exactly where I am,pretty boy. Now answer the question" Eddie's smirk widened.

"Damn, princess's got a mouth on her. Alright, I'll indulge you." He leaned back. "Sure, we've got room for one more. But it's not all just games and fun. You gotta be cool with the freaky stuff, the weird stuff. Is a pretty girl like you ready for that?"

"How long have you been playing,Munson?"

"Damn, asking all the important questions, aren't you? I've been playing D&D for two and a half years. Been leading the Hellfire Club just as long." You smirk.

"I've been playing for six years" Eddie's arrogant smirk faded away, replaced with shock. His eyes widened.

"Wait, what? Six years?"

"I guess it's still pretty new around here"

"Yeah, well, we might've gotten a late start, but it's not about how long we've been playing, princess. It's about how good we are at it!" Lucas and Dustin couldn't help but chuckle at Eddie's defensive tone.

"Darling,I've been playing every night for six years."

"How do we know you're not just making it up to impress us?"

"Let me join a campaign and I'll show you" Eddie's smirk returned, a glint of challenge in his eyes.

"All right, princess. You wanna prove it? How about after school,show us what you're made of at my place? My uncle's working late, so we'll have the trailer to ourselves."

"Sure,I'll see you later"

Several hours later, you found yourself outside Eddie's trailer. You took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Moments later, Eddie opened the door, his smirk still present on his face. 

"Well, well, look who it is. Come on in, Princess." He gestured for you to come inside, and as you stepped into the trailer. Eddie led you into his living room, where the D&D game setup was already prepared on the table. He pulled out a chair for you, his gaze lingering on you for a moment before he sat across from you. The other Hellfire Club members, Lucas, Dustin, and Mike, were already present and eagerly waiting. You put your character sheet on the table,explaining your character,a level 20 rogue specializing in stealth and lock picking along with magic abilities. They seemed impressed by your character.

"Damn, you ain't messing around, princess" Lucas nodded in agreement, 

"And a rogue. That's gotta come in handy for all sorts of surprises that Eddie throws at us, right, Eddie?" Eddie chuckled, trying to hide his surprise at your skills. "Yeah, yeah, impressive character, I'll give you that. Let's see how she holds up in the game.”

"So what are you waiting for,start us off Eddie"

"Alright, brace yourselves. As you enter the musty, dimly lit cavern, you notice an eerie silence that sends chills down your spine. Suddenly, a low, guttural growl emits from deep within the shadows, and the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end." The boys looked at each other, already feeling the thrill of beginning a new campaign. You thought for a moment. "Perception check" you said,holding out your hand so he could give you a die to roll.He handed you a 20-sided die.

"Let's see what you roll." You rolled,for your plan to work anything above a five would be perfect. "Well, I'll be damned. A 15. You're more perceptive than we expected, princess.Your character's sharp senses might prove useful in this cave. It seems your rogue is ready to prove her worth."

"Her name is blood rose" you added,"Now is there a smell of anything flammable?" Eddie chuckled, playing along with your quick thinking. 

"Ah, Blood Rose, quite a fitting name for a stealthy rogue. There's a faint smell of something flammable in the cavern. It's faint, but discernible."

"Alright I have a plan,but we're gonna need a protective spell,a strong one" Eddie raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by your plan. 

"A protective spell, huh? That sounds serious. Mind sharing what you have in mind?"

"You'll find out" you turned to the boys "Mike you have a shield spell,right?" He was playing a mage after all,he had to have one.

"Yeah, I do! I have the 'Shield' spell prepared." You handed Mike the die so he could roll.

"Alright, let's see how strong that shield spell is." The die came to a stop, showing a 19.

"Perfect" you grabbed the die once more "Now that we're very protected I cast fire ring" You rolled everyone had their eyes glued to the dice. The die's roll felt like an eternity, before it finally stopped, landing on a 14.

"Well, it's not a critical success, but it's a respectable roll. Your fire ring spell should definitely pack a punch, though."

"My fire ring gets affected by flammable materials and gas,so it spreads throughout the cave" you corrected him. "The flammable materials that I asked about earlier,remember. It seemed like a stupid question at first but I had this whole thing planned" Eddie's eyes widened as he realized the extent of your plan.

"Wait, hold up. So when you asked about flammable materials earlier, you were actually plotting to use your fire ring spell in combination with them? That's why you needed the protective shield spell from Mike first, to keep you safe.Damn,princess."

You bowed dramatically,laughing. 

"Why,thank you" The boys chuckled along with you, amused by your comedic bow.

"Alright, alright, princess. No need to be so dramatic. Though I'll admit, that was a pretty impressive plan you've got going on here." Mike spoke up, a hint of surprise in his voice. "Yeah, you really planned all this out. Using your fire ring spell with the flammable materials? That's some next-level thinking."

"Told you,I've been playing for years. Alright,let's move deeper into the cave"

Four hours later It was now around 8pm,the campaign was half over and you were tired. Eddie noticed that you looked a bit tired.

"You doing alright there, princess? Need a break?"

"I think we should call it a night,my parents will lose their shit if I don't get back home soon"

“Yeah, it's probably best to end the session here then. Wouldn't want your folks to get mad, princess."

"Wait, are you walking home in the dark? Alone? It's not safe out there, especially for a girl." Mike spoke up,making you look at him.

"You're good,kids but I think you should get back home quickly. Your parents are probably more worried about you guys" They rushed out once they realized how right you were,saying goodbye quickly before rushing out. Leaving you with Eddie. Who chuckled softly as the boys hastily excused themselves and dashed out of the trailer.

"Looks like you gave them a reality check there, princess." He looked at you with a hint of concern. "Now that they're gone, you really intend on walking home alone at night? It's not the safest option, y'know."

"Then what do you suggest?" You chuckled "I'm not staying overnight,my parents would kill me"

"Well, I could offer you a ride home if you want."

"I'd appreciate that,if it's not to much of a burden to you"

"It's no trouble at all princess. I don't mind giving you a ride home. It'll be safer for you, and it'll give me peace of mind knowing you got home safely." He grabbed his keys. You followed him outside and into his van. 

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, princess. Ask away"

"Why does everyone in this town think you're a 'freak'? Just because you play dnd?" He chuckled.

"Ah, well, princess, it's not just about D&D. I've always been a bit of an outcast. You know the long hair, the tattoos, and my unconventional style. I don't fit in with the cookie-cutter mold of what's considered 'normal' around here." He paused, his gaze fixed on the road ahead.

"I like your look" You said quickly, covering it with "So when do I get one of those shirts?"

"Ah, so you like my style, huh princess? Good to know." He chuckled again, clearly enjoying your praise. "As for the shirt, princess, I might just have to hook you up with one of those."

"So what tattoos?" You asked,you hadn't seen any of them other than the bats on his arm.

"Interested in my ink, are we, princess? Well, I've got a few." He shifted slightly and gestured to his chest, showing you a tattoo on his upper chest.

"This one's a skull, princess. It's like a little secret treasure, hidden under my shirt."

"You know it's kinda funny that you have bats" You pulled up your sleeve to show off your bat tattoo,it was more detailed the bats wings wrapped around your wrist like a bracelet. The bat was textured to look fluffy and its face was clear,shaded wings that looked almost real.

"Well, well, princess. It seems like we've got something in common. That's a pretty impressive tattoo you've got there. It’s impressive." He glanced at your tattoo, admiring the way the bat's wings wrapped around your wrist like a bracelet. "Looks like we both share a fondness for bats"

"I guess so"

"Is that your only tattoo or do you have more hidden surprises?"

"If you're lucky,you'll find out" You smirked.

“Careful now, I might just take you up on that"

Your conversation was cut short when you arrived at your house. "Looks like we're here, princess."

"I'll see you tomorrow,that is if I don't get grounded"

"Until tomorrow, princess."

[giorno-plays-piano]

Thorns In His Mouth

Part VII

Pairing: fae!Steve Rogers x reader

Warnings: obsession, dubious consent, minor character death, drugs (neither reader nor Steve are involved), slight eating disorder, mentions of tumor, high tech elves.

Words: 1.2k

Summary: Maybe it was a good idea to chat with a waitress a bit more once she brought you your order. Perhaps she could at least tell you with whom you should speak because you simply couldn’t force yourself to look at others, most of them already high, shouting something loudly or laughing or weeping. You could constantly hear the flapping of someone’s wings, weird whispers and noises, and the sound of boots and hooves that made your hair stand on end.

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI

_______

"But where are we going?" You hurried after the elf who was walking way too fast on his goddamn perfectly long legs.

"My friend is a phooka who doesn't like sunlight much," Steve said, turning his face to you but not slowing down. "Since magic costs us too much in your world, not many fae can afford constant glamour. And phookas don't exactly look like humans, so he has to hide where not many people can see him."

Oh. You hadn't thought of that. Phookas were black-haired cat-like - or goat-like? - creatures, as far as you remembered from a book about Celtic fairies you've had as a child. It would be incredibly hard not to freak out if you suddenly saw one in the middle of the city.

Poor creature. Where was it living? How hard it would be to not only be unable to use magic, but also communicate with pretty much anyone at all with an exception of fellow faes? Steve, on the other hand, looked perfectly human even with his strange face and piercing blue eyes, his ears perfectly normal. Was he using glamour?

He seemed to be amused with your expression as he laughed, extending his hand to you so you could walk close instead of dragging behind him.

"Do you use glamour to change the shape of your ears?" You blurted out, unable to keep silent to satisfy your curiosity, and then shame bubbled up inside you as you realized it was a too personal question to ask a literal stranger. Nevertheless, you took his hand when his fingers brushed against yours.

His gaze warmed up. "I do. What, do you want me to oblige you and show you their true form?"

"No, no pleasure, I'm sorry! I don't know why I asked that."

"It's a shame," the elf winked at you. "I'd ask you for a wish in exchange."

Warmth crept into your cheeks: was Steve flirting with you just now? Or was it his fae nature showing itself? The fair folk were supposed to be overly playing - or utterly horrifying. Steve, you thought, was likely both.

Turning to the left, away from the bus station with a long queue of tired students nervously clutching their Ipads and Iphones, you followed the Watcher with your eyes on the road instead of looking at him. It never came to your mind that he considerably slowed down his pace so you could keep up with it, his palm warming yours as he held it gently. You missed his intent stare as he stopped smiling, and his eyes flashed oddly.

"Your first lesson," he finally said after a couple of minutes, breaking the awkward silence. "Don't ever bargain with a fae if it demands a wish in return. Always try to propose something first. Give it something valuable, but what you're ready to part with."

"Like my earrings?"

There's a faint smile on his full lips, "Like your earrings."

"But what if I really need to bargain with a fae, and it wants nothing else but a wish?"

Steve abruptly stopped, and you nearly fell down the ground if he didn't catch you, steading you with his unbearably hot palms on your shoulders, towering over you, his expression somber.

"You NEVER bargain with that fae," he said, and your knees started to tremble out of nowhere when he squeezed your shoulders tight. "Never. Come find me, and I will trade something else with you to help."

There's something dangerous in the way his lips crooked, but you continued staring at his face, anyway, like a snake charmer at a cobra - except it was you being controlled, his voice a low command.

"There has always been plenty of malicious fae even in Sacred lands, but many turned worse in exile. You will never guess which one is which, and you don't want to know what they'll do to you if you give them a chance."

"But... but weren't fair folk forbidden from harming us?" Your voice trembled a little, and Steve blew out a little breath, his thumbs drawing circles through the fabric of your blouse to comfort you, probably, after he stopped painfully squeezing your shoulders.

"When you give them a wish, you hand them the power over you. Do that, and the law will no longer work in your favor."

It was a rule #1, perhaps the most important one among the long list of other rules you were given when dealing with the little folk. Never have you ever allowed a fae to ask you for a wish since then, promising yourself you wouldn't waste your own life even for your mother. There was always a different way, Steve said, glancing down at you as he towered far above you. Sacrifices, whatever their nature, rarely led to anything good in the end.

By the time he walked down the stairs to enter the nearest metro station, you realized you had a very vague picture of a place you were going to, immediately asking the elf where he was planning to take you. Why were you leaving fae's part of the city? Did some creatures live outside it? Was it far? Was it a dangerous place, too?

The man was chuckling again at a limitless number of questions you could ask without drawing a second breath. "You were a worrier, weren't you?" He asked, and your cheeks grew hot with embarrassment.

"He lives close," he finally said, motioning to the metro tration. "And no place is dangerous as long as you're with me. You might get nervous, though. It's dark and dirty there."

Dark and dirty? Was it, like, some sort of a cave.

Looking at the growing smile of the elf, you suddenly realized why he was taking you down the metro station. Dear God, that's where that hairy phooka lived, right? Somewhere on an abandoned metro line or between the stations where no one but rats would see him, and so he wouldn't need glamor.

It all felt like some sort of urban legend.

You didn't have it in you to stop, knowing your mysterious friend was expecting results in return for his earnest work, but when Steve was helping you jump over the protective fence right on the tracks, you squeezed his hand, breathing heavier.

"Can I hold your hand, please? This place gives me the creeps," you smiled nervously at him, and Steve let out a loud laugh in his typical fashion, grasping your shoulder.

"You weren't scared of coming to a place full of drug addicts and all sorts of scum, but the metro scares you?" He helped you up when you had finally jumped down, barely believing you were really doing it, your anxity amping up. "Don't fret, you lovely little thing. I know this place better than anyone. I've lived here for many long years myself."

________

Tags: @heavenly1927 @yazzzmints @devils-blackrose @lost-and-founds @kennafild @toodlesxcuddles @shygardengalaxy @heimtathurs @moonlightazriel @tsujifreya @lilithmoon92 @greenowlfactif @minshookie29 @nina2697 @youngdreamer3214 @jsrblue

[blueteller]

So, Let's Talk Themes in TCF!

"Themes" is such a weird topic for me, not gonna lie... I always feel like it's something you're just supposed to know and feel instinctually – like rhythm in dancing. Which, btw, I'm not really good at. So it's difficult to talk about without that background anxiety that I'll totally flop and miss the point, despite my best intentions.

Still, I decided to give it my best shot anyway, and try to decide what "themes" there are in "Trash/Lout of the Count's Family", and why I like them, because that part is subjective and thankfully, I can decide without freaking out over the "correct" answer.

First, let me make one thing clear: I don't believe TCF was written to convey a single theme or idea. It's an adventure story, and it's supposed to be pure fun. Which it is!! But nevertheless, there is a lot of effort and thought behind it, and I believe that thoughtfulness from the author manifests itself clearly in the overall work, so it's definitely worth talking about.

Now, with that lengthy explanation of what I'm going for out of the way: what are the themes in TCF that I noticed (and like)?

Found Family

Beloved Hypocritical Hero

Overcoming Prejudice

Victory in Working Together

What makes Humanity, what makes a Monster

Healing and Moving Forward

Misunderstandings

Found Family is the most obvious theme, overall, so I don't think it requires much explanation. Cale doesn't "find" his new family on purpose as much and trips all over them, on total accident – then proceeds to adopt them all, despite his inner monologue telling the readers over and over that he intends no such thing. It's pure comedy, but it's also incredibly wholesome and heartwarming. Cale has the biggest, softest heart of them all, and he's the only one who doesn't see it. I wanna squish his cheeks and coo over how cute he is most of the time.

Beloved Hypocritical Hero is the second theme, which isn't apparent at the start. Cale's biased inner monologue does his best to convince us that he's totally selfish, and doesn't intend to be a paragon protagonists who selflessly helps others in the slightest! ...However, over the course of the story it becomes clear that Cale is one, big, fat, liar. He is exactly the sort of hero he constantly denies he is. His whole spitting-blood-from-power-overuse act practically became a meme at this point. Still, despite how frustrating Cale's blatant hypocrisy is, we can't help but love him all the more for it. I'd like to say that he gets better overtime, but.... yeah, personally, I don't see much progress on that front. He did promise Raon he won't get hurt one time, and he managed to keep that promise, but then he (spoiler alert) went ahead and stabbed himself right after, so. Yeah. Cale is a hero and a hypocrite and we all love him. That's definitely a major theme in the story.

Overcoming Prejudice is the best way I found to describe the whole plot of "anti-darkness attribute" propaganda in TCF. What I love about it is that the author found a much more interesting way to convey the theme than just make it about "fantasy racism". It isn't just about the Dark Elves, it's about Necromancers too, and all people using dead mana. The best part is that dead mana is, in fact, used by the very higher-ups who spread the prejudice in the first place, proving without a doubt that it's all 100% hypocrisy and there is nothing wrong with dead mana in the first place. It's all propaganda, and it serves a purpose. The true beauty of this plot unfolds when the Sun Twins show up, and Cale brings in Mary to help Hannah with her dead mana poisoning. Jack goes through an entire arc of realizing what "true light" is, and that despite the "voice of the Sun God" constantly ringing in his ears to eradicate all darkness, he comes to his own conclusion that it isn't what the power is, it's about what ones does with the power. It's just, beautiful. I feel like that part of the story doesn't get enough credit. Mary is one of my favorite characters, and Jack and Hannah combo is amazing as well. Definitely one of my favorite plotlines in TCF.

Victory in Working Together is another obvious theme throughout the story. It isn't just reserved for the good guys, either: the bad guys have a ton of alliances, too. The difference is that the good side is based on genuine intent, without stabbing each other in the backs, while the bad guys only pretend as long as they need to, then throw away their "allies" to the wolves when it's convenient. It's portrayed less as a "message" and more of a purely pragmatic fact: to get anywhere, you need to have support. Cale knows this from the start, which is why he manages to make so many allies in such a short time. This theme is simply about being able to overcome the biggest of obstacles, as long as you honestly work together with others and put all your effort into it. It is the simplicity of it makes it so effective, in my opinion.

What makes Humanity, what makes a Monster is an interesting one for sure. In a world full of so many interesting races, the final boss is – always – human. Be it Venion Stan, Redika, Prince Adin, Queen Elisneh, the White Star, or even the Sealed God – all of the main villains are either purely human or started off that way. I think it's very much deliberate, in order to show how what makes these people evil isn't some in-born characteristic; but only their choices. Not to say that non-human characters aren't ever bad, of course not – there is a bunch of evil non-human characters all over the story. But evil, true evil, is always a choice. And thus, non-human characters who choose good are more "human" than the "monsters wearing human skins". I won't call it an allegory, because it isn't even as indirect as that: it's a fundamental truth of life that the only real monsters are people who are rotten on the inside. And since the author put so much effort to make all the fantasy races in TCF feel very much human-like, it only makes sense that their choices is the thing that makes them evil, not their race. Even actual Monsters aren't all pure evil in TCF! I truly appreciate it. It's such a simple concept, but it works extremely well.

Healing and Moving Forward is one of the themes which honestly melts my heart. It doesn't simply apply to Cale; it applies to everyone in the cast. Everyone in Cale's group comes in damaged, scarred, hurt or threatened in some way, and comes out better in the end. From the children, to the adults, the entire group heals through their "Found Family" and their quest to defeat the evil forces threatening their world, in order to achieve a peaceful, happy future. Every time we see the evidence of it – like Cale admitting his life is precious, Eruhaben agreeing to extend his life, Choi Han attribute changing, and so on – it feels like an amazing triumph, and yet completely natural and earned. One could simply call it "good character development" and move on, but I see a commond trend and it deserves to make itself a theme of its own. It's not just about everybody finding their place in the family: it's about them growing as family. And doing so, despite their traumatic pasts. And since I once called Cale a "poster child of trauma", it's no wonder he's the one who has the most of "healing" and "moving forward" to do of them all. I hope it continues all throughout book 2!

And of course, I saved Misunderstandings for last. I think the name speaks for itself. TCF is practically a comedy built upon misunderstandings; except misunderstandings of the BEST kind. The misunderstandings where people look upon Cale – tired, in-denial, clueless Cale – and see whatever they need to see the most in the moment: a saviour, an inspiration, a leader, a friend, a parent, and so on. Many misunderstandings result in people seeing Cale in too-good-to-be-true light, which is always funny (Clopeh instantly comes to mind). The thing is: Cale deserves most of it, even if he doesn't believe so. Because it's not about what Cale actually is that matters in those situations: it's about what others need. Cale inspires just by being, well, himself. And that inspiration is what changes people. It's Cale doing his best and affecting others, that makes all the huge waves of change. In my opinion, there is no better misunderstanding than one which results in inspiration: because even if "truth" was revealed later on, the effects of it were 100% real, and something to be grateful for. Imagine if you had a terrible day, and you suddenly saw someone smile at you, and you felt better. Even if the person wasn't actually looking at you in that moment – that doesn't matter!! What matters to you is that your day DID get better, and that person was to thank for! That's the beauty of TCF's misunderstandings. Cale will never truly comprehend the gratefulness of others, without understanding how he can affect them without even trying. ...Then again, his obliviousness and hypocrisy is one of the many reasons why we love him 😊

Let me know if there are other themes in TCF you like!

[absolutely-normal-about-x]

Okay so I have this idea if we go to the idea that X axl zero are made from the Alien material. It explains why no one was able to replicate X and Zero in the first place. Even with the new gen reploids are not 100% like Axl with his copy ship abilities. It only took like 100+ years to finally get down with X and Zero info in the future with Copy X (By extension the guardians) and Omega.

My god it can actually explain what's up with the Cyber Elves and the mother elf since they technically originate from Zero. So they naturally gravitate towards him, especially the Mother elf of how she calls him in the Zero series.

But still no one really figured out that they were made with that Alien stuff. Even funnier that the hunters themselves have no idea about it too. Like it would make everyone freak out and “Oh so that explains so much”

X having a freak out moment, Zero being indifferent and Axl thinking it’s the coolest shit ever.

Especially that in legends Reborn it serves as an explanation of why the Guardians have animalistic traits to begin with. X’s weird Alien genes mutated the carbon bodies to adapt to any of the guardians personalities and abilities. That can be a reason why Zero is more animalistic than he normally is. Or how Axl retains his copy abilities to an extent.

It’s kinda funny to consider that X and Volnutt are kinda normal compared to them. But I have a funnier idea that their pupils are shaped differently compared to the others having more of a Cross-shaped. The guardians have it but X and Volnutt are more “X” shaped compared to them. It’s a lil bizarre at first but it’s kinda meant to show their nature as holders of infinite potential.

That’s why the Light Family are so cracked up compared to everyone else’s because of their ability to keep adapting and evolving quicker than anyone else.

They got that alien crack on them-

[variablejabberwocky]

watched episodes 7-9 of ~*AUTISM COOKING DUNGEON*~

i fucking called it

both in himbro nearly getting himself killed via previously unknown monster shit he decided to fuck with, and his sister also being A Freak but in a slightly different flavor

the way she bounced around between things and was just "DIRT!!! :D :D STICK! BERRIES :D :D :D" is giving big indicators there is SOMETHING adhd or similar going on up in there. even the way the other girls were semi-ostracizing her and her ditching class to do something she actually enjoys

also lmao at the reveal of how she and mage elf met (marcille?). like talk about falling ass-backwards into EXACTLY what you were looking for. between himbro, his sister, and senshi she's learning EXACTLY what she wanted to know back then

good to know that even senshi isn't actually a master at this though. he's just more familiar with the concept and making it WORK. means they ALL can learn from this.

but now i'm also wondering...so far the other three have all made a comment about "the first time i died" or something similar. meaning ALL THREE have died multiple times. so has senshi ever died and been brought back? it kind of seems like not but maybe part of why he doesn't like magic is because he HAS died once and thought it should have stuck so he'd ~become one with the dungeon ecosystem~ or whatever

anyway, still looking forward to more about chilchuck (one 'l' not two, apparently). and i was promised a cat person at some point unless that was someone's oc

but i am still weirded out by that living painting room. cause like...that felt like a hint to something bigger. like it could just be a red herring. but it FELT like it was trying to give us clues about the castle itself and its curse. not sure if its the name drop of the prince turned king or the details in the elf's appearance. it just...felt important.

and like, that was a fairly young elf. and he stayed young during the entire time a human went from newborn to married and newly crowned ruler. so if elves grow THAT slowly... and this one was that pissed that quickly. and THAT POWERFUL. idk it just feels like something to remember for later

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

For the story ideas folder "You Drew Stars Around My Scars" have definitely caught my eye!

Also hope you are doing good, Elm!

First of all, Crys, hiiiiiii! I'm doing okay! I hope you're well! ✨ Second, I just want to thank you for asking about "You Drew Stars Around My Scars" and to apologize for the person I'm about to become.

Are you ready for it?

"You Drew Stars Around My Scars" is a The Elder Scrolls V/Baldur's Gate 3 crossover that will likely never see the light of day for several factors, such as the number of WIPs I have, my original novel, school, and, oh, the fact that I've never played BG3 My MacBook Air cannot handle those demands. DESPITE THE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES!, I just think the game is neat and have been sucked into it in part by Astarion. Mostly Astarion . . . okay, entirely.

Background information: Ever since I started writing Keeping Count, I knew Bishop was lifted from Neverwinter Nights and that it was a D&D-based game. And I guess that's why someone mentioned Astarion as a palette cleanser to me a few months ago, shared universe and all. And my initial perception of the character was so cool that I vaguely entertained an alternative Keeping Count where Astarion shows up, seduces Leara from Bishop, and probably sexy stabs Bishop or something. And then I didn't really think about it again. For months.

Then my brain went back to it and Astarion and BG3 and I cried a bit when I realized that my laptop couldn't play the game. I'm fine. And you know what? @cosmermaid is right: Leara deserves a better companion than freaking Bishop. Also please forgive my minimal BG3/D&D knowledge, 95% of which I've absorbed since like last Monday ish.

SO! "You Drew Stars Around My Scars" features Leara getting picked up by the Mind Flayer ship post-Sovngarde and taken via dimensional travel to Faerûn where, following the crash, she joins the usual party on a quest to get rid of the parasites. This Leara is very specifically taken after the planned Chapter 15 of Keeping Count for Reasons. Can Leara use magic in Faerûn since she's not able to draw it from Aetherius? No idea. Can she Dragon Shout? Also no idea. Transdimensional magic mechanics are weird. Regardless, Leara probably mentions something about being Dragonborn and gets weird and confused looks because her definition of Dragonborn is totally different from that in the Forgotten Realms. Linearly, I have no idea what would happen, but overall, Leara and Astarion both suffer trauma from following people who hurt them and they have complicated relationships with sex. They could have what could be a very cathartic relationship. Or I think so, anyway. Also, I kinda want to know if vampires react differently to the Dragonblood.

Symbolism in the story could heavily involve stars and light. Leara means "Light of the Sea" while Astarion means "Little Star". Leara is dependent on the stars for her magic but she's lost them, while Astarion wants to walk in the light even after the parasite is gone. There's no balance and it has to be found. They're both so cold and have lived in the shadows for a long time. There are dark versions of themselves they don't want to be anymore.

There's the possibility that, given her background in the Blades and Dominion, Leara might see through Astarion's mask in Act I. But she'd end up helping Astarion (and probably not giving on that she's on to him until later) because she's a bleeding heart. Two other very important things about this underwhelming but brain-rotting story: First, Astarion wouldn't ascend. We would need a Leara Disapproves sticker because she would not be for Astarion doing that. The second thing is, well, since motherhood is an extremely important part of Leara's character, I did pick out a name for a possible child. If Leara and Astarion had a daughter, her name would be Ilmarien, derived from Quenya, Ilmarë, meaning “starlight”.

Because after all this time, Tolkien elves still make the most sense to me.

[siriannatan]

Importance of 1st Impressions - fWhipScott

Sometimes you just need to get some things out. Like another 'Scott opens up Rivendell to outsiders for the first time in ages' fic with side of 'questionable choice of first ally' and fWhip discovering he's a dragon…

CW: blood

fWhip woke up confused and surrounded by his closest advisors and staff. In a lot of pain. Feeling weird and sticky and like some previously unknown to him parts of him were being squished.

"You shouldn't move just yet your lordship," one of the older advisors panicked as fWhip attempted to sit up. He was partially right as it made the pain worse but the squished feeling was a bit better now. As fWhip struggled to stay seated and not curl up in on himself until it stopped hurting.

"Why do I..." fWhip started and froze when he stopped an unmistakable dragon tail curling up around him. He could feel it move... He tried moving it a bit and it worked. "So it didn't skip me..." He sighed, carefully stretching his wings. He was fully fine being just a human. Leave magic and being a dragon to Gem and Sausage.

"It would appear so your lordship," another advisor nodded. They all took a couple of steps back to give fWhip space to test his wings.

"It'll be fine, do I have anything important today? And can someone get the kitchen working? I'm starving," fWhip shifted his wings a bit and decided the pain subsided enough for him to move on with his day.

"Only the meeting with the new king of Rivendell," the first advisor quickly recalled and fWhip groaned. They had no idea why I've elves suddenly decided to leave their damn mountain but they did and their king sent fWhip a polite request for a meeting to discuss a possible alliance. And fWhip was quite tempted to sign it. Getting more allies was always nice but knowing this one was new he had hope he'd listen to what the count had to say and argue less than his other allies.

"Okay, prioritise making sure I'm presentable for that," fWhip nodded and went to have a bath. He was all covered in blood after all.

After eating enough for at least three grown men, to the joy of the kitchen staff, fWhip learned that his usual, comfortable clothes could not be easily modified to fit his wings and ridiculously long tail. But his more fancy clothes could. The waistbands were naturally lower and some of the shirts were loose enough to look well with quickly put-together slats for wings. Not his most favourite option but it beat meeting a new ally shirtless.

Sometime while he was getting dressed king Scott of Rivendell has arrived. And was apparently quite handsome if what he was told to be believed.

Scott was slightly shocked but not offended count fWhip could not greet him personally. Being a leader of a multi-empire alliance was bound to be busy. Ruling one with no allies was already quite hard in Scott's experience. Not that he was ever prepared for taking over.

Why was Scott even opening up Rivendell to other empires? Because his damn brother decided to run away with the king of the jungle elves. Ice and jungle elves really don't like each other. And the Lost Empire happened to be part of the Cod Alliance. Wither Rose Alliance were not on good terms with them. So Scott and his advisors decided to try and ally themselves with at least Grimlands. In case something unsavoury came out of Xor's new marriage.

So Scott was now waiting in a meeting room until count fWhip was ready. And was so freaked out why what he saw so far he didn't even have the mood to snack on the cute, square cookies he was given as an apology for having to wait. He was guessing that was why there were cookies.

Grimlands was beautiful. Eastvale was an amazing city with a lot more noise and weird smells than Scott was used to. And the train moving between the town and the mines. And the endless fields of crops and dark red roses. And the almost finished skyport. He learned most of what was what from the official who showed them the way to count's manor. Which was also rather impressive. Scott really hoped he would make a good impression.

"I apologise for being late and lack of crown, a little unexpected thing happened this morning," Scott almost jumped out of his seat as Count fWhip walked in. He was expecting a human, not a half-dragon... And did he have to be damn handsome?

"It's all alright," Scott managed to stand up with some grace and offered the count a slight bow. At least it'd seem that putting on his best robes was a good choice since the count looked to put a lot of attention to his appearance. Dark grey shirt, possibly a bit too open. Or was it that way to better accommodate the rather impressive wings? Was his tail why his pants were so... Tight for the lack of better wordage...

Scott could not for the life of him focus on politics. Not with fWhip constantly snacking and flashing his sharp teeth. Not with his perfect manners that'd have Scott's mother weeping in joy. Must his first potential ally be a walking wet dream?

"Why Grimlands for your first ally? House Blossom is rather influential, even if they are friends with damned cod lovers," fWhip asked, relaxing and sitting back after about an hour if talking. "Lunch break, my sister would have my head if I skipped any meal through a day," he sighed as Scott's brain re-calibrated. Making it start over with how cute it was to Scott's apparently messed-up brain.

"Oh..." was all Scott managed to mumble out. Likely destroying what little good reputation he has managed to get in fWhip's eyes. "I apologise just... In Rivendell we... I... We..." He had no idea what the custom was when mealtime landed in the middle of a meeting. Probably a break but he'd hate to lie. "I'm quite new to ruling actually... My brother was supposed to be a king but he ran away to the jungle and his new husband is apparently part of that cod group so I can't really go to them..." Scott rambled. He'd have to seal Rivendell with a thick wall of ice now. No one in and no one out...

"And the first thing you do is open your empire after how long? Hundred? Two hundred years? That's brave, when I became the count all I wanted was no one wanting to talk to me," fWhip laughed instead of making fun of Scott for messing up. "I literally grew my wings and tail and all that today," he confessed with a smirk that should be outlawed for what it was doing to Scott. "The horns make my crown impossible to wear," he sighed, running, or trying to, his hand through his hair.

It took that for Scott to finally notice two twisting back horns nestled in fWhip's gorgeously copper hair. His horns were so red they were mostly black. In his defence, he was too busy trying to not freeze the place. "I was worried a war could start and there's no way I can manage that," Scott sighed, dropping slightly the pretense of competence he was putting up.

They talked about some more a bit less important political things over the lunch. And Scott learned some more about Grimlands. Not it's history or anything but more the political stuff. fWhip was the head of WRA, the alliance between Grimlands, Crystal Cliffs, Mythland and Gilded Helianthia. His empire specialised in mining, smithing, tinkering, explosions and farming of all things. And he wasn't supposed to rule anything but some things got complicated - fWhip did not elaborate at all - so he became the next count. Despite being technically the heir to Mythland.

Most importantly, by the time they were done eating the paperwork to formalise their alliance was being drafted. Scott agreed, as previously discussed with his advisors, to stay three more days for it to be fully done and proper.

"You can tag along and watch how I rule if you want," fWhip offered, very kindly in Scott's opinion. "The Sheep knows I could have used that back in the day," he grinned and Scott felt his knees weaken.

"That'd be most kind of you," he blurted out, simply happy it didn't come out in elven. That'd be too much shame for one day.

"It's no trouble at all, but do rest today, the travel down that mountain had to be terrible," he waved off Scott's concerns.

They were about to separate when a messenger came. Red in the face, out of breath, in Mythland uniform. fWhip's demeanour immediately switched to much more serious.

Scott silently observed as fWhip calmed down the messenger. He called out for water for the poor man before slowly getting all the information out of him.

It turned out that Cod Empire and Mythland had another argument about their shared border. fWhip seemed slightly annoyed. "My brother tried multiple times to build a wall along that border, it always ends in arguing and almost a war," fWhip explained as they got ready to depart. Apparently, Scott was to be part of these talks since he was technically - not fully officially - fWhip's ally even if not yet part of the whole alliance.

And so Scott ended up sharing a carriage with fWhip. There was no time to get two ready and carriages and descending mountains did not mix well. And so did Scott's ice magic and being in closed spaces with handsome men. And fWhip was unfairly handsome up close even if this wardrobe was quickly tossed together.

"Are you cold?" fWhip stopped explaining his plan as Scott shuddered.

"I'm fine... Just a bit nervous so my magic is kind of acting out. I apologise if it's cold," Scott had to almost bite himself to stop rambling.

fWhip nodded and was silent for a second. Scott was about certain he messed up when he spoke up. "I don't really feel cold so if you feel cold you can sit closer, I think my dragon blood awakening means I don't get affected by cold," he offers and Scott was sure his face was redder than his new ally's scales. He did not yet dare call fWhip a friend.

"I would hate to bother you and I'm used to being a bit cold all the time..." Scott mumbled, staring at his knees.

"I don't mind," fWhip shrugged and returned to detailing out his plan as if he didn't just destroy Scott's brain.

The elven king did his best to listen anyway. They were expected to arrive at Mythland around sundown, with Gem and Pearl - fWhip spoke about his allies with a shocking lack of decorum - arriving around the same time if a bit later than earlier. Depending on how quickly they managed to get on the road. There'd be a quick meeting about possible solutions over dinner and then sleep. "I sent a letter informing Sausage I'd be bringing a new friend with me when we were sending that message to your advisors," he explained with a grin. Scott could not look away from him for all that long.

Scott just nodded along, desperately holding back the urge to sit by fWhip and cuddle into the pleasant warmth practically radiating off him.

[meggannn]

more bg3 oc stuff

goes by tabito (wanderer), which is not her birth name it’s just what she calls herself here for privacy. an ultra-serious Live and Die by the Blade warrior who came to faerûn recently and the gang nicknames her tab/tav since the wanese b/v sound similar. half-elf and also half-wanese

because everyone has a secret backstory hers is that she's actually ultra violent and on an ecologically and self-destructive path of revenge that took her to faerûn after she had to leave home. came to baldur's gate hunting down one of her targets. quiet little freak enjoys it when things go wrong as an excuse to cut loose

karlach takes a while to come around but eventually loves talking her ear off at camp because she's a good listener. maybe a little weird when she sharpens her blade while staring into the fire for several minutes without blinking but we've all got our quirks. does not touch tav or even ask to hug because she’s trying to avoid the topic of all the mysterious burns on her face and arms

shadowheart takes a LONG while but eventually is like yes there is room for two half-elves shrouded in mystery and darkness here, you ARE the sister i never knew i wanted, i WILL turn you goth, i will not link arms with you but i WILL take it personally if we dont go on every mission together

lae'zel and tabito are just (nods at each other). lae'zel likes that she minds her own business and is a straightest-line-between-two-points person

wyll thought he liked her until he found out she doesn't actually give a shit about little people. now he's not mad at her he's just disappointed

cue the "what kind of samurai ARE you" "i never said i was a samurai. samurai are honorable. fuck off" conversation that boils over one night over dinner when she advocates to not get involved in the grove business

only then does astarion sit up from across the camp and go okay i can work with that. (he's also fucking appalled to learn that she knows three language but none of them are elvish)

gale doesn't care. he's pretty neutral on her since she does translate some foreign books for him, but she told him she won't teach him eastern magic so stop ASKING and he's still not over it

halsin's like "ok haha ur a little weird, let me know if you want to learn some faerûn elven traditions since you were raised by your wanese human side—" "no." "haha ok i'll be over here if you change ur mind :)" and never talks to her without prompting again. kinda thinks of her like "wow that young lady sure has lost her way, hope she finds it one day"

jaheira likes her a lot but knows she doesn't want a mom so they have a pretty good relationship of snark and mutual respect

warily trusted the emperor initially but then told him to fuck off once he started pushing the parasites harder

[randomperson1me]

The non beliver chapter 2, I'm where ?!

Y/N woke up in bed, rubbing their eyes " What the-" they mumbled to themselves. They let out a small scream seeing where they were. They were in a Christmas decorated bedroom. "Ok this kidnapper is weird " Y/N freaked out. They looked down and saw they were in red pj's. "How-!" They yelled confused. They looked beside the bed and spotted their clothes. They quickly put them on but it wasn't the ones they had on before. It was a long sleeve metal band t-shirt, with cargo black pants and doc martins "Okay this kidnapper went through my closest " they mumbled creeped out. They looked in the mirror and saw they didn't even try to take off their makeup. Y/N creeped to the door and opened it, surprised it wasn't locked. They peaked out and saw kids with pointy clothes and bright clothes. They slammed the door closed again "... WHERE AM I?!" They yelled. Y/N took a deep breath. They were getting out of here. They opened the door again and stepped outside. Y/N walked along the walls, trying to not bump into anyone or get in their way. "Oh good your awake " they heard an annoyed male voice from behind them say. Y/N let out a small scream and whirled around to look at him. There stood a boy around her height, he had curly black hair with a dark green hat on and a red sweater with brown pants. He wore a scowl as he had his hands on his hips "Did you need to scream?" He asked annoyed. "Who are you and where am I?" Y/N asked confused, putting their hands up as if about to fight. The boy rolled his eyes " Bernard, I'm the head elf at the north Pole " He explained "Which is where you are " He added. Y/N put their hands down with a confused expression " North pole? Like.. Santa's workshop ?" She asked. This wasn't real, this was a dream. "The one and only. The girl who went to get you was an elf aswell " Bernard added. "Very funny " Y/N said with a dry chuckle. Bernard raise a brow confused. "What's funny ?" He asked confused. He also felt a bit annoyed. Why did santa think this loud, rude teenager would be a good pick."All this. I got told santa wasn't real " They told him with a headhake. "You got told it? So you do belive it ?" Bernard shot back as he crossed his arms with arms. "No- I mean, I hoped it was a lie but.."Y/N trailed off, done trying to explain themselves. "OK so.. why am I here?" They asked him. They noticed that when he smirked, his cheeks sparkled more from the glitter. They didn't even know elves cheeks were glittery. "Because.."Bernard went to explain but noticed how crowded the hallway was. He didn't want the others to know. He gently took their arm and lead them down a quieter hallway. "Christmas spirit is dying, not much kids are believing anymore " He explained, making them look taken back. Why wouldn't kids belive in santa? That was the best thing about childhood. "So, Santa called his most beliver aka you, for help "Bernard finished explaining. "How am I ment to help?" Y/N asked him confused. What could they do? "I don't know, Santa might have the anwsers for that " Bernard said as he began to lead them to Santa's office. Y/N looked around in awe "This place is way better in person than in movies " they told him. Bernard let out a small chcukle "Of course. It's the real thing after all" He smiled. Maybe he was wrong about them.

[aspiringsophrosyne]

Episode 7: The Fey Realm.

If high fantasy's your thing, have we got a show for you today. Cursed swordsman, mysterious faerie realms, and grappling with destiny. Just make sure to get your seat before the lights go down.

The Good.

I appreciate Keyleth's freak-out after they realized they were separated from the gnomes and Grog. Too often, when characters don't get a moment to be distraught, it makes the stakes feel lower than they should. Or makes it feel like the cast doesn't care about each other all that much. So that was refreshing. 

Also, good call to split up the group. That makes it easier for the show CRew; no need to figure out how to write and animate seven characters at once. Plus, that divides the audience's attention, making the plot easier to follow. And in smaller groups, it gives individual characters more time to shine.

Serious kudos is deserved for the design of the Fey Wild itself. Young Heller, episode director, and guest for the watch along, nailed it on the head when he described the Realm of the Fey as a character unto itself. Honestly, it comes across as even more alien and other here than it can in the game. Unless the DM wants to change things up, the game mechanics don't vary that much when you hang out there. So it can feel like only another weird area among many, depending on the story you're trying to tell.

Watching Craven Edge soak up Pike's blood from a distance while she's trying to heal, without even a wielder, is disturbing. It gives the impression that if left unchecked, this thing could turn into something even more dangerous than it already is.

Getting rid of Craven Edge was more involved in the stream, so they knew they had to make its destruction here brutal enough that it felt like death for the sword. For my money, they managed it; Grog breaking the sword had the visceral impact of a bone breaking in half. And the small ocean of blood it expels is like all its power and evil being released back into the world.

Holy shit Billy Boyd as Garmelie. He is perfect; the design and Billy's performance are just spot on what I would imagine a native fey creature to act like. Whimsical, self-interested, sort of smart ass, charming as all hell....everything about it is fantastic. I only wish we could've seen more of him. No notes. 

Well, except for Garmelie's notes which....yeah, exactly right. Absolutely accurate to the stream. What a fabulously gross, cheeky little gremlin man.

My reactions to Pike and Scanlan's song, in order:

Oh, is this the song Sam hinted at during the pre-season interviews?

Wow, Ashley and Sam sound great together. They should do more duets.

...Wait, what are those lyrics?

These ridiculous little shits. (<-affectionate)

If you know, you know. But if you don't, it's just a good song.

Don't think we didn't pick up on those nine eyes Vex saw when she was sliding into a bad trip. It's weird and ominous to think that, in this universe, that's still around. And that the person who will trigger the confrontation with that whole thing....technically isn't even born yet.

I can't say enough about how pretty the Fey Realm is. Just....so gorgeous at every point.

And, of course, Cheech Marin is Trinket. Of course, he is.

The Bad. (Or at least not great.)

One thing that bothers me is that there are two angles they tried to hit in this episode that, due to poor execution, just...don't work. One is Percy being a more ineffective guide to the Fey Realm than he thinks he is, and the other is that the Realm Does Not Like the Matron's Champion in general on life vs. death principles.

When Percy warned the half-elves that the forest they were traveling through could pick up on a poor mood, we all knew what would happen. Vax has, understandably, been in a funk for days. So it wasn't hard for the audience to guess that the negativity-detecting plants would take one look at this boy and collectively go: get his ass.

Percy wasn't wrong about the vines; Vax was never going to be able to pass through them unscathed.

Likewise, when the rest of the group seems to think Percy doesn't know where he's leading them or is lost, that idea is undercut by the fact they've just reached the upside-down waterfall. The very same waterfall from Scanlan's vision of where Fenthras was. So the visual tells the audience Percy is actually on the right track, no matter how skeptical of him the group is in-universe.

As for Vax, the encounter with the mood forest muddles the idea that the Fey Realm is against him because it doesn't like death-aligned individuals in general. 

Because Vax was initially attacked due to his emotional state, the potential takeaway was that the Fey Realm doesn't like bad vibes. And Vax is nothing but bad vibes right now.

It's another case of the script and the dialogue telling us one thing while what's actually happening tells us something contradictory. It's frustrating.

More Grog nerfing....eh. Makes a little more sense than some of the Season 1 moments, and it makes the fight in Episode 10 go even harder, but it still feels a little cheap to me. If I'm going to be nitpicky.

And that's about it. Next is a good one folks. See you there.

[modern-inheritance]

Vivid dreams about the future Eragon tv show

I had extremely vivid long dreams last night but the thing is it was me having vivid dreams, waking up in them, writing a tumblr post about what the dream was, realizing the dream was a vivid dream, then going back to sleep in the dream to dream more of the vivid dream I had dreamed within the dream and I…I don’t know what’s real anymore.

The dream inside the dream was that a trailer for the Disney+ Eragon show came out and it was bad. And then woke up to take my dog out but made sure I was holding her collar because I felt like my roommate’s cats had escaped and one of them had, so I scooped him up (it was Jack, which should have tipped me off because Jack HATES being picked up) and put him in a dog crate and put Gabe in a dog crate too because they kept getting out.

I guess I sat down in front of a tv at a combination of Nancy’s house (much older friend. I only say her house because her husband/partner was there) and Mama Cathy’s house and the new Eragon show was on the tv.

And oh man it was BAD. Like it was weird as all hell and BAD. Half the time elves didn’t have pointed ears, which I later griped to Mama about because I said it was something we hated in the movie. Eragon looked like a brown haired but less strong jawed Ed Spellers or however his name was, Islanzadi was bald for some reason? Like got her head reshaved in the dream? Durza had some dope tattoos on his face Ngl. 

Speaking of faces that was some pandemic in the elves where the first born male of the houses got sick and would die and for some reason we learned this by an elf in a crowd protesting another elf’s imprisonment at Gil’ead got shot in the chest with an arrow and  Arya and Faolin and/or Glenwing saw a message on the arrow that they had killed him twice now, which caused some confusion but when they peeled his hood away from the side of his face there were like...teeth and an extra lipless mouth in his cheek that he apparently had not been aware of and freaked out about. Which was apparently some part of the disease? It was all very Doomsday (2008 movie) and had elements of the tv show version of The Last Ship I think.

Anyway, I think there was some plot with like...a serial killer? Eragon didn’t find Saphira’s egg, he found a...large duck plushie? sorta thing? maybe? And oh there were these murders and wait, American Dad! made its way into this one so I won’t go into it. There was a snackbar subplot here too, but it was I think when I was ‘awake’ in the dream. I wanted to buy some Sour Patch Kids, Spree and something else, but the person didn’t understand me and tried to charge me for 73 margaritas that someone else had ordered. I flipped out, the other person paid for their stuff, but then they were packing up the snackbar and I forced them to let me buy the candy. Three packs of candy that totaled $15, which honestly would not have tipped me off to vivid dreaming because that’s like...marching band competition/movie theatre prices and I thought I was at some sort of band competition. 

ANYWAY, back to the Eragon stuff. I kept thinking that the new show was out, so I wrote a long tumblr post about it complaining about everything, pointing out how at the stuff that they gave us for the show made the movie look good in comparison because it actually followed some semblance of the book’s plot. 

Then I realized that I must have been vivid dreaming, so, I added that at the end of the post so that people wouldn’t think I got early access or something, and went about my business. Still saw parts of the show and kept reminding myself that I was vivid dreaming it, but would still add to the post. 

Well I eventually fully woke up and realized ALL of that was a vivid dream. I had a vivid dream about vivid dreaming within my vivid dream. Multiple iterations. Which somehow combined everything I had interacted with or talked about the previous day: I talked to both Nancy and Cathy via text, I’m currently catsitting for my roommate and terrified they’re gonna get out because they know how to open the inner door, I watched American Dad! yesterday, I listened to a few serial killer vids from Lazy Masquerade last night, I saw sour candies in the cupboard but refrained from eating them, I read the wikipedia plot summary for The Last Ship, Islanzadi’s shaved head was probably referencing all the commercials for the new Black Panther movie, etc. And the whole Eragon thing tying it together is probably because I spent yesterday collecting all my copies of the Eragon games. 

So yeah. 

The problem now though is that I think I got up in real life and took my morning meds when my alarm first went off, and then went back to sleep. But uh...I have no idea what the hell to trust. Fun times.

[youngster-monster]

I HAVE SOME VERY UNFORTUNATE NEWS. when trying to install ffxiv my computer (which historically in spite of being Really Good is actually hellspawn and has so many weird issues with it that naming any one issue without bringing the rest up would be doing the rest of the ridiculous user-specific problems ive had with it dirty) decided that Today Was The Day and started bugging out which includes:

- never showing a progress bar on the install (which i am told Is Not Normal) - not responding to my efforts to fix issues with (what i thought was the problem) the installer - and then, after trying to fix computer issues as a whole, having issues with the graphics card, restarting, having it just straight up not recognize my other monitor as existing, etc...

so ive decided for the sake of my mental health ill be putting a pin in my efforts to play ffxiv, much to mine, my sisters, and what i will assume your dismay

HOWEVER. rest assured i am still very interested in playing The Elf Game (this is what i will be calling it in my brain because now i associate it with elves and there is nothing that can be done to convince me otherwise) and once i am able to troubleshoot it without feeling like my brain is going to explode I Will Try Again

lying on forums is like The experience of being a child with unmonitored internet access, my lore on godawful mc skinning forums had twelve expansions and a dlc to it and so did everyone elses for that matter. forums were a lawless land. maybe they still are but im not on any forums anymore so RIP

my friends too are all freaks which is why they get to see my tumblr. We're All Sickos Here

If I had a nickel for every person I tried to drag into xiv who was stopped by technical difficulties, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but yk

The game isn't going anywhere and I WILL be ready to push you into it like an unsafe uncle pushing a toddler into the pool 😎

Crazy how the more apt to getting around a computer you are the weirder the computer issues become

I'm still on like one forum and it's become much more lawful. 0 tolerance policy on lying about your age though which makes sense but I still feel like it's robbing the Youth from a crucial experience (help a grown man deal with his divorce in between math homeworks)

[streets-in-paradise]

i don't know if you plan to go any further with the Dustin's sister x steddie story but i can't stop thinking about Dustin trying to explain to steve everything he can about the lotr universe so he'll be ready to fight back the next time eddie try to disturb him 👀❤️

Hi, anon!! OMG thanks for sending this i love to talk about this concept!!

First of all, I do plan to continue that series with two more parts for the seasons i haven't wrote about yet. I only gave myself a little rest because i have been writing and consuming a lot of stranger things fanfict for the last month and i was afraid i could end up burnout. I plan to continue, i only gave it a rest to avoid getting a block.

That being said, i LOVE this and i can so imagine it happening. I'm picturing Steve asking Dustin to explain him the things he heard from the reader, at first not wanting to admit it is because she said those to him.

Like, after Eddie told him he didn't deserve the comparison to a captive elve escaping Mordor before becoming an orc, Steve wants to know exactly what she meant with that. She made it sound so sweet and it clearly pissed off her freak friend, so it had to be something really nice although he isn't completely sure because he has no idea.

I'm gonna keep this with a little untituled blurb (sorry for any possible mistakes, i am not doing a second read so it is unedited) :

" They talk on this weird slang, i can't get what they say and I know Munson does it on purpose." Steve was venting to his younger friend. " It's like he constantly tries to remind me i don't belong there because I am not like him. "

Dustin had no calming explanation for that part, other than the defensive mechanisms of nerd culture, but he was at least able to explain it for him.

" What do you mean with ' weird slang'? What does he bring up in front of you?"

" It's that Lord of the Rings thing. Well, i found out it was that when she said it because he does it all cassualy as if it was some code they share."

The implied jealousy was unbelievable to his listener.

" Maybe they are just being nerds together. How do you know the dude wants to make you feel left out?"

" He called me an orc, then your sister said i was like a captive elve escaping them and that upsetted him. Munson said i didn't deserve it. What the hell does that mean? "

The kid's smile indicated the answer was as positive as he once guessed.

" She thinks you are a great guy, he thinks you are an asshole and she is trying to prove him wrong. " Dustin summarized before proceding into a more tecnical explanation. " The creation of orcs is a process that imitates the bíblical origin of demons. Just as the first demons were in fact corrupted angels, Tolkien ubicates the origins of this race of dicks on the long imprisonment of captured elves. After a really long time of prison, tortures and degradations, this corrupted form of life mutated into what the Third Age Middle Earth we read in Lord of the Rings knows as an Orc. For what i understand, the dude must have compared jocks to orcs, what it's actually brillant, yet (y/n) said that your process of transformation never completed. "

The little things he catched in the speech made him feel really good. Steve got to understand at least one bassical point of it.

" She said i am a beated up angel?"

It was on oversimplification, but his friend allowed him to have it.

" To the practical purposes of this talk? Yes. Never call a warrior elve a ' beated up angel' in front of anyone else, specially that guy."

Steve got a bit of a foolish smile just of thinking about your words, finnaly getting deeper understanding of those. It made him wonder how many more details he was missing.

" Who is her favorite character in the books?"

" It depends on how to define a favorite. Is it simbolically or by personal identification?"

" Do you used to play about that shit when you were kids, ríght? It must have been one of your little nerd games. Who did she liked to play as?"

" That's an easy one: Lady Eowyn of Rohan." The boy commented with relaxed determination. " She is not one of the nine companions, but she is a real badass. Meriadoc Brandybuck and her teamed up to kill the Witch King of Angmar, the leader of Sauron's scariest servants that are called Nazguls. "

" Is she a princess or…?"

" Niece of a King, tecnically. " Dustin continued, with excitement. " If you are asking this just to make a comparison that would flatter her, then i need to tell you all what's needed to know about the character.

Steve listened to the ramble with increased attention, but he got ocassionally lost in the naming of weird places and persons that couldn't be explained without tedious delays into other topics. Fantasy was really complicated to learn about in one take, the worldbuildings were intrincated and that was only one universe of the many others in the genre. What sticked the most with him was the description of the warrior princess, her feat and the love triangle plot that Dustin was about to skip if he wouldn't have asked him not to.

" It's just some minor drama that doesn't add much to the plot. " The kid insisted. " Remember how i told you about this nine companions that left Rivendel together, then split by circunstancies? "

" The Fellowship of the Ring. "

" Yes, exactly! And how i told you they have this implícit leader that nobody actually named leader, but kind of takes that role?"

" The wild ranger."

" Strider, his real name is Aragorn and in fact he is meant to be the King of Gondor. " Dustin confirmed. " After the Fellowship splitted Aragorn met Eowyn in Rohan and she fell in love with him, but her feelings were not destined to be required. Aragorn's destiny is to be a gondorian King and marry an elve lady, but Eowyn meet him as this dude who helped save her uncle's kingdom and that impressed her. She hero worshipes him, to her he is like a rockstar and he doesn't seem to mind that she likes swords so she is super happy. "

" But they don't end up together."

" No, she marries the little brother of Boromir. Faramir, he is as much of a hobbit nanny as his older brother was, only ignored by their father. "

That was all he needed to hear, Steve's most valuable conclussion of the talk.

[miredinmiddleearth]

Rings of Power, Ep. 3 Review

*Detailed rant ahead*

The madness continues. Buckle up. Here are my thoughts for episode three.

1. Good grief, Galadriel’s hair only gets worse. It’s like they’re mocking me.

2. It’s weirdly jarring to see Galadriel eager for food. So non elf-like. This is the same race that nibbles lembas, yes? 

Absolutely nothing separates the men from the elves in this show. In appearance, in mannerisms, or in wisdom, and that’s just criminally lazy.

3. Elendil!!! I could listen to this man talk all episode. Just scrap everything else. Sit this guy down and have him read The Silmarillion.

4. Numenor is really awesome. See? I can give compliments.

5. Oh BOY that council room scene. Whole section just for that:

ONE: I am so lost why an entire government would put everything on hold to interrogate two castaways. 

TWO: The scene where Galadriel introduces herself fills me with RAGE. Throughout the episode, Galadriel keeps talking about how impressive she is and how much more she knows than anyone else. NONE of her actions speak to this, and in a person of true nobility, actions are EVERYTHING. 

Compare to how Aragorn gets introduced. He NEVER introduces himself, not even as Strider. Others say his name, and awe follows. Heck, same with movie Galadriel. Her name is whispered with reverence and myth whirls around her like mist. But RoP Galadriel? Apparently the woman thousands of years older than literally everybody in the room has to list her resume in the clunkiest way possible (again, defining her own importance in relation to MEN). When I tell you how poorly this show is written, this is what I mean. Compare it to anything competent, and it falls ridiculously short. 

THREE: I hope Halbrand is Sauron, because I do like the way they are setting him up as a charmer and potential manipulator. Though it’s annoying he has to be a voice of reason when two women apparently can’t talk things out rationally.

FOUR: “I would sooner knee-cap a stallion.” What does that mean?!?!?! 

FIVE: Umm, what self-respecting military man as smart as Elendil would let himself be hugged by a random guy he picked up on the open water? And Halbrand is going to steal and return the dagger in front of all those people?!

SIX: Why is Galadriel always in a rush? In a time of relative peace, she can’t even wait three days?! When are elves ever in a rush to do anything?!

SEVEN: STOP GIVING GALADRIEL A ROMANCE WITH HALBRAND

6. The scene that introduces Isildur does absolutely nothing but show us Isildur knows how to pull a rope.

7. Elendil’s voice is still beautiful.

8. “The sea is always right.” A motto that’s setting up for when Numenor gets swallowed into the sea, I assume. My problem is, it just sounds dumb.

9. Water drinking scene takes sooooooooo long. 

10. Oh no. Don’t kill THAT elf who I only just remembered we’ve actually met before. And he gets a choir to sing him into death? What about this feels earned?!

11. WHY DOES GALADRIEL TALK LIKE AN ANGSTY TEENAGER?! WHY DOES A MORTAL MAN HAVE INFINITELY MORE GRAVITAS AND WISDOM THAN HER?! I don’t know if the actress just can’t do passionate without sounding like a YA heroine or if it’s the writing. I think it’s both.

Regardless, I love Elendil and I want to punch Galadriel in the face. 

12. Where did Halbrand get money? I do like how they are setting up his character.

13. Halbrand fight scene is brutal.

14. The mark of Sauron is idiotic. Drawing a rough sketch of Mordor on random objects? What the freak is the point?

15. Cotton clumps in the Harfoots’ hair? Weird choice.

16.  The stupid “past is dead” line from the trailer is even dumber in the show. They’ve established Elendil as a man who values and honors the past. He knows how to speak Elven, he is an elf-friend, and he speaks up for old traditions. Then they give him this line? Writers, do you not see the contradiction in this?!

17. One: Impressive statue for a prison. Two: How is Galadriel allowed to wander down into the prison?

18. They better be setting Halbrand up to be Sauron, because if they’re trying to make him into this made-up knockoff Aragorn type, I am NOT here for it. 

19. Seriously, I do not understand Harfoot culture. They are all about community and sticking together. But they are also about if someone falls behind, screw them. They fall behind and we leave them. WHAT ABOUT THIS MAKES SENSE?! A guy has a hurt ankle. No one can help him? No one bands together to assist? This is so infuriatingly nonsensical, I’m going to go mad. 

20. Oh no. Don’t kill THAT elf whose name I never learned. (Side note: warg CGI was rough)

Okay, I am more intrigued. I have trouble looking away from this car crash. I’m curious what they’re going to do with Halbrand and this shadowy elf figure, and it might be enough to keep me going. Unless they return to more boring stuff. 

[gay-otlc]

Can we talk about how Sophie has trichotillomania?

Because I've been involved in KOTLC fandoms for over two years and I've heard it mentioned exactly once.

Trichotillomania is a disorder characterized by uncontrollable, repetitive pulling of hair. This can be scalp hair, eyebrows, arm hair, leg hair, eyelashes, really any type of hair. Even though the person knows they aren't supposed to enjoy pulling, they get a weird sense of pleasure or calm from it, and it's difficult to stop. Pulling is frequently done in stressful situations.

Does that sound familiar to anyone? Ring any bells?

Yeah, it sounds like Sophie Foster.

In the books, it's played off as sort of just another nervous habit, a weird quirk of Sophie's. It's mentioned a few times by other friends/adult figures as they ask whether it hurts, but when she says no, they don't tell her to stop. She's often described as "pulling on an itchy eyelash," but it seems to be more of a stress response than something causing her stress.

I thought it was just another weird quirk of hers until I started pulling out my hair. I would pull it most when I was stressed, and it always felt "itchy" just before I did.

It was horrible. Trichotillomania is fucking destructive. At my worst point, I had a huge, gaping bald spot. I didn't talk to people because I was ashamed of my hair. I missed class once because I couldn't tear myself away from the mirror and stop pulling. I spent hours in front of the mirror each day, checking and checking to make sure no one would know anything was weird if they looked at me.

It was so hard. And I felt so alone.

Now, as I said before, I read KOTLC nearly three years ago and have been making fan content for over two. Suffice it to say that series means a lot to me. How do you think it would have felt, if the protagonist of this huge part of my life, was just like me, struggled like me, and it turned out okay for her? I would have had so much hope that it could get better instead of climbing and clawing for every shred of progress.

Now, how do you think it felt to see that protagonist go through something similar, but it didn't matter much to her? It made me feel like some whiny bitch for being this upset about my hair. If Sophie Foster could have trich and go through life functioning fine (well, not really, but the trich doesn't make anything worse for her is my point), why couldn't I? Pathetic.

Like most days, today is a good day to get pissed at L*ura, so I'm going to use her art as an example. This is a close up screenshot of Sophie's eye (please ignore the cursor in the middle, my computer hates me).

[Image ID: A close up picture of an brown eye. It has long, dark eyelashes surrounding it and a cursor covering the pupil.]

(Please tell me if my image ID is shit idk how to write these.)

As we can clearly see, Sophie has long, dark eyelashes. The top eyelashes are most obvious, but there's a fair amount on the bottom as well. It's been a while since I've read the books, but Sophie doesn't wear makeup much, if I recall correctly. So she probably wouldn't be wearing mascara.

Then why the fuckity fuck do her eyelashes look so, for lack of a better word, normal, when she pulls them every three paragraphs?

People with trichotillomania look like they have trichotillomania. I have a bald spot. When I did all my research on trich in an OCD spiral, one writer said she had to wear wigs. Another said she had zero eyelashes for years. Someone on here (not saying who just in case they don't want me to) said their left eyebrow was nearly gone.

I hated how I looked in the worst of my trichotillomania days. It's less noticeable now, but I still hate it. I feel like a freak, to not have hair like a 'normal' person.

Now, Sophie Foster is described as beautiful. She has all the boys and the girls after her. She's an elf, all elves are beautiful. But she pulls out her eyelashes, and she pulls out her eyelashes so often, that unless elf hair grows at really different speeds (which I doubt it would, considering that would have been very noticeable when Sophie lived with humans), she would have no or very few eyelashes.

And yet, that was erased in her official art. Why? Because apparently, people can't look like they have trich and still be beautiful.

But that's bullshit. People with trich are beautiful. I am looking in mirrors and trying to tell myself I look beautiful instead of crying. Bald spots are beautiful. Eyes without eyelashes are beautiful. Brow ridges without eyebrows are beautiful.

People with trich are beautiful, dammit!

So give us that, Shannon. Give that to your readers who don't have trich, so they understand it, and your readers who do, so they see themselves for the first time and don't feel alone.

Give us Sophie Foster thinking she's ugly and a freak because she doesn't have eyelashes, and give us Keefe or Fitz or Biana or whoever telling her she still is.

Give us Sophie Foster trying to sit on her hands, telling herself not to pull, doing it anyway, and hating herself.

Give us Sophie Foster standing in front of the mirror and crying because she can't stop, she can't stop.

Give us Sophie Foster seeking help and trying to get better, trying to heal.

Give us Sophie Foster trying and relapsing and trying and relapsing and trying and relapsing and trying.

If you're going to give us Sophie Foster with trichotillomania, give us a character with trichotillomania.

[charlesoberonn]

I’m writing one story pitch a day for a writing challenge.

Here’s the first one:

Title: Out Theres

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Crime Drama

Premise: A man is in prison for a murder committed while an alternate self was in control of his body. While in prison he discovers the ability to swap bodies with alternate versions of himself from other universes. Now he is trying to find the real killer out in the multiverse.

Characters:

Carl - Previously an unambitious office worker in his 30s. He was in the middle of proposing to his fiance when he found himself in another universe. Sometime later he came back and found his fiance dead. He was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life in prison.

He used to be timid and careful, taking things slow and keeping his head low. But ever since going to prison and discovering his abilities he became much more ambitious and outgoing and discovered darker aspects of his personality.

Carl can swap minds with alternate versions of himself in the multiverse. While he is in their bodies, they are in his. He has limited access to their memories, allowing him to more or less take their place, but he has a limited time before the swap reverts, so whatever he has to do he has to do it fast.

Jeffrey - Buff guy in his late 20s. In prison for killing his rapist who got away with it. He is Carl’s cellmate and close confidant. The only one who knows Carl’s ability and when the alternate Carls take over his body he makes sure nobody notices. He is carefree most of the time but when things get intense he freaks out and can even lash out. He is good natured and kind and polite but he also has a dark side.

Yolana - Carl’s fiancee. A sophisticated but outgoing and cheery woman. Fiercely intelligent and a lover of puzzles. A bit of a short temper, and a bit of a guilt complex. In our universe she is killed by Evil Carl when he is in Carl’s body. But in other universes she is often still alive and is there to help our Carl when he needs her. 

Evil Carl - Another version of Carl with the same ability. He used his powers to cause havoc and commit crimes with no conquesques, or so he thought. He was a fugitive from an interdimensional police force, but he managed to convince them that our Carl was him. So now he’s scot free to go about his business causing havoc. He is all of Carl’s negative traits to an extreme degree. Outgoing, charismatic, but sociopathic and violent as well.

Officer Xen - An interdimensional cop. She travels physically from universe to universe and can take the form of the inhabitants wherever she finds herself. Whenever Carl is out of his own universe, she goes after him. She is a bit of a maverick who loves her job, but gets annoyed easily by small things. She is tough and pretends not to care, but it hides a softer, sadder inner self.

MuPH - The Multiversal Personal Helper. Xen’s assistant, a helpful robot with a cheery attitude. One of the main sources of annoyance for Xen. Is more sympathetic to Carl than his boss. He also has a bit of a twisted sense of humor, and he enjoys violence and drama.

Setting:

The Prison - A maximum penitentiary full of hardened criminals. Killers, gang leaders, and corrupt guards. For allegedly killing his fiance Carl is particularly hated by the other prisoners and staff. Besides normal criminals, the prison is also home to various mysteries and weird stuff due to sitting on top of an interdimensional nexus.

Whenever Carl uses his powers, this nexus is probed and something else comes through. Jeffrey and the alternate Carl in Carl’s body often have to contend with these visitors.

Interdimensional Police Headquarters - A labyrinthian extradimensional castle full of doors into different universes. The place is ancient, and existed long before the Interdimensional Police made it their headquarters. They fitted it with technology and transportation to the different universes, but it’s still not fully explored and is full of weird entities and secrets.

The Multiverse - A possibly infinite number of alternate universes, each of them sharing some similarities with our own, but with a lot of differences as well. Some universes have the same laws of physics but a different history. Others operate differently, like with fantasy rules of magic, or cartoon logic, etc.

Examples of alternate universes:

Elfworld - A fantasy world with magic and elves that constantly wage race wars against each other for the most minute of differences. Elf Carl and Yolana are both magical peacekeepers in a neighborhood particularly fraught with racial tensions.

Congressworld - A world similar to our own, except that Carl is a congressman currently running for president. This world’s United States is in the middle of a crisis caused by a recent civil war against Fascist rebels.

Swordworld - A world of roving knights, samurai, and musketeers. Some of them robbers, while others are vigilantes. Carl is the squire of a heroic but full-of-herself knight Yolana.

Asteroidworld - In this world the Earth has been destroyed decades ago and its remains are a mining operation for an alien corporation. The few remaining humans live on a reservation on the planet Mars. Carl is a meek office worker in the mining corporation.

Factoryworld - This world is a grim, black and while, horror dimension. The entire universe is a massive factory complex full of enormous dark machines, roaming monsters, and mindless zombie workers. Carl is one of the zombie workers. When he travels to this world, our Carl retains his intellect at first but slowly loses it, becoming more zombie-like.