#after this i have planned to finish the elf fashion post | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

macgyvertape · 2 years

Text

FF14 Heavensward notes

Took me a month to realize its Heavensward not Heaven-sword.

I’ve given up on crafting/gathering classes. I don’t intend to keep playing after finishing the story in all the expansions and I don’t want to invest the time to level. Its getting tempting already to just watch the cutscenes for other classes instead of leveling them

Its also nice to decide to not care about transmog hunting or saving items for glamours unless I know I’ll use them. When I played WoW during Legion I invested a lot of effort in glamorous and now I don’t even play that game.

It took 5 months to get through HW, so in post expansion patches I gave up and looked up major Shadowbrings spoilers because I wanted to know why Greek gods are in this game? Ppl were talking about hades and I was wondering if it was a crossover with Hadesgame, but no it’s the same dude who shoots the cat boy who shows up whenever I look up anything about Garleans or Ascians. I can see why he’s so popular he’s peak “poor little meow meow”

So know I know the overall shadowbringers plot directly related to skunk hair asshole and warriors of darkness so its nice that I’m not totally lost on cosmic lore

Main Quest

Oh wow voice actor budget went up, and Alphinaud got a new voice actor who sounds bland

Ishgard is a very weirdy scaled city, everything is so tall and vaguely gothic and all the clothing fashion dates to late middle ages with Hennins and Henry the 8th style fur coats

Oh nice that we get choice in dialogue and can be sympathetic towards Iceheart. That she has the echo, is she like our narrative foil?

Haurchefant really is a bro, saving me from an escort quest then supporting me during trial by combat

Back to main storyline, time to go fight all those Crystal Braves we trained. A based plotline would have the message “this is why PMCs are bad”

Its really hard to judge Ilberd’s “you’re being used as a pawn just like me” when like i have no idea of the stakes of the conflict I’m involved in, but I do feel like a pawn in the Dragon vs Catholic snow elf war. Also his accent in voiced dialogue took me by surprise

Told Auphinad “why don't we just leave?”, and i know it doesn’t change anything but i like to pretend thats why we are going to see Iceheart

We get to call Iceheart Ysayle now, which is great that we can travel with her

Breaking into the Hive quest is the worst quest yet, like holy shit it fucking sucks with how easy it is to pull too much aggro and how trash White Mage is at doing damage

Ysayle is the best part of this expansion, road-tripping with her

Heavansword makes the whole Primal summoning super interesting, if the dragon is to be believed summoning not the actual god but your biased perception of one. (After looking up spoilers guess all gods are fake lmao)

Wow Ysayle having a crisis of faith and we just leave her there…..

So glad Lolorito gets voice lines as he explains his plans. What a smug conniving asshole, he's the most engaging antagonist yet and its been 1 conversation. Ilberd still asshole but barely not as bad as i thought that he supported a bloodless coup to get resources for his home country rebellion against the Empire. Sucks that I guess he’s being cast away as a political pawn

Whats the irl equivalent here for the Crystal Braves and them being used as a tool in a coup? They’re obviously a PMC but I guess the Syndicate plants was just a hostile takeover

Wow so the big twist were the Dragon brothers were swapping along eyes like its Naruto

Nice to see Estinien and Ysale team up since it seems the war was founded on bullshit, and just kept going by the Elf catholics trying to gain more power

The moment where my friend and I pause to talk about how attractive Hilda is. All that leather and those boots, its that feeling where I’m both attracted to her and envious because I want to look like her but that leather look is a lot harder to pull off irl

RIP TO Haurchefant, my favorite snow elf dude. “A smile better suits a hero” I’m gonna burn this whole ass church down, actually a very tragic death

Like I am trying to follow the story and the characters but somehow the way it was presented and that I only play a few hours a week I didnt realize Fortemps and Haurchefant were related until the father was literally sobbing and saying son

WHYS THE EMPIRE HERE? WHATS ALLAG? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DRAGONS AND YSALE? Like she seemed to be dropped from the story. Varis zos Galvus, I want to look him up but the wiki is full of spoilers :(

Fool me once with Nero in the Crystal tower shame on me. Fool me twice, Lucia is a Garlean that’s it time to be suspicious of anyone with any sort of bangs or headband

Y'shtola is back, the expansion has gotten better, and she has a nice outfit upgrade

Hilda is back again as we say goodbye to all the characters, wish she had been in more quests

Ysayle heroically sacrificing herself for us, sad to see it happen and fuck the empire

Doing Heavensword dungeon: I thought we had killed Lahabrea. My friend: somehow Lahabrea has returned

The part where the pope-king transforms, its comical how ginormous he becomes

Estinien becoming Nidhogg has been the most interesting thing for his character. I know he and Alymeric are fan favorites are fan favorites but I’m meh about them

Are the ascians on the fucking moon?! Was this a much bigger reveal pre-Endwalker and all the moon's haunted memes?

“Warrior of Darkness” looks like bog standard scruffy dude video game protagonist. Is he meant to look like the generic scruffy guy from the marketing?

Great to see Thancred back again in a cool new outfit plus eyepatch! Lmao he emerged from the livestream bucknaked!

Aymeric is just fucking stabbed in the street! Drama

The rescue the hostages mission was the worst mission in a while, super long and really slow as WHM as it doesn’t let you heal the NPC way through

I don’t fucking trust Unukalhai because they’re wearing a mask, and I don’t trust Urianger because he wasn’t running around Ishgard with us (aside from the Ascian cutscenes the player sees)

Don’t think we’ll be getting Minfilia back from being bonded with the Mother Earth Crystal Spirit. Especially if she wants us to kill all ascians, have we never not been in a “holy war” aside from fighting the Empire? (Having looked up spoilers lmao)

Alphinaud’s really going through it

Aymeric is asking us out for a drink, shame I’m meh about him

I didn’t like Emmanellain and that was before he ordered a protestor shot and killed. Punching Thancred while whining is like point of no return for like-ability

FUCK this grand melee, have to do this long ass fight over again because my healer can’t burst down the boss before he casts the party wipe spell. He still cast it again on Very Easy but atleast it didn’t kill me

Can’t believe we just toss the eyes into the abyss and don’t do anything to destroy them. Lord of the Rings style i expect these to reappear since there was no volcano. LMAO less than an hour later and there’s some going to get those eyes

Aymeric wants a dinner date with the player, sorry buddy but your not my type

Rip to the scions but the Warriors of Darkness party has better fashion

Tragic backstory, LMAO alphinaud was just like “would your plan even work?“ and they’re like “uuuhh enough talking”. Somehow Uriangar with a bandanna over his face is perfectly disguised, from everyone but the player. Like its been years of IRL experience wearing masks that covering just the bottom of your face doesn’t stop people from recognizing you

Excited to finally see Yda and Papalymo

Urianger is such an over dramatic asshole (complementary)

The warriors of darkness are pretty sympathetic

So Lahabrea and Igeyorhm got sucked into the eyes and are still there? I guess Elbidius didn’t care to get them out, or couldn’t? Even spoilered on a bunch of Ascian lore I’m still confused

Baelsar’s Wall dungeon: i liked Ilberd as an asshole character right until the mechanically complex fight where he went “sloooppppy” every 15 seconds. ╰（‵□′）╯

Nero shows up talking about Omega, congrats to you Mr 2nd Place Pathetic Loserman

Very relieved Yda takes off her mask and she isn’t a Garlean

Side Quests

The Dark Knight quest feels very edgy in a fun way, especially when Fray’s eyes glow red. At first I was like "oh dark knight like batman" then I realized edgier and more like Konrad Curze. Shame the class starts at lvl 30 it seems cool thematically and I do love wielding a giant 2h sword but I don’t want to level this class right now

I unlocked Red Mage, I like the style of it but there are a lot of buttons. The tumblr infographic was actually really helpful and I now enjoy playing it

I thought WHM was questline was boring, but now after doing the final lvl 60 quest I just hate it. It took me 10 min running around the caves to find the right spot and then it was just healing a dragon (flashbacks to healing a tree)

I love the Dancer outfit but the class abilities and playstile are super confusing

Doing the gunbreaker quest, and there are tiger-men? (Radovan) like my character is a human who has cat traits but this is more on the furry side where the tiger has human qualities

#ff14 #mac plays video games #ff14 spoilers #liveblog

4 notes · View notes

themurphyzone · 3 years

Text

PatB AU: Pinky the Snowmouse

This is just one of those late night ideas that I wanted to post. It’s somewhat based off that Frosty the Snowman special from the 60s with a dash of Pinocchio.

I haven’t actually watched either of these recently. My subconscious is just weird.

1. After his fallout with Snowball, Brain continues to aspire for world domination, but finds that he’s hit a block when it comes to plans. He doesn’t have inspiration nor anyone to bounce ideas off with, but he tries to push past it and just continue creating. There’s bound to be a gem or two amidst all the duds, he tells himself. And he doesn’t need anyone else, he can rule the world on his own.

2. ACME Labs hosts a Christmas party, and they invite a magician for entertainment. Brain is in his cage, brainstorming ideas for world domination while the scientists gather around for the magician’s performance. Brain knows magic is all just sleight of hand and optical illusions, and rolls his eyes at the magician failing to even manage that. The scientists all mock the magician, and their laughter grows more when the magician fails to pull a rabbit out of his hat.

3. The magician is laughed out of ACME Labs, and he swears revenge against all the scientists who work there. But he left his top hat on a table by Brain’s cage, and he doesn’t notice until later that night. ACME Labs closes, and Brain escapes his cage, glad that the party is finally over so he can get back to planning properly.

4. But loneliness creeps up on Brain again, and he tries to dismiss it as the reason he can’t concentrate. So he goes outside, where a thick layer of snow has covered the ground. He starts kicking around snow and eventually builds a snowmouse, wondering if he’s gone mad since he’s partaking in an activity that’s usually reserved for children and not future emperors.

5. He builds the snowmouse’s body first, using a stick for a tail and fashioning the head. Then he decides it’s missing some prerequisites to be a proper snowman, so he goes inside and gathers a bunch of buttons, a pink scarf, and lastly, the magician’s hat. He goes back to the snowmouse and dresses him up, then tosses on the hat as a finisher.

6. And boy, if Brain felt ridiculous before then now it was tripled since he decided to dress up the snowmouse like it was a real entity. He angrily starts berating himself for being distracted and that he needs to focus, because he can’t be like all those other scientists.

He declares that their collective minds are nothing compared to the intelligence in his pinky, and a voice answers ‘yes?’

7. Brain thinks he’s just hearing things, then the voice goes ‘oh, i thought you called my name. Narf!’

Then Brain turns around and freaks out, because holy crap the snowmouse he built was alive and talking. Brain dismisses it as a figment of his imagination at first, but as the newly christened Pinky the snowmouse displays a rather glaring lack of intelligence, he can’t help but be curious about how snow can come to life. He circles Pinky and tries to figure it out, taking off the magic hat, and Pinky goes still and silent. Brain quickly puts the hat on Pinky again, and soon the snowmouse is dancing around once more.

8. Unbeknownst to either of them, the magician saw the hat bring Pinky to life and decides he can profit off the hat, then follows the two mice.

9. Pinky gets distracted and wanders into town with Brain trailing after him and making sure Pinky’s stupidity and lack of awareness about the world doesn’t kill them both. To Brain’s dismay, he finds that Pinky takes in pop culture much faster than he does at science. It’s pretty ironic that Pinky already knows who Mariah Carrey is despite being alive for less than an hour, but he believes snowflakes are manufactured in an eco-friendly factory in the clouds.

10. Pinky sees a pair of lovers hugging, then tries to do the same with Brain. Unfortunately, all this does is make Brain shiver with cold, and Pinky feels bad for hurting him like that. Brain shouts at him for hugging, but when Pinky apologizes, Brain realizes it was just an accident and tells him not to do it again.

11. Pinky notices that images of Santa are plastered all over the place since it’s the holiday season, and wishes he could meet the big guy. This leads into inspiration for Brain to create his own line of toys and plant them in the elf factory for mass production and distribution. Brain praises Pinky for the inspiration.

12. Brain creates the Noodle Noggin plans and together the mice stow away in a plane bound for the North Pole. However, it’s necessary for Pinky to stay in cold temperatures, so they have to remain in the cargo hold and away from the heated cockpit. Brain is freezing despite being dressed for cold weather, and Pinky feels bad for not being able to keep him warm. Pinky says he wishes he could be a real mouse like Brain, so that he can be his friend forever.

Brain thinks the headaches Pinky gave him were pretty real, but the companionship and kindness were real too. He keeps quiet about this, unsure of what to say.

13. The magician has also stowed away on the plane.

14. The plane lands at the North Pole, and the mice head to the elf factory. They discover Pinky can’t enter the elf factory since it’s heated, so Brain goes in alone to slip the Noodle Noggin plans in with the other blueprints, while Pinky wanders off and explores the North Pole settlement.

15. Before Brain can successfully slip the blueprints in, the magician ambushes and successfully captures him, and the Noodle Noggin plans are torn beyond saving in the struggle. Angered at the loss of his plans, Brain demands the magician explain himself. The magician declares he gets a two for one profit, with a talking mouse and a magic hat, then realizes the snowmouse is missing and demands to know where he is.

16. Without the hat, Pinky can’t stay alive. Brain refuses to reveal Pinky’s location for any reason, and the magician tries to force it out of him. Brain is stubborn though and refuses to speak.

17. Pinky finishes wandering around the village and goes back to check on Brain, thinking he’s taking an awfully long time in the elf factory. He peeks in through a window, discovering that a man is hurting a very distressed Brain, who’s still resisting.

18. Pinky shouts for Brain, and gets the magician’s attention. Brain yells at him for drawing attention to himself, ordering him to run. But Pinky won’t do it, because Brain is in trouble and needs help.

19. The magician demands Pinky give up the magic hat. But Pinky will only give up the hat if he releases Brain. The magician agrees, but Brain knows full well that the magician is far too greedy and will go back on his word, and Pinky is giving up the hat and his life for a promise that won’t be kept.

20. With Brain in hand, the magician walks over to a fireplace and tells Pinky to come inside. The fireplace is bright and warm, and Brain orders Pinky to just leave, because the heat will kill him if he doesn’t. Pinky starts to melt as he comes closer, telling Brain it’s okay, he’s happy they’re friends, even if their time together was brief.

21. When Pinky is in front of the fireplace, the magician snatches the hat off his head, and renders Pinky lifeless. Reveling in victory, the magician releases Brain who hugs and begs Pinky to wake up and stop being stupid, just wake up and say narf, Pinky. Except Pinky can’t see or hear anymore, and is nothing more than cold, melting water with a few accessories. Brain is left crying and pleading for Pinky to come back, clutching a wet scarf in his hands. The magician mocks Brain for believing that a pile of snow had thoughts and feelings.

22. But the magician’s joy is cut short at Santa Claus’s sudden appearance. Angry that someone could take such mirth in murdering an innocent creature and cause so much grief in his best friend, Santa orders his elves to tie up the magician and take him away. The elves obey, and the magician is reduced to a pathetic mess.

23. Brain barely notices the commotion. Santa decides to grant Brain one Christmas wish, just to give him a little comfort. And Brain ponders, knowing that he journeyed all this way for world domination, and while he can easily cut a lot of hassle by using his wish to make himself ruler of the world...he remembers Pinky’s sacrifice.

Pinky’s compassion. Pinky’s kindness. How Pinky provided the inspiration he needed.

Brain admits to Santa that even if Pinky was made of snow, he still had the warmest heart he’d ever known.

24. Brain asks if it’s possible for Pinky to be revived with a body to reflect his warm heart.

25. Santa grants the wish. The puddle that used to be Pinky reshapes and forms into a living, breathing mouse with the softest, warmest fur imaginable. Pinky marvels at his new body and the mice have their first proper hug. Brain is overjoyed at Pinky being alive again, and Pinky is happy to be a real mouse at last.

26. Santa lets the mice ride home in his sleigh (Pinky falls in love with Donner on the way home and Brain learns what jealousy is for the first time and hopes to god they don’t get invited to any Donner parties). Meanwhile all the elves are sobbing with their hot cocoa, marshmallows, and candy canes while watching all the drama unfold on their security feed because this is the best Christmas drama they’ve seen in years.

#patb au #pinky and the brain #pinky the snowmouse

48 notes · View notes

itsbenedict · 3 years

Text

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 11

Horse On First

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Last time, our heroes made contact with the Deathseekers, and opted to accompany them back to Barley to take care of some unfinished business. While the high-level adventurers take care of the dragon, the party goes to deliver a book and pick up some clothes from the tailor. No drama here, probably!

In the morning, the party is woken by a visitor to the inn. Looseleaf... acquires a new bit of background thanks to an excellent History roll.

The maid is here to retrieve the party, as the Deathseekers are about to set out. One thing that's somewhat surprising is that the deathseekers aren't riding giraffes, like normal people- they're riding these weird, hulked-out short-necked hornless giraffes that- and there must be some mistake here- are apparently called "whoreses"? It's weird. The best their Nature rolls can get is that they sort of resemble an exotic striped creature called a "zebra", maybe.

Lady Greatholder is there, with two of her maids- one of whom is an elf, who's staring at Oyobi in undisguised horror. To non-elven eyes, Oyobi might look normal, dressed sort of sporty, even- but to an elf's keen sense of propriety, she might as well be wearing an ahegao t-shirt and hammer pants.

Traveling conversation is light.

Looseleaf: "What are these things, anyways? They look like recolored zebras." Benedict I. (GM): You must've misheard something, because Doon says "What, you've never seen a whores before?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "...pardon me?" Looseleaf: "Is this- this is a pun, right? Like, I'm supposed to ask why you call them whores, and you'll answer, 'because we're riding them'? Is that the joke?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: Oh, god, this is an elaborate gaslighting prank. They are going to try to convince Saelhen to call this thing a whore, and then they will laugh, and she cannot even blame them, because that would be hilarious if she did it, probably. Benedict I. (GM): "Is there something wrong with the whoreses, ma'am?" the human girl asks. Looseleaf: "No, like, you're calling these animals whores, and despite the fact that I wasn't allowed to look at those magazines when I was younger, I'm relatively sure that the Common word 'whore' refers to a lady of ill repute of a brothel- I'm making this worse, aren't I." "I didn't learn the wrong word did I. Oh gods I totally learned the wrong word didn't I. The books that taught me Common were messing with me weren't they." Benedict I. (GM): Lady Greatholder and Doon absolutely lose their shit, as does Oyobi, who's been grinning ear to ear this whole time. Kevin speaks up. "Ah, no, it's- H-O-R-S-E. Hor-suh." "They're from up north." Saelhen du Fishercrown: Saelhen covers her faint smile (read: shit-eating grin). "How novel." Looseleaf: Looseleaf emits a quiet buzzing sound not unlike the sound previously emitted by John Human. This is moth for 'quiet screaming'.

The party doesn't really withhold any details about Arnie and the tower- they just make an appeal for Arnie to be treated with as much mercy as they can muster. Doon implies that he was in a similar place when Lady Greatholder found him, so she reluctantly agrees to stay the hand of JUSTICE.

On arriving in Barley, the Deathseekers go over their plan, in the broad strokes: they're going to post up in the tower, and lay a trap for the dragon using Arnie as bait. By Arnie's reckoning, it'll take a little over a week before the dragon's next visit, so the party has some time to kill in town.

Their first order of business is to visit Chitch, a local lizardfolk farmer who was kidnapped by Lumiere:

Chitch seems surprised that they didn't get kidnapped or tortured- and even more surprised when they claim to have information on his missing daughter's whereabouts.

They hand him CHOSS BOOK, the diary of the girl who was raised in Lumiere's tower as his apprentice. He starts reading it, and his tears of joyful disbelief turn to anger as he reads through the contents- which describe an evil torture wizard raising his daughter as his own, and using her as a test subject.

When he's about halfway through, he puts it down, grabs his pitchfork, and starts strapping on his armor- intent on heading for the tower to kill Lumiere. The party has to hastily explain the situation and exhort him to finish reading the diary, please- Lumiere is already dead, and Choss is safe in Wheat.

Chitch thanks them for the information, and presents them with a reward- apparently, before fleeing to Barley to settle down with his infant daughter, he was a lieutenant commander in the fleet of one Umidono Kaiden, an elven naval commander attempting to take control of the lawless Cutthroat Isles. He gives them his jeweled badge, which could sell for a decent chunk of cash or potentially be useful if they ever need to deal with Kaiden in the future. Orluthe is the one to pocket it, as the rest of the party hems and haws over accepting such a gift.

SNext, they head to visit Kensa Kanthalga to pick up Saelhen's torn kimono- and after a lot of paranoid second-guessing re: heading directly for the Kanthalga house via the grass, go through the Temple of Diamode in front of it first, to update Malath on the situation.

They find her continuing to train the town militia in spearwork, in preparation for what she assumes is an impending assault from Wheat.

They... do not mention Arnie, because mentioning the culprit is Arnie could potentially fan the flames with Wheat. Instead, they mention that the murder weapon was found there, as was evidence of a dragon. Malath seems skeptical that a dragon would stealthily kill with a tiny weapon, and somewhat perturbed that Deathseekers are in town, but agrees to notify the town that the Deathseekers are at the tower handling the dragon issue, so no one does anything dangerous like going over there.

(Incidentally, Vayen has vanished, and Looseleaf's bugged medical kit has indicated that he's gone over to the tower. Hm.)

So, they pass through the temple and visit Kensa in her home. Kensa answers the door, wearing...

...ah.

See, Kensa assumed that after they went to the torture tower and didn't come back for several days, that they were dead or torture-enslaved- and like, the dead or torture-enslaved don't need a stylish kimono, right?

So she is suitably mortified when Saelhen shows up at her door, not dead in the slightest.

Benedict I. (GM): Kensa's down pretty quick, wearing the pink dress from before (if somewhat more disheveled), holding a folded kimono. To her credit, it looks very well-repaired- you can't even tell it was damaged. "I- my apologies! Here you are, ma'am!" Saelhen du Fishercrown: Saelhen takes it. "While I have you here, would you like to hear a secret about this dress?" Kensa Kanthalga: "I- er, of course! Thank you!" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "When I was of an age comparable to yours..." She leans in conspiratorially. "I hated this thing. I fell down in it in front of a ballroom full of people and I very honestly wanted to take a scissor to it." Kensa Kanthalga: "N-no way...!" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "I keep it because it was a gift and because I sometimes need it. But if it gives you pleasure to wear it, then it is accomplishing far more with you than it ever did for me." Kensa Kanthalga: Her eyes widen. "R-really?!" Saelhen du Fishercrown:"I do still need it, to be clear. I, ah, don't mean to get your hopes up." Kensa Kanthalga: "...Oh." "No, of course..." You totally got her hopes up. Looseleaf: Not only did you get her hopes up, you even got Looseleaf's hopes up. Saelhen du Fishercrown: To be fair, "prove that elves can be assholes too" is right there on her character sheet.

And as far as payment- Saelhen just implied that Kensa would be allowed to cut out a swatch or two of the silk during repairs, which Kensa immediately jumped on without discussing further payment. Except...

Then Saelhen... gives Kensa some advice.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Now, in your shoes, considering that I might have been still alive, what I would have done was this: cut out squares, maybe handkerchief-sized, here and here. 'One or two,' as I specified." The places Saelhen indicated on the kimono are... not great places for there to be handkerchief-sized holes. They would render it pretty much unwearable. "I didn't ever specify where the swatches should be cut out, true. And so you could certainly chalk up the issue to youthful enthusiasm and indiscretion." "A lady like myself could never do something so crass as ask you to pay for a dress you'd taken time out of your busy schedule to repair, working to the bone over long hours. And I certainly wouldn't have had use for something I couldn't wear or repair myself." Kensa Kanthalga: "I- wh...?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "And so you would have had the swatches -- and, shortly, the entire dress with it." Benedict I. (GM): She is so confused. Is this lady trying to give her advice on how to grift her??? "That's- but that'd be...!" "I couldn't do that!" Looseleaf: oh my god is saelhen trying to recruit an apprentice is THAT what this is, Looseleaf thinks Saelhen du Fishercrown: "You could, dear."

Saelhen is trying to recruit an apprentice conwoman.

Saelhen retreats, at this point- they'll be staying for a week or so! There's time to lay groundwork!

Next time: some downtime in Barley, before the night of the dragon fight and the execution of Saelhen's master plan.

#tfj log #twofaced jewel

3 notes · View notes

incomprehensiblelentils · 3 years

Text

@dollsome-does-tumblr does this and opened it up to anyone and I am feeling chatty today SO!

Because I co-write a lot with my lovely wife, I might answer some questions including those co-written stories, or I might not, depends on how I feel when I get there.

name:

Megan but I go by Lentils most places on the internet, Shadowcrawler over on AO3

fandoms:

at the moment: MCU, especially Agents of SHIELD and Daredevil; Terminator: Dark Fate; Halt and Catch Fire. Oh and I wrote Dollhouse fanfics a thousand years ago. Sometimes I will watch a movie/show and think “those two girls should be gay” and bang out 2k of fic about it and then never write for that fandom again. (I THOUGHT this was going to be HACF but as it turns out, no, it’s not done with me yet.)

where you post:

AO3, at Shadowcrawler. I also have a tumblr @lentils-writes where theoretically I post links to fics/advertise them in the tags, because I used to be real precious about not putting porn on this blog, but fuck it.

most popular multi-chapter fic:

Co-written, it’s definitely mallverse, which is I think the reason most writers definitely hate us because it’s very long and there are a lot of tags lmao. The problem is that every tagged character HAS shown up in a significant fashion at some point so we can’t just...untag them! It doesn’t update weekly anymore because we’re exhausted by life lmao so at least there’s that???

As for a multi-chapter fic that was just me, I don’t tend to do that so much, so actually it’s say you will, my 3-chapter Endgame fix-it where Clint dies instead of Natasha and Natasha and Laura have a past. It actually has over 1000 hits which is very exciting! I feel like it’s...niche in a way that is frustrating but understandable lol. I put a lot of my heart into it and some people really liked it, so that’s gratifying.

favorite story you’ve written so far:

Co-written, I think our SHIELD Dollhouse AU is very underrated for the amount of work we put into it. Author bias evident here because I love Dollhouse warts and all, and it’s a lot of fun translating episode plots as well as the general trajectory of the show into stuff that will work with SHIELD characters. We don’t just rewrite episodes, we really try and rework them as needed. Also it features both Skimmons and my beloved rarepair Bobbi/Kara, though of course they won’t get together until later.

Of my own stuff, I’m still really really proud of the AU where Kara Palamas didn’t die. I think that was a pretty severe misstep of the show and I think I did a good job of fixing it. (I haven’t forgotten Kara, promise!)

fic you were nervous to post:

lolololol I wrote some uh. Terminator pornography last year and. They are very porny! I had co-written a bunch of smut obviously, but that was the first time I’d posted like, PWP all by myself on purpose??? and that was TERRIFYING. Also I was very nervous to post the Engame fix-it because that was my own personal goodbye/tribute to Natasha.

how you choose your titles:

They are always either song lyrics or jokes (such as Three Lawyers and a Baby, my Daredevil Accidental Baby Acquisition fic). My WIP docs are always titled either obvious shit like “RoseJannah horse girls” or memes like “what if we belonged to a fire cult and we fucked haha just kidding unless...?” or “Morgan has two mommies.”

do you outline?:

B and I typically outline for the co-written fics, although it’s more often chapter-by-chapter outlines since that’s how we write them. On occasion we’ve fully planned multi-chapter stuff out in advance but that’s less common. Oh and the one-shots are nearly always outlined as well, just to keep ourselves organized.

When I have written planned multi-chapter fics in the past I have used outlines - particularly for the Kara one and I had to do that for the SHIELD Kill Bill AU because I was trying to follow the format of the movie. For things that are allegedly supposed to be one-shots I almost never outline, which turns out to be a terrible idea when they inevitably balloon beyond my control and become 45k like say you will. That one, I wrote out a list of scenes I thought needed to be in it and then I wrote about 75% of those scenes and then I wrote a bunch more scenes I hadn’t planned for. Don’t be like me, kids!

complete fics:

According to AO3, 89 as of right now. Uh, you do not want me to list all of them, here’s a link, I guess!

in progress:

I don’t understand what the difference is between this question and the WIP questions lmao help????

posted WIPs that I have active plans to continue at this time:

Cowritten: mallverse as I said, and its femslash smut oneshots spinoff and character flashbacks spinoff and older characters/teachers spinoff (these get updated, uh, irregularly), the first half of a Piper/Snowflake SHIELD s7 fic that we are planning on finishing the second half of soonish, SHIELD Dollhouse AU, SHIELD Teen Beach AU, SHIELD Buffy AU. You may notice a pattern!

By myself, I have: Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas, a Terminator Hallmark Christmas fic that I ambitiously posted the first chapter of in 2019 and then lost steam immediately (I am going to go back to it sooner or later bc I had some cute ideas for it); the SHIELD Fate of the Furious AU that has one chapter to go and which I do intend on finishing eventually; Three Lawyers and a Little Lady, the Daredevil Accidentally Baby Acquisition AU that is literally just cute kidfic and poly avocados and which I have a bunch of ideas for and just need to buckle down and finish some.

posted WIPs that I have given up on:

Lol so there’s a Dollhouse Caroline/Bennett Doctor Who AU that I wrote purely as idfic and which nobody ever cared about except me, and I think that ship has sailed! RIP darlings. I also had an ongoing Skimmons series waaaay back when where I posted oneshots that were like missing scenes or gay readings for each s1 episode, and I just feel like it would be inauthentic to even try and finish it at this point. (It does include the first ever Skimmons fic to be posted on AO3! Really truly, there’s one fic that shows up as older but it’s an ongoing fic and was updated with the tag way after I posted mine.)

exchange fics due soon/unrevealed:

I haven’t done an exchange since like 2015 lololol I am so bad at them. I am currently working on finishing up my MCU Femslash bingo card, very late, and I do have plans for almost all of the remaining squares!

WIPs that live in my fanfic folder and are incomplete and who knows when they’ll be finished:

“RoseJannah horse girls,” which has been put on hold temporarily but is literally just Rose and Jannah being gay while riding orbaks

half of a Daisy/Gwen fic from Marvel Rising because I know they’re not making any more of those but I stg those two were really gay

multiple fics about Elise Nelson-Page including: avocados Halloween with smol Elise, Aunt Elektra very reluctantly taking smol Elise shopping until she realizes smol Elise also likes weapons (she buys her a fake katana), Uncle Frank is a pushover and spoils the shit out of Elise, and baby Elise has a high fever and everyone freaks out but then she gets better and smile at them for the first time (inspired by baby me lol).

coming soon/not yet started:

“Morgan has two mommies,” yet another Endgame fix-it where Maya Hansen did not die in Iron Man 3 and she resurfaces and she and Pepper kiss and eventually she adopts Morgan

Claire and Colleen go on a nice date to get coffee/tea where Danny doesn’t interrupt them goddammit

Bobbi/Kara Warehouse 13 AU which is sort of like “For the Team” but gayer ft. grappling hook

X-Men: Evolution Tabby/Amara fluff

Cameron/Donna character study disguised as smut

Grace proposes to Dani with a ring made out of the metal from her power source and Carl officiates the wedding

Dani gets horny watching Grace eat a peach and jerks off and Grace ends up hearing her and then they fuck (I have been calling this “the peach fic” in my head but I gotta stop being delicate about it lmfao it is just porn)

B and I have plans to do a Nico/Karolina Jasper in Deadland AU but we keep forgetting

I MUST WRITE FOGGY AND KAREN SADLY FUCKING IN A CHURCH WHILE THEY MOURN MATT THIS YEAR I STG

do you accept prompts:

uhhhhhh I have on occasion written a prompt for someone before but it’s pretty rare and I have enough trouble writing the shit I come up with in my own head lol. but never say never?

upcoming story you are most excited to write:

I’ve got a bit of the Bobbi/Kara Warehouse fic written and it’s nice to go back to that world. Also I’m weirdly excited about the Cam/Donna smutty character study I mentioned above, I have a lot of what I think are good ideas for it and it’ll be fun.

tagging @unwind-myself @swiftzeldas @swashbucklery @loved-the-stars-too-fondly and, if you want to, you!

#sometimes I write things

8 notes · View notes

thespiralgrimoire · 4 years

Note

⭐️ STAR ⭐️ STAR ⭐️ GIMME A WHOLE DAMN CONSTELLATION I DON’T EVEN CARE ON WHAT

*Cracks knuckles* Alright y’all it’s go time

I’m going to discuss all the works in my series Boys Will Be Embarrassing and also some WIPS

Lost in Roses

⭐️ This whole fic was an accident. I started writing it with a vague idea of what it was going to be about and I lost that idea along the way.

⭐️ It’s my least favorite in the series because it’s kind of boring, but I did like writing baby Solid

⭐️ It’s included in the series because it’s the origins of Nebra’s crush on Fuegoleon, which is important for later works

⭐️ I got to introduce this headcanon that Nebra is good at climbing here, and have not been able to use it since, which just breaks my heart

In the Lion’s Den

⭐️ This is the fic that properly started the friendly contest that led to the Boys Will Be Embarrassing series, but it is NOT the first fic. It’s the second. The first hasn’t been posted because it takes place post-canon (or canon-divergent, depending on how long Black Clover goes for), and it’s called And They Were Roommates.

⭐️ @loafingdragon waited WEEKS to post this fic because she couldn’t think of a proper meme for one of the lines near the beginning. In the end, I kicked her ass into posting it without a meme. No loss.

⭐️ This is the fic that started us keeping track of all of Nozel and Fuegoleon’s friends, because we had to decide which one hit on Meoroleona and got his nose broken. It was Ben Benfunk. This ended up working well because in the anime, Ben has a throwaway line about the Crimson Lions having to do well or Captain Meoroleona will make them regret it LOL

The Challenge

⭐️ This is my FAVORITE FIC IN THE SERIES it does NOT let you come up for air it’s SO FUNNY

⭐️ This fic’s working title was Boys Will Be Embarrassing. I made my sister change it because at this point I knew we were going to make more stories in his genre and I liked it as a series title.

⭐️ This one was a draft for a long time because in the original ending, Nozel opened up a trap door to see Meoroleona watching them play this game and it just ended with the two staring at each other like this

⭐️ In the original, they also only played one round of the Pocky Game before they played Cherry Chaser, which meant that we didn’t get Nozel doing... all that

⭐️ In the original, Fuego swallowed his cherry and Nozel lost his. When Nozel found Meoro, she popped a cherry in his mouth so that Nozel could win.

⭐️ When I read the second draft of this fic, where Nozel starts doing all those things during the Pocky Game, it killed me on sight

Oasis

⭐️ The working title for this piece was “Hot Boys” LMAO

⭐️ I forced the idea out of my noggin because I wanted to explicitely write fluff. Might have missed the mark on this one but OH WELL

⭐️ Originally they were going to get caught in a cave, and when the temperature dropped a night, Fuegoleon got to be the one keeping them alive. I ditched this because everyone makes Fuegoleon the big strong one and I wanted Nozel to be the one in charge the whole time

⭐️ Did you know that mercury is such an efficient coolant that it’s not advisable to use as a coolant because (along with the fact it’s hard to get) it cools TOO well? Makes your devices frosty

⭐️ Silver Cradle WILL be making an appearance in other fics, actually in a similar fashion to how it appeared in Oasis. But with someone else

⭐️ If it weren’t for my sister @loafingdragon this fic would easily be half the length that it is. I kept writing a little more and she kept saying “It doesn’t feel finished yet!”

⭐️ There are WAY more subtle headcanons worked into this fic than it seems. So many of them are extremely subtle and inconsequential, I didn’t bother pointing them out.

⭐️ Mimosa isn’t playing with Leo and Noelle in this fic because I straight up forgot that she existed LOL. I regret this

⭐️ I didn’t get a single age right in the whole-ass fic but shhhh nobody’s called me on it

⭐️ This is my most popular fic and you know what. It should be. It’s the best so far

The Grimoire Thief

⭐️ The working title for this one was The Grimoire Walker, which was cooler, but didn’t fit, so we had to change it

⭐️ This is the newest fic in the series right now! It’s a beautiful mess and all over the place.

⭐️ This fic is what made me start loving Nebra

⭐️ It’s where she really explored Nebra’s love for games, which I take full advantage of later

⭐️ @loafingdragon is reading this almost entirely by herself so I can’t say a lot about it tbh

The Ring(s)

⭐️ It’s in the notes of the fic, but it was inspired by this post

⭐️ There is a fifth chapter, which follows that post almost like a script, and I like it a lot, but I didn’t post it because it’s entrenched in my preferred AU where instead of ascending, the elves just stuck around and shared bodies with their human hosts. It was too much to explain at the end of a story.

⭐️ I thought up the very important hc that Nozel can eat anything on the spot for this fic and it has colored every other thing I’ve written about him to date

⭐️ This ring comes up in other works because Nozel never stops being enamored by it

Now let’s talk about WIPS a little bit

Disaster Bisexual Fuegoleon Fic

⭐️ The working title right now is Ultimatum but I’m already tired of that

⭐️ We’re about.... 1/2 - 2/3 through this fic and it’s about 80,000 words LOL pray for us

⭐️ This is the first fic where @loafingdragon and I are seriously collaborating on it. Like, there are points in this fic where we’re both writing it, at the same time. It’s really fun and exciting, as I’ve never written anything this collaboratively, and I’m having soooooo much fun with it

⭐️ The reason we’re doing it that way is because there are two OCs in it that belong to my sister. They’re elves who belatedly possessed Fuegoleon and Nozel. This only increases the hilarity of the fic I promise

⭐️ The other reason we’re writing it collaboratively is because it’s a comedy and my sister @loafingdragon is way funnier than me

⭐️ The elf thing is one reason that we haven’t started posting it yet. The other is because it also takes place after/divergent from canon, like And They Were Roommates

⭐️ @loafingdragon did a whole story introducing the elves, which is really good but she hasn’t posted it yet BECAUSE we have to write something ELSE before that is properly situated in this universe. It’s a matryoshka doll of details to explain and I’m losing my resolve to explain them properly

⭐️ Despite us working on this extremely collaboratively, I don’t think my sister knows how I plan to end it??? Which is very sexy of me I think

Traning With Aunt Nebra

⭐️ This fic is completely done, and discusses Nebra training Fuegoleon’s toddler son, who has steam magic

⭐️ It was written real early in the history of this series by @loafingdragon, and has a really flippant feel to it, meaning it’s funnier than anything I’ve written in my life

⭐️ Nebra gets to motorboat Fuegoleon in it. That’s really all you need to know to be sure that it’s good\

⭐️ It’s going to be a while before it’s posted because we still have to explain where Fuegoleon’s son came from

There are actually more fics but they’re @loafingdragon‘s and I don’t have that many thoughts on their beauty

Thank you for enabling me shammie. Now I’ve got to go put on pants and get some breakfast.

#black clover #nozel silva #nebra silva #fuegoleon vermillion #my art #spinda tea #noelle silva #solid silva

11 notes · View notes

theharellan · 4 years

Text

Guess who read The Dread Wolf Take You!

The Assassin’s Tale:

Three agents. First elf is Dalish, second a city elf, third an ancient elf, which is a good demonstration of the diversity of elven experience among the ranks. I’ll be making another post about Solas’ resources and reach later, likely after I’ve finished reading the other stories, as I know I have comments about some of the other stories where agents are involved.

The Dalish elf says he wants to awaken his gods with the idol, indicating that there’s either differing motives for joining Fen’Harel or he was lying, believing that it would allow him to get what he wants sooner. Both are honestly believable possibilities.

Solas (and his agents, whose ranks also likely include other Dreamers) can kill people in their sleep, even dwarves. This isn’t new information, we’ve known it since Feynriel in DA2, although I am surprised dwarves aren’t immune. I wonder if it would work on Surface dwarves and not Orzammar’s, as magic resistance is explicitly lessened when dwarves leave Orzammar. I imagine it would at least be harder. Based on the Bard’s comments I think in this particular instance and the importance of securing the idol, Solas himself was involved in the assassinations of the sleepers.

Dreams also seem to be places people get instructions/orders, which would confirm a headcanon of mine.

The Mortalitasi’s Tale:

The red lyrium idol is elven, depicting either “two lovers” or “a god mourning her sacrifice.” I should note again that if Mythal/Solas is ever confirmed as romantic I will be going canon divergent on that, but for now it’s still unclear.

The Tevinter mage uses blood sacrifice to get the idol to do its thing, using slaves. Whatever ritual they were doing was interfering with whatever Solas had been doing at the time.

His behaviour in this story reminds me of something he says to the Inquisitor at the start of the game, the first conversation in Haven: “Posturing is necessary.” I’ve long held the headcanon that a lot of Solas’ weight after he became Fen’Harel was a result of deliberately making himself seem scary, what we get in this is a glimpse of the intimidation tactics I think he’s used since Arlathan.

The Mortalitasi thinks he must have bound spirits/demons to accomplish his attack, but this seems unlikely. Solas has his hypocrisies, but Cole notes in Trespasser “he knows how to speak so spirits listen” re: the sanctuary guardians, and it seems more likely the spirits are aiding him freely.

Again, the binding of spirits continues to play a role in Solas’ anger and frustration in the world-- his problems cannot be addressed just by improving the lots of physical elves.

The Bard’s Tale:

I’m rather doubtful of how much of this is true, I do believe he went to Llomerryn and retrieved the idol and that he now has it. Other than that the story is mostly a lot of name drops or references, with everyone from the Warden to Divine Victoria to Xenon to Tallis being referenced.

He describes Solas as touching the idol reverently, clearly it has personal meaning, although given his reaction to the focus breaking it’s probably nice to not find it’s cracked after some human put their hands on it.

I also believe the Ben-Hassrath didn’t listen to his warning at the end of Trespasser, although tbf the vidassala wasn’t in a position to pass the message on.

Addition: Lisa reminded me that the Bard described the idol, and likely has the most accurate interpretation -- “crowned figure who comforted the other” -- again, like the end of Inquisition. This isn’t the first time Solas has had a sad in Mythal’s arms. Why he needed comforting in the scene depicted here is unclear. It could be anything from Mythal’s impending death, to the Veil, to depicting Solas’ feelings after he took physical form at Mythal’s behest.

General Notes:

More wisps being used for really casual things that really could be done by hand, or potentially even just magic by hand, rather than ordering something else to do it for you. From the description of the Mortalitasi putting it away it seems its in the spoon permanently.

First, some notes about The Bard, headcanons included -- ◦ As others have pointed out, Gauche, the name the party is booked under and his alias, means “awkward,” but it also means “left.” It’s a fitting name both because like “Solas” it’s a feeling/state of being, but also the Anchor was on the left hand (and therefore it’s the hand he removes in Trespasser). ◦ Opal inlays, which were apparently in fashion a few years back according to Vivienne banter. ◦ Resembles a dragon, again leaning on Mythal imagery. ◦ My headcanon that Solas knows Orlesian came true (although I also hc it as being limited in DA:I, I think he would have improved it since then). ◦ His manner and accent were coached by agents, specifically I like to think Adélaïde (found on @ourdawncomes) played a role in that, among others. Miraen (Joly’s OC, found on @ancientimpudence) likely helped with the outfit.

The little tells Charter picks up on kills me, like her noting that his hair toss is clumsy and the lack of tan lines indicating he doesn’t typically wear rings. I guess when you’ve been bald a while you forget how hair works, which as sb who has had a pixie cut for a few years... yeah, it tracks.

He can freeze people without turning them to stone, and can also freeze golems.

Solas literally can’t pretend to like tea so he just doesn’t drink it. Like I think he’s physically incapable of not making The Face.

The second he drops the act he sounds more like as we know him, Charter immediately noting he sounds “tired.” His voice falters, he smiles sadly, and smiles again when Charter points out that he’s hardly one to talk about the Executors being dangerous. Speaking of, he doesn’t like the Executors, and frankly they do seem pretty odd.

What he says to Charter after she asks for her life -- Ar lasa mala -- features in the phrase “ar lasa mala revas” or “you are free/I give you your freedom.” Since “revas” Means freedom, my guess is this just means what he says in Common, “I grant it to you.”

The second thing he does after allowing Charter her life is freeing the spirit/wisp in the stirring stick, a detail for which I owe Mx. Weekes my life.

Charter does more than just see through Solas’ disguise, but the line “perhaps we are not the only ones you lied to” is probably one of the best assessments of Solas’ character in the series. It also indicates that Solas’ motivations for approaching in Trespasser were, in part, a lie-- or rather, I think, not the whole truth. Lines about how he hopes to be proven wrong and his appearance here it reinforces that he has self-sabotaging tendencies for this plan, like he wants to be stopped but won’t, possibly can’t stop, which brings me back to Regret: There might have been a better choice-- a thought it had not been allowed.

His plans may not be as destructive as first assumed, it’s noted Tevinter will likely take the brunt of it, but also he notes “the elves who still remain” may find it better when his work is done. I headcanoned ages ago that Solas doesn’t lie to those he allies with about the consequences of his actions, aka the destruction it’ll cause. He’s honest with the Inquisition and telling them the truth, allowing them to know the truth while lying to those he’s working with would be inviting unnecessary betrayal. Solas saying this to Charter is further evidence that the modern elves working with Solas are well-aware of what’s happening and as a whole not being lied to, although I also wouldn’t be surprised if some joined up with different ideas, as the Dalish elf at the start may have.

That Solas’ next move was the lyrium idol (which is also his? Or Mythal’s) indicates that if there are other foci out there, they can’t be wielded by him. This makes sense given his could explicitly only be wielded by him without killing him, so I imagine if there are others out there they’re specific to that evanuris/whatever mage created them.

That he regrets involving and revealing himself in Trespasser is pretty funny considering Solas showed up here in-person for like. Really minor, personal reasons. Again. Then revealed more of his plans. Again. Did I mention the self-sabotage?

It looks like this Solas was neutral-to-high approval, almost definitely not romanced. “Tell them I’m sorry” is a pretty general message, so for the purposes of roleplay he would say different things to everyone’s Inquisitor.

In conclusion: Solas is a loser but im still trash for him.

#( headcanons )#tevinter nights spoilers #dragon age spoilers #he calls himself Pride ( about )#[ i know i'm missing stuff but this is already so long #so if i think of more stuff i'll update it or something ]#v; i walk the din'anshiral ( trespasser )

17 notes · View notes

snarksandsarcasm · 4 years

Text

Master Of Shadows

Course of Events

I could list the events of the game in as-is fashion, but I want to give a coherent course of events that answers questions instead. See, Clone-Styx works his way through the game with several daytime changes but Styx’s interrogation in the cell is likely to take one or two short sessions. Therefore, I don’t think their telepathic communication is always real-time. Other characters actions and reactions are also not always self-explanatory, hence the liberties in the timeline below.

Styx has spend some time in the tower already, making deals with Ozkan and various other people. He has created himself a laboratory to work on elves and study the Amber more. He comes up with a complex plan to attain the Heart of the Tree, which is what the player goes through in the game.

Day 1 - Reminiscences 1, 2, 3

Evening. Styx creates Clone-Styx. He disappears from sight and allows C-Styx to start his journey, giving him directions disguised as “memories” inside C-Styx’s aching head.

C-Styx recovers his dagger and makes his way through the distillery to the city section. He meets Ozkan and follows his instructions to reach the entrance to the sewers and his new hideout. C-Styx doesn’t know what was before he regained consciousness but with a clear goal in view he doesn’t question it. Life is now, after all.

Day 2 - Akenash Atrium 1, 2, 3, 4 - Master Key 1

Morning. C-Styx leaves for his first mission: he needs to secure an airship to leave the tower after his work is done. The game tells us he edits the flight departure schedule, but it seems more likely that he just checked out the flight times as such. After all, he has no clue WHEN he will be done with all this and just needs reassurance of when and where ships are meant to depart.

He proceeds to the Library to find detailed maps of Akenash that may show a good way towards the Heart of the Tree.

After locating those maps, drawn in Amber on the walls of the library and burned into C-Styx’s mind, he returns back to the hideout via the Incinerator.

Evening. Styx allows himself to be captured. He is stripped of his weapons and brought to prison, Cell No5 where he remains until his interrogation.

C-Styx heads out to the docks. He hides in a chest meant for overnight delivery to Barimen’s private apartment, where he hopes to find the key, opening the path to the Tree.

Day 3 - Master Key 2, 3, 4 - Deliverance 1, 2, 3, 4 - The Creator 1, 2, 3, - The Architect 1, 2, 3, 4

Morning. While they had been notified late the evening before, only now Barimen and his son Aaron have the time and nerve to go interrogate the strange creature found.

After some hours of chest rest, C-Styx finds his way into the secret office of Barimen’s. In the governor’s convenient absence, he takes the key, but also finds out about the spy-system. He then moves through the servant quarters and delivery entrance back to the sewers.

Back in Cell No5, Barimen becomes suspicious of Styx and his story. He thought it was all a joke but somehow Styx is too detailed with his plan. He leaves to check the state of his secret office. He will also invite the elf ambassador to question him about Styx. Aaron remains and continues the interrogation. Without his father’s consent Aaron makes the decision to have the bridge destroyed and leaves to arrange that. So neither Barimen nor Aaron are in the prison as C-Styx makes his way there.

Evening. From the sewers, C-Styx makes his way towards the prison to free a ‘friend’. He starts his journey from the sewers entrance in the city to the large elevator, which leads down into the prison.

The first section of the prison is the low-security area. Guards who are caught consuming and dealing distilled Amber are taken here. As described in another post, I think Akenash did partly serve as a prison camp where convicts will work and serve their sentence without means of escape.

Below that section are the Amber laboratories of the Inquisition and human scientists. At the end of this section we are introduced to captured orcs abused as guard dogs.

The high-security section leads right to Cell No5. C-Styx walks into Styx taking care of the torturer. Confusion follows and it is revealed that C-Styx is a mere clone without his own will following orders. He got Styx the key (now useless) while Barimen and Aaron were distracted but now it is time to die. Styx stabs C-Styx and leaves him for dead.

Styx moves back through the prison complex. He creates plenty of copies for distraction and taking care of the orcs. Yet he is slow in his movement.

C-Styx recovers enough to move again fairly quickly. He leaves Cell No5 and again, looks first for his dagger. On his way out, he meets a dying clone like himself, that had enough self-conscience to question his being and mortality.

In the laboratory he catches up with Styx, who has a little private chat with Aaron, as he returns from the bridge’s destruction. C-Styx sees what Styx can read in Aaron’s mind after raw Amber was poured over his face: Queberus is alive and kept inside Akenash, working on distilling Amber for Aaron. He will know another way to the Heart apart from the bridge.

C-Styx decides to antagonise Styx completely and be his own master, not a slave. He plans to find Querberus before Styx does just out of spite. Following Styx behind, C-Styx makes his way past yet another conscious clone back to his hideout.

Ozkan’s collaboration with Styx has been exposed and C-Styx kills him (optional at this point but Ozkan will die either way in the end).

Querberus whereabouts are not 100% clear, so C-Styx plans to search the sewers. If the architect is held there, some people will know about it. As he leaves, Akenash guards raid the area. C-Styx can choose to get rid of them or leave unseen.

C-Styx starts his search in one area of the sewers but runs into a trap. He corrects his path and finds Querberus in another section, from where he frees him and leads him back to his hideout.

Styx now contacts him telepathically and asks his clone to bring Querberus to his nearby laboratory. C-Styx however doesn’t follow and goes to find Styx on his own.

C-Styx attempts to kill Styx there but Styx can feel the attack and evades near automatically. He then attempts to kill C-Styx again, but is driven out of his laboratory by an approaching elf, unable to finish his task.

Day 4 - Conflagration 1, 2, 3, 4, Renaissance 1, 2, 3

C-Styx survives and is brought back to the hideout by the elf. They agree on a plan: stabilize the political situation, make C-Styx an independent Amber creature and stop Styx.

Daytime. First, C-Styx has to help the elf ambassador to stabilize the political situation. He travels through the incinerator shortcut to reach the library. In the library he finds a forged letter calling for the elves to attack, as well as documents and records about Amber deliveries and disappearing prisoners. C-Styx hands them to the elf ambassador who then goes to the agreed upon meeting with Barimen to discuss the urgent matters.

When Barimen arrives, he gets straight to the matter of Styx and his clones. We don’t know whether Barimen knows (and approves) of the bridges destruction or his son’s disfigurement. Styx suddenly appears and kills Barimen before the elf can explain the situation. C-Styx now helps the elf ambassador to leave the area quickly and quietly.

Unknown to the player, C-Styx and the elf decided to bring Querberus to a safe space some time prior. It seems they have agreed to meet somewhere in the Akenash Atrium, since neither elf nor C-Styx have had time to accompany Querberus to anywhere particular. When C-Styx reaches him in that spot, ready to bring him to the escape airship, Styx has just mortally wounded him.

Querberus tells C-Styx with his dying breath how to reach the Heart of the Tree. Styx took quite a gamble when he wounded Querberus lethally. What if the old man had not told C-Styx about the connection via the spy system?

Angered, C-Styx and the ambassador return to the hideout.

Aaron has recovered enough. He considers the elf ambassador to be the murderer of his father and he imposes strict rules on the elves. For now they are being locked into their area of work.

This causes the elf ambassador to ask one more favour of C-Styx. Free his kin on the way to the cocoon, that would make him the independent Amber creature he needs to be to kill Styx.

Evening. C-Styx leaves the hideout to go to the distillery. He starts at the city where he witnesses Aaron leaving Akenash to legitimise his place as new Governor of Akenash with the emperor. Aaron will return to find the tower gone.

C-Styx enters the distillery, where he steals a key and frees the elves. They turn against him and lock him into the area with the cocoon. The elves don’t fully trust their ambassador due to his prolonged exposure to normal humans and diplomatics. Rightfully as we discover later. C-Styx doesn’t save the Tree or the tower.

C-Styx enters the cocoon and remains there for a few moments. Oddly enough, C-Styx is free to leave, afterwards. There has been some fighting, dead elves and dead humans and orcs. Possibly in their confusion the humans managed to unlock the area again. C-Styx makes his way past the few elves towards Barimen’s apartment.

From there, he follows the main duct of the spy system to the Heart of the Tree.

C-Styx and Styx face each other. Styx summons his clones to distract C-Styx while he is trying to free the Heart from it’s magical confinement - and fails. C-Styx gets hold of the Heart and does everything to oppose his creator. Not allowing him the possession of the Heart by destroying it, ruining 200 years of planning. He also won’t allow Styx to be the owner over his life and ends it himself, by throwing himself into the Amber lake below the Heart. The emerging rakash rip a furious Styx apart. The tower crumbles and falls in the very early hours of morning.

At Ground Zero more rakash emerge, among them former C-Styx, who is now reborn as the one and only Styx.

#styx #styx: master of shadows #my styx lore #I hope people realise all these posts are spoilers and meant for people who played the games and have an idea of what is going on. xD #SPOILERS

8 notes · View notes

darkobsidianquill · 4 years

Text

Harry Potter and the descent into Darkness..

Chapter 32

Harry felt notably down for the next few days. Tom noticed but didn't remark on it. They both knew why Harry was feeling the way he was feeling, and they didn't need to discuss it.

Now that exams were done, Hermione and Ginny had returned their focus full-swing to translating the last few passages of the Old Aldric book. It had taken a backseat to the mountain of homework that had lead into revision and then exams.

The day before the end of term feast, Hermione and Ginny gathered Harry up after breakfast and hid themselves away in an abandoned classroom as they pulled out the last of the translation and handed it to him.

With a mixture of anxious trepidation and excitement, Harry picked up the bound parchment notebook and began to read.

The Record of Tarsang the second, son of Morac.

G.t 14407

I have spent much time studying and recording the details for prosperity, of the greater magical creatures of this realm in preparation for our final departure. I wished to understand the actions that had been taken by this worlds Magic in its attempt to save it's Children and I think I can finally sum up my findings into something simple, to serve as my contribution to this text.

Goodness and understanding was needed in this world's greater magic users. Empathy, justice, and freedoms would help the half-creature Men thrive, and so those strong in the magics of Light were given the task of empowering these attributes. But Magic saw that those powerful in the Light would be more lenient towards the non-magical Men. They would fight for these non-magical beings 'rights', since they are the underdogs. They are weaker, and will forever be in need of someone to stand up for them and protect them, and it would be in the nature of the Light wizards to take up such a task.

It was foreseen that it would be the Light magical half-breeds who would risk true exposure of magic to the non-magical Men. They would believe that all humans had the right to magic, because it was the just and fair thing.

However, the fact remains that if non-magic Men gain the power to wield magic, then the End will befall this world and all will perish.

And so Dark magic was given power to keep the Light magic in check. To keep the Light from getting too powerful, and from exposing everyone, and thus, losing the magic for all.

It is in the Dark's nature to covet the power of magic and keep such a power to themselves. To seek it out in every form and to hoard it. The Dark would not want the power to spread to the non-magics because it understands that they are not worthy of the power, and them gaining such a power would be disastrous for all.

This world's End will come in one of two ways. The non-magical Men will steal magic, and use it to destroy all that exists, or the non-magical Men will destroy themselves with their own strange brand of magic, conjured from their too-fast-gained knowledge of sub-physical world and their 'science'. If the End is brought about by the non-magic sciences, the magical creatures of the world will have the chance to shield themselves from the fall-out and they will have the chance to survive. However if the end is brought about by the forces of magic, no one will be saved. All will die.

It is a tragic end, and one I hope this world will manage to escape. I wish them my best as my family and I make our final preparations for our departure. I am saddened that I will never know the fate of this world and it's inhabitants that I have grown so fond of.

Harry sat there staring at the page for several long minutes after he had finished reading it. It didn't really give him any new information. Basically a rehash of what he'd already figured out or at least guessed at.

Harry was broken from his pondering by the sound of Hermione sighing heavily and sinking down into a chair opposite him.

"I don't even know what to think about all this..." she said with a slightly dejected tone.

"It's not really anything new," Harry said shrugging. "Basically repeating what we'd already read earlier in the book."

"Yeah, I guess... it's still just difficult to take it all in. Do you really think it could be true?"

"Honestly?" Harry said, looking at the two girls, who were looking back at him expectantly. "Yes. I think it's true."

– –

The end of term feast was as spectacular as all of Hogwarts feasts always are and Harry collapsed into bed that night with an extremely full stomach. He had slipped down into the Chamber once that early morning just to make sure he didn't leave anything behind down there that he would want with him. He had hardly gone down there at all in months though, so there really wasn't anything he was in need of.

The next morning when Harry and his classmates made their way across the grounds to the front gates where the magical carriages were lined up to take them all down to Hogsmeade Harry came up short as he blinked owlishly at the skeletal horse-like creatures pulling them. He'd never been able to see the things pulling the carriages before, and for several moments he was completely confused.

It took him a minute to realize that no one else saw anything different at all. Then his brain turned back on and he finally recognized what the deathly looking creatures were.

"Thestrals..." he breathed under his breath as realization dawned on him. Once considered death omens because of their rather horrible appearance and the fact that they can only be seen by those who have witnessed death.

"Hmm?" Hermione had asked but he shook his head, dismissing it and pretending that nothing was up.

Of course he could see them now. He had killed someone in a rather brutal and horrible fashion. He was rather intimate with death now. He had caused it. But it made him wonder why he'd never seen them before. He had, after all witnessed his parents death, and if that couldn't count because he was too young, there still remained the fact that he'd witnessed Quirrell die... again, by his own hands. Hell, he had literally killed Quirrell with his own bare hands.

So why the bloody hell was he only able to see the thestrals now?

Harry shrugged it off. It didn't especially matter much. It was just one of those illogical things about magic that never really made much sense no matter how hard you tried to work it out in your head. Although, Tom would probably have a perfectly reasonable explanation for it.

Harry followed his friends onto the train, wishing he could just bypass this part and simply take his portkey to the manor house, but knowing he couldn't. Ginny hung out with them for a short while before heading off to meet up with some of her friends from her own year, leaving Harry alone in a compartment with Ron and Hermione.

"Oh hey, before I forget –" Harry started after the other two had been talking for some time about summer plans, "you two can send me owls to this address." Harry pulled out two pieces of parchment and handed one to each of them.

They both looked at him curiously before unfolding the notes and looking at what was written.

Hermione was the first to speak. "France?" she gasped.

Harry chuckled and shrugged. "Yup. Did you know that France has no restriction for underage magical use?"

"I – wait, it what?" Hermione asked, coming up short.

"Yeah, witches and wizards can use magic all they want in France – as long as it's not being done in front of muggles, of course – and they won't get punished or anything, even if they're not 17 yet."

"Wait," Ron started, "so you're running off to France so you can perform magic during your holidays? Do you even speak French?"

"No, and that's not why I'm going anyway. It's a coincidence really. It just so happens that the place I'm going to is in France and therefore I can perform magic this summer. Besides, that address isn't where I'm actually staying. It's a hired post box. A house elf will be retrieving my mail every few days and when I have outgoing mail, I give it to the elf and she'll bring it to a public post and sending it out with one of the owls there. Hedwig is just going to hang out with me all summer. She'll probably get a bit bored, not being able to deliver any letters, but the grounds are supposed to be pretty big so she'll have plenty of flying room."

"Wait, I don't get it... why are you going through all that?" Ron asked.

"The wards around the place I'm going to be staying doesn't allow owls to come in to deliver post."

"And... why?"

"To prevent anyone from using an owl to track me. No owls, no risk of tracking charms."

"Wow..." Hermione said, blinking in surprise. "Whoever you're staying with is willing to do all that just to make sure no one tracks you down with an owl?"

"They had those wards up already. I told you guys way back when I first mentioned all of this, that the place I'm going has some of the most powerful wards a private property can have."

"And you really can't tell us where you're going or who you're staying with?" Hermione asked, clearly looking worried.

"No can do. Merlin, chances are you two will both be getting visits from Dumbledore within the week as he starts desperately trying to track me down and haul me back to the Dursley's before the wards completely collapse there. If you don't know where I'm going, there's no way he can find out from you. It's just easier this way."

Hermione sighed and folded her arms over her chest but didn't persist in arguing. Ron just frowned.

"You can pass that address on to Ginny for me, right Ron?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, sure," Ron grumbled.

"What's up, Ron?"

Ron ducked his head, still scowling a bit and mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"It's just you've been spending a lot of time with my sister this year and now you're going to be writing with her over the summer too?" Ron finally said, raising his head.

Harry blinked at Ron and had to fight to refrain from rolling his eyes. "Ron, she's a friend. She can write to me if she wants to. I mean, it's not like you have to worry about me fancying your sister or something. She's got the wrong plumbing, and I'm already pretty attached to someone else."

Ron's face went red and he blanched a bit before looking away embarrassed. Suddenly understanding seemed to dawn in his eyes. "You what?"

"Huh?"

"What do you mean you're attached to someone?"

"Oh well... I'm sort of seeing someone."

"What? Since when? Who?"

"Er... for a while now. I mean, it started out as a friendly thing but sort of slowly morphed into something else. And as for who, I can't tell you who for the same reason that I can't tell you where I'm going this summer."

"It's one of the Beauxbatons boys!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly with a gasp. "The mystery boy you refused to tell me and Ginny about – it wasn't a boy from any of the houses, it was a boy from Beauxbatons!"

"Er... no, actually. But... well, nevermind. Like I said, I really can't give you any details that might lead you to where I'm staying, Hermione."

"Huh? Wait a minute, Hermione. You knew?" Ron exclaimed looking at Hermione and then back at Harry with hurt. "How come you never told me?"

"The only reason that Hermione and Ginny know anything about it is because they caught me sneaking in after having met up with him. If that hadn't of happened, even they wouldn't have any idea. I've kept this super secret because I don't want to risk his identity getting out."

"Wait, Harry!" Hermione yelled, suddenly. "No clues to where you're staying? I thought you said that his family didn't know he was, you know... But it sounds like you're going to go stay with him this summer. How..?"

"Oh his mum knows now. He told her. She's good with it, and with me being there. Don't worry, this is going to be fine. Still, we don't want to risk his name getting drug through the tabloids as Harry Potter's boyfriend so I'm still not willing to let it get out who he is."

"So you didn't trust me to keep it a secret?" Ron interjected in, still looking hurt.

"It's not that Ron, but we still have no idea how Rita Skeeter was spying on us, or if whatever method she used is still available to someone else. I just didn't want to risk anything. And then there's the whole Dumbledore questioning you two thing to try and figure out where I'm staying..."

Ron didn't look entirely appeased, but he did at least let it drop. Conversation turned to Hermione's plans for her holiday with her parents and she was startled to realize that while she and her family would be in Italy, she would be legally allowed to use magic. She'd had no idea and found the idea thrilling.

Draco did not pay Harry his normal Hogwart's Express visit, but Harry wasn't the least bit surprised by that. He doubted that Draco would know how to act around Harry right now, anyway.

Finally the train pulled up at King's Cross station and the three of them collected their luggage and exited into the platform. Harry shrunk his trunk using it's automatic shrinking feature, since he technically wasn't supposed to be able to use his own magic away from Hogwarts without getting caught, and then he grabbed Hedwig's cage. The Grangers were waiting there and found Hermione right away. Harry bid her farewell, and wished her a good holiday. By that time, Molly Weasley had appeared and had started gathering up her brood of gingers.

"I'll see you September first Ron!" Harry called out as he began to slip away.

"Oh, wait, Harry dear!" Molly Weasley called out and Harry groaned internally before turning around and giving her an innocent but confused smile.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Are your relatives here?" she said looking around the crowd curiously.

"I'm meeting them further away from Platform 9 ¾. They don't feel too comfortable this close to so many of 'my lot'. You know how they are."

"Well if you'd just wait a few minutes we can walk out with you."

"No, that won't be necessary Mrs. Weasley. Besides, Uncle Vernon will get upset if I keep him waiting."

Molly Weasley looked torn as she looked back and forth from the twins and Ginny, and Harry.

"I've really got to get going. Thanks for the offer though," Harry called out as he resumed walking away towards the archway that would lead into muggle King's Cross. "See you in the fall Ginny! Ron! Bye Gred and Forge!"

"Bye Harry!"

"See ya later!"

"Have a nice holiday!"

"And thanks again, Harry! We really owe you one!" one of the twins called out as Harry grinned back at them over his shoulder and finally disappeared through the arch. Harry had given the twins his winnings the morning after the impromptu awards ceremony and from what he understood, they had already started to owl order loads of different ingredients and things. If nothing else, the twins would be good for a laugh.

Harry quickly made his way through the crowds of muggles before seeing an 'Employees Only' door, propped open slightly by a broom. Harry slipped his cypress wand down his sleeve and into his hand and discreetly cast a 'notice-me-not' charm on himself as he slipped in through the door. Once he was positive that there was no one around to witness anything, he made sure he had a firm grip on Hedwig's cage, turned on the spot, and apparated away.

He reappeared with a soft crack! in the entry hall of Riddle Manor. He grinned and heaved a big sigh of relief. It was summer holiday. He was free. It had really worked.

"Shall I be taking master's luggage up to his room?" a squeaky voice sounded from behind him, making Harry spin around in surprise. Standing there was Mixey, looking up at him with those huge tennis ball-sized eyes and big flappy bat ears. Harry grinned down at her.

"I can do it myself. I've already got my trunk shrunk down in my pocket."

"Then gives it to Mixey and I's be taking it up to master's room," she insisted with a nod of her head.

Harry grinned in mild amusement down at her and shrugged. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the matchbox sized trunk and handed it over to her, followed by Hedwig's cage. She graciously took them, bowed low, and disappeared with a soft pop.

Harry chuckled quietly, but it turned into a relieved sigh as he felt the familiar magical presence behind him.

"You're not wearing your ring," Tom said.

"Gah! I knew I forgot something," Harry said, smacking himself on the forehead and reaching into his pocket where he had stored his glamor ring. He slipped it onto his left-hand index finger as he was turning around and smiled up at the handsome man that had come to mean such an immensely different thing to him during the last few months.

Tom was looking down on him with an amused smirk as Harry shrugged sheepishly.

"How was your train ride?"

"Long and annoying," Harry said rolling his eyes. "I can't even tell you how many times I wished I could have just used the portkey or apparated straight here instead of having to bother with the damn train."

Tom chuckled and took a few steps forward. Harry felt his skin tingle with anticipation as the other man drew closer and instinctively gravitated towards him. Within the blink of an eye, Tom had gathered Harry up in his arms, one hand behind his neck and tangling long slender fingers into the long, shaggy fringe at the base of Harry's neck, and the other in the small of Harry's back. Harry's arms came up and wrapped around Tom's neck, his fingers lacing together where they met.

"All mine for two whole months," Tom breathed as he pulled Harry's face mere inches from his own.

"I'm yours forever, if you want me," Harry breathed back; the words escaping his lips before he even registered them in his mind.

"Of course, I want you, pet. But that's not what I meant," Tom said pulling back and smirking down at Harry with mild amusement.

"It's still true. I'm yours," Harry said, looking up into Tom's deep red eyes with such an intensity that it almost gave the elder wizard pause. They shared a long, lingering look before Tom bent down and gently brushed his lips against Harry's.

§Mine.Tom hissed, causing a powerful shudder to course through Harry and a wide grin to spread across his lips..

§Yours,§ Harry hissed back.

Tom pulled back completely and took a step away.

"Come, Pet. We shouldn't linger in such a public place. It isn't likely, but my followers have free reign to come and go in this part of the manor and I would rather not be seen by them while in this form."

Harry blinked at the sudden shift and realized that Tom was still, well, Tom. Harry smiled softly, realizing that the man had stayed in his natural form to greet him, even at the risk of being seen that way by someone else in what he considered his 'weaker' form.

Harry nodded his head, smiling softly up at Tom, the other smirked back and headed up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Tom paused and turned to look at Harry over his shoulder.

"Oh, and Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Welcome home."

– End –

#Harry Potter #Dark!Harry #Harry Potter and the descent into Darkness..#Tom Riddle #Tomarry

7 notes · View notes

mithruel · 4 years

Photo

2019 art summary

This year was all over the place honestly... it started out with simple portraits which turned out to be successful, while on the other hand, I was wrestling with my BA paintings. Even tho I was not into them that much, they were really helpful in so many ways, I am much braver when it comes to painting and smarter about composition. Around Easter, I made the first attempt at combining my love for portraits and this newfound expressive gesture which resulted in a painting which I still hold as my most successful one, The Nymph of the Singing Forest.

After that was Mermay, which I only have one piece of, as uni started demanding more of my attention. However, sketches for the mermay blew up, I got so many notes that I got dizzy (not much in the Tumblr scale, but a lot for my little profile). I was mainly wrestling with my BA after that and studying for exams. Summer went by in the same fashion, studying and maybe a simple illustration here and there.

I passed the exams and was done with my BA (yay!). I also passed the requirements for MA, so I started preparing for that. As the new academic year started so did Inktobber follow. I made 24 illustrations in ink following the prompt list while mixing my own theme in it. I am super proud of them all, and I learned SO much in that month (also strained my left eye hah!)

After that, it was mainly sketching and exploring the literature for my MA. I did manage to do random elf portraits, and with that, I finished 2019! In the year to come, I am going to really focus on my MA, so I might not post as often as I would like. I will definitely update and post progress with my MA paintings as I will be able to! Once that is done, I’ll probably sleep out one month of summer, and after that just draw to my heart’s content. My plan is some fanarts, and designs, but I can’t know what future holds for me yet haha! Maybe continue my studies abroad or maybe some apprenticeship. But I know I need to develop a solid portfolio, so that’s my main objective after the MA. All the best and I'll see you in the next decade!

#artists on tumblr #summary of 2019 #art summary #traditional painting #illustration

3 notes · View notes

eponymous-rose · 5 years

Text

Best-Laid Plans...

We had a great arc-ending session last night, so I thought this might be a fun chance to share how I prep as a DM... and how things inevitably changed in the game itself!

(If you’re one of my players stumbling onto this, hi, and also thank you again for the amazing scotch. Please let me know you’ve found this account so I can be careful about what I give away in these posts in the future!)

Basically, the entire goofy premise of this arc was, “Hey, so bards have access to the spell Modify Memory. With carefully targeted concerts, a boy band could secretly be changing the fate of nations.”

This campaign’s set (mostly for my convenience in early-game worldbuilding) in CR’s Tal’Dorei campaign setting, during the year gap that happened toward the end of their first campaign. The party started in Kymal, since it was a good-sized city in the middle of everything that hadn’t really been explored too much in the show.

As the campaign begins, the monster-hunting guild from the show, the Slayers’ Take, are expanding their operation into Tal’Dorei’s Dividing Plains (in large part because Vanessa wanted to get Lyra out of Vasselheim for a while), and their first round of advertising for potential new recruits has pulled in a pretty good crowd. Under Lyra’s eccentric delegation, the players get grouped together for a job that involves checking out the mysterious disappearance of a bookish elf in town, under the assumption that some monstrous beastie has devoured him, and that beastie should probably be hunted. Instead, they find a lot of deep-dive research into the Feywild, along with a weird portal in his basement that takes them to a strange pocket plane where they fight some sentient plants and talk to an extremely creepy entity that offers them protection from scrying eyes in exchange for an ill-defined favor.

After getting jumped by a group of kobolds (one of whom they sort of accidentally befriend via cookie-related bribes and implications that they may be some sort of deity), the group decides that avoiding whatever’s trying to take them out is a good call. They head back to report a modified version of their findings to Lyra... and find her standing over the corpses of all the other Slayer's Take hopefuls, badly shaken and completely baffled as to why she'd do such a thing. They opt to hang out and wait for the authorities to take her into custody, which results in a bit of confusion and a night spent in jail with their kobold pal.

The city watch eventually opts to let them go, but offer the party a job joining their security detail for the city's charismatic but not-terribly-effectual margrave as he does a meet-and-greet tour of the local casinos. The group agrees to meet at the margrave's mansion that evening to help out... and they promptly spend the day smuggling illegal materials across the city wall for a friendly local tavern owner. As you do.

The meet-and-greet is fairly uneventful until the margrave enters one of the largest casinos in town (the two largest are, of course, fronts run by the Clasp and the Myriad crime organizations, respectively), at which point the party's recollection of events starts to diverge. The druid and the fighter see mysterious black-robed figures attacking from an upper balcony of the building, and are about to chase after them... when the other two members of their party suddenly collapse, unconscious and bleeding. The sorcerer and the ranger saw something very different. After succeeding at a wisdom saving throw that the others failed (the results of which were kept secret from the rest of the party), they managed to shake off the effects of a Modify Memory spell and see what really happened: a single black-robed figure stalking up to the margrave and shooting him in the head with a crossbow. They attempt to engage the attacker and are quickly cut down by the attacker's allies.

In the chaos, the party are joined by one surviving hopeful of that first night at the Slayer's Take, who'd disappeared before the carnage started: a human woman named Zo, who manages to smuggle them out through a passage underneath the casino. Once the injured party members are patched up, she reveals that she's a Spireling working for the Clasp. She's very careful to dance around most of the group's questions, and is very curious as to how they survived the attack on the Slayers' Take, which the group manages to avoid answering as well. It's all very tense, but eventually Zo strongly requests that they venture into the nearby mountains to find a powerful and ancient creature that once pledged its aid to the Clasp. When they hesitate, she casually threatens their families. Thieves' guilds, man. Often helpful, but definitely not nice. She smuggles them out of town through the Clasp's web of sewers and tunnels.

The group does a little meandering outside the city, makes some friends, has a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl, helps patch things up a bit between a devil and a deva (the most awkward of ex-girlfriends)... and everyone occasionally gets pulled into the Feywild for tests and trials, apparently being administered by an underling (a deeply sarcastic satyr woman who delights in her surreal brand of middle management) of the same entity that contacted them way back at the beginning. There's a lot of near-death experiences, an attempt at befriending a blink dog, and everyone winds up assigned a particular symbol. It's all very mysterious, but the party's getting stronger as a result.

Eventually, the group finds the Clasp's protector, a bronze dragon, killed with a dire warning written in its blood on the wall behind it.

They very nearly decide to make a run for it, but after some deliberation, they instead sneak back into Kymal to find that things are... pretty much normal, for the most part. According to the inhabitants of the city, the margrave's fine and dandy after the assassination "attempt". The party tries to head back to chat with their pal the tavern owner, but find his tavern abandoned and in the middle of being robbed... by a group including their old kobold buddy. The kobold cheerfully switches allegiances to their side (the fighter has a bag of infinite cookies), helps them chase off the robbers, and introduces them to a fastidious street-cleaner friend who witnessed a body being removed from the casino during the assassination "attempt".

The party finally decides to go poking around the margrave's mansion, where they run into their tavern-owner friend who seems to be doing the same thing. He admits that his relationship with the Clasp may be a little more friendly than he first implied, and says he's sniffing around on Zo's orders. He's startled when an ordinary-looking toolshed appears, covered in chains. The party realizes that the fighter's symbol from their Feywild excursion is a link of chains, and as soon as he touches the chains, they vanish.

The party, plus the tavern owner (a gold dragonborn monk from Marquet named Orshi), wind up in a strange sequence of puzzle rooms running under the margrave's mansion that generally require them to leverage the symbols they were given in the Feywild to solve - for instance, the solution to one puzzle can only be written in a book by the druid (whose symbol was a feather) using a feather quill, and the ranger (whose symbol was an eye) is the only one who can see the correct path through a maze.

And right in the middle of all those puzzles is where we left off!

So here's my preparation:

I had a set of things that needed to happen in this session:

Finish up the puzzles with something that leveraged the symbol of a glowing star.

Reveal that the Fantasy Backstreet Boys (mentioned in passing at least once per session as passing through Kymal on tour) are an illusion created by a powerful group of magic-users to get them access to (and the ability to modify the memories of and/or get away with assassinating) important figures in towns across the Dividing Plains and beyond.

Answer some of the party's extant questions, because they'd been in the dark long enough and deserved some closure.

I set it up with seven brief (1-2--page) documents, laid out as follows:

Recap of the previous sessions (we hadn't played in a few months).

Puzzle rooms! The first puzzle was a play on a moving tile puzzle from an Uncharted game, where the hints leading to the correct path could only be found by having the sorcerer (with the symbol of a glowing star) be the one to light the room up. I decided at the last minute to be a jerk and also do the classic countdown puzzle room, where the doors lock behind the party and an extremely ominous countdown from 20 starts, which can be reset by pressing a button in the middle of the room (the idea being that the party's own paranoia will keep them mashing that button while they search every inch of the room... but it turns out that the countdown is just until the door opens and means nothing more; it's a great test to see how convinced your players are that character death is a possibility, because if they hesitate a lot you're probably pushing it too hard, but if they don't hesitate at all to let the countdown run out they're probably feeling a bit immortal). These puzzles are being manufactured by an entity with a vested interest in just plain annoying the group, so it seemed like a good call.

Description of the final cavern, where they see a single yuan-ti in a blue robe practicing his illusion of the Fantasy Backstreet Boys while on a conference call with his boss (whose voice is the only thing present, coming from the form of a floating silver orb). This one took some rehearsal, because I had the ominous dramatic background music slowly fading out to "Backstreet's Back" to time up with the reveal. That was a real “what is my life right now” moment.

Two documents with different dialogue possibilities based on whether the group is detected or manages to stay stealthy (if they stealth, they can potentially overhear a long conversation between this yuan-ti and his boss; if their approach is noted, they're likely to be attacked on sight).

Stat blocks for the yuan-ti (essentially a warlock) and two clockwork snakes he keeps under the stage, as well as a stat block for Orshi, who's likely to be fighting alongside the party to help make up for the extremely lopsided CR of these enemies. In addition, the room has some fairly poorly built security features in the form of statues scattered around the room - at initiative count 20, roll a d12 to pick the effect the statues have on everything in a 10-foot radius. Ideally, they're supposed to have negative effects (the yuan-ti is smart enough to do anything to avoid getting caught in those radii) like a stun, a brief application of the Confusion spell, sleep, etc., but they're malfunctioning and occasionally result in positive effects like a brief application of the Haste spell or a small pool of temporary hit points. Strategy-wise, Orshi will fight as long as the group does and will generally try to help them out where he can; the snakes are unintelligent and will often attack random enemies if surrounded instead of strategizing; and the yuan-ti is extremely smart and ruthless and will target one enemy until it's dead before moving on to the next.

The aftermath of the fight: in the middle of any looting (some fun potions and a store of trade bars of gold and silver that were being used to help bankroll this operation), Zo comes in through a hidden passageway with some of the Clasp's people. She reveals that she'd sent Orshi poking around the tool shed explicitly as a distraction so she could get her people into the margrave's mansion to poke around. They found some of the margrave's very confused staff, but no sign of the guy himself, and eventually stumbled across a secret passageway leading from his sleeping chambers down here. They'd come down ready for a fight (and if the party had delayed another day in starting this whole exploration, that fight would've happened without them), but they missed the excitement. Zo answers a lot of the party's questions (I have six or seven potential questions listed along with some point-form answers she'd give) and helps them piece together that it looks like this yuan-ti and his boss are part of a larger cult that's been pulling in mercenaries and ne'er-do-wells across the continent to quietly usurp the leadership of cities and towns for some unknown purpose possibly related to one of their snake gods. The Clasp sent Zo to the Slayer's Take to make sure they weren't trying to make a bid for power in the city (which, surprise, was Vanessa's alternative motivation), and she coincidentally got caught up in this mysterious cult's more permanent way of dealing with this upstart organization that could pose a threat to their plans. She apologizes for the earlier brute-force tactics in getting them to comply, arranges to meet Orshi at his tavern the next morning to figure out how to proceed, and invites the party to join that meeting as well. Orshi invites the party to stay at his tavern free of charge.

As they're leaving, the party are briefly pulled into the Feywild by their very excited middle-manager satyr friend, who explains that, given their performance, she's been authorized to answer some of their questions. I wrote up a series of potential questions and answers about their employer (some unknown but immensely powerful Fey creature seeking to extend their influence into the Prime Material plane - essentially, the entire party is getting a bit of a Pact of the Archfey warlock vibe), the satyr (a minor dignitary with the Seelie Court who got herself into potentially fatal trouble and had this mysterious employer to thank for pulling her out of that situation), and the place where they've been training (not actually the Feywild, but a pocket dimension made to look like it). If they ask about the elf whose disappearance started all this, she reveals that he was doing research into the Feywild, made contact with their employer, and they'd been working together to start bridging the planes, which resulted in the portal they'd stumbled into. The yuan-ti cult got wind of his research and had him killed, which accidentally drew the attention of the Slayer's Take, which got them killed (with Lyra - an extremely powerful wizard - framed via Modify Memory spell to wrap up the loose ends). Once the questioning's done, she congratulates them again, and we leave it there for the night.

I also write something up for the possibility that the party is defeated: they have a different Feywild encounter immediately, where a more subdued satyr tells them that they've been revived/healed and are currently prisoners of the yuan-ti. She assures them that their mutual employer will be looking out for them, answers some of their questions, then regretfully leaves them to their fate. Whereupon, as it turns out, Zo is about to spring her attack...

So that's the preparation I had for this week's session! Very linear, without a lot of branching paths, but I also had to be very sure about every faction's awareness, motivations, and willingness to share certain information, so it wound up being pretty involved. It also felt really contrived on paper to have these info-dumps, but I suspected it would feel more natural to the players given how badly they were looking for those answers.

And... here's what really went down!

The party solved both puzzles fairly quickly (which was a good indicator that they may be getting a bit complacent vis-a-vis potential character death, which is Good To Know for ominous reasons). The stealth check into the main chamber was only DC 13, with a group check (so all they needed was 3/5 members to succeed), but they failed hilariously with a couple of natural ones, so the yuan-ti was ready for them when they arrived. The Backstreet Boys reveal was very funny.

Before the yuan-ti could just straight-up attack them, though, the party started taunting him mercilessly. He had snakes for arms (as you do), so they started asking how he did a whole variety of everyday tasks, causing a bit of an existential crisis. They pointed out the statues and asked if he really felt like he had to build an audience for his pretend band. The druid started flirting with him aggressively, which he was kind of into? This whole back-and-forth was being yelled across a cavern, so there was a lot of "WHAT? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? Seriously, I missed it, say that again." and at one point a couple people just got really amused by the echoes off the chamber walls and started yelling random words, adding to the chaos. The yuan-ti's employer was just listening to all this in confusion, and when the yuan-ti turned to explain what was happening, the ranger took the moment of confusion to attack.

The battle was really heated, with the fighter nearly dying a couple of times (the yuan-ti latched onto him with Vampiric Touch and kept leeching his life), Orshi taking an impromptu nap, and the sorcerer getting viciously downed by the yuan-ti after she managed to hit him with a Witch Bolt. Eventually, though, the clockwork snakes were dismantled, the yuan-ti was surrounded and out of spell slots, and he was down to 1 HP and extremely desperate. I was about to have him attempt an escape by transforming into a snake, but the party instead demanded that he surrender. I had the newly healed sorcerer roll a Persuasion check... natural 20. He compliantly went down on his knees and raised his snake hands in surrender; he's definitely smart enough to know it's best to live to fight another day.

The party tried to interrogate him, but he generally ignored what they were saying in favor of being a creep (quietly cutting in while the sorcerer was speaking to ask her what it had felt like to be so close to death, if she enjoyed the feeling, if she'd like to feel that again). The druid, in dire wolf form, responded by licking the side of his head until his hair was thoroughly messed up and he was coated in drool. They didn't get much information from him, and the group eventually decided to knock him out again.

A big debate followed: the sorcerer thought it would be best to help clear things up if they took him prisoner, but the druid argued (via replies to Message, since she was still a dire wolf) that nobody in this city would be competent enough to hold him prisoner and that it would be best to kill him. Lots of discussion followed while the group split up to do some looting, and eventually Zo's name was brought up, and it was decided that it might be best to bring him to the Clasp.

It felt like way too much of a coincidence to have Zo pop up at that moment, even thought that’s what I had planned, so I let them explore the cavern for a while, coming up with some great loot here and there, but also missing some very powerful items with slightly-too-low investigation checks. The conversation turned to the yuan-ti and the burning question that occupies everyone's minds if they think about it too much: if his arms are snakes... what other parts of him are snakes? The debate came to a head (sorry) when the druid, in dire wolf form, decided to try to pull off his pants and find out. I had her roll a general Dexterity check because she was, you know, a dire wolf.

Natural 20.

Biggest laugh of the night: the look on my face as I tried to mentally work out the logistics for a giant wolf pulling someone's trousers off Extremely Well, followed by "Okay. So. You know the tablecloth trick?"

We all learned something about snake anatomy that day, and the new catch-phrase of our D&D group became "Sorry about your browser history, DM." After cry-laughing as a group for several minutes straight, I finally had Zo wade into this mess and start answering questions.

She was startled that they'd managed to keep the yuan-ti alive and contained (as was I, honestly, since that wasn't a possibility I'd planned for) and agreed to have the Clasp take him into custody. I am Extremely Delighted that this villain is alive. The group was very concerned about Lyra, and Zo agreed to pull some strings with the city's guard to get her released. The party brought up the death of the Clasp's protector dragon in the mountains, and Zo fell silent for half a minute, processing what that meant. Finally, they all agreed to meet up at Orshi's tavern the next day. Orshi offered to let them stay, whereupon they revealed that his place was kind of ransacked and they may have left a severed head on one of the shelves in his back room. As you do.

They were on their way back, had their interaction with the satyr, and managed to hit nearly every answer I'd prepared for, and we called it a night from there.

Next session: wrapping up this plot, downtime, and a little fleshing out of backstories while everyone paints minis!

#eponymous d&d tag #long text post

64 notes · View notes

blankdblank · 5 years

Text

Blacksmith’s Daughter Pt 3

Pt 1 - Pt 2 -

Tags – Requested by lilith15000

All –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @here2have-fun, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars

Hobbit/LotR – @abiwim, @jotink78

X Thranduil - @evyiione, @sweetlytenacious25, @tigereyesf

The basics of the ceremony were noted for ensuring Thranduil got them correct to the last detail. Next the reception after, which was also to take place in Greenwood so you would be able to, by tradition be taken from the reception straight to your marital bed, an unspoken requirement of both cultures not needed to be explained.

Next began the final plans for the post wedding plans. Balin read off, “Now, as for the dowry.”

Thranduil flatly replied, “No need.” Their eyes shifted to him, “The trade deal will be settled and I have been promised my gems, should give me enough time to fashion a worthy gift for Princess Aerasumé.”

Thorin rumbled out lowly in confusion, “That is your intention for them now?”

Thranduil met his eye, “It is Elven tradition to present our Brides with a gift fitting to their stations, as in yours. Gems from Valinor for the descendant of two great lines should receive no less. The necklace was my Naneth’s, which is rare but I must create it myself, so that will be saved for later.”

Balin noted his answer then asked, “The ceremony will be in Greenwood, though we will have to arrange, at least in the case of Princess Dis and her birth-.”

Thranduil nodded, “Of course, when signs begin nearing birth arrangements will be made for a decent stay in Erebor. Furthermore, I have some expectations on the term of visitations.”

Thorin nodded, “I’m listening.”

Thranduil, “Three months, collectively, however you wish to arrange it we will stay in Erebor.” Thorin’s lips parted, “Three months also I would expect visitations from you and your kin.”

Thorin couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’re serious? Rarely in arranged-.”

Thranduil plainly replied, “This is your daughter we are discussing. If we are to settle a peace between our people we should be seen to appear civil at least, welcome in one another’s halls, besides, you have spent time apart before no need to worsen that. We rule bordering lands, under a days ride, no need to restrict visitations when you wish to see one another.”

Balin noted it as Thorin stated, “Agreed.”

A few more details were added to the list before Thranduil stated, “The only issue left is the transfer to Greenwood for the week of rehearsals and to move her belongings.” Thorin nodded, hating to have you leaving so soon, “Any and all of your family are welcome. Bilbo as well is welcome to move in if he wishes to continue on as her companion and to assure you of her happiness and comfort.”

Thorin turned to glance at Bilbo who nodded, “I wouldn’t mind. They do have some lovely gardens, though more than a few need some work.”

Thorin nodded, “Agreed, we will have the pair of them packed by Thursday.”

…

Without seeing you again the Elf King left with small chest full of his kin’s gems and returned to his palace where he curtly announced to his Council his decision and immediately turned to change and head for the forges to start on what he’d already imagined for you. For all their shouts and objections at losing control of the trade deal the Council relented knowing that their King would finally have a Queen at his side again, something his people greatly ached for, the wisdom of a woman to add weight to his words and rulings. You had already gained their affections and trust by how you had affected their King in such a short time, in which their spider problem had lessened only to return in your absence.

Wordlessly he moved to the same station bearing the circlets he had crafted for you in your absence alongside a crown with deep blue detailed butterflies around the metal flowers rising out of the solid pastel pink mithril crown just under an inch as if they were real blossoms being lifted out of a pool of metal. Between were jeweled accents and woven silver mithril vines and leaves folding from one side to the other and rising higher around the tops of the crown resembling the spikes on his crown.

Assured at least to himself that you would approve of it he started on the first mold of the ring he would present you. The three mithril woven bands with loops filled with the Lasgalen gems, those would sit around the large yellow rounded stone in the center. Rings of the glowing Lasgalen Gems would circle it in interwoven strips resembling petals another gems coated band would sit under it with a set of mithril antlers to circle the blossom and wrap around the curve of your finger. For the size at least he was content on being given the measurements from Balin after his trip up to your apartment to be passed off to the King before his departure.

Through the days he saw to the upcoming nuptials his kin had burst into helping along as word had been spread to Lothlorien and Rivendell inviting them as well as to Radagast in hopes of finding Maglor and his long thought lost brother to attend the wedding. Nights brought him back to the forges to slave away hoping to have it finished by your arrival if not by the wedding day. Sleep was called for and greatly aspired for, his dreams however lingered on the tears in your eyes and clear hurt your kin had missed in your voice caused solely by the very man you had promised yourself to. His main hope was to get you here and beg if he had to to regain your favor and trust, knowing full well he would do anything to ensure that you understood he would never wish you harm or treat you cruelly, no matter what grievances he and your father held between them.

You would be cherished always and never allowed to want for anything. Even in the revelation of your lineage, against the irritation he should be feeling at your plan he refused to believe you had faked your times spent with him. Yes you withheld your ties and motives but genuinely you had felt the weight of the effects of their escape on him, he would never doubt that you were genuinely guilt ridden at your part in his panic. Together you had been kind and thoughtful and considerate of is moods and exhaustion, reminding him of the care he owed himself. Just your presence, even while shouting at one another, something he hoped to never occur again, he felt at ease simply being with you again, and wished he could have taken you right then and there. So aside from his jeweled gift he made sure to make your room as comfortable to what your tastes might be from his stays before in Erebor, trying to bring what Dwarfly touches you might prefer to the apartment he would soon share with you.

Large gates opened beckoning the Company and Durins in against their most recent trip that should be enough to keep them away but seeing as this was meant to be their first visit of hopefully centuries to come. Each hall filled with Elves eagerly darting into your view simply just to bow their heads welcoming you back again stirring curious wonderings from your relatives on how you had gained their favor while also plotting to free your kin from the dungeons. At the base of his throne Thranduil was found sighing with his hand over his forehead when his Council of Nobles bowed their heads to you on their path out of the room.

The rustling of heavy Dwarf fabrics brought him to turn and bow his head greeting Thorin first and then you, “King Thorin, Princess Aerasumé, welcome back to my Kingdom. I will show you to your quarters, there are a few matters I must see to before the lunch I have had prepared.” His eyes shifted to you again in almost a wordless plea, after an unsteady inhale he asked, “That trade agreement of yours would not happen to be completed, would it?”

Your hand dipped into the pocket on your outer jacket drawing out a sealed pack of parchment he flashed a grin while accepting with his eyes turning to Thorin when he said, “It is quite strict, on both sides.”

Thranduil smirked giving it a small wave then turned on his feet, “Good. All the more to dig in the new order of things.” Making the Dwarves’ brows inch up while yours furrowed curiously. Thranduil guided you through the palace to the set of lavish guest apartments in his hall where he stole another glance at you saying with another attempt at earning even a flicker of a smile from you. “I must meet my Council again, should I need a place to lock them away I trust you have a few secret locations I might put to use.” Your silent stare lingered for the moment he held his on you with the Durins stealing glances between you until at the end of the hall a call sounded out.

“Your Majesty.” Firmly in Silvan it sounded out in more of an order than a request dropping his brows into a tight furrow almost making the room laugh as he let out a deep huff.

Lowly he stated, “Excuse me. Till lunch.” He bowed his head stealing one last glance at you before the King shut the door as he muttered a string of Doriathan curses in a mock argument with the offending Elf.

Thorin turned to you asking plainly, “What did you do to the King?”

Your eyes met his, “I haven’t done anything.”

Dwalin, “If I didn’t know better he was trying to make you laugh.”

Dis moved to your side wrapping her arm around your back stating, “While we are all here and have the time, we should give your gown another try.”

When you went into the other room Thorin turned to Bilbo, who froze at the attention with lips partially pursed before he flashed an anxious smile, “How often did the King meet with you both?”

Bilbo eased his palms along the front of his vest, “Oh, um, daily I would say. Few times he would pass by, drop in for a few moments until supper.”

Balin, “Supper?”

Bilbo nodded, “Yes, after our first night we shared supper each night.”

Thorin smirked uncrossing his arms, “So, his behavior a moment ago, that would be a usual sight between them?”

Bilbo shook his head, “No.” The Dwarves nodded then almost paled when he added, “He rarely managed to go five minutes without a smile or laughing in our stay. Made Lord Elrond seem absolutely stoic in comparison.” Bilbo’s head turned to set his bag down and walk out to the gardens to light his pipe while the Dwarves huddled conferencing about the out of place behavior of the King they had never once seen so much as a smirk before.

Dwalin, “Maybe she’s simply inherited Durin’s charisma.”

Ori shifted closer stating, “Maglor always did state how attractive she is.” They all peered at him then nodded when Bofur added, “Of course! She’s bound to be a raving beauty, absolute stunner!”

Thorin couldn’t help but grin remembering the open stares and lingering of Elves in your company while in Rivendell and the sorrowed glances when your departure was suggested. His kin had found even him far from jaw dropping, but perhaps you had found yourself treasured since the moment of your meeting by the harsh Elven King by looks alone with your personality soon crumbling his resolve against any fight at remaining so often in your company. Surely a good sign for your future together as well as theirs, showing at least a hope that they could become something close to friends again through you.

Gloin, “All the Elves came for a glimpse of their own too!”

Oin nodded, “Good. Bout time someone brought some swooning down on that giant icy riddled peacock. Our Moonbeam deserves no less than a King on his knees in awe.” Making Thorin chuckle and claim a seat beside his Cousins listening to your conversation on the other side of the door with the women guiding you into the detailed gown ending with a sharp gasp at the final tightening of the bindings in the back earning smirks on the men’s faces.

Through the doors you followed the trio wetting your lips as grins grew around you on the faces of the rising Dwarves, comments were dished out bringing a smile onto your face before Niro took hold of your loose curls motioning possible hair styles to Thorin, who could do nothing but send a beaming smile up at you. Proud of his little bear who had grown up so awe striking and able to bend a King like Thranduil so easily, not just on looks but making him see reason. “Simply marvelous , Buarndur.”

The doors opened again after a knock causing the men to toss a series of cloaks over you from the neck down making Prince Legolas freeze at the sight, his head bowed and he stated, “My apologies, I forgot Dwarves do not enter right away.”

Thorin shook his head, “No bother, are we being summoned?”

Legolas shook his head and chuckled weakly after catching your slight embarrassed blush under the mess of cloaks, “No, Ada is returning from his meeting.”

Dwalin, “That was fast.”

Legolas grinned wider, “It was not much of a meeting.” He chuckled again hearing the distant Silvan shout of, “Those are the orders of your future Queen!”

Rustling of the King’s robe were heard not long after in his eager pace to get back to you barely a few moments later as you heard distant disagreeing outcries fading behind slamming doors.

In the open doorway Thranduil appeared and entered, stealing one last furrowing glance out in the hall before closing the door behind him and joining the group in the room stealing a curious once over you in the cloaks Diaa was adjusting over you. “Have I interrupted something?” He asked coolly.

Diaa, “Just a gown fitting.”

He nodded looking at you, “Ah, well, I was hoping, now that I have thoroughly irritated my Council for the day I might have a word with you, Princess, before we have lunch.”

You peered up at him trying not to let his deepening gaze make yours dart away, behind him Balin asked, “Should we leave?”

Thranduil shook his head and stole a glance at him and Thorin stating, “No, no, this mess was begun with you all as witnesses and you have just as much right to hear what I am about to say.”

His eyes turned back to you as you asked in a barely noticeable teary tone, “Mess?”

The word made his brow tick up only to drop again realizing his poor wording, then say, “I wish to apologize to you. I had no right to call you a liar when I myself had given a far crueler falsehood that has rightfully damaged your trust in me. My intentions were driven by my fears where your actions were completely honorable. My hope is for us to have a trusting relationship on far more solid footing than what I have reduced it to. One day perhaps you and your family might forgive me for not facing my fears and trusting in your rights to return home freely.”

Tenderly his eyes took in your stunned softly blushing appearance before you stated, “I, do not know what to say.”

He gave you a soft grin, “You do not have to say a thing. I simply wished to share that with you.” Drawing in a breath he added, “And there is one other matter I believe is best discussed sooner rather than later.”

“That would be?”

“The issue of consummation of our union.” Instantly he caught your forgetting to breathe before you forced yourself to do so trying to remain calm in the instantly tense room with the Dwarves all forcing themselves not to get upset at his bringing this up now. “In Elven traditions to fulfill that certain duty three nights a week for a month we would be required to share a bed.”

You nodded and he continued, “In hopes of making you feel more at home I have redecorated one of the spare rooms in my apartment in a way I hope you find pleasant for nights you would wish to spend alone. Mine, however, I had thought would be for those three, so you might feel comfortable having a space of your own while acclimating to your new surroundings.”

Again you nodded but haltingly, and he turned his head realizing you might not have understood him properly, “Queen Niro, if I am not mistaken Dwarf unions grant five years for consummation.”

You glanced at her as she corrected him, “Ten with arranged unions, Your Majesty.”

Peering up at him again you caught his eye as he stated, “In case you misunderstood my offer, for Elven unions it is the sharing of a space sealing the bond. When I stated we would be sharing a bed, that would be all. I have yet to earn your trust back or your forgiveness just yet, forcing an intimacy upon you would never be my intention, or allowed for either of our people. It is merely one of our steps to solidify some form of intimacy between couples.”

He paused for a moment, content at least that you had relaxed a bit at that explination, “I am going to be your Husband, meaning it will be my place to ensure your protection in every form of the term. There is a great deal of ground for me to recover due to my behavior. Now, we will be in the garden so you may change.”

Stepping back he glanced to Legolas, who stood at his eye contact before he glanced back with a playful glimmer in his eyes aimed at you, “Oh, I was asked which should be our first dance, I imagined the Coa would be fitting.”

With a raised brow you answered, “That one accentuates our height difference.” He nods with a hint of a smirk as your brows furrow curiously, “It would be all the more obvious how short I am next to you.”

His brow cocked up through his forced straight face, “You really are short?” Around him confusion rippled on the faces around you, “I just assumed you had been slouching.”

Your mouth dropped open with a soft scoff as he turned away grinning on his path to the garden and let out a low chuckle when you whispered, “Ass.” Legolas chuckled closing the glass paned double doors and joined the King in sitting around Bilbo on the long bench while you shook your head through the soft snickers of your relatives around you.

Thorin moved closer to you asking again, “What did you do to the King?” You shrugged again and he continued blocking the sight of the back of your gown from the garden’s view for the walk back to the other room, “I have never seen him laugh before.”

Niro added while Thorin closed the door between you, “Or smile.”

Walking to the door Bofur added on his saunter to the door nudging Thorin with his elbow paired with a wink, “See, outright stunner! Didn’t know what hit him, just melted the ice round that heart of his.”

Behind the door you scoffed, “Honestly! He is being polite!”

Thorin smirked watching Thranduil smile and walk back to the door after Legolas had stolen a peek confirming you were out of sight, lowly Thorin stated, “Not with that grin on his face right now.”

“What grin?”

Your head turned to the door as Thranduil cracked the door to state, “Oh, I nearly forgot, through the closet of that room are the gowns and circlets you left behind that we had crafted for you in your stay along with a few others for the dinners coming up. Lords Elrond and Celeborn should be arriving by nightfall. Lady Galadriel and Lady Arwen are both excited to greet their relative as well, Elladan and Ellohrir have stated they are attending merely for the cake.”

Legolas popped his head in to say, “But they always say that, at Lady Illianya’s betrothal ceremony they were both reduced to tears and they have no blood between them. No doubt they will be openly weeping at the ceremony.”

Your giggle could be heard behind the door widening their grins through the sound of rustling fabric and shocked gasps from Dis in her inspection of the closet seeing the items left there for you and mumbled, “Mahal’s Hammer…”

Following her inside you asked, “Seriously? When did you find the time for this?”

Lowly he chuckled again, “We needed a distraction between trade meetings.”

Thorin asked, “How did your Council take the terms?”

Thranduil chuckled again, “Absolutely livid. They will adapt.” Thorin’s brow rose curiously at his amusement at their irritation.

…

The next few days seemingly flew by in a blur as you were led through the rehearsals for the ceremony and the coronation right after, with only a few moments allowing you time with the Elf King at all. Though in his absence you were granted, alongside Thorin, Diaa and Niro a full inspection of your future room when you were able to set up your belongings past a few more days worth of what you needed. A room with a massive bed coated in far finer furs than you had ever seen in any Elven lands and rivaling those in the Southern Kingdoms adding to your unease at being named Queen so soon.

The morning of, you were woken and sat for separate breakfasts when the marriage license was carried from his study to yours. With that signed in duplicate it was set in the records room with Erebor’s copy stored in a chest in Ori’s room as you started to follow the full pampering routine Dams are put through before the ceremony starting at nightfall.

Over the sound of your hair being drawn back in an intricate braid you could hear the sound of the guests filing into place. Heavily your heart pounded while your mind raced back to all those years of being pushed aside, ignored and your word being named as worthless for your lack of standing. Somehow the title of Queen still didn’t sit right with you. Even after facing a dragon and entire armies of goblins then besting an Elf King said to be un-crossable now attempting to befriend you on the way down the aisle to meet him.

What faced you now, the great uncertainty of who, however polite and agreeable he seemed most of the time, you still were at a loss for who he would be completely alone. Save for that one trip to that building out in the woods you had no idea what to expect alone. And the closer you got to having your first kiss with him in front of thousands of guests made you wish Tauriel had been just a few moments later so you might have shared it privately.

That moment lingered in your mind, alone with his hands holding yours in that stolen dance. Each lift and turn seemed to go on forever in the sea of butterflies and lightning bugs until the music ceased and that final awed smile up at you. A tap of fingers from Niro stirred a smile from you breaking through the lingering memory of the King’s warm breath ghosting across your lips prior to him pulling away. Softly she cupped your cheeks smiling up at you with tear filled eyes and said, “My dearest Moonbeam, you will be flawless and mighty as always.”

In your struggle to withhold your tears you lowered your eyes watching Diaa, on her knees in your mother’s place reaching up under your gown to strap the traditional gift for Thranduil. A jeweled holster was fixed around your thigh for a dagger Diaa, in place of your mother was tasked to crafting herself he would have to remove himself tonight marking her blessing. Over that your stocking was straightened and your gown settled over after while Dis approached with your fur lined wrap coating your bare shoulders from the off the shoulder gown. The beaded straps over your upper arms dangled in their usual woven pattern shifting as you were led to your entrance while the King was led to his.

Behind your banners you would walk to the waiting platform to recite your vows behind them until your escorts had granted their blessings at the end and removed your wraps before your banners were set in the stands behind Dain, the Dwarf official chosen for the Dwarf ceremony. With the banners displayed Lord Celeborn beside him would start the Elven vows, through which the rings you had both crafted for one another.

… Thranduil …

Anxiously behind his own door the King stood mentally reciting the traditional Khuzdul vows, all sounding rough and thoughtless to him until they had been translated for him making the meaning sink in aiding in his effective recitation. Again his fingers smoothed over his bare fingers where his usual rings used to sit, besides the white antler wrapped stone ring marking his rule, the three bands representing steps reached in his previous marriage had been removed the week prior and put away marking his readying to commit to his future with you. Legolas now bore the ring his mother had designed for him at the news of his conception, that particular ring had been transferred at the urging of the Prince himself to stand as his own blessing in his inability to find anything more substantial that supporting any future siblings from you.

In a new robe and thick wrap he stood fully crowned and released another steadying breath when Tauriel confirmed that you seemed only anxious and not wishing to change your mind. The doors opened and through the music, blind to all but the banners around him with his arm folded around by Legolas at his side, his ears strained hearing the sound of your jeweled gown beckoning his racing heart beat to slow and match its gentle sway.

Successfully vows had been traded with banners folded back revealing the uncovered pair. In the moonless night all eyes locked onto you, the glowing Bride, flawlessly in his awed watch over you he took his turn reciting the sacred Valinorian words binding you together between your turns. Silence washed through the crowds as you held your eyes on one another’s while Celeborn added your rings to your fingers and then folded your hands together guiding you through his final lines. A hidden signal brought a flock of butterflies to be freed when a chaste kiss ended with the touching of foreheads.

Where applause would have been freed another awed soft gaze at you came from the King through Gandalf’s approach with crown in hand in hopes of calming the nerves revealed in your eyes barely holding on his. Facing the crowd after a deep settling inhale your expression stilled by force and you recited the vows then drew in a short breath and steadily sang the announcement of your request to rule in Valinorian. In the view behind you all eyes in the audience spotted the appearance of a great white owl wreathed in white light landing beside a glowing white stag, both sounding out their approval before fading away on the breeze flowing out into the forest as the crown was eased onto your head.

Tenderly Thranduil, partially still dazed at your voice echoing in his ears offered his hand to you palm up and carefully eased the large opal band with mithril vines folded around it on the hand opposite your wedding band. Tucked in his arms after you were announced as King and Queen Thranduil carried you through the cheering crowd straight to the waiting platform you would share for your private table in the reception.

Atop the platform after his eager hop onto it his soft smiling face turned to you listening as you whispered in Doriathian, “Step 12 down.”

With his foot he eased your chair back and set you into it then slid his back and eased into it looking to you asking lowly in return, “Step 12?”

Wetting your lips you admitted, “I am not overly comfortable addressing crowds. Steps help.”

Weakly he chuckled and reached over giving your hand a gentle pat, “You were flawless. I would have assumed your kin would have aided in that practice.”

Your brow twitched up and you stated, “Sixty years I’ve spent being reminded that I am a Princess against my kin who would scarcely take my word on a list of my skills for employment. I have been well taught on the aspects of ruling against a sea of Dwarves unwilling to hear my kin. We led the exiled, the only Dwarves willing to address one another by our proper titles.”

A pained knowingness flooded into his eyes, “You will be a marvelous Queen. We all have our rough patches and weaknesses. I will do what I can to assure your success.”

Softly you stated, “You’re the King.”

He nodded, “True, but you, Aerasumé, are the Queen.”

The arrival of the guests signaled Celeborn and Dain’s speeches before a toast was called for in your honors freeing you to a calming sip of wine as the light first course was served. Lowering your glasses however you eyed the antler surrounded yellow and white gem coated flower on your ring while Thranduil lowered his gaze finally noticing his.

The thick mithril band held a champagne diamond forming the head of the giant Elk secured with woven mithril bands detailing its face. The antlers rose up around the sides of a deep nearly black sapphire overlapped by the outline of the building in the woods with the silhouette of you two dancing on swirling mithril bands accented with tiny jeweled stars, butterflies and lightning bugs under a mithril moon.

The soft whisper of, “It is beautiful” drew his eyes to you from the heart warming ring.

Lowly he admitted in return, shifting the hand bearing his ring onto yours, “Mine is stunning, you chose the night of the Feast?”

Weakly you smiled at him stating, “I want you to know, I was not lying to you.”

“I know. I could see how deeply it hurt you, watching my pain, you truly could not bear it. Everything in me is telling me you would not choose to fool anyone in so cruel a manner.” He smirked nearly purring in a teasing tone, “You may sneak about their palace and somehow set their prisoners free,” With a roll of your eyes you claimed your glass for another sip of wine glancing at your father in his laughter sharing stories with your kin around him, “But you would never be cruel.”

Pt 4

#Thranduil x Reader OC #Hobbit #lotr

25 notes · View notes

savrenim · 5 years

Text

I gotta say I think my favorite part of Jeremy as a DM is that he takes the stupid half-jokes that I make offscreen and just. turns them into things for me. that also fit perfectly into the plot and the story seamlessly but feel special

like I was making goddamn jokes about “okay but. but I want a bloodsword. we do blood magic. please. Jeremy. Jeremy what if I could make my blood into a sword. b l o o d s w o r d. I could go to parties and never be unarmed because mY BLOOD IS A SWORD. YOU CAN’T DISARM ME YOU WOULDN’T PART AN OLD ELF FROM HER BLOOD WOULD YOU, SO LONG AS I HAVE BLOOD I HAVE SWORD.” and then, like. because it was only half a joke and I got attached to the aesthetic I actively started planning on how to make one of my own, which was pretty much going to be that there are some shadow weapon spells either on the cleric/oracle or witch lists and I was just going to take one of those as I was leveling up in Caedic magic and request that because it’s blood magic can we please flavor it descriptively as being made of my blood and not of shadows like, just as a cool aesthetic piece, and I’d have my bloodsword.

and then halfway through Book 4 Galen fucking Torus out of nowhere makes a really fucking rad bloodsword from his own blood and hands it to me and I kill a bunch of enemies of the Empire and feel hella cool and I go “c a n y o u t e a c h m e” with starry eyes the next day and he goes “okay sure” and starts teaching me how to make a bloodsword and there are cool bloodsword mechanics and just. Iria Strell got a bloodsword. after I spent six months joking about it. this is an actual legitimate bloodsword not a cheap knockoff made from a flavored shadow spell, real genuine Caedic blood magic here.

and, like, there are a couple of other obvious things (I spent a while being excited about a Feat tree that I’ve now totally forgotten because I think I was looking for some weird way to add Int to attacks and there was something similar to feinting you used bluff for a round and I’ve forgotten about it because it became irrelevant because Iria has developed mechanical combat spurs that give her a pretty similar option, not a “sooo then in five levels I’ll be able to do this!”) I guess another one was joking for months okay not joking about how much in love I was with Arcadia Dominus and holy shit she liked me back and the “gay murder elf bachelorette” bit actually becoming a part of the campaign, this campaign got literally infinitely more gay because I made a dumb joke and then Jeremy went “okay” and followed up on it, we went from no gay to one of the longest running and at least emotionally important plotlines is “oh no Iria is so gay you utter disaster fire of a lesbian how are you going to mess everything up now because Pretty Girl”

but, like

the one that is hitting me really really strongly now-now is that I have been half-jokingly complaining for months and months that I regret So Much Iria Strell’s background as a minor noble because it limits the fanciness and quantity of dresses that I can get for her and goddamnit I want to put her in all the shiny things all of them and how Painful it is to pass all these cool costumes that I Want To Pull just in fashion posts and stuff but uuurgh I can’t because Iria Strell isn’t the sort of noble who would wear all those and she kind of isn’t allowed and that just goddamnit I need to make a character next game who whatever the context wears Cool Clothes so that I would get to actually do a shit-ton of character design and costume design

and I am 1000% sure that this didn’t change from the original plans, like, the outlines have been in place for months well before I got obsessed with noble costuming, but the big objective of this book is Iria is investigating a maybe heresy/conspiracy that maybe involves nobles, and to do so, she has to go to a bunch of noble parties, and Galen Torus gave her an unlimited credit card and went “material resources are no worry go ham request whatever you want” and what her wardrobe is actively affects all the interactions she has with people and how well she can gather the information she needs to

which means that OOC I get the chance to design a full and changing wardrobe for Iria Strell to look cool as it is now her job as the secret leader of an investigation to actually do noble business and look pretty sometimes and talk to a bunch of nobles and go to parties but just. I’m limited in interesting ways by what is tasteful, but I have been given the full resources and an active in-character reason to utterly go ham on costuming, which makes me so excited as a person

and it’s just. super tiny details like this that idk make the games feel....more than just special? or maybe it’s that I’m not used to being listened to? like. the game is so good. I’m having so much fun. we have gotten to book 5 and it is once again the coolest fucking thing I could imagine. and so was book 4, and book 3, and book 2, and book 1. it is completely unnecessary to throw in tiny things like the bloodsword in order to make me happy and it is all done so....seamlessly? like. if one of my hunches is correct. the bloodsword and a ritual that Galen Torus performed telling Iria it would make her better at the bloodsword wHICH IT DID BUT THAT WAS NOT THE MAIN POINT OF THE RITUAL, THE MAIN POINT OF THE GODDAMN RITUAL WAS TO CONSECRATE PRIESTS AND PRIESTS HAVE MORE ACCESS TO BLOOD MAGIC SO A SIDE EFFECT IS BETTER THAN A BLOODSWORD BUT A CONSECRATED PRIEST IS A SUPER HIGH RANK AND THIS MAKES HER A CONSECRATED PRIEST AT AGE EIGHTEEN WHICH IS VERY VERY VERY UPSETTING TO HER AND POSSIBLY UNPRECEDENTED EARLY 30S IS CONSIDERED RIDICULOUSLY EARLY TO BE A CONSECRATED PRIEST FOR INCREDIBLY TALENTED AND FAST-CLIMBING CAREER-FOCUED NOBLES NOT A MINOR DISGRACED KIND OF EXILED LESBIAN DUMPSTER FIRE LIKE SHE IS

but consecrated priest thing aside and that being one way or another a major plot point and that coming so seamlessly and so perfectly a surprise from the fact that she asked an Exarch if he’d teach her how to make a bloodsword

again I’m pretty sure “Book 5 is noble politics book” was always going to be a thing so it’s not “oh Jeremy wrote it into the plot that I get to be ridiculous and pick out every single dress and everyday wear and hair and makeup for my character all the time multiple times a session and have that matter” because it was always abstractly going to matter as that matters as a part of being a Caedic noble but just

here and is everything I wanted and was everything that I was totally joking about for months except no joke I just. get to do it. which I’m just actively so excited about. I guess it just...feels weird to me because I’m... sometimes used to making my own fun? or just, like, making things happen in my own life? there have been way too many “well if you want to survive it’s only you that you can rely on” situations not even in a bad sense of my life is horrible like. I could go on a rant about how I....not don’t trust people as people but don’t trust people to be 100% reliable and so always make a backup plan so that if a person falls through I can still get what I need done to be done and it’s just more pleasant for everyone involved if I don’t pin pressure on people or things? but in a different way I do the same thing for the games that I’m involved in, I will find things to make me have Feelings and will make my own fun and write letters and befriend NPCs and insist on staying in touch and, like...I dunno I guess I’m not used to trusting any world, be it fantasy or real, to give me what I want, if I want a thing I have to carefully plan and invest time and energy to earn and take it and be prepared to fail and just because Jeremy’s my friend and I goddamn narrate everything jokes or not of how I/my characters feel and “okay but here is the 1000th picture of a cool dress that I’m sending you and because Iria Strell doesn’t get to wear cool dresses we’ll say it’s the Gothicus Maximus Spring 2019 collection” and just

I guess I’m really not used to a world that cares about what I want

and, like, is sometimes fucking brutal Iria is dealing with slowly losing her mobility and ability to fight to an injury that was her fault and she is descending into a lot of really fun mental health places that push fun buttons and Marian is spelljammer and is Marian don’t even get me started on Marian’s family suddenly reappearing or just. characters from the thousands upon thousands of words of backstory showing up but just idk it feels like even when things are really brutal to the characters......the world is still kind to me? it’s aware of what I care about and it cares about me?

and I’m just so not used to the world being kind

I don’t need the world to be kind to love it. I love this world even with how fucked up and hard it is, and I love the games that I play and the stories that I get to be a part of without them caring about me at all, I don’t need them to care about me, that’s not why I’m playing

maybe I’m just hella tired and the move has been awful my old housemate gave me a deadline less than 12 hours before when there was never a deadline in our original conversations and then she and her mother were also going through my room and my stuff I guess to try to determine how quickly I’d get out of there but, like, I do not like it when people go through my stuff and there was a scare about the landlord selling the new place and the new landlord would have to honor the lease for a year but then maybe not wanting me to have my cats so suddenly for two days even my new living place was up in the air and I was already jet lagged and stressed and barely slept to try to finish a week’s worth of work that I was under the full impression I had a week to do in a day and a half and definitely sprained my ankle but got to keep walking on it and internet took forever to set up and trying to fix my furniture and all my stuff is in boxes and I’m still walking around on a twisted ankle because it’s just me there’s no one here to help me, if I want things to be okay and to get done I have to make them be done myself and these boxes need to be unpacked by Saturday morning because the landlord wants to fix the floor and just. I’m stressed and emotional so maybe I’m hella overreacting to “oh you like costumes? well an aspect of this book is noble interactions and parties so sure I’ll let you pick out literally every dress that you’re wearing” but it just

it matters so much to me

Jeremy is really really good at the DnD thing

#have a long rant about my feelings and partially about dnd #I'm real tired #my life #gay murder elf bachelorette #I guess #this game is so fun and it keeps surprising me

6 notes · View notes

avenger-concerto · 5 years

Text

Operation Knight Song (RFSS2018)

Heya @invaderpig I’m your Secret Santa for 2018. I want to extend my deepest apologies for posting this so late. The Holidays got hectic as hell for me back in December along with other priorities coupled with post-Holiday slump. I managed to finish this ficlet though. I had a blast working on this one. I’ve never done Doug x Frey in any fan RF4 work so I hope I captured their dynamic finely.

Wishing you a late Happy Holidays and a Happy new Year! Once more, I would like to thank @runefactorysecretsanta for hosting this event. This is my third time in a row participating and I love how it brings the RF community together.

Title: Operation Knight Song

Genre(s): Slice of life, romance, fluff, comedy, some drama

Pairings / ships: Doug x Frey and Margaret / Meg x Forte

Rating: T (13 and up) - mild profanity, some innuendos / suggestive jokes but nothing extreme.

Summary: During the Night of Holies in Selphia, Doug and Frey help Forte confess to the love of her life in a group outing.

Word count: 3813 words.

It was the snowy and star-lit evening of Winter the 24th in the independent town of Selphia. More specifically, it was the eve which preceded Christmas day: the Night of Holies.

Usually, it was tradition for the natives of Norad and by extension Selphia to celebrate the evening in peaceful solace and tranquility. In addition, it was known as a night perfect for romantic rendezvous and evening dates. It was all the more true for the Night of Holies this particular year.

Within the grand halls of Selphia Castle, the princess and her first man hurriedly prepared for what the former codenamed as “Operation Knight Song”.

“Doug, we’re going to be late. C’mon you’re taking too long! They might have arrived at the plaza already…”

“Hold on, dear. Ngh, this jacket’s too huge! I have no idea what size Volkanon picked out but it’s taking me longer than usual to…”

“Ok, less complaining, more moving or we’re gonna be late. We don’t want to keep them waiting, right?”

“Wait dear, I’m finished!!”

In a frenzied but enthusiastic rush, Princess Frey’s husband: Doug, descended from the 2nd floor of their living area with a pair of black pants, brown snowboots and a crimson colored jacket. Despite his previous complaints, it turns out the jacket was just about the right size as shown through his satisfied grin.

“Well, how do I look?” the red-head dwarf asked between gasping breaths.

“You look fantastic!” Frey chirped with a smiled as she clapped her hands together. “What do you think of mine now? Dolce and Clorica helped pick this out for me the other day. We had it custom tailored and ordered from Norad’s capital.”

Doug took another look at his wife’s snow-friendly attire which consisted of a beautiful black coat accompanied by an emerald coloured Wooly fur snow cap with both pieces complimented by an illustrious snow white scarf. For the evening, Frey had also undid her twin-tails, letting her long and beautiful emerald hair down.

“Stunning, I dunno what else to say.” Doug widened his eyes while his lips formed what could easily be described as a dreamy yet flustered smile.

“Hoooooh? Flirting this early on in the Night of Holies?” Frey snickered as she motion towards her husband, clinging onto his arm playfully. “I guess you are desperate for a spot within Santa’s Naughty List.”

“Gahhh, cut it out!” Doug yelped, his objections contradicting his now reddened cheeks. “N-not that I mind but not this early either, h-haha…”

“This blockhead,” Frey whimsically thought, “Wonder how we’re gonna have kids at this rate?”

Doug spoke, “So uh, what about Ventuswill?”

“She’s fast asleep.” she informed her husband, “I had Clorica and Vishnal prepare her a cup of hot milk and a serving of pancakes. Venti wanted to go to bed early so she wouldn’t wake up late and miss the Christmas festivities.”

“Alright! Now that’s all settled…Let’s head out then, shall we?” Doug smiled coolly, extending his hand out.

Frey giggled slightly as she took her husband by the hand. “Of course. As the high princess of Selphia, Operation Knight Song will not fail!”

For the sake of some yuletide context in this given Night of Holies and by extension “Operation Knight Song”, it is commonly well known in Selphia that there were two individuals who helped push the princess together with the hotheaded dwarf shopkeep of the general store. The honour went to none other than Margaret or by her nickname: Meg, the gentle elf musician of Porcoline’s Kitchen and Forte, the dashing and valiant head knight of the town.

Meg acted as a wingwoman of sorts to her close friend Frey and it was Forte who was always there to convince Doug to get his act together when it mattered the most. They’ve both remained strong family friends to Selphia’s royal couple ever since.

Of course, there is much more to this story and Frey herself knew it very well. Throughout this all Meg and Forte remained close friends. Relegating the overall feeling to “friendship” was a massive underestimation, so to speak. In reality…

“Forte, Meg! We’re here!” Frey excitingly called out as she and her husband approached the two figures waiting outside on the snowy centre of Selphia plaza.

“Good evening you two!” Margaret waved her hand and approached the couple, giving Frey an affectionate hug afterwards. “Ohmigosh, you both look so adorable!”

“Awwwww, thank you!” Frey squeed in delight. “You’re looking stylish too Meg. Same goes to you, Forte!”

“N-no, I’m not in need for any compliment whatsoever…” the blonde and tall knight mumbled. “I just put on a new cape that Kiel bought me. If anything, Meg looks so much better.”

Margaret wore her usual outfit but this time adorned with an azure mantle cloak, a kind of fashion that was common in the Nation of Elves as well as a checkered scarf which Forte had given her as a birthday present earlier in the year.

Forte had her usual armour equipped with additional protection from the winter evening including the aforementioned new cape which her younger brother had given her as a present. Outing or not, a knight had to remain prepared for anything. Whether it would be against monsters, immediate threats…or confessing to the love of her life.

“Great, then we’re all gearing to go.” Frey raised her fist into the air. “Onward to the observatory!”

“Hey, be careful or you’re going to trip!” Doug called out as his energetic spouse went on ahead. “Honestly, some things never change…”

“You seem rather excited yourself.” Forte commented with a half-smile on her face. “Not as enthusiastic as Frey but still.”

“Yeah, yeah yeah…So, you’re ready for this?” the dwarf gazed at the knight whose cheeks became flushed with pink not soon after. “I mean, you can do it any other time of the year but if you want to leave a lasting impression, it’s now or never.”

“Um, I know that!” Forte answered with a determined voice.

“What do you know exactly, Forte?” Meg curiously tapped her on the shoulders, resulting in a brief but alarmed shriek.

“M-MEG?! UHHH NOTHING!! WE WERE TALKING ABOUT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Just about how we should enjoy the Night of Holies b-because it only comes once a year. Yeah, it’s like that.”

“Well, best we get a move on. The snow might stop at any moment and I want to bask in this blissful scenery as much as possible. I saw Frey rush past your house already.” Meg stated while pointing to the western-most exit of the plaza.

“R-right…” Forte nodded as she followed Margaret down the steps leading to the town’s western residential district.

Doug was left alone in his thoughts for the time being. “Man, I know Frey wants to thank them for everything they’ve done for both of us but…this is something out of a romcom novel that Granny Blossom keeps inside her old shelves.”

Frey’s eccentrically named plan, “Operation Knight Song” had one and only one singular goal: successfully get Forte to ask Meg out. This wasn’t anything platonic or familial either.

Another piece of information that was common to most of the town’s inner circle was that Forte being madly in love for Selphia’s star musician, Margaret.

As a knight, romance or intimacy was not within her scope of immediate prioritization. Those never crossed her mind as much as it did for the other girls in town especially during their seasonal sleep over gatherings.

Yet Margaret came into Forte’s life and ever since then her existence alone did just about everything to question the knight’s supposed heterosexuality.

There are numerous reasons as to how the elven musician had stolen the knight’s heart but even then she couldn’t list all of them properly without breaking down into an awkward, stuttering and anxious mess. Meg was resourceful, hardworking, beautiful, compassionate, charismatic, somewhat of a dorky odd-ball, both shared some latent fear of phantoms (Pico was the prime exception) and Forte’s mental list could go on and on.

Forte was content simply just remaining close friends with the musician but as the months and years went by it became clear that she couldn’t deny her own feelings any further.

It started out with simpler things such as her regular compliments towards Meg becoming more frequent in nature. It was followed with other small instances such as their hands brushing against each other by accident on several occasions or noticing the aromatic scent of her hair on a more regular basis. Afterwards, it all escalated to much greater physical contact such as sitting awkwardly as Meg fell asleep next to her on the bench during one late afternoon after work.

It reached an apex when the musician casually kiss the knight on the cheek during her birthday. All Frey and Doug could recall was that Forte was reduced to a stuttering, flustered mess that same day.

A few weeks later, the knight confided with the royal couple that she could no longer deny the feelings she’s harboured for Meg and declared her resolved intention to confess.

Needless to say, Frey 100% supported the proposition alongside her husband, even if the latter wasn’t too enthusiastic about lowkey stalking their Night of Holies date in the guise of a group outing.

Doug sighed and hurried to catch up with the rest of the group. Even if he wanted to, it was too late to turn back now.

Within the top floor of the windmill observatory’s interior, Doug had finally caught up as his wife handed out the hot beverages and snacks she had prepared for them all prior to leaving.

“I brought along some hot cocoa and choco cookies.” Frey pulled out four heated thermos containers and a plate of chocolate chip-cookies from her picnic basket. “I have a few bottles of Prelude to Love in here too that I brewed up during these past few days if you’d like some later tonight Meg.”

“That would be lovely, thanks!” Meg cheerfully replied.

“Doug and I are gonna go head down now.” Frey announced suddenly, “Oops, you see…uhhh…turns out I forgot a few extra cloaks and blankets, incase for when it gets colder tonight…Y-yeah.”

“Wait, we just got up here!” Doug stuttered in an alarmed fashion. “Also, I brought us some blankets and cloaks in my bag…AGH.”

Frey interrupted her husband’s objections by playfully pinching him on his bottom. He played along as a result. “Uhhh, I mean yeah. I totally forgot them. H-haha, oops.”

“We’ll be right back in a jiffy, ok? I left the hot drinks and cookies near the benches next to the outer entry. Help yourselves!” Frey playfully declared as she and Doug descended down the stairs.

Forte sighed. She knew very well that the entire thing was a copout ruse to make sure she and Meg were alone. She appreciated the sentiment but wished as well that the couple didn’t have to sacrifice a part of their romantic evening to help her confess the feelings she’s held for so long towards the beautiful elven musician who stood nearby.

“Ahem. Ummm, mind if we step outside? I want to take a good look at view right now.” Forte somewhat nervously proposed.

“Hmm? Sure thing. The snowy evening view probably goes great with the hot cocoa.”

“So easily. What about your fear of heights, Meg?”

Meg giggled lightly and responded, “Why would I be worried about that? Especially when I have you by my side?”

Forte couldn’t help but melt internally and smile at the sentiment. She extended her arm out towards Meg, offering her hand. “Well then, shall we?”

“Wowwww!!” Meg gasped in delight. As they walked into the exterior viewing balcony of the observatory, the sight of a tranquil snowy evening glittered with the night sky’s stars awaited them both. “I’ve been to this observatory countless of times but the view’s always amazing…”

“And to think you were afraid of coming here, let alone of setting foot into the observatory’s top floor because of your fear of heights…” Forte teased slightly and continued. “…I’m glad you’re enjoying the view these days.”

“Uh huh…” Meg nodded enthusiastically while she opened up her drink. Taking a light sip, she sighed happily. “Ahhh, this is heaven. I’m not big of a chocolate lover as much as Dolce but this alongside he winter evening is pure utter bliss…”

“Indeed,” Forte agreed, taking small sips of her hot cocoa while her gaze was transfixed between both the view and at Meg herself. “This reminds me of my childhood…Our parents always used to make us hot cocoa on winter evenings. My mother was practically a master at the craft and it was one of the many things that warmed our father up after his snowy evening patrols…”

“Forte…”

“They’re both gone now. However, what isn’t are the memories they left behind for Kiel and I. For that reason…I want to keep living on, protecting those I hold dear and…well, continue to make even happier memories with the people I care for.” Forte uttered the last part out with a faint blush.

“Awwwww, that’s so sweet…” Margaret softly said, hugging the knight from the side. The surprise was almost enough to let her drop the hot cocoa she had been handling finely.

“EEEEEK!! M-meg…please.” Forte staggered, “I could have spilled something hot on either of us… be more careful…”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it,” she laughed gingerly, breaking the hug. “I really am happy though…to be here. Happy to be with you all…that’s all.”

“Hmmm? Is something the matter?”

“Well, just that…When I first came to Selphia, truth to be told: I was afraid. Porcoline had recently taken me under his wing at the time…I knew nobody in town. I wasn’t sure if I could open my heart up so easily. Especially somewhere so far away from home…Then I met you, Lumie, Venti, Dylas, Arthur, Frey and everyone…I fell in love with this town soon afterwards. It’s far from my birthplace but…Selphia’s my home. I wouldn’t have it any other way and…I’m just so thankful to be here with you all.”

“Meg…”

Meg sighed trying to shake away what was a bittersweet smile on her lips just moments ago, “…Sorry, I got over sentimental again. Winter evenings like this remind me of my homeland a bit, I couldn’t help it. Anyways, why don’t I play us a song?”

Now was the time, Forte realized.

“Uhhh Meg…look…I…there’s something I need to…uh, well…”

“Huh? You want me to play a Christmas song? Ok, I’ll think…Silent Night or Jingle Bells…I want to see how it works on my harp…”

“No, that’s not it, I wanted to say that…um…”

“Wait, neither of those songs? Well, I’ll just play us Joy to the World and…”

Forte bit her lip in frustration. Her thoughts raced insanely as her heartbeat rose sharply. “Forte, it’s now or never.”

“I got it! I’ll go play us Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, that was a classic my old teacher taught me…”

“Meg, please listen to me: I love you.”

“...Huh?”

As the knight uttered those very words from her lips, it’s almost as if time itself had stopped in its tracks that winter-clad evening. Meg’s expression went from that of her usually cheerful eccentric one to that of pure speechlessness.

“I don’t mean as a friend or as a sister. Meg…look, I love you as a woman. Romantically. You’re caring, knowledgable, talented, compassionate, empowering, warm and just pleasant to be around everyday. My chest has been racing as of lately just being next to you…I don’t know what else to say…”

“Forte…is this true?” Meg blinked while a tint of red began slowly surfacing from her own cheeks.

“Yes, it’s all true. I was scared prior to this…We’re both girls and I have no idea how your culture does it…hell, I’m not even sure how my parents would react if they could see this but I don’t care! As a knight of Ventuswill and all of Selphia, I’m not going to hold my feelings back in front of the woman I love, damn it!”

Once more, Forte was met with a silent and blank response from the musician. Fearing it amounted to nothing but a potential awkward rejection, she steeled herself for what was next. She walked into this knowing that heartbreak might be a viable outcome but she would rather have professed her feelings than hold her silence forever.

“I’m sorry…who was I kidding. Just pretend I said nothing, please…Regardless, I want us to remain friends and…”

“You idiot…” Meg gritted her teeth, glaring with tears in her eyes.

Forte wasn’t given much room to react as Meg tightly embraced her as if it would be their last.

“M-meg…?!”

“Honestly…you blockhead…” she sniffled, keeping her arms wrapped around the knight tightly. “Took you long enough…! I’m so happy…I’m so glad you feel the same way…”

“Feel the same way…y-you…you mean…?”

“Yes…but…I’m afraid too. Not because we’re both girls. I don’t care about that at all…it’s because I’m an elf. You’re human.”

“What if you are an elf? I care nothing about that. I know there are places in Norad that ostracize your people but I’m not…”

“It’s not that!” Meg cried out as she continued to cling onto Forte. She blinked through her tears and continued, “It’s much more complicated. You know that elves live longer than humans do. What if you go before me…? You’re a knight…You’ve already pledged your life to the sword. Your line of work makes it so that you’re ready for death at any given moment. If you die before me and I have to live out the remainder of my existence in this world without you…I…”

“Meg…” Forte whispered, “You’re not wrong. I’ve devoted my life to the path of the sword. The sword is nothing more than an extension to my real devotion: those who I care for. You included most of all. You’re right…maybe I could fall in battle or I might succumb to illness, who knows what the future has in store but…I’d rather face those dangers while protecting and loving you…”

“Forte…”

“I know we have to go slow of course…I-if you say yes, that is!” Forte stammered but regained her verbal composure right after. “Going moderately is the key but my feelings for you are genuine…Meg…I want to be your knight and dedicate my sword to you. B-by that…I want to be your girlfriend. W-well…?”

It wasn’t too long after that the musician’s anxious tears were immediately replaced with tearful giggles as she broke her embrace. “Honestly, do all knights have to confess like this? I don’t even want to know what the marriage proposal would be like…!”

“H-hey, I was being serious…”

“I know, Forte. I know very well…Therefore, my answer is: I accept!” Meg spoke out the last part with a cheerful grin as she wiped the last of her tears away.

“Huh?! Meg, are you sure about this?”

“More sure than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Not going to lie: I’m still anxious…I have no idea what awaits us but…with my brave and dashing girlfriend by my side, I have nothing to fear.”

“Meg…ugh…I…” Forte attempted to choke back a sob as tears welled up her own eyes. She stepped forward and gave her beloved a firm embrace. She sobbed softly between sniffles and hiccups, “Ngh…I’m so happy…I was afraid that…ugh…Meg…I love you! I love you so much!”

Reciprocating the embrace, Meg giggled softly as she comforted the sobbing knight. “You big dork…I love you too…don’t panic. Even if I said no, I wasn’t going to leave you behind either…You’re precious to me no matter what…”

“Sorry…I shouldn’t have lost my composure like that. It was unknightly of me, so to speak.” Forte calmed down as Meg wiped her tears away.

“I dunno, I have absolutely no problems seeing this side of you either.” Meg playfully teased.

“Hey!! Ugh…you’ve always been unpredictable at times, you know that?”

“Maybe. Maybe not…I wanna do something else unpredictable, of course.”

Forte swallowed a lump as her heart raced once more. “Well, what would that be?”

Kiss.

Eyes still widened, Forte stared blankly as Meg’s lips parted from hers in a quick but blissful instant. “Merry Christmas Forte. I love you.”

“Ah.” Forte said aloud and continued. “Ah. Ah. Ahhhhh.”

Thud.

“Oh my gosh, Forte!!” Meg cried out in horror as she witnessed her newly confessed girlfriend dropping to her knees. She immediately knelt down herself cradled the flustered knight around her arms. “Are you okay?! Do you have a fever?! Are you tired?!”

Meg was all the more puzzled as she witnessed Forte’s unconscious but dreamy eyed and flustered expression. It was as if she had gone to heaven and ascended into a higher plane of goddesshood.

“Honestly…I need to get us both inside ASAP. Can’t have my girlfriend fainting outside here.”

Unbeknownst to either of them, the royal couple stood quietly in wait within the observatory’s interior in a floor below.

“Fufufufu…looks like Operation Knight Song was a grand success.” Frey sheepishly giggled. “Mission accomplished!”

“Uhhhhh…We did absolutely nothing besides eavesdrop.” Doug informed in a deadpan tone.

“C’mon, dear. We promised to be backup for Forte incase she froze up but looks like she didn’t need our help. That’s my Forte, haha…”

“Well, I’m happy for them both. That much I’ll say. I think we need to go up there before Forte freaks out any further.” Doug proposed but his intentions were interrupted by the mischievous princess holding up a mistletoe over both their heads.

“Oh hell no. Dear, please. Not now…w-wait until home at least!!” the fiery red-head dwarf took a step back, panicking.

“Awwwww, don’t be like that.” Frey licked her lips. “It’s almost midnight. Besides, I want to give Forte and Meg some time to themselves while I have my own little fun…”

Doug swallowed hard, laughing nervously. He had no intention of denying his playful wife’s advances but he braced himself for what came next. This of course consisted of Frey pouncing on her husband and showering him with cuddles and a flurry of kisses over his face and neck.

Overall, it was just another snowy, heated, chaotic but romantic Night of Holies in Selphia.

#rfss2018 #rune factory 4 #rf4 #rf4 frey #rf4 doug #rf4 margaret #rf4 forte #frey x doug #meg x forte #yuri #femslash #avenger concerto writing

20 notes · View notes

silmarillionwritersguild · 5 years

Text

New Year's Resolution Challenge Stories List

Our New Year's Resolution challenge is over, and there have been several exciting contributions by people who snatched their chance to complete a challenge that they missed out on last year. Well done! We hope you’ll find the time to take a look at some (or all) of them if you haven’t already. The links in this round-up post go to the respective Table of Contents, where you can view more information about the story, except in one case, where the story is part of a collection. If you enjoy an author's work, please consider dropping them a comment to let them know! A Bridge to Tomorrow by Independence1776. Maglor rescues Celebrían before the orcs take her deep into their caves. Life in Imladris will never be the same. "And play at books that I have read" by Himring. An evening sees the family of Rivendell peacefully assembled around the fire. Part of the collection Taking Readings II By Fate Mastered by Lyra. For Túrin, nothing turns out as he planned. A series of drabbles inspired by (of all things) the Sitcom! Bingo challenge and the Narn i Hîn Húrin. Glimpse of the Hidden Past by StarSpray. While on vacation, a pair of young women decide to explore some ruins. One of them discovers something startling. Liver, Heart and Soul by Scribe of Mirrormere. Caranthir hears of a Moriquendi tribe with a rather unusual practice. He wishes to seek their demise immediately, but one of his daughters selects a different path. Maegnas by HannaGoldworthy. A blade forged from star-metal by the hand of an Elf from Nan Elmoth proves to be capable of speech, thought, and being judgmental. No, not that one, another one. Olwë's Home for Wayward Elves by Morcondil. A series of misadventures has left Galadriel in disgrace; Finarfin thinks a summer with Olwë might help his daughter find her way. After all: nothing exciting ever happens in Alqualondë. A story of questionable fashion choices, growing up, and finding one's place. Steel Rose by HannaGoldworthy. A clan of Easterlings makes their way into Beleriand, where they forge an unlikely friendship with the very people they are supposed to betray.

Tending the Lady's Garden by Raiyana. The Tale of Findis the dumb lesbian and the equally daft gardener who loves her. The Tenth Ring by Eris of Imladris. Celebrimbor has a nagging suspicion that something is wrong while he works on the ninth ring to be given to Men. Last but not least, in the art department, Grundy has created three Bingo cards for the B2MeM Bingo Bash following prompts from the Holiday Feast challenge! Some house-keeping notes: Dawn is busily working on the stamp collections and hoping to have them finished by the next weekend. If you need a comment stamp for a challenge prior to the November/December challenge or if you are missing a stamp from your collection, please contact us at [email protected] or through any of our social media channels. Thank you for taking part in this challenge! Our next challenge has already been announced, and we hope you'll (again) find prompts that inspire you. Until next time!

#swg challenge #tolkien fan fiction #silmarillion

10 notes · View notes

just-another-busy-fangirl-writes · 5 years

Text

December 22, 2017 - Holiday Edition

I am reposting old fic rec lists. Unfortunately some of the blogs/stories have been removed, but I am still going to list them for historical reference.

Feel free to tag me in ANY fics you post, and see previous weeks’ fic recs HERE

Hopefully this list helps those of you (us) who want to get away from our families for at least an hour or two over the holidays. There’s quite a bit of fluff on this list, so hopefully these awesome fics put a smile on your faces! There were a million more holiday stories that I’ve read the past few weeks, but I tried my best to spread the love to as many authors as I could. Make sure you check out everyone who’s tagging Kari (@thing-you-do-with-that-thing) and Ida’s (@like-a-bag-of-potatoes) 12 Days of Christmas Challenge, cause a lot of writers are doing that!

Happiest of Holidays to all of you beautiful people!

SMUT

Santa Baby by @impala-dreamer Dean may not be the Christmassy type, but he sure will try for Y/N…

Let’s Stay Home Tonight by @impalaimagining You’ve done enough Christmassy crap by yourself, and all you want is your husband to come home. When his flight is delayed and you have a little more time to yourself, you decide to make his wait worth your while.

Sparkling by @kittenofdoomage Fighting a Krampus was not how you wanted to spend Christmas, but at least you’ve met your soulmate. Even if he is a little… tied up.

Home for the Holidays by @luci-in-trenchcoats After his flight home is cancelled, Jensen decides to spend Christmas with his co star and long time crush…

Santa Baby by @queen-of-deans-booty You’ve been waiting all year for this to happen. You got your favorite sexy Santa lingerie and you just know Dean is going to love it on you.

The Bell Still Rings by @sp-oops Set after 11x09 (and ignores the rest of the season). Just weeks after the Cage fiasco, Jody Mills gets TFW & co to Sioux Falls for some much-needed time off. Sam’s hurting, but man, is he happy to see you. So happy that you’re starting to think your longtime crush on him may not be as one-sided as you thought. Here’s hoping for some strategically-placed mistletoe.

We Love Anyway by @sp-oops Set after 12x08. So you busted Sam and Dean out of federal lockdown and then skipped town. But now that the holiday weekend is here, and you’re lonely for them. Lonely for Dean. When Donna calls to invite everybody to her Christmas Eve wedding, you head north in a heartbeat. But when you get there, immersed in all the lights and splendor, it’s soon obvious that you’re not the only one pining for someone you didn’t think you could have. Will you have the guts to make a move?

The Cozy Christmas In by @whispersandwhiskerburn You and Dean are snowed in.

FLUFF

First Christmas by @atc74 Rob and his new wife prepare for their first Christmas together.

Christmas Traditions by @crispychrissy It’s the Holiday Season and you’re stuck in the bunker with a broken leg. Dean and Sam plan some activities for you after learning about your family’s holiday traditions.

Anything for You by @d-s-winchester Your ex will be at the Christmas party your office is hosting. Instead of you going alone, Matt offers to pose as your boyfriend.

It’s Cold Outside by @docharleythegeekqueen Christmas music helps set the mood as Dean and Cas spend the evening with their girlfriend and son.

One Horse Open Sleigh by @docharleythegeekqueen A Christmas date you’re hoping is leading to a proposal goes in a completely different direction.

All You Want for Christmas by @evansrogerskitten Jack is excited about his first Christmas as you teach him the holiday traditions. The special day also brings a surprise for you as well.

What You Always Asked For by @imagineteamfreewill The reader is one of Santa’s elves that travels to a new town each year to make sure even the poorest of children can have a good Christmas. When the boys find a case that links her with a string of recent murders, however, she has to team up with them to help save the children she’s been tasked with watching over.

All I See by @impalaimagining Jared and reader have been together for a while and decide to spend this Christmas alone in a cabin in Colorado.

What’s Your Hurry by @impalaimagining You and Jensen host a Christmas party, and before too many guests arrive, Genevieve asked you about your future.

Little Drummer Boy by @jpadjackles Louden Swain decide to host a small Christmas live stream for their fans. Rob invites a special guest to sing a song with him, and everyone can see the chemistry between them.

Mistletoe Surprise by @just-another-winchester Dean plans a little surprise for you to show you how he really feels about you.

Cancelled Plans by @katymacsupernatural Driving through a huge storm, you get Dean to pull over at the next hotel where you are snowed in.

Crackling Embers by @katymacsupernatural Jared surprises the reader with a trip to a winter wonderland.

Cabin Fever by @luci-in-trenchcoats The reader and the boys take a break from hunting for the holidays to head up to an out of the way cabin to meet up with some friends and have an old fashioned Christmas together…

Meeting the Parents by @luci-in-trenchcoats You invite your boyfriend, Jensen, to spend Christmas with you where he meets your family for the first time…

A Very Supernatural Hanukkah by @saxxxology When Sam finds out you don’t celebrate Christmas, he makes it his goal to make your next Hanukkah the best one you’ll ever have.

The Christmas Con by @whispersandwhiskerburn Dean explains to you why Christmas isn’t for hunters.

The Gift Box by @whispersandwhiskerburn Dean has to stay back during a hunt and stare at his Christmas present from Y/N the whole time.

Mistletoe Trap by @whispersandwhiskerburn Why is there mistletoe everywhere?

Beware the Office Christmas Party by @winchesterprincessbride It’s that one event of the year that you truly dread: The yearly Sandover Christmas party. Last year was a disaster, and you are determined to avoid it at all costs. But your BFF Kate is forcing you to go, and the only saving grace is the chance you might run into your office crush.

The Elf on The Shelf Can Kiss My Ass by @winchesterprincessbride Your daughter convinces you to get an Elf on the Shelf.

You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out, Dean! by @winchesterprincessbride You introduce Sam and Dean to a Christmas movie that’s old to you but new to them.

ANGST

I’ll Be Home for Christmas by @impala-dreamer Problems on set and two thousand miles of snow and ice between them means Jensen may not make it home for Christmas this year…

Pre-Christmas Catastrophe by @jpadjackles Y/N is out finishing her Christmas shopping on one particularly snowy day. It’s smooth sailing until she’s coming home when her car slips on black ice. Luckily for her, she’s got an ambulance officer as a fiance who just so happens to be working that night.

It’s a Terrible Tree by @whispersandwhiskerburn Sam Wesson is getting a bit tired of his job, but Y/N is the best part of his day. Can he get their place ready for Christmas dinner with her mother?

SERIES

The Emporium of Christmas Enchantments by @almaasi (on AO3) Every night when the clock strikes twelve, all the toys in the toymaker’s workshop come to life. Dean is a little wooden soldier, so easily distracted by the pretty dolls. However, in the nights leading up to Christmas, he feels drawn to a very different kind of toy: Castiel, a kindhearted cowboy displayed on the other side of the store. Dean and Castiel spend all their time together, spreading joy and festive cheer throughout their miniature community. But once the Christmas rush comes around, will fate allow them to stay together? (Perhaps… with a little sprinkling of Christmas magic, even the wishes of simple toys can come true.)

Celebrate Me Home by @callmesweetheartifyoumeanit A Dean Winchester Holiday//Daddy//Bookstore!AU - After having a traumatic experience back home, the reader climbs into her car and begins driving with no place to go. She ends up in a small town in Vermont where she finds more than she bargained for.

12 Days of Dean and Donna: A Christmas Story by @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog Christmas has become just another day for Dean, not worth celebrating. Donna, on the other hand, loves Christmas. Can she instill him with the Holiday Spirit by Christmas Day?

Another 12 Days of Dean and Donna: Christmas at the Bunker by @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog Dean invites Donna to spend Christmas at the Bunker.

A Winmills Christmas by @ilostmyshoe-79 Follow Sam and Jody through the holiday season.

12 Years of Christmas by @sis-tafics Dean and you go back further than your first night together. Actually, Dean’s had his own little secret for years. Told from Dean’s POV

#laura's fic recommendations

7 notes · View notes