#its just. I think I was this way about raz too actually. listen I have History with Stuff. I'm allowed ok? I'm totally allowed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

who-is-shades · 8 months

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raz dnd 16 mini sesh

lots of emotions from last time and also everyone in discord saying the robots are hot now lol

the robots leave the temple with senna following at a bit of a distance. parsley is setting up camp. zen guides android to the camp and he disassociates. wheatley is helping or trying to help parsley set up camp.

senna messages zen shes going to get teya and leaves. wheatley decides to learn message lol. senna finds teya thank goodness. shes doodling against a tree. senna comes over and sits nearby but not too close, watching her draw. oh its journaling actually.

senna tilts her head cutely and asks what shes doing. teya snaps the book shut quickly and senna apologizes. 'scared the life outta me did ya?' senna scoots a little bit closer. 'so uh...hell of a day right?' its been a lot for like a week lol. 'was this adventure everything you thought it would be?' senna tells teya she still has a life cause she keeps putting herself down.

teya asks what senna wanted out of this. senna gives a hollow and sad laugh. senna leans back and asks if teya will judge her. she promises not too. 'do you remember that feeling of hitting rock bottom, but you keep going anyway?' yep. 'i hoped this journey would help me take another step forward. and letely i dont know if im doing the right thing. and that scares me.' teya says she will reassure her if necessary. senna apologizes for cutting teya out. 'of course i gotta worry about you. your my little teya.' senna scoots even closer. 'i wanna tell you whats going on, but even im not sure whats happening to me.' teya says she will listen, even if she doesnt know.

'can i tell you a secret?' 'of course.' senna says she was a sorceror. her body is changing now. its never done that before and she feels angry ALL the time,like something wants to break loose. she says spingledorf tried to help and she shows teya an orb. how it glowed and began changing her faster. AS WERE TALKING THE ORB FUCKING GLOWS GODDAMN ITS IN HER HAND DAMMIT!

senna screams and drops the orb. too late. 1 level in sorcery and more physical changes! even more red scales over her body! its on her hands and neck now. its covering some of the circutry bits darn. her lower back is uncomfortable. her teeth are more noticible. SHES GROWING A FUCKING TAIL! senna is blue screening. 'do you see what i mean? i have a FUCKING tail.' shes gonna be a lot more emotional from now on. she shoves the orb back in the bag pissed.

teya hugs her aww. senna hugs her back shaking. 'i dont know whats going on but your not alone.' senna says shes scared to lose herself. 'you wont.' senna buries her face in teya's shoulder.

wheatley managed to set up the tents good job! SP is pretending to put up the tents lol. no ones really talking their all sad. parsley keeps making a fire and SP keeps messing up the fire. parsley sighs and goes to help wheatley who is stuck in the tent. wheatley goes to sit next to android. android just kinda zones out. SP looks at android and goes 'fix?' aww he wants to help him.

zen asks how wheatley is fairing. 'im tired. i didnt like that but that was obvious.' 'would you like to the on the otherside of me i have more arms?' he looks at android then shakes his head.

teya looks at senna. 'so how do you wanna handle this with the others.' 'i dont think i can hide this and its not beneficial.' teya offers her hat and senna pats her on the head. 'by the way have you noticed how you look lately?' senna puts her circutry arm by her face and says we match. teya feels her face and sighs. senna says they look pretty on her. 'you know you do that a lot.' 'do what?' 'you give compliments freely.' senna steps back and apologizes if she made her uncomfortable. 'no i care about you. a lot. and i dont know how you feel and it confuses me and i know were not on the same page and please speak im digging a hole.' senna says she likes her too and wants to get to know her more, but theres something you should know.

'im still technically married.' what. 'marriage was a business contract back home and i was lucky me and my husband liked each other. they probably never filed the paperwork for divorce.' teya is blue screening. senna tries to fix this by saying marriage was political and that most had mistresses and stuff for love rather than the marriage itself.

meanwhile parsley keeps collecting firewood and wheatley tells him 'we definitely have plenty you can sit. are you ok?' hes just overwhelmed and awkward with all that info lol.

teya finally responds! she laughs and says 'well id be lying if i hadnt taken marriage into account before with partners and i still wanna learn about you.' senna, whos ears had been flat, perk back up yay! senna giggles, picks up teyas hand and gives it a kiss. THE GAYS ARE BACK ON! time to head back to camp lol.

senna and teya are back yay! yep senna looks different now lol. zen is concerned. 'what happaned to you?' teya squeezes her hand. parsley is like wtf. 'well im a sorceror and i appear to slowly being turned into a dragon.' 'recent development?' 'within the last week yes.' wheatley says everyone has recent developments this week lol. senna shows the orb and explains it and stuff. wheatley remarks that we all have orbs! senna says thats not all we have in common. senna hands him a pocket mirror and tells him to look at his eye. wheatley says he doesnt see through his eye. senna confesses that she did it. zen says he also approved. senna apologizes for not asking him permission since he was kinda dead. wheatley says he woke up with that crack. but he does like the pattern being symbolic of the robot gods.

parsley is just like 'hell of a week.' wheatley apologizes if he unnerved any of us. parsley looks at wheatley and says he thought he died when he got turned off. 'it felt like it.' android speaks up barely. 'he can remove it.'

time for the long rest. awkward for the people stuck awake lol. wheatley goes eeby deeby for a moment but its for plot. little brother sent a message to wheatley awww. now its morning! here comes spingledorf! heres back to compensate us pog. wheatley and android dont wanna talk to spingledorf lol. teya returns a book to spingledorf. he notices senna and goes wide eyed. senna kneels down and says its ok they know. parsley decides to be a shit and goes 'WHAT HAPPANED?!' senna doesnt even bat an eye 'this is what happens when you fuck a dragon.'

spingledorf says its just her bloodline and its progressed super fast. the changes shouldve faded away. senna says the orb glowed and 'enhanced' her. parsley asks if she could grow wings and senna gets excited. dorf mentions her psyche will also take a hit. as a descedant of a red dragon shes more tempramental. he offers to take the orb back but senna shrugs and says her body is gonna keep changing anyway. dorf considers us friends awww.

items pog! parsley is shown that cursed axe! boosts his attack a bit but he gets super attached and he might go beserk when he gets attacked. nope he doesnt want it. handaxe of warning! much better.

time for teya! parsley goes to check on the firewood lol. teya gets a magic wand of wonder!

time for senna! guardian emblem! no more crits on senna or her pals! fashioned into the holy symbol of her goddess.

time for wheatley! he gets a laser pistol?! he shoots it at a tree and it leaves a burnt mark. wheatley is so excited! he shoots near parsley. he fucking shot him goddammit. wheatley freaks tf out and casts cure wounds. parsley is so pissed.

#senna #dnd #dnd adventures

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difx-writes · 3 years

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Wildest Dreams - In the Death of the Night

Masterlist

After turning 10 and losing her soulmate, Marinette would imagine how Damian Wayne would be.

Would he be tall or short? Did he have blond hair or brown or did he dyed it? Would he be shy or have a bold personality? Perhaps he was an artistic soul, a poet, a writer? Or would he be a baker like her parents? Why did his last name change?

The wonders and questions took over her mind for days with no end.

On good days, she imagined how he would interact with her friends, how her parents would take him in as their own son, how he would fit into her life.

She liked to talk to him, pretending there, alive, with her. She asked his opinion on what to wear, how she should do her hair, what colors with go well with the design. He was her voice of reason. Talking to "Damian" brought a smile to her face, even when she knew she was deluding herself.

On bad days, she pretended he was right there with her, comforting her, encouraging her, whispering that everything would be alright... Sometimes it worked and she felt better the next days but most times she felt bitter, she felt robbed of a future where he was in her life.

The realization that the person she was supposed to share her soul with was no longer alive, that his death was painful, gruesome, and... lonely... It always ended with her taking a few days to prevent a breakdown...

When she turned 13, Hawkmoth appeared and Marinette became Ladybug, the hero of Paris.

Soon after, Marinette stopped talking with "Damian", she couldn't afford to wonder about him anymore. She couldn't afford the bliss of her own delusions. She couldn't afford to let herself grief and fall pray to Hawkmoth's manipulation.

As she couldn't fail Paris and its citizens, Damian Wayne mostly disappeared from her life.

But there were days when her “friends” demanded a lot from her, akumas were too violent and draining and everything was just too much, those the godawful days.

On godawful days she wished Damian was there to take her away to a place she could feel she belonged. Away from everything to a place she could call a home.

_______

Most nights Damian recalls a voice talking to him during the time he was dead.

His soulmate, he supposed, talked to him regularly, she started her day asking his opinion on her outfit for the day, when at home she would tell him how her day went, what she did with her friends, what she learned in class, etc...

At first, Damian was pretty much annoyed that he couldn't "rest in peace" with all the noise pollution but after a few weeks, he slowly started to tolerate her talking to him.

Unfortunately, he couldn't talk to her nor see her very clearly so it was a pleasant surprise when Marinette would ask his opinion to make a decision, she always picked what he chooses.

Perhaps it was their bond that allowed her to know what he was thinking without actually hearing each other's thoughts. Or maybe they were more in sync with one another. Most likely it was pure luck on her part. (Him being dead is enough proof of how bad his luck was.)

In the months he was dead, Damian learned a grand lot Marinette. He liked how she made him feel he wasn't alone, like how her voice calmed him when he remembered the family he left behind in his death. Marinette was his only lighthouse in the vast void of the afterlife

_______

Impotent, despair, and hopeless.

That's how Damian felt every time Marinette had to relive his death. He hated it so much. She didn't deserve that and it broke his heart every damn time.

Why did he have to die? Why did it have to be in such a painful way? Why did she have to feel it on repeat over and over and over again? Was it a twisted way the universe tried to make them reunited? If they can't find each other in life, then they can be together in death? That isn't right!

But it always hurts more when she wakes up and talks to him. Wondering if he was happy and in peace, in wherever place he ended up.

He was there but she didn't know.

He felt sick.

After being revived, Damian felt an immense sense of loss. Sure, he was kinda happy to reunite with his family and grateful for being alive again, but he missed her.

It was difficult to readjust to being alive again, it was crystal clear that Damian Wayne wasn't okay. What hurts him the most was how her name turned into a scar on his wrist.

During the day paranoia settled in making him always on high alert, lashing out when it got too much for him.

In the night, he couldn't sleep properly as a feeling of unease latched onto his every nerve and when he did sleep, nightmares plagued him.

Damian tried to calm down in various ways, but ultimately it was Marinette's voice that soothed him and lulled him to sleep.

It quickly became a habit to replay their one-sided conversations as he tries to fall asleep.

He went over what Marinette Dupain-Cheng spoke to him time and time again as to engrave her voice in his mind. Unfortunately, her voice was fading away, every time he recalled it, he hear his own voice.

At least some memories remained, which was relieving for Damian, even when important ones like what language she spoke or the name of her school were completely wiped out.

He never told his family his experience while he was dead, he guesses Jason was the most likely to know about it but he never brought it up to anyone, so Damian did the same.

Now he was lying in bed, remembering about the time Marinette tried embroidery for the first time.

She started by searching up what she wanted it to be and after much talking, she chose a Robin, Damian smile at the eagerness he felt for her to chose it. It was a fun day, with her making comments here and there about the work, he wishes he could see it.

A knock woke him up of his thoughts, Alfred emerging from the door.

"Master Damian, I'm here to inform you a guest will be joining us for tomorrow's dinner."

"Whose guest?" He didn't really feel like dealing with new people.

"It's Master Jason's guest."

Damian groans, perhaps he could go visit Kent.

"It would be in your best interest to participate, Master Damian." Alfred gave him a look.

He sighed, definitely can't miss tomorrow or he'll have to face Pennyworth.

So, I've written another chapter while listening to a sad song on repeat :') I know it doesn’t really connect to the last chapter but I wasn’t feeling okay and didn’t know how to continue from where I left off.

I hope y’all enjoyed this and have a nice day!

P.S.: The taglist is temporarily closed as some tags aren't working. Again, I'm very sorry if I missed anyone. If you no longer want to be tagged please hit me up.

Taglist:

@thestressmademedoit @moonlightstar64 @dast218 @moonystars14 @buticaaba @urbanpineapplefarmer @thedragonbug @little-lady-bird @an-actual-changeling @ladybug-182 @ash-amg @g-arya @nnon-it-up @hateswifi @maribat-is-lifeblood @kikooaaaaaa @jessigurl-design @vixen-uchiha @acoursedprophetwithasmothie @snow-leopard-777 @theatreandcomicfreak @zalladane @fusser90 @finallyaniguana @danielslilangel @dreamykitty25 @corabeth11 @ellymae21 @books-and-left-behind-journals @hetalia-lover-is-here @dorkus-minimus @magic-miraculous @waywardpeachgardenshark @darkthunder1589 @jaggedheart11 @daminettes @todaylillypads @schrodingers25 @pheonixashtree @mikantsume @eliza-bich @miraculous-simmer7 @goblinwhoships @fidget-eep @rosalineandrosemary @lunarwolfspn @more-or-less-human-i-guess @aestheticnpoetic @amayakans @abrx2002 @karategirl119 @agentofscifi @flower-and-drawing @itsmeevie01 @suddenly-i-kin-oikawa @ii-fox-demon @thatonecroc @dawnwave16 @bigpicklebananatree @violentbisexualprophecywriter @scribblinggraveyard @heaven428 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ravennightingaleandavatempus @chylou34 @silvergold-swirl @magictragic-world @snowstar1016 @heldtogetherbysafetypins @awkwardoneout @novicevoice @thenillabean @bookishdork13 @laurcad123 @thezestywalru @k-poplunardreams @coloursforyourportrait @fandomsaremylifeline @goddessofthewestwind @captainmac6 @chocolatecatstheron @princessanimeangel11 @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @ur-beautiful-when-u-smile @batlover1303 @softlysobbingpostendgame @justconfusedperiod @clumsy-owl-4178 @bluesimani @iwritelikeimrunningoutoftime @kokotaru @totalyasexual @professionalfangirl1738 @nitholites @zestyzealot @pawsitivelymiraculous @autiegirlshit @raz-b-rose @thanks-captain-obvious @emilytopaz @nightstarblue @2confused-2doanything @niknak-3 @blackroserelina @fortunatelyoptimisticdeer @ira-sairain @pepelachanel @naimena @iloveitwhen @disneyfoxuniverse @ur-average-reader @lylshyt @jerusalemandolives @anonymously-odd @southamericanghotamite @a-star-with-a-human-name @we-want-mini-mini @literallytryingmybestbutok @alenee13 @animegirlweeb @our-preciousss @prudencerika @byronsacademics @ivymala07 @shamefullove @susiej1118 @technicallyburninggarden @sentimentalcrap @ertyzeta @tomanyfandomsonmymind @starmist19 @synnesstra @nokia75 @swiftie-miraculer13 @solideogloria172 @a-door-into-my-mind @road-work-ahead123 @madking-warqueen @caseoftheblues @buginetye @ihavehomeworkbutistillhere @i-wanna-go-to-outerspace @insane-fangirl-of-everything @ultimatetornshipper @chaoticstarworld @adrestar @wolf-for-life @blacktea-ba @pinkk-sheep @autiegirlshit @chocolateherringtacofan @blackroserelina @samopotahto @blur-of-colours @stainedglassm @redbullgivescaswings @khneltea @amigotasbien @sdg-demachera @alyssadeliv @greatcatblaze @raesofmoonlight @galla02006 @sunflowers-and-mooncakes @novaloptr @qualitypeacepainter @solangelo252 @unnamed2357 @thespianlesb @mildlydeadly @yuriyuhitsu @hewantedbeefintheparkinglot @literaryhiraeth @luna025 @henie04 @trashesa @castle-bookworms-world

#daminette #maridami #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #maribat #ml x dc #soulmate au #angst #in the death of the night

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spaloonbabooguuscooties · 2 years

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band au question: how do dion and frazie get involved? and if you want to talk about the relationship between norma and frazie in the au because i'm interested

OH ... OH YES . Yes I Will Talk About This .. Thank You because ive been dying to bring it up somehow.

SO at about .. a quarter way through their trip there is a point where Morris introduces the band to Sasha and Milla, a duo of eclectic indie rock stars who will help them on their journey (i havent decided how yet . lmao . but theyre here) if they in turn help Them with this show they're trying to perform at a local festival.

Donatella (who has been restlessly tracking her son, thanks to Morris announcing every place they've been so far over the radio,) has finally caught up to them here, but since the festival is so big its difficult to find him. So she has the family split up and look around.

Frazie in all this has... really been looking for an excuse to have a break from the circus life. She's envious as fuck that Raz basically got to escape and run off on a little rock & roll adventure because she's the entire reason he's into this kind of thing in the first place!! she introduced him to most of the music he listens to. shes even been practicing guitar! and its not fair.

so when she ends up being the one to find him at the festival, well... she's pissed, of course, but all he needs to do is explain why he's doing it. wanting to help their nona is excuse enough for her to say "well move over, pooter- i'm coming too!" because she Cant just let her little brother run across the country without a chaperone, right?

dion catches her in the middle of ditching the family and threatens to rat them both out to their mother, but before he can bust their entire operation gisu mistakes him for a rowdy crowd member trying to start problems and ends up knocking him out lmao. frazie explains the situation and in a panic, they end up picking up his unconcious body and piling him into the van and peeling the hell out of there. Dion Is Basically Being Held Hostage The Entire Time. He's Pissed About It .

ill put the frazie/norma content under a cut because this is getting long already and i Have . Thoughts .

so frazie and norma actually knew each other before Lizzie's band gets hired to play the circus- at least loosely.

frazie and norma both have accounts on old ass 2003 youtube . Norma would post videos of her playing various basslines of songs she likes, half informative teaching vids and half like her showing off. frazie in turn posts songs she makes up on the fly on her dinky accoustic guitar ... but both of them have the cameras angled so they cant see their faces in all their videos This Is Important (mostly to show off the chords they play and such) . theyve been following each other for a Long time on there , kind of obsessively in that way where you kind of get a crush on someone that you never really intend to act on because you know so little about them lmao. they just think the others content is cool! and they comment on each others vids from time to time . they build up this little like vague 'friendship' online ...

and when the band plays at the circus, frazie sees norma on stage- and immediately recognizes her by her bass guitar. and at first shes like overjoyed- here's this person she'd made this funny little friendship with , in the flesh... she didnt get to have many friends in person because of how much they traveled, so getting to see norma is like a dream come true!

until she actually talks to her and realizes that... oh. Norma's kind of a total ass . she's stuck up and pretentious, as we know norma to be. She’s not really good at making people like her. and frazie, who is insanely brash and a little rude herself, decides not to reveal who she is at the time because she just had the worst first impression on earth and shes bummed about it.

it’s when they meet the second time at that festival that norma realizes who she is, puts the pieces together, and it clicks in her brain that ohhh god shes kind of ruined that nice little pleasantry they had going. and at first she’s ready to accept it, because in the end she ends up foiling most of her positive relationships anyway so she can focus on her education (she still goes to college because it’s what her parents want for her and she wants to be like.. worth something, she doesnt want to be a disappointment, she cant stand the thought of being useless,) and the band really only keeps her around because shes lizzies sister and they have to.

but now she’s forced to spend all this time in this cramped van with this girl she had a vague weird little crush on and her two brothers and her ex-girlfriend that she broke up with but still has sad mixed up feelings for(gisu, who she is now watching fall for dion and it suuucks) so its all this tension building up in her brain...

one night during a pit stop at a hotel room, frazie finds shes having trouble sleeping and goes out to see norma sitting on top of the band van by herself. she’s noticed that norma ends up doing this a lot, spending a lot of time by herself. So , feeling bold, she climbs up there with her. and normas surprised by it, because theyve spent all this time on the trip getting on each others nerves, but now frazies trying to talk to her again? it’s weird. but she lets her, because it’s better than spending time alone with her own thoughts.

frazie starts off small talk at first , but it blossoms into this whole heart to heart, they end up staying up all night talking about how they hate the expectations forced onto them and how frustrating siblings are, how they got into music and things they like... they get in little arguments, still, but cant seem to stop talking to one another until the sun comes up.

Frazie realizes, oh, maybe norma isn’t so bad! but all norma can think about is oh, that was nice. how long is it going to last?

#i have been plotting a scene in my head where they have to sing karaoke together . im fuckiign crazy dude.#put me down like the dog i am.#psychonauts band au #psychonauts #norma natividad #frazie aquato

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

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Surprisingly Familiar Ch 1

The first chapter of the sequel to Summoning Family. I'm going to be working on my scattered au fic more, but you might still see some chapters of this scattered around

@petrichormeraki made the hermit!Tommy au, and @helleborusangel did amazing rambles for the chapters of Summoning Family.

Now, Let's see how things have gone since the ending of Summoning Family.

It had been eleven days since Grum’s birthday and now it was Jrum’s. He was excited by the party, playing games and trying to scam people of their diamonds. Cake was nice, his mask getting a special cake of his own with diamonds since Grum had gotten the same. And then it came to presents.

Jrum was especially happy at any toys he got and glad if he was just getting diamonds. Kokatori had also managed to get another ribbon around its neck and try to be a present again. Jrum wasn’t the most pleased about that since he was still coping with everything that happened with the egg, but he still took the present before handing them off to Grum.

Just as the presents were just about all gone, two more were placed on the table, each one with a different label. Jrum went to grab the last present when he saw the new ones being placed, so he looked up at who was putting them down, surprised to see an unfamiliar face. “Um, who are you?”

The question made everyone look over, most people looking confused, but three people had different reactions. Phil looked surprised, recognizing the man. Grian was also surprised, but also awestruck. Lastly, in Grum’s arms, Kokatori hissed.

“What the heck are you doing here? Who even let you in?” Phil asked, walking over to the man.

“I let myself in. I mean, I sort of already had permission to be here, just never used it. Building big was never really my thing.”

“Who are you then?” It was Scar who spoke up. The person looked at a few of the hermits who seemed to also look as confused as Scar sounded.

“I think the beard is messing with them.” Phil said, elbowing the man, who then ran a hand through his beard.

“Right, spend a month on an abandoned island and then get captured by pirates and you can’t really do much for that. Anyone got a raz...or…” he trailed off as Jrum pulled out some special shears. He was stunned by the bot having such a thing, but took them with a thank you and stepped out of the room.

After a few minutes, he stepped back in, and immediately some of the hermits were no longer confused. “Oh my god, it’s been so long!” Bdubs was the first to say, going over to the man. “What have you been up to!”

“Eh, mainly family. You’ve been working with someone named Scar?” Bdubs nodded and gestured to the mayor. “Got it. Nice to meet you.” He moved over to Doc. “And how about you? How’s the family life?”

“Eh, some days are always better than others, I haven’t been around here as often because of it. What about you?”

“Well, the kids are all grown up at this point, I’ve got more time on my hands so I’ve gone back to filming.”

Doc nodded. “Sounds good to me. I’ve got to tell you more about what we did last season.”

“I’m sure you do.” The man chuckled, moving over to Keralis. “Hey, can’t wait to see your city. The pictures seemed crazy enough. I can’t believe you built all that.”

“Why spank you, but I have had help with designs.”

“Yeah. And you said you own it with someone named Cleo now?”

“Yes, in fact, she’s got a relative that is in Bub’s troop last I checked.”

Cleo spoke up at this point. “Yep! Got an order in for popcorn just the other day.”

“Nice to hear. By the way, Etho’s behind me, isn’t he?” The hermits unfamiliar with the man were surprised by that comment, as Etho was indeed behind him. Pretty much no one could tell when Etho was sneaking around, so this new person doing it was very shocking. “I’ll be asking everyone about your shops so I can stay awake from them.”

“Oh come on, some of them would be fun for a survivor like you. In fact we could get Tango to open up decked out for a session for you.”

“Right, sure Etho. Now is Beef around?”

“No actually. He had something really important come up.” Etho answered, another hermit nodding to agree with the statement.

“Ah, that’s too bad. Well, I guess the only person left to greet is ol’ rap battle over here.”

Wels suddenly looked embarrassed. “Oh that’s why you look familiar. You’re the OBP leader.”

“Yeah.” The man nodded. “You know green wasn’t really your c-”

“Please don’t bring that up again.”

The man laughed. “Alright, I won’t.” He then looked at the rest of the hermits. “Well, I think I know a few of you from the letters I’ve gotten from these guys.” And he gestured to the hermits he had been talking to. “Like I know Scar and Cleo now, then TFC and Xisuma I’m familiar with, also Zedaph.”

“Yeah, so who are you exactly?” Mumbo spoke up. “While I’m glad you’ve come to celebrate Jrum’s birthday, I’m not familiar with you.”

“Right, forgot to give my name I guess.” The man started to say. “I’m-”

Grian cut him off. “You’re the Soarvivor Paul! I remember watching your shows when I was in highschool! I had some friends at my school in England who went to an event of yours!”

“Wait, this is Paul?” Scar spoke up. “I’ve heard a lot of stories about him from Doc and Bdubs.”

Paul smiled at that. “Yep, that would be me.”

Grian took over the conversation again. “So wait, you said you were recording again, are you making MvM again?”

Instead of answering happily like Paul had to everyone else, he just gave Grian a bit of a nod before giving him the cold shoulder.

“Wait, are you that uncle Phil’s always talking about?” Tommy asked. He had stayed out of the conversation when he had no clue what was going on, but now that he recognized the name, he had some things to say. “The one he always complains always uses letters instead of a phone call or texting.”

Paul nodded. “Yeah, that would be me. Letters are the most reliable when you’ve got a job like mine.”

“Then stick to a comm then Paul.” Doc said, resting his arm on Paul's shoulder. “I’ve offered to make you a special one who knows how many times. I’m sure your kids wouldn’t mind it either.”

“Why do I feel like I’m still missing something?” Tommy spoke up again, Doc explaining for him.

“A number of us hung out with Paul in the past. Most of us he knows from the old Minecrack worlds, but he met Keralis on some other worlds.”

“Yeah, and met Wels when we were dealing with an apocalypse world. Beef was there too.” Paul sighed. “So Phil, what’s your family been getting up to other than the obvious?”

“Well, Tommy’s actually living in hermitcraft now.” Phil answered. “Wilbur’s getting through some things, and Techno’s trying to keep up his hardened warrior mask, but Grian’s kid is making that hard.”

“Well, this group seems to have that effect on people.” Paul nodded. “And how’ve they been doing with Xelqua?” Paul jabbed a finger on Grian’s direction.

“Right, shit, forgot to say that part. Grian is Xelqua.” Phil quickly explained, Paul’s mouth turning to a small ‘o’.

“Ah, I guess that explains that war and the hippies I heard about in letters. At least It’s a little tamer in a world like this.” Most of the people in the room were confused, and at first Grian was one of them, but then he made a connection and his legs were suddenly struggling to keep him up. “He has told you about Tokyo, right?”

Before anyone could answer, Kokatori was hissing in Grum’s arms again, drawing Paul’s attention. He pulled out a stone sword and immediately the hermits that knew Paul were holding him back. “No! Hey! Paul, that is a kid’s pet!” Bdubs said. “I know you don’t like them but that’s like the one chicken you’re not allowed to kill!”

“Just get him a pet other than a chicken! You can’t trust a chicken! They’re spies, killers and thieves.”

“Killer chickens?” Wels, who wasn’t holding Paul back, asked.

“Oh no, he’s telling the truth about that.” Doc answered. “I saw it for myself.”

“How do you get killed by a fucking chicken?” Tommy asked.

“You forget to kill it first.” Paul answered, finally putting his sword away. “Well, you said that kid’s one of Xel’s.”

“One of Grian’s.” Phil corrected. “And yes. That’s Grumbot, or Grum, the older of the two. His birthday was a week and a half ago.”

“Well, figures they’d just try causing more problems.”

Phil rolled his eyes and then grabbed Paul’s arm. “Alright, you and I. Talk. Now.”

When Phil and Paul had left the room, Grian finally allowed himself to go to the floor. The hermits that knew Paul were immediately apologizing for him, not sure why he was acting that way. But Grian knew. And Mumbo helped Grian up, pretty sure he knew too. “I’m going to help Grian lie down. Grum, maybe I should take Kokatori with me so they don’t cause more problems.”

Grum nodded and handed the chicken over, it being very upset about being moved and pecking at Mumbo’s arms. But he was too worried about Grian to let that stop him. So soon they had left the room too.

For a while, everything was silent. But then Jrum spoke up. “Well, for my birthday, I want to eavesdrop! And no one can stop me!” And he ran off to listen into Phil and Paul’s conversation, leaving the rest of the party members confused on what to do.

#hc x dsmp #hermit!tommy au #jrumbot #grian #grumbot #mumbo jumbo #philza minecraft #bdubs #3rd life smp #tommyinnit #docm77 #Keralis #Zombiecleo #ethoslab #welsknight #paul soares jr

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sugarvamgar · 3 years

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i will now say random things about swtau raz because i’m genuinely thinking of picking this up now that the second game came out - absolutely would love psychedelic p0rn crumpets. esp high visceral part 1 and 2 albums (this is a band oh god don’t come after me they do psychedelic rock music and its so good please listen to itGLKDFJUGHKLJ) - i know whats going on with canon and the whole curse thing, in this instance i especially Want it to be hallucinations more than anything else just because man. major depressive disorder my beloved/hated. probably will give him some uh. other issues. rest assured though its mostly from my own experience so its not gonna be like.. stereotypical/harmful portrayals or smth. - the general timeframe of the au is very?? wide? as in, depending on when you’re talking about it literally goes back to Before he ran away to camp all the way to like.. 20 years old or so. this became unintentionally expansive Very quickly back when i was working on it in late 2020 and ive been going wild ever since - so far since i mostly was setting the au down so i could focus on other stuff and wait for the second game to come out, i’m absolutely planning on it still being taking place before pn2 with a few changes to the general timeline, and subsequently making it to where pn2 just. doesn’t happen. - i know i’ve said it quite a few times but he’s trans and gay. actually more accurately transmasc nb - with how raz’s family acts canonically, theres some. definite differences in the au compared to canon. it’s not like, a new change to swtau or anything but like, definitely worth going more indepth into in the future - i’m giving him elhers danlos syndrome hypermobile type (for totally no particular reason 8) ) mostly because other than if you Know Me, i think it’s Honestly Funny to have this guy go. “what do you mean dislocating my joints on a daily basis due to rigorous acrobatics isn’t healthy or normal i thought. everyone did that”. also since that type of EDS is genetic this also means someone further up his family line has it too so. THINKING EMOJI i probhably have more to say but i’ll probably save it for like. relevant points to mention stuff or if someone asks me to elaborate (w. wink wink . nudge nCOME HERE PLEASE)

#sweet tooth au #i have. plans

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blow-it-to-smithereens · 5 years

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Things I love about every Psychonauts level

Because I love them all, yes, even that one

Basic Braining

“You’re like molasses goin’ uphill in January. With crutches.”

We get to see Raz’s acrobatic skills and get a sense of why he’s so advanced, even compared to these kids who have been coming to camp for years. We also see that white hallway and Oleander’s plan from the very beginning.

Almost every camper appearing in the level has their own little moment: Elton’s fearfulness and unwillingness to be violent, Vernon’s story, leading Dogen through the mines, Clem and Crystal’s cheer, Benny’s helplessness without Bobby, and the start of Raz’s rivalry with Bobby. There was some cut audio with J.T., Chops, and Elka on the trapeze, too.

Brain Tumbler Experiment

Spooky forest setting

The very first appearance of Dr. Loboto who is obviously the star of the game

The entire level is just dripping with foreshadowing for the rest of the game

Sasha’s Shooting Gallery

“Shooting things is fun, and useful.”

“No. Here is your merit badge. Let us never speak of this again.”

Poor Sasha on the stamp

The stated message that trying to repress all your negative feelings will make them build up and eventually explode. Also, “Problems often seem bigger in our heads than they actually are.”

Milla’s Dance Party

I could listen to that music all day, honestly

Probably the first and most well-known instance of the game hiding secrets that show it and its characters have more depth than you’d think. It’s also terrifying

The secret is off the beaten path but is NOT hidden in such a convoluted way that it’s impossible to just stumble across

Levitation! Possibly the most useful power in the game!

Minus points for it being the absolute worst level to try collecting all the figments in

Lungfishopolis

The best parody of “Godzilla-type” monster movies that could ever exist

Every single line of dialogue is hilarious

every single line

You can throw tanks, sink boats, and wreck the puppy orphanage

Levitation doesn’t work, which is frustrating, but it’s a neat detail and makes sense since you’re so huge

Milkman Conspiracy

No look everything about this level is amazing

The G-Men

...However it has always bugged me that there appears to be a small missing segment, in between the Den Mother telling Raz not to follow, then a cut to Raz falling down after her, with nothing in between

You get clairvoyance, which isn’t especially useful during the game outside of this level, but it’s a lot of fun to play with

Gloria’s Theater

Spooky theater setting, which I always love

The hilarious results of playing the wrong scripts on the wrong sets or in the wrong mood

It’s probably the level that most clearly reflects the character’s story. Everything about it is drenched in Gloria’s backstory, which makes sense to me since the portion about her in the Li-Po documents (the original character backstory documents by Tim Schafer) is the longest and most intricate out of all the asylum residents

I’ve already given my thoughts on Jasper and the portrayal of an inner critic

Waterloo World

Yes, you’re playing a giant board game against Napoleon Bonaparte

There’s one building where you can climb up and look in the window to see Fred and Napoleon inside, playing the game

Really, my favorite part of this level is coming back after you’ve beaten it and talking to the cows

Black Velvetopia

The most gorgeous level in the game. Raz even gets a new outfit texture

Kind of a confusing but great plot twist where the epic romance was actually a high school thing that Edgar’s been obsessing over

Meat Circus

The music is the title theme

Finally reveals answers on why Oleander is Like That, and presents the theme that no one is truly a monster or beyond redemption; also clearly shows that the protagonist and the antagonist have a lot in common

Resolution between Raz and his dad, and Oleander’s issues with his dad

It’s completely horrifying, but it’s supposed to be

The level is frustrating but not impossible. I think it gets a lot of undue hate.

Bonus:

Under the lake

The music is lovely and I’m so glad they reused elements of it for RoR

That glowing freshwater coral is so pretty, I just have to smash it

Ties in directly with the lore you read about on the tree in the parking lot, with the underwater ghost town of Shaky Claim

The asylum

No music, just the sound of wind blowing through the crumbling building and the skittering and squeaking of rats, all of which builds a creepy atmosphere

This whole section is basically a mini horror game

First appearance of Sheegor as a creepy, fleeting figure who warns you to get away and then vanishes; she later reveals herself to be the sweetest character in the game

The architecture twists and warps the higher you go

You can look outside and see the lights of the camp across the lake, just as you can see the tallest tower of the asylum from the camp

#psychonauts

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icecoldflames · 5 years

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The Pinnae Flower Chapter 2, Pt. 1

Masterlist

Updates, A Small Headcanon, and a Top Secret Mission

Hallelujah! Raz Keeran, the deity themself, has finally tweeted more about PS! My crops are watered, there’s money in the bank, and the long-awaited summer is here! It’s time to lean back, relax, theorize and post on this blog more often.

On Raz’s Twitter (all authors seem to have Twitter’s, don’t they?), they posted this tweet:

“A little excerpt from PS:

“He had a ball clutched in his right paw. ‘You can’t be serious,’ Kaida grimaced. But then she saw the stone dragon blink ever so slowly. Right before her eyes, the stone fell away to reveal a shimmering red dragon.”

Can I say we called it? Dragons. Kaida. OMG. I am pumped for this final instalment.

Now that we know this is canon (it seems almost surreal), Logan and I have come up with a headcanon. Not a totally big one—but one all the same.

What if the azure flower that grew in PTNE was grown by the dragons and Kaida? I know that most people believe that it was the sprite king (rightly so, since sprites in this universe work with plants).

But then Logan brought my attention to one little part from the ending of PTNE:

“Funny how a war—a war which left many dead and hurt in many more ways than physically—could bring two old friends back together again. Arel looked at Parisa and Parisa looked at Arel. It was odd how such a terrible occurrence could bring back old friendships.

Arel almost didn’t notice the sudden wind, seemingly there one second and gone the next. The only way he knew it was there was that Parisa’s shorn hair blew up in her face.

The silence was just about unbearable and Arel felt words in his mouth, wanting to spill out and be heard. Parisa tucked some hair behind her ear and began fiddling with her grandmother’s ring. Arel immediately relaxed at the sight of such a familiar action.

The words bubbled up and this time Arel let them out. It was in that same moment that Parisa lifted her head and began speaking too.

“I’m so so sorry.”

Arel could feel the air around them thinning. As if the magic words had finally been spoken and the blanket was finally being lifted. He began to take the first steps to cross the short distance between him and his best friend.

It was in that moment that something moved in the grass. It couldn’t have been the wind—the wind had come and gone like that and the clearing was back to it’s motionless self. Arel stopped dead in his tracks and Parisa’s eyes shot down to look as well. She finally looked at ease too.

Arel watched as the grass shifted again. A green stem was breaking through the soil. It was like someone had filmed the growth of a flower and then sped it up to take mere seconds. The stem rose up and up and a bud seemed to materialize from nowhere.

Both Arel and Parisa watched in stunned silence as an azure flower bloomed right before their eyes.

Now, a lot of Pinnies think this is symbolism to Arel and Parisa’s regrowth of friendship, per say—the Pinnae flower being cut symbolizing their fall out and the azure flower their regrowth.

But Logan and I think that that azure flower was not meant for Arel and Parisa. In fact, we think the flower was aimed at King Oberon and Queen Titania. After all, the azure flower was the flower King Oberon used to propose to Queen Titania.

Perhaps this flower wasn’t meant to symbolize Arel and Parisa’s rebirth as friends but to the King and Queen’s reconciliation with each other.

Now, you might ask: why did the flower sprout in between Arel and Parisa if it was meant for the Fairy King and the Sprite Queen?

Well, back in that excerpt, Arel notices a sudden wind. Could that have knocked the magical seed off course? Could the wind have come from a dragon’s wings?

In any case, I cannot wait to read Raz’s next book.

Also, just a note: Logan and I are going on a top secret mission over summer so my posts might be even more sporadic than usual. I hope that we’ll have some tea to spill when we get back.

Thanks for reading my loyal plebeians,

Prince Roman Falco

~~~

Logan felt sick to the stomach. And it wasn’t because the plane was making its descent down. This is wrong, Logan thought to himself. So wrong. But Logan’s pride was stronger than his logic.

Roman, on the other hand, looked absolutely ecstatic. He couldn’t stop moving; fooling with the air conditioner, making repetitive sounds with his hands and feet, and constantly getting up to use the bathroom (it didn’t help that Roman had the window seat and Logan was in the isle).

Logan wished that he could just turn the plane back around and go straight home.

But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He refused to let Roman get the better of him.

Logan would find Raz to show Roman he could. He’d figure out how to stop Roman from leaking such classified information after the fact.

He gripped the armrest tightly and he wished that his pride and ego weren’t so big. Then he wouldn’t be in this mess.

He supposed, though, that if Raz were to live anywhere, Mayflower Town was an okay place to spend summer vacation along with finding out who Raz actually was.

In the airport, Logan felt a bit better with himself. Roman and him bought some doughnuts in the airport along with coffee before getting in a taxi to pick up their rental car: a red, clunky, Byrne Road.

And then they were off down the highway towards Raz’s maybe, probably, hopefully, hometown.

“And you’re sure this is where Raz lives?” Roman asked from the driver’s seat. He took a sip of his coffee.

Logan turned down the blaring pop song coming out of the radio without looking up from his computer. “Almost positive.”

“And what facts point to here? That Raz actually lives here?” Roman questioned once again.

Logan sighed and clicked a single button on his computer before looking up at his best friend. His stare burned the side of Roman’s head.

“Listen, I’m almost sure Raz lives here. What more do you want?” Logan said, grimacing. He didn’t want to tell Roman about theazureflower. It felt almost too personal to tell.

While they had been at the airport, waiting to board the plane, Logan and Roman had put together another post of “The Prince’s Crown”.

He and Roman had multiple headcanons they put in a shared document online whenever they thought of something. It was just shorthand and had no real sources, but it made thinking of post ideas much easier than thinking of headcannons out of thin air.

Then, all they had to do to make a post was to find some sources from the books and type it up.

Roman huffed. “Do you not have any facts? Honestly, I would have thought you, Logan—“

Logan clenched his jaw and he could feel his blood begin to boil. “This is where Raz lives, Roman.” He snapped. “Why are you suddenly now just questioning everything I say and do?”

“Because you were the one who was so against this whole thing—trying to find Raz and all that.” Roman argued. His knuckles holding the steering wheel were almost white.

“I said I’d help you find him!” Logan exclaimed, his voice loud and brash.

Roman went silent.

Logan dipped his head back to his computer and continued to type, trying to ignore the deafening stillness that had fallen over the vehicle.

They stayed quiet for the entirety of the ride until they passed the sign, welcoming them to Mayflower Town.

It seemed more like grim proof that Logan was doing something terrible than a welcome sign with bright colours and stickers.

“Turn right to go to our hotel,” Logan forced himself to say. But he didn’t look up from his screen. He wasn’t ready for that yet.

Roman followed Logan’s emotionless instructions and kept on following them as Logan kept reading out the directions like a human GPS.

The hotel was three stars. Roman wouldn’t settle for anything less. And even then, he had not wanted to even step foot in less than a four star but Logan had insisted on the three star—saying that the three star was much cheaper and better for a prolonged stay somewhere other than buying an apartment.

It was only a couple floors high and was between a barber shop and a bar. Across, was a cafe titled “Patton-ly Perfect”. Logan almost groaned out loud at the pun.

Roman and Logan signed into the hotel, still an icy barrier between the two. They unpacked in a similar manner.

“Let’s go to the coffee shop across the road.” Logan said suddenly, creating a crack in the ice.

Roman nodded eagerly. “I could go for some caffeine and some pastries right now.”

The ice seemed temporarily thawed and they both walked across the street with tentative conversation—as if they were first meeting and unsure what exactly to say.

Logan walked in, a bell tinkling above, and was hit with two things: the colour blue and the smell of fresh bread and pastries.

The place was quaint and small and reminded Logan of a garden with all kinds of flowers and wood. There was a fish tank in the corner too with goldfish.

“Woah,” Roman breathed next to Logan. “This place is awesome.” He did a 360 and tentatively touched a lily in a flower pot next to him. “This reminds me so much of ‘Fairy Tales and Fantasy Books’.”

A man popped up from behind the counter on the far wall. He had on a smile that seemed to illuminate the whole room. “Welcome!” He exclaimed.

“Uh, hello.” Logan nodded and walked closer to the man.

The man cocked his head to the side before seemingly smiling even brighter—if that was possible. “You two are new.”

“Yeah! We’re here on a vacation!” Roman exclaimed. Then, “this place is super cool.”

“Thanks!” The man said. He took off his apron that said ‘I loaf you dough much’ before going around his counter and holding out his hand to Roman.

They shook hands. “I’m Patton.” The man said. He was still smiling.

“Roman.” Roman nodded. “Nice to meet you.

Patton then went over to Logan and extended his hand. “Hello.”

“Hello.” Logan said. “Logan.”

“Great to see some new faces!” Patton exclaimed. “We don’t often get newcomers, to be honest. What brings you here to our little corner of the USA?”

Logan wanted to say that Mayflower Town was not in the corner of anywhere, but bit his tongue.

Roman glanced over to Logan before looking back at Patton. He shrugged. “Just wanted a change of scenery that wouldn’t be too crowded with buildings and people.”

Patton nodded, genuinely listening. “Ah. Well, you’ve definitely got the right town. This place is absolutely great—“

The bell rang again and another man comes through the door. He was tall, taller than Logan. His hair was mussed and he had on a massive hoodie that seemed a couple sizes too large. He went around Logan, Roman, and Patton and gruffly hopped over the counter.

Logan stared at Patton then back at the strange man who was...breaking and entering in the middle of the day while the owner was inside?

But Patton just smiled even wider and turned around to look at the man. He doesn’t even seem to be bothered. “That’s Virgil. One of the regulars. I make him his coffee and put it separately away in the corner.” He turned around to look at Virgil. “Hi Virgil! Look we’ve got two new visitors!”

“Hey Pat,” Virgil mumbled and he grabbed a black coffee cup and began pouring his coffee into it.

“This is Roman and Logan,” Patton explained, pointing to each one of them.

“Hi.” Is all Virgil said before walking around the counter and settling himself at a corner table with just one chair and a flower pot in the center of the table. In the pot, the flower was obviously fake with clear, mesh-like petals with white veins running through it.

Patton turned back to Logan and Roman. His eyes were dancing and his mouth was upwards into a smile still. “Would you like anything? Pastries? Drinks?”

“What kind of stuff do you have?” Roman asked, walking over to the counter where, to the left, the pastries were behind glass.

Logan saw Berliners, croissants, all kinds of pies, cakes, and even some churros.

He expected Roman to ask for churros—like back home. But Logan is surprised when Roman says, “how ‘bout a piece of lemon meringue pie?”

Patton grins and opens the glass to take out a slice. “I have another regular who comes, Penny, and this is her favourite pie. She comes here to write.” He added in absentmindedly.

It was as if an electric shock went through Roman and Logan because, instantly, they glanced over at each other with wide eyes.

Patton didn’t seem to notice the exchange as he was jabbering on about botanists and his flowers in his cafe. He took a slice of pie and put it on a plate that seems to be made of pottery. “Here you go. What about you Logan? There’s plenty to go around.”

Logan glanced inside the glass before looking up at the menus which were hanging from the ceiling. “I think I’ll have...the blueberry muffin please.”

He then began thinking of ways he could possibly bring up Penny as Patton walked over to the muffin stand. Could she possibly be Raz Keeran?

Roman, on the other hand was not so discreet. As Patton was beginning to walk back to Logan, he blurted out. “So what does Penny write? Stories?”

Logan actually made a sound out loud. Somewhere between a dying whale and an overexcited chimpanzee.

Patton was too preoccupied putting the muffin on a plate and Roman wasn’t paying attention at all. But Virgil, all the way on the other side of the cafe, swivelled his head and glanced over at Logan with a weird expression on his face that he couldn’t read.

Logan’s face immediately went red.

Patton slid over the plate across the counter to Logan while looking at Roman. “Dunno. She comes in here everyday with a computer. She tells me she’s writing something but never tells me what.” He shrugged before smiling once again. “Enjoy your food!”

Roman and Logan found a table for two, in the other corner across from Virgil. They made sure to be as secluded as humanly possible before discussing about Keeran’s identity.

It still made Logan shiver—the thought of finding Keeran when they obviously didn’t want to be found—but the whole mystery was beginning to get to him. It was like he was a real life Sherlock Holmes, solving a mystery.

He hated himself for it yet, he realized with a sinking sense of despair, he wanted to solve this mystery.

Logan had always said he hated hypocrites. And he tried his darned hardest to not be one. But was he a hypocrite now? After all those years telling Roman that finding Keeran was wrong and now he suddenly wanted to do so?

Logan bit a large bite out of his muffin and tried to chew as slow as humanly possible.

What had changed? Why was he so suddenly feeling different about finding Keeran? Was it actually being out in the field instead of being home, Keeran feeling so far out of reach? Or was it that somewhere, deep inside, Logan had always wanted to figure out Keeran’s identity?

Logan swallowed hard. He suddenly felt cold but sweaty and congested in an almost empty cafe.

“It’s Penny.” Roman said before shoving some pie into his mouth. “I didn’t think it would be this obvious. Would’ve thought it would be a tougher case to crack”

Logan didn’t say a word and let Roman babble on and on.

“I mean, this Penny person comes into this cafe and writes something but Patton doesn’t know? Pretty obvious if you ask me.

“I think our best bet is to have a stake out here to figure out who Penny is.” Roman continued. “And then, we’ll need some cold hard proof to show. So maybe a picture of her computer with some unseen scenes from the fifth book or maybe some stuff from the previous books or—“ he paused and looked at Logan as if he only just now realized he was sitting across from him. “What do you think about Penny?”

It took a moment for Logan to snap back into reality—to snap out of the spiral downwards his thoughts were taking. But, soon he processed Roman’s question. “I don’t know. But, you’re right about one thing: I don’t think it’s supposed to be this obvious. Or, this whole thing is going to be a lot harder than we thought.”

“But it totally is Penny,” Roman concluded with his air of importance. “It’s gotta be.”

It doesn’t have to be, Logan thought to himself but didn’t say out loud. He decided that he’d work on this mystery alone. He’d figure out who Raz Keeran really was and not tell Roman. Therefore, the secret wouldn’t be out. Only he’d know. Only Logan. The whole idea kind of excited him.

Logan could trust himself and his self-control to not leak information about Keeran. Roman, on the other hand, was not so reliable.

“Yeah...sure…” Logan nodded, not really paying attention.

Roman took another bite of his pie and when he spoke again crumbs spewed everywhere. “Should we just stay here or explore this town a bit?”

Logan had no intention of finding Raz Keeran on the first day—whether it was Penny or not—so he said “let’s head out.” He grabbed the rest of his muffin and Roman quickly inhaled the rest of his pie.

They quickly paid for their desserts, Virgil eyeing them wearily, before heading out to explore their new surroundings.

~~~

What Roman noticed first was that everyone was so nice.

The florist through the window smiled and waved as they passed. The librarian suggested they come in and borrow some books (Roman had to physically restrain Logan from going inside). The man selling fresh eggs and milk on the side of the road offered them a sample of the milk. The busker at the corner nodded his head in acknowledgement. Every passerby smiled a full toothed smile. Not one of those “I accidentally looked into your eyes so I’m going to give you a closed lipped smile” smile.

“It’s kind of off-putting, to be honest.” Logan muttered when Roman said this to him. “No one can be that nice.”

“Actually, they can.” Roman said. “Why are you always so negative?” He sighed.

“I’m not negative.” Logan said. “I’m a realist.”

“Negative, realist.” Roman said, putting one hand up then the other. “Tomato, tomato.”

Logan’s face scrunched up almost cartoon-like. “What? No. They aren’t the same thing. Being negative is always seeing the negative. Being a realist is using facts. If something is 100% good, then it’s good. Fact. No one can be this happy, though. Another fact.”

Roman sighed over-dramatically. “Whatever. But I love this town. It’s great.”

Logan nodded curtly. “No doubt about that. It’s very quaint and small.”

The words were out of Roman’s mouth before he could stop himself. “I wouldn’t mind living here.”

Logan didn’t make a vocal reaction but Roman noticed how his shoulders stiffened and his hands found his jean pockets.

“I mean,” Roman amended quickly. “It would be fun living here if I had to choose somewhere else other than where we live now.”

Logan didn’t seem to relax much.

Roman was planning on continuing his babbling but a building in the distance caught his eye. “Woah, is that a mansion?” He eagerly pointing in the near distance like a toddler pointing at a brightly coloured candy at the store.

Logan put his hand up to block the sun in his eyes to look to where Roman had pointed.

In the distance a gleaming white building stood tall and proud—like royalty in the midst of peasants. The windows were two-way and Roman could see a part of a parking lot-esque style space peeking out from behind the building.

“Do you think that’s Raz’s place?” Roman breathed in awe.

“That’s not a mansion.” Logan stated, bringing his arm down. He then pointed to the opposite side of the building. “It’s a hospital.”

Roman squinted to where Logan was gesturing and saw a couple of ambulances parked and ready to go if help was needed.

He deflated just slightly. Slightly. “Let’s go!” Roman grabbed at Logan’s wrist and began speed walking towards the hospital.

“Why are we going to a hospital?” Logan asked, wrinkling his nose. “No one’s hurt. We have no need to visit.”

“It’s not just any hospital, Logan.” Roman exclaimed excitedly. “It’s the hospital. It literally looks like a celebrity would live there.”

Logan just looked even more confused than before. “In a hospital?”

Roman opened his mouth to respond but then thought better of it and snapped his jaw shut. “I just wanna see what it’s like.”

They speed-walked down a couple more streets until they were face to face with the gleaming building with so many windows. Roman craned his neck back so his vision could see the top of the hospital. “This place is so epic.”

“It truly is, isn’t it?” A woman’s voice piped up. Roman jumped at the sudden voice that definitely wasn’t Logan’s.

He glanced over to where a woman was seated on a bench a couple of feet away. How come I didn’t notice her before? Had Logan noticed her as soon as she was in his field of vision? Or was Logan just as surprised as he was?

“Oh. Hello.” Roman said, smiling at the woman before looking back up at the hospital. “Yeah, it is gorgeous.”

The woman looked maybe a couple years older than Roman but not by much. Her hair was dyed an ice blonde and her eyes were a bright green. She was wearing a stylish pair of red cat-eye glasses and dangly earrings.

“I was talking to some of the staff inside and apparently every so often they get an anonymous donation with a very ...significant sum.” Her eyebrows raised as she said this and her eyes widened along with them.

“A mysterious donation?” Logan repeated. He had the same facial expression as the woman—completely in rapture. He then seemed to realize something and straightened his spine, schooling his features and extending his arm. “I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Logan Holmes.”

The woman shook his hand and nodded. “A pleasure to meet you. I’m Josephine Keller. But you can call me Jo.”

Logan’s eyes lit up. “Ah! Like Louisa May Alcott’s Josephine March!”

Jo’s eyes lit up and nodded, a smile playing at her lips. “Exactly.”

Roman decided then to introduce himself as well and did a slight bow. “And I’m Roman Falco.”

Jo nodded in Roman’s direction. “Great to meet you to.”

“Do they have any idea who sends the donations? A company? A single person?” Logan then asked Jo, leaning his body in just slightly.

What does this have to do with finding Raz Keeran? Roman asked himself, scrunching up his nose. They were supposed to be on a mission to find Raz, not some weird hospital donor.

Jo shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. “No idea. They say the donation comes in cash in an unmarked envelope.”

“Which means the donation must be brought to the hospital personally, not mailed.” Logan stated, rubbing his chin.

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Jo exclaimed. “I asked the security there if they ever managed to see who brought the envelope through their cameras but they said that every time was a different person in dark clothes and a hood or hat.”

“And no doubt all of them are not the actual donor.” Logan concluded almost seamlessly with Jo’s previous words. “Could they describe what the latest donor was wearing?”

Jo shook her head once again. “No. Security said they couldn’t disclose that information.”

“Have they ever tried finding the donor?” Logan asked once again.

Roman was starting to get impatient. What was happening? He could barely follow along with the conversation. The two of them seemed to be bouncing off each other and talking at the speed of light.

“No. But they did do an investigation to make sure the money that was being donated to them was legit and not stolen or something along those lines.

“And? What did they find?”

“All the money is good. Not stolen.” Jo concluded.

Logan hmmmed. “Interesting. And are they’re sure the envelope is unmarked?”

“That’s what they said. They didn’t show me the envelope.” Jo replied. She glanced at her red watch and stood up. “Well, it’s been great talking to you, gentlemen. But I have to go. I’m meeting a friend soon.”

Logan shook Jo’s hand once again and as soon as she was out of view, Roman began talking.

“What was that?” Roman exclaimed. “I thought we were trying to find Raz’s identity! Not take on some side mystery about a mysterious donor.” Then, he added in. “And that woman gives me bad vibes.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “Jo seems very nice. You probably don’t like her because she’s not like you. Anyway, that’s not the point. Jo gave us some very valuable information.”

“Valuable information?” Roman sputtered incredulously. “From her?”

“Yes.” Logan nodded. “Just think, Roman. If this donor is getting people to bring the envelope here, that means it’s a very likely chance that this donor lives in this town. Besides, the next closest town is an hour away. And if the donor lives here and is able to give away that much money away, they must be very wealthy indeed. And, wouldn’t you think an incredibly famous author of four books, who’s coming out with a fifth, might earn some good money? Especially if they might have written other works under their own name or even another pseudonym.”

Roman’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped on his own accord. “You think Raz Keeran is the mysterious donor?”

Logan nodded curtly. “Yes. But it’s just a thought. It does make sense, however. But we don’t have enough information to be 100% about it.”

“Oh my gosh. Logan, you are brilliant.” Roman breathed.

The tips of Logan’s mouth quirked up. “Thank you. You are also, intelligent too.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Roman asked excitedly.

Logan slid his hands inside his pockets. “We’re going inside the hospital to see if we can get a glimpse of the envelope or someone who can describe it to us. Or, even better, someone who managed to get a glimpse of a face of someone who brought in the envelope.”

The hospital, as much as it looked like a mansion on the outside, was not a mansion on the inside.

However, it was a hospital and a hospital outfitted like a mansion just wasn’t a good idea in the first place.

The walls and ceilings and floors were blindingly bright and white. It had that hospital smell and all the doctors and nurses seemed to be going somewhere.

There was a man behind the front desk, tapping out something on his computer.

“So….how’re we going to find someone who has seen or taken a picture of the envelope or has actually seen the donor?” Roman asked as he followed Logan through the hallways, a couple floors up.

“I’ll figure it out…” Logan muttered under his breath.

Roman’s head shot up. “Wait. You don’t know how? I thought—“

“Um, are you two lost?” A woman poked her head of a doorway.

“No.” Logan replied curtly.

“Unless you have pictures of the envelope that the mysterious donor’s money comes in or have actually seen one of the people who brought it in.” Roman said bluntly. Asking straight up was the better option for this kind of stuff.

Logan’s head swivelled around and it reminded Roman of an owl that could spin its head all the way around. And, if looks could kill, Roman would be dead right now on the floor.

The woman narrowed her eyes at the two of them and looked between Roman and Logan curiously. “And why would you want to know?”

Logan was the first to speak. He schooled his death glare pointed towards Roman and took a couple steps towards the woman. “The same as you. To solve a mystery.”

If jaw’s could hit the floor, the woman’s jaw would have hit the floor and smashed right through the floor down to the other floors and right to the dirt. “Wha—“ she sputtered. “How?”

“If you didn’t know anything you would have probably said straight up that you had no clue about the mysterious donor.” Logan stated pointedly. “Of course, if you wish for us to leave right now, we will acquest.”

“But we would rather you tell us what you know.” Roman added in then shrunk as Logan glared at him.

The woman turned her head side to side down the halls, as if to make sure the coast was clear before ushering them inside.

Inside the small room was an office like space that was probably meant for four more people.

“I’m an intern here.” The woman said as she noticed Logan and Roman glancing around. “I’m Penny.”

Roman’s back immediately straightened and he could see Logan’s eyes quickly light up with recognition.

Penny. Could it be the Penny? The Penny who Patton had told them about who was always writing in his cafe? The Penny who could possibly be Raz Keeran?

Logan was the first to say something. “I’m Logan Holmes.”

“Roman Falco.” Roman added in.

“So, what do you know about the mysterious donor?” Logan asked curiously, walking around the space which wasn’t small but he could definitely see it as small with five people inside.

Penny made her way to a desk which Roman assumed was hers. She bent down to drag a cardboard box out which could have been mistaken as a banker’s box filled with files. “I don’t have much as I haven’t been interning for all that long. However, I have been here long enough to be here when three donations have been delivered.” Penny explained, putting the box on a table and opening the flaps.

She pulled out a piece of paper first and passed it to Logan. “I marked down what day the donation was brought and exactly how much was donated. All the way back to the first one three years years ago.”

Logan skimmed through the calendar. “The donor looks pretty consistent—about one donation every three or four months.” He paused. “Except for this one: it has five months.”

Penny nodded. “Yeah, last year in May. It was also the largest donation to date.”

Logan passed the paper to Roman. The printing was incredibly small and it was almost impossible to read. And he had 20/20 vision. After glancing at all the numbers that seemed to swim before his vision, he placed it next to the box.

The next thing Penny pulled out were three envelopes. And, while they were blank they had a specific bluish hue to them that weren’t like your average envelope.

“These are the envelopes the past three donations came in. According to some of my friends here who have been at the hospital longer, the donation always comes in these blank envelopes.” Penny explained.

“Do you know where they came from?” Roman asked. He had watched enough mystery movies to know that you should always know where clues came from and then ask the shop owner who had bought such things.

“Yeah. From Patton-ly Perfect.” Penny replied. “The owner there sells these specific envelopes.”

Roman could see Logan’s head snap up in surprise. “Really?” He paused. “You don’t think…?” Logan trailed off.

Penny just shook her head. “No. Patton can’t be the donor. I’ve been going to his cafe regularly for a couple of months and he’s no longer a suspect.”

Roman deflated. So Penny couldn’t be Raz Keeran. She couldn’t be looking for the donor if she was the donor herself. How would that make sense?

Logan seemed to come to the same conclusion and glanced over at Roman before speaking to Penny once again. “Do you have any other suspects?”

“Only one.” Penny replied. “This girl who lives down the block from me. She’s a couple years older than me and inherited this large sum of money from her grandmother. Her name is Cherry and I sometimes see her chatting with Patton and a couple of other people there at the cafe. Other than that, that’s all I got.”

Logan nodded. “Well, thank you for your help and time. We really should get going.”

But Roman piped up before Penny could respond. “What does this Cherry look like?” He wanted to know what the newest suspect looked like. Whereas with Patton, they only got Penny’s name and nothing else, he wanted to know this person’s appearance.

Penny began putting her stuff back in the banker’s box. “Well, she’s tall.” She raised her hand above her own head to demonstrate. “And she’s got a messy bob kind of hairstyle. Brunette. And Harry Potter glasses.”

“Harry Potter!” Roman exclaimed. Finally. He understood something. “You’ve read the books?”

“About a million times.” Penny said, her eyes lighting up.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roman could see Logan roll his eyes. But he decided to ignore it for the time being. “What house are you in? I’m a Gryffindor.”

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orderofthedyingstar · 4 years

Text

RECAP: SESSION 10

SESSION TEN

It’s been a week since the encounter with Umbra. The party left the barn they commandeered on Dynafell’s outskirts after its owners returned and have been staying in a tavern in the farmland area outside of the city proper. Rhododendron’s been staying in their room almost exclusively, while Inigo disappears for long stretches of the day and Jun’s been preoccupied reading. Verrix hasn’t strayed too far from the tavern (worried about Rhododendron, hmm?), digging around for information about Donny and Raz where he can. People sort of recognize Donny’s description, but they seem to be confused about what crimes she’s committed (robbing a bank, killing a man, etc); more people know Raz, since they lived in the city, but no one has seen them since Umbra took them - and no one recognizes Umbra’s description.

Rhododendron, out of both boredom and curiosity, finally asks Jun where he got the books he’s reading and he admits that he stole a bunch of books from the Order of the Dying Star - and didn’t want to tell her since she’d been so worried after he stole the bow. Rhododendron tries to explain the difference in morality between stealing from a shady Order and the Queen to Jun again, and while he’s willing to listen he still doesn’t seem to really understand. Jun then says he doesn’t really care whether or not it’s bad so long as he can get more information, while Rhododendron disagrees, saying all of the information she’s gotten in the past month has been bad…when she starts wallowing and looking like she’s about to cry again, Jun makes a mustache appear on his face to try and cheer her up. When Rhododendron starts asking him about his spell-learning process, he hands her an Illusion magic book to try and distract her. Verrix returns, sees a book in Rhododendron’s hands, and starts laughing.

Rhododendron: “I was going to learn! Fuck you!”

Jun switches the book from Rhododendron to Verrix, pointing out that Verrix might actually be able to get something out of it. When Rhododendron tries to argue that she can do magic, both Verrix and Jun conjure up fire and ask if she can do it. Rhododendron eventually gets annoyed enough with both of them to leave the room - and Jun asks Verrix if he can even read, which he doesn’t give an answer to. Rhododendron starts shooting arrows at a tree outside of the tavern that she’s been using for target practice the past few days, although she misses much more than she would like. Inigo passes by Rhododendron on his way back to the tavern to sleep, commenting on her half-hearted archery attempts. Rhododendron eventually heads back inside and asks Verrix if he found out any new information.

Verrix: “Did you know Donny was a guard here? Who let that happen??”

Rhododendron: “I don’t think they really thought about it.”

Jun: “I don’t think they do background checks here.”

The party starts worrying about their slowly dwindling supply of money, wondering if they’re going to need to start dividing up their rations. Rhododendron asks for a dagger (Jun hands her one, Verrix tries to hand her four), worrying both of her (conscious) party members that she’s going to ‘get stabby’. (Verrix: “At least it’s not an arrow.”) They also both comment that they have Shield at the ready in case she gets any ideas.

Rhododendron, threatening: “Oh, you both know Shield?”

Jun: “It’s a pretty good spell when you’re fragile and bleed easily and blood mages can just knock you out in one hit.”

Rhododendron: “Blood mages?”

Jun: “Uhhh, I mean strange fire genasi that we don’t know the powers and origins of…”

Rhododendron: “Are you not telling me something?”

Jun: “Ah…I’m not telling you a lot of things…so…”

Jun tries to distract Rhododendron from his slip about Umbra by rambling on about divination magic, Donny, and Raz - and successfully derails her by mentioning that he might be able to track Raz using Locate Object, although he’s still reluctant to burn a spell slot.

Rhododendron: “We’ve been doing nothing for seven days, Jun If-I-Knew-Your-Last-Name-I-Would-Have-Said-It.”

Jun: “That’s on purpose.”

Jun doesn’t think he can sense Raz’s arcane focus anywhere within the current range of the spell, just similar objects in the temples of Dynafell. Rhododendron wakes Inigo up with a loud screech, interrogating him about where he’s been wandering off to the past week. Inigo tosses a bag full of silver and copper coins at her, saying that he got them from ‘work’; he’s been killing a lot of rats and doing other odd jobs. Rhododendron tries to ask Inigo if he has any ideas about where Umbra could have gone, or if he has a secret hideout, and Inigo finally reveals that his memories haven’t fully returned.

Inigo: “I don’t remember…”

Rhododendron: “Remember what?”

Inigo: “MMHMM! A lot of things!”

Rhododendron: “I thought you got your memories back?”

Inigo: “Mostly, I mostly got them back. Turns out there’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know so when I started remembering I thought, ‘wow that’s a lot’…but it turns out it’s a slow thing.”

Inigo barely remembers anything about Umbra, and as Rhododendron pushes for more facts he freaks out about how little he can recall and how violent the things that he can remember are. The only concrete things he’s able to give involve a cave somewhere in the mountains with ‘creepy statues’ and a giant nearby. When Rhododendron looks to Jun for any sort of opinion on this he won’t look at her. Rhododendron realizes that none of the current party were with her for the incident at the lake and makes herself sad again.

Rhododendron (telling Verrix about what she and Donny fought about): “The blood on the hotel walls, my career ruined and in the garbage?”

Verrix: “Why did you do that again?”

Rhododendron: “Michael. Fucking Michael.”

Verrix and Jun shrug at each other. They have no idea what she’s talking about.

Rhododendron: “Oh, we could find Yeah!”

Verrix: “We could find Michael?”

Rhododendron: “No, Yeah!”

Verrix: “Which one???”

Jun, to Verrix: “Is she making less sense than usual or is it just me?”

Rhododendron: “Do you know Yeah?”

Jun: “Do I…No?? Yeah??”

After confusing the rest of the party thoroughly for several minutes, Rhododendron finally explains that Yeah is another person that she knows, and that they might have some more information about the owlbears and anything that’s been happening in Dynafell…but the decides that it isn’t much of a lead. The party decides to go to the mountains to try to rouse Inigo’s memories, although Rhododendron gets annoyed when Jun points out that while it’s not a bad idea, it might take months before they get answers. She also blames Inigo and Verrix for not doing anything while Raz was being taken, which Verrix gets annoyed about and Inigo says that they wouldn’t have been able to stop Umbra. Inigo points out that Umbra probably would have killed them if they’d tried to stop them, and doubts they’ll be able to do anything to stop Umbra even if they find them again.

Despite the party’s disagreements about their ability to face Umbra or even find them, both Jun and Inigo agree with Rhododendron on killing Umbra. Jun also says that he doesn’t think they’re capable of killing Umbra just yet because they all work poorly together as a team and don’t really know what else Umbra can do. Rhododendron is still insistent on moving, irritated and restless with being unable to do anything to help Raz at the moment. Verrix heads out to gather more information in town, and Jun reveals that he recognizes Umbra from a few brief encounters with them a long time ago. Both Jun and Inigo try to escape with Verrix but Rhododendron doesn’t let them leave, interrogating both of them for every detail they can give her about Umbra.

Jun gives brief details about his time spent interrogating Umbra while still working at the Cobalt Keep, stating a few times that it’s difficult for him to remember all of the pieces of what really happened. Inigo gives some scattered information about some of the places he’s remembered going, and that he thinks he was very young when he met Umbra, and that they haven’t seemed to age at all. (Jun says that genasi don’t have very long lifespans, so Umbra not visibly aging would be abnormal for them.) Rhododendron tries to ask Jun about the Cobalt Keep, but he refuses to talk about it, just going back to his interrogation of Umbra and how few answers he got - and that Inigo was with Umbra during their imprisonment at the Keep. Jun also doesn’t give many details about Umbra’s breakout, but does mention that he couldn’t get into Inigo’s mind at all.

Rhododendron: “Wait, Inigo, how old are you?”

Inigo: “Huh…..probably somewhere between ten and sixty.”

While she’s calmed down considerably, Rhododendron still gives Jun some shit for withholding information, which he isn’t upset about. He says that he’s always gotten in trouble for withholding answers and doesn’t have a good track record with trusting other people with the truth; he then mentions that if Umbra has run back to So’Joh he probably shouldn’t go because he’s wanted there, although most people probably think he’s dead. When Rhododendron whines about only being friends with fugitives and criminals, Jun points out that the only person (including her) that they’ve hung around the past few weeks that hasn’t committed any crimes is Raz. Inigo also manages to recall that Umbra had once had a plan to steal the crown of So’Joh and switch it, which Jun initially doesn’t care about until he remembers that it’s Enchanted to manipulate people’s emotions.

Jun: “That is not our problem, because it’s in the Cobalt Keep, which we are never going to - or at least, I’m never going to. You can do that on your own time, I’ll stay here. In a different country.”

Verrix, meanwhile, has been asking around if anyone has seen any mountains lately. (They definitely have.) He then switches gears, trying to ask about a lake up in the mountains.

Verrix: “Mountain. Cave. Lake. You know what I mean?”

Verrix goes into a tavern and stares at a map of the country, staring at it for a while before realizing he has no idea how to read it. He tries to get some strangers at the bar to read the map for him, but they refuse (Verrix: “This city is so mean”). He tries to pry the map off of the wall with his dagger, but the bartender catches him - Verrix asks the man to read the map for him, but he gets mistaken for a drunk person, although the bartender also does mention that the only lake of any significance up in the mountains is Mirror Lake before kicking him out. He gives up and heads back to the rest of his party. Verrix does confuse the bartender’s suggestions that he attend school with his information about the lake, thinking that children are getting kidnapped and taken to the lake.

Rhododendron: “Inigo, are you paying attention?”

Inigo: “Honestly? No. You guys started using big words so I zoned out and started staring at the ceiling.”

The group decides to try to head up to Mirror Lake, although Rhododendron is reluctant to go through Whitwood/Elfslayer’s Run (even though it’s faster) and Verrix does not want to go back through Snaketail Crevice to get up into the mountains. She still says that they should pass through Whitwood as fast as possible, making the rest of the party think that she’s committed some sort of crime in that town. They spend too long arguing about whether or not to stock up on supplies in Whitwood, and Inigo calls the party boring, offending both Verrix and Rhododendron.

Before the group leaves, Verrix takes Inigo with him to ‘borrow’ the map he was looking at earlier. Verrix tries to run into the tavern to grab the map, but gets blinded by his own bangs and trips over his own cloak. Inigo tries not to laugh and then walks over the map, rips the map + frame off of the wall, and walks outside. Verrix finally remembers to check for any wanted posters to see if anyone remembers Rhododendron’s crime, but gets distracted by all of the other posters in the city. Verrix is disappointed when Rhododendron tells him that they can’t carry the map around in its frame the entire time they’re traveling.

Rhododendron: “Um, did you need one that big??”

Verrix: “Yup. We gotta go.”

The group heads out on the road, one Rhododendron is very familiar with. She’s made this journey plenty of times before, and knows that the last big town they’ll pass through before Whitwood and the mountains is El Canje.

Rhododendron: “It’s important when battling to know one another to know how people think.”

Jun: “Oh, I know how all of you think.”

Verrix: “How do I think?”

Jun: “You don’t.”

Verrix: “That’s harsh. Wow.”

Verrix shares a little about his past, saying that he used to live in Silva before losing his parents and running around on his own. Inigo still doesn’t remember much, but says that all ‘angels look the same’ - when Verrix tries to confirm that with the Voice in his head he’s punished with three straight minutes of unrelenting harp music. When they finally rest, during her watch Rhododendron talks to a few animals, really creeping Inigo out.

Rhododendron: “I think you’re just bottling things up and avoiding them and it’s going to be really bad when they finally blow up.”

The close the party gets to El Canje, the more traffic they encounter. Rhododendron notices that most of the people heading that direction are self-styled adventurers, decked out in armor and weapons to try and break into an old temple that’s been unearthed in El Canje bearing the symbol of the missing moon goddess. Freaking out a little, Rhododendron catches Verrix up to speed on the events of the Laoteng temple she and Jun broke into a while ago. Rhododendron and Jun decide it would probably be worthwhile to try and get into this temple too, but are unsure how to do that without attracting the attention of the entire crowd of travelers. They debate whether or not the bow is cursed, (and hope that it isn’t) to which Jun says a small curse is better than a big curse.

Rhododendron: “We aren’t here to steal anything.”

Verrix: “Yet.”

The temple itself is partially unearthed, clearly excavated from beneath another building and covered in scorches and scratch marks from the many failed attempts at entry. Whatever magic is here is old and failing but still incredibly powerful. As the party tries to figure out a way to enter the temple, they also wonder what could possibly be inside of the temple - and how to distract all of the many, many adventurers circling around the building. While Rhododendron and Verrix are distracted arguing about whether or not Verrix is ‘chill’, Jun mimics Laoteng’s symbol on the front door, attracting the attention of all of the other adventurers. The party circles around to the back and tries to get in through a window - Rhododendron prays to Laoteng for help and shoots an arrow through the window. Light collects at the arrow tip, just like the last time, and the window explodes as the arrow blasts through it. The party climbs into the temple through the window (with some difficulty on Rhododendron’s end), finding it just as decrepit as the last one, with another pool of water in the center of the main room. Rhododendron launches another arrow at the pool, evaporating the water and revealing another set of stairs leading downwards…

Inigo casts light on a rock so Rhododendron can see as they descend the staircase, leading them to another circular room covered in mosaics depicting more myths about Laoteng: how humans got emotions, Gosha’s founding, the guidance of the gods in creatinine the capital cities. Rhododendron, forgetting to look for traps/enemies, runs straight into a massive web, attracting the attention of something large that skitters along the walls. Verrix shoots a firebolt down the hallway, revealing six giant spiders (Gross).

Verrix: “Boy, I sure do hate that.”

Rhododendron: “Yeah! YEAH! Ugh, that’s horrible, spiders shouldn’t be that big.”

After setting most of the webbing on fire and dealing a significant amount of fire damage, the party manages to destroy all of the spiders, although Verrix and Inigo get poisoned in the process. Rhododendron sorts through her bag and spells but realizes they have nothing to cure the poison on them, leaving half of the party weakened. As they extinguish the flames and push past the last of the spiders’ webbing, they find that the hallway continues, but is trapped with spikes that Rhododendron nearly falls into. Rhododendron and Jun make it across the spikes safely, but tell Verrix and Inigo to stay behind since they’re still poisoned. The hallway leads into a large, circular room, only this time there’s someone moving around in it.

Jun: “Ah, shit - backup, backup, abortabortabort.”

Rhododendron: “Do you think they’re friendly?”

(Nat1 nature check from Rhododendron) A kindly old woman is in the room, surprised by her visitors. She tells the two that she lives in this temple ‘sometimes’, and offers up a riddle. Jun keeps insisting that they leave. The woman says that she likes being in the temple to absorb the old magic, to which Jun comments that he’s never liked hags.

Rhododendron: “Maybe you shouldn’t, like, do that? This temple is gonna fall apart.”

Auntie May: “Maybe someday, but rocks are pretty sturdy and the magic is even sturdier.”

Rhododendron: “Not if you’re eating it.”

Auntie May: “I’m not eating it, just…absorbing. It’s nature.”

Rhododendron: “Or it’s stealing.”

Auntie May: “Well, no on else is using it, so might as well.”

Rhododendron: “You don’t know that.”

Auntie May: “I do. What’s a dead god going to do with power that’s just sitting there? Nothing. This is but an echo of what she was.”

Auntie May expresses displeasure at the party having killed the spiders, calling them her ‘pets’ and saying she’ll have to go look for new ones. She dodges answering when Rhododendron asks how she gets in and out of the temple, but as Rhododendron asks more questions she offers and exchange: a secret for a secret, but Rhododendron declines. As Jun and Rhododendron start to leave, Auntie May addresses Rhododendron by name, saying that she read it on her bow even though it’s covered. As they leave Rhododendron spots spell components on the table Auntie May is rearranging, including bones. She asks Jun if they should be worried about the hag, but Jun is extremely against confronting her, especially after casting Detect Magic on the temple walls.

Rhododendron: “This is a whole temple. It shouldn’t be a place you destroy and ruin.”

Jun: “Well, we’re no clerics of Laoteng, you know? We can let it slide, it’s not like Raz is here - oh, s-shit. Um, I was UNCONSCIOUS, did I mention that?“

Rhododendron is still concerned about the hag and the possibility of other adventurers running across her, and despite Jun’s repeated warnings decides to go back into Auntie May’s room. Rhododendron says that she also feels compelled to see things through on behalf of Laoteng.

#split into two parts cause i already had a lot typed for the first half alone even tho not much happens like physically for 90% of it #rly funny that rhododendron keeps trying to set jun up w Inigo/verrix the past few sessions #also r i p Verrix i forgot bout his WM until after this session i think i still feel bad bout that #dndas #dnd another sunrise #dndas recap

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bat-ly · 7 years

Text

Back To School

Characters: Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain, Bruce Wayne

Summary: Cassandra finally convinces Bruce to let her go to school and is really excited to start her first day at Gotham Academy. However, she's about to find out that even if you're not directly bullied you can still be hurt.

A/N: Long time no see guys!

Anyway, this is something I've been working on for a while and I'm really proud of it. I believe my writing has improved a lot from when I started this AU and I think this is my best work yet.

It is also something that's deeply personal to me. This is sort of a vent fic and me projecting my struggles on to Cassandra and Dick, that said almost all of the scenes in this story are loosely based on my own experiences as an undiagnosed person who possibly has ADD or Autism (still not sure, to be honest.)

Fair warning for anyone reading: THIS STORY CONTAINS ABLEIST LANGUAGE INCLUDING THE R SLUR AND OTHER ABLEIST BEHAVIOURS IF THIS UPSETS YOU THEN DON'T READ.

Also for anyone interested there is more stuff in this AU that I would like to upload onto Tumblr at some point but for now, you can find it here.

"Are you sure you want to this sweetheart?" Bruce asks for what is probably the hundredth time already. A look of concern is painted on his face as he helps Cassandra pack all her new school things into her new school bag. "it's not going to be easy."

Cassandra raises an eyebrow up at him before signing "When has anything in my life ever been easy?" She turns back to what she was doing, far too excited to be upset over Bruce's overprotectiveness.

She is finally going to school! A real school! After months of begging and pleading and proving herself ready for the experience over and over again, Bruce finally caved and enrolled her at Gotham Academy, the same place all her siblings had gone!

"I know but this is going to be an entirely different set of skills." Cassandra sighs having heard this argument already. "Ones that you haven't had as much experience in." He pauses what he was doing to reach over and place his hands on Cassandra's cheeks, bringing them up to look him in the eye. "I know I keep saying the safe stuff over and over but I just can't help but worry, this will be a big change for both of us."

Cassandra puts her hands to his and allows her face to ease into a soft smile. "I know you worry. We will survive this." She is well aware her speaking grammar still isn't perfect but as long as her point makes it through then she doesn't really mind too much. Gently pulling away from Bruce she puts the final item in her backpack before zipping it up and placing it on her back in a triumphant looking pose.

Bruce looks at her almost wistfully. "Yes, I believe we will." He takes a moment to collect himself. "You look amazing, dear."

Cassandra beams up at him, grabbing him by the wrist in order to drag him out to the driveway where Alfred was already waiting with the car. There's a bounce in her step as she makes her way down, dragging her reluctant father with her. It was small moments like these when she felt they could almost be like a normal family.

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

After arriving at the school it took forever to get Bruce to let her go and finally enter the school, she could have sworn he was almost on the verge of tears. Well, at least he was putting on a very convincing fatherly act. Just like she managed to convince him she wasn't overwhelmed by the amount of people.

Cassandra would be lying if she said that being completely packed in by so many people didn't make her nervous, it was ingrained into her very being to be cautious in possibly problematic situations. However today was not for being an assassin or vigilante, today was for being a student.

The first class is… odd, or at least it feels odd to Cassandra. As soon as she enters the room people are looking and noticing her presence. Then the teacher, a greying but in denial about it woman, comes up to her with a smile that might've actually been faker then Bruce at a gala.

"Hello," she says far too loudly, "you must be Cassandra, welcome to Gotham Academy." The sickly sweet tone of her voice and slow way of stretching each word made it seem like she was trying to communicate with a 3-year-old. The way she bent down to Cassandra's level didn't help either. "

Uh, h-hello?" The teacher's body language is throwing her off. Surely this is considered weird by society standards?

"We are so excited to have you here." The teacher moves to pat one of the nearby desks. "We've already set up a nice spot at the front for you to sit, is that okay? Cassandra finds it annoying how long it is taking just for this woman to finish a sentence but figures it'd be rude to say something.

Not really knowing how exactly to respond to the teachers' obvious lies Cassandra just nods her head and walks over to her new assigned desk. Weird teacher aside she's excited to find that the classroom looks a lot like the ones in the movies.

The walls are relatively bland and plain, the only decoration being a variety of different informational posters relating back to the room's main subject. The desks are all set up in neat, uniform lines with the only other thing on the floor being the students' bags. Cassandra's desk is covered in all sorts of different scribbles and scrawl, most of it inappropriate she believes.

Once Cassandra has sat down the teacher crouches in front of her desk and gives her that borderline terrifying smile. "Now sweetie, if you're struggling with anything you just ask, okay?" She's still talking in that annoyingly slow way and gives an exaggerated nod on almost every word.

Cassandra still didn't know how she was supposed to react to this so again she chose to just nod her agreement. Finally, the teacher leaves her to unpack her things and continues on with the lesson. Fortunately, the rest of the period goes ahead in fairly ordinary manner.

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

Recess! Finally, it was recess! Bruce was actually right in saying that Cassandra would already know the majority of the regular school curriculum, but she still found the experience educational in its own way. However, after being cramped up in those small desks for over two hours, she was still glad to be getting a break.

Cassandra joins the flowing river students as they make their ways down the hall and outside. The weather was fair and warm, which was relatively rare for Gotham, so everyone wanted to make the best of it. Once out in the school break area, Cassandra is confronted with a large selection of possible sitting areas.

Of course, Cassandra knew that this was possibly going to be a difficult situation considering she wasn't the greatest at making new friends but she figured the best she can do is just find somewhere to sit and let things naturally take their course from there. She finds a nice bench in the sun near a large group of kids who all seemed to be fairly decent. They're talking very loudly and Cassandra can't help but listen to their conversation.

"Hey! Did you hear about the shit Raz pulled in Maths today?" a tall, dark-haired boy calls out to one of the others.

"Aw yeah, I swear he must be retarded or something!" Cassandra instantly goes completely still as soon as she hears this.

That's a bad word. Dick told her that's a bad word. A bad word used to describe people like him and her, what was the official name he called it? An ableist slur, she thinks it was. Cassandra tunes back in to hear all of the other kids in the group laughing like it was nothing.

Deciding that perhaps these kids just weren't as good as they first appeared Cassandra thinks that maybe it's best if she just ignores them and tries to focus on just eating her lunch and enjoying the nice weather.

However, Cassandra could not ignore it when she hears the group start making jokes specifically about Autism. Not quite hearing the whole original exchange, she looks over and listens intently only to find that the kids are mocking each other by calling each other Autistic.

Cassandra feels such strong, sick feeling of disgust in her stomach that she just has to get up and leave the area. It was horrible! How could they make a joke out of an entire group of people like that!? And everyone was just okay with it?

Cassandra moves herself to a nice, quiet tree away from any major groups of kids, where she can do her best just to put those awful kids out of her mind. She chooses not to finish her sandwich out of fear that the sick feeling in her stomach would just make her puke it up.

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

The sick feeling that Cassandra had felt during the first break only got worse throughout the rest of the day as she realized that those were not just a particularly bad group. Now that she had heard it once Cassandra couldn't help but notice that everyone showed the same behavior.

Worse was that she couldn't seem to find anyone who seemed to care or think that this behavior was wrong. No one seemed to exhibit any bodily behavior that indicated they were uncomfortable with this. Apparently mocking people who have no choice in how that act is completely normal and accepted in school.

She sees kids making fun of how some people stim, waving their arms around exaggeratedly and laughing about it. She hears many more kids like the ones in the first break who feel the need to use Autism as a way to insult their friends. Most upsetting was the fact that almost every kid in all of her classes felt the need to say… The R word.

As the day goes on Cassandra continuously shrinks further and further into herself. After having someone as amazing and confident as Dick to guide her through the ups and downs of having Autism she never thought she would say that she was ashamed to be Autistic, ashamed to be different.

She refuses to interact with anyone just in case someone makes fun of her for her speaking difficulties or her use of sign language. She never puts her hand up to read for the class, noticing how everyone groans and rolls their eyes whenever a slow reader is picked.

And whenever she feels the urge to stim or flap, she resists. It's torture to not be able to let out her pent up emotions like that but for the first time in her life, Cassandra feels like these differences she has mean something is deeply wrong with her.

What Cassandra is not ashamed to say is that by the time that school ends she's ready to just go home and cry. This whole time the biggest thing her and Bruce had been worried about was the possibility of bullying, yet no one said a bad thing to her and she still feels like running home in tears.

She makes her way out to the car that Alfred is sitting in the front of, opens the door before throwing her bag, and herself, into the seat. Unfortunately for her, Bruce is sitting on the opposite side, surely waiting to hear all about her first day at school.

"Sooo… how was it?" Cassandra could see the tension in his body, waiting for the verdict. She knows that if she says a single bad thing out loud Bruce would start a campaign to get her out of school, which she isn't ready to give up on yet, but she doesn't know if she has it in her to fake a good day.

"Fine. It was fine." School has made her painfully aware that she is failing in the speech department so she does her best to talk with proper grammar. She knows it won't be enough to fool him, but she hopes it's enough to convince of her need for some privacy.

It works, at least for now, Cassandra senses Bruce's withdrawal but also his heavy concern. This will not be the last they speak of this. But until then Bruce is willing to respect Cassandra's privacy and leave her alone until she's ready to talk. They spend the rest of the drive in silence, the tension thick in the air.

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

Instead of taking her usual patrol route that night Cassandra starts the journey to Bludhaven instead. She knows Bruce will be willing to cover for her with the others should they question her absence and right now she just really needs to talk with someone.

Hopefully, he'll be home tonight. It'll make things a lot more difficult if Cassandra has to go running all around Bludhaven just to find him. She makes her way to his apartment, keeping to the shadows so none of the late night crowd would notice her.

Once she reaches the window there's music playing from inside accompanied by a carefree voice. Hoping that he doesn't have any guests over, Cassandra approaches the window and gives it a loud tap. The singing stops and, after face appears in the window, so does the music.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Princess?" Dick grins as he opens the window. Just the sound of his voice calling her that personal nickname makes her feel instantly more at ease. He waves her inside before closing the window and turning to give her a hug.

She knows he notices how she squeezes him a little tighter than usual because he leads her over to his worn, second-hand couch and sits her down.

"Is something wrong? I heard you started school today," the concern is obvious on his face and she's just ready to spill her guts to him.

"Why am I wrong?" she whispers. She doesn't know any way else to tell him, why is she wrong? Why can't she be like the other kids? Why is it so normal to hate people like them, who have no choice or control over how they act?

A look of pure shock passes over Dick's face, "What?" Cassandra hates that look, it makes her want to break down in tears, to just let him see every exposed and vulnerable part of her so he can kiss it better. Just like he always does as an inside joke whenever one of them gets hurt.

"The other kids… at school.." saying it is just too hard for her right now so she switches to ASL, "None of them seem to know… they treat our disorders like a joke."

Dick's expression falls into one of dismay. "Cass… Princess that doesn't make you wrong," He looks away and sighs, "It seems like since forever people have always just… never known how to react to something they perceive as different" He turns back to Cassandra and gives her a soft smile, "If anything it's them who's in the wrong, for refusing to even try to understand."

Cassandra feels her lip quiver and knows that her eyes must be swelling up as well, "But I feel like such a failure of a human."

Dick thinks for a moment, shifting his position on the couch, "Do you want to know what someone told me when I was feeling this way?" Cassandra looks at him with curiosity and nods. "Well, they reminded me of something very important."

Dick moves to cup Cassandra's face in his hands, looking her directly in the eye, "They reminded me that we are not broken or failures, we're just different."

This opens the floodgates as tears start to run down Cassandra's face and don't seem to stop. She breaks Dick's hold and moves in to hold him as tightly as she can. A reassuring hand reaches to rub soothingly on her back as she finally gets the chance to just let it all out.

They stay there for what seems like hours, just Cassandra sobbing in Dick's arms until she simply runs dry, then they stay together a bit longer. Until Cassandra is asleep and Dick tucks her into bed before hopping in beside her, still not quite ready to let go yet.

#Dick Grayson #Cassandra Cain #Bruce Wayne #Autism #ADHD #ableism #ableist slurs #tw ableist language #it's wing night!#angel ninja #DC Comics #the words of me #fanfiction #writing

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speakersdisaster · 6 years

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GHEMMA’S GAY FARM STORY PART THREE

~~~~~~~~~~~

PART THREE

~~~~~~~~~~~

When Cass arrived at the farm, a nervous half-orc in tow, her parents were inside, in the middle of what seemed to be a heated argument. Ghemma felt uncomfortable entering the room, like she was intruding on something. She just hoped it didn’t get violent.

When the two men saw the new arrivals, they stopped and addressed them,

“Cass, will you please tell Your Father that it’s pronounced ‘bAYsil’, and not ‘bAHsil’ like his silly ass seems to think it is!” one man asked, beckoning Cass into the conversation.

“Cassandra dear, will you kindly inform Your Dad that language is arbitrary and I will pronounce it any way that I see fit!” the other entreated.

“You’re both ridiculous and I’m ashamed to know you,” she deadpanned.

Both men started laughing, before closing in on Cass with a familial hug.

If possible, Ghemma felt even more uncomfortable now than she had when she thought there was risk of marital violence. Unconsciously, she began to back out toward the door, when one of the dads noticed her presence.

“And who’s this dashing figure darkening our doorway?” this was the second dad, the one with a progressive stance on language.

“Oh, this is, um, I didn’t actually catch your name,” Cass turns to Ghemma expectantly,

“I’m Ghemma.”

“Right, Ghemma. She’s been around town looking for work, I figure we could use the help, given Pop’s back and all. Shouldn’t you be resting it, anyway? What are you doing up and about?”

She looks at her father (this one the bAYsil acolyte) accusingly, and he shrinks back and sheepishly sits in a comfortable looking armchair.

It’s clear who is the boss around here, and it’s not either of the parental figures.

“You good with your hands?”

“Uh..yes, I’d say so,” she rubs at those hands instinctively, trying to mentally will herself not to bolt out of there.

“Then you are welcome here! We could use all the help we can get, what with that old infirm lug over there,”

“Love you too, honey!”

And so it was decided, Ghemma would help out at the farm for the time being, in return for room and board.

Ghemma did what she could to be helpful and earn her keep for her time there. Cass’ parents were kind, if a little corny at times, and they made her ache inside and think of Raz.

It was always bittersweet, when she stayed put for a while.

On one hand, the security of knowing where her next meal would come from was nice, and even the cot they laid out for her in the barn was a lot better to sleep on than the cold ground outside.

But on the other hand, as each day passed, she grew more and more aware that this wasn’t her home, wasn’t where she belonged, and that at any moment her luck may run out and she would be kicked to the curb.

Because it always did, without fail.

Sometimes, a few days in her hosts would run out of work, and would come to her apologetically and explain that they only just had enough for themselves, and she would thank them graciously and be on her way.

Other times, it was less cordial, and she was kicked to the curb without a second glance.

One notable time, she awoke to find her host in the room with her, just *looking* at her, and she noped out of there faster than she had ever gone before.

It was with this mindset that she went into the Laoghaire farm, knowing that any day here could be her last, and trying her best to make the most of it while she was there.

The work was hard, but rewarding when she saw that her presence was having a positive impact and lessening the load on her host family.

Cass’ dads were grateful for the help, and when they told her so, it made her feel warm and accomplished.

And being around Cass, well that had its own upsides and downsides.

For the first few days, their interaction was minimal. Passing hellos and dinners with the whole family in which even if Ghemma had felt comfortable enough to speak (she didn’t), there wouldn’t have been space for it amongst the loquacious bickering fathers, after which Ghemma said her polite thank-yous and escaped to her makeshift bedroom.

She wasn’t *avoiding* Cass, per se, except that she totally was.

She had no goddamn idea why the girl unsettled her so much. Like, her initial thought, that it was because of jealousy over the stability of her life and family, rang true in a small way, but if she was being honest with herself (a rare occasion indeed), she knew there was a whole lot more to it. The feeling had only increased since she had started working there, and it didn’t seem to show any indication that it would be slowing down anytime soon.

So she resolved to push it all deep deep down, and ignore the way her heart skipped a beat when she saw Cass heading off to market, or chiding one of her fathers, or, god help her, at the breakfast table, yawning sleepily with unbrushed hair. That last one caught Ghemma’s breath even when it passed through her mind fleetingly.

But none of that. None of the pull she felt toward the blonde beauty. None of it. Ghemma would ignore it, and it would definitely, definitely go away.

Quite predictably, it didn’t.

And after Ghemma’s first Sunday at the farm, she had had to amend her plan to push her feelings where the sun don’t shine when it came to Cass.

It was an unseasonably warm day, and after the morning’s tasks had been attended to, Ghemma had been released for the rest of the day.

She was sitting under a tree and fiddling with one of her rocks, daydreaming about not much at all.

“You’re pretty fidgety, you know.”

The scene was eerily reminiscent of the day she had come to the farm. She didn’t know how Cass kept sneaking up on her like this.

Startled, Ghemma dropped the rock, which rolled a while before coming to a stop. She scrambled after it, *oh god no, I’ve had this one for more than a year. I found it at that creek with the waterfall, I can’t lose it*

After retrieving it, she faltered, realizing how silly she must have looked, lumbering after what appeared to just be a stupid rock.

She turned back, still on her knees, hair falling into her face,

“Oh, um, I know. Restless energy, I guess, haha.”

Cass looked at her, assessing, “Hm. I was the same way, as a child. It was why I learned to knit. That helped.”

Ghemma didn’t appreciate the implication there, at being likened to a child.

“Anyway, I came because I’ve made a pie, and would like some of it to get eaten before Father eats the whole thing when he gets back from town. I keep telling him he needs to watch what he eats, at his age, but of course he never listens. But regardless, there is pie.”

Before Ghemma can even process that this was an invitation, Cass has already set off back to the house. She hops back onto her feet and races after the shorter girl.

The pie is delicious, maybe the best Ghemma has ever had (not that that’s a particularly impressive feat, she doesn’t get sweets on the road much), and the company even better.

Cass invites her into the sitting room to eat, her dads being gone. Ghemma is apprehensive, unsure what Cass would want from time alone with her, but wanting so badly to be around her.

It turned out, Cass was curious, in the way someone who has lived in one small place for their entire life often is. She asks Ghemma questions about herself, where she came from, what she does. Overwhelmed and clumsy with her words, as she doesn’t often use them, Ghemma tries to answer to the best of her abilities, of course leaving out her reason for being on the road now. Cass is particularly intrigued by the monastery.

“So your studies there, what did they focus on? I’d imagine they would have to address the mind-body link considerably.”

“Actually, yah. A lot of what we did was about control and conscientiousness. Knowing your body and mind and being able to sync them in harmony. And, uh, a lot of it was catered to the student past that,”

“Really? What did you focus on?”

“Oh, uh, I mean, control mostly, I did a lot of meditation, and, you know, other stuff.”

“Fascinating.”

It turns out, Cass’ life wasn’t quite the idyllic dream Ghemma had thought it was. She loved her parents, but she was so so smart, and there was nothing here to challenge her, to drive her. She envied Ghemma’s freedom just as much as Ghemma envied her security.

These conversations become a regular occurrence after that day.

Cass is well read, and brighter than the sun, and Ghemma finds herself entranced, day after day, as she gets to know her better. As beautiful as she had thought her upon first glance, that was nothing compared to the beauty she saw within.

Cass teaches Ghemma how to knit, and Ghemma gives Cass some very basic lessons in fighting and meditation. They spend every hour that they aren’t working or sleeping together.

Neither of them have ever had this, a friend that they can relate to on such a deep level. Both of them are intoxicated by it.

Cass tells Ghemma about her dreams to leave, to go off into the world and learn and grow and be someone special.

Ghemma looks at her and thinks *how could you possibly be more special than you already are*

Ghemma tells Cass about Raz, about her fears, about feeling like at any moment she could lose control.

Cass tells her matter-of-factly that this is bullshit, and that Ghemma seems to be doing just fine from where she stood.

They talk about the future, about Ghemma staying on permanently, about renovating the basement that they never use anyway to be *her* room. Ghemma has never felt more hopeful.

A month and a half has passed, and winter will soon begin in earnest. It’s been a tough few weeks of work, as Ghemma has done her best to help prepare the farm for the months ahead.

She looks forward to waking up every day for the first time in a long time.

It’s a cold night, and Ghemma and Cass are curled up with mugs of hot cocoa in the sitting room in which Ghemma had first seen her now friend.

Cass’ fathers have gone to bed.

There’s a *moment* where conversation stops for a second. They had been mid sentence, mid thought, when they both just *stop* and look at each other.

Cass, with her brilliant eyes twinkling in front of Ghemma’s, hiding depths of intelligence, wipes away a smear of cocoa from her upper lip.

Ghemma doesn’t think about it, doesn’t consider what she is doing, what the ramifications of her actions could possibly be, and before she knows it, she is leaning in.

Their lips meet, and Ghemma feels something surge inside of her that has always been there under the surface but never been allowed to break free.

It’s brief, and clumsy, but wonderful, so so wonderful.

Until Ghemma’s mind catches up with her body, as it always eventually does.

She pulls away.

Oh no,

What have I done?

And just like that the moment of serenity snaps like a twig, and Ghemma’s mind is off. She rushes to her feet. She’s not meeting Cass’ eyes. Not looking at her at all. Completely in her own head, running a mile a minute.

“Ghemma?” Cass’ voice is soft,

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

And Ghemma runs. Out the door and into the barn for a brief second to grab her few belongings and away and away and away from the farm and from Cass and from her feelings and from this awful thing that she has done and just, away.

She doesn’t look behind her, but if she had, she would have seen the face of her friend from the house’s doorway, confused and bereft.

Ghemma can’t breathe, can’t think, just knows that she has to get away from this, from everything. Never mind the cold of the oncoming winter or the fact that she was so so happy at the farm, she can’t go back now.

Ghemma never goes back to Bird’s Hollow. Tries her best not to think of the time she spent there or the person she had almost allowed herself to become there. She tries to move on, to not let herself get her hopes up like that again, because she knows that she will always, always mess it up.

She pushes it all down, will never think about that night again, about the way that Cass made her feel, or the press of lips against hers.

And she never, ever allows herself to consider the fact that Cass Kissed Back.

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ihaveatheoryonthat · 7 years

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Earlier, on my main blog, I mentioned looking for a piece of writing from just after RoR’s release. I found it and looked it back over to see if I could remember what I’d been going for, but no dice. Still, it touched upon an interesting concept that I wouldn’t be opposed to trying again some day.

As usual, it’s a more coherent piece followed by snippets of dialogue I’d intended to use later on, but never got to.

The last thing Raz had expected, directly following a daring undersea escape, was for a wave of homesickness to wash over him.

It took several minutes to realize that was it. He was still readjusting to being in his own body, and, for a solid thirty seconds, he’d been sure that it was altitude sickness. Not… that he’d ever experienced that, either. That had just been the strongest of several theories he’d come up with and dismissed in rapid succession.

Their ‘daring undersea escape’ and his moment of panic-- the absolutely certainty that he’d been left behind-- had made him realize that he’d really only known the people around him for a matter of weeks. Yes, he’d known of Sasha and Milla for years, but there was a difference between seeing his idol on the pages of comic books and accidentally unleashing a giant, lumpy censor on the man’s mind.

Not his proudest moment. Not his worst, but certainly not the proudest.

Privately, he thought the dubious distinction of ‘be the worst I can’ still went towards one of the many, many fights he’d had with his sister. She wasn’t above playing dirty, and the only way to pull a victory against her was to fight mud with mud, much to the rest of their family’s chagrin.

But, somehow, he still missed snobby old Queepie and the ugly tiara she refused to let their mother touch up. He wondered how the act was doing. He wondered how his dad had possibly justified the decision to let him go on this mission in the first place, and—for one terrifying second—whether that had been the right call.

Because right now, he was definitely feeling like the odd psychic out.

It wasn’t helped by the look Truman had given him earlier, either.

He’d wanted to make a tactical disappearance, but even the thought of using his powers made his hold on the physical world waver, so he’d stayed visible and accepted the fact that he was being judged. Whatever Lili had told her father, it hadn’t seemed to go over particularly well.

It was nice to get confirmation on that ‘boyfriend’ thing, though. Raz had been starting to wonder if he’d somehow imagined it—if maybe exposure to all those exploding rats had caused long-term hallucinations or something.

He didn’t particularly want to think about the rats. Or that godawful mental circus.

And yet there he was, missing its real-world counterpart.

After a day without much in the way of non-psychic communication, Raz wasn’t quite back to listening for actual voices, so he missed it when the “Hey!” from across the aisle turned into “I’m talking to you, private! Don’t you ignore me!”

He only caught on around the time that Oleander overbalanced and flopped to the floor, mermaid tail waving uselessly in the air. The contrast between that sight and the coach hanging onto the lighting rig earlier was… something.

Admittedly, the dive that followed had been nothing short of majestic.

A sharp, “Razputin!” shook him out of the memory.

“Yeah?”

Ah, the monosyllabic approach. Good way to start. Bad way to impress any theoretical girlfriend’s fathers who may have been watching.

“You put this thing on me—help me get it loose!”

“I just held it up.”/”You jumped into it.”

“Are you sassing me, soldier?”

Raz didn’t feel that needed an answer, but he still offered another, “Yeah” before moving to prod at the propulsor. There was surprisingly little give under the scale-patterned soft shell; it was no wonder the coach had gotten himself wedged in there. Gravity was good for dropping things into tight places, but not so great for getting them back out.

If there was one thing he understood, growing up as an acrobat, it was that gravity was a harsh mistress.

(It was more forgiving when one had a psychic thought bubble to bounce off of, but one still had to remember that none of their siblings-slash-troupe-mates were psychic. And that the use of psychic powers was generally frowned upon by one’s father.)

To very little effect, Raz grabbed the thinnest part of the tail and gave it an experimental tug. All it really accomplished was eliciting a yelp of “Hey!” from Oleander, but Raz supposed, if they could keep the coach in one place, it would probably be possible to wrench the tail off of him. Telekinesis would have been ideal for that, but it was still out of the question.

That was weird, too, wasn’t it? He’d only known how to use TK for a couple of weeks, but he really missed being able to rely on it. Another lesson learned, courtesy of the Rhombus of Ruin.

“Grab his fin again, Raz!”

Raz barely kept himself from jumping at the sound of Lili’s voice. Somewhere along the line, she’d climbed onto the seat that Oleander had been occupying earlier and perched herself on it. Given that it was right next to where Raz was standing and he still hadn’t noticed her approach, he had to wonder how out of it he really was.

But now wasn’t the time for that. He offered Lili a mock-salute and turned to get a grip on the tail again—better than the half-hearted shake from before. Whether it was due to the fact that the psilirium poisoning had faded, or that she hadn’t been projecting her consciousness all over the seafloor, she didn’t seem to have any trouble telekinetically grabbing the coach. It took a few tries, but they eventually did manage to wrest Oleander out of the iconic pop costuming.

What they hadn’t accounted for was the amount of force it took, and that it had to go somewhere. Oleander skidded to a halt just shy of the bathroom door, and Lili made a noise like an irritable cat as the mermaid tail sent Raz stumbling backwards beside her.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed that Oleander hadn’t quite reached the door because someone had cushioned the landing, keeping him from slamming into it. Something quite similar happened with Raz, who took a second to process the fact that he was still holding onto the fish tail for dear life.

“I don’t know that I would call that resting, darling.”

He dropped the tail.

Milla gave a breezy laugh and set him down.

“Are you still experiencing a mind-body disconnect?”/”Fascinating. Try to proje—“

“Sasha…”

“Ah. What I mean to say is, try to get some rest. We can look into the matter at a more appropriate time.”

“No fair! How is anyone allowed to be that cute?”

He cracked one eye open, expecting to see Harold somewhere nearby.

There was no rodentia to be found.

There was, however, Lili, whose face had gone suspiciously pink.

…oh. Okay. He could live with that.

“You get that one for free, but the next time you read my mind I’m setting your hair on fire.”

#ihaveatheoryonthat psychonauts #writing scraps

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hehebread · 7 years

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i got tagged by the lovely @missbelgium to do this ask meme. Thank you so much!! this was a nice distraction for the evening! i promise to do the rest very soon.

LAST

1. Drink: just a glass of water

2. Phone call: my dad

3. Text message: “third wheeling intensifies” that or “YOU HAVE ALL MY LOVE”.

4. Song you listened to: Addicted To You by Avicii

5. Time you cried: Monday. you would think it was bc i had to go to work but no. it was “A Dog’s Purpose”. watched it late afternoon. made me cry like a baby.

HAVE YOU

6. Dated someone twice: nah cuz i never dated before.

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: i … dont think so…

8. Been cheated on: nah fam.

9. Lost someone special: yes, i have. more than i’d like to admit. sometimes it was my fault, sometimes it wasnt, but it all hurt the same.

10. Been depressed: i fall in and out of bad episodes. some days are more bearable than others.

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: i dont drink lol.

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS

12-14: uhhh thats a tough one. red and blue are my colors, but purple strikes a chord with me too.

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU

15. Made new friends: yesss, many!! here and irl.

16. Fallen out of love: hhhh in a way i did. not with people but with ideas, concepts, and dreams.

17. Laughed until you cried: ye s tahnk god

18. Found out someone was talking about you: um yeah for sure, but its nothing im not used. it happens y’know.

19. Met someone who changed you: i did actually. in the most subtle and discreet way. the thing is, i got close to so many people in the past year and just started picking up on their little quirks and mannerisms. and suddenly im swearing in spanish. puta madre i outta be ashamed

20. Found out who your friends are: sadly yah. wasnt too thrilled.

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: my parents?????

GENERAL

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: all of them. thats why i semi-ditched fb.

23. Do you have any pets: YESS!! three chickens and a rooster. two lovebirds. we used to have an african gray but we gave it away to grandma to keep her company. we also have this rat who’d been living in our garage for a while now. dunno if that counts.

24. Do you want to change your name: i kinda do. but i feel like i got too attached to it at this point.

25. What did you do for your last birthday: a few of my lovely flatmates and I went out for crepes. got many happy birthday wishes that day. I was on my own most of it but thats okay.

26. What time did you wake up: fucking 5:52am.

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: probably not sleeping. why u ask?

28. Name something you can’t wait for: …………………………………. havent looked forward to anything in a very long time. maybe deadpool. no clue.

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: a few hours ago.

30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: if i could, i’d give myself a better childhood.

31. What are you listening to right now: Home We’ll Go by Walk off the Earth

32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: probably. my memory is shit at remembering stuff like that tho.

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: some of my colleagues utter inability to communicate their feelings or concerns. my utter inability to communicate my feelings or concerns.

RANDOM INFO ABOUT YOURSELF

35. Mole/s: two on my right palm. one on my left palm. another on the back of my neck. one higher in my forehead, and two others in places that shall not be named.

36. Mark/s: stretch marks around my thighs.

37. Childhood dream: a younger (and much happier) version of me wanted to become a neurosurgeon or a heart surgeon. idk about that anymore tho.

38. Hair color: ver y dark black.

39. Long or short hair: pretty long. down to my lower back. two years ago it used to not reach down to my chin. i keep changing my hair style quite a lot.

40. Do you have a crush on someone: uuhhh yeah kinda but im hopeless everything is hopeless.

41. What do you like about yourself: umm tough one. my perseverance, probably.

42. Piercings: two in one ear and one in the other. might get more.

43. Blood type: O+

44. Nickname: Raz is actually my nickname, or rather, the english equivalent of it.

45. Relationship status: orders meal for two to have leftovers for later.

46. Zodiac: Aries

47. Pronouns: she/her or they/them but really it doesnt matter to me that much. anything goes.

48. Favorite TV Show: is this a good place to say i love drake&josh

49. Tattoos: nada

50. Right or left hand: right-handed

51. Surgery: on my gums. 5 yrs ago.

52. Hair dyed in different color: i used to dye it with henna.

53. Sport: track & field all the way. i dont do it anymore but id love to.

55. Vacation: yesss i love vacations. would love to travel around some more.

56. Pair of trainers: sketchers.

MORE GENERAL

57. Eating: nothin. i should go get some melon.

58. Drinking: water

59. I’m about to: go get melons. or go out for dinner in like two hours.

61. Waiting for: a sense of purpose or fulfillment in life… that or my fave author to update.

62. Want: my sister’s blueberry muffins.

63. Get married: maybe platonically but otherwise nah.

64. Career: im hoping to become a doctor. hoping.

WHICH IS BETTER

65. Hugs or kisses: HUGS. ALL KINDS OF THEM. but cheek/head/forehead kisses are also very very pleasant.

66. Lips or eyes: …eyes.

67. Shorter or taller: shorter. i dont like looking up.

68. Older or younger: than who?? than what??

70. Nice arms or nice stomach: nice muscular arms. on ladies. yes.

71. Sensitive or loud: loud for sure. i love people with energy.

72. Hook up or relationship: umm neither? but if i hadta choose then a relationship.

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: troublemaker. life’s too short.

HAVE YOU EVER

74. Kissed a stranger: as a greeting. yes.

75. Drank hard liquor: oh, no.

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: to this day, no I have not, thank goodness.

77. Turned someone down: admittedly, yes.

78. Broken someone’s heart: i sure hope not.

79. Had your heart broken: yea </3

80. Been arrested: heavens no. not yet.

81. Cried when someone died: yes

82. Fallen for a friend: ……………………………………………..yea

DO YOU BELIEVE IN…

83. Yourself: i try. i really do.

84. Miracles: ofc

85. Love at first sight: not really. that just doesnt happen. love needs time, patience, and hard work.

86. Santa Claus: hahaha nooooo. i dont celebrate the holidays.

87. Kiss on the first date: shrugs

OTHER:

89. Eye colour: dark brown

90. Favorite movie: for a very very long time, it was shrek, but then the memes happened so

I tag @wandschrankheld @awkwardslytherin and @snark-sniper and @of-pasta-and-potatoes. you guys dont have to do it ofc. but if you do, pls tage me!! i’d love to see it.

#i started this in two weeks ago and just now got around finishing it #im so ashamed #tage meme #long post

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mysteryblurbs · 7 years

Text

No one hears a thing for months.

No calls, no texts. Messages go unread. Postcards unreturned. (Usually, it’s the other way round – Raz and Lili sending the postcards, or a blurry, candid snap to chronicle their latest successful field mission.) The radio silence is mind-bending, but not one of them wants to admit they’re worried.

Lili and Raz are experienced, right? They’re professionals! They’re kids. Kids who wouldn’t be dropped into any overtly compromising situations. Least of all by the burly man who’d come to the Shack that one time to apprehend his daughter – and her criminal haul.

The last postcard they’d got was from somewhere in Indiana. None of them are close enough to reach in to Indiana and pluck them out, for better or worse. The one-sided conversation continues, waiting for the Psychonauts’ return.

Until one day, there they are. Norman doesn’t see Lili until he’s well upon his house from school that day, and wonders with some bemusement how he’d missed her standing by his mailbox. She looks… tired. Tense. Taller than where they’d last left off, but that’s to be expected. She’s in a deep green uniform that Norman has seen only once before.

There’s no question of where she’s been. What’s kept him awake is for how long.

“Lili?”

“We need you to come with us.” It’s not Lili who’s speaking. Norman whips around, his backpack sinking with a gentle thud into something solid behind him: Razputin Aquato. From thin air. Who looks just as beleaguered as Lili, I might add – but, like his little uniform, he doesn’t wear it quite as well.

Raz adjusts himself as Norman looks from one Psychonaut to the other. “What? Why? Did I do something wrong?” Crazy. They think I’m crazy, ghosts are crazy I’m crazy oh god oh no this is it I gotta get Courtney –

“Calm down, would you? You’re giving me a headache.” Lili massages her temples as she peels herself off the mailbox, and moves to take Norman by the arm. Raz has a hand on his shoulder… it sure feels like an arrest. “This isn’t an arrest. And we’ve already taken care of everything, don’t worry.”

Norman doesn’t get to look back, or call Neil, or ask Salma out, or tell Courtney to hide some of his more incriminating bedroom artefacts. Norman goes obligingly, and at the urge of telekinesis, into a waiting jet that’s parked conspicuously down the street.

Thankfully, he gets a little bit of de-briefing on the way. “Official Psychonauts business. We would’ve told you if we could, we swear…” A long look passes between Raz and Lili. It lingers. It’s solemn and soulful. But it’s been a time for the Psychonauts, it seems, not dissimilar to the time that’s passed in between these correspondences. Norman knows he’s not going to get anything more out of them, so he fills them in on what they missed.

Neil’s riff-off with the phantom bass player. The Pines twins’ YouTube channel, which is taking off. Coraline’s Halloween hellisode. And Norman doesn’t even have to illustrate the finer details, because he feels them being pulled from his mind like dancers on a string. Man, it feels good to talk with other extrasensories.

Then they’re there, just like that. The casual, almost normal affair is suddenly professional, and Raz and Lili are straightening their posture and offering a steady telepathic hand as their jet takes a running leap into a body of water. ( norman sees them flinch – commits to asking them why. raz pauses at this thought, and shakes his head with grit and grimness. )

A few moments pass in darkness, before they emerge in a chrome hangar. Norman, eyes wide, takes in the sheer magnitude of the operation: Raz and Lili hadn’t been kidding about being buried in their caseload. His first breath of air outside the jet is stale, and old, and slow, and it goes on as long as the evermore-ceilings and never-ending passages in the Psychonautical warren.

“Agents Aquato – Zanotto.” A tall guy ( norman’s seen him before… where? where has he… oh. ) apprehends the three of them as the jet is telepathically lifted by a ground team. The Psychonaut regards Norman as he pinches a cigarette between his teeth. It lights. “And the medium, I take it. Very well. If you’ll all follow me.”

To the elevator. Norman crams himself between Raz and Lili, who seem to be having a conversation with their eyes. The cramped compartment quickly fills up with cigarette smoke, but Norman doesn’t awfully mind the smell. In fact, it’s kind of soothing… the woozier he gets, the less Norman worries if his mind is going to be intact by the time he leaves today.

If he leaves today.

The elevator dings. The door slides open to reveal an enormous foyer above and a gangway below, with seemingly nothing supporting it. Norman’s heart almost leaves him then and there, but it’s Lili who takes him by the arm and calmly leaves him towards the center hub in this pit of a room.

“Welcome to the Think Tank. Pretty cool, huh?”

Cool? Not exactly the world Norman would use. “Um…”

“Do not be alarmed.” The superior Psychonaut, who had been behind them, steps through the children and powers ahead. “This is an experiment of my own design – a refinement of field data collected by the brain tumbler three-point-nein. Rigorous reverse engineering has allowed us to interpret psychic data as a simulation of a mental environment.”

As they draw closer, the apparatus begins to take shape: it really is a giant tank, like an aquarium, with a garish light ebbing between its shifting and sieving contents. Raz pulls is goggles down over his eyes to stem the sensory overload. “In other words, it projects the astral. Don’t worry…” Raz approaches the Think Tank and gives it a little tap – something hammers back before it shimmies out of focus. “Nothing in there can hurt you. It’s all theoretical. Right, Agent Nein?”

“Right. This is one of my finest achievements.” Norman watches on as this Agent Nein skirts the Think Tank and positions himself in front of a control panel, his gaze intent on its readings as he takes a drag from his cigarette. “We’re primarily using it to access critical information that arises from hostile mental psyches. It’s particularly useful from extracting abstract thoughts.”

Lili, at Norman’s left, steps to join her boyfriend in the speculating circle. “So basically, it’s like watching some German expressionist movie.”

Nein glances up from his computer screen, and snuffs out his cigarette. “Lili.”

Who returns the glance with an apologetic look, before redirecting her attention to Norman. “So far, we’ve actually got some pretty interesting stuff outta here. We’ve been able to indict some old offenders…”

“Commit new ones.”

“And watch some pretty wacky dreams.”

Norman follows the thread of the conversation between speakers, but not necessarily their logic. “That’s uh… that’s cool and all, guys. But… what does this have to do with me?”

“Aha!” All eyes turn to Agent Nein as he finishes a sequence, and the Think Tank hums lowly and lasciviously as its contents bloom. Everyone watches them take form, gain substance, press at the thick glass walls… a hand drags along the inside. A cheek presses close by, parting its lips.

The sound of voices fills Norman’s ear.

“Are… are they…”

Raz is the first to step up close. “Ghosts of the past. Uh-huh.” He turns to Norman, and gestures for him to come closer. “Peopl’re swimming with these old souls, and we never really got a handle of ‘em until Sasha developed the Think Tank.”

“They were too obscure, even for our best telepaths and clairvoyants. And I should know.” There’s a flicker of something behind Lili’s eyes as she follows the ghosts that Norman has seen once or twice. It lacks intensity, but he’s pretty sure Lili’s only looked like that at Coraline. “So that’s where you come in.”

“We’ve seen you in action, man. You’ve got a gift that no one else on the force can even touch on. As far as we know, there’s not a psychic in the world that can talk to the dead.”

“So… you wanted to see if I could talk to a… a mental ghost, guys.” And it’s the truth: as far as Norman knows, these things in the Tank aren’t ghosts at all. They’re… they’re concepts, or impressions of ghosts. And yet…

“Norman. Can you hear them?”

He listens. And it’s faint, but it’s there… the voices. The whispering. He nods. “Yeah… I can’t make it out, though.”

Raz gestures vaguely, and an office chair peaks out of the gloom. It comes to rest beside Raz – between him and Lili – right in front of the tank. “You wanna try?”

All eyes are on Norman. It feels like… like pressure. Like these three people are legion, and the legion is calling him. It doesn’t quite touch upon what he’s seen, and what he knows… in fact, Norman isn’t sure what he wants to know about the intricacies of this person’s mind.

But he steps forward, and sinks into the chair.

Lili and Raz stand behind him, and they have another one of those conversations that only they can hear. Then Lili presses two fingers to her temple, and places her other hand on Norman’s shoulder. “I’ll read you. You just talk to them, okay.”

“Okay.” Somewhere in his periphery, Norman’s vaguely aware of that prying sensation again, like Raz and Lili are peaking through the blinds that shroud his mind. He clears it – as best he can – and closes his eyes. Listens. “Hello?”

The voices stop.

#Raz #Lili #Norman #Mystery Kids #so what i'm thinking is that i might move in a circle? One thing kind of leads into the next. the connective tissue is the characters.#So if Norman was the bridger between this one and the first one; one of the psychonauts features with someone else in the next one.#make sense?

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