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#man oh man I am not okay
heartboudoir · 2 years
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b4kuch1n · 9 months
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polymer broadcast signal hijack
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koroart · 1 month
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Superbat 1am WIP — goodnight everynyan 😴
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thekittyokat · 11 days
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you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah
#sorry i got really into my feelings about mark hoffman again#the very specific version of him in my brain that i really really wish i had the time and energy to properly share with you guys#saw#well until i muster the energy to explode all of my feelings out into a fic. if you want to TRY and understand#know that my three biggest hoffman fic insps right now are as follows#your best kept secret hoffman. a series of mistakes hoffman. and rushed like a dreadful wind hoffman.#there is a very clear throughline just know i am extremely emotionally compromised rn#thinking about theee fics vs the canon path hoffman spirals down#something something the absolute tragedy of watching a man's descent into madness#the transformation of a man into a monster#and what could have saved him from himself and kramer's corruption#sorry i'm rambling so much oh my god i was just having such a crying fit out of nowhere about this#do you think he could feel it happening. do you think he was aware he was losing his mind.#the script version of him fucks with me so bad. the crazed rankings and the longer hair and him not being well kept anymore#it's impossible to think he didn't know he was deteriorating#fuuuck okay i need to either chill or write a whole longfic rn#i project on that guy so much i truly don't know if i could properly write my vision of him#until i do something more substantial the full extent of my hoffman exists for me and my boyfriend only. they get me like no one else#well ginny and jenna also get me. please read best kept secret and a series of mistakes Oh My God#where am i going with this. i like tag rambling actually this is a nice way to do it without forcing EVERYONE to read my delirium#anyways if you've read all of this i think i love you? feel free to dm me about hoffman and my very specific headcanons and aus#maybe soon i'll try and start writing my fics about this tragic man#i could never say any of this on twitter btw they'd string me up for my opinions on him as a sad wet beast who could have been fixed#if only he hadn't been weaponized first#god i'm too tired to even be as embarrassed about this as i should be. thought i unlearned cringe already#but i've been spending way too much time on twitter and they HAAATE hoffman there#rip. i know it's not that serious but i'm sensitive rn and hate feeling lonely in my thoughts#ok bye for real otherwise i'll never shut up. i might tag ramble more often bc this was therapeutic in a way i needed badly#cat chat
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esha-isboogara · 2 years
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lyrical lies
i am a fuckinf degenerate and i’d like to apologize for how disgusting i have become.this is the longest thing i’ve written in a while..i’ve gone off the deep end if it isn’t clear🤭
here is more rick stuff not one person asked for find it here and here and here and here and here and here
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✰let’s be honest rick is his own warning, smut , afab reader, age gap!!, calling him god, a bit of manhandling, a bit of dacro (?), shitty porn trips turned full blown story
“he doesn’t bite..just go ask him”. summer whispered, nudging you towards the garage door.
you shook your head in muted panic. you’d seen how angry her grandpa could get over small things and the last thing you were going to do was set him off over a stupid question.
“why don’t you do it summer ? this was your idea, plus he’s your grandfather”. you shot back.
she looked just as scared as you were. “he’ll totally yell at me if i go in there. he can’t be mad at you, you’re a guest”.
“yeah but what if he does ? i don’t want to get on his bad side”.
summer took hold of your shoulders. “y/n. the quicker we get this done the quicker we can get away from my grandpa and do something more fun”.
the garage door opened suddenly caused you both to jump back in shock.
there he stood , an annoyed look on his face. “i’m right in the middle of something very fucking important- is there a reason the two of you are bickering right in front of my god damn door”?
his piecing gaze was enough to make you want to cry. “i..we need help on a science project mr. sanchez sir”. you managed to say fighting back the urge to turn around and leave.
he cocked his head in amusement, his demeanor softening a bit. it was clear you had played right into his ego for better or for worse.
“that’s it ? why didn’t you just say that come in come in”.
you followed him into the garage the papers clenched in your hands.
“not you summer, you - you forbidden from entering. i know you went through my shit two days ago”. rick said, slamming the door in her face.
if only that had actually been the reason. he couldn’t wait to have sweet,innocent little y/n alone. every since she’d bonded with summer over some college tour bullshit he was obsessed. he needed you and needed you bad, as embarrassing as that was.
“what can i help you with sweetheart”? his voice as sweet as saccharine.
you fidgeted with the papers once more. “well i have this project based around quantum physics and since you’re the smartest person i know i figured you’d be the best person to ask mr. sanchez”.
he couldn’t help but smile at that. he WAS a fucking genius and hearing it out loud always made him puff up in pride.
and she has manners too. this was not going to easy. it’s not that he cared about his granddaughters feelings - quite the opposite. but if summer were to find out how he really saw her friend she’d stop bringing you over. and that would just make things a million times harder for him.
“you’re not wrong, i am the smartest person you’ll probably ever meet. and lucky for you i have something that’ll give your professor a run for their money”.
as he rifled through us cabnets filled to the brim with countless inventions he piped up “and sweetheart”?
you felt yourself melting into his trap. “yes sir”?
“you’re a grown fucking woman right ? you can call me rick”.
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you were like putty in his hands at this point and he’d be lying if he wasn’t loving every second of this. and it only took 30 minutes. maybe you weren’t as innocent as you acted but he wasn’t complaining.
not when you sat atop his lap so pretty asking- no begging him to please you.
“p-please mr. sanchez” you whined, wrapping your arms around his neck and grinding yourself against his leg. “i want you to touch me , use me please, please mr. sanchez”.
oh god how could he say no to those sweet noises. he’d take you apart right fucking there if he could but alas his family was home and they did not need to catch wind of the things he was doing. he messed with the idea of erasing their memories in his head for a while but figured it would be way too much work in the long run.
“fuuuck. i’ll give you everything you want and more but you have to promise me you’ll shut up. i would hate for your best friend to walk in and see what a slutty mess you’ve become”.
you nodded your head vigorously, happy to finally get some kind of satisfaction. as terrifying as rick was you’d be lying if you said the way he towered over you with such control didn’t turn you on.
“you’re so obedient- smart girl. do me a favor will ya ? get up and lift up that skirt for me , let me see what i’m workin with here”.
you did as you were told, climbing off his lap and giving him a slow twirl.
“good girllll��.
he clenched his hand into a fist. holy shit you were a fine piece of ass. he couldn’t wait to make you his. fuck what summer thought he was going to fuck you so good you’d come back for more.
“fuckk you’re a pretty thing huh ? it’s a wonder you haven’t already been claimed, guess it’s a good thing you came here cause i plan on doin just that”. with those words he was was hovering above you pressing your face down on the metal surface of his work table.
“you look even b-better like this holy shit” he admired from his standing position.
“fu-fuck mr. sanch- rick”. you corrected yourself mid sentence. drool was already starting to pool beside your mouth but you barely noticed with how hot and bothered you were growing.
“mmm that’s a good girl”. he flipped your skirt up. and pulled your panties down to your knees ignoring your small please for him to be gentle.
he smiled- a shit eating grin looking at how soaked your sex was. “you poor thing- i’ve d-denied you much too long haven’t i ? left this perfect pussy empty for weeks? how did you ever survive”?
usually he engaged in a little foreplay only because his partners were so dead set on it. but he was far too eager to do any of that bullshit right now. he’d been waiting for this.
without so much as a warning he thrust himself inside you, a scream leaving your lips.
his hand flew to your mouth covering it word word word
“shhh shh shhh. i know how much you love my cock but you have to stay quiet. got it y/n”?
he removed his palm for a moment to hear you answer.
you don’t answer though. you’re a babbling drooling mess already. the feeling of his cock filling you up and stretching your walls felt like heaven.
“you’re my god rick - please decide what to do with me and treat me like your slave. you control all my actions i’m nothing but your stupid worldly servant to fill with seed when you please”.
he was a bit taken aback as that comment seemed to come out of nowhere. when it sank in it gave him even more of a reason to keep you to himself.
if he wasn’t carful he’d be giving beth a new little sibling. but oh fuck- she looked and sounded so perfect begging for him.
“fuck yeah i am your god ! i’m a god among men and you’re my mortal pet i can use as i please”.
the whine that escaped her throat was almost pornagraphic. it was hard to keep your composure under the circumstances.
“good pet”.
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taikanyohou · 8 months
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"And ... it's also my first time wanting to draw a man. Right now, I feel this irresistible urge to capture and draw him. Maybe, it's because I was in the same space as that good looking person, that caused me to go crazy. If it were a girl, I might have thought it was love at first sight. But, it was just a beautiful man, and my brain couldn't process it that far."
MY PERSONAL WEATHERMAN (2023). Episode 6.
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confoodles · 16 days
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Does anyone else feel like Aylinluna was horribly out of character this episode?? I've heard that apparently some things were cut, so that might be the reason but it still felt weird. Like ur telling me Luna, who has literally been so respectful of Aylin's boundaries literally even last episode, is suddenly forcing her to go out of her comfort zone?? Okay, fine, I understand the concept of wanting ur gf to get along with ur friends, but ur telling me Luna wouldn't stand up for Aylin when someone is clearly getting in her face and making her uncomfortable?? That she would call her an ALIEN??!!!
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localcapricosimp · 25 days
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TTIIIIIIIMMEEEEEE OUT. BOTH OF YOU. CHILL THE FUCK OUT.
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No I'm not dealing with this I AM NOT STRONG ENOUGH FOR THIS LOOK AT THEM WHAT THE FUCCCCCKKK!?!?!?!?!!?!? I CAN'T HANDLE THIS I'M WEEPING.
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cable-knit-sweater · 2 years
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Via chrisevansfanuk on IG
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skitskatdacat63 · 1 year
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Legally unable to disclose what emotion this clip made me feel
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compacflt · 10 months
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can i just say that I'm haunted by the image of Ice wearing "one of Mavericks cheapest rolexes". One because of the mental immage of Maverick being the kind of men who not only owns multiple watches but also Rolex, which is absolutely delightful, because oh the quiet vanity of that. And two because of the implied and groundbreaking (to me) domesticity (and defiance of the not talking/acknowledging the thing between the 2 of them) of wearing another person watch. I'm screaming into the void about your brilliance. So I need to ask, do they do that on purpose (before the mission) in a sort if roundabout way of acknowledging each other presence in their life? What would Mav wear that belongs to Ice (apart from that USNA ring eheh)?
pilots/sailors/doctors etc who do high-level specialized work with their hands tend to really be Watch Guys. and “cheap” rolexes (sub $7k ish) are actually pretty affordable if you’re making >$150k a year and want to treat yourself every fifth christmas or something. source: know several sailors & doctors. ALSO the watch ice is wearing in his famous gay plane photoshoot is actually a rolex. So theres some evidence ice at least is (annoying, ostentatious, bad with money, and) a Watch Guy. Maverick’s also wearing a kickass chronograph in TGM so i think he’s also probably a Watch Guy. also… you know, status symbol, honor, et cetera et cetera…
they probably wear each other’s socks because in-regs socks all look the same and they’re both men so who cares. i also hc that they’ve always worn the same size in shirts so each other’s t-shirts are also free game. and was very confusing at the start of their relationship when trying to figure out whose shirt was whose after a midnight rendezvous. lots of accidental shirt mixups. and, yeah, each other’s watches, because most people only see the status and don’t see the detail, and most people aren’t around both ice and mav enough to recognize that “omg last month adm kazansky was wearing the same omega chronometer capt mitchell is wearing today!! theyre totally together!!!” so if ice buys a new watch and maverick salivates over it, sure he can borrow it, whatever. and i think there’s a scene in wwgattai when maverick wears ice’s pj pants hold up lemme find it
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“in bare feet.” now wtf does that mean. that could use a rewrite.
ice also wears mavericks leather jacket when they’re on their baseball date in debriefing. at some point when you live with someone long enough your stuff becomes their stuff which was the point of this graf
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thinking about it… trying to decide if they’d wear each other’s cologne. that seems like a little much. no i don’t think so.
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chemdisaster · 5 months
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Martyn knows from the start that it won't last. 
When he looks at Jimmy, dancing flares in his eyes, and wants so desperately to grab his hand that he digs his nails into his own palm instead. He knows, in all the jokes they make, that everything is numbered, each laugh counted and added up in the cracks of bones that never reach their chests. 
He knows at night, too, when he forgoes sleep next to Jimmy on their single bed and listens to the sounds of the doomed world outside. Even in the silence, he can hear it when he cannot hear anything at all. 
Time, time is precious, too much and not enough, this will end.
It does, of course it does, and nothing surprises him less. After all the deaths that his preceded by a hair's breadth, he thought, hoped that maybe—but no, these worlds always take their own, Jimmy is proof of that, Lizzie in a twisted way now, too, he supposes. They all are, really, and nothing has ever made sense more and less all at once. 
He still has to catch his breath in BigB's Backrooms, and then again when he's on the surface and the wither has just been killed and everyone is laughing, they're laughing, and before he knows it it's been a week, two, and he's still catching his breath, looking over at the lonely dog on a lonely mountain and wishing for something—anything. 
He needs, he needs—and so he goes around the server, doing things purposefully with no real aim, as though if he makes his presence large enough, it will cover up the two gaping holes at his sides. He takes and he takes and he takes and does not stop until—
He does not stop. 
He slows down eventually, when the sky is dark and he's barked his lungs out, it seems like, and the very air itself can tell that they're not long, now, none of them are. Baxter is empty, as his hands, his head, his heart, but for a faint barking outside that disappears as soon as he strains his ears to hear it. 
He sits down. Looks at the chests and lets out a long sigh that tapers off into something aching, broken. 
"I'm so tired, guys."
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aibyoutachi · 6 months
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its still freaking pocky day here
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hotteoki · 6 months
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jaw DROPPED i feel sick to my stomach
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skoulsons · 1 year
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The thing is-
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This isn’t a palm-to-palm, four fingers wrapped around the edge of each others hand type of hand hold. This is personal. This is connection. This is pleading. This is a pledge of loyalty. This is care. This is comfort. This is words unspoken. This is so much wrapped into one thing. It’s Ellie coming back after being shoved away by him with every ounce of power he could muster, rejected by him, being told “leave. You go,” and coming back after finding a needle and thread, pulling his coat off and grabbing his hand immediately. Not placing her hand over his, grabbing it. Interlocking their fingers. Watching him, telling him, without a single word- I’m not leaving. I’m here. We take care of each other, so let me do this for you. Let me care for you. Let me take care of you. Let me love you, because there’s a chance here, and as much as you want to protect me by telling me to go, that’s not how this works. We’re stuck with each other. I’m not letting you die.
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blackjackkent · 3 months
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Jaheira's office does indeed look completely overgrown, which is apropos to be honest.
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There's several notes in here from various people regarding her investigations into the cult and the shadowlands prior to her departure to Last Light. Also a note from the Flaming Fist indicating that Rion and Jord have been helping to "settle street disputes" in a fashion the Fist disapproves of, and a clipping from the Baldur's Mouth Gazette relating to the Beloved Ranger statue (which was actually Minsc) disappearing.
There's a button operated by the pin Tate gave us on the side of her desk; it opens a pathway down into "Jaheira's Hideout" beneath the house.
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Whoa.
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There are quite a number of these traps set up. The Narrator informs us, on a passed arcana check, that these are attuned to the druid who set them - Jaheira - but that they can be overwhelmed by being hit with the same element.
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I trust you implicitly, Jaheira, and also I can't figure out what pressure plate you're talking about. So I hope you're right. XD
At the bottom of the hill is... well, a sort of paradise.
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A gorgeous green lagoon rounded with trees and plants and a run-down but sturdy house of wood and thatch. Next to it is a badger, labeled "Postmaster Badger", and several "Messenger Rats."
"The only patch of wilderness this city permits me," Jaheira says wistfully. "There ought to be supplies here to aid us."
"You know this place, Boo?" Minsc says indignantly. "Hmph. Minsc has never been invited."
Everything inside the house is trapped. XD I quicksaved aggressively while disarming everything because I was very afraid of exploding Jaheira's sanctuary by accident.
In disarming the traps, Hector finds a hidden door behind a bookshelf.
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Jaheira reaches out and puts a hand on his arm before he can proceed. "Keen eye," she says quietly. "But if it's supplies you seek, weapons to aid in our fight - you won't find them behind that door." He can hear a sudden effort in her voice, one he knows all too well - the struggle against sudden emotion. "There is nothing back there of worth to anyone but me."
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Hector looks at her thoughtfully. His curiosity is piqued, certainly, and it is a powerful force on its own - but more than that, he has been fascinated, over this past hour or so, at seeing beneath the brittle shell that Jaheira always presents to the world. "If it matters to you, it matters to me," he says earnestly.
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She looks away from him, her eyes flicking rapidly around the room. "On my word," she mutters. "All you will find inside is dust, and the mouldering keepsakes of a much younger woman."
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"Jaheira," Minsc rumbles gently. "Our friend has put their trust in us. Boo thinks it only right to return the gesture, no?"
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For a moment, Hector thinks she is going to lash out, defensive-- but then she hesitates, and smiles ruefully. "You so rarely make a habit of being right, ranger, that it puts me ill at ease when you are." She sighs, looks back to Hector and nods. "Pass, then. Go on. See what it is a foolish old Harper thinks worth hiding away."
Hector holds himself still for a moment, giving her the chance to change her mind. He is curious, and he welcomes the chance to connect with her here-- but he will not push where he isn't wanted.
When she doesn't object, he leans over and pushes the bookcase aside.
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It's an unassuming little area, really - no more than a dirt cave behind the house. A large chest, several display cases and crates and a table covered in scrolls.
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The table first, and the scroll on it:
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"Rite of the Timeless Body," Hector says thoughtfully. "What's that about? I'd best ask Jaheira."
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"I found a strange scroll in your sanctuary. Something about a 'timeless body'?"
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She snorts. "The threat of spanking never kept the children from poking through my things. Why should it deter you." She glances at the paper on the table. "It is... a ritual. Or it describes one at least. Practiced by druids of certain esoteric circles. If they be learned and powerful enough, the practitioner of this ritual might slow their aging, extend their life well beyond its natural reach. In greener days, I might have been strong enough to do it. I might be yet, with the right preparations."
Hector blinks. "So you plan to do it?"
Jaheira hesitates, shrugs. "I make no plans. Only... contingencies." She scowls, seeing the expression on his face. "Do not look at me like that. I have been content to see the span of my natural years - a privilege far too few in this world can claim. I do not speak of clinging to life for its own sake. I just... look back on that life's work and I wonder... is it done?"
She lets out a heavy breath and leans against the wall of the building behind them. "The Dead Three plague the world still. The city still falls prey to small minds like Gortash or lost souls like Orin. It is every Harper's hope to be a light that drives out darkness. But I've lived long enough to see so many of those lights burn out, while the shadows cling stubbornly on. Knowing that, isn't it our duty to burn on if we can? To fight for as long as we are able?"
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Karlach gives a sudden, sharp laugh at Hector's side. "You're preaching to the doomed choir, ma'am," she says sardonically.
Jaheira smiles sadly. "You've done more than your share of fighting already, Karlach," she says. "If there is one person I would trust to make the most of a longer life, it is you."
Hector knows he shouldn't ask, he knows it isn't fair with Karlach standing right there to hear him... but the words slip out anyway. "Would you live on at any cost?" he asks.
She quirks an eyebrow at him. "In truth, I had put this ritual from my mind - until Last Light. Trapped in that darkness, I turned to my research again. What if I was a little stronger? As fast as I once had been?" She shrugs. "Then you came, and made the question moot. But I kept this. Just in case, I told myself. A final resort. Perhaps you were not the savior you seemed. I had learned better than to think of life as some simple tale, after all. There is no guarantee of happy endings, or true heroes."
She looks at him thoughtfully for a moment before going on. "I believe that still. But when I look on all we have achieved since, I wonder... perhaps it is not heroes we need. Only people who are willing to try. I do not know what manner of story that makes. But I do know that, without an ending, it would be no story at all." She gives a short, sharp nod. "So I will accept mine, when and however it comes. As for this city's story, well..." She grins suddenly, pockets the scroll. "Well, that is entirely your problem now, cub."
He smiles slightly. "I'm honored you think of me that way."
"Hah. Do not thank me for slinging a weight around your neck," she says dryly. "I might start to feel bad." She huffs out a breath and shakes her head. "I do mean what I say - but I am also a Harper. In every honeyed word, there is a hook. But I do not plan on going anywhere just yet."
She pauses, and then grins with gallows humor. "And besides, you still have a tadpole in your skull. You are almost certainly going to die first."
Hector doesn't really think that's particularly funny.
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(A/N: Time for some incredibly self-indulgent headcanon - in this worldstate and in my particular headcanons for Jaheira post-BG2, you cannot convince me that she didn't obtain the information on that ritual partially for Rasaad, knowing she was going to outlive him by a century and not wanting to face losing another man she loved. Though I think the more altruistic explanations for her wanting it still also applied. (And perhaps Rasaad wouldn't have accepted it anyway even if she'd been able to figure it out.) She does say she put it aside for quite a while, until Last Light. Probably after Rasaad died.)
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Throwbacks!
There are two Very Rare quality weapons in the chest opposite the table:
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This is a scimitar first found in a haybale near the Druid's Grove outside Trademeet, in Baldur's Gate 2.
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This staff is obtained in Watcher's Keep in the Throne of Bhaal expansion. Caden (to my recollection) never went there during my playthrough, but that doesn't mean he didn't while I wasn't paying attention. ;) Cespenar also apparently can upgrade it in the pocket plane.
I miss Cespenar. I hope he's doing well.
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Finally, at the back of the room is a slightly dusty-looking display case.
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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Aw man, c'mon, I just teared up. You can't hit me with a throwback like that and expect me to remain normal.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
This is the necklace that Khalid makes for Jaheira (if you help him) in the Siege of Dragonspear expansion between BG1 and BG2. He was incredibly cute about it and talked about how he declared his love for her for the first time. SHE was incredibly cute about it and talked about how lucky she was to have him. The item description was also incredibly cute and talked about how just wearing it revitalized her.
HNNNNGNNNGHHHH I NEED TO GO LIE DOWN.
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*quiet wailing*
We can ask her about it further, too.
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"About that amulet I found in your house..."
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"Oh dear," she says, looking at him warily. "Should I brace myself for some fashion advice?"
She pauses, then sighs. "But I suppose you have earned better than glibness from me. It was a gift from my husband, Khalid."
He can hear the emotion that rockets through her with the single word. He is sure he sounds much the same when he speaks of Karlach.
"He was a Harper," she goes on. Her expression grows distant, lost in memory. "A better one than me, truth be told. Any idiot can swing a sword. But to believe in the cause, with the whole of your heart? A much trickier thing."
She draws a breath and lets it out shakily. "He died. Alone, in pain, and far too young. Murdered by a mage who craved immortality." A muscle works in her cheek. "I'll not grant it by naming him in the same breath as my husband."
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[HISTORY] Recall what you know of Khalid.
Narrator: The quiet, unassuming shadow to Jaheira's strength, Khalid was another warrior who helped end the Bhaalspawn crisis. Shortly after, he was murdered by the mad mage Jon Irenicus.
Hector and Jaheira have spoken of this a little before. Jaheira first mentioned him in the context of Karlach's engine, and the impending similar loss that Hector faces himself. In that moment, and in this one, he felt and feels a sudden deep surge of connection with her, a terrible bond that steadies and reassures him even if he wishes neither of them had to bear it. He is not alone, and neither is she. He hopes his presence gives her similar solace.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly. "I hope I didn't bring up any bad memories."
She smiles weakly. "Nothing that wasn't already there, fear not," she says. "But I've lived many lifetimes since Khalid died. You, ah..." She trails off before the slight shiver in her voice can take root and blossom into tears. "You twine your life around the people you love. And when they are gone, you grow around their absence instead. It is just another way they shape you..."
She swallows, then goes on suddenly louder, faster-- "Which is my sage way of saying... I am in no danger of forgetting how my husband died. But I choose to remember how he lived."
(A/N: God, the writing in this game is gorgeous.)
Hector wonders, briefly, what Karlach thinks of this conversation, but he does not dare to look at her, or that same emotion will rise into his own throat and choke him. Instead, he focuses on Jaheira, listening intently. I choose to remember how he lived. "Tell me something about him no one else knows," he says, tone deliberately light.
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She gives a slight laugh. "Most Harpers swagger and flash their feathers to catch your attention. Khalid was of a quieter sort," she says. "I have never known a warrior who would go so far out of his way to avoid a fight. Which meant the few he chose were usually the right ones." She pauses, and then laughs again, shakier this time. "And when we were married... on an upturned cart in the rainy Dalelands... he stammered so much, I've never been sure if our vows actually counted."
Hector smiles. "You seem an odd pairing," he says, gently teasing.
Her eyes narrow, taking on a sudden almost playful air. "The druid in me would like to say it was a thing of balance. The younger woman recalls rather more about a fine bottom-- and the habit not to speak unless he had something to say."
This comment is so unexpected that it startles a laugh out of Hector - and he's relieved to hear Karlach laughing too, behind him. Jaheira looks rather pleased with herself at the reaction.
"The songs make much of Khalid's meekness," she goes on after a little while, more seriously. "The quiet little Harper who had to keep a tight hold on his courage. But he had it when it counted. And more than that-- he had compassion. When you live a Harper's life, see all that a Harper sees, that is by far the harder thing to hold onto."
She looks down at the aquamarine pendant in her hands, then slips it around her neck. "But a bard can tell you all the rest," she says, turning away. "As for all the things they cannot... well. I shall just have to keep those for myself."
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