#She also has some psionics
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Hello, it's me. 😜
Have you got a YouTube account for your characters?
(No, I do not own one, but I would still like to see your content.)
Btw, I like lamari's design alot!
Could you tell me more about her?
I don't have a youtube or tiktok for my characters (atleast not yet~)
As for Lamari, she got her magic unwillingly and has been struggling to keep it under control.
That's all the lore you get for now!
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Softer Now (18+)
Ahh! You guys seem to be really enjoying these. I realized I was just writing the same Tav so there's that
Warnings: Soft smut, definite voyeurism, a decent amount of blood drinking, Soft!Astarion, pre-Act III, post-Act II
“Aren’t you just a little jealous?” Karlach asked, joining Astarion near the stash of wine they found.
“Why would I be jealous of the walking encyclopedia?” He smirked, watching a certain elf interact with a certain wizard.
“Oh c’mon! He’s flirting with her and you two are a thing, right?”
“I find it rather charming, actually,” he took a swig of the awful wine in his hand.
The Tiefling looked from the vampire spawn to the pair looking over some old tome whose name no one else could pronounce. “Charming?”
“Let me tell you what I see,” he set the bottle down to face the barbarian. “To you and I, Gale is obviously flirting. In a very clumsy manner, but flirting all the same. Our fearless leader, however, has no idea. To her, he is as much of a friend as Wyll or Shadowheart. Yet, he keeps trying because he has no clue that she simply isn’t flirting back.”
“That doesn’t make you angry?”
“Of course not!” He laughed, “I can barely believe he managed to bed a goddess with how he flirts.”
“It does seem pretty out there, as far as stories go,” Karlach crossed her arms and continued to watch the pair.
“Anyways, I know there’s no competition.”
She smirked, “You do sound a teensy bit jealous.”
“My dear, I do not get jealous.” The more he thought about it, the more pause it gave him. Their resident wizard does try to hold her attention more often than he should. But Tav’s time was her own. He knew he had nothing to worry about. After everything they’ve been through, he couldn’t imagine her changing her mind at the last moment. Right?
Tav, on the other hand, was enjoying pouring over the old tome they had found. It gave some interesting insight into Illithids and their reasonings. Unfortunately, she was unable to read the language it was written in. She was thankful for Gale in that sense. Who knew he spoke Deep Speech? Granted it was written in Espruar but the script itself was odd. The wizard had helped her decipher a few pages about psionic energy and how they have mastered it. It truly was fascinating.
“This is nice,” Gale spoke from next to her. He was holding the dusty tome in his hands with the bard sitting near him, using her mage hand to scribble any notes she’s taken.
She looked up at him with wide eyes, “I suppose it is! I’m very happy we found this book.”
“It truly is remarkable,” he swallowed, “It’s also a nice excuse to spend more time together in the midst of all this madness.”
“Oh! I suppose it is nice to sit with everyone.” She didn’t fail to notice him scoot slightly closer. Just a hair between them now.
Gale closed the book and turned to look at the elf next to him. “I’m afraid I must ask you something.”
Something in Tav’s mind warned her to walk away. But she was still getting used to that voice, so she elected not to listen to it. This was Gale. This was her friend. “What’s on your mind?”
He grabbed her hands in his, “I have noticed you and Astarion getting rather close recently.”
Tav wasn’t sure how to react. She was already flustered by the sudden turn of the conversation. She was more than happy to keep speaking of the Illithid empire. “Where are you going with this, Gale?”
Gale’s eyes never left hers. It was like he was trying far too hard to bear into her soul and she simply…didn’t want him to. “I told myself it was casual, not a matter of the heart but…clearly I was wrong and it looks like I am the last to know. I know how close you two have gotten, I just thought you would show me the respect of telling me first.”
The Elf’s jaw dropped, “Tell you? Tell you what?”
“But you can tell me now. Who is it to be? Me or him?” The look in Gale’s eyes was nearly as serious as when he was told he’d have to become a bomb.
“What exactly am I choosing here?” Tav blinked, glancing down at the wizard’s hands that completely enveloped hers. It took her a moment before her brain caught up. “Oh! Oh, Gale! I had no idea you felt this strongly.”
A glimmer of a smile reached his face, “Well, perhaps I should have done more. Been more charming, more flattering, harder to reach…but I was only myself. Sometimes that just isn’t enough.” His face dropped looking at hers, “Whatever your decision is, I will respect it. But you must choose. You cannot have us both.”
Tav made a choked sound in the back of her throat before clearing it. “I don’t think this is a good idea. I think it’s for the best that we aren’t involved like that. I want to be with Astarion.”
“I see. I suppose he does have a certain charm about him, if you’re into that sort of thing.” He sighed, “I’ll just put my feelings to one side. I think that’s best for everyone. It’s certainly the best thing for me. I won’t leave, unless you want me to. Or until fate forces my hand, your friendship is all we have. And I will be happy to have it, eventually.”
Tav’s heart broke for the man. It must be quite painful to not have those feelings returned. For a moment, she thought about what she would do if Astarion ever stops feeling the things he says he feels for her. And the thought almost brought tears to her eyes. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” she couldn’t hide the crack in her voice. But Gale was never going to be the cause of it.
“Worry not. I carry my regrets wherever I go and I am used to their weight. One more will not break my back.” He gripped her hands one final time before she pulled away.
She gave him a sad smile before walking over to where Karlach and Astarion stood. Grabbing the bottle from Astarion’s hands, she drank deep for a moment. They both glanced at each other before turning back towards the Elf. She handed the bottle back to him before smiling at Karlach, “Is there anything you have to admit to me? Any deep romantic feelings or attachment?”
Karlach laughed, “What? No, soldier!” She put her still warm hand on the much smaller elf’s shoulder. “You’re a dear friend. More than that, you’re family.”
Tav’s shoulders dropped, “Oh thank the Gods.” She turned to Astarion who was watching her with raised eyebrows, “Bed?”
The moment they were inside his tent, she buried her face in his chest with her arms wrapped so tightly around his waist. “Darling, what’s wrong? Did the mean mage say something he shouldn’t have?”
She didn’t want to pull far enough away to answer him. She didn’t want him to see her start to cry. She just shook her head and held him as close as she could. She wasn’t sure how to process these feelings. The vampire spawn just wrapped his arms around her trembling form.
“You don’t have to say anything, just nod your head. Did Gale hurt you in any way?” She could hear the growl in his voice. It sounded more dangerous than normal.
She pulled away with a deep inhale. She looked up at him with tears already streaming down her face. With a sniffle she whispered, “Gale admitted he had feelings for me, yes. But then I thought about how miserable life would be without you in it.”
Astarion froze, his body tensed. “So let me get this straight,” he swallowed, more nervous than he’s ever really been before. “You told Gale you’re not interested just to be with me? I do come with my complications, my love.”
She let out a breathy laugh, “I told Gale I’m not interested because I’m simply not interested.” Her hand reached up to stroke his cheek, “I just don’t ever want to imagine a life without you again. A world where you’re not with me. Because you’ve always been near, even if I didn’t know it.”
He remembers the night he told her about Cazador. The night he told her about the Szarr palace was also the same night she had told her about her tower. And how she could see the palace from her desk. It was true, they really have always been close in one way or another. “And you got that worked up because…?”
“I wouldn’t even know what I was missing,” she smiled at him, eyes still full of emotion. “You’ve been all of my firsts. First kiss, first night together. Hells, the first time I’ve held someone's hand was with you. This is all still very new to me. And the moment I thought about you not being with me I-” she let out a choked sob before gripping his shirt in her fists and burying her face in his chest once again.
For a moment, the vampire spawn didn’t react. It still takes him a moment to return affection but he managed to wrap his arms around the trembling bard. He swallowed before gently rubbing the small of her back. The thought of someone wanting him this badly was…daunting, to say the least. He knew if they had met before the nautiloid, he’d mark her as a victim. She was pretty and just naive enough to fall for him. Hells, he had even known her parents. Cazador loved having the city’s nobility over, but never her.
She was always the princess in the tower. Always there but never seen. Even Cazador had thought she was a mere rumor and nothing else.
For a while, he just held her while she cried. He wasn’t sure what else he could do besides hold her. Nothing he could say would comfort her. They weren’t even sure if they would survive this mess. So he pulled her closer. The rest of the night passed as they were wrapped in each other’s embrace. Soft, whispered words of a future sprinkled with hope. For the first time in his unlife, he had more than just hope.
The next couple of days passed uneventfully. They were only traveling, plain and simple. Onwards to Baldur’s Gate. Where all of their dooms or salvations lay. In the gloom of it all, Tav wanted some fun. She had gone to Shadowheart and pilfered some of her extra blankets with promises to replace them once they reached the city. As they set up camp yet again, she made her way towards the lake side. She laid out all of the blankets in a large square before finding the extra food she had squirreled away. And pulled out the best wine she could find. It was an obviously aged bottle still covered in a thick layer of dust, but the label looked fancy. She truly knew nothing about wine so she prayed to whomever was listening that it wasn’t swill. She then adjusted her bustier in an awkward manner before smiling to herself and searching for the vampire spawn.
He wasn’t hard to find. No one heard what she whispered in his ear. But they certainly noticed the fond smile and raised eyebrows as she dragged him away from the camp. Astarion looked at the little picnic she had put together, his hand in hers before kissing the top of her head. “And what’s the special occasion, darling?”
She smiled up at him, unabashed emotion in her eyes with a grin on her face. She was truly divine in the moonlight. She shrugged, “I just wanted to do something nice for you. We reach Baldur’s Gate in a couple days and we have to hit the ground running soon. I just wanted to take a moment, just for us.” She picked up the bottle of wine she had found, “I hope it’s okay. I know it’s old but I don’t know if it’s good.”
He smiled and pulled her close. “Aren’t you just the sweetest little thing?”
The tips of her ears flushed as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. And then they sat and talked and ate and drank. They spoke about the Gauntlet of Shar, about the monastery, about the Moonrise Towers. And the conversation drifted to their party as Tav slowly became more and more tipsy. She talked about Wyll and his obvious daddy issues. Shadowheart and her love for more adult literature. And Astarion was all too happy to sit and listen to her. It’s one of the things that drew him to her, after all. She could read people like they were a book she was all too happy to read.
As the evening turned into night, the pair ended up against a nearby rock. Tav sitting on his lap as he peppered her neck with kisses. And as Tav’s giggles turned into soft moans as his hands started to travel to her waist. “You should keep quiet, my sweet, we wouldn’t want to wake the entire camp up. Would we?” He whispered before nipping at the base of her neck.
“I-I think you’d like that far too much,” she managed to gasp out as he helped her rock her hips back and forth against him.
He chuckled against her neck, leaving trails of almost bites with his fangs. “What ever makes you say that?”
“Astarion!” She moaned, grabbing the back of his head as he finally sank his teeth into her neck. She gripped his curls in one hand and dug her nails into his shoulder with the other. Her hips moved on their own as he slowly drank from her. His arms wrapped around her waist as he held her up. Between the wine and him drinking from her, she felt lightheaded. But that made the friction between them feel all the more intense.
“You always taste just so perfect, my love.” He slowly released her neck before slamming his lips against hers. He knew he was being needy but he craved her. As his lips melded against hers his nimble fingers went to work on the knots of her bustier. It never took him long to get her out of her clothes and tonight was no exception.
She grabbed his hands before he could fully remove her bustier, cradling his hands in hers. “Are you sure you want to do this? We really don’t have to. I’m happy to just sit here with you.” Her voice was barely a whisper, something meant just for him.
He smiled at her before kissing her again, “Darling, if I didn’t wish to have you, I wouldn’t have you half dressed sitting on my lap.”
She smiled and let go of his hands and let him return to practically tearing off her clothing. He wasn’t satisfied until she was sat on his lap in nothing but her underwear. His face buried in her breasts, leaving small little nicks with his teeth as he made his way back up to her lips. Her hands gripped his shoulder as he snaked his hand down her body. He made sure to feel all the softness that was still on her body, never failing to trace her curves.
Tav was small but years in a tower had made her body gentle. Her hands were rough from her instruments, yes, and she did have a lot of skill with a blade. But she was in no way muscular. And Astarion enjoyed that more than he could say. He enjoyed being able to almost see the tremors in her thighs before he felt it. Gods, he needed her.
It only took him a moment to find her clit and draw slow, gentle circles around it. Never quite touching it directly. “Darling, you’re already shaking. Did you miss me that much?”
“Yes!” She cried into his ear. “Y-you’re teasing me.” Her head fell against his shoulder as her body trembled against him.
“Oh, I’d never do such a thing,” He smiled and buried his hand in her hair. “I simply want to take my time enjoying you.” The vampire spawn slowly filled her cunt with his fingers, his palm grinding against her clit.
She tried hard to keep quiet. Really she did. But when his fingers curled inside of her? She couldn’t help but cry out his name. How was he so patient? All she wanted was to have him inside her. He pumped his fingers in and out of her cunt so painfully slowly.
Now, Tav may have been too focused on the rogue’s hands to notice anything else. But Astarion wasn’t. He knew Halsin and Gale were keeping watch tonight. He also knew it was far too late for anyone else to be awake. Which is why his hands didn’t stop when he noticed the bushes across from them moved. It was so subtle that he almost missed it.
Almost.
Someone was watching them. And he had an inkling he knew exactly who it was. The thought made him grin against Tav’s bloodsoaked neck. He sped up his fingers, holding her as she writhed against him. “That’s it, love, don’t hold a single thing back.” She came with a cry of his name. She was still trembling as he made a show of licking his own fingers clean. “I do so enjoy how you taste, my love.” He didn’t whisper this time. He wanted the wizard in the bushes to hear.
With shaking hands she went to untie the knots on his trousers. He leaned back against the rock, letting her take his length in her hands. “M-may I?” Her neck was stained just as red as the flush on her cheeks. Her big blue eyes wide in anticipation.
“May you what?” His hand went to her throat and he felt her breath catch.
“M-may I ride you?” It really was endearing how she asked. Her voice was breathless and her chest was heaving. He had never been overly rough with her. But with a voyeur in the bushes? He was more than tempted to lay claim to the nearly virgin in his lap.
He pouted at her, “I’m not quite sure what you mean, darling.”
Her eyes went wider than before. “W-what?”
She was so innocent. So pure, he had never even heard her swear before. “What is it exactly that you would like to do?” He purred, his forehead meeting hers. “Don’t play coy with me now.”
She swallowed, the tips of her ears matching the rest of her face. “Astarion,” she whined.
“If you use your words, love, I’ll be happy to give you anything you want.”
She whined again when the grip around her throat tightened ever so slightly. “I-I want-” another swallow, “I want to ride your cock.”
He smiled, “See? Now was that so hard? You did so well,” he whispered against her lips. She adjusted herself over him, still holding him in one hand while the other braced herself on his shoulder. His hand still held her throat, not quite squeezing just letting her know he was there. The bard lowered herself onto him. He groaned as she sank down. “Perfect.”
Her other hand flew up to his chest while she gripped his blouse so tightly that her knuckles were whiter than before. Her head spun while the wine loosened her tongue. “Gods, Astarion.”
“Use your words, darling,” he moaned against her neck, his eyes keeping an eye on the bush yet again. He wanted the wizard to see how good he could make her feel. He wanted him to see that he wasn’t even a thought on her mind. He wanted him to see that she wanted him and not Gale.
She sat for a moment, adjusting to his size before rocking her hips back and forth. Astarion’s hands flew to her hips to help guide her movements. “Feels so good,” she whimpered, still clutching at his blouse.
“That’s it, pet. You can take it, I know you can.” Her movements were entirely her own. She gradually went from rocking to bouncing. His body told him to throw his head back but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. Maybe now Gale would realize she was his. Maybe he had more of a possessive streak than he thought.
“Your hand, put it back!” She used his chest as leverage for her movements. He could feel her getting close and who was he to deny her? He instinctively put his hand back around her throat and squeezed. He had never felt her tighten around him harder. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. He let her sit like that for a moment as she started to relax once again.
Whoever was in the bushes was gone now. Either too riled up to stay or too heartbroken to watch. Either way, Astarion found it satisfying. Satisfying enough to toss Tav on her back and put her ankles on his shoulder. It was something about knowing Tav not only trusted him but chose him, drove him wild. Far more than any lover he’s had in the past. Even through her half opened eyes and her mind filled with wine and pleasure, her eyes were still filled with that emotion. That feeling that he wouldn’t dare put words to yet.
She was his. And he was equally hers.
Her moans and whimpers filled the air but he felt so far away from her. Too far. She grabbed his hands and pulled him closer, lacing her hands with his. “Beautiful,” was all she could whisper before she clenched around him. This time, he wasn’t far behind her. They laid like that for a while. Him on top of her, her tracing small patterns on his back. The scars were a reminder of what awaited them in Baldur’s Gate. But it could wait for now. For now they had each other.
“Did you see who was in the bushes?”
He immediately met her eyes, “You knew?”
“I’m naive, not stupid.” She giggled, rolling over to her side.
“I believe we just gave the magic eater quite the eyeful.”
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GC: YOU 4SK3D WH4T 1T M34NS TO B3 TH3 S33R OF M1ND [...]
GC: 1F YOU S33 WH4TS 1N YOUR M1ND CL34RLY 4ND UND3RST4ND TH3 POW3R YOUR THOUGHTS H4V3
GC: TH3N YOU UND3RST4ND R34L1TY WH1L3 3V3RYON3 3LS3 1S RUNN1NG 4ROUND CONFUS3D 4ND 4NGRY 4ND UPS3T
I was hoping that Terezi would start expositing on her own Title. Unlike the kids, she's had a full-length session of Sgrub to grow into her understanding of her own role, so she's able to speak with some authority on what it means. Let's see what she has to say.
GC: B3C4US3 TH3Y TH1NK R34L1TY 1S SOM3TH1NG H4PP3N1NG TO TH3M
GC: R4TH3R TH4N SOM3TH1NG TH3Y 4R3 M4K1NG 3V3RY MOM3NT W1TH 3V3RY THOUGHT
This is, of course, completely literal. We've just seen Dave spawn an entire timeline from his thoughts, and it's possible that all divergent timelines spawn from people's decisions.
Through her understanding of Mind, Terezi essentially conjured Green-Suited Dave - and in doing so, demonstrated that her powers have real, physical consequences. They might not be as flashy as John's, but they're a lot more flexible.
GC: 1 4M NOT PSYCH1C, BUT 1 H4V3 TH3 S1GHT S33RS 4R3 M34NT TO H4V3
GC: 1T W4S MY ROL3 TO H4V3 1T
This seems to confirm that Terezi's intuition is, in fact, informed by her Title abilities. She doesn't have troll psionics, but she does have some sort of 'sight' granted by her Aspect. I assume this sight is what allows her to smell people's personalities and detect lies.
GC: FOR MY 3N3M13S, 1 W4S M34NT TO BR1NG 4BOUT TH3 1NH3R3NT R3TR1BUT1ON FLOW1NG FROM TH3 R34L1TY M4D3 BY TH31R OWN 3V1L THOUGHTS
Terezi has a prodigious understanding of the way people think. According to her, this means that she's meant to be a master manipulator, turning her enemies' thoughts and desires against them. I'm not entirely convinced that a class called the 'Seer' is intended to be used this way, but it's worked out pretty well for her so far.
Note also that she doesn't question the base assumption that her enemies are evil. To this trainee legislacerator, anyone who stands against her is evil by definition. This isn't the first time we've seen this attitude from her, as she also used it to justify the murders she committed as a Scourge Sister.
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CAN YOU ELABORATE ON TLT BEING A HOMESTUCK FANFIC‽‽‽‽‽
i'm exaggerating a bit, but taz muir was a well known homestuck writer who wrote under the username urbanAnchorite. her fic the serendipity gospels is one of my fave fics ever, but was never finished and it's only by book 2 of tlt that i figured that the clear allusions to it in book 1 weren't just cute little nods but that she'd expanded on some of the ideas/concepts and worldbuilding of the serendipity gospels. to name a few:
the ninth house cult is heavily based on the juggalo church muir wrote/expanded upon in TSG, from face paint to the rituals and a lot of the accompanying prose
act 2 of TSG takes place mainly in a spaceship that serves as "cathedral" of the juggalo cult, and is described to be covered in bones that have been painted in many colors--which is close to the description of the mithraeum
act 2 also features the two main characters being much younger people mentored/manipulated into horrible acts by an old man who is thousands of years old and bickering with his other thousand year old friends/enemies, who seem to share knowledge and understanding that neither the two protagonists do but also deeply resent one another. hard to not read a parallel to john and the lyctors here!
to elaborate on this bc i just realized it: it is heavily implied in TSG that the dancestors (older people thousands of years old) went through a universe reset and built the empire in the image of their own trauma and anger, which would v much parallel what happens to john on earth and how he "reset" humanity
less of a homestuck thing and more of a taz muir thing: said old man is v much grooming the main female character and making her life miserable during the entirety of act 2
a lot of the story takes place in the background of the trolls' empire being a horrific imperialist force that the main characters were originally very excited to join and become a part of, with one of these characters in particular daydreaming about becoming ground troop for invasion while also holding a terrible secret that would have precluded him of doing so anyway. p neat parallel to gideon's own thing here
act 1 and act 2 of TSG are from two different pov characters, with a drastic shift in prose style and understanding of the situation/world when the pov shifts. which v much echoes how tlt has worked so far. part 3 was barely started before it went on hiatus, but it followed the same pattern.
speaking of, the prose of act 2 of TSG definitely feels very close to harrow the ninth's prose. you can just open the fic and check the first chapter of act 2 and how it's written, and you'll see what i mean. there are differences--the prose of TSG act 2 is more inflected with southern usamerican evangelical speak, i think? i'm not american so i can't quite 200% tell
there is an external armed resistance to the empire's violent imperialism and resistance that was supposed to be the focus in act 3 of TSG, which never happened. nona the ninth did, though, and it follows that structure.
there are also eldritch horrors that threaten the entire universe--homestuck's own horrorterrors--that are in the background of TSG and implied to be an important part of the future plot that we never saw. tlt has the ressurrection beasts
taz muir's worldbuilding around the blood castes in og homestuck that she elaborates on in TSG also somewhat parallels the way the houses function in tlt
iirc there's also worldbuilding around space travel in tlt (such as the obelisks? i think that's the name? and the use of necromancy to power them) that parallels taz muir's own take on how space travel works in the troll empire, using psionics and draining them dry in a similar way
i think the necro-cav relationship 'ideal' is based around how taz also interpreted moirallegiance in not just TSG but all her homestuck fics, down to how its legal implementation and the idealization of it vs its role in troll/houses imperialism and the reality of blurred lines in "expected" relationships. i'd love to hear taz's discourse on troll romance
i also think the necro-cav relationship parallels the other legal pairing explored in TSG--legislacerator and subjugglator.
there are probably more parallels i am missing--i need to reread TSG soon, as i haven't in a while. there are elements i'd say are more like, how taz herself elaborated on the bones of the worldbuilding of homestuck and then made it her own thing, which is rad as hell. other elements are more fun nods, such as gideon's aviator glasses being shamelessly stolen from dave homestuck, and a lot of gtn's prose feeling very homestuckey. it's def not like, just a little rewrite and boom, you get the locked tomb! imo it's more elements of plot and worldbuilding that were interesting enough to develop into something of its own and that taz made into something new, along with other elements of other stories (such as lolita and umineko) being woven into it. part of why i enjoy tlt so much is its "collage" aspect, taking elements taz thought interesting in other stories, or using these elements to purposefully evoke specific feelings/moods to construct or obsfucate certain ideas.
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TTRPG Read-Through: Traveller - Book 1
Here is a read-through I did about a year and a half ago (originally posted on Twitter) of one of the all time classics: Traveller by Game Designers' Workshop! This read-through just covers Book 1 - Characters and Combat from the original Traveller box set trio of books. - Christian
This is the 1981 Second Edition printing of the classic Traveller three zine box set! Been wanting to read this for ages now. It's discussed A LOT in Mothership circles.
Really interesting to see GM-less and solo play options here. Didn't realize that was being done explicitly at this time. Also, nice to see "he or she" language here rather than the just "he" you see a lot in older games.
The UPP is clearly the creation of an utterly deranged mind. This seems like a huge overcomplication of just listing stats (unless all your players are proficient in hexadecimal).
[Hi, it's me from the future here (aka now - 2024): I've learned to embrace and love the UPP (or more specifically the planet stat version from one of the other books). It's complicated at first but really quick and cool once you know how to read it.]
I really like Social Standing as a stat replacement for charisma or charm or other social skills you tend to see. Feels like it would have more impact on the story and less of a "Roll to see if you convince him, I guess" sort of anticlimax social skills have most of the time.
I'm now into the "you can die during char creation in Traveller" bits. Really cool in some ways. Really comical in others. It recommends you enlist your bad stat characters into the Scout service because of it's high mortality rate (so you can roll a diff char before play), lol.
Essentially, you roll stats and that's your entire character but to give them some experience they can enlist in a Service. You have to roll to get in and may get rejected. If so, you submit to the draft (get into one at random). You can die. You can gain skills and promotions.
Honestly, the char creation feels like a solo game unto itself. Risk v reward of how far to push your enlistments to boost your skills and standing and benefits. You could have a whole story in your head by the end of it. Great Session 0 material.
As a 34 yr old, this hurts. Apparently, I have -1 Strength, Dexterity and Endurance now...
I admire commitment but asking GMs to use this full char creator for all NPCs (which means generating chars until you get one capable of filling the role you need) is truly too wild. Best part: at the end, it just says you can also pick whatever you want for stats and skills.
The weapons and intro text have much more of a space as a new age of sail vibe to them than I was anticipating. It's cool. Far more Dune than Alien (so far).
Interestingly (unless I missed something), skills are detached from your stats. Your base stats make getting into a Service easier and help you with Saving Throws and such, but skills have their own modifiers based on the situation and your expertise. It's cool (if a bit dense)!
In case you were wondering, there is absolutely no art in this entire book. I'm hoping we'll get some in one of the other two books with vehicles and ships and such but won't be holding my breath. Gives the whole thing a very Serious vibe.
Always interesting to see how older games chose to handle this (or not).
Here's the UPP in action along with quick listing of other character info. Interesting even if it is just too overcomplicated for my tastes.
Can't overstate how much char creation feels like a whole solo game of its own. You can roll a character at age 18 and have them go through seven 4-yr terms in a Service before retiring and having substantial cash, specific possessions, memberships and social standings. Wild.
The character sheet mentions PSIONICS which is exciting (but I'll have to wait till Book 3 for more on that apparently).
Combat is straightforward but has some unique bits: a focus on stealth as an option and movement/attacks occur by all parties simultaneously which means everyone (enemies too) gets to move and then everyone chooses who to attack and you roll them all. Sounds really fun.
Stats have cool effects in battle. Your Endurance stat is the number of attacks you can make before needing to rest (can you imagine if DnD just didn't let you do a base attack at a point?). Strength and Dex can boost or lower certain weapon rolls like you'd expect.
If trained in a weapon, you can give your expertise as a negative mod to your enemy's rolls to attack you to reflect parrying and blocking which is cool. The skills also add to your attack rolls. Skills just seem really useful overall here.
I just love that we get stats for broadswords, revolvers, and laser carbines. Plus, there are even special tables for archaic weapons for when encountering lower-tech civilizations. It feels like a really wide open interpretation of what space could look like. Feels exciting.
A few more equipment tables and a final quick reference page at the back and that's all for Book 1. I'll be back with Book 2 and 3 in the coming days!
Main thoughts: Character creation is very involved but really cool - its own game practically. Skills are very deep in a way that feels refreshing when compared to more stat-focused games. Combat has some fun, chaotic twists. Feels like a wide universe of possibility here so far.
I'll add Books 2 and 3 to this thread when I give them their own read-throughs. In the meantime, here's my newsletter (last two months have Mothership freebies): https://meatcastle.substack.com
And here's my website (with links to my games and modules and all that good stuff): https://shop.meatcastlegameware.com/
Thanks for reading!
#traveller#ttrpg#rpg#science fiction#scifi#long post#read through#ttrpgs#roleplaying#roleplaying games#tabletop#classic
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So while researching some things to start writing a fanfic, I found some things about Charles that I feel were not exploited enough. I also leave you some headcanons. Things written on "()" are just opinions. If something is wrong or you have any opinions, please comment, I need all the help possible before start writing sht.
•His mother was about to have twins, but apparently Charles was forced to kill her, so she was born, but died shortly after. (Which may lead Sharon to hate and blame her own son for her baby's death, but rather a distancing of Charles as her son. She may also have suffered postpartum depression. Honestly, we can exploit this more when writing fanfics. Like, I don't know, Sharon seemed unconvinced but tied to Raven because of it.)
•The mutants were not publicly known until the incident in Cuba in the 1960s, when Charles is 30s in the movie, but he manifest as a child of ten depending where you found the info. (Which may put Charles whose mutation is not physical at risk of being taken as a mentally challenged child, especially in the 1940s. I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet, this is something I plan to do in my own fanfic. So Charles may have been treated with experimental or insulin therapy. He easily could be diagnosed with schizophrenia or smt.)
He may have mental health problems, depression and tendency to addictions.
Cain bullied Charles and Kurt may have not only indulged it, but I think he participated in it. Kurt was also abusive to Sharon.
•Charles was part of powerful groups due to his position as a millionaire.
Low level of telekinesis. YES, HE HAS IT OMFG.
Military training and fighting expert.
His dark side is one of the most curious things I've ever read, as he was not only capable (but didn't, I think. I didn't read enough) of it for his personal gain.
•Charles has other abilities, so I will list them all, and I will put the description of the most interesting ones.
•Telepathic Illusions, Telepathic Cloak, Mind Link (He has the ability to develop a mental link with any person which remains as a connection to that individual.), Telepathic Camouflage, Mind Blast, Mind Control (This power could allow him to completely shut down several people's minds, making it appear as if time has stopped.), Mind Possession: Xavier can possess the mind of another and use that being's body as his own.), Mind Alteration, Mental Amnesia,
Psychic Wave Manipulation, Mental Shield, Psionic Blasts (Xavier can project psionic force bolts which had no physical effects but can affect a victim's mind so as to cause the victim pain or unconsciousness and could even kill an adversary.), Mental Detection, Mind Transferal (Xavier possesses the ability to transfer both his mind and powers into other host bodies if his own physical body was somehow killed☠️‼️‼️‼️‼️), Absorb Information, Telepathic Learning, Omnilingual, Astral Projection (Charles can use astral travel and communicate with others astrally through his own will, or through contact with the thoughts and memories of others and more.)
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just like many things I'll start something then toss it aside and we've done this before but here's the protocol: Eel saying she has this file on her computer for a long while now. And she knows she won't get back to this any time soon so here we go
Ok here's some explanation to this whole jazz:
Due to Scratch being like fuchsia blood (because of course) and so the Felt all wear some sort of uniform looking clothes. Tie in to how all wear similar green suits and stuff. And of course their blood colors are placed on them ya know.
(Minus HK posing as an olive as she's a lime, she doesn't have any powers as a lime. Like no ability to shoosh or calm high bloods lol. I just think it's funny and allows for there to be a reason that HK's there. Aka Scratch intimidation, she works as a cleaner so she doesn't have to worry about her getting hurt/blood reveal moment, and she'd rather not get caught by some other trolls or something tee hee)
Here's some silly info: (some stuff has been changed from previous post from some days or month(s) ago)
Heights aren't like up to date as the line up is really just to show their clothes and designs (or lack of)
Matchstick while a burgundy his sign is supposed to also kinda resemble wings. Like it's the most "trust me you gotta squint" sort of shit. But it's cuz I wanna give him a moth (perhaps plus some other animal) sort of lusus cuz hah light. Fire. He extinguishes fire but like haha lusus attracted to the light. and and and and and and and eel is trying her best here
Stitch is the only goldie but it's just funny that not only does he have no psionics to start off with, but also just like his og one eye got fucked up. So even if he did then it's like real weak. Just cuz like eye retina(??) and brain yeah im no surgeon
Sawbucks and Quarters to me are just like the guys who can take a fuck ton of hits? so indigo. yeah. that's all. Like Cans ofc can but I also just think of him more in an offense manner and Quarters takes up the defense
Die gets the cone of shame. fucking loser.
I was entertaining the idea of Clover and HK switching blood colors just cuz I can go "Haha Clover's soooo lucky that he's still alive" yadda yadda. But then, he wouldn't be able to get all weird and freaky with chuckle voodoo stuff. Yeah should he have that access? No :)
I could've made Trace a violet too but I felt like in their sprites, Fin (to me) is much more obvious to being a shark. Like look at that fuckin mug ya know? So i just went with making just Fin a violet.
the idea was to keep it where like there's more lowbloods than highbloods but ya know what. Just realized the only three midbloods I got are fucking Die Crowbar and Snowman. The sequence (ok I'll probably add someone else to the midbloods)
While I could've just made their blood off of like their ball or hat color, I felt like it'd be fun to see what blood color id assign them considering like their attributes or personalities like Itchy to me is an olive as I like to think that olives can be more rowdy or energetic? yeahhh like ofc not all but just for this yes
Also the idea of Itchy being a goldie sounds disastrous
Oh SHIT SAWBUCK IS A TEAL IM CHANGING HIM TO A TEAL OHAGUH
Doze is a burgundy but also like his sign a 2 and and anddd hourglass looking hehehe
Itchy was supposed to look like that dangly bit from the grandfather clock. And the others I gave up trying to implement some time looking reference
I know Snowy's pants are like so obvious cuz hahah spider web haha but BUT I AM SO HAPPY FOR HOW IT LOOKS. LIKE PANTS BUT COULD LOOK LIKE A SKIRT DRESS THING IF STANDING LEGS CLOSED AND AOUGH YEAHHHH
Oh yeah I'll also be adding or trying to come up with their clothes when not in uniform but that's a maybe. Maybe. There's ideas like I got Clover and Fin's but the others? yeah good luck.
Also I just really like ponchos or like the coat duster thingy yeahhhh
Also also PS. if there's like any questions please feel free to ask just cuz there's some other things I wanna talk about but it's either for characters not here or I am blanking
#my art#the felt#itchy#doze#trace#clover#fin#die#crowbar#snowman#stitch#sawbuck#matchsticks#quarters#hk#Intermission But Trolls
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Have You Gorged Yourself, At Last, In Your Lust For Blood?
No, I have not 💕 This is yet another post about the massacre of 1979 and its fucked up blood, because there's just...so much to unpack.
Namely...why does it all feel like one big copy-cat of other attacks...with a dash of Vecna mixed in for the Flavour, the way Klarbrunn tastes like fruit?
My main question for tonight: Where is all the blood coming from?
We know all the Vecna-style attacks are relatively bloodless...and I mean bloodless. He's not messy. The only blood that we see leaving the body is via the eyes. This is consistent.
So where is all this smeary, pooling blood coming from?
There's blood with no associated body, blood near a body that doesn't match that body, and blood near bodies with no visible source for the bleeding:
The only person whose psionic kills get messy, so far, are El's...
But even that doesn't explain the bloody, smeary hand prints and bloody impact marks.
Neither of them leave bloody impact marks. There is no precedent for bloody impact marks anywhere in the show.
Which, this becomes far more interesting when we consider that the blood and the cracks exist separately:
(Which is something Em noticed, and if he hasn't talked about it in depth on here yet I know he's planning to eventually!)
So that brings me back to wondering:
If it isn't tied to the impact, and there's no visible explanation for it...then where did all that blood come from?
This, then led me to pose the question:
Is it possible there's something else going on here...something unrelated to One or El circa 1979?
As we know already, many of El's flashbacks of the 1979 massacre/4.07 are shot-for-shot reused footage from Brenner's recollection of the events as they occurred in 4.01.
There are some original shots, such as this hallway:
(Brenner's recollection vs El's, respectively. Particularly, the orderly in on screen left. He's changed position, and the prop above/beside him has moved.)
But shots like these, for example, are directly copied and pasted from Brenner's memories:
Which then led me to ask: What other memories of El's, Brenner's, or both might be bleeding into NINA, intentional or otherwise?
There's one scene, in particular, which we never see any additional detail for...and I really wish we did.
It's the opening scene for 1.01:
Now, you all also know, I have many questions regarding El's supposed post-gate escape in 1983, the main of which being —
How did she get from this:
To this, the next morning?
We assume she escaped in the confusion re: the gate...which is questionable, given a number of questions and inconsistencies (Such as: What time did she escape, exactly? If it was during that morning's confusion re: the gate, then how did she get that tank open and why did she stop to change her clothes? If it was later that night and she'd been rescued from the tank/her clothes were changed by staff, then how did she manage to get out without being stopped? What were the circumstances? Did she kill her way to the tunnel? If she did, then why does Brenner look to the gate when he says she can't have gone far? )...but that's not what this part of post is about, so I'm setting this aspect aside.
I bring this ^ whole debacle in because these two guys (the guy screen right during the supposed opening of Mothergate and the guy who gets chowed on by what we assume to be the demogorgon) are the same guy...and judging by his outfit and the title cards, the same guy on the same day: The day the gate opened, which is also the day El made her escape.
We see El at Benny's Burgers the next morning, after this guy ^ gets chowed on.
That means at least one version of Brenner and/or one version of El ought to have taped footage, memories, anything for whatever inevitable collateral damage occurred between the moment the gate opened and the moment when this elevator, with the creature in it, went upstairs:
We never see what actually killed this guy, as opposed to what or who he was running from... nor do we ever see what happens when the elevator makes it upstairs.
What, did the demogorgon just teleport in to kill this one guy, and then teleport back out, leaving behind a perfectly good meal (the lab at least has a skeleton crew, we see that in ST2) upstairs? And even if it's the Vecnagorgon...again, teleporting in to kill one guy and then leaving?
I'm calling bullshit.
I want to know how and when our El really escaped, and I want to know what aftermath she and/or Brenner inevitably saw upstairs when the creature in the elevator escaped.
And why do I want to know this?
Because the 4.07 massacre of 1979 is shot, positioned, and painted just like every other creature attack in a lab/prison/hospital.
Russian demodogs, ST2 demodogs...
and as Em pointed out here: the ST3 hospital scene, which I also pointed out as having HNL gown vs General Hospital Gown fuckery.
None of these are Vecna-style attacks. All of them involve a creature. So why are they all so shot-for-shot paralleled to a massacre committed by one human man?
I mean the bodies, the hallways and door...they're nearly identical in every case, for heaven's sake!
Knowing what we know about the blood vs the impact marks (i.e. they are divorced from each other, they exist as separate marks):
Let's ignore the impact craters. Look at how the blood is applied.
It's the same smeary/drippy/sprayed application.
Both the ST2 and ST4 democreature attacks are also coincidentally watched on and/or guided through via security footage, just the same as NINA is guided via security footage (supposedly):
The only creature attack we don't have footage for is the "overwritten" overnight footage from Nov. 6th, 1983:
Truth is? We know just about nothing re: Nov. 6th, 1983.
We don't know what was in the elevator or where it went. We don't know what that scientist was running from. We don't know what the circumstances of El's escape were. We don't know what happened in the lab that day.
But we do know one thing: None of it lines up with what we're meant to assume happened, meaning they're hiding things from us...just the same as they hid the events between Henward leaving El in the store closet and when she leaves to find him.
I'm willing to bet that he knows, though, given the way he stares up at the ceiling of the elevator...
Which is where our lab tech friend was attacked from.
We also have this bloody, unexplained, intruding flashback in NINA:
We're given no explanation, the flashback skips the memories of broken-limbs children in their rooms, it leads directly to that shared creature-attack hallway shot, it's cut with Brenner's flashbacks from within the rainbow room, and it does not appear again in NINA. Anywhere.
All this to say...Who's to say that the missing footage and/or memories from that day in 1983 aren't bleeding into NINA, consciously or unconsciously?
What if all this extra unexplained blood is that memory intruding from either El or Brenner?
#in this house we lurvvvv our creature attacks#el hopper#martin brenner#st nina project#st set design#st costuming#st makeup#stranger things
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Phantom Theives & their personas Headcanons: Powers
When awakening the user gains some subtle abilities withing the real world. For example Joker's third eye.
Most commonly the thieves can use their elemental skills a little in the real world. Ryuji can control electricity, Yusuke with ice, Makoto with nuclear power, ect.
Their personas can also communicate with them telepathically, they can talk to each other too but the user can only hear their respective persona. Each of the Phantom Thieves aside from their skills have unique abilities that cross to the real world.
Ren:
As already mentioned he has his third eye ability which works as it would in the game, but he can also increase it's power to sense things (think of it as Spiderman's spider sense) prolonged use of it however can cause some serious fatigue.
Arsene's curse skills also carry on into the real world, when activated at will Ren can break down anything he touches with just his finger tip. He also gains heightened agility with he gets better control over thanks to "Kasumi's" training. He can hear the voices of other personas he has equipped too, you'd expect that to get rather noisy within his head but Arsene & the others usually keep to themselves for the most part.
Since ice skills are Arsene's weakness, Ren is sensitive to colder temperatures as a result. He gets really cozy at home during winter & fall.
Morgana:
With Zorro Morgana can make gusts of wind and even utilize his healing skills in the real world, albeit they aren't as strong as in the metaverse but he can at least stop an open wound from bleeding. He can also jump higher and much farther than the average cat (as if he wasn't much of a regular cat to begin with XD)
Ryuji:
Surprise, surprise Ryuji can generate electricity at his fingertips or even his whole body if he concentrated enough. It's usually static but he is capable of giving someone a real shock if he wanted to.
He can also jump higher and endure physical hits more. His general speed is increased too but not by much due to his messed up leg.
Ann:
Much like Morgana she can also do some minor healing. Ann can as expected make fire, sometimes when she mad her hair will ignite slightly but go out immediately as she calms down. She's also bothered more by the cold too but she at least has an easier time keeping warm than poor Ren.
Ann has more flexibility than normal which amazes even her when she successfully lifts her leg over her head.
Yusuke:
He's more tolerant to the cold, it's hotter days he suffers a little. Yusuke can create ice and frost at will, he uses this at home during summer. He also has better agility like Ren.
Makoto:
She can harness nuclear force into her fists, metaverse nuclear is not as lethal as real world nuclear (doesn't even involve radiation) she doesn't quite use her ability in the real world as often as the others. Her power can sometimes affect electronic devices when she's in a bad mood (or scared), from causing tv screens to go static to bursting a few nearby lightbulbs. Faint blue markings on her face resembling her mask can appear on her face under uv light, as well as glowing streaks in her hair.
Her physical strength is also increased resulting in stronger than usual punches in the real world.
Futaba:
She unfortunately doesn't have too much going on, being a navi and all but she can sense some things in the real world, much like Ren's third eye but a little weaker.
Haru:
She also has an increase in muscle, moving bags of fertilizer has never been more efficient. As for her psi abilities in the real world that one is tricky to describe, suffice to say she can easily get a better idea as to how some of her friends might be feeling. She is likely to also generate small psionic blasts too.
Akechi:
Akechi can also utilize curse in the real world too like Ren, through thanks to Robin Hood he can also utilize bless as well which in the real world is basically just lighting up a dark space with the palm of his hands. His signature Call of Chaos skill can be used irl too but he's not allowed to do so for OBVIOUS reasons.
Sumire:
She can also create light in her hands, she can also do minor healing as well in contrast to the savage everyday Akechi. XD
#persona 5#ren amamiya#ryuji sakamoto#p5 morgana#ann takamaki#yusuke kitawaga#makoto niijima#futaba sakura#haru okumura#goro akechi#sumire yoshizawa#MY GOD THIS WAS SO DIFFICULT TO TYPE IT ALL
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hi guys, meet the power couple <3<
more info about them under read more:
dazmik (he/him, cis, bi) is a maid of rage! here's some fun bulletpoints i made when conceptualizing him:
nerd, but in a normie way. plays troll valorant.
sport-y, but in a way that he only ever does cardio. Thin and lean.
fairly powerful psionics, mostly uses it to power his gear. Uses the term "battery" for himself as a 'fuck you' to the empire/reclaiming it.
has some moderate anger issues. Pops the fuck off at people and holds a grudge like a bitch.
gets deeply infuriated by injustices and corruption in the world, desiring nothing more than to tear the system down but without any real vision of what to replace it with. (RAAAGE PLAYER HEART EYES)
"bro you haven't heard of (insanely niche indie rock band with 2k views on youtube)??? cmon bro you gotta expand your tastes more lemme send you the blotchify link"
always listening to music, ALWAYS. you can hear it through his headphones. always the most whack shit, never the same genre.
would have a messy car and not be apologetic about it.
his typing quirk is supposed to be a play on the whole "battery" thing, using double AA's to replace his a's and uses AAA when he's yelling or REAAALLY FUCKING AAANGRY!!! + also uses either double or triple sentence enders depending on that.
scorva (she/her, transfem, pan) is a thief of mind! here's her bullepoints:
practices tarot & troll wicca. believes karma manifests itself in real ways, rule of three, etc.
avid writer (mostly smut)
excellent cello player, mostly plays classical music. knows musical theory fairly in-depth, but not a casual enjoyer of music otherwise, would rather spend her time listening to a podcast or audiobook.
kind of a bitch in a "serving cunt" way, has a mean streak.
has probably planned out three different ways to hide your body.
will refer to irl things with fanfiction tropes.
on the occasion that she does exercise, it's mostly weightlifting or strength training (but hates doing it).
paints her nails often, they reflect her mood.
has an immense amount of knowledge about very niche topics, but cannot do long division.
true crime enjoyer (derogatory).
her typing quirk is that while she writes with proper grammar, she will answer everything with 3x longer of wordcount than a normal person because of her use of filler words or excess synonyms that you might find with new/novice writers (me, i'm talking about myself i'm calling myself out). also she uses -this- for emphasis.
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MILGRAM Best Song Tournament, Round 1, Match 4 HALF vs. MAGIC
Propaganda for both options under the cut!
Propaganda for HALF:
kazui may just be an old gay man but HE CAN SING.
its. literally stunning.
like aside from his character and everything else, half is just really really beautifully written
THE INSTRUMENTALS.
HIS V O I C E??? its so pretty
heartbreaking lyrics. i dont love kazui as a character but i have bawled to half
GAY RIGHTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love amane but she will undoubtedly win when her purge march poll rolls around, so lets let the old man have a win shall we?
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half propaganda let's goooo sorry i'm sobern't in true kazui style so this probably won't make a bit of sense
theatre kid man. i love him, incredible mv.
this song is pure ASMR to me
visually aligned with Cat and it's so lovely to see that continuity
the GRAINY MOVIE DOTS THING ON THE MV <3
kazui is so dramatic. i love him i love him
dapper gentleman. such clothes
the key change is so well done
AND THE . THE PART WITH THE. THE ENDING SORT OF LYRICS OVERLAID WITH SPEAKING. and then his quieter singing and, and, and o h my god. im sorry. im not very coherent abt this rn
every part of the song is amazing but once it gets to the key change and after it keeps stepping up the amount of being perfect
kazui is in it
um
kazui is in it
go my psionic warriors vote for everyone's favourite failhusband
no children were tortured in the making of this MV (cough looking at You magic)
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Allow me to present my Half propaganda!
- The slower tempo adds a very relaxing feeling to the song. Kinda ironic, but I like it! It sort of reminds of old indie songs from 2012 (especially with what I think is whistling added in the instrumental in-between chorus and verses.)
- Kazui’s voice. Enough said.
- It’s very easy to listen to, and I find it’s one of the only songs from Milgram that I like to listen to out of context (besides After Pain, Backdraft, and Purge March, oddly enough.)
- The MV is rife with imagery, and is used to beautiful effect. It really makes you feel for Kazui and his situation.
- The scene with him and Hinako before the key change… that makes me so emo.
- The overlapping part at the end… the lyrics combined with the dialogue in the background makes me really sad in a way I can’t explain.
Propaganda for MAGIC:
MAGIC MY BELOVED MAGIC!!! Its one of the best MVs in the entire series, even including T2. Magic is visually stunning and has some fantastic art direction but also is very clever in how it conveys its themes and ideas. Magic doesn't really hide anything from you, not really. It's all symbolic but it Tells You Things. It shows you the abuse, it shows you the cat. There's a fun little relationship going on here where, In Magic. Amane's pain and suffering isn't taken seriously by the people around her and the Audience we are discouraged to take it at face value due to the fictionalized nature of Magic. It's so cool. I'm so fond of the song as well, it's one of the best in the series purely cause of the Layers in it. The implications of this Inability to be good is seeped into Magic. Amane knows this isn't reality, Magic knows it's a show, she watches it at the end. And it's so Sad to me that even in her fictionalized happy world she Cannot be a good girl. It's a standard completely out of reach for her and that idea is just conveyed so well visually.
Im not even talking about the goddamn cat yet- the cat symbolism goes Deep. That cat is HER it has the same wounds Amane has in Purge March. I- I cant talk about the intertextuality of Purge March and Magic here this is Magic propaganda only- I- there's so much good stuff to Magic. I Re watched it over and over again. It has some the Best Writing and Visual Communication in Milgram and I will Die on this Hill.
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shoutout to magic for having pretty props AND being vague as fuck about the crime! diversity win!
seriously though amane looks SO cute in it! the mv has such a pretty and colorful style and even with that it's able to show the horrors of what amane went through.
adding onto my last point. that scene where the cat is hyperventilating and you see the camera shaking???? that scene where the mascots find amane helping the cat and they're all standing over her? CHILLS. im repeating myself but the fact that they were able to portray the awful things amane went through in a genuinely emotional way while still keeping the cute cartoon look is soo impressive
there are SO many layers to itill the entire cartoony style making it look like a tv show… utilizing the cartoony effects and bright colors to show amane downplaying her own pain… the transformation after she gets punished barely changing anything to show just how manipulated she was from the start… ueueueue
ALSO ALSO ALSO THE SCENE AT THE END WITH AMANE STARING AT THE SCENE? OHHH ITS SO GOOD it adds such a feeling of dread and reminds you on top of this whole thing that all of this is truly horrifying! something is going on here!
this song is so catchy it gets stuck in my head CONSTANTLY
"Dear wise one, Am I worthy? Is it ok to spoil myself?" AMANE... UEUEUUEUE
the little ding sound effects in the instrumental?????
amanes voice is ADORABLE
THE INSTRUMENTAL IN THAT PART WHERE SHES HELPING THE CAT HAS THAT GODLY TYPE SOUND YOUD TYPICALLY ASSOCIATE WITH CHURCHES AND STUFF AND I DONT KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN IT PROPERLY BUT JUST RELISTEN TO IT AND YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I MEAN. ITS SUCH A NEAT DETAIL
i could go on about this mv for days but i am not a theorist unfortunately. just. magic sweep
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The definition of home
Saw the epilogue where Gale is still 100% down to marry mind flayer Tav. And so THIS was born.
Pairing: Fem (illithid) Tav/Gale
Tags: Hurt/Comfort, post-game (pre-epilogue), Gale would still love you if you were a worm,
Word count: 4.6K
Summary:
“Have you really thought about the things I cannot give you?”
She reaches out and parts the folds of his mind, her own face impassive and wet through his eyes. “This.” She concentrates, projecting the image of her former self, naked and wanting, into his mind. “Or this.” Another image of her elven body, now heavy with his child. “Or this.” She twists the image until it’s the two of them elderly and grey, their withered hands clasped together.
Such pictures are not hard to conjure for her. Once, they were her own wants, the things she’d dreamed about a lifetime ago now. All the things she can’t be.
After the Netherbrain lay in the Chionthar and they’d found one of the city’s unscathed inns, she’d simply sat in the dark as he slept and contemplated just how truly alien she was compared to him. All the parts of her he’d loved, the places he’d whispered his devotion against– they’d gone. There was nothing left that could fit together, not as lovers should.
Read on AO3 or below
***
She had never thought that she’d call a wizard’s tower her home. Before, they’d seemed like such uninviting places: lofty, solitary and always exuding such an obnoxiously foreboding aura — perhaps to match their owners she’d once presumed.
It turns out, she’d been half right as this particular tower very much matched its owner. Gale had not exaggerated when he’d described its comforts. Every single floor was dedicated to either good literature, good food or good rest — and while it was as cluttered as an addled mind when they’d arrived a few days ago, it had been a strange sort of gift to sort through the mess and dig into the person he’d been before.
It had been a greater gift still to see him so at ease for the first time. Every discarded elixir or scribbled note had a story, one told with bright eyes and eager words- free from the poison of that Netherese orb or the expectations that had once festered so cruelly within him.
Tonight, as with most nights since her arrival, she’d retired to her favourite desk in a comfortable corner of the library. It’s a shadowed spot nestled between towering bookshelves, a thousand tomes watching her like a leatherbound forest as she writes. The window is half open in front of her, Waterdeep itself glinting in blue and silver splendour beyond. Her new city. Her new home.
It’s almost strange how that word has evolved almost as much as she has recently. For most of her life, it had meant the bustle of Baldur's Gate. It’s still somewhere she finds herself thinking of often, the wonky streets, the cobalt waters, how there was such a strong scent of ale and stone and smoke wherever she went.
For a while it had also meant a continuously moving campsite, barely a few paces ahead of the Absolute’s horrors. Those memories of dirt and stale bread and shared bedrolls still bring a joy to her, despite the peril that stains them. They’re pieces of her, pieces that slid into place and changed her down the fabric of her soul.
Even now it’s a little difficult to fathom exactly who she’d been before she’d been abducted.
She looks to the small mirror propped up on the desk, really scrutinising the reflection. All the same elven features stare back, from the sharp angles of her face to the points of her ears — yet there are still details that don’t quite seem to fit properly.
More doubts crop up as she takes in every inch of visible skin. Had she always had this many freckles? Are the scars on her shoulders new or old? Are the shadows under her eyes usually this deep?
Was this the face he fell in love with?
“Have you finished your guest list yet?” Gale calls from closer to the hearth. He’s reclined in an armchair, eyes glued to some massive compendium on psionics he’d picked up almost an hour ago. He waves his hand and the fire blooms brighter, perfuming the air with a stronger scent of bark and spices.
The glow illuminates those handsome features in a softer gold. She feels herself warm a little at the sight.
“Yes. Here,” she replies, picking up the paper next to her and floating it over with a flick of her own wrist.
He cocks his head as it lands between the pages of his book. “This is really everyone you wish to attend?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve put Omeluum and Blurg at the top. I am rather curious as to what the Society would consider an appropriate wedding gift.” He smiles and turns back to his reading. “One would hope for a rare magical artefact of some kind but we may have to be content with an exotic selection of mushrooms.”
“Our correspondence has been a great help to me,” she says, turning back to the mirror and concentrating on how her mouth forms the words. “And they said they’d be delighted to attend under the guarantee they will not be attacked the second they enter the city.”
She can understand their worry. It had scarcely been a fortnight since the city had been saved but the illithid invasion is already legendary news across the entirety of the Sword Coast. She’d seen multiple mind flayer corpses kicked into waiting fires, whispers about parts of their bodies being sold for high prices to wizards and alchemists spreading along every single street.
It scarcely mattered. There was never going to be any outrage over that.
They were monsters after all: soulless, mindless, evil creatures, ready to enslave everyone who didn’t fit their image. After such destruction caused by the Absolute, it would be foolish to not be ready to kill one on sight.
She hears him sigh and shut the book in his lap. “There’s really no one else?”
“I’m very sure that is everyone who will want to come.”
There’s a quiet shuffle and his face appears in the reflection behind her head.
“You know, you really don’t have to do that,” he says, meeting her eyes in the mirror. “I know how much effort it is to maintain.”
“I will need to do so for the wedding. It’s practice.”
He squeezes her shoulder gently. It’s a familiar comfort. “It’s just us, my love. You can be yourself.”
She exhales and closes her eyes, finally pulling her illusion out of both their minds. When she opens them again, her true form looks back. All her bright colours have faded, giving way to taut grey skin, a pulsing stretch of pale brain matter on either side of her head and four long tentacles. The textbook image of a freshly birthed mindflayer.
The slick pebbles of her eyes catch his in the mirror, but he doesn’t flinch.
“There you are,” he says, patting her shoulder again. “Was it tiring to hold it for so long?”
She turns in her chair. “It is just you and I in here. When there are others, it will be harder to distort their perceptions of me.”
“You don’t have to do that for the ceremony either if you don’t want to,” he continues softly, sitting on the loveseat opposite her desk. “I’ve already spoken to several clerics and after a lot of explaining a few of them are happy to-”
“It’s easier this way,” she interrupts. Her voice is stronger now that she’s speaking directly into his mind. The lack of vocal cords had taken a few days to get used to when she’d first transformed but now she can scarcely think of another way of communicating.
He leans forward in the chair. “It’s not about what’s easier. It’s about what you want.”
“What I want is for our wedding to not be interrupted by a group of angry citizens, terrified that there is a mind flayer in their city.” She can almost count the people who know of this tower’s new tenant on one hand, only ever leaving under the cover of night and wrapped in several layers of clothing to hide herself.
Despite Gale’s assurances, she knows she’s not ready to fully explore the city yet and neither are her new neighbours.
His small smile doesn’t fade. “No one is going to hurt you. Plus I think you’re more than capable of defending yourself.”
She nods and floats over to the fire, the flames highlighting the deep grey tracks in her hands. “Perhaps it would not be so bad. I heard that it is good luck to have at least one murder at a Waterdavian wedding.”
Gale chuckles. “I think we already have all the luck we need.”
A long beat of silence passes as she faces him again. She can see another thought twisting in the front of his mind, clear as any parasite. It would be no trouble to reach in and find out for herself, but she stops.
Waiting is the human thing to do , she reminds herself.
“Is there something bothering you about the wedding?” he eventually asks.
“Nothing in particular,” she replies and begins to methodically float various piles of books back to their places on the shelves. “Perhaps only that we do not need such a large cake when only one of us can eat it.”
There’s another moment of quiet, a slightly more uncomfortable one this time. She can feel the way his eyes bore into her, even as she avoids his gaze.
“You’re a poor liar, even now,” he says. The chair scrapes behind her and she hears him pad over. “Can you be completely honest with me please? You haven’t seemed overly enthused about any of this.”
She halts her book sorting. “You want this. I want you to have it.”
“I meant what I said before. We do not need such a ceremony if you’d prefer.” His voice drops when she doesn’t answer, gentle as an embrace. “To many it is an unusual situation, but those that matter will understand.”
“That is not what I am concerned about.”
He closes his eyes. “Then tell me. You are not exactly the open book you were before. Forgive the wording but, I have never found reading someone so tricky.”
“Precisely,” she says, turning to him fully.
She takes his hand in hers, so delicate and pale in comparison to each of her long clawed fingers. It would be so easy to break his skin with but a caress, tear all the soft places to ribbons without even meaning to.
“Gale, are you truly sure that this is everything that you desire? What we have can never be any definition of the word traditional or domestic , at least by the standards of Faerûn. What you want is something you envisioned with my previous self and that is not someone I can become again.” She pulls her hand away, something akin to a sigh projecting from her mind. “It is also not a form I ever wish to return to.”
That was her one fear before evolving — the permanence of it. She could save everyone, save him but forever be branded a monster.
That was before the universe opened like a flower before her eyes.
The moment she changed, all that abhorrence dissolved into astral dust. The walls of her mind opened, possibility upon possibility flowing through her until the bounds of space and thought seemed such novel concepts. Gone were her aches, her bruises and the limitations of such a weak shell, replaced with the thrill of being able to bend the world around her with but a thought.
How could she have ever been scared of these gifts? Of such wild beauty?
But elegance to one can so easily be an atrocity to another. It was the first feeling she’d tasted when her mind had opened, as deep and sour as vinegar.
Part of her still wishes she couldn’t have immediately known that reaction belonged to Gale.
He folds his arms at her words. “I know all that.”
“Have you really thought about the things I cannot give you?” She reaches out and parts the folds of his mind, her own face impassive and wet through his eyes. “This.” She concentrates, projecting the image of her former self, naked and wanting, into his mind. “Or this.” Another image of her elven body, now heavy with his child. “Or this.” She twists the image until it’s the two of them elderly and grey, their withered hands clasped together.
Such pictures are not hard to conjure for her. Once, they were her own wants, the things she’d dreamed about a lifetime ago now. All the things she can’t be.
After the Netherbrain lay in the Chionthar and they’d found one of the city’s unscathed inns, she’d simply sat in the dark as he slept and contemplated just how truly alien she was compared to him. All the parts of her he’d loved, the places he’d whispered his devotion against– they’d gone. There was nothing left that could fit together, not as lovers should.
She’d seen it in his dreams that night too: visions of him pressing his lips to the places that were tulip-soft, tonguing the sweetness of her skin, slipping his hands under swathes of white lace to touch her — each beautiful thought piercing like a needle of ice to her mind.
It was the night she’d wondered if such caresses would feel the same now. The same night she’d realised that illithids cannot cry.
The walls of Gale’s mind suddenly slam down like a portcullis.
“Out!” His shout reverberates around the library as he swipes the air in front of him.
She floats backwards, almost pushed by the force of his thoughts.
“Do not do that again.” he whispers, the words breathy and broken like he’s just taken a blow to the stomach.
She turns her face back to the fire, mind burning with regret.
“I am sorry. I only wished to show you the truth.”
“The truth,” he says flatly. “Do you really believe that I didn’t think through our future? Or rather that I was lying to you and myself when I said that I wanted us to stay together. I’m honestly not sure which of those options is more insulting.”
She sighs and wraps herself in a new form— him, from their first meeting.
“It’s a process known as ceremorphosis and it is to be avoided .” She wags her finger as she speaks in a perfect echo of his voice. “Day one, fever and memory loss. Day two-”
He holds up his hand, cutting her off. “I remember what I said.”
“That was only a few weeks ago. Is it surprising for me to wonder why you have had such a sudden change of heart?” she says, fading back to her illithid form.
“Because of you ,” he answers, exasperated. “You chose this and you saved us, saved everyone .”
She shakes her head. She’d never thought that rationalisations could hurt more than an outright rejection.
“Yes, I was instrumental in stopping the Absolute and it may be the greatest thing I will ever achieve. But awe or gratitude are not reasons you have to stay with me.”
“If I recall correctly, I was also fairly instrumental in that.”
“You also offered up every other option to me evolving, even using the orb,” she continues, suddenly finding it hard to keep her voice so even in his mind. “And I am not sure whether your own death being preferable to this or you still hanging on for Mystra’s forgiveness feels worse.”
She immediately tastes his hurt at her words.
Mystra isn’t someone they’ve discussed much since her arrival here, but it is not something she can simply cast a veil over and forget. His previous lover was a Goddess , a being described as more wondrous than the light of the weave itself, beautiful and terrible as a storm.
The very statue of Mystra herself had once sat at the desk she now calls her own, a cruel and shapely reminder of what she has to live up to.
It had tactfully been moved one morning before she could blast it into a thousand pieces.
“Do you really believe that is what I was thinking?” Gale utters after a moment. His expression splinters like glass in front of her, the frustration around him turning colder- hurt.
She immediately wants to take it all back. She wants to lie and say she was angry and jealous and pave over this whole evening with a sweeter candied drawl about the wedding.
She fights it, knowing this conversation is long overdue for them both.
“The more foolish part of me wants to say no. But I cannot,” she says as calmly as her mind will allow.
She holds back her power as much as she can as he silently processes her answer. She can see the feelings churning behind his eyes, but it feels wrong to sip them now. She can handle his anger, his realisation, his wish for her to leave– but not his pain.
“Tell me the truth in its entirety, regardless of what you believe my feelings will be,” she urges gently. “Regret will fester between us otherwise.”
He runs a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. “The only regret I have is not realising sooner that her forgiveness boiled down to me blowing myself up at a more convenient time,” he finally says in a firm whisper. “I didn’t care a jot for it then and I do not now.” When he opens them again, there’s a stronger look set there. It pins her to the spot as he takes a step forward.
“The truth in its entirety, very well. You already know that when we first set out, our main objective was to stop this very thing from happening, so of course I was scared when you chose it. In all my studies on ceremorphosis, the same thing was emphasised repeatedly: that the host is completely destroyed, soul and all. What remains is merely a husk and there is nothing left of the person they were.” He pauses and takes a shakier breath. “Even if it damned the world, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you.”
The air feels somehow quieter as his confession hangs between them. She stays silent, waiting for him to gather himself.
“But that didn’t happen,” he continues, his voice a little more resolute. “It took a minute, but after you changed I could see it. You still looked at me the way that you did before. You even made a joke about wanting to taste smoother brains than mine,” his smile softens, eyes glossier the firelight. “Perhaps you are a new kind of illithid, or maybe there is even more we need to learn about them. But I can definitely say that I never thought that a mind flayer could feel ashamed.”
She bristles a little. “I am not ashamed.”
“Then why are you trying so hard to push me away?”
She looks back to her desk, the reflection of their strange pairing shadowed in the mirror. “I will not be the reason you cannot have everything you want.”
He grabs her hands as she begins to float away.
“I have said it before. I am many things, but I’m not coy nor am I a liar. I made a promise that you will always be enough for me. That has not changed and it never will.” He strokes her palms in a familiar pattern and memories of her sitting with him in star-spun visions of the outer planes drift to the front of her mind. She holds onto the image, remembering the warmth on his face when he’d told her the first time, the light and love so clear in his eyes.
It’s the same look he has now, the same feeling unfurling hot and unyielding in the pit of her stomach.
What she’d give to hold onto it forever.
“I doubt this was what you imagined when you made that vow,” she answers quietly. Her tentacles shiver as she moves her head as if to prove her point.
They both look down at their joined hands for a moment, before he brings one to his mouth and presses a long, warm kiss to her wrist. “You can pry into my mind and seek my true feelings on the matter if you wish, but after everything that has happened to us, there are really only two questions I have about your new form.”
He lets go of her hands and lightly cups her shoulders.
“Firstly, do you love me?”
Her head snaps up. “Of course I do.” Her response is immediate, the airiness of her voice almost breaking at such a thought.
After all she’s said tonight, she knows it is not a completely unfair question to ask, but hearing even the tiniest curl of doubt in those words feels like a greatsword carving straight through the space where her heart once lay.
“Before, I always believed that illithids were simply not capable of any type of real emotion, other than mindless obedience I suppose. But I could not have been more wrong.” She looks down at herself as she speaks, taking in everything from her feet hovering a few inches from the ground to the pinkened tips of her tentacles. A monstrosity through and through, but one that she’s proud to be.
“I know it can be hard to see. My face is… grotesque to many and emotions can be difficult to show when you lack even the basic attributes to form a smile. I will never sing nor weep nor kiss again but that does not mean the desire to do so has left me. And the feelings I had for you, they too have evolved with me.” She pauses, trying not to stumble under the intensity of her words. “I did not realise that love could run this deep inside of me. I can remember everything so clearly : the strength of your passions, the beauty of your kindness, all you are, all you have done for me. There is not a second I do not hold dear.” She hesitates as she reaches up, still so keenly aware of the razor-sharp claws protruding from each finger. He meets her halfway instead, leaning in to press his cheek to her palm.
It’s such a simple gesture, one she’d done maybe three dozen times when she was still elven. It’s a stronger feeling now – every sensation against his skin settling firmly into her memory.
“Gale, it is no exaggeration when I say that you are everything .” She traces the familiar trail from his eye to his neck as she speaks, where the edges of the orb had once cracked his lovely face like porcelain.
He leans into the touch, just as he had three dozen times before. “And now that you’ve had time to settle into this body, even with the tentacles and the talons, do you still feel like you ?”
It’s the question she had pondered herself for weeks now, one that she’d already been asked repeatedly by practically everyone… everyone but Gale.
And for the first time, she has a firm answer.
“Yes, I do,” she says, pressing each word clearly into his mind. His face breaks into a wider smile as she looks back up, one that she wants to paint her dreams with should she ever remember how to sleep.
“It is curious in some ways,” she continues, “I do not feel as if anything has been taken from me, rather added– perhaps because I have no higher purpose to serve as the rest of my kind do. I am no slave, no thrall and I have no wish to conquer this world, at least no more than before.” She huffs out a small laugh, the first in what feels like a lifetime. “The desires I had then are still those that I want now.”
“And what are they?” Gale asks, still resting his face against her hand.
She pats his cheek. “ You ,” she gestures around them with her other hand. “This.” She looks to the window, watching the nighttime bustle of Waterdeep gleaming below. “And perhaps more adventuring when the time is right.” When that time may be she isn’t sure, but she knows she wants it – wants it all. She wants to feel every inch of the Sword Coast against her skin, seek new ways to use her mind, love in every physical and abstract way she can fathom until both of them have experienced all joys and pleasures possible between them.
“That sounds perfect to me,” he says, twisting to kiss the palm of her hand.
She sinks into the feeling of his lips for a long, wonderful second before letting go. “You really do not think that you will ever wish for more?”
She already knows his answer. She can taste it in the air between them- rich and sweet like honeyed wine. Perhaps there is still some shred of her old mind that lingers, one that wants to hear him say it one more time.
He hums for a second before gently gripping one of her tentacles.
“You are the person I love. The person I want to be with,” he says, his hand leaving a pleasurable warmth as it slides up the length of her. She doesn’t notice the lower portion reflexively curling around his arm until his face is but a hair’s breadth from hers. “It is true that this has required a bit of an adjustment. Our relationship will be one of the mind for the most part, but there’s more than one way to be a family… and to be intimate.” He bends down, letting his lips follow the trail of his hand until they rest against her forehead.
“I doubt the world will ever fully accept this.” Her voice wavers with an unfamiliar pleasure as he continues his slow exploration of her.
His answering laugh tickles her skin. “As if I give a damn what the world might think. To know that you care for me is the only reassurance I’ll ever need.”
He leaves a lingering kiss between her eyes and the whole room blooms in pink around her.
“Thank you, ” she says as does it again.
“For what, my love?”
She presses her forehead back in her own imitation of a kiss. “For everything. For opening your home to me.”
He looks down with heavy-lidded eyes. “Home is with you: wherever that is, in whatever form that is. And you should never, never doubt that.” He leaves one last kiss against her face before stepping away.
“Plus, I never realised how fascinating the field of psionics could be!” She quickly pulls her tentacles back as he grabs the book he’d been reading. “You are a veritable treasure trove of discovery– that the power of the mind can rival the weave itself in certain ways has made for such an amazing study. Texts on the subject are fairly rare and, as I have come to realise, inaccurate. Not many have had the privilege to see the power up close and I’ve already got several papers planned on the subject.” He turns back to her, his expression softer. “Provided you would be my co-author, of course.”
She drifts over, studying the masses of notes scrawled in the margins of the text. “Dekarios & Dekarios,” she muses. “We would certainly leave quite the author’s note. But I believe it would be best to have the wedding first or I fear you will be too distracted to plan such festivities.”
He chuckles and carefully puts the book down. “True. In that case, I suggest we return to that at once.” He pulls another chair up to her desk, smiling as he gestures to the empty one next to him. “Shall we?”
--
It quickly becomes an open secret in Waterdeep: the wizard and his illithid companion. Questions fly as to the true nature of their partnership, of the work they do, the ways such a being is kept satiated in the city.
And if they are spotted on the evening streets or in the quieter corners of the Yawning Portal, the same answer is always given by both of them.
Their tower is open to any who seek knowledge. Simply knock and be welcomed into their respite from the bustle of the city.
Their office. Their oasis.
Their home.
***
I take back what I said before, THIS is the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written.
#bg3#gale dekarios#gale of waterdeep#baldur's gate 3#baldurs gate 3#bg3 gale#my writing#gale#Gale would still love you if you were a worm
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CHERIK FIC RECS
Angst (multiple levels of angst)
too close to the sun, by joshriku: 3, 683 words, charles pov, canon compliant to Jean Grey #1 (2023) (i think it's better to read the issue first, but it's not really necessary)
Jean Grey erases Magneto's mind - or so she thinks. When Charles finds his body, he brings it back to the mansion, and begins the arduous task of putting Erik's mind together. Of course, when it comes to Erik and persevering, it's always a lot more effective than he expects.
To Breathe Again (Impossibilities Remix), by Unforgotten: Erik's pov from the original movies timeline. The old men are old!!! It's a 3,879 words oneshot and it's beautiful
After Liberty Island, you think you must have burned that bridge at last. After Alkali Lake, you're even more certain. What once seemed so easy is now an impossibility, and the dream that once plagued you no longer comes.
Then Charles dies and you know: Going home was never truly impossible until now.
This is not easily described by a single genre methinks
superposition, by borninsideatornado: The racer car driver au! This one has some angst yes, but it didn't feel right to put it in the angst category bc there's so much more to it! This story is about healing. It's also about racing cars. And it's also a romance ! Charles and Erik have an amazing dynamic, but then so does Erik and Emma, Erik and Pietro (the father and son are father and son'ing!) and the entire team tbh. Really fun to read!
erik is a race car driver coming off the worst year of his life. charles xavier may be his last hope.
Time to Grow, by zarah5: 20K oneshot, Charles pov. Fluffy fix-it
In which you'll find chess dates which aren't dates (or maybe Charles is wrong about that). -- Based on First Class, this turns (slightly) AU during the beach scene.
Comedy
Fathers and sons, by M_Leigh: 6K oneshot, Hank pov. So fucking funny
“I have an – interest – in Peter Maximoff,” Erik said, somewhat grudgingly, glaring. “A – familial – interest –”
Everybody stared at him.
“In that – mutantkind is one – large – family –” Erik said valiantly, if pathetically.
“Oh, shit,” Alex said. “No way. No way.”
i guess i should say thanks or some shit: au but they do have powers, 17K oneshot, charles pov
believe it or not, charles has a well-thought-out moral philosophy. he doesn’t follow it. but he has thought it out.
alternatively: charles and erik douche it up in amsterdam
Frosted hearts, by aesc & palalife: 29K oneshot, multipov, the main focus is cherik, and it comes with art!
Emma Frost has 99 problems, but a date ain't one. Specifically, she has no time to play the dating game--which is fine with her, because she'd much rather run it instead. From a set of sleek, silver and white offices on Fifth Avenue and with her trusty, stylish, and silent partner Janos Quested, Emma has built Frosted Hearts into New York City's premiere dating service, built on the principle that money, and a sufficiently rigorous psionic scan, can, in fact, buy you love.
Somewhere in Frosted Hearts's server is one Charles Xavier, genius and geneticist, with the kind of nicely-starched good looks that sell well on brochures for New England prep schools. He's also a telepath who's decided to give up pursuing serious relationships and instead spend his thirties doing what he should have done as a teenager: have a lot of sex with random people. Fortunately for him, Erik Lehnsherr, metallokinetic and engineering executive, has absolutely no time in his heart or his schedule for anything more serious than... well, absolutely nothing romantic at all.
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I was thinking about Duergar after listening to Critical Role S1. I don’t care too much for the blatantly evil brush they used but I still want them to be antagonistic. Reading the Explore D&D article on them I took that and looked for inspiration. I thought a blend of the paranoid police state of Stalinist Russia with the political intrigue and back stabbing of imperial Rome. Vast underground cities of brutalist architecture. A culture of conformity, order and a nihilistic outlook. Atheist philosophy cults of the forge or other practical oriented ideologies. Power by any means is a virtue in this society so mages and warlocks are also prevalent. Holidays and celebrations are scheduled well choreographed events. Individuality is scorned. Even hair styles and clothing are limited and enforced by literal fashion police. Gulags are kept well stocked with routine purges of dissidents and a thriving slave trade. All this keeps their cities nearly impenetrable but also undercuts their expansion. Trade with the outside does exist but it’s extremely bureaucratic. They make FANTASTIC concrete.
Footnotes on Foes: Duergar
The problem with the grey dwarves is that they're a little too close to their surface world counterparts compared to the other underdark Wario fantasy races. There's a literal night and day difference between elves and drow , humans and grimlocks, and to a lesser extent gnomes and svirfneblin, but if you looked at surface dwarves (traditionalist, work in metal and stone, warriror culture) there's really nothing all that different about the Duergar other than a grabbag of magic powers and the Duergar being SUPER assholes all the time, while surface dwarves are only assholes some of the time.
I’ve tried a few different versions of the duergar in my writing including mercenary legions of migratory exiles hunting through the underdark looking to conquer territory, and willing collaborators and footsoldiers for illithid colonies, but I think this ask specifically gave me something cool to work with: A focus on Psionics is what ahould seperate the duergar from regular dwarves, with the totalitarian state described above ramped up to its fantasy world extreme by the fact that the secret police can read your mind, and if they can’t find evidence of thoughtcrime they can use mindfuckery to put it there. The social conformity is seen as a way of detecting rebellious thoughts as if they were social contagion.
This also gives the grey dwarves a distinct aesthetic that is separate from vanilla dwarves: Crystals, be they shaped into weapons or architecture or floating about the heads of psionic casters, which goes to supplement their already textual psychic powers. As an added means of differentiating them, talk about how duergar metalwork is shit, soldiers wearing slave-foundry pig iron while their commanders wield elegantly carved sceptres of nightmare infused rock.
Also, just to have a bit of fun, have the duergar low-key anxious about the existence of the sky, to the point where many of them believe it's a myth made up to scare them as children.
Hooks:
Despite the draconian control they keep over their own populace, the rigors of living in a realm of ever shifting stone require the Duergar to utilize numerous means to secure the territories around their grim cities: Fortress outposts built to control passage in and out of their cavernous realms, psionicly propelled vessels of iron plate that prowl great tunnels like levitating battleships, treaties and client-state contracts with rival and subjugated creatures set up as buffers. Travelling through underdark controlled by duergar is a different sort of dangerous then normal travel in the below.
Escaping from prison before she could be lobotomized, a powerful psion has made it to the surface world with a gang of fellow thought-criminals, working as mercenaries using their unusual skills and eventually forming a rivalry with the party.
The earth writhes. A series of violent quakes cause damage in several cities across the kingdom, setting off numerous small disasters and the appearance of subterranean monsters that'll keep the party and the powers that be busy for weeks. When the cause is eventually determined, it's discovered that in a hunger for more pisonically charged crystals, a duergar warlord has awoken a primordial which now thrashes against its restraints and shakes the world as its pained excavation continues.
Art
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A Re-Imagining of The Emperor’s Romance Scene
This is a work in progress and an excerpt of a longer piece I’m working on that I wanted to share during Emperor Week, but was too busy to get around to it. The longer piece is a re-imagining of the Baldur’s Gate 3 narrative, and this scene is a re-imagining of the romance scene with the Emperor. Sarai is the “Tav” character, and to give a little background on her: she knows little of her birth family, but she was born with some innate divination magic that she has somewhat learned to wield. She also possesses a bound weapon - a glaive - that she was told once belonged to her mother. She’s been developing her tadpole powers under the Emperor’s guidance, and in my head cannon, that development is causing faint changes to her appearance even before the astral tadpole. This scene takes place in the astral prism between Sarai and the Emperor.
NSFW, however, there’s nothing particularly graphic and there are no trigger warnings I can think of that I need to add. Approximately 1,800 words.
“There’s more to this prism than what you can feel. Than you can sense.” Sarai meets your gaze. Though subtle, the undeniable pulse of psionic energy leaves dark traces beneath her ashy skin, awakened from your connection. “There are memories here, an entire history. I felt it the moment I entered this prism for the first time. It’s taken me some time to unweave the strands of its essence from the psionic energy of this place, from the consciousness of the gith, but it’s unmistakable now. I can show it to you, if you like?”
You regard her curiously. The unusualness of her mind, that awareness you felt when you first connected has gnawed at you since. You have yearned to explore it, to know its secrets, but such excavating would endanger her. As resilient as a mind can be, it can also be remarkably fragile. Burrowing deep into its recesses could harm her, could break her. While such hungry digging would satiate your own illithid desires, the cost is too great. You know this from her. From Belynne.
“Open your mind to me.” There’s an intensity to her dark eyes, and you pause for a moment as you consider her offer. She has spent many nights in the prism with you learning, through your guidance, to focus the power the tadpole gives her. You have felt its power grow, but even then the depths of her mind remained walled off from you. Not all minds are easily accessed, but what superficial connection you have made thus far has only deepened your hunger for more. You carefully relax the edges of your mind, and your body follows in response. You notice a deep intake of breath from Sarai as she feels the edges of your mind connect with hers, and she focuses on a deep undercurrent of energy. Waves of it wash across her skin and yours, gentle at first, chilly, then growing in force. You sense a presence distinct from Sarai’s and distinct from the gith whose consciousness is subjugated by yours. There’s a power seeping into the very rock beneath your feet, and you see flashes of fertile land, mist from a waterfall floating above the rocky shore of a river, and an endless night sky, serene and uniform.
She is becoming a conduit.
A great power floods your essence and you feel the weight of a crown upon your head. This is your realm. Your very thoughts, your will touch and penetrate the landscape drawing on an ancient arcana, grounded and heavy. Your hands are no longer your own, but pale, spindly, and adorned with jewels. You hold in your hand a glowing disk carved with ancient runes you do not recognize, but its magic courses through you as you seek to bend it to your will. You seek to bend it in desperation, but it’s too late. You feel the rock beneath you fracture and the sky flash and split, blinding you with the white hot intensity of a sun. For a fraction of an instant your body feels the coming heat, then an endless darkness.
You’re thrown back into your own body, Sarai’s mind now severed from yours. The dark pulses beneath her skin recede as the waves of energy once washing over your skin evaporate leaving only the lingering memory of their touch. You feel Sarai’s hand on your shoulder as if to steady you.
“I’m fine,” you tell her.
That same intensity has not left her gaze. “I know.” There’s a hint of amusement in her voice. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I was just…” she pauses for a moment, “checking on you.” She removes her hand from your shoulder and turns to the expanse. “It’s incredible isn’t it? This place has lost none of its beauty even in its destruction.” Her tone becomes wistful and distant. “Memories fade with time, whether they are the memories in our own minds or the memories of a place. It takes powerful magic, or a powerful event, for such memories to linger at all.”
A moment of silence passes, broken only by the distant crackling of the red-yellow glow in the starry sky beyond. You look to the woman by your side, a formidable fighter, your sword, your ally in this fight for the fate of Fea’run, for your fate. She has opened her mind to yours, a mind you have grown most fond of, her company something you had not thought possible. You turn your body towards her as she gives you a curious look, turning to meet you. As formidable as she is, stronger and taller than most women, you still tower over her, but she shows not a hint of fear. You haven’t decided if she is foolish, or if she knows something you don’t. Perhaps it is something else entirely? This moment may not come again.
“The moment we met, and every moment since, I knew your mind was truly something special. I didn’t know what I expected when this mission began, but one thing I did not expect,” you notice Sarai’s head cock every so subtly to the side, “was how much I would enjoy your company. I have felt your potential, helped you harness it, and you have shown me the uniqueness of your gifts.” You sense Sarai straighten, not with fear or guardedness, but with curiosity. You turn your wrist and summon a small tadpole into your palm. “We are up against a great evil, but together we can face it, destroy it forever. Your magnificent gifts could be greater still for the fight that is to come for all of us. If you let me, I can evolve you.”
She regards the tadpole with hesitation, keeping her hands to her side. “What is it?”
“It’s a mind flayer tadpole crystallized from millennia in the astral plane, absorbing its energy, its power. It wants to evolve, but it cannot do so alone. It must commune with another. I have had the pleasure of studying your mind, of seeing what you can do, what you’re capable of. I believe I can help you fulfill your latent illithid potential if you let me.”
“How so,” she was quick to ask.
“Before the outward transformation of ceremorphosis, your body begins to connect. Your mind penetrates every part of you. I remember this feeling from my own evolution. I have been nurturing this tadpole, studying it to make it safe. I believe I can unleash your potential without turning you. There will be some physical alterations, but only partial. As we’ve explored your potential, I can see the power you harness pulsing under your skin. You’ve seen it, too. This will make that more potent, but I will not let you transform. Only the tadpole in your head can do that, and I will not allow that to happen.”
***
You feel a faint caress at the edges of your mind as you meet the Emperor’s eyes. It’s warm and excited, like the feeling of anticipation.
“Open your mind,” his voice deep and soothing. “You already know how.”
The tadpole yearns and aches for your connection. It’s starved and lonely. There was a time not long ago when you would have violently rejected such an offer and squashed whatever gift this was beneath your foot, but you find yourself meeting the rush of the Emperor’s anticipation with your own, closing your eyes and letting down your defenses. You feel a cold surge of energy run through your limbs, its intensity bordering on the edge of pain, connecting every joint, every muscle and organ with your thoughts, your consciousness. You flex and release your fingers. They’re tight as raw energy courses through them, but then the feeling settles leaving your body awakened, your skin pimpled, this change, dark and branching, is now written across your flesh like ink on parchment. The vicarious power you feel when you connect your mind with the Emperor’s is now yours.
“You are exquisite.” You feel a rush of warmth with the Emperor’s words. His warmth. “You know,” he pauses momentarily as though to consider his next words. “I have felt for some time that you and I have been dancing our way towards something deeper. We are more alike now than we have ever been. If you want, we could… further deepen our relationship.”
You feel your own warmth rise to meet his. “Are you trying to seduce me?” You notice his breath quicken with your words.
“Would you like that?”
You nod as a smile curls on to your lips, and you warm with another rush of feeling, the Emperor’s feeling, palpable and hotter this time, tingling down into your loins, and rising to a gentle fullness in the center of your chest. With a graceful flourish of the Emperor’s wrist your body becomes weightless, rising to meet his gaze. Within inches of his face your breath merges and you notice the familiar scent of vanilla now with a mellow hint of garlic. You touch the cold chitin of his armor with your fingertips, searching for a seam.
“Remove this. I want to see you.” Much like the magic of your weapon when you beckon it to your grasp, the carapace dissolves before you, allowing your fingertips to caress his chest. As you brush your fingers across his skin you feel a gentle caress cross yours. You take a deep breath to open your mind to the feeling, and your skin pimples under the sensation. The Emperor’s lower tentacles curl and rise towards your face stroking your cheek and the other cradling the back of your head. You take one in hand to meet your lips and mouth, evoking from him a deep guttural moan. You pause and notice his face relax, the severity of his brow softening under your touch. You bring his tentacle once again to your mouth. His fingers tense and release as he lets out another guttural moan, his breath quickening even more, your heart racing in response. You know he feels your desire, your heat, your own aching, and you feel your clothing loosen and open as its ties unravel at the Emperor’s thoughts, and the fabric used to hold your breasts in place during battle unwraps and falls away. The Emperor’s hands seize your hips as his tentacles wrap around your waist, your back, and between your thighs. You open your mind and his pleasure washes over you, and yours over him, and within both of you all at once. Every wave of feeling runs deeper. Every barrier to the other’s mind willingly flexes, then gives. Every point of flesh held to flesh, and limb intertwined with limb knows the absence of physical barrier. For these moments, there is nothing else, not even the space between one another. You are unbound and lost.
#emperor week#baldur's gate 3#the emperor#fanfic#the emperor bg3#the emperor week#romance#literally first post on Tumblr ever and it’s squid sex#wip
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Kinda fucked up stuff nobody talks about in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
1) Dark Samus is capable of individual spaceflight. This is implied in the bonus end cutscene of Echoes, but confirmed in the Pirate Data in Corruption. At one point she leaves the Pirate battleship Colossus and just... goes to Phaaze? On her own? The log mentions she is gone for a long time, but AU 242 states that Phaaze is too far away for even conventional warp travel - this implies Dark Samus is also capable of either a HUGE warp factor (unlikely) or can create similar, but probably much smaller-scale wormholes to the Leviathans (more likely, but still very scary).
1a) Dark Samus’s psionic influence is strong enough to reach out to Samus all the way from the Pirate Homeworld (where she appears emerging from stasis in the very first intro cutscene) even before Samus is corrupted. There’s loose implication throughout the series that Samus is psionic-sensitive but not really capable of communication on her own, but we get confirmation that Dark Samus becomes a (powerful) telepath in the Pirate Data in Corruption.
2) The Galactic Federation are extracting fuel gel from Bryyo in the midst of an ongoing tribal war. A huge philosophical and societal schism tore Bryyo apart, literally and figuratively - the Lords of Science and Primalists battled for control of the planet and their war scorched the environment, leaving only a small habitable band around the equator. And the GF are just casually extracting resources from this planet, which nominally is still home to a population of sentients. According to the Bryyo Data logs, by the present time the Primalists have become “as savage as the predator beasts of the wild” but they’re obviously still capable of organization and tool use so they’re not animals. And this has been going on for a while, Federation data notes that Bryyo was discovered about a decade ago. It’s possible they made some initial efforts to keep peace and broker the establishment of their extraction sites, but no such negotiations or any relationship between the Reptilicus and the Federation are discussed in any scans as far as I can find.
3) Samus missed direct contact with the Elysians, a mechanical race created by the Chozo, by two weeks. Some quick math yields that the Federation came to Elysia about 15 years ago and brokered peace with the Elysian mechanoids, and Elysian logs mention watching the Phazon Crisis in real time: seeing a Leviathan strike a planet (either Urtraghus or Aether, probably the former) about 5 months before the game’s events, another leviathan striking their own planet only a month before, and a specific callout to the two week period after impact before Ghor appeared and was subsequently corrupted. The logs are written by an Elysian who has accepted their destruction either by phazon corruption or at the hands of the Pirates. We don’t know if there are any surviving Elysians still in stasis.
4) There are, according to scans and one of the Metroid Prime 3 promo trailers, thousands of Aurora Units in existence, all produced within the last 20 years. The highest number mentioned in canon is in Corruption, AU 486, which is credited with terraforming the planet Norion; an incredible technological undertaking. (Given that there are so many but we only have numbers up to the 400s, it’s possible that the more “civilian” units, those mentioned to be in government and business, might have a separate numbering scheme, or go by other names/designations.) AUs are huge and hyperintelligent synthetic organisms, but we don’t know what they’re grown from, or where, or how they are instructed and socialized. It’s also loosely implied (at least to my reading, and by several close associations with the Chozo-made Mother Brain) that the Aurora network hinges on their psionic as well as digital capabilities, hence 313′s ability to interface with Phaaze with minimal additional hardware.
4a) Assuming the Aurora network became corrupted remotely, this implies that the “virulent strain of phazon” that is responsible can be transmitted digitally, or possibly manifested psionically, in a target. Essentially, being in network-contact with AU 313 may have caused other Auroras to essentially psychosomatically infect themselves, with no transfer of actual physical phazon material.
#sable has a take#sable talks about games#metroid#metroid series#metroid prime corruption#dark samus#repcilicus#galactic federation#aurora units#samus aran#skytown#elysia#links in post
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