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teeldaa · 28 days

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so i was looking up datamined content from early access and wanted to rant and talk about some of the changes Ketheric and Shar His story was changed twice!in both ea version he was a moon elf chosen of shar(he had nothing to do with Myrkul),in the first version Halsin accidentally killed Isobel and that pushed ketheric to release the shadow curse, nightsong was an avatar of shar

this is the original nightsong,a necromancer called "sevryn"(beta version of balthazar?!) had quest for the player to kill her with a dagger that absorbed her power,but if you saved her she could become a camp follower,here's some of her lines

"Shar is the Nightsinger, and I am her Nightsong." "I am her instrument, transforming the faithful into Shadows." "I drink their sorrow, their loss, their grief,then I vomit it back into the world." "I was captured, by Ketheric Thorm - Shar's chosen.He turned me into this creature." "I want to sing my own song, not Shar's, not Ketheric's!"

you can listen to her datamined voice lines here and here's a video about that version in the second version Ketheric turned away from Selûne when Isobel was still alive in that version it was Balthazar who killed isobel then framed Aylin as her murderer there was this isobel's line "I was dead, Aylin. For so long. It was Balthazar - he trapped my soul, he-" and Aylin's line "It is why I couldn't leave your body, even when they came. Balthazar and that Sharran witch told your father that I was to blame." and one Ketheric's line @ Aylin"You killed my daughter, then you stand before me and lie? I'll see you suffer tenfold what my Isobel did."(source) i think being recruitable kinda make sense for this version of Ketheric because he was being manipulated by Balthazar and Shar btw here's ketheric and isobel's datamined models(source)

so act 2 was all about the conflict between Selune and Shar and they just slapped myrkul in there last minute?! so Ketheric being a sharran and a chosen of absolute means shar was somehow supposed to involved with the absolute plot(that why shadowheart and her fellow sharran went and stole the artifact)

Daisy,The Urges,Orpheus and The Emperor Daisy was the early access version of dream visitor and every companion used to have their own unique daisy(everyone had the same dream except Astarion)"Down by The River"and"The Power"used to be about daisy there were "urges" in early access that wanted you to kill Daisy Orpheus was in the artefact but he wasn't chained up,he was supposed to be the one who helped you and shielded you from the absolute instead of the emperor.He probably had a way bigger role there is a misconception that original tav was meant to be a bhaalspawn which is straight up false,the dreams and the urges from early access only accrued if you used your illithid power (using them originally meant to have severe consequences) i know some people say daisy was supposed to be a manifestation of the tadpole that was trying to turn you and your party into mindflayers but i don't think it was ever confirmed what daisy or those urges were,i could be wrong but i remember it was datamined that both the Absolute and Orpheus used the Daisy persona...idk i know some people are gonna be like"dream guardian is better,Daisy was creepy/obviously evil"but Daisy only appeared if you used your illithid power,plus you could just reject them...or even kill them

as for the emperor,at first i thought he was just a replacement for Daisy and Orpheus but apparently no!i was watching Harbs Narbs talking about bg3's magic the gathering cards,when he saw the elder brain's card he said"could this be the emperor?"

Cazador and The Butcher …they basically cut everything...(source of datamined lines) so there was this character called "the Butcher"(who was one of the chosen/leader of absolute)who asked you to find his apprentice "Ohler" in Baldur's Gate's graveyard and bring him back a flask(?!),he was the leader of a skeleton faction(their faction was called TadpoledSkeleton)their concept art is still in bg3 artbook

i'm guessing this butcher guy was supposed to be the original Armored male elf chosen of myrkul?!ohler was caught by an ancient and powerful vampire called"the alluring"

you could side with the butcher and bring him back his flask,then he proposed to turn you into an undead,but if he allowed him to performe the ritual to turn you undead he also would try to make you his puppet. if you managed to break free of his control and you had to fight him. To kill him permanently you had to destroy his phylactery,otherwise he would resurrects every time. or you could side with Cazador,he wanted the butcher guy dead

btw i was looking at bg3 art book pdf i found these on cazador's page

is that what he originally was supposed to look like?!the scythe...ugh it looks so cool the other interesting thing is apparently other spawns were somehow okay/happy with their situation

the other thing i wanted to mention is i think Cazador was originally supposed to be a half elf,the language Cazador uses is Kozakuran,The Kozakurans were a human ethnicity The Creche vs The Cult of the Absolute (source) there was supposed to be a fight between the absolute cultist(led by Orin and the butcher)vs the creche(and some sort of team up between lathander priests and githyanki)

you could side with the absolute,they wanted to stop Kith'rak Voss from returning to Vlaakith,here's some of the butcher's lines

and orin's

and this orin badass moment,i'm still salty they cut this for the full release...

or you could side with Voss and helped him escape(i suggest you watch the source video,there's so much more there)

some other stuff there was some datamined stuff bout the city here and here i don't get it...why did they change so many good stuff,Ethel's nephew and hag coven,Raphael's original deals,Zevlor plot twist and...are all gone at first i thought they"cut"those content due to time restriction or resource constraints but that's clearly not the case,There is a clear change in direction,i think what they were originally going for was"choosing the lesser of two evils"then they decided to go with more generic route of good vs evil! bg3 was released in August 2023,larian was looking for beta testers for Acts 2 & 3 in july 2022 idk maybe if they didn't rewrite the companions to be less mean/evil and didn't add halsin and dark urge they could have finish the game?!

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kopykunoichi · 1 month

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Refresher for the people still confused about this...

In a galaxy far, far away, EVERYONE has midi-chlorians in their blood. The Force resides in all living things. It binds the whole galaxy together. Midi-chlorians are what allow beings to commune with the Force. The more midi-chlorians you have, the more potential you have to RESPOND TO and WIELD the Force. But notice that Asajj couches her statement with the line that those with a higher m-count were "believed" to be more capable of wielding the Force. There's a correlation, but it's not necessarily the only factor (see Sabine Wren).

This is the moment where the clones literally become stand-ins for the fans.

"What? If you can use the Force, you're a Jedi!"

No. If you can use the Force, you can use the Force. To use it as a Jedi uses it, you have to train as a Jedi. To use it as a Sith uses it, you have to train as a Sith. To use it like a Nightsister, you have to train as a Nightsister. Or you can get some rudimentary instruction and decide how you want to use it.

Jango Fett didn't have a high m-count, so his clones didn't either. But Omega and the rest of the Batch were special cases. As Cut said, the Kaminoans create with a purpose. Their deviations were intentional. Hunters abilities have always suggested he had a higher m-count than the others. But Omega's ability to perceive things before they happen (her bad feelings are nearly always spot on) and her affinity with animals have always been hints that her m-count is a little higher.

(Will update with screen grabs when I get them)

At the end of the episode, Omega asks Ventress if she has a high m-count.

Ventress: *looking at her nails* From what I've seen...no.

Omega: Then why is the Empire after me?

Ventress: Believe it or not, I don't know everything. But seeing as how a high m-count would make you a target, consider yourself lucky.

Omega: But I'm already a target.

Wrecker: Don't worry about it, kid. We'll figure it out. C'mon, let's get some chow.

Omega: *sigh* Thanks for trying.

Once they're out of earshot...

Crosshair: You're lying.

Ventress: About which part?

Hunter: You tell us.

Ventress: If Omega did have that potential, she'd have to be trained. Which would mean leaving you behind.

Hunter: That's not happening.

Ventress: What you want is irrelevant. The fact is, the Empire is after her, and they won't stop. If I were you, I'd leave this place. You're not as safe as you think you are. Our business is done.

Crosshair: I still can't figure out which side you're on.

Ventress: My own.

Okay, so Ventress is clearly not telling the truth about the m-count, which we know, because we've already seen Omega's charts. I really don't understand why people keep taking Ventress at her word here. We know better, and so do Crosshair and Hunter. My guess is that she's trying to protect Omega because she knows firsthand what it's like to be taken from your family and trained as a young girl.

We know that when Omega was at Tantiss, she was receiving transfusions of blood with midi-chlorians the same as all the other clones (harvested from the dead Jedi they're undoubtedly holding in the vault). They were taking her blood samples, but Nala Se kept throwing them away because she knew Omega would retain the higher midi-chlorian levels and she didn't want Hemlock to know that. The Emperor needs a clone that will maintain a high m-count so he can eventually get himself a new body. We know he does get that body, but not for decades - presumably because a) he never gets Omega, and b) the Batch is gonna take the fight to them at Tantiss and blow up their entire supply of midi-chlorian donors. Think about it - they're still working on Project Necromancer in The Mandalorian (24 years after The Bad Batch), but their resources are severely limited. The Empire has been all but wiped out, the Emperor is hiding out on Exegol, Dr. Pershing is clearly no Hemlock since he keeps killing his test subjects, and Grogu seems to be the only m-count donor they can get their hands on. The Emperor's cloned body is also deteriorating rapidly in TRoS, which suggests that even 25 years after The Mandalorian, he STILL hasn't figured out the right formula for cloning himself (which is good news for Grogu and Omega).

Which brings us back to the question, "Is Omega Force sensitive?"

The answer is, "yes", she is sensitive to the Force due to her elevated m-count. We've seen this all along. Hunter most likely is, too, and maybe some of the other Bad Batchers, to varying degrees. Tech could riot race, which takes incredible reflexes. Hemlock said that Crosshair didn't have a high m-count, and we don't know where Wrecker's abilities stem from. Omega can't wield the Force because she is untrained, but the potential is there. A person's aptitude to wield the Force seems to be strongly correlated to their m-count, but we've seen others with low aptitude eventually open the door to the Force with years of training and a decent dose of impending doom (we see this clearly with Sabine in Ahsoka, but it was also a topic in Legends).

Omega being Force sensitive doesn't mean that she has to leave her brothers. She can choose to pursue her training or not. She'd also have to find someone willing to train her. I'm not convinced Ventress is looking to take on any apprentices at the moment, but she could possibly connect Omega to Quinlan Voss (imagine the trouble those two would get up to).

But I don't think Omega will choose that path. One, it would just make her a bigger target. Two, I don't see her prioritizing power over family. She's a clone, and clones are ALL about family. They're Mando coded, not Jedi coded. Screw the space Buddhist lifestyle - clones parade their attachments around like trophies. Omega goes around collecting attachments like most kids collect rocks..."Hello, stranger trying to kill me, let's be besties."

#the bad batch #the bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers #tbb omega #tbb hunter #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #tbb tech #asajj ventress #quinlan voss #nala se #tbb crosshair #the bad batch season 3 #the bad batch the harbinger #to be clear...i didn’t really want Omega to be force sensitive #but this is definitely the story they are telling #i just really don't want her to become trained in the force and i don't yet believe *that* is the story they are telling for her

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starberry-cupcake · 26 days

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I come here with further updates on my gideon the ninth read as per the favorable responses in my previous shares . You asked for it, so you're gonna have to hear it (@lady-harrowhark maybe you'll have fun with this one)

previously, in gideon the ninth:

this happened

currently, having just finished chapter 29:

gideon had tea with the eighth

actually no, scratch that, gideon sat in a chair while mayonnaise uncle's hair got braided, they never got to the tea part

false advertising

mayonnaise uncle gave half info, as people seem to like doing here

duracell bunny nephew stepped up and called him out

good for him, actually

you go, duracell bunny nephew!

it's gonna end terribly for him, but we stan

gideon left that Situation and found teacher saying ominous things

gideon left that Other Situation and found regina george twin being intense with swords

chad came in and she bit him

I see a trend alert with these third necromancers and the biting

gideon left that Yet Another Situation and went to the ninth room

gideon proceeded to open the closet

gideon got brad pitt-ed in the movie seven, but instead of gwyneth paltrow's head it was protesilaus'

it's not gideon's best day

now, hear me out

I know how this will sound, but hear me out

I haven't read past this scene, I haven't started chapter 30, all I know is she found the box

but hear me out here

just, just listen

hear me out

I still blame dulcinea

no, no, come back, I have a theory

I don't trust her, she's shady, she's too suspiciously fake kind, she's desperate and she has mentioned wanting gideon as a cavalier

I think it was back when gideon was turned into a blood sprinkler during the whole temple run key second trial thingy

or maybe later, after jeannemary left the mortal plain, but she said it at some point

and gideon has told harrow she wants her to free her to be dulcinea's cavalier

which, over my dead body

or maybe not, people here are dropping like flies, but anyway

dulcinea knows things others don't seem to know

she says things that gideon doesn't follow up on because she's horny and dense (affectionately)

I don't trust dulcinea

in case that wasn't clear

so what if

hear me out

seriously, I swear I have a point

what if harrow was set up?????

no, no, come back, listen, listen

gideon said something like the box wasn't well hidden

and I doubt very very very much that if harrowhark harrowldine harrowmina nonagesimus would have ended a bitch, she would have half-assed anything, much less the hiding

like, she'd either kill in plain sight and make a show of it or make it disappear and nobody would know

harrowhark harroweena harrowline nonagesimus pulled an edward and alphonse on her parents and only 3 people know she did

the entire system of these houses is unaware of that fact, as far as I know

so, if she wanted to hide a murder, I think, I hope, she would do better than this

also, keeping a head in a box doesn't seem her style, that's very haunted mansion and she's more halloween horror nights

what if she's been set up????

and gideon has like 3 brain cells working right now so she might fall for it??? hopefully not but maybe????

and side with my mortal enemy dulcinea instead?????

am I crazy????

am I too latina for this and seeing things???

is dulcinea the soraya montenegro of this story??? or is it me??? am I the drama???

this might all be absolute nonsense and in like 1 chapter I might be proven wrong but I don't trust dulcinea del toboso the seventh and I never will

if you pictured the always sunny meme while reading, that's the right energy I'm trying to share here

#luly reacts to tlt #tlt #gideon the ninth #the locked tomb #tlt spoilers #long post

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docholligay · 2 months

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Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Thank you @becauseforoncethisisme for sponsoring this! Regulars know this, but if you're new here, all opinions are mine and it's fine to disagree with me, but please don't get weird about it.

Nonspoilery:

Good God in high heaven and low hell, this is so much better than the first book. This is both a personal and professional opinion. The only problem with it being, I cannot in good conscience tell anyone to read the first book in order to get to the second. I don’t think it’s so good as to justify that. That’s a pretty tall order. In all, though, if you read Gideon the Ninth and thought, “Hm. Okay, that’s enough for now,” this might whet your whistle a little bit more.

Spoilery:

Wow did I like this better than Gideon, you were all so right and it does not bother me even one solitary bit to say so. I think it starts slow, and I don’t know that I really ever connected with the second person bits--once I figured out what it meant, i wanted it to be confirmed and stop-- and of course Muir’s style occasionally grates on me (Muir and I are the same age. I know we grew up in the same fandom environment, and part of the reason I know that is I recognize elements of her style from fanfics being written then as now. This is stuff from like, sporking days. She’s so talented, and so loves these strange, memey asides even in lovely moments. That being said, i think this book strikes a much, much better balance with that and there were even times I found it fun, so, things are improving) But overall I would say I liked this book just fine, and would consider reading it again on some winter night. LEAPS AND BOUNDS over my experience of GtN

I struggled so hard with the first 150 pages or so of this book. I think it was a combination of how little I remembered from the first book, the taste the first book left in my mouth, and the fact that I am just, too stupid for high-concept fantasy. So all the stuff about thanergy and thelergy and conversion, I just, sat there not possible caring less about any of it. I don’t care now, and I came away liking the book! This is for someone, certainly, but I am not it. If this hadn’t been a commission, I think I would have given up at a certain point. I usually give a book 100 pages and this wouldn’t have done it for me*

At the end of the day, I think one of the things this book can be about--for me, it’s about more than one thing, but this is the easy reach--is about grief. And how being willing to give yourself a Fantasy Lobotomy, if that’s what it takes, to avoid the hurt and loss that grief brings in, and the guilt, only ends up hurting yourself and everyone around you.

Also, it doesn’t bring them back. Forgetting them in every way possible does nothing to bring them back. Now, Harrow is a special case, so for her it can’t only be about avoiding pain, because what she’s also doing, because of how the whole Lyctorhood thing works, is, in a sense, keeping Gideon on life support. Like is said later in the book, shoving her in a drawer she can’t open, but so long as the drawer is never opened, Gideon is alive. It’s Harrow living her entire life in the doorway where where a policeman stands, ready to tell you someone you loved is dead, and she won’t let him speak. Because it’s not true until he does.

I like Harrow so much more in this one by virtue of the fact that this book cares so much less if we like or forgive her. Because of the way it works with perspective, and the way it’s trying not to tip its hand to the fact that Gideon is our second-person narrator, we get a much more neutral version of Harrow’s life

How Lyctors work: Love it. What a choice. My favorite takeaway from the first book, and perhaps the only thing I still think about actively while lying in bed at night, is the necromancer-cavalier system. I think it is fantastic, I love it, it works perfectly for imagining all shades of relationship and is very fun to do to your blorbim. I can’t remember if we found this out so explicitly at the end of the first book--as I said in an aside post while I was reading HtN, the pool scene in GtN pissed me off so much that I had a rage blackout for much of the book and forgot it the second I wrote about it--but the idea that the necromancer can only become this sort of ultimate power by killing this person they, by necessity, have some level of intimate bond with? Exceptional. I love that they are, in a sense, protected and powered by a person who loved them, that they murdered. I am so unbelievably into this idea, and the idea of those who can DO this, and who can’t. Reeled me back to my blorbos all over again.

Which of course makes the whole thing with Harrow so interesting, because Harrow is someone who can’t deal with the cost of it. In full fairness to her, it wasn’t a choice she got to make, but she certainly does Gideon’s memory no honor by refusing to even acknowledge her sacrifice. She’s spitting on the roast lamb on the altar, so to speak. It’s sort of the murdered children problem all over again, though a million times better done: If an impossible sacrifice is made for you, what do you do to earn it? It’s Saving Private Ryan, and you have to spend your whole life hoping you earned a sacrifice someone made without your consent. And you should! What will you do, to earn your place? I know, i know, we all hate that except for me, but if Gideon died to make you a demigod, earn your power, and take your responsibility.

Ianthe: I love a good horrible, manipulative cunt, and Ianthe certainly is that. This isn’t even me joking, she’s one of my favorite characters in the book (Though not my absolute favorite) and also my poster child for “I support women’s wrongs.” I think it’s so smart and great that at the end, Ianthe makes the wrong choice, and that you are sitting there screaming for her not to do that, and yet when she does it, it feels completely correct. Of course this is a thing that she both can and would do. Ianthe is about hedging her bets, and above all else, about Ianthe. She killed Naberius as soon as she figured out the deal. We get the sense that she feels…i’m not sure how I want to say this…it’s not that she doesn’t feel about it, but she feels inevitable about it, also. To her, there was no other choice.

She is willing to help Harrow destroy herself, shut herself off, because Ianthe loves a good “you fucking owe me” but also because other than how it benefits or hurts her, what the fuck does she care? I love her, it’s how I wish I could write Minako if I could get away with it. She’s clever and fun and terrible. I think she’s also, narratively, a great balance for Harrow’s whole ‘That girl in homeroom in an Invader Zim hoodie” vibe.

Mercymorn my beloved: If Ianthe is my poster child for, “I support women’s wrongs” than Mercymorn is my ‘tag yourself.’ The longer the book when on, the more I liked her because the more I understood her. As an old lady who has been a part of things for many years, who has seen them grow and fall apart, who has lost people I loved and worked with people I hate, I loved everything about her. I love how utterly done she is with the whole thing. The way she so clearly loved Cristabel, and how she reacts to the pain of that love in a way I understand, and didn’t realize how clearly I understood her until Mercymorn killed the Emperor. Then it all hit at once, I remember that moment pretty early on in the book where it mentions that is you say Cristabel’s name to Mercymorn, she reacts like she’s stung. The way she yells at Harrow to never use her name with her, filled with rage. That is a kind of grief I recognize. I don’t want to talk about it and i’ll fucking kill you if you remind me.

I felt every ounce of hurt, a plucking of a twin string, when she said, “This is the chance for unloveable Mercymorn--critical Mercymorn--to show you that she is the most capable of her name.”

And then she kills the emperor. Do I think he was sorry? Do I think he never wanted any harm to come to Cristabel**? Does Mercymorn think that? It doesn’t fucking matter. Whether he feels bad about it or not, it’s academic at best. She murdered Cristabel because a man she trusted, a man she took to be her God, lied to her about it. He told her she, to save the world, had to give up a person she adored. Had to do it herself. I, too, would rip him atom from atom, if I were Mercymorn***. Maybe she does forgive him, but only because he is about to make repentance in blood.

She’s my favorite character in the whole fucking book, bar none.

(On that note, sort of, I actually came to very much love Augustine.)

Oh! One thing I loved, so much, and I don’t think anyone I’ve seen say anything even offhandedly about the book, is during the fight with the Sleeper, how Ortus’ BELIEF and PASSION form the basis to call up Mattias Fucking Nonius. Is that not incredible? That faith, can be so strong, that Abigail could call up a man that none of them ever knew, who is basically an idea more than a man, to fight? I think it’s such a lovely little lesson tucked in there, because we have been making fun of Ortus’ belief system for the entire book, mocking the way he recites this, and in the end, his deeply held belief matters, it matters so much, and I adored that as a real reversal of mocking someone faithful.

I think part of the underlying problem with GtN is I just don’t like Gideon. I don’t like her point of view, I don’t like her character voice, I don’t like her general vibe, and the narrative does like her, and wants you to like her. In this book, it’s fine because so much of it is not from her perspective, but it became pretty clear to me that so much of what I disliked (though not all) of the first book was a Gideon-based problem. And you can’t escape her in the first book.

This all flew immediately back to me when Gideon is taking up Harrow’s body and also the narrative duties. I cannot stand her character voice. Muir is capable of being so smart and so beautiful in her prose, but not only is Gideon herself irritating, but she inspires Muir to do this…recitation of memes, the one I can think of off the top of my head is “Jail for mother” Tamsyn i will fucking kill you. I will not read Nona, because the back page tells me, threateningly, that Gideon will be back in Nona, and not only can i not handle reading another word from her, but also that will unmake the beauty of telling Harrow that she has to let Gideon go, that she has to let them become one and thus lose Gideon, because of course it does because it’s a fantasy book, and fantasy just Does This A Lot. Stop letting people come back! Kill these motherfuckers and leave them dead!

The thing about Pyrrha and Wake having an affair with Gideon’s body, and wake having God’s baby in order to open the locked tomb, it’s such a weird aside in a weird moment, that I can see I am going to forget about it. It’s so strange! I mean, it explains why Gideon didn’t die when she was supposed to, and I don’t have a problem with it per se, but I also don’t know that I have any feelings about it other than, ‘hm. Strange.”

In all: Not a bad book! Enjoyed it more as the book went on, Mercymorn for Lyfe. I hope Ianthe continues being the world’s sexiest and worst person.

Did you want to ask me something? As long as you’re not a dick about it, ask away! Let’s have fun.

*I suppose that’s my own personal de jure vs de facto, because truthfully I can’t remember the last time I straight up did not finish a book. Perhaps I’m just lying to myself. I dnf shows and movies all the time, but not books.

** No, I don’t think that.

***Although I’m actually not all that sure in my marriage if I’m the necro. I think I’m actually the cavalier. I don’t think Jill would feel a whole lot of patience over having murdered me either, though.

#Doc reads #now mom is gonna read them both I'll report back

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deus-and-the-machina · 1 year

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“Please.”

Cleo sighed. The necromancer was on his knees now, fully bent over and groveling on the ground. It would be somewhat embarrassing if it wasn’t so sad. “I’ve told you a million times and then some. I can’t.”

His head lifted up from the ground. There was anger in his eyes. “Can’t, or won’t?” He spat, “Because the way I see it, you mess around with time all willy nilly when it’s for your own benefit. God forbid you ever think about someone besides yourself!”

He was trying to get under her skin, to provoke her. Cleo bent down into a squat to come closer to his level. “Time is a delicate matter. You must know the rules before you mess about with it, and his demise was too long ago. If it was yesterday, or last week, then sure. The rippling impacts would likely be minimal and manageable. But several years of rewritten time...that’s too much.”

Scott’s face tensed. “But you can do it. You just won’t.”

“Exactly. I’m sorry to say this Scott, but people lose their loved ones every day. And if we used time travel to bring every single one of them back, we’d be in paradox hell. You aren’t special. Accept he’s gone, or figure out a solution yourself.”

His expression completely crumpled, frozen looking distraught as one, two, then a torrent of silent tears streamed from his face. He gasped and choked and let out an occasional sob, then fell forward and clutched at their dress. Cleo let him.

“Please,” he croaked out. “Please, please, please. Just this once, I’ll never ask for anything ever again.”

“What I don’t understand is why the necromancer witch can’t just-”

“Because I’m not SMART enough for that!” he cried. “I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m just-I’m just fucking about with random texts half the time, I’m barely a witch. I have no idea why I was even brought here, but no matter how hard I try, I just never get better. It just-” Scott broke off into mournful unintelligible crying sounds.

Cleo let him sob. When he’d worn himself out and was lying hiccuping in the dirt, they reached down and picked him up, flinging the dead witch over her shoulder. “Let’s get you home.”

He said nothing, didn’t even try to protest as Cleo walked off.

“It can be done, you know. I’m living proof of that.”

“...And you won’t even tell me that much.”

She laughed dryly. “I couldn’t even tell you the first thing about it. One day I was dead, the next, like this.” They fell into a somewhat awkward silence as Cleo walked down the cobble woodland path. “That’s for you to figure out.”

Cleo felt his grip tighten on the back of their clothing. “And before you say anything, the Supreme Witch isn’t dumb. She wouldn’t have invited you here if you didn’t have potential.” Scott’s house was coming up into view. “You’re self taught, yeah? No mentor or school or anything? What you’ve figured out by yourself is pretty impressive on its own. So don’t let me ever hear you selling yourself short again.”

“...”

“Now do you have a key to get in or am I gonna have to dump you outside your door?”

He cleared his throat. “You’re really bad at this whole comforting people thing.”

“Being a counsellor isn’t exactly my day job. I’m usually the reason people need counseling,” she chuckled. “Not because I’m scary or anything, just because of the lingering deja vu effects and nightmares of other timelines all this fooling around can cause. Real shame about all that.”

“Jesus.”

“And if you keep improving, one day you’ll be able to traumatize people too! Dig up hoards of zombies and all. I believe in you.”

That made him laugh. Cleo felt his body vibrate against hers, and smiled.

#witchcraft smp #wc smp #scott smajor #zombiecleo #:D pain #writing stuff

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aita-blorbos · 4 months

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AITA for keeping my revived husband in an illusion to keep him happy?

I (27M) am a necromantic witch who recently revived my now-husband (25-28M, depends on if you count the years when he was dead). I was not a necromancer at the time, so I had to travel for a while to learn, and take him with me in a chest. As a result, his body was in less than optimal conditions at the time of revival, so I actually ended up running into some complications with the ritual. I love him regardless of the condition of his flesh, but for his own wellbeing, it was best to keep the state of himself (also myself, and also the entire surrounding area due to further unimportant complications) a secret, so I asked an illusionist friend (24F) to put up an illusion over all of the above issues. She said yes at the time, but has recently shown discomfort around the subject, and has been letting the spell slip whenever she thinks my husband won’t notice. She claims it’s because she’s tired, but I know she can do better; I taught her and used the same enchanted items to keep myself awake that she does. I’m worried that if the spell slips at a bad time, my husband will freak out, and we’ve already had some close calls, but after explaining this to her multiple times she still seems hesitant to continue

Additionally, I tried to tell her to keep this whole ordeal a secret from our mutual friend (chronomancer of complicated age) since I’m sure the illusionist’s inability to stay calm about the situation has made them suspicious. The chronomancer and I have grown very close over what is likely multiple timelines (about a year but they’re weird about measurements), and out of respect I tend to keep whatever ritual I’m doing that week pretty open if she decides she wants to know what I’m doing. This is the first time I’ve intentionally kept them out of the know like this, but it’s because I’m afraid they won’t understand the importance of it all and then roll their eyes at me before reversing time itself, which would undo all my hard work up to this point. I tried to explain this to the illusionist, but she still didn’t get it, and she’s started interacting with me less and less every time it comes up.

My husband is perfectly happy (and healthy, if that was of concern; I made him immortal). Despite this, the illusionist hates me, and my chronomancer friend is squinting at me suspiciously as I type this. AITA?

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

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catsandgoodbooks · 6 months

Text

No. 20: “People don’t change people, time does.”

Blanket | Found Family | “You will regret touching them.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Careful, it’s hot.” Philza passed Dream a cup of tea, who took it cautiously. Dream wrapped his hands around the cup; his hands were cold and the cup was warm. It was nice. “It went well, mates?”

“We got everything we wanted done, so I’d say yeah, it did,” Technoblade answered, hanging his cape up on a hook.

Punz scoffed, rolling their eyes. “You don’t say, Technoblade.” They looked back at Phil and Dream. “I mean, he’s dead now and the whole place’s burnt to the ground. It’s taken care of.”

Niki smiled at the two of them brightly. “It’s safe to say we won’t have to worry about them anymore, right?” she asked, sitting down on the couch and narrowly avoiding sitting on Dream’s toes.

“Thanks, guys.” Dream knew they wanted him to say that, and he didn’t want to disappoint them. “Like, that’s great, thank you, but did you have to do that–”

“He hurt you,” Techno interrupted. “Quackity hurt you, and we needed to make sure that he would regret that.”

“Exactly,” Punz acquiesced. “We might not of had to do that, but we fucking wanted to, Dream.” (“My poor monetization,” Techno grumbled.) “He deserved it, and there needs to be consequences sometimes or everyone’s going to be running around doing whatever the hell they want.”

“I can’t speak for everyone here, but I think it’s safe to say that we care about you, and, uh, we don’t like people we care about getting cut up by people we don’t,” Ranboo volunteered from where he was hovering.

(Phil offered Punz a cup of tea as well, and they took it. “Thanks.” The mercenary pulled out a chair and settled down)

“I couldn’t of said it better myself,” Techno agreed, and Ranboo puffed up a little bit at the approval. “We care, Dream. Even if you don’t want to admit it, it’s the truth.”

“Uh-huh.” Niki smiled over at Dream. “We care, and that’s the important thing here. We’re family at this point.”

“You have a point there,” Techno commented. “A very good point.” He glanced over a Dream. “You hear that? You’re never gettin’ rid of us.”

“Nope,” Punz remarked, smiling crookedly. “Not even this ‘until death’ shit. We all know that’s stupid.”

Dream rolled his eyes. “You know that I’m the necromancer here, right? I could just, like, not bring you back.”

(He and Punz still hadn’t told the rest of the Syndicate about the Revival Book situation. They didn’t need to know about it. It would just invite too many questions)

“I think it’s a bit late for that, mate,” Phil told him, smiling faintly. “You wouldn’t still be here if that was actually a possibility.”

“Fine, fine,” Dream compromised. “I’ll stop. I’d totally bring all of you guys back if you died.”

“Good to know. Now I don’t have to worry about losing any of my lives,” Technoblade joked. “I can do as much stupid stuff as I want now.”

Dream glared at him. “That’s not what I said, Techno.”

“It basically is,” Punz responded. “Also, there seems to be a bit of double standard there, you know, considering the fact that you literally locked yourself up in prison.”

Niki grimaced. “Not your greatest moment, was it?”

“Let’s not talk about it right now. Doesn’t matter.” Dream really didn’t want to talk about that right now. (Or ever, really)

“Thanks, I guess.” Dream pulled the blanket tighter around himself. He wanted to just make sure about one thing, but it would be showing vulnerability, opening himself up to admitting that he cared and getting hurt…

“Just checking but…you’re not going to leave, right?”

“Of course not, Dream. You’re one of us now. Yes, yes, I said it chat, you can stop screaming now.” Techno rolled his eyes but sobered up quickly. “You’re family, Dream.”

#whumptober2023 #no.20 #blanket #found family #“you will regret touching them”#dsmp #fic #c!dream #c!techno #c!phil #c!niki #c!punz #c!ranboo #rivals duo #the syndicate #staged duo #endersmile

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bb-enablefreebuild · 29 days

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NTN opinions

so I haven't read NTN very recently (or the other locked tomb books) but its the most recent installment about Nona I think about a lot.

Muir said that she was splitting Alecto the Ninth into two parts, NTN and then ATN. She explained that Nona already had a complete story arc and could be its own separate book. Obviously there's nothing wrong with that.

But to be quite honest, I feel like most of NTN could have been cut. The most important parts of Nona are these:

More detail about the Blood of Eden

Nona's relationship with Varun the Eater

Her dreams of John Gaius

Now don't get me wrong, I loved seeing Nona going to school as a teachers aide and making friends! The problem is, the relationships she develops with the kids like Hot Sauce aren't...very important. I think it would have been better if Nona developed relationships with characters that she already knew, like Crown (Coronabeth) for example.

If Nona being friends with a group of kiddos is important, then maybe she should do it specifically with kids from the Blood of Eden. Out of all of Nona's friends, her relationship with Noodle the dog is the most important, and maybe Hot Sauce. She could be another niece of Wake, the same as Pash. It would explain why Hot Sauce is so suspicious of necromancers and why she shot up Nona in that one scene.

Also, If Nona is the secret weapon, why isn't she more involved with B.O.E? It's implied that the Blood of Eden is on the struggle bus. Wouldn't the inception have more depth if Nona was among their ranks right before their eyes, it'd be a major example of why they've failed for so long to stop Mr. Jod.

Cam and Palamedes could have gathered a few trust worthy relationships used to protect Nona too. Heck, the Blood of Eden could have a "school" of their own where they teach the kids of their soldiers propaganda, look at how Pash was raised!

I genuinely believe that all of the stuff that happened could have been condensed to a feasible first part. As an author, cutting things we're proud of writing is like shooting yourself in the head then doing it again. But I think if I was in Muir's shoes, I would've done it. I love Hot Sauce, Kevin and the other kiddos so much but they're just...not important enough for the over all plot :(

Lastly, and this is where I'm getting super nit picky, but I wish there was more world building. I 100% appreciate Muir's trust in the readers intelligence and for us to put the pieces together. I understood that Steles were used to travel far distances and "flip" planets to be colonized for necromancers. I VASTLY prefer this instead of five hundred pages of exposition (Fourth Wing) slammed into the beginning of the book.

That being said, a little bit of exposition is fine. Gideon The Ninth does this perfectly with explaining thanergy and other necromancer related info. We learn more in HTN as well. I think Muir was thinking that "Nona wouldn't know these things, so it can't be expressed in the book" which I totally get, but Nona has a canon excuse for just Having knowledge! Her uncanny reading of body language and understanding of different languages? Her ability to draw animals from Earth that were lost to public knowledge? Nona just casually absorbing information and thinking about it in her internal monologue is completely reasonable. I say this to point out that Muir was too vague with the world building in NTN. Yes, I could fill in the gaps but I would have loved more information about the colony planets outside of the House system! She's doing too much showing, which I think is precisely why NTN got much too long.

Anyway, PLEASE take all of this with a grain of salt. I love Nona the Ninth and I think the way it was written is digestible and good! It's just not how I would have done it. Please Tamsyn I'm begging you for lore I am BEGGING YOU FOR LORE.

#my opinions do not matter btw. I am just shitting out of my mouth.#nona the ninth #ntn #the locked tomb #tlt series #tamsyn muir #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #alecto the ninth #john gaius #camilla hect #palamedes sextus #uuuhhhhhhh #pyrrha dve #*

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thecabbagegirl · 1 year

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Witchcraft smp drabble ft: Scott, Pris, El

"Look El, you know I only want the best for you, and I don't want to tell you what to do, but I really think it's dangerous for you to be around him! Don't you see he's evil?"

"Pris, I know you and he have... A rivalry? He torments you a fair bit? But he's nice to me .... mostly. He did lurk outside my house in the shape of a giant monster..."

"See!

"... But that's just Scott you know? And if he is truly as dangerous as you say, then I'm better off being on his good side! I appreciate you caring and trying to help but I've got nothing against Scott. He's playing by the rules..ish ..."

"Stop, stop, don't say his name again!"

"What? He's not a demon! Scott's not going to appear because we say his name three times! Are you alright Pris? You might be a bit high strung, maybe have a rest?"

A fell breeze swept through the clearing and both witches shivered, a brief shimmer caught the corner of El's eye (almost like someone invisible) and she twitched. Of course Scott wouldn't appear if you said his name three times. And he didn't have a spell that let him hear when people were talking about him. Pris was just caught up in thinking the worst. And Pris was talking again ...

"... and you know what they say about necromancers, they either want to own the world or destroy it. They want control! Over death, over life, over day, over night, over US!"

By this point El was rolling her eyes. "Pris! Stop it. Don't generalise. Besides you know there are two types of necromancers. Sure there are some who want to take over the world, but most just... Are fairly fine, they do their thing without hurting anyone sentient, so it's chill."

"What do you mean two types?"

"Those with hope, and those without it"

"Hope?"

"Look Pris, no-one becomes a necromancer because they're happy. They become necromancers to try and bring someone back."

"Back?"

" From the dead Pris!"

" But everyone knows that doesn't work! Dead is dead! There are billions of stories about people trying that and failing! Scott's not an idiot! He's smart enough to know..."

" Every necromancer is smart! They have to be to get as far as they do. But they're also all desperate! They've lost a mother, sibling, lover, heck even pet. They've lost so much they love they would fistfight gods to bring them home!

The two types of necromancer are this... Those with hope of succeeding in bringing a loved one back, and those who have lost hope! And the Evil necromancers from the stories? They are all the second type. Scott's the first.

So no, I don't think he's completely evil, and I'm not going to stop being friends with him. But Pris? Don't go up to him and tell him its impossible to bring whomever he lost back. If he torments you now, you don't want to know what he'd do if he lost hope. And as powerful as he is? I don't think any of us could survive it."

Pris was silent for the first time in quite a while, stunned by El's outburst.

"So now that we're done with that conversation" El continued, after a brief silence, "I'm off. I've got to figure out what to trade with Bertha, now berries are off the table. Bye Pris."

El flew off, and Pris returned sheepishly to her home also, leaving the clearing they were talking in empty, or, appearing empty.

A shimmer in the air, and a dark haired man faded into view, with a thoughtful look in his eye, and a smirk on his face; which would have been handsome, were it not pale as death.

He spoke to the empty clearing " what a time to be testing my bloody Mary spell, an interesting conversation to overhear".

He grinned and disappeared leaving his last sentence to dispell in the empty clearing.

"impossible to bring back the dead? Sweetie you ain't seen nothing yet!"

#scott smajor #soupforeloise #prismarina #witchcraft smp #wcsmp #fanfic #mine #i have lots of thoughts about necromancer scott

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paradoxcase · 1 month

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Chapter 24 of Nona the Ninth

The return of the Gideon skull!

For the record, that's when I figured out what they had done

Good news: you finally get to talk face-to-face with your necromancer who you a weirdly intense codependent relationship with and haven't been able to talk to in ages. Bad news: he looks and sounds exactly like Naberius Tern. Do you press the button?

The whole thing where Corona had to pretend to be a necromancer with Ianthe's help must have really contributed to their relationship being this weird sort of incestuous thing. From the last book I sort of got the impression that Ianthe felt like she was Corona's protector, and from what she said last chapter about still planning some way to be with Corona and the fact that she's been actively searching multiple planets for her, it sounds like she had plans to continue that relationship even after she became a Lyctor. I'm not sure if it was made clear at any point if their parents were in on this whole thing or not, but based on their relationship, I feel like they probably weren't? And maybe if they had discovered that Corona wasn't actually a necromancer, something like the Harrow Nova AU would have happened with her. I bet Corona is now glad to have escaped that situation and she's definitely unhappy with how Ianthe treated/is treating Babs, but she still has this weird and twisted up relationship with her

I'm not sure what Pyrrha was pretending here? It sounded like she'd told Ianthe what had happened. Or did Ianthe think she still had Lyctor powers, even when she was Pyrrha and not G1deon?

I'm dying to know what Pyrrha was going to say about Nona's yelling

I never really stopped and thought about the fact that Mercy must have been the one to make the entropy field. Palamedes calculated that it would result in permanent brain damage for Camilla if he did it, and Gideon probably only survived because she's Gideon, but Mercy and Cristabel must have tested this out at some point, right? Was Cristabel just extra thalergenic or something, or did she suffer permanent brain damage? Or did Mercy not run through the whole test herself? Or does the Eighth House have a natural advantage here as was suggested in Gideon the Ninth?

If blood wards age, and get weaker with age, doesn't that mean that John's blood ward on the Tomb should be pretty worn out now after 10,000 years?

It did seem clear to me that Nona's regeneration was much better than Harrow's was in Harrow the Ninth, but I figured that meant it was just like, regular Lyctor-level regeneration. It's interesting that it's actually faster than Lyctor-level regeneration, which maybe also supports her being Alecto, since John's powers came from Alecto and he seems to be the only person more powerful than the Lyctors. But if I understand correctly, I think Lyctors can survive headshots like the one Nona got, or at least BOE thinks they can, and I can't imagine that they didn't try to headshot a Lyctor at least once, since that seems to be their basic MO for killing necromancers

I hope this is not foreshadowing for something, but it probably is

We're 2.75 books into this story and this is the Griddlehark first kiss we get, where Harrow's body is being occupied by someone who definitely isn't Harrow and Gideon is kinda sorta dead and has huge open wounds all down her front

Also, I feel like Nona should be more frightened when a body that she identified as definitely being dead suddenly opens its eyes

That means that Gideon didn't only uh, wake up, I guess, because Nona arrived and has been mobile and able to brush her teeth for a while, because the only other option is that Ianthe manually brushes her teeth for her, and that seems unlikely

I really cannot think of a single time when Mercy would have seen Gideon's body. She saw Gideon's eyes at the end of Harrow the Ninth, and recognized them immediately, but I don't think she ever saw Gideon's body at any point? Unless BOE showed it to her that time when she sent Harrow to kill the planet that just happened to be right next to where We Suffer and Co. were and was like, hey, have fun, I'll be back in 4 hours? I guess she showed up at some point during As Yet Unsent to heal Judith, too, which must have been before that point, so maybe she saw it then?

You punched her out of an airlock, and then she tried to kill you in the incinerator, and then you shot her in the head. This is just how tales of epic romance go in this universe

This is what it means to love in this story isn't it? To own, to squeeze, to cosset, and to destroy

Just a guess, but I think John did not in fact allow her to bring Gideon with her and Ianthe just did it anyway

Is this why people have been saying that Pyrrha must remember the world from before she was resurrected, because she still remembers disco?

So far necromancer/cavalier relationships have been entirely a social construct, there are different rules for them and different ideas about what they mean and how they work across all nine Houses, and we've had cavaliers that switched necromancers, like Protesilaus, like this isn't a soulmate AU. I don't think there should be anything necromantically binding any particular necromancer to their cavalier unless they've actually Lyctorfied. So I can believe that Ianthe has some special necromantic connection to Babs but I don't think there's any reason for Palamedes to have a special necromantic connection to Camilla? Unless the like one step they took towards Lyctorhood counts? But Harrow was able to use necromancy through Gideon when they did the construct challenge back at Canaan House, and they hadn't taken any steps towards Lyctorhood at that point. Even if the phrase "one flesh, one end" somehow has necromantic power, Harrow and Gideon hadn't said that to each other yet at that point

Ianthe put a ward of some kind on her a while back, I wonder if that is protecting her from Number Seven somewhat?

I hope that's like, Nona describing ribs, and not actual teeth in her chest, because why would they be there? It can't have been a modification that John made, because Palamedes claims that her wounds are the same as they were earlier

That does confirm that the only reason Corona came to the barracks was to get Ianthe to put that ward on Judith

Ok, I have a prediction now, which is that since Nona is probably Alecto, or at least mostly Alecto, with maybe some Gideon and/or Harrow residue, when they go to open the Tomb the thing that Pyrrha was afraid of earlier where Nona's soul gets vacuumed out of her body into Gideon is actually going to happen for real with Alecto, and then they will have to try to figure out how to get Harrow's soul back into her body before it dies, and probably also have to deal with Alecto waking up as herself, whatever that turns out to mean

Which is probably why the next book is called Alecto the Ninth

I like how the one thing that breaks her out of pretending to be dead is the thought of getting poked with a needle, haha

So now I have to wonder though, what kind of partly-dead state is she actually in now? And why has she been pretending to be dead? I doubt she would be on Ianthe's side of things and she considers all of these people friends, except for Judith probably

#the locked tomb #nona the ninth

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achromant · 4 months

Text

Ranking all GW2 Specializations

by 1) Gameplay and 2) Visual

based on over 15k hours of playtime, supported by badly drawn Elite Spec Icons.

Feel free to make your own version and reblog or @ me. I wanna see your reasoning :3

Explanations, sorted by classes, below:

Elementalist

Base Elementalist: Pretty sturdy gameplay. Features both interesting interactions, as well as great utility. Versatile, and visually okay. Attack animations desperately need cleanup.

Weaver: Elegant gameplay. Flows smoothly during combat and offers great utility. Also has nice defensive options available. Requires experience and thinking ahead to pull off. Visuals are okay, and feel like a great fit for the aesthetic without being too overwhelming. Especially love Weave Self.

Tempest: Really cool playstyle. Requires a similar amount of attention as Weaver, but in a different way. Unmatched breadth of utility within elementalist classes. Could even be a contender for top spot at visuals, but Fire Overload visually drags the whole spec down.

Catalyst: This class has no right to exist. It feels like someone said "Elementalist doesnt deal much damage, let's give it some numbers." and then stopped halfway through. There is no utility, no elegance, no cool interactions with the gameplay. The whole class feels restrictive and clunky to use. If you like the hammer cata playstyle, better play Weaver. If you like nice interactions, play Tempest. Jade Orbs dont feel like a mechanic, but a punishment. Visually boring, horrible UI, aweful animations.

Mesmer

Base Mesmer: Elegant gameplay, but lacks flow in certain edge cases. Kinda wish greatsword was more melee, but with range capabilites. Needs some more fun interactions with its own mechanics.

Chronomancer: Essentially Mes Plus, when compared to Base Mesmer. Great gameplay, fun and flowey. Slightly choppy in some millisecond cases, but still amatzing to play. Visually striking, absolutely mindblowing sound design. Continuum Split could use a more impactful visual design, like a giant illusiory asronomy clock that ticks down.

Mirage: The self contained version of Mesmer. Lacks a bit in support options for allies, but offers elegant gameplay if timed correctly. Visuals are adequately unique, sparkly but still not overwhelming. Does not have the visual Boom that Chrono has, but feels just that more natural.

Virtuoso: What if took anything that that means Mesmer and just. Didnt do that. This class feels not like a Mesmer anymore, mechnically speaking. Lacks support options, and is outshined by Mirage when it comes to PvP gameplay. Also I'm so fucking pissed at the daggers floating constantly above my head. Animations are kinda cool, though a bit overwhelming. Fun Fact: I divined the coming of the Virtuoso in some sketches a while before EoD previewed. Though in my head it was a Guardian Spec, shooting small silvery stars with its Virtue skills. AND it had double Daggers.

Necromancer

Base Necromancer: It fills its role as master of death. Even the base version of Necromancer has impactful gameplay, and both okay utility, damage, and support for allies. Lacks elengance at some points, especially in Shroud. Visually okay, could use more explosions.

Reaper: Death Knight, here i come! Reaper offers amazing visual effects, and both impactful and flowey gamplay. Reaper Shroud has just the right oomph to make it feel like the steamroller it is. Even when playing without quickness during shroud, it feels amazing. The slight sluggishness just adds to the experience. Did you know that when you enter Reaper Shroud, the character grows giant feathery wings that explode within the fraction of a second? So fucking beautiful.

Scourge: As the absolute opposite of Reaper, this spec offers exactly what Reaper lacks: impactful gameplay at range. Though Scourge can absolutely hold its own in melee, this version feels like a true death mage. Only issue i have is that it's yellow. Horrible choice.

Harbinger: Why does it exist? Ugh, this thing feels so boring. Harbinger would've been a better fit as an Engineer spec. I don't even care about the utility of those damn potions, they lack uniqueness, aesthetic, even the skill icons look like placeholders. What does it have to offer? Well. It gives quickness. Though you could just use a Chronomancer Relic and play another spec. And why am i a black cloud midfight? hello?

Engineer

Base Engineer: The epitome of improvisation. Toolbelt, weird inventions. Explosions, potions, flamethrower. Engineer feels like Elementalist without the magic. There's amazing interaction between skills, great offensive and defensive options. Engineer feels like a hectic class at times, but with some experience it can just be as chill as any other class. Could use some more striking visuals, but still okay.

Holosmith: What if we take an Engi and give it just a smidge of magic? Holosmith feels like an extension of Engineer that pushes it into a slightly different direction. It's just as versatile as the base version, but has even better options for agressive gameplay. Playing a Holo feels elegant and has just the right amount of sparkle and whoom. Still has good interactions with other players, but can easily hold its own. 10/10 design.

Scrapper: Essentially the opposite of Holosmith. What if Engi, but even LESS magic? Though Scrapper can feel a bit sluggish at times, it still has a nice gameplay. Same issue as Base Engi though, it needs more sparkles.

Mechanist: Why put training wheels on something that already has so many levels of gameplay? Mechanist feels like the worst option in any situation. The only saving grace may be the alacrity (which is applied in the most horrifyingly braindead way possible). There's no visual connection between Base Engi and Mechanist, neither in color nor in shape. Why is the mech so that? The gameplay would feel more fluent if you just kidnapped a new player from Queensdale and gave them a gun. Would also be easier to handle than that damn mech.

Thief

Base Thief: There's elegance here, but it's quiet. The visuals underline the subtle beauty of this class. Even a base Thief offers nice utility and okay interactions with other players. The only reason i placed it that low is because how stealth works. A better idea would be to replace it with something like Blur, maybe granting a 50% chance to automatically evade an attack and avoiding being directly targetable in competitive modes.

Daredevil: This is the oomph Thief needed. it feels like it hits hard, but with deadly accuracy. You lose a bit of stealth capabilities, which is a plus in my opinion. Essentially, this is what a monk class in other games would be. It doesn't even need much utility by itself, base Thief already has a bunch. Only issue i have is that i would love it actually using fists to fight, preferably in addition to a staff. Maybe could leave weapons unequipped to swap to an unarmed fighting style? Fun though, great design.

Deadeye: The absolute opposite of Daredevil. This sharpshooter class prefers intelligent positioning rather than quick reactions. It offers great damage and okay support capabilites. Visual effects appear perfect for this class, though the sound design is only okay. Definetely needs a better interface for displaying Malice stacks. And maybe remove the casting time of Deadeye's Mark?

Specter: What if Necromancer, but. Not. Playing Specter feels like playing Core Necro, but with more teleports. Wells are, well. They exist, but only barely. Visual effects are underwhelming, the while class lacks the feeling of impact or elegance that even a base Thief has.

Ranger

Base Ranger: I can see how people like playing ranger, but only through a vaseline treated camera lens. The class itself has okay utility, but lacks in interaction with other players. Though a Ranger's defining feature is the pet, it's also its biggest flaw...

Soulbeast: ... which Soulbeast 100% solves. I will continue to ignore Base Ranger and just pretend that Soulbeast is what Ranger was always supposed to be like. Soulbeasts have the option to just. Not do the whole minion managing thing. Stances feel elegant and unique, and bring fresh air to a moldy base class. Really cool visual effects, though i wish i could turn off the green swirlies while merged.

Druid: I was in Druid Jail for most of my raiding days, so i know what i'm talking about when i say "Urgh." The base mechanic of a Druid is the Astral Avatar, which by itself is probably the best thing Ranger has to offer. It's pretty, it has boom, it's actually useful and elegant. The issue here is swapping in and out of it, which feels clunky and more of a hassle that a reward. To heal with the Avatar, you need people to take damage, so you can heal them, which fills the Avatar, which allows you to. heal. them? Better solution would be to make it similar to Firebrand Tomes so that it still needs energy to use skills, but allows you to spread out your healing a bit.

Untamed: What if Soulbeast, but. Thief. Well, the result is a clunky mess that looks like a swampy lump of bonk. Probably makes a wet smoph when it his a wall. There is no way for me to enjoy this class. The supposed flow of a good Untamed rotation is completely unknown to me, simply because it's so damn ugly. Play Soulbeast.

Warrior

Base Warrior: Hello, yes, it's the bonk class. Love it, have it, it still bonks. What looks like a braindead brick only people with a real life play, is actually an ornate pattern of golden filligree. A base Warrior offers elegant and flowy gameplay at a minumum of effort, and can with some experience still weave itself through the flow of battle. Wish it had more fun interactions with allies, aside from Shout skills. Could go great with Wells.

Berserker: Warrior, but with more bonk. There's exactly two issues i have with this spec. One, its visual effects feel lopsided. Needs more boom toward the target, and less burning man on myself. Two, it lacks utility. However, any rotation that's done on Berserker flows perfectly, it feels fast paced and has absolutely perfect sound design. Executing a perfect Axe/Axe feels like playing a rythm game in the way it bonks.

Spellbreaker: Less bonk, more tshink. Spellbreaker feels like someone took the best about a Thief and put it on a Warrior. The playstyle between Daggers and Full Counter feels elegant and smooth, but requires good reaction. Spellbreaker shines versus players rather than against monsters, which is probably the only issue i have with this spec. Beautiful shiny glitter sparkle capacity though.

Bladesworn: Okay, it says on the tin that it contains Flow, but no. Bladesworn trades movement for maximum bonk. Could use more elegance in its skills, but it makes up for it with great bursts, so much that you can almost feel pixels being cut. The absolute worst about this spec, and the reason why it's not in the legendary tier for me, is that damn Gunsaber. It either needs to be broader for more bonk (with a powerful downward strike as Dragon Trigger), or about 50% longer for ultimate tshink (with a ligering silver sparkly line where the blade sliced your pixels), you know what i mean? As is, the class feels like the definition of blue balls.

Guardian

Base Guardian: The first time I solo'd Twilight Arbor's Aetherblade Path was on a base guardian, some time before HoT. I used a mace and a shield and just slowly pummeled my foes to death. Base Guardian has the feeling of a true paladin class, with just the right amount of sparkle and utility. Only reason it's not way higher on my tier list is that it cant do much on its own.

Dragonhunter: Such a beatifully executed class! There are aesthetic parts that make Dragonhunter feel like a holy warrior, but without the support capabilites of a true paladin class. That's a good thing, by the way. Its playstyle feels unique, at most comparable to a Warrior, but just barely so. Dragonhunter has some small group support, but shines with utility and bonk. If it wasnt for the Traps' visual effects, i wouldnt even care for those (excep Dragon's Maw, like wow). The whole class is perfect. Would've been higher on the list if the rotations felt just a bit smoother.

Firebrand: This one is a more support oriented Guardian. It overflows with utility and support skills. Factually speaking one of my favorite classes. Speaking from a balancing standpoint, it can do way too much at once with its Tome skills. There's elegance in this class, mostly due to it being filled with skills to the point it overflows. Visually, amazing work, same goes for the sound design.

Willbender: A movement based version of Guardian. Willbender feels like it tries to be a monk class, but somehow misses still. There's something lacking from the whole design. You could probably slap this spec onto any other class and it would still work. Together with base Guardian skills, it's fun to play though. Still a balancing horror, for the same reason as Firebrand: It can do way too much for a single class. Aesthetically i find it absolutely revolting. I get that the Virtues are supposed to be movement skills, but they feel choppy to use and leave red-blue scorch marks on the ground. These weird trails look like an accident and are outshined by most other base Guardian skills. All over, a meh rating.

Revenant

Base Revenant: I am regularly confused when i see this spec's icon. There is absolutely no reason to play a base Revenant. There's not much reason for me to play Rev anyway, but hey. What i love about it are the Legends. What i hate about it. also Legends. There's utility and versatility, but both are locked behind Legends, which makes the whole class feel rigid and choppy. I am a fan of the energy mechanic though, and the visuals are also kinda pretty. Could use more sparkles though, maybe more in the Necromancer direction.

Herald: Since Rev came out with HoT, it released with its elite spec from the start. And to this day, Herald is the actual Base Rev to me. It sparkes, it bonks. It feels fine to play, not under- or overwhelmingly so, but just. pretty okay.

Renegade: This one feels like a base Rev (not Herald, in this case). It had the advantage of using a shortbow when it released, but since SotO it lost its usefulness to me somewhat. The Renegade Legend's skills are fun; somehow like Well skills, but visually more striking. The rest of the spec is only meh.

Vindicator: Another one with more bonk! Equip a Stamina Sigil and go stomping! Vindicator feels fun to play, has nice visual effects and great sound design. Similar to Reaper, you can really feel the bonk. Absolutely hate the double Legend thing though, it feels choppy and sluggish to use, similar to playing Elementalist while affected by Chill. I would love Vindicator on another class, like Warrior for example. But since it's a Rev. It's a No.

Conclusion, Expansion based:

EoD specs generally feel the worst of the bunch. booooring. There's no EoD spec in the game that i can really enjoy playing.

HoT specs feel bonky, but slower. On par actually with the whole maguuma jungle (except Pocket Raptors. wtf was anet thinking there)

PoF specs feel less bonk, but more elegant. Also matches the Crystal Desert (except Hydras. THOSE feel more HoT than PoF)

Elementalist is my favorite overall, followed by Mesmer, Engineer, Guardian and Necromancer in that order. Revenant and Ranger can dissolve into brown slidge for all that i care.

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #this took me 2h to type - you better interact with it you goblins #i made rev teal colored to complete the rainbow - fight me.

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moonlightdancer26 · 8 months

Text

Snucius Being A Perfect Match — A gift for my wifey @halfblood-princes-crown

GUYS!!!!!!! It’s the love of my life aka @halfblood-princes-crown’s birthday today! As my birthday gift to him, and because I know Snucius is his OTP, this is a “Snucius + Narcissa (with a side of Bellatrix and Regulus) being a chaotic duo/trio” post <3

Enjoy:

******

Snape: Petition to remove the ‘d’ from Wednesday  Lucius: Wednesay  Snape: Not what I had in mind, but I’m flexible

******

Snape: Why are you on the floor? Lucius: I’m depressed. Lucius: Also I was stabbed, can you get Narcissa, please?

******

Lucius: I love you guys, you’re the best thing that’s happened to me. Snape: We’re the best thing that’s ever happened to you? Lucius: Yes! Narcissa: I’m starting to feel a little sorry for you.

******

Bellatrix: *Screams* Narcissa: *Screams louder to establish dominance* Lucius: Should we do something? Snape: No, I want to see who wins.

******

Snape: How have none of you people hear what I just said?  Lucius: I’ve been zoned out for the past two and a half hours.  Narcissa: I got distracted about halfway through.  Bellatrix: Ignoring you was a conscious decision.

******

Bellatrix: I just ended a four year relationship. Narcissa: Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? Bellatrix: Hm? Oh yes, I’m fine. It wasn’t my relationship. *Snape and Lucius fighting from across the room*

******

Snape: There is no future. There is no past. Do you see? Time is simultaneous — an intricately structured jewel that humans insist on viewing one edge at a time, when the whole design is visible in every facet.  Lucius:

Narcissa:

Regulus: Bellatrix:

Rosier: Everyone Else At Snape’s Surprise Birthday Party:  Lucius: Severus… all I asked was if you wanted to cut your birthday cake first.

******

Snape: What did you guys get in your yearbook? Lucius: ‘Prettiest Smile’

Narcissa: ‘Nicest Personality’

Bellatrix: ‘Most likely to start a bar fight’

Regulus: ‘Least likely to start a bar fight, but most likely to win one’

******

Lucius: If there’s going to be a big dramatic scene, wait until I get back. Snape: Of course, Lucius. I cannot flip this table by myself.

******

Snape: I think I’m having a mid-life crisis.  Lucius: You’re 19 years old  Snape: I MIGHT DIE AT LIKE 38

******

Lucius: You love me, right, Severus? Snape: Normally, I’d answer yes without hesitation, but I feel like this is going somewhere and I don’t like it.

******

Snape: Lucius and I have the kind of easy chemistry where we finish each other’s- Lucius: -sentences.  Snape: Do not interrupt me.

******

Lucius: So that’s my plan. Snape: Are you alright with constructive criticism? I don’t want to sound mean. Lucius: No, go ahead, I want to hear it. Snape: It fucking sucks. Lucius: First of all, that’s not constructive criticism.

******

Lucius: Severus, I only ever see you awake, do you ever take a nap or stop running?  Snape: Oh, I’m always running  Snape: The question is… (*dramatic Movie!Snape pause*) from what.

******

Snape: I’m a reverse necromancer. Lucius: Isn’t that just killing people? Snape: Ah yes, technicality.

******

Lucius: Severus, love, it’s your turn to wash dishes.  Snape: I’LL WASH THE WALLS RED WITH YOUR BLOOD.  Lucius: Fine, but before that, wash the dishes, also use soap this time?

******

Lucius: You know, Narcissa and I are starting to regret showing you how that blender works.  Snape, drinking toast: Why do you say that?

******

Lucius: Okay, help me please! Snape: I have two words for you

Lucius: I bet they won’t be helpful. Snape: Your problem. Lucius: I was right

******

Lucius: Aw Severus! Look at you, getting all romantic with these candles!

Snape: Who said anything about being romantic?

Snape: Maybe I’m going to sacrifice you.

******

Lucius: You know, Severus, I can never tell if you’re insulting me or flirting with me.

Snape: If it makes you feel any better, me neither.

******

Narcissa: This is a catastrophe! The printer messed up the invitation! It was supposed to say “Lucius’s birthday!”

Snape: What does it say instead?

Narcissa: Lucius’s bi.

Snape:

Snape: Still works.

******

Lucius: *pretends to stretch*

Lucius: *puts arm around Snape’s shoulder*

Snape:

Snape: *pretends to stretch*

Snape: *smacks Lucius in the face*

******

Snape: Are you seeing someone?

Lucius, blushing: No, why?

Snape: I don’t know, I simply thought that perhaps you would benefit from seeing a therapist or something.

******

Snape: So, Lucius sent me an owl saying “your adorable” and I sent him one back saying “no, YOU’RE adorable.”

Narcissa: And?

Snape: And now we’re dating.

Narcissa:

Snape: We’ve been on six dates thus far and I have yet to tell him I was merely correcting a spelling mistake but I kind of like him so...

******

Narcissa to Lucius and Snape: This is such a bad idea.

Snape: Then why are you coming along?

Narcissa: One of us needs to be able to talk the aurors out of arresting us when this inevitably goes wrong.

#also one of these quotes is a disguised sad one #i’ll give a cookie to whoever guesses it right 🍪#snucius #also i know that some of these are obvs out of character/not in touch with canon #but this is a wholesome joke post so just enjoy 😙#sephtoony #sephtoony fam #severus snape #lucius malfoy #bellatrix lestrange #narcissa malfoy #pro snape #pro severus snape #snape #harry potter #hp #shitpost

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liesmyth · 11 months

Note

General ask:

Have we found plotholes or contradictions you've found the Locked Tomb series? Any that are like, "why didn't this character just do X since they had this power?" or "how could this character have known this information?" or anything of the sort?

I can't find any, but these books are so dense and other people are better at close reading. I've been so impressed with the way things roll out, the fact that rereads are so satisfying because you suddenly know why a character did/said something that seemed odd or just innocuous at the time. for THREE BOOKS and counting (dear jod I wish I was an outliner). It seems impossible there haven't been any contradictions.

OK. I thought about it Long and Hard and could only think of a couple. Well, one for sure, and a couple more that could be plot holes / worldbuilding issues, or could turn out to be planned all along in AtN.

Lyctoral privacy and Cytherea

This is the big one. Lyctors are “black boxes” to thanergy unless they are being touched by other Lyctors, and this is something that should have alerted the gang in GtN to Cytherea’s true nature, much like Ianthe and Harrow figured out Pro was dead all along.

Regular necromancers aren’t able to “perceive” the organisms of the people around them to the degree Lyctors do, but some of the Heirs at Canaan House are powerful enough that they SHOULD be able to sense in some way those around them, and figure out that “Dulcinea” was sus. Especially since Cytherea-as-Dulcie had a couple of moments of fainting dramatically and becoming increasingly sicker (one of the reasons why I think Cytherea had a lot of control over her cancer cells) and several necromancers used aptitude on her to check her health, including Palamedes. They shouldn’t have been able to. Assuming that “touching Lyctors allows you to interfere with their bodies” extends also to non-Lyctors, they should STILL have noticed something was off.

The fact that Palamedes was able to manipulate the cancer cells inside Cytherea’s body to turn it into a bomb is very unlikely, even assuming he was touching her the whole time (I can buy it if he distracted her with sex like in this fic). And the fact that Lyctor Harrow in Act 5 is able to visualise Cytherea’s body and “see” the cancerous mass goes against the canon established in HtN because they weren’t touching at the time.

The smaller ones!

Ninth House demographics: If anyone younger than Ortus died when Harrow was conceived, and Ortus was around 17/18 at the time, this would still leave plenty of young adults of reproductive age. There should be SOME children on the Ninth, even assuming that people were scared to have children for some times after, even assuming that some people moved away (the Houses aren’t aware that the Ninth is dying out so it can’t have been a mass exodus). I can excuse this as Gideon’s melodramatic narration saying that there are no other young people on the Ninth, because she’s 18 and a few dozen kids of ages 14 and under probably wouldn’t register to her, just because to all intents and purposes, she was raised completely alone with Harrow. But look. There should be some kids.

Who are the Cohort fighting? I talked about it a bit here; the population of the known universe just doesn’t seem big enough to sustain a continued war of aggression by the Houses (the implications in GtN/HtN) because what we see of the Empire in NtN seems to be a colonial power who are firmly established in most of their “sheperedered planets” and only have to contend with insurgence movements, not an enemy army. BUT the Cohort seem to constantly be fighting and dying. I'm very curious to find out if we'll discover more.

(There are a couple more things that will leave me ???? if they aren't cleared up in AtN, but they're even more minor)

#chekhovs-tantrum #ask #tlt meta #tlt thoughts #tlt

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utilitycaster · 10 months

Note

If you wouldn't mind to share, how would you have mapped out Laudna's build to make for a better character?

(I have a second anon about this as well so this goes for both)

Honestly my favorite solution is to make her a warlock/wizard instead. It gives her a degree of agency that's far more compelling, and also wizards are simply better than sorcerers (and a high INT with an arcana focus would do the party good). I think this is the best way in keeping Delilah interesting, because she has really been on an endless downhill slide since, let's be real, before this campaign. The idea that Laudna came back with a necromancer in her head and decided to learn everything she could about necromancy is incredibly appealing to me and would maintain the creepy vibes (and even better explain her pariah status). This also opens a doorway for her to maintain Pate.

I think the other option is for her to have just taken warlock instead of sorcerer from the start. What's weird to me is how common it is for people to act like Marisha's leveling up choices are dictated by Matt's moves as Delilah, which is simply not the case (sidebar: iirc Marisha said she intended initially to take no further warlock levels rather than the one she took, which is bizarre to me given Pate and her statements about him), but anyway, Laudna reluctantly moving along in the direction of Delilah provides far more tension and interest. Like, the problem with Delilah is both the fact that she's played out and keeps getting less interesting and more pathetic with every return, but also that, with mostly sorcerer levels, Laudna getting rid of her isn't terribly high stakes. Had Laudna been mostly a warlock at least this would be a fraught decision, but now it's like yeah girl kill that fucking mosquito.

My final suggestion is that warlock/bard would have been more fun. I know warlock/sorcerer as coffeelock was popular for a minute on reddit but people on reddit are maybe the worst at D&D of all the social media platforms. The fact is, Imogen is doing sorcerer in a more interesting way in every single capacity, and bard would not only improve the party's composition immensely, it also I think adds a really great dimension to Laudna's people-pleasing tendencies.

#answered #Anonymous #really it comes down to sorcerer is the rogue of casters. weak flavor and limited in scope. one is fine. two are unnecessary.#cr tag

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oldestenemy · 3 months

Text

Digging through tombs never stops feeling completely wrong.

It felt wrong on Krokotopia and Avalon, felt horrible in Dragonspyre and Azteca.

It still feels just as bad in Mirage.

They are used to undead and ghosts and old bones.

But not usually ones this…

Enthusiastic?

“Yes! You! With the skin and robes and whatnot. Do you have a minute?”

They suppose, in the grand scheme of things, they should not be surprised. One oddity after another. But a talking skull—a talking skull with no body and no will to move and no…no monster? attached? Is a tiny bit out of the wizard’s realm of ordinary. So they agree to acquire the crystal for him, even if they doubt he’s really the key to defeating Xerxes.

They even oblige him and shove the damn thing with a horrid crack! into his empty eye socket.

And Ozzy the skull shoots out of his sarcophagus so fast that it makes them bolt backwards, one hand on their spell cards and the other reaching for a sword.

“Woah! You are jumpy aren’t you—have you done this before? Am I not the first magic flying skull you’ve ever helped break out of a tomb? Because honestly, that would be impressive.” When they show no sign of backing down he sort of drops a foot or so, hovering around eye level with them. “Do you really think I’m going to attack you? After you just did me a humongous favor? No! Lets go kick Overlord Xerxes back into the sand!”

Unsurprisingly, the bodyless brainless bonehead is a bit of a coward.

The wizard doesn’t mind, he’s an entertaining coward at least.

His narration of everything he knows—or used to know—about Mirage is a welcome distraction, even if it’s clear he’s not telling the whole story most of the time. That’s alright. Let Ozzy have his secrets. He’s very clearly harmless.

Not as much can be said for most of Mirage’s inhabitants, where everything from the flora to the very sand they walk upon seems to want them dead.

~*~

“Are you going to tell me what happened yet?” Suzie asks as she stares down the vision that is becoming somewhat commonplace—Duncan, looking more and more haggard as time passes, refusing to sleep, barely eating, sending papers scattering across the house that is technically Suzie and Artur’s but may as well just be his at this point.

“No.”

“I’ll tell them you’re here.”

Duncan groans, dropping his head to the table. “Suzie—I am trusting you not to get me killed—”

“—and I am asking for you to give me the bare minimum amount of information to trust you right back, used to be you wouldn’t shut up about what you were doing but—”

“—so I grew up and learned to shut my damn mouth—shouldn’t you be happy about that.”

“Maybe if you didn’t keep saying this is a matter of life or death!” she snaps back “For all everyone else knows you’ve been missing the better part of a year, not just all of us in Dragonspyre but the wizard has had the whole of Ravenwood and the city guard looking for you since you vanished—”

“—right, which is why I’m hiding out in your house like a fugitive, because everyone and their firecat is on the lookout for me.”

Duncan had shown up two weeks ago, angry and withdrawn and demanding—well, more like begging—Suzie let him hide out in her family home on Triton Avenue. There wasn’t any danger of discovery there, she and Artur had been the only Gryphonbanes left in Wizard City since childhood, and Artur was currently (and possibly eternally) too enamored with caring for the battledrakes to cause any potential problems. Which was a relief, as Artur might be more quick to tell people—he and Duncan has always been on…more delicate terms.

Which Suzie couldn’t blame him for.

Duncan was abrasive at best, downright condescending and mean at worst.

Suzie was just better at meeting him on the same level.

Speaking of which.

“If you don’t start talking I’m going to at least go get Marla.” Suzie tells him, though it's an empty threat. “All the Necromancers have been especially worried about you—I’m guessing because of what happened while you were all in Darkmoor—” Duncan lifts his head enough to glare at her. “—yeah yeah, pretend you hate me, I’m still the only one you trusted enough to keep you hidden.”

She finally sits down across from him at the table, mirroring his crossed arms and resting her chin on them. “Is this what Penny and Malorn feel like when they try to get the Wizard to talk to them?”

The look that gets her is so intense she thinks there ought to be some sort of energy discharge accompanying it. It’s not even fully angry. There’s a bitterness in it, a jealousy she wouldn’t recognize if she didn’t know him so well.

“That’s what this is, isn’t it?” She continues, “You got wrapped up in something like they do—”

“—I’m nothing like the wizard.”

“I didn’t say you were.” He is though, Suzie thinks. Whether he wants to believe it or not.

Silence falls again, longer now. Just the pair staring at one another.

Eventually she has to leave. She’s been fully leaning into the whole duelmaster thing at the academy and they’ve started hosting little tournaments among the Ravenwood graduates—there’s supposed to be one this afternoon. Part of her wants to call it off, or hand the reigns to Regina for today, she wants to sit here and pry until Duncan finally admits to whatever he’s done.

But there isn’t any point.

Not yet.

He isn’t ready.

She’ll come back tomorrow.

It’s as she’s just started to draw the recall sigil that he speaks again.

“You can tell them I’m safe,” It’s hesitant, and frustrated, like he’s trying not to say exactly what he’s saying. “just not where I am.”

It’s a little progress.

It’s enough.

She’ll sit on it for a bit, try to work out how to tell the others without inviting a flood of questions she cannot answer. The necromancers first, they deserve it most of all. She’s seen all three of them dipping in and out of the Myth classroom when their returns to Wizard City overlap, asking if Cyrus Drake has any news—normally she would think he’d hate that kind of interruption, but Duncan isn’t the only one who came back from Darkmoor different.

~*~

When Suzie comes back the following day, she finally finds Duncan asleep.

Read the whole series here <3

#wizard101 #wizard101 fic #wizzy fandom #wizard101 fanfiction #w101 #wizard101 fandom #wiz101 #duncan grimwater #suzie gryphonbane #lark is still playing funky wizard game from their childhood #wizard101 fanfic

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