#in exchange for magic help and Forbidden Knowledge

[verekatt]

I love this. Accidental Thrall!Jason my beloved, I'm so sorry poor boy.

Jason immediately calls a code red (or code mind control leading to ally death/disappearance, I'm sure Batman's prepared enough to have a specific code for that).

He recognises logically that he made a mistake, that he's done something unforgivable, but every time he thinks about it, he feels content and accomplished. He knows it's ongoing mind control, he knows that once he snaps out of this he'll be horrified and ashamed, but he can't feel that right now. All he can feel is that he served his King well.

He calls the Bats in. He knows he's compromised. His desire to protect his family, his people, is fighting the compulsion. After enough time in a containment cell, his Obsession wins out. He has to protect his people. He flips from thralldom to full-blown Obsession.

The Bats are trying, but the magic circle Jason used isn't like anything they've ever seen. JL Dark can tell it's sacrificial to the High King of the Infinite Realms, but that doesn't answer why Jason was mind controlled, why Tim was sacrificed, or how to get Tim back. Tim's property of the Crown now, and no one knows how to break that. Constantine warns them against any attempt to enter the Realms, and although every Bat has volunteered to go alone, none are willing to send their family in. It's a suicide mission, and they all know it. The Bat's self-sacrificial argument continues as Jason's Obsession starts rearing it's head.

Jason has instinctual knowledge. He doesn't know how, but he draws a circle in his own blood in his cell while the Bats are fighting outside. By the time they notice, he's gone, a circle of runes in drying blood the only evidence he was ever there.

Tim's gone, Jason's gone and mind controlled, and the Bats have nothing but a deathwish to guide them. Meanwhile, Danny's very distressed about the sacrificial CEO and the furious Revenant who followed. He just wanted a secretary!

Help Wanted ≠ Send Sacrifices

Danny gripped his bangs in his fist, staring down at the paperwork before him with endless frustration and not a lick of comprehension.

Why was there so much paperwork, anyway? Pariah Dark hadn't exactly seemed like the type to keep records. Had he done this on purpose? As punishment to whomever wound up taking the throne from him? Danny had to admit, that sounded like a really devious plan. Unless the next ruler had been, like, The Secretary Ghost or something.

… that gave Danny an idea.

Clockwork had told him about this "Kingly Connection" thing he had yet to try out. Supposedly, it made it so that the king could address his subjects all at once, no matter where they may be. In case of an urgent announcement or Realms-threatening danger, or something.

To Danny, it sounded like a really efficient way to send out a 'Help Wanted' ad. Everyone would be able to hear it, and anyone who for some reason didn't could learn about it through word of mouth. Those who felt they were qualified could come see him at the Keep, and those who didn't could just continue on with whatever they'd been doing. It was the perfect plan.

Danny flopped back in his seat, relieved for the reprieve as he shut his tired eyes. He followed the pull, down, down, into his core… and then even further, til the light behind his eyes got brighter, til he reached the power of the KING.

Hey, everyone. This is your King speaking. I need like, a secretary or something. Someone who can help me handle literal millennia of paperwork. So, if y'all could come on down to the Keep, or pass the offer on to the smartest person you know, that'd be dope.

Danny felt as the power pulsed within his chest, sending his message out along the millions of tiny strings tying all Undead souls back to his. He sighed and slouched in his chair, exhaustion finally catching up to him. All he had to do now was wait. A little nap in the meantime couldn't hurt, could it?

— — —

Jason felt simultaneously floaty and more grounded than he had since his mysterious resurrection. All his anger and uncertainty was just gone, replaced by pure drive and direction. He wasn't thinking very deeply, but he knew what he was doing. It was like laying on the surface of a sunlit lake, letting the gentle waves take him wherever they wished.

The Red Hood finished the chalk circle in the middle of the wide, empty warehouse floor and stepped back. The lines and starbursts that decorated it were drawn immaculately, without a single smudge. Now, all he needed was…

… the smartest person you know…

… Where was Tim?

[anna-the-undertaker]

Adrenaline

When the human body is under a great amount of stress, induced by fear or anger or desperation, the brain releases adrenaline into the bloodstream in an effort to keep us alive, forcing our body to perform at its full potential.

Part 2: Indomitable Will

MC and Luke navigated the bustling streets of the Devildom, the perpetual night casting everything in shades of deep blue and violet. The young angel’s face lit up with excitement as they gathered the last of the ingredients for his newest culinary creation. The market was alive with activity, but as they made their way back, the lively atmosphere took a dark turn.

They had just turned down a quieter path when a group of demons ambushed them. Before MC could react, rough hands grabbed them both, dragging them deep into the Devildom’s forbidden forest—a place so dangerous that even seasoned demons avoided it.

MC's heart pounded as they were forced further into the dark, twisted woods. They knew the others would come looking for them, but the forest was vast and treacherous. The demons had chosen their hiding spot well.

As they were shoved into a clearing, MC looked at Luke, who was trembling beside them. They knew what had to be done. With a surge of determination, MC created an opening in the demon's formation, shoving Luke through it.

"Run, Luke! Get help!" MC shouted, their voice strained with urgency.

Luke hesitated, his eyes wide with fear. "I can't leave you here! They'll—"

"RUN!" MC screamed, just as one of the demons lunged for Luke.

Finally, Luke obeyed, sprinting before taking flight with tears streaming down his cheeks. MC turned back to face the demons, their body trembling with fear but fueled by something stronger—the need to protect the young angel and everyone they had come to love.

As the demons advanced, a whirlwind of thoughts rushed through MC's mind. They saw the faces of all the friends they had made since coming to the Devildom: Diavolo’s encouraging smile, Barbatos’ quiet support, Lucifer’s stern but caring gaze, and the warmth of each brother and the angels who had become their family.

They had already lost so much, survived so much, and learned so much. Diavolo, Barbatos, and Lucifer had worked tirelessly for the success of this exchange program, striving for peace between realms. They had all fought so hard for every new experience, every friendship, all the knowledge that had been gained.

MC felt the weight of it all—the importance of what they had built together. Their instincts screamed at them to run, to find safety, but they couldn’t. Not now. They had to fight. They had to protect what mattered.

The first blow landed hard against their side, knocking the wind out of them. Pain exploded through their body, but they couldn’t fall. Not here. Not now. If they died, Luke would blame himself, and the others... it would destroy them.

Fueled by a surge of desperation, MC fought back with everything they had. Their heart raced, adrenaline flooding their system, making them move faster, hit harder, and react with a precision they didn’t know they possessed. Their magic, bolstered by the pacts they had formed, surged within them, giving them strength beyond what they thought possible.

Time lost meaning in the forest's darkness. It felt like hours had passed, but it could have been mere minutes. The forest's living energy twisted around them, making everything uncertain and surreal. They fought until the demons lay sprawled on the forest floor, barely breathing and unconscious.

MC stood there, gasping for breath, their body screaming in pain. Every muscle ached, their vision blurred, and their head spun. They looked up at the stars that peeked through the canopy of trees, trying to calm themselves, but the adrenaline had worn off, and the shaking in their limbs returned with a vengeance. They felt both heavy and weightless, and they marveled at how they were still standing.

"My magic most likely," they whispered to themselves, their voice barely audible. "I was told the pacts would change me in some ways..."

In the distance, MC heard the sound of shouts. They turned their head weakly towards the noise, catching sight of a group rushing towards them. The figures became clearer, and relief washed over them as they recognized Solomon, Simeon, Diavolo, Barbatos, Lucifer, and the others. Luke was with them, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm so happy you're okay..." MC murmured, their voice soft and strained as they smiled at Luke.

No one said anything at first. They were all staring at MC, their expressions a mix of shock and disbelief.

"Why is everyone staring at me like I've grown three heads?" MC wondered, glancing down at themselves.

They were covered in blood—some of it theirs, but most of it from the demons they had just faced. They looked back at the crumpled forms of the demons around them. One of them groaned, clutching his side in pain.

MC turned back to the others, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over them. Their vision darkened at the edges, and they swayed on their feet.

"Can someone help me... please..." MC's voice was faint, barely a whisper. "I think I'm gonna—"

Before they could finish, their knees buckled, and they collapsed. Several of the brothers rushed forward to catch them while the others moved to deal with the demons.

The group was stunned by the scene before them. MC’s injuries were significant, but the damage they had inflicted on the demons was far greater. They all knew MC was strong—they had learned that humans were far from weak—but this... this was something else entirely.

As they carried MC back, the reality of what had happened settled over them like a shroud. The most important lesson had been learned: humans were peaceful only when they chose to be, not because they had to be. And MC had just proven that to devastating effect.

[assmaster-8000]

ok buckle up boys

alchemist mc 2.0

- birth name; Baragsen ibn Bassam al-Irdjan (baragsen, son of bassam of the irdjan. baragsen meaning 'pride', irdjan being the tribe she originates from)

- chosen name; Izemrasen bint al-Aql (aql meaning intellect. she's not subtle and im not very smart)

backstory;

baragsen was born into the irdjan tribe, a nomadic people who revered the alchemical arts and saw silver as both a blessing and a curse. to the irdjan, silver was a neutral conduit, capable of catalyzing both creation and destruction. her father, a proud and ambitious leader, sought to uncover forbidden knowledge hidden by the gods, believing that such wisdom would secure his tribe's dominance. but his hubris led to a curse upon his bloodline, and he mysteriously disappeared, leaving his brother to assume leadership.

the true nature of the curse revealed itself only after the birth of baragsen, five months after her father’s vanishing. her arrival was marked by a horrific event; her touch could transmute any substance into silver, even her own mother, whose body turned into the precious metal and killed her before the eyes of the tribe's midwives.

unable to understand or control her powers, the tribe began to hide her away, treating her like a monster. her father’s legacy, now tainted by the curse and his arrogance, left the tribe in a state of confusion and fear. her abilities, a manifestation of the curse, made her a symbol of both the tribe’s broken traditions and the punishment for challenging the gods. baragsen grew up locked away, ignored and feared. though, her uncle, her father's brother, would secretly educate her in the sciences and arts when the tribe slept— believing his brother to have been right in his ambition, and hoping his daughter could one day accomplish what he failed to do.

years passed, and the tribe could no longer contain her, nor could they risk keeping her close. in their desperation to rid themselves of the dangerous anomaly she had become, they sought to exchange baragsen with an exiled mage whom they crossed paths with, a former member of the senobium, in the hopes that the mage might help her understand and control her powers. the mage, a figure who had long rejected the oppressive institutions of magic, saw potential in baragsen.

thus, the ex-mage took baragsen under her wing, not out of any maternal love or desire to help her, but as a subject for her own experiments— to explore her powers and perhaps use her to uncover further knowledge. desperate for acceptance and parental love, baragsen began to see the mage not just as a caretaker, but as someone who might share her desire for truth. they grew close as the ex-mage taught her to control her powers, and wield other forms of magic. for a while, she allowed herself to believe that she had found someone who understood her.

however, when she learned the truth after reading the ex-mage's notes— that she was little more than a test subject for the mage’s own ambitions— her faith was shattered. the person she had trusted had only seen her as a stepping stone in the grand scheme of things. the one person she thought would understand her plight within the suffocating hierarchy of the world only gave into the very same thing that expelled the both of them. so baragsen fled, vowing to never again be used by those who saw her as a means to an end.

she rejected her birth name, the shadow of her father's legacy, and the tribe that had cast her aside— and took on a new name: Izemrasen bint al-‘Aql, the daughter to none but the pursuit of raw, human reason— unclouded by dogma, by divinity. in her eyes, the gods and their influence were nothing but foolish distractions— and she no longer wished to follow in the footsteps of those who believed in blind faith, or illusions of grandeur. no, she wanted a world where humans need not cower under the gods, nor burn under the weight of something more. where humility and reason would be the utmost ideal of mankind. and she'll forge it with her own two hands, if she must, no matter how insignificant the change might prove.

her plot is unfortunately very similar to lachesis. i just can't NOT pull this lmfao. can you tell dr. ratio is an inspiration. anyhow, more trivia about her. if it's not obvious enough, she's a transgender woman. im weak for transness as a metaphor for monstrosity OOOOOOOOuhghn

- references;

her body parts themselves have slowly transmutated into pure silver. she has silver markings on her face like mel medarda (but not on her body), very art deco.

- age; 27

- pronouns; she/her, maybe they/them

- personality; rebellious scholar

- height; 5'3" / 160cm

- likes; folding origami (badly), high-quality fabrics, accountability, bird-watching, sly people

- dislikes; great heights, coffee, ignorance, authority figures, day time

- fatal flaw; her father's disrespect for the gods is her family heirloom.

- other; draws runes on her body in henna, often under her clothes, for easy spell-casting.

[maxdibert]

Speaking of these evil characters, how do you think it would be like to defend them in court? I can’t imagine what Voldemort’s lawyer would have to say

Defending Voldemort would be a monumental challenge, and as a lawyer, you know he won’t be declared innocent. In cases like this, the goal is either to get a reduced sentence, ensure that his crimes are subject to review over time (rather than an irreversible life sentence), or, if the trial takes place in a jurisdiction with the death penalty, to prevent him from being executed. But you’re not aiming to keep him out of prison because that’s literally impossible. Defending someone like this is awful because you know the best you can do is negotiate deals, but if I were to take on the role of his lawyer, I would try a strategy based on the following points:

1. Questioning the Identity of the Defendant

Voldemort has undergone multiple transformations, physical changes, and soul fragmentations (Horcruxes). One could argue that the person born as Tom Riddle ceased to exist decades ago and that Voldemort is more of a magical entity than an individual subject to conventional human and magical laws.

2. Challenging the Legality of the Trial

The magical justice system (especially the Wizengamot) has shown irregularities in the past. It could be argued that Voldemort is not receiving a fair trial due to the enormous emotional charge and prejudice of the court, making the trial more of a political spectacle than a legitimate judicial process.

3. Coercion and Mental Control

It could be argued that many of his actions were influenced by external factors, such as the prolonged effects of his own dark magic, the fragmentation of his soul, or even the fate imposed by the prophecy. This would be a sort of magical way of pleading insanity, so to speak.

4. Attacking the Legitimacy of the Ministry of Magic

The Ministry of Magic has historically been corrupt and ineffective. One could argue that Voldemort merely took advantage of a power vacuum, acting as a revolutionary in a dysfunctional system. While his methods were extreme, the narrative that he was trying to “restore order” could be used in his defense. Another angle would be to highlight how many Ministry officials not only collaborated but manipulated the system for their own benefit, using this as a way to delegitimize the trial itself. This is mostly a sensationalist strategy meant to cast doubt on the Wizengamot’s credibility. It wouldn’t achieve much legally, but it could make them question certain aspects of the case.

5. Plea Bargain for a Reduced Sentence

If all else fails, we would attempt to negotiate a lesser sentence with the Wizengamot in exchange for cooperation. For example, he could offer to reveal knowledge of forbidden dark magic, the location of cursed objects, or even information about former followers who are still in hiding.

Obviously, defending Voldemort would be nearly impossible to win, but these arguments could at least help him avoid the maximum penalty or shift the narrative of the trial into something more nuanced. I don’t know, it’s a lost cause—just like Bellatrix, Barty, or Fenrir. These are characters who are clearly not going to escape a severe sentence. It’s much easier to work with Umbridge, Lucius, or Severus. Severus would be an easy case, and Lucius too because he’s insanely rich—arguing that the evidence against him is merely circumstantial and that no one can prove he specifically killed anyone would likely result in a sentence with a set bail amount, which he’d pay off and be done with it. Severus could easily get parole or even a full acquittal because he was collaborating with “the good guys” for many years, and just that alone is usually enough to get someone out of prison. xD

[dailyadventureprompts]

Villain: The Cult of the Wyrm Eternal

Any adventurer, alchemist, or awestruck child can tell you that there is power in the body of a dragon, and like all sources of power it's only a mater of time before someone comes along to try to capitalize on it.

Enter the Cult of the Wyrm Eternal, which emerges from long buried vaults to dissect the bodies of dragonkind like flesh eating beetles. The cult originated from a time beyond remembering following the teachings of a profane text known as the Har'Khon Libram, which survives into the modern day as a sort of how-to manual for those seeking forbidden knowledge allowing them to revive the cult's practices and discover its caches of lost power.

It's in this manner that the cult has survived millennia and numerous purges at the hands of heroes, holy orders, and oligarchs: With each iteration caching away knowledge and resources for acolytes they will never meet.

Hooks:

A prominent dragonborn hero and ally of the party disappears, leaving behind few clues and a mystery to solve. Lacking a true dragon to carve up for ingredients the cult abducted the dragonborn and plans on sacrificing them after a gauntlet of strange rituals intended to suffuse their flesh with power.  Its a race against the clock for the party to find their friend before there’s nothing left of them but a grisly scattering of magical items bound for the cult’s armoury. 

The local warlord has a new pet, a young dragon provided to him by the cult in exchange for his protection and material support. Tales of him riding out to wreak destruction from its back send shivers of terror through the populace. What a surprise then when the party encounter it in the wild, rampaging aimlessly after  slipping her bonds.  Brainwashed by cult doctrine the parry find themselves  negotiating with a creature with the drives of a caged tiger, the volatility of an abused teenager,  and the destructive potential of an artillery battery.  Talking her down will be as difficult as diffusing a bomb, but they might just come away with important information or even a new ally should they help her evade recapture.

Using knowledge purloined from the mysteries of the mother hydra herself a cell of the Wyrm Eternal has been working on a ritual to create a true dragon, experimenting with drakes, basilisks and other reptilian monsters, filling the wilderness with bounty worthy monsters that will inevitably bring the party crashing into their lair.

Background: The knowledge contained within the Har'Khon Libram is cursed, part of a scheme by the book's original author in an attempt to evade both death and those who hunt unlawful immortality. Reading the book not only imparts the authors knowledge upon the prospective cultist, but also a vestige of their cosiouness, which steers them towards the same course of action that has kept the cult alive for so long: constructing more vaults, hoarding draconic power, and propogating the Libram's knowledge so that the infection can spread through time.

Hidden in the depths of each vault are tablets of further tainted lore, which causes the seed of malign presence within the Wyrm cultist's mind to blossom, opening their mind to the space between life and death and allowing their patron's thoughts to swirl into their own. In this way the party can end up fighting the same villain through many proxies, the unseen master of the Wyrm eternal studying them as they cut down vessel after vessel before formulating a counteroffence.

Dungeon Dressing:

Wyrm Eternal vaults vary by the culture that originally constructed them, but are always in remote, sheltered areas that could endure largescale devastation. Their entrances are hidden and warded against intrusion, protected by magical cyphers that can usually only be broken with aid from the Har'Khon Libram. Vaults can also contain these doors within, locking away the greatest treasures until the acolytes have further tainted their thoughts with the Libram's curse.

Undead are ubiquitous within dungeons claimed by the Wyrm Eternal, ranging from simple servitors to looming guardians to dragonbone infused war machines just waiting to be unleashed on the cult's enemies all with green corpsefire flickering in their heads. Access to these undead armouries and the arsenal of magical items that come with them are one of the primary drivers for individuals to become cultists in the first place.

Each vault will likewise contain preserved pieces of dragongore, ranging from single skulls placed on altars to whole cellars filled with blood magically preserved in clay or glass vessels. If a cult cell reached full operation, it's likely to have atleast one mummified corpse preserved in an onsite tomb, it's vital organs ( and perhaps a few spares) preserved in canopic jars waiting nearby.

Art 1 Art 2

[nyxhaven]

A Forbidden Chapter (gale x tav)

Amidst the ancient tomes of Blackstaff Academy's library, a secret liaison unfolds between Gale Dekarios, a distinguished wizard, and Tav, his promising student. Their connection transcends the bounds of mentorship, weaving together passion and the pursuit of forbidden knowledge. As sparks fly and desires ignite, the clandestine affair leads them to the academy's restricted section, where the boundaries between magic and desire blur, and they delve into the mysteries of both their hearts and the arcane arts.

(SMUT 18+ MDNI teacher x student au, Tav is an adult (20) going to blackstaff academy)

(it’s a lana del ray type of vibe this time.)

Today, Gale had invited Tav, a promising new student, to assist in collecting rare tomes for extra credit. The decision to choose Tav had been fueled not just by their eagerness but also by the undeniable connection he felt with the young mage.

In the weeks leading up to this moment, Gale had noticed Tav's presence in his class, and he couldn't help but admire the way their eyes sparkled with curiosity. Tav's work had always stood out, their talents shining through, but it was their dedication to learning and the subtle smiles exchanged in class that had truly caught Gale's attention.

Gale, being a skilled and observant teacher, had praised Tav's progress subtly, giving them knowing looks during lectures that conveyed encouragement and a connection beyond the classroom. Today's invitation was an extension of his desire to foster that connection, to share not only knowledge but also an unspoken understanding that transcended the boundaries of teacher and student.

As they ventured deeper into the labyrinth of the library, Tav's heart raced with a mixture of excitement and affection. The unspoken tension had grown between them, and with each book they collected, Gale's admiration for Tav only deepened. It was a connection that felt like fate.

Tav, with youthful enthusiasm, climbed the ladder on the bookshelf reaching out far for a book. Stretching their arm out far to grab the spine of the book and slipping off, it was in that moment of near-fall that Gale's reflexes kicked in. With a swift, yet gentle motion, he reached out, his strong arms catching Tav just in time.

“If you wanted to get closer to me, Tav, I'd prefer a more direct approach,” Gale said softly.

Tav, caught in Gale's embrace, felt the solidness of those broad shoulders and the warmth of his presence. There was an unspoken intimacy in that fleeting connection, an unspoken promise of protection and guidance. Gale's steady grip conveyed not just physical support but also a sense of mentorship and trust.

Their eyes met, and in that brief, charged moment, the unspoken tension between them seemed to intensify. The library held its collective breath as if aware of the growing connection, and the exchange of more than just books hung heavily in the air.

“Thank you, Mr. Dekarios. I'll make sure to be more careful next time.”

With a mixture of longing and hesitation, Gale, being mindful of his role as a teacher, leaned in, his lips gently pressing against Tav's. His kiss held a world of unspoken emotions, pulling away, but before he could even finish apologizing quietly, Tav responded with a passionate kiss of their own. It was a confirmation of feelings that could no longer be contained, an affirmation of a connection that defied boundaries and rules.

In the quiet sanctuary of the library, with books as their silent witnesses, Gale and Tav shared a moment of profound connection, where their hearts and lips spoke a language only they understood. The unspoken bond between mentor and student had now transformed into something deeper, something they were both willing to explore.

The moment of shared intimacy in the library lingered, its allure drawing Gale and Tav closer. As they exchanged a knowing look, the desire for more knowledge tugged at their hearts, and they couldn't resist the forbidden allure of the academy's restricted section.

With a silent nod, Gale, his robes trailing behind him, led the way toward a hidden door at the far end of the library. The door was adorned with intricate sigils, ancient warding runes meant to deter curious students, but Gale's expertise allowed him to bypass these protections with ease.

Tav followed, their pulse quickening, a sense of exhilaration coursing through them. The door creaked open, revealing a passage that led deeper into the heart of the restricted section. The air in this hidden chamber was heavy with the weight of forbidden knowledge, and the shelves were lined with tomes that held secrets too dangerous for the average mage.

As they ventured further into this clandestine world of forgotten spells and dark rituals, Gale's hand brushed against Tav's, sending a shiver down their spine. It was a fleeting touch, but it carried the promise of something more profound.

Tav couldn't help but steal glances at Gale, admiring the grace with which he navigated the labyrinthine shelves, and the wisdom that radiated from him. With each stolen glance, the bond between them deepened, and the knowledge they were seeking seemed to pale in comparison to the connection they were forging.

In the restricted section, where the boundaries of morality and the allure of the arcane blurred, Gale and Tav were on the brink of discovering not only hidden spells but also the mysteries of their own hearts.

Deep within the labyrinthine depths of the restricted section, Gale and Tav ventured further into the heart of the arcane secrets. The dim light and the heavy atmosphere seemed to heighten their connection, the desire for forbidden knowledge entwined with their growing attraction. The tunnels of books opened up to a large common area, similar to the main Blackstaff library, just not lit up and with no windows. Gale snaps his fingers, and the candles, chandeliers, and large fireplace ignited with flames, illuminating the walls of ancient forgotten books surrounding them. A large couch and plush rug appeared by the fireplace.

Gale took Tav's hands into his, rubbing small circles on Tav's knuckles. “Is this okay? Say it now; we'll leave, and you'll never see me anymore.”

“I don't know what I want; I just know that this feels right.”

Tav’s heart raced as Gale pulled them close, his touch now more urgent and passionate. Their lips met in a kiss that was deeper and more fervent than before, reflecting their shared hunger for more than just knowledge. Gale's fingers tangled in Tav's hair, and their bodies pressed together, entwined in the ancient magic that surrounded them.

As the kiss deepened, the boundaries between mentor and student blurred, and the allure of the forbidden merged with their longing for one another. Gale's hands explored Tav's body with a sense of familiarity, igniting a fire within them both. The silent library seemed to amplify the intensity of their connection, the hidden chamber now a sanctuary for their desires.

Gale pulled Tav down onto the plush rug with him, laying Tav on their back. He unbuttoned their robe, slowly pulling it off their shoulders. Placing kisses along Tav's collarbone, down the middle of their chest. Tav's breath hitched to Gale’s touch; noticing it, Gale pulled back. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything's fine; I've just never done anything like this before. I've kissed people.” Tav rambled, becoming flustered and nervous. They turned their face away from Gale's gaze. Feeling long fingers pull their jaw back to his face.

“That's just fine; I'll be sure to go slow, and if you wanna stop, just say so, darling.”

Tav's body relaxed; Gale's words comforted them. Tav leaned back into Gale, kissing him, needy, sloppy, youthfully excited. Gale's scruff rubbed Tav's soft skin as they deepened their kiss. Gale stood over Tav, his feet on both sides of their hips; he untied the waistband of his robe, slowly disrobing himself, leaving him in tight gray briefs, showing his large bulge. A gulp came from Tav's throat; Gale noticed the worry and anticipation on their face. Gale's finger beckoned Tav to lean up and come closer.

Tav's face at height with Gale's hips, they cupped the clothed bulge, kissing the cock over the cloth for a little bit before Gale's dick couldn't help it anymore and his head escaped the waistband of his briefs. Tav took the invitation to pull down his underwear; he helped by stepping out of them, kicking them away. Tav took the time to slip their robe off, remaining in their delicacies.

Grabbing the base of Gale's cock, Tav began to pump; a deep moan found its way to Gale's mouth. Knowing their doing good work, they continued to pump Gale's cock, kissing his crown and balls. Gale's breaths came quicker, grabbing a handful of Tav's hair to guide them to the places to kiss while they still stroked Gale. Kissing under his balls or the part where his dick meets his thighs.

Gale cupped the bottom of Tav's head, making them look up. “Last week, your essay on illusions needed some help to make up for the credit. Care to indulge in my lecture,” he said in a disciplinary voice. Tav let out a small nod, trying not to show the excitement of wetness coming from their core.

Gale leaned over, whispering into Tav's ear. “Go bend over that desk.”

Following the orders, Tav leaned over the desk, luckily, it's smoothed and polished. Gale sauntered over, extending his hand and muttering a small incantation; another arm extended, separating into a whole other Gale. Gale's illusion came around to Tav's face, kneeling down to their level; Gale came from behind Tav, palming Tav's ass, pulling off their undergarments. He spread them open, taking in the view of Tav bent over. “By the gods, looks like I won't be needing any grease with the mess you've already made.” Taking his finger, he rimmed your hole using your own slick while Gale's illusion kissed you before standing up, his cock at the height of Tav's lips. Tav took Gale's illusionary cock into their mouth. His illusion rocked their hips into Tav's mouth. Gale, meanwhile, slipped a finger into Tav, slowly stretching them before adding a second, hearing their moans muffled on the illusionary's dick. It pulled out, leaving strings of saliva dripping from Tav's lips. “How are we feeling so far, young scholar?” Gale said teasingly about Tav's love for knowledge and praise.

“Please… please, Mr. Dekarios, don’t stop.” Tav whimpered. Resuming, Gale's illusion went back to gagging Tav with their dick. Gale chuckled with eagerness. Knowing they had been stretched out, Gale brought the tip of his dick to Tav, teasing their hole. Finally, hitching his tip into them, he slid further in. Tav's moan was suffocated by Gale's double stuffing their mouth, only bringing their dick out here and there to let Tav moan loudly and breathe. Feeling Gale's length inside them; this was nothing Tav could have ever experienced. Gripping the back of the double's thighs for support while Gale held their hips, bucking into them. Reaching into Tav fully, Gale hit Tav's g-spot, letting off the first wave of intense pleasure throughout their body.

Gale felt Tav's knees buckle; he continued to thrust into them, sending the next wave of pleasure.

“Mr. Dekarios, I'm getting close,” Tav panted between breaths.

“Don’t hold back on me; show me what you're capable of doing,” he said, leaning in to Tav's ear. Dismissing his illusion, Tav's moans became louder, echoing through the shelves of the forgotten library. Tav couldn't hold back, succumbing to their orgasm, cumming. “Good now, let’s see if we can get you to do it again.”

Gale slowed his thrust, resetting his groove, fully pulling himself out then fully reinserting himself into Tav. Slowly he picked back up a solid rhythm, making Tav cum another time was easy. Reaching his own climax, Gale gripped Tav's hips; it most definitely would leave small bruising to remind Tav back in their dorms of what they did. Bucking his hips harder, chasing his release, Gale's moans slipped from his mouth, sloppy and unpolished, marked by a few curse words, pulling out and pumping his load onto the back of Tav. Sitting there for a second, both of them with heavy breathing, the only thing to be heard in the library.

Gale cleaned Tav off before they lay back on the couch by the fire, while Gale sat and read a book of some of his favorite poems, savoring this moment for just a little bit longer before having to return to the academy. Gale acted as if none of this happened in class; he still gave Tav the same look he did tonight in class to remind them of this day and how he hoped for more secret rendezvous.

[skepsiss]

Reflection: Eddie's POV

This is a 4 part mini-series about the Fruity Four. It's 1989 and Steve, Eddie, and Robin are visiting Hawkins over winter break. Nancy has invited them all over for a little Christmas get-together, and we read from the point of view of each member of the crew across 1 event.

I wrote these pieces to be read in any order, so... enjoy some Steddie, vague Ronance, Vickie x Robin, and just the Fruity Four being... fruity.

Dialogue prompt "You Remember That?" for @thefreakandthehair's Spicy Six Winter Fanworks Challenge. Page break/border by @/alderdoodle.bsky.social on Bluesky.

Rating: T Words: 3,072 CW: Swearing, scars/injury, sexual language

Steve's Part Robin's Part Nancy's Part Eddie's Part

Nancy shut the door and Eddie stepped awkwardly down the front stoop with Steve’s help. He was treating Eddie like he was some kind of delicate ballerina or something, and it only vaguely bothered Eddie because he was wearing Nancy’s coat. He had left his proper winter coat at home by mistake, and of course tonight of all nights the weather gods had decided to launch Hawkins into a snowstorm. Just his luck, really—especially after he had bet Steve that their rental car wouldn’t get stuck in the snow during their visit. He had been dead wrong and now their only way back to the trailer was by foot and well… the trailer park was on the opposite side of town. 

“Hey Steve,” someone greeted from behind them, and Eddie slowly turned. “Hey Nance, where are—-oh.”

It was Mike, and he actually took half a step back when Eddie turned to look at him.

“Eddie?” He asked, looking startled before his brows creased, and his mouth tried to form words for a question.

“I forgot my coat,” Eddie said with a sharp frown, sounding vaguely threatening. “One word, Wheeler, and you’re dead meat.”

“Jeez—okay, I just wanted to—-sorry,” Mike replied, sounding defensive despite folding easily under Eddie’s glare.

“Hey, Mike,” Steve responded, leaning around Eddie slightly before tugging him in beside him. “We’re just leaving. We’ll be back around in a few days, probably, though.”

“Uh, yeah, cool, I was actually hoping I’d catch you before you left, Eddie. I can’t find the like initiation stuff you used for us when we first joined Hellfire, where is it? Do you remember that?”

“Uhhh….” Eddie replied, a bit stunned at being made to remember something so long ago—it was only 2 years, but he could hardly remember what he ate for breakfast sometimes.

“Theatre costume room, maybe?” He replied, shrugging. “I really don’t remember, dude. I’ll ponder on it, though, see if I can unlock something out of Mordenkainen's Tome.”

The two of them exchanged a chuckle at Eddie’s reference before they properly parted ways.

Steve trudged across the lawn, and Eddie shivered in his wake as he followed his footsteps through the snow. He took Steve’s hand once again when they reached the sidewalk and tucked in close to his side.

“Whose Mortem… Mortemkinim?” Steve asked, his voice lacking shyness for needing clarification. They had gotten well past the point of Steve needing to be embarrassed about asking for clarification on nerd stuff.

“Mordenkainen,” Eddie corrected lightly, “he’s like an arch-mage in Greyhawk who invents a bunch of magic… things. Has these planar tomes he has forbidden knowledge in and all that.”

“DnD shit?” Steve asked, raising a brow.

“DnD shit,” Eddie confirmed with a chuckle.

“You’re such a fucking nerd,” Steve teased, and Eddie glanced up to see him rolling his eyes. He was smiling still, though, which made Eddie grin back.

“You loooooovvveee it,” Eddie singsonged, knocking his temple against Steve’s head gently. “Got a fetish for it or something.”

“Excuse me?” Steve asked, accusatory, leaning away from Eddie with a laugh. “How the hell is that a fetish? What are your sources, Munson?”

“Uh, my eyes?” Eddie replied acrimoniously. “My eyes, my mouth, my ass–”

“Okay, enough, we have to walk for another thirty minutes at least, I don’t need this right now.”

Eddie snorted but relented, pleased that he had won that debate.

“It is nice, though,” Eddie said after a few moments of silence. He looked at the sky as they walked, watching the fluffy flakes of snow falling down on them. “Hawkins looking like this. Quiet… walking around the streets with you… holding your hand.”

Eddie looked back at Steve, who smiled faintly at him. He looked soft and despite how cold it was outside, Eddie could swear he felt heat radiating off of Steve from how much he glowed. He looked positively smitten.

Eddie had to look away, and he grinned down at the sidewalk instead, chuckling in an almost shy way.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Eddie swallowed, chewing his lip a bit out of nervousness. Steve could still make his chest and stomach explode with butterflies, even all these years later.

“Like what?” Steve asked, sounding amused as he nudged Eddie’s shoulder with his own.

“Like that–” Eddie laughed, leaning away dramatically from Steve’s friendly shoulder check. “Like you’re completely satisfied with life and more in love with me than anything else in the world.”

“I am in love with you…” Steve replied softly, and Eddie reached up and pulled the brim of his beanie down over his eyes.

He was grinning like an idiot, and Eddie could feel his cheeks cramping from how happy he was. He was being foolish and perhaps a bit juvenile, but he loved hearing Steve say things like that. It was so soft, and it made his heart soar like nothing else.

“You’re so fucking cute…” Steve complimented, which made Eddie pull his hat down further and groan.

“God, shut up,” he huffed, on the verge of giggling.

Eddie hadn’t anticipated it, but suddenly Steve’s arms were around his middle as he was being picked up off his feet.

Eddie shrieked with laughter, the hold only lasting for a moment before Steve was leaning over his shoulder and kissing his neck and cheek.

“Stop it!” Eddie whooped, trying to wriggle from Steve’s hold as he bent at the waist to get away. It didn’t do much to help except pull Steve further over his shoulder, so they were both shuffling gracelessly through the snow.

“I can’t,” Steve chastised, still kissing at what little bits of skin he could reach. “You’re just so goddamn adorable.”

He pulled the brim of Eddie’s hat up, and Eddie couldn’t control the giggles that escaped him as he feebly pulled away from his boyfriend. God, they were acting like such teenagers. They were so stupid. They were so stupid and so in love, and Eddie wouldn’t change a single second of it.

“I’m not adorable,” Eddie complained, still smiling, but his laughter had died down. “I’m supposed to be a metal-god. Devil spawn, heart-breaker extraordinaire!”

He heard Steve chuckle in his ear before relenting and giving him one good kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah, a metal-god that makes me buy chocolate milk for him and who watches Banjo the Woodpile Cat on repeat when he’s feeling sentimental. Which is like… at least once a month.” Steve retorted, still grinning as he moved back to Eddie’s side.

“Shut up, man,” Eddie laughed, punching Steve in the shoulder as they continued to walk. “You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone that on pain of death.”

“You see anyone else around?” Steve asked, gesturing to the empty streets.

The orange glow of the street lights was making velvety shadows spread across the snow, the various Christmas lights from people’s yards joining in to create a nativity of colours. It was romantic, and it felt like they had slipped into a nulspace or the ethereal realm where they were the only ones around. It felt gossamer, and Eddie found himself longing for the old streets of Hawkins that he had so readily left behind a little over a year ago. 

“Just you, handsome,” Eddie replied, regaining a bit of his composure as he took Steve’s hand again. 

It was Steve’s turn to chuckle with flattery, and Eddie took the pause in their conversation to hustle ahead of Steve slightly.

“If there was someone around,” Eddie asked, striking a dramatic pose as he put his hand on his waist and cocked his hip. “You think they’d recognize me?”

Steve snorted at him and continued to walk, seemingly unfazed by Eddie’s antics.

“Doubt it,” Steve teased, poking Eddie in the stomach as he passed. Eddie flinched away with a smirk, despite not being able to feel the touch through the heavy parka. 

“That thing does wonders for your waist, though, makes you look curvy as hell.”

“Awww, you miss the curves, Steve?” Eddie asked, only feeling thin-skinned as he trotted up beside his boyfriend again. Despite them dating for two years, Eddie still had these moments of fear and anxiety over their relationship. Steve had been such a womanizer before they started dating—and he had pulled it off well, too. Every woman loved him. But he had somehow settled for thin-as-a-rail, chaos-gremlin, Eddie Munson who hardly had an ass for Steve to grab.

“Sometimes,” Steve admitted, and Eddie felt his stomach drop as he went quiet.

“But,” Steve shrugged, seemingly unbothered. “I’d miss a whole lot more than curves if I lost you.”

Eddie snorted at that and looked away again, Steve’s comment helping to banish his insecurities for now. 

Yeah… if they broke up—gods forbid—hearing that Steve would miss his body and what he had to offer felt reassuring. Despite hardly having an ounce of meat on his bones, he knew Steve found him attractive. He had heard it and seen it in the way Steve stared at him; how his breath hitched when Eddie stood at the foot of the bed with nothing on. He knew Steve found him attractive… it just felt difficult sometimes to stand in front of a literal Greek god—a man carved from marble in the likeness of the hero of Troy—and compare himself to that. Steve was positively radiant. 

“You getting in your head again?” Steve asked, which shook Eddie from his reverence. He blinked at Steve and then stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend.

“Only a little,” he admitted, looping his arm with Steve’s once again. 

They were a little more than halfway to the trailer park, and Eddie breathed deep as he felt his nose begin to tingle from the cold.

“Can we have a bath when we get back?” Eddie asked, swinging Steve’s arm a bit as they walked, needing to release some of the energy that was building in his limbs.

“A bath?” Steve asked, letting Eddie manhandle him however he liked. “It’ll be 11 at night by the time we’re back.”

“Yeah, so?” Eddie retorted, looking at Steve as if he was an idiot. “We’re on vacation, 11 pm baths aren’t anywhere near the freaky shit I want to get up to.” 

“Oh, I’ll be sure to mark that down and check off ‘breakfast in bed,’ ‘12 pm wake-up calls,’ and ‘assembling Christmas puzzles on the living room rug’ on the freaky list,” Steve replied sarcastically. 

Eddie smacked Steve’s arm with the back of his hand, the action having no real force behind it.

“God, am I getting boring?” Eddie asked, snorting slightly. But the question tickled a small part of his brain, reminding him that all of those things were painfully boring. 

He still had the goal of becoming a Rock Star, but he was less driven than he had been as a teen. 

Rock fame had been the only thing that was going to get him away from Hawkins-–away from his old man’s shadow—but along came Steve Harrington, who had whisked him away. Eddie was content now, and that was odd for him. He wasn’t sure if he had ever been content in his life before now. 

“I don’t think you’re boring,” Steve offered, awkwardly trudging his way through a snow drift and then offering his hand to Eddie to help him over it. Eddie didn’t need help, and he casually refused Steve’s hand in favour of making his own path.

“But that might just be because I’m pretty boring,” Steve admitted, watching Eddie as he struggled through the snow. 

It was denser than Eddie had realized, and he regretfully had pants that were not suited for this kind of weather. He didn’t exactly want to get them wet, since they had another twenty minutes of walking left.

“You’re not—boring,” Eddie huffed, awkwardly shifting and sticking his arms out to balance himself so he wouldn’t fall over. “You’re a badass. B-A-D-D… ass.”

He was concentrating on not falling and not paying attention at all to the fact that he had spelled ‘bad’ wrong. Eddie had at least made it to the crest of the drift, but now he was regretting his trajectory.

“And now I’m boring,” Steve said lightly. He reached for Eddie and grabbed his waist, hoisting him up easily enough and depositing him on the road. The move almost looked practised—like Steve was in a ballet and Eddie was some damsel leaping from the porch and into his lover’s arms so they could do the two-step for an audience. Really, the effort on Steve’s part hadn’t been too great, but it was still mind-blowingly hot. 

“I like it that way.”

Steve was still talking, saying something about being boring and how he liked that his life was much simpler now. He’d had enough adventure for a lifetime in the span of 3 years, and he was content to have people think he was dull. Unfazed and unbothered by the notion that someone would dismiss him out of hand or think of him as ‘uncool.’

Eddie was just admiring him and wondering how anyone could look at Steve and think he was boring. 

“What’re you going to do when I become famous?” Eddie asked, his words dreamy and distracted sounding.

Steve looked at him properly, and Eddie could see his boyfriend’s eyes scanning his face.

“Do I have to be famous too?” Steve asked, sounding vaguely amused.

“You’re good-looking,” Eddie shrugged, “you’d sell tabloids.”

“I think you’re good-looking enough to sell your own tabloid,” Steve retorted, teasing, but obviously flattering Eddie of purpose.

Eddie glanced away again, but this time there was less smiling and more shame. He was shy still, but insecurity etched into his brain thinking about himself plastered across a magazine cover.

“I don’t know… might be a bit hard convincing everyone of that,” Eddie said quietly, “cause…”

Eddie gestured vaguely at his jaw, motioning toward the scar that jutted up his neck and along his jaw. The skin was ropey and stretched looking since the wound had healed poorly, and he didn’t have the money for plastic surgery to fix it. Instead, he just hid the mar with his hair and tried to forget about it when he was in public. It was an insecurity, and Eddie feared that even in the metal scene he wouldn’t be palatable. Before the attack, he had sort of always relied on being decent-looking in order to help his career along, especially when he did his eye makeup for the stage. 

He wished it didn’t bother him. 

“How many times do I have to tell you this?”

Steve’s words were soft, and they pulled Eddie’s attention as he flicked his gaze up toward his boyfriend.

Steve was reaching forward, and Eddie flushed slightly as Steve ran cold fingers over the side of his neck and then soothed his thumb along Eddie’s jaw. He was touching the scar even though that spot had dulled nerves. He was touching the scar and staring at Eddie with such gentle affection that Eddie’s breath hitched. 

Two years. Two years and just a look from Steve could make Eddie feel weightless.

“You’re gorgeous…” Steve complimented, his eyes flicked across Eddie’s face as if he was taking all of him in. He truly looked captivated, and Eddie couldn’t help but stare back at Steve with stunned awe; his eyes large and his heart feeling like it was going to beat out of his chest. 

“If someone is bothered by this,” Steve commented, running his thumb over the scar again, “then they’re an idiot. Plus, it’s badass, right?”

Eddie huffed a small breath at Steve’s comment, feeling as if he had to deny the compliment, but also feeling incredibly touched by the reassurance. He wasn’t sure if that was right, but Steve didn’t seem to bat an eye at his scars-–and not in an effort to ignore them, either. 

Instead of looking away this time, Eddie glanced down the road both ways. It was night, and the wind had let up, making way for lazy snowflakes to fall silently down on Hawkins. No one was out, and it was late enough that even the windows of people’s porches were out. No one would recognize him anyway. 

Eddie wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck and ducked in for a kiss, feeling terribly romantic as he indulged in the slow affection.

Steve didn’t resist in the least, and Eddie sighed through his nose as Steve wrapped his other arm around Eddie’s middle and continued to stroke along the scar on his face. 

They stayed like that for a while, kissing quietly, until eventually Eddie brushed his lips against Steve’s cheek and tucked into his neck for a warm embrace.

“You tired?” Steve asked against his ear, kissing the side of his hat where his ear should be. He dropped his other hand to Eddie's waist and swayed them slightly, leaving lingering kisses against Eddie’s temple now and again.

Eddie just nodded slowly; the exhaustion of the day had caught up to him, and he felt like crawling into a warm bed with Steve and snuggling up as close as possible to him. Eddie was so in love… he was so in love, and Steve took such good care of him. There was no one else in the world that he loved more than Steve, and it baffled Eddie still that Steve felt the same way about him.

“Come on,” Steve said gently, slowly breaking their embrace and taking Eddie’s hand to lead him down the street.

Eddie lamely fell in behind his boyfriend and pressed against the back of his shoulder so he could half lean his cheek on Steve’s shoulder while they walked.

Everything felt so wonderful and warm despite the bitter cold. They were still ten minutes away from the trailer, but Eddie didn’t really mind all that much. It almost felt like he could doze off with how slowly he was shuffling with Steve. The holiday season had never been one of relaxation for Eddie before he started dating Steve, but now he felt like maybe he could relate to all those crummy Christmas movies and how love and peace they were. Steve made everything feel a bit brighter.

Gods… he loved this man. In all Eddie’s years on this godforsaken planet, he never thought he’d be so lucky as to date a man like Steve Harrington. 

[pikabysss]

I've thought of a concept of a mainly Resident Evil 4 AU like... similar to a vampire AU but not quite. Some kind of Castlevania-ish AU (in a similar setting with similar rules to the universe of Castlevania. With vampires, but also a lot of other kinds of monsters and fantastical races.) It'd be like some kind of Serennedy focused AU, so I decided to design them both first.

Here they are! There's colours for once :0.

Also, I've written down some of the worldbuilding for that AU if you want more context and information. It's a WIP still, so not everything is perfectly set in stone. But, if I had the mental energy, was better with time management, and was able to concentrate on my writing for more than ten minutes, I would have totally already started a fic about it. So, there's still a lot of stuff here:

Leon is a vampire/monster hunter (for obvious reason), and he is sent on a mission to save an important governor's daughter (Ashley Graham) who got captured by Lord Saddler (who is a vampire almost on the same importance of Dracula in this universe.) Luis is a dark chemist who has a lot of forbidden knowledge with science and magic. He wasn't liked in the village, but Lord Saddler admired him for his intellectual prowess, and, well, it pretty much follows canon. But it's more of a mix of fantasy and sci-fi, unlike og RE 4, which is mostly just sci-fi with the parasite stuff. Luis learns how to turn humans into monsters but also reanimate dead bodies (making Frankenstein or zombies), but he's obviously not pleased by the result. He's not capable of creating vampires, tho. Saddlers, being a vampire lord, can turn other people into vampires, and he turned Mendez and Salazar into ones. He doesn't turn too many people into vampires since they have more free wills than, like, zombies and can't control their darkened souls as well. But the fact that, if vampires go out of the village, they would most likely be killed by the hunters, Saddler can emotionally manipulate them to work for him.

Leon eventually gets bitten by Saddler and is about to become a vampire. Obviously, becoming a vampire means he'd lost everything all over again, but, most importantly, for him, his humanity. This happens before he finds Luis. Luis, at that point, wants to change his way of living and repents for his sins, so he decides to help Leon. When he discovers that Leon got bitten, he's enthralled to study him and try to find a cure... Leon accepts being his test subject, but Luis needs to help Leon get back the governor's daughter first. (Which he hasn't found yet.) And so, they go on their... horror adventure. By the way, Luis is not a vampire, and it's difficult for vampires to control their bloodthirsty impulse, so Luis must keep distances with them. He made a deal with Saddlers to help him, but to not get bitten in exchange. But, since he works so close with Leon and that the latter can't be really ordered around by Saddlers because of his rebellious nature and free will, well... if he turns into a vampire... It'd get dangerous for Luis... and Ada, because Ada is a huntress and it'd be more Leon that would be in trouble if she found out about him becoming a vampire. :/

I didn't think much of Wesker's and friends' role in the AU yet, but it's a work in progress.... The time period is between 1700 and 1900, but it's still a fantastical world, so some anachronistic elements or mixing of time period can be found. Sorry, history fanatics. *^*

I'm keeping this here so I won't lose the idea in the near future. (Unrelated, but now that I think of it, RE is a series that takes a lot of inspiration from old monsters (or horror, I guess) movies, just like Castlevania.... no wonders, I'm a fan of the two. And no wonders, both series are getting in Dead by Daylight. Jeebus Chris, the Dead by Daylight team it so wise on their IP choices. :/ I'll try not to get caught into their marketing, but I won't deny that they're wise and that they already almost caught me as if I was some kind of pokémon.)

[moetxt]

MY SUKUFUSHI DEMON / WITCH AGENDA

(for better organization)

greet oblivion with a kiss

Summary: Megumi is a witch who got banished from his order for the crime of trifling with dark magic in his obsessive quest for revenge.

Sukuna is a demon who already has everything he could ever want, with conceivably nothing more to gain in dealing with mortals.

The two of them have a contract: in exchange for Megumi's soul, Sukuna will give him a body able to withstand the forbidden art of shadow magic, and vow to always come when he is called.

Tags: Alternate Universe, Witch Fushiguro Megumi, Demon Ryomen Sukuna, Revenge Quest, Slow Burn, Pining, Mild Body Horror, some side goyuu

Notes:

- Before Megumi makes his contract with Sukuna, his usage of shadow magic so far had heavily damaged his body: he lost an eye, two fingers, part of his stomach, and the cartilage in his left knee. He wears an eye patch and a knee brace.

- He's able to summon Sukuna after learning his true name, but someone that powerful and important is not obligated to make a contract with whoever summons him, and thus must be convinced that it benefits him first. Megumi has no idea he's the demon king.

- "With this tribute, I summon thee—double-faced spectre, Ryomen Sukuna."

- "And what exactly do you hope to accomplish with such a contract, mortal?" / "You'll just have to wait and see."

- "So it was revenge. How cliché."

- "Yeah. I kind of tricked you into this, didn't I?"

- "Know your place, witch. The only contracts I enter are those I want to. Besides, mortals are painfully predictable. It's always one of a few things with you: power, wealth, or immortality. If not, then it's revenge, or winning someone's favor. I was simply curious which one it would be, for you."

- "Would you still have made a contract with me if I'd laid out all my cards at the start?"

- "No. Likely not."

- "Then I'm glad I tricked you."

- "Once again, witch, you did not trick me."

- "She took the last bit of this world's innocence with her when she left. As far as I'm concerned, they might as well all be guilty."

- "How is this not in violation of our contract? A body capable of withstanding shadow magic in its totality—those were the terms."

- "And here I thought you a scholar, Megumi Fushiguro. Chief among the laws of magic is the border between material and immaterial, as those of your kind well know."

- "Yeah, yeah: that which deals in the immaterial cannot directly affect the material, just as that which deals in the material is useless against an immaterial target. What does that have to do with anything?"

- "Shadow magic, by its very nature, violates this law. It exists in that border, and is always dipping in one way or the other. And while your body may be fortified against it, there exists nothing in this world or the next that can do the same for your soul."

- "That's it, then? I'll just slowly turn into a monster the more I use it so, what? I should get used to being so hideous no one can stand the sight of me?"

-

- "I don't want you afraid. I want you victorious."

- Sukuna lies about a bunch of things.

- First, "There is nothing in this world or the next that can [fortify] your soul [to use shadow magic freely]." Less of a lie and more of an omission: demons can freely use shadow magic with minimal effects on their bodies.

- This is because demons do not have a discrete body/soul separation as humans and most other mortals, therefore the law of the border between material and immaterial doesn't apply in the same way, especially in this case when it comes to shadow magic.

- Second, "I have no use for [shadow magic]." It's mostly true, but the implication at the time of him saying this was that he didn't know how to perform it and had no interest in doing so, which isn't true.

- Glutton for knowledge that he is, Sukuna of course knows how to do it, and even does so a couple times when he steps in to help Megumi out.

- However, by the end of the story, Megumi is way way way more proficient at it, especially after he turns into a demon.

- Shadow magic becomes lost to human mages and witches over the centuries, but Megumi's grimoire survives in some restricted ancient archives, and after his turning he becomes known as 暗い影の悪魔 (kurai'kage no akuma), or the "demon of the dark shadows."

- After Megumi has successfully hunted down and slaughtered every member of Kenjaku's clique he can remember, he finally finds Kenjaku in the flesh.

- They have a battle to the death, and Megumi nearly loses, but he refuses to call Sukuna to help him because this is his fight and his fight alone. Megumi kills Kenjaku, but receives a fatal blow himself.

- In his last moments, he summons Sukuna and tells him, with a smile, that he's ready, and that if Sukuna is the one to devour him in the end, then he's truly okay with it.

- However, after Megumi dies and comes to hell, Sukuna doesn't devour his soul. Instead, he reveals that he's been the demon king all along. He says that, as per their contract, he can do with Megumi's soul whatever he wishes, and he's decided to turn him into a demon so he can share his kingdom with him and they can be together forever. Megumi has no objections.

- It's a whole ceremony, kind of like a wedding. Megumi wears a black veil and rides atop a giant black wolf, and Sukuna accompanies him as they traverse the realms of hell. At the end, Sukuna carries Megumi off of the wolf, lifts the veil, and they kiss. Then, the ceremony is completed when Sukuna rips out half of his heart and Megumi devours it. For the second time, he experiences a rebirth by fire, and it is both excruciating and ecstatic.

- When the two embrace, all the hearths in hell flare in passion and pride, while all the shadows dance in delight and jubilation.

Shapeless void of shadow

Let darkness disorder form

And matter obey its phantom

Break away from light and matter

Sink into formless dark

Unbecome, leaving naught but shadow

- Embody (shadows become semi-physical tendrils that move according to Megumi's will)

- Submerge (shadows become viscous and objects/people can sink in)

- Interface (surface of Megumi's body becomes an entrance into the shadow void)

- Conform (reshapes objects according to how Megumi reshapes their shadows)

- Embody + Conform is the tricky, deadly combo that gets Kenjaku in the end.

- The default manifestation of shadow magic is such that Embody, Submerge, and Interface are all tangled together and happening simultaneously. The hard work comes from teasing them apart and controlling them.

- Mortals are bound to lose their bodies long before this happens.

- Conform is the hardest spell to make work.

- Whenever Megumi isn't chasing the whereabouts of Kenjaku or his crew, he's doing research and training spells to master shadow magic.

- He's even working to compile his own grimoire on shadow magic because it's exceptionally rare for anyone to be able to do it as much as he does.

- It's one of the reasons why he and Sukuna get along so well. As a lover of knowledge himself, Sukuna greatly enjoys Megumi's scholarly nature and watches him eagerly to see how he will push the dark and forbidden art to its limits.

(Let go your earthly tether.

Enter the void.

Empty and become wind.)

Display Notes:

- megumi and tsumiki are siblings by blood. same dad, different moms.

- magic users affiliated with an order are called 'mages' while those not are called 'witches.' these terms are just as loaded as the sorcerer/curse user distinction in JJK.

- an AU for those who can forgive anything.

Text:

They take him to a big, round, roof-less cell a few meters below ground. With naught but the faint illumination provided by the crescent moon, everything is drenched in the shadow of the cell walls.

"Well, I'll be. Is that you, Megumi? Never thought a prodigy like you would end up here." A voice echoes opposite from where Megumi is chained up and kneeling.

He perks up. "Maki-senpai?" He can't make out her figure, but it couldn't have been anyone else.

Her chains clink in acknowledgement. "The one and only." She says. "What are you in for?"

Megumi hesitates.

"Shadow magic," he admits.

Maki bursts into laughter. "How idiotic! What was taken from you?"

"Oh, you know," He says, "Ju

[alwachart]

Cora, the shadow of Cormyr

Everyone has such nice OCs to ship with Raphael, obviously I had to board ship too. This is the PT where I'll finally give him the crown. Happy devil = happy me.

So without further ado...

Name: Corali at birth (elven for legendary shadow), just Cora now

Necromancer, half-hag wood elf, 5'3", +43yrs old

Traits: Self-sufficient, ambitious, sultry, cultured, cynical

Goals: avoid transforming into an ugly hag, become immortal (and find love, but she doesn't know that yet kkkk)

She has dealt with Raphael before the events of BG3, little backstory under the cut ↓↓↓

In the middle of the night, barely a few hours alive, a half-wood elf baby was unceremoniously abandoned at the stairs of a temple. She was given the name Corali by the clerics who found her, for she came in the shadows, in hopes that a strong name would guide her through the hard life ahead of her…Corali grew up in an orphanage of Baldur's Gate smaller than her peers and with a sickly green pallor, she was bullied and often spent her time alone in their small library with only dusty, mould-ridden books as friends. Her unkind nature didn't do any good to her either, she revelled in other kids' suffering and even adults were wary around her. On her 13th birthday her bleak existence changed forever, her insidious nature manifested giving her the ability to become invisible. Corali was half-hag, a green hag to be exact.

Wandering the streets of Baldur's Gate a powerful dark magic led her to the place that would be her home for the next 30 years, the mansion of Carrion the Mystic. Intrigued by her fey nature, he took her under his wing and taught her to master her magic along with his forbidden knowledge of necromancy. In exchange for this kindness

She acted as his eyes, ears and voice outside the quaint fortress, dealing with mortals in his place. Tired of being at his beck and call, once she'd learnt everything she could from her master and his books Corali looked for a way out of her imposed slavery, dreading she would be forever doing his bidding, even after death, brought back like so many others. Her research landed her on a dead end when to acquire the necessary ingredient for the potion that would turn her untraceable by Carrion, she needed the help of a fiend.

Corali prepared the ritual, she intended to summon a lesser fiend, but at the time Gale was messing with the weave for Mystra and the spell backfired, bringing Raphael to this plane instead, in Cambion form.

Needless to say, he was less than pleased to be pulled from his house of hope into the middle of nowhere, and for a mortal who refused to deal with him the moment she laid eyes on his figure. The shrew clung to her soul, a challenge he would relish winning like so many others before her. But the half-fey surprised him, offering the souls of others, plural, in exchange for his help. Of course, Raphael accepted, amused by the ruthlessness of the woman.

Corali stole the souls of Mystic Carrion's sentient servants and delivered them to the Cambion, adding her final ingredient to her potion and turning invisible with her fey powers opposite the devil, getting the hell out of Baldur's Gate as Raphael chuckled darkly behind her. He was intrigued.

The witch took residence in Suzail (Cormyr) going by the name Cora. A bit on the nose, but she was a shadow, no one would know who she was. Their paths crossed many times, Raphael and Cora always had a few words or a knowing glance for each other as they went about their business in the city.

Eventually, dirty deeds caught up with her and Cora's worst nightmare began to come true: giving in to evil was turning her into a hag. She had tried to live a life of neutrality and lawfulness, not out of the goodness of her heart but out of fear; fear of becoming an ugly crone as, she imagined, her biological mother was. In a desperate attempt to prevent this horrible fate, Cora returned to this corner of Faerûn looking for a certain hag's help...and that's how she ended up abducted by illithids in the nautiloid.

Interesting facts about green hags that have me crazy in love with this idea:

Cora is the embodiment of I can't fix him, but I can make him worse lol lol lol

Srsly I'm in love with my own idea, what has bg3 done to me, I have not created OCs in like 10 years.

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far, here's her face up close

[sorenphelps]

PIRATE AU! Marauders

I decided to revisit and expand my take on the magical pirate au concept I had for last year's @siriusblackfest. This will be an unreasonably long description of my ideas, so if you don't feel like reading it, I absolutely understand. (I'm an artist first anyway.) I’d really really appreciate if you further expand or actually write these ideas into a proper fic, I mean, YES PLEASE!

I will definitely do more art for this concept, so stay tuned! My other pirate au works are here, here and here, or refer to my pirate au tag.

🌊🏴‍☠️⚓pirate AU concept ideas⚓🏴‍☠️🌊

About the lore:

Wizards and witches are all descendants of the lost empires Atlantis, Lemuria and Mu:

The Atlantean mages were once the world's most powerful leaders, who could predict the future with their magical stones, created great underground palaces, conquered the entire world with their gilded ships, commanded sea monsters such as the Kraken, the Leviathan, sirens, hydras and other sea demons. They possessed an extremely high level of technical and spiritual knowledge, which they could use to rule over life and death.

The Lemurians were tall, noble wizards, who were able to turn invisible or into an animal whenever they wanted. They were talented in alchemy, they knew a lot about the magical properties of precious stones and metals, which was the basis of their magic. They were very friendly with non-magical people, who often took advantage of their hospitality and stole their treasure which got scattered all around the world.

According to their belief, the wizards of Mu are the direct descendants of god-like creatures coming from the Sirius constellation. In Mu, wizards were excellent architects and sailors who lived in luxurious homes. Their magic was based on starlight and they had exceptional knowledge of astronomy. With the help of their advanced magical rituals, they could achieve anything. Hence the exact way of performing such rituals was kept as a secret, which was passed down from generation to generation only to those who were deemed worthy of it.

As the power of the "sea wizards" was feared among ordinary people, the wizarding world was forced into hiding, and the islands were swallowed up by the sea, seemingly forever… until a powerful dark wizard named Voldemort began searching for hidden treasures (horcruxes) to bring Atlantis and their superior magical capabilities back to the surface.

According to the legends, each of the Four Founders and the Peverell brothers created a horcrux (seven in total) to perform the most powerful magic known to wizardkind, which managed to sink and forever hide the Islands. They had poured all their power into their respective horcrux, giving up their magic forever. To release the power from a horcrux, a dark, forbidden ritual must be performed: the one who performs it will gather their power in exchange of a piece of their soul. Each horcrux is unique in shape and nature, and the rituals to release their binding requires immerse energy which is the easiest sourced by slaying mythical creatures and sacrificing innocent lives. The one who gathers and releases all seven horcruxes, will break the magic sealing the Islands to the bottom of the oceans and ascend to become a new immortal being with infinite power. However, their soul will be lost forever, never to be repaired, stuck in limbo for all eternity.

The horcruxes made by the Founders are Gryffindor’s Sword, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s Cup and Ravenclaw’s Diadem. The Peverell Brother's horcruxes are:

Antioch’s Astrolabe: made from metals as shiny as the stars, could predict the future. If used incorrectly, it could give its user a false sense of assurance of potential events happening, making them too reckless. Most users died young as the results were misinterpreted easily. It belongs to Mu.

Cadmus’ Coat of Arms: a gold ring inset with the Resurrection Stone, engraved with the power to recall people from death. It belongs to Atlantis.

Ignotus’ Crown of Invisibility, an invisible crown-like object resembling peryton antlers. It belongs to Lemuria.

About the characters:

James - The Captain. He is a fun, mischievous and charismatic wizard of Lemurian origins. He is always up to no good but has the necessary natural leadership skills to make the most critical decisions quickly even in the tensest situations. He owns the ship ‘The Marauder’, which can turn invisible upon his command. His ancestors had a strong connection to perytons (large stag-bird hybrids), could call them at will, and because these beasts had the shadow of a man, people thought they were shapeshifters. The antlers can be forged to the strongest of metals possessing great power and their fur and wings are said to be the key to achieve true invisibility able to conceal its wearers so absolutely that even death itself could not find them. As perytons were prophesied to lead to the downfall of Atlantis, they were hunted to extinction supposedly. According to legends, a wizard of James’ lineage will be able to summon them again. He originally started his journey to find and secure these mythical creatures. When conveying his magic, his aura slightly changes to resemble antler motifs, prompting his nickname as “Prongs”.

Sirius - The Navigator. He is the firstborn son of an ancient wizarding family from Mu, therefore he has very powerful magical abilities, expertise in the art of combat and superior astronomical knowledge. Even though he is James’ closest and most trusted mate, who clearly possesses the necessary skills to be Quartermaster or Master Gunner, the Crew voted him unfit for those positions because of his rebellious nature, recklessness, and short temper. (Before they started sailing together as a Crew, during a full moon he decided to settle his personal disagreement with Snape by locking him in the underwater cabin they prepared for Remus. James intervened, earning him his position as the Captain.) He is very skilled in map reading and excellent at calculating the exact latitude of the ship just by observing the stars, making him the perfect Sailing Master responsible for navigating and sailing the ship flawlessly. He also has several magical tattoos to further enhance his navigation prowess. He enjoys music and pranking his fellow crew members, who like him nevertheless as he is fiercely loyal and protective of them.

Remus - The Quartermaster. He is not a wizard, but a sea monster. His mother was a selkie, who gave up her sea life willingly for her lover. Fenrir Greyback, an evil maniac obsessed with sea monsters and driven mad by siren songs, attacked and stole the seal-skin of Remus’ mother. Remus’ father, in a desperate attempt at helping his lover, offered her the skin of their son. The ritual backfired, and Remus became a selkie himself, who transforms into a sea monster every full moon. His mother never recovered and eventually disappeared. Remus has joined James’ pirate crew to find his mother and seal-skin to reunite his family, but ended up finding a new one. He’s elected as the Quartermaster of ‘The Marauder’, responsible for coordinating the ship’s day-to-day operations and discipline, dividing the shares fairly, settling disputes and acting as a representative for the Crew members when presenting their wishes to the Captain. He is very intelligent and practical, enjoys researching and is quite skilled in map reading/drawing. He is fascinated by Sirius’ expertise in navigation.

Peter - The Cook & Cooper. He is a seemingly weak and clumsy man with no magical talent. He claims he lost his right hand in an accident; others suspect it was cut off because he was caught stealing, but the truth is that he willingly sacrificed it during a ritual to gain the ability to turn into a rat. He is very resourceful, always listening to whispers and gathering all information. He serves as the Cook and the Cooper on ‘The Marauder’, spending most of his time onboard in the kitchen and food chambers, taking care of the provisions, preparing meals and making and maintaining barrels. He never fights, even when teased with being a coward. He knows every secret on the ship, making him possibly one of the most dangerous crew members, yet he maintains his helpless façade so perfectly, no one really suspects anything about him.

Lily - The Surgeon. She is a curious young lady with a passion for medical science, which she could develop while observing her father during work. Her father was a doctor, who often visited an orphanage nearby to help the monks. She met and befriended Severus there, they collected herbs and other ingredients for fun. She discovered she had magical abilities when the potions she had brewed all somehow possessed healing properties. (Severus’ potions on the other hand usually turned out to be poisonous.) Lily joined ‘The Marauder’ as the Surgeon, after James’ multiple unsuccessful attempts at recruiting her. (He made his crew to stage very elaborate emergency scenarios, which theoretically required immediate medical assistance... until one time it was not theoretical anymore.)

Severus - The Boatswain. He is an intelligent and perceptive young man, with an extraordinary talent for alchemy. His father married his mother hoping the woman could make him the richest man alive as she was the descendant of known Alchemists. However, Severus’ mother only held the Book of Magick Moste Evile as a family heirloom which couldn’t turn anything to gold. Severus was sent to an orphanage after his father killed his mother, where he met with Lily. He had learned every bit of potion making and dark magic from his mother’s book in an attempt at impressing the girl, but the better he became, the more she estranged from him. He eventually ran away from the orphanage, and lived by his wits and magic. He served as a Powder Monkey and a Cabin Boy of famous pirate captains, where he gathered remarkable sailing experience too. On ‘The Marauder’, he was appointed as the Boatswain, responsible for the general maintenance of the ship and making sure all the supplies (including gunpowder, medicine, magical ingredients) were in order. The Crew somewhat respects his abilities but dislikes him as he has a grumpy and unpleasant personality and is scarily skilled in dark magic.

Marlene - The Master Gunner. She is a no-nonsense witch of Lemurian descent, in charge of the cannons, the gunpowder, the shots and weapons of ‘The Marauder’. She is the foremost expert in the art of combat and war strategy onboard. Her family was tasked to guard the Sword of Gryffindor for centuries, unaware that it was a horcrux. The sword was forged from pure silver and is inset with rubies, said to ignite great courage in the hearts of everyone wielding it and capable to defeat all enemies. Marlene wears a necklace decorated with a large and shiny ruby, representing her brave and combative personality. The stone also enhances her fighting abilities.

Dorcas - The Carpenter. She is an easygoing girl with ancestors from Mu. Despite being loosely related to Sirius, her magic differs a lot from his. She is a fortune teller (uses cards and not the stars to predict the possibility of events), and has a natural affinity for working with wood. (A magical tree is the symbol of the eastern side of Mu, which is also tattooed on Sirius’ neck.) She works as the Carpenter, responsible for the ship's maintenance and damage control, even during battle. Her job is to reconstruct entire sections of the ship and the sails. She designed and built the underwater cabin for Remus’ transformations. She also enjoys music and is in a relationship with Marlene.

[percival-xeric]

OUGH THE WAY I NEED TO SCREAM ABOUT MY DND CHARACTER RAHHHH

I'm gonna info dump about my dnd character, I'm so sorry

Cutely drops dnd character lore

Descendent of Tick and Despera, he is a sorcerer due to the draconic ancestry he retains. He was unaware of his relation to Tick until he ended up selling his soul to him and Tick happened to mention it, though, he is overall unbothered by this fact. Yuvon’s name derives from the rough translation of “Rich Man”, his parents certainly had high hopes for him. From a very young age Yuvon seemed to have an infatuation with magic, his first spell was cast when he was five, message, a request for a cookie. From then on, he continued to learn all he could, he had the support of his parents, they assured him his affinity with magic meant he was destined for good things. Although, they were never rich, Yuvon’s family helped him pay for lessons in arcane magic, Yuvon would also work odd jobs to gain access to various libraries, where he would work as quickly and methodically as he could to finish his work so he could read any books he could.

It was during one of these jobs that he found a book of summoning rituals detailing how people had made deals with demons to gain forbidden knowledge. The naive 19 year old scribbled down the steps for the ritual and when he found himself at the dead of night he began the ritual. He ended up summoning his ancestor, Tick Greyfoot. This interaction was friendly enough, Tick was reasonable but wouldn’t lower the price for the contract. That night, Yuvon sold his soul and in return gained even more arcane magic.

Contract between Tick and Yuvon 👇

Yuvon Mün,

Upon signature of this binding contract, you agree to have magic bestowed to you, a blessing of bloodshed, contact with your patron, Tick Greyfoot, and to follow any commands despite their morality or danger in exchange for your soul.

Methods of contract between the patron and consenting party will be; that the patron will be allowed to summon the consenting party at will within the confines of the patron’s domain with the consenting party’s verbal agreement. A direct line of communication will also be provided in the form of a staff.

Should the patron feel their deadlines are not met, punishments will be set at, and limited to; the powers loaned being revoked, possible assassination of anyone the consenting party has spoken to, and an apology will be required for the return of the revoked powers. The apology has been set to be a minimum of 3 paragraphs and must be read aloud to the patron. There is also a required tribute to be paid which will be decided at random by the patron and will have a set price limit of 200 gold.

This contract will last the entirety of Yuvon Mün’s lifetime. Should either party wish to end this contract before the contract’s expiration date, all tasks given by the patron must be completed, both parties must agree to part, and negotiate on whether the given knowledge, staff, or blessing will be relinquished. This contract may also be renewed should Yuvon Mün be resurrected, reincarnated, or brought back from death in any way. The price of the contract’s renewal will be an item of great significance to the consenting party.

Signature from both parties below will begin the term of this contract;

Tick Greyfoot

Yuvon Mün

[end of contract]

Yuvon has two familiars that he summons (he can only summon one at a time)

Barley and Sardine

Barley was found in a bag of barley (hence the name) when Yuvon tried to summon Sardine

Sardine was his original familiar gifted to him by his patron (Tick), Yuvon can't help but not feel comfortable around the cat but feels the complete opposite when it comes to the puppy

[gear-project]

Do you know anything about Paracelsus granting A.B.A enhanced abilities while in moroha mode in lore?

The fandom wiki says "In his awakened form, he becomes quite easy to carry and run with, likely due to infusing his wielder with strength." but is unsourced and I don't know if the wiki is just making this up based off of how she works in gameplay or if something like this has been stated officially before. If there's nothing in lore about this then what do you think about it?

If there's any canonical info on Flament Nagel (that's his real name by the way, Paracelsus is just the nickname A.B.A. gave him, named after her creator), most of that information is very scarce.

What we know for certain is that Flament Nagel can "possess" a vessel's body and bring out their physical capabilities to their very limits.

Originally he had a rather brutal body when he first fought Slayer, though the exact circumstances behind how he "got" that body are not fully known. It could have been a Gear that he possessed, or it could have been some beast or mutation of some kind.

Slayer, of course, defeated him with a single Pile Bunker... so it would be obvious to state that Slayer was much stronger than him at that time (during the Crusades).

Still, he was strong enough to earn the Historical Nickname "Sanguine Gale" (Budoshu no Tachikaze a.k.a. Blood-wine Cutting Wind). He considers himself a proud warrior despite the fact he is technically an immobile blood axe.

Because he lost his original vessel, he developed a complex over his own bloody reputation, which is why he was reluctant to meet with Slayer after so many years had passed (whom he considers a rival).

It was A.B.A. herself who challenged Slayer for Flament's Honor, despite lacking in physical strength of her own.

Rather than being "strong" in a physical sense, A.B.A. has an absurd amount of physical endurance.

She can "withstand" the deadly force that Flament Nagel can possess her body with in synchronization.

Normally wielding a weapon with such berserker force would probably tear a person's muscles to shreds. If it weren't for the fact A.B.A.'s an Homunculus, her arms would be battered and completely unusable.

Accent Core refers to the state as "Sacrifice Mode", but the Japanese term is "Goku Moroha" or "Double-Edged Hell" state.

It's "Double Edged" because just as Flament Nagel can give A.B.A. the power to produce extremely deadly attacks... those attacks can potentially do just as much damage to A.B.A.

Like a true Berserker, wielding a weapon heedless of one's limits, or simply ignoring your physical limitations in exchange for power is what makes these two a deadly combination.

Normally you would have to wonder if A.B.A. can continue to wield such a dangerous weapon, or even if doing so would end up destroying her own body.

But, it seems that to some degree, Blood Packs and some unknown facets of A.B.A's body can help her regenerate from the damage she takes. Similar to GEARS perhaps, but not quite.

That, and A.B.A. herself is a conduit for Alchemy, a little-known lost art. Her blood is made from a reactive substance known as Quicksilver (also known as Mercury).

It's still quite the mystery what Paracelsus was thinking when he created A.B.A... but it was enough to impress the likes of the Gearmaker (Asuka R. Kreutz) in the long term.

As for Flament Nagel... how he came to be and the powers he unleashes on those who wield him: it is said that he is a Magical Foci... a Magic Focus, or object that became sentient.

Perhaps Flament was a tool in bloody magic rituals in the past, or was used to kill in various ways, but eventually grew a will of his own... similar to Izuna and his Tsukumogami past.

Still, the key shape appears to be connected with a Forbidden Gate of Knowledge... so Flament Nagel might have a past connection with that which piqued Paracelsus' interest.

That connection with Alchemy that Flament and A.B.A. share is just as mysterious as they both are, but until their story continues, it's hard to say if the truth will ever come to light.

Even so, it appears to be A.B.A.'s quest to "create" a new body for Flament Nagel (despite the fact he considers himself a weapon and isn't interested in getting a new body).

With the world becoming more peaceful it might be difficult for Flament Nagel to fight in battles like he craves, but even so, he has yet to encounter the likes of the Valentines, or even Asuka!

So, we shall see!

[sleidog]

tell me something about the lemon that I couldn't possibly guess

see this depends if you can see his toyhouse profile or not 😂 indirectly related to slei, but he's the reason tai is my wayfinder for SotO now slei struck up a deal with tai shortly after being involved with the wizards in exchange for having his recent memories of the kryptis invasions wiped, all they left was his firm intention to seek out tai [who's essentially been under house arrest since the end of EOD for Crimes] and to give him a name and a place [in tyria] to seek out. slei is a homebody, sort of, he LOVES travel and exploring, but if he can't do it with his friends or partner, he is not interested he used to enjoy the solo travels when he was younger, but he's mellowed now and much prefers having amicable company if he's away from his homestead, and the idea of being recently engaged and plucked away from his partner and unable to tell him anything about any of this was an extremely firm NOPE from him so slei outright refused to help the wizards and said 'hang on i know a guy who's been taken down from the top of a hierarchial ladder and been placed directly into the gutter below who has nothing to lose and likes forbidden magic and keeping secrets' when confronting tai, all he had to say is that they could reinstate his powers and give him access to more, and tai was sold, he doesn't care enough about his 2 'friends' in tyria [friend is a difficult term for one of them, but the other is TECHNICALLY his spouse, but like, tai seeks out knowledge and power and the idea of settling down and being happy with it is just... deeply foreign to him now

[knifemare-writing]

me: bro you cannot be coming up with aus for your own story like you havent even finished it

also me: fantasy setting ttdl where they live in a village and alex is trying to summon an eldritch ocean monster/god/demon thing to kill desmond because the overall dynamic is the same but none of them have school and run around and do chores and shit and jamie accidentally interrupts and ends up getting eldritch sea god powers and grows gills and sharp teeth and a second eyelid and shit and

other me: hi i'm a third you while that guy was talking i came up with another one which is an au based on disney channel original movie the thirteenth year but the age is like 18 instead of 13 because thirteen is way too young and if they're gonna make me nail down a specific age it may as well be the most legal one but yeah jamie is the star swimmer (woahg they're making me specify a sport too this movies fucked up) who starts turning into a mermaid and alex is the nerd who knows about ocean stuff who helps him out in exchange for swimming lessons and marcia is the girl who in the movie gives the main character a framed picture of her own face as a birthday present but in this one they're not even dating they have the exact same dynamic as in canon because she would also do that in canon lmao.

also me: ...bro you really cut me off there. like i get the vision this is beautiful but i had like an actual story concept. there was vibes and a setting and a mood and shit. and now i jut wanna combine it with that somehow instead. shit.

me: hey its me the first one 100% come around now this rules okay what if jamie interrupting gives the sea monster alex summoned and now its just a normal sea monster hes trying to bind to will to kill desmond but it gets the chance to break free from his binding cause the chanting gets interrupted and then jamie jumps in to save him and hes like just had some weird shit happen but this is the first time he does something like undeniably impossible and magical and the monster seeing him with his teeth already sharper and his eyes shining like a creature in the night gets recognizes its more terrifying kin and flees back to the depths.

other me: then jamie makes alex help him figure out whats going on with his knowledge of forbidden texts and stolen grimoires and protects him from the other bullies in exchange. and like the elder god in his blood is like recognizing this exchange as a cultist/warlock situation and giving his sense of ownership over alex that internal justification he needs psychologically that in canon is the deal and the fact that alex agreed to it.

also me: ooh, so you're saying this version of alex, who's already been pushed even further cause he was desperate enough to be trying to kill desmond via a method that could be just as fatal to him if he failed, is both even more grateful to jamie because he literally saved his life and from the even worse desperation, but also the sexual nature of the relationship and the amount of control jamie asserts over him is even less consensual and confusing >:3

me: i just remembered this au is based on a disney movie how did it get darker than canon instead of less lmaao

[mydyspraxiablog]

Story

Once upon a time, in the magical land beneath the sea, there was a school for mermaids called Seawaves School. It was a breathtakingly beautiful school where mermaids from all corners of the ocean gathered to learn the ancient ways of the sea. The school was ruled by the elegant and wise mermaid, Miss Waves, whose powers were unmatched by any other mermaid in the kingdom.

One day, a curious and adventurous muggle named Shell stumbled upon the school. Mesmerized by the sight of the graceful mermaids swimming with their tails glistening in the sunlight, Shell longed to be a part of Seawaves School.

Approaching Miss Waves with a hopeful look in her eyes, Shell expressed her desire to attend the school. However, Miss Waves shook her head gently and explained that the school was only for mermaids, not muggles. Disheartened, Shell was about to turn away when two mischievous mermaids, Sea and Janet, appeared before her with a tempting offer.

We can help you become a mermaid, Sea whispered with a wicked grin.

Intrigued, Shell asked how they could possibly make her dream come true. Sea and Janet revealed that they could turn her into a half-mermaid, half-witch for 24 hours, giving her the opportunity to enroll in Seawaves School. But there was a catch - Shell had to retrieve a good fairies spell from a distant island in exchange for an enchanted fairies book that would grant her mermaid powers.

Determined to become a mermaid, Shell embarked on the perilous journey to the island, unaware of the dark intentions that Sea and Janet harbored. Little did she know, the two mischievous mermaids had trapped her in a magical pod and cast a forbidden mermaidwitch spell, transforming her into a hybrid being with dangerous powers.

When Miss Waves discovered Shell's plight, she knew that time was of the essence. Calling upon the head prefect, Seashell, they worked together to unravel the dark spell that Sea and Janet had cast upon the unsuspecting muggle. They soon realized that only the ancient powers of the past mermaids could save Shell from succumbing to the dark magic.

With the clock ticking, they sought help from magic schools on land and beneath the sea. As they raced against time to save Shell and the future of Seawaves School, a plan began to take shape. Cystral, a wise mermaid with a deep knowledge of magical spells, revealed the location of the sacred good fairies book that could hold the key to breaking the curse.

Gathering all their strength and mystical powers, Miss Waves, Cystral, Seashell, and Shell joined forces to protect Shell from the dark forces that sought to consume her. Together, they unleashed a powerful spell to dismantle the witchcraft that threatened to claim Shell's soul.

In a moment of triumph and bravery, Shell chose to relinquish her mermaid and witch powers, returning to her muggle form with the hope of a new beginning. As the dark magic dissipated, Sea and Janet were stripped of their powers and imprisoned in a magical pod as punishment for their treachery.

Despite the turmoil and challenges they faced, Shell emerged as a symbol of courage and resilience, bringing light and hope to Seawaves School once more. With the guidance of Miss Waves and the support of her newfound friends, Shell embarked on a new journey - embracing her true self and the magical wonders that lay ahead. And so, the tale of Shell's adventure in the enchanted land beneath the sea became a legend, inspiring generations to come with its message of bravery and unity in the face of darkness.

The end