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rpgchoices · 1 year

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Ash of Gods - THE STORY

I played the game twice because the first time I was extremely confused - so I decided to compile a story of the game and the events pre-game to help other players. I first posted the story on steam and discussed it with the game developer who answered some of my questions. So this post here is the result of this discussion and my two playthrough.

Full on spoilers! But hopefully this will help players in the future, as I hope more people will play this game!

This is divided in: 1) What and who are the Umbra and the Enses (the supernatural creatures) 2) The story pre-game 3) The set up for the game (kingdoms and people) 4) The story of the game 5) The ending explained 6) (link) timeline

THE UMBRA AND THE ENSES (1)

Everything starts in another world from the one the game is set. The game is set in the world of Terminum.

The game starts in a world called Calz:

This parallel world (or maybe another planet) has five gods ruling over the people of the world called Enses (Enses are basically just normal people, like the humans living in Terminum). These five gods can act through five emissaries/avatar called High Umbra. For this reason there are five High Umbra: Tibibar, Childao, Adna, Atraakh and Dorpkhal (each one representing a god).

These characters will appear in the game under different names/guises ad High Umbra have a Reaper form (their true form) but also can take the form of a human or even possess a human.

Tibibar and Dorpkhal only appear in the game in their Reapers form. Instead the other High Umbra appears in the game in their alternative human forms too:

In the current time, the High Umbra Childao/Chila/Unda is a travelling healer who often resides in the city of Ursus with her daughter Philia. She can appear as an elderly white haired woman, as her reaper form or as a young beautiful woman. She is also known as an archer.

Instead, the High Umbra Atraakh has the form of a servant of the Temple of Wrath called Nakoma. Atraakh/Nakoma is living his best life in Frisia (city of Woden in the kingdom of Frisia, North of map) and also organizes the sacrifices of prisoners that the Temple of Wrath holds annually.

Adna instead lives as a witch, she is known as Adna the Witch when she is not in reaper form, and people try to stay away from her. When you meet her in the game she calls herself the one who hunts the offsprings of Umbra.

Each High Umbra created four Lower Umbra. These Lower Umbra serve the High Umbra (and through them their god). In total there are 20 Lower Umbra, divided in 5 Higher Umbra.

The Higher Umbra (being the creator of their own four Lower Umbra) can enslave the Lower Umbra and make them do their bidding.

In the game we do not exactly know which one of the Lower Umbra serves what Higher Umbra, a part from one: Amma, who is a Lower Umbra of Adna. These Lower Umbra are a bit like the Higher ones, as they can be turned into their Reaper form, but can also have a human form and possess bodies. Like the Higher Umbra, if they are killed they can just get a new body with time or possess a new one.

A Lower Umbra who betrays their Higher Umbra is called a Curro. The game starts with a tale of 13 Lower Umbra who betrayed their Higher Umbra. These 13 curros sacrificed themselves to stop the Higher Umbra from carring out the Reaping (I will explain later what this is). Unfortunately, one of these 13 was stopped by arrows - as the Higher Umbra Childao hit him before he could complete the sacrifice.

Because of the death of these 12 curros, only 8 Lower Umbra remains in current time. One is Hopper/Blance, who was the 13th who was stopped. At the beginning of the game, Hopper/Blance lives as a healer, scribe and Baron of the kingdom of Raydona. He pretends to travel to write history and events, but he is known to have some magical abilities too. We do not know who Hopper/Blance was a Lower Umbra of... probably Dorpkhal because of this dream Hopper/Blance has:

And this other dream:

Another one is Rask/Chirlan, who is living pretending to be a merchant of antiquities in the city of Albius. We do not know who he was the servant of. Rask/Chirlan is also connected to his human body because of the magic that stopped the second reaping. He never partecipated in the rebellion of the 13 Lower Umbra, but given that he is suffering the consequences (he is basically turned human) he must have been involved somehow.

Another Lower Umbra is Coronzon/Core. He is living as a cardinal for the Temple of Divine Retribution. We do not know who he is a shadow of but probably he is the Lower Umbra of Atraakh (and the only surviving one. the other three sacrificed themselves). He never partecipated in the rebellion of the 13 Lower Umbra. If you kill Thorn and Lo Pheng, you get to play the ending as Hopper/Blance and you find out that Coronzon might be the most dangerous of them all. He never partecipated in the rebellion - you also find out the names of the other non rebels Lower Umbra:

Another Lower Umbra is Amma. She lives as a seeress, and is the Lower Umbra of Adna. She did not partecipated in the rebellion of the 13 Lower Umbra, but went into hiding as she also disagreed with the Higher Umbra. She and Hopper/Blance used to be in love, or are still in love, even if not together. She seems to disagree with the rebellion of the Lower Umbra too, but she tried to help humans in her own way. In the past, she founded the Warriors of Peace in the Isle of Shadows, training the Eikons (people living in that area) who would join the Temple to kill reapers. She is known as the Great Ancestress of the warriors of peace. After, she travelled some more and founded the Raydonan Abode of the Humble, a monastery that trained women into fighters, before leaving that behind too and moving for a period to live with the Qimra. She currently lives alone in her hut.

Another Lower Umbra is Orkan. Not much is known about him, just that he takes care of a travelling menhir and is mainly known by the nomadic people called Qimra (during the second reaping he did not rebel but somehow partecipated in the battle, not sure what side. As a consequence of the terrible event he ended up tied to the Vale of Mercy, and he cannot leave that place). Because the Qimra are connected to Childao (I will explain later), he might be a Lower Umbra of Childao. We also know that he is the one who has one of the stone knives who was maybe "stolen" from him (not clear if he lied about it)... so he might be the father of Philia. Not much is known about Orkan, but he disapproves of Lo Pheng if he spills innocent blood and does not act merciful, so it is clear that he disapproves with the Higher Umbra's massacre:

The last Lower Umbra we see in the game is Qarbaph/Drooket/Drewer. He is probably a Lower Umbra of Childao because of reasons I will explain later. Qarbaph is known for fathering a lot of children (probably by possessing humans temporarily or even using his own body). In the game he has fathered Brett when he was Drooket, and he is still living as Drooket (a soldier). Before being Drooket he was Drewer, another soldier who saved Thorn (the protagonist).

So we have 8 Lower Umbra surviving and in the game we get: Hopper/Blance, Amma, Coronzon, Rask/Chirlan, Orkan and Qarbaph/Drooket/Drewer.

This means that there are 2 other Lower Umbra that we do not know of and who did not appear in the game.

Through game lore we also find out about other Umbra:

Harga, a Lower Umbra (probably of Childao), who was the founder of the Qimra. She possessed human women and through them she freed Enses from the brainwashing, sleeping with them. The children ended up as the nomadic people of the Qimra. Reet comes from her lineage, which is why Reet is a Chosen One. Harga died sacrificing herself as one of the 12 Curros who betrayed the Higher Umbra.

Ananael, Enay, Calz are other three names that Hopper/Blance gives us.

Calz is a Lower Umbra (named like their homeland) who wrote a very important text for the Temple of Divine Retribution. He sacrificed himself like Harga and the other traitor Lower Umbra.

Enay is another Lower Umbra who was involved in establishing the Temple of Divine Retribution alongside Calz. He did not sacrifice himself later, and Amma reveals to Hopper/Blance that maybe he never actually wanted to stop the reapings.

Same for Ananael (who was also known by humans as a prophet as he wrote many of Calz`s sayings).

In total we have:

High Umbra Childao: her Lower Umbra Harga, her Lower Umbra Qarbaph/Drooket/Drewer, her Lower Umbra Orkan and we do not know who the fourth is. Maybe Rask, as her Lower Umbra seems to be the nicest ones.

High Umbra Adna: her Lower Umbra Amma,

High Umbra Atraakh: we know that three of his Lower Umbra sacrificed themselves to stop him, Coronzon might be his last remaining living Lower Umbra

High Umbra Dorpkahl: Blance/Hopper is one of his four Lower Umbra

High Umbra Tibibar.

The remaining "unclaimed" Lower Umbra are Ananael, Enay and Calz.

The only living Lower Umbra are Ananael, Enay, Amma, Blance/Hopper, Drooket, Orkan, Rask, Coronzon: the 8 remaining ones.

THE STORY PRE-GAME (2)

In a a world called Calz, five gods exist. They have five avatar/emissaries called High Umbra and each of these High Umbra have four Lower Umbra who serve them. The people of the world are called Enses and some of them serve different a Umbra/god.

One day a calamity strikes the world of the Enses and the sun starts dying. (When you talk with the Ense Khama, in game, he says that it might be that the gods were fighting each others, but after the destruction of the world all but one sacrificed themselves to save their people).

We also get this flashback of Hopper/Blance in Calz, where his Higher Umbra makes him perform horrible massacres, so it is possible that the gods were fighting each others, or at least some of the gods were more bloodthirsty:

After this calamity, the gods decide to save their world by transferring all of the people (Ense and Umbra) into a new planet/dimension called Terminum. They do this by using an Ark (Salvation Ark) which falls into Terminum like a comet. They also put giant stones called menhirs into Terminum, to protect their new world (these stones can heal people). Something goes wrong - one of the gods (the god of Childao) went mad with power and trapped the Enses in the Ark, only freeing the Umbra. So the Enses end up trapped in the Salvation Ark, while Lower and Higher Umbra leaves the Ark and arrive in Terminum.

The Higher Umbra wants to resurrect their gods and they find out that blood and suffering seem to power up the menhir. They start the First Reaping (probably also called Divine Retribution by the temple that the humans have), where they summon the trapped Enses and use them like pawns.

It is not clear if the Enses were also mind controlled before they arrived in Terminum, but we know that the Umbra gave the Enses their masks, magical rings that control swords, and brainwashed them. The Enses, in the first Reaping, started to kill people using their blood as sacrifices for the menhir. This powers the menhir up and ends up giving the Reapers (Higher Umbra) even more power. It is known that in the Second and Third Reaping, the Higher Umbra can also brainwash humans and lead them to kill each others, so maybe they needed this first reaping power up.

After the first reaping (probably happened to power up the Higher Umbra after their journey), 300 years pass and the humans re-start their society (the ones who survived). The Temple of Divine Retribution is born, and the Temple of Wrath too. The Higher Umbras were probably involved in founding one of both the temples, as the hymn from the temple is a hymn that the Ense Khama sings in the game:

We also get this confirmation about some Lower Umbra starting the Temple of Divine Retribution:

So after 300 years, the Higher Umbra decide to try the Reaping again (Second Reaping) and starts freeing some more Enses from the Ark, teleporting in the human kingdoms around Terminum to sacrifice people to the menhirs. This time, 13 Lower Umbra decide to betray their masters and create 13 stone knives from the menhirs. They use them to sacrifice themselves - a ritual that should have worked into stopping the reaping, probably forever (?).

The Higher Umbra Childao uses her arrow to stop Hopper/Blance from completing his sacrifice, because she wants to use the reaping to resurrect her own god. This means that there is still one stone knife (possessed by Hopper/Blance). This is the starting cinematic scene at the beginning of the game.

The reaping is temporarily stopped, but not forever given that the sacrifice was not complete. The destruction left its mark on the world (and destroyed a menhir) creating the Ashen Wasteland, but humanity was saved. Amma, one of the Lower Umbra who agreed with stopping the Higher Umbra but not with Hopper/Blance sacrificing himself, starts to go around the humans.

She goes to the Isle of Shadows where the humans called Eikon live. She founds the Temple of the Shadow Clans warriors also known as warriors of peace. These warriors are trained into absolute internal peace (which might protect them from being controlled by reapers). Amma (known as the Great Ancestress by them) founded this temple to face the reapers, and because she is a seeress she knows that one day she will need the help of Lo Pheng, one of these Eikon Warriors of peace. She also knew that the menhir are powerful, so as a tradition, the warriors of peace inserts strix (stones from the menhir) inside the bodies of the warriors - these stones protect them from the reaping and are called sacrificial stones. These stones are passed through warriors - basically, when one of the Shadow Clan becomes old her is sacrificed and the stones taken out of his body and inserted into the body of a new warrior.

After founding the warriors of peace, Amma left and wandered some more before founding the Raydonan Abode of the Humble, a monastery that train women into warrior. Then she left again - in the game she comments herself that she feels like she failed at everything she tried.

One day Blance/Hopper is travelling and he touches an old chapel that has been destroyed by a new menhir - a menhir that is not supposed to be there. This is in Opacum. The stones of the chapel are infused by magic, of the god probably, and Hopper/Blance unknowingly infuse it in a book he possesses. He gives it to Amma and unknowngly Adna, the Higher Umbra, is infused in the book and take control of her again making her her slave. That is why Amma ín the game is serving Adna, against her will.

In the meantime, Harga, Childao's Lower Umbra, was also wandering among humans. She is the one who creates the nomadic people called Qimra. If you speak with Reet (a Qimra) she will explain that her people descend from the Enses. She says that there was a powerful witch called Harga, who possessed human women and used their bodies to sleep with awakened Enses. This Harga would free the Enses from the branwashing too. Harga died as a curro, sacrificing herself. Because Harga is probably Childao's Lower Umbra, this means that Reet is of Childao's "blood", so she can be a chosen one of her god.

The Lower Umbra known as Qarbaph/Drooket/Drewer was also going around, having a bunch of children. Qarbaph/Drooket/Drewer also has another stone knife (probably created by him). He also might have fathered Philia with Childao (him or Orkan), and he definitely fathered Brett.

One day Qarbaph/Drooket/Drewer (living as Drewer) saves the soldier Thorn from the end of the world, a strange magical Veil, dying (discorporating) in the event. The trauma left a sign on Thorn's soul.

Childao's goal is to reincarnate/awaken her god and this can be done only through "her flesh". This means that it can be done only through someone born from her/her Lower Umbra. The candidates in the game are: Philia (daughter of Childao and probably Qarbaph), Reet (offspring of Childao, given that all Qimra are) and Gleda (who is connected to Childao through the Lower Umbra Drewer, who gave his life to save Gleda's father, Thorn, just before Gleda was conceived).

The Higher Umbra wants to resurrect their gods - but Childao wants to resurrect her own god by reincarnating her into a Chosen One (I will explain more on why, when I talk about the end).

A little bit more on the Lower Umbra:

If Thorn and Lo Pheng are dead, you play the end as Hopper/Blance and you find out that three of Atraakh's shadows died at Drowsy Deep.

THE SET UP FOR THE GAME (3)

700 years after the Second Reaping, the Third Reaping starts.

The humans are divived in different kingdoms and territories.

Frisia, in the North, known for its Temple of Wrath that often performs sacrifice, and having Woden as capital. Frisia is an allaiance of three Northern Kingdoms: the Frisia, Vandilia, Gelia.

In the South we have the alliance of five kingdoms: Berkana (Opacum as capital), Jerana (Ursus as capital), Odalah (Albius is one of the main cities), Isana (main city is Friga), Gerbona. These are called mainly Berkanian kingdoms (Berkana seems to be the main power) and they are ruled by the king of Jerana (chosen by the alliance to lead the Berkanian army). The current king is the grandfather (quite old) of Prince Treeg, who is the father of Hode (Prince Ho).

There are also other territories and people. There are the Pallians, who seem to be mainly sailors and close to the sea, and were at war with Berkanians. There are the Qmira, who are nomad people at the North of Berkana. There is the Isle of Shadows, where the Eikons live. Etc.

There are three protagonists in the story: Hopper/Blance (the Lower Umbra who failed his sacrifice), Thorn Brenin and Lo Pheng.

THE PLAYER: Thorn Brenin's story pre-game:

Thorn is a famous retired captain. He was fighting for Odalah (one of the Berkanian kingdoms) at the egde of the world, near the Veil and in other wars too. Before the game starts, Thorn meets Liki and they fall in love. They marry. Liki is the daughter of Stakhet Vichti, who is a veteran and Chamberlan of the royal house of Odalah (one of Berkanian five kingdoms). Thorn saves Stakhet's life from the Veil, and his friend Drewer sacrificed himself to let Thorn live (of course Thorn doesn't know that Drewer is a Lower Umbra, or even what Umbra are - and doesn't know this sacrifice left a mark in his soul).

After this campaign, Liki and Thorn have two children: Mact and Gleda.

Stakhet has two children: Liki and his only son Brann. Brann is a jerk, so Stakhet had to take his inheritance away from him and give it to Liki. For this reason, Brann detests Liki and her children.

here is the family:

At the start of the game, this is their status: Stakhet is in Opacum, Brann is being a dick in Ursus. Mact is near Friga (do not confound with Frisia, Friga is just a Berkanian city in the East) as a soldier, Liki, Thorn and Gleda are all living in Ursus. Thorn is helping the new recruits even if he is retired, Gleda is actually joining these new recruits for training and learning how to fight, and Liki is sick but alive.

Basically, these are the families of the Chosen Ones: Gleda, Philia and Reet. Just a note, I am not sure that Philia's father is Drewer.

As you can see, Gleda, Philia and Reet are all connected to Childao, thus Chosen Ones that can be the body for a god.*

NOTE THIS PICTURE HAS A MISTAKE: Childao is not the one who possessed the women to create the Qimira, it was Harga, Childao's Lower Umbra. Reet is connected to Childao through her. Also I am not sure if Philia's father is Drewer or Orkan, another of Childao's Lower Umbra.

I think any human created by a Higher Umbra would be able to be the vessel of a god, so there are probably even more Chosen Ones around the world.

THE PLAYER: Hopper/Blance

The other character the player controls is Hopper/Blance. We already talked about him, he is the Lower Umbra who failed the sacrifice.

THE PLAYER: Lo Pheng

Lo Pheng is the last character controlled by the player. He is an Eikon, so he is originated in the Isle of Shadows. He is an elite guard and was raised through the brutal methods of the Warriors of Peace: renouncing his family, killing his own family, killing a pet he was given, fighting against slaves and other Eikons for the priviledge of having the sacrificial stones implanted in his body. The idea of the warrior of peace is that they only kill and attack when necessary or paid for. At the beginning of the game, Lo Pheng has been lent (paid) to a Frisian called Pelko Soturi. Pelko commands one of the three legions of Frisia and asks for the services of the Temple of the Isle of Shadows as he fears some other general wants to kill him.

As a warrior of the Isle of Shadows (the "religion" founded by Amma centuries before) he has pieces of menhir in his body and this protects him from the reaping. He also has the duty to leave any active contract and return to the Isle of Shadows if a reaping begins.

At the beginning of the game he is in the Frisian capital of Wodan, protecting Pelko while the Temple of Wrath organizes a big sacrifices of prisoners - unusually big. Reet is among these prisoners.

THE STORY OF THE GAME (4)

(Very briefly)

Hopper/Blance meets with Amma in her hut. Amma can see the future so she warns him that the Third Reaping is about to start. It will start in the city of Wodan (north, in Frisia) and in the city of Albius (South, in the Berkanian kingdoms). She gifts Hopper/Blance a book and requests his stone knife in return. She foresaw that that knife is going to kill her, one day, so she wants to keep it.

Hopper/Blance leaves for Albius (which is closer than Wodan).

The Higher Umbra Childao visits Albius and leaves an incantation in the city's bell.

In the meantime, in Albius, the reaper Dorpkhal appears. His power makes the people of the city go mad and they start to kill each others. (This is what reapers do). Thorn finds out he is not affected because he is wearing (by accident) a strix, a stone from the menhir. He collects the strix and gives them to the survivors. Liki (his wife) also dies. Gleda, his daughter, finds that she has a strange painful sign on her neck.

To save her, Thorn decides to leave Albius to go visit the closest menhir, as menhir usually can heal people. He collects the survivors: his friend Krieger, the drunkyard Fisk, the young recruits Brett, Flitt, Hode (Prince Ho in disguise) and Sopp (Prince Ho's bodyguard). He gives strixes to everyone, as they can protect them from the curse/plague.

The city is basically decimated, only a few people escape, one of these is the merchant Risk, who is a Lower Umbra.

Thorn escape and in his journey he ends up recruiting some other characters. He finds the first menhir - but the Enses are using it for sacrifices. Thorn soon finds out that during a reaping the menhir are so filled with blood/sacrifice that they turn deadly - so they can't heal anymore.

They meet Childao (hiding as the witch Chila) who gives Gleda a mysterious bracelet and tells them to go to the city of Ursus where the healer Unda and her daughter Philia reside (Unda is of course one of Childao's aliases). Prince Ho (Hode) also reveals his real identity to the party.

At the same time, Lo Pheng is acting as a bodyguard for Pelko Soturi, in Wodan, capital of the kingdom of Frisia. Pelko is assisting to the Temple of Wrath's sacrifice, where prisoners are killed and tortured. This year's sacrifice is particularly big because one of the temple's warrior is actually a repear, using the humans' religion to fill the menhir with blood. One of the sacrifices is a Qimra woman named Reet, who was captured for recording hymns of the temple without permission.

The reaping start in Wodan too, and the repear Atraakh/Nakoma appears. Lo Pheng defeat him, dismembering him (not knowing Atraakh/Nakoma is not fully dead), and his duty as a warrior of Isle of Shadows demand that he returns home to warn of the start of the Third Reaping.

Lo Pheng leaves his client and leaves Wodan. On the journey he is followed by Reet, who also escaped, and other four prisoners, all women: Swarty (an ex prostitute and archer), Shannet and Kendi (both warriors of the temple), Bolla (an ex slave (?)). Kendi is the leader of this group of women, but she follows Reet's advice. Lo Pheng kinda... adopts them, and they try to flee Frisia. Reet is also marked by a painful mark on her neck, as like Gleda she is a chosen one (Swarty also has the same mark, so she might be a chosen one too).

Reet tells Lo Pheng that she knows a short cut to get closer to the Isle of Shadows, so they travel together. On the journey they end up recruiting other people, like Alus, a healer and monk. The women do not have much strixes with them, and Reet soon starts to feel sick, she is dying and Alus cannot save her.

Lo Pheng (who is seemingly starting to open up to his companions) decides to betray all of the rules of the Isle of Shadow and gives Reet one of his sacrificial stones, taking it from his own body. This saves and protects Reet.

While they keep travelling, Hopper/Blance is also travelling, trying to reach Albius. He arrives that the reaping already started, and many people are dead. The bell of the city keeps ringing (because of Childao's enchantment).

He finds the son of the king there (Treeg) who has been told by a witch (probably Childao) that someone will stop the cursed bell and that someone will be the one who returns Prince Ho. Treeg also wants Thorn to be arrested, for putting Prince Ho at risk.

Coranzon (a Lower Umbra) works for the temple and with Treeg, and he tells Hopper/Blance that he has heard that Thorn and her daughter Gleda faced a reaper and survived/were spared. Hopper/Blance is curious about Gleda and Thorn.

Hopper/Blance goes to look at the cursed bell and by touching it he makes it stop... except that the "curse" transferred on him. Childao enchanted the bell so that Hopper/Blance, by unraveling the spell, would be connected to the Reaping - almost a way to make the Reaping into a human form. This "curse" allows Hopper/Blance to save his own energy, but give energy to the reaping, or to "resist" the reaping, slowing it down, but losing his own energy.

Words on the bell said something along the lines of "Take into yourself what you can take, and if you do not burn out, carry it."... plus a request to follow the clues/riddles. There are seven parts in total of this riddle.

These seven parts are put around the world by Childao and are a way for her to finish her incantation. If Hopper/Blance finds all the seven part he will finish her incantation.

Hopper/Blance starts his journey to find prince Ho (Hode), accompanied by the soldier Ake. He finds other parts of the riddle, and clues of where Thorn (and Hode) could be going, so he follows them to Ursus.

(There are some variation of the story based on gameplay here)

In Ursus, Thorn and Gleda go to look for Philia and her mother. While with her, they are attacked by Enses who have already corrupted the city's menhir. The Enses are killed, but Prince Ho (Hode) is wounded. Philia saves his life, putting him into a suspended sleep. Still, the guards arrests Thorn because they recognize prince Ho and are sure Thorn is the cause of the wound. Philia and Gleda escape.

In prison, Thorn meets with his brother in law, who confirms he wants to see him and his family dead to get his inheritance. Still, there is a problem... Thorn's son Mact is still alive and Gleda too. So Thorn's brother in law (Brann) sends his two bodyguards (Andra and Foshta) on a mission. Andra and Foshta pretend to also be prisoners and free Thorn. They know Thorn will look for Gleda and Mact and have been hired to kill Thorn's children.

In the meantime, Hopper/Blance also arrives in Ursus and he meets Thorn. He finds out Gleda is nowhere to be seen and decides to look for her.

Helped by Andra and Foshta (depending on your player choices) Thorn leaves the prison and the city (with his companion and the two twins bodyguards) before the king can execute him. Prince Ho (Hode) remains wounded in Ursus.

Thorn decides to travel to where he knows Mact is being stationed. He recruits new companions on the way too.

Hopper/Blance, still in Ursus, finds another piece of the riddle, and also decide to visit Prince Ho, healing him. Hopper/Blance leaves Ursus again, on the trails of Thorn (the king still wants Thorn's dead) and hoping to find Gleda.

Thorn and his companions cross the Ashen Wasteland and they are reunited with Gleda. Gleda has been taken out of the city by Philia and then has met the merchant Rask (a Lower Umbra, but they do not know) who has (seemingly with magic) taken her back to Thorn. Rask remains behind, but Thorn, Gleda and the group keep marching towards the city where Mact is.

Rask/Chirlan, instead, waits for Hopper/Blance, who is on the trail of Thorn, and joins his group. They are both Lower Umbra so they know what is going on.

Thorn and companion arrives at the city of Friga where the soldier Drooket (who is the Lower Umbra Qarbaph/Drewer) tells them he had taken Mact under his wing, but Mact is now in danger because captured by cannibals. They go to save Mact, managing to rescue him by killing the dangerous cannibal criminal Mabok.

Andra and Foshta (the twins who pretended to help Thorn) try to kill Mact (they were hired for that), but Drooket throws himself in front of Mact and ends dying instead. Before dying, he gives a locket to Brett and a knife too. The knife is a stone knife who can kills Reapers.

Brett starts suspecting that he is the son of Drooket - and that Drooket was the man who was financing his journeys (to train as an archer) and giving money to his mother.

Thorn, Mact, Gleda and his companions travel north, they want to go to Opacum, where Thorn's father in law (Stakhet) lives and maybe can protect them from the ire of the king. Prince Ho (Hode) rejoins the group as he run away again because he doesn't like his grandpa the king. Also the grandpa the king dies, and Treeg is now king.

On the way, they meet Mabok the cannibal again... excepts that it is not Mabok... they realize that it is actually Drooket who, by dying, possessed the body of Mabok. They basically find out that Drooket is probably one of the reapers/umbra and also Drewer, the man who saved Thorn in the Veil. He is also Brett's father and the knife is a stone knife who can kill Umbras/reapers.

They travel to Opacum.

In the meantime, Hopper/Blance, who is travelling with Rask, is still following the riddles and putting them together. One day, they are ambushed by Nakoma/Atraakh. Nakoma/Atraakh kills Rask, trapping his soul before he can find a new body/creates himself a new body, and walks away.

Hopper/Blance, again alone with Ake, travels to Opacum.

In the meantime, Lo Pheng and the women are travelling towards the shortcut Reet knows. They meet various enemies, and some Enses too. They find an Ense who has been wounded but still alive - Reet knows some incantation from her people, as she is from the Qimra, who used to free Enses from their branwashing.

The Ense Khama, free from the brainwashing, joins Lo Pheng's party and travels with them. He has confused memories of his time trapped in the Ark, or before the Ark, but gives some information to Lo Pheng.

Lo Pheng still wants to go back to the Isle of Shadows, but also save Reet and finds a way to actually kill the reapers.

Reet leads the group to the shortcut - it is a magic menhir that has not been corrupted because it keeps changing places, a travelling menhir. A Lower Umbra is its guardian (Orkan).

The menhir is supposed to lead them... where they need to be, and they end up in the mountains, in front of Amma's hut.

Amma (a Lower Umbra) is the seer who founded the Temple of the Isle of Shadows, knowing that one day he would need one of their warriors (Lo Pheng). She reveals herself as the founder, and Lo Pheng accepts to escort her to where she needs to go. They all go to the city of Opacum.

IN OPACUM... we have Thorn and his family, reunited with Thorn's father in law. We have Treeg, the prince turned king, happy to be reunited with prince Ho (Hode). We have Hopper/Blance, just arrived and looking for the last pieces of riddles. We have Lo Pheng, just arrived with Reet, Amma and his party. Philia also arrives in Opacum.

Remember the knives: Amma has a knife (taken from Hopper/Blance) and Brett has a knife (given by his father, the Lower Umbra Drooket). In some cases (depending on your choices) Philia has this knife (or another knife?).

Brann (Thorn's brother in law) is also hiding in Opacum, and he wants to kill Thorn, his children and even his father, to get the inheritance.

We also have the armies of Frisia arriving, soldiers partially controlled by the Reapers. They all surround the city of Opacum in a siege.

Through Amma and Philia we finally finds out what is going on:

The reaping is happening, the menhir in Opacum has always been inactive - only because it was a focal point of menhirs, a way to free one of the gods. To free and reincarnate one of the gods what is needed is: human sacrifice (the Frisian army brings blood and victims to the menhir), the sacrifice of three Umbra, and a Chosen One.

In Opacum we now have at least three Chosen Ones connected to Childao: Reet, Gleda and Philia.

Amma reveals to Hopper/Blance that she is again a slave of Adna, her Higher Umbra. She gives Hopper/Blance the knife back, before turning into a Reaper, controlled by Adna...

Amma is defeated and Hopper/Blance kills her with the knife. Part of the riddle is on her form turned into stone, and Hopper/Blance collects it before it falls into ashes. The knife has been destroyed with her.

There is one last seventh part of the riddle missing and two Umbra to sacrifice to awaken the god.

At the end you can choose to play as Lo Pheng or Thorn. I will write the rest as Thorn as his story seemed more "canon" and was confirmed as the canon ending by the developers.

... Thorn and Gleda are forgiven by the king, but Brann is in the city and he kills his father. Thorn finally defeat his twin bodyguards and Brann escapes.

The Higher Umbra Nakoma/Atraakh enters in the city, as the soldiers managed to breach the wall. He attacks the main party, wanting to kill Hopper/Blance. He has Rask's soul to sacrifice and killing Hopper/Blance would be the third Umbra sacrifice.

Instead, Nakoma/Atraakh is defeated and Brett, using his father's stone knife (or Philia, depending on your choices), strikes the Umbra with the knife, killing him for good.

Because Nakoma/Atraakh also had Rask's soul in him, this is two Umbra dead.

The three Umbra sacrifices are completed, the menhir is active. The Chosen One (one of the three) can become the avatar of the reincarnated god (we do not know which god).

But - Childao's enchantment changes everything. The last part of the enchantment is found on the Chosen One's arm, and by reading it and following all the steps, Hopper/Blance has selected a specific god. The god who has reincarnated is the god of Childao, but conveniently trapped in a human body, hidden in Gleda's consciousness.

If you choose to play as Lo Pheng, the god ends up trapped in Reet instead.

The remaining Reapers (there are three Higher Umbra left, minus Childao) know they have been tricked by Childao and her god was the one chosen and now trapped into a human.

This dialogue between the Reapers happen even if Hopper/Blance completes the enchantment. This means that Childao specifically chose her god for a reason... but did not trust her god to become an avatar. She wanted her god, but she wanted her god trapped in a human prison and the god's mind hidden.

THE ENDING EXPLAINED (5)

Childao managed to create a woven enchantment (carried by Blance/Hopper) that would use the reaping (the human sacrifices at the menhir, the three Umbra sacrifices) to reincarnate her god/master into a human. But why?

At the very end we find out that her god (maybe all the gods) warned the Umbra to not check the Ark. Childao goes against the will of her god, wanting to find out what happened to the Salvation Ark and the Enses still trapped inside (unless summoned and teleported for the reaping). This cut scene happens at the same time as the battle on Opacum.

Childao arrives at the Ark, against her god's recommendations, and finds that it has been turned into a menhir, a sacrificial one, where Enses are used for reaping.

Her people (Enses) have been basically betrayed and her god has gone mad - is not the kind person she knew.

She might have suspected something, which is why her enchantment made sure to resurrect her god... but trapped inside a mortal/human's mind and not fully awakened.

THE ENDING EXPLAINED... my theory.

The tower of bodies that Childao finds at the end of the game is similar to a tower of bodies that the player can encounter while playing as Lo Pheng. The five gods of the Umbra are not the only gods mentioned in the game, as Amma mentions how Terminum used to have gods too. Because both tower of bodies are indipendent from menhir (but we know that the tower of bodies Lo Pheng sees is something he has never seen before and is connected to "gods"), it is possible that a new god (or well, an original god from Terminum) used the Salvation Ark's Enses for his own return.

#lo pheng #ash of gods #summary #lore #ash of gods lore

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aworldofyou · 3 years

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I gotta say one thing. The only indigenous representation that made me uncomfortable and questioning growing up was Peter Pan.

#[ out of character. ] a raft fit for a queen #[ out of character. ] salt time. hold my hot cheetos.#[ sorry i'm actually waiting to leave for an hour but im coming back so im making all these shit posts until i do ]#[ i'm surprised no ones asked me about Hunger Games but i'll say it right now tumblr won't like my answer ]#[ as a girl my favorite was Pocahontas cartoon and i both identified with Nakoma and had a crush on Pocahontas and the dude ]#[ turns out i wasn't the only one who thought Nakoma was in love with her but - waggles hand - ]#[ i'll delete this dw just chatting is all im doing ]#[ point is i remember being little and going 'mom- if everything in neverland is made up why are ndns in it- and why are they all drawn like #trolls ? ' ]

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copiesofme-archive · 4 years

Text

everyone says the cartoon Pocahontas is racist. And yes. it was but I can’t convey the awe and inspiration I felt as a little girl when I first saw ‘just around the riverbend.’

#behind the typewriter [ ooc ]#(comes out of disney plus with pizza)#(as a girl i also had a crush on both nakoma and kocoum)#(but also same with shrek- for some reason kids meme the shit out of it now)#(but it did so much for me as a girl fighting the world- seeing that the princess was not only an ogre but chose to stay one? it did a lot)#(hi ima try to do a draft)#(and answer a cute anon)

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dalathin · 5 years

Note

"You're very pretty. Like a princess. But a nice one."

@couldntbcloved | related meme

❝A princess?❞ Séaghdha couldn’t help the light chuckle that bubbled up from his chest, and wondered for a moment if he was perhaps due for a haircut. It was what followed, however, that kept his attention. ❝Thank you, I’d much rather be a nice one. But… do you think most princesses are mean, then? I always thought they were supposed to be nice.❞

#I FUCKING LOVE NAKOMA #couldntbcloved #answered #• ic answer

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ponds-puddle · 3 years

Text

Stargazer ~{9/??}~

word count- 1615

fluff ahead // not my art

BT Masterlist!

<< previous ... next >>>

“So now you’re dating the homeless man?”

You scoffed at your friend, “For the last time, he’s not homeless.”

She handed you the bulbs of your newest nursery addition, white stargazer lilies. You took a moment to hold it in your hand, feeling it’s every emotion. Flower bulbs always had their own unique emotion. This one brought a bright fluttering feeling in your chest, imagery of a blossoming love, sweet pure innocence and…

You frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

Your hands closed around the bulb, pressing it to your forehead in sympathy.

“It’s sad.”

Shinsou waited at the train station for you once again tonight. You tried to give him a warm smile, but you couldn’t get the sad flower out of your mind. He approached you, a concerned look in his brow.

“Are you okay?” his hand reached up to push your stray hairs behind your ear. You nodded lightly, but his eyes never left you.

“Yeah,” you tried to shrug it off, “We were planting bulbs today.”

“And?”

It became clear to you that he wouldn’t leave it alone until you told him, so you sighed and said, “One of the flowers was sad.”

He gave you a sympathetic smile, kissing your forehead soothingly. People walked passed you, looking at you in discontent, but neither of you paid any mind to them.

“Why were they sad?”

“That’s what is bugging me!” you said exasperatedly, “When I held it, it was warm. It had such a beautiful vision of growing. But it was sad. It wasn’t clear at first, but once my mind picked up on it- it was decaying. Dead roots and insects eating away at it. I know that we would never let the poor thing end up like that, but I’ve never held such a sad beauty like that.”

Shinsou listened to you intently. You liked that about him. He never made you feel silly for things like this. He thought of plants like humans, just as you did. Or at least he understood your feelings towards them and matched you. He made you feel warm.

“Sorry,” you laughed lightly, “We should get back to the house, I’m sure Nakoma is dying to see you.”

“Firstly,” he said sternly, “You had to reason to apologize. I like hearing about your work and your quirk. I don’t want you to think you have to withhold all those things from me. I enjoy hearing it.”

You giggled at his strict speaking before nodding, “Yes sir. And secondly?”

“I- Did you just call me sir?” a small glimmer of a blush traced his cheeks, but he shoved it back down as fast as he could.

“Secondly?” you sang innocently, pulling him towards the train doors so you wouldn’t miss it. Shinsou allowed you to pull him along.

“Secondly,” he coughed awkwardly, trying to settle the slight arousal he felt from your words, “Secondly. I can’t wait to see her either.”

You watched with amused eyes as Nakoma ran happily to Shinsou, rubbing her body against his leg. He greeted her in a chirpy tone, leaning over to pick her up. She curled in his arms, purring loudly at his embrace.

“Someone should write a love story about you two,” you said bitterly, kicking off your shoes and passing the threshold to your house. Shinsou’s laughter could be heard from the living room as you plopped onto the couch.

“Oh come on,” he chuckled, setting the cat down before joining you, “Stop being so jealous of your cat.”

You turned to him, “I am not jealous of my cat.”

“Of course you’re not,” he said, but you knew that he didn’t believe his own words.

“I’m not jealous of my cat!”

“You so are!” he loudly laughed, “But it’s okay. I get it. She is very cute.”

You gapped at the boy beside you, “Are you saying I’m not cute?”

He stuttered, his mind turning into a giant thought bubble. You snorted at how animated his nonverbal reply was.

“I can’t believe that you think my cat is cuter than me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You’ve kissed me, but you still think the thing that coughs up furballs is cuter than me,” you argued teasingly, “She licks her own butthole!”

“I cannot believe we are having this argument right now,” he exclaimed.

“I can’t either!” you tried to hold back your laughter, “And here I was thinking that you liked me.”

“I-”

He was cut off by you shaking your head sadly, “Really did it to me, huh? All this time together… just for the cat.”

“Okay,” he laughed, “That’s enough now.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” you said with a shrug, “I’m not the one attracted to a cat.”

“I’m not attracted to your cat, Y/N.”

You looked up at Shinsou after hearing how his voice had fallen. His eyes were entirely focused on you, bringing a bright blush to your face.

“I was joking,” you said bashfully, “I was just playing with you.”

Shinsou watched the way your shoulders tensed up at his gaze so, with a small chuckle, he whispered, “You’re so cute.”

“Really?” you asked sheepishly as a small smirk struggled not to form, “Not my cat?”

“Your cat is cute, yes,” he said. You were surprised by the way his tone didn’t change, “But you’re much cuter.”

You smiled happily leaning into his body, “You’re full of shit.”

He snorted, rolling his eyes at your bratty behavior, “Alright, calm it down.”

You giggled as you felt his arms wrap around your body and pull you towards him. You happily readjusted yourself to straddle his lap. He hugged onto your waist, pulling you against his chest. You sweetly pecked his neck, feeling the way his body tensed against yours.

“Wait,” he whispered softly, causing the two of you to break apart.

“I’m sorry was tha-”

Shinsou pressed his lips against yours hastily. A static shock of surprise shivered down your spine, but you melted into his touch anyways. His tongue licked against your bottom lip, sweetly asking for entrance. For the first time, you didn’t have the power in you to argue with him. Instead you obediently granted him passage, feeling the way his lips so easily dominated your own. Your hands fell to his chest, absentmindedly undoing the buttons of his shirt. There were about four left before his hands reached out to grab yours and the kiss was broken.

“What-” he drew in a shaky breath at the feeling of your fingertips grazing across his chest, “What are you doing?”

His eyes met yours, almost losing it all merely at the sight of your dazed expression.

“I just want a little more,” you whined, unable to stop yourself. Feeling his touch was dangerous to you. All your inhibitions were thrown to the wind the second he held you, and you weren’t sure if he knew the effect he held on you- but it was impossible to break free from. Not that you wanted to.

Shinsou gulped at the sound of your needy tone. He had never heard you sound like that, and the fact that he knew that he caused it only fueled the fire. So he let his hands fall from yours, instead gripping onto the outer part of your thighs.

His eyes watched your every move, the adrenaline pumping through his veins so rapidly he thought they were going to burst. Your hands gently pushed back his shirt, off the corners of his shoulders. The lighting accentuated every slight curve of his body, his collarbones glistened like a freshly cut diamond. You wondered if you would ever feel this amount of emotion for someone again. The hope burned your skin as his hands traced your jawline, redirecting your gaze back to his eyes.

I want this.

I need more.

“You’re quiet,” he chuckled, brushing his thumb against the curve of your lips, “I don’t think you’ve ever been this quiet.”

Thousands of words fluttered in your chest. The moment’s air suffocated your lungs, blocking the ability to speak.

He laughed, “I must be hot if you’re this quiet.”

You let out an unamused snort, rolling your eyes at him. Instinctively your hand raised to push his shoulder, but the amount of force was feeble. His body continued to stand against yours as if it was made of stone.

“Ah yes, who wouldn’t be turned on by the amount of ego you have?”

Shinso laughed at you, “So you’re saying I am hot?”

“I’m saying you’re annoying,” you corrected, but the way your hand dragged against the nape of your neck answered his question. Shinso’s head rolled back at the feeling, marveling in the emotions that rolled off of your body and onto his.

“You like that I’m annoying,” he boasted as he dropped his forehead down to yours, leaning against you with a cocky smirk, “You can’t say that you don’t.”

“I like that you match my energy,” you confessed, “I like that you don’t expect me to be different than I am.”

His eyes widened at your confession, but when he felt your grip tighten against him he drifted back into himself, “So you’re saying you like me?”

You groaned in aggravation at his never-ending cockiness, pulling yourself away slightly. Despite how you moved, you knew that you wouldn’t get far. Shinsou’s movements were immediate, pulling you back to his chest. With one hand caressing your chin and the other pressing the small of your back into himself, he kissed you once more. The way you melted into him and swayed perfectly in tune with his own motions felt almost like the most elegantly written poetry.

///

I posted this on my main account on accident so I had to fix it oops

taglist (just ask!): @tiny-is-sad-100 @pansexualproblemchild @delicatefleur @just-a-girl-with-alot-of-issues

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disneywalt · 7 years

Note

what are your 10 favorite blogs?

ok but really I have so many but off the top of my head (in no particular order and it often changes too as I’m extremely indecisive)

@bigherosixed, @nakoma, @queentianas, @deeplyindisney, @starwarsfilms, @tsumtsum, @up-where-they-run, @disneydailly, @prettyscar and @disneyfeverdaily

#answered #bigherosixed #nakoma #queentianas #deeplyindisney #starwarsfilms #tsumtsum #up-where-they-run #disneydailly #prettyscar #disneyfeverdaily #I'm so sorry if anyone gets upset that I haven't mentioned them but honestly all 200+blogs I follow are my favourites

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lowkeyaesthvtic · 5 years

Text

Evil Karma - Chapter 1

Word Count: 2,753

Pairings: none yet

Summary: A new VK arrives on the isle with no clue of what has happened to her ‘almost family

Rating: whole story will be a T rating (with some chapters being M) but this chapter is relatively PG

Warnings: mentions of (not graphic) death, just overall anger and villainy

I awoke in a haze with a sharp pain in my back and shoulders. The last thing I remembered was using one of my father’s old trinkets to make a portal. The special thing with portals is that they could take you anywhere as long as you focused on where you wanted to go. What sucked about that was I had never been anywhere else before...therefore I had no place to focus on. This must have been where the portal placed me. I forced myself to stand and took a look around me. One thing I could immediately tell was that I was on some sort of island from the familiar scent of salty seawater hitting me. As I continued to look around, however, I knew this island was nowhere near familiar. Everything felt so incredibly overcrowded. Trash, dirt, and flies invaded the space around me. It was only a few more seconds before I noticed people bumping into me without a second thought. Some of them girls, some of them boys, some of them tall and mischievous, others were small and unknowing of their actions. One thing they all had in common? They all tried to steal something from me.

Pickpocketing was something I had learned from my father at quite a young age. He told me that the boys where we lived were ‘incredibly lost souls’ and ‘may not know how to react to someone who looked like me.’ His answer to that problem was to teach me as much as he could. So that’s what he did. I learned all the ways of my home’s magic, figured out how to harness and use it as a sort of...persuasion, and became the best on the island with a bow and arrow. It was because of all I had learned that anyone who tried to steal from me had failed. Until one person in particular had brought a bit of a challenge.

As soon as I felt him bump against my hip, I dodged any further contact and went for my dagger, as per usual. However, when I brandished my dagger, I was met with something I never thought I’d see: a rusted hook made of silver. No way. No way this could be true. “Hook…” I mumbled, standing down from my fighting stance and running through the crowded alley.

“Wait, you know me? But I don’t know you! Come back, you runt!” I hear a confused, aggressive yell in response and before I knew it, he was chasing me. As I hurried past the people in the alley, I ran past names that looked all too familiar. Lady Tremaine...Dr Facilier...Mother Gothel...it was at this point that I finally knew where I was. I knew my father and I had lost. My magic wouldn’t work here, my boys were likely too far gone, and I’d have to start all over. It wasn’t until I saw the hooked man’s figure in front of me that I realized I had stopped dead in my tracks. “How do you know me? One of the street rats tell you about me?” His accent was thick, incredibly hard to understand, yet it spoke to him. Something about his voice added to his madness, his unpredictability.

“I don’t know you...well, I don’t know your face, at least. Our parents knew each other. It was kind of a love-hate relationship.” I responded, taking in his face. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that he looked intriguing. His hair was a dark black and looked extremely messy, as if the chaotic life of a pirate had tossed it around. Despite attempting to darken his eyes with eyeliner, his eyes’ color matched the blue of the ocean from my home island. His face was incredibly structured and, like his hook, his jaw was sharp enough to cut. “My father was Peter Pan.” At the name, his eyes lit up.

“So you’re the famous Sofia Pan? Goodness, my father told stories about yours almost every night!” He stepped away from me, almost completely throwing away his intimidating aura and letting a playful smile grow onto his face. “I thought your father placed that one spell on Auradon to make them think he was a hero...what are you doing here?”

“Well, you’re right about that...I’m gonna be honest, I don’t remember much. All I know is I wouldn’t be here if Neverland was still intact. I guess you could say I’m on my own now…” Things were silent for a few seconds before he looked to me and gestured to what looked to be some kind of restaurant.

“Maybe not… come with me, Sofia Pan. Let me show you how to take the Isle of the Lost and hook it like it’s nothing!”

“Oh, you can just call me Sofi. If you want.”

“Harry Hook. It’s nice to put a face to your name, Sofi.” And with that, he led me further down the alley into what I could assume was some kind of plaza. We were much closer to the ocean and a lot farther away from the pickpocketing ‘street rats.’ I had started to notice during our walk that most people either respected and followed Harry Hook or were scared of him to the point where they’d do anything he asked whether they wanted to or not. Eventually, we came upon Ursula’s Fish and Chips Shoppe. “Uma is going to absolutely love you! We’ve got girls on the ship, yeah, but if you’re anything like your father...well we’ll just see what happens.” A smirk began to return to the young pirate’s face. Something in my gut began to tell me that this would be a bit more intense than I thought. Was this a good idea?

“The chip shoppe looked just as run down as the rest of the Isle, the only difference being an overall theme of the sea and a tiny television tucked by a long table at the front of the restaurant. Standing by said television was a sight I nearly felt honored to behold. Her skin was smooth and matched the wood of the table she stood behind. Her hair was tightly braided, combining white, black, and a shade of blue that matched the sea close to what I used to call home. She had a bitter glint in her eye but I could tell she wasn’t the type to wallow in her problems. “Harry! It’s about time you came back...where’s the money?” She spoke with certainty, domination, like she knew that she was in charge. In all honesty, the assertiveness in her voice was almost as intriguing as Harry’s accent.

“Right here, my Captain. I have something else for you..a bit of an unexpected guest.” He abruptly pushed me towards her and our eyes met for the first time. After a few seconds, Uma snapped out of a momentary daze and looked to Harry.

“Who is this? Are you trying to set Gil up again? I mean, come on Harry...I don’t think she’d be his type.” She began to eye me up and down, as if she were checking me for anything that could threaten her or her crew.

“No...this isn’t for Gil. Uma, I would like you to meet the wickedly infamous Sofia Pan.” Her eyes widened at the name, was I really that well known on the Isle? “Well...she said that Sofi was fine enough, but I figured you’d want to know her rotten legacy.” With emphasis on the word rotten, I was reminded of where I had come from.

When my father first created Neverland, he had relatively wholesome intentions. He wanted to take boys who felt unloved and unwanted to a place where they could do what they wanted without fear of what others would think. But as he continued to live on the island, Neverland’s magic grew stronger and infected him with madness and the undying desire for power and control. He began forcing his Lost Boys to live on the island, using magic if he had to. He once made a magic Pan Flute that he would take with him across the kingdom and use its song to lure all of the young boys away from their parents and off to Neverland.

By the time I was born, my father was completely corrupted by the magic of the island. His darkness was all I knew. However, it did have its benefits. He taught me to never take no for an answer. He taught me to look in the eyes of authority and say ‘you can’t control me.’ Little did he know that would be his demise…

“So your father had the power to fool an entire kingdom into thinking he was the good guy? I honestly don’t know whether I should be jealous that I wasn’t in your shoes or intrigued by what that could mean for you.” She kept her arms crossed and firm, but I could tell that I wasn’t her victim. Not today, at least.

“If you must know…” I stepped closer to her, leaving Harry in a state of surprise. I guess he must have thought that I’d be hesitant. The poor naive boy, he has no idea just how easily I can charm someone. “It means I’m an expert archer, I know how to reel boys into shape, and I can be..incredibly persuasive.”

“Incredibly persuasive? What does that have to do anything? Your Neverland magic isn’t going to work here.” Harry questioned, trying to act as a barrier between me and his Captain.

“It means she can get anyone to do anything...and we need that here.” Uma grabbed Harry by his hook and gently pushed him to the side. The way the two looked at each other was almost affectionate. It wasn’t my business to question what they had with each other, and something told me that I would soon find out as long as I kept my mouth shut.

Our conversation was quickly interrupted by the sound of the television being switched on. “Hey Uma! Harry! The VKs are on the Auradon News again!” Uma rolled her eyes as she looked towards the television. What I heard next sent shivers down my spine.

“Alright Meeko, this is Nakoma here with the latest update on Auradon’s newest heartthrobs. Our four VKs, Carlos, Jay, Evie and Mal informed us last week of the wicked corruption behind Peter Pan, a hero that we all thought we knew and loved. It turns out, when villains were being sent to the Isle of the Lost, Peter Pan used his Neverland Magic to enchant the entire kingdom of Auradon so he wouldn’t be locked with the rest of the villains. It’s a good thing evil magic doesn’t work on the Isle, because if it weren’t for these core four, we never would have known about it! I’m here with Mal, daughter of Maleficent and current partner of our King Ben, who has just returned from seizing this corrupt island. So Mal, can you describe the events that took place during this battle?” The news anchor gives her microphone to a skinny girl with purple hair, green eyes, and an obviously fake smile.

“Well, the first thing we did was search for Peter Pan himself. He had quite the army built up, it was probably one of the most difficult battles the VKs and I have faced. However, I can happily say that Neverland is completely empty, never to be inhabited again.”

“So did you ever find Peter Pan? And what of the Lost Boys living on the island? Are they all on the Isle now?”

“We couldn’t find Peter Pan anywhere, we can only assume that he fled away. He’s never been one for bravery, after all.” The reporter laughed with Mal before continuing her tangent. “As for the Lost Boys, I can say that they were...properly taken care of.” I could feel the fire rising in my eyes. I remember now, I remember it all.

I could feel Harry and Uma shift their eyes towards me, their crew following suit like a pack of sheep. They killed my Lost Boys...she killed my Lost Boys. Out of pure rage and impulse, I grabbed pieces of the fish guts from some pirate’s tray and chucked it at the television. “You murderous wench! You heartless, cold coward! I swear to all that is wicked if I ever see you I’ll -” Next thing I knew, I felt two pairs of arms around me pulling me down from the table I was standing on. There was Harry, looking at me with almost a sense of concern, and a blonde pirate looking at me like a confused puppy. Uma quickly switched off the television and put her hand on the blonde’s shoulders.

“Gil...I just realized that our new sail hasn’t been set up yet. How about you take the rest of the crew and get that taken care of, huh?” He jumped at the idea and led the rest of the pirates out of the restaurant, leaving me, Uma, and Harry all alone. Did I know what she had planned for me? No. Did I care? Not really. This ‘Mal’ and her friends had slaughtered the only family I had, and I wanted revenge. “Well, I guess now we have a common enemy.” Uma said to Harry, slowly shifting her direction to me.

I tsked and looked to her. “What, she killed your family too? Who does this purple haired traitor think she is? And since when were VKs allowed in Auradon?” Harry rolled his eyes and threw some scrap fish at the screen.

“Since three months ago. King Ben chose four VKs to come live on Auradon for some kind of ‘second chance.’ He wanted to start with the baddest of the bad. Son of Jafar, son of Cruella De Vil, daughter of the Evil Queen...and apparently, the daughter of Maleficent was the most rotten of them all. He whisked those posers off to a better life and left the rest of us in the dirt.” Uma replied, scowling at a poster of the ‘core four’ that had since been vandalized with classic pirate graffiti reading ‘we ride with the tide.’

“What I wouldn’t give to wipe the smiles off their faces…” Harry drifted off, wiping a piece of fish from the television and slipping it into his mouth with his finger.

It was then that an idea had popped into my head. Would it be hard to pull off? Of course it would be...but the victory would be oh so worth it. I sit on the long table behind me and look Uma straight in the eye. “What if we did more than that?”

The two pirates piqued their eyebrows in interest. Clearly I was winning them over. I’m not saying I’m completely surprised but given Uma’s sense of domination I figured it’d be much harder to get her to listen. I guess you learn something every day. “More than wiping smiles off their faces? Explain…”

“Mal and her little group of friends left you and your crew to rot, when you clearly deserve to be on Auradon more than she does. She also had the gall to go after my home and take everything I once held close to me. As you said, we have a common enemy.”

“Yeah...I still don’t know what you’re entailing here.” Harry mumbled, now leaning on his Captain’s shoulder.

“What if she got a taste of her own medicine? She left you out to dry and she tore apart my family...so we take her little group and tear them limb from limb until she feels all alone, just as she deserves. My village pillaging friends...what I’m proposing is an act of karma so sinister that Princess Purple here will wish she was never born.” Harry and Uma’s eyes begin to light up. Harry’s mad smirk returns and Uma mischievously chuckles before going to sit on the table next to me.

“You know Sofi, our crew needs someone like you…”

“Funny you say that, Uma. I was thinking the exact same thing.”

#descendants fic #harry x oc x uma #harry x reader x uma #harry hook x reader #tumblr #uma x reader #uma daughter of ursula #harry hook x uma #descendants x oc #descendants fanfiction #descendants

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aethira · 5 years

Photo

Hi everyone! I run a Dungeons and Dragons webcomic called Daernika, and since chapter 4 is starting, now’s as good a time as any to post this for people who either haven’t seen it yet or haven’t read updates in a while.

Daernika’s a webcomic adaptation of a D&D 4e campaign i was in for about three and a half years, and we’re coming up on almost the year anniversary of the start of the comic. As of this update, there’s 106 pages so far, with 2-page (and sometimes 3-page, like this week) updates every Friday.

After banding together to survive an attack, our party of main characters has been stuck traveling with an army, but they’ve got an important decision to make -- and despite disagreements, they must to work together to move forward. We currently have:

🔥 Aidina, a tiefling warlock with an affinity for fire and a past that’s starting to catch up with her,

🔥 Vox, a human warlord and former soldier with a talent for leadership (and magical visions) that he doesn’t want,

🔥 Nakoma, an elf cleric driven to help others but carrying the weight of the times she couldn’t,

🔥 Tym, an eladrin wizard with amnesia and not much common sense,

🔥 Arva, a dwarf paladin with a strong sense of justice and a demon problem,

🔥 Wild, a halfling ranger who needs to find his place in a world that’s moved on without him,

🔥 and Grayg, a human rogue who’s hiding far more than he says.

There’s a mix of serious plot and D&D shenanigans, and a lot of character development over the course of the campaign. Chapter 4’s gonna have a whole lot of bad decisions, fire, and even a dragon, so now’s a good time to start!

Their original meeting may have been coincidence, but fate isn’t as random as it seems. They’re not always lawful or smart or truthful, but the eventually-named Flaming Cart will end up being the unlikely heroes who must unite the world of Daernika against a threat much bigger than rebellions and wars. They’re just not always straightforward about it.

The main site for the comic is http://www.daernika.com/, which also has further info about the world and characters, and the official tumblr for it is @daernika (i also answer character questions there in the form of sketches). The official twitter is also @ daernika.

We have a discord open to anyone, and i really love talking with you guys! I’ve also got a patreon, so if you want extras like concept art, work-in-progress stuff, stickers, tutorials, and so on (for both daernika and my other art), check that out ^^

First page: (x)

Current update, start of chapter 4: (x)

Especially since posts with links don’t show up in the tags anymore, I really really appreciate reblogs so more people can see. Your support means a lot to me! 💖

#dungeons and dragons #webcomic #original characters #daernika #update

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nakomalocklear-blog · 7 years

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💭 - anthony

“Damn he’s tall.”

#{ nakoma answers | meme }#meme monday

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hamliet · 6 years

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Disney Princesses as Strong Women: Pocahontas’s Power to Choose Her Path

That one Disney Princess movie without a happy ending.

As per my requisite disclaimer, there is absolutely room for (a lot of) legitimate criticism of Pocahontas, especially around its portrayal of culture, history, and race, and this is not going to invalidate any valid criticism of the film or of Pocahontas, but rather offer a different perspective on her film and specifically on Pocahontas as a Disney character in the Disney film, not as a real person.

Out of all the Disney films, though, I do want to add an extra disclaimer for Pocahontas. It has a lot of cringe-worthy and outright inaccurate and offensive racial portrayals. The song “Savages” in addition to having extremely racist terms used in it, equates Native Americans with the colonists, and while the message of the song would make sense in the Romeo and Juliet situation the film portrays it as, it does not work in the context of a real historical issue where there was a clear aggressively racist, genocidal, and plain morally wrong side (the colonists), especially when the oppression of Native Americans is still very much a thing. However, I want to focus this meta on Pocahontas’s fictional character within the film, because I think there’s a lot to like in terms of who she is. That being said, divorcing from context is hard, so there’s a tension there. If anything I say is insensitive, please let me know.

So Pocahontas opens with the colonizers setting sail from England with the song “Virginia Company,” which includes the lyrics:

For the New World is like heaven And we'll all be rich and free Or so we have been told By the Virginia Company So we have been told by the Virginia Company

The emphasis on “so we have been told” sets up one of the themes Pocahontas’s character exemplifies: the idea of choosing your path versus following lies and promises given by people who are probably motivated by their own selfish desires (Governor Radcliffe). The riches the song describes are, of course, not there, but the colonists follow the hope of it and wind up missing the forest for the trees. Essentially, Pocahontas encourages critical thinking and moving one’s concerns from just one’s own life to one’s place in the world.

The beginning also sets up John Smith as a foil to Pocahontas. From the very beginning, he’s fundamentally concerned about himself, constantly talking about his wants and adventures. In the song, “Mine,” which emphasizes the greed of the colonists, Smith, who has no interest in gold, chimes in “hundreds of dangers await/And I don’t plan to miss one!” He’s only thinking about his own desire for the next thrill, telling the other colonists that he’s “been to dozens of new worlds” and doubts this one will be unique, and comments that he expects the Native Americans to be basically the same as other people: “If they’re anything like the [people] I’ve fought before...” His perspective is entirely centered on himself: he views adventures and new lands and other people also as things for himself, instead of seeing himself as part of a whole world.

Pocahontas is a bit different, but she also struggles to learn responsibility throughout the film. It’s noted to Powhatan in his introduction (when he asks where his daughter is) that she “takes after her mother” and “goes wherever the wind takes her.” Cut to Pocahontas and Nakoma (a good friend, this movie miiiiight pass the Bechdel test? It’s kinda borderline), and Pocahontas jumps off a cliff. However, Meeko jumps after her and is terrified, symbolically warning that even though her freedom is not the selfishness of John Smith, her choices still affect others both positively and negatively at times as well, as we’ll see them affecting her father, Kocoum, Nakoma, and more.

Powhatan tells her "you are the daughter of the chief. It is time for you to take your place among the people," and gives her the necklace that belonged to her mother. Pocahontas is often compared to her mother: the first two scenes I mentioned, and Grandmother Willow also tells Pocahontas her mother once asked her the same question about what path to take in life. There is perhaps the suggestion that people are expecting Pocahontas to take her mother’s path, but as Grandmother Willow encourages, she has her own choices to make.

The answer, after all, as Grandmother Willow says, is to “listen.” Empathy and learning are paths to being able to make wise decisions, after all. This will be emphasized later when she begs her father to “try talking to [the colonists]” instead of resorting to war. Towards the climax of the film, Smith comments that the colonists won’t want to listen to reason because "everything about this land has them spooked." A creepy figure then appears, howling as if to emphasize his words--but it turns out to be Percy, Radcliffe’s dog, symbolizing that what’s really spooking the colonists is themselves.

When Smith and Pocahontas meet, he almost shoots her, and then falls in love with her, which is the story calling him out on the violence he previously bragged about.

When she runs, he tries to stop her from leaving by forcing her to stay via grabbing her canoe.

But Pocahontas is not having that. He tries to speak to her in English and they realize they can’t understand each other, so he offers her his hand--symbolic of listening. Notably after this the language issue goes away which again, don’t think too hard about it it’s a children’s story, but symbolically it seems to represent the idea that once they’re listening to each other, they can understand each other.

When Smith goes all White Savior on Pocahontas, claiming that “we'll show your people how to use this land properly... build houses” and Pocahontas points out their houses are just fine, he patronizing counters “you think that your houses are fine only because you don't know any better." And she leaves. Pocahontas is not here for your racist patronization instead of listening to her. They then launch into “Colors of the Wind,” with its fitting lyrics about how they all have a place in the world, but it’s essentially not all about them and encourages respect for “every rock and tree and creature.” You desires matter, but so do other people’s.

When she says she has to go because she can hear the drums signifying that her people are in trouble, the exact same scene as their first meeting plays out, except this time he lets her leave instead of trying to stop her. He lets her make her own choices.

When Pocahontas starts spending more and more time with John Smith, Kocoum warns Nakoma “tell her not to run of... she listens to you.” In response Nakoma snorts and says, “Sure she does,” because well, Pocahontas doesn’t, and she doesn’t tell her best friend what’s going on until it’s too late. This leads to tragedy when Nakoma tries to help her by sending Kocoum to help her because she worries for her friend’s safety, and Kocoum is killed. As he dies, he tears Pocahontas’s necklace from her neck, symbolically threatening to tear her connection with her mother’s free path.

And yet John Smith is unquestionably the one more at fault for bringing about the tragedy. Radcliffe tells an impressionable Thomas that “a man's not a man unless he learns how to shoot.” Oh hey white America hasn’t changed at all.

Smith then gives him advice, teaching him how to shoot from his presumably many experiences shooting...

...but Thomas then uses the gun to save Smith but kill Kocoum.

Smith then takes the blame for Thomas, sacrificing himself for a kid who’s really naive and was only trying to follow in the footsteps of Smith, his idol. And Pocahontas then throws herself onto Smith, protecting him at the risk of her own life as well. As she runs to save him, she sings “I don’t t know what I can do/Still i know I've got to try" jumping over a gap between two rocks because symbolism.

This shows Pocahontas growing, taking responsibility for what is about to happen to Smith. They stop the war, but Smith is shot because he again realizes that he should take responsibility because he’s the one who came here in the first place (and the... smokescreen... reason the colonists were marching on them) and jumps in front of Powhatan to save him.

He asks Pocahontas to return with him. Her father gives her his blessing to do so. But she turns him down, though she loves him, because she says, “my place is with my people.” But instead of having her path written for her, she has made her own choice, and she made it by listening. It was time she take her place among her people, but she needed to define that place herself, and listen to the world around her to arrive there, instead of simply acquiescing.

And so he leaves and cue a tragic ending, but for the children. But Pocahontas’s character has a lot of power and emphasis on growing up and what that entails: learning, listening, guidance, making mistakes and growing from them. I really like her character a lot, and it’s certainly one of the more thematically... realistic as opposed to optimistic Disney films.

Up next, one of my favorites: Esmeralda! Yes I know she isn’t technically a princess but to quote the Genie from Aladdin, she’s a prince[ss] to me, so I’m writing about her :P For previous entries in this series, see here:

Snow White’s Self-Esteem

Cinderella’s Courage and Compassion

Aurora’s Autonomy

Ariel’s Adventurous Spirit

Belle’s Bravery (and Boundaries)

Jasmine’s Justice

#disney meta #disney princesses #pocahontas #john smith #racism tw

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nooowestayandgetcaught · 5 years

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I have my 2016 version and my 2017 version!

Tagging @ everybody who sees this post and wants to do this! <3

AO3 Stats!

(How to find your stats: go to your Dashboard, click on “Statistics,” then click on the year you’re answering for!)

Total 2018 Word Count: 458053 Total 2018 Hits: 264465 Total Kudos: 16881 Total Bookmarks: 2514 Total Comment (threads): 1964 User Subscriptions: 400

Links and Titles to 2018 Works:

JANUARY

In The Moment (T, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Eleven, 1451 words) cloudbuilt (Not Rated, Fay D. Fluorite/Kurogane, 1534 words) In Boldness (G, Meera Reed/Wylla Manderly, 339 words) Things You Said At 1AM (T, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, 519 words) To Prove It (M, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, 1890 words) Insomnia (T, Kali Prasad/Nancy Wheeler, 1389 words) Every Single Imperfection (M, Jon Snow/Robb Stark, 667 words) Reunion (Not Rated, Barbara Gordon/Kara Zor-El, 815 words) Together Now (G, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, 345 words) No More Waiting (T, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, 852 words) A Little Bit Like Home (Not Rated, Bill Denbrough/Richie Tozier, 1747 words) Wednesday’s Child (T, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, 832 words) Undo What’s Been Done (M, Peeta Mellark/Finnick Odair, 3360 words) Your Attention Only (Not Rated, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, 1164 words) That Boy On My Mind (M, Bill Denbrough/Richie Tozier, 1112 words) Dwelling In Possibility (T, Newt/Thomas, 1405 words) Dandelion Wine (T, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, 801 words)

FEBRUARY

Crash (G, Karolina Dean/Nico Minoru, 120 words) Dim (G, Imra Ardeen/Kara Danvers, 241 words) Futile (T, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, 479 words) Erratic (E, Leia Organa/Evaan Verlaine, 353 words) Loved (G, Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, 217 words) Soft (G, Eleven/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, 334 words) Hold (M, Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge, 329 words) Shackles (T, Juliet Capulet/Emilia, 350 words) Broken (T, Teresa Agnes/Brenda 738 words) Precious (Not Rated, Katniss Everdeen/Madge Undersee, 284 words) Odd And Ends (G, Koriand’r/Raven 265 words) Tea (G, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, 312 words) Twisted (Not Rated, Azula/Ty Lee, 105 words) Echo (G, Ariel/Moana Waialiki, 206 words) Soothe (T, Elphaba Thropp/Galinda Upland, 372 words) Fight (Not Rated, Kawakami Tomie/Female Character, 283 words) Naked (M, Clarke Griffin/Niylah, 192 words) Push (E, Chibiusa/Tomoe Hotaru, 400 words) Alive (T, Claire Novak/Kaia Nieves, 196 words) New (G, Korra/Asami Sato, 168 words) Born (M, Yara Greyjoy/Daenerys Targaryen, 327 words) Murmur (G, Andrea/Michonne, 169 words) Devious (Not Rated, Kimberly Hart/Trini, 226 words) Isolation (G, Elizabeth Midford/Sieglinde Sullivan, 148 words) Up All Night (T, Keith/Shiro, 498 words) Starve (G, Rey/Rose Tico, 211 words) Breakable (G, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, 355 words) Winter (E, Sun Bak/Riley Blue/Kala Dandekar/Nomi Marks, 236 words) In The Eye Of The Storm (M, Keith/Shiro, Keith & Lotor, 3045 words) Ignore (G, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, 363 words)

MARCH

Colour (T, Padmé Amidala/Eirtaé/Rabé/Sabé/Saché/Yané, 454 words) Grace (M, Mazikeen/Original Female Character, 114 words) Between Us (T, Keith/Lance, Keith/Original Alien Characters, 2083 words) Belong (G, Lilly Moscovitz/Mia Thermopolis, 260 words) Choke (Not Rated, Jennifer/Needy, 265 words) Reach (M, Wonder Woman/The Amazons, 393 words) Spin Spin Spin (T, Keith/Shiro, 1686 words) Difficult (Not Rated, Allison Reynolds/Claire Standish, 345 words) Heat (T, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter, Albus Severus Potter & Ginny Weasley, 847 words) Veneer (T, Silena Beauregard/Clarisse La Rue, 651 words) Make It Better (E, Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt, 1529 words) Fall (T, Jessica Jones/Patricia Walker, 274 words) The Fear (T, Lance/Shiro, 1683 words) Nightmare (Not Rated, Sakura/Clone Sakura, 159 words) Contagious (Not Rated, Ichihara Yuuko/Kunogi Himawari, 492 words) Good riddance (T, Liza/Fish Mooney, 204 words) Closer To What You Want (E, Keith/Shiro, 993 words) Goodbye (Not Rated, Earth-2 Laurel Lance/Felicity Smoak, 327 words) Scarred (G, Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance, 505 words) Last dance (G, Giselle/Nancy Tremaine, 716 words) Burn (Not Rated, Faith Lehane/Buffy Summers, 399 words) Steady (T, Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto, 372 words) Outstretched At Our Fingertips (T, Keith/Shiro, 950 words) Monster (G, Grace Choi/Anissa Pierce, 131 words) Voodoo (Not Rated, Wanda Maximoff/Natasha Romanov, 436 words) Shine (G, Elena/Mithian/Vivian, 334 words) Intent (G, Nakoma/Pocahontas, 382 words) Camping (Not Rated, Tracy Bingham/Maddy Killian, 286 words) Grave (M, Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain, 245 words) Machine (M, Madame Red/Grell, 438 words) Destination (Not Rated, Artemis Crock/M'gann M'orzz/Zatanna Zatara, 624 words) Nowhere (T, Gwen/Morgana, 661 words) Garden (Not Rated, Lilith/Ruby, 182 words) I know (G, Helga Pataki/Arnold Shortman, 867 words) Dust (T, Alice/Alyss | Intention of the Abyss, 206 words) Dream (M, Nakano Yamato/Sakagami Kouya, 241 words) Polaris (T, Keith/Shiro, 1911 words) Destiny (T, Alucard/Integra Hellsing, 344)

APRIL

Spring (T, Riza Hawkeye/Winry Rockbell, 383 words) Sigh (G, Ana de Austria | Anne d’Autriche/Constance Bonacieux, 220 words) Fingertips (G, Elsa/Anna, 282 words) Waiting (E, Susan Snell/Carrie White, 576 words) Playboy (Not Rated, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Beverly Marsh, 375 words) Revenge (T, C.C./Euphemia li Britannia, 123 words) Burn Until You Burn Out (T, Jerome/Jeremiah, 604 words) July (T, Mila Babicheva/Sara Crispino, 274 words) Desire (E, Alana Bloom/Margot Verger, 237 words) Free (T, Clarke Griffin/Lexa, 426 words) Celebration (G, Thirteenth Doctor/Martha Jones, 470 words) Stars (G, Aurora/Mulan, 470 words) Morgue (T, Daphne Blake/Velma Dinkley, 302 words) Space (M, Princess Bubblegum/Marceline, 550 words) Whitewash (Not Rated, Frenchy/Sandy Olsson, 100 words) Alone (G, Charlotte La Bouff/Tiana, 203 words) Coma (G, Aurora/Maleficent, 87 words) Letter (E, Jesse/Ruby, 510 words) Phone call (Not Rated, Amy Pond/Amy Pond, 148 words) Music (T, Anna/Little Ballerina Girl, 255 words) Silence (M, Jyn Erso/Yalla, 268 words) Cards (T, Luna/Raven Reyes, 297 words) Emblem (Not Rated, Castiel/Dean/Sam, 462 words) Elephant (G, Beatrice/Greta, Wolfram von Bielefeld/Shibuya Yuuri, 482 words) Monopoly (T, Chloe/Mandy Lane, 81 words) Reality (G, Catherine Bennet/Georgiana Darcy, 480 words) Serenity (M, Hanamura Chigusa/Matsuoka Gou, 278 words) Bone (T, Harleen Quinzel/Tatsu Yamashiro, 288 words) Chalk dust (Not Rated, Jen/Selina Kyle, 127 words) Manuscript (Not Rated, Shae/Makenzie, 201 words) Ink (T, Jenny/Tiggs, 193 words)

MAY

Getting Shafted (E, Pidge | Katie Holt/Galran Soldiers, 1441 words) Perfection (M, Cersei Lannister/Original Female Characters, 306 words) Ring (Not Rated, Kim Possible/Shego, 658 words) Drive (Not Rated, Peggy Carter/Angie Martinelli, 203 words) Missing (T, Kali Prasad/Nancy Wheeler, 134 words) Full moon (G, Arwen Undómiel/Tauriel, 290 words) Cacothes (E, Keith/Lotor, 2045 words) New direction (Not Rated, Queen Ravenna/Snow White, 121 words) Bloody (T, Mina Murray/Lucy Westenra, 300 words) Red String (T, Ahiru | Duck/Rue, 254 words) Unexpected (E, Laurel Castillo/Michaela Pratt, 459 words) Devout (T, Acxa/Ezor, 100 words) Mischief (M, Kaiou Michiru/Tenoh Haruka, 414 words) Crash Course (T, Lance/Shiro, 1756 words) Once Lost, Now Found (E, Lance/Shiro, Lance & Red Lion, 4465 words) Fractures (G, Allura/Pidge | Katie Holt, 364 words)

JUNE

Finger (E, Barry Allen/Wally West, 162 words) A Twist Of Fate (T, Jeremiah Valeska/Bruce Wayne, 1092 words) Bad (G, Kocoum/Thomas, 324 words) Intelligence (T, Agatsuma Soubi/Aoyagi Ritsuka, 172 words) Good Times, Good Vibes (E, Hunk/Keith, 560 words) Announce (Not Rated, Laurel/Sara, 237 words) Day (E, Kylo Ren/Rey, 187 words) Reaching Out (T, Maebara Keiichi/Ryuuguu Rena, 683 words) Murder (Not Rated, Gilbert Nightray/Oz Vessalius, 109 words) No Longer Dreaming (E, Allura/Keith, 584 words) Sad (E, Ariel/Eric, 613 words) Plan (E, Dick/Damian, 130 words) Ill (G, Bellamy/Octavia, 416 words) Secret (E, Keith/Shiro, Allura/Shiro, Hunk/Shiro, Pidge | Katie Holt/Shiro, Lance/Shiro, 212 words) Double Entendre (M, Wolfgang Bogdanow/Kala Dandekar/Rajan Rasal, 686 words) Behind (T, Bolin/Mako, 276 words) Want (M, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Artemis Crock/M'gann M'orzz, 1761 words) Stranded (T, Kururugi Suzaku/Lelouch vi Britannia, 355 words) Wealthy (T, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, 347 words) Marriage (G, Twelfth Doctor/The Master/Missy, 240 words) To Love And Be Loved (T, Keith/Shiro, 708 words) Affected (T, Zuko/Aang, 250 words) Long Hours (E, Bart Allen/Tim Drake, 202 words) Worthy (T, Newt/Thomas, 637 words) Sinful (Not Rated, Ciel/Original Ciel, 107 words) Obvious (Not Rated, Jon Snow/Sansa Stark, 100 words) Show Your Colors (T, Jeremiah Valeska/Bruce Wayne, 1197 words) Caught (M, Silver St. Cloud/Bruce Wayne, 116 words) Splatter (M, Alucard/Walter Dornez, 243 words) Flight (E, Leia/Luke, 1116 words) Loving Thy Enemy (M, Jeremiah Valeska/Bruce Wayne, 670 words) Slip (G, Hiei/Kurama, 207 words) Escape (T, Spiderman/Deadpool, 178 words) Smoke and Stars (G, Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, 538 words) Honor (T, Gale Hawthorne/Peeta Mellark, 139 words) Ashamed (E, Haninozuka Mitsukuni/Morinozuka Takashi, 302 words) Attentive (T, Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier, 104 words) Motivated (T, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, 267 words) Life Grows Lovely Where You Are (T, Keith/Shiro, 1664 words)

JULY

Grovel (Not Rated, Killian Jones/Peter Pan, 83 words) Swear (E, Dean/Sam, 223 words) Shoot (Not Rated, Fiona Coyne/Adam Torres, 124 words) Switch (T, Mordred/Morgana, 300 words) Promise (G, Hikaru/Kaoru, 205 words) Crawl (T, Credence Barebone/Original Percival Graves, 125 words) Hell (Not Rated, Alphonse/Edward, 60 words) Next To You (T, Allura/Lance, 1105 words) Grin (G, The Doctor's TARDIS/Rory Williams, 132 words) Hug (E, Gou/Rin, 308 words) Burned (M, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, 194 words) Kiss (Not Rated, Wendy Darling/Peter Pan, 302 words) Over and Above (T, Hunk/Lance, 793 words) Mute (G, Albus Dumbledore/Severus Snape, 159 words) Suffocate (M, Cersei/Jaime, 79 words) Punch (T, Veronica Lodge/Reggie Mantle, 182 words) Flatline (T, Peter/Tony, 347 words) Exhile (E, Phichit Chulanont/Celestino Cialdini, 382 words) Plead (M, Aki/Shima, 1241 words) Strong (T, Toph Beifong/Sokka, 543 words) Defenseless (G, Clark Kent/Kara Zor-El, 76 words) Anywhere With You (E, Shiro/Keith, 691 words) Discover (Not Rated, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, 100 words) Action (M, Sebastian/Ciel, 298 words) Peregrinate (T, Keith/Shiro, 559 words) Sport (G, Fred/George, 25 words) Memorable (Not Rated, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, 222 words) Die (Not Rated, Red X/Robin, 630 words) The Sorrows of Nybi and Brightcut (T, Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt, 1580 words) Missing You (M, Ion Fortuna/Kuran Kaname, 583 words) Lucky (G, Yuugi/Yami, 172 words) A Cosmos, Held Between Your Fingers (M, Lance/Romelle, 392 words) Rescue (Not Rated, Jason/Bruce, 108 words) Abort (Not Rated, Pietro/Wanda, 192 words) Possessed (T, Fakir/Mytho, 130 words) Graveyard (Not Rated, Lucille/Thomas, 100 words) So Close, No Matter How Far (T, Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt, Blaytz/Trigel (Voltron), 958 words) Trail (G, Rin/Sesshoumaru, 192 words) Walk (M, Sakuma Ryuuichi/Uesugi Tatsuha, 364 words) Cannot Be Tamed (T, Keith/Lance/Shiro, 1292 words)

#about rie #dont reblog this alright

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couldntbcloved · 5 years

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HEADCANON. Nakoma, whether intentionally or not, is very much someone who keeps information on a need-to-know basis. If you want to get information out of her, odds are you’ll have to use very specific wording. And even then, she has a very peculiar way of answering questions. There is no such thing as a yes or no answer with her; everything has it’s own convoluted and philosophical explanation, and she really doesn’t know how to give any other kind of response.

#;; Oᴜᴛ ᴏғ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ;; { ᴼᴼᶜ }

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shanastoryteller · 7 years

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sound the drums of war

okay so i’ve gotten a lot of requests to do a retold fairytale about pocahontas, which is a really reasonable thing to request since i’ve done so many retold tales about disney movies, but here’s the thing

pocahontas the movie is easily one the most messed up things that modern media has ever produced, and i’ll belt out color of the wind like nobody’s business, but that doesn’t change the fact that disney took a history about lying, abduction, rape, and torture and … turned it into a love story. which. what. who thought that was a good idea???

so. look. this is the only retold fairytale i have in me for pocahontas. i know it’s not what anyone who requested this actually wanted, so. sorry.

we’ll keep disney’s aged up premise and characters, because the truth is just too sad to touch at all. we’ll keep pocahontas as her name, because it wasn’t her real name (her real name was matoaka).

okay here we go

we have pocahontas, the young daughter of chief powhatan. she is spirited and flighty, having no fear of jumping off waterfalls or any other manner of dangerous things. what does she fear? growing up, responsibility, having to be a grown woman in her tribe and all that that entails, of being forced into a marriage she doesn’t want.

she grew up with kokoum, she knows him, he is a good man and a strong man, he will provide for her everything she could need or want – but she doesn’t think that’s a good enough reason to marry him. he’s a good leader, he’ll probably be elected to replace her father when the time comes, and she will move on from being the daughter of the chief to the wife of the chief.

something in her rankles at being the daughter of, the wife of, to being just ‘of’ anything.

she goes to grandmother willow often, lamenting her woes. and she’s no mystical woman, no shaman, but grandmother willow talks to her anyway. (she wonders if grandmother willow talks to kekata, the real shaman of the tribe, the man who speaks to things she doesn’t understand and knows many things she’d doesn’t. she never asks though, somehow afraid of what the answer will be.)

she is known for being clever, for being smart, but knowing too much and thinking too little, or perhaps the opposite, of knowing too little and thinking too much. her status allows her a freedom to pursue what she likes, and she’s one the most learned people in the village, going from master to master ever since she was a small child and soaking up whatever knowledge she can. she has a particular gift for languages.

sometimes she feels like nakoma is the only one who understands her, but even nakoma urges her to settle, to sit, to make herself small so that she fits in the place the world has carved out for her.

pocahontas is not a girl that knows how to settle.

so she meets john, and he’s so strange and different than her, and he has kind eyes and pretty smile. they don’t speak the same words, but she’s smart, and quick, and within a few months she’s speaking to him in his foreign tongue. she likes his light eyes and light hair and light skin, and thinks because he is kind to her then so must the rest of his people be kind.

she is wrong.

she should have known she was wrong in the beginning, when he called her stupid and did not know how food is grown or how to walk in the woods so that the animals are not startled. big and clunky and loud, like a baby, not like something she could love, or grow to love.

kokoum is – shot, is the word they use, with their strange weapons of metal. their weapons are like them, big and loud and imprecise. kokoum will live, kekata says, but it is a near thing. and pocahontas looks down at kokoum, the bear paw prints tattooed onto his chest to show his bravery, and thinks of the gun that shot him, that required no bravery at all.

pocahontas makes a choice.

it is not a choice that a child can make, it’s not even a choice that a woman of the tribe should make, not a daughter of the chief or the wife of the chief or even a chief at all.

but pocahontas makes it.

white men march to them, holding their powerful metal guns, and they are a small tribe. perhaps the pale men’s destructive power could be beaten with numbers, but they have neither numbers nor power. so when the time comes she throws herself over john, shielding him, and uses her clever tongue to plead his life from her father, from her people.

john does not die.

her people do not die.

the pale men with their guns leave.

this is unrest in the tribe, but she does not address it, does not listen to it.

that night, she goes to nakoma and says, “do you trust me?”

“i hate when you ask me that,” she answers, which is all that pocahontas needs.

they sneak down to the settlement that night, and sneak past their guards, the ones that are drunk on their supposed victory, their supposed peace. she steals every gun she can find as they sleep, silently tiptoeing into private room to take them. nakoma is smart, and she takes the bullets too, a stubborn set to her mouth as they fill baskets with their stolen good and balance them on their heads like baskets of corn on their trek back to the village.

as the sun rises, pocahontas and nakoma go to her father and place the baskets in front of him. “now,” pocahontas says fiercely, “now maybe we shall win.”

“i thought you did not court war, daughter?” the chief asks, looking down at these strange weapons.

“i don’t,” she says, “but neither will i ignore it’s call and have our heads be forfeit.”

and fearless, flighty pocahontas gathers the men, and she tells them grimly that it’s time, that the white men will come for them as soon as they realize their weapons are gone. her father is a peacetime chief, but he leads them into battle.

these pale men are not warriors. they don’t know how to fight without their guns, not really, and they are slaughtered.

pocahontas watches from high above as the battle happens, nakoma’s hand in hers. she flinches when john’s head is removed from his body, but she does not scream.

john was kind.

but one kind man is not worth her nation.

they bury the bodies and burn whatever they don’t find value in.

kokoum wakes to find pocahontas by his side. she is the one that tells him what happens while he slept, while he recovered. she tells him everything, all that she did, and he looks at her with solemn eyes and says, “there will be more. they will keep coming.”

“i know,” she says, and her voice cracks. “i did not think we could defeat them, i thought peace would be the best option. but they take and take and take, and kill what they cannot take. their people must have kindness in them, but it is not kindness they sent.” she takes a deep breath and presses her hand to the center of kokoum’s chest, and says, “teach me how to fight. i don’t want to have to spend the next battle standing by and watching.”

and there is an uproar at it, but the chief agrees to it. as soon as kokoum is healed, pocahontas becomes his student. finally the chief’s daughter has found her drive, her purpose, and it’s not the one he wanted her to have, not the one he wanted her to need to have, but it’s there, and it is hers.

they know their land is big, that the pale people could come from any direction, could find a tribe who would show them kindness and hospitality and suffer for it. so pocahontas, with her gift of languages, who already knows so many tongues of the tribes and nations besides her own, goes traveling. nakoma goes with her, and kokoum tries, but she tells him that he must stay here, that their tribe needs him. he can’t argue against that, because it’s the truth.

she spreads her knowledge as far as she can, spreads her message. these white men are dangerous. they must be stopped. be kind, but be wary. do not tolerate lies. do not allow betrayal. any pale man with a gun is an enemy.

she finds others who have encountered these people, some good, some bad. she gains a greater understanding of their language, learns how to speak and read the pale man’s language as well as her own.

pocahontas has always been charismatic and bewitching, someone who’s very presence is mesmerizing. she uses that charisma now to bring chiefs together, wise men and woman together, speaks to councils and urges them all to set aside their differences, just for now. the enemies they have within their borders can be fought once they have the defeated those outside them.

people come looking for jamestown. pocahontas is there this time, and she does not sit and watch. nakoma dresses her for battle and squeezes her hands and then pocahontas goes to stand next to kokoum, and as one they go roaring into battle.

after, kekata tattoos marks of bravery into her skin. her people elect a wartime chief, when it becomes clear that war is what they’re in now. pocahontas expects it to be kokoum, and she’s proud, proud of him and proud to continue helping him.

that’s not what happens.

instead the people elect her.

it’s far from traditional to have a female wartime chief, but when she says this they tell her this is far from a traditional war.

so pocahontas meets with the other wartime chiefs, and it’s a war that stops and starts but never truly ends. the pale men keep coming, looking for gold they don’t have, and they keep fighting back, luring them into their land where they know all and the clumsy pale men know nothing, and kill them there.

pocahontas comes back, dripping in blood that’s not her own, and nakoma is there, as she always is. she peels off pocahontas’s blood-soaked leathers and washes her skin and her hair, stitches up her wounds and gives her marshmallow bark to ease the pain. “one day i’ll have to do this one my own,” pocahontas says weakly, “when you get yourself a husband.”

nakoma looks up from where she’s soaking pocahontas’s clothes to prevent staining, and there’s a wry twist to the edge of her mouth. “i’ll get married when you do, pocahontas.”

that ends up being very true.

after the next battle nakoma loses her patience and is kissing pocahontas as soon as she’s close enough, and kokoum and the others are cheering and yelling. pocahontas has a gash across her upper thigh, and she blames that when her knees give out and nakoma has to hold her against her and dips her.

they get married the following year, and very little changes besides that.

at some point, the pale men figure out they can’t win this war by force, not when their body count keeps rising and not a single inch of land is taken. they send scholars and people with smarmy grins to negotiate, to ask for peace. except pocahontas was prepared for this, and she made sure everyone else was too.

all the chiefs speak the pale man’s languages, or have trusted advisor’s that too, and all the loopholes and tricks in their contracts are neatly found and picked apart.

finally, finally, the pale men accept that the people of this land cannot be fought, or tricked, but they can be negotiated with. so the war ends, and commerce and trade being. the tribes set up a council with representatives from each tribe to deal with the other people from other countries that come to them, since trying to explain that they are a people of many nations only seem to confuse the pale men.

it’s been decades, but the war is over, and they’ve won. pocahontas steps down as the wartime chief, and kokoum is elected as the peacetime chief. pocahontas serves on the council dealing with foreigners, and her curiosity is endlessly satisfied as she finally gets a chance to speak with and deal with the people from these foreign nations who are not soldiers or warriors or greedy beyond measure. she quite likes their craftsmen, their merchants, their scientists.

so begins a time of mostly peaceful trade and exploration between the foreign countries of the world. although this was thanks to many, many people, pocahontas is largely considered one of the most instrumental in ensuring the continued freedom and prosperity of her people, and all the other people living from her coast to the other.

she lives happily ever after with her beloved wife nakoma, and often visits her dear friend kokoum when given the opportunity.

hers is a name forever remembered in history.

#retold fairytales #pocahontas #nakoma #kokoum #pocahontas/nakoma #i know very little about native american governmental systems #but on the plus side #i couldn't have gotten it more wrong than disney #psa like #historically speaking #the whole matoaka saving john thing #probs defs didn't happen #it's a Lie told to us by people that want us to think how this nation was founded was O K #also i'm not convinced the english/spanish/whoever would have won at all #if it weren't for smallpox blankets #when your side wins by accidental biological warfare #that's ... not impressive #fuck colonialism is what i'm saying here guys #go watch black panther!!

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