#and has been known to possess corpses in the past

[flashhwing]

I’m having angsty handers thoughts pls help

[sp0o0kylights]

Eddie was all about desecrating corpses. 

Particularly, the huge ones--and nothing was larger than the burnt out husk of Starcourt. 

Yellow caution tape, muddied and ripped from its time in the weather still decorated parts of the doors. 

The place used to be crawling with security, but that had eased off now, the job returning to a local outfit rather than the smooth and swift guards who previously haunted the joint in pairs. 

It was easy as two days spent camped out in his van, watching the main entrance and a few side doors. In no time at all, Eddie had schedules memorized, points of entry selected and even three possible escape routes should things get dicey.

He didn't expect them to. 

Not when he’d already rolled his checks and came up with a number that, were this an actual D&D game, would make him a happy man. 

It was always a point of contention between him and his Pa. This perception. The natural ability he had that good ‘ol dad just didn’t seem to possess. 

The one that made him patient long enough to get a feel for a gig. 

To know instinctively how hard a job might be, and how to go about doing it safely. 

(Eddie personally doesn't believe much of it is talent. Thinks it is in fact, forcibly learned, due to the nature of his upbringing. 

Grandma and Grandpa Munson, bless their dead, departed souls, had at least given something of a shit. Tried to keep family things family and work things work, even when said work was illegal as it gets. 

They understood things like appearance and public reputation. 

How that kept the pigs off your back and food on your table.)

His Pa had never cared for any of that. 

Eddie didn’t grow up with family meals, or even food in the house let alone on the table. He grew up watchful, forced to learn or take a hit meant for an adult in the process. To weigh the risks against the benefits, and how to charm the pants off an unsuspecting target while doing so. 

It was how he’d escaped his own prison sentence when his Pa finally got eyes too big for his abilities.

Eddi had gotten lucky in that situation. 

Or rather--he’d gotten Wayne. 

Wayne, who gave up his own room, his own bed, for his nephew. Had bought him his sweetheart on his sixteenth birthday and a van on his eighteenth. Both things were used, and a little battered around the edges, and Eddie had almost thrown up the day he accidentally found out Wayne had used his life savings for the damn car, but they were above and beyond anything he had any right too. 

Eddie would be damned without him. 

But he knows his uncle needs help. 

Can't pay for himself and Eddie. Never really could, and so has been giving his nephew literally everything he has in an effort to make up for it until Eddie could help pay his way. 

Not that a singular soul would trust a teenage Munson with such a precious thing as a part time job, and so Eddie had turned to the familiar. 

The mall fire, and the resulting flood of federal agents had really put a damper on his income the past few months. Drugs were risky, and getting riskier with them sniffing about, and things were getting tight again in a way they hadn’t in a long, long time. 

(All it had taken was finding the hidden stack of bills. 

Big ol’ words stamped in red topped every one. Bold letters screaming ‘Overdue’ and ‘Payment Missed’ and ‘Late Fees.’ 

One single letter had panicked Eddie more than any other, the one that clearly said Wayne had been talking to the payday loan place down the street, and he’d be damned if his shortcomings made his Uncle willingly walk into a debt pit so few climbed out of.) 

Growing up like he had, Eddie was trusted in certain circles. Had access to places many didn't as his sole inheritance, because he was known.

 Someone who didn't rat, who could be trusted with given tasks. Who kept to the criminal code, and was good about not backstabbing you if caught.

He’d hit up a few old connections, dropped some hints. Put out “feelers” as one might say. 

Got a nibble and soon enough, Eddie was back in business, getting called up and offered a few small tasks for decent dough. 

Sometimes it was fetching information. 

Sometimes it was ferrying an item.

Today, it was a retrieval.

There was something someone wanted in the ruins of Starcourt--and they were offering an insane amount of money to get it.  

The plans hadn't made sense, not at first. The instructions Eddie had been given sounded outlandish, if not outright total bunk. 

Like the existence of a multi level basement under Starcourt? How the hell had no one caught that being built? 

Or that the security systems down there could possibly still be turned on? After four months? 

Who was even paying for it? 

Eddie had heard stupider things though, and the pay for this little jaunt was good. Too good to pass up. 

"They want a local in case something happens and the rescue squad comes running in. That way, it's just a little trespassing fun. The town deviant getting his kicks in the big scary mall, and not what they think it is." His connection had told him, meeting with Eddie in a Mcdonalds the town over. 

The place had a play palace, big enough to host a number of screaming rugrats. It made for a great cover as they pretended to be just two men in overalls, getting burgers on their lunch. 

Not a soul could hear a sound over the kids screaming, and if a blueprint sat between them then, well, if it looks like a maintenance worker, and it talks like a maintenance worker…

People never did look twice.

"And what else exactly would they think this is?" Eddie asked, munching on the food he got for free as part of even entertaining the offer. 

"A retrieval, Double D." 

Eddie hated that nickname.

"Some rich kid bit it in the fire, and his parents are paying out top dollar to get a few of his things, seein’ as the feds wouldn’t let anybody back in after they condemned the place." The guy, whose name was Mickey said. 

He idly traced a finger along the lines of the blueprint, the path he was wanting Eddie to take. 

(The path Eddie would later ignore, on grounds that it was going to get him caught.) 

 “Specifically a signet ring and car keys.”

“Car keys?” Eddie had asked, mostly in a bid for more information. Mickey was the kind of guy you could breadcrumb into giving more information than he intended to, if one played their cards right.

And Eddie was a damn good poker player. 

“Yup. Goes to a BMW--which they want you to drive to a safe place. Parents think he lost it somewhere around,” Mickey’s finger stopped, before tapping the blueprint twice. “Here.”

Something had niggled in the back of Eddie’s head. The first whispers of recognition, of a fact that he knew something about this--something he couldn’t yet recall. 

He wasn’t stupid enough to ignore it. 

“Who's the kid?” He’d asked. 

Mostly because he was curious, partially because it was a way to ease in the real questions he wanted to ask.

Like what a rich kid was doing four levels down in Starcourt the night of the fire. 

“Does it matter?” Mickey said, but dug into his pockets anyway. Retrieved a little 2 by 3 wallet photo, done in the traditional High School Picture Day style. 

He’d tossed it on the table, and Eddie didn’t react. 

Kept his face perfectly blank, even as his stomach contracted and his breath caught in his chest. 

Carefully pulled the picture to him, to make a show of examining it. 

“Don’t know him.” He lied after a moment, fighting to get his breathing back under control before Mickey figured out what was up. 

“Told you it didn’t matter. What matters is that you get the shit. And hey, while you’re down there…” 

Mickey talked a bit more, and idly, Eddie listened. He knew this little B&E was going to have more components than just retrieving a few things. Had long figured out that this entire front of retrieving “some rich kids keys” was just that--a front. 

Word on the street was that Starcourt was hiding something--something a lot of very powerful people were getting increasingly interested in. He’d rolled his eyes when he caught wind of the first little rumblings, the rumors and whispers that the thing was shrouded in Government secrets and conspiracies, but hadn’t been able to ignore the shit that had come after. 

Likely, the people who had hired him and Mickey understood they had to act now, before someone else did, to see if anything worthwhile was actually down there. 

The real question is why the hell they were using Steve Harrington’s death to do it--when Eddie knew for a fact that Steve Harrington was alive. 

Or alive as anyone could be, at two am at a Shell gas station. 

“Alright.” Eddie said finally, pulling the blueprint towards himself before rolling it up, making sure to casually roll up Harrington’s picture with it. “You got me interested. Half up front and I’m in.”

Mickey grinned at him. “Knew you would be, kid.” 

One hand shake and a hefty envelope later, and Eddie found himself on the way to Starcourt on his very first stakeout. 

It was that first initial look that confirmed it--Harrington’s prized BMW was in fact, still sitting in the parking lot.

Abandoned by rich assholes who absolutely could have paid to have it towed.

Which led to a domino effect of stakeouts, late nights and confrontations, up to and including his present position, counting down the minutes before he could break into Starcourt.

“Ready?” He murmured, and one could be forgiven for thinking he was talking to himself given how quietly he said it.

They would be wrong. 

“Yeah.” The not-so-dead rich kid drawled from the passenger seat.

Eddie tossed a grin at Harrington, who rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Come on, Stevie.” He purred. “Let’s go find out who impersonated your parents, and why they want that ring you supposedly own so badly.” 

“Honestly dude I just want my car back.” 

“That too.” 

[lovelyladyabsinthewrites]

Pairing: Dabi/Touya Todoroki x Todoroki!Reader

Warnings: siblingxsibling incest, just wanted a reason to write dabixsister smut, filth, non con, agedup!reader, prohero!reader, dub con, turn back now while you still can, slightly naive reader, nicknames used, degradation, cannibalism mentioned in passing, cunnilingus, 18+ only, children protect thine eyes and avert your gaze to something sweeter

Words: 1619

Summary: Uh oh, looks like Dabi has finally caught you.

“Pretty girl” Dabi cooes before his tongue makes a long, flat strip along the slit of your pussy making you meal and arch your hips up to meet his mouth “My pretty girl.”

God how corrupt he was. So much so that he didn’t care that he dragged his baby sister along to damnation.

Fuck did it feel good though as his fingers dig into the swell of your ass, controlling your movements. The strong, long muscle of his tongue fucking your cunt into oblivion. You didn’t care about forsaking your family when Dabi was between your legs having himself a grand ol’ time making you cry out his name.

He was cruel in his affections. Though Dabi made sure it was a cruelty that had your thighs quacking and ass clenching in his palms.

You feel like your clit is about ready to combust from his abuse of it. Dealing it nips with his teeth when you tried to move away from him. A small punishment compared to the lovebites that trail along the inside of your thighs. There’d be no way to hide them with the tights of your usual costume. Dabi dealt with them quickly.

Face burning from the intensity of his lips. The slight slippery texture of the staples along his mouth felt every now and then.

You try and crawl away from him for the upteenth time, but Dabi's fingers dug harder into the muscles of your thighs. He made sure you weren't going anywhere until he was done.

You tried fighting against him. The entirety of your fight you mentally chastise yourself for falling for Dabi's trap. For a while you'd been able to evade him in this cat and mouse game. Shoto would be able to talk you out of confronting Dabi in whatever dark corner he was lurking in.

Wanting to apprehend him before he hurts the rest of your family drove you to seek him out. As long as he lived you and Shoto would never be able to break free from the harm Enji Todoroki as long as Dabi lived. He would hold this against not just the man he had main beef with, but harmless Natsuo and Fuyumi too. Dabi would keep reminding the public what Endeavor did to his wife and kids and how the world would now pay for it.

Tried resisting the urge to fall for his taunts, his mocking little names that he attached to you. Your older brother needed to be stopped. And if anyone could go toe to toe with Dabi, it was possibly you. Endeavor was still wary about fighting his own son whom he'd thought dead. And while Shoto possessed his half and half quirk, the heat of his flames couldn't compare to Dabi's bright blue.

However, the heat of your blinding white flames could give Dabi a run for his money.

Heat and combustion converge to birth a transcendent luminosity. Well, that was how Shoto often described it. You never knew he was a poet.

That night just wasn't your night.

You were already running low on fumes by the time you encountered Dabi.

It was like he was waiting for this perfect opportunity where you weren't in peak condition to detect his footsteps approaching. Not even the reek of cigarettes that clung to him tipped you off.

Now you found it near impossible. Body betraying every rational thought that was trying to breach past the surface as he devoured you from the inside out. Plus he threatened using a quirk-destroying drug on you. The very same that robbed the now pro-hero known as Lemillion when he was younger.

The prospect of losing your quirk was worse than being assaulted. You didn't know what he would do once you were caught. Never thinking it could become reality. Initially you think maybe he'll kill you and throw your corpse at Endeavor and Shoto's feet. Rub in another victory for the villains.

Hungry. So fucking hungry Dabi was when the moment came where he finally caught you. You were fast, like a shooting star, when you used your fire quirk to propel yourself through the sky. Like Endeavor did. But Dabi wanted it more. Since first reconnecting with his beloved sister, it was all Dabi could think of. His dreams were plagued by your sweet mewls.

Fingers rip away the material of the bottom of your uniform with vengeful talons.

The same fingers that now delve past your sopping wet folds that have a vice squeeze around the digits as you squeal, attempting once more to put distance between you and Dabi yet also bucking your hips against his fingers.

What scared you most about this whole thing was how mind numbingly amazing he was making you feel.

Oh it was fucked up for sure that he made you sob and cry from the pleasure that choked you. His obscene slurping of your pussy actually accomplished in making you more wet.

The first man to touch you like this. . . and it was Touya of all people. Your older brother. Someone who was supposed to protect you.

You feel sick like you're on the verge of throwing up. But each time you think you were going to hurl, a surge of pleasure courtesy of Dabi's tongue and fingers pulled you from the brink. Felt like he was giving you whiplash as you went from crawling out of your skin in disgust and earth shattering ecstasy.

Did you want him to stop? Yes. . . No. . . You didn't know anything anymore. Your life was already terrible in the past and you barely just finished healing from what Endeavor put the family through. This was something not even your therapist should know about.

When you try to cover your face from the heat of your own shame, Dabi hisses and viciously bites your labia. Up until then you'd been moderately quiet but that bite caused you to cry out loud.

"Nuh-uh. Let me see your fucking face, Miss Hero. Wanna see the dumb expression on it when I make you come." He takes another vicious nip to your labia, making sure you would obey unless you wanted your pussy to become his chew toy. Tremors run through your arm as it slides away from your face to reveal the beads of tears that accumulate in your eyes and the bright red hue of your cheeks. Your bottom lip is chewed raw from your efforts to remain quiet.

How pathetic. You were supposed to be a prohero yet there you were splayed out in front of your villainous brother.

When your thighs seize and your body quakes, your head grows hazy and so light that you think you'll faint. Your orgasm ricochets in your bones, slick walls of your cunt convulsing around Dabi's fingers. That shit eating grin flaming wider across that it puts stress on the staples that hold his face together.

"Haa. . ." A breath is exhaled from him as he cruelly slides his finger out of you, fighting against your vice grip on them. "What would our father have to say about your behavior?" The crotch of his pants grow uncomfortable, the head of his cock smooshed against his zipper. Oh, the thought of Endeavor finding the both of you in this compromising position got him even harder. The shock that would seize the face of Japan's number one hero.

And if the rest of the world found out, well better for Dabi. Everyone would know that you belong to him. That he alone tainted the baby of the Todoroki family. The Spare Twin that no one cared much for. Your big brother doubts there's anyone in the world who adores and loves you more than he does.

His thumb smears the mess of your pussy across your puffed and tender. Enjoying the way you whine and squirm as he continues to overstimulate your already tender cunt. He knew you would be delicious, but never anticipated you being this fucking good. Dabi didn't want to pull away but there was more fun to be had before anyone goes looking for you.

For a moment he thinks back to the phone in his back pocket. A titillating idea comes to his mind of taking a picture of you in this state and anonymously sending it to Endeavor's agency.

Dabi wanted to enjoy this moment though. Possibly for the first time in years, Dabi manages to push Endeavor far out of his mind. Instead he lets himself be consumed by the sight of your chest heaving and the bright red that rose to your cheeks. You half-heartedly glare at him. He had half the mind to steal you. Take you away. Tomura highly advised against it. While you weren't the show stopper like Shoto, you were still very important to the public eye. They didn't need the heroe's efforts growing tenfold because a fellow prohero was kidnapped by them.

Instead, Dabi would just have to take what he could get and attempt to display discipline though he felt like a ravenous animal as he grazes his teeth against your skin. Your body radiates heat against his tongue, salt from your sweat delighting his taste buds. How on earth was it possible for someone to taste so good? It made him contemplate cannibalism. Would your meat taste just as good?

His hand lands on his belt, contemplating the pretty mess he's made of you. He'd have to wait until next time to truly claim you.

Leaning down to your pussy lips one more, Dabi gives it a passionate kiss that has you squealing once more. "Until next time, Miss Hero."

[mariacallous]

A 32-year-old man in Pennsylvania posted a video on YouTube this week where he picked up a clear plastic bag containing the severed head of his father and held it in front of the camera.

“This is the head of Mike Mohn, a federal employee of over 20 years, and my father,” Justin Mohn said in the now-deleted video reviewed by WIRED. “He is now in hell for eternity as a traitor to his country.”

Over the course of the next 14 minutes, he ranted about a myriad of far-right talking points and conspiracies including Black Lives Matter, taxes, the LGBTQ community, and the Biden administration. He also urged viewers to kill all federal employees and seize federal offices, while railing against “far-left woke mobs.” He claimed to be the head of an American militia network known as Mohn’s Militia. “I am now officially the acting president of America under martial law,” he said.

But there was one issue that he focused on more than any other: migrants along the southern US border.

“The federal government of America has declared war on the American citizens and the American states,” the man says. “America will be less protected when the fifth column of illegal immigrants strikes Americans on our own soil.”

He also made demands that the US close its borders to immigrants and for “the mass deportation of the millions of illegal immigrants who have entered the country under the Biden regime, which has put Americans in direct harm.”

Over the past few weeks, right-wing rhetoric around a so-called migrant invasion reached new heights as the standoff between Texas governor Greg Abbott and President Joe Biden’s administration over the removal of razor wire on the Texas-Mexico border has continued. A convoy of far-right extremists is driving to the border and Republican politicians around the country have come out in support of Abbott.

Multiple researchers tell WIRED that the events and rhetoric surrounding the Texas-Mexico border could be linked to the violent video Mohn posted this week. This border controversy and the incendiary rhetoric surrounding it appeared to be something that deeply angered Mohn, highlighted by his YouTube video and the rest of his extensive online footprint of books, pamphlets, music and social media posts, many of which are steeped in far-right conspiracies. In a 2020 essay entitled “America’s Coming Bloody Revolution,” Mohn claims a violent revolution against the government is not only necessary but will succeed.

“For individuals in this conspiratorial mindset who have been subjected to countless hours of extremist narratives and grievances, every new flashpoint—from the Texas border crisis to the Israel/Hamas war to Taylor Swift—is evidence that their worldview is the reality,” Jon Lewis, a research fellow with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, tells WIRED. “This act of violence represents the threat posed by mainstreaming hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric.”

“I listened to his diatribe about 20 times to write it all out and there is zero doubt in my mind that he was influenced by the recent events involving Texas,” Caroline Orr, a behavioral scientist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland who tracks extremism online, wrote on X. “This was expected and there will be others.”

Investigators have not mentioned a motive for the alleged decapitation, but Mohn was formally charged early Wednesday morning with first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and possession of an instrument of crime with intent. Police said in a statement posted to Facebook that they were alerted to the incident when Mohn’s mother called 911 and said she had come home to find her husband’s decapitated body on the floor of their bathroom. Mohn was arrested 100 miles away on Tuesday evening when he was discovered armed and wandering around a Pennsylvania National Guard training center at Fort Indiantown Gap, AP reported.

Multiple experts believe that extremism and conspiracy theories could still be at the root of what happened. “Some have been quick to write Mohn off as mentally unwell and while this may be accurate, this incident illustrates the threat of anti-government extremism and conspiracy theories, which have become all too common since the 2020 election,” Katherine Kenealy, the head of threat analysis at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, tells WIRED. “He was so steeped in anti-government beliefs that he not only viewed his father as a ‘traitor’ because of his purported job, but selected him as a target because of it.”

Following the alleged murder, far-right figures immediately began boosting conspiracies about the beheading being a false flag in favor of the Democrats—something that has virtually become a reflex action among far-right figures following major news.

One of the main narratives shared was a claim that the Democrats were behind the incident as a way of boosting support for the Preventing Private Paramilitary Activity bill currently making its way through Congress. One of those pushing this narrative was Laura Loomer, a close ally of former president Donald Trump.

“Justin Mohn sure looks like the perfect Democrat Patsy for the sake of demonizing people who call out the invasion on the border, and for the sake of getting support to ban militia,” Loomer wrote on X, adding: “Just another ‘coincidence.’”

“False flag and ‘psyop’ conspiracy theories have rapidly spread online since the incident,” Kenealy tells WIRED. “These narratives detract from the severity of the incident and attempt to minimize the threat posed by anti-government ideologies.”

But despite a long history of Mohn expressing his disturbing views on platforms like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, as well as publishing music on YouTube, Spotify, and Deezer, experts say that it would have been virtually impossible to identify him as a threat before his alleged beheading of this father this week.

“It’s more or less impossible to track this stuff in advance most of the time,” Orr tells WIRED. “We can make an educated guess about what will happen when politicians are putting out inflammatory rhetoric that has incited violence previously, but it’s extremely hard to identify who is going to be the one who responds to the ‘call.’”

As the convoy heads toward the border and rallies are organized in Eagle Pass, Texas, Republican lawmakers, including former president Donald Trump, continue to push violent rhetoric. These kinds of actions, experts say, could lead to potential violence.

“It's hard to determine when acts of violence like this will occur, but given the panic being spread about the border, it's highly likely that more will act on these narratives,” Samantha Kutner, an extremism researcher and CEO of counter-terrorism company GlitterPill, tells WIRED. “Not everyone who gets exposed to conspiratorial worldviews and beliefs and theories about the border wall engages in violence, but the proliferation of disinformation and conspiracy theories does impact certain subsets of the population who are perhaps more vulnerable to that messaging than others.”

[dailyadventureprompts]

Do you have any ideas/tips/tricks on running a campaign with (former?) bandit-likes as the protagonists? Inspired by your deep dive on the archetype, kinda had ideas of 'main prophecied adventurers are slain by the party, have to take over for the prophecy so as the world wont explode', but if you have alternate ideas or ways to spruce it up, super open.

Adventure: Where the Low Road Leads

Through unworthy means the sword has come to you, and with it you grip a destiny that some part of you knows is too glorious for your dirty hands. You can't help but think perhaps this is your chance to be remembered for anything other than an ignoble end.

The Sword can come into possession of the party in any number of ways:

As the original asker suggested, it would be a great opening for an evil or dark-grey aligned party to pull it from the bodies of a group of adventures or bountyhunters who were hired to stamp them out. If I were running this as the start of a campaign I'd have the story pick up shortly after the fight and subsequent looting has taken place, to ensure your anti-heroes are set on the right course.

Alternatively the sword could very easily be found in a treasure horde, picked off a corpse lost in a the wilderness, or bestowed upon them by some wellmeaning patron.

All that matters is that the sword finds them, and then shortly after that the dreams start: Pitched battle in darkened corridors, a few valiant warriors standing against an onslaught of robed figures and formless horrors, warriors bearing the same amber and knot design that decorates the hilt of the sword's crossguard. The last echoes of a desperate struggle.

After one or two of these visions a strange messenger arrives: Jott, a boisterous homunculus delivering a greeting and a communication stone from his master Telbhar the Wizard. Mostly bound to his far off tower these days, Telbhar is relieved beyond measure that he managed to tack down whoever was in possession of the sword, as it is the keystone in a great undertaking he has been involved in since his youth.

As Telbhar explains, back when he was but an apprentice he and his teacher served a now extinct group known as the Order Fulgoric, who battled many evils in their day but perished preventing an incursion from an unknown otherworldly entity. The blade, Sequester, was crafted to shut out that entity forever, but it was lost in the final rout against the entity's cultists and though the ritual of its summoning was disrupted, the entity ended up half in, half out of our reality, bleeding out its corruption into the world.

Challenges & Complications:

As you may have guessed, Telbhar is not being completely forward with the truth. He was in fact one of the cultists trying to summon the otherworldly entity on the day the Fulgoric order made their final march, and though he fled while his fellow acolytes were being slaughtered he retained enough of their knowledge to reconstruct the ritual many years later. It didn't matter, the Order had succeeded in trapping the entity between worlds and the only way to un-trap it was lost with the sword. Telbhar spent decades searching for it... only for it to resurface in the party's possession. Now he either needs to convince them to bring it to him, or find a means of picking it off their corpses.

The entity the cultists were attempting to summon was a powerful quori dreamspirit known as Uaxt, which was spoken of by ancient sources as a thing capable of granting wishes. Called "Yearning beyond reach" by those that studied it in the past, the entity's true power was in mass delusion, creating waking dreams that would seep across entire kingdoms like a plague. While its body remains entwined through the depths of the dungeon, flash fossilized by the energies of botched planear travel, its mind is imprisoned in the blade, slowly taking root in the party's minds as it uses their dreams to reconstitute itself.

Consider introducing Telbhar when the party is in a deep bind, most in need of wizardly council. It should not be directly related to the sword, alternatively, if your party ends up wanting to seek out a lorekeeper of some kind you may consider introducing Telbhar first and have him ask them to seek the sword in return for helping them with their current woes.

[evolutionsvoid]

The ancient dragons were once revered, but are now reviled in the wake of the betrayal. Yet, even as they are labeled an enemy of the Church and despised as heretical beasts, there is one thing that remains unchanged: their power. Though hated, folks still admit that the dragons bear incredible strength and abilities, their ancient bodies and blood possessing qualities unseen anywhere else. Even as people spit at their name, there are many who secretly wonder if it would be possible to harness this primordial strength. So when the great beasts were slain, and their massive corpses fell to the earth, this enemy was violated once more as factions hurried to plunder the carcasses and take these gifts for themselves. Out of the scavengers who fed on this death, none are nearly as famous, or successful, as the Antiquaries.

The Antiquaries are an arm of the Academy of Veritas Mundus, those tasked with uncovering the past and harnessing the primordial. They seek the secrets of the ages before Ichor, and the beings who flourished in these eras. The dragons are no doubt a great obsession to them, as they are the living embodiment of these ancients times. So when they were slain and left to rot, the Antiquaries descended upon the carcasses like ravenous shrews. They stripped many dragon bodies down to the bone, and then made off with those as well. Any great dragon who perished on or near Academy territories were quickly devoured by these eager researchers, their scales, bones and Eitr whisked away to their countless laboratories.

Though it would appear that no one has truly mastered the power and Eitr of the ancient dragons, it is clear that the Antiquaries are the closest to achieving such a feat. Though their research is closely guarded, much like a lot of Academy work, the end results can be clearly seen. One need only see or hear about the Dracomatons to know that the Academy has uncovered something incredible behind their barred doors.

The Dracomatons are creations of man, artificial life that has been forged and built. The Antiquaries have taken the pieces of dead dragons and found a way to cobble them into a lesser, but far from powerless, form. Dracomatons are constructed from a special material that the Academy invented, known as "verdigris." The process to create such a substance is known only to the Academy and fiercely guarded. If one is to spot someone who doesn't belong to the Academy in possession of such an thing, then you know they stole it or stripped it off a corpse. The little anyone has figured out about verdigris is that it is made through some sort of fusion of dragon scale and ivory, but only true ancient dragon scales. It appears to use the very blight that coats them, scraping the curse from these immortal scales and binding it with high quality bone. The resulting material is not as strong as true dragon scales, but it is still very durable and certainly far more plentiful. It is how they are able to create so many strange and powerful constructs which bear the visage of these ancient beasts.

One such dracomaton is the Huo Long, a soaring slithering serpent construct whose presence is an omen of fire and chaos. A long body built of verdigris scales and powered by yellowflame, it uses this fire to weave through the sky and spew burning bolts upon foes. Though the permanent snarl of its maw can vomit forth a hail of flame, these spits of fire are not nearly as lethal as some would believe. They may scorch holes in armor and burn flesh, but those with decent protection and quick thinking can survive this rain. The true power of this breath weapon is the panic and chaos it can cause. The sight of these twisting automatons in the sky already put folk on edge, and when they start spraying flame onto battalions does fear take hold. Mounts and other war beasts fly into a panic at these flames, the sting of their bite causes soldiers to lose focus and flail about, and dry battlegrounds can easily erupt in an inferno. The Huo Long are tools of fear and disarray, turning crude armies of hastily trained soldiers into stumbling screaming fools.

The Huo Long dracomatons are constructs built mainly for battle, be it a siege weapon or a burning omen to clear the way for the Academy's horde. When the Church faltered with civil war, the Academy saw their chance and thus their many inventions were turned to tools of violence. In rare cases have some folk witnessed a few of these constructs serving as guards on Academy grounds. It would seem their fiery maws may be too destructive for their creators' liking, worrying that these guard beasts may wind up burning down what they are meant to protect.

Due to their materials being born from dragon scale, it would seem they have inherited more than their visage. It has been observed that Huo Long left inactive for a period of time grow stiff and slow, requiring minutes of movement and warming up to regain their flexibility and grace. Perhaps the curse that doomed the dragons lives on in a way within these dracomatons, threatening those who wield it with the same fate. In that way, it would seem that they are closer to true dragons than one would imagine. However, one with a sharp eye need only look upon the yellowflame in their eyes and teeth to see that no trace of Eitr is within. The lacking of Primal Flame's tinge betrays their artificial nature and that these are machines merely wearing the skin of the ancient beasts.

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

"Huo Long Dracomaton"

Not only do we got animals mutated into dragons, now people be building dragons!

And thanks to @Lediblock2 for the term "Dracomaton" because my genius self was coming up with words like "automdragon"

[nezumidou]

I've been thinking about the degree of loss experienced by Laudna, given the last episode. Not in relation to her actions, but in her experiences in general. And it feels so infinitely vast...

She lost her life at the hands of the Briarwoods in a horrific way. With the responsibility of a better future for herself and her family, she ended up serving as an effigy just because of her apparent resemblance to a person she had never heard of before. She was separated from her parents, then tortured, and they also died in circumstances that have not been detailed. She woke up hanging from a tree in a body she didn't fully recognize as her own. She was stripped of her identity until she lost even her name at some point along the way. She was unable to return to her home, either because it no longer existed or because she had to flee the town due to her undead status. Maybe she couldn't carry too many belongings with her, or she lost them along the way—her most valuable belongings were part of the costume she wore when she died. She also suffered a sudden plunge into total poverty. An even deeper one than what she experienced during her previous life. These losses were not only deeply personal, but they also represented the loss of a whole community. And just like that, Laudna found herself to be the last remnant of a past that no longer exists as it once did.

I've been thinking about how we'd see those days depicted. I envision the undead roaming the streets of Whitestone, amidst the wrecked streets and ruined buildings, and the corpses strewn across the ziggurat. How many bodies? How many lives? She lost not only her family, but also her neighbors and the people she frequently encountered in her daily life. It's the absolute loss of everything she has known. The erasure of her Whitestone.

A community is a source of identity for those who belong to it. Every community possesses unique traditions, values, social norms, and a wealth of knowledge cultivated through generations and countless interactions. That's all part of Laudna's loss, too.

After everything was set and done, the survivors of an event like the one that occurred in Whitestone surely relied on each other to begin rebuilding their lives. They searched for their loved ones and found a way to honor their departure. At the same time, the collective established strategies to deal with the destruction of both their bodies and their lifestyle, their economy, their political institutions, and their human capital (how many family lines simply ceased to exist?). Over the years, they managed to re-establish their identity as Whitestone residents in one way or another.

But not Laudna. She woke up to the desolation of a completely destroyed community, unable to access validation for the atrocities experienced. In the blink of an eye, she was transformed into something foreign. To the point where her name, along with those who shared the same fate in the Sun Tree, is undoubtedly absent from the historical accounts of the events. Was there even time to do something for them? No one in her family survived, so no one searched for her. And as far as we know, no one took the time to put a story behind those bodies either.

She lost her life in every sense. She lost her body in a variety of ways. She lost her community and was left behind when it was time to rebuild. What happens when the conflict seems to be over for everyone except you? When peace talks take place while you are still struggling to survive? When it's only you, the memories, and your killer's voice in your head?

Sometimes I think about Laudna's loss. And I'm struck by the brutality of those initial moments and their heartbreaking manifestation years later.

[sky-fire-forever]

Happy friday! For some Hawke/Anders/Justice (or any configuration thereof), ""will these actions haunt my days?" (from the Epic the musical prompts)

Thank you so much for this prompt! This one has some Anders and Justice fighting and also some suicidal thoughts on Anders' side, so please be aware of that going in. For @dadrunkwriting

My Hawke in this one is Scorpius, who uses they/them pronouns.

Several weeks after the explosion of the Kirkwall chantry, Anders is still having nightmares. He wakes up shaking, covered in sweat and still hearing the screams of the people trapped in places he couldn’t reach. The innocents in the surrounding buildings, the mages who turned to blood magic and demons to escape the templars, all the people Anders killed with his decision to unleash the waves of war. 

There are others who are dying that he doesn’t even know. Mages in Circles all across Thedas are being punished for his crime while he’s been allowed to escape with the people he loves. Their names will never be known and he’s killed them, hurt them, destroyed their sense of hope. 

He hardly speaks anymore and Hawke has to encourage him to eat. It’s hard to sit with the consequences for his actions, to acknowledge them. Justice isn’t fully happy either despite him being the one to urge Anders into this course of action. He’s not happy with all the innocents who have to die to see their war won, but he still doesn’t regret what they did. Not like Anders does. 

It was necessary. That’s what he tells himself and it’s what Hawke says too when they’re comforting him, but he doesn’t know if he believes it. If he can believe it. 

Awake after yet another nightmare, Anders gets out of bed. He extracts himself carefully from Hawke’s hold, doing his best not to disturb them as he gets up. Hawke makes a noise in their sleep, but rolls over to hold Fenris instead, gripping the elf like he’s some kind of lanky teddy bear.  

Anders slips out of the room and makes his way outside, breathing in the cool night air. It hits him like a splash of cold water to the face, but that’s what he needs right now: a reminder that he’s awake and alive and not back in Kirkwall. 

But he should be back in Kirkwall. He should be nothing but a corpse kicked into an unmarked grave. That’s what he and Justice planned, after all; they were supposed to die at Hawke’s hand after bringing forth the revolution. That’s what would be just. 

But they’re not dead. They’re alive with the knowledge of what they’ve done and how are they just supposed to live while knowing the consequences of their actions? There has been no immediate change, no glorious rebellion and revolution, only death and destruction and pain. What if the revolution never comes? What if it was all for nothing? 

Tears hit Anders’ cheeks and he realizes that they’re his own. He wipes them away, but more fall to take their place. He’s crying and he can’t stop and he feels so hopeless. 

“This is your fault,” he says bitterly. “You changed me.” 

He’s greeted with nothing but silence. “Nothing to say?” He demands. “I never should have let you possess me. I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d let you return to the Fade when Kristoff’s corpse decayed.”

Another moment of silence. And then,

“It was your choice to let me in.” Justice’s voice is familiar within Anders’ head, loud and clear and certain. 

“I shouldn’t have done it.” 

“And yet you did. You allowed it, welcomed it. We can not change the past.”

“I hate you,” Anders mutters. “I wish I’d never met you.”

“Without me, you would have died to Rolan’s sword.” 

“Good!” Ander snaps. “I should have died then!” 

“Anders?” Anders turns to see Hawke standing in the doorway, concern written on their face. 

“Hawke, I–” He wipes at his tears, but he can’t seem to be rid of them. 

“Are you alright?” Hawke asks like they don’t know the answer. 

“I’m fine, love. Go back to sleep.” 

Hawke steps towards him. “Talk to me,” they say. “Please.” 

Anders sniffs. “There’s nothing to say. I did what I did. We did what we did.” He clenches his hand and then unfurls it. There’s so much tension in his body that he doesn’t know what to do with. 

Hawke sighs. “Anders, you did something extreme, but it was necessary.” 

“Necessary?” Anders rubs at his face. “That’s what you keep saying, but it wasn’t, was it? There– there might have been other ways.”

“That you didn’t already try?” Hawke crosses their arms. “People spoke out against Meredith and they were punished at every turn. The mage underground was wiped out. Innocent mages were being tortured and made Tranquil every day. Meredith was mad and would’ve called for the Rite of Annulment eventually.” 

“I made it happen that much sooner.” 

“Yes, but we were able to save lives and take down templars who would follow orders to kill every mage on sight.” Hawke sighs. “It– it wasn’t a perfect solution, but you had to do something after years of watching your people be oppressed. I understand.” 

They understand. So what if they understand? So what if Anders can’t think of anything else he could’ve done? He’d still committed a huge, horrible act. He and Justice share the blame, but that doesn’t relieve any of the guilt from Anders’ shoulders. 

“Will these actions haunt my days?” Anders asks. “I wasn’t supposed to survive with this guilt.” 

Hawke’s face falls. “I know.” They pull him close. “But you did survive and I’m here to help you live through it.” 

Anders closes his eyes and holds onto the shame. 

[thethistlegirlwrites]

Crypt

Sierra thought she’d seen the worst it could get when she and Pete had to pry silver stakes out of Shay’s wrists with the noon sun beating down on them, and then watched Shay have what amounted to a seizure in the back of their commandeered truck due to lack of blood to heal himself. 

That doesn’t hold a candle to what she’s looking at now. 

The figure curled up in the corner of the crypt doesn’t look like anything more than a dessicated corpse. 

She can’t bring herself to move from the doorway, even though she knows she has to let the medical triage team through.

If Shay hadn’t remembered the bookie from his underground fight days and put the clues together that she was also infected with vampirism, if he hadn’t bothered to try and track her down for Chimera’s pilot program of the pre-fledgling interventions, if they hadn’t found her obituary that listed her next of kin, and if they hadn’t managed to convince the family that they really did need to know where their sister was buried…

Sierra doesn’t want to know how long the vampire in question would have moldered away in this place. This crypt hasn’t been used in almost a century. She wouldn’t have even thought to check it for the vampire they were looking for. 

But Shay had known.

There had been only one attack in the vicinity of the cemetery where Josefina Quintero was buried, in the past two weeks since her internment. That meant one of two things. Either the vampire Joey had risen as was hunting in a place that disguised her actual home earth, or she’d somehow forced herself not to feed since attacking a jogger the night after her burial. 

For a fledgling, either was a difficult concept to envision. Fledglings, especially non-hunters, generally lack much self control in any respect. Planning a feeding routine that hides their whereabouts is generally an action of a more seasoned, less desperate vampire, and forcing themselves not to feed would take a superhuman control that few vampires possess even at Emma’s age.

But Shay seemed to think that Joey could have done it. He’d told Sierra what little he knew about the self-made bookie while they canvassed the area.

“I knew she had something she was trying to protect. She was quiet. Kept her head down. She made decent money but she was never dressed flashy, never acted like she kept it for herself. I think she was taking care of her siblings. But she never once said anything about them. Never let on that she had any family. Because if anyone there found out about it, they could be used as leverage if someone wasn’t happy with their bets.”

“So you think she’s capable of assuming she’s now a danger to them, and stopping herself the only way she can imagine how?”

“If anyone was going to be able to lock herself away, I think Joey would be.” 

Shay had stopped in his tracks and pointed at the old crypt that belonged to the Lucero family. “If she’d be anywhere, it would be there.”

It’s ironic, Sierra thinks, that the final resting place of members of a founding family of the Chimera agency is also the place Joey Quintero tried to save her family from her fledgling self. 

The triage team pushes her aside, spreading out a sort of handled tarp on the ground and lifting the vampire’s huddled body. Somehow, she’s still moving. Just a little, resisting touch on the instinct of a wounded animal, but she’s far enough from her home earth, and isolated from it by the silver, that she can’t even sleep during daylight.

Sierra would have the head of anyone who put a vampire through this kind of torture on a silver platter.

But Joey did this herself.

She probably didn’t know what she was going to experience. Not if she didn’t know there are safe ways to feed, alternatives to real blood.

But she had to have known it would be bad.

And chose it anyway.

Shay is standing about five feet from the crypt. Any closer, and its silver would affect him too. Honestly Sierra’s surprised no one’s ripped it all out of the place yet; this isn’t the best neighborhood anymore. But maybe the people around here have got a taboo against taking from the dead. Or are afraid one of the family members got bitten on the job and don’t want to risk letting them out. 

He’s watching the triage team running back to their van with a look on his face Sierra has seen all too often in the past couple days.

“She’s just blood-starved.” It’s horrifying, and Sierra might never get that image out of her head, but vampires can starve for years and come back from it as long as they’re fed real blood. More than a few grave robbers learned that the hard way over the years. “They’ll take care of her. Get her back.”

“I should have found her sooner.” Shay’s not looking at her, but his eyes are shining with unshed tears. “A lot sooner.”

“Look at me.” Sierra puts herself between him and the retreating van. “You found her now. I wouldn’t have. I would have assumed the silver would repel her and she’d choose the path of least resistance. Most fledglings do.”

Shay flinches.

“Sorry.” This is…a special case. The last person on record at Chimera who’s had this much control was Emma, who locked Arion out of her head after less than a week of being turned. “I’m just saying.”

“Three weeks, Sierra.” Shay rubs a hand over his face, and it comes away damp. “I missed her by three weeks. She was still human.”

“And you’re proof that being a good person doesn’t have to end when your humanity does.” Sierra says. “Someone who could do that?” She gestures behind her to the crypt. “She’ll be a shoe-in for mentorship. Maira will be all over it.”

“I should have thought of her sooner. Told you sooner.”

“Shay. There was no sooner. The pre-turn program just got off the ground days before she died. We were still looking for potential candidates in rehab programs and homeless shelters. Interviewing vampires like you to see if they knew anyone else at risk.” Sierra shakes her head. “You put her name at the top of the list as soon as you saw the checklist of likely markers and remembered how she reacted to blacklights whenever she came near them at the fights. You had no way of knowing she’d been hit by a drunk.” Honestly, Sierra has no idea how Joey functioned apparently normally as long as she did, if she was infected at least by the time Shay met her four years ago.

No wonder she was able to shut herself in a silver lined tomb.

She’d been crushing every ounce of the venom in her system for years.

“I just wish we’d found her before this had to happen.” Shay swallows. “She doesn’t deserve this.”

“Neither did you.” Sierra puts an arm around him. “But none of us can go back. The only way we can go now is forward.” She takes a single step toward the car, and Shay follows. “We can’t save her life. But we can help her have a good un-life. So let’s focus on that. Can we do that?”

Shay nods. “Yeah.”

(You can read this story and more from this universe on my WorldAnvil here!)

@catwingsathena @nade2308 @the-one-and-only-valkyrie @telltaleclerk @ettawritesnstudies  @writeouswriter @the-lovely-wren

[blackstarchanx3new]

Creations AU, But I obnoxiously over explain it PT 8

Holy crap how are there 8 parts.

211-240

Well it took 200 pages but he cracked like a damn egg in front of someone.

Sammy's a cool dude though.

Again we see characters treat Mike rather, differently because they know something about him we are assumed not to. or at least don't have full context too.

He's delicate and understanding towards a complete WTF situation.

Sammy's continues to be a delicate dude about Mike's horrible horrible ordeal.

Mike's memory is fuzzy atm.

Apparently they were gonna "Talk to a puppet"

Ya know that thing we saw as a plushie earlier on. Sammy seems to think that's weird.

and holy shit it's a corpse.

Haha don't yell in front of the traumatized man in shock at who he's looking at. Sammy quickly rights himself as soon as he notices that.

Sammy seems way more upset about Mike being put in danger than having to help him. X'D He's used to bullshit I suppose.

"Prank" our asses Michael you got impaled.

So the owners know about Mike's mental health struggles and an illness we aren't quite privy too. One that makes it hard for Mike to distinguish reality.

Thanks Michael.

Makes sense why William was so weird. (Still handled that poorly)

Sammy's handling it a bit better in the sense he isn't acting like Mike's unhinged or dangerous and he's clearly not scared to be in the same room as Mike, but is being delicate and soothing for Mike's sake.

Also: Michael has a history of doing "Crap" which is amusing. Wtf are you doing Michael. X'D

You can see why I like Sammy right? X'D

Specifically his line "DON'T APOLOGIZE TO ME APOLOGIZE TO HIM"

Dudes got his priorities are in place. He doesn't want Michael to kiss his ass he wants him to make shit right with Mike. Ya know, the person actually most affected by this shit.

We can see between the two Sammy is clearly the more responsible one and despite Michael's shit talking earlier Sammy is pretty level headed.

We can see why they don't get along though.

Also because heights/panel layouts are hard: Sammy is around the same height as Mike, aka he's short lmao but they're just shown at head level for convenience reasons.

Sammy is literally that one meme of the woman holding the guy pointing at the other woman angrily.

He continues to be responsible by NOT letting Michael take Mike home lmao. Let's be real I wouldn't trust Michael to do smth like that either. X'D

Haha Mike you still aren't okay are you?

Sammy's still trying to be nice.

Sammy that's a weird response...

Oh. He's nuts too!

Mike's response to Sammy's insane rambling about not being sure he's a real person is just

"...Yeah"

Lmao. Seems Sammy has had a colorful past with Freddy's himself. Makes sense he's one of the owner's son.

Which makes his relationship with William very...questionable from an age/how long they've known each other angle. If you were curious about why Michael was possessive over Mike earlier and called William a "Gross old man" now you now. William's having relations with his business' partner's son who's presumably older than Michael but stillllllll wtf Will. X'D. Healthy relationships isn't something this series thrives on if you haven't noticed.

Also: Silver eyes reference with the Spring Bonnie panel.

Fourth closet reference with "Fake Charlie".

The panel where Sammy's face is an endoskeleton is symbolism by the way, not directly "real".

The depths of Sammy's paranoia and anxieties he's not real is justified. How WOULD you know if you were a fake person? XD

What I like during this convo is Mike asking directly if Sammy thinks he's crazy and Sammy swiftly responding with "Not really no"

Ahh. So Mike for sure has an illness that makes him see things that "aren't there".

(It's never directly stated to be schizophrenia because I don't like writing illnesses I don't have 1 to 1, but what Mike's been experiencing LATELY Has not been apart of his illness, as he's medicated and as we've seen: Cody was very much real.)

And we hear it from Mike: He thinks everything he's seen with Cody so far has been a dream of some kind. Since again, he's on medication he shouldn't be hallucinating.

I forgot this was the case till going back and looking into FNAF stuff again: Mike's character trait of hallucinating was based on the player character "Mike Schmidt" having hallucinations/the "Rare screens" in FNAF 1.

Something I've hoped ya noticed: Mike's character arc is gaining friendships and relationships and getting over what happened at Freddy's.

Lol so you COULD see as this purely as Sammy being manipulative buuuut here's how it is to me:

He cares enough about Mike's health to let him have a break at all. He cares about the robots happiness because replacing nightguards is implied to be stressful for them.

He's a "Try to keep everyone happy" kind of person lmao.

Also new character yay.

Lmao. She's weird.

This is Mike's roommate! :D We knew he lived with someone and now this is just conformation.

She looks familiar....

Wonder if we've seen ANOTHER red head who's associated with green....Oh yeah. The ghost that spoke to Bonnie briefly.

Something brought up before: Sammy hired Mike so Sammy is technically Mike's boss.

This art style wise was when I decided: I just needed to get pages done and I didn't super care about the quality (Still feel that way)

the first arc isn't my favorite. FNAF 3 was fun because of our 2nd favorite local hoe behind Freddy himself, known as Andrew Sister Location was a SLOG It was LITERALLY just the game dialogue and occasionally I had fun with Josh, but it differed enough from the game that I NEEDED to do it bleh and FNAF 4 had it's moments again, everything original was fun.

Twisted ones and Pizza Sim are my favorite concept wise because that's when shit SUPER hits the fan. They aren't directly 1 to 1 with anything so I can go nuts.

The FNAF 1 arc mostly ESTABLISHES a lot so when we get to BATSHIT INSANITY nobody's confused who everyone is and what their relationships to each other are.

Anyway: Mike explains wtf they were doing at Freddy's to this woman, clearly SHE'S the person he's been conspiring against Freddy's with.

The Puppet is a fan favorite design in Creations and to this day I don't get it:

I gave the regular puppet HAIR. That's about it. X'D

Either way: Mike can't fully trust the info given during this because of Michael's "Prank".

Keep in mind: They went her presumably to discuss how to fix Freddy's. Which is what Michael and Mike were talking about before shit went wrong.

Sus things:

Michael knows about the "Putting people in robots" thing or at least is implied to know. How and why does he know that? Michael's friends/acquaintances with the girl who put his brother in the Golden Freddy costume. Does he KNOW Cody's fate? How does he feel about these things?

So Mike presumably waited 5 years to do anything about what was happening at Freddy's because he wasn't ready to confront this.

William was committing the "Main" murders that caught Mike's attention 5 years ago. They conformed there ARE more than Jeremy by mentioning "victims" but he came HERE after an incident at a sister location Fredbear's having children and the owner go missing.

Michael woke up from his accident 5 years ago.

Afton has dabbled in making robots that look and act human.

and the suspected main goal from this was to create robots that had human souls/remnant inside them.

HMMMMMM WONDER WHAT'S GOING ON LMFAO.

Lol oop-

Sooo question: Does Sammy know about his sister being in the puppet? X'D

If he does it'd make sense why he was confused Michael and Mike were talking to her lmfao.

Also if you're FNAF savvy you're probably wondering wtf is up with Fake Charlie and all that. Considering Charlie is APARENTLY STILL ALIVE. Huh.

I have a comic planned explaining all that BS with Sammy, Charlie and "Fake Charlie" and the puppet. Because it is left almost completely not answered in the main series lmfao.

Suffice to say: Mike's "WTF" attitude is pretty spot on.

The robot Sammy ran into that looked like his sister isn't the one currently walking around AS his sister, since they presumably dismantled it from his comment about it bleeding and the Puppet is his REAL sister.

And there's just something/someone walking around claiming to be Charlie.

OH.

SO JOSH IS MISSING NOT DEAD?~

SL readers again, know what happened But I'm being cheeky here until we review SL too.

So Michael seems to think Josh is "Dead". That's weird. Why would he think that exactly? With the specific detail of dying from machinery? Is this something his dad told him to keep quiet about?

Michael does seem to know a lot more than he SHOULD.

Lmao our new gal pal suggesting zombies is funny especially if you know what happened to Josh.

Dead people don't stay dead at Freddy's lmfao.

HAH HE RECORDED THAT CONVERSATION.

Haha wonder if that important thing has been staring you right in the face.

No the series is not subtle about who it is but it was never meant to be a "Twist". UNLIKE THE SILVER EYES SERIES

The evidence to who the robot is is made obvious from the start, it's not meant to be an ass pull. You're supposed to be in on it. You're waiting for everyone to notice the OBVIOUS but the OBVIOUS isn't relevant to completely see until later.

You know they're weird the second they appear on screen lmfao. The denial comes from the very idea a PERSON robot is a thing is hard to believe. So the CHARACTERS are in denial this person is a robot. BECAUSE WHY WOULD YOU ASSUME A NORMAL HUMAN IS A ROBOT!? X'D

Humans dismiss a LOT of shit until what they're looking at is undeniable. Mike's still in denial what he's thinking is the 100% fact because holy shit this entire situation is BONKERS.

Everyone in the building is BONKERS. Everything that goes down in there is BONKERS.

And even worse: Mike cannot trust his own eyes fully because of his hallucinations.

Like if someone you met had a few oddities with them your first thought wouldn't be "Oh they're a robot" it'd be "Oh that's weird" and it would build, and build and build until you're like "Oh..."

It's the fucking invader zim affect lmao. An alien being in your god damn class is so out of the realm of THINKABLITY you wouldn't even think that's a possibility.

Of course: Our characters are AT the point where "A human robot is a possibility" now all that's left is waiting for them to realize WHO it is and fully connect everything together.

Mike's still in denial. Poor dude is used to having to not fully trust what he sees/experiences. Which sucks.

HAHAHA YES TALK TO FREDDY. >:)

SHOW US THE BEAR MIKE!!!!

Haha his friend/roommate is a goof.

...I hope the cut to Michael is as funny to everyone else as it is to me considering wtf they were JUST talking about.

AND OKAY MICHAEL HOW COULD YOU HURT BONNIE'S FEELINGS LIKE THAT?!

He's playing on the Pikachu and Eevee switch which either conforms he has 3 switches or 3 sets of joycons at least lmao. Rich little shithead.

[worldbuildng]

THE ARTIFICE OF ETERNITY : a wip intro

"O sages standing in God's holy fire As in the gold mosaic of a wall, Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre, And be the singing-masters of my soul. Consume my heart away; sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is; and gather me Into the artifice of eternity." --W. B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium”

genre

high fantasy adventure

summary

Disgraced solider Galen Maadawi finds himself in possession of a forbidden ancient power, and suddenly every eye in the empire (and more than one sword point) turns towards him. With the brunt of two royal families bearing down on him and the threat of inescapable change nipping at his heels, Galen is desperate to get rid of this strange magic before the fate of the continent comes crashing into his hands.

He learns two things very quickly, however: that some wheels have been turning far too long to be stopped now, and that it isn’t always the heroes who get to go on adventures.

pov characters

GALEN MAADAWI is an exiled imperial soldier resigned to fade into obscurity. A chance encounter puts him at the center of a bitter struggle that spans centuries and begins to dredge up ghosts he'd meant to keep buried forever.

BEHROZ LAKHANI has spent more than half of his life as a political hostage in the imperial capital. His desire for the empire's downfall is challenged as dangers both internal and external threaten to upend everything he's ever known. (absolutely stunning portrait of behroz by @kittensartswriting !!)

ASENOTH LAKHANI roams her ravaged country repairing the damage caused by decades of war. When her brother the king is found dead, it falls to her to face the consequences of not only her family's past wrongdoings, but her own as well.

info

status: editing draft 1 excerpts tag: #writing:aoe content warnings: graphic violence, war, mentions of corpses and bones, tba

i'll be posting bits and bobs as i work through edits, lemme know you want to be on the taglist!

[atlas539]

New Skulduggery Pleasant oc

Alistair Montague, born 1920 in France to a family who ran a travelling circus. From the age of ten, Alistair would train with the trapeze artists and occasionally assist in shows if a trapeze artist was out for the performance. His family had no known history of sorcery, so he wasn't aware of it till the oracle who travelled around with them taught him about it. It turned out she was a sensitive, and would teach him about the different disciplines. At age 19, he enlisted in WW2 on the side of the allies. While there, he encountered many of his higher ups, some of them being past soldiers from WW1, one being a man, Major Thompson.

Alistair went through his surge during the war, and went MIA. Alistair's ability fell under the adapt category, a quite macabre ability to temporarily take on parts of someone's appearance to his own, he only needs a belonging or an item associated with that person, the only drawback is that the person's soul becomes tethered to him and has a chance of possessing him.

His surge started off with him hearing the voices of people in his head, some speaking in the German language and some familiar voices of fallen comrades, this was happening because he had kept some of the belongings of his comrades, and some shotgun shells tethered to other souls. It got too much for him while his troop was wading through marshland and he got left behind. Some nearby townspeople found him and brought him in, turns out that the town was full of sorcerers that helped him through it. He was able to make his way back to the last place his family would've been, but found out that most of them had dispersed after hearing that he was reported MIA.

When the war ended, he managed to travel to England and start a small detective job in the English Sanctuary. Reports of activity from the Church of the Faceless started coming in, then without warning, the Sanctuary gave him a job that hit too close to home. Major Thompson had been murdered in his home, and it was suspected that he was part of a group that worshipped the Faceless Ones. He was poisoned with a chemical that was given to all members of the group incase they were found out, but after investigating, they found an untouched vial next to his bedside dresser in his bedroom that turned out to be his. That meant that another member had to have done it. Alistair asked the family's permission to take one of Thompson's belongings, an ornate pocket watch.

The investigation was nearing an end when Alistair was called in by one of the Grand Mages, who told him that the investigation was being given to another investigator, though this one was know to be an easily bribeable one. Alistair tried to convince the Grand Mage to let him continue, but as he was about to, it clicked, the Grand Mage had something to do with this, didn't he? So Alistair left with no more hassle, got home and took out the Major's pocket watch to find out one more key detail, but the Major wanted something in compensation.

A week later, Alistair was in a meeting with the Grand Mage who was telling Alistair that he had been sacked from the job, but as he was beginning to finish his talk, The Grand Mage collapsed dead in his seat. In the commotion, Alistair ran out of the room and threw the pack of cigarettes and the vial of poison to the crumpled corpse of the Grand Mage's advisor, whom he had killed earlier.

Now in the present, Alistair is still semi wanted from the English Sanctuary for his crimes, but has managed to evade them, for now.

[chososhoeso2]

One Piece Theory: Wano Spoilers

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Zoro is a member of the Shimotsuki family. More specifically, he's the grandson of Ushimaru. I know this theory isn't that much of a gotcha, since Zoro literally looks exactly like Ushimaru and a young Ryuma, but there's more to it than just the facial features, spiky hair, swordsmanship, and injured left eye.

We don't know about Zoro's past before he challenged the dojo in Shimotsuki Village. The village was founded by the swordsmith Shimotsuki Kozaburo after he illegally left Wano 55 years ago. He was the smith who created the Wado Ichimonji and Enma. Both of which are now in the hands of Zoro. A few years after Shimotsuki Village was founded, Kozaburo settled down and had a child named Koshiro, who we know as the head of the dojo and Kuina's father.

Other members of the Shimotsuki clan include: Yasuie and Toko. Both of which quickly befriended Zoro in Wano. Speaking of Wano, Ushimaru had been the daimyo of Ringo for many years before dying during the reign of Orochi and Kaido. Ringo is also where Zoro, Toko, and Hiyori stayed when Zoro was trying to get back the Shusui from Onimaru.

Onimaru, who has been the companion of Ushimaru, is 69 years old (nice). It is likely that Ushimaru would be a similar age if he were still alive. Unfortunately we don't actually know Ushimaru's date of birth or age at death, so we can't know for sure. However, 70 is a pretty typical age for a grandparent of a 21 year old. Garp is 78, so Zoro's gramps would probably be around a similar age. And we know for sure that Ushimaru isn't Zoro's father, because Oda said so in the SBS for chapter 1024. In that SBS, Oda also said that he might show Ushimaru's bloodline again later or he might just keep it a secret.

The other known member of the Shimotsuki family who I haven't talked about much so far is Ryuma. Ryuma is the sword god whose corpse and sword were stolen from Wano by Gecko Moria following Moria's defeat at the hands of Kaido. In his youth, Ryuma was just like Zoro, both in looks and in personality: he was also way too eager to fight and was kind of oblivious. We know that Ryuma's blade, Shusui, was the treasure of Wano and that it was given to Zoro after he defeated zombie Ryuma in Thriller Bark. But some time before he acquired Shusui, Ryuma used a sword that resembled the Yubashiri, another legendary sword that made its way into Zoro's possession.

We've seen that Zoro has had direct ties (and has gotten along well) with all of the known members of the Shimotsuki family, except for Ushimaru. We do know that Ushimaru is a direct descendant of Ryuma. This makes sense since they look and act so similar. With that same line of thinking, it would also make sense for Zoro to be in that bloodline. He clearly doesn't look anything like Kozaburo, Koshiro, or Kuina.

There are also some pieces of the puzzle that are missing on Ushimaru's end. For example, Zoro and Ryuma both wear their swords on their right side, suggesting that they're lefty's. We don't know if the same goes for Ushimaru; we just know that in the past there were times when he wielded two swords. Another missing piece is his birthday. Shimotsuki is an old Japanese word for November. Both Ryuma and Zoro have birthdays in November (the 6th and 11th, respectively), but we don't know when Ushimaru was born. We also don't know the birthday of Kozaburo, but none of the other known Shimotsuki's have birthdays in November (aside from Onimaru, oddly enough). The third missing piece is blood type. Kuina and Koshiro both have type S, Toko and Yasuie have type F, Ryuma and Zoro have type XF, and Kozaburo and Ushimaru's are unknown.

So now we've gone over all the facts and circumstantial evidence, but it leaves us with a problem. If Ushimaru is in fact Zoro's grandfather, then how tf did Zoro end up in Shimotsuki Village? We know Kozaburo went there 55 years ago, but Ushi never left Wano (that we know of). I mean, it was illegal to leave the country and Ushi ended up being the daimyo of Ringo, so he probably didn't commit any major crimes. But maybe he did, who knows. Could Ushi's child have ended up leaving Wano with Kozaburo? We don't know if there were any other Shimotsuki's who ended up in the East Blue. Another possibility lies with Ryuma himself. Well, Ryuma's corpse. The fall of the Kozuki clan was 20 years ago. Zoro was born 21 years ago. Ryuma's corpse was stolen by Moria 23 years ago. Perhaps, Ushimaru's son or daughter was also taken (or escaped) at this time? If they did leave Wano at this time, then they would've had 2 years to find a partner, knock up or get knocked up, and then a few years to find the other known Shimotsuki's that left Wano, drop their kid off with them, and then leave or die.

Tbh considering the family ties of each of the other Strawhats (that we know of - *cough cough* Nami *cough cough* Franky), none of this would be super wild if it were true for Zoro.

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Anyways, that's the end of this theory. Sorry I didn't feel like proofreading. I'm always open to thoughts, ideas, and comments, so feel free to give your two cents. My next theory post will either be a mini theory about Franky or a big one about the influence of gods in One Piece.

[eclipsecrowned]

AND NOW FOR SOMEONE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...

ROOSE BOLTON. (tw for body horror / death / bodily takeover)

personals dni.

Backstory: The current Lord of House Bolton in the North, Roose is a powerful vassal within Stark lands. His ancestors were once known as the 'Red Kings' who warred with the Stark 'Kings of Winter' in the Age of Heroes, meaning their beef is ancient and their stations were once even. However, Roose's ancestors were defeated in generations past, and bent the knee to their ancient rivals. For some reason, despite their clear threat to Stark rule and their history of hellish war crimes, the Kings of Winter allowed House Bolton to live.

This can widely be considered a mistake. House Bolton has continued their barbaric practices in secret, under the very nose of their liege lords. Roose is no exception, terrifying his own subjects into silence about the atrocities he commits. A cold-blooded killer and a serial abuser of common women, his cool and composed bearing belies a beast just beneath the surface of his self-control.

He has been married thrice, but has precious few children to show for it. Most of his sons died in the cradle, and only one survived to adolescence. That was as far as the boy made it, however. Roose's trueborn son was slain by his only acknowledged bastard, and finding himself without an heir, Roose moved said bastard into his own hall. This has proven perhaps his greatest fuck-up out of all his horrid actions over the years, because the boy is uncouth, a beast like his father, but without care for reputation or self-control. It is written on the wall that House Bolton is in decline, despite Roose remarrying and siring a child on his new bride that might yet see the family stagger on at least a generation longer.

Roose's most pivotal canonical act is betraying his own master, the King in the North, and seeing the boy and his mother slaughtered. This in addition to his bastard having allegedly killed the remaining Stark sons. For betraying his master for another, the Crown appointed the Boltons the new Lords of the North and Wardens of the same land. This is not the end of Roose's struggle, however, as he is surrounded by vipers who remain loyal to the fallen Starks and faces an external threat concerning another pretender King.

My Fanon:

So very little of what I bring to the table isn't going to make sense unless you're familiar with the Bolt-On theory. I have included a link to the initial post, but the tl;dr is thus: There has only ever been one Lord Bolton. Roose is an immortal being that kills and then overtakes the identity of his heirs. This is often, and in this case absolutely played in tandem with, coupled with the concept of Roose (or the being we call Roose in this lifetime) being the inhuman offspring of the legendary characters of the Night's King and his Corpse Queen. This in turn makes Roose half-Other and in possession of powers most would consider... Disturbing.

To this end, I have him begin in the Age of Heroes as Brandon Snow, bastard son of a Stark who took the black by an Other woman. Denied by his mortal, terrestrial relatives after his father was defeated, it shouldn't be surprising that he instead leaned into his mother's blood. It began with his father's magic. Little tricks for a little boy. Eventually he started exerting control. Either left the Wall of his own volition or was forced out by his father's former 'Brothers.'

This led to his taking up with the more ancient Others. Only problem was that he could pass for human, all the way into Wildling society and Nights Watch keeps. First the Snow, then the Others, then the Stranger. Eventually meant to clear the path for his kin -- and so his watch began on the other side of the Wall. The side that is the North.

Eventually made an in to the Bolton family, who were Kings in their own right in those days. Ancient enemies of his father's House. Whether he was invited in like a vampire or demon, or forced his way in through blood, or used trickery and stole the skin and then the life of either the Bolton patriarch or the heir, he has ruled the Dreadfort for millennia in an unbroken chain.

His watch is almost at its end. He has seen and learned much, and anticipates that the signs are auspicious for his kinsmen to ride over the destroyed Wall and rule as they were meant to. He will still yet have some part to play, but first, he must extinguish the heretic flame that Baratheon fool brought into the North.

I also like to complicate the inheritance situation for him. Depending on the verse, he has two trueborn daughters -- Ravenna by his first wife, and Lyanna by his second. Ravenna is written by @chaoswrote, while Lya is my own creation.

A study in: Vampirism as a metaphor for exploitation inherent in feudalism / Changeling mythology / Red right hand / Cycles of dysfunction in a family unit / "You have your father's eyes." / Predators / Usurpation / Good wombs have borne bad sons / The greater the light the darker the shadow / Our species eat the wounded ones / A gentleman is simply a patient wolf / Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring.

Verses/AUs:

Mainverse: Follows Roose through AGOT through ADWD. Canon-compliant save for the touches necessary for my interpretation of his age/being. Roose spends much of this time in the Northern army, while spinning his own web of treachery to finally claim his ancestral hall of Winterfell out from under the main Stark line. Once he does, however, he struggles to hold onto power as the North plots against him.

Pre-canon: Follows Roose through pre-AGOT events, as recent as just before its start or as distant as Robert's Rebellion. Roose rules the Dreadfort as a patient beast, preying on his own smallfolk while presenting a facade of loyalty to both his family and his liege lord Eddard.

Historical: Follows Roose in any historical setting. Beginning in the Age of Heroes and ending roughly around either the birth of the 'original' Roose or his ascension to power in the guise of his latest son. There is only one Lord Bolton, and something about him is ever the same, like the gold of Lannister hair or the grey of Stark eyes. The latter comparison is more apt than most realize. Liable to employ alt FCs.

Plot bunnies/Calls to Adventure:

For older muses: Your character knew the original Roose, before he was ever Lord. However, events and duties led the two of them apart. Having recently reunited, your muse has the haunting feeling that despite them looking so alike, this is not the same man they befriended so long ago. While everyone else has been frog-boiled into the adjustments between the true Roose and the patriarch of his family, your character is not fooled.

For younger muses: Your character has the unique misfortune to be given over to House Bolton for fostering. On paper, it's not such a bad idea. They're a powerful House, and an old one, and its Lord is such an unassuming but respectable man. In reality, you're in a cult, send a Raven to your parents.

For any muses: War makes strange bedfellows. Whether while he serves the North or after his great betrayal at the Twins, your muse must endure serving with or serving outright Lord Bolton. At least he's pretty good at word play, if you catch him in the right mood.

For any muses: For totally avoidable reasons, Roose Bolton will be passing away. He will be leaving his skin like a discarded tunic on the floor and walking right out of Winterfell. Any body will do on his way out. Your muse realizes that someone they are close to is not quite themself.

For 'Targs Win' AUs: Eddard Stark is a traitor bitch and House Bolton were once Kings in their own right. A cold war (lol) ensues where House Bolton wants to take what the Crown will doubtlessly strip from their Lord. And whatever politicking, warmongering, or marrying it takes, Roose will get that castle, so help him Gods--

Notes on this character:

I'm not his defense attorney. What he does in canon secures him as one of the biggest monsters in the entire franchise. But he's an amazing narrative tool, and I want to explore that through the lens of a frankly batshit insane theory. You can rage against him in my inbox and all I'm going to do is agree and ask why you're telling me what I already know. Once he's live I'll be dropping every iteration of his tag for blacklisting purposes, and may just give him a general tag for blacklisting on any post that involves him.

I'm not going to write out his acts of pure evil. They exist but I'm not about to write it out, because I am not interested in normalizing the acts he commits via describing them or fleshing out real world atrocities. This is not me avoiding that he does these things or trying to sugarwash his character. His evil speaks for itself. I have nothing to add to it that will amount to anything more than exploitation of the subjects at hand, so I'm not even going to attempt to do so.

I don't really want to ship him. I don't really think he needs to be shipped or romanticized in any capacity. Just leave him where he lies. Your muse cannot fix him.

[rockislandadultreads]

Book Recommendations: More New Horror Titles

The Lake of the Dead by André Bjerke

Deep in the darkest part of the Norwegian woods stands Dead Man's Cabin, the site of tragedy a century earlier when Tøre Gruvik, in a fit of madness, murdered his sister and her lover, beheading them and throwing their corpses in a nearby lake before drowning himself to join them in death. Ever since, it is said, anyone who stays at the cabin is possessed by Gruvik's spirit and driven to drown themselves in the lake. What's more, Gruvik's restless ghost has been seen by many of the local people, prowling the woods by moonlight. Bjørn Werner, a young writer from Oslo, ignored the old superstitions and rented Dead Man's Cabin as a quiet spot to finish his book. Now he has disappeared, and the evidence suggests he threw himself in the lake in a fit of madness. The police write it off as a suicide, but his friends are not so sure. Kai Bugge, Bjørn's psychiatrist, believes in the suicide explanation, while private detective Harald Gran thinks it's a case of murder, and Gabriel Mørk, an expert in the occult, is certain that darker and otherworldly forces are at play. They travel to unravel the mystery of their friend's terrible fate, but not all of them will return alive from their stay at the Lake of the Dead...

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester

There’s something out there that’s killing. Known only as The Cur, he leaves no traces, save for the torn bodies of girls, on the verge of becoming women, who are known as trouble-makers; those who refuse to conform, to know their place. Girls who don’t know when to shut up. 2019: Thirteen-year-old Lila Sawyer has secrets she can’t share with anyone. Not the school psychologist she’s seeing. Not her father, who has a new wife, and a new baby. And not her mother - the infamous Caroline Sawyer, a unique artist whose eerie sculptures, made from bent twigs and crimped leaves, have made her a local celebrity. But soon Lila feels haunted from within, terrorized by a delicious evil that shows her how to find her voice - until she is punished for using it. 2004: Caroline Sawyer hears dogs everywhere. Snarling, barking, teeth snapping that no one else seems to notice. At first, she blames the phantom sounds on her insomnia and her acute stress in caring for her ailing father. But then the delusions begin to take shape - both in her waking hours, and in the violent, visceral sculptures she creates while in a trance-like state. Her fiancé is convinced she needs help. Her new psychiatrist waves her “problem” away with pills. But Caroline’s past is a dark cellar, filled with repressed memories and a lurking horror that the men around her can’t understand. As past demons become a present threat, both Caroline and Lila must chase the source of this unrelenting, oppressive power to its malignant core. Brilliantly paced, unsettling to the bone, and unapologetically fierce, Such a Pretty Smile is a powerful allegory for what it can mean to be a woman, and an untamed rallying cry for anyone ever told to sit down, shut up, and smile pretty.

Sundial by Catriona Ward 

You can't escape what's in your blood... All Rob wanted was a normal life. She almost got it, too: a husband, two kids, a nice house in the suburbs. But Rob fears for her oldest daughter, Callie, who collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends. Rob sees a darkness in Callie, one that reminds her too much of the family she left behind. She decides to take Callie back to her childhood home, to Sundial, deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice. Callie is worried about her mother. Rob has begun to look at her strangely, and speaks of past secrets. And Callie fears that only one of them will leave Sundial alive…

Hide by Kiersten White 

The challenge: spend a week hiding in an abandoned amusement park and don't get caught. The prize: enough money to change everything. Even though everyone is desperate to win - to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts - Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she's an expert at that. It's the reason she's alive, and her family isn't. But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive. Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run.

[stepswowdsen]

【KagePro】 KuroEne AU Rambles 🖤💙

Intro Rambles

AHHH MY 10 YEARS (DECADE) OLD SHIP, AHHH MY CHILDHOOD OTP, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH... SHIPPED THEM SINCE I WAS 12, BABY!!!

I forget exactly when, but I first got into KagePro when I was 12 around October 2013 (or sometime around there), so I must've gotten into KuroEne in November ~ December 2013, or January 2014.

So I would've been 12 when I first shipped them and drew for them. KagePro is my first fandom and one of my earliest series interests, and along with KHR, one of the things that really got 12 year old me to start drawing so often in the first place, so it's very precious to me~

Back then, KHR and KagePro were the things I drew most as a kid, so I have SOOO many old doodles of them. My old arts are hard for me to look at tho LMAO

KuroEne will always be forever important to me. I cherish them dearly~ 💗

KuroEne AU Ideas (7/15/2024)

Btw I was just thinking about some KuroEne AU ideas so I'll talk about it more tomorrow? Some angst fuel ideas! I'm going to bed now. I came up with these on 7/15, but I'll post them now

The sense of loneliness that Ene has and her melancholy and insecurities and self esteem and desire for attention (from Haruka, and people she loves)

Which is what makes someone like Kuroha/Saeru a good match with her, she has trouble being honest about her feelings and wants/desires and keeps her "bad" feelings to herself.

And because of Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge of his S/O's insecurities and vulnerabilities and relationships and context and past, he knows how to "draw out" those desires and bring them to the surface.

KuroEne AU: Haruka and Konoha react to KuroEne's intimacy

Separate ideas where Haruka (whose consciousness is dead and trapped in the Kagerou Daze, can see and hear what Konoha can in the real world because it's Haruka's body) and Konoha (who has his body overtaken/possessed by Kuroha/Saeru), separately, reacts to KuroEne's intimacy by seeing it through Konoha's body (that Saeru is possessing as Kuroha) and feels a pang of jealousy and other bitter emotions.

KuroEne AU: Haruka reacts to KuroEne's intimacy

Haruka reacts to KuroEne's intimacy and Kuroha's admission of "Your beloved Haruka" and Ene wanting Haruka back and admitting to loving him

KuroEne art ideas

"Do you still love me?"

Kuroha holds Ene with a smirk while the comp is half split with Konoha's body half turning to Kuroha (Black Konoha) on one side, and the half is still Konoha's sleeves (hasn't turned yet)

"Have a sweet dream. See you in the next route."

Kuroha lies next to Ene on a bed of Higanbana, the Red Spider Lily, (also known as the Corpse Flower, Hell Flower, Flower of Death), Ene has her eyes closed and her arms are folded while she lies asleep peacefully, and Kuroha has a smiling ^v^ expression. And possibly while he's covered in the blood (of the Mekakushi Dan members) over his hands and has splotches of it on his face

Even the Kuroha/Saeru colour illust by Sidu in KagePro LN: 7 -from the darkness- has Kuroha/Saeru depicted with black spirals that coincidentally look like the spindles of the higanbana.

KuroEne AU Ideas (7/16/2024)

KuroEne AU: Amusement Park

I didn't get to write all of what I wanted today but I got most of it down so I'll just post what I got for now

One of the ideas I had that I forgot to talk about was Ene getting Kuroha to take her to the amusement park. Ene gets excited talking about how, while she was surfing the web earlier when the android body was recharging, that she found out about an Amusement park attraction and wants to go with him.

I imagine that Kuroha decides to play nice prior to the fateful day of August 15th (in which he plans to enact the "plan" or "Tragedy." Like he acts more tame/normal on purpose, and holds back, and decides to go along with his partner's whims.

Ene goes like, "Take me to the amusement park!!!" And she gets excited when he agrees. I assume they're in a Route where he's made enough improvements that the battery can last anywhere from several hours ~ a full day instead of just an hour or few.

At some point during the Amusement park trip, Ene innerly thinks to herself with flustered, panicky thoughts, like, "W-w-wait why is my face getting all red??? Maybe it's because I'm just embarrassed by this guy's teasing??? Yeah!!! That must be it!!!"

She thought of it as going with like, a friend, before, but she thinks about the fact that it's just the two of them here and that this IS the person she has an intimate relationship with and thinks to herself, "HOLD ON!!! IS THIS A DATE!?!?" And cuz Ene is so easy to read, Kuroha can guess her inner turmoil and just gets amused.

Ene pulls him by the arm and makes Kuroha to come along with her to all the amusement park attractions, and he lets her. They probably go on stuff like the mini boat rides and other attractions.

Kuroha just reacts like (...) the whole time while on the roller coaster ride, like the completely calm type that doesn't react at all, he just watches Ene's excited reactions of "Yippee!!!" (>v<)

Kuroha comments that it's good that Ene seems to be enjoying herself, and Ene tells him that she's never had the chance to go to an amusement park before and that she's having LOTS of fun!!! And that she's glad that he is here with her.

Ene goes like, "Come onnnnn, carry me!!!" And he carries his fussy needy gf, while making a teasing quip that she acts awfully spoiled. And she just pouts like "It's fine, it's fine!!!" (>3<)

When he thinks about it, Kuroha picks up on the fact that back when she was Takane, she'd spend most of her time cooped up in her room at home playing video games, and probably didn't get the chance to go to an amusement park (also due to her chronic illness too). So the bright and peppy exterior Ene displays is over compensation for her regrets and an opportunity to do the things she didn't get to before

At one point, Ene wants Kuroha to win prizes for her at a booth/stand selling plushies by throwing darts into a target marker, and Ene tells him she wants him to win prizes for her. When Kuroha throws the darts, it hits the center (red bull's eye) perfectly.

There's probably also a game with hitting moving targets as well, and he hits them all perfectly and wins the prizes that Ene wants. And Ene's like, "Wow~ You're good at this! Throwing darts, I mean!"

And Kuroha tells her, "Naturally. This much is child's play? I am quite skilled at hunting down moving targets..." He has plenty of practice at it. Ene takes it as a video game thing cuz Ene makes him play video games together and her faves are shooter types, but ahahaha, there's a much darker secret to that. After that, Ene is carrying a fluffy bunny plushie.

It'd also be fun to think about the Amusement Park Scenario with KonoEne too? KonoEne where Konoha just noms on Ene's cotton candy and she just gets all huffy at him. Also with the darts scenario, Konoha wouldn't hold back (cuz of how dense and airheaded he is), so him throwing the dart just creates a mini crater in the wall. Like it plays out much differently with KuroEne ofc.

KuroEne Art Ideas

1st Idea:

I imagined the art of concept of Kuroha lying next to Ene in a bed of Higanbana (Red Spider Lilies), known as the Corpse Flower, Hell Flower, and Flower of Death. Ene has her eyes closed and her arms folded (similar to how Ayano is posed like a corpse in the Additional Memory MV), while Kuroha has a smiling expression on his face.

And it’s a deliberate reference as well to “The next” (次の, Tsugi no) in the Outer Science MV, with “The next, next time this comes around… I'll still sneer!”

While Kuroha (metaphorically) stands on top of the dead bodies of all the Mekakushi Dan members from previous Routes (as a visual representation), with a snake-eye pupil above him.

2nd Idea:

So I imagine Kuroha wrapping his arms around Ene, holding her in a tight embrace, while he has a smirk on his face. One hand is on her shoulder, and the other hand is either carressing her face or resting on top of her head. And he has snakes and a black aura and tendrils around him as well.

I didn’t imagine it as “Kuroha turning to Konoha’s appearance” using Awakening Eyes, but rather, the process that shows Kuroha possessing Konoha’s body, and using Konoha’s Eye Ability, Awakening Eyes to change the appearance of the body and clothes.

Since he’s using Awakening Eyes, his eyes are also glowing red. I was thinking of an art concept that shows the mid-way process of Kuroha possessing Konoha’s body, so Konoha’s body has been half-turned. So on the arm that’s resting on top of Ene’s head (or carressing her cheek), the sleeve on this side is still white, like Konoha’s.

Scan: @/ayara-resara

Edit by me

TAKANE/ENE IS SO SHORT COMPARED TO HARUKA, KONOHA, AND KUROHA... MY WIFE IS SO TEENY TINY. I think I'm like ~1 cm taller than her LOL

Takane: 157 cm (5'1")

Haruka, Konoha, Kuroha: 182 cm (6'0")

Since y'know, it's Haruka's body.

Kuroha's Pet Names for Ene

Takane's full online gamer name was “Lightning Dancer Ene” or “Dancing Flash Ene” (閃光の舞姫・エネ, Senkou no Maihime - Ene), where Maihime (舞姫) means "Dancer girl.” The name “Ene” comes from “Enomoto Takane”

Dancing Girl (舞姫, Maihime, lit. "Dancing Princess")

So he could take the 姫 (Hime) from 舞姫 (Maihime) and call her "Princess"

Since his usages of "Queen" (女王, Joou) and "My Master" (わが主, Waga Aruji) are used towards Marry and Azami

Kuroha's pet name for Ene would probably be something like:

親愛なるウサギちゃん (Shin'ai naru Usagi-chan; "[My] dear/beloved [little] bunny/rabbit")

親愛なる is something that's really only used at the start of a letter, like you wouldn't hear IRL lovers call each other that, since couples have different ways to verbalize affection (like giving your partner affectionate nicknames to indicate intimacy, like the shortening of a name, a play on the name, etc.)

But considering Kuroha/Saeru's origins as a character and how Saeru is ??? years old, like, older than the world itself in KagePro, the dude is fucking ancient, and so, I think he would use more olden and archaic speech/terms sometimes. Iirc the word 親��なる (Shin'ai naru) was first created in the Meiji Era.

I do see 親愛なる (Shin'ai naru) used more in fiction like animanga and games, though.

This is mainly used in letters and texts, and rarely in actual conversation

Like you have to make up your own pet name like a variation on their name, shortened nickname or something else

Though JP hardly uses pet names like that in actual conversation and uses other affectionate nicknames

It's also old fashioned and archaic. Apparently, it originates from the Meiji period.

That's why if you see these kinds of phrases, it's mostly to translate from other languages.

Kuroha and KuroEne Misc Rambles

Kuroha flexes his knowledge to his S/O to prove just how much he knows about them, either by recounting memories of previous Routes to them or by recalling really specific details. That title was the gamer name Takane became known by. With the nickname "Little bunny" as a ref to Ene's cute twintails that look like bunny ears and also how a Snake can feed on bunnies as its prey.

And the general curiosity Kuroha has in wanting to add to his "knowledge bank," the excitement of either repeating or going through new experiences with his partner.

Like I think a lot of things are playing into their relationship dynamic. In the context of a Kuroha ship AU, I think what he feels is definitely obsession and a twisted form of affection. He wants to live forever (so he prioritizes his own goals), and he also sees it as like "I can be with you forever as long as I keep causing the time loop tragedy and we can keep meeting for eternity."

And there's a lot of other things too like the circumstances of HaruTaka and KonoEne's context, Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge, desire, and a craving/yearning for warmth, touch, and affection and validation on Ene's end, and the pull she feels for him because of the vessel he uses and his intimate knowledge of her. There's like that sinking realization that settles in, that the greatest enemy of the Mekakushi Dan knows her better than she knows herself.

Kuroha's "Knowledge/Wisdom"

He knows how to get under her skin and provoke her into acting (ie. Challenging Ene to make her want to rise up to the challenge and get competitive with him). He knows what to say to tease her to see her embarrassed, flustered reactions, since this guy would just be merciless at teasing

Like at this point in their relationship, he would know enough about her that he can read her reactions like an open book. In general, he savours seeing strong emotions being directed towards him.

He feeds off the desires and wishes of humans, which would include his partner in the context of a Kuroha ship AU.

Also dealing with Ene requires more patience than the average person would have imo, but good thing is, he's not an average person in the slightest, so he's perfectly content with playing the waiting game.

Like it would become obvious to him (after observing Ene throughout their interactions and encounters) is that Takane/Ene is very straightforward. Easy to read.

But also predictably unpredictable, so it keeps things fresh for him. Even if she can't admit it outright, he can guess her feelings pretty well. What's so interesting about Kuroha/Saeru is that this character is basically the manifestation of "Knowledge/Wisdom" as a concept, as a malevolent, cruel, sadistic, evil entity.

Takane/Ene gets flustered and embarrassed easily and really doesn't want to admit more honest feelings. The way that she holds onto her pride, and her bold haughty nature, feistiness and bravado, are some of the things about her that he finds amusing/interesting.

Also he knows how to steer convos into more tender territory and appease and flatter her, with Ene's impulsive nature and ever changing whims.

It shows the extent of his "advantage" or "edge" he has over his partner, like he holds the knowledge over them as a reminder that even if he relinquishes control in intimacy/roleplay, he is still in charge of and holds the power in their (bedroom) dynamic. And that knowledge is something he takes satisfaction in and gloats in.

Other Rambles

Something that I just realized is that a lot of my wives (the ones with softer, empathetic personalities) have this sense of melancholy and loneliness.

I need to talk more about this tomorrow or something…

Kuroha provokes Ene into getting more competitive with him

I feel like Kuroha often manages to goad Ene into getting competitive with him, but she doesn't fall for his provocations when he tells her stuff like how he wouldn't mind if she's rough with him in sex, even if it's painful, because he would still enjoy it.

Ene just shoots her sadistic/sadomasochistic bf's suggestions down right away, cuz unlike him, she is not the violent type, and she would still want it to feel good for him.

Also let's be fr, Kuroha is the only KagePro character that can manage to pull the kinky sex off (this character is a freak /pos), so the sex is just more fun to write for. I love writing meow meow mf charas with dark urges like that, cuz it makes ship interactions and intimacy (and sex) sooo much fun to write for.