#but like a revenant god-prince

[winepresswrath]

One of my favourite things about the locked tomb is the way it depicts love in the context of other people. Harrow loves Alecto loves John who feels some kind of way (tbd) about Gideon who loves Harrow, who is John's favourite. Nonalecto thinks Gideon is overrated but wants to be kissed enough to be kissable and Gideon makes friendship bracelets with Ianthe who wants to marry Harrow and whose sister is the other half of soul and her sickest obsession and her Barbie doll in a tower. Coronabeth is in love with Judith, who went to all their birthday parties. Judith is too sensible to have great loves, but the only people who really get to love in isolation are Gideon and Harrow and they mostly choose not to at the time. They're too busy being choked by trauma and duty and the miserable grind of isolation and loneliness. It's when we see them in the context of other people in Canaan house that the love becomes obvious. Love in the ecosystem of community. Ten thousand years of polycule hell. The most loyal man in the world being constantly torn between his two best friends, only to end up in a love triangle featuring bestie #1 and a woman desperately trying to kill bestie #2. There's no one it's safe to kill because everybody loves somebody. There's no vengeance that only targets the deserving.

[tgrailwar-zero]

Oh cool, what’d you learn about Assassin and The General?

"After speaking with the Revenant, I learned that the locals don't use 'General' to refer to their currently presiding Lair Servant, but 'Yuanshuai'. With that in addition to some other information I've gathered, I've ascertained that the Little One's true name may be 'Yin Yuanshuai', or Marshal Yin. The crown prince of the Shang Dynasty, a general during the war between the Zhou and Shang dynasties, and a god of calamity. Otherwise known as 'Taisui Xingjun' in his fully divine state."

"So it seems as if our little one is actually a little bit bigger than a 'general', hm?"

Was that a joke?

"Ahem."

"Back on topic, based on the description the Revenant gave me, it seems as if Charlemagne himself approached the Port in order to battle the General. Most likely to retrieve Yin Yuanshuai's Trigger Key."

"They fought, and Saber was powerful enough to gravely wound him, but he severed a part of himself off and sent it away with the key and his Spirit Core while the rest of his body perished in the attack. If this process was rushed, it also explains his amnesia and his child-like form. The little one possesses the General's Authority as a Lair Servant, the Trigger Key that holds said Authority… but only a fraction of his memories and his proper power as a Servant."

"...However, it doesn't explain the nature of the General. While certainly Taisui Xingjun can be seen as a divinity that presides over celestial bodies, his nature is antithetical to the Solar Cell. I'd theorize that a proper 'General' was summoned, but something happened and the Marshal was summoned in the gap, resulting in Yin Yuanshuai taking the role of 'General'."

He cleared his throat, his expression growing dour.

"In terms of the Assassin… it seems that you've been under observation of the Hashshashin for quite some time."

The Hashshashin. One of the most enigmatic and yet simultaneously noteworthy assassin orders known to man, led by the mysterious Hassan-i Sabbah. The very source of the word 'Assassin'- and therefore, conceptually, perhaps the absolute masters of the craft.

...Not exactly the types of people you wanted on your tail, and especially not the type of people you wanted as your enemies.

"In terms of allegiance, they're unaligned- or I suppose more properly, they're beholden to themselves. They reject Charlemagne's order, but they seem not to be aligned with the Solar Cell either."

[revenancy]

REVENANCY — a writeblr (re)intro

'sup.

→ I'm Riel. 26 going on "wait, I'm not already 27? I thought I was 28." Queer. Neurodivergent. Agender. Any pronouns work for me, though I'm especially fond of ve/vis/ver.

→ I grew up on YA and adult fantasy novels, and as an adult, there's nothing I love more than to sit down and write on my own silly little YA and adult fantasy novels. I would love to be published some day, trad or selfpub. If I can reach one person in the same way my favorite authors have reached me, that's a success.

→ I have too many projects to count. I mean that entirely literally. Here are a couple that I love and I'm trying to write or revise at some point in the next year:

UNCHOSEN: When the Chosen dies, her twin sister is forced to fake her own death and take her place to prevent their home from falling into chaos.

THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS: A disowned crown prince ekes out an existence teaching his half-siblings. A journeyman political assassin is caught breaking down the bodies. Navigating the court alone is hard – but together, it's deadly.

BEARSKIN: When a hunter kills an ancient snow bear, her brother is stolen as payment for her crime. She treks across the snow to bring him home, but the Prince of Always Night, enigmatic Winter himself, won't let him go unless she plays his game. Curses, after all, must be paid out.

SALT & SILVER: A College alchemist and a guardsman in a little frontier town track down a necromancer who's trying to wake the ghost of a forgotten god – but that's what he's counting on.

→ I'm looking for new (or old) writeblrs to follow – my old account got completely destroyed, so this is a hard reset for me, and I'd like to find some more people to interact with!

→ I follow back, and I love tag games and ask games, even if I don't always have the energy to keep up with them. I also love all of y'all's projects, even if I don't always have the energy. Neurodivergence and a full time job are great, y'all.

Much love!

[allgirlsareprincesses]

Mythical Husbands in Willow (2022)

(Adapted from my Twitter thread)

Ok, time for a stream-of-consciousness thread about mythical husbands in #Willow: lost husbands, enchanted husbands, false husbands, mortal husbands, and demon lovers. #Graylora

After Ep4 of #Willow, I count at least 4 mythical husbands: Airk, Graydon, the Lich (stay with me), and... Madmartigan. I'm not including Willow himself in this, at least until we find out what happened to Kiaya.

False husbands and false brides are very common in folk tales, but usually the FIRST bride is the True Bride, while the SECOND husband is the True Husband. A True Bride has to master trials in order to prove herself, while a True Husband must humble himself to recover his bride.

There are many variations of the false husband, including the Demon Lover (sometimes the literal devil), a Revenant (undead lover), Incubus (avatar of the bride's sexual fantasies), the prince's beastly form, or a mortal man whose mundanity leads him to abandon his bride.

Thus far, #Willow seems to be blending these a lot, which is great in that it gives these husbands a lot of complexity. First, Airk: as @whattheforce has suggested, he's likely a false husband, most obviously the mundane mortal who fails to appreciate his extraordinary bride.

One example of this type of husband from myth is Theseus, who relies on Princess Ariadne to defeat the Minotaur and escape the Labyrinth, but then abandons her on an island. She wakes to find the god Dionysus, who makes her his consort.

Airk's immature love of "Dove" is a sort of emotional abandonment, showing that he is an inadequate partner for Elora even if she rescues him. Further, if the Crone manages to corrupt Airk, he will be a demon lover, who is sometimes (but not always) a false husband.

We see some other aspects of the Ariadne myth in #Willow, especially with how Elora is "tied" to Airk by the bracelet he gave her, and then tied to Graydon by the binding he tried to release in Ep3 and the belt she tied around him in Ep4.

Airk could also be classified as Elora's Incubus, given how sexually aggressive she is with him. This will be especially true if the Crone attempts to use her attraction to Airk to lure or corrupt her. Important note though: an Incubus is not necessarily a false husband (Kylo)!

The Lich qualifies as a demon lover when he uses Graydon as a vessel to pursue Elora. Specifically, the Lich is a Revenant or undead lover who tries to lure the bride into the underworld. Sometimes the Revenant can take the form of a lost lover, like Graydon using Airk's voice.

When possessed by the Lich and his past brush with dark magic, Graydon is also HIMSELF a demon lover or beastly husband, particularly demonstrated by his scarring and later facial deformity, the beastly skin which Elora must burn or consume to reveal the true husband underneath.

My favorite example of a Revenant tale is The Blood-Drawing Ghost, in which Kate finds a blackthorn wand atop a fresh grave. When she grasps it, the corpse demands she carry him to a manor where he drains and eats the blood of three young men. When she returns him to his grave, he tries to drag her in, but Kate outwits him and escapes, returning to the manor to feed the young men their own blood (which she cleverly refused to eat), reviving them. She then chooses one as a husband, discovers the dead man's hidden treasure, and lives happily ever after.

In #Willow Elora discovers her magic (making her the rightful owner of Cherlindrea's wand) and then is pursued by the agents of death. The Crone tries to use the blood of Airk, Kit, and Graydon to revive herself, and Elora fights back by cooking for or feeding others.

Graydon, though a prince and therefore a fitting partner for a goddess by fairy tale logic, can also be considered a mortal husband. The goddess of the dawn Eos or Aurora was known to take mortal lovers, notably a Trojan prince whom she gifted immortality.

Elora too is a goddess of light with a name that sounds very similar to Aurora and whose story includes many references to Sleeping Beauty variations like Brunhild. This Valkyrie was cursed to sleep under her shield and surrounded by a ring of fire until a hero could revive her.

Sleeping princesses are typically revived by the appearance of their true husband, and sometimes by that husband calling her by her true name. Immediately after Willow reveals Elora's identity, Graydon is the first to address her as such, awakening her from her disbelief.

In some tales, a sleeping princess is awakened first, and then her husband is cursed and must be healed. This is exactly the pattern followed by Elora and Graydon so far. Further, a ring will often play into the lovers' reunion, so I would expect Graydon's ring to be significant.

Lastly, a prominent lost husband in #Willow is Madmartigan, and I feel it is extremely likely that he, or at least his unreslved loss, will play a role in this season's conclusion. Because Sorcha chose to retreat behind the Barrier to protect her children, she never sought him the way that heroic brides typically do. As a Snow Queen archetype, Sorcha's role is to let her children go, and given Kit and Airk's unresolved issues with their father's disappearance, they may complete the quest she should have taken (Elora too).

Furthermore, Madmartigan could himself have become a demon husband in his time away - he might be dead (in the underworld) or transformed in some way, in which case he would need to be healed or integrated in some way by a power associated with Sorcha (likely through Kit).

Lastly, just in case anyone is wondering why Elora NEEDS a husband at all, it's the same reason that Kit needs a bride: alchemical union is the path to wholeness and the healing of the world which as #Willow said is out of balance!

/end (for now!)

Sources:

In Search of the Swan Maiden: A Narrative on Folklore and Gender by Barbara Fass Leavy

Sleeping Beauties: Sleeping Beauty & Snow White Tales From Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner

https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tfgw/tfgw33.htm

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Alright so John Constantine gets a call from an ex… who owns part of his soul. (This is my Viking btw)

“John, I will give you your soul back if you do me a favour.”

“Uhh…”

“I will TELL you what they’re going to do to you when you die if you do this for me.”

“Aren’t they gonna just fight each other luv?”

“Don’t call me that and oh god you fucking DUMBASS.”

So John agrees and comes to see her. With her is a young boy in the shape of a 5 year old.

“John, you idiot, this is Danny Phantom. Crown Prince of the Infinte Realms. I need you to take care of him for a few years.”

Constantine goes brain dead and kind of splutters. Because WHAT?! But it’s legit.

Viking here was taking care of Danny but can’t anymore because the LOA took exception to her murdering Ra’s again by dismembering him while scattering his pieces and blowing up a Lazarus Pit so they’re hunting her. She has to take care of that. Danny was in her care as a favour to Clockwork because he was badly hurt during a fight with the GIW and so his parents got him to CW, and went to deal with it. Turned into a suicide run and killed them. Sam, Tucker and Jazz died to sadly, and now are ghosts along with the adult Fentons. But the Infinite Realms aren’t safe for Danny as Vlad is trying to take control as due to his injuries Danny had to be deaged.

Viking is really short on people to call. She’s an immortal Viking who fights for fun and has more enemies then friends. Constantine is the ONLY ONE she trusts.

Yeah she’s aware how sad it is. But she can’t give the kid to anyone else. Even the baby Revenant she fucks with isn’t a choice due to him subconsciously eating all the ectoplasm around him. Danny can’t fight that off. Meaning she can’t go to Batman.

So she has to get Constantine. So now he’s in charge of baby Danny. Of course he doesn’t want to but Viking reveals that “Before the injury Danny had to do paperwork for the Realms and got so annoyed at your soul bullshit he declared he’d give people a 10 year tax reduction for your soul. He owns all of it now. And if Vlad manages to get the throne your soul will belong to him.”

A crazy ghost obsessed with control or a boy who went: I dunno I’ll make him like… clean shit? Who knows. I’m done with his bull.

Yeah not much choice. So now John is in charge of Danny!!

Other notes:

- Danny remembers and doesn’t remember being his proper age. He’ll remember more when he’s older though.

- Danny is a little shit as a child whose embraced the feral Racoon life.

- Viking routinely gets chased by the LOA, usually though it takes a few years after she’d murked Ra’s. It’s been 5 since and he came back way to early. She’s gonna drop his head into the ocean next time. She’s also going to get her own body chopped up but she’s going to make it hell for them first.

- I like the idea that Constantine went and spoke to Batman about backup for this. Batman was on the watchtower, heard Constantine was talking to an old ex. He decides to put speakers on and listen in with the rest of the JL for shits and giggles.

- Batfam is also listening in.

- Constantine didn’t actually know what a Revenant was, getting them confused with Remnant which to be fair are kind of similar. Everyone else actually did to. Viking finds it funny.

- This is how Jason learns he’s one to and that he has to kill the Joker to actually die. He’s a little smug that Bruce has to let him do it now or damn him to walking the world.

- Constantine being the dad of the next Ghost King is both hilarious to everyone and terrifying but really: he’s the ONLY ONE other then Batman who can do it as Gotham is heavily protected thanks to *hand wave* and no one else has as much history with the occult like he does. Or as many fingers in pies or whatever the saying is.

[eye-lantern]

Do you think BOE names are foreshadowing?

Commander Wake, last name "oops there goes gravity", died falling from space.

Oh yes.

I never thought about this one specifically (her other names are great but I'll Comme back to them later), but I believe that the names always have at least a bit of a link to the true nature of the character or their role in the story.

I don't think anyone in the tlt universe is able to understand it, except maybe John, as he does name people with the knowledge of what those names meant before he nuked everything. Like a twisted inside joke or a wish that it would "take". Kinda like some parents chose a name for it's associated virtues.

But on the other side, BoE has done kind of the same. They don't live forever and meaning will get lost over a myriad, so they tried to preserve their culture by giving names with meaning, but a lot of it is lost to them (I think they still have some context because a lot of those are way too close to their original meaning even if they don't seem to make any sense at first. They are the only one appart from God to use names like he does.

About Wake, I don't think anyone in BoE ever pronounced Wake's last names like in the song but there is no way Jod did not take psychic damage the first time he heard it. Because it is a stupid reminder of what he destroyed, and then erased from everyone he resurrected.

Awake Remembrance of These Valiant Dead:

From Shakespeare's Henry V, meaning "remind yourself of the great deeds of your ancestors". It speaks to Wake's strength and unification of BoE, she is the incarnation of the survivors or Jod's carnage, and of the rebellion's myriad of history.

But to me it also is a call for Gideon. The original sentence is meant to convince Henry V that he should raise an army to take back what is rightfully his, the throne of France. Gideon's heritage is the throne of god, and the command of BoE. We could say she took the first as prince Kiriona Gaia but she didn't do it by Valliance. To do that she would have to kill Jod.

"Awake", is also in a very simple way what she does, she has tried to wake Alecto, she "woke up" Pyrrah by giving her a reason to take control of Gide1n more frequently, she took control as soon as she was woken up as a ghost and became a revenant, and when her daughter's sword entered the mithraeum she regularly woke up as a dead lyctor. And she is of course the Sleeper, who won't stay sleeping. Like, almost on the nose there.

Kia Hua Ko Te Pai (let goodness flourish):

That one is a slap in Jod's face. He is at least mixed Maori/indigenous. This is a part of the Maori version of the New Zealand national anthem. New Zealand's beginnings were bloody and monstrously racist. Having the Maori version of God save New Zealand become an official anthem was the recognition of decades of fighting done by Maori activists for their rights, against the imperialism of the state. Jod's pretty recent ancestors have known that fight. And now he is that oppressing, cruel and inhuman empire. And Wake is throwing this reminder in his face.

If those choices are conscious from BoE then the choice of this precise verse could be used to ground Wake, ala "don't forget why you are doing this".

Snap back to reality, oops, there goes gravity

For BoE necromancy is a crime against nature, an unwelcome alteration of reality itself. And Jod is the incarnation of that. Killing him would make the world "snap back". It would also "kill" the sun again, creating a giant gravity well, absorbing everything in the system, or just disseapear, flinging the system all across the galaxy. Either way, gravity's gonna have quite an effect.

As the phrase comes from "loose yourself" by Eminem, it could also be taken as a reminder of the daunting task ahead and a way for Wake to steel herself and "take her shot".

And she, as you said, died falling out an airlock at the edge of space.

Our lady of the Passion:

This one may be one of the most fascinating. Sure she is passionate and all but, Pash is named after a painting, on of a madone and child. The lady in question is mourning the future suffering of her child, his Passion.

I think BoE names are codenames, given when entering service by a superior. Because Pash would not chose that name. But someone we know would choose a powerful sounding name while also being a sorrowful reminder of the pain this child entering a fighting force will face, Wake.

And suffer she did.

All of those are both a good fit if chosen in universe, but also include prophecies or dramatic irony. Seeing that House names carry that dramatic irony/prophecy too (Corona was almost called Cainabeth), I believe it is a intrinsic property of the locked tomb universe.

[hypvalsqr]

Thinking about a trans knight rescuing the t4t Prince(ess)

It started with the maidservants. They disappeared in the twilight. Two of the four guards posted outside their quarters were found dead, leaned peacefully against each other but undeniably rent beneath their armor. The King raged the next morning. He shouted and struck and simmered, outraged that not a single one of his men had seen anything. Nobody except the stable boy, who whimpered out a tale of the man in charred armored, moving like a ghost. The King withdrew.

Next it was the sheep. The shepherds were furious, their dogs perplexed. Neither had woken in the night, and so come the break of dawn every sheep in the kingdom had been marched through the woods to God knows where. At first they found no traces. A tuft of wool on the tree here, a half eaten apple there. Nothing to point to a culprit, save for two things that a shepherds daughter caught. Her father's crook was missing. And someone had taken a handful of grain.

On the third night, when a sheepdog's howl broke moonlit quiet, chaos broke out. From a parapet a guard saw the townspeople scatter. Some to the woods, some to cellars, some just sat and wailed. I never found out what the Knight said to them to frighten them so. By the time the guard descended the inner wall to ring the alarum it was too late. The sound of his armor thudding into the cobble woke me.

I looked out my window and saw him.

He moved like a revenant of the future. It was like he'd fought these same battles hundreds of times, seen the same moves, the same malice. Judging by the look of his armor I believed it. His pauldrons were battered, his sabatons dull. His gauntlets frayed at the fingertips and his chestplate was rippled with an indiscernible matrix of interlocking slashes. He had clearly seen more battle than any living man in my father's kingdom. Beneath his visor I caught a glimpse of dark umber eyes. They excited me and I shuddered.

"Father!" I ran to his chambers. More guards rushed past me, some carrying bows, others were only half dressed. A scream echoed up the stairs.

"Father, we must!" I burst through his door and crumbled to the floor at the sight. My father, the King, was backed into a corner on the ground and looming over him with a sword casually held as his jugular was the Knight.

And his sword.

Gleamed.

I couldn't get anything out other than a whimper. The Knights head swiveled and tilted at me. I guess he parsed me as a non-threat because his head whipped right back around to the King just in time to see him draw a dagger hidden beneath his belt. The Knight effortlessly stepped on his wrist, disarming him. I felt a twinge of guilt and jealousy. My father had tried so hard to mold me into a good knight, a strong warrior. It was no good. He wanted someone who could wield a sword and conquer. But I just didn't have it in me. Now that someone stood in front of me, so clearly suited to armor, who swings a sword as if it were a part of their own body I understood the depths of my own inadequacy and it felt like freedom. His purpose was infectious.

"Wait." I said, holding up a hand.

"He tried to wed me, you know," The Knight spoke clearly, "And on our first night he was a beast. It's a kingdom of beasts he rules. One of injustice, and cruelty, and captivity. The words of his son will not sway my hand."

"I'm not his son."

The words lingered. The Knight's hand shivered. My father tried to break the silence and the Knight in turn silenced him.

"Then perhaps you'll understand why. Why I rescued those workers and livestock for a new kingdom up north. Maybe you understand why I need to do this."

I felt the sword's edge sting from ten feet away.

"Take me with you."

The knight sniffed and thought. Then with one hand he wrenched off his helmet and tossed it to me. I still couldn't see his face through his chain hood.

"Put it on."

I obliged. The helmet was much too big for me and I couldn't see a thing. I sat there and waited and a moment later I felt one hand slip under my back. Another under my legs. And we flew. The knight ran down the stairs, through the courtyard, out the portcullis and into the night. I could tell we'd entered the woods by the buzz of insects and the twigs snapping underfoot but the Knight never stopped moving. If I didn't know better I'd have assumed we were on horseback given our speed. He faltered as we got deeper in, tripping on roots and getting caught in brambles, taking care to keep me out of any thorny patches. I clutched him tighter.

Finally we stopped and he gently set me by a tree. I heard clanking and ratcheting noises and assumed he must be removing his armor. After a moment he removed the helmet from my head and in the moonlit clearing I saw glory.

His skin was a darker shade than his armor. His locks gentle framed his face which gazed at the stars. My eyes traced his muscles and I noticed they were crisscrossed with scars. He was soaked through with sweat and the past.

I reached up and grasped his arm. His skin was soft.

"Are we safe now?" I asked.

Through gasping breaths, "I promise."

______________________________________________________________

thanks for reading all the wayyy! i figured since i've been doin short stories more regularly i should just post them here for people. i don't plan to do any actual editing on these lol but please give me feedback regardless. i'll just throw em all under the #my writing tag

lowkey not sure how i feel about this piece, i need to work on making my stuff more blatantly queer

oh and then they made out sexual style and the princess kissed and licked all of his battle/top surgery scars

[gorbalsvampire]

God damn it, now I'm extemporising a VTDA game - War of Princes. RTS/RPG hybrid, think Dawn of War II, Retribution style 'cause swapping heroes for honour guard units aligns really nicely with bringing along other members of your coterie or retainers. Would need to flesh out the between-levels storytelling with some more meaningful choices, maybe espionage opportunities or managing Traditional violations. Bring in a little bit of map play - not full on 4X but some domain level stuff in between taking your squad out to kick ass and chew necks.

It could map really nicely onto some of the less-commonly-seen-in-vidjagames clans, ideally ones with cool and unusual minions to bring along - like, you'd have Gangrel with ghouled animal retainers, Cappadocians with animated corpses and wraiths (obviously hot swapping for a named Giovanni), Tzimisce with revenants/szlachta/vozhd, Tremere with familiars and gargoyles, Lasombra with eldritch summoned shadow things? Reverse the usual expectations and have the Boring Clans and their ghouled humans as the antagonists. Really lean into "you are the monster" as an aesthetic and gameplay theme.

[cyberbasementcollection]

If I made a mortal kombat game part3 the character bios (the good guys)

Scorpion

After regaining his humanity and reforming the Shirai-ryu, Hanzo Hasashi had trained many individuals who lost their families. Thoug five years ago he made a grave mistake, after killing Quan Chi in a fit of rage it has left the revenants corupted by his necromancy. After word of Shinnok's return Hanzo joines the forces of light once more to defeat Shinnok.

Sub-Zero

Kuai Liang and his older brother Bi Han were born with the ability of crymancy, serving the Lin Kuei clan. Until the first Mortal Kombat tournament Bi Han, using the aliase Sub-Zero, was killed by the specter Scorpion. Kuai Liang took on the Sub-Zero mantle and went to Outworld to find his brother's killer. Meanwhile, the Lin Kuei grandmaster had embarked on the cyber initiative frocefuly converting members into cybernetic warriors. Sub-Zero was one of them, thanks to Raiden, he had regained his humanity and reformed the Lin Kuei, as a clan dedicated to the protection of Earthrealm.

Nood Saibot

After his death in the hands of Scorpion, and resurection by Quan Chi. Noob Saibot was once Bi Han, the elder Sub-Zero. after his death in the first Mortal Kombat he was sent to the Netherrealm and became a warrior of shadow, after he was trowned into the soulnado by the shaman Nightwolf, he found himself at the presense of the elder gods. Making him their champion, when he heard Shinnok returned Nood Saibot joined the forces of light to fight the fallen god.

Sareena

A demon spaired by Bi Han. Sareena had always wanted to see the beauty of Earth, but due to her Netherrealm origins it was difficulte for her to escape. During the Outworld invation she managed to escape and took on a human like apperance. After she heard of Bi Han's death, she dedicated herself to be the Lin Kuei's gardian demon.

Jade

Born to edenian nobility and childhood friend to Kitana. After outworld merged with edenia, Jade became one of Shao Kahn's deadliest assassins. During the Outworld invation of Earth she joined the forces of light to stop Shao Kahn, she was later killed by the empres Sindel, Jade's soul was used by Quan Chi to revive her as a revenant. When Shinnok reformed himself in a new body , she finds herself conflicted about takeing over Earthrealm she rejoines the forces of light to defeat Shinnok.

Sonya Blade

A member of the special froces, general Sonya Blade has been through a lot after the first Mortal Kombat. Being one of the sole survivors of the Outworld invation. She became more concerned with her work, leaving her daugther behinde to be raised by her father. After the death of Johnny Cage and the reamergense of Shinnok, she joines Raiden and the forces of light to Kombat this treath.

Kitana

A princes of the realm of edenia, Kitana was raised as the child of Shao Kahn. After he merged edenia with outworld and forced her mother, Sindel, to become his queen. Kitana was one of the emperor's top assassins, she was not as booldthirsty as he hoped. After she found out about her clone sister made to replace her, she joined the forces of light but was later killed by her own mother. Kitana's soul was use by Quan Chi to bring her back as a revenant, after she cought Shinnok manipulating Lui Kang, She rejoined the forces of light to defeat Shinnok and save her beloved.

Cassie Cage

Like her mother, Cassie Cage is a member of the special forces. Daugther of action movie star Johnny Cage and special forces member Sonya Blade, Her parents were among the few fighters to survive the Outworld invation of Earth. She 's as strong willed as her mother, and as quick witted as her father. After hearing of her father's death in the hands of Shinnok, Cassie Cage joines the forces of light to beat the fallen god.

Raiden

The God of Thunder, Raiden is the protector of Earthrealm. Millennia ago he and the elder gods defeated shinnok when the latter sought control over the realms, and imprisoning him in his own amulet. More reacently He thwarted Outworld's chances of merging with Earthrealm. First through the Mortal Kombat tournament, second via invation, but victory came at a cost many of his colsest allies were killed in the battle. Raiden had heard rumors that the amulet, thought to be gaurded in a vault for decades had been stolen.

Nightwolf

Gray cloud is one of the few mortals with a strong connection to the spirit world. After the original Nightwolf sacaraficete himself to defeat Sindel, he had taken on the mantle of Nightwolf and gaurdian of the matoka. A powerfull native ameracan shaman, he is guided by empyrean forces and communes with divine beings such as haokah, known to the east as Raiden. His devotion allows the spirits to work through him. Granting him eternal weapons and abilities to aid him in the battle againts Shinnok's forces.

(the dlc fighters)

Chat Noir

Wielder of the black cat miraculous, The teen model Adrien Agreste using the name Chat Noir has been fighting evil since his first year in high school. One of paris's many heroes he wieldes the power of destruction by using his cataclysim. After the mystiries disaperaneses of Hawkmoth and Ladybug, he and other miraculous wielders have been protecting paris from unworldly treaths.

Bunnix

Wielder of the rabbit miraculous, Alix Kubdel using the name Bunnix has been fighting evil since her third year in high school. Another one of paris's heroes, she wieldes the power to travle throuhg time using her burrow enabling the holder to go to a pocket demention. When Hawkmoth and Ladybug randomly disapear, her, Adrien, Juleka and more have been protecting paris from the Outworld treath.

Ermac

A coletive of over 10000 souls fused into one body, as the being Ermac. Created as punisment for resisting Shao Kahn's claim to edenia, he was one of the emperor's enforcers. It is speculated that king Jerrod (Kitana's true father) is a part of his coletive, after the deafeat of Shao Kahn and the disapearanes of Kotal Kahn. Ermac has become Outworld's new ruler aiding Earthrealm in the battle againts darkness.

Mayura

Wielder of the peacock miraculous, Nathalie Sancoeur using the name Mayura, a nemesis of the teen heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir. Wielding the power of amokization, wich allows the wielder to manifest a Sentimonster. After Hawkmoth akumatized his own son she find herself questioning the cause she fights for. When she heard of Hawkmoth and Ladybug's suden disapearaneses she decides to protecte paris instede of terroizing it.

Purple Tigress

A former victim of Hawkmoth's akumatazation and now wielder of the tiger miraculous, Juleka Couffaine using the name Purple Tigress has been beating the forces of evil since her second year in high school. As one of paris's gaurdians she wields the power to gather a tremendous amount of energy into their fist and unleash a very powerful punch by using her clout. When word came out about the disapearanese of Ladybug and Hawkmoth, her and many others defen paris at all costs

[bad0mens]

WIP LIST MEME

Tagged by @suspiciouspopsicle <><><>

Everything currently in the works is Octopath Traveler 2 (who could have possibly guessed?) Tagging @auncyen (if you feel like doing it! no pressure!)

Actively working on!

Casting Shadows - Partitio/Hikari Supernatural Horror/Urban Fantasy Modern AU Where Partitio and Papp move to an apartment in a new city and Partitio finds himself entrenched in a darkness he could never have imagined. (Probably about 2/3s or so complete, updates monthly on average. Read Here.)

Salve for Serpents - Castti/Throne faery tale inspired Fantasy AU, a follow up to The Prince and the Magpie, where Castti and Throne try to find a way to break the curse that binds them together. The first two chapters up Here.

A Mother's Blade - Canon Divergence fic about Kura being the chosen warrior and searching the continent for her lost son, Hikari, and finding herself entangled in the machinations of the country that she's left behind. First chapter Here.

Where The Wind Calls Home - Partitio/Hikari Stardew Valley AU. Partitio finds himself smitten with the new farmer in town, Hikari, a polite and quiet man, who's smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. Two of Eight total parts Here (along with a recipe in the notes of part two.)

Backburnered (for now)

The Light Goes On - Crick/Temenos faery tale inspired Fantasy AU, where Temenos has been charged with the murder of the Pontiff and must make a pilgrimage to atone before the gods before his execution. Along the way, they meet Ochette, and Temenos starts to get answers to more mysteries than just how the Pontiff died. 3rd fic in the cycle starting with The Prince and the Magpie.

Untitled Fantasy AU - Fourth in the cycle starting with The Prince and the Magpie (if I get around to it before I lose steam), which sees Osvald and Agnea thrown together for their own goals, better off together than alone. Agnea has never left home, but the cursed shoes on her feet compel her to move and dance at the slightest music, and Osvald, who seeks the knowledge that might save his wife and daughter. Not romance fic like the others, but will focus on Osvald and Agnea growing into a father/daughter type relationship (there may be background romance, but it will not be for these two).

Untitled Canon Divergence/Meta fic where the travelers are all revenants, stuck undying until they've completed the tasks the gods have chosen them for, banding together in this bitter immortality and trying to forge friendships and relationships with each other, as no other people know the same pain that they do.

Untitled Canon Divergence where guns exist en masse thanks to the Roque Company, and it just so happens that General Mugen of Ku shows a great interest in what help these new weapons might prove in his bid for the throne of Ku, and further, the world.

Untitled Canon/post Canon fic with Fire Emblem Awakening influences, where Hikari and Partitio have an adopted daughter who travels back in time to save them from some unknown threat. (will probably feature other adopted children from other pairings if I ever really get it off the ground).

I lied about it all being Octopath Traveler 2!

I have one original story that's currently backburnered.

Detective Lilith - 1910s era period mystery piece about a cross dressing autistic lesbian detective. Meant to be the first in a series kind of like Poirot, but featuring lots of queer people and POC in a wide variety of roles and relationships. I had a bit of a breakthrough on it recently regarding the mystery so I might be picking it up again soon.

[magicalyaku]

You probably can't tell from the amount of books in the picture (six books plus one I ditched), but I didn’t read that much in April. Mostly because after the first week I picked up writing again. The silly story my friend and I built back in January. It took three and a half weeks and the first draft is finished, yay! Will it be good? How should I know? 8-D But I’m having fun, even if the real work is only starting now. On to what I read in April!

Daresh - Im Herz des Weißen Waldes (Daresh, at the Heart of the White Woods or something) (Katja Brandis): This is one of the worst books I read in a while. I read this at my artist alley table at a convention and I cannot keep a nice face when I read bullshit and I didn’t want to scare customers away with my scowling face the second day, so I just stopped reading after the first half. I was so frustrated with the book. If you're interested in the full tale, refer to the end of the post. :)

The Merceneries of the Stolen Moon (Tales of the High Court 4) (Megan Derr): I knew from the moment Charlaine was introduced in volume 3 that he would be important just by the way his presence is on the pages. I think, the author likes him. :'D Jac and Myra have been around since volume 1 and never gave off so heavy protagonist vibes. Anyway, here's another book trying to break out of the mold, introducing a polycule and all. Personally, with my aro brain the thought of two people finding each other and fitting together so perfectly is beyond me, so three people feeling that way towards each other seems like a even more of a miracle. Good for them, I guess! I read this right after Daresh and damn, what a blessing to my soul. The difference in writing and worldbuilding. One might argue, yeah, one was written for kids, the other for adults, but there's plenty of good books for kids and plenty of bad for adults, so that's not it. One book in the series left!

Lord of Silver Ashes (Rowan Blood 2) (Kellen Graves): Of god, I naively thought, this would end with volume 2. It DOES NOT. I learned halfway through and lost my will to read for a while. xD It does make sense from all the stuff that is happening. Because there is a lot and it builds up and builds up and builds up. But still. If I had known what I got myself into ... It is a good story though. It just took me so much longer to read than I'm used to, because of all the descriptions and pretty words. I have respect for how it is written, as in the style and the plot building. It's not just some easy, smutty lovestory with fairy princes. Behind the veil masking the beantighe's face is a whole complex person. And so is this series. (But it took soo long to read! I don’t get it!)

Spellbound (F.T. Lukens): This one was just cute. So warm and fluffy. There are some serious things going on and all and there characters have issues not to be taken too lightly. But overall, it was a total comfort read for me. Settle back into your cozy sofa and let your heart be healed. (Also there’s a magical cat.)

The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence 1) (K.D. Edwards): This was kind of a culture shock. Took my brain a while to adjust. Adult men, modern setting, but still some sort of (wild) magic, so much action. But it’s interesting. And how to say it ... not sappy? While there’s a lot of danger to the protagonists’s life, it’s still not overly emotional and I like that once in a while. Also, Brand is great.

Shade & Revenant (Oracle of Senders 1+2) (Mere Joyce): After The Last Sun I found that I didn’t have anything in my book pile that felt right to read, so I had a look in my potential reads and chose this. And it was perfect, exactly what I needed. Simple, not too dramatic, but still engaging, nice characters, quite short. Pure 14-year-olds in the first volume, the cutest little romance in the second volume. I read both volumes back to back and only stopped because I wanted a little more time to enjoy. :D

And now, my full thoughts on a bad German fantasy book that I didn’t even finish! Daresh by Katja Brandis:

The Story: The world of Daresh is split into 4 territories for 4 guilds: Earth, wind, fire and water. And they hate each other. There are also half-humans (different animal races that can talk) who are mainly kept as slaves. Heroine Rena, 16 years, touches some important stone in the castle of the Queen and gets the ability to understand the half-humans’s language and is also hunted because touching is prohibited! She runs away, meets a woman from the fire guild, there’s some secret stuff going on and they decide to go unite the guilds.

The Worldbuilding: I hate it. For a long time I wondered why it bothered me so much, until I realized, it’s probably because I couldn’t figure out the intended audience. The heroine is 16, her love interest and other allies are even older, so I thought, it’s a story for 15- or 16-year-olds. But. The way the world is built is very black and white which I don’t find acceptable for readers that age. Teenagers are smarter than this. Where’s the nuance? The guilds all hate each other, they have a lot of prejudices and are not willing at all to rethink. And this is going on for many many years (100 maybe, I have no idea), but the heroine is apparently the very first person ever to think differently. And sorry, that is not believable. Even if people don’t speak up or actively do something there will always be some who do not share those beliefs. Not in this book. Maybe I just want to believe that people a generally good. In any case it was super annoying.

The Love Story: Is shit. 1) Why is it there in the first place? 2) The way it is written kinda grossed me out. (I can’t even say why. I read smut involving three people the day after and it was fine, but the way this girl swoons over her guy was so icky to me.) 3) The guy is so bland. I didn’t like the heroine as a character very much, but the guy was so nondescript. Also, he had an anger problem? And I’m not sure if it was intended to make him seem dangerous and therefore hot? If so, it didn’t work well. So, there’s the girl and she has a crush on some neighbor’s boy who doesn’t even notice her in the beginning. All good. While on the run already, she meets him by chance out in the woods (totally believable), he is mean to her, because she ruined his important day (the reason everyone went to the castle blabla), and she realized “oh, now I don’t like him anymore”. Alright. Then, like 5 pages later, literally the next male she meets who is around her age (a few years older), she falls for. Hmmm. They exchange like three words. She meets him again half the world later. He saves her life. They run away together and maybe talk more, but we hardly get any of that. They spent the night sleeping 200feet apart and the next day both are madly in love and after a fight with some thugs they kiss. Errr.... Another few days later they reach the next town, vanish into a room to do stuff that is not written (thankfully in this case because I would have vomited all over my table) and then they fight about something silly. I think they reconciled before I stopped reading but I don’t even care. A review for volume 3 of the series told me she gets another guy there, so ...

The Writing: Was fine for the most part, but. There’s no metric system instead every unit is something from nature like breath and person and ... I forgot. The breaths, though, were so annoying? They’re like seconds and come up every other page. There’s no “after a short while” or “it took a long time”, it’s “it didn’t take just 300 breaths, but 3 times 300″ and “after 4 times 11 breaths”. For real. It was so stupid. Who sits there to count till 300? Or starts calculating? I hated it so much after a while. 8D

I do regret a little that I didn’t finish because now I always have to say “maybe it got better after the first half”. But at the same time I don’t really care. I’m not wasting more of my life with these books. (The way the first half frustrated me I would probably be blind to anything good in the second half anyway.)

That’s it!

[revenant-coining]

ok reassessed my gender so:

tastes: carbonated

smells: smoke maybe

feels ( texture ): doesn't have one Cam doesn't think

feels ( emotion / feeling / sensation ): playful, caring, reckless, confident, cocky, angry, loving, affectionate, chaotic, sleepy, warm

looks: doesn't look like anything

sounds: loud, rock music, yelling, angry, purring, trilling, chirping

mainly static ( baseline-wise ) changes in intensity when engaged with / themes are engaged with

pangender, *insert that complicated diagram Cam made that one time*

term collector. hoards related terms even if doesn't fully identify. avpd, dpd, autism, migraines, low / no empathy, and dpdr effects gender. sleeps effects general, pain affects ( intensifies ) masculinity.

fem in a boy way, masc, man, chaos, slime creatures, god / deity / embodiment, sleep, warmth, love ?, affection, alcohol, music ( rock, glass animals, imagine dragons, etc ), halos, feather wings, mer, revenant, death, gore, blood, nose bleeds, brusies, dogboy / puppy, ocean, darkness, shadows, fire / burning ( that's new ), gold, blue, hot pink, weapons, apocalypse, eyeless jack maybe, incubus, ferality, parkour, cursing, pain, poolrooms, stars but kinda,

notes: prince went bye bye completely wtf, almost all media went bye bye, decent amount of nonhuman section went bye bye

re look into neo umbrellas, cause that changed to ( like no luxine anymore ?? )

have 2 redo "word" section so find new: lexic, penamic, namic, nimic, usrnamic, letters, quoteic, tagged, titleic / percitle, Refe-comfic,

[aarcanechaoss]

Books 📚

Books I’ve been reading and my thoughts without spoilers

This is to make up for how busy and sick I’ve been

Sarah J Maas books

Okay that feels like an obvious one to recommend with the Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City books, being well know but I am doing my rereads of them in preparation for CC book 3

Honestly I really enjoy the world building, the fantasy of it all and how strong the female characters are. There is pretty much no smut in TOG (until book 5 to 7 where there are maybe 3/4 scenes overall). ACOTAR has more smut but it’s not particularly descriptive until book 5 (ACOSF). CC is mostly heavy world building but there is more “adult” stuff throughout.

Ava Reid books

Fantasy, retellings, folklore/ mythology. I really just love her style of writing (and am impatiently waiting for A Study in Drowning @avasreid )

The Wolf and The Woodsman is currently my favourite, I loved how she incorporated the folklore and the world building made me very happy!

The Juniper Tree was dark and beautiful retelling and made me want to go read the Grimm Brothers tale too. I love Marlinchen and Sevas’ relationship and the twist took me off guard.

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

A fun fantasy novel with a sassy Revenant and a strong female lead that I just ADORED like I could not put this book down. Like I have nothing more to say that wouldn’t spoil it I loved it! There is no romance or smut just a really good angsty but feel good book.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

I fell into the hype when I bought the book but honestly really liked it. Violet was a great character and the EDS rep was amazing (my friend has EDS and she was really happy with how it was written) and while there is smut (chapters 30 & 32) and good smut at that there are DRAGONS. That’s all dragons. We love dragons in this household.

Dreadful Desires by Lucy Lark

This is a smutty why choose reverse harem set in Victorian England where some of your favourite dreadful’s come to life and entice you deeply~ side note I have met the author she’s lovely!

Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

This was an interesting book that I would love to see what other people think of. A female detective in the Victorian era, historical fiction with a supernatural twist. No romance or smut but it does blend some cool folklore stuff!

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Now ignoring that OSC isn’t a particularly good person I did enjoy this book and was good bonding for me and my dad because it was a series (I’ve currently only read book 1) of cool Sci-Fy intrigue. Did I see the twist coming? Yeah I did but to be honest I could have just remembered the movie? Which like I barely remember at all LOL. Good book though if you want some space stuff.

Books I plan to read and / or are on my To Be Read

A Veil of Truth and Trickery by Analeigh Ford (reading right now though I’m also audio hooking the TOG series lol)

The Serpent and The Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

A Forest of Vanity and Valour by A.P Beswick

The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black (I have read The Cruel Prince)

The Isles of the Gods have Amie Kaufman

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Sorcery of Thorns series by Margaret Rogerson

Honestly I think my TBR is too big to remember everything at this point LOL

But someone asked for book recs and here are the ones I’ve read recently that I enjoyed

[handern]

For the OC asks, could I request 2 answers in 1? ^_^ 1, 2, 3, 7 for the VTM boys and 8, 9, 12a for the Alluranverse (as I presume they have a whole set of their own holidays in that world :3) Thank you!!!

For the VTM crew :

1. Which OC loves jumpscares ?

Lorenzo and Matteo love horror movies and horror games, and to make fun of each other for flinching or being startled

2. Which OC hates jumpscares ?

Anton. He loves horror but he thinks jumpscares are cheap tactics to cover up bad writing and lack of actual tension in a movie

3. Which OC would try to contact a ghost ?

answered here :)

7. Which OC is the most superstitious? What about? How do they keep safe?

Arzel :) If you say it to his face he's going to get a little angry bc he's embarrassed

He KNOWS that he's a vampires now, but he never managed to shed his human superstitions. He didn't ad any kindred superstitions to his inventory yet but he will

He's mostly paranoid about bad luck bringers (black cats are fine he won't hurt them but he'll still shudder) and accidental summoning of the supernatural (whistling at night brings the attention of the fae, mirrors by candlelight can be portals, that sort of things)

His method of keeping safe is to repeat to himself "I'm a vampire I'm the biggest threat in this room" internally then to get out of the room real quick/lock his door real fast

For Alluran and co :

8. Which OC has a lot of supernatural rumors spread about them? Are these rumors true?

Alluran and his siblings of course. And yeah, they're the grand children of a god, so they do have some uncommon supernatural stuff going on. People say that Alluran is the reincarnation of a legendary prince who is said to have managed to kill a god but Alluran himself is more interested in being left alone than in this kind of big adventures

9. Which oc *is* a ghost, a vampire, or a werewolf, etc.?

In very early worldbuilding I did have vampires and werewolves but it all changed so much through the years. I guess Alluran would SOMEWHAT still qualify for vampires since he has powers related to people’s blood, and Areyn and Elbrith could qualify as were-something since they’re animal shapeshifters, but that’s as close as it gets. “Necromancers” are all dead kids brought back to the world of the living so they’d count as revenants I guess, not exactly ghosts and not living-dead either but they still crossed the frontier between the worlds

12. Do they pull pranks on other holidays as well ?

I did steal Halloween for my world building bc it's just so good dkdknsks

For the last harvest of the year, at the time where spirits come back and forth between the world of the living and the world of the dead, people who grow foods are supposed to leave the first basket of their harvest out for one night as offering. Kids of course like to grab from these baskets and it evolved in a tradition. You're allowed to try to chase them off but then it's socially acceptable for them to get revenge in funny ways

It's not a thing in all countries but it's pretty big in Eremeth. It started in the Jivahn territories though they're mostly fishermen, and Taleen is really into this, she loves to find creative ways to steal from the offering baskets and get revenge if she's chased off

There's a costumes tradition in the north-west as well, in Alluran, Kielo and Nadane's countries, where you dress up to cover yourself completely and wear a mask that's built in a way that it changes your voice, and you can go around basically wherever you want. These countries have very strict social classes and gender roles, so it's the only time in the year where you can pretend to be whoever and whatever you want, you can go anywhere and people HAVE to be nice to you because for all they know you could be a noble, a spirit or a magic user. It's getting pretty popular in Eremeth though the original meaning is lost in translation

[dwellerinroots]

That Infernal Mixtape

Your favourite second third fourth eighth demon acquaintance and a real scout of a lad teamed up to make you an incredibly cool mixtape. You wonder who still does that, but decide to listen to the tunes included. That's right! If you ever wanted the complete auditory version of Quake done Quick but it's a mixtape of That Infernal Machine, it's here! ... What?! Nobody wanted that? Well, bahaha, take a peek anyway. You might find some tunes you like; and it's probably better then wading through 400 pages of text, right..?

Provided as a list with links; I despise all account-making services, and want listeners to be able to instantly navigate to a track they like where possible. Feel free to just give things listen and find your faves! Some tracks correspond with chapters; I'll tag them where appropriate. 1. (The Infernal Machine; chapter 1) - Buddy Holly, Moondreams. 2. (E1M1 - The Surface Below; chapter 2) - Abandoned Pools, Another Sunny Day. 3. (E1M2 - _______, Egalite, Fraternite; chapter 3) - Gnaw Their Tongues, Blood Drenched Altars. 4. (E1M3 - Dead Men; chapter 4) - Belle And Sebastien, Me and the Major. 5. (E1M4 - Fear to Tread; chapter 5) - Desiderii Marginis - Why Are You Fearful? 6. (E1M5 - Downfall in Red; chapter 6) - Flunk - Love & Halogen. 7. (E1M8 - Hyphen; chapter 7) - World's End Girlfriend - Red Red Red. 8. (E1M6 - Whispers of the Bloodied Earth; chapter 8) - Ava Inferi - Pulse of the Earth. 9. (E1M9 - CTHON; chapter 9) - The Flashbulb - Lawn Wake I. 10. (Blue Shift; chapter 10) - Alcian Blue - Years Too Late. 11. (N/A) - Orgy - Where's Gerroldald Now? 12. (E2M1 - He, the Victor; chapter 11) - Trent Reznor - Tetsuo: The Bullet Man Theme. 13. (E2M2 - Chopping Block; chapter 12) - And Also The Trees - Virus Meadow. 14. (E2M3 - Split Heads; chapter 13) - Broadcast & The Focus Group - let it begin/oh joy. 15. (E2M7 - Beneath; chapter 14) - Willy Stamati - Worms in Her Flowers. 16. (E2M4 - Freedom, and Demon; chapter 15) - E. Artymiev - Burnt By the Sun. 17. (E2M5 - Self-Consumption; chapter 16) - Depeche Mode - Shake the Disease. 18. (E2M6 - Relapse, Release; chapter 17) - Woodkid - I Love You. 19. (Crimson Return; chapter 18) - Faith & Disease - Eb and Tide. 20. (N/A) - The Floppestra/Emi Evans/J'Nique Nicole/Keiichi Okabe - Song of the Ancients. 21. (E3M1 - Characters of Light; chapter 19) - Picore - Final Fauteuil. 22. (E2M2 - Cold Catacombs; chapter 20) - Love is Colder Than Death - To Be at the Point of Death. 23. (E2M3 - Warmth; chapter 21) - Air - Sex Born Poison; Bonnie Prince Billie - Cold & Wet. 24. (E3M4 - Hyphen's Dark Delight; chapter 22) - The Womb - Selfless Doubt. 25. (E3M7 - Human Factor; chapter 23) - Chu Ishikawa - MP [Metamorphosis]. 26. (E3M5 - In the Valley of Wind; chapter 24) - Martyn Bates/Troum - To A Child Dancing In The Wind. 27. (E3M6 - The Revenant; chapter 25) - British Sea Power/Jeff Alexander/Anthony Wilson/Bonnie Beecher - Come Wander With Me. 28. (Sunspots; chapter 26) - chance of bird - pure gray (faded). 29. (E4M1 - Waste; chapter 27) - Cult of Luna - dark city, dead man. 30. (E4M2 - The Wiretower; chapter 28) - Gasoline - Chicago's Nites. 31. (E4M3 - The Crumbling Facade; chapter 29) - Audiopharmacy - Ruined Lands. 32. (E4M4 - Eldest God, Interred; chapter 30) - Colossloth - Lay Her By the Neck of the Woods. 33. (E4M5 - Via Atria; chapter 31) - KEiTO - Jade Tinted Sky. 34. (E4M8 - Memory; chapter 32) - SJC Powell - Green Hills Of Earth. 35. (E4M6 - Rotten Passageways; chapter 33) - Per Grazia Ricevuta - Montesole. 36. (E4M7 - Goodbye, Blue Sky; chapter 34) - Pink Floyd - Goodbye Blue Sky. 37. (E5M1 - Carrion; chapter 35) - Jean-Michel Jarre - Blackbird. 38. (E5M2 - Menschendämmerung; chapter 36) - Emily Van Evera/Catherine King/Sister Germaine Fritz/Richard Souther - Vision (O Euchari In Leta Via). 39. (E5M3 - At the Heart of it All; chapter 37) - John Serrie - Velvet. 40. (sv_nostep; chapter 38) - Tohru Takemitsu - Nostalghia. 41. (IÄ; chapter 39) - Black Mountain Transmitter - Black Goat Of The Woods; The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets - Six-Gun Gorgon Dynamo. [I'm not the first to make this connection. Real ones understand. Sesqua Valley's singing out my name, I'll be right over.] 42. (from nothing, all returned; chapter 40) - The Future Sound Of London - Stand a Little Less Between Me and the Sun.

Congratulations! You've done it! You've read the entire novel! Well, at least the cliff's notes version of it. Really truly. This was also a test to see if loads of paragraphs made tumblr antsy, but... Apparently not? Hrmn. Is it really just wordcount, then? Mysterious. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed - I sure did, even if I probably should've used the time to write.

[lobselvith8]

A Necromancer Goes to Skyrim (OC)

“I shall remember this when I have transformed.” - Lord of the Necromancers, King of Worms, Daggerfall

A lot has happened since I last shared my thoughts here. I was diagnosed with cancer and spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital. As I was receiving initial treatments for my Leukemia, when I could only receive two visitors each day due to my immune system, I immersed myself in Skyrim, returning to Mundus with a heavily revised version of the mage who I originally played when I first embarked on adventures in the cold tundra that was once inhabited by the Falmer, now the Betrayed.

My magical protagonist had gone through an initial reimagining after "Dragonborn" due to the schism between the Dunmer of the now autonomous Morrowind and the Empire, as well as the presence of Great House Telvanni items. And the final transition took place after many years with the release of the "Necromantic Grimoire" items and the residence of "Gallows Hall."

My final version of the character is someone who feels a lot more at home with some of the paths that I have planned for him, which is something that wasn't the case the last time that I retooled the mage for the storyline (for example, I couldn't reconcile a Telvanni who would willingly surrender a daedric artifact back to the Daedric Prince Nocturnal). I also incorporated elements of my illness into the character, perhaps as an outlet for what I'm going through since I'm still grappling with this as an outpatient. A necromancer who is well aware of his fragile mortality.

During the turmoil of the civil war erupting across Skyrim in the 4th Era, rumors of powerful artifacts of necromantic power pique the interest of a son of one of Morrowind's longest enduring necromancer families, Arvyn Adram.

Stricken with an illness that is slowly killing him, Arvyn decides to promptly head into the war-torn province of the Empire to acquire the scattered artifacts, focused on his desire to overcome mortality itself and empower his abilities and to become a powerful necromancer with no equal.

Perhaps even filling in the vacuum long left behind by the King of Worms after he used the Mantella and the Numidium to achieve apotheosis and become the Revenant, worshipped henceforth as the God of Worms by necromancers.

Caught in an Imperial ambush as he attempts to clandestinely make his way into Skyrim, Adram finds himself unwittingly entangled in the civil war.

An unexpected arrival saves the necromancer from the headsman’s axe.

Arvyn Adram accepts the assistance of his former fellow prisoner, Ralof. He has no trust of the Empire, and he is in no position to refute any assistance.

At this time, Arvyn focuses only on his survival. He isn't contemplating the nuances of the schism that turned Nord against Nord within the region of Morrowind's neighbor, or the mysteries of the dragon who led to his newfound freedom.

Through charred bodies and desperate soldiers who are too occupied with their aerial foe to pay much attention to him, Adram makes his way to Helgen Keep, and to his freedom.

The necromancer enacts his vengeance on the Imperial Captain who ordered his execution, landing the killing blow with his magical prowess, and helps Ralof’s comrades survive against their Imperial adversaries.

Having survived the calamity at Helgen, Arvyn Adram makes his way with Ralof to Riverwood, and agrees to notify the Jarl of Whiterun about the impeding threat of the dragons.

After providing word about Helgen, Jarl Balgruuf attempts to recruit Arvyn towards a task to recover an item of no necromantic or magical value. Rather than deal with a frivolous task for a simple-minded Jarl, the necromancer decides to seize control of the fabled Staff of Hasedoki.

Modig Gilgar, who, like Adram, is a member of an enduring family of necromancers, is spared as the necromancer steals the Smuggler’s Ledger from him through the aid of magic. There is no point in killing him. The Orsimer necromancer will be none the wiser about the true fate of his family's staff.

Lushak gra-Ragdam and Ivara of Olenveld, the two powerful and dangerous necromancers who took possession of the staff, are dispatched after a lengthy confrontation by Arvyn Adram through a mixture of cunning and conjuration.