#god the wild update is so WASTED

[queers-gambit]

The Battle Above the God’s Eye

part one: Sands of Time

prompt: decades after the Stepstones, it's his turn to be rescued.

pairing: Daemon Targaryen x female!reader

fandom masterlist: House of the Dragon

word count: 6.3k+

note: i'm not the happiest with this piece, so i'll most definitely (probably) write an alternative when the time comes and the show does the Battle. y'all know me by now, you know i love me a good ol' reader-insert and i didn't want to wait years to publish some kind of sequel so here we are.

warnings: reader isn't explicitly a Targaryen but we had to make this work and i'm burnt the fuck out. so fuck it, dragon rider reader. cursing, books spoilers, violence, imagination required, maybe Red Priestess reader, mention of more Little Birds (let author live), toxic family (duh), heavily encouraged imagination, depictions of death, angst, some hurt and comfort i think ? missing warnings 'cause wonky brain goin' wonky.

"There's rumor, Mistress, of a dragon the color of night," the hooded figure informed. "It nests in the Ruins of Ancient Valyria, seen by farmers and countryfolk; they say his wings beat like thunder. It's a colossal shadow they fear to engage, but after hearing your ransom, they reported it."

You hummed as you took a sip of scalding tea, finding comfort in the heat, musing, "I've been to the Ruins myself on two seperate excursions, I promise you, friend, there is no dragon that nests there."

"It's come from the East, a new beast in the sky."

"I require proof if I am to pay the ransom."

The man with a hood over his head reached for his rucksack and rummaged, a moment later, placing two items on the polished mahogany table between you both. One was unmistakably a dragon's tooth, and when you examined it, there was still clotted blood on the root - assuring it was a fresh pull. The second was a large black scale that weighed at least a dagger's worth.

You smirked, "This is promising. Where in the Ruins has it been seen? Who procured these artifacts?"

You discussed specifics with the man for an hour, offering him a hefty finder's fee after getting the name of the village the man had gathered his own information from. It was a messy journey from there; leaving the home you had made in the decades since the Stepstones to head for what was probably another dead end in Ancient Valyria. You were something akin to a magistrate, the people saw you as a figurehead, a leader; their person of authority who they were all too happy to follow.

Your village flourished, growing in size, number, popularity, and strength by the passing day. The people seemed happy, wealth flowing from exports and trade, and apparently, a few cartographers have begun the process of updating a few maps to add your village's name to history.

Much had changed in your time away from your Rogue Dragon Prince, but you knew that was all coming to an end soon. Your Lord of Light had shown you much in your flames, one of which was a repeating image of you, mounted atop a dragon all your own, soaring over the Narrow Sea with distinct purpose. You weren't a Targaryen, but your religious devotion seemingly gave you the ability to walk amongst beasts and their flames.

Exploring Ancient Valyria took over a year on foot.

You had plenty of encounters with the Stone Men, but all met their merciful demise - those left after that steered clear of you and your Valyrian Steel sword. Around the ruins of the ancient volcano that hadn't erupted since The Doom, you found a graveyard of goat, sheep, and cattle bones. There were bigger skeletons of aquatic creatures, something you found incredibly fascinating - what fully grown dragon went deep diving?

Soon, you found scat. For those who don't spend time in the wilderness or who are simply unfamiliar with the term, "scat" refers to waste produced by wild animals. Yeah, you're reading correctly, after you found the plethora of skeletons, you found dragon shit.

So, you knew you were closer than before. But the fucker still alluded you to the point you felt insane circling the Ruins.

You located about three different potential caverns, investigating them all with caution, but finding them all empty. Feeling exhausted from the months of searching, you claimed one of the caves as your own; hunting for a meal after gathering adequate fire wood. You listened to the untamed wilds of Valyria as you ate whatever you roasted, trying to distinguish familiar sounds of an approaching dragon.

Or perhaps even a distant one!

You'd take any sign!

It'd been weeks since you found the dragon droppings, no other signs appearing. You would search new areas for days, then return to your cave for rest; feeling disconnected from reality the longer you lingered in the ruined empire. You wondering what your village was doing, you were curious if the young woman, Ferona, had a baby boy or girl, if they had erected the new buildings you left blueprints for in an effort to create opportunist housing and houses of worship - as your people had requested.

How did the krill and shrimp season fair? What weddings happened this past spring? How was the irrigation system holding up?

Weeks drug by slowly. Weeks turned to longer months. Two years, you spent in that Gods forsaken ruin of a city - but couldn't find it in you to abandon your search.

Your Lord of Light had yet to send word, yet set your heart ablaze every time you "decided" to go home. You stared into the flames every night, desperate for any indication you were on the right path, but nothing was seen - nothing was said - nothing was shown to you. Until one night, during a torrential downpour and thunderous storm, you were shivering, drenched to your core, fighting the wind to let you keep your flames alive.

And there, in the dying, flickering warmth, you saw it. With wide, unblinking eyes, you stared into the flames harder; unsure how long you remained in the tranquil state before a particularly strong gust of wind nearly pushed you face-first into the embers. You gasped, looking around as the smoke nearly choked you as it filled the cave; stumbling out into the rain as you coughed and patted your chest. Stumbling slightly from malnourishment and delirium, you leaned on the outer shell of your "home", panting with relief before there came a screech so fearsome, you were then cowering into the wall with fear.

You dropped to your knees, huddled into the rock formation; the ground trembling as something enormous touched down. You gasped when through the haze of sideways rain, two nostrils flared and heaved thick plumes of smoke; reddened from the ignited flames deep within an invisible chest. You flattened against the wall, four taloned paws striking the ground and causing it to crack, quake, and tremble. With the fleeting clouds, you used the moon's light to distinguish the beast that loomed closer to you; over you; and then, in your face.

A long, blackened snout nearly pressed into your chest; fabric of your tunic caught in the razor sharp teeth. You had faced death, you had faced beasts, you had faced hacking axes and swinging swords. You had faced the wrath of the Queen Alysanne's court, the rumors of the common folk, and judgment from both man and God. But nothing was like this moment: a wild dragon staring you down, sniffing your chest and stomach, debating if it should just open it's mouth and eat you whole yet or not.

Thankfully, it chose an alternative route.

You're not fully sure how it happened, but you dedicated two years to finding this terrible beasty, and yet, it only took about 6 weeks to bond with the (obviously) young thing. Time with your Dragon Prince proved most useful, creating a bond so secure, you were beginning to wonder if someone deep in your bloodline had mated with a Targaryen. It was natural, the way you both became accustomed to one another; living together on a carbon-dated land long doomed.

The lessons from Daemon came flying back to you. You practiced your High Valyrian, laughing when you obviously got a word or two wrong because the dragon would snort at you. In the light, she was still the color of the night, but her scales were dusted the same gold as her eyes. She was impressive, she was huge in size but nowhere near Vhagar. In fact, you'd wager she had outgrew Caraxes - the only dragon you had true experience with.

Speaking of Caraxes, you were on the shores of Old Valyria, debating how you were going to convince your new companion to join you back "home" in the village, when suddenly, your beast gave a defensive growl.

Looking to the skyline, you spotted the distant dragon and frowned. This dragon wasn't the color of flames like Caraxes was, no, instead, it was a murky blob in the sky with two wings. You offered calming words to your dragon in her native language, not sensing danger, but your beast was unhappy leaving you in the open. Her tail curled around you to corral you back into her body as the muddy brown dragon landed with a thunderous shake a respectable distance away.

Your name was begged by the rider descending from who you recognized as a wild dragon by the name of Sheepstealer.

"Nettles? That you, love?" You asked in skepticism, managing out of your dragon's grasp. "What're you doing here? You all right?"

"I needed to find you," she panted. "I-I need you help - it's all - it's all gone wrong! Please!"

"What's wrong? The fuck's happened?"

"Do you know nothing, Auntie!? Do you know nothing of the war!?"

Your eyes rolled, "Watch that tone with me, girl. The Dance of Dragons is of no concern of mine, it had barely started when I came here."

"Well - it's your concern now," she insisted. "You took me under your wing - you helped raise me in a village you built from the ground, despite not ever needing to - "

"Your mother was a dear friend of mine," you cut her off sharply. "She was kind to me when I came back to Essos, let me stay with her and your father. When I set out on my own, she was always a friendly face, and when my settlement was established..."

"She came to you for help after getting pregnant with me," Nettles nodded. "You've told me this before."

"Then you should know better by now that I owed your mother more than my life, so, raising you was the least I could've done. A life for a life."

"And as such, you let me go into the world with stories filling my head of a handsome Dragon Prince that saved you from the Crabfeeder!" You scoffed at her words, ready to argue, but she rushed, "He's in trouble, Auntie."

You paused, finding no lie in the girl's eye. Slowly, you asked, "Come again?"

"I found him, Mistress," she nodded. "After I got back to Westeros, I found your Prince Daemon - the ones from the stories! He's... He's brutish and harsh, they call him Rogue, but he was kind to me when I told him I knew you. When he heard your name, Lady, he just - he insisted on keeping me close. He protected me, even against his wife - Princess Rhaenyra."

Your head cocked, "Hmm... He usually did have a taste for younger flesh. I'm not surprised he took to you - "

"No, no, no, Mistress, not like that," she insisted desperately. "He was kind, educational - similar to a mentor."

"I see."

"He needs your help."

"Prince Daemon does not need rescuing, he is no damsel."

"He searches for Prince Aemond," she informed, making you lift your chin slightly. Though lost in the wild of Valyria the past two years, you were still well versed in the affairs of King's Landing; staying updated, curtesy of your Lord, the Lord of Light: R'hllor. In your village, you were known to pay for any accurate information - eventually hiring your own spies to relay trustworthy information from around surrounding cities and villages. Nettles was one of your Little Birds.

You sighed, "And? What of it - Aemond killed Lucerys, did he not? Since he married his niece, her children are now his step-children, right? Daemon is within his rights to want some form of vengeance - it's war, Nettie, it's never fair to anybody.

"He will not survive this, you don't understand! It's horrible, Mistress, please, he-he-he's deranged. Mad with grief, lost to his wife's useless fucking war. It'll be the death of him, Auntie, please!" She paused, seeing you just stare back at her; so she begged again, "Please!"

You nodded, "What do you want me to do, Nettie? Hmm?"

"You've told me those stories! I remember them well! You always said he came back for you, saved you from The Crabfeeder," she reminded, making you stiffen. "Does he not deserve the same? Or at least a chance? Rhaenyra will not help, she'll kill him herself I fear, but you can - you can help!"

You nodded, "I will consult the flames - "

"I am telling you - "

"I have heard you, girl!" You snapped, glaring at your Little Bird. "But there are greater forces at work than what you know, I cannot just so willfully trust the word of a child before flying off across the Narrow Sea. Allow me my time with my Lord, I will have an answer for you." Turning from her, you gathered whatever materials you could; setting it up in a small teepee before stepping back.

In High Valyrian, you gave your command. From over your shoulder, your beasty opened her mouth and shot a single flame at the structure.

On your knees, you muttered repeatedly; chanting, summoning your Lord of Light to come to you now in a great hour of need. And He did. Through the flames, you saw what R'hllor wanted to show you: the two Princes engaged in a brutally epic fight that would claim them both in the end...

Unless you left right that moment, as your Lord commanded.

"Make yourself safe, Nettles, go back home," you told her in a rush, catching the pouch of Gold Dragons she tossed you when you sprung into action - and for the first time, mounted your dragon. Like your minds were connected, the Great Shadow took to the sky - leaving Nettles and Sheepstealer behind, and you'd never see either again.

You remained high in the sky, being a blob to the naked eye should any dare to stare at the sun.

You only paused to let the Great Shadow dive into the Narrow Sea for a meal; surfacing with creatures in her jaws as you swam an exhausting broad stroke. Was it terrifying to swim in the open water? Absolutely, but your dragon seemingly kept any threats at bay. When she was satisfied with her meal, the Great Shadow scooped you onto her back and relaunched into the air again to continue your flight for Westeros. You both dried in the air.

The trip was draining.

It was grueling on you both.

Yet when you saw the distant shore, you couldn't help the spike of relief in your heart and veins.

Once in Westeros, you were forced to ground yourselves in the open area of the Stormlands because you needed to know where to go since Nettles hadn't been sure where to send you specifically. Using the usual thunderstorm as cover, you had to separate from the Great Shadow; leaving her in the dark as you ventured to the closest village.

With the pouch of Gold Dragons Nettles gave you, you paid for information that you needed. You were told all the nitty gritty details about the Dance of the Dragons that you've missed, understanding what (Nettles and) the Lord of Light had been trying to tell you for years: the Black Queen would be Prince Daemon's death.

The time had come for you to return his favor from the Stepstones. If this worked the way you wanted it to, you wouldn't be his first, second, nor third wife, but his fourth and final. You knew what you had to do.

"What do you know of their whereabouts?" You asked the innkeeper who wiped down the bar you leaned on.

"The Princes?" She asked, tisking right after. "The One Eyed Prince has been burning the Riverlands for almost two weeks now. The Rogue Prince was in Maidenpool but he's called his nephew to meet him at, uh, oh... Oh, bullocks, what's that haunted castle? The one that was torched?"

"Harrenhal?"

She snapped her fingers at you, "That's the one!"

"Fuckin' Hell," you muttered, wiping your eyes. "What's your thinking, love? 'Bout this war?"

She scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Stupidest thing I've endured so far. How silly, the House of the Dragon does not know who rules it, or so says our liege lord. So we must all pay their price in Fire and Blood."

You nodded slowly, "Who do you think holds the better claim t'the Throne?"

"Depends on your views," she muttered, "but in truth, it doesn't matter to me - so long as this all comes to an end. But between us?" She leaned in, glancing around before muttering, "The Bitch Queen would burn us all. Can't say if King Aegon would be much better, but at least we'd know what we were dealing with."

"And if he was another Maegor?"

"Can't be worse than the Black Queen. Hear they call her Maegor with Tits."

You smirked, chuckling lightly, "Thank you, ma'am, for your words." You offered her a few Gold Dragons, repeating, "Harrenhal?"

"Harrenhal," she nodded, accepting the payment. "I do not know if the One Eyed Prince will answer the Rogue Prince's challenge, but that is where he lures Prince Aemond - Harrenhal. Now, how's about a nice bowl of stew? You look drenched, love, and a bit skinny - you been eatin'?"

"Your kindness is refreshing in this shit-for-a-kingdom."

You winked at her and tapped the bar in parting before turning for the door, and into the rain you ventured once more. You didn't notice the cold, your Lord kept you warm and moving; finding the Great Shadow, mounting, and shooting off into the unknown sky again.

It wasn't easy directing a dragon without a saddle nor any stabilizing reins, yet your beast was something of a decently smooth fly. You minimally directed her as you went, but in truth, her instincts directed you both more than anything. When the storm broke, you were soon flying over charred scores of land; homes smoldering and burning, the wind spreading the embers and never letting the fire fully die out.

"The fuck..." You muttered, sitting up straight as you flew through the carnage. "Seven Hells, he burnt it all, didn't he?" You whispered, needing to hold onto the spinal ridges of your dragon to keep balanced. "Gods be good," you gaped at the damage beneath you.

The sun moved into position, getting ready to set when you heard the horrible screams of feuding dragons. You couldn't see Harrenhal yet, but you heard the fight, and then, as the sun began to set, there came flashes of bright firelight that lit the sky to a new level.

It was nearly the shade of daylight with the way the flames danced against the setting sun. You were desperate to get closer, and after directing the Great Shadow over a set of charred rolling hills, you finally had Harrenhal in sight. "Go! Go, please! That's them - we need t'get there!" You begged through a small sob of panic, and if possible, your dragon flew all the faster.

You were so close, yet felt so far.

The air trembled when the pair of dragons, Vhagar and Caraxes, collided in the sky once more. They grappled and snarled and shrieked and blew flames and gnashed their teeth and slashed their talons. You paid no mind to the pregnant woman standing on the shoreline of the lake they fought over, and instead, focused on your task; feeling as if you were moving on pure instinct and adrenaline.

The Great Shadow dove low to the lake's surface as Caraxes and Vhagar came barreling to the ground. It all happened too fast. As the two dragons fell, you saw one man - in black armor - leap from his crimson beast with his Valyrian sword winking in the dying light. Just as his arm extended to pierce Dark Sister into Aemond's blind eye, the dragons were tussling enough to turn over and forced Daemon off their hide.

You gasped as you reacted - no fucking thought to your actions.

As the Great Shadow glided over the surface of the Gods Eye lake, you were leaping off her back to launch into the air; tackling the Rogue Prince hard enough to disrupt his impact on the water's surface. You hit the water all the same, but instead of it being like hitting fresh pavement, it was a softer landing due to the Great Shadow's expert and quick maneuvering.

Two dragons hit the water, three human bodies; sending a wave of water higher than the towers of Harrenhal's fortress. It was a shock to land in something so wet and cold, but your adrenaline was stronger than any feeling of freezing water. Your arms kept an iron-clad lock around Daemon's unconscious waist, surfacing as the lake rippled and churned from impact; turning a seeping red from the open wounds on the dragon sinking into the depths.

Prince Aemond never surfaced, and years from now, he'd be found still chained to Vhagar's saddle with Dark Sister still stabbed through his skull. His Red Witch standing on shore couldn't save him, it appearing that your Lord preferred the Rogue Prince to the One Eyed.

Keeping Daemon afloat was difficult, but to your shock, you were being gently propelled forward to the shore by a fatally injured Caraxes. You encouraged him best you could, trying not to choke on the water splashing around your frantic forms. When you were able, you started heaving and dragging Daemon up the lake's embankment; the crimson dragon crawling out of the lake behind you, slowly, heading towards Harrenhal. You wanted to offer the loyal beast aid or comfort, but you were much too preoccupied with his master that was dead weight in the water's surf.

You trembled as you swiftly hoisted his dragon winged helmet off to leave bobbing in the surf; unhooked his armor, shucking it off him and compressing his chest rapidly - just like a fisherman taught you to do.

"C'mon," you grunted. "C'mon, Daemon, breathe - fucking breathe, damnit! Please, come back to me - don't do this. I just found you again, c'mon, my Prince, breathe. Breathe, Daemon, don't give up - not now, not on us! Don't give up on us, c'mon, my Prince, breathe, w-we finally have our time." Sobs wracked your form. "Breathe, Daemon, please! Please! I'm back - I finally found you, please, my love, breathe!"

You shoved harder into his breast bone with increased ferocity until water came suddenly spewing from his lungs. You heard the Great Shadow land in the near distance, turning Daemon on his side to help him breathe better; choking the water out. You spoke in relief, "There, there you go, c'mon, love, breathe! Thank fucking Gods, you're all right, you're okay, get it out - you're okay, just breathe, my love."

Daemon choked your name in pure disbelief, holding one of your wrists in a vice grip that only briefly concerned you. He panted and relaxed into the embankment, loosening his grip as he turned over to look up at you in shock and wonder. "How is this possible?" He wheezed.

"It's a bit of a long story," you teased softly, caressing his cheek. "Bit of a boring tale, 'M afraid."

"How? How is - how can this be?"

"You needed me," you explained, "thought I'd return the favor since you saved me all those years ago, huh? You got me out of the sea, I got you out of the lake - we're even, yeah?"

He still panted, only staring at you as if he couldn't believe himself. "You've not aged a day," he whispered.

You smiled, petting his cheekbone with your thumb daintly. "You need rest, reprieve, aid," you whispered.

"No, no," he gulped, "not when I just got you back. T-Tell me 's done. Tell me we're done being apart."

"You have a wife still, Daemon. She won't let you go, she wouldn't let us be together."

"Tell me what your flames say."

"Now you trust my flames?"

"When they bring you back to me, yes - oh, fuck yes, I'll believe whatever those fucking flames say. Please, love, for us - consult your flames, tell me what they've said."

You frowned, petting a soaking wet lock of hair from his forehead. Quietly, you whispered, "My Lord showed me what was to pass if I did not come for you... This war, this Dance of Dragons, would claim your life, Daemon. Your wife, your niece... She'll be the end of you, my Prince. You will not survive if you go back to her. Neither of you will survive this... My Lord has shown me that Rhaenyra will meet her end in flames, but following her will cost you your life in water," you glanced at the lake. "Not a death befitting of a Targaryen Prince."

"And now?"

"Now, she will fight her own battles for the first time," you whispered, "and I will return home, and you will make a choice."

He smirked, "We've gone lifetimes apart, like you said before."

"We have."

"I would not go another day," he coughed, wincing in pain. "I do not think I can fight anymore anyways, love. Please... Please."

Daemon never begged. You swallowed harshly, asking him, "No? No more fighting?"

"No," he agreed. "'M so tired, my sweet. I-I can't do this forever," he half-slurred, making you perk up slightly in attention. "Retirement sounds all too appealing now. Rumor will spread that neither Aemond or I lived, it'll be the perfect escape."

You nodded in agreement, flinching when a new voice screeched, "YOU BITCH!"

The pregnant woman you saw on shore stormed towards you, making you chuckle dryly as you had already foreseen this Alys Rivers - pregnant concubine of the One Eyed Prince Aemond and fellow Follower of R'hllor. Alys was unique in the sense that her training was decent enough to ensnare Aemond (it seemed), but not so decent that the Lord yet favored her.

She wasn't more than ten feet from you when the Great Shadow opened her mouth and showered the Red Witch in holy flames; an end she surely did not see coming - not that R'hllor would've showed her. This all caught Daemon's attention, who flinched slightly when he had to turn and look; not expecting the flames nor the beast.

Then his eyes drifted over the land, breathing hitching, and he sat up with a painful groan. "Daemon," you worried, but instead of trying to get him down, you helped him up.

You knew what he saw.

When at Caraxes' side, you helped Daemon lower to his knees at his dragon's head. He whimpered and moaned, belly slashed open, wing torn apart; bleeding out into the cold soil he rested on. The Great Shadow moaned gently in sympathy, lowering herself around you three to let you grieve in peaceful, protective privacy and ease Caraxes to his next life.

The moon was fully in the sky when the crimson bloodwyrm took his final breath with the ebony giant's flames to warm you all. You weren't sure what could be done, but Daemon was pressing a tender kiss to his dragon's head before turning to face you - a lost, confused, vulnerable look coating his features. "Come on, love," you eased gently, helping him to his feet; knowing a few ribs were shattered and probably his clavicle, too.

"Where will we go now?"

"Well, I have somewhere safe for us t'live," you grunted in assurance, wobbling a little under his weight. "But we need rest for tonight. Any ideas?"

"I doubt anyone will venture to Harrenhal this night, should be safe..."

You agreed, and together, you and Daemon settled in the empty castle with the Great Shadow resting on the outskirts of the Keep. She was too big for the interior of the courtyard, so, she was left outside with Caraxes' corpse as you and Daemon settled in the room he had commandeered.

"How is this possible? How can you be here?" He asked, holding your hips as you worked between his spread legs. Daemon had minimal supplies at the ready; hopping up on a work bench to let you care for his injuries and wounds. He watched your every move with a softening look. "I thought I wouldn't ever see you again, that I'd be cursed to only remember you in my dreams. Rhaenyra said I say your name a lot at night, when I sleep."

"I'm really here, Daemon, ease yourself," you offered an assuring grin, tending to the head wounds he obtained from the fight.

"How?"

"Nettles."

"What?"

"Nettles," you repeated with a smirk. "She's one of my Little Birds, Daemon. It was not entirely coincidence she found you..."

"So she said," he frowned. "But how - "

"She told me you needed me," you smiled softly. "And when I consulted the flames, I was shown what could be. I made a decision, I just wanted you safe, no matter what that meant."

"I just want you. Fuck," he seethed, squeezing your hips, "'s been fucking decades since I've even touched you."

"You're delirious," you teased. "Sleep deprived, maybe concussed."

"Perhaps all at once, but I finally have all I've dreamt of. Please," he whispered, "do not deny us longer. I've endured lifetimes - "

"Daemon, being here and now, you know I can't walk away. But we've time t'talk it all out, I need you to let me help your wounds - so sit still."

He nodded, "One thing I do not understand, though - the dragon? How did you...?"

"Spent two years in Valyria, looking for her."

"Why were you there?"

"Searching for a dragon, of course," you smirked. "She's impressive, isn't she? And from her size, I wager she can easily support us both back across the Narrow Sea."

He grit his teeth when you cleaned his open cuts and wounds, wrapping whatever clean cloth you had around the larger wounds; easing him out of his tunic to have better access to the blackened ribs he sported. "Would you tell me?" Daemon whispered some time later.

"Of what?"

"Your life since the Stepstones?"

"Oh," you chuckled, "sweet love, you know it was dreadfully boring without you."

"Doesn't seem it, you being in Valyria two years? That's not heard of, what was it like? How'd you survive? Why go looking for a dragon?"

This lead to you both laying in bed, hands held together, resting, but not sleeping. You just spoke quietly, fingertips tracing idly over each other's faces; sharing in each others lives that the other missed, reminiscing together in fond memories.

When morning broke, you had to move swiftly. Caraxes was left where he laid and after a final parting to the loyal beast and commandeering his saddle, together, you and Daemon mounted the Great Shadow. She wasn't a fan of the restraints, but once you and Daemon were mounted, she did not fuss as it was evident you humans had an easier time with the leather contraption.

"I must confess," Daemon whispered in your ear, using you as an anchor and leaning into your back, "I fear I might feel something akin to guilt for fleeing home."

"That's natural," you assured, "you're leaving family behind, 's never easy."

"There was no winning this war," he admitted, sighing. "I lead so many to their death... Destroyed my family - "

"From what I have heard, this is not your doing," you argued sharply. "That night, when Aemond attacked Lucerys, what were you to do? Leave that kind of atrocity without consequence? No, that is not in the Targaryen's nature. You did not start this war, Daemon."

"But I knew..."

"You knew what?"

"I knew Jace, Luke, and Joffrey were Harwin Strong's, not Laenor Velaryon's. We thought if we married her sons to my daughters, nobody would care much else about lineage - but we were wrong."

"It's okay to be wrong," you promised, leaning your head back to let your forehead rest against his temple. "It's okay to make mistakes or have regret. Tell me, do you wish to return to your wife? I will take you now, no quest - "

"No. No, I do not wish to leave you. This is... This is Rhaenyra's war, I've done my part. I'm free and finally with whom I belong."

"Now it's time to heal," you told him.

"Time to rest," he agreed, squeezing your waist and placing a few kisses to your neck. "This is where I should've been all this time... After the Stepstones, I should've stayed with you, none of this would've come to pass. I regret leaving you everyday - "

"I told you, for us to get here, to this point, now, we had to separate. But look where we are," you smiled back at him, the Great Shadow soaring higher in the sky to keep Westeros at a distance, "we will not be apart again. 'S you and me, love... Until our end, which we will greet together."

Daemon's lips found yours at long last, whispering, "Together," against them before sweeping his tongue against yours.

The port was lovely this time of day, sun high in the sky to give light to the fishermen and vendors hard at work. Sailors made port, calms were being shucked, different Aristocats trying to barter and trade on their journeys abroad. You smiled at the people you passed, grateful to be home after a prolonged absence; arm looped tight with Daemon's as you both strolled the pier.

"It's hard to imagine you've done all this in a lifetime or less," he mused, a hand folded over yours, dressed in the best clothes you could find. "It's s marvel, my sweet," his compliment was sincere.

"Thank you," you whispered, hugging his arm as your skirts swished around your ankles, just tickling your bare feet. "This season's expected to be bountiful," you told him, pointing to the various teams bringing crustaceans, fish, and other sea life in different crates and traps. "I expect there won't be much of an off-season."

He glanced around, "And you don't collect taxes?"

"Why would I?" You scoffed. "We're more dynamic than that. Everyone works for their place, if you wanted to think of it that way. They are not expected to contribute, but the village seems happier that way. Being close knit, helping one another, sharing wealth. No one person has complained, so, I figure it's working so far. Even if it didn't work, I still wouldn't charge them taxes - it'd be like charging them to live. Always seemed silly t'me."

"Morning, Mistress!"

"Morning, Don," you beamed, leading Daemon towards the dock. "How are you, kind sir? Looks as if you've been working all day already."

"Aye, up before the sun," he nodded, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. "Wanted t'thank yah, actually."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, yeah, with that dragon? We're hauling in more ships," he chuckled, and just overhead, the Great Shadow glided over them all to head out to sea to fetch another round of ships. "Gets us out there quick, brings us back when done, 's like a wee bit of an assembly line, ain't it?"

You chuckled, "Sounds like it, friend. Uh, Don, have I introduced you to my husband?"

"Husband?" Don grinned, cocking his head, "No, Mistress, I wasn't aware you even had a suitor. Mariam don't tell me much gossip these days," he snickered, referring to his wife. "It's nice t'meet you," he told Daemon, "name's Don, just Don - no, it ain't short for nothin'."

Daemon smirked some, shaking the man's fishy hand boldly, "A pleasure, Don, Just Don."

"Oh, this one's got a bit uh humor, don't he?" Don laughed lightly. "What's your name, lad?"

"Daemon?" A voice answered for you all, and just above you, a little further on the pier, stood an aged Laenor Velaryon.

"Excuse us, Don," you spoke swiftly, confusion marring your features. He understood or sensed the slight tension, backing off to let you approach the "dead" knight.

"Oh, my - Y/N," Laenor breathed, another aged man at his side with what you assume to be his children. No question could be asked yet as your old friend launched himself into your arms, laughing merrily, giving you a tight squeeze with his still-toned arms. "Oh, the Gods are good for this!" He laughed, rocking you slightly, "Oh, how the Seven bless us."

"You're so dramatic," you laughed back, patting him happily until he pulled back. "But I must confess, I am so fucking confused - what is this? How are you here? I thought you died, Laenor, that's what ever spy reported."

"They should've," he nodded, glancing at Daemon, "but perhaps, the explanation will be better received after some wine?" He caressed your cheek in affection before looking at your husband, nodding, "It's good to see you again, my Prince. Or is it King Consort?"

"Neither, just Daemon," he corrected, your heart soaring a little at the idea that he would abandon his title so easily. Yet you knew, there was nothing to go back to for him.

"Well, how about I introduce my family?"

"Family?" You grinned, seeing him present the others.

"My husband," he gestured, giving his name. "And our kids," he introduced the other three.

"How?" You asked simply.

"We found a Red Priest who was willing to officiate the ceremony," Laenor explained, "and the kids were sired by different mothers, too."

"Whores," the husband smiled.

"Huh," you nodded in impression. "Well, perhaps wine is best to hear that tale, as well?"

"Perhaps," Laenor grinned. "Uh, but first, we should find accommodations - "

"Oh, come off it, you're staying with us," you waved. "Your belongings?"

"This is it," he half-shrugged, you eyeing the few rucksacks around their feet, neck, shoulders... "We heard of the prosperity here, thought it was worth the move."

"How right you are," Daemon answered. "Come, old friend." He picked up a few sacks for the kids and you looped your arm with Laenor's to lead the way. How good it was to have your friend back, your husband at your side, and a functioning, happy village with your placement amongst them most important... Everything you could've wished for, it seemed, came true.

And in your womb, a Dragon Seed was planted; soon to make its announcement known. Truly, a happier ending than you thought deserved - but R'hollr worked mysteriously, blessing those deemed worthy to spread his flames.

requesting rules and masterlist

HOTD masterlist

note: i'm not the happiest with this piece, so i'll most definitely (probably) write an alternative when the time comes and the show does the Battle. y'all know me by now, you know i love me a good ol' reader-insert and i didn't want to wait years to publish some kind of sequel so here we are.

[lilybug-02]

Happy 2 Year Anniversary to The Chara Timeline ✨

I FINALLY made drawing references for you guys, yippie!✨

It’s wild how long I’ve been working on this comic without reference sheets. I’m never that consistent with my art style, so I figured it was a waste of time 🫥💀😔 this is my first full comic okay…

Thoughts and Feelings About the Comic Below ❤️💖💕💞

Wow. It’s been 2 years??? I thought I would be done with this comic in 2 months! I don’t know whether to feel worried or accomplished!!

(With months between each update, I understand why it’s been 2 years. I’m a slow writer and artist and well- many things have come up in my life that had to come first, like my sisters wedding! 💞 and college 😅)

I want to thank my family and friends (WHO DO NOT READ THIS COMIC- THANK GOD) 💕 AND I want to THANK YOU! The readers! 💐💐

You guys are relentless! I’m as impatient as traffic and yet you guys wait for weeks or months at a time for like 4 pages?! You guys don’t even complain!!! I truly want to thank you all for that ❤️ it helps me so much. Being busy and getting burnt out are common and it helps me feel relaxed that i'm not on a timer. Literally tho- you guys keep this comic chugging I swear. Tysm 💐

Unorganized rambling about the comic ahead :) ⭐️🔥

—

My feelings with this comic are actually so complicated. On one hand I hate looking at my older art because GOD IT LOOKS SO OFF I want to stab it, and then on the other hand I am so so proud of myself for even continuing it this far. Ngl the weird route has been one of my favorite parts of this comic. It took me FOREVER to figure out an ending, but damn do I still get chills >:) hehe.

I’m still miffed that I named this project “Deltarune: The Chara Timeline” I could have gone for something so much COOLER. Doesn’t help I use like 7 different titles for it either. We got Deltarune the Chara timeline, Deltarune chara timeline, THE Chara timeline, chara timeline, Ct??? Man,,, I’m crazy. I take after my family so hard. We have 3 names for each of our dogs 💀.

Comic/Animation Tip i have learned. It is VERY GOOD to make the character relatively simple in design. Shape language is also super important, ((but I never really got around to doing that before I was half way through the comic, woops.)) These things can make ur process go by so much faster. This whole comic has been a HUGE learning curve. LIKE OH MY GOD. I had to learn how to draw backgrounds, write dialogue, plan a story, learn how to draw fast and draw noses (which god damn I really still can’t). And I had to learn how the heck to squeeze art into a tiny page and make it not look grainy. It's intense!

Anyways.... this has been such an awesome opportunity! Thanks Toby Fox!

I totally ran out of “art time” for my iPad and wanted to finish this today. So it’s a bit rushed. I’ll add weapons and possibly the other characters later :)

Oh shi- I forgot to add this grainy image of the next few pages lmao

[isthisclever]

Plaintext version of 39 Days thread

Post-episode Reddit threat on r/Survivor

blowmytorch23143: dude claire skaaaaaaated by that tribal. my heart was pounding omg

/ chrissydontwakeup: Well no way was Jeff gonna let her walk. C+J is  *the* drama this season. They’re not gonna wanna lose that. 

/ / blowmytorch23143: yeah ive beeen convinced for ages that the idols are prolly fixed to keep the faves around. some of these people its like, oh honey you did NOT find that on your own lol

/ / / ReadySurvivorOne [Top Fan]: If not purposefully, then accidentally for sure. Wentworth did a whole video after her second season about paying attention to the cameras to find hidden idols bc they always pan to the hiding spots for the ep. WILD.

damp_dreams69999: Glad they didn’t vote out claire. WHo cares if she’s a hoe shes hot

/ chipper_pippa: Misogynistic much? Do better. 

/ / damp_dreams69999: is it sxist if its true

/ GoldN_Ours: um hello did we even watch the same epp? it showed that she CLEARLY was telling the truth. old dude was creepy af

/ / damp_dreams69999: lmfao chill out its not that serious

/ / / GoldN_Ours: Claire’s convo with the bf was basically proof that she has been telling teh truth. He was dismissive and condescending, and he was WAYYY to excited that gillian and her sister were drooling all over him. mega douche and honestly, perv vibes all the way.

user1930188401: WOWOWOWOWOWWWWWW. Hate to see Phaedre leave but I’m super glad Claire survived tribal. She clearly needed to chat with her alliance tho. She wasted an idol when they had the votes already.

/ hrd2bsft: Yeahhhh that’s gonna cost her with the jury. Guess the important thing is she made it through to day 33. 

Silvvver_ lyon [Top Fan]: am I the only one who was super uncomfortable with that pre-vote convo? like…why did they have to drag her over the coals like that? 

/ user1012912318: for the views dawg

/ / Silvvver_lyon: kinda gross still idk. survivor has a misogyny problem anyway and this reeeeeally didn’t help 

yesimawitch: These suckers dont watch out, Jillian’s gonna win this game. 

/ Outplayaaaa: Right?!?! She is ALWAYS on the right side of the numbers. How???

/ whatsmyrageagain: Wonder if she knew Claire had found the idol. She was like *right there* when Claire snagged it at the challenge. That would make sense why she worked w Jamie and joe to protect her. 

/ / Outplayaaaa: I want her to win for the snark alone. 12/10 comedy.

/ / / yesimawitch: Gillian to Claire: “Fantasies aside, I don’t think the game would be a pleasant one with your two men at my back.” I C O N I C. 

justhereforthekarma12313: Am I the only one who hates J & C not talking?? God I know its all tv and its probably fake anyway but the way that man looks at her…

/ Heiiiidiiiii_isonreddit [Top Fan]: I want it to be real so bad. If they come back after the show and it was all an act imma riot

/ / user12334481: I’ll bring the pitchforks, you bring the torches

/ / / Tooney___lunes: I’ll bring snacks. all good riots needs snacks.

/ Levi_not_the_jeans: The way *he* looks at *her*??? If I had a woman who looked at me the way Claire does to Jamey…well…I’d still be gay af but I’d feel very good about myself ok?

angels__wear_red: *sigh* these two idiots make me believe in love. please for the loVE OF ALL THAT IS BEAUTIFUL AND JOYFUL DON’T CRUSH MY DREAMS!!!1

Read the newest update to 39 Days here.

[bullet-prooflove]

Donna’s Thursday Radio Show Prompt List! - Sing Those Songs Baby!

It’s that time again! The Radio prompt list!

Please check the updated character list on my pinned post to see who I am writing for before submitting a prompt!

Also read the rules and do not forget to put the entire prompt into your ask!

Everything that made you great only made you bad

But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles

The stars are shining for you

You can't bury the truth It's time to pay your dues

Midnight You come and pick me up, no headlights

Never really said too much Afraid it wouldn't be enough

He can't keep his wild eyes on the road

I know that you had big dreams That you had big plans

So much time's been wasted So many thoughts been lost on you

Did it frighten you How we kissed when we danced on the light up floor?

Remember when we lost the keys and You lost more than that in my backseat, baby

2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake "Can you help me unravel my latest mistake"

You got a white picket fence and your dad's got a gun

I don't love him, Winter just wasn't my season

And I'm possessive, it isn't nice

Cold wind rushes down on my face

And I got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt

The door is open come on inside

I wasn't jealous before we met

 I say "I heard, oh, that you've been out and about with some other girl, some other girl." He says, "What you've heard is true but I Can't stop thinking about you," 

the signal keeps on breakin' up

Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?

the band they played our favorite song And I held you in my arms so strong

I do my makeup in somebody else's car, We order different drinks at the same bars

there's no point in grieving

it's been a while since I have even heard from you

They've got blood on their hands

A grown-up woman should never fall so easily

'Cause honey I'll come get my things,

We danced so close, We danced so slow, And I swore I'd never let you go

Don't say that you love me

Don't say it's like a fantasy When you know this is how it should be

Ain't been sober since maybe October of last year

No one can find the rewind button, girl

If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me

Sometimes I wake up in a different bedroom

You kiss me, I'm falling

I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth

Your life collides with mine

On a night like this I wanna stay forever,

Words can never make me stay

I should just tell you to leave 'cause I Know exactly where it leads

A little small talk, a smile, and baby I was stuck

Try to leave a light on when I'm gone Something I rely on to get home

You've heard me saying that smoking was my only vice

I've had a few little love affairs

Takes me home Lights are off, he's taking off his coat, 

[macawritesupdates]

Hell yeah historically inaccurate updated!! I'm so excited it's such a good fic! I started reading the new chapter and kept having to put my phone down to process before I could keep reading it's just that good. You've got me getting up to walk around the room every few paragraphs haha. Aww man lots of feels indeed with this one it opened strong with grandpa feels and then kept ramping up. Aww Yuuji ignoring the fact that he's starving hurts baby please you cannot ignore the fact that your body is dying 😢. Sukuna must be going through it watching the man he loves slowly wasting away but trying to pretend everything is fine. They're so cute though spending time together clearly caring about each other, Yuuji nuzzling Sukuna's hand had me kicking my feet that's so adorable. Sukuna wondering if Yuuji only likes some of his expressions makes me wonder how much that man wants to be loved in his entirety. So many people can love parts of him *cough* his power *cough* but not the whole of who he is. Yuuji I hate to say it but I don't think life would have been better if you'd been born in this era *side eyes MoL* you might be better off having been born in the future. Loved the detail that Sukuna taking time to think about stuff is a sign of respect from him and if he responds to a person quickly he probably doesn't care much for them or what they're saying. Not only is it a cool characterization, it also shows how well Yuuji knows him as a person. Damn Yuuji knowing him well as a person lemme just sit with that for a bit. I do love that for them truly they both deserve to be known and loved. The fact that Sukuna is trying so hard to understand Yuuji makes me feel so warm and fuzzy. I don't even have the words to describe it he's got this new relationship unlike any other he's previously had and it's a learning process but because Yuuji came to him and treated him like a person he's finally able to learn what human connection is like and now he's growing because of it. There's a line in the epic of gilgamesh (I know I know very modern very relevant right now forgive me for the obvious comparison lol) that mentions the two main characters a demigod king and a wild beast man the line goes “this is the story of them becoming human together” that line popped into my head reading this Yuuji was lost drifting away from humanity due to his grief and pain pushing him into a cog mentality and that's not even getting into the dehumanization he faces from others as Sukuna's vessel and the dehumanization all sorcerers face from the system itself and Sukuna dealt with hate and discrimination from birth eventually that discrimination became benevolence prejudice when he became powerful but he was still distinctly other and unwanted and not seen as human by most. Held up as a god on a pedestal but that's its own form of dehumanization and even as a god they didn't like him much. Ugh the pain and isolation got them both but then they met each other. Yuuji got to breathe freely in the past and feel joy again and Yuuji treated Sukuna like a real person which Let them both become human again together ❤. No need for gods or cogs here. (1)

Historically Accurate Yuuji is saying his life is hard and he wishes he was in the past while MOL Yuuji is standing in the background staring at the camera like he's on the office XD (Thank you for that mental image, it got me a giggle!) A lot of what I want to touch in Historically Accurate is the theme of dehumanization, connections, and handling grief c: Painful topics, but also want to speak of hope, so seeing your take on the chapter has me so happy that I'm making the points I wanted to make! <3

Also having to step away and walk circles...that was me writing this dang thing XD Had to keep closing it to go write something else because I was getting all sorts of choked up 8'3

[diveyne]

VAMPIRE VERSE : general, suited for urban & high fantasy, & specifically pertaining to v rising.

i'm trying to do this as a multiple birds with one stone so i don't need to make 4389758934 vampire verse posts. but the generalized vampire verse is made to fit all possible generalized vampire settings where vampires are more or less " traditional " without too much deviation from what we typically see as being the standard vampire, much akin to the urban fantasy world i've created for my oc @edensbite. as far as my general vampire verse is concerned, consider it urban fantasy in its main iteration, but know that it can be easily placed in historical fiction or specific worlds, just minorly altered per world as needed ( like for vtm, vampire academy, castlevania, supernatural, etc), to which i may update this post.

general. morgana and her sister were turned a millennia ago by their mother whilst in their mid 20s. they were born human, as their mother once was. they were not turned in the traditional sense as you would think of it, but mihira was once a witch who sought an end to a rise in conflict between supernatural beings that threatened to bring an end to them all. in consulting the gods of their coven, mihira ascended into what they saw as a higher being, a revenant of the woman she once was: a heretic, still a witch afflicted with vampirism. kilam feared the life this would lead for his daughters, so he took them and fled before they came of an age where mihira would want her daughters to ascend with her to grow her coven of heretics to fight in the war plaguing the land. the girls were still burgeoning with wild magicks in their veins, untrained, with nothing to temper their abilities and no one to teach them how to control their gifts.

kayle thought vampires as they were to be evil, amongst the other demons to be eradicated from the earth, and morgana argued that they, too, were deserving of life. she thought the conflict was ridiculous, that witches, too, were just as guilty as killing innocent humans, but humans weren't as innocent as they all thought, either. there was more nuance to everyone's existence than kayle cared to see, but morgana advocated for everyone. this caused the rift between them to grow bigger by the day, and one day, the breaking point came. in their fighting, kilam lay in the rubble of the burning village they called home. kayle sought their mother, to join her as an equal, but morgana sought her because she had no one else left to turn to and she needed answers. little did she know that betrayal would come twice in the form of an irreversible ritual spell that would transform her forever. kayle embraced it, but morgana was anguished and wracked with grief. she could still feel nature's call, but she could feel its scorn. trapped between a state of being half-alive, the need for blood remained to sustain her, though not as desperately as a pure vampire. now, she wanders the earth, estranged from mihira and kayle, biding her strength in time to put an end to kayle's disregard for life, feeding from both humans and vampires until they were nothing more than dried husks laying waste beneath the sun that smiled upon them no more.

she only hopes the hunger doesn't consume her, too.

v rising. morgana's family were humble humans of vardoran, once. mihira became a high-ranking member of the church of luminance, and kayle followed in quick pursuit. morgana, however, did not see all vampires as being truly evil. not all killed as they fed, and not all imprisoned humans as a permanent blood supply. some fed only from the creatures of the world, from each other to survive, or as needed from humans in passing, or any human allies they may have had. the conflict raging across their land was between vampirekind, with humans woefully caught in between as unfortunate collateral damage, and, unfortunately, food sources.

when dracula was felled and his blood rained over vardoran for seven days and seven nights, mihira, kayle, and morgana were amongst those forever changed by the vampire king's blood. kilam was not so lucky and tragically perished in the deluge of blood. like other members of the church, mihira and kayle saw this as a blessing and struck down vampirekind. unbeknownst to the two of them, though, was that in between the chaos of the world, morgana was born anew into a vampire prior to dracula's blood changing her. her life was upended completely on all fronts. no longer human, she's learning to survive, all while being gifted with greater boons than that of a normal vampire. while mihira and kayle keep to silverlight in brighthaven, morgana wanders all of vardoran, until the day comes she can cast her family down from their corruption against not only vampires, but humanity. so morgana, too, slumbered, with the rest of vampirekind, forgotten by her family, forgotten by the world, until the day came when the immortal's king call awakened her once more.

if joining the legion of noctum was the only way for her kind to survive, to put the church of luminance in its place . . . so be it.

[nova-dracomon]

Lucky for Me, I Run on Spite and Sweet Revenge

Originally posted on tumblr on October 27, 2022

Posted Updated Version on the Fictionkind Dreamwidth on April 11, 2024

Write about a time that your fictomere completely lost their cool, or a time that someone lost their cool about your fictomere. - 95 [Frenzy]

My strongest noema is that I dark digivolved when I had a chance for revenge against one of the royal knights.

The royal knights are an extension of the supercomputer, King Drasil, who oversees the Digital World and have sworn to do their bidding. The same King Drasil who unleashed a virus to wipe out all but 1% of Digimon. Royal knights are Digimon themselves, but they’re too powerful to dare challenge. After miraculously surviving the x-virus, I was able to escape through a small gap into the human world. No matter how angry I was at first, choosing to fight them instead would be a waste of my life. The idea of continuing to live as an act to spite god was much more appealing. On the other side, I was able to meet a human that became my partner.

I wasn’t the sole Digimon in the human world for long and apparently the little tear I used to travel between worlds wasn’t the only one. Other digimon were able to find similar gaps into the human world, so my human partner and I worked together to keep any dangerous ones at bay. As a digimon, our emotions make us. The closer our bond became, the more resolute and confident my partner was, the powerful the forms I would take. My strength was directly tied to her emotions, will and growth. Over time, we even found other human and digimon pairs that joined us. My partner was way more enthusiastic about them than I was. I never was the most social creature to begin with and time had made me jaded, but they were tolerable. They grew on me at some point.

But bitterness and resentment are like poison. I’ve had minor upsets when digivolving before, I’d be more feral/aggressive, and maybe use more force than was strictly necessary, but I wasn’t…like this. When I was finally going to hit mega, my own hatred and resentment tainted the evolution and I completely lost control. I do not know what I was supposed to become if I had a clear heart, but I transformed into holydramon x. Normally, holydramon is seen as a heroic protector. After having it’s latent powers drawn out by the x-program, it's more akin to a vengeful deity:

“Although there are no visible changes to Holydramon, who has continued to evolve throughout the history of the Digital World, the wild, draconic ferocity it had restrained has been completely drawn out. When facing evil Digimon, it smashes them to smithereens with its brutal, tremendous fighting style, and then erases them in the blink of an eye with its enormous light energy of justice (Holy Blaze), and is starting to become feared as a vengeful god.” - from wikimon.net (image is too)

After writing that last paragraph, I feel like my partner must have played a role in the evolution too. Digimon are hyper-sensitive to the emotions and wishes of humans. Was it only my heart that tainted the evolution? Was my partner filled with anger and despair over how I was treated? Am I placing all of the blame unfairly on my own shoulders? I don’t know. Either way, I doubt I helped the situation given my personality. The thought does warm my heart, not even because I “wouldn’t be totally to blame,” it’s more the thought that someone I care about was outraged on my behalf. It’s proof I wasn’t alone.

In this new form I completely lost control and attacked indiscriminately without care for the damage to the city around me, myself or anyone else from our team. Honestly, my noema gets fuzzy after actually digivolving, but I get the feeling I either lost, tied or the battle was postponed midway through. I also believe it was my partner that was able to pull me back from rampaging.

The extra wild thing I’ve discovered overtime is this became my normal mega evolution. Usually dark digivolutions are “one and done” so to speak. You have something happen, learn your lesson, and become something else, something more virtuous, next time. The more I explore my vaguetype, the more shifts and noemata I experience, I only have holydramon x for this level. When I do experience a mental shift of this digimon, it’s usually accompanied by a calm confidence. For my partner and I, I think it was more about tempering our need for vengeance with mercy and grace. We didn’t need to change who we were, the form wasn’t wrong in the broad sense of the word, but we were taking things too far and distorting them.

When I get angry in the present-day, I try to remember what she taught me. I don’t want to be that monster that defeats opponents at any cost and dies inside along the way.

- Hortense

[koffing-time]

Another update guys, two topics this time, one good and one... semi bad?

the good one first though: The Barn is basically finished! The last little things are supposed to be done tomorrow! I might make a photo once it’s done.

// this means i might try myself at drawing, but i will never promise something like that.

This also means that my last few pokémon will finally move in with me. Sorry mom, you can’t keep Carrot Cake any longer!

This ALSO means that there won’t be any hazardous construction vehicles present at the babyshower, so anyone who as worrying about that can now rest easily.

Now the... troublesome news: after spening some god time with the new Pokémon, i have made a few observations. I’ll just go through them one at a time. If anyone has ideas or insight, please please please let me know.

Flit, the Beedrill: He is one of the Pokémon i adopted from the Snowbelle City Shelter. He was described as very energetic, but with low stamina. Something Olivia noticed yesterday, and which i sort of confirmed is, that he seems to get INCREDIBLY active after being called. When left to his own, he still likes to excercise and do mock-battles with my other pokémon, but he is more chill. Like i said in some post before, he seems to be getting along with Coffee, who is usually more... slow. @oh-shinx do you know if this was also noticed at the shelter? I tried calling them earlier, but since they are in Kalos, i think they were closed. Timezones are a bitch. Anyways, it’s known that his old trainer was pushing him too far at times. I’m not sure how to adress this issue, like i said any tips are very welcome. My first instinct would be to maybe give him a new name? “Flit” might remind him too much of his old trainer.

Ultra-Domesticated Trubbish. I have rescued two of them, they seemed decently close. I find them kind of funny looking. They kind of resemble paper bags more like the typical trash bags of a normal Trubbish. They don’t like it when i point my phone at them, so no photo for now. They seem to be somewhat healthy, at least for UDs. They are DEATHLY afraid of water though, so getting them to drink has proven a bit of trouble so far. I’ve made a kind of contraption where they can go to, and with a lever let some water slowly drip out of the bottom, so they can take it slow and make sure it doesn’t get on their body. It’s a bit redneck-engineering though, i’ll have to see if i can make it a bit more stable. I’m hoping they will take a liking to Loaf, my own, normal Trubbish. If they do, he might ease them into drinking a bit more. They also don’t really like to eat trash, which is odd. They go for organic waste instead, which is fine with me, if they don’t get sick from it. I will definitely keep an eye out for that. I’m thinking of calling them “Bun” and “Roll”.

Ultra-Domesticated Mareanie: This is a case that worries me. She is ultra domesticated, i’m sure. I got her from the base yesterday, and she was just like all the others. Playful, afraid of noise, harmless. Today, she was incredibly active. First i was happy. You know, having a UD Pokémon that’s somewhat normal? But after a while, she was worrying me. As you might now, Mareanie are ambush predators. They hide somewhere in the water and wait until something edible comes by. They don’t move much in the wild, at least compared to a lot of other pokémon. This one was running around, jumping in and out of the water, climbing rocks and trees, everything. And what’s even worse is that after a while she started to bite and hit everything and everyone she could reach? Like, that’s not something UDs do. At all. Not one of the UDs i met yesterday put their mouth anywhere near another living creature, and if they picked something up they almost dropped it again because they were so careful with it. In addition, this Mareanie doesn’t have any thorns or spikes and her theeth are so small, she couldn’t even scratch a branch she was chewing on for 30 minutes. I will definitely go to the vet with her tomorrow. Does anybody have an idea what it could be though? (Also not sure of a name for her yet)

Ultra-Domesticated Petilil: This one brings me a new challenge. She is so incredibly fragile. She almost fainted when we went outside into the sun, her leaves browned within like an hour until she got some more water and she has very little energy. She is also very very afraid of all my poison types. Even Muffin, who is very sad because of this. Yesterday, i thought it was because of the general situation, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I don’t think i can keep her, she would just suffer with me. @pkmn-aide-mel You said you could imagine adopting a UD Pokémon? Would you be up for this challenge or should i just go to a shelter to see if they can be a better place for her?

Ampersand, the Sliggoo: I have some better news to wrap this up. He seems way better than all the others i’ve talked about now. He is visibly in pain sometimes, but i was aware that this will happen. It’s because of a condition he has, as he has some kind of half-formed shell. He probably has some Hisuian heritage, and the evoluton process was kinda fucked up or something, So now he has some iron residue in his lower back. It’s not something that can be cured as far as i know, but the pain can be eased with different kinds of medicine. However, he was very slow today and didn’t want to play much with the other Pokémon, but that’s all right. He was just chilling at the pond. I think being in the water might also help with his back. Or maybe he just likes it. Whatever it is, if he likes the pond, i won’t stop him from going there.

[sunderedazem]

Moonrise Legacy on twitter/socmed

oh god what have I done

Imperial side first!

Elennye Trizz: Social media ghost. She doesn't have any social media that anyone knows about and people are always wondering how the hell she understands any internet memes. (little do they know she makes all the internet memes. she is the origin point. she has 800 gimmick blogs all spouting vaguely republic-critical noise and cat pics. she's a psyop and a half)

Astayr Caleo: surprisingly domestic. Xey have a cooking space-instagram where xey document hir disasters in the kitchen trying to replicate Mandalorian dishes. Torian and Mako feature in some of them as damage control or taste testers. people love how ridiculous it is and cheer when xey manage to make something yummy. Xey never post anything work related and actively block people that try to ask about it.

Sekulyn'torr: before her rise to the Dark Council she mostly just used her social media to troll and annoy other Sith - she's proud to admit she's been suspended from all social media platforms at least three times for threats of violence that offended even the Hutts. (Especially aimed at Thanaton) After their rise to the Dark Council however, they use social media mostly for policy updates and to bait their political opponents into saying some Dumb Shit that they can then use to attack or arrest them. They also occasionally get into twitter-fights with certain ex-Jedi Alliance Commanders.

Republic-side now!

Deitente Verrni: the only completely normal one of the bunch. She uses socmed for life updates and posting cute pictures of her and Aric when they're on dates off duty. She also runs a memorial page for SpecOps soldiers who fell in battle and posts obituaries upon family request.

Kessin Meyka: incendiary radical but also memer. Kessin is *always* in politicians' comment sections aggressively pointing out hypocrisy and claiming wild shit like "uh huh remember the time you tried to pay me to smuggle spice? bitch" which is usually actually true and people hate them for that. They have a library of political memes to put the Jedi archives to shame and always have at least two snappy comebacks ready on demand. their fatal flaw is that they're always commenting on random people's posts like "oh you're cute :) hmu if you need anything...discreet" and it's simultaneously a hilarious business strategy and also really cringe.

Kalvonut: Basically just one of those Inspirational Christian Instagrams, but the Jedi version. it's lowkey tacky but he thinks it's funny and nobody on the council wants to burst his bubble so they just smile and nod. he also gives out pretty decent life advice too though, so while his socmed is THAT his DMs and askboxes and comments are always filled with really sincere advice and well wishes. he's wholesome cringe, basically.

and Zakuulan SocMed (aka Greine family)

Corrain Gealai: While he was a Padawan and Jedi Knight prior to his capture, his social media presence mostly consisted of retweeting/reblogging cool art and occasionally yelling at nuclear-waste-bad takes from some Republic senators - nothing too odd. But after his stint as Lord Lune under Vitiate's control, he doesn't return to social media...until he's unfrozen from carbonite during KOTXX. He immediately starts using his old accounts to post stuff promoting galactic unity against Zakuul. He also does 'blooper reels' where silly Alliance moments that Lana and Theron declassify can be posted - mostly featuring Imperial and Republic troops coexisting or getting into stupid mischief (ex: a video of a food fight where some uppity Sith lord threw applesauce and before long there were nineteen Sith and Jedi just. dripping gravy and being lectured by Sana-rae and Bey'wan while Corrain's in the corner laughing his ass off). His socmed presence is essentially a combination political and PR account that communicates in memes and sass. After he takes Zakuul's throne however, Indo Zal jumps in to manage his public persona. This mostly consists of "please stop telling Saresh's allies and Malgus to go 'karking jump in the interstellar void,' it's bad form" so there's a notable drop in fiery internet debates after this point.

Eiri Greine: pre-KOTXX he has Generic Badguy SocMed just to keep up appearances and occasionally bitch about other Sith Lords. he rarely uses them. Post-KOTXX and his return to Zakuul he deletes everything and starts running a "shit my nephew says" account where he details all of Corrain's shenanigans and other random Eternal Family buffoonery. Iomlan features a lot just with her head in her hands. it's got several billion followers and Corrain is constantly trying to get Eiri to delete that one post about the lightsaber cheese baking incident. Eiri posts updates about Corrain's saga to delete that post. This is a Viral Meme and Eiri is constantly tagging verified accounts in the dumbest shit just to fuck with them.

Iomlan Greine: She doesn't use socmed at all until Corrain's coronation, at which point she develops a very mild case of Cat/Nexu Pic Addiction. Her socmed accounts are all just cute pictures of animals and publicly scolding her son for being an ass, or on occasion tag-teaming with Lana and Theron to publicly shame Corrain into self-care. It works pretty well, and she's confused by the number of people who follow her for cute animal pictures, but she's having fun with it.

[unhallowedfm]

merlin's beard, hope lupin (zendaya), is that you? it’s been so long – i thought you might’ve been dead! i mean, you never know in times like these. well, it’s good to have you back in the fight. come on now, there’s no time to waste – we need you to re-enter the fray within the next 48 hours, or else i fear all might be lost. don’t let us down – the world is counting on you.

[ she/her, cis woman ] greetings to all of our listeners! we start today’s potterwatch with a long-awaited update on hope andromeda lupin who was finally spotted alive just last night, wandering the streets of london. for those of you who haven’t tuned in before, they are a 26 year old halfblood (werewolf) slytherin alum who works as a dragonologist. they are oddly reminiscent of a faint bitterness on your tongue that tastes almost like iron and rust and salt (oh, stubborn girl, you’ll bite yourself to bleeding before you give in to this); sometimes you think, if you could, you’d sharpen your heart into a gleaming, serrated knife, make yourself so razor-edged that no one could touch you again without piercing themselves — it’s better to cut than be cut; that feral, seething glint hidden in those electric eyes — there’s something wild about you, you raging tempest of a girl, something that begs to be unleashed — you love like a punch to the stomach, just that hard, just that sharp; you are a winter sunset of a girl — a violent, frozen tundra at night — you burn like freezing; you're sick of peering into the mirror and seeing a reflection you do not recognize staring back at you — not a girl but a distortion, rippling like a river — oh, aren't you tired of being all bird bones and caged heart? it's time, go on — crack the mirror, shatter the glass into jagged pieces, break it all — no, break free, which makes sense considering their shrewd, dauntless, resolute, capricious, acerbic, and gelid nature. you might know of them as the biological child of remus lupin & nymphadora tonks, and we’re sure that their family will be relieved to hear they’re safe and sound — or at least as much as you can be, in times like this. to all our listeners, if you catch a glimpse of someone who looks a bit like that muggle zendaya, that’s them. before approaching, please be aware that they’re rumored to be affiliated with the erinyes, so best proceed with caution. these are dangerous times we’re living in. well, thanks for tuning in, folks. we’ll play ourselves out with girls against god by florence + the machine. [ sarah, 27, she/her, pst ]

[seansilv25]

So that June Direct, huh?

Not gonna lie, that was pretty wild. But let's not waste any time as I dive into my thoughts on it!

Mario & Luigi: Brothership; Alpha Dream's baby has been pulled from the grave, and visually looks amazing NES World Championship; time to sweat like the try-hardiest tryhard out there Fairy Tail 2; Never cared about Fairy Tail, don't intend to Fantasian Neo Dimension; It was there, I guess Switch Sports Basketball; Show of hands, who even remembered this game exists? Memories in Orbit; Huh... well that was... strange Disney Illusion Island update; Tbh, this just seems like holdover for Rebrushed a tad bit Hello Kitty Island Adventure; Oh yeah, hello kitty is a thing Looney Tunes: Wacky World of Sports; That visual style... god it looks insultingly cheap Among Us new roles; Anyone else think Among Us just... fell off? Farmagia; Honestly, I thought this was just more Fairy Tail for a hot sec Donkey Kong Country Returns HD; I'd prefer a new title, but I'll take it Dragon Quest HD-2D remakes; Feel like you should have dropped the Remake from the title and just stuck with the "HD-2D" part. It flows way better that way Funko Fusion; Anyone else just... not get the hype of funkos? Luigi's Mansion 2 HD; How many times have we seen Dark Moon HD in directs again? The New Denpa Men; What are these, poor men's Miis? Metal Slug Attack Reloaded; Alright, which is better: Metal Slug or Contra? Darkest Dungeon 2; A lot of my friends were excited about this. Personally, eh new NSO games; Don't have NSO, so why should I care? Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero; It was there, I guess MVC Fighting Collection; WE GETTIN TAKEN FOR A RIDE WITH THIS ONE!! IT'S MAHVEL TIME, BAYBEEE!! Super Mario Party Jamboree; C'mon Nintendo, we haven't seen Wario's Battle Canyon in years! where's the Wario take on Remember the Alamo? Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom; It's cool and all that Zelds gets her own game and all, but I think you all have gotten my stance on the Zelda series by this point Just Dance 2025; OH MY GOD, THEY HAVE A FACE?! Lego Horizons Adventures; I'd probably be more interested if this wasn't shown at SGF about two weeks ago Stray; Cute cat is cute. Need I say more? Tales of the Shire; So that stuff about living in a Hobbit hole and getting lit 24/7? I think someone just found a way to live their dream Ace Attorney Investigations Collection; OBJECTION!! This looks cool, but I'm not that interested The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy; Group of 10-20 kids stuck in a school? Death around every corner? That artstyle? Let's face it, they are never beating the Danganronpa allegations (Why did the trailer's start remind me of the Shadow Fandub?" Romancing Saga 2; It was there, I guess Metroid Prime 4: Beyond; THE PRIME 4!!! THE PRIME 4 IS REAAAAAAALLLLL!!!

I think Nontendo is finally starting to pick themselves up. After a couple of generally mediocre directs in recent memory, we finally had something of banger substance!

(Ok who wants to bet whether Prime 4 is on Switch or the next console?)

[mortemhq]

MERLIN’S BEARD, ALANIS MCKINNON (SOPHIE THATCHER), IS THAT YOU?  it’s been so long – i thought you might’ve been dead! i mean, you never know in times like these. well, it’s good to have you back in the fight. come on now, there’s no time to waste – we need you to re-enter the fray within the next 48 hours, or else i fear all might be lost. don’t let us down – the world is counting on you.

[ she/her, cis woman ] greetings to all of our listeners! we start today’s potterwatch with a long-awaited update on alanis marlene mckinnon who was finally spotted alive just last night, wandering the streets of london. for those of you who haven’t tuned in before, they are a 25 year old pureblood witch who is oddly reminiscent of a faint bitterness on your tongue that tastes almost like iron and rust and salt (oh, stubborn one, you'll bite yourself to bleeding before you give in to this); that feral, seething glint hidden in your viridescent eyes — there's something wild about you, you raging tempest of a girl, something that begs to be unleashed — you love like a punch to the stomach, just that hard; sometimes you think, if you could, you'd sharpen your heart into a gleaming, serrated knife, make yourself so razor-edged that no one could touch you again without piercing themselves — it's better to cut than be cut; when joan tierney said "your brother is not coming to save you. you thought he survived, didn’t you? no one survives this story. what a nice fantasy you invented [ … ] stupid girl, always dreaming of being rescued. lonesome girl, always desperate to be touched. rageful girl, always hungry for something to sink your teeth into. something carved fresh from the bone. you were once a little girl who knew what it was to be tender. she haunts you now, too." and when richard siken said "but the princess looks into her mirror and only sees the princess, while I’m out here, slogging through the mud, breathing fire, and getting stabbed to death. okay, so i’m the dragon. big deal. you still get to be the hero", which makes sense considering their dauntless, unfettered, roguish, capricious, tempestuous, and devil-may-care nature. you might know of them as the biological child of slyvester and anthea mckinnon, and we’re sure that their family will be relieved to hear they’re safe and sound — or at least as much as you can be, in times like this. to all our listeners, if you catch a glimpse of someone who looks a bit like that muggle sophie thatcher, that’s them. before approaching, please be aware that they’re rumored to be affiliated with the order of the phoenix, so best proceed with caution. these are dangerous times we’re living in. well, thanks for tuning in, folks. we’ll play ourselves out with girls against god by florence + the machine. [ sarah, 27, she/they, pst ]

[bluehairmisfit]

Atlas Romanticizes Ann Arbor.

Thematic parallel:

Last summer I was in the car on the way home from the airport after picking up my dad, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ann Arbor, because that’s where I’d be going to school. At the time, I was excited and terrified, not knowing what the Fall would bring.

Today, this summer, I’m still hoping to catch a glimpse of Ann Arbor. I was just there yesterday, a few streets away from campus. And yet I’m still trying to catch a passing glance at the Burton Memorial Tower or something, something to remind me that the past 9 months or so weren’t some wild dream.

It hasn’t been perfect at all. I’ve thought of dropping out a few times when the stress got bad. But I’m romanticizing this place because I miss my school friends. I miss having to waste an hour between my last class and the start of club. And I miss spending an hour and a half in a room with people who understand me in ways I’ve only ever felt with the majority of my household and in the online spaces where I’ve made lasting friendships.

I have another three weeks, at least, before summer meetings start. On one hand, I dread the hour drive to the school. On the other hand, I miss being on campus and what it symbolizes. I miss sitting in a room with The Usual Suspects that can include a philosophy nerd, a PhD student fascinated with bones, a chronically ill stoner who gets my humor, a psych nerd who will infodump at any opportunity, and God Only Knows How To Describe The Rest.

A few will be missing. Some have graduated. Some won’t be back until the Fall.

And in my gushing of love for the weird humans I choose to spend my time around, I missed my window to try to see the tower. Oops.

I told them once, a few weeks ago, that I loved them and would miss them. I was doing fine until I had a dream last night about a hangout. And one in which people were either annoyed with me or just There. But I woke up finding it silly rather than worrisome, because I can think back to this one friend who followed me out of the club room at one of the last meetings just to ask if I thought I could make it to summer meetings. And I can’t forget the look when I said “Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Or to the one friend who asked me to set up a Minecraft server with him, and even though we’ve only been able to play together once for a half hour or so, he texts me near-daily updates about what he’s been building.

Or the new president, former vice president, of the club who encouraged me to run for vice president under her, because I was easy to work with. To me, that’s a high compliment.

And in times like this, I really do think I’d neglect my online friends less if we weren’t all so far away. Because despite that love and excitement that I get from my friends overall, I’m scared to reach out to anyone. Scared to bother or somehow be a disappointment. And I’m working on that worry, even if it’ll take a while.

[cherryasagiri]

The Homicidal Herons

pairing: Gale x Tav

wc: 2,782

synopsis: What happens when you take characters from Baldur's Gate 3 and put them in a modern setting as a successful band? A whole lot of fuckery and hijinx. Join Karlach, Astarion, Gale, Zevlor, and Tav as they navigate stardom, come to terms with past traumas, and try to kick current addictions.

warnings: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Drug Use, Drug Addiction, Drug Abuse, Drugged Sex, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Underage Rape/Non-con, Underage Drug Use, Grooming, Master/Slave, Mental Health Issues, Mental Breakdown, Drunk Sex, transphobia

a/n: So I was supposed to be updating other fics I had been writing, but BG3 came out, and I have been waiting years to play the game as a finished project. When Larian said something in a tweet about what we would name our bard band, my brain wouldn't stop working, and my fingers wouldn't stop typing, so the first chapter is pretty long! Sorry, haha. I hope everyone will enjoy the jumbled mess I created! Defos not beta'd cuz I am lazy.

Oh, and before I forget, this fic will get extremely dark, and I will leave a trigger warning in the notes at the beginning of the chapter, so don't worry! This is also being cross-posted on AO3 and probably Wattpad.

“How about The Pussy Poppers?” Tav asked, writing the name down on the whiteboard display before being immediately struck through by his bandmate. “Absolutely not, Tav; we can’t have a name like that,” Gale responded, shaking his head in routine disapproval before writing down his suggestion. “What about Waterdeep’s Finest?” “That only would make sense to you, pal,” Karlach sighed. She didn’t look at either party that recommended a name for their band, opting out to playing with her black expo marker. “Do we really need to come up with a name right now? We need to practice and write new songs. Who cares what our name is,” she explained, tired of wasting precious time bickering over a silly band name when they could be going buck wild on their instruments right about now while coming up with something hard to perform.

“Oh, but darling, a good band name will take you a long way, especially with our talents of course. Would you rather have our adoring fans calling us by some putrid name those two idiots came up with, or you could come up with something angelic that rolls off the tongue?” Astarion questions, giving her a sly smirk, not waiting for her to say anything as he continued, “either way, I think I have the perfect name!” He exclaimed, his earlier smirk growing to an amused grin. ‘The Homicidal Herons’” he beamed, eyeing the group trying to gauge their reactions.

Everyone was quiet. The three questioned looked at each other silently, conversing through their eyes. Tav was the first to break the ice with a hearty laugh. The other members watched cautiously because he only laughed like this when there was a sinister thought swimming through his mind so their only response was to stiffen when Tav suddenly stopped laughing and gave them the brightest smile he could muster. “Gods, Astarion, that’s a fucking stupid ass name!” He started, a light chuckle leaving his lips before he continued, “But I fucking love it.”

That was three years ago, and things changed for them over the years. Old routines are broken to accommodate their ever-growing, fast-paced lifestyle, habits that have gotten out of hand, and the accumulated tension between the lead singer and their base player. But first, let me introduce the band.

Karlach was their ever-loving drummer. The sweetheart of the group lives in positivity but can be truly reckless and emotionally distant when it shows that morally right things aren’t as they should be. She’s usually breaking up the arguments between Gale and Tav when he decides to go on a reckless bender and is usually the one who can hype up the crowd better than anyone else in the band. She hates seeing Tav like this, but what can she do when Tav doesn’t want to listen to anyone? Gale is their very calm and collected base player. He’s the most sane of the group that has to make sure that the rest of his friends aren’t getting into too much trouble that’ll eventually fuck up what they had. However, he wasn’t immune to their shenanigans as he is Tav’s loyal drug buddy. They like to binge use and take that time to come up with new songs, think about how the drugs enhance their connection to the weave, and try to come up with new cantrips, only for most of those days to end up with them fucking each other and waking up refreshed. Astarion is the extremely dramatic second guitar. He’s always instigating Tav’s outlandish behavior while feigning ignorance when he gets arrested. He can’t keep his hands off anyone willing to give up their chastity for the night. He has his own demons, which he doesn’t discuss with the rest of the band. They know he’s a vampire and usually feeds off of Tav when he allows; however, there are deeper traumas he has yet to express with the rest of his friends… can he really call them that if he’s keeping them at arm's length? Then we have Tav, their first guitar and lead singer. He is the founder of the band and the one who gets in the most trouble. He tends to get high whenever he feels depressed and hates it when the other members try to get him to understand that his drug use is borderline an addiction. What does he do to combat their complaints? He goes sober for a month before binging heavily, starting the song, and dancing all over again.

The chirping of the local birds outside and the loud calls of the nearby roosters finally stirred the half-sleeping, tired older man awake earlier than he expected. Zevlor slowly sat up on his bed, letting the warmth from his blanket dissipate as it fell from his upper body, letting the early morning chill wake him up. He glanced down at his phone to see the time, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes while he adjusted his sight. There was a reserved sigh that escaped his lips, knowing that the day was going to be stressful. He noticed he woke up at 5:30, thirty minutes before he was supposed to wake up, something unusual but reasonably needed for the day. The Homicidal Herons had a gig that day in a particular city, and Zevlor was already worried about their lead singer traveling there without prior notice. He wanted to tell him, but he knew if he did, Tav would wholeheartedly be against it and would refuse to go along with them to the gig, saying things like “You can find another singer for the night” or “I will kill myself and everyone here before I step foot in that fucking city again Zevlor,” and many more colorful things that Zevlor isn’t too keen on thinking about right now. He knows that he isn't going to tell the male about it but instead is preparing himself to take whatever crap the human was going to give him.

Zevlor was so far down the rabbit hole of his own mind that he didnt notice the male in question had been knocking on his door. So far into his own thoughts, he didnt notice said man sneaking into his bed and under his blanket. So far gone with how he was going to hide their trip that he didn't notice Tav wrapping his arms around the tiefling’s torso as he gently moved his lips closer to Zevlor’s ear before whispering, “Penny for your thoughts, handsome?” he questions, forcing Zevlor to wince from surprise. His heart was beating rapidly from the surprise and close contact he was adjusting to. He was used to Tav's constant flirting and borderline sexual harassment but didn’t mind. He welcomed it honestly but wouldn't let Tav know that. He is technically their band manager, so he wasn't going to overstep his professional boundaries even though it was getting harder and harder. He would be lying if he said he didn’t have a bit of a crush on his client, seeing as how he was able to bring the sad older man out of deep depression when he lost everything that he cared for. Tav didn’t look at him as a lost cause or someone to pity; he genuinely cared about his soon-to-be manager at the time and only wanted to help since he had the means to. That is how he secured the managerial job overseeing an up-and-coming successful band.

Zevlor felt the heat rising from his neck and stretching across both ears; the embarrassment of being caught off guard and having Tav so close to him warmed his entire face. He thanked the Gods for giving him red skin because he wouldn't know what to do if Tav had noticed how hard he was blushing. He cleared his throat, refusing to meet the star-struck gaze he knew the human was giving him, and began his usual speech. “How many times do I have to tell you, Tav, to stop coming into my room without permission?” he growled unintentionally. He wanted to apologize but ultimately gave up and just blamed it on him just waking up. Tav pouted at his tone, which was quickly diminished and replaced with a half-smirk. “Yeah, yeah, I know Zevy, but I kept knocking, and you wouldn’t answer me, and you left the door unlocked, which is not like you, so I just walked in,” he started, eyeing the tired male while he slowly snaked his arms up from his torso to around his neck while pressing his chest against Zevlor’s arm. “I was worried about you because you went to bed last night way more grumpy than usual, so I wanted to see if you were okay because I knew you were going to be up earlier than normal when you get like that.” he finished, the smirk never leaving his lips. At the same time, he lightly blew air into the tiefling’s large ear.

Zevlor glanced at Tav for a split second before sighing heavily. He was annoyed that Tav knew so many little things about him, yet his heart swelled with how much he cared. He couldn't let his feelings get in the way at the moment, so he feigned annoyance and pushed the male away, much to his and their dismay. “I'm fine, Tav. Just leave my room and get everyone ready to leave. We have to make it to the next gig early this time around so we can make sure everything is perfect unless you want to end up like last time,” he spoke, noticing Tav wince at the mention of their last gig. Tav shook his head and sighed lightly, leaving the bed and Zevlor’s room. At the same time, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in before rubbing at his temples. It was going to be a long day.

Once Zevlor was ready and ensured everything was accounted for on the bus, he reluctantly made his way over to Gale. He didnt have a problem with the wizard per se; it was just that he knew the relationship between the two was sexual and toxic for the both of them, and the less time he was around Gale while he smelled like Tav’s perfume, the better. However, this is such a time when he couldn't stray away.

“Gale, has everyone made sure not to tell Tav where we were going, right?” he asked, scouring around the area to ensure the male wasn't around to hear what they were discussing. Gale glanced over at their manager and proceeded to do the same before giving him an answer. “Of course, Astarion didnt care, so we don’t have to worry about him. But I know it will be hard for Karlach to keep her mouth shut because she doesn't like to lie to Tav… and I agree with her sentiments. I hate lying to people, but lying to Tav about this? Isn't this a bit extreme?” he asked, his brows etching together from the stress of keeping this from the man he’s been actively sleeping with, so being around him in such an intimate way while keeping such a secret from him was eating him up. But he knew it was for a good reason and hated it.

Zevlor could see the distress swimming in Gale’s eyes. He wasn't meant to be someone who keeps things from people he cares about, and Zevlor feels a tinge of guilt for making him hide this from their leader. “I know Gale, and I am sorry for making you keep this from him, but I know you understand why,” he began, watching as Gale nodded before egging him to continue. “It would be either this or watch Tav find different ways to get what he wants, and we all know how ugly that can get.” he sighed, Gale shaking his head at the memory, not wanting to live through that again. After a bit of time and everyone was on the bus, their hired driver soon began to drive off to their next destination. Zevlor had made earlier preparations so they could get to their destination without Tav knowing.

First, it was the tour dates where three cities were surprises (two that they told him were real and the other was fake). Second, the bus windows were tinted and had it covered on the inside that, surprisingly, Tav didn’t question. Third, even though Zevlor was against it, Astarion made sure to supply Tav with enough drugs to keep his mind off of their destination and more on getting high. But the thing is, Tav isn’t stupid. He knew that something was up with everyone other than Astarion. Karlach was being a bit distant with him on the bus, Gale couldn’t even look at him when they spoke and kept the conversations to a minimum, and Zevlor was more attentive to his drug use now than at any other time. At first, he was going to ignore it. He mostly chalked it up to first-time jitters at this new venue they hadn't performed at yet and how the crowd would take them. But, after about 10 hours of driving and the tension growing thicker, the lines of coke just tasted bitter on his brain. With one last snort and a nostril cleaning, Tav had enough.

“What the fuck is going on with you guys?” he stood in the middle of the bus where everyone was gathered around and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked around at everyone, trying to gauge their reactions to see if they would give something up nonverbally, but they were solid as a rock.

“What is wrong my dear? Are the drugs fucking with your head? I told that guy not to try me today.” Astarion commented, his scowl apparent with his fangs visible. He seemed concerned and ignorant of what Tav was trying to get at, but he didn’t relent.

“No, you all are just acting fucking weird. What's going on?” he asked with more authority leaking from his words. The gang looked at one another, wondering who would be the one to crack first before Zevlor broke the tension in the air when he spoke up. “It’s nothing Tav. We’re all just tired and a little nervous about performing somewhere new like they always do.” he tried to persuade the accusor, but it seemed like it wasn't working.

Before Tav could respond, the tour bus jerked to a complete stop, which made everyone but Tav let out a sigh of relief. Tav was getting irritated with everyone, but didnt feel like fighting it out with everyone since they just got there; he just wanted to drop his equipment off and head to their hotel to sleep. But before he could set foot outside the double doors, he was stopped by four bombastic voices yelling, “Wait Tav!” and then his suspicions were confirmed. “Okay, so you all lied to me. Nothing unusual, I guess, but why?” his glare was lethal now, and there was no way out of it. Karlach was the first to speak this time.

“Hey bud, listen, we didnt want to say anything before, but you need to calm down, alright? We didn't mean anything malicious behind it, but you gotta trust us, yeah?” she weakly smiled, watching Tav intently. The smaller male looked up at him with his unwavering glare, refusing to speak. Karlach tried to find the words but came up with nothing. She felt defeated and looked over at Gale for a helping hand.

“Listen, Tav, we wanted to talk to you when we arrived and before we got off the bus. It’s about our next gig and–” Gale cut himself off when he noticed Tav turning his back to the wizard and bolted for the door. The group didn't waste a second chasing after him, yelling for him to stay back so they could talk, but it was going in one ear and out of the other. By the time the other wizard was out of the bus, he was taking in his surroundings. They were parked in front of the venue where he first met the man who destroyed his life. The memories flooded as he held back the sob, trying to force itself out of his throat. The rest of the band froze when Tav turned back their way: his shoulders were shaking, his icy glare fixed on all of them, and the tears threatening to escape from his waterline were apparent, and they knew they had fucked up badly.

“Why the fuck would you bring me here.”

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #600

Top 100 Videogames Revisited

Here we are with a Very Special Top Ten list. I’ve been doing this stupid time-wasting exercise for six hundred flippin’ weeks now. Six hundred! Why?! Why?! God knows. Yet here we are.

It’s getting increasingly hard to find suitably epic topics to discuss when these mega-anniversaries roll around, which is probably why I’ve returned to a well I last dredged way back in 2019. Doing a Top 100 instead of a Top Ten is something of An Undertaking, requiring as it does my remembering quite a lot of things that exist – in this case, videogames. Trying to properly rank them is next to impossible, so I tend to just “rate” them against whatever’s sat next to them. This means I tend to look over the whole list and say “Woah, why’s Mass Effect so low?” – but then, it’s that low because I’m also thinking “well, I can’t really put it higher than Unpacking, and that’s not higher than Perfect Dark, which is a little bit lower than Command and Conquer…” and so on. On the other hand, listing a hundred of the damn things gives me an excuse to not have to write some pithy explanation for all of them. So there’s that.

And it’s TOPICAL isn’t it?! Because a Very Big Videogame is coming out this week. Starfield is definitely the biggest Xbox release of the year, and one of the biggest games of the year full stop; it’s also the first new game in ages that I’ve been really, really excited about (the last one was probably Cyberpunk). But even aside from Starfield, 2023 has been quite the year for gaming in general; up there with 2007 and 1998 probably. Of course, me being me, I’ve not played any of the “big” games; for me it’s only really about Starfield. I’ve barely played Breath of the Wild, so I don’t see the point forking over a small fortune to play Tears of the Kingdom, even though I know it’ll be amazing; I didn’t bother with Baldur’s Gate 3 yet because I knew I’d be playing another massive RPG shortly so what’s the point (also I’d be waiting for the Xbox version regardless); and I don’t have a PlayStation, so even if I wanted to I wouldn’t be able to play Spider-Man 2 But Not That Spider-Man 2 This One’s Just a Videogame it’s Got Nothing to do With the Film You Know the One With the Whole Power of the Sun in the Palm of my Hand Thing.

Anyway, the gist is, despite me just doing this because I thought it’d be fun and relatively easy, it’s also turned out to be quite a good time to revisit my favourite games. Has much changed since I last did this nearly four years ago? Stuff’s come out that’s pretty high in the list – Unpacking, Vampire Survivor. Or I might have played a game more, or more recently (GoldenEye and Quake being higher than in 2019 is due to how well their recent re-releases have held up). Another change I decided to make is recognising remasters or collections; this was really just an excuse to not have, say, C&C and Red Alert both taking up a spot each, or working out how to rank all the Halos or Mass Effects. But also I think the collected editions of those franchises do offer something a bit new, be it updated graphics and options, or just the way The Master Chief Collection allows you to remix and replay the games to your heart’s content. I’ve also decided to put 2019’s placement next to the titles, to see how things have dropped or climbed. I made a (potentially spurious) decision to use collections like Mass Effect to represent the highest-ranking entry last time round – so obviously the Legendary Edition collection wasn’t out in 2019, but the “previous ranking” refers to Mass Effect 2, the most popular part of that collection. Hopefully that makes sense. There are a couple of games where the new entry has entirely knocked the old entry off the charts – Forza for instance, where each new edition is more-or-less an iterative improvement; in these cases I was tempted to put the prior entry’s ranking against it, but decided that was a bit daft.

Finally a big difference is my acknowledging that, whilst it’s not a narrative-based FPS or a dense RPG, I do love Civilization more than almost anything. I think back to how scandalised I used to be at PC Gamer consistently ranking Civ II as the best game of all time, over the likes of Duke, Quake, or even my beloved (and already getting-on-a-bit) Monkey Island games. And yet I think in many ways they were proven right.

So there we are; not much else to it. Please enjoy this spurious ranking and try not get your knickers in a twist. How would things stand if I’d waited till the year was over before revisiting? I guess we’ll never know. Or at least not till my 800th list.

The Secret of Monkey Island (Lucasfilm Games, 1990) 1 NM

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (LucasArts, 1991) 2 NM

Sid Meier's Civilization VI (Firaxis Games, 2017) 5 U

Deus Ex (Ion Storm, 2000) 4 NM

Half-Life 2 (Valve, 2004) 3 D

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (BioWare, 2003) 6 NM

Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe, 2016) NE

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 2017) 21 U

Fable II (Lionhead, 2008) 10 U

Halo: The Master Chief Collection (343 Industries after Bungie, 2014) 7 D

Wii Sports (Nintendo, 2006) 23 UP

Lemmings 2: The Tribes (DMA Design, 1993) 8 D

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo, 2020) NE

Medieval II: Total War (Creative Assembly, 2006) 16 U

GoldenEye 007 (Rare, 1997) 34 U

Quake (id Software, 1996) 45 U

Command and Conquer Remastered Collection (Petroglyph Games/Lemon Sky Studios, after Westwood Studios, 2020) 12 D

Perfect Dark (Rare, 2000) NM

Unpacking (Witch Beam 2021) NE

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (BioWare, 2021) 22 U

Slay the Spire (Mega Crit, 2019) NE

Lego Marvel Super Heroes (TT Games, 2013) 11 D

Crackdown (Realtime Worlds, 2007) 9 D

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (LucasArts, 1997) 13 D

Portal (Valve, 2007) 17 D

Grim Fandango (LucasArts, 1998) 42 U

Drop7 (Area/Code Entertainment, 2009) 31 U

Sam & Max Hit the Road (LucasArts, 1993) 15 D

Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, 2007) 24 D

Flashback (Delphin Software, 1992) 25 D

Peggle 2 (PopCap Games, 2013) 43 U

Sensible World of Soccer (Sensible Software, 1994) 19 D

Half-Life (Valve, 1998) 14 D

Doom (id Software, 1993) 35 U

Tetris (Alexey Pajitnov, 1986) NE

Quake II (id Software, 1997) 45 U

Pentiment (Obsidian Entertainment, 2022) NE

Return to Monkey Island (Terrible Toybox, 2022) NE

Vampire Survivors (Luca Galante, 2022) NE

Portal 2 (Valve, 2011) NE

Duke Nukem 3D (3D Realms, 1996) 20 D

Minecraft (Mojang Studios, 2011) 63 U

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo, 2017) NE

BioShock (2K Boston, 2007) 30 D

Overcooked 2 (Team17/Ghost Town Games, 2018) NE

Quake III Arena (id Software, 1999) 33 D

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Ninja Theory, 2017) 86 U

Forza Horizon 5 (Playground Games, 2021) NE

Gears Tactics (Splash Damage/The Coalition, 2020) NE

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (TT Games, 2022) NE

Batman: Arkham City (Rocksteady Studios, 2011) 26 D

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt Red, 2015) NE

Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar Studios, 2019) NE

Switch Sports (Nintendo, 2022) NE

Project Gotham Racing (Bizarre Creations, 2001) 65 U

Halo Infinite (343 Industries, 2021) NE

Age of Empires II (Ensemble Studios, 1999) 37 D

Worms World Party (Team17, 2001) NM

Doom (id Software, 2016) 55 D

Lumines: Puzzle Fusion (Q Entertainment, 2004) NE

Marvel Snap (Second Dinner, 2022) NE

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 (Chris Sawyer, 2002) 32 D

Another World (Delphine Software, 1991) 52 D

The Settlers II (Blue Byte Software, 1996) NE

Blade Runner (Westwood Studios, 1997) 41 D

Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios, 2011) NE

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo, 2002) 60 D

Viva Pinata (Rare, 2006) 47 D

Townscaper (Oskar Stålberg, 2021) NE

Syndicate (Bullfrog Productions, 1993) 40 D

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (Nintendo, 2003) NE

Cannon Fodder (Sensible Software, 1993) 49 D

Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red, 2022) NE

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Technical Institute, 1992) 53 D

Banjo Kazooie (Rare, 1998) 50 D

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (LucasArts, 1992) 64 D

Crazy Taxi (Hitmaker, 1999) NE

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, 1998) 77 D

Superhot (Superhot Team, 2016) 44 D

Super Skidmarks (Acid Software, 1995) 62 D

James Pond 2: Codename RoboCod (Vectordean, 1991) 39 D

Super Mario 64 (Nintendo, 1996) 76 D

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Ubisoft Milan/Ubisoft Paris, 2017) NE

Plants Vs. Zombies (PopCap Games, 2009) 36 D

Full Throttle (LucasArts, 1995) NE

Braid (Number None, 2008) 56 D

Age of Empires IV (Relic Entertainment/World’s Edge, 2021) NE

Planet Coaster (Frontier Developments, 2016) NE

Gears 5 (The Coalition, 2019) NE

Pikmin 3 (Nintendo, 2013) NE

Max Payne (Remedy Entertainment, 2001) NE

Counter-Strike (Valve, 2000) NE

Jaguar XJ220 (Core Design, 1992) 80 D

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Neversoft, 2000) 83 D

Thimbleweed Park (Terrible Toybox, 2017) 73 D

Star Wars: Dark Forces (LucasArts, 1995) NE

Beneath a Steel Sky (Revolution Software, 1994) NE

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (Tribute Games, 2022) NE

Two Point Hospital (Two Point Studios, 2018) 72 D

Parasol Stars (Taito, 1991) NE

[imnotgivingupimjuststartingover2]

Back with an even bigger better badder update.

It is now January 2023. The last guy you wrote about (gotta be at least the 8th guy you’ve ever written about on here?! Lololol) well he was an absolute waste of time and thankfully you didn’t waste much time because we found *the guy* exactly a month after you told the time waster goodbye.

Enter —> my future husband, B.🤍

Just a small life update since then, you just celebrate a year a half of living alone in your own place, it’s gotten some cute updates here and there and another large update: I added another kitty to the fam! Now it’s me and my 2 girlies.🐈🐈 I love them to pieces.

Okay back to the updates. Just in time for B to be introduced into my life (by mutual friends☺️) I was also navigating friendship shifts, a new church, a new job, a new cat lol how I made it out on top still is by the grace of God. He blessed me for sure. B is the best thing that’s happened to me. Being in my first romantic relationship as a 27-28 year old is wild, but so much fun and rewarding. Of course I had to unlearn bad habits, be gentle with myself and him, ask lots of questions, be vulnerable and trusting, patience upon patience..but it was all so worth it.

I’m only a week away from celebrating one year officially together. 💞 I know we will get engaged within this next year. It’s so crazy to read from the beginning of my posts when I was a college drop out 20 year old scared, confused, and devastated that my initial life plans didn’t work out. I continued to struggle through it for a few years, it wasn’t pretty, but I kept moving forward and little by little I was built back up, with the help of my family and friends and of course God who had to bring me to my knees to allow me to choose him finally to do life with to bring me back up to where I can lean on him and let him do the heavy lifting.

Also turning 25 and having my brain be fully developed helped as well. Lol. But forreal. Life since 2014 when I thought my life was over compared to like now in 2023 is night and day.

I am a confident, beautiful, successful, daughter of a king, woman, girlfriend, friend, real daughter haha, sister, cat mom, etc and I am so thankful for this life. The world is not my home, it is temporary, but I know that God has me here for a purpose and it is for me to bring glory to his name and to bring it to those he puts into my life and I am more than thankful to be where I am right now in my life and be surrounded by who I’m surrounded by.

The fact that I can be a hopeful and faith-filled person right now in my life is the most beautiful and fulfilling thing that my past self could have read just a few years ago. You’re going to be ok, you’re actually going to be amazing. Things work out. You get the job, the house, the friends, the family, the boyfriend, the relationship with God and the church community. Life isn’t perfect, but that is not what I’m striving for.

We did it, girl. You did it. 🫶