#just magic with zombie minions

[twistedroseytoesy]

Could I request Vil and Scarabia with a necromancer reader?

Of course! This is a fun idea! Love me a good dnd necromancer! Going to have them be a normal human with some cool powers.

Description

an unfortunate accident happened when you had been casting an ancient spell that you had found in a lich's tome. A mispronounced word or a missing ingredient maybe, but now you found yourself being pulled out of a floating coffin by a strange cat monster. You easily used held person on the creature and learned where you were transported to. uou enjoy the different magic system in this world and how they too have limits. This blot is a fascinating topic for you. You learn of idias connection to it and are fascinated by the non human/cursed folks of the school. Your magic is very different but luckily you still had your spell book so you could participate in just about everything anyone else could. Despite your magic the mirror could not place you saying your magic was similar to a void a deep darkness that requires its own house. Many are wary of you and your dark aura and the rumors of you raising the dead to do your errands.

scarabia

Kalim: this ray of sunshine balances out your dark aura. You two are opposites get work together surprisingly well. He teaches you lighter forms of magic and tries to help you stay away from darker more deadly magics if he can. His whole mentality is that you’re really cool and that “I can fix them” meme. He truely believes your cool zombie powers could be used for good if people whose bodies you are using said it was fine. Poor sweet soul just doesn’t understand. If you ever introduce him to any zombies/skeletons of yours he will be a bit scared but try to find a silver lining. During the whole scarabia book you could tell something wasn’t right with him and when you were locked away you summoned a zombie to your aid. When Jamil overblot end you were able to add to your little army with some extra skeletons you found under the sand.

Jamil: please stay away. As interesting as your magic is to him he does not trust you in the slightest. Does wish to know how to summon his own minions at some point but rather not using those who have already passed. That’s a bit too gruesome for his liking. Tries to keep kalim away from you. Also keeps you at least 6 ft away from himself when possible. During the whole scarabia incident he tried to mind control you and your minions. It only worked for a few seconds. Found that really annoying. When you created your own little army of skeletons to fight him he laughed at it. But the skeletons were able to hold him back quite a bit for the others to hit him enough. Was a bit awkward afterward. But eventually during the SDC you two connect over more scary or feared types of magic usage. He tries to share some of his hypnosis abilities with you and you share some spells from your book with him. Now closeish friends and the banter between you two is crazy. If anyone dares to mess with kalim, let just say that mc is found with a relatively new zombie minion.

with special guest

vil: as a master of poisons he understands how some magics are frowned upon due to their power being too much and far to scary for the public. He doesn’t like how ugly your minions are and gives some tips here and there. If your minions are skeletons he would recommend you paint them to make them work somewhat with your aesthetic. Gets you lots of dark clothing and such. Also bossed around your minions when in your house for the SDC. Rather impressed that once you found out about his poisoning ability you always had your minions try your food to ensure nothing bad happened to you. During Vil’s overblot he melted your minions and saw you truly pissed for the first time. Saw that you weren’t powerless without your minions. Once he’s been defeated he and you connected over some darker magical subjects and you both are incredibly strong despite how weak you are compared to your magic abilities he hopes give you some tips. He also demands you always clean yourself after you make new minions. Also clean them and he provides some clothes for the more zombie like ones. he is fairly proud of what you can do.

[raeynbowboi]

Playing a Heroic Necromancer in DnD 5e

Necromancy is one of the most evil-skewed powers in just about any fantasy setting. However, unless you're running a villain campaign, most DnD parties are made up of heroes who won't like having an evil character in their midst. You want to play a necromancer, but you also realize that DnD is a very collaborative game. So, how do you make your party more amicable towards the thought of you raising a family? Here's some possible backstory ideas that can fuel a heroic necromancer for your next campaign.

The Scholar

The taboo, illegal, or forbidden nature of studying necromancy drew your interest. Whether you studied with a secret sect, uncovered a grimoire of necromantic magic, or made a deal with a devil for profane knowledge, you were driven by a desire to study magic. The sparse availability of necromancy forces you to remain mobile, making party formation easy. You may be hunted by law enforcement, clerics of Kelemvor, or other necromancers angry at you for stealing their arcane secrets. And now that you know what so many tried to hide from you, it's your choice how to use it.

The Chronicaller

History is written by the victors, the rich, and the powerful. But every life holds valuable knowledge and secrets. Ancient bones know things lost to time. Knowledge that was never written down. Stories which have not been spoken in centuries. Opinions of the common people during a historical event. Experience with phenomenon that can no longer be encountered. The Chronicaller wishes to unearth the secrets of the past already laid to rest.

The Physician

The Frankenstein of Necromancers wishes to understand the medical and scientific elements of life and death itself. To understand the body by inspecting it and digging into it. They may study how to cure diseases or how to spread them. Try to find a way to slow or even halt the slow decomposition that turns the body elderly and frail.

The Thayan Rebel

Once a Red Wizard of Thay, you have left Thay and the Red Wizards, letting your hair grow back slowly as you seek to expand your arcane talents beyond the limitations of Thayan conquest and oppression. The Red Wizards and Szas Tam become personal antagonists for your character and party as a result.

The Undead

Be they a Revenant, a Dhampir, a Vampire, a Lich, or something else, they are already imbued with undead power. They simply embrace their anti-life energy already flowing through them, channeling a power most others would avoid. You may be undead, but you desire to staunchly defend the living from other undead who are less compassionate.

The General

A wizard with a soldier background and optional martial multiclassing, your undead horde is your army of loyal soldiers, putting their lives on the line again and again to serve their general. An Oathbreaker 7/wizard 6 adds your CHA mod to undead within 10 ft, and proficiency bonus to all undead you control. But the steep dip into paladin locks you out from higher level spell slots for stronger undead minions.

The Noble

Similar to the general, the undead serve you out of loyalty, not fear or force. But where the general commands their soldiers, the Noble may command their staff of servants, their commoner citizens, their knights and soldiers, or their own noble ancestors. The Noble utilizes their horde to fulfil the services and duties of their noble house. They're just as likely to conscript skeletons to pave a road or build a bridge as they are to form a wave of zombies to break up a smuggling ring in their city.

The Immortal Guardian

You have or want to become immortal not out of power hunger or greed, but to protect the innocent forever as an unwavering guardian against evil. Everyday people can't protect themselves, and even legendary heroes die eventually. Only an immortal protector can be an eternal defender of the people.

I hope if nothing else, this gave you some ideas for some good and noble necromancers you could bring to your next table. Did I miss any Heroic concepts that you thought of? Let me know, and help make the world a more morbid place.

[cryingeevee524]

i can't see why anyone would choose zombies over skeletons as minions. sure, zombies can usually take a couple more hits but neither of these are front line soldiers! they're SERVANTS and lemme tell ya, zombies are TERRIBLE servants. for one the smell is AWFUL and it spreads EVERYWHERE as flesh falls off and leaves a trail wherever they've been, secondly they're WORTHLESS at servant work! "oh minion, could you pass me the forbidden book? yes, the blood magic one" congratulations! ancient secrets have been smeared and ruined from zombie residue! "oh minion, cook me a meal would you?" you WILL get several diseases. "minion, sweep the halls, they're quite dirty" it will be DIRTIER than when it started. the only thing they have over skeletons is you only need one to carry something heavy meanwhile you need 3 or 4 skeletons for the same job. but THAT'S WHY WE HAVE THE FLESH ABOMINATIONS! carefully cleaned and prepared as to not rot, choice pieces expertly stitched together for strength, and SUPER customizable! save yourself the pain and strip all the flesh and organs and whatnot and just raise that corpse as a skeleton.

[kimberlyannharts]

LAST TIME ON POWER RANGERS: Ranger Slayer got herself captured by Dark Specter's forces while saving Drakkon's ass. BUT Drakkon makes up for it by saving HER ass from Dark Specter's corruption. BUT, he died in the process. So that means Slayer now has to save everyone's ass. Again. Seriously, this is like the third event where Slayer has to save everyone.

it's Power Rangers Unlimited: The Morphin Masters!

= so Drakkon and Slayer training together is canon, okay cool, book over, I got what I need

= But moving on from that these panels specifically make me crazyyyyy because what do you mean Tommy and Kim together means "happy ending"? What do you mean referring to Kim as Tommy's guardian angel? What do you MEAN redrawing Drakkon's death scene as more intimate than it was in 116????????

= MY STUPID EX-HUSBAND DIED ON ME SO I HAVE TO GO ON THIS STUPID QUEST

= So something cool about these energy beasts - they're all tied to ranger powers! A yellow bear, a red lion and ape, a gold praying mantis, a white rhino, and an orange scorpion. Sure, the latter wasn't TECHNICALLY a ranger power, just a zord, but there's a point to the "the PR universe did have Kyurangers at some point" theorists

= I just like this panel because it's silly. she's got the zoomies

= Slayer continuing to win the idgaf war against literal deities

= and then they founded an animation studio that gave us the Minions. so unfortunately they gotta go

= but in seriousness, I guess this is how we're going to rationalize how the MMs were portrayed in Beyond the Grid versus how they were portrayed in Power Rangers Universe - the BtG guys were a couple specific higher-power ones. It's fine, I guess. I'm still not a fan of the idea of an entire civilization just calling themselves Morphin Masters, though. Just make.....THESE GUYS the Morphin Masters. Why are they ALL the Morphin Masters??????? Now we have to establish a SUB-SECTION of the Morphin Masters!!!!!!!!!

= Slayer holding Drakkon and his death in high regard like this.......god. god.

= oh hi Blue really cool to see you again hope you don't die in the next few pages

= oh well never mind. Guess we're never going to find out why they came back to life, which was their reason for going into the Grid in the first place, huh

= I do like how we're going back to referring to Blue with they/them pronouns. I guess in hindsight we really were just misgendering them for years. awesome

= I'm glad we're fully acknowledging all the shit Slayer has gone through but I will admit my immediate reaction to the "it was fire" line was "she would not fucking say that". Maybe as a teen, sure. But NOW?

Pink: follow me to the orifice

Slayer: .....the ORIFICE?

= oh hey guys, how have you been since you got retconned into existence and therefore have accomplished nothing in the main series

= I know this is supposed to be a whole thing of "ohhhh these guys think they're free but they're still being controlled yada yada" but at the same time as someone who hated the Emissary retcon and wishes that we could have gotten more from the characters as they were before........them being angry over losing what they had is very very good and I wish it wasn't done through "evil corruption magic." It was good with corrupted Slayer because they dedicated an entire issue to it and FREED HER at the end, allowing more time and space for development; here it's just a quick fight scene and in the case of Blue, followed up with death. And slight spoilers here, even if they don't die here, the way the Emissaries have been dropping like flies doesn't give me much hope for their survival if they show up in the main series

= I wonder if this is a reference to how in an early draft for the Ranger Slayer one-shot, the Bow of Darkness was going to be broken in half by Zombie Rita and Slayer would have used it as dual swords. Either way it's fucking cool

= also while the inclusion of Dino Thunder as one of Pink's forms is a simple mistake, it takes me back to those old DT AU fics where Kim became DT Pink. They're canon now guys, no takebacks!

= So turns out the "Illumination" are just a bunch of senile grandpas. Yeah, that's.............the big revelation for where the Morphin Masters have been. ok

= Now let me just say for this story, the Morphin Masters being useless is a fine decision, for the same reason why the Morphin Masters were useless in Dino/Cosmic Fury - you can't have these overpowered god figures show up and fix everything with a wave of their hand. This applies to every story ever - the god-like figure is captured, or dead, or simply doesn't care enough to interfere. It's a very basic and logical choice for a narrative in order for our actual grounded protagonists to be the heroes.

HOWEVER. It's another instance of Boom hyping up these kinds of storylines as groundbreaking revelations of PR's mythos for years just for the actual reveal to be kind of a letdown. Phantom Ranger's identity. Dark Specter being a major villain. The Squadron Rangers. And now the Morphin Masters' current status. All hyped-up concepts that either get rushed or end up secondary to other concepts, and in the end, don't feel like they matter. It's getting to be a bit tiresome, and I'm saying that as someone who doesn't hold PR lore high on her list of reasons I enjoy the franchise in the first place. And it doesn't help here that, as I've said before, it just feels more like a way to stretch out this event to fill its year-long timeframe. By the end of this book, nothing was accomplished except two more Emissaries are dead (not that they did anything before this) and I guess Green and Black will eventually join the fight, so what was the point of it all. Slayer never really believed the Morphin Masters would help them anyway, so it's not like she changed by the end either - Pink was the only one who really developed as a character, and, well......

= Pink quick eat an imaginary Snickers you're not you when you're hungry

= this is the third person Slayer has killed in two books. she's so good at her job

= also you may have noticed that we've killed two Emissaries and they're not turning to stone nor having a giant spider boi burst out of their bodies. It's soooooooooooo cool how that entire story arc meant nothing in the long run

= ugh yes queen swear off religion just like that

= also at this point Drakkon has wielded the power of a Morphin Master and Slayer was offered the position of one. What I'm getting at here is Tomberly are indeed divine figures

[pockavas]

Halsin - trusting your fears

Part 4

On their way to Baldur's gate, the party came across a tower inhabited by a necromancer who was harassing the nearby village and surrounding territories. People disappeared, others said that they were seen wandering through the misty woods, aimlessly, with tattered clothes and sickly green glowing eyes. The animals were not spared either, the corpses of tame and wild beasts, mutilated and half-grown, were found.

When the heroes clashed with the necromancer, they realized he was more powerful than they thought. After a long and treacherous battle filled with twists and turns and unpleasant tricks, the witcher was pinned in a final grip at the base of his tower. All his minions down, with no chance of escape, the necromancer drew one last spell from his sleeve before he breathed his last.

A flask of dubious contents that he cast a spell on and immediately hurled at the target he had chosen.

It was Halsin. During the fight he had assumed his usual bear form, with one swing of his powerful paws and sharp claws tearing zombies to pieces who, if they had any sense left, would never have come near him at the sound of his mighty roar.

The necromancer's idea was to poison Halsin with his magic and turn him against his comrades, using his unbreakable power against them. The vial hit its target, hitting Halsyn in the face, a cloud of green smoke erupting, which the druid inhaled. The color of his eyes began to change, from the forest brown typical of bears to a hideous glowing green. Halsin realized what was happening to him, fought the effect of the substance, put all his will into it, but gradually began to lose control of his rage.

A berserk Halsin turned his attention to his friends, now exhausted from the battle, wounded, bruised, and drained of magic. Being the most familiar with necromantic magic, Gale immediately understood what was happening and warned the others to stay away, that Halsyn would be very difficult to stop.

"-Gale, there has to be some way to get Halsyn back to himself!" Ross shouted to him- "I trust your knowledge to think of a cure!" They were having a hard time discussing the solution to the problem, very hard ,because Halsin constantly attacked them.

"-Whatever happens, don't hurt him! This is still our Halsin!"-Ross kept calling out to the others. She couldn't imagine that they would have to hurt him to stop him, or worse, take his life. She wouldn't allow it.

"-Of course! I remembered! Do you remember the flask of the strongest anti-intoxication potion that the priest from the temple of Seluna gave us?! It's the best we have, the only one to be exact. There's also magic applied here , but maybe with the elixir and Halsyn's will, it will have an effect!" exclaimed Gale, who had teleported himself to a high terrace of the tower to stay out of Halsyn's claw range-"It's just... There's and bad news. Halsin must swallow the liquid, drink it. And I don't see how we're going to get him to do that. Anyone who comes near will be killed."

A grim thought, but did they have a choice to save their friend?. To save her most precious person. Ross managed to reach into her bag in between her efforts to parry and dodge the druid's swings. This was it, she held in her hand the hope of bringing him back, of bringing him back to her.

"-Cover me as much as you can, distract him. I only need a few moments..."- she instructed the others.

"-What are you up to? Do you want to kill yourself?" Shadowheart yelled at her.

Ross ignored her. Tossing the bow to one side, her hands free, she uncorked the flask and bit down on its narrow neck. She took a deep breath for courage and strength and sprinted towards Halsin with his back to her. She swooped onto his back with the agility of a seasoned ranger, leaping from branch to branch in pursuit of her prey. She clung to his fur, soaked in mud, sweat and blood. Halsin immediately began to thrash about, trying to get her out of there, growling and grunting furiously. Ross didn't let go, clutching the fur with all her might, trying not to spill a single drop of the precious liquid. He moved closer to his neck, she could already see the shiny black nose of the bear. She just had to somehow manage to pour the liquid down his throat without being teared it in the process.

Desperate plans need desperate actions. With one hand she removed her belt, threw it quickly around the druid's neck, tried to pull him so that she would bend his head back and give him the medicine. But desperate actions don't always work.

Their eyes met just before Ross could take the flask from her mouth and pour it into his. Even more anger came over Halsin, he thrashed wildly, so hard that Ross lost her grip on the belt, falling to the ground on her back. Halsin leaned over her without thinking, without recognizing her, and bit her right shoulder with his huge maw full of sharp, powerful teeth. Ross cried out in pain, but she couldn't give in, she couldn't give up now, not on the brink of death. With her left hand she held the bear's muzzle, and with her right, she took the flask and pushed it into Halsin’s mout, until the glass broke and the healing liquid spilled over the druid's tongue. A shard of glass managed to cut Halsin's bottom lip, this enraged him anew, he sunk his teeth even further into Ross's small shoulder, jerked his powerful head and threw it into the air in one motion.

Ross flew a few meters to the side and landed hard on her face in the muddy ground.

They all shouted in unison, fearing the worst. The elixir quickly began to work, the green in Halsin's eyes fighting the gold, the druid magic. Through the mist of the fading necromancer spell, Halsin began to regain his composure. The world began to take on its usual color, the blood red hue receding along the periphery of his vision until it disappeared.

Halsin locked his gaze on Ross, lying helplessly on the ground, covered in blood. He was fully aware of what had happened, he remembered everything. His heart sank, his soul ached, what he had done to his most precious being. He wanted to rush to her, to take her in his arms, but his being seemed to be frozen by the horror of what had happened. He forced himself to walk unsteadily towards Ross, changing his form back to human in motion. The golden glow of druidism ran through his body as the bear form transformed into a human.

The rest of the group had gathered around Ross, she was still conscious, hearing deafeningly as the others called out to her from under the water. With the last of her strength, Ross managed to raise her head towards Halsin, she saw that he was back to himself, saw his worried expression mixed with horror, no trace of the uncontrolled beast was left. So she had succeeded after all! But at what cost?

The world around her began to disappear, the sounds died away altogether, everything began to darken, first at the edges of vision, and finally darkness took over everything. She sank below the surface of unconsciousness.

Halsin was terrified that the worst could happen, and that he was responsible for it. He was willing to do anything to save her. He went towards her, to take her in his arms, to bring her back, but the others pushed him away.

"-No, Halsin, stay back!" Shadowheart stopped him.

"-I …, let me help! I'm on my own now! I'm responsible! I have to be with her!" Halsin answered desperately.

"-You’ve done enough already!"-spat Shadowheart angrily-"I'll take care of her!"

"-Come on, my friend! Let Shadowheart work her magic. It's hard, but it's better to step aside now."- Gale said and patted Halsin encouragingly on the shoulder.

...

Back at the camp Halsin couldn't find a place. The otherwise calm archdruid, a pillar of self-control and wisdom, of caring for others, now felt out of his skin. He marched back and forth, circling, no matter how exhausted he was from the battle, he was unable to calm down, to stop.

After several hours, Shadowheart and Karlach emerged from Ross's tent, their hands stained with blood, their faces haggard.

As soon as he saw them, Halsin moved towards them impatiently, waiting for news.

"-She lost a lot of blood. Really, a lot! And the wounds... the bite, it's really brutal!"- Shadowheart informed him-"But you know that well!"

"-Oh, come on Shadowheart! Don't be so cruel!"- Carlach interjected.

They discussed Ross' condition. The wounds were serious, and healing magic was unable to immediately and completely heal her. It would take time to recover and care would be needed.

Halsin tried to swallow the urge to burst into the tent and wrap Ross in his arms. His face was consumed with worry, his heart stuck in his throat, and his soul curled up in the corner of his mind. He tried to regain his composure, so he could think more clearly, find the best cures to help Ross, do his best.

He was determined not to leave the tent, to be always available, to avenge what he had done, to do everything he could for her.

[pink-oc-tournament]

NEPOTISM BONUS ROUND!!!

Since I disqualified myself and my friend group from participating due to bias, I've decided to make a bonus, 1 day only, free for all poll for me and all my friends Villains! Who among them will win the honor of getting the...Slightly less prestigious 1st place price?

Top to bottom, left to right:

MIRE: 21, She/Her. Mire's a big boisterous Kaiju "Witch" who magically "polymorphs" (mutates with her venomous breath) people into reptile minions. She acts tough and diabolical in a larger then life way, but ultimately is a big sweetheart at her core, with it not taking much to get on her good side.

COUNTESS VIVISECTOR: Mid 20's, She/Her, Ve/Vem, He Him. Countess Vivisector is a brooding supervillainess with the power to disassemble still-living bodies and put them back together in new forms. She's cruel and cold, but rather artistically inclined, creating grisly furniture and art sculptures out of the foolish heroes who dare challenge her. She's also 6'11 and is gay married to her zombie henchman.

MASTERMIND: 80ish years old, appears 40ish, He/Him. Mastermind, AKA Dean Davis, is the leader of the supervillain group known as Sinistar. His ferrokinesis and engineering ability allows him to control his organization and fight heroes. He also secretly has the power to reverse aging, which he acquired back in the 60's after he built a machine that kills heroes and extracts their powers…Which he used on his own girlfriend.

THE DIRECTOR: 40, She/Her. A mover and shaker in both the business and hero worlds, seismokinetic villainess The Director is the head of Hierarchy, an organization built on the principle of ruthless efficiency. She's a slick entrepreneur who's mustered a cadre of fanatical employees willing to follow her to the ends of the earth and die for her there. Never mind that she cut her own girlfriend out of the deal when she rebranded the guild they founded together- it's just business, darling.

T.I.S.M: Adult, He/Him. TISM is a self proclaimed genius doctor working for the supervillain organization Scelestic, which he helped found. His job is to "harvest" powers from heroes, taking parts of their bodies and incorporating them into various gadgets, machines, and weapons that he can replicate and make a profit off of. He is also a dilf.

LOBOTOMY: As old as time, He/Him. Lobotomy is the King of The Darkness and winner of the World's Worst Dad award, he's a vengeful and murderous god who will stop at no lengths to get what he wants. After forcing his psuedo-adopted "son" to kill everyone he knows, he ends up as ruler of the entire realm he resides in, where he now has full control over everything and everyone.

UMPYRE: 31, They/It. With the power of the sun in the pads of its paws, UMPYRE is a force to be reckoned with for any professional superhero. It's a good thing, then, that it's pretty much just a glorified theater kid, a contractor for the government who far prefers the show and spectacle to any real damage. And for as much as they put their all into their job... well, who could blame them for getting more than a little silly with it?

[autisticsupervillain]

It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

The Terrarian vs Paper Mario!

Conditions:

Mario has absolutely everything except for the Pure Hearts. Terrarian has everything. Speed Equalized.

Scenario:

The Terrarian intends to steal the Crystal Stars to use them to make a new weapons set. Mario stands in his way.

Analysis: The Terrarian

The land of Terraria, despite it's unassuming exterior, is a chaotic and dangerous one. The universe was created as an experiment by the Gods, a test to see if some form of cosmic balance could be maintained. However this balance was threatened by the dread god Cthulhu, who sought to bring all of Terraria under his domain. Luckily, the ancient race known as the Dryiads were able to overpower the dark lord, fighting it to the very last man and crippling him irreversibly. This forced Cthulhu to retreat to the dark side of the moon, where it would attempt yo regain its strength to one day attempt to conquer the world once more.

That day was soon to be fast approaching as a cult arose, seeking to revive Cthulhu and bring his horrible reign down upon all. That is when our hero enters this story: The Terrarian themselves. They were a simple nobody of unknown origins until the mysterious guide appeared before them one day and sent them off on their quest to prevent Cthulhu's return.

And luckily for all of us, The Terrarian has many.... many.... many tools on hand to help them fight the forces of darkness. This dude has more armors than Tony fucking Stark, each of which designed to help them combat that numerous beasts infesting Terraria.

Every armor and weapon at their disposal bolsters their already superhuman strength to some degree, which says a lot when they're capable of killing ghosts and blasting zombies into big meaty chunks with just their bare hands. Many of their armors, as well as their healing items such as potions, campfires, and statues, can speed up their regeneration, which is already good enough to help them recover from having their face ripped off. On top of that, many of their armors allow them to duplicate ammunition, allowing them to mow you down with their variety of gattling guns and magical crossbows with complete impunity. And if that wasn't bad enough, their most powerful armors can increase their capacity to summon minions as well as allow them to turn invisible.

On the topic of said summons, they're completely intangible, unable to be harmed even by those who can kill ghosts and effect souls. This is especially problematic when you have to deal with all the other things the Terrarian's magic can do. They can make it rain damaging blood from the sky, bring down small meteors just by swinging their sword, can freely teleport just about anywhere is sight or teleport all the way back to their base, and even nullify your ability to heal from it all. Their ranged weapons are equally deadly, capable of shooting poisonous projectiles, intangible projects (that go straight through everything that isn't you), giant fucking lasers, the works. Really it'd be easier to list all the ways the Terrarian can't kill you.

I don't think that the Terrarian wouldn't be willing to use this on you either. They can be shockingly ruthless in the pursuit of their goals. For example, they were perfectly willingly to permanently sacrifice their Guide's life to get a shot at killing the Wall of Flesh, unleashing the spirits of Light and Dark and causing untold chaos in the process. Hell, they even helped hasten Cthulhu's return just so they could kill it themselves and solve the problem for good. So you can fully expect some ruthless tactics out of them. Magically enducing confusion in you to get an opening? Check. Sucking out your very life force until you're nothing but a dead and empty husk? Sure thing. Spraying you with a weapon that corrupts you into a mindless servant of the all consuming Crimson, omnicidal Corruption, or over zealous Hallow right down to your very soul? Yes, they'd do that.

And good fucking luck retaliating properly, even assuming you could hit someone who can fly, teleport, and turn invisible at whim, their numerous charms and armors grant them resistances to poison, mind control, fire, ice, and many, many more. Hell, they can even resist your ability yo nullify said resistances with the right gear. And if that's not good enough, they can even transform themselves at will into a form that gives them a better advantage, such as a merfolk who can breath underwater or a werewolf with increased strength at night.

Even with all this at their disposal, the Terrarian does have some considerable weaknesses. That being that a lot of their stuff relies on their gear. If you take that away, you'd be left with an incredibly experienced and skilled fighter... but that's about it.

Having said that, they're still an underdog ehen compared to their competition. The Terrarian builds nearly all their gear themselves and has used it to slaughter entire armies and even outright gods in the span of a single night. For example, the Celestial Towers that sealed away the Moon Lord (Cthulhu), are powerful enough to pull the moon closer to the Earth in the span of seconds. The kinetic energy generated would measure out to 152.98 Ninatons of tnt, or 9x more than the energy needed to destroy the Dwarf Star OTS 44.

Source:

And keep in mind, this isn't even the Terrarian at their peak. They would later fight against the same Mokn Lord who was stated to be capable of destroying the entire realm of Terraria.

The loot they got from beating the Moon Lord is even stronger still. When you're powerful enough to beat gods who can destroy stars, you're powerful enough to do damn near anything. The Terrarian is far more than a simple Minecraft clone. They're in a league all of their own.

Analysis: Paper Mario

Mario "Jumpman" Mario. You know who he is and what he does. Even if you've never touched one of his games, you probably know everything about Mr. Video Game. This humble plumber has risen high ever since his humble days chasing after Donkey Kong Sr. Being basically the only competent form of security that the peaceful Mushroom Kingdom has, Mario has rescued its resudents and princess from the clutches of the nefarious Bowser countless times. But some of his adventures are a bit.... craftier than others.

For the sake of this analysis specifically, I'm treating Mario and Paper Mario has two distinct entities. While Nintendo has gone a bit back and forth in the past as to whether or not Mario and Paper Mario are the same guy, with several games in both series referencing the events of each other's games as canon while at other times treating the two as completely distinct entities, so really, you're fair to read them either way. Mario has about as much continuity as Tom and Jerry most days anyways, so for the sake of fairness, I'll be limiting Mr. Jumpman to his arts and crafts arsenal today. Even when treated distinctly, Mario and Paper Mario should powerscale off each other in stats regardless, because Paper Jam is a game that exists.

Not that being two dimensional has made Mario's arsenal any less vast. The usual arrangement of hammers, fire flowers, and mushrooms with various effects are all here and accounted for. Paper Mario is just as capable of making big jumps as his three dimensional counterpart and has saved his version of Peach just about as often. And what's unique in Paper Mario's arsenal is often times uniquely devastating.

Mario's papery proportions allow him to move in unique ways. He can flip between 3-d and 2-d to avoid attacks and reach otherwise impossible areas and he's been "cursed" with all manor of shapeshifting abilities, from the power to turn into a paper plane and soar through the sky to the power to the ability to turn into a paper boat to crosd the sea! Mario can breath in the vacuum of space (except for when he can't) and survive space radiations completely unprotected.

Moreover, Mario's inventory is versatile and deadly. The mega star can make him grow absolutely gigantic and let him plow through everything in sight, while his Pixl allies give him a whole host of powers. Tippi analyzes his enemies for him, giving him advice and informing him of their stats, Barry creates, well, barriers to protect Mario from threats, Carrie turns into a floating platform to carry Mario and pals out of danger, and Thoreau lets him pick up and throw enemies and objects over twice his size, among many others.

Over the course of his first adventure, Mario would rescue the seven Star Spirits, allowing him to overcome Bowser's wish granting star rod and nullify his invincibility. Mamar sings a song to put enemies to sleep, Skolar rains down stars from the sky, Muskular decreases the enemy's strength, Misstar restores his health, Klevar stops time, and Kalmar transmutes the enemies into stars. The Crystal Stars can give many of the same abilities, on top of powers such as creating Earthquakes and sealing away beings as powerful as the Shadow Queen, who could cause earthquakes all over the world and covered the world in darkness.

Yet, despite all that variety, Mario's most powerful and arguably strangest ability comes in the form of things. Real life objects of incredible power that can be used to absorb and redirect poisons, melt entire mountains, and even spin the entire planet! Such a feat, if performed on Paper Mario's world, would generate a kinetic energy equivalent to 154 exatons of TNT. That's enough to shatter the moon!

Source:

And that's on top of being considered equal to his mainline counterpart. The same Mario whose power stars can create galaxies, who could survive the universe being reset, and defeated the Megabug, a dimensional instability that was going to destroy Mario's entire dimension.

2-d or 3-d, Mario is one of most powerful video game characters Nintendo has ever created. No matter what side series he hails from, Mario is the mascot for a reason.

Throwdown Theme:

Throwdown Breakdown:

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. This is a big one.

The arsenal on both of these combatants is absolutely massive. I don't think I even touched on half of it in either of their run downs. And both of them have ways of killing each other right out the gate. The Terrarian could always just corrupt Mario into a unicorn, but Mario can just as easily turn the Terrarian into stars. As video game characters controlled by the player, neither side really has a go to openinh move in combat, so determining who wins the quick draw is difficult. And that's on top of all the abilities that just counter out, like flight, because they both have several ways of doing it.

On one hand, Mario cannot destroy or guard against the Terrarian's summons, as even people who can punch ghosts to death bare handed can't touch them, meaning Mario's ability to fight Boos wouldn't help and he'd be getting harassed all fight. On the other hand, Mario's ability to shift between two and three dimensions would provide a similar level of Intangibility, as Terrarian has never shown to hit a foe who becomes incorporeal in such a manor. On the third hand, Terrarian has even more ranged options, with a huge plethore of guns, bows, and magic staffs, whereas Mario heavily relies on either massive Area of Effect attacks or attacks that are relatively close range.

Both of these combatants can either defeat beings who or are comparable to beings who can defeat people who can threaten to destroy the entire universe, so there's no considerable gap in power. Any attempts to buff or debuff stats would get swiftly countered out anyways by potions and power ups.

So what's the deciding factor here? Well, there's a few things that work in Mario's favor here.

1. Unpredictability. As vast as the Terrarian's arsenal is, all their weapons are at least things that look like weapons at first glance. Mario, meanwhile, can just summon a giant chicken or stop time with a stop watch, or spin the Earth with a fan and you don't know which until he does it.

2. Analysis. Tippi is going to be able to give Mario a tip that the Terrarian is very dangerous and very versatile, cluing him in to the fact that he should open up with a winning move first, while Terrarian is going in blind.

From there, Mario could just stop time or put Terrarian to sleep before turning them into stars. While Terrarian could just as easily open up with an instant win move, they both wouldn't know to do so and would have no way of predicting Mario's arsenal because of how out there it is.

As versatile as these two god killers are, Mario is just that little bit... craftier.

This Throwdown's Winner is....

Paper Mario!

[weenwrites]

yay for attempting this crossover!! im really glad you're giving this a try, tho if you end up not liking it i understand, im just happy you're hearing me out!!!

this character is from my current favorite game: guild wars 2. he's called Trahearne, and he's a sylvari, aka sentient plant-like people! he's also a necromancer, which i think would be startling to Cybertronians when they hear he studies magic that raises the dead into his personal minions. Trahearne is a good guy tho, not evil, and he has a hard and troubling destiny ahead of him, a fate given to him since he awoke in his world.

if he were in the tfp world, trying to get back w the help of team prime, what do you suppose their opinions of him would be???

no pressure if you're not into this, but if you are, have fun!! don't worry about not knowing this fandom or game, thank youuuu

✎ A/N: Just to clarify to people OTHER than the requester, I still don't do crossovers and I don't think I ever will after this one because it was difficult for me to write. The only reason I'm making an exception for this crossover is because I decided to say "yes" to it because I wanted to give it a shot. Also anon I'm sorry it took so long for me to respond, but I tried my best with what you gave me to work with, and I hope you see it and enjoy it.

[ Please do not repost, plagiarize, or use my writing for AI! Translating my work with proper credit is acceptable, but please ask first! ]

Optimus

Despite Trahearne's disposition, Optimus wouldn't be the type of person to judge him because of it. So long as Trahearne is someone who wishes to do good, then he's willing to extend his hand to help him however he can.

He can somewhat relate with having a troubling destiny, as he is the bearer of the matrix and the leader of the autobots. The fate of two worlds are balanced upon his shoulders, and his every move may risk toppling them both. He tries to offer what bits of wisdom and knowledge he can in hopes that it will one day be of use to him.

Ratchet

He believes that the team already has enough to worry about with humans to protect and the decepticons scouring the earth, they needn't anything more to take care of on their plate. Unless Trahearne's willing to extend a hand to help Ratchet with his duties, then it's most likely that the two will have little room to interact.

But speaking of magic, Ratchet initially thinks that it's ridiculous. Magic doesn't exist, and he doesn't believe that studying it is even possible. If Trahearne's the kind of person to prove Ratchet wrong and show off his skills, then the look on Ratchet's face is something that no one will be forgetting any time soon.

Ultra Magnus

Like Ratchet, Ultra Magnus believes that effort and resources should be poured into the war effort as opposed to aiding a stranger, or at the very least form a partnership so that both sides get something out of it. Yet if he is ordered to help return Trahearne back to his world, then he'll comply without another complaint.

Smokescreen

He initially thinks that it's super cool that he has some predetermined destiny waiting for him���so long as that destiny is to do good in the world. He may come off as a little insensitive at first (especially if Trahearne's destiny is something he has complicated feelings about) but he's quick to realize any mistakes and apologize if he said something he shouldn't have.

He'd think the whole "doing magic" thing is real cool, and he'd ask all sorts of questions about it, like what can he do with magic? How does he do it? Smokescreen would even want to try learning, and if he was given the opportunity he would legitimately pour in the time and effort to do magic.

Bulkhead

Wait so if he raises the dead to do his bidding, were these undead servants people he killed or people that were already dead? And would it work on cybertronians? To Bulkhead, if he thinks long enough about zombies brought from the dead to do someone's bidding, it grows more and more disturbing. But zombies aside, if Trahearne's a good guy, then there's a chance the two of them could get along just fine.

[saberwitch]

I think about Necro minions a lot. Like these are not recognizable creatures, they're amalgamations of parts. They're distressingly small humanoid skulls fused to distressingly large rodent bodies. They're floating torsos with spines for limbs, huge hulking masses of flesh with jawbone arms. There's a thing that looks like a devourer until you get too close and realize it is made of something else.

Is this a conscious choice on the Necromancer's part? Is there an agreed-upon Necro-aesthetic? Is it PR? As in, are they non-recognizable remains because zombies are upsetting to other people? Is that just how the magic manifests? If it is, why does it form these particular constructs?

(I haven't forgotten the Shade, but that is a pre-existing recognizable entity, different imo to the "constructed" minions)

anyway I wish we could name them, even if they are "disposable".

[that-house]

Ran the first proper Field of White Flowers playtest the other day.

I stuck them in the Kill Six Billion Demons universe, because i love that setting and its general aesthetics and power level are perfect matches for FoWF (tbh K6BD was a significant inspiration for FoWF)

They were mercenaries hired by the Repossessions Guild to break into the house of a mob boss who’d gone missing and take everything that wasn’t nailed down.

TLDR: it was fun

in depth breakdown of what happened below the cut because i don't wanna nuke everyone's dash <3

For those with no context: Field of White Flowers is a high fantasy high power tabletop roleplaying game system geared towards huge dramatic anime fight scenes, wuxia bullshit, and feats of tremendous heroism and villainy. It draws inspiration from the webcomic Kill Six Billion Demons, fighting games, a vast slew of other roleplaying game systems, and the time-honored video gaming tradition of having a climactic duel in a field of white flowers.

The big thing I was worried about going into the playtest was just that it wouldn’t be fun. I’d had a lot of fun designing it and talking about it, but until you play the game properly it’s impossible to tell whether the game is actually fun.

Like, take Lancer. I love Lancer, I love the design philosophy behind it, I love theorycrafting builds for Lancer. Actually playing through a Lancer combat is like getting a cavity filled without anesthetic. How do 4 rounds with 4 players and no roleplay take 6 hours? We will never know

Our cast, in order of introduction:

Abzu, Newborn God: a young ocean god seeking to prove himself to his brethren. flavorwise he was a waterbender, mechanically he was a fairly supportive debuff engine focusing on lowering enemies’ stats with Chill. Attempts to get Abzu's player to join tumblr have been unsuccessful thus far.

Alizoba, King of Miscellany: sapient pile of trash looking for more stuff to add to themself. had a build based around Baiting enemies into bad moves and following up with huge combos. Alizoba was played by @cyrus-swag.

Ophidia, Serpent Queen of Lead: cowgirl and gun witch, mostly just here to kill people and get money. build revolved (haha gun pun) around throwing flashbangs, vanishing, and reappearing somewhere else with a huge gun. Ophidia was played by @fearlesscomfort.

Sixgill Griseus, The Bartender No One Fucks With: shark man who is a bartender/bouncer/chef/waiter/etc at his bar. magically-enhanced death glare can intimidate inanimate objects and shut down people's nervous systems. Sixgill was played by @historically-innaccurate-dialga.

The events of the session:

Abzu immediately murders someone for polluting a canal

gradually all met up and made their way to the house they were going to rob

encountered two devils, the tiny chainsaw-wielding Ozzy and the colossal Scunge who wielded a machete and a harmonica, guarding the house

Scunge was tackled clean through the door of the house and pinned down by Sixgill until he simply keeled over dead from the force of the bartender's stare

Ozzy mauled Abzu and Ophidia, and was about to coup de grace the latter when Alizoba summoned a building on top of him

Ozzy and Scunge served as a test of the Power Couple mechanic, in which two combatants are represented by a single statblock, one of which dies and changes the statblock when they collectively reach half HP

Inside the house, they encountered a vast horde of living dead who had been employed as meth cooks and house guards. They fought them off for a while before Ophidia finished off the last forty or so by briefly stopping time and lining up a headshot on each one

The zombies were an example of the horde mechanic for representing a TON of enemies with one statblock and a few minions. They worked great

Next was a hall of huge swinging blades, because i wanted to include a few simple skill challenges.

Sixgill just used his enhanced senses to walk through the hall, only getting barely clipped by the last one.

Abzu attempted to freeze the mechanisms, but they exerted too much force and shattered the ice.

Ophidia solved the "there are several thousand pounds of high velocity metal in front of us" with her own several hundred pounds of high velocity metal (she shot the blades with her minigun until they broke)

The next room was a treasure room, with tons of weapons in glass cases. Sixgill broke one of the cases to get a harpoon, causing the rest of the weapons to drop through the floor and poison gas to pour into the room

Abzu waited out the poison in a bubble, while Alizoba summoned a fridge to hide in. Sixgill stared the fucking poison down and the very air said "you know what fuck that I'm not getting paid enough." Ophidia tried to fire off enough guns to replace the air near her with gunsmoke, which went badly

the final thing we had time for in this session (we're going to finish it another day) was a room with an enchanted idol in the middle, which compelled everyone who saw it to want it.

Ophidia burned a fifth of her HP to teleport over to it instantly and take it before anyone else could, and we ended the session as they walked into the next room, which contained a devil named BIG BOY (all caps)

The good stuff:

combat flows quickly from player to player, turns are short but impactful. it's not a tactical wargame, there's no grid or elaborate line of sight rules, but decisions about when to bring up damaged allies and whether or not to take short term disadvantages for long term benefit mattered

even though the system has a lot of room for optimization and certain characters were definitely stronger than others, no one felt useless even with bad rolls

the general Math of the system worked out pretty well. people were critting about as often as I wanted them to be, the HP amount for the players felt right

people had fun (the most important thing)

other important thing: it filled a niche that no other system i've played has filled, and did it well. the experience might have been different if we'd used another system, but it would not have been enriched by the change. Field of White Flowers just. fundamentally. works.

The stuff that needs improvement:

in retrospect it should have been obvious that, given that at its core the game is designed to be roughly balanced (especially at lower levels), making enemies that are on even footing with the players would make the combat REALLY fucking difficult. That was a silly on my part <3 the first encounter was not meant to be that hard. I halved the HP of the second encounter and it was much more reasonable

the mental overhead of certain builds is a little too high. the character sheet handles a lot of things for the players, but some builds have numbers that fluctuate frequently in combat

debuffs didn't quite feel impactful enough on enemies. main issue is that many of the durations are too short, leading to a lot of debuffs just sort of feeling bad when you use your whole turn to apply them, while other debuffs are just VERY VERY VERY good (looking at you Shock)

current out of combat resolution system is very bare-bones (skill checks are roll a few dice against a DC), and either a sliding scale of success or a push mechanic would likely augment it

nerfed Knife Juggler because holy fuck it was so OP for how easy it is to obtain

The nice thing about game design is you can make a system you want to play. Field of White Flowers ticks soooo many of my boxes, and it proved to be pretty easy to pick up, fun to play, and with enough depth of content to keep people talking about it for a good while after the session.

thanks for reading, and always remember: Pariah Stance allows you to tick down the countdown on Forbidden Technique faster

[licncourt]

As someone who's read all the books, what are you hoping to see in the show that new fans can maybe look forward to?

Aaahhhh so many things!! @immortalconclusions answered a similar question, and I endorse all of their answers as well. I'm going to stick with the first three books because those are honestly the only ones I'd want to see adapted, but my general answer for the other books is "any of the Loustat scenes".

A book-accurate version of the prostitute scene from IWTV (I talk about it in depth here.) If we're going to get it in the TV show, I think it'll be in ep 3 or 4

Lestat chasing Louis and hitting the window like a bird

Louis talking about "the aesthetics of killing" like the self-obsessed nutjob he is

Louis and Lestat brawling in the swamp over killing Freniere and Louis almost winning out of sheer spite and rage alone

LOUIS RIPPING THAT PRIEST APART

A good amount of time spent on Nicolas, Lestat's boyfriend from his mortal years! Their time together is one of the best parts of TVL and I would love a proper exploration of his character.

In that vein, GABRIELLE (Lestat's mother). I am crossing all my fingers and manifesting her the butch lesbian arc she deserves

Louis discussing the magic of keyholes

A good Swampstat (come on SFX team!!)

Lestat's Gentleman Death monologue to the Children of Darkness

The Devil's Minion arc!! I know there's been a ton of discourse around this among book fans, and while I don't condone the tone a lot of it has been taking, I would love to see Daniel/Armand and all their antics

Louis eating grass

Claudia screaming I'LL PUT YOU IN YOUR COFFIN, FATHER

Louis' "pampered yellow hair/iridescent eyes" monologue

Lestat's rockstar era (it probably won't be in the 80s like the books, so I propose a Måneskin or MCR Danger Days moment for him)

On that note, Louis dressing up in the band's tacky vampire outfit

Louis and Lestat's brief reunion at the Theatre des Vampires (I'm positive at least part of this scene exists on the 1994 movie cutting room floor)

Louis and Claudia, zombie-vampire hunters

Louis calling Lestat "Monsieur le rockstar"

Lestat calling Louis "beautiful one"

Okay that was a lot, but I tried to pick things that weren't a total given (ie major plot points, unless there's a specific way I want to see them done) but if any of y'all have more ideas please comment!!

Bonus things from just the movie that I hope are included in some capacity:

Louis eating poodles

"Why do you say such things?"

Yvette (although I feel like Miss Lily might have been our AMC Yvette)

[bulkyphrase]

Halloween Fic Recs 2023 Week 4: Other ships

Not much longer till Halloween! This week's stories are from a variety of ships - not necessarily rarepairs, but not enough spooky fics to make up an entire rec list.

The End of All Things by cakeisnotpie (Clint Barton/Phil Coulson, Mature, 17,801 words)

Summary: Clint Barton could always see ghosts and monsters, and now that he's a ghost hunter with his partner Natasha, he's about to come across a house that is well and truly haunted, one that seems to be waiting for him. A seriously spooky bit of horror completely with monsters and ghosts and creepy-crawlies and nightmares just in time for All Hallow's Eve. Happy Samhain, ya'll.

Monsters 'R' Us by Not_You (Clint Barton/Phil Coulson/Natasha Romanov, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Mature, 20,183 words)

Summary: Phil Coulson is one of the last of the old school monster hunters, and finds himself in the company of a werewolf and her human.

Bite Down by avesnongrata (@avesnongrata) (Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Explicit, 5,224 words)

Summary: "I could change your life, Maria. And all you need to do is trust me." Seasoned monster hunter Maria Hill is tasked with tracking down a dangerous supernatural creature in the heart of the jungle. Her hunt does not go the way she planned.

The rest are below the cut!

Between the Shadow and the Soul by Yeetmeaway (Romanogers, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Mature, 151,121 words)

Note: this is a sequel to the amazing For Whose Love I Rise and Fall

Summary: After receiving Shield’s cure, Steve’s memory of the past seventy-five years of being infected with Hydra’s virus has been wiped clean. He's grateful for it— it's better to forget the suffering he caused as an infected monster, but as he navigates the unfamiliar world he has woken up in, it becomes clear that his past isn't done with him. Troubled by disturbing dreams and by strange, lingering feelings that he can't explain, Steve struggles to navigate exactly who and what he is now. But a new threat emerging in the wake of Hydra’s destruction has a strange obsession with Steve and his new partner, Natasha Romanoff. The mere presence of this threat promises to destroy what little ground Shield has gained in this war and if Steve and Natasha can’t stop him, they stand to lose far more than just their lives.

you know i didn't want to (have to haunt you) by dharmainitiative (@rocketnebulas) (SamBucky, Teen And Up Audiences, 46,052 words)

Summary: Sam Wilson is an amazing realtor. He works hard, he takes care of his clients, and he can sell any house he puts his mind to. Unless, of course, the house happens to be haunted by an irritating, standoffish ghost who died in 1940. Then things get a little more complicated.

The Way Out Is Through by samwontshare (Attaining) (@samwontshare) (SamBucky, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Explicit, 12,097 words)

Summary: Sam and Bucky's love story in Wakanda is interrupted when Sam contracts a virus that makes him crave human flesh. Bucky will do anything to keep him safe. And fed. Instead of The Blip, Thanos' minions brought the zombie apocalypse. (Aka a Sambucky zombie romance. Happy Halloween!)

Best and Last of All Things by anactoria (@anactorya) (SamBucky, Mature, 7,481 words)

Summary: Just a couple of guys, holding each other together as the world falls apart. (Alternatively: Fucking zombies.)

batteries and holy ghosts, buried in my bag of bones by starvels (dinosaur) (@starvels) (Steve Rogers/Tony Stark/Janet Van Dyne, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Mature, 8,102 words)

Summary: “You don’t sleep anymore," Steve says. “Yeah, I guess not,” Tony agrees, smiling like that’s funny somehow. Steve hates it. “But Jan does and she could use some company.” Steve’s eyes close again. Jan. Sharp, unnerving Jan. Jaundice yellow and grave-dirt-black magic Jan.

D.I.Y. (Demons In You) by RedTeamShark (WinterHawk, Explicit, 37,828 words)

Summary: Clint and Bucky are ready to take the next step in their lives and buy a house together. And when the opportunity arises for Clint’s small Youtube channel to get a big sponsorship on a home renovation series, it seems that the stars are aligning for them. Buying and remodeling an older house is a much bigger project than they expect, and old houses hold old secrets. Have the two found a place to live and love together, or is forever homea bit more literal than they ever intended?

Historic Features by flawedamythyst (@flawedamythyst) (WinterHawk, background Stony, Teen And Up Audiences, 19,254 words)

Summary: “Electrical surges with no source, and music coming from the air, and that damn baseball game no one was watching, and I swear I sometimes hear voices right on the edge of hearing when I should be alone,” said Tony. “What does that sound like to you?”  “Sounds like-” said Steve, then hesitated. Tony gave him a pointed look. “Sounds like a haunting,” he finished, reluctantly.  “Oh no,” said Clint, in tones of mock-horror. “Ghosts!”  Bucky laughed and kissed him. “Man, I hope they’re friendly.”  Clint and Bucky are haunting the new apartment that Tony bought in Brooklyn to try and impress Steve.

The Ghost of a Chance by atothej (WinterHawk, Major Character Death, Teen And Up Audiences, 2,341 words)

Summary: The Asset's only constant companion is the ghost that haunts him.

The Road Less Traveled at the End of the Line by NarutoRox (@muteelfmoonmoon) (WinterIron, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Teen And Up Audiences, 27,889 words)

Summary: To say Steve is surprised to wake up haunting his loved ones after sinking his plane into the ocean would be an understatement. To say he enjoys it would be just plain cruel. For starters, there’s the ‘minor’ problem of said loved ones being unable to see or hear him, which is bad enough. Things only get worse when he finds out Bucky is alive, but held prisoner by the very people he and Steve had fought against, leaving Steve to watch as HYDRA slowly tries to unmake his best friend. Then there’s Tony, Howard’s genius son, whom Steve loves dearly and may or may not be a little protective of after watching him grow up under Howard’s less-than-stellar care. Steve doesn’t know if they keep him sane or drive him crazy, but he does know that Bucky and Tony are the two most important people in his world. He also doesn’t know if it would make his life easier if they knew each other or not, but it doesn’t matter; they’ve never met, are on opposite sides of the world, and other than being cared about by Steve, have nothing else to do with each other. Until Tony is kidnapped by the Ten Rings…and HYDRA thaws Bucky for a mission…And Steve decides it’s about time these two met.

Take My Hand (Don't Fear the Reaper) by dracusfyre (@dracusfyre) (WinterIron, Major Character Death, Not Rated, 6,693 words)

Summary: For the ITAB prompt:  After Afghanistan tony became a part-time grim reaper assigned to the winter soldier, since Bucky has a messed up head he can see tony.

[cake-apostate]

Stealth Game Morgana

I had a dream and now I have an idea. 

In my dream, I was Morgana. For reasons that kept changing, the Phantom Thieves were abducted/put under house arrest in a house on a floating continent, but the cops didn’t realize that Morgana was sentient and let him run around the house. So it was up to me to get everyone out. 

As Morgana, I had to coordinate with the party, spy on the cops, and figure out what was going on, all without letting the cops know that I was anything but an ordinary house cat. I got caught when I tried to perch on top of a punching bag and I knocked it over, and somehow this tipped off a cop that I was magic?

So now I have an idea for a stealth game (or more realistically, fanfic). The Phantom Thieves go on a second road trip, but along the way they get captured. They’re taken to a big house in the middle of the woods (or an abandoned temple, an empty village, etc.) and are put into separate rooms. Except one of the thugs thinks it’s a shame that the cat will have to go to a shelter once the Phantom Thieves are dealt with, so they bring Morgana along so they can adopt him when this all blows over. Since they want Morgana to like them, they let him have the run of the house. 

Since Morgana is the only one who can move through the house freely, it’s up to him to get everyone out. 

Suspicion:

First, why would anyone suspect the cat? I was thinking that the captors are aware that magic exists, but don’t know much about it. They know that the Phantom Thieves can use it, but they don’t know that they’re Persona users. 

In other words, they are aware that magical cats exist, but so far they don’t have enough evidence to even suspect that Morgana is one. So Morgana can get caught and caged on the basis that he’s a magic cat aiding the enemy. 

Morgana can disguise his spying and sabotage as normal cat actions, but with some catches. For example, cats knock things off tables, so he can break glasses to create a distraction, break someone’s (light and open) laptop by pushing it off a high table or place, etc. But if he only does this when it’s important, they’ll know he’s doing it deliberately, so he also has to be seen pushing stuff off tables for no reason. Moreover, if he does this too much, people will stop putting light things on high tables because they know he’ll knock it over.

In other words, the suspicion meter is a measure of how catlike and nonsentient Morgana appears to be. Morgana can also lower the meter by doing ordinary cat things like climbing to high places or sitting in boxes. Some of the minions might play with him. 

The captors knowing a little bit about magic could be fun, actually. Minions can bet on what kind of magic the Phantom Thieves use on breaks, their prison rooms could be warded with everything from talismans to salt, and someone keeps warding off the Evil Eye. It would be even more fun if one of the minions keeps saying that they’re using magic from other Megaten games; they insist that the phone summons demons, that they’re all zombies resurrected by a god, that they’re the reincarnation of the Messiah, etc. 

There might also be a secret ending if Morgana maximizes suspicion at every turn; now the guards are terrified of the monster cat. 

Human Actions:

Morgana can also do a variety of things that are blatantly human, like picking locks, stealing certain items, and crafting. Apparently some cats hoard things, so it would be too weird if he picked up food or small shiny things, but not chemicals or whatever.

There could also be a minigame where Morgana tries to read without getting caught. 

Spying:

Morgana can discover lots of things by listening in, from hints to lore. You have no idea who captured you, so by listening to meetings and gossip, you can find out a lot of things. I’m thinking this ends up more in a replay; on the first playthrough you just want to get out, but on the second you want to get every bit of dialogue.

The minions that like cats might try to pet Morgana. Sometimes, while playing with him, they might discuss important things, or they might also gossip about their lives. 

Morgana can also spy on meetings. He can infiltrate them through several ways. If he sits at the door, there’s no risk, but he can’t hear everything. He can hear everything if he’s in the meeting room, but that carries drawbacks. If he enters while the meeting is in progress, it’ll raise the suspicion meter because cats don’t like crowded rooms with strangers. He can also sneak into the room, but he can fail, which would also increase suspicion even more than waltzing in. If he arrives before the meeting and doesn’t leave, it won’t arouse suspicion, but he’ll miss out on a chunk of time (and he’d have to know about the meetings ahead of time, so it might be a replay bonus).

Coordination:

Morgana can enter the cells that hold the Thieves. There are guards, so their conversations are coded. The thief he’s visiting has to talk to him like they’re talking to a pet, which leads to a lot of baby talking from some party members. Morgana updates the situation while they play with him, and they can respond to some basic questions. 

If he asks a yes-no question, they hide the yes or no response. 

For example:

Futaba: “Yes, you’re a good kitty!”

Or

Futaba: “Is there any kitty cuter than you? No, there’s no kitty cuter than you!”

And if asked for advice, they disguise it as talking about a hobby.

For example:

Makoto: “You know what I miss? Yakuza movies. One of my favorites was Blood Raining from the Heavens. There’s this one great scene where the villain breaks the generator just so he could ambush the electrician when he comes to fix it.”

The Captors:

I don’t have a set idea of who they are, but whoever they are, escaping has to let the Thieves go free. This may seem tautological, but what I mean is that they can’t or won’t capture them again at the next town. 

I’m trying to keep this story self-contained, so just escaping from these guys is enough. No need to go after their bosses or change their hearts. 

So I’m thinking mysterious group working for their own purposes, dudes who pose as cops, local cops with no jurisdiction, or a rogue section of the military. If I write fanfic, I might use that Agency of Supernatural Investigation I keep using. 

Freedom Conditions:

You can free party members, and since they’re Phantom Thieves, they’re stealthy enough not to get caught on their way out. However, the captors become more wary and the rest of the game gets a little harder with every Thief freed. On the other hand, party members outside of the house can provide you with other small benefits; for example, Futaba breaks communication lines, Ryuji distracts outdoor guards by appearing on their radar and then leading them on a wild goose chase, Makoto can take out guards, etc. 

You can also try to free multiple people at once. 

I was considering that they could escape via the Metaverse; Morgana can slip them their phones. But the Metaverse App brings along everyone around you, which would include the guards. 

[thetypingpup]

WayV In BG3

Got bored and made Wayv a team of necromancers, and of course it turned out to be way more involved than I thought 😅

Click here for Ateez in bg3

Rq so I don't have to repeat this with everyone, everyone has the power to cast Animate Dead, which allows them to raise a corpse and turn it into an undead creature they can control. Most of them also have the ability to Speak with Dead and have necrotic spells, which is just death magic put simply.

Kun: The leader is gonna be Thee Necromancer himself, a necromancy wizard. He learned his powers through lots of study, which paid off bc he's very powerful and very dangerous as a result. He doesn't even have a weapon, not that he needs one bc he can summon (un)living weapons at will. Out of everyone, he can summon the most undead minions at once, basically a mini army of zombies and skeletons and ghouls. He's also got quite a few spells that draw on necrotic power and drain the life from his enemies. On top of all of that, he can summon an additional army of undead ghouls thanks to a cursed book he found, the Necromancy of Thay. Solo he's an absolute powerhouse, but of course, he travels with his team.

Ten: Trickery Domain Cleric of Tymora, the chaotic good goddess of luck. He's got a lot of the traditional cleric powers, so lots of healing, buffing, helping the team. He also has quite a few stealth abilities and can do things like disguise his and his team's appearance, confuse people by creating copies of himself, and teleport. When stealth is needed, he and Yangyang are usually the ones to take the lead. He also has the ability to summon familiars and talk to animals.

Winwin: Winwin is gonna be the Druid of the group. Like other druids, he can turn into animals, talk to animals, and has elemental spells. Specifically, he's a Circle of the Spores Druid, and he can use said spores to raise the dead as well and summon extra minions for him to command. He's also got quite a few other innate necrotic abilities, can give himself and his team the ability to see in the dark, can read people's minds, and can transform everyone into a cloud of mist for easier travel.

Xiaojun: I couldn't help it, he's a Paladin. On the surface appears to be a regular, charming, battle capable hero. But in reality, he's an Oathbreaker. He used to be a Paladin of Tyr, the lawful good god of justice, and sworn to a divine oath. He broke that oath, and now instead of divine might he's got dark necrotic powers like the rest of his team. Despite this, he still has a few holy powers, and he has a couple holy (and unholy) weapons at his disposal. He's always on the front lines of combat. It's easy for him to pose as the heroic face of the group. He can also summon familiars and talk to animals. May or may not have some dealings with a certain evil dragon goddess, a certain opposite to the dragon god Seonghwa serves, but atp Xiaojun isn't interested in being bound by another divine oath.

Hendery: He's the Warlock of the group. With very similar powers as Kun, he learned extra spells through study, except he was gifted cursed grimoires like The Book of Shadows and The Book of Ancient Secrets by his patron. Speaking of, he made his pact with a Great Old One, so his patron is an eldritch being from a cosmic realm that exists just beyond the bounds of mortal comprehension. He's got quite a few tricks up his sleeve, from powers that can read and mess with people's mind, to a sword that he can imbue with pure necrotic energy, to the ability to manipulate necrotic energy itself. On the team, he, Xiaojun, and Yangyang are the mostly likely to conduct negotiations and talk to people, but unlike them Hendery can charm people into getting his way.

Yangyang: The group's Bard, he's a College of Lore Bard with an expertise at arcana, so he's super adept at spellcasting, like right up there on a wizard's level. With his violin, he can cast spells that instill fear, bestow curses, and take control of people, monsters, and otherworldly creatures. Because of this, he's able to control large crowds of enemies with his captivating performance of magic and do quite a bit of damage. Interestingly enough, he's also quite adept at stealth and can see invisible creatures, so he can keep to the shadows or take center stage and be just as dangerous. He takes the lead with Ten when the team needs to be stealthy. He can also give himself and his team the ability to turn invisible.

Haven't thought of much for them story wise, but this is what we got so far 😅

[wishbrightdreams]

Get To Know Me!

1. IF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT TITLE WOULD BEST FIT?

* Dazed and confused lol. 🤣 (not smoking btw just the title describes my life haha)

2. WOULD YOU RATHER BE A FANTASTIC DANCER OR BE GREAT AT MATH?

* Definitely math. I’ve always struggled understanding math in school and it caused me a lot of frustration. I don’t need to be a math wizard, just being able to understand it is all I need!

3. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COMEDY MOVIE?

* I love slapstick and potty humor. I don’t have a particular favourite comedy movie as I tend to lean towards animated movies instead of live action. But I guess if I had to choose I would choose The Minions, I love those guys!

4. ARE YOU MORE OF A CAT PERSON OR A DOG PERSON?

* definitely a dog person. My mom is super allergic to cats and my dad is allergic as well. (They are also allergic to dogs, but we managed to get a hypoallergenic dog which has helped with their allergies)

5. WHAT CELEBRITY WOULD YOU RATE AS A PERFECT 10?

* Tom Holland of course! Not just looks wise either, I’m in love with his personality. 😍 I love goofy, funny and nerdy hot guys like Tom Holland. If only he was a musician too. 🤤

6. WHAT’S THE CLOSEST THING TO REAL MAGIC?

* Manifestation! Technically that’s not magic, but whatever. I believe that we are all born with some type of psychic ability, we’re just not all awakened to it.

7. WHAT IS THE BEST AND WORST PURCHASES YOU’VE EVER MADE?

* Hmm, I’m not sure about this one. I often go by reviews because I have a tough time making up my mind about which thing I want to buy. I try to analyze each thing I buy to make sure I’m buying a good product haha.

8. IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO COLONIZE MARS IN OUR LIFETIME, WOULD YOU GO? WHY OR WHY NOT?

* Heck no! Space is scary haha. Plus Earth needs help healing so I’d rather spend my time helping people here and devote my time to bettering the planet we currently live on. Now that being said, if I lived in a reality like in the movie Interstellar I would go because it’s our only option to survive haha.

9. WHAT IS YOUR DREAM VACATION ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?

* Japan for sure! It’s been my dream to travel to Japan since I was a pre-teen. And not just because of anime haha. I’d also love to visit Europe and the United Kingdom where my ancestors are from.

10. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL AS A STUDENT?

* I took singing vocal class in high school which I really enjoyed, but I had to drop it in my second half of high school due to my mental health which sucked. I also really enjoyed communications class!

11. IF YOU COULD LIVE IN A BOOK, TV SHOW, OR MOVIE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

* This is a tough decision to make. I can’t decide on which one. I’d like to travel to different stories and experience life in them first before making a permanent decision.

12. HOW MANY SIBLINGS DO YOU HAVE?

* I have three half siblings, they are all about a decade older than me. I have two half brothers and one half sister. I don’t see them that often, only at Christmas time.

13. WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE?

* I’m not a very adventurous person, so I would have to say just meeting my spirit guides during a meditation and having my spiritual awakening?

14. IF YOU COULD MASTER ONE SKILL YOU DON’T HAVE RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

* Housekeeping and adulting stuff haha. As well as manifesting if you count that as a skill!

15. WHAT WORDS OF WISDOM WOULD YOU PASS ON TO YOUR CHILDHOOD SELF?

* Don’t be so hard on yourself, learn to love and accept your uniqueness and don’t worry about what others think of you. It’s also okay to feel emotions, don’t be ashamed of feeling sad or angry!

16. HOW WOULD YOU SURVIVE A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?

* I wouldn’t haha. I wouldn’t be able to survive in such a place. I don’t think I would want to anyway. I tend to get very affected by apocalyptic stories so I’m trying to distance myself from them more these days.

17. IF YOU COULD ABOLISH ONE PIECE OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

* Nuclear weapons! We don’t need them and they’re dangerous. Peace and love man!

18. WHAT IS YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE?

* Hmm… not sure I have a guilty pleasure. The thing that comes to my mind is comfort food that isn’t good for me, does that count?

19. WHAT WAS YOUR NICKNAME YOUR GRANDPARENTS USED TO CALL YOU?

* I don’t think they had nicknames for me, but my dad always calls me pumpkin.

20. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CLIMBED A TREE JUST FOR FUN?

* I don’t think I ever climbed a tree haha. I wasn’t an outdoorsy kid (by choice).

That’s all for now! I will post more later.

[starsweepers]

MUMMY TYPES

left image is cleo, nefera, and their father. right image is cleo with some of her servants.

disclaimer: this just be a mish mash of various generations to create my own classifications. these are prone to changing with new ideas, thoughts, realizations, etc. the are three classes of mummies.

the generic.

these are the type you see in movies as the pretty mindless, minion sort. they're almost akin to zombies and come about in the same way... ancient magics resurrecting them after death through strange and unusual means. they're generally physically limited, causing the jerky and stiff movements they're known for, they have to remain bandaged, and very rarely can they vocalize beyond groans and moans. their dialect is similar to zombie and is partially why cleo is able to speak zombie alongside other languages she's learned. they're the lower class, but it doesn't make them inefficient, stupid, or incapable. their limitations just make it harder for them to progress in even the monster world. though they're not ( as far as i've found ) depicted in the cartoon series, they're alluded to on occasion. they're not in abundance, but they're the more common of the mummy types in general. in the live action, we only see them serving cleo or background characters... most likely because creating the anubis character-servants for the live action to mimic the original show would have been more graphically involved.

the post-death revival.

...not the best term but what i'm sticking with for now. these type are extremely rare. to the point there so far are none known outside of ramses himself. mostly because he is a very unusual circumstance. prior to him and his daughters, the generic mummies were the only type to appear within the monster world. ramses, cleo, and nerfera changed that. when ramses learned of the coup against his family, he worked with his closest allies in an effort to save them all. egyptian artifacts were crafted and obtained, and special wrappings were developed, imbued with extreme magical effects. it was using these that he was able to mummify both his daughters while they were still alive. preserving their hearts separate and then binding their bodies. tucking them away in tombs with the intention they would sleep until things were safe again. he was intended to follow suit, but the coup managed to break in. his aides were slaughtered and then he was struck down himself. ramses, though despise by those that eliminated him, was still given a burial alongside his daughters... wrapped in the same magical bindings without his enemies knowing what they did. when the daughters awoke, so did he. what keeps him apart from the generic mummies is the wrappings he was bound in. they give him more "life" in his return as a monster. but at a cost. while he can move, speak, and behave almost as he did when alive, he cannot severe himself from the bandages. they are essentially his flesh now. this impacts his power to a degree, and puts him at a risk around fire. due to these differences, it is why he puts so much stress and expectations on his daughters... because they are in the stronger position than him in the longer run.

mummied alive.

....again, no one's saying my naming is great lol. these types of mummies are also extremely rare, but they are actually more abundant that the sort that ramses is. once the wrappings' secrets were leaked, other powerful and wealthy egyptian families got ahold of them, and crafted their demises to come back stronger. as monsters. thus, pretty much every mummy outside of the generic kind are wealthy and upper class, because those are the only beings who could obtain the magic and knowledge. cleo and nefera are both this type of mummy. for these sorts of develop, they must go through an intense ritual that mummifies them while still alive. generally the heart is removed. other organs also can be, but most are untouched for fear of damaging the body too heavily and making the return to "life" more of a struggle. they are then bound in the magic wrappings and placed into their tombs until the power awakens them. these undead mummies can appear, act, and seem perfectly human in ways, but are attached to egyptian energies, magic, and monster development.

i'll be making another headcanon post diving further into these sorts of mummy powers, abilities, facts, etc. since such knowledge will apply to how i will portray cleo ( and sometimes nefera if she is needed )