#monster hunting

[cat-cosplay]

If you don't talk to your cat about the dangers of monster hunting, who will?

[avalonlights]

"Guess you finally learned to plant your feet." "Yeah, some asshole wouldn't shut up about it."

Here is my creation for the @harringrove-relay-race! Next up, please look forward to a wonderful work from @hargrove-mayfields! 🏁

[hawkinslibrary]

Stranger Things 4 Chapter Seven: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab | 4.07

[gigantic-spider]

I just released the first early-access installment of my upcoming zine "The Hauntings of Hyde Park"! Currently, it contains:

The Dispossessed (A Playbook): A visitor from a long ways away allies with Hargrave House to try to make it home, all the while struggling to maintain their identity.

Hark! A Ghastly Serpentine (Threat): A trio of hags from England’s countryside descend on London, befouling the Serpentine and turning unsuspecting citizens into horrific fish-human hybrids.

Over the next month and a half, I'll periodically release more Threats and a new Mastermind, culminating in a crowdfunding campaign to get everything edited, laid out, and printed in physical form.

If you're interested in making this a reality, please follow the Crowdfundr campaign to stay up to date!

(And stay tuned for some design commentary about what I release, to come when it's not 9 pm)

[palatteflags]

Ghost/Cryptid/Monster hunter based Ace moodboard~ ^^ For @the-lone-wolffe c: Hope you like~~

Want one? Send an ask!! -mod Jay

[one-piece-aus]

Whumptober Day 13

Werewolf Katakuri x Reader

"The hunters, they're coming," you warn Katakuri rushing to his side once you retreated into the werewolf's den.

"They're after me, not you," he stated as he picked up some stored fruit and placed it in your bag.

"What are you doing?" You watched as he stuffed your satchel with a swift pace, using his wolf tail as an extra hand.

"You'll need these for your journey." Katakuri closed your bag and handed it off to you. He lifted your hood over your head before placing his hands on your shoulder and meeting you at eye level. "There's another way out at the back of the cave. Take it, I'll distract them. You should be fine once you reach a safe distance-"

"What- No, I'm not leaving you." You look at him with worried eyes as your squeeze your bag.

"You know the human law, don't you? 'All humans associating with monsters must be killed with the beasts', I'd rather you leave so you don't get involved, they're only after me." Katakuri uses a furry hand to caress your face. "I wouldn't able to forgive myself if they did something to you."

You place a hand over his. You could feel your heartstrings playing heartache as you stared into his eyes, unsure if this would be the last time you would ever see Katakuri. For being a monster, he has shown you more humanity and hospitality than your own kind. You loved him, and you could feel your heart break at the idea of having to run away, but if you must, you had to tell him. The words were on the tip of your tongue, they wanted to come out-

"They're here," Katakuri announced as his ears flickered in the direction of the entrance. He stood up straight and gave you a starting push to the exit. "You must go now."

Your legs took over and dashed towards the back of the cave, your mind blank, your heart beating. The end came to view and that's when you looked back, your mind tuning to the reality around you. The sound of angered men failing strike and growls from your monster echoed through the cave to you. Shadows on the walls displayed their fight, the hunters attacked Katakuri from all sides. You watched with worry, fear hovering over you as you noticed a shadow climbing up. He's going to strike from above!

"Look out!" you cried, hoping your voice would reach him in time. Alas, the man came down from above and you were filled with horror as you saw the werewolf shadow get hit and fall down. "NO!"

You rushed into the cave, legging carrying you to the point they began to feel numb. Your heart pulls you closer to the fallen monster. Flying past the hunters, you kneel down to the werewolf hugging him. You shielded him with your body, but you didn't dare make eye contact with the hunters.

"Pl-please! Leave him alone!" you begged, doing your best to keep your voice strong.

"[Y/n], what are you doing?" Katakuri asked, his eyes wide. "You need to leave, they'll kill you too!"

"I'm not leaving you!" you declared. "I'd rather die than live among humans again! You're the only one who has ever shown me kindness! I'll be damned if I let you die protecting me! I'm not going anywhere... I'm not going..."

[oceansssblue]

Note: I know this request is lengthy, detailed, and extra, so if you do not want to do this, I completely understand! Just let me know. If you do take this on, I owe you a MASSIVE thanks and words wouldn’t be able to express how thankful I would be. I wish you the best and I hope you have a good day! :)

May I request a fic where the Bad Batch are monster hunters and the (fem)reader is a close friend to them. As monster hunters, they have to kill every monster — even if the monster was a former family member or friend. It’s not something they’re worried about because the boys are immune and confident in their abilities to protect Omega and the reader. What would go wrong?

Someone disguising a werewolf mini as a dog, and then said “dog” trying to attack Omega but ends up biting the reader instead while they’re out alone on a shopping trip. That could go wrong.

The boys don’t get to see the bite — they only see the reader after her bite gets treated at the hospital. The reader finds out when she transforms in the safety of her own home, Omega pieces it together, and the boys are flabbergasted by the two’s new behavior that follows as consequence of this (reader and Omega are protective of each other, reader has a sudden appetite for meat, Omega prevents them from visiting at night by secretly causing incidents, Omega supports reader’s nonsensical alibis, etc.). Monster hunting is a BIG DEAL so the boys can’t just quit, and the reader doesn’t want them to lose their jobs. The boys find out the truth when the reader transforms to save Omega from an ambush from other monsters and they can’t get to her in time. Ensue the boys taking a deep breath, looking at each other, immediately being like “okay so we’re breaking the law right?”

“Yeah, sounds about right.”

“I’ll start making up alibis so reader never gets caught.”

Yoo this was such a cool idea I just had to jump straight to it! You've practically done it yourself haha, but I get it. Happens to me too, got a lot of ideas but not the actual time to write them, and Im eager to autoread my thoughts. Well, you have me love! Decided to make reader a monster hunter as well cause I wanted her to be that badass. This one's for you :)

Very cool request!

Xx,

Sky.

"ONE POWERFUL BITE"

—TBB REQUESTS (female reader, no romantic pairing) 📩💔💖

WARNINGS: MONSTERS, WEREWOLVES, BLOOD&WOUNDS&BITES, HOSPITAL, MENTIONS OF SUICIDE.

There was a wide spectrum of monsters in Delta-7. Not the ones that hid under children's beds –though you guess they could– and lived in one's fantasies; but actual real life monsters that wrecked caos through the planet's citizens. As a Monster Hunter yourself, you had had your fair numbers of encounters; from Tassas –ten meters long spiders that produced a viscous, paralyising mucus–, to dangerous predators like the Xenos –alien looking carnivorous beings with three rows of sharp teeth and no eyes– and less surprising creatures like werewolves or vampires. And here you were alive.

You belonged to Hunter's team of mercenaries –with Echo, Crosshair, Tech, Wrecker, the man himself and Omega–; and you were all quite known in Delta-7. You had captured and killed countless of monsters; your records always reaching the top of the list for those that shared your profession.

It's something you're proud of, being a Monster Hunter. Without people like you, Delta-7 would be a terryfying place; a nightmare. Monster Hunters drastically reduce the population of these dangerous creatures; as well as the chances of innocent people getting infected.

Oh, yes, that's the thing; people could get infected. Some monster's didn't have the ability to spread their condition, of course; like the Tassas or the Sand-worms. But the Xenos, Spreegans, Slenders, vampires, and werewolves... All of those were disseases carried in the blood, and all of them could be transmited to every-day humans. Humans like you or your own team; a fear you have never quite left completely behind.

You know what would happen if you got infected. The boys would have to kill you; and you expect them to. You don't want to become something like that; you don't want to forget yourself and become a monster like those who threaten your planet. You don't want to hurt innocent people. If that would be your fate, you'd prefer to be dead. And you'd do the same for each one of them. Luckily, the five brothers and Omega are inmune; so you don't have to ever worry about that.

It's a real relief almost half of Delta-7 population has antibodies to most of these contagious diseases. It limits the number of monsters that can go running around at the same time; makes them easier to find and kill. You can't begin to express how damn grateful you are that the Batch isn't at risk of becoming one of them. Your own situation is completely different –and the reason why they've tried to convince you to sit down the most dangerous missions more than once–; but you're confident in your abilities. You've been doing this since you could hold a blaster and a vibroblade. You'll be fine. You can't live in constant fear of turning, even if you're always aware of it.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You're walking around the dirty, desolated streets of the outskirts of Delta's capital when it happens. Omega is happily babbling about his new electric crossbow; and you've got one ear in the conversation and one ear in your surroundings. You'll never stop being aware of where you are, of what could be lurking in the shadows; and it's precisely that that saves Omega from a painful bite.

The dog jumps directly towards her arm, and you're barely able to push her off when his canines close around your forearm. You whimper in pain, knees almost collapsing under your weight with the surprise and power of the bite; before you're sinking your vibroblade in the dogs skull, an instant kill that leaves the animal dead in just a matter of seconds. You groan in pain, using all your strength to open his jaw and get hold of your wound; while Omega starts an endless line of "I'msosorry"'s and "pleaseforgiveme"'s that only make your head feel fuzzy.

"Fucking hell" you mutter, retracting the vibroblade and putting it back in its belt, before quickly wrapping your wound in one of the spare bandages you always carry in your backpack. "We'll have to stop by the hospital".

Omega quickly nods, eyes full of worry.

"Are you okay?"

You snort and let out a dry laugh in the air.

"Nah. Hurts like a bitch" you carefully observe the dead animal at your feet and sigh. "But it'll get better, just needs time. And antibiotics".

Omega seems slightly more relieved, though still very worried. She glances at the dog too.

"You think he was infected?" She questions, quietly now.

You pull your backpack back on your shoulders and restart your walk, Omega quickly following behind.

"Mm. Probably" you hum. "Dogs don't really attack humans without a reason that way. He would have probably been bitten by a werewolf or something".

Some animals, like cats and dogs, can get infected by the monsters; though they aren't able to transmit it afterwards to humans, as the desease doesn't fully develop in their bodies and it doesn't reach their blood; just grows in focused organs and make them malfunction, sometimes affecting their behaviour like common rabies. To sum it up, your bite has no risk at all.

"You should be more aware of your surroudings" you later tell Omega, frowning in pain when the very lost med student inyects antibiotic straight to the cleaned wound and redresses the bandage. "It could be a different thing next time".

Omega plays with her fingers, guilty.

"You know I'm inmune" she whispers, lowering her head.

You sigh, tiredly.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make you inmune to pain, claws and bites, sweetheart" you answer, softening your tone, and she nods dejectedly.

You let it go. Half an hour later, when Hunter gives her a ten minute speech once you take her back to their home and the boys worriedly hover over you at the sight of your bandaged forearm, you come to her rescue, excusing her and soothing Hunter's worries and anger.

"I'm sure she has already learnt from this, Hunter. And it's just a dog bite, thankfully. I'll be good to go in a few days" you pat his shoulder affectionately, and he sighs in defeat.

"Alright. Please take care of that and rest" he throws you a pointed glance.

You grin, nodding in acceptance.

"Will do" you answer, and then you start your short walk back home.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It was definitively not a dog, because that night, when you're alone back at home, your bones definitively break and rearrange themselves.

It was definitively a unusually small, pathetic werewolf; but a bite is a bite, and now, you are one of them too.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You're very carefull the next handfull of days. You think about moving away, dissapearing from the world. You think about killing yourself. You're still convinced of what you've always thought; you don't want to become like them. But there's a small doubt wondering around your mind, a small fear. What if you don't? What if you can somehow control yourself? What if you can spare you're close friends, people you practically see as family, the grief of experiencing your loss?

You monitor yourself. You write down every change you notice. Film it, even. The first sign is your sudden ravenous apetite for meat; the raw the better. You almost salivate when you see it; your mind getting dizzy in your hunger. Your reflexes get sharper, your moves faster. Your muscles seem the same on the outside, but you're somehow stronger. You feel stronger, like your cells have turned to hard iron on the inside. It's a feeling that takes time getting used to.

You're aware of how the direction of your thoughts change too. You're almost scared when you feel almost anxious to finally leave behind your home retreat and get your hands on someone. But you breathe through the almost irresistible impulse and focus; and then you discover you can canalise those intentions towards a specific target. Thinking on killing other monsters soothes your mind, but picturing the boys death makes you wince. When you think of it, it's really not that different than your developed skills as a Monster Hunter, and so you breathe.

The first day you see the Batch again you're almost expectant, waiting for something bad to happen. But everything's fine; you're happy to see them, they're happy to see you, and nothing has changed at all on that part. You go out with the boys on another mission of monster hunting and kill three Tassas a bit too easily; and Hunter claps your hand proudly on your way back home, all of them chatting distractedly. There are no acussations, and so days pass by with no altercations.

It's surprisingly Omega the one that figures it all out. She carefully whispers her theory to you when you are both alone one night; and you're left paralysed outside your door. Fear instantly clings at you; and you literally fall to your knees and beg her to listen to you.

She does. You tell her all about it; every single change you've noticed, let her read and watch all the records you've made of yourself since that first transformation. You've never been more grateful for her patience and kindness. Omega believes you, and promisses to keep your secret. You both know the boys can't leave their jobs behind –they shouldn't, for Delta-7's safety–; and you're unsure on how they'd react. It stays between the two of you therefore, and you only grow more protective of her for that.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Hunter –and probably the rest of the Batch– starts to suspect that something is going on the fith time Omega causes an accident on their home –sometimes it's the kitchen, sometimes the bathroom gets flooded, once she distractedly hurts herself while helping Crosshair clean their equipment up–; but the reason only gets discovered a whole month later.

They all know it has to do with you. It isn't a coincidence Omega suddenly becomes clumsy when they talk about visiting you at night, either to watch a film together or share dinner; and though the both of you have always been close, it get's a bit too extreme. It's like your prawling around the blond's steps; over-protective, becoming her shadow, eyes always glancing back at her. At first they think it's just fear of losing her, caused by the accident from that night; but the truth is revealed to them shortly after that.

It happens an afternoon when your team follows a group of three Xenos through the south forest of Delta-7's capital. You all have to be sneaky; as the monsters have a very developed hearing to compensate for their lack of sight. It's a cold day, the wind freezing all of you even when suited up in your termo-regulated tracking clothes; making the weapons in your hands feel heavier than they already are.

The forest is deathly quiet. Hunter –as the great tracker he is– holds up a fist, a sign to stop and prepare yourselves; and out of nowhere, the three Xenos jump at you. It's a blood bath. The best way to get to one of those monsters is separating them, ambushing them in silence; but the tables have turned, and everytime one of you uses your weapons or dodges an attack rolling around the floor, one of the other monsters hears it, and lounges straight at you. Crosshair and Echo are both bitten once before you all manage to get rid of one of them; two left to take.

It's just when you're drawing your blade of the first one when you hear her scream. It's a high pitched, terryfing thing; Omega breaking rule number one when fighting against the Xenos. Don't make a sound. The second monster screeches angrily –a terryfying loud sound– and lounges towards where Omega is already trapped under the other one; three rows of teeth snapping hungrily and dangerously close to her vulnerable throat.

It's all pure instinct from there, and you don't think it twice. Your body snaps and transforms in mid-jump; claws landing on one of the Xenos face while you quickly turn around in your animal form and tackle the other one to the ground.

It turn's bloody very quickly. You feel their own claws slashing throw your body, opening deep wounds and lightening pain on your nerves. But you hurt them too, and you're fierce, and quick, and powerful, and you close your own jaws on their bony legs and arms and tug. Flesh separates from bones, and bones from their skeleton; and after a tiring fight, your mind knowing exactly where to attack, the two monsters lay dead on a pool of dark black blood.

Breathing heavily, and with the adrenaline quickly dropping, you turn to Omega and whimper in pain and relief, pushing your snout affectionately against her shoulder. Thankfull, Omega caresses your back.

You don't think it's a good idea to return to your human form right now –werewolves are able to heal faster, and you can feel and see wounds too deep and bones out of place–; so you exhaustedly slump down, energy extinguishing now that the danger has passed.

You're barely able to see them glancing at each other, eyes wary and carefull but weapons not pointing towards you, which is an impressively good sign.

"So we're breaking the law, right?" comes up Crosshair's almost bored drawl, and you can almost picture him taking one of those fucking sticks up to his mouth.

"Sounds about right!" Wrecker answers in a surprised laugh, and Echo smiles quietly while Hunter walks towards Omega and helps her up.

He then turns towards you and asseses your wounds, dropping his backpack on the floor besides you and grabbing the bacta.

Tech quickly taps at his datapad.

"I'll hack onto the capital's cameras and set up a loop so no one catches our return to her apartment. This secret stays with us".

A warm rush of love towards your boys and the fleeting, heavy-lifting relief is all you experience before you finally pass out and close your eyes.

THE END.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Hope it is what you imagined love, it was fun to write!

I'll be writing the next requests on the following days. Stay tunned for more!

Xx,

Sky.

Back to my general masterlist here:

[tlwebb]

[lady-wallace]

Whumptober Day 12 - Hunter's Moon (JJBA Vampire Hunter AU)

More Vampire Hunter AU for today's @whumptober fic! This one can be read by itself, but if you are following the series, there will be spoilers for anyone who has not read through "Humanity and Eternity"

Bucciarati and Abbacchio decide to go on an easy hunt to ease into Bucciarati's new vampiric condition, however, their quarry proves more dangerous than they thought, leaving Bucciarati gravely injured, and Abbacchio with a choice to make.

~~~~~~~

Prompts Used: Red, (alt. prompt 8. Hunting) Fandom: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5 Character: Bucciarati

~~~~~~

Excerpt:

Bruno was shivering violently by the time Abbacchio finished cleaning up, washing blood off his hands. He moved Bruno away from the wet hay and tried to make him comfortable, helping him put his shirt back on to offer a little extra warmth.

"Are you cold?" he asked lamely.

"Mm," Bruno murmured. "Seem to be."

Abbacchio pressed his lips together firmly, and took his own coat off, wrapping it around the other Hunter who glanced up at him gratefully, huddling under the warmed garment.

"I doubt I'm really…going anywhere," Bruno murmured. "So…if you want to chance it alone…you can go. I'll be fine."

Leone glanced down at him skeptically, pressing the back of his hand against Bruno's forehead and finding it extremely clammy. "You really are cold," he said in surprise and sat down next to Bruno, pulling him in against his side in an attempt to share his own body heat. Bruno grunted in protest at the jostling, but huddled closer appreciatively.

"There's no point in running into the woods for it," Abbacchio muttered. "It knows better where it's going in there. "We'll wait to see if it comes out again tonight and then shoot it."

Bruno sighed, opening his eyes to look up at him. "I'm sorry, I should have been more careful."

"It surprised you, we should have stuck together."

Bruno tensed briefly as a wave of pain went through him before he said tiredly, "I'm still…I'm trying to find the happy medium between knowing I'm physically stronger now, and actually utilizing that in a way that I am not continuously throwing myself into harm's way."

"Oh, so it took you until you become a damn vampire to figure that one out?" Abbacchio asked, not without a little exasperation.

"I suppose that is what got me into this situation in the first place," he replied, then let out a soft moan, curling further into himself. "God."

Leone watched helplessly as the injured Hunter shuddered in pain, breathing through his nose as cold sweat beaded on his brow.

"How bad?" Abbacchio asked quietly.

Bruno let out a shuddering exhale. "Feels like…'m still being ripped…apart." He swallowed hard, eyes squeezed shut as he curled further into himself, heavy against Abbacchio's side.

Leone hesitated slightly before he reached out to rub Bruno's back, trying to soothe, but he knew the other man had to be in a hell of a lot of pain right now.

And he wasn't going to get better this way either. He wouldn't be able to heal himself when he was already so weak. Which…left a question Abbacchio really didn't want to think about, but it needed to be addressed all the same.

"You need blood, don't you?" he finally asked.

Bruno let out a wry, helpless laugh. "It would help. It's hard…to think of that still." He cringed, swallowing down another whimper as he pressed his face into Abbacchio's side. "Blood should help me heal faster though."

"You know you shouldn't feel bad to ask for it," Leone said, though he couldn't keep the discomfort out of his voice. The thought that Bucciarati literally needed to drink blood to survive was still a lot for him to grasp. But he was sure that it was even worse for Bruno so he tried not to let it show.

Bruno looked up at him, red eyes clouded with pain. That was still the hardest thing for Abbacchio to get used to. The fact that he would never see his friend's blue eyes again, evoking so much emotion, either compassion or steely anger. But maybe all of that was still there. He just…didn't like to spend a long time searching.

"I think the farmer might owe us a sheep for our trouble." Bruno replied with a light chuckle that turned into a cringe. "We could say…the dog got it."

"You're going to try to wrangle a sheep in your condition?" Abbacchio asked. "Buggers kick, you know."

Bruno was silent, seeming to consider it. "I don't see another option," he said quietly.

Abbacchio felt a twist in his stomach, because the obvious answer was right in front of them. This was literally the last thing he wanted to suggest, but wasn't it kind of part of the job?

Bruno shifted to try and find a more comfortable position, a choked gasp escaping him. He pressed a shaky hand to his stomach, before pulling it away with fresh blood coating his palm. Leone's heart sank. He was still bleeding, and the more blood he lost…

He took a deep breath weighing his own discomfort against the discomfort the other man was obviously feeling. And coming to the conclusion that he was being a damned idiot. If he could offer any aid to his friend right now, then it was Leone's job to do so.

"If…" he hesitated, biting his lip briefly before he forced himself to continue. "I don't mind," he finally spat, then forced himself to clarify. "If you need to drink my blood."

~~~~~

Read on the whole story on:

Ao3 FF.net

Check out my Whumptober Masterpost HERE for more stories!

If you want to follow me on other social media or ask about commissions, find my info on My Carrd

[rauchendesgnu]

Mermay‘s almost over but I had to do one drawing. I can’t draw water.

[dracolineinnit]

New fic! Go check it outtttt

It's a very late Halloween ficcc

Go enjoy

[avarchillionpaints]

And now for my biggest Diorama yet. This is a Witcher Diorama that I thought of as a christmas present for one of my brothers.

The idea was, a Dryad was controlling a small local forest. She was in a typical symbiotic relationship with the villages of the surrounding area. Then a Leshy moved into the forest. He started to corrupt the local fauna and slowly took the forest over. He drove the Dryad into hiding and started killing villagers. Then the villagers put some money together to buy the services of a Witcher to rid them of the monster in the forest. The white Wolf, Gerald of Rivia responded. The diorama shows the big showdown between the Leshy and Gerald.

In the background the Dryad is eagerly watching the fight and tries to help Gerald with the small magic she has. Gerald does not know that the Dyrad is even there, but she is really happy about the fact that he is fighting her enemy.

All the miniatures were 3d printed by diverse sellers on etsy.

I hope you all like my Diorama as much as I. :-) It was a monster project, and I am happy with how it turned out.

[gigantic-spider]

Hauntings of Hyde Park final preview

The third Threat is live: The Lights of Rotten Row!

Multicolored lights emerge from Hyde Park to abduct hapless associates of Hargrave House. Who are they looking for? Can you get the victims back? Why is Rotten Row called that? Find out all this and more in The Hauntings of Hyde Park! Crowdfunding launches tomorrow on @crowdfundr!

[danedear]

don't forget your jar of glowing eyes when you head out to monster hunt, babe!

i am finally wrangling the brushes i've collected over the years into behaving more like my traditional brushes; it's still never the same as paper, but making very straight lines and mirroring things like windows and vases is almost worth it the difference

[alexissara]

Why Hunt Monsters?

in TTRPGs the default standard mode of play is to fight monsters. In many ways this is thanks to D&D but this is replicated in many TTRPGs. I wanted to explore this common TTRPG, Video game and fictional trope of the "monster hunter" and really break down my thoughts on this topic.

The Reasons People Hunt Monsters

"Their Evil" is the most basic Lord Of The Rings ass reason for killing a monster. They are born evil, spawned of evil, they can never be anything but evil. These arguments count on you believing in the ability for something to be evil, to exist purely for malice. These both ask you to accept that an individual can be evil but also a whole race of people can be evil.

"Their Animals" is another approach taken for monster hunting media. A wild animal is dangerous so you are always justified with killing the animal just living it's life. Perhaps it's stricter and requires the use of it for food, cloths, etc in the way hunters might use an animal they have killed. This concept does require one to believe in killing animals and that animals are ultimately lesser life then the lives of your characters.

"Their Present Danger" Maybe these monsters evil or animal or neutral morally are simply a present danger to people. If they are people then they can't be reasoned with, there is no means of peace, you simply must enter a phase of violence against them even if you don't take issue with their wider existence. If they are animal then we must believe this land you are on did not belong to the animal, that it living it's natural life is unjustice and that protecting the lives of the people or yourself is more valuable then the life of the other living creature.

These three reasons take up the core logic behind monster hunters, monster slayers, adventuring parties, and more. I want to examine this and talk more in depth about the ways that these interactions with fictional life interact with the ways with think about real life.

The Dangers Of Minimizing Life

You may say that I am stretching when I say that to treat fictional monsters who have sentience as worthy of killing teaches us to feel the same way about humans, I don't think it is. We see this exactly mode of play replicated through many other TTRPGs. Games like Sentinels Of The Multiverse RPG and Mutants and Master Minds also work on treating people with lives and thoughts, families and friends as monsters. Their XP to be farmed, obstacles to be overcame. Maybe you don't kill the henchmen like you do a Goblin but mechanically you do functionally the same.

Sentinels Of The Multiverse RPG a fairly recent Super Hero TTRPG has fucking Rioters as a standard enemy they designed for you to kick the ass of. Any of the three core reasons people hunt monsters still lead to a mechanical similarity to this outlook. For instance it has been said by people smarter than me that the way we treat animals is the way we treat people we dehumanize. So it's easy for many to see a marginalized person lashing out at a world killing their people and see them as equal to a feral alligators let loose on the city. However, that person is justified at being angry and doing things to try and make the world better and the Alligator, it's just trying to live.

When We're Evil

If evil exists and it is in somethings nature, a simple core part of their function, unchangeable and unavoidable, their fate to be a piece of shit, can they really be blamed? Is a thing born of evil any different then any animal running on gut instinct? They can't help it right, it is who they are, who they will always be, then can they really be blamed for their sins? These questions basically move us back to "animal talk" and that's part of the point. Inherent evilness reduces people to animals, to beasts and those people have decided that being an animal is enough to justify your slaughter.

Inherit evilness is a tool of the racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist powers of be. From demonizing witches to Jewish people to trans people to queers even the word for what has been done to these communities implies it is making a monster out of them. In fact many monsters have their commonly coded traits from marginalized people's of their historical times. Those who were oppressed, they were turned into monsters, their stereotyped features enhanced into a fantasy version of the bigoted image of hate. So many of these things in fiction seen as inherently evil are also based on what the people through the years are based on these oppressed peoples.

Even the simple belief that a whole group of people connected only by birth could be evil is fuel in a fash fire. Even taking some "evil occupations" can be coding in these same stereotypes like many of witch stereotypes are taken from Black, Jewish, and Romani women. So in worlds where witches are always evil it is often taking religious and cultural practice's from these groups and declaring those to be the signifies of evil. Obviously there is real life jobs that are pretty evil but they actually require human suffering and they translate across cultures, sexualities, genders, etc as always being harmful to others.

That is to say that when we look at evil itself as a concept we need to challenge it. What is evil, who is evil, what about these people are evil, and is this so called evil based on stereotypes or bullying marginalized people?

We Can Change

We also have to ask what we are saying about the ability to change, about free will and our hearts. If someone is a danger, if someone is evil, if someone is an animal can we not find ways to work things out, to co-exist, to help them grow, to help them change? Their is obviously times where violence is needed, that is clear but when we are looking at monsters and what is "inherit" why are they not afforded the same consideration as those we consider to be "basically human".

I personally prefer to live in a world where people can change, where things can get better, where things aren't decided by the divine above us but instead we chose our own fates. An inherit dark nature, an inherent reason to end the life of something removes what makes life great, that free will. If you believe in change then why not believe in it when your blade is drawn at a monster?

Empathetic Models

This has all been to say that I believe we should be looking at ways to make more empathetic models and modes of play. Killing a hoard of Orcs isn't what an action game has to be let alone a game. We can look to all sorts of art to see these alternative structures. On one end we have something like Monster Hunter Stories 2 which takes a more indigenous approach to the monsters and the ways the characters relate to them. Then another we have a show like Steven Universe which believes in the kindness and ability to be redeemed in everything. We have plenty more examples of different approaches Pokemon, Digimon, Undertale, Deltarune, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Monster Care Squad, Wanderhome, and more to build from.

I want to see empathy and more thoughtful violence built on in the same ways the thoughtless violence of Lord Of The Rings and D&D were for so many years. We could have so many cool and amazing things if we managed to focus in and build more and more models for what engaging with the world.

If you enjoyed my thoughts maybe consider throwing me some money over on Patreon or Ko-fi.

[martianlukeart]

just put my comic respite for pay-what-you-want on my itch.io page!

it's a 6-page mini-comic about monster hunting, drawn traditionally with india ink. enjoy! (content warnings for guns, implied violence)