#necromancers are the best doctors | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

s0apmactav1sh · 3 months

Text

Extended Ending to Part 4 so everyone can be happy :)))))

Cw: fluff :) hopefully this makes up for me killing off you as a knight

King!Price who isnt happy with even the best doctors within the kingdom telling him your dead. It wasnt fair, how could it be? You had been with him ever since he became the king and now you were gone? No. That just wouldnt do. So without telling anyone or anyone noticing he managed to escape the castle using the tunnels you had shown him incase of an emergancy invasion and he needed to get out so he was killed.

Price who heads straight to the mountains of magic as it was called. Going straight to the tip top to make a deal with the worst kind of wizards. Necromancers. They were the type to take what you offered and then disappear without playing out there side of the deal. But being a king, price had a way to convince them and it involved threatening them with death under the disguise that they disrespected a king and no one would question it.

All it took was a bag of gold and a sparkling silver sword pressing into the neck of a necromancer to convince the wizard to bring you back. Forget the other hundreds of dead soldier still laying on a battlefield just outside the walls of the kingdom. You were still inside, safe on a bed in a hospital wing. And god forgive anyone who attempted to move you because all guards had been given the other to eliminate those who wanted to add your body to the pit of graves that were being dug.

Determind to get back, another sharp threat made its way from the kings mouth and towards the necromancer, who was then force to use a foreign magic to them and teleport them to the tunnels in which Price had come out of. Servents and maids going around were surprised to see their King with a no good necro. They werent welcome within the walls and most were making it clear that he wasnt wanted here. Getting to the hospital wing you were laid in. A body that screamed death waiting in a bed so well made and perfect.

Standing to the side Price watches as the necromancer works his magic, even going as far as to giving a drop of his blood to truly bond you two together. With a whisper of a spell spoken in latin a spiral of colour lifted you up. Your limbs still limp before the light practically stored itself inside of you. A gasp and a yell of pain had Prices eyes snapping to you. You were alive. After days of looking after your body and keeping it safe from anymore harm you were alive. Giving two guards a nod they were quick to remove the necromancer from the room and discard of him.

Looking around the room you nearly jump when you realise your alive. But shouldnt that be impossible, unless... price dabbled in the arts of the darkness that was necromancy. Dragging your eyes from ypur hands that were slowly gaining there colour again to the king who had made his way to your bedside and was standing there looking so proud at the fact you were alive. It was almost like christmas morning with the way price was looking at you.

But if there was one thing that was made up in Pirces mind it was that you were never leaving his side again, not until he died.

I made this in an apology of killing our knight last time. I didnt know how exactly to write all the magic but yayyyyy your alive again and you guys can live happily ever after with price as your pookie :)

#call of duty #fjords rambles #king price #male reader #price imagine #the things i do instead of sleeping #dom male character #necromancer #necromancy #magic #extended ending #womp womp

79 notes · View notes

stem-sister-scuffle · 4 months

Text

STEM SISTER SCUFFLE: ROUND 1 MASHUP 9

Mercymorn The First (The Locked Tomb) vs GLaDOS (Portal)

Mercymorn The First is a Cryogenics Scientist and Anatomist!

GLaDOS is a Quantum Physicist and Behavioural Psychologist!

Why you should vote for each contestant:

Mercymorn The First:

"Scientist working on human cryogenics/necromancy. She's a genius in a codependent toxic polycule with God."

"Fits the criteria for STEM (science, tech, engineering, math (specifically science)), and also Quirky STEM (stabbing, tearing, eating, maiming). She was a scientist trying to save humanity from global warming, before one of her science buddies became a necromancer and killed the entire world. Now she’s the meanest lady ever and had a threesome with god. Also she got ultra exploded (also by god)"

"She was trying very, very hard to save humanity! She was aiming to preserve people for an interstellar voyage, so that humans could survive the end of the world. It didn't work out and the project got shut down, but after the world ended she pioneered the field of necromantic healing and was known as the foremost anatomical expert among God's Lyctors. She says ick! bleh! out loud when she's disgusted. Also she's much, much more ethical than most people in the series."

"She was a doctor that joined several of her friends, most of whom were other STEM people and a few who weren't, in trying to convince the governments of the world to make an active plan to save the world from climate change. This ended up with one of them destroying the solar system and everything in it, resurrecting it all, and becoming God. She was resurrected as one of his Saints, and continued to use her medical knowledge to become an anatomy specialist and as a key part of a plan between her and another of their friends to take down God for being a tyrant. She might have been an OBGYN but I can't remember if that's actually canon. Also, she has naturally "apricot-colored" (so, pink) hair."

"She was a Regular Doctor working to save humanity from climate change but got resurrected by her friend after he ended the world and became a powerful goddess-like figure. She uses her knowledge of human anatomy to do crazy flesh magic including making her hair naturally pink just for funsies (iconic). She doesn't put up with any bullshit from anyone, including the universe's ostensible god. I love her"

"It's not specifically described but she was the medical support in a cryosleep project, and she knows enough later to have artificially created a baby without either of the biological parents knowing about it

She's the worst and I love her. Here's a description of her in Harrow the Ninth:

You could press your hand to Ianthe’s chest, if you wanted—which you didn’t, naturally—and the blood-warm sternum beneath would gradually unfold for you. But it would take effort, and close contact, and you would need to know the sternum.

Mercymorn the First knew the sternum. Mercymorn the First knew the pericardial fat, the soft-tissue secrets of the mediastinum, the false-heart shape of the thymus. You might have to press your whole palm to Ianthe’s breastbone—doubtless—and take valuable seconds to search out the bone, and the things behind the bone, their characters, their locations. Mercymorn could pinpoint your pineal gland with the merest touch to the skull. This was not due to some Lyctoral power that she alone possessed, no honed necromantic theorem; as God had told you, she had simply memorised the body, by rote, over the course of ten thousand years. She had studied the measurements and their range of differences, and on the rare occasions when she needed to assume where something was or how it worked, her assumptions had the accuracy of ten thousand years’ experience. What Mercy didn’t know about the body wasn’t just not worth knowing, said the Emperor; if she didn’t know it, it hadn’t existed previously.

Over the dinner table you asked Augustine why, if it was simply a matter of memory, he hadn’t done the same thing. Ianthe choked discreetly on a forkful of boiled flour-paste shapes in red sauce. “Lord! I can barely remember what I had for lunch last week,” he said. “Besides, anatomy has too narrow an application.” Mercymorn opened her mouth, hurricane eyes promising a coastal lashing, and said, “Application!” but Augustine said, languidly— “One would only really need it to kill Lyctors, Harrowhark, and the rest of us never evinced any interest in that.”

That broke up the dinner somewhat.

This is her and I love her dearly

https://youtu.be/pvJOuUJNcx8"

GLaDOS:

"i’m not sure how to explain this one. she’s an evil computer who makes a woman do fucked up tasks that all involve a portal gun in some way. evil computer woman i love you :3"

"She's witty, fun, they had to restrain her intelligence and it didn't work-"

"She should be able to kill everyone forever. Anyways she runs aperture she loves science so much it transcended lives and identity. It’s just what she does"

"she kills people 👍 shes cool and i like her"

"…. I mean she’s categorically not but it would be funny to include her. Again, it would be Very Funny"

"mad scientist robot representation with a complex emotional arc through multiple video games"

"She might not know what the point of her tests are, but she sure is good at making them. Bonus points for being hot"

"Managed a massive and highly advanced scientific facility in which she ran tests and experiments long after the fall of human civilization. Chell/GLaDOS <3"

"She’s GLaDOS"

#stem sister scuffle #round 1 #mercymorn the first #the locked tomb #glados #portal #portal 2

93 notes · View notes

anitalenia · 1 year

Text

━━━ .°˖✧ enemies to lovers ⋆˙⊹

꒰ঌ definition ໒꒱ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. literally my fav. trope

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ below you will find sub genres under this category, as well as some useful pairings for this trope. for educational writing purposes <3

note: several of these can also be used in other tropes as well, just depends on how you write it and interpret it.

╰₊✧ ﾟOTHER LINKS . ྀི ⊹ masterlist | romance tropes |

taglist | prompt help | symbol packs | dividers page

꒰ঌ group one ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group two ໒꒱

cat person x dog person | childhood enemies reacquainted | bully’s you cause he likes you | ex lovers still in love but too stubborn to get back together / love disguised with hate | mutual dislike in a shared friend group

꒰ঌ group three ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group four ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group five ໒꒱

demon x exorcist | chefs at rivaling restaurants | food critic x chef | spoiled girl x bodyguard forced to put up with it | knight x princess | villain x hero’s accomplice (bonus points if the good person feels like they’re betraying the hero for liking the villain)

꒰ঌ group six ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group seven ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group eight ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group nine ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group ten ໒꒱

cheerleader x computer wiz | warrior x civilian they’re protecting (not necessarily bodyguard au) | the two groups are at war | forced to work together to take down a common enemy | fuckboy neighbor who never stops partying x girl who studies 24/7 or vice versa

꒰ঌ group eleven ໒꒱

flirty villain x hero who knows it’s wrong but can’t help but eventually give in from time to time (batman and catwoman) | maneater girl x shy boy who hates attention | two students running for student body president

꒰ঌ group twelve ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group thirteen ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group fourteen ໒꒱

꒰ঌ group fifteen ໒꒱

will update when I think of new ones. hope this helps if you’re not sure what story to tell but you want something new <3

317 notes · View notes

sorbusscriptor · 10 months

Text

“Really. You're the best they could send?"

"The best! At least, the best that was willing and physically able to assist."

"So, what, is everyone else dead?"

"Oh, only half a dozen or so, but that's only actually preventing two of them from coming."

"So four of them--"

"Could assist, yes. They declined due to other obligations. Dr Peren and Professor Cales are, unfortunately, physically unable to meet with you."

"Because they're dead?"

"Well, they are dead, but that isn’t entirely the reason. Doctor Peren is of course a Litch, and while that usually wouldn't hinder her movements her phylactery is, well... her entire office. A dispute with a coworker, you know, the location was quite coveted. Beautiful windows. 'Not even over my dead body' was what she'd said, and, well..."

"She bound her soul to her office so her colleagues couldn't steal her spot?”

"Yep!"

"...And the professor..?"

"Oh, he implemented a do-not-resurrect policy on himself, wished to study the planes beyond more thoroughly. He’s planning on returning with his findings eventually, which lots of people think is madness, but if anyone could draw themselves back through the planes without an established anchor it would be him. I wouldn’t bet against it.”

"So they sent you, even though we asked for an experienced necromancer, one at the top of their field. And you're telling me that you are the best they could do because the rest are either busy, or, and i cannot say this with any more emphasis on the irony of it, dead. Who the hell even are you?"

"Oh, i'm Professor Cales's assistant! Just graduated, needed some work. Now that he's on sabbatical--"

"—dead and likely never coming back because he didn't anchor--"

"--I have much more free time while i'm waiting for him! Need to keep myself sharp without any grading to do, after all! And this puzzle—“

“—Mystery with the potential to unravel death and magic as we know it—“

“Yes, that, it seems a perfect learning opportunity!”

#my writing #original writing #stand-alone #fantasy #short

119 notes · View notes

lemon-natalia · 4 months

Text

Gideon the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 25

dont think i can express in words how much of a fucking rollercoaster this chapter was to read, i was genuinely gasping in shock every other sentence.

everyone keeps emphasising the bone fragments in the Fifths bodies, and honestly i really don’t know what that means other than whoever killed them was presumably a necromancer? also maybe isaac is onto something about those skeletons spying on them, they really are everywhere

Isaac can make glowy lights with his powers?? necromancy is a much more catch-all term for magic than i thought it was

ok so the military isn’t just an institution, there really seems to be an active war going on? that begs the question against who, i thought the only places were the Nine Houses, but apparently not, there's mention later of ‘post-colony’ and ‘hold’ planets, it seems to properly be an empire. the world-building is getting very star wars. but said war can’t be going too well if they’re resorting to child soldiers and the Fourth House is apparently getting that badly hit.

brb getting flashbacks to that one library doctor who episode where all the lights start going out. this chapter with all the blood wall writing is probably the creepiest since the one featuring Harrow’s zombie parents

well if Pro had to face The Bone Amalgamation 2: Electric Boogaloo he’s definitely dead

it's not even Jeannemary, whos been so on edge this whole time that eventually breaks, its Isaac. ohhh, poor poor Isaac. i knew that one of them would just snap and do something reckless soon, i still just wasn’t emotionally prepared for this

Jeannnnmaryyyyyy, the way Gideon has to pull her away from going after Isaac is killing me. she’s just lost her life-long best friend and literally the only person she has left. and poor Gideon as well, there was nothing she could even do, and she’s just doing her best to take care of Jeannemary, and even that ends tragically

immediately after reading the previous section, i was shocked by isaac's death, but also (i'm sorry isaac) at least glad my favourite of the two was still alive. and then the ending of this chapter hit me like a freight truck, and i literally had to reread it three times before my brain computed Jeannemary was gone.

what the fuck is up with those blood messages on the wall, whoever or whatever was doing this wasn’t just trying to kill them, its trying to get to them psychologically before it does so. and with the second message, though its possible it was meant for Jeannemary, i don’t know if she would even have had time to see it before she died. the more disturbing possibility is that it was meant for Gideon to see when she woke up, and taunting her

speaking of, even more disturbing is that for whatever reason they didn’t kill Gideon despite her being right there and also sleeping. that speaks to a slightly different motivation than simply getting rid of competition, it wanted her alive to see Jeannemary’s death?

and on top of that, Jeannemary was killed in a locked room outside of the facility, so absolutely nowhere in Canaan House is truly safe. Fun!

#whose next to die then i wonder #probably palamedes and camilla given all the characters are getting bumped off in order of how much i love them #at least i still have gideon (so far)#lemon natalia reads the locked tomb #tlt #gideon the ninth #the locked tomb #the locked tomb liveblog

28 notes · View notes

ellipsae · 1 year

Text

Here's the next Post-Epilogue design for Jade! I struggled a lot with this one because a lot of his design has specific purpose so I was weighing function against aesthetic and had to make some trade offs. Anyways, the small satchel and wrist contraption is a prototype for strengthening fonic artes.

More details under the cut. !Lots of Spoilers as well under cut!

-So firstly, I fully believe Jade would return to his research on Fomicry and lead the medical movement for replicas and replica health as he had mentioned in-game. I like to imagine that he goes by Jade Curtiss-Balfour as it's just easier than being called two different Family Names (as he's more well known in the research circles as Balfour).

-In the post-Epilogue world with the Planet Storm stopped, the concentration of fonons have dramatically decreased so I imagine spellcasters like Jade would find their fonic artes significantly weakened and perhaps some higher level artes can no longer be activated in normal circumstances. So to supplement the lack of fonons, the prototype uses concentrated fonic crystals (manufactured by fontech machines) that can be consumed during casting. For most efficient usage, the crystals can be absorbed into the body via contamination so it doesn't dissipate into the atmosphere.

-It's a bit hard to see, but Jade has half-glasses and one eye is darker because he's dispelled the fonic eyes on one of them. My understanding of the fonic artes is that it opens the fon slots in the eyes beyond normal circumstances to absorb more fonons in the air. With the lower concentration of fonons post-Epilogue, I figured that in desperate situations, the fonic eyes might overstrain themselves to try and draw in fonons (which increases the risk of going blind) and it happens to Jade once and he decided to cut his losses by removing it/disabling in one of his eyes and keeping the other one as a last resort (even if it may result in sacrificing sight in one eye)

-His turtleneck sweater is an homage to Professor Nebilim. The quilted coat is partially based on his young design. I had really wanted to keep his military boots in the design in the same colour scheme but having them all blue-teal made it really hard to colour coordinated the rest of his outfit so I changed it to grey. I wanted him to be able to switch between 'Doctor Balfour' and 'Colonel Curtiss' mode very quickly.

-I'm not too familiar with military ranks but I really hope that Jade tried to resign from the military so he could focus on his research (he can't do both jobs full time) but Peony wouldn't let him so he either demoted him or gave him a sideways promotion into a non-commanding officer role. It works out for Jade in the best way because he can take advantage of his military resources and access to help his research.

-His main research base is in Keterburg hence his winter-oriented outfit but he frequently travels to Belkend to collaborate on research and projects. He will sometimes help with theory behind new fontech and also deciphering old Dawn Age technical manuals (which were released in small batches from the forbidden archives in Daath).

-End of the day, Jade becomes super well known because of his knowledge and expertise that eclipses his former research and Necromancer title from his military days which makes him more approachable for marriage meeting requests plus he's more personable now after his travels and friendship with the party

#Tales of #Tales of the Abyss #ellipsart #Post Epilogue ToA AU #I decided it's about time I gave it a tag #this is probably the most I've written for this AU #I really like Jade you might notice

178 notes · View notes

apetitegentleman · 9 months

Text

"It's unrealistic that Trans/NB characters exist in Horror/Fantasy"

Look at me directly in the eyes and tell me that, Doctor Frankenstein couldn't be seen as more than a mad scientist but can be Monsters and Ghouls Gender confirming surgeon. Man was like

"Y'know I did it once, I bet I can do it again."

Or Witches, Warlocks and Wizards literally have viles of potions that are permanent or temporary magical HRT or magical artifacts that can be used for Gender confirming people, Sacrifices are welcomed but that requires a lot of blood and materials that takes more than just the typical flick of a wand.

Like we have a Fairy Godmother but honestly she takes forever to respond back for an appointment and she only takes clients, no walk-ins.

Need Top or Bottom surgery if you can't get a hold of Dr Frankenstein? Just call the Ragdolls it's going to hurt like hell, no anesthesia when they Stitch you back up but you bet your ass those results are going to look amazing.

Want to DIY Gender confirming Surgery without a Mage? Necronomicion, Chalk Circles, Summoning Circles, Alchemy come in many different ways. (It's risky to do but we won't stop you.)

Undead? Necromancer will be able to help out with the parts you need, fresh corpses fresh stitch.

Ghost? Don't worry you're the most non-binary person in this room, Your deadname literally means what your name was in your last life don't keep it if you don't want to.

Want to voice train? Ghosts and Zombies are your best bet, they really know how to use thier voice the best and they usually have Videos about it onto how to pronounce and explain things.

#queer writers #writing #fantasy writing #traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns #lgbtqia+#like hear me out

63 notes · View notes

cql-hungergames · 1 year

Text

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS WEI WUXIAN AND WEN QING OF THE CQL HUNGER GAMES!!!

In a spectacular act of mercy, over half of you voted for World Peace and to airlift out Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing from the Games. Whether they would have raced to sacrifice themselves for the other first or gotten into an epic smackdown (which Wen Qing, with a gun courtesy of @stupid-dyke, was favored to have won) shall be forever a mystery, but nonetheless, the true winner of the CQL Hunger Games is mlm/wlw solidarity!

Given that everyone else has died, we at least have the king of the necromancers Yiling Laozu and the best damn doctor in all of the jianghu, so a happy ending may yet be in the cards, even if being resurrected as a fierce corpse does make Lan Qiren and Sect Leader Yao wish they were dead all over again.

Thank you so much to everyone for an amazing tournament, for cheering for your faves, spreading propaganda in the tags, and putting Jiang Cheng through a new kind of misery. He (and I!) will never forget it. :))

It's been an honor, guys. 🫡

#cql hunger games #wei wuxian #wen qing

117 notes · View notes

butterfrogmantis · 6 days

Text

Religion is a bit tricky in the Butterverse. Since humans exist, human religions exist, and some are even referenced through Smurfs and other characters. But unlike certain universes, there isn't one 'true' religion or god. Instead, there are 4 true deities - Mother Nature, Harold, Father TIme .. and Death.

Also CW for some messed up stuff right here

Mother Nature and Father time are pretty well known and honoured, even worshipped in some cases. Harold is looked to as the man in the moon as as symbol. Death is. An interesting figure. Smurfs - or any race for that matter - don't have a personal connection with Death the same way they might have a tea part with Mother Nature because seeing Death in of itself is an omen. And they sort of like it that way. Death is an enigma. Feared or respected, Death is neither kind nor cruel. It is simply inevitable. Indeed, it's the only true equal of the world. At least, for most.

Necromancer Smurf was born in an ancient village to a village doctor and a village mortician. Even as a child there was something a little bit different, he didn't talk for years after the expected time for the first word ceremony, didn't play with the other kids, and had an odd fascination with the gruesome elements to his parent's work, including the graveyard business. The Smurfling's father died unexpectedly whilst he was quite young, and even then he showed very little emotion to the loss of his father. He'd been in the room when it happened, supposedly felt the presence of an omnipresent figure. His fascination with the death itself far outweighed any grief he may or may not have had.

His obsession become more sinister - strange things kept happening. Animals going missing, random bones disposed of in the garbage around Smurf village. And as a teenager, the worst of all was uncovered. Necromancer was caught graverobbing at his father's burial sight - and when questioned, simply responded that he simply needed a body to work with, and his long deceased father clearly wasn't using his.

Necromancer was placed into solitary confinment, and his hut raided. The Smurfs doing the search told horrors of jars with organs, bones, someone's pet that had gone missing last week, clearly dead but somehow breathing … very unsmurfish things. The Smurf leader moved to banish Necromancer for good, but his mother, who had been suffering for years after the loss of her husband - and in spite of the horrors her son had committed, protected him best she could. Both of them became outcasts in their own society, but for Necromancer he didn't care. Perhaps his biggest mercy was when his mother finally passed a few centuries later, he left her grave untouched.

But his appetite for defying death wasn't through, not by a long shot. He could reanimate animals and even plants for certain periods but he needed something bigger, better. He knew the village would exile him as soon as he touched one of his own so he sought through records in the public library until he discovered, by chance, an old journal belonging to a pirate Smurf named Captain Bluebeard, amongst who's stories was a retelling of a great treasure heist, and a lift of a young pirate who was lost on the island and who's body wasn't recovered. This was the opportunity Necromancer needed - a deserted island and a lone body he intended to reanimate. This could be his finest hour.

-----

Short intermission now to listen to Rafflesia talk about the types of undead! :)

-----

*"You may not know me, Skeleton Smurf. But I know you - do not be afraid. Although the nature of your existance defies me, this was not your fault. My quarrel is with the one who's lifeforce sustains you, and in doing so has prevented us from meeting. In my kingdom, you were a worthy subject"

Skelly looked up at the empty eye sockets of the crow skull upon Death's face.

"I was in your kingdom? Then perhaps .. you could tell me who I was?"

Death sighed, seeming almost apologetic.

"I'm afraid … that might compromise your current situation. I do apologise, there's little in my power to help you as you are now. But that is not why I am here, Skeleton. I may no longer have the power to bring you back to my kingdom, but I am still a diety. And since you have been wronged in many ways, I would like a chance - however slim - to make it up to you."

Skelly looked curious, so Death continued.

"I am offering you a wish. A single wish, to be used at any time. Know that there are some things even outside of my power. But as long as holds, or as long as it takes, you have this promise"*

Skelly meets Death ,, part 2! They have a gift for him.

Death, Necromancer, Rafflesia and Skelly are mine / Franchise The Smurfs

#smurfs #my art #the smurfs #BFM oc: Skelly #BFM oc: SmurfRafflesia #BFM oc: Necromancer #BFM oc: Death

13 notes · View notes

meowcats734 · 22 days

Text

(prompt response) A panicked scream of "Is anybody here a doctor?" You tentatively raise your hand. "I'm a Necromancer, if you're willing to wait a few minutes."

Unsurprisingly, the closer we got to the center of the battlefield, the more deaths there were. Lucet floated the idea of retreating to the edge of the hailstorm to camp out, but even though Sansen couldn't see that far into the future without setting up his ring of hope-inducing memorabilia, it was pretty clear that any remaining soul fragments would drift away if we spent days on end backtracking and re-entering the storm. And I wasn't going to let any information on Jiaola's whereabouts fade away if I could help it.

So at my insistence, we camped out in ramshackle tents that were battered by hail, trying our best to sleep despite the eternal thunk-thunk-thunk of falling ice.

I attuned regret later that night. I supposed my companions weren't too happy about my choice.

An indeterminate amount of time later, I heard rustling outside my tent. I hadn't been sleeping, exactly—the endless clamor of hail made it hard—so it was a matter of heartbeats to sit up and look into soulspace. Lucet's soul shone on the other side of the tent flap. I got up, put on my shirt and binder, and called out.

"I'm awake, Lucet," I said. "You can come in."

"Eep! Er, sorry." Lucet scurried into the tent, shucking off her winter coat, and gave me a confused look. "How'd you know it was me?"

"I recognized your soul," I said.

"I... I can't do that," Lucet admitted.

"Yeah, well, people's sorrow might look the same by coincidence," I said. "But when you can see someone's levels of calm, sorrow, passion, insecurity, joy, fear, spite, guilt, shame, disgust, regret, and self-hatred, it'd take one hell of a coincidence for all twelve of those emotions to look similar between two different souls."

Lucet fell quiet for a moment.

"You made another attunement," she said.

I winced. "I... yeah. I did."

"Okay." She didn't pry, which almost made it worse. Instead, she just wordlessly scooted towards me; I leaned on her shoulder and closed my eyes.

"I'm sorry if I'm keeping you up," she finally said. "I just... I couldn't sleep."

"You can't sleep because I fucking convinced you all to camp out beneath what I dearly hope is the largest rift in the world. Don't blame yourself."

"I'm not blaming myself," she whispered. "I just... don't want to be useless."

Rifts, I felt that. Because I was useless. I was worse than useless. I shivered and snuggled closer to Lucet, and there must have only been room for one or the other, because the voices seemed to shy away when she was around. "I..." I bit my lip, liquid metal roiling in my soul, then went for it. "If you... I've been having a hard time sleeping too. If you wanted to stay over for the night..."

Lucet smiled. "Yeah. I... I think I'd like that. Scoot over?"

I laid down on my side, facing Lucet, and she slipped beneath the blanket, putting one arm around my back and pulling me closer.

"Cozy," she murmured sleepily, and I nodded into her neck.

"M-hm," I said, and closed my eyes.

Our souls glittered together in the dark behind my eyes, and the clattering hail faded into the void of sleep.

###

Nobody said anything when Lucet and I came out of the same tent the next day, but I saw the dewdrops of joy and sparks of hope in Sansen's soul as he saw us smiling at each other. For some reason, passion was incredibly inefficient to use while we were under the rift, so we were stuck with mundane jackets and body heat. Thankfully, it wasn't like the conditions under the rift were that much worse than in the Silent Peaks, and the supplies we already had sufficed well enough.

I was prepared to spend another day hunting for soul fragments, but as Sansen led us deeper into the battlefield, he paused.

"Hey," he said. "There's, uh... there's an opportunity in a nearby future."

"What kind of opportunity?" Meloai asked.

"I... I really don't know what to make of this, but... there's a... settlement? No, a shelter of some kind around here. With... what looks like some soldiers who got left behind."

I rubbed my chin. "If we're trying to get information on Jiaola... interviewing living soldiers is about as good as we can hope for."

"Especially if they're stuck here," Meloai said. "I mean, I don't know about you guys, but I'd run away from the giant death-rift in the sky if I could. The fact that they're still here probably means they can't leave. Maybe... maybe we could help them, and get information in return?"

"Or, y'know, help them out because they're probably going to starve to death if they're stuck here," Lucet added.

"...Right, that too," I said. "Either way, we should check it out."

Sansen nodded. "Then we're going this way." There weren't really any landmarks in the never-ending hailstorm, so the only idea I had of where we were going was 'left,' but Sansen seemed to know where we were going. Before long, he paused, frowning, then said, "Follow me."

Then he took off in a dead sprint.

The three of us didn't hesitate—following the old oracle's directions had gotten us all saved more than once, and we'd be utterly fucked without him. It wasn't long before the future Sansen foresaw caught up to us: in the distance, I heard someone screaming for help. Something about... a medical emergency? Needing a healer?

Well. Grimly, I readied myself. None of us had attuned forgiveness, but... I had something else I could try.

I got an impression of a log cabin in the hailstorm before Sansen threw the door open, startling the collection of people inside. Before anyone else could speak, though, Sansen said, "You called?"

The group of soldiers—and they were definitely soldiers, clad in the uniform of the Silent Peaks—stared at us, baffled. They'd formed a loose semicircle around two men, one standing over the other, who was bleeding out on the floor. The one standing regained his composure first.

"Yes. I—I don't know who you are, but if any of you are a healer—"

"We're not," I brusquely said, "but... I might be able to do something after death."

There was a moment of shocked silence as everyone in the room except Sansen turned towards me.

Then the man broke the silence. "My husband died fighting necromancers!" The man screamed at me. "And you expect me to let some junior necromancer defile his soul?"

"Your husband died fighting necromancers?" I asked.

The man nodded fiercely, standing over the gasping, bleeding body of his husband.

"Out of curiosity, who does he have to thank for coming back to life from the dead? Any school of magic in particular that could take credit for resurrections?"

He blushed furiously. I got the feeling he wasn't used to people applying silly little conventions like 'logic' and 'internal consistency' to his tirades. "That's irrelevant! I can see the greed in your eyes. You just want to steal Mertri's soul. But I won't let you!"

"Literally every single word you just said is incorrect. Look, how about this." I raised my hands in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The man—Mertri's husband, I suppose—stood opposite me in the large wooden dining hall. Behind me, three of my friends watched Mertri's husband nervously; a handful of people I assumed were simply bystanders stood opposite us, forming a complete ring of bodies, locking Mertri's husband and I in with each other. I raised my voice to be heard over the thakka-thakka-thakka of hail on the wooden roof. "Ask around. See if literally anyone else has any relevant medical expertise. Let them have their go first. And then if they fail... let me help."

"I already asked, you idiot. You think I'd be talking to a necromancer instead of staking him through the heart if I had any better options?"

"You're thinking of vampires, not necromancers. And you've admitted it yourself—you don't have any better options." I grimaced. "I don't, either. I wish I was a normal healer. But... salvaging what's left afterwards is the best I can do."

The man started to speak, but Mertri coughed wetly from the floor. I wasn't entirely sure what the nature of his injury was, but judging by the blood on his chest, it... wasn't pretty. "Vuliel," Mertri managed.

"I'm here, love." Vuliel knelt by his husband's side, and I could see the raw anger and sorrow in his soul. "I'm listening."

"Let... the boy... try." Mertri managed a weak smile.

Vuliel jerked back, shocked. "But—if he—you could become a monster. Why would you..."

Mertri focused on his husband. "Because," he whispered. "I'll take any chance to see you again."

And before my very eyes, Mertri's soul began to fracture as the bleeding man died.

"It's now or never," I said.

Vuliel closed his eyes.

Then he stood, expression inscrutable. "Do your worst."

And I knelt by the dying man's side as his soul began to shake apart.

Necromancy was a vast and complex field, and different people had different approaches to it. I had absorbed fragments of souls on broken battlefields, trying to piece together narratives from dying memories; I had stitched together the souls of animals to form ghosts and demons of terrible light; I had even reached between planes to chase departed souls as they tried to move on from this world.

But here and now, I could prevent having to take any of those measures before they even happened. I could hold the dying man's soul together before it shattered into uncountable memories. All I had to do was draw upon the core of necromancy:

Regret.

All necromancy was, fundamentally, an act of regret. A wish that the dead never died. And I was no exception.

In order to call up necromancy, I simply had to remember the day I'd decided to fight back against death.

I closed my eyes, remembering another place, another time. A girl named Astrenn who had loved to feed crows.

My helplessness as I arrived at her cold, long-dead body, her head caved in by a falling roof beam.

The regret that had flooded my soul ever since.

The wellspring of power came sludgily at first—then as I let my regrets sing through me, it flooded from my core and down my hands and into the dying man's cracking soul. The magic was thick and swampy and fetid, but it was mine, and I hardly had to lift a finger as my regrets did what they did best.

They tried to hold together a broken heart.

And, miracle of miracles, they did.

Only those with soulsight could see what happened next, and from what I could tell, Vuliel was not one of them. But a bitter, forlorn pride swelled in my heart as the man's soul drifted free of his body, stabilized, anchored in this world.

"What... what did you do?" Vuliel whispered.

"I kept his soul from breaking," I said. "I... I'm not powerful enough to reunite it with a dead body. But... he could still live on if his possessed someone else. Someone who cared about him an awful lot. Someone who'd be willing to share their body with a man who lost his own." I gestured towards the invisible soul. "All you have to do is let him in."

Vuliel looked down at his husband's corpse.

"It's not what I wanted," he managed to say.

For a heartbeat, the only sound in the wooden hall was the crash of hail on the roof.

"But it's the best I have," he finished. He looked up, meeting my eyes, and said, "I'm ready. Tell me what to do."

I shook my head. "There's nothing simpler. Just reach out and touch his soul."

Vuliel swallowed, then stretched out a hand.

And in a flash of memories absorbed, two souls became one.

A.N.

Soulmage is a serial written in response to writing prompts. Stick around for more episodes, or join my Discord to chat about it!

First

Table of Contents

#writing #writing prompt #writers on tumblr #writers of tumblr #writblr #serial fiction #fiction #series #web serial #oc #soulmage #dark academia #fantasy #high fantasy #magic #worldbuilding

9 notes · View notes

blorbologist · 2 years

Photo

What if: Perc’ahlia Atlantis AU? With accompanying screenshot redraw

(Primary ref + Ideas under the cut)

Getting this out of the way, but I swapped the roles here to avoid the white savior trope as best I can - I see Vex and Vax as mixed no matter the AU, (my usual HC is Métis) and Percy is... the palest white bread, so! Congratulations whiteboy, you and Cass get to be Atlantians. I also did not draw any of the blue body paint the Atlantians have in the film, because I, too, am white as hell and do not want to overstep, given my culture has no such history.

Vex and Vax, disowned by Syldor, are desperate to earn money and end up roped into this outlandish expedition. Most likely due to their mother tongue being a close linguistic cousin to the Atlantian language, plus some relevant skills (both are archaeologists by education, though they haven’t had much practice due to uh Life; ofc they get their rogueish and ranger-ish skillsets too)

Doesn’t matter who gets the team together (Uriel? Allura? Gilmore?) - the point is Delilah and Sylas are overseeing the operation, filling roles similar to Rourke and Helga in the film. Maybe Ripley gets to tag along who knows.

Is Sylas still a vampire and Delilah a necromancer? Who knows I dont, maybe they played a role in Atlantis’ original downfall idk

The rest of Vox Machina are part of the expedition: Keyleth as a geologist with a passion for paleontology (there are SO many prehistoric easter eggs in the film and Kiki gets to freak out on my behalf). She’s literally the only person here for pure curiosity and thrill of discovery like Milo in the original film. Pike pretty much gets to take over Sweet’s role as the doctor, while Scanlan gets to be the mechanic just because I think it’d be very funny to have him sing while working only to break out into cussing. Grog gets demolitions because Yes. Gilmore might be with them if he’s not funding the expedition, though how he wouldn’t throw down with Sylas I have no clue.

Atlantis is similar to the film, except every bit about the power source is replaced with Residuum. Percy and Cass are the only de Rolos left after the cataclysm - no clue how the rest of the family died, but a thousand years wasn’t enough to get over it. Percy is likely technically the heir, but off messing with tech so much that Cass has to run the place (to her exasperation - and boy does shit go badly for her being in charge with the Briarwoods here to profit off her civilization). Main difference is that the cataclysm resulted in most knowledge about maintaining and creating tech being lost, and if not lost abandoned due to concerns about history repeating itself. Because yeah, how many ‘fantasy airbike mechanics’ got into that bubble? Not many I bet.

Percy, however, is still a tinkerer and trying to reverse engineer the old tech, but the lost language and a few other missing puzzle pieces frustrate his attempts to do so. So he’s very enthusiastic about these strangers showing up - especially when Vex is eager to help him out (she’s likely initially seeing huge dollar signs, but comes around very quickly).

Orthax is involved somehow. No clue What the bugger is doing but he’s here. Maybe encouraging Percy to use the power to fucking nuke everything to protect the city?

That’s just about all I have for this AU. Not much, but! Figured it was worth sharing, especially paired with art <3

Heavily referenced this screenshot of Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I’m learning to draw people, and Atlantis’ style is a favorite of mine - so, two birds and one stone: got to learn by practicing and give some life to a lil AU that hasn’t left me alone all day.

#critical role #tlovm #critical role au #tlovm au #atlantis au #percy de rolo #percival de rolo #vex'ahlia #cr vex #cr percy #perc'ahlia #percahlia #disney atlantis

359 notes · View notes

ubejamjar · 2 months

Text

⥽◦Tagged: 10 Characters/10 Fandoms/10 Tags◦⥼

Alex Stern - The Ninth House - Book "--there was a big difference between things being fair and things being set right." I just love a scruffy misfit trying to make her way in an ivy league world that everyone keeps telling her she doesn't belong in. She's doing her best and I love that. Aji is very loosely based on her.

Sebastian - Stardew Valley - Game Similar to my irl husband, I saw the edgelord smoking, making a grumpy face, and I said "THAT ONE". Complete with playing ttrpgs, motorcycle fixing, playing bass guitar, and late night drives talking about how we're gonna leave this place behind. He even has a best friend who is basically Abigail.

Jackie Welles - Cyberpunk 2077 - Game All the way to the big leagues, big guy!

Zevran Arainai- Dragon Age: Origins - Game Sometimes all you want in life is a bisexual assassin who tries to kill you, rizzes you up, and panics when he realizes he caught feelings for you. Bonus points if he threatens a head of state for letting you get kidnapped.

Zoya Nazyalensky -King of Scars - Book Listen to me, I understand how Aymeric and Haurchefant feel about the WoL because that's how I feel about Zoya Nazyalensky. I love this woman, I would die for her, i would give up everything I own for her, I would commit horrible war crimes--

Balsa Yonsa - Moribito - Anime Have you ever wanted to watch a cool, strong, woman with a spear beat the shit out of people while guarding an adorable child? No? Well why not???? I like women with spears.

Dragana Vukovic ◦ The White Vault - Podcast It was the love at first time she funneled gunpowder down her jacket sleeve into debris so she could blow it up and rescue people from an ancient sacrificial cycle.

Daughter Dooley ◦ The Old Gods of Appalachia - Podcast Literal eldritch undead queen, fought the darkness because he disrespected her lesbian doctor moms and I love that for her.

Johannes Cabal - Johannes Cabal Series - Books This man is sad. He is a necromancer and a criminal and a snarky piece of shit and I want to kiss him. I want to kick him off an airship. He sasses the head of a military state, he runs a circus to steal souls for the Devil, he refuses to do paperwork in Hell. He's the complete package imo. He pretends to be a detective. He looks like a doofus.

Johanna Barker - Sweeney Todd - Musical Ok, hear me out. I just love the fact that (in some versions) this girl who gets held up as the perfect paragon of feminine purity grabs the gun from her sailor boyfriend and shoots a motherfucker because she's sick of being held captive. I support Johanna's villain arc. Her dad got one, it's only fair tbh.

Tagged by: @amalthea-felsblood (Thank you my friend <3)

Tagging (with much affection): @sasslett @gatheredfates @thevikingwoman @lilbittymonster @pumpkinmagekupo @icehearts @khaiens @aislingsurrow @hares-and-hounds @otherworldseekers

#tag game #jamjar

9 notes · View notes

dabblingreturns · 2 years

Text

When I started Harrow the Ninth I hated Mercymorn. I hated Augustine, I scorned both men called Ortus, for their weakness, though this rant only deals with G1deon. I hated those adults with all the fury of two infinitely and continuously wronged teenage girls. But then I read Harrow again and again and Gideon and Harrow....and finally Nona and Nona and Harrow again.

And my understanding of them had changed.

I see adults trapped in webs of thier own unreversable consent.

I see adults, who at one timed agreed, and participated...maybe they didn't have all the information...maybe they suspected, maybe they knew almost everything, or maybe their hands was forced, but they agreed.

But it doesn't matter who knew what, or who didn't think things through.... because now they are trapped. They don't know how to get off this ride. Things have changed. They have changed. They have sat too long with their own pain, hatred, and grief, a loneliness, or regret.

They have spent this time frozen, but not unaffected.

The events of Harrow the Ninth give them a chance to break free of their own prison.

Because now they have Harrow to worry for and to think about. And Ianthe to think because of and worry about.

Just like Anne of Green gables, or Spy x Family, or Interview with a Vampire, nothing changes the dynamic of your life like a kid.

And Harrow is a kid to them. They know intellectually, that she is at least 15. But she is so small, and frail, which no figure, which makes her look even more childlike. I don't think any other necromancer, except possible Isaac, could have created the the feeling in the adults brain that "this is a child!" Quite as violently as Harrow did.

And Augustine was an older brother....he was a protector....and now he is living with a child who looks like the sad little sister of his dead friend, Anastasia, and at the back of his mind is a voice saying....don't let bad things happen to this one....not like the others. And he doesn't always listen to it....but it's there.

And Mercymorn looks at this child, and once before she was Mercymorn, she was trained as a doctor, and she probably had patient, and some of them were probably children or teens. And the woman who wasn't called Mercy yet, saw what the world could do to them at least physically speaking, and she tried to fix it. Was M so devoutly pro-choice because her had to do those procedures?....and did she see the aftermath of stolen choices? Did she see those who's choices were taken away from? Maybe M didn't work with those patients, maybe she just heard stories....but she cared, and now she's been given another child and this one probably reminds her of her self. With her brains, and religious furver, her love of the human body, her inability to read the room, and her dead best friend. Mercy may not be able to remember her won childhood, or her own time as a doctor.....but Harrow the ninth makes it clear that just because you don't remember someone, doesn't mean they cant haunt you.

And G1deon, called "ORTUS", I don't know what he sees, I don't know what memories do and don't exist in his brain for 10000 years of being the emperor's dog. I don't know if G1deon was haunted by the child he lost the same way Pyrrha was. But I think G!deon sees a broken child, or at least the top of her head, and Pyrrha said, that he did like an underdog. And in Nona the ninth, Pyrrha said that G!deon liked Harrow.

And that's only Harrows physical effect. Then there is Harrow's actions...the adults are forced to sit there for months and watch "the work" and compare Harrowhark and her work to Ianthe.

And its a stark comparison.

On one arm, they have Ianthe, who did not love her caviler, who is not effected by his loss, who's only issues mastering lyctorhood seams to be in her need to be fully herself. She doesn't grieve, she is not broken, she is smart and clever, good at conversations and an flattery, she is tall and full grown.

And I bet Ianthe is abhorrent to the other lyctors.....she is a threat. A possible new favorite for John. She is competent, charmingish, and shows absolutely no moral compuntions about anything.

She is a monster shaped like pretty young woman to them because she went through the same sacrifice and immersed without guilt.

Mercymorn hated her, G1deon avoided her, and Augustine, Ianthe's teacher, looked for any excuse to put her down. After all, Naberius could have still fought with the other hand. Cavs need to be at least a bit ambidextrous to use two weapons at once. putting her down for having an technical fighting issue in one arm seams a bit of an over reaction. After all, all the lyctors knew that lost limbs don't grown back, so Ianthe can't have been the first lyctor with a few bits missing. I think the problem was never really about the arm.

Then while spending time with Ianthe, the three older lyctors get to see Harrowhark. Harrow who broke herself in her own grief, who had the same choice thrust upon her that Augustine and Mercymorn had. Harrow did ultimately make the same choice to become a lyctor, only to immediately reject it.

Harrow chose to to brake her own mind rather than deal....Harrow is walking around that space station, very clearly not dealing with the consequences of her own actions. Harrow has said, "fuck you" to "action and consequences" Harrow is rejecting reality instead of living with her own guilt. Harrow is not playing by the rules of their polite little society. She's fainting, and bleeding, and stroking out all over the place. She is making a massive fuss. And in her own completely batshit way Harrowhark is fighting back

And the adult lyctors have flirted with fighting back in the past but without much urgency. They played ball with BoE...but the ninth house operation and the wake affair both required no immediate confrontation. John never had to know.

But John sees Harrows rebellion and John let's her rebel...John let's Harrow be crazy, and bleed, and make an ass of herself all over the Mithreaum, and embarrassment is the only consequence.

He doesn't stop The Work....he let's her continue. Harrow is rebelling against her own lyctorhood and the order god made....and he appears to be mildly disappointed....but that's all.

I dont think any lyctor has done this before, regretting it enough that they changed thier own mind.....and Augustine and Mercymorn and the man Harrow keeps calling ORTUS, just have to watch...and sit with there own memories.

And the worst part is that broken little baby harrow is still more powerfull then they are....

They get to watch her heal herself over and over again. They can see the speed. They see how long she can stay in the river. And they see the theorems she uses. They know that she is a bone adept who has ignored flesh and spirit for bone....but her own flesh and spirit are unwavering.

The consequences of Harrows rejection of her own lyctorhood are so much less then any of them ever conceived. They are trapped with a girl who is in a constant state of rebellion against herself and the universe.

And Mercy and Augustine and even G1deon can't ignore this situation.

On one hand they have Ianthe and all the danger she posses to their rank in the status quo, and on the other hand they have Harrow, who constantly reminds them that they don't have to accept the status quo at all. And they like Harrow. She's the feral kitten wondering around their home and occasionally giving them the worst possible food to eat. But she is cute and charismatic and unpredictable and entertaining, in a wet kitten sort of way. And she has so much potential!

And so they have to ask themselves, "is it my job to put this girl down, to releave her suffering, for her own good, because shes not a threat but she's also not right. or do I just let her be...."

And Augustine says, "yeah, I'll go out of my way to protect her from my brother. Because I like her better"

And Mercymorn says "I am the only one here capable of putting her down without suffering, so I will do it at the last moment possible and take the guilt on myself, because I alone deserve to suffer the most!"

And then G1deon says, "I will try to put her out of her misery in the most distressing and half assed way imaginable until everyone complains to much and everyone realizes that this should stop." Or at least G1deon might if he was ever forced to explain his thoughts....ever!

And then Gideon Nav shows up and blows the whole thing wide open. But harrow lit the long fuse. And now Augustine and Mercymorn have to deal, because G1deon said "fuck it, I'm done with this bullshit. I'm going to go die in battle!"

Here is a wet kitten as a reward for reaching the end

113 notes · View notes