#people wandering the land fighting/killing anyone who gets in their way

[buddyapologist]

something something lisa westworld parallels I'll explain it in excruciating detail later

[marvelsmylife]

Hate that I love you

Pairing: Xaden x reader

“I went from wanting to kill you…to willing to kill for you.”

-twisted Hate

Plot: you and Xaden didn’t get along when you first met, but that changed when you bonded to dragons who are mated.

Masterlist

Ana Huang Quote Drabble Masterlist

It was no secret to anyone that you and Xaden despised each other since you both crossed the parapet. You hated how cocky he was, and he often commented about how you acted like you had a stick shoved up your ass. You thought that even though you were both in the rider’s quadrant, you wouldn’t see or interact with each other.

Unfortunately, it looked like the universe wanted to play a cruel joke when you discovered your dragon was mated to Xaden’s. You found out when Tairn and Sgaeyl decided to get interment, and you began to feel Tairn’s emotions. 

You were wandering the halls alone when you bumped into Xaden, who looked like he was experiencing the same thing as you. “What is happening?” You asked.

“I don’t know, but I think it has to do something with our dragons.” Xaden gritted through his teeth before looking down at you with lust in his eyes.

Right at that moment, you felt an overwhelming amount of lust run through your body. “What the fuck are they doing ! ” you panted as you tried not to look at Xaden.

“They’re obviously fucking,” Xaden replied as his eyes zeroed in on your chest.

You wanted to give him a sarcastic remark when a new wave of pleasure ran through you, and your eyes landed on Xaden. Xaden took that as a sign and pushed you up against the brick wall behind you before crashing his lips against yours. 

You knew you should pull him off of you. You both hated each other, right? Yet, with every second that passed, the more you got into the kiss.

You only decided to pull away once you felt his hands slipping down your pants, “Stop.” Xaden was surprised by your outburst but did what you requested. “Stay the hell away from me,” you ran past Xaden and locked yourself inside your room.

Xaden wanted to respect your wishes; he really did, but the more he tried to stay away, the more his body craved you. He attempted to blame his feelings on Sgaeyl being mated to Tairn, but he knew deep down it was because he had developed feelings for you.

He found himself following you when you weren’t looking and started to threaten anyone who was planning to kill you during challenges. There were times when Xaden followed through and killed your opponent before the opportunity to fight you because they scoffed at his threat.

He thought he was doing a good job covering his tracks until you confronted him after you surprisingly beat Garrick in a fight. “Stop,” you told Xaden in a stern tone.

“What are you talking about?” Xaden tried to play it cool and act like he didn’t know what you were talking about.

“Stop telling people to go easy on me during challenges. I can’t become a good fighter if you have your lackeys go easy on me,” you replied.

Xaden let out a dry laugh, “lackeys? Really?”

“Yes, really,” you glared at Xaden, “I can’t be the best if I don’t have a proper fight.”

“You don’t get it. If they don’t hold back, they will kill you,” Xaden replied.

“I thought that’s what you wanted,” you poked Xaden’s chest, “you want me dead. That way, you wouldn’t have to look at me anymore.”

Just tell her how you feel about her already, Sgaeyl snapped at Xaden, finally being over her rider’s bullshit.

“That’s the thing y/n. I went from wanting to kill you…to willing to kill for you.” Xaden’s hands landed around your waist and pulled you closer to him, “And trust me, I’ve already killed for you.” You went still at his words, which caused Xaden to contemplate if he wanted to continue his confession, “I can’t pretend anymore. I fucking need you, y/n.”

You wanted to push Xaden off and run back to your room. The other part of you wanted nothing more than to throw yourself at him and give in to your desires. “I still fucking hate you,” you said through gritted teeth before you pulled Xaden into a heated kiss.

You felt Xaden smirking against your lips, and you were going to pull away, but you couldn’t. No, because Xaden’s hands were cupping your face now and were preventing you from pulling away. “We’re stuck together until we die.”

[avoxrising]

The Feral One • Chapter 6

Finnick Odair x Reader

Series Masterlist Link

I love writing pissed off Johanna dialogue!

Content warnings - death (it’s the hunger games)

As much as he wants to chase after you, he can’t. Katniss would kill you and he can’t abandon the plan, not until he can pass off babysitting duty to Johanna.

You spent the evening wandering the jungle, unnerved by every little noise you heard. After you left, you circled back the way you had originally come, hoping the others would carry on in the other direction.

Your arm was still bleeding but you didn’t care. It’s not like any sponsors were lining up to send you stuff. You’ll have to kill a career and steal their supplies using the only weapon you have, the arrow that landed in your arm.

A few hours after dark, the faces of the fallen appear in the sky. None of your allies are on the list so you don’t really care. It’s not like you knew these people.

You opt to go deeper into the jungle, opposite of where Finnick must be. This whole place is starting to look the same, though, and it’s hard to get your bearings.

Hours later, a gong rings twelve times. You don’t have time to ask yourself what it means as the hairs on your body stand up and a large blast of electricity shoots down mere yards away from you.

Lightning.

You have to move. Now. Your ears hurt and panic rises in your throat. They’re here to kill you. You’re gonna die.

Running, you collide with someone, another tribute. They don’t even have time to scream before your arrow is through their neck and their cannon is sounding. Move. Now.

You run until you can’t anymore, scared that something is chasing you. The game makers must have caused the lightning to force you and the other tribute closer together.

There were other canons throughout the night, but you paid no attention to them. You sat under a tree, hugging your knees, trying to ignore the burning in your dry throat and the pain in your arm. Of course Katniss had to shoot your dominant arm.

When the day is bright enough to illuminate your section of the jungle, you decide to head back towards where the lightning was. If another tribute was over there then there may be some food or water close by. Maybe they even had sponsors.

The sun is high in the sky by the time you make it back to where the fight occurred. There’s no trace of it but you know the spot. Your hair stands on edge again and you panic, knowing exactly what this means. The lightning strikes and you bolt, running from whoever must be near.

They’re going to kill you. You’re dead. You need to run faster.

You run downhill, towards what you think is the lake. Despite not being allowed in the ocean for the past five years, you’re probably still the second best swimmer in the arena behind Finnick. If you could lure whoever is chasing you into the water then you could drown them.

Your legs barely make it to the beach, completely drained from your lack of sleep and sustenance. Whoever was following you must have realized your plan and stopped. Maybe nobody followed you at all.

As you make your way out of the jungle and towards the water, you pause, spotting a large group of people a ways down the beach. It’s Finnick and his alliance. Maybe they would give you food, or shoot you. Honestly, who knows?

They spot you approaching and Katniss aims another arrow at you. You’re still clutching the one she shot you with in your hand, ready to stab anyone who comes near.

“Y/N!” Finnick exclaims as he runs over to you. “I was so worried.”

You look over at the group and back at him, silently asking if they’re ok with you being there. He sighs, realizing that Katniss probably isn’t ok with you being there but he needs you with him anyways. He can’t lose you.

“Have you eaten?” he asks. You shake your head no. “We have food and water. Oh! And some first aid stuff for your arm. Katniss is sorry by the way.”

“Skin?” you ask him. Noticing the scabs on his body and the cuts on his face.

“We got caught in some poisonous fog last night and ended up in a fight with some monkeys this morning,” he explains. “I’m alright. Nobody in our group has died except Blight. He hit the force field last night and they couldn’t revive him.”

You hum in response, catching a whiff of the fish Finnick must have caught for the group to eat. He notices your hunger and gently guides you to sit on the edge of the group close to Johanna and far away from Katniss.

“Glad you could join us feisty!” Johanna chuckles as you sit near her. You give her a shrug as if to say that you’re currently indifferent to your existence. She gets the memo.

“Nuts and Volts,” she states. “Have you met fiesty?”

The man and woman look up at the group.

“Yes,” Beetee replies. “I believe we briefly met Y/N at her victory tour celebration in the capital but it’s been many years. It is nice to see you again Y/N, although I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“You guys aren’t letting her stay with us, right?” Katniss asks and you tense up. They need her for their plan. You’re disposable.

“Back off firebird,” Johanna barks. “She’s sticking with us.”

“She tried to kill me!” Katniss exclaims.

“Because you touched her,” Johanna shouts. You flinch at the volume. “Rule numéro uno is don’t touch fiesty. Plus I thought you were a good fighter, Katnip. You mean to tell me you couldn’t win a fight against her? She hasn’t been outside in over five years. She’s practically harmless!”

“Let’s settle down,” Finnick states, noticing you becoming tense due to the yelling. “Here’s your fish Y/N. I’m gonna go grab you some water.” You smile at him in thanks and begin to eat the fish. The smile fades when you notice Katniss watching you eat like a hawk, so you turn around and sit with your back towards her while you eat.

You need to convince her of Johanna’s words. You’re harmless.

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[aquarius-cookie-jar]

Another one of Dark Cacao and Dark Choco's ancestors: Berry Choco Cookie.

The first wielder of the Strawberry Jam Sword. (Feat. Grape Choco Cookie during his younger years).

I'll be going into more depth on the two's backstory. This is part 1, focusing on Berry Choco's side of the story.

⚠️TW // CW FOR THE FOLLOWING: ⚠️

Mentions of violence and death.

There's an image at the end that some users may find to be eye straining. It also contains a bit of blood. Not gorey or graphic, but just in case you may find it disturbing.

Berry Choco doesn't actually mind control Dark Choco as this artwork I made may imply. He's very much dead and not conscious the whole time Dark Choco had the sword.

The sword itself is cursed with magic that amplifies whatever negative emotion you have tenfold. The 'voices' Dark Choco hears from the sword are echoes of his emotions amplified to a painful degree. This very magic was what led Berry Choco to his untimely demise. It didn't directly kill him, but it did lead him to destroy the new home Grape Choco found refuge in after the brothers had been separated.

Speaking of which, the brothers in their prime were undefeated warriors, fighting any foe that crossed their paths. As victories stacked up, they grew arrogant, facing more and more dangerous foes. One day, they decided to attack the great Jade Dragon, guardian of the heavens. However, they were over powered by the ancient beast, their powers stripped away from them, and each one banished to the furthest corners of the world, forced to wander about until they can find peace.

Berry Choco, furious and driven by pride and anger, scoured the lands in search of an answer to defeat anyone who dared stand in his way again. He stumbled across forbidden Strawberry Jam magic (essentially blood magic in human terms), and 'tweaked' it just a bit.

This however resulted in him being unable to control the magic, becoming too absorbed in his quest for bloodlust.

When he found his brother again, he was happy to see him, but was shocked when he realized Grape Choco no longer wanted to be a feared warrior, and had actually settled down, with a child on the way.

Berry Choco was left confused, hurt, angry, full of rage— especially towards his brother's partner. How dare they corrupt him! How could they have managed to convince him to just give up everything they've fought for?! Unable to accept his brother's new found life, he was consumed by this dark magic, and ended up destroying the village, killing so many people. And eventually, his brother's partner.

He died by the hands of Grape Choco Cookie, shortly after. The tale of the two brothers vanished into obscurity, turning into nothing more than a local legend. Though whispers of his cursed sword still remained. The only evidence of his existence.

Berry Choco Cookie was practically dead for the longest time. Until, somehow, he was resurrected, brought back as a ghoul, a living puppet of the dead. What's that you say? He can finally get his revenge..?

[casualaruanienjoyer]

What kind of mythical creatures would the AOT characters be? (ex. witch, vampire, mermaid etc.) 🤔

Oh anon, this is such a cool ask! Thank you!

Armin: Syren. You all thought I was going to say merman, but I think it would be more interesting if Armin's species was inherently evil, known to use their voice to lure people to their deaths. Armin, in particular, is an outcast who doesn't wish to harm humans. He uses his charm and charisma to try and build a bridge between these two nations. Perhaps somewhere in his heart he wishes he was born a merman instead.

Annie: Once a powerful witch, now a gorgon. One glance and she would turn anyone to stone. A self-inflicted condition born from self hatred after the passing of her beloved. She lives a secluded life, away from humans, not wishing to hurt anyone anymore. Until one day when a certain syren with a sharp tongue manages to convince her to rejoin society.

Mikasa: Yuki Onna, a spirit wondering through the cold in search of her one true love. Beautiful, serene, yet punishing to anyone who isn't her beloved.

Jean: Werewolf. A regular person by day, an uncontrollable force by night. Somehow previously unaware of his duality, Jean is now kept under complete surveillance by Reiner, a renown and respected scientist. When in werewolf form his strength, size and bloodthirst increase significantly.

Reiner: You thought that he would be just a regular scientist? haha, no. The real reason Reiner is fostering Jean is so that he can be restrained when his 'Jekyll and Hyde' syndrome kicks in. When in his Hyde persona, Reiner becomes a totally different person, evil, menacing, confident and alluring. Nothing like his usual self-pitying softie self. Jean's job is to make sure this guy DOES NOT escape the lab and GOD DAMN it's hard when Reiner's this enticing.

Pieck: Sphinx. Forever challenging those who she encounter in a game of riddles. Get it right, and you get to leave unharmed. Get it wrong and... well... surprisingly not die. But you now owe her a favour, ANY favour. Talk about having dirt on someone.

Levi: Satyr because how hilarious would a tiny murderous satyr Levi be. Everyone around him is all song and dance, flowers and booze while Levi cannot wait to escape his colony and go on a real adventure. One that involves lots of fighting, maybe even end up training Hercules or something.

Hange: Saint Wednesday, a Romanian mythological figure. An older lady wandering the woods, showing herself to people who are lost or in need of guidance. She's able to create objects out of thin air, usually made of pure gold. She has infinite wisdom and always shows people the right way. Though, she can sometimes be a bit too excited about this whole ordeal, scaring random hikers away.

Eren: Centaur, the kind to shoot an arrow first and then ask questions. He's short tempered and incredibly protective of his tribe's land. His recklessness eventually gets him caught by hunters, but he manages to miraculously escape. No one else did.

Connie: Kappa. He really enjoys messing with everyone who tries to cross his bridge. He won't kill anyone but BOY is it funny to drag people in the water when they least expect it.

Sasha: Dryad. One with nature, completely free of any societal structure. She loves her freedom, she loves eating fruits and berries all day long and she enjoys playing around with other nymphs.

[zahri-melitor]

Full reaction to Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter: I get what Dennis O'Neil was trying for, but definitely has a giant Of Its Time stamp across it.

It's a very interesting series, in the context of riding the 1970s fascination for Asian martial arts craze. Because it certainly attempts to be progressive and fails in interesting ways.

The first thing I have to note is that three (3!) separate women, framed to be love interests, die in this 18 issue comic, and all of them are women of colour: Carolyn Woosan, Sun Ling Po, and Janey Lewis. If you want to talk about fridging, then the fact that Shiva makes it out alive from this comic is a minor miracle.

Ben Turner also manages to spend at least half this comic off panel unable to fight, despite technically being the main support character, between getting shot in the leg, ending up on crutches, getting poisoned and landing in hospital, and then being brainwashed by the League of Assassins. It's quite noticeable when he finally gets to turn back up and be on panel for a whole story rather than getting injured and relegated AGAIN.

One thing that really struck me though is that comparing what's on page in this and where Richard, Ben and Shiva end up, you find the narrative almost mythologised in later writings, both those from O'Neil and from people like Dixon and Rucka. Richard and Ben are the best students of the O-Sensei, but there isn't really the implication that they're the Best Martial Artists On The Planet. Shiva's here to avenge Carolyn's death and keeps turning up to help Richard because she gets bored easily and thinks violence and danger is fun, not because she's yet reached the level of boredom that has her challenging every 'serious' martial artist on the planet for a challenge to kill.

It's also very interesting in that most of the heroes and villains we meet are South East Asian characters - in fact they're all based in Japan for a while - however our protagonist in Richard is a white American (and Ben is a black American). It's just a very 1970s approach to progressive storytelling (and uh there are definitely a bunch of stereotypes still floating around).

I found it a very quick read, with less comic silliness than you might expect (nuclear missiles fired into volcanoes and removed by giant magnets aside), but I think unless you're interested in the histories of the characters, the understanding you get of all three simply from their later appearances and how this period is referenced is sufficient.

I will say the odd, almost wandering way I've read various Ben Turner appearances (the main ones being this, Suicide Squad 1987, parts of Justice League: Task Force, his couple of appearances in Batgirl 2000, Manhunter 2004, etc) means that I get pretty irritated any time anyone wants to pitch him as an assassin or particularly a member of the League of Assassins. He was brainwashed into doing stuff for the LOA and broke out of it pretty soon afterwards. He's not an assassin, he's an extremely skilled martial artist who can and does kill and just happens to have a bunch of connections with the independent martial artist communities of DC, all of whom are getting progressively subsumed into factions of the League of Assassins by DC writers who seem unaware of their complexities and differences.

[amphiptere-art]

Going to ramble about shadon. The devil that was the Shadow Dragon King.

I don't have a lot of irredeemable villains. That's just not in my forte. You're bad for a reason. You lost something. You cherish something. The one thing that really makes a bad villain is if they want something. If they want something not because they feel like they deserve it. But because they just want it. But usually with a want. You have to have a reason why you want it. Which is why I don't have a lot of bad villains. Because a lot of those wants, are just something as simple as equality. To make a point. To show someone you are nothing.

Shadon is different. He's one of the characters who just wanted something. He didn't have a reason to want it. He got what he wanted. And he kept wanting. To the point it wasn't even what he wanted to begin with.

Shadon was a young dragon when the dragon tribes decided to banish all Shadow Dragons. Casting them out to an isle that was basically a wasteland. Anyone would be angry. Anyone would be furious. They haven't done anything. All they had done was stick around as an awful rumor spread. A rumor that was not true. And yet they were blamed kicked out and nearly massacred due to how desolate their new home was. Any villain has a good reason as to why they would get angry and want revenge.

Shadon went too far though. His father the king was in his way. To him his father was making them live out this hell. He decided he wasn't going to fucking agree. But he couldn't get the crown, without his father's blood spilling. And that is exactly what he did.

And this is excluding his narcissistic abuse towards his sons. Calling them parasites, useless, nothings. His first son was born white. And so he called them a curse as a begged for affection. They became what their father only liked. Which was bloodshed. He became an assassin just so he could get some attention from his father. And his youngest son? Someone who is meek, fearful, peaceful.

He called them weak because They couldn't do what he wanted. He called them the future king and thrust them into a position, They never wanted. Constantly berating him. Calling him worse than the curse of his brother. Someone Shadon called worse than dirt. And basically calling him even worse. Abusing them not only by his words, But by his claws. He killed and murdered in front of them, and didn't even care. As long as they kept their mouth shut.

He became wrapped in revenge. Wanting nothing more than perfection to get it. And soon enough he got his revenge. He prouded into the council meeting with confidence. He killed everyone but one to prove a point. He wanted the one that spread to rumor in the first place to know exactly what it felt like to live in hell. And he did so. He took over the entire continent by storm. The entire dragon world was underneath his claws. Everybody was living in fear, And everybody knew exactly what it felt like.

But he didn't stop.

He didn't freeze in time and space. Not knowing what to do with his life like eclipse did. Eclipse basically sat down once he got what he wanted. And simply decided to wander around and pride and tease.

Shadon tho?

He wanted more.

He had already taken away everything from his sons.

He had already cast the entire dragon society into chaos.

He got the land that he had been ripped from before.

And yet he decided he wanted more.

There was no reason behind it. There was no revenge needed against the entire world. There was no resource gathering to be done. He didn't even need the space. He had an entire continent underneath his whims.

And yet he decided he wanted the world. For nothing more than his own pride and greed.

His people were tired. The Dragons of the continent were still somewhat fighting back. Even if it was lousy. And now they were supposed to fight the world. World that didn't even ask or need it. They wanted their battle to stay within the grounds of which it started.

Shadon said no.

He went to war with the whole world. Despite his people. His sons. And even his revenge. He had no reason to do it. He just did it. And that is what truly makes him a bad guy. What truly made him a villain with no going back. It got to the point where he was willing to kill his son. Just to keep it. To keep essentially meant nothing to him.

And he died to the one who he called curse. Despite the killing, cold, lifeless person they became. They had more heart than he did at that point. They just had the bloodshed behind them that allowed them to even raise a claw. Better than the son who he called worthless.

Shadon was the mad king.

His first son was icy blood.

His second son was peaceful fear.

And unfortunately for all of them. The curse that was the mad king would stay forever in their history.

[gacha-addict2001]

Total Unhinged Time Travel Fix it!

The usual chosen are sent back to prevent the dance with their memories of the future and their demise fresh on their minds…but something…occurs.

So! The three sons of Rhaenyra: Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey, upon their death are pulled in by the Gods of Old Valyria and asked to Prevent the Dance right? They are all up for it for various reasons, but the main being they all want to be able to live their lives out until their time comes.

The gods prepare to send them back but something or someone interferes, yoinking the three of three of them from the grips of the Old Gods and telling them that they won’t be able to stop the dance in the next life they have, only making things worse since they aren’t trained enough and they have too much hatred within them for what has happened to their families and themselves. They offer them a chance to learn the ways of a new culture so they might not only be prepared but also have something the Hightowers don’t, they agree.

Any western world is out of the way since they are all pretty much the same, so they are sent to a version of Feudal Japan, during a fantasy age in which Dragon Gods in human form rule them all, and sensing the blood of the dragon within the boys they take them in, the Emperor making them his wards while three generals make them their person protoge’s.

They live out their lives in this world, learning their martial arts, fighting techniques and weaponry and face many challenges such as rebellion, loss of a family and making a new life for themselves.

*Jacaerys becomes a mercenary under the name of Lord Crow, he takes care of orphans from the war that destroyed the country and holds a region of land that is inaccessible to many others. He is solemn and quiet, never really coming out of his hiding or being all that public as he defends his lands to the best of his ability. He becomes a pretty good spear user.

*Lucerys moved to a different province and runs the entertainment districts which is a front for information and protecting refugees from the empire he once served before it was overthrown. He developed his own brand of poison and has taken so much of it his own blood is poison. He takes the moniker Lord Butterfly as he bred his own poisonous butterfly to help him as well.

*Joffrey became a wanderer who takes out various camps from the rebellion, taking on the name of Lord Falcon. He kills any and all who destroyed the empire he once lived in; as well as delivering orphans to Jace who takes them all in without too much hassle.

All three of them work to try and overthrow the new government and end up dying in the process.

They are taken back by the gods of Old Valyria who were frantic to get them back to ensure they are the ones to prevent the dance. In that moment the three dragon gods who helped raise them appear and hand them their divine weapons they had gifted them in life, telling them to take them with them to their realm to prevent the dance. They do and are returned to the day they arrived in Dragonstone, after Luke took out Aemond’s eye.

Because of them being taken the gods expelled much energy to get them back and were unable to send them back further. They make use of it and begin to train and do what they need to be prepared for the dance that is to come.

Leads into the day Luke’s legitimacy is questioned and they are brought back to Kings Landing for the first time in years.

They display their skills as nothing as it seems and their old past that is not known to anyone is coming in to mess with things, lending to an even messier road to peace.

Oh! And Aemond and Ageon totally are not obsessed with their nephews becoming deadly killing machines with little regard for how they are confusing the fuck out of people.

Joffrey sneaks off to recruit Daeron to their little group, leading to another uncle crushing on their nephew.

NOTE! ALL THE SECOND LIFE IN ANOTHER CULTURE HAPPENS IN THE BACKGROUND AND IS DROPPED THROUGHOUT THE STORY HERE AND THERE. NOT A MAJOR COMPONENT. 

I have a shit ton more, but I might make this into a story…let me know if you want specific details or want to know more.

[jams-sims]

I must have the worst fucking luck when it comes to Rimworld. Let me paint you this picture-

I start up rimworld, I put it on the easyist difficulty because I'm new to playing the game, and the last time I tried it, it was a mess. So my people land, I build a little base, we are doing okay-

Instantly I get a Mad Hare alert, I'm like okay let me get my gear and get ready. This is the start of the fucking end. I send one of my girlies out Lumpie, lumpie got a gun. Instantly idk why she's not shooting, and why I'm having a hard time killing the hare. I'm on console so everything is different and although cleaner than it PC brother. Shit doesn't make much sense. An also when you pick chill whatever the fuck her name is I guess no totural (fuck me I guess).

So after actually killing the hare! Lumpie is walking around hurt, lucky enough we have medkits and we lucked out and have a doctor. Sad part is I don't figure this out until she passes the fuck out and I frantically figure out how to a sign a bed as a sick bed. Luke picks her body up and put her in bed and takes care of her.

Crisis averted! Lumpie heals, and we keep making slow progress on the base.

I'm still trying to figure shit out, we get a trader! I get medkit and metal components things are looking up. Right about now I realize I need to get electricity going in the base.

Another attack happens, I'm like okay cool we handle this before we got this.

Sky- gets fucking DEMINTA! Wanders the forest.

(theirs Lumpie (she her), Luke (he him) and Sky (she her) 3 of these hoes)

I'm like okay- what the fuck? How? Thinking on it right now, she's probably older than I thought. Nevertheless she wanders the fucking forest, gets jumped and is kidnapped. Lumpie rushing out the ducking door last second watching as Sky is dragged out of bounds.

I once again struggled to get anyone drafted to fight. It's so fucking awkward to do, again they won't shoot.

I pause the game, I'm like no way in hell am I losing one of my settlement to one fucking dude. 3 reloads later, it's the dead of night, I get people drafted Lumpie won't shoot, she gets fucking down AGAIN. Luke the fucking doctor shankes the raider. Picks lumpie up again and puts her in medical area.

At the same time I realize the guy is alive and I'm like oh my god, I can capture him! I will finally have 4 people-

As they struggle to build the fucking doors to his wood be prison, the raider dies at the foot of our door as I get the starvation alert and Sky wanders again because of her fucking dementia. An the game is paused and I'm staring at Luke who just want to sleep and heal.

Like- I'm gonna have a mental fucking break are you kidding me!!!!!

[lordfrezon]

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC

9/10

Yeah that’s right, it’s a full ass review for a DLC, this game is making it onto my GOTY list, it’s popping off.

Short review: If you liked Elden Ring, here’s 40 more hours of it.  It’s dope AF, go play it.

Longer review: Shadow of the Erdtree (henceforth Shadow) is the expansion to 2022’s Elden Ring.  As has become expected of FromSoftware, their DLC is extremely well made and Shadow is effectively another game. Pretty good value for $40.

You continue your journey as the Tarnished into the Scadutree (scadu being pronounced shadow, the more you know) where a missing/dead demigod has taken up residence.  It’s your job now to find him and maybe help him but more likely kill him because you’re the goddamn best at murder.  You travel around this land, realizing that it’s real messed up, and decide to fight people about it.

Unfortunately for you, the people you’re fighting kick your ass.

If you’ve heard anyone talking about Shadow on ye olde social media, you’ll likely have heard how goddamn hard it is, and they are not wrong.  The bosses in Shadow are all on meth.  They move faster, hit harder, and are more unpredictable than nearly all those in the base game.  There’s only like 3 bosses in Elden Ring of comparable danger to those in Shadow.  This makes for some awesome-ass fights, as you get to learn how these losers act before demonstrating that you’re just better than they are in every way.  After they kill you a hundred times but you get them in the end.

As always, while the bosses are the main attraction, the game is mostly taken up by exploration, and exploration remains great, probably even better than in the base game.  There’s the traditional dungeons and random drops to find, new weapons and spells, the whole thing, but Shadow really shows off the art direction of Elden Ring with multiple “Breath of the Wild” moments, where you come over a hill to see a gorgeous vista that yes, you can go explore.  It’s a beautiful, if dark and foreboding, world.

There are a few flaws I want to discuss.  First, same thing goes here as for base Elden Ring, game is hard and punishing, not for everyone but definitely better than any Dark Souls.  Second, there’s some new design decision.  There’re two collectable items in Shadow that boost up your damage, resistance, and those of your summons.  These are near mandatory to collect all of if you want to engage with the later game content, and while many of them are pretty easy to find, this leads into my primary issue with Shadow, the level design.

Shadow is huge, there is so much to discover, so many cool things exist, it’s great.  But there’s an issue in that about half the map is effectively impossible to find without a guide.  Soulslikes have issues with needing a tab open to know what’s going on, either with lore or with gameplay, and Shadow increases that significantly.  Want to know how to find these cool bosses?  Well you might get lucky and find the single hole that leads to this area but probably not, so you go and open up a new tab to look up where things are, which spoils you for some other thing, and you’re still not sure what the area you’re looking for is even called so you waste time looking around and...

It's a real issue and one that was present to a lesser extent in the base game.  I am not someone who needs handholding, I will happily ram my head into some difficult challenge in a game until I win, but when experiencing those challenges requires me to spend minutes or hours wandering around hoping I find the singular small path, something is wrong.  There are NPCs that help a bit, but unlike the base game it’s not always apparent where they are, and the hub area doesn’t include any of the new NPCs (which makes sense but still makes it hard to find them).  When many of them have cool quests (that lead up to one of the best boss fights in the franchise), it’s frustrating that to have the full experience I have to de-immerse myself from the game.

But still, the gameplay is plenty fun, and I had a great time with all but one boss.  Elden Ring as a whole continues to demonstrate that FromSoft gets good worldbuilding and design principles.  Here’s to whatever they come up with next.

[riversimmone]

Three's A Crowd - Chapter 8

RiverOfTheSand

Summary:

SasuSaku. He didn't mean to kill that man. He had simply reacted to being attacked. And now Konoha is forced to hunt down the rogue members of Team 7, or risk open war. Eventual NaruHina.

XXX

Read from the beginning. This is a work in progress story you can find on tumblr and AO3 and completed on FF.NET.

[All tumblr posts will be tagged ‘Three’s A Crowd’ with their corresponding chapter for quick and easy access.]

Enjoy. :)

Chapter Eight: The Mistake.

It was two days later; they had their bounty, and were currently mingling with a civilian caravan that was bound for lightning country, with swords-for-hire who followed the strict code of honour of bushido. These people didn't seem bothered by the presence of Kitsúne, even if they didn't recognise them as ninja, and had only glanced at them long enough to take in their appearances before the caravan had moved out. And as Kitsúne had discovered from that stupid old tea shop owner in the land of rice paddies, the ninja of Kumo were "cleaning house" with rogue ninja in their country as their numbers had risen vaguely in the past few months. This was the best way to enter Lightning country without incurring unnecessary fights.

But they were still in the land of frost, though only a short way from the easterly border. As long as they kept their chakra hidden and maintained their cover, they would be fine.

Sasuke still had the assassin's blade – he thought back to the bulking man. Immediately after they'd left the clearing in which Team Guy and those Kumo ninja had been, Naruto had started on him about who was going to claim the reward. He fought with Sakura over it so loudly that Sasuke had grabbed the ugly brute and stalked off with the body, making an executive decision to do it himself instead.

Naruto's incessant whining had gotten on his last nerve.

Glancing around the caravan and ignoring the way Sakura was talking with one of the samurai, Sasuke let his mind wonder, mulling over who the assassin might've stolen the ōdachi from. The craftsmanship of said sword was exquisite. It wasn't just strikingly beautiful, but both lightweight and deadly sharp. He had the strangest feeling there weren't many things it couldn't cut through. So of course, he was debating best how to figure out where it had originally come from. Naruto was still sore over his possession of it, but what had the knucklehead expected? If he didn't even know how to use it properly, then he shouldn't bother even holding it. Sasuke realised he'd been selfish, just expecting to have it, but he couldn't help himself. He was drawn to it. The ōdachi was an impressive sword, and made him feel like he could take down anything and anyone.

A day's travel from the border to Lightning country, they made camp for the night. Sasuke made a point to drag Sakura from the samurai she'd been conversing with, gripping her possessively as she tried to get out of his grip.

"Sasuke…"

They disappeared into a tent, leaving Naruto to sort out their provisions. He glowered in their direction.

'Fucking horny rabbits.'

X X X

Travelling at the pace of a snail was getting on Sasuke's nerves. The next morning had started so sleepily and now he was wide awake and wanting to move faster. His body was ignoring his common sense and itching to just leave these unfamiliar people behind and head to Kumogakure as a ninja. It was making his thoughts wander dangerously, his hand jerking haphazardly as he tried to avoid grasping the handle of his ōdachi, so as to not look antagonistic to the civilians in the caravan.

Sakura and Naruto were both giving him a wide berth, sensing his unease – sometimes the blonde dobe wasn't as stupid as he looked after all.

But eventually, a combination of his increasing nerves and the strange looks thrown his way by the old man in charge of the caravan made the decision for him; his hand grasped the sword both possessively and defensively. Civilians carried weapons only rarely, and it might've looked out of place if it wasn't for the fact that the group they were travelling with had made frequent trips to the sage temples, most recently the fire temple. The monks were awesome in combat, and even occasionally taught civilians their ways. So Sasuke wasn't looking for hidden Shinobi when he activated his Sharingan, unable to get rid of the nagging feeling that this caravan was being followed.

It was the other reason, besides a need for speed (they needed to get to Kumo this century), that he was feeling so frustrated.

The swords-for-hire were watching the trees lining the path discreetly, but Sasuke saw no concern in their eyes or on their faces. Maybe he was being paranoid, but that state of mind had saved his life more times than not. It was best to be safe. Sakura and Naruto were bickering in undertones over their food supply and as Sasuke glanced over toward them he heard a sharp intake of breath. The old man who was in charge of the caravan, Ikomu, was staring at him.

There was a moment of silence and cursing his own stupidity, Sasuke killed his kekkei genkai. But it was too late. Everyone in this region was on the alert for unknown Shinobi and he'd just given himself away.

The old man screamed out. "Ninja!"

Sakura and Naruto looked up as the swords-for-hire drew their weapons, lunging at Sasuke. He sighed, not turning his Sharingan back on. Anger at his own stupidity was amplified by Naruto's loud voice. "Teme! What did you do?"

Ever the idiot.

Sasuke knocked back the first samurai and pushed Sakura out of the way when she jumped up to stop him. The old man had seen his Sharingan, and even though Sasuke knew it was his own fault, he also knew he had to deal with this. Some things couldn't just be taken back. Itachi had taught him that.

"Sasuke!" Sakura hissed, but he ignored her and she was forced to spin on her heels, throwing her arms up to stop an incoming attack from a samurai dressed hired swordsman. She had her own opponents to deal with.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt his body jerk of its own accord. There was chakra in the air that didn't belong to him, Sakura or Naruto – he reluctantly activated his Sharingan to look for the source of it and found it in Ikomu, the old man.

He was sneering down at Sasuke, as though the young man had just killed his family, his pets and his closest friends.

'Must be the Sharingan.'

It had that affect on people.

So the old man knew a few jutsu. Sasuke was actually glad about that and decided that this needed to be sorted without altering memories. But still, the Uchiha couldn't help but be angry; not at himself – not anymore. The fates were laughing at him, he knew. This wasn't going to end pretty.

Naruto jumped away from thrown shuriken and almost ran into Sakura. He twisted his head to see what Sasuke was doing and his eyes widened at the maniacal look on his face. Why the hell had he activated his Sharingan?

"Sakura," he said, "teme's about to slaughter the lot of them."

"I know."

Naruto watched in horror as Sasuke jumped from his position and came crashing down on Ikomu; the sword in his hands slicing downward through the air and impaling the old man. Ikomu's torso was all but ripped in half so swiftly, there was no blood on the blade. Sakura screamed out at Sasuke but a ringing in his ears deafened him as he watched the body fall in a mixed kind of fascination. He couldn't believe he'd just done that.

The air around him whipped his face as Naruto and Sakura took care of the rest of them.

He'd killed before today, they all had, but an uneasiness settled in his stomach as Sasuke realised this was the first time he'd enjoyed it. Snapping out of his self induced reverie, he mentally slapped himself.

'I think I'm going insane.'

He had no idea what made him do it, but in the next moment, Sasuke pulled out a kunai, having sheathed the ōdachi, and moved toward the man who had attacked him without provocation but seemingly with reason. Ignoring Sakura's plea, Sasuke carved the symbol for Kitsúne on the bodies of the dead, seemingly not caring that some of them were indeed civilian. He was more unhinged by it than he was letting on, but kept up this façade. What else was he supposed to do? But unlike his team mates, who were looking at him with mixed expressions, Sasuke didn't think this one mistake was going to come back to haunt them. As stupid and angry as he felt for his impulsive reaction, this felt like the end of it to him.

Still, everyone had something or someone that enjoyed nagging them…

"What, are you stupid?" Naruto ranted. "Why did we have to kill them?"

Sasuke pointedly ignored the furious blonde as Sakura bent to examine the sash the hired samurai had been wearing. They'd been travelling inconspicuously, so she hadn't noticed it until now – it gave her goose bumps. It had an official seal on it, and she recognised it.

"Sasuke," she whispered. "That man calling himself Ikomu was a noble."

X X X

[therizino-ao3]

Hermit Horror Week 2023

Day seven: From Beyond

Summary: One night, some people come down from the stars. Everything changes and nothing at all.

Read on ao3

Contains: murder, colonialism, slavery, ecological destruction, hermits as villains, loss of culture, outsider POV.

This one is a very different kind of horror, way more meta and sombre and existential than the other things I've done this week, so heads up for that!

They came from the stars.

That was what the villages near the river claimed, anyway. A great, hulking mass of machinery, as large as a mountain, descending upon the rock. It opened a small orifice, like a door, and about two dozen of the visitors emerged. They weren’t really like villagers at all, but that was the closest thing they could be described to, though some had traits of other animals, like dog tails or fish scales. All anyone knew was that they were something different.

And they were the talk of everyone everywhere for a decent while, the gossip spreading from village to village until it reached the pillagers and the piglins and the enderfolk. The visitors seemed to be content staying in the area around the river, clearing out trees and building houses and collecting animals. Houses was a bit of an exaggeration, some would claim, half of the things they were building were more like shapes or rocks or statues. They were built with precision and rich materials, clearly important, but many were wildly impractical for everyday use, bringing up the question for why someone would go through all that effort for somewhere so poor to live. It must be a religious thing, most guessed, some way of honouring their gods. The whole settlement was clearly a village, if a very foreign one.

Some wandering traders made it their mission to contact the foreigners, talking big about all the goods they’d get and the trade routes they’d set up. None that set out to the settlement came back. One of the larger pillager factions sent out a scouting crew to investigate the lot, who shared the same fate. Some others tried, but eventually everybody got the idea that the strangers weren’t to be messed with.

The uneasy peace the land had settled into didn’t last long. The first warning was the attack of the Mansion of the East. The pillagers that survived talked of foes that, when killed, would leave no corpse, re-entering the Mansion risen from the dead, as healthy as could be. Even in a fight, they were formidable, healing wounds in seconds. They demolished the mansion, with only an un-armoured party of 4, targeting every evoker and looting every room. The magic they had – to heal and respawn – was unlike any that had been seen before, stronger than even totems of undying. That was when the fear began to brew, the realisation that the new arrivals were far, far stronger than any of them had met before.

And then, for the next few days, Marigold Valley Village would be silent, with their usual traders failing to show at the monthly market, nor any representatives coming to the Valley council meeting. Though it wasn’t known at the time, this would be because it was taken over. One of the foreigners had claimed the village as his own, altering the town and keeping its people hostage as workers. It was the first sign of a new era: destruction. Now that the settlers had gotten themselves established, they turned to raiding and kidnapping. It wasn’t that these were new concepts, pillagers had been doing the same for more generations than anyone could remember, but nobody could fight back against opponents of their power. Villagers were stolen from their homes, put to working for these creatures, whilst their villages were destroyed. Pillagers would come next, outposts burned, ravagers taken, and mansions slaughtered. Even the folk from other realms wouldn’t last long, piglins being put to work themselves and bastions ruined even more than they already were, not to say how the once great nether fortresses would be transformed into wicked machines. The odd enderman had escaped the End and fled to the Overworld, and would share with others, sombrely, about their empty end cities and a great machine that could kill thousands at a time.

And then, as soon as it began, it ended. The world returned to stability once more – albeit a very different kind. The villages distant enough to avoid the purge learnt new rules – hide inside when one of the strangers flies over, give up all items that they desire, and don’t attempt to fight back. They would see one of them occasionally, but they would only show up to steal a camel or ransack an old temple, and had no interest in harming the villagers. As generations passed, the gossip and community of the villages that once were was forgotten and the silence was all that was known. You would think, when there are less people, the world would seem much smaller. But as the fringe villages went on with their lives in isolation, it felt so much larger.

As for those under the direct control of the settlers, they developed their own kind of normalcy. Disobedience wasn’t an option – in the early days, they’d execute workers in front of everyone else, but later on, people would simply disappear if they weren’t up to standard. The cosy insides of a wooden house or animal hide tent were replaced with glass and concrete and stone and sometimes, even, the bowels of a ship. Work was hard, gruelling days and gruelling tasks – quarrying stone and copying books and mining obsidian. It wasn’t like anyone had a choice, though, and there was food and shelter. Life, no matter how difficult, just became ordinary life. And, for those born in the catacombs of some dank hole, they knew nothing else.

There was a lot of debate, of course, on what the beings were. Most people saw them as gods, with the uncanny buildings and impossible machinery and immortality. Ancient pantheons were merged with the current figures, forming new names and rituals. Each of the “gods” was identified and had their own domain and supposed sacrifices to gain favour with, but also on a more observable level, had an area they were known to live in and activities they were known to do. Some disagreed strongly on this interpretation however, seeing their captors as strong and undefeatable, yes, but just entities like any other. They were the step-up from pillagers – just as bloodthirsty and greedy, but far more technologically advanced.

None of it mattered, anyway, in the end. They were spotted less and less, coming to check up on their workers nearly never. The braver and luckier ones were able to stage an escape from their confinement, at first apprehensive on what their masters would do if they found they had escaped, but eventually realising their captors were never coming back. They had left as suddenly as they appeared. A month passed without any signs of them. A mixed feeling of relief and fear settled over everyone. So many years had passed since the first arrival, over a hundred, and nobody was left to say what the before times were like. At first there was a lot of power struggle, questioning, revolts, disputes… But as with all things, it became normal again.

Villages sprouted up where they used to be, mansions got re-inhabited, bastions got repaired, and ender cities re-emerged. There was a bit of hesitancy, at first, about living near or in the structures the creatures had left, but it brought so many benefits, that eventually people did. There were some places everyone avoided – the gigantic hole in the world and the starting village, for one. But otherwise, houses and farms sprung up in teapots and caves and rocks and castles and vaults and it all became natural. Hundreds and hundreds of years later, they were left as nothing more than a scary bedtime story and silly old wives’ tale behind the massive structures on the planet.

But still, sometimes, people would turn their heads to the sky and shiver, slightly. Because, if they came from the stars, what else could come down?

[feral-witch-hat]

Elden Ring/TF2 Idea

Okay, so my mind will literally not stop going in a thousand circles about this and getting it down seems to help my brain calm down. If anyone one wants to do anything with it, go right ahead! This is the product of major hyper fixation hours.

This is essentially just the TF2 merc's in The Land's Between and have all the fun that comes with it! Of course the merc's aren't... well, mercs, and instead have new professions, are new creatures, ya know, typical AU stuff, so lets get to it!

Starting with...

OFFENSE

Scout - Tarnished human. He's part of the Hero starting class and hails from the badlands where he lived with his mom and brothers, all spurned from the grace of gold. He had a pretty good upbringing as his mom was a chieftess and his older brother's were all respected warriors. He comes back to the lands between after having died in a badlands conflict, his family nowhere to be found. Of course, after hearing that the Elden Lord title is up for grabs, he's totally gonna go for it!... might die a few times but he's more than determined! He also possibly hopes to find his father, who his mother said was from the Land's between.

Soldier - Soldier human. Despite not really remembering who he's supposed to be fighting for, Soldier is still more than ready to grapple any 'heretics' that come his way! Even if that's a deer, a tree sentinel, or even his old comrades that have become less than zombies! He wanders around Limgrave with his kettle helm low and his claymore ready to fight! He's also found out a way to temporarily become air bound by smashing a firepot on the ground and jumping at the right time.

Pyro - Flame Monk... human? Pyro is an odd case, as besides their shorter and stout frame compared to their other Fire Monk brethren, they are just as if not more prominent with their fire casting abilities, even with no enemies around. They keep their face hidden under their hood at all times with a scarf wrapped around their lower face which causes their words to come out as muffles. They wander all around the Land's Between, often wanting to 'share' their fire with everyone else.

DEFENSE

Demo - Depraved Perfumer human. Once a healer, until his temper and explosive attitude got in the way. Demo's perfumes came out to be much more explosive than his once comrades, not that he minded. The damage he brought about impressed even the most hardened warriors. Even more so after he found out how to make explosive pots out of some chemical reactions and fire. After loosing his eye to one of his concoctions and the other Perfumers being unable to help, Demo sought to bring his talents elsewhere, causing him to become depraved. He still experiments with varying types of chemicals to make his explosions even more grand.

Heavy - Omen. Despite being born to an un-royal or noble family, Heavy didn't suffer the same fate as other mutilated Omen babies. He and his family lived mostly in the middle of nowhere with no one to see, and despite it being treason his parents couldn't bring themselves to cut his horns or tail off. Thus Heavy grew up surrounded by a loving family and soon found himself an older brother to three younger sisters, none of which shared his curse. Heavy grew up pretty isolated, as he would most likely be killed if found. The Shattering caused his father to perish and for him to be separated from his mother and sisters. He took refuge in a sewer until it was safe to come out, only to find his family gone. He searches the lands for them, people often running in terror from him.

Engineer - Misbegotten. Born into slavery as soon as his scaly hide, tail, and wings were seen, Engineer only knew of shackles for the longest time. Despite the nature of others of his kind, Engineer is extremally brilliant and an amazing weapons smith who's impressed all who's come across him. His original master was none too pleased with such a 'hideous creature' one upping his human blacksmiths and crafters, and as such Engie was thrown into a dungeon. The chaos of the shattering granted him his freedom, at the cost of being thrown into a chaotic world that had been sheltered from him behind stone walls.

SUPPORT

Sniper - Albinauric (First Gen). Sniper was created to an over confident noble and his wife who sought to gain recognition by creating an Albinauric, which was considered hard and impressive to do. However when it was found out he would not be able to function right due to his legs, Sniper was rather quickly discarded. He was luckily found by a kind village couple who took pity on him and took him in. He took a strong liking to archery as he grew, despite not being able to move as he shot. As Sniper grew he was introduced to other Albinauric's who shared the same defect as him. He eventually moved to an Albinauric village where they gave him a wolf to ride about on, who Sniper named Sheila.

Spy - Black Knife Assassin human. One of the very rare case of a man in the Black Knife Assassin's, Spy made the cut due to his flawless stealth and deception, as well as his mastery of the mimic veil. He was not present on the night of the Black Knives as he was training new recruits, but felt the impact of the result. Shunned and constantly chased about by everyone, his order spurned for throwing the world into chaos, Spy has no true place to call home. One memorable mission in his career was when he was sent out to the Badlands where he was to kill a Chieftess, only to find her beauty and charm warming his cold heart...

Medic - Godskin Apostle. Medic had always found the lure of power unescapable. So when he found an opportunity to be able to skin and over power the very God's, he took it. Once a simple war medic, after becoming an apostle Medic wanders the Land's Between looking for his next victim, his black flame's and twinblade always at the ready. Despite his kind's true power having been sealed away by Malekieth, Medic seeks to free that power. Despite his seemingly cold heart, Medic has a fondness for birds and a curiosity of the strange, which is plentiful in the Land's Between. One particular specimen of his curiosity is a wandering Omen named Heavy, whose crucible tainted body seemed to worm it's way into the Apostle's heart.

BONUS

Miss Pauling - Maiden Human. Scout's 'kinda' finger maiden who gave him the steed Torrent. After many failed tarnished and attempts, Miss Pauling is relying on Scout as her last shot to fulfilling her purpose to her master. She's pretty sure she's doomed with watching how many times he's failed to Margit while trying to impress her.

[yellow-faerie]

Could you talk about the “Long Live The Queen (Long Live the Monster)” wip?

[From this post of current WIPs, if anyone's curious :)]

Ahhh my Merlin fic! This is an Ygraine lives fic except she also goes batshit over magic! And a bit insane...so...

I have a lot planned out, because it starts from around the time that Uther and Ygraine met, but here's the basics:

Camelot had been in an era of civil war. Uther's father died without declaring an heir between his eldest (twin) sons and so they've been fighting. During this time, magic practise has been getting more and more difficult as people start using them as a scale goat for the civil war and then as a scape goat for anything that goes wrong, as often happens with persecuted groups throughout history.

Uther, who was younger than his brothers, won the civil war with the assistance and wisdom of the dragon lord's (and after one of both his brothers were killed). This was because the dragons had foreseen that his son would bring about the kingdom of Albion and free the people of magic from their current torment.

Having taken the throne, Uther invites all the noble houses of Camelot and the surrounding kingdoms to his coronation. Among those who come is Ygraine, representing the du Bois house for her elder brother Tristan (as Agravaine is not yet old enough and Tristan needs to stay in their lands as tensions are still too high) bringing with her her handmaid Bronwyn - who learned hedgewitch magic from her parents - and Tristan's trusted second-in-command, Captain Bedivere, who is probably having an affair with his wife.

They're attacked on the road but rescued by a young sorceress who says her name is Nimueh and that she too is travelling to Camelot for the coronation. She's the youngest of the nine priestesses and has been sent as a spy, of sorts, to see whether this man truly seems to be the sort of person to raise the king who will bring about Albion's return.

They arrive at Camelot together and go to the coronation; Ygraine and Uther meet when they are both wandering the castle at night (Ygraine because the attack on the road has rattled her and Uther because his new responsibility ways heavily on him) and they continue to make ways to see each other in between festivities before Uther asks her to stay on at the castle after the celebrations are finished.

Also on the castle: Balinor is the one who really helped Uther win the war as the main communication between the dragons and the crown, and so he is here to continue representing them and to continue to keep a firm eye on him (and Uther keeps him about because he Doesn't Trust Him).

Gorlois is the captain of the knights at this point, as one of the few people on the planet that Uther truly trusts.

Also, Gaius and Alice - they're both apprenticed to the current physician, Niamh, who is a very old woman who would have what we would call the beginnings of dementia - are there; as well as Cador, Uther's manservant and friend from throughout the war, who is an actual alcoholic and not a pretend one like Merlin.

Nimueh stays at the castle as well, both to keep an eye on the king like Balinor is doing and because she is genuinely very fond (read: probably falling in deep, unrequited love) of Ygraine. She gets the position of Court Sorcerer in Uther's court which makes her a permanent figure in the court life.

He and Ygraine are engaged to be married - and very happy about it - and during their engagement period, Uther puts out a declaration that all those practising magic must register their names and places of living; this does not help tensions as the magic people are furious because this new king was meant to start making things better and now he won't let them legally practise without registering.

Still, life goes on. Balinor spends a lot of time with Gaius and Alice because he hates court life and this is the closest he gets to a real escape; Bronwyn gets married to Cador and he cleans up his act as they start a family; Gaius and Alice are engaged to be married but are waiting until they both finish their training.

Vivienne, one of Nimueh's two blood sisters, comes to visit quite regularly and ends up married to Gorlois probably for political reasons. She then starts living in the court as well.

Ygraine and Uther are soon trying for a child but having little success; both Gaius and Alice do all the research they can but nothing works. Because of this, the king gets angry and more aggressive in his work, and there is a clear bias in his rulings against the magical people.

Vivienne and Gorlois return to Gorlois' castle during this time as Vivienne gets pregnant and wants the peace that Gorlois' own place would give him. (also because she's REALLY worried that the whole affair with Uther will be very real when her baby is born - thankfully, Morgana looks just like her)

Much like the general populace is doing, Uther's blaming magic for his personal problems. Because of this, he turns to Nimueh and asks for her help in conceiving magically.

She does her magic, against her fellow priestesses wishes, because she knows how much Ygraine wants to be a mother and she would do literally anything for her; but she doesn't tell her because she doesn't want to hurt her with the fact that she can't conceive naturally or smth.

Ygraine survives the birth! Yay!

Uther gets assassinated! Shouldn't have been oppressing people, Love.

Ygraine is distraught. She's always been a supporter of magic, mostly due to being friends with people like Bronwyn and Nimueh, but the wound inflicted on Uther was magic in nature.

This begins the purge. Ygraine is queen until Arthur is old enough to take the throne (although what that age is keeps getting older) and she uses this power for EVIL.

No but really - she never makes magic illegal but if you are found practising unregistered magic, you'll be executed, if you are registered to practise magic, your chances of being executed just shot through the roof, if you ever had someone who practised magic in your family ever, you are now a suspect in her husband's murder.

(even though, in reality, it was a one person job without a scheme at all)

Nimueh and Bronwyn, and Alice and Gaius, are protected because they are Ygraine's friends, trusted to within an inch of their lives. But there are others in the castle who are not so lucky.

Balinor is her first, chief suspect - she knows that he and Uther only grudgingly got on, and suspects that he and the dragon lords were in on it. She gets them all killed, imprisons Kilgarrah but Balinor escapes with Gaius' help. Nimueh convinces Ygraine not to go after him, saying that he would be completely gone now and won't return again.

Balinor and Hunith are married, have Merlin and then have a little girl called Ganieda about ten years later - she's just a little younger than Mordred.

The priestesses are targeted next because Ygraine thinks they are jealous that Nimueh chose her. Nimueh has to then choose between her sisters and between staying alive at Ygraine's side.

She chooses the latter and spends the next two decades growing to hate Ygraine with her whole heart for what she's doing to her people but also loving her for the person she was before. She constantly wants revenge but also wants to make sure that those she loves who are still protected stay alive.

Vivienne dies giving birth to Morgause, and Nimueh uses this as an excuse to leave the court. She visits Gorlois to help with the girls, promising to take them in if anything happens to him, and then goes to return back to the castle after a few months, as much as she hates it.

Eventually, something does happen to Gorlois, and when Morgana is 12 and Morgause 8 (and Arthur 10), the two girls come to live in the castle too.

Anyway, time rolls ever onward and Merlin is sent to the castle. Balinor is against it but Hunith tells him that Merlin's magic is too much for either of them and that Gaius and Alice (and by extension, Nimueh) are his best shot at learning to control the aspects of his magic that are just not within their knowledge.

Arthur is slightly less obnoxious because there's not so much of being raised as a macho man's man - however he is a massive mummy's boy which counteracts whatever character development not being raised by Uther gave him.

Like the first episode, Merlin rescues Arthur from the vengeful mother and gets assigned as his manservant. Some of what happens in the first series happens with Nimueh trying to get revenge on Ygraine while not revealing herself and also without killing Ygraine because her feelings are complicated.

The plot obviously won't be the same as the show but it vaguely follows the plot where it can.

The end of season 1 is Nimueh's reveal that she's kinda evil and then it's Merlin attempting to keep Arthur alive while Nimueh and Ygraine go to increasing lengths to get at each other, using everything they can.

Arthur becomes king and works very hard to make magic a part of society again. With both Nimueh and Ygraine gone by that point, there's no real antagonist against his reign other than Political Tensions and so it's Arthur and his many good friends/knights/advisors creating the kingdom of Albion with Love and Friendship.

Here's a little snippet from what I've written so far - this fic is mostly a bunch of disconnected snippets so far, so this is one of those:

The funeral is three days later.

Bronwyn stands two paces back from Ygraine – crowned Queen at her wedding, yes, but crowned ruling Queen again at her husband’s death – as she always has, holding the baby prince while her own children stand somewhere near the back with their grandparents. Thank the goddess for magic and her mother’s patience with a needle, or else none of them would have had the appropriate clothes.

Thank the goddess (although Bronwyn would never dare utter the words aloud) that Uther was the only victim that day.

Bronwyn does not know what might have happened if Uther had been the one to go through this grief, nor what might have happened if Arthur had been left parentless, nor if Uther and Ygraine had lost the child they had sacrificed so much for.

The vipers who Uther had fought for the throne some five years ago would be circling again if the throne was left empty, if there wasn’t someone showing a strong face to the crowds. If there wasn’t someone doing the job that Ygraine was doing so beautifully and with such a grace.

Still, Bronwyn had been uncertain if they would have managed a crowning so soon.

It had taken a bit of cajoling by the excellent seamstress in the castle’s employ and a little bit of magic to get Ygraine looking as if she hadn’t been through a very traumatic birth a mere few days before, and Nimueh now stands closer to the Queen than even Bronwyn as her ever-present pillar of support.

There’s the ceremony, led by Geoffrey, where the King is laid in the crypt and Ygraine is given the crown of state.

She stands on that dais for a few breathless moments, cutting a striking image of dark grief and power against the red drapery, and then she descends, sweeping out in a flurry of fabrics and skirts.

Nimueh is at her arm, and Bronwyn can barely keep up with the two of them.

[medicus-mortem]

@chatcambrioleur answered [+]

Despite what many people seemed to think of her, there was very little that Nami didn't handle on her own, before joining the Straw Hats. She was forced to; after all, she didn't travel with any members of Arlong's crew. She preferred to be around them as little as possible, and she didn't 'do' sidekicks. That is, until a certain rubber boy showed up, and she became the sidekick.

Arlong had given her a dagger to handle unwanted attention; if anyone got too grabby with her, he said to use it without hesitation. He didn't give a damn if she killed; the captain likely would have preferred for his navigator to become as ruthless, as bloodthirsty, as he. Nami didn't use the dagger to draw blood, until she used it on herself one, fateful day in Arlong Park.

She had used it to threaten men, surely. Usually, the sight of a woman fighting back was more than enough to scare them away --- she could flail and kick, she could bite, and as a last resort, she would use that knife, to send them running. Seeing her as an unhinged liability, too much of a struggle to make it worth it, they would usually back off.

She didn't have that dagger now, but sometimes, she wished she did. Even with the protection of Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro, it would have been nice, to have something of agency, for herself. A way to defend herself, in case they weren't around. She had Zeus --- but sometimes, her weather powers weren't particularly convenient. Moments could be spent waiting for her clouds and lightning to conjure, while a man, ready to take what he pleased, would act within seconds.

With the Straw Hats nearby, and with Law, as well, Nami didn't feel much of a need to worry. She could sidle up to unsuspecting souls, desperate for a smile or a wink, and snatch a wallet without care. She would have to be hopping to another establishment before long, lest they all realize what they were missing --- but for now, she was having her fun, and getting a few drinks, on top of the beli she was snatching. That is, until one man got a little too pushy. There was always one, wasn't there? One who mistook her flighty flirting as something legitimate; hoping to catch the fly with honey. Honey she had no desire to taste.

She had been polite, at first. Almost ready to pull a 'my boyfriend is waiting' card. The man was already pulling her close, with his hands, wandering below her waist --- and Nami had been ready to call out for Sanji or Luffy. Before her mouth was open, Law was there. Stepping in, and defending her, and she hadn't even asked for him to do so.

The redhead's jaw slacked as she watched, the crack of the man's bone causing her to jolt. The sound of his head hitting the bar made her cringe, her shoulders tensing. Though she wouldn't deny, seeing such a fire from his actions made something flutter, deep within her stomach.

"Oh --- no. No, you don't ... need to ..."

She blinked away some of her awe, a hand landing on the surgeon's bicep.

"I think he's had enough. Uh --- thank you."

   Nami’s hand lands on his bicep, her words beseeching him to lay off. His jaw tightens for a moment, eyes staring at the navigator. Muscles flex under his shirt with his vicious urge to start stamping this dude’s face into indistinguishable slush but Law lets out a breath and shoves the desire away. Might just be going overboard a bit there with the protectiveness. This is enough. The guy certainly won’t be touching anyone for a while.

   “Don’t mention it,” he replies, turning his gaze back to the fool.

   The handsy scumbag is on the ground, whimpering and cradling his broken arm. Law takes a step closer and he scrambles back, the fear in his eyes meeting Law’s cold glare. He doesn’t get far before Law stoops down and grabs him by the collar. He hauls him to his feet with one hand and then nudges him back.

   “Get the fuck out of here,” he growls, waving the pathetic bastard off, and the guy does just that. Scampering off through the crowd of people, some of which have stopped to stare. Law turns his glare to them, gaze challenging before the club goers turn away to get back to their fun and their drinks. Law then relaxes his posture, shoulders once again hunched and hands getting shoved into his pockets.

   “Remind me to give you a couple lessons in martial combat later,” he says, turning back to Nami.

   He knows she’s good with a bo staff, the way she holds her clima-tact shows him that, but he has also noticed Nami isn’t the most combat focused. Maybe she doesn’t need to be because of her crew but Law is of the opinion that everyone on a ship needs to know how to fight. You never know what might happen. There might be a moment when she’s alone, when Straw Hat or any other fighter on her ship isn’t available. In those moments she’ll need to know how to break the hand of someone she doesn’t want touching her.

   “But for now,” he continues, already thinking ahead. If one person decided to take liberties with Nami others will too. Humanity is full of trash like that. “If you want an assist just make a hand gesture. I’ll see it.”

[puphoods]

@fullbloomtwyre wheee

their setting (that im currently calling "egress/regress") is a post apocalyptic setting- theyre about 3-5 years into a zombie apocalypse havent decided how long its been exactly yet.

COOPER is the "protagonist" of this story. hes a very mentally unwell man who, after several years of the apocalypse where he witnessed many of the people around him turn to violence and murder and theft and worse with no more rules to govern them, believes that much of humanity is beyond saving. he kills many of the people that come across the land he is living on unless he sees a reason to spare them. he also feeds them to zombies, because he sees them as a dangerous but ultimately amoral force of nature, which makes them more worthy of survival than the people he is killing.

ELLIOT lives nearby cooper on a small abandoned farm. they care for a few sheep they found wandering around thatd survived, and use their wool to trade for food and other resources with others nearby (such as dahlia). theyve survived so far by taking shelter with other strong people, and cooper is the most recent theyve met. they themselves have no interest in participating in any of the violence and destruction that many of those who are left are doing, but they have no real issue with it unless it affects them personally, and they would (and have) sided with people like that if it means they get a level of protection.

elliot is, to put it plainly, manipulating the hell out of cooper. they push him further and further to kill more people for less reason, because theyve become paranoid and believe that its better for them to try and eliminate any possible threat that could disrupt their current situation or potentially harm them. a lot of this paranoia comes from the fact that they have spent this time witnessing cooper kill people for reasons that are beyond anyone elses understanding a lot of the time. elliot thinks cooper is a very dangerous man, and thinks that hes a freak (perhaps true) and is waiting on him to pick a fight with someone he cant beat because they want to see him lose. cooper understands that elliot is sucking up to him and trying to get on his good side solely for protection and not because they agree with any of his ideals or because they are a good person- while he doesnt realise that theyre manipulating him in the way that they are, he does realise that they dont care much about what he does or why he does it, and knows that if it meant their own safety theyd gladly side with people who went against everything cooper stands for. he thinks its only a matter of time before they do something that they will deserve to die for.

they have, and i cant stress this enough, the most unhealthy and bad sex you could imagine