#the mad god's amulet

[retroillustrates]

Corum, Elric and Hawkmoon

[cookinary]

Buddy doodles cuz he's been on my mind lately

[ipusingularitae]

if i had a penny for each time i had a non-commitment emotional/romantic relationship with someone and they broke up whatever the fuck we had and started dating someone months later i would have two pennies, which isn't much but it's funny bc it happened twice

[thebubblesareevil]

I can’t find my post!!

I made a post awhile ago about a Percy Jackson x Danny phantom xover but I never read the books….

I’m about to finish blood of Olympus and now I have a starting line!!!

Same premise, Danny goes to camp half-blood (post boo) and no one can figure out whos kid he is and Percy is being held back by Annabeth before he charges to Olympus and chews out the gods for not claiming this whole ass 17 yr old.

Not only that but the kid refuses to believe he has a godly parent.

Nico keeps getting weird vibes from this guy, like he’s dead but not????

Meanwhile Danny is avoiding Rachel Dare like the plague and is getting increasingly annoyed by these assholes saying his parents lied to him.

Meanwhile clockwork is waiting for the perfect moment to strike. (He’s Danny’s ghost dad ever since his amulet fused with Danny’s core)

One night at dinner when EVERYONE decided to show up a glowing watch shines above Danny’s head.

Percy looks like he’s about to blow a geyser while Annabeth and Chiron are going through all their knowledge about the gods to figure out who tf it is.

because THAT wasn’t possible.

Meanwhile there’s no cabin for any time gods yet so he’s stuck in the Hermes cabin for a bit.

The next day after a rousing game of capture the flag that Danny spent trying to get ahold of the old stopwatch.

As everyone returns to camp there’s a giant commotion….caused by the giant cabin looming over the Zeus cabin with the Symbol of a watch at the top, and a glowing blue man reading a book.

Danny yells “Get down here you asshole!”

CW appears in front of Danny

“Please tell me I’m wrong” Danny groans

“About~~~” CW Grins looking towards Percy and Annabeth

“Well if it isn’t my favorite grandchildren! Thanks again for disposing of that old remnant, for some reason that old shell keeps reforming”

Chaos ensues

Clockwork (formerly chronos) offers Danny some popcorn.

(They thought he was a Hephaestus kid but it turns out he’s just a mad scientist)

[gxdsfavgal]

No Recollection

Pairing: Xavier Thorpe x Fem!Siren!reader

Warning: 18+ MDNI, smut, mention of siren powers, Xavier isn’t that obsessed with Wednesday here, language, fwb, Dom!Xavier, light spanking, piv, slight breeding kink?, reader is on birth control, not edited, not my best work

A/N: new obsession is Xavier Thorpe/Percy.. anyways this is my first Wednesday oneshot

-

-

Xavier has been in a mood all of today, everyone knows that Wednesday isn’t his date to the Rave’N anymore. I was going to ask him but Bianca beat me to it.

I have nothing against Bianca. Xavier and I were only friends with benefits before and after they dated. I actually was the one who introduced them to each other, that was a mistake.

Now here I am dressed in all white alone with everyone else, except Wednesday of course. She was doing some dance moves that I’ve never seen before, she caught everyones attention. She even caught mine even though I was nested by the punch bowl.

All of the sudden in the corner of my eye, I see Bianca push away her seat next to Xavier. I took that as my opening, I filled another cup with punch and walked over to where he sat.

“What’d you say to make her mad?” I questioned as I held out the cup of punch to his face, taking the seat where Bianca sat. He took the punch and kept his eyes focused on the girl dressed in all black.

“Asked her to make me forget about her” I knew he was talking about Wednesday, I rolled my eyes at it.

“Hmm I’ll do it.” I said monotonous. 

He turned around in his seat, his body facing me. “You’re joking. You’re not supposed to take off your amulet on campus.”

“Did you already forget that I’m never the type to listen to rules? But if you’re serious then I’ll do it.” I shrugged my shoulders.

He turned his head to look at Wednesday talking to her date Tyler. “Let’s get out of here.” he looked at me with tiredness in his eyes, he wasn’t doing good on hiding how much he hated parties.

“But, if we do this we are doing this under my conditions. Okay?” I held out my hand.

“Yeah yeah.” he gave me a soft smile as he shook my hand.

I didn’t let go of his hand, I stood up and pulled him up with me. I walked towards the exit of the dance, dragging his body behind me. Bianca scoffed and rolled her eyes when we passed by her.

“Where are we going?” he questioned.

“You’re room.” I chuckled.

“Why?” he said playfully as he pulled my arm back to him so I wasn't dragging him, now we’re walking next to each other. 

“What? If you want to forget then I can’t do my siren shit on you with Weems there.” I looked up at him. His body always towered over me even with the heels I’m wearing.

“Always looking out for us.” he whispered, thinking that I didn't hear him.

“Yeah, I was always a good look out whenever we would y’know.” I poked him in the side, earning a chuckle and a sarcastic middle finger. 

We finally reached his room. He quickly opened it and let me in before closing the door.

He quickly took off his blazer and shoes, leaving him in his button up and dress pants. He flopped on his bed while I struggled with taking off my heels. Once I got my heels off, I flopped onto the bed next to him.

“God I hated that.” I sighed out.

“I should’ve just stayed in” he dragged his hands over his face.

We laid in silence, almost falling asleep until I remembered by I brought him here.

“So do you want to forget?” I sat up leaning on my elbow, my other hand playing with my amulet on my neck.

“Don't use your powers, make me forget a different way.” his eyes were blown with lust. The color is gone from his eyes, it’s just filled with black. I knew this look, I have it engraved in my mind.

“Are you sure?” I asked. This seriously wasn't on my agenda for tonight.

He brought his hand to the back of my neck, his mouth fanning over my ear. My heartbeat hasn’t beat this fast in months.

“Make me forget.” he whispered into my ear, leaving a peck behind the shell of my ear. 

He laid back down and I immediately threw my leg over him, straddling his hips. My hands cradled his face as I brought my lips down to his. Our tongues danced together as my hips moved against his hips. His pants tight on him now, his zipper catching against my clothed clit.

I moaned into his mouth. “Fuck I missed this.” I whimpered out as I caught my breath.

“Take off that dress.” he huffed out. 

I hopped off of him and unzipped my dress while he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled off his pants. Both of us were standing half naked, I’m just in my bra and panties while he was just in his boxers.

He quickly walked over to me, his hand grabbing the back of my neck. He twisted me around and lightly pushed me agains the bed, forcing me onto my stomach.

His hand swatted my ass, the sting and impact making me groan into his bed sheet.

“Such a pretty ass” he lowered himself to leave kisses on the cheek he slapped, soothing it with his lips.

He stood back up, his body leaning against me as he peppered kisses along my back. His bulge pressed against me, I wiggled my hips to signal that I wanted more.

“C’mon Zay, fuck me already!” I whined out.

“Alright alright, always so eager.” his fingers circled around my clothed core. “God you’re so wet for me.”

He lowered his boxers that revealed his cock and that angry red tip. I turned my head to see that he used his hands to pump him before moving to my core. His fingers moved my thong out of the way.

His tip rubbed at my core, lubricating itself before sliding into me. There was a slight stretch from the girth.

He groaned at the feeling of me tight around him as he bottomed out. His pelvis warm against my ass. 

“Move” I told him.

He brought his hips back, leaving just the tip in me then he thrusted into me. He repeatedly did this. His hand weaving through my hair to get a good grip. He pulled on my hair as his hips pistoned in and out of me. The sound of skin slapping filled the room. 

“Oh fuck im gonna cu-” I tried my hardest to speak. 

He grunted with each movement.

“Fuck! you feel so good! Im gonna cum baby!” he never cared how loud we were.

“Cum in me baby” I forced out a mumble.

The feeling in my stomach tightened and his hips were stuttering.

“Right there baby” I clawed at his bed sheets.

His best was against my back while moved faster, trying to get both of us to that euphoria. His lips tickling the shell of my ear.

“Oh god!” I screamed into the sheets. He stilled inside of me as he groaned, his warm cum filling me. My body shook with sparks flying throughout my body.

Once we calmed down, he pulled out of me. The mixture of our cups dripped out of me which he quickly placed my thong back in place.

“Can’t let that leak out” he chuckled as he placed me higher up on the bed, laying down next to me and pulling the blanket over us.

“So… Wednesday huh?” I tried to make playful banter.

“Who’s Wednesday?” he chuckled as he pulled me into his body.

[intergalacticsouvenirs]

From Romans to Rectums: Thoughts on the Naming Convention in Mad Max

I think it’s fascinating how that meme about how often men think about the roman empire is materialized in the mad max world in different forms, but especially in their bastardized-latin naming convention. In my mind, it appears that post apocalyptic warlords were aware that modern society looked up to the roman empire, but they didn’t quite understand how the romans influenced us exactly. Nevertheless, the warlords (or their history men) did have access to niche knowledge such as ancient roman military strategy, enough to inspire the imperator and praetorian warrior position names. It’s as if the first history men did not keep any pre modern history on their skins, so they had to reduce the entire roman empire into fragments of ideals (for oral tradition). Such fragments of ideals would combine in weird ways to inspire these war-men to write the most beautifully grotesque poems that are their names.

In a world where words have more power, names are more than just biographical micro-poems, they are multi-used as tools as well. They could be guns pointed to your face like “People Eater” and “Toe-Cutter”, a quality seal of approval on a product like “Capable” and “Splendid”, an aggressive dog warning sign like “Furiosa” and “Mad Max”, and even a prayer amulet as in “Corpus Colossus”.

As a trend among warlords, a wacky wrestling stage name is a must for a strong branding. After all, the ferocious marketing of late capitalism and show business did not die with the atomic bomb, but rather thrived, mutated, and embraced nature, believe it or not. Darwin’s nature, not you tree-huggers’ nature.

The names of the two capable immortan brothers Rictus Erectus and Scabrous Scrotus reveal the real underlying obsession of all men: the penis. The penis is the axis mundi around which all revolves in the (mad max) world. But more than just about sex, the penis cult is about finding strength and courage in a hypermasculine god to mentally survive in a hypermasculine hell. In this context, the names of Immortan Joe's sons take on a deeper significance. Firstly, Rictus Erectus translates to something like grin and erection, as if Immortan Joe had hopped for a future full of pleasures for his son. It is also a very verbal wish for an offspring who can physically stand up by himself and for himself. Unlike his disabled brother Corpus Colossus, who received a magnificent name meaning body like a giant greek god statue, in fruitless hopes that his imperfections would also grow away. Scabrous Scrotus more explicitly describes a unique physical attribute, namely some scabby nuts. Scrotus could very well be a nickname, which would parallel ancient romans who would choose a cognomen (nickname) to be known by, like Caligula meaning “little boot”, Oedipus (greek) meaning “swollen foot”, and Verrucosus meaning “warty”, for example. Better would be if Joe had named his son after his own beat-up ballsack, in which case this ode to biological reproduction against the environment would be very on brand. I bet Darwin is grinning wide, in his coffin.

It is interesting to note that most people in the recent mad max world appear to be illiterate and uncultured, so most don’t even understand the meaning of these stupid Latin names, but just that they sound as important as they say they are. That means these men who have access to nuance are really “dressing up” for each other, like an internal joke with the bois. Three brothers named to sound like roman emperors, to rule over all the erected men, by his mighty phallus.

It goes to show how colossal and monumental… the roman empire was, that it would outlast even the best of modernity. And its shadow would still loom over humans like the mysterious milky way in the night sky.

It’s a shame that Miller’s hyper-poetry is not that accessible.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Austin Grossman’s ‘Fight Me’

On July 14, I'm giving the closing keynote for the fifteenth HACKERS ON PLANET EARTH, in QUEENS, NY. Happy Bastille Day! On July 20, I'm appearing in CHICAGO at Exile in Bookville.

In Fight Me, the novelist and game developer Austin Grossman uses aging ex-teen superheroes to weigh the legacy of Generation X, in a work that enrobes its savage critique with sweet melancholia, all under a coating of delicious snark:

http://www.austingrossman.com/fight-me

It is, in other words, a very Gen X kinda novel. Prodigy (AKA Alex Beekman) is a washed-up superhero. As a nerdy high-schooler, he was given super powers by a mysterious wizard (posing as a mediocre teacher), who gave him an amulet and a duty. Whenever Alex touches the amulet and speaks the word of power, reaclun (which he insists is not "nuclear" backwards) he transforms into Prodigy, a nigh-invulnerable, outrageously handsome living god who is impervious to bullets, runs a one-minute mile, and fights like a champ. Prodigy, he is told, has a destiny: to fight the ultimate evil when it emerges and save the world.

Now, Alex is 40, and it's been a decade since he retired both Prodigy and his Alex identity, moving into a kind of witness protection program the federal government set up for him. He poses as a mediocre university professor, living a lonely and unexceptional life.

But then, Alex is summoned back to the superhero lair he shared with his old squad, "The Newcomers," a long-vacant building that is one quarter Eero Saarinen, three quarters Mussolini. There, he is reunited with his estranged fellow ex-Newcomers, and sent on a new quest: to solve the riddle of the murder of the mysterious wizard who gave him his powers, so long ago.

The Newcomers – an amped-up ninja warrior, a supergenius whose future self keeps sending him encouragement and technical schematics backwards through time, and an exiled magical princess turned preppie supermodel – have spent more than a decade scattered to the winds. While some have fared better than Alex/Prodigy, none of them have lived up to their potential or realized the dreams that seemed so inevitable when they were world famous supers with an entourage of fellow powered teens who worshipped them as the planet's greatest heroes.

As they set out to solve the mystery, they are reunited and must take stock of who they are and how they got there (cue Talking Heads' "Once In a Lifetime"). With flashbacks, flashforwards, and often hilarious asides, Prodigy brings us up to speed on how supers fail, and what it's like to live as a failed super.

The publisher's strapline for this book is "The Avengers Meets the Breakfast Club," which is clever, but extremely wrong. The real comp for this book isn't "The Breakfast Club," it's "The Big Chill."

When I realized this, I got briefly mad, because I've only had two good movie high concept pitches in my life and one of them was "Gen X Big Chill." Rather than veterans of the Summer of 68 confronting the Reagan years, you could have veterans of the Battle of Seattle living through the Trump years. One would be on PeEP, one would be an insufferable Andrew Tate-quoting bitcoiner, one would be a redpilled reactionary with a genderqueer teen, one would be a squishy lib, one a firebreathing leftist, etc. The soundtrack would just be top 40 tracks from artists who have songs on "Schoolhouse Rock Rocks":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolhouse_Rock!_Rocks

Every generation has some way in which they seek to overthrow the status quo and build a new, allegedly better one, after all. "Big Chill"'s impact comes from its postmortem on a generation where it was easy to feel like you were riding destiny's rails to greatness thanks to the sheer size of the Boomer cohort and the postwar prosperity they lived through. A Gen X Big Chill would be a stocktaking of a generation that defined itself as a lost generation reared in the Boomers' shadows, armored against the looming corpo-climate apocalypse with the sword of irony and the shield of sincerity.

Which is basically what Grossman is doing here. What's more, doing this as a superhero story is a genius move – what could be a better metaphor for a teen's unrealistic certainty of destined greatness than a superhero? Superhero fantasies are irreducibly grandiose and unrealistic, but all the more beautiful and brave and compelling for it.

You know, like teens.

At 52, I'm a middle-aged Gen Xer. I've got two artificial hips and I just scheduled a double cataract surgery. My hairline is receding. I'm an alta kaker. But I wasn't always: I was a bright and promising kid, usually the youngest person in the room where we were planning big protests, ambitious digital art projects, or the future of science fiction. I had amazing friends: creative and funny and sweet, loyal and talented and just fun.

We're mostly doing okay (the ones that lived; fuck cancer and fuck heroin and fuck fentanyl). Some of us are doing pretty good. On a good day, I think I'm doing pretty good. I had a night in 2018 where I got to hang out, as a peer, with my favorite musician and my favorite novelist, both in the same evening. These were artists I'd all but worshipped as a teen. I remember looking at the two selfies I took than night and thinking, Man, if 15 year old me could see these, he'd say that it all worked out.

But you don't get to be 52 without having a long list of regrets and failures that your stupid brain is only too eager to show you a highlight reel from. No one gets to middle age without a haunting loss that is always trying to push its way to the fore in order to incinerate every triumph great and small and leave ashes behind.

That's why there's a "Big Chill" for every generation. Each one has its own specific character and meaning situated in history, but each one has to grapple with the double-edged sword of nostalgia. Not for nothing, John Hodgman (a bona fide Gen X icon) calls nostalgia "a toxic impulse."

Grossman really makes Fight Me work as a Gen X Big Chill. He's a great Gen X writer; his first novel, Soon I Will Be Invincible, was a knockout debut about superheroes and supervillains that had a very "The Boys" vibe, you know, that neat little move where you contend with the banal parts of a super's life and show how super powers don't make you a good person, or even a competent one.

His followup to Invincible came six years later. YOU is a coming-of-age story about the games industry with a second-person narrator (think "Zork"). Grossman is an accomplished game dev (Tomb Raider Legend, Deus X, Dishonored, etc), and he uses YOU to really plumb the depths of what games mean, what fun is, and how working on games isn't just work, it's often really shitty work, the opposite of fun:

https://memex.craphound.com/2013/04/16/austin-grossmans-you-brilliant-novel-plumbs-the-heroic-and-mystical-depths-of-gaming-and-simulation/

Grossman's last novel was Crooked, a very daffy alternate history in which Richard Nixon is a Cthulhoid sorcerer locked in a Lovecraftian battle of good and evil. This is a purely hilarious romp, wildly imaginative and deliciously certain to offend reactionary jerks:

https://memex.craphound.com/2015/08/26/austin-grossmans-crooked-the-awful-cthulhoid-truth-about-richard-nixon/

All those chops are on display in Fight Me: a book that covers its brooding with wisecracks, that spits out ten great gags per page even as it drives a knife into your heart. It's a great novel.

Fight Me doesn't come out in the US and Canada until tomorrow (it's been out in the UK, Australia, NZ, etc for more than a month). Normally, I would hold off on reviewing this until the on-sale date, but this is my last day on the blog for two weeks – I'm leaving on a family vacation early tomorrow morning. I'll see you on July 14!

Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/07/01/the-big-genx-chill/#im-super-thanks-for-asking

[not-my-final-account]

By the way, head cannon that Fright Knight speaks about himself in his head in third person when he feels more like a knight than a human/sentient so yeah.

-

Fright Knight accidentally adopts his King, emotionally at least. It wasn’t his fault! His king was bruised so he asked and he was getting bullied, and his parents didn’t do anything and they were ghost hunters who want to kill and study him! Fright Knight had never thought he would be co-parenting with ghost hunters, lucky he had a human form. With a bit of help from Clockwork and Pandora Fright Knight was know King Phantoms legal god father, he was claiming custody if King Phantoms parents found out he was Phantom and reacted negatively; honestly he probably should right now given how many expamples of neglect he already had, but King Phantom was happy. Now let Fright Knight explain how he got here:

Fright Knight is used to Pariah Dark who is no doubt abusive in one way or another. Fright Knight is used to not moving a hair when his king orders him to stop. Fright Knight is used to a horrible king with a cold heart that knows no bounds to its selfishness.

When King Phantom comes Fright Knight assumes it will be the same.

King Phantom is not the same. It takes a few months but Fright Knight realised that King Phantom veiws him as an equal. As a person not a servant. This only makes Fright Knight more loyal to him, he thinks he would stay with King Phantom even if he got dethroned. His king had a heart of gold that put others before itself, while this had gotten King Phantom into a lot of trouble Fright Knight dared say that… he liked the change.

He was so used to installing fear into the people he meets, or being the one scared in Pariah Darks case, that he was confused when King Phantom seemed to do neither. King Phantom even asked if he had eaten and then brought him something called a Nasty Burger when he said he had not (Fright Knight did not know why they were called ‘Nasty’ they tasted adequate).

King Phantom was so young, being King was not a burden he should be forced to carry! Fright Knight was shocked to realise how many burdens a literal infant (in ghost terms anyways) had been forced to carry. And King Phantom was a kind and fair ruler, perhaps too mercyful for his own good Fright Knight mused.

Fright Knight is forever loyal to his kind King and has grown to care for him outside of a knight wanting to protect the king. So when King Phantom walked into a small lair he had made in his castle, with bruises on the side of his face and arm, Fright Knight decided to find who did this and give them a little tap with his sword, anyone who would hurt King Phantom deserved the fear Fright Knight would install in them. “Who did this?” Fright Knight asked, King Phantom glanced up then to the bruises on his arm

“Oh this? Dash bullies me pretty much every day, he got a bad test score.” King Phantom mentioned. King Phantom had told Fright Knight to understand a situation before jumping to conclusions to stop potentially dangerous misunderstandings

“Why would you change his test score?” Fright Knight asked

“I didn’t. He just likes to take things out on me and got partically mad today, hit me with a tray then shoved me in a locker and got my late to class. It wasn’t my locker which was just plain annoying.” King Phantom said, Fright Knight picked up his sword

“Where does Dash live?” he asked.

“Fright Knight! I’ve told you not to kill -or trap on their worst fears- people, even if they’ve mean to me.” King Phantom said.

“Understood. I will not go after Dash.” Fright Knight said, King Phantom nodded happily and that made not hurting Dash worth it (for now). However there were other parts of King Phantoms sentance that set off alarms “Your parents don’t do anything?” Fright Knight asked, he shifted to his human form (the king had made and gifted him a small amulet that allowed this, for when Fright Knight needed to see or be with King Phantom but could not be seen as Fright Knight. He had dark skin, dreadlocked hair, tatoos down his arms and usually wore sweatpants with armour hidden underneath them and depending on the situation either a hoodie also with hidden armour or just a black singlet.) and sat down on the bed next to the king

“They don’t notice.” King Phantom said gloomily. Fright Knights eyes wet wide and glowed blue

“What?!” he asked

“Their busy hunting ghosts.” King Phantom explained

“Hunting ghosts- to help you?” I asked

“No. They’ve been ghost hunters for years before they had me. They want to capture me actually and ‘tear the ghost boy apart molecule by molecule’.” King Phantom said

“Any other family you stay with?” I asked hopefully

“Well you know how Jazz my sister is nice, but she can’t move out yet. And Vlad is my uncle-” King Phantom started

“My appologies for interupting but Plasmius is your uncle?!” I asked

“Yeah I know! He keeps scolding me about my grades while we’re fighting! He knows full well that inbetween Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom and King Phantom I barely have time to study!” King Phantom said, I was already planning out people to take over some less important kingly duties

“I am talking to your parents.” I announced as I stood up

“What?! No! The cousin excuse only works so many times and at least even if he looked like a ghost Dan is the same ethnicity-”

“I’m sorry, your parents care so little they don’t even realise that the people you brang home are not your cousins?” I asked in horror, King Phantom paused

“Well, yeah. When you put it that way it sounds bad.” he said. I walked out the door and through a portal, walking straight into the Fenton house and pretending to be a friendly out-of-towner with an intrest in ghost hunting looking for teachers and a place to stay. My name was going to be Frie Getgi Ver, pronounced Fry Get-gi ver so fright giver, if they didn’t notice that they were truely horrible parents.

Part 1 | Part 2 (not written yet)

[dantefreakdaaaa]

I loved your new Johnny Cage fic. Can I request a “hey I know we are fighting to save earth realm and I know we may all die, but I’m pregnant oops” fic? I love a family man Johnny Cage. Take all the liberties you want!

Johnny Cage x Pregnant! Reader

Fluff

Romantic

Reader is pregnant but no pronouns other than you/they are used

A/n: FOR THE PERSON THAT REQUEST ANXIOUS PREGNANT READER X WESKER IT IS BEING DONE. Angst has been kinda hard for me to write as of late but it'll probably be posted within the next few days. The next two days I will not be posting anything but after that I will get back to posting again. this also takes place around the shinnok fight in mkx.

---

The doors busted open and you, kenshi, and johnny all stepped through. Shinnok turned around with an angry scowl on his face, staring all three of you down.

"Oh, sorry ma'am. Didn't see ya there."

"miserable wretch! Insignificant spec of fecular scum! How dare you!" He stood on his feet, shooting a beam of energy at Kenshi and knocked him to the floor.

You fired rounds at him but he merely deflected them, acting as if it was nothing.

"You ready?" You looked up at johnny, smiling as you prepared to fight.

"As always." Rushing towards Shinnok you threw blow after blow at him, but he simply dodged them all. He kicked johnny in the stomach first before narrowly missing yours before kicking you again in the face. Sending you flying to the back wall, you laid there panicking as you watched the fight progress.

Shinnok didn't even have to look at johnny, dodging every single attack with one hand. Johnny only managed to get a single hit in before being lifted into the air, red energy surrounding him. Launched through the air, Johnny's back slammed into the hard walls of the chamber, groaning in pain.

Raiden and Fujin made a mad dash for the amulet, but a burst of energy knocked them away. Shinnok turned to you, staring down at your injured form. Energy shot straight at you, it felt like your life was being sucked out of you.

"They will be the first to join me."

Johnny dived in front of you, blocking you from Shinnoks powers. He was willing to sacrifice his life for you. He waited for the beam to hit him, his death would be inevitable after that. But instead of feeling overwhelming pain he felt little to nothing. A green glow surrounded him, giving him some kind of armor. Getting up off of the ground he looked down at himself before looking back up at Shinnok.

"I'm not sure what the hell that was, but I am sure of one thing. You don't even think of hurting them."

+++

After a long and grueling fight johnny wavered, unsure if he was going to be able to keep this up.

"Johnny cage! The amulet!" Raiden shouted from behind him. Looking down at the floor before looking at Shinnok, he kicked the amulet over to Raiden. Immediately, Raiden began to suck up the elder god, pulling him into the amulet. As soon as Johnny was sure that Shinnok was gone he rushed over to your side, holding you gently.

"Johnny...did you...?"

"We got him..." He smiled down at you, petting your hair with his head as he held you close to him

"good... I have something to tell you..."

"What's up?" Worry crossed his face, assuming the worst immediately. You sighed and smiled, staring up into his eyes.

"I'm pregnant..."

His jaw dropped, he stared down at you, confused and so excited. He hugged you so tight, burying his head into your shoulder as he rubbed your back.

"How long have you know?! And-"

"i've only known for a few days, i was planning on telling you sooner but I didn't want to freak you out like this before a mission. And I know we're in the middle of a war and everything but I don't think I could wait months to tell you." You chuckled and held him tight too, hugging him as close as you could.

"Wait but... if you knew, then why did you go on this mission?!" He started panicking, asking about why you would ever do something so reckless.

"I didn't want to jeopardize the mission. If I had risked us failing to capture Shinnok because I didn't come I'd hate myself for it."

"From now on, you're definitely not coming on missions. Don't wanna risk losing you or the kiddo." He gently rubbed your stomach, smiling as he thought of being a father

---

(HOPE YOU ENJOYED!2!2!#!)

[lopposting]

@accidentallyheartless

That's an interesting point about the workstation. It made me realize we do see this place here in the opening cutscene. hmm.. And Geppetto being involved in Carlo's death in that way might have fuelled his regret in that kind of engulfing madness that made him the monster he was. [Tbh though, I don't think he was a good person to begin with, even pre-timeline]

@ahhlito

You mean the loading screen, right? [unless I missed some other word-of-God confirmation about Carlo] I know that's what the game tells us - but I and some others in the fanbase have doubts about the truthfulness of that particular screen, given what we see in the sand memories; even though, logically he must have had the disease because we have his Ergo. Basically, I'm wondering if he had the disease, but ultimately died maybe due to the blood loss from losing an arm or some other kind of attack. I'll try to explain my reasoning for that the best I can in another post

Some of braveheart's post here:

IT’S NOT!!! It directly contradicts what the game tells you in the story!! Your memories show Carlo on the ground with the Stalker over him wishing she had arrived sooner. If it was the disease? Then she would have been no help, so why regret not being there? 

And for the nameless puppet, it is a bit odd. my thoughts are that Geppetto doesn't see the nameless as Carlo either, and therefore doesn't bother ("Were you going to destroy Carlo's heart?" instead of "Your heart"). Also that maybe it did originally look more like Carlo, but without enough Ergo to properly preserve it, decayed over time, forcing Geppetto to replace large chunks of it.

Perhaps it shows how dead-set Geppetto was on going through with his plan with the arm of god and the frenzy, because why maintain the puppet at all when Carlo could be revived anyway? [which he does in one of the endings]

And I think, "narratively" [I don't think I'm using that word right lol], it shows how desperately Geppetto is clinging to the past, the literal corpse of his son, even as it's falling apart in his arms. The guy who brought upon a new age, Krat's new dawn of technological advancement - can't seem to move forward

@ideas-on-paper

[I LOVE reading discussion about this game] 

I remember someone somewhere pointing out that when the strings are cut, the first “human” thing nameless puppet does is grab its head like it’s in pain :O [I can’t remember where i read that im sorry ahhh] 

and also what’s really crazy about that theory is that the piercing hatred amulet tells us

"If this puppet could feel only one emotion, it would be hatred."

IF.

They could’ve just easily told us whether or not the puppet could FEEL, being the game and all

but instead they choose to say. “We don’t know”

[also PS: omg i HAVE to watch evangelion. i've been meaning to watch it for YEARS. but also. like actually. im too scared]

[retroillustrates]

Gem buds 2

[bitchface24-7]

For @whatam-i-evendoinganymore since they were super sweet and asked for more ❤️❤️

Continuation of my post with Dean having long hair, and Sammy loving it

THERE IS GOING TO BE SMUT

DON’T LIKE - DON’T READ

——————

Sam almost can’t handle it. They’re in buttfuck no where, Maine. Dads fucked off on a hunt and left Sam and Dean in a little cabin in the woods, it’s about a twenty minute drive before they reach civilization again. It feels like 1000° outside; and Dean is prettier than ever.

The only upside is the little cabin has functional clean water, a medium sized box TV, and a very old A/C unit that tends to spit out hot air more than cool. It’s better than nothing. Because of this, Dean has made it a habit to walk around the cabin in just jeans, slung low on his hips. Sam feels like he’s looking at a Greek god every time he sneaks a glance toward his older brother.

He’s still wearing his amulet, his watch, and his ring. But other than that; Sam’s getting a free peep show. There’s one thing that makes this wet-dream of a scenario even more enticing. Deans hair has gotten quite long. It’s almost long enough to tie it up in a small, pathetic ponytail.

Dean looks heavenly. He’s sporting a golden tan, his freckles have become even more visible, and his hair has naturally been bleached lighter due to the sun. His sandy brown hair now has some natural highlights to it.

Sam feels like a creep, a perv, and a freak. He shouldn’t have these thoughts about his brother. It’s wrong. It’s sinful. It’s nasty. It feels so good.

It’s like living with a model. Dean is incredibly beautiful, and only four years older than Sam. That’s not the end of the world… right?

(Ignoring the fact they’re brothers)

But Sam isn’t beautiful like Dean. Sam feels like he’s a scrawny 14 year old. He’s tall. Almost, if not a few inches taller than Dean. He’s lean, but that’s about it. He doesn’t have the magnetic pull Dean does.

Luckily for Sam, it’s summer. So there’s no school, and he can stare at Dean as much as he’d like to. Sam is almost always in fantasy land. He wants to climb his brother like a tree, he wants to scratch, bite, pull, and kiss his brother senseless.

It’s awful, it’s invigorating, it’s madness. Sam can’t help but want more. Sam wants to worship his brother, show him that he’s better than all the girls Dean flirts with and fucks. Sam wants Dean all to himself.

And Sam knows exactly what to do to make that happen.

——————

Dean feels like he’s losing his mind. It’s like Sammy walked out of one of Deans favourite skin mags. He’s all long legs, coy looks, and Dean has no idea where Sam keeps getting these red suckers from.

Dean exasperatedly runs a hand through his longer than normal hair and grunts in frustration. This sucks. Deans not gonna lie, the hair looks nice on him, but it’s such a pain in the ass. His heads too hot, it tickles his eyes and forehead; making it impossible to work on anything. But Sammy lightly gasps whenever Dean runs a hand through his hair, so… Dean’ll suck it up.

And here Sammy is, all sprawled out on the old couch. His shorts are an old pair of jeans Sammy massacred, they used to be decent, but with how quickly he’s growing; they’ve become indecent very quickly. He’s also wearing a cropped white t-shirt that Dean swears used to be his; the tear in the collar is on the same spot. The shirts so old and used it’s basically sheer; Dean can see Sammy’s nipples through it easily. And Sammy’s going at it on a red sucker. His lips are purses, plump, and shiny with red coloured spit.

Dean wants to grab Sam, leave imprints on his tiny, slutty waist. He wants to bite him, tease him, kiss him, and hold him. But Dean can’t do that. So he does the next best thing.

He finds a girl to hook up with.

——————

Sam wants to scream. All his looks, all his obvious shows of giving his strawberry lollipops a blowjob. Stealing one of Deans shirts and cropping it until his navel and waist is constantly exposed.

All for NOTHING!

Dean ran out of the cabin as if it was on fire, putting his boots and t-shirt on, snagging baby’s keys and booking it out the door. Sam barely even got any time to get up off the couch before Dean had vanished.

Sam honestly wants to cry.

He may cry a bit.

Then he’ll jack-off vigorously to one of the porno’s left behind, get a few good orgasms out, and go to bed.

The visual stimulus helps a bit. Sammy’s got a very good imagination, but sometimes it’s difficult to dream up the certain scenarios he wants. So he’ll put porn on in the background for the sounds.

Sam ate some left over pasta for dinner, cleaned up the small cabin as best he could, and went over to the old TV and rustled through a basket off to the side to see what goodies there was. Sam had one specific tag in mind.

He wanted the main focus to be oral.

He scoured the pile until he found a tape that looked promising, popped it in the player, and let his imagination run wild.

He’s not even paying attention if the pairing is a gay or straight one, he just needs the sounds. The gulping, gasping, wet, needy sounds. He has his own movie in his head.

Instead of booking it out the cabin, Dean reciprocated his looks. He bit his lip, he checked Sam out in return, he subtly shifted his boner in the pocket of his jeans because Sam was just too pretty for Dean.

He’s intensely watching Sam obscenely suck on his lollipops and smirks saying he’s got something Sam can suck on…

Before Sam knows it, he’s ripped his shorts off, spat on his hand, and is giving himself one hell of a handjob. Sam’s eyes flutter due to the intense pleasure. Sweetly whining out Deans name, for more.

What Sam didn’t expect was for Dean to come back.

Sam’s so lost in pleasure he doesn’t even hear the front door of the cabin opening. He doesn’t see Deans astonished face, he doesn’t see Deans eyes darken at the sight of his baby brother slutting it out, he doesn’t see Deans cock harden. He doesn’t see Dean slowly and quietly walk until he’s in front of him, covering the TV.

But Sam does feel his presence. Sam slowly opens his heavy eyelids and gasps in shock at the sight of his big brother in front of him. A predator looking at their prey. Their next meal.

“Dean! It’s not… it’s not what it looks like!” Sam pleads, his voice cracking and eyes filling with tears. Oh god. Deans gonna be disgusted, he’s gonna leave him. He’ll never see Dean again because he couldn’t keep his disgusting feelings at bay.

But Dean just quirks an eyebrow, smirks and continues to look down at Sammy, “So you’re not getting your rocks off by watching porn and imagining it was us?”

“Ok… so it is what it looks like.” Sam all but sighs despondently.

Dean licks his lips, before slowly pulling his bottom lip in with one of his canines, “That’s hot Sammy.” Sam near gets whiplash at how fast he whipped his head to look at Dean. There’s no disgust, no teasing, no hatred. Just a heated look directly focused on Sam.

“I… I thought you’d find me disgusting. Brothers aren’t supposed to think of each other in that way. It’s wrong.” Sam mumbles, hiding his dick as best he can with his hands.

“Why do you think I left huh?” Dean questions. Before Sam can attempt a reply, Dean continues on, “Because I wanted to pin you down on this couch, rip that stupid sucker out of your mouth, and plow you into next year.”

Sam openly gapes at that comment. Dean wants to… with him? Really?! Sam damn near blinds Dean with the grin he beams his way.

“Why’d you come back then?” Sam questions, an eyebrow quirked at his older brother. Dean sighs and runs both hands down his face, “Honestly, I forgot my wallet. Also, I had a gut-feeling to be here.” Sam laughs at the look on Deans face. It’s flushed both in arousal and embarrassment. It’s a good look.

Dean growls a bit at the laugh, and Sam smartens up at that sound. He knows better than to antagonize his brother; especially right now.

Sam knows how to make it up to him though.

Sam slowly uncovers himself, smiling coyly up at Dean as he slowly drags his hands up Dean’s thighs. Ignoring the bulge, he slips his hands under Deans t-shirt; groping the muscle there, “Wanna know what I was imagining De?”

Dean gulps lightly at Sam’s actions. How does his brother, his Sammy know how to be so slutty? Dean looks down at the magnificent picture Sammy makes. His hairs mused, his skin is flushed, his hazel eyes are more pools of black than brown and green. His cock is long, and hard. A rosy flush on the tip as it bobs and leaks precum. It’s a good size for a 14 year old. It’ll be massive when Sam grows up even more.

“Yeah,” Dean eventually gets out, clearing his throat due to how gruff his voice sounded, “tell me Sammy. I wanna know what was getting your rocks off.”

Sam bites his lip and brings his hands back down to Deans waistband, slowly unbuckling his belt. Popping open his jeans button and unzipping his pants, “I was imagining sucking your cock. Worshipping every inch of your body. Eventually you fuck me silly; molding my ass to the shape of your cock. No one else will be able to satisfy me like you do.”

Dean groans at the picture Sammy is painting. It’s obscene. It’s hot. It’s perfect. It’s as if Sam jumped into Deans head and found every kink Dean loves to use against him. Dean whips his shirt off; he’s getting overheated now.

Sam pulls Deans jeans and boxers down, appreciating his brothers happy trail before getting his prize. Deans cock is beautiful, just like the rest of him. It’s big, thick, and heavy in Sam’s hands. The tip is flushed so dark Sam would say it’s more maroon than pink. Luckily for Sam, Dean trims his pubes; so it’s more like a well taken care of lawn rather than a jungle.

Sam feels his mouth water. It’s better than any fantasy. It’s real. It’s his.

Before Dean can even make a snarky quip to hurry up, Sam sticks his tongue out and drags it across the head of Deans dick. It’s salty, a bit bitter but undeniably Dean. Sam pops the head in his mouth like a sucker and gets to work.

It’s almost too big, but Sam loves it. He loves the overwhelming size and smell. Dean’s invading every one of his senses; Sam couldn’t be more turned on.

Dean moans at the feeling, flexing his ass as he runs a hand through Sammy’s hair. It feels too good; the taboo amplifying the feelings. Sammy looks so pretty with his plump pink lips stretched out around Deans cock. His eyes sparkling, his face flushed. Sam gets lower and lower on Deans dick; his nose eventually brushing up against his pubes.

Deans panting, this is the best damn blowjob he’s ever had, “Sammy— Sammy, can I fuck your face?” Sam just nods. Holy fuck his baby brother is perfect.

“If it becomes too much, hit my thigh okay?” Sam just rolls his eyes and hits Deans thigh to prove he’s listening. Dean chuckles at Sammy’s attitude before slowly pumping his hips.

The amount of saliva Sam has produced makes the slide smooth. It’s wet, filthy, and feels fucking phenomenal.

“Yeah, you like that don’t you? You like being a massive slut for your big brother. That’s it Sammy. You’re doing so fucking good.” Dean states, as his hips go faster and faster, effectively fucking his little brothers face.

Sam moans obscenely around Dean’s dick. Holy fuck he may cum untouched at this rate. The dominance Dean is exuding is turning Sam’s mind to goo. Sam is unintentionally rutting into the air. Dean notices.

“You gonna cum untouched baby? You gonna cum just from having your brother fuck your throat? You really are a slut. But you’re my slut, right Sammy? Only for me?”

Sam damn near sobs at the onslaught of pleasure he’s receiving. Yes. I am your slut. Only yours. Please cum down my throat. I need it. The rutting continues on for what feels like hours, the panting, the groaning, the wet slaps. Eventually Deans rhythm falters. He’s gonna cum soon.

Dean does with a loud moan, shoving Sam’s face into his crotch. His dick fully encompassed in Sam’s throat. At the feeling of being used, being perfect for Dean; Sam cums untouched. The sticky mess splattering all across his taut tummy.

Dean eventually let’s go of Sam’s head and signs in content. That. Was. Awesome. Sam looks debauched. His face is red, wet with tears. His eyes are glassy and his hairs fucked. Time to take care of Sammy.

But Dean sees the mess of cum on Sam’s stomach and groans. Holy fuck Sam came untouched. Dean smiles at his younger brother as he tucks himself back into his jeans.

“Lay down Sammy. I’m gonna get a wet washcloth and clean you up okay? I’ll be right back.” Dean states as he manoeuvres Sammy into the position he wants. Sammy just complies, his mind still goo.

Dean quickly comes back and cleans Sam up with a warm, damp cloth. Redressing him and putting him on top of Dean to lay on his chest, running his fingers through dark hair.

“You did good Sammy. The best damn blowjob I’ve ever had.” Dean praises. Sam lights up.

“Really?”

“Really.”

The two just continue to cuddle on the couch before passing out. The TV forgotten as the porno finished damn near an hour ago.

They have a long conversation to do in the morning, but for now; the two enjoy the afterglow.

[bleakbittersoul]

Bright out of context

Most of these are sent by me in rp some are sent by some awesome people in the server, and I think only one is from the wiki? Thanks for the help from @reddiamondgamer and @jack-of-amulets for their contributions to this list!

"The fear of spiders is kinda misogynistic."

"I think you'd be much more attractive if you ever got rabies"

"Could you in theory make yourself into jam for me?"

"How is it my fault you can't read minds?"

"Great now I'm thinking about dissections and formaldehyde and now I'm hungry"

"being meguca is suffering…"

"Where is your bathroom? I think I'd like to slam my head against a wall in private"

"This water is chunky"

"I only drink diet water"

"Have you ever gotten mad so you put a fork in someone's microwave and then irish goodbyed?"

"Water on toast"

"If you don't marry me I'm going to start collecting more of your DNA to do unethical science with."

"So if I wanted an audio clip of you meowing you'd do that for me?"

"I know what you're referring to. I don't enjoy fake animal ears. Skin an animal. Wear it's ears. Stop being afraid of commitment."

"I want to lick your eyelid."

"I like your eyes. When I first saw you I wanted to ask if I could keep them when you die but that would have been inappropriate and thankfully I don't have to worry about that. But they are lovely and I do want a bigger collection."

Screaming to wake Clef up and then trying to play it off as if he had a nightmare.

"Scientists don't get bullied enough anymore " after implying some people were baby talking an anomaly.

"I want to peel your face off and eat it it's so cute."

" I once possessed this really attractive girl and then got a job at a Walmart and started relentlessly flirting with you every time you went to Walmart to see if you would cheat on me but you never did"

"I wouldn't mind sucking on your wet hair."

"What if we kissed in the 1996 Teletubbies set "

"I want to scratch your head with my teeth."

"I like waltzes. I also like music that makes me feel like poisoning myself and or others as of right now."

"IT'S NOT A THROW PILLOW UNTIL SOMEONE GETS KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT WITH IT!"

"I'm going to lick your bones."

"I want your warm skin."

"I'll remove part of your intestine and eat it while you watch."

"I WANT TO CHEW ON YOUR FACE!"

"YURRR"

"Uhhuhuhuhuhuh" (like an angry shaken pug fly thing)

"Eyes, aren't right. They need to be improved."

"I don't have the energy to cry hysterically or resurrect you if you die. I'd still do it but it would be significantly less dramatic than it should be."

Heard their partner say "My chest is open for you to lay on" but only heard "My chest is open for you" and immediately assumed he meant for dissection. And when corrected Bright said "You're drawing a line on our love?"

"I like eyes. I have some."

"I don't mean that your eyes are pretty in a collectable kind of way they look good alive and on you…"

“…Don’t you just violently HATE having body parts?”

"My life fucking sucks because they… dont let me play with grenade launcher "

"GOD, FUCKING. BITCH! BECOME A WATERMELON." pause "[INSERT SEVERAL MORE EXPLETIVES]"

"I have two of your teeth. One bloody, one…normal"

“…We should kill MORE children!”

"I WANT THE GRAVESTONE! DO YOU WANT MY TOE TAG?"

[Dr. Bright shows signs of agitation, swearing in several different languages, and throwing equipment about the room.]

"If you ever leave me I'm robbing your fucking grave. And I don't mean that in a normal way. I would be after your organs."

"Oh skin"

"Okay to be fair I've seen screaming trees"

"WHY DO YOU HATE MY HAMSTER!?? WHY DO YOU HATE IT'S EYES??? IT HAS NORMAL EYES!!!"

“Can someone get me a shovel? I just murdered the gender binary and I need it to hide the body.”

"Human life or not I'd eat it."

"You'd make a cute poison victim"

"If I made you hot chocolate, I would make it with love and I wouldn't poison it at all"

"I fucking love carcasses. That's why I love meat, it's like edible taxidermy"

"Would you still love me if whenever someone got hurt in a breach or someone got hurt or people get into a fight I would say and that's how it feels to chew five gum and then look away as if I'm looking at a Camara like a character in the office."

"One heart? ONE HEART?! WHAT AM I YOUR GRANDMOTHER? SOME EASILY APPEASED SIDE PIECE???"

"I want to touch you with my bones."

"Okay, well when you feel better I'll go lick a bathroom doorknob so you can repay the favor."

"Would you still love me if I didn't believe in toothbrushes?"

"You've never had your house set on fire before and it shows…"

"Are you often covered in blood. I've been covered in blood a few times. Interesting feeling isn't it? Almost primal."

"Cute color pattern. Was the theme bio hazard?"

"I'm being haunted by myself right now"

“sorry for going through the entire spectrum of human emotions in the past 10 minutes…. do you still like me? ”

"It's yellow and I wanted to think of something other than piss when I look at it. So egg. Piss egg for the piss baby."

in his most demonic voice "I'M FROM…. NEBRASKA…."

Bright: You know I once made a table set disappear.

Clef:… Did you steal it.

Bright through evil manic laughter: Yes

[thecreaturecodex]

Dream Lord, Manus

"Artorias vs Manus" © twitter user Max58Art, accessed at The Art of Video Games here

[Sponsored by Soluman Blevins. Manus is the Bonus Boss of Dark Souls, whose lore is deeply woven into the game but can only be fought in an expansion. In universe, his title is Father of the Abyss, but the Abyss in Dark Souls and the Abyss in D&D/Pathfinder are two very different things. So I struggled for a while of where to put him. As a nascent demon lord? As a Great Old One? I finally decided on Dream Lord, a category of my own invention, which at this point is made up of demigods from video games whose lore and magic systems do not intersect nicely with any form of Pathfinder canon. The Plateau of Leng seems like a reasonable place for the litany of nightmares From Software creates.]

Dream Lord, Manus CR 25 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This creature is vaguely humanoid, but its form has clearly been warped and distorted past the point of caricature. His head is small, with a leering demonic face and a set of antlers. His shoulders are enormous, and multiple sets of rib-like appendages grow from his shoulders and along his upper back, studded with luminous red eyes. His right arm is proportional and carries a staff with a scythe-like blade. His left arm is as thick as his torso, ending in a massive hairy paw with spikes on the underside of the fingers. Shaggy fur, or perhaps simply ribbons of gray-black skin, coat his thighs and a long, lashing tail.

Father of the Chasm, God of Primal Darkness, the Dark Soul CE male Dream Lord of loss, negative energy and obsession Domains Chaos, Darkness, Evil, Madness Subdomains Entropy, Insanity, Loss, Shadow Worshipers denizens of Leng, hoarders, stalkers, vampires Minions mutants, nightshades, shadows, sorrowsworn Unholy Symbol An oversized hand Favored Weapon ogre hook Obedience in complete darkness, spend one hour cutting, whipping or otherwise tearing your skin while meditating on an object or a person you once had in your life but have lost. Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws versus positive or negative energy. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed Boons 1: darkness 2/day; 2: enervation 2/day; 3: harm 2/day

Manus is a nightmarish beast of darkness, an infection that seeks to cause the horrors of Leng to overrun the Waking World. He was also once a man. The original Manus was a powerful magic user, according to his cult the first mortal to manipulate negative energy. Although his methods were cruel and his goals covetous, he was considered a great hero by his people and was buried with high honors. When his grave was robbed, however, his pendant was stolen from it. The pendant was broken, and whatever magic it contained had long seeped out of it, but Manus’ obsessive desire to reclaim his property caused his soul and memory to go wild, transforming into a creature of pure nightmare. Manus’ mausoleum is now the heart of the Chasm of the Abyss, a demiplane coterminous between Leng and the Material Plane, and it is here where the Father of the Chasm resides.

Manus wants things. His broken pendant most of all. His cultists sweep the planes searching for this relic, and whatever they find instead, they offer as tribute. Manus’ lair contains piles and piles of valuables, the riches of a dozen realities and a thousand kingdoms, and he cares for none of it except his amulet. Of course, it is the nature of his madness that if Manus ever retrieved his broken pendant, he would certainly find a new indignity to focus on and object or person to obsess over. He also collects hostages, although he rarely exchanges them and more often warps them into mutants or madmen through his very presence. Manus’ worshipers are as obsessive as he is, and his faith is attractive to stalkers, hoarders, social climbers and other people with warped and envious desires.

Combat is one of the few things that allows Manus to forget his pain and obsessions, and tends to attack first and ask questions of the corpses of his victims later. Although he is a powerful spellcaster, he usually leads with his physical attacks. He uses his channel negative energy ability to empower the Manus Catalyst, his signature hooked staff. Against multiple opponents, he tries to spread his attacks out, enjoying the suffering he causes before finishing them off with a mighty swat of his grotesquely hypertrophied hand. He usually doesn’t use his signature supernatural attack, in which he fires globes of cold and negative energy at his enemies, until reduced to below half hit points. Manus has not needed to flee a combat for thousands of years, and his arrogance and obsession is likely to lead him to fight to the death.

Manus Catalyst (minor artifact) Slot none; Aura strong necromancy; CL 21st; Weight 20 lbs. The Manus Catalyst is Manus’ signature weapon. It is a Large +1 unholy brilliant energy ogre hook that acts as a void scythe for the purposes of channeling negative energy and consuming the bodies of those it kills. The wielder can activate its brilliant energy property or dismiss it on command. A creature that holds the Manus Catalyst gains a +2 to the save DC of all spells and spell-like abilities that it uses of the necromancy school.

Manus CR 25 XP 1,640,000 CE Huge outsider (chaos, evil, extraplanar) Init +10; Senses blindsense 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +42, see in darkness Aura lost humanity (240 ft.)

Defense AC 43, touch 23, flat-footed 37(-2 size, +6 Dex, +9 deflection, +20 natural) hp 585 (30d10+420); regeneration 20 (lawful) Fort +24, Ref +23, Will +26 DR 20/lawful and epic; Immune bleed, charm, compulsion, cold, death effects, disease, poison, sleep; Resist electricity 20; SR 36 Defensive Abilities fortification (50%), freedom of movement, negative energy affinity, shield of dreams

Offense Speed 50 ft. Melee Manus Catalyst +45/+40/+35/+30 (2d8+19/19-20 x3 plus 2d6 unholy), slam +46 (4d8+36), gore +41 (2d8+9), tail slap +41 (1d12+9) or slam +46 (4d8+36), gore +46 (2d8+18), tail slap +41 (1d12+9) Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks awesome strike, channel negative energy (10d6, DC 34, 14/day), dark orb barrage, frenzy (30 rounds/day), oversized arm, profane channeling Spell-like Abilities CL 25th, concentration +34 Constant—freedom of movement, tongues At will—arcane sight, call spirit (DC 24), confusion (DC 23), deeper darkness, enervation, inflict critical wounds (DC 25), psychic reading, unhallow 3/day—blasphemy (DC 26), finger of death (DC 28), greater dispel magic, quickened harm (DC 27), hungry darkness, insanity (DC 26) 1/day—curse of night, divide mind, energy drain (DC 30), gate (to Plateau of Leng, Chasm of the Abyss or Material Plane only), summon (1 advanced nightcrawler, 100%, 9th level), wail of the banshee (DC 30)

Statistics Str 46, Dex 23, Con 39, Int 24, Wis 29, Cha 28 Base Atk +30; CMB +52 (+54 bull rush, overrun); CMD 77 (79 vs. bull rush, overrun) Feats Awesome Blow, Blind Fight, Charge Through, Combat Reflexes, Extra Channel, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (ogre hook), Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Improved Vital Strike, Lucid Dreamer (B), Power Attack, Quicken SLA (harm), Stand Still, Vital Strike Skills Appraise +40, Climb +48, Intimidate +39, Knowledge (arcana, planes, religion) +40, Knowledge (dungeoneering, history) +37, Perception +50, Sense Motive +42, Spellcraft +40, Stealth +39, Survival +39; Racial Modifiers +8 Perception,+8 Stealth Languages Aklo, Common, Necril, Shadowtongue, tongues

Ecology Environment underground (Chasm of the Abyss) Organization unique Treasure triple standard

Special Abilities Aura of Lost Humanity (Su) Any humanoid that spends 24 hours within 240 feet of Manus must make a Fortitude save or gain the mutant template. The save DC starts at 10, then increases by +2 every day until it reaches its maximum DC, 34. If a creature is transformed in this fashion, it must make a Will save at the same DC or become chaotic evil in alignment. The save DC is Charisma based. Awesome Strike (Ex) When Manus uses makes a single attack using his Vital Strike chain of feats, he may make a combat maneuver as if using Awesome Blow if it hits with this attack. Channel Energy (Su) Manus can channel negative energy as if he were a 20th level cleric. He does not gain other cleric class abilities, such as spells or domains. Dark Orb Barrage (Su) As a standard action, Manus can fire a barrage of orbs of destructive darkness. Manus makes a single ranged touch attack against all creatures in a 60 foot cone. A creature struck takes 25d6 points of damage, half of which is cold and half is negative energy. A creature struck by a dark orb must succeed a DC 34 Fortitude save or be blinded for 1d4+1 rounds. This save DC is Charisma based. Manus can use this ability at will, but must wait 1d4 rounds between uses. Dream Lord Traits (Ex/Su) Manus is a dream lord, a powerful outsider native to the Dimension of Dreams. Dream lords gain the following abilities:

Immune to charm, compulsion, disease, poison and sleep effects

Immune to one energy type and resistance to another two energy types. Instead of being one of his resistances, Manus is immune to bleed and death effects.

A dream lord’s natural weapons, and any weapon it wields, count as chaotic and magical for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction

Occult (Ex) A dream lord gains Lucid Dreamer as a bonus feat, and can use  occult skill unlocks even if it lacks other psychic magic

Shield of Dreams (Su) A dream lord adds its Charisma modifier as a deflection bonus to its AC and CMD

Summon (Sp) Once per day, a dream lord can summon a CR 19 or lower encounter of thematically appropriate monsters.

Dream lords can grant spells to worshipers as detailed in their divine information. A worshiper can gain boons from performing an obedience to a dream lord, as per the Deific Obedience feat, but the boons granted are simple, appearing as a 2nd, 4th and 6th level spell usable as a spell-like ability twice per day.

Frenzy (Su) Manus can act as if under a haste spell for a number of rounds a day equal to his Hit Dice. Activating or ending this ability is a free action. Oversized Arm (Ex) Manus’ left arm always makes slam attacks as a primary natural weapon, even when Manus is wielding manufactured weapons. He deals twice his Strength modifier to damage with his slam attack. Manus’ slam deals bludgeoning and piercing damage. Profane Channeling (Su) Whenever Manus uses his channel negative energy, he can choose to do so as a swift action, to maximize the damage dealt (or healed), or double the area of the effect. Manus can choose only one of these enhancements at a time.

[blueiscoool]

Roman Legionary Medallion with Satyr and Phalluses Ca. 100-300 AD

A bronze circular plaque with a stud to the reverse and an obverse decorated with a depiction of an upper body of Satyr, with his bearded face, pair of horns, muscular torso, and an erect penis. In the place where the arms should be, there are rings to which the phallic pendants are attached. From the lower edge of the plaque, a further suspension loop protrudes and is hung with a bronze amulet of fist and phallus, featuring a hand in manus fica gesture to the left and phallus to the right, and in the center a realistic depiction of phallus and testicles. Satyrs were companions of the ancient Greek god Dionysus (the Romans 'Bacchus'), the god of wine, fertility, ritual madness, theater, and religious ecstasy. The upper half of their body was human, the lower half animal.

L:125mm / W:75mm ; 500g.

[shallowseeker]

Aw, look. They have matching fatalisms.

Dean (about fighting Lucifer)

Cas (about fighting Lucifer)

Also, this episode is so cute that Cas assumes the best about his resurrection. We the audience may be feeling disturbed, but Cas's first instinct is faith in something higher:

(It won't be until Raphael suggests otherwise that Cas feels the first glimmer of the negative possibilities.)

//

Cas's fatalism isn't all about the failure of humans, I don't believe. As we'll see in s6, it's also the trauma of being murdered so easily by Raphael, after eons of loyalty and military service.

And this is tough on Dean too, because at a time when "invincible Cas" with and "unshakeable faith" might soothe Dean's newest vulnerability, Cas doesn't have much of his own faith to share. There's a lot of matching fatalism, as it were.

Even though he showed up to save them at the castle, Cas is angry and disillusioned right out of the gate.

Dean, Bobby, AND Cas are all feeling its effects. Cas is disillusioned with Heaven, with humans and their weakness; he's maybe afraid of his own weakness, Dean is spiraling because Sam sucks, and Bobby is newly disabled. What a mess!

But Dean and Bobby and Cas all manage to crack me up, because Bobby after telling Cas to shove his "I'm sorry" up his ass, is now saying this:

Hilarious, coming from the dude who was the first cranky old man in the whole damn scene.

///

CAS: Great all I'm saying is we NEED god to kick Lucifer's ass, so now gimme your fucking necklace

And just like that, symbolically another of John's "duties" is passing to Cas. This was a gift meant FOR John. It was trust passed from Bobby to Sam, then from Sam to Dean, and now the trust is passing from Dean to Cas.

Later, when Cas completely loses faith in God, his nihilism will spiral all the way down, to Cas throwing the amulet away, to Dean throwing the amulet away too.

And I don't have a clear idea of it, but there's something interesting I can't put to words... in Dean telling Cas not to lose the good-luck talisman. Something about how Heaven lost the Michael sword and about Cas hiding the Michael sword.

Idk, I just feel like this whole exchange of emblematic of Dean and Cas's dwindling hope and faith and their mutual disillusionment with the world.

They get really mad at each other and disillusioned with each other... and yet wind up supporting each other anyway.

And then Sam, still at the kids' table somehow, digging the hope out of the rubble. Dean sacrificed and sacrifices his own happiness in the name of familial duty, and Cas does the same. Sam definitely has moments of his own nihilism, but his hopefulness is definitely one of his more endearing qualities.