#this guy is big creepy

[blackjackkent]

So...talked to some goblins and an ogre at the Absolutist camp on the edge of the Shadowlands. Everyone here is being chill to us bc they think we are True Souls; Hector isn't saying anything one way or another but just letting them assume whatever they like for now.

This fellow, Kansif, who is remarkably plainspoken for an Absolute cultist, says that they are waiting for someone to bring "the lyre." Hector inquired what he meant...and apparently it's an instrument that Minthara, the drow general back at the corrupted Selune temple with all the goblins, always carries on her person. Kansif says it is to be used to summon a guide who can bring them all safely through the shadows to Moonrise Tower.

...I definitely looted Minthara and I don't think I recall a lyre, and it's entirely possible that I looted it and sold it without giving it a second thought. Which is concerning. It's certainly not in the backpack I am using to store plot-related items.

I did, however, early on send some musical instruments back to camp storage, and one of them is this:

Which is labeled with the orange color often applied to quest items.

...And picking it up, the quest journal immediately updated! Hell yeah!

(Actually the very weird thing here is that I actually have two of these in camp storage. Not sure where I got the other one from. :thonk:)

"Pluck a tune," Kansif says, "and our guide will come scuttling."

Oh boy, a performance check. Hector has not had to do many of these; he is not exactly the theatrical type, nor is he much good at it.

He barely passed the check with help from Thaumaturgy and Guidance. The cutscene made it sound very nice but I tend to think this song in Hector's hands is pretty middling at best.

But it worked!

There is a low, scuttling hiss in the darkness around them, the sound of many legs clickclacking over the rocks. A half-whispered voice.

"Yesss...I hear them, your majesty. Calling us. Their god and their guide, together..."

A form coalesces out of the mist.

A man's body...mostly, but from the waist down the form of an enormous, wriggling spider. Grey skin, white hair, and far too many eyes, his skin pockmarked with them, making his face seem to undulate as he speaks and they all blink in sequence.

Hector stares, frozen in the act of lowering the lyre, as the creature approaches. What in the name of all the gods is this thing. Another cultist? A creature of the shadowy curse around them? Something else altogether?

It wields a torch glowing with white light, not flame - a Moonlantern such as the one they found broken on Nere's body - and does seem to drive back the darkness as it moves into the camp. But that image is quite at odds with the horror its body presents.

"Someone pinch me, please," he hears Gale whisper. "I'd really love to wake up from this nightmare."

Kansif, the orc, takes a slight step forward, clearing his throat uneasily. "Greetings, in the Absolute's name. You have been charged with... guiding us..." His voice trails off into unsteady silence as the creature ignores him completely.

"New flesh for you, my queen," it murmurs pensively, seemingly speaking to someone they cannot see. "But...who are they?"

Kansif looks at Hector and shrugs. "Best introduce yourself," he mutters. "Perhaps he'll listen to a True Soul."

Hector doesn't like that much, given that his status as a True Soul is a masquerade at best and an easily destroyed lie at worst. But there's nothing else for it, so he squares his shoulders and takes a step towards this abomination. He is aware of the soft, everpresent heat of Karlach's presence behind him, moving up to his side, and it steadies him enough to meet the creature's gaze without flinching.

"And you..." The creature's voice is a hiss, like a snake, like a fiend. "What are you?" It sounds more idly curious than anything, like a child examining a new toy it does not understand.

"More faithful of the Absolute," Kansif says gruffly, gesturing from Hector to his companions. "They need a guide to the Tower, same as us."

The creature's face wriggles with the blinking of all its eyes at once, and then pain stabs into Hector's temple.

Narrator: Your minds connect, and you hear a whispered voice. The Absolute? Or just the echoes of his fractured mind, reverberating in the dark?

"Ahhh...a True Soul..." The creature seems pleased with what it found within Hector's mind, the squirm of the tadpole reaching out to its own kind. A smile stretches its face, turning its already horrifying visage even more unsettling, and it lets out a hoarse, breathless giggle. "You have more worshippers every day, majesty..."

It leans forward, all its eyes coming to rest on Hector's, until their faces are so close that he can feel its hot, stinking breath on his cheek.

"Yes..." it murmurs. "Yes, they'll do...nicely..." It gives a slow, resonant chuckle and then draws back.

It is, perhaps, a mark of how much Hector has been through that he stands his ground here. The first day after the nautiloid landed, he is quite sure he might have been unable to prevent the horror and panic from taking hold; he would have run, run until he was far from that terrible place. But he has already seen horrors, and he is not alone in looking back at them. He has friends beside him. And despite the revulsion coursing through him, he stands steadily. He does not run.

"So you're the guide?" he asks, his voice tightly controlled. "How do you survive out there?"

The creature smiles again, a strange beatific expression that doesn't match the moment at all. "We have our queen's favor," it whispers. "She speaks to us. Protects us. Graces us with Her blessing."

"And Her magic lamp," one of the goblins puts in with a cackle.

The smile drops from the creature's face. "They are jealous of Your gift, Majesty. But You gave it to us. And we always keep it close."

Hector tips his head to one side. He has come to find that giving over to his curiosity in the more awful moments of this adventure can help keep him from dwelling on the fear, and this is no different. "Can I examine your lantern?" he asks, in his most polite voice. "Surely the Absolute wouldn't mind?"

"No!" the creature snarls. "Our queen gave it to *us*." It sneers down at Hector disdainfully. "If they wish to walk through the darkness alone, they are welcome to."

Hector flinches. "I apologize," he mutters. "I didn't mean any offense."

"Good," Kansif says brusquely. "Now are we ready to depart?"

Hector glances at the others, waits for them all to nod (albeit all unhappily) before he nods himself. "Yes. Lead on."

The spider creature smiles again, a strange mockery of those on holy quest that Hector has seen back in the world of light. "Bless us again, Majesty," it keens, raising its lantern high above its head. "Shine your light. Protect us!"

It turns and begins to move off into the darkness. "Come. Follow and stay close. Do not leave the light. Do not feed the shadows."

[liauditore]

i forgot what his ingame name was and had to scrub thru a bunch of videos looking for him like a cryptid and i think that's incredibly joe hills of him

[tobytost]

dear sea, swallow me

[teddybearty]

Was doing a random challenge where I complied all of the cartoons / anime I’ve watched and drew one character from each! 💕

Out of the list of 200 shows, I did 24!

[seriousbrat]

btw why is wilkes always left out of slytherin skittles/death eater gang stuff. he's one of the people mentioned by sirius as being friends with snape and we know nothing about him other than he died, meaning he's fully projectable and unlike the lestranges he could actually have been at school with Sev and the others.

[taldigi]

What makes the dynamic between Joker and Maruki so tragic? I mean, other than Maruki being one of the few adults Joker trusted only to betray him?

I mean, that's kind of it, isn't it?

Joker and the phantom thieves whole m/o might be "getting back at shitty adults" but their kindness and heroism never once stopped at kids. From random momentos missions to your confidants, its all about proving their justice and seeking to save others from opressive authority.

But so rarely has an adult come so honestly and kindly to Joker than Maruki had. At the point in the story he's introduced in- Joker doesn't have anyone but his friends. Even Sojiro is still cold twards him and your other adult confidants are skeptical or distant still. His parents having to give him up and the cruelty of police burns bright in his mind still.

And here comes the doctor. He comes in with patience, and kindness, and generosity- and offers him a choice to sit at his table and share or not share. He is genuinely interested in what Joker has to say and values his input. Joker, who's words and claims and actions have been consistently met with threats, retaliation, or venom.

Maruki is one of the few adults that trusts and believes in joker from the start, and even up to and the end he always respected and cared about Joker- up to the end he always gave him the choice. There was nothing stopping him from snapping his fingers and making it all go away. Nothing stopping him from applying his sleeping beauty fate, except mutual respect and desire to have Joker see things his way.

He wants him to make a choice and he's wanting to make that choice in his direction. But he never took it away from him- and he met him and his ideals in battle. Thats the crazy thing about him is that.. everything came from empathy and love and a deep desire to protect people from pain he's felt before.

And Joker considers it, he falters, he agrees- because he wants the same thing Maruki does.. happiness, safety. You think it doesn't break his heart to see Haru and Futaba's parents back in the picture? To see his best friends happy- a Shiho without having to suffer from her experience or his best friend able to chase his dreams without pain?

But it goes against everything Joker believes in- what the phantoms believe in. They killed a god for that exact reason. But maruki is a man- a man with flaws. A man Joker is willing to almost get himself killed for as they hang off a crumbling palace, and a man he's willing to accept a ride from after all the shit he's done.. and let him guide him to the next destination in his life.

Man maruki fukin.. ugh fans face and ugly sobs

[wyllaztopia]

sorry if this was already asked, but do you draw oc requests?

you're free to drop any requests [just not nsfw or illegal] in my inbox any time but no promises <3 i just look thru inbox requests and do them whenever i can

[iamshmolphrog]

representation, babey

[feralpurple]

I'm not much of a baker but my family wanted to decorate sugar cookies for Easter so you know I HAD to make at least one of Jack Horner 👉👈

[beaft]

my BG3 character has developed such a strong personality that he keeps trying to break out of the game and make himself into the main character of an original story, which I am attempting to discourage, because God knows I do not need another WIP on my hands. I'll just draw pictures of him instead

[clickerflight]

Clove: Part 25 - The Procession

The story keeps getting away from me. Someone help :( (I do have a plan and this story will come to an end. This Arc just came out of nowhere and surprised me. I swear everyone gets a happy ending!)

Masterlist - Part 24

Content: Vampire whumpee, fae whumpers, intimate whumpers, creeeeeeepy whumpers, insinuations of dub con, bruises, choking, fae politics, dehumanization

..................................................

There seemed to be no end to the strange outfits Benny could suggest to Ephraim. Ephraim wanted to keep it simple since they would be walking for a long ways into the distance to get to Jokel’s body, but Benny insisted he would need to wear something nicer since the fae left behind would be preparing a banquet and they would need to attend that as soon as they got back. 

So, Ephraim got dressed in darker colors than he would normally wear, deep greens that Benny said made his hair and eyes show more, but Ephraim just felt out of place. He decided he would accept a cape this time, if only to help hide how absurdly low the collar dipped in the back and only wore the bare minimum when it came to jewelry. 

Now, he walked at the back of the procession, just ahead of the real place of honor. The floating carriage that the Monarch rode in silent behind him. 

He and Benny had been placed with the Monarch’s consorts, who were all making a racket as they tried to out titter and tsk each other. 

“What are they doing?” Ephraim finally whispered to Benny when he couldn’t take it any longer. 

“The procession is where you find out what status you hold with the Monarch,” Benny replied quietly. “That means that everyone is lined up very near their rivals who they’ve been trying to best for years. They’re trying to show that they won’t back down this time and are trying to scare others into holding their position instead of trying to move up in the ranks. It’s pretty well known that if you hold, you will lose your position as someone overtakes you.”

Ephraim frowned. “This isn’t about Jokel’s death then, is it.”

Benny shook his head. “No. Almost all events are an excuse for fae to try and rise in the ranks or at least push their rivals farther down.”

Ephraim wrinkled his nose, looking back at the fae. The loudest ones were in the middle, while the ones closer to the two vampires, and thus in higher positions, were more serene. Serene might not be the word for it. They seemed to be vindictively enjoying the way the other fae were on the verge of fighting each other. 

The particularly loud ones were three fae, two females and Kortops, all vying for positions and trying to trick the others into switching with them in the middle. Sometimes, they would become distracted as some of the lesser consorts made a noise or did something to attract their attention, and then the three would descend on them instead of each other. 

“Ha! Look, Orphea,” Kortops called. “I think Liam here will be taking your place shortly.”

Liam, a fae with fins and gills delicately arranged around his face, ducked his head. “Oh no, Orphea. I’ve still got a ways to go before I’m a threat to you. I-”

Kortops grinned sharply at Liam’s discomfort and the offense on his rival's face when he had suggested she would be usurped. “That’s not what you were saying at breakfast. Didn’t I hear you making plans with Yvonne here that you would help her rise above me if you could take Orphea’s place?”

Liam’s face burned as Yvonne scoffed. “You’re terrible, Kortops,” she proclaimed. “You know I was just leading him on.”

That only seemed to increase Liam’s shame, and just as Ephraim was starting to feel a little too bad for the fae, his darting eyes landed not on him, but on Benny. 

“I don’t know why you are bothering me. If you wanted to get closer with the queen, why don’t you speak with her pet husband?”

The consorts, including the previously quiet ones, all turned their sharp eyes on Benny. 

“Now we’re in for it,” Benny commented to Ephraim, though there was an easy smile on his face, carefully practiced to show his double set of fangs. 

“Now, now, Liam. You know that if Kortops wants to get to Benny, he’d have to get past us,” one of the fae said sweetly. Ephraim couldn’t tell exactly what gender the two closest were, though it looked like the two of them were twins with golden colored feathered wings and beautiful human looking teeth, their eyes covered with blindfolds that he assumed did not hinder them in the slightest. If he didn’t know any better and had seen them out of context, Ephraim would have assumed they were angels. 

They slowed their walk, coming to stand on either side of Benny, separating him from Ephraim as Ephraim backed off a little. He definitely did not want to be touched by fae right now. 

Benny didn’t seem to have such qualms, allowing the one with a lighter tint to their feathers to cup his face, running a thumb over his cheek. Ephraim saw Benny’s eyes glaze over and the other angel-like fae pressed into Benny’s side, and arm around to support him and help his slowing steps to keep up, running a hand over his chest and opening his shirt further. 

Ephraim growled low in his throat, but there was nothing he could really do. He tried to recite the rules of being a Guest in his mind as the lighter of the two looked back at Kortops. “Well? Would you like to try, dear? How about you, Yvonne?”

Yvonne cleared her throat nervously. “Oh, no Polyps. I do not wish to presume,” but there was a hunger in her eyes. Ephraim could see that Kortops was considering it, but they were all surprised as Liam stepped forward to the challenge. 

“Oh, brave,” Polyps’s sibling said, tilting their head. 

“Polyps, Illesis? May I approach?” Liam asked, shooting a smug look at the other three consorts who were slack jawed with shock. 

“If you dare, little one,” Polyps said with a brilliant smile. 

“I like him,” Illesis commented as Liam did so, hesitating slightly like he didn’t quite know what to do. He took Benny’s hand, Benny slowly focusing on Liam. 

Liam grinned, all sharp teeth before quickly biting Benny’s arm.

Benny yelped and it was like the other fae smelled blood in the water as the consorts swarmed Benny, reaching and grabbing as Ephraim cried out. 

He grabbed fae and threw them back and to the ground, scratching at others with his fingers, and punching some right in the face, but being very careful not to bite them. He’d learned his lesson last time. 

He grabbed Liam by the front of his frilled shirt and headbutted him so hard that Liam’s sensitive gills and frills broke in places, bleeding profusely as he fell back on his butt gasping in pain. 

Ephraim didn’t hesitate when he got to Polyps and Illesis, shoving them off of Benny and slugging one of them in the throat when he saw the grip they had on Benny’s. 

He caught Benny before he could fall, tucking his fledgling under his arm and baring his fangs at the fae who all seemed gobsmacked at the beat down they’d all just taken. It had been a long time since Ephraim had fought regularly, but the adrenaline was familiar in his blood and his hands ached almost comfortingly. That was all he could remember of the wars and gladiator rings he’d taken part of in a long distant part of his life before he had his garden and cottage in Quiet Brook. 

He felt something bump into his back that stopped as soon as it had, and looked back to realize the Monarch’s carriage had come to a stop because he was standing in the way. 

There was a sudden hush and injured consorts tried their best to stand up and wipe blood off their faces as the door opened. 

The monarch stepped out, dressed in something that looked like she had turned a white waterlily upside down and put it on. 

She looked over the group, her pupil-less eyes landing finally on Ephraim. Before the vampire could say a word, Polyps spoke up. “Your highness, he has broken the rules of the Guest. Please let me have him!”

Ephraim felt a shiver run down his spine. He absolutely could not end up with one of these fae consorts. 

“Your Highness,” Ephraim said, making sure that Benny was on his way back to the world of the living before letting him go to lean against the carriage so Ephraim could get down on one knee. The fae were dramatic right? The Monarch liked dramatics? He could be dramatic. “If I may, I would like to speak.”

The Monarch was suitably amused and said, “Very well. Speak your piece, father-in-law.”

“I was afraid they would hurt your husband, my Monarch,” Ephraim said, deciding to lay it on thick. She seemed like she liked it over the top. “Fae wounds do not heal quickly unlike other wounds we as vampires can receive. I did not want him too damaged to serve you.”

Ephraim felt like gagging on the words, but tried not to let that stop him. He tried to imagine something like a chair instead. Anything but Benny so he could say the words. 

The Monarch brushed past him to get to Benny, who’s pained eyes faded back to dull adoration as she ran sharp fingers through his hair. “That is true. I would very much like him to serve me tonight. Thank you, father-in-law. You may stand.”

Ephraim did so, shaking a little at the insinuation, but while it seemed he just needed to be more entertaining than the consorts to get away with things, he couldn’t go directly against the queen unless he wanted to be in the same position. He had a pup to think about, after all. Oh, he could not wait to get back and hold Hyrum close and make sure he was safe. Ephraim only hoped that he wouldn’t cry too openly. He didn’t want to scare Hyrum.

“My husband will join me in my carriage,” she announced with a smile. “Dear father-in-law, why don’t you go to the front of the procession and lead them, mm? I want to be sure that it was the sorcerer that killed Jokel and not something else like a loose troll or harpy. I trust you to be sure.”

Ephraim nodded, eyes lingering on Benny’s forming bruises and small gashes. “I can do that, your majesty.”

“Good,” she said warmly, and Ephraim forced himself to turn, skirting around the consorts who were scowling at him. All except for one. Kortops was watching him without any injury and with some interest. Kortops hadn’t been one of the ones to rush forward to harm Benjamin, now that Ephraim thought about it. Why was that? Was he trying to get in Ephraim’s good books? 

Kortops simply nodded, a knowing smile on his face. 

Well, if Kortops was planning on using Ephraim’s connection to the Monarch as Benny’s sire and as the Monarch’s guest to rise in the ranks, that was something Ephraim could use in turn to get out of here a bit quicker. He would need allies in the court if he wanted to get Benny out of this place. 

And Ephraim knew for a fact that he couldn’t leave Benny here. 

Still thinking hard, Ephraim jogged up the procession line to be the first to reach the body, planning how his next meeting with the Monarch should go to garner more favor to stay ahead of the now furious consorts. 

Part 26

Clove Taglist: @wolfeyedwitch @the-blind-one-speaks @whumpsday @extrabitterbrain @inkkswhumpandstuff 

@honeycollectswhump @whump-blog-reblogs @pigeonwhumps @mj-or-say10 @percy-frayer 

@currentlyinthesprial @scoundrelwithboba @whumps-and-bumps @hellodecisionparalysis

[yellowocaballero]

Please read "the s-classes i raised" for insane women. :D

Yesss!! That's the only other work in the male oriented OP gamer genre I've read! :D

Fully agree that the insane women are great. I love the hip teen who can snap you like a twig, cool girlboss guild leader who can snap you like a twig, and terrible yet entertaining person who can snap you like a twig. We have such a good diversity of women that I'd even forgive a love interest at this point.

It is genuinely a very cute work. A good palate cleanser for everything else. Definitely a reaction to Solo Leveling, since it is the exact opposite of Solo Leveling in every conceivable way while still having identical worldbuilding. The first chapter surprised me when it depicted just a warm and sincere and meaningful "I love you!" between two men, and that energy is maintained. It's actioney but sweet. The MC does not start out as Your Literal Mother and then transform into a badass who can beat anybody up - he says as Your Literal Mother, becomes very good at being Your Literal Mother, brainwashes you a bit?, and as a result in the moments when somebody kidnaps his cat and he does go apeshit, it's very satisfying. Very much more proof that a good supporting cast is everything.

It is funny to read this sweet and pretty straight-forward character-wise work and then immediately open up orv to read a chapter straight of kdj going absolutely insane and manipulating the Greek pantheon to steal a godhood. And you're like ah. orv is...really another level. Of insane. It is not normal behavior. I'm putting it next to Animorphs as a work that is genuinely uncrossover-able.

Obviously, I have a better version in my head. I would have tweaked a few things. I especially liked the idea of making Big Bro and Lil Bro estranged because of more than just...super shitty communication. Have them actually estranged because they have bad habits, they can be ugly to each other, they can get on each other's nerves. Have the gap be created naturally and have the fame and demon contract prevent a bridge from ever being built again. Genuine sibling shit. Give Big Bro MC actual regrets for how he treated him.

I would have the Yandere thing be new. Because in the new universe his brother is lowkey brainwashed into loving him simply and unconditionally and prettily - no more messiness, no more rough edges hurting each other. MC is no longer a person and is instead an abstract idea of perfection. And it's pretty easy to cut off the vague ideal of a brother's arm or dehumanize him. And it would involve MC realizing that he would have rather had the messiness and hurt and sharp edges than the perfection.

[omgafhsfanin2024]

It's him!! The guy with the inconsistent design!!! (I'm bored as fuck)

I'm still not done with the redesign I have no idea what to do with her clothes

[boydykepdf]

look at my thrift haul boy

[beastren]

it's implied that miquella was acting as st. trina in the period of time where he was using his body/blood to feed the haligtree, and that stopped when he was taken by mohg.... i'm almost like.... i wonder if st.trina was his way of trying to do what ranni did and sever his own more spiritual existence from his cursed empyrean flesh....

since he was banking on his youth/abundance to keep watering the tree forever it's safe to assume he might've had really big plans for what he wanted to do as st. trina.... i saw a theory comparing the haligtree to the world tree in berserk that links the spirit and physical realms i wonder if that means anything abt his st. trina alter ego being able to cross over.... again thinking abt him wanting the eclipse for the same reason to bring back godwyn's soul (if only to have him die a proper death) and ofc the theories of st. trina being a tool miquella used for the goal of locating godwyn's soul in the first place

the haligtree almost looks like it's attempting to double helix like the world tree, and in the shadow of the erdtree teaser image there seems to be two trees, (one likely the erdtree) forming a double helix.... the other tree looks severely blighted. there's something to be said abt a dark tree overtaking one which is symbolic of the sun- golden, shining, life-giving- and a solar eclipse.... much to think about

and lastly going back to his potentially endless font of blood he was using to water the haligtree.... mohg has so much to do with blood and in cut content malenia says something about the someone selfishly bleeding miquella dry (implied to be the player and in a much different content; likely the blood would've been a consumable item?) .... it leads me to two questions.... did mohg take him just for his blood? and, how much of the blood at mohgwyn could be miquella's....

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

There are 4 2010s cartoon villains i know of with the horned animal skull aesthetic and 5 2010s cartoon villains i know of with the big horns and glowing eyes in general. I love that shit the design fucks so hard. Does anyone have more examples im starting a collection