#and my fire lizard thing has faded

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Fallout of Darkness Pets

Because, well, there’s one animal companion in the game that everyone loves (which very much includes Victor), and that sometimes prompts me to think of what other animals I would like to have share Victor’s, Alice’s, and their companion’s lives:

-->Obviously, pet numero uno is said animal companion everyone loves -- good old Dogmeat! Victor instantly felt a bond with the dog when he met the pooch at the Red Rocket, and he credits Dogmeat (along with Codsworth and later Preston) for helping him get through his earliest days in the Commonwealth -- particularly with helping him set up the Red Rocket as a new sort of “home base” for himself (and showing him how best to kill mole rats), and giving him a paw with the Concord raiders. I haven’t traveled much with Dogmeat in the actual game, but they’ve been on a few adventures together, and Dogmeat has a nice home in the Red Rocket with a dog bed for snoozing. :) He’s just a good fluffy boy for Victor to come home to and relax with.

-->Second up, we have Mutt, the Wounded Mongrel! I ran across this random encounter by the Red Rocket in Lexington in one of my earlier attempts at a playthrough (before I started modding), and simply fell in love with the sweet little wounded dog. She’s just so friendly, and always seems happy to see you when she pops up again! In my current playthrough, I met her while she was being assaulted by a raider under the bridge that runs by Starlight Drive-In. D: Victor promptly shotgunned the asshole in the face. >D It genuinely makes me sad that you can’t adopt the friendly mongrel after you help her in vanilla FO4 -- I mean, you can buy other dogs from traders, why can’t she come home with you? :(

But the modders are doing the work! May I introduce you to the Recruit The Wounded Dog mod by LarannKiar! :D It adds a miscellaneous recruitment quest to adopt Mutt (or Sparky, or Buttface, depending on which name you picked) and gives her a set location by Thicket Excavations so she can be easily picked up. I just recently got her settled in at the Red Rocket by Sanctuary with Dogmeat. :D

Now, in the actual Fallout of Darkness verse, Victor would save her from the raider by Starlight, then she’d just stay by Victor’s side after he stimpacks her and makes sure her leg is better. Once he realizes the dog has basically adopted him, he ends up taking her home with him to the Red Rocket. Dogmeat is initially a bit growly, but after a bit of scolding from Victor (”be nice! This one HASN’T tried to rip my throat out!”) and some cautious sniffing, they settle their differences and end up friends. She’s called “Mutt” because I chose the “what’s your name” option that just auto-named her “Mutt” the first time I met her, and the name’s stuck in my head -- I’m thinking Victor just refers to her as “the mutt” for a bit when he’s not sure if she’s gonna stick around or not, and it just morphs into her name.

-->Thirdly, we have Kit-Kat, a random cat from the Commonwealth! This one has a bit of a story behind it: after Alice “joins the party” and mentions being a cat person, Victor suggests she should try to find a pet, but Alice says most animals find her off-putting (and indeed, Dogmeat and Mutt are kinda nervous around her until they get used to her vampire vibe -- fortunately, traveling around with Victor means she’s got some of his scent clinging to her, which helps). Victor, feeling a bit bad, occasionally tries to lure stray cats over to her, but most of them either start getting aggressive or just flee --

And then, one day out exploring on his own, Victor comes across a brown cat with a lighter stripe up its nose, who promptly starts bothering him for a lift. Victor lets the cat climb up onto his shoulders and takes it home with him, where Alice is reading a book.

The cat, the moment Victor gets close, jumps into her lap and curls up without a second thought.

It soon becomes apparent that this cat’s deal is that it is not bothered by anything. The cat gives no shits -- sharing a house with two dogs? Owners occasionally fighting mole rats? One of the people giving him (as it is revealed to be a tom) pets is a vampire? Fuck it, as long as there’s a warm place to sleep and food in the bowl, the cat does not care. Alice is thrilled and happily adopts him, initially just calling him “kitty cat” before shortening that to what becomes his actual name, Kit-Kat. (No, not named after the candy, though he is the right color -- I’ve actually decided, just for silliness purposes, that while something similar to Kit-Kats exists in the Fallout universe, they’re actually called “Snap-Backs” and the advertising campaign was about eating the candy to come up with snappy comebacks to stupid questions.)

-->And now, an interlude with me and my brain:

My Brain: [grinning at me]

Me: What do you want now?

My Brain: I noticed you were thinking about potential pets for Fallout of Darkness!Victor and Alice.

Me: Ah, I think I see where this is going -- sorry, but honestly, I’ve gone a little off fire lizards after learning more about the Pern books in general. Some of them are really --

My Brain: I wasn’t talking about fire lizards.

Me: ???

My Brain: I was talking about Dougie.

Me: Dou -- wait. My stuffed toy? The “Faust” dragon from Douglas Toys? That Dougie?

My Brain: His crest could glow when he’s about to breathe fire!

Me: Hang on, I’m pretty sure Fallout 76 established that if this universe has dragons, they’re Scorchbeasts -- those mutated bats you gotta blow up in West Virginia because of how dangerous they are.

My Brain: There could be multiple mutations that result in dragon-like creatures! I mean, if you can get Deathclaws from a type of chameleon. . .

Me: Okay, I will give you that. But I have no idea how I’d fit him into the story currently (unlike Smiler) so can you content yourself with mental fanart for the moment?

My Brain: Acceptable.

So yeah, uh, small-but-nonzero-chance that at some point I’m going to find a way to put one of my favorite dragon toys in as a pet for Victor. I don’t know what they’d mutate from yet, but I’m sure I can think of something. . .

#fallout of darkness #pets #fallout 4 #dogmeat #mutt the wounded mongrel #I was so happy to see that 'adopt Mutt' mod pop up on the Nexus #you have no idea #LarannKiar has a lot of great mods like that #recruit all the people #but yes Mutt now has a good home at the Red Rocket #I haven't yet figured out how to put a bandanna on her without possible aggro but #she has her own Campsite doggy bed #and a dog house #so that's good :) #and yes my dragon brain has moved on a little from Pern #I have read some less-than-flattering reviews of some of the books #and my fire lizard thing has faded #but I do love my toy dragons sooo #we'll see what may come of that! #queued

[anime-is-godlike]

Twisted wonderland dorms x esmeralda reader

One day the dorm leaders (jamil instead of kalim for this one) finds a magical stone with the power to show parts of the past of someone close to them they choose not to use it to respect there privacy of that person but shenanigans ensue and the stone is used and there shown there dear SO’s past

This is the Disney version of the hunchback of notre dame

Be warned this is gonna be long as it’s the last part

Heartslabyul-savanaclaw-octavinelle-scarabia - pomefiore-ignihyde-diasomnia

Diasomnia

It was late at night and a tall dark and handsome fae was taking a stroll on the way to see his gorgeous girlfriend the entire walk there he was smiling like a smitten kitten which a certain vampire dad couldn’t help but smile at

“My dear lad where are ya headed in such a cheerful mood?” He asked already knowing where he was headed to he’s not that good with keeping secrets from lilia

“I’m gonna go for a visit to her” he said in a low voice so the two guards wouldn’t overhear one was asleep the other….well let’s just say you could hear him a mile away

“Ooooh wish them a hello from me” he said with a smirk he was now floating around

“Ooooh I have a idea why don’t I make some food for you two as a nice picnic date” at the mention of the word food and with lilia saying it malleus ran over to Lilia

“That won’t be necessary where just gonna go for a walk that’s it” he said using his body to block the kitchen way

“So we shall not require food okay?” Lilia pouted but nods reluctantly

*thud* something drops to the floor this made lilia and malleus pause for a moment malleus bends down and picks it up examining it then silver and sebek come in

“LORD WAKASAMA GOOD-EVENING!!!” Yelled sebek silver only yawned entering the room and the poor fae prince lost his chance to meet you this night Damn it

“What is that?” Silver asked looking at the stone malleus had a feeling he knew what the stone was but before he could say a word more a black flash jumped out and sabek and silver was on guard

“HOW DARE YOU STARTLE WAKASAMA!!” It was nothing more than one of lilia bats but it was already to late as now everyone was huddled up together the stone started shining

“Oooh this is gonna be interesting” lilia said with a glint in his eyes and then the whole world faded to darkness

………………..

“Ooooh my head” malleus said getting up from the floor lilia was already awake and on alert silver was fast asleep and sebek was having….well let’s just say a fit

They where outside a huge stone building with a huge round stain glass window

“WHERE IN THE SEVENS ARE WE AMD HOW DARE THEY DO THIS TO WAKASAMA?!!” Honestly it’s a wonder how sabek hasn’t Damaged his hearing yet with a voice like that

As they where looking around and one man snoring in dream land a blue orb floats down from the sky

“Hello and-“ it was cut of

“ARE YOU THE VILLANESS CREATURE WHO HAS KIDNAPPED US?!” Sabek yelled

“Well-” it was cut of again

“HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO WAKASAMA AND MASTER LILIA?!! The blue slowly changes to red the more sebek spoke lilia was just about to say something when

“SHUT UP SHUT UP YOU GREEN LIZARD!!!!” The now red orb fires back to which sebek

“GREEN LIZAED HOW ARE YOU CALL BE THAT YOU OVER GROWN LIGHT BULB!!” This egged the orb on more and now silver was awake coving his ears as was malleus and lilia who where now getting headache

“Okay now why don’t we all calm down” malleus said trying to be a voice of reason sebek turn around

“BUT WAKASAMA THIS THING IT-” now it was sebek turn to be cut of

“I’m not a thing I’m the keel of this stone I think you know what it does right malleus?” Malleus nods

“It’s a memory stone and since I was the one holding it that means where gonna be seeing yuu’s past?” The orb now back the blue floats up and down as if nodding

“Got it in one you are correct ahhh I knew there was a reason I liked you more than the others especially that green overgrown lizard” sebek was about to fire back when lilia put a hand over his mouth

“We are curious to see her past but I feel wrong doing so” malleus said he knew a bit into your past but there was definitely something you didn’t want him to know and he respected you’re privacy and knew you would tell him on your own one day

“Sorry sir but once you pick up that stone there’s no way to go back you have to see the memory in other to return” all malleus could do was nod he will discuss what has happened with you once’s he’s back and nods the blue orb flys into the air

just then three items appeared suspended in mid air it was a small wooden doll which looked like yuu the second one was a golden headpiece which looked like a dancers and the finale item was a necklace with a cross in the middle it looked like it was made of string

“Each one of these items holds a key peace of her personality” the orb flew over to the necklace

“Her kindness” then it flew over to the crown

“Her passion” then flew over to the doll

“Her darkness” malleus has his green orbs on that doll

“Pick one item and you can see into her memory but be warned once you’ve chosen a item you can only see memories connected to her personality so what shall it be her kindness her passion or darkness” the orb giggled and flew up in the air and the two faes half and human turn to each other

“Darkness” malleus quickly said the orb flew up and down as if happy

“Oooh finally usually it takes people so long I just give them a fake time limit and Pick a item but I was gonna give you this one either way because well it’s the last one left” the high pitched orb said

“Last one?” They all said and now there where underground covered in bright colours and stone walls with candles and light somewhere in a unfamiliar place but the scene was still frozen the orb was still their

“Since you’ve given me so much entertainment I’ll let you know something before the scene begins you see yuu is a gypsy and where she’s from their seen as outsiders and the man in purple is called Frollo and well he wants all gypsies gone and he’s got a weird thing for yuu” you felt the air drop at that last bit because of malleus

“Anyway and the two men the hunchback is yuu best friend and the blonde is another friend I tell you this because frodo is on a man hunt for yuu and her two friends have gone looking for her before well you’ll see” the orb disappeared and the scene begins

“These men aren’t spies there our friends” they see yuu jump up on a podium with two men then looks like they where about to be hung they all swallowed

“This is the soldier who saved the Millers family” she said untying the blonde

“And Quasimodo helped me escape the cathedral” she said untying the hunchback the blond drab forward

“We came to warn you frollo’s coming! He says he knows where you're hiding, and he's attacking at dawn with a thousand men.” Was all he yelled out to the crowd scaring them

“Then let's waste no time! We must leave immediately!” Yuu said to which the people around her began running around packing everything they could

“I don’t understand why much they flee they’ve done nothing wrong” malleus said from what the orb said gypsy are see as outsiders but why mush they flee from there home for that

“You took a terrible risk coming here. It may not exactly show, but we're grateful” yuu said hugging herself talking to both of the men they smile and the blond pushed Quasimodo in front of him with a smile

“Don't thank me. Thank Quasimodo. Without his help, I would never have found my way here” the blond said patting Quasimodo’s back

A voice rang out turning the sweet moment cold

“Nor would I” this made everyone look to the entrance to see frollo their with many guards the guards ran over and arrested every person in sight and pointed spears at yuu and her friends malleus eyes went into slits and lilia patted his back calming him down

“What in the sevens is going on?” Silver said thoroughly confused 

“After twenty years of searching, the Court Of Miracles is mine at last” frollo said looking around and walked right up to Quasimodo

“Dear Quasimodo, I always knew you would someday be of use to me” frollo said patting Quasimodo’s head Quasimodo turned around

“No” was all he said realising something

“What are you talking about?” Was all yuu said glaring at frollo with two guards pinning her arms behind her frollo walked towards her

“Why, he led me right to you, my dear” frollo said stocking yuu’s chin slightly yuu pulled away with disgust on her face the aura around malleus at the moment was deadly he looked about ready to kill

“You're a liar!” Yuu said struggling against the guards frollo sights then went to the blond

“And look what else I've caught in my net--Captain Phoebus, back from the dead. Another miracle, no doubt. I shall remedy that” was all frollo said to Phoebus walking away from them and his attention went to everyone getting arrested

“There will be a little bonfire in the square tomorrow, and you're all invited to attend” malleus didn’t like the sound of that not at all something inside him was screaming grab yuu and run but he can’t as these are images that have already happened

“Lock them up” was all he said the guards dragged yuu and everyone away yuu struggling the whole time malleus took a step towards her but was cut of by the scene changing into something that left all four men in shock and malleus close to ripping the head of frollo

Their in from of them was a orange sky a huge stone building behind the scene of a stage with yuu in a tatted white dress, she was tied to a long wooden pole and piles a stick lay at her feet frollo in front and a man with a mask next to him holding a lit torch and a crowd

“What in the sevens?” Was all lilia could mutter as now was not the time for his jokes and malleus was having trouble controlling his emotions even if this was a memory world they could still see his enormous power in the air

“The prisoner Yuu has been found guilty of the crime of witchcraft. The sentence…” frollo said to yuu

“Death!” The crowd cheered and the four where dead silent even sebek couldn’t yelled the atmosphere turned cold as frollo said death everyone slowly looked to malleus to see he was standing there his eyes glowing green his fist tightened

“Now malleus” lilia was now trying to comfort the prince

“Listen these are memories these have already happened but yuu is fine now she’s back at her dorm with grim and jolly waiting for your midnight stroll” lilia whispers to malleus and that, that calmed him down they went back to watching

Frollo took the torch from the masked man and went to yuu

“The time has come, gypsy. You stand upon the brink of the abyss. Yet even now, it is not too late. I can save you from the flames of this world, and the next. Choose me, or the fire” yuu looked appalled by the man in front of her the four men did ask well yuu then spat in his face that, that was her answer to this old man

“The gypsy Yuu has refused to recant. This evil witch has put the soul of every citizen of Paris in mortal jeopardy” he said lifting the torch to the crowd

“I seriously do not like this man” was all lilia could say he’s been around a long time and only a handful of people has made his skin crawl this much

“for justice, for Paris, and for her own salvation! It is my sacred duty to send this unholy demon back where she belongs” he then put the torch down onto the wood by her feet the fire came closer and closer to yuu which made malleus take a step forward lilia held his arm back

“This is but a memory!!” He yelled struggling to hold onto the fae prince all malleus could focus on right now was yuu and she could see her looking terrified all he wanted was to run up there and save her but he couldn’t dude to this already happened to you which made him even more angry how dare they do that to you

The fire continues to get closer to yuu the more closer it go the more yuu coughed and looked faint just then someone was swinging through the crowd in a rope then landed on the stage and looked to yuu to see her eyes closed and she’s not moving which worries malleus to no end

Quasimodo then ripped the rope of yuu and grabbed her as the flame where touching her feet malleus in that moment looked so grateful to the hunchback Quasimodo then grabbed the rope and swung himself up the tower she climbed up with a unconscious yuu one he got to the top with a huge round stain glass window behind him his lifts yuu into the air her still unconscious and yelled at the top of his lungs

“SANCTUARY!!!!! SANCTUARY!!!!! SANCTUARY!!!!!” The four smiled at this and malleus looked relived I mean of course your fine your in night raven collage….wait how did you get to night raven just then the scene changes to them up on the balcony with you and Quasimodo as he run inside and puts you down into the bed

“Don't worry. You'll be safe here” was all he said then running back outside malleus waste no time in running to your unmoving form

“Yuu?!” Was all he yelled out worried he went to touch your cheek only for it to faze through he hated this being here yet not at the same time, but he could tell something was wrong very wrong with you just then Quasimodo came back into the room incredibly happy

“We've done it, Yuu We've beaten them back! Come and see!” He said looking to her the back outside the back to her

“Yuu Wake up! You're safe now” was all he said

“Yuu?” He walked closer confused and touched her cheek nothing

“Oh no” he said quietly he went to a bowl of water took a spoonful of it and brought it back to yuu he lifted her head and place the spoon to her mouth the water didn’t go in and slid of her mouth onto her cheek then onto the pillow Quasimodo dropped the spoon and kept looking at yuu with a sorrowful expression

He grabbed yuu’s hand and looked even more down cast he then grabbed yuu pulling her into a hug and crying into her hair

The four stood there in shock and silence I mean that’s not possible your at twisted wonderland very much alive so how?

Just then the whole room became dark with just you laying there in the clothes you where in before the white tatters of a dress and a voice rang out one they knew well

“Ah, my dear esteemed benefactor my proud beautiful flower of evil” malleus took a step forward only to feel as if he was stuck he looked down it looked as if there where floating on dark water the ripples going around there feet and spreading outwards to where no one knows

“You are truly the fairest of them all” Yuu slowly sank down into the water each time the voice spoke they knew the voice but don’t remember where from

“O magic mirror thy wisdom I entreat….reveal unto me the visage I seek” with that last sentence Yuu was swallowed up by the dark water and then a vision appeared again it was the ceremony she yuu was there with grim in front and everything was back to normal

they all stood there frozen for a few minutes then malleus ran out the dorm and to you it was still night and you where sitting on the ground under a tree your meeting spot you heard footsteps and turn to see a frazzled malleus

“Mal?” Was all you said he ran up to you stroking your cheek

“My fire your okay thank the sevens” this utterly confused you malleus went onto explain what happened only for you to smile sadly understanding why he was like this

For the rest of the night he was glued to you terrified about letting you go even silver a sebek didn’t come looking for him that night and just left him to you with lilia occasionally checking up

“My dear please don’t leave me” was all he whispered into your neck from where his head was buried

“I promise on everything I’ll stay with you my dear” and with that you guys

lived happily ever after

————————————

Not proof read

Oh my lord it’s done I hope y’all enjoy this series as much as I did making it

If you want more content like this but with different characters and yuu as different characters let me know

Hope everyone is having a amazing day and hope y’all enjoyed

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #malleus x reader #malleus draconia #lilia vanrouge #sebek zigvolt #silver

[ambystoman]

Fyreon (Redo) (Emberonian)

Here we have the last main character, Fyreon. He is rather nonchalant and slow. He can be cold for a living fire and doesn't like being bothered. Pessimistic is one way to describe him and he just likes sleeping rather than dealing with pro-

"Keep it down, will you? I'm trying to sleep. I didn't ask you to write this thing anyway..."

Fyreon is an Emberonian, a species of fire elemental that is generally proficient with magic. He wears a set of hardened clay armor. This protects his fire body from being extinguished as well as protecting others from his flames. It is very heavy making him a slow but strong warrior.

Emberonians have a malleable body of fire and can fit in any kind of hollow object and use it as armor. Once inside, their bodies accommodate and create holes for their eyes and mouth. Once outside again, the object retakes its original form with no alterations.

He uses his staff to cast fire spells and the swirl on top is his Soul and the source of his magic. It is his main weapon. As mentioned in the previous post, I never programmed him so I don't have anything to show regarding his combat capabilities.

Those wisps around the top move and react to Fyreon as he casts spells and does attacks. They might seem alive but are simply projections of some sort. The bottom of his staff simply fades away.

Emberonians. All soldiers wear the same types of clay armor. All masks are one of a kind and belong to an individual for life.

Fyreon's diet consists of eating rocks and minerals like crystals. He is not allowed in jewelry stores anymore. He likes salamanders but laments not being able to swim or touch water with his real hands. He never takes off his armor much less his mask.

His mask gives him a lizard tongue.

Backstory

Fyreon is a captain. He leads his squadron into war against an evil race of water creatures. Both species compete for territory on a small planet where the landscape consists of arid deserts and valleys contrasting damp swamps and lakes. The Emberonians are slowly losing and having their territory purposefully flooded.

He is a strong leader and takes care of his people very well. He is loved by many and often seeks a quick and effective way to solve problems. He makes sure to show his best to his people in hopes of keeping everyone motivated and hopeful.

A good team

He hides his feelings of hopelessness and crushing sadness so nobody else would feel disillusioned. But what would happen if you suddenly lost your reason to keep a positive attitude but could not remember why? Would your true feelings come out? One day he would find out...

It is honestly very hard to talk much about the protagonists' backstories without having to deal with heavy spoilers. In short, all 3 lose their memories at the start of the game before meeting. Despite having no memories, their emotions remain.

Foul creature

Inspiration

Arguably my most popular character (or maybe it's Lima). He has quite the redesign history. Originally, he started out as some sort of bird magician guy. I had been playing a lot of Shovel Knight at the time and really liked Plague Knight. He seemed to have an axe as well instead of a staff. He also had nothing to do with fire.

I refined this concept and gave him sort of gill-like appendages to his mask. These would eventually become horns. I then would go back to the gill idea and outright make them gills instead and give him more axolotl characteristics.

His fire attributes were inspired by a drawing from an artist I really like. Panapana on twitter. Mainly this cool drawing of an Axolotl with fire gills. As soon as I saw this, I got the idea of making him a fire creature whose armor made him somewhat look like an axolotl but he himself wasn't one. Salamanders were closely associated with fire in ancient times so it kind of makes sense.

I never designed the other race of creatures Emberonians fight. Just like they are evil for his species, this race considers Emberonians evil the same way.

The very first fanart I ever got.

Fyreon means a lot to me and because of him I was able to make a really good friend. A lovely gift from @blaz-art

Um... You'll have to pay for that. Drawn by @blaz-art.

#3d modeling #blender #original character #digital art #art #original oc #gamedev #space #soul trail #ambystoman #lowpoly #elemental #fire elemental #axolotl #he eats rocks

[stealthnoodle]

We Have Always Lived in Hateno Village: Lets Play Tears of the Kingdom

I have utterly fucked off from the main quest at this point. Below the cut, I get another flashback sequence, briefly say hello to the Gorons, and spiral into sidequests.

Ah, lightning, my old nemesis. I got zapped twice before begrudgingly unequipping my metal shit.

Another wet memory! This one is Ganondorf and the Gerudos unleashing a swarm of monsters in the desert, yay! Zelda continues to participate in history, which surely won't have any consequences at all.

Gerudos my buff beloveds

Rauru's got THREE eyes and he didn't give me even ONE. :( At this rate I'm never going to replace all my dumb human parts with cool goat parts.

Oh fuck oh no oh fuck:

I didn't even mean to open my camera--that was all panic, baybee--but at least now Link has material for a found-footage horror film.

A fun thing to do is to get real deep underground and burn through 50+ brightblossoms and end up having to fast travel to safety after stubbornly fumbling for way too long in the dark.

An actually fun thing to do is to make a skeletal horse friend. Our time together was brief but beautiful, befitting a love that must blaze out like a dying star rather than fade away in a stable. I'll never forget you, skeleton horse friend.

Damn I wish Blingee still worked

Wet memory time! Zelda is outing herself as a time traveler, because fuck them future kids I guess. She is also not immune to the charms of her goat GGGGGGILF, if that blush means anything.

Back to sidequests. I continue to be Hyrule's premier engineer:

Photos taken moments before disaster (the disaster was that the cart detached from the harness during the cutscene and I took off without them):

Fuck it, we ball:

Ball it, we fuck:

The Gorons are building an amusement park? YES PLEASE

Nvm they're building it with an unregulated monopoly so I must destroy it at all costs

My current wild theory of the Zelda sightings in the present is that she did a time-travel body swap. We see her in the flashbacks as she sees herself, like Scott Bakula in Quantum Leap, but she's actually inhabiting the body of whatever malicious little weirdo is trotting around in her body right now. I know this is not going to be correct but the heart wants what it wants

I could afford the fire-resistant shirt but that would mean putting my tiddies in fabric jail so I refuse. Time to gather elixir ingredients and/or save up for fire-resistant pants.

I'm so glad I have camera mode unlocked now:

I found some lizards and got distracted by minecart tracks in the sky that have led me to a sky shrine!

I am now distracted by exploring the vast underground world in an area that has nothing to do with any quests I'm on.

After a brush with almost continuing the main quest, I went around finding (and inevitably repairing) sky terminals before trekking to Hateno Village for FASHION.

omg i love the mushroom fashionista

i love her secret midnight veggie habit

i love her public art pieces

she's perfect

Also perfect is this girl, who gave me a single egg and will never give me another:

I no longer remember the main quest. I have always lived in Hateno Village. I am the campaign manager for competing mayoral campaigns. I spend my nights roaming the network of caverns connecting the town's wells. I fill my pockets with pungent cheese.

Ooh, ooh, I get a FASHION REWARD for my relentless stalking of candidates for public office and my dedication to waking old woman up their beds to impose mushrooms upon them. I wonder what it--

!!!

HOLY FUCKING FRUITY FUNGI, BATMAN, I WILL NEVER TAKE THIS HAT OFF:

#stealthnoodle plays loz: tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #totk spoilers #tears of the kingdom? no. it's mushrooms of the village #unfortunately for everyone i can take selfies now

[zedecksiew]

In The Light Of A Faded World

This morning Sharon and I talked about having thoughts about the end of our current world.

Not apocalyptic thoughts of nuclear fire or zombie-world cruelty. Just the little things: the effort we'd need to put, to make rainwater potable. Lack of access to coffee and washing powder. That sort of thing.

+

Was reminded again of the text I wrote for Derek Kinsman's TTRPG "In The Light Of A Faded World". A game where you play small animals rooting through the ruins of a once-human earth.

I am very proud about the work I did for this. A short story about a trio of animals exploring a shopping mall (explicitly modelled after 1 Utama); character blurbs for all the various types of animal you can play---mouse, stag beetle, frog, etc.

Tried to do with them the same thing I try with all my game texts: force the words to do many things at once.

The fiction bit in "Faded World" works as:

a full narrative (an agama lizard wants to get an apple from an abandoned arboretum for her tortoise mentor);

an example of play (here's how you, playing as a tiny animal, might approach difficult challenges);

a sample adventure location (the 1 Utama-inspired setting has branching terrain, discrete encounters, etc).

The character sketches I am particularly pleased with.

Each prompts you with a obvious physical ability (frogs sing; rabbits run)---but there are roleplaying angles to leverage from these traits: the mantis worries about their predator mentality; the mouse has complexes associated with her big-ass family; the shrew loathes his own gnawing hunger.

+

Of the writing I did in 2021 I am personally most proud of the stuff in "Faded World". I'd never tried animal protagonists before---ie: animal protags closer to the animal than the anthropomorphic. I always thought that it'd be hard to write them without being naff.

The ease I had with this came from Derek. In designing the game he does the simplest, neatest thing. In suggesting settings, Derek says:

"If you are playing with local friends, use your municipality as the setting ... What happens to your beach? Main street? Downtown? Your home?"

The ease I had with this also came from Amanda Lee Franck, who made all the art. I remember her talking about her process.

In walking around, taking reference photos, in making her illustrations, Amanda imagined her eye at the eye-level of the creatures she was drawing: at branch-level, at grass-level.

+

The ease I had with this comes from the same place, I think. Maybe because of where our minds are, nowadays?

Maybe because the meaning of a human being trying to live in (as opposed to clinging on to) the ruins of the Anthropocene is to live as an animal. At ground level, with more attention paid to rainwater and the earth between concrete.

#writing #animals #in the light of a faded world #amanda lee franck #derek kinsman #ttrpgs #rpgs #apocalypses

[beardedhandstoadshark]

What do you think of koraidon and Miraidon the new legendary Pokémon?

The protogen fans are gonna have a field day with the zappy one

^unironically my first thought upon seeing miraidon

——————

I love whatever koraidon has going on with it’s feathers and the two dragon like thingies from it’s head, plus all the colors of miraidon (sparkly fade! It looks so cool!), but what the heck is going on with their necks, why are they so puffed out. Especially koraidon, whose car exploded and flung a tire into you-

Also they just seem kinda…small in scale compared to all the main cover legendaries of the other games? They’re giving me optional legendary vibes, similar to Kobalion and gang. Especially if you compare them to the other electro (and fire which is at least associated with red) themed legendaries based on lizard creatures, aka Zekrom and Reshiram, or Groudon because it seems to fit better with Koraidon. They all look pretty intimidating while those two, while cool, kinda look like the last step of a 3-Pokémon-evolution line. (Also Koraidon is totally gonna be a fighting/ground type or smth, and betting on electro/steel for Miraidon. Or dragon/rock and dragon/electro.)

…and just generally not a fan of that weird 'alternative versions of what is essentially the same base Pokémon‘ thing they’re doing with the Legendaries again? They did that with the Gen 8 mon too, though tbf they did a MUCH better job this time around. The Gen 8 ones were literally just the same Pokémon in different outfits.

They used the actual colors scarlet and violet as the main color of the corresponding legendary though, which is pretty neat

So generally just a meh. They’re personally not my favorites, but they’re also not the worst cover legendaries of this series. Would make for great side legendaries though!

#another anon ask #pokémon gen 9 #this ask is how I found out the new trailer dropped lmao

[gaysimpsstuff]

BNHA Characters + Their Biggest Kinks

PT 2 Here

PT 3 Here

Genre: smut, obviously

Warnings: NSFW themes, hard kinks, BDSM kinks, lots and lots and weird kinks

Other: felt horny, wrote this

NSFW Taglist: @smolchildfangirl @combat-wombatus @mandalorian-baby-bird @waffleareniceandfluffy

Characters: Hawks, Bakugou, Dabi, Shigaraki

Keigo Takami/ Hawks-

Authority Kink- mans has spent his entire life being bossed around, he needs you to submit to him completely and without question. Call him ‘sir’ and he’ll melt. When he’s in this mood, there’s no room for brattyness. Just bend over and let sir take his stress out on you.

Wing Kink- Pretty self-explanatory. The underside of a bird’s wings are very sensitive, and get them horny in no time. Same thing with his back, one when you were cuddling, you were playing with his wings and massaging his back, and you noticed he had his face hidden and he was breathing kind of heavily. It was an embarrassing situation to explain...

Breeding- This one comes more into play during Nesting Season, he just has you pinned down and just keeps going and going and going, trying to fill you up with his babies even if you want get pregnant. You’ll always be his little breeding slut. Even better if you have a bird or lizard quirk and you lay eggs (infertile usually). Even with a male reader he’d want to ‘breed.’

Pegging- He likes to bottom sometimes, so that he can whine and cry and beg and be a good boy for his y/n. Expect him to come home from work feeling more tired than stressed. Total pillow princess. He needs you to fuck him into the mattress so hard that he’s only flying tomorrow.

Praise/body Worship- This goes both ways. You’re his everything, and he wants to make sure you’re aware of how much he appreciates you, but he’s so insecurities that he needs it in return. Soft, teasing touches, whispered I love yous, doing so wells, my pretty baby, go a long way for this man.

Dirty Talk- he wants you to know just what he’s going to do to you, how he’s going to fill you up so good, make you need him and his cock, make you cry for him to keep going, beg for his cum. Even when he’s on bottom, he’s babbling and whining. You can’t get this man to shut the fuck up. It can get annoying at times.

Bath/shower sex- this plays more into his bird instincts. Bathing/ cleaning oneself usually gets birds horny. They usually preen prior to mating season so look out for that. There’s just something about ducking you in his bathtub (jacuzzi) that gets him going like nothing else.

Katsuki Bakugou/ Dynamight-

Switch- this man will present as a top, but he has absolutely nothing against getting manhandled and having the life fucked out of him. Just so long as he can do the same to you. Fuck him rough and good and then take his revenge tomorrow.

Rigger- after all he’s been through, he does not wanna be tied up at all. But he has no problem with handcuffing you or wrapping your pretty body up in Shibari and watching you struggle against them. Will totally tease you the whole time.

Gags- You’re still talking? You need to shut the fuck up. Or else you’ve got something keeping your mouth shut. Tape, underwear in mouth, his hand or fingers, or an actual gag. Loves your muffled sounds when he asks you a question. “Want me to keep going? You gotta say so. Aw I didn’t hear anything so I guess you want me to stop...”

Dirty Talk- Just like Hawks, he can’t keep his mouth shut. But this one is spilling the dirtiest filth you’ll ever hear. Plays into a minor corruption kink. Wants you to repeat it all back to him. On the flip side, gets so flustered when you talk dirty to him. Whining about how you’re a pervert, but just ignore him, he’s hard as shit right now.

Dacryphilia- All those years of Deku crying and you think he wouldn’t have a crying kink? Thinks your tears are so beautiful, might even lick them off your face. “Aww, look at you~ crying for my fuckin cock.” Don’t be weirded out if he licks them off your face. He also cries during sex, though. It’s just too fucking good and he hasn’t had a good cry in a while. Tease him about it and he’ll hide his face, but praise him for it and he’ll cry even harder.

Praise- This man shouts enough degradations outside the bedroom, he wants sex to be different from everything else. Gets a little embarrassed first time he praises you, but if you look at him with those shy eyes and a quivering lip, he’s just gonna keep loading it on. He also wants to be praised, both out of insecurities and superiority. When he’s bottoming just repeat how amazing he’s doing, how no one else is as pretty as him. When he’s on top, he still needs you to be praising him. Tell him how good his cock feels, how he’s gonna make you cum, how no one else fucks you as good as him.

Impact Play- mostly spanking. Uses his quirk. He loves it when your skin forms a light burn in the shape of his hand. Spanks you even if his handprints don’t show up on your skin. He needs it to, just keep smacking his stomach and thighs with a paddle until he’s sobbing.

Touya Todoroki/ Dabi-

Degradation/ Brat Taming- Starting off with the roughness with this guy. These two go hand in hand for Dabi, you need to know where you belong. Underneath him, begging and crying for his cock, his mercy, anything. You need to understand your only purpose is to service him, moan for him, and be his little personal cumdump.

Hard Dom- he won’t go easy on you, no matter what, you’re not getting it sweet or easy. It’s always going to be rough, fast, and difficult. Just try and complain.

Size kink- We all know this man is hung like a donkey, too big to handle. Loves it when you’re trying to suck him off and can’t even get down halfway. Even better when he’s pushing in, and can’t get further than six inches in. Just laughs at how “your cute little hole can’t take my fat cock can it, baby?”

Sadism- Pretty obvious, he likes hurting you. Knives? He’s got plenty. Fire? More relunctant but sure. Impact play? Yes sir. Loves seeing you cry and you babble about how much it hurts. His favorite thing is to write his name on your back with light burns that usually fade in a week or so. Always takes care of your injuries afterwords.

Bondage- Can’t have his little baby trying to touch themself can he? Can’t have his darling trying to escape from him, can he? No no, you’re better off tied to the bed, taking everything he gives you like a good little slut.

Sensory Deprivation- He wants you waiting, dreading maybe, anticipating, his next moves. You don’t know where he’ll touch you, what he’s saying, and you can’t do anything to stop it.

Corruption- He has a thing for people who seem innocent, and he wants to corrupt that innocence. To everyone else, you’re naive, doe-eyed, and probably can’t do anything for yourself. He’s going to change all of that. Bonus points if you’re actually fully capable and he morphs into a co-dependant mess. This man is all Yandere nothing else.

Teasing/ edging- Loves working you up to the grand finale, then pushing you back to the first scene. You’ll never forget his laughter as you beg him for your orgasms. You’ll be lucky if he lets you cum at all. He’ll humiliate the fuck out of you for your pitiful begging.

Tomura Shigaraki/ Symbol of Terror

Mommy/Daddy/Renny (Renny is the gender neutral term for Mommy/Daddy)- This man will call you whatever you want, but this is his go-to nickname for you. You’re taking care of him in and out of the bedroom, at least until he matures.

Switch- Up until he matures, your on top of him the whole time. Loves it when you’re in control, but after certain events in the manga and anime, he starts to gain an apprentice for being on top, although being so unused to it, he has a lot less kinks for being on top than on bottom.

Pegging- self-explanatory. He was always afraid of disintegrating his dick, and anal stimulation meant most of his fingers were pointed away from his body while only two or three were touching his skin. Safer. Now he’s got a huge appreciation for anal play, anytime you see him naked, he probably has a butt plug in.

Pet-Play- he’s your dumb little puppy, okay? Treat him like a bitchy little animal and he’ll do whatever you want. Feel free and drag him around on a leash or feed him food out of a bowl on the ground.

Feet- he doesn’t know why, but your feet are such a fucking turn on. Whether you’re wearing combat boots with spikes, fancy heels with a flower on them, or normal tennis shoes. Socks, thigh-highs and tights? Man is already begging. Just step on him and give him a foot job already! He’s begging, come on!

Water sports- kind of gross, skip this one if it’s gross for you (it is for me but for some reason I’m writing about it) but it’s something he appreciates more as a top than a bottom. Controlling when you go to the bathroom, giving you so many drinks, watching you squirm, begging and crying for him to let you relieve yourself, only to piss yourself. And when you do that, he’s on his knees in front of you, drinking it. Loves how embarrassed you get. Says “anything you make is always gonna be the best” while licking his lips.

CNC- something he enjoys as a top or a bottom. Skip this one if it’s weird or wrong to you, or a trigger. Always pre-planned with a safe word and everything, but he always pretends it’s real. Something about you or him not having a choice, being forced to take whatever the other gives them, begging for it all to stop but being betrayed by your body, it all just drives him crazy.

S&M- Doesnt care of he’s the S or M. He just loves pain. Crying when you spank or slap him, watching you scream as he cuts his name onto you.

#keigo takami #mha hawks #bnha hawks #takami keigo #bnha x reader #hawks #hawks x reader #hawks x y/n #hawks smut #mha smut #bnha smut #bakugou smut #bnha bakugou #katsuki bakugou #bakugou #bakugou katsuki x reader #dabi is touya #dabi smut #yandere dabi #mha x reader #bnha keigo #poc reader #bnha x male reader smut #gender neutral fanfic #smut #shigaraki smut #shiggy

[smallblip]

You asked, I deliver! Part II of Accidental baby acquisition💖 I lost one of the asks 😩 but anon who asked about baby Udo, I named the baby in your honour! Saddle up cowboys! I’m not good with sequels but here we are-

Babygate:

the scandal that implies that a certain boy band member cheated on his partner (another band member) and had a kid even when the mom was never pregnant.

- urban dictionary

—

Reiner thinks things are alright. Life is definitely picking up. Pieck still sends him excerpts of her dirty fanfiction to proofread, Bertholdt is still doing all he can to “retire at 30”, Annie might have eloped with said boyfriend. But he’s seeing Porco on the regular now, he’s really cute, he’s got a nice ass. Reiner can’t complain.

He’s also recently donated his Levi Ackerman standee. Only because it’s getting increasingly hard to reconcile the fact that he has a life sized cutout of his colleague’s boyfriend in his room.

What he can complain about is said colleague (and friend) dropping bombs on him. He’s one of the moderators of one of the bigger No Name servers. Sometimes he wonders if that’s a conflict of interest because, well, he knows the guy on a first name basis. But today he has other concerns. He sees his notifications blowing up and decides to go on the No Name server. And lo and behold. There’s a paparazzi shot of Levi and Hanji with a stroller taking a walk in a new channel called “MYSTERY FAMILY?”.

He cancels his plans with Porco. “Don’t text me for the next few hours, got a fire to fight.” He clicks send, and feels kinda bad, so he sends Porco really dank meme to appease him. (That doesn’t stop Porco from doing exactly what Reiner told him not to do and demanding an explanation every five minutes).

He forces himself to take a deep breath before texting Hanji-

“Hanji… I don’t mean to be rude but…

WHAT THE FUCK?”

—

So here begins babygate. A conspiracy theory that took the Internet by storm.

“Levi Ackerman had a secret marriage! He was keeping this from us from the start!”

“It’s a publicity stunt to keep No Name relevant during their hiatus!”

“It’s an elaborate scheme by the company to punish Levi for announcing the hiatus without their knowledge!”

“Levi’s mystery partner was sent by the lizard people to take control of his mind and produce half-lizard, half-human hybrid babies to take over the world! What a bitch!” (This is Hanji’s favourite).

And the internet’s favourite- this is all an elaborate scheme to cover up the scandalous love affair between Levi and Eren- the band’s guitarist.

“What the fuck?” Levi had said during dinner once, to which Reiner had to swallow his food and pretend he never read or actively looked up ereri content. Yes. Reiner knows the name of their ship.

Levi hadn’t been too worried before, but when pictures of them shopping for baby stuff leaked online, something snaps. Something snaps and Erwin tells him he needs more time to figure out the biggest PR crisis in No Name history.

It’s Levi. Levi is the PR crisis.

So in the meantime, no shock reveals, no more social media, (if possible) no more leaving the house with pregnant girlfriend in tow. “Don’t do ANYTHING.” Erwin had said, “especially not you!” Erwin had directed that at Eren, who suggested he makes an announcement. Erwin shudders. He remembers all the past scandals they got themselves into just because Eren, bless him, didn’t know when to shut up.

“I’m sorry…” Levi says to Hanji when they’re cuddled up on the couch watching a documentary on whale migration.

“Huh?” Hanji says, voice muffled through her incessant sniffling because “whales are delivered tail first, Levi! They wear their mothers like hats!”

He apologises for putting her through the mess that is him and his job. And Hanji smiles at him. He wonders if their kid will look like her. He’s hoping they would.

“Levi…” Hanji sighs, taking his face in her hands, “that night at the bar I thought to myself ‘this man has a face I would risk it all for’… I think this counts within the realms of ‘all’”

Levi scoffs, but a smile is threatening the corners of his lips. Erwin’s nagging over the phone fades a little and he sinks a little lower into the couch. He sighs one more time for good measure before saying-

“So… you wanna know which my favourite babygate theory is?”

—

“And you’re really not bothered by all this?” Reiner asks, in an emergency meeting that he had scheduled into her calendar. He hates that he’s packing things into her already busy schedule when she’s about to pop but, he figures it’s better now than when the baby’s actually out. He had booked a meeting room and everything, figuring if he projected some of the crazy shit they’re saying on the fan boards up on screen, Hanji would start taking this seriously. Because if Reiner knows anything, it’s that the fans will do anything to keep their ship afloat.

He scrolls past another post on the lizard people and Hanji gets him to pause.

“I mean… A little?” Hanji pinches her fingers together.

“Hanji…” Reiner sighs, “you and Levi discuss and rate babygate conspiracy theories you find online I don’t think you’re taking this seriously at all…”

Hanji looks at Reiner- an absolute state of panic. And she considers panicking for a moment. She’s read articles dissecting babygate and although they’re absolutely batshit, Hanji appreciates how well-researched they are. Which is a little scary. To be fair to Levi, he’s been trying to get her to worry. “I can’t keep you safe all the time, you have to be careful” like he’s going off to war somewhere. But it’s not in Hanji nature to worry about things like this. She’s a researcher at a lab who lived an ordinary life up until the point the universe hit her with a-

Sike! Levi Ackerman is your baby daddy! What are you gonna do about it?

And now she knows what headcanons and lemons are, and she really doesn’t know what to do with that knowledge. So Hanji decides, she’ll do nothing. She’ll go on indulgently long walks Levi in tow, she’ll talk his ear off about work. And like a good girlfriend, she’ll listen to his demos (and enjoy them) and tell him “are you sure anger rhymes with danger?”.

“I don’t really know how to worry about anything beyond our samples getting contaminated…” Hanji says, sheepish. Reiner sighs. He doesn’t want to be a wet blanket on Hanji’s life. He wants to be fun Reiner. Cool as a cucumber. Reiner who manages to make it through dinner at Hanji’s without having to excuse himself to hyperventilate in her bathroom because Levi is right there. And he’s so afraid that he might just be able to read his mind and find out he had looked up Levi Ackerman x y/n fanfiction once in his foolish youth (youth being approximately four months back)

Reiner shudders.

“Yeah okay… That’s um… That’s cool… Right?” He says.

Hanji shrugs.

—

So Levi Ackerman is your baby daddy. Now what?

You go into labour of course, with a matter of fact- “oh. Look Levi. The water broke.” All while refusing to leave the house until you demolish that amazing sandwich he made for you. You go into labour and you yell and grunt like a beast as you squeeze the life out of your baby daddy because he kinda deserves it. You both kinda deserve this pain. Take it as heavenly punishment for being horny and stupid if you will.

And in the middle of it Hanji thinks huh, this feels like a mix of a reality TV show from MTV and a badly written fanfiction. Except Hanji isn’t a teen mom and she’s too old for self-insert fiction that involves a lead singer of a popular band.

But Levi is here, and he doesn’t complain one bit even though he looks like he’s about to pass out. So as far as drunken one night stands go- this is pretty damn aspirational.

The baby enters the world with a huge cry.

“Kid’s got a huge set of lungs…” Levi says, but his own voice is quivering.

“Just like her dad…” Hanji smiles.

As he watches Hanji fall asleep with their baby on her chest, Levi thinks fuck it. Fuck keeping this under wraps. Fuck the fans and them enjoying how Eren gets on his nerves. Fuck Erwin and his “Levi. You’re giving me a headache. You are the cause of this headache.” Because the baby has Hanji’s nose and his eyes and he loves them more than anything in the world.

He snaps a picture of them and tags bigdaddyzoë-

“Welcome to the world, my love.”

—

Reiner can’t help the tears that well in his eyes after seeing the picture Hanji had sent him of the baby-

“He says hi to his favourite uncle!” Was the caption, and Reiner could only reply with a crying cat meme and an incoherent text that Hanji favourites.

He’s on the bus on the way to the hospital when his phone buzzes incessantly. It’s Porco.

“REINER WHAT THE FUCK.”

“LEVI ACKERMAN IS HANJI ZOË’S BABY DADDY?”

“HANJI ZOË MY PHD SUPERVISOR?”

“LEVI ACKERMAN OF NO NAME?”

“REINER WHAT THE FUCK?”

He sends a reply at the entrance of the hospital-

“Welcome to my world”

—

Reiner thinks things are alright. He’s one of the moderator of one of the bigger No Name servers, so he can block and remove people at his discretion. Some days he lets it get to his head. It makes him feel like a king. But today, he’s putting out fires.

Erwin decided their PR strategy was absolutely no strategy, because “they’re zooming in on the pixels Levi. Once they doubt the pixels, they won’t believe anything we’re saying”. With that. Babygate has officially taken on a life of its own. Eren still sends Levi babygate articles to annoy him, and to Hanji because she asked very nicely. Hanji thinks Erwin’s strategy makes sense, Levi thinks it’s just lazy. But Erwin framed a certificate that says “survived a PR crisis (sort of)” that Hanji had insisted be hung up on their wall, so that closes one chapter. Besides, Eren has been spotted going out on dates with a mystery girl. Which has the double effect of diverting attention away from Levi and exacerbating babygate because “see? Told you the company’s doing all they can to prove they’re not together!”

“Can’t you keep it in your pants?” Levi had thrown at Eren, to which he had responded cleverly with a-

“Could’ve said the same for you!”

Touché…

“See? That can’t be Levi! Look at how he’s smiling!”

“That can’t be a baby! Looks like an animatronic to me!”

“Do they even make animatronics that realistic?”

Reiner pins his “no slander” rule- one day they’ll get it. Or at least he would’ve gotten rid of all the people that don’t.

“Who’s this bigdaddyzoë anyway?”

“Maybe she isn’t real? Company probably invented her…”

“Heard she’s a crazy groupie who got knocked up…”

“Heard she’s hot…”

… several people are typing

—

“So… I heard from Reiner you were defending my honour in the server?” Hanji quirks an eyebrow.

Levi shrugs. Whatever goes down in the server stays between Leviackerman173810 (leviackerman and all 173809 permutations of said username had already been taken) and the hundreds of people who haven’t quite figured out he’s the real deal. Besides, Erwin has issued him three warnings so it’s best to lay low for now.

“My hero…” Hanji chuckles, pressing a kiss on Levi’s head. Below them, baby Udo wriggles and yawns against the fabric of Levi’s shirt. Cute.

So Levi Ackerman is your baby daddy. Now what? You look at your son and know he’s going to break hearts like his father of course. And if you’re Levi, you pray to god he never asks about babygate because Hanji has read up enough about it to be considered a connoisseur.

One day the internet will break when they find out the identity of bigdaddyzöe. But for now baby Udo has his parents wrapped around his tiny fingers and he doesn’t quite understand the concept of him being the spawn of every typical band member x y/n fanfiction. Or the centre of a very popular, very absurd, yet strangely believable internet conspiracy theory. Or the canon plot that has sunk one of the biggest No Name ships. And that’s okay.

#babygate was a 1D conspiracy theory #levihan #whoopwhoop! #levi x hange #levi x Hanji #Drabble #inbox #anon #mine #again Pieck is me #un beta-Ed I’m sure it’s full of mistakes #shingeki no kyojin #Levi Ackerman #hange Zoë #celebrity au

[love-archon]

A Day With The Genshin Characters: Liyue Edition

Today's going to be a busy day! Check your planner for who you'll be meeting with- as one of the esteemed members of the Liyue Qixing, you cannot afford to be late to any appointment. 

• 6:00, Ningguang: Morning Tea 

Although you say you love your job, waking up at un-archonly hours has to be the part you like the least. Even getting up at five in the morning, the hour when tigers prowl, is still not enough time to prepare for a meeting with the Tianquan. You rush around frantically choosing the best outfit, fragrance, and hair arrangement to present yourself to Lady Ningguang, and you're halfway out the door when it hits you- you forgot to bring a gift with you!

"Right on time," Ningguang says, pleased. You smile, hoping she won't hear your heart beating from anxiety. "And what a lovely present, too... is there any doubt you were appointed as one of the seven Qixing?" (You can't tell if it's her rare praise, or the sheer altitude you're at within the Jade Chamber, that's making your head spin).

• 7:00, Keqing: Business Meeting 

You barely have time to rest before Keqing whisks you away to Yuehai Pavilion. You're very close friends, and you admire the girl for her tenacity and diligence. The conversation flows easily as you walk to your destination under a cloudless sky. It's a wonderfully sunny moment, but the moment the doors lock, you mean business. In the next two hours, you conquer matters that would normally take days to resolve, and the two of you exchange grins. 

"There we go!" Keqing breathes a sigh of relief, pushing away the last stack of papers. She holds up her hand, and you high-five. "You know, I like how easily you keep up with me. You even caught mistakes I would have missed... things like this make me even more certain Liyue is better off in human hands."

• 9:00: Check In With Ganyu

With such a hectic schedule, Ganyu is your saving grace. It's always important to check in with her, just to make sure nothing you have planned catches you by surprise, and sometimes you wonder why others rarely do the same. She's quite lonely, and often mentions how nice it is that you speak with her every day and bring her gifts to help with work. It may be part of your job to be courteous, but... it does help her feel less lonely and conflicted with herself. 

"Qingxin flowers? Thank you so much." She accepts them gratefully, smiling at you with warm eyes. "I still have that new stationery you gave me, too. You're so kind for remembering the things I like!"

• 9:30: Talk to Beidou

The tea in the Jade Chamber was just a front for Ningguang to spring a request on you- meet with the captain of the Crux Fleet to discuss her... recent smuggling habits. But Beidou merely laughs heartily when you arrive. A crewmate tosses her a sack of Mora, and she slits it open, letting the payment shower over you in a spray of gold. And then, before you know what's happening, you're roped into helping them find a treasure rumored to be lost beneath the waves. 

"So, Ningguang though sending her star diplomat would get me to let up, huh!" You blush, wondering how you could be so easy to read under her ruby eye. "I was impressed by your words, and how well you fought by my side. But the annoyance of the Liyue Qixing is of no concern to me."

• 12:00, Tartaglia: TEACH HIM A LESSON!

As the member of the Qixing that oversees diplomacy and foreign relations, it's you that must meet with the Fatui Harbinger. He's quite good at playing pretend- all your underlings believed he was a naive, careless young man, and easily manipulated, too. And all of them ended up suppressing the urge to break something after they were done conversing with him. On your honor as one of Liyue's seven stars, you vow to not make their mistakes. 

"You're asking why I don't try to drive you mad?" he said, setting down his fork. You'd caved in and given him one after watching him struggle with chopsticks for far too long. "You're the only one who isn't a bore to talk to, that's all-" so this was on purpose?!- "and besides, I want to challenge you to a fight afterwards! Your vision's getting quite dusty from neglect, comrade. Let's fix that!"

• 2:00, Yanfei: Discussion of Legal Matters

Yanfei's counsel is an invaluable treasure. Especially when dealing with an opponent as vicious as Snezhnaya's Fatui, who deserve to have her wrath unleashed upon them. You walk to her office with a gleam in your eyes, and are delighted to see an equal fire already blazing in hers. For the next few hours, you two take the "suggestions" Tartaglia passed on from the Northland Bank and scheme on how to best tear them to shreds with the law.

"That man-childe's been giving you trouble again, huh," she giggles. "What did he come up with this time~? I've been waiting for an excuse to bring out the latest edition of my lawbook!" And with that, Yanfei slams it down, and the sheer weight of it nearly cracks her desk. "He won't know what hit him!"

• 4:00: Free Time

Of course, "free time" simply means that you have no meetings scheduled for this hour, which lets you adequately prepare for the next day's events. Tomorrow is your appointment with the Feiyun Commerce Guild, which you already know will require great patience and strength of mind. Because the head of the guild, and his eldest son, the future head, are- to put it mildly- not very bright... it's fortunate, then, that the second son Xingqiu has a good head on his shoulders.  

"Tomorrow, you should go straight to me instead," Xingqiu informs you cheerily, handing you a popsicle. Apparently, he keeps them around for his friend Chongyun, who's off to complete another exorcism. "I'll be sure to set everything in order." His eyes gleam. "And then, I can tell you the latest developments in 'A Legend of Sword'!"

• 5:00: Catch Xinyan's Concert!

Liyue's one and only rock musician isn't hard to find, thanks to the designated performance spots scattered around the city. You stop by at the raised platform where she's rocking out, where other people are listening as well. Xinyan strikes a peace sign in the air, and her vision glows with energy before the stage erupts with pillars of fire; her audience bursts into cheers and applause, and she's beaming as she leaps down to meet you. 

"Wait, seriously? You really changed up the rules a lil' so it'll be easier for me to hold concerts here?" Her eyes shine as they scan the papers- one of the many results of your work today in Yuehai. "Thank you so much! Wait-" she picks up her guitar again, giving it an experimental riff. "Let me think up a quick song for ya as thanks- I insist!"

• 6:00: Wangsheng Funeral Parlor 

Lately, you've been sent particularly determined requests from the other nations about allowing tourists to observe the ancient funeral rites. You already know the answer's gonna be a hard no, but the laws written by Rex Lapis state that you must check with the director anyway. She's not there when you arrive, so a consultant, Zhongli, brings you tea while you wait for her. You sit together in the fading sun, waiting for Hu Tao's familiar song to rise above the hill. 

Zhongli takes a quiet sip from his cup, closing his luminous eyes. "Although it was Rex Lapis who created the laws, they are not meant to be set in stone. Humans must revise the contract as they see fit, so that it will not erode with the passage of time." Something makes you feel as though it's more significant to him than you know. Then, he smiles slightly. "But, just looking at the people leading the way in his absence, like you... there's no need for me to worry."

• 8:00: Dinner; Request Chef Xiangling

The Wanmin Restaurant, run by Chef Mao and his daughter, is a breath of fresh air. While the rest of Liyue is divided between the "Li" and "Yue" styles of cooking, Xiangling pays the conflict no mind. Instead, she's not afraid to be daring and experiment, blazing ahead without worrying about what others think. You can see some similarities between her and Keqing, but it's best not to mention it after that disastrous banquet they organized together... 

"Had a rough day, didn't you?" Xiangling asks, her golden eyes twinkling as she hands you the steaming hot bowl. "Well, for you, I made sure to prepare your favorite dish! I hope you don't mind if I added a lizard or two this time- I'm kidding!" she adds quickly, upon seeing alarm flash across your face. 

• 9:00: Return Home

After everything that happened, you're eager to collect the reports from your subordinates and head home to draft new revisions for Tianquan Ningguang to look over (and then, hopefully, get some rest). But as you're walking on the path to your neighborhood, you spot a little girl sitting in the grass, clutching her head. Alarm rises in your chest as you rush over to see what's wrong, and why she's alone- only to realize with a start that she's the child that returned from the dead.  

"Thank you for taking Qiqi back to Bubu Pharmacy," she says, reading solemnly from her notebook (where the entire thank-you script is written). Even when you set her down, she's still reading the pieces of paper. "Will you tell Dr. Baizhu where I got lost? Please and thank you, again."

• 10:00: Sleep

In the end, you never did get to those revisions. You can hear your fellow Qixing scolding you in your head, but at least you got plenty of other things done; the well-oiled machine that is Liyue will still keep running on thanks to the tasks you accomplished today. Someday, even the adepti will have to acknowledge the ability of humans... you turn in your bed to feel the coolness of the other side. Speaking of adepti... the night air coming in... reminds you of... "Xiao..."

"I thought you were in danger," the adeptus huffs. The moment you said his name, you'd finally fallen asleep, but it still brought Xiao to you- balanced on the windowsill, hair waving in the breeze. "Still... I'm... glad that you're alright," he admits, glancing at you to make sure you're not awake to hear. "Rest well, bright star of Liyue." And then, with a sound like a sigh- or was it the wind?- he's gone.

#genshin imagines #zhongli x reader #childe x reader #ningguang x reader #beidou x reader #xiao x reader #genshin scenarios

[ashintheairlikesnow]

The Get Ready Game

CW: Young children of rescued whumpee, referenced past child abuse, referenced past emotional abuse. CW for child’s trauma response/PTSD, Overcompetent Emotional and Logistical Support Oldest Daughter X 100, unhealthy coping mechanisms

@comfy-whumpee‘s Jax Gallagher successfully saved his children (and himself) from Savannah Marcoset. But Izzy, now nearly seven, remembers her mother very well still, and knows that if her father doesn’t yet feel safe, she shouldn’t either.

So she makes a plan.

---

Izzy finds her brother playing blocks in the living room, half-heartedly building a tower while his eyes are on the cartoon show playing on the telly. She glances side to side - Dad's at therapy, only left a little bit ago. There's ages of time before he comes back, and he’ll be all in his head and distracted but probably he’ll want to lay down, so if she wants to do this, she’d better do it while he’s gone.

“Jamie?”

“Hm?” Her brother doesn’t look away from the show, but he kind of tilts his head in her direction. He’s younger than she is, only four and can’t read yet. But he doesn’t have to, she can do the reading for them both. She reads at a high level, her teacher says. Izzy practices every single night, she’s the best reader in class. 

She has to be.

“Where’s Grandpa, d’you know?”

Jamie points to the side. “In the, um, in the kitchen-”

“Sssshhhh! Quiet, don’t let him hear I asked.” Izzy puts out both hands, and now she has her brother’s interest. He loves having secrets with her, special kids-only things. It’s why this works, why she can teach him what they need to do, just in case, without him running off to tell Dad or Grandpa right away. 

She goes quiet, listening. She can hear Alfie’s voice, low, murmuring. He stays home on the days her dad has to go to therapy, so Jax can go and then come back and lay down in his room without having to worry. 

Grandpa will be talking, probably with some tea in hand, and he won’t overhear them. It’s perfect timing. Dad at therapy and Grandpa on the phone, maybe for a long time. 

“Hey, Jamie,” Izzy says, keeping her voice carefully casual. “You want to play Get Ready with me?”

Her little brother brightens. Izzy isn’t the best at his kind of play, rough-housing or throwing things around, playing Daddy-and-Baby with the big soft dolls he’s given all sorts of odd names to. Izzy doesn’t like playing baby-holding games, and besides that she doesn’t like how loud he is about it. She’s too quiet, too prone to sitting very still or whisper-talking her way through pretend games about princesses that Jamie doesn’t find interesting at all.

But this game… this game, he likes. 

He knows it’s important, even if he doesn’t know why. He knows his big sister is trusting him with big important things, and not being irritated by him or pushing him away. James scrambles up onto his feet, accidentally kicking his little tower of blocks over in the process. Both of them freeze at the crash.

Alfie’s voice rumbles through from the kitchen. “You all right in there, Jamie?”

“I’m good! I just knocked over my blocks, is all! Can I watch one more show?” Jamie pitches his voice just right, and Izzy’s proud of him. He’s learning all the tricks, and he’s doing it without having to be scared first, without it having to be something he has to learn. 

“All right, one more,” Alfie calls back, and Jamie grins, giving Izzy an exaggerated finger over his lips. Izzy grins right back, one of her top teeth growing in still, one of the bottom ones flat out missing entirely, she only lost that one three days ago, wiggling it in class until it came right out. The two of them move out of the room and down the hallway, almost tip-toeing in their bare feet, listening to Alfie’s voice, on high alert for him to make his goodbyes. 

They make it back to the bedroom Izzy still shares with her father - two twin beds lined up in there, and Alfie’s been talking about moving to get Izzy her own room, but Izzy never feels safer than waking up from a nightmare to still be able to hear her father’s gentle, deep breathing nearby. Jax’s bed has dark blue blankets and Izzy’s has a deep purple fuzzy one, plus special sheets she picked out herself with unicorns on them.

“Okay, Jamie,” Izzy says in her stage whisper. Her brother’s eyes lock on hers, hazel-brown like they all have, but Jamie has Jax’s hair color and Izzy’s short, spiky hair is the same deep chocolate brown as her mother’s, reminders she can’t escape, only try to cut off short enough that she can’t see it. “How does Get Ready start?”

Jamie’s smile widens further. He knows this one right away. “We meet in the hallway outside your room,” He says, very seriously. “Then… we come in here and find the Get Ready bag,” He answers, eyes already shifting to the closet, where it was the last time they played.

“Nope, not there.” Jamie looks at her, confused. “It’s okay, Dad did something in the closet last week so I moved the bag, just in case. I don’t think he found it, though, I hid it really well. Can you think of where I might hide it now?” She lilts her voice, slightly sing-song, like her teachers do at school. 

Jamie looks slowly around the room, taking in every detail - the window with the curtains pulled to make it dim, the two beds with the table between them, a lamp. Dresser messy on top with things tossed there - receipts, interesting rocks that Izzy has found and kept and given to her father. Then he nods, firmly, to himself more than her, and points under her bed. “It’s there.”

“Are you sure?” Izzy asks, still in teacher-voice.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because… because, because you would want to get it fast if you woke up, and you can roll under your bed for hiding from Mom,” Jamie explains. He sounds very earnest, and Izzy smiles at him to reward him giving it so much thought.

“Go look and see if you’re right.”

Jamie walks over to her bed and drops down onto his hands and knees, looking underneath. He pulls out a stuffed-full old, raggedy-looking adult-sized backpack, a faded gray that might once have been black, some old band patches and button badges still stuck around the outside. “I was right! I was right, Izzy, I found our get-ready bag!”

His voice is too loud, and Izzy shushes him quickly, closing the still-open bedroom door. Grandpa won’t like it, they’re not really supposed to close doors to shut out grown-ups, but this is too important. “Good job, Jamie!” She says in a high sotto-voice. “You are right. So, if I wake you up and I say, we have to get ready, what do we do?”

“We grab our Get Ready bag,” Jamie answers, all seriousness, patting the top of the bag gently with one small hand. “And we hide, inside the back of the closet in the big box. Then, when it’s safe, we go outside.”

“Right. How can we go outside if Mom is in the living room, though?”

Jamie’s eyes go to the window, and he points. “We go out the window,” He answers, and when she nods, he gets a little braver and adds on. “There’s-... fire escape, out there. Like stairs made of metal. We climb down with our bag. You know how to unlock the window.”

“Good. Right, I do.” She’d had to work out the trick to the window over days when no one was around her, fiddling and messing and making her fingers ache until one day, she’d managed it just right. Child proof my butt, she’d thought, but then she knew she wasn’t as child-y as everyone else her age seemed to be. 

Everyone else didn’t have to be ready for what would happen if their mother came back. Everyone else didn’t still dream about their father begging their mother to stop. Everyone else couldn’t still remember, a little bit, screaming-

Well. 

Everyone else might not have a Get Ready bag, or play this game, but she did. And when it happened, she’d be ready. Even though she knows the grown-ups wouldn’t want her to do this, they’ll be glad when it’s time, when she does what her dad would do in her place and takes James and runs. He’ll understand, if she has to, and he’ll be proud of her for being ready. He will. 

She just can’t tell him ahead of time. 

Izzy drops down into a crouch and hugs James tight. His hair smells like strawberry kids’ shampoo, just like hers does, and he’s very warm and his hands are always sticky, even when he hasn’t been touching any sticky things. “You remember very well, Jamie. Do you remember what’s in our Get Ready bag?”

She pulls back, and Jamie presses his lips together in deep thought, tapping on his chin in an overexaggerated ‘thinking’ expression. “Toothbrushes,” He says, finally. “Mine has Wally Lizard on it.”

“And?” 

“And toothpaste, the kid toothpaste.”

She’d spent weeks and weeks getting enough - putting a little extra in a baggie every night, so that her dad and grandpa wouldn’t know she was taking more than she needed. There was enough now for she and James to last a while. “Perfect. What else?”

“Ummmmm…” He trails off, sitting on the floor and thinking about it. “There’s pull-up nappies, for me for sleeping, and underpants for both of us, and pants and shirts and Franken-puppy and Unicorn, and the black-and-white bear from the zoo-”

“Paulie Panda,” Izzy corrects.

“Paulie Panda. And also Monkey George. Um um um um there are juice boxes, and Monster Munch, and Jaffa cakes, and that thing with the nuts in I don’t like, and chocolate biscuits… Aaaaand books, and…” He stops and frowns. “I don’t remember what else.”

“No, that’s good, that’s better than last time. You’re doing great.” He puffs out his chest a little in pride, and Izzy smiles, settling down to sit with him, the two of them tucked in the space between the twin beds. “There’s also hair-combs, and some shampoo and soap in a bag I nicked from the shop.”

Jamie’s eyes widen, big as saucers. “You didn’t. That is taking, Izzy-bella, and taking without paying is wrong.”

“I gave them money for it,” Izzy says, dismissive, ignoring the prickle of guilt inside her chest, too hot and sharp not to feel at least a little. “I put some of Dad’s money on the counter when nobody was looking the next day. It wasn’t really nicking, I just didn’t want him to see me get it and have to explain. But also in the bag is… this.” She digs into a front pocket and pulls out a bunch of index cards scrawled with careful child’s handwriting, numbers and letters she had spent hours and hours on. “Do you remember what these are?”

Jamie looks down at them, cocking his head, then looks up and shakes it, side to side. His hair is longer than hers is. 

“These,” Izzy says, “are the most important thing of all. These are our numbers. I’ve got about three where I remember them without even having to look, but I’ll get the rest, too. The first card has Grandpa’s phone number, and Dad’s, and it has Nana’s and Auntie Poppy and Auntie Georgia’s, too. Plus the number for Nana’s favorite shop, because her friend works there and her friend could help us get to her if she isn't home. For starters, I’ll say one that you know. We know that if-... that if Mom comes back, Grandpa will probably get-...” She takes a deep breath, tells herself to act more like a grown-up, forces down the panic and fear and worry in her chest, pictures it curled into a ball and thrown in the back of her closet to gather dust. I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid. “Grandpa could get hurt and not be able to help us. So, what do we do when we get out on the street or run away from here?”

“We, um, we find grown-ups, and we… we ask them to call 9-9-9, and tell them our names and our dad’s name, and we say, our dad is in danger and needs help. Then we tell them Nana’s name, or anybody else’s.”

“Good. Really good. What do we do if she gets us and takes us back to America?”

James swallows - this part scares him, just a little. He doesn’t remember America, not really. He was only a baby. And he remembers it being a fun place for a holiday, from the trial. But he knows Izzy is scared of America, scared enough to wake up at night crying because she dreamed about going back, and so he is, too. “We find a phone,” He says, very soft and very slow. “And we push the numbers 9, 1, 1. And that will go to people who will help us in America.”

“Good, good job, Jamie. What do we say when they pick up?” They’ve rehearsed this, over and over again. It’s the most important part of the Get Ready game. 

“I say… ‘my name is James Timothy Gallagher, and I have been ab-... abd… I have been kidnapped.’”

“Perfect. And if it were me, I would say, ‘My name is Isabella Nicole Gallagher, and I have been abducted. I am six and three quarters years old and my brother James is with me and he is four, and we are English.’ Then what?”

“We say, um, we say our… our dad is Jackson Gallagher and he has been kidnapped too, probably, and he needs help. And Savannah M-... Mark-set-”

“Marcoset,” Izzy says quietly, sounding out each syllable for him.

“Mar-co-set… is who took him. Then… we wait for help to come.”

Izzy nods, and she rifles through the flashcards, scanning over the names and places and numbers she has carefully, painstakingly, been writing down while casually asking the librarian question after question. How to call emergency services in England, America, Canada, France, Russia, and the country Georgia. Her information, to hand to people, so she won’t have to repeat herself, is copied on six cards. 

Under the flashcards, a photo of she and her dad and James that Grandpa took, at the park. It’s a photo where her dad is smiling, and he doesn’t look scared or upset or closed-off. Just happy, with them. It’s the photo she wants to have to show the police officers who she has to hope will help them. 

It’s the photo she’ll have if…

“What do we do,” She asks, and her voice is thinner, trembles just a little. “What do we do if she takes him away and we get left behind?” 

James crawls over to her in a flash and holds on, putting his arms around her waist and tucking his head under her chin. His hair tickles under her jaw. “We go all by ourselves,” He answers, in his high voice. “You and me, Izzy and Jamie. We go by ourselves, and we go find Nana.”

“Right.” Izzy closes her eyes against a rush of heat, of tears. “I-I have a card-” Her voice catches and she clears her throat. “Dusty in here,” She says, hoarsely - her grandpa says that sometimes when he’s pretending he’s not teary - and forces her racing heart to calm. Stop it. If Dad is gone, you have to be the grown-up, then. When she finally speaks, she manages to keep her voice slow, and even. No sign of her fears at all. “I have a card with Nana’s whole name and address on it, and which buses we take to see her. We can-... we can do it ourselves, all by ourselves. I know we can. But-... you have to be very good and quiet, so we don’t make anyone look at us and the bad guys can’t find us.”

“So Mom can’t find us,” Jamie whispers.

She nods, chin moving against his hair. “Right. We have to go very fast, and be very very quiet, so Mom can’t find us. But with our Get Ready bag, we have everything we need, if Dad-... if dad can’t help us. Okay, last question for our game and then we’ll be done. Do we tell Dad or Grandpa about Get Ready?”

“No.” Jamie answers right away, immediate. He knows this one. “Because, because they… might tell Mom about it.”

“Right. Even if they don’t want to tell her, she might be super mean and hurt them lots to make them. She used to hurt Dad until he would tell her things she wanted to hear, before, and she’ll be even madder now. But… if we don’t tell them about Get Ready, then they can’t tell her, right? So we can go find Nana before Mom does, and if Mom gets to Nana before we can, we have food and everything for a few days until the police officers help us.” Izzy holds him tightly, resting her chin against his hair. “I’ll take care of you, James. I promise, I won’t ever let her hurt you.”

“Dad won’t let her hurt us neither,” Jamie answers, but he likes the cuddles, and he doesn’t pull away. Izzy doesn’t hold him very often. 

“No, I know. I know he won’t. But… if he can’t stop her…” Izzy sets her jaw, closes her eyes against the memory of the bright red spots layered over older scars around her father’s neck when his big black necklace first came off. “If he can’t… I can. I just have to be very strong, and very smart, smarter than she is even. I have to be smarter than all the bad grownups.”

“And I have to be quiet and brave.”

“Right. And you’ll be very good at it. I know you will.” She squeezes him, so tightly both of them ache, and then pulls back and away, shoving the backpack back into its hiding spot, opening the bedroom door. The two of them get back to the living room just as their grandpa’s phone call finishes in the kitchen, and by the time he comes back in to ask them what they want for snacktime, James is back building his tower of blocks, and Izzy pretends she’s been on the couch with her chapter book the whole time, sitting open in her lap.

She doesn’t realize she opened it upside down until her grandpa’s gone back in the kitchen to get their snacks ready, and she flushes, embarrassed at the stupid mistake.

Still, she’s… she’s pretty sure he didn’t notice.

Every time they play, James remembers a little more without her having to tell him. Maybe… when their mom comes for them… Izzy can save Jamie - and then get help to save her father. 

And he'll be proud of her.

He will.

----

@astrobly @finder-of-rings @burtlederp @wildfaewhump @whumpiary @whump-tr0pes @moose-teeth @orchidscript @sableflynn @pretty-face-breaker @raigash @vickytokio @eatyourdamnpears

#izzy fucking gallagher #child of whumpee #referenced abuse tw #freed whumpee #planning to escape #trauma response tw #child ptsd tw #child's trauma response #whump #unhealthy coping mechanisms #there is a reason izzy took me over in january #I love her #gradually taking back control #even if it's imperfect #by planning for the worst

[juliandev0rak]

Into The Wild  

Chapter 1: Daisy

✧ Into The Wild Series ✧ playlist ✧ 

words: 2468

Willa Clary gets out of her car and shuts the door with a dull slam, sending up a cloud of dust and scaring off a lizard who had been sunning on a nearby rock. She surveys her surroundings with a grin, taking in the trees, the small clearing of wooden cabins, and the shiny blue lake in the distance. She pulls a faded brochure from her pocket and reads the words she’s read about a thousand times over the last few months:

“Camp Vesuvia: eight weeks of summer fun!” 

The photograph on the front shows the same view she’s looking at, but the scene in front of her is far more beautiful than the photo. The trees are more green, the sky more blue, and the cabins around her look even more charming. In the summer heat the air seems to shimmer, giving everything a slightly magical quality. Willa decides that she loves the place already.

When Asra, her best friend and old college roommate, told her about the job opening at the summer camp he works at, she’d jumped at the chance. Asra has told her plenty of stories about what goes on during a summer at Camp Vesuvia and with every story she found herself wanting to be a part of it. He told her about the other people who work there and how fun it is to get to know all of the campers, he told stories of roasting marshmallows and telling ghost stories around the fire. He’d also mentioned how beautiful the scenery is, but his description hadn’t done it justice.

All of Asra’s stories brought Willa back to her own childhood, spent in a tiny rural town where exploring nature was pretty much the only activity available. She’d moved away to the big city for college, where she’d hoped to find her way. But after graduating she’d found herself with a degree, but no job, and an aching feeling that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

And since Willa loves nature and children (and also really needed a job) she figured a job at a summer camp would be a perfect fit for her. So she’d packed her bags and driven out into the middle of nowhere, her home for the next eight weeks.

The door of the cabin closest to her opens with the sound of a bell, and Willa’s eyes are drawn to the tall woman standing in the doorway. Her height draws attention, as does her brightly colored purple hair. Willa takes in the woman’s perfectly styled outfit and heeled boots, she doesn’t look like she belongs in the middle of the woods, but something about her seems very welcoming.

“Welcome, Willa, we’ve been expecting you!” The woman calls, beckoning her over with a perfectly manicured hand. 

“Hi! You must be Nadia?” Willa asks, moving to shake the camp director’s already outstretched hand. 

“Yes I am, if you should require anything over the course of the summer I can be found here in the office. I’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival, Asra has told me quite a bit about you,” Nadia smiles, shutting the door behind them as Willa follows her inside. 

The front room of the cabin is small but well decorated. A large polished wood desk takes up the majority of the room and bookshelves and filing cabinets cover most of the remaining wall space. Nadia settles into the chair behind the desk and Willa takes the empty seat in front of it. She looks around as Nadia searches for a file, taking in the stylish furnishing and decor which looks surprisingly perfect in the wood paneled cabin.

Nadia finds the correct file and riffles through it briefly before pulling out a small stack of paper which she hands to Willa. “I’ll just need your final signature on some of the paperwork and we’ll get you all settled in. We expect the first round of campers tomorrow morning at nine, and things will only get busier after then.”

“How many campers do you expect in total?” Willa asks. She looks through the paperwork quickly as she signs it, standard onboarding and personal information, all as expected. 

Nadia frowns slightly at the question and her forehead furrows, portraying a bit of the stress hidden behind her cheerful facade. “We have nearly seventy campers staying for the entire summer, the most we’ve ever had at one time. Which is precisely why I decided to take on more help. We have a small but reliable staff here but I thought it was time for some reinforcements.”

Willa hands over the completed paperwork and watches as Nadia carefully looks it over. “Wow, that’s a lot of kids, but I’m sure we can handle it!”

“That’s the sort of encouraging spirit we need around here,” Nadia smiles. “Asra told me you were an ‘eternal optimist’ and I hoped his description would prove accurate.” 

Willa blushes slightly at the compliment and smiles back at Nadia, making a mental note to thank Asra later for his apparently glowing recommendation. “It’s easy to be optimistic in a place as beautiful as this.”

The sound of a bell alerts them as the front door opens and Nadia stands to greet the person entering, “Ah, here’s Asra.” 

“Willa!” Asra calls from behind her and WIlla nearly knocks her chair over in her haste to hug him.

“Asra! I’ve missed you!” Willa takes in the familiar appearance of her friend. Asra wears a pair of overalls over a “Camp Vesuvia” shirt. A name tag pinned to one of the straps says his name, written in familiar handwriting and accented with a sparkly smiley face sticker. 

“I’m happy you decided to take my advice and come to Camp Vesuvia, you’re going to love it here,” Asra says. 

“Yes, I hope that you will, Willa,” Nadia smiles at the two of them before taking her seat again. She points to the wall behind Willa, “Your room key is hanging on that board, it’s the one with the red ribbon. I’ll leave Asra to show you the way. I'm quite busy with last minute preparations, but I hope you’ll find the lodgings comfortable.”

Willa turns to the board, spotting the key hanging all the way at the top. “Thank you, Nadia!” She stands on her tiptoes to reach for the key and Asra laughs, reaching up from behind her. He easily grabs the key and hands it to her, ignoring the annoyed expression on her face. 

“Still as short as always,” Asra teases. 

“Still as rude as always,” Willa frowns, but she’s too excited to stay mad.

“Let’s get you moved in. Did you bring that scarf you said you’d give me?” Asra heads for the door and Willa follows, laughing at his enthusiasm. 

“Yes, and I brought extra yarn so I can make you another if you’d like—” Willa’s words are cut off as the door opens before Asra can get to it. A large figure stands in the doorway, and Willa and Asra step to the side to let him in. He has to duck a little to enter the room, and Willa looks up at him, noticing shoulder length dark hair and a park ranger’s uniform. 

Nadia stands to greet him, “Ah, Muriel, excellent timing. I was just going to call you. We’ve had a few bear sightings around camp and I wanted to go over our safety plans, perhaps we can ensure all of the trash receptacles are in working order.” 

The man nods in agreement, but his attention moves away from Nadia and over to Willa. When he notices that she’s looking back at him he swiftly looks away, clearing his throat as he takes a step closer to Nadia’s desk and away from Willa. In the near split second when they looked at each other, Willa noticed how bright his eyes were, green like the trees outside. Her eyes stay on him, noting the way his posture slumps a little as if he’s used to being too tall for a space.

“Oh, pardon me for not making introductions sooner. Muriel, this is WIlla, she’s our new counselor and the arts and craft director,” Nadia gestures at Willa, “And Willa, this is Muriel. He’s the park ranger assigned to our area. The ranger station is about a mile from here. if anything goes wrong he’s the first to call.” Nadia gives Muriel a warm smile and he flushes faintly, eyes resolutely staring down at the wooden floors.

“Muriel’s great, he’s the best at roasting marshmallows,” Asra says, finally pulling Willa’s attention away from the man. Asra raises an eyebrow at her in question and Willa looks away, brushing past him to move towards the door. 

She turns to glance over her shoulder at Muriel, who still seems to be finding the floorboards exceedingly interesting. “It was nice to meet you, Muriel,” Willa says, giving him a cheery smile. Muriel looks up in surprise and stares at her for a minute before nodding in response. Willa turns to leave, Asra right behind her.

“‘It was nice to meet you, Muriel’” Asra imitates in a sing-song voice that sounds surprisingly accurate to Willa’s. She scoffs and fights the urge to shove his arm as if they were twelve, she sticks her tongue out at him instead— much more mature.

“Clearly he’s attractive, you can’t blame me for staring,” Willa says, rolling her eyes at Asra’s over-eager expression. 

“True, I can’t blame you, and like I said— Muriel’s a great guy. He’s a bit shy and doesn’t like to socialize much as you may have noticed, but he’s saved us from quite a few scrapes over the years,” Asra recounts. “He repaired the roof of the main hall after a thunderstorm knocked over a tree last year, and he even put out a fire once when a campfire got out of hand.” “Well, he sounds like quite the man.” Willa hides her smile as she turns to open the trunk of her car. She hauls out a suitcase painted a bright blue color and dotted with daisies, she’d done the art herself one day when she’d run out of canvases and needed something new to paint on. Asra grabs her other bag and shuts the trunk, giving her another smirk. 

“Let's get going, I’ll give you a full tour along the way.” Asra hoists her duffle bag over his shoulder as he walks. Willa follows behind, taking in all the sights as he leads the way through Camp Vesuvia.

Asra delivers on his promise of a tour, pointing out everything they pass along the way. “The building we just left is the office, but we all call it ‘the palace’ because Nadia’s the queen around here. Don’t worry though, she’s a benevolent ruler,” he laughs. Nadia seems kind, but she clearly expects the best from everyone and Willa would hate to disappoint her.

They pass the arts and crafts cabin, the main hall where meals are eaten, and each of the cabins for campers. Asra stops in front of a small building next to the main hall, it looks homey and a small puff of smoke comes out of its chimney. A wooden sign by the door is marked with a large pot and a spoon and judging by the delicious smell of bread emanating from the building, this is the kitchen.

“Here’s the kitchen, Portia works here along with Hestion and Selasi. You’ll meet them at dinner. I’m convinced they’re the best cooks in the world, and Selasi’s pumpkin bread is legendary.” For a minute it seems like Asra might go in to look for the aforementioned pumpkin bread, but he turns away from the door and continues on the dirt path forward.

He points to another small cabin to their right, “And here’s the first aid center. Julian is our resident doctor, he’s Portia’s older brother,” 

“Ah, I seem to remember someone named Julian from quite a few of your stories,” Willa says, jokingly waggling her eyebrows. Asra grimaces and looks straight ahead, not meeting her eyes.

“Yes well, that was in the past. Those stories are old,” Asra waves a hand as if to show how unimportant those stories were. “Let’s move on, over here is where we store the canoes! Lucio is our recreation director, he’s kind of an asshole but the kids think he’s cool.” 

The tour continues on until they reach a larger looking cabin tucked back into the trees. It has a wrap-around porch dotted with comfortable looking chairs and a bright green door. It looks welcoming, and there's a great view of the lake from the front porch. Willa can picture herself out there enjoying a cup of coffee or knitting. 

“And here we have our final destination for the day, the counselor's cabin where everyone on staff here lives.” Asra shows her through the comfortable three story cabin, it’s more modern than Willa had expected. She thinks back to the well decorated front office, the palace, and decides that Nadia must be responsible for this cabin’s design as well.

Finally, Asra leads her to a closed door on the second floor and she unlocks it, entering a small but cozy looking bedroom. The walls are painted sky blue and a vase on the dresser has fresh flowers in it, she immediately feels at home. Willa sets her suitcase down by the dresser and flops down on the bed facedown.

“This is going to be so fun!” she squeals, her words slightly muffled by a pillow.

Asra flops down next to her, “You’re going to love it! The camp comes alive when the campers get here, and I bet you’ll be great at teaching art.”

“I hope so, but it’s been a while since I made a friendship bracelet,” Willa laughs, pointing to Asra’s wrist which is bedecked with half a dozen colorful string bracelets. 

“Campers made these for me,” he explains proudly, lifting his arm up so Willa can see the bracelets better. “A lot of the same kids come back every year and most of the staffers do too. I think you’ll fit right in, this is going to be the best summer!”

Willa looks out the window next to her bed and catches a glimpse of Nadia and the park ranger, Muriel, out inspecting the grounds. Muriel looks up at the window as if he can sense her gaze and she smiles and waves at him. He doesn’t respond, quickly walking away towards the trees, but Willa thinks she might’ve seen a hint of a smile tug at his lips as he looked at her. 

“I’ve got a good feeling about this summer, too,” Willa says, turning back to Asra with a giddy grin. “I can’t wait!”

✧

#here's chapter one! #willa wednesday #willa clary #muriel the arcana #milla #the complete cast of characters is as follows: #willa- camp counselor and director of arts and crafts #muriel- park ranger #nadia- camp director #asra- camp counselor #julian- doctor/ first aid #portia- cook #lucio- recreation director #me- overexcited writer

[fortune-fool02]

Beasts of Power

Diego Brando x dragon reader

Requested by: anonymous 

Diego befriending a dragon reader who loves flying and helping him with his new dinosaur instincts and powers.

Dragon AU

Diego! Woo! I love writing for him! Please enjoy. 

There was often many things that were shaped and distorted by words, stories and legends being twisted and moulded into something else than what was originally in place and told. Diego remembered, when he was but a young child, his mother telling him stories of monstrous creatures. Dragons. 

Beasts of large size that radiated power in many ways. Proud, unmatched creatures that very few could even come close to. Winged shadows against the night sky, gliding through the air as they dominated the sky as they did land. How they could destroy countless ships in one fell swoop along with their infamous flaming breath. That power alone, to control the fire and command it as your own weapon, a living inferno, was enough to show their power and strength. Their greatness. 

Diego had longed to see one in person, often resulting in the young child to stand out late at night, hoping to catch a glimpse of the shadows among the stars. To see a large wing cover the moon for a moment. 

Sadly, he never had such luck. And this dream of seeing one soon faded into nothing but the delusions of a lonely childhood as Diego grew and matured. His mind turning and focusing more onto succeeding rather than dreaming. 

Shaking his head, Diego tried to focus on the strange new scent that he had picked up, turning his head in many directions to try and locate it. Ever since he had obtained his Stand ability, Scary Monster, he had inhuman senses but at this moment in time, something was making it difficult for him to focus. A scent that he has never encountered before. His nerves set alight, unsure if whatever the source is was a threat or not but there was something about it that made his new instincts wary. 

Guiding Silver Bullet towards the direction of the scent, Diego’s senses were on edge, prepared for whatever threat may be concealing itself, stalking him like a predator would prey. Diego Brando was not prey. As he grew closer to the scent, his cyan blue eyes spotting something among the vegetation. A glimmer of something large, curious, he followed it into the cave it vanished into. His senses pushed him to follow, wanting to know what this thing was. 

No sooner had he dismounted his horse and entered, a wave of power crashed against him. Raw, old power, something that has been living for many, many years, far older than him. Every fibre of his new, dinosaur ability and instincts almost cowered, like an omega would to an alpha. Looking up, he saw the source of this power. 

Large in size, covered in glimmering [Colour] scales with an array of spikes peeking from them, especially around the head where large horns stood proud from its head, like the hood on a king cobra or feathers on a bird. Glowing [Eye colour] orbs that radiated the same power as its form did, the large tail swaying slightly as it turned to look at the intruder. Two large, stunning wings tucked to its sides. 

A low, deep rumble was heard from the creature, “Well, isn’t this something new? A human entering my den so willingly.” Even its voice rumbled in a way he has never heard before. Diego was still processing the disbelief at what he was seeing. Just like the stories but far, far more captivating. 

A dragon. 

“Well? Speak up. Less you are that desperate to die.” The beast moved its head closer to him, its jaws easily able to snatch Diego up in one swoop and end him then and there. But it didn’t. 

“I have no desire to die. Not even by a dragon’s jaws.” The blonde answered, collecting himself and refusing to back down. Something foolish but he couldn’t do so. The [Colour] dragon lowly growled, inhaling his scent and gave a curious look. 

“Scent of man and lizard. Something I have never encountered before. What are you?” His scent was both human and lizard, but strangely so. Stronger than any normal human. 

“A Stand user.” He answered, allowing the cracks to form along his face, showing his reptilian form partially. The dragon only hummed again. “This is my power. Scary Monster.” 

“Interesting. And here I thought humans weaklings. Name yourself, reptile.” Diego’s features reverted back to human, his cyan eyes never once leaving the dragon’s glowing [Eye colour] orbs. 

“Diego Brando.” It hummed again. 

“I am [Name].” It spoke, lowering its head in a form of bow which Diego return respectfully. The stories of them fell short on the true power and greatness this beast radiated. Diego felt honoured just to look at one, let alone speak to one. 

[Name] showed to be an intelligent creature, nothing close to a simple, dull animal. Impressive. Stunning. Their love for flying was something as passionate as Diego’s love for horse-racing. It was something natural for dragons, and a way to feel truly free. And so, when [Name] offered Diego this, how could he refuse? Lowering their head down, [Name] allowed Diego to climb onto their back, the base of their neck where the spikes where not as large. 

Keeping a firm grip, Diego held on as [Name] crawled out the cave and stretched out their wings and took off; the sudden action making him grip tighter, almost fearing he would slip off and fall to his death. The wind blew and shouted past him, whipping his blonde locks about as the pair went higher into the sky. 

Once they were high enough, Diego looked, amazed at the sight of the passing fields below them. With the heavy clouds, [Name]’s form remained hidden. It was incredible. Diego had never experienced something like this before. [Name]’s jaws opened and released a bone-chilling roar that could put thunder to shame, the rumbling roar also pulled something within Diego. His features shifting somewhat as he released his own roar. 

“Not bad, Diego.” 

This was easily the start of something very interesting. 

#diego brando #jojo bizarre adventure #diego brando x reader #jojo bizzare adventure x reader #jojo #jojo x reader #diego brando jojo #jojo part 7 #steel ball run x reader #steel ball run #diego steel ball run #sbr #dragon reader #dragon au

[dzamie-oc]

11 - Holiday

i’m what the kids call tired

Length: 1500 words Rating: T (suggestive words, only kobolds are naked and they’ve got scales) Summary: Morning for a particular adventuring group, and it turns out there’s a holiday about slaying a dragon about. What an event.

-----

Falina groaned and shifted under the covers. A pair of somethings yawned, then snuggled back in against her, trapping one arm. Her mind paused for a moment, then, staying as still as possible, the human woman moved her free arm to carefully, tentatively feel what had latched onto her in her sleep. Scales. She felt the tough, but not unpleasant, texture of scales under her fingers. Opening her eyes, she found herself still in the room above the Adventurer’s Guild, with her elven partner still in his trance state against the wall.

A lump under the blankets shifted. The woman lifted them away, and found herself staring at a pair of jaws spread wide, baring a plethora of small, yet sharp teeth. Adrenaline surged through her body, and she reached for the knife on the table... when those jaws closed, revealing the face of a small, dragon-like creature with yellow scales and eyes to match, slowly blinking sleep from her eyes.

Right in front of her, Rinta sat up on her knees and stretched her arms up with a groan, giving Falina a good view of her bare scales. Then, the kobold leaned over, nudged the other lump in the blankets, and made some growling and hissing noises Falina assumed to be Draconic. A few moments later, a second, green head poked out of the covers. Kassar said something back to Rinta, but extracted himself from Falina’s bedspread and shook himself. The human looked at the yellow kobold, and noticed she was looking back at her. No, not at her - at the knife in her hand.

“A-ah,” Falina said, letting the weapon fall back onto the table. “Look, to my tired eyes, a yawning kobold looks a lot like a hungry dragon, especially a foot away from my face.”

To her surprise, the kobold smiled, and her tail swished back and forth excitedly, running into Falina’s leg. “Really? Oh, thanks!” She hopped off the bed and began to stretch the rest of her body, then looked back over at the human. “I’m glad your reaction time is lacking, then. I use magic best when there’s not a dagger buried in my scales.”

With her two apparent bedmates no longer on the bed, Falina threw the sheets off of herself and sat up, feet on the floor. With the kobolds having discarded their clothes before getting in her bed, she was relieved to find that her own garments were still on her. “Yeah, well, try not to yawn in my face once Arwyn and I hit silver rank. You’re not like the tales of evil kobolds passed around the Guild hall.” Falina pulled on pants, then a shirt, both a little baggy to conceal the tools of her trade. “So why were you two in my bed?”

“Why wouldn’t we be? You invited us to sleep with you last night,” Kassar chimed in, “something about it being cold.”

“I WHAT?!” Falina exclaimed. Off to the side, she heard Arwyn chuckling; the elf was evidently only feigning to still be in a trance.

“Yeah, I’m glad you’re warming up to us a bit,” the green lizard replied, “you’re very soft, by the way. I mean, obviously without scales, but still! Very comfortable.”

“I- with you two?!”

“Hm? What’s that supposed to mean?” Rinta said, scaly arms crossed over scaly chest. “We may not be dragons, but there’s no need for tha-”

“Ah, you younguns. Before we spill each other’s blood...” Arwyn interrupted, “Falina. They meant literally that they slept alongside you. Rinta, Kassar. In human slang, ‘to sleep with’ someone means to have sex with them.”

“Ohhh...” Kassar and Falina said.

Rinta huffed and put on her cloak. “That reaction was still rude.”

After they all got dressed, they opened the door of their room, ready to see what people needed helping and what creatures needed slaying. To their surprise, the hallway had been decorated with streamers, and they could hear raucous cheering and singing more clearly from the hall below.

“Oh, that’s right!” Falina said, “it’s Drachenfell today! Oh, we’re definitely taking a day to have fun.”

“Drachenfall?” Rinta asked. A human adventurer rushed past them, knocking her aside; in retaliation, she gripped her staff and growled at the receding hooligan, the glow in its crystal fading when a green-scaled hand pulled at her arm.

Falina pretended not to notice the interrupted spell, and instead explained, “yeah, about seventy or so years ago, a team of the king’s great knights slew the terrible dragon, uh...” She snapped her fingers a few times, trying to remember the name, and finally continued, “Kazerahad. And it happened close to here, so we celebrate it like it was entirely our doing.” With a proud grin, she crossed her arms and nodded. “Which, of course, it was, even if the knights came from other places.”

Arwyn tossed his dark brown hair. “Ah, and to your people, this is all ancient history, I’m sure.”

Two tails and a hand smacked the elf. “You’re forty, ‘gramps;’ nobody’s buying it,” Falina said.

Arriving in the food hall, the group broke off their conversation to grab a meal: meat for the kobolds, a salad for the elf, and eggs and toast for Falina, herself. They all reconvened at an empty spot at one of the tables. Next to them, a few adventurers with badges of copper or iron traded extremely true stories of the many, many dragons they, personally, had defeated, oftentimes without the aid of their party. Falina caught Rinta looking between her meat and the boisterous braggarts with a mischievous, hungry glint in her eye, so she reached over and tapped the kobold’s snout with the handle of her fork. “Hey, none of that. No fighting in the Guild Hall.”

“I wouldn’t call it a fight-”

“Not happening.”

Rinta still looked reluctant to give up her quarry, so Kassar spoke up. “So, this Drachenfall thing,” he started, “it commemorates the death of a dragon, in one of those ‘don’t be sad because it’s over, but happy because it happened’ things?”

“Well-” Arwyn started, but Rinta cut in.

“No, it probably started as a somber event, but over time got happier, because festivals are more fun than days of remembrance.”

Falina furrowed her brow. “No, it’s a celebration that the dragon died. There was a monstrous, fire-breathing beast terrorizing the city and devouring people, and the valorant knights saved the citizenry from its horrible hunger.”

“Ah... right,” Rinta said, her downward-curved horns seeming to reflect her mood. She tore off a bite of her breakfast and lethargically swallowed it in a few gulps. “So... maybe Kassar and I will take a small assignment or two, and leave you people off to celebrate the killing of Khazhra’ad.”

The human, for her part, felt like a bit of a jerk. She looked down at her own plate, idly listening to the roar of voices all around. The only one not downspirited seemed to be Arwyn, who finished off his salad before suggesting, “a pair of small, dragon-looking beings unaccompanied around town, on a day that’s, well, kind of about dragon slaying, and therefore probably has plenty of world-ignorant children and cocky teens with toy swords? I can’t say I like that combination.”

Rinta sighed. “Yeah, and beating or eating kids is a no-go, no matter what you think about my...” she cast a glance at the adventurers who were showing off scars that totally came from dragon fights and not accidentally stepping on a cat’s tail, before continuing, “... hunting desires. So, what then, Arwyn? Because if you think we should just stay in here all day, I’m gonna invite at least one of those humans to our room and have myself a snack.”

“We could go with them and try to forget the real theme of the holiday,” Kassar put forth. The others gave him strange looks: Arwyn looked impressed, Falina looked confused, and Rinta looked at him like he had renounced koboldhood and would be living as an alligator. So, the green kobold explained, “you said it yourself, there’s enough time for the celebrations to change. Besides, this is a pretty major thing, it seems; if we spend the day avoiding it, we’ll come up miserably short in our report to Azurel.”

Rinta gulped down the rest of her breakfast, and chased it with a swig of her drink. “Alright, for Azurel.”

Falina smiled, though her enthusiasm was still tempered by her earlier misstep. “Great to hear! So, we’d have to avoid... that, that... that one... probably there... oh! I know what to start with. You two can eat sugar and bread, right?”

Kassar shrugged. “We can eat just about anything. Our lack of gag reflex isn’t just for draconic pleasure.”

To the side, one of the noisy adventurers choked on his toast. Rinta leaned over and remarked, “another casualty of draconic superiority. Tragic.”

Falina shook her head at the yellow kobold, then leaned in conspiratorially to Kassar. “Well then, you’re about to learn the glory of funnel cake.”

#text #kobold #kobolds #ocs #oc: rinta #oc: kassar #oc: arwyn #oc: falina #writing #writers on tumblr

[dragonblobz]

Injuries Pt 4

After another millennium....... here is pt 4 of the fic request made by @lilfriezatyrant of caring for the injured lizard. STILL NO SMUT........ but he's feelin pretty dang feisty sksksksksks. Wrote this to Night of the Wolf by Nox Arcana.

His entire body stiffens. No longer relaxed and languid, it becomes as rigid as stone. All but his face.

Your kiss is chaste. Closed lips pressed to his. But you feel his own lips pull back. Feel the cool moisture of his naked teeth against your soft skin. He’s bared his teeth.

His hand leaves your wrist and you feel these fingers, now icy and brutal, grip your jaw, almost crushing, painful. He wrenches your face from his. His voice is deadly calm.

“Just what do you think you are doing, (Y/N)? Hmmm?”

It hurts to move your jaw, but you are oddly unafraid.

“Satisfying my curiosity.”

His face is the very picture of put upon rage. His mouth is wrenched in a silent snarl. His brows are creased heavily. And a vein pulses just beneath that pale skin at his temple. And his retort is rapid fire, but still that same inhuman calm.

“Fascinating. Not a few moments ago, you reeked of fear at the very idea of touching me. And now, suddenly, you’re brave enough to……… what is this act that you have perpetrated upon me?”

Your eyes go wide.

“It’s…….. a kiss……… surely you know what a kiss is??”

NOW his voice is angry.

“Of COURSE I don’t know what a kiss is, you hateful wretch! And I am not as you! I have no memories other than superficial ones. Why have you done this act upon me?”

You suddenly feel awful. Very guilty. He has amnesia. He is hurt. He is your PATIENT. And here you are kissing him. Even if he HAD insisted that you touch him, he had not asked for this particular action.

“I’m…….. I’m sorry. Really, I am. Just….” The pressure on your jaw becomes unbearable as his grip tightens.

“I gifted you with the honor of touching me……..” His voice has returned to that unnerving calm. “And you invade my personal space in this way?” His other hand now reaches up to trace it’s pointer finger around your lips. His face relaxes and his gaze travels also to your mouth.

“I ought to kill you.”

You feel the first tickles of fear in your stomach as his mouth creases into a smirk. He muses aloud.

“I suppose I WAS forceful.” His grip relaxes slightly, still firm, but no longer painful. And his gaze upon your lips becomes thoughtful.

“How did I come to be here? What happened to me?”

You try to answer as truthfully as you can.

“I’m not…… sure what happened to you. But I found you. And I brought you here.”

“And treated me?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why did you bring me here? Why did you treat me?”

You don’t answer. His thumb twitches on the skin of your jaw.

“I’ll warn you once. Only once.” He continues to trace your lips. “I cannot recall my own name. But I know that I’m not the kind to be patient with dawdling or with lies…… you are aware that I’m quite capable of killing you, yes?”

“I’m……. I’m aware, yes.” Your voice wavers as you remember the metallic taste as he’d stared down that bear. SOMETHING had been about to happen. You’re sure of it. He’s not lying to you.

“Good. That’s very good. You’re dangerously impulsive, but not stupid. Now…….. I’m almost certain I’m up to no good being here. So WHY are you helping me, (Y/N)?”

“I must.”

“You must? Explain, simian.”

“Before you guys came here……. I was gonna be a doctor. A healer. I couldn’t…… I couldn’t just LEAVE you. You were hurt.” You’re feeling more and more stupid as you speak. Hearing your own reasoning, spoken in your own words, in your own voice….. it sounds very STUPID. Saving a damn alien whom is part of a group of aliens hell bent on usurping your world is probably the DUMBEST thing you’ve ever done.

His mouth now curls into a wicked toothy smile as he speaks.

“You primates and your idiotic predispositions to doing the right thing…….. still…….. I suppose I’m not being very grateful now, am i?”

He’s almost frighteningly calm now. Downright good natured. And just watching such a rapid play of different emotions on his face in under 2 minutes is…… terrifying.

He’s still gripping your jaw. And focusing an intense stare at your lips as that finger stops tracing to tap your bottom lip. Just feather light touches.

Tap.

Your heart is tripping all over itself.

Tap.

“I should probably look at your leg, now.”

“I imagine you should.” That grin becomes downright predatory. His hands don’t move.

Tap.

“I’m really very sorry. About the kiss, I mean…..”

His grip on your jaw changes angle, his finger tips pressing into your cheeks, making your lips purse. At the same time, that other finger slips between your lips to trace your front teeth.

“You look like a fish.” He looks suddenly playful. Amused.

“What are you doing?” Your words sound odd with the way he’s smooshing your cheeks.

His voice is quite bored compared to the impish grin on his face.

“Your curiosity has had it’s fill of satisfaction, (Y/N). I’m afraid you’re going to sate MINE, now.”

The cold lump of lead filling your belly is in direct war with the electric butterflies around it.

“Oh?? And….. and how am I gonna do that?”

There is no real warning before he squeezes your cheeks hard enough to press the flesh of them between your teeth, forcing your mouth open. At the same time that pointer finger, as well as his middle finger, thrusts back into your throat. The knuckles at the top of his hand are scraped uselessly by your teeth. Your throat spasms around these cool digits.

You instinctively try to pull away. You can’t breathe this way. But your face is effectively bridled by that splayed hand whose fingers dig into your cheeks, not inherently harming, but utterly ruthless.

You reach up, grasping the wrist of the hand at your face. Your nails scrape uselessly along this gauntleted amethyst here. You are unable to make any sound other than wet gagging.

His smile fades, replaced by a look far more terrifying than any he’s previously given you. He tilts his head. He doesn’t look angry. He looks curious….. and starving.

“Now THAT is a pretty blush…..”

He scissors those two fingers. And now your body is physically trying to expel them. Grunting coughs around his fingers. Drool pools out of your mouth and down his wrist. He doesn’t seem to care about this.

“Not trying to bite, then? I’m impressed. But I’d advise you to calm your flailing. This tissue feels very delicate.” His voice is almost clinical now.

You attempt to obey him. And are successful in terms of no longer trying to wrench your body away from him. But your chest and back continue to heave, your gagging continues unabated. You cannot help this natural response.

And your lungs are beginning to burn. To scream for air. Tho you are no longer attempting to get away, your hands still tremble on his wrist.

His crimson pupils center on your own. And he leans forward now. Very close. Till those eyes are all you can see. He’s looking into your eyes as if you are a moderately interesting lab specimen. Your tummy blooms in raw terror. Is he going to suffocate you?

Your airway wheezes as he finally removes his fingers. Your mouth is open and slack as you desperately breathe, gasping. You can feel trails of spit running down your flushed chin.

And you can feel your own saliva being smeared on your neck as that hand now grasps here. It is not crushing, but it’s vice like. And the other hand maintains it’s grip on your face. And he stops moving now. Is just watching you gasp, so close that those alien eyes fill your vision.

“A kiss, hmmm?”

You can see the corners of his eyes crinkle. He’s grinning.

“Why do I feel as if you are not showing me what such an action can truly accomplish?”

Those pupils flick downwards. He’s looking at your lips.

“Inferior frightened primate……… but I think you can give me much better than that paltry performance.”

Those pupils return to yours.

“Can’t you…..”

You can’t nod. Can’t really move your neck at all with the way he’s holding you. So you gasp, your voice a croak bubbling from your tender throat.

“I…… I think so……”

He doesn’t wait for any further excuses. Pulls your lips to his. His eyes do not close as a human’s might. He’s watching you very closely.

You respond immediately, your own eyes fluttering shut. You are frightened of him, yes. But the majority of the terror seething in your belly stems from your own instant animal response to him. There is no hesitation. You kiss him with fire.

His lips remain motionless at first. Then, they begin to mimic the actions of your own. As if he’s learning very quickly.

Your hands leave his wrist to trail your fingertips up his firm chest. Up. To drape over his shoulders, your hands cradling the back of his head. Your body presses into his and you can feel how much cooler he is than you even thru the tin material of your shirt. It’s like you’ve lost your mind and he does absolutely nothing to stop you.

You must certainly be a sight. Sitting next to this alien, kissing the shit out of him. His hands grasping your throat and face while his pupils twinkle and dance at your own willful helplessness to his whim.

That tail, still wrapped around your middle, begins an odd rhythmic pulsing. A slow malingering flex which begins at the base and undulates along its length. Culminating in a tightening and then loosening. It’s a repeated pressure, oddly soothing. As if his body is attempting to comfort you, although this does not translate to the ferocity in his eyes.

He suddenly pulls his face away, your seeking lips leaving his with a tiny pop. Your eyes fluttering open again. He’s only pulled his face away tho. His body remains pressed into yours. That tail continues to pulse.

The hand around your throat leaves this to snake the fingertips down your ribs, between your breasts, around your body. Till it’s splayed on your lower back. And he presses you even more firmly to him.

The other hand continues to grasp your face. And he twitches his wrist, forcing your head to tilt. His own head tilts just the same, matching yours. And his dark lips, sparkling with your saliva, pull back from those perfect teeth in an atavistic snarling grin. His voice is a raspy growl.

“Exemplary.”

#frieza #freeza #lord frieza #frieza x reader #injuries fic #my writing

[mwfhomebrew]

Amnella Swamp

Swamp by Leonardo Borazio

Location: Amnella Swamp

“When I first spotted the swamp in the middle of Amnella desert, I thought it was a mirage flashing before my eyes. After it did not vanish as I approached, I thought it was a miracle. It was not until I traversed further into its slimy grasp that I realized I had merely left one death trap for another.” - Professional Wizard Monte Doogle

Located deep in the heart of the Amnella desert, Amnella swamp sticks out like an infected thumb, rotting and putrid. What at first appears to be a safe haven from the dry desert heat is in fact even more dangerous. The water and vegetation here may be appetizing to those who have trekked for miles through the sandy dunes, but they are merely the luminous bulb of a vicious angler fish.

Amnella swamp is not a natural phenomenon. It was created by a coven of hags that opened a portal to the elemental plane of water in the middle of Amnella desert. At first, the land flourished with new life. Trees sprouted, plants began to bloom, and travelers would stop to refill their waterskins. A couple settlements were even established to create a half way point from one side of the desert to the other.

Eventually, the hags’ portal became less stable. More water was coming out than was necessary, which not only made growing food difficult, but also made the land less stable. The settlements that had been erected slowly started to sink into the mud.

There was also the situation with the elementals. At first it was small things. Elementals the size of your fist escaping into our plane and making their home in the swamp, but as the portal destabilized the elementals that came through grew larger and more volatile.

Adventure Hooks

The settlement of Amnorok has been having problems in its rice fields. At first, it was only the giant lizards used to transport the rice that were going missing, but lately a few farmhands have vanished only to appear a couple days later floating face up in the field. The village’s farmers have refused to return to the fields until whatever is slaughtering them has been handled.

The Xolorix Coven who first created the portal to the plane of water need help in order to bring it back under their control. It was almost two centuries ago that they used a powerful gem to open the portal, and in that time the gem’s power has faded. They are no longer able to control the tides that are surging forth from the plane of water or the legions of water elementals that are coming with them. To return the crystal to its original state, they need the raging heart of a powerful fire elemental.

As if the water elementals weren’t bad enough, recently the inhabitants of Amntol, a settlement on the northern side of the swamp, have becoming afflicted with some type of plague. The villagers first become itchy and covered with red blisters before becoming feverish and strangely gaunt. Many have died from this disease already, and those that haven’t are refusing to leave their homes for fear that they might contract it. Unbeknownst to them, this is the work of the druid Valem Kor. He has been sending swarms of insects into the town to drink from the villagers while they sleep.

#dnd #d&d #5e #homebrew #swamp #ttrpg #location #adventure #hag #desert #elemental

[brax-was-here]

Scarlet Briar: The Seeds of Life Chapter 5

Written by: Braxxus

Chapter 5: We Thought You Had Perished

Sometimes plans don’t go as planned 

Sounds of the jungle’s inhabitants buzzed all around Ceara as she travelled through the unforgiving terrain, evading sparce groups of mordrem as she followed the roughly cut path.

“A relic of Mordremoth?” she thought to herself. The vegetation of the jungle slowly diminished giving away to an open area shattered by Mordremoth’s vines

“Why can’t I be rid of him?”  she muttered to herself as she passed by inert thorn covered vines jutting everywhere from the ground. The plateau eventually narrowed to a point overlooking a chasm.

“Well…” She muttered as she looked over the edge of the cliff into the canyon below. “I guess this is the moment of truth.” The breeze whipped past her as she mulled over her choices. “It’s either risking death or…” she turned, looking back the way she came. “Or finding the longest way around.” She placed her goggles over her eyes and looked out over the canyon. She opened a panel on one of her gauntlets, focusing on a ridge on the far wall.

“Feh, not there.” She spat as a small reading came up indicating it was too far to reach by teleportation. She looked at the canyon floor. The same reading came up.

“Thorns.” She tried one other ridge that was closer, but it too was too far away.

“Well…I have my answer.” She reluctantly resigned herself to using the glider Zuma had given her. She breathed in deep as she stepped a few yards away from the ledge, deploying the wings. She pressed a switch on her gauntlet. “Hopefully if I fall, I’ll be able to teleport somewhere to a safe spot…maybe. Anyway, here we go…” She raced to the canyon edge and leapt. She started falling at first, until the wind caught her and carried her away from the canyon wall.

“AAAAAH HAHAHAHA!!!” she screamed as she realized she as gliding down the canyon, her heart racing with excitement. “I’M FLYING!” She hadn’t felt this excited since the first time she jumped through one of her steam portals.

“Cian…” The terrain passed below her as her thoughts briefly drifted back to the sylvari from long ago and how he dreamed of flying with the birds. “I’m sorry…” she smiled as she watched the canyon pass by. “Well, no time to dwell on such things now.” She thought as she slowly descended to the ground. Once again, she stumbled slightly upon landing.

“I’m going to have to practice that landing part.” She muttered as she got to her feet. She turned and looked back the way she came to see how far she had travelled.

“Wow.” She lightly gasped, smiling. “Who knew it was possible? Anyway, no time to waste.” She closed the glider wings and continued her journey through the canyon.

“Mordremoth…” she whispered as she looked up the canyon walls. Giant vines protruded along the route, twisting and threading through the canyon. Her anger simmered at the memories of what he had done to her.

“I wish I could have delivered the death knell myself.” Her lips twisted in disgust as she looked down at the canyon floor in front of her. “That bastard…” she hissed. Drawing a deep breath, she tried to push the memories from her thoughts. Travelling around a bend, she spied the wreckage of a pact airship in the distance, crushed within the coil of a slew of vines. The air was deathly still as she cautiously approached the area, readying her rifle. Only the sounds of far-off jungle birds made any sounds. The debris field around the smashed ship was large, with nothing recognizable, save for a couple makeshift cannons set up on ramshackle supports. There were signs of a hastily built camp, but she could tell it had not been inhabited in a long time. Makeshift weapons were strewn about the area.

She knelt, grabbing a piece of sharpen metal fitted with a hastily carved wooden handle. “They used whatever they could to fend off the dragon’s minions.” She thought to herself looking over the weapon. A slight squeak in the wreckage pulled her attention away. Dropping the knife, she readied her rifle, catching movement through the hull of the airship. She could hear the sounds of scarp metal rattling as something was moving quickly through the wreck.  

“Skritt? Are you skritt? Come out. Now!” A small lizard hopped onto a top of an open container, peeping at her.

“Oh…” a small sigh of relief as she lowered her weapon. Just then more appeared from the wreckage. They wasted no time charging at her.

“GAH!” she gasped as she instinctively dropped her rifle and activated her force shield just as they surrounded her.

“I definitely don’t have time for this nonsense!” she spat as she unhooked the handle of a beam saber from her belt. Igniting the blade, she dispatched the small creatures quickly.

“I’m not your dinner!” She growled as she sliced the last of the small reptiles. “Wonderful. Something else to watch for in the place.” She snarled as she hooked the hilt back to her belt before picking up her rifle.

“Ok, this has got to go for now.” She removed the glider and set it against a pile of twisted metal. “As useful as this glider is, it’s quite cumbersome.” She cautiously climbed through the hull. “Empty containers, improvised weapons…and blood everywhere.” she noted as she looked at a dried patch of what appeared to be blood smeared across a panel of the airship.

“And no remains of the pact members anywhere. Hmm…” she spied a small book laying under a piece of twisted flooring.

“What have we here…A journal of sorts.” She leaned her rifle against a piece of debris as she started flipping through the pages. “It belonged to an asura named Gledde.” She continued paging through it, stopping at an entry.

“Twenty-four hours have passed since we were yanked from the sky by Mordremoth. Half of our sylvari comrades have abandoned us, running off into the jungle following a “call”. The ones that have stayed are doing their best to stay focused. We’ve done our best to fortify the wreck site and set up a camp. We’ve managed to salvage enough supplies from the storage lockers to last a few days, maybe a week, and made some extra weapons out of parts of the ship. Also, we were able to get a couple cannons set up for defense.”

She turned the page. “The mordrem are everywhere. We can feel them watching from the trees. Their attacks are sporadic, and when they withdrawal, they drag the bodies of the fallen with them. It’s a little unnerving to say the least. Are they eating the dead? It’s something I’d rather not think about. Hopefully we’ll be rescued soon.”

“Five days have now passed. Our supplies are dwindling, our numbers are shrinking. We can only light the signal fires for a short time before we have to extinguish them for fear of attracting the enemy. I fear we may not make it back to Tyria.” She paused as a small light blink on one of her gauntlets. “Hmm?”

“Someone’s behind me…” she thought. In an instant she unholstered her pistol and spun around to find another pistol pointed at her face.  She glared at the individual clad in brown leather armor, a scarf and bandana concealing his face, leaving only bright blue eyes staring at her. She glanced at the uncovered arm holding the pistol, blue sylvari skin revealing the identity of her assailant.

“Well…” she spoke slyly. “This is particularly interesting…” she smiled. She dropped the journal, smacking her assailants pistol aside with her own. She pulled the trigger, firing a shot but the blue sylvari was able to sidestep her. He grabbed her arm, locking it in position. Planting his foot behind her, he grabbed her around the neck and tossed her to the ground. She brought her pistol around, but he kicked it away, planting one foot on her right arm and a knee on her left, pinning her down.

“Oooooh, how did you know I like it rough!?” she mockingly squealed. “Just be warned…I never kiss on the first date.” He pointed his pistol at her. She smiled.

“So why don’t you tell me who you are before you have your way with me?” she asked slyly.

“Scarlet Briar…” a deep voice spoke behind the scarf.

Ceara sighed, rolling her eyes. “No, that’s me. I asked you who you are...Harbinger!”

Her assailant paused a moment before pulling his scarf away, revealing the face of a sylvari she had read about in Amaranda’s book.

“Malyck…how nice to finally make your acquaintance.” she smiled.

“Why are you in this jungle?” he asked, his tone very serious.

“Why, I’ve come to pick flowers.” She replied sarcastically. He pointed his pistol at her forehead.

“I know what you have done to Tyria, woman. Do not provoke me.”

“You mean what Mordremoth did to Tyria.” She spat back.

“Mordremoth? It was you who awoke him.”

“He controlled me.” She said, her anger starting to rise. “Now, unless you plan to ravish me, would you be so kind as to remove your pistol and let me up?”

“You are-“ he was cut off by voices nearby.

“I’m sure the shot came from near this wreckage. Probably inside.”

“Ok, you check inside. I’ll stand guard out here and keep an eye out.”

They both looked out and saw two sylvari approaching.

“Nightmare courtiers.” Ceara whispered recognizing their armor. Malyck rolled off her ducking behind a pile of scrap metal. Ceara pushed a switch on her gauntlet, activating her stealth field. She ducked behind a large piece of metal plating.

“Thorns…” she spat as she watched one of the courtiers picked up the glider.

“Someone was definitely here. Look at this.”

“That’s one of those gliding things the frogs had.” The other spoke. “Do you think it’s still here?”

“Not sure. Be on your guard.” They watched as the courtier entered the hull of the ship, his sword drawn. His gaze settled upon Ceara’s rifle. “Whoa…” he gasped, picking it up from its resting place. “What kind of weapon is this?” he turned and hurried out of the wreckage. “Hey, look at this!” he shouted.

“Whoa. That thing is…that is impressive. What kind of rifle is that? It looks like something the rats would make at Rata Sum.”

Ceara’s field faded. Malyck glanced at her before turning his attention back to the courtiers.

“We could kill them easily.” he whispered. Ceara nodded, bringing her pistol up.

“I’m sure Nafiona would love to have this in her arsenal.” One of the courtiers spoke.

“Nafiona?” Ceara whispered. She looked at Malyck, who was bringing his own pistol to bear on them.

“Wait!” she whispered. He looked at her confused. “I have a plan.” She slowly reached into one of her satchels, pulling out two small devices. She pressed a button each, attaching on the inside of the skirt of her armor. She tossed the other to Malyck, who looked at her puzzled.

“What are you doing?” He asked looking at the device.

“It’s a tracking device...” She whispered. “So you can find me.”

“What? Why would I want to do that?”

“There is a frog village to the east with an acquaintance that is looking for this group of courtiers. Head there to get her and some help.”

“Why should I help you?” he protested.

“Because they are both our enemy, and this Nafiona wants some powerful relic of Mordremoth that is in this jungle somewhere.”

“Relic of Mordremoth? What is that?”

“I don’t know, but I have the feeling it’s going to be bad for all of us if she finds it. So please, go to the village and get help.”

“What are you going to do?” he muttered as she pulled her hood up and stood quietly.  

“I’m going with them. To find their camp. Just be ready in case this goes south quickly.” She started moving towards the courtiers.

“Wait…what? Are you mad?” he asked. She gave him a disgusted look.

“Your words hurt, harbinger.”

“Don’t call me that. I am not some harbinger of doom.” He replied back. She started towards the opening in the hull.

“Would you be as so kind to return my weapon to me?” she commanded loudly as she moved through the wreckage, her hand resting on her pistol under her cloak.

“Who’s there!?” the courtiers turned, one drawing her bow, the other pointing the rifle. “Show yourself!” Ceara exited through the hole in the wrecked ship.

“Do you not know me?” Ceara asked, removing her hood. The faces of the courtiers dropped.

“M…Madam Scarlet!?” one asked disbelievingly. Ceara, stifled her gasp, trying her best to hide her surprise at the name.

“You…you’re dead!” the other added.

“Well obviously I’m not! I seem to be very much alive! Now why are you courtiers out here in the jungle!?” she asked coyly.

The duo looked at each other.

“Well!?” Ceara acted agitated.

“Uh…Madam Scarlet, we’re here with Nafiona. She’s on the hunt for something powerful. Something she could use to unite the Nightmare Court.”

Ceara brought her hand up to her face, resting her elbow on her other arm, acting as if she was pondering the Courtiers comment. “What is your name, boy?” She finally asked him.

“Caelan…madam.” He replied, somewhat sheepishly.

“Caelan?” She paused a moment, narrowing her eyes at him. “You were at the nightmare tower…” she muttered.

“Yes, Madam.”

“Are you still catching flies with your mouth?”

“Uh?” Caelan reached up and found his mouth hanging slightly open.

“That’s what I thought.” Ceara snarled at him. “My rifle…now!” Caelan quickly held the rifle out, kneeling before her. She pulled the clip out looking inside of it.

“Hmm…” she raised a hand in the air in front of her, causing a small holographic panel to appear. She tapped a few keys in sequence and another clip appeared in her hand. Plugging it into the rifle, she activated it. The rifle powered up, extending its barrel and projecting holograms around it giving readings. The coutiers were seemingly amazed at it.

“That…that is an impressive piece of equipment, Madam.” The woman said.

Ceara glanced at her with a sly smile, deactivating her weapon and slinging it over her shoulder.

“So, what is your name, girl?”

“Orla, madam.” The sylvari bowed.

“Orla…I do not know you.” Ceara looked at her. “How many more of you are there?”

“Madam, a little over twenty.”

“Twenty? Well, the court seems to have shrunken these days without Faolain to guide it.”

“The court still exists, Madam. It’s just…” Caelan paused. “just that some traitors felt the need to try to control it. Nafiona will make them see the error of their ways.”

“Oooh, so…it’s fractured, you say?” Ceara mockingly pondered the thought. “It seems the warlords are thirsty for power. Where is Nafiona now?”

“She is with the main group, Madam.” Orla replied.

“Take me to her.”

The duo looked at each other before responding. “Yes, Madam.” Ceara glanced over her shoulder towards where Malyck was hiding and gave a slight nod.

“So, I’ll finally meet this Nafiona.” She thought to herself.

Malyck watched the trio leave the wreck site, soon joined by a third courtier member that was hiding in the vegetation. He cautiously made his way to opening, peering out to make sure there was no one else there.

“Relic of Mordremoth…” he spoke quietly to himself as he looked at the tracking device Scarlet Briar had given him.

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liathlas slowly stirred as Mabli applied more extract to her wound.

“Ceara, what happen-“ Liathlas’s eyes went wide as she opened them and gazed upon the visage of a giant frog staring at her. “Um..hello” she stammered as she froze.

“Don’t be afraid. I am applying medicine to helping you.”

“Medicine?”

“Yes, you were afflicted by poison from the mordrem. I was able to save you before it was too late.”

“The mordrem? Where’s Ceara?”

“Your friend travelled ahead towards the west into the jungle in search of others of your kind.” Mabli answered, wiping her hands.

“Of my kind? What are…ow…” Trying to sit up Liathlas grimaced as her whole body ached.

“Lay down. You must rest until the poison is removed completely.” Mabli stated.

“I…can’t…Ceara is out there in the jungle and I need to catch up to her.” Liathlas stood up, shakily leaning against her staff as the room seem to wobble.

“you are too weak to travel. Especially with the sun setting. The mordrem are more active at night.” Mabli moved to the entrance to her hut. “Look, the villagers are locking down the village as we speak for the evening.” Liathlas slowly hobbled next to her and looked out over the trees.”

“Oh..my…” she gasped as the realization hit her that the village was suspended high in the canopy of the jungle. Villagers were steadily taking up rope bridges and walkways that lead down to the surface below.

“So we’re trapped here? Until morning?” Liathlas asked. Mabli nodded her head.

“But why are these mordrem still hostile? There were others…other modrem that we met in the wastes that were not hostile. They seemed…remorseful.”

“Not all the mordrem have relented the call of the jungle dragon.” Mabli turned and walked over to a small lantern. “Their minds gone. They still follow what he called them to do.” She reached into a small pouch, pulling out a pinch of a powder that she rubbed in between her fingers, sprinkling it into the lantern flame. She clapped her hands together, causing an ethereal image to appear.

“Your kind fell to the dragon in droves.” Mabli spoke. Liathlas watched as various sylvari were slowly transformed into the mordrem guard, thick plates of rough bark-like skin growing over their bodies, their faces twisting into hideous monstrous forms. Liathlas moved closer.

“Not all of your kind were so easily swayed by the dragons call. These heroes arrived here to defeat the jungle dragon.” Images of battle appeared in the fog.

“Is that…Trahearne? And Faolain?” Liathlas asked. Images of the members of Destiny’s Edge fighting the sylvari filled the cloud. Caithe being chased by a great beast bearing Faolain’s image. Trahearne and others being taken into the jungle by mordrem. Members of the pact fighting, being slain by the sylvari.

“All hope seemed lost, save for the timely arrival of another group of heroes.” The fog shifted, revealing a small group that Liathlas did not recognize, but for two. The Pact Commander and the sylvari Canach. “This group traversed the jungle and found a way to stop the jungle dragon.” The image changed again, showing the mordrem guard. Some dropping their weapons, some screaming in agony, others turning on their own kind.

“Without the call of Mordremoth…” Liathlas started.

“They were lost.” Mabli finished. “Some accepted what they had become. Others still cling to their masters call.”

“And still others try to return to the Grove…” Liathlas spoke softly. The mist faded. Liathlas sighed turning to the doorway. “I’ve got to fin-WHAAAAA!!” She found a blue skinned sylvari standing in the entry way to the hut.

“If you are looking for Scarlet Briar…” Malyck started, holding up the small tracking device. “This will lead us to her.”

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ceara followed the group of courtiers through the rocky ravines and ravaged terrain. Giant vines of the jungle dragon towered over head, coiling around wreckage of the pact fleet, holding the twisted shells of the airships aloft high in the air.

“With Mordremoth dead, you would think these vines would weaken and come crashing down.” She muttered.

“It would seem so.” Caelan replied.

“Madam, how did you survive the Lion’s Arch battle?” Orla asked over her shoulder.

“Quick thinking and planning.” Ceara smirked, glancing at the courtier next to her. “I knew they would attack the Breachmaker. I knew I had limited time to do what I needed to do and get out.”

“But the rumors said you were stabbed and killed.”

“Holograms are wonderful things, aren’t they? When used properly, they can fool anyone.” She said slyly, grabbing a mordrem vine and snapping the end off. It crumbled to pieces, disintegrating in her hand.

“The sun is setting.” The third coutier mentioned. “We need to hurry to the camp.”

“Oh my! You do speak!” Ceara quipped. “And here I thought you were mute. What is your name?”

“Odhran.” He replied sharply, keeping his gaze looking forward.

“Odhran.” Ceara repeated. “Well, Odhran, what are you about?”

The courtier cut his eyes at Ceara briefly before setting his gaze forward, never answering.

“It’s ok, courtier. You don’t have to be shy.” Ceara snarked.

“Can we kill this one?” Odhran asked, a hint of agitation in his voice. Ceara stopped, her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “Her constant rabble is very irritating.” He continued.

Ceara placed her hand on her pistol under her cloak. “I’d watch your tongue, if I were you, boy.”

Ordhran stopped, turning quickly to face Ceara, his hand on his sword. Ceara stared him in the eyes, a slight smirk on her face.

Orla and Caedan both turned to see the standoff.

“What is it, boy? Do you think your sword is good enough to take me?” Ceara asked whimsically, her smile broadening.

“Ordhran, stop this nonsense. Madam Scarlet is just talkative!” Orla stood between them, shaking her finger in Ordhran’s face.

“Orla, you do that again and I’ll be sure to bite it off.” Ordhran glanced at Ceara again before turning to continue along the path. His quickly moved to the front of the group.

“I’m sorry, Madam.” Orla bowed to Ceara.

“Next time, I won’t wait.” Ceara replied to her.

The group continued on, the rocky terrain eventually changing to more of the lush forest. Every so often, the Ceara would spot a marker on a tree along the path.

“You seem to know this area fairly well. Have you been here for a while?” Ceara asked.

“We’ve scouted the area.” Caedan replied. “The camp is on that plateau.” He pointed to ridge not far in the distance. Reaching the crest, Ceara saw the Nightmare Court camp in the distance.

“Aren’t you afraid of the mordrem attacking?” she asked.

“We have ways of keeping them at bay.” Orla said to her.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Mmhmm.” She nodded her head.

Ceara reached under the lip of the skirt of her armor and pulled out the small device. She pressed a small switch on it and placed it against a tree as she walked by. As they approached, she looked over the encampment. Numerous small tents were set up, along with hastily constructed barriers built from the trees near the camp. Various sylvari were busy at work setting up more defenses. Ceara noticed some machinery set along the perimeter of the camp.

“What are those machines?” she asked inquisitively.

“Part of our defense against the mordrem, and anything else that happens that tries to make it to the camp.” Caedan spoke.

“I see.”

The group entered the camp. Ordhran quickly left the group, marching to a nearby tent. The other two took Ceara to a small fire pit near the center of the compound.

“Ordhran is getting the duchess now. I think she’ll be happy to see you!” Orla eyes were bright as she looked at Ceara.

“Activate the field!” a voice called out.

“Activating!” another replied. Ceara watched as the camp was quickly covered in a dome of energy before it faded.

“Was that what I think it was?” Ceara asked.

“An illusion field, like the one that hid the tower in Kessex.” Caedan said to her. “We thought you might like that.” he smiled.

“Interesting…” Ceara looked around the camp.

“Part of our protection from the predators of the jungle.” He added. Ceara lightly nodded, a feeling of uncertainty filling her stomach.

“Something isn’t right here.” She thought to herself.

“Well…if it isn’t Madam Scarlet Briar herself.” A sultry voice spoke from behind. Ceara turned to see a purple skinned sylvari female in dark robes approaching.

“Toxic alliance…” Ceara muttered to herself, noticing the shoulder pauldrons, gauntlets, and boots the woman was wearing. Ceara thinned her eyes at her.

“And here we all thought you had perished.” She spoke slyly.

“I assume you must be Nafiona.” Ceara said sharply.

“You assume correctly. So, tell me, Madam…” Nafiona said in a mocking tone.  “What magic was used to raise you from the depths of the harbor? And without a single blemish.” Nafiona smiled. “I’m sure you tasted rather bitter to the sea life down there.”

“Planning and preparedness is what kept me alive.” Ceara smiled.

“Is that so?” Plans within plans. Always prepared.” Nafiona spoke softly. “Even at the nightmare tower. You had a plan to escape.”

“I’m always ready.” Ceara smirked. “Now what are you doing all the way out here in the jungle. Surely you aren’t here to follow Mordremoth?”

“Of course not. We have you to thank for nearly destroying our people. That was your game plan all along. To awaken the jungle dragon and force the sylvari into slavery. Having that damn voice in our heads nearly drove us insane.”

“You don’t say!” Ceara quipped. “Please tell me about it! Tell me how it took all your willpower to keep focused as Mordremoth filled your head with thoughts that you couldn’t tell were actually your own or not. That something was residing within you. Trying to take control.” Ceara gritted her teeth. Anger showed on Nafiona’s face. Tension was in the air. Ceara steadied her hand by her pistol as she noticed she was being flanked by courtiers.

“They’re up to something.” She thought. Nafiona raised her head slightly, looking down her nose at Ceara. “Now, why don’t you call off your courtiers and maybe we can talk about-“

“Seize her.” Nafiona commanded, cutting Ceara off. The group of courtiers tackled Ceara to the ground. Ceara didn’t fight back, allowing herself to be picked up and held in a kneeling position in front of Nafiona. Her weapons were removed as a courtier grabbed her by her foilage and held her face towards the glaring Nafiona. Nafiona stepped in front of her, grabbing Ceara firmly by the chin.

“You left us there. You promised us power and glory in the new world, and you left us to the mercy of the Lionguard and Seraph. And not just them. The krait also turned against us.” She threw Ceara’s head to the side, scratching her cheek in the process. Ceara paused for a moment, her eyes closed. Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes, cutting them at Nafiona.

“So now you want your revenge?” Ceara asked coyly. “What are you going to do? Feed me to the mordrem?”

Nafiona smiled. “You are a bright one.”

“Well, I did embarrass all those stiffs in Rata Sum.”

“Heh.” Nafiona smirked as she snapped her fingers. Ceara felt something heavy hit the back of her head before blacking out.

“Strip her, cage her. We’ll get her strung up in the morning before we head off to the corpse grove.” Nafiona ordered. “Are the canisters ready?”

“Yes, m’lady.” Ordhran replied. “Loaded up and ready to be armed once we get there.”

“Excellent.” She turned her head slowly, looking down at the unconscious Ceara.

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“We can’t just sit here while Ceara is out there with the Nightmare Court. She’s in trouble!” Liathlas protested.

“Travelling through the jungle is too risky. If we go now, we would be overwhelmed by the mordrem. We must wait until morning.” Mabli insisted.

“Hmph!” Liathlas turned to the door agitated. The night sky had fallen and most of the village’s torches had been extinguished.

“If she is as resourceful as I have heard, then this Ceara should be able to handle the Court with little problems.” Malyck spoke. “We can’t run after them unprepared.” He turned to Mabli.  “How many arrived in this village?”

“A group of five. They were asking for information about the land, and certain locations throughout the jungle. They asked about the ‘corpse grove’.”

“Corpse grove?” Liathlas turned away from the door.

“Yes, it is a place of death. Many mordrem are there. We stay away from the area, never venturing close.”

“I’ve seen it from afar.” Malyck stated.

“What is it?” Liathlas inquired.

“It is a tree, grown from Mordremoth. A place where the mordrem are created and grown. Akin to your Pale Tree and her sylvari.” Malyck responded to her.

“Hmm…she is looking for an item of great power. Do you think whatever she is looking for is there?” Liathlas asked.

“That is hard to say. Who knows what the mordrem are holding in their possession?” Mabli stated.

Liathlas sighed deeply. She plopped down next to the wall of the hut, resting her head against the mud and wooden structure before looking at Malyck. “So, Malyck. What is your story? From what I have heard in the past, you aren’t one of us.”

“No, I’m not.” He glared at her. “I came from a different tree. One that no longer exists.”

Liathlas looked at him inquisitively. “What happened?”

He sat down across the hut from her. “When I returned to the jungle, I searched a long time for my home and my patience rewarded me. I was lucky enough to find it. A grand tree, not as tall as your Pale Tree, but majestic none the less. I told my people that there were others of our kind and that we should rise up to help fight the dragons. Then Mordremoth awakened. When he rose, his creatures attacked my home. He enslaved those that were captured, killed those that resisted. He turned them into his mordrem. I do not know how many of us were able to escape. I watched as my home whithered and perished.”

“I’m sorry.” Liathlas said softly as she turned her gaze to the floor of the hut.

“We should get some sleep. We’ll need to be well rested before going after the Nightmare Court in the morning.” He said to her.

#Guild Wars 2 #GW2 #Scarlet Briar #Sylvari #HoT #Heart of Thorns #AU Ceara #Malyck #Nightmare Court