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quazartranslates · 3 years

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Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH66

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

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Chapter 66: The Queen’s Inheritance (V)

When Qi Leren was held in Ning Zhou's arms, he couldn't stop loving this person.

He thought that he could never give Ning Zhou up. If he couldn’t stand beside Ning Zhou, he would be terribly lonely and desperate.

"Power comes at a price," Ning Zhou whispered in his ear. "If I finally lose myself and become the devil I fear and hate most... If one day that happens, you must... kill me."

Qi Leren's chest seemed to be struck hard by a heavy hammer, making him breathless and pained. His bitter tears burst out at once. He put his forehead on Ning Zhou's shoulder and shook his head hard. At this moment, he knew clearly that he couldn't do it.

He was not the saint Maria. He couldn't kill his most important person in order to protect humanity. He was just an ordinary selfish person. He could only try his best to prevent Ning Zhou from falling, even if he has to sacrifice his own life to do it. But if one day the world and his lover were placed at opposite ends of the same scale, the scale would only sway and tilt towards his lover.

Qi Leren, who was driven to despair by this cruel fate, even thought, what did world peace have to do with him? Who would be grateful to a saint who had fallen into evil? If Ning Zhou really did this, would he have to kill Ning Zhou for the sake of "justice"?

"If there is such a day, I will accompany you." Qi Leren choked and said, "You must, you must not leave me."

Qi Leren knew what kind of person Ning Zhou was. He had long been aware of Ning Zhou's personality of self-sacrifice and dedication. After suffering from demonization, this personality had even tilted in the direction of self-destruction.

Ning Zhou could sacrifice himself for others, but he didn't want others to do this for him. He regarded giving as God's reward, and never considered getting a reward. He doesn't want to drag anyone down. If one day he really fell down, he would definitely let go of his hand before falling into hell, and let the person he loved stay in the world.

Because he firmly believed that this was better for Qi Leren, but for Qi Leren, he wanted to be with the person he loved more, and he didn't care whether he was human or a devil, and whether this was the world or hell.

Ning Zhou didn't answer. Just like when they had talked on the balcony that night, he didn't answer.

But this time, Qi Leren couldn't bear it anymore.

"I'm telling you seriously that I don't accept your self-righteous decision." Qi Leren broke free from Ning Zhou's hug and said to him with anger for the first time, "You think it’s good for me, but have you ever thought about how I feel?"

Ning Zhou was silent for a long time. After a long time, he sighed and said to Qi Leren, "Look at your feet."

Qi Leren turned his head and looked down at the altar. More than half of the temple of this cult ceremony had collapsed: the had dome collapsed, the columns had collapsed, and everything had collapsed slowly and inexorably. After the time for the Prophet's Heart ended, the white flowers all over the ground changed back to their original appearance—the broken arms and limbs and dripping blood were all over the place, which were bloodier and more horrible than the slaughtered Valentine tribe.

The blood foaming from the corpses’ mouths made the acid in his stomach churn. Under the tense environment just now, Qi Leren hadn't noticed this, but now when he carefully looked at this piece of hell on earth, he still couldn't bear to look closely and averted his eyes.

Ning Zhou was not surprised.

He hadn't been with Qi Leren for a long time. Most of the time, they had still been far away from each other. There were only the few days since he had really confessed his heart. But he knew what kind of person Qi Leren was. He is brave and strong. Most of the good qualities of human beings could be found in him, but this couldn’t hide that he was a naive young man who had grown up sheltered.

He must have had a warm family, parents who loved him, mentors and friends along the way, and he had lived happily for the first half of his life, so he learned how to love others generously.

Beloved children would become excellent people when they grew up. Their view of the world was gentle, and they had a childlike innocence towards cruelty. Their love for the world was selfish. They loved easily and hated easily. Once they were hit, it was too easy for them to turn good love into deep hate.

Qi Leren had seen the cruelty of the Nightmare World. He had not seen the real terror, and he had not defeated the evil in his heart, so he would not know what it was like to still love the world after suffering.

He felt that he couldn't kill Ning Zhou, and would rather go down with him, but he also hadn't seen a Ning Zhou who had lost himself in his original force, killed innocent people, and even destroyed the world. His determination was just naive self-motivation at this moment.

"You see this ceremony. Such things happen every day in the hell of the underworld, ones more cruel than this. Everything you can imagine, what you can't imagine... is happening. You will never like all this," Ning Zhou said.

He would only slowly collapse in disgust, or become evil himself.

Qi Leren choked. He forced himself to stare at the blood on the ground and a tentacle at his feet that had not been burned away. Every raised lesion on it was filled with disgusting mucus. As Ning Zhou said, he would never like it.

Just like he could strive to be strong in order to survive, and even learn to kill people, but he didn't like it.

The life he liked was the life he had once had, not the daily bloodshed in the Nightmare World. In the dead of night, he would also think of his parents. They only had one child. If he died here, he would never go back...

"Let’s go back. These things can be thought about slowly, and this half-field is about to collapse." Ning Zhou wiped off the blood on his hands and pulled Qi Leren down the damaged steps of the altar.

Qi Leren was silent, with his head down, and his boots stepped on the blood that splashed like a pool of water, making him hold his breath subconsciously. In this dim temple, everything was destroyed and ruined. When going out of the temple, Qi Leren suddenly remembered the mysterious sacrifice that had destroyed the ceremony before, and immediately went back to look for him.

"He left," Ning Zhou said, as if he knew what he was thinking.

"Left? Can you leave here?" Qi Leren asked in a low voice.

"I need to find out who this person is," Ning Zhou said. Taking Qi Leren forward, there were traces of a violent breakthrough at the edge of the half-field. The passerby had hit this half-field with his own half-field—this simple and crude method was very dangerous, because the half-field was very fragile before it was completely condensed. It was like two eggs colliding with each other. No one can be sure which one would be broken, or if the two would break together.

"That man just now... was very strange," Qi Leren said. "Did he intentionally mix into the cult sacrifice group to stop the ceremony and save them?"

Ning Zhou shook his head: "He was not here to save anyone."

That man had had no kindness or pity for the innocent people here. He was like a tiger who challenged the hunting tiger king in order to overthrow the position of the king of the jungle. It was not his original intention to save the goats who had escaped from danger. It was just a coincidence.

Qi Leren also felt the difference in that man, and he grinned: "He’s a strange person, but I saw his weapon... Is he the one who fought against Ashley before?"

"It's him," Ning Zhou said with certainty.

Qi Leren had a hunch that he would meet this person again.

The two men went out from the broken part of the half-field that was about to collapse, instantly returned to the sloped building, and then walked towards the Trials Court’s headquarters.

　　&&&

"The worshippers of Utopia are getting more and more rampant," Celia said with a frown after hearing Qi Leren’s retelling of this cult sacrifice.

"Utopia is the Devil of Power’s field? What method did she use to sway the worshippers?" Qi Leren asked curiously.

He knew that with the Slaughter Secret Society of the Devil of Slaughter, by joining the organization and gaining recognition, members would have the opportunity to be given a powerful seed of slaughter, and could even be transformed into a demon. This was very attractive to ordinary people, so there were countless players and aborigines who joined in wave upon wave. However, Qi Leren still had little knowledge of what Utopia was.

"It’s said that as long as the monster guarding the gate of Utopia is summoned and given a good meal, it will generously open the door and let worshippers enter Utopia, where there is no death, no worry, no fear, and people can live a happy eternal life from now on," Celia said.

Qi Leren turned his head silently and complained to Ning Zhou, who was silent on the side: "They must be out of their minds?"

"...Hmm," Ning Zhou said.

"How can they believe that they can get what they want through this wicked ceremony? If nothing else, is the Devil of Power a kind person? Is she doing this to do good deeds?" Towards these idiotic fanatical worshippers, Qi Leren couldn't help but feel like he had a higher IQ.

Celia looked at the ripples in the cup of black coffee she held, and sighed lightly: "If you’re just an ordinary person, have no talent, and aren’t very brave, you don't know if you’ll still be alive tomorrow. You watch your relatives and friends die one by one, but there’s nothing you can do. Where do you want to pin your soul so it can breathe? People always have to believe something in order to forget the pain and suffering in front of them."

Qi Leren opened his mouth, but swallowed his words back.

He wanted to ask why they didn't work hard, but he felt that the question was like "why don't you eat more meat." Would hard work definitely have results? Even Qi Leren himself wasn’t sure. But if you didn't work hard...

Qi Leren tensed his face slightly. He looked at Ning Zhou, who had taken on too much burden, and thought: If you don't work hard, you will only sink forever into your destiny.

One day he would untie Ning Zhou and make him happy. Happy and free.

He believed that someday, this day would come.

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sunflowerspectre · 4 years

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Stranded | Dungeons and Dragons Commission Piece

This is a 5k commission piece for an anon with their DND characters.

Title: Stranded Fandom: Dungeons and Dragons (DND) Summary: Neronvain never expected anyone to find him after he left his family, but here he is. On a stranded island after getting 'caught' twice by the same dragon slayer who is determined to do her job and get him back home to face his punishment only for their ship to get completely destroyed. Character(s): Neronvain, Algatharas, Original Tiefling Character (Desire) Rating: Teen Warning: Suggested depression/mention of wounds and tending to said wounds

Requested Word Count: 5k

Final Word Count: 5,856

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Stranded | Word Count: 5,856

Neronvain likes to think of himself as a strategist, a genius on his best days. He has seen the results of the impulsiveness of his brother, the folly of immaturity. He has prided himself on being smart - clever. Plotting out each of his actions, each possible route that he may take and thinking of all the different outcomes that can happen. He always thinks of everything.

It has saved his life as many times as it has almost doomed and condemned him, but he likes to think that the pros out way the cons. But there are certain things that, try as he might, he cannot plan for… Things like Chuth still living, the cult of the dragon queen still keeping him ensnared… Desire.

That blasted woman is part of the reason that he has to deal with this in the first place. If she were smarter - meaner, without mercy - than she would have killed him instead of taking him back, just as the rest of so-called heroes had wanted to do. He would have welcomed it - he could have accepted it with grace, knowing that he deserved it, that this was the only way that everything could be put to a stop.

But her mercy has saved his life - she saved his life - just as much as it has ruined it. He is amazed that someone as reluctant to unnecessary kills as her has even managed to get this far. He knows that he couldn’t take her in a fight - he couldn’t otherwise he would never have even been on the mercy end of her sword in the first place - but still, just how strong is she that she’s lived this long? How skilled is that - that idiot? How did that buffoon manage to do this to him?

That damn woman had taken him back to the kingdom that despises him. His life has become a secret scandal - the black sheep of the family being shoved into a dark closet hoping that no one will look too closely to see it there. His family wanted him brought back alive, so he says let them deal with it. If they wanted him alive so badly, then they can face the backlash of the council. They can handle the drama of his ‘rebellion.’

He was fully prepared to accept the ‘punishment’ of being in his room for all eternity. It was a childish move on his father’s part. Grounding him to a room like an unruly toddler. It is more of a punch to his pride than a real punishment, but he will gladly accept the tameness of it instead of the snares of some rotting cell. After all, the glories of such a mild punishment is that he knows he wouldn’t be there long.

He had already planned it all out. All it would take is a few whispers sent through the wind here. A few rumors there. Well planted and watered seeds. Someone would find out what happened. Someone would ignite the fire that would unleash the flames that would set him free.

Unlike him, his father never fully thought out his actions. Not the way he does. They fail to see that them hiding this all from the public lets him spin the public to his side. A chance to weave whatever story he wants the public to hear before his father can. Anything that his father would say after the fact would only condemn themselves. The public wouldn’t trust them, but he had the chance to make the public trust him. It would be perfect.

But that blasted woman. This is all Desire’s fault. She is the reason that all of his plans are crumbled. If she had killed him when she laid eyes on him, then none of this would be happening in the first place. If she at least killed Chuth, like the ‘dragon slayer’ she’s supposed to be, then he would be free from the cult. Then the cult wouldn’t have even broken him out and he wouldn’t be stuck in an even worse predicament.

After all, what is he supposed to say to a dragon that thinks he’s on its side? No?

__________________________________

“We’ll bring him back, Alagarthas,” Desire tries to keep her voice even - political - but her stomach turns. Hesitantly, she continues more firmly. “I’ll bring him back.”

Alagarthas paces frantically, looking more disheveled than she’s seen him. She eyes the destruction behind him, the remains of Neronvain’s room - his ‘jail cell.’ The ruckus wasn’t exactly quiet, far from discrete, but it is just minor enough for them to spin a story to tell the public to keep this all on the down low, secret. She hates all of this political nonsense - this drama.

Her eyes glance over Alagarthas. But it’s not so bad. He finally meets her gaze, his eyes glistening with worry. It makes her chest constrict - the idea that Neronvain is out there, doing whatever the hell all of this is, while he has family here that cares about him, worries about him.

Alagarthas gives her a ghost of a smile and takes her hands in his. The gesture takes her off guard - a deep flush spreading on her cheeks as she glances away from him, trying not to focus too much on the tingling sensation in her palms.

“I know that you will.” There is a full sincerity in his voice and she takes his hope in her to heart. “You’ll bring my brother back here, I’m sure of it, and I cannot thank you enough for it.”

“I - uh -” Desire sputters, she can feel her face getting warm, “-Don’t mention it.”

Alagarthas gives her an understanding nod and just as fast as he came to her, he’s gone, giving her his goodbyes over a fleeting shoulder as he mentions talking to his father about raising her payment for this. She mumbles under her breath, kicking the rubble under her feet, before she makes the decision to head out and get this over with.

__________________________________

The sooner she can get Neronvain and bring him back, the sooner she can put this all behind her.

Neronvain is not sure if he can think his way out of this one, if he’s honest with himself. The exhaustion may be playing a part in it, but every time he tries to think of a possible plan, he is coming up blank - nothing, nada, not one tiny possible escape. Honestly, if Desire had killed him, that would be the best possible escape from all this nonsense, but he doubts that she will be strolling around again anytime soon. He’d be lucky if his family sends anyone after him again at all.

And he never has been a fan of relying on other people to get him out of his mess either, which means he really is on his own this time. Each possible idea that he has, he can think of a million ways why it won’t work, why it would just get him killed, and if he is going to do this by himself, then he will be sure that he will get out alive. Just to spite them. With each failure, he begins to think that maybe he is not meant to get out of this after all. Maybe this is his fate and it’s time that he accepts that his hands will always be covered in blood.

“Heads up, you fucker!”

That sounds oddly familiar - why does it sound familiar? It certainly doesn’t sound like one of the members, the cult hardly speaks to each other as it is, so he has high doubts that any of them would be shouting at the top of their lungs especially with Chuth being so close by.

As he glances outside, just to see what the ruckus is, he realizes with horror just why the voice sounds so familiar.

Desire.

Oh. Oh she is most definitely going to kill him this time around.

__________________________________________

“Why didn’t you just kill me?”

Desire can feel her headache forming as she glances toward her prisoner. Neronvain scowls at her as he awkwardly shuffles forward on the desk of the ship that she’s acquired. His hands are bound, expertly she may add. It is only because no one wanted to carry him that his feet aren’t bound tightly and are just loose enough for a few steps. She looks him over carefully this time - after going through all of this trouble, twice, she can’t see why this guy is so worked up.

He doesn’t look like a cult member or the type that would be interested in it. She’s seen that type - his other cult members fit the bill perfectly, with that deranged look in their eye. Usually quiet unless you catch them on some world-ending rant, when they start spewing some nonsense about ‘cleansing the world’ or ‘being reborn as so and so if they do this’. Neronvain, however, looks kept together. Sane. Clean pressed and almost elegant.

She supposes that technically he is a prince so he shouldn’t look like the normal type of cult member, but still.

“Your family wants you alive,” Desire states simply, “...Your brother is worried about you too, you know?”

Neronvain looks away from her, almost in a huff. He doesn’t comment about his brother, instead shifting focus as he eyes the skies. He doesn’t like the darkening clouds in the distance, the thickness in the air. He can hear roaring in the distance. Something in his eyes shift, resembling almost fear - frustration. He tries to shuffle to turn toward her, but only manages it with little success.

“What type of dragon slayer are you if you can’t manage to kill Chuth,” Neronvain spits out.

“You know, technically, my job is to get you,” Desire points out, “I’ll get Chuth eventually, but I gotta get you home first.”

“I wish you the best of luck,” Neronvain’s voice drips with sarcastic wit, “Considering we are heading right toward a storm.”

“We are not -”

Desire stops. The roaring in the distance is drowned out by the growing rumble of the thunder. The dark clouds on the horizon are starting to look much bigger.

“Okay so maybe we are heading toward a storm,” Desire admits, “But at the storm will keep Chuth off our tails. Just - don’t do anything.”

Neronvain huffs, shrugging his shoulders to raise the shackles on his wrist as if to say what do you expect me to do? Desire winces, but doesn’t comment as she dashes off to prepare for the storm.

____________________________________________

No amount of preparing could have saved them - or their ship. The rolling waves only grow stronger and taller until their ship is encased in so much water that it threatens to break apart as the waves crash against them. Harsh sea water soaks them all as they struggle to salvage what they can, as if there is anything that they can do to keep their ship from falling apart into shambles.

Neronvain struggles to get back up on his feet each time a wave or the rocking of the ship knocks him to his knees. He spits up water and can taste the dirty salt on his tongue as his knees take a hard hit against the deck. He glances up with throbbing lungs to see Desire. She’s knelt down, looking panicked but still more kept together than the rest of the crew.

“Do you know how to swim,” Desire asks desperately, and when Neronvain doesn’t answer, she repeats herself more frantically, “Do you know how to swim?”

“Yes,” Neronvain finally speaks up.

She looks relieved as she starts to undo the bindings on his hands. He watches her with confusion, the rest of the chaos blurring around them, his brows furrowing. She even hands him - him, the prisoner - the knife to do the ones on his feet.

He makes frantic work of it, trying to recover from each wave that hits him fast enough that he will be free before the next one overcomes him. He glances up, almost prepared to return her knife, but she has already shuffled to somewhere else. He tucks the knife into his pocket.

_______________________________________

Desire wakes up spitting sea water, surprised that she is waking up at all. She doesn’t bother moving, not at first. Taking a moment to take in the clear skies above her and the warmth that is beating down on her face; it makes it tempting to just close her eyes again, go back to sleep. Figure it out later.

She can feel sand underneath her hands, some of it getting under her still semi-soaked clothes. She coughs, turning to spit up a bit more water, and decides it is best to figure out where she is now then work from there. She sits up and slowly stands, stretching out her muscles as much as she can.

The good news is that she did wash up on an island - not some sandy patch of land that’s only exposed during the low tides. An island can be good - means more resources, more land to explore and less likely that the rising tides will be a threat.

The downside is that she doesn’t spot anyone else on the island - not yet at least, but if it was a well populated island then someone would have already spotted her. She starts to walk around the shore. She’s not sure how deep the trees go and she can’t risk getting lost. But walking around the shore, she can get an idea how big the island is and it is more likely that she will come across someone.

She doesn’t even see smoke from any chimneys or fires or hear anything other than some sparse birds and insects. It’s all just trees and sand. Her hopes of finding someone start to dash as she gets the sinking feeling that the island isn’t as big as she first thought it was.

She almost gives up the idea all together when she spots a figure in the sand in the distance and makes a fast beeline for them. The closer that she gets to them, the more familiar that they look. Despite wondering just what she did to deserve being stranded with her apparent ‘prisoner’, she still rushes to them to check to see if he is still alive.

His eyes are closed and he looks in bad shape with bruises and cuts along his body. Unlike when she washed up, he is closer to the tides and she is sure that constantly being soaked isn’t helping his condition. She checks his pulse first - it’s faint, but still there.

Mumbling curses under her breath and with the memory of Alagarthas asking her to bring his brother back alive, Desire checks Neronvain over for any external head injuries or major wounds before she puts her hands under his arms and drags him away from the incoming tides.

Alright one thing at a time, Desire thinks sourly as she tries to focus on what should be done first. She thinks that she will save drying him for last since eventually she’d have to make a fire and shelter. Hesitantly, she lays her ear against his chest and hears the rumbling, struggling breaths in his lungs. She eyes his still-unconscious form, the blue-ish tint to his lips don’t look good.

Cursing, she does her best to pound his chest the best that she can without injuring him further. She takes a small break in between each beat to check on him. She prays that this works - she really doesn’t want to do mouth to mouth if she doesn’t have to. To her relief, he spits up the water and starts to take deeper breaths.

His eyes flutter open and look at her curiously before they flutter close again. She sighs with the realization that getting him better so she can fulfill her promise to Alagarthas, will be harder than expected.

_______________________________________________

She starts each morning with the same routine - getting water from the creek, boiling it and splitting it between the two of them. She makes cups out of the coconuts that she finds - mixing their milk with the water in hopes that it will perk him up. She gets him to drink his first. It’s always slow, always barely enough, but it is enough. Then she drinks his water. She repeats the process with breakfast with whatever fish she can find - sometimes it’s a bird, but they’re faster than she gives them credit for.

She’s hesitant when it comes to his wounds - at least at first. The knife that she has is dull and smaller than the one she usually has on her - the one that she used to cut his ropes was one of her better knives. But the small slightly rusted blade does its job at cutting away some of the fabric of his clothes to reveal his wounds.

She uses the spells she knows. It helps to a degree, it at least stops the bleeding and keeps it from getting infected. She has to apply some of the spells daily on the deeper, darker gashes. But the makeshift bandages that she makes from the torn pieces of her own clothing, the pieces she cut off of him, and an odd combination of dried seaweed and leaves.

There are a few times where he comes to - with fluttering eyes and mumbling elvish that is too soft for her to catch even if she did speak the language. Sometimes he acknowledges her presence. Most of the time he doesn’t. But he’s never conscious enough for her to talk to him and never long enough to ease her worries about him surviving. Healing him takes time - more time than Desire thought it should, to the point where a part of her wonders if she needs to start preparing for the worst case scenario.

But as long as he is still breathing when she gets up in the morning, then she’ll keep trying. As long as there is a chance for him to survive, she’ll continue and refuse to give up.

_____________________________________

Neronvain has to admit, venomously, that Desire did a decent job at tending to his wounds - just as the shelter and food that she’s tending to is passable. Or at the very least the food is edible and the shelter keeps the rain off of them.

He eyes the start of the rain just outside of their makeshift shelter and looks up. At least there are no leaks. His stomach rumbles and he huffs in annoyance and shifts, every bone in his body protesting the movement.

“Why did you free me,” Neronvain’s voice speaks up as he eyes Desire nonchalantly, making no effort to help her maintain the struggling fire.

There is no curiosity in his voice, nor sincerity. Instead, his voice is laced with mild annoyance and irritation. Frustration that he is still alive.

It’s not the first time that he wished that she would have finished the job off when they first met. But by now, she’s had multiple chances to simply finish him off. Feed him to the sharks for all he cared. To get rid of him. But each time, she has gone out of her way to keep him alive.

It’s annoying.

Desire’s brow twitches, her patience thinning at the constant nag from Neronvain. She expected him to be grateful that she saved his life, but she supposes that’s asking too much of the rebellious cultish prince.

“Considering that you’re no help, I wonder the same thing,” Desire spits out between grinded teeth before letting out a cheer as the fire starts to roar. “But I don’t make a habit of killing people that I already promised to bring back alive.”

She pauses and then adds, “-or you know, killing people in general. It seemed right to at least give you a chance.”

Neronvain scoffs, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard. Bringing me back alive doesn’t benefit you - my family would pay you for even trying in the first place and it doesn’t take a lot to make some lie about my death.”

“I don’t make a habit of doing things just because they benefit me,” Desire spits, “It’s always a plus if it does, but I’m not going to just sit back and watch someone die when I can help - just like I don’t go back on my promises. I said I would bring you back alive, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

“You really think that you’re so much better than everyone else because you keep your word? Because you don’t bloody your hands?”

Neronvain’s words are laced with venom and anger that Desire has a hard time not matching as her shoulders tense, her voice rising to match his.

“Of course fucking not!” Her voice strains, “But when your morals are all you have, you tend to hang onto them, not that I expect you to know much about that considering I’ve had to drag your ass out of a cult twice! I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to make it a third time.”

A part of her hopes that that would be the end of the conversation as she works on rotating the meat that she obtained. The minor pause of silence that follows makes her breath a sigh of relief until Neronvain speaks up again.

She is ready to bite back against whatever criticism he has to say, but stops short as he speaks.

“I wish you would have killed me,” Neronvain spits out venomously, his lips curling in a snarl, “It would have been easier on everyone involved.”

Neronvain doesn’t even look at her, just absently leaning back with his eyes closed. The anger that’s been boiling in her veins simmers as she swallows thickly.

“Don’t get your fucking hopes up. If I killed you when I had the chance then I wouldn’t have the pleasure of your company on a stranded island. Instead, I would have resorted to talking to a coconut.”

He goes quiet, the tension slowly starting to thin out in the air. He sits up without a word. She almost smiles, believing him to help her until he simply plucks a piece of the cooked meat off the bone and then sits back with his haul.

Dick.

_____________________________

Desire doesn’t question the odd barrel of liquor that she finds on the shore, nor the chances of it washing on the same abandoned island that they’re on. Instead, she is quick to check it over and after confirming that it is not water-logged and still tastes fine, she starts to make quick work of it.

Neronvain has a bit of it, reluctantly and more out of boredom than anything. There is only so much boiled river water one can drink before getting tired of it. He doesn’t complain when Desire drinks more than her fair share, not particularly caring if she emptied the entire barrel herself. It’s almost amusing to see her stumble around, making a fool of herself.

But his few drinks slowly start to add up and while he’s considerably behind Desire in amount consumed, he can feel the numbing, foggy effects of the alcohol starting to take hold.

“I have to ask,” Desire finally addresses him, her breath reeking of the liquor. She is uncomfortable close and Neronvain gently pushes her away with the tip of his finger with disdain. She looks down at his finger with confusion and bats it away, not taking the message.

Irritated, Neronvain settles on huffing and giving up on trying to push her away.

“You don’t look like a cult member,” Desire confesses, “All the other guys, sure. They ha- had that whole crazy look in their - their eyes. Wouldn’t stop screaming about the dragon and all that shit. But you - you seem - normal? Put together?”

“Not a crazy cult leader,” Neronvain offers and she nods frantically.

“Yeah! How the fuck did a prince like you end up so high up in a dragon cult?”

Neronvain takes a large gulp of the coconut shell that they've been using as their makeshift mugs. He mulls it over a minute. When he blinks, he can see himself arguing with his dad over the betterment of their kingdom, arguing for change, arguing to fix the broken system. He can still hear his father’s voice echoing in his eyes, stripping him of his title. Handing it over to Alagarthas on a silver platter.

Documents. Plans. Blueprints. All gone to waste. Everything he had dedicated his life to - granted, he was still young at the time but still, that was his life’s dream - all for nothing.

“My father abandoned me first,” Neronvain reasons, “So I abandoned him. I tried to change the kingdom so he named Alagarthas the crown heir.”

Desire sputters, musing over his response and twitching her nose. She is all too familiar with politicians - old kings and dukes refusing to fix anything, refusing to change because if the system benefits them then what is so broken about it? Kings turning a blind eye to their people. She imagines that Neronvain wasn’t the favorite among any of them, even before all of this happened.

She thinks of Alagarthas. Kind eyes. Nice smile. Soft hands. She imagines that he would be a good king - he seems to really listen, really care about his kingdom. The people certainly like him. The redness on her cheeks deepen, but she blames it on the drink.

“For like what 100 - 200 years?” Desire presses, “ Alagarthas thought you were dead.”

“I may as well have been,” Neronvain sighs deeply, “The truth is, they were the first ones to listen to me - encouraged my ambition, no matter how misguided it may have been.”

Desire nods and to Neronvain’s relief, stops pressing and asking questions, leaning back away from him with a thoughtful look on her face.

“I understand.”

Her simple declaration takes him by surprise, but he masks it with a suspicious glare. Desire isn’t quite looking at him though, just staring into the coconut shell as she idly stirs the liquor it holds.

“We all make mistakes, get caught up in the wrong crowd sometimes,” Desire admits, “That doesn’t completely excuse what we did, but it definitely makes sense. I mean, if I’m - I’m not doing okay, then some guy says hey if you join this cult and worship this dragon then we’ll take care of you, I think I would have said yes too.”

She stops there, humming slightly as a melancholic understanding passes between them. She looks to him briefly and raises her coconut at him. He gives a curt nod and raises his shell to hers before they finish off the barrel.

____________________________________

Desire is the first one to spot the ship on the horizon. The setting sun basking its silhouette, distorting it like a heat-induced mirage, only made it harder to believe. It didn’t stop Desire from trying - standing ankle-deep in the tides of the shore with waving arms, shouting at the top of her lungs as if the gods themselves were going to come get her.

Eventually Neronvain realizes that the distortion caused by the sun and distance is just a trick of the eye. That really is a ship that is starting to turn, toward them, sails fanning out in the wind. Desire’s shouting only gets louder, more frantic and hopeful. He looks on in disbelief, a sense of almost relief in his chest that turns to dread when he sees the colors of a familiar flag.

He sits back with a numbing sensation spreading throughout his body, his hands starting to tingle. His mouth starts to go dry as the realization that what is Desire’s saving grace is going to be his doom. The fact that his father really sent other ships out just on the off chance of getting him back home tells him all he needs to know about what they plan to do with him when he arrives.

The sand starts to feel comforting between his fingers - the grainy sensation reminding him that he is here. That this is real. That this is happening. He wasn’t sure what his punishment would be, but the chilling knowledge of what is going to be waiting for him now - an angry father eager to get him back to send a message - it makes him almost not want to leave the island at all.

But he stands up, on slightly shaking feet. Desire offers to help him, but he stops her before the words out of her mouth. His eyes are dead on the ship as he rolls his shoulders and lifts his chin. For all his talk, he never really thought that this would happen. He never really grasped the belief that the kingdom would be finished with him when he got back - a very small part of him thought that for as much as they all hated him, that there was always a small chance for him to do better. He doesn’t want to die - and especially not by the order of his father.

But he can’t deny it now. He feels it in his bones. He can feel the glistening in the corner of his eyes. He’s not sure if Desire mistakes it for the relief of being rescued or if she simply does not notice it, but either way, she doesn’t say anything as the ship starts to get as big as the idea of going back home.

______________________________

Desire is thankful that they’ve been rescued, really, she had fully expected to just survive on the island until she simply couldn’t any longer. She didn’t expect any ships to see them, but she supposes if she were as eager as the king to get Neronvain back and had the money to send out as many ships as it took just to get an answer, then she isn’t going to complain.

But the compliments - first from the ship’s crew, then as they find themselves back in the kingdom, she gets it from the maids, the servants, the politicians - the king. Thank you for keeping Neronvain in check until we arrived. I can’t imagine being stranded on the island for two months with that monster. You’re a hero for bringing him back to us, I imagine that it must not have been easy.

It makes her uncomfortable. Sick. It doesn’t feel right when she receives her payment from the king. It most definitely doesn’t feel right when Neronvain is taken away in chains and shackles that weigh more than he does. She glances toward Alagarthas who looks close to biting his own nails out of anxiety. He meets her eyes and shares the same worried gleam in his eyes. He almost looks surprised to see it in hers too.

Desire sticks around, overstaying her welcome to a point, but when she simply claims that she still feels seasick, most people leave her alone. They give her a small, cramped, room to stay in until she gets better - claiming that it’s the least that they can do until she gets better after all the trouble she went through. She accepts it with grinding teeth and a locked jaw.

When she sticks to the shadows to overhear their plans - what punishment that they have decided - she expects to get relief that she did the right thing, but when the word execution is spoken, she feels fire under her skin. She has to bite her tongue, dig her nails into her palms, to keep herself from speaking out.

She doesn’t think that anyone is on to her until Alagarthas pulls her into an empty closet. The close quarters makes her heart skip a beat and her cheeks flush as Alagarthas puts a finger to her lips as a signal to stay quiet.

Alagarthas listens closely through the door before he takes a deep breath and removes his finger from her lips, seemingly oblivious to the way that she licks her bottom lip afterward.

“We have to save him,” Alagarthas whispers, his voice frantic and desperate, “They want to kill him. They want to kill my brother.”

A cold chill runs down her spine, a single icicle hitting her right in the heart. She never really thought about what may happen to Neronvain after she brought him back, but she had figured that it wouldn’t be too harsh considering their first punishment was just locking him in his room. She thought that the king would have mercy for the firstborn.

She can see the way the colors of Alagarthas’ eyes swirl together and she tries not to lose herself in them.

“How do we save him,” Desire asks, meeting his gaze evenly as the butterflies in her stomach settle.

“I have a plan - I think if we both vouch for him, if we make them see that he still has some good left, that they may consider rehabilitation. I don’t think they’re willing to put him in a cell after seeing him break out the first time.”

“You were stranded with him,” Alagarthas looks at her pleadingly, “You didn’t know him very well, but you were stuck with him for two months. As an outsider who was stranded with him, your word on it has weight to it! I’m sure of it.”

Desire doesn’t think about it - not too long nor hard. She sees the desperation in his eyes, the pleading in his tone. Alagarthas is grasping for something - anything - that he thinks may save his brother’s life.

“I’ll do it.”

___________________________

Desire is tight-lipped and uncomfortable as she takes her leave, her things gathered on her donkey. At least the castle stable has kept Carrot in good condition while she was away, she was sure that they would have auctioned him off by now. She gives a few pats to the mule’s head, but still hasn’t spoken a word.

What can she say? She didn’t expect Alagarthas’ plan to work, at least to a degree. The council had more or less decided that if she was so eager to save the life of Neronvain, then that makes him her problem. All while under the disguise of ‘rehabilitation.’ There are conditions of course, but ultimately, they thought that if anyone can handle Neronvain then who better suited than the dragon slayer? The same one who had been keeping him in check for two months on an island without ‘dying by his hands?’ The same who brought him back twice. Alive and mostly unscathed.

She isn’t sure if she can explain this one to the rest of her party - to her friends - when she finds them.

She glances toward Neronvain. He refuses to look at her, looking more frustrated about this than she does. She imagines that considering he wasn’t thrilled about her saving his life the past two times now - that he is even less thrilled about being rescued a third time.

“Well,” Desire finally speaks up, popping her mouth. She gives a cheeky, oops sorry smile to Neronvain. “I guess you’re stuck with me now.”

#dungeons and dragons #dnd #forgotten realms #cult of the dragon #neronvain #algatharas #original tiefling character #fanfiction #fanfic #commission #myworks #mycommissinos

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theysaywhatasadsight · 5 years

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Fangs, Claws and Webshooters

A/n: This is for @revengingbarnes ‘s 10k writing challenge, the theme of which was TV shows. I chose Teen Wolf with Peter P. This was an interesting challenge to write!

She walked out of ethics, books in hand, her friends giggling at a joke Rachel was making. She rolled her eyes and laughed at Rachel's annoyed face. Her phone chimed, causing her to do an awkward juggle as she took it out of her pocket.

“There’s an old warehouse near Tempaera's, 3 A.M. He'll be armed.” The peaceful facade of her being just another average college student was broken, replaced by the reality; she was a nameless and faceless mercenary, engaged in the slaughter of a new hunter. Misusing her werewolf abilities was not ethical, then again she had grown up in Beacon Hills, where every second week a new creature popped up, hell bent on destroying the world.

Shooting off a quick message to respond to another friend's text, she wondered what excuse she would make this time for skipping date night.

Having a significant other wasn't something she had yet become used to. There was flirting, of course, mild and harmless with all her brother's friends (and later even proteges; true alpha certainly attracted werewolves everywhere) but never something that was even borderline serious.

She’d never previously had any time to pursue relationships, nor any motivation. Between protecting her town and somehow finding the time to study to even get a chance at a decent college. Needless to say, when she made it to MIT, following in the footsteps of Lydia, the entire pack was overjoyed but sad to let her go.

She’d met Peter in Introduction to Programming Languages, where he’d crashed in 15 minutes late, sat next to her and spent the entire time answering every question that was put up. They soon developed competitiveness, which lead to sniping back and forth at each other, to studying together for tests and then failing when the two realized they couldn’t sit and study without getting distracted.

She had her suspicions he was...something, because of his accelerated stamina and ability to go without sleep forever apparently. Possibly a werewolf, maybe something else; she would have to check the bestiary to be sure. He didn’t mind the missed dates or the occasions when she suddenly disappeared back to California for a ‘family emergency’, so maybe he did understand her reasons.

Before she could text him, her phone rang. She smiled and answered.

“Won’t make it today, gotta study for a Chemistry test.” he told her and sighed.

“I was about to cancel too, something’s come up.”

“Are you cheating on me, YN? I don’t take well to being second choice.”

“Yes, I’m cheating on you with Captain America, happy? Ugh those baby blues, that hair, what can I even say?”

“At Least you didn’t say Iron Man, I don’t think my heart could take it if you went at it with my former employer; not to mention he’s married to the CEO of Stark Industries.”

“Ha ha, Pete, I’m dying of laughter.”

“That was the intention.”

“Whatever, bye. Love you.”

“Yes, I love me too.” she let out a chuckle of disbelief and hung up.

She sat down to do a bit of homework before heading towards the warehouse. Scratching her head at the question, she was debating calling Peter to ask for help when her phone rang again.

“Stiles.”

“Hey. You, uh, got my text?”

“Yeah. Who is this guy anyway?”

“He’s, uh, you remember those killings a few years back? Everyone supernatural was a target?”

“Hmm, I guess? Bunch of people thought they’d rid the world of evil. He one of them?” she sighed.

“The philosophy’s pretty common, YN. They think we’re monsters, that the world is better off without us. He’s a part of a group going after every creature in the bestiary.”

“Are they going after mutants too?”

“Not those in the accords, as far as I know.”

“Never thought you’d be snooping around in government stuff. What would the Sheriff say?”

“Be disappointed in me, probably. Which is what your brother is now. He called me in a murderous rage about how I was ‘endangering his sister’s life’ and how i ‘should be more responsible’, considering I’m ‘an older brother figure to her’”

“How are the two of you even responsible in any way? You throw yourselves at any danger you find! I volunteered to do this, Stiles, I’m capable.”

“Speaking of, when were we going to hear about this guy you’re dating?”

“How’d you find out?”

“Peter Parker; good grades, straight A student, interned for a billionaire, but got in on that same scholarship you did.”

“Misusing and taking advantage of your position?”

“Maybe. So I have to give a full report on him to Scott but if you could…”

“I’ll text you when it’s done, Stiles, I’ve got homework, bye!” she cut the call, smiling fondly.

She walked into the warehouse, whistling.

“Let’s make this easy for both of us. You stop hiding and come out, I kill you and I go back home and do my chem homework.”

“Werewolf. You took the bait.”

‘You’ve just started talking and I already want to kill you, God. How does your little cult stand you?”

“Your species is a walking plague. How many have you infected, little one?” he stepped into her view, brandishing a gun pointed straight at her.

“Plague? Species? I’m not some mythical beast.” she kept her tone taunting to hide the waver in her voice. It was only the 3rd time she was doing this. “I should go into bounty hunting, heard it’s lucrative.”

“You’ll have to get out here alive before you go making plans, beast.” he whispered before firing, she dodged and snarled, claws snapping and features shifting. She ran at him, swiping. He ducked and sliced at her right side with a knife. Crying out in pain, she fell, throwing her claws at him in frustration. He fell too, crawling backwards to get away from her. She stood up, grabbing a metal rod from his bag and dragging it towards him, it ringing on the floor.

“We’re going to do this old fashioned human way, then” she grunted, wincing at the cut near her kidney. “You added wolfsbane to the knife, huh? You’re pro, I’ll give that to you.” She hit at his wrist, making him scream and drop the knife. “But I’ve seen worse.”

She hit his abdomen, then his torso. The wolfsbane hurt like hell, and she was sure she was about to lose her vision.

“It’s not just wolfsbane, little one. It’s something much, much better.”

She swore under her breath as her legs gave out. Reaching out, claws extended, she closed your eyes, hearing powder showering down on the floor.

The man raised the gun a final time, saying a prayer to his gods. He smiled, squeezing the trigger-

The glass windows above crashed as a masked figure swung in. The man shot at whatever it was, but they were too fast. He was suddenly immobilized, down on the floor with sticky webs on his wrists that pinned him down.

Peter rushed to the girl lying inside the circle of what looked to be ash. The killer had a ritual apparently, where the victims were surrounded by ash and were gunned down. He turned the girl over, who was convulsing. Recognizing the face, he inhaled sharply. Picking up the rod next to her, he swung at the killer’s head, knocking him out cold. He picked up his girlfriend and strode out.

He laid her down gently on the asphalt and took his mask off. She was awakening gradually, gasping in pain.

“YN, hold on, okay, I'm calling an ambulance.”

“No, wait.” She coarsely whispered. He leaned over her. “Is the cut healing?”

“It's deep, really really deep.”

“There's a lighter in the pocket of my jacket. Take it out and burn the wound.”

“What? No, I'm not gonna hurt you more.”

“It'll help with the wolfsbane, Peter. Do it.” She groaned. He quickly took it out and switched it on, grimacing as he put it on her skin. The wound gave off yellow smoke and her eyes glowed. Her claws dug into the ground underneath.

“That's it, that'll take the wolfsbane out. Call whoever you want and tell them...tell them I was in an accident.” She managed to whisper before she blacked out. Peter looked at her, brushing away hair from her forehead.

She came to gradually, eyelids fluttering. Her head pounded and she had no control over her limbs. She tried to sit up, wincing. She was in the hospital, it seemed. There was commotion in the chair to the right. Someone abruptly sat up, blinking widely.

“Scott,” she whispered as he stood up and hugged her.

“Stupid girl. I told you, you don’t go after a manic killer on your own.” he kissed her hair.

“Did you two rescue me?”

“No, we got here a day ago. Your boyfriend called Stiles, the first number he found on your phone and Stiles called me and…”

“How long have I been out?” she cut him off.

“Three days.”

“Scott, whatever he shot me with, it was beyond wolfsbane, I couldn’t heal.”

“Yes, Lydia researched it, said it was some kind of hybrid derivative. These people, they’re trained to take us out. She’s trying to find an antidote.”

“Coffee, kid?” Stiles sat down next to Peter, handing him a cup.

“Yeah, thanks.” his eyes were bloodshot, not having slept for the past 3 days. After he left that warehouse, he had called in anonymously to the emergency services, telling them the location and the restrained killer inside.

“You should go get some sleep. I think they’re only allowing family as of now.” he sighed.

“Nah, I’m good.” Stiles nodded, as they sat in awkward silence.

“So, uh, Spiderman?”

“I’m sorry what?”

“You’re spiderman, right?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Kid, I work for the government, I know my way around.”

“Oh yeah? Well, your hometown's life expectancy is really, really low. Teens killed every year, 65 percent go out of town for college. Care to explain? Didn’t think so.”

Stiles grimaced. “You’re smart, kid. So, tell me this, are you one of those assholes hunting supernaturals?”

“What? No!”

“So, you’re not spiderman and yet managed to walk out of a skirmish with a, uh, serial killer, which, might I add, your werewolf girlfriend couldn't and called me?” He shrugged. “It’s your secret to keep, buddy, just, don’t put YN in danger.”

“She kind of did that on her own. At your suggestion, I believe.”

“I told her not to do it, okay? And she said, I quote “I have claws and fangs, Stiles, I intend to use them.” I mean, who says that? How can you get through college and be an assassin? It was different in high school.”

“How so? Were you all assassins for hire?” Peter turned to him.

“No, no no. We were just trying to live and supernatural shit would often come up and try to kill us. It was batshit crazy stuff.”

“I’m kind of familiar with that, except I never had a pack.”

“Boohoo, sob story, wait until you hear about when I got possessed by an evil spirit...wait what? So you do admit you’re Spiderman?”

“Look, I’ve missed three days of classes and my girlfriend is 3 rooms over trying not to die.”

“She’s like my baby sister dude, not that you should have any sisterly feelings for her, and..”

He paused when a nurse leaned down in front of the two.“Um, Mr. Parker? Mr. Stilinski? Ms. McCall is awake and requesting to see the both of you. I’d advise you to not give sudden shocks or news.”

She was talking on the phone when the two came rushing to the door. She held up a finger while Scott stood up from the chair he was sitting in.

“She’s talking to Mom right now, telling her not to worry.”

“She’s not listening.” she smiled as she cut the call. Glancing up, she saw the three figure standing at the threshold, all glowering. She sat up, got down from the bed and walked over.

“Okay. Scott, you’ve done your protective alpha thing already. Stiles, Peter, you two can battle to death over who gets to scream at me first. I, need that" she said grabbing Peter's cup and sipped.

“Okay, stop. You're not poisoning yourself with shitty coffee the minute you wake up.” Stiles took the cup back from her. “And lie down, please.”

She made a face and sat down on the bed. “How soon are they discharging me?”

“They'll keep you under observation for a few days.”

“I have classes to attend!”

“You didn't really care about that when you went after a gun-toting maniac.” Peter frowned.

She rolled her eyes and lay down again.

“That's not how I wanted you to meet Scott, you know.” You smiled at Peter as he dropped you off to your dorm a few days later.

“They're...nice, if a little…”

“Scary?”

“More like funny.”

“Hey, he's my alpha okay? We learned how to kill and maim before we learned calculus.”

“You'd make great friends with Black Widow, you know?”

“OH MY GOD, YOU KNOW HER?” He laughed as she poked him repeatedly, “Peter! Answer me!”

#fatimas10kchallenge #peter parker x reader #teen wolf imagine #marvel x teen wolf #crossover fic #peter parker x werewolf!reader #marvel imagine #mcu imagine #mcu x reader #mcu x teen wolf #teen wolf x reader #spiderman imagine #spiderman x y/n #tw x y/n

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the-desolated-quill · 5 years

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‘But They’re Covered In Nipples’: The Story Of Destroy All Humans - Quill’s Scribbles

Another E3 has come and gone. There was some good announcements. Square Enix unveiled their Avengers game, Keanu Reeves came on stage to give us the release date of Cyberpunk 2077, Ubisoft are making another Watch Dogs set in London, and... um... what else happened?

Oh yeah!

DESTROY ALL HUMANS IS BACK!!!!!!

Yes, the cult classic Destroy All Humans is returning next year, developed by THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games. This was quite possibly the nicest surprise I’ve ever had. When the teaser trailer came up on my YouTube recommendations, I practically screamed the house down. It’s a level of excitement I felt when 20th Century Fox announced they were finally making a Deadpool movie.

Yeah. That excited.

Destroy All Humans was my favourite video game series growing up. I played the first two games non-stop on my PS2 and I even bought a Nintendo Wii and PS3 just so I could play Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon (yeah, we’ll get to them). Unfortunately, while the series was reasonably successful, it never quite broke through into the mainstream, and it ended up having a very short lifespan, making it one of the most underrated franchises of all time.

So, to mark the return of Crypto and Pox, I thought I’d take a retrospective look at the series as a whole. Analysing each game in the franchise and talking about what made them so good, whilst also looking at how it faded into obscurity and how THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games can hopefully avoid this fate with their remake.

Radioactive, Exploding, Zombie Cows

The first Destroy All Humans was developed by THQ and Pandemic Studios (the latter probably most famous for making the original Star Wars Battlefront games. You know? The good ones that weren’t overloaded with loot boxes and microtransactions) and was released in 2005 on the PS2 and Xbox. You play as a Furon warrior called Cryptosporidium 137, or Crypto for short, who is tasked with harvesting the brains of humans in order to extract pure Furon DNA from them. His leader Orthopox 13, or Pox, explains that the Furons are at risk of cloning themselves into extinction as they are unable to reproduce naturally due to a lack of genitalia and the DNA in their cloning banks are starting to degrade. Fortunately the Furons visited prehistoric Earth on their way back from destroying the Martians and took the opportunity to ‘let off some steam’ with the natives. As a result, humans possess a strand of Furon DNA that can hopefully restore the Furons’ reproductive organs. Unfortunately a secret government organisation called Majestic (a sort of cross between Project Blue Book and the Men in Black) have caught wind of the Furon invasion due to Crypto 136 crash landing in Roswell 10 years earlier. So Crypto 137 will have to be extra cautious in his quest to take over Earth.

The game was released four years after Grand Theft Auto III, which had completely revolutionised gaming with its open world sandbox. As a result, other companies were attempting their own open worlds and putting their own spin on them. While Destroy All Humans didn’t quite have the same scale as GTA, it made up for it with quality over quantity. The game offered six small open world areas for players to have fun in and its central premise was utterly captivating. After countless games where you had to fight alien invaders, Destroy All Humans allowed you to play as the alien invader.

Pandemic Studios completely embraced the alien invasion premise, giving the player a vast number of weapons and abilities to wreak havoc on planet Earth. You had access to weapons like the Zap O Matic, Disintegrator Ray and Anal Probe (no, really, there’s actually a gun called the Anal Probe and it’s as funny as it sounds) as well as mental abilities such as Psychokinesis, Hypnotism and the Cortex Scan, which allowed you to read the thoughts of humans and was also used to help maintain your Holoblob disguise in stealth missions. And if that isn’t cool enough, you also get your own flying saucer, which you can use to destroy buildings and landmarks. The game gave you a lot of freedom, essentially dropping you in a small destructible playground and telling you to go and enjoy yourself.

But the thing I loved most about the first game was the writing. The plot itself is actually pretty good with plenty of twists and turns as the military and Majestic become more and more desperate to stop you. And the humour, my God the humour! Honestly Destroy All Humans remains to this day one of the funniest games I’ve ever played. It’s use of satirical humour and 50s pop culture references never failed to make me chuckle. There was one moment that I’ll always remember where I scanned the mind of a police officer and it revealed that he was thinking about forming the Village People. If only he could find a cowboy, an Indian and a construction worker.

The game’s main source of comedy mostly came from poking fun at the culture and attitudes of the time period. 1950s America was of course gripped by ‘the Red Scare,’ which the game mocks frequently as we see Majestic and the US government try desperately to cover up alien activity by blaming the death and destruction on communists, to the point where it just gets more and more absurd. At the end of each mission, a newspaper headline is shown, often blaming recent events on freak weather or communist propaganda. Yes, that should explain perfectly why people’s heads are exploding and why the cows are glowing green. It’s all perfectly normal. No aliens here. What’s that? A little green man in a flying saucer is blowing up ice cream trucks? Damn you commies!

The game also pokes fun at 50s sci-fi B movies, often parodying and lampshading the tropes and gimmicks one would expect in a low budget sci-fi flick. For example, the game ends with you fighting a giant robot that houses the President’s brain. It’s fully aware of how ridiculous and stupid it all is and clearly revels in it. Killer robots, mind control, radioactive animals, mad scientists and secret government conspiracies galore. Destroy All Humans is very much a love letter to cheesy sci-fi.

But by far the biggest draw was the main characters. Crypto and Pox. They’re both such funny, wonderfully realised and likeable characters. Pox is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz, who you may remember from Invader Zim, and he gives the character a maniacal glee. I honestly could listen to his rants all day. He’s the quintessential evil genius. Crypto meanwhile is voiced by J. Grant Albrecht, who gives the character a Jack Nicholson-esque voice. Unlike Pox, Crypto is crass, crude and craves destruction, which often puts him at odds with Pox, who favours more subtle styles of invasion such as mind control. The two characters often bicker and squabble, which never fails to be entertaining, and yet there is an underlying respect and fondness for each other that helps ground the relationship. It’s the perfect double act.

Destroy All Humans was a good game, but does it still hold up? Well there are a few issues. Controls can be a bit clunky at times and missions can often get repetitive. Destroy x number of farmers. Collect x amount of DNA. That kind of thing. Also, annoyingly, there’s no checkpoints, which means if you die or fail the mission, you’re automatically sent back to the Furon Mothership and you have to start the mission all over again. But the writing, humour and entertainment value more than make up for it.

Hot Monkey Love

While the first game wasn’t what you’d call a hit, it was successful enough for THQ to commission a sequel. Destroy All Humans 2 was released in 2006 on PS2 and Xbox, just one year after the first game, and this time Crypto was going international.

Set in the 1960s, ten years after the events of the first game, the KGB in Russia learn about the Furon’s takeover of America and plan a counterattack. They nuke the Furon Mothership, killing Pox, and try to assassinate Crypto 138, who is posing as the President of the United States. The assassination fails and Pox’s mind is able to survive in hologram form. The two then embark on a global adventure, seeking revenge against the KGB and uncovering a massive conspiracy that puts the entire Furon invasion at risk.

Destroy All Humans 2 is an ambitious sequel that increases its scope from the first game. No longer confined to America, we see Crypto terrorise San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Russia and even the Moon. Our arsenal of weapons are also expanded. The original weapons from the first game return as well as some all new ones such as the Disclocator, which fires a purple disc at a human or vehicle and sends them flying around the map, the Burrow Beast, which summons a Tremors-esque space worm to cause carnage, and Meteor Strike, which I think speaks for itself. We also get a few new mental abilities such as Transmogrify, which allows you to turn objects into ammo, and Free Love, which causes everyone in the general vicinity to start dancing, allowing you to make a quick getaway while they’re distracted. The saucer too has some extra features, including a cloaking device and the ability to drain vehicles of health using your Abducto Beam.

This sequel pretty much takes everything that worked from the first game whilst tweaking the things that didn’t. The GTA style Alert system got a complete overhaul. If you want to raise or lower the Alert level, all you have to do is bodysnatch a cop or a soldier and make a call using a police box (you can also make prank calls from them, which is good for a giggle). Holoblobbing has been replaced with Bodysnatching, which works so much better and it does away with the annoying Concentration meter, so you can PK cars and humans to your heart’s content. There’s also a lot more stuff to do now. There are numerous collectables such as Alien Artefacts, which unlocks the Burrow Beast weapon, and FuroTech Cells, which are your main currency that can be used to upgrade your health and weapons. Missions have greater variety than in the first game. There’s a lot more side missions, including Odd Jobs and my personal favourites the Cult of Arkvoodle missions, where Crypto brainwashes humans to worship the Furon God Arkvoodle of the Sacred Crotch.

As you can tell, the humour is still just as wacky and ridiculous as ever. Destroy All Humans 2 lampoons and ridicules the 60s mercilessly, taking aim at the Cold War and the hippie counterculture movement. It also pokes fun at 60s sci-fi films, spy films and Japanese movies like Godzilla. In fact there’s a boss fight that involves you fighting a Godzilla-esque monster and it’s honestly the best boss fight in the series. It regains health by destroying buildings, so you have to destroy them first before you can kill the monster. It’s a great premise.

Story-wise, Destroy All Humans 2 is a worthy successor, raising the stakes and expanding the lore. We’re introduced to the Blisk, the Martians that were presumed extinct by the Furons millions of years ago. It’s a brilliant conflict and ostensibly allows the developers to make commentaries on America and Russia at the time using the Furons and the Blisk respectively as stand-ins. Crypto and Pox are well written, funny and likeable as ever and we’re also introduced to an assortment of new characters, including the Russian spy Natalya and MI6 agent Ponsomby (voiced by none other than Anthony Head from Buffy). The game is engaging and rewarding, but it crucially never takes itself too seriously. For example there’s one instance in Tokyo where Crypto learns about the battle between the White and Black Ninjas and he guesses that the conflict started because of the cliche student betraying his master type origin, but it turns out that both groups of ninjas were originally Grey, but then they ran out of grey fabric and disagreed over which colour they should be instead. There’s so many great comedic moments like that and they pretty much hit bullseyes every time.

That being said, there was one aspect of the game I didn’t like and that was the crude sex jokes. Crypto 138 is the first clone to have pure Furon DNA, which means he now has genitalia. As a result, this new incarnation of Crypto is far more randy than 137 was in the first game. This mostly takes the form of Crypto constantly trying to hit on Natalya, despite her showing no sexual interest, which I personally found pretty gross. Worse still, the game ends with Crypto cloning Natalya and ‘making a few adjustments’ so she will consent to have sex with him. The word ‘creepy’ doesn’t begin to cover how I felt about this. If THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games ever decide to remake the second game, I really hope they consider rethinking that ending because... Jesus!

On the whole, Destroy All Humans 2 was a brilliant sequel. It was also sadly the last Destroy All Humans game to be developed by Pandemic Studios before they were bought by EA and eventually shut down in 2009. Unfortunately this would have a severe impact on the future of the series going forward.

Limp Willy

The next game in the series was a spinoff for the Nintendo Wii, released in early 2008 and developed by Locomotive Games. A PS2 version was also planned, but was scrapped due to budget cuts (remember this. It’ll become relevant later).

Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed was... underwhelming, to say the least. Set in the 1970s, six years after the second game, Crypto and Pox have opened a fast food restaurant called Big Willy as a way of disposing of the corpses left behind during Crypto’s missions. However a rival fast food chain, run by Colonel Kluckin’, is stealing their business and socialite Patty Wurst is threatening to expose Big Willy (smirk). So it’s up to Crypto to protect Pox’s Big Willy (haha) and maintain their cover on Earth.

Now you’re probably thinking this sounds quite tame compared to the previous two games, and yeah, it is. But it’s a spinoff, so I can understand to a certain extent. However there are a few narrative discrepancies. The big one being Crypto has retired from being the President. No explanation given as to why and we have no idea what Crypto is doing instead. When we first see him, he’s watching TV. He doesn’t even know Big Willy exists until Pox brings it up. So what’s going on exactly? Are they still trying to invade Earth or have they gone native? Also, compared to the grand conspiracy stories of the previous games, Crypto protecting a fast food restaurant sounds a little beneath him.

Gameplay is virtually unchanged from the previous game. There’s some new guns such as Ball Lightning and the Zombie Gun, but nothing special. The biggest addition is Big Willy, the restaurant mascot that’s actually a Furon battle mech in disguise. It’s... fine. Not that much different from the Saucer really. We also get some new locations. Harbor City, Fairfield in Kentucky, Fantasy Atoll (a weak parody of Fantasy Island) and Vietmahl (a painfully obvious homage to Vietnam). None of these locations are particularly interesting however. There’s also a multiplayer mode, which... exists.

Honestly the game as a whole is just lacklustre. The story just isn’t as good as the first two games and the humour doesn’t have the same wit or intelligence. Most of the comedy surrounds the fact that Pox has called his restaurant Big Willy and isn’t entirely aware of the double entendre, which admittedly is funny for the first few missions, but by the time you’ve finished Harbor City and move on to Fairfield, the joke gets old real fast. There’s less of an effort to actually satirise the culture or films of the time, instead merely making 70s pop culture references without ever actually doing anything with it. It’s like the Family Guy school of comedy. Take Fantasy Atoll for instance. A pisstake of Fantasy Island, but instead of Mr. Roarke and Tatoo, we get Mr. Pork and Ratpoo. That’s the level of humour we’re talking about here.

What’s worse is that J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horwitz don’t return as Crypto and Pox. Sean Donnellan and Darryl Kurylo voice the characters instead and it’s just not the same. It doesn’t feel like Crypto and Pox. So from the very first cutscene, we’re already off on the wrong foot.

And then there’s a bunch of other stuff that I find really questionable. The most obvious being the revelation that Colonel Kluckin’ makes his chicken wings from the corpses of the Vietmahl (Vietnam) war, which just seems in very bad taste to me. If there is a satirical point being made here, I can’t find it for the life of me. There’s also some side missions where Crypto finds out that he and Natalya have a son, which goes absolutely nowhere and doesn’t feel like something that should be in a Destroy All Humans game.

Overall, Big Willy Unleashed was a massive dud meant to tide us over until Destroy All Humans 3 came out later in the year. Honestly the one aspect of it I thought had potential was the side missions involving Crypto and Pox being assessed by a Furon Efficiency Expert called Toxoplasma Gondii. Considering what happened in the second game, including the destruction of the Furon Mothership, the return of the Blisk and the Furon operation on Earth being jeoprodised, this could have been a great premise for a sequel.

Instead what we got was...

Disco Inferno

Oh boy. Where do I begin?

Path Of The Furon was developed by THQ and Sandblast Games and released in December 2008 on the Xbox 360 in North America. The PS3 version was cancelled because Sandblast (and Locomotive Games) was closed down before development was finished due to THQ’s financial problems at the time. However the PS3 version was released in Europe and Australia, so either THQ got another studio to complete it or, more likely, they just released it in a broken, buggy state.

Fans really didn’t like this game, myself included, but before we go tearing it a new one, lets look at the few positives the game has. First off, J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horwitz return to voice Crypto and Pox, which is great. As a result, the original chemistry is back and they help salvage the game when the writing fails to deliver. There are a few cool new weapons, like the Black Hole Gun and the Venus Human Trap, which creates a giant man eating plant. The Saucer’s weapons have been tweaked, so now they affect the environment as well as destroy buildings. So if you fire your Death Ray at the ground, for example, you can create scorch marks. PK now has its own dedicated button, which means you can pick up and throw objects whilst using your guns simultaneously. There’s also the titular ‘Path Of Enlightenment,’ which upgrades your mental abilities significantly as well as allowing you to freeze time.

That’s the good stuff. The bad stuff is... pretty much everything else.

The humour is, again, quite poor. Rather than satirising 70s culture, the game continues to make references to 70s films like The Godfather and Star Wars, but not actually doing anything with them. Just making the reference. The writing as a whole is quite substandard as the plot pretty much recycles the plots of Destroy All Humans 2 and Big Willy Unleashed, except instead of the Big Willy restaurant, it’s the Space Dust casino and instead of the Blisk, it’s Nexosporidium warriors, who are basically Furon cyborgs. Things do threaten to get a bit interesting when Crypto and Pox discover someone has been manufacturing synthetic Furon DNA, but nothing ever really comes of it. Instead the game focuses mainly on the Master.

Ah yes. The Master.

In an attempt to recapture the magic of the second game, Path Of The Furon tries to spoof kung-fu movies just like how DAH 2 spoofed spy films. Unfortunately this leads us to a slew of unfunny gags, cultural appropriation and some of the worst racial stereotyping I think I’ve ever seen. The Master is a Furon who crashed on Earth a hundred years ago and embroiled himself in Eastern culture, enhancing his PK abilities. This is what he looks like:

YYYYeah.

Oh and if that’s not awkward enough, he also speaks in an over the top ‘ah so’ accent. It’s incredibly cringeworthy and made me want to crawl out of my body and hide in the darkest corner I could possibly find. How anyone involved in this game’s development could look at this deeply racist and downright embarrassing excuse for a character and think this was okay, I don’t know.

And before anyone tries to excuse it by saying that he has been living in China for a hundred years, so he’s bound to pick a few things up, please note that Nolan North is in this game playing the Furon Emperor Meningitis, who also has an over the top ‘ah so’ accent. Now I suppose some could argue that the game is satirising how Asian people were portrayed at the time, but if that’s what the game is going for, they’ve failed miserably. See, the problem with that argument is that replicating something doesn’t count as satire. By recreating over the top racist caricatures, you’re not making fun of them. If anything you’re just reinforcing them. The first game’s satire of the Red Scare worked so much better than this because there was an actual point behind it. It comments on how paranoid the people of the 50s were at the time by using Majestic to exploit the threat of communism in order to cover up alien activity, and everyone willingly buys into it because of that sheer paranoia. Now yes, admittedly the humour in Destroy All Humans isn’t the most sophisticated in the world, but it used to be a LOT better than this. Not only do I find the racial stereotyping in this game deeply offensive, it’s also frankly beneath this franchise. And it’s not just limited to the Chinese either. The final act takes us to the Furon homeworld (which was pretty underwhelming after four games worth of buildup) and we meet another Furon called Endometriosis whose only characteristics are that he has an Italian accent and wears a beret. It’s these broad strokes and general laziness that makes this game such a disappointing experience.

Path Of The Furon is subpar in every way imaginable. The writing, the humour, the gameplay and even the graphics. The first two games looked so much better than this and they were on older consoles from the previous generation. It’s shocking.

It’s hard to blame Sandblast Games for this considering they were shut down before development was finished. It was THQ’s mismanagement and financial woes that killed off this franchise and indeed themselves. The company went bankrupt in 2012 and their various IPs were sold off to other studios, with Nordic Games buying the lions’ share, including Destroy All Humans, which briefly reignited hopes that we might get another game, but that seemed unlikely considering the franchise has never exactly been a mainstream success. There was even talks of doing an animated sitcom based on the games for Fox, to be written by the same guy who did King Of The Hill, but that never went anywhere.

No. It seemed like Destroy All Humans was gone for good and fans reluctantly made peace with that. It was fun while it lasted, but perhaps it was time to move on.

Oh The Furonity!

I’m not going to lie. I was pretty sure we were never going to see Destroy All Humans return. Not just because of its lack of mainstream appeal, but also because game development studios and publishers in recent years have become more and more reluctant to make single player, mid-tier games. Instead pivoting toward massive triple A releases and ‘live services’. So it came as a rather pleasant surprise when Nordic Games, now named THQ Nordic, released Darksiders III in 2018, a sequel to a series of games that were also not very mainstream but still had a significant cult following. This briefly reignited a small flicker of hope within me that maybe, just maybe, we might see our favourite Furon return.

And as you already know, I got my wish. A new Destroy All Humans game will be released next year by THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games.

So what can this remake learn from the franchise’s past? Well thankfully the writing and voice acting is going to remain the same, so story, characterisation and humour won’t be an issue. They’re also incorporating elements from the sequels such as Transmogrify from Destroy All Humans 2 and giving PK its own button like in Path Of The Furon. There’s also a few new additions that I’m excited about such as the ability to dodge and strafe using the jetpack. That should make combat much more exciting and dynamic. I know a few people have a problem with the new cartoony designs of the humans and the world, but I honestly don’t mind. In fact I think it suits the tone and setting quite well. Hopefully people will eventually get used to it. The big question mark hovering over all this is whether they’re planning to remake the other games in the series. I for one would love to see a remake of the second game. As for Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon, I think it’s best to leave them firmly in the past. The big dream would be to see Crypto and Pox have further adventures together beyond the first two games. Hopefully even have enough sequels to get the characters to the present day. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future brings. My only word of advice for them would be to never forget what made the first two games so good and so beloved. Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon lost their way, as its writing and humour grew lazier and lazier. If we are fortunate enough to get more games, the developers will need to remember what it was about the first game that made it so special and build off of it.

This is a second chance. Not a lot of franchises get this. Don’t waste it. Here’s hoping the remake will provide the definitive Destroy All Humans experience and that it will gain the success it deserves.

#destroy all humans #pandemic studios #locomotive games #sandblast games #thq #video games #quill's scribbles

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talesfromatabletop · 5 years

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What I did in D&D today is...

Picture this: a 5e campaign with a very flexible DM. We are getting our party together as a prologue on the current continent to eventually start the official plot which is on the "New World" across the sea.

We have two players, myself and my roommate, but each of us plays two characters. We say it's to balance the party but really we both just really liked both of our options and the DM was chill.

A Tabaxi rogue, a Wood Elf sorcerer, a Halfling bard and a Tibbit monk all meet in a small town. Three of these chucklefucks have dragons in their backstory and the other has a Faustian deal.

----

Session 0, we all met an NPC Drow bard (Erivan) that offered to take us to the New World. Lit! A Creepy Dude also offered us that and then murdered an Æsimar. Not lit. We defeated a gross monster and session 0 ended. Huzzah, the elf is a badass with a crossbow! The Tibbit monk has been in cat form the whole time and hasn't revealed that she isn't a normal house cat.

----

Session 1, we decide to investigate Creepy Dude on Erivan's suggestion. We would A) protect the nice barmaid at our tavern of choice and B) probably earn a bounty reward. Sweet.

The sorcerer and bard pair up and find ACTUAL clues about where the Creepy Dude disappeared to: an abandoned manor in the spooky forest, north of town.

The monk and rogue, independent of each other, rob a merchant and guard, respectively. We all reconvene with Erivan...who bought himself a doughnut. Nobody questions it. We all head to the manor while Erivan stays in town.

We quickly run into cultists! The rogue is downed and the monk stabilizes him by using her fluffy body to stop the bleeding. They get him up and all four enter the house. Inside is creepy AF and vaguely menacing. We run into an animated armor (rogue is knocked out and stabilized by the cat again, but remains unconscious), a demon and an evil broom as we search for clues.

We find four corpses and evidence of a secret staircase that leads below the house. We eat and take a short rest, and end the session with the party reaching level 2. FeelsGoodMan.jpg

----

Session 2. Ooooh session 2. This literally finished up 3 hours ago.

We inform the rogue of what he missed (since he was, y'know, unconscious for 2/3 of the exploring) and went to find the secret staircase. The sorcerer, bless her, had found a clue that told her exactly where to look and so was leading the way. We open the room up and find three cultists. Crap.

The sorcerer casts Sleep like a boss, though, and between the party we swiftly execute the men. DOWN WE GO! The party goes down into a dungeon-like basement that the cultists have been living in. This is where the DM giggled at us.

"You see-" giggle "You see phallic objects on a table along with whips-"

Oh god

"cat-o'-nine-tails-"

Oh no

"and plugs and stuff. It uh-" laugh "turns out they're a cult that equates pleasure and pain, which I only learned AFTER last session when I'd already chosen the cult."

Our DM accidentally chose a sex cult. The Tabaxi rogue takes a spiked whip for himself...and he and the bard steal all of the toys to sell at a later date.

The group kills several more cultists before finding three girls. It turns out that they were from the town and had been kidnapped! We go back to the staircase and tell them to go wait by our horse until we come for them. By this point, we are irrationally determined to handle this cult issue.

We find Creepy Dude and wreck his face, only for him to turn into a DIFFERENT dude in yellow robes. The ground shakes as unearthly howls and scary-ass noises come from even further below us. Here is where shit goes south

The rogue wants to leave and the bard wants to stay. Rogue has a sense of self-preservation, apparently, and a backstory reason to want to avoid trouble. The monk is all for leaving, but has still not left cat form for a single moment and thus can't talk. The bard knows her deal is almost up and kinda wants to see if demons might solve her devil problem...and the sorcerer is willing to go with her, with the understanding that if it gets crazy, the bard is getting ditched.

And so we do the one thing our DM didn't expect. We split the party.

While the rogue and monk take the girls home, unconscious cultist in tow, the sorcerer and bard descended further. They found a Tiefling in a scrap with two ghouls that used to be the Baron and Baroness that lived here.

I'll be honest, we held our own pretty well! But a few bad rolls and ghouls having poison immunity meant both of us, and the Tiefling, were knocked out.

The rogue felt a pull on his conscience as he approached town and told the monk to turn the cultist in- he was going back for the sorcerer and bard. My monk did as he asked before finally shifting into her halfling form and riding the horse back to the manor herself to help.

By the time the rogue got to us, the sorcerer and Tiefling were piled in the corner of the room and the bard was on a stone slab to be sacrificed(?) to demons. He dealt with tiny demons for a while and had one grappled.

When the monk showed up, they agreed to save the others and the monk was YEETED at Creepy Dude by the rogue for a quick unarmed strike. This started a scuffle that was interrupted by an imp and two devils showing up.

It turned out, the devil the bard was contracted to didn't appreciate her being sacrificed by a demon-summoning cultist. Combat kicked off for real now with only two conscious PCs, three allied devils, and an enemy that summoned more demons mid-fight.

The rogue DESTROYED Creepy Dude as the monk chipped at a demon, but the devils rolled poorly while helping us. My monk, though strong, has VERY low health. Two hits and she wasn't just down - she was DEAD.

The rogue got KO'd too, but the devils cleaned house for us.

Unfortunately, the bard woke up first and talked to the devils. They wanted the souls of the three living people (sorcerer, rogue and Tiefling)...so she brokered a deal. Her devil could have all of their souls, once they died, if he extended her own deal's remaining time and brought the monk back to life.

She got one extra year, and we ended the session with everyone but the elf waking up with no knowledge of what she has done.

TLDR: Bard sold the party's souls on the first adventure.

#rpg #tabletop #gaming #ttrpg #roleplay #d&d #d&d 5e #5e #demons and devils #whoops

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bluerosesburnblue · 6 years

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Liz Liveblogs Bravely Second: Chapter 5, Part 1/2

The final stretch is here. Welcome to Chapter 5: This is Our Coup de Gravy!

I’m splitting Chapter 5 into two parts due to length. This part features an amazing climax boss, and is then followed up by the Sidequest Roundup, which ended up longer than I expected! We’ll resume with the plot next go around. I understand if anyone wants to skip this one, since it is mostly sidequests, but at least read the beginning because reveals abound and the plot starts to really kick into gear. No more messing around this time!

No introduction is needed. It’s time to end this before it begins. Let’s make sure the Kaiser rests in oblivion

“I deny you all” you know, Oblivion. Buddy. Synonyms exist. Try them sometime

Between the start of the scene and actually attempting the fight I started drinking some hard cider. So if the team members are siblings, I’m the tipsy extradimensional aunt at the reunion. Let’s punch Kaiser’s blond chinstrap beard in

Aw, damn. They switched Magnolia’s and Edea’s positions in my party. Muscle memory is gonna smack me down in this fight

Edea took out about half of Kaiser’s health in one full BP volley. Not so tough now, huh? Really should be buffing your defense, instead of the attack power of everyone on the field

Oh no. The magical domino mask that everyone seems to think hides your identity but really, REALLY doesn’t fell off

Kaiser is Yew’s missing big brother. I’ll... get into why that doesn’t surprise me in a minute

...that’s not the pronunciation I expected. Denys Geneolgia. I read the name as “Dennis.” Yew just pronounced it “Denny.” It’s... uhh... I can see why he went with “Oblivion,” even if it does make him sound like an edgy 13-year-old trying too hard

So. Yeah. One of the few things I was spoiled on was that Kaiser’s real name was “Denys Geneolgia,” and after Yōko’s prank with the Danzaburō illusion and the zoom-in on Kaiser’s prosthetic hand... I kinda figured he had to be Yew’s brother. I’m sure there was probably some foreshadowing that I missed, but I feel like I caught a fair amount of it

Fuck, I can’t believe Yew’s brother is the restaurant chain Denny’s

I can’t believe Denny just got arrested before he could give us exposition. That’s totally unexpected for a JRPG. Wow.

GOOD NEWS THOUGH. Tiz and Agnès are finally in the same room as each other. I... perhaps should not have made him a ghost knight for this reunion, but she’s seen him wear worse. It’s fine

AAAAAAHHHHHH that hug was so cute. “...You came for me!” HE SURE DID. ACROSS TIME. All for you, Agnès! Tiz will never let you down!

And from her perspective, Tiz is still in a coma. It’s like he came back to life miraculously just because she needed him

AND EDEA’S MADE IT A GROUP HUG. AHHHHHH. WHERE’S RINGABEL GET HIM IN HERE FOR THIS

Nevermind, Magnolia and Yew are joining in and that’s cuter. But still. We’re missing our sixth teammate, Ringabel~

Time to give Alternis, Braev, and Agnès the low down on the end layer, and how we sent player with the Bravely Second

Agnès can actually remember parts of it because she’s also synced up to the hourglass, but since she didn’t travel through time with the party, it’s more of a dreamlike recollection

One last job. Kaiser’s in jail, but his soldiers aren’t. We need to take them down and extract or destroy the Ba’al locked in Skyhold. But this time, we complete the ceremony and join the Orthodoxy and Duchy. Two forces once at war with each other, now at each other’s backs to save the world

Ag... Agnès maybe don’t base your speech on events that now no longer happen because I changed the past?

Apparently there was quite a bit of time looping for her. She was whisked away to the edge of time “over and over” again? Was that the result of being in a timeless space, or is she referring to various new games on the cartridge, of which there are none because I only have the one (now two due to New Game+), so...

This speech almost doesn’t work because they don’t make the player go through several meaningless loops this time, so even from a meta perspective, she was only kidnapped once. So unless Agnès has lived through save files I never made, I don’t know what she’s going on about

Didn’t take the Empire long to bust Denny out of prison

Altair didn’t even help with Anne’s bestiary entry! Why couldn’t it have been written without him?!

...glad the chest key for blue chests was just sitting out on the floor of the church there

Yeah, of course it was Janne and Nikolai who broke him out. We can’t have pancake night without Denny’s!

“Does the name Jerome Balestra mean anything to you!?” Janne... Janne you fucking idiot. Mook #4 didn’t kill your dad. None of these guys know what you’re talking about. But no, kill them. Fine. You useless brat

I DON’T THINK THESE GUYS, SPECIFICALLY, KILLED YOUR DAD, JANNE! They all look the same! How can you tell?!?!?!?

You. Are. SUCH a child. Get over yourself

Nikolai should not be that acrobatic

Oh good. Bella and Cú are back. Hey, Bella, is it awkward that Yew’s rocking your getup right now? It is, right?

Denys, why are you enabling the use of “coup de gravy”? No self respecting older sibling would let him get away without some serious teasing for something so cringey. I’m an oldest sibling. I’m speaking from experience here

After Bella’s speech, I can’t tell if the Empire is just Denys accidentally adopting people who need help, or a cult

Bella mentions crimes against “her sister.” She’s a “Dark Vestal” with black hair and seems to give prophecies of doom. Is Sylvie her sister? Did Bella do something to make her mute? Sylvie was one of the big mysteries from last “arc” that never got answered, so I’m hoping for payoff here in some fashion

Not even a moment to breathe (or save). Time to battle Bella and Cú once more!

Okay, so Bella’s sister was killed on the night Eternia was founded, by the “witch” who began the Plague, mentioned in the last game. Seems that may have been started by the Crystalguard

She tried to revive her sister, much as Geist tried to revive his son. But all she made were monsters. And Cú, whose resurrection she messed up. But none of them were Donna. (So, not Sylvie. Should’ve just given her a minute to monologue). She named her doll after her sister

Cú wasn’t even technically resurrected. He’s just a statue that she managed to animate

My Spirit Magic is so much stronger than Bella’s at this point it’s comical

Cú. You’re using up Edea’s special. Hurry this monologue up

Dammit Cú. I had Critical up by 300%. Thanks for wasting that

We spared them. Of course we did! This is the Best Timeline™, guys! No one dies, no one gets to economically ruin a nation!

Yew’s determined to show Denys’s people that the word can change so long as people are willing to work for it. Stop living in the past and wishing you could undo mistakes. Time to start working for a better future. And I can’t think of anyone better to show them than Agnès

“We can’t risk her Holiness...!” Othar, Agnès killed Ouroboros, the Devourer of Worlds. I think she can handle Sad Bella and her horse man without her useless bodyguards

I like Cú. He’s a man... horse of honor

And Agnès let Bella keep Donna, her doll. So sweet

Oh just let me save the game already!

We called in Braev, Alternis, Norzen, Kamiizumi, Goodman, and Lotus to hear our story. Lotus... has no idea who we are, unless we either called him from Sagitta and told him offscreen, or he somehow also had his memories hooked up to the Second

At least Norzen won’t arbitrarily attempt to kill us this timeline

Eisen and Eternia are teaming up to make sure Agnès can’t be kidnapped to use to awaken the Crystals

Magnolia’s got a plan to take the Skyhold. “Lord Arima and Sakura remember you well. Together, we’ve been preparing for this day.” Is this Kingdom Hearts logic, where all memories are connected, so as long as we remember the last timeline, so does everyone we befriended? Who, exactly, was memory synced to the hourglass?

...is it me? It uses the player’s SP, so as long as I remember the events of the story, so do they? Lucky for you guys I’ve been doing a liveblog, huh?

...that’s actually gonna suck if the sidequests remember Bad Timeline events, because now it’s a betrayal

Agnès has given everyone pendant pieces, so we’ve got a group call with the team now

“Take back the compass”? I don’t believe they’ve stolen it yet, Magnolia

Thank GOD. I can finally save and take a break

Denny’s got the team together to recoup after having his little brother time travel just to punch his face in. Understandable

He does genuinely seem to care about his underlings, so I’m pretty sure “savior of the lost” is the kind of person we’re dealing with here

“They went down fighting for the cause.” Janne, stop. They’re not dead. Best Timeline™

So Denys, Nikolai, and Janne all remember the past timeline, too. Who... who does and does not remember? Someone needs to get me a comprehensive list. Alternis may or may not get super pissed that I intend to “betray” the orphans this go around if he remembers

I like the fact that the villains in this game are as perceptive as they are. “If we remember, then I’m sure they do, too. No element of surprise with our plans, so we need a change of course”

“My friend...” Denys is the same as Yew. He adopts people. The empire is to him what the party has become to his brother: a second family to make up for the one they botched

They’re sending Geist to claim the compass instead of Minette this time. If the catsassin ain’t a secret, may as well go with our strongest operatives

New Game+ means both New Enemies+ and all sidequests from past chapters are open, so let’s go clear out some Catmancy skills, then fix the mess I made of the last timeline and see if I like the quests any better when I like the ending. We’re leaving the Bestiary until I get the Yōkai job’s Obliterate skill to make it easier on me

I’m gonna take the quests in order of appearance, so first up is Jackal vs. deRosa, where we side with Jackal instead of letting deRosa maybe accidentally start a Cold War for the sake of making some kid happy about his thesis project

Okay, they did exactly what I was hoping they would when I realized that everyone retained their memories. Event scenes are heavily abridged, but it seems like only the party remembers everything. So they go “hey, is this what’s happening? Okay, we can help let us fix this.” instead of having the situation explained. That’ll make it easy to collect the rest of the jobs

deRosa may remember. He knew everyone’s noodle orders, but doesn’t seem like he remembers anything about the Wellspring Gem. So... I dunno

Also, WHY DID YOU TELL HIM. You know it just causes a fight with Jackal!

“For every five years our research is delayed, the world suffers a decade of sorrow...” Okay, kid. Stop being dramatic. Your thesis project is not some high-end deal and not worth destroying at least one, maybe several towns over. He isn’t even a high ranking Al-Khampis student. Sorry, dumbass, I’m not letting you make a fantasy nuke

At least he’s got his heart in the right place. He’s gonna find a solution that doesn’t need the Gem, so that everyone benefits and they don’t have to destroy a city to do it. G... good job? You should’ve considered that from the start

Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s find Gho Gettar and slyly whisper to him that there MAY be an owl-man hanging out in the Northeast of Eternia that MAY have what he’s looking for ;)

Weird that the Gho sidequest starts up with meeting him and Mephilia in the woods to deliver Kamiizumi’s letter when the event we got the letter from didn’t happen in this timeline. Maybe he handed it off to us during the big peace talks in Gathelatio?

I’ve been listening to Critical Role too much, because when I heard the voiceover for Kamiizumi’s letter, I couldn’t picture the character, just Liam O’Brien’s goofy smile

Follow your dreams, Gho. I promise, Amaterasu is just a (very long) boat ride away

Kamiizumi thinks we’re being naive, because being a low-ranking worker isn’t anything shameful, and we’re encouraging Gho to be a quitter. And I agree, yeah, there’s nothing wrong with being a labor worker. BUT! It’s also not for everyone. Some people are AMAZING at those kinds of jobs, and some people shine in other areas. I don’t see Gho shining as a factory worker. I just see it crushing his spirit. And his sense of dedication is not an issue, because he is putting in just as much effort into summoning Amaterasu as he did working in that factory, but the summoning work makes him happier. He’s no less a hard worker for focusing his efforts on a strenuous process that makes him happy than one he doesn’t care about

“You counsel a guileless youth, still ignorant of the world, to throw up his hands at the first hint of hardship.” But we aren’t, though. You think there are no hardships on the path to his dream? That it won’t be difficult? No, we just refocused his efforts on something he cares about. He’ll struggle through just as many hardships, but with this he’ll want to go through them, want to make it through because they’ll be for something he’s passionate about. He’ll actually have the motivation to get through those hardships, and he’ll be more pleased with the results. Sorry, Kamiizumi. Just because it’s not for a job you particularly find tasteful doesn’t mean he’s not working just as hard. Maybe even harder, since he’ll be more excited to do it

The Kamiizumi fight is much easier once you remember that your Hawkeye has the Condor ability that can pierce default

And this is what I’m talking about. Gho is getting frustrated that he still can’t summon Amaterasu, he’s putting in so much effort, but now it’s for something he’s passionate about. It might not be as fast as he accomplished something of note as he did in the vs. Mephilia ending, but he’s accomplishing just as much, and I’m proud of him. Sometimes it takes just a little longer to do something truly great, as opposed to just something good

Oh, wow, I forgot about Sage Yulyana. Not his existence, but the fact that he hasn’t been relevant to this game. We still haven’t been to the Yulyana region

According to Mephilia he fought a Ba’al about a year ago, told her about Amaterasu and one other summon (Susano-o, the one she was searching for last game, or Charybdis, the other new one from this game?) and then either left this world to hunt down the Ba’al... or just died. Honestly, either would be pretty in-keeping with the good old sage. Just as well we probably won’t be seeing him, though; I only ever used Conjurer for Obliterate

Yeah, I’m happier having Gho follow his dreams than slave away at a job he hates, even if he managed to make that job more efficient. I’ve got faith he can do just as much, if not more good like this

Well, on to the next... oh. Oh god no not Holly vs. Profiteur again oh good lord come on, let’s try to stop this economic disaster before a child gets lost in the freaking mines again

Huh. This timeline they’re all just... talking it over like mature, responsible adults. And while Profiteur is going to make sure his economic argument is sound, Holly is... going to gorge herself in Heartschild. Great. Just go to Barras in Florem and leave the rest of us alone, you loon

And even the girl is more sympathetic. She still wants to stay, but she’s scared of her granddad having to go out and fish on the open water every day if they do stay there. And, kid, I got wrecked by a Monoceros out there and this party is TRAINED to fight, that is a very good fear to have

Oh thank GOD it’s not making me chase Profiteur down again

Greater good! GREATER. GOOD!

Oh, cool, Holly’s fucking drunk. Really making a good argument for yourself there, hon

Profiteur’s plans will “only help the few?” How so? Seems to me a flourishing economy benefits EVERYONE. Besides, I’d rather side with someone taking the situation seriously than one drunk madwoman

I’m almost happy that they made Holly so unsympathetic this go-around

But... now the kid’s back to being a brat. She’s throwing a tantrum because she doesn’t want the house sold. Too fucking bad? How many kids do you think would end up homeless if they didn’t sell? I don’t think an eight-year-old should be making the financial decisions in this family. They’re not good big-picture thinkers

Also, no need to be so hostile to Profiteur, Edea! Holly’s feelings aren’t the benchmark of morality, either!

I still have so many problems with the way this quest is written, as though the conflict is modest-but-happy lifestyle vs. lavish-but-empty lifestyle, when it’s really a needs of the many vs. needs of the few scenario. As though someone being sad is a decent argument for a large decision like this. As though kids are good at making rational decisions. Sometimes families move, sometimes things change, and it’s hard and sad and difficult to adapt to, but you need to. And this opens up so many possibilities for her that she can’t even see yet. Better schooling, a better home, good jobs, heck, she’ll be able to spend even more time with her grandpa if he doesn’t have to work all the time to get her food!

The one thing this quest has going for it is that I totally buy Profiteur’s redemption from the last game. He’s still a moneygrubber, but he’s a moneygrubber who’s genuinely looking to open up some honest jobs and help a country out

“You can trust in Erutus Profiteur! If you think I am taking too long [making this country a better place], you may come to blast me away at anytime!” God speed, good sir. He sounds so excited to make this work, and I’m glad to make it happen

Sidequest still wan’t great, but much more bearable than the first time. A kid didn’t even have to almost die this time around!

Well, now it’s time to go get stuck in Grapp Keep. If we were smart, we’d tell everyone to get out before the place collapsed, but then we wouldn’t have a conflict? Oh well. Let’s go kick Ominas and his baby dragon’s asses

I don’t foresee that fight being a problem, since I have Magnolia as an Astrologian with Elemental Barrier

...at least Edea tried to avoid slamming into that guy this time

The saga of Magnolia’s cooking continues. Seems she’s gotten to be a much better chef

Oh god it just hit me. The Edea punching the wall scene happened again. We caused the damn cave-in

And they tried to warn them of the cave-in, but we still got trapped. But of course

And Artemia and Ominas definitely don’t remember the last timeline. This time, though, we’ve told Risotto’s father to form a rescue party in advance. No worry about a search party not showing up. Now we have even less reason to side with Ominas! Food for everyone! Femto Flare later, when not under threat of hunger

Ominas, dude, just learn Femto Flare when we get out of here. World isn’t screwed because a tiny dragon didn’t learn it this second. Besides, the way this is going, it ain’t gonna matter much this timeline, anyway

Man, that is such a nothing quest. No real stakes, no real emotional involvement. Nothing. Cool. Moving on

...why does the Bestiary make it sound like Bahamut is dead when the actual epilogue says he’s fine?

Kikyo vs. Heinkel was enjoyable. Let’s hope it is again, yeah?

I like the premise of “oh we already know who did it, let’s set up a trap to catch the culprit”

And they aren’t even pretending it wasn’t Whitson. Hell, Edea’s blatantly guilting him, without actually saying his name

Let’s get Sholmes in on the police force. He needs to learn a little temperance. His big problem is jumping the gun with his intuitive responses. Putting him in a position that encourages him to think more logically and put together better evidence for his reasoning can only benefit him. Intuition is best used when you understand why you’re having that gut reaction in the first place, and it’s not the only thing that makes a good investigator

Kikyo’s still an annoying fight what with her constant evading and Transience skill, but Ninja was one of my top classes last game so it’s good to have it back

Yes, yes, we know what the truth of this incident was. I don’t need to hear it again, game

And you know, I’m liking this new, mature Sholmes. Good. I’m glad he’s finally wising up

Still a decent quest, I just almost wish the stakes were higher. ...then again, this game has proven that higher stakes in these quests tends to lead to higher stupidity from Edea, so maybe it’s for the best this stays low-scale

Who feels like opening up the first co-ed school in Florem. I do! Equality of the sexes!

Straight to the fight! This one was pretty straightforward

A co-ed school with optional enrollment is moving too fast? Really Einheria? Shut the fuck up. Both of your sisters are smarter than you right now, and one’s a psycho summoner and the other grew up in the woods

I just Summoned a Friend. He named his attack “Shot thru the <3″ and had Yew’s finishing line be “You’re to blame.” What a freaking legend

Oh no Rhea’s crying. What a shame

Einheria can’t even remember her name while proclaiming her loyalty to her. God, how could you forget a name like Rhea Veeling

And Swetti’s crush is still a thing. Great

Barras has licenses to teach various forms of martial arts and 22 fields of medicine? Dude, hey, go down to Eisen, find your drunk girlfriend, and go settle down yeah? Keep her out of trouble because you’re clearly the responsible one in this relationship

Eugh. Rhea’s Bestiary entry says she only joined the Bloodrose Legion after they ruined Florem, and her whole “making up for the sins of the past” shtick was an act to get the teaching job. Wow. Fuck her, glad this is Best Timeline ending

“Regardless, she is probably the most rational of the three Venus sister...” Not in this scenario, Tiz. Not at all

Back to Florem to respect the wishes of a deceased artist. Arca Pellar’s song will see the light of day. And then eventually Praline can remix it, but I don’t think she’s gonna have the patience to, honestly

So Pellar... remembers the last timeline? But Praline and Barbarossa don’t? What... why??? What are the rules for cross-timeline memory!?

At least it doesn’t seem like we have to trek through the Witherwood again. Good

And our plan is scream our answer into a microphone so that Praline and Barbarossa hear it and the loser challenges us to a fight. We’re just provoking the boss at this point! Why???

*mic voice* FUCK PRALINE. SHE AIN’T SHIT

I still can’t hear her over her background music

“Why not recreate that song as something people today will be able to enjoy?” Why not make your own freaking song!? There’s market for both genres! It’s not like the freaking Beatles are any less popular because their stuff’s old, you know?

Praline I am far too cynical to fall for false tears. I didn’t even cave to a child’s real tears. You think that’s gonna stop me?

Oh lord her awful song’s the boss music. You know, I like Jpop every once in a while. It’s a decent genre! This... this is not a good song

See? Barbarossa just handed Praline a commission to do a song for them. It... was for Arca’s song, though, invalidating everything I’ve done. At least this time the sailors are working with her to keep true to the original spirit of the song

Well, that totally invalidated my entire choice, but at least everyone’s happy?

The Bestiary has a few interesting tidbits. Rabbits are sacred on the moon (because this game was made in Japan, of course they are), Praline has been lying about being 17 for a long freaking time, and Nikolai was apparently a fan. I... Nikolai, buddy, really? Never would’ve thought

Time for one last diversion: solving the economic crisis of Grandship. Alternis may have his heart in the right place, but his clouded judgement will wreck Grandship in the long run. Let make the Best Timeline one worth living in, where everyone’s happy

It just occurred to me that there’s over 30 Jobs. That’s nuts

Just heading straight to the council meeting, huh? Just as well, we already know who we’re here to support. Though I wouldn’t have objected to hanging out with Datz, Zatz, Alternis, and the Proprietress for lunch again

(Also, side note: The salted caramel tea I’m drinking right now is ~amaaaaaazing~. I’m not even really a salted caramel person. Bigelow teas are a gift to this earth. Alternis is gonna get a beating while I sip tea dramatically)

Shoot. The elevator’s still locked. Guess I’m dungeon running with encounters off again. Teeeeediuuuuum~

(I get the point is probably new encounters but: I don’t have Obliterate yet and I’m still overleveled. So!)

We aren’t abandoning the orphans, you overdramatic dork!

Wow. That might be the first boss I’ve lost to.

Alternis, you’re proposing now!? In the middle of combat over the economic security of orphans!? Learn some tact, doofus!

Minus Strike is complete bullshit when Alternis has 100x the max health we do. That’s just an instant kill

And Khamer seems really devoted to helping the poor despite all this. “Maybe we can have our cake and eat it, too.” Yeah, I like it!

Oh, sure, cut to starving orphans to make me feel bad

Oh, I love the Proprietress. Now that people have money to spend, they’re spending it on helping the poor! And the kids are being offered an apprenticeship and schooling! Exactly how it should be. I was worried they were gonna vilify my choice for a second there

I forgot Edea was only 18. These kids really are all younger than me

Ah, that’s cute. Magnolia wonders how terrifying Alternis’s face must be in the Bestiary and Edea can only reply with “...” Yeah, mmmhmm. Good response to the pretty-boy pompadour guy

Thank God those are over. I love this game, but that was basically an hours-long boss rush. Most of those were a bit more tolerable than the Bad Timeline runs, but I still don’t think they were written well. The flaw is in the fundamental conflict setup... but I think I’ve talked enough about my problems with them in previous entries, so let’s make like a New Timeline and cut the chit chat because we already know what’s up

I’ve finally escaped Morality Sidequest Hell. Now, there’s at least two more sidequests in the game, but I have high hopes for them. Mostly because they won’t be confined to the Choice structure that all of the others have been stuck in which means: 1. no moralizing (probably) and 2. development for party members other than Edea, because the Tiz, Yew, and Magnolia might as well have not been there at all for all they contributed to these quests

Wow, that ended up being way longer than expected. I was hoping to get right into the story this liveblog, but I guess that’s not gonna happen. Well, check back next time when I go race Geist to the spacetime compass. He... unfortunately has a good headstart considering I just did eight sidequests, but now the whole party’s level 60 and ready to go! He doesn’t stand a... geist of a chance

#bravely default #bravely second #liz liveblogs bravely second #woooooooo that was a long string of fights #but with that out of the way part 2 should be a breeze #i want to beat this game this month #so let's shoot for a halloween finale

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dykephannie · 7 years

Text

REALITY OTP CH. 3

MASTER LIST. PLAYLIST. NEXT CHAPTER. PREVIOUS CHAPTER.

summary: Avid fangirl Gracie Green expected that the most extraordinary thing to happen to her at Summer in the City was meeting her long time obsessions Dan Howell and Phil Lester. This proves to be untrue when a fatal virus sweeps through the convention, killing everyone except for Gracie and the very two people she was there for. The odd threesome must travel across Europe to escape an evil tyrant who has claimed the crown for herself, and face not only the dangers of this new, post-apocalyptic world, but the feelings and secrets uncovered by the life threatening journey.

Because after all, it’s the harshest conditions that reveal the deepest truths about us, truths we’re not even willing to admit to ourselves.

chapter word count: 1.7k

tw: gun violence

DAN

Dan didn’t know what to think of Gracie.

She seemed to appear fiercer than she really was. Her curly blonde hair was hanging in a high ponytail. Splatters of blood stained her collarbones and neck. She was walking evenly, one foot in front of the other, like the hours they had been trudging on the harsh pavement had no effect on her muscles. Dan envied the ease at which she carried herself. He felt as if he was about to collapse at any moment, his calves and thighs were nearly on fire by the time he reached his street.

“It’s just this way,” Phil announced, pointing down the road.

“How much further?”

“Two kilometers, maybe. We don’t normally walk this way.”

Gracie looked back at the two of them. “Maybe we should take a rest.” Dan was on the ground before she could finish her sentence.

He watched as Gracie pulled out a bottle of water from her backpack and took a sip. It was covered in stickers, her name, and two letters in the center. XC. Dan longed to grab the bottle from her hands and take a sip, but he felt as if that was crossing a boundary he wasn’t prepared to cross.

He thought that by now both she and Phil had forgotten that Gracie was a fan, and therefore capable of anything and everything. She seemed levelheaded and rational now, but she had the hungry glint in her eyes Dan sometimes saw in the girls that reached up to hug him in those meet and greet lines. She was different from the ones with the whiskers and the 2011 merch. She knew how the world of a fangirl on tumblr worked.

That sort of understanding of his and Phil’s fanbase could, and most likely would, lead to a sort of understanding of him and Phil themselves.

Dan cast his eyes downward. His white shoes were stained with streaks of black. He had never walked this far in them.

“Are you guys ready?”

Dan looked up at Gracie, who had tucked her water bottle back to her backpack, and was staring down Dan and Phil’s street confidently. Dan’s brow furrowed, his eyes drawn to a group of people coming down the road behind Gracie. It was strange to see them. A small part of Dan had wondered if they were the only ones left.

Yet, there they were, marching towards them, clear as day. As they grew closer, Dan could tell they were led by someone, a short female figure in navy blue, with brown hair that hung just past her chin. He watched as she noticed the three of them and raised her hand. The crowd halted shakily.

“Hello,” Gracie said. Her tone was less of a greeting one and more of a cautious one, dipping her toe in the pool to test the temperature. “I’m Gracie.”

The woman didn't reply. She instead stood up straighter and stared Gracie down. She was several inches shorter than Dan and Phil’s companion, but from the furrow of her thick eyebrows to the menacing glint in her eyes, her presence seemed larger than life. A man standing next to her, wearing his own, poorly fitted, navy uniform, cast the woman an anxious glance and stepped forward.

“Uh,” he began, looking back to the woman as if for permission. She didn’t budge. “You are in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen Marilynn Williams. She requests that you join us, as it is your best chance of survival in this new world.”

“I’m sorry what?” Gracie spat. Marilynn blinked. “Why can’t she speak for herself and stop acting like this is fucking Game of Thrones?”

Marilynn stepped forward. “Are you denying my protection?”

Gracie reached into her back pocket and pulled out the pistol Dan had sworn he had minutes before. Had she pick pocketed him? “We have our own protection, thanks.”

The other woman smiled. “One gun won’t get you far. What happens when you run out of bullets? This isn’t America. You can’t loot one from any old store on the street.”

“In that case, what makes you so certain you’ll have any protection?”

Marilynn tapped her belt buckle, Britain’s lion gleaming in the sunlight. “An officer of the Royal Military has certain privileges normal citizens do not.”

This seemed to bother Gracie. “So what? You’re just going to steal all of Britain’s arms?”

“There’s no one to steal from,” Marilynn scoffed. “The generals, the lieutenants, the Prime Minister. Even the goddamn Queen. Everyone is dead.”

“I’m not dead.”

“Not yet.” Marilynn straightened, letting her hands rest behind her back. “But you will be. World leaders have been killed. Only a few are left, for reasons unknown. Cults will arise. Anarchy will ensue. The safest place is here, in London. Under my control and containment. Otherwise you risk the dangers the outside world will bring.”

“How are we supposed to know you won’t bring just as much danger?”

Gracie and Dan both turned towards Phil, startled. He flushed and stammered out another sentence.

“All I’m saying is, what qualifies a member of the military to basically be the new queen?”

Marilynn crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s your name?”

“Phil.”

“Well, Phil. Someone who has dedicated her life to protecting this country is the only one truly capable of continuing to do the same thing.”

“But you don’t know anything about ruling!” Phil insisted. “If it’s just you, England is just going to become a monarchy again!”

“There isn’t a place for a Parliament in the apocalypse.”

Marilynn’s eyes had grown steely, any sort of friendliness wiped from her face. She took a slight step forward, and Dan tried to resist the urge to turn and run. But Gracie stayed completely still until Marilynn was a mere couple feet away from her. The two stared each other down like a pair of lions, ready to pounce at any moment.

“You remind me of me, when I was your age,” Marilynn said. Her voice had dropped in pitch, making her seem all the more menacing. “Ambitious. Thinking you can take care of yourself and the people you love.”

Marilynn’s eyes shifted towards Dan and Phil.

“But you can’t. You need my protection. For your own good.”

“I will not be ruled by a queen who has no idea what she’s doing.”

Marilynn stiffened. “Then I’m afraid you’ve left me no choice.”

It was as if Gracie knew exactly what she was going to do. She surged forward as soon as Marilynn turned her head. The gun in her hand made an ominous click, and it was against Marilynn's temple before Dan could stumble back in alarm.

“Let us go,” Gracie growled. Dan’s eyes didn’t miss her fist trembling at her side.

Marilynn narrowed her eyes. “You have no idea what you’re doing,” she hissed. “Go with me, find safety in this new world, or you will be destroyed.”

“Fuck. You.”

“Let them go,” Marilynn muttered. “You’ve made your first enemy, Gracie.”

“I think I’ll cope.”

Gracie kept her gun up as she stepped away. She jerked her chin down the street.

“Run,” she instructed Dan and Phil. “I’m right behind you.”

Dan didn’t even think. He turned and bolted. He could hear Phil behind him, their sneakers slapping loudly against the pavement. Dan could already feel the air leaving his lungs, but he didn’t dare slow down. He expected at every second to hear gunshots, a loud cry as Gracie or God forbid Phil went down, but there was nothing except his panting and the brush of Phil’s skin against his as he caught up to him.

“This is crazy,” Dan heard Phil murmur in between his deep breaths.

It was a very large understatement.

Gracie was ahead of them in a manner of seconds, her ponytail swinging behind her and gun clutched in her hand. She wasn't bothered by the steady thump of her backpack as she ran.

“Marilynn will give us a head start,” she called back. “But we should get to your house as quickly as possible. That's where we’ll be safe.”

“For the time being,” Phil added. “If we stay here we're in trouble.”

Gracie nodded, her eyebrows knit together nervously.

Eventually, Dan and Phil had to slow to a limping walk, accompanied with a frustrated groan from Gracie. But Dan didn’t think there was any way Marilynn’s large army could have caught up to the three of them. And Gracie had proven herself to be too dangerous to pursue alone.

“We’re almost there anyway,” Dan choked out. “Couple more… minutes.”

Eventually Phil spotted the rooftop of their building, shouting triumphantly. Gracie hung back as Dan dug his keys out of his pocket and opened the door, pointing up the stairs to their flat.

Gracie blinked. “Okay, so. We’re here.”

“Yeah.”

They wandered up the stairs, Dan’s calves straining past their limit. Once inside, Dan watched carefully as Gracie looked around, trying to keep the excitement from her face.

Phil cleared his throat. “So what now?”

“Oh.” Gracie blinked. “We should pack up some clothes and stuff and then escape.”

“Escape?” Phil repeated shakily.

“Yes, escape,” Gracie snapped. “It’s dangerous here for us now.”

“Well, who’s fault is that?” Dan muttered quietly. Gracie heard him anyway.

“What?”

“All I’m saying,” Dan stammered, “is that we could’ve gone with that crazy woman. At least we would’ve been kind of protected.”

Gracie stared him down, long and hard. Dan’s skin crawled at the way her brown eyes bore into his skull. “If you want to survive, you have to trust me,” she finally said, her voice low and melancholy. “If you don’t want to, then I have no problem anymore leaving you.”

It was one of the most terrifying things she could’ve said.

“Where are we going?” Phil risked asking.

Gracie thought about it for a second. “Paris. We’re walking the Chunnel.”

Dan stared out the window and onto the street. The sun was setting, casting the eeriest orange glow over the world, like they really were in the midst of an apocalypse movie. Everything was still and quiet, and in the moment, it was easy to forget that Marilynn or her army existed, that his parents and brother, his friends, were either alive or dead.

For now it was just him, one of his fangirls, and the sole person on Earth keeping Dan from ending his own existence in the nightmarish hell he now lived in.

#oh boy here we go the only thing i'm keeping this blog alive for #lol #anyway this is super dialogue heavy but exposition is necessary #next chapter will have some action #i promise #also i hate writing 3rd person #but i hate reading 1st person fics #so you're welcome #reality otp #phan au #phanfiction #phanfic #phan smut #phan fluff #phan angst #franfic

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planeswalkerwithtardis · 7 years

Text

MtG x Persona

Hello MtG and Persona Communities!

As a fan of both franchises, I’ve developed the backbone for a Persona game using MtG characters. Please let me know what you think of it, including any ideas to improve it. Also, feel free to reblog, edit and reblog it (clearly marking your edits as such), or give any constructive feedback, no matter how small.

Basic Story:

You are a freshman at Rosewater University. Through a “dead link” on the University homepage, you and your hall-mates can access the Collective Unconscious (C.U.) which is filled with shadows that look like Eldrazi. There, you fight each character’s repressed feelings in the form of their Shadow and help them achieve the awareness necessary to use a Persona. By day you struggle keeping up your grades, making friends, and improving yourself while at night you unravel the mystery of the C.U. and seek to stop the impending “Titans” the personal shadows mention. Throughout the game, you and your team fight through all 3 Eldrazi titans and can even challenge Nicol Bolas if the true ending is achieved.

Social Links and Characters:

Please note only the main 7 have names as of now. The others aren’t named their guilds, I just don’t have names for them yet. Also, if you have an idea for the final Persona for the other playable characters, let me know!

Main: All 7 main characters live on the same co-ed dorm floor.

C Protagonist: Main Character. Either Gender. Blank slate for the player to project onto. Has Wild Card ability, allowing them to collect and change their persona from a variety of legends in MtG history. Primary Persona Karn->Ugin->(requires all social links maxed) World-Soul Progenitus

W Winston: Somewhat sheltered, a stereotypical “white knight” (without the misogynist/etc issues associated with it) at first, he often is surprised at how little he understands people of other cultures/subcultures. Struggles with the fact that no matter how hard people seem to try, the core problems of the world don’t go away. Social Justice Major. Persona Gideon->Gerrard.

Social link is volunteering with him and hanging out afterwards.

U Ulysses: An amnesiac with no memory before the last two years. A perfectionist, he struggles trusting others. Only intrigued by his missing past, not obsessed with it at first. He begins to wonder why he isn’t obsessed as the link progresses. Can access a sliver of his persona’s power outside the Collective Unconscious to make people trust him more. Political Science Major. Persona Jace->???

Social link is just hanging out, later becomes helping him search for his past.

B Bianca: Her older brother suffered a rare disease when a nurse (the brother’s girlfriend) told her of an experimental cure the hospital couldn’t give him. She administered the “cure” to her brother, only to watch it painfully kill him. Turns out the nurse caught him cheating and used her for revenge. Ultimately, neither woman could be convicted due to reasonable doubt. Now tries to pack her life with enough distractions to avoid her guilt at all costs. Business Major. Persona Liliana->???

Social link is going on shopping trips. Later becomes visiting her brother’s grave.

R Aradhya: A refugee from a South Asian country, probably India (b/c Kaladesh). She was orphaned by the corrupt local government two years ago when they hunted her due to her homosexuality. Although she blames the government for their deaths out loud, inwardly she blames herself. Law Major. Persona Chandra-> Jaya

Social link is attending political protests.

G Grace: An environmental activist and rather empathic person. She seeks to better understand people in order to shape their opinions on the environment. Psychology Major. Persona Nissa->???

Social link is volunteering for psychology research and attending guest lectures.

Samuel GW: The RA. Big, buff guy who acts like a mother hen. Struggles with recent death of a close friend, now suffers some paranoia that you and the others will die during your adventures. His persona cannot fight, but instead acts as support. Psychology Major. Persona Ajani

Automatic social link completion, occurs during hall meetings.

Secondary Characters:

Azorius WU: 1st year tutor, understands concepts but struggles expressing them to others. She has low ASD (formerly called Asperger’s). Social link begins when you also become a tutor. You help her increase her expression and become friends. Persona is Narset, the Great Teacher.

Social link requires med intelligence and high expression. Social links occur as hanging out after you two finish tutoring.

Gruul RG: Your “big” at your fraternity. He is a party animal desperately trying to escape his family’s expectations. You help him to address his escapism and focus his weeks to studying so his family doesn’t cut him off. Persona is Xenagos, the Revealer.

ALTERNATIVE: Your “big” at your fraternity. She is fiercely protective of her friends and will overlook their destructive actions. You help her to realize that sometimes loving people means trying to protect them from themselves. Persona is Arlinn, Denmother.

Social link requires signing up for their specific frat at Rush. Social links occur during frat parties.

Orzhov WB: Founder and leader of a growing cult. They worship the Angelic Chorus led by Bruna, Gisela, and Sigarda. He made up the cult for both personal power, but now views it as his responsibility to instill ethics in his congregation. He views you as a potential heir to his position. Through your talks, you try to convince him to come down from his power trip and he try to convince you that his manipulations are ethical. You never come to a consensus, but agree with each other that you spilling the beans would only make things worse. At level 10, he reveals the secrets of what happened to Nahiri’s wielder. Persona is Sorin, Dark Shephard.

Social links occur as visits to the cult during his free day.

Izzet UR: An engineering student struggling with his academic self-image. Never had to study in high school, but now feels (s)he can’t do well even if he studies all the time. You help him/her not only to learn how to effectively study, but also to love him/herself for more than his/her brains. Persona is Ral Zarek/Saheeli.

Social links occur as tutoring sessions. Requires becoming a tutor, which takes med intelligence and high expression.

Golgori BG: A professor who loves hunting and sees your dedication as a sign that you are a kindred spirit. He eventually admits to poaching despite calling himself an environmentalist, so you have the option to either turn him over to the police or be an accomplice. Persona is Garruk, the Hunter

Social link requires high determination. Social links occur as trips to the gun range.

Simic GU: A bioengineer obsessed with her research. You help her navigate the boundaries of ethics in research, ultimately resulting in weather or not to violate FDA regulations to try and save someone using a beyond experimental drug. Persona is Kiora, the Explorer

Social links occur as being a research volunteer (blood draws once a week).

Dimir UB: Secondary Villain #2, Child of two doctors from Doctors without Borders. Lost their parents to friendly fire, believes it was no accident (it wasn’t, it was actually a ploy by the RB villain to gain power). Now actively attempting to destroy those in power (likely using an EMP to reset technology or cause global anarchy). Persona is Ashiok, Nightmare Reagent. They succeed in summoning Kozilek, the Distorter.

Requires defeating them and Max U social link to begin. Social link is visiting them in prison and showing them there are other ways to change the world.

Rakdos BR: Secondary Villain #1, A power mad politician. Gained power through his elaborate war history, although most was faked or stolen from actual war heroes. Bianca’s, he avoids her because she reminds him of what happened to her brother. He now seeks power to “take revenge on the world” for his loss. Persona is Ob Nixilus, the Conqueror. He succeeds in summoning Ulamog, the Destroyer.

Social Link can only occur before fighting him. You can work for his political campaign as the social link and begin to see the darkness that drives him.

Boros RW: Secondary Villain #3, She was the WB social link’s foster daughter and a leader in his cult until he abandoned her during her rebellious teenage years. She now seeks to kill the WB and take over the cult. Doesn’t actually believe in the cult, but believes she can create their god in the Collective Unconscious. Persona is Nahiri, Queen of Vengeance. She succeeds in summoning Avacyn, the Protector, who quickly morphs into Emrakul, the Unifier.

Social Link requires defeating her and Max WB social link to begin. Social link is visiting her in the hospital, discussing her past and helping her to move beyond the hatred.

These are the main differences from normal Persona games:

1. You are in an American college, not a Japanese high school. This is primarily done for relatability with the MtG community, as well as the fact that college is the real point where many American’s feel they gain the ability to steer their own life.

2. Your Personas are Legends and Planeswalkers from MtG lore, not deities/famous thieves. This is done to make it a MtG project. In addition, most Americans don’t really care about religious lore. In this universe, MtG and Yugioh took off instead of Marvel and DC comics in Hollywood.

3. Upon completing a social link, instead of just unlocking a persona fusion, that night you and the social link’s persona (which they may or may not know even exists) fight that persona in the C.U. This is mainly done to show that everyone has a Shadow/Persona, not just the playable characters. If the true ending is achieved, your links’ Personas appear in the final fight as you rely on your friends in your time of need.

4. In addition to fighting your teammates’ shadows, you must fight the three Eldrazi titans as the story progresses. Each is summoned by a Persona-user, who you also fight. Each Titan is the embodiment of one of mankind’s desire for peace through an unacceptable means (death, anarchy, and hive mind). The true ending involves fighting the mastermind behind it all, a man wielding the Nicol Bolas Persona (or perhaps the Persona wields the man?).

5. The 5 areas for self-improvement are physical health (White, going to the gym), Knowledge (Blue, studying), Stress-management (Black, taking “me time”), Expression (Red, attending conferences/events), and Empathy (Green, volunteering).

Please let me know what you think of this! Unfortunately, the Persona series has very complicated gameplay, so I doubt a fan game with this would be feasible. I’m just curious how people would respond if Wizards made a game like this under their new digital plan.

In the event that someone from either company sees this, by all means feel free to use this idea. I would love to see this made into or even just inspire a real game! If there are legal issues with you seeing it (like I know some Wizards employees have), sorry for the hassle. As far as I can find (i.e. 3 seconds on Google searching for “MtG Persona”), I am the only person who has suggested something like this.

#mtg #mtgcommunity #smt #persona #persona 4

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ki6-7-l8r · 6 years

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Errata.........

Don't recall when I was thrown into the world, does anyone? My first memory was in some kind of mansion where the sun filtered through a round stained glass window. A big man with a messy beard, wisping out like excremental cotton candy from his face stood over me. I saw a couple of fools, my parents looking up at me as I floated into the air. I was levitating, but the big fat Doktor just looked straight ahead, so ends this little wash of recall. I was around three years old in the house. I was at a neighbours house when a toy gun clipped my fingers and the metal took a chunk of skin out. I did not cry. The old neighbours; man and wife, laughed about how tough I was, and then giggled when I began to black out. For some reason I hated these people, I hurled a rock at their car when they were driving to go see a parade, put a big dent in the door. My mom spanked me so hard I saw my feet fly in the air. Sometimes I would walk around the neighbourhood and not remember leaving the house, ringing doorbells and running away. My Mom got tired of this and put me in preschool, sometimes sick, where I would barf until one of the teachers covered it up with sand. There was one teacher who was an evil looking woman with eyes like the demoness Lilith, Adam's first devil-wife. She and another woman gave me a ride home, but I don't remember ever getting home actually, I don't remember where I ended up on that ride. One day I was wandering around the neighborhood again, and I peeked through a mail-slot in a door and I saw a room with velvet red drapes. I saw an altar with an inverted pentagram, with candles which were not lit. The Chalice, The Bell, The Sword, I knew what these were but I had no words for them, I had somehow been in that house but I did not recall ever going there. Weird things happen when your only three, in some ways you are already old. I saw too the vast room filled with hooded figures! A giant Jackal-Headed statue black as night around 200 feet tall, was flanked by braziers wafting clouds of incense. Beneath the vast altar was a huge pit with low burning fires. The small sacrifices were hurled like soccer-balls; soaring through the air into the flaming pit. Pitiful cries and screams of torment were heard. In this way the forgotten ones of the maternity wards were given a manifest destiny. I was scared, but a priest told me that I "need not fear in that my hourglass had red sand." After my parents split up I ended up in a big house, bigger than the one before. I found crucifixes made out of wood and for some reason I liked to turn them upside-down and break them into peace signs, but the sides would not hold and would fall on the ground. I then found my sisters old barbies and scraped the boobs off of them against the wall so they would be flat chested. I was around 8 years old when this happened. When I was nine I developed a craving for wanting to drink human blood. My friends would cut themselves and let me drink their blood. Their parents found out about this and called my folks, and my folks were alarmed by this disturbed behavior. They took me back to the Doktor with the wispy beard that looked like cotton candy made out of shit. The Doktor told my parents that their was nothing wrong with me, just going through a weird phase. This Doktor pretended to talk with a German accent, but I knew he was faking!! He knew that I knew, and gave me a mean look. He had dead eyes. I was a teenager and an occult shop opened up where I lived. It was run by a real fortunate son, he seemed very fortunate which was strange in that the shop was not doing that well. I started doing a lot of acid in those days, and would practice black magick rites in the makeshift temple in the back. Once I did a ceremony to summon the 7 Crown Princes of Hell. Only Belial showed up, he materialized in the incense outside of the magic circle. He gave me two visions: The first one was of a witch cackling and stirring a giant cauldron, on a very dark night. The second was of a naked man taking in a giant beam of celestial fire; drinking it into his face, with his arms outstretched and his legs parted in a standing embrace. I still don't know what this signified. At the occult shop one day I also met a company man. I was 26 and it was a very bad year. Too much debauchery had caught up with me, as well as other things. I spent some time in nuthouse, but a nice shrink helped me recover. He gave me Dilantin and Centrax at the same time, it kept me in a mellow mood. After I got outta stir I moved in with a very weird madlady who indeed was legion. She was a lot of people in one person, and I did not like any of them and they did not like me. Except for two exceptions: I liked the little kid that came out as her sometimes, and the old medicine woman. The little girl told me all about the company, and how they like to turn one person into a whole bunch of people; and tell them to do things with the same body. Its a hobby of theirs, a game, maybe even a joke, but its a killing joke. I thought the story she told me was about as daft as a flying doughnut. After awhile I believed it but she was such a bitch I could not stand her and moved out. I did not care about all the spy stories, or politics at all. I was an occultist! She said she knew more about the Occult than I did. She was lying. The last thing she said was this: "Your just like all the bad people, because you think that life is meaningless!" Whatever. I was 31, and I met up again with the fortunate son in VEGAZ; another cult scene, but not too hairy. He was a big dip-waffle who tried to use me and did. But he needed me, as he was in the market for a MAGUZ. No modesty is not one of my traits. I cannot afford to let it be, due to the fact that I am a collossal failure. I learned to put myself in really great trance states and bring down demons into my body. I could still maintain control though, and could kick them out at any time. We called down voodoo loa, devils and demons as cute as the conqueror worm. We hurled astral shit through the vortex; flinging it at the enemies of the fortunate son. One of his enemies succumbed to the sorcery; a woman had an asthma attack and died. The enemy coven thought that our magick did this, and the girl's mother called the fortunate one and cursed him on the phone. The fortunate one got freaked out and sent flowers to her funeral, thus denying that he cursed her and denying the devils that slew a-one in his name. Like Peter denying the Savior the curse rebounded on Fortuno's head and his life turned into shit. I got sick of him using me, so I cursed him as well. I would drink bottles of rum and evoke the Petro Loa and dance around the altar, flinging hateful laughter and raging curses upon his worthless ass. It seemed to make things worse for him which delighted me. At this time too I met this guy who was a big fat liar who said his uncle invented Ritz crackers. He said he was related to a big-band leader with a big beat. He told me that he was levitated high up over the ocean and floated into a cave on a summit of the Na Pali Coast in Kwaii. When he got floated into the cave he met a Kahuna Shaman who instructed him in the delicacies of Sumerian Sorcery. This guy's mind was as fried-out as a toasted jaybird in a torched forest. And damn it, he made friends with another one of those people who was a bunch of people in one body! A girl who was a martial arts and weapons expert, on top of everything else! She knew about the fat liar's uncle and his big beat band: "Booker M.K. & The Ultras." One day she was flipping out and Fatso panicked and brought me down there. I told her that a mandala was one image, yet it had many facets, many in one, and one in many was still one. Finally she mellowed out. I was really scared, because she had a black belt in Karate and was a weapons expert, I on the other hand was a wuss who had only shot a B.B. gun at age 12. She was real nice to me and said that she would protect me from enemies, but Fatso got between us and kept her away. At that time I was just getting through day by day, and did not care. Although I did once bring down spirits that came through my body and cracked the inside of a crystal that I held in my hands. So goes it. Amused and bemused; this story is a tragedy in a laugh, and a laugh with a crying face. I found out later that Doktor Shit-Beard ate some Uranium 235 and bought the farm; ded of cancer. That's the funny part, so you can laugh now!! But you know, when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and routed the Second Temple in Palestine, they killed a lot of Hebrews and impaled babies on their swords. But the thing is, is that this has never stopped. There are many walking wounded amongst you, who are locked in gulags with invisible walls, tormented by translucent tech. hands, mocked by unseen voices. There are mindless masses and complicit Doktors who will just call all this madness. Perhaps this is why I thanked God, when I had that dream about the world being destroyed by nuclear weapons. I got out my last praise indeed; right at the moment where I lost all my atoms.

http://www.my-journal.com/jrn/md__1/jrn__24539/dt__1473750000

Welcome us nearly, inside soft floors of music. Through dope-heads dark recovered, through isles of the twisted.

Within Theatres of Perdition, we will sojourn after, to greet the dancing incubus, admire strange relations.

Unearth the Corpse of Incest Death, so we can have a festival. Weep silent pagan forests, and blaspheme all the saviours.

Let us dance around the Mayfires, and ride the maddened vine, climb secret goddess mountains, and drink the horn’ed wine.

Let’s dig up all the graveyards, reclaim relics of the doomed, assemble laughing, sacred skeletons, build temples to the Moon.

Let us know nocturnal days, lost transparent hours, sleep magic silver waves, encompass nights of flowers.

Let us weep the winsome madness, of those beyond the realms, of Space’s indifferent irony, that Time’s chalice overwhelms.

To pour primeval vision, upon partakers of the strange, who consume the droughts of clarity, the gods have doth deranged.

Let’s speak of the unspeakable, say wild atrocious things, let’s talk of God’s own truth, and the falsehood that it brings.

A Creator that’s a Liar? The Whole that is a sham? We’ll leave the dead to sleeping, the living remain Damned!

#darkart #mkultra #hypnosis #occultism #darkwave #nordic black metal #poets on tumblr #acid fascism #nihilism #horror

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