#i can only relate to LAR

[moonlightsapphic]

Look, I just need you guys to understand how important queer coming-of-age forbidden romances on internationally accessible platforms like Netflix is, especially to youth in countries where homosexuality still hasn't been legally decriminalised or socially accepted.

That was a mouthful, so let me explain. You, a white American adult with a liberal family, may not relate to a fictional anxious teen Swedish prince grappling with strict familial and societal expectations versus his first love. You may not find anything special in a bunch of queer British teens discovering themselves and figuring out complex relationships that are honestly rather simplistic, in retrospect. It might be a little too trite for you. Like, just a little vanilla without any extra drama. Perhaps corny—cringe, even. Too wholesome.

But you know what that is to me, a desi queer young adult? It's representation, in an unlikely place. My country certainly isn't making movies or shows where I see my secret relationship between me and my girlfriend portrayed. I don't see that happening in the next couple of decades, either, sadly. But you know who’s telling our stories? Alice Oseman. Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung and Camilla Holter. Through fictional storylines that might seem kind of boring to you, I am finally able watch my lived experiences play out on screen.

American media has done such a disservice to queer coming-of-age stories. I want to scream this from the rooftops. Y’all, I’m glad to see more out quirky queer side-characters—I can’t get enough of them—but why is it so rarely their story, in sharp focus, about how they found themselves? I want to know how they overcame internalised homophobia. When was the moment they knew? What is the cost they have to pay for being out? For not being out?

And no, I don’t want it to be dramatic. I don’t need to see violence or betrayals or victorious kisses in public, really. I’m happiest with the teenagers behaving like real teenagers. Innocent, vulnerable, nervous. I want it to be heartfelt, and excruciatingly slow, and authentic. I want to see the small wins and the subtle losses. The quiet mental toll of how much you have to give to a queer relationship—especially your first queer relationship—and how hard that can be to separate from your Identity itself.

Give me that "am I gay?" quiz and genuinely crying at 3:00 AM because you're in a rabbit hole about LGBTQ+ rights in a country where you actually don’t want to be gay and you don’t even know if you “count” anyway. Show me that moment where you're going back and forth from forbidding yourself from seeing the one person that sees and understands you and it's to protect your mental and physical well-being but it's driving you insane. Give me ALL THE YOUNG ADULT BI+ AWAKENINGS where one person strolls into your life and changes everything. No, it’s really not the same as most cis-heterosexual insta-love movies out there, even if it looks that way to you. It doesn’t even cut it close.

The happy ending, the acceptance is only what I can dream of, not what I can expect. The wholesomeness is actually radical to me.

No, we’re not past the need for basic star-crossed queer romances. For most countries in the world (including for many white American teenagers!), we need them as much as ever.

#gay #queer #lgbtq+ #young royals #heartstopper #i just want americans to understand they're not the center of the world #just frustrated at how divided all my american acquaintances are on soft queer media #what do you mean it's just okay?? #stfu #wilmon #narlie #wlw #mlm #achillean #men loving men #bi #lesbian #women loving women #sapphic #lgbtq #alice oseman #lisa ambjörn #bisexual #lgbt #netflix #closeted #desi #desi queer #queer muslim #muslim

[marvelstars]

Anakin and Slavers

"His undoing is that he loveth too much"

George Lucas

One thing that I always liked about George´s work in relation to Anakin and slavery is how out of the left field he and Dave Filoni wrote Anakin´s relationship to the people who owned or saw him as a property at one point or another and yet it makes total sense for his character.

For example kid Anakin has no doubt that Slavery is horrible and at 9 he is actually working towards developing technology to help free his Mom, friends and himself from it. He hates with capital H the fact those people have control over the life and death of other people but at the same time he has great compassion and kindness which his mother helped nurture. This along with the fact that Watto was the only adult male figure who was around during his early chilldhood, this complicated his feelings towards slavers in a very tragic way.

Anakin feared Watto´s violence and didn´t for a moment doubt he would have been willing to sell off his mother or him if the customer got to a big enough price but at the same time he listens to his advice when he travels to the dune sea to do his work with the jawas and his pov is almost as important as his Mom´s, in the novelization of TPM Anakin remembers not to talk to strangers or to get close to Tuskens Raiders camps thanks to Watto´s advice.

So in Anakin´s mind, Watto is someone he fears but also someone he takes advice from, respects to a point, sometimes gets sassy to and actually listens to almost as a father figure BUT at the same time he has no doubt he would activate the killing chip if he tried to escape.

Pain/abuse/fear mixed with care/advice(sounds familiar?) Anakin knows slavery is awful but he can´t help but see Watto as a person because of who Anakin is, Annie is a kind and understanding person and to point may justify Watto as a "Man of bussines" and "Not as bad a other masters" "It could be worse" but he definitely doesn´t trust him in the same way he does his mother, she is blood, she is family. He and Mom are a team.They shared their secrets.

The first time Anakin saw Watto again after being freed, he was a Jedi with training, almost a knight and the first thing he does to the guy who beat him and his Mom some years ago is to ask him if he can help with the ship parts Watto is working on because he noticed Watto is struggling and his bussines is falling down compared to how it was when Anakin was a kid. When Watto noticed who Anakin was he didn´t reject him and accepted his congratulations but keep himself appart, hoping to learn about his mother whereabouts.

When Watto told Anakin he sold Shmi, Anakin doesn´t have a reaction, he takes Watto´s justification of "I am sorry Ani but bussines are bussines and anyway the person who bought her freed her and married her" Anakin doubts it´s as good a picture as Watto is talking about but he takes his justification and leaves.

When he meets Owen, Beru and Cliegg he sees they are indeed nice people and the reason for his mothers suffering is something completely different that they were not able to stop so he doesn´t blame them for her fate. When Anakin lost his mother it was only natural for him to seek a family, someone he could share how he really felt and his secrets, he could not be part of the Lars family but Padme was willing to love him so she became his new confirmed family, right along with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka but while he had to show himself different to them, he didn´t had to do that with Padme, just like he did with his mother.

In the clone wars Anakin shows again this complex view of slavers with Queen Miraj Scintel, the cartoon goes out of it´s way to show she looked at him as pretty property and he didn´t let her forget that and actually it was strongly suggested he may have been raped by her at some point to keep safe Obi-Wan, Rex, Ahsoka as well as the people they wanted to save while he got enough soldiers to stage their rescue. Anakin had a plan the whole time just as he did as a kid so he keep his cool even when he saw another slave choose suicide over keep being under the control of Scintel. Yet in the end when the Queen was killed by Count Dooku Anakin felt sorry for her, he could not help it.

So this mix of rejection/anger/hate/disgust towards slavers mixed with pity/understanding which is something that was part of what made Anakin a good person gets used agaisn´t him in his relationship with Palpatine.

He first shows himself as the father figure Anakin thought he could find in Qui-Gon before he died a better father figure than Watto had been, a father figure that didn´t reject this title like ObiWan did, Palpatine did this to get his trust as a young child and later young adult and then he showed himself as the real sith master he actually was, Palpatine knew that Anakin wasn´t a stranger to be treated as property by people who showed themselves as good advicers or somehow not as bad as others despite their actions. So Anakin´s initial compassion, kindness and understanding for people that abused him is played agaisn´t him to make him fall to the darkside and chain himself again to another worse master who didn´t just seek to use his skills and body but who wanted his soul as well.

And the same reasons why Anakin justified Watto at first when he was a young kid also applied to Palpatine, he may be a sith but he ran the Republic better than those corrupt politicians, he isn´t a perfect Emperor but in Padme´s absence he is better than the alternatives. He isn´t as bad as a master and anyway I deserve this because I fell to the darkside and nobody can come back from that, if he abuses me I got this coming because I choose this and he still teaches me the ways of the force, he rescued me from Mustafar when Obi-Wan left me to die and he didn´t have to, he is all I have left.

So once Anakin´s voice died down Vader was left with many reasons to say to Palpatine "What´s your bidding my master?" because in his mind master isn´t a word that contradicts father and Palpatine became his father in all but name, this makes George´s words about Anakin fatal flaw being the fact he loved too much make complete sense and it´s a tragedy.

#anakin skywalker #darth vader #george lucas #shmi skywalker #palpatine #star wars #slavery/rape mention #anakin meta #The tragedy of Anakin Skywalker

[ken-dom]

Wake Up To Me Every Morning

Lars Lindstrom x afab!reader

2.5k words

Summary: Lars loves the comforting taste of your kisses. When he grows curious about the taste of other parts of you, he discovers that he has a favourite bedroom activity, and suddenly, he can’t get enough.

Author’s notes: thank you to my pals in the Goosecord for the encouragement (not that I ever need much when it comes to Lars), as well as to my husband and the wonderful @heresthestorymorningglory for beta reading and keeping my sleepiness in check! Title taken from Touch Tank by Quinnie.

Warnings/content: nsfw, oral sex (Lars giving), making out, cumming in pants, cumming untouched, fingering, consensual somnophilia, scent kink?, horny virgin Lars, a light sprinkling of delicious possessiveness

∘₊✧─────────────────────✧₊∘

The first time, Lars was nervous. You’d expected as much; he’d only touched you over your clothes, desperately kissing while your hands were in his hair and his groped and rubbed at you through the fabric until you came undone. He was left breathless every time, even when he came in his underwear, rutting against you.

He was growing ever more comfortable with being close to you. Your lips on his didn’t burn at all for one thing, which had been a pleasant surprise. As such, he became enamoured with your kisses, falling asleep each night replaying the memories of them in his head before dreaming about them. Every day he’d seen you, his fingers would subconsciously move up to trace his lips while he worked at his desk, head filled with thoughts of the night before.

Lars also loved the taste of you as much as the sensation of your lips soft and wet and warm against his, and the way your tongues slid together in a slow but desperate dance, moans muffled and lips swollen.

Each time you moaned into his mouth, his impatience to touch you – really touch you – increased. He’d never felt that way before, actually needing to feel someone on his skin.

All these thoughts merged into the spark of an idea one day when Lars was drowning out Kurt’s nonsense at work, distracting himself with the thought of you again. The photo of you pinned to the board behind his computer screen had been drawing his eyes away from his work so regularly he simply gave up in the end, gazing into your eyes and daydreaming of your lips.

At that moment, while Kurt tried to get his attention with the latest porn related news, Lars very easily decided that he wanted to taste you tonight. Once he’d started kissing you, he couldn’t keep his hands — or lips — off you, yet he still craved more. And tonight, he wanted a different taste on his tongue.

After a quietly romantic dinner at his little two seater table, he cleared away your dishes and returned to take your hand in his, as usual, leading you to sit on his bed where, usually, you’d make out until way past your usual bedtime, and then he’d walk you to your car, longing to ask you to stay the night but not yet having plucked up the courage.

‘How did you enjoy dinner?’ Lars asked a little skittishly as he settled beside you on the edge of his mattress.

‘Delicious,’ you smiled, leaning in to press your lips briefly to his.

When you pulled back, Lars smiled so sweetly you couldn’t help but bite your lip. You always adored how flustered he became from such a simple little act, cheeks flushed and blinking his gaze away. It was such a delicious contrast to the almost possessive, needy way he gripped you when his tongue was down your throat and his thigh was pressed firmly between your legs.

‘I… I wondered if I could try something new tonight?’

You tilted your head. What was he up to?

‘Don’t worry! We can still kiss, I just wanted to do something else for you. I- I think you’ll like it. If I do it right.’

‘Oh?’ A thrill ran through your body and settled low in your gut. Surely he didn’t mean…?

‘Could you just,.. lay back for me? Spread your legs?’

Without hesitation, you did exactly what Lars had asked, eager to see what he had in mind, already shivering at the thought of where this was going.

Lars squeezed his eyes shut tight, taking a deep breath and collecting himself with a quick shake of his head before dropping down to his knees between your parted thighs.

Your core throbbed when he licked his lips and glanced up at you. He really had no idea how effortlessly sexy he could be, hair impeccably neat except for that one chunk that stuck out as though you’d already had your hands in it, a naughty sparkle in his eyes and his lip trembling with anticipation. 

‘Alright,’ he whispered softly when he was composed, gesturing to the fastening on your jeans, ‘could I…?’

You nodded eagerly, lifting your hips to help him shimmy them down and off your legs.

He let out another long breath, tilting his head into your palm when you stroked his hair to soothe him. Another physical affection he’d grown to love with you. 

‘Are you ready?’ he breathed shakily.

‘Whenever you are, Lars, sweetheart.’

He swallowed down a high pitched, ‘Ok!’ and leaned in, hesitating for a moment with his lips bit together. He dove forward, mouthing at your centre through the thin layer of underwear.

Your body jolted, hands flying down to tangle in his hair while his strong hands slid up your thighs and to your hips, holding you in place while his tongue lapped at your core, warm and hungry.

Lars felt too hot. He was already relishing in your reactions, cock straining in his trousers and twitching each time you let out a little gasp or a moan. It wasn’t enough. His cheeks were burning so hot against your inner thighs, he thought that if he didn’t do something about it soon he might burn up entirely.

‘Nmm-t-tss-tou-’ he mumbled against you, impatient strokes of his tongue unrelenting.

‘Wha- what was that?’ you panted, pushing through the haze of bliss and pulling at his hair to try and prize his mouth off your folds long enough to understand him.

‘Need to taste you,’ he slurred, fingers moving from where they held your hips still to fumble at the elastic of your underwear instead.

You whipped them off, giggling quietly at how desperate you both felt, and Lars’s fingers seared into your hips again the second they’d dropped to the floor, but he was otherwise frozen to the spot before you, eyes fixed on your core.

‘Y-you’re so… wet,’ he choked out, eyes sparkling, ‘for- for me?’

‘Of course,’ you heaved, feeling yourself throb with need.

He reached out and dared to touch your folds with a gentle fingertip, watching carefully as you writhed, and memorising the way you moaned as he caressed your clit with a slick-coated finger.

‘It-it’s like silk,’ he muttered, mostly to himself, exploring so carefully, so tenderly, you could come undone just watching him.

‘May I taste you properly now?’

‘Yes, please.’

His hands slipped down to grip your thighs, pushing your legs a little further apart and holding them firmly in position. He licked a long stripe, painfully slowly, through your folds, tongue circling your clit with such precision you wondered how it was possible he’d never done this before.

With his hands on your thighs you were able to roll your hips a little, rocking against his tongue while one of his fingers stroked at your entrance, teasing its way inside.

And what followed was the start of Lars discovering that he had a favourite activity in the bedroom.

When you came undone on his fingers and tongue, his name tearing from your throat, Lars moaned against you in such a way that you knew he was spilling into his underwear untouched, and when he caught his breath, he came up to kiss you just as he’d promised he would.

His chin was shiny, and his neatly trimmed mustache was soaked. He licked his lips and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand looking so satisfied your core clenched at the sight.

‘Did that feel good?’ he whispered against your lips before pressing his own against them.

You nodded, deepening the kiss, tasting yourself and throwing your arms around his shoulders.

The next night, Lars didn’t wait until you’d finished dinner. 

He dropped to his knees under the table, removing your trousers hurriedly and spreading your legs in one easy motion, not even bothering to remove your underwear this time. He simply slipped it to one side and began to lap at your folds like a starved man, his dinner left to go cold above him while your fists slammed on the table.

The night after that, you’d planned to watch a movie together. Settling on his bed with a bowl of snacks, you leaned your head against his shoulder and pulled the thick blanket over your legs. You’d done this plenty of times in the past, usually made out a little toward the end of the film, and then finished up the snacks together before heading home.

Tonight, you were barely ten minutes in before his fingers were toying with the button of your jeans under the blanket, fingers sliding through your slick, teasing you. He pulled his hand out of your underwear to suck his fingers clean, glancing at you with that mischievous glint in his eyes that nobody else would ever believe he was capable of. 

And then he was under the blanket, instructing you to try and keep track of the film while he focussed all his attention on your throbbing clit, fingers pumping just right until your thighs clenched around his head.

It was the next night that he finally asked you to stay. He’d made you cum twice already, once on his fingers ‘just to warm you up,’ and then again on his tongue, moaning into you as though he’d craved the taste for weeks, not hours.

‘Stay with me tonight?’ he breathed when he came up to kiss you as usual, and your hand had slipped down to rub him through his trousers. He was already so close.

‘Yes,’ you agreed simply, and he came hard with a choked out sob, fingers bruising into your wrist and head burying in the crook of your neck.

When he’d composed himself, he pulled back to smile at you, all dazed and sated, and endearingly sleepy.

‘Would you like a wake up call?’ he uttered under his breath with a cheeky smirk.

‘Every morning. Forever,’ you grinned. ‘Could I book that in right now?’

Lars’s heart skipped a beat, and he nodded, blinking his gaze away. He felt so naughty. So filthy. And yet, it was the most alive he’d ever felt. The most excited. How could that be wrong?

You pushed him back onto the pillows and laid against his chest to begin a slow, languid goodnight kiss, but Lars froze beneath you.

‘What is it, sweetheart?’

He bit his lips together, looking up at you through big, concerned eyes, fingers coming up to rub thoughtfully at his mustache. 

‘It’s just, uhm…’ he struggled, breathing becoming quickly uneven as his mind raced.

‘Take your time,’ you soothed, your hand covering his.

‘I’m not making you… sore, am I? You know… down there? My mustache-’

Softly, you curled your fingers around his wrist and pulled his hand away from his face. ‘Not at all. You don’t realise just how good it all feels for me, do you?’

Lars shook his head and you stopped him, stroking at his mustache with tender fingertips. He gasped.

‘Well, you haven’t given me carpet burn yet if that’s what you’re worried about, but you have given me more orgasms than I can count so… please don’t change anything, will you?’

Lars squeezed his eyes closed and he sucked in a sequence of rapid, sharp breaths. He might be eagerly providing them at every opportunity, but actually hearing you say the word orgasm so openly made him feel suddenly lightheaded.

‘Besides, you’re so handsome with that mustache. And I like the way it feels.’

Lars was just about ready to pass out, but your kiss brought him back down, warm and soothing.

After cleaning up and changing into his pyjamas (and lending a spare set to you), he fell into a restful sleep with your head against his chest, despite his mind buzzing with the thrill of what he had planned for the morning and the warm feeling that spread through his gut when he thought about you wearing his clothes.

Lars woke before you as he’d hoped, the sunlight spilling in through his little window, warm against his face. You’d remained on his chest all night, still in a deep, comfortable sleep.

Lars whispered a loving, ‘Good morning,’ to you and ever so gently slid you onto the pillows, burrowing beneath the duvet excitedly, his heart slamming against his ribcage.

He gently pushed your legs apart, holding his breath, trying so hard not to wake you. Not yet. He wanted you to wake already wracked with pleasure.

Your legs complied, and Lars heard a quiet snore from above the duvet. He unfastened the pyjamas he’d given you last night, revealing your core and he paused to steady himself at the sight of your folds, glistening already. Perhaps you’d dreamed about him, too. His mouth began to water.

A familiar warm, wet, feeling surged through your unconscious state, gradually bringing you to consciousness. As your eyes blinked open and your brain tried to play catch up, a million thoughts a minute rushed through your mind. Legs trembling. Heart racing. Fingers digging into the mattress beneath you. You were in Lars’s bed. Sunlight. It was morning. You were wearing Lars’s pyjamas. It was Friday. What time is it? Core throbbing. Thighs wet. Lars was not beside you.

Moments later, bringing all the thoughts to one crashing realisation that this was the wake up call he’d promised, your upper body lifted from the bed, a strangled cry tearing from your throat as Lars’s tongue flicked expertly over your sensitive nub and his fingers curled against your g spot.

Chuckling and feeling brave, he snuggled into your side as you caught your breath. ‘Waking up to an orgasm, isn’t that neat?’

Lars was grinning and humming to himself the whole time he spent getting dressed and ready for work. He brushed his teeth as normal, but you noticed he didn’t bother cleaning his mustache the way he had last night, even though it had been soaked again when he kissed you and mumbled a husky, ‘Good morning,’ while you tried to catch your breath.

With an excuse that you’d stopped by this morning to return one of Lars’s sweaters before work, he took you for breakfast with Gus and Karin at the house. He was eager for them to properly meet you, and what better time would there be than this, right before he had to depart for work, when they wouldn’t keep you both for so long that he’d miss out on ending an evening the way he’d become so accustomed to?

They didn’t really buy it, of course. They’d seen your car there last night and it hadn’t moved an inch. But Lars ploughed on with talking their ears off about how fantastic you were for the full half hour, and left for work just on time.

But not without leaning back over your shoulder first to whisper, ‘I just wanted to tell you that you tasted incredible this morning,’ into your ear. You knew Gus and Karin probably heard, and your cheeks felt hot, but really, you didn’t care at all.

#not s f w 💀 #lars lindstrom #lars lindstrom x reader #lars lindstrom smut #lars lindstrom x you #lars lindstrom x y/n #lars and the real girl #lars lindstrom fic #lars and the real girl fic #ryan gosling smut #ryan gosling fic #ryan gosling #ryan gosling x reader #ryan gosling x you #ryan gosling x y/n #ken dom writes

[smudgedvolt]

I just need to get this off my chest, below contains cropped pics from the Paragons CN Spirit World profile intro thing just in case + me rambling and speculating about Spirit World related content:

(I apologize in advance if this isn't the easiest to read through, I've never really rambled here before.)

SO. If there's one world I keep looking forward to, it's Spirit World because there are just so many things that intrigue me. But other than the outfits and myths they seem to take inspiration for (which I may speak about some other time) each of the Paragons has a symbol attached to their intro profiles that relates to them in some way. Oddly enough, these symbols are missing from the JP and ENG versions of their profiles, and I can only wonder why.

Almost all the symbols have elements that are also present in their outfits/have meaning tied to themselves.

Here they are:

Lars' symbol, contains shapes that look like a rising sun + wings that tie into the jewelry he wears (very much related to Ancient Egypt)

Alkaid's is shaped like the head of a stag, with hornlike protrusions and most notably the star in the center that makes up the head shape.

Ayn's has flames (which are present around his body) and clawlike markings that tip-off to his wolf design (the design itself also does look a bit like a wolf head) There's also a Penrose triangle shape, but that's tied more closely to another version of himself...possibly for another time.

Clarence's contains feather-like shapes, dangly rectangular shapes with those circles behind it that are similar to the earrings he dons, but most importantly there's that serpent that snakes around into something of a figure 8. Infinity? He's frequently associated with the passage of time (wanting things moments to last forever, centuries of waiting etc)

But then there's Cael's, which initially stuck out to me as I was looking at these symbols because I could not pinpoint anything on his outfit or character that could possibly give me a hint as to what it was trying to show.

A circle with odd symbols and an X in the center?

Then I realized. Take a good look at this.

The Wheel of Fortune Tarot Card:

IT'S THE SAME THING. Albeit with some artistic liberties, but everything from the symbols on the outer side of the circle to the x shape is present.

So I immediately went to go check the meaning behind this card to see what this could mean. I'm no Tarot expert, so I will link the resources below so you can have a look for yourself:

UPRIGHT: Good luck, karma, life cycles, destiny, a turning point

REVERSED: Bad luck, resistance to change, breaking cycles (From here)

Now, I can only imagine what will happen in Spirit World because I don't really like to spoil myself ahead of time. But if Cael becomes a Love Interest at this stage of the story, the upright meaning of this card would apply, and it really does fit him.

What I'm worried about is the meaning if you read it reversed. I wonder what will happen in this world, and what it could mean for MC and Cael, as well as the others.

I typed this all in one go and I feel like I could articulate myself better but I got too excited. If anyone is interested in more of my thoughts I could try to whip out some more things I've been sitting on.

#lovebrush chronicles #not art #cael anselm #lars rorschach #alkaid mcgrath #ayn alwyn #clarence clayden #ramblings #lbchronicles #spirit world #lbc #I've been discussing this with a friend for a while now but that one tarot card post pushed me to create this #I just want to let everyone know and also maybe my obsession over this game won't be for nothing #if you have stuff to add I'm all ears

[kingdomhate]

First Glance (Part Four)

The moment the both of you landed on Tatooine, you were hit by the air-thinning heat and seemingly endless sand. Well, at least now you know why Anakin hates sand. As you both hop out, Anakin leads you into the tiny hut of his house.

Following him, you can see a droid, one that was very obviously unfinished; loose wires, no plates and a very bad paint job, as the droid was a charcoal black. "Oh! Hello there! I'm C-3PO human-cyborg relations." The droid speaks in a sort of Victorian way. Anakin smiles at the droid. "Nice to see you, again." It takes the droid a moment to realize. "Master Ani! It has been so long!" 3PO cries out happily. "Who is this?" The droid inquires, turning slightly to you. "A friend of mine. A close one." You turn to 3PO, smiling warmly. "I'm Y\N. A padawan."

"A padawan? Hello!" Anakin walks into the doorframe, holding your hand to lead you through. "What is it now?" A voice grumbled frustratingly, only to see a man in a wheelchair, no more than fifty, wheeling his chair to the entryway, where you and Anakin stand. "What are- Anakin?" The man questions. "Lars, is that your name?" Anakin says, huffing slightly. "Uh yes. Are you Anakin Skywalker?" The man queried once more. "Yes." Anakin answered simply. "Oh. I've heard of you." He wheels his chair back more and more into the kitchen, looking over his shoulder before gazing back at you both.

"I've come here for my mother, where is she?" Just as Anakin had asked the burning question he had spent nights wondering of, a woman walked in, a woman with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. "Cliegg, I-" She stopped short and the sight of you and Anakin, two Jedi trainee's. "Anakin, this is my wife, Aika. Aika, this is Shmi's son, Anakin." Aika nodded slightly, walking closer to her husband. "Hello." She greets softly. Anakin nods and then studies Cliegg once more.

"Where is my mom? And why are you talking about her like that?" Anakin demands, his tone rising slowly. You place a hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm him down. "You'd better sit down." Warns Cliegg, motioning to the couple of chairs in front of him. Sitting down directly next to each other, Anakin's eyes, now a piercing blue, stared down Cliegg, sort of like a prey. "When Watto sold your mother, I bought her. We fell in love and got married, and one night, once I was sleeping, Shmi was stolen, taken. I looked and looked and looked, and couldn't find anything, and with my leg and the fact these people could be anywhere, Anakin, I-" Cliegg was interrupted by Anakin's now booming voice. "By who?!"

Aika flinched and gripped Cliegg's shoulder, her eyes darting from Anakin to yours, her blue eyes frightened and startled. Cliegg takes a moment to answer. "The sandpeople." Anakin grits his teeth. You look at Cliegg for a second, "How long has it been since Shmi was taken?" Cliegg takes a sharp breath. "Months." Anakin let's out a low scoff and then heads outside, you take a moment before following him.

Catching up to him, you grasp his hand in yours, and he lets out a low sigh, visibly relaxing. "I don't understand... what would they want with her?" Anakin questions softly, taking you into an embrace. "I don't know." You say in response just as gently. "I have to find her." He announces to you, the determination in his voice evident. "What? Anakin, don't." He breaks away from the hug. "Why not? I don't have the right to find my own mother? To know what happened to her?" His voice cracks slightly, hiding his rage.

"Of course you do! But, what if she doesn't want you to know?" You argue, voice rising as well. "Why wouldn't she want me to?! She is MY mother! You don't even know her." He practically shouts at you, you close your mouth and lean back, completely silent. He sighs audibly and then turns away, running his hands through his hair. You, completely silent, just walks away, back inside. Anakin takes a moment to compose himself, but instead of apologizing, he makes an impulsive decision.

Checking to see if his lightsaber was still on his hip, he hops into his speeder and then zooms away. Hearing the noise, you run to see what it was, at the sight of Anakin zooming away, the feeling brings a strange sense of hurt. What was the point? Of coming here? If Anakin was just going to zoom off from you, as if you had a disease or something?

.

.

.

A\N: Cliffhanger! Part five out tomorrow, and that is supposed to be the falling action of this series, so it may take a bit to make.

Tags:

@haydenpookiebear

@sweetcheesecakesblog

(Let me know if you'd like to be added or taken off of my taglist!)

#star wars #fluff #slight angst? #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker #hope you enjoy #first glance #series #part four #took me seemingly forever omg #might be a bit bland #sorry

[bubbledtee]

the little modern 80s au with everyone is just so silly to me i love thinking about it... isn't reader related but imagine all of them in a cod room... james is definitely screaming at everyone while lars would be SOOO toxic and is just cursing at everyone with his mouth literally SO CLOSE to his mic that you can hear every ragged breath he takes as he shoots down everyone... and he slips a little danish into his insults and everyones dying at the way hes just so worked up over the game. he's such a little tryhard PLEASE

cliff is definitely laughing at the both of them while he's just naturally good at the game and in the end he ends up having the most kills and james and lars are like????? cause he just stays quiet the whole round or is just laughing at the two of them... the three of them don't know how cliff got so good but whenever they log into their consoles hes just ALWAYS on a game like there wouldnt be a moment where he isnt up at three in the morning on a first-player shooter game...

i think kirk would play it on the safe side and camp to kill people while the rest of the team is calling him a lame camper but hes just so confused cause he seems like the type of person to only play story mode games and only play multiplayer with his friends and no one else... probably doesnt log in at all cause hes just too busy reading comics or watching horror flicks ughn i love him

-- and to sprinke a little james/reader ... imagine giving him head under his desk while hes on his PC with his headset on... just struggling to respond to the rest of the boys cause hes just sputtering out words while looking down at you in between his legs and the little thigh kisses you give him UGH im gonna die

THIS IS SO SILLY I LOVE IT

this for some reason reminds me of the misfits (not the band, the youtube group that raised me) and how they used to post those CS;GO vids all together. i feel like that’d be them just gaming together for hours on end and just bringing silly together while lars records for his youtube channel (because of course he has a youtube channel).

there’s definitely bits where they’ll just be in a discord call and they’re being super weird and silly with each other. one of them is screen sharing and they’re like taking random buzzfeed quizzes together (lunch club reference 🥲) or looking at obscure youtube videos. they’d just be silly guys

and then the scenario of you under james’s desk jwnsidnwjdjen you’ll have already been palming his cock through his sweatpants while he sat at his desk, half gaming but mostly paying attention to you and running his fingers through your hair. and then he’d get invited to a discord call by lars and he’d go to decline it, until you told him “answer it, jamie. you wouldn’t wanna leave your buddies hanging, would you?” in a sweet little seductive voice while pulling his pants down just enough to get his cock out, a bit of precum beading up at the tip. he’d let out a choked moan before pressing the accept button and giving a weak “what’s up” before muting himself as you kitten licked at his tip, making his cheeks flush red while he bit into his lip. >.< i’m so owndkwkwndjf and then he’d purposely die in game and mute himself when he was close so he could let out big groans and moans, with a few mumbles here and there about how good it feels and how he wants to cum down your throat.

i’m so horny for modern!80s!james it’s not even funny anymore.

#james hetfield #papa het #modern!80s!james #modern!metallica #modern!80s!lars #modern au #smut #ask #velvetjar #bub’s thoughts

[burning-academia-if]

ros reaction asking the mc a question and they answer as their eyes light up and they don't notice that they go off on a rant cause the question relates to something they're very passionate about and can't help but talk about given the chance. Addition if they notice, stop mid-rant, and apologize for being a chatter box, they know not everyone cares about the subject to such an extent.

Rook: He knows you well enough to be used to your tangents and he finds them cute. Regardless of your approach towards him, you know he'll let you go on as much as you like and he'll happily keep asking questions and seeing you get really into it or excited. Listening to you and these conversations feels like safety to him, and maybe even you too.

Beck: As the King of Tangents, he'd probably be impressed someone can go on as long as he can askjs, and honestly enjoy it. He also just enjoys learning things about you, and I think after the first time you do it he may even go out of his way to purposefully ask questions that might get you going so he can listen to you.

Rhea: For her, it's like background noise. She's always busy doing something and she might not have time to dedicate to fully paying attention to what you're saying. When you realize you might have ended up bothering her and apologize she'll apologize right back, "If I wasn't so busy I'd listen to you talk forever darling."

Zoe: They prefer listening over talking, so hearing you rant is probably really relaxing. They might struggle to show that outwardly though, but if you start to fall quiet or apologize it's probably an immediate reassurance "No, no, I like hearing you talk." If it's a subject they know well too though, they might even join in on your ranting, and the next thing you know it's like two hours later lol

Lars: He probably doesn't act interested lmfaO. When he asked the question, he probably was only half paying attention to you, and it feels like he fully stopped paying attention a minute in. If it's at a point where you and him have a better relationship it probably still feels the same asjkafdaj but when you cut yourself off, he'll glance up and tell you "It's fine, keep going."

???: They'd probably find it all fascinating. Due to their circumstances, they don't know a lot about the world currently, so anything you share is new and interesting. Even if it's super niche and might not be super important lol. Their interest probably feels the most genuine, but that may just be because you can feel their emotions and how content they are.

#em answers #ch: rook #ch: beck #ch: rhea #ch: zoe #ch: lars #ch: ??? #as someone who also rants this was a really cute question to me lol

[schyzotypalmind]

The mistreatment and character assasination of Asuka Kazama

We can all agree that Tekken 8 has been the nail in the coffin for Asuka´s character development and treatment in general.

Asuka Kazama was introduced in Tekken 5 as an ambiguous Kazama style user, lover of animal, justice and nature.

Us veteran can agree that that we all thought at first that either Asuka was Jin´s little sister or a cousin of Jin Kazama.

After Jun´s disappearance in Tekken 3 and her reintroduction in the non canonical game of Tekken Tag, her spot was pretty much empty since even Jin, pretty much abandoned Kazama Style after the events of Tekken 3.

Now, we can start analazying who she was first and how her relevance to the story and future plans for her were pretty much obliterated.

Asuka was presented as a tomboyis girl that loved to make peace on her terms, even stopping gangs from killing each other.

She loved bicycles and wore a sports outfit. Her dojo was mostly destroyed and her father injured because Feng Wei was in a rampage trying to basically, level up his skills and demonstrate that he was the stronger warrior out there.

She joined the tournament, not knowing absolutely anything about Jin. Surprisingly, she had the same Kazama powers as Jun, healing and resurrecting (????) Devil Jin to the point of expelling the Devil out of Jin. After a ...well, "funny", embarrasing and kinda disgusting moment with Jin, people started to speculate A LOT. (you known, the boob scene)

Her popularity grew, opening new mysteries about the Kazama family and the part that they were gonna play in the future.

Fanfics blew up, edits, theories...

Now, pretty much in Tekken 6 they tease us that somehow they are related to each other. Jin went nuts with WW3... this is where the problem starts.

She had zero relevance to the story. You could think, oh "Lars is a new character, she can join with him to defeat Jin because she has this powers or for whatever reason because she just wants to stop him", but nope... she just had a few lines, boring ending that had nothing to do with it and then, gone.

Tekken 7 was focused on Heihachi and Kazuya mostly to the point that Jin was comatose THE ENTIRE GAME. So obviously, Asuka was out of the conversation too. She then got involved into this stupid rivalry with Lili which I learnt how to love because I find them very gay and I love my lesbian girlies. But that´s another topic.

A lot of veterans were thinking which type of relevance was going to have Asuka, since Jun was back, Kazuya was now the nº1 public enemy and Jin was having a crisis with his Devil Gene.

This is the point where her character and relevance died to never (probably) come back.

She just...joins the team with Lili, asks the type of family that she is with Jin which is basically non existen, they are part of the same clan... but not closely ralated, doesn´t even help exorcising Jin or Kaz and just when we thought she was going to be present in Yakushima only for her TO NOT EVEN BE THERE. Her powers??? which powers? Namco forgot about them, not relevant at all...

I just give up at this point. Fans are trying to cope with the fact that in Tekken 9 she will help exorcising Reina because her and Jun are the only ones with powers now but I´m telling you... nothing is going to happen. With Jun? obviously, she has gain even more popularity now been one of the strongest and best fighters and characters in T8 but Asuka? not development, nothing. Forget it, she won´t have any relevance in Tekken 9. It makes me really sad because they could expand the Kazama family with her father and Jun maybe joining or making a team to defeat Kaz or Reina but nope. Mark my words, Asuka won´t have relevance in the future.

They even made a inside joke with Hwoarang thinking that she was Jin´s little sister.

The level of disrespect that Namco had with this characters is astonishing. So yeah, I guess I only have left fanfics and that´s about it.

Thanks for my talk about the Horrible Murder... of Asuka Kazama.

#tekken #tekken 8 #tekken memes #jun kazama #reina mishima #asuka kazama #kazuya mishima

[doverstar]

Love the way you write your characters! Rose doesn't seem dumb at all! She's obviously got a lot in her mind and stress so sure she may not make the smartest decisions (ie not calling backup, following a stranger into a house) but it's not far from what we've seen in the show???

Thanks so much! Your thoughtful Ask has given me somewhere to word-vomit and process; excuse me while I do so-

The way I’m writing Rose is very intentional. And if that makes her seem OOC, that’s on me! She is very canonically smart and resourceful, but she’s not perfect - I never like her more than when she’s being incredibly emotional instead of being incredibly clever, or when she’s scared instead of being a confident girlboss, but she’s fighting through the fear anyway to save the day. I like Rose best because of how human and relatable she is. That’s what makes her remarkable as a companion - she’s the perfect equal to the Doctor because she’s not like the Doctor. She doesn’t figure things out right away, she doesn’t always do the wisest thing. And sometimes those are the things about her that help others most. She’s the most ordinary girl in the world - Doctor Who really needs that. And I’m trying my best to keep her in-character in that vein specifically!

I tried to communicate (maybe poorly!) in Lost and Rewritten that the reason Rose doesn’t immediately see the truth: that Will is the regenerated Doctor hiding out with his new companions, chemically engineered into believing he’s human - besides the fact that hi, who would put that together right away? - is because she doesn’t want to.

For Rose, Lost and Rewritten takes place only a year after Doomsday. Rose’s narration at the end of Doomsday is despondent - it’s implied that she doesn’t get hopeful again, doesn’t try to find the Doctor again, until at least like…two (???) years later canonically, when the stars start going out and Torchwood starts building the dimension cannon so she can get the Doctor’s help saving the universes. And bonus, she can finally go back to him.

So - Rose is fresh off of Bad Wolf Bay in LAR. She just lost the Doctor a year ago. She’s still in mourning, in a way. She’s spent a year convincing herself not to address that pain, because the Doctor himself told her they can’t ever see each other again, so how can she hope? There is no hope, it’s over. If she hopes, she gets hurt by the disappointment of those hopes. So for a year she’s built a little wall around herself and not cried and not socialized and just carried on, because the alternative is active misery and that’s too much. She thinks the best thing to do for now is to focus on her job at Torchwood and not expect the Doctor to burst back into her life at every little otherworldly encounter. It’s not obliviousness; it’s willful ignorance. Rose is choosing not to entertain the idea that the Doctor could come back -

Except that she totally is. In spite of herself. Because she’s Rose. She loves him and she’s selfish and she can’t help hoping he’d find a way back in spite of the danger. She can’t just give up on him or forget him.

But of course she’s not expecting him to have regenerated if he does show up. Of course she’s not expecting him to think he’s human. She’s seen all kinds of weird things, so Amy and Rory and Will and the Angels being intertwined, that she can believe, fine. (She even tested out the Void detector on Will and decided on her own that it was faulty.) But Will being the Doctor? Why would her brain make that connection until it’s super obvious? She’s just not there mentally. Not because she’s slow - I never meant to imply that she was stupid - but because she’s not willing to expect something like that. She’d be expecting Ten. She’s smart, and she’s capable, and she’s amazing, but she’s also a normal human being. That’s why her character is so great, I think.

Even with all Rose’s foreknowledge, I wrote LAR in such a place and time from her POV that immediately seeing the truth right in front of her was not an option. I personally don’t think she’d make all the right connections right away. And in a situation full of panic and confusion, she has been canonically shown to get stumped and maybe even give up until given the right push.

But I dunno - I mean, I’m explaining my train of thought, but my characterization could be off. I’m just trying to do what I’ve seen the show do with Rose. If she’s not brave, funny, kind, clever, selfish, human, she’s not herself. She’s a Mary Sue. But she’s one of my very favorite characters of all time, so you can see how I’d hate doing her an injustice.

#ask doverstar #asked #answered #rose tyler #dw #doctor who #bbc #timepetals #elevenrose #lar #lost and rewritten #doverstar writes #anon #anonymous #fic comment #opinion piece #writing #ask #fic ask

[glisiccc10100]

♪ Kurahashi Yoeko – Tomodachi no Uta.

yippeee finally i can show you my new character. in fact, he's not that new, i just drew the exterior for him quite recently.

meet Lars (full name is Larcelot). the young humanoid from the capital hex, the son of the influential figure of the criminal world there. the youngest child in his family, the only son, and the rest of kids are daughters. despite his blood connection with crime, he is not that keen on building up authority, he prefers to hang out at a club or casino, or just stay at home (he lives in a huge mansion with the whole family), although he is always happy to take advantage of the accompanying privileges. it's too early to talk about the his place in the world, but i have something to say about his image. /inhales-exhales/ there will be a lot of words...

personality: Lars, despite his small age by the standards of the setting, is already charismatic and charming, like some talented comedian or actor. cheeky, confident, quite open, but also very conservative relative to most of the youth in the capital. he will try to stick to manners even when he is drunk to the bone, but he still has a lot of audacity. phlegmatic by temperament. he values his comfort above everything else, always knows what he wants and is used to getting desired thing without any trouble, but this does not make him too conflicted or childishly moody. maybe just a little harmful.

speaking of which, his father raised him to a man who is able to get out of any scrape, easily navigating the sensory aspects of this world, the aforementioned manners and much more. and now we have a person who is always relaxed, completely unafraid of the world. blissful...

he rarely gets close to other creatures, also rarely hangs out with men, but the company of beautiful ladies is a comfortable zone for him. he can be called a womanizer. in relation to people Lars is very frivolous, communicates superficially, through the prism of logic, jokes, interests and/or impressions, and carefully stores most of his experiences inside.

appearance: tall, slender guy, physically well developed, but a little exhausted, possibly due to frequent alcohol consumption, dark circles around the eyes, strong teeth and bones, excellent sense of smell. the left arm is missing, replaced with a prosthesis with highly sensitive sensors (smooth movements, in fact, not much different from a real limb) with different attachments.

in public, he almost always appears in a neat state, even despite his deliberate negligence. he dresses relatively modestly for his budget, but still has a certain amount of expensive accessories.

features: i already mentioned above that Lars drinks quite often, but he rarely allows himself to get drunk to the state of a deranged vegetable, especially in front of someone. he loves champagne and wine, but also likes to indulge in "girly" cocktails, often drinks the same thing that his one-evening-friends chose.

he loves gambling and at first glance he may seem like a fool who is about to lose his family, house and entire fortune in some stupid slots, but this is more typical of the desperate, and i can't call him that. in addition to gambling, he is also fascinated by ordinary board games and computer step-by-step games. so his desire for adrenaline is simply caused by boredom.

he also loves jazz improvisations, especially fast incendiary melodies. he often jokes that he would like to buy a personal orchestra so he'd be able to listen to live music whenever he wants.

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW. I DOUBT THERE'S EVEN HALF OF WHAT I'VE BEEN INVENTED. well, these posts are probably read by a minority anyway, so whatever.

write me how do you like it, i am always glad to receive your feedback!

#my art #my ocs #Lars #artists on tumblr #digital art #sketch #original art #oc #original character #ocs #oc art #drawing #oc artwork #original charater art #my original art #my original characters #character art #character design #human oc #actually not human but the appearance is similar anyway #my oc sketch #my ocs <3 #my oc stuff #my oc art #my oc character #oc stuff #oc info

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @the-mindless!

Oc in 3

OC IN 3: post three pictures or images you feel relate to a character. they can be face claims, famous artworks, photos, anything you think fits the vibe™

Let's keep this Mortal God train rolling and go with Mashal Darezsho! Mashal is a seven foot tall killer robot with a sword in his arm. He's also a total sweetheart, if a bit timid. He loves to draw when the rest of the world sleeps and is always happy to express emotion using his new, mobile face, a gift from his friend Astra. The only time this gentle persona drops is when Vermir Nadvalsib gets involved. They have a history.

The two drawings that look alike are mine. One is just a portrait, the other is human!Mashal posed like that famous painting with Astra, his totally platonic friend who he's not at all desperately down bad for. I picked the knight sketch because Mashal's a sketch artist and I like it when things match.

I'll tag @mysticstarlightduck @riveriafalll @mitzymossy33 and @steh-lar-uh-nuhs!

Have a bitchin day <3

#writing #writerscommunity #writblr #my ocs #author

[astralartefact]

Griff RoD Story Thoughts dae think war is bad maybe?

This write-up contains a whole lot of pseudo-deep complaining about the theme of Death as Salvation.

Content Warning for related Themes!

Okay, now that everything Griff-related is out I can finally say it:

I don't like Griff and a lot of his costumes look the same to me.

And I tried. Different from Rion and Dimos I actually tried and read all of his stories - which is why I'm writing this out today.

Not to say I can't find anything good in them - the End of his RoD story reminds me of one of the characters in the only book I ever read (Crime & Punishment) who commits suicide because without the eponymous Punishment for his eponymous Crime he couldn't find "Salvation" and therefore his only remaining option was Death to escape his guilt.

But there's only so much "Look at this 'normal' guy and what war did to him!" I can take before going numb and not listening anymore. You need to give me at least something else to latch onto. Like Lars has an existential crisis amount of shit going on that gives his story another layer about how exactly war is bad. Meanwhile Griff is just a guy who had a really fucked up thing happen that one time and he really can't get over it.

And sure. Maybe his stories are just about hammering down how PTSD works. Maybe it intentionally repeats Griff's one drop of guilt in the ocean that is war at nauseam. And maybe I'm just not keyed in to this type of historic fiction enough to understand the nuances. Maybe this is actually a very nuanced portrayal of the PTSD of sole survivors and I'm just not interested enough in this subject matter that I would know something like that.

But seeing as it ends in "the only thing that will save us from our guilt is death" I find that hard to believe. Not that there isn't value in showing the reality of veterans commiting suicide because of PTSD - but I don't think that's what's happening here.

I hate Death as Salvation as a trope. There is nothing valuable about it* and it should be wholly abandoned. (*if it isn't in some way followed up by a rebirth. then it's fine bc obv its not supposed to be real death but i digress) Any affirmation that Dying would in any way absolve you of anything you ever did is absolute garbage. It is a thoughtless and above all else lazy way to think about forgiveness - that anybody would just be better off if the person that harmed them just 'got what's coming for them'.

And Crime and Punishment would probably argue at this point that it's because you can't grow from your mistakes then. That Punishment is not (only) for the victim but for the offender to make amends with the past so they can move forward [without killing themselves]. And Griff's story can be read that way - not only is he never punished for his "Crimes", he is actively celebrated despite them.

But outside of that this Eye for an Eye mentality that a victim would and should get anything out of the misery and/or death of their offender is just another cycle of violence that our society is currently just basking in. It's an annoying itch that we just keep scratching because why not, it feels good right now and I promise I will stop before it gets worse! We all have urges that are 'natural' and yet we still all agree we shouldn't indulge in them - and Revenge should absolutely be one of them.

Forgiveness is a complicated process, both to forgive others and to be forgiven. There is no one way to go through it and there can't be only one since that's just the nature of our myriad unique human connections. But that's also what makes it such a fascinating thing to interrogate. Who is forgiveness for? How do you forgive? How are you forgiven? Do you even need forgiveness?

And I hate that thoughtless writers continue to use Death as a quick way out of it all, that we can just redeem a character by sacrifice because oh, isn't that noble, now what they've done isn't so bad anymore because i guess death is a currency now and this time it bought us a good ending.

But in Real Life Dying only becomes an option when something has gone terribly terribly wrong. An event in which somebody chooses Death is always a tragedy - and yet in fiction writing it is - different from reality - always a consciously constructed tragedy. The writer made this happen so the offender could die for their sins - because I guess there is just no other way that somebody could overcome doing a bad thing. Great news for all of us who ever did something bad!

So the way they went from "Griff talks about it to somebody for the first time and feels a little bit better about it" as if they went for a "Griff gets Group Therapy! You're not alone!"-Message only to still end up with both of them killing themselves is just deeply upsetting to me. If this is in any way supposed to be a story about regret, I feel like this could have been a "You will never get over it but at least you can talk to others so it gets easy enough to still live" story - because even if that's not a particularly groundbreaking narrative anymore either at least it's something actively helpful. But this? What is a veteran reading this story supposed to get out of this? Just die, it never gets better?

then again FF16 did this so much worse than Griff. at least reinkane has CrimePun parallels - and of course the overall framing as a whole is still 'this is what war does to a mf and should never happen' so i guess maybe that's the point? that even a winning war leads to people killing themselves?

Now. This is the point where the plot twists and I say: Okay. But maybe this is - deliberately or not - great writing actually. I didn't see this coming, I just gave what I wrote another read and then this occured to me:

There's just something here. Griff is one of the characters with a seemingly good amount of agency in this game - sure, he isn't a king or a ruler, he doesn't get to decide about this war, but he certainly has more agency than a good chunk of the characters in this game - he literally gets to tell Lars what to do - and yet. He just can't even think about trying anything else. His station just doesn't make it possible for some unpronounced reason. It doesn't even occur to the narrative that maybe he could - I don't know - Run away. Lead a Resistance. Even just interrogate his own actions. He did a bad thing and there's just absolutely nothing he can do about it but kill himself. (And there's something else here about why exactly death is an easier choice for him than anything else but this is already long enough)

Lars' story uncovers a truly wild revelation about this war they're fighting and it just. Doesn't affect Griff's story in the slightest. It doesn't come up once. He just doesn't know. Doesn't even notice. How can he not notice? When suddenly the people he cares so much about are gone and show up standing on the other side of the battlefield?

But you have to understand. This is really hard for Griff. He has to continue fighting because one time his actions killed so many. It's not the war's fault. Not the other army's. Not the bullets of the other soldiers. It's his fault. He did this. So he only has to fix himself. He can't possibly be asked to care about anything else, especially not whatever this fcking war is about.

And I don't know, doesn't that sound like... Ugh. I don't know the word, but it always comes up when people talk about white men. It starts with P I think. It's that word that people use! That you should check every once in a while... Ahh, who cares. I can just end this post about PTSD and war and not think about it any further because I do not have PTSD and the closest war will ever get to me is that maybe they're going to re-institute a draft in my country - but probably not and even if they do I won't have to go! And surely nobody on the world alive right now has a different experience from me. See ya!

also they could have made this story so much better if griff and the eyepatch guy fuc---

also also with how 063y and now griff went i'm so excited for argo. whoever is writing these has a lot of thoughts about men.

#nier reincarnation #nier

[myriadium]

Hello! I've been binging on the headcannons and designs of your AU all day, they're very creative and have quite a lot of thought behind that makes them feel organic and vibrant.

Now, my question is about what are your headcannons for the other half of the characters, a.k.a. "The Bakugan™"? Though I'm not only talking about the monster protagonists, but Bakugan as a species. I haven't seen anyone flesh them out as of yet.

RIGHT SO here's the issue I run into whenever I try to work on Bakugan: I only know how to draw people. I'm not creative enough to do diverse designs that don't follow the general shape of a bipedal humanoid. Sometimes I draw a tail or something. I have a lot of respect for people who can design and detail fantasy creatures; they're always so creative and some of them literally blow me away. Additionally, from a writing perspective, I'm not very good at alien society worldbuilding, because I'm not creative enough to make up a whole new society. I'm not J R R Tolkien, for sure.

This presents a problem because I like to tell stories through designs. I let a character's looks influence the story (instead of the other way around, but that's because I just really like drawing things and then trying to get them to fit my story hehe) but if I can't draw a character, their part is just void.

When it comes to monster designs, unless it's horror or very very pretty (very arbitrary decision, tbh), I don't like humanoid creatures at all. I don't like Ravenoid or Robotallion or whatever the fuck Drago becomes in the later seasons. Exceptions are Gorem because I love colossi and Monarus because they're beautiful. And Lars Lion but I'd be okay if she was redesigned. I'm thinking of a deer with its antlers forming a crossbow.

I'd like to headcanon that Bakugan themselves have more primordial, indiscernible forms, but Marucho's program is able to translate the energy readings into physical beings. I always find it strange when a supposed alien creature looks like a person except maybe their eyes are different or they're taller (looking at you, Vestals. I want them to look truly alien, almost freakishly so. Maybe they can retain a humanoid silhouette but generally I want to go for something COOL) but at least for Bakugan I can just say "yah like Marucho's program makes them look like a giant turtle trust".

A Bakugan's energy is very powerful and unstable, especially reliant on the state of the central cores, which fuels all Bakugans' life force. Two cores is kind of like two notes played that forms a dissonant core. The power generated is unbalanced (Silent core is stronger) and it ruptures the fabric of the universe over time. Powered up by the dissonant split cores, this energy escapes through cracks in the dimension, which leaks into new worlds. Usually this leads to preventing the heat death of a universe, but my AU's world was able to harness the energy and translate that into a pokemon game.

Once the cores are reunited, the energy flows in harmony, but lingering effects of the rips remain. The energy is still leaking out, and can be captured. This is how the Vestals found the dimension and colonized it.

I actually like the idea that because of the separation of the cores, all the attributes were separated as well, and the joining of the cores at the end of S1 meant that all the attributes intermingled. related to that, I think it would be mega fun if S2 onwards, there are bakugan with dual or even three attributes, because of the cores joining. It'll definitely bring an interesting aspect to a Bakugan tournament, where a two different attribute brawlers can use the same Bakugan.

I think Mikhail really missed a golden opportunity to study the sociology of sentient energy, honestly. Instead he got caught up in traveling between dimensions.

Honestly while I have thought about how my AU's Bakugan might differ from the show's, I definitely have not thought about it enough to be able to write a worldbuilding manual out of it :( It's all very surface level stuff.

What I will say is that at the start of every season they gotta shake up the main team's Bakugan and have them get new ones. I liked being able to see how the brawlers and the Bakugan interact in the beginning of their partnerships, but the later seasons just drop you in the middle of a fight with a Bakugan you've never seen before and never explain how they met. If you want to treat your Bakugan like real characters you gotta flesh out that backstory!

With all these disclaimers out of the way, here are some Bakugan design ideas I wrote down a while back:

"a hummingbird with a scythe shaped beak" : while hummingbirds themselves are pretty nonthreatening, imagine a grim reaper hummingbird. hilarious. Darkus or Ventus attribute. This was extremely inspired by oberus and the fact that her design is so good i have no idea what the fuck they were going for. Exactly what I want.

"just a bundle of wings (think biblically accurate seraphim but butterfly wings instead of feathered ones) that slowly fall off and reveal a cocoon. once evolution happens, the cocoon opens up to reveal-" : I didn't have an idea for what it would reveal, but i like the idea of an ominous bundle of butterfly wings. Ventus.

"Biblically accurate owl" : A barn owl looking creature with no eyes on its face, but with eyes all over its wings. Darkus.

"Monstrous barreleye" : honestly you can probably make any of the deep sea creatures into a horrifying Aquos Bakugan, but the barreleye is my favorite. Imagine a big fish but with a clear dome and inside is just like. a writhing mass of tissue. What's going on here?

"Stingray skeleton, but it flies" : Stingrays have insanely cool skeletons. Their bones look like feathers. Haos.

A slightly warped vers (don't even ask how it's warped, it's different ok) of the lion costumes you see in a southern Chinese lion dance. Pyrus.

"Earthwyrm" : I think I just wanted a cool giant worm. A million teeth and cutting it up creates multiple wyrms. They can burrow to different gate cards using wyrm holes. Subterra.

Now that I'm writing these out I think my design ideas are fun. Maybe I'll draw them one day. This post ended up a lot more rambly than I expected, I apologize. You do bring up an interesting question though, it seems like I should start thinking about how the Bakugan as a species fit into my world.

Recommend to me your favorite monster artist! My personal favorite currently is matryoshiiika, but I would love to study more!

#bakugan #bakugan worldbuilding

[the-missann]

Previous Post

Next up is

Jax Barmen!

He's a super cute cutie and aside from his role in the story being related to the researcher who initially discovered 4th Dimensional beings (no, that's not a big deal in the story). Jax serves as the groups researcher.

He's extremely intelligent and enjoys theoretical research. Being a senior in high school, he has plans to go off to college and become a theoretical scientist.

Jax is also the pretty/popular boy of the school. Everyone loves him because he's personable and friendly. Jax is my sweet boy who tries his best to make sure the girls and women around him are taken care of and comfortable, and anyone else is met with nothing but kindness. I don't even think it's possible for him to even have bad thoughts.

Jax is also kind of the dad of the group being able to settle everyone down when they're feeling stressed or anxious about something. Outside of that, Jax often is the reasonable one of the group being able to make rational decisions and account for what they should or shouldn't be doing.

I actually just made this drawing randomly and it's not based on the excerpt. Here, Jax and Cassie are essentially having a sleep over where Jax is going to teach her something she's interested in. They're so cute too, they're suppose to he wearing matching PJs ☺

Also, his hair is different because I'm very bad at drawing 😄

Here's a snipit of him!

It was now silent in the car, Jax got to a stop light and spoke to the pair.

“You guys are arguing about this? Have either of you thought about the actual situation?”

Larson looked at Jax. “You must want to die.” Larson threatened. “I am thinking about the situation.”

“No, you’re only thinking about disagreeing with Cassie because you believe she’s wasting our time. You have yet to say any kind of idea you have.”

Larson looked off and let out an audible sigh.

Cassie smiled. “Yeah, at least I’m trying to come up with something!”

Jax looked back at Cassie. “And you are deciding things without concern about consequence.”

Cassie shrunk under his voice. “But I-”

“I know, Cassie, you think this will be good. So I have to ask you, why is it good?”

Cassie sat back. “Because… we’ll get to have allies if we help them?”

“That’s a good reason, but here you miss a major point—we could also find out more about rifts. If they know things we don’t then it’ll only benefit us, but at what cost?”

Cassie was going to say something, but remained quiet.

So Jax continued. “We don’t know if they’re stronger than you guys and they very well might be. So maybe next time just say you have a good idea and we can go from there…” Cassie pressed her lips together. “And Lars, maybe don’t doubt Cassie for every little thing she does. Have some faith in her gut choices and listen to her suggestions, but I agree with your concern. This might be a huge waste of time, but I believe we’ll get something out of it and that’s worth the risk.”

The silence continued after he finished talking. The frustrated pair sat with his words without a single retort. Eventually, when the light turned green, Jax started to drive again.

Larson let out a sigh and spoke. “Besides sounding like a parent who’s scolding his children, you…have a point,” Larson began, “but what are we even going to get from this?”

“As I said, we may be able to learn more about rifts. As well as other species that might exist within them.” Jax stated calmly.

Larson sighed. “Fine, we’ll consider taking this guy down…”

“Alright, we’ll go from there.” With that Jax ended the conversation...

Next post

Fun fact: his design still isn't what I want, but it's close enough that I'm willing to settle for this. Jax also does his own hair and at one point, I added a scene where Cassie doesn't know how to give herself cornrows and Jax helps her 😊

#creative writing #writing #writing community #writing side of tumblr #writeblr #writers of tumblr #writeblur #fantasy novel #novel writing #novel #fiction #excerpts #author #indie author #secondary characters #original character #my ocs #my ocs art #oc artwork #original characters #sci fi #sci fi fantasy #scifi fantasy #sci fi and fantasy #A4 #A Fourth Dimension Reality #Jax Barmen

[keldoradragon]

Can someone tell me where the “Beth flirts with Ralph in his heart events” take came from? I’ve seen this claim by a small but vocal handful of people on Tumblr and Reddit. Even some Japanese fans on Twitter have griped about it. There was also a Youtuber who made a tier list video of the Olive Town characters and he put Beth in D tier for, in his words, “trying to steal his man Ralph.” I watched Ralph’s events and there is absolutely no flirting between them whatsoever. The only thing Beth does in his events is have him help her guide her through the woods so she could do her research. Guiding people through the woods is Ralph’s job. That’s literally it.

I’ve also seen a couple of people, mostly the same ones who make the flirting claims, pointing out Beth being next to Ralph in the town square before the Spirit Festival as proof and implying that she is ditching Lars for him. Except Beth literally participates in the actual festival cutscene itself with Lars. Also neither Beth or Ralph have any dialogue about each other while they are standing next to each other before the festival. There are no romantic implications at all. It’s possible they’re just chatting about work related events before the festival. In one of Beth’s friendship events she even tells Lars that Ralph is simply just her co worker.

Also I meticulously combed through all the dialogue of Ralph and Beth on Ranch Story’s Wiki to check to see if there are any hints of flirting outside of his events. I saw nothing. Beth never mentions Ralph at all in her daily dialogue and Ralph only has two lines about her, neither which are in any way romantic at all.

Is this just a case of people making things up to get mad over because they’re angry Beth is the reason they can’t marry Lars?

Tl;dr There is a wild claim made by a small handful of people in the fandom that Beth flirts with Ralph in his heart events despite absolutely no evidence being present whatsoever.

#story of seasons #poot #sos poot #harvest moon

[satohqbanana]

Dragonmage Pact

Drakenveyond AU times. Please enjoy this outline/summary/zero draft/whatever you call it.

I should probably write out some lore-related stuff next, if only to explain more of what exactly is going on here. It's actually more Aveyond than Drakengard; all I borrowed from DOD are lore and themes. (Also, I'm sorry that there are no evil flowers here that wishes to take over the world with flower power. I tried going that route once - I even had character designs in mind - but I just didn't like the ideas coming out of it. Fortunately, though, there's less fratricide.)

Summary: The world's most compassionate nymph incarnate and the world's most selfish noble enter a pact to save themselves from certain death, when an army of tireless, undead soldiers besiege it. Now bound as a duo of a large talking dragon and a nonverbal mage, Rhen and Lars navigate through their new self/ves, regroup with the other nymph incarnates and their guardians, and find a way to safely undo the pact. (And maybe save the world along the way as well.)

Warnings: Deaths; lots of deaths. Like major character deaths. Because there are deaths, there are also some killings. The nature of people's relationships are also mostly vague. Also this is way too long.

Edit: Added titles to parts to help any poor soul navigate this huge thing.

...

Part 1: The Curse of the Pact

A man named Ahriman is known to be the most powerful sorcerer of the land. While his actual abilities are limited to mind control, revival magic, and energy blasts, he is quite cunning. He protects himself by hypnotizing priests to defend him and hide his presence, and he manufactures an army by revitalizing the bodies of fallen warriors and using mind control to make them hack away endlessly.

He has once tried to take over the world before, and after a grand war with the Chief Goddess and her nymph daughters, has been sealed into a deep sleep. However, a prince who wanted power for his own reawakens him. After slaying the foolish prince and enslaving the boy's army, Ahriman's first target is the Kingdom of Thais. Rhen, the incarnation of a nymph who resides there as some saint figure, manages to escape the invasion.

While hiding in a nearby town, her foes catch up and seriously injure her. Fortunately, she finds Lars, a young traveling mage on the verge of death himself. To extend their lives, they hesitantly form a pact by merging their then-fractured souls. A pact is a magical contract that gives life and power to those who are willing to give up their most precious possessions. In this pact, it takes Rhen's identity and transforms her into a dragon, and it takes the main source of Lars' power, his speech.

Their relationship starts off rocky; neither one is willing to cooperate. As pact partners, they always hear each other's thoughts in their heads, and what wounds one gets, the other feels.

One of their first arguments goes like this: Rhen wants Lars to carry her now-useless possessions, one of which is a sword; he thinks they're uncool and she can carry them by herself once he gets them strapped across her body. She insults him by telling him he's basically an ordinary guy with no abilities, which forces him to carry the sword if only to look cool and powerful.

Their next major point of contention involves the treatment of their foes, majority of which happen to be brainwashed mortals. As the incarnate of the nymph of compassion, Rhen pities them; as a nobleman who thinks of himself first, Lars does not. They argue on the methods of dealing with these foes, on whether simply disabling them will keep them down long enough, on whether killing them is merciful or not, on whether a foe should simply disintegrate or deserved to be tortured with wounds before dying.

However, because Lars is unable to communicate efficiently and use stronger magic, and Rhen's current appearance frightens a lot of people which also affects her communication, the two realize they need each other. They form a truce that will take effect until they find a way to safely undo their pact and unbind their lives - because they have things to do and places to be, and they cannot afford to be tied down to each other until the end of time.

Part 2: The Incarnates and Their Guardians

Lars lets Rhen take him along to the other nymph incarnates, as they may know of a way to unbind the pact or so. Hence, they travel to the Land of the Mysten Far, where an older nymph incarnate, Talia, resides. To Rhen's relief, Talia is still alive and recognizes her from her aura. Talia informs her that one of the other nymph incarnates have fallen, so they must gather the rest before Ahriman's forces destroy them all. Hence, Talia and her guardian Devin joins them.

On the way to the next nymph incarnate, Talia learns that Rhen's guardian isn't Lars, but a healer named Dameon. Rhen confesses she hasn't seen Dameon since the fall of Thais, where they got separated. She cannot detect where he is and thinks he has been killed. Talia criticizes Rhen for forming a pact with a mortal to extend her life instead of reincarnating, for pacts are the double-edged blades of the desperate. Rhen however deems the pact a necessity for now, as haphazardly breaking it will kill her needlessly.

Meanwhile, Devin attempts to teach Lars swordfighting as an extra layer of defense, but fails terribly due to the lack of verbal communication. So, Devin helps him get books on magic in hopes of learning more spells that do not require speech.

Talia and Devin also notice that, while Rhen and Lars more or less accept each other as their pact partner, the two still have much room for improvement with regards to their new selves. Rhen is still clumsy with her dragon form, and Lars still struggles with non-verbal spells. Rhen assures Talia that this situation is only temporary and thus they would not require mastering their new selves. Talia doubts as there is no wide-known way to unbind a pact, but lets it be, since the two would simply end up frustrated.

The group arrives at the Kingdom of Harburg. There they find the next nymph incarnate, Mel, and her new guardian, Spook. Rhen and Lars temporarily part ways with their growing team to seek knowledge on pacts and magic based on Spook's lead, but find their journey to be a diversion when it drags on and Lars cannot sense potent magic in the area.

The two rush back to Mel - right on time. Talia had been drugged and lays unconscious, while due to thwarting an assassination attempt on Mel, Devin pays with his life. Spook reveals himself to be an excellent mercenary hired by Ahriman.

Rhen and Lars struggle in their battle against Spook. Spook has a form of power from both Mel and Ahriman. Several times Rhen has to defend Lars, but fails to counterattack. Several times, Lars tries to attack Spook, but is easily overpowered. Eventually, after much challenge, the pair manage to strike Spook down, but he rises, bloody and still full of life. As he lunges for an attack, Mel stabs him from behind, announcing that the incarnate chooses her guardian, and she chooses him to stop being hers.

Talia awakens and mourns for Devin. Meanwhile, both Rhen and Lars are mortified at their weakness and their reliance on the pact. Rhen, having been a swordsmistress herself prior to the pact, decides to mentor Lars in some form swordsmanship. Lars, as a master of magic theory, decides to help Rhen master her abilities as a dragon. Together, they discover that her sword can be a conduit for non-spoken magic, and that Rhen can now use the power of song, amplified by her bigger draconic lungs.

Meanwhile, Ahriman's forces grow ever bigger and stronger. He knows where Rhen and her team hides, for he uses her connection with her guardian, Dameon, to find her. Dameon is one of his priests now, having been corrupted by his desire to protect Rhen. Ahriman keeps him busy by preparing the ritual ground for the rebirth of the world in the Temple of Rebirth.

Part 3: Partners' Bonds

Back to the nymph incarnates, Mel informs the team that she had "lent" her former guardian, Edward, to a fellow incarnate, Stella, and suggests they visit her next. However, Talia prevents them from doing so just yet, as they do not have guardians strong enough to help them defend themselves, even with Rhen and Lars' pact or newfound skills. The powerlessness stings both Rhen and Lars with much humiliation and frustration.

They find Talia's words true enough during an ambush. Fortunately, a banished paladin and his vampress pact partner finds and rescues them: Galahad and Te'ijal. Though reluctant, the nymph incarnates employ the two to chaperone them. Galahad immediately takes to the task, while Te'ijal only agrees to add spice to her life.

As they travel together, the group learns of the duo's past. Galahad was loyal to a fault; he once served the corrupt King of Sedona, and in the greedy king's conquests, Galahad almost died. Te'ijal found him in this state, and since she had nothing better to do, she formed a pact with him. Their pact turned Galahad's right arm to stone and took Te'ijal's immortality, but thanks to it, Te'ijal has lightning speed and stealthy, silent movements, while Galahad has super strength that extends to the sword he uses. When Galahad went back to his King, he was dubbed a monster and therefore banished. Te'ijal on the other hand cannot live as a vampire would normally do, so she decided to make her days as fun and exciting as possible by persistently buzzing around Galahad. Galahad has survived thus far thanks to the blessed armor he wears, which automatically moves him out of the way from perceived oncoming threats.

The duo also learn of the nymph incarnates' agenda in full. Many centuries ago, in a grand war against Ahriman and his daevas, the destructive forces almost ripped apart the multiple realms of Aia. To keep the realms stable, the Chief Goddess of the World used herself and her daughter nymphs as Holy Seals. However, the power to keep the Holy Seals intact robbed them of immortality, so the seven goddesses must now reincarnate every few decades. The incarnation process is quick, but Ahriman aims to kill all seven incarnates within months to end the cycle, destroy Aia, and create a new world with him as the Chief God. The nymph incarnates now aim to gather their kin to unite their powers and use it to seal Ahriman and heal the world.

In silence, Lars supposes that this plan would also rob the incarnates of their lives and ultimately do as Ahriman plans. Rhen hears his thoughts and replies that if the incarnates are going down, then so is Ahriman. They agree it is not wise to keep the pact until such a time, and they must make haste.

The group soon reach the Kingdom of Naylith, which is currently being besieged by Ahriman's forces. They wade through the battle and successfully find Stella and Edward deep under the Naylithian caverns. While wounded, the pair are not in grave danger.

As the group recuperates from the weary fighting, Rhen and Lars find an old library and uncover different ancient scriptures that speak of sword magic, song magic, and dragon magic. With Lars being a fast reader and Rhen being quick to process magic, they take advantage of their shared mindspace to absorb the knowledge. Neither would admit it, but one or both of them at the time thought, 'Are pacts really so bad?'

Meanwhile, Galahad watches the other nymph incarnates. He thinks they are too young to be going through such a tragic fate. Stella appreciates the care, Mel finds that patronizing, and Talia laughs and calmly explains that their souls are older than anyone else's; it's their bodies and personalities that changes with every incarnation. Te'ijal then tells the three that Galahad doesn't 100% believe in magic and may not even fully believe that they are the highest-level deities only second to the Chief Goddess.

Before any argument can ensue, Edward suggests they leave immediately before the enemy can find them. Talia agrees with this and gets Te'ijal to retrieve Rhen and Lars from the library.

As the group leaves, Ahriman's forces follow them, so they split: Rhen and Lars will distract them, while Mel, Stella, Edward, Talia, Galahad, and Te'ijal make their escape. Rhen and Lars with their newfound powers decimate their pursuers - and immediately regret not taking any of their other companions with them.

Meanwhile, the other group struggle with the new addition to Ahriman's army: cyclopses manufactured from alchemizing people into one being. The fact renders Stella distraught and Mel has to calm her down. Talia, Edward, Galahad, and Te'ijal deal with the cyclopses. As the group triumphs, a weakened cyclops makes a final attempt to fight and takes Edward with it.

The two teams reunite. With the loss of Edward, Galahad offers himself as a guardian to the incarnates, but Talia says he shouldn't enter another contract with his pact intact. The guardian contract, like the pact, relies on binding lives together, so that the guardian may use a weaker form of the nymph's power. However, the guardian gets to live as long as their nymph incarnate lives in order to serve her sufficiently. As such, the nymph incarnates are sensitive creatures who assigns only those close to their hearts as their guardians, for the guardians are granted eternal life and youth, until they are killed in battle. As thus, the guardian contract is not something to make too light of, nor something that any stranger could be offered with.

Rhen and Lars briefly entertain the thought of having a guardian contract instead of a pact - then the guardian contract with the pact. Neither like it - Rhen does not think Lars can sufficiently aid her that way, while Lars dislikes the idea of having to actually serve somebody with his life.

Part 4: Conflicted Souls

Their next destination is the Kingdom of Sedona. As a banished paladin, Galahad stays behind. Something's off: the supposed nymph incarnate there, Lydia, is flaunting off her power at a time when incarnates needed to hide. She also has amassed a battalion of guardians. Furthermore, they do not sense the aura of a nymph from within her. The incarnates decide she is a fake and they ought to expose her, but where would the real one be?

They find the real nymph incarnate hiding in one of Sedona's provincial towns, Dirkon: Ingrid. She has her guardian, Boyle, with her. As the other older incarnate aside from Talia, she advises the rest to ignore the fake and proceed with their task, as the last nymph has been recently reincarnated and must be protected in her frailness. To boot, the goddess incarnate is being attacked in the Elven Vale. But the younger incarnates are stubborn about exposing Lydia.

Hence the group decides to split: Mel, Stella, and Te'ijal to confront Lydia and expose the fraud; Talia, Ingrid, and Boyle to find the new nymph; and Rhen, Lars, and Galahad to rendezvous with the goddess incarnate. They would later meet up in the Vale.

As the latter two teams leave, they are ambushed by Ahriman's forces. Lars finds their presence suspicious and wonders if, upon the death of the guardian, the contract expires. Rhen first considers dissolving the guardianship, but eventually decides against it. Even if he has betrayed her, Dameon is still important to her. So, the pact partners decide to sit down and meditate. Eventually, Rhen divines where Dameon is, and it's in the Temple of Rebirth, where he is trying to revive armies for Ahriman.

Devastated at the discovery, she falls into deep silence. She has no idea what she now feels for Dameon, and whether she wants him now to kill him to keep her memories of him "pure", to make him suffer for his betrayal, or to forgive him, if that will make him stay by her side again. Without her to verbally communicate for them, Lars tries to aggressively sign and gesture their way into being understood, a task made more challenging with Rhen's thoughts dominating his own. Galahad is confused. They're all frustrated.

Meanwhile, Mel, Stella, and Te'ijal observe the situation in Sedona. Despite the fraud, Lydia's "guardians" do have powers of their own. Hence, Mel uses her and Stella's status as incarnates to openly request a meeting with Lydia, which Lydia agrees to.

The confrontation turns into a battle of philosophies. Lydia claims that ordinary people need hope at a time of war and destruction, and she wishes to be that beam of hope. Mel accuses her of wanting to fulfill that role so that she could take advantage of the people's desperation and claim power, riches, and fame. As the two argue, Stella notices the peculiar necklace Lydia is wearing. Te'ijal acknowledges the jewelry as a soul pendant - one that binds people's souls to the bearer - hence Lydia is indeed controlling all her "guardians".

Heartbroken at this piece of information, Stella attempts to snatch the pendant from Lydia. Lydia puts up a struggle and calls her "guardians" to intervene. Mel and Stella hurry to fight Lydia alone, leaving Te'ijal to find creative ways to hold off the fake guardians. Lydia casts a strong spell, but Stella pushes Mel away to receive the attack in her place.

Angered, Mel relentlessly attacks Lydia. In the scuffle, the pendant slips away from their fingers and lands next to Stella. Stella manages to toss it out the window and smashes it to pieces. Lydia's control over the fake guardians vanishes, and she finds herself subjected to the mob's fury. However, the rest of Sedona gets thrown into massive hysteria and civil unrest at the loss of their "incarnate". Te'ijal immediately whisks the two incarnates away.

Meanwhile, Dameon grows weary of waiting in the Temple of Rebirth and working for Ahriman. Ahriman assures him that Rhen will soon come to see him, so he should prepare to welcome her. Dameon knows that dissolving a pact will require the contractees to give up yet another part of themselves, but he knows that the Egg of Resurrection, a relic within the temple, will help Rhen dissolve the pact without giving up her life.

At the Vale, the nymphs' group reunite. Talia, Ingrid, and Boyle brings along the last incarnate, Myst, who they found wandering by herself along a seashore. Talia gets everyone up to date with Te'ijal and Galahad's help, but Rhen stays quiet.

The group are met with a resistance force - at their head the guardian of the goddess incarnate, Ean. The resistance immediately serves the incarnates with food and bed. Stella's condition is serious, but she is unafraid to die now that the incarnates are all together again.

As the group enjoys a warm, hearty meal after long days of hiding and getting by on the road, the goddess incarnate makes herself known. She is a young girl named Iya, which concerns Galahad. Iya informs them that she had always dreamed of the events that now occur, but not many believe her, for the land itself was dying and the people's faith has decreased rapidly over the years. She foresees none of the current incarnates would continue the cycle - they were the last iteration in their lifetime. The power of the goddess has waned. At this, the incarnates fear - sans Myst, who is yet to understand her role, and Rhen, who is still deep in thought about Dameon.

Since Lars' head is filled with Rhen's endless questions and self-blame, he has been forced to simply follow the others' lead. Through this experience, Lars supposes that the pact had prioritized his voice over Dameon's, the way Rhen's thoughts sometimes drowns out his own, which is why Rhen hadn't been able to contact him. He takes the opportunity one morning, once they awoke, to ask Rhen if her connection with Dameon went down after they made their pact. Rhen confirms this, temporarily shifts blame on Lars, then apologizes to him and blames herself again.

The group's respite ends as the resistance informs them of the arrival of Ahriman's army. The nymphs and their allies deploy into the battleground to push the enemy away.

As the others prepare for what might be the last stand of all that is good in the world, Iya informs Rhen and Lars about the Temple of Rebirth and the Egg of Resurrection. The temple's powers does not only revive what has been slain or manufacture homunculi from parts that once lived. It also helps someone rebirth themself like a phoenix. Though Iya is unsure what will happen to their pact, the Egg will help Rhen regaining her nymph form and Lars his speech. That goads the pact partners into action and revitalizes Rhen once more.

As they leave, Lars hesitates. His thoughts are strong enough to make Rhen stop in her tracks as well. As Rhen asks Iya for permission to desert their post in the battlefield, Iya notes that the two of them seem so in-sync, like they have merged into one being. Nonetheless, despite the direness of the situation, Iya allows the two to head to the temple.

However, as Galahad assists the resistance, Te'ijal accuses him of curiosity towards Rhen, Lars, their pact, and their business in the Temple of Rebirth. At Te'ijal's insistence, Galahad decides to tell Iya and the other incarnates he will follow Rhen and Lars to assure their safe return. Though Talia, Mel, Stella, and Ingrid are unsure about this, Iya assures the group that this is for the best as well. Te'ijal whisks Galahad away to quickly catch up with Rhen and Lars.

The resistance reports to Iya that the enemy is surrounding them. The incarnates then stay in a magic room that would harness their energy, which then Ean and Boyle as guardians could use against Ahriman's forces and keep them away. Through Ean, Iya summons great divine beasts to aid the resistance. Until Rhen, Lars, Galahad, and Te'ijal return, all they could do is stand their ground.

With the power of the incarnates, the resistance manages to push back Ahriman's forces. Their victory and celebrations are short-lived. The battle continues; supplies dwindle and spirits dissipate. Ahriman's army is neverending. The walls to their fort are beginning to crumble under the enemy's onslaught.

Then the sky turns red. Iya's summons go down. Cyclopses tear through the Vale's fort. Wyverns cast hail storms. Massive armies of undead, tireless soldiers march through. The incarnates are forced to take arms and face the enemy on their own. Iya begins to pray that, whatever Rhen and Lars and Galahad and Te'ijal are doing, they can somehow make their way to Ahriman and take him down.

Part 5: The Seal of the World's Fate

At the Temple of Rebirth, Rhen and Lars go their separate ways - for the first time since they formed their pact.

Rhen eventually finds Dameon, but she can only stay still as he greets her and leads her around the temple. She is surprised that he still recognizes her as herself, when it is the incarnate who chooses her guardian, and Dameon confesses that he knows because he is her guardian. He fails to mention that he knows because he has used his guardian connection with her to identify where she is and has heard reports of a purple dragon among the other nymph incarnates.

Meanwhile, Lars finds the Egg of Resurrection. Through his mental link with Rhen, he sees that Dameon is leading her there, anyway. So Lars awaits with baited breath, not knowing whether to fight Dameon or welcome him as an ally.

However, Ahriman's presence shocks him. The evil sorcerer plans to use the Egg of Resurrection to become a god, and while Lars could care less about the old man's plans, he and Rhen need it to dissolve their pact and live separate lives once again.

Ahriman attempts to discourage Lars from pursuing the Egg of Resurrection, which only activates every 500 years or so. Ahriman uses his magic to subdue Lars and taunts the boy about his powerlessness, his reliance on the pact, and his plans to return to a life that will not be there for him. Lars cannot deny it: he is powerless without his speech, without Rhen, and that he gains only his independence and nothing more if he separates from her.

As Dameon leads Rhen through the temple, she weakens as she feels like being ripped apart. She realizes that the other incarnates are falling one by one, and the toll of the Holy Seal weighs heavily on her. She begs Dameon to take her to her sisters, but he instead convinces her to pursue the Egg of Resurrection, as she can locate their new incarnations later. She tries to explain Iya's prophecy of the last incarnate iterations, but she fails. With no other choice, she could only crawl behind him, plagued once again with self-doubt and self-blame.

Dameon then arrives at the Egg with Rhen in tow. Rhen is not in a good spot; the shared emotional turmoil between herself and Lars is too much. Lars too has almost succumbed to Ahriman's taunts. They thrash about on the temple grounds trying to ground themselves and fight invasive thoughts.

The sight worries Dameon, but Ahriman tells him to prepare the Egg of Resurrection. Ahriman has planned to use Dameon all along to simply activate the relic, and when the Egg is ready, Ahriman intends to swiftly kill everyone before using it for himself.

Fortunately, Galahad and Te'ijal arrive. Ahriman engages them in battle. The two understand they are no match for Ahriman's power, but they need to keep his attention divided. First, Te'ijal threatens to disrupt the activation of the Egg of Resurrection, and as Ahriman turns around to face her, Galahad attempts to land a hit. Next, Te'ijal gets the genius idea to make a show of trying to kill Rhen. That distracts Dameon, which annoys Ahriman, but Ahriman understands that to fully prepare the Egg, he needs Dameon's powers. Ahriman has no choice but to try to protect Rhen, Lars, Dameon, and the Egg - which proves difficult, when the Egg is a huge spheroid on one side of the hall, and Rhen in her current form is a huge dragon on the other side.

As the chaos ensues, Rhen manages to crawl over to Lars. Their thoughts never seem to settle down, and at one point the self-blame has began to bounce off each other. They also recall Iya's words - they must be becoming into one being, the final curse of the pact. The mental images horrify them as their own visions begin to divide, perhaps merge into one, in which they could see themselves from each other's eye.

Now, their thoughts begin to echo. Or perhaps, one of them is echoing the other's thoughts. They can no longer tell. Is this why the pact is a deadly contract? But didn't they grow stronger in different ways through the pact? What about the things they lost through the pact? The things they gained through the pact? The pact had much to offer, but much to take! The pact is too much to bear on one's soul!

At the thought of their souls, they realize one thing - their souls have already merged. Their thoughts get in a messy feedback loop because they are only one entity in the first place.They are reliant on the pact because they are already one being, in two separate bodies and two separate consciousnesses. The same way a single person fails to accomplish anything when they make two opposing decisions at once, these two cannot do much on their own when they fail to agree.

The single entity they are commands their bodies to get back up. Fortunately for Lars, Ahriman has become too busy trying to swat away Te'ijal and Galahad. Fortunately for Rhen, Dameon has finished preparing the relic. The entity demands that its soul be taken to the Egg. And so, Lars and Rhen summon their merged soul and walk towards the Egg, phase through its shell, and merge with it.

Meanwhile, Ahriman fumes at being played around with by Te'ijal and Galahad. He cannot let himself be outwitted by a mortal man whose lifeline had only extended through the pact, or a vampire who takes him too lightly. First, he tricks Galahad into harming Te'ijal, resulting in Galahad's sword stabbing her. Te'ijal falls from the immense pain, as does Galahad who is mentally linked with her. Then, Ahriman takes Galahad by the head, preparing to behead him - the quickest way to counter the effects of the blessed armor, which does not cover his head.

Suddenly, immense power pulsates throughout the temple. Ahriman shrieks - his plan has failed. His gambit with Dameon has come to bite him back.

The Egg of Resurrection cracks open, the first time since its previous 500-year-or-so slumber. A bright light engulfs the temple. When light dissipates, two pairs of wings unfurl in the air: one white and scaly and the other black and feathery. From the Egg rises Rhen, now in her nymph incarnate form, scales covering parts of her, and Lars, with horns on the sides of his head and feathers on areas matching Rhen's scale placements.

Lars can now speak, and his first words are expletives towards both Ahriman and Dameon. Though initially delighted, Dameon agonizes when he realizes the pact had not been dissolved, but rather strengthened. He pleads for Rhen to reconsider her choices, that giving up the pact will not be lethal for her, but she ignores his words. Instead, she takes him by his clothes. Lars assists Galahad and Te'ijal to their feet, and the group fly to a higher area of the temple, away from Ahriman's wrath.

Ahriman, humiliated, tries to do something, anything with the cracked Egg. There is no power from within it, so he resorts to using his own accumulated power to transform himself. To do this, he harnesses back all the magic he used to power all his army. He would later gain the power to be a god, after he kills Rhen.

Back in the Vale, the remaining resistance members are dumbfounded to find their enemies disintegrate into the air. They do not know what to make of it, but they are at least safer for a longer while. They recoup and survey the casualties. Ean finds Iya having been slain while trying to protect Myst, who too has perished. Boyle has died alongside Ingrid. Mel and Stella are lifeless next to each other. At last, he finds Talia, who is barely alive.

She tells him to gather the incarnates' bodies around her. She knows Rhen still lives, so Talia will use her remaining life to transfer the incarnates' now-dormant essences and powers to Rhen (and Lars). Ean does as he is told, and after completing the short ritual, Talia passes away.

The resistance mourns. The incarnates are gone. Their fate is still bleak. What will happen now?

When they exit the temple, the pact pairs are aghast at the discovery of a red sky. The ground rumbles, and they find Ahriman having transformed himself into a huge black beast with multiple limbs and no eyes, covered in all sorts of forbidden runes. He cannot move from his spot, but still he oozes with power. Rhen scolds Dameon for this mess, and as she does so, feels the surge of incarnate power within her.

Lars interprets Iya's prophecy as having come true. With the incarnates becoming one with Rhen, they now have acquired a goddess's power, or perhaps even greater. They would now be able to defeat Ahriman. Rhen decides that being merciful will not do anything here, so she swears to go all out on the battle. Hungry for violence and eager to get back at Ahriman, Lars agrees to this.

Ahriman summons hoards of unearthly creatures to aid him. Rhen reminds Dameon that it is the incarnate who chooses her guardian and not the other way around. She then uses the fraction of her power in him to summon Iya's divine beasts, now healed through the combined incarnate essences, and incites them to battle with Ahriman's new legion. Galahad and Te'ijal are to protect Dameon with what they can, as he acts as proxy commander to the divine beasts.

Rhen and Lars then fly to Ahriman, who creates more creatures to try and stop them. However, their magic has been amplified, so the pair easily defeats his new minions. They find, however, that Rhen's nymph magic and Lars' verbal spells do not work against Ahriman's new form. Rhen also sees that his magic is sufficiently countering theirs, so Lars suggests using the power of song instead.

The song they possess sounds like a harrowing banshee cry, with metallic bell-like tingles and sonorous cries reverberating alongside the noise. Back on ground, Dameon, Galahad, and Te'ijal cover their ears, disturbed by the haunting, broken melody that repeated over and over. The song magic casts destructive power onto Ahriman, and since he cannot move, he can only helplessly absorb this power that he does not know how to counter. Soon, his aura falters. His large body cracks into a hundred pieces and crumbles into black ashes.

The red sky brightens into a blue hue, and the sun is high up the clouds. In the unsure silence, Rhen feels the weight of the Holy Seal. She now shares the burden with Lars, but they still count for one entity. And, while they are safe right now, the one entity they are makes them a big target. If one of them perishes, this will also undo the Holy Seal. Rhen then thinks that with the goddess' power now in them, she could safely fragment their identity as one being into many different pieces they can scatter around the world. Lars isn't too fond of the idea, but agrees that there isn't any better choice.

Galahad wants to volunteer for the role (again), but Te'ijal beats him to saying it out loud. She expresses that she and Galahad wish to take a bigger role, no that their charges are gone and one with Rhen. Besides, her body having been stabbed by his sword is no longer as useful as before.

Though parts of the Temple of Rebirth is in shambes, some of its relics stay intact. Rhen makes Dameon draw power from the relics and do the ritual to transfer the seal onto Galahad and Te'ijal's shared soul - revealed to have not been completely merged like Rhen's and Lars' - then separate the shared soul into a thousand or so stable self-contained fragments, and spread these fragments across the world.

With no other way to show their gratitude for the companionship throughout their journey, Rhen and Lars share hugs and promises with Galahad and Te'ijal as they begin to vanish. Dameon completes the ritual and the starlight-like fragments scatter throughout the world. They all watch until the last glimmer of light disappears into the distance, before deciding to head back to the Vale, reunite with what is left of the resistance, and figure out what to do next.

But for now, the world is safe once more.

(Notes here for clarifications.)

#big shrug #i'm free of this mess finally #it's actually a nice mess tbh #but i wish to move on thank you #annelaurant writing #aveyond