#revive them with the power of necromancy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dinogoofymutated · 10 days

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Hi! so far I've loved everything you've written about Kurt, Logan and Remy. 🧎🏻‍♀️

Could you write something about Kurt? where together with reader they are in the kitchen of the mansion because they can't sleep, and she finally tells him her concerns about the magnitude of her powers and Kurt with his heart of gold tells her beautiful things to calm her down and make her laugh, the rest to your imagination, I would appreciate it, you write great! Thanks 💙✨

SFW! Nightcrawler/Fem!Reader

Ok so I will admit that I made this a leeetle self indulgent. I was trying to think of a power someone could really struggle with and a fun one that I thought of was having necromancy, but having such respect for life and death that it feels wrong. I thought it would fit well with a Kurt fic because it's something that almost feels sacrilegious, and it's good to have a fuzzy blue elf assure you that you aren't a monster :) I know its def not power ambiguous, but I hope this is okay :)

Also, I know my writing style is a little different in this one, And thats because the first few paragraphs set the tone for my writing when I start and tbh I think this one just flowed from my soul to they keyboard.

TWs: nightmares, necromancy, gross descriptions of rotting flesh. Extreme self-doubt and self-consciousness. Basically angst with a happy ending.

You’ve been having nightmares again. They hardly seem to stop, but after a break in between the terror, you'd become too relaxed. Too comfortable. You felt defenseless when they started to begin again.

It’s always the same dream, different font. Bones cracking, flesh ripping as it’s forced into place, natural or not. Skin rotting off of once human bodies, sockets where eyes used to be. It was horrifying. You’d see your family, friends, acquaintances, everyone. Dead. Brought back to life by your power, the power you were still so afraid of. You were always afraid of zombie movies as a kid. Anything rising from the dead, anything breathed back to life in some sick and twisted fantasy. It was ironic that your very own strength was the thing you had always been the most afraid of.

Of course, as you aged and the professor took you in, the fear began to wear off. Mostly, it did. The professor not only taught you how to control your powers but also how to work around your fear. You can remember the confusion you felt when he had set a box of ancient bones in front of you. Fragments of titans, dinosaurs who had long since passed. Bones that would never be matched to an accurate set, parts of them being crushed to dust by the cruelty of time. Bones that only you could breathe to life, to bring them together as a whole again. It was convenient, the professor had told you, that you only needed a fragment to do so. He spoke as if it were a service to them. Most importantly, he brought you a box of bones that weren’t, and never had been, human.

He had taken the fear out of your power. Given you an option you had never considered before. Bones without flesh, without living family. Fossils that would serve you as you were serving them. You were… happy, with that. You were content. You could handle bones. You could revive these ancient skeletons without fear, and fight with them without worry. That didn’t change the horror of knowing the capacity your powers had.

So the nightmares remained, and your sleep had become sparse.

This particular night you were restless. Unable to sleep despite how tired you have been, but it’s hard to rest when there is only terror waiting behind your eyelids. After a while, you decide to give up trying.

The path to the kitchen is one you have memorized, even in the dark. You’ve always been told never to eat sugar before bed, but the only thing you want to comfort you at this moment is hot chocolate- so screw it.

You try your best to be quiet while fishing out a pot out of the cabinets. The stove makes a click as you flick it on, filling the pot with milk before stirring it as it warms. The automatic task is comforting, falling into a routine you enjoy. You’ve just added the coco mix when the sound of a *Bamph* greets you.

“Guten abend.” Kurt whispers, walking over to stand beside you. You give him a tired smile that he returns with a yawn.

“I’m sorry if I woke you.” You say, face returning to a frown Kurt thinks you wear far too often. Maybe it’s good that he’s here because you realize you made far too much of the sweet drink than you had meant to. You get a mug for him, heart fluttering as his hand brushes your own when he takes it from you, thanking you quietly.

“You did not wake me, Schatz. I promise.” Kurt says, pulling out a chair for you with his tail as he sits at the table. You nod silently, placing the pot in the sink and filling it with water before you join him, leaning against his shoulder.

“Did you have another nightmare?” Kurt asks after a moment. His brows are furrowed in concern, and you fail to stop him before he takes a sip from the scalding coco, burning his tongue. He scrunches his nose as he sticks out his tongue, making you giggle for a moment. He thinks your laugh suits you much more than your frown, even if it happens to be at his expense. Your face falls slightly anyway, and he wonders if he could get you to laugh if he did it all over again.

“...No. Not tonight.” The words come out as less than a whisper, and you doubt he might hear it if it weren’t the middle of the night. Little did you know he’d block the world out if he had to, just to hear you speak a little clearer. He hums in response, and you feel his tail slowly wrap snugly around your waist, the very tip idly stroking you in a comforting manner.

“...Do you wish to speak about them?” Kurt asks after a moment. You huff slightly, feeling the hot steam from your mug warm your face as you do so. Still too hot, you think to yourself. Flashes of those horrid nightmares come to mind, and no matter how quickly you try to shake them off, they remain. You choose to think of Kurt instead. Sweet, kind, comforting Kurt. You want to bury yourself in his arms, sink into the feeling of his skin, and never let go, if only he would let you. He would without a second thought, if only you had known. You think carefully about your next words, and the visions of flesh and corpses hardly leave you.

“Am I a monster, Kurt?” You hear a quiet, cut-off gasp from Kurt, and he turns to you. His face is pained, and he sets his mug down to place his hand around your own, still clasped around the hot cocoa.

“Of course not. Only a fool would think so.” His words, although comforting, only leave you with a worse sting in your heart. You can’t hold eye contact with him, staring at the reflection in your mug instead. Only a fool would think so. You halfway wonder if you count as a fool, then.

“Liebling.” You let out a sob at the sound of his voice. Kurt is hunched over, pressing his forehead against your own as he desperately tries to catch your gaze- but you can’t. You can't bear it, and you close your eyes tightly. Kurt takes the mug from your hands. He cups your face as he wipes your tears, and you feel like even more of a monster as he does so. Sobbing as a man with a heart of gold wipes your tears away with love and care.

“I, just… My powers, what I do. What I am capable of doing. It’s not right.” You take a shaky breath in, desperately trying not to break down here and now. “It’s disgusting. It’s horrible. Every time I find myself comfortable with myself I am reminded of what is possible and I spiral. I don’t want it. I don’t-”

“Please, look at me,” Kurt whispers. You try to stop the tears, embarrassed as you fall apart in front of the man you hold so dearly, but it’s hard. It’s so hard. Your chest stings, your throat is sore, you’re sure your nose is running, and yet he still holds you so gently. When your breathing evens out just a bit, you convince yourself to open your eyes again.

Kurt’s gaze is simply concerned. There is no horror, no disgust, nothing but worry for you. Nothing but kindness. You wonder if you could be even half as good as he is.

“You are good. You are kind. You are strong enough to stand by your morals despite the nature of your powers telling you otherwise- and you have the strength to continue to use them and fight your fears anyway. You are one of the most incredible people I have ever met. Do not let your nightmares tell you otherwise.” Kurt’s hold is steady against your cheeks, and your own shaky hands reach up to hold onto his wrists. You sob again as he speaks. You know. You know this. Others have told you, but these words all felt like lies. All but the ones you’re hearing from his mouth. Your tears are slowing, and Kurt leans forward to press a kiss to your forehead, leaving the skin tingling. You whisper quiet apologies for crying, and he shushes each one, gently wiping your face with the soft sleeve of his pajama shirt.

“I would not be here if I didn’t want to care for you, my love,” Kurt says softly. Your eyes widen, taken aback by his words. He called you many things. Liebling. Schatz. Love. But never my love. The words waken butterflies in your belly, and Kurt takes a moment to realize what he’s said. He swallows nervously, but he doesn’t pull away. You don’t either. The two of you are treading a line that you both desperately want to cross.

Kurt is the first to lean in. He does so slowly, toeing the line between you. His gaze remains on your own as he closes the space, nose nuzzling against your own as he gives you the time to back out if you wish. But you don’t. You want nothing more than to have what he is so freely giving.

Kurt kisses you softly, lovingly, and for once the horrors have quieted and are cleared from your mind. All there is now is Kurt, and his soft love. He kisses you a second time before he pulls away, still as close to you as he can be without falling out of his chair. You wonder how he can see beauty where all you see is terror. He wonders if you have any clue just how much of a good person you continue to be.

He knows he would gladly spend the rest of his life showing you.

#x men 97 #x men #x men comics #x men 97 x reader #x men headcannons #kurt wagner #kurt wagner x reader #kurt wagner headcannons #nightcrawler headcannons #nightcrawler x reader #xmen nightcrawler #nightcrawler

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andtheyreonfire · 1 month

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"came back wrong" but with g/t. bringing someone back to life--or finding someone you thought long dead--but in a far different form. i need the desperation in either party not recognizing the other. the fear that comes from realizing this isn't the person you lost, either because they're too massive to be anything but monstrous or too tiny to be anything but inhuman. i need the conflict that comes from trying to figure this out, or from accepting the person you've lost is forever changed.

on the giant side, like--imagine watching someone you know being frankensteined back to life, only the "ideal form" the team of scientists have chosen is impossibly massive. in some fantasy setting, imagine finding a lost party member claimed and given "new life" by some natural spirit. but--be they claimed by the fae, an odd type of infection, or the will of the forest itself--any humanity has been completely stolen from them, including their new, towering size. imagine a ritual to bring a loved one back gone wrong as they are transported back in an inhuman state--or you are transported to the realm of the spirits, and are given a painful awakening of the true scale of what lies outside our world. from the giant's perspective--either from a fantastical scenario or just an i-died-and-came-back-with-size-shifting-powers thing--they're either pleading with the person grieving for them, going hey, look at me, i'm here, i haven't changed at all, please look up. or, they're simply wondering why this tiny, chittering thing at their feet is so adamant that they know them, if they regard them peacefully at all.

on the tiny's side, there's perhaps even more of a sense of loss, as the revived is faced with a loss of power. someone's soul could be shucked into a homunculus doll, brought back either at the request of a loved one, or simply cursed into this form. maybe said loved one doesn't even recognize them, simply curious as to why this shop has a perfect replica of their deceased on a dusty shelf. some clause could exist for ripping people's soul from the beyond, one that forces any revived person into a smaller, weaker form. be it the laws of balance, the size of a sacrifice/summoning circle, or any other magical mishap, the necromanced is left with all the size and life of a broken action figure. in some tamer scenario, the only heartbreaking change could be the revived's own fear. it doesn't matter if they're not physically a doll, or if their soul is bound to an object. they don't want to be manipulated. there's a terror in suddenly having power, losing your life, and coming back with absolutely nothing. their loved one simply wants them to stop looking at them as if they'll harm their re-gifted life.

be it an actual necromancy, or just a shift or transformation, give me the fear of change. the loss of identity. an external threat exacerbating an internal. fear of power, or lack thereof. yeagh

#i've been trying to figure out how to phrase this for so long #does this make sense. i feel like i'm being pretentious #i i like it when the gu y is changed into an even BIGGER buy. or SMALLerthey should do that more often #g/t #giant/tiny #the beast speaks #g/t prompts #g/t angst #g/t fearplay #i guess

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drawnfamiliarfaces · 3 months

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I was rewatching rc9gn and revisited “Dawn of the Driscoll” and I gotta say, Randy’s art of healing is crazily overpowered.

He revived someone who was reduced to nothing but bones and had been dead for who knows how long. Not only that but it was later shown that he revived various animals who had dissected and most were nothing but eyes. Not to mention he did all that from just skimming through the instructions.

Imagine the full potential that he could unlock if he studied the art of healing fully and practiced enough times!

Oh BOI YEs. It's ridiculous how overpowered Randy can come across, because the show wanted to make a funny episode (and we love that of course but still xD).

Like, how strong of a potential this boy has, if he managed to execute what must be one of the hardest techniques in the Ninja arsenal? Just imagine all the implications of that ability??? To literally save someone from a brink of death/resuscitate them? No wonder some ninjas go power crazy! I would too, if i had ability to bring back the dead!

Though I do like to think that there are more nuance to all of that, than it was shown in the series. (A bit of a me yapping on beneath, feel free to ignore it.)

One of the things that actually bothers me about this ability - is that technically, for something called the Art of Healing, we never saw actual healing performed (because its a kid's show duh but still) BUT it has been used in the show more to 'restore' inanimate objects (the bike) and bring someone "back to life" (skeleton & dissected animals) - which IMO is not 'healing' but more of a necromancy ability.

After all, Randy didn't restore Driscoll to full life (gave a fully functioning body back) and the animals/body parts are also in their post-mortem states. So, what he essentially did is reanimate remains, by (perhaps) returning their souls and binding them to what was left of mortal bodies (which probably reflected very badly on their mental state = reason why Driscoll&animals were full of anger/insanity) or sharing some of his own life energy to restore minimal physical 'aliveness' (I mean a bunch of eyeballs in a jar could hardly be called alive, but they do perform their basic function of looking/blinking). Seems like classic nercomancy to me!

Of course one could argue that the reason it happened is because Randy didn't execute the technique correctly, because he 'skimmed' through instructions, and that potentially he could have restored their bodies too....but I like to think that the ability have its limitations - and returning long-dead bodies to full life back (basically rebuilding a whole creature from a body part/single cell scenario) is one of them.

Otherwise, in my opinion, while it is impressive that Randy 'revived' someone long dead, what he has done is technically one of the easiest (and thus more dangerous) variation of Art of Healing/basically Art of of Necromancy - reanimation through spiritual energy, but not actually returning someone to full life. Another variation of Art of Healing - is Restoration of Physical Body without any sort of Spiritual Energy - aka the freaking bike. I mean, is it really healing if one just restored the original form of the object without any actual prior life in it??? Bike is not the same as a human after all, its not alive in any sense, it doesn't have a soul/life energy.

So you see, in these two occasions Randy used Art of Healing, none of them actually healed anything. Because actual healing of live things is much harder! And further proof of my headcanons is in the plants.

The original reason Randy learned Art of Healing is to restore their Botanical project - and despite hitting at first full blast before Randy lost control of 'beams' - it never actually worked on it. I mean, we basically see the plant still dead even as an already alive Driscoll pops out behind them!

So obviously healing a recently dead plant requires a much more fine touch/precise control than just full-blasting healing energy at long dead remains. And further emphasize on it we have with The Skunk Pine. The pine cone is alive and in whole condition - but the application of healing energy gave it a boost that accelerated its growth to the point that Randy implied that in few days it would be a fully functioning tree.

It kind of aligns with my understanding of how magical healing works - the healer basically shares their energy with the target to kick start and accelerate their own healing rapidly and sort of suppliment their reserves with the healer's help. But again - the pine cone was not injured/dead/damaged so it would be much easier for Randy to 'heal' it in order for it to grow rapidly - but no actual healing took place.

So the point of all this rambling recollections - is that while Randy's raw potential made something like reanimating and restoring look too easy - the things he did were already the easiest parts of Art of Healing because either option essentially requires only one aspect of either soul/body to be restored. The true Art of Healing is much more complicated. Not only it requires concentration and precise control/application in restoration of both physical and spiritual aspects, it also most likely has power requirements and repercussions to the user if they tried to overcome those limitations.

All in all, thinking about application of fantasy healing is always fun when you look deeper into its simplified canon version. ;)

#que?#sorry.i went onto a something of a pointless ramble?? im pretty sure people smarter and more eloquent than me #wrote whole analysis on this stuff but i guess i just wanted to share some of my thoughts #but anyway basically ye i agree nonny #rc9gn #randy cunningham 9th grade ninja

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thekatebridgerton · 4 months

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So you guys know the trope where the hero turned into a villain because he wanted to resurrect his dead wife?. I just love the idea of the villain actually succeeding because then he'd have a lot to explain to said wife. And it got me thinking about this but in a Bridgerton context

So here's my fantasy Villain Au,:

Because I think the #1 male lead who would burn the world to bring back his dead wife would be Anthony, in a fantasy setting this guy was a Viscount with magic in his bloodline whose beloved Kate, died in a tragic carriage accident, before he could apologize for ignoring her during their first month of marriage. So yes, he 100% turns to the powers of darkness and goes full evil conqueror path to necromancy to bring his Kate back. Which is the start of his fantasy villain arc.

His brothers also start out as heroes, but Anthony, in true fantasy villain fashion goes after their most beloved ladies and kills them so Benedict and Colin 'can see things his way' and have a bigger incentive to help him achieve dominion over the darkest of magics and revive the dead. Colin was the easiest really, his idiot brother thought he could stop Anthony with some magic spell book and some foreign wizardy learned in his travels but all it took to drive Colin over the edge was dangling little Penelope Featherington Infront of him and cruely letting death take her away before Colin could confess his love to his dear Lady Whistledown. All Anthony had to do was give Penelope push and his would be sister in law misscast a deadly spell from her own spell book. And Colin was convinced that Anthony's way into the dark arts of bringing back the dead was the way to go.

Sophie was perhaps the easiest person in the world to dupe. A maid with a heart of gold, so easily convinced to help Anthony find his beloved Kate.. in the underworld. That she never understood why Benedict seemed to be going on so many quests trying to stop his brother. Really Anthony quite liked Sophie, she would rather die than accept Benedict's offer to be his mistress and adding to that the fact that his seemingly worst enemy happened to be his elder brother, tragically misunderstood for trying to use magic to revive his true love. (Give or take a few subjugated kingdoms and a lot of war over some sacred magical artifacts he absolutely needed) Made Sophie very keen on volunteering for a little trip into the underworld. And Benedict very keen on bringing her back.

Hyacinth and Gregory were children easily led by their only father figure, and their wise mother only needed a nice tower where she could remain imprisoned. because really Anthony never worried about his sisters, the death of John guatanteed that Francesca would be on his side from the start. Daphne loved her children too much to oppose him and Eloise who was the only one strong enough to stop him, was persuaded to join him with in the same blow that took out Colin (Penelope, dear Penelope, what a nice friend for his Kate to have in Anthony's new world order).

The fun begins when the villain succeeds and Viscountess Kate Bridgerton is resurrected, along with fellow friends Penelope and Sophie. Only to find the world in darkness and her once kind and responsible husband as it's new evil dictator.

Because Kate is still very surprised at the fact that Anthony conquered all the magic nations and plunged the world into the new dark age of magic, apparently all because loved her. Last time she saw him, he was running away from his feelings and leaving her alone in the marital bedchamber without so much as an explanation. But sure, her heroic, family first, by the letter husband loves her enough to plunge the world into a dark age, sounds fake but okay.

Then there's poor Penelope and Sophie who never even got to see a love declaration from Colin and Benedict. As far as Penelope was concerned Colin joining the evil brother he was trying to defeat just because she died didn't make much sense. Let alone becoming one of Anthony's main force of terror. Someone has got to explain, how exactly kissing Colin once and not accepting his horny marriage proposal in a carriage before she died...led to this

Sophie, well she's just mad that she was pulled from the fantasy world version of heaven. (Valhalla? Elysium?) All because Benedict couldn't accept that she didn't want to be his mistress, and would rather leave the whole Buisness of the masquerade behind. She was happy in the place where good souls go. How was she supposed to know her death made Benedict into the worst version of himself? He went from charming masquerade ball gentleman, to kinda rude hero, to... A bit Unhinged and obsessed with her, dark magic supporter. Sophie really has no idea how trusting the bad guy once and helping him get his wife, could have gone so terribly wrong for her.

This au has been in my mind for a while for the potential drama and hilarity. I don't think about high fantasy Bridgerton scenarios often. But when I do, you know they're fun. Tagging @sea-owl and @bellascarousel because I need your thoughts on this

#fantasy villain au #bridgerton #kanthony #polin #Benophie #anthony bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington #sophie beckett #kate sharma

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spacebarbarianweird · 4 months

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OC Questions. Alethaine Ancunin.

Based on this list of Tav questions

Alethaine Ancunin is the daughter of Astarion and OC Tav Tiriel. She is a High-Elf/Dhampir and Sorcerer/Necromancer with Lawful Neutral Allignment.

SCARS

As a dhampir she doesn't have many scars due to fast regeneration but her right palm looks burnt. It's a result of being chained in silver by "dhampir hunters". She ended up murdering them and reviving as ghols - but the skin never properly healed.

Upon returning home, Alethaine tried to hide the scars from her parents which ended with her mother forcing Alethaine to put off the gloves and show her what had happened.

RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS

Alethaine is rational and cold-minded. She doesn't have any superstitions and isn't into religion.

"Maybe if I find a god of dhampirs, I will become a devoted cleric! But, alas, it seems like we have neither souls not gods!"

THE PREFERABLE WAY TO DIE

Alethaine has never thought about it. As a dhampir, she is going to live for at least seven hundred years and it's plenty of time.

CLASS

Sorcerer/Necromancer. She was born with innate abilities for necromancy which manifested in the age of eight when revived a dead kitten. Alethaine controls her abilities and knows a variety of dark spells.

"I will suck you dry and revive as a ghoul. And you will carry my books until I get tired of you!"

PREJUDICES

Alethaine doesn't believe dhampirs are capable of creating any form of organizaton let alone a state. On the other hand, she is distrustful of mortals, too, and usually prefer to assume the worst.

CHILDREN

Alethaine isn't sure if dhampirs are capable of having children and if they can what this child will be. As a demisexual, Alethaine hasn't met a person who she would be comfortable to share bed with, let alone starting a family. But she is suprisingly good with kids, especially little dhampirs.

FAMILY

Alethaine was a suprise child, because neither Astarion nor Tyrael had any idea about dhampirs (and they were still pretty rare 20 years post-game). But, gods. she was (and is) loved! Astarion saw fatherhood as a chance to become a better version of himself, Tyrael just suddenly felt an urge to be a mother. Alethaine knows she is always welcome at her parents' house and none of them will ever judge her (even if she really fucks up).

REASONS TO CRY

Alethaine knows a lot about the world and it makes her anxious. She can cry because of injustices and if other dhampirs suffer. Alethaine often cries out of stress. Astarion taught her it's better to cry out sorrows than withhold emotions.

POLITICAL OPINIONS

Alethaine has a soft spot for old-fashioned monarchies and sees them as a pretty rational way of ruling rather than oligarchies or republics.

LANGUAGES

She is bilingual from birth since Astarion preferred to speak Elven to her when they were alone. He also taught her Abyssal and Thieves Cant. With years, Alethaine learned Infernal and the language of Drows.

FAVOURITE GENRE

Romance novels. She usually has to read a lot of books on magic and other "serious stuff" and when she has a chance she reads the most tooth-rotting stuff she can think of.

HEAVY OR LIGHT SLEEPER

Alethaine is a light sleeper - she immediately wakes up if something is off, having almost predatory instincts.

FEARS

Alethaine fears loneliness - as a dhampir she feels off among the mortal and is afraid the older she gets the less people there will be who tolerate her.

She also fears to lose her freedom and mind autonomy. As a necromancer, she deals with unimaginable horrors and she knows how easy it is to lose yourself to some dark power.

STUPID THINGS TO BELIEVE

Stupid thing or not, she believes there is her thiramin somewhere (she is an elf, after all) and she just needs to find him or her. Besides she relates to her father- Astarion got his "knight in shining armour", so why shouldn't Alethaine?

COMFORT FOOD

Sweets. Alethaine has a sweet tooth.

SLEEPING

Alethaine sleeps as if she is in a coffin. On her back, hands at chest. At the same time, she is the person who hoardes all the pillows and blankets to sleep as comfortable as possible.

COPING

Alethaine often cries - she doesn't like to hide her emotions. When she is anxious, she starts walking on the ceiling. Sometimes, when everything is just too much, she goes to the nearest graveyard. It's possible to find her lying on some fresh grave with her arms open and eyes shut.

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate oc #alethaine ancunin #dhampirs of the sword's coast #meet the dhampirs #dnd dhampir #bg oc #bg3 astarion

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obscuredilfoff · 8 months

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Propaganda below the cut!

Nozue

He's 39 and the office heartthrob. He's got this hot 29 year old guy absolutely horny on main over him and like all the ladies in the office are in his "harem" (he takes them to lunch to get ideas for cafes to go to with the horny guy). Wears his suits and eats cute desserts at cafes. Oozing bisexual swag.

Malistaire Drake

This is for my gf who said “hes kinda cute :)” to me . we are lesbians <3

malistaire is a powerful necromancer and a crazed widower (and implied to be a seasoned war veteran/refugee because his homeworld dragonspyre got destroyed by a titan) and his entire story arc revolves around his dead wife. he used to be a professor at the magical school in wizard101 that the player enrolls in but unfortunately his wife, another dragonspyrian refugee, dies from a mysterious illness that no one could cure. he then eventually goes batshit from sheer grief, fakes his own death in a horrific explosion, and then goes on a mad quest to try and wake up the same titan that obliterated his family and home, with the false belief that it can revive his wife. the poor guy has been through a LOT and this is only just the first part of the game.

he's canonically described as very "clingy" to his wife. another fun fact is he apparently lost a limb in the past to protect his students from a monster and was able to regrow it using necromancy.

#nozue #old fashion cupcake #malistaire drake #wizard101 #polls #round 4

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liesmyth · 1 year

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Thinking about the nature of John Gaius' powers: There's a duality to them. There's death energy but also life energy. He can stop hearts but also stop decay.

So, John's powers were, at the very least, on the way towards allowing him to recreate what his cryno project was attempting to do. The whole point of the project was to put people into a death-like state where food/water/waste/etc isn't a concern so that they could be packed into spaceships like sardines and moved to another planet.

John would need ships - and you don't get ships without some form of government, even if it was one John established himself - and the ability to revive people across distance (which John probably wasn't able to do early on), but I can see a plan John could have pursued if he'd prioritized saving people over retribution.

Alecto effectively gave him the power to do his cryno plan.

I LOVE that we still don’t know the full scope of his powers. Very cool, very scary. Whatever they are, they clearly go far beyond necromancy / thanergy, and probably did so from the start. However, I’m actually not that sure that Alecto bestowed those powers on John deliberately, and I tend to see it as a mixed blessing even in the best circumstances (and a horrible gamble in most of them).

IMO, the biggest sticking point is this: at one point, John was always going to get to the stage where the next step would be to “reach for the soul” and find Alecto; and I’m not sure he could have been able to handle that. In canon it happened in a moment of incredible stress, watching a close friend commit suicide in front of him, and he went absolutely insane.

From the way John’s POV describes it, though, I think it would have been overwhelming no matter what. Even if there had been no conflicts with the ships, no cow wall, even if he had agreed to go along with C— plan and try to freeze the ice caps instead of focusing on revenge... would he still have felt the screaming soul of the Earth, and melted the poles in a moment of overwhelmed terror, just to make it stop?

To me, John’s backstory is less about how his human failings brought about the apocalypse, and more about how a random well-meaning human can’t handle that amount of power and come out of it still recognisable. I think he was always going to destroy the world, one way or the other. John’s personal failings shape the way the Earth died, and the next ten thousand years of his life; but I don’t think it actually made much of a difference to Earth’s ultimate fate. He was always going to destroy it, one way or the other.

(On John’s specific powers: I’m also not sure if they were intentional on Alecto’s part, manifested that way because the Earth was dying [= thanegery] or because he was wrapped up in a project that involved dead bodies. But, even if he had been able to develop his powers to a point where he would go from controlling the dead to being able to put billions of living humans in suspended animation at no risk to their health... would that state have “kept” if the entire population had left Earth? He hadn’t eaten Alecto yet, and we know necromancy doesn’t work in space.)

Anyway. I think it would be possible that under the right specific super ideal circumstances, something good might have come of Alecto choosing a human to channel her powers; but it was a one in a billion chance. But I think it’s more in line with the themes of TLT — the Greek tragedy of it all! — that humans have very little agency when gods decide to interfere, and are just not meant to be receptacles of divine powers. If it hadn’t been John, it would have been someone else. If it hadn’t been the ships, it would’ve been something else. I think they were always doomed.

#tlt meta #ntn #ejg #tlt #alecto #tlt thoughts #griseldagimpel #i feel very strongly that john exercised his right to free will and making shitty choices. but it only started to matter after he became go #imo. they were always doomed from the moment alecto decided to bestow a whole bunch of powers on a random human #without any instructions and screaming in his head #like he fucked up but she fucked up first #that's how u know they're made for each other #ask

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theriverbeyond · 1 year

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I have to believe in my heart that we will get a satisfactory Griddlehark ending but I still spend every single day in fear. Any wise ending predictions?

AHHHH i hope so too. i have faith the ending will be satisfying for each character. im holding onto hope!!! some selected griddlehark thoughts are:

(ideal) they escape from BOE and the 9 houses system, and go live out their lives free of everything that has hurt them. Harrow may or may not lose her necromancy and Gideon may or may not be fully revived, it doesn't matter. Gideon can grow a little herb garden and publish her own porny comic book and chop wood and teach Harrow how to do star jumps. Harrow can relax and never work another day in her life and learn how to do art or write poetry and find peace.

(bittersweet) they die together, permanently and finally, but only after they make up and make peace with each other. this doesn't necessarily mean they will do anything as pedestrian as Kiss, but they will reconcile their pain and hurt and both feel satisfied with what they have given the other and what they have received

(circular) Alecto and John die together, but not before transferring their powers to Gideon and Harrow, who take on their domains of power (i.e. Dominicus, Earth, the River, etc), and then the whole book series ends on an open ended cliffhanger. This then allows the audience to speculate what happens next and how they do it

for Gideon specifically, I have to believe that she will get a satisfying end. what form that ending takes is debatable, but like, her arc is NOT complete right now and i need to believe that she will get what she deserves (positive). some of my Gideon thoughts:

Harrow cashes in her favor with Alecto and brings Gideon back to life

Harrow gives part of herself to Gideon.... completing their two way exchange like what was implied way back in the winnowing/response trial. this may or may not revive Gideon but it WILL make her feel less sad because she won't be missing pieces anymore

Gideon does something very bad that will make her feel much worse for a period of time, before something happens - she snaps, she talks with harrow, she fucks something up so bad it shocks her back to her senses - and she realizes...... something, and then fixes things. idk. this is just vibes

my Harrow thoughts are a lot more nebulous. i don't really know what her arc will look like because so much of her character development is currently unknown - there's a LOT of stuff that appears to have happened behind the scenes in between the end of HtN, the dream with John, and her popping up in her body at the end of NtN. idk. maybe she finds God in Gideon. maybe she rejects the idea that she even needs a God-figure. maybe she becomes disillusioned with Alecto because of all the biting and the meat. idk!!!

anyway 🙏 prayer circle for AtN🙏

#anon #ask #tlt thoughts #skjdfkdsjfskljdslk sorry if this is long i just. had a LOT of thoughts #griddlehark

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lauranceofmeteli · 6 months

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26 for ask game?

26. you're tasked with writing an official side story/spin-off roleplay (void paradox, mermaid tale, upside-down story), what would that look like?

a while ago i had a phase where i spent a lot of time thinking about what the character changes in upside down stories would look like if it was reverse spin-offed back into mcd but alas i wrote none of it down and barely remember anything i came up with </3

gist of it was aph as the result of a botched attempt at reviving the shadow lord (who is irene. if you care.) leaving her without memories and limited access to her previous power. she latches hard onto the two shadow knights who attempted the resurrection which works for them bc its either the shadow lord favors them or theyre getting the torture labyrinth for all eternity tomorrow. those shadow knights being:

garroth, who was set to inherit the lord title in o'khasis before an assassination he believes was a coordinated coup from his brothers (was it???? we may never know but he certainly believes it). this happening when he was young, leaving him unable to even grow enough to plan to join the guard academy leaving him no outlet to begin to unlearn everything he'd internalized as the closest thing ru'an has to a crown prince. leaving him a bit of an asshole. and well all that time in the nether afterwards certainly doesn't help him become a well adjusted adult. he still has this core belief that he Deserves some sort of power in some society, and if he needs to turn to more drastic measures than waiting for his dad to die then so be it.

and laurance who also became a shadow knight a lot earlier than canon and has been largely disillusioned with how things are run both in the nether and in society at large for a long time. thinks the best thing to do would be to let everything burn. where garroth still holds a lot of determination for clawing his way back up to the top, laurance is largely apathetic and has long let the morals he held in his human life and early shadow knight years slip. when he realizes aphmau is like a Person rather than just an empty vessel and proof of his fuck up, she's one of the first things he cares about in a long time.

laurance and garroth were not friends prior to this and just had similarly aligning goals at that moment and now are either stuck with each other or the torture labyrinth mentioned above.

idk much abt what the other characters are up to. but i can imagine zane being a really benevolent and beloved figure in o'khasis which pisses garroth off sooo bad when he finds out

going off of pdh upside down stories, i imagine the plot follows aphmau some time after whatever is going on above meeting whoever gene is in this world and being like hm. maybe i dont want to run a necromancy army forever. i'd need to go back and rewatch pdh upside down stories if i wanted to take this au anywhere again....

#sighs. why do i never take detailed notes on the things i think about for fun.#anyway jess hire me for spin off writing i can put those guys in so many situations #asks #anonymous #ask games

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rainybyday · 2 years

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I have to say that this is @yukinohananana017 fault for commenting and saying this one line

“He tried his best but it wasn't enough to change anything meaningful, as well as the fact that Fate was locked in and his hands were tied”

your fault, I love you for this and hate your (affectionately) for giving me brain rot

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

Going for the Ghost King Danny idea, Danny is the ruler of all things that are both dead and are either born/created in the Infinite Realms from not only his dimension but from every dimension. His is the king of all things dead and the passageways and crossroads of ghost or entities that live in the Realms from crossing other dimension and such.

Danny is not the person who sees the future of those dying nor does his cause it, he only gains his people once they are truly dead or are an entity that is created/born of from death.

What I’m trying to get at is that he is the living embodiment of Death as he is Death himself, similarly how Clockwork is the embodiment of Time itself. Other entities such as Life, Space, Fate and Universes are that of the same level of power of both beings as they rule or have control of their domain of their names.

For example, people that have power over death, such as necromancy or supernatural people, are a shared custody with both Life and Death (Danny) since they are living beings to willingly choose to use death as their means of power

Custody with people that are revived, those that fully die and go back to living are people that Life and Death (Danny) both fight for as, unlike those that borrow Death’s power, they actively became his subjects/people when they died and then went back to life. Those custody battles are always a struggle (and Life likes to pull the halfa card a lot on Death as its within their rights to order Death to certain terms and conditions (unfortunately this is also a double swords as because Death still is living, Life likes to make it so that Death is spoiled for his last living years before he truly becomes dead (or unless his becomes immortal in his human form but that’s a whole other idea)))

(Arguing for Batfam rights like: “Why can’t I have them???” “Because they aren’t dead!” But they did die, almost all of them died!!!!” “THEY REVIVED!” “THEY DIED MORE THEN A MONTH!!!!” “THAT WAS ONLY TWO OF THEM AND YOU KNOW IT!!!!!”)

Same as with Fate, Death can’t choose his subjects, nor can he tell or influences when someone dies, however, Fate is never set in stone because Time can always change, and bend and Fate can’t do anything against Time if Time chooses to change its course so Fate can’t do anything to Death if he has Time to help prevent some people from dying. Although both work together when it comes to reviving people because its not their time to die yet.

(Jason, no more need to be said. “Your doing what now?” “A revival.” “And you need me why???” “I can always ask Life-” “Fuck no. I get custody rights.”)

Death and Space also have an easy relationship as Space always shifts the Infinite Realms to fit Death’s people and to travel to other dimensions whenever Death wishes. They are always at peace with one another unless Fate or Time tells Space to not let Death go to certain places at certain times.

(Summoning circles are Space messing with Death to get pulled form one dimension to another.)

(Lazares pits are cracks in Space that Spaces leaves for Death to use)

Universe on the other hand is more powerful than all other embodiments and doesn’t make contact with those embodiments when they feel like it. The Universe is more powerful than Time and Fate, shifts Space and goes beyond the rules of Life and Death. They are more powerful than all.

However, they all live and work in a harmonic system that work so well with one another.

(Or me brain rotting over that one capital letter “F” and running many ideas how Danny is truly Death itself and then Clockwork is added to the mix before Fate is added and my mind is brunning)

#danny fenton #danny phantom #brain rot #danny is death itself #all because of one person using capital letters #damn it #slight dc x dp #batfam #mentions #jason todd #damian wayne #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #batman #dc x dp #I blame one person and one person only #why #i stayed up for this #no regrets tho

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catholic-character-tournament · 11 months

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Round 1 - Side B

John Gaius art cred @exmakina

Propaganda below ⬇️

book quote from the chapters where he's relating how he got necromantic powers and people freaked out!! this is pre-apocalypse and resurrection so it's implied he took a lot of inspiration from this incident . He said, Then we took off. Thread after thread on message board after message board. People wanting proof. People asking what the fuck it meant. People talking about the LUCIFER telescope and saying we were aliens. People calling me the Antichrist, which was a trip. People writing up these long posts on how the trick was done, how I got the meat into the pie. Was I fake? Was I real? If I was real, what did it mean? Suddenly there were hundreds of people, all there at our front door. They came in caravans, they were sleeping in their cars or putting up tents. A hell of a lot of them had flown out internationally. He said, Some of them wanted to see the miracle. Some of them wanted my help, like, Oh, you’re the magical death man, can you do something about my body? Can you fix my fibromyalgia? Thing was, I could. That surprised me. I could take out their tumours. I could fix their macular degeneration. Big damage was easy, unless they’d actually lost the limb or whatever. Couldn’t grow those back. But I spent hours and hours a day playing Jesus. That was nice, those were some of the nicest hours I got to spend. He said, But when you’re doing the whole Go, my child, your knee cartilage is fixed, you’re going to get a lot of visitors. I had to turn people away because I had to eat, I had to sleep, even though I didn’t want to. M— had brought in her best friend, the nun, and I was worried I was going to get the Antichrist bit from her too, but she was just like: stop doing this! Read your Bible! This was Christ’s whole problem! I was like, What are you talking about, Jesus cured the lepers and everyone was all, Hooray, thanks man. M—’s nun was all, Are you kidding, Christ never said no and never asked anyone to pay and got way too much attention and brought the heat down on everybody. Christ didn’t keep to office hours, she said. Don’t do that. He said, So we limited Jesus stuff to one hour a day, and I always had to eat breakfast. But by then the whole world was on our doorstep.

look this is kind of weird but he is the only survivor after nuclear bombs destroy the earth and he has weird necromancy powers so he revives his friends and a few other people to be his subjects and basically makes himself a god to them. there's a lot of layers since he's literally the only character in the entire series who remembers the world before and has a concept of the religion he's copying for his own. he treats the other characters like toys he can push around for his own amusement and everything is a joke but he does this world-weary act that somehow gets the reader to kind of feel for him even when he's being atrocious. and he's the only one who remembers memes. which is a torture all of its own.

I said "yes" but to be more clear: he was canonically Catholic when he was still mortal, but that was 10,000 years ago and he kind of killed everybody on the planet. Just slightly. Some of them got better. Now he's the Emperor Undying and his empire is very Catholic-coded.

Frank

He was in training to become a priest and! Fun fact! Is second generation immigrant!

#john gauis #the locked tomb #frank castle #the punisher #cct polls #tumblr tournament #tumblr bracket #tumblr polls

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chaoticsorceressztc · 5 months

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Today I realized that if we had magic in the real world we would have to have 24/7 grave keepers or shifts and the like walking about the grounds to make sure no one animates the corpse of old Charles Von Eldritch. There'd have to be legal disputes over using someone's reanimated corpse in a movie and whether or not you were allowed to. Just because people would think "Hey! If I 'Employ' a corpse, I DON'T HAVE TO PAY SAID CORPSE!" Grave robbers would be on the rise, and they wouldn't just be robbing graves, half of them would probably be Necromancers trying to work on the black market. You'd have to worry about your dead cousin's corpse appearing on live TV years after their death! Just because some MORON said they had "Totally gotten the rights to do so" when they obviously hadn't.

Grave keepers would definitely need to be pretty powerful just to be able for them to be employed, not to mention how THOROUGH their background checks would have to be to make sure they weren't secretly a necromancer looking for a quick buck.

Now you may be thinking "If this hypothetical place has magic, why wouldn't you just revive everyone who dies through a revival spell or something?" Well not everybody wants to live forever, now do they? There's gonna be graves for the people who decided it was finally their time. Or maybe capitalism made it so being revived costs more than it's worth to be revived in the first place. Imagine being in debt for life after JUST coming BACK to life.

Basically, necromancy is a good reason for not wanting magic in the real world.

#writing #my writing #necromancy #chaospost #necromancer #magic #magic irl #magic in the real world #grave #grave robbers #grave keepers #grave keeper #grave robber #capitalism #greed #movie #Magic Grave Keepers #background checks

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overworkedblorbobattle · 6 months

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Buffy propaganda:

Buffy has: - been informed in no uncertain terms at the age of 15 (!) that she has been made the latest incarnation of the one (1) person intended/destined to protect All of Humanity from the entirety of vampires, demons, apocalypse cults, and sundry other threats that desire everything from wanton murder to causing one of several actual apocalypses

- no pay and no benefits for being the Slayer; the only reliable ally she is guaranteed is one of a succession of variously shady Illuminati people who may or may not be actually helping her or taking advantage of her - if she survives 'too long' the organization will literally lock her in a room for an unarmed cage match against a powerful monster as a fucked-up test of character and/or for shits and giggles

- she is expected to do this in perpetuity until such time as she is killed in the line of duty (again, as a teenage girl expected to fight on her own with at best a small degree of enhanced physicality/durability and extremely rudimentary hand-to-hand training)

- she can't not do it because being the Slayer means she's automatically a target for the things that go bump in the night, which will attack her regardless - also being the Slayer makes her the default inheritor of the grudges of these beings

- again, she is a teenager in high school for the first part of the series; her non-optional job as the Slayer damages her academics (disrupting classes directly, cutting into time for studying, and she's known as a delinquent for accidentally totaling her last school in a fight against a group of vampires that attacked her there), impedes her social life (she has to risk her life fighting monsters in her nominal 'off' time rather than relaxing or socializing, and her friends are also murder targets by association or as a means to hurt her), and is a danger to her health and well-being (the obvious reason of injury, plus reduced hours of rest and recuperation (fighting monsters into the wee hours before and after full school/work days instead of, y'know, sleeping), plus her mom kicked her out of her own home when she tried to confide in her)

- Buffy has literally been killed twice in the line of duty, revived both times(the first time via resuscitation after drowning, the second time via literal necromancy after which she had to claw her way out of her own grave or suffocate), and been forced to continue going as the Slayer

- her mom later dies and (university-age) Buffy has to balance being the Slayer with working a shitty fast food job to make ends meet and being the primary caregiver for her younger sister

- there is a bright spot at the end of the series where she and her allies manage to 'hack' the Slayer system to kickstart every viable Slayer candidate in the world into their abilities, meaning they can build up an actual organizational/support structure so it's not just an endless succession of singular teenage girls being killed… except she's in the position of being one of the primary authorities to a bunch of teenage girls, responsible for their training and future behaviour, and bears partial responsibility for every one of them that is murdered for being a Slayer before she and her allies can get to them to protect/inform/train them to survive

- she had to put up with Xander Fucking Harris (Joss Whedon's Specialest Boy) for 7 years of showtime, and longer in the tie-in comic

To put it in terms of the current bracket: if Luisa fucks up or underperforms, people in her town are moderately inconvenienced. If Buffy fucks up, usually at least one innocent person dies. Talk about being under pressure.

She even gets a musical bit one time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmLSjwam26E

#answered asks #tournament propaganda #buffy the vampire slayer #buffy summers #btvs spoilers #buffy the vampire slayer spoilers #long propaganda #round 5 #quarterfinals

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nereidae · 10 days

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thinking thoughts about a south asian fantasy oc who grows up literally in a den of vipers after being abandoned as a child.

when she’s very young one night she’s bitten by a jinn in the form of a snake and it’s effect makes her very ill. she manages to make her way into the nearest village and after pounding on the door of the first house she sees she’s taken in by an old widower. she essentially blacks out after that and the only thing she remembers is waking up feeling cold. she’s back in the den and surrounded by a nest of snakes under her. she only much later discovers that the woman who nursed her back from the brink of death was an old witch. the combination of the witch’s magic, the touch of death and the complications of a jinn gives the girl a greater affinity for the snakes she grew up around. the witch surrendered the girl when a hoard of snakes had invaded her house looking for the girl again. she let them drag the unconscious girl back into their home. a few months later, she stumbles across the witches house once more and they form a partnership of sorts. the witch teaches her the ways of society including reading, writing, speaking. and the girl brings her herbs and resources from the snake infested forest that the witch can’t access. as she takes a part of the society and makes herself known, the village begins to call her the wild girl, the daughter of the hag, and most people fear her. she begins to make herself a living from foraging rare items from the forest and selling them to the highest bidder. asides from her ability to call on snakes, being pulled back from the dead also gives her the power of necromancy which she doesn’t realize until much much later when unknowingly half-revives someone she had accidentally sicced her snakes on in anger. when she returns to the witch with the news of the abomination she’d created, that’s when she’s told that this was to be expected. her revival from illness under the full moon had been a concern for the witch but she hadn’t realized it had actually done anything for the girl.

anyways that’s my rot and a proper bio will be made later <3

#the way I just came up with all this while my partner packs his luggage AHDJDJ #this got so long from a mere inkling of an idea so under a read more <3

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midorishinji · 3 months

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Necroromance

The man seemed happy… No, more than that: he seemed genuinely in love with his wife. Adoration filled his eyes anytime they danced, and she recognized this familiar look. She recognized it now, as she and Johan danced. It had always been there, hidden when he was alive, but so much clearer now. Unmistakable.

Johan x Phanora Kristoffel ｜Oneshot｜Based on this Tumblr post｜Also published in Portuguese and on AO3

There are few known rules to necromancy, as Phanora Kristoffel well knows. Do not raise a person back from the dead without their — or a first-degree family member’s — consent. Do not resurrect an incomplete or otherwise subpar corpse. Do not forget to maintain the undead, unless you want them to lose consciousness and wreak havoc. Everything else is sort of up to debate: some necromancers do not resurrect an undead that has not expressed the desire to be brought back, regardless of family’s wishes; some do not bring back those who have lived a long, fulfilling life, and others will not resurrect victims of suicide. She always had her own personal code of honor to follow.

Johan was her first undead to be resurrected. He was also her first (and only) exception to many of those rules.

When he first came back, he was quiet. Always observing, always attentive, but never daring to speak: a round of dissection later revealed his vocal cords were as they should have been, and he was by all physical means capable of speaking. Still, he did not mutter a word for long, silent weeks of being encouraged to say something, anything . Phanora thought he might have suffered some kind of brain damage, and considered another dissection, and this is when he finally spoke.

— Ouch, again? That kind of hurts.

Wasn’t he under anesthesia back then? Oh, right . It doesn’t work that well on the undead. The books mentioned a 50 to 60% chance of propofol not properly sedating them, so she mixed it with opioids for additional pain relief and sedation… Apparently, it didn’t work, and she did not know that. Maybe benzodiazepines would have been better, as they induce anterograde amnesia. Maybe she should recalculate the dosage. That information would be useful for future purposes.

— So you can speak. — she said, surprised.

He seemed embarrassed. — Just got nothing to say, that’s all.

— Then answer when talked to. It’s impolite to ignore me.

No more dissections. Johan grew confident enough to talk, maybe even a little too confident, sometimes talking for hours on end with no particular subject in mind, and even addressing her informally. Deep down, Phanora knew this was not the sort of relationship undead and master should have: there is a power imbalance for a good reason — she brought him back, and he should have been nothing more than a servant. But before being an undead, he was no such thing, and old habits die hard. He could still call her by her first name, no honorifics as he used to, she didn’t mind. He could still touch her, and hold her close, and complain of how cold her skin felt. It didn’t matter what other people would think.

But one day, Johan said words that should have been forbidden. — You know, I think I’m in love with you. Just a little bit, though.

— You’re not. — Phanora simply answered, without looking away from her cup of tea — It’s just part of the spell, I assume. You’re probably confused because one way or another, our souls are connected.

She did not look up not because she thought the matter wasn’t important: she didn’t do so because she wasn’t brave enough to face the truth presented to her, or the truth inside herself. No books ever mentioned love being a side effect of necromancy.

Still, he did not give in. — What, you think I’m confused? That all undeads end up in love with their masters? I’ll prove you wrong.

— Be my guest.

— How many people have you revived, anyway?

That was a low blow, and he knew that. Resurrecting people left and right was against Phanora’s code of honor and at that time, he had been the first and only to be given that grace. Others had perished while begging for her gift. He should consider himself lucky to even stay by her side, for whatever contrived reason she had, that’s what everyone always said.

But the immovable obstacle that was Phanora’s will did not bulge. She did not raise her voice, nor did she dismiss him. She didn’t even offer him a change in facial expressions to indicate anything, neither displeasure nor amusement. — If I revive someone else, we can put that theory to the test.

Then came the war. During and after it, the casualties piled up high, corpse mountains that reached the sky in ungodly defiance. People begged her to bring back their loved ones: widows who grieved their soldier husbands, fathers and mothers who went crazy with the loss of their children, governments desperate for their heroes back, armies who needed an infinite supply of soldiers to die on a battlefield. Phanora turned down the vast majority of them: some could not afford the price of necromancy, and others were not worthy of it. One such exception was the widow of a war hero, who died trying to save a group of children from an airstrike.

Phanora brought him back, and Johan waited for the worse, that he was actually wrong and the hero brought back would sweep the witch off her feet and take her away from him. And, secretly, Phanora waited to be wrong. She had been wrong before, many times, even: necromancy was a forgotten craft and most of the books had only captured the early dawn of the forbidden art, but not the current knowledge; most of what was known was passed around in whispers, and the voices who used to speak were long gone. She could be wrong — Hell, she should be , it would be a welcome surprise, even if both possibilities were frightening. Days passed. Weeks. Long months of absolutely boring silence, until a letter from the ex-widow arrived: the witch had been invited to their tenth marriage anniversary, at which the couple was expected to renew their vows.

— You were wrong. Ha. Told you so.

The incomparable satisfaction in Johan’s voice would have been grating in any other circumstances, she thought, but not right now. — It’s a small sample. If you want to conduct a valid experiment, you need a bigger pool sample to reduce the risk of bias, that’s how science works.

— Sounds like a load of bullshit to me. Doesn’t change the fact that I’m in love with you.

— He probably would never fall for me, considering he was resurrected for someone else, someone who already had his heart long before he died. That could be different if I had resurrected him for my own personal use.

A sly smile went through his lips. — So you did resurrect me for you, huh… Fine. Enlarge your sample, or whatever. Bring back more people. Actually, we could use a gardener. Maybe a cook, too, you’re always so picky about food…

She did not humor his half-serious comments, nor did she argue about her work ethic. Maybe Johan was right, and she was running away from facing it. Either possibility was thoroughly frightening.

The months went by and the number of undead raised by the Profound Witch grew. Some of them were bound to someone else already, like the war hero; some were for her own personal use, like moles to spy on enemies, and a cook. Johan appreciated the help, as he disliked preparing meals, even if she would not admit she did this to make his life easier: tea was prepared by him still, always, and he was urged to accompany the witch in this silly little play pretend of a meal (as neither of them needed to eat), a wish he took pleasure in granting her. No matter the number of undead, who they were bound to, or their gender, age and preferences, none of them ever loved Phanora Kristoffel. Day by day, it grew harder to deny the truth.

Phanora should have turned down the invitation to the anniversary ball of her second resurrected, the war hero. That would have been a sensible response: witches were not welcome everywhere, and necromancy is largely taboo. Yet, she confirmed her presence, out of curiosity. She didn’t care about the opulent ballroom they rented, nor the expensive food, nor the exotic drinks. The man seemed happy… No, more than that: he seemed genuinely in love with his wife. Adoration filled his eyes anytime they danced, and she recognized this familiar look. She recognized it now, as she and Johan danced. It had always been there, hidden when he was alive, but so much clearer now. Unmistakable.

— How do you know you’re in love? — she asked him.

— I just do.

— Then why?

— I wouldn’t be able to explain it when I was alive. But now I just know you would go to the deepest parts of Hell for me as I would for you, and that’s enough.

He was right: it was enough to know that. Enough to stop denying, to stop trying to disprove it scientifically, to stop beating around the bush. Necroromance magic was sort of stupid, anyway. Phanora pulled him closer, and this time he did not complain of her coldness.

#fanfiction #fanfic #writing #ao3 #majo to yajuu #phanora kristoffel #johan #the witch and the beast

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