#[i killed the lizard in vengeance]

[eeveekitti]

at last... the survivor

i finished their campaign yesterday! it was only fitting :]

[sincerely-sofie]

I was going to write this idea as a story, but my mind keeps flatlining every time I try to coherently make it. I still wanted to share the idea, so here’s a snippet that pretty much summarizes it:

TW: child abuse, neglect

•••

“Mother, is Boulders Quarry dangerous?”

“Pokémon can handle it if they’re prepared and experienced enough,” Twig hums, stirring the stir fry on the stove, “but those are with Pokémon who are trained, and it can still be dangerous even for them. It’s not a dungeon that me or your dad would let you go to for a very long time — not until you’re adult or close to it.”

She hears shattering behind her, and Twig quickly turns around. Opal’s plate, once holding in apple slices and strawberries, is in pieces. The ceramic remains decorate the floor, some stained by bruised fruits and the juices left behind. Twig’s mouth opens, ready to ask if Opal’s okay and warn her about stepping on the sharp pieces, but the words that mean to come out die as she looks at her daughter. Opal’s eyes are wide and slowly become teary. Her body trembles, evidently the cause of the broken plate rather than her potentially tripping. Her stare never leaves Twig, her mouth quivering as words try to come out but never do.

“Opal?” As soon as her name leaves Twig’s mouth, the Marshadow begins to cry. Fat tears roll down her cheeks, only getting heavier when Twig rushes to her side and brings her into an embrace. “Opal, what’s-?”

“I have a friend-” Opal chokes on her words, trying to push through an invisible blockade in her throat. “She- she says that her big sister and brother try to leave her in dungeons by herself to ‘toughen up’ and that they were going to take her to Boulders Quarry today. She doesn’t like fighting — she usually hides when they try, and I can always find her, I haven’t been able to find her- she- I don’t- I wanted to say- she said they’ll run away and take her if anyone knew, and she didn’t want to go away — but now she’s not here, but her big brother and sister are- and- and-!”

Between her blood running cold and her burning organs, Twig manages soft words that she thinks are comforting by the way Opal’s cries calm down, but the Charmeleon can’t hear them. Ark comes into the room, concerned words leaving, but Twig doesn’t hear them. She gently puts Opal into his arms and she thinks that she mentions an emergency, but it all blurs after that. Now she walks out of Boulders Quarry, a quivering, shaking child curled up in her arms. She is careful not to aggravate old wounds that couldn’t have come from the recent the recent dungeon. The familiar excuses are desperately made by the kid, but Twig knows.

“I just got lost.”

“I got this because I fell — I fall a lot.”

“I’m okay, I’m fine. Don’t tell auntie my big brother and sister. I can go by myself.”

Twig knows and, internally, she seethes.

•••

It’s not my best and everyone is probably ooc, but I hope it’s still somewhat enjoyable. Sorry if it isn’t tho!

"Not my best," they say. "I hope it's still somewhat enjoyable," they say. Meanwhile I am holding this fic in my teeth like a rabid dog and shaking it (appreciative) and biting it (adoring) and eating it (complimentary).

I don't have many words to share because I've just been reeling at how good this is ever since it was sent in, but I can't wait to see any more of your work, especially of this concept!

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Every time I learn something new about Batman: War Games I lose my mind a little bit more cause just, just fuckin, look okay so here's the thing:

Stephanie Brown tries to implement a contingency plan of Bruce's just after he fires her from being Robin and because of that gets tortured to (almost) death and no one knows she survived.

THIS STORY RUNS IN THE NEWS:

So, you know, anyone who might be paying even half a fucking ounce of attention to news about ROBINS would definitely absolutely notice this!!!

And then very very soon afterwards Jason comes back and specifically targets Black Mask to ruin the criminal empire he tortured Stephanie to get

As a way to torment Bruce about the fact that he doesn't take care of the nastiest criminals and they continue killing people

And how Jason should have been the last to die

and SOMEHOW

these two things are in no way related and Jason has nothing to do with or say about Stephanie Brown, fellow Robin, fellow martyred soldier, fellow child dead due to Bruce related villains.

HOLY DEAD SIDEKICKS BATMAN, DO YOU COMPREHEND THE MAGNITUDE OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES HERE????

please walk with me down a timeline in which:

Lost Days Jason at first just tries to go after the Joker and can't because who he's really mad at is Bruce.

Then he sees Who Really Killed Stephanie Brown and the utter horror of another Robin dying on Bruce's watch (not just dying, but tortured to death!) is what convinces him to try to straight up kill Bruce via car bomb

Roman Sionis is no longer merely a tool against Batman, but another figure to demand vengeance be brought upon, another attempt to give Bruce a chance to right his wrongs and do what needs to be done

The confrontation with him and the Joker being all the more tragic due to how obvious Bruce's answer would have to be once Jason knows Bruce isn't going to avenge Stephanie either

Does Jason, once he escapes the rubble after UtRH is over, kill Black Mask anyways? Does he decide to avenge her himself? Or does he think that she too would demand that of Bruce, and find his death by a different hand unsatisfactory?

If he doesn't kill Black Mask, then when Steph is back, I feel confident he approaches her, tries to reach out to the other dead Robin, almost certainly makes the offer now that he can ask her. Does she take him up on it, gaining an ally and slipping into a far darker role? Does she instead refuse, either appealing to forgiveness or far more interestingly refusing both vengeance and forgiveness? How would Jason handle a refusal, which I gut instinct feel is more likely?

If he does kill Black Mask, then when Steph is back Jason drops his corpse at her feet like a loving housecat with a dead lizard and she has to grapple with her feelings about having someone really and truly avenge her!!! Like how DO you react to someone who you have been warned is wildly dangerous and mentally unstable coming up to you and saying, "I'm glad you're back, like me. I'm sorry you're back, like me. I made sure you could rest knowing he was dead, because I know what it feels like."

Like no matter how each character reacted to this happening there would be so much high stakes emotional shit to explore with both of them!! Revenge I feel like is such a pivotal thing for both characters, they mirror each other in so so many ways, they could be really interesting together if DC would just fucking let them!!!

Jason had a criminal father who he missed and wanted to avenge. Stephanie had a criminal father who she wanted vengeance on.

Jason started off as a fairly gentle soul who progressively became more violent and more hopeless as he was exposed to genuine horrors during his time as Robin. Stephanie starts off violent, angry and rash and finds her own courage and hope through her time as a crime fighter despite of the horrors she's been through.

Jason went to Africa and died there after Bruce failed to save him. Stephanie was taken to Africa via a fake death in order to save her from Bruce and the vigilante lifestyle.

I just...

There's just...

There's SO MUCH HERE I am genuinely fucking confused as to how this is not all deliberate?? And it's all just left on the cutting room floor because for no reason apparent to me they all just decided Stephanie and Jason were not gonna interact!

AAGHHHH!

[agent-tempest]

My favorite fanfics!

Loki Friggason [Marvel]

Dancing in the dark (with you between my arms) by @holymultiplefandomsbatman [Fluff]

Paper rings by @cherryrogers [Pure fluff]

Back in your arms by @sarahscribbles [starts angsty but happiest fluffiest ending]

Remus Lupin [Marauders Era]

I don't want them. I want you by @theemporium [Fluff, Marriage, Drunk!Remus]

You are in love by @starstruckmoony [fluff]

Red by @jamespottersdaisy [Banter, fluff]

Gold Rush by @jamespottersdaisy [pure fluff]

Hiccups and hijinks by @dreaminginpastels [Plus-size!Reader, fluff, mutual pining, mentions of insecurity and self-doubt]

Jealous Prof!Reader by @turvi [Fluff, wife!Reader]

Let me help by @jamespottersdaisy [bad mental health, eating disorder?, angst]

Remus saying "I love you" to the for the first time by @theemporium [xReader, pure fluff]

Remus taking care of Drunk!Reader by @theemporium [Potter!Reader, Drunk!Reader, Soft Remus]

Remus being soft only with reader near fullmoons by @lizard-onawindowpane [Pure fluff]

Calm after the storm by @earthgirl616 [enemies to lovers, swearing, kissing, mention of blood and wounds]

Pinky Promise by @jamespottersdaisy [Pre and Post Moon!Remus, Remus and reader have a fight]

Our Band Part 1 Part 2 by @wzrd-wheezes [Marauders Band AU, Barista!Reader]

Kaz Brekker [Grishaverse]

Deadly fever by @webslinger-holland [mentions of severe illness, mentions of traumatic childhood, mentions of needles and bloodletting]

Book Club by @rainydaymiscellaneous [fluff, Kaz is in love]

There was this boy... by @mcntsee [Fluff]

Schon by @mcntsee [Kinda ooc Kaz, kaz is ok with y/n’s touch. Stabbing, blood, killing]

Peter Parker [TASM]

Worth Saving by @fettuccin-e [Hurt/Comfort]

Sirius Black [Marauders Era]

I think he knows by @theemporium [potter!reader, fluff, James being a Mood]

Words that slip through by @padfootagain [Fluff, tiny bit of Angst(?)]

For your family by @padfootagain [Fluff, Arrange marriage trope, Soulmate au]

Forced by @sirisuorionblack [Fluff, Arrange Marriage trope, toxic household]

Sirius wants a hug, but doesn't know how to ask by @gtgbabie0 [Fluff, touchstarved Sirius]

Everything has changed by @once-upon-an-imagine [Fluff, Lupin!Reader, Jilly Wedding]

Sirius being jealous of a cat by @theemporium [fluff, jealous!Sirius and *in steve's voice* Language]

A cozy rainy night with Sirius by @theemporium [pure fluff]

James Potter [Marauders era]

Stop flirting with the nurse, it's embarrassing by @perpetuallydaydreaming [Fluff, Siri & Pete being melodramatic]

First Impressions by @jackie5656 [Fluff, Descriptions of assault and attempted assault]

Just to Kiss by @chrryhrt [Frat!James x Reader, Idiots to lovers, friends to lovers, small mention of alcohol]

Regulus Black [Marauders era]

Coward by @sirisuorionblack [Hurt/comfort, Arrange marriage trope, acedemic rivals]

Moon Boys [Moon Knight, Marvel]

Jake Lockley- Cucumber face mask and fist of vengeance by @wysteria-clad [Fluff]

Jack Lockley- dlz by @ichorai [Angst, mild fluff, marriage au]

Marc, Steven and Jake- Clumsy by @marvelsswansong [fluff]

Marc, Steven and Jake- Secret Identities Part 1 Part 2 by @bensolosbluesaber [Fluff, reader is an Avenger]

Benedict Bridgerton [Bridgerton]

Matchmakers by @siempre-bucky [fluff]

Not for him by @iwritefandomimagines [Platonic!Anthony playing matchmaker, Fluff, slight angst]

Second son by @fayes-fics

Druig [Eternals, Marvel]

Druig x Reader by @siempre-bucky [fluff]

Stephen Strange [Marvel]

July 19th by @frostandflamesfanfic [Fluff, Strange being a dad to America]

[its-the-sa]

Different anon. God just boiling down the slugcats to 'animals' angers me in a way I didn't think I could be angry. Yes, they are animals, but by all means they are cognitive and understand complex emotions, communicate with a supposedly complex language, are able to be taught to do things. Why else would the iterators use them as messengers constantly? It's not like they're messenger pigeons where it's just going from point A to point B, they understand exact instructions. If this was just some random animal, making groans and grunts, they wouldn't be able to understand what Five Pebbles even meant when he was explaining how to ascend. Even with the mark, could you imagine if he told a lizard this? Artificer, arguably, is a prime example of this. Just an animal would get over their fallen children, sure they'd grieve but in the end they'd just make more. Arti not only is so enraged by their death, that she is physically incapable of ascension, but also swears vengeance upon a whole other species. This isn't just some animal who lost her children, this is a mother who is enraged at her children's murder. Sure, they aren't on the same level as humans are. Like obviously. But I'd argue it makes sense that a scavenger and a slugcat could fall down the path of enemies to lovers. Especially when you consider the fact that death isn't permanent in Rain World's universe. That would definitely change one's perspective on it. I dunno if I make sense, I'm juggling like three things at once, but I had to say what I needed to say. Wording bad, slugcat smort.

tbh it took me a minute to figure out what this was even referring to, because honestly I don't think that anon meant to use the word 'animal' to dehumanize arti in the first place. it sounded to me like they were just using it as a non-human equivalent for 'person', like "why would anyone fall for a person who committed hate crimes against them?" which is a valid question. it never even occurred to me that they could have meant it in the sense of calling her an inferior creature.

that said... you ARE 100% right and you should say it, lmao.

I very nearly got into this exact argument once, bc i saw some comments from a guy scoffing at the idea of arti showing mercy to baby scavs. because by his logic, 'she is just an animal, so she isn't bound by human morality. in the wild, animals kill any young that don't belong to them without hesitation'. and it just pissed me off so much, because not only was it such an edgy "mercy is for the WEAK!" alpha-male bullshit take, it was also just factually wrong. many animals can and do adopt the young of other animals, even other species, especially when they've just lost their own. and like you said, they can grieve, but then they move on. they keep surviving, and making more babies. they don't dwell on injustice, or let rage consume them to the point that it becomes a hindrance to their own survival. they don't go on single-minded revenge quests. they dont try to justify their own violence by demonizing entire species, and they dont end up plagued by guilt in their sleep. those are very, very human things.

and yeah, i see a lot of people theorize that it's the mark of communication that grants the slugcats higher intelligence, but I don't really buy that either. i think the mark just lets them understand the iterator's language. they must've already had the capacity to understand it, or else it wouldn't work at all. it'd be like trying to install windows on a calculator. also, even without the mark, slugcats are obviously shown to communicate with each other. they have their own culture, they tell stories and make art, and they're apparently able to understand karma and the nature of the cycle at least enough to be able to ascend. so like... any creature thats capable of spiritual enlightenment must at least be sapient, right??

it seems like in the absence of the ancients, both slugcats and scavs are beginning to move in to their niche in the ecosystem

[yallemagne]

Once more have I seen the Count go out in his lizard fashion.

Ben Galpin truly captures the defeat Jonathan's feeling here. When you've seen something so incomprehensibly unsettling that the life is drained from you, and you can only think "okay, but what the fuck am I supposed to do with this? Oh? Is this normal? Is this normal? Can I ever financially recover from this?" It's a funny line for how bizarre it is, but it's hard to laugh when you hear Jonathan so dispirited.

Just, mwah. But, in contrast, Jonathan doesn't give up. He takes the opportunity that is presented by Dracula being away and tries all those damn doors again.

And then... he comes to the Room...

Dracula... warned him not to go into the locked rooms... but this room isn't locked. The door is stuck in such a way it would only open if Jonathan put his back into opening it. Now, one could say Dracula simply wasn't diligent enough in locking all the rooms that were off limits... or he anticipated, in some way, Jonathan finding this room by himself. He anticipated that Jonathan would put in the effort to open this one unlocked door. Either way, technically, Jonathan is breaking no rules, but technically, Dracula could still get away with this incompetence if someone were to try to hold him to it. Which, no one can or will.

Then, there is the latter half of Dracula's rules... he told Jonathan he may not sleep anywhere but his own room and the rooms they have both occupied. It, too, feels like a trap: reverse psychology. Jonathan is already weary to be where he knows Dracula goes, especially asleep. And then, Dracula, under the guise of caring for Jonathan's wellbeing, tells him he will only be safe in the rooms that he himself has occupied? Of course, it feels like leaving himself out as bait for the Count.

My lamp seemed to be of little effect in the brilliant moonlight, but I was glad to have it with me, for there was a dread loneliness in the place which chilled my heart and made my nerves tremble. Still, it was better than living alone in the rooms which I had come to hate from the presence of the Count, and after trying a little to school my nerves, I found a soft quietude come over me.

This is the first time that Jonathan is really harsh about the Count. He hates him. He hates his presence, and he hates how it lingers after his absence. But once he can put away his hate, he finds peace:

Here I am, sitting at a little oak table where in old times possibly some fair lady sat to pen, with much thought and many blushes, her ill-spelt love-letter, and writing in my diary in shorthand all that has happened since I closed it last.

He calms himself by imagining himself as a lady writing a love letter. Anxious - pen shaking and fumbling with some of the spellings - but not fearful. Not scared. Not in danger. He then remarks on the decor. Apparently, it is modern.

It is nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance. And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere "modernity" cannot kill.

Even with the redecoration, Jonathan can sense the difference between what Dracula would call a new house vs an old one. This room has been done up to fit better with the current era, but nothing could strip away the history lying dormant underneath. Nothing can kill the spirits who linger. No place old enough to have a history is safe, not even London, which prides itself on its cutting-edge technology and its abandonment of the old and backward.

EDIT: okay so maybe I'm wrong about the decor being up-to-date. What if shhhh just enjoy the post.

[two-white-butterflies]

coaxed you into paradise - c. 11

Description: The life of Saera Targaryen told in four acts. She was her father's forgotten daughter, cast aside as she looked nothing like her mother. Her younger days were spent beside her uncle. Years following her marriage with Ser Harwin Strong, she catches him in an affair with her older sister. She returns to seek solace in the arms of her uncle, that she's loved all her life.

(Coaxed You Into Paradise and High Infidelity Rewrite.)

masterlist for this series

Chapter Eleven: Vengeance (Saera I)

When I was young, I asked my uncle: ‘What made us different from our subjects? Why do we live in castles, and them in squalors?’ - he smiled at me, finding my inquisitive nature like his own. I sat on his lap, holding a book of our history. ‘Our dragons’ he replied. ‘But we are mortals like them - we live and die like them’ I stated, and he petted my hair - listening to my explanation like I was an expert proficient on the topic. 

He chuckled, paying no mind to my explanation. 

He told me that I was right. We were mortals like our subjects - akin to them in the same way that a dragon was akin to a lizard. They had the same scales - and the same look, but dragons were greater than lizards. 

What was a dragon without fire? 

Saera. Me. 

For they have taken my uncle - my fire. 

Mysaria combed through my hair gently, careful to not anger me. Tears have been flowing down my eyes for the past hour. I wanted to kill myself. I wanted to lock myself inside my chambers and never come out - unless of course, Daemon was knocking. 

“You must pretend that you killed me, so I can run away from this place.” I sobbed, feeling my lungs release all its air.

My grip on the Valyrian necklace tightened - it was the only thing I had that reminded me of my uncle. ‘He’ll be there for the bedding ceremony.’ Lancel Hightower’s voice rang through my skull, my vision almost darkened. My kepus, my lover - will he have to see me in that way? 

“Aōha kepus iksis daor iā traditional vala, dārilaros. (Your uncle is not a traditional man, princess.)” Mysaria tried to comfort me, attempting to speak in Valyrian so that the other handmaidens wouldn’t be able to listen in our little conversation. 

“Iksā zūgagon bona kessa dōrī jorrāelagon ao, lo iksā married. (You are afraid that he won’t love you if you are married.)” Mysaria states, continuing to braid my hair. It wasn’t a traditional braid for a westrosi bride. It was a hairstyle for a Khaleesi - highlighting the wars that her love has won. My braid was one inspired by Stepstones. “Kessa iēdrosa jorrāelagon ao.  Kessa iēdrosa bāne ao. (He will still visit you. He will still warm your bed.)” Mysaria explained, and more tears fell from my eyes. 

I stare at myself through the vanity - my face was even rounder and swollen than before. “Yn kesan daor sagon zȳhon! (But I will not be his!)” I argued, my grip around the necklace tightened - creating marks upon my fingers. “Ao sytilībagon naejot aōla - daor naejot Daemon. (You belong to yourself - not to Daemon.)” Mysaria tried to comfort me, taking her sweet time in arranging my hair. 

I was thankful to her - as she was trying to buy more time. I closed my eyes, wiping the tears away from my apple cheeks. If Daemon were able to hear me - I could only pray that he knows to make Caraxes ride faster. 

“Jaelan naejot sytilībagon naejot zirȳla.  Mirre yno - zȳhon naejot udrāzma. (I want to belong to him. All of me - his to command.)” I stated, opening my eyes. 

“Yn aōhon naejot udrāzma, ēlī. (But yours to command, first.)” Mysaria exhaled, the other handmaidens began flooding the room - placing jewels on my body. One tried to remove the necklace that my kepus gave me, but I was able to send her down with a glare. 

“Aōha kepus jittan nyke, (Your uncle sent me.)” Mysaria revealed straightening the wedding gown at the side of my bed. It was the gown of my dreams, it was in white - with golden threads embroidered on the hems.

 “ - naejot mīsagon ao. (To protect you.)” Mysaria finished, lifting the gown.

“You have failed to convince me, Mysaria. It is a sweetened deal. Ñuha kepa iksis biare, se nyke jiōragon ñuha qogror. (My father is happy, and I get my pleasure.) Yn ñuha kepus iksis daor sepār qogror syt nyke.  Issa se bane hen ñuha ābrar. (But my uncle isn’t just pleasure to me. He is the bane of my existence.)” I closed my arms, refusing to wear the gown. 

As if the gods have seen my disdain - my father enters the room. His back was hunched, and he wore the crown of kings. He was smiling, beside him was his betrothed - Lady Alicent Hightower. I wanted to kill both of them. 

“Saera, your handmaidens tell me that you are dissatisfied.” he stares at me, hoping that the rumors were false. My father was a difficult creature. He told me that I was beautiful - but I was too opinionated. He told me that my eyelashes were long, but they were too blonde. He complimented me for my positive traits - but always found a way to make them sound bad. 

“My wedding is happening too soon.” I complain, hiding the tears that flowed over my cheeks. “You told me that I had a month more.” I add staring at him with eyes that were begging for a reason. He took a deep breath, and I knew that there wasn’t any escape to my fate. “It will be best to do the wedding now - Ser Harwin is yet to prepare in becoming your uncle’s replacement.” he told me, sitting beside me and shooing Mysaria away. 

He was stabbing me with a fucking dagger. 

“Kepus has already won the war. Why do you have to replace him?” I inquire, defending his station and reach over the kingdom. Daemon will not like it, but the men were still loyal to him either way. “Your uncle cannot maintain his power in the castle - he has duties elsewhere, dear girl. His wife is yet to bear a son.” he informs and your eyes darken at his last word. 

Son. A pregnant woman was only important because she could possibly give birth to a son. He killed my mother for a son - and mayhaps he is killing me too. 

“He is hoping that you grant him an annulment,” I stare at the side - eyes narrowing at my father’s next words. “I will not grant him that.” he asserts, and I release a sigh. “I will no longer entertain your notions about Daemon. He is a past that you should forget - Ser Harwin shall treat you as you deserve, and you will be thankful of him.” he places a hand on my shoulder. 

I wanted to cry - but I didn’t. 

What was the use? 

—

I wanted to be married in a Sept, like all the noble princesses did - but instead I was thrown in the middle of a throne room. With only my father’s noble men as audience. My sister, Rhaenyra, was not there - though I doubt that her presence would bring any comfort to me. 

Harwin was kind and endearing - but he wasn't what I desired. Any lady would be lucky to have him, but I wanted my uncle. 

I take a deep breath. 

Would our children have his eyes? Would I be forced to stare at my children's eyes and see the eyes of a man I was forced to love? 

I imagine my uncle barging through those steel doors, taking me by the hand and preventing this farce to continue. He'd fly me to Dragonstone, instill his promise of claiming me as his wife. 

Harwin continued staring at me - there were white lights on his eyes, not like stars - but they were shining. Shining for me. 

I couldn't feel my wedding - every word uttered by the Septon sealed my freedom. His hands were wrapped around mine, covering my pale palms with his. I glanced at his face for the second time - fantasizing that he was Daemon. 

“The love of the Seven is holy and eternal. The source of all life and love. We stand here tonight in thanks and praise to join two souls as one. Father, Mother, Warrior, Smith, Maiden, Crone, Stranger. Hear now their vows.” he announced, and the lighting shifts - darkening. 

I take a nervous breath, facing him fully and holding both of his hands. He smiles at me - giving me a toothy-grin, but I don’t smile back. He has turned me into a caged bird. He has taken everything from me - and he doesn’t even know who I am. He starts first, cleaning his throat - rubbing circles on my palms. 

“Father, Mother, Warrior, Smith, Maiden, Crone, Stranger. I am hers as she is mine, now until the end of days.” he vows in a rehearsed manner. The ringing in my ears began. I didn’t want to say anything - I didn’t want to open my mouth. I was silent for a few seconds - but Lord Lancel nudged me. 

"Father, Mother, Warrior, Smith, Maiden, Crone, Stranger. I am his as he is mine, now until the end of my days." I vow - reluctantly. I felt weak. My sister didn't lie when she called me weak behind my back. The people of this court tried to sugarcoat my weakness by telling me that I had a gentle disposition, but the truth was - I didn't have the guts. I didn't have the bravery to stand up for myself.

Daemon was right. I needed to be stronger. I needed to grow thorns.

The Septon raises his hands, and we join our fingers together. “You are now man and wife. May the Seven guide you and bring you eternal life.” the Septon pronounces - Lord Lyonel claps in celebration. 

His house has finally made it! He has finally mingled his blood with the royals. Harwin keeps staring at me - expecting a kiss, but I wasn’t going to give it to him. Fuck him. 

—

Daemon arrived - sometime before midnight and after. He wasn’t happy - and that is coming from someone who is unaware of the conversation he had with my father beforehand. He still stares at me - watching me converse with my husband. “ - your uncle is impressive, Saera. He’s ended a war in a few days.” Harwin compliments, and the smallest of smiles enter my lips. 

“He always finds a way to surprise us. He’s incredible.” I reply, staring at my blonde lover. He was beautiful. His clothes were changed - he adorned a white robe, with golden threads in the middle. He has found a way for us to look as one. It seemed like we were the one’s getting married. 

“It’s hard to live in his shadow.” Harwin complains, leaning on his chair. “The men do not bend for me. They speak of your uncle and his ruthless justice. I cannot be that, Saera.” he hums, taking a long sip of his wine. 

“Be different.” I reply and the men begin standing up. 

My dreaded ceremony. 

The only ceremony that Daemon is able to witness. 

My father raises his cup, staring at the lords with a smile on his face. “Ser Harwin Strong - the husband of my beloved daughter, has decided that the bedding ceremony remains private. Let us bid the newlyweds farewell.” he announces and I let out a sigh of relief. 

I wasn’t horrible in bed - but I didn’t want to be watched. 

Harwin stands up, a few handmaidens stride in our direction. “We’ll have a few seconds to freshen up. Shall we meet at our shared chamber?” he questions and I nod my head. Happy at the outcome. 

—

“You came too late.” I look up, untangling my hair from all its braids. Mysaria was standing beside me, watching Daemon and I converse with each other. “What have they fucking done.” he grits his teeth, taking another step forward. He wanted to take me away - to claim me as his. 

“I tried to stop them, I promise.” I breathe, combing through my hair in a rushed manner. He takes another step forward, leaning over my body and resting his head on my shoulder. He smelled like wine and strawberries. I wanted nothing more in the world than to have him. 

“I know you did, my good girl.” he whispers, trailing kisses along my collarbone. Mysaria keeps watching us, eyes wide open. Daemon stares at her through the mirror, silently dismissing her. 

Mysaria exits the door, and all hell breaks loose. All remnants of his self-control diminished at the sight of me in my nightgown. “I did all I could.” I add, and he throws me on the bed - roughness enveloping his eyes. “I know,” he whispers again, burying his face on my chest. 

“I wanted you to enjoy your first time.” he confesses, lifting my skirts and exposing my unclothed cunt. It was as delicious as he imagined - pink and tender for his picking. “A bastard like that cannot pleasure you.” he groans, pressing kisses on my thighs. 

A million thoughts raced through my head. My wildest dreams were coming true. “Then enjoy me, kepus.” I plead. 

He looks up at me - eyes seducing me further into his siren song. 

That was all he needed. 

He presses a sloppy kiss on my cunt - sending butterflies through my stomach. He was skillful - licking and slurping. 

I closed my eyes, and he tapped my thighs impatiently. “Look at me, little girl. Look at your uncle while he eats you.” he commanded and I forced my eyes open. “Kepus -” I moaned, bucking my hips to regain more pleasure. 

He chuckles, sending vibrations down my spine. 

“I love you, never forget that.” 

next chapter>>

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[serial-serializednovelreader]

Nova’s Notes - DD - May 15 + 16

That’s right! Another combo post again, definitely because I planned it that way and not because I got busy hehe.

“Once more have I seen the Count go out in his lizard fashion.”

An iconic line, perhaps the best way to start a journal entry ever. The reason we have a Lizard Fashion Day in the first place. Thank you for that, Jonathan. I also appreciate how he tracks his movements down to the measurements. This man is on a mission to make sure he sees what the Count is doing when he can and I love it. It also tells me he’s probably been doing a stakeout to see when Dracula is leaving in order to do his next step…

More castle exploring! That’s right, locked doors will not stop our good friend from checking it out anyway. It’s interesting to note that the locks he finds are “comparatively new” to the hall he originally entered through. Which means that either a) Jonathan is not the first prisoner of this castle (likely) or b) Dracula was very prepared for his visit specifically. While we already kind of knew these scenarios were coming, it adds another layer of messed up to me.

Finally, Jonathan is able to find an unlocked door that seems locked at first because it’s resting on the door and the hinges are a bit broken. Why isn’t it locked? We don’t know, but I’d like to think it’s because Dracula is so self-assured Jonathan won’t try very hard to open this door by the time he gets to it. He wants to break Jonathan’s spirit and in his mind, it’s working splendidly, lizard fashion and all.

Here’s his logic:

Why would he need to lock this door when it feels as good as locked? Jonathan probably won’t have the strength to open it by the time he gets to it and he’ll give up if he tries.

This also plays into the fact that Dracula has been a vampire for a long time…he’s forgotten what it feels like to be human and have regular strength. Who knows if he even remembers how much strength it takes for a human to open a door, or how heavy a door has to be to determine whether it’s locked or not. We know he heavily underestimates Jonathan’s determination and strength, simply because he is a human and those are weak and powerless compared to him (in his mind). I also have another theory but I’ll wait until a bit further in to write it.

It does take Jonathan a good amount of effort to open that door but he does it!! Good for him (well…not really but…). He then takes the time to describe the landscape, so you know he’s in a good mood.

“This was evidently the portion of the castle occupied by the ladies in bygone days the for the furniture had more air of comfort than any I had seen.”

I’m not sure if he means comfort in the way of being used or in the feeling, but I’m going to go with the feelings route, so I can say JONATHAN MY BELOVED!!!! He finds comfort in being around women’s furniture? Why is that? Many reasons probably but my guess? MINA 👏 “THE QUEEN” 👏 MURRAY 👏

He may not say it this time…but I just know….this man is going to kill me with his adorable ways. He does go on to say the room still has lonely vibes and makes him nervous (it is nighttime, after all), but it’s better than a room with Dracula.

Then, Jonathan gets in his ✨imagination era✨ picturing a blushing lady writing while he also writes in his journal. True parallels, since we all know you’re writing to Mina, hehe.

“It is nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance. And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere "modernity" cannot kill.”

Another hard line from Harker here. If I’m not mistaken (though I likely am), he’s talking about his diary being in shorthand, and how modern that is compared to the blushing beauty of old. If we go further, perhaps he’s also speaking to his meticulous notes of “all that has happened” on his business trip, vs. the lady that probably wrote very broadly in her letters of love. It speaks to a faster-paced environment Jonathan finds himself in as a solicitor. While shorthand has always been around in some form (yes, I researched this to make a point, hopefully it’s accurate), shorthand towards his time was rapidly becoming the norm in order to capture speeches and increase efficiency; it was a social movement in its own right. So being “nineteenth-century with a vengeance” may sound cool, but I think he’s criticizing how this has turned writing from an art form into something more commercial. While he and Mina have bonded extensively over shorthand and it may very well save his life if he can use it as code…perhaps he longs to be able to write poetry or just be able to slow down and enjoy writing again. This is further proven when he ends it with remarking that ancient practices cannot be killed by the modern. This might be him reassuring himself that there will always be long-form writing (like I’m doing right now :D). Or, if we take it darker, perhaps he’s worrying about his ability to survive with his modern practices against the Count’s ancient “hunter” instincts. Or, perhaps, I’m wrong about all of this and just yapping, it’s unclear!

Anyway, let’s move on to May 16th.

“God preserve my sanity, for to this I am reduced. Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past. Whilst I live on here there is but one thing to hope for, that I may not go mad, if, indeed, I be not mad already. If I be sane, then surely it is maddening to think that of all the foul things that lurk in this hateful place the Count is the least dreadful to me; that to him alone I can look for safety, even though this be only whilst I can serve his purpose. Great God! merciful God! Let me be calm, for out of that way lies madness indeed.”

Sooooooo, our good friend Jonathan Harker is not doing too well. You know it’s bad when he cites Dracula as the “least dreadful person in the castle” when he was just describing the Count as a “creature” 4 days ago for his Lizard FashionTM. Plus, he’s referencing Hamlet again!!!

Jonathan decided to sleep in the Lady’s Room despite Dracula’s warning because he does not want to listen!!! Unfortunately I would do the exact same!!! Why are we like this, Jonathan???😭😭

“I determined not to return to-night to the gloom-haunted rooms, but to sleep here, where, of old, ladies had sat and sung and lived sweet lives whilst their gentle breasts were sad for their menfolk away in the midst of remorseless wars.”

More poetic writing!!! I love it and his critique of war. I why he touches on this here; perhaps he knew someone who went off to war and the repercussions for the family that he left behind? :(

So here’s where Dracula’s 3 Roommates show up (that’s how I’ll refer to them - not brides, BBC Dracula get out of here with that!!!!!). They’re the reason for my other door unlocked theory: perhaps Dracula keeps it that way to allow them some freedom (or, conversely, they figured out how to unlock it and he didn’t check closely enough).

What I noticed on this read was how neutral Jonathan is at first when describing them. It’s not until we get to their lips that we get a “voluptuous” mention (and not the last, either). Also, the lead one looks…familiar to him? I didn’t notice that before, but I saw a post about why (explained in the comments section - Stoker featured her in his prologue/first draft “Dracula’s Guest”. He may have been wanting to include her in this too and scrapped it.)

“There was something about them that made me uneasy, some longing and at the same time some deadly fear. I felt in my heart a wicked, burning desire that they would kiss me with those red lips. It is not good to note this down, lest some day it should meet Mina's eyes and cause her pain; but it is the truth. They whispered together, and then they all three laughed—such a silvery, musical laugh, but as hard as though the sound never could have come through the softness of human lips. It was like the intolerable, tingling sweetness of water-glasses when played on by a cunning hand.”

So, I think we all know this part isn’t really Jonathan. I mean it is but…spoiler alert: vampires have hypnosis in this canon and they definitely seem to use it here. It doesn’t quite work though because he still follows it up with describing their laugh as “intolerable” and obviously, he’s still scared of them. I do think it’s interesting he writes this confession down, because he doesn’t really have to. Perhaps he thinks it’s important to whatever is going on around here (because I’m sure he knows he would never be tempted to kiss/be kissed by someone other than Mina if it wasn’t by some kind of power). But it’s also interesting that he doesn’t put it that way, either: he doesn’t blame the women for putting thoughts in his head, he describes it as his own thoughts/feelings.

Personally, I think it could be one of those “I think this could be one of those things I think is true but don’t have evidence for and don’t want to write it down until I have the facts” so, until he has the facts, it’s going to be written down as his thoughts. And if he did write it down as them “tempting him with their powers” that just wouldn’t be Jonathan’s character to write something like that. Perhaps in another story from another protagonist, but not this guy. But hey, that’s just me. It could also just be they’re very pretty (which I’m sure they are and Jonathan feels some attraction 🤷‍♀️. The main reason I blame hypnosis is the push and pull Jonathan has with his description of them.

Right before the dreaded/anticipated kiss, here comes Dracula!!!!!! And he has some things to say:

“‘How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you'll have to deal with me.’”

I am once again bringing this meme back because it gets me EVERY TIME. I know I should talk about the possessiveness of Dracula or how he must have already talked to them previously if he forbade them from even CASTING EYES ON HIM, but I’ll be real every time I see this monologue I just see this meme except it’s just “haha Jonathan you are — BELONGS TO ME.” If that doesn’t indicate broken humor, I’m not sure what does.

Let’s talk about the description of how Dracula looks in this moment though.

“…the blue eyes transformed with fury, the white teeth champing with rage, and the fair cheeks blazing red with passion. But the Count! Never did I imagine such wrath and fury, even to the demons of the pit. His eyes were positively blazing. The red light in them was lurid, as if the flames of hell-fire blazed behind them. His face was deathly pale, and the lines of it were hard like drawn wires; the thick eyebrows that met over the nose now seemed like a heaving bar of white-hot metal.”

Looks like those “hunter instincts” are kicking in nicely! I wonder why he’s so protective all of a sudden? Especially after telling Jonathan a few short days ago that he would basically be on his own if he disobeyed him. I saw a post the other day talking about how when Mina was compiling everything together, there are entries she could have chosen to exclude from Jonathan’s account due to either repetition or something too traumatic to include.

What could’ve happened in those three days to make Dracula do a 180? Well, we do know they talk every single night, so what could’ve said in that gap between May 12th and May 15th?

My theories are: a) Jonathan didn’t write it down, b) Mina excluded it for a reason, c) it wasn’t one thing, it was a buildup of many interactions over the course of their time together, which lends itself to d) Dracula was straight up lying when he said he’d leave Jonathan to die if he disobeyed him.

I personally think it was c/d because it makes the most sense, but if it was a or b, it’s just interesting to wonder what was said in that time span. Did he make Dracula laugh with a witty comment? Or say something that reminded him of someone else before the Count turned into a vampire? We do know that Jonathan genuinely enjoys spending time with Dracula, so the rapport must be there. And yes, I am probably am reading waaaaaay too much into it, but it is food for thought.

“‘You yourself never loved; you never love!’ On this the other women joined, and such a mirthless, hard, soulless laughter rang through the room that it almost made me faint to hear; it seemed like the pleasure of fiends. Then the Count turned, after looking at my face attentively, and said in a soft whisper:—

‘Yes, I too can love; you yourselves can tell it from the past. Is it not so?’”

Love, you say? From this vampire? Well, that’s interesting! I do believe Dracula is being sincere when he says this, but the issue is that you don’t want to be the object of Dracula’s love. It’s not like Jon or Mina’s love; it’s possessive, cruel, and demanding. You don’t keep the ones you love a prisoner, and the Count has obviously done that on multiple occasions since he told the women to “tell it from the past”. I feel sad for Dracula because it seems to me like he genuinely finds Jon interesting and wants to keep him around; unfortunately, he expresses this love by trapping him and his other love interests like Pokémon. Perhaps I would feel more sympathetic if he didn’t promise to feed Jon to the girls once he’s done with him!!!!

That’s when Jon realizes there’s a sack with something inside of it that sounds like a child…that Dracula gives to the women…ugh. This is enough to put Jon to fainting.

When he wakes up, Jon is without his clothing, but his diary is still intact.

That is horrifying to me. Why did Dracula need to undress him? I understand it’s to give the illusion that he went to bed, but still. It’s no wonder that Jonathan starts the first paragraph in a wave of panic, even though it’s to display more fear of the women wanting to suck his blood than the Count. I also find it fascinating again how he guesses that the women want to suck his blood when they never made mention of it, perhaps because the lead woman’s breath smelled like blood or because she kept her teeth on his neck? Either way, even in a “dream state” his observation skills are top tier.

I do also wonder why Dracula was originally going to “awaken him to get some work done” and then just…didn’t? Maybe he thought it would be better to just pretend the whole thing was a nightmare for Jonathan. If I was him, I probably would’ve woken him from the couch after he fainted and pretended it was a dream, but hey, that’s my gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss idea of the day and Dracula can’t have it!!!

Overall, this is probably the most telling entry we’ve gotten about Dracula so far. We know that he does indeed “love” (though it’s not a kind or gentle love), those he loves are kept prisoner even once he’s “done” with them (since he says tell it from the past — not the present and the women obviously seemed bitter about his fixation on Jonathan), and while he said he wouldn’t save Jon in a pinch, he did. We’ve seen his first display of fury and how dangerous he can actually be with his supernatural powers and what that can do to the people around him. While no one was injured — yet — it could’ve gone south had the lead woman been human. Even though he probably knew Jonathan was awake for some of this, he still chose to take him back to bed and keep him under the illusion of having slept there peacefully — though some of that was likely for safety reasons. For Jonathan, this was a horribly (and hypnotically horny) traumatic experience for him that makes him realize Dracula is not the only scary thing in this castle.

I also do wish we had gotten more with Dracula’s three roommates because they deserve it!!! They actually seem chill when they’re not trying to — ya know, suck Jon’s blood and all. I also wish we had gotten names!!!! Names would be nice, Stoker.

[canofspooks]

undefined

jokes aside, the real entry for day 1 is under the cut. you can also find it on my AO3 (@9hikers)

Summary: AU where Danny’s parents built a portal to another dimension, just not the one they were looking for.

The last thing he remembered was his muscles tensing. The pain came so quickly, he couldn't quite register it all before it was a series of burning static coursing through his body.

Then there was nothing.

The nothing didn't last very long, unfortunately. The dull, spasming ache in his body returned with a vengeance. Before he managed to open his eyes, he'd already decided on a few theories.

1. He was in the "Ghost Zone" his parents had talked about.

2. He was dead.

On the plus side, it didn't feel like hell. His back was pressed against soft earth and grass, while sunlight warmed his face. That was enough encouragement for Danny to open his eyes.

The sky was blue overhead. The kind of blue he didn't usually see in the gloomy Amity Park. If he tilted his sore neck just a little, he could see Tucker pacing back and forth just a few feet away, and Sam sitting on a rock in the midst of a staring contest with the ground.

At the sound of his movement, she turned her attention to him. "Sick, you're not dead."

"That's debatable," he groaned. "Did you guys get killed too?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Nope. You got knocked out, fell into the portal, and we went to get you. Now we're here."

He tried to prop himself up in his elbows - emphasis on tried, because he couldn't get his spine to bend. A fresh jolt of blinding pain shot into his body when he got even a fraction of an inch off the ground.

So he laid back down.

"Can you drag me back through the portal? I don't think I can walk right now."

Sam returned to her staring contest with the ground.

"It closed behind us," she explained, plucking strands of grass absently. "Closed, or broke, or just... disappeared. I dunno- but it's gone."

Whether it was the near-death experience or the constant throbbing ache all over his body, this information didn't hit him as hard as it should've.

"So we're stuck in the Ghost Zone?"

"... Maybe?"

He looked around at the sparse forest surrounding them. Of all the places to get permanently trapped, at least it wasn't a dimension of fire and brimstone.

Tucker returned from his pacing. Or rather, he moved his pacing a few steps closer to the other two.

"That's the thing," Tucker started. He walked in the space between him and Sam. "I don't think this is the Ghost Zone. I think your parents built a portal to another dimension, just not the one they were looking for."

"Are you some kind of ghost expert now?" Danny scoffed.

"No, but I don't think the Ghost Zone has dragons."

He shot up, ignoring the searing pain as he scrambled to get his stiff body in the position to run away from a giant fire-breathing lizard. He looked at Tucker with wild eyes.

"Dragons? Where?!"

Tucker pointed back over to where he'd been pacing. Now that he was upright, Danny could see they were on a hill. It gave them a pretty good view of the landscape. The vast, untouched land was covered in sprawling forests, towering mountain ranges, and rolling hills as far as the eye could see. Squinting hard against the sun, Danny spotted something big and scaley circling the sky above one particularly evil-looking mountain.

Huh. Dragons.

"So if this isn't the Ghost Zone, where are we? And how do we get back?" Sam asked.

"Let's find somebody to ask. This place has dragons, so it's gotta have magic. Maybe they can make a portal or something to get us back," Tucker said with entirely too much confidence, and started walking into the woods.

Danny hobbled after his friend. "Wait, Tucker, that's insane. What if we meet... orcs or... something?"

"We either starve out here or we get killed by orcs. Going out in battle is cooler." Sam fell in step beside him. He wasn't sure he agreed, but it was two versus one. Danny would just have to make his peace with dying in a horribly gruesome way in another world where his parents would never know what happened to him.

Lovely.

[needlemeister]

I'd love to see an info post about the goobers you made. I want to know what their deal is!!! And their designs are so cool, my fuckin' brain craves INFORMATION

See this post for how the antitheses of the canon/DLC scugs look!

EXPERIMENT

Era: Spearmaster Diet: Same as Spearmaster. After meeting anti-FP, they can use their mouth to devour anything they can fit inside it whole. (OOOOO|OOOOO) Abilities: The Experiment has the same ability to create needles as the Spearmaster, though not as efficiently - mostly, they have several poking out of their flesh at any given time when in combat for protective reasons. They have the agility and scales of a Red Lizard and the might and appetite of a Leviathan, albeit with their mouth currently bound shut. Iterator: Anti-SRS, Silently Recursive Sanity, considers the Experiment their magnum opus. The product of a machine that decided to play God rather than focus on the Problem, which still exists in Antiworld. The ultimate apex predator, set loose upon the world. Rather than treating the Experiment as an equal, anti-SRS treats them as nothing but a potential weapon, a wild animal given their "blessings". Anti-FP, Fragmented Precipice, marks the Experiment and frees their jaws.

EXILE

Era: Artificer Diet: Same as Artificer. (OOOOOO|OOO) Abilities: The Exile still has her pups, and yet has even more bloodlust - this time more like hunting for sport than for vengeance. She is constantly on the verge of burning out, and her explosions are much more violent - at the cost of reaching her limit twice as fast, her explosions do mass-scaled damage. One of her legs is replaced with an explosive spear, and if she does a front flip and lands directly on top of a creature, it impales them. Rather than having a normal tail, a stump leaking sparks and embers in her wake trails behind her. She is untouchable by spears, the equivalent of using the Auto-Parry mod ingame. Iterator: Fragmented Precipice is caring for her pups, as she would rather paint the Wastes red than be a parent. She is already marked thanks to stealing an ID Drone - the Antiworld equivalent of the one the Scavenger King has.

PARADOX

Era: Post-Artificer, Pre-Hunter (Inv) Diet: Capable of digesting most things it can fit in its mouth thanks to being full of void fluid. In the amount of time it would take a Jungle Leech to steal a pip from an attached creature, the Paradox randomly gains or loses a pip. (OOOOOOOOOOOO|) Abilities: The entire world has a mix of the Voidmelt and negative Hunter cycle effect on it at all times, and each movement to a new room changes what part of the timeline the Paradox is placed upon. The Paradox can do bomb jumps like the Artificer/Exile at the cost of forcing the timeline to randomize mid-room and disorienting the Paradox. Contact with acid, explosives, and electricity causes the Paradox to explode like a Singularity Bomb due to being full of void fluid. Iterator: No matter what part of the timeline the Paradox is in, every single can is eerily silent and empty. The gravity turning on and off causes a timeline jump every time.

CARNIVORE

Era: Hunter Diet: Obligate carnivore. Going too long without eating will cause its pips to slowly drain - going past zero fills the pips with red. All pips filling with red causes a permanent game over where the Carnivore completely loses itself to its Rot instincts. Starving twice in a row does this as well instead of killing it. Can only eat by grabbing creatures and pulling them inside its mass, like a Rot Cyst. (OOOOOOOOOO|) Abilities: Weak to explosives and feared by any creature that fears the Rot. Extra sensitive hearing at the cost of heavily reduced vision. More agile than most in zero gravity conditions, and capable of suspending itself from its tendrils. Iterator: Originally purposed to be an assistant to anti-NSH, The Never-Signaling Herald. Anti-SRS "borrowed" it, claiming to be giving it improvements in its purpose. Instead, it was mutated into a monster and starved so that upon returning to anti-NSH, it saw his neuron flies as a buffet. The Carnivore came to in a now-silent wing of anti-NSH's can, completely devoid of all organic matter. Assuming that it killed him, it fled, never looking back.

VANTABLACK

Era: Post-Hunter, Pre-Gourmand (same as Caregiver). They were cast out from Journey's End by the Despot for speaking out against their hoarding, selfish tendencies, so they have no idea that their family (Remnant, Pacifist, Dragon Slayer) was further torn apart. Diet: Same as Survivor and Monk. (OOOOO|OOO) Abilities: Completely silent and invisible in the dark, except for their eyes. They make an unnaturally low amount of noise, able to slip past even the most keen of Black Lizards. Iterator: Eventually marked by anti-FP. I don't have much for this fella OTL

DESPOT

Era: Gourmand Diet: Same as Gourmand. (OOOOOOO|OOOO) Abilities: Very similar to the Gourmand, but various valuables are in the pool of items they can cough up. Mostly pearls. They can direct allied and tamed creatures by pointing and gesturing, able to command others to do things for them - such as gathering food for them. Their fatigue bar is shorter due to being a lot lazier thanks to expecting others to do things for them. Iterator: N/A

REMNANT

Era: Survivor Diet: Same as Survivor. (OOOO|OOO) Abilities: The least divergent when it comes to abilities. If dragged into a den by a predator, they have a low chance of being able to crawl back out out of sheer determination instead of dying. Iterator: Marked by anti-FP.

PACIFIST

Era: Monk Diet: Same as Monk, with the ability to eat from corpses at half their usual nutrition value. (OOO|OO) Abilities: Their tail is like one giant Yellow Lizard antennae, giving them dominance over and the ability to communicate with them. Yellow Lizards are tame by default and treat them as a pack member and leader, and drop karma flowers if they die. If a Yellow Lizard in their pack is hurt, it will stun the Pacifist for a moment due to them being capable of feeling their pain. Iterator: N/A

DRAGON SLAYER

See this post!

RIPTIDE

Era: Rivulet Diet: Same as Hunter - nearly an obligate carnivore. (OOOOOO|OOO) Abilities: Even faster underwater than Rivulet with nearly infinite breath at the cost of being incredibly clumsy on land (minus climbing being okay). They get easily fatigued with extended land movement and their back legs are vestigial. They have good sight both in the dark and underwater due to living mainly in the murky, rotten lakes around anti-LTTM, Lingering Traces Toward Malady. Eel Lizards and Salamanders are positive to tame toward them. They can maul creatures while underwater and are slightly bioluminescent. Iterator: Created by anti-CW, Churning Waters, but closer to anti-LTTM. They're similar to the Experiment in that their creator doesn't really treat them very well or like an intelligent equal. They feel monstrous and like assisting anti-LTTM in cleansing the rot out of her system - she's rotten instead of anti-FP, thank anti-SRS - will somehow "redeem" them.

MESSIAH

Era: Saint Diet: Completely incapable of eating and has no need for it. Shelters refuse to work until the blizzard flares up to make up for this. Abilities: Already attuned, thanks to sort of being an echo despite not ever reaching the void sea yet. Or have they? Their attunement state lasts longer the less maximum karma they have, and they are capable of "ascending" Echoes to avoid raising it. The X-shaped marks on their body open like eyes when they are in the attunement state. They cannot die in a way that matters - cycles continue as normal and whatever killed them simply closes up and scars. Iterator: Anti-SOS, Solitude Over Salvation, created them while experimenting desperately to try and solve the Problem. Anti-SOS does not think they are the solution - they think the Messiah is a horrible, horrible mistake. The Messiah, however, genuinely believes that they are the Triple Affirmative made flesh. basically if saint is scug jesus this is the scug antichrist

UNDETERMINED

Anti-Watcher will be figured out when we know more about the Watcher.

[aethersea]

Trick or treat! 🩶👻💀

so if I were going to rewrite Teen Wolf (which I'm not, because tragically I have neither the time nor the energy), I’d start about halfway through season 2. Peter and Kate have both died, and the cycle of vengeance and cruelty has, in theory, died with them – but Gerard Argent has come to town, Derek is turning teenagers into werewolves, and everyone’s got, just, so much ptsd. Nothing has really been laid to rest. A man is not dead while his ghost still haunts your nightmares.

Also there’s a giant lizard running around killing people – hi, Jackson! – and Lydia’s hearing voices and, eventually, seeing things. In my rewrite that will not culminate in Peter Hale coming back to life, because fuck him, but she is going to be a banshee and it is going to suck for a while. Probably she finds a lot of dead bodies. But my rewrite will also actually feature the found family trope, because I have taste, so eventually someone will give her a hand with learning to control those powers at least a little bit. Maybe we can strong-arm Dr. Deaton into voicing a useful sentence from time to time. Maybe she can even join the pack a little bit, what a concept.

Which brings us to Derek! Personally I deeply enjoy him trying his damndest to be a good alpha and failing miserably, because he doesn’t have the temperament for it and he’s too full up on grief and trauma to make up for that, and having a lot of complicated awful emotions knotted around that because as the last living Hale, he’s the only one left to carry on his family’s legacy, and he’s failing at it. He’s failing terribly. He’s failing his sister, his parents, everyone who ever mattered to him, and he’s trying so hard but it’s just not enough, he’s not enough. Isn’t that awful? This poor guy.

Scott, however, is a natural leader. He’s not very good at it on account of how he’s 16 and doesn’t have any practice, but he does have the temperament, once he grows up a little, and he has the bullheaded optimism and stubborn insistence on caring for people that will allow him to slowly but surely become the steady rock on which all the rest of these traumatized teenagers can brace themselves. 

So Derek gets to watch as Scott, who’s not even an alpha, builds a makeshift pack of humans – Stiles, Allison, Lydia a little bit, Jackson in a complicated way – and starts to pull Derek’s actual betas out from underneath him just by virtue of being someone they can turn to when they’re scared. Derek wants to be that for them, and he can be someone who’ll destroy their enemies and teach them to defend themselves against violence, but he can’t comfort people. He can’t give them warmth. He can’t give them self-confidence, he can’t give them a place to belong, no matter how much he wishes he could. He’s doing his best, and it’s not enough, but if Scott would just accept him as alpha then maybe Scott could be his second-in-command and this wouldn’t really be Derek failing—

And then Scott manifests his ~true alpha~ powers. And Derek realizes that, sooner or later, he’s going to lose everything. He’ll fight – god, he’ll fight to the last, this is all he has left of his family – but the only way he could really win would be to kill Scott or run him out of town, and that…that would be an even worse betrayal of his family’s legacy. Scott hasn’t actually done anything wrong. Scott has saved the lives of Derek’s pack more often than Derek himself has been able to, at this point. He can’t honor his family’s memory by becoming someone who would kill a teenager for power.

Maybe, he thinks, this will all culminate in a big throwdown fight, and maybe their alpha instincts will get the best of them both and it’ll be to the death. Maybe then he’ll die, here on his family’s land, as he should have died years ago. Maybe that’s the closest he’s ever going to get to peace.

[rose-riot-johnson]

Hey, could I ask for an angst to comfort fanfic about a reader (as Spider-Man) going out for revenge against Kingpin for killing his parents then heading home to Curt Connors and being consoled by him after the whole thing? I kinda had some dark stuff turning in my head.

Hey DJ😃 Sorry to hear about your situation😟🫂 Anyways I definitely will see about working on the request 😃👍I may take a while(😅), however I will see how it turns out😃👍

*I'm not sure which pic you wanted between regular form of Curt Connors or the Lizard version of him, so I figured I'd pick both of the pics for this fanfic😅😃👍

*This fanfic also contains 1 or more long paragraphs😅

🕷️🦎Hey Curt...I Want Revenge🦎🕷️(Curt Connors (up to reader's imagination if it's regular Curt Connors version or the Lizard version) x Male (Spiderman) Reader)

Genres: Angst To Comfort (Murder and Mentions of Murder, and Language)

"You want to what, (Male Reader Name)?!", Curt Connors gasped. You replied, "You heard me, Curt! I'm going to get my revenge against Kingpin, because he killed my parents! Scum like himself deserves to die by my hand! I feel that if we do catch him, it won't be enough and he has to pay for killing them in cold-blood!". He then replied back, "Please think about this rationally, (Male Reader Name)... There's other ways than getting revenge...", as he tried to talk you out of taking Kingpin's life.

"Like what, Curt?! Payback is the only way I can feel satisfaction! After all... It's all I can really think about, since after I found out that he's the bastard who killed my parents! I will never forgive him! He must die! I wish I could have prevented him from killing my parents! He deserves to die in a worser way, than he killed them!", you yelled. Curt then calmly said, "But is it going to bring your parents back? No it isn't... Will you be able to kill him without any consequences... No, you won't... Wheather it's jail time or even just thinking about what you did, those are a couple of possible consequences you must consider. Even if you claim that you don't care about any possible consequences, I care about the possible consequences you may face and I also care about you...". "And what is your point, Curt?! I feel like I'm such a coward for being unable to prevent them from getting killed in cold-blood! How can I damn well live with that?!", you spat.

"My point is that, there are better ways to handle the Kingpin situation... You have my condolences for what he did to your parents, however the best way of getting revenge is to just simply capture him and let everything else come to play... It's better to let him suffer than to kill him... And besides all these civilians, future superheroes, and little children care looked up to you, so killing Kingpin, would only disappoint everyone who looked up to you and will let them down... I just want you to understand that I'm telling you this, because I love you, (Male Reader Name)...", Curt explained, before he went to hug you. It took you only seconds to think about this, as you hugged him back, then sobbed, "I'm truly sorry that I wasn't thinking about any of this Curt... I was very afraid when my parents were getting killed, while I was very angry to know that Kingpin killed my parents... I just didn't know what else to do, besides getting my revenge on him... I thought I would also feel better about myself, if I was to try to get my revenge on him by killing him... Murder is all I could think about, since he killed my parents in cold-blood...". Curt hugged you tighter, while petting your head, as he replied, "It's okay and don't be too hard on yourself... It also seems to be that your desire for vengeance isn't the only thing you're feeling... I can also sense that you may have survivors guilt, as everyone has a different way of handling desire for revenge and/or survivors guilt... I'm just glad you talked to me about it before actually committing it... Some people just wouldn't have come to anyone about getting revenge and just simply kill for vengeance without a care in the world about the consequences they may have to eventually face... The only thing I ask of you is please don't let your parents death, especially on how they were dead, change you for the worse... I'm pretty sure getting your revenge this way is not what your parents would have wanted...".

After you stopped sobbing, you thought about what Curt said, as you hugged him tighter. You then said, "I had to think about what you said for a second and you're right about everything you told me... And me getting my revenge isn't something my parents would have wanted, as you mentioned... I'm glad you talked me out of it, Curt... Thank you...". Curt then replied, "You're welcome, (Male Reader Name)... I promise, once we capture Kingpin, he will never harm anyone anymore, especially anymore of your family you have left...", before he kissed your forehead.

🦎🕷️The End🕷️🦎

I hope you enjoyed this requested fanfic my Tumblr Peeps😁👍As for you DJ, I hope I did the request well and I hope this fanfic helps🫂🦎🕷️🕊️I do apologize for taking long as I did to complete this fanfic, however I do hope the ending was written well😅🕊️🫂

@writers-requiem

[randomnameless]

Eh, I'm of two minds wrt Possessed!Byleth. On the one hand, this proves that Intsys does not really care about consistency in their main games and just want to sell units. On the other hand, Nopes is an Alternate universe of FE16 so *shrugs*. That said, I'm dreading the wank that'll probably come from Edelstans and (maybe) Khalidstans, cause you know they're going to start shit on how this is why Sothis, and Byleth & Sothis BaD respectively.

Why would Khalidstans react negatively to this alt?

Granted, I haven't interacted with them at all (I think?) so I don't really know how the discourse goes in those circles.

(I mean, are Khalidstans even taking Nopes as canon? Given what it says about Almyra, I'd be pretty pissed if I was an Almyra fan!)

FeH cannot say Billy became possessed to avenge Jerry, else we will have to wonder why and how Jerry kicked the bucket which will raise two sets of interrogations :

How the fuck Tru Piss exists as Flamey works with the people who killed Jerry and Billy never brings it up - and just like Dimitri snapped when Flamey went "idgaf about Duscur" or the lolcalised "IDK", a Billy who rushed to the forest and is willing, in Nopes, to offer their body to a foreign entity for vengeance doesn't seem that open to listen and but the "I had to work with Uncle bcs Rhea BaD but I swear for realsies I never knew what was going to happen and I forgot to tell u Monica was Kronya, an assassin who wanted to hide the experiments made to create my "reserve troops" well yes i knew some students were going to die but did you know Rhea can turn in a dragon thus isn't human!!!"

Why Jerry died in Nopes - and no route can be canon, so...

I joked about it in the first post following the reveal, but even Nopes itself retconned Billy as someone who didn't want vengeance for Jerry (as opposed to FE16) by having them fight against Sothis's control and letting Barney win - in a rush to make Lizards BaD, Nopes retconned (not the only retcon though) FE16 again lol

[stormbreath]

GMK Godzilla: I am the fury and agony of all those who Japan killed in WWII. I am here to enact my nuclear vengeance upon you. I am a cry of hopelessness made manifest.

GMK Baragon: I am not a metaphor. I am a simple lizard here to do my best. :)

[angelofchaos001]

I've tamed 4 lizards in one expedition and I spear I would go full Artificer mode if not for the fact I need the Chieftain to end the Expedition

1st: Kirby the Pink

2nd: Raspberry the Blue

3rd: Vegetable the Green (He was an accident, I threw an eggbug because I was trying to run faster and got an insta tame)

4th: Fern the Eel

Now, since I don't have mods, I dont have friends of friends.

SCAVS KILLED RASPBERRY RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME JUST OUTSIDE SHADED AND THEY'VE MADE ATTEMPTS ON FERN TOO

Next campaign I do I will murder scavs for no other reason than vengeance for Raspberry.

Also, Kirby and Raspberry I had at the same time and they kept fighting, I was so worried Kirby was accidentally gonna kill Raspberry so many times.

[songofmadness]

Ok, Part 2: the Screaming Continues, I guess. Let’s have a quick look at the plot of NWN1. I’ve never actually played it, mostly because I was a bitty thing with no money when it came out, and now I’m old(ish) and the graphics are just below the level that my eyeballs can safely handle. So what I’ve been able to gather is from wikis and off the cuff mentions in various blogs. It was surprisingly hard to piece together, so if anyone can recommend a decent walkthrough, that’d be lovely. Alright, lets go...

Herein lies: an outsiders retelling of the plot of NWN1, with much rage-fueled flailing and confusion. There is a plague.

((This is Fine, I'm sure the subsequent games will at least take vague note of the fact that even a conservative third of the population suddenly dying is going to massively destabilise the economy and might very well lead to a decades long decline...)) Plague is being deliberately caused by BBEG1 Desther, at the behest of BBEG2, who is acting on behalf of BBEG3 the Evil Lizard Queen Morag.

(How do we know she's evil? It's literally right there in her name, in at least half the sources I tracked down trying to figure out this mess. She's a female lizard with epic teeth in a position of power! Of course she's evil. Also a slaveowner, because gods forbid we have a single instance of the Old Ones not being slavemongering shitweasels. That would be like having a Fantasy Desert Kingdom that isn't equally slavery themed! Can't be having that.) Desther's takedown leads to the remarkably stupid miscarriage of justice that is Fenthick's kneejerk execution. Dude just had shitty taste in friends, that really shouldn't be a hanging offence. But still, that's probably the best example of "medieval justice system" I've come across in any Forgotten Realms. Oh, were you standing adjacent to the guy who offended the Powers That Be? Too bad, good sir, you're dead now. And maybe your entire extended family with you! Fun.

Aribeth goes understandably apeshit due to her boyfriend's unjust execution (isn't the main religion of Neverwinter Tyr? Wut?), ELQ Morag whispers some probably quite reasonable sweet nothings in her ear -- "They killed your man, honey. Come to the darkside, we have cookies bloody vengeance!" -- and Aribeth nopes on out to lead an army of Luskans against Neverwinter.

Except. Why is Luskan now involved?? Other than the obvious reason: It Is Always Loki Luskan.

Long story short (and omitting at least six hours of me howling at my laptop), Luskan invades Neverwinter in 1372 as the grand culmination of NWN1's plot. Because.... reasons. IDFK. Why was Luskan even there? 

More to the point, why did Aribeth automatically seize upon Luskan as the best chance of achieving her vengeance? Because: 

1) she’d been in direct opposition against Luskan forces for ages, surely there had to be some kind of pushback against the Great Champion of Neverwinter suddenly showing up to take command, and 

2) Luskan’s kind of at a massive lowpoint right about then. Or at least they SHOULD BE. They’ve been kicked out of Ruathym (yet again) by the all powerful Lord’s Alliance, and they’re just finishing up a wildly unsuccessful five years trying to invade Mintarn and Orlumber. I don’t even know where that is, but I do know that five years of throwing your men away on nothing doesn’t leave you with much of a fighting force to play with.

Actually, also 3) This is right after Arklem Greeth goes full lich and reassumes control of both the Hosttower and the High Captains. Luskan has had a shit few years decades and now Daddy is home, and angry, and no one is getting away with nonsense right now. Why is Arklem F’ing Greeth handing this super a N g E r Y paladin/blackguard lady an army? Even if he wanted to (for the lulz, perhaps) how does he have YET ANOTHER ARMY to spare?

*deep breath* Ok. Ok, backing away from the Luskans for a minute. Before I actually start screaming. The ongoing nightmare that is Luskan can have it’s own post.

Right, anyway, Luskan invades, is foiled by the magnificent Hero of Neverwinter (very recently the sole graduate of their adventuring class!), Lizard Queen is also vanquished and Aribeth either dies or is later executed by her former friends. Nasher is so hacked off by this entire chain of events that he suppresses all information regarding this fuckery. Nevermind that he’s at least partly to blame - why did the KC get a lawyer despite being accused of mass murder and not Fenthick, who just assumed guilty by association? Excuse me, Tyr? Wut? And then....

World reset, I guess. I just. I have been in or adjacent to the SCA for long enough that even though my focus is very much not combat centred I have learned Much About War. Because that is often all anybody bloody talks about. And because I don't particularly care about combat itself, I generally meander off into "Ok, so there was this battle and this battle and this ten year stalemate in that region... what did that do to trade/the availability of dyestuffs for the next twenty odd years?" Because ultimately I just wanna dye some period accurate wool.

My painfully meandering point here is that the civilizations don't just bounce back after a war. They don't bounce back after a plague either. Especially one as virulent as the Wailing Death was meant to be. Every bit of lore I could scrounge about it keeps saying that "the [majority of the populace of Neverwinter] were dead or dying within a tenday". Wut?

How the hell is the city ever meant to recover from that? How is Neverwinter even functional as a city two years later? Where did all the new citizens come from? Where is the violent economic downturn stemming from the sudden traumatic loss of most of the previous citizens??

And why is Neverwinter accepting Luskan ambassadors TWO YEARS LATER?? Because lets not forget, I got into this mess trying to write a story set in NWN2. WHICH TAKES PLACE JUST TWO YEARS LATER. SOMEHOW.

Further rants about the aftermath of war and/or plague in medieval society to follow…