#All three of them have gained allies and enemies because of who they are as people intrinsically and i find that so interesting

[saltyfilmmajor]

I think I just enjoy a protagonist who manages to change people by being themself

[daycourtofficial]

Everything is Not As it Seems

Summary: You’ve been abducted, and the inner circle have to find you as quickly as possible.

Author’s note: this idea’s been floating around my head all weekend so I needed to get it out. I’m thinking this will be three parts - I already have part two done and some of three ! Also I’m a bit obsessed with the idea of Evil!Eris.

You received a letter three days ago that hasn’t left you alone since. It’s a simple letter, requesting your presence, but it’s signed by a mysterious “hound”.

You’ve mentioned the letter to the Inner Circle, at first they thought it might be someone just messing with you. Telling them that there are things in the letter about you caused some of them to get really nervous.

“What do you mean, specific details?” Rhys asked, as you brought up the letter.

“Little things,” you reply, sitting in the seat next to Rhys, “for instance, it’s addressed to me as ‘Little Fox’. That’s a nickname my brothers gave me because I was born in the autumn court. There’s a line from one of my favorite poems at the bottom. They mention my favorite flowers. It’s small things, but I’m not sure. Things that people could know about me. It’s like they’re luring me in by telling me they know me. I really feel an urge to go to find out who this is.”

“If someone’s stalking you, sweetheart, running into their trap isn’t what you should do,” Cassian says, looking over your shoulder at the letter in your hand.

“I don’t think they’re stalking me - I just think it’s someone that knows me, or at least used to know me,” you say, pausing. “I don’t know how I feel about going. On one hand, why stay anonymous? On the other, what if they have important information? I don’t know what to do.”

Rhys is the only one who looks like he’s actually considering you going to this meeting, everyone else looks apprehensive.

“I think it could be beneficial. Even if they don’t have much to tell us, it could help us determine another ally,” the high lord states.

Azriel is trying to stay calm on the outside, but he is going feral on the inside. Sending you, alone, into most likely enemy hands? He won’t stand for it.

“We’re not risking your life for knowledge on potential allies,” Azriel remarks, looking at you not with possessiveness, but fear. “None of us want anything to happen to you. There’s not much to gain from this, Rhys, but there’s a ton to lose.”

You look at him for a moment, forgetting the point of this meeting, seeing the concern in his eyes as they’re focused on you. You’re about to say it’s a bad idea, not wanting to cause Azriel anymore stress, when Rhysand states, “you’ll go. End of discussion. We’ll have Feyre and Cassian nearby on the lookout for you.”

Seeing Azriel’s distress during the meeting almost made you beg Rhys to reconsider, but the high lord is currently under such a high level of stress, the last thing he needs is you complaining about this meeting.

-

The letter asked for you to come completely alone. Rhys and Feyre stayed out of your mental shields, afraid that whoever it was would be able to sense their interference. The only thing keeping you from completely loneliness were the two shadows wrapped around your ankles underneath your skirt.

Two shadows was decided - if anything were to happen to you, one would report back to Azriel while the other remained with you. It was the only interference from Azriel Rhys would allow. He wanted to be standing nearby, waiting for any sign of distress from you, but Rhys wouldn’t allow it. He was all too aware of the effect you had on his brother, and he was going to keep Azriel in his sight while you went to this meeting.

You were standing in the trees, at the border between winter and autumn, right where the letter asked you to be. The border is a mixture of deep red leaves littering the ground that trail off into about a foot of snow. The cold morning air making your breath visible.

You hear movement, ready to set eyes on whoever sent the mysterious note.

“Hello, Little Fox.”

-

Azriel could not stand still. Rhysand had never seen him so visibly under duress. Azriel, who usually kept stock still and kept a stoic expression. Azriel was pacing and his hair was standing up from how much he was running his hands through it.

“Azriel, she’ll be okay. If anything happens, she can winnow to us, to Cassian, to Feyre. She’ll be okay.”

Cassian was stationed in the winter court, Feyre in the autumn court, both equidistant from you, however too far for them to know what’s happening during your meeting.

“I don’t like this. Something feels incredibly off. An ally sending a letter like that? It feels more like a love letter than some form of allyship. I think you let the high lord position cloud your judgement on this.”

“If it were a love letter, she wouldn’t have entertained it.” The high lord said, looking through the correspondence on his desk. He knows his nonchalance will annoy Azriel, hopefully allowing him some reprieve from the concern he’s feeling for you.

Azriel tuts, “you don’t know that.”

Rhys sighs, “you’re right, if she thought the love letter was from you, she would have gone, no hesitations.”

The high lord smirks, looking at the shadowsinger to gauge his reaction. He stops mid-step, “don’t say things like that if you don’t fully believe them,” then continues his pacing.

“I’ve known her for a long time, Az. In that time, she’s had many suitors come to her. She’ll always go on a first date - she says it’s because “you never know”, or whatever. Since being here and meeting you, I haven’t seen her even glance at another male vying for her attention.”

Azriel stops, looks at Rhys’s face for a long time, trying to decipher any hint of deception. His face was void of it. In fact, he looked honest and almost vulnerable.

Before Azriel could ask more, one of his shadows comes whizzing in at an incredibly fast speed, news of you, circling around Azriel’s ears to tell him what it saw as fast as it can.

“We have to go,” Azriel says, his face darkening with concern and shadows.

-

“Eris Vanserra, as I live and breathe,” you say, a smile gracing your face.

You don’t hate Eris, you actually spent some time with him while growing up. You don’t know if you particularly like Eris, however you’ve always had a soft spot for him due to the cruelties of his father.

“You seem surprised to see me,” he says, a smirk growing across his face, “I’m glad you came.”

“Why in Prythian did you send me a cryptic letter, and not just tell me who was requesting my presence?” You ask.

He steps closer to you and the tree you’re leaning against. “Because I’m sure those dogs would have thrown out any correspondence addressed from me to you.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” you say, letting the dog comment go for now.

“Oh? Then what about all of my previous letters?”

You stop, “previous letters?”

“I’ve been writing to you for months, my dear. I had to figure out new ways to get in contact with you.”

His grin was so feline, your interest in this meeting at an all time high. If Eris wanted an alliance with the night court, why would he go through all of this effort to reach you?

“Well, you have my attention now, Eris, what is it you desire?” You ask.

A wicked grin takes over his face, as he removes his hands from his pocket.

“You,” he says, unfurling his fist to reveal a powdery substance that he blows directly into your face.

You stumble a little and cough, confusion knitting your brows. You start to feel very heavy, and instinctively you reach out to lean against Eris as your balance starts getting more and more unsteady.

Eris is taking a few steps back, making you follow him. What you don’t realize in your confused state is he’s leading you across the border into Autumn, and once you have both feet in Autumn, he allows you to lean against him as he wraps his arms around your waist and winnows you away, except for one tiny little shadow that begins heading toward the Night Court.

-

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” Azriel is raving mad, having scoured the border for hours for you. “Where the FUCK did he take her?”

His shadow told him everything, how he incapacitated you, tricked you into willingly coming into his court. The shadows even recognized the faebane he made you inhale, however there was something different about this faebane they couldn’t quite figure out.

Azriel and Rhys scoured the location, with Rhys sending word to Cassian and Feyre to come to the rendezvous point.

“Brother-“ Rhys starts, trying to get Azriel to calm down. His anger was radiating off of him and the entire area was pitch black, with his shadows moving erratically.

“Don’t you dare,” Azriel snarls, “you convinced her to come here! You said “oh it’ll be safe! Cassian and Feyre won’t be too far away!” And now she’s gone! Who knows what he wants with her!”

Feyre and Rhys exchange a glance, clearly speaking to each other internally.

“Shut the fuck up! If you’re going to speak, speak out loud for all to hear!” Azriel barks.

Cassian was seriously concerned for his brother- he had never, ever seen him snap like that at anyone, let alone his high lord and high lady.

Feyre and Rhys were just as startled.

“Azriel, we understand, Feyre was in the spring court-“

“It’s not the same, not even one bit.” He bit back, “Feyre chose to go, she didn’t. Feyre is a High Lady, she isn’t. Feyre has tons of training and is powerful enough to hold her own against high lords, she isn’t. She’s with one of the most powerful non-high lord fae in Prythian. She can’t speak to us telekinetically, she has no mating bond to even tell if she’s alive, it is not the same.”

-

It’s been days since you were taken by Eris. All the inner circle can guess is that you’re somewhere in the Autumn Court. Eris covered his tracks well by having you willingly cross the border. Unless they had proof you were in imminent danger or being held against your will, there wasn’t much they could do, but that didn’t mean they stopped trying.

They even began going through the confiscated correspondence Eris tried to start with you, but it was mostly pleasantries, asking after Lucien, and updates on the lady of the autumn court, who you were quite fond of.

Azriel was looking paler than usual due to the loss of his shadows. They were all in the Autumn court, scouring every inch for you. They do as Azriel tells them to, yes, but he’s noticed how much they seem to like you. Some of them won’t come back to him when called, opting instead to play in your hair or ghost along your hands. He sighs at the memory.

Feyre is trying again to tap into your mind, just like she and Rhys have been trying to do the entire week you’ve been gone. Azriel was losing hope. He’d keep searching, he’d never stop searching, but he was losing hope.

Lost in his spiraling thoughts of a life without you in it, he was jolted from them when he heard Feyre gasp. “She let me in,” is all she says. The room has gone deadly quiet. “I’m not sure she knows I’m here, so I’m trying to keep very still.”

-

When you woke up, you were very confused. You must have fallen asleep at some point, the blankets wrapped around your naked body. The room you’re in is gorgeous, with brown walls, an ornately decorated fireplace, and beautiful artwork covering the walls. The door to your room begins to open and you breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of him.

“Hi sweetheart,” the male tells you, “I brought you coffee.”

The smell of the coffee hits you and you reach your hands out for a desperate taste of it.

“What time is it? How late did I sleep in?” You ask, taking a sip from the coffee cup. The notes of pumpkin melting onto your tongue.

“Mid-morning,” he coos, sitting next to you on the bed.

“And why didn’t you wake me?” You ask.

“I figured you deserved all the rest you could get after last night,” he says, placing a hand on your thigh, “and to have you well-rested for today.” He smirks.

You blush, still not used to this directness from him, “don’t you have work today?”

He sighs, “yes, yes, I just figured I’d bid you good morning before I started my day. Besides, I know you’ll be busy wedding planning all day. Wanted to see my beautiful bride at least once today.”

He kisses your temple, leaving you alone in the room, buzzing just thinking about his inevitable return.

-

Feyre didn’t dare broadcast the image to the Inner Circle. At first out of fear of what she might see - if you were being tortured, she didn’t want them to see that, especially not Azriel.

The contents of what she saw were almost more horrifying.

“Eris is playing tricks on her mind. She, uh, -“ Feyre looks around the room, afraid to tell them what she saw, making eye contact with Azriel, ultimately deciding to say something to get him to leave.

“He’s coercing her into marrying him.”

Everyone sits up straighter and chaos erupts. They all start yelling and bickering, trying to figure out what to do.

Rhys commands everyone’s attention, already having spoken with Feyre about getting Azriel out of the room.

“Azriel, see if you can find out anything about an upcoming autumn court wedding. If Eris and Beron are trying to hide this, it might not be known that it’s for a member of the High Lord’s family.”

Azriel leaves, thankful for something, anything, to keep his mind off of you marrying someone else and thankful for a small lead to finding you.

Once Azriel’s gone, Feyre turns to the group. “It gets worse.” She says, looking at Rhys in nervousness.

“How the Hel can it get any worse? Our friend being forced to marry him? What is worse than that?” Cassian asks, absolutely outraged that he let you go to that meeting.

“Eris has glamoured himself, it’s how he’s convinced her to go along with the marriage.” Feyre speaks softly, looking down at the ground.

The silence hangs in the room for a moment, and just when Feyre thought the silence would settle and stay for a while, Mor speaks up, “and who exactly is he glamoured as?”

Everyone in the room knows the answer, but they wait for Feyre’s confirmation.

“He’s glamoured as Azriel. She thinks she’s safe with Azriel in the Autumn Court and that they’re getting married soon.”

[sanjoongie]

Arch Nemesis

For @cultofdionysusnet Mocha Madness event

🧠Pairing: Choi San x Reader (f) x ???

🧠Au: hero/villain au

🧠Trope: e2l (enemies to lovers), f2l (friends to lovers), established relationship

🧠Rating: 18+, MDNI, smut, angst

🧠Warnings: mind reading, emotion manipulation (they're superheroes, they have powers), cheating

🧠Kinks: mutual masturbation, sexual fantasies made reality, pussy slapping, deep throating, choking, penetrative sex with no barrier, oral (m), spit kink, deep throating

🧠Word count: 3,730

🧠Dedication: @mejuii & @downtoamagicalland for beta-ing, my unholy trinity partners in crime 🥰 and to @starlitmark for bouncing ideas with me and helping this plot flourish!

🧠Summary: you're a hero, one who has struggled to remain good, but what happens when you're most guilty fantasy with your arch nemesis of all people, comes to light?

“Gotta go, duty calls,” You said as you leaned over in your bed and kissed San’s cheek.

“No,” San murmured, pulling you in tightly against his body, “Stay. They can send someone else.”

You gently extracted yourself from San’s grasp. “Nice try but I can’t be your pillow all night. Get some sleep, Baby.” San mumbled into his pillow as you left your shared bed with a fond smile on your face.

You and San had been friends since college; you'd both been training then to be supe's. The two of you had been brought together because of your powers. San had the ability to read minds and telekinesis, which was the makings of a villain. And you could shoot a heart with your finger and temporarily gain control of whoever you shot. Basically, your target would be in love with you and do anything for you. Which was also seen as the potential to be a villain. The two of you had banded together as outcasts and had been friends ever since.

Considering the reason you had become friends, you had made a pact with San: to never speak on your missions, because you didn't want your professional life to ruin your friendship. You didn't know what San’s alter ego was and he didn't know yours. 

It had been only recently that your friendship had bloomed into a relationship. You were happy for it. San was the perfect soft and caring boyfriend. If only you didn't have a dirty secret that involved your arch nemesis.

Your comms told you your mission was at the old Treasure Hotel. Loudmouth was up to his old shenanigans. Apparently he had used his screaming powers and made everyone vacate the hotel so he could rob the safe. Except once you got there, running through the hotel, attempting to locate Loudmouth, you found no one. It wasn’t until you burst through the door to the rooftop that you discovered him--and his long-time ally, Killjoy.

“And I’m gone,” Loudmouth announced, jumping from the top of the roof, screeching when he presumably reached the ground to halt his ascent. 

You narrowed your eyes down at Killjoy. The villain was your arch nemesis, the antithesis of your life. If there was a problem in your life, he was usually the center of it all. Of course you had to pull yourself out of bed from your boyfriend to confront the one man you didn’t want to see this evening.

“What’s this about, Killjoy?” You demanded. You summoned your power, folding one of your hands into the shape of a gun and using the other to support your wrist.

The masked villain smirked, folding his arms over his well-developed chest. “You can drop the act. I know.”

You continued to hold your stance. “If you know that I’ve plans for the mayor’s inaugural, that’s pretty smart of you. I didn’t think you had it in you,” you quipped.

Killjoy smirked. “I don’t need to be smart to know that you think of me when you stuff your pretty fingers inside of you.”

You dropped your stance immediately. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“No?” Killjoy cocked his head. “You don’t think about me tucking my legs around yours to hold them in place as I ease in three fingers and you tell me you couldn't possibly take that much but your pussy takes them easily. You don’t think about me whispering how it’s so dirty that a hero could be taking my fingers so well. You don’t think about me slapping your pussy and pinching your clit and--”

“ENOUGH!” You shouted. Shame was covering you from head to toe right now. That was your exact fantasy, down to how many fingers you wanted him to shove into you. How could he suddenly read your mind when he’s barely skimmed the surface before?

Killjoy hopped onto one of the fans on the top of the building and leaned forward on his legs. His crooked smile pulled to the side, revealing a dimple. “Why just think about it when we could make it a reality?”

“Abso-fucking-luytely not!” You said in horror.

A hero? Getting finger banged by her arch nemesis? Never!

“How about this,” Killjoy suggested in a smug tone, “You show me what you do when you fantasize about me…” He took a moment to spit in his palm, “And I’ll show you what I do when I think of you.”

Your jaw just about hit the floor. “Excuse me?!”

Killjoy raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think it’s possible that I think about holding you down on my dick, shutting up that smart mouth of yours, always calling me a failure of a villain?” You clenched your legs together but Killjoy didn’t miss anything. “Come on, what’s a little mutual masturbation between old time enemies, huh?”

Your body worked on its own accord, your fingertips moving to the teensy-tiny skirt of your uniform. Killjoy’s eyes are glued to the pathway your fingers follow until you’ve raised the skirt and he can see your still clothed core but…

Killjoy’s tongue came out to wet his lips. “Is that a wet spot, Loveshot?”

You pushed your lips together and nodded. “Yeah,” You let out a shaky breath.

“Show me,” Killjoy insisted, leaning forward even further, eyes glued to your crotch.

You leaned back against the rough stone of the old building, fingers hovering over your outer lips. “I--you tease me a lot,” You admitted.

“Mhmm,” Killjoy prompted you. 

“Sometimes you--” You gasped when you palmed your breast and found the nipple tight already. “--you pull and pinch my nipples and call me a superslut.”

You watched with bated breath as Killjoy peeled back the lower half of his suit and you sighed dreamily as his girthy dick was revealed. You knew there was a reason you used three fingers for him in your fantasies. “Now my turn. You usually say something about how my suit makes my dick look tiny, so when you protest, I rub my dick against your face and lips, but once my dick is seated in your hot mouth, you crumble and take it all for me.” Killjoy’s hips twitched upwards as his spit-covered hand moved up and down his dick. 

"Sometimes I get so wet from pretending my fingers are yours that I--" You bit down on your lip to muffle a moan.

"Who's gonna hear you way up here  Loveshot?" Killjoy smirked once again, "Let me hear all your desperate noises for me."

Shame still burns in the pit of your stomach. You shouldn't do this. You had San but everything was still new with him. This dirty little fantasy you've had of Killjoy had been around before you two had evolved from friends to lovers. You needed this.

You unceremoniously slapped your cunt and your head lolled back with how delicious it felt. "You tell me that I can take anything you give me, just like you know you can throw me into any situation as a hero and I can save the day."

Killjoy let out a low moan and scrunched his nose upwards. "I imagine your muffled noises as I push your face into my pelvis, making you take all of my dick. You choke and you cry and you say that you love every moment of it."

You're so worked up at this point that you could actually cum. "I'm--" You choked on the words when you watched Killjoy shamelessly spurt all over his hand.

He opened his eyes, heavy lidded with satisfaction and gave you a slow smile. "Come for me, my nemesis."

“Killjoy!” You come undone for him, pussy convulsing around your fingers and you ride them, closing your eyes for just a moment and picturing Killjoy’s smirk above you.

"Don't do that," Killjoy groaned.

You had forgotten he was still in your head. You ripped your fingers from your cunt and wiped them against your thighs to clean them. You turned to leave but Killjoy couldn't help but get a final verbal shot in.

"Where are you going, Loveshot? You're still thinking about me. You'll think about me later, won't you?" 

You threw up a middle finger as a parting gift and shifted the color of your hair and your nose. By the time you made your way to the bottom of the skyscraper, you were completely indistinguishable from Loveshot. But you were still the same person. You had just gray-area cheated on San with your arch nemesis.

Your comms buzzed and you saw you received a text you simply could not ignore:

Sannie🥺: wanna meet up? I’ll order your regular at Blue Bird.

You: just finished up, see you there

Guilt wracked through your body. If you said no San would know something was up. But could you truly sip on a sugary sweet beverage, which your best-friend-turned-boyfriend had memorized as your order, as if nothing had happened?

You stumbled into the coffee shop that you and San frequented, only a few blocks away from your shared apartment. You weren’t used to fighting crime, then having a mind blowing orgasm afterwards. Your super power wasn’t stamina, that was for sure. Your eyes sought out San immediately, who waved you over to the table he was seated at. 

“Hey Babe,” San greeted you.

“H-hey,” You replied shakily. 

San had his normal gray hoodie but it was barely zipped up and you could see a sheen of sweat covering his upper chest that peeked past the zipper. He smiled softly, “I couldn't sleep, so I went to the gym. Sorry, I must smell like a locker room.”

You laughed under your breath. “You smell like you just walked out of a perfume ad.”

San scratched the back of his head. “Careful, I think my heart just beat a little harder from that.”

You smiled painfully. You attempted to sit at the café table and faltered, barely catching yourself against the edge. Unfortunately for you, your abused clit took most of the weight as you collapsed against it and you made an embarrassingly loud and desperate noise.

San’s eyes widened and then immediately avoided your eyes. What did he just realize?!

“San?” You worried your teeth on your bottom lip. You managed to properly sit down and sip your drink to do something, anything. 

“Where did you just come from?” He asked quietly.

“Uh… you know, superhero stuff,” You shrugged.

The two of you had a strict policy of not speaking about your cases, to not muddy up each other’s professions. It just worked better that way. But San chose today to push it. He pushed up his glasses up the bridge of his nose and shifted closer to you. “Where did you come from?” he repeated firmly.

“The subway. Hostage situation. Wrapped it up pretty quickly,” You lied. 

San sat back but eased an arm around the back of your chair. “Good.”

The tension eased out of your shoulders and you leaned into San’s embrace. “I’m tired. Let’s go home.”

The two of you walked home, San’s arm still around your shoulder, you still leaning against him. You were cold and were trying to absorb some of his warmth. Not even the drink from the coffee shop could warm up the sinking feeling in your chest. Even as you got home, got ready for bed, you couldn't shake your anxiety.

Guilt is gnawing at the end of your mind and you know that there is no going to sleep like this. You turned to tell San that you’re going to wind down in the living room when he approached you from behind. His lips are like sweet caresses along the slope of your shoulder. “Come back to bed with me,” he murmured, as if he could sense you were pulling away.

“Sannie,” You turned around in his embrace, “My mind--”

San’s eyes travel over your face, a hand cupping one side. “You’re vibrating with the need to leave. Let me put you to sleep.” Gently, San tilted your head with the same guiding hand, peppering kisses along your jawline. 

Your heart soared and then crashed into your guilt. You couldn't possibly--not after what you did with Killjoy… “San, I’m really tired,” You protested.

“You’re not,” San disagreed with a rumble deep in his chest. “Even if your body may be, your mind is restless. I can help.”

San swept the straps of your pjs off your shoulders and continued to kiss down your neck to your collarbones. You can’t help but moan at the feel of his lips on your skin. Was your boyfriend seducing you?

"Where are you going, Loveshot? You're still thinking about me. You'll think about me later, won't you?"

Your body became tense with the sudden intrusion. Your powers brewed on the tip of your tongue and the pads of your fingers. You’d never use your powers against San but the need to push him off, to not mingle his touches with that of Killjoy’s was important!

“I have a better idea,” You found yourself suggesting before you could stop your treacherous tongue. “Let’s watch each other masturbate.”

San’s eyes widened considerably at your suggestion. “What?!”

Now it’s your turn to seduce. You ditched your top completely, to sit back on your shared bed and lie back, propping yourself up with your elbows. “Want you to watch me while I touch myself, Sannie,” You purred, “Wanna watch you while you touch yourself.”

San stumbled, as if his feet were moving him unbiddenly, but he made it to the edge of the bed where you were. You move so that the two of you are opposite of each other, a full view of whatever the other one’s planning on doing. You massage your breasts, making them pucker in the cool early morning air. San licked his lips like he wished they were wrapped around them. His eyes move to meet yours, waiting for you to start.

“Before we got together, when we were just friends, I used to get off to the idea of you sneaking in my bed and eating me out,” You said shakily. “I would play with my nipples and put so much lube on my pussy, using one of those flower vibrators, wishing it was your tongue. I had convinced myself that you loved eating pussy and it was something I wanted you to want with me.”

San groaned and began to palm himself through his sleep pants. “We were idiots.”

You couldn't help but giggle. “We were.”

San watched with rapt attention as you pulled aside your underwear and dipped a finger into your wetness. You spread it along your clit, moving in slow, tantalizing circles, careful of how abused your clit had been just a few hours ago by your own self torture. “Sannie?” You prompted him.

San snapped out of his deep thought while watching your finger circle your clit and pulled himself out of his confines. “I used to want you to use your power on me.” His voice cracked and he had to clear it. “Make me do whatever you want me to do. I used to edge myself for hours alone on the thought that you’d never let me cum unless it was inside of you--pussy or mouth.” San’s blunt fingernails dug into his thighs but he didn’t touch himself.

You stop touching yourself and crawled towards San’s body. “Do you need some lubrication?” 

San whimpered as you hovered over him, hands on either side of his hips. You spit on his cock, letting it slowly dribble downwards. You leaned downwards, almost as if you were going to take him in your mouth but instead you simply blew air on him. San’s hips thrust into the air, whining again. “Please,” he asked but you weren’t sure he even knew what he was asking for.

“Go ahead and touch yourself,” You encouraged him.

“ ‘m sensitive,” San mumbled, eyelashes fluttering against his cheekbones as he blinked many times, a cute pout pulling at his lips.

You can’t help but grin at the admission. “Did you masturbate while I was out, Sannie?”

San’s body jerked backwards, a loud gasp in the back of his throat. “N-no.”

You dropped your body so that you could take San’s cock in your mouth with one quick dip of your mouth. San’s body strains at being encompassed suddenly by your warm, wet mouth. Tiny thrusts into your mouth tell you all San wants is to get off in your mouth and by the throb of your lower half, all you want is to give it to him. 

"I imagine your muffled noises as I push your face into my pelvis, making you take all of my dick.

How is it that you're sucking off your sweet boyfriend and you can't get Killjoy's degrading voice out of your head?

At that exact same moment, San's hands grab both sides of your head and he began to fuck your mouth. You have no time to think, only time to make sure your breaths time with the in-and-out motion of his cock down your throat. Your nose practically buries itself into San's bronze skin, mouth coming flush with the base of his cock. San had never--

Just as quickly as he held you down on him, he pulled you off of him. You stare up at him, saliva and precum dripping from your open, panting lips. “San?”

San adjusted immediately, a dopey sweet smile pulling at his lips, making his eyes become crescent moons. “I don't want to cum in your mouth.”

You're fast to climb onto his lap, arms draped over his broad shoulders. “My baby,” You couldn't help but coo, “You really do put me first, don't you?”

San smiled shyly, scratching the back of his head. “I love you, that's why.”

Your heart burst at the admission. “I love you too, sweet boy.”

The two of you moved your hips in sync, exchanging kisses and moans, as you made love in your shared bed. This was where you wanted to be: in San's arms, drinking in his noises of pleasure, being the center of his world. You didn't want to be with--

Your climax hit you like a slow burn and the first thing that tumbled from your mouth was the name you had been thinking of. “Killjoy!” you groaned quietly.

San’s body was ramrod straight even though you could feel his dick twitching inside of you, his cry cut off at what you said. You scrambled to remove yourself from his body but San wrapped his arms around you to keep you firmly in place.

“What did you just say?” San said in a voice that broke your heart into a million pieces.

“No-nothing,” You stuttered, throat full of emotions.

“Where did you go when they called you out,” San demanded again, bringing up his question from earlier.

“I told you, the subway--!” You squealed as your back hit the bed, San pinning you down with his heavy body against yours.

San reached for your hand and squeezed it tightly, intertwining your fingers with his . “You have two seconds to answer me correctly before I read your mind, love.”

“San!” You gasped and visibly reeled back. San never invaded the minds of the ones he loved, he swore he would never. 

San licked his lips, a frown furrowing his eyebrows. “I’m not asking casually.”

Your gut was telling you that suddenly your entire world depended on the answer to this question and you had no idea where it would land you. “I was on the rooftop of The Treasure Hotel.”

San cursed lowly. “Loveshot?”

Your heart was beating a mile a minute. Had San just guessed your alter ego? What did that mean? 

San let go of your hand and shakingly raised it to his face. You thought he was going to rub it tiredly over his face, somehow privy to you cheating on him with your arch nemesis. “Sannie, please, it was nothing!” You cried out.

Instead, he covered his eyes and smirked. “I already know.”

Your blood chilled in your veins. 

The masked villain smirked, folding his arms over his well-developed chest. “You can drop the act. I know.”

“Killjoy?” You yelled in disbelief.

And, you swear to God, San's dick pulsed inside of you upon hearing his alter ego's name upon your lips in your shared bed.

“No,” You shook your head. There was no fucking way your best friend, your boyfriend, was an evil villain?

Flashbacks to the supe's college you both attended, the way you were both outcasts, vaguely bringing up your powers as the reason. Bonding over wanting to overcome your natural abilities and prove to everyone you were good. 

“Someday, the world won’t judge me,” San had proclaimed. Clearly that had not crossed over very well.

It all came crumbling down around you. 

San lowered his hand and there was a glint in his eye. “If I had known…”

In some fucked up way, relief flooded you. You hadn't cheated on San; you simply masturbated with his alter ego. That was okay… right?

“Are we…” How were you going to meld the two worlds together, how could you continue to date and fuck a villain, how-- “Are we okay?”

San’s lips surged towards yours in a kiss that was desperate and messy and yet somehow full of love and adoration. “Do you still love me?” San gasped into your mouth. 

You looked up at the man who was your everything. Even now, knowing he was your arch nemesis and had been for a long time, he was even more so your everything. He was your world when you weren’t working and he was your obsession when you were. Was this going to fuck up your job? Absolutely. Was it going to fuck up your relationship?

“I love you like the sun loves the moon,” You admitted. Surely the two bodies in the sky were enemies, constantly chasing after each other, constantly fighting for time in the sky. 

A subtle shift of San’s hips had you gasping. He was hard inside of you. His eyes were alight with love and mischief and lust. “I love you like a villain loves a hero.”

And that was the end of that conversation.

taglist: @hijirikaww @flurrys-creativity @stardragongalaxy @mingsolo @k-pop-ology

special suffer with me braincell tag: @smallfrye

[anneapocalypse]

On Cullen's Earnestness

In my current playthrough of Dragon Age: Inquisition, this one early war table quest caught my eye that I think offers a good bit of insight into Cullen’s character.

In “Truth or Dare: The Imperial Court,” Vivienne alerts Josephine to a letter she’s received from an acquaintance, purporting to “warn” Vivienne of the suspect company she has taken up in joining the Inquisition. The letter reads thus:

My dearest Vivienne,

You cannot have heard the shocking allegations against the Inquisition, or surely you would never have been seen with them. Allow me, as a friend, to open your eyes. People are saying that Divine Justinia is, indeed, alive, but that the Inquisition—her closest advisors and most trusted servants—have orchestrated all this chaos on her orders. That it was Seeker Pentaghast and Sister Nightingale who sabotaged the Conclave in order to eliminate the opposition within the Chantry, and cut off the heads of the mage rebellion and templars in a single stroke. To save your own reputation, you must escape this acquaintance immediately.

With deepest concern, Vicomtesse Elodie de Morreau

In the context of the Game, we may understand that this Vicomtesse, while she may call Vivienne a friend, likely has no great concern for her reputation.

The Inquisition is the horse on which Vivienne is betting in order to better her own position (which is considerably shakier than she lets on, but that’s another post); Vicomtesse Elodie is simply making a different bet. If Vivienne heeds her warnings, and the Inquisition never achieves public favor, then Elodie’s advice was correct and Vivienne is indebted to her. If Vivienne heeds her warnings and the Inquisition does gain public acclaim, then Elodie has disrupted Vivienne’s opportunity for advancement, and she also wins. And if Vivienne does not heed her advice and the Inquisition remains a pariah, Elodie gets to watch Vivienne go down with it, smugly saying “I told you so.” Only if the Inquisition thrives and Vivienne with it does Elodie lose this bet—and Vivienne is clearly interested in seeing that outcome, and helping it come about.

The important thing is that the specifics of the accusations against the Inquisition are absolutely irrelevant here. This conspiracy theory about Justinia being secretly alive and the Left and Right Hand doing a sabotage to secure Chantry power—it’s all nonsense, and I doubt the Vicomtesse truly believes it. More critically, she likely does not care whether it is true. Repeating this rumor is just a means to a desired outcome.

If you’ve ever argued with a conspiracy theorist who seemed to simply change their position every time you backed them into a rhetorical corner, you may have realized that facts are largely ineffective at combating this sort of thing.

And of the three advisors, Cullen is the only one to get hung up on the content of the rumor, rather than its source and its purpose. Josephine and Leliana, seasoned players of the Game, both recognize this stupid rumor for what it is. Both of them ignore the substance of it and instead focus on its purpose: turning public opinion against the Inquisition. Josephine proposes to combat it by seeking noble favor elsewhere and leaving it to those allies to do the work of actually arguing against the rumors. Leliana is more interested in finding out with whom the rumor originated.

Leliana also makes the particularly savvy observation that if they were to combat the rumor by attempting to prove Justinia’s death, they would simply be providing their opponents more ammunition to use against them later. Leliana recognizes that “The Divine is alive, and you’re hiding her!” isn’t an earnest accusation, it’s bait. And if you take the bait, if you say, “Actually the Divine did die; here’s her remains to prove it,” then your enemies can say, “Aha! And how do you know she’s dead? It’s because you people killed her!” Or, best case scenario is they just bait you into wasting a lot of your time proving the accusation false, which is exactly what happens if you let Cullen take the bait.

Again, you might have had a similar experience if you’ve ever tried to “debate” a person whose strategy is making outrageous claims, letting you waste a lot of time earnestly debunking them, and then ignoring all your arguments and simply making another, equally outrageous claim.

In Cullen’s case, what happens is poor Knight-Captain Rylen is tasked with leading a field trip of Orlesian nobles through the grisly ruins of the Temple of Sacred Ashes, while asking them to please not touch the red lyrium, and no, you cannot take a charred corpse home as a souvenir, please milord I must ask you not to touch the red lyrium. I’m sure that was an excellent use of everyone’s time and resources.

But it’s easy to understand why Cullen responds this way! It’s a very instinctual and human response! “Well, you’ve just said a thing that is very obviously untrue. I’ll prove to you that it’s untrue! And this will solve the problem of you being wrong, and then we can all move forward together. Right?”

It’s an eminently reasonable response, so long as you assume that the other party is being reasonable and engaging with you in good faith.

Cullen assumes they are. Josephine and Leliana know they’re not. (Vivienne also knew this; hence her handing the letter over to Josephine to deal with instead of bothering to reply herself.)

And you can probably see how Cullen’s earnestness, his desire to believe that other people are also operating earnestly and in good faith, could lead him down some dangerous paths.

Knight-Commander Meredith was also a conspiracy theorist. The difference is that her conspiracy theories were about people she had near-absolute power over, with terrible consequences. And working under the authority of someone he wanted to believe in, someone he absolutely would have taken as entirely earnest (because in many ways she was earnest, at least in her belief that magic was dangerous and must be controlled), it would have been easy for Cullen to assume she must be acting in good faith, even when his misgivings arose. “She needs a spine of iron to survive her position,” he says to Hawke. And like anyone arguing in bad faith, Meredith could move the goalposts when it suited her. No signs of blood magic discovered? That only proves how well they’re hiding it. The tower must be searched top to bottom. The First Enchanter objects? He must be one of them. Dissent among her own templar ranks? Must be the blood magic controlling their minds. As Dan Olson puts it in his video In Search of a Flat Earth, conspiracy theories make facts subservient to outcomes, which is why the "facts" can easily be rearranged and discarded at will—all that matters is the actions those facts justify.

Of course Meredith’s beliefs were, again, quite different—more dangerous, and far more earnestly held than this silly Orlesian rumor about the Inquisition. She was also under the influence of red lyrium at the height of her paranoia. But conspiracy theories often feed on paranoia, and Meredith’s beliefs were still ultimately beliefs that could be bent to justify the outcome she (and her superior, Grand Cleric Elthina) desired: mages must be controlled, whatever the cost.

Cullen has managed to extricate himself from Meredith’s mindset. But he hasn’t yet learned, I think, that conspiracy theories and irrational beliefs can’t be overcome simply by reason. That’s also very understandable for someone in his position. When you’re in the process of overcoming some very wrong beliefs yourself, things you earnestly believed, it’s very natural to want to believe that everyone else is just as earnest and can be persuaded; in fact, you have a personal stake in believing that, because if other people can be redeemed, that means there’s hope for you.

Do I think this justifies the things Cullen was complicit in during his time as a templar, or any misguided opinions he may voice during his time with the Inquisition? No, that’s not why I’m saying all this. But I think it’s an interesting aspect of his character and one worth exploring. Cullen is often characterized as the blunt instrument advisor, his answer to most war table questions being “send troops”; in Josie’s words “the hammer for whom every problem looks like a nail.” But I think some of his offered solutions do offer compelling insights into his character, and this one certainly does—as well as an interesting example of how this approach to the world and other people can go wrong.

[edennill-archived]

Trying to write my Second Age Eregion longfic and stumbling on the problem of having to invent a plausible motivation for Sauron. Not only is his headspace unpleasant to spend time in, but also... I just really cannot make sense of it sometimes.

Who in his right mind thinks the solution to "people won't let me solve the mess my own way entirely " is to ally yourself with the one person who's at fault for all the problems? I'm honestly almost starting to think it was out of spite.

...On the other hand, despite the assorted issues with being in Sauron's headspace I did come up with an interlude from his POV that was highly amusing to write.

(Tw for vague mentions of possibly-vampiric violence and romantic affairs of a sort)

Eregion was, without doubt, a maddeningly strange place, and it's goings-on hard to keep track of, even for Annatar. It was not that there were strictly more people in the city than in the old fortress, but those that were seemed to be enveloped in such a tangled web of relationships that rarely seemed to have any straightforward exchange of gain behind them at first glance. It was as if the entire population had conspired specifically to foil his attempts to understand them. There hadn't really been any place for friendship, as he supposed it should be called, in Angband. There was certainly — some — mirth, or at least laughter, that served the ridicule of enemies and little else. A fair amount of conspiration against superiors, but with only one by nature mightier than him, he had been quite above such things. He had shared knowledge at times, that much was true, but he made himself be paid for it — free knowledge was a dangerous thing to give in the fort. He was reasonably certain that at least Thurinwegthil had engaged in some failed romance with one of his people — he had had the offender killed when she vexed him once, and she had, he thought with some amusement, exsanguinated three prisoners, torn to pieces one of Felagund's last surviving tapestries and glared at him with acidic hatred for two weeks. But that romance at least would not have meant anything more complicated than that she slept with him, and they used the term differently in the elvish city. (He realised at this point with surprise and maybe a little unease, that he was wondering what Thuri' would have made of this place, and there was a little, just a little, wistfulness in it. He had not thought of her for years, the pathetic wretch, and that odd idea disturbed him the more. He had never bothered about the opinion of any of his inferiors while they were alive, none of them had the intelligence to make it worthwhile. The illogic of this thought frustrated him highly.)

He's so entirely out of touch with normal interactions between people, even if he's vaguely capable of mimicking them. Later on there is a moment when he cannot understand the meaning of "contempt" because he doesn't get why it's singled out as a feeling when everyone feels it towards everyone all the time, right?

[soylent-crocodile]

Felidar (Monster)

(Felidar Sovereign by Zoltan Boros)

(I'm posting for the time being! Expect two posts a week right now.

Magic the Gathering has a habit of creating types of beast to make their settings more fleshed out and fill out the mechanical slot of "generic large beast" in different places- felidar, krushok, cerodon, thoctar... all are creatures with a defined look and name. They're fun targets for monster creating, and I'm generally looking to make these Magical Beasts to keep it interesting. I started with Felidar because, well, I love big cats. As with all my creatures, I tried to give them a fun plot hook.)

CR6 NG Large Magical Beast

Felidar are large catlike predators typically found in mountainous regions, where they use their powerful roars and expert climbing skills to hunt down and kill prey. Felidar are more intelligent than an animal, though not by much- they have no true language, and prefer to live in simple family units or just hunt alone. Perhaps their most intelligent aspect is their knowledge of magic and magical places, as well as a capability for empathy- a felidar who sees an injured humanoid is willing to provide healing, and one whose trust has been gained will often lead humanoids to places of great magic potential- or to the location of a dangerous interloper or creature that needs to be dealt with for the good of the mountain.

Felidar are beings connected to the Plane of Positive Energy, and a vivacious life flows through them. One pint of felidar blood can be used as 100gp of materials to craft any potion of the Healing subschool. Felidar never give this blood freely, instead using their roar or Cure Moderate Wounds spell-like ability- some unscrupulous mages take this blood by force, typically injuring or killing these majestic animals.

This large cat has a splendid rack of antlers upon its head, its horns and insides glowing with a vivacious life.

The first roar startles; each enemy within the area of effect must make a Will save or trigger an attack of opportunity.

Misc- CR6 NG Large Magical Beast HD7 Init:+3 Senses: Perception:+13, Low-Light Vision

Stats- Str:21(+5) Dex:17(+3) Con:17(+3) Int:5(-3) Wis:18(+4) Cha:16(+3) BAB:+7 Space:10ft Reach:5ft

Defense- HP:60(7d10+21) AC:19(+3 Dex, -1 Size, +7 Natural) Fort:+8 Ref:+8 Will:+6 CMD:28 Immunity: Energy Drain, Curse, Death Effects

Offense- Bite +9(1d8+5), 2 Claw+10(1d6+5), Gore +4(1d8+3) CMB:+13 Speed:40ft Special Attacks: Pounce

Feats- Skill Focus (Intimidate), Weapon Focus (Claw), Power Attack (-2/+4), Dazzling Display (Claw)

Skills- Climb +17, Intimidate +9, Perception +10 (+8 Racial bonus to Climb)

Spell-like Abilities- (Caster Level 5, Concentration +8)

Light (Self only) /at-will

Clairvoyance/Clairaudience, Cure Moderate Wounds 3/day

Divination 1/week

Special Qualities- Roar, Vigilant

Ecology- Environment- Mountains (Any) Languages- None Organization- Solitary Treasure- None

Special Abilities- Roar (Su)- A felidar’s roar is imbued with supernatural power. It can make one of these special roars three times a day as a standard action; each successive roar has a different effect depending on if it’s the first, second, or third roar of the day. Each roar is a 60ft cone with a save DC of 16. The DC is constitution-based.

The second roar harms, dealing 7d6 sonic damage to all creatures- ally or enemy- within the area of effect, Reflex save for half.

The third roar restores, healing all allies within the area of effect 7d8 damage and removing the shaken, frightened, or panicked condition.

Vigilant (Ex)- A felidar is never considered to be flat-footed.

[doctorofmagic]

BLOOD HUNT PREDICTIONS (and spoilers!)

Okay, I see everyone is struggling to keep it cool because of what just happened today in Blood Hunt #1. But honestly I'm very excited to put the pieces together (also very HYPED!!!). So here are my thoughts (and my friend Red's, thank you, my darling) on what we gathered so far through clues, covers and solicitations.

Obviously, spoilers.

Well, first thing I'd like to establish is that people will probably feel lost if they haven't read the last Blade volume. Thankfully, yours truly did! Which means I can provide some context:

Just recently, Blade released an ancient evil called the Adana by accident. To make it up for this mistake (which would lead to the end of the world, basically), he had to embrace his full vampiric powers by drinking Dracula's blood (they're in a kinda complicated relationship right now, not friends nor enemies but necessary allies). That also meant that he was corrupted by its evil.

Plus, as I said it many times, Blade has a deep respect for Stephen because of the Montesi Formula, which resulted in the extinction of all vampires. Yes, Stephen did it once, and I'll get back to it because I think it's REALLY important.

Since we established that Blade might be corrupted, let's move on to the next topic.

Is Stephen dead?

My best guess is "not really".

In Blood Hunt, we see that T'Challa sacrificed himself to protect Cap America Sam and the rest of the Avengers who survived the first strike. But is T'Challa gone? Luckily, I follow Farid Karami on twitter and he posted a few inks he did for Black Panther: Blood Hunt. And guess what? That's right, we'll about to have vampire!T'Challa!

Besides, we all know that the next Doctor Strange issue will feature Wong and vampire!Stephen. What we didn't know was how Stephen would fit in the plot, but thanks to the variant cover I posted last week, we do now: he'll be guiding his allies via his astral form.

Now, how can the Sorcerer Supreme deal with the vampiric threat? It was shown that Stephen and Clea are looking for the Montesi Formula again.

For those who don't know, the Montesi Formula is a spell from the Darkhold that can wipe every single vampire off the face of the Earth. Stephen already used this spell once when he fought Dracula (and Blade was there, hence the respect he holds for Stephen). Unfortunately for them, Wanda has just recently absorbed the Darkhold within her body as a way to gain autonomy from Chthon (as seen in Darkhold: Alpha and Omega). Besides, Wanda was captured by the Bloodcoven, which means she can't do much right now. In addition, as hinted by Blade himself, she won't use the Montesi Formula, mostly because the character can't be involved in another kind of genocide (thanks, Bendis). And that leads us to the next topic.

Who could do it? The very one character who would overcome morals on behalf of his people, the same one who already appeared in the first issue: Doctor Doom. And if we think about it, he has two advantages already: 1) he's second in line to be the Sorcerer Supreme, and 2) as already established, he'd do anything to protect his planet and, most importantly, Latverians.

It's also important to reiterate that an astral form is not as powerful as the body+soul. With Stephen's strength limited, it's not that crazy to imagine that he could pass the mantle to Victor for a limited period while they find the spell. "Why not Clea?" I don't know. It's already established that managing the power of two sorcerers supreme is extremely hard and draining. Could be another reason as well. I'm just trying to find a coherent train of thought through this variant cover here:

Still, we're left with a very important dilemma. We have nice vampire allies in current comics: Brielle (Blade's daughter) and Soldier and Reese from the Midnight Mission (Moon Knight), the three of them being characters to be featured in the tie-ins. Well, not to mention Stephen and T'Challa, and maybe some more to be turned in the next issues. This is why I don't think the Montesi Formula will happen. Jed won't kill THE Black Panther, let's be real. So what's next?

We're expecting a plot twist at some point, and Blade will have an important role here. He's set to have another solo title this year, probably following the consequences of his actions. But there's a high chance someone else is involved. Let's check this panel once more:

Atlantean rituals.... Where did we hear about it before? That's right, Sorcerer Supreme #11!

During the old age, Varnae become ruler of the vampires and was brought back by Marie Laveau in modern age, fighting Doctors Strange and Voodoo. His last appearance traces back to Blade when he and his friends confronted him. Frank Drake sacrificed himself in an explosion to kill Varnae, and that's the last time we hear about him.

But see how the pieces come together? Blade, Stephen and Varnae. It makes sense that things would center around these three. And this is why I'm very excited. It's not a surprise that I love Blade and Stephen's relationship, and all these elements would make a wonderful drama, one that I'm really looking forward to!

Overall, I'm not worried about status quo or anything like that. I know things will work out in time, and seeing so many of my favorite characters involved in an event written by McKay only makes it better!

And that's it! Feel free to add your thoughts on this post! And see you all next week with Doctor Strange #15! 👀

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Seth Mandel

Yet as exasperatingly counterproductive as Schumer’s remarks were, they could not hold a candle to the performance by Rep. Jerrold Nadler on Tuesday. Nadler was announcing that he would attend Bibi’s speech while also making clear he that he—as-a-Jew—despises the Israeli government that is currently embroiled in a multi-front war against enemies seeking to eliminate the Jewish people from the surface of the earth. Nadler collapsed under the pressure and tweeted what can only be described as a cry for help:

“Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2100 years ago. The Prime Minister is putting the security of Israel, the lives of the hostages, the stability of the region, and longstanding Israeli democratic norms in perilous jeopardy, simply to maintain the stability of his far-right coalition and absolve him of his own legal troubles. Tomorrow’s address is the next step in a long line of manipulative bad-faith efforts by Republicans to further politicize the U.S.-Israel relationship for partisan gain and is a cynical stunt by Netanyahu aimed at aiding his own desperate political standing at home. There is no question in my mind it should not be happening.”

And yet, he said, “I have not given up on the dream of an Israel that can live in peace with its neighbors.” Therefore, he is attending the speech.

There are three things happening here, all of them deeply destructive. The first has nothing to do with the Jewish angle of this debacle. That is the diplomatic malpractice. America has a serious amount of power and lately an unserious way of wielding it.

Set aside the hysterical tone of Nadler’s post. Does anyone in Congress talk about any other ally this way? We have had a series of incompetent prime ministers in Britain over the past few years, one of whose term was outlived by a head of lettuce. We did not have members of Congress ranting about how Liz Truss was her country’s worst leader since Britain was Roman. That’s because they would look completely insane even publicly contemplating the question. If Nadler wants to retire to become a blogger at The Nation, he is more than welcome to. It’s a low bar, but more is expected of members of the United States Congress, especially those in senior positions.

Or we can turn to Canada, where the remedial-class prime minister likes to play dress-up more than think about politics, like some kind of ancient child-king. Is Schumer out on the floor ranting about how he loves Tim Hortons but the coffee will taste bitter to him until Justin Trudeau resigns to join the Ontario community theater?

[the-wayward-arc]

What happens to the iron dragons and thunder Lords after Nora and Yang's passing? Do they have some way to keep their memories alive? What about the rules they had in Legion what happens to those?

Loyal Au: The 2 companies became their chapters when the Legion split. With Yang passing peacefully at the age of 109, she was buried with her family, the private cemetery heavily guarded by three Iron Dragons at all times. Her gauntlets were reforged, at her request, into weapons befitting of the Iron Dragons chapter master. They are a symbol of his office and one of the very few things they have left of her. Iron Dragons repainted their armor to match her palette. Their chapter insignia being Yangs with a Dragon's skull in the center of it. They do their best to live up to her legacy.

Chaos Au: Yang's violent death came to destroy the Iron Dragons. In their anguish, as their Legion fell to the powers of Malal, the Iron Dragons allowed themselves to be possessed by great daemons in order to gain the power they need to avenge their mother. Great was their rage and Anguish, their need for power, that they actually turned the tables into the daemons that possessed them. Instead, devouring the daemons within themselves to harness the power, greatly mutating into their namesake while growing massive in size and keeping their will and personality. The Iron Dragons are extremely violent and ensure they rain down fire from the sky.

Thunder Lords

Loyal Au: The Thunder Lords chapter is unusual in the fact they are small in number and all their battle brothers use only terminator armor. The reason why they have such an amount is because they scavenged as many as they could during the heresy. Raiding Traitor Armories and scavenging them off the dead, both traitor and loyal. As such, the chapter is only 300 strong. As such they have a motto "Strike like a hammer! Hard and thunderous!" The peaceful passing of Nora at 98 did hit the the Thunder Lords hard. Repainting their armor to match her colors and wearing her symbol with great pride. They honor Nora by being not only being the heaviest hitters but coming down like a hammer upon their enemies, destroying everything in one fatal strike. The chapter keeps itself at its current strength due to limited number of Terminator armor. Much like Yang's weapon, Nora's was reforged into a might Thunder hammer for the Chapter Master to signify his status and office. It is a terrifying weapon capable of much more devastating destruction than it previously was, know that their mother would absolutely love it as such.

Chaos Au: Holding their Nora as she took her final breath in front of them sent every single Thunder Lord into an eternal rage. Their minds became fragmented at the lost of their mother and even more so when they mutated into Chaos Obliterators when they fully gave themselves to Malal who bestowed them his own vile version of the virus that severely mutated them and turned them into violent hulking killing machines. Fused to their very armor, they are in eternal agony but also eternally furious as they relive the moment of Nora's death in their minds. Seeing both allies and enemies as obstacles in their way to save Nora, always calling out for her. Forever reliving that moment. In a subconscious vain attempt to be closer to her, their right arms are permanently fused to their thunderhammers. Swinging violently to anyone that gets near them. Their are only 40 of them left (bit of a retcon from 10 I stated before.) Gunnvaldr is the only one of his brethren to keep his sanity and the only one they listen to outside of Jaune. Even at times, above Jaune. They are kept in stasis or restrained.

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Magic, Spiders, Fire, and A Blip 🌠 | Marvel Headcanon

Marvel Masterlist

Note: I need these three characters to interact at some point in the upcoming projects and so this was a result of that need 💀 I plan though on making another one of these but with America, Shuri, & Cassie!

Being an Avenger with the power to teleport during the events of Doomsday & becoming best friends with Peter Parker, Johnny Storm, and Billy Maximoff would look like:

As you can imagine, you four together are absolute chaos. Picture this: following an accident in your college lab in which you were exposed to godly levels of radiation, you gained the power to teleport to and from any place you put your mind to. Thinking about a shopping day in Paris? Blip. See a show at the Sydney Opera House? Blip. Hibachi in Tokyo? Blip.

You got under Sam's radar when he and Bucky were dealing with rogue super soldiers--Sharon Carter being the one to inform Sam of your ability as you had been hiding out in Madripoor from your home country's government. Sam recruited you with promise of protection if you helped them and you agreed. From then on you became an ally of Sam as he took on the mantle of Captain America and aided him in missions.

It's no surprise that you become involved when Doctor Doom arrives to do what supervillains do--you know, try to destroy the universe--even though Sam is hesitant. This time around the Avengers find themselves with a much...younger bunch of heroes than what they're accustomed to, therefore stakes are high, and the older Avengers are often reminded just how young some of you are.

"So, what's your story, blondie?" "I can set myself of fire and fly. You?" "Teleportation." "Ah...so that's why they call you blip."

"I'm feeling really optimistic about this." "How can you be optimistic about us having no plan?" "Hey, Spider, at least magic man has hope for us." "I second that."

Peter Parker already knew what to expect when it came to a multiversal, planet extinction, genocidal maniac level threat. Now add a chaos magic wielding reincarnated son of the Scarlet Witch, Billy Maximoff, and a flying, fire infused, fantastic Disney prince looking Johnny Storm and the four of you become a team within the team. Gaining a bond long after defeating Doom and going back to your regularly scheduled lives.

There's no question, you guys give your fellow Avengers headaches even when there is no mission and the risk of lives at stake. Y'all are the life of the party and during functions you can expect there to never be a dull moment. For example, the dance floor could be dead but the second you four step on it becomes a vibe. You'll form a mini circle which then gets bigger as the others join in. "Go Billy! Go Billy!" "Peter! Throw it in a circle and let Johnny catch it!"

You guys have movie and game nights pretty much every weekend--except when you have to save the world--where you set up Switch games or pull out a classic board game while a movie plays on the tv. It gets intense when y'all play Mario Kart and Smash Bros because then all goes out the door seeing as all of you are competitive. "Who the fuck just cut me off!? Which one of you is baby Luigi?" "Not me blip--I'm Yoshi." "It's Wiccan! He just threw a shell at me!" "Shut up, Peter!"

"Damn it, Blip--will you let me breathe here!?" "Not a chance, Spider." "Stop throwing fire balls at me, Johnny!" "Then stop pushing me off the cliff!"

Whenever one of y'all has a problem there will be a group meeting to discuss. Whether it's relationship advice, family drama, a new enemy emerging, etc., you have each other's back. It becomes easier to gather everyone when you guys decide to share an apartment at Avengers campus or rent one in the city. "I call this meeting to order and ask that you wait until all details have been relayed before speaking." "Sir/ma'am, yes, sir/ma'am." "Okay, there's this guy/girl..." "WHO!!?!!"

You guys have nicknames/inside jokes for each other that are different from your superhero aliases and are likely y'alls contact names. Johnny is Ken because he looks and acts like a real-life Ken Doll. Billy is Billie Eilish--which must I say more? He gives off major Billie Eilish energy. Peter is Umbrella because he's obsessed with the Rihanna song and blasts it whenever he's going through a mood. And you are Lemon Drop after drinking one too many lemon drop martinis at a gala and they had to take care of you.

Your group chat name is The Fabulous (Chaotic) Four (Johnny's idea) and the group photo is Bucky Barnes holding up Doom's helmet with Sam's goggles on and a thumbs up. You change it though whenever it's someone's birthday. On Peter's it's his meet & greet photo with Rihanna when he went to her concert. On Johnny's it's him in his space suit flipping off the camera. On yours it's a selfie you took at the top of the Statue of Liberty dressed as the Statue of Liberty. And on Billy's it's him at a rave wearing light up glasses with his tongue sticking out.

And because you guys are all superheroes with powers, you take advantage of it. During the harsh winters you all practically cling to Johnny who radiates heat like the sun. Whenever you want to take a trip anywhere without informing the rest of the Avengers your teleportation comes in handy. Billy will use his magic to fix anything in the apartment and cook complex meals for you guys since he can have multiple things going at once. And Peter has his spider-senses to alert you all if something is happening in the area.

Y'all miss each other whenever one of you has to leave for a mission without them. Sam calls for you often, Johnny has the Fantastic Four, Billy will sometimes disappear doing God knows what and Peter still devotes himself to being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in the city. It feels like a piece is missing from your little pie whenever someone is gone, but don't worry once Y'all are back together it's like no one left.

Something y'all would be tempted to --and highly advised not to- have a YouTube channel where you post vlogs and videos of random shit. You'd post videos like, "Teleporting to Ibiza for the day because I can," while the boys tend to film in the middle of a mission, "Today we're gonna take you guys on an adventure as we investigate the odd occurrences happening in New York." "When is there not odd things happening in New York?" "Touché"-- "I'm not going to say it again, turn that camera off!!"

[ancientforgcd]

The thing is, even if Ruby is immortal (one could argue amortal, she isn't really alive or dead in a sense) and has a healing factor, the opponents she faces are often those that negate said immortality and either slow down the healing factor or completely stop it from working. Be it by their weapon, their skills or simply a natural ability they possess.

Ruby had canonically died three times in the story. Two of those times were because she was overpowered by her enemies and killed outright. The third was different - she sacrificed herself, blowing herself up along with her enemy to save everyone else.

Why bring this up?

Because even though Ruby had been brought back by the Remnant Dragon Balls each time, the fact remained that she had died. Death left its mark, no matter who or what you were. The first two times changed her. She became more serious and colder, determined never to experience that again and, more importantly, to prevent her family, friends, or allies from having to face it themselves.

For most of the first five Sagas, this mindset defined how Ruby fought. She rarely let herself enjoy a fight, always focusing on ending things as quickly as possible. In some ways, she became similar to Blair, her Eternal Rival, but without Blair’s enjoyment of battle. Ruby was more focused, almost detached, and always calculating.

Her third death, the one where she sacrificed herself, was different. It wasn’t just a loss but a choice, and it left a bigger impact on her. She spent nearly five years in the Afterlife after that, reasoning that most of the threats to Remnant had come because of her. And honestly, she wasn’t wrong. Without her presence, the planet enjoyed five years of peace.

When Ruby finally returned for 24 hours to attend a festival Blair was hosting, a new enemy attacked. She was revived halfway through the arc, but by then, she had changed. The time she spent in the Afterlife had given her a chance to heal. She wasn’t as cold or serious anymore. She was more relaxed and easygoing, allowing herself to enjoy life again, like how she used to be a long time ago.

This change was obvious during said arc. Ruby didn’t approach fights with the same cold, calculated mindset she had before. She faced them with more confidence and a renewed sense of joy, no longer weighed down by her past.

The shift in Ruby's characters didn't erase her past strugges, but showed how she grew from them. The trauma she endured, her choices, and the time she spent reflecting all contributed to a more balanced version of herself. She learned to let go of some of the guilt that had weighed her down, accepting that she couldn't control everything and that it was okay to live for herself, too. Ruby didn't lose her stubborn determination or confidence - she simply stopped letting those things consume her.

By the end of the first part of the story, Ruby felt more like herself again, but with the maturity and perspective she gained from her experiences. She wasn't just a warrior fighting to protect others anymore - she was a Vacosian who could genuinely enjoy life and fighting again. It was this balance she should have strived for in the first place and what ultimately allowed her to tackle challenges with a newfound, boundless confidence.

[queenvhagar]

hi I really enjoy reading your thoughts.

one thing that made me Team Green was the fandom. While I can enjoy a TB character I find a lot of their fans to be some of the most "stanniest of stans" and that's just not how I like to experience a character. it doesn't help that the writers of HOTD frame things in a way that encourages these types of people after seeing the kind of blind idolatry Show Daenerys receives...

I actually really love Daenerys as a character (in the books! After a certain point in the show she became a character that made me role my eyes so much), I love thinking about how flawed and doomed she is and how ultimately tragic she is. What sucks is I can't ever find myself interacting with other fans of her because I feel like most of them just use her a self insert ultra fantasy character. I've found some of them to be the most insufferable people alive and you can tell in real life these people are probably the most entitled white women that love all their privileges but outwardly pretend to be both the victim and savior and it sucks being a fan of her ACTUAL character 😭 Like... I feel like her "antis" make her a more interesting character to think about. I feel like her antis understand her better. I love her but I have her fucking tag blocked because I don't want to see all the run off of her biggest fans dumb thoughts about every other character in the story LMAO.

Sorry I'm rambling but I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on daenerys?

I feel very similarly about Daenerys.

She and Targaryens are somewhat of a power fantasy that I feel it's easy to get drawn into. These people are beautiful, and special, and they command the power of a dangerous beast and can use them to soar above the world and destroy their enemies. On the surface, who wouldn't want to be one of them?

But what's it like if you're not them? If you're just one of the others they view as beneath them or moldable to their will? It's easy to forget that this power fantasy exists in the context of its world. What does it mean for others that some people have that kind of power and can and will use it against you? What does the power of dragons do to your psyche, your perception of self and others, the way you relate to others?

This is all heightened with Daenerys. She is so uniquely empowered in having the only three dragons known to man loyal to her, and she acquired those dragons by acting on her dreams. She survived flames no other living person could. In her mind, she is the blood of Old Valyria, the last of her kind, inherently superior and owed her birthright. She is guided by dreams and prophecy that tell her she is destined to retake her throne.

But as GRRM wrote in A Dance With Dragons, specifically in regards to Daenerys:

Prophecy is like a treacherous woman. She takes your member in her mouth, and you moan with the pleasure of it, and think, how sweet, how fine, how good this is... and then her teeth snap shut and your moans turn to screams. That is the nature of prophecy.

Daenerys is wrapped up in the prophecy, as Rhaegar and other Targaryens were before her. The Targaryens believe the prophecies that say they are destined saviors of the world with divine right to rule. Daenerys is constantly thinking of the prophecies of Quaithe and allowing them to guide her actions. And unfortunately, eventually, this will lead her to isolate herself from allies. Particularly her fear of betrayal as prophesied will lead to her paranoia and isolation and reliance on her own mind and decision making. A queen unable to consider others' perspectives will not gain her favor in Westeros.

And when she comes to Westeros eventually, likely to find that a prophesied "mummer's dragon" (whether it's real or not she will believe it), a well-liked young man with a purported stronger claim than hers sitting the throne she is "destined" to claim... Let's just say things are not going to go super well for everyone involved, particularly since she has three weapons of mass destruction at her disposal. Guided by prophecy and her legacy as the last true Targaryen, and her realization at the end of ADWD that she has forgotten herself and needs to embody fire and blood to get what she wants...

She really is a tragic character. She wants these perfect ideals of liberation and peace and home. She believes they can be found in a land she does not know and has never visited. She is guided by faith in herself and her dreams and prophecies that seem to come true. She is conflicted between her desire to protect innocents and seek out peace and her pursuit of her goal of retaking the Iron Throne, a pursuit in which innocents will die and peace will only come after... and after Meereen, she has learned that compromise gets her nowhere, and fire and blood will be the way she achieves her goals. Guided by Quaithe's prophecies to be a dragon and be cautious of others, she will become more isolated from allies and more reliant on fire and blood. Put that all together in Westeros, against other POV characters...

It's sad, but Daenerys IS ultimately fated to fail. And it will make sense, and it will be tragic. It will be better explained and executed than in the show. But it will happen. If there is any Targaryen restoration at the end of this story, it will not be through her.

And I love her character for it all. She is iconic. She is THEE Mother of Dragons. She is a survivor. She is a leader. She has political intelligence. She has the cunning and drive and hard power to play the game of thrones. She is magical. And she makes mistakes. She is quick to anger and slow to forgive. She shows brutality toward her enemies. She relies too much on prophecy.

I love her character, and I can see her flaws and where her story is headed as she heads towards Westeros and other POV characters and attempts to reclaim the throne from others.

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Hello, Sleppy! There is one thing I have always wanted to know about Jade but did not dare ask. Tell me, please, what happened to Jade and Simon in the original CoD universe? I saw a sketch of crying Jade, was it her reaction to Simon's death or in your universe he managed to survive? P.S. - I am sorry if you do not like this question at all.

Okay so since I rarely post about the OG!MW2 anymore, I'm just gonna reveal the whole plot to you guys (ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ)

Be ready cuz this is kinda long - these are the canon divergence that I constructed in the events that my OC's are inserted into the OG!MW2 plot.

So, Jade was actually sent by the MI6 to track down what actually happened that made Russia attack US out of nowhere. Because that Zakhaev Airport massacre sounded and looked FISHY as HECK. Being the MI6 she was, Jade had to report regularly to her handler in MI6 (141 didn’t know this. It’s her personal gig). She met Soap Ghost and Roach there, but her first meeting with Ghost was bad and blab la blaaa SHE OPENED GHOST'S MASK. She also met Ellie (another OC I had for Gaz who’s a medical corps leader in 141. Gaz died in the OG!MW, she was still saddened but she’s very glad to have Jade in the base).

There’s also another OC that I have named Bara. He’s a lone Indonesian Denjaka sniper lieutenant that got sent by the country to capture an Indo defector among Makarov’s cause. Because of political reasons, he’s not a 141. Bara’s like an ally that pop out sometime somewhere like a spirit. 141 themselves were still very suspicious of him, but when Bara saved Meat and Royce in Rio, he gained their trust, and 141 would help him find the defector as Bara would help them on their missions.

Now, sometime in the middle, Jade was captured by Makarov and got tortured by him. Jade intentionally didn’t escape and held the pain in to gain some info herself from anyone inside the room or from Makarov himself. And that’s where the (How about you check who you surround yourself with) and Jade’s gears started turning inside her brain. She released herself and ran amok around Mak’s place, and found some data about “anonymous source” that said there’ s mole among Makarov’s group in the massacre (we know it is Joseph Allen) and she SENT THAT STRAIGHT to MI6. Ghost and the boys found the compound and rescued a badly injured Jade.

So like, along the story, Jade found bits and pieces, put two and two together, and by the end, Jade’s 90% sure that Shepherd’s onto something shitty.

NOW HERE’S THE CANON DIVERGENCE IN LOOSE ENDS MISSION.

As Jade, Roach, and Ghost went to Makarov’s base at the Georgian-Russian border, Jade actually took the time to read the posts, notes, and all the info that were sticked to the boards, tables, and walls. In fact, as Ghost and Roach was busy fighting off Makarov’s goons, Jade READ that shit (because at that point she didn’t trust Shepherd AT ALL).

And you guessed it, she found out that Shepherd is the mastermind behind every damn thing.

So when Roach transferred the data to the DSM, she did her magic and unbeknownst to everyone, she SENT ALL the proof to MI6 on the spot.

Jade then told Ghost and Roach about everything, and they did NOT trust Shepherd anymore. So when the general told them to go the fields, they declined and decided to hold the fort inside the house. Shepherd knew something was wrong, so when he kept pressing the three to get out of the house, but again, the three didn’t oblige, the general and the shadows decided to finally go to the house.

Shepherd and the Shadows cleared the whole area from enemies and tried to find Ghost, Roach, Jade,and the others in the house. One by one, the SC people got killed with stealth. Things led to another, and chaos ensued inside the house. Shepherd could’ve burnt down the house with the 141 in it, but Shepherd’s paranoid that Jade had done something, and he NEEDED that DSM.

Shootout happened, and Jade got one of the SC as a shield with a gun to his head. Shepherd told Jade to give him the DSM, and convo happened, Shepherd finally revealed his motives. And now he had to get rid of the three of them.

AND THEN, MI6 contacted Jade, saying that the proof about Shepherd’s doing had gone public. The whole thing was his doing all long, and now the world had turned all their forces towards finding Shepherd. Russia, US, now began their search on Shepherd! WOOHOO

Panicked, Shepherd yelled at SC as reinforcements came, along with Price and Soap who came straight fom Kazakhstan to the place, Meat and Royce (who survived Rio), Archer and Toad, everyone came to help.

CLIMAX ENSUED, and Ghost got shot twice protecting Jade from Shepherd’s bullets.

As Jade held Ghost on her arms, Price and Soap, with Nikolai’s help, chased Shepherd who’s desperately tried to escape and killed him. Minus the Soap getting stabbed.

Don’t worry, Ghost survived because ELLIE WILL NOT let him leave Jade like Gaz left her too fast. So Ghost survived WOOHOOO.

The Jade crying sketch was, indeed, a cry of relief as Ellie told her that Ghost was going to be fine (❁´◡`❁). She wore Ghost's jacket to comfort herself during the times Ghost was unconscious, and this sketch came out!

Everybody lives, no WW3, no MW3. This is REAL MOVIE ASS SHIT but it’s what’s in my mind!

I have the whole ass fic about the post-Loose Ends angst at the ready if y'all want it.

[aptericia]

Octopath II gameplay tips!

I'd been thinking about this for a while, but since I have mutuals who are playing 8path2, here's a list of advice and things the game doesn't explain!

Incorrect/vague skill descriptions:

The Warrior skill "Enervating Slash": The description is flat-out wrong. This will remove all positive status effects from the USER, rather than the targeted enemy!

"Increased intensity spells" courtesy of the Scholar job: So wtf does this even mean? It gives you a counter that causes the next x number of AREA TARGET SPELLS to be "intensified". For instance, the Cleric's "Heal Wounds" skill can be intensified, but NOT the Apothecary's "Healing Touch" skill. For elemental-based spells, such as Fireball, this causes it to trigger twice (or three times if using Alephan's Wisdom).

Throné's EX skill "Disguise": When used on an ally, Throné takes on their job(s) and learned skills. Sadly, because she doesn't also take on their equipment stats (to my knowledge; I haven't actually verified this), it means she's usually not optimized for their fighting style.

Partitio's EX skill "Share SP": This also has a flat-out wrong description. He gives a percentage of his SP to EACH party member, not just one. For instance, without boosting, he will lose 25% of his max SP and every other party member will gain whatever that amount is. And yes, they'll get it even if it puts them above their normal max SP! Partito rocks!

The Apothecary job’s “Preventative Measures” support skill: Rather than nullifying status ailments for the first 3 turns of battle (as the description says), it nullifies the first three status effects to target the user. So if the user isn’t hit with a status effect until turn 4, it will still be nullified, but if they’re hit with 4 status effects within the first three turns, the 4th will still take effect.

Battle interface:

"Status ailments" include Poison (take damage each turn), Sleep (unable to act until hit), Unconsciousness (unable to act, period), Blindness (greatly reduced accuracy), Terror (unable to boost), Silence (unable to use skills) and Confusion (target a random ally until hit).

"Positive status effects" and "negative status effects" include buffs/penalties to stats, as well effects like temporary HP regen, Sidestep/Vengeful Blade charges, etc. Note that the Cleric skill "Sacred Shield" does NOT appear next to the character's name, and therefore does not count as a "positive status effect"

The order of enemy weaknesses is something you'll see mentioned in any guide/trivia about the game, and it's incredibly helpful. Weaknesses are always listed in the same order: Sword, Polearm, Dagger, Axe, Bow, Staff, Fire, Ice, Thunder, Wind, Light, and Dark (SPD ABS FIT WLD). So for instance, if I determine that an enemy is weak to daggers and the dagger icon is in the first square, I know that enemy CANNOT be weak to swords or polearms, because those would be listed first.

Traveler talents:

Don't forget that Osvald's Study Foe talent reveals more weaknesses each time he encounters the same enemy!

Remember to have Partitio in your party in order to take advantage of his Business Partners talent! For instance, if Parti's follower gives a discount when buying things, this applies not only to NPCs he Purchases from but also shops if he happens to be in the party. Similarly, you may want to pick up a follower that earns more from sales before you sell off a bunch of junk. And if his follower gives a refund at the inn, you can refill your whole party's meters for free as long as you keep Partitio in your party.

Dancer skills that will activate Agnea's Dance Session talent include: Lion Dance (Dance Session targets the ally), Peacock Strut (Dance Session targets the ally), Dagger Dance (Dance Session targets Agnea), and Bewildering Grace (Dance Session targets a random party member). Ruinous Kick, Stimulate, and Sweeping Gale will NOT trigger a Dance Session.

If you want to go into a dungeon you're just under-leveled for, try taking both Throné and Temenos and clearing it at night. Blessing of Darkness and Moonlight Judgement together can give a huge advantage, especially once you're higher-level.

Miscellaneous:

Caits and Octopuffs have absurdly high evasion and elemental defense, but give you massive rewards if defeated. They will often flee the battlefield if ANY enemy has taken damage by the time their turn comes around. Usually the best way to defeat them is to hammer them will all your strongest magic, as spells can't miss and have a minimum damage of 1. Use of Stimulate, Leghold Trap, and the A Step Ahead support skill can come in handy to push their turns back. As @limayde mentioned, Medium and Large Soulstones can also defeat most of them instantly!

Healing (via skills) is based on the caster’s elemental defense. Therefore, it’s a good idea to give your healers equipment with high Elem. Def!

[scotianostra]

On October 26th 1327 Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen Consort of Robert the Bruce died at Cullen Castle, Banffshire.

Elizabeth was the daughter of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, one of King Edward I’s most prominent and powerful Anglo-Irish supporters, by his wife, Margaret, apparently the daughter of Sir John de Burgh Senior of Lanvalay. She would have grown up at the English Court and on her father's extensive estates in Ireland.

In the very late 13th century, Elizabeth was introduced to Robert Bruce, the Earl of Carrick and heir to Scottish throne. He had joined the English Court to gain the support of King Edward I, and possibly with the direct intention of allying himself with Elizabeth’s father. The Scottish widower had a young daughter to care for, so a match with Ulster’s daughter was an easy way of killing two birds with one stone. Elizabeth was said to be a great beauty and about ten years his junior. They married in 1302, some say at Writtle, near Chelmsford in Essex, one of the Bruce's English  manors.

Four years later, after the defeat and execution of William Wallace, the Scots turned to Bruce to carry on their struggle for independence and, in defiance of Edward I, he assumed the Crown of Scotland. During his coronation at Scone Abbey, revelry outweighed the proper serious nature of the event and Elizabeth is said to have rebuked her husband for 'playing' at Kings and Queens like children (at the midsummer revels). She was evidently a lady of mature and earnest character.

Only a week later, Robert the Bruce was soundly defeated by John of Lorne on the borders of Perthshire and Argyll. The situation was looking very grim and the King ordered the Queen to take her twelve-year-old step-daughter and flee north along with the his two sisters. They were escorted as far as Kildrummy Castle by the Earl of Atholl and the King’s brother, Neil Bruce. Here they found refuge for only a short time before the English placed them under siege. Because the castle was one of the strongest fortresses in Scotland, however, the enemy were eventually forced to revert to bribery to gain entry. It was the castle’s blacksmith who turned traitor and set fire to the grain stores in the great hall. This soon spread to the main gate and the garrison was quickly forced to surrender. Neil Bruce was captured and executed, but Elizabeth and the rest of her party managed to escape and desperately rode still further northward. They appear to have been making for Orkney but, stopping overnight in the sanctuary of St. Duthlac at Tain, they were captured by William, Earl of the Ross, an old supporter of her husband’s rival, John Balliol.

The Royal ladies were all sent to England where they were kept sometimes together, but mostly apart. Queen Elizabeth was first held at Burstwick Manor in Holderness. She was probably saved from public humiliation due to the fact that her father were still a powerful ally of King. Conditions in her, relatively comfortable, prison were, however, not what she was used to; and she wrote to the English monarch to complain that she was only allowed to purchase three outfits for the whole year, and no headgear or bedclothes. However, over the next eight years of her imprisonment, things improved considerably as she was moved to better accommodation.

In 1308, Elizabeth was confined to Bisham 'Abbey' Manor in Berkshire, a preceptory of the Knights Templar which Edward II had only very recently confiscated. She spent some four years there until March 1312 when, with the King increasingly at odds with his nobles and Bruce now raiding Northern England, she was moved down the road to the greater security of Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth spent the summer of 1312 at Windsor, before being moved on to Shaftesbury Abbey (Dorset) in the October, by which time the political situation in England had settled down and the Windsor household was probably required to concentrate on Queen Isabella who arrived there the following month for the birth of her eldest son.

On 24th June 1314, King Robert at last defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn and the enemy's commander, Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, was captured soon afterward. Negotiations soon led to his release in return for that of Queen Elizabeth, the Scottish Princesses and the aging Bishop of Glasgow. Elizabeth returned home to take her place at the centre of Scottish political life.

Elizabeth and Robert had two daughters at this time, but no son. In 1316, the baby son of the King’s eldest daughter, Marjorie, became heir presumptive when his mother died due to complications caused by a riding accident shortly before his birth. Thus the situation remained until the Queen herself gave birth to a son, named David, at Dunfermline Palace, some eighteen years later! A second son followed but, sadly, he died in childhood.

Elizabeth died at the Royal residence of Cullen Castle on 26th October 1327, at the age of only about forty-three. Her entrails were removed during the embalming process and buried in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin there. The rest of her body was taken to Dunfermline Abbey for burial, where it was joined, eighteen months later, by her husband, King Robert.

[nevis-the-skeleton]

Why do we hate Airachnid that much?

I saw a short but rather interesting post from @cosmics-beings, which questioned why most of us hate Airachnid that much: here

A possible first answer was that it was because she killed Breakdown. But as cosmic says, Starscream killed Cliffjumper and Megatron killed Dreadwing, yet that doesn't stop us from liking one or the other, or even both : here

So what is different with Airachnid? What makes us don't love her, sometimes going so far as to hate her. Because deep down, she's not much different from Starscream. Both are characters who don't really belong to one side, and who are selfish and calculating. They both have:

-Tried to betray Megatron

-Became MECH Allies

-Killed a partner of Arcee/or other (so Breakdown for Airachnid)

And yet, despite these striking resemblances of actions, the two did not do it for the same reason, or in the same way.

*

First, why do both of them want to betray/kill Megatron? Starscream attempts to do this because he is being abused by Megatron. He's actually one of the few Starscreams to be at least loyal as long as you treat him well, and meet some of his expectations. In the beginning of the series, Starscream shows no signs of betrayal, until Megatron begins to hurts him. It's from this moment that Starscream begins to think again of betraying him, by killing him. This is one of the first reasons, the second being an undeniable thirst for power from him, which he somehow tries to fill. Adding the fact that he led the Decepticons for three years, and as soon as Megatron returned, everything started to go wrong. Thanks, Dark Energon…

But, Airachnid? Why does she do it? Why does she want to betray Megatron so badly too? For power? Like Starscream? But what is the motivation behind it? She seems more the type to live alone, and all of a sudden she wants to lead? In fact, we don't understand her intentions unlike Starscream, this is one of the first points that makes us not like her, because we can't understand her. A character on the villain side can be appreciated, but has to be understood.

*

Then why did they try to ally with MECH? For Starscream, the answer is simple: he was literally starving to death, and MECH had the resources to solve that problem. Afterwards, one might wonder why he betrayed his species in such a way by revealing to the MECH how to build an artificial Transformer. Already, because it suited him, the MECH was bound to look for energon for their robot, and he knew that in return for his information, he could have some. In Starscream's head you don't get anything for free, if you don't have anything to give back, you get nothing. This, he already learns with the Autobots, because if he didn't have the necessary information, Ratchet wasn't even fixing him. And surely it was already like that even with the Decepticons. Starscream also indeed shot Bumblebee's T-cog, but he had no real malice behind it, in fact the shot practically go off on its own. And, yes, he mocks Bumblebee. But at the same time it's Starscream, we can't expecte from him to have compassion for an enemy.

Airachnid on her side does it for her vendetta against Arcee, nothing else. She just takes pleasure in making Arcee suffer, by threatening her human family: Jack and June. She doesn't gain much, except the pleasure of hurting her nemesis. She is not necessarily looking for a refuge, or an ally. She was planning to betray MECH right after anyway. Because, let's be clear, she has no real reason to hate Arcee that much… Airachnid hurts Arcee more than Arcee hurts her. Except maybe her pride.

*

Then, both killed robots, but the way to do it is different. Starscream usually tries to kill in one shot. We saw it with Cliffjumper, both in the scene where he kills him, and in the flashback. In episode 1 of TFP, Starscream kills Cliffjumper in one shot, aiming directly at the Spark, he does not seek to make the prisoner suffer.

So yes, it's frankly not cool to kill a prisoner, but the Decepticons are not angels in this series, nor are the Autobots. So it's not necessarily surprising for him to do so. Especially when we're talking about Starscream. Afterwards, we see that he is not necessarily interested in killing an enemy in pain, because in the scene in the past, with the first appearance of Shockwave. Starscream has a multitude of choices to kill Cliffjumper, more or less painful.

He had the choice, but between making suffer Cliffjumper, or make him silent forever, he prefers the second option. He prefers a standard, quick way, a hit claws straight into the Spark.

Even with Wheeljack, if Soundwave hadn't stopped Starscream, Wheeljack's death would have been instantaneous.

When Starscream kills, it's to be effective, he doesn't seem to really enjoy hurting others. Except perhaps with Arcee, but the little desire for revenge must have been just as present as for our dear warrior. But here, too, he wanted to kill in one shot, like against Airachnid with his missiles. But I also add that's he don't hate makes suffer others, he's not a cool bot you know. But, he seems to have a preference of instant kill instead of painful one.

While Airachnid takes pleasure in making his opponent suffer. She never kills them right away, prolonging the fight, or imprisoning them in her webs. Already to put pressure, but also to make his opponent totally at her mercy.

And sorry but, is it me, or does she really don't know what "personal space" mean? It's kinda interresting in fact.Why is she doing this?

Anyway, like I said, you can't really hate her for that, killing in the back or when the enemy is helpless is the Decepticons way in this series (except Dreadwing). But, even there, she does not kill them right away. For example for Breakdown. Well that's technically a case of self-defense, because he was trying to kill her too. But given Breakdown's scream of pain, it clearly wasn't quick. And then you just have to see the state of his corpse! Why cut him up like this?! Clearly, it wasn't necessarily to do so, especially since there was always Dreadwing, which could have happened at any time. Yet she took her time, literally tearing Breakdown apart piece by piece.

Even Megatron is more lenient on this, often giving a quick kill or an effective hit, like against Ratchet. And, for example, he shooted directly into Dreadwing's Spark, without trying to torture him.

And, yes, Airachnid killed Tailgate with one hit, but she had tortured him beforehand, in front of Arcee! Not to mention that she massacred entire species, for her morbid collection, which is super creepy. And, again, apart from showing that she's a psychopath, I don't really see the point of this collection.

So, Starscream and Airachnid are selfish and calculating as I said before, but Starscream mainly uses this as a defense mechanism, whereas Airachnid seems to be aware of it and enjoy it.

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We also see that unlike other Decepticons, she shows no signs of empathy, or bonding with others, or even weakness. For example, Starscream has empathy for Breakdown and that's kind of what drives him to save him, beyond orders. He is also disturbed by the state of his corpse with Cylas in it. We also see his weaknesses, or when he doubts, which also pushes the viewer to have empathy for him. As another example, we have KnockOut who is enraged when he finds out what Cylas did to Breakdown. Or Dreadwing, who is a super endearing character because of the love he had for his brother. Even being a Decepticon, he kind of mourns his death. There is also the friendship between Megatron and Soundwave. Just see Soudwave's reaction, when Airachnid tries to betray Megatron. And we have a moment of vulnerability from Megatron when Orion Pax somehow returns, which is what stops him from killing Optimus. While Airachnid is cold, and shows no real emotions. Even Shockwave who is supposed to be emotionless has more than her, and he has a bond with Predaking. We can for example see small affectionate moments between them.

Airachnid has no friendly relationship, even if it's not unheard among the Decepticons: Breakdown and KnockOut, Starscream and KnockOut, Soundwave and Megatron, Megatron and Shockwave, Predaking and Shockwave, Skyquake and Dreadwing, and even Soundwave and Starscream (in a way). Airachnid seems to have only enemies and no friends.

The fact that no character is attached to her or appreciates her, makes that the viewer does not get there either. Major characters like Starscream, Arcee, and even Soundwave don't like her. And they are characters that fans appreciate. So, inside, without realizing it, we don't love her like them.

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We don't always understand her intentions, and she seems to take too much pleasure in making others suffer, which makes the viewer unable to appreciate her. We also don't know much about her, especially on an emotional level. In fact, Airachnid isn't deep enough, and doesn't really show any weakness. We rarely see her being scared, sad, or having doubts. Things that you can actually see in the other Decepticons. I think the reason most of us don't like Airachnid is because she seems to us as totally unsympathetic and sadistic to an extreme degree.

Unlike Starscream or even Megatron who don't necessarily seem to take pleasure in hurting or killing. This is also the case with most of the other Decepticons, the only exception being KnockOut against Cylas, but he does it mostly out of revenge. For example even Megatron when he beats Starscream doesn't seems to appreciate it. It's impulsive and out of anger, whereas Airachnid most often does it hyper-premeditated. She's a psychopath, so it's hard for the viewer to get attached to her.

But, it's don't mean that we can't appreaciate her, or that we can't appreciate a character like Airachnid. For example, Overlord, who's kinda like Airachnid, is like by many fans. But the difference is that he shows emotions, even sadness or doubt. Not just joy about hurting people.

All I said doesn't mean she's a bad villain, quite the contrary. If she had been exploited better, they could have easily made her the main villain of Season 3. I made an analyse, where I explain that she's could have been a really cool villain, but that they don't show her full potential, and that her character has not been explored enough : here

If you have others ideas about why we don't like her that much, I would be happy to hear it :).