#Heaven’s vault spoilers

[katistrophe]

I heard you like conlangs so I put conlang in your conlang

Or, Kat has Heaven’s Vault on their brain after playing Chants of Sennaar.

(Translation notes after the cut)

To start this off, I am a ridiculous person who has religiously avoided language spoilers for Heaven’s Vault, so this is based off of the… sixty-odd pages of notes I took while playing.

The title was tricky, of course - couldn’t really find the etymology of „Sennaar“, so „Chants of Sennaar“ became „Songs of the Tower“. If there is an Ancient word for „tower“ I haven’t found it, so I constructed one. I first thought of „high wall“, but went for „heaven:wall“ as a semi-pun on the Tower of Babel thing instead. (Double pun, but only for English speakers: I’m pretty sure if you exchange the noun marker in „wall“ for a place marker you get „place where something is buried“. As in a vault.)

Also on the title card, „options“ is literally „say change“, paralleling „say your destination“/„say your question(?)“ from hoppers/robots awaiting input. „Change“ is also inferred from the verb.

„Warriors“ was pretty straightforward to translate as „soldiers“. I also „translated“ the exclamation mark in the UI since Ancient doesn’t really have punctuation as such - it now says „important“.

„Bards“ is my own guess since I haven’t found the equivalent yet, but I don’t think I’ve leaned too far out of the window with it - „person who sings“. To reflect how „ungrammatical“ sentences with uncertain words are, I added spaces between the words rather than the run-on style of fully translated ones. I‘m not sure if an approximation of OSV sentence structure like „bards, we are“ would work in Ancient, but the whole mentally switching from OSV to SVO and vice vice versa is enough in the connection segments, I wouldn’t want to inflict it on a hypothetical Ancient-speaking player during all of the Gardens. (Note also the player trying to describe the „plural“ part with „many“ since Ancient doesn’t really do plural forms of nouns.)

„Devotees“ was probably the easiest to translate - „pilgrims“ is as literal as it gets, seeing as they are people wanting to move towards their deity. The „unreadable“ in the inscription becomes „can-not read“. (Not sure whether using „want“ for „seek“ isn’t a Chants-ism, but I haven’t found a better word yet, so it’s the best I can do…)

[thebeautyofgaming]

Heaven's Vault

I'm not done yet but this is so fun!

[chlothequeen]

I know Cinder isn’t in volume 9 but I’m still thinking about the similarity of Sacrifice and The Truth, and the times we’ve heard that leitmotif, like when Raven points out that aura can’t protect Cinder’s Grimm arm in volume 5, and during Watts’ rant about Cinder going against Salem’s orders in volume 8

[farfromdaylight]

i try not to complain about heavensward. i really do. it's a beloved expansion. people love ishgard. i love ishgard.

however, heavensward FUCKING SUCKS.

listen. so much of heavensward's plot is either badly written or badly paced or both. if you play through it once and don't think about it further, it's a great game. if you even glance back at it, it falls apart like a house of cards.

Actual shit that happens in Heavensward (spoilers):

You fight against the Heavens Ward to prove you're not a heretic. Five minutes later you have to go back to Ul'dah to save Raubahn.

After several levels of exploring Dravania and reaching the Churning Mists, you finally find Nidhogg's lair. You can't get there. You turn around and go back to Ishgard.

While you're fucking about waiting for the manacutters to get done, you go get the sultana back. Literally the entire plot momentum built up from your big road trip across Dravania comes to a dead halt as you go back to Ul'dah.

You slay Nidhogg. You go back to Ishgard. You spend eight quests killing time until the Vault, learn that class warfare is a thing, and fight off one of the Heavens Ward, who BACKFLIPS AWAY FROM YOU.

Immediately after the Vault, you go fight a whale.

The Emperor of Garlemald shows up in the Sea of Clouds just to tell you that you suck.

At the exact moment Y'shtola would be convenient to the plot, she returns.

The archbishop gets to Azys Lla way before you, but helpfully waits until you get there before continuing the plot.

and so on. i'm sure there's more.

here's my problem with heavensward: individually, there are a lot of great plot elements in it. however, they are presented in such a fucking buckwild manner that a lot of them are diminished. let's take the Hilda section for example: it's great to learn about Ishgard's class struggles! Of course this is great worldbuilding! However the actual section where you learn about it feels like (and basically is) filler. You finish the Aery, learn a lot of important Dragon Lore, and come back to Ishgard. You then have to fuck about until you're a high enough level to do the Vault, and in that section you do some of the worst fetchquesting in the game. It is atrocious.

Are there things I like about Heavensward? Absolutely. I fucking love Ishgard. I think the overall worlbuilding is phenomenal. Dragon vs man is a compelling storyline. But my god, the plotting and pacing are SO BAD. You spend an unbelievable amount of 3.0 dealing with the Ul'dah plotlines of post-ARR when you should be fully immersed in Ishgardian politics. It would not have killed you to leave the sultana stuff for HW patch quests, guys.

The best comparison I can make is that it's like if in Shadowbringers, instead of seeing the Meanwhile In Garlemald sections, you instead had to just abandon the First and head back to deal with that shit right before fighting a Lightwarden. It brings the narrative to a dead halt. It just doesn't work.

And like, I get it. It's not easy to write a game like FF14. The fact that later expansions are as well-written as they are is frankly a miracle. This is a huge worldbuild with a ton of plot threads and it's incredible even half of them get wrapped up. But viewed in isloation, Heavensward is one of the most tonally inconsistent parts of the entire story.

[googleitlol]

Aaaah, I’m sorry if I’m bothering you with all these asks, but I have to know this! How would Black Myth Wukong go with Dove in it, considering the story? Especially with what happened to the original Wukong and her potential interactions with the Destined One?

OOOOOOOH THIS ONE IS INTERESTING!! Also, don't ever apologise for giving me asks to answer, I love yapping so you're doing me a favour. Also I hope you know the vault of angst and depression you just opened

Ok so just letting you know, I have two different endings for PoM I may go with: a happy ending… and a less happy ending. Since I'm already feeling depressed, I'm gonna answer this as though the less happy ending is what happens. In it, Dove gains immortality (but for reasons I won't disclose yet) and is separated from everyone forever, including Wukong. He can't even try to save her because, well… spoilers.

I know the basics of the game lore so sorry if I get anything wrong/misunderstand anything, but this is how I think it'd go. Also, spoilers under the cut for Black Myth Wukong.

TW: Suicide

So from my understanding, the Destined One isn't technically Wukong, but he inherits his memories by the end of the game. With that in mind, I see this going similar to what I've seen of Wukong finding a reincarnated reader, but reversed.

Dove eventually escapes the place she is trapped in, but by the time she makes it back to Flower Fruit Mountain to find Sun Wukong… the worst has already happened. Erlang is the one who tells her how Sun Wukong ended his life, his final plan to free himself from the Heaven's grasp.

Before being separated, Dove had already learned some hard truths from Guan Yin about events concerning her past. Learning about what her master had been keeping secret from her, and then the relief of seeing her love again being crushed by the reality of his suicide, it breaks her. She had spent years fighting to get back to her Peaches, to the one that she could always depend on. He was with her when she learned about Guan Yin's secrets, they had to drag him away from her the day they were separated– it hits her then, the last moment she ever saw him was when he was in pain, clawing at demons that pulled him further away from her. The last she ever saw of those beautiful sunset eyes… they were filled in anguish and rage.

After learning of Sun Wukong's fate, Dove grows bitter and cold. She doesn't return to Potalaka Mountain– she can't stand to be in the presence of any of the deities anymore, not even the one who raised her. Who lied to her. Moksa checks in on her every now and then, from a distance, she won't talk to him either. It's a pitiful sight, how she becomes a shell of her former self. Dove cuts contact with nearly everyone and travels the road on her own, helping people where she can, but no task she does is ever enough to distract her from that emptiness that takes root inside. It's painful, and no matter how hard she tries, that pain won't go away.

Then, by chance, she comes across a monkey demon.

Confusion is the first word that comes to mind when describing her reaction to seeing the Destined One for the first time. Maybe her mind is just playing tricks on her again… but this doesn't feel like she's seeing things. He feels real. Dove has already gone through the emotional ups and downs of meeting a reincarnated loved one before, but this is different. It's different because it's Sun Wukong. There has never been another like him.

She does suppose the same holds true once she spends more time with the Destined One, he isn't like Sun Wukong. He's more… stoic. He doesn't say much, and compared to the talkative Monkey King, it's a little unnerving at first. Is this really the person she loves? It's a question she struggles with as she goes through the game with him, helping him. Travelling with the Destined One, it's almost reminiscent of the original journey. That's what Dove tells herself, anyway.

Whether or not it really is him, it's safe to say any reincarnated/reborn Monkey King would be falling for Dove pretty hard. I'm still figuring out how the Destined One would be around her at first, maybe he's a little put off by this strange immortal woman who decided to tag along with him. She's helpful, so he doesn't mind the company, but that doesn't stop him from wondering why she's with him. Maybe there's one night where she's helping him recover from a serious fight, probably scolding him for something reckless he did as she works her magic and all he can do is frown. Why does she care so much about him?

Whether he can understand her motives or not, he does appreciate it. Having another person to face these hardships with, someone who has his back through the toughest battles and his lowest moments, he's never had that before. Or maybe, it's just something he's missed. It's strange, how she is able to comfort him. Not just because of her tranquil power, it isn't necessarily her calming aura that puts his mind to rest… there's something deeper, something that tugs at his chest and pulls him to her. This longing to be near her.

He wants to know more, ask why she's so intent on helping him, but Dove is good at avoiding questions, she's constantly guarded around him. The Destined One likely wouldn't pry as much as Wukong would in this situation, but his curiosity still kills him inside. Instead of getting his answers from her, he starts finding the answers in his head, with educated guesses. Maybe Dove was just so awe-struck by his handsomeness that she decided to help him in any way she can, on the spot. He liked that theory 😏

As their journey continues, they do warm up to each other more. Maybe they pass through a village in the midst of a celebration and Dove manages to convince the Destined One to dance with her. Sun Wukong did the same for her all those years ago. Maybe one night after setting up camp for the night, the Destined One begins to comb through her hair, not thinking too much of it since it's normal for other monkeys to preen through one another's hair, it's a show of his affection.

Dove is usually so guarded, but in that moment her walls come crumbling down. She tries to push down her silent sobs, but it's difficult. Sun Wukong was the last person to go through her hair like this, and the simple action brings back so many fond memories. When he realises she's crying, he stops but she grabs his hand before he can fully pull away.

"Don't stop, please. It's okay, I'm… I'm okay."

Maybe he pulls her close after that, holding her in his arms as she does the same. There's so much pain in her heart, and all he wants is to take it away. The only question is, how?

By the end of the game where the Destined One gains all of Wukong's memories, so many of Dove's actions become clear to him. She can see in his eyes when he looks at her, a new hint recognition in his features as she realises who she really is, who she was to Sun Wukong.

Even by this point, Dove is conflicted over her feelings for the Destined One. She's come to love him throughout their journey, but is it the same love? Or is there some part of her brain convincing her it has to be the same, that this is the same man she fell in love with. Does she love this new Monkey King, or the memory he represents?

If one thing is for certain, the Destined One is confident in his feelings for her. Even before receiving those memories, he had been falling for Dove with every moment they spent together. If anything, these memories only make his love for her stronger, knowing what they've been through in a past life, how she stayed by him through this new journey because of their past.

…But he can't be sure whether she feels the same. Not when he still doesn't know if he is Sun Wukong, or just holds his memories now. It's something they'd have to work through and figure out together, but one thing is for certain. Dove doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon.

[pvtchurch]

I do like how playing with Enkei you get the same lines as Six except she adds a bit of irony to them. Like "Time destroys everything. Well. Almost everything"

"I think I might've broken his heart."

"Men like that do not have hearts. They are mice. Living only with fear and shame"

DAMN SHE DIDNT HAVE TO DO HIM DIRTY LIKE THAT

[betweenlands]

so, about that teaser we promised...

Hello, friends. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Let’s get the administrative stuff out of the way; rest assured, we are still hard at work on the upcoming chapters of black sheep, come home. There have been many extenuating factors that have caused the long delay (sickness and illness, part-time jobs, the back-to-school sprint, et cetera), but we still remain dedicated to seeing this story through to its ending. More is coming once it is ready.

Now, all that aside, it’s good to speak to you again. That semifinals poll was fun, wasn’t it? A breakneck race to the end of the line to see the triumph of the Ghost’s Vault, twist after turn and unlikely ally after unforeseen boon. We appreciate your eyes and eyespots alike, your buffer against a rival tide. We thank you for helping us win in the end – we couldn’t have done it without you! Of course, this does not mean the Vault’s inhabitant will be freed (heavens forbid we allow the Book to fall into the wrong hands), but it does mean that more people will be watching, and more ghosts means more potentially helpful observers here to bear witness to what comes next.

Ah – although, I’m not trapped in the Vault. You’ve surely gathered that by now.

By that being said, you’ve surely gathered something else as well.

Let’s not ramble on. You were only promised a teaser for what’s yet to come, not full story spoilers – and trust me, you don’t really want spoilers anyway, because some things can only be discovered once (undisturbed tombs, birthday gifts, conspiracies, visual novel plot twists) and we’d really like you to have the option of going in blind to the next part of this story. Besides, isn’t theorizing part of the fun of reading stories like this one? It should be, if we’re doing our job right.

That said, this likely isn’t what you expected when you heard there would be a mini-update, but we promise you that this is very, very story-relevant; you just don’t know how it is yet. And, more obviously, this note is quite the exclusive update, having been written just for this very situation.

Anyways, don’t worry about how canon this is – it’ll sort itself out. I’ll see you soon.

Valete.

[arenabreadandbiscuits]

~ Alastor x Lilith! Reader x Lucifer - Part 1 ~

Word Count: 2, 920 words

Warnings: None, yet ;3

I happily write requests but if you commission I'll finish your story first and I'll be quicker with it ;3

-

Summary: You decide to finally confront your husband and his arch nemesis on their rivalry and the three of you manage to come to… a solution of sorts.

Corrections will be made later and marked when fully done.

Also... I haven't caught up on the new season so no spoilers or you will be blocked ÙwÚ all I've seen was moments and scenes.

-

There was something that you tended not to look forward to and as much as you loved your husband you couldn't help but be annoyed at the current situation.

The radio demon just happened to be working with Charlie on this plan to make hell better and being the mother that you are of course you wanted to support her endeavors even if you yourself didn't see much reason to this one in particular.

Months ago Charlie has decided to open up this…hotel, a reserve in a way for souls of hell to redeem themselves in order to hopefully reach heaven. As silly as it was, you loved your daughter and so of course even as Lucifer, your darling husband, made his little comments about it here and there, you both loved your child for the work she's put into it.

What you didn't love was watching Lucifer as he bickered with this man, fingers being pointed and eyes being rolled. They did this every time they ran into each other which was why you could only be so grateful when you weren't in the middle of such arguments.

Alastor's eyes lands on you for a moment and there's a second where the way that your eyes connect sends a spark rushing down your spine.

You glance away, there was…history there. History you didn't tend to bring up often, at all even and said history revolved around many, many long years ago where you and the said radio demon had a bit of a click. Ever since meeting Lucifer you've been able to somewhat move on, pushing what seemed to be millions of memories down and into a vault within yourself, refusing to remember and yet and refusing to fully forget.

They way he looks at you while looking over your husband makes you slowly glance away, raising a hand and lightly clearing your throat.

”Hey!” The blond ruler suddenly growls and Alastor, even with that everlasting grin on his face, manages to show displeasure as she returns his crimson gaze back to the big boss of Hell himself.

“What are you looking at?...” Lucifer now glares and you knew how he could be, knew how he was and you now carefully approach, moving to place your hand on his shoulder and he immediately seems to calm, going from baring his fangs to looking at you like you were his entire world which of course you was. There's a look on Alastor's face as he watches the exchange with narrowed eyes, a look of…bitterness as if he bite right into the ripest of grapefruits and sadly didn't have the privilege of spitting right back out. He almost looks disgusted… as if he's watching something that simply shouldn't exist.

Alastor has never went into deep detail about it but just spending all these years in hell and with them on display for all the denizens to see has always irked him, had secretly always made him want to rip his own hair out or even cut his own tongue off whenever he had the privilege of being in the presence of their affection for each other. It's the way that they speak to each other, the way they caress each other, the way they hold each other that makes Alastor think of things he shouldn't. Things he didn't want to think about like the way they probably kissed and smooched with so much romance and lust behind the mighty closed doors of their castle or the way your skin felt against his when you'd reach out for that blond fuck… or even the way that Charlie came to be.

Alastor wasn't no fool and though he felt little to no attraction for anyone there had always been something different about you, something about you that drew him in and made him want to hold on for dear life and after so many years of running from such emotions he's found that… he's in fact, not as content as he once was. Not nearly as content as he hoped he'd be after all this time.

If anything...

He's starving, itching for so much more.

“My love, my dear…” you say to your husband in the sweetest of times as you move your hand from his shoulder to his cheek, cupping it before caressing his skin and missing the way Alastor's ears pinned down is displeasure and the way his eyes narrow further.

“As humorous as it is to watch the two of you go at this do we always have to do this when you to run into each other?” You ask and honestly you're not against receiving the answer from either man. Why did they always have to do this? What could possibly be the beef they had to make their relationship this hostile? You couldn't help but wonder, couldn't help but think if there was a way to bring it to an end sooner even if just temporarily.

They both look at you for a moment and then slowly back each other for a moment longer only to look back at you with… interesting gazes. The gaze that Lucifer gave you was one that you had seen far too often now, that look of curiosity, of primal interest and you feel yourself pause for a moment. It's a look that you know all too well and yet you start to feel your cheeks grow warm.

Why was he looking at you like that right now out of all times?

You chuckle a second after, quickly turning your gaze away from him only for your eyes to catch Alastor's and you truly freeze at seeing… a similar look.

Your husband was the prince of sin himself, of lust and wanton hunger and so after all those years you had grown to understand the look well. To love it with every piece of your soul and body. What you hadn't expected was for Alastor to hold the same gaze, as if he was one step away from losing all control and for… what? For you?

Suddenly it all clicks into place and against your better judgment you manage to blush, cheeks growing warm and bright with blood. It's not the first time you've been forced to face this realization, forced to realize that while you loved your husband dearly, there was something about the radiodemon that you just couldn't shake off even after all these years.

You loved Lucifer and he loved you and you were happy, content with him. However, Alastor seemed to somewhat… haunt you at times, like an ever lingering ghost of memory who always managed to stir up emotions in you gut that you weren't necessarily ready to face.

“I think I know how we can settle this actually…” Lucifer slowly says after a moment of silence between the three of you and you feel your heart skip a beat as his voice comes out in a low coo, as if he was a snake that was currently actively whispering in your ear. You shudder and Alastor's eyes fall shut as if he's preparing himself for what's to be said next, sucking in a breath through his nose and slowly releasing.

“My love…”

You start to say…

“Since you're obviously still upset about the fact that you lost, how about we make another deal?” Lucifer hums out and there it was, the words that changed the frequency of air around you three for the rest of the day. When Lucifer made deals it was best for many not to give into them, he wasn't known as the great deceiver for no reason but there seems to be a… glint in Alastor's eyes annoyance blending in with curiosity.

“What's the terms?” He replies quickly and with what seemed to be little thought and while you're a bit confused they seem to look at each other as if speaking a secret language that only they seemed to actually understand. Your brows furrow as the continue to look at each other and just as you open you mouth to make a joke on how ‘gay’ this was Lucifer chuckles slowly and raises his hand to the radio demon with a cocky grin and Alastor takes it, roughly grabbing hold of it as if he just barely avoided the thought of breaking it and leaned down to tower over the other man even if it didn't scare the other.

“Deal.”

A gust of wind and magic swirls around them the second their hands touch, brilliant golds and crimsons filling the air around the three of them and you raise a hand, squinting and shielding your eyes a bit from the sheer power of the light.

Whatever deal they had just made was purely made off of emotions.

Pure, unbridled emotions...

You could tell, could practically taste it in the air…the blends of hunger, need, jealousy and oh it sent a harsh shiver up your spine. Something was starting to tell you that today would be a long and tiring day. You sigh softly at the two men, crossing your arms over your plush chest and tapping your nail against your arm.

You were completely lost and even so, you knew this meant nothing good.

Suddenly they both turn their gazes to you and you feel your heart skip a beat. There's a… scent in the air, one that you also knew well, one that told you that not just one… both both of these men were looking at you as if you were a female in need of companionship. You feel the light blush on your cheeks suddenly growing worse.

Lucifer breaks the silence with a chuckle, walking over to you slowly but surely, carefully pacing around you in a way that made you feel like he was examining a precious jewel, something that was so fine and so worthy of love that he just had to admire and get closer to. Just like the two of you when you first met in the garden of Eden.

“My love,” he says, practically purring and the way he sounds seems to make you feel similarly to a cat getting scratched behind its ears. “We've come to a conclusion.” He states matter of factly as he continues to walk around you before going in, wrapping a small but powerful arm around your waist and pulling you close and snug against his side.

You lift a brow and can't help the little smirk that graces your lush lips as you look down at him.

“And that would be?” You reply softly and Lucifer looks up at you like the charming man he is, those eyes looking at you like you were both his world and universe and you swoon. He's just so cute, and so handsome and… your thoughts come to a halt as a hand carefully reaches out and captures your chin, fingers gentle and firm at the same time and there's a moment of confusion until Alastor lifts your head, making you look at him now and he's allowed, had it been any other man right now Lucifer would have definitely splattered his blood against the ground you all stood on. Alastor looks at you with a gaze you don't see him with often. His everlasting smile was still on his face but strained in a way that made you blink. There's something there, something needy.

“Best man to make you cry out the loudest wins.” Alastor says in a hushed tone and you stand for a second, then two before your eyes wide.

“Make me… what?” You say as if astonished, as if not hearing him correctly. As if he had just spoken to you in a whole other language and Lucifer lets out a laugh, haughty.

Did Alastor call that an attempt at already starting this war? Please… it was practically laughable.

The blond haired man now squeezes you just a bit closer and even though he's quite a bit shorter you were reminded as you always were of why you were so in love with him. One reason out of so many others that practically shined at the forefront of your focus like a golden star. He gently caresses you now, fingers running over your hip, petting you just the way he knew you liked it.

“Make you scream, darlin.” He repeats before Alastor can beat him to it making the taller man send him a harsh glare which he ignores with a smirk.

“Best man to make you scream wins.” He practically purrs as he repeats the words as if having to explain carefully.

He looks up at you with the fondest of smiles and you're starting to feel the blush creep to your ears. Had they really made a deal on what you were starting to think they did?

Well, it wasn't like they were being shy about it and you realize that they very much are serious, the looks on both of their faces…the cheeky grin on Lucifer’s and the hopeful one on Alastor's tells you everything you need to know. Usually you weren't someone to get so flustered so quickly, so easily but somehow you managed to find yourself in the middle of such a predicament and neither man seemed like they were joking or like they wanted to let up. Even with Lucifer's grin you can tell by the way his eyes sparkle, the way he squeezes your hip, that he's very much interested in doing more than a few less than holy things to you and surprisingly Alastor seems to be running along a similar wavelength.

Just as you open your pretty mouth to ask more questions Alastor seems to lean in and you perk up, eyes connecting with his as he slowly approaches because even though there's a want, a need, he knows you are a woman who loves being able to make her own choices. He knows that even with Lucifer's ‘permission’ that you don't like fast approaches but instead ones that make your heart rush and Alastor was a man who was practically known for having such charm.

As the space between you two becomes shorter and shorter you feel like time has managed to slow down, the noises of hell dialing down to nearly nothing as he closes in.

Before you can really understand your various, rushing thoughts and emotions, you lean in with him and the second your lips touch a spark seems to explode between the two of you. You gasp softly, pulling back for a moment, looking at him with wide eyes and Alastor returns the gaze but it's… gentle, hopeful and it's a look that you've seen only very rarely on him. There's a moment when your breath seems to hitch a little and before you know it you're going back in and this time it's longer as one kiss turns into two and then surprisingly into three.

There's a distant taste of blood on his lips and being the demoness you are, the queen of demons infact, how could you not feel even more drawled in by such a taste?

He hums against your lips, taking the time to reach a hand up and grip carefully at you chin, holding you still as his tongue slowly slips out and slides over your lip.

As if the blush on your cheeks weren't bad already, they seemed permanent by the time the two of you pulled away from each other. Your mind feels foggy as inklings of excitement rush over every corner of your body.

Alastor pulls away a few kisses later and you stand there for a moment as if trying to understand just what had happened and then there's the hand on your hip to leads you to look back at your husband. You perk as if caught in the middle of doing something bad, distasteful, and it distantly reminds you or the garden. Back to when you and Lucifer had just met and when you had turned your back on God.

You remembered the feeling, the way something in your heart seemed to clench and the way your heart rushed in… fear.

But just like those many times before, Lucifer gives you a fond smile and looks you deep in your eyes and you understand that… this is okay.

They may fight but he was fine with this, fine with Alastor tasting you and fine with your conflicted emotions towards the relationship the three of you had together. He was content and you see a similar gaze on Alastor's own face, as if the two of them had come to an understanding for the first time in what seemed to be... Well, ever.

“You want this don't you my love?” Lucifer coos airily sending shivers up your back.

“For us to touch you?..” Alastor says right after as he steps just a bit closer, reaching out to brush his fingers over your cheek.

“To kiss you?” Lucifer says now as his grin only grows while his hand runs over and along your hip with what seemed to be a clear goal in mind before stepping behind you and happily wrapping his arms around your waist.

“To hold you down until you can't take it anymore?” Alastor breathes, leaning in to look you in your eyes like he simply was holding on to a glimmer of control and even though you were the Queen of Hell… The Goddess of Sin herself, you feel like a virgin being quite literally between the two of them and without much other thought you let out a shaky breath.

“Yes, I would like that… all of that, very much so.” You say and both men seem to perk at your compliance like two happy dogs before grinning.

[rpgchoices]

Useless rpg recs. Videogames (rpgs or not) where new game plus adds/change the plot

SPOILERS

Sorcery!: With Sorcery! playing again will allow the protagonist to meet some new characters and experience some different dejavus.

Undertale: I have not played this one, so I am not fully knowledgable on what happens with the new game plus. All I know is that if you played a full pacifist run you will get new content.

Starfield: Also not played this one, but I know that new game plus carries over skills and you create a new universe so some plot choices/information carries over in a new game.

Amarantus: In this visual novel a new game plus will give much more context to the story, adding a whole new character and fully explaining who the protagonist is. Only on a second playthrough you will be able to fully experience the plot.

Heaven's Vault: This game deals with loops and every playthrough (for about 3 or 4 games) will add more complext translations and story changes.

I was a Teenage Exocolonist: To fully understand the plot you will need at least a few playthroughs. In the first game there are choices that are not available, and in general the game deals with multiple realities where the protagonist an live different lives.

[lecterthewhale]

Helluva Boss Theory I have that deserves to be shared:

Imps are descended from sacrificial goats

(Spoilers for the Mission: Chupacabra Short, so go watch that first)

But, like, just think about it! The imps had to come from somewhere, they weren’t demons or fallen angels, they’re underlings. And there’s a crap ton of them, but they’re not sinners either! So, where did they come from? Well, they’re the sacrifices goats/lambs.

Now, back in Old Testament times sacrificing lambs happened fairly regularly so it’s possible that those sacrificial lambs went to hell (as in the lamb is taking on the sins of the people, and thus now that they’re dead they can’t go to heaven, but they’re not really sinners, so they’re in hell but not quite the same entity as sinners are). Then again, animal sacrifice is probably a thing for those worshiping demons and satan as well, so the goats could’ve been brought to hell after they were sacrificed like that. Either way, many dead goats—beings that aren’t quite sinners but not quite demons—in hell, yeah?

So, the goats do what the goats do and they procreate, and over time the imps evolve. We already know that hell changes things about a being, so they could’ve become red and developed the ability to talk real easy. Imps fall into the hierarchy exactly where goats would fall (not demons, not sinners), plus they have horns, yellow eyes, and Blitz has absolutely done the slow blink thing the end goat did.

Also, did you see how quick the canonical goats were to turn to violence? How quick they were to follow Blitz (a fellow goat—sort of)? The way that acknowledgement from the higher form of goat was enough to vault that one goat directly to the leadership position of his herd? If that weren’t enough, Blitz is a canonical horse fan, and goats and horses are both farm animals, sooo…

[hatredmadeofgold]

I'm a terrible person with words, but here I go. (using a translator, my English is a little shit when it comes to writing and a little bit when it comes to pronunciation, ha!)

I would like to say with ALL my heart that I love your work and the writing in "Sing to Me", my heartbeat even accelerates when I remember the existence of this work of art and how wonderful the sensation was, the euphoric feeling of read each chapter and see all the care and dedication put into it. I have immense affection for Raiden, Sam (and Monsoon :)). Seeing how complex they are in the story brings me immense satisfaction, and I just wish all the positive recognition for you, it's impeccable.

(There's a lot I'd like to express, like my hyperfocus- but hey, I'm a terrible person at showing appreciation and affection, I hope you got the message anyway :))

hugs and kisses from a Brazilian! 🇧🇷❤

Oi, não se preocupa! Não sou falante nativo, mas entendi muito bem. Da próxima vez, você pode me escrever em pt-br (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Thank you so much!! I am really happy to know that you enjoy my work 💕 Honestly, every time someone tells me that they enjoy Sing to Me so much, I am getting really happy. This fic means a lot to me and gives me lots of strength and stability, although on the outside it might look that I am not doing much for it for the past year (I do, it's just background work that I can't show T_T massive spoilers and so on). But I mean, I kept saying that each time somebody came to my inbox about it for the last months.

And I am so glad to know that you're feeling like this for each chapter you've read so far! This fic in itself is really complex and long, I could give you a rough estimate of around ~100 Chapters for the main story (Those would be just arc 1-3, the series, however, has 6 arcs in total excluding the 2 AUs). Sooo... let me say, you've got a lot to look forward to, I suppose :3

Also I hope that you'll be curious about the revisions too. Chapter 5 and 6 will have a darker tone than their current version that is on AO3 at the moment, but also will be much better in quality. Chapter 6 will have major changes I think, especially the second halve of it. I am all giddy and excited myself whenever I think about all the plans I have for this story. The drama, the comedy, the (bitter-) sweetness, but also the chaos, the pain and the darker parts of this fic. I wish I could go on a ramble but it's so many spoilers lmao And I don't want to take that away from my readers. If anything, I might drop a few essays about Raiden and Sam that I've got on my to-do list at some point, that in some cases will directly tie to Sing to Me as well.

The series also goes in great detail about Sam's past and who he is as a person because I was a bit dissatisfied with how most fics for this pairing at least that I've read didn't come up with much for his past (but I still liked all of them regardless), hence I went a little bit insane about him. To the point that Sam is technically my OC now (according to my beta reader) lmao

Jsyk, this is my current graph view of my Obsidian vault for Sing to Me and all the dots that connect to him:

My vault is an absolute mess still tbh because the program is a bit overwhelming when you don't know where to start, so this is far from how complex this fic actually even is.

What I can tell you pretty much spoiler free is that the series is complex because timeline wise, it starts in the year of 2001 and ends (technically) in the year of 2026. I say technically because ARC3.5: The War in Heaven goes a bit crazy with science fiction elements and time is... let's say, "relative". The main fic spans from 2019 until 2023 btw.

The prequel (ARC0: I Come with Knives) is entirely about Sam's past, from his POV entirely, and a collaboration with @thatthereneverwas since he originally requested me to write it. Basically adding more Sam lore that we definitely need :3

Please don't hesitate to come to my inbox or DMs if you want to chat about Sing to Me, samuraiden or just Sam or Raiden with me! I don't bite :] Monsoon is also my favourite from the Winds of Destruction aside from Sam, so I get you! I've been thinking of maybe including him in the fic as well, but it's uncertain how so yet, and if it will just be a flashback of some sort 🤔 But I take notes as I go, we'll see :3

Beijos pra você também 💞

[pieground]

REBIRTH

Simeon falls out of grace.

⚠️ : tw!gore, potentially offending narrative, spoilers from OG!OB.

The scent of burning flesh spread through the air, suffocating everything it reached, killing everything it touched. It smelled like death. In the distance, a chorus of trumpets sang, a sorrowful melody to which the devil danced upon.

However, the loudest sound that could be heard was the agonized screams of Simeon as the fire engulfed his body, with nothing and no one to ease his suffering. Soon, he became deaf to his own screams, and all he heard were the crackles of unceasing fire, burning every inch of his very being down to his core.

Michael, who stood in front of him, had been clenching his fists so hard that blood started to form a puddle beneath his feet. He was waiting for Simeon to ask for forgiveness, to plead for one more chance. He was ready to take him back, but Simeon wasn't. He had made up his mind. He wasn't going back. He wanted this. So all the seraphim could do was utter a farewell before he turned his back on him, shutting off his cries of agony—the only sound that reverberated throughout heaven’s deafening silence as they chose only to listen.

Slowly, Simeon sank into the ground, peeling off the remnants of his flesh like a serpent shedding its skin. He could feel the fire dying down and his rebirth coming near to its end. Breathless and still in pain, he pulled himself to his feet. Although hunched and weak, his eyes burned with resolve. He watched as his new flesh grew instantaneously atop his frame, and next, his wings which were charred and bare to the bone, sprang with obsidian-painted feathers, bigger and stronger than they had ever been. His head then threw back and toppled over as a sudden sharp pain vaulted through his head, piercing his skull.

His horns.

Desperately, he clung to all the strength he had left, crawling further away from the gate where home once was—now, it was anything but. This place was supposed to be perfect, crafted by the love of their father, where darkness did not reach, where fire was pure and undying. But it was the same fire that had shown him hell, the fire that had set Lucifer’s six beautiful, proud wings ablaze. It brought pain, his fire, and his love. It brought him and his brothers ruin. From the beginning, everything was already far from perfect. It was all a facade to separate itself from the realm of sins, and everyone there refused to see, but Simeon wasn't blind… not anymore.

So he crawled with all his might, dragging his body to the edge of heaven, his new wings leaving a trail of ink—a fissure that marred the crystalline floor beneath him. The last witness to the path he was taking.

And after what felt like eons, Simeon finally reached the end of Heaven. One last push, and he would be falling down to hell. He was filled with relief but also sadness; tears shimmered in his ever-bright eyes. Sadness as he would be leaving everything he had thought he knew, and Luke who would have to spend the rest of his life reminded of how the person he depended on the most had turned his back on him—a guilt he was willing to carry for the rest of his life. Relief, because for the first time in his life, he felt the shackles that had kept him in the dark disappear.

And before he tumbled down into the darkness, he uttered,

“Farewell, delicate land.”

[tarotandnonsense]

I reread the Heaven’s Vault novelization and had some thoughts. I’ll try not to spoil anything, because I want others to experience it for themselves.

When the game Heaven’s Vault came out, I jumped in headfirst, played it like 10 times in a row, made myself sick of it in the best way. Reading the novelization, even for the second time, gave me some of that same sense of wonder I had on my first playthrough. The team at Inkle created a beautiful world, one I sincerely wish more people get to see.

Of course, reading a novel and playing through a video game are different experiences. One of the draws of Heaven’s Vault (the game) is the way that the player’s choices shape the narrative: you can choose the order Aliya visits the moons of the Nebula, learn different things depending on how you interact with other characters. Unless you’re reading a CYOA book, a book only tells the one story. The medium of a physical book also doesn’t let you act like Aliya in the game, dragging known Ancient words into the text to translate it yourself. Unless you’re someone like me, who typed up the Ancient in a little txt file for translation, the non-English text is basically just a diegetic doodle that Aliya may or may not give a translation for.

The medium switch also meant that parts of the story had to change. In my playthroughs, I liked bringing my artifacts up to Tapi to trade, so I could get new scraps of Ancient to translate. However, those trips would interrupt the narrative, so the character of Tapi was written out. In a sort of equivalent exchange, another character was written in, and any more information than that feels like a spoiler. There are also instances where events from the story are merged together; two separate moon trips become one, different companions come to different moons.

One of the things I enjoyed was the way that the mysteries of the game were answered. Maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention in my playthroughs to get a concrete idea of how the history of the Nebula happened, but the way the book told the story helped me pin things down much better in my head. Aliya makes conclusions, which either get borne out by the evidence, or new evidence leads to new conclusions, and the reader learns along with her. The game includes a timeline, but for some reason, the narrative structure of the book helped me out more. Not all of the mysteries are solved in the end, but those feel more like exercises to the reader, to see how well they understood the world shown to them.

This wasn’t my first readthrough of the book, and I don’t think it’ll be my last. Do yourself a favor, dear reader, and check out Heaven’s Vault.

[mapezaid]

These fake spoilers are killing me. But also I was granted super secret access to the Big Vault of Spoilers by my friend who works at Amazon (you wouldn’t know her, she goes to a different school) and can tell you that in episode 6 Crowley has to rescue Aziraphale from Heaven on the back of a unicorn and proposes to him in front of Gabriel, Michael, Uriel and Beelzebub who start crying, say they were wrong about everything, and they form a polycule. It fades to black and then we cut to 5 years later where Crowley and Aziraphale are living in the South Downs in a cottage with their 8 half demon-half angel children. Also Crowley has like loooooooads of tattoos and piercings and mostly wears lingerie and Aziraphale is like BUFF AS HELL.

[halipula-aika]

Heaven's vault vague spoilers: I hate this bitch why is she here. Where is my boy my good-time lad my poor little meow meow where is he can I get him back??? How dare you stand where he stood.

[desomniis]

Crimson, Gold and Azure Blue | Chapter 7 Excerpt

WIP | 7/? | 39,572 words | RWRB-inspired Charlos fic | Enemies to Lover | Fluff | Royalty AU | Slow Burn

‼️WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD‼️

"Hey," Carlos greeted, reappearing at their table. His hair was a little bit of a mess, shoulders visibly tensed.

Charles, attempting to keep his voice steady and light, joked, "Took you long enough. Were you doodling the borders of the modern Spanish Empire on some toilet paper in there? Strategising the reconquest of the former colonies.”

At first, Carlos looked confused, but as he caught on to what Charles was saying, his laughter rang out. "If your washroom came equipped with a decent marker, and if the toilet paper wasn’t practically see-through, I might've been tempted.”

Feigning offence, Charles retorted, “I'll have you know, those were top-quality 3-ply.”

Carlos smirked, "We use 4-ply at the pavilion."

“Always one-upping me,” Charles commented. “Here, have some eclairs.”

“Didn’t know we’re having eclairs for dessert.”

“Yeah, it was exclusively just for me. But I figured sharing is caring, so.”

“Wow. Your concern for me is finally… blooming.”

“Take one piece before I change my mind.”

“Thank you,” Carlos said, his eyes glistening like he just cured his hunger for something.

Carlos bit into the eclair, his eyes closing in delight as if he'd just tasted a piece of heaven. Then his face shifted, euphoria morphing into deep contemplation, staring at the pastry like it held the secrets of the universe. Charles blinked. He was sure he didn’t get the ones from his actual secret stash full of infused—

“You alright, mate?” Charles asked, before he could finish the thought.

Carlos hesitated, looking up. “Charles, can we— can we talk? somewhere private preferably.”

Panic flitted across Charles' mind. Did he find out? How? Is my guilty face that obvious? I'm seriously rubbish at lying.

“I, uh, sure…” Charles stammered, racking his brain."There's a quiet sitting room inside. Shall we?"

Charles led the way to the sitting room, the thick carpet beneath their feet muffling their footsteps. The room was dimly lit, with heavy drapes drawn and only a few lamps providing a soft, warm glow.

“Charles—”

“I swear I didn’t hear anything,” Charles burst out “I mean, I did overhear, but I can totally act like I didn’t. I'm like a vault of royal secrets, trust me. Well, almost. Except for that one time with Arthur when…” Charles' words tumbled out in a rush.

“Wait,” Carlos interrupted, “were you in the garden just now?”

Charles shifted uneasily. “I, um… Let's just hypothetically say if I were there, it'd be by pure accident?”

“How much did you hear?”

“Nothing! Nada! I heard nothing…”

Carlos raised a doubtful eyebrow.

“Alright, snippets,” Charles admitted. “But I had no idea who you guys were talking about.”

Carlos leaned on one of the tables, as if for balance. “It was— it was about you, Charles,” Carlos admitted.

Charles raised his eyebrows. “Me? Wow… he really doesn’t like me, does he?”

Carlos bit his lip, not meeting Charles' gaze.

“But why? We don’t talk. I know next to nothing about him, apart from the fact that he’s the spare to the English throne and he talks about climate change and stuff but! I bet he knows nothing about me as well.”

Carlos hesitated, a light flush appearing on his cheeks. "He, uh, knows a fair bit about you, actually. You came up in conversation, maybe once or twice.”

“Once or twice?”

“Perhaps more than a few.”

Charles's eyebrows knitted in confusion. “You talk about me to him? What on earth for?”

Carlos shifted uncomfortably, looking like he'd rather be somewhere else. "You see… you’re interesting, Charles. I… I'm drawn to you. More than I've ever been to anyone.”

Charles squinted. He swore he was sober and Carlos was speaking English, not some alien language. "I still don't get it,” Charles said.

Carlos sighed and closed his eyes. “Dios, You really can be oblivious, can’t you?”

Before Charles could comprehend the comment, Carlos closed the distance between them, grabbed his face and kissed him.

Carlos was kissing him.

His lips crashed onto his own like a wave meeting the shore, sweeping him off his feet. Charles had to clutch onto the hem of Carlos' shirt to ground himself.

He wanted to pull away, to make sense of what was happening, but every touch, every sensation pulled him in further, beckoning him to be lost in the intoxicating mix of Carlos' cologne and champagne. He was lost in the warmth of Carlos’ hand as it slid up his nape, fingers tangling in his hair, the other gently pressed against the small of his back, pulling him closer. He was lost in the gentle graze of Carlos’ stubble against his skin, sending shivers down his spine, and the soft strands of his hair tickling Charles' cheek.

He tried to fight it, he really did, but he was completely and utterly lost in the kiss. No one had ever kissed him like that. So he allowed himself to be lost, to surrender and open himself up to Carlos. It was probably one of the best decisions he had ever made.

Eventually, the fervour kiss waned, leaving only the warmth of Carlos' breath ghosting over Charles' lips. Golden eyes met azure blue, and for a moment, everything else faded away.

"Hope that clears things up,” Carlos whispered.

It did.

And that, was precisely the problem.

Read the whole chapter here. Ask me questions!