#Vanguish

[cassmartin]

Cass Martin

[dykepups]

On lucifer rising. This fucks HAAAARRRD

[racfoam]

I keep writing angst for the nynn growing up together AU so here is a happier version of the end of 1st Wizarding War

Voldemort hesitated. He stared at the vibrant green eyes, at the ink-black, dishevelled hair of the boy, and was startlingly reminded of his wife.

He opened his mouth. Closed it. The boy continued to cry for his mother and father, who were both dead. He looked...

Harrison Potter looked like he could be Harry’s son.

Voldemort lowered his wand. It appeared that he would not be breaking his promise tonight.

Gathering himself, trying his best to ignore the piercing cries of the child, Voldemort lowered his hands into the crib with as much enthusiasm as a person dipping their hands into a pool of acid.

His long fingers completely wrapped around the boy’s wide torso, lifting the crying child up, settling the boy on his forearm.

Harriet always wanted them to have children, and Voldemort had promised to make it so the moment the war was won. Now, if he could not destroy his possible prophecized vanquisher who was sucking on milk from a bottle and needed a change of nappies every three hours, he could win the war by simply taking the child with him.

From an orphan to the Dark Lord’s son. What a lucky little baby Harrison Potter is.

The boy stopped crying, staring with big green eyes up at Voldemort, lips parted in a little gape. It was not every day the boy had the honour of meeting one of the greatest sorcerers alive. It was an understandable reaction.

Voldemort cast the Dark Mark over the sky above the house, and Disapparated with the child.

He reappeared back on the first floor of the house, and went into an empty room. Deeming it proper for a nursery, he coloured the walls blue and conjured a crib, along with a soft mattress, pillow and blanket. Harrison seemed very fascinated by all this, blinking his big green eyes. It was startling how much he resembled Harry.

“Go to sleep,” said Voldemort, tucking the boy in with a wave of his wand. Job done, no children killed, he headed for the doors.

That was when the crying started again.

Spoiled little brat.

Voldemort returned to the crib. With a surveying spell, he checked that the boy was not hungry or needed a change in diapers. He did not.

He was throwing a fit for attention. That was something Voldemort would not tolerate. Not in his household. The Potters spoiled the boy. Voldemort had no inclination to do so. He silenced the boy, and then put him into enchanted sleep.

There. Lord Voldemort, one. His toddler-aged supposed vanguisher, zero.

Voldemort returned back to bed, wrapping himself around his wife, pleased with the day.

---------

“Did you...” muttered Harry, before bringing a hand to her head, feeling an incoming headache. “Did you kidnap a child?”

“No," said Voldemort calmly. “Legally, I adopted him the moment his parents met their demise. He is our son now.”

Harry wanted to scream.

“You kidnapped him!”

“At least I didn’t kill him.”

Harry sighed. It was loud, and long.

[acrossthegentleground]

I would love to see Lexa getting gangbanged (in Her word is her bond but the vacation prompt sounds also hot). Would love if you included Lexa being made airtight and having dp in one hole (preferably both holes at least once but especially her ass). Also bukkake would be hot and maybe some watersports. In the end, Clarke or Bellamy checks how loose and sloppy Lexa's holes are.

Would also love to see an update for Victors and Vanguished. Roan putting Lexa in a full-nelson would be so hot. Roan fucking Lexa so hard that she has a full-blown mindbreak (with ahegao-like faces?) and becomes Roans willing fuckdoll and he can do with her what he wants. Throne sex (could also work in Her word is her bond) could also be amazing, Lexa getting (publicly?) completely dominated on her (former) seat of power.

Def can update victors and vanquished 😈

[ravenous-magician]

Marcille had many sleepless nights while exploring various dungeons, usually due to fear or it being too cold, but thankfully she had developed a spell that could ease those feelings and induce sleep. This spell has worked just fine, as it instantly knocked her out and made sure she would stay out without waking up due to these factors, but this is the first time she had restlessness due to a stomach ache.

The party had vanguished a lobster type monster just in time for dinner, which led Senshi to decide on a lobster alfredo for their meal using some cockatrice eggs they had in reserve. Marcille was ecstatic at this. Sure, she still hated the idea of eating monsters, but this creature they had defeated looks almost exactly like a lobster! Y'know, besides it being the size of laios and the extra face feelers. And besides, she had grown up with pasta dishes and was ready to help out with the cooking! Marcille had never made pasta from scratch before, but before she knew it she was making plenty of dough from the basilisk eggs. Too much, in fact, as the size of the eggs plus the size of the lobster left them with Senshi's pot to be completely filled with the pasta, even after the party had taken their dent out of it.

After such a heavy meal, Laios had wrapped up all the left overs into seperate, meal sized portions using medicinal leaves he had found early. The party then said their goodnights before turning in, with the chosen person to take first shift of guard duty being... Marcille? She rarely ever offers to take any guard shift, much less the first of the night, and yet something was shifting inside of her alongside the alfredo. This had been one of the best meals she had ever had period. The rich lobster meat, the creamy sauce, the noodles that gave a bit of chew, it was all so perfect that when eating it she had to stop herself from practically inhaling it all down, and left her wanting for more.

She had to do this in the night. Marcille is a classy lady who never over indulges, is the appearance she would like to maintain. That, and if she showed how much this meal had a hold over her it would just make Laios and Senshi more embolded to try and feed her more awful monsters, which made her stomach churn just thinking about it. After making sure everyone was asleep, she had taken one of the wrapped meals and started to dig in again, this time caring a little less for appearance as she quite literally inhaled some of it down, not even caring to chew. Despite being left overs, each serving was still huge, with the wrapped meal that Marcille took being just a bit smaller than her head. None of this mattered of course, as the mage just enjoyed her second wind.

Marcille had slowed down a bit after her initial feasting, as her current meal was still having to contest with her dinner. Her taut stomach was rounding out from all the food, giving her a little pot belly that was fairly noticeable due to her robe being fairly fitting. The deep grumbles of her overworked stomach had become fairly audible, a hand on her gut letting you feel it all churn and get mulched down. The mage had stopped to let out a few burps here and there, not wanting to wake anybody up while she continues her feast. Once she had gotten to the point where the wrapped pasta was only slightly bigger than her fist, Marcille heard shifting coming from Chilchucks sleeping bag.

"Crap! I spent too much time eating!!" Marcille couldn't just be caught like this, the embarressment would kill her! So, without hesistation, or really any forethought, she had used both hands to stuff the remaining leaf wrapped pasta into her mouth and down her throat.

"Hey Marcille, it's my shift now. Get some rest."

Chilchuck saw Marcilles backside from where he was, only seeing her left hand in front of her as her right came up in a thumbs up, all while not looking at him. The reason Marcille didn't turn at all from her knealing position was due to the fact that she could hardly move. Her face was scrunched in pain as the fist sized rock slowly moved down her throat while her hand was preemptively calming her gut, until evenetually...

guluuuoarrn....

The package had been delivered, her stomach visibly increasing in size as the wrapped meal joins the sludge already being worked on. Her stomach groaning as an airy belch comes out of Marcilles mouth.

"Uh, yeah, good night then. And if you throw up, please do it away from the camp this tike okay?" Chilchuck, who had been non the wiser as to what just happened, turned his back and began carving wood into nothing while sitting at the fire. This left Marcille to be able to carefully move her sleeping bag farther away than it was originally, and get into bed as her stomach sloshed and moaned. This all leading into Marcilles restless night, drool coming out of her mouth as she rubbed her taut stomach, realizing that the edible wrapping Laios found was only digestable after being cooked. It's unfortunate that she knew very little gastronomy magic, as that was more of Falins deal. All Marcille could do now was try her best to sleep and digest it all before morning. As well as try and push down this strange feeling she felt in the pit of her gut, that seemed to crave more.

[blistering-typhoons]

you guys, if i keep up my ao3 sherlock holmes streak i can finally vanguish that supernatural tag on my dashboard

[fromanartistsheart2]

A letter to my knight in shining armor

Wisconsin, I love u

Let me count the ways

Wait...let's keep it simple

If I do that, it would take DAYS.

I love the way

U helped with the kids

When they came over

And still acted like they did

I love the way u don't just work

U do household chores

And oh so much more

And don't act like a jerk

I've been n a fog

For over 4 yrs

And other emotions have clogged

And only let out tears

U've brought out the sunshine

When all I had was rain

U've brought me joy

When I'd had so much pain

U've shown me the light

To help vanguish my frights

U've shown me the love

That fit me like a glove

Now I'm not a wilted rose 🌹

And I've bloomed and grown

And everyone knows

That I'm your beautiful Carolina rose 🌹

Heartwarming Hymns

[cinemadaydreams]

Corporate Fantasy Screensaver: The Fellowship of Something or Other

***I saw the first episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - "Shadow of the Past". This review is specifically for that first episode, not the series as a whole (yet).***

So, what does one do telling a story whose ending is already known? I was always puzzled on a storytelling standpoint why Amazon Studios chose this over all other IP products they could have chosen to invest in, especially a story that looks 'back' instead of looking 'forward' in a narrative. For example, I think a large part of the difficulty of the Prequel Trilogy of Star Wars was due to the fact that we knew who would survive and who would (likely) die. Very little left to the imagination in terms of true suspense. I anticipate it will be a similar corner that Rings of Power will end up in. I hope I'm wrong.

First, what to raise a pint of the Green Dragon to - namely, the set design. I could tell the teams within the set designs, both physical and digital, poured their heart and soul in making it live and breathe as a place. It is always refreshing to be carried away by a world. I was more than impressed by their work and I hope they are commended and paid well for their efforts. 

It is evident that this is a high budget production. There is some level of expectancy that it would need to be at a different level than most tv shows visually given the financial means they had to work with. To this end, it has succeeded. 

And now, the longer journey through Middle-Earth that frankly, needs work….

The Prologue or The Absence of Morgoth (“By rights we shouldn’t even be here!”)

One of the key elements of any good visual storytelling moment is giving the audience the ability to 'see' what happens rather than 'tell' us what happens. I know many can draw upon the initial battle of Sauron vs Men & Elves in Fellowship of the Ring as one of the more powerfully filmed sequences to show us the enormous odds that the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth were facing against Sauron.

So why did it work in Fellowship? I think it worked because Sauron's size and power were shown with equal visual weight, and the iconic 'finger-slicing' sword moment of Isildur was shown through image, not simply dialogue.

The “Shadow of the Past" introduction depends far too much on the dialogue itself to carry the weight of the battle against Morgoth (which, on a pragmatic level, might be because of rights limitations). We see the hordes of orcs and the dragons, but only briefly (and flatly lit) where the color grading of the ground battle looks oddly out of place from the epic shots of gigantic eagles and terrifying dragons. She tells us “Morgoth was vanguished” and "Sauron had to flee" but neither of those moments are shown. This was a gigantic opportunity lost, for no one apart from those that read the books actually will see how treacherous and evil a character Morgoth was in the Middle-Earth world. As a viewer I don't understand why they could defeat Morgoth but not Sauron, who was Morgoth's lesser in terms of strength and size. I hope future episodes actually focus on that difference and not simply through thrown-in dialogue, however well-read the narration may be. 

Galadriel's substance as a leader (“instead of a Dark Lord you would have a Queen!”)

  �� Her leadership itself isn’t an issue. Who better to lead the Elves on mission into the darkness than one of the most powerful elves in the history of Middle-Earth? It is how the writers chose her emotional set-up of why she’s obsessed with taking down Sauron in the first place that I have to address. I was gobsmacked by how little I cared.

   As a global audience, thanks to Peter Jackson’s trilogy, most of us KNOW how much of a baddie Sauron is (or are at least aware of it). The writers of “Shadow of the Past” seemed keen to emphasize that point without offering anything new in the process. We knew everything they told us. Nothing new was expressed. All we saw were flashpoints (almost video game cut-scene style) that told us how to feel, rather than draw us in. 

There was an incredibly easy solution to this that would have made Galadriel a far more captivating character for me. She’s already a warrior at that point of the War of Wrath, correct? Why not SHOW her brother slain by Sauron in front of our eyes and more importantly, in front of Galadriel. Make us understand her centuries’ long obsession is based on an actual event she witnessed but could not stop. You could even throw in the High King Gil-Galad and her elven warriors fighting, but not willing to risk their lives to vanquish Sauron, thus sacrificing her brother to the slaughter. Make Galadriel’s anger at them for cowardice in her quest to track him down visually palpable.

I think Clark did a fine job as an actor portraying one as an elf kindled by rage and hatred of Sauron, but I as a mere mortal myself who is not a warrior, I found it difficult to really ‘feel’ for her. It made me recall that 10 second moment in “Fellowship of the Ring” where Isildur witnesses his father Elendil bludgeoned to death by Sauron. The grief, fear and rage is all shown within those 10 seconds. As the viewer I understand every piece of that because I was ’shown’ Isildur going through that moment, not ‘told’. I hope if anyone in the writing teams are reading this review, please, I beg you, don’t fall into that trap of telling us about events constantly and expect us to still identify with that character as strongly as we did with those in the original movie trilogy. Unless you show us, it will be hard to want to keep watching this for another five years, let alone the next season. 

The Diversity of Language as a Showcase of Culture (“cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves”)

       The lack of Elvish itself within the narrative of the Elves themselves was bewildering. JRR Tolkien's expertise as a fantasy fiction writer was largely based on how detailed he went to make the races within those world so uniquely specific through language and culture. Professor Tolkien created almost 12 languages single-handedly.

      I had to recollect after the fact why the Elves felt so similar to the world of Men in the first episode and then it hit me: they chose to NOT use the Elvish language in scenes that were featuring only Elves. The main scene I refer to is when High King Gil-Galad of Lindon makes his congratulatory speeches to Galadriel and her warriors. If I'm to truly believe that the Elves are the lords of Middle-Earth, especially at Lindon's height of power, everyone in Middle-Earth would recognize that Elvish is the main language people would want to speak, not the other way around. At the very least, that should have been the focus within the Lindon sequences. All I heard was the Common Tongue (aka English). My guess is that Amazon is attempting to make the story as wide-reaching as possible for all their Prime users, but I could not find it more ironic of them assimilating the Elven culture to the Common Tongue for the sake of ‘universality’ all the while celebrating other choices they made. This is a lost opportunity to welcome in new watchers into the Tolkien world that felt like Tolkien’s making, rather than a company attempting to convince us they can mimic it.

The ending - “my people are leaving these shores”

Galadriel willfully plunging into the middle of the Sundering Seas after what seems like hundreds (if not thousands) of miles was one of the more blatant uses of a future Deus Ex Machina I’ve seen in decades for a big-budget production. It reminded me sadly how different a TV show set in Middle Earth will be structured than a film, with each ending of an episode leaving you dissatisfied with some mystery yet to be discovered (unless you watch the next one). But here’s the thing, and it galls me because I WANTED to like this episode - I felt no urge, no compulsion, no interest whatsoever to know about Galadriel’s plight. Frankly, that moment felt written forcefully to move the plot, not an organic choice that sprung out of creativity. 

A simple change in the story would create a desperate situation for our hero that would kindle our interest and sympathy. Why not have her elven warriors turn on her? If they were fed up with her relentless drive and ego to take down Sauron, why not one of her fellow warriors push her off the boat, denying her entrance into the eternal bliss of Valinor? It might have been initially cruel (and certainly a shock) but then the questions would percolate and make me want to see how she survives, rather than knowing in episode 2 she will be picked up by some kind of raft/ship/boat/etc. And why not we thicken the plot? What if the High King gives that order as his final command to the other elves? “Leave no trace” or something along those lines, and whisper that line in elvish in secret after the ceremony? Show that the corruption of Sauron, though still invisible, is starting to trickle into the veins of Linden itself.

“Here at the end of all things”

Bilbo Baggins was right, the power of the Ring does make one feel stretched and thin. Already I see the unfortunate gathering of what looks to be a beautiful-looking juggernaut of corporate fan fiction that cares not a button for what fans may or may not like. This I would be fine with if the show runners had insisted on better writing, which in turn would create engaging storytelling, regardless if they are taking Tolkien’s characters in a completely different direction than one would expect (or hope for). The Goodwill of all Free Folk will only go so far with this mindset. 

So, for those of you who continue to watch, I wish you all the health that the Shire can muster. For I will not be continuing to watch, as I have yet to encounter a person who tells me “you HAVE to watch the rest!”. Until that point comes, I will keep my Middle-Earth adventures tied more closely to Tolkien’s literary rendition, rather than that of a corporation insistent to regurgitate drone-shot-after-expensive-drone-shot, 3D printed armor (my personal theory, some of the costumes have that look rather than organically made by hand), the writing playing Balderdash with the Fellowship of the Ring prologue, and characters that are telling us their importance, rather than showing their importance through their actions. Like Samwise Gamgee said, “if I take one more step, this is the furthest from home I’ve ever been”. I felt like this show was leaving the home of Middle-Earth into a void of strangeness with no real voice of its own nor language than that of the Tongues of Men. And the “hearts of men are easily corrupted”. I hope I’m proven wrong but until then, I have other roads to walk on. 

Last thought - I have absolutely no problem with the show runners themselves. Frankly, I was impressed as first-time directors they were given the project and pulled off the season with the scale they had to handle. I’m hopeful that if they stick with it, and make a point to improve the writing, that their gamble will pay off to create a story that is memorable and brings people together in hope and one people will want to turn back to again and again. 

[onthefyre]

blah blah blah. the ins and out of what is essentially a cult, good or bad, was not lost upon her -- but wyatt had been right. she had to actually go to a meeting or two to save face and show that everyone was on the same page. well whatever. she knew that. she knew what the cause was and what they'd lose if everyone wasn't familiar with it. she should be afraid but she isn't. not of the cause, not of the various creatures her mother would tell her needed to be vanguished (though she hardly really remembered phoebe), and not even of wyatt who everyone else seemed to tremble around. "thank you," her eyes rolled, albiet playfully. "tell me then, what do YOU want me to do with it? i'm not above dragging anyone down main street by their intestines." she had done it once, in the future. she could do it again. her expression is mock hopefulness, though she's itching to know just how much PAIN wyatt wanted her to cause.

wyatt shot her a bland look , looking none too entertained themselves. " emissaries good. initiative bad , " they drawled. they pause. eyes flickered over the group before landing on peyton. a smile like a knife to the throat. " -but i don't need to tell you that , do i ?? you just have to figure out what you're going to do with it. "

[undure]

A  GIRL’S  NIGHT,    ABANDONED   :       monica  with  some  last  minute  work  crap  and  phoebe  doing       (       ...       )       phoebe  -  related  things        ---       SOMETIMES,  IT’S  BETTER  NOT  TO  ASK,    ‘KAY?       so  rachel  does  what  she  does  best       [       translation   :      she  sits  and  waits  for  someone  to  entertain  her,    painting  her  nails  a  soft  yellow  that  would  be  wiped  away  by  tomorrow       ].       ENTER   :       CHANDLER!      rachel’s  head  snaps  up  at  the  noise,   body  half  -  twisted  over  the  back  of  the  sofa  at  the  new  arrival.       ‘       CHANDLER!     sit,   sit,   come  on       (       ...       )       you  know  who’s  unbelievable?     monica  and  pheobe!    i  could      ---       very  easily  freak  out  on  them  right  not  for  abandoning  me.    sit  down.       ‘       she  pets  the  cushion  beside  her,    smudging  yellow  nail  polish  all  over  the  sofa       (       oops!       ).       ‘       have  you  ever  painted  anyone’s  nails  before?    OH,   WHO  AM  I  KIDDING   :      of  course  you  have.       ‘

@vanguish  liked  for  a  starter.

[acrossthegentleground]

Yes! I am looking forward to Her word is her bond and Victors and vanguished! I posted earlier something for both fics. For Victors it was that the story could maybe be a little darker by Roan doing everything to break Lexa in a willing cock sleeve so that he can do everything he want to with her when and where he want.

😈

[souleater1987]

I’m in heaven 😍🔥

[pruehalliwel]

Charmed (1998) // Charmed (2018)

[luckyberet]

Marylin: Imagine if somewhere exists a version of me who instead of Dragon School went to Lifting School...

[fromanartistsheart2]

A letter to my knight in shining armor

Wisconsin, I love u

Let me count the ways

Wait...let's keep it simple

If I do that, it would take DAYS.

I love the way

U helped with the kids

When they came over

And still acted like they did

I love the way u don't just work

U do household chores

And oh so much more

And don't act like a jerk

I've been n a fog

For over 4 yrs

And other emotions have clogged

And only let out tears

U've brought out the sunshine

When all I had was rain

U've brought me joy

When I'd had so much pain

U've shown me the light

To help vanguish my frights

U've shown me the love

That fit me like a glove

Now I'm not a wilted rose 🌹

And I've bloomed and grown

And everyone knows

That I'm your beautiful Carolina rose 🌹

Heartwarming Hymns

[gauntletqueen]

Bump! We've accomplished our goal of vanguishing the Shadow Behemoth, and are still alive!! ...So uh... what now..?

🤜🔴LIVE NOW🤛

The Guild Wars 2 Co-op Perma-Death Run continues! Will we get across the Shiverpeaks? I dunno ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ft. @mistral