#a thousand different stories about a warlock and a king

[oswinsdolma]

something about how merlin and arthur both died the moment they became a story. how in becoming a legend, they sacrificed the versions of themselves that were real for the infinite potentiality of the versions that could have been. "the story that we have been a part of will live long in the minds of men" but at the cost of the lovers who wrote it, fragmented across space and time by a thousand new imaginations that keep them alive in all that they never were. when we read their story, they are broken and reborn anew, so does that make us murderers or gods? or maybe the whole point is that there never really was much of a difference between the two.

[why-what-no]

Between Dreams And Realities

Pairing: Morpheus x Fem!Magic!Reader

Notes: This gif had nothing to do with the fic, I just think he looks pretty in it. Also, this was originally requested to be three parts, but since all my fics are pretty short and a lot of the writers on here write like, thousands of words per fic, I felt like I could save everybody’s time and just have one part separated into three sections.

Summary: Morpheus falls in love with a magic user feared by small-minded humans. But after his ego and a cruel warlock separate them, he goes to get his lover back. Even if she had changed in his absence.

Requested by: @milfodyssey

***

Birth

***

Throughout humanity's existence, people have wished for futures that they knew they would not have. They pleaded with gods, searched for lucky items, throwing their life away for one that will never exist.

That was where (Y/N) came in, with magic-imbued abilities to pass through realities and timelines. She tried to use it to help, tried to make the humans happy. She had the ability to show humans different timelines in which they had what they wanted. Where their lives were perfect.

But it was just like humans to despise what they had been given. Just like humans to not be able to accept a glimpse of that they wanted.

They wanted it all, wanted to live that life instead of seeing it. But she couldn't give them that. It wasn't in her power.

And so they despised her.

Resentment clouded their opinion of her. She became an outcast to them, a villain. All because she could not give him what they wanted. She was a false person, giving them false hope, manipulating them with realities they could never have.

That's what they believed of her.

The one person who thought differently was the King of the Dreaming.

His curiosity of her abilities is what brought them to meet. Wanting to know how her powers differed from his.

"I have heard about you." He had visited her one night, tall and powerful. "Tricking mortals with visions of a better life."

But to his surprise, she looked hurt by that statement. "I'm not... that's not what I was doing."

He soon realized that his earlier assumption had been wrong. She hadn't been trying to hurt them, she had been trying to show them something that would make them happy.

Morpheus felt pity for (Y/N) as he absorbed this new knowledge. Knowing just how much the humans she wanted to help, despised her.

He understood her. For the first time in a very long time, someone understood her. It was a wonderful feeling for the powerful girl.

They became friends after that original meetings, and (Y/N) got to visit the Dreaming. For the first time, she was somewhere where she was accepted. As time went on, they became closer. Finally falling in love.

A love was born between them that was strong enough to last for eternities. Safe in the place between dreams and realities.

Someone once asked the question if it would be better to be loved, or to be understood. With Morpheus, (Y/N) had both. There was now someone in her life that she could be completely herself and completely honest with.

"And Death told me that... what are you looking at?" She had been telling him some story and her and his sister, when she got distracted by his eyes on her. A loving gaze in his eyes

"You." Morpheus responded with a small smile. They were lying on his bed, (Y/N)) curled up against him as he drew patterns on her back.

She grinned softly against his chest, not used to the love she was given by him. "You're so good to me."

"Only because you are to me."

But while basking in Morpheus's love, (Y/N) could not hide her fear that something would ruin them. So much of her life was lived alone, being hated by so many that she encountered. Would she have to go back to that?

"I'll never understand why you love these humans so much." Morpheus mused on some different day. "The way they treated you..."

"I only want to give them what they want." She shrugged. He leaned over to kiss her, not sharing her sentiment but adoring her kindness despite that. He liked how different she was to him.

However, her love for those humans would occasionally cause strife between them. He wanted to keep her safe from their cruelty, but she refused to stop sacrificing her own happiness for theirs.

"Would you rather I become cold like you?" (Y/N) said during an argument about that exact subject. He could see she regretted saying that as soon as it left her mouth, knew that she didn't really think that about him. After all, she knew how much he loved her.

But he couldn't stop himself from feeling hurt at her words, and hiding that hurt with anger. "If it would stop you from pathetically lowering yourself to act as a servant for those who despite you, yes."

In that moment, he had wanted to hurt her like she just hurt him. But what he didn't expect was the heartbroken and furious look she gave him, before storming off to Earth.

Looking back, he knew he should have gone after her immediately. But the Corinthian had been causing trouble a few countries away from where she had gone and he had to stop his nightmare from committing any more injustices.

He didn't expect to be imprisoned before he could get his love back. Certainly didn't expected being locked away for over a century.

***

Life

***

When Morpheus was finally released, one of his first thoughts was (Y/N). But despite his best efforts, even after his tools and powers were returned, he could not get her to reveal her location to him.

It was only when he asked Death for help that he learned where (Y/N) was.

After all, Death and (Y/N) had been wonderful friends when she had been with Morpheus. And, as Death told him when he visited her, the two powerful women still spent a good about of time together.

However, and Death's face fell as she told him the news, she wasn't the same person he had left. She had taken his cruel words to heart, as well as the cruel words as the humans that despised her. Life had hardened her, and she had become unforgiving.

She had always just wanted to give them what they wanted. So when they wanted her to fear her, she gave them that. Her new chosen purpose was punishing those who had done wrongs.

He went after her as soon as he learned that. All he could thinking about as making things right.

When he found her, she was in a alleyway. A man had tried to attack a women going home from a bar, and now she had his mind trapped him a reality when he was the woman being attacked. The woman had run away as soon as the man had started blindly whimpering, and (Y/N) looked down with disgust at him.

"(Y/N)!" Morpheus called out, pulling her attention towards him.

"Morpheus?"

In her distraction, the criminal man managed to escape her powers, running away from the alley at breakneck speed. "Shit." She swore, about to go after him, but Morpheus caught her arm.

"Wait." He told her, slight desperation in his eyes. "Please."

(Y/N) hesitated, looking him up and down. There was a contemptuous look on her face that broke his heart. He knew she would hate him, but he didn't realize how painful it would be to see. "What are you doing here?" She asked him, crossing her arms.

"I... I had to apologize to you for the words I spoke when you left. I didn't mean anything I said. I am so sorry that I hurt you."

The anger on her face turned to suspicion, but it gave him hope that there was still had a chance for her to love him again. "Then why do you say it."

"When you implied that I didn't care, I just to the conclusion that you thought I didn't care for you. That the love I felt for you wasn't enough."

"I didn't mean that."

"I know." He reassured her. "I know you didn't meant that. I wish I hadn't said what I said. I wish I had come after you immediately."

The anger reappeared on her face. "But you never came for me. For over a century."

"I was imprisoned." His words were rushed as he explained to her why he hadn't search for her. The idea that she thought he had abandoned her was horrifying to him. "A warlock by the name of Rodrick Burgess. I would have found you and begged you to return with me."

"Beg?" She scoffed. "With your ego?"

He stepped closer to her, taking her hand in his. "Please, (Y/N)." The look he gave her took her breath away, sending a jolt of electricity running through her body. "I will do whatever you desire, as long as you're mine again."

"I...." Stuttered (Y/N). "I'm not the same person who you loved. I doubt you want the person I am now."

His eyebrow was raised, but there was a small smile on his face. "Oh? I highly disagree. You may be less forgiving, but you are still just as loving. A protector of the innocent, aren't you now?"

"The humans I wanted to make happy didn't want my good visions. But the humans that hurt others deserve my bad visions."

"You should be proud." A small smile appeared on her face at his words. He was so close to her, deeply desiring to lean in and kiss her.

But he held back, knowing that she had to make the first move.

"So, will you accept my companionship once again?" He asked, feeling utter relief when she slowly nodded.

His sand swirled around them, transporting them home to the dreaming. As they left earth, she reached up to bury her hands in his hand and pulling him into a loving kiss.

***

Death

***

(Y/N) was now at peace, having take her place as Queen and devoted her time to the Dreaming. As far as the humans knew, the powerful trickster that they had known was dead. And the vengeful spirit they knew was dead also.

But whenever they would arrive in the Dreaming and give them a glimpse of their most wished for realities, they would now thank her. Because if it was while they were sleeping, they would chalk it up to a good dream. They’d wake up with a bounce in their step and go about their life.

“I don’t know how I would have done all this without you.” Morpheus whispered to her, placing a gentle kiss against head.

The two lovers lay on their bed, just like they had all those years ago. And indeed, it had been ages since they had last gotten the love they had come to depend on from each other.

She turned to him, hand on his chest. “I could say the same.” The King smiled, pulling her closer so that he could kiss her. They stayed pressed together like that for as long as they could before someone came to knock on their door.

Neither of them were going to let anything take one of them away from the other again.

[tired-gay-nerd]

Skye’s PGTE Read-a-Long (before we start)

Ok, there’s still a day or two for the poll to end, and there’s enough people interested in it that I am absolutely going to be doing it (until I forget or we catch up with Version 2). Version 2 is currently being posted on a M/W/F schedule, and it is into book 2 of 7. I’ll be posting once a week most likely, as life shenanigans are a thing. I’ll post them Fridays

Now that we have what we’re doing, here is some base knowledge about the world this web-series takes place in!! Under the read more

On the continent of Calernia Good and Evil are more tangible then in our world. Good is blessed by the Gods Above and angels with powers to heal and help. Evil is assisted by the Gods below with powers of their own. We follow our main character as she goes from an orphan to one of the biggest villains of her age. The Villains and Heroes each have a has a Role they play in each story, with fate pushing them towards a certain direction, they have Name (for example Warlock or Black Knight) which might tell you things about them as a person or things about their powers or their Role. Each name comes with 3 aspects, which help the Named do certain things, for example a Squire will often have “Learn” as an aspect, as they are expected to learn under their respective Knight. There are also some names that can be either depending on what story they are participating in (Ranger and Archer).

Calernia has a few countries that will come into play, 20 years before our main story starts the Evil Empire of Praes conquers the Good Kingdom of Callow, Cat is from Laure which is the former capital of Callow. There is the Drow of the Everdark, which is underground and Evil. Then there is the last of the Evil countries that play a part in the stories the Kingdom of The Dead which has 1 undead thousand year old necromancer/king and his legions of skeleton puppets. Next is the Good Principate of Procer which has a bunch of different princes and princesses technically as one country with one of them being in charge, then there’s the Domain of Levant, which is also good, and has some ruling families over different portions of it, with one person acting as the main leader. The Free Cities is a coalition of city states and is a mixture of Good and Evil. You have the elfs who live in the Golden Bloom are Good, but they are isolationist, elfs play a small part later in the story. The dwarves of the Kingdom Under are Good, I think, they are kinda weird tbh.

Alright, now that we got the world out of the way: a blurb about our main character. Catherine Foundling is an orphan in the city of Laure, she is 16 when we start our story. Before becoming a villain she fights in The Pit, an underground fighting ring and bar tends at the Rat’s Nest. She lives in the Laure home for Tragically Orphaned Girls, and is a loner. I’ll be referring to her as Cat throughout our read throuh, as that’s what the friends she makes wind up calling her

The prolog

[minnesotadruids]

Hello there! If it s not too much trouble, how do you feel about media/pop-culture portrayal of druids?

Since the word “Druid” is used a lot to mean “Nature Wizard” would you prefer if people used/make up their own different words for their stories or find it ok to use the term as long as they’re respectful or accurate to Druidism to some degree?

In terms of the "best" media depiction of druids, I think the BBC series Merlin with Colin Morgan is probably the closest we can get to a positive portrayal of the Celtic priestly caste. I still hesitate to describe it as accurate, but at the very least I wasn't balking at the show as much as I did when watching an episode of The Librarians. We'll get to them in a moment.

There's also the fun Australian miniseries Roar that starred a young Heath Ledger. It was full of historical inaccuracies (the premise being about a Roman-occupied Ireland for one thing). But it portrayed the druids in a positive light despite being at a time when they were in decline.

In the TV show The Librarians: And the Rise of Chaos (season 3 episode 1) they have a very brief (2-3 minute) run-in with some angry druids. The mob only shouts and growls but don't seem to speak, all while wearing tattered robes and brandishing wooden farm implements of various functions. They were also wearing cringey cast-resin masks of animal skulls that miraculously fit perfectly on their faces and just looked fake. I should point out this show takes place in the present.

The librarians have to climb a wicker man and solve a puzzle to steal a rune-covered stone artifact. The puzzle is based on a Celtic board game gwyddbwyll AKA fidchell. In the episode, the game pieces are Norse runes (Elder Futhark). Historically, the Iron Age Celts would not have used those runes. The game pieces should be carved figures of warriors instead. Then things get a bit personal with the tree stump inscription.

One librarian translates the markings on the stump which he says are "ancient Gaulish mixed with third century astrological symbols," and somehow reads "when the king reaches the north, the light will reveal itself."

*FACEPALM*

Well the three symbols on the left side are more Norse Elder Futhark (i.e. not even Celtic), the symbol cluster in the upper right corner looks like it could be vaguely Lepontic script (i.e. yes, “ancient Gaulish”) but that specific one is not in the Lepontic alphabet at all. Just for fun they have the symbol for Aries (the aforementioned (but singular) Greek astrological symbol). The Celtic triskele is in the upper middle of the stump and variations of it go back thousands of years, but it doesn't really have a universally accepted meaning.

What upset me the most was the incorporation of the Druid Sigil (bottom center of the stump). It is the official symbol of the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA). The RDNA invented the Druid Sigil in 1963 to be a geometrically simple symbol, yet at the same time - unique. They went through books of symbols to make sure it didn't already exist. The RDNA founders described the Druid Sigil as a symbol for the Earth-Mother, but it is truly devoid of a specific meaning or powers.

In the RDNA, the individual imparts their own meaning into the Sigil, and whatever powers they want it to have if need be. To me the Druid Sigil is a sun wheel, and the two vertical lines represent the Two Tenets of Reformed Druidism. It means something different to everyone, and it is neither ancient Gaulish nor third century anything. The show producers obviously googled “Druid symbols” and that was the extent of their research.

I guess if someone was to make a new show, movie, or other media about druids, I would prefer that it would at least clearly be in the high-fantasy genre if they're going to make them all fanciful magic users, and especially if they're going to be portrayed as bad guys. If the show is trying to be more historically accurate, I'd much prefer that they stick to what's verifiable (though admittedly that's not much). Otherwise yeah, it would be nice sometimes if they used a different term, like sorcerers or warlocks if they're bad guys.

Oh gosh, Warlock! That was a 1989 supernatural horror movie that started a trilogy of gory films. The warlock was a bad guy, and a secret bloodline of druids were the only ones who had a chance of stopping him. The depiction of druids was okay I suppose, and on the plus side they wore plain everyday clothes in the 20th century, 'cause you know it's important to blend in.

See Also:

History of the Druid Sigil

Common Symbols in Druidry

[gthreepio]

i’ve been thinking about the future of the mcu and realized there’s a LOT that i didn’t know/didn’t remember in terms of where things are going so i figured i’d sum it up incase anyone else was in the same boat!! 

quick recap of (unresolved) mid-credit scenes:

doctor strange: mordo (a sorcerer that is one of strange’s mentors, who by the end of the movie becomes disillusioned with magic/the ancient one and quits) confronts pangborn (the paraplegic who healed himself with the mystic arts, who tells strange about mystic arts in the first place) and steals his magic because according to mordo, there are “too many sorcerers." of note, this guy is typically a villain in the comics but hasn’t been thus far...

gotg2: ayesha (leader of the sovereign, a golden skinned alien race obsessed with genetic purity), after spending most of the movie chasing the guardians for stealing some stuff, is revealed to have created an artificial being named “adam” which is presumably, adam warlock. (other stuff that is less relevant: kraglin appears to take up yondu’s mantle; the ravagers regroup and several old and obscure comic book characters are introduced [charlie-27, aleta, martinex, mainframe]; the watchers are watching things.) 

far from home: j jonah jameson basically tells the whole world spider-man’s secret identity, and frames him for what happened with mysterio....making him public enemy #1. ALSO, turns out nick fury and maria hill in the movie were ACTUALLY the two skrulls from captain marvel (talos and soren) attempting to do their job, while the real fury (and presumably hill) is ... up in space on some spaceship!!!

wandavision: monica (who we can assume is photon) is called by “an old friend of [her] mother’s,” up in space, which presumably means fury, talos, or carol. ALSO, wanda sits in the middle of nowhere reading the darkhold and hears the voices of her children who.. by all accounts, should not exist. 

aaaaand what we know about future movies (i’m not even going into the tv series.....): 

black widow: 

takes place after civil war

nat confronts a “dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past,” likely has to do with taskmaster who has apparently taken over the red room where nat was trained as an assassin

prominent new characters: yelena belova, who will take over the mantle of black widow after this; alexei shostakov aka red guardian, an ollllld marvel hero analogous to captain america except for the soviet union.

tony stark will make an appearance... SOBS

shang-chi and the legend of the ten rings:

shang-chi has never been seen in the mcu before, but he is, essentially, a superhero that is a master martial artist, and in some adaptations can also create duplicate (fake) versions of himself to confuse opponents

main villain will be the the mandarin who we have *sort of* seen before... he is the leader of a terrorist organization called “ten rings” whose main goal is to destroy world peace. brief history -- in iron man 1: one ten rings cell kidnaps tony stark and tries to force him to make weapons (he of course, makes his suit instead). stark and ten rings become enemies and fight a bunch. nat and nick fury fight them too. in iron man 3, the villain aldrich killian hires a dude to pretend to be the mandarin and claim responsibility for a bunch of stuff, but its not the ten rings or the mandarin at all. this makes the mandarin v mad and he has a dude kidnap the faker to punish him. they also briefly show up in ant-man, when a ten rings agent tries to buy the yellowjacket suit that darren cross is selling. BUT IN SHANG-CHI....... looks like we are FINALLY going to see the real mandarin after over a decade!! 

the villain razor fist will also show up, he is lesser known... he has no superhuman powers but he has surgically replaced his hands (1 or 2, depending on the version) with a steel blade, and is highly skilled at hand to hand combat.

besides the presence of these characters, the only bit of plot we know is “shang-chi is drawn into the ten rings organization and forced to confront his past.” so... yeah. we don’t know much at all.

eternals: 

quick explanation: the eternals are an immortal alien race who have been secretly living on earth for thousands of years. they were created by the celestials, who are most prominently in gotg2. 

more entirely new characters!!! their names are: thena, who can form any weapon out of cosmic energy; gilgamesh, who can make a super strong exoskeleton out of cosmic energy; ikaris, who has superhuman strength, flies, and can project cosmic energy out his eyes; kingo, who can shoot cosmic energy projectiles from his hands; makkari, who creates sonic booms, has super speed, and is deaf; phastos, who has enhanced intelligence, and is also gay (and married with a kid!); ajak, who has healing powers; sprite, who can project illusions; sersi, who can manipulate matter; druig, who can mind control; and dane whitman (black knight), a human with a mystical sword. 

regarding the plot... it seems the eternals have kind of dispersed, but have to come together again to fight the deviants, who are their “evil counterparts” (also created by the celestials, though i’m unclear on why). thena and gilgamesh have apparently been in exile, unclear why; sersi, who is posing as a museum curator, has apparently been in love with ikaris for centuries and it seems as if their love story may be central to the film; and kingo is a bollywood film star in his spare time. aaaaand that’s pretty much all we know.

directed by chloé zhao of nomadland fame! 

spider-man no way home: 

based on the post-credits scene in far from home, peter parker will now be known as spider-man to everyone. unclear if he’s going to be seen as a bad guy due to mysterio framing him, but i guess we’ll see! 

jamie foxx is electro, and alfred molina is doctor octopus; which is VERY interesting considering they played these roles in other spider-man franchises, once again stirring up excitement for possible multiverse. 

there have been *multiple* reports that andrew garfield, kirsten dunst, tobey maguire, and emma stone will be in the movie but tom holland has repeatedly denied this... so... who knows. 

there are also rumors that matt murdock / daredevil (from netflix) will be in several scenes! not confirmed though. 

MJ is still his girlfriend and i hope it stays that way!! 

doctor strange will be featured in the movie, taking on the mentor role now that tony stark is gone :( this will be interesting as i.. haven’t really seen them interact much before. because of this inclusion some people speculate that the film may draw inspo from some comic storylines where peter’s secret identity is restored with magic. 

doctor strange in the multiverse of madness: 

scarlet witch is essentially co-starring!!! it’s going to be really interesting to see if they bring vision or the twins into this at all, though i’m not counting on it. 

seems like mordo will be the main villain -- recall the ds1 post credits scene where he is apparently running around trying to steal people’s magic.

america chavez will make her debut!!!!!! i have no idea how this plays into anything but i am so excited!! 

regarding the plot, all we really know is that strange has been researching the time stone, mordo messes with him, and this results in him accidentally unleashing “unspeakable evil.” presumably there will also be heavy involvement of the multiverse, and who knows what kind of craziness that will bring!! 

initially was going to be directed by scott derrickson who did ds1; however he stepped down to being just EP due to “creative differences.” i am presuming this is because derrickson really wanted to make this more gothic and horror than disney was comfortable with. i REALLY hope they keep some of those elements though and don’t erase the idea entirely! anyway, it will be directed by sam raimi now (of evil dead and spiderman 2002 fame). 

the film also reportedly ties in with the loki series (will loki show up!?) and spiderman 3 (which is obvious enough, given that strange is in that movie and those curious electro and doctor octopus castings...)

thor: love and thunder

directed by taika waititi again, hell yeah!!! and he has stated, the film will be “so over the top now in the very best way" and would make ragnarok look like a "run of the mill, very safe film" .... so.... oh god

so many great returning players!!! including.... valkyrie (now the king of new asgard), jane foster, lady sif, korg, star-lord, mantis, drax, nebula, and kraglin (takes up yondu’s mantle after he dies in gotg2)

in this movie, thor isn’t thor anymore.... it’s JANE!!! she gets cancer :( and is undergoing treatment while simultaneously being thor. i’m a little nervous how this will be handled, but i’m excited. (it’s based off an amazing comic series by jason aaron) 

the big bad: gorr the god butcher, played by christian bale! the gist of it is, this dude HATES gods because nobody helped when his family was dying and in need. his weapon is “all-black the necrosword,” forged from the head of a celestial, and allows the user to create wings and fly at extreme speeds. honestly, he sounds cool as fuck. 

valkyrie is going to be made canonically bisexual!!! 

it will explore more of korg’s backstory, and also include... space sharks!?!?! an alien race from the comics.

taika has called the script “very romantic” so take that as you will 

black panther 2

will again be directed by ryan coogler

not much is known at this point, does not have an official name

t’challa will NOT be recast (which i’m happy about) so..... honestly no idea what to expect for this one. i think we can probably expect shuri to have an expanded role. all we know so far is they will be “exploring the world of wakanda.” not clear to me how this is different from the upcoming wakanda D+ series. 

tenoch huerta has reportedly been cast as a villain, but no one has any idea who. there’s also rumors that donald glover is in “informal talks” to play a role. note all of this is unconfirmed.

captain marvel 2

will be directed by nia da costa (candyman!) and written by megan mcdonnell, who is one of wandavision’s best writers! 

will take place in the present day 

will feature kamala khan / ms. marvel, monica rambeau / photon!!! this will be so interesting.... kamala is a huge fan of carol’s in the comics, she is her mentor/idol. the ms. marvel series will also resportedly lead into cm2. and monica, well, monica knew her when she was a little kid. wandavision implies that there’s some bad blood between carol and monica though, not sure why. maybe because carol left and never came back? (until endgame) 

post-credits scene of wandavision appears to tie into this, having monica go up into space at the reqeust of her “mom’s old friend.” again, not clear who that is. this could also be a tie in to secret invasion though, so we’ll see. or both.

zawe ashton has been cast as an unknown villain... a lot of people are actually speculating that she may play rogue? which would be fascinating, as there’s a comic arc where rogue steals her powers and memories. BUT there’s still no confirmation that X-men exist in the MCU so for now i remain skeptical.

they are looking to cast a ‘john boyega’ or ‘michael b jordan’ type which makes me wonder if they are going to create a new character, a “younger” war machine to be her love interest? (note: carol and rhodey are a huge thing in comics!) carol obviously does not look her age but her and don cheadle.... that just doesn’t work. which is why i wonder.

ant-man and the wasp: quantumania 

in addition to scott and hope, pretty much all the major players are returning including: luis, hank pym, janet van dyne

cassie lang has been recast with an actress 5 years older, which is really making me wonder if they are going to make her stinger in this movie! (aka one of the main young avengers)

the villain: kang the conqueror! this dude time travels. original name nate richards. in the comics, kang travels back in time to rescue his younger self (nate) from an attack that would help shape him towards a life of villainy. kang also gives him some fancy armor. his younger self actually is like, what the fuck dude? and renounces his destiny, becoming a hero. and he makes his armor look like iron man, calling himself iron lad. who is a young avenger. which also makes me wonder about cassie lang.

otherwise not much is known! 

guardians of the galaxy vol. 3

james gunn is returning, i’m mixed about this...he really does *get* the guardians though. 

based on the gotg2 post credits scene, i think we can assume adam warlock will be a HUGE part of this. there are multiple versions of him, some villainous and some heroic, but no idea how this is gonna turn out.

no word yet on whether thor will be involved, or if those ravagers they introduced will be involved. 

fantastic four 

will be directed by the spiderman guy, john watts.

otherwise we know literally nothing.

aaaaand that’s the roundup! 

[merlinssaggyyfronts]

BBC Merlin Rewatch:

01x01: The Dragon’s Call

—

FIRSTLY THE FUCKING DESCRIPTION LMAO “Merlin, a young country boy” COUNTRY BOY AHAHDHSNDH IF ONLY YOU KNEW!!! ITS LIKE SETTING SOMEONE UP FOR DISASTER BUT THEN AGAIN THEY WERE SO LIKE I MEAN-

aw look at merlin all happy and smily, walking into camelot like he isnt going to witness the death of his best friend/king and basically everyone he loves

LOOK AT HIM HES SO HAPPY!!! HE DOESNT KNOW YET

“like everyone, he must live and learn” yo shut ur bitchass up lizard man u literally tried to murder everyone in camelot that one time

“his name: traumatised 😍😍”

AH YES THE OPENING!!1!1!-!-! AHHH THE AMOUNT OF HAPPINESS I FEEL HEARING THE OPENING

fuck ur bitchass uther no one likes u

“i pride myself as a fair and just king” sir didnt u like basically kill ur wife... and thousands of peo- OH MY GOD MORGANA BB ILY

oh jesus okay hes dead um chile-

“when i came to this land” wait i thought he was raised kn camelot brb i forgot im an idiot wait,,, does this mean before this it was the du bois family on the throne of camelot?? also, mired in chaos? u mean like.... before ur wife died and everyone was living peacefully? ....okay

“merlin, seeing a person who's been stated had been studying magic get beheaded: [a magical being himself] ah,, welcoming.” -my gf

“since the great dragon was captured” ....so did no one think about where they put a dragon?? a captured one at that. ud think he’d be more smart but nah he just left a random ass dragon under his castle like THAT is going to end well

YUHH MARY COLLJNS HATE HIM!!! YELL BABEY YELL!!! “you took my son!” YES MURDER HIM OMG I CAN FEEL HER PAIN

“a son for a son!” omg why couldnt u have killed uther bb ur the perfect villain i love u ur literally just a loving mother i-

OOOOO GAIUS

.....why is there a bunny mask in there

why is thERE A BUNNY MASK-

why didnt merlins eyes glow when he dragged the bed to gaius to save him

also whats this slomo magic why didnt he do this after this why did season one haveso much magic and like every other season was just everyone throwing it back

like i get instinctual magic but like.... if its instinctual wouldnt it happen more especially when his powers get stronger-

gaius: what did you just do?!

also gaius, five seconds later: i know what it was!! i just wanted to know where you learned it

merlin: 😐

merlin, about his magic: i was born like this

gaius, who knows full well warlocks exist: impossible!

(are warlocks naturally born knowing how to use magic without learning? i mean if u have to learn magic like a sorcerer then whats the difference between a warlock and a sorcerer cuz wouldnt sorcerers atleast have to have some magic in them to actually cast spells? am i dumb or do i just not get it)

wait so merlin arrived in camelot on a wednesday

merlin, walking into camelot: it is wednesday my dudes

merlin: [witnesses an execution] aaaAAAAAA-

“someone that might help him find a purpose of his gifts” oh honey he’ll get something mUCH LARGER THAN THAT-

—

oH MORGANA

SHUT UR BITCHASS UTHER SHE WILL KILL YOU-

“the more brutal you are, the more enemies you’ll create” oh the waY SHE PREDICTED THEIR FUTURE OO

ah bless u lady helen/mary collins we love them spicy villains

...why do you have a dressing table in a tent

[watches mary collins murder lady helen] i never snitch on dadd- ...someone pls delete me

merlin, about his instinctual magic: i just do it!

gaius: ...lord have mercy what did i just sign myself up to

what ever happened to sir olwen did he die from accidentally overdosing

—

oHHH THERE HE IS THERE HE IS THERES MY BOY!!! MY LIL PRAT MAN!!!!

merlin looks so offended, oh god i could watch this whole scene for HOURS

oooOOOO YES MERLIN FUCK HIM UP!!! SHOW HIM WHOS BOSS

“do i know you?” “im merlin” “so i dont know you” ugh theres already sexual tension

“i would never have a friend who could be such an ass” “or i one so stupid”

also them, ten years later: “i use my magic for you arthur, only you” “just hold me” “i cant lose him! hes my friend!” “thank you..”

“tell me merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?” OOOOH THE BOYS ARE FLIRTING

NOT THE “would you like me to help you?” SIR YOU ARE FLIRTING SO INTENSELY AND DONT EVEN REALISE IT SIR DO YOU KNOW YOURE FALLING IN LOVE

im convinced atleast half the knights with arthur were like “ayo thas kinda sus bro 😳😳 ayo 😳😳”

arthur: tell me merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees? would you like me to help you?

merlin: ....i really dont know how to answer that

imagine being paid to throw fruits at colin morgan omg id be so thrilled

OOOH HERE COMES OUR QUEEN GWEN!!! MY LOVE MY EVERYTHING YES ILY

gwen: well, arthur looks like one of those, save the world kinda men... and you dont

merlin, 1500 years later, having failed his destiny: well i mean you’re not wrong

—

gaius: uther banned magic a long time ago

merlin, flabbergasted as if he wasnt raised on tales of the death of his kind every day in the kingdom right next to his: why?!?!?

gaius: the dragon is imprisoned where nobody can free him

merlin:

(that is the face of someone knowing full well hes going to free that dragon. look at him. he’s already made up his mind.)

—

[sees merlin and arthur in the marketplace] oh heres he is again heres the lil bitxh ooo theyre about to FIGHT

god hes flirting so hard without even realising it, oh my god

“i could take you apart with one blow” “i could take you apart with less” um sirs this is a mcdonalds drive thru 😃

arthur: ahah, you’re in trouble now~ 😏😏

i had to pause cuz wHAT THE HELL WHY DOES HE SOUND LIKE THAT-

—

....yall are yelling very loudly, um, arent there guards near yall? people passing by? please relax

“im just a nobody, and i always will be” OH IF ONLY YOU KNEWWW

“if i cant use magic, i might as well die” ....well, ive got a surprise for you-

“maybe theres someone with more magic than me?” like... a whole dragon? i mean if you say so 👀

merlin about why he was born like this: if you cant tell me, no one can!

a fucking dragon, basically every magical creature and the druids: WELL-

the camelot guards are so stupid how the hell is this kingdom still standing

how does kilgharrah know merlins name? in prophecy hes known as emrys (and we see basically every magical being call him emrys and not merlin,, i think). so how does he know? did he stretch his neck long enough that he could somehow hear merlin? is it cuz theyre kin? is it cuz merlin and gaius were yelling so loudly that kilgharrah could hear them all the way in his cave? ig we’ll never know 🖐

merlin: where are you?!

kilgharrah:

kilgharrah: without you, arthur will never succeed.

merlin: ....oh look, im already paranoid

the amount of sadness i feel hearing kilgharrah say “none of us can choose our destiny, merlin. and none of us can escape it” is INSANE cuz in season one you can SEE merlin trying to escape it. hes doing his damned best trying to have some control over his life. and then in later seasons you can see the light slowly drain from his eyes as he becomes just another toy for the gods to be entertained by. he realises he cant control a single thing about his life so he does the one thing he can: protect arthur. and he loses SO MUCH because of it! its not fair, he deserved so much, and when he finally got everything he could ever ask for, it was taken away from him by his own mistakes.

arthur, seeing morgana in a beautiful dress: god have mercy 😍

uther: .....um

the way they set arthur and morgana up as if they arent gonna make them siblings i- what the fawk 😄

person A, who knows arthurian lore: oh no! arthur is going to have an affair with morgan(a) and have mordred! oh no!!

person B, whos seen merlin: oh no in this show its worse

person B, knowing full well theyre siblings: much worse....

gwen: who’d wanna marry arthur? 🙄

-

gwen, getting crowned queen of camelot: well fuck

hhhnghnh yes queen sing them to sleep yes murder his bitchass (and fail but like its the thought that counts)

on a sidenote tho this is such a fun way to murder someone, id try this

the absolutely OFFENDED “FATHER!” and the horrified look in arthurs eyss when uther announced merlin would be his manservant is PRICELESS OMG

oh the way uther unintentionally plants the first seed of his sons love story omg 😍😍

Conclusion: this episode is a 10/10 greatest episode with so many iconic scenes omg. mary collins u will forever have my heart for unintentionally kickstarting merlin and arthurs relationship destiny. i loved the whole thing and oh GOD does it already hurt knowing full well how the show ends

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

It’s Not That Bad, Right?

Prompt: Feel free to write this prompt (or not)- Merlin is cursed and turned into a dragon/wyvern. Arthur commands him to stay in the forest until they figure out how to change him back, but when Merlin senses that Arthur is in danger during a tournament in the City arena, he flies in front of everyone to rescue him, proving how willing he is to protect Arthur even if it means putting his life at the mercy of a shocked Camelot and angry Uther. Also Merlin breaths fire and is BAMF as a dragon.

Thanks for the prompt, babe! 

Read on Ao3 Part 2!

Pairings: Merthur, can be platonic or romantic you decide

Warnings: none. Merlin’s a little shit but what did we expect

Word Count: 3511

 Okay, Merlin’s gonna take the blame this time. This one’s on him. Definitely. No two ways about it. He’s big enough to admit he screwed up. He is! This one’s definitely on him. Absolutely not a question about it.

 In his defense, what was he supposed to do when he saw a sorcerer with a magic circle around a dragon’s egg chanting ominously as a bunch of storm clouds formed overhead, not run into the middle and push it out?

 Yeah, as if.

“Merlin!”

 Well, it sure hurt like hell, that’s for damn sure. Merlin can feel his teeth chattering against themselves as energy courses through his body, into through his fingertips and out through the top of his head, sending bolts into the ground, through his legs, through his chest. Something reaches deep beneath him and pulls, stretching him like putty. His throat screams in a soundless roar until he registers that, oh wait, that deafening noise is coming from him. Huh.

 “M-Merlin?”

 Why does Arthur sound unsure? Merlin’s fine. Merlin’s so fine right now. Everything is so fine and good right now, what’s wrong? Merlin turns around to say that, yeah, it’s alright, prat, he’s fine, no need to sound so nervous, only his head seems really really heavy right now and since when has his neck been that long?

 “Sire, stay back! I don’t know what’s happened!”

 “Stay low to the ground.”

 “One of these buggers wasn’t enough, huh?”

 Oh, are there more sorcerers? Merlin turns his—why the hell is his head so heavy?—head to look, scanning the trees for more sorcerers.

 …that’s funny, why is he suddenly higher? And where are his arms? Or his legs? Or…

 …oh, bollocks.

 Merlin sighs, only to realize that hey, you guys remember that dragons can breathe fire, right?

 “Get back!” Oh, there’s Leon. Merlin wondered where he got off to. “I don’t know where you come from, beast, but you must leave immediately.”

 “Beast,” Merlin mutters, “how rude.”

 It’s worth it for the way Leon’s arm drops dead to his side. The knight’s mouth gapes up at him. “Merlin?”

 Merlin’s gotta get used to this freaking head. He looks around at himself, tests his four feet—claws? Paws? He doesn’t know—and flaps his wings experimentally. “Pretty sure. Just, er, a little different?”

 “A little different, he says,” Gwaine mutters from Arthur’s other side, “Merlin what the hell have you done now?”

 “I think,” Merlin says, testing out the words in his new mouth—so many teeth—“I’ve been turned into a dragon.”

 “Stellar observations there.”

 “How is this possible,” Lancelot murmurs, the only one of the knights who dares step closer, close enough to rest his hand on Merlin’s flank. Wow, he’s tiny. “Merlin, did—did you do this?”

 “Why would I do this?”

 “You are dramatic,” Lancelot says, winking up at him.

 “Hey!”

 “He’s not wrong.”

 “Thanks, Gwaine.”

 “Alright, alright.” Arthur sways on his feet, looking every bit about to faint, except he grits his teeth and puts his sword decidedly at his side. “Merlin’s a dragon. Sure.”

 “In the flesh!”

 “I think you mean in the scale,” Elyan adds helpfully.

 Arthur glares at him, only to glance around and see Lancelot happily petting Merlin’s scales, Leon looking him over like he does the new armor, and Gwaine sauntering over to a stump and sitting down. He cocks his head and looks at Merlin, before shrugging and pulling out a waterskin. Even Percival and Elyan look a little nonplussed.

 “Are all of you just—fine with this?”

 Gwaine shrugs. “Hardly the weirdest thing to ever happen to us, is it?”

  “Merlin is a dragon!”

 “And not too long ago Gaius was possessed by a goblin.”

 “Don’t forget the manticore,” Percival supplies.

 “Oh,” Lancelot calls, “and the immortal army!”

 “And,” Leon says, “let us also not forget, Sire, that Uther once was married to a troll.”

 “Wait, he was what?” Gwaine leaps up indignantly. “Why have you not told us this story?”

  “Enough!”

 Merlin doesn’t sigh, but he does exhale noisily through his nostrils. While Arthur prattles on about respecting the king or some such nonsense that he’s sure only Leon is really listening to—and then it’s only out of politeness and because he’s heard it a thousand times—Merlin fidgets.

 Scales itch, did you know that? It feels like he’s wearing scratchy clothes that don’t fit right on his skin. He huffs, trying to keep the smoke to a minimum, scrubbing his legs and arms along the ground to try and get some relief. When it doesn’t work, he flops his head down with a resounding thump, out of the way of any of the knights. Wow, his head is the size of Lancelot.

 Lancelot, of course, because this man is the definition of unflappable unless it comes to Gwen, simply smiles and reaches out to gently stroke the ridge between Merlin’s eyes. Merlin rumbles gratefully and nudges Lancelot with the tip of his nose.

 “Right there, hmm?” Lancelot pats him a few more times.

 “He’s not a horse, Lancelot,” Leon says with a smile.

 “No, he’s a dragon.”

 “He is sitting right here,” Merlin grumbles, “thank you very much.”

 “So you can still talk.” Gwaine downs the waterskin and saunters over. “Can you fly?”

 Percival glances at his back. “He’s got wings, doesn’t he?”

 “Can we ride him?”

 “Gwaine!”

 “What? You lot were thinking it too!”

 “I’m going mad,” Merlin hears Arthur say faintly, “I’m going mad because my manservant is a dragon and none of my knights seem to care.”

 “Oh, we care,” Gwaine says, “this is the most interesting thing that’s happened in a while.”

 “Merlin appears to have his wits about him still,” Leon murmurs in an effort to soothe Arthur’s nerves which, honestly, Merlin’s a dragon, so that’s fair, “and I do not believe Merlin is likely to attack us.”

 “Merlin trips over his own two feet when he’s only got two and he’s the size of a string bean,” Arthur mutters, not taking his eyes off of him.

 “Oi!”

 “It’s true and you know it.”

 Merlin hides a smile, partly because he doesn’t want Arthur to see he’s happy, and partly because he has no idea what dragon smiles look like. Kilgharrah didn’t really smile. But the banter seems to have calmed Arthur down a little, at least enough to walk up to Merlin and look at him. Properly.

 Merlin lifts his head, just so they’re eye level, and waits.

 Arthur hesitantly reaches a hand out.

 Merlin holds his breath.

 Arthur’s hand clenches into a fist and he turns away.

 “We’ll have to find a way to fix this,” Arthur mutters, stalking back toward his horse. “Back to Camelot. We speak of this to no one except Gaius.”

 “You just want to leave him here?”

 “If we brought a dragon back to Camelot, my father would have all of our heads. And Merlin would be killed. Or chained up.” Arthur shakes his head firmly, already back on his horse. “We tell no one.”

 “So what do we do then,” Gwaine yells, “just abandon him out here?”

 “He’s a dragon,” Arthur says, “I’m sure he can fend for himself.”

 Something pinches inside Merlin’s chest as Arthur turns away. He growls, ignoring Lancelot’s concerned look as he straightens, his head turning to look down at his massive chest. It aches, like something in him is reaching for the end of a rubber band that just won’t snap back.

 “Merlin?”

 “I’m fine,” he manages, testing out his body again. He’s definitely not used to having six limbs, let alone wings. “I’ll figure it out.”

 “We will find a way to change you back, old friend,” Leon promises, “you will not be stuck like this forever.”

 “Might not be the worst thing in the world to be stuck as.”

 “All the same, we will try.”

 “Thanks, Leon.”

 Leon nods deeply, mounting his horse and setting off after Arthur. The other knights do the same, each bidding Merlin farewell. Lancelot is the last to leave.

 “Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to stay?”

 As tempting as it is, Merlin shakes his massive head. “You might get hurt. And Camelot might, er—“

 “Since when have I listened to Camelot over listening to you?”

 In response, Merlin nudges him—gently!—with his nose back over to his horse.

 “Alright, alright,” Lancelot laughs, “I’m going.”

 Still, Merlin can’t help the dull ache of loneliness from settling in his chest as Lancelot disappears into the trees. He looks around. This clearing is nice. It’s just large enough to fit him comfortably. He can lie down—which he does—and curl up with his tail tucked around his legs. He has a tail, does that mean he has seven limbs now? Does a tail count as a limb?

 Oh, the ground feels really nice on his sides. Can he—he can roll to his other side too. Oh yeah, that’s fun.

 Merlin spends several minutes just rolling around on the ground, letting his wings splay out a little and flap to the sides, stirring up little storms of dust and dirt. He ends up on his back, his wings splayed out, looking up at the dark sky. His eyes drift closed and he rumbles happily.

 He isn’t sure how much time passes but his wings are starting to get a little sore. He grunts and rolls.

 …only to rock right back.

 He tries again. No luck.

 Maybe if he flaps his wings, he can—nope. The other side maybe? Oh, nope. Nope, that’s not it either.

 He’s stuck.

 How undignified. Good thing there’s no one around to—

 “Young warlock?”

 “No,” Merlin groans, shutting his eyes and instinctively going to cover his face only to remember that he’s got dragon legs and that’s not going to work. “Go away.”

 “No, young warlock,” comes the voice that is definitely laughing at him, “I don’t think I will.”

 Merlin opens his eyes. Sure enough, there’s Kilgharrah, who looks way too happy. Merlin gives up and lets his limbs hang uselessly. “I’m stuck.”

 “I can see that.”

 “…how do I get unstuck?”

 “You roll, young warlock.”

 “I’ve tried that!”

 “Well, then you must not’ve tried hard enough.”

 Trying to roll over and failing miserably in front of the Great Dragon is possibly one of the most humiliating things you can do. Especially when you’re exerting yourself because you’ve never had a dragon body before and you’re making all sorts of embarrassing grunts and squeals. Merlin doesn’t recommend it.

 Eventually, Merlin stops, panting and looking back at Kilgharrah who looks all too pleased with himself. “Are you just going to stand there?”

 “Did you need something?”

 “Help me!”

 “All you had to do was ask, young warlock.”

 Merlin wisely bites back the many insults on his tongue and rolls again. This time, Kilgharrah sticks his nose under the flap of Merlin’s wing and pushes him over with a graceless thump. Merlin shakes himself.

 “Thanks.”

 “But of course. You know I live to serve you.”

 “Have you gotten more sarcastic or have we not spoken in a while?”

 “That is an answer you must seek for yourself.”

 “You’re still as vague, good, I was beginning to think you were some other dragon.”

 “There are no other dragons,” Kilgharrah says softly, suddenly growing serious, “at least…there were no other dragons.”

 He inclines his head, moving with a grace that shows unlike Merlin, Kilgharrah understands his body.

 “What happened, Merlin?”

 Merlin explains.

 “That was very brave, young warlock.”

 “You can say stupid.”

 “That was very stupid, Merlin.”

 “Yeah, well.” Merlin kicks a rock next to him. “What else is new?”

 “I must say,” Kilgharrah muses, looking him over, “you are not an unhealthy dragon.”

 “That is…a compliment? I think?”

 “Well, typically when it comes to anamorphic magic, it does not perform…nearly this successfully.” Kilgharrah nudges Merlin’s wing with the tip of his snout. “I suspect it is because you are magic that you have transformed so completely.”

 “And also why I’m still able to talk?”

 “Precisely.”

 “Great.” Merlin snuffles a little. Wow, he can smell a whole lot more. “So how do we fix it?”

 “Unfortunately, anamorphic magic is…temperamental.”

 “Okay, so I can still speak normally, which means it’s not a dragon thing to speak in vague stupid cryptic sentences. Speak normally.”

 “Your tongue is still as sharp as ever.”

 “Well, now that I’m not a tiny human anymore—“

 “Most humans are tiny.”

 “Kilgharrah.”

 Kilgharrah sighs. Ooh, he’s gotta show Merlin how to do that so he can still sigh. He misses that. “It will take time. From what you described, the spell was not completed, which means it will only last as long as the magic holds.”

 “And how long is that?”

 “Perhaps until the next full moon.” That’s only a week and a bit away. That’s not so bad.

 “So what do I do until then?”

 “You never did learn how to hunt with Arthur, did you?”

 If you told Merlin he would be spending a week with Kilgharrah learning how to be a dragon and actually enjoying himself while doing it, he would have laughed, slammed the door in your face, and muttered some spell to make you trip as you walked away.

 And yet, here we are.

 Merlin does always insist that they stay close to the clearing. If someone comes back, he doesn’t want them to worry. Kilgharrah just shakes his head and tosses him another deer. Merlin can sigh now! That’s nice. His body doesn’t feel so itchy all the time either. His head doesn’t feel like a ridiculous weight anymore. His wings feel right. It’s not bad, this whole being-a-dragon business.

 There’s still something wrong though.

 That pain he had in his chest when the knights first left hasn’t gone away. It feels like he’s missing something. Sometimes when he lies down he rests his head on the ground too, tries to press his chest to the earth as much as possible. See if there’s something he can slot back into place. Nothing ever works.

 Kilgharrah, for once, isn’t being cryptic when he says he genuinely doesn’t know what’s wrong. But he does rest his head on Merlin’s back. That feels nice and warm.

 He doesn’t trust himself enough to try and breathe fire.

 Two days before the spell is supposed to wear off, the pain spikes. In an instant, Merlin crumbles to the ground and whines. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.

 “Merlin,” Kilgharrah rumbles, at his side in an instant, “Merlin, what is wrong?”

 “M-my chest, I can’t, I—it hurts—“

 “Where is it coming from, young warlock?”

 “I just told you—!”

 “No,” Kilgharrah says sharply, “where?”

 Merlin opens his mouth to snap back when he feels a line in his chest yank taut.

 Oh.

  Oh.

 With two flaps of his wings, Merlin is airborne. The line pulls him over the trees, out of the forest, toward the castle in the distance. Camelot.

  Arthur.

 Of bloody course it’s Arthur. What else could it be? As he flies, Merlin racks his brain trying to think of what’s happening, what could be hurting Arthur, what’s going on—

 Right. There’s a bloody tournament going on.

 What is it about tournaments that make every single magic-user with a grudge against Uther come out of the woodwork?

 …well…

 There’s the arena. People are fleeing in droves. Merlin tucks his wings and dives, thankful to the lessons Kilgharrah gave him. He spots Arthur, he spots Uther—

 He spots a wave of soldiers in black armor surrounding Arthur on all sides. Their blades gleam in the light. Magic crackles around them. Arthur is bleeding.

  Not on his watch.

 Merlin opens his mouth.

 A dozen soldiers melt away like dew as he bathes them in fire, the black armor vanishing. Another dozen vanish as torrents of flame spill from his throat, mouth open in a righteous scream. Arthur whirls around to look. His cry of surprise is lost in the roar of the dragon’s wings. Uther’s face is pale. Another jet of fire incinerates the knights as Merlin lands with a thud in front of Arthur.

 A knight charges him. Merlin whips his tail around and swipes four of them off their feet. Another one launches a spear at him and lodges itself in his wing. Merlin cries out and lunges forward. The armor tastes salty. The other knight is torched before he has a chance to throw the spear.

 At his side, Arthur seems to snap out of his stupor, brandishing his sword and fighting off one of the last remaining knights. Merlin gets his snout underneath another and throws him into the distance. He swings his head around like a hammer and slams two more into the arena wall.

 The last one—well, he just screams at the last one.

 It seems to do the trick; the armor falls apart in a series of heavy clanks.

 Merlin stops, panting heavily. There’s still a spear lodged in his side and it burns. Arthur is safe. That’s all that matters. Arthur is safe.

 “…Merlin?”

 Merlin turns his head, his head hanging low. Arthur stands there, covered in blood, but alive, and holds out his hand.

 Merlin lays his head on the ground and closes his eyes.

 Arthur reaches out.

 A soft glove lands on Merlin’s cheek. Rubs his scales softy. Merlin purrs.

 “Hello, Merlin,” Arthur murmurs, too quiet for anyone else to hear, “welcome back.”

 “Kill it!”

 Ah, yes, right. Uther.

 “No!”

 Arthur’s cry forces Merlin’s eyes open, spotting Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, Percival, Elyan, all writing spears and javelins away from other knights. A sharp pain comes from his side and he turns to see Arthur trying to pull the spear out. He has to brace his foot against Merlin’s side to get out. Arthur tosses it away and holds his hand over the wound. Thankfully it seems like it just lodged in between two scales, Merlin’s not bleeding too much.

 “Father,” Arthur pants, “Father we can’t kill it.”

 “It’s a dragon, Arthur!”

 “And it just saved our lives!”

 “It’s nothing but a beast,” Uther snarls, seemingly regaining some of his composure as he spews his hateful speech from his comfortable box, “mindless and hungry. It will kill us all!”

 “Does it look like it’s about to kill us?”

  No, no it most certainly does not, thank you very much.

 Arthur glances between the two of them, before leaning in close to Merlin.

 “Fly back to the clearing, we’ll meet you there.”

 Merlin turns his head. Arthur stares at him insistently.

 “Go!”

 He takes off, hearing Arthur’s long, fake cries about how they will chase after him, slay him, for the good of Camelot. He smiles and lands in the clearing. Kilgharrah is gone. Well, that’s kind of to be expected, isn’t it? He thinks a message of gratitude, hoping it will reach him, wherever he is. He doesn’t get a verbal reply, but a warm spark of magic spreads over his damaged scales and he smiles.

 Sure enough, the knights crash through the brush a few moments later, Arthur scrambling off his horse and up to Merlin.

 “You,” he says, grinning breathlessly, “are an idiot.”

 “Idiot dragon,” Merlin corrects, “who just saved your arse.”

 “That was so cool,” Gwaine crows, “you—“

 “Yes, yes,” Percival mutters, “you’ve been saying that since we left.”

 “They’re a bit excited, Merlin,” Lancelot chuckles, “forgive them.”

 “…it is pretty cool,” Merlin admits.

 “Are you hurt?” Arthur glances over at his side. “You were hit.”

 “I think it’s healed up pretty well.”

 “We, er, weren’t able to find a way to fix you.”

 “I think it’ll wear off by the next full moon.”

 “How would you know?”

 Merlin gives Arthur a look that’s definitely just a rip off of Kilgharrah’s. “I know many things, young king.”

 “You stop that right now.”

 “So,” Elyan muses, “two days?”

 Merlin nods.

 “Camping trip, boys!”

 Gwaine’s holler makes the rest of them laugh and they quickly go about setting up camp. Merlin bows his head to carefully light the fire as the knights make themselves comfortable. It’s not so bad, actually, out here in the clearing with them. Arthur leaning up against his chest, Lancelot by his side. Leon tosses him a large chunk of meat as Percival watches. Elyan double-checks his side and pronounces him all clear.

 Yeah. Being a dragon isn’t so bad.

 “I get a ride before you turn back, right?”

 “Gwaine!”

[somelazyassartist]

10

Is there a single leader, multiple, or are decisions made by the people? If the former, how are the leaders chosen? If the latter, how are decisions made?

Okay okay okay look okay this. This is probably the thing I worked on most so far so I'm. VERY excited. But also I wrote half of this when I was like half-asleep and the other half right after I woke up so if it doesn't make any sense, feel free to ask for clarification and I can elaborate. Also I'm gonna name drop like a LOT of characters so if you wanna hear more about any of them feel free to ask. Okay okay okay.

So basically, most Fey follow an Archfey of sorts, but they still have their own civilizations and kingdoms with rulers- they just are always one rank below the Faerie Queens. But yeah yeah yeah, okay there are definitely some places in the Feywild where decisions are made by the people, but we're specifically talking about "The Three Kingdoms" so like. They're kingdoms lmao.

Okay so first of all, you need some backstory,,, The Three Kingdoms used to be one Kingdom, ruled by Zacria Xulaphani. Zacria is a LeShay, a powerful and immortal Elf-Like Fey creature of extraordinary power. Back thousands of years ago, the Forces of Darkness (I haven't come up with a better name for it yet that's just a placeholder, but it's an army of evil Fey, demons, Fomorians, and other such things that were trying to make a second(?) attempt at taking over the Feywild) banded together to try to take down one of the most prominent kingdoms within the Feywild to show their power and to scare other smaller rulers to just give in, because if Zacria's army couldn't stop them then nobody could. Zacria was vastly outnumbered, so she sent recruiters out to the Material Plane to try to see if anyone would volunteer to help with their plight (which is when Evalur and Keanan came to the Feywild, they willingly volunteered when they were only kids not understanding how serious it really was), and split the Kingdom into three separate ones so that she could have ⅔ more time to focus on fighting the war. She took over the section she called Shylha Dorthore, appointed the head of her royal guard, Briarloch Von Birus III, as the King of Arran Thalas, and appointed her royal advisor, Morsandoral Telloxia, as the Ruler of Maethveserine.

Long, long, VERY long story short, Zacria and her armies won and drove back their attackers into the Feydark, but it was a pretty close call, and Zacria didn't get out of the fight unscathed. During a confrontation with one of the more powerful demons they were up against, she was cursed (though she never told the public what exactly the details of said curse were to try to avoid causing a panic). When the war ended she decided to step down from ruling altogether, though the people weren't happy with that for a number of reasons, so she came up with a compromise of sorts. She'd still step down from being Queen, and somebody else would take her place to rule, but she set up a system to make sure there was extra protection put in place to keep the people safe from if there ever was an attack against the kingdom again. She set up a court of mages, twelve extremely powerful individuals with a rank only below that of their ruler themselves, who would each guard one of the twelve factions of Shylha Dorthore. The members have changed many times over the thousands of years it's been since it was established (only Zacria can remember who her original eleven partners were, it's been so long even Evalur can't remember them fully), but it always stays in the same pattern: 3 Bards, 2 Clerics, 1 Druid, 1 Paladin, 3 Sorcerers, and 2 Wizards. Zacria still has some power over one of the factions, as she is one of the three Bards in the court, but she is no longer a Queen and has much less influence than she did during the war.

Okay okay so that's like. The history of how Sylha Dorthore, Arran Thalas, and Maethveserine came to be. I already had a lot of stuff written down in a Google Doc so here's just a copy and paste of how the court of mages functions:

"Shylha Dorthore's court of mages are a group of twelve extremely powerful magic users, always consisting of 3 Bards, 2 Clerics, 1 Druid, 1 Paladin, 3 Sorcerers, and 2 Wizards, regardless of how often the individual members change. They act as advisors to the rulers, and help with any magic-related issues in the Kingdom. Each one lives in and protects one of the twelve factions of Shylha Dorthore, though all answer to the ruler and must be willing to drop everything to go to the castle at a moments notice if the need arises. They answer only to the ruler and each other, and to the common folk they may as well be rulers themselves. While some more corrupt individuals may try to get this title to abuse its power, the other members can step in and stop them if they truly must, and if the people don't like the current mage in charge they're more likely to try to replace them with someone else, so corrupt individuals never seem to stick around for long. The members can all be individually replaced whenever someone proves that they are more powerful than them by beating them in a magic duel; however the new person trying to get the role must be the same class as the current member they are fighting, to keep order. However, trials aren't too common as long as the people like the mage protecting them, and the current twelve members have never lost a fight to anyone outside their own court and may arguably be the most powerful magic users (that are not Archfey) within any of The Three Kingdoms. The current mages that are present today are: Fensira Rosebrush (Bard), Zacria Xulaphani (Bard), Falias Crimsoncrest (Bard), Tavmendi Dawnheart (Cleric), Quicksilver Dazzledance (Cleric), Dos'run Oakenpelt (Druid), Araquiel (Paladin), Stargazer Bluebeauty (Sorcerer), Urirel Starbrook (Sorcerer), Perlamin Wosantavir (Sorcerer), Enrona Eysiith (Wizard), and Xichikh Reetshe (Wizard)"

And here's a copy and paste of how determining new rulers works:

"Arran Thalas, Maethveserine, and Shylha Dorthore all have very different ways of determining new rulers when one is no longer fit. In Arran Thalas, the title is passed down by the current ruler to somebody they see fit, regardless of whether or not they have a familial connection (though it can often be their own family members if that's who they truly see fit to rule), and they start preparing as soon as they are coronated in case anything happens to them, and it's normal for the chosen person to change many times (the one currently listed at the time of the current ruler's death is the one that takes over). Maethveserine has a very similar way of doing things as Arran Thalas, but assassinations are a lot more common so rulers change incredibly frequently, though some do manage to rule for quite a while. In Shylha Dorthore, if a ruler is dying of old age, the title will go to the strongest in their guard so that they can protect their Kingdom if need be- but that is fairly rare; a ruler will be forced to step down on the 100 year anniversary of their coronation and will celebrate with a public viewing of the fight for the new ruler; the court of mages that the ruler has will all battle each other with wondrous feats of magic, and the winner (or possibly only survivor, if the others are so desperate for the throne they resort to murder, though typically the games are treated more like a friendly sparring match. The smaller fights that happen when a new commonfolk tries to overthrow a single member of the order to take their place are far more likely to end in bloodshed) will inherit the throne until it's time for the next ruler to be crowned. Any mages that do not wish to rule/risk their life for the chance may step aside before the games even start and let the others fight for the title, though it is usually very rare for them to do so and more likely that they will be forced to step aside mid-fight if they realize they will lose or if they become too tired/injured to keep fighting. If the other members survive they will be healed, but anyone who dies during these trials will not be resurrected as necromancy is heavily frowned upon within the kingdom due to old superstitions left from the war."

I haven't quite come up with all the details for Maethveserine's current Queen, but the current King of Arran Thalas should be Evalur Braveheart (I'm pretty sure the timeline works out? I have to double check but as far as I can tell he's still ruling after all those thousands of years. Only Zacria knows he's cursed/a Warlock, and she helps him cover it up by having convinced the people that he's descended from LeShay so his long lifespan just comes from that- instead of the truth that he gets it from his Warlock patron). The current ruler of Sylha Dorthore is a very very young Fey Eladrin named Kaivara Ravennight.

[rosemaidenvixen]

In the Fullness of Time

Chapter 1: Today

When a fight leads to unintentional magical consequences, Douxie has a painful secret exposed. Prompting him to share part of his past to his friends.

Or, the tale of how Merlin and Douxie first met.

Ao3

Halfway through watching Wizards for the first time, I came up with an idea for how Merlin and Douxie met. I liked it so much that it stuck with me even after I saw their canon meeting, so here we are. For the sake of this story Merlin didn't die, and they were able to defeat Bellroc and Skrael by locking them in the Darklands (and while I'm at it Draal is alive and is spending his honeymoon with Nomura wrestling alligators in the New Jersey sewers).

Shout out to @yellowmagicalgirl for giving me the kick in the pants to get this story off the ground and @archaeopter-ace for the title.

-

Douxie ducked to the side to avoid the fireblast “Jim, on your right!”

Jim nimbly doged another fireblast and used Excalibur to vault over a fallen tree, continuing pursuit of their quarry without missing a beat.

The Warlock swore and tried to turn and retreat. Only to come face to face with Toby, Steve, and Claire. The boys wielding their hammer and axe while shadows flickered at Claire’s fingertips.

“Going somewhere Buttsnack?”

The Warlock made a mad dash in the opposite direction, but was instantly blocked by Krel’s serrator.

They all closed the gap on the increasingly anxious looking Warlock. Douxie summoning his staff as they moved in “It’s over, there’s nowhere for you to run. Surrender and we’ll go easy on you,”

The Warlock narrowed his eyes and growled “I will not yield my power to that blasted coward Merlin. Not in this life, or the next,”

Douxie’s eyes widened as he realized what the Warlock was about to do.

“ Everyone get back! ”

He slammed the end of his staff on the ground, forming a shield around the Warlock just as he started to chant.

Less than a second later the Warlock was consumed in a ball of white fire, the shield around him swelling and straining as Douxie struggled to contain the blaze.

Thinking quickly, Claire summoned a portal on the ground inside Douxie’s shield, siphoning some of the white hot energy away.

Their combined efforts had an impressive effect but it wasn’t enough.

Douxie’s shield shattered, the Warlock erupted with a blinding flash of light and a concussive wave. Blasting them all into the trees like leaves in a gale.

Head swimming, Douxie blinked to clear his vision, slowly managing to detangle himself from the roots and shrubbery. It didn’t feel like he’d been injured too badly, but something felt...off. At first he thought he was just recovering from the blast, but upon standing he immediately knew something was seriously wrong. And when he raised a hand to pull a loose twig out of his hair, Douxie froze when he saw that his shirt was practically falling off his arm. A quick glance up and down revealed the rest of his clothes now fit in the same baggy manner.

But it wasn’t so much that his clothes had gone from small to extra large, more like Douxie himself had gone from nine hundred and nineteen to four or five.

“Oh fuzzbuckets,”

Even as he spoke he cringed at his higher, lisping voice. From around the clearing he saw everyone else groan and get to their feet. It soon became apparent that Douxie wasn’t alone in his predicament.

“Guys, guys! The Warlock dude made everything bigger!” a much smaller Steve wailed, trying and failing to lift his axe.

Rather than bother to try and move his now oversized hammer, Toby opted for the simpler option of shrinking it down and tucking it into his pocket “Actually I think we got smaller,”

Krel sat on the ground, blinking at his four stubby, childish limbs “Kleb,”

Douxie had never heard the Akiridion word before, but based on the context he could give a pretty good guess as to its meaning.

Once she finished helping Jim up, Claire turned towards Douxie “What happened, why are we all fun-sized now?”

“Our friend here,” Douxie gestured to the smoking crater in the ground, all that was left of the Warlock “Rather than get taken to Merlin and have their contraband magic stripped away, chose to unleash it all at once and try to take us all out,”

He picked up his staff from where it had fallen “We were able to dampen it, which is why we’re not ash right now, but I have no idea what they were juicing themselves with, or how to undo it,”

The blue stone in the head of his staff flickered as he tried to summon his magic, only to have it elude him. With a sigh he lowered it “And being tiny like this, I don’t have much power,”

“What! Are we stuck like this?! I can’t win Spring King again if I’m all shrimpy, they won’t even let me be a duke!”

“For once I agree with the oaf. I will not be small again, and I refuse to let Aja see me like this,”

“Calm down guys,” Douxie knitted his brows and tried to tuck his staff away, a normally easy task made monumentally difficult by his lack of size and power “We just need to get back to Merlin and he can help us figure this out,”

He allowed himself a small grin as the staff finally reduced back into his cuff, with no small amount of effort on his part, only to swear when the cuff  nearly slipped off his arm. Douxie glanced at both wrists before sighing and slipped both the cuff and bracelets off, stuffing them into his pocket. Better to take them off now than to have them fall off later and get lost. But still he almost felt naked without them.

Jim tugged at Excalibur’s hilt with a frown “But what about our weapons? We can’t carry them back like this, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave them out here,”

“I’ll do it,” Claire’s sclera darkened as two small portals formed beneath Excalibur and Toothache, ferrying them away. Less than a second after the weapons vanished Claire’s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the ground.

“That...that took a lot out of me,” she panted as Toby and Jim helped her to her feet.

Douxie hurried up to check on her. Much to his relief while she was sweating with exhaustion, her eyes were focused and clear and her nose wasn’t bleeding “Ok, no more magic. Our bodies just aren’t up to it right now,”

“Wait, does that mean we have to go back on foot?” Steve said incredulously.

“Unfortunately yes,”

“Aww man,”

“Double kleb,”

“C’mon guys,” Jim said while heading to the front of the group with Douxie “The sooner we start the sooner we get back, and the sooner we get back the sooner we get back to normal,”

With only minimal grumbling, the group set out through the woods. Jim and Douxie in the lead.

They stumbled their way home through the roots and undergrowth, struggling with shorter, weaker limbs. As they went, Douxie tried to come up with a likely explanation for their condition. It couldn’t be a de-aging spell, greater Wizards than that Warlock had tried and failed to obtain eternal youth. What if it was a spell intended to do something else entirely but had gone wrong? Maybe the Warlock had tried to cast a spell to strip them of all their abilities but it went haywire when--

“Hey Doux,” Claire spoke up, shattering his train of thought “What’s that, on your wrists?”

Douxie stopped in his tracks, hands unconsciously going to cover his wrists; his heart plummeting like a stone down into the bottom of his stomach.

How could he have been so careless? He didn’t have the bracelets or cuff to cover them any more, and he’d forgotten that they’d been a lot more noticeable at this age.

The rest of the group stopped to, perturbed by his reaction.

Krel squinted “Are those...scars?”

Douxie bit his lip, tightening the grip on his wrists.

Jim’s expression went from curious to soft “Hey it’s cool, you don’t have to tell us,”

“Yeah,” Steve piped up “If you say it’s none of our business, it’s none of our business,”

Claire’s face flushed “Sorry, forget I asked,”

Krel and Toby chimed in with similar reassurances.

Hearing them all try to comfort him, the subject of the marks on his wrists willing to be dropped as quickly as it was brought up; heavy, not unpleasant, emotion settled in Douxie’s chest.

These were his comrades, more than that his friends. They’d fought side by side and he trusted them with his life.

He could trust them with this to.

“No….it’s...it’s ok,” he pried his fingers away from his wrists, wincing as the marks underneath were exposed “It’s just….a hard story to tell,”

Empathy washed over Jim’s face “You don’t have to tell us if you--”

“It’s ok,” Douxie cut him off “I want to tell you,”

He took a deep breath as they all looked at him, expectantly but patiently.

“I got these,” Douxie started slowly “I got these when I was the age I appear to be now…..”

-

Notes: (Content warning for mentions of cannibalism)

For the magic system I'm setting up in this story there are functional differences between a Wizard and a Warlock. A Witch/Wizard is someone with innate magical abilities, whether they came naturally, like Douxie, or developed after contact with the magical world, like Claire. A person without magic of their own that still uses magical tools and objects would be referred to as an Alchemist.

Warlocks occupy a dark middle ground between the two. Warlocks are those that lack intrinsic magical abilities of their own, but consume or inject themselves with the essence of other magical creatures in order to gain their powers. These artificially gained magical abilities fade over time, so Warlocks constantly need to replenish themselves with outside magical sources. There are literally thousands of ways for a Warlock to accomplish this, but the most common method is by directly cannibalizing a Witch or Wizard. So while the words Warlock and Cannibal are not synonymous within magical communities, they share all of the same negative connotations.

The main point is that while being a Warlock doesn't make one inherently 'evil', the steps and ethical choices a person has to make to become a Warlock and to maintain that status informs a lot about their willingness to harm others for their own gain.

This won't come up in the rest of the story, I just wanted to elaborate on some of the worldbuilding.

[obeyme-and-you]

So... Why is Luke Ten?

Mod Gabriel is in PURPLE

Mod Kimimela is in BLUE

Verses are in Green

So every character in the game is named after somebody. And in the entire NASB and KJV Bibles there is only 1 Luke, so we can assume that they used that name for a reason.

 Also why does an Angel, who’s been alive for (presumably) thousands of years look and act like a ten year old child? Why is it that he’s the only character that is aged so young, while everyone else is an adult?(and i believe the devs have said that is what his age he looks like is) 

In the search for info about Simeon he is first mentioned in Luke 2:25, and in a fit of inspiration we decided to look at Luke 10. And OHHHH Boy

*MAJOR SPOILERS FOR OBEY ME CHAPTERS 1-22 AHEAD*

(Bible spoilers >.<)

We will put the verse first and then try to explain how they may relate to inspiration for the game.

NASB Luke 10

“1) Now after the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.”

For the exchange program that Diavolo had created, everyone was sent in pairs to study abroad in the different worlds. (Two humans and two Angels to the Devildom,and we can assume that this happened for all the realms) 

“2) And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

3) Go; behold, I sent you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”

The MC is sent to a place that is home to demons, with two angels who greatly out power them, and the only other human is a powerful warlock. The MC’s icon at the start of the game is also a lamb. The MC is a lamb, who was thrown into a pack of wolves. 

“4) Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way.”

When the MC is teleported to the Devildom, they weren’t given a warning before getting there, so they were unprepared, unaware of where they were and why they were there, and therefore, wouldn’t have been able to properly pack for this trip.(All the Dialogue options when you arrive show confusion or disbelief on how you even got there)

“5) Whatever house you enter, first say ‘Peace be to this house.’

6) If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.”

When MC first arrives at the Devildom Diavolo and Lucifer welcomes them to the Devildom. All the brothers (including Lucifer), seem to not particularly care about MC when they first meet them and are not necessarily welcoming either.

When MC comes back to the Devildom with Solomon, (OB chapter 21)all of the brothers are happy to see them and admit that they all missed MC when they left.

“7) Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house.”

The MC stays at the House of Lamentations, eating breakfast and dinner with the brothers that reside there, and the MC doesn’t leave to live in a different dorm room.(Even when MC’s room gets destroyed 0w0)

“8) Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you;”

MC is welcomed into the Devildom, and is fed food from the Devildom while they live there.(MC gets fed some weird stuff)

“9) and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you’”

Even though the demon brothers aren’t physically sick, the MC does help heal the brothers' relationships with each other.

Verses 10-16 explain that the destruction of the cities that turned them away will be worse off than the cities of Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon.

(No real connection just a summary)

(Something important to keep in mind because it does explain what would happen if MC and the other exchange students were not accepted there, but doesn’t have any proper connections to the story itself at this point)

“17) The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject in your name’

Right as the first year ends, MC makes a pact with all seven brothers, which allows them some control over them.

“18) And He said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

20) Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

When MC gets trapped in the maze under Diavolo’s castle, Henry(the first), Levi’s giant serpent, is unable to injure MC because they summon Asmo (who’s symbol happens to be the scorpion) and he stops it from hurting MC. MC has power over all the demon brothers because of the pacts that have been made, which not only means that they can’t hurt MC because MC can stop them, but because the brothers care about MC, they wouldn’t let anything happen to them to begin with. Verse 20 could be argued that because MC is the descendant of Lilith, therefore part angel turned human, if and when MC’s powers awaken, MC would have a place in the celestial realm.

“21) At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, ‘I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

22) All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal to Him.”

Diavolo, knowing that Lilith 1) was reincarnated as a human and 2) had descendants, decided to keep this hidden from the brothers. He hid this information from the brothers, who are all wise and intelligent to an extent, but in time had it so that it would be revealed to MC, who, in comparison to a bunch of demons that are thousands of years old, an infant. This was a good call on his side considering the brothers' relationships with each other (especially with Lucifer who knew about Lilith becoming a human) , and the fact that they had no reason to care about MC until that point.

No one knew who MC was except Diavolo and Lilith (not including Barabatos), and then later MC, and then after that the brothers were only told because MC decided to tell them (to help resolve the conflict with Belphie). Who the “Father” is in reference to Obey Me, could be argued for and against both Diavolo and Lilith.

“23) Turning to the disciples, He said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes which see things you see,

24) for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them”

MC was able to see visions of Lilith when she fell, and was able to witness what exactly went down between her, Diavolo, and Lucifer, after they grabbed the grimoire. Later, after the attic scene, MC was able to talk with Lilith and find out they’re the descendant of her. Considering the fact there has yet to be a mention of Henry in TSL being the descendant of an angel, we can assume that Simeon, a prophet, was unable to witness that.(Cause there is no way that's all a coincidence ,But we’ll get to that ;) ) The fact that Diavolo, the prince of the Devildom, takes such an interest in MC and is using them for some unspecified goal enough to change timelines in his favor, hints that he wants them for something only they can do.

It should also be noted that Solomon takes an interest in MC throughout the game, and later calls himself King Solomon the Wise.

Verses 25-29 is a discussion about a lawyer asking Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks him what he thinks the answer is and he responds with “You shall love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all our mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (v27) he then asks jesus what he means by your neighbor. (More summary not really anything to relate for now)

“30) Jesus replied and said, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.

31) And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32) Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

33) But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

34) and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

35) On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’

36) Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?’

37) And he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’”

While this parable doesn’t have strong ties to the game as of yet, it’s important to keep in mind for future updates. 

Some connections can be made though, when talking about how much the MC has helped the brothers with their relationships. The MC can be compared to the Samaritan because the MC never had to necessarily help them in anyway. The MC was on their own journey, having to navigate the devildom, school, and the House of Lamentations. The MC came upon Belphie in the attic, and even though there was nothing for MC to gain by helping, they did so anyway. MC also helped the other brothers throughout the story, E.g. helped Levi get back at Mammon, protected Beel and Luke from Lucifer, helped Lucifer and Satan when they switched bodies, helped Mammon prove he didn’t kill anyone on the train, to list a few. 

With the information given so far in the game in comparison to this passage, we can infer that MC is the neighbor that the brothers should love as much as they love themselves. (MC really was fixing one problem after another)

Verses 38-42 talk about Jesus being welcomed into the home of Martha and Mary of Bethany, and while Martha prepares for them Mary listens to him teach. Martha asks him why he doesn’t care that Mary isn’t helping, and he tells her that Mary is doing right by listening to his teachings.

These verses don’t seem to have a significance in terms of Obey Me as of yet.

In short there are a lot of details in Luke Chapter Ten that seem to have provided inspiration for the game.(is it really that deep? >.<) This could be all coincidence? But who knows not us!

*insert some slutty, slutty details about how brilliant i am in every way for figuring this out, jk plz dont uwu. Blah, blah, blah, luke is 10 because luke chapter 10, and holy shit is there a lot of connections between luke 10 and obey me like when i first read it i was like ooo like at these few deets who woulda thought, and jesus christ who put this much work into this game cause damn i wanna meet this guy. MC is somehow [REDACTED],[REDACTED], and [REDACTED] all rolled up into one nosy babe. Something about mc is a lamb amongst wolves, something about diavolo prob, diavolo or lilith is mc’s daddio and they [REDACTED], demons, symbolism, idk how a summary works bu like, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯* (professionalism at its finest)

We will next be taking a look at our lovely angel Simeon!

[sam-i-am-27]

Roman Mattius 

- Human Fighter

- Lvl. 1

Roman was born a royal, son of Marcus and Laurelin. As a child, he loved learning about being a prince, being the ally of the people, and just being able to help those who couldn’t be helped. But then his Uncle Jacob returned from a quest for the Lost Gems with thousands of stories about his adventures and travels. At that moment, Roman became obsessed with becoming a hero, beginning sword training almost immediately. 

Years later, when he was finally old enough to be coronated, his parents knew that while he would be a great king, his heart would never be full enough to rule a kingdom. He needed to go on an adventure if he ever wanted to be a better king. So they made him a deal: he could go on as many adventures as he wanted to, but in return, he must return home a better man and with a man he wished to rule with. They hired seven companions to guide him on his journies and they set off into the wilderness. 

Virgil “Fear” Skaron

- Tiefling Artificer

- Lvl. 1

Virgil was born to a single mother tiefling, but this was in the middle of a clan war. He was raised to live in the shadows, never accept help, and to always be on alert. In his times living in the alleyways, he learned a lot about magic from the witches and warlocks who had been shunned back here. While he was never able to perfect casting magic, he was able to study it and begin tinkering with it, imbuing different inventions with magic and teaching himself how to be an artificer.

One day, a guard finds him with what looks like a dangerous weapon, so they take him to the dungeons. As he’s there, he’s visited by Roman and his father, who are learning about the new changes that are coming. Roman sees Virgil and asks him what it is, to which Virgil activates the thing. Turns out that it’s what he calls an octopus pen, which sprays ink into the face of whoever it’s pointed at, something that Roman finds annoying but his father finds hilarious and ingenious. Virgil still did technically ‘attack’ the crown prince, so as punishment and to pay off for his crimes, he was sent on the adventure with Roman and the others.

So this is my DnD AU! I’ve got all the art done and will be posting all of them in increments of two, linking back to the previous. But I hope you guys enjoy this and if you have any questions, I am more than happy to answer them!

Logan and Patton Declan and Thomas Emile and Remy

[breadknight-likes-things]

Bread’s Game Journal 06/28/20: Through The Dark Portal, An Outland Retrospective, Part 7: Shadowmoon Valley

Shadowmoon Valley is the eventual fate of any world where Fel Magic gets out of hand, and probably a preview of Azeroth as long as I keep maining my Warlock!  There’s a lot of places in Outland that are dead, or filled with weird chaos that’s tearing the land apart, but Shadowmoon Valley feels different.  Shadowmoon Valley feels like the source of all of Outland’s, and frankly most of Azeroth’s, misery.  Notably, Shadowmoon was also the final zone where players would encounter Illidan, hiding away in the Black Temple doing.....something evil we guess?  It was never quite clear what his story in this expansion was supposed to be, and it was only ever resolved five expansions later in Legion!

To call Shadowmoon Valley “bleak” would probably end up a compliment, considering the hellish state the region is in, calling it anything other than a nightmare would be a positive statement.  Shadowmoon got to this terrible state due to the actions of two orcs, two extremely famous in the lore orcs at that!  Gul’Dan is one, his reckless use of Fel Magic twisting the landscape, poisoning all the creatures of the land, and even raising up a huge hellfire volcano as a show of his power.  The other orc is far better known for his life after he died, Ner’Zhul, who’s desperation to escape punishment at the hands of the burning legion post the second war caused both his imprisonment as one half of The Lich King, and the events that led to Dreanor quite literally exploding and becoming Outland to begin with!

The Skettis set up a small settlement here for.....some reason, seems like a bad idea to set up shop here of all places but alright.

The legacies of both of those orcs weigh heavily on the land of Shadowmoon.  Fel Magic has blackened the land itself and twisted all the wildlife into demonic beasts.  The Volcano “The Hand of Gul’Dan” spews fire and death out of itself at a constant clip.  There’s nothing here that’s of any value to anyone anymore, and yet it’s also here we see the culmination of a lot of storylines in the Burning Crusade expansion!  Illidan, hiding in what was one known as The Temple of Karabor, now known simply as “The Black Temple” leads his forced from this zone.  As does Lady Vasj and her Coilscar Naga.  The Burning Legion also has a large presence here, as would be expected given the state it’s in!

From a non environmental perspective though, this zone was also a huge deal for any players back during Burning Crusade, for one big reason: Flying Mounts.  At the respective Alliance or Horde town in this zone (both of which are somewhat disappointingly bland copies of the towns in Hellfire Peniunsula) you could find both your flight trainer and your flying mount vendor, ready to set you off into the sky....for a thousand gold!  That’s chump change now of course, but back in these days that price just about wiped out every cent you had made questing in Outland, and it was worth it.  The initial feeling you got when you realized all the things you could do and all the places you could go with a Flying Mount, it was huge!  Of course we know now that Blizzard has pretty absurdly soured on the idea of Flying Mounts, but man was it a thrill back in the day!

There’s lots of fun little lore touches here too.  Not just the aforementioned evidence of Gul’Dan and Ner’Zhuls meddling in powers greater than them!  You used to be able to find and visit Maeiv Shadowsong in her prison cell below a garrison near the Black Temple, though she’s since been removed given that it would’t make much sense for her to still be in there at this point.  The Ashtounge Dreanei are all over the place, the very same clan we saw swear allegiance to Illidan in The Frozen Throne, and before BC came out, the only real experience we had with The Dreanei as a race to begin with!  It’s weird to think of this dead and burned zone as one to explore and find fun Easter eggs in, but it is!  There’s lots to find a do in Shadowmoon valley, despite what the Fel would have you think!

Best Refuge In A Broken Land Award:  The Black Temple

Alright, so I’m breaking the rules here as The Black Temple isn’t a town meant for players, but an iconic 40 person raid!  That said, it does serve as Illidans refuge!  And I think that counts for something.  The temple of Karabor has fallen on some....hard times, to say the least, and though Illidan tries to keep order, it’s clear that this is mostly a place of chaos and despair....damn is it cool to look at though!

Random Screenshot of The Day:

Speaking of Easter eggs and looking cool, you can find this weird old hallucination of Gul’Dan performing the ritual that created his Volcano namesake, it doesn’t really have anything to with anything, but hey, lore nerds will get a kick out of it!

Stray Notes:

- I was gonna do my Last of Us 2 spoiler post tonight, but I’m holding off a bit, I want some more time to ruminate on that games story, it’s a lot!

- I finished Streets of Rage 4 today!  Hadn’t played it since Last of Us Part 2 hit, what a refreshingly simple game!  Lots of fun old school brawler action!

[dlkardenal]

Of witches and magicians - The types and history of magic users

Hey there, traveler!

Our journey through time and space continues exploring the various elements of magic, moving on to the experts, the humble craftsmen of the mystic art: the magicians. Or wizards. Or enchanters. Too many names? Don’t be afraid, I was just as confused as you are. But today we will look at all the types, the real-life inspiration, and some literary representation. So strap on, put on your “Hide Helmet of Resist Magic” because the show is on.

First, let’s lay down some basic. As we discussed in last week’s Dissecting Literature, the English word “magic” and consequently “magician” comes from ancient Greek and Persian languages. The original mages, or “magi” were most likely Persian noblemen with supposed magical power, but the meaning of the word dissipated over the many centuries. 

As far as I could research, there’s no solid consensus among roleplayers and fantasy geeks about what word used to describe a magic-user actually means and each piece of fiction takes its own twist on it, but here are the most common labels.

A mage is an experienced magic-user. You could call them the groundwork for every other type, they are specialized, trained people who wield magic as a profession. The word “mage” is the anglicized version of the Greek “magi”, so this is the purest surviving meaning of the old concept. A magician, however, is wildly believed to be a botch, a barely skilled caster who uses magic for tricks and entertainment. They are the street performers getting people’s attention with really flashy illusions but in most fiction, they don’t really wield serious powers. Wizards differ from mages mostly in reputation. A wizard in most literature is held as a wise leader and a powerful mage, giving you either good advice or a magical ass-whooping, depending on their allegiance. The oldest example is possibly Merlin, the great wizard aiding King Arthur in his endeavors, but you can think of Dumbledore or Gandalf for a more familiar representation. Witches were originally the female counterparts of wizards, however because of characters like the Baba Yaga, Morgan le Fay, and the general rejection of magic by Christianity, the witch transformed into a malicious spellcaster hell-bent on screwing with people, casting curses and creating poisons. Enchanters and enchantresses are mages primarily focusing their effort on enchanting (duh), seducing pure of heart heroes, and deterring them from their quest. An enchantress is nearly always a beautiful woman living in a far-off location trying to get the hero to stay with them. One great example of this trope is from the Greek epic Odyssey, namely the goddess Circe. 

Other then these, there are more specialized magic-users, like warlocks, necromancers, druids, and such, but we would be sitting here all day talking about the various versions. I’d recommend hitting up a few DnD resources or fantasy games and you can get a fairly good idea of how many colors the magician spectrum has. Now that we went over what we exactly mean as a magician, where did this come from? Let’s talk history. Don’t worry, I’ll be brief.

During mankind’s social evolution, there was always a representation of Raistlin and Karamon’s duo of wizard-barbarian. Our cave-dwelling ancestors realized that although clobbering a sabertooth tiger over the head was a great feat of strength, even the mightiest warrior couldn’t survive infection or a lightning strike, and as such, there was a market gap for a wiser role in society – that was the shaman.

At first, shaman were both spiritual leaders, magic-users, and medicine-men. They knew about the beneficial herbs, the weather and such, but they were also a connection to the invisible forces like spirits and gods. They used rituals to communicate with the magic world, which they believed was as real as the ground they were walking on. At this point in time, religion and magic intertwined and were inseparable. For many millennia, priests were believed to wield magical power gifted by the gods, and people attributed many inexplicable feats to this power. That’s how Imhotep, the chief architect and main healer of the Egyptian Pharaoh Djoser ended up from a craftsman to a magician and in the end, a god.

This supportive role stayed for many of our history, although it faded and magic sometimes fell out of the equation. In ancient Greece, philosophy was born and science started flourishing, so scientists took the role of wise men from the priesthoods. There was even a competition in medical schools, some following the rational ways of Hippocrates, others sticking to the more divine and magical ways of Asclepios, god of healing and son of Apollon. This slow but steady shift from magic to science almost eradicated the magicians from society. So why does it have such a huge fandom nowadays? Why are there books like Harry Potter, Dragonlance and the rest? 

In my theory, it is a power fantasy. In teenage society, physical prowess means popularity – excelling in sports, looking dashing and dousing three liters of vodka without pushing your liver to suicide. The physically less fit boys and girls find it hard to win over their stronger, more attractive, or more outgoing classmates, so at least in fantasy, they need something that can lift them above the crowd. And here comes magic, a powerful force only usable with sharp mind and creativity that can shred a thousand jocks to pieces and save the world. No matter how strong someone is, magic doesn’t care for physique. Sometimes this parallel is more obvious, like in Harry Potter where the setting is literally a high school, sometimes a bit more hidden like in sword & sorcery fantasy stories with a magic-user lead character. I think that’s it for now. Sorry if it was a bit digressive and confusing, my exam period is taking a toll on me. Next week we’ll move onto some of my favorite magic systems, including books, TV shows and games, and I might even pitch an original idea for it, so stay tuned! In the meantime, why don’t you tell me what is your favorite mage subtype? Is it a warlock making pacts with evil entities? Is it a seductive witch? Is it a cynical necromancer, raising a family?  

Take care, traveler!

Cheers, Dar

[kallypsowrites]

Daenerys Targaryen vs Light Yagami

A long while back, I made a post about the different readings of Daenerys Targaryen and how one could make an argument for a light, bittersweet and dark version of her storylines. And I knew that if she ever went dark, I was going to make this post. The version of Dark Daenerys that I think they were set up to write is not the version they wrote at all, which is part of reason her ultimate arc falls so flat. But, shoddy execution aside, I do think this is the direction George is going with the books. No doubt he’ll do it better and more gradually but he has not come out in any way saying that the MAJOR beats of the plot are different. Just the side characters and the execution.

This is the point to turn back now if you don’t like Dany criticism or mentions of Dark dany. I understand that people in the Dany fandom are grieving right now and I get you. So, for all of my pro-dany followers, please don’t read this post! You will not enjoy it, and I REALLY don’t want to fight! 

But, for the rest of you, I’m going to talk about Daenerys arc and how it is awfully similar to that of Deathnote’s Light Yagami--or it would have been if the writers were like...smart and good at character development and framing.

For the non-anime watchers of the fandom, Deathnote is the story of Light Yagami, a privledged, attractive, genius student who comes across a notebook which grants him the power to kill anyone with just the stroke of a pen-so long as he knows their name and face. If the victim’s name is written in the notebook, they will die of a heart attack less than a minute later. But the user of the death note can also specify HOW the person will die (though they must stay within the realms of reality). Once Light finds out that, yes, the Deathnote is real, he sets out on a quest to rid the world of evil doers by taking justice into his own hands. He wants to create a new world--one of only innocent people who follow the law--and he will be it’s savior.

And Light Yagami, despite being the main character, is the villain of this story.

Because while yes, Light’s vision of the world SEEMS great at first, he has effectively made himself judge, jury and executioner for the entire population. He doesn’t investigate to see if anyone is wrongly convicted, he often kills criminals who are already serving their time and jail, and he also has no problem killing innocent people if they happen to threaten him or get in the way of his grand plan. Light’s main problem, you see, is his ego. A vision of a better world with no evil is all well and good, but LIGHT is the one who wants to make it happen and he has a grand vision of himself as some sort of divine, just God. Its not enough for the world to BE better. No. He needs to be the one pulling all of the strings. His vision is useless to him if he is not the one at the top.

Daenerys Targaryen, likewise, is bestowed three dragon eggs which she hatches into dragons, giving her a powerful weapon unlike any the world has seen in centuries. She sets out to change the world into a place where there is no more sorrow. Only laughter and happiness. She wants to break the wheel. She wants to end slavery. These are all great things. But, like Light, her desire for this new world is tied with her own ego. She wants to be the queen behind it all. She needs the throne. She needs people to love and bow down to her. And she has no trouble with killing or punishing people if they happen to threaten that. She believes the ends justify the means and is willing to slaughter millions...if it will help her to build her new world.

Now, its not a one to one comparison. Light lives in the modern day, Dany lives in medieval times. Dany’s story, as a woman in a sexist world, is gonna be different. Dany has way more advisors and people actually know her face, while Light keeps his secret from nearly everyone and acts covertly. Dany faced a lot of hardship in her younger years and Light is relatively privledged. Dany has a name that makes her think she has a divine right to rule and Light has no such ‘divine right’. They aren’t the same people and neither are their circumstances. But I would like to delve a bit into their similarities here.

1. A Sense of Divine Purpose

Let’s play a game. Who said it? Daenerys Targaryen or Light Yagami?

“This world is rotten, and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Someone has to do it, so why not me?”

“I am justice”

“In all things, one cannot win with defense alone. To win, you must attack.” 

"Look around you, and all you will see are people the world would be better off without."

"I must protect my fledging Utopia."

"No matter what the world is, the god of that world creates the rules. In truth, you have been defeated by the rules I created. And as punishment for defying the God of the new world, you will die..."

"But you know the saying, "play with fire, and you'll get burned". I'll make you regret underestimating me."

“There was no other way! The world had to be fixed! A purpose given to me! Only I could do it. Who else could have done it, and come this far? Would they have kept going? The only one who can create a new world is me."

"I am Justice! I protect the innocent and those who fear evil. I'm the one that will become the god of a new world that every one desires!”

"Our battle will be concluded, and I will begin my reign from the summit of victory!"

“I was chosen to renew this rotten world, to bring about true peace."

"He was someone who deserved to die."

Its a trick question. They’re ALL Light Yagami. But some of these quotes are just a few words off being Danerys Targaryen quotes like:

“I will answer injustice with justice.”

“They can live in my old world or they can die in their old one.”

“They’re all just spokes on a wheel. This one’s on top then that one’s on top and on and on it goes, crushing those on the bottom. I’m not going to stop the wheel. I’m going to break the wheel.”

“We’re going to leave the world better than we found it.”

“You are small men. None of you are fit to lead the Dothraki. But I am. And I will.”

“My reign has just begun.”

“I will do what queens do. I will rule.”

“If it comes to that they will have died for good reason.”

“Because I know what is good.”

“They don’t get to choose [what is good]”

In all of these quotes, Dany and Light have a strong sense of justice, a desire to protect their new world, and an inflated sense of self. But I think the best quote that sums up Light’s state of mind is this one:

"This world is rotten and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Someone has to do it, so why not me? Even if it means sacrificing my own mind and soul, it's worth it. Because the world... can't go on like this. I wonder... what if someone else had picked up this notebook? Is there anyone out there other than me who'd be willing to eliminate the vermin from the world? If I don't do it, then who will? That's just it: there's no one, but I can do it. In fact, I'm the only one who can. I'll do it. Using the death note, I'll change the world."

You can start picking up Light vibes from Daenerys as early as season two with the “but I’m no ordinary girl. My dreams come true”/”I will take what is mine. With fire and blood, I will take it” monologue, but the similarities REALLY make themselves clear in season 4 and 5 when Dany talked about the breaking the wheel and ‘answering injustice with justice’. As Barristan said, her father also believed in his own form of justice. It made him feel powerful and right.

But this type of talk shows, from the beginning, that it is more about who THEY are (their claim/purpose/skills/divine right) than saving the world itself. This is not a selfless, ‘I want to make the world a better place’ motive. This is a “I want the world to see me as its savior” mentality. Very different things. Dany and Light both want to be powerful. And they both want to be right.

2. The Power to Kill

At it’s core, Deathnote is an exploration about how the power to kill corrupts. No matter what the intention. No matter how it is used. Whenever one has the power to kill indiscrimately and on a massive level, that power will corrupt them the more they use it. Light’s father straight up states that at one point in the show. Light has a weapon that almost NO ONE else has. A notebook that can kill anyone with just a stroke of a pen. He uses it for what some of us might deem a “good” purpose. But it doesn’t matter. It’s still death on a massive scale.

Daenerys, likewise, has dragons, which are weapons of mass destruction unlike any that have been seen in centuries. They can burn whole cities to the ground and melt stone. They are very difficult to kill unless you yourself have a dragon (they went down too easy in the show but I digress). With them, she has the power to kill and she uses it often. It starts small with the warlock in Quarth. And then it grows until the season 8 massacre of King’s Landing.

And many of Dany’s victims are bad people, which Tyrion acknowledges in his 8x06 monologue. Early on in the show she kills slavers and murderers and people who have wronged her. But she often does so without fair trial which also results in some innocents being killed as well. She battles against this. She even locks her dragons away at one point for killing a child, knowing that this could poison her. But ultimately, she is unable to turn away. 

Now, many people say that Dany isn’t the only person in Game of Thrones to commit acts of murder. And you would be right. Ramsay, Joffrey, Tywin, Euron, Cersei...they’ve all got war crimes to speak of. But none of them--thank god--had dragons. None of them had the power to kill on the same scale that Dany does. The message, in this case, isn’t just ‘murder is bad’. Rather, it is that the power to kill on such a massive scale corrupts, no matter how noble the intentions, and it eventually leads Dany to kill hundreds of thousands of innocents in King’s Landing.  

3. Charisma and Love Interests

Both Light and Daenerys are extremely charasmatic people and generally well liked by those who surround them. They, in particular, attract several suitors from the opposite sex, many of whom they have no true feelings for, but some of whom can be useful to their interests. Daenerys, in the show, is of course given a genuine love in Jon, while Light only barely seems to tolerate his main love interest Misa, so there are some differences.

Both of them draw followers as well, particularly based on their cult of personality. Light takes up the persona of ‘Kira’ a just god who punishes evil doers and many people around the world vehemently defend his actions because he has made the world safer. Daenerys, likewise, becomes ‘Mhysa’ to many of the slaves she has freed. They are both very concerned with maintaining this image. Light, for instance, gets very angry when a second Kira starts pretending to be him and operating outside the bounds of what he wants. Daenerys often thinks of herself as a mhysa, because she likes to think of herself as a savior, and many of her good actions stem from not wanting to fall from that pedestal.

Naturally, they both attract a great deal of enemies too because of their severe policies. In some cases, we could say that we don’t care about those enemies because, well, they’re bad people. Criminals. Slavers. Who cares right? It seems like good people support them and bad people are against them. This is a prescedent that Light upsets MUCH EARLIER in Deathnote when a private investigator is hired to tail him. The guy hasn’t done anything wrong according to the law, but Light gladly kills him since he could reveal his secret. The ends justify the means, right?

Daenerys, on the other hand, has the benefit of her enemies being mostly awful people. The majority of her enemies, well, we don’t care about them. That doesn’t change until she actually starts clashing with other characters we know and love, starting with season seven but especially season eight. In the book we do see the RESULT of her conquest all across Essos. Many of the cities she has visited turned into a living hell for many innocent people. But this is ignored in the show. Most of Essos is ignored in the show.

This is because of a problem with framing. Light, despite being similar in many ways to Dany, is framed as problematic from the beginning. We still want him to win in the beginning because, lets face it, he’s fun to watch, but we get the sense that he is sinister and its not surprising when he does bad things later. Daenerys darkness, however, was mostly hidden and misdirected and overshadowed so that it could be a plot twist. We’ll circle back to that later.

Regardless of framing, both Light and Dany have a similar effect on their AUDIENCE. Because you can bet your ass that there were SEVERAL fans defending Light to the death in the fandom, saying that he ultimately had good intentions and the ends DO justify the means. He fooled the audience. He won many of them over with his charm and charisma. And Daenerys has done the same on a much wider scale. There’s a reason that people are saying that it ‘wasn’t foreshadowed at all’. Sure, the execution of the writing wasn’t the best, but not at all? Then why were so many people able to predict this turn? Dany is a likable person on the surface. She’s someone to root for. To get behind and cheer on as she burns her enemies. But a good villain is able to convince you (and themselves) that they are not really villanous

4. Lost Potential/Goodness

One of the most common defenses I’ve seen of Dany in the past week is people posting a bunch of gifs in which she was nice and kind to people as ‘refutations’ that she would ever go bad. But sympathetic and good traits only make a more three dimensional villain. Part of the tragedy of Light and Dany is that they COULD have been great. They COULD have been good...if the power to kill had not corrupted them.

The story starts with Light getting the Deathnote and he moves pretty quickly into dubious morality territory. But halfway through the show, he ends up losing his memory (its all part of his one hundred step plan) when he gives up the Deathnote. He then joins the task force trying to find Kira. Light is clearly a hard worker who cares about justice. He’s smart and capable. He would have made a brilliant detective. And throughout the arc he wonders, what would HE do with the Deathnote? Would he become Kira? No, surely not. He’s overthinking it. He would never do such a thing.

Daenerys starts out the story with no dragons, and she’s a very sympathetic character. As a victim of abuse, we see her rise above her circumstances with only her wits and raw determination. Then she gets the dragons and its a much more gradual descent. She frees slaves after all! She wants to make the world a better place. And when one of her dragons kills a child she willingly locks them away (I.E. gives up her power to kill) in order to try to be better. Throughout this arc in the book, Daenerys often thinks about whether she is a monster or a mhysa, just as Light contemplates his own morality. Self reflection does not automatically equal “good”, after all. But in both cases, we see two bright young souls who could have been wonderful...and that makes their arc even more tragic.

In the end, Light gets his hands back on the Deathnote and his memories and, rather than letting his time without the Deathnote change his ways, he returns to his original plan. And Daenerys rides away from the dragon pit on Drogon and (in the show) releases her other children from the keep, fully embracing the dragon. They tried to give up the power and set it aside (though Light with his memoires never really intended to give it up, it was just part of his plan to throw the investigators off the trail), and they ultimately chose violence in the end.

5. The Ultimate Result

Daenerys and Light both die at the end of the story, killed by someone they trusted--someone who believed in them until they realized the truth behind their supposed goodness. And they both die doubling down on their misdeeds. They do not have regret. They are still overflowing with their divine purpose. They want to do MORE (”It’s not enough. The world is still rotten”/”We will not stop until we have liberated everyone in the world”) and they would willingly kill anyone who stands in their way. Above all, neither of them see anything wrong with their actions. The ends justify the means. They must. If they look back, they are lost.

Their deaths have different framing of course. Light’s is filmed as a mental break down of sorts as he finally reveals just how violent and delusional he is beneath the charismatic facade. At that point we WANT him dead. He’s clearly gone nuts. The angles show as much.

Daenerys’ death is filmed more...empathetically. She’s not frothing at the mouth. She’s smiling. She still so fully BELIEVES in what she has done, and it quite frankly hurts to see. She dies quietly and quickly and gets tragic music in the background while Jon sobs over her body. Light dies alone on some stares after desperately running away until he’s too weak to move anymore.

It’s a similar conclusion. But the framing is the problem. Which is why we have to talk about...

Why Daenerys’ arc fails to deliver

I’m not wild about how they ultimately executed Dany’s arc. Because don’t get me wrong I would LOVE a villainess who fulfills the Light Yagami role. I’ve never seen a female Light Yagami before and Light is one of my favorite characters of all time. But remember when I said earlier that Light is always framed as morally dubious from day one? Daenerys’ framing is ALL the FUCK over the place.

Is she good? Is she bad? We’re not going to tell you because we want it to be a TWIST. Gotta give several scenes that don’t jive with her arc in order to throw everyone off the trail. Can’t make it too obvious where this is heading right? Can’t even tell the goddamn actress until the last season so she can use that info to inform her performance. Make the framing topsy turvy!

Framing is how a film communicates how we are supposed to feel about a character and there is a REASON Daenerys is so divisive in the Game of Thrones audience. Because the directors just didn’t know what the hell they were doing during the scenes, so it didn’t ultimately build in a satisfying way. In the end, there was foreshadowing but her turn was rushed and sudden and not that well written.

There are other problems that make Daenerys fall short of the Light Yagami brand, including:

1. Premeditated vs ‘crazy woman’ evil

This kind of villain is most effective when they think through their decisions and carry them out while they are of sound mind. Light Yagami rarely acted on impulse (except at the beginning and toward the end) and he was never ‘crazy’. Narcisisstic and psychopathic, yes, but not ‘crazy’. But they ultimately choose to make Dany’s turn be this sudden, emotional break down. Like, whoops! My friend was killed. Guess I gotta genocide because I’m SO emotionally unstable. The catalyst for this kind of character’s villain decent can NOT be revenge or an emotional loss of some sort. Because this kind of villain is characterized by being obsessed with themselves in their own vision.

2. Losing supporters to death vs losing them to your own growing ego

In the end of Deathnote, all of Light’s supporters and friends have turned against him as they realize what he has become. This is more effective than killing off all of a character’s greatest supporters so that you don’t have to deal with them. Missandei shouldn’t have died. If they wanted to have a good villain arc, they should have had Missandei realize Dany’s growing darkness and start to have doubts. Maybe they could have had her and Greyworm try to leave for Naath and have Daenerys get snappy and annoyed because she needs her supporters to believe in her.

But by killing her dragon and two of her closest companions, we only feel sorry for her, and it makes it much harder to turn against her in the next episode. If you’re going to make her go villain you HAVE to make the audience turn on the character. Why give them a sympathetic motivation?

3. An earlier turn

Light graduates to full villain about 2/3 of the way through the series which means we actually have time to deal with the aftermath and spend time with the character on his descent. Its the worst written part of the series but, no one’s perfect.

Dany goes dark and gets killed in like...seconds. So there’s no time to actually explore her as a villain. Its just a twist. That’s all it is. A twisty twist.

4. Targaryen madness

I don’t think D&D actually understand what Targaryen madness is or how it works. Like the fact that Aerys deteriorated slowly over the course of many years but Dany had a complete mental break in the span of a couple of days. Also, not all Targaryens are mad, and blaming Dany’s genetics is just one more way to say ‘but its not her fault. It’s just a blood thing’.

Light has no history of ‘madness’ in his family. His father is actually a detective. He’s a normal kid who comes across a powerful tool of death and it corrupts him. That’s it. So Light has more agency in his villain narrative than Daenerys.

5. Legitimate love vs Fake Love

Jon x dany is what ultimately kills the villain arc, because it make Daenerys look like she turned evil because “Jon wouldn’t love her”. Dumb. Very dumb. Stupid and dumb. The writers got caught in between doing a ‘tragic love story’ and a ‘villain decent’ that they decided to write both characters terribly in the final episodes.

Light never cared genuinely about his main love interest and his fall ultimately comes because of his own ego and his death comes not from a love interest he genuinely cares about, but from someone who supported him who he used. Dany’s fall comes from...love. And that makes her potential villain arc so much less powerful. She could have been this strong, amazing character. A great female villain for the ages. But you just HAD to make her a woman scorned/tragic love interest didn’t you. You had to make it about Jon’s man pain didn’t you? How very feminist. How progressive. Groundbreaking.

So Dany could have been a great Light Yagami style villain, and I’m holding out hope for that execution in the books. But the show did not nail it. Not even a little.

In Conclusion

Daenerys and Light’s goals and dialogue and sense of self worth are practically identical in nature, and so is their ability to drawn in the audience. But whereas Light’s story has direction, proper framing, and never tries to trick it’s audience for a cheap twist, Daenerys’ writing is ultimately confused and that’s why very few people like this ending for her.

Both of their stories are about how the absolute power to kill corrupts even the most promising souls. But Deathnote stuck the landing and Game of thrones stumbled and went out with a confused whimper.

[impudentmiscengenation]

The Day Magic Died - A Merlin Oneshot

DISCLAIMER:

I, Impudent Miscegenation, of Tumblr (dot net), do not own or have any affiliation with the creators of Merlin. All rights respectfully go to: Jake Michie, Johnny Capps, Julian Murphy, Julian Jones, and BBC1 Entertainment. I don’t gain material profit from my works featured here, I write for my own amusement.

Full Summary: Merlin realized, too late, that the ephemeral nature of man leads to a blatant disregard of heritage. Further away from magic does humanity slip, and the world is made all the worse for it. (Modern Era)(Canon Compliant)

Author’s Notes: I’ve been thinking about the phrase “when Albion needs him most”, being when Arthur will return. This is the result of that line of thinking; I may continue but let’s just call it a one-shot for now. No beta, we die like men, even if I did try to edit it well myself. If anyone has ideas on how they would want to continue it, and adopt this plot bunny, feel more than free, just credit me and give me a link so I can read it! Also, if it’s in italics, it’s the character’s thoughts!

WARNINGS: Major Character Death, Mentions of Major Character Death, Illness, Petrification (turning to stone)

Story under the cut.

The Day Magic Died

If someone were to ask the warlock Merlin when magic went into decline, he’d probably say that it started with Uther Pendragon and his Great Purge of Magic. He would also likely mention that King Arthur was to have mitigated some of the atrocities committed against magic by his late father had his life not been cut short at Camlann.

The truth of the matter was that the fall of magic happened slowly over the course of a thousand years or so. The Purge was certainly a catalyst but the complete destruction of magic could not be done in just one human lifetime, or even two.

The dragons were the first to die out. They were followed swiftly by the griffins, wyverns, and hippogriffs. Then gone were fairies, dwarves, elves, gnomes and trolls. When creatures of magic became myth alone, the world’s shift from magical to mundane became much more dramatic in a short span of time (at least, short for the immortal Emrys).

Healers were known as doctors, pyromancers became pyrotechnicians, evocationists turned to theology, and history was rewritten by hands that didn’t trust in the magic of the natural world. The druids lost their way, disbanded, and joined the rest of magic as legend. Remnants of their clans scattered and the modern world dubbed the descendants of their gentle souls “hippies”. As the Old Religion grew older and was forgotten, Merlin realized that he may be the only true magic practitioner left in the world.

Humanity, callous and ever-marching forward, favored the development of their technologies, their industry, over the preservation of the natural world. Ambitious fires consumed lands of wonder for the sake of progress. The future was steel and concrete, after all, so who had the need for an enchanted forest, anyway?

Merlin realized, too late, that the ephemeral nature of man leads to a blatant disregard of heritage. Not that evolution as a whole was a bad thing, but did it have to come with such sacrifice? Try as he may to convince the strangers of tomorrow that magic exists, and has existed for all time, his labor yields no result. (“Your sleight of hand is amazing; do you give lessons? I’d love to be a stage magician!”)

Further from magic does humanity slip, and the world is made all the worse for it.

War and famine tear through continents, hate and lack of common ground inciting violence as the answer. Death and destruction rule over peace and prosperity but Merlin knows that he, alone, cannot bring magic back to this world.

He is magic given form, of course, and is well aware that magic is dying.

——————————————————————————————————

Merlin stares at his haggard reflection through a dirty, cracked mirror.

He feels weak, his body like lead and spirit slowly breaking. Despite this, his magic chooses to youthen his appearance. Such a thing has happened previously, in his many centuries, and gives him little pause anymore. The difference is that, this time, it drains him. Utilizing any kind of magic tended to do as such these days, so Merlin made a point to avoid using his gift as often as was feasible.

Before him is a man of thirty or forty-some years. Untamed black waves, flecked with silver towards his ears and wet from a recent shower, are slicked back and reaching the base of his neck. He'd recently shaved his face; the first time he’d done so in perhaps seventy years, mind, and he bore the cuts to substantiate that fact.

Despite being more clean and groomed than he had been for a while, Merlin still looked like death. His complexion was so white it had a nearly translucent quality, blue veins pronouncing themselves starkly where they were close to the surface of his skin. The dark, almost bruise-like color surrounding his eyes wouldn’t go away regardless of the fact that he’d been spending most of the past few weeks doing nothing but sleeping. The deep blue that had once reflected light and happiness had turned a stormy gray that sluggishly pleaded for an ear to listen, a mind to open, a heart passed childhood to believe in magic.

The warlock grimaced at the corpse-like figure reflected back at him. I have studied, I have counselled and been counselled in turn, I have searched realms beyond ours for answers… For all that I have done, what have I wrought?

Over a thousand years of waiting, trying to spare creatures of magic, even those he’d fought against in his youth, if only to prevent the inevitable downfall of his kin. Centuries of searching for hints or whispers, making friends with those who still believed, when there was the occasional kindred spirit. (Merlin had later discovered that many of these ‘kindred spirits’ were also very much addicted to taking LSD, but he liked to think of their discussions more than that fact.)

Merlin had not been idle while awaiting the return of his king, that was for sure. He had been appointed various titles, given different jobs, and even has made himself entirely unknown in the many years of his unending life. Recalling a few brought a smile to his face. He had been a counsellor, a poet, a bard, and a spymaster. He had also been an artist, an author, a bartender, and a professor. All that time, and yet nothing he did seemed to help, or matter really, in the end. Magic was still dying.

He was so tired of being tired all the time. Not for the first time, Merlin cursed his druid name and with it cursed his immortality. What he wouldn’t give for the slumber promised by death’s kiss.

Merlin decided that he needed a walk, a long walk to some heavily forested area. He always seemed to feel better among the towering oaks that could relate, at least somewhat, to the inequities of long life. Perhaps he could shake off his melancholia with some good, old-fashioned isolation. Leaving the dingy motel room he’d decided to call home whilst staying in Inverness, Merlin looked to the dreary, gray clouds looming overhead. There were still no whispers of magic.

Avalon’s lake is still yet again, Merlin thought, crestfallen, as he did so every day, Albion must not need you yet, Arthur… I wish you’d come back; I need you, I don’t want to do this alone anymore.

——————————————————————————————————

Merlin stopped in the Ness Islands, having stepped away from the trail and into the heavily wooded areas around it. A small stream of water cut through the earth at his left, winding carelessly through the trees and stretching beyond view. Merlin cupped fresh water in his hands and used it to clear the sweat and grime from his face, before taking a moment to ponder his reflection again.

He appeared even younger than when he'd left, an adolescent just approaching manhood stared at him from the clear water. He looked younger than his magic had ever made him appear before and Merlin wondered why that was so. He looked as he did when he arrived in Camelot for the first time.

The bone-deep exhaustion had only gotten worse as he walked, and Merlin suspected that this was due in part to his inadvertent age regression. Moving to lean against a large tree, the warlock drew his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Resting his chin atop his bony knees, Merlin sighed his weariness and his eyes, if not the rest of his face, betrayed his long years.

Merlin knew that he would wait however long he needed to for Arthur's return, would gladly do so, but his heart ached and his mind was now more than ever prone to wandering. Was destiny a lie? Was he doomed to wait an eternity for a day that will never come? He was always poised for the day that King Arthur would return to him, yet every day he would feel nothing from Avalon. The water remained irenic, despite his clever and colorful foul-mouthing of the few remaining Sidhe.

So he continued to wait, to move forward but never move on, and try to make the world a more magical place in the process. He'd failed, of course. Just as he'd failed Arthur, failed Camelot. He had failed everyone in his life, including himself. His most recent years were the most melancholic he had ever truly allowed himself to be, simply because… he was so tired.

He moved, his forehead on his knees, and was the perfect picture of grief.

Under a canopy of shimmering stars, Merlin wept for his years of loneliness, his truest friends long dead. He wept for the withering magic of this world, and for Arthur. He always wept for Arthur, the man who'd once told him never to cry over such loss. But, then, when had Merlin ever listened to Arthur anyway?

It was a while before the tears stopped but, even when they did, Merlin found that he didn't possess the strength to move from his position. He was only able to lift his head, watching the bright colors of the sunrise dance across the sky.

The world was still beautiful, the world still held wonder, and for those reasons alone, Merlin knew that there was some magic there, there just had to be. The warlock smiled to himself, half-delirious with the sudden wave of comfort that overtook him as the birds began to coo in the trees.

He leaned to the side, a leg tucked underneath him and propping his head up with his hand, elbow on his other, raised knee. In the palm that didn't support his head, he produced a small blue butterfly, its wings shimmering with gold as they flapped. Merlin hummed in contentment. Despite the fact that this measly butterfly had likely tapped his magical resources out for the next several hours, Merlin decided in the moment that it was worth it.

His fingers gently closed in on the magic butterfly and it fluttered in his loose fist. If the butterfly didn't dissipate by the time he woke up from a brief nap (thus returning the magic to his body), he would release it in hopes of the butterfly unleashing some magic into the world that so desperately needed it. Sapped of energy, Merlin closed his eyes and allowed himself to succumb to sleep.

The warlock never woke.

Starting with his lost, grieving heart, the immortal Emrys turned to stone.

Merlin’s true age caught up with the stone epitaph he left behind; hundreds of years worth of damage from the elements and plant growth spawned upon the almost unrecognizable statue.

The butterfly fluttered in its stone prison for a few moments more before settling, presumably to wait.

Hundreds of miles away, a lake whose surface had been placid for centuries began to ripple.

[kaile-hultner]

Dialogues With A Dreg, Part Four

Spoilers for Destiny and Destiny 2 ahead.

Hello, Guardian.

Let’s drop the allegory for a while. I don’t think it was working to begin with, and I prefer to speak plainly instead of in prose.

I love the game you serve as the protagonist in, at least mechanically. Part of the reason I’ve put nearly a thousand hours in piloting you around and clicking on enemy heads is because I’m chasing that satisfying “pop” when something’s brain explodes after I get them with a linear fusion rifle. I guess it’s better than being addicted to drugs or alcohol or video games with gambling mechan- oh shit god dammit wait, fuck, there’s Eververse here, I forgot.

Anyway, Destiny 2 has my full buy-in when it comes to gameplay, as I think it’s grabbed many folks in its three-year lifespan. I’m not as big a fan of the many modes to choose from in the game, and I think the story – when looked at holistically – is more-or-less a wash. But one aspect I can’t ignore is one I’ve tried to reason out in these Dialogues: Bungie, the game’s developer, wants me to live at least part-time in this world, and there are certain ramifications that come with that.

I first noticed these ramifications during the Faction Rallies in D2Y1, when it asked me to pick a faction and fuck shit up across the solar system. I picked what I thought was the coolest-looking faction, a group of (it turned out) thanatonautic, neoliberal warmongers calling themselves Future War Cult. They basically killed themselves over and over to see the future, and as a result they want Guardians everywhere to become absolute war machines. But as far as I could see, they were a “better” option than the other two factions: Dead Orbit, who just wanted to get the fuck out of the solar system and away from the Traveler, our slumbering charge, and New Monarchy.

New Monarchy is the MAGA hat gang of Destiny 2. They want to keep humanity safe by locking them inside the Last City, forming an eternal Guardian-led kingdom, and ruling with an iron fist. Yeesh.

In my first Faction Rally, I fought hard for FWC. I liked the gear they were giving me, not to mention the guns I could earn from them. They had an aesthetic I liked, and the story of thanatonautics is interesting enough for me to want to know more about how all that worked. But I didn’t like the insistence that we “reclaim” the far-flung reaches of the solar system, as if they belonged to us inherently. I didn’t like the ramping-up, constant drumbeat for war they were throwing out. Even if Lakshmi-2, FWC’s leader, seemed like the eye of a hurricane – calm, yet clearly still dangerous – the hurricane she was the center of was starting to irk me.

I’m sorry to say I didn’t drop FWC in subsequent Rallies, even if I wasn’t as enthusiastic about them as I was initially. If I could pick again, though, I know now I’d pick Dead Orbit. They had it the most right, plus Peter Stormare plays Arach Jalaal, the faction’s leader, which is just cool.

But the winner of pretty much every rally was New Monarchy. I couldn’t see the appeal, even if you stripped the clear trump-ass bullshit away. But a LOT of other Destiny 2 players fought for them, and they were the victors constantly. Bungie took the Faction Rally away in D2Y2, but it basically put me on an inexorable thought track to where we are today.

Simply put, I think the world that Destiny 2 is advocating for is at best a fascist one. At worst, we’re talking about reinstating the divine right of kings. Not only does mortal humanity lose in this bargain, but every other living creature inhabiting our solar system suffers for it as well.

Now, Guardian, I can see that this is an unwelcome statement to hear. I get it. After spending the entire five years of your existence thanklessly putting around the solar system and killing gargantuan, god-level threats to humanity and life itself, watching some nerdy, doughy writer cast aspersions on everything you do probably extends past irritation and into wishing you could shoulder-charge me into Glimmer particles. But I want to be clear: yours isn’t the only video game world – or even the only sci-fi world in general – that does this. As Nic Reuben (the original Destiny 2 fascism warner) put it in his 2017 post on the subject, Bungie writers are “blindly following a set of culturally encoded science-fantasy tropes”:

“‘True leaders are born. It’s genetic. The right to rule is inherited.’ Any time you play as a really, really ridiculously good looking person killing mobs of ugly things for a vaguely defined reason, you’re witnessing this kind of ideology first hand.”

One thing I would like to point out, though, before we continue: Guardian, I know you personally. I’ve fought as you across the stars. I know you don’t inherently want to rule over anything. You are intentionally a blank slate, you never voice your own desires except for that one time when a possessed Awoken prince killed your best ramen bud, and I want to believe that the only thing you want — which is the only thing I want — is to race Sparrows on Mars. But the version of you I play as is not the only version of you that exists. There are over a million of you. And aside from that million iterations of you that exist in this game world, there are others who absolutely want to rule. It’s high time to interrogate this world.

Fantasy Space Fascism: The Game

In his book Against the Fascist Creep, freelance journalist and Portland State Ph.D candidate Alexander Reid Ross defines fascism as “an ideology that draws on old, ancient, and even arcane myths of racial, cultural, ethnic, and national origins to develop a plan for the ‘new man.'” He continues:

“Fascism is also mythopoetic insofar as its ideological system does not only seek to create new myths but also to create a kind of mythical reality (ed. emphasis mine), or an everyday life that stems from myth rather than fact. Fascists hope to produce a new kind of rationale envisioning a common destiny that can replace modern civilization. The person with authority is the one who can interpret these myths into real-world strategy through a sacralized process that defines and delimits the seen and the unseen, the thinkable and the unthinkable.

“That which is most commonly encouraged through fascism is producerism, which augments working-class militancy against the ‘owner class’ by focusing instead on the difference between ‘parasites’ (typically Jews, speculators, technocrats, and immigrants) and the productive workers and elites of the nation. In this way, fascism can be both functionally cross class and ideologically anticlass, desiring a classless society based on a ‘natural hierarchy’ of deserving elites and disciplined workers. By destroying parasites and deploying some variant of racial, national, or ethnocentric socialism, fascists promise to create an ideal state or suprastate – a spiritual entity more than a modern nation-state, closer to the unitary sovereignty of the empire than political systems of messy compromises and divisions of power.”

Ross, A. R. (2017). Against the Fascist Creep. AK Press.

The Destiny franchise begins with you, a freshly-reborn Guardian, shooting and punching your way through a hive of vaguely-arachnid aliens your Ghost companion calls “Fallen.” You find a decrepit jumpship deep in the heart of the Old Russia Cosmodrome, which your Ghost fires up and uses to take you to the “last safe city on Earth,” a walled metropolis underneath the Traveler. You first meet with the Vanguard triumvirate, Titan Commander Zavala, Warlock Ikora, and Hunter Cayde-6, and then, after completing some tasks for them, you are granted an audience with the Speaker (voiced by Bill Nighy):

“THE SPEAKER: There was a time when we were much more powerful. But that was long ago. Until it wakes and finds its voice, I am the one who speaks for The Traveler.

“You must have no end of questions, Guardian. In its dying breath, The Traveler created the Ghosts to seek out those who can wield its Light as a weapon—Guardians—to protect us and do what the Traveler itself no longer can.

“GUARDIAN: What happened to it?

“THE SPEAKER: I could tell you of the great battle centuries ago, how the Traveler was crippled. I could tell you of the power of The Darkness, its ancient enemy. There are many tales told throughout the City to frighten children. Lately, those tales have stopped. Now… the children are frightened anyway. The Darkness is coming back. We will not survive it this time.

“GHOST: Its armies surround us. The Fallen are just the beginning.

“GUARDIAN: What can I do?

“THE SPEAKER: You must push back the Darkness. Guardians are fighting on Earth and beyond. Join them. Your Ghost will guide you. I only hope he chose wisely.”

Bungie. Destiny. Activision Entertainment, 2015.

This introduction to the world of Destiny is… shockingly reductive. Even playing the campaign when this happens, my first thoughts were, “wait so we’re not even smart or good enough to hear the children’s scary stories about the history of this world? what the fuck?” But over the course of years, we find out more and more about the so-called Golden Age of Humanity, the tools humans built with implied assistance from the Traveler, the various rich families and corporate megaliths that consolidated power over people across the solar system in the years and decades leading to the arrival of the Darkness and the ensuing Collapse.

Not only that, we start to get a pretty clear image of what life was like immediately following the Collapse. Humanity was almost driven to extinction, and the people left alive after this apocalypse soon wished they were dead. The Traveler “defeated” the Darkness but in the process put itself into something similar to an emergency reboot mode. It deployed the Ghosts, who resurrected people who could, as the Speaker put it, “wield its Light as a weapon,” but the first of these “Risen” were nothing short of horrific. They used their Ghosts’ regeneration and resurrection powers to become regional warlords, subjugating what few mortal people remained, draining the desolate wastes of what few resources they had, and basically sealing the deal on the “Dark Age” brought on by the Collapse. It wasn’t until the advent of the Iron Lords that these warlords were defeated and the “age of Guardians” could begin, but even the Iron Lords did some pretty heinous shit – like use a whole town of mortals as bait to lure in a band of warlords on the run.

But when it comes to creating a mythical reality, the Speaker has his formula down pat. Don’t get too bogged down with details, paint the conflict in stark good vs. evil, literal “Light vs. Darkness” broad strokes, and mythologize the actions of Guardians (but most importantly, our Guardian). And oh, what fodder for mythology we are.

By the end of the first campaign, we’re the hero who severed the connection between the Hive, the Vex and the Traveler and tore out the heart of the Black Garden. By the end of The Taken King, we’ve slain a god-king. In the Rise of Iron expansion, we stop the spread of a virulent nanoparticle with murderous intent called SIVA in its tracks, using nothing but our fists. In Destiny 2, we become the Hero of the Red War, the one who put an end to a Vex plot to sterilize all worlds, and who killed a Hive Worm God. We avenge our fallen Hunter Vanguard, we kill a Taken Ahamkara. We are the hub on which the spokes of history are turning.

In terms of video game power fantasies, I really truly can’t imagine a better-feeling one. It’s basically pure uncut dopamine being transmitted directly to the pleasure centers of the brain, one Herculean feat at a time. And if we were the only Guardian, if we were not part of a larger world, if everything around us was in a vacuum, I don’t know if I would be writing this article. But Bungie has been very clear about wanting to make a world where our actions do materially affect our surroundings. As such, we are essentially a walking propaganda tool for the Consensus, a pseudo-democratic government over the Last City, consisting of faction leaders, the Vanguard and the (now-presumed-dead, hasn’t been replaced) Speaker.

The Consensus wants badly to declare the advent of the New Golden Age, a time in which Humanity can finally emerge from under the shadow of the Traveler to pick up where it left off prior to the Collapse. The problem we supposedly face is the never-ending onslaught of Enemies. Four alien species showed up on our doorstep after the Collapse, all seeking to finish us off (according to the Speaker): the Fallen, the Cabal, the Hive/Taken, and the Vex.

Of the four-ish races of enemy, only one can said to be truly, deeply “evil” in the sense the Speaker intends: the Hive and Taken, led by Taken King Oryx and his sisters Sivu Arath and Savathun, the only force in the galaxy more fascist than the Guardians. The Vex are a race of machines whose only focus is on making more of themselves, a threat similar to SIVA. The other two alien forces, the Fallen and the Cabal, are certainly antagonistic toward Guardians but our initial reasons for fighting them are, frankly, butt-ass stupid. Basically, we fight them because they’re there. They have the audacity to land on planets that “belong to us” and scavenge resources from them. Until the Red Legion showed up on Earth, we basically only ever fought Cabal on Mars, and there’s really no reason as to why.

The Fallen, or Eliksni, on the other hand, end up coming off more as the tragic victims of our flippantly rampant genocidaire practices than actual “enemies.” They’re probably the weakest alien species we come up against. Their backstory involves them living in peace under the Traveler before their entire society was caught up in a Collapse-like “Whirlwind” and destroyed. Rather than give them Guardians, like it did with us, the Traveler instead just up and peaced out, leaving the Eliksni for dead against the maelstrom of the Darkness. The surviving “Fallen” got in their skiffs and desperately chased the Traveler across the heavens, stratifying the remnants of their society into “houses” and developing religious devotion to machines like Servitors in the process.

They tried to take the Traveler back at the Battle of the Five Fronts and Twilight Gap, and lost. Their armies were shattered, and we’ve been nonchalantly killing them en masse ever since. They are the “parasites” our Guardian must exterminate, along with the Hive, Cabal, and Vex. When we make friends with, or even simply allies with, a Fallen (like Variks the Loyal, Mithrax the Forsaken, or the Spider), it is made clear almost immediately that this 100 percent doesn’t change the relationship we have with the Fallen as a group. Variks is absolutely subservient to Mara Sov and the Awoken. Mithrax wants to create an Eliksni House that bows down to Guardians and Humanity for being “better stewards” of the Traveler than the Eliksni was. The Spider makes it clear that he only wants to grow his crime syndicate, but that we can help him out if we want. Never once does the Vanguard or the Consensus reach out to these allies and try to broker peace. And in-game, we simply don’t have an option but to fire on and kill Eliksni in droves. Kill or be “killed,” right?

When it comes to Humanity itself, while we never get a chance to actually leave the Tower and walk through the streets of the Last City, there are at least hints as to the deep class stratification at work here. You can’t get much more on-the-nose than an ivory tower of immortal beings overlooking an enclosed human race. Guardians atop humanity, the Speaker above the Vanguard over the Consensus over the people, and you, the very fulcrum on which history pivots, functionally over everything else. But in the mythical reality of this game, it’s really the Traveler über Alles, and humanity underneath the Traveler has become a wonderful, diverse melting pot without class, without fear. An ideal state where the walls keep Darkness at bay and humanity can discover the joys of tonkotsu ramen yet again.

A Light Story Vs. Lore Steeped in Darkness

Destiny has a reputation, unfairly earned, for being an okay game with a bad story, or at best a nonexistent one. The story isn’t really all that bad, it’s just poorly implemented up front, and I think my willingness to engage with the game’s world to the extent that I have is a testament to how powerful and evocative some of the beats in Destiny’s writing truly are. If we dissect the game we can separate the writing of the “story” from the writing of the “lore,” and in watching the plot develop over the past few years, we can see a gradual unification of these two areas start to occur.

This is helped greatly by third-party resources like Ishtar Collective, and by mechanical decisions Bungie made in D2Y2. Adding the lore back into the game with Forsaken was a good idea; choosing to fully integrate the lore into the world starting with Season of the Forge was a great one.

A side-effect of this lore-plot unification is a dismantling-in-real-time of some of the game’s most beloved and widely-spread legends, like the legend of Shin Malphur and Dredgen Yor. Even our personal legend is challenged in this way, and it’s a really neat way that Bungie writers new and old are critically engaging with their work. But it also really throws into stark relief some of the issues I’ve laid out in this article so far.

Take, for example, the lore book “Stolen Intelligence.”

Presented to us as intercepted secret Vanguard transmissions, “Stolen Intelligence” shows us exactly what the Vanguard really thinks of our actions, and what their goals really are. It was part of Season of the Drifter, which overall had a “trust no one” vibe to it, but some of the entries here are BLEAK, y’all.

Here’s an excerpt from the first entry, titled “Outliers.”

“Fallen armed forces continue to fall back from active fronts across Terra. Factions of House Dusk remain active in the European Dead Zone. Throughout the rest of the globe, refugee attack incidents have dropped by more than 70 percent since the conclusion of the Red War – largely attributable to depressed Fallen and human populations rather than any significant change in interspecies relations.

[…]

“The recent trending emergence of so-called “crime syndicates” (cf. report #004-FALLEN-SIV) is emblematic of the continuing destructuralization of Fallen society. Likely an artifact of multi-generational colonization of human strongholds, this agent believes that because these syndicates have no relation to indigenous Fallen culture, young Fallen are appropriating and imitating human mythology in absence of a strong cultural heritage of their own.

[…]

“VIP #3987, another former confederate of the Awoken, is a lesser-known personality known as Mithrax. Scattered field reports suggest that like #1121, #3987 styles himself a Kell of the so-called “House Light,” an otherwise unknown House apparently founded by #3987 himself. We have secondhand accounts that Mithrax has engaged in allied operations with Guardians in the field, though we have not as yet been able to corroborate these accounts with any degree of veracity. This agent is inclined to treat these reports with a healthy degree of skepticism until otherwise confirmed, as they may be propaganda from Fallen sympathizers in the Old Russian and Red War Guardian cohorts. We have requested intelligence records from the Awoken which may further clarify the matter.

“In addition, whatever the findings of said intelligence records may be, it should be stressed that one or two sympathetic outliers cannot be relied upon to erase the wrongs of past centuries, nor should their good-faith efforts to correct the sins of their forbears be taken as sufficient symbolic reparation.

[…]

“We have come too far to pull our punches now.”

Bungie. Destiny 2: Forsaken – Season of the Drifter. Lore Book: Stolen Intelligence. Outliers. Activision Entertainment, 2019.

Here’s another piece of “Stolen Intelligence,” about our relationship with Cabal Emperor Calus:

“Related to the above, #3801’s aggressive propaganda campaign appears to have been successful. Despite #3801’s recent inactivity, sentiment polls captured in the Tower at regular intervals over the last several months indicate that he has successfully swayed a significant percentage of the Red War cohort to believe that he may be a potential ally. Given our history with the Cabal as well as the events of the Red War itself, this is shocking and perhaps attributable to a case of mass traumatic bonding.

“It is my strong recommendation that the Vanguard pursue a reeducation curriculum before #3801 invites any Guardians of the City to defect to his service, a possibility which we have documented in multiple previous reports.”

Bungie. Destiny 2: Forsaken – Season of the Drifter. Lore Book: Stolen Intelligence. Passivity. Activision Entertainment, 2019.

Other entries detail the efforts of the Vanguard from keeping ostensible “conspiracy theories” from being published in the Cryptarchy’s journals; show the apparent oddity of mortal-Guardian “integrated neighborhoods;” and discuss the ongoing surveillance of the Drifter, a rogue Lightbearer who has survived since the early Dark Ages and who uses Darkness-aligned technology to run a PVEVP game called “Gambit”.

There are many other stories like these, scattered throughout the lore. Stories of Cryptarchy students being banished for making fun of New Monarchy’s leaders, of Guardians messing with Hive technology being burned alive and killed fully by the Praxic Order for their crimes of experimentation. Stories like these wouldn’t happen – couldn’t happen! – to our Guardian, because they’re too important, but are seemingly everyday occurrences to less consequential members of this society. In the real world, we’d call that an increasingly oppressive police state. In Destiny 2, it’s just flavor text.

There was a degree of narrative complexity added to Season of the Drifter that hadn’t been in the game prior. The entire season was essentially boiled down to “which side are you on, the Drifter’s or the Vanguard’s,” and in our path to make a choice, we heard from various bit players in our world. The Drifter told us his story in greater detail than perhaps we needed (and how much of it is true is debatable), but his story is also the story of a less morally-pure Guardian class. Everyone from the warlords to the Iron Lords did heinous shit to humanity while the Drifter watched, and it hardened him. The Praxic Warlock Aunor goes all in on her adherence to the City’s propaganda and ideology, trying to show us how untrustworthy the Drifter is. She ends up revealing more of her order’s goals than perhaps was wise.

This narrative complexity is nice, but it still betrays the game in a fundamental way. We now have the documents. We know what Guardians are actually about, and how they’re not exactly shining beacons of unwavering good like the Speaker would have had us believe. Regardless of declining Fallen activity, of a shift in Fallen culture, of actual living Fallen who want to ally with Guardians, the Vanguard is still adamantly pursuing “extirpation,” which is a fancy way of saying genocide (I’m not kidding, it literally means “root out and destroy completely”). We know the Vanguard and the Praxic Order have a hard-on for exile, reeducation and information suppression.

On top of everything, the narrative complexity was not met with any kind of mechanical complexity. Even with proof that the Vanguard wants to kill every Eliksni in the system, conscientious objectors don’t get to opt out. The narrative path that forks between the Drifter and Aunor converges again by the end of the quest. The “conspiracy theorist” that has been trying to publish paper after paper detailing exactly how the Nine worked with Dominus Ghaul to sneak his fleet into City airspace undetected was proven right by lore WE FIND IN THE GAME, but that doesn’t change our combat relationship with the Cabal remnants anywhere in the system, and homeboy still gets his papers rejected.

Ikora and Zavala, our remaining Vanguard members, insist repeatedly that Guardians are not a warfighting force, that the Vanguard and the Consensus is not an authoritarian organization. But everything we do says otherwise.

“A peace born from violence is no peace at all.”

Guardians do not get to choose their paths in the world of Destiny 2. The paths laid out before them lead to a life of warfare, of pain, of endless murder. Ostensibly, they are agents of good, trying to beat back the forces of evil, but if you look too close you see that really they’re just a bunch of indiscriminate killers with a mandate from the Orb God. Desperate to get out from under the heels of warlords, the Guardians created a fascist society, and adding insult to injury they pretend it’s a democratic, free one. Killing the Fallen is genocide, but you can literally never stop killing them because the game won’t let you. The only right way to play at that point is to turn off your console and go outside.

Destiny 2 isn’t the only video game to fall into this trap. As Nic Reuben said in the follow-up piece to his first story on how Destiny 2 is fascist, “I’m not saying Destiny is propaganda, just reliant on some of the same narrative tricks that make propaganda so powerful. At the same time, I don’t think that it’s too much of a stretch to say that games like Call of Duty make certain assumptions about what is justifiable, righteous slaughter and what is terrorism. Replace modern military hardware with future tech, replace terrorists with alien races that have traits synonymous with cartoon portrayals of traditionally marginalized social groups, and you’re effectively playing through the worst aspects of Call of Duty with a new coat of a paint.”

There is one glimmer of hope in the game. One sliver of lore that gives us pause and helps make the game bearable in its current state. It comes in the form of Lady Efrideet, former Iron Banner handler, youngest member of the Iron Lords, and a Guardian in self-exile from the City, the Vanguard, and its fascist dogma.

Lady Efrideet is one of the most fearsome Hunters in the Destiny universe. She is known as one of the best marksmen, if not the best one. She is impossibly strong, having once thrown Lord Saladin bodily off a mountain into a Fallen Spider Walker, destroying it. And she is also one of the only named pacifist Guardians who isn’t a member of the Cryptarchy. Her story is the story of the fall of the Iron Lords, as well as the beginning of the SIVA crisis, many years before our Guardian’s rise is documented.

But it isn’t SIVA or the Iron Lords that we’re interested in. Instead, we know that after SIVA was sealed away, Efrideet snuck away from Earth. She saw the deaths of everyone she knew and her will to fight was shattered. If this was the result of fighting for the Traveler, she didn’t want any part in it. So she took to the stars. In doing so, she ended up in the far reaches of the solar system, beyond even where we currently roam. It turns out, a small enclave of other Lightbearers, hesitant or unwilling to use their powers to kill, had also fled to this part of the system and had established a colony. It’s there that Efrideet resides, and it’s there I’d like to go.

Unfortunately, our Guardian is too “important” to the vast tidal forces at work in the Destiny universe for us to be able to leave for the outer reaches whenever we want. Because we are the hub on which the wheel of history turns, and there is no escaping that now, if ever we could. We are death, the flattening of a complex and intricate universe into one of simple shapes, the sword logic in a human/Awoken/Exo body. We are needed for the plans of the Nine/Mara Sov/Hive Queen Savathun to come to fruition. When or if the Darkness ever does come back, we will be the force that faces it and, win or lose, shape our future afterward.

Sometimes it’s nice having a video game place your character on a linear track. Games like Half-Life or Titanfall present to us simple choices in otherwise-complex story environments: progress, or die. Our characters are not immortal, but they have help from the technologies around us, are tenacious, are resourceful, are quick to adapt to changing situations. In Destiny, we simply exist. We can’t truly die. Even when it comes to the rules of the game, our immense “paracausality” causes us to shrug Darkness Zones off as mere inconveniences where other Guardians have died their final deaths. Because we are necessary. The Vanguard and Consensus need us to justify their horrific fascist policies. The great forces at work in the background need us to work as a pawn. Even Bungie itself needs us, powerful, trapped beings with a sense of right and wrong but no agency to actually act on those ethics, to continue its game.

I haven’t preordered Shadowkeep yet. For once I’m glad we’re not focusing on the Fallen or the Cabal. Going to the Moon means we’ll pretty much just be dealing with Hive, to say nothing of the unreal Nightmares we’re supposed to face. But I’m still undecided as to whether I even want to order Shadowkeep in the first place. If Lady Efrideet can go to the edge of known space and live peacefully with other pacifist Guardians, maybe I can put my controller down and step away, once and for all. It would be nice to have the extra space on my Xbox One’s hard drive. Other games exist to be played, and having the time and energy to do so would help me here, with No Escape.

But even then. I’m not expressing agency as a Guardian, but rather as the person who controls you, Guardian. While I go off to play other games, you sit and wait in stasis. Even if I don’t play, there are a million iterations of you willing to commit genocide daily for cheap rewards (shoutouts to the sixtieth Edge Transit drop in my inventory this month alone). Sure, it’s just a game. But this is what having a dynamic world means in practice. There are consequences to your actions. There always have been.

There is no reason why Humanity couldn’t share the Traveler’s gifts with, at the very least, the Eliksni. There is no reason why we couldn’t just ignore the Cabal in a state of mutually assured destruction, given how small a faction the Red Legion was relative to the Cabal army’s full size. Of the two remaining enemies, the Vex are less evil than they are simply a thing that wants the universe to be like it, and that’s threatening to diverse life throughout the universe, not just Humanity. The Hive/Taken are the true enemies in the game, but even they are directed, pawn-like, by their Worm Gods.

There is, likewise, no reason why the Risen had to organize in the fascist context they did. They could have created a society in which everyone could come and go freely, where ideas and actions could be given and received absent interference, where a true “golden age” could have sprung up naturally simply by living together harmoniously and using the Light the Traveler gave them to create, rather than destroy.

But that’s not how this story shakes out.