#ask me how Harmonia felt about him

[daedalverselore]

How did the evergreen forest form?

It used to be that everywhere was like the Everfree Forest: plants grew on their own, animals took care of themselves, and weather happened without pony intervention. The draconequi loved the chaos of it, and would often think of events that could happen that would create delightful emotions in the mortals. Sudden downpours of rain, rabbits multiplying, reeds "whistling" as the wind blew through them, flowers overtaking a rundown dwelling, etc.

The abundance was refreshing for the alicorns as well, who liked to practice using their powers to shape the world. But stoked by the draconqui Yens' desire for more, the draconequi began to feel encouraged to do even bigger things- things that could endanger the mortals. The desire for order created the Alicorn of Order, Taelo Ordin.

Taelo worked out seasons, the patterns plants grow in, what landscapes worked best in each environment. The King and the Queen loved his ideas and made him their main advisor.

But the draconequi hated having restrictions put down. As the alicorns worked to implement this order on Equus, draconequi pushed back. But Taelo didn't want to stop his organization. If he impressed the King and Queen enough, perhaps he could marry Crown Princess Harmonia and eventually rule over all!

At the end of the War, the Everfree was the last land preserved that wouldn't be controlled- protected by the magic of Unity and Whimsy.

[sarafangirlart]

Debunking some misinformation about Hephaestus and Aphrodite’s Marriage

I’m so sick and tired so I’m making a thread, enjoy. I’ll break it down into several points.

1. Hephaestus demanded Aphrodite’s hand in marriage in exchange for Hera’s freedom and Aphrodite was forced into the marriage

You’d be surprised by how this isn’t even attested in ancient sources, rather it’s just a theory made by modern scholars bc of how spotty and limited our knowledge about this marriage is, let’s look at the actual sources:

Notice how Aphrodite isn’t even mentioned mentioned as the “prize”? Hephaestus does ask for a goddess in exchange for freeing Hera, but it’s not Aphrodite, it’s Athena. The usual course of events is this:

Hephaestus is angry at Hera for her mistreatment and sends a golden throne that traps her

The other gods try to persuade him to free her but he refuses

Dionysus convinces him by getting him drunk

Again the theory that Aphrodite was the prize for whoever gets Hephaestus to Olympus is just that, a theory. Not a really good one either bc wouldn’t Aphrodite be married to Dionysus instead? It’s a really shallow portrayal of all figures involved tbh, why would Ares only be interested in freeing his mother if it meant he gets to marry Aphrodite? Why would anyone on Olympus not be worried about their queen being chained up? Believe it or not but Hera isn’t as disliked as one would think lol

Now even if Aphrodite wasn’t a prize how did she end up marrying Hephaestus? And was she forced into doing it? No actually (Lucian’s Dialogue of the gods):

That’s not to say this wasn’t an arranged marriage (it most likely was) but arranged marriage and forced marriage are not the same thing. If you think this is a forced marriage then what about Cadmus and Harmonia? Heracles and Hebe? Both these marriages were arranged by Zeus but no one would claim they’re forced marriages.

2. Aphrodite hated Hephaestus

Now this is more open to interpretation, after all love is subjective, but to say they outright hated each other would be incorrect, there is this myth that Aphrodite cursed Lemnos to have the men abandon their wives and female family members, usually bc they neglected on worshipping her (tho a late Latin source says it’s revenge for exposing her affair).

Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica:

However this bit seems to be rather… genuine? Almost as if she might have truly felt bad for what she did and wanted to reconcile, sounds like someone with a deeply messy and complicated relationship with their partner, but not outright hate.

Also there is this moment in Lucian’s Dialogue of the Gods which is pretty funny:

3. Hephaestus only saw Aphrodite as property

Ok I don’t like using the “it was a different time” card but like… it really does apply here lol

Now we’ve already established that Aphrodite was never a prize for Hephaestus to begin with so what about the betrothal gifts he gave to Zeus? Obviously that means he was buying Aphrodite right?

Well, no actually this is a normal part of Ancient Greek marriage (obviously it varied between cities and time periods but it usually goes something like this), the father of the bride and the groom exchange gifts with each other to establish a bond between the two, the bride herself wasn’t the “gift” Zeus’s gift to Hephaestus was most likely his place on Olympus.

To say that Hephaestus bought Aphrodite would mean that Odysseus bought Penelope, or Hector bought Andromache, both are ludicrous claims.

4. Hephaestus is an incel and Ares is this big feminist icon

No, just… no.

Ares was never considered “the protector of women” in Ancient Greece that’s tumblr fanfiction and plenty of other ppl have made posts debunking this (including me) so I won’t repeat that here. Now about Hephaestus being an “incel” all the male Olympians have at least one story where they harm an innocent/defenseless woman, all of them, yes including Ares who persecuted Leto while she was heavily pregnant by Hera’s orders.

5. Aphrodite cheated to “regain her sexuality”

No Patrick, cheating on your disabled spouse with his brother in the bed and palace he made for you is not a girlboss move it’s being an asshole (all the gods are flawed, how thought provoking). Hell, even Zeus wouldn’t pull shit like this with Hera.

Aphrodite and Ares most likely did this hoping it would be the last place anyone would suspect an affair, since Aphrodite could’ve had sex with Ares in his own place or some meadow somewhere but that might cause ppl to be too suspicious.

6. Ares is a big dumb brute who can’t take a hint and only saw Aphrodite for her beauty

Believe it or not, just bc I criticize Aphrodite and Ares doesn’t mean I hate them lol. Now look, all the gods care deeply about looks but that’s not the only thing that Ares and Aphrodite love about each other. Here is Ares being a total simp and actually listening to her:

Iliad book 5

Thebaid book 3

7. Aphrodite felt neglected by Hephaestus bc he’s too busy at the forge

No lol, she straight up works with him at the forge, why wouldn’t she? If anything this claim makes Aphrodite even more shallow than she actually is.

8. Aphrodite and Ares didn’t care about being humiliated in the golden net and Ares straight up brags about cucking his brother

Yes I’ve heard such claims and no Ares and Aphrodite are actually capable of feeling shame lol, almost as if they were in the wrong. Also why would Ares actively antagonize the guy who makes all his stuff? Maybe that’s why Athena keeps beating his ass, bc Hephaestus purposely gives Ares shitty weapons and armor lol

Anyways umm… I think that’s it? Maybe I missed a few things bc I’m frustrated af rn

Just so y’all know, I’m not a scholar I’m just autistic and read a lot lol. I hope I didn’t miss something or get anything wrong.

Have a good day (or night).

[sacredhyacinth]

Pls give more rants about David and Kim, they make me go crazy🙏🙏

MY MANNN 🤝

I feel like Ive already talked about their general story like wayy too many times so I’ll just drop some fun facts

I think in all of his animatics (maybe idk) he’s holding the letter from Kim cause he can’t stop thinking about it 😭

David (in this era) cannot stop thinking about why she would escape the island, like overthinking his flaws, picking apart each conversation they had to pinpoint any errors he said—to me David is very analytical compared to Mira or Harmonia, but similar to Dahlia, he thinks before his every move to see all the outcomes

what destroyed him is what she wrote in that letter, the way she didn’t insult one last time or even explain why she left—just an apology and her asking to give the Flores Star to the rightful owner—he felt as if he couldn’t be treated as an equal and spoken to face to face THATS why that letter is always with him because it pushes him to go through with his projects

now for the actual fun facts, I see them playing chess regularly, as to me David’s favorite games are like those pattern games or puzzles, he would LOVE rubix cubes

Kim would tell him stories of how the stars would look from different points of the world, and tried to convince him to see them with her, of course he refused but he would listen thoughtfully and tried to imagine the Aurora borealis from how Kim described it

Kim has a horrible sense of humor and whenever someone brings up a family death or whenever something is serious, she ends up laughing at super inappropriate times 😭 David fought for his life to keep her in the temple

I don’t think they’ll meet again like physically not in the BM world, but they wouldn’t be on good terms

[sunnydayaoe]

CCCC Fic list!

List of all my CCCC fics . to keep track of on this site :]

The [brackets], (parenthasees), or {braces} in the title usually show who's the Pov character. Not totally accurate but mostly so. [mostly because erm... Whole. going to be a pov in the next one and I don't really have a breakety thing for him.]

☀------------☀

Knees Weak {like a Man Before the Altar}

Contains: Platonic Soul & Whole, sfw pet regression, [~2,300 words]

"You're not talking...? Is this, ah- what you mentioned?" There was a level of awkwardness there that somehow eclipsed even the way He acted with Soul normally. It could feel its face flushing impossibly further. It wasn't. But oh, He was smiling, small and lopsided and maybe it was actually, if it got Him to look at it like that. -- Or, platonic Soul&Whole cuddles :]

[on AO3] [on Tumblr]

☀------------☀

☀------------☀

[Off Shedule]

Contains: Platonic Soul, Heart and Mind, sfw pet regression, [~4,000 words]

Even without looking, he could tell his host was narrowing its eyes at him. The bed dipped with extra weight; Soul had sat down at the bed's foot. He was just getting ready to tell him to fuck off when he felt a hand reach over and settle on his forehead. Oh. Soul was in a touchy mood today. [Those were always nice days.] Maybe it could... wait a little bit, before kicking him out. Just a few moments, of course. -- Or, Soul [+ Heart near the end] help Mind relax a little

[on AO3] [on Tumblr]

☀------------☀

☀------------☀

{This isn't normal}

Contains: Platonic Soul and Mind, more serious tone, [~6,000 words]

As if sensing the fact it was thinking of him, Mind tightened his arms in his sleep. Usually the robot tried not to be so grabby, but in its sleep it seemed to have no such reservations. It was almost cute, like every daydream Harmonia had ever had about a partner. Soft and domestic, downright cozy. {The idea of Mind in that dream made him want to puke.} -- Or, Soul VS. Amatonormativity; considerations on what friends should act like

[on AO3] [on Tumblr]

☀------------☀

☀------------☀

{Letting Go}

Contains: Platonic Soul, Heart and Mind; sfw pet regression [~2,000 words]

The entire house seems bathed in a warm glow, everything softer than it really was. The atmosphere just beckoning him to take a little catnap. For just a moment. He shook his head. He really couldn't be having those thoughts. He could get through this.  -- Or, Soul is scared of relaxing, but Mind [+ Heart near the end] show him its okay to.

[on AO3] [on Tumblr]

☀------------☀ ☀------------☀

{Dress up}

[CCCC FIC] Contains: Platonic Soul and Whole, sfw Petre[~4,500 words]

Soul really could not be normal. Clutched in His hands, the cutest little calico cat ear headband he'd ever seen. He gestured to himself, to Whole, to them, voice squeaky, "Is that-" for me? He really couldn't finish any sentence today, staring into His eyes: Deep brown and probably considering just how pathetic Soul was being. He shouldn't have asked. He could feel the shame, red like his halo in the midst of cacophony, creeping across his face. -- Dress up!!! Whole buys Soul some cat ears :]

[on AO3] [on Tumblr]

☀------------☀

[httpseungmxn]

Youthful Changes pt. 3

Song Mingi x Reader(afab) 

Authors Notes ; the third, and final part is here! I know I made you guys wait quite a while for this but I can assure you all its worth it! There will be no smut in this chapter, since most of it is them talking about the past year and their future

Warnings; None as far as I know

Triggers; Brief mentions of Mingi being su*cidal but nothing happens!

If the long drive to a local cafe was awkward, you worried how the much needed talk would be.

You wondered if he would even want to talk, or if he had some bullshit excuse that took him five minutes to come up with. That was something you worried about at that moment.

You were so into your thoughts that you didn't hear his calm, beautiful voice calling out your name to tell you that you were here. Eyes boring into his admiringly. He truly was so beautiful, and you were captivated by him.

Following him quietly into the busy little cafe and sitting at a booth near the corner. A smile came to your lips as you realized this was the same booth you always sat with him and san at when you were much younger, as well as your friend harmonia. 

Harmonia had graduated last year and was whisked away to Los Angeles with her douchebag of a boyfriend. The last you had heard from her, she was engaged and living in a shitty little apartment. 

San was really the only one who stuck around, seeing as Mingi moved years ago now. You enjoyed san's company. He always knew how to bring a smile to your lips. However, being just you and him felt so lonely sometimes. You missed your little group.

Part of you hoped that things would be okay between you and mingi because you wanted the group to get back together again. But this wasn't high school anymore and you weren't young and naive.

You needed a proper explanation from the man you had fallen for. If he failed to give a reasonable one, you would have to do the hard thing and let him go. 

Looking to him once more when he brought over your drinks. Giving him a kind smile when you realized it was your favorite drink. How did he remember?

Eyes on your drink now, you could feel him watching you. He was probably wondering who would start this conversation. So you took matters into your own hands.

“where were you.”, you spoke softly, almost scared of asking because you didn't know what his answer would be. “ I want you to know that I will know if you're lying, so please just give me the true reason. ”

You could almost hear him gulp, probably from nerves. Maybe it was something bad that had happened to him. Or maybe he had done something bad to someone. What if he had become a dangerous criminal without even meaning to? Was he going to hurt you too if you found out? You were too young to die! 

Oh god, oh god, oh god-

“ my mother died. ”

Oh god.

Looking up to him with wide eyes, feeling already guilty for the tone you had taken with him, and how angry you had been with him over the year.

“ our family invited yours over last year so she could see you all one last time. She had stage three brain cancer. Six years now. She wanted to make amends with everyone before she died. I wanted to call you. I wanted to text. But I couldn't even bring myself to get out of bed. My dad had to drag me to the restroom, drag me to the kitchen. ”

Now it was your turn to gulp, “ Mingi, I'm so sorry- ”

“ Don't. Don't apologize. I should've reached out. I should've come to you sooner, because truth is…i needed you. Thinking about you, thinking about being around you, that was the only thing that kept me from killing myself. Thinking about getting to see your beautiful smile, pushed me out of bed. And I'm sorry that it took me a whole year to get here, I truly am. I hope you can understand that I care for you, and I wouldn't just abandon you like that. ”, cheeks turning red when his eyes met yours.

His voice sounded so sincere, and you could see the tears at the brims of his eyelids. This poor boy had been through so much, and you spent the whole year practically hating him.

Reaching across the table to gently wipe away the tears and press a chaste kiss to his lips. Not wanting to put on too much of a show for the other customers in the cafe, you sat bad in your seat and reassuringly took his hand.

“ I doubt you'll accept me so easily, but I like you, and I can tell you like me too. I'd like to be your boyfriend, if you'll let me. ”

This mingi was so much more different from the mingi you usually see. This Mingi is sweet and quiet, and…blushing like a teenage boy who just got his first kiss. That pulled a sweet giggle from your lips. Smiling at him brightly and nodding as you accepted his words.

“ I would like that very much. ”

And there it was. That million dollar smile that won your heart the first time. Staring back at you with what could only be described as true love. Something you were lucky to be able to see and feel.

Leaning forward to press another loving kiss to his lips. Song Mingi was flawed. Song Mingi was cheesy. Song Mingi was a brute. But Song Mingi was yours. And you would never change that. 

————————7 years————————

Staring at the beautiful diamond ring adorning your left finger. You found yourself doing this often. Just thinking about how lucky you are to have found the perfect man. To have the perfect little life you had asked for.

Things with Mingi had started off so strange and shaky, but he had proved himself worthy of your love time and time again.

Song Mingi was your soul mate, and y-

“ mommy! ”

Smiling happily at the sweet little face and lifting him up into your arms. “ Hi my love ”

Minho stared up at you happily while holding up a messy handpicked bouquet from the garden, “ I brought you flowers ! ”

Gasping and staring in awe, “ Thank you my little prince, they're beautiful ”, pressing kisses all over his sweet little face. “ where's daddy? ”

“ Right here. ”, looking up to your beautiful husband and just staring at him lovingly for a moment. You were so lucky to have him as yours. And he was thinking the exact same thing about you.

Song Mingi was yours. And you were his.

Nothing would, or could, change that.

Authors ending notes; and with that, youthful changes comes to an end! What did you guys think? I think I did pretty well for an ending, considering I'm not usually very good at ending 😅

It was a lot of fun writing this series for you guys though, and I can't wait to make more in the future! Thank you for all the support, my loves 🫶

[charlietheepicwriter7]

High Priest Pt. 7

From “The Many Akumatizations of Luka Couffaine.” 

AO3

Juleka had no idea what she was doing. Nor did she know how she got back to the chamber. 

All she knew was that, regrettably, she couldn’t let her brother kill Chloe. 

Although, she was really tempted. 

Chloe brightened up. “Ladybug! I knew you’d come for me–Wait? Who on earth are you!?”

“Harmonia,” Juleka said in a dark tone, whirling the yo-yo to gain momentum. “Ladybug was in the hospital when the akuma took over, and whoever was in the hospital became part of the temple. I was chosen as the replacement.” Lashing out with her weapon, she caught the High Priest in the stomach, knocking him away from Chloe. “You guys need to get out of here, now!”

The High Priest landed close to his knife and he brandished it at the nearby Mylene and Ivan. “No one is going anywhere! Harmonia, this is your only warning. Give up the Miraculous and join my crusade, or be punished alongside the heretics gathered here.”

“I can’t let you hurt anyone.”

“And I can’t let sacrilege go unpunished.”

He lunged, but not for her. He bolted for Rose and Juleka felt her heart stop. She lashed out with her yo-yo, but it would be too late–

“Sorry about being late to the celebration, but the invitation got lost on the way.” A metal baton batted the High Priest away as Chat Noir landed in a defensive position, claws out. He tossed a wink at Juleka. “Harmonia, right? Happened to overhear. I’m looking forward to seeing if you live up to the Ladybug miraculous.”

Juleka bristled and spun her yo-yo. Whatever. He could judge all he wanted, she was only here to save her class. “Sure. Any idea what his akumatized object is?”

Chat Noir shrugged. “He seems pretty fond of that knife.”

That didn’t sound like her brother though. The High Priest returned to his feet, glaring at Chat Noir. “So, the other one arrived… You will receive the same warning as the other. Join, or die; those are your only options.” 

Juleka’s heart ached. He was giving people an out. He didn't actually want to hurt anyone, but he was so angry about what they did to Marinette… 

Chat didn’t seem to see it that way. “No one here is going to join you!” he snarled. “You might as well give up now!”

The High Priest cocked an eyebrow. “Are you so sure about that?”

“Of course!”

“But I want to join.” A girl said as another cried out. 

Sabrina stood over the fallen Chloe, her face flushed, her chest heaving. She smiled and a chill ran down Juleka’s spine. “I want to join.” She said, her voice small. Her eyes shined with unshed tears. “I knew Lila was lying, I knew that Marinette was innocent, but I didn’t do anything. I just followed Chloe’s lead, and now she’s… she’s… I don’t want to die!” She glared down at Chloe. “Not for you.”

Chloe stared up at Sabrina, horrified, but the High Priest nodded and approached. He laid his hands on her shoulders. “Do you know who pushed Marinette?” he asked. 

Sabrina shook her head, unable to meet his eyes. “N-No. Chloe and I were at the hotel then, I swear. I don’t know who it is.”

“A pity. But I accept your confession.” She looked up. “Welcome back into the true faith. Go forth, and take your justice.”

Juleka hurriedly pushed her classmates behind her, trying to force them out the unguarded exit while the High Priest was distracted, but they refused to leave. Luka’s hands grew bright, and the light emanating from them consumed Sabrina for a moment. But a moment was all it needed for Sabrina to be completely erased. 

In her place knelt a woman who looked like the akuma, wearing a linen dress and pink necklaces. The same tattoos on the High Priest decorated her skin, and her hair was pulled back. She held a knife. 

“Rise, my acolyte. Be reborn in the love of our goddess.”

Sabrina opened her glowing blue eyes and looked down at Chloe, who had refused to move when Juleka tried to evacuate everyone. “S-Sabrina…? Come on, you’re not actually going to hurt me, right?”

Sabrina didn’t speak, choosing instead to rest a hand on Chloe’s shoulder… and stab her in the gut.

Bile rose in her throat as Chloe’s body faded away, leaving them with the akuma and his acolyte. “Run.” She told the class, and they stood still, frozen from the betrayal. They needed to go, why weren’t they running? Grabbing the nearest classmate, Max, she threw him down the hall, not bothering to be gentle. “What are you doing!? Run, now!”

Juleka lashed out with her yo-yo, Chat Noir by her side, as the two enemies faced them in battle.

@bee-a-garbage-shipper  @gabbie-gabbs  @yamagotchii    @larasilvestris   @vixen-uchiha    @kittysuicoffee

[ultraericthered]

THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF GHETSIS HARMONIA GROPIUS (POKEMON ADVENTURES)

So, recent going ons got me thinking about Ghetsis in the Pokemon Adventures manga. The evilest major antagonist in the series by quite a mile, and while that’s owed to many factors, it is impressive how high a rapsheet of crimes AND how big a list of characters in the setting/narrative made victims of his cruel machinations that Ghetsis racks up across the Unova saga. So I decided, why not make this masterpost of all of Ghetsis’ most vile atrocities, divided by victims.

N:

An abusive upbringing: To groom the ideal pawn for his master plan, Ghetsis deliberately raised N up in an isolated environment with few companions aside from abused Pokemon, Anthea and Concordia, and the Seven Sages, stunting his maturing and shaping his entire perception of reality with brainwashing and education based upon a distorted view of life in which humans are always the oppressors of Pokemon, constructing a world that N would want to change.

Heavily implied use of Hypnosis: In the games, Ghetsis felt so assured of the way he’d set up N as his brainwashed pawn, and of the purity and convictions N had as the Hero, that he let him travel Unova on his own despite the risk of him learning from views that run counter to his own or finding out that he’d been fed lies his whole life. Manga!Ghetsis, being higher functioning, is also extra careful and takes extra measures. Not only does some of N’s dialogue suggest that his mind has been closed off to the ideas of others via some Hypnosis type of technique, but it’s heavily implied by the artwork.

Compare N’s pupil-less eyes he has when he’s Team Plasma’s King:

to how he starts to look like after he’s been defeated:

Exploitation: Ghetsis set N up as the ideal Hero of Ideals to be used to fulfill his purpose for advancing Ghetsis’ plans to the realization of his ambition, always to be discarded once said purpose was served.

Ready to kill: Despite being N’s only parent, his lack of love for N as his child made it all too easy for him to willingly threaten his life.

Into the Dark Stone: During their battle up in the sky above Undella Bay, Ghetsis had N sealed with Zekrom within the Dark Stone as part the DNA Splicer merging of Kyurem and Zekrom into Black Kyurem.

Black Kyurem Battle + Murder Attempt 1: When N comes out from the Dream Zone where he’d become a battery for Black Kyurem along with Zekrom, Ghetsis uses his fall to shield himself from attack and orders a fusion bolt attack that strikes upward where N is falling, risking his life in doing so. When N lands down on Black Kyurem still alive, Ghetsis strikes him down to the water below to finish him off.

Frigate self destruct + Murder Attempt 2: Ghetsis initiates the Plasma Frigate’s self destruction when N is still aboard. When Ghetsis almost slides off the Frigate to his death but N saves him, he breaks down into a homicidal rage and savagely bludgeons N with his cane.

Black:

A bite from behind: In the hidden room within Nacrene Gym where the Dark Stone was hidden, Ghetsis had his Eelectross send Black into a painful paralysis while he took the Dark Stone for himself.

Sadistic Choice Subversion: At the League where N’s Castle appeared around, Ghetsis asks Black “will you go and fight the King, or stay and help the Gym Leader?” Then he adds, with an arm raised in command, “However, between those two options, you can pick neither” as his Hydreigon KOs Black’s Pokemon so that Black is now powerless to act lest Ghetsis kill him right there where he stands.

You must be eliminated!: With flames breathed out by Hydreigon and brought to life by Volcarona, Ghetsis intended to kill Black and his Pokemon in order to silence the truth about Black’s victory over N inside N’s Castle. “Wipe away all the inconvenient facts” as he says.

Into the Light Stone: We......we don’t talk about this one.

Black Kyurem Batte: Soon after Black is finally free from the Dream Zone, Ghetsis uses Black Kyurem’s power to try and kill him again.

White:

Trauma, indirectly: In Nimbasa City, N gets Gigi to defect from White and coldly admonishes her even as she’s fallen from the ferris wheel. Keep in mind that N acts this way thanks to Ghetsis’ molding of him.

Trauma, directly: What happened to Black thanks to Ghetsis.

Black Kyurem Battle: Soon after White and Black break out from the Dream Zone, Ghetsis uses Black Kyurem’s power to try and kill them

Cheren:

To the Dark Side: Ghetsis’ stooge Sage, Zinzolin, holding up N’s strength as the Hero of Ideals as being aspirational, corrupts Cheren into joining Team Plasma’s side and battling Black as Ghetsis’ asset.

War on Unova: Cheren and his class are among those directly endangered by Team Plasma’s elemental warfare waged on Unova.

Bianca:

Stolen Pokemon: As in the games, Team Plasma steals Bianca’s Pokemon in Castelia City. Ghetsis has them returned to her only to plan for her to have to release them once he establishes his regime.

War on Unova: Bianca and her friends are among those directly endangered by Team Plasma’s elemental warfare waged on Unova.

Professor Juniper:

N “educates” her: N’s Zorua friend was spying on Juniper Labs for a long time, all of her secrets being relayed to N so that he could admonish her for her failings. Again, N is this way thanks to Ghetsis.

War on Unova: Juniper and her colleagues are among those directly endangered by Team Plasma’s elemental warfare waged on Unova.

Hugh:

Stolen Pokemon: The Purrloin he gave his sister for her birthday was stolen by Ghetsis’ Plasma grunts, who even beat him down when he tried to fight back. It became an obsession for Hugh from then on.

War on Unova: Hugh is among those directly endangered by Team Plasma’s elemental warfare waged on Unova. Notably, he’s in Castelia City when Ghetsis has Team Plasma make their attack on it.

Frigate self destruct: Ghetsis initiates the Plasma Frigate’s self destruction when Hugh is still aboard.

Hugh’s Sister and Purrloin:

Stolen Pokemon: The Purrloin that her big brother gave her for her birthday was stolen by Ghetsis’ Plasma grunts.

War on Unova: Hugh’s Sister is among those directly endangered by Team Plasma’s elemental warfare waged on Unova.

Burning Castle: Purrloin was inside N’s Castle when the burning Plamsa Frigate collided with its outer walls, setting fire to the castle that threatened to completely wipe out all the Pokemon inside it!

Hawes:

Museum Raid: Ghetsis had the Shadow Triad spying on the Nacrene Gym, location of Hawes’ museum, for some time. Eventually he and his grunts raided it in order to obtain the Dark Stone.

In the grip of evil: Ghetsis captured Hawes and had Hydreigon grip him in its claws to use him as a human shield against Brycen.

Gym Leader cruxifiction: Ghetsis had Hawes’ wife, Lenora, brutally attacked before tying her to a cross along with the other Unovan Gym Leaders. And Hawes? In that last panel? He was right there!

Gym Leaders:

Gym Leader cruxifiction: Self explanatory. 6 Unovan Gym Leaders hung up on crosses as a show of Team Plasma’s superior force, ordered and displayed by Ghetsis himself with smug satisfaction.

Black’s Pokemon:

You must be eliminiated!: With flames breathed out by Hydreigon and brought to life by Volcarona, Ghetsis intended to kill Black and his Pokemon in order to silence the truth about Black’s victory over N inside N’s Castle. “Wipe away all the inconvenient facts” as he says.

Into the Light Stone: Black’s Pokemon were all their inside the Balls at his waist when he got sealed with Reshiram into the Light Stone.

His own Grunts:

Deception and mistreatment: Ghetsis mistreated many Grunts, making them fear his wrath. He also divided many Grunts due to his blatant hypocrisy and hiring of the notorious Dr. Colress.

Frigate self-destruct: Ghetsis initiates the Plasma Frigate’s self destruction when many Plasma Grunts are still aboard.

His own Pokemon:

Hydreigon abuse: Forget the overleveling and maximum strength Frustration attack - we actually see Hydreigon beaten down and stood on top of by Ghetsis, with him then launching it out of the Frigate to who knows where when he activates the self destruct.

Taking his leave: In N’s Castle, his Pokemon team is KO’d by Black’s, and he just prepares to leave. No healing them or anything.

Frigate self destruct: Ghetsis initiates the Plasma Frigate’s self destruction when all of his KO’d Pokemon are still aboard.

Alder:

A Champion’s defeat: N defeats Alder, in accordance to Ghetsis’ plan

To the finish: Ghetsis tries to have his Pokemon defeat and kill Alder when they have an off-panel showdown aboard the Plasma Frigate.

Frigate self destruct: Ghetsis initiates the Plasma Frigate’s self destruction when Alder is still aboard.

Looker: 

To the finish: Looker joins Alder in facing Ghetsis aboard the Plasma Frigate, where Ghetsis has his Pokemon attack them.

Frigate self destruct: Ghetsis initiates the Plasma Frigate’s self destruction when Looker is still aboard.

Whitley:

Victim by proxy: She was a grunt in training, victim of being misled.

War on Unova: Whitley is among those directly endangered by Team Plasma’s elemental warfare waged on Unova. Notably, she’s in Castelia City when Ghetsis has Team Plasma make their attack on it.

Frigate self destruct: Ghetsis initiates the Plasma Frigate’s self destruction when Whitley is still aboard.

Anthea & Concordia:

Living in servitude: Anthea and Concordia, wherever they may have come from, were made to be like servant girls who’d tend to N.

Zekrom:

Pure ideals born of a false truth: N befriended Zekrom as the “Hero of Ideals” under false pretenses, being made to believe in ideals whose purity had corrupted by falsehoods thanks to Ghetsis.

Into the Dark Stone: During their battle up in the sky above Undella Bay, Ghetsis had N sealed with Zekrom within the Dark Stone as part the DNA Splicer merging of Kyurem and Zekrom into Black Kyurem.

Kyurem:

Complicity: Ghetsis commissioned Colress to do all that he did to Kyurem, controlling its mind and extracting its power through torture.

Black Kyurem: During their battle up in the sky above Undella Bay, Ghetsis had N sealed with Zekrom within the Dark Stone as part the DNA Splicer merging of Kyurem and Zekrom into Black Kyurem.

Victini, Volcarona, the Forces of Nature, and the Swords of Justice:

Hunted down: All of these Pokemon were hunted down byTeam Plasma to service Ghetsis’ plans. The former three captured and used as test subjects, the latter ending up frozen and left for dead.

Civillian Populace:

Deciet and mental violation: This one’s honestly infuriating and heartwrenching to think about. While making his case for Pokemon Liberation through Team Plasma’s rallies and speeches, Ghetsis had Colress use his Beheeyem’s Hypnosis technique to assault and violate the minds of the first wave of trainers and release Pokemon unknowingly, without any real consent in the matter. Just think about that - one moment you have your Pokemon companion with you, perhaps one you’d grown to love, and then before you know it you’ve let it go back into the wild. It’s gone, out of your life never to be seen again...and you can’t even remember the moment you said goodbye.

The uprising: When N’s Castle drilled its way up from the earth and into the Unova League site, it endangered the spectators, including a small child whose life is saved by Drayden just in the nick of time.

War on Unova: At least seven whole populated cities were frozen solid, with all citizens and tourists entering a frozen corpse-like state where if their survival mechanisms failed them, they’d die. Over one third of Unova’s total population suffered in Ghetsis’ reign of terror.

Everything Team Plasma ever did: In the games, few region-based evil teams operations go quite as widespread and mass effecting as Team Plasma’s in Unova. While in the manga they’ve got steeper competition, their crimes and terrorist acts are still obscenely awful.

Unovan Pokemon:

N’s Castle: Several Pokemon were abused and put to slave labor to build N’s Castle, with many of them staying there to double as N’s playmates to shape his perception of human-Pokemon dynamics.

Pokemon Liberation: Lord knows how many Pokemon belonging to trainers either got released or flat out apprehended by Team Plasma.

War on Unova: Pokemon were in just as much peril as people here!

Frigate self destruct: The thousands of Balls of “liberated” Pokemon spill from the Plasma Frigate when Ghetsis initiates its detonation. 

Burning Castle: Hundreds more Pokemon still inside N’s Castle were put at risk when the burning Plamsa Frigate collided with its outer walls, setting fire to the castle that threatened to wipe them all out!

And after all of these heinous crimes, this monster has the GALL to go and say stuff like this once he’s finally aprehended by the law:

Well fuck you very much, Sir Harmonia Gropius! What sentencing should be passed down for such a freak? Zekrom, I choose you!

Keep living the nightmare, Ghetsis. For the rest of your wretched life.

[prismarts]

Seeking Comfort

Plot: Flapjack helps Hunter seek comfort in his close unlikely friend.

Notes: Hunter x Oc, Harm/Huntonia (Hunter/Harmonia) , most likely takes place while the two are still just close friends though, Boi is going through a lot rn, First time writing Hunter so I am not sure how accurate it is im sorry, Hollow Mind SPOILERS AHEAD

Trigger warnings: Slight descriptions of panic, slight descriptions of panic attacks (please let me know if I missed anything)

Word count: 811 words

Tags: @sergeantsporks , @generalfandomsofthefreak , @blixeon , @soni-dragon , @marcoofthemoon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harmonia was reading on the living room sofa, Snappy, her palisman, resting on her shoulders when she heard the���.well, she wouldn’t say knocking on the door, it sounded more like very panicked pecking. Still, she got up, walking over to answer the door but as she stood in front of the door, she couldn't help but hear a familiar voice, panicked and out of breath as well as the tweeting of a certain bird.

She felt a slight worry bubble inside as she quickly opened the door, seeing the familiar red bird palisman flying around his owner, her friend. “Hunter?....wh..what..are you doing here? It’s so late…” She asked worriedly, being careful with her words as she saw his state, shaking and pale, his head hung down as his breathing could be heard, shallow and quick.

She reached out for a moment, only for Hunter to flinch back. She retracted her hand, not wanting to overwhelm him. Harmonia looked up, turning her head cautiously before looking back at him.

“Here, let’s…let’s get you inside, alright?...It’s freezing out here…”

With Flapjack and Snappy’s help, she was able to somehow usher Hunter inside, he was still shaking quite a bit… his shallow breaths did not cease for a moment but he seemed to not be as stiff once he walked inside. The warmth inside the home…helping lessen his panic, only a little bit.

Harmonia carefully helped him over to her room, her mothers may be asleep but it’s probably best to not have him on the sofa to be found by them so suddenly in the morning. At least, if he stayed in her room, she’ll have time to explain the situation to them beforehand. She sat him down on the bed carefully before draping the blanket over him carefully.

She had long noticed that he was missing his cloak and mask, it was out of the ordinary for him to be without those…especially out in the open, she was worried about what it meant as she sat next to him, keeping a distance. She wasn’t sure if he’d be comfortable with her sitting close, not yet….not while he still seemed so panicked.

They sat in silence, Harmonia looking at him from time to time to gauge if he was feeling better…or worse. He seemed to have calmed down after a while, Flapjack now perched on his lap and nuzzling his torso to calm him. She took that as a sign, reaching out to gently place her hand on his shoulder. She could feel him flinch under her touch but…he didn’t move away.

“Hunter… I…you don’t…have to tell me…about what happened…but…I’m here for you…okay?..”

Harmonia kept her voice quiet and gentle, not wanting to startle him…she wasn’t sure what was wrong and as much as she wanted to know, she couldn't make him talk. She looked at him worriedly as he started to shake again, lifting his head to finally look at her.

Her heart broke at the absolute panic and sadness on his face, he was crying so much and looked so pale. She was about to say something until he spoke up shakily, his voice weak after not speaking and sobbing for hours. “...y…you really mean that?..”, he was shaking so much, not able to stop the tears.

“Of course, I do….Hunt-”

“I…I can’t go back, i…i can’t… I just…I can’t go back t..to the castle..I..”

Harmonia felt her heart drop, looking at him worriedly as he started to panic again, “Hunter…shh..Hunter, it’s okay…y..you’re here…you’re safe..”, she said softly, reaching out to gently hold his face in her hands as an attempt to calm him down. It seemed like he did, after a while, his breathing slowing down little by little as she slowly pulled him into a gentle hug.

Hunter wasn’t…sure why…it felt so nice…but he knew that he really didn’t want to pull away from the embrace. He leaned closer to her touch, head resting on her chest as he felt her calm breathing. Tears still fell down his face but…he felt safer..so much safer..

“You can stay here….as long as you need, Hunter…I’m here for you…I promise..”

He could hear her say, he could feel her fingers gently comb through his hair.

For the first time since he escaped the Emperor’s mind, he felt…safe and cared for. Maybe, Flapjack was right to essentially drag him here, despite knowing Luz, at the very least, wouldn’t have harmed him…it didn’t feel right to stay there…and maybe that’s why he ran in his panic…

He’ll have to tell Harmonia….everything…and it scared him, to think about how she’d react..

But…. for now…

He was content…staying in her embrace, putting his own arms around her to hold her as she combed through his hair. He was content…feeling safe with someone he cares about.

[klanceyuri]

Psychic type

N hadn't left the castle in what felt like months, he was bored to say the least, but Ghetsis hadn't found a time or place for him yet, N could've sprinted and tried to leave, he had strong enough abilities to put everyone out of commission for long enough, but he would never dare try to escape.

We can currently find N in his room, sprawled out on a beanbag with one leg bent, items floating around, two Pokeballs, a cup and a bubble of water from that cup, he pointed with his finger as he moved them around, he didn't have to point with his finger to guide them, but he liked the extra flare.

He heard the door start to creak open and he scrambled to return each item to it's rightful place, only his sisters and Ghetsis knew of his powers, but if anyone else found out he would be screwed forever.

"Natural Harmonia." The one who opened the door stated, the firm and unexpected voice shattered Ns focus and the glass fell to the ground with a shatter, bubble of water spreading with ease, N turned to see who was at the door finding it was just Ghetsis, he released a sigh of relief it wasn't somebody who was important to him.

"Yeah dad?" N asked, straightening out his hat, he had to focus a bit to tune out the thoughts relaying in Ghetsises head, he didn't exactly enjoy large gatherings in anyway shape or form as he had a harder time to tune out everyones voice, often ending up with a mumbled white noise in his head that he could barely ignore, he was tempted to start wearing a tinfoil hat at times.

"Were heading to Nuvema town," Ghetsis started, the choice of town shocked N, but he nodded nonetheless, his gaze drifting to the ground, he didn't see what was there to liberate, or influence, all the people there were so nice and deserved to have Pokemon, N didn't have a say in Ghetsises plans though, he was just a piece in the plan. "I heard that there may be new trainers coming into shore soon, although, I'm not sure and would love if you could tune in for me."

N sighed before dropping the blockades, he had to refrain from clutching his head at how loud everything became with so many voices talking in his head, he had to calm himself and just tune into whatever he was supposed to be searching for.

"Do you know their names?" N asked, trying not to sound sharp or bitter, he tried to subtly clench and unclench his fists, reaching to fidget with the cube puzzle, to distracted by the voices he couldn't quiet at the same time to actually focus on anything but finding the right voice and listening to Ghetsises directions.

"Sadly, no, but one of them is a hybrid, I know they're arriving by sea," Ghetsis said before starting on his way out with so much as a wave of his hand. "Tell me when you've located them."

N nodded in response, the voice of Ghetsis actually talking was hard to differ from the thoughts, each laced with venom, he blocked out Ghetsises thoughts, he had developed a separate mental blockade specifically for Ghetsis.

N continued to sift through voice before in his head before coming across the only seafaring ones he could reach, and he was sure they weren't the right ones, none of them had the stress levels hybrids normally had, although, he wasn't the best at being able to tell emotion and stress at extreme distances, he was shocked he managed to reach someone on a boat on the salt water depths, let alone the fact the castle was situated underground.

He never paid any attention to how strong his abilities had become over the years, nor did he like to think about his abilities, period, they were being used to instill different thoughts in peoples minds, he was given a test once, accumulate Team Plasma, and send one back with their old track of thinking, he managed to do so, in fact, that old member of the team lived in Opelucid city now.

He gave up on trying to hone in on a specific voice to learn more and fell back on his beanbag, he closed his eyes, throwing up one of his Pokeballs, tossing the capture device up and down, catching it in his hand each time until he threw it down to the ground, his Zorua forming, he sighed a bit, the dark type near instantly trotted over and laid down on Ns chest, almost to heavy to not compress his lungs.

"If we have to face anyone soon, don't feel bad if we lose." N said as he ran a hand through Zoruas dark fur, underneath the top layer that felt like hay, was soft fur for insulation, still a shade of obsidian with the same markings of red, N sighed as he sat up, Zorua sliding down to his lap, still comfortable, undistracted when N started to use his powers to simply turn the ceiling fan with nothing better to do in his bored state.

[fromcenotaphy]

Hi hi, I’m obsessed with your HBO SPN stuff, but can we please hear more about HBO Unnatural? I’m even more obsessed with that!

nobody should have given me the power to create unlimited high-budget spinoffs of the spn universe but here we are!!! hbo unnatural (see hbo emma and magda for ref) is just [all the monster kids the main narrative fucked over or forgot] [they’re grown-up and yet still just kids in so many ways] [doing their damn best in a world that never wanted them to survive] [helping the people around them not out of altruism or righteousness but because they know what it’s like to be alone and frightened in the dark gutters of this life] [because, despite everything, they still believe in kindness]

spn is the gothic sprawl of midwestern americana, but unnatural is the glitz and blaze and rush of cities that tower high enough and bright enough for the unwanted to hide, vibrant and pulsing enough for monsters to vanish into the slipstream and walk unnoticed in the teeming chaos, it’s [emma and jacob fleeing miami after they cross the amazon clan one too many times and have a bounty placed on their heads] [jesse narrowing his eyes when he senses their energies cross the threshold of manhattan] [magda sitting next to jacob on a bench in central park, both of them staring at sparrows without really seeing them] [neon storefronts seen as blurs through a rainy taxi window] [emma coughing up blood on the fire escape] [the four of them sprawled on a roof passing a blunt back and forth] [jesse walking into a morgue and walking back out with a cooler of human brains and no one the wiser, because every staffer in the building felt their eyes and thoughts slide involuntarily away from him the moment he entered] [emma trying to show magda how to throw a punch] [jacob leaning over a ferry rail, hair ruffled by the damp wind off the bay] [magda’s head pillowed on jesse’s shoulder, the tv flickering, volume turned down low] [kitchen table piled high with newspaper clippings and scrawled research notes] [piling a bunch of blankets onto the floor of their tiny living room and calling it a sleepover] [when really they just don’t want to be alone with their nightmares]

and it’s the ley lines of enemy and ally being shifted, it’s [jacob bartering secrets with a wraith informant in the back table of his favorite coffee shop] [magda and jesse linking fingers and psyches in order to eject the demon currently curling emma’s mouth into a sharp grin] [creased map of the subway system with territories marked in pale green ink] [dropping by the best nightclub on the east side because the vampires who run it also sell protection charms out of the back room] [magda bringing a plate of cookies to the werewolf family living downstairs] [jacob crouched behind a dumpster with shaking hands and his heart hammering in his chest, as the red and blue police lights screech past] [blankets and raw hamburger for the vetala child who shows up on their doorstep shivering and alone in the middle of winter] [shifter sidling up to jesse in a crowded bar, murmuring a code phrase in his ear] [magda shoving her consciousness up past the skyscrapers so that she can scan the streets for Harmonia’s demigod assassins] [angels kicking down the door and nearly gutting jesse before jacob shows up with a holy fire molotov] [bela leaning back in her chair, smirking at the four of them as they squirm in their seats in the downtown brasserie where she prefers to meet new buyers] [emma sprinting through a maze of back alleys trying to lose the british men of letters who have been tailing her ever since she exited the subway twenty blocks south]

and it’s, you know, just [jacob’s hand nervous on the thermos of liquified human tissue he was trying to enjoy by the riverside] [because the suited young man who wanted to ask him a few questions is smiling an easy, sharp smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes] [it’s ben braeden, two weeks into his internship at the fbi’s new york office] [ben braeden, young and brilliant and knife-eyed and hungry to prove himself] [ben braeden, who paces the floor of his tiny studio, fixated on the brief glimpse of jesse that his brain keeps doing its best to forget] [ben braeden, always driven to asking why, always picking at the story’s edges, the places where things don’t quite make sense sense] [like maybe if he can chase down the inexplicable gaps of the world he’ll be able to explain away the empty gaps in his childhood, too] [put a name and a face and a file to the hazy figure who skirts the edges of his memory on the nights when he wakes up from half-remembered dreams of terror]

oh and obviously crossover episodes with wayward like [uneasy alliance with the wayward girls after the unnatural gang tails an amazon emissary to sioux falls] [emma flirting shamelessly with claire until kaia looks her dead in the eye, takes claire’s flannel off the back of the chair, and pulls it on] [crammed into alex’s sensible minivan fighting over stakeout binoculars] [claire and emma splitting a soda on the back porch after a sparring session where they beat each other bloody] [donna hailed as a hero when she arrives with fresh doughnuts and coffee] [hissed arguments over the best way to do recon in a sleepy midwestern town] [patience wondering why jesse is a blank spot in her senses] [magda and kaia glancing at each other’s scars, eyes soft] [alex showing jacob how to splint a wrist, how to thread an iv line, how to breathe slow and ignore the way blood smells fresh from the vein] [jody trying to adopt the lot of them and getting gently but firmly turned down] [they don’t have a place with hunters] [they’re their own family, making their own home]

[bevvydraws]

Sweet Justice (cont.)

1, 2, 3 , 4 , 5

Chapter 6

Princess Justice gripped at her hair in increasing frustration, somehow her fancy up-do still staying relatively neat, “What the hell just happened?!” the knights around her looked at her with concern, but not daring to step any closer to the volatile girl. Even Hawkmoth didn’t seem to dare try and reprimand her. Princess Justice felt her emotions fluctuate out of control, and she gripped the nearest railing and tried to calm herself. 

Chat Noir knew her intentions, he wouldn’t actively work against her, and he’d explain everything to Luka--no, Harmonia. This was just a minor setback. Focusing her gaze on a random point in the distance, her mind raced with different strategies. It’s likely that she wouldn’t convince Hawkmoth of her ability to capture Chat Noir twice. She was lucky she got away with it the first time, especially since now Chat wouldn’t have reservations about using Cataclysm with another partner to cover in case he needed to detransform. 

Harmonia had thrown a heavy wrench in her plans, but she couldn’t find it in herself to be angry about it anymore. He hadn’t known any better, and she almost found herself flattered that he would take on such a huge responsibility to save her. To actively work against her would be going against what he truly wanted to do, which would be joining her ranks. She gripped the rail tighter, forcing herself to focus on coming up with another strategy. However her thoughts trailed back to him wanting to join her ranks, something nagging her about it. 

Her eyes widened in realization as a strategy popped into her head. The thought of using violence against the two boys she cared deeply for almost making her hesitate, but it was the only way she could think of. All she could do was hope that Harmonia and Chat Noir trusted her as much as she trusted them. With newfound determination, Princess Justice looked out over her knights who looked back at her with anticipation in their slightly glossed over eyes.

“My loyal knights,” she started, “We’ve hit a slight snag, but this will not delay what is inevitable for long! If we cannot gain the cooperation of these so-called heroes, who claim to fight for justice, then we will force their cooperation!” She held her hand out for Alya to hand her the staff she had tossed to the side absentmindedly. As soon as it was in her grasp she raised it high and continued, “We will not relent! We will not falter! We will not fail!”

The knights below shouted with excitement and agreement, moved by the words of their leader. Their formation became even tighter, if it were possible. Princess Justice could not help the grin on her face, feeling rejuvenated by the encouragement. Putting her arm down, Princess Justice revelled in the feeling for only a second longer before continuing, “Remember, our aim is not to hurt, only capture. While the false heroes are not on our side, they are better for us if they are unharmed than if they are hurt. Hawkmoth, the one gracious enough to grant me these abilities, will deal with their justice accordingly himself. He’s certainly earned at least that much.”

With a quick glance to the roof, she spotted the tips of what appeared to be leather cat ears. Fighting back the grin on her face, she looked over her knights once more, “Let the hunt begin.”

-------------------

Chat Noir looked at Harmonia, “My Lady is so smart,” he practically swooned. 

Harmonia nodded, “At least now we don’t have to worry about our plans conflicting with each other.” His gaze was fixated on a point in the distance, “Now we just have to fight her enough to be convincing while letting ourselves be captured.” 

“Do you think it would be more convincing if we both used our powers?” Chat Noir asked. 

“I don’t really think it’s something that we should risk. We need to be able to use a lucky charm to fix everything after Hawkmoth is defeated. And we don’t know if our transformations will hold while under her control,” Harmonia frowned, “But not using them will really complicate things. Normally you and Ladybug wouldn’t have any hesitation to use your powers, regardless of who the akuma was.” 

“You’re right,” Chat nodded in agreement, “We even had to go up against our best friends, multiple times, and we used our powers without hesitating.” 

“So how are we going to manage to do this convincingly?” 

Chat had a pensive expression on his face for a moment, then frowned, “Well, I have an idea, but it isn’t going to be easy.” Harmonia said nothing, and Chat took that as a cue to continue. “While it’s true that I’ve had to fight my best friend before, and did so without hesitation, I’ve never… I’ve never had to fight against someone I love as much as I love her.” Chat looked at Harmonia from the corner of his eye, but didn’t see any signs of agitation and continued, “The truth of the matter is, I could never use my power against her. Ever. Unless it was absolutely necessary. And I imagine it’s the same for you.” 

Harmonia nodded, “You’re right. That’s why both of us are at a disadvantage, at least if we were trying to actively fight against her. But this could work to our advantage. The only thing is, Hawkmoth has no idea we both love her.” 

Chat sighed, the frown still present on his face, “That’s why this isn’t going to be easy. We’re going to have to make sure Hawkmoth doesn’t question the love we have for her.” Harmonia still didn’t let his emotions show on his face, and Chat only frowned more.

“But is that fair to Marinette?” Harmonia asked. 

“No, but at this point we don’t have another option.” Chat looked down at the roof they were sitting on. In the silence, they could hear the sound of the knights marching in formation and taking to the streets of Paris. If either of them leaned forward, they would likely see them, but neither hero moved from their spot. “Marinette would stop at nothing to save us, to help us, even if it wasn’t fair to herself or to us.” 

Harmonia nodded again, “You’re right…” 

The two would have to put their feelings out there for everyone, including Hawkmoth, to see. While neither were ashamed, it was a vulnerability that neither were prepared for. Especially when paired with the odd circumstances of fighting alongside their rival for her love. 

“We also need to be prepared to face the effects of the macaroons,” Chat Noir warned, “It’s the only way we can convince Hawkmoth.” 

Harmonia was silent for a moment, and below Princess Justice’s voice could be faintly heard. He looked at Chat Noir, “We can do this,” he said confidently. 

Chat Noir managed a grin, which Harmonia reciprocated. With a quick fistbump, the two leapt off of the roof to wait further ahead of where the knights were marching. 

-------------------------

Princess Justice sat on the makeshift throne that was now being carried by four knights. Her army marched ahead of her, some trailing behind in case of heroes attempting to “catch her by surprise”. She knew that they had heard her plan, or at least she hoped they’d heard enough of it to understand what she was going for. Now all she had to do was rely on their acting skills. 

She kept her gaze fixated on the roof tops above, and wasn’t surprised in the slightest when a few minutes into their march, a red and black blur flashed in her vision before two figures crashed into the middle of her army. “They’re here!” she shouted, “Capture them immediately!” 

The knights converged Chat Noir and Harmonia, who fought them off. The two seemed to work flawlessly together, which slightly surprised Princess Justice in the back of her mind. She was snapped out of her mini train of thought by shouting. 

“Marinette!” Chat Noir called, “Give up! I don’t want to hurt you!” his voice sounded pained but determined, fighting off knights even as he looked her way. His baton twirled effortlessly in his hands as he fought. 

“Please!” Harmonia chimed in as well, “I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened to you.” Using his yoyo he swung one knight in the swarm of knights, knocking some down like bowling pins. Even with the mask covering his mouth, his voice was clear.

Princess Justice was taken aback by the genuineness in their voice. She wasn’t quite sure they were acting, but knew that she had to trust them to follow her plan. “Try and stop me, heroes,” she said, her voice carrying over the din of the fighting, “No amount of Cataclysm or Lucky Charms will stop me. You’ve lost.” 

Harmonia and Chat Noir shared a brief glance, their emotions unreadable but to Princess Justice it seemed like a look of agreement and understanding. 

“You know there’s no way I could use Cataclysm against you, Marinette. Please, please just listen,” Chat Noir begged. 

“And I don’t what the Lucky Charm will have me do, and I’m not going to risk hurting you. Just let us save you!” Harmonia pleaded. 

“I don’t need to be saved!” Princess Justice slammed her fist against the armrest of her throne. “Your petty pleas mean nothing to me. You refusing to fight against me only makes you seem weak. Why should I listen to either of you?” She wasn’t sure where this was going, and fought back the uneasiness she felt in her gut. 

“Because…” Chat Noir’s voice rang out, stopping his attempts to fend off the knights. 

“Because…” Harmonia said at the same time, also stopping all attempts at defense. 

“Because we can’t hurt the one we love!” they said together just as the knights overtook them. The two heroes were hidden from her sight, but their words still rang clear in her head. Her cheeks flushed, and it took all of her strength to keep from letting out a squeak. She had to remain composed. 

For the second time a butterfly appeared before her face, and Hawkmoth’s voice almost managed to drown out the sound of their declaration of love bouncing around her thoughts. Almost.

“If I would have known it would have been this easy,” Hawkmoth’s disembodied voice mused, “I would have pursued you as an akuma even sooner…”

“Their emotions made them weak,” Princess Justice spoke, the words making her feel heavy as she spoke.

“Their weakness is our strength, Princess Justice,” Hawkmoth continued, “You’ll have no trouble turning them with your macarons. Then they’ll have no choice but to hand over their Miraculouses on a silver platter to me.” 

“Just make sure there is no interference on our way to you, Hawkmoth. You’ll get your justice soon.” 

With that, the butterfly faded from her vision just as the two heroes were brought before her and forced on their knees. Princess Justice hopped down gracefully from her throne, pulling out two macarons. Princess Justice tilted up Chat Noir’s head, his eyes meeting hers. His gaze was filled with love and adoration, but Princess Justice refused to get side tracked. She held a macaron up to his lips, almost unsure. And with a quick nod of reassurance, Chat Noir took the macaron in his mouth and ate it with no hesitation. 

Not waiting to see the effects, Marinette moved to Harmonia. She was unsure if his mask would move down, unsure of what to do if it didn’t. But thankfully she didn’t have the problem. She assumed that since Harmonia was willing to let the mask slide down, she was able to slide it down his face. This allowed him to smile at her, the same smile he gave her when he professed his love for her the first time. She shook her head, put a macaron in his mouth, and slid the mask back up to cover his face. 

Now all she had to do was wait, and hope they could overcome their injustices.

------------------------------

taglist:  @fandom-trapped-03 , @justafanwarrior , @ultimatetornshipper , @lunadensmidnightprowl​ , @starpony999​ , @minth0l-illness , @the-bollywood-miraculous-girl​ , @akioshiwarrior​ ,  @queencommonsense ,  @id-dance-with-draco ,  @all-mights-asscheeks

[scope-dogg]

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam: Final Thoughts

Victory Gundam’s a series I’ve long been interested in watching before its return from its long SRW absence finally gave me the reason to go ahead and actually do it. Prior to watching it, the word-of-mouth I’d got from it was mixed. Apparently its reception at the time it was new in Japan was less than enthusiastic to the point that it effectively killed off UC Gundam as the mainstay of the franchise until relatively recently. Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator, famously hates it and has even supposedly asked people to avoid watching it. Yet on the other hand I’ve seen fans praise it as one of the best Gundam series.

Ultimately I think it was a messy show - it was subject to budget issues and executive meddling and at points it really shows. Yet despite that there’s some really good stuff in here - enough that at least for me the time I spend with it didn’t feel wasted by the time I was through.

The plot setup is that in UC 0153, the Earth Federation is weaker and less effectual than its ever been, and a new militant spacenoid faction calling itself the Zanscare Empire seeks to take advantage of their vulnerability. They follow their queen, the newtype healer Maria Harmonia, and advocate to throw down the old order hitherto dominated by men and start a new matrilineal system bealt on motherly virtues. However, their methods aren’t in keeping with these values, as they make liberal use of the guillotine to execute dissidents and those who oppose their armed forces. While the Federation stands by idly, it falls to a civilian-led paramilitary force called the League Militaire to oppose the Zanscare Empire. One day, a skirmish between Zanscare forces and the League in Europe pulls a young man living in an illegal settlement named Uso Ewin into the fight, and he ends up piloting the League’s new mobile suit, the Victory Gundam, into battle.

As soon as you start the series you already see the beginning of executive meddling interfering with the plot. It starts in media res in the most confusing way possible - initially the Victory Gundam wasn’t meant to debut until after 4 episodes, but that wouldn’t do for the gunpla merchants at Sunrise, so the show begins with Uso getting into the Gundam and then spending the next three episodes walking it back and explaining how he got there. It’s the kind of opening that has you questioning if you’re watching the episodes in the right order.

Thankfully it does eventually get on track and it starts to get fairly good, although most viewers will likely be curious about what exactly the state of the world is - in particular, who the Zanscare empire actually are and what their plans are. Anyone with even a slight understanding of UC Gundam will be able to figure out that they’re similar to Zeon just from their aesthetics and MO, but the show doesn’t really open up with more detail for a fair while. There are other portions where the plot can’t seem to decide which way it wants to go and keeps walking back on itself, and as such there are times when there’s a serious lack of focus. As such, the overall plot isn’t especially compelling apart from those moments where it does sit down and focus for important flashpoints, most notable at the end and the segment at roughly the half-way point.

That said, it’s not like there’s no reason to watch even during the segments in between those. Victory’s got a large and fairly colourful cast of characters who are fun to watch interacting with one another. Uso, the protagonist, and much of the primary supporting cast are very young even by the standards of the franchise - Uso is 13, a record that wouldn’t equalled until Gundam Age aired. Despite this, the show doesn’t pull any punches, but the way he and his young comrades handle it makes him an easy character to root for. Much of the adulting supporting cast and characters amongst Zanscare are interesting as well, with a bunch of little dramas playing out at any one time, even though sometimes it can descend into melodrama, and sometimes characters exhibit odd behaviour. 

The overall tone is one of the things this series is most notorious for, with it being considered the darkest, most brutal and depressing entry in the franchise. Honestly, I wasn’t really feeling that. Yes, there are a lot of character deaths in this show. Some of them are cruel and senseless, and they’re spread out fairly evenly across the series, meaning that it’s not afraid of delivering a gut punch to the viewer early on. But on the whole I’ve seen a lot worse. I felt like Iron-Blooded Orphans had a lot more senseless character death, and while it’s not hard to find tragedy in Victory there was nothing that felt as brutal as, say, Kamille’s cruel fate at the end of Zeta or the aftermath of colony gassings. If you look at some of Tomino’s other works outside of Gundam you can find far worse - look no further than the endings of Dunbine or Zambot 3, or the cosmic nightmare ride that’s Ideon: Be Invoked. I won’t deny that there is an air of cynicism and despair to Victory at times, apparently because Tomino was suffering especially badly with depression while he was making it, but I’ve seen a lot worse and I think its reputation has been exaggerated a bit. In fact, sometimes I’d say it goes to far in the opposite direction, with strange humour and a lighthearted tone in spots that doesn’t really fit the series’ narrative as a whole.

Still, ultimately I found more that I enjoyed than I didn’t in terms of the plot and tone, even if there was plenty that could have been done without. As for the presentation, the level of quality wavers but on the whole it’s pretty good, at least compared to its predecessors. Things do occasionally get rough when the budget clearly got tight, and you could probably find some better looking shows from the early 90s, but on the whole it’s quite good looking. Sound and music are pretty middle of the road, with nothing really standing out but nothing offensively bad either. There’s some excellent mechanical designs in here, especially the Victory and V2 Gundams that are in the starring roles - the V2 in particular is one of my favourite Gundams, and is probably the design that established Hajime Katoki as one of the masters of the mechanical design arts. On the other hand, Zanscare’s mobile suit design is often very eccentric with mixed results - it’s another thing this series is pretty infamous for. Some designs are genuinely brilliant, but others are just strange, like the serpentine Doggorla, and the overall strange obsession with putting giant tires on everything, including mobile suits meant primarily for use in space. Overall Zanscare design is a bit of an acquired taste.

Ultimately this show was somewhat of a mixed bag but was still watchable. It was the same kind of up-and-down viewing experience as ZZ Gundam was for me, just more towards the other end of the tone scale. It’s hardly mandatory viewing, as it’s not really all that connected to anything that’s come out either before or after, and it’s definitely not a good first-time entry for new Gundam viewers, but it’s probably worth checking out once you’ve got the main UC entries under your belt. 

[myhoneymoontour]

Chapter 1

All You Need Is Love

Author’s Notes: English isn’t my first language so if there are mistakes, forgive me. I will do my best to write correctly.

Summary | Chapter 1

It’s a sunny day in Asgard, suitable for a morning walk by the stream bank of the little kingdom. For her it’s like a secret garden, an immense space that no one ever visits, where no one disturbs her, where you can read your books, where you can hear the birds chirping and where you can sing serenely.

She’s in love with Midgardian poets, they fascinate her. In theory, everything from Midgard fascinates her. She’s a girl so passionate about literature and art. For days she wanted some serenity since life at court is often a bit frenetic. Too many rules, although to tell the truth, she hates breaking the rules.

The sound of running water is the background to her reading, making it more pleasant, until she hears a voice interrupt her imagination.

“Venus are you here?”

She ignores the voice hoping it goes away.

“Venus!”

The voice come closer. Then she decides to get closer not to reveal her secret place.

“Here I am!”

“Where did you go? I've been looking for you for minutes! Our father wants to talk to us, let's go back to the castle!”

A wonderful castle, yes, but small, nothing compared to the royal palace of the king of the gods. Venus and her sister Artemis, the oldest one, reach the great hall where their father Zeus was waiting for them, also finding her mother Dione, their other sister, the middle one, Harmonia and their brother Eros.

“My kids, the king of the gods, my old friend, has invited us to join in the celebrations of the birthday of his firstborn Thor. This evening will be very important because you will finally meet the queen.”

Venus and her sisters look at each other happy because they will finally meet Thor. Although they have met him in the past during their walks but never had the courage to introduce themselves. Venus, however, unlike her sisters, was more curious to know his younger brother, the one she has never seen, the one people talk about the least, probably he loves staying in his castle and leading the life of a prince. Which, being a princess too, she liked to lead that life but she also needed to let off steam a bit far from the castle every now and then. She has always seen Thor in action, in some of his battles or around the kingdom but of his little brother, not even a sign.

The princes return to their rooms and Venus feels her arm being taken and pulled away. Artemis, the one who brought her here, pushes her towards the castle doors.

“What are you doing?!?”

“Let's get to know the prince!”

“Are you mad? Then they won't even let us in.”

“Of course they will let us in! Sure, we aren’t Odin's daughters but they know who we are. And then I want to visit the castle before there’s confusion tonight!”

She nods and they start walking towards the royal palace. The path is long, they stop on the way, the palace is on the other side of the kingdom.

It’s afternoon and they finally arrive at the royal palace. The guards give them a look and without moving they let them in. Artemis smiles and sneaks into the huge hallways. Venus is fascinated by such beauty. Being a princess she had seen luxurious places but this was indescribably majestic. She felt the magic in the air, more than what was usually in her rooms.........

Arm in arm with her sister they go from one hallway to the other and enter in a huge room where there were some people walking and some who were standing there chatting. She hears Artemis smiling, walking slowly they notice two quite solemn figures. Venus focuses on one of them. It’s like she’s attracted, she cannot help but look. This black hair, skin so pale it seems transparent, thin lips, sculpted face and ice eyes also transparent, effect caused by the sun's rays. He turns his face towards her, the blinding white of her hair, the pale skin that emphasizes her rosy cheeks, he too seems attracted to all of this, but above all, he can't help but look at the green in her eyes. Her big, shimmering green eyes that, to her too, the sun's rays make them shine.

She can't take her eyes off him, the same goes for him. She had a lot of crushes but this one looked different. Her cheeks blush even more and she feels butterflies in her stomach but at the same time she feels embarrassed. He feels a strange sensation, something in his stomach that he had never felt before. A pressure on his chest. Enchanted by the green of her eyes never seen before. He also notices the redness of her cheeks but doesn't understand what he’s feeling. They continue to look at each other until Venus goes away with her sister. The sisters remain silent until they’re sure they’re far enough from the ears of the two nobles. Venus continues to think about the person in front of Thor and how she feels.

"Who was he?" Venus asks.

The sister looks at her with a smirk.

“Did you see how he looked at you?"

She hadn't noticed it as her sister.

"No actually, but tell me who he is!"

“He’s probably Odin's second born, Loki. Dressed like that he can only be part of the royal family,” she replies. “Have you seen Thor? He’s so beautiful! "

"Yes..." she lied.

They both continue to walk around the castle and its gardens and then return shortly after to their castle to get ready for the party.

———

Tag List: Let me know if you want to be tagged.

[redolentgrove]

(askpokemoncrossover)Amber @ Loki: The shiny braixen saw Akira vanishing with a depressed look on his face before she stopped at the taur at least six feet away from bowing apologetically. "Sorry about him, Loki... He's still new when it comes to communicating or interacting with others. Before my brother saved Akira from himself, he was living alone... isolated from people and pokemon. You can imagine what it's like, right? Being alone and having no one else to turn to for so long, it'll be impossible to trust anyone." She then felt the presence of another, like someone's still watching them and saw the arrow that was about to hit the legendary psychic type out of the corner of her eye and started to look around. "H-hey, you did say you have an over-protective daughter... Bijoux, right? Can you ask her to restrain herself when a lucairo in a green jumpsuit comes along? That's my brother, Sai. He told me that he'll meet you after recovering from the hospital..." The braixen asked before she muttered something under her breath: "Jeez... still can't believe that big brothers do stupid things sometimes..."

Loki's tail twitched impatiently at Amber as the Braixen greeted her, but she bowed in return nonetheless. Knowing that she knew Akira closely caused her to be a little wary of the newcomer. However, she would keep an open mind.

"Mmm," Loki rumbled, ears flickering. "I understand that better than you'd think. I've had my fair share of... shall we call it, isolation. Though, that was mostly forced on myself. And the trust... again, far closer a hit to home than you'd guess." She gazed back at the dogwood briefly. "Look, I'll level with you, dear. I'm not holding things against Akira. He didn't make a great first impression, but he's not on my permanent hit list."

  Loki paused as Amber brought up her daughter.

"Yes, Bijoux-"

"Would be me," a familiar voice interrupted.

A shiny Cinccino-taur strode confidently through the nearby brush. She wore a green academic uniform over her front, emblazoned with an "H" emblem on the left chest area. She wore a black bowtie around her neck over the scarf fur, and a black plaid skirt over her hindquarters. Long, flowing white fur billowed from her forehead, wrapping behind her and back around her neck in dual Cinccino scarves, with a matching level of fluff and ivory hues on her tail. Little freckles dotted over her nose and cheeks, as well as the edges of her ears. She was certainly cute-looking and smaller than her mother, standing roughly four-five. She stood next to the Braixen with a headtilt, her gaze softening.  She had a longbow tucked beneath her right shoulder, glasses resting on her muzzle in front of a pair of blue eyes.

"Please forgive me," the normal-type explained, bowing her head. "Those were simply warning shots. I'm not going to actually hit anyone with an arrow... well, not right away, anyway."

"Bijoux." Loki stepped forward, her hand held out as she flexed her fingers. "The bow."

"Mom, I was just... no, nevermind. You're right, I'm sorry." Bijoux passed the equipment over to her mother, who held it with both hands. "I know the rules... no shooting at strangers."

"Yes. You know better." Loki's tail swished with a hint of disappointment. "You're putting way too much pressure on yourself to be a little guardian, and while I cherish you and will always be grateful for that, it's my job to protect you, not the other way around. I would never ask you to take on such a massive task at your age.

"But Mom-"

"No buts, darling." The Leafeon's eyes narrowed as she interrupted her daughter. "I spent my late teens and early twenties being almost nothing but a guardian. I finally just gave up after I got exiled from the old forest and moved here with my kids to White Forest. I realized I was forcing way too much on myself, way too early. I wasn't ready to take on that responsibility. Even now, protecting our grove... I still have my doubts. I don't want you making that same mistake."

Bijoux paused for a few moments, pondering everything Loki had shared with her. Then, in a quick burst of energy, she strode over and hugged her mom, prompting the larger taur to let out a bashful purr of contentment.

After a moment, Loki grabbed Bijoux in a giant bear hug, causing the smaller taur's eyes to narrow and her body to go slightly limp. A few tears streamed down Loki's eyes, and she sniffled sadly.

"I can't believe how fast my little girl's growing up. Mentally, physically... and you're leaving the forest for Harmonia. I'm gonna miss my little girl so much."

"Mom." Bijoux grouchily fidgeted in her mother's grips, her giant ears twitching. "Mom, people are watching, stop." Several Pokemon had gathered at the scene, curious to see what was causing the commotion.

"Sorry." Loki let Bijoux out of her grasp, leaning in to sneak a little noselick on the taur's chin. "Arceus, seven hundred years later I still get all emotional when one of my babies leaves the nest."

"Mom, Harmonia University is just over in Castelia City. You go there all the time anyway; you'd probably stop by like, every single day between floral runs and Casteliacone shopping." The Cinccino brushed her taurhalf with her hands with a quiet smirk.

"Oh, I won't be there every day..." Loki protested. "Just enough of them to embarrass you."

"Mom!!!!" Bijoux leaned up and lightly shoved her mother's left flank with her left hand. "You're awful."

"Hey, did you forget that another part of my job as a mom is to be a pain in your rump? You'll laugh about this by the time you graduate, and the instant you're off doing science stuff in some other region, you'll miss me ribbing you about stupid stuff... just you wait." Loki grinned playfully, giving Bijoux's taurbody a little hip check with her own. "Now, come on. I need to check and make sure you packed everything and see you to the forest edge."

"You're not gonna go to Castelia with me?"

"What?" Loki guffawed with a tailwag. "No, silly, I'm going to stop at the forest's edge, bawl about my baby growing up and milk this for all it's worth! Gonna get half the forest watching you walk off consoling your dear old mother as she proves how much she loves you!"

"MOM!!!!" Bijoux folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

"Hey, I told you, it's part of my job! You just wait until you've got kids and you're doing the same thing to them... you'll love it. Now, up, come on. We need to get moving if you're going to beat the sunset to Castelia." Loki handed the longbow back to Bijoux. "Put this in the shed. I'll keep it safe for you. I’ll be checking; I don’t see it and I’m taking apart those suitcases one by one until I find it."

Bijoux accepted the bow and nodded furiously, scampering off into the distance.

Loki turned back toward Amber with an apologetic gaze. "Sorry, we'll have to rain check things for a bit. As far as this Lucario, Sai... by the time he gets here, I sincerely doubt there'll be any arrows coming for him."

((@askpokemoncrossover ))

(( Art commissioned by me and done by the wonderful Nans, who runs the blog @archivistoftheend ))

[the-dead-sea-trilogy]

WIP Wednesday: Ophelia and the King’s Madness

expected to be about 100k+ words total, 50% complete

Hi and welcome to another WIP Wednesday!! Today I’m sharing Ophelia and the King’s Madness, which is a spin off from my Hardenshipping Dead Sea Trilogy that focuses on Colress, the novelty third wheel, and his time in Team Plasma.

Ghetsis hires Colress to look after his daughters who, despite being adults, live completely isolated from the outside world.  But Anthea and Concordia find themselves smitten with the man who brings so many strange and wonderful things to them.  But as their relationship develops, Concordia slowly discovers the truth of who he and her father really are, and must face the choice to leave everything in her world behind.

Hit me during quarantine while I was...... stuck inside all day and couldn’t leave my house........ funny how life does that to you.

There will be mild - but not explicit - sexual themes.  But today is just a preview!  Colress and Ghetsis dunking on one another.

I ripped this straight off my google doc so enjoy all my typos and funny musings ✨

Link on AO3

Ko-Fi Tip Jar

(Full text below the cut)

 Chapter 0.5??? (AT RISE?  CURTAIN???)

 Colress Achroma had seen every sight there was to see in Castelia City.  There was nothing new about the subway station, the cars, the lights, the people, the noise, and even his own apartment.   Nothing fulfilling about the bars, the clubs, the drinks, the parties.[---maybe mention something about the people who lurk in the subway station/swers and how weird they are--]

 And while it was objectively true that there were perhaps hundreds--if not, thousands--of new things to do--drink, fuck--every day, for Castelia City had no shortage of people like him--nothing      felt    particularly new.  Not since he had moved back from the Hoenn region, where he had completed his PhD, which had grown especially underwhelming in its own regard.  While he had certainly missed the sheer expanse of the city in that time--ever since getting his PhD--which had turned out to be nothing but dull barrier after dull barrier--he felt incredibly,      painfully     understimulated.  And so, he sat in the [bleak] alleyway in the dark, grimy underbelly of his hometown, spinning the petals of a white rose in his hand, waiting for something new.

 No, he wasn’t there for a hookup.  He knew better places than here for that.  He knew this underground tunnel system perhaps even better than the subways themselves, even as it ran adjacent to them.   Admittedly, the cryptlike sewer system had become something of a second home to him, ever since he was a kid.  Here in his favorite corner, for instance, there were still even smears of ash from when he had started a fire when he was 14 and narrowly escaped the police.  That, particularly, was the first of what was soon going to become many narrow run-ins with the law.  No, he wasn’t here to sell or solicit, even though he was told someone would meet him here.

 Okay so when put like that, it might as well have been a hookup.

 But as he sat perched up on a ledge, scanning shadows in the dim, yellowy light on the wall--down past the shadows that scooted across the filthy waterways--he saw a long, black shadow emerge from the darkness.  [add in the flower ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ thing?].   Although, it was more as if the cloak had pulled off and carried teh darkness with him.  The man was large; and wore a long, black cloak; his footsteps, which would have otherwise been almost soundless and serpentine, were interjected with a      thud     from his cane--forcing him to walk in an uneven, cacophonic rhythm.  He leaned into his left, and leaned into it hard.  In fact, with the hsape of the cloak, and the way he walked, even from here, it would appear almost as if the man entirely lacked a right hand.      

 Colress dropped another white petal down from the ledge.  “He loves me,” he said, then glanced up at the man and smiled.  He slid down off the ledge and stared up at the large man, the grossish yellowish light grossly illuminating his face.  “You came.”

 “I was told I could find someone here.”

 “Well, you found correctly,” Colress said, waving the flower around.  “Now, what exactly is it you want?  I’m not accepting clients, if that’s what you’re after.  But, there are plenty of girls down here who, if you pay them right--”

 “Enough,” the man said, spitting on the ground at Colress’ feet.  His voice boomed, nearly echoed down the chamber.  “I’m not here for a prostitute.”

 “The polite term is ‘sex worker,’ actually, but--”

 “I’m looking for a scientist, not a whore.”

 “Lucky for you, I’m both,” Colress said, smiling.  The man stops and stares at him, incredulously, like he doesn’t think he could be serious.  Colress flashes some sort of badge at him.  “How can I help you?”

 “You can’t be serious.”

 “Oh I am,”  Colress said.  They stare off again at one another, Ghetsis is like “Nevermind this has to be a mistake” and starts tot turn to go.

 “I thought you might be a little apprehensive, given our location, but I promise, only the best of the best gather in the nighttime here in Castelia City,” Colress said, reaching into his bag.   “After all, how would you have gotten your contacts to get ahold of me? I prepared for you my entire CV--” he extended the document to him [basically traps him from leaving].  The man raised his eyebrows, but tentatively accepted it.  “Although, you should know this is quite the unusual place for a job interview.”  [Colress gives him a devious grin.]  “I dig it.”

 “Jesus Christ,” the man muttered, scanning over the document.

 “What?  Overwhelmed and amazed at my outstanding credentials?”

 “No,” the large man said.  “I had heard the rumors.  I just didn’t believe they were      fucking true    .”

 “Ah, so I have a reputation I see!  That’s good news,” Colress said.  “You should have a clue as to who I am, then.  However, unfortunately I’m still not sure with whom I have the pleasure of--” Colress paused, now seeing the profile of the man in the low light.   “Wait a moment,” he said, beginning to recognize the face.  “I’ve see you before.  You’re…” [the memory comes to him] “You’re Ghetsis Harmonia,” he said.  “The leader of Team Plasma.  All those ones going around talking about all that ‘Pokemon’s Rights’ bullshit--”

 “Pokemon liberation.”

 “Oh and the      airship!      Quite a mechanical wonder, I have to admit.  I’ve always sort of wanted to get up close and personal with that antigravity machine,” he said.  He leaned in to Ghetsis with a sing-song tone.  “Are you here to give me a ride~!”

 “Only if you’re useful.”

 “Useful?” Colress asked.  “In what way?”

 [is he like a court jester to a king????]

 “I’ve already told you I’m not accepting clients.  That’s never been my game anyway.  Useful?  To Lord Ghetsis Harmonia… isn’t that what they call you?  My lordship?  My king?  Leader of a selfless, benevolent organization devoted to the freedom of Pokemon.  It’s quite ambitious, I have to say.  I’ve never really seen anything quite like it.”

 Ghetsis was silent.

 “But what could a proud, noble, and upstanding lord want with a--ah, what was it you called me?”

 [MAKE SUR EHE CALLS HIM SOMETHING BEFORE THIS]

 “‘A sewer rat’ like me…?”

 “Research,” Ghetsis said, shortly.

 “Oh?” Colress asked.  “Of what kind?  Surely we didn’t have to meet in such a remote location to go over my CV.  We could have gotten lunch.  Oh, or      brunch--!    ”

 “Enough,” Ghetsis said, more sternly.  “I won’t tolerate this level of [silliness? Pfffft No better word].”

 “Then what do you need of me, my lord?”  

 “I need you for research.  A very particular kind of research my own scientists believe you to be capable of.”

 “Oh, scientists from down here?” Colress said.  “Word certainly does get around.  But what makes you think so?”

  [Ghetsis hands him some kind of flyer from a battle or tournament or something]

 “How’d you do it?” he asked.

 Colress raised his eyebrows.  “What do you mean?”

 “Your thesis was about DNA and Mega-Evolution,” Ghetsis said.   “And this,” Ghetsis pointed again to the page.  “You enhanced its power for competition.”

 “I didn’t enhance anything,” Colress said, flatly.  The flatness in his voice, however, spelled sarcasm.  “The ‘power of friendship’ did that.  If I had enhanced anything, that would be cheating, wouldn’t it?”  Colress paused.  Examines Ghetsis.  “Of course, the ‘power of friendship’ in this scenario might involve a few extra nuts and bolts.   Nothing more.”

 [  Ghetsis like grunts or makes one of his Ghetsis noises.  Colress kind of turns and looks at him.  Ghetsis maybe says something like [We could pay you well to do it again] or something etc.]

 “But what would a noble Lord want with a researcher like me?   What would an upstanding and noble, pacifist organization like Team Plasma possibly want to do with Pokemon battling power?  And, with you coming to me in such circumstances, I’m beginning to think that you’re either horny, or Team Plasma isn’t exactly what it says it is.”

 “We have certain aspects that we keep only to the initiated.”

 “Well, it’s a cult, isn’t it?” Colress said.  “I mean, Team Plasma is a cult.  You all walk around in hats and robes, handing out pamphlets and preaching about love and destiny and higher wisdom.  And you at the very helm.”

 Pause.

 “Well, if this is a personal invitation to join your freaky little cult, I’m afraid to tell you I’m not really religious, and I don’t really plan on ‘being saved’ any time soon--”

 “I heard you weren’t satisfied with your day job.”

 “Day job?  What day job?” Colress laughed.  “I don’t need to work for a living.”

 “Exactly.”

 Long pause.

 “I do what I want.  I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to come around.”

 “And what exactly is that opportunity, Colress?”

 [Long pause. Colress decides it’s time to spill.  Something pulls him to know to understand what Ghetsis is there for, air of malice.]

 “Have you heard of an organization called Cipher?”

 “Faintly.”

 “They were a criminal organization responsible for the ‘Shadow Pokemon’ incident that happened about a decade ago in the Orre region.”

 Ghetsis raised his eyebrows, interested.

 “They operated in secret laboratories in abandoned warehouses scattered throughout the region.  Their laboratory director, Ein, was behind the conception of the project,” Colress said.  “In his profile, he is described as someone ‘long on ambition and short on emotion,’ something to which I think we both can relate.”

 “Mhm,” Ghetsis siad.

 “Ein was the pioneer behind the creation of these creatures--Shadow Pokemon.  Pokemon capable of entering this hyper-empowered state.”

 [Maybe more nods.]

 “I always sort of wished I could talk to Ein.  But, unfortunately like any other criminal organization, they were eventually found out, and their records destroyed.”

 “So what was the point in you telling me all that?”

 “Please let me monologue.” [Say something about how like if he’s going to join an evil organization he’s only going to get a chance in this once in his life--also maybe it’s like he’s given ghim a sales pitch??]

 They stare at each other.

 “What they were doing was highly illegal, of course.  Though, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering, if, given the opportunity, I could do better.”

 [They have a moment where they’re on the same page.]

 “Cipher’s mistake was that the Pokemon were strong, but ultimately uncontrollable,” Colress said.  “Their approach, ironically enough, was too emotional.  This flimsy control maxed out Pokemon’s power, but brought them into a manic state that made them lash out uncontrollably.  This lack of control also made it an easy effect for anyone to reverse.  A handful of people were known for doing so.  They called it Purification.  ‘Opening the door to a Pokemon’s heart,’ that’s what they called it.  In fact, that’s even how Ein himself chose to define it,” Colress said.

 [Colress turns and then laughs].  “That’s what he called it.   Can you believe?  ‘Opening and closing the doors to the heart…” what the fuck does that even mean?  Some bullshit phrasing they made up to describe the process of divorcing a creature from its emotional integrity.  ‘Hearts’ and ‘doors’ aren’t measurable data.  It was a chemical they were using.  A wave.  Cipher’s true methods, as I’ve said, were unfortunately lost to time.  But, we do have the work of Professor Krane, who developed a more regimented procedure for purifying these Pokemon,” Colress said, smiling.  “It’s a wave.  They used EM waves.”

 “Congratulations.”

 “The way I see it, Cipher’s approach likely targeted the limbs, so to speak, rather than the creature as a whole.  This left weak points that Krane and other purification scientists were able to exploit.  If they wanted to truly be successful, they would have had to find a way to overrun the entire mind of the creature,” Colress said.

 “So success would mean absolute control?”

 “Yes,” Colress said.  “Precisely.”

 “That I can agree with you on.”

 Another pause.  “Theoretically, one would be able to use the work put forth by Professor Krane to reverse-engineer the way that Cipher created these Pokemon, and then build upon it for their own ends.  To do so would be highly unethical, of course, and cause quite a stir in most procedural review boards,” he said.  “So it remains a fantasy that I’ve considered, but never fully entertained.  The bureaucrats win out again, and for good reason, I suppose.”

 “That’s quite a tale you’ve spun for me.”

 “Isn’t it?” Colress asked.  “I always thought so.  But that’s not what we’re here about, is it?  We’re here for you,” [he turns to him and smiles].  “So, Lord Ghetsis Harmonia… cult-leader, king.  What is it that I can do for you?”

 “By the sound of it…” Ghetsis said, slowly.  “Exactly what you want.”

 Colress [does something], smiling.  “Then, gratefully, my lord, I am ever at your service.”  [Maybe kisses rose and tosses it at his feet?  → this ties him back to Concordia]

[ask-the-crimson-king]

Tales from D&D: The Players Become Bewildered

The title is a pun. I will explain.

I am running a Ravenloft campaign that is drawing off the new Van Ricthen's Guide and also older 2e/3e lore and a bit of homebrew along the way. The party comp is pretty interesting;

MAIE - Kenku, Creation Bard. Stays out of conflicts as much as they can. Died once, seeks immortality. Player is thorn in my side very smart. BLUR - Swiftstride Shifter, Armorer Artificer. Has a bit of history with the eponymous Rudolph van Richten and traveled with him for a time. Trying to befriend a dangerous party member. VARIS - Drow, Astral Fists Monk. Seeking assassin order that killed his master. THETMATHOF THE LEARNED - Human, Undead Warlock. Patron is Azalin Rex. Hails from Darkon. Hates his "dad". It's complicated. Goes by 'Thet'. ZARANAI - Githyanki, Spores Druid. From the Underdark directly. Fascinated with everything. Dislikes those who reject the cycle of life. -3 Str go brr. FINDALOR - Moon elf, Twilight Cleric. Works directly with Rudolph van Richten as a fellow monster hunter, and has done so for a few decades with him. Has saved the party's ass twice. Dislikes monstrous beings vehemently. AND THE NEWEST ADDITION: ANIKA - Air Genasi, Battlesmith Artificer. Just rolled up. Very confused. Azalin has already spoken to her. Has a dope ass metal tiger. Mom friend[?]

The party also has two NPCs traveling with them: RUDOLPH VAN RICHTEN - Monster hunter expert, has been doing so for literal decades. Getting on in his years, but can still kick some fucking ass. GENERAL VYCHEN - Ancient vampire general who worked for Azalin Rex. Has been convinced/tricked by the party into coming with them to 'raise an army' under the guise of Thet's request. Disliked and distrusted by most of the party.

SO, the party has just gotten out of the domain of Mordent and find themselves within Kartakass. They notice the moon is full and they arrive in the night despite waking up in the 'morning' out in the mists.

Immediately, they meet a wereraven on the road who calls himself Sunrunner and asks the party to help him deliver a shipment of wine from his family's brewery. Another face appears from the woods, one Harkon Lukas, who greets the party and tells them to follow him to a place called Skald. He owns the Old Kartakan Inn there, and to 'sweeten the deal', if one of them can beat him in a play-off, he'll give them their rooms for free.

The party is IMMEDIATELY suspicious and untrusting of Harkon, so they say no. But they do agree to follow Sunrunner to Harmonia and to his brewery. Sunrunner explains to them that the Wildersung forest, the forest all around them, has a melody that plays through it, and that if one hears singing, they need to be silent.

Fin casts Detect Evil and Good. Harkon comes up as fey.

Now the party gets to the brewery. They get a tour, they give the wereraven a bit of Red Dragon Crush that they found elsewhere which has started to go bad, and then they're led to an adjacent tavern called the Raven's Feather. They go in, try some of the wine they're going to be delivering, and have a chat.

There is also a single bottle of Evermead that Fin buys immediately for 30gp for the bottle. Otherwise, the party grabs some drinks and chats about life. After some idling, they head up into their rooms, and they go to sleep.

And they wake up, back in their cart, exiting the mists and entering Kartakass.

This time, there are some differences.

All money they spent has not been spent. And instead of a wereraven in the road, they meet Harkon Lukas.

The party tries to explain that they've already met, but Rudolph and Harkon are doubtful and dubious. They have no memory of meeting before. The party has no trust for Harkon, and one notices a silhouette in the woods. Maie runs at hearing Fin mention the fey, and comes to the figure.

Instead of it being Sunrunner, they run into a Martikov. Thet & Anika go after Maie, while the rest of the party deals with Harkon. Harkon offers a stay at the Old Kartakan Inn, with no strings attached, but the party turns him down and decide to go into Harmonia to investigate. They leave Harkon behind and set out into the woods.

The music is different. They hear singing. They go quiet.

They hear wolves.

And then they are ambushed by four werewolves, declaring that the party is trespassing into clan territory. They also mock them, telling the party that they'll eat them.

Initiative is rolled.

The first round is mostly uneventful, with both Artificers being able to provide some crowd control in the form of Web and a good distraction. Maie grants inspiration and creates a silvered dagger, but does not attack. At the end of the round, the werewolves go, and bite three times; Fin and Vychen fail their Con saves against lycanthropy. Varis saves.

Luckily, the party is level 5. Unluckily, Fin doesn't have Remove Curse prepped, and the full moon, in this timeline, is the following day.

Turn 2 comes around and there are crits galore, thanks to one werewolf becoming paralyzed and another still restrained in Web. One werewolf gets its head cut off by Rudolph, another gets its throat torn out by Vychen, and a third gets uppercutted unto death by the monk.

One got moonbeamed by Fin on his turn, turned back into an elf, looked ready to bolt, but took enough damage to kill on its turn and died. Fin bullied the fuck out of the poor kid once he turned back, cause the kid was like,

"Hey, hey, we're cool, right?" And Fin was like "You fucked up, kiddo."

And then he got yeeted.

The party reconvenes after everything is killed. Vychen reveals he's been bitten, and Fin immediately groans. Maie helps to heal Vychen's wounds since magic won't work. Blur takes Vychen aside for a chat, (secret corner time), basically telling him to bite him. Vychen asks why, and Blur explains that he's felt like shit recently, and he feels bad about just killing everything. So Vychen bites him, asks his true intentions, gets a 26 to his insight and learns Blur wants to try and befriend him. Vychen remarks on how a general should have allies, and Blur says "Not allies. Friends." And Vychen agrees, saying, "Friends, then." And ruffles his hair before returning to the party.

After a bit of bantering, they hop in the cart and begin heading for Harmonia.

So. Allow me to pull back the DM screen and explain what the fuck happened.

The party thinks it is a time loop. A couple think it is a fey illusion.

The real answer is a bit more devious, as I am running 2 Domains of Dread simultaneously. One is Bluetspur, the other is Kartakass.

The God-Brain is manufacturing one half of the events the party experienced. The other is the real events as they play out. The second line of events is what is real, the first line was fake.

In order to hint towards it, I am relying on music and musical cues. Especially since Kartakass is a domain of music. Of course there's a few other aspects (them meeting Harkon vs them meeting Sunrunner for example) to tip them off, but we'll see how long it'll take for them to realize which is the illusion.

The more they discover it, the harder the God-Brain will work. Eventually, they may have to engage it directly in order to free themselves from its grasp entirely, and it may be the way out of both domains. They'll have to play and see.

And I am very excited to see how they progress.