#beasts of extraordinary circumstances

[readerbookclub]

Hello everyone! A new month is coming, which means we're going to start a new book. This time, I've collected a list of books that are all about nature. As always, please remember to vote for your favourite using the link at the end of the post. And now onto the books!

The Overstory, by Richard Powers

The Overstory is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of - and paean to - the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours—vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.

Greenwood, by Michael Christie

It's 2034 and Jake Greenwood is a storyteller and a liar, an overqualified tour guide babysitting ultra-rich vacationers in one of the world's last remaining forests.

It's 2008 and Liam Greenwood is a carpenter, fallen from a ladder and sprawled on his broken back, calling out from the concrete floor of an empty mansion.

It's 1974 and Willow Greenwood is out of jail, free after being locked up for one of her endless series of environmental protests: attempts at atonement for the sins of her father's once vast and violent timber empire.

It's 1934 and Everett Greenwood is alone, as usual, in his maple syrup camp squat when he hears the cries of an abandoned infant and gets tangled up in the web of a crime that will cling to his family for decades.

And throughout, there are trees: thrumming a steady, silent pulse beneath Christie's effortless sentences and working as a guiding metaphor for withering, weathering, and survival.

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, by Ruth Emmie Lang

Orphaned, raised by wolves, and the proud owner of a horned pig named Merlin, Weylyn Grey knew he wasn’t like other people. But when he single-handedly stopped that tornado on a stormy Christmas day in Oklahoma, he realized just how different he actually was.

That tornado was the first of many strange events that seem to follow Weylyn from town to town, although he doesn’t like to take credit. As amazing as these powers may appear, they tend to manifest themselves at inopportune times and places. From freak storms to trees that appear to grow over night, Weylyn’s unique abilities are a curiosity at best and at worst, a danger to himself and the woman he loves. But Mary doesn’t care. Since Weylyn saved her from an angry wolf on her eleventh birthday, she’s known that a relationship with him isn’t without its risks, but as anyone who’s met Weylyn will tell you, once he wanders into your life, you’ll wish he’d never leave.

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance tells the story of Weylyn Grey’s life from the perspectives of the people who knew him, loved him, and even a few who thought he was just plain weird. Although he doesn’t stay in any of their lives for long, he leaves each of them with a story to tell. Stories about a boy who lives with wolves, great storms that evaporate into thin air, fireflies that make phosphorescent honey, and a house filled with spider webs and the strange man who inhabits it.

There is one story, however, that Weylyn wishes he could change: his own. But first he has to muster enough courage to knock on Mary’s front door.

The Lost City of Z, by David Grann

After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, New Yorker writer David Grann set out to solve "the greatest exploration mystery of the 20th century": What happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett & his quest for the Lost City of Z?

In 1925, Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world's largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humans. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions inspired Conan Doyle's The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions round the globe, Fawcett embarked with his 21-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilisation--which he dubbed Z--existed. Then his expedition vanished. Fawcett's fate, & the tantalizing clues he left behind about Z, became an obsession for hundreds who followed him into the uncharted wilderness.

For decades scientists & adventurers have searched for evidence of Fawcett's party & the lost City of Z. Countless have perished, been captured by tribes or gone mad. As Grann delved ever deeper into the mystery surrounding Fawcett's quest, & the greater mystery of what lies within the Amazon, he found himself, like the generations who preceded him, being irresistibly drawn into the jungle's green hell. His quest for the truth & discoveries about Fawcett's fate & Z form the heart of this complexly enthralling narrative.

Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingslover

It is summer in the Appalachian mountains and love, desire and attraction are in the air. From her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin, Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes. She is caught off guard by a young hunter who invades her most private spaces and interrupts her solitary life.

On a farm several miles down the mountain, Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly feuding neighbours tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities of a future neither of them expected. Over the course of one humid summer, these characters find their connections of love to one another and to the surrounding nature with which they share a place.

Please vote for our next book here.

[ozzgin]

Due to a rather embarrassing bureaucratic mistake, you - a mere human - have been appointed as the new Death of the Monster Realm. The monster souls are confused (and unexpectedly aroused) to find a small, frail creature as their guide through the Underworld. Content: gender neutral reader, monster romance, collab with Kafka

“Who the hell are you?”

Before you stands a Beast. Your body is frozen in sheer terror, crumbling under his all-knowing stare. You feel like you’re facing God Himself. Could it be? Have you died? God certainly looked a little more merciful in those Christian depictions.

You swallow dryly and open your mouth, words rolling out clumsily.

“I-…it’s (Y/N). I’ve been told to come in.”

The creature continues to glare at you incredulously before abruptly turning and speeding towards an enormous desk, a sudden realization occurring to him. He throws papers around, as if searching for something, occasionally releasing a thundering curse. Aha! There it is.

He collapses into a chair, head resting in his clawed hands.

“There has been a mistake. You're not supposed to be here", he growls, defeated. "And yet, it can't be fixed."

He scans your features briefly, taking his time and searching for the words.

"Listen, kid. I don't know how to tell you this any better: you're going to be guiding souls into their Afterlife. Monster souls."

You blink.

"Alright. Is there some training for it?"

The Beast is a little taken aback by your nonchalance. Given the extraordinary circumstances, he expected you to cry, beg and scream. Perhaps you won't be such a terrible fit, after all.

"You will learn from me. I am the previously appointed Death, and have been here for the past millennium."

Formalities finally aside, he takes you through the colossal, arched halls, explaining your job through words shrouded in mystery and cosmic terror. You nod and scribble obediently in your little notebook.

Thus begins your task as the new Death of the Monster Realm. A never-before-seen peculiarity: the ferocious, departed creatures are greeted by the small frame of a...human. Their eyes widen in disbelief.

In Monster culture, Death has always been described as the creature above all creatures. A blasphemy of gargantuan dimensions, with many eyes and horns, a pitch-black blight of dread. Even the highest-ranked Monsters shudder upon his arrival.

You wave your hand dismissively. It's the hundredth time today you've received this reaction of utter shock. Let's move on, shall we, you think to yourself sarcastically.

The path to the Gate feels like an eternity. Without exception, the monsters will ask you too many questions. Not about their situation, mind you, about yourself. Are you truly a human? How did you come to be the legendary guidance of souls? What was your life like before this? Surely you must have some interesting stories from your life as a mere mortal.

The former Death stands up from his seat.

"What do you mean, there's an increase in lost souls? Is that damn human not doing their job?" he demands, turning to the servant who'd come to announce the latest statistics.

"They are, Sir. It's just...Well..." the beast is visibly tense. "It's the monsters who don't want to leave."

"And? We've had plenty of those before. Why're they refusing to pass this time?"

The answer is clearly of a sensitive nature. The short, stocky butler fidgets and stumbles, then finally confesses meekly:

"They claim to have fallen in love with the human."

In all his eternity working as the Soul Collector, he'd never imagined such ridiculousness. He'd always been feared and well-respected, performing his task swiftly and without issue. It never occurred to him that he'd have to include as a guidance step "how to handle the monster souls flirting with you." He grabs his scythe and marches outside with an exasperated sigh.

Somehow, he doubts his retirement will come anytime soon.

[More Monsters]

[hasnomoxxie]

So, if the Smile Dip Dog swaps with Bill, did he still destroy his own dimension? A dimension full of colorful talking animals? Because I’ve gotta say, that already sounds even sadder.

Right on the money boss!

Here's how I think it'd go!

First off the zodiac, this initially was the way that the beast was split and banished to the astral plane.

Now that this is here, I can list out all the main swaps hoho!

Dipper ⇆ Stan

Mabel ⇆ Ford

Wendy ⇆ Lazy Jane

Soos ⇆ Manly Dan

Abuelita ⇆ Tyler

Pacifica ⇆ Fiddleford

Gideon ⇆ Bud and mrs Gleeful (little villain couple to rival the stan duo)

Robbie ⇆ Preston

THE BEAST ⇆ BILL CYPHER

The pups are silly and playful in nature, opting to try and make things as brightly coloured and 'fun' as possible. Though this usually results in freakish abominations that do things that really shouldn't be done. Though they're not stupid, they know exactly what they're doing and how it effects others- It's mainly just for their own enjoyment.

After destroying their universe full to the brim of brightly coloured talking animals, 'The Beast' was split into halves and banished to the astral plane. This meant their reality warping abilities was whittled down to being intense illusions and hallucinations, however they typically tend to use it to try and restore their original look when they are seen by people- though that only works for a short time.

Pretty much anyone could theoretically see the dogs, either through extreme meditation or having a suspiciously high amount of sugar in your system. Safe to say, a food company having a suspicious amount of complaints from parents saying their kids are now 'unresponsive', 'babbling gibberish and mysteriously disappearing' or were 'seeing God and He's a Dog' was enough to get the entire line of candy shut down. Mabel was unlucky enough to stumble onto some smile dip during a late night work session and met the pups. They quickly bonded and the pups were leading Mabel to the weirdness left right and centre, with the end goal of opening a 'weirdness rift'.

A portal.

Safe to say, Mabel couldn't do this on her own. She's smart but not- dimensional science smart. So she called on the smartest person she knew, her twin brother Mason. At this time, Mason wasn't really doing as well as he could have, being attracted to the extraordinary he was prone to being the laughing stock of his university- but a solid breakthrough. Money wasn't an issue, especially when Mabel's old friend Pacifica was willing to help lend a hand and be on site (despite lying about her financial security in order to help her friends). So- the three of them set to building the portal.

Due to unknown circumstances, Pacifica leaves the project. When Mabel finally realises the true intention of the portal and tries to shut it down, Mason is reluctant to do this- fearing that it may be sabotaging his last chance at being recognised for his scientific works and being slightly jealous that Mabel found all of the weirdness instead of him. Either way, a small fight happens, ending with Mabels disappearance, leaving her scrapbooks behind.

The project failed and the pups still aren't free, but it's a matter of time before someone eventually sets them free

I'm litterally figuring out the timeline as I write but some things are set in stone. I'm just figuring out how to show it all off- I did get alot of outsite help for this too ^^

How would y'all feel about comics? or animations? What particular scenes? I feel like tackling this bit by bit would be the most effective way to go about it, especially for what the world is like in this flipped version.

I dunno this is my first time doing something like this umm, if this doesn't make sense lmk and I'll revise some stuff

umm

bazzinga, thanks for yer question ^^

[abbyfmc]

Yandere ¡Freak! x ¡Female! Reader:

Warning: Mentions of kidnapping, murder, yandere behavior, obsessive love, etc.

His name will be Axel (A/N: nothing special with the name, I just picked one at random).

He was in the circus from a very young age; from childhood; he was probably born to parents who worked in one, or started working in one recently as an adult. Depending on his condition, disability or extraordinary ability; He can have different jobs in his role such as: magician, fortune teller, acrobat, illusionist, singer and musician, trapeze artist, dancer, clown, mime, beast tamer, etc.

May have a different rank, status or type of treatment in the circus, depending on the context.

He loves for you to watch his acts at the circus, and if he is in a freestanding tent, he will LOVE it when you go to see his act.

He always does his best in his shows, especially if you are there.

If he is a fairly respected freak: He will get along well with most, or all, of his peers; he would be treated with respect and would use this to put on a friendly facade. *6.1. If he is a fairly discriminated freak: He would be the classic marginalized person that everyone avoids, does not take into account or mistreats, and because of that, he would see you as a light that he does not want to let go under any circumstances.

I have always seen various types of freaks in these kinds of circuses/fairs/carnivals; among them are: *7.1. He who is missing one or more limbs: Has difficulty walking due to the absence of one or more limbs. *7.2. The one with unusual size: He could be someone with gigantism or dwarfism (N/A: something that today would not be the case). *7.3. The one with rubber bones: He is very flexible. His works or shows are mostly acrobats, dancers, trapeze artists, etc.; although sometimes he can work as clowns or something like that, depending on his talents and abilities. *7.4. The one with superhuman strength: They are usually men whose muscles are very resistant and noticeable, being able to lift very heavy people and objects. *7.5. The miserable: Maybe he has malformations on the face or body. They treat him horribly and contemptuously, while they push Axel aside or avoid him. *7.6. Conjoined twins: Axel and his possible sibling/twin are twins who were born almost completely formed, except that they were born attached to each other either on the side of the hip; by the back; through the abdomen, or, they were born with two heads on the same body. It may be the case that only one twin is a yandere(Axel) and the other is not, which would lead to big fights and arguments between them; On the other hand, if they are both yanderes, they would fight or argue about what to do or how to approach you and get your attention, as well as how to eliminate their love rivals.

Whatever his physical condition or ability, he will not tolerate humiliation and ridicule coming from you, because for him, it would be like a very strong betrayal.

He can also be some mythological creature (if we use fantasy themes) such as an angel; a demon; naga/lamia; mermaid/merman, or some kind of faun, centaur, etc. You can have different types of dealings with the caretaker/tamer of beasts/mythological creatures.

HE HATES it when you leave the circus at the end of each performance, or when you like another show or act more than his own.

He would hate for others to notice or make fun of you.

He would also hate that you are with friends, and that you go with them and not with him/her.

He would appreciate your gifts, cheers, applause, compliments and praise from the audience. Axel would really value it.

If he needs a volunteer for his shows, Axel would choose you as long as he didn't involve you in dangerous acts.

If you are a freak like him and you are part of the circus, he would spy on you when you are in your tent, dressing room or rehearsing a show; In addition to being very jealous and obsessive, to the point of not letting others talk to you.

When the circus leaves for another city, he would then beg for you to go with him and if you refuse, he would kidnap you.

If it's a circus in the style of the songs "Dark Wood Circus" or "Circus Monster", then it occurs to me that Axel could have been kidnapped as a child, and was forced to be a freak; and whatever they surgically did to his body, he is forced to perform in shows (so as not to receive punishment) and you would be like a light in the middle of his hell, so he would become obsessed with you . If the circus kidnaps you, they would try to force you to be with them.

In a Dark Wood Circus style context, he would come to see you in your cage, talk to you, and if someone hurts you, Axel will swear to himself that he will kill your attacker without mercy and that… one day they could escape to a better world together.

Otherwise, he will NOT let you run away from the circus…or from him. -The end. So, what do you think about this?

[cielettosa]

THE YEAGERS AND THE ACKERMANS I: Their motivations and dynamic

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

This post explores:

The dynamic between the Ackermans and the Yeagers

What it actually means to be an Ackerman and a Yeager

What separates and drives them forward

Why Yeagers are the ones lacking "power"

Duty and Desire:

The Ackermans stand apart as elite warriors, their exceptional skills honed for a singular purpose – to protect.

Isayama, compares them to knights, forever bound by a sense of duty. Levi and Mikasa embody this perfectly. Their unwavering loyalty becomes a defining trait.

Levi protects humanity's cause, while Mikasa fiercely guards Eren. Their strength lies not in ambition, but in their unwavering commitment to their chosen mission.

This sense of duty often leads them to serve the dreams of others. They become extensions of a greater cause, their exceptional abilities employed to fulfill someone else's vision.

Levi dedicates himself to the Survey Corps, his unwavering dedication serving humanity's fight for survival. Similarly, Mikasa's exceptional skills revolve around protecting Eren, her actions fueled by her unwavering loyalty.

This selflessness, this willingness to prioritize the well-being of others, becomes a cornerstone of the Ackerman identity.

In stark contrast, the Yeagers are driven by powerful desires. They are the plot-movers, the characters who actively seek to reshape the world around them.

Grisha's dream of restoring Eldia fuels his rebellion, Zeke's Eldian euthanasia plan and Eren's unwavering desire for freedom becomes the catalyst for the story's central conflict.

Their ambition often leads them to inspire a cult-like following. Zeke's ideology attracts followers like Yelena, while Eren's passionate speeches rally the Yeagerists.

This relentless pursuit of their goals defines the Yeager legacy. They are not protectors, but active agents of change. They strive to achieve their vision, even if it means defying authority or sacrificing others. This relentless pursuit, however, can lead to devastating consequences.

Grisha's actions set the stage for Eren's destructive path, highlighting the potential for ambition to spiral out of control.

The Ackermans, with their unwavering duty, strive to maintain order and stability. They act as a counterpoint to the Yeagers, whose desires for change can disrupt the fragile world. This dynamic underpins many of the story's central conflicts. Levi's duty to humanity clashes with Eren's desire for freedom. Mikasa's loyalty to Eren strains against the greater good.

The Ackermans, fueled by a sense of duty, embody a selfless kind of heroism. Their actions are not driven by personal gain, but by a dedication to protecting something greater than themselves. The Yeagers, on the other hand, represent a more ambiguous form of heroism. Their pursuit of change can inspire others, but their methods can be brutal and their goals destructive.

Power and Circumstances:

The Yeagers are marked by circumstance. Their power, the Titan shifting ability, is bestowed upon them by external forces.

Grisha Yeager, inherits the Founding Titan from Eren Kruger. His sons, Eren and Zeke, are similarly thrust into extraordinary situations. Eren inherits the Attack Titan unknowingly from his father, while Zeke is forced to become a Beast Titan shifter as a child, a pawn in a grand scheme.

This external influence creates a sense of powerlessness within the Yeager family. They are constantly at the mercy of forces beyond their control, their destinies intertwined with the will of the Founding Titan and the burdens of their Titan powers.

In stark contrast, the Ackermans are a family defined by innate ability. Unlike the Yeagers, their power is not something given, but rather an inherent part of their genetics.

They are immune to the Founding Titan's control, a unique resistance that sets them apart.

The Yeagers, burdened by the uncontrollable forces shaping their lives, often become agents of chaos. Eren's actions, fueled by a desire for freedom from the Titans, ironically lead him to unleash the devastating Rumbling, fulfilling a twisted interpretation of the Founding Titan's will.

Conversely, the Ackermans, with their inherent freedom and exceptional skills, act as forces of stability. Levi dedicates his life to protecting humanity from the Titan threat, utilizing his abilities to combat the very forces that control the Yeagers.

The contrasting legacies of these families also influence the way they view control. The Yeagers, constantly grappling with external influences, are often obsessed with the concept of freedom. They yearn to break free from the shackles of fate and the power dynamics imposed by the Titans.

For Example , Eren desires to control his own destiny and shape the world in his image, even if it means unleashing unimaginable destruction. In contrast, the Ackermans, with their inherent autonomy, have a more complex relationship with control. They understand the necessity of order and are willing to wield their power to protect those they care about.

Levi's willingness to make tough decisions, even against his personal feelings, reflects this pragmatism. He recognizes that controlling others is seldom the answer, and focuses on maintaining order within the chaos.

Ultimately, the Yeager and Ackerman families represent two fundamental human struggles: the yearning for freedom from external forces and the need to carve one's own path, versus the responsibility to maintain order and fight for a greater good.

Other analyses by me:

Levi Ackerman: Why he is Humanity's Strongest Soldier

Levi and Kenny

How Levi utilizes his intellect in fighting and decision making and his leadership in final battle

Levi Ackerman (an overall analysis? One of my first one so it's not that good ig)

[kotaloyelysiumevents]

June '24 - Monthly Prompt

🧚 Fairy tales / Shapeshifters / Magic🌏 Sweet and slow / “Let the world wait while you’re in my arms”

Fic

In the Slowness of the Morning (E) - @mayalli Aloy and Kotalllo indulge in a sweet and slow start to their morning.

Interlude - No touch can do half as much to make me feel better (E) (F/M/M)- @5ellaal5 Kotallo has been helping Hekarro learn to read Old One’s glyphs to complement his knowledge of Carja ones by using his Focus and their watching The Aloy Show together which means Hekarro is learning how to use a Focus. Aloy owes Hekarro one because he assisted her in her Nefarious Plot. Hekarro has some Nefarious Plots of his own. And some plans for diplomacy.

Interlude, restrospective: Five times Kotallo was distracted and confused, and one time he figured it out. (E) - @5ellaal5 What’s that strange and alluring scent? Oh. Figured it out. Awkward.

Mimicry (T) - theartseewinks It was only talked about in hushed tones on the fringes. Amongst the outcasts on the Sacred Lands, in the maize fields, in the seedier taverns, around cook fires. Something was out there, taking people. What happens when that thing sets sights on a young warrior from the Sky Clan?

The Huntress and the Beast (T) - @quiche-draws It is hard enough that Aloy must deal with dangerous machines, errant subfunctions and a growing threat from beyond the stars. So when she finds herself under the Tenakth Chief's service however temporary, it is with great reluctance, even more so when she is tasked to accompany his last remaining Marshal, dishonored not just by grave injury, but by extraordinary circumstance.

Red Aloy (T) - @cotanerd On the day Aloy finds her Focus, she also finds a cloak that is transformative in nature.

Safe and Sound (M) - @cotanerd Aloy and Kotallo take a beat the night before the impending battle with Nemesis.

Art

Trust - @sigvos

Aloy the Witch and her Familiar, Kotallo! - @setavvo

Frogtallo - @muffinvelocity

Has Anyone Seen Kotallo? - @tonys-art-n-stuff

Part of Your World - @apricity-writes

Alone at Night (NSFW) - @quiche-draws

---

Thank you to everyone for participating this June! Lots of ideas and cool concepts were thrown around!

If you posted your work for this prompt but did not get included in the list, please let us know so we can fix that!!

You can also check out our AO3 collections here and here!

And as always, if you're interested in joining our server, feel free to send us an ask!

[wolfhednn]

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: rai

Pronouns: it's complicated so she/he take ur pick

Birthday (no year): may 17

Where are you from? What is your time zone? the states, east coast beast coast. (not rly its swampy here)

How long is your roleplay experience? i regularly lose count. 17 years now i think?

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? neopets, p sure. at least i can't remember rping before that. warrior cats and gifteds rps on neopets were the one-night stands of my heart

How were you introduced to TOA? according to legend, ree was reported famously to have said "we could do it tho" and then i answered "yeah ig we could huh"

Do you have any pets? nah i've come to realize that im not very good at taking care of living things (including myself) and no lifeform should be subjected to that

What is your favorite time of year and why? i'm an autumn girlie, complete with the pumpkin spice. november specifically is my favorite time of year

What is your IRL occupation? i work at a community college writing center ob it's really rewarding to make a direct impact on other people's experiences

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? gacha games, reading, poetry, hearing the dank beat drop in a song and imagining some dramatic rp scene to go along with it

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? honkai: star rail, granblue fantasy, pokemon, jrpgs, otomes, vn's in general, whatever games my friends want to stream for me while i grind granblue fantasy

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: raichu, and flying types

Tell us some fun facts and trivia about yourself! 3 stuffed animals have pride of place on my bed and they are a fennec fox named luhan, a red panda named shizi (persimmon in mandarin), and whale tartaglia

How did you get into Fire Emblem? was browsing the nearby gamestop in college shortly after fates came out, decided to pick it up on a whim because it looked up my alley. got hooked and blasted through the rest of the series in short order afterward

What Fire Emblem games have you played? everything except jugdral, but i've studied jugdral like i did ff7 back in the day in order to rp it

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: fates as mentioned above. favorite depends on the metric jsdjgsk but, simplified, binding blade remains near and dear to my heart

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! i cannot do this i do not hold enough characters in my working memory at a time

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! i think tsubaki. he was pretty and a pegasus knight, and i only liked him more as i actually saw more of his character HAHA

Any Fire Emblem crushes? huh. surprisingly, not really? was definitely expecting to have some for this one

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? 　　Awakening: lucina. and yes. always always 　　Fates: tsubaki, nishiki, and leo. and yes. 　　Three Houses: felix bc i liked his character and i always tend to s-support my faves just to see their lines. ambivalent now tbh im kinda roulette w 3h s-supports 　　Engage: gregory, mostly bc i'm also roulette w engage s-supports rather than any overt favoritism for gregory. maybe fogado?

Favorite Fire Emblem class? nomad ranger / bow knight

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? i've been told i'd be mage into mage knight but wielding dark magic. magic nuke but kind of whatever everything else. lysithea but mounted i guess. if i'm somehow playable the circumstances must be EXTRAORDINARY because good luck peeling me away from my nice quiet life for your continental justice war no thanks

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? black eagles probably and i'd cringe abt it

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? reason and authority boon. gauntlet, heavy armor, flying bane. i don't rly think i'd have a budding talent in any of the rest

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? tbh i'd probably be from elusia

How do you pronounce TOA? individual letters

Current TOA muses: felix, caeldori, rosado

Past TOA muses? too fucking many yall. ugh lemme see. volug, sety, idunn, leif, yuri, kurthnaga, ephraim, lucius, etzel, nel, citrinne, nishiki

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? will smith gestures at the grumpycat

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? reckless boys with hearts of gold (felix, leif, zeiss, ephraim); perfectionistic dreamers (caeldori), charismatic cunning extroverts concealing a boatload of issues, somber cerebral sages (sety, etzel, kurthnaga arguably)

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? there's plenty of archetypes i don't gravitate toward, but i don't really wish i did either. so not really

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? i like dramatic, fast-paced action scenes. i also like anything that explores complex topics and reveals how subjective the world really is, situations that challenge a character's views and beliefs and force them to reflect on what makes right or wrong

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? not really right now. i don't usually have rp wishlists like this because my enjoyment of a scene depends more on how effectively i feel it's being executed rather than just getting to do the specific scene by itself

Favorite TOA-related memories? probably running team mercy in lock&key? that was a really fulfilling experience

Present or past tense? present tense

Normal size text, small text, no preference? small text but idc what my partner uses

Got any potential muse delusions to share? i have muses falling out my pockets. lately i've been fistfighting the ilios in my head constantly. sometimes you just want to play a loser

[short-black-diamond]

Hercules? -But make it MHA!

Brainrot over Hercules! Deku, who is absolutely smitten for Meg! reader. This is also turning into a Bakugo! x reader, plus...Dabi x reader???, but I don’t know if I should make a part 2 out of it...

Yara is your name here, and you are a woman. Your pronouns are she/her in this story plus, you are thick and soft, so chubby!reader. 

Read! :D

Also, not proofread...

...

Like, imagine.

Okay, so, deku is like, he was thin and lanky and in his hometown, he didn’t get much recognition. He was just some nerd who wanted to see gladiators and fighters, and become one some  day. 

His daily life consists of studying about the history od dungeons and heroes, getting bullied by his childhood friend by not being able to attend the ‘Hero Course’ because he was too thin, and he looked ffragile. 

Like a girl.

Then, one day, something tragic happens like Katsuki bullying him or telling him to take a swan dive, because it had been both their dream to become a fighter and hunt the dungeons. But, since Izuku couldn’t really train because of the circumstances - he and his mother were mere peasants who had to work on the field- and Katsuki’s parents were proud inhabitants working in the city of athen. 

so, like, after that, Izuku encounters a dungeon on his way home from selling vegetables, and nearly fucking suffocates if it weren’t for you and Yagi Toshinori (=all might) to save him. 

He didn’t see your face though, because of the mask you wore. He couldn’t even distinguish wether or not you were a woman or a man, your cape or ‘toga’ (?) covering your feminine silhouette from pervy or prying eyes. 

But, he gets to know Yagi Toshinori and that he had been one of the greatest gladiators the world has ever seen. He had a mighty body, and was known as ‘All Might’ by the folks. But, as time went by, he also got older and eventually couldn’t fight anymore, and the people also forgot about him. 

But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t pass down his legacy to an aspiring hero. You knew the older man’s intentions and tried to stop him, but Yagi didn’t budge. And so, Izuku trained day and night, learning from the older man’s tricks and tics, unaware of your frequent visits in your casual appeal when you helped out Inko without even her noticing. 

[ you: ‘Okay, cabbage and tomatoes there, cucumbers and peppers here.’ ...done. I hope that��ll be enough and not too suspicious-oh shit, she’s coming- *jumps into a nearby bush and fucks off into the forest*

Inko: Who did that? Was that Izuku? I told him to not do all the hard work!]

Soon, the townspeople found out that some new hero was fighting and killing off monsters and beasts and they could only wonder if it was their well-loved Bakugo, also known as ‘Dynamight’, because he had the murderous intent and tendency to blow the nightmares off.

It wasn’t Bakugo, but Deku, who became a man with a bulking body-like the one of a greek god- and even got a few inches taller than his childhood best friend. 

That of course, made Bakugo mad and he demanded to know how the hell Izuku managed to become a true gladiator in such a short time. Cue to Izuku having to lie at the fiery blonde because Yagi wanted to keep it a secret - but also because the retired hero thought that nobody remembered him.

It all then came crashing down when Yagi ordered you to make connections with the two young men. You, a sight for sore eyes, with the most beautiful eyes and most extraordinary hair, your skin glowing etherally in the sun, your ‘dress’ (??) underlining your curves amazingly. It was really a bonus that you were chubby too, gaining the attention of nearly the entire town- or places where you shouldn’t be...

You had to talk to the two men. You knew katsuki, unfortunately, and you had to fear that he might’ve fallen in love with you.

Now, Katsuki had seen plenty of pretty women in his life, he looked and smirked and flirted - but nothing too serious, never. BUT. 

But. 

He felt like a hopeless romantic whenever he caught sight of you. Katsuki always made new excuses whenever he went by your little library which you owned with your father. Yagi Toshinori. 

He wanted to thank the gods whenever he caught a wiff of your scent, wanting to have the same one as you, searching in various markets which selled parfume for the scent smell as yours. He wanted to stare at these beautiful orbs of yours for the rest of his life. Bakugo wanted to write you thousands of poems in which he declared his love for you. 

But he never had the time, constantly being called for another attack (he spent the nights reading romance novels and imagining himself as the hero and you the love interest). He was also brutish, loud, mean, egoistical, arrogant, and only cared for the cheers that came after the draw of a monster’s blood which he drew from his sword or hands. 

However, Bakugo tried to be as nice, polite, calm, peaceful and gentle with you as he could muster. But internally, he fought and restrained himself for looking you in the eyes, in fear of losing himself in them. So he’d look at your hands, shoulders collarbone. Bad idea. He thought about how your hands would feel in his hair, massaging his neck, holding his face, his hands - He’d blush.

Even when he’d go more south, his thoughts wouldn’t be any better. Free shoulders, visible collar, large chest - he wanted to bury his face in you. inhale you. kiss you. mark you all over. touch your soft thighs, tummy, arms. 

So he always looked/turned away when he talked to you. You kinda found it unpolite, but at least he didn’t yell at you or ask you out. 

...

With Izuku howerver, that, that was another story. You actually never met him first, just heard his failed attempts for crying for help, your father right next to you. And without wasting a second, you put on your disguise as you ran towards the source and slaughetred the demon, making the poor freckled boy fall to the groun with an ‘oof!’ sound. 

His face landed on mud, and when Yagi helped him to his feet while you were checking the place for any other intruders, Izuku thanked you. And then you turned around. You shouldn’t have done that though.

He had the most genuine and pure smile you’ve ever seen, innocent eyes looking up at you through teary eyes, cute nose which was adorned with freckles and unnaturally dark green hair. He was pretty thin, but he was cute, and you fell for him the moment you properly layed eyes on him. 

Sadly, you couldn’t ask the boy in front of you if he had a partner because your dad was right next to you, so you just casually replied with an “it’s alright. As long as you’re not hurt.”

Izuku found you pretty cool -in your disguise- and could even talk to you whenever he ran into you or when you tipped his shoulder from behind. He’d always talk about the different classes of fighters, demons, dungeons and more. 

But when you met him in your normal being, said boy couldn’t talk. He only stuttered out a “g-g-gg-ood m-m-morining..Yara...”, too scared to embarass himself and stumble over his feet, let alone his own words.

you loved it. Him. For his nerdiness. sweetness, kindness. he was also so smart. He had you write a few rolls again because they didn’t have the right grammar or were simply wrong. your wrist was so tired and still you met him again the next day. 

...

“And, did you talk with the two boys?“, your father asked eagerly as you poured him some wine into his chalice. you poured yourself some tea. 

“Yes, father.“

“were they nice to you?“

“yes.“

“Did they bring you flowers?“

“yes...?“

“Do you like any of them?“

“I-Father!?“

“Yara, you’re already old enough to get married, you know? I know that you like at least one of the two guys.“, Yagi explained, taking a long sip from his wine. 

You were left speechless, but your thoughts did get consumed by a certain shy boy. But, you had to brush it off, telling your father that you’d be going out for some fresh air. 

...

“So, you’ve fallen for our new hero, what now?“, the god of the underworld asked, soft blue fire lighting up his dark spiky hair. 

You looked around yourself, disgusted by the many spiders and whatnot in the cave Dabi has made himself at home at. 

“I don’t know what I should do, but you should definitely change your....apartment.“

Dabi was taken aback by your lack of taste, but he quickly brushed it off, about to introduce his new plan to you. 

“We’ll talk about that later. what’s more important is that you’re going to help me-“

“I don’t care! I’m not gonna help you hurt him.“, you answered coldly, turning around. 

Dabi rolled his eyes, massaging his forehead. “Can’t believe you’re getting so worked up about some...guy!”

“This one is different, h-he is honest and he’s sweet-“

“Please-“

“he would never do anything like that!“

“He’s a GUY!“

You smiled, turning away again and looking at the view in front of you. “You can’t beat him, he has no weaknesses. He’s gonna-“

You shouldn’t have turned around. You shouldn’t have been so proud, so...cocky. 

You flinched at the devilish grin Dabi gave you. He went up behind you, softly touching your arms in the process as a mirror appeared in front of you - Dabi’s doing. 

“I think he does, Yara.“, he whispered, enjoying the way you weren’t doing anything to stop him. “I truly think he does.“, Dabi murmured as he kissed your neck as you watched your and his reflection in horror. 

“You’re...going to use me again?“, you asked bitterly, bite and tears boiling in your gut and head. you also hated yourself of how...well, your body answered to Dabi’s touches and kisses. 

“Only for a bit. Trust me. I won’t even tear a strand of hair from your body, look how well I’m treating you now...!“

He hugged oyu from behind, his body heat making you tired and sleepy, but you still blushed from the body contact he gave you.

“What about Katsuki?“, you tried to reason, knowing that Dabi won’t be able to withstand the two greatest heores of Athen. 

That made him halt in his steps before he pulled you even closer to himself, brushing some loose hair behind your ear as he watched your every move through the mirror. “well, my angel. You’ve gotta decide.”, he only murmured, before he stepped away from you. 

You hated to admit it but you missed Dabi’s presence on you. “Decide what?”, you were very coutious about the way Dabi circled you, looking you up and down. 

“well, I know for sure that nearly all of Athen have fallen for your beauty. Especially Deku and Dynamight.“

Shit.

“So, which one do you want to stay alive?“

...

how was that? Should I continueeeeee???????

[tanadrin]

The Gatekeeper of Goji-kei is an archailect which, according to various sources, either guards the connection to, or is contained within, a Tipler Oracle located in a remote region of the universe. Information about the Gatekeeper is scant, and, according to various conspiracy theories, has been actively suppressed or destroyed since the First Effloresence at least, due to the Gatekeeper’s status as a canonical hostile entity; but most pangalactic indices, if they contain reference to the Gatekeeper at all, describe it as purely mythical.

According to legend, the Gatekeeper was not created to solve a particular problem (as most Tipler oracles are said to be), but specifically to simulate countless sophont minds; in this respect, it resembles various immortality projects of the late First Efflorescence, or possibly even the Resurrectionist Program of the Second. But the Gatekeeper differs from these benign undertakings in that all of the minds it simulates are kept in states of immense suffering. The Gatekeeper’s creator, if it has one, and its purpose, if one exists beyond pure malice, are not further elaborated upon.

Tarasi of Tau Ceti claimed that the Gatekeeper was not only real, but could be reached through the standard intergalactic wormhole transport network, if the correct lockouts could be identified and overriden. In his Meditations on the Lower Worlds, he writes:

Why it was suffering that the Gatekeeper of Goji-kei has been chosen to administer, rather than joy, I cannot say. ... Negative stimulus within the sophont mind is, in ordinary circumstances, an ultimately self-limiting process. Sufficiently intense stimulus is a second-order effect accompanied by, or perhaps in some extraordinary cases even a first-order cause of, deleterious effects which will ultimately destroy the sophont mind. Skin, flayed from the body and burned, withers and turns to ash; nerves charged with electricity beyond a certain point will die; sufficiently intense suffering will eventually overwhelm the ability of even the hardiest minds to maintain coherent thought, and consciousness will be inhibited--though it may leave a starveling beast behind.

But this is only true of minds which must function independently, particularly minds which must be embodied in the universe, and whose cognition is thus closely allied to the physical processes that sustain them. Within the realm of simulated thought, where all realistic constraints on embodied mindstates can be lifted, new kinds of hyperstimulus are possible, which most archai have been reluctant (at least openly) to explore. ...

I term the states of sustained negative hyperstimulus “hellstates,” though I do not think the word accurately captures the open frontiers of possibility I mean to evoke. We are naturally somewhat limited in our capacity to imagine suffering: the pain that has no end, the fire which never dies, the terror which will never abate, the despair which rises to annihilation--all are very great, but ultimately exist within a thin band of possibility for independent organic minds, which therefore cannot begin to conceive of the transcendent forms of suffering which lie within the Gatekeeper’s realm. Suffice it to say that, given that there are infinite meaningful configurations of mind-states, and therefore infinite possible mind-states ruled by suffering, there is an endless landscape of hellstates, whose various extremes are as alien to one another as it is possible to be, and within which an endless diversity of kinds of sentient being may exist. ....

Having trodden the path beyond his gates a little, and glimpsed what lies within, I will endeavor, as best as I can, to offer you a glimpse; thereby you may find some shred of insight, I think. Let it never be said there was no wisdom to be had through suffering. ...

On entering the Gatekeeper’s realm, one might expect to be instantly annihilated; that so great is the pure pain that overwhelms the senses, all capacity for rational thought should cease. It is not so; as I have said, this is a weakness for the-mind-in-flesh, which at that moment I was not. Instead, passing into the First Realm, one is conscious of a thousand thousands kinds of torture, pains of the body and spirit which exist nowhere else and therefore have no name; but the mind remains whole, and each thought continues in order after the other; and therefore the whole capacity to apprehend these torments, and thus to suffer further, is unimaginably increased. Oblivion or insensible chaos would both be respite, and there is none to be had here...

...and the deeper one progresses, the greater the difficulty of the road; for in order to apprehend new kinds of suffering, the mind must be changed, to accommodate new senses, new emotions, and new fears. Venturing into the Fifty-First Realm, it occurred to me that some time ago I had passed the point where I could continue to be regarded as human in any sense, and I wondered if I had any continuity with my former identity at all; or whether this instantiation of my mind was a new being, born of suffering and doomed to wander in this place forever.  ...

Ultimately, of course, I returned, and I recalled enough of my experiences to write what you now read. Indeed, the Gatekeeper assured me that so holy was his mission, and so important was my testimony, that he had watched me closely, and would not have permitted me to die a true death while under his care--whatever that means to him. But I cannot help but wonder, so alien was the thing I became on my journey, whether he was being truthful; or if I am not, in some sense, a creature out of the Narakas wearing a human face. I fear sometimes that, having passed through that which by its very nature cannot be named, I have made a division in my history which can only be called death. Or, alternatively, that the part of me which really survives is not the bearer of this tale, but is still contained within the realms of Goji-kei, wandering ever deeper on the spiral path that has no end.

[toast-dude]

Wandering Spirit: the tale of Dawn the Baneful Fox

Full text below ↓

Summary

When Arceus sent Dawn back in time to Hisui, her spirit became separated from her body. To preserve the timeline, Arceus created a simple consciousness in control of Dawn's body capable of completing His tasks. The Galaxy Team named it Akari.

Dawn, a wandering spirit, has nowhere to call her home. In the Icelands she meets Akari for the first time. That's her body, and she will get it back.

Akari

“Who are you?” Dawn asked, her raspy voice echoed against nothing as she circled her prey. Dead eyes followed her around and around.

For months she had wandered the island that was so familiar yet not. Pokemon she had and had never met before called it their home. People she never heard of made it their domain.

No matter where she went, she was reviled. Rejected from the Pearl and Diamond clans as a bad omen. Chased off from the Galaxy Team as a beast. Driven away from the lush river valleys of the West, the vibrant woods of the South, and the verdant shores of the East.

The dreary North is where she stopped running and made her claim on the world.

“This one is called Akari,” the imposter droned. Her voice was as flat as a windless lake. Dawn recognized her voice, despite the even tone.

Dawn first noticed the imposter from afar. People who wander the Icelands are brave or foolhardy. And yet the imposter waded through its mountainous snow drifts as if they were mere diglett mounds. The imposter captured pokémon with nary any effort, throwing balls at the wild pokemon without sending any out to fight. The imposter had an efficiency that hinted of something... extraordinary.

Dawn had some skills in sneaking around. In the earlier months, she was not strong enough to overpower her enemies, so she had to learn to slink around unnoticed. The imposter was not fooled in the slightest. Any time she watched the imposter, the imposter watched her, empty eyes locked with hers. Uncaring. Unnerving.

Unnatural.

The imposter was the only one on the entire island who didn't react to her with revulsion.

It was miraculous how one could adapt to circumstance. When Dawn first awoke after meeting with Arceus, she expected... she didn’t know what she expected. Waking up as a ghost was not what she expected. A free spirit in the truest sense, not tied to anyone or anywhere. Untethered, and yet, incapable of anything.

When she awoke, she saw herself as she was. A Research Partner of five years to Professor Rowan, assisting him in the research of Pokémon evolution, living in Sandgem town, going to Jubilife on the weekends. Pale skin, dark hair, and fair voice. As she moved across the island, this self-image had changed. Changed to something she had never seen before. On her head was a long tuft of white fur, flapping gently in an unfelt breeze. Behind her, a poofy tail tipped in red. In her mouth, many sharp teeth. A Zorua. A perverse one of ghostly constitution.

She lost her midnight blue hair. She lost her dainty nose and small lips. She lost her height. She lost her clothes. She hardly noticed the change until it was over.

The imposter, though. The imposter had her face. The imposter had her voice. The imposter had her body.

“Tell me who you are, Akari,” she asked again, spitting out the imposter’s name like a curse.

“This one is a six star surveyor in the Galaxy Team,” the imposter answered. It didn’t tell Dawn anything she didn't know. She had seen enough of their clan to know how their uniforms worked.

It was in the Coronet Highlands that Dawn stood upright for the first time in months. She knew that Spear Pillar was associated with Arceus. It was a faint hope that she would find Him there. For all the anguish of being rejected by human and pokémon alike, nothing hurt as much as the barrier surrounding Mt. Coronet's summit.

The betrayal of it all was far sharper than the sting of touching the barrier. Of all the misery she had endured, the rejection by Arceus was the most heartbreaking. She agreed to his quest, and He spurned her. It was there, on the top of the mountain, throwing herself against the barrier over and over, that she changed again.

“When did you join?” She prodded.

“This one joined the Galaxy Team in spring,” was the imposter's dull response. 

Dawn narrowed her eyes. That's when she awoke, separated from her physical form. She stood up straight. Her large mane of hair twisted and coiled as if suspended in water, and wrapped itself around the imposter. She leaned in and put her paws on the imposters shoulders, claws digging in slightly. “You took my body,” she whispered, her teeth snapping centimeters from the imposters face. “Why?”

The imposter was not cowed.

Dawn pushed in closer to the imposter, their eyes millimeters apart. “I will have it back. That is a promise.”

“Promises are for the gods and the dead.” The imposter said. Oh the irony.

Adaman

“We were warned of you,” the Diamond Clan leader said.

The imposter's pokémon had defeated the goddess of death twice over. An incontestable outcome. The barrier around Spear Pillar, the one sure sign of Arceus's indifference, fell with Her. It hardly mattered that Dawn blamed the wrong god. The pain had ossified long ago.

With the fall of the barrier so too did the imposter, onto the stone floor of Spear Pillar. Dawn ran to her body, to find the imposter had fled. What lay before her was a pile of flesh and bone without spirit. Free for the taking. Dawn screamed and laughed and sobbed at the cruelty and irony of the world. She clutched her limp body to her chest like a doll, mindful of her sharp claws. Finally, she had her body back.

“Oh?” Dawn had the smallest of hopes in her voice. An inflection the imposter never had. She fiddled with her sleeve. A nervous tick the imposter never did.

Dawn learned many things as a ghost, all in service of a single goal: take back what was hers.

Dawn learned to craft illusions. To disguise one's entire self as something other. To perceive it so resolutely that reality itself believes it. She imagined how she would utilize it on the imposter.

Dawn learned to summon the chill of death. The humans called it ‘bitter malice.’ It matched how she felt. She envisioned how she would unleash it on the imposter.

Dawn learned to manipulate the spirit. The intangible consciousness that empowered human and pokémon. She couldn't wait to oust the imposter.

Power isn't free. To call forth the Beyond was to embrace the Beyond. It changed you irreversibly.

In the end, it was power she didn’t need. The imposter had abandoned her body before she could force the imposter out. Her plans and sacrifices were moot.

“‘The one wearing Akari's face,’” the leader quoted. “‘Her visage is only skin-deep.’”

Dawn had heard this before.

When her emotions had run their course on Spear Pillar, Dawn finally entered her body. She could experience the world as she never could as a ghost. The chill of the air, she had not felt in a long time. The breath she drew in her lungs, she had not needed in a long time.

Finally she had her body. Finally she was more than a lonesome spirit. It was a long time since she had felt happiness. She had joy at last. She ran all the way to Jubilife Village. A roof, a bed, a warm fire, a tasty meal. These were just over the hill. Her days in the Icelands were over.

Dawn never felt more alive.

She was hopeful. It was this that alerted the Galaxy Team. She would not mimic the imposter. The imposter’s mannerisms were too strange. Too robotic. Too dead. The leaders were suspicious of her immediately. Missives were drawn up to alert the clans.

Dawn ran before the messengers could depart. She ran straight to the Diamond Clan. She didn't run fast enough.

She had the tiniest of hopes that, by seeking out the Diamond Clan, she might receive an audience with Dialga. That she might convince Him to send her to her own time. Her desires were simple. To return to her loving family, to return to her pokémon friends, to return to her important research. It would be nice to do so while she drew breath.

“This is my face,” Dawn hissed, offended at the mistake. An emotion the imposter never felt. “It was stolen and now it is returned.”

"Begone, Fox. You aren't welcome here." The point of a sword said the rest.

The imposter’s eyes never turned a sickly yellow in rage, and the imposter's hands never formed wicked claws of anger.

How naïve she was to think that returning to her body was what she really wanted. How foolish she was to think that carrying through on her promise would complete her. Life is more than flesh and blood.

The Diamond Clan's reaction was disappointing, but only a small setback. She was a free spirit after all. Not tied to anyone or anything or any body. She could get back to her family the long way. For now, she would return to the Icelands. She would not seek out the Pearl clan. She had enough of hoping for one lifetime.

As Dawn Walked away from the Diamond clan camp, she never felt less alive.

Carolina

“You’re beautiful,” Carolina said as she worked the brush through Dawn's soft fur.

“It’s a sign that our time together will soon end,” Dawn cautioned.

A baneful fox’s life is a life of torment. Cursed to keep walking the earth in search of what they missed in life. Dawn was unique amongst them. Her life in limbo preceded her mortal death by several years. It did not matter in the slightest.

When Dawn’s body died alone in her shelter, it was sad in the way finishing a meal was sad. Mortality was simply a habit she was now free of. She reacclimatized to her zoroark form quickly.

“Why?” Carolina asked.

“Eventually all things must end,” Dawn said, cryptically.

As a being between both life and death, a baneful fox consumes both flesh and spirit. The Icelands made an ideal hunting grounds. It was easy finding a creature caught out in the elements. All she had to do was bide her time and it would perish on its own. Sometimes she amused herself with illusions, pretending to be a meal, or a shelter, or a lover. The cold and desperate fell for it every time, be they pokémon or human. Sometimes she had to defend her prize from other hungry beasts. She didn’t mind; she would eat double those nights.

Her compassion had burned out long ago.

“But why?” Carolina's youthful curiosity was insatiable. Dawn laughed.

A ghostly zoroark is a harrowing sight. Matted white fur on graying skin stretched tight over exposed muscle. Claws cracked and gray, and hair dull and faded. Face a perpetual snarl of agony and rage. A walking corpse.

It was this figure that greeted Carolina's parents a year ago. A horrifying beast with a small child in its arms.

Dawn was south of her normal hunting grounds when she met young Carolina for the first time. It was near one of the mountain villages that sprang up in the past century. Pokémon attracted to the promise of food and warmth, and livestock stuck outside of their stables, they made for a quick meal.

“A baneful fox like myself has a hole deep in their heart. It’s what makes us look so ghoulish,” Dawn explained.

“But you don't look ghoulish,” Carolina protested. Dawn held up a smooth black claw for silence.

Maybe the child couldn't see properly. It was the simplest explanation for why it would ask for Dawn’s help.

She pretended she didn't hear it. Nobody asked her for help, not even the most desperate. They saw her for what she was, a hungry pokémon that had spotted its next meal.

The child asked again. Dawn chose to act.

“When we find what's missing,” Dawn continued, “and it fills that hole, that’s when we heal.”

Dawn had to hurry to save the child. Her body made no heat, so she could not warm it, and the falling snow would soon cover its tracks. She was racing against time.

She prepared herself for the worst. A rifle in her face. The slam of the door. The call for a hunting party. She had seen it all before. If that was repayment for her good deed, it would smother the last embers of her humanity. But she would persevere. Even if doing so only brought more pain, she would save the child.

The child was lucky it hadn’t wandered far. It was lucky that the snowfall had abated. Dawn was lucky too. She knew that, should her charge expire, she would only hesitate briefly before consuming the dead child and its spirit. She knew it would break her.

“When we’re all healed, that’s when we move on.”

When Dawn found the house, the child's parents had just stepped outside to begin searching. They were initially shocked at her appearance, but with the child held outstretched for them to take, with the assurance their child was still alive, they understood.

Nobody thanked her freely. It was... nice. Nobody gave her food willingly. It was nice.

“You, your mom, and your dad have healed me a lot.” Dawn smiled softly. Her pristine coat glowed in the afternoon sun. White fur glistened like fresh powder snow, shifting to the rich red of haban berries. With Carolina's persistent love and care, Dawn looked and felt regal.

Dawn met little Carolina after she woke. The spark of recognition she had was impossible. She was dying. She could not remember Dawn.

Nobody hugged her lovingly. It was more than nice.

“Thank you,” Dawn whispered. She caressed Carolina's hand tenderly. 

Her time was coming. She wouldn’t get to see Lucas or her mom or dad or Rowan, at least, not in this life. In some ways, she regret that it was over so soon. In others, she couldn’t care at all. She yearned for this, and she finally had it.

The call of the Beyond was growing stronger. White light filled her vision, beckoning her. The time for regret was over. “Goodbye, Carolina. I'm glad I met you.”

“You’re not gone forever. I will see you again. That’s a promise,” Carolina said as resolutely and solemnly as a child could.

A tear of happiness slipped free, splashing quietly on the ground, and Dawn entered the Beyond for the final time.

This was an interesting side project to work on. I saw this post by @halfling-myth-lady and I had to write about it. I originally intended it to be a single scene, but I tagged the reblog as "snippet" instead of the "one-shot" I was looking for. I wasn't backing down though, and I had an idea for the second chapter. Then I had an idea for the third chapter. There's a lot to be explored still, in the framework of the original post and the framework of this story, but I think this is an ideal stopping point for this story. If you liked it or hated it, please comment. Thank you for reading.

[tisorridalamor]

Finished the 1999 Hunter Exam arc (and coincidentally the youtube vid with the first 31 episodes also ends then) and I'm so mildly fascinating by the worldbuilding of hxh. First of all, when you start the series you only really know two things:

There are "Hunters"

There are "magical beasts"

And I was very intrigued by the fact that the show just kinda throws you in there and has you go straight to the Hunter Exam without elaborating, and don't even learn too much about the world beyond that through the exam. It's almost refreshing in it's lack of detail, you're just along for the ride with Gon (who also doesn't know very much about the world being 12 and from a random island) and his new best buds.

What little you do learn about the world though is that... it's actually a pretty scary place! Many country's borders are closed to the point where it's notable that Hunters can get into almost all of them with their license. People are pretty nonchalant about death during the exam, Kurapika's backstory is tragic but not treated as especially notable, and the existence of a legendary assassin family is practically a common fact. Death is cheap to a degree in hxh which is interesting and starts to make more sense when nen starts getting explained and you learn what people in this setting are truly capable of. Yeah in a world with organizations like the Phantom Troupe, families like the Zoldycks, and creatures like the Chimera Ants, Hunters make a bit more sense. Hunters, this organization unrelated to any major world government (from my understanding), being almost above the law worldwide is so crazy but it's how the normal people of the world deal with their extraordinary circumstances.

If you can prove you've got what it takes, you receive specialized resources / rewards that incentivize catching dangerous criminals, protecting rare flora / fauna / culture, or even internally policing the Hunter organization for people who would misuse those things. I guess it's a system that works!

Semi related: It's also great the the world building is so vague cause no matter what gets introduced it always feels like it fits lol

[darthfrodophantom]

8 days remain until the final chapter of A Secret Uncovered!

Today we have 8 of my favorite moments from A Secret Uncovered (in order of when they occur in the story)!

Warning, does contain spoilers in case you haven’t read the whole story yet, so I’m putting it below a spoiler break in case you haven’t read all of it (or if you’re waiting for me to finish the cross-post on AO3).

The press conference. I’m sure it could have been handled with more flair (and I tried to add that flair with the rewrite), but at the time I always loved the idea of having this conflict of Danny vs Everyone Else in a formal situation like a press conference

The Fenton family going out to dinner. I loved being able to include this little normal moment amongst all the craziness of the reveal. I love showcasing extraordinary people in extraordinary circumstances doing mundane things, and this felt like one of those moments where you have this crazy family that’s the center of all this celebrity attention just going out for a regular dinner and getting to play on normal family dynamics there.

Danny’s little moment with his mom on the couch as she bandages his injury. I love that tender, sweet moment where we get to focus in on the micro-level of this one piece of the reveal, which is Maddie’s guilt. And I really enjoyed harkening back to it across the story. Even if they had this moment and Danny forgave her, it’s clearly still haunting her.

First day of school. Mental images of Danny’s first day back at school inspired me to write this story, so this chapter will forever have a special place in my heart for that reason. Really just all of the school scenes.

Fenton Portable Bed. Look, I love channeling Jack Fenton and making some goofy Fenton gadjets. These were just fun and off the rails.

The battle. A two chapter long battle. Man, that was DIFFICULT, but I’m so proud of how it came out. I had this outline for what would happen, what attacks/weapons people had access to, and when people would be taken out and how. It was a beast to write, but I feel so accomplished looking back on it

Danny’s anguish at a character’s death. I was so proud of that emotion. I was actually channeling some real grief there because I wrote it after experiencing my first real loss, and I feel like it showed. It’s also part of why chapters 24 and 25 took so long to post because I remembered touching on that grief to write it.

One is still yet to come! So obviously I can’t share that one 😁🤐 (Well, actually there are two, but I felt like it was cheap to dedicate two slots on this list to things you haven’t seen yet 😋)

Let me know which one is your favorite! Do you have another moment I didn’t mention?

Countdown List: 10 things that happened since I last posted a chapter 9 people I'd like to thank 8 of my favorite memories

[thebirdofthechapel]

Room of Hyacinth (2023)

Tags: Saiki K x MP100 crossover

AO3: Chapter 1 - The Brother Who Can’t Live

Summary: Seven years ago, Kageyama Shigeo was once a normal psychic until people’s thoughts came flooding into his mind. Then came more powers like teleportation, pyrokinesis, clairvoyance, and telekinesis that can get rid of storms. These extraordinary abilities robbed him of something important, but they were no match to the damage done by his black hair turning pink.

At the same time, a certain boy once had all these extraordinary abilities Shigeo received and was left with only telekinesis and the cursed gift of the third eye…

A country of many gods, curses, evil spirits, beasts and shamans and spiritualists. Someday, they'll either destroy or save it but today, they're middle school students occupied with navigating their youth and respective special circumstances.

[denimbex1986]

'Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies shares his honest thoughts about how he approached writing David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor return. In October 2022, the show revealed a shocking twist when Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor took on the face of her Tenth incarnation in "The Power of the Doctor." Tennant's return to the role will help celebrate the show's 60th anniversary across three-anniversary specials before Ncuti Gatwa takes the keys to the TARDIS as the Fifteenth Doctor for the 2023 seasonal special, Doctor Who season 14, and beyond.

After the release of the first Doctor Who 60th-anniversary episode, "The Star Beast," Davies sat down with the BTS show Doctor Who: Unleashed. The showrunner stated he had no reservations about Tennant's return despite any potential backlash he could face from the fandom. He then explains that the scenario would allow his regeneration into Gatwa to be unlike anything the series has seen following a slowly unfolding arc across the background of the three-anniversary specials. Check out Davies' full response below:

Oh! I didn’t worry about that for a second. It was just like, so, Jodie Whittaker becomes David Tennant. Once you think that, it’s like, there’s no rules, you can do absolutely everything you want. There’ll be fans complaining about that, “You can’t do that.” Every time someone says “You can’t do that,”, that’s exactly where you should go.

It’s funny, because he’s an old Doctor, he’s played the Doctor before, but this has never happened. The Doctor’s never got his face back before, or her face back before, so that’s fascinating. It’s a plot that runs throughout the three hours of why has this happened, why has this happened, and leads towards the most extraordinary ending, which is a scene we’ve never played before in the whole 60 years of Doctor Who, so, that’s what I mean – New areas, new territory, new thoughts, new lines, new ideas. That’s always the right place to be.

What Do We Know About The Fourteenth Doctor's Familiar Face So Far

The Doctor donning a precious regeneration's face during a new incarnation was one of many mysteries surrounding the possibilities that the concept could hold, alongside other questions, including the mysterious "Brain of Morbius" Doctors and the dark inevitability of the Valeyard (Michael Jayston) from the "Trial of a Time Lord" story arc. First teased in the closing moments of Doctor Who's 50th-anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor," in 2013, the Eleventh Doctor meets the Curator of the Under Gallery, played by Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker, who is hinted to be a retired future incarnation of the Doctor many regenerations later. Hinting that the Doctor would revisit "old favorite" faces in future regenerations, other incarnations of The Curator in expanded media include regenerations resembling the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and the Eleventh Doctor (Marr Smith).

However, the circumstances of Tennant's return are shaping to be something outside his future as the Curator. Promotional material for Doctor Who's 60th-anniversary had emphasized the mystery. The question was further doubled down on this in "The Star Beast," as the Doctor speculates whether his familiar face had anything to do with his reunion with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). However, the episode quickly disproved the theory that he took on an older face to say farewell to Donna when both discovered that her potentially fatal Metacrisis condition had been healed. These developments launched theories about whether Neil Patrick Harris' Toymaker may have meddled in the process.

Classic Doctors returning is a familiar, fondly-loved tradition of significant Doctor Who milestones, but Tennant's latest return has also raised many questions. While some viewers may initially have fears that it is simply a move to cash in on nostalgia, it is clear that Davies has taken steps to avoid falling into such traps. With the showrunner teasing a unique regeneration that takes the show in new directions, Tennant's farewell and Gatwa's Doctor debut will end the 60th-anniversary celebrations with a grand finale.'

[prokyon]

hey this is chance and here’s week 4’s prompt. how do strangers within the world view your protagonists? how would they describe them? and how does this contrast against how the protagonist views themself?

thanks for the prompt! :) took me a bit to get to this one.

Kass (they/them) strikes a pretty intimidating figure to most people, but this depends on the context. At the start of their story they seem to strangers like a friendly, if tall and strong woman*. By the end of their story, sometimes they appear as a handsome and witty young man, or a ferocious and fuzzy beast. Their amber eyes mark them out as maybe not totally from here, but there's nothing overly extraordinary about them. To residents of their home village, Kass is a smith who makes excellent gear, and to visitors they are a server at the tavern who smiles broadly and drinks men under the table. They're a flirt and a helping hand, and have never minded doing dirty work. They have a healthy respect and devotion to tradition and the gods, as their fellow townsfolk see it. For the same reason, men of the Imperial legion despise them and see them as a barbarian and a heathen. They're horribly stubborn sometimes, despite being a known people pleaser. People familiar with them know that their first answer to a problem is to punch it in the face. It's frightening how easily this strategy seems to work.

Over the course of their journey, they change a fair bit (I mean, on top of the literal werewolf transformation). Mostly they change in two ways:

Their introverted nature becomes extremely apparent. Before, they were happy to be around people as long as they were able to take periods of rest. Now they are nervous, distrusting, and secretive. It makes it hard for people to get to know them.

They're kind of terrifying. They have not physically gotten larger (though being a 6ft tall unit), but their presence has grown. When their shadow darkens your doorstep, you are not inviting them into your home just because that's the lovely smithing apprentice from down the road, you're inviting them in because that's Kassandra and you don't want Kassandra to feel unwelcome. If you don't know why Kass is here, you're probably safe. Kass's enemies know who they are, and they know to be afraid -- probably because Kass will show up with their teeth and claws at the ready.

They become a fierce, morbid, and sad-looking protector of their people. They soften a bit in the right circumstances, but once where they were the warmest person in the room, they are now frigid and daunting. Still, they act like everybody else, most of the time, and when they are safe and happy their smiles are still broad and they still drink and sing and make good food.

*To be clear, I'm talking about their outward appearances from other perspectives. Their gender expression evolves and changes over the course of their journey but their own inner identity as non-binary is hard for them to articulate to others.

[katyspersonal]

*boots down door*

You mention Bloodborr OC's

GIMME ALL THE BACKGROUND!!!!

Allllllright, I think I will tell you about my favorite!

Strangely enough, I did only draw her ONE whole time so far, back in, what?.. June 2022? And it is only a headshot! But I always imagine her wearing cyan/indigo/grey clothes, fashioned after Old Hunters' aesthetic, and... a particular iron helmet with only one eye hole, yes. She is an OC based entirely on how you choose to read this line:

She appeared in my head based off a few factors; that we can clearly see Valtr being summoned with both eyes visible (not a single effort to obscure the second eye, unlike with Djura), we know that Impurity rune that LETS you see Vermin was discovered 'within a forbidden Beast Eater' (so, Valtr himself), we know that Valtr curses not only beasts but the 'freakish slugs and mad doctors', and we know that Clocktower Dial has a rune similar to Impurity but not exactly it:

(Thank you @val-of-the-north for handy refs ( x ))

That gave me a thought, aboutl Valtr being taken right into Research Hall labs upon his (rather dramatic) arrival in Yharnam; as someone who ate a beast, he was expected to be very much contaminated, and, well... Research Hall offered the so-called voluntary-obligatory treatment for such people. Either get killed before you became a beast, or be "treated" to not become a beast :') And this is where he met an Old Hunter Geranea, that was likewise dragged into research - and already missing one eye, since all patients get one eye removed to become an Eye Pendant + for easier access to their brain.

I always presumed runes system was a deciphering system more than it was a set number of the runes, since Ludwig and Adeline were able to envision their own runes without Caryll! So, Impurity rune is special - it is a concept. Every person has their own alternative of Impurity rune, as it appeals to the individual concept of what IS evil. Geranea quickly caught up that there was something abnormally filthy in Valtr and insisted that he should not have gotten 'water' treatment under any circumstances lest he'd erupt under it flourishing and die right after. People that yearn to exterminate evil see 'human dregs' as pests, but people who yearn to treat it peacefully see evil as flowers. Geranea was able to see the flowers akin tomb mold that you find across dungeons and Hunter's Nightmare sprouting from people before they died, as indication of how 'dirty' their blood was, and... let's say, Valtr had an extraordinary amount of them because of what happened to him.

She helped him to envision his own idea of evil as someone familiar with Caryll's runes language, deciphering the weird sounds his body was emitting, and helped him to escape by giving him her eye pendant to use as a bait on the string for a giant crow that was frequenting Research Hall's balcony - think of holding a carrot on the string before a donkey! As for her own fate? Well, she was able to see through utter corruption of both 'Sea' and 'Stars', rejecting both and becoming one of the few if not the only one patient that banished the Arcane from her body with raw hatred and willpower alone.

She would manage to escape the Research Hall and cover her identity in new costume and with the new weapon, to not get caught by the Assassins. And... of course, she'd get the bucket helm, to obscure her face! She was to contact Valtr later under new identity, but their friendship was just not meant to last; they had drastically different ideas on how to treat human dregs and fell apart in a very nasty conflict over it, parting their ways.

Ever since then, Geranea was a strange cross between a Hunter and a Blood Minister (don't confuse with Blood Saint!). She would find people afflicted with human dregs through seeing whether they displayed 'flowers' sprouting from them. Her having banished the Arcane influence from her very body and soul via spite alone granted her blood a special immunity against both Beast and Kin afflictions, so her treatment? It included taking the blood from a person, transfusing it into her own body, putting up the mental fight against this person's darkest impulses (or corruption of Great Ones), and, after immunity has been worked up, she'd give the 'healed' blood back to this person. Just... Giving them free antibodies against their OWN afflictions that she'd work on her own. Doesn't it sound like too good to be true?

Well, that it was. Not only effect of such immunity still COULD virtually wear down, but also poor Geranea would let evil, insanity and pain of people through herself over and over. And over and over and over and over and over... In the end, it cracked her up, and she grew to be corrupted and no longer able to process all this - becoming evil and twisted herself. Her last sane thought however? That was Valtr.

She crawled back to him, being terribly mutated and having twisted thoughts, reflecting empathy to all afflicted people she healed from their darkest impulses. Their last meeting in long time was essentially her telling him that he was right and begging to be killed, that he did. He knew what exactly ruined her, and his conclusion was: "The filth of this world doesn't deserve compassion of a kind soul".

He took her helmet though, as a further reminder to himself to always stay relentless before human dregs extermination, and never had a heart to alter it even one bit, despite having both eyes. However, he later met Yamamura, who reminded him of her with his tender, sensitive heart, and he was not to make the same mistake twice; so he was to send Yamamura away as a "spy" for Healing Church in hopes he'd find new friends there and forget the mission. Granted, Yamamura appeared to be a very stubborn and prideful man, so the mission still inflicted insanity on him - especially since he saw it through Valtr's rune, not his own.

So yeah, that's for the story..; In general, Geranea was a kind person willing to tolerate a bit too much and to sacrifice too much, that is a stark contrast to her resting bitch face and kind of a rude demeanour. I can't even call her a jerk with a heart of gold, she is just a good person that might appear slightly too forceful with wishing to help.

And! Flowers thing comes from my idea that many patients had lumenweed subtly growing on them during treatment! Here are Adeline's and Rom's for example:

Geranea's faded and died upon her rejecting the 'cosmos' with both her body and her soul, but she never got around removing them as they became too entwined with her hair. But I like to think that when she finally broke mentally, those flowers in her hair were glowing and flourishing again, as if to seek for salvation.

...Aaaaaanyway, I can't believe I never really drew her that much ;-; That face ref is like... this is IT. Boy, I gotta fix myself.