#but i also discovered on one run that he spawns in different places if you don't do the bandit camp right away (or something

[robo-dino-puppy]

horizon zero dawn (remastered) | nil 2/?

[cake-apostate]

Astarion in Dracula

So people have noticed that in Dracula, Dracula comes across as suave and intimidating until you realize he does stuff like "I don't have any servants but I need to fake it, so I put on a fake beard and hat to pick up Mr. Harker, then I run back into my castle and change into new clothes," and, "I can control wolves, but there are no wild wolves in England anymore, so I run to a zoo and kidnap a wolf, then throw him through a window. The wolf placidly walks home the next day."

Now I'm imagining that something like this happens to future Astarion, and he's in a Dracula-esque plot where he is the vampire being hunted by a plucky band of normal people turned adventurers. While they're all like, "he is horrifying and must be a master strategist," he's being cringefail in the background.

My first caveat is that the plucky hunters should not be villainized, even if they are hunting (relatively) innocent Spawn!Astarion. They're not trying to kill him just because he's a vampire; even in the book, the hunters are after Dracula because he killed their friend and might kill others. They might be after our favorite vampy boi, but this isn't, "stupid vampire hunters harass innocent vampire for no good reason."

Depending on whether this is Spawn!Astarion or Ascended!Astarion, things might go differently.

Spawn

Centuries after the events of the game, after the end of Tav's natural lifespan, Astarion is still an adventurer, and has a house in Baldur's Gate. Maybe they did find a way to let him walk under the sun, or maybe they didn't.

But he's still immortal, and after a few centuries of staying in the same place for too long without visibly aging (he's still an elf, after all), he enlists the help of a solicitor to purchase a new house in Waterdeep and write up a will that allows his (totally real) son to inherit all his stuff. Things go okay for a while, but not-Jonathan Harker notices all kinds of weird stuff around him, such as the bottles of blood ("I'm a doctor, darling; it's a new kind of treatment called blood transfusion."), his lack of a reflection ("Trick mirror."), and possibly his red eyes and sunlight sensitivity ("It's the drow heritage, dear.").

Then after he finally moves to Waterdeep, some entirely normal serial killer shows up. And now not-Jonathan realizes that Mr. Astarion Ancunin was a vampire this whole time, and suspects that he's the one behind all the ghastly murders. Lots of paperwork ensues, and they discover both his life as a magistrate and his adventures during the games. If he can't walk in the sun, they conclude that he became a vampire after the events of the game because so many records mention that he was outside during the day, and lament how he was once a good man.

However, they never actually inform Astarion while they're hunting him that they think he's behind the murders. So he thinks they're after him for being a vampire, while they think that he's a gleeful murderer.

He could simply kill them all, but they're still innocent people who haven't actually done anything. He could also walk away, but he's not leaving behind all his stuff, godsdamnit! So he figures that the most fun would be to Scooby-Doo them out of Waterdeep.

Hilarity ensues. Everybody lives as well.

Ascended

For this one, Astarion is guilty, and probably was behind everything.

I admit I don't have much for this besides vibes, and those vibes are, "Ascended Astarion takes every possible opportunity to gloat that he's invincible." Not-Mina and not-Lucy are walking along the seaside one sunny morning, and they see him floating on an inner tube, wearing sunglasses and holding a tropical drink, shouting, "Come on in; the water's great!" Not-Seward and not-Van Helsing are at a medical conference and he's just there, waving at them. While they think they're safe in their houses, he breaks in and turns every bit of furniture upside down and write a note in the fanciest cursive saying, "Ahahahahaha! Mwahahahaha! Yrs. Astarion Ancunin."

Actual Dracula

I might actually make a fanfic for this.

So in this one, Astarion literally gets isekai'd into the plot of Dracula. Kinda. After Dracula finishes his correspondence with Jonathan Harker, Dracula vanishes and Astarion shows up in his castle. Some of the same story beats, but with different context.

I think Spawn Astarion would be funnier for this, because he'd be like, "damndamndamn, okay, deep breaths, I can work with this," while the Ascendant would try to take over Earth for real.

I also think that the best replacement for Dracula's 'brides' would be Sebastian. Sebastian might not be Astarion's spawn, but Astarion is partially responsible for him becoming one. I had also considered Tav as his spawn, or maybe the whole party, but the question of how they became spawn aside, they'd all be too sensible about this. This is Astarion's trainwreck.

Not all of Dracula's vampire weaknesses apply to dnd vampire spawn, and the ones that do might not work the same way. Turns out that holy symbols don't work on them at all, so none of the tricks with crucifixes and communion wafer would work ("I'm sorry, are you trying to murder me with crackers? *wry giggle* That's a first.") Dracula specifies garlic flowers while dnd goes for the more popular garlic bulbs, and the weakness to running water is "physically impeded from even using a bridge except at slack and flood of tide" in the book and "burns like acid but still possible to jump across" in dnd. Someone once pointed out that this is the first time Van Helsing ever dealt with a vampire, so he's throwing everything he can at Dracula without knowing for sure which things actually work.

The residents of the village around the castle notice that they aren't being bitten in the night, and that there are more dead wolves drained of blood. They still sit up at night with stakes in their hands, not unjustifiably. Astarion stays away, and hopes that their fear of the previous tenant is enough for them to not come charging in with stakes.

Jonathan showing up might be a complete surprise. Astarion and Sebastian have no idea what day it is, or how to read an Earth calendar, so even though they have Dracula's half of the correspondence, they think that he came and left, and Dracula with him. Jonathan thinks that Dracula forgot to pick him up from the pass, but his fear of not being good at his job led him to brave the woods the day after his appointment. During the day, of course.

Then Astarion is like, "Yes, I am Dracula," as he realizes that he can con his way into a ticket to a new city.

Jonathan talks to Astarion for hours about property law and suchlike because Astarion was a magistrate. Jonathan might ask more about his past, but Astarion deflects as much as possible.

From Jonathan's perspective, he's like, "Dracula is a fine fellow, so articulate and graceful," while Astarion is like, "Shit, he has to eat, doesn't he?!" and tries to make a halfway decent meal with Sebastian, both of them panicking.

"I do hope you enjoy wolf, it is a local delicacy."

"Really? Fascinating! None of the other villages I've stayed in served wolf!"

"It is a very local delicacy."

Would Astarion keep Jonathan hostage? I don't think he would unless Jonathan discovered his secret. But I can see that he would insist that Jonathan stay longer because he want to keep up the illusion of being a good host, and that includes driving him back to the last town... when he has no idea where that is. He could drive him to the village, if he wasn't sure that they wouldn't drive a stake through his heart right away. So while he keeps delaying, on the inside he's like, "Where are those damn maps?!"

I can see that Sebastian never learned to suppress his hunger. One night, Jonathan accidentally wanders into his side of the castle. Sebastian wants to just have a friendly chat, but his hunger wins out and he's about to bite him, so Astarion has to restrain him. Then Astarion feeds him a family of rabbits or something cute; he's not going to steal a baby.

Astarion and Sebastian won't board the Demeter, even if Dracula already has tickets. Stuck surrounded by running water with no animals to drink from? They'll just take the train, and then cross the English Channel on a midnight ferry or something. Not like they have the 'soil of your homeland' restriction. Of course, they're not paying for any of it; they're going to sneak aboard when nobody's looking.

Speaking of those boxes of dirt, Astarion is just happy to have a ton of property that someone else paid for, and is perplexed by the boxes. So he and Sebastian just use them to pot begonias or something.

Once the action shifts to England, the plot would change a lot more, since Astarion and Sebastian aren't actively malicious. I think they'd still end up in Whitby because Carfax Abbey might be the only decent home Dracula purchased; all the others were just cheap emergency safehouses to store his boxes of dirt.

Renfield can still sense when Astarion and Sebastian arrive, even though they're not the same kind of vampire. Astarion isn't above using him, and they both drink from him while Astarion promises to turn him one day. They never admit that they can't.

Speaking of turning, Lucy can't rise as a vampire either. I don't even know if they'd bite her to begin with; Astarion restricts himself to people they were going to kill anyways (and Tav). Lucy sleepwalking might be convenient for Dracula, who doesn't care if she wakes up halfway through or dies, but Astarion and Sebastian have more caution (and scruples).

But Lucy being bitten drives half the plot. Val Helsing only enters because Dr. Seward calls him in, the skeptics only believe in vampires once they see her rise from the grave, and everyone swears to avenge her death. If the vampires don't hurt Lucy, then the whole plot goes off the rails.

This brainworm has seized me and I am now thinking of a title. Astarion Annually? Count Astarion the Un-Dead?

[weekend-whip]

Can headcanons 🔫 hand ‘em over

(Jamie babysitter? First words? Accidental surprise powers?)

I was like 'can headcanons gun'??? What??? Is that a meme?? And then I realized

Baby!Camellia HCs GO!

General-

Cam's "birthday" is October 27th! (...which is the day Enter the Aftershock happened. Totally planned on Jesse's part.)

At first she sleeps, like, all the time, to the point that Jesse thinks she's sick or something (she's just extra exhausted from suddenly being spawned into existence). And Cole, always glad to have an excuse for nap, will sprawl out on the couch and cradle her on his chest so she can rest to his heartbeat.

...And then she shifts quickly into nearly never sleeping at all, constantly being fussy and crying, to the point that everyone in the Monastery has to take shifts staying up with her so they all can get some sleep (though Jesse takes on the bulk of these cuz he feels primarily responsible, but no one's actually mad nor minds)

They all then discover she will fall asleep instantly to Cole's Glow Worm song......and wonder if her crying all night is better than enduring Cole's singing. (Jesse can sing her to sleep too, but it takes way longer and you've gotta rock her at the same time)

She gets frightened by unfamiliar things very easily- unrecognizable sounds, new places, different faces, certain sensations (like putting a foot on grass/in water), etc. Lloyd is the one that patiently tries to help her adjust to the overwhelmingness of the world because he knows

She is very grabby, tugging at hair and clothes when and where she can and poking people's faces. She also likes messing with Lloyd's pointy ears (which he'd normally hates, but he can make an exception just this once)

She will steal what she can get her hands on, and will run off giggling with her loot. Cole's vibration tracing helps keep track of her baby crimes, thank the master.

She is obsessed with unicorns. Jay makes the mistake of gifting her a stuffed rainbow plush unicorn that they call 'Corn' and she almost never lets it go and turns into a monster when you try to take it from her.

("MY CORN!! MY CORN!!" "Jay what have you done" "I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS CUTE!!!")

Pixal is the one that designs/builds her bedroom, while Zane and Nya fill it with all the much needed supplies. Maybe too many supplies.

Wu is the one that gave her the headband with the pink camellia (he knew what was up)

Kai: ...I personally think she's got enough hair to get The Kai style~ Jesse: I'll kill you :D

Babysitting!-

Kai's idea of babysitting is taking Cam for rides in the Charger to get her to fall asleep (with Jesse nagging him constantly to not drive like a maniac). At first Cam is intimidated by the car rides, but winds up loving watching the scenery whiz by and enables Kai to go faster (which entirely defeated the point of the car rides in the first place)

"...All right don't tell your dads" *floors it* "WHEEEEEE!"

Nya and especially Jay get baby fever whenever it's their turn to watch, and use Cam for potential future practice. Nya tests out if she'd even like to be a mom...while Jay is up to his arms in notes on parenting snksnksn

Zane is a godsend when she starts teething, constantly making icecubes and freezing stuff over for her to gum on (otherwise she starts gnawing on his and Pixal's colder exteriors instead). He also makes the best homemade babyfood. Jesse tries and fails to not be jealous.

(Cole will also gladly eat the baby food for himself "just to make sure" until Zane smacks him with a spoon)

Lloyd doesn't get many opportunities to babysit (too busy being overly important) but he always gets a little choked up whenever he holds Cam and marvels at her mere existence and he can never fully explain to anyone why.

Jamie is the go-to babysitter when random crises pop up (Or when everyone needs a date night/me time ...or Jesse and Cole just generally spent.)

Jesse: *appears on Jamie's doorstep* *drops Cam in his arms* Jamie: Wha-? Jesse: *collapses on floor* We just need like twenty minutes– Jamie: ...You look like you need a thousand years

Jamie also takes hundreds of photos of this child. Jesse keeps all his on his phone while Cole carries three wallets full of the prints.

Antonia will babysit on short notice if Jamie's not an option, but she'll always drag Nelson into helping her out. Antonia is also the one that teaches Cam how to read, and Nelson likes to fill out coloring books with Cam (even if Cam's "coloring" is just smearing pink across the whole page).

Cam cannot be left for longer than three days at Grandpa Lou's house. She'll come back humming and singing show tunes she doesn't know the words of at the top of her lungs.

Being left with Grandma Caroline means that she comes home with baskets full of food with her (Cole likes leaving her with Grandma for this reason, along with not having his kid obsessed with showtunes)

Cam is only left with Miranda when no other options are available to (which...seems to happen way too often). Miranda doesn't mind babysitting and spending time with her niece but a) she's not really a kid person and b) she's a horrible influence lmfao. Still, she becomes Cam's biggest idol and inspiration (and Jesse is officially convinced that the universe spites him specifically)

Firsts! (And Magic)-

There's bets going around for what her first word would be but nothing could compare Cole and Jesse for the sucker punch that was when "Miwa" started pouring from their baby's mouth

(Miranda won a very hefty 1000 bucks that day, and Jesse still insists she cheated somehow)

(Her second word is "ubican" –unicorn– and Cole throws his arms up in defeat)

Cole attempts to make Cam's first bite of solid food come from a piece of cake. Lloyd loses his mind explaining why that's a terrible idea.

When she firsts learns to wiggle/crawl, Jay play-races her across the floor and lets her win.

Zane is the one present when she stands for the first time and the sheer excitement in his yells prompt the whole building to come running.

Jesse straight up cries in joy when Cam start toddling towards him for the first time (he was bringing her a freshly-washed Corn, but the point remains)

When Cam gets more mobile in general, she will copy Cole in every single thing he does. The way he stands, the faces he makes —even from across the room, if Cole is present, she is mimicking him in some capacity. He casually lifts a table one time while vacuuming and Cam is suddenly convinced she must be strong as well. She is not and learns the hard way.

Due to essentially and quite literally being made of magic, some of Cam's powers manifest even before True Potential, but she can't control them whatsoever.

"...is our daughter burping sparkles? I think she just burped sparkles."

Nya and Pixal rig up video baby monitors in every room on the monastery the first time Cam gets the hiccups and starts warping

Things will start randomly flying around her room in the middle of the night along with loud sounds and flashing lights scaring the absolute life out of everyone—but that's how they learn when she's having a nightmare. ("Why can't she just cry like a normal baby?! It's like something out of Paranormal Activity!" "KAI.")

Jesse is simply playing patty-cake with her and white camellias start popping up out of thin air.

Cam learns that she can shock people whenever she laughs and finds it extremely funny when people yelp in surprise, making her laugh even harder (and shock even harder. Cycle repeats). This does not work on Jay and that makes her pouty.

Don't make her angry. That's when the fireworks appear.

"Cole, where's the baby?" "...You're not gonna believe me, Jess." "...I'm sure whatever ridiculously insane thing it is, I can handle it." "...she sneezed and is now currently floating on the ceiling." "WHAT?!"

She, like Jesse, also cries glitter.

[maythevoidnotscreamback]

Story Idea: Sailor Moon Season Mashup

I just had an idea I've got to share and hopefully inspire someone to write. An aged-up season mashup where the first season and the latter half of the second come together.

Basically, when the Nijizuishou Arc is happening Usa and the others are in their early to mid twenties. Usa and Mamo are pining for each other but don't want to act on their feelings because they don't want to endanger each other in the event their identities are found out so they make the best of their situation by getting together with their partner-in-youma-fighting/not-quite-ally-or-enemy because at least if they're discovered as being together they know they can protect themselves.

And then, the Reveal.

It's during the time of Mamo's conversion, Usa doesn't know if he's dead or alive and depressed that the man she's been pining for and wanting to be with is also the man she's unknowingly been with because she didn't know she could be with him, that a strange little girl with hair in a familiar style lands in Usa's lap while at the park for some fresh air. And to get away from her well meaning friends' smothering. Said little girl is stunned that she's landed in the lap of someone who looks so much like her Mama that she just starts crying and apologizing. It's all her fault after all. Usa gets her calmed down before taking her home, she's been SM for a while now and whatever instincts she's honed however long are telling her to not let the girl go off alone. That she's important and she needs protection and, depression over her lost love or not, she's gonna give it to her, damn it!

I think you see where I'm going with this. Instead of the 'breakup' that happened in the second half of the 90s R season it's that Mamo is Dendy when Chibi makes her appearance. Diamond wants Serenity, as always, and, what joy of joys, they've come to a past in which the King has married a different Queen (obviously he hasn't but the minds of the obsessed work in mysterious ways in order to fit reality into their narrative). And lo and behold, because Diamond knew the King was only in it for the power she could wield, the Senshi are fighting against the King, not with him because he wants the Ginzuishou for his 'new' Queen; Diamond's ecstatic. Because it means Serenity's his for the taking. No marital vows of fidelity. No spawn that man planted in her beautiful body to trap her into marrying him in the first place. She probably hasn't even been tasted yet, never known the pleasures of a woman fully grown. But he wouldn't mind being the one to teach her. No, no, he'd do so gleefully.

Thing is, despite the many precautions that SM and TK took whenever they were intimate, Time will always try to find a way to keep the future it wants to happen preserved, even if it doesn't happen the way it should. Usa is, unknowingly for now, pregnant when Mamo's kidnapped. The Key is acting as a shield, not that Chibi knows that yet, against the Law that says "Past and Future must not be in the same space for long." It's keeping Chibi's presence from affecting her Past self while being in said Past.

But now, the Senshi are being run ragged because they're being attacked on two fronts because a surprise second enemy faction came out of the woodwork, they're not gonna ally with people trying to hurt/kill a child, while they were still fighting against their first while also trying to make money at their jobs and keep a surprise child fed, clothed and safe from said second enemy faction. Usa's not gonna let her family be targeted, even if she has to claim of secretly being a teen mother who recently, finally, got her baby back; being an adult in this AU Usa can't help but act like the Mama she's claiming to be to Chibi. It's feels scarily easy, she tells the others, there just seems to be a connection she can't ignore, and she doesn't want to. Then there's how certain Shittenou are being weirdly protective of certain Senshi (you figure out how to justify not killing them off) when the Ayakashi Sisters try to nab them time and again, and said certain Senshi gets frantic returning the favor (you choose whether the sisters are saved like in the 90s anime or not and too whether any of the Travelers know about the Shittenou in their time or if they just don't exist as an AU timesplit) when the Ayakashi sisters try to kill them for interfering which they don't understand why! They're the enemy! ...Aren't they? Not to mention the hullabaloo caused by the miracle worker Dr. Chiba going missing so suddenly even though there are multiple people calling in saying they've seen him here and there but it's just Endou. And poor Chibi, unknowing she's Found Out and Realized, can't seem to stand letting Usa out of her sight if she can help it. (She really is Mama! She's alright and not sleeping, maybe dying, in a Crystal Tomb because she was a bad girl playing with something that wasn't hers.) Clings to SM whenever she saves her and only tends to let go when she mentions getting her to her Mama. Crying silently whenever she gets a glimpse of TK when she's near the battlefield and trembling like she's holding herself back from... something whenever she sees Endou on the street. (She wants her Papa to hold and comfort her, he claimed time and again that there's nothing in the world to keep him from loving her Mama and she wants to know why?! Why did he lie?!)

You can choose whether or not the BMC and the DK ally with one another and actually try to help keep Usa and Mamo apart or try to make them properly fight against each other, but ultimately (obviously) fail, or go the route of Ail and An in trying to kill the one in order to have the other, making excuses to keep the other sweet when they fail, and damn the feelings of the one who's obsession is killed because they have what they want. And/or Metallia and Wiseman team up in the background while the two fools who act as their respective puppet leader get destroyed alongside the Senshi they're fighting against while their own plans come to some form of fruition.

[kavrillia]

The Origins of Kavrillia - Part Two

In Part One I took a trip down memory lane at the early influences and inspirations for Kavrillia. Now we pick up when my universe broke off in its own direction!

Late 1995

My War of the Worlds fanfic saga had run its course, and I needed a new muse.

I was zoning out in the shower one evening when out of nowhere a scene flashed into my head. Now, I'm not one of those writers who thinks I'm somehow channeling beings from a different plane of the multiverse or anything, but the scene did just pop into my brain all at once, like a five-second clip from a movie. I had impressions of the characters as if they existed and I was getting to know them instead of creating them on the spot. I've never had something quite like that happen again. Make of that what you will. I sure can't explain it.

In the scene that came to me, a young empress was riding in a procession, waving to the crowd gathered along the street. I felt she was kindhearted but very lonely. An intimidating, stone-faced bodyguard stayed close beside her, wearing the cliché dark suit and sunglasses. I got the feeling he had secrets, but she trusted him completely. Why? Should she? And why was she so lonely? Meanwhile, a teenage boy dressed in black was chasing a terrified homeless girl through the crowd. Who were they? Why did he want to catch her? What would he do when/if he did? I got the sense it wasn't because of something the girl did, but because of what family she came from.

I didn't have answers to those questions, but I was excited to figure them out. As soon as I got out of the shower, I decided to jot down some notes and see what I came up with.

Along with those notes were these sketches: the very first pictures I drew of Vazali, Delzeena, Bronzar, Zenni, Xorax, and Zola.

They were the only characters who existed in the beginning, although I had vague ideas about Xorax's henchmen, who eventually became Elzar and Ryshan.

At first I imagined Zola as Xorax's girlfriend, but quickly decided a sibling or cousin relationship was better. I had just seen West Side Story (1961) for the first time and definitely took inspiration from the Sharks.

Above: The origin of Xorax's aesthetic. Yes, really.

You'll also see that Xorax's medallion was there from the very beginning, and I knew it was tied to his family legacy, just not exactly how yet.

Zenni came from trying to figure out what Bronzar's life was like when he wasn't on duty, and somehow "single dad" seemed to fit.

As I had been playing in the sandbox of my War of the Worlds-spinoff fanfiction for a couple years, I assumed this story would take place there, too. I made the empress the daughter of Xeres the Great to anchor it somewhere in my headcanons for that universe's history, and began to write.

1996

Above left: Vazali and Bronzar are peeved. Above right: I'm pretty sure that's the first picture of Xeebec and Kazaneta, or at least the first colored one.

Once the ball was rolling, the story kept unfolding, the characters found their voices, and the answers to those initial questions spawned many more. As the world expanded and grew more detailed, I realized that, aside from a handful of names, it was completely original. Once I changed those names, no one familiar with either the Tripods books or War of the Worlds would recognize anything. Somehow I had weaned myself off fanfic and ended up with my own universe.

Late 1997-1998

Previously, my art had been done in a combination of markers and colored pencils. In late '97 I started using all colored pencils instead. I also began dabbling with computer paint programs.

Early 1999

This was a transition period when the look of my characters changed significantly. I wanted to make them more human, so I drew them with two legs instead of three, removed the third eye and skin markings from males, added a thumb, made their antennae much thinner, and tried to do more realistic eyes. I also discovered how awesome Prismacolor pencils were.

2000

I changed the Kavrillian facial structure so they now have a bridge to their nose/snout. That went a long way to making them look more like they could exist in three-dimensional space. I still wasn't sure how realistic to make their eyes.

2002

Not too many changes since 2000. Their antennae were still very thin. The nose bridge shortened somewhat. The eyes are still horizontal ovals, but I didn't usually try to give them irises.

(Continued in Part 3)

[absolutepokemontrash]

MC’s half Demon, and they look AWFULLY familiar...

‘Kay guys, I got a different kind of stupid Headcanon to throw at you. Get ready!

Part 2 Lessons 1-5 Part 2.5 Group Retreat Lessons 10-12 Lessons 13-15 Part 3 Part 4

*ahem* picture if you will, it’s the day the exchange program is set to start. The student council (nix Mr. Kill All Humans, Weeb-supreme, and our Scummy Sweetheart) have assembled to welcome the new human student. All is going according to schedule, the portal opens up at eight am sharp, they hear the pitiful screams of the selected human who was not given a heads up about the whole thing, and the poor little human falls straight onto the marble floor.

There’s something a tad... off about this human don’t you think? After they’ve peeled their sorry ass off the floor they observed the assembled student council with an air of sophistication and self importance that no one expected. Their posture was perfect, their eyes sharp and calculating... they bared a striking resemblance to-

“Lucifer,” Diavolo looked to his right hand man, then back to the human. “The human kind of looks like you!”

And out popped four pitch black wings from the human’s back and two small horns out of the sides of their head, one horn was a bit bigger than the other. They even still had some of their down feathers! How cute!

((Content warning: Swearing (I have a potty mouth, forgive me), but that’s it.))

Luci-dad

So, the MC is Lucifer’s kid! Of course Mr. Prideypants immediately tries to recall exactly what little romp in the human world uh... spawned this half-human half-demon child of his. Good thing MC’s got the other parent on speed-dial.

“Please note, MC,” Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose upon hearing Asmo take even more pictures of his newly discovered hellspawn. “I was not aware of your existence, if I was I’d-”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not upset.”

Lucifer blinked a few times in surprise. “P...pardon? You aren’t upset?”

“No, my parent told me that my father was a high ranking demon, and they bare no ill will against you. Though, I am looking forward to this whole... exchange program thing.”

Oh wow, that was easier than Lucifer thought. Damn. Well, he was a father... (let’s be real, he’s been parenting his brothers for thousands of years, and a good chunk of you sinners call him daddy)

MC is probably the most protected student at RAD, despite the fact that they have no visible security detail whatsoever. They didn’t want to be seen as... weak and pathetic.

Something about this human just... set the lesser demons on edge. Any talk of eating them was stamped out on the first day when they walked by. It’s like Lucifer himself was staring at them, daring the demons to try and bother the human. MC’s powerful presence kept them protected and feared.

...at least until dear uncle Asmo decided to do their hair one morning. All those ribbons may have looked adorable but they kind of ruined the intimidation factor.

MC loved to mess with the other students, keeping their lineage a secret for the first little while just made it so much funnier when the other demons tried to scramble out of MC’s way without looking like they were running from the ‘weak little human exchange student’.

Oh wow, what a sadist. Like father like child

Flying lessons are a must. Poor MC isn’t terribly good at controlling their wings, and their horns are still growing in so when they pop into their demon form the first thing they get is a sore skull. Ow... it sucks that Lucifer isn’t outwardly very sympathetic.

“Ow!” MC crashed face first into the grass in the backyard of the House of Lamentation. “Father! My wings are cramping! Can’t we practice this tomorrow?”

The sight of seeing his dear child crash face first into the ground had lost its hilarity after the first three times. Lucifer slowly lowered himself to the ground and crossed his arms as he stood over his incredibly grass-stained kid.

“MC, we’ve been ‘practicing this tomorrow’ for the past month. If you want to learn to fly you’re going to have to actually manage to stay in the air for more than three minutes.”

MC shot Lucifer a withering glare that only preteens were capable of, Lucifer matched it with his own much more sophisticated glare.

“You’ve been flying for over a thousand years! Don’t you have any tips that can actually help other than ‘don’t panic, you’ll look ridiculous’?”

Lucifer dragged a gloved hand down his face and looked around, the two were alone as far as he could see.

“MC,” Lucifer began. “When I was a young angel, I needed to learn how to fly with someone else.”

MC perked up. “Who?”

“Michael. The smug bastard picked up flying quicker than I did.”

“What’d you do?!”

Lucifer smiled at his child’s intense investment. “I practiced flying every day for five extra hours until I could do everything that Michael could do, just better.”

MC’s starry eyed interest died almost instantly upon hearing about the extra five hours of practice. “Humph, I bet I could outfly younger you and Michael with only two hours of practice a day.”

“Really now?”

“Yes! Watch!” MC shook off their wings and took off in a running start before shakily making it into the air. Their form was decent enough, and they weren’t shaking as much as the previous attempts. “SEE?!”

“Yes MC,” Lucifer smiled. “I can see.”

You know what else Lucifer could see? MC crashing right into a tree.

“Ouch...”

Okay... maybe they could halt practice a little early and order a treat from Madame Scream’s. A little sugar to refuel is needed when the end goal is crushing a mutual rival beneath their heels. Just some good old fashioned father/child bonding time!

MC has a smaller seat right next to Lucifer’s seat in the Assembly Hall. I will not compromise on this one.

For all your fluff needs, I give you: Lucifer teaching MC how to play the piano. He has a proud little smile on his face when his kid finally starts getting it. That’s all. Enjoy the image.

That one Uncle who gives you Alcohol at Family Gatherings (Mammon)

Yeah, when Mammon burst in late to the party and whining about everyone’s spamming him with texts to haul his scummy ass to the Assembly Hall, the last thing he expected was to see a mini-Lucifer.

“What the fuck am I lookin’ at?!”

The glare the two Lucifers gave the poor Avatar of Greed was enough to make him want to turn tail (uh, wing) and book it down the hall.

“Mammon, this is MC. They’re my child.”

“Hello.”

“...whaaaa..?” Mammon looked between the two, same glare, same intimidating aura, same annoyingly good posture.

Mammon scratched the back of his neck and looked over at his older brother. “Do I uh... still gotta babysit em’ if they’re not human?”

“The lake of Cocytus will melt the day I let you babysit without supervision.” Lucifer grumbled.

“I don’t need a babysitter!”

Despite Lucifer’s initial denial, Mammon and MC ended up spending a lot of time hanging out when Lucifer was busy with paperwork. Of course Mammon’s first thought was ‘how do I profit off this situation?’

MC is now Mammon’s designated babysitter after they caught him picking up their feathers that had fallen off with the intention of painting them white and claiming they were Lucifer’s from back in the Celestial Realm.

Mammon does end up spoiling MC a little. Just a smidge. They’re the kid of his totally not his favourite brother after all! How could he not? Whether or not these gifts are obtained legally or are legal at all is subject to scrutiny.

“Mammon, I can’t drink this!” MC placed the bottle of Demonus back on the counter of the kitchen.

“Why not? That’s a bottle of the good stuff! We gotta celebrate you gettin’ an A on that test somehow!”

“I’m underage! Incredibly underage. I’m not legally allowed to drink.”

Mammon wordlessly plopped a silly straw into the bottle. “...does that help?”

“No.” MC then inclined their head to the bottle. “And I don’t want to get hung from the ceiling, that bottle was in my father’s study yesterday, I’m above theft.”

“How old are you s’posed to be anyway? Never mind... uh...” Mammon wracked his brain for something else he could do for MC that didn’t cost anything (don’t judge him, the poor bastard was flat broke!). “I could... teach you to drive!”

“Driving?”

“Yeah! Drivin’ is awesome! We can take my car!”

The bills for the damages done to the car and the Devildom were mailed to Lucifer the next day, and MC and Mammon got to keep each other company as they hung from the ceiling. Ah well! At least MC wasn’t upside down!

Mammon wasn’t that good of a flight teacher either, he also crashed into a tree (the same tree MC crashed into, actually) when he was cheering for MC. They were finally able to do a loopdy loop! He was proud and distracted! Okay?! Lucifer! Stop smirkin’ at him! It’s not that funny!

At least the vantage point from the tree was decent and the branches didn’t scratch him up too badly. Oh hey... that person walking by was wearing a very nice watch... he’d be right back-

That Uncle That is Always Absent From Family Gatherings and When He is Present He Leaves Early (Levi)

He missed everything. That is not an exaggeration. He was in the middle of an online raid battle and couldn’t look at his phone! No Lucifer he can’t pause an online game! That’s not how it works!

Okay, the human exchange student is half demon? WOAH! THAT’S JUST LIKE THAT ONE ANIME- W A I T. THE LITTLE NORMIE IS LUCIFER’S KID?!

Okie doke, he was fully convinced that MC just had to be an anime protagonist.

They binged every series that Levi compared them to. Sure MC might have missed a few assignments because of late night anime binges, but they were too good for this school crap anyway, right?

Nope. Lucifer put a ban on the two watching anime until both their grades improved. Surviving that hell brought the two together.

“Ugh!”

The sound of a pencil case being haphazardly thrown across the room made Levi peek out of his bed-tub. If his figurines got knocked over so HELP HIM-

“This is stupid!!I shouldn’t have to catch up with this!” MC crossed their arms and gave their Demonology textbook their best disapproving glare.

Lucifer Lite (tm) was having a hell of a time trying to claw through their missed work, and Levi sympathized, he really did, it’s just... he was playing Animal Crossing-

Levi paused the game to placate his anime-buddy when their wings popped out and he feared for his rare merch’s safety.

“H-hey, MC? Do you need help?” Levi’s offer was met with a bone chilling glare that lived rent free in his nightmares ever since. He had pulled a Mammon and forgotten he was talking to Lucifer’s child. Lucifer’s allergy to help must have passed down to MC.

“No! I don’t! It’s just... dumb!” MC hissed, she turned and looked over at the fish tank. “Right Henry 2.0?”

Henry 2.0 did not respond.

“MC, you need to finish your homework or we can’t watch anything together,” Levi sighed, he had finished his work over an hour earlier. He had mastered the art of all night anime binges and managing to do most of his work in the fifteen minutes between the time he woke up and the time school was supposed to begin. “We haven’t even binged all of volume 4 of TSL yet!”

“Mmm...” MC grumbled. “Fine...”

MC picked up their pencil case and began continued their work. Levi breathed a sigh of relief and went back to Animal Crossing.

The tiny normie did in fact finish their work, only after they caved and asked Levi for help. Swore him to secrecy, they did... very intimidating, they were.

Just saying, he most definitely sent that one Keanu Reeves meme with big Keanu and little Keanu but with Lucifer and MC to the wrong group chat. Poor bastard.

Flying lessons? No. Levi hadn’t flown since his time in the Celestial Realm, he had no advice to give other than: “Flap your wings!”

“THAT’S WHAT I’M DOING YOU-”

MC didn’t get to finish that thought, they lost their balance and fell right into RAD’s fountain. Ah well, Levi had a head start on running for his life that he squandered by laughing at MC. RIP.

The Uncle/brother/whatever the fuck that Starts a Fight With Your Dad at the Family Reunion. (Satan)

Oh... another Lucifer? Eugh. Gross.

Satan gave the kid a wide berth when they first met. Everything the kid said or did ticked him off. “Tsk. Look at MC. Making an omelette. So annoying.” “Oh wow, MC vacuumed? Roll out the red carpet, we need to celebrate their existence!” “Look at them. Breathing. Disgusting.”

MC’s pride wouldn’t ever let them admit it but... they knew Satan didn’t like them, and it hurt their feelings.

“Shhhh,” Satan whispered into his backpack.

“Meow.” The backpack replied.

“I said shhhhh.”

The backpack did not reply after that, which was a good thing considering the little princet of the HOL was nearby.

“Satan?” They asked. “Who are you talking to?”

Satan coldly brushed past them as he made his way to his room. “No one you need to concern yourself with.”

When the little calico kitten was safe in his room, Satan quickly realized a mistake in his foolproof ‘sneak a cat into the house’ plan. He didn’t have any toys for the kitten, and he didn’t want his books getting scratched...

It was alright, he’d just rush out to the a store that sold cat things and rush back! Five minute trip tops!

Well when Satan got back the cat was no longer in the room. Oh dear. He discreetly tore apart the house looking for the poor little thing until he ended up finding it in the library, happily chasing around a loose feather being held up by MC.

“Oh, hello Satan.” MC chirped as the kitten batted it’s adorable little paws at the feather.

“My... my door was closed. Did you let the cat out?”

MC shrugged. “I heard meowing.”

Satan ran a hand through his hair and grumbled. Stupid smaller Lucifer. Stupid original Lucifer. Everyone sucked.

“Let me guess, you’re going to run to Lucifer and tell him all about the meowing and the rule breaking.”

MC shook their head and glared at Satan. “Of course not. I’ve already gotten way too attached to this little guy anyway. We’re co-parenting this kitten like mature adults.”

With some coaxing, Satan did sit down and play with the kitten, maybe MC wasn’t... so terrible.

The two watch Unsolved Mysteries together, that’s their show. “This guy did it.” “Satan, we’re two minutes into the episode-” “Trust me.”

Thirty minutes later.

“He did it.” “See MC, what’d I tell you?”

Lucifer did find out about the cat, but with enough pleading, MC and Satan managed to warm up the cold spot in Lucifer’s chest where his heart should have been. The cat’s name is Detective Toe Beans (or just Bean).

Satan can’t fly, he has a tail, but he did read up on wing anatomy and how flight actually works in demons, his advice would be good in theory, but it’s full of so much technical jargon that MC can’t understand it.

At least MC didn’t crash into something, they barrel rolled through one of the HOL’s windows. Good thing it was the window to their room. The broken arm still hurt like hell.

The Best Dressed Bitch Who Brings The Booze to The Reunion. (Asmo)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Lucifer’s kid was SO CUTE! A thousand pictures commemorating that adorable moment needed to be taken! Wait- Lucifer- GIVE BACK THE PHONE-

Asmo, surprise surprise, absolutely adores little MC! So cute! So small! He was just so excited to announce to all his Devilgram followers that Lucifer was finally a certified DILF.

That post disappeared five minutes after it was made but the damage had already been done.

Asmo made sure MC looked their best at all times, if they needed help talking to anyone? Asmo’s got their back!

Sure, maybe he’s a little pushy, but pushy’s a good thing sometimes, right?

“Asmodeus-”

“No, these shoes wouldn’t fit you...”

“Asmo-”

“No, not these ones either...”

“ASMODEUS.”

Asmo squeaked and jumped upwards, Geez Louise... little MC’s voice could sure be scary when they wanted it to be...

“I don’t need any fancy new shoes.” MC huffed, sitting up straighter in one of the chairs in Asmo’s room. “I thought this was supposed to be a sleepover.”

“Hmmm...” Asmo pouted. “Makeovers are an essential part of sleepovers... what’d you do with your human friends up in the human world that could possibly be better than a make-over?!”

MC began to list things off. “Ordered junk food, talked about people we hated, watched movies,”

“Greasy food is so bad for your skin...” Asmo cringed and shook his head violently. “But I’m totally down to watch a movie and bitch about people I hate!”

“Ah yes, human sleepovers, a tradition I never quite had the chance to enjoy.” Solomon said from Asmo’s bed. “Who are we bitching about?”

“Remind me what Solomon is doing here.” MC muttered as they sat down in front of Asmo’s TV.

“Because, I wanted to hang out with my two favourite humans.” Asmo cooed, reaching over and trying to pinch MC’s cheek, which they awkwardly dodged.

“Can we watch The Exorcist?” Solomon asked, propping his head up with his hands.

“Ew, no.” Asmo made a face at him. “That scene with the vomit? Hell NO.”

“Mm.” MC mumbled. Asmo turned to look at them.

“MC? Are you doing okay? You don’t look like you’re having any fun...”

“I’m fine.” MC grumbled.

Asmo pursed his lips, as much as it made his little narcissistic heart break, he nudged MC. “Why don’t you pick the movie, sweetie. I’m sure Solomon and I will like anything you pick!”

MC noticeably brightened. “Let’s watch Scream!”

The strangled noise that came from Asmo was... concerning, but to his credit, The Avatar of Lust held his tongue about his distaste for the movie, and the three slumber-party goers had quite the lovely time.

After the movie ended, MC went back to their room, sure it was a sleepover but their bed was right down the hall.

Good for Asmo and Solomon. Horny fuckers. We stan.

Asmo just claps and tries to cheer MC on when it comes to their flying lessons. (The idea that Asmo came up with to wear his cheerleader costume from the previous Halloween was immediately shot down by Lucifer)

“You’re doing wonderful, MC- WATCH OUT FOR THE POWER LINE!”

MC didn’t hit the power line, but Asmo’s scream of terror caused them to fall butt-first into a dumpster. Their injured tailbone served as a tragic memory of the incident.

Oh well, good thing Asmo had nice smelling soap to give that could mask dumpster-stink.

The Uncle that eats everything and tells you to eat your veggies while you angrily pick at your broccoli at the kid’s table. (Beel)

Lucifer... has a kid?! Beel choked on the cheetos he had snuck into the Assembly Hall when the kid’s wings popped out.

Oh wow, that’s nice :) maybe they can eat together. Belphie would probably like them.

Wait what is the gender neutral term for Niece or Nephew?

...Nibling? Uh... let’s not say that around Beel. We don’t need him to get hungrier and begin associating MC with nibbling on things.

The Underground Tomb incident probably went a little differently, but after all that nonsense, the two are closer than two peas in a pod!

Mmm... peas...

“Beel?” MC stepped into the Avatar of Gluttony’s room.

“Hi MC.” Beel was doing push-ups in the middle of the room, on the ground right beneath his head was a massive bowl of spaghetti that he bit into every time he completed a push-up. “Can you come stand on my back? I need the extra weight.”

“On your back?” MC padded closer. “Are you sure? It’s not going to hurt?”

“No, it’ll be okay.” Beel assured them. “Belphie and I did this all the time. Except Belphie is normally asleep.”

MC tentatively stepped onto Beel’s back. It was a balancing act to say the least, they eventually gave up on standing and ended up sitting cross legged between Beel’s shoulder blades.

“You did this with Belphegor?” MC asked.

“Yeah,” Beel sighed. “He was always too tired to exercise, but he’d let me bench press him sometimes...”

MC frowned and hugged their knees to their chest. Knowing full well that Beel’s twin wasn’t in the human world like Lucifer said was absolutely ripping them apart from the inside. Guilt felt just as rotten as their pride did when they were being belittled...

“Maybe you’ll see him again sometime soon.” MC whispered. “Maybe my father’ll come to his senses and let him come back down to the Devildom.”

Beel paused his push-ups for a brief moment, then nodded and went back to his eating exercising combo. “I hope so. He’ll like you, MC. I’m sure of it.”

MC nodded. “I... hope so.”

Beel’s a pretty decent flight teacher, but his wings are just so different from MC’s that it renders any tips he had next to useless.

“MC, maybe your wings aren’t flapping fast enough.”

“Beel, I appreciate the thought, but I’m not a hummingbird. Or a fly. I don’t need to flap my wings a million times a minute to stay afloat.”

Ah well, MC tried to take some of Beel’s advice, but their lower right wing cramped up and they ended up flying in circles until Beel was able to catch them. Ah well, better than the dumpster incident the previous week.

The Uncle That Passes Out in The Basement and You’re Not Allowed to Wake Him Up Even Though All Your Toys and Video Games Are Down There. He Also Picks a Fight With Your Dad’s New S/O Before He Passes Out. (Belphie)

Sitting in the attic was quite a drag, and this supposedly weak little human was quite the annoyance to try and call out to. It took a lot longer than expected, but when he heard little footsteps coming towards his prison, Belphegor nearly jumped with joy.

Oh... it... looked like Lucifer. Smelled like Lucifer. Stood like Lucifer. Quacked like Lucifer. Or... trilled..? Whatever sound a peacock made, this brat sounded an awful lot like Lucifer.

A... half-demon. Hmph. Belphie honestly thought Lucifer had actual standards. Not anymore, he guessed.

(Man I could fill a whole-ass fic with the Belphie betrayal thing, but for now let’s skip to post attic nonsense)

Okay so maybe MC wasn’t disgusting. They made a good nap buddy. It was cute when their wings came out when they were sleeping sometimes. Well... it was cute when they didn’t hit him in the face and make him wake up with his mouth full of feathers.

What Beel said had been true, Belphie made a good substitute when weights weren’t available, but Beel didn’t want MC to feel left out, so Belphie and MC ended up sitting on his back while he did push ups. MC once got bored and started playing Go Fish with Belphie on Beel’s back while he exercised.

Yes. MC is still a member of the Formerly-Anti-Lucifer League.

“Are you sure he’s not going to be too mad at us?” MC asked for the dozenth time that day. Detective Toe Beans was wrapped around their neck like a scarf (he had gotten so big!!!) while MC nervously sat in one of the Library chairs.

“Positive.” Belphie said with a toothy grin. “Besides, he’s like putty when it comes to you. Just give him your best puppy eyes and we’re not guilty on all charges.”

Putty..? Really..? Lucifer..? How strict was he before MC got there... they wondered.

“Sh! He’s coming!” Satan stuck his nose into a random book, it was the Oxford English Dictionary... and it was upside down.

Belphie pretended to pass out and MC decided that the best course of action was to stare deeply into their cat’s eyes. Yeah... that looked casual and not weird.

“Satan, MC, Belphie.” Lucifer nodded to the three of them as he walked towards the entrance to his study.

“Lucifer.”

“Afternoon, father.”

Belphie let out a cartoonishly loud fake snore that nearly caused both MC and Satan to break cover and start laughing.

Side note, Bean had adorable widdle eyes! That cute little face was just to die for-

“You three..!”

Belphie, Satan, and MC peeked their heads into Lucifer’s study, their handiwork was perfect. Everything was covered in red post it notes. Perfectly not harmful, but SO inconvenient!

“You’re all cleaning this up or so help me-”

“GO!” Belphie and Satan each grabbed one of MC’s arms (Satan also grabbed Bean) and sprinted out of the House of Lamentation. Maybe they’d move back there in twenty years... they hoped that Solomon and The Angels would let them crash at Purgatory Hall...

Belphie had used up his physical energy supply for the next four years. He passed out the moment they stepped into sanctuary. Time for a nap...

Flight practice? Ha. Belphie’s napping. Though, he was suspiciously awake and filming whenever MC did something stupid.

“Try not to suck so bad.”

“GO TO HELL BELPHIE!”

“I’m already there. Hell is every second I’m stuck here watching you fail.”

“YOU’RE GOING TO GET IT FOR THAT!”

Well... MC mastered the dive bomb that day. Lucifer bought them a cake.

Bonus! Your Dad’s New Husband! That Has Managed to Somehow Make Everyone Hate Him Despite the Fact That He’s A Cinnamon Roll. (Diavolo)

A mini Lucifer? A mini Lucifer!

Diavolo dotes on MC like he’d dote on his own kid. MC wants a crown? They’re getting a crown! A damn nice one too! MC wants a title? Here! MC is now... idk Ruler of the area between Majolish and Hell’s Kitchen.

Poor Uncle Mammon’s got some financial insecurity, he’s still the cool uncle... right?!

He is very much that ‘how do you do fellow kids?’ Meme.

He tries to do stereotypical ‘dad’ things but he’s not very good at them. Once he tried to host a barbecue...

Barbatos saved the day, but Mammon’s hair was still singed, Solomon’s cooking still gave Beel food poisoning (SOLOMON EATS TOXIC WASTE I SWEAR-), Luke still got hit in the face with a frisbee, and Simeon got an unhealthy dose of DAD NERVES and got so stressed everyone was almost blinded by the holy light he suddenly started blasting. We do not mention the water guns.

(Seriously whose bright idea was it to give Belphie and Satan water guns while they were in Lucifer’s presence?)

Praise Barbie. He’s too good for them.

“Um...” MC awkwardly held up the baseball, trying to look at it from all angles like it was a completely alien object. “Lord Diavolo... are you sure you want to play catch?”

Diavolo clapped his hands and bounced on the balls of his feet. “Yes! It’s a thing human fathers do with their children, correct? We must make up for lost time between you and Lucifer, right?”

Lucifer massaged his temples and nodded. “If you two would like to play catch...” Lucifer grimaced. “I will too.”

“Okay! MC, throw the ball to Lucifer!” Diavolo instructed.

Lucifer half heartedly held up his baseball glove as MC tossed him the ball. He caught it, and looked over at Diavolo, who was applauding like he just witnessed the greatest feat in sports history.

“Okay! Throw it to me!” Diavolo waved his glove in the air, Lucifer rolled his eyes and smiled. He threw the ball at Diavolo with... a lot of force. Enough force to probably dent steel... Diavolo caught it like it was nothing.

MC suddenly feared for their safety.

“Okay MC, catch!”

Diavolo threw the ball with enough force to break the god damn sound barrier. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the ball sailed way over MC’s head and crashed right through a window.

“Oh my...” Diavolo put a hand on his hip and surveyed the damage to the window. “This isn’t so bad, I believe in human world TV shows this happens quite often. Look! The glass broke in a perfect circle!”

“Yay... property damage...” MC murmured.

Lucifer sighed and pulled out his DDD. “I’ll phone someone to replace the win-”

“Lucifer no! Now according to human world customs we must,” Diavolo took a deep breath, rushed forward, grabbed both Lucifer and MC’s hands and started sprinting away from the Demon Lord’s Castle. “RUN FOR IT!”

“Di- Diavolo!” Lucifer gasped.

“Who are we running from?! That’s your castle!” MC squeaked.

“I don’t know! Just run! That’s what the human TV show says to do!”

Weirdly enough, Diavolo was the best flight instructor. MC’s ability to fly increased tenfold after Diavolo found out that MC was learning to fly.

“You’re doing amazing MC! That was a perfect turn!”

“Thanks Lord Diavolo, I’m surprised I haven’t crashed into anyone or fallen yet!”

“Well, I highly doubt you’ll be crashing into anyone anymore, your flying is practically perfect now!”

Mammon proceeded to fly past them holding what looked like Lucifer’s wallet.

“M-mammon?!”

“Oh... I wonder what he’s doing. Look, MC! It’s Lucifer! Hello Lucifer dea-”

Lucifer ended up colliding with the two of them and sending them all crashing to the floor.

That was the last time MC fell during flying practice.

(We currently have a Go Fund Me set up for Mammon to get the funds necessary to flee the Devildom after that incident. Please donate to save- oh shit hi Lucifer-)

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (March 31/2021) - George Lore

George sleeps.

---

VOD LINKS:

Foolish

Quackity

George

Ranboo

Captain Puffy

---

TW: Derealization

---

- George talks to his conscience, as voiced by Quackity.

Georgre Lore Part 2

- George has been thinking about the past. He’s had things happening that no one knows about, and he wants to talk about it.

- Quackity turns back into George’s conscience. George introduces his conscience to Lore Man (voiced by Wilbur). Lore Man tells George’s conscience that George beat him on the field of battle. He cannot sheathe his sword until George has been defeated.

- Lore Man asks if George ended up winning the vice presidency. George tells the conscience that he was supposed to be running for president.

- He was taking a stroll when Lore Man jumped out at George, but George was prepared and beat him fair and square. George, though he won, was terribly wounded, and he had to rest. The sword has an enchantment on it to make people sleep.

- George experienced an unexplainable lapse of time. He woke up and everything was gone, everyone was mad at him. There was a scar on his arm, dried blood, and he was confused. 

- George harvests the day’s harvest.

- George asks why he’s doing all this work, putting in his blood, sweat and tears for people who care not. He goes to explore a nearby ravine.

Georgre Lore Part 3 George’s SEcret marrieg 

how did he become divorce

It’s Possibleer

- They visit Fundy’s Pet War arena: the ancient battle ground, Lore Man’s “scuffle pad.” Ranboo arrives and asks if there is a scuffle going on here.

- Lore Man gives George a scuffle rock and tells him to meet in the middle of the scuffle pad. They will do ten paces. 

- They take ten paces and scuffle. George begs Lore Man to spare him. Lore Man says farewell and leaves with George’s lore and also his dignity.

Georgre Lore Part 4

why georg not h ave lore

THe trip to Lmanb

- George visits the crater that is L’manburg. He could have had an excellent presidency. George’s conscience tells him to think about all the terrible memories this place holds. He leads George to the bomb room and tells George to think of a life where he owned L’manburg.

- They visit the shrine where Friend is. The thunder booms, and a voice from the sky calls out to George: Mexican Dream himself. He has a story to tell. If George had become vice president, Mexican Dream would never have existed. He owes George his existence, and wants to repay him.

- MD tells George that the issue is, he wants to repay George but he’s dead. He tells George that this is all a figment of his imagination. He’s dreaming, getting information through his sleep. MD is reaching out to George through his conscience.

- Lore Man comes back to ask when MD is giving George sloppy.

Lore Man: “What’s left of you, Georgenotfound? You are a husk of what you were.”

Georgre Lore Part 5

geirge visits his Old home

- George visits his house (now a catmaid cafe). He goes inside and finds Badboyhalo crouching in a hole in the floor

- Lore Man breaks through the window and tells George that he should be happy he isn’t asleep, because every sleep brings him closer to his demise, and he will make sure George sleeps through everything ever again. George asks if Lore Man gave him a sleeping curse. 

- Lore Man tells George to make the most of his cat house, because soon he will be sleeping in it forever. Outside, George finds a massive bed by his home. His conscience tells him that he must go to sleep within his dream.

- Lore Man tells him he has a revelation to reveal to George before he goes to sleep...he knows who George’s parents are, canonically, and also his surname:

Lore.

George Lore.

Georgre Lore Part 5 6

GEORGE SEES A NEW GUY

- George’s conscience tells him that though this is not real, it is a manifestation of something George feels guilty about.

- George sees a little kid crying at the edge of the lake. It’s Quackity. He’s crying because today, he lost the elections because George slept in.

- A new character appears. It is Lore Woman! She presents a cornflower to George. Lore Man hands Lore Woman a scuffle rock. Ranboo takes off his crown and becomes the Scuffle Man: overseer of the scuffle.

- Quackity shouts that he will fight alongside George. Even though George has disappointed him, he will fight with George to defeat the Lores. 

GEORGERO LORE Part 8

THE FORMER CANDIDATES FIGHT TOGETHER AGAINST LOREMAN AND LOREWOMAN

- The two pairs stand at the scuffle grounds. George speaks to Badboyhalo, the floor goblin, for words of wisdom.

- Lore Man and Lore Woman are standing on bales of hay. Lore Man asks George to remember the wheat he harvested as a young boy.

- Lore Man tells Scuffle Man to begin. Quackity asks George if he has any last words. George places down the cornflower on the battlefield. It is time.

Scuffle Man: “Ten paces SCUFFLE!”

- The scuffle begins. Quackity’s legs are broken. They continue fighting. The Scuffle Man stops the scuffle. Something has gone wrong: Lore Woman has been shot in the head! She rebrands to Lore Lady.

- Quackity tells them that it must end with George and Lore Man in one final scuffle. Lore Man says he wants to use the weapon meant for George: the enchanted sleep sword. George responds that he shall plunge the scuffle rock into Lore Man’s chest.

- Lore Man tells George that they have known each other for many, many years. But he deserves to know the truth: he deserves to know his father.

Lore Man: “I am your father, Georgenotfound.”

- Lore Man and Lore Lady intended to create George to be the king of lore. But here he is, having slept through everything. Lore Man tells George that he wants George to make his first bit of lore. He says to take his sword -- named “Lore” -- and that he has only one canon life left.

- Lore Lady protests, but Lore Man insists that George must make his lore. George must make a widow of Lore Lady.

- Lore Man bows his head. He tells the floor goblin to take good care of his wife, and says to Lore Lady that he wishes for her to marry this man. George tells Lore Man to place his head upon the hay.

Lore Man: “Make me proud, son.”

George: “Farewell, Lore Man.”

- George decapitates his father.

GEORGE LORE.

LAST PART

WAKING UP.

- His conscience wakes George from a bed at Spawn. George discovers he has the Lore sword. George marches down the path into the distance.

- George’s stream starts off with a distorted version of C148′s Minecraft.

- George has no items. He speaks to Niki and Bad. Bad is confused when George mentions the floor goblin. Was it all just a dream?

- George turns around to see Mexican Dream. Mexican Dream tells George the story of how he visited Tommy and Dream killed him. He came back to see Mexican L’manburg. He found a way to come down here.

- George and MD reach the place where Mexican L’manburg used to be. They’re confused. Where is it? 

- Mexican Dream shouts at George -- where is Mexican L’manburg? George insists he thought it was there. Bad says George destroyed it while sleep-mining, or at least someone who looked like George.

- George asks, what if it was Bad? Niki vouches for Bad, she doesn’t think it was him. Mexican Dream is heartbroken. He doesn’t have much time down here. The timer already went off. He doesn’t know how long he has left.

- Bad says the person looked like Quackity, but with different clothes. Mexican Dream doesn’t know who Quackity is. George does, but he doesn’t know where Quackity  lives.

- Mexican Dream sees L’manhole. He’s shocked, but MD doesn’t care. He made Mexican L’manburg because he hated L’manburg. He was going to do it eventually himself anyways.

- They go to Quackity’s old house underneath Karl’s. MD tells them to leave the room while he inspects.

- George wonders why he smells smoke. They run back in to see MD lighting Quackity’s room ablaze. MD tells George to find out where Quackity is, or else. He then disappears.

- Badboyhalo says this might be a good thing, actually. Quackity has been rebelling against the Egg for so long, he had this coming. Niki is upset. She vouched for Bad, and now he’s happy that Quackity’s house is gone?

- They ask if Bad was trying to frame Quackity. Bad says that he can tell Quackity that this is what happens when you double-cross the Egg. 

George: “The Egg has actually messed you up. Can you even hear what you’re saying?!”

- Bad says they’re both coming with him. They’ll take a little trip to see the Egg. George asks why he’s acting like this. Niki whispers to George that maybe this is good, maybe they can find out what’s going on.

- Bad tells George that, anything he could possibly want, the Egg can give it to him. If Quackity asks what happened to his house, they have to lie to him and say that the Egg did it.

- DreamXD joins the game and greets them. They explain what’s going on.

- DreamXD tells George that he heard that yesterday, George made a deal with the devil and lost, so he kills Badboyhalo. The world is at balance now.

- He tells George that the stuff is his now, but George hesitates, wondering if it’s infected. Bad grabs the stuff back before George can take it.

- DreamXD returns to George, telling him that he gave him a chance at full Netherite. George asks for another chance, but DreamXD refuses. When George insists, DreamXD’s voice distorts.

George: “What happened to your voice?”

DreamXD: “You try and abuse my kindness -- I save you?! I save you, I give you full Netherite, you throw it away then you ask me for MORE!”

George: “I thought it was -- I thought it was fine?”

DreamXD: “Oh, it’s so fine, it’s fine -- everything’s fine! It’s all just a game to you, George!”

George: “I don’t know if I like this, DreamXD.”

DreamXD: (normal) “Oh, ok.”

- Niki asks if he’s sure he’s awake right now. George gets annoyed at Enderman sounds everywhere. He asks why DreamXD is acting like this.

- DreamXD says he doesn’t come here very often. George points out that he comes here a lot when George is here. DreamXD explains that George invited him. DreamXD doesn’t want to scare George. It just comes out sometimes.

Dream: “George, it’s me, Dream!”

George: “Dream? ...Dream?”

DreamXD: “Hm...he’s gone.”

- George says he would rather be with Bad and the Egg at this point. DreamXD starts to chase him.

George: “Dream?”

DreamXD: “Who’s Dream?”

- DreamXD laughs and says he’s not going to hurt George.

- George asks what DreamXD wants. DreamXD says he simply wants George’s acceptance. He wants to be George’s friend. 

George: “I can’t even hit you. What’s wrong with you? And now you’re flying.”

DreamXD: “I’m god.”

- George tells DreamXD to prove it by giving him the best armor in the world.

DreamXD: “You really try and abuse me again.”

George: “No, we’re friends, we’re friends! This is what friends do, they give each other gifts.”

DreamXD: “All friends beg each other for stuff?! Apologize!”

- George apologizes. DreamXD forgives him. 

DreamXD: “I mean, at least you don’t try and like, hunt me or something.”

...

George: “Dream. How do we just go back to normal?”

DreamXD: “What do you mean?”

George: “How do we fix this? You’re being --”

DreamXD: “I’m not Dream...I’m not Dream. Sort of. I’m a part of him.”

George: “You look like Dream.”

- DreamXD gives George some diamonds. George asks what to make.

DreamXD: “Whatever your heart desires.”

- George gets a holy spoon. They see Badboyhalo approach. DreamXD shouts at him and scares Bad off.

- They do it again, George aiming to troll Bad. But DreamXD gets a bit morbid. George says he doesn’t think DreamXD should have done that, but DreamXD thought it was a fun prank.

- They go over to Karl’s Harry Potter home and descend into the wedding chapel. DreamXD doesn’t understand what he’s doing wrong.

- George gets frustrated by the Endermen sounds again. DreamXD wants to learn. He doesn’t know when things are too far because he isn’t like George.

- George then teaches DreamXD to apologize to Bad, then suggests they prank Niki. Instead, DreamXD scares her away too.

- They pull a harmless prank on Niki in Church Prime, but Niki didn’t find it very funny.  DreamXD asks if Niki would like to see a magic trick. He makes her “disappear” by killing her. DreamXD brings her back. He says he sent her to Hell and brought her back into the church. 

- Niki tells George good luck with him and then runs away. George says he’s done. 

DreamXD: “Why are you giving up on me?”

George: “You’re scaring me.”

DreamXD: “I don’t wanna--”

George: “I just want to go back and eat my food like I used to, you know, back to the old times, farming my food, all in peace, where I don’t have to worry about you killing people, being weird...”

DreamXD: “But you’re giving up on me!”

George: “It just doesn’t look like you’re making an effort. I don’t know. I’m sorry, but...it looks bad on me, you know?”

DreamXD: “Well...well I’m sorry...”

- DreamXD says George can teach him. He makes a pun about axes. He’s learning!

- DreamXD asks for forgiveness. George asks what’s in it for him.

DreamXD: “I can give you your heart’s desires.”

- He doesn’t know what’s in it for George, but asks for George to just forgive him. George says that he’ll forgive DreamXD and give him a chance only if he gives George Netherite armor and tools.

DreamXD: “We can be powerful together! You can teach me, and I can teach you! I can teach you so many things!”

- George says he’ll be his friend if DreamXD gives the things to him. DreamXD insists on forever. George has to promise.

George agrees. Forever. DreamXD says if he’s lying, he will tear George limb from limb. They will be the best of friends!

- DreamXD gives George the Netherite. DreamXD puts on his Ender Dragon head. They will remember this moment. They take a celebratory picture.

- George posts it on Twitter. (DreamXD doesn’t like Twitter because they cancel him for murder)

- DreamXD says he will see George another time and disappears.

- George goes off on his own, wondering why he keeps hearing Endermen where there aren’t any.

- A sentient anthropmorphic cow version of Quackity visits George in the spider spawner and shows him a dog in the floor named Pluto, then starts talking to George about Yeezys

- George notices the cow is holding a...scuffle rock? Cow Quackity says goodbye and George wakes up in his bed at Spawn again.

He has everything DreamXD gave him.

[thedragonnerd]

Fic: Love Languages

Headcanon suggested by a lovely anon, which spawned into a fic. Read on Ao3 or under the cut.

Words of affirmation

Receiving compliments or words of encouragement are not uncommon for Namaari. She has gone through life aiming to be the best at everything she does – the best leader, the best warrior, the best Princess – and along with her success come compliments on her fighting techniques, her decision-making skills, and even her ability to look formidable in her formal attire.

As royalty, people lavish her with praises when they see an opportunity to get into her good graces, despite the obvious lack of sincerity behind their words, and it tires her to deal with fawning citizens. She loves her people, but she’d rather they’d love her back truly; false words mean nothing.

Chief Virana does not give out compliments easily, and is often faster to critique than to encourage. Namaari pretends her mother’s approval is nothing more than something important to receive from her Chief, but in reality, she craves hearing soft words such as ‘well done, Morning Mist’, whenever she is lucky enough to have them bestowed upon her.

As she grows up, she decides that sweet words are nice to have, but ultimately unnecessary – nothing more than a nod of acknowledgement is needed, before one can place it aside and move on to more important things. And then Raya comes back into her life.

Raya, who can flirt endlessly with elaborate innuendos until Namaari rolls her eyes at her ridiculousness. Raya, who is quite happy to press herself closer than absolutely necessary in their sparring sessions, just to set out some unspoken physical challenge.

And yet, when it comes to providing a genuine compliment, Raya practically freezes.

‘I like…like your hair,’ she mumbles one day to Namaari, glancing off to the side in order to avoid making eye contact. Her cheeks are flushed bright red, even though earlier in the day she had made a lewd comment about a sword which didn’t even have her blinking.

For some reason, Raya’s lack of suaveness when it comes to providing true compliments delights Namaari, and she hoards each instance close to her heart, happy in the knowledge that every word spoken was genuine in its meaning.

In return, she starts to gift Raya with compliments of her own.

For Raya is not used to receiving compliments, at least not in a long time. Her Ba used to provide encouragement and compliments often, but that was many years ago, and now he hesitates to put them into words sometimes, unsure of how this new dynamic works when he’s looking at a grown-up daughter rather than a small child.

Namaari has no difficulty in sharing them though.

‘You look very beautiful today,’ she tells Raya softly one evening, when they are having dinner. Raya stammers out some incomprehensible response, and spends the rest of the meal staring down at her bowl, occasionally darting her eyes over to Namaari.

‘I love that hairstyle on you,’ Namaari says to her a few days later, watching as Raya braids her hair back with expert precision.

‘Umm…thanks?’ Raya squeaks.

‘Your techniques were excellent today,’ Namaari informs her after a sparring session. This time, Raya just nods, and clears her throat before trying to awkwardly change the subject. Namaari can still see the smile on her lips though.

Eventually, Raya becomes better at both giving and receiving words of affirmation. Namaari learns how true compliments can be more meaningful than expected.

It isn’t the most important aspect of their relationship, but they like to encourage each other all the same.

Acts of service

Raya sees how much of a burden Namaari perpetually takes onto her shoulders, in her duties for Fang. She is so focused on helping her people rebuild and expand, or going away on diplomatic missions to help form better relations with the other lands, that she forgets to take a moment to breath sometimes.

Raya wants to take some of her stress away, by helping her carry out some of her duties or at least be involved in organizing certain aspects of the expansion projects, but she discovers quickly that Namaari is somewhat of a perfectionist. It is almost more stressful for her to find herself out of the loop or uninformed about decisions, than it would be to allow her undertake the duties in the first place, and so Raya finds it more helpful to just back off from the work unless asked to provide support.

It’s also a way for Namaari to feel as if she is atoning for her past actions. Raya wishes she wouldn’t feel the need to do so, but it is something they’ve argued about before, and they always end up stuck in a perpetual loop.

One of the ways Raya can help however, is with her cooking.

Namaari is an awful cook (something Raya unfortunately discovers herself with one ill-fated meal), but she is fascinated by watching Raya conjure something up in the kitchen.

Gone are the days of living off jackfruit jerky; with so many fresh and interesting ingredients at her disposal, and with the occasional reminders from Ba when she is unsure about something, Raya makes a whole array of different foods over the months.

It’s one of the best ways of getting Namaari to relax, Raya finds. Every mealtime when Raya is behind the pot, Namaari will abandon whatever work she is doing, and will sit and watch Raya finish making the dishes. They’ll always eat it together, and for a short while, Raya can feel the stress lift free from Namaari as she laughs over Raya’s words and enjoys good food.

Gifts

The first gift Namaari ever gave Raya has almost become a symbol for their entire complicated history. It represents new friendship, betrayal, and after so many years…forgiveness and a fresh start.

Namaari gives it back to her not long after the return of Kumandra, before she can second-guess herself.

‘It was a gift,’ she says, half-expecting it to be thrown back in her face. But Raya runs her finger gently over the surface of the dragon pendant, and then sends her a small smile. The next day, Namaari sees it hanging around her neck once more.

Once they start dating properly, Namaari can’t get it out of her mind how much the gift seemed to mean to Raya, both times.

‘She still doesn’t have that many personal belongings,’ Namaari informs Sisu, as an explanation as to why she was forcing the dragon to accompany her around endless market stalls in Talon, looking for the perfect gift for Raya. ‘I figure it’s because she was on the move so much in life, she couldn’t carry a lot.’

Sisu makes an ‘mmm’ sound, clearly not buying her reasoning completely, but allows the topic to drop when she’s distracted by shiny objects at the next stall.

Namaari finds a small knife that can be strapped to a wrist and slipped up the sleeve. She knows how much Raya prefers to be carrying at least one weapon with her at all times, and this would be perfect for diplomatic meetings – subtle, and easy to hide. And indeed, Raya wears it continuously after receiving it as a gift.

On another visit to another market, this time in Spine, Namaari spies a comb with a beautifully carved handle.

‘For your hair,’ she says in an attempt to be casual, thrusting it awkwardly in Raya’s direction that evening. Raya loves it, and it is indeed used every night before bed to comb out her braids.

Every time Namaari has to travel on diplomatic missions, she now ensures that she brings back something small for Raya.

‘I love the gifts,’ Raya tells her one day. ‘But I love even more how it shows you’re thinking of me when you’re away.’

One evening, as they are getting ready for bed, a small golden ring drops out of Namaari’s pocket by mistake.

‘Is…is that my old hair band?’ Raya asks, peering over the side of the bed as Namaari scoops it up in a hurry. ‘I thought I’d lost that years ago.’

‘I found it,’ Namaari says defensively, clutching it tight in her fist. ‘I guess…I never asked you if you wanted it back?’

Raya shakes her head with a smile, but the following evening, she steps up behind Namaari, sliding her hand into her pocket. Namaari watches as she pulls out the hair band and threads it onto a small gold chain.

From then on, they both wear a gift from the other around their necks.

Physical touch

Sometimes, everything can become overwhelming, the past traumas so great that it seems suffocating. And in that darkness, sometimes the gentle touch of another is the only thing keeping the world grounded.

Raya goes six long years without receiving a hug. At the time, she doesn’t see it as a big deal – she’s grown up fast, and learnt that the world isn’t the welcoming place her father once hoped it could be. Even moreso, her Ba was the last one to hug her, and she doesn’t mind keeping it that way.

Now though, she finds comfort in the small touches. It’s in the featherlight way Namaari’s nose brushes against her neck as they curl up together in bed, waiting for the morning sun to rise. It’s in the gentle trail of Namaari’s fingers across her back, as they stand talking to others, and Namaari absentmindedly reaches out for her. It’s in the soft kiss against her temple, when Namaari has to go back to work after lunch.

Occasionally, she will need to be encompassed by that comfort, and in this moment, she will go and find Namaari, stepping closer until her forehead rests on her shoulder. No matter what she was previously doing, Namaari will pause everything, wrapping her arms tightly around Raya, and they stand there until Raya can feel as if she can breathe again.

Namaari has a habit of falling too far into her own mind sometimes. She is an outwardly composed and pragmatic individual, but internally, all sorts of doubts and guilt still plague her, and there are days where she can’t shake off the feeling that she isn’t doing enough in her life to atone for her past, or that she is a fraud who has no right in stepping up and trying to lead her people when her previous actions cost them so much.

It’s difficult for her to ask for help in these moments. Raya learns instead to notice the signs of a bad day, or whenever Namaari gets trapped into a downwards spiral, and she will take Namaari by the hands and sit them somewhere quiet.

There they can actually talk, and sometimes Namaari feels comfortable enough to share her fears. But the most important thing, Raya finds, is to slide an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in tight and peppering her cheek and bare shoulder with small kisses.

Raya refuses to let her go until she sees at least one small smile.

Quality time

In the early days of the relationship, there is still so much separation between the two of them. Raya is in Heart, helping her Ba welcome back everyone to their lands, fixing up the buildings, ensuring the harvest gets started…There are so many jobs to do, and Raya knows Namaari is undergoing the same issues back in Fang, coupled with an expansion of their kingdom.

On top of all of this, there are endless council meetings and diplomatic missions, so if it isn’t Namaari being busy with politics, it is Raya, much to her annoyance.

Whenever they do get to spend time together, they ensure no minute is wasted. They have meals together, and spar together, and find all sorts of random ways to entertain themselves. Namaari loves to go out in the evenings and watch the night sky, attempting to teach the constellations to Raya; but Raya decides that these constellations are ridiculous, and so they create their own. Raya meanwhile loves to go for hikes in the woods, dragging Namaari along to discover new plants and wildlife, and occasionally climbing the trees.

They both love to sit in bed next to each other, quietly reading their books, or discussing their day. Sometimes, Raya will lie sideways on the bed, her stomach across Namaari’s legs and her arms hanging over the edge, so she can carve pieces of wood into intricate shapes, with Namaari reads out loud for the both of them.

Even after several years, and living together permanently, Raya finds herself reflecting on the fact that she never gets bored as long as she’s with Namaari.

They are currently lying in a field somewhere in the depths of Heart land, enjoying the sun shining onto their faces and the grass tickling their skin. She lazily wiggles her hand until it makes contact with Namaari.

‘Dep la?’ Raya whispers, and Namaari grunts in response. ‘You don’t get bored with me, right?’

Namaari merely shuffles closer without even opening an eye, resting her cheek against Raya’s shoulder.

‘Don’t be stupid,’ she mumbles, and she’s curled up so close that Raya can feel the vibrations of her voice on her skin.

‘Didn’t think so,’ Raya says in satisfaction. They continue to enjoy the peace.

[3d-game-concept]

5 different types of first person games.

First person shooter: Titanfall 2.

Titanfall 2 is one my favourite games. The campaign in my opinion is the best compared to any other fps seeing as you were just a regular soldier who is the only survivor of the battle led by Captain Lastimosa. This squad is wiped by the Apex Predators, leaving you to scavenge a battery from a broken ship in order to fix the titan that the captain piloted. Throughout the entire story Jack Cooper (the protagonist-who you play as) goes from being a rifleman to a pilot and you control his journey.

The campaign aside let's discuss what makes Titanfall 2 better than most fps games. First off, the movement mechanics are phenomenal from wall running to double jumping. These mechanics allow much more risky level design but the movement allows these to be completed with ease. These movements make multiplier a cruel but exciting feeling as you face off against enemy factions creating a warzone atmosphere. The ability to control these giant mechs is phenomenal adding an obstacle any normal pilot would not beat but another titan can.

Horror: Phasmophobia

Phasmophobia is a first person horror game where you are a part of a team in which you have to go into a selection of different buildings with a range of difficulties with some maps being harder than the others, to discover what type of ghost is haunting the place so another team can come in and remove it, though you never see this happen.

You have to buy equipment with the money you earn from each hunt and the equipment is how you gather evidence for the type of ghost. For example an EMF reader is a piece of evidence where if it reaches 5 levels you note down EMF 5 in your book. If the ghost responds to you through a ghost box you note down note box and if temperatures reach freezing you note down freezing temps.

I love this game even though I have only played it twice around my Uncle's as I don't have a pc, though when I do, this will be the first game I purchase for my steam library.

Indie: The maze runner

Me and Rohan played a roblox maze runner game as it was similar to both of our games. The maze had spiders which spawned at night. These spiders were more powerful than the character in both movement and strength meaning that you would have to tactically retreat whilst attacking the monster. Your goal is to complete puzzles whilst navigating the maze to escape.

The maze runner series is based around the earth being hit by a solar flare which causes a disease known as 'the flare' that turns humans into zombies. A large group of children are experimented on in hopes of obtaining a cure to the virus. The protagonist once helped the organisation that was behind all of this before he got his memories wiped and put into the maze himself. Everyone in the maze was tasked with escaping without them knowing so until Thomas uncovers the truth.

DOOM eternal:

DOOM focuses on a 'push-forward style of gameplay which would constantly put the player into threatening situation where they are required to slay hoards of enemy demons Doom Eternal invites the player to develop simple tactics. As the game gets harder, the player needs to use the advantages of fight arenas, and their bonuses, in more strategic ways. They also need to decide which enemy has to be killed first and how to move on the battlefield.

The push forward aspect encourages the player to aggressively engage enemies in order to acquire health, ammo, and armour in order to survive the many monsters who want you dead.

The Forest:

The Forest is a survival horror video game developed and published by Endnight Games. The game takes place on a remote heavily forested peninsula, where the player character Eric LeBlanc must fight off cannibalistic monsters while searching for his son Timmy after a plane crash.

Players must survive by creating shelter, weapons, and other survival tools. Inhabiting the peninsula, along with various woodland creatures, are a tribe of cannibalistic mutants, who dwell in villages on the surface and in deep caves beneath the peninsula. While they are not necessarily always hostile to the player, their usual behavior is aggressive, especially during the night

[me1ancho1y-b1iss]

Her Robin and His Little Ladybug Ch. 6

As soon as Jason’s exclamation was let out. Tikki zipped out of Marinette’s bag and flew up to Damian. “Hello Tikki” Damian nodded

“Hello little Cat!” Tikki said “what’s your name this time around?” 

“Damian.”  

“Ok, ok, ok. We get it. Big ‘ol happy family reunion. Big whoop. Can someone tell us what just happened!” Jason yelled exasperated

“Jason!” Dick exclaimed hitting Jason on the back of the head 

Tikki floated up in front of the Batfamily saying, “Hi! I’m Tikki, kwamii of Creation.” Tikki turned back around to face Marinette and Damian. “I’m going to go get Plagg, he should be able to help explain what's happening.” Tikki soon left with Kalkii through a portal 

“Ok. what the fuck. Demon spawn you got some explaining to do.” Jason said 

“Tt. Just wait until Plagg and Tikki get back.” Damian said leveling his family with a glare that silenced all of them. 

After a few minutes a baby blue portal opened and Tikki, Plagg and Kalkii all popped out. 

When Damian saw Plagg he got tears in his eyes for the second time that day. 

“Plagg!” He yelled 

“KIT!” Plagg yelled back and rushed to Damians cheek to hug him. Damian responded positively and hugged the little Kwamii back. 

After the happy reunion all the people present in the back batcave were ushered to the table. Everyone was seated with the three Kwamiis hovering above it. 

Bruce, still dressed as Batman spoke first addressing the Kwamii and the two youngest, “Let’s start at the beginning.” 

“Well father, this is Tikki and Plagg, the God and Goddess of creation and destruction, essentially” Damian stated 

Bruce hummed, he’d seen wieder things but his youngest hugging a stranger was definitely among weirdest and he needed to know the reason behind it. 

“In the very beginning just me and Plagg were created, out of what we don't know,” Tikki started. “We created the heavens and eventually other kwamis were created, at the time the kwamis didn’t have a physical shape. All the kwamis represent a concept, for example me and Plagg represent Creation, order and good luck and destruction, chaos and bad luck, respectively. There are other Kwamis that represent other concepts such as protection and transformation, to name a few. Over time my creation powers overflowed and created a multitude of universes, to counteract this Plagg’s power created what you humans have named as black holes, they are just essentially just small pockets of Plagg’s power. Plagg also destroyed planets and stars and whole galaxies. All of this was done for balance, everything requires balance, without creation you have destruction and without destruction, creation runs rampant.” 

“When Earth was created, along with the humans, all the Kwamis were interested. It wasn't till a human mage reached us that we were able to interact with humans. The original 19 kwami decided to go down to earth and interact with more humans thus the miraculous were born.” Tikki continued. “Plagg and I created two souls that are 100% in tune with us. While any person could wield the ladybug and cat miraculous, Damian’s and Marinette’s souls will be more in tune. Some people who have wielded my miraculous and was still a good fit are a few people you might recognize such as Fa Mulan, Hippolyta and Joan of Arc.”  

“Each soul is reborn when the universe is in a great time of need and they are never reborn without each other.” Tikki said  

The room was quiet for a moment then absolute chaos. 

When the brothers finally realized that their questions, ahem demands, weren’t being answered they started to quiet down, though they were still somewhat tense. Hey, it wasn’t everyday that one discovered that their hellspawn of a little brother had a magical girlfriend that he apparently had throughout time. Yeah, maybe that was still processing a little. 

“Quiet, you imbeciles. If you want your questions answered I suggest that you be silent.” Damian said a little exasperated. “I apologise for my idotic brothers, priya. They are still learning their manners and have yet to know how to behave in front of a guest.” Damian continued, glaring at the annoyances of his life that he sometimes considers his brothers to drive his point home. They just shrugged in response. 

Marinette beckoned Tikki over while Damian was staring down his siblings into silence. “Hey Tikki,” she whispered. “Is there any way to get rid of the Lazarus Pits effects? I noticed hood had some remnants on him? And I want to help, Damian has definitely been dipped into the pit, but we both know that the pits don’t affect him much.” Marinette finished. She really hoped that they could red hood could be helped in some way. 

“Oh Marinette,” Tikki sighed sadly. Her bug was always trying to help people. “I think I might be able to cut back on some of the effects, but we both know that he will never be truly healed.” Marinette only nodded sadly. 

At that point Damian looked back over at Marinette and decided to broach the topic of what was bothering her, none of the conversation topics had been too heavy, so Damian had no clue on what could've been bothering her. “What is it?” he asked 

“I think I might be able to help your brother out.” Marinette responded 

Damian raised an eyebrow at this, his brothers needed a lot of help. “With what exactly?” Damian questioned. 

Marinette took a deep breath before looking up straight at Red Hood saying,

“The Lazarus Pits”

At her words Damians eyes went comically wide as he was hit with a load of repressed memories. Jason promptly started choking while the rest of the family was looking at Marinette with a new found wariness. 

“W-what?” Jason choked out. 

Marinette sighed looking at Damian for a confirmation. Once he nodded she continued. “The reason Hawkmoth is even active is because when you combine the miraculous of the ladybug and the miraculous of the black cat the wielder is able to make a wish. The wish is able to bend reality, it’s life altering. Hawkmoth wants the miraculi to fulfill his wish, however no matter the wish, it would cause severe unbalance. As Tikki stated earlier everything requires balance, for example if he wished to bring someone back to life, someone else would have to die in their place.” 

All the bats took this in becoming very aware of what could possibly happen if Hawkmoth were to win. 

Damian sighed heavily before continuing where Marinette left off. “During one of our former lives, we were in an intense battle. At the end I noticed E- well now Marinette lying unconscious. I ran to her hoping she would heal herself, but I was there too late.” Damian let out a shuddering breath. “She was gone and I was desperate to get her back. I knew I would eventually see her again, but the fact that she was gone was still fresh in my mind. So I combined the ladybug miraculous and the black cat miraculous. I knew the consequences, but at the moment I just needed her back in my arms. Alive. So I made a wish. The wish formed what are now known as The Lazarus Pits. However, as life requires balance, the pit would cause madness for anyone who descends into its waters while still giving a person new life. There were no such consequences on Marinette due to the fact that she wielded the ladybug miraculous, but I know it was still the wrong decision to make.” As Damian finished speaking, Marinette gently squeezed his hand offering her silent support, while Damian’s father and brothers stared at him; they’ve never seen him express so much emotion before. 

“I was asking Tikki if there was a way to somewhat reverse the effects of the pits.” Marinette spoke staring directly at Red Hood for a second time that day. “It won't reverse everything but it will hopefully take the edge off so to speak, if it does work.” 

“So what do you say, Red Hood?” Marinette smirked 

A/N: I finally posted chapter 6. we also finally get more background. Hopefully my explanations make sense, every fic I’ve read where they explain the miraculous origin is different so I hope mine is understandable. There will definitely be more past life stories in later chapters but the lazarus story leads us into the next chapter and I couldn’t get the idea that damian saved marinette by combining the miraculous out of my head so... you have this 

Taglist: @bumblebeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee @toodaloo-kangaroo @aespades @mochegato @daminette5074 @yannowhatigiveup @sekhmet5 @alyssadeliv @kking13 @callmewhatyouwant00 @henie04 @buginetye        (if you to want be added, ask and I’ll add you)

[animebookworm16]

Who Are You? - Angst

For @j3ssisam3ss

This is my angst piece for @maribat-angst-fluff-april, prompt 25 Childhood Friends

It was the middle of winter in Gotham when she showed up. A tiny girl everyone guessed to be about three. She never spoke or made a sound, but she often smiled, even on the coldest nights. The little girl would just curl up to whoever had taken her that day and smile. At first the other homeless believed she'd never make it to spring. But the little girl was full of surprises. Not only did she survive the worst of the winter, she thrived once spring arrived.

Everyone knew she had a name, no one knew what it was, but they knew she had one. They also knew she was old enough to know it. Surprisingly, no one ever tried to give her a new name. Sure she got nicknames. More nicknames than a toddler could ever hope to keep track of, but somehow she did.

The little girl grew. As all children must. And the older children and adults always made sure to enunciate whenever she was in the area, hoping to teach her how to speak. They all banded together, like they always do for the especially young kids, and kept her away from the worst of the drugs, gangs, rogues, and the overall darkest parts of Gotham.  She grew, and most people started calling her Pixie. Their little fairy caused laughter and mischief wherever she went. Even still she rarely spoke, her words as few and far between as they were, were always impactful to whoever she spoke to.

When Jason Todd started living on the street, everything changed. Pixie stuck to his side like glue. She laughed, she started talking, Pixie acted like the entire five years she had been living around Gotham she had been solely waiting for Jason to show up. The ones who raised her would have felt jilted if it hadn't been for how happy the little girl looked. Two years passed and the two ten-year-olds rarely left each other's sides.

Then Jason stole the hubcaps off the Batmobile and Pixie was finally picked up by CPS.

Pixie had to be strapped down by CPS so that she wouldn't hurt anyone. Luckily for her, a young French couple had been passing by when they saw what they were doing, and demanded to adopt the young girl. CPS didn't want to deal with the girl for much longer and agreed. When Tom and Sabine found out she didn't have a name, they quickly named her Marinette Dupain-Cheng and decided her birthday would be the same day they adopted her. 

The newly named Marinette was quickly taken out of Gotham and out of the country as the couple returned to Paris.

She never knew that Jason had been adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Jason was picked up by Batman and quickly adopted by Bruce Wayne. Before long he had taken up the mantle of Robin and was fighting crime.  He looked everywhere for his friend but no matter who or where he asked, no one had any idea. As the months passed, Jason lost hope for ever finding Pixie again.

He would never know that she had been picked up by CPS and adopted by a Parisian couple and taken back to Paris.

In Paris, Marinette always appeared happy, and her new parents were always busy but tried to make time for her. Marinette had taken to wandering Paris. She wanted to be familiar with her new city, even if Tom and Sabine didn't always agree with her new habit.

When she started school, Marinette stayed quiet. Friendly, but quiet. This made her a prime target for the mayor's spoiled daughter Chloe. Marinette allowed it to happen and did nothing to change the status quo. three years passed in this way until suddenly Marinette was seated next to an extremely outspoken girl named Alya, who would absolutely not stand for the status quo, so Marinette filled that space, doing what she'd always done since she'd come to Paris molded herself into what everyone around her wanted. The same day she met her new deskmate, and self-proclaimed bestie, Marinette also became one of the two heroes of Paris, fighting an emotional terrorist who thrived on negative emotions (and just being from Gotham made her a prime target). Marinette became Dame Nuit, with her partner Mister Bug.

She listened to everything Plagg told her, especially the warnings and consequences of using the Black Cat Miraculous.

For the next four years, Marinette would fill every mold she was placed in. The hero, the Guardian, the class president, the perfect baker's daughter, everything. 

Then the consequences started showing up. Marinette knew she had to wrap up Hawk Moth and Mayura quickly. She started pushing it so much that Mister Bug called her out one night and in a single moment of weakness she told him what was happening. What her Miraculous was doing to her.

Mister Bug immediately wanted her to stop and let him give the Miraculous to someone else, but Dame Nuit shut it down saying that even if she stopped now, the damage was done and nothing would change that. In fact, using the Miraculous, while it had started the process, was actually slowing it down. Mister Bug cried when she told him that.

Together they redoubled their efforts to bring Hawk Moth and Mayura down. Of course, Mister Bug insisted on bringing in more permanent heroes, under the guise of keeping one of the two things Hawk Moth was after out of the fight. Dame Nuit then argued that it should be the Ladybug because it's the one that can fix everything which just left them going in circles. But even still she conceded to his request for more backup.

Within six months, Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur had been stripped of their Miraculous and Paris was free to feel their emotions once more. All the Miraculous were returned and Marinette and Adrien revealed their identities to each other.

Adrien stuck to Marinette's side and became an unofficial brother. He helped her as the build-up of chaos in her soul took a physical manifestation, and began to destroy her 

A year after Hawk Moth's defeat Marinette's entire class was granted a trip to Gotham City.

Marinette would have laughed at the irony if she didn't know it would probably be the last place she saw. It was strangely comforting to know that the city that held her most precious memories would also be the place that would hold her last.

In Gotham, Jason grew into a young man. He discovered the woman he thought was his mother wasn't. He tracked down his real mother, then got beaten half to death by the Joker only to be blown up by one of Joker's bombs.

Jason died.

Then Jason was revived by the Lazarus Pits and trained by the League of Shadows. He grew to hate Batman and wanted nothing more than to see the end of the Joker. 

Years later, Jason would return to Gotham only to find he had been replaced and that the Joker was still running free, and alive. Jason tried to kill the new Robin, a kid named Tim Drake, Batman, and the Joker. He managed to end none of them.

Bruce convinced Jason to stick around and one thing led to another and Redhood became part of the Batfamily patrol rotation. He doesn't stay in the manor but he does drop in at least once a month for family dinners at Alfred's request. On the weekends, Jason would take Tim out and teach him how to spot a sniper, an assassin, what different guns look like when someone is trying to hide them, and most importantly, how to defuse a bomb. It becomes a bonding time for the two, but Jason still calls Tim 'Replacement' but now as a term of endearment.

He never forgets Pixie and she is one of the few things that kept him sane during the worst of the Pit Madness.

Then Damian shows up and Jason has no idea how to deal with the tiny Demon Spawn. It's rough going for a while but they all found their ways of bonding and before long they are one large dysfunctional family. 

When Jason turned eighteen, he, Dick, Tim, and Damian welcomed a French class to Wayne Industries for a week-long tour. And that is where he thought he saw someone he would never see again.

Without his permission, Jason called out to her, "Pixie?" It was barely a whisper, but she heard it.

Her head whipped around and she stared at him, "Jason?"

He wanted to say it was a happy reunion. And it kind of was. They hugged. Her class and his brothers stared. Then the tears started. Pixie was smiling but tears were streaming down her face.

One of the other students came over and asked her in French if she was okay. Pixie shook her head and the blond boy asked if there was somewhere she could rest. Jason offered to show them a room. The three of them sat in a quiet room as Pixie cried. She kept leaning into Jason and he wasn't about to stop her. After who knows how long, Pixie dried her eyes and haltingly told Jason what was going on. She told him, how she'd been adopted and went by Marinette now. How she was dying and no one besides Adrien, the blond, knew. How she probably wouldn't make it out of Gotham.

Jason's first reaction was to want to hurt something. His second was to hold Pixie as close as he could and never let her go. Jason cried. 

For the rest of the week everywhere that Pixie went, Jason was close behind. The other Waynes noticed and on the fourth day of their stay, invited Pixie and Adrien to join them for dinner.

There, a not-so-subtle interrogation went down, asking Pixie how she knew Jason. At which point, even Pixie's failing health allowed her to spill so many childhood stories about Jason that even they couldn't resist her knowledge. In return, Jason told Adrien stories he had collected about her as a toddler and little kid. It was the brightest smile Adrien had ever seen on Marinette, and the first real smile Pixie had given Jason all week. He could almost pretend that she wasn't dying.

After dinner Pixie said, "Jason, did I ever tell you about the dream I've had ever since I was a little girl?"

"What dream Pix?"

"I've always wanted to stand at the very top of the Wayne Industries building at dawn, and feel the wind at the top of the world."

"Really?"

Pixie smiled a soft sad smile, "Yeah. Do you think we could do that tomorrow?"

Jason suddenly realized what Pixie was talking about, and had to fight a lump in his throat to answer, "Yeah. Pix. Yeah, we can do that."

Adrien and Pixie stayed the night that night. That morning at about three, Jason woke them up and took them to the top of Wayne Industries. Pixie stood as high up as she possibly could. Adrien and Jason watched her with tears in their eyes. Before long, they were joined by Batman, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin, who all wanted to make sure she wouldn't fall. Jason didn't have the heart to tell them they couldn't stop what was about to happen.

As dawn started to creep up on them, Adrien broke down sobbing, begging Marinette to fight a little longer. When the light hit her head, Marinette closed her eyes and smiled. They all saw her start to fade.

Her hands went first. Like dust. As the light increased so did her fading. Before she faded completely, Pixie walked towards them a peaceful smile on her face. Jason was crying now too. His Pixie looked like a ghost.

And as she faded completely, everyone on that roof heard her say, "My name is Jeanette. It's so nice to meet you!"

[jiejie-eonni-onee-sama]

Mystery Girl

For the cute @multifandomfix 💝🌹​

Hope you will like this gift!

"No, Gil! Don't tell me you agreed to this!"

"Sorry, Malcolm, but those are the orders of the hierarchy. Besides, having backup can't hurt you!"

The profiler shook his head, annoyed: he didn't need this!

Bright repeated to anyone who would listen that he preferred to profile criminals alone. Why pair him up with a stranger?

Grumbling, the young man nervously ran a hand through his hair. The police didn't want to let him work properly.

JT, one of his friends, patted him on the shoulder and said jokingly:

"Congratulations, Malcolm. You're about to discover an unknown concept: teamwork!

"Very funny, JT."

Dani, his colleague and best friend, tried to make him smile.

"Don't worry: I'm sure you'll be fine. You might even get along with your new partner!"

Malcolm rolled his eyes.

"I think you're very optimistic, Dani. They're going to send me some pimply, snooty kid from the best police academy who's more likely to get in my way than help me!  So, sorry, but I'm not enthusiastic!"

"What do you know? You've never met them!"

At the same time, Gil joined them.

"Bright, your new partner is waiting for you in the office! Try to hide your bad mood!"

Letting out a long sigh of annoyance, Malcolm headed for the room, ranting in anticipation of this unwelcome partner.

"I hope Malcolm doesn't get upset!" muttered JT.

"The way he's in a bad mood, it's not looking good!" whispered Dani.

"Don't worry, both of you. When Malcolm meets our new profiler, I bet he will be different!"

Meanwhile, Bright walked into the room, expecting to run into an arrogant young graduate who would have already criticized his work to no avail without knowing a single detail about the case. Instead, he came across a lovely young woman who was reading the report of the initial investigations.

Forgetting his sour mood, Bright tried to make a good impression on the newcomer. 

Quickly combing his hair and checking his breath, he cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the lady who looked up from her reading.

"Hello," she replied.

Malcolm noticed that she had a lovely voice. Charming must have been her middle name.

Smiling kindly, he introduced himself:

"Hello, you must be the new profiler. I'm..."

The young woman interrupted him with an amused smile.

"I know who you are, Malcolm Bright. I've heard a lot about you."

"Yes, I suppose you've heard that I'm crazy, insufferable, dangerous, and the spawn of a terrible serial killer. Don't bother with that: I hear it all day long!"

Placing the file back on the table, the young woman continued:

"Yes, I've heard that, but those aren't the only things I've heard. I understand that you are intelligent, perceptive, cultured, observant, and stubborn! All in all, an interesting person to work with!"

Bright was surprised!

"Wait, does that mean you asked your superiors to come and work with me?"

"Yes, I did. And from what I can see, you fit the description well: your clothing shows a comfortable lifestyle. I would say that you are very well off financially. 

On the other hand, the paleness of your complexion and the dark circles appearing under your beautiful brown eyes indicate a poor sleep pattern, which can lead to one of two things. 

Either you are an incorrigible party animal, or you are a man whose mind is always racing and troubled by traumatic memories. In your case, I'd go for the second hypothesis. You are a more complex person than most people want to believe."

Crossing her arms, she asked defiantly, a smile on her face:

"Now, Mr Bright, your turn: what can you deduce about me? Apart from the fact that I'm not a pimply little pretentious graduate!"

Malcolm winced: she had heard him!

"I assure you I had no idea who you were. Otherwise, I would never have allowed myself to say such things!"

"Judging without even knowing the people? Big mistake for a brilliant profiler like you, Malcolm!" laughed the young woman.

"Even the best make mistakes."

"If you can give me as much correct information as possible, I'll give you my name. If not, I'll let you search all day. Are you up to the challenge?"

"Challenge accepted. Well, let's see: who are you, mysterious miss?"

He circled the young woman, looking for the slightest detail that might give him information.

After a few minutes of observation, he gave his conclusions:

"From the look of your clothing, you are in a decent financial position. You are not a multi-millionaire, but you make a good living. You like simple, comfortable styles, probably because you like to look elegant and efficient at the same time.

Your posture and stature tell me that you are an athlete. I'd say you've done quite a bit of dancing, but your muscularity shows that you're a martial artist. Am I right?"

"I have a black belt in karate and judo, and I practice taekwondo, as well as ju-jitsu and Muay Thai. And I did a lot of dancing when I was younger."

"Haha! I was right. Well, as for the rest, I'd say you have an excellent photographic memory: you put that file down exactly where you took it. You are also a brilliant observer because you have deduced details of my life just by looking at me. 

I suppose you are an artist in your spare time. I saw in your bag a sketchbook and a box of pencils. Both are well placed, which betrays your meticulous side. 

Finally, I would say that you are a hard-working, kind and mischievous person. Your superiors must appreciate you enough to accept your request to come here. So, what do you say?"

Amused, the young woman clapped slowly.

"Well done, Malcolm Bright. You've lived up to your reputation. Everything you have deduced is correct."

"You will find me delighted. And now, to finish the introductions properly, may I know your name?"

"Of course: my name is (Y/N) (L/N), a certified FBI profiler."

"Pleased to meet you, Miss (Y/N) (L/N). Something tells me we'll work well together."

"That's what I hope."

Hiding behind the door, Gil, JT and Dani were relieved to see that Malcolm and (Y/N) seemed to be getting along well. Now, let's hope that this duo can be effective against the criminals that have New Yorkers on edge.

A few months later.

Sitting on a bench, Malcolm and (Y/N) enjoyed a hot chocolate while enjoying a beautiful autumn day. The two profilers wanted to have a quiet moment, away from the eyes of their colleagues and Malcolm's family! 

"Are you going to tell them the truth about us, or are you going to let them stew for a while longer?" the young woman asked.

The profiler smiled mischievously.

"I think I'll let them work their brains out for a few days before I tell them everything. Just for the fun of seeing their faces when they learn the truth!"

"I didn't know you were such a tease!" joked (Y/N).

For all answers, Malcolm took the young woman's hand in his and placed a kiss on it.

"I'm a man full of surprises, my dear. Just like you!"

"You sure didn't expect me to kiss you first!"

Malcolm pretended to be offended.

"But I thought of it first!"

"Oh, did you?"

"Certainly. Let me prove it!"

The profiler leaned over and kissed his girlfriend on the lips. 

Unfortunately, this sweet moment was interrupted by a ringing mobile phone.

"I think you should pick up the phone!" the young woman pointed out.

Grumbling, Malcolm picked up his mobile phone and picked it up:

"Hello?"

**"Hello, big brother!"**

"Good afternoon, Ainsley. To what do I owe this call?" the profiler asked.

**"I just wanted to let you know that Mum's inviting us to dinner at the house tonight. She's counting on your presence. Is that so?"** asked the reporter.

"I'll be there. It's not like I have a choice!" quipped Malcolm.

**"I'll take that as a yes... Oh, by the way, she'd like you to invite your mystery girlfriend!"**

At these words, the two lovers looked at each other in amazement: would Jessica know?

Controlling his stress, Malcolm replied:

"I don't know what she means, but I don't have a girlfriend!"

**"Oh yeah? Well then, you can tell me who the pretty lady you just kissed lovingly is!"**

Looking around him, the profiler spotted his little sister standing at the other end of the park and waving at him, a smirk on her face.

A little annoyed, Malcolm asked:

"Is your favourite pastime spying on me?"

"I admit it's very distracting. But I promise I won't tell Mum. I'll leave the great honour of making the introductions to you."

"I'm sure you'll be glad to, dear little sister."

"See you tonight, big brother. And give my regards to your lady of heart!" 

When the conversation was over, (Y/N) smiled:

"It seems that someone has found out..."

"And unfortunately, it is my sister."

(Y/N) kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"Honey, I can't be your mystery girl forever anyway. They're going to have to know that!"

Malcolm smiled.

"I have to admit, you're right. In any case, my love for you will never be a mystery again."

Now that their secret love affair gets revealed, Malcolm and (Y/N) will have more time to unsolve differents mysteries...

Thanks for reading! 

I hope you enjoyed the story!

Please don’t hesitate to request me a story and see you soon!

Take care! 😍🥰😘

[wixelt]

Snapshots (Hermitcraft: Scattered AU ficlet)

@hermitcraftheadcanons

(Short Hermit ficlet for the Scattered AU, while the AU is still relatively fresh. Wanted to play with untouched ideas, such as Biffa not having really featured (among others), as well as how Bdubs’ spawn would affect Etho, and the fact that xB was originally with Iskall rather than Cub, so I wondered how he ended up with Cub instead.

Also referenced a couple other people’s AU ficlets, for cohesion and funsies. Hopefully if you’ve been following Scattered, you’ll be able to spot them. :D)

Potential TW: Character death/respawn

In a distant region of the world, Biffa walked alone.

The beach on which he’d spawned was behind him, barely a memory in comparison to what lay ahead. The brief Drowned induced cycle of death and respawn still played in his mind, but he did his best to push the memory aside.

Something had gone wrong here. Barely a few weeks into this nightmare, and this much he already knew.

There was no regeneration. And no chat. Or rather, what remained of the chat was strange. Broken, even.

He tried not to think too much about the death announcements clogging up his visor like clockwork.

ImpulseSV was killed by Guardian using magic

Stressmonster101 drowned

Grian froze to death

GoodTimeWithScar fell out of the world

ImpulseSV was killed by Guardian using magic

Keralis tried to swim in lava

Xisuma starved to death

TinFoilChef was slain by Ender Dragon

ImpulseSV was killed by Guardian using magic

This… This was difficult to find a silver lining in.

He had to soldier on, though. This much he knew. The Hermits had always been stronger together, with or without him. This, though, needed to be a with situation, if possible.

He made a promise, that he would see them all again. That they would find a way out of this, together, no matter how long it took.

Please… Everyone. Just hold out as long as you can.

Idly, he glanced away from the open plains he was crossing, looking down to check his compass. After a second, the world coordinates flashed up in his vision.

-2038938, 65, 4759493

It was a long, long way to spawn, and Biffa had no way of knowing if he was even the furthest out.

He hoped he was the furthest out.

 ***

 In a distant woodland mansion, in a back room graciously provided to him by his finally non-hostile hosts, Mumbo Jumbo – the only Hermit further out in the Overworld than Biffa – pondered over some blueprints of his own design, brow furrowed in annoyance. The pulse extender in his communication relay had blown again, and he still didn’t know why.

He was going to make this work. He had to.

Grian and Iskall would never let it go if he just gave up.

 ***

 In a slightly smaller coordinate, amidst the churning sands of an unforgiving desert, two men stood. They shook hands as they prepared to part ways, each having a different goal in mind.

xB had spied the mesas dotting the edge of the desert in the direction of spawn. There’d been noises from them at night. Noises that sounded – at least to him – like the echoes of player activity. Iskall didn’t believe him, but he was convinced he’d find another Hermit there.

Only miles away, in a mesa swaddled valley, Cub worked through the night to build his Nether Portal, yet unaware it would connect to another’s.

Iskall, meanwhile, turned his gaze outward, in the exact opposite direction to spawn. Call it a hunch, or perhaps – with wishful thinking – distorted signals picked up by his malfunctioning implant, but he knew there were other Hermits out there.

He didn’t know it yet, but it would be around a year before he saw anyone else again – too far from his spawnpoint for Etho to locate him. If he knew that in the present, would he make a different decision – leaving Mumbo all alone – or would he make the same sacrifice to salvage his friend’s sanity?

 ***

 Etho pitied whoever had been spawning in the darkness of the void. He’d been here for several hours and he was already utterly sick of the oppressive darkness and blistering wind – only broken up by the occasional End island shooting past as a vague outline in the distant fog.

To think, one of his friends was being forced to endure this on repeat. He dreaded to imagine what that was doing to their mental state.

He thought he heard them, now and then, screaming in the distance. It sounded like Bdubs to him, but it was too distant to tell. Maybe one day, if they survived this, he’d have the chance to ask.

This was the last thought to cross Etho’s mind as he succumbed to the emptiness. Hopefully, next time around, he’d be able to contact somebody and tell them where Impulse was…

 ***

 Bdubs couldn’t even cry anymore.

His body felt flimsy, weakened by the choking clutch of the void, the seemingly gravityless descent, and the wind burning past him. His hands were blackened, frozen with frostbite.

Or voidbite.

Not that he really cared anymore.

He just wanted it to end.

It never did.

And even when it did, it didn’t. Not really.

 ***

 Fingers shaking, Scar held the elytra tentatively in his hands as if it were made of brittle glass, a thin smile of relief crossing his otherwise cold features as he brushed his fingers over the taught feathers.

He’d done it. He was free and had a means of getting out of this place.

He swore he’d never return once he left. Not ever.

And yet… he knew the truth. He knew he’d be back here, in time.

To escape that damned, lone island, he had given in. He’d let the Vex into his soul once more, and he knew it would cost him dearly in the long run. The Vex mask hung on his belt like some cosmic weight, dragging him down… waiting for the time when he would inevitably don it again.

He only hoped he could find Cub and fix this before there wasn’t anything of Scar left to save.

…or perhaps, he considered with a glance to his paled hands, it was already too late for that.

That’s what the voices said, at least.

“…sssscccAAARRRRR!”

*crack*

Scar blinked in surprise, roused from the strings of the Vex as a person shaped blur dropped in front of him, impacting the end stone with a painful sound, face a mix of terror and surprise before it vanished in a flash of red and a plume of smoke.

The former mayor stared at the now empty ground for what felt like an eternity. He was numb, at first, but soon he felt a small glimmer of hope sprout in his soul.

It began to burn anew as his mind processed the face he’d seen.

“…Bdubs?”

 ***

 TFC was not having a good time.

Decades gone was the young champion who could go toe to toe with the Ender Dragon any day of the week. He’d retired from a more active lifestyle for a reason, after all.

So being trapped in the End – stomped on every few minutes – was hardly ideal.

His life of experience – if nothing else – had made him a patient man, though.

He knew the other Hermits – some better than others, admittedly – and he knew that they’d all find their way out their own death-traps sooner or later, even if they needed a little help. They were resourceful like that.

All he had to do was wait. And have a little faith too, perhaps. That never hurt.

The Ender Dragon seemed pretty pissed that he kept coming back – his calm smirk only serving to anger it further – so at least he had that.

 ***

 Screaming gale and lashing torrents of snow reared against the figure as he stepped off the porch and out into the relatively open air of the ravine. Even in this shaded spot, the weather was eternally fierce and angry. From his own experience of his spawnpoint – not far from here – Doc knew it was going to be worse up on the mountaintop.

But there was someone counting on him. He wouldn’t let them down.

“Now you be careful up there, alright?”

Doc turned at the voice, watching as Ren staggered to the doorway of the hastily constructed cabin, managing a smile. The dog man had recovered from his injuries in leaps and bounds since Doc had discovered both him and his hiding spot only a few days ago, but there was still a slight limp in his step, and the marks born from his struggles had yet to fully heal.

There was a reason Doc was making this trip alone.

“I will.” The cyborg nodded. “I won’t let them down.”

“I’ll get the fire ready for when you bring ‘em back.” Ren hummed, glancing up at the top of the ravine, frowning deeply. “They’re gonna need it.”

They’d both heard the screams echoing from above, both before and after they’d encountered one another. There’d been many confused moments of “Wait, that wasn’t you?”, before the obvious task at hand was made clear, and both thought to unmute the chat log, having muted it due to the endless alerts from Impulse’s depressing situation.

Now, more than ever, they knew they had to act.

Doc wasn’t going to leave Grian alone on that mountain for any longer than he had to.

 ***

 He couldn’t feel his fingers anymore.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when that had happened – his mind was a blur of pain and numbed senses, now – but where once the feeling would return whenever he succumbed and respawned, there was now only nothing. It was as if his body had learnt not to waste the effort warming his extremities.

He didn’t have thoughts to spare on that sort of thing anymore, though.

Far behind him were thoughts about how he’d ended up in this situation.

Far behind him were the worries as he saw the names of his friends flood the chat alongside his own – one death after another – like some dark flood of horror.

Far behind him was the man who would’ve cracked a joke about his condition, then tried to find a way out.

Far behind him was the man who’d had any hope of getting off this mountain top.

Grian hardly felt anything anymore. Nothing but the despair and hopelessness of his situation.

No-one was coming for him, he knew. If he couldn’t get down, how would anyone hope to get up?

Limbs frozen. Wings a burden. All alone.

Grian let out a choked sob…

…before being consumed by the ice and snow yet again.

 ***

 All things considered, Xisuma’s situation had improved considerably since things had begun, though that wasn’t saying much.

He was still stuck in the depths of the Overworld, for example, devoid of any sunlight.

But compared to being hunted through dark, shulker infested caverns by a Warden, a lush cave was a pleasant step up. He tried not to think about the jagged tunnels that lay behind him, hewn by his fists and stained with his blood and tears.

He was no longer alone.

Axolotls aside, Jevin was here.

Or rather, he was mostly here.

Their reunion had shown Xisuma – to his dismay – that one of his worst fears for the situation had come to pass. With his non-access to world commands, certain… traits were reasserting themselves.

The moment Jevin had laid eyes on Xisuma – emerging from the dark of his tunnel – he’d seemed so happy…

…and then Jevin had killed him.

The dying memory of Jevin’s horrified features as the revelation of what he’d done on instinct set in was burned into X’s memory. When he’d next returned, he’d assured a terrified Jevin that he didn’t blame him, but the slime man was slipping, and both of them knew it.

The fact that he occasionally split into smaller versions of himself was tame by comparison – relatively easy to recover from given enough time – but it was still taking a psychological toll. Every time Jevin pulled himself together again, he seemed more frantic, more desperate.

And more than that, there seemed to be less of him.

He’d only forgotten small things so far, but it was clear that his sapience was leaking out without command lines to reinforce it.

And, Xisuma feared, if this was happening to Jevin, what of the others? Doc, Cleo…

It galvanised Xisuma into pushing to get to the surface, but his fear never once abated.

As admin he was supposed to prevent things like this, and yet here he was. As helpless as anyone else…

 ***

 Ex had seen nothing but bedrock as far as the red, oppressive fog would allow him for the past few weeks.

He… had no context for this.

The self-proclaimed “Evil” Xisuma had been trapped in many places – some more pleasant than others – but the roof of the Nether was a first. It didn’t seem as if it would be especially effective.

Which meant this was either his brother’s idea of a joke, or something was very, very wrong.

When the avalanche of death messages had come in, his suspicions had been confirmed as to the latter.

…but there wasn’t much to be done.

Aside from starve to death over and over again, at least.

Bedrock was unbreakable here, even for him. Even with the sudden and brief apparition of the one called Etho to give some much-needed context, he had little to work with here.

For the first time in a long time, Ex felt genuinely helpless.

 ***

 On a faraway coastline, two young women sat nestled around a fire, resting for the night. They had already plotted out the route they would take tomorrow, mostly as they’d already walked it once before, so had little to discuss.

Not when both were physically and emotionally exhausted.

On one side of the flames, False lay back against the body of her resting horse, muscles aching from days of saddle-less travel back to the coastline. Her eyelids flickered; the warrior barely able to stay awake.

She forced herself to remain in the waking world, however. Opposite her, Stress sat calmly, less energetic than she normally was. Though she’d mostly recovered from shock, she still shivered now and then. Her smiles and laughter didn’t quite reach her eyes, and she kept making nervous glances out to the coral reefs set just off from the shore.

Their spawnpoint.

It hadn’t been so bad the first time. They’d been mostly focused on getting each other out, and then on the apparent calamity that had befallen the server. What were a couple of glitch induced deaths alongside all of that?

It had taken several weeks of exploration and watching Stress freeze to death falling into a bluff of powdered snow for the true horror of the constant death messages in chat to feel real.

Stress had been trapped in bindings of coral for days – drowning over and over again – before False had made it back to rescue her.

Even hours later, by the warmth of a fire, False was still shaken. They both were.

She feared that if she closed her eyes for too long, she’d open them to find her friend had disappeared.

They’d recover, she knew this. False considered herself strong, and despite the flower girl not having as refined a prowess in combat, Stress was even stronger. She’d endured days of that torture and hadn’t crumbled in her hope, after all. But that taste of what Impulse may have been experiencing – not to forget Cleo or Grian – had unsettled them both.

And if False felt like this, she couldn’t imagine what was going through Stress’ head.

The brunette caught her frowning across the campfire, and gave her another smile, a repeated insistence that she was fine. That she wasn’t going anywhere.

False wished she could believe it, in such uncertain times.

Time and time again, she had faced down monsters and players alike. She’d done it without fear, too, pushing on without hesitation.

But False Symmetry wasn’t so proud she’d deny the truth.

Right now, she was scared.

 ***

 The torture hadn’t ended when the villagers called off their iron golem in killing her repeatedly. For Cleo, it had merely brought another problem into the light.

She was slipping.

She’d noticed it the moment the golem had stood down, and despite her battered and broken form, she’d managed to gaze at one of her attackers. The one who’d told their mechanical protector stop…

…and a burning, primal hunger momentarily took hold of her thoughts.

She locked herself away, after that, hiding out in a house (or was it a church? She’d been so panicked she hadn’t stopped to check), where the temptation wouldn’t sit there, right in front of her nose, taunting her with its… its brains…

…brains…

No!

Cleo whimpered in her darkened hiding place. Out of view of the sun, her eyes flickered with a red glare, seeming hollow and sunken.

She couldn’t go on like this.

X, please… Do something…

But nobody heard.

 ***

 Hell. Literal hell.

Keralis had thought – hoped – that a Nether fortress would be where he’d find the others. With regen a thing of the past, they’d need to gather materials for potions… right?

At least, it had seemed logical at the time.

And yet here Keralis was. A free spirit who had raised entire cities from nothing with nothing but his own determination… hiding in a closed off corridor, behind a cobble wall, a screaming horde of blazes and wither skeletons bearing down on the other side. Already, his clothing was singed, and scratches and cuts riddled his form. He hadn’t gotten to where he was cleanly.

There hadn’t even been a portal to fuel his escape.

It was enough to make even the most fearless of players turn pale.

He couldn’t go back to nothing again. He just couldn’t. He might never find his way back here.

He might never find anyone.

…

If Falsie were here, she’d cut right through them. No problemo.

And if it were Shishwammy, he’d…

Well, Keralis supposed, if Shishwammy did have access to his powers, this wouldn’t be happening in the first place.

So here he was, alone and afraid, having spent days – or what he assumed were days – trapped behind this wall, the forces on the other side never tiring or relenting.

As he had been since this all started, Keralis remained utterly terrified.

 ***

 (Was going to write more entries for all the other Hermits known to be trapped in this AU, which I think within the timeframe here would at least be Joe and Beef at spawn, Hypno either at or near spawn as well, Python in a Nether bastion, Wels and Hels also in the Nether, Tango and Zed in the jungle, Jessassin in a mesa somewhere, and Impulse – who I was going to close with – in his ocean temple of hell. My creativity’s run dry for the time being, though, so this will do just fine. I’ve got an infographic to work on, after all. :P

Hope you enjoyed! :D)

[writing-the-end]

LoL Chapter 55- Hell’s Chosen

Masterpost

A Wizard Hermits tale (AU, designs, ideas belongs to @theguardiansofredland)

The hermits discover a dark past to their paladin knight, does this change their perspective of him, or will it save their unlikely ally? 

Warning: Some description of wounds (i think)

________________________________

All eyes were on Wels. Very few had a look of knowledge. TFC, for one. But Tango’s visible confusion gives way to a much softer, quieter version of the hellfire wizard. “Helsknight? You mean the marauder from years ago? But he died.” 

“You’re right, he did. And I killed him. I buried him so deep inside me, and vowed to do whatever I could to be a better man. When Helsknight died, Welsknight was born.” Wels’s fingers are tight in the bloodstained fabric, knuckles turned white as he’s forced to relive, to speak of his dark past. 

“No no no no. You’re joking, right?” Doc shakes his head. Even he feared Hell’s chosen knight. Wels can’t possibly be that same person. Wels, a quiet, collected paladin with the heart of gold and courage of a lion. “I mean...no one ever told the story of Helsknight with a tail.” 

“Less limbs to get cut off if it’s protected by armor.” Wels points out, flicking the lionesque tail. “You want proof? What was the last time anyone ever saw Helsknight?”

Doc cocks an eyebrow, then waves his hand. “Hels and his band of bad guys attacked one of Ventus’s- the God of Judgement- temples. But the attempt was failed, and Helsknight himself was left behind as he bled out...from his neck…”

The entire group stares as the scar that Wels reveals, running from his collar to his clavicle. TFC doesn’t stare like the others. He’s known all of this the whole time. Tango shakes his head. “But you’re nothing like Helsknight. He murdered and killed for fun, to cause chaos and bring hell onto Lairyon. Wels, you’re…” 

“A changed man. Just like Apatia can be- if you give him the chance. Like the woman who healed me did, like X and TFC. Tango, if you don’t let Apatia give his chance to change and rectify what he can, then you can’t let me be any different. You can’t be a hypocrite and pick and choose.” From between Wels and Tango, Apatia groans. The blood has stopped, Ren’s work healing leaving a sloppy open wound behind. 

Apatia was pale, paler than he already was. Almost the same color as Grian, as the latter continues to recuperate from the torture he faced. But unlike Grian’s shallow, soft breaths, Apatia’s runs ragged and harsh. His jaws are clenched, fighting off the pain. With the remaining bandages and healing salve, Wels wraps up the stump of Apatia’s tail fin. 

Tango and Doc are still quiet, trying to comprehend the news that’s been delivered to them. It all makes sense, but their eads still struggle to put the two completely different personas together. As if they’re different people all together. 

Everyone knows who Helsknight is- was. He appeared as if from nowhere, like a demon spawned straight from hell. And immediately, he began reeking havoc. His band of villains attacked and raided. They were more than just some lowly bandits, or even a mafia. Helsknight was a villain, killing without mercy, without remorse, and without discretion. It wasn’t until their botched attack on that temple that ended the reign of terror that Hell’s chosen knight left on Lairyon. Just as quickly as Helsknight appeared, he faded into nightmares and horror story. Kids were told to watch out for the knight with one eye, because he’d pluck out their own to replace his. 

But Welsknight? He’s calm and collected, if a bit snarky. Even when battling even the husks, he always hesitates to strike a killing blow if there’s a potential to save the life instead. Wels is jovial, and a great baker, and tells great stories. Sure, he’s a great knight, but Tango once saw Wels cry over a dead fish he found at the beach. He’s a paladin, not a barbarian. 

Helsknight supposedly died years ago. Welsknight joined the hermits a few years back. Though there’s a span of time in between the day Lairyon celebrated the defeat of Hels and Wels following TFC back to Eremita, it begins to all make sense. There's a reason why Wels never talks about his past. Never visits home. Never explains how he got many of his scars.

Like puzzle pieces, it all falls together and paints a picture. Doc’s jaw clenches. As much as he hates to say it, or even think it, Wels is right. If a monster like Hels can become the man before Doc today, then maybe, just maybe , theres hope for Apatia. 

So long as he lives. The hermits are so focused on Apatia, their argument on whether he should live or die, no one notices Grian rouse from the darkness that still grips him. No one noticed the sky open up, both in Grian’s eyes and the sky beyond the windows. No one notices him weakly clamber out of bed, nearly falling flat on his face, and walking over to join them in the group. 

“What are we on about?” Even when he speaks up, the other hermits are so used to his voice that it hardly registers. 

“Welsknight was once helsknight, and whether we should save Apatia’s life or not.” Tango shrugs, his red eyes glaring down at Apatia with distaste. He still hates the man, but at the same time… they’re supposed to be the heroes. 

“As your resident healer, I think we should. But...I’m not sure why he’s here in the first place.” Ren looks up, realizing who is speaking, and scoops Grian into his arms. His tail wags loud and heavy, banging against the other hermits with every oscillation. 

“Welcome back to the land of the living, my dude!” Ren only sets Grian down when TFC reminds him that Grian is still working towards regaining his life, his color. He’s still slightly unsaturated, his skin missing the tint of pink, the red of his robest boarding the color of dried blood. Ren sets Grian back on the bed, trying to force the angel to rest. But now that Grian’s awake, he’s ready to cause trouble and start his day- even though he has no clue what time it is. 

“What’s going on? I...I don’t remember much. When did you guys save me? Why is Apatia here? How did you find me?” The questions fall like rain in a storm, impossible for the hermits to catch every last drop. 

It’s TFC that manages to slow the downpour. “Hold on, hold on Grian. Why don’t we start from the beginning? We’ll fill you in on everything, in time.”

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

All the hermits, once again under the safe canopy of the massive oak tree in their guild hall. Grian is wrapped in a warm, soft blanket- knitted by Stress- and a mug of warm apple cider rests in between his pale hands. “I can’t believe you guys came for me.” 

“Of course we were gonna save you, Grian.” Scar practically laughs at the mere idea of leaving him behind. But for Grian, who’s been kicked out of so many guilds for his troublemaking, it really shows how much they care. 

A rumble of agreements follow, and after a few more minutes of quiet comforting, it’s Grian himself that changes the subject. “Dolios is getting more powerful by the minute. I could feel all the energy flowing through those leylines, into him and that monster, Eurynomos. We can’t delay this any longer. Dolios has to go down.” 

“But we don’t even know how. We can destroy as many crystals as we want, but he’ll just keep making more. He has more power than a bunch of lowly mercenaries. He even beat Apatia, one of his own Councilmembers. One of the strongest guildmasters in all of Lairyon.” BDubs points out. Everyone goes silent as they remember the man in their infirmary. The stranger- he’s not a hermit, yet he’s among them. 

Grian looks up, pale face and hollowed eyes alarming for the hermits. He hardly looks to be among the living, but less like a dead man walking like he was before. “Xisuma, your brother mentioned something about the ancient ones. DO you think there could be a clue for us there? In the past?” 

X sighs, leaning back in his chair as he considers the question. “If the answer to ending Dolios’s dark reign truly lies in the past, then we’d have better luck finding the answer ourselves. Thousands of years, eroded by time, by kingdoms and cultures rising and falling, not to mention the disappearance of the ancient ones. There’s a reason ancient magic is dead- because none of the books teaching it survived.” 

“There’s one person we know who has studied the ancient ones for years.” Joe’s voice cuts through the crowd, looking around. Every other hermit is lost and confused, but Joe can see the mixed emotions raging in Xisuma’s eyes. “Besides Ex can take care of the island, of Apatia while we’re searching.” 

“Ex chose to leave Eremita. Why in gods’s names would he want to come back, to help us?” X growls. 

“Because he’s your brother. He helped us save Doc. He’s been helping us, helping all of Lairyon- in his own weird, Ex way. He’s not the villain here, he’s your brother.” 

X clenches his jaw. The scar over his eye burns at the memory of their fight. The words he said to his brother, and the worst responded in kind. Xisuma still received letters from Ex, but he only opened them when Cleo’s cider had clouded his better judgement. And he never responded. 

But he also remembers the moment, after years estranged, he laid eyes upon his twin brother, crammed into the bookstore he was running. The moment of relief, of happiness to see Ex alive and well. Their identical faces, like mirror images of one another. His hair pure white, like the bright sun in the sky. Even now Xisuma remembers how often he’d complain he could always find Ex hairs on his clothes. 

And that Ex helped them save Doc. All these years fighting, Xisuma can’t believe he’s going to be the one to concede defeat. But for the fate of Lairyon, he guesses he has to. He pulls off his mask, turning it over in his hands, running a thumb over the scratched out symbol. He swallows his pride, and stands. “I’ll get the letter to Phoebe. What’s one more stranger to the island?”

[deep-space-elf]

A little Vampire research

So I did a little research about Astarion or rather on vampires and found some pretty interesting things...

First of all: I have all the information below from the book called: Dungeons and Dragons: A Monster Manuel - so for people who know some things about this universe and its lore, the things I found are probably old news. But I thought I can't be the only one new to it, so I thought I share my findings.

The first thing I discovered was a little unsettling as someone who will totally romance the hells out of the charming vampire spawn:

Dark Desires. Whether or not a vampire retains any memories from its former life, its emotional attachments wither as once-pure feelings become twisted by undeath. Love turns into a hungry obsession, while friendship becomes bitter jealousy. In place of emotion, vampires pursue physical symbols of what they crave, so that a vampire seeking love might fixate on a young beauty. A child might become an object of fascination for a vampire obsessed with youth and potential. Others surround themselves with art, books, or sinister items such as torture devices or trophies from creatures they have killed.

Mind, this behaviour is said about vampires. I'm not sure if it's any different for vampire spawns. Then again, it looks like Astarion's goal is becoming a full-vampire so... 👀

I also wonder if it has something to do with how vampires came to exist. If you're not interested in this topic, skip the next huge chunk of text.

Strahd von Zarovich. A brilliant thinker and capable warrior in life, Strahd von Zarovich fought in countless battles for his people. When war and killing finally stripped him of his couth and strength, he settled in the remote valley of Barovia and built a castle on a towering pinnacle, from which he could survey his lands. His brother Sergei came to live with him in Castle Ravenloft, becoming Strahd’s adviser and constant companion.

In his brother, Strahd saw everything he has lost. Sergei was handsome and young, while Strahd has become old and scarred. Resentment coloured their relationship, eventually turning into hatred. Strahd’s beloved Tatyana, spurred him for Sergei, whom she pledged to marry.

In a desperate attempt to win Tatyana’s heart, Strahd forged a pact with dark powers that made him immortal. At the wedding of Sergei and Tatyana, he confronted his brother and killed him. Tatyana fled and flung herself from Ravenloft’s walls. Strahd’s guards, seeing him for a monster, shot him with arrows. But he did not die. He became a vampire - the first vampire, according to many sages.

In the centuries since his transformation, Strahd’s lust for life and youth have only grown. He broods on his dark castle, cursing the living for stealing away what he lost, and never admitting his hand in the tragedy he created.

But things get REALLY interesting when you look at the abilities of vampires and vampire spawns.

This is what vampire spawns can do:

Vampire Spawn Skills: Regeneration Spider Climb

Vampire Spawn Weaknesses: Forbiddance Harmed by running water Stake to the heart Sunlight Hypersensitivity

Actions: Multi-task Claws Bite

A Vampire can do all these things as well and a little more, such a shapeshifting. But then there's the full-vampire action called Charm and it sounds awfully familiar:

Charm. The vampire targets one humanoid it can see within 30 feet (~9m) of it. If the target can see the vampire, the target must success on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw against the magic or be charmed by the vampire. The charmed target regards the vampire as a trusted friend to be heeded and protected. Although the target isn’t under the vampire’s control, it takes the vampire’s request or actions in the most favourable way it can, and it is a willing target for the vampire bit attack.

Each time the vampire or the vampire’s companions do anything harmful to the target, it can repeat the saving throw, ending the effect on itself on a success. Otherwise, the effect lasts 24 hours or until the vampire is destroyed, is on a different plane of existence than the target, or takes a bonus action to end the effect.

I'm not really sure what to make of it, but I thought it was really interesting. We know that Astarion is different from other vampire spawns and seeing the Charm Action, I wonder if he's actually far more powerful than we, or Astarion himself even, realises.

[elias-code]

He Never Dies

Warnings: Blood, Abandonment, Suicide, Revival

Summary: TL;DR at the end, although it spoils it all.

Caution: this was written in less than an hour and it's super late at night and I'm in a lot of pain from my wisdom teeth surgery thing so it's really weird pacing-wise just letting you know.

--------------------This is super scuffed, enjoy!---------------------

Phil had somehow managed to fit twenty-two candles on one birthday cake, their flames signified the years gone by since the hybrid's birth. Of course, Technoblade was not turning twenty-two, and Phil knew that better than anyone.

The candles more closely represented ten years each, making Techno two hundred and twenty years old, although that was also a debatable number. He and Phil had lost count years ago. They never bothered trying to pick up the slack.

-

Phil and Technoblade met in a twist of fate. Phil, who had recently run out of glowstone, was in the nether searching for some. He'd scavenged all of the glowstone for miles surrounding his old portal, so he was forced to make a new one.

This portal spawned Phil in a bastion remnant, empty apart from the occasional magma cube or skeleton. Even the piglin brutes had forsaken this place, or so Phil thought.

There was one brute living in the bastion. He was the sole reason the sad, wilting towers stood empty. Standing at 5' 5", the toddler piglin-hybrid was almost as tall as Phil at just a few months old.

That toddler secretly watched the curious man fly from tower to tower with obsidian wings, draped in a forest green coat that fluttered behind him. A flash of jealousy lit in his eyes.

Finally, the obsidian bird passed behind the furthest wall of the bastion, out of sight from the brute. Seizing the opportunity, he tentatively put a hand in the portal and watched it disappear, shortly followed by the rest of his body.

----------------------Techno's perspective----------------------

By the time Phil realised he had a stowaway, I had already made myself at home. In the far corner, the warmest in the house, I slept on a blood-red curtain surrounded by every gold thing Philza owned. I clutched a dull knife to my chest, one I'd found in the kitchen stuck in a loaf of bread.

Thankfully, Phil didn't have the guts to wake me.

I soon became a child, then a teenager, and inevitably, I started asking uncomfortable questions.

"Phil, why don't I have wings like you?"

"Hmm?" Phil looked towards me, my eyes flooded with curiosity, "Well, you're... not an elytrian, Techno."

"What am I then?"

Phil stopped short, unsure of what to say, "You're- special."

I was quick to notice Phil's hesitation. I had been living with Phil for 13 years and I knew his tells by now.

"I don't want to be special,"

"Why not?"

"They only write stories about the special ones, and they always die."

Now, this was a subject Phil struggled to understand. Being immortal had its limitations, and not understanding fear of death was one of them. "Techno, everyone dies... that's the whole point of life."

And so I began to experiment. The only person I was ever around was Phil. The constant heavy snowfall brought all promises of animal life to an abrupt end. I wanted to know why it had to be this way.

I started with rabbits. The ones I could find in the spring. I tried to get ones that were roughly the same age, and I corralled them together. I watched them live, breed, eat, sleep, and eventually, when winter came, I watched them die. This experiment had gotten me nowhere, and so I moved on to sheep.

Eventually, when I was nineteen or so, six years into my experiments, I experimented on myself. I was done messing around with animals that never gave me results, they'd always live, eat, sleep, and then die, only to return to the earth and disappear along with the snow when the sun returned. There was no purpose to it, but there had to be. I needed there to be.

During this time, I was shelving my desires, desperate to find answers in such a dim time. If Phil didn't age, why did I have to? Why did everything have to die? Why did it feel so good to watch things die?

-

Phil found Techno in the snow, covered in blood, a knife in his chest. He wasn't breathing.

THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP.

His mind was pleading with Techno to just fucking wake up, but even with the knife out of his chest, he refused to wake. Phil knew how to kill, not how to revive. He scurried, grabbing every vial, every trick in the book, trying to get his boy back.

Phil knew that ignoring Techno's queries would eventually cause problems, but he never thought they'd be so severe.

The obsidian bird prayed. He prayed to the Angel of Death to bring him back, to let the heart in his chest spring to life, even if he'd lose everything for it.

Fuck, Techno, I- you didn't deserve this, you don't deserve this, you can't die like this- I didn't want you to worry, you don't have to be different, I'll give you anything, just come back, just come back, please-

"And what would I get in return, Philza?" Her voice boomed in his head, warming his heart. "Anything..." The Angel of Death owed him a favour, he erased Her from history. She was eternally grateful for the peace and quiet he granted Her. "Anything? How about your wings then?" This time, Phil did not hesitate, "Give him back to me!"

The boy sputtered back to life, heaving up blood. Techno's mind raced, voices clamoured in his head. It was so loud. He clutched his chest, where the knife once was and discovered a pool of blood, but no wound.

Phil looked to him. Techno's heart and mind were heavy, but he was alive. He had a purpose. He needed to be there for Phil, the only other eternal partner he would ever meet. The blood god and the crow father, now flightless. Neither would be alone.

-

Sorry, this one is super weird and kind of spontaneous. It's not my best work but I wanted to get my headcanon Techno origin story out there.

TL;DR

Techno was abandoned in the nether, where he met Phil and became his only companion. Phil never aged due to his immortality but Techno did. Techno felt purposeless and so he searched for a reason to live. Eventually, he decided the only way to know for sure was to die, and so he did. Phil traded his wings to bring Techno back, but Techno returned with the voices and a new title: blood god. Plus, now they're both immortal, score!